bakerstreet | Dirty laundry

the LAUNDROMAT

Perhaps you live in a dorm or an apartment that hasn't seen renovations since the eighties. Maybe your luck has really dried up and your washing machine at home broke the night before a job interview and you haven't done a load of laundry in two weeks. Whatever your story is you've ended up at the local 24-hour laundromat. It could be creeping in on midnight or three in the morning. Either way, the place is a dead zone. Leaving you floating in a liminal space where reality has been stripped down to the sounds of clattering quarters and the continuous thrum of the machines under the buzz of neon lights. This would be a horrible time to bump into someone you know, or worse - a complete stranger while you're staring into the middle distance in nothing but your American flag boxers reading a paperback.

HOW TO PLAY:
+ Comment with your character, preferences, etc.

+ Leave the comment blank or be daring and write a top-level starter

+ Comment to others and play out all those awkward run-ins or strange chance meetings

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Joe's fingers twitched, just briefly, because that definitely struck a nerve as well, considering everything Merrick and the doctor had spouted off about their plans for keeping himself and Nicky under control.

He nodded at the actual answer, however, "Part of why talking to me could be dangerous. I see." He tilted his head, almost a shrug as he resumed folding the shirt he'd set aside, "I'm hardly going to be the one to tell you not to, though."

Frankie smiled a little and leaned on the table again. "I do appreciate the opportunity." His smile faded. "Though there's a good chance that if they find out about all this, they'll send me after you."

He tilted his head, considering Joe for a moment. "I have serious doubts about how honest you're being with me--I'm not mad about that, it's smart. I don't want to know anything more about your life, in case they do send me after you. But I am starting to wonder if maybe you'd be a little more capable of holding me off than the other poor SOBs they tell me to kill."

"Maybe." He replied, "But I also don't know what you're capable of, so I can't say for sure." He shrugged, "I am better at handling myself in a crisis than most random guys off the street, though. Depending on the crisis."

A small smile, "But let's hope neither of us has to find out the outcome of that altercation, hm?"

Frankie shrugged. "Yeah. I guess we can hope. Or try, anyway." He tilted his head the other way. "Kind of gave up on that a while ago. But I'll give it a shot," he said, and smiled a little.

He inclined his head, a magnanimous nod and acquiescence, though his own smile had gone just a little impish, "Well then it's a good thing that I've generally got enough hope for three men." He shrugged, that amusement spilling over into his tone, "It's a gift, one that my husband often wishes I could return, apparently it makes me insufferable."

Granted, it had been a very long time since Nicky had said anything of the sort without affection being the underlying tone, but that wasn't something that he needed to relay just at the moment.

Frankie smiled. "Well I'm appreciating it right now." He made his way back over to the chair next to the table and sat down again. "Might be a little overly sentimental or something, but it's nice to be around that after not getting it for... a while."

He sighed deeply, then got comfortable in the chair, looking over at Joe. "Any other questions?"

He considered for a moment, weighing just how much more risk he'd be adding even by asking, but once again deciding that it was worth it, especially when he knew what Nicky's response would be -the answering text of 'whatever it takes' was clear enough- which was why he said, "Only one more. Your handlers, are they headquartered here, or are they more mobile than that?"

A little shake of his head followed, "And if that isn't something you know, that's fine, too." He suspected that kind of thing might be above Frankie's pay grade, or at least one of those things they kept from him to keep him under control.

Frankie tilted his head as he considered the question. He actually was much more aware of the coven's locations than they probably would have liked him to be, but that was required if they were going to use him to keep their activities hidden. But the answer was slightly complicated.

"A little of both. The actual base of operations is... elsewhere, but it can be connected to different places through... let's call them magical shortcuts. It's more complicated than that but it's nothing that you'd need to know. The shortcuts do take a certain amount of power to maintain, so they can only keep a small number open at any one time--the shortcut they've had to this area had been open for a while. There's a lot around here they want to keep tabs on, I suppose."

His brows both lifted a little, "Magical shortcuts. Fair enough." It wasn't disbelief, not really, if anything it was closer to curiosity, but he wasn't going to make a big deal out of it either way.

He wasn't sure if that made it more likely or less likely that this was, in fact, the same group they were there for. It was something that he'd have to go over the information they had once he got back home, keeping what he'd learned in mind to see if it fit.

"It's a high-traffic area, in more ways than one, I could imagine that's the kind of thing they'd want to keep abreast of, certainly the kind of thing I'd want to remain aware of if I was running some kind of criminal empire."

"They definitely like knowing things." Frankie stretched. "Almost more than actually doing things, they like knowing things." He leaned his head on his hand. "Though they've got very lofty goals."

That was about as much as Frankie could probably say about the coven, and he didn't particularly feel like testing his limits just then.

He nodded then, leaning more casually against the table as he continued folding, "Well, I've been grilling you for a while now, anything I can answer for you instead?"

He inclined his head, almost a shrug and almost an apology, "Of course, I can't promise I'll be able to answer fully, but that's the nature of the job isn't it?"

Frankie smiled and shook his head. "There's plenty I'd like to ask, but the less I know the better. If I'm lucky they won't think to ask me anything about tonight, but I can't be sure." He winked. "Better for you to stay a mysterious acquaintance who helped me with my laundry and happened to ask the right questions."

His dryer went off, and he went over to check his clothes. They were dry and stain free, so he pulled them out and folded them, which took only a couple of minutes. Before he picked everything up to leave, he turned to Joe with a sad smile. "It was nice talking to you. Thanks for keeping me company."

Dirty laundry

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject