2007-03-02: Gin And Waffles

Starring:

Anders_icon.gif Benjamin_icon.gif Daniel_icon.gif Stefanie_icon.gif

Summary: What a lovely Sunday morning. No really!

Date It Happened: March 2nd, 2007

Log Title Gin and Waffles


Downtown, NYC - Oldcastle Pub and Restaurant

It's Sunday morning and the City is a bit sleepy. A bit odd for a place that never sleeps.. Perhaps it's more hungover. One who isn't hungover is Stefanie, who's sitting at a booth, menu in hand and looking for something breakfast-y. Breakfast at an Irish Pub? Why not. The crowd is small, as most are still sleeping or in church, but that will change in a couple hours.

Apparently, breakfast here is on more than one mind this morning, as Anders is sat at the bar. He picks through what appears to be last night's toad in the hole and makes bleary small talk with the barmaid, worse for wear himself. This impression is added to by the fact he is wearing a ratty t-shirt, jeans and a leather jacket, instead of his usual smart suit. Jeez, how many led zepplin t-shirts can one man own?

Benjamin would never consider coming into a pub on a whim. (Owing to that he doesn't drink anymore, not since college.) It's also just not really his scene, being the stuffy, straight-laced accountant type that he is. On this particular morning however, he has a brunch meeting with some of the coworkers who aren't as stuffy as he. Arriving early out of habit, he starts shrugging out of his coat once inside the doors. Under that coat, he's not in one of his usual business suits, but a nice pair of slacks, long sleeved shirt with a blue sweater over it.

Stefanie decides on her order and sighs when the waitress shows up. She begins placing her order when her cell rings. She sounds disappointed. "Dad? C'mon. I haven't seen you in a week. The market's fine, I've been covering my shifts. i just wanted…. Yeah.. alright. Sure." She sighs and slams her phone shut. "Guess it's just me." She says as she finishes her order. The waitress leaves and Stef takes her napkin to wipe her eyes quickly.

The man at the bar double-takes when Benjamin comes in, not believing his luck, "Thank you," Anders says to the barmaid as he pushes the plate towards her and finishes the pint in front of him, "My friend has just come in, I wonder if you could send him this with a neat gin." he pauses, to scribble something on a napkin and hand it to the girl, with a tip.

Benjamin drapes his coat over his arm and waits to be seated at a table. The wait isn't long and he's promptly shown to a table that will easily seat him and his coworkers. The coat is set across the back of the chair before he takes a seat. He doesn't even get time to look at the menu before Anders little present is brought over. Well, that's just, unusual. He thanks the waitress just out of politeness. The glass of gin is pushed aside, but the note has him looking up sharply and around the pub.

Stefanie is a slight bit distraught at being rejected from her father, and isn't paying much attention to anything else going on. She turns, noticing a flower that's been placed on the tabel, the same as every other table. Some attempt to bring in some springtime to liven up the wintery scene. She smiles and watches the flower grow a slight bit, watching the bud open up. She even gggles a slight bit, losing herself in the play.

The man at the bar waves over at his "friend" and, smiling, taps a finger against the side of his nose before pointing at Benjamin. Then Anders turns back to the bar and orders another pint of stout, chortling under his breath. The little display of power is missed, theres the seeds of paranoia to be planted!

It's not difficult at all to make Benjamin paranoid. He already knows he's tracked and being watched, unless what Elle said is true and he's 'off the radar'. Yet, Anders just renewed the paranoia. He slumps down in his seat a little, looking at the note, then across over at Anders. "Great," is breathed out. Now he's tempted to blow off the meeting.

Stefanie's amusement is short-lived. She sighs, pushing the flower back to it's original spot and takes a second to glance around. She doesn't recognize anyone, nor does she notice anything nefarious going on. She smiles when the waitress brings her a chocolate milk and belgian waffle.

There's a bit of bustle at the front of the pub when Daniel makes his entrance, nearly crashing into the door from the outside. He manages to keep himself from doing anything too damaging to himself and his image, however, and gets the door open without much fuss. The teenager is agitated. It's obvious. But that's something to worry about later, because he's also hungry. "Uh. Waiter?" Someone doesn't like to wait to be seated like everybody else.

