What's Up, Bilbo Baggins? Who: Mazie and Connor When: Late morning Where: The Bar
When Connor woke up, and realized he wasn't in a jail cell, he grinned at the ceiling, and stretched. There were pangs in his arm and chest, something he was getting used to. Sure, he was technically healed up. The scarring over his wounds was still a fresh pink, however, and it had been a long recovery. He sat up, and cracked his neck, then his back, looking around the room.
A hotel. A pretty strange looking one, even if strange wasn't necessarily a bad thing. He sort of wondered if he'd been kidnapped or something, busted out of prison before he got there by some of his fans. He wouldn't put it past them, really. He'd heard buzzings about it even while he was in country, still going through the trial. Getting to his feet, he almost tripped over a suitcase, and he picked it up, dropping it onto the bed before he opened it up. Inside, there were a bunch of his things - and definitely some of them weren't anything he was allowed to have. His colt, for instance. Also, his little odds and ends from robberies he'd kept - those were all supposed to be in evidence, somewhere.
He was calling it a win, however, and he glanced around some more. He didn't see any traces of a guard anywhere. And there was a weird note left for him, but he wasn't sure he understood it. Letting himself into the bathroom, he opted to shower, then he got out, dressed, and figured he'd go explore.
He had no fucking clue what was going on...but whatever it was? He liked it.
It didn’t take him long at all to find the bar, and he noticed a suspicious lack of other people around. The bar looked pretty spectacular, however, and he wandered around it, his footsteps echoing a little in the huge space as he did so. Eventually, he kicked back on the stage, propping his feet on the bass drum there, chair tipped back and balanced on the back two legs. He lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, then blew the smoke in rings toward the ceiling.
As fucked up as it was that she was in a completely different place currently, at least she wasn't in a prison anymore. The note left in her room wasn't exactly filled with the answers to her many questions, but at least she had her computer again and that made the whole situation a lot more tolerable.
It took her a while to get used to the idea that she wasn't in a prison anymore, but instead a hotel room with her own bathroom and a shower. But, of course, she didn't much care about that shower. She did open up her computer and find out that her the internet was bone dry. Like Serengeti dry. But maybe if she left this room and found some provisions, the internet connection would come to her.
Hoisting her backpack onto her shoulder, Mazie trailed out of her room and down the hallways, stopping every so often to test the internet. She found a bar after a while and figured that she could test out there after she took a look at the stash situation. But she entered to see someone over on the stage, relaxing like he didn't have a care in the world. "What's up, Bilbo Baggins?" She asked in passing as she headed toward the bar, feeling the smoke rings were very reminiscent of the bravest hobbit of them all.
Connor watched the blonde move into the room, then head toward the bar, and he smirked. Fabulous. He wasn't stuck in an environment without any females anymore. “Cute,” he noted to the Hobbit reference. “And not much. Smoking. Wondering where I am and how I got here, but not enough to actually give much of a shit. And you, my lady?”
Mazie snorted at that. "The only lady I'd want to be in Middle Earth is Lady Galadriel and even I'm not blonde enough for that bullshit. Dwarves are way more badass anyway." She didn't put her backpack down even though it would be easier to rummage around the bar with it off, nor did she open it and start stashing bottles when she'd found what she wanted. She instead stood them up on the bar and kept searching, though what she produced were bottles of bourbon.
"I'm doing about the same, though I'm actually using a bar for what a bar is supposed to be used for," She said, casting him a glance. He seemed familiar but he was too far away to really get a good read on who he was yet. And also, she didn't care enough to really study him yet either.
“Okay, if you had to be a lady somewhere other than Middle Earth...” he prompted, blowing more smoke rings, though his attention was focused on his current company. “And that's a lot of booze for a skinny thing like you,” he pointed out. “Planning on drinking all of that yourself, or is there a party somewhere I haven't been invited to?”
Man this guy was barking up the wrong tree. Mazie looked back at him with raised eyebrows and then it hit her. "Holy shit, I know you…" Still not putting her backpack down, she leaned over the bar to get a better look at him. "Nice to see you out of prison, even though I'm not sure we really got put anywhere better."
