11962/Murder and Arson

Murder and Arson
Date of Scene:	10 July 2022
Location:	Canelo's Auto and Body
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Robbie Reyes, Gabby Kinney

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Robbie Reyes has posed:
Sundays are generally quiet days at the shop. Most people seem to need work done on Fridays and Saturdays, with a steady trickle the rest of the week. But today's a good day for lounging about with a cigarette and catching up on text messages.

The young mechanic's dressed in his usual grease-stained coveralls, sleeves rolled up to his elbows to uncover the swath of ink down his right arm. He's currently leaned against the outside wall of the garage, head bent over his cell phone, smoke smoking away between two fingers. It's hot out today, but.. is it any surprise he doesn't seem to mind?

Gabby Kinney has posed:
The 'talk' the other night had only left Gabby with far more questions. Rien and Jon seemed to know something more of what was going on, but Rien's insistance to keep Gabby out of it had meant that nothing of it really got discussed. Other than 'stay away from anything reflective' and that whatever it was, spirit or entity or otherwise, was hunting them down. While she knew Rien meant well wanting to keep her out of things... She was already involved. If the thing was going after all of the JLD as Jon suspected that meant she needed to know as much as possible.

Which meant there was one person she could potentially grill for information.

The fact that Gabby had issues of her own that were weighing on her certainly helped her urge to seek out the familiar company of Robbie as well. Since Rien was off limits especially. Her little Honda Trail comes coasting into the garage lot swung behind the building where she knew Robbie liked to hang out and relax. A single nod is given in his direction while he's on his phone, and she cuts the engine. Kicking the stand down she just leans it to the side still straddling the bike as she flashes him a small smile. "Hey. Mind some company for a bit?"

Robbie Reyes has posed:
There's a little double-take as he spots the brunette's familiar face, then finishes sending whatever text he'd been in the midst of composing. "Hey, chica," he greets, shoving the phone away into a side pocket of his coveralls. Squinting slightly into the sun, he pushes off the wall he'd been holding up and prowls on over slowly.

"Yeah, I got a few before I'm back on shift. You doin' okay? Sorry I, uh. Kind of ran out on you last night."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney swings her leg over the side of the bike to fully dismount as she moves over toward Robbie. A little glance is cast toward the shop itself, and if anyone looks her way she'll give a quick wave. At least she was sort-of-familiar around here on occasion.

"No, I'm not, but I'll live. It's what my family's good at after all." Forcing a smile she looks back to Robbie drawing a deep breath. "Are *you* okay? I'm sorry about that. Rien should not have been threatening your relationship over me. And it sounds like the whole JLD is going to be involved if we're not careful to begin with."

Robbie Reyes has posed:
A couple of the other mechanics call out greetings, and Canelo himself flashes her a grin when he spots her. She and her bike are indeed frequent enough visitors around here, that they practically know her by name now.

"Yeah, well. Living's a pretty low bar, ain't it?" Robbie takes one more drag off the stump of clove remaining, and flicks it to the asphalt before grinding it out under his boot. "I'm fine," he answers after some hesitation. The dark circles under his eyes, the twitchier-than-usual demeanor suggest he isn't that 'fine' at all, but. "I think Jon's right. Whatever this thing is, it's after all of us. You ask me, we should be talking about how to deal with it, not scattering like bugs tryin' to avoid the inevitable."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney stuffs her hands into the pockets of her jeans with a little shrug. Her fingers search around the depths of her pocket only to come out with a Chupa Chup lollipop after a moment. She tugs at the wrapper while talking.

"Yeah but it's a start to make things better. Can't do much about it if you're not living," she points out trying to find some positive in the whole situation in general. "As much as I'd like to just curl up next to someone and hold onto them for awhile, that's not an option. So I'm here trying to do what I can. And trying to ignore what I've done in the meantime."

Robbie Reyes has posed:
"If you say so," Robbie replies quietly, watching her unwrap the lollipop, expression troubled.

He takes a breath then, and glances away, squinting into the sun once more as he watches someone pull in on a sputtering Ford. "You.. want a hug, or something?" He jams his hands into his coveralls pockets, and glances back to Gabby. "Then you can tell me about what's been goin' on?"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney tears at the slippery little bit of paper once, twice. Finally her fist clenches and she just seems to give up on getting the plastic wrap off for the time being. Instead she looks up to Robbie looking just a bit haunted. It wa perhaps a bit too familiar an expression among the members of the JLD lately.

"I'd love one," she responds with a little tight voice. Quickly bobbing her head in a nod she steps forward to wrap her arms around Robbie. At least they were kind of around the corner so the techs and Canelo wouldn't be wondering what was going on too much. She hopes.

"Was on a mission, and the guy made duplicates of all of us. Me, Inez, Wade. Everyone. I thought they were just robots or ... but they weren't. They were clones. Like me. I killed the Inez clone... cut her head off."

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Pulling his hands out of his pockets, Robbie pulls his arms around her smaller frame, and draws her against him tightly. He smells of the clove he'd been smoking, of course, and engine grease and.. well, him. At this moment, he doesn't particularly seem to care what his boss thinks; it's clear there's nothing untoward going on with them.

