KJ sideplot

[Deathcap]

Josephe left the building after Kait quietly, buttoning his coat against the cold, snowy air and working out where they had to walk to. He'd scarcely said anything to the woman, and was feeling rather discomforted by this situation, as much as he'd known it'd been coming. He wasn't sure if she hated this any less than him, or really even who she was, but unsure of what to say, he walked on without a word in the direction of their apartment.

[melodiousmysteries]

Kait pulled her scarf up over her face, trying to ignore the man as much as possible. She had always known that this was inevitable. It had to happen someday though a small part of her still held out hope that if she pulled the right strings. That was gone, now she was just content to maintain the uncomfortable silence for the time being, feeling rather small next to Josephe.

[Deathcap]

As the silence settled over them with the falling snow, Josephe didn't bother trying to engage in conversation, worrying more about what was to come. Lina was still fresh in his mind when he looked at the other; like waking up from a nightmare and being perplexed over what the reality is, though in truth she didn't even look or move like the other, except for her size, but Lina was the only other partner he'd known. Should he expect the same? He glanced at her. Kait certainly didn't seem to display Lina's charm or talkativeness, but he was relieved by that. Maybe, things could just... stay quiet.

When they made it up to the apartment, he walked in and glanced around. There were rations on the counter, his small, worn book bag next to them. Unsure of what to do, he walked over awkwardly to the window, looking about absently and taking his surroundings in. This felt wrong; he didn't want to be here. He noted the curtains were the same fabric, the walls the same shade, that had been in the small apartment he'd shared with Raven. Josephe felt his stomach flip and blinked quietly before walking back to the counter.

He looked back to Kait uncertainly, feeling unhappy at the thought of what they were supposed to do. He didn't want this, he didn't even want kids or a family, never again, he didn't want her, he didn't want any of this. "Well..." He started quietly, as if asking her what to make of all this, what to do with it.

[melodiousmysteries]

Kait stepped in behind him, glancing around and noticing a couple of boxes against one wall in the living room. She pulled her scarf off, hanging it by the door and brushing the snow out of her hair before heading to open the boxes, looking over the old books fondly. She looked up when Josephe spoke, somewhat unnerved at the break in the silence.
She had no idea what kind of person she was dealing with. Sure, she'd read the file, she knew everything from his past that was on record and had actually been put in the right place, but she didn't understand what was behind all of those points. She knew the effects but not the cause, and that scared her. She looked him up and down dor a moment, until, having no idea what to say, she turned baxk to her books a moment later.

[Deathcap]

Josephe watched her turn around before giving a quiet nod, not really ready for all this either. He remained silent for a long while after that, going to sit at the table and trying to fix the broken compass from his pack. When he did speak up, he sounded less uncertain. "We're old. Probably got a good six months to a year before they think anything." He was sure Kait knew what would happen after that. They'd test them, reassign them, and recondition them if they found they just weren't cooperating. If that's what she wanted and they never even tried, he'd be fine with it. "Whatever you want, I couldn't care. I'm not going to pressure you." He added, deciding just to make his stance known.

[melodiousmysteries]

Kait looked up at him thoughtfully when he finally spoke again, seeming to size him up once more. He really didn't want this either. She considered her options, looking away from him and back a couple of times before finally nodding. "I'll sleep on the couch tonight." She decided, watching to gauge his reaction.

[Deathcap]

Josephe gave a short noise of acknowledgment to her decision. If that's what she wanted. He didn't really want to stay here any longer than he had to, he was fine just going back to his job, though if he was already absent on the first night in his new home, it might raise some suspicion. He glanced at the left-overs on the table, but didn't really feel hungry. Deciding to leave Kait in peace, he headed down to the bedroom to sleep, or think or read or something, rather than sit brooding in the silence.


SKIP

Elinore, working on the midday cleaning, glanced over at the main entrance as she noted a woman coming though the doors.She was slightly confused at the other's appearance; hardly bedraggled and holding herself in a proper manner. She immediately grew wary; some inspector from the government? The place was hardly up to par, but they hadn't cared before. She caught Raven's attention, tugging on his sleeve to draw his focus from his furious dusting. He tilted his head back curiously to meet her gaze above him, duster in the air like a raised sword. "Go get your blue papers." She whispered. His forged ID, that was.
While he scurried off, she walked up to the other woman, mustering a loveless smile and nodding her head, waiting to be addressed.

[melodiousmysteries]

Kait walked into the medical center rather uneasily, unnerved a bit by the state of some of the people. Maybe she was still better off at the other place? She quickly collected herself when she saw the smaller woman, approaching her stiffly. "Are you doctor Walker?" she asked, fully utilizing her self control to keep her nerves hidden.

