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Post by Pee-Dee on Sept 5, 2012 18:40:10 GMT -5
M7W3D6, after "Jezebel in Hell". Private.
Petunia watches Addison fade into the crowd, then turns and stalks out the door. She won't show fear on this stage, for these players.
Outside, she spots Hollister's van immediately. The valet fussing at him makes it obvious. She says nothing to the man, just steps past him to open the door. Once she's safely inside, she turns a smile to Hollister. "Thanks."
It's not until they're driving away from the club that she allows herself to let go of her mask. Quietly, she curls into as tight a ball as the seatbelt and her clothes will allow her.
Crossposted from "Jezebel in Hell".
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Sept 21, 2012 15:09:48 GMT -5
Now, Hollister can't say he's all that familiar with Detective Dahlia, but they've met a few times, enough that he has a general feel for her character. She's always seemed strong and upbeat, if a bit shadowed on the edges. The Petunia curled up in the passenger seat of his van is a whole new person in some ways; it's jarring to see her like this. He can't think of anything helpful to say, either. Naturally, he blurts out the first thing that pops into his head.
"Do you want to get some coffee? At… that diner by the station?" It seems a safe enough suggestion, he thinks. It's a safe location, one that hopefully will make her more comfortable.
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Post by Pee-Dee on Sept 29, 2012 14:09:22 GMT -5
Petunia is all eaten up by the shadows, the doubts and fears and pieces of a woman who can't find herself in the world. Her thoughts skitter-flicker through faces - Addison, Muzzle, Arthur - and the mantra 'they know something I don't know'.
"Yeah. Coffee would be good." She musters up a weak smile for Hollister.
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Oct 7, 2012 16:48:27 GMT -5
Well, there's a good sign. It isn't much of a smile, but it's a smile, and Hollister beams a grin back at Petunia.
"Coffee it is!" he says, practically chirping. Thankfully, he seems to always know how to get there no matter where in town he is at the time, and it's a pretty straight shot from here. Why, they'll probably be there before Petunia knows it.
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Post by Pee-Dee on Oct 8, 2012 14:42:33 GMT -5
As soon as Hollister parks, Petunia unbuckles herself and slips out of the car. The smile she isn't feeling, brighter than the one she gave him, is back on her face. She waits for him, though, before she goes into the building.
Her dress might get a few odd looks from people used to her business attire.
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Oct 8, 2012 19:18:54 GMT -5
One of the café regulars whistles at Petunia as she walks in. He's a retired sergeant, not really a bad fellow, but Hollister gives him a bit of a severe look anyway. Then he glances to the waitress behind the counter and smiles awkwardly.
"Hey, Janine," he says, waving. She grins back after adjusting her almost comically large glasses.
"Hey there Stu! You know that's no way to dress fer a nice date!" The teasing just makes him pull a face when he thinks Petunia isn't looking because he thinks that's about the last comment that needs to be made right now. He tries not to let Petunia see him looking embarrassed on her behalf.
"Just the usual for me, please," he says, perhaps a little too brusquely. Quietly, he adds in an aside to Petunia, "What would you like? And, uh… where d'you want to sit?"
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Post by Pee-Dee on Oct 15, 2012 13:15:38 GMT -5
"Good thing he's not on one then," Petunia says, barbed. She pauses, visibly closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Then another one. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for."
"... Is it possible to get an Irish coffee?"
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Oct 22, 2012 4:32:48 GMT -5
This is normally where Janine sasses back about not getting her head bitten off for some perfectly innocent teasing – especially not teasing one of her favourite targets – but nobody asks for an Irish coffee like that for no reason.
"You just hang on a minute, sweetie," she tells Petunia before vanishing into the kitchen. Hollister, meanwhile, gestures for Petunia to pick their seating. At this hour, the diner's not packed, but there's a respectable bit of traffic as the nearest station is between shifts. They've got their choice of one booth in the back that hasn't been bussed yet, another booth at the windows, a couple of seats at the bar, and one of the only two tables that fits in this little place. He'd rather let Petunia pick because she sounds like static and frustration and he hopes that letting her have the reins will help her towards settling down.
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Post by Pee-Dee on Oct 30, 2012 21:34:19 GMT -5
"Thanks."