Connor grinned at her, then waved. “Hi,” he said, letting his chair drop down with a loud clap through the room. He walked over, dropping off the stage easily then strolling to the bar. “Connor Ravin,” he said, leaning on the bar directly across from her. “Nice to meet you...?” he said prompting for her name, making solid eye contact. “And I never actually made it to prison...I woke up here after sentencing. I was looking at a needle, because the judge wanted my case to be nice and special. You were in prison?”
Mazie had a slow smirk forming on her lips when he confirmed her suspicions. Hoisting her backpack again, she held her hand out. "Lore. If you weren't big in the hacking community, you might not know about me but I supported your cause pretty heavily along with my others. I was in prison. They caught me, but thankfully no needle in my future. Though I bet those senators wouldn't mind if they could pin that on me."
Connor shook her hand, and kissed the back of it because why not. He was in a great mood, and she apparently knew who he was and was a supporter. Which was pretty cool, really. “Lore – very nice,” he told her. “Gives an air of mystery, which I'm sure was purposeful. Sorry to hear you got caught, though,” he told her. “What sort of causes were yours?” he asked curiously. “Also – thanks for your support,” he added. “It's appreciated, it was nice, out there knowing that there were people who had our backs.”
"You do know we're not actually in Middle Earth, right?" She asked, watching him with confusion as he kissed her hand. It felt weird. Very weird and she ended up pulling her hand back from him because that was a whole lotta Nope. But talking about her hacking was more familiar. Since she got caught, certain people would ask certain questions and she'd entertain them if she felt like it. "My causes? They're sorta like yours. Lots of people that have too much, lots of people that have too little. Trying to sort out that balance." That was the basic point of her causes, but they were much more in depth and it depended on what his next question was whether or not she was going to provide more insight. When he thanked her, she shrugged. "I chose based on what you did, giving that money to those shelters. But how'd you end up getting caught with a needle on the horizon? Last I heard of you, before they hauled me off, was you two were still going strong."
He just grinned when she took her hand back. “What, manners aren't acceptable here in the real world?” he posed. He listened to what she had to say though, and nodded. “I know all about the 'haves',” he said. “Which, if you were following us, you probably know. For me, I wanted to help people who really needed specific aid. Like women's shelters. Things are fucked up in the world. I can't change that, though I did have to feed her dad to a stray dog due to his special level of abuse...but I digress. Some things don't have nearly enough emphasis, and they should, like it seems like you know.”
At her last question, he looked at the bartop, then back up to her. “There was a shoot out in a bar we were in. Someone tipped the cops to our whereabouts, I have no idea who, honestly. Could have been anyone, I suppose. With as much coverage as we were getting, it wasn't like we could fly under the radar much. The cops surrounded us, shit got really, really fucked. Actually I almost died that night.”
Mazie grinned a little when he mentioned he knew about the 'haves'. "Oh, I know. And if you ever go central West Virginia, the Ravins are a heavy patrons of the volunteer fire department there." It was enough that she left it at that for now, wanting to see if he'd pick up on the hint she'd just dropped.
But then the hint meant a lot less when he was talking about dying. "Live fast, die young?" She asked. "Though it's probably for the best you didn't die. No other news would even be allowed through the pipeline if you went out, James Dean."
When she said there was a contribution to a volunteer fire department, he grinned. He put the pieces together, following that that hadn't been a move the corporation had been in on. “I love it,” he told her genuinely, clearly pleased with that. “Please tell me there's more,” he added.
“And yeah?” he asked, arching a brow. He liked the James Dean thing. That was cute. He could handle that. “You think it's best I didn't get taken out?” He paused, then stood straighter again, tugging his shirt buttons open to show her the fresh scars on his chest. “There's another on my arm,” he added. “Apparently if the shot to the chest was a little bit over, it would have been a shot to the heart and I'd be done.”
It was nice to see some appreciate for her work and she showed that with a real smile. "Oh there's definitely more. Your pop's a man of many secrets and lots of money. He's exactly my kind of target. If you ever want to know what he's really up to, you let me know. But as for all that fine charity work your folks are doin'? I'm sure you'll appreciate the irony in this. Your mother is the sole proprietor to a line of GoodWills just outside my home town. What with all those expensive clothes she wears, I thought it only fitting she'd want to give back to the community some."
