Owner	Pose
Thomas Blake	there are some times when Thomas Blake needs to concentrate. Satana and lately Saeko interfere with that process. He loves them for it but he needs his wits about him Gabrielle, his little friend, sometimes partner and always ally asked for some help in a particular area of his expertise. He could only give her his best effort. The studio apartment was his first home in New York. It was aired out know. There were no personal items to link it to him. Now, however, a couple of rolls made of leather take up the small dining table Thomas left the terrace door open in case she wanted to show of with a demo of her B&E skills. He sips a coffee while waiting.
Gabby Kinney	A demo? It wasn't much of a demo and was mostly climbing skills, but she drops down from the patio above right onto the terrace with a soft 'hup' of air and the barely heard sound of her landing. It helped not weighing a lot when sneaking around. Being small helped too--Even if she was taller than she used to be. At least by a few inches. Her hands dust off on her side as she grins toward him lifting a hand to wave knowing he'd already spotted her. Hard to sneak up on someone when they were expecting you. "Morning Thomas. Or ... afternoon?" She wasn't entirely sure and takes a glance at her wrist only to shrug. She didn't even own a watch. "Close enough. Thanks for agreeing to help me with this. I figure it's time I brushed up on my learning outside of classes," she explains as she heads over to the table to look over the cases on the table.
Thomas Blake	Of course he saw her. He was sitting with his back in a corner. He drains the coffee. "I should have told you to bring some coffee. I finished mine. Eh. Later." In a rare show of affection he gets up to give her a hug that lifts her onto her toes. "You need better shoes for sneaking. I have a store you can use. Yeah your classes... you guys are not going to win a war or revolution with combat. There are too few of you. You ready?"
Gabby Kinney	Gabby Kinney returns the hug when she's swept up into it, giving a bit of a laugh. When let back down shrugs slightly at the mention of bringing coffee. "Yeah I could use some myself. With extra whipped cream and sprinkles... but I can wait till later for it." Caffiene was great, but did about as much for her as anything else. The super frufru drinks are usually what she went for so it ended up being more like a coffee milkshake. "I was raised learning espionage of a sort, anyway. Sneak in, sneak out. But given I was the youngest my older sisters did most of the other stuff," she explains.
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake nods and begins, "Okay first some basics. Shooting a lock out with a pistol or a street level super power is pure bullshit. You're more likely to jam the lock. Also sometimes you don't want anyone to know you've been there. Hence, lock picks. Now... I am not top of the line at this. The Bat is better for sure. Some of his interns may be. Not to mention... that other cat." Small smirk. "You don't repeat that." He tickles under her chin and looks stern for a moment." He undoes the straps holding the rolls wrapped up unrolls them each is about three feet long and contains several dozen assorted picks. "Now these are burglary tools. If you even think you're going to be arrested, lose them. Now, a lock has tumblers and pins..." He launches into an explanation of the mechanics as he attached a vice to the table and places a lock in it. He then uses a simple little pick and a tension wrench. the lock springs open immediately. He hands Gabby the pick and wrench and resets the lock. "For you. Since you're starting out."
Gabby Kinney	"Oh I could probably ask one of his 'interns' that I know, but they're usually busy with things. And anyway you've got more experience too I'm sure," Gabby points out with another little grin. The fact that one of those interns had been at her birthday party, well, that goes unsaid. Her attention fixes on the set of tools as they're shown and described. "Right," she agrees with a firm nod. "Never get caught with things on you." That she knew as well but it does make sense to be reminded. When the lock is offered over she takes hold of it to start working on it. It's slow, fumbling on her part as she gets used to the mechanism. "I'm guessing a lot of this is muscle memory and familiarity," she mumbles while working.
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake sits next to the young Mutant and puts his hand gently on her shoulder. "An old con told me... if noise and time are not factors, you can get n anywhere. Unfortunately... things never work out that way. Oh you know some birds and bats... if I have any trouble with them I hope you stay out or come down on my side, Gabrielle. Ok, slower. Feel the pins. Keep constant pressure on the tension bar. Speed comes with practice. I purposely started you with a new lock. Old ones are harder. The pins don't stay put."
