(no subject)
Who: Neil McLaughlin (the Caterpillar); Marie Bouchard (the Gingerbread Witch)
What: Neil gets smacked down hard by Marie with Jacob's blessings - Part Two (Part One here)
When: Monday, February 18 - 8:00 pm
Where: Neil's apartment
Rating: PG
Marie: 8:04. The dust would have long worn off, but Marie knew the second half of her commands would just be kicking in. It didn't matter what Neil was doing: his mind would start slow, slow, until it finally stopped. Another three minutes and it'd be safe to go in.
She'd taken a cab to Neil's apartment, dressed down, tied her hair back; considering her usual attire, she was damn near unrecognizable. The remainder of the powder had been picked clean on her office desk, replaced in the sachet should she need to use it again, and put into her coat pocket. Leaning against a building across the way, smoking a cigarette between two lacquered fingernails, she checked to make sure none of it had leaked out. That just wouldn't do.
8:08. More than safe now. She checked the street, dashed across, made sure her hair was firmly tucked up under her knit cap (no identifying it via security cameras), before buzzing up to Neil's apartment. Her voice was smooth and languid, casual, a brief "Neil, honey, go on and let me in" triggering the commands she'd left earlier. The door buzzed; she took the elevator up, and opened Neil's flat a few minutes later.
Neil: 8:00. As quickly as it had come, the violent illness that had overtaken Neil earlier was over, and he was feeling perfectly well. The strangest case of food poisoning he ever had. It had been bad enough for Kilroy to excuse him from work for the rest of the day. However, before going home, he felt the inexplicable and uncontrollable need to collect all the copies he had made of Jacob's photograph, and so he told the driver to make a stop at his bank so he could bring them out of the safe deposit box where he had them stored.
Along with the original, which he had kept hidden in his apartment, the photos rested in a pile on the coffee table in his living room, while he sat on the sofa opposite them, staring at the photos and drinking a glass of wine. Something was not right - he could feel it tickling in the back of his mind, but he couldn't place his finger on it. Just then, he noticed his thoughts were becoming cloudy. Anxiety arose, but then dissipated as the magic ran its course.
8:08. Through the hypnotic state, Neil heard the buzzer, and he mechanically rose to answer. The sound of Marie's voice penetrated the fog and he had no other choice but to obey. He buzzed her in and unlocked the door to his apartment for her to enter. Marie found him standing, waiting to receive her next order, as he currently had no will of his own but to follow her commands.
Marie: Marie stepped in briskly, tugging her hair out from under the hat and checking Neil's eyes with a finger under his chin as soon as the door was shut behind her. Glazed. Good. She left him standing there while she silently collected the pictures, tucked two of the negatives into the pocket of her coat, gathered the rest into a neat little pile, and pressed them into Neil''s chest.
"Burn these," she said shortly, nodding towards the kitchen. "If anybody asks, you say--oh, ruining some poor bastard's life finally got to you, took the higher moral ground, whatever. Run along and do that, sweet."
Neil: Taking the photographs, Neil moved quickly, since Marie had told him to 'run'. He took them into the kitchen and reached into his trouser pocket for his cigarette lighter. Holding the photos over the sink, he set them on fire and finally dropping them into the basin to watch and make sure they were completely incinerated. To keep the kitchen from filling with smoke, Neil reached over and turned on the fan over the oven. After following orders, he returned to the living room where Marie was waiting.
Marie: Quick work. Marie dug about in her purse while Neil burned the pictures away. She'd made arrangements for this part of the job early on; there was no point in doing this sort of thing if you couldn't have a little fun, after all. The calls had been made, and it had taken quite the monetary donation on her par - -but Keith was a dependable sort when the cash was on his side, and now she held a small vial of high-quality phencyclidine and a syringe in her hot little hands. No one would suspect a druggie had, shock of shocks, taken too many drugs. Neil came back dutifully, and she pressed the items into his hands.
"Now, honey," she said carefully, adjusting her gloves. "You go on and take these. It's a strong dosage, so I suspect you'll be needing some help later, but you go on and wait till it kicks in to ask. I'm sure you can think of a good reason for takin' 'em." She stood there for a second, twisting her hair back up and slipping it beneath her cap, before striding briskly to the door. Business was done. Time to get out. "Lock the door behind me, sugar," she said easily, and stepped out.
