ʀᴏɢᴜᴇ has a (dangerous_touch) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-01-26 08:51:00 |
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Rogue was sitting on the stool by the counter in Taste of Home. She was finishing up paperwork. Because everyone hated it, and she was the owner, she had to do it all. By now she was pondering hiring someone to do it for her. She grumbled and reached for her red bull before stacking the papers into their folders and getting to her feet. At least it was over with and everyone got paid, taxes were paid, W2’s were in the process of being sent out. Everything was on track and she felt good. Things were going great. The house was being upgraded Lina and Rogue style, she felt all kinds of responsible, and things looked cheery. She felt good about it all but the part of her who lived, breathed and survived by being a thief and a con woman was itching. She was being too good. No bar fights, no drunken nights out, no bad-things. It was almost chafing how good she was being. She took the papers into the office, locked everything up, and went to go sit at the counter again. Servers were serving. Customers were eating and she waved to those she knew, greeted everyone then leaned back to watch everything work. It was a beautiful thing. Even if she was trying to figure out how to sate that side of her. It was hard to be so good all the time. Rogue stretched, muscles finally felt good after getting her ass handed to her by Logan. Her cheeks flushed red as she thought about the teasing from Lina and Cindy about it all. So what if she still had that little crush going on? She couldn’t help it. Logan was Logan. She shook the thought out of her head and looked around, catching Cindy walking through the door. She grinned and waved. “Hey you! What's going on?” she called out as she gestured for her friend to join her. The comfort food cafe was kind of Cindy’s home away from home. It was cozy, and there was space for her to work if she wanted to do that, and it also happened to be owned by one of her favorite people. However, she felt like she hadn’t been spending as much time there as she wanted to. At least lately. That had to do with the crime mess around the OC, and how it had basically erupted into sort of a civil war. Score one point for stopping the weapons deliveries, but getting to the heart of the matter was still taking a lot of time - and she worked hard on it, probably more than she was working on her real job. There weren’t enough hours in the day and it was difficult, juggling the shoe store as her cover job and then all of her responsibilities as an FBI agent. Now that Garrus worked with her, it was easier - she had someone else from the OC, in that whole sticky web, to ensure that what happened in the OC stayed in the OC, away from prying government eyes. They both worked as double agents of sorts, and it was...well, it was tiring. But fulfilling. Add to that the worrying about their lives, and the lives of their friends in danger, and she was personally just feeling stretched a little thin. Something dessert-like. She needed it. Into the cafe she swept, and she went up to where Rogue was, comfortable in her leggings and tall black boots, a sweater belted over that. Waitressing for her friend had actually been kind of fun, but Rogue had enough staff now and things seemed to be going well. Cindy was glad for that. “I require chocolate,” she groaned, sitting on one of the stools at the counter, her purse placed next to her. The taser was tucked inside, <>and</i> she was armed - in her bra, actually, the small revolver tucked away all sleek and beautifully concealed in its holster. Rogue was always armed. Well, that was the easy part. She just had to touch someone and knock their ass six ways to sunday. Wasn’t as fun, or hard, as real fighting, but in a pinch it was a savior. She had no clue to her friend’s real job, or anything. Which was probably a good thing. Being one of her friend’s favorite people she didn’t want to tarnish the perfect image she’d made now that she was mostly legit. But it was hard being good when the world was going to shit around them. Rogue had worked extra hard to make this place a safe haven in this mess. She was comfortable threatening people who were causing trouble around the place. She’d scared off a few troublemakers and so far she’d managed to keep this place neutral ground. Thank god. She smiled at Cindy and nodded. “I shall get you chocolate.” she slid off the stool and disappeared into the back for a few moments, coming back out with a big slice of Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake and a fork. She set it down before Cindy and plunked down on her stool again. “You look stressed, sugah.” she said, honestly. Oooh, delicious. Cindy sighed with relief when she took a forkful of the cheesecake - it was honestly a better therapy than downing a bottle of rum, and she didn’t exactly want to turn into an alcoholic over all this either. Heading to rooftops with a sniper rifle and going to the gym for a few rounds of punching things helped