Anders stands, smiling at the barmaid, before heading over to Benjamin's table, pint glass in hand, "Good morning, Mr. Winters, how is your day going?" he asks as he pulls out a seat across from the accountant, "May I sit? Yes? Thank you." no time is given for any answers. "We've missed you at the hospital, when are you planning on coming back?"

There's a facial tic there, Benjamin's eye does a brief twitchy thing as Anders helps himself to a seat at the table. "It /was/ going good." He sits upright in his seat, staring across at Anders. There isn't a vibe of loathing, just, dislike and a distinct lack of trust. Despite the last talk they had. "I'm sure I've been missed, and I don't plan on ever going back."

Stefanie looks up sharply as she hears the noise from the front, an auburn brow raised at the appearance of Daniel. She smirks, recognizing the young man from school the other day. She shakes her head and picks of a strawberry from her waffle.

During the desperate and impatient search for someone to seat him, the new customer in the pub lets his eyes roam. Nothing interesting, nothing interesting, nothing - oh, hey, it's that girl from school or something. Daniel abandons his waiting spot and starts to move through the pub, heading over for Stefanie's table until he's close enough to her to set a hand on a free chair. "Mind if I sit here? They take forever." Daniel's totally gonna mooch off Stefanie's waffles if he gets the chance.

"Really, Mr. Winters, you would think we treated you unkindly," Anders says, grinning in between drinks from the mug, "We have been keeping tabs on you, you should know. Just a formality, really, since you don't seem to be a threat to anyone, least of all to ourselves." The big man stops for a moment, finishes the dregs of the pint and looks over at Benjamin again, "I'm not interrupting a breakfast date, am I?"

The presence of others in the pub doesn't go unmissed, Benjamin's aware that the pub has a good stream of customers at the moment. But for now? He's preoccupied with Anders. Tense? Oh you bet. It's also tempting to use his abilities, unprovoked and make a run for it. But that's just juvenile behavior. "Not. At. All." is said, through almost clenched teeth. Almost. "Surely you have better things to do than keep an eye on an accountant," he says, making sure to keep his voice down. A feeling of uncharacteristic anger bubbles up within about the whole keeping tabs deal. Then again, there's a voice in his head that tells him Anders is just trying to bait him.

Stefanie blinks.. "Um…" Well, she can't use the Dad excuse.. and Stef needs a distraction from being blown off. "Sure, go ahead." She says, offering the seat with a shrug. "Are you running from someone?" She asks, point blank. "The way you came in…" She looks around, seeing if some big thugs walk in.

Daniel just stares at Stefanie for a moment, a positively befuddled look on his face. "Running from - ? Oh, yeah. Absolutely. The FBI is on my trail for the ferry attack. I'm secretly a terrorist." He pulls out the chair and de-shoulders his backpack, setting it down with a soft rumple next to his seat as he drops down into it. "You're… Stacy?" Sadly, Daniel never has been good with names. "Something with an 'S' in it."

"Me? Oh, no, Mr. Winters, I only get sent out to deal with troublesome clients. Are you /troublesome/, Mr. Winters? The Company does not consider you so," Anders says, indeed baiting the accountant, "We have men with specialised equipment and the gifts to keep you under surveillance, Sir. My own.. skills are for other uses entirely. This meeting, Sir, is entirely coincidental"

Stefanie giggles. "Not everyone running is running from the good guys." she blinks.. "And it's Stefanie…close." She smiles. "So, did you get into another fight, or was Friday just practice for a title shot?" She takes a sip of her chocolate milk. The waitress walks over, a bit confused after being told Stefanie was alone. She asks if Daniel needs something, not quite sure as to what's going on. Teenagers are so infuriating!

Benjamin narrows his eyes slightly at Anders. "I've never been troublesome in my life." At least, not on purpose. "Lucky for me that I'm not considered as troublesome." There's a flash of anger in his eyes, oh Anders is succeeding in baiting him. "I already know that, and I think the company's methods are sick." It's all in his mind of course, the twinge he feels from the mark on his neck. It's imagined, right? So far, so good, he's in check and not losing control.

