Marguerite Blakeney is clearly beyond scruples (blazeinhereyes) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-12-13 21:32:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, evie frye, marguerite blakeney |
Who: Evie and Marguerite
What: Training in undercover and spy games
When: Late October
Where: Cafe in Los Angeles
Warnings: Low
Status: Log | Complete
While Marguerite was in the middle of rehearsals, there were plenty of times when she wasn’t needed personally and so was able to do other things. Like helping out at the Outreach center. Or gathering intelligence for Natasha. There were apparently people of interest in Los Angeles, and so she’d been sent in to see what she could learn. Also she was supposedly going to be working with someone new to all of this which..could be interesting. But she was given a way to know who it was so she could greet them when they showed up at the appointed spot.
Which of course was a cafe favored by the people they were supposed to keep an eye on. Marguerite was early, already in costume. Because really, it was amazing what a change in hair color and style (all thanks to a wig), glasses plus colored contacts, and a change of both style in clothing and posture could change a person. Which of course was the point so that no one who actually knew Marguerite would recognize her or might recognize her later on.
So for now it was drinking her tea and reading a book all while keeping tabs on people coming and going and waited, all while seeming completely engrossed in her reading to the point that whenever she took a sip of tea or pulled off part of a croissant to eat, it was more second nature and clearly not enough to break her concentration on the reading.
While Evie was no stranger to gathering intelligence on people, going completely undercover was not something she’d ever really done. Infiltration? Definitely. As much as she had a skill set that lent itself to this sort of work, undercover was definitely not her thing. She hadn’t gotten a lot of information beyond the specifics of gathering intelligence for Natasha and so forth. Evie well knew that this was a test of her skills, and she was eager to prove herself.
So while she didn’t completely disguise herself, because again that wasn’t her background, she did know enough to make herself incognito without sticking out as someone who was obviously being incognito. In a way, she implemented her skills of blending into the shadows in how she’d chosen to dress. She dressed plainly, enough that she could blend into the crowd as needed. She was lucky to be a brunette as well, a medium brown hair color that didn’t stick out either. She had her hair in a slightly lazy ponytail, like she’d just put it up on her way out the door. Which tended to be the style these days with younger women.
She entered the cafe, knowing she was supposed to meet Marguerite. However, in a quick scan of the place, covering with scoping out a place to sit, she didn’t see Marguerite. So she simply ordered some tea, then went to grab an open seat, which just so happened to be next to the woman who was reading a book. She draped her hoodie over the back of her chair. While she didn’t need it because this was southern California, if she needed to tail the target at all, it would help her blend into the shadows easier. She was also armed, though she knew enough to not keep her throwing knives in obvious places. She had more on her person than anyone might actually guess.
She pulled out her phone and went about seeming like she was checking emails and texting. But she was still very much aware of her surroundings, waiting for the marks to arrive and for Marguerite.
Well wasn’t that interesting. So she was meeting with Evie. She would definitely need to work on the undercover aspect, but she at least had the ability to be incognito. Which for this mission would be fine. But that didn't mean it would always be what was needed.
Oh well, time to announce her presence. With Evie seated near her, Marguerite marked her place in her book and looked to the woman she was paired with.
“Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to have the time would you? I'm supposed to be meeting a friend but my stars, I feel like I've been waiting forever.”
In the question was the code phrase that would allow Evie to know it was her. All the while though the actress remained in character.
Luckily Evie was a quick learner, though it might take her a bit to master the art of disguise. But even so, once she was shown the methods, she’d apply them quickly. After all, she knew the value of not giving oneself away during special operations. That had been her entire experience in the military, and with being an Assassin.
When she heard the question, Evie looked over to the woman. She was momentarily confused. She heard the code phrase loud and clear, but she didn’t exactly recognize the woman. She knew she was supposed to meet Marguerite, so clearly this was Marguerite.
Alright then, keeping the cover going, Evie glanced back to her phone as though she was checking the time. She responded with the time. “Sometimes it can feel like an eternity waiting for a friend. But I hope they show up soon. It’s simply bad manners to be late.”
Being a quick learner was the most important part. Marguerite was just quite familiar with the art of disguise because of her theatre background. The ability to assume a role completely, not just in lines but in mannerisms and body language as well. Especially because there were times when you actually needed to be noticed just not recognized.
It was amusing however to see Evie not recognize her and the way she worked through it. Logic said they were meeting so obviously Marguerite was herself but it was amusing to see the confusion all the same.
“It really is. But thank you. I suppose I can wait a bit longer before I give up on them.”
And just on cue, the marks showed up and moved to the table near them as it was the only open one. It was a good thing she knew Russian from other intel gathering missions Natasha had sent her on.
Luckily, Evie could think on her feet. Even though she tended to be the type that preferred to have everything planned practically down to the second, she could adjust on the fly. She didn’t like adjusting on the fly, but she could do it. The planning was both a product of having been in the military and from her Dreams. But she’d learned some flexibility along the way.
She gave a nod and a smile, not bothering to respond as she saw the marks arrive. Evie was at a disadvantage. Russian was not a language she was fluent in. Arabic she could both speak and read. Russian she was lucky to know a few phrases, but that was about it. As it was, she was more watching the body language of their marks while not being obvious about watching them.
If they were anywhere else, she would’ve found a corner, pulled her hood up over her head and proceeded to become invisible so she could watch without anyone suspecting she was even there. But in a place like this, a seemingly empty table would give her away when someone attempted to sit down. She also kept her eyes open for any muscle both inside and outside the cafe. It always helped to know where the dangers were if things escalated into a fight. Which she most definitely wasn’t going to start, but if one broke out, she’d certainly help finish it.
Flexibility really was a necessity in this sort of work. Get too caught up in your plans and things could go wrong and fast because something came up and someone was unable to adjust. It was a tricky balance.
Lucky for Evie, Marguerite did know Russian, thanks to both Natasha and Armand (bless his polyglot heart and willingness to teach her languages without questioning her - at least when she was able to tie it to a role she had done) so she could translate as well as read the body language.
As it were, the actress didn’t foresee any sort of conflicts or fights breaking out that they would need to end or get out of. After all, they were just intel gathering. Still, it was always good to be prepared. So for now she just continued on with the role while making her notes as well.
Evie still had problems with adjusting and doing things on-the-fly if plans fell apart midstream, but she was flexible enough to deal with it and go with the flow as best as she could. Sometimes was too militaristic for her own good, too set in her carefully plotted plans to shift course. But she’d just had to come to accept that she couldn’t control everything, including other people (most notably her brother), as much as that irritated her at times. But life was chaotic and unpredictable by nature. So she was learning and working on her shortcomings in that regard.
Even though she had no idea what was being said, Evie was making use of her phone. She was pretending to play a game on it when in reality she was snapping photos and even getting some audio recordings. Luckily, she was excellent at subtlety, so no one other than Marguerite would know what she was actually doing. But it would definitely help the investigation later and serve as support to what Marguerite was translating.