Not the One Hiding

[Molly Quincannon] Another text arrives from Molly after what probably seems like far too long a wait between texts. It's been nearly a week, after all, since Molly sent the one saying not to go home. This one names a coffee shop that caters to the business crowd and is thus almost entirely empty on a Sunday, off to one side of the Mile. No time given, which probably means ASAP, or that Molly's actually okay with hanging around, but sometime today would likely be appreciated. More to the point, it says without actually saying so that she'd actually like to meet up.

Oddly, while it doesn't give a time, it gives a seat reference. Back of the room, left-hand corner. Might need a double-take. Look's changed a bit.

Cryptic? Possibly. But when Ellie arrives at the coffee shop, she may find herself understanding the comment a little more when the table in the left-hand corner of the rear of the coffee shop contains a woman of average height in emocore glasses and a T-shirt that reads "Team Anders" (which Molly squeaked over getting not a month ago, Ellie may remember) ... but with long, wavy off-brown hair full of highlights. Though a double-take would at least make her think back to all the pictures Molly showed her of her first crew, back when she was in New York for college.

The fact that a mocha and a maple pecan pastry are sitting at the vacant seat at the table may well help. As might that funny sixth sense magi seem to have, if it's working today.

[[Is Molly's working today? Awareness...]]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 4, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Ellie James] [Awareness...]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 5, 6, 6, 7 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Ellie James] When the phone buzzed an incoming text message, Ellie grabbed the phone from beside her and crossed her fingers that it was Molly finally getting ahold of her. And amazingly enough, it is Molly, with an offer to meet up. Excited to see her friend again, Ellie quickly wrote a note for her new roommate; Going out to meet a friend. Got my phone if you need me. -Ellie. Leaving the note where it ought to be easily seen, the teen grabbed her coat, shoes, and left the apartment.

When she arrived at the coffee shop in question, she paused inside the door for a moment to get her bearings. Back of the room, in a corner. The only person in the aforementioned corner was one that wasn't immediately identifiable. The t-shirt was certainly out of place in this sort of shop, which was Ellie's first clue that this stranger might actually be her missing friend. She walked towards said individual, noting the pastry, the drink, and... the feeling in the air. It's that last as much as anything that convinces Ellie to drop down in the seat directly in front of the snacks.

"That's an... interesting look, there."

[Molly Quincannon] "Hey, hold on a minute. Stand back up, you." There's a teasing sort of stern to her voice, and assuming Ellie does, Molly hugs her. "Man, I have missed you like whoa."

Once they've sat back down, Molly kicks a couple of big cloth carry-handle bags - the type eco-friendly people use to carry their shopping - towards Ellie under the table. "That's what I managed to salvage. Some of your favourite T-shirts and books, those slippers, your costume from Halloween - couldn't save the staff, but thought you'd at least want to keep the dress ... stuff I thought you'd be seriously sad to leave behind. Also everything that might conceivably have your name on it. Also your slightly tweaked bank details with the statements now entirely online, and your college has you at an address that doesn't exist but your mail going to a PO box. I do exit strategies right, though this is the first one I've ever had to ... y'know, use." Her voice is low, but her smile is at once proud, mischievous and a little sheepish - a 'don't worry about me' smile. "So how've you been?"

[Ellie James] Ellie blinked at the order to stand, and then laughed as Molly hugged her. She hugged her friend back tightly. "Likewise. I'm really glad to see you in one piece."

She eyed the bags kicked her way, and poked through them for a moment. "Oh, lords, thank you." She looked up, with a sad little smile. "I've missed you more than my textbooks, honestly." She picked up her mocha to give herself a moment, and then looked back up. "I'm... okay. Been worried out of my head about you, since I haven't heard from you in more than a week. Addie's been okay with me crashing with her, though, so at least that's working. She was a bit shocked when I showed up on her doorstep, but she's nearly as easy-going as you are, so it's worked out. What about you, though? I'm not the one hiding."

[Molly Quincannon] "Well, see, that's the funny thing - I'm not ... exactly hiding." Molly sips her coffee and looks thoughtful. "See, you know how we were never actually looking like we were getting ... y'know, bills? I mean, we were getting bills, but we weren't getting bills. StarkFargo Limited was getting bills. StarkFargo Limited is a small independent business that ... doesn't ... strictly speaking exist. Every bit of documentation for the building? It eventually ties into a digital phantasm in Mississippi." All this is still spoken quietly. Then she shrugs and says, "They've got an address, and probably my description - you're okay 'cos you blend in more than I do. Did. Whatever. Anyway, point is, what they haven't got is a name. And since I work from home, I don't even have to blow my job or use fake ID yet. Might have to, at some point? But for the time being, all I lost is a home." Then she looks chagrined and adds, "Just sorry I lost you yours too. Glad Addie's okay with you staying. There's a little extra in your bank account if you two need anything. You know, furniture, grocery expenses, whatever. Oh, and Nathan says he'd be glad to try to find you someplace to stay if you needed. He's got ... contacts, and they're a little more local than some of mine."

