ArchivedLogs:Stick to the Plan

Stick to the Plan
Dramatis Personae Dan, Mei
In Absentia	2013-05-10 Dan and Mei have a burger
Location <NYC> 201 {Dan} - Sunrise Apartments
Friday night, and it's been (more or less) a quiet week, in Apartment 201 of the Sunrise Apartments. That is, unless you count the fastidious cleaning Mei's been doing while Dan's been out during the day. Now the end of the week finds his apartment as shiny as is possible in this neighborhood, with (surprisingly) everything in the common areas put away neatly. Dan's bedroom has also received a going-over, although the man was very clear in what things Mei was allowed to touch, so a bit of disarray is still visible through the open door. Dan has brought home a treat for dinner, tonight. Two thick all-American cheeseburgers with everything, complete with thick steak-cut fries and chocolate shakes in styrofoam cups almost too big to hold. He's also stopped by the video place, and he's holding up a handful of DVD cases, reading them off to Mei. "So, I didn't know what you like to watch," he says. "But I figured one of these might be okay. I got...Princess Bride, which is kind of funny," he says, reading the back of the case. "And I got Willie Wonka, Wizard of Oz, and..." he frowns at the last DVD case, and tosses it back in the bag. "That's it. Which one you wanna watch?" Mei has finished cleaning most things, but yes, she did in fact carefully avoid some parts of Dan's room that were marked off limits. Doesn't mean she didn't sneak peeks to try to see why they might be off limits but... mostly she's behaved herself. Now that the place is clean she's been getting a bit fidgety though. As Dan returns home with food and entertainment she pops up from the freshly cleaned couch and turns to look at the door then manages a smile to Dan as he enters, so loaded down. She ends up tilting her head a bit trying to make sense of some of the things he's just said. Movie titles don't translate so well apparently. Mei first heads for the food though, sniffing curiously as she approaches the bag with the burgers and fries. "Ah... Watch? Oh, DVD!" She apparently knows all about those at least. "Yes, watch good. Um..." She hesitates then says, "You pick?" She seems unsure, and from the look of it has not heard of any of the titles he just listed off. Right now her attention is on the strange food Dan has brought home. Dan smirks. "Well, if I'm picking, we're watching Princess Bride. At least that has sword fighting in it." He tosses the chosen DVD case on the coffee table, and puts the others on the kitchen counter. Then he goes about getting out plates. "Get the food set up, kid, while I change into something less security-guard." He flaps a hand in the direction of the burgers as he moves into his bedroom, pushing the door almost closed as he keeps talking. "You ever have cheeseburgers before?" There's the sound of clothing being pulled off and tossed into the basket deemed for such things. "Get out the ketchup, too. Red stuff in the bottle in the fridge." The food looks like -- hamburgers. A thick slab of grilled chuck smothered in American cheese and sitting on a bun that looks like it's been slathered with mustard and then toasted. The fries are golden-brown, and smell salty and potatoey, thick planks that are still warm enough to almost burn your fingers. Mei inspects the food then replies, as she gets it out and sets it out on the table, like a proper meal with plates and everything, even getting the ketchup. "Yes. Not these, others." She tries to explain. "Um... No good burgers. School burgers?" She offers, trying to make it make sense. She carefully sets the table while Dan is busy changing so that by the time he's out everything will be in place, silverware, plates, food laid out, and so on. She's standing next to the table waiting, looking towards Dan's door expectantly. Dan laughs from the bedroom, and there's more cloth rustling. "Yeah, school burgers aren't the same. You'll like these." The door swings open, then, and the ex-soldier comes out. He's swapped his work uniform for a pair of baggy red plaid lounge pants, and he's bare-chested as he pads out on bare feet, a t-shirt in his hand. His torso is lightly fuzzed, marred with a four-inch scar on his abdomen, and a matched pair of bullet scars in the meat of his right shoulder. "These are real New York burgers, and genuine chocolate malteds." He moves to pull the t-shirt on, pausing when he sees the table. Something flickers across his face; something fleeting and sad that disappears in a hard narrowing of his eyes. "We don't need silverware," he grunts, pulling on the t-shirt and jerking it down just a little forcefully. "You eat burgers and fries with your hands, kid." Then he's offering a tipped smile, and claiming the seat that faces the door, grabbing up the top of his burger and reaching for the ketchup. Mei gives a little shrug at the admonishment about the silverware but doesn't move to put it away. Once Dan has moved to claim his seat she takes the other and looks at the burger from a few directions. "It's big." She notes then eyeing it with a tad bit of a wary look she picks it up with both hands. She's not very big for her age, and the thing is huge really to her. She hmms a bit then almost comically tries to open her mouth to get a big bite of it. She may bite off more than she should but she manages to get a good bite and sets the burger down, happily chewing on the burger, apparently liking the taste from the looks of things. A bit of mustard streaked on one cheek from where she tried to take too big a bite. She seems unaware of