Jun 30 21:05:02 108 PA - A Very Important and Fancy Meal

From Chronicles

Jun 30 21:05:02 108 PA.

SILVER FORK

Another pleasant evening meets Gabriel as he is seated near one of the two-place, wall-side tables distant from the entrance to the nice restaurant; Kingsdale's finest restaurant, the Silver Fork. In fact, there's even a small decorative waterfall and miniature rainforest bonsai built into the wall next to the table. He's dressed appropriately for the place, of course, and currently going over a menu, snacking on a basket of breads. You never know if your date is going to show up or not, so sometimes you might as well just enjoy yourself.

Bella's here. Whether she's his date or not. Spots him too and heads over. "Ya hungry?" It's sorta a hi. Bella slides into the other spot at the table. "'R just like chewin on stuff?" A little grin. Or maybe it's a smirk.

Gabriel stands politely as Bella arrives, and doesn't sit until she does - no matter how long a standoff that might be. When back on his own backside, the menu is laid down, and he answers. "Yes, I'm hungry. I had to skip lunch today because I'm out of fruit, so I had to hit the Plaza, and being Saturday, it was an absolute madhouse. The forest's a little thin as far as fruits go. Don't know if that's due to the Cataclysm, or just a poor yield this season." He shrugs it off. "How about, you, you hungry? I could order you a nice sixteen-ounce steak, rare. Like, 'Please just cut if off of the cow and deliver it straight to the table.' What do you think?" He offers an amused smile.

"Nah. Cows ain' that tasty." Bella smirks. Gets comfy on the seat. Mostly flopping and leaning. "Sides. Can get my own if I get hungry." A finger's pointed at him. "Don' wanna skip eatin. 'S bad fer ya ya know."

The older man narrows his eyes in amusement. "Little girl, I can go many days without eating and not even start to get tired. If I couldn't do that, I'd be very bad at what I do. Did. Do. Close enough." Gabriel chuckles at himself, and orders his own steak - medium - from a passing waitress, along with two sodas. One for him, one for Bella. "You know, Bella, I have two things that I want to talk about, two things probably very important to you, more important to you even than they are to me." He motions toward some chips and guacamole. "Dip?"

Bella perks up. "Really? Like what?" She leans more his way now. Snitches a chip and shovels up some dip. Shoves it in and chews. She's all ears. Even if the crunching's loud for a second.

Gabriel leans forward as well, speaking in a lowered voice that would be perfectly appropriate for the restaurant. "Like your own safety. How's the dip?" He looks at it, but seems a little reticent to poke a chip into a blobby green substance. In all likelihood, he's never even heard the word, "Guacamole."

"S'ok. Li'l spicy." Bella shrugs. "'N always lookin out fer bein safe fer me." She's still all curious though. "Whatcha talkin bout?"

"I'm talking about not wandering around the city with something rolled up in a jacket; something that you don't want anyone else to see. More specifically, not stopping to chat with even a friend out in the open, with something rolled up in a jacket that you don't want someone to see." Gabriel offers a fatherly smile and points across the table. "If I understand things, my friendship with you, knowing what I do, is a very strange thing in this city, perhaps dangerous to both of us. Which brings me, in a sideways manner, to my next point."

Bella makes a face. "Weren' like I's plannin ta stop n chat. 'R drop nothin. Weren' hidin nothin 'n't anyways. Not really." But she lets that go. "What's th'other thing?"

Gabriel makes a face that says, "Yeah, right." Then actually says, "Well, if you weren't planning on stopping to chat with whatever you had in your jacket, you shouldn't have stopped. You put yourself into a dangerous place. Now, lots of people know that you and I know each other, perhaps even considered good friends. You know that I like you, and what I've promised. But I need to look out for my own safety, too." The man dips his head apologetically. "If there's ever a situation such as the one the other day in the Plaza, if Erica had made an unfortunate guess? I'll tell you right now that I'll say that I'm a poor fool who had no idea. I'll *never* raise a hand against you. But I won't acknowledge that I know you, either. I need to protect myself from being closely associated with your uniqueness. I'll be laughing and drinking and hanging around with you as we've always been - I just thought that you should know that. I'm sorry to have to do that to a friend, but it's the way that it needs to be. For me. Still, though," the older man winks, "if anything like that were to happen, I'd try to play stupid long enough for you to get a head start. I just thought that you should know."