"Nah. Just in a hurry. I'm Dan, if you don't remember." Stefanie. Stefanie. Remember that, and try to not be an ass. As the waitress approaches he looks up at her with the biggest grin he can muster, his entire face lighting up. "/Sweet/. Uh, yeah. Three-egg omelet with American, ham, and tomatoes, and a glass of water." Stefanie's waffles will remain safe. For now. "—and what about you? Sitting alone in a pub on Sunday morning?"

Stefanie smiles and points to the chocolate milk. "RESTAURANT and pub. And I was supposed to meet my dad for breakfast, but he blew me off.. Something about his boyfriend or whatnot." She shrugs, nabbing a bit of her waffle as the waitress takes Dan's order and walks off.

"Please calm down, Mr. Winters, you're making a scene," Anders says, sitting back into the seat, "You wouldn't want to have to be escorted from the premises, now, would you?" he smiles over at one of the staff.

Benjamin's eyes widen and he flattens his hands on the table's surface as he leans forward some in his seat. "Me? I'm not making a scene," he hisses lowly at his tormentor. "Oh for crying out loud.."

Dad? Boyfriend? Well. Things just got really awkward. Daniel bites his lip and taps his fingers against the tabletop, resettling himself in his chair and leaning forward. "My mom's kinda like that. It's not a big deal after a while."

"Whatever you say, Sir," Anders says, "You should be more careful though, when you're a.. special case.. like we are, they can see troublesome activity in the slightest thing." Torment is fun! "And, since you won't go back to the hospital, the next protocol is rather final."

Stefanie shrugs. "Well, my Dad and I had always been close. He's busy with the family business, I'm busy with school.." and other business. Stef shrugs. She doesn't notice anything untoward in the restaurant. "So, what do you do when you're not making trouble."

Benjamin really shouldn't take the baiting so hard. He knows that Anders is wanting to get under his skin and is succeeding, and Ben's just letting him. He falls silent, and stares hard at Anders from across the table. He's just.. had enough.. and since he's not the type to throw an actual physical punch, so he does what he's capable of doing.

"Reading, generally. Or just fooling around. Whatever comes to mind - I do it. I hope your thing with your dad works out, anyway, and you shouldn't let school take over your life." Daniel cracks his knuckles and grunts, looking up in hopes of spotting the waitress.

Theres a solid clunk as Anders head hits the table, knocking the pint glass to the floor. The big man felt the need for a nap, obviously, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. The staff, after a few moments of being baffled, debate letting him sleep or trying to drag him out, hes a heavy looking guy after all. After some consideration, they decide to call him a cab.

Benjamin exhales a shaky breath as he watches Anders just clunk over. There's a moment of consideration, he eyes the glass of gin, then the slumped over Company agent. A scraping of legs versus the floor is heard as he scoots his chair back and stands. He picks up the glass and belts back the contents, then sets it down. Another glance is made at Anders, then his coat is reclaimed and he leaves the pub. He'll just.. apologize to his coworkers later. Now? He just wants to retreat to home.

Stefanie nods. "So.. just your typical teen stuff, huh?" She smiles. If this were any other time, Daniel would make a good potential customer and… bang! Stef jumps when Ander's head hits the table. She winces. "That's gonna hurt when he wakes up.." She says quietly, as Daniel's waitress returns, the staff doing what they can to keep the rest of the patrons from being weirded out and leaving.

When he comes to, Anders is furious, but nevertheless thanks the staff for the cab, someones just made the shitlist, oh yes. He is escorted out and piled into the cab in the short term, headed back to the offices.

Daniel turns in his seat to stare at the pair of men at the table. "People don't normally /do/ that - jesus christ, this city is going /nuts/." First random tremors. Now random narcolepsy. Daniel isn't stupid; maybe the guy's drink was spiked or something, which is why he gives Benjamin's back a suspicious glare as the man departs from the pub. "I think maybe I'd better get this to go."

Stefanie raises an eyebrow and nows, finishing her meal. "I should get going too.. There's… homework, and walks in the park and stuff to get done before the weekend's over." She stands. "Take it easy. I'll see you around." She says as she leaves.

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