12347/Chimps Need Healing, Too

Chimps Need Healing, Too
Date of Scene:	08 August 2022
Location:	Klein's Bottles
Synopsis:	Detective Chimp comes into Klein's Bottles looking for a few special herbs. He and Delores have a private talk about supernatural things in the staff breakroom.
Cast of Characters:	Delores Klein, Detective Chimp

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Delores Klein has posed:
    It's after the small rush of people trying to pick things up on their way to work, so Klein's Bottles's employees are taking time to stock shelves, sweep, and do other normal tasks. Employees, in this case, refer to Delores Klein and another young adult whose nametag pinned to her gardening apron says, "Rachel."
    The store is laid out like a cross between an antique store and a pharmacy. Glass bottles hold pills that have been sourced well enough that all their ingredients, active and inactive, are printed on little plackards under each section on the shelves. The labels on the bottles are simple, cheap things that have clip-art photographs of the active ingredient and what the supplement is for without much else.

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp has heard about the shop, and could use a few supplies, while he is not a active magician, it pays to have some things on hand, just to be on the safe side. So we find the Detective walking into the shop to look about. He may still be awake from the night before or maybe recently got up. He has a backpack across one shoulder, and coffee in a cup, which may or may not have been spiked. He steps inside pausing to look about.

Delores Klein has posed:
    It is Delores who recognizes the chimpanzee who enters. For one thing, talking, sapient chimps are few, making the detective easily recognizable. For another, they get attention, leading Rachel to pause sweeping as she stares when he makes his entrance. Still, there is recognition in Delores's eyes, and a warm smile dimples her cheeks. From behind the counter she perks up.
    "Detective!" she lets out. She sets down her paperwork and walks around the counter toward him. "What a pleasure to have you in my shop. Can I help you find something?"

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp looks over to Delores, and nods to her. "I heard about the shop, and happened to be in the area, thought I might come by and check it out." He sips his coffee, and says "So, how good a selection of things do you have, more than just the normal Sage and Lavender, I take it." He looks over to Rachel, and says "Yes, I am real and yes I talk."

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores remembers the last time she saw the ape and furrows her brow, considering his words. "I do have some things for a more discerning clientelle," she says. This statement confuses Rachel who clearly doesn't know anything about it. Delores gestures toward the back. "Let's go to the back and we can talk about what you need." She looks over at Rachel. "Keep an eye on the store out here, please. Don't come into the employee area unless the urgency is 'man with gun pointed at you' or higher."

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp nods his head a bit to this and will fall in to follow the lady. He does look over to Rachel and rattles off a few of the more common herbs and such one might get "If you could get me a bout a cup of each dried and ground and a bundle of the last three dried, I would appreciate it." And then he is following Delores again.

Delores Klein has posed:
    The girl looks over at the small section of non-pillified herbs for sale. Her posture would go well with a groan, but such an exasperated noise doesn't come.
    In the back, Delores leads the chimp to a small employee lounge. She pulls out a chair from a round table on her way past it, then she does the same for another chair 90 degrees around the table that she sits in sideways. She puts her arm up on the back of the chair and waits for Detective Chimp to sit.
    "So, Detective, it seems you have more of a mystical slant than I realized when last we met. Let me guess. You need--" Delores lists off several complimentary herbs and substances to what the chimpanzee listed in the shop proper. She may not officially be a detective, but when it comes to herbalism, she seems to know her stuff.

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp nods his head, a bit and says "Well, I don't do a lot myself, but it pays to have things on hand for those who do, and never hurts to do the whole cleaning and such, mind you burning sage and my sense of smell is not the best he admits." He looks to her over and says "Seems we both may have a bit more to us than appear."

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores's smile is kind and gentle as she regards the chimpanzee. "Detective, you have seen behind the curtain. You know who's the wizard and what's just smoke and mirrors." She crosses her legs. "You've been discrete, and for that, you have my eternal thanks--possibly literally, or at least until the sun swallows us both up in a few billion years." She interlaces her fingers and lets her other elbow rest against her side. "For that, I can return the favor with some trimmings from my personal garden. I don't keep such things here, you understand."

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp nods his head a bit and says "Well I don't get into the city here much, and trying to grow anything in Gotham, well, we have enough crazies about I would worry about it being workable after all the things that could happen." He admits He drains the rest of his coffee, and says "I do appreciate it."

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores stands and walks around her chair. "Of course, Detective," she says. She picks up the antique percolator and walks back to where the chimp is sitting at the table. "Here, allow me," she says, preparing to pour him a fresh cup. The smell of the coffee is luxurious. It's as high above cheap coffee as gormet pizza is above ketchup on bread.

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp nods, his head a bit to her and says "Thank you, so how have you been doing, it has been a while." Chimp maybe an old grumpy chimp at times, but when you are in someone's shop getting special treatment it is best to be on your best behavior. He does sip the coffee a moment tasting it before adding something from his flask out of his pocket.