"Yeah, that much I heard," he murmurs to her. "What made you do it?" There doesn't seem to be any judgement in his tone of voice. Just a question, probably to keep her talking.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"They also had our strengths," Gabby responds quietly. "Inez is really, really powerful and strong. She was charging at me. I'd tried to talk my duplicate out of fighting, and I even stood there and said the same to the Inez copy. If I hadn't struck out I would have been hit and out for a long time. As it was she broke my arm."

A slow, deep breath is drawn as she actually leans her head in down to rest against his chest, grease oil and other stuff be damned. "I don't usually go all out on people. If she was a robot though I figured being quick and efficient..." She trails off leaving it there. That's why she'd done what she'd done. The rest she doesn't mention: Throwing the severed head to help save Domino from her own duplicate. It wasn't something she was proud of but at that point it was a matter of rescuing a teammate who had already taken a fair amount of damage herself.

Robbie Reyes has posed:
"Inez? Dunno if I know her." Her explanation of what happened makes him smile slightly. "Sounds like something you'd do." Try to talk an opponent out of fighting, he means. "You got a way with people, you know? Sounds like these copies were pretty determined to kill or be killed, though."

He gives her a squeeze when she rests her head against him. Lean he may be, but he's got a grip on him. "You think maybe you did what you had to do?"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"She's my sister-in-law, married one of my brothers," Gabby explains about who Inez is. It wasn't the entire explanation, really, but it was the short and sweet without getting into the oddities of her family. What Robbie already knew was plenty to know it was complicated. "Yes... no? I don't like that I didn't really have a choice. If I'd known I could have made a different one. Or maybe not, but at least it would have been an actual choice." Her fingers worry at the fabric of his overalls idly while just focusing on the hug to help get her thoughts in order. It was already held longer than most she'd had.

"They had a kid captive though. I would have done what was needed to get him to safety. Just not that way." A little chuckle is given as she risks lifting her head just a bit to peer up at him. "A way with people? I guess I always was the one trying to get people to get along. I know I'm the youngest but I always felt it was my job to try and keep my sisters happy. Since they'd done so much for me." Another deep breath is drawn, and she remarks, "You smell pretty good, you know."

Robbie Reyes has posed:
"Hmm.. sister in law. Got it." Gabby DOES have a slightly convoluted family, but even Robbie's not bankrupt enough in manners to point that out. He listens, brows furrowed, while she describes not having a choice; the big hand fanned out over her back lifts to ruffle her hair lightly. "Sometimes you make what feels like a choice, and it really ain't one at all. For what it's worth, I think you did good." But this is coming from a guy who.. well, has a bit of a murder problem. So she may want to take it with a grain of salt.

His hand at the back of her head drops again when she looks up at him, and he dimples a grin. "Yeah. A way with people. I keep remembering how you talked down that.. guy made of clay. Like a fuckin' pro." Then he blushes when she pays him that compliment, and finally lets her go. "Most people with a good nose like yours can smell the demon on me," he points out wryly.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"That? I'm surprised that worked!" Gabby blurts out with a weak laugh as she steps away finally, taking a light swat at his chest to smooth out the rumpled fabric where she'd been resting her head.

"I can. Smells a bit sulfery like well water." A little shrug is given as her eyes drop down to look him over a moment considering how best to explain it. "But there's other stuff too right now. The cigs, the smell of the shop, and you. You smell more like *you* when you're here, you know. It's like... This is your place. Eli's not part of it even if he has to tag along. If that makes sense."

Looking back up toward him she smiles more genuinely than she has so far today. A few little crinkles crease over the scars on her cheek as they did when she wasn't forcing a smile to be 'perfect.' "Thanks, Robbie. For listening. And for the hug. I needed that."

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Robbie huffs a laugh as well when she brushes at the coveralls, gaze shifting away and back again. He sobers at her next words, watching her face curiously for a few moments. A flicker of some emotion or other skims across his mismatched eyes; there and gone again. Then, softly, "That might be one of the nicest things anyone's said to me."

He hesitates a little longer, then nods quickly. "Yeah. No problem. Any time, okay?" If she permits, he reaches for her hand in both of his, attempting to uncurl her smaller fingers from their grip on the lollipop, so he can unwrap it for her. "There you go." It's held up between two fingers, along with a wink.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney blinks rapidly when he takes hold of her hand drawing her attention back to the fact that she still had hold of that damnable lollipop in her fist. In the moment she'd completely forgotten about it. At his urging she relaxes her fingers to let him get to it, and her hand dusts itself off against her thigh to help ease out the stiffness there.

"You clearly need more compliments then," she teases lightly while meeting his gaze with another grin. Then, on impulse, she leans forward to wrap her lips around the lollipop he holds up. Straightening again she gives a little 'Mm!' as she laughs. "Thanks, Robbie, seriously. Let me know if there's anything I can do for you with other things, okay?"

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Well, that's a little distracting. He opens his mouth to say something, stops himself, and simply thrusts the candy at Gabby instead. "Nah." He chuckles. "Quality, not quantity." And on that enigmatic note, he ticks two fingers off his forehead with a murmur of, "Te veo luego, chica." And turns around to slouch back off to work.