"Ya gotta blend in 'n stuff." Bella nods. Smirks too. "Know how that works. Don' gotta be sorry. I do't alla time. Case ya didn' know." She stops. Then starts again. "Not playin dumb I mean. The fittin in stuff."

Gabriel nods with a smile. "Good, as long as we both know. So." He looks longingly for his steak, and settles for a cup of coffee that he didn't order, but still politely thanks the four-eyed waitress who appears to have a vestigial third limb hanging from her waist. "As I was saying. What would a gang of humans have to offer a group of vampires that would make them loyal to the gang, follow the hierarchy and all that?"

Bella shrugs. "Dunno. Don' sound right ta me." She settles back in her seat again. "Don' really work that way. If there's anybody followin anybody it'd be th'other way 'round I bet."

"Yeah, that's kind of what I thought, which is why it worries me so much." Gabriel accepts the two sodas that are delivered, even though he is in mid-lift of his now extremely sugar-and-cream coffee. "I've been poking around the 'Dregs - which sucks - and there's a whole lotta shit going on that I need to put together. Problem is that nobody else seems to have any interest in it." He shrugs dismissively. "I can't do it by myself. Not if there's a set of fucking thirty-foot demons with six-foot dicks walking around." He looks off to the side... no, no. Not their food. "What've you been up to, Bella? You've been kind of sparse."

"Li'l 'ere. Li'l over there. Ain heard mucha any'a that 'bout the Dregs." Bella admits. "Course ain' been inna Dregs much neither. Still think it'sa buncha bullshit. Maybe somethin goin on but don' make it gotta be vampires 'r demons 'r whatever monsters people wanna think't is."

Gabriel shakes his head. "No, it's the gangs. The gangs versus the refugees. There's more to it than that, but at the moment that's the most obvious thing I can see, beyond simple power grabs by the big groups, like the Family. The gangs are creating supernatural monsters, or using powerful magic being brought in, or tech way beyond what they should ever have been able to get. The refugees have an anti-supernatural movement rising up to combat these things, because there's a problem with refugees just up and disappearing. It's quite peculiar, and I don't trust the man who's leading the refugees." He then leans back expectantly as food approaches... only to be let down again as a different waitress carries it past and on to another table.

Bella watches the not-their food go past. "So do somethin bout 'im if he does somethin. Can't stick yer nose inta ev'rythin. Get't chopped off that way."

The older man shrugs. "It's a little difficult, because I'm one of those silly people who likes to set things right, just for the sake of making sure that things are set right. I have a good friend.. and she *thinks* that she's the same way, but she's not. She calls herself all high-holy and all, but in the end, she's another merc who doesn't do much unless there's a tangible reward - and usually only if it's already been set on the table for her to inspect." Gabriel sighs a little. "I wish I was back in 1959, with Natasha and my team. We did things right, because they were the right thing to do. Not here, now, this place." An argumentative and dismissive hand is waved around at the entire world.

"Ya ain't Gabe. 'N sounds like yer the one's gotta watch out fer yerself." Bella shrugs a little. "Ain' really anybody't's out fer doin shit right. Who says what's right anyways? Sides." She points a finger at 'im. "If what yer thinkin's parta this refugee thing ya don' wanna be nowhere 'round it. Ain' no deals. Ain' no buddy-buddyin. There's food. There's things ta kill. 'N there's slaves. Ain' nothin else ta them."

Gabriel frowns again. "I won't run in alone, I'm not daft. I already told you that I don't trust the guy running the refugees, and I sure as hell am not going to trust gangs that are trying to summon beasts from my nightmares. But it would be nice to see people do things for other people sometimes just because it's a good thing to do." He shrugs. "I suppose that the world has changed, and not for the better. There's always been fighting, war, pain, suffering, oppression, you name it. But there have always been - or were always - people who would stand up against these things, with no ulterior motive. Not to say that everyone was like this, or even *most* people. But there were people, enough of them that you knew they were there." He finally smiles a little and says, "Of course, it's better to not be known. My father told me, 'Gabriel, you've done something right, when no one knows that you did anything at all.' Of course, he said it in Polish." Smirk.