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores watches him add the alcohol--well, it's almost certainly alcohol, anyway--as she smiles with the kind of smile usually accompanied by a giggle, though she doesn't laugh. "Detective, you're the kind of person who would buy a steak at a hundred dollars a plate restaurant and salt it." She doesn't protest farther than that, however, returning the percolator back to where it goes. She moves to the stove and gets an old tea kettle, filling it with water from a nearby jug. As she works on whatever it is, she talks back to him, "I've been well enough. Concentrating on my studies until recently. I had to become a bit of a public figure again after what happened to Genosha. I know it's not a lot, but I put some of the refugees up while they got on their feet."

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp smirks a bit and says "I made sure to taste it first." He offers, and says "But most things are better with a bit of a kick." He will pull the flask out and offer it to her to try it. "I will admit I do get a lot less looks, now that mutants have become more normal."

Delores Klein has posed:
    "Mutants," she says with a nod while politely dismissing the alcohol, "Hellboy, aliens, the undead--I tell you, this world is becoming so convoluted, it's hard to tell who one's enemies are." She turns on the gas stove under the pot. Once it's warming, she begins gathering this and that in tiny glass jars. None of it is labelled. "Still, you've proven yourself not to be a whistle-blower, at least."

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp looks to her and says "I find the ones who are either trying to punch, puncture or bludgeon me are usually the enemies." He offers with a smile and says "But I know what ya mean, got a few folks, who most might thing are bad guys who are on my side to help things. Most just from their looks like Hellboy."

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores sighs wistfully, shaking her head. "It's such a mess," she says. The faintest sound begins coming from the tea kettle. She opens one of her glass jars with one hand, the kettle with the other. She pinches out some of the substance and quickly re-lids the jar, repeating with the other ingredients. She then draws a long, thin, glass rod out and stirs what's in there.
    "Still," Delores says through a re-broadening smile. "It's good to have friends who can travel with you through the years. Friends you can trust," she says, looking back to make eye contact with Bobo.

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp nods a bit and says "This is true, I should introduce you to Rex the next time he is in the area. He and I had our little adventure together." He may have never told how he stopped aging but there is a clue perhaps.

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores re-lids the tea kettle. "I see!" she says. She takes a stainless steel water bottle from a cabinet of mismatched examples of the kind. Removing the lid, she sets it in front of her on the counter before putting all the glass bottles back. She turns and leans back against the counter again.
    "Say, Detective," she says. "I hope it's not presumptuous, but I would like to ask you a secret."

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp 's brow raises a bit to this and looks over to the lady "Well you can ask, does not mean I will tell, but if I am not going to tell, will at least tell you that and not give you a line, thats not ture."

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores nods. "Kind of you," she says. She folds her arms in front of her. "I've been considering you off and on since we first met. I've got a few theories, but they all have holes in them. Do you know how you came to be more than an average chimpanzee?"

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp nods his head a bit to this and says "Yes, I was always a bit smarter than your average, but I encountered something that enhanced me, giving me the ability to talk to any living things, made me smarter and unaging. Yourself?"

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores smiles broadly. "Well, I've always been more than the average chimpanzee," she says. She winks at him. "Maybe not more than you, though." She turns as the kettle starts whistling. She picks it up using a hot pad and pours the contents entirely into the stainless steel bottle. She puts down the kettle and picks up the bottle with that hot pad, moving it to the table. After she's put it down, she walks back to the counter to get the bottle's top. "Are you comfortable sharing what it was that enhanced you?"

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp thinks a bout it and says "Well, not yet, but I may down the road, will say this, you would be one of the people I would consider it, since you would be less likely to go hunting it than others."

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores maintains eye contact on the few steps from the counter back to the table. She grabs the outside of the bottle with the hot pad between it and her hand while she screws the top on. "It's the fountain of youth, isn't it," she says. It's one of her theories, and while she isn't fully confident that's what it is, she's about as confident as a conspiracy theorist speculating that aliens built the pyramids.

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp will shrugs a bit to her and says "Now if I said yes or no, that would be telling." He offers her but he does not deny it at least not out right.

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores picks up the bottle and moves it to the refrigerator. When she opens the fridge, she sets it in what looks like a big, metal bowl of water. When she closes it again, she turns back to him and leans against the antique appliance. "So it is," she says. She smiles again. "You know, that was one I was hoping was fiction." She sighs and moves to the table, sitting next to him again. She folds her hands in front of her.
    "You know, I was already a skilled alchemist and artificer before I knew why it came so easily to me." She offers her hand, palm up, to the detective. "If you continue to keep my secrets as well as you have, I'll share with you why. Equivalent exchange."

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp nods his head a bit to this and says "Unless you give a reason your secrets need given, and you have not. And trust me it seems most things have some base in reality even when we do not think so. He does reach over to give her hand a soft squeeze in reassurance, he is not the most touchy feely type, but he is trying to offer the lady some comfort from another who knows what it is like to know they will be alone for quite some time.