Gabby Kinney	The bad thing about leaving a door open means that just about anyone can come in. When Thomas shifts over to put his hand on her shoulder offering her further guidance is when a sound akin to an angry growl comes from behind him. Almost instantly there's a blade at his throat from behind and a hand catches at the back of his head to snag in his hair pulling tight. "Get your damn hands off her before I kill you, you son of a bitch!" One might guess by the female voice that snarls near his ear that it could be Laura that had shown up. It certainly had that familiar sound, similar to Gabby's own voice, but older. The blade at his throat isn't a claw though -- It's a bowie knife. And the girl with angry red eyes glaring daggers at Thomas was far too pale in skin and hair to be the better known clone Gabby was related to. Scars mar over her fae as well, and her hair isn't white so much as completely lacking any pigment. Her skin, too, looks as if she couldn't tan if she wanted to.
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake removes his hand, holding it up to emphasize. The assailant then feels a blade at her thigh. "Femoral artery, it'll be a race to see who bleeds out first. Is this the sister I met at your party, Gabby? The one with the tedious threats." He plans to stick the knife through the woman's thigh... that will not kill her if she is like Gabby. He thinks it will distract her long enough for him to grab the blade at his throat. "See... you should know what the situation is before you start pulling a blade. We can settle down to a lovely afternoon picking locks and ordering out. We don't have to fight... but in a moment we will."
Gabby Kinney	"WaitwaitwaitwaitWAIT!" Gabby blurts out once she realizes just what was going on. A look of sheer panic is on her face when she realizes that Thomas has a knife out just as well as Bellona does. "No do not stab her please relax Bellona!" Both hands out she almost, almost reaches out to grab the blades in either hand before catching herself. It wouldn't hurt. But suddenly spilled blood seemed like a bad thing in either case. A grunt comes from the woman in clear displeasure at realizing she'd let that slip past her notice. It's Gabby's words, along with Thomas', that cause her to let out a breath of frustration. With a twist of her wrist she flicks the blade away from his throat, flipping it around in her grasp with the same gesture so that the hilt was now facing his neck, and the blade away. It was a small gesture that doesn't disarm herself, but would make it all the harder to stab him. For now. Gabby sits with a pleading look that flits between the pair. "This is Bellona, my *other* sister," she explains. "The human one."
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake whirls around. He half backflips, half rolls over the table to get some distance. His blade is out and pointing at Bellona for a moment. Then he puts it wherever he hides the damned things. He still is in a half crouch. His eyes narrow. "You have really weird family reunions, Gabrielle. I thought she was still missing in action?" He gives Bellona the once over. Yeah armed to the teeth. Still ready to fight. "You better explain to her... how wrong she is. I was just trying to get Gabby to relax and concentrate on her lesson. She's... probably my best friend."
Gabby Kinney	The albino doesn't bother to do more than slide one leg back preparing herself should she need to move again. Knees slightly bent, not locked, and her hands loose at her side ready to lift and lash out. The flipped knife is still held in that manner though with her arm coming forward in front of her she's now able to slice AND stab with that gesture should she need. Her attire is... Definiately fitting a would-be assassin, to say the least. "Gabrielle?" She inquires without breaking her gaze from Thomas. "Yes, calm down please both of you. He was just showing me how to pick locks. Because I asked him to," she hastens to add before any other incorrect assumptions come up. "I thought it'd be a good skill to have." To Thomas she looks apologetic with a shake of her head. "Not missing in action, she just--" "Wasn't going to stick around and potentially keep leading people to Gabby," Bellona fills in the rest. "I'm the assassin, after all. We didn't let her do that." Still stiff and wary she at least lets her gaze flit away from Thomas toward Gabby to check briefly that she was indeed okay. "Fuck," she uters finally as she forces herself out of that stance in favor of running her free hand back through her hair. "I saw her climbing down the building in here to find her with a guy twice her age, the hell was I supposed to think?!"
