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 Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:11 pm
"I said I would," Chel retorted. The flannel covered up the daggers, her belts didn't look intimidating, but there was no way to easily hide the net gun. She'd fastened a strap to it that let her carry it across her back, but there was no way she wasn't going to look unusual. Her mind was already racing with excuses for security- it was a prop, they were stunt doubles, she had a permit, she was a veteran and it was her comfort object, plain old run away-
< The scars will really help convince everyone you are a safe, doting individual with such an object on your back. >
Well it was strapped on now and it wasn't coming off. She only felt worse for being so disappointed when Jack was focused on the mission. One, she shouldn't have felt so disappointed about rejected sex, and two they weren't here on some couple's diversion- it was a ******** mission. She just wished she had the tunnel vision Jack did sometimes.
---
"Where we headed?" she asked once they were outside, wondering if the signs were in Greek or if they were just the usual form of unreadable. "I can't read anything." Her tone was slightly more annoyed than usual as she squinted like she'd lost her non-existent glasses.
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 11:44 pm
Bandages, check. Water bottle, check. Fear reader, check. Rune for charging, check. Pendant for very just in case situations, check. Sunglasses, check. Torch, check. He'd have to hide that in his bag for now, there was no way to keep it at his belt in public; stick the reader in his coat pocket to make extra room, but it was still going to stick out a little. He paused and considered the fact that the net gun was a similar predicament, and that led to a systematic evaluation of just how many risks and strings pulled Chel had done just to be there. He should have done her a courtesy and picked someone else instead rather than lead with sentiment and force her on the march.
(Logic, he argued. A damn good Sun, experienced with missions, one of the few he trusted. Logical.)
"I've got a big coat," he suggested, which meant very little as far as concealing the net gun, but it was his very roundabout way of saying I knew you would and, in concert with his eyes, thank you. "If it weighs too much, leave it behind. Might be better if we just scout today anyway, actually."
He removed his torch and tucked it between the clothes she had laid out in the closet for now.
---
"Neither can I," Jack said without looking up from the map he had acquired from the hotel. Luckily, it was in English. "It's all Greek to me." His mouth quirked; he was especially proud of that one. "We're hitting the Acropolis Museum right now. The woman at the counter said the news was that there was a suspected E. Coli contamination in the museum's food. Apparently there's a large one on the second floor."
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 11:52 pm
"What, so we here to fight the flu?" Chel said with a snort. It had saddened her to leave the gun at the hotel, but Jack was right. It was too much if they weren't absolutely sure of their quarry. That was sarcasm, said the curve of her lips. Just so he knew.
She nervously checked her leg as though the daggers would disappear. "It ain't right though- Conquest does disease, not famine. Famine's bugs." At least, Uttam had said as much in their very, very abbreviated conversations. She was somewhat proud of her burgeoning-specialization coming to fruition. Now she just had to work up the balls to ask if it could be official. That was the hard part.
Her arms were crossed as she looked at the museum. "Your call, bossman."
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 12:18 am
"Maybe it's them," he replied. "The modus operandi reads openly enough: Schools have been visiting various parts of Athens, and it's mostly children that have been getting sick. It's not a disease, though, at least not in the plague sense; Fear poisoning was what it said in the report, the same as it's been in American schools. Might be a student aligned with the horsemen or just one of the damn things themselves. But the focus seems to be restricted to a younger age group for whatever reason, so that's where I think we should start looking."
Jack folded the map up and squinted at the street signs before gesturing her to hurry along after him. One hand remained firmly in his coat pocket, locked around the reader he kept glancing at every so often just to check. "Starting to feel like you, not being able to read most of these signs," he muttered. "We should be at the museum in fifteen if I got this right."
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 12:28 am
Chel picked up the subtle nudge as Jack hit the nail on the head; she hadn't read the pre-mission information at all (why would she?) and Jack was carefully siphoning it to her orally. She bobbed her head in agreement. She did manage to cough a small, "*****>," under her breath before looking away mischievously at her own joke.
It was hard to keep up with Jack's giant steps, especially when he was in a rush, but she did her best. "Just look for shapes that look familiar," she told him with a shrug. "I'm sure you got it right bro."
While they walked, Chel took her time looking around, gazing up at the ancient and admittedly tourist-trap-esque buildings with wonderment. She'd barely seen big cities on television and only traveled to them a few times, so seeing something so foreign was exciting. She liked cities, she found, especially with the way everyone melted together. It was like when Merlin had taken her to the Chinese city. She'd felt more at home blending into the background of a crowd than she ever had anywhere else.
Eventually the museum opened itself and Chel immediately snickered, pointing to the roof. "They got a naked dude on the roof. This is my kinda town."