quite a bit, and she just wanted to get out there and finish wiping the floor with those fuckers - the anxiety wasn’t exactly letting up, especially when she knew that the war was far from over. “I am stressed,” she admitted, rubbing her forehead with her opposite hand. “This crime thing...it’s not going to let up anytime soon. I know what they’re after and they’re planning something, and it’s just...it’s driving me insane.” She hadn’t talked about it to, well, nearly anyone. Except Garrus. But he was getting his friends involved, so Cindy didn’t think she should keep bottling everything up. Especially when she had friends who could potentially help, too. Rogue leaned on her elbows to look at Cindy. Her lips pursed a bit then a slow smile curled them away from the purse. “I’d ask what a mild-mannered shoe-store owner is doing fighting this crime spree, but I supposed that’d be hypocritical of me. I’m not exactly a mild-mannered cafe owner.” She tucked a white lock behind her ear and gave her friend a look. “So spill, because I can’t guess. How exactly do you know what they’re after?” Rogue could suspect. After all, in her dreams everyone had alter egos and all sorts of fucked up shit like that. It wasn’t a stretch to think someone she knew had something going on too. After all, didn’t she? “You want to go in the office instead of out here?” she asked, her eyes alight with curiosity. The office was probably a better place to have this conversation. Cindy anticipated that she'd just be unloading a whole bunch of shit, and doing it out in the open wasn't a good idea. First, she picked up her plate of cheesecake, sliding off of the stool. Forgetting her chocolate comfort was not an option. "I'll explain everything, just lead the way back," she said, taking her purse with her free hand and slinging it up over her shoulder. Wouldn't want to leave the taser out here to fall into the wrong hands. Rogue pushed off the counter and signaled the employees she was going in the back and wasn’t to be disturbed unless the place was burning down or being robbed. Then she’d come out kicking mad because she didn’t get enough down time as it was. She lead the way back to the office, it was small, homey and felt like a little country slice in the OC. She paused to grab a snack from the cooler and dropped into her chair which was behind a desk with a computer. There were two comfy chairs on the other side and the door was solid, heavy and old. No one was going to listen in. She tucked a leg under her, opened her soda, and took a bite of the sandwich she’d snagged. “Alright. Firstly, if you need food let me know, we’ve got a ton.” she set the sandwich down and leaned her elbow on the desk, chin in hand, to look at her friend. “So, now you’ve got me all curious darlin’” Rogue’s office kind of reminded Cindy of hers, in the sense that it was a place to just kind of hide away when things out front got to be too headache-inducing. She took another bite of cheesecake, licking the creamy deliciousness off the fork, a sigh escaping her. “Okay, well...” Best to start at the beginning, she supposed. “Shoegasm is just a front. I’m an FBI undercover agent.” There, bomb dropped. Not like she went around telling people, because of the fact that she could kind of get demoted, but it was probably about time to let Rogue know. “The FBI’s gotten wind of the weirdness in the OC, and I’m supposed to be reporting back on it but that would be detrimental to us. So I’m more like...a double agent, protecting our interests,” she explained, after swallowing another bite of cheesecake. That wasn’t even the whole story, just the setup. Brace yourself, Rogue. Setting the fork down. Last bite of cheesecake consumed. This was beginning to get serious. “Garrus works with me now but in the past, he was a bounty hunter. Has a long history. Many of the violent groups he pissed off with all the cleaning up scum are here now - they want revenge. All the petty shit, like car theft and graffiti, it’s just stirring the pot before they probably try to draw him out. We’ve been working on digging into the finer points of their operation, getting info, and he’s got friends helping out too with stuff like stopping their weapons delivery, but - “ Cindy blew a strand of cornsilk hair from her face, frustrated. “It’s just really messy.” Rogue sat and listened very quietly. For a moment she pondered reaching out to pat her hand to see if she was telling the truth or not. Rogue wasn’t sure what to do with this knowledge. She wasn’t exactly a good girl. She’d never had a clue. Impressive. “Well isn’t that some interesting news.” she said after a moment, her words thoughtful and careful. “I’m not entirely surprised the government has caught wind of our craziness. Amused they’re actually looking into it, but not surprised.” she said after a sip of her soda. Then a slow breath, and a smile. “You know if you need help, dream-me is kind of a superhero, and I’ve gotten pretty good at knocking heads together.” she laughed softly. “and I love bar brawls, and I’m sure getting the likes of those folk into a