The Cryptic Muse

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Full Log (of all play prior to this posted below) can be found:
Story: NYC-New York Tomorrow
Room:: NYC-The City At Large
Start Date: 6/18/2013
End Date::: 6/19/2013

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2013-06-19 00:10:30 Archer Keating
He tipped his head up and sucked in a breath to try to steady himself. "He said his name was um .. White Rabbit. Does that mean anything to you?" He took a step back, fingers going throu his hair. "I need a weapon; shouldn't leave without knives." He swallowed as he started to pace, fingers flexing and then tightening into fists. "What is this envelope thing?" He stopped to look at Chase, question in his eyes. "At least we have the power if they don't know we know about the bug, right?" He finally flopped down onto the couch with a sigh.

2013-06-19 00:15:40 Chase Benjamin
Fuck it. There was a time for being compliant and following rules, and a time for not. Chase fished a cigarette out of the open, short-sleeved, light blue shirt he was wearing and lit it up without a second thought. "White Rabbit.." he parroted, though let go when Archer took that step back. That brought a smirk to his face and he headed for the couch, too, but swiped up an empty plastic cup that had a bit of water in the bottom before doing so. "Knives are great. If you're more comfortable with knives, start carryin' 'em." Of course, Chase would always advocate for weapons-- given the life he lead. "Not quite. We got somethin' better.." he trailed, though paused to take a long, muchly needed, drag from the cigarette before reaching up to scratch at his hairlie.

"White Rabbit is code for'n agent that's.. ..woken up, so to say. Ain't gonna follow. M'not sure why he'd say so.. because without th'knowledge of th'code, he'd have no reason t'know it.." Which was puzzling in itself, but.. it was what it was. "He told you 'bout th'bug so we can remove it. Just gotta find it." Another pause, and he dropped his head back with a slow exhale of smoke that spiraled up. "He's on my side then. Wonder what th'fuck he saw to make 'em change 'is mind." So many questions. "He said t'watch for'n envelope? ..Good. That'll answer some shit."

He nodded when Chase repeated the 'white rabbit' phrase. There were moments when he felt overwhelmed and out of his league. This was one of them. Was he having second thoughts about Chase? Hell no. Archer just wanted things to be more normal. You know, like dealing with the cops because of a street race or something. This super-spy stuff was unsettling. "I don't like guns." It was a simple statement but one that had some history to it.

"What do you mean? Something better?" Archer latched onto that one tight. He liked the idea of having something better than the people after them and he wanted to know what it was.

The blond shook his head. He didn't understand what Chase was talking about in reference to the code 'White Rabbit'. He shrugged about the bug. "Okay, so we find the bug. You have an ally. But what is this envelope? I'm sort of lost, Chase." Sort of was an understatement but hey, at least he was admitting it.

It was a good thing that Chase was taking everything so very casually, Archer was only barely hanging onto his own calm. What was the phrase from that movie about damaging his calm? That was Archer. It was only his stubborn determination to stick it out with Chase that kept him sitting there trying to figure things out instead of saying 'hey, this isn't going to work'. If it had been ANYONE else, Archer would have been six blocks away several days ago. But this was Chase and Archer would never leave Chase. Not even when he might be in danger but hey, that was a different topic that Archer would dodge later if it ever came up.

Having someone on the inside was something better, true. Archer hadn't thought about it like that. His hand slid over to curl fingers around Chase's hand. Having inside knowledge would help everything, as long as they could trust this inside source. "You don't think he's doing it just to fuck with you? How do you know for sure he's not just playing us? Can we believe him?" Welcome to the suddenly more suspicious Archer.

He glanced down and muttered, "I don't think I want to take the car to the garage to have it checked out. You think you can go over it in the parking garage? If we need anything, I can call Boss and having someone bring shit to us."

He shrugged about the face to face meeting concept. That was not his idea of a reassuringly good time. So much can happen in a face to face encounter and often times such things included broken bones. Archer wasn't afraid of violence but he did like to avoid it if possible.

