4 Apocalypse Avenue, Monday evening

[magdaofslovenia]

The gallery wasn't actually open. Sophie had hired a service to get rid of the worst of the mess from the weekend, but that still left a multitude of paintings to sort through and see what could be salvaged.

[open if you feel like stopping in]

Comments

[bau_beefcake]

There was a knock knock knock on the door, though.

[magdaofslovenia]

"One moment!" Sophie called, glaring in disgust at three ruined canvases, then heading to the door. "Derek, hello. I see you survived the weekend. Do come in."

[bau_beefcake]

"I was away on business, but I noticed the, uh, changes to my shop. Figured you might have similar issues. Glad to see you're all right. Geoffrey make it through all right?"

[magdaofslovenia]

"Yes, we had a rather frantic exchange of phone calls for a bit, but he managed to stay out of their way. I believe the stage lights had something to do with it, he wasn't entirely clear." Sophie shook her head. "How badly is your shop wrecked? Mine, well..." She gestured at the walls with cracks running down them from yanked-on paintings, the scrapes across the floor, electrical damage that was apparently the result of something chewing on lamp wires and getting a nasty shock. "I don't even know where to begin."

[bau_beefcake]

Derek looked around for a moment before crossing his arms.

"I could fix it for you. We're... off. For the next few days."

[magdaofslovenia]

It took Sophie only a second to realize he meant his first job, with the FBI. "Are you quite certain? You have your own store to worry about. I'd be happy to pay you extra for a rush job, of course, but I shouldn't wish to put you to any trouble."

[bau_beefcake]

He shook his head and didn't quite meet her eyes.

"I need something to work on. They didn't do too much to my place other than steel shit."

[magdaofslovenia]

Sophie studied him, wondering how things were in D.C., but not willing to push. "Then you're more than welcome to help me fix this place. It's completely not my forte. They didn't get upstairs to my apartment, but everything else appears to have taken some hits." She smiled at him, and said, "I believe Irulan's shop needs it as well. We were killing the little monsters there until well past dark."

[bau_beefcake]

"I'll try and head over to her place tomorrow if I can," he said with a faint grin.

"And right after, I'll check the theatre."

[magdaofslovenia]

"Excellent plan," Sophie said approvingly. If Derek said he needed distraction, this would be an excellent one. "Let's see if my coffee maker is still in one piece--" She picked her way over to the sideboard, and smiled when she saw. "I believe we're in luck. Would you like some?"

[bau_beefcake]

"Oh yeah, I will never say no to coffee," he told her as he started surveying the actual extent of the damage. How much work was this going to be?

[magdaofslovenia]

There were the windows, the sagging banister, the charred electrical outlets... Sophie handed him a mug and said, "You don't want to see the kitchen. Well, perhaps you do, since you wish to do work. I don't, I'm ordering take-out."

[bau_beefcake]

"What you getting? I could do food."

[magdaofslovenia]

"Does Thai work for you?" Sophie asked, smiling into the phone. "With extra noodles? We can make a list. I'm fond of lists. So much less intimidating than looking at the surrounding carnage."

[bau_beefcake]

"Works for me. As long as you give me chopsticks, I'll find my way through the box."