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake gives the back of Gabrielle's head a pat. "She's a good girl. She has brains. She even helped me against AlcheMax and vice versa. And... she's not my type, beautiful as she is." He gruffly extends a hand to Bellona. The good part is, she doesn't know him -or she probably would have killed him outright. "Relax, Gabby. I'm not killing anyone."
Gabby Kinney	Bellona regards the offered hand a single moment. It wasn't that she didn't know what he was offering. It just wasn't a gesture she was very used to, either. Flipping the knife in hand again she moves to slide it into the shealth strapped to her thigh safely put away for now. She certainly had a lot more knives, and even guns, on her. Probaly more than she ought to need. Never hurt to be prepared. The offered hand is taken with a shake though she purposefully tries to squeeze his hand as hard as she can in the process, just to prove she isn't weak. "... Nice to meet you." Begrudgingly she adds, "Thanks for looking out for Gabby."
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake feels the squeeze and squeezes back just as hard. "You're welcome. Though it's kind of mutual. I'm glad you're not missing... she needs someone a little more invested in her. I get the impression she gets left bend a lot at that school. She probably hasn't met the minimum height requirements or some BS. Nice to meet you too." If his hand hurt e gave no indication. "So little sister wanted to learn lockpicking, but seeing you're here -lets grab a bite. She wasn't getting this lock anyway." He directs a sly wink at Bellona as he says the last. Now Gabby will either grab a bite, and resume picking locks more relaxed or ... tear it apart with her teeth if necessary.
Gabby Kinney	You know the funny thing that happens when Thomas squeezes Bellona's hand? She doesn't flinch. Or even seem to notice, really, even if there is a little pop from her joints as it gets squeezed. Older though she may be than Gabby she didn't have much more on height. The entire family seemed to run on the smaller side it seemed. Or at least the girls did. She does give a small glance toward Gabby again only to roll her eyes upward with a sigh as she relents. "Knowing her she wants food." "Yes food," Gabby agrees with a grin and gestures to the seats to urge the pair to sit down. "And I was about to get it!" She complains with a look back to the lock. It's picked up and she starts over grumbling. "Give a girl a chance." "Food, then." Bellonna takes her hand back to glanc down at it, gingerly touching over the bones in her squeezed hand to check for injury. She might not heal but she didn't feel pain either thanks to the experiments. "You've been going after Alchemax?"
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake looks a little surprised at his... handiwork. "Fuck. I'm sorry. You're human. Let me see that hand. I'll get you some ice for it. Listen badass, give me your hand and I'll give it back. Or you want we'll settle who the biggest tough guy here is Blackgate Style. And yeah the mother fuckers are trying to kill me. I declared war. Plus I heard the story about Gabby and you and the rest. I plan to make a lot of AlcheMax stocks toilet paper." He holds his hand out palm up. "The more of us there are alive and intact the better it is for Gabrielle... who is really someone I am fond of."
Gabby Kinney	Bellonna scoffs at the mention of her hand giving a dismissive shrug. "I can't feel it. It's only dislocated anyway, it'll just swell a bit--" The protests and suggestions are met with a narrowing of her red eyes. Gabby clears her throat which seems to cause her to rethink her answer. "...Fine." Then, gratingly she mutters, "Thank you," and offers her hand out. It wasn't bad as she said but there were already signs on her pale skin of bruising. That was another issue with being albino. You couldn't NOT bruise. "I'm all for going after Alchemax. Bunch of assholes all of them," she has to agree bebrudgingly. At least it seemed she was warming up to him? A smidge?