[Ellie James] Ellie reached across the table to catch one of Molly's hands and squeeze it. "I'd be more upset about losing a friend than losing a place to crash. But you're okay, so I'm okay. How are the ferrets? For that matter, where are you staying?" She keeps trying to redirect the questions on Molly, because Ellie's used to running on her own, and having a friend to worry about means that she spends a lot of time worrying when she's not near her friend.

[Molly Quincannon] Molly chucklses a bit and squeezes Ellie's hand back. "The ferrets are fine. Neal and Hardison liiiiiiive! And Hardison is still a spaz, so all is therefore right with the world. And where I'm staying ... well, I can show you when we're done with coffee if you want - there's actually a standing invitation for you to crash there too, but it might be ... um ... inconvenient for college. Basically, Atlas and I met up a few days ago and if you think you're freaking out? Imagine someone who can't get out of fifty-cent word mode doing it. Suffice to say that it's the sort of place that you have to know where it is and have the means to get there in order to ... well, get there."

Translation: she's not even remotely talking about it in public.

"Plus it's not like I'm totally without support. Israel helped with the look ... which was nice because the blonde I tried? Was so much not working. She wanted to know how you were doing, by the way. Honestly, I'm gonna be fine."

[Ellie James] Ellie snickered quietly at the zombie ferret reference. "Okay, good. And I'd really kind of like to see a place that could be that inconvenient." She hid a grin behind her pastry at the idea of '50 cent words' and a dressing down. "Bunking with Addie is working out pretty well, but I'd still like to see where you're staying. Sounds kind of nifty."

"I'm glad Israel is helping you. When I texted her last week she actually took the time to make sure I had somewhere to stay since I couldn't head back. She's sweet. And let her know I'm fine, if you would?"

[Molly Quincannon] "Of course I will," is Molly's reply to the last bit. "She'll probably ask for something of yours and start scrying you out if I don't. You think you're a worrier? Israel's the original mother hen. You know all the Jewish Mother stereotypes? Well. She embodies a good ninety-nine-point-nine-bar percent of them. And of course I'll show you where I'm staying. Atlas has barricaded himself in his lab again and I'm not allowed in there but even if you don't decide to crash there, I'm sure you'll meet him beyond a party intro at some point. Really."

Then, barring any further questions from Ellie that require immediate input and can be answered in even a semi-deserted public setting, it's small talk about how college is going and that kind of thing until coffee is finished, at which point Molly stands up and says, "You ready to do this thing?"

[Ellie James] "On dear. Yeah, pass on the okayness because she really doesn't need to expend that much energy on me." She shook her head, and turned her attention to her pastry, smiling at the mundane small talk.

Ellie followed Molly to her feet and grinned. "Oh yeah. You've got me curious now."

[Molly Quincannon] "Awesome. I'll help you carry your gear." And so she does, as they head towards...

...the river. And, once they get close enough, the little but well-constructed boat that's neatly hidden (as in, if you don't know it's there or aren't following someone who does, you're not gonna find it) on the shore. Which Molly ushers Ellie into, and pilots it towards...

...The question might become how the hell something that looks like a World War 2 destroyer without the armaments is floating in the middle of the Chicago River and no one seems to notice. Ain't magic grand?

As they haul up the little boat to the destroyer and get out onto the deck, Molly says, "Welcome aboard the Lafette. I promise you, there is an inside and it's not all just military-grade decor."

[Ellie James] Ellie stared at the river as they got closer, expecting to turn towards one of the warehouses or boathouses that lined the short. Except they kept going, eventually boarding a small boat, and... angling right towards something out of one of Ellie's history books.

"Holy shit. You're staying here?! Oh my god!"

[Molly Quincannon] Molly grins. "Yep. The Lafette is a former fleetship of the Royal Ethernautical Society - basically the more cohesive bits of the Sons of Ether. Come on in; it gets cold on the deck." With that, she opens the door leading down into the main part of the ship and leads the way down.

The place is obviously still undergoing refurbishment. Some of the walls and floors have been scraped bare to the metal, though there's been a fair bit of new carpet and wallpaper laid, restoring the place from industrial warship to a Victorian kind of splendour. There are glass pipes along the walls in places, some broken, some obviously newly repaired ... there's a lot to take in. Molly, however, leads the way down a few corridors, passing by what looks to be a spacious and well-outfitted kitchen and pointing it out to Ellie ("See; I'm eating! In fact, Atlas forgets to eat sometimes so I've elected myself Chief Cook and Bottle-Washer while I'm here.") before eventually reaching a fairly nice bedroom, the furniture maintaining that Victorian steampunky look the rest of the ship is regaining, but with enough of Molly's salvaged stuff in it - not to mention the beginnings of a new HabiTrail set up for the ferrets, who are currently snoozing in hammocks in a cage in a far corner - to mark it out as hers. "This is me," she says, unnecessarily. "The head's through that door, and lab space through that one. I have lab space!"