What: Neil gets smacked down hard by Marie with Jacob's blessings - Part Two (Part One here)
When: Monday, February 18 - 8:00 pm
Where: Neil's apartment
Rating: PG
Marie: 8:04. The dust would have long worn off, but Marie knew the second half of her commands would just be kicking in. It didn't matter what Neil was doing: his mind would start slow, slow, until it finally stopped. Another three minutes and it'd be safe to go in.
She'd taken a cab to Neil's apartment, dressed down, tied her hair back; considering her usual attire, she was damn near unrecognizable. The remainder of the powder had been picked clean on her office desk, replaced in the sachet should she need to use it again, and put into her coat pocket. Leaning against a building across the way, smoking a cigarette between two lacquered fingernails, she checked to make sure none of it had leaked out. That just wouldn't do.
8:08. More than safe now. She checked the street, dashed across, made sure her hair was firmly tucked up under her knit cap (no identifying it via security cameras), before buzzing up to Neil's apartment. Her voice was smooth and languid, casual, a brief "Neil, honey, go on and let me in" triggering the commands she'd left earlier. The door buzzed; she took the elevator up, and opened Neil's flat a few minutes later.
Neil: 8:00. As quickly as it had come, the violent illness that had overtaken Neil earlier was over, and he was feeling perfectly well. The strangest case of food poisoning he ever had. It had been bad enough for Kilroy to excuse him from work for the rest of the day. However, before going home, he felt the inexplicable and uncontrollable need to collect all the copies he had made of Jacob's photograph, and so he told the driver to make a stop at his bank so he could bring them out of the safe deposit box where he had them stored.
Along with the original, which he had kept hidden in his apartment, the photos rested in a pile on the coffee table in his living room, while he sat on the sofa opposite them, staring at the photos and drinking a glass of wine. Something was not right - he could feel it tickling in the back of his mind, but he couldn't place his finger on it. Just then, he noticed his thoughts were becoming cloudy. Anxiety arose, but then dissipated as the magic ran its course.
8:08. Through the hypnotic state, Neil heard the buzzer, and he mechanically rose to answer. The sound of Marie's voice penetrated the fog and he had no other choice but to obey. He buzzed her in and unlocked the door to his apartment for her to enter. Marie found him standing, waiting to receive her next order, as he currently had no will of his own but to follow her commands.
Marie: Marie stepped in briskly, tugging her hair out from under the hat and checking Neil's eyes with a finger under his chin as soon as the door was shut behind her. Glazed. Good. She left him standing there while she silently collected the pictures, tucked two of the negatives into the pocket of her coat, gathered the rest into a neat little pile, and pressed them into Neil''s chest.
"Burn these," she said shortly, nodding towards the kitchen. "If anybody asks, you say--oh, ruining some poor bastard's life finally got to you, took the higher moral ground, whatever. Run along and do that, sweet."
Neil: Taking the photographs, Neil moved quickly, since Marie had told him to 'run'. He took them into the kitchen and reached into his trouser pocket for his cigarette lighter. Holding the photos over the sink, he set them on fire and finally dropping them into the basin to watch and make sure they were completely incinerated. To keep the kitchen from filling with smoke, Neil reached over and turned on the fan over the oven. After following orders, he returned to the living room where Marie was waiting.
Marie: Quick work. Marie dug about in her purse while Neil burned the pictures away. She'd made arrangements for this part of the job early on; there was no point in doing this sort of thing if you couldn't have a little fun, after all. The calls had been made, and it had taken quite the monetary donation on her par - -but Keith was a dependable sort when the cash was on his side, and now she held a small vial of high-quality phencyclidine and a syringe in her hot little hands. No one would suspect a druggie had, shock of shocks, taken too many drugs. Neil came back dutifully, and she pressed the items into his hands.
"Now, honey," she said carefully, adjusting her gloves. "You go on and take these. It's a strong dosage, so I suspect you'll be needing some help later, but you go on and wait till it kicks in to ask. I'm sure you can think of a good reason for takin' 'em." She stood there for a second, twisting her hair back up and slipping it beneath her cap, before striding briskly to the door. Business was done. Time to get out. "Lock the door behind me, sugar," she said easily, and stepped out.