ArchivedLogs:Trust Your Gut

Trust Your Gut
Dramatis Personae Lilia, Cage	2013-12-07 Lilia consults Luke Cage on a business matter.
Location <NYC> Times Square
Lights and billboards scattered over the skyscrapers that line Times Square. A gaggle (murder?) of tourists are spread through the square at all hours of day and night, gawking at the tall buildings and taking photos of nothing in particular. Times Square is a place of theatre, certainly, but mostly it is one giant tourist trap that no self-respecting New Yorker would be seen in for longer than it takes to leave. It's just about time for a late lunch, and Luke Cage is in Times Square looking for lunch. He's in a heavy pea coat, dark jeans, and biker boots, which actually make sense today, because his Harley is parked nearby while Cage waits in line for the /one/ hotdog cart who is open for business today. Things have been slow to pick up in the city, but little by little things are getting back to normal. And that means Cage Eats Hotdogs. Plenty of people stop and offer to shake hands with the man, and a good number of people throw dirty looks his way too, but it seems like the balance of mean versus nice is actually getting closer to even. Cage doesn't seem to mind either way, and just stands as about the eighth person deep in line. Apparently this hotdog guy is worth it. Wearing a peacoat with a slight skirt-style flare to it, a yellow dress under that, leggings printed with a winter-sweater-style design, and her hands tucked into an old fashioned muff, of all things, Lilia is perhaps a bit overdressed for the weather. But she's doing it in /style/. Today's hair is long, straight and brown, covered in a knit hat with giant pompom, and the girl is strolling pretty casually through Times Square. In the /general/ direction of that hot dog cart, though it isn't her ultimate destination, but when she spots a certain Luke Cage standing in line she pauses for a moment, mid-stride, but she does move out of the way of foot-traffic while she considers a matter. Eventually apparently she decides on /something/, because soon enough she's briskly approaching the capital-h Hero, looking up at him and asking, "Excuse me. I'm sorry to bother you, but you aren't just a really good Luke Cage impersonator, are you?" Luke chuckles heartily at Lilia's greeting and shakes his head. "No no, I'm the real deal." He reaches into the inside pocket of his coat and produces a Heroes for Hire business card. "That's me there," and in there he is, his picture on the business card, because, what /else/ would Luke Cage put on his business card? His expression is only partially mirthful though. Apparently he's also prepared for an acerbic meeting as well. One never knows. He offers the card with his left hand, and a hand shake with his right. Lilia tucks the muff up one arm like a sleeve, revealing thin suede gloves underneath, and accepts the card with her left hand, shaking hands with her right, and grinning at the X that the crossed arms produce. She looks the card over, briefly, and after pulling away from the handshake it's tucked into the dainty purse hanging from her shoulder. "I really am sorry to bother you on your off-time, I can set up some kind of appointment to meet in your office if you'd prefer?" "Oh no, no no no," Luke says, smiling. His line moves up, and he steps sideways to both stay in the line /and/ maintain his conversation with Lilia. "As long as you don't mind me carrying on here? Or we can go for a walk if you need some privacy?" Luke nods at the mostly open sidewalks, and half steps forward to indicate his willingness to go. "I can get hotdogs anytime. What can I help you with, m'am?" Lilia waves a hand dismissively, shaking her head. "Oh no, that's quite alright, I'm not going to take your time /and/ your lunch," she grins, lifting a hand to tug at her hat a bit, then returning her hands to the muff. "I didn't come prepared, I wasn't really expecting to run into you like this, so I'm not really--" She shakes her head again, clearing her throat. "In any case. How big does a problem have to be before it becomes a Heroes For Hire sort of situation? This may actually be outside your purview." Luke nods and smiles like this is a question he's more than familiar with. "Well, there isn't much we turn down these days." After his corpse collection service in the last weeks, that sounds pretty believable. "I can't say we're well equipped to track down missing pets, but just about everything else is fair game. Why not start at the beginning?" Luke glances over and sees it's time to move up again. Only six more people to go! Shifting her way down the line with Luke, there is a bit of silence as Lilia considers this 'starting at the beginning' business, humming quietly in thought. "A week or so before this whole... /disease/ business happened, I met this... /guy/." She frowns quietly, at this point standing next to Luke and facing the front of the line, rather than looking up at the man. "It's kind of hard to explain. He's got this misguided interest in me, even though I am /way/ out of his league for /so/ many reasons, but I mean he's... I /figured/ he was harmless, but... when everything was going to hell, he came over for food and he brought a /gun/, he said it was for the... you know. But I suppose I'm just.. if he thinks it's okay to come over waving a gun, I'm sort of afraid of what might happen if he texts me and I tell him I don't want him coming around anymore." Luke looks thoughtful and nods along, listening to her explanation. "Huh, yeah, I see where you're coming from. I mean, if we're talking about a couple of weeks ago, I can't really blame a guy for carrying a gun. But maybe you can