[Ellie James] Ellie could feel the breeze and had to agree about the cold bit, scurrying after Molly into the interior of the ship. She kept one eye on Molly and otherwise just ogled the entirety of what she could see. At one point she muttered 'this is nuts!' but didn't stop to stare at any of it until they entered a steampunk room and Ellie could just... stare.

"You have... labspace. And a victorian bedroom... on a battleship. Holy fuck." She bit her lip and blushed a little at the swearing, but didn't try to take it back. "The ferret habitat looks so out of place!"

[Molly Quincannon] "Yeah, well, I'm hoping it won't once I get it to blend in a little more," she says, as if the bit about the HabiTrail is the most important part of that. "I'm thinking of doing a redesign so they look like the light data tubes in the hallways. Seriously, they perfected a light-based data storage system, Ellie! Petabytes of information once flowed through all that glass piping and you have no idea exactly what I'm talking about but believe me, if you were a geek like me, you would be giddy over it, honest! As for the rest of it?" She just shrugs and grins. "That's Etherites for you. Utterly nuts, but made of win. But yeah, 'holy fuck' is about the size of it, I guess. It's about what I said when I first saw the place a few months back, though with way more squeaking glee."

Then she sits on the bed and says, "Like I said ... a little inconvenient to get to college from. But it's cloaked, and it moves, and nobody is going to find me here."

[Ellie James] Ellie wandered towards the bed to drop onto the foot of it near Molly, looking around. "Petabyte is, what, the next step after terrabyte? Or something around there. That's a lot of information." Yeah, it's obvious that Ellie isn't the tech-head Molly is because she's not drooling at the idea.

"Yeah, I guess you're right about it being inconvenient, but it'd be one hell of a weekend to stay here and wander around." She grinned at Molly, and then hugged her. "You're right, though, nobody's gonna expect this. I mean, how long has this thing been around, because I never saw it, and if I didn't, most people probably can't."

[Molly Quincannon] Molly thinks about it. "I don't know how long it's been here, exactly," she says, "but like I say, it's cloaked. No one'll see it, everyone'll ignore it ... it's been hiding from the Technocrats for a very long time. Atlas has it set up so it can house approximately two-thirds of Chicago's Mage population ... and Atlas said he set this space aside for me specifically during refurbishment." She blushes a bit at that. "I'm trying not to think that this was his contingency plan in case I got in trouble because it was so obvious I was going to one day, but more that he was hoping he'd have some company. He's been on this lonely old ship for a long time, and the only company he's had during that time, far as I know, was Henri. And she was this insane Australian teen genius with the self-control of ... well, remember when Hardison got into my chocolate-covered espresso beans? Well, like that, but with more temper tantrums."

It's odd - she talks about Atlas like he's some venerable old geezer or something. Ellie didn't meet him for long, but he looked maybe mid-thirties under all the samurai gear.

"Anyway, yeah, you're welcome to come visit now and then," she goes on. "I'll have to show you the lido deck before we get you back, too, actually. Maybe I can grow some of those herbs you're learning about - the place has a barbecue and some patio furniture and stuff, but it's basically a biosphere. The orchid Israel gave me looks to be thriving in it, anyway."

[Ellie James] "Wow... Wait. Atlas... didn't I meet him at a party? Because he didn't look that old... and you're not making any sense." And trust the teen to get distracted by a numbers problem.

"I'd love to see that deck, though. Hell, if there's a barbecue grill there already, why not have things that would taste good on a grill?"

[Molly Quincannon] Molly thinks about the best way to answer that. "Biologically, he's not. Technically ... well, put it this way. He stopped aging in nineteen forty-five. I don't know how long the Lafette's been decommissioned, but ... well, long enough, I think. Either way, he's way, way older than he looks."

The rest gets a grin. "Oh, we have barbecue stuff, but tonight's dinner plans actually involve more in the way of beef stew. It's been in the slow-cooker all day, nearly. And you, my friend, are taking your fire-sprite out to a good dinner tonight. On me, obviously. Call it a thank-you to her for taking such good care of my little sister, hmm?"

[Ellie James] "Whoa..." She shook her head. If she weren't a mage, this all would be impossible to believe, but as a mage, it was merely... astounding. She shook her head, but grinned a little. "Guess it explains the speech pattern, huh?"