[Deathcap]

"Yes, I am." Elinore stated, still wary, though the other seemed oddly uncomfortable. "If you'd like to speak to me in private, we can go to the kitchen, thought I'm afraid I'm a little pressed for time; my coworker recently passed away and there's a lot of people to take care of." She told her with an apologetic smile, hoping the other would get to the point. 

Raven ran up to Elinore's side then, holding his folded blue document against his chest and looking at the pretty woman curiously, but saying nothing.

[melodiousmysteries]

Kait listened to the woman, nodding in thanks. "The kitchen would be great. Thank you." she said somewhat softly, relaxing a fraction. She glanced down at the boy when he approached in confusion for a moment before chosing to ignore him.

[Deathcap]

Elinore nodded, walking into the kitchen and moving to shut the door, catching Raven by the back of his collar as he tried to follow them in. "You're fine Raven, go put those away and look for your little friend." She suggested.
"But-b- I-I wanna help." Raven whispered shyly, doing a 180 to walk back out, but tilting his head back to keep his hopeful eyes on the much taller Elinore.
Mercilessly, Elinore patted his back firmly and pushed him out of the kitchen, shutting the door behind him. Raven puffed and sat down outside the door. Why couldn't he adult? He didn't want to find Pel; she'd try to make him play wrestlers and dragons again.

Elinore turned to Kait with an uncertain smile. "What is it I can help you with dear?" She asked, her tone far from condescending. She was trying to be amicable, but didn't want to overstep her boundaries and assume this woman really was a friend.

[melodiousmysteries]

Kait entered the kitchen, standing up against a wall and watching Elinore with a serious expression. "I..." she started, trying to find the words. "I've been having problems, and they won't help me anymore." She explained, wrapping an arm around her abdomen in an almost defensive manner, torn between looking at the ground and keeping a wary eye on the woman.

[Deathcap]

Elinore paused at Kait's words, tilting her head. The other was pregnant, then, but what sort of problems? She knew the doctors in the healthy quarter could be a dismissive bunch of fools, but what couldn't be helped with a young woman carrying only a short way along?. "What sort of problems, dear? Are you in pain? How far are you along?" She asked gently, pulling over a chair for the woman to sit and patting it before moving back.

[melodiousmysteries]

Kait stepped over to the char, taking a seat. She could practically feel the stress and fear emanating from her, letting her guard down just a little bit. "I don't know. I'll be damned if they told me anything the last two times and i guess they just gave up on me after that." she replied, the memories seeming to make her even more tense.

[Deathcap]

Elinore took a deep breath. Last two? Last two kids? last two appointments? She sat down across from Kait. She noticed the other tensing and looking rather uncomfortable. Then again, she was a healthy woman desperate enough to come down here and be surrounded by the ill and slummy conditions. She must be terrified. "Mhm. Well I'm going to help you, just relax my dear. Can you tell me what the problem is, and what you know? I'm sure I can help but details will make things easier for me to sort out how.

[melodiousmysteries]

Kait nodded, understanding but still hatinf thw idea of admitting what had happened. "The first one... He was fine for a few days, but then he was just .. Gone. Overnight." she tried to explain, her mouth suddenly feeling quite dry. "I lost the next one a few months in. I dont know how or why." she finished explaining having to focus on her breathing to maintain some semblance of calm.

[Deathcap]

Elinore listened to her quietly, understanding and nodding her head slightly. Had they really given up on her over that? It was hardly the woman's fault, and wasn't uncommon with everyone living so poorly. "That's no fault of yours, its nothing wrong with your body at your age, especially not if you carried to term the first time." Elinore reassured her. "That's just something that happens sometimes. It can be lack of nutrition, or exhaustion, or stress, or sometimes without any cause. Taking care of yourself is the first thing you need to do; eat enough... and if you aren't able to we have a sort of soup kitchen here, and everyone is welcome. Try to relax when you have time- go for a walk, get easy work done at home, read. As for medical help; I don't have the fancy machines they do up in the hospitals, but If you want to stop by or send me a note or question about any results, or if you need some sort of help, you're welcome anytime to. If you want to have the baby here or bring them in for care, that's also an option." She added. "Is there anything you want to discuss?"

[melodiousmysteries]

Kait nodded, only somewhat reassured. She guessed that she would be bringing paperwork home tonight. It would be pretty easy to get her work done at home as long as Josephe wasn't home. It could be dangerous for both of them if he happened to read any of it. "No. Thank you very much." She answered the kind doctor, getting up to leave, her posture far less tense and sever than when she had come in, making a conscious effort to relax.

