(1943-03-22) Workin' Hands
Workin' Hands
Summary: Lillie and Wolf make a business arrangement.
Date: 1943-03-22
Related: NA
Players:
wolf..lucietta..

The Gallows, Higsi
Thur Mar 22, 1943


Toward the back is the requisite wooden bar with a mirror on the wall behind it that has been polished to a nice shine. A line of cushioned bar stools sit in front of the bar just waiting to be used. Tables and chairs dot the rest of the bar.

Weather:
It is spring. The weather is warm and clear.

===

<FS3> Lillie rolls Empath: Great Success.

A certain Irish Empath had a fire under her ass, as of the evening prior, to seek out a one Frank Russel. Coming to this dive bar on this particular evening bore no fruit, alas; just as well. So here Lucietta O'Clery sits at roundabouts 8 o'clock PM on a Thursday night… a most unremarkable night… and it shows in every bit of her lovely countenance. Egads, could Lillie finally be revealing some fatigue as a result of her great many priorities…? Maybe that which is kept secret is finally boiling to the surface after a glass of house white wine (it's the Gallows, it's not fancy) … who knows.

Nonetheless, locals mill around the dingy space and Lillie sits at the bar, her chin propped into her palm, green eyes staring off into space. She looks as if she has the world on her shoulders….

… doesn't help that the sense is strong tonight. Her lashes flutter closed… she should go home.

Wolf got a lead from the boss today. That self-same Lucietta O'Clery is apparently setting up a boarding house and word has gotten back to Cathleen. Boarding houses almost always need paint, right? Hey, money's good.

Wolf has a lot on her mind, as she asks around, looking for Lillie. Who, exactly, are the walkers. And why are they so careful with their breeding? It didn't dawn on her until after the other night that there might be a sinister answer. What if they're of the Medici or Borges houses of witches? Plenty of Italians and Spanish in New York City. The witch hunter in her woke up then. She turns this over in her head as she checks the spot the last contact gave her… check the Gallows. Everyone goes there after work. Strangely, given a puzzle that might or might not be life and death for her and everyone she cares about, Wolf is thirsty, but not for alcohol. Nevertheless, here she is. As her eyes adjust to the gloom of the old bar, she recognizes Lillie. It's a small town, and nearly being trampled by wild boars tends to leave a strong memory. Hmm. Wild boars could be a witch thing. It's a dangerous line between critical awareness and stark, raving paranoia. Wolf tries to walk that line.

She smiles at Lillie, letting all that turmoil slip away for the moment. "Well hello. Ain't seen you in a while."

She sits there by her lonesome, slight and ponderous in a froth of pale skirts and a fitted blouse, hair pulled back into a loose (not terribly severe) braid. Lillie is notorious, in her own way, around town… for a few reasons. She is the girl who 'ran around with Walkers but smartened up'; Tilda's 'girl'; Josephine's 'girl' but then Josie got scared out of town. An artist. An… she's a great many things, lately. Or, at the very heart of it all, she is a fey-looking girl with a heavy Irish brogue, forever trained upon a 'task'. The revitalization of Josie Ellis's homestead has been a… grueling task. It shows. But then Lillie is experiencing something altogether… different. What does a face-shifter feel like to an Empath whose sense is riding her hard? … CONFUSING, that's what. Wolf speaks to her and brilliant green eyes turn to the buxom woman, but the empathy lurches in Lillie's head. A wince; for all the world she looks tired, but she's just working hard to 'sift' through what she is fielding.

Familiarity. "Oh…" She tilts her head, tresses quivering in the motion. ".. the boars. Wolf, right?" She asks with a tired smile.

Wolf wears this face a lot. On good days, or when she's had enough to drink, she thinks of it as herself, rather than the scarred, mangled, monster that is Bernadette. This is not one of those days. Still, she's careful to think like Raphael, lest subvocalization give her away to the first side show "fortune teller" she runs into. She nods to Lillie. "Yeah. Looks like nobody's made bacon out of those boars yet, either. More's the pity. I traded my bacon ration coupons for the month away. Some wild boar would do nicely. Do you mind if I join you?

The young woman watches Raphael, not in an unpleasant way… just in her typical, all-encompassing manner. Emotions flicker here like foxfire; quick little wisps that fill Lillie's stomach with the barest sense of…. why, she feels unsettled in her very skin. Paranoid. Why—-

Doe-like eyes soften in their fringe of lashes, and she gestures with a hand "Come," She indicates the stool alongside her. "Sit with me. It has been awhile, hasn't it?" She asks, her accented voice a song. "My name is Lillie, if you need a refresher. It's been a long time in between stampedes." She smiles sadly.

