4[GoT] Night on the Town

[Gabriel]

"Mmm, Nana used t-to read to me wh…when I was young," he said softly. He smiled sadly as nostalgia fluttered in his stomach. Nana was the one who taught him how to read in the first place. And do everything else. He snapped back to reality, trying to blink away the ghosts of memories as he let his teeth bite into his lower lip.

“I’d like t-to illustrate books one day. Nana wrote a book o-once. About a mo-monster who didn’t fall in love with the girl because he was blind and s-she was ugly inside.”

[Francis York Morgan]

York blinked. "I'm sorry, I didn't know saying thank you for saving one's life counted as a disservice nowadays. Are you upset because I forgot to tell you for so long? I used to have the same problem with people's birthdays, until I started associating each one with well-known movies that came out that year. It's hard to find matches for January, though... It doesn't seem to be a very popular month."

<She's very outspoken about Them in front of other people,> the voice whispered. <Does Kevin know what she's talking about?>

"No idea, Zach. One thing's for sure, though: Tamika is definitely not our tattooed man. Even without all that bare skin on her back showing, her figure's all wrong... Not to mention her gender. It's just as well- I'd feel uncomfortable arresting someone in a classy place like this. And in front of Kevin, too! As much as I hope our culprit is found soon, it'll be a lot more convenient if we can catch him out in the woods or something without any fuss. Too bad murderers are hardly ever that considerate."

York sighed, rubbing his forehead, and suddenly spotted Emily's familiar blond locks at a table closer to the stage. Oddly, there seemed to be two people sitting with her instead of just one. He turned to Tamika and raised a hand.

"Tamika, I'm afraid this year Hollywood sadly failed to produce anything to match your valiant rescue, but I'm pretty sure it was more memorable than a birthday. Hopefully we won't be forced to stage a sequel any time soon, because as you probably know, the second movie is hardly ever as good as the first. Except maybe Lethal Weapon 2, although that is of course open to debate... Well, I'm going over there to join Emily and Ashlin now, so I wish you two good luck in your evening. You both look very... collectible."

<Even I don't know what that was supposed to mean.>

"I thought it was a modern reference young people like them would get. You know those trading card games all the kids are into? Some of the cards are shiny, making them rarer and therefore more desirab-"

The voice sounded mournful. <I didn't say I wanted an explanation. I was content in my ignorance.>

[Emily Wyatt]

"I'm not sure when Diane is supposed to be back, I heard she was attending some sort of art auction...but I'm not very close with her so I can't say for sure. But I expect she would be back soon, she does have a business here after all!"

Emily began to nervously pick at the drink menu. "Gabe your grandmother's story sounds like a backwards Beauty and the Beast! I'm really curious to hear how it goes some time!"

Speaking of 'Beauty' I wonder how Tamika and Kevin are getting on with their date?

Emily's eyes moved back towards Tamika's table and saw the red head speaking to someone in a pink suit? Pink? No it must be the lighting in here...Emily peered closer and then choked back a laugh. It was pink and it wasn't just anyone it was Agent York.

It's like I'm looking at some sort of Valentine's Day Fun Ken or something!

His suit was an odd one but at least he showed up! Besides his pink suit went well with her and Ashlin's pink dresses! Emily turned to their new friend, "Excuse me for a moment I see the last of our party has arrived, I'll go bring him over!"

With that she stood, waved and walked towards the front of the lounge. She met York halfway and peered around him to throw Tamika a grin and small thumbs up. She mouthed "Have fun!" and then focused attention back to the agent.

"York you made it! Umm that is certainly a festive suit you have on there." Emily's eyes widened and peered closer at his pink hearted tie. "Oh! Your tie! Your tie even has little hearts on it isn't that adorable! I couldn't tell from back where I was sitting. You could be a human Valentine!" She gestured to her dress and back towards the table, "Looks like our little group will match on this outing...well actually now that Gabriel has joined out table I can't really say that anymore... Come on I'll introduce you guys."

Emily linked her arm around York's and pulled him back towards the party. "You already know Ashlin but this here is our new friend Gabriel. He's an artist who's just moved into town! Ashlin met him while I was in the bathroom he took some sort of fall I think?" Emily shrugged she still wasn't clear on exactly what happened, but it really didn't matter now.

"Gabriel, this is the man we were waiting for! Special Agent Francis York Morgan and he's here to assist the Greenvale police with our current murder investigation."

Emily took a seat next to Ashlin and pointed to the empty chair to her left. "Come on sit York! I don't know about you but I'm famished!"

[kevin]

“Collectible? .I wonder what that meant… “Kevin blinked, looking at York slightly confused.
”Anyway, Tamika, I invited you here to get to know you better in the first place, so, I’d be glad to listen, if you can tell me anything about yourself. I’m not going to ask about too personal stuff, if you’re not ok with that.” He smiled at her slightly.