Bella nods. "Always been that kinda stuff I bet. 'N it'll always be round later too. Gotta punch through't all fer yerself though. Start jumpin in ev'rybodies shit 'n gonna get buried in't. " Another little shrug. "Don' 'nuff people get dead fer bein stupid?"

"For being stupid, yes. The key is to not be stupid, which is why I don't just grab my weapons and run into situations like that." Gabriel smiles as their meals are finally delivered. Of course, his delivered meal is a beautifully basted chicken breast with corn and rice, not the steak and potatoes that he'd ordered. Yet he allows it to go by without complaint, sipping at his coffee before taking up flatware and attacking the meat. "I don't suppose you've heard anything more from Johnson? I want to know what kind of armor that is, but either I'm not asking the right people, or no one knows."

"Nope. Ain' seen 'im." Bella shakes her head. "Not since I turned 'im down. Maybe he's run off somewheres already. Dunno bout 'is armor but maybe made't hisself. Ain smart ta make yerself look like somebody else if somebody else knows whatcha looked like before."

Gabriel narrows his eyes for a moment, trying to sort out the logic behind the rather mobius-like final statement. "Whatever the situation might be, the important part is that he's around. People say he's screwing with something magic, but that magic shit is pretty much beyond me. So's the psychic stuff. And most of the technical stuff." He then chuckles at himself. "But I like to think that being old-fashioned and with my own different knowledge and weird skill sets makes me usefully unpredictable as well. I can *think* it, can't it?" He sticks his tongue out - then plops a piece of chicken on it and swallows.

Bella smirks. "Don' know nothin more 'bout that kinda stuff 'n ya do. Ain' gotta be all sorry bout that neither." A little shrug. "Ain' hurt me none yet. Not really."

"Okay," Gabriel makes a short but sweeping gestures. "Your turn. I've been talking, you've been telling me why not to do what I think needs to be done. What have you been up to? Hanging around the clubs to score, or did you finally find those three men you were looking for?" He grins, and eats.

"Nope." Bella's grinnin. "Jus' one. Easier that way. Can jus' get more later." A wink and a pointing finger. "Already gotta halfa one. Sorta." Maybe he's too old to be a whole one.

"Bella, unless you're talking about eating in a sexual way with your ankles behind your ears, I don't want to know. I don't want to know about that, either. But I'd rather hear about kinky things before meals," Gabriel says with an ironic nod. "You must do something else during your exciting waking hours that are worth mentioning. Racquetball perhaps? Tennis with the girls, wearing one of those short, frilly skirts and a flouncy top?"

Bella blinks. Perks a brow. "Who said nothin bout eatin? Jus' talkin bout guys. 'N I do lotsa stuff. Just ain' all stuff ta go braggin' bout."

"Okay, okay, sorry. But.. I guess you have to find nice guys who take you back to their own places." Gabriel smiles. "How're Bart and Val doing? I understand that they're coming down to a pesk problem on a farm down south - I was there first, which is one way that I know. You coming with?"

"Maybe. Ain' heard lots bout that neither." Bella hmms. "'R the big trip ta wherever't is. Ain' seen Bart since I's at 'is place that one time."

"That one time? Only once?" Gabriel cocks a brow. "There are a lot of people saying that you're running with the two of them. That true?" He shovels another bite of chicken into his mouth.

Bella smirks. "Once 'r twice. 'N been parta Bart's li'l group thing fer a while. Nobody ain' done so much really though. Li'l trip 'n then lotsa talk bout other stuff."

"Traveling to Tolkeen with 'em?" Gabriel is brief.

"Maybe." She nods a little. "If I can. 'S a long ways I think. Dunno if I wanna go so far." Bella ain't blabby bout it.

Gabriel nods. "I can see how distances can be dangerous for... a young woman such as yourself." He then holds his hands out to the sides, an amused look on his face. "This conversation seems a little one-sided, Bella. even for you. You sure that you're feeling okay?" Yup, his hand ends up quickly on her forehead, checking for a temperature.

Bella don't have one. Not even a little one. His fork's maybe warmer. She quirks up a brow again though. He can feel that at least. "Feel fine. Jus' been busy 'n stuff. Ya got plans. Got 'em too ya know."