tell me a little more. Didn't threaten you with the gun? Because that's a felony, which means we can ask for a restraining order, and all kinds of police support. Then again, times like those... they make people do crazy shit. Excuse my french," Luke shrugs and smiles. "/However/, making sure you're /safe/ is number one. What's your feeling on that front?" There's a bit of a coy smile at the apology, Lilia lowering her eyes for a moment before turning up her French accent and assuring Cage, "I grew up in France, no need to apologize." She lets a grin out, there, but shifts quickly enough back to talkin' 'Murrican. "He didn't threaten me, no. I mean in a way.. like you said, things happen, people get a little nuts. I'm just... I'm /nervous/, I guess, more than anything. Maybe I just need someone to talk to about it." "Oh geez, {sorry}," Luke adds in Spanish. "Now you /really/ have to excuse me French." He smiles along with her though, not too embarrassed. "I understand how you feel though. Guys get guns, and get squirrely sometimes. I saw it growing up." He shrugs. His life history is on YouTube if anyone wants to look it up after all. "And 'talk' is free, plus I always like meeting nice people. Now I - oh, sorry, what did you say your name was?" Lilia removes her hand from that muff again, tapping the side of her nose with a grin. "I didn't say, Mr. Cage. Though I guess that means you don't recognize me." There's an exaggerated little sigh as she returns the hand to that warm sleeve, idly bouncing her hands against her waist. "Though I guess /that/ just means you don't like old people music. Lilia Lund; you can call me Lily, if you want. I sing sometimes at a few clubs around the city. Old fashioned crooner type stuff usually. I don't have a card, though I guess I probably should get some.." Luke's eyes brighten in recognition, if not at her name, at least at the style. "What, like old jazz standards and the type of thing? Sure, I like that stuff. I just... honestly can't remember the last time I was in a jazz club. It's nice ta meetcha, Lily." Suddenly, through the magic of distracted attentions, it's Cage's turn to order. Without even asking him what he wants, the vendor nods at the big man, and gets a small cardboard box from under the cart. It must be used to ship napkins or something, but now the guy is loading it with four whole hotdogs, with all the fixings. He hands it over, along with a bottled coke. Luke turns to Lily then and asks, "Are you sure I can't get you something? I wanna hear more about your case, but I feel bad just eating in front of you." He looks the woman up and down, and tips his head at the vendor. "Larry's got... veggie dogs, too." He shrugs, really not sure if that's the sort of thing French ladies eat or not. Eyes widen as those hot dogs get loaded, the younger lady just staring for a moment, before she finally shakes her head and all but stammers, "N-- No, it's-- it's fine. I just ate, actually, my schedule's weird and-- this is morning for me so I ate before I left my apartment." It takes a minute for her to regain her composure, and by the time she realizes she was staring at Cage's wieners. "Ah, anyway. Bossa nova, mostly, actually, but in English. I haven't quite managed to get the hang of Portuguese yet." There's another little grin, there, and she moves to step away from the cart, and give Cage room to do the same. "Anyway, I do feel a little silly coming to Luke Cage about this, I-- I mean I didn't really /plan/ to, but you were right there, so.. serendipity?" Luke shrugs at Lilia's refusal of food and follows her away from the cart. Not everyone appreciates fine cuisine, after all. He apparently also misses any undue attention paid to his... lunch. "Hey, there's nothing to feel silly about." Luke leads the way back to his motorcycle parked right near by. He sets his box of dogs on the saddle, and cracks open his coke to take a sip. Then he says, "Hey, nothing to worry about. You'd be surprised, the cases we've taken on. I'm just a P.I., like any other. Except I don't carry a gun." He shrugs. Lilia smiles as she sidles up to the bike, shaking her head a little to shift some of her hair over her shoulder. "Well, the 'Heroes for Hire' name does make you seem a little more... large-scale, I suppose." Her smile there is a bit more tight-lipped, but she ultimately softens it again. "So, as I was saying, he wasn't waving the gun around or anything, he actually offered to let me hold on to it while he was there. There's just... something about the attitude of a man who thinks that sort of thing is /okay/ that..." With a frown, she removes her right hand from the muff, scratching the back of her head before rubbing her neck with agitation. "...to be frank, comes across as a lot more threatening to a woman than it might to a man." "Hey," Luke says, closing the bottle and setting it down before turning to face Lilia. "Guy or gal, gun or fist - you don't feel safe, and that's not ok." Luke pauses a moment, holding Lilia's gaze to make sure she knows he means every word. "So look, if you wanted us to take the case, it would need to go something like this. You text him, or call, which would be better, but I understand if you don't want to talk to him. Then, we'd camp outside your place for a while, follow you around, and make sure he's cool cutting the cord." Luke shrugs. "The main thing is for you to feel safe again." Lilia strides over to a nearby signpost, leaning against it, her hands at her waist and her head lowered slightly. "Well, at least you /get/ it. The safety thing. A lot of people, they hear that he didn't point the gun at me and they'd figure well hey, if he didn't actually threaten you then you're