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Leena's Bed and Breakfast
Unnamed Unincorporated Settlement
South Dakota

It's a beautiful morning in Unnamed Unincorporated Settlement, and Leena and Myka are having tea and conversation. "I know you're feeling lost," Leena says sympathetically.

"What?" Myka asks, a bit confused.

"Artie's past, MacPherson, it can be a bit disorienting, I know."

"I feel pretty clear, actually. Things are the way they are, don't fight it, just go with it. Whenever I don't, I always end up back in the same place, not a good one." The two women share a smile. "Thank you for the tea."

(OOC: dialogue taken from Duped: Warehouse 13)

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"I'm gonna do it, I'm doing it, I'm doing it--" Artie elbows his way past Leena as she exits, careful not to spill the coffee cup balanced on his slinged arm. After a little maneuvering, he upends the paper bag in his other hand, spilling half a dozen croissants onto the dining room table.

Myka makes an appreciative noise and reaches for the croissants.

"So. Uh. Today's... where is he? Pete! In the room, please!" Artie calls over his shoulder before turning back to Myka. "Did you do something different with your hair?"

Myka makes a noise of negation and shakes her head in response to Artie's question.

"Would you help me with this bag? I just--" Artie fumbles with the latch on his black bag; it's not really designed to be opened by someone with only one working hand.

As to the matter of where Pete is, he's coming in now, video game in hand and girl genius on his heels. Claudia was digging the inventory thing, not to mention the brief outburst of disco - but then she found out Pete snagged her game when she wasn't looking.
"I don't care about your high score, dude!" she protests, as he keeps playing. "I want a turn, bro!"

"Dude, take your meds," Pete says. (Nnnot his best comeback ever, all things considered, but now is not the time.)

Edited 2010-07-08 00:46 (UTC)

"Pete. Sit."

He does so, and finally hands the game off to its rightful owner - who also sits down, because what the hell.
"You saved, at least?"

"I saved."

Claudia relaxes a little. "Thank you."

"Focus, focus..." Artie sits down himself, then blinks at Claudia. "What are you doing here?"

"Focusing."
:D?
(Okay, and playing her game. But also focusing!)

Myka is just going to reach for more croissants and pay attention to the briefing, if that's okay with everyone.

"N-no, we're gonna, we, you--" Artie sighs and rubs his forehead. "Alright, nevermind. Fine. Just try, try to pay attention."

Crimony, is this a Secret Service division or a daycare center? Oh well.

Artie pulls a pair of manila folders from his black bag and hands them out. "Gary and Jillian Whitman--take one each--aka more aliases than I would care to mention. They are small-time thieves who have inexplicably hit the big time."

Edited 2010-07-08 01:18 (UTC)

Pete raises an eyebrow. "I smell Artifact."

"I smell a loser," Claudia butts in, waving the game in his face. Hey, that's some hard-earned smug, there!

Pete pulls it out of her hand to have a look, but Claudia snatches it back just as quickly.

"Claudia," Myka interjects. "Claudia," more frustrated this time.

She smiles when they turn to look at her, "Let's let Artie get through this, and not be here longer than necessary, all right?"

...wow. That's... not something Artie was expecting, this morning.

"Thank you very much, Myka. Much appreciated."

"You're welcome," Myka replies with a smile. What's so surprising about her wanting to get down to business?

"So, what is this, um, artifact...?"

...'kay. She's just gonna... put the game down, for now.

"I don't know, it's unconfirmed," says Artie. "But if there is one, it's given these two an unbelievable amount of luck, the kind that defies all the laws of probability. They've had winning streaks in Miami, Detroit, Atlantic City, and they've not--not one single gaming commission alarm bell has been tripped."

Myka looks at Artie, intent. "Well, how?" she asks.

"I don't--how? Well, they go into a gaming room that has high rollers--" Artie offers around the plate of croissants. "Anybody? Okay, fine--they're really good--and they win just enough money to stay under the radar, right? And then--" He lifts a croissant to his mouth, but stops and puts it back with a sigh after Claudia gives him a Look. "Then they move on, they don't get caught."

"Okay, so they're takin' a little back from the house," says Pete. "OMG, what's the BFD?"

Claudia can't help but giggle at that. Finally, someone around here is speaking her language!

From the looks of things, it's definitely not Myka's language. She looks a bit....baffled at this turn in the conversation.

Artie is Not Amused.

"Iniquitous hands with the means to exploit fate."

"Iniquitous means 'bad,'" Claudia says, trying to pull off a Solemn Face. She's pretty sure it's not working.

"Thanks, Roget," Pete says.

Edited 2010-07-08 01:58 (UTC)

Myka continues eating, mostly ignoring the byplay between Pete and Claudia. "So, where are they now?"

"Three hours ago they checked into room 1510 at the Maximus Hotel in Las Vegas." Artie hands out two small manila envelopes. "So I've also prepared rundowns--here's yours--of possible Artifacts that are still 'in the wild' that might be responsible. And there's also plane tickets and reservations for the Maximus and all that stuff."

"Aw, Vegas, baby, what up!"
She'd be sorry she's gonna miss it, but she already had the run of the place for a few days, so.

Myka takes the file. "Where's the money?" They are going to need some, after all.

Artie makes a questioning noise.

"Well, we need to, eh, roll high..." Duh.

"Yeah, there's $10,000 in Pete's envelope."

Pete discovers the money in the envelope. "Oh, snap!" He runs the money under his chin, "Oh yeah!"

Myka makes a grab for the cash. "I doubt it," he says to her as he keeps a hold of the cash. Then he turns to Artie, "Are you sure this isn't...?"

"Get out," Artie urges him. "Get out. Pack."

Both agents move to go and do just that. Myka leaves the room with a final statement of "Boys."

Artie calls to Pete as he's leaving. "Hey--hey, do me a favor?"

"Yes, yes, yes, my liege, I shall bring you receipts," says Pete with a mock bow.

"Yeah, that too, but also one more thing--" Artie steps closer to Pete with a concerned frown. "Is she mad at me?" He trusts he doesn't have to explain who 'she' is.

"No," says Pete. Then: "Yes. Maybe. A little. But look, uh, a trip to Vegas will unbunch the pants, right? It should be fun."

"Nononono, please," says Artie vehemently. "Don't have fun."

"Yeah, or crap out," Claudia says, skipping straight to the Helpful Advice.

"Yeah, that's so funny," says Pete sarcastically, though there's no real rancor behind it. "Later." And he's out.

Well, she's the one who did a run on Vegas all by herself. Just trying to help!
After Pete's on his way, Claudia helps Artie back into his jacket. "So, what'm I doin'?"

Edited 2010-07-08 03:22 (UTC)

"Whad'you mean, 'what are you doing'?"

"Well, Leena told me Mrs. F is keeping you off the MacPherson trail, so... doesn't mean I can't look for him. Probably--"

Artie turns to face her. "I'm only going to say this once. Are you listening?"

"Yeah."
And hoping to hear some instructions, but she is listening.

"Back. Off."

...okay, yikes. She takes it literally on pure instinct, flinching away from Artie and sitting down on... it might be a table.
No need to get testy, old man. Jeez.

'Testy' doesn't begin to describe it.

"The man will kill you. Kill. You. Understood?"

"Yeah. Yes, sir."
...but that doesn't mean she doesn't want to help.

Edited 2010-07-08 03:38 (UTC)

What she wants is irrelevant. Poking at Artifacts is one thing, but Artie will not let her go hunting after a goddamn sociopathic killer just because she's bored.

Artie sighs, tucks his coffee cup back into his sling, and grabs a croissant before heading out the door. (Fuck it. One won't hurt.)

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