Drawing Fire

[Chimi]

Parker

"Oh, tha....iss all looks so good!" Parker gives Jade a proud look. She shuffles her papers aside to pay some good attention to the loaded fries, before their waitress's slack standing draws her attention back. "Uhhh...are you okay? Do you...here, sit down, let me get you some water, you don't look good!" Rising, she gestures for the empty seat next to Caesar and heads for the bar...for a glass of water and to let the bartender know that what's-her-name looks like she's about to pass out!

[Josh]

Only Jade passes her roll. She gets the following:

Jade does recognize the waitress and she isn't new. She had to have been working there for at least two months and the last time she had waited on Jade she could talk no problem. As far as Jade could remember, she was a struggling student, but was generally a nice enough girl who was never rude or awkward with the costumers. She also wasn't known for wearing crazy make-up, which made her blueberry color lips stand out. 

 

Another waiter, a slightly older guy, notices Parker's awkward attempt to get the waitress to sit down and senses something is off. He comes over and apologizes, shuffling the waitress off towards the staff area, making an excuse about her needing to take her break. He returns a moment later to see if they were okay.

 

"Sorry about that, I'll be your waiter while Kattie takes her break. Is there anything else I can get you?"

 

While he is talking to you, in the background you hear the bell for the front door ring faintly. A man bursts in abruptly, his entrance odd like he had to force himself pass the door jam. He stopped and shook himself slightly, like flinging water off. Then he approached the hostess stand to speak with the girl running it. The man didn't look exceptional, about average height and build. You couldn't see his face from the table, but you could see that his hair was brown and cropped short just above a buzz cut. He wore a leather jacket and jeans, even in this heat. He pulled something out of his jacket and was showing it to the hostess, who was shaking her head.

[Mick the Rogue]

Caesar

 

After a few more fries, the man caught Caesars attention. That kind of outfit, in the Arizona heat? He was packing. Waitress was shaking her head. He was looking for something, someone.
 

Still not his problem yet, could become it. “Alls good man.” He said not looking at the waiter but instead at the guy who walked in.  He let Jade do the talking, but someone had to watch

[EDTA]

Jade

'Kattie' was off but it wasn't Jade's job to care.  Still, she looked cold or something which was weird. Maybe something weird going on instead of someone sleepwalking through their shift. But again, not Jade's job. 

 

Not her job, not her job, not her uggh. It was weird wasn't it? Jade never went looking for all this crazy stuff but they traveled in the same circles. And Hob's was already pretty up there in terms of what was 'crazy' or not and everybody who came here knew that. If something felt too weird for Hob's it'd have to be a big deal. Putting on a fake smile Jade responds, "No I think this was all for now, wasn't it? Kattie took care of us. So sorry we kept her from taking her break. Hope we didn't get her in any trouble."

Edited January 31, 2023 by EDTA (see edit history)

[Josh]

"Alrighty, let me know if anything changes, okay? Its a bit crazy, as she was super hyped about how good she did in her public speaking class when she came in..." the waiter says, walking away and leaving them to their food. It seemed like he was the gossipy type, but since they hadn't asked him anything he wouldn't impose. 

 

The man in the jacket moved on to the bartender, exchanging quiet words as he showed him what appeared to be some kind of print outs. The bartender shook his head and the man moved on to the patrons nearby. By the time you had pretty much finished your food and drinks, he arrived at your table. Up close, he wasn't anything special to look at. Average height, average build under the jacket. The bland smile he turns on you doesn't reach his mud colored eyes.

 

"Sorry to bother you," he begins in a tone implying that he doesn't really care if he is bothering you or not, "I don't want to upset or scare anybody, but I'm going around the area to put people on alert about a possible food danger. I know it sounds weird, but hear me out. This man..."

 

He pulls out a printed out picture showing a small man with a skinny neck, mostly bald head and impressive handlebar mustache. The little guy was sitting up straight in a pose that seemed to imply aggravation at getting his picture taken. He was wearing a red facilities shirt from the uni and seemed to be sitting in one of the chem class rooms.

 

"...has been reported to be giving away various baked goods to individuals as well as small businesses that have been laced with an unknown drug. He is a professor at the university, Professor Timothy Bullfinch. No one is sure what he is lacing the food with, but its effects are very noticeable. Hours after ingesting it, a person's lips turn blue and at first lose their voice. Hours after that, the person falls unconscious and can't be woken up."

 

He pulls out a second photo, this time of the lower half of a woman's face, clearly displaying blue-stained lips.