The older fellow looks down at the table and laughs, shaking his head mildly. "Well, I've been asking what kind of plans and things you have. If you'd rather not discuss them, just tell me so. People have their privacy. But if you *do* have things to tell me, then please, regale me. It's rude for me to eat with my mouth full." In goes another piece of chicken, silencing Gabriel.

"Ain' got nothin big. Nope." Bella reaches over. Snitches a piece of bread. "Guess I don' care bout tellin ya so much. Jus' ev'rybody else. Don' figger ya wanna know though. Since y'already said so." A smirk. "Maybe get s'more friends soon though. Mosta what I've been thinkin 'n plannin on."

Gabriel looks confused once more at how the young woman across form him chooses to butcher the proper grammar of the English language as he'd been taught so many years ago in the Catholic school in Hazard. He eventually just shakes his head and moves on. Maybe he figured it out, maybe not. "How do you figure to get more friends, Bella? Don't get me wrong, you're quite friendly - but you're unique, and friends are hard to come by, for anyone. Good friends, particularly. Or do you mean that you're opening a brothel that caters to women, hence having a lot of 'friends'?" He winks and snickers, then swipes playfully at the basket, grabbing his own little bun.

Bella's good at that. Even better since she never opens her lips much. She smirks. "Got ways. Maybe not fer lots. But justa couple really good ones."

Gabriel rolls his eyes in amusement. "Dear, dear little Bella. I'm doing all of the talking, and I'm running out of things to tell you about! C'mon, gimme something to bounce off of! You know, conversations usually go one direction, information is processed, new ideas are formed, and it then is spoken back the direction it came. Take a shot at it?" The man smirks, pushing his mostly-empty plate away, sipping at his soda. "So you're out with Val and Bart, but not doing much. Been doing much of anything interesting on your own? Piling credits to buy a nice spot over at Coventry Place?"

"Wish." Bella smirks harder. "Bart's thing's s'poseda be my easy thing. Cept't ain't payin. Not lookin fer a fancy place. Started visitin Monique's place lots though." Now she grins. "Ain' really stayin but it's somethin."

"Oh, Monique! Nice young girl. Not quite sure which one of you is older - and I'm counting up to certain, shall I say 'frozen ages?'" Gabriel lifts both brows. "I'd love to be around to listen to the two of you talk. One Eskimo girl who butchers the English language... and one human city girl who butchers the English language in her own special way." He offers wink at the term 'human.' "What does Tornaq think about it?"

Bella shrugs. "Ain' seen 'em much. Went off somewheres. Was Seb't lemme in 'n showed me 'round." Smile grows up outta all that smirking. "Like't better that way anyhow."

"I can understand that. Monique's always been a little skittish. Coming and going. Then mostly just sits around quietly and avoids people when she is here. I feel kind of bad for Sebastien, even if he is a bit of an asshole." Gabriel shrugs. "I mean, the guy loves her, right? But she's never here. That's tough on most people. Still, congratulations on finding a nice place to stay - y'know, better than just anywhere that you happen to fall over. Even have a place to hang your clothes, right!?"

"Yep!" Bella nods. "That's yer place. 'Member?" She's still smiling. Maybe more grinning. "'N I been tellin 'im how shitty't's gotta be with her ain' bein here. Tryin'a keep 'im not bored too."

Gabriel chuckles. "Just look out for him. Nice enough on one hand and trustworthy, but a bit of an asshole personality-wise. Not bad, just too much. He might get a little 'handsy' at times. Not an accusation, just a thought. He been giving you any trouble looking for a lay with his girl being gone?" He gazes oddly across the table. "He has his own place, right? He's not trying to stay with you?"

Bella makes a face. "Got 'is own place. But yeah. Givin me all kindsa trouble bout that." She about looks like she's pouting. "Ass keeps runnin way from me. Can't get 'im ta stick round anywhere really."

"Does he know about your rather unique personality? Little quirks that make you so special?" Gabriel smiles, "Or am I still the only fellow in the city who gets to keep such a wonderful secret. You want something special to drink?" The question is probably raised as a four-boobed waitress walks by carrying a full two bottles worth of some kind of red wine. He answers his own question to himself, temporarily at least, a nice cup of sugar-and-cream coffee.