She watched him open his shirt, at first with pure curiosity. What the fuck could he possibly want to show her under his shirt? But then she saw the scars and she lifted an eyebrow at them. "Well, at least I'm not to blame. You know, with that…shot through the heart." She made a face, as that was clearly not her best work, but she'd made worse references before. "All in all, you'll be more useful not dead, if we ever get out of this obvious experiment."
“Oh, I'd love to hear a dirt dishing session on him. All I know is the shit I picked up from home, so I'm sure there was a ton of shit he got into that I never heard about.” He was positive his father was as dirty as they came, and was terribly curious what other skeletons were in his closet. When she told him about what she'd done to his mother, laughed. “I could kiss you.”
He watched her take the scar in, and shrugged. “I guess we'll see, won't we?” he posed. “And I might be more useful alive than dead, but what we're doing here is a mystery. I had been wondering if someone staged a jail break or something in transit. But I'm guessing now that that isn't the case.”
Mazie was hoping he didn't kiss her. She hadn't done anything to get a kiss from him. Everything she'd done had been because she'd wanted to do it. "Save that kiss for your massive amount of groupies," She said. "Which, by the way, has anyone ever told you it's ridiculous that you have groupies? Because it really is."
Shaking her head, she shrugged a little. "Real doubtful anyone would have sprung me out of jail. Maybe a couple of hacker friends, but no such luck on my end. Not sure what this place is, but they gave me my computer and a room with my own bathroom in it so it's already better than being in prison. Gotta find an internet connection here though, no luck with that either. I'll find one, though. Or I'll make one happen. Somehow."
“I didn't ask for them, remember?” Connor said. “It just happened. Though, weirdly enough, serial killers and stuff do often have groupies, they just aren't as public about it. The only reason anyone knows about mine is because of the hype around it all.” He listened to the rest, and nodded. “I thought the place was pretty nice, in an old sort of way. Definitely better than jail.”
"It's still weird, whether you ask for them or not. Groupies are weird," Mazie said, shrugging a little more. She should probably tell him her real name too. She hadn't been sure she wanted to, but the more she talked to Connor, the more it reaffirmed that she'd made the right choice to help support his cause earlier. "Old is generally my worst enemy. Old means there's even less potential for the infrastructure of internet here, wired or not. But we'll see. I'll make it work and maybe you'll be able to let all your groupies know you're alive still." Smirking at him, she leaned against the counter again. "Lore is my handle, by the way. Real name's Mazie."
He glanced around the place then refocused on her. “I've learned to appreciate history, I suppose. But I get where you're coming from. And if you do get the internet up and running, let me know. I'd like to see how the man hunt is going...and what happened to the other half.” When she told him her real name, his smile widened. “Which would you prefer I call you?” he asked. “And know, if you want me to call you Lore when others are around, but I can call you Mazie when we're alone, I'm open to that, too.”
It was nice to have someone ask which she preferred. Those two parts of her life had been so separate, so compartmentalized, that it was really nice to be able to be both at once. But then his question threw her off and she narrowed her eyes a little. "You must think we're going to be alone pretty often. Don’t get too attached to that thought," She said, eyes narrowed on his. "I like Lore but I don't care what you call me."
He watched her narrow her eyes at him, then listened to what she said. He nodded, to himself, not her, then stood straight. “You're the first person I've even seen,” Connor said. “This place seems pretty empty, and we have a shared history we're just figuring out. I'd like to spend more time with you. But, I can take a hint,” he said, starting away. “It was nice to meet you Lore. Hope your internet adventures resume soon.”
Internally sighing, Mazie fought on the idea of watching him leave. Maybe it was for the best, because she was not equipped to deal with that 1% Romeo and his searing attentiveness, but he was right. They had a shared history and she respected his work. And that went a long way in her internal debate on whether to try and follow him or not. Grabbing as many of the bottles she'd laid out as she could, she followed after him in half a jog.
