Starring:
Summary: The next victim person to receive a gift is Gene. Again, it sounds fishy.
Date It Happened: December 15, 2007
Suspicious Gifts 2
Vito's Pizza
"…Let's see…"
// Calling…Gene //
It seems like Mikhail magically 'collected' contacts a long time ago. Elena seems to be the main source. It's not like he diliberately took them from her lists; he might have asked to look at her phone for a moment before handing it back. Playing with two phones is totally normal. Leaning against a lamp post, Mikhail waits for the other end to pick up. And if Gene does, or if he gets an answering machine message, it mainly goes like this. "…'Lo, Genie. It's Mikhail. You think you can spare a bit of your time today?"
The call comes to Gene's phone. There is no pick up, though Gene sees that someone is calling. He doesn't know the number though, so he just watches it. If some body has the power to teleport through cell phones, they won't get HIM off guard. HAHA. As soon as the 'New Voice Mail' message appears, Gene brings it up as he sits in his office. Figuring that it is likely not someone trying to capture him for the beginning of his Pinehearst snooping, he calls back.
"Mikhail? This is Gene… What's going on now?"
Voice mail. Figures. Mikhail leaves the message, shrugging as he looks down at his own phone. And then it rings. He flips it open again, raising it back up to the side of his head. "Oh hey," the artist replies with a mild grin. "I was just wondering if you could meet me by the pizza place. Vito's." Totally not suspicious. There is a long pause. "Unless you want me to come to you." The second part may sound threatening, but his voice doesn't have the right pitch for it.
There is a long pause on Gene's end. He seems to be debating. "I think I'll meet you at Vito's. I'll be there in twenty minutes or so. Sound good to you?" Provided that the answer is an affirmative one, Gene hangs up with a "Right, be there soon". Taking his peacoat from the back of the chair, Gene buttons it up prepares to head out.
"That's fine," Mikhail nods idly at the confirmation, a little amused at how Gene takes this little setup. At least he can tell the teen will be there. The phone flips back into its closed state, disappearing into the side pocket of his messenger bag. "Twenty minutes or so," Miki repeats to himself, pushing off of the post to wander around the area. Window shopping at its finest.
Roughly half an hour after he said he'd be there, Gene Kensington makes his way into the store. He's accompanied by his usual assistant, R2-D2 who follows after Gene. How the man gets the large tin-can in and out of his car is truly a mystery. With his hands in the side pockets, Gene wears some faded blue jeans over his usual black sneakers. A keen eye would notice that is not only paler than usual, but seems to have lost a bit of weight, perhaps around five pounds or so. Giving a weak smile once he finds Mikhail, Gene nods his head and moves toward the young man with the fair features. "Hey, what's this all about?"
Waiting around didn't feel that long at all. And with Mikhail's manner of dress, it was also easy to spot him. His expression lights up a little more once he sees Gene and R2-D2 walk in ('roll' for the latter), but he does notice the subtle differences in the other's physical appearance. "Long time, no see," the artist replies as he meets Gene halfway. "You know…just wondering how you are. And, well…stuff." As Mikhail continues, he digs under the flap of the bag for a small present, its wrapping terrible yet 'artsy' to the viewer. "I also called you out because…I got you something." The gift is held out in one hand as the giver remains stoic. "Merry Early Christmas."
"Christmas." The statement causes Gene to think. To think many years ago. The only clues as to what sort of memory it is a faint vulnerability in his eyes as he stares down at the gift. He swallows as he looks up with a slightly confused (but touched) expression. "But we only met a couple of times… I'm sure that there are other people that deserve this more than me." He appears ready to let it drop for something else, clearly going from reluctant to cautious. "You were saying something about stuff? Something going on I don't know about?"
He fixes the brim of his beanie cap out of habit, tilting his head to the side as he does this. No, he's never seen that look before. It makes him wonder what Gene has been through. "Well…I figured it'd be good to give out things, and…that's true and all, but why not? I don't have many friends, but I don't have many presents to give either. Win win?" He laughs softly, feeling a bit awkward now that Gene brought it up. "Besides, I thought you might like it." And with the next two questions, the artist waves his hands around to sort of lessen the tension. "Ah, um…nothing serious, really. Maybe a few scuffles, but that's it. Nothing for you to worry about, Genie."
"I can understand the few friends thing I guess we just have different ways of dealing with it," Gene offers with a slight twitch of his smile. For now, the scuffle talk is dropped, but only those that don't know Gene would think the matter is said and done. Lifting the package slightly with a head tilt toward it, the young man inquires, "So you want me to open this now or wait until Christmas?"
He's a good boy, he is. It just seem to happen. Mikhail chuckles, shrugging a shoulder. "You can do whatever you want. I just thought I'd give it to you now," he says plainly.
Within the nest of colored wrappings and clashing tissue paper, the little robotic-looking fish ornament with a lopsided underbite waits silently.
"Right." Gene opens it up and Sure enough, there is a fish that seems robotic. "…Odd, but cool." Gene's smile becomes larger and more sincere, the whimsical nature of the ornament getting to him. "I'll make sure I'll hang it up somewhere." He doesn't have a tree, but he'll figure something out. Using some of the wrapping to wrap the gift up, he tucks it away in the side pocket of his coat for safe keeping. "Thank you very much… No, you were saying something about scuffles? Did you get into some trouble with Elena and Eric?" he muses with a faint smirk as he looks up back toward the artist. The tone is mostly joking, but considering the two, there is always that chance.
"You're welcome," the artist replies with a nod, pleased with the response. It's not as fun as Peter's, but it's cool. Mikhail then grins at the mention of Elena and Eric with the scuffles, having a vauge idea of what Gene knows and means about these two in particular. "Ah, that could happen, but no," he laughs. "Just a random stranger picking a fight with one of my other acquaintances. Fen. I got socked, but it's no big." The grin goes lopsided as he shrugs. "But yeah. That's all."
The young genius seems rather unbelieving, clear as he tries to probe Mikhail for something more. It could be his paranoia, which has only been encouraged these last few months. Leaning forward a little, Gene stares right at his odd new friend. "You sure?"
"Positive," Mikhail answers back, still looking serious but not. Eyebrows raise and lower at his friend's question, leaning back automatically. And yet, he figures it's normal for people to worry about others. Another hand wave and a subject change is good here. "Genie. I still need to give a few more presents. And…if you have stuff to do, I don't want to keep you that long, yeah?" He's showing concern, but it's not as paranoid.
If there is one thing that Gene understands it's when to push things and when to let them be. Something might be amiss, but going on would do more damage than good. "Right, I've got some things to attend to myself," Gene begins as he turns around. R2 has been surprisingly silent, Gene perhaps not in the mood for his usual antics. ".. but I'll see you around, Mikhail… Have yerself a Merry Little Christmas." With that, Gene moves to leave, his little robot following him the entire way.