meadowlarklogs | (no subject)

WHO: Gaby + two pests (open to more pests, see notes!)
WHERE: Black Bliss (Gaby's day job)
WHEN: November 21st
WHAT: Gaby's been silent. Loki's a jerkface who stalked her home once, so he's bugging her at work.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: If anyone would like to find Gaby at her day job by chance or because they see her on the streets, hit the mods up on plot engagement so we can arrange a thread or hash out the details! The bar is in the less loved part of New Amsterdam, halfway between the old safehouse and the new on each side. If there's enough interest, we'll put up an open prompt!

[ the sign in the front of Black Bliss is old, a relic of days long past. Gaby's boss insists that it's for irony. so that it stands out. so that people know it's there. as far as she's concerned, something about it doesn't play up. still, it's a bar in the end of the world, and people are messed up. still, they're busy.

of course, Gaby isn't Gaby here. that's a handle. an identity she slides under. her real name is Celine Li – called "Cee" by those who know her. she's not fond of overly long names.

she's in her element as she works. handing out beer. making a cocktail. of course, a time like 2511 doesn't require her to handle cash. it makes all the exchanges a lot easier. it helps her know when someone's money didn't just "disappear" in the EMP. some jackasses have pulled that lately. there's nothing to support it, so out they go.

Gaby spots Jason and Loki as they come in. men of their builds are always spotted. she notes them out of her periphery, turns to grab a beer and then slides over, bending forward like any good barkeep greeting new customers. ]

I'm Cee. I'm holding things down tonight. What brings you here?

[ said casually. but Loki and Jason will undoubtedly notice the tension in her jaw. the rigidity of her shoulders. it's not even just that they're here. it's everything.

but there's no escaping it now, is there? ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You already are.

[ no mincing words. not here. not when she's frustrated and hurt. it's a simmering kind of pain, one where she can't deal with it in any traditional manner. tell Riko? out of the question. say anything else? difficult.

and Riko not knowing she's Morningstar? that's another part of someone not seeing what's right in front of them. ]

All of Morningstar's IT guys are like El. I've met one or two who've gone off the grid, who've had to be moved. It fits, and they all like short aliases like that.

[ come to think of it – that fits. El would know how to fit in, but would've had to think on the fly. it wasn't as if ze was an active participant in tech support before that night. ]

Don't hang that in front of me like a mistake. Your group likes to pretend to know everything. All the inner workings – partly because your objectivity grants you some clarity. It doesn't work that way. You may not be here for a reason, but you're here. So we're talking, but don't chastise me.

[ long road to get to that final statement. but they got to it. ]

[ she's sensitive, moreso than usual. where the Displaced had their world ripped out from beneath them physically, Gaby just had hers ripped out from beneath her emotionally and mentally, and that can be worse. ]

While this doesn't have an underlying effect on us as it may for you, we're still all in this together to some extent.

[ Loki follows up, green eyes half-lidded and looking into his drink. ]

We weren't lying when we said we were concerned. We wanted to lend ... hm, an ear, I suppose?

[ that takes a bit for him to admit, and he sighs and picks up his glass for a drink. ]

We don't know everything. None of us do. ( and he absolutely abhors the lack of information. that's something jason can admit to freely. he didn't know everything back home, either; but he damn well knew a lot more than he knows here. but he drops the stupid charade for a moment. drops the snarky grin. looks gaby in the eye instead. ) Hell, I don't know jack shit. And it gets to me, like an itch in a place I just can't fucking scratch. We've all come from different backgrounds, different circumstances and realities, right? All of us have a different view on everything going on. You're clever. You read people well. That's why I was surprised.

( moment of truth over, he slouches back in his chair, purposefully ticks up the gothamite accent, ) An' we're all stuck in this shithole together whether we like it or not. So,

( with a wide gesture, both to loki and gaby. )

I happen to like this shithole.

[ does she mean the bar or the world? the world is garbage most of the time, but she wants to save it. it's as simple as that. ]

I'm not going anywhere. Not for good.

[ it's the first time she's voiced that. ]

It's not like I can leave you all to ... it.

[ said like she knows that's wrong. like she's more malleable in her thinking than she wants to be. ]

Them.

[ correcting herself. there's a pause before she does, uneasy and unhappy about it all. she rubs her palm against her eye, uneasy. ]

[ perhaps they haven't been around long enough for the history to sink in, perhaps it's better that way. there's dueling perspectives here, and he's on notice. ]

Surprisingly, I'm not all too concerned with that. [ he fiddles with the bottom of his beer, making the beer go swish in the glass. ] If there are any direct nefarious intentions—well, we're already sitting ducks, aren't we? But not just us ...

[ he's implying Morningstar, but he doesn't say it outright, not here. ]

Then we've got a far larger problem on our hands.

[ "our." ]