Turning now to face her glass, Lillie sips. "How fare you, Miss Wolf? Have you settled well into our town?" She asks, lumping herself — finally — in with the locals.

Wolf curls that smile again, more warmly this time. She takes a seat next to Lillie. "Slowly. Very slowly. I'v never been from anyplace before. I'm learning to like it. Steady job, same faces at the breakfast table, no luggage to unpack. You know how it is. She looks at Lillie's wine glass a moment. It probably would be a good idea to join her in that, ironically. She waves to the bartender and gestures toward Lillie's glass, then toward herself, then gives him a wink. Apparently he gets it, because he gets out the wine bottle and another glass.

She leans close enough to catch a little of Lillie's scent, perhaps to see if she's still using the lilac soap she bought at Woolworths all that time ago. "It's been busy. How've you been keepin' yourself?

The Irishwoman indeed retains her favored lilac perfume, though used subtly so as to not choke out people around her who are sensitive… or the werewolves. c.c

Her lips curve into a smile as Wolf picks the vino, and she nods once. "It had taken me about a year to get myself sorted out, and even then… and I'm coming up on three years when November rolls around.. it's still a process. I always bite off more than I can chew." She rubs her temples, looking tired but really.. she trying to keep the sense at bay. It's hard to tell outright, but she's working hard. Alcohol helps and she lifts her glass once in appreciation as it is once again brimming with the pale liquid.

"You've been working with Miss Wright, last I heard?" She asks gently, hazarding a guess. That and she looks after one of the town's foremost gossips, second or third to Bernice.

Wolf nods. "As I said the first time we met. Sociological research doesn't pay so awful well. 'Specially with the war on. So I paint houses, inside, outside. I rent a room from Ms. Wright, which is a comfortable arrangement all 'round." Her wine arrives and she takes the glass and smiles at the bartender. "Thank you kindly." To Lillie, she adds, "I s'pose we do what we must. There's a war on, afterall." That makes Wolf's mood sour just slightly. She traded her bacon rations for film for her camera. She may not even need it, and she likes bacon, but… the hunter is awake now, and she won't tolerate letting her tools grow dull. Or out of ammunition.

The Empath offers a soft smile, "Sociological research in this town extends to knowing who your great grandfather happened to be, what they did for a living, how many children he sired with which childhood sweetheart and… God forbid, how many bastards." Spoken like a local; she turns her head to look down upon her drink again, lashes fluttering. This talk of painting houses interests the young woman, given her current predicament. She cannot expect to hire Walkers for everything, what with the spring approaching and their own duties afoot preparing for the season and for baby.

"We all do as we must to keep the cogs turning." Said before another sip of wine, and Lillie cuts her green eyes back to the buxom woman beside her. "I've been looking for a painter." Said gently, hesitantly.

Wolf smiles. "I hoped you might be. I paint for Ms. Wright, and rumor was you needed one. What've you got?" On the up and up? Well yes. For all the issues the empath might pick up in Wolf, she means it when she says she paints. Brilliant work, no, but she can paint and edge and have it come out decently. "Um. I often hire Walker boys to help me. I trust that won't be an issue. They work hard for me."

<FS3> Lillie rolls Presence: Success.

"I have come into the care of a house, close to the square. A lovely home. I was close to the resident but in the wake of the boars causing a fracas, she left to live with family, as she was of a weak constitution. Having no heirs to which to pass the house, Ms. Ellis has decided to convert the home into a boarding house, and I shall… manage it." Lillie takes deep breath then, slender shoulders lifting and lowering gently. "But the last stampede damaged the homestead, which has been taken care of by.. Walkers, as well." To anyone really listening to the woman, who knows what to listen for and how, was that just the barest inflection of tenderness, at the end of that fact? Hard to say, Lillie's face doesn't betray a beat.

"The house is dated, you see… beautiful, but needing to be freshened up before it is furnished properly." She turns enigmatic eyes upon 'Raphael', lips curling into a soft smile. "T'is kind of you to employ them. Whom do you have with you, when you work?"

Wolf hmms. "Is there electricity and runnin' water?" Because… some houses in the area are that dated. And also because those things are way, way over her head. "Is it old enough to be plaster and lath? And typically I have Jesse work with me. He's blind, but he's strong and reliable. And a good man." There's a curious softness to Wolf's voice as she says that, one might note. She does note it from Lillie, though she doesn't mention it right now. Could Lillie be the "some chippie?" Kathleen was talking about?

<FS3> Lillie rolls Empath: Good Success.