"I meant herbs and onions and lettuce and stuff. Better than store-bought. Just, delayed a little." The idea of beef stew made her smile a little, and then she gawped at Molly. "You don't have to do that, Molly. I'm just super glad to see you."

[Molly Quincannon] That gets giggles. "Oh, I don't think they talked quite the way he does in the forties. I think that's just him. As to the growing stuff ... right. Sorry, that's not usually my first thought about the biosphere. It's more that ... well, he ... he stopped aging in nineteen-forty-five. That kind of puts most mortal documentation beyond him, and since he's a Matter mage on a self-sustaining ship, he mostly doesn't bother because he doesn't need to. It's lead into gold when he can't avoid it, or growing his own stuff and fishing. And removing all the pollutants from whatever fish he catches. Viva los Matter mages, hmm?"

Then she wrinkles her nose. "I know I don't have to. Doesn't stop me wanting to. And you and your friend might appreciate it. How is where you're living, anyway? I appreciate you wanting to know I'm living okay, but accept that I'm going to want the same for you. Not that I want to go there - I doubt anyone'd notice me or recognise me, but better safe than sorry, y'know? - but I do want to know what the place is like, even if it's just all about satisfying my curiosity."

[Ellie James] "It was the most logical explanation I could come up with." She grinned a little, and then tilted her head. "I'd love to learn some of how he does that." Because really, it was right up her alley. And would be another excuse to hang around with Molly between lessons. As if she needed another excuse to hang out with Molly.

She gave Molly a cross-eyed look, rolled her eyes, and then smiled. "It's a little cramped, but kind of cozy. I've certainly slept in worse, and I'm one of the few people she doesn't have to worry about freaking out if something goes wrong."

[Molly Quincannon] That last gets a bit of a frown from Molly. "Yeah, Nathan said that any way she'd be dangerous would be by accident rather than design. But he can be incredibly cagey and I don't think he knows her very well. But ... well, you said you could keep from getting burned if you had to, and she seems to like you, so I'm not worried. You know what you're doing and if you trust her, I figure so does she." Then she frowns and wonders aloud, "Well ... if I'm not paying rent 'cos Atlas won't let me ... maybe I can help you two get a bigger place? I still feel bad about your bedroom furniture, and Nathan'd happily help you look if you wanted..." It's not precisely an offer; more just throwing the idea out there.

To the bit about Atlas, she smiles. "I'm sure he'd be glad to teach you, though honestly, if you want to learn to grow things, go to Israel. She'd be better at teaching you to use gardening techniques in conjunction with Life magic to make things really thrive. She's a bit of an expert at that, really. Hence the new 'do." She grins and holds up a lock of her now-long hair. "It's a charm rather than her just doing a rote or whatever, but it works, and I've got a few more of those charms - they'll be good until May, if I need to change my look again. But you can definitely come help me cook for Atlas, and learn to fish with me?"

[Ellie James] Ellie shrugged a little. "I think part of it is the fact that I don't act scared, if that makes any sense? Anyway... umm... I'd have to run that idea by Addie. I know she's kind of proud of having a place of her own. It won't hurt to bring it up."

She ran her fingers through her hair, glanced at Molly's, and grinned. "Israel or Atlas, either person would be fun to take lessons from, I'll bet. 'Specially if it gives me an excuse to come over to visit you more often. You'll have to teach me how to cook fish, though."

[Molly Quincannon] After thinking about that for a moment, Molly nods. "Not first-hand, maybe? But I think I get it. And ... hey, I get the pride thing? But there's got to be a way to sell it to her. I have faith in you. Besides, if she's living in cramped quarters, maybe it wouldn't take that much to just make her proud of paying for her own end of a place with more room. I dunno. Sometimes dealing with prideful types is hard." She ruffles Ellie's hair when she says that, with a teasing smile that teases herself as much as it does Ellie. She knows a thing or two about pride herself, after all. She's already decided not to mention the near-week she spent living in a crappy motel that probably had bedbugs.

To the bit about cooking fish, she laughs. "Oh, that I can do, but we'll save it for another time. For now, I'll give you a bit more of the tour and then get you back before your new roomie starts to worry. If I know you, you left another one of those cryptic notes." So it's the grand tour, and more chatter until Molly has to start thinking about hauling Atlas out of his lab for dinner. That's when she drops Ellie off back on shore at a good hidden drop-off point with a comment of, "You can call now, by the way. My line's secure, especially if you Skype from the Lafette. So you can arrange more coffee get-togethers or whatever. Be well, and my best to the fire-sprite, hmm?"

With that and another hug, Molly heads back to the ship she calls home, hopefully leaving Ellie a little bit more easy in her mind about the fate of her erstwhile roommate.