[Ashlin Thomas]

Ash felt a sense of kinship with Gabriel when he talked about his grandmother. It sounded like they'd been close. Ashlin had nothing but good memories of her own grandma (the one she'd met at least), all of them full of half melted chocolate and the smell of lavender. "She sounds like she was lovely. Was her book published?" If so Ashlin wanted to read it. It sounded quite nice, and maybe she could order a few copies for the store.

Looking over to where Emily was headed Ashlin was surprised to see Agent York in a pink suit. 'Well that's a rather interesting coincidence' Ashlin thought 'we all wore pink.' And that was extent of Ash's thoughts on the matter of, barring that she rather liked the shade of pink. It did not seem at all odd to her that Agent York might own a pink suit, but then one of her favorite articles of clothing was a pair of electric blue tights. "Hello Agent York." Ashlin greeted with a smile. She still wasn't quite sure what to make of the man, but as Ashlin was beginning to realize Emily was rather fond of him. For that reason if no other she could give him a chance.

[Gabriel]

“W-Well when she is back I would like t-to visit her. I need a j-job to keep me busy.”

He idly rubbed his palms over his forearms, fingers creasing his jacket.

“Oh, really? I’m sure she’d l-love to hear that. S-She was influenced by reverse clichés. I think. I d-don’t know. I just…can’t ex-explain it like she can,” he said, giving a small shrug of his shoulders before offering another smile. “T-Thank you. She mu…must have it somewhere a-around her house, but I’ve n-never asked.”

Emily suddenly left the table, and he assumed that she had seen a familiar face. Following Ash’s line of vision, he turned to watch the man in pink walk over. Gabriel couldn’t help but feel out of place. Everyone seemed to flaunt the pink shade except him. Emily introduced the man as Special Agent Francis York Morgan, and then continued on to explain his presence in Greenvale, or something like that. Gabriel didn’t hear it. All he could see was the man’s eyes.

Glancing cooling at whatever appeared, eagerly awaiting opposition. Hungry for insight, but so much more could suffice them. The colour was spectacular; sharp celadon that seemed to glow against the dark of his pupils.

“Your eyes are b-brilliant!” he blurted out without a second thought “R-Really Brilliant!"

[Francis York Morgan]

"Hey, what a coincidence! We could be a trio of superheroes, since our uniforms already match," York remarked as he let Emily sit him down. "I wonder what kind of powers we'd have... Oh, hello. Are you that artist guy Emily mentioned?"

He turned towards the rather thin, excitable looking young man sitting next to him, who was currently examining York's face with rapt intensity. Zach twinged uncomfortably under the scrutiny, but York took Gabriel's comments with polite bemusement.

"They're green, actually, but thank you. I've never really thought about them that way before... The Japanese say the eyes are a window into the soul, but whenever I look in a mirror, all I can see is how many hours of sleep I've been losing."

York looked thoughtful. "Although, if you're into eyes, I do have this great story about a previous case I worked on that might interest you. Emily heard it once before, so she knows it's relevant. Right, Emily?"

[Emily Wyatt]

Emily peered curiously at Gabriel the guy did seem fascinated by York's eyes. She wasn't surprised York's eyes gave her a moment of pause when she first met him as well...they had an other worldly quality. She was lost in this reflection until York brought up that "Eye Spy" story again. Oh God no. Not right now...

Her eyes widened and with a forced grin she patted York's hand (well in truth it was more like a quick slap) "NO!" Emily bit her lip she didn't mean for that to sound like a scolding. He's not a dog Emily!

She flushed and nervously picked at her nails, "I-I mean not right now York. Let's try and talk about more pleasant things...um...like..."

Too late. She was visualizing vitreous of the eye dripping down the crazy guys chin yet again. She grimaced and found she wasn't quite as hungry as she was before but she was dying for that drink!

Emily signaled the waiter their way, "York what do you think of the Galaxy of Terror? I bet not as exciting or thrilling as you imagined Greenvale nightlife was! She smiled, "But just you wait! When Carol takes the stage she puts on quite a show and gets the entire place jumping! She has an a-mmmmazing voice!"

[Gabriel]

At first Gabriel nodded as he tried to familiarise himself with the title of 'artist'. He still wasn’t used to being called an artist, despite the fact that it was now his official occupation. In the end it seemed to fit better than his old title. People always laughed when they found out he was planning on being a RN; it didn’t seem to suit his nervous, clumsy mannerism at all. He never offered an explanation for it, he didn’t even talk about it.

Agent York’s knowledge of the eye and its influences made him beam, of course, and predictably it made his day. He didn’t allow himself the presence of mind to feel ashamed.

“Wha…what is sleep but a wasted period of t-time,” he murmured, breaking eye contact in order to stare at his hands. He felt hypocritical. He loved to sleep, anywhere and everywhere.

He raised an eyebrow at York’s mention of a story, but his curiously took a slight blow upon peering up and seeing Emily’s reaction. She didn’t seem too pleased with the mention of the said story. Her facial expression shifted and she looked ashamed for some reason. And then sickened. Gabriel hadn’t payed enough attention to work out why that was.