it, blissfully chewing away, mouth closed of course. She does watch Dan reach for the ketchup, apparently closely studying his actions as if to take the proper cues on how things are done. He may have noticed she does this a lot, trying to pick up on things. "You can cut it in half if you want," Dan says, motioning at the burger. He watches, though, as she attempts to eat it, his eyes crinkling just a bit as he taps the bottle against his palm. "'Sgood, right?" He asks, twisting the cap off the ketchup and tipping it over his burger. A smear of red, and then he's tipping it up to move it over his fries, pouring out a small pool next to them. "So, kid, I was thinking," Dan says, picking up a fry and dunking it in the puddle of ketchup. "You want to get out of here this weekend? We could go out and do something, if you want. Go to the zoo or Coney Island or some shit." He watches her face as he lifts the fry to his mouth and chomps into it. Mei happily chews then swallows her first oversized bite and nods, "Very good." She comments, giving agreement to Dan's opinion. She tries one of the fries next, then if Dan is done with the ketchup will take the bottle to copy his making of a small pool to dip a fry in. "Can go out? Safe?" She asks, unsure from her tone. "No big trouble?" She ventures suspiciously, "Want go out but no want shit fucked." She says as plain as day, having picked up some of Dan's more colorful language on the fly it seems. She munches on a fry then says, "Maybe go out city? You have car? Go see trees? Maybe farm?" She ventures, unsure it sounds like of what the options really are. "Coney island far away? Need big boat to go?" She asks, having no clue what that is. Zoo she apparently knows though, or at least she makes no comment to the contrary. Dan watches the mimick with a small curve to his lips, and he nods. "Stick with me, kid, and I'll show you all the finer eats in the city." He reaches for his burger, then, plucking off the pickles and setting them aside before closing it up and lifting it for a big bite of his own. He shakes his head at the question, reaching for his shake to help clear his mouth to answer verbally. "It's not /safe/, but it also ain't fair to ask you to stay in here all day, every day. Kids need to get outside and shit." He lifts his eyebrows at her suggestion of the country, clearly impressed with her quick thinking. "Hey, yeah. That's a great idea. I've got a car; we could go up around Westchester. It's all countryside out that direction." He grins, and plucks up another fry, still hanging on to his burger. "You never saw a farm before?" Apparently Mei doesn't mind pickles as hers remain on ther burger. She frowns a bit then thinking of how to say it finally says, "Born on farm. Mom die when born. Help father on farm. Help lots. Then." She pauses, trying to figure out how to put the next bit. "Then Xia man come..." She tries to figure out the right English word. "Um, Xia... ah, government man?" She ventures, "Big test all at school. Was nine? I go to big special school. Math school. Very good numbers." She says, almost proudly, "Xia help father, if Mei go special school." She tries to explain. "No shit? Born on a farm. That's cool." Dan takes another bite of his burger, and chews while he listens to the rest of the story. "I know what kind of guy you're talking about, kid," he assures the girl. "I've met my share of 'em. And if I can help it, you ain't gonna have to talk to no one like /that/, unless you want to." He frowns sort of determinedly, and nods as he reaches for his cup. "Do you know the name of the...ah...China has provinces, doesn't it?" he asks, wrinkling his nose. "Do you know the name of the one you're from?" Mei nods, "Yes. Erisi, Garze, Sichuan. Village, Region, Provence." She says, hoping that makes some sense. "Big... ah, um, not so big but biggest there is temple? School at temple. Temple work for Xia?" She tries to explain, but her English really isn't up to explaining the complex intricate relationships that China has with the state accepted religions and how they have evolved over the last 1000+ years. "Small village. Xia man not bad. Help father. Went to place to rest, they take farm, let him rest if I go school." She tries to explain. "Triad gold hmm... later? Just... few months ago? Before no gold. Now gold. Was going to /new/ school after gold. But... no get there." She sighs, "Worried for father. Father sick." She sighs, then shakes her head and nibbles on a fry thoughtfully. "Think if I go Xia they help?" She ventures. Dan listens, although he looks a little lost as he tries to follow the path. "Your dad's in a rest home?" he asks, latching on to the part he can actually comprehend. "And the government took your farm and made you go to school?" Comprehension skills: he has them. He's quiet for a long moment, focusing on his burger and eating his way through half before he lowers it again. "What kind of new school?" he asks, furrowing his brow. "And I don't know if going to the Chinese Embassy is the right thing to do, kid." He leans back in his chair, and belches, picking at his teeth with a pinky. "Odds are, the Triads have someone in there already, just waiting for you to come in for help." He shakes his head. "We should stick with the original plan, for now." Mei nods, "Um, yes, I think rest home? Place for old people? Doctors?" She ventures, "Good care. School for smart people. Smart people like me!" She says, with some pride, then goes back to eating a bit as she thinks. She is slower to eat than Dan, and as he points out the risk she nods. "Triads knew gold. Never got new school." She