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake takes Bellona's hand, "Yeah I have a pretty good grip. When you're shanking a lion, losing your blade is a quick to a dirt nap. And, I'm an animal lover, he started with me." <Pop!> there is a momentary queasy look on his face. He holds her smaller hand between his big ones, looking at it. Finally he says, "There's ice in the fridge. Couple beers. Some bagels. Help yourself." He tries not to look too closely at Gabrielle.
Gabby Kinney	Bellonna raises an eyebrow at mention of shanking a lion. Curious, she looks to Gabby again as if using her little sister as a bar for when Thomas was telling the truth or not. All she gets is a shrug though--She could neither confirm or deny. When her hand is popped back properly she looks it over apparently approving of the handiwork. "I guess I wouldn't want to be eaten by a lion either. Not bad." Given she was given free reign of the fridge, though? She heads on over to it to examine the insides. Gabby looks over to Thomas and lifts a hand to point at her eyes, then at him. It's a serious expression for like a half second before she cracks a grin. "She's not great with people but she IS great," she points out. "And she does stop by when she can. I just... haven't really told anyone at the school. Best not to drag her into that again unless we need to." Hank knew, but past that? She doubt anyone else remembered.
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake smirks a little. "I'm not great with people either. I'm glad we didn't knife each other. It'd upset you. And people have secrets for a reason. I don't tell you everything. Okay we're going to try to open this lock while I still have my own teeth. The lockpick gets moved with a smooth motion, almost like you're stroking a... cat." Blake clears his throat. "I know I was distracted helping you but she still snuck up on me. I have to asker her where she got her shoes... does she have a place to crash, Gabby? She can use your room you know, or get her own at my place."
Gabby Kinney	"She usually goes into the sewers," Gabby explains with a look over her shoulder. "We kept a few stashes down there when we escaped. I didn't tell everyone about them." Her attention returns to the lock and she slows her motions down. She was trying to rush it before. Going slower does seem to help, and she gets a few of the pins to set properly. "If she could I'd appreciaet it. I mean, it'd be nice to know she has somewhere comfortable once in awhile." It's about now that Bellona returns with a bagel caught between her teeth just eating it straight. Not toasted. No butter or cream cheese. Just. Bagel. A beer is held in hand and she thrusts it out wordlessly toward Thomas. A peace offering perhaps. And she has ice in a dish cloth wrapped around her hand to bring the swelling down.
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake takes the beer with a nod. "I gave Gabby a room at my house. I have a few friends staying there and passing through. If you want to crash there you'd be welcome. Maybe we can plan to mess AlcheMax up further."
Gabby Kinney	Bellona hesitates at the offer. Her eyes narrow again... but at this point that seems to just be her natural resting bitch-face when she's thinking. She doesn't seem to smile much after all, and it does take her a moment to consider options. "That would be nice." There's a pause before she asks, "There's a lock on the door right?" Never hurts to check. "And a bed? I mean. I can do without." But man it would be nice. Gabby lets out a woop of triumph and holds up the open lock. "Told you I'd get it!" she points out with a grin. "See? Just needed some time." And a lot of practice but she knew that going in, too.
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake says, 'Ok, good. That's enough for now. Take your picks and the lock and practice when you can." He begins rolling up the lockpicks and tying them up. As for the room, Bellona, yeah it locks. It has a bed and a sink. Couple of shared bathrooms. Hit tub. Basement storage. Basement storage is a little crowded thanks to your little sister." He rewards Gabby with a slap on the back.
Gabby Kinney	"Hot tub?" There's an actual tone of interest from Bellona at this. Given she did bruise a lot, maybe that was appealing, even without the ability to feel pain. Or maybe she just liked hot showers and a hot tub sounded... "... All right. I'll stop by sometime to check it out." Her gaze flits over to Gabby, and she steps over to give the younger sibling a tight hug. It's here that it's obvious her emotions are actually not always angry as she seems to be quite reluctant to end the hug. "You be good, Gabby. And get better at your practice. We can catch up okay?" Maybe she'd stay around more now. Then she glances to Thomas with a curt, "Show me where."