"Not yet. But he ain' stupid. Maybe figger things out 'fore too long." Bella goes back to grinning. "S'why I figger it's better I talk ta him first ya know? Tried some wigglin ta maybe make talkin easier. Ain worked yet." Not so much grin. "Gonna hafta get more serious."

Gabriel shakes his head slowly. "I think that would be a bad idea, Bella. Some secrets should always be secrets. He's a cyber-knight, even though he doesn't act like one. Pretty sure that one of their stated missions in life is to eradicate certain types of bitten people. If he's pushing you, if he's really asking too many questions?" The man shrugs and offers a friendly hand. "You should come back and stay with me."

Bella smirks. "He ain' askin so much now. But yer right. Why I wanna have some chittin 'n chattin 'fore he starts pokin 'n proddin too much. He's s'poseda be the expert right? Get 'im with me 'n maybe nobody else'll be pokin round neither." More grin in her smirk.

"Well, I suppose that's one option. He has the whole psychic thing going for him though, and I honestly don't know how that works with you. I know a lot, but not everything, after all." Gabriel holds up a hand, the says slowly, "No.. hold on. Yeah, this is right, I had lots of kids and I raised them, I *do* know everything." He sticks his tongue out, very distantly, and crosses his eyes as well.

"Guess we getta figger it out." Little shrug. Then a face. "Guess I ain' gonna know nothin cause I ain' havin no kids. Fack that." Bella finally ggets a smirk again. "But yer fulla it. Know ya don' know ev'rythin. Can go on 'n keep thinkin it though."

Gabriel taps his head with his hand. "Father knows best, Bella. But seriously, I'm somewhat busy at the moment, but in a few weeks I'll be free, and I can show you how to properly fire that little pop gun of yours, if you haven't learned from someone else already." His face then turns to one of curiosity. "Has Bart shown you?"

Bella shakes her head. "Nope. Ain't seen 'im much. Like I was sayin. Can ask 'im when I do though." She eyes his food a second. Then him. "If I see 'im. Dunno what all he's doin now."

The older fellow throws his hands up. "He's an odd fellow, what keeping company with Valeriya and all. Did you read the news? I mean, I didn't think of her too well before, just from personal experience. But that rally, the one that was apparently very peaceful - but she attacked it? Fucking psychopath, and obviously an arrogant one, at that. Sounds like she was lucky that those bodyguards let her live. Honestly?" Gabriel shrugs in admission, "I'd told Bart that I was interested in joining up with him. Just because he was taking all the jobs, and I do occasionally need more money than construction work - not often, but sometimes. Now? Even if the pay would set me up for life, I'm not going to have my name linked with that crazy bitch." He angles a finger across the table. "You might want to consider that problem long and hard yourself, Bella."

"Huh." Maybe Bella didn't know about all that. "Guess I better think bout that. Ain' lookin fer no extra trouble. S'why I turned down steamy shadow boy. Course there's lotsa crazy bitches 'round." A little wink and she stands up. "Know one't oughtta get goin too. Can't sit 'ere all night."

Gabriel rises as well, leaving an appropriate amount of credits on the table to cover the meal and a reasonable tip. He offers a big of commentary on that part, "Don't ever really see the need to pay someone extra to do a job that I could do myself if I needed to." But he then looks to Bella and sweeps a hand toward the exit. Or entry. Depends on which way you're going. "Looks like we should both be going - another dull construction job's looking me in the face tomorrow morning. But I guess you'll be getting out on the town now. In either case, yeah, think about it. There are a lot of crazy bitches, but I'd nominate her to be way up on that list. After you."

Bella smirks. Maybe he's bein nice and lettin her out first. Or maybe he was being not nice and talking about that list. Either way she slides out and aims for the door. "Got things ta see 'n people ta do. 'R somethin like that. Don't get yer nose chopped off good guy."

"I take pride in my ability to keep my appendages. Only been really hurt once," Gabriel says as he follows her out the exit of the restaurant, then angles for a different door out of the inn itself. "See you around, Bella. Be safe." Then he's off, doing his own job of fading out into darkness on his way home.