bar brawl is easy as pie.” innocent smiles all around. Just ignore the fact she’s nervously playing with her soda glass. Fingers tapping lightly. “Bar brawls, huh? Yeah, you do seem to be fond of those...” Cindy grinned slightly, shifting in her chair. She was kind of anxious too, but she knew that she shouldn’t be overly nervous about asking for help - the idea of loved ones involved in this mess was unnerving but some were better suited for it than others. Her friends could handle themselves, and the more they all worked together on this, the better. “I don’t know, it might be a way to get info, do you think? With your powers?” Pete and Leli were both working on the intel part, and they were both good at what they did. But there were other ways to procure information too, ones that the ‘enemy’ wouldn’t even see coming. “And a superhero...who bar brawls. Is that it, really?” "Sugah, with my powers I can get a lot of info some people just can't get. It ain't fun for them but they probably deserve it. And yeah I love bar brawls. Always have." She chewed her lip, weighing the idea of spilling it to her friend. But Cindy had told her. It'd only be fair if she returned the favor. So she sighed a bit. "Nope. The super thing is new. Ah spent from age 17 to oh, late last year surviving on the streets. Thief. Pit fights. Whatever ah could do to earn enough money to get by. Ain't no angel. Beat up my fair share and then some. Ain't never stolen from good folk, and always cash. Fought for money. Hurt people in self defense. Ah grew up rough, didn't have job skills or much education, graduated high school but no college.." Nope she was holding onto that one secret. The only other person who knew about it was long gone. "Generally ain't afraid of getting my hands dirty. Ah got good friends who keep me from needing to steal to survive, but still ain't sweet." Cindy couldn't help it. She reached over, leaning in her chair, and hugged Rogue. Being indestructible helped when it came to friends with zapping powers, so she'd be fine. "I think you're sweet," she laughed, peaches and cream accent slipping through just a touch there. "And we'll work something out. You can get paid to bar brawl and see what info you can find." Because she didn't expect a friend to do it for nothing. Plus, she wanted to help Rogue out - true, she had the cafe now, but she worked hard on it and potentially brawling would maybe put her out of commission for awhile. So Cindy would make up for that. "If you want to do this, we'll give you a secret agent name," she grinned. "...though actually, Rogue kind of works real well, doesn't it?" She twitched back. Indestructible Or not it wasn't a fun feeling being zapped. She smiled faintly. Apologetically. She couldn't help the twitch. "Thanks darlin, I love an excuse to brawl. Gives me a reason to harass Logan a bit more." Rogue wouldn't ever ask to get paid to punch faces again. But she wouldn't turn it down either. Of course, she didn't tell Cindy she'd have an echo for a bit of whoever she touched. But she'd be okay. "Rogue is a neat one isn't it?" She grinned. "But everyone knows me as Rogue so... maybe another would safer" she smiled a but. "Just point me in the right direction." The twitch of power, a pull, didn’t really bother Cindy much. It was worth it, and she didn’t regret the gesture. Rogue must wage this battle between craving touch and shying away from it and yet sometimes, you just needed a damn hug without worrying. “I’ll let you know, peach blossom,” she promised with a wink, accent in full force - why hide it? Moonshine, honey, and lightning bugs. The air tasted thick, didn’t it? Like they were in the humid south. “I think...all of us working together? We may take our own little piece of insanity back.” It’d be a tough war to wage, but in the end, she knew who would win. Rogue Got a bare hint of emotion off that quick touch. It was enough to know Cindy was happy to give it. And oh how she craved touch. Lina hugged her. Cindy now too, without fear. But it was still rare enough that it left her aching for more. She smiled faintly. It felt like home down here. "Look forward to it, honestly. It'll be good for me." A southern belle smile. "I rather like our insanity, well as long as it doesn't involve plants trying to attack again. Never going to get past my cacti trying to skewer me." She smiled. Who would of thunk it, the thief turned semi good,working and being good friends with an fbi agent. The OC worked in weird ways. Rogue grinned and reached into her drawer, setting out a small mason jar. Apple pie moonshine. She set two, very tiny shot glasses next to it. "Here's to getting things back to our kind of normal?" Oh my god, Rogue had apple pie moonshine. In her office. She truly was a goddess. Cindy laughed, taking one shot of the libations. "Our kind of normal," she agreed, clinking those glasses together gently. "Yeah, I'd say that's about right." Down went the shot and it helped. Something a little strong, to give her just a bit more courage to face this madness and take back what rightfully was theirs. |