overreacting. You know?" Sighing, she looks up to the sky for a moment, but eventually lowers her gaze again to look Luke in the eye. "I guess what I'm kind of nervous about is... say you do that, and he says he'll stop. What if he just waits for you guys to stop hanging around and picks then to come back?" Luke shakes his head in agreement with Lilia. "Nah, I trade in gut feelings. The day you stop listening to your gut is the day... life catches up to you." Luke sighs and nods. "You're right, of course. I mean, we can't guard you forever. But I've seen this before, and usually the guys don't stick around that long. The first step is to see how he reacts to being let down. Personally, I recommend finding some nice way to do it, because telling a guy to 'piss off' can just make it worse, when we're in stage one. You know what I mean? Stage two is a different story." Nodding slowly, Lilia pushes the muff up one of her arms to free her hands, one hand removing her hat to scratch at her hair and then, with a frown, the other hand coming up and -- removing her hair?! -- oh, it's just a wig. Under it, the girl's hair is barely a couple of inches long, and she takes a moment to scratch an apparently persistent spot before replacing the wig, adjusting it a bit, and then replacing the hat again. "I suppose I haven't really helped much by inviting him over, but.. well, obviously I didn't know he was going to.. I haven't talked to him since. I should have thrown him out then, but.." She lets out a long sigh, and a weak smile. "This is going to sound mean, but he's sort of pathetic, you know? I felt sorry for him." "Yeah, I think I know the kinda guy," Luke says, infinitely secure in the fact that he will never /be/ that guy. There is a minor pop of one eyebrow when Lilia reaches under the scratch her head, but the bald man doesn't otherwise react. "Look, don't get bogged down there - none of what you did invited, or justified him making you uncomfortable. I'm glad he didn't threaten you, because it means he's probably just the kind to slink away, tail between his legs. It can also be helpful sometimes to let him know there's someone else, but again, I think you gotta give him the chance to walk away before we start looking at contingencies." Big words for the big man. Maybe he's not /entirely/ meatheaded after all. Lilia is pulling the muff back over her hands while Cage talks, nodding quietly but letting him finish before she adds, "Well, there isn't someone else right now, either, and I don't really want to pull that card. I don't really like lying like that, it's like-- I just don't want to be dishonest like that," she finally concedes. "I mean, he's so not my type, the guy's gotta be in his 40s. Do I look like the kind of girl who needs to date a guy in his 40s? /Jeez/." Siiiigh. "So what's your going rate for a job like that?" Luke laughs softly, and actually furrows his brow at her question. He walked right past making any comment about her datability, and just shakes his head at the 'going rate'. "You know what's funny? I don't actually /know/ what we charged for that sort of thing. But just between you and me - wait, you're not a reporter are you? You need to identify yourself, if you are." He's calm and polite, just stating facts. When Lilia indicates she's not a reporter, Luke nods and says, "Well between you and me, 'Heroes' is in the middle of applying for non-profit status. And if it's ok with you, I'd rather take this is on a pro-bono basis." Lilia grins, shaking her head when asked if she's a reporter, but blushes a bit when the pro-bono suggestion is brought up. "I don't know, I'd feel kind of weird accepting help like that without giving you something in return." Tilting her head to one side, she gives Cage a coy little smile. "Maybe we can arrange some kind of.. alternate form of payment?" Eyebrows are raised just a touch, before she continues, "I make a really bitchin' beef stew. If you pardon my french," she adds, with a grin. A brief flicker of worry flashes across Luke's face when Lilia talks about offering something in trade, but he's relieved almost as soon as he's worried. "Oh wow, sure, I don't think anyone in the office would object to that." He grins and adds, "I think we speak the same language." Grinning more widely at that, Lilia then... yet /again/ shoves the muff up her arm, then digs through her purse, eventually coming up with a pen and small pad of paper. She scribbles something down on it, then tears the sheet off, handing it over to Cage. On it is written her name and a phone number, presumably!! hers. "Here's my number. My schedule is sort of hectic-- actually--" and suddenly she snatches the paper back, using the pad as a backing while she writes down an email address. "Email might be better than texting." "Huh, ok," Luke says, watching Lilia write. "Email... Sure. We can do email." He's heard of email! Also, he has Janice. Thank the gods. "But it'll probably be best if you call us when you want to make your move with this guy. The timing is all yours, of course." Lilia nods and, once again, her hands are indeed thrust back into that muff. "I wasn't sure if maybe you had other things on your plate that need to be coordinated with." She shakes her head briefly, considering the matter for a moment. "It'll probably be a few days, but I'll give you a call sometime soon, then?" "Sounds good," Luke says with a smile. He also picks up his box of dogs and sits down sideways on the parked motorcycle. He picks one out between a huge thumb and forefinger, and takes a bite. "Glad we met, Lily. I look forward to hearing from you. Just remember to trust your gut." He raises the hotdog in a kind of salute, and smiles.