“Carol?” he asked softly, before biting down on his lip. ‘Shut up Gabe she wasn’t talking to you. And stop thinking in third person,’

[Tamika Weir]

Tamika was on some minuscule level pleased that York did not insult her like he had every other time before. The rest of her was purely annoyed at his presence and still sorely regretted saving his now no longer entirely ungrateful ass. When he finally left, Tamika calmed down quite a bit, though she gave York a half confused and half angry look at his "collectible" phrase.

Focusing her attention on Kevin, she sighed and said, "I'm not sure, and am probably better off not knowing."

In response to Kevin's question, Tamika leaned back slightly and thought for a few moments. Then she said, "I'm no one special really. I've traveled for a bit, sure, yet that's mainly because I've always had trouble holding down jobs."

"As for myself, as in what I'm like," she shrugged, "I'm just a redheaded midget that loves music and aspires to living somewhere that's not a hotel."

Then she leaned forward slightly and asked, "What about you Kevin?"

[Francis York Morgan]

York flexed the hand Emily had slapped and said reflectively, " Zach, what Emily heals, Emily also taketh away. ...To answer your question in perfect honesty, though, this place is a little upscale for me. I love fine dining, but I always seem to end up in fast food restaurants or greasy spoons when I'm out working.... It's the atmosphere, you know. Good for people-watching. The kinds of folks who eat at McDonald's don't care if you're observing them or not, unless of course they've actually done something wrong and have a reason to be paranoid about it."

Here York flashed one of his unsettlingly wide grins around the table, which ended up settling randomly on Ashlin, who was sitting across from him. "You do have to be careful not to overdo things, though. I've learned the hard way that if you stare long and hard enough at someone, you can make anyone look nervous."

He picked up a menu and began scanning it robotically, adding, "Regardless, I am excited to hear this Carol perform. Does she take requests? I've always wanted to hear 'Lust for Life' sung solo by a woman."

[kevin]

Kevin listened to her with quite an interested look, playing with the locks of his hair with fingers.

“Well, I was born in this town and lived here for a while, then my family moved to the big city, but I still visit Greenvale time to time, I guess I kinda miss this place sometimes. “ He shrugged, smiling slightly.

“As for the work, you and I are in the same boat on that one, but, I’m not really worried about it.” He smirked.
“You know, I invited you because I think you’re very pretty, but now I think you’re quite an interesting person as well. And I’m not saying it because I want to sleep with you; you seem too smart to go for such cheap tricks anyway.”

[Ashlin Thomas]

Ashlin wondered about agent York's eye story, even more so after Emily responded to its mention in such a manner. Perhaps she'd ask him about it later if she remembered. Though now that Gabriel mentioned it she noticed Agent York did have rather interesting eyes. She hadn't really be paying that much attention last night, given the number of people she'd met in such a short time.

At the very least Ashlin certainly agreed with agent York, that smile was incredibly unsettling, and would make anyone nervous after a time. Shifting in her chair slightly she reached into her purse to hold on to Bo-Bo for just a moment.

[Tamika Weir]

Tamika smirked at Kevin's last comment. "Thanks. I guess." She then sighed and leaned back in her chair. "I really don't know why anyone would find me interesting though." "Well, alright. There's plenty that someone would find interesting. But not in a good way." Tamika's expression went a bit distant for a brief instant before she said with another smirk, "If it's the red fuzz ball that's supposed to be my hair, I may have to let someone else cut it."

Tamika then took a bit to consider what he had said. He had apparently moved to the city, yet still would visit Greenvale. Why? There wasn't all that much here. Probably it was to visit friends that he had had here, but what if it was something else. "He has shown no signs of being sensitive, yet if Atlas hadn't told me he was sensitive, would I really have been able to tell?"

Curious, Tamika asked, "So Kevin, why did you miss Greenvale? I mean, don't get me wrong, from what I've seen, this is a pretty nice place." "Except for the shadows, the ghosts, the man eating dogs, the eccentric millionaires, the eccentric millionaire's servant...Alright, I'll shut up now." "It just seems a bit..." Tamika's sentence drifted off, as she struggled to find a word to describe Greenvale that wouldn't make her seem crazy or a bitch. Or both.

[Emily Wyatt]

Emily smiled at Gabe, "Carol is my coworker Thomas' younger sister! She owns this place and sings here nightly! A lot of people come from all over just to here her sing. It's just a matter of time before some record exec hears her and signs her on the spot!"

"As for requests...You know? I don't know! You'll have to ask her a little later. Since you are a friend of the department she might be willing to fulfill it...but I wouldn't push it if she declines. Carol has a short temper, it seems like Thomas was the sibling with all the easy going manners."

Distracted by the waiter's appearance at her side Emily had not seen York's wide grin he flashed around the table. "Hi Slone! I would like a glass of Ravenswood Merlot and your Chicken Marsala....and that's it for me!" She handed her menu back to the man and flashed her own and much less unsettling grin around the the table. Slone nodded and moved his gaze to the others to see if anyone else was ready to order.