[Deathcap]

"Alright dear, I'm glad I could help. I hope to see you again soon." Elinore smiled, then hesitated, remembering something. "Oh, just wait a second." She added, pushing one of the chairs over to a cabinet and climbing up on the chair with surprising agility for her appearance, moving and pulling things out of the cupboards to sort through tins of tea. Retrieving one with a faded pink label, she balanced it in one hand while climbing down, shoving the chair back into place and giving a puff. "Here, you can have this, it's a bit tart but it should help the whole thing along." She looked after very few mothers nowadays, it was the ill that needed her, so the tea would be better off with Kait.  She passed the tin to the younger woman and opened the door for her. "Bye now."

[melodiousmysteries]

Kait watched the woman curiously as she stumbled down from the chair. She took the tin when it was offered, thanking Elinore one last time before taking her leave.

[Deathcap]

*skipback?*

Gena approached the file room cautiously, holding her documents, identification and assignment papers against her chest, seeing the woman she'd been directed to find, she walked up to her uncertainly. "Ms Dumont? She asked, her voice coming out more timid than she intended. "I'm Gena Singer, I- Um, I'm supposed to give you these? I'm your new apprentice." She told her softly, holding out the papers uncertainly. They'd fooled the registration agency, but would they fool an intelligence agent? Kai had told her so, but she was still shaking in her boots that something would go wrong.

[melodiousmysteries]

Kait looked up at the stranger with annoyance when she first spoke, quickly changing to frustration and disbelief as it was explained to her. She quickly took the papers, skimming over them quickly, reading just enough to understand that she wasnt being lied to. She made an annoyed sort of tsk sound before handing the papers back. As if she didnt have enough on her plate, now she had to teach some idiot how to do everything. "Pick a folder and read through it. Let me kbow if you find any mention of these names." she instructed. Handinf the girl a hastily scribbled list on a scrap piece of paper containing the names of the people relevent to her, er, their now, investigation.

[Deathcap]

"Yes Ma'am," Gena replied quickly, wincing at the other's bitter reply. She clearly wasn't wanted. She quickly picked a folder and, having no place to sit, awkwardly settling into a cross-legged position on the floor. She felt her heart sink looking at the files. There was so much, and she barely knew how to read save for the crash course Kai had given her only a week before. Swallowing, she focused on the names and skimmed through, looking for a repeat.  
After an excruciatingly long time with nothing useful, she noticed a familiar name, though it had the wrong first initials. She almost continued before going back for a minute. She knew nothing about the name she was looking for, besides that he was suspected of trafficking 10 pounds of cocaine stolen from a dead guy contraband. However, the name with the wrong initials had purchased a startlingly large amount bottles from the store owner the file documented. She separated the important page and went back to the other files, and found the same, wrong initialed name purchasing from another store, this time she felt alarm bells go off, the items purchased were necessary in the creation of the contraband. "Ms Dumonte!" She squeaked, looking up. "I found this one's relative or partner or something, I think they're buying him what he needs but keeping his name off the books." She blurted, running over with the various items she'd compiled to show the woman, finally feeling like she'd gotten somewhere after all that reading and searching.

[melodiousmysteries]

Kait looked over the papers she was presented with with interest. "I think you're right. Good job." she praised, though her expression didn't change much. She quickly swept the incriminating documents into a fresh folder to bring to hr superior.

[Deathcap]

Gena brightened at the compliment, though her expression fell a little at the realization they were far from done with paper work, and she went back to gathering up the information she had, returning to her corner on the floor to examine further.

------

Gena followed after Kait quietly as they went to look for the couple in question. She trailing behind the other, hood drawn up against the light snow as they headed into a darker, more tightly constructed side of town, and tried to stay relaxed and blend in. She recognized this area well, and while made sure it wasn't obvious, following Kait's lead and looking curious, she kept watch and made mental notes about their surroundings as they went.
When they reached the location; an old, mechanical workshop type building, she waited for Gena to make a move. There didn't appear to be any bustle going on around the place, if there was even anyone home; the streets were empty, save for a few individuals huddled in thick blankets and coats against the cold, and the falling snow muffled any sound in the winter air. A single set of footprints led from the building and into the street, almost completely dusted over by snow since they had been made, while at the front of the building, an old metal garage door hung crooked and one-quarter open at the bottom-left; only darkness was visible within.

[Sponsored content]