"Well, if we're the only two people here, then you can definitely call me whatever," She said, trying to get in step with him. She wasn't good with people. They were so much harder to deal with than code, but maybe she didn't have to run Connor off right away. Or maybe she could at least try not to. Awkwardly shifting the bottles, she extended one of dark rum out to him. "Share and share alike," She said, not sure if it would do anything really but it probably wouldn't hurt. "Keep it in your room, in case that bar is gone tomorrow or something. Who knows what kind of weird, government experiment they're putting us through right now."
He smiled to himself when he heard her coming after him, though it was gone by the time she got to his side. When she offered the bottle, he took it. “Thanks,” he told her. “I will. Though now I'm curious – what makes you think this is a government experiment?” He glanced around. “I think if we were talking government and experiments, I'd go with some weird underground bunker or some shit. Not a hotel that hasn't been renovated since the...what. Thirties?”
"Government's behind everything," Mazie said matter-of-factly, falling in step by him. She'd have to think about this later, about what all of that meant, but right now there was a question on board that she actually felt comfortable answering. "Big Brother has the power to do whatever they want. Disappear two threats,” She said, gesturing with bottles between the two of them, “Toss them into some weird ass hotel and run tests? Or surveil… I should really see if they've got this place hooked up with cameras."
“Yeah?” he asked. “You think they're organized enough to do pull shit off efficiently?” he asked, and it was an honest question. He imagined she'd looked into government bullshit. She very much screamed that she was the type and she had the know-how. “You should definitely look for cameras,” he added. “I'll let you know if I see anything. Back up to the threats part, though. I was set to die. How was I a threat?”
"Parts of the government are. I have no doubt there are branches of our fucking government that could pull off something like this. And they'd buy out anyone they could to shut them up about us, and those they couldn't they'd handle too." She turned her head to look back at him as they walked. "Social uprising. People like you. That was pretty damn apparent before I got shipped off to Women's Correctional. If you were set to die and you actually died, I bet you there'd be some sort of riot happening. And at least one or two copycats."
“You think there'd be a riot?” he asked. “I'm not being facetious, I'm asking. I wasn't in things for the fame, and she was the one who really kept in touch with the public. So, you might actually have a better idea than I do.”
"It wouldn't go unnoticed, that's for sure. I'm not a PR person or anything, but the public liked you last I saw. And that one video?" He had to know the one she was talking about. The 'I love you baby' video. "That's enough of a reason for people to fight for you, I think. But fuck, I could be wrong. I don't know shit about most people. I just think you have people that followed you and they'd be pissed off if you got killed, probably enough to do something crazy. So that makes you a threat to someone somewhere."
He did know the video she was talking about. He knew that had gone viral. It was the first time he really became all that aware of their following, even if he'd heard about it before then from his partner in crime. That, however, had really kicked things into high gear, even if he hadn't done it at all for publicity. She'd merely captured an honest moment with him, then let the world see. “So you think if I went to prison, there'd be protesters outside when it was getting close to needle time?”
"Yeah," She answered honestly. "If people can protest all the ridiculous bullshit they want, then they can definitely protest something that." Hell, she might have even joined them from behind her computer somehow. Which had her grinning. "Though now I kind of want you to go back to prison so I can practice taking over live news feeds for a purpose."
He laughed at that. “Huh. Interesting,” he said. Then grinned at her, as they walked though it occurred to him he had no idea where they were heading. “You'd do that? Okay, you have to tell me. What would you do? Would it be like the movies, with some anonymous voice modulated tone, with carefully selected imagery from news around the world? Or...?”
"Maybe. I'd have to think on it. Never really thought about it before. If I did have to wear a mask like Anonymous, I'd have a better mask. Voice modulated might be cool. Would make it harder for anyone to track where I was based on time of day or environmental clues..." Now she could definitely see how he could be dangerous. She'd never before wanted to get her voice or her face out in front of the public but this idea just popped up and obviously had come in response to him. "You're trouble," She said, shaking her head a little.
He listened to her, and at the last bit, he grinned and laughed, winking at her. “So I've been told,” he agreed. He was trouble. He knew there were certain personality types that he just brought it out in. Just like he could bring out a wild streak in those who were just looking for the excuse. He had that gift, bringing things to the surface in people. Sometimes they were good, sometimes they were bad. He just loved the ride, and tried to make it so they did too.