"There is," She says regarding electricity and water. "T'was re-wired in thirty-five, just to keep it up to standards." Looks like she's already looked into the records to see what needs to be taken into consideration. "Plaster and lath," She echoes and looks sheepish as she nods; Lillie had to deal with that son of a bitch material when she removed wallpaper and had her own house re-painted. Her sense swirls languidly around Wolf, feeding her the degree of tenderness as she speaks of a one Jesse Walker. This only serves to soften Lillie's smile, believe it or not.

"I know well of Jesse.. he is exactly what you say. I am happy to know that you are hiring him… though I shall have to be apart from the house when you work." Huh?

She turns doe eyes upon Wolf and lowers her voice, keeping it between them both. "Jesse and I had a falling out… t'was due to my own confused foolishness, when I was new to town. T'is not my interest to discomfort him with my presence, so if you wish to take on the job… three rooms: a den and two bedrooms… I shall act accordingly. If it puts you off to know that I once treated your friend in a bad way, due to my foolishness, you are welcome to turn me down." Yup, she's the 'chippie'… but she's at least a respectful one.

Wolf leans back in her chair a little and sips her wine. "Mmm," she says, noncommittally, but her expression and mood might read, "it's not just me…" She clears her throat and says, "Tell you what. I'll ask him if he's willin' to do that. If not… it'll just take longer, 'f I have to do it all myself. Kathleen has other irons in the fire he can work on." She thinks about it. She so wants to ask what happened, but… as a contractor on a job it's so not her business. "Den and two bedrooms. Any repair work that needs doin'? 'Cause we'd have to get Kathleen to do that part. I can swing a hammer and work a miter box, but that's about the extent of my carpentry.

<FS3> Lillie rolls Peoplewatching: Success.

The sense feeds Lillie that thrumming curiousity that Wolf now possesses following her admittance to having 'once' dabbled with Walkers. (Oh, if only she knew.)

Lillie watches Wolf for a long while, and it is the Irish girl's turn to feel the roiling of curiosity in her guts. 'It's not just me' … you bet your curvy bippy, Wolf, that Lillie is reading between those lines to catch that… that sense. The clearing-of-the-throat is another indicator; the universal sign of hastily shoving a thought or feeling under the rug. She isn't going to sit there and stare at Wolf, but she got what she needed to know.

"T'is entirely up to you. I leave the invitation open. Reassure him that I shall not be there, on the work days that I am informed of. Our fracture goes so deeply that he might not even wish to accept any payment if he were to know that it came from my wallet." Lillie considers, watches Wolf again with her heart in her eyes. A smile then. "If that is the case, take payment, and treat him nice." A whisper, the Empath's voice is a caress. Did she catch on?! Well, to whatever she thinks there is, to catch on to?

"I am thinking of having the cabinets replaced, but that shall be at a later date. If we are going into the spring, your boss shall have her work cut out for her." That and the player doesn't want to commit altcest!

Wolf nods. "Okay." She shakes her head a little. "We might be able to get steel cabinets being torn out of a house and repaint 'em. I dunno." She sighs. "Only in war-time would it make sense to do that, though, so it might not bear spendin' much money on it if the cabinets are functional. Maybe just paint them too."

"I am Irish." Lillie smiles widely, eyes glinting. "I do so enjoy a nice deal. I shall not turn my nose up at a good idea or a suggestion, as I am no authority on renovations." She offers, draining her glass and exhaling softly. "We can certainly talk, down the road, but take the time to speak to your friend and see what's what. Renovations aside, I've a few other logistics to work out before it's a functional property. There is plenty of time to discuss, plan, and figure out a schedule." She tilts her head, folds one leg over the other beneath the froth of her skirts. A small hand extends to the face-shifter, "We've an arrangement? Shake on it?"

Wolf 's hands aren't particularly wide, but they're long, as you might expect from her height (taller than the average man serving overseas by two full inches.) She shakes lightly. "We do. One thing though. Please call me Wolf. Raphael sounds so pretentious. Wolf's the nickname I had growin' up."

"Wolf it is. I yet insist that you call me Lillie. My true name is too stodgy." She offers, eyes glinting mysteriously. There is something about the Empath that speaks of things beyond what she disclosed; an overall 'knowing'. Long story short she looks and behaves as if she has seen a great many things, in her time in the town. Green eyes flit down to note the shape of Wolf's hands, rather liking said shape of both palm and fingers. A hand that knows hard work. Lillie's meanwhile are as dainty as the rest of her though the nails are broken and tips kinda dry and scaly. She may look fancy, but she works.

"IT shall be a pleasure, Wolf. Let me buy you another drink to seal the deal, before it's time to call it a night. At least for me… for I am boring."

A mischievous glimmer, and she calls for the tender.

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