Hollister gestures at her to pick a table, and she beelines for the one by the window. She hunches in on herself when she sits, head tilted to the side so her cheek rests on her knuckles and her eyes stare out the window.
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Nov 15, 2012 9:49:13 GMT -5
Hollister self-consciously fidgets with the sleeves of his shirt before he sits with Petunia. She's upset, so upset, and over a date. How bad was it? But that would be rude to ask. He spent most of his life in the military; talking with women on sensitive matters was not part of his training! At a loss for how to broach the topic, he knots up his fingers at his chin, then unties them and fiddles with the salt and pepper shakers in a vain attempt to not feel awkward.
He nearly tumbles out of his chair when Janine abruptly reappears and sets a hand on his shoulder.
"Here you go, Stu," she says, still smiling as she slides his cup of milk tea in front of him, followed shortly by his cinnamon raisin bagel and cream cheese. (The bagels here have become his one big vice. Aside from the secret superhero gig, that is.) A perfectly innocent looking mug of cream-rich coffee is what Petunia gets, and a wink from Janine. "And there's yer coffee an' cream, hun." The diner doesn't have a liquor licence, of course, but for the coffee, many of their law enforcement patrons are willing to look the other way. It's still generally a quiet sort of thing. "You kids enjoy," Janine adds before sidling away.
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Post by Pee-Dee on Dec 3, 2012 17:05:44 GMT -5
"Thanks. Very much." Petunia picks up her coffee and just holds it in her hands for a long while. It's hot. Too hot, maybe, but there are too many thoughts tumbling around in her head for that one to get through. So she sits and she holds it and she stares at the table.
"I think I was an alien supervillain."
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Dec 13, 2012 21:07:14 GMT -5
It takes an immense act of self-control to not spit his tea everywhere. Hollister still stares at Petunia, boggle-eyed, and hurriedly gulps down his mouthful before he can't override the impulse to ask her.
"Whaaaaaat?" he squawks as he sets down his cup any other potential drink-related mishaps.
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Post by Pee-Dee on Jan 13, 2013 18:32:06 GMT -5
"It's the only thing that makes sense with all the available information. Muzzle's an alien. Muzzle knew me before. He obviously expected us to be friendly, and he's gone out of his way to be friendly. If he wanted to get rid of me, he could have done that already."
She takes a long gulp of her Irish coffee. "But! Esprit has records to show he was a small-time villain in Vegas. So if he knew me, and he expected us to be friendly, I can't have been a good guy.
"Now, maybe he's not an alien. But. Arthur and Addison Payne both know something about me, and I'd never met them before that I can remember. They were both threatening each other in code, too - letting the other knew they knew. And their code strongly suggested I was an alien."
Petunia takes another drink. "See?"
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on May 30, 2013 21:13:47 GMT -5
Hollister is not entirely sure how to react. Partly because, well, he is – was – an alien robot. But that's probably not something Petunia wants or needs to hear right now, given how agitated she seems over what's already transpired. Most of what he "hears" from her comes out a jumble, words piling one on top another; she's that upset.
"Villains know heroes, too," he offers a bit lamely. He still operates on incredibly simple, almost childlike logic sometimes. "And besides, maybe they're just crazy. Or super-spies. Or mistaking you for someone else. Or… I should probably shut up." He laughs once, forced, fake, and awkward, at himself, then smears cream cheese on half his bagel and shoves it in his mouth. As he chews, he wonders what he can possibly do that will actually be helpful.
Clipper always liked it when he just listened if she was upset about something.
"I… know we don't know each other all that well," he offers quietly once he gulps down his mouthful, "and I know you aren't feeling well right now, but if you want, I – I can try to help."
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Post by Pee-Dee on Dec 25, 2013 15:14:44 GMT -5
"How? There's too much contradicting evidence. Only there's not enough, 'cause none of it rings any bells in my head." Petunia doesn't scowl or grimace - she just looks a little lost. "I knew Muzzle's car, and that's the only thing I've known. From before."
Before she woke up in a hospital with no memories. Before her motorcycle accident.
Sometimes, like now, she suspected it was before she'd left bits of her brain on the street.
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