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 11:29 am
Chel blended in with the schools of fish, but Jack felt like a stranger as always: a much too tall, green headed anomaly that drew some looks as they walked about. He only distantly took note of their surroundings in so far as to make points to remember the way back, at least when he wasn't making faces at the device in his pocket.
"I should take you to the statue of David in Florence," he said in an undertone as they queued with the rest to get a ticket in. "Though you'd be disappointed, it's small. Plenty of dicks here, though, Ancient Greek ******** loved the stuff. There's a giant stone one at Delphos dedicated to Dionysius."
He had to fight not to say Chel deserved a child's ticket when they reached the front.
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 1:25 pm
It was Chel's turn to yank Jack's wrist and keep him from waltzing in. She pulled him to the side of the museum lobby and spoke in a hushed tone. "Wait ******** you can't just walk in with a bag full of weapons dipshit." Chel had taken note that there were two women in black outfits standing near the doorway to the rest of the museum, both to check tickets and to check bags.
"I have an idea, just come-" She took a step towards the door and then remembered how well "go with it" had worked in Halloween. She returned back to facing Jack and said, "Okay. I'll go over there feigning to take a photo or somethin'. I can play up southern tourist idiot. You sneak past when she's distracted. Try hidin' your bag but don't look like you hidin' it." It was then that she stopped talking to the ground and instead looked up at Jack. "Does that sound stupid?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 2:05 pm
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 2:46 pm
"No." He wore a strange expression: almost like disappointment, but it wasn't turned outward like it usually was. He'd forgotten what normal life was like. That weapons weren't common place, that they checked.
Jack pushed his glasses up with a sigh through his nose. "A little," he amended, his mind elsewhere. "I'm not the one you go to for sneaking someone in. s**t. Just...stay out here with our things. Watch for anything suspicious, don't pursue if you do." He unshouldered his bag and offered it. "I'll text as I go. Shouldn't take long."
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 3:02 pm
Chel had a retort (you can't go in there defenseless) but she held her tongue. This was Jack's mission.
It didn't keep her from looking like she had a thousand things to say, but she took the bag from his hands and shrugged it over one of her shoulders. "Kay," she said shortly, looking out for a bench or somewhere she could sit. She was at least glad she had absolutely no interest in seeing the museum. Way too out of place.
"Text if you need backup. I'll be there," she assured him. Body guards wouldn't be that hard to take out, but she'd prefer to avoid the collision.
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 3:35 pm
"Will do." He was more than glad to get out before she said anything more.
---
While no such text was required, Chel did get photos of the inside: several were of decorative statues ("not as interesting as dicks I know but still worth looking at"), while others were of the restaurant. Located on the second floor of the museum and with glass walls, it offered a surprisingly beautiful panoramic view of Athens. The place wasn't as filled as Jack imagined it would be; there were signs in English, French, and Greek stating that no meat products were available at this time. He spoke with several tourists, posing as a fellow visitor curious about what was going on, and kept a steady eye on his Fear reader. It was giving off strange readings he couldn't clearly read at the time.
At length he left the museum and squinted as the sun crept through the clouds just to hit him; sunglasses or not, it still hurt. He hoped it rained soon. "You still alive?" he asked as he made the turn down last the steps, a wrapped sandwich from the cafe in his hand.
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:14 pm
"Still here," Chel mimicked, having moved from a bench inside to the steps outside so she could stretch herself in the sun. She didn't really mind the odd looks from people since she didn't know any of them and never would. It was oddly freeing.
Her eyes went from him to the sandwich with a what the ******** where's mine? kind of expression that she often gave Chris. "So what'd you find?" She held out her hand, gesturing for him to offer his arm so they could walk like they so often did.
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:24 pm
First Jack took his bag back. "Pings," he replied, offering his arm before offering the sandwich. He hadn't taken a bite. "Sesame bun with Greek prosciutto and some kind of cheese. Several kinds of cheese actually, I don't remember the names. Also oregano. See anything?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:36 pm
"Abbi said meat banana," Chel responded taking the sandwich suspiciously. The ingredients couldn't have mattered less (Chel would eat anything) but the generosity stunted her. "A bite or the whole thing?" At least she asked. Chris never got the luxury. It felt pleasant to walk down a crowded street with Jack in tow (or rather, with herself in tow of Jack). Something akin to normalcy. She followed his footsteps and let him take her; to the next mission objective, to the hotel, anywhere.
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:58 pm
"However much you're hungry for. AK said what?" Jack snorted. "Nevermind. The signals were weak back there, so we'll need to walk around and see if we can catch any more traces of it. I have a feeling the museum isn't the only place that's been hit."
Just a stroll through Athens like it was another little vacation.
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