"Okay. I'm pretty sure Boss'll send over someone. Probably someone that can help us out too. You know, an extra set of hands." He figured it would be one of the younger guys. That's usually what they got used for. Hell, until he proved himself Archer had been that delivery boy. Three races won with shit-ass cars had gotten him some notice and he'd managed to gain some respect in the group.

Worrying? His eyes narrowed at the command not to worry. "For the record, I'm not worrying." But his look did call bullshit on the 'this is nothing' comment. This was definitely something out of the ordinary. Maybe not to Chase but it was to Archer and the rest of normal society. He watched Chase fiddle with his phone and then leaned in so he could actualy watch the screen. Archer was not phone savvy since he'd ignored trying to get one until Chase had insisted. He squeezed Chase's hand then got up to go find his own phone so he could call Boss. That call should be easy and it was. All he had to do was use the phrase, 'we have a situation' and Boss was all over it. No questions asked. Archer chuckled once he hung up. "He said first thing in the morning. He'll send out the tow since that's got a complete tool set and it won't look funny." Leave it to Boss to know how to slide under the radar.

And speaking about people who knew how to get things done. "Have you heard anything about Mel?" He deliberately changed the subject to something 'normal' although it wasn't really normal was it? He was asking about a guy who had his throat shot by an asshole federal agent. So, fail! But the question was out there and Archer did want to know since Archer had played a small part in the guy recovering. "Has Maura gotten in touch with you at all?" He thought the lady was nice and hated to see her all upset about Mel. Being a reporter, he figured she was tougher than she looked but it was still sad to see bad things happen to nice people.

He grinned a little. Chase had no idea what the younger guys could be like. Archer could see Chase pulling his hair out or going into 'teacher' mode. It depended on Chase's mood really. "You know, it's not your fault." Archer had a lot of irate feelings inside but only for those who really were at cause for this. He couldn't believe that Chase had anything to do with this voluntarily. "You are somebody. You're you and well hell, I like you just the way you are." Even with the extra baggage.

It made him feel a little better knowing that Maura was tough, in Chase's opinion, and that if anything were terribly wrong Maura would contact them. That knowledge let Archer drop back onto the couch after his call and all but sprawl across Chase. He was finally coming down off that high of 'oh my god I was followed' and starting to relax. He laid his head against Chase's shoulder and muttered, "I need a distraction." His blue eyes slid to the side, peering at Chase from the corner of his eye. "You want to be my distraction?"

"What the hell?" He actually smacked Chase up side the head for that 'how long' comment. Archer wasn't a fair weather friend even when it got his ass kicked. That had happened a couple of times after Chase left but he hadn't told anyone about it. In fact, that was where his fear of tight places came from. But only his mum knew about that. Everyone else just accepted it as a phobia. "As long as you're breathing, asshole." He smirked though to take any sting out of his words.

His smile grew wider at Chase's reply. No, he didn't have to ask but it was fun to see the reaction. Archer leaned in enough to put a kiss on the very corner of Chase's mouth. "I'm going to open the doors to air that shit out." You know he was going to want room service soon! "We need to get some air freshener too." Archer pushed off the couch and headed for the double doors. He pushed them open, the wind breezing in and causing the curtains to flutter.

The observer did not need a laser pointer to identify the target or to be sure he hit the target. It was just a matter of time, of waiting for that one moment that would come. And it did. It always did. He lay still just as he had laid still for hours once taking his post. The weapon had been trained on the balcony for just as long. He waited, unmoving, dressed in black to blend into the night.

Archer laughed and flounded his way out of the curtains that were billowing all around him. "Shit! They're trying to eat me!" He batted at the curtains and then stumbled, nearly taking the curtains right off the wall with him with a grunt of surprise and .. pain? The sound came the same moment the crack of impact was heard on the wall near the door. It was a distant pop followed by the more immediate crack. Archer rolled over, kicking the curtains out of his way. His left hand held his right bicep, blood starting to seep from between his fingers. "Chase." He only said that one word before he instinctively dropped to the floor. A second crack near the first split the silence. "I think we need to check out."