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores smiles at the chimp for the returned gesture. She then lays her secret on the table. "Before I was born, my mother was kidnapped. An artificer and alchemist wanted to steal her intellectual capability for himself. He didn't know about me, so his calculations were off, and those pathways in my brain were opened up." She shrugs. "I'm not intellectually gifted on the level of Tony Stark or Einstein; the things he was heavily practiced at just come easily to me."

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp hmms and nods his head a bit to this and says "My encountered opened me up to learning, have never taken an intelligence test, but have found if I take to something I can learn it pretty well." He hmmms and says "What about more current things, how do you do with them?"

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores withdraws her hand, the moment over, and rests both her hands on the table. "To be honest, fighting tooth and nail," she says. "As I said, I had to become a public figure again to help those poor people when Genosha was destroyed." She adds, "And the alien invasion, with the metahumans appearing after that, has perplexed and troubled me." She sighs. "And now we've got a spaceport." She smirks. "It makes me long for the days when Hellboy being made known to the public was the most unusual thing that had happened."

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp smirks a bit and says "Think of it this way, while things may have changed pretty fast in the last 20 years or so, it does keep things from getting boring." He offers and sips his coffee.

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores smiles and looks off to the side. "I suppose that's true," she says. She looks back at him. "Also," she says, "if you find yourself in need of medical aid, but don't want to deal with vets or human doctors, remember me. I've got potions that should help, despite some minor anatomical differences." She folds her hands in front of her again. "I can also correct problematic defects of the flesh, but then you know that."

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp nods his head a bit to this and says "I appreciate that, and if you are in need of a translator or something to investigate let me know, and I will do what I can to help

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores considers that for a moment before she says, "Actually." She crosses her legs under the table and folds her arms, bringing a semi-closed fist to her lips, index finger bridged between them. "If you're interested in assisting me, I do have something you might do for me. I'd need to do some lab work with you to make sure everything's correct."

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp 's brow raises which may look a bit odd on the chimp, but he waits for her to elaborate more on what she has in mind.

Delores Klein has posed:
    "Oh, don't look at me like that," Delores says, her smile broadening once more. "If what I'm thinking will alter you in any way, even temporarily, I won't proceed." She holds out her hand again, this time as though to shake. "You have my word on that."

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp says, "Well lets hear what your thinking about, I would prefer to know details before I agree to anything."

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores withdraws her hand. "Well, that was mostly for my end," she says. "That you will be protected." She pushes her chair away from the table and stands, moving to the refrigerator. Opening it, she pulls out the stainless steel bottle. When she closes the fridge, she grabs a towel from the handle and begins drying the cooled...beverage? Whatever it is, she begins drying it.
    "I can't say anything is possible for sure," she says. "You're not human, and with your unique situation, anything's possible." She walks back to the table, but continues to stand. "There's nothing wrong with taking a look, is there?" she asks.
    Offering him the bottle, she says, "Here. I don't know if you get hangovers, but as much as you drink, if you do get them, this will cure it in a couple minutes. It's diluted--this isn't exactly my lab--but it will do the job if you drink the whole thing."

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp will take the item she gives him and says "Well most times to get hang overs one has to stop drinking." He offers with a smirk, and says "Well what exactly are you wanting me to help with, a few more details go a long way."

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores shakes her head and takes a step back. She spreads her arms out slightly to her sides, palms up. "I can't share details I don't have," she offers. "I can't even take a vocture to study later." She places her hands on her hips and looks the chimp over. She furrows her brow. "I imagine there's somewhere private where we can meet. Somewhere secret societies meet to discuss mystical or magical things the average citizen doesn't know about." She points a finger at the detective. "Somewhere you know about and I don't yet."

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp says, "Well the main place, I go these days is a bar in a pocket dimension, but I have an office as well. You can look me over with what ever means you want, as long as you explain anything more intrusive than a general doctor exam." He offers."

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores nods. "Of course," she says. She extends a hand. "You'll have to give me directions to a pocket dimension. That sounds like it won't be something even my most astute employee can google."

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp takes the offered hand and says "Well it moves about a bit but there is a door to it in most of the larger cities." He tells her "It is called the Oblivion bar, I have found one I am checking out in Gotham, but I have not got any real details on it really.

Delores Klein has posed:
    "Alright," Delores says. "Perhaps I should allow you to escort me. I wouldn't want to be conspicuous as an outsider." She smiles. She then pulls a card for the shop from her apron and bends over the table, producing a pen to write a different telephone number on the back. She writes slowly and very legibly. "I will give you my cellular telephone number," she says.

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp nods his head a bit to this and says "So you know it is a no fight zone, even if some of the people who you might consider enemies or even bad folks, you have to be at least semi civil to them while there."

Delores Klein has posed:
    "I can be on my best behavior," the woman says with a nod.

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp nods and takes the card sticking it in an inside pocket so he will have it when needed "I will let you know when I am going again."