 

"Have any of you seen this man or know someone who has? Have you met anyone who might of encountered him or eaten a laced substance? Its very important that they get in touch with us quickly so we can help them if they begin showing symptoms..."

[Mick the Rogue]

Caesar

Caesar raised an eyebrow as the man approached them. Definitely not a member of the 'community'. He glanced over towards Jade, and then to the man. "Who's 'we' in the we can help?" he said cautiously.

[EDTA]

Jade

"Yeah, sucks some nutter is running around poisoning people but who're you supposed to be? You aren't a cop. Shouldn't they be on top of this already?" Jade says suppressing a laugh. There wasn't a ton of love between her and cops for lots of reasons she wouldn't need to go into, but if this was what this guy was saying what it was then you'd deal with it that way. Or at least a normal person might think that way, they wouldn't start out by canvassing places like Hob's. Guy didn't really seem like he 'belonged' here either. 

 

Plus why was he going around like he was trying to find a lost cat? He was pretty quick to have pictures of all this stuff. Seemed hella suspicious to Jade. Maybe he was a cop.

[Josh]

The man holds up his hands in a pacifying gesture as he explains, "We are just a small group of concerned citizens, a Neighborhood Watch, if you will. We've noticed a number of small things starting to snowball that most people are ignoring. Just trying to help, you understand? Its really important we get help to those effected quickly and get any information on this guy to the proper authorities."

[Mick the Rogue]

Caesar

 

”Be better to know the neighborhood first before you watch it, amigo.” He shrugged. “I ain’t seen anything like that,” he said truthfully, he was a bit myopic at times. He turned to Jade, to see if she had an opinion

[EDTA]

Jade

"How noble," Jade smirks. Guy did have a point probably, tons of little stuff could get out of control quickly. But it was just like some dude poisoning people wasn't it? Still it seemed like whoever it was had struck Hobs, or at least one of the waitstaff. It'd suck if this guy was on the level and something could be done. Or had to be done quickly. Still if this guy wasn't legit Jade didn't want to sell out Kattie like that if she was just having an off day or whatever. Not outright anyway. "Well I'll continue watching out for strangers with candy I guess. You ask the waitstaff or the managers about any of this? They stick around, you know."

Edited February 22, 2023 by EDTA (see edit history)

[Chimi]

Parker

"And this guy works at the University? Have you gone to the administration?" Parker peers closely at the pictures, before shrugging. She doesn't think she's ever met the guy, and she'd probably remember that mustache.

[Josh]

"Yes and yes," the man answers Parker and Jade, "Unfortunately, the university wasn't able to provide any leads and so far the staff here hasn't been very helpful. I am hoping someone will step forward soon so we might prevent more people from falling victim."

 

He turns a rather wintery smile on Caesar before nodding at Parker, "And you would be surprised how much we know about the neighborhood. I do appreciate your time,  and hope you will let me know if you see or hear anything. Here's a card with a number you can reach me at. Have a good evening, Ms. Pilgrim."

 

Seeing as you have chosen to not cooperate, the man moves on to the next table of guests after leaving a small white card with a phone number on it before you. Its only a matter of time before someone who saw the waitress mentions her to the man, possibly even one of the other members of the wait staff. Speaking of which, you can see a couple of them looking worried and arguing quietly by the tunnel leading back into the kitchen. Odds were, if you wanted to get involved before the main caught up with the waitress, you had to act quickly if you were going to act at all.

[Mick the Rogue]

Caesar

Caesar looked over towards Jade and Parker. "You lookin' to get involved?" he said with a raised eyebrow. "I'm happy to take a look, ain't no good to have possible client's go comatose. And could make a good article." he said with a shrug towards Jade.

"And the guy knows you... no good comes of that."

[EDTA]

Jade

Caesar's idea just gets a dead stare from Jade. He still didn't quite get what she did. "Yeah, maybe if he was gonna play a set at Che's afterwards. If the staff isn't helping him then TS. Should be their call."

 

Though the way the guy moved to another table and looked like he was getting pointed in the right direction, looked like he wasn't going to give up. And if the staff had already turned him away... "Egh... might as well. Even if that guy isn't some nut he's close to doing something stupid. The staff already didn't want to help him and he's still going. He's gonna get in a lot of trouble quick if he pisses off the wrong people here."

 

[Mick the Rogue]

Caesar

Caesar sighed, "Not sure I get what you're saying. So what you wanna stop him but not the dude selling whatever? Or you wanna head him off, 'fore he does something dumb"