adds. "Stay with original plan." She agrees. "First school for uhm... very smart kids. New school for ah.. because made gold?" She tries to make this work, she's getting frustrated with the language barrier and spouts off a quick entire babbling almost minute long bit in Chinese that makes no sense to anyone who doesn't speak Chinese. Then she sighs, "Am smart, honest!" She clearly feels like her language skills must make her sound dumb. "Who said you weren't smart?" Dan says, his eyebrows shooting up at the sudden frustration. "You're plenty smart." He rolls a shoulder. "So, the new school was a place you were going because you could make gold?" His tone is a bit more gentle, now. Just a bit. Another fry is snagged, and bitten in two. "Like, a school for mutant kids?" He seems intrigued by that idea, and he leans forward with a frown. "Seems like I heard somethin' about that recently. That Osborn guy's name was on it, somehow...." He trails off, lost in the attempt to bring up the memory. Mei shrugs, "Was Xia school. Um, school for mutants? Yes. Think so. But run by Xia." She tries to explain, "Ah, state school?" She offers, to hopefully make it clearer. "Secret school. Just for mutants. Never go there, Triads first." She points out, "Then Triads make go here. Big crash, get away, try to get money and... you find." She finishes, sort of tying the story up to the part where she met Dan. Sure it's leaving a lot out, has to be with how few details she's given. She goes back to working on the burger and fries, trying to sip the shake which is a tad thick for straws. Finally she realizes she's got something on her face and wipes it clean with a napkin. "You have wife? You have um, daughter?" She asks, quieter now. "They gone now?" Dan's brow furrows, and he nods quietly. "So, a government school," he says in a voice that doesn't sound overly pleased with that fact. "And 'state school' sounds about like the same thing." He shakes his head, and chews on his fries for a moment. "Well, you're okay, now," he rumbles, pushing ketchup around with a fry. At the question, his eyes snap upward, and there's a sudden flare of heat in his eyes that dies out almost immediately. "Yeah, I was married," he says, his voice a bit rough and low. "But she died when our daughter was born. I showed you Collie's picture," he reminds the girl. "She's three, now, but she lives with my sister. At least, for now." He smiles tightly. "But I do have a girlfriend. Alexandrine. She's got red hair and a weird accent, so don't brain her if she comes in here without warning." Mei sits there quietly for a moment then starts to ask something the cuts herself off. She frowns a bit then finally says, "My mom died when daughter born too." Her words are soft, as she looks into Dan's eyes. "You good man." Is all she manages after that, as she looks down at her plate, most of her burger gone, an impressive feat for her actually, and the fries too, but it looks like now she's kind of lost her appetite. "Sorry, I make things harder." Is all she can manage after that for a bit as she stares at her plate. Dan's gaze softens at that bit of information, and his mouth presses into a tight line. "That's rough, kid," he says sympathetically, although it's in his trademark rough delivery, grinding out of his chest slowly. He snorts a laugh at the assessment though, and rubs a thumb along the scar under his eye. "I don't know if /that's/ true. I guess I try to be a good man. It's nice to think there's a couple of people out there that think it's true." He flashes teeth, now, and stands up to move to Mei's chair, and ruffles the top of her head. "Hey, kid, stop that. You don't make anything harder. Just...trickier." He leans down, then, to bump his forehead against the crown of her head. "We'll get this shit settled, kid. I promise." Mei at least manages to put on a good smile, even if it seems a tad forced. "Maybe I make gold. Gold make things easier? Buy fix?" She points to the TV. "Buy fake rings? Buy fake um, necklace on TV?" She suggests, "Then make gold and sell." She holds up her hands over her head and makes a funny face, "Gold into cash!!!" She apparently has seen one too many TV commercial for those stores. "Then not so tricky?" She asks, really trying to help out. There's a pause then she stands up and without warning attempts to give Dan a big hug. "Thank you." She says as she tries to hug him. "Aaaand that's how come I know you're smart," Dan chuckles, with another head rub. "That's a pretty smart plan, but it's not really a /good/ one. If we did it too much, people might start to notice and ask questions." He grins lop-sidedly. "We can do it maybe /once/," he allows. "But that's it. We'll look in some junk stores upstate tomorrow." The hug catches him off-guard, and he tenses for half a second before his own arms wrap around the girl in the protective embrace only a father can manage. "You're welcome." It's rough, and cracked-sounding, and Dan reaches up to stroke Mei's hair gently once. He lets the hug go on for a long moment before he releases the girl and stands up. "Okay. Enough being sappy." His voice is a bit over-bright. Well, at least for Dan, which means that he's not growling his words. "I like you, you like me. We're a fucked up little family." He grins widely, and picks up his plate to take it to the counter. "And we should get to watching that movie." He motions to the couch. "You can take your food with you, if you want. Just put the disc in the player." And so the rest of Friday night passes with a story of fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...and at the end? Ice cream.