Summary:Hank and Skye meet up for food, drinks, and some hackery dackery. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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It has been a bit since last Hank and Daisy spoke, and the good Doctor McCoy sent her a meeting request, strictly non-required.
/If time permits, meet me at Harry's Hideaway in Westchester. Non-Urgent. Reply with time if acceptable and feasible. -PK/
Palladium Knight, Hank's Hacker Handle, so probably not anything 'official'. Whatever time and date she sets, Daisy would arrive before Hank does, no doubt because she's probably /trying/ to be early. Either that or he got delayed.
Not a bad little bar, definitely beats the clandestine meetings in parking structures of various degrees of disreputable!
When he does arrive, Hank is dressed in a red and black flannel shirt with white accents, sturdy blue jeans, and massive boots to cover marginally less massive feet. Blue eyes scan the room, and he offers Skye a friendly smile when he spots her. Over his shoulder is the strap to a backpack, and then he approaches. "Hello there, Skye." He greets in his deep bass.
*
Darn right Skye is going to be early! She has to map out the area on her computer rig then drive out there and find a quiet 'off the radar' place to park and THEN scout the place on foot and search for unsecure wifi signals she might be able to tap into.
She's almost disappointed to discover that it just..seems like a bar. Give her enough time and she'll start to figure out that this is a metahuman hot spot but at first glance it isn't 'in your face' obvious.
Because of this her attention is more on her tablet than the other customers, though a wary eye remains open up to and beyond Hank's arrival. He's always an easy one to make out in a crowd, her expression shifting from pensive to relieved.
"Hey, Hank" she offers in simple greeting until he's had a chance to settle down and she can lean closer to whisper the rest. "What's going on that we're going public? Did they ever find the hacker killer?"
*
Hank slides into the booth she's picked, it is notable that he places his bulk between Skye and danger by sitting on the outer section at the booth, and setting his backpack on the seat next to him. There is decent wifi, and quite a few secured hotspots - likely people (with brains) who have their phones setup for such. There's a local wifi too, unsecured 'HHideaway', PRETTY damn subtle and not horrible bandwidth either. So there's that.
Definitely just a bar, yup. Only a bar, in a basement, in the sticks. That's Harry's!
Once he's settled, Hank smiles. "You said you'd like to meet someplace less drafty, so, this is a good place to meet on the down low." Which sentence sounds just wrong considering his incredibly cultured enunciation of.
A slow shake of his head. "Not yet, but progress is being made - unfortunately with the Dome incident, that line of inquiry has been back burnered."
Hank reaches into the backpack, taking out a small device, a little cone that he places on the table, behind the little candle on it, and then presses down on the top. There's a bit of tingling, and then Skye'd find the sounds around them vastly muted. "In any case, we're -more- private now." Yes, he damn well /did/ put down a Code of Silence. "How have you been?"
*
"Kudos for remembering" Skye quietly offers with a shadow of a smile. As soon as he mentions the 'Dome incident' she's gearing up to say more but the cone which is brought out holds her thoughts back for a while longer. This is new tech… New enough that she isn't familiar with it yet. The tingling doesn't pass unnoticed, she visibly shivers before staring at the broad mutant with an upturned brow.
"I'm..just gonna go ahead and take your word on that" she openly decides before flopping back into her seat with a weary sigh. "Aside from constantly looking over my shoulder or wondering if my van might have picked up an ignition bomb while also working with like the -last- people on the -planet- that I'd like to be helping, it's been a blast. I'm not sure whether to thank you or ruin your credit score" she says with a level stare and a meaningful folding of her arms.
"I'm like -this close- to investigating the whole 'dome' matter to get my mind off of everything else. In fact—scratch that I am -totally- going to investigate the dome. In fact, I think I'll do that tomorrow."
*
"I seldom forget." Anything, in fact, he has an extraordinary memory indeed, nearly perfect in fact. It is the 'nearly' that caused Mister Frickin' Honesty to insert the 'seldom'. He grins with vast amusement when he sees her interest. "Cone of Silence, very hush hush." The corner of his lip quivers a mite, yes, that pun was quite deliberate. FIENDISH!
"I didn't bring any signal scramblers on the premise that you'd be irked to lose your net connections." He frowns very faintly with the condemnation. "You mean my friends, or did you mean someone else?" And then he grins, showing that his teeth do have some points still, at least the canines do. "Well, if you'd like to try hacking my financials, you could. There might be fallout, however." And then he reaches a hand out to briefly rest it on her shoulder. "Skye, I know you don't trust the Division, but you can absolutely trust /me/, and I'd die before I'd let you come to harm, you know this, right?"
And the thing is - he WOULD - just for the sake of friendship, and that he's responsible for her well being in his book now that she's his CI and in an awful bind, in part because of him.
*
It's only once Hank makes physical contact that Skye's defenses drop and the proverbial claws retract. She looks pretty tired. Soon enough he'll be able to -feel- that she's tired when she leans sideways against his unmovable shoulder.
"Yah… I know. I just..I'm used to keeping my head down and skulking about the online world. Lately it seems like waaaay too many people know about me. Which is a good trick considering I'm kinda shy and still new to the city and all, but… Well. You know. Constantly ducking and covering doesn't suit me well. I don't want to be on the wrong end of a sniper."
Sitting upright again she hunkers forward on the table, attempting to make herself a little smaller still. "Despite my freaking out it's been ..quiet enough," she dips her head to the cone in the middle of the table. "Guess I shouldn't complain. You know how I am when I don't know something important, though. Unknowns and I are not on friendly terms."
*
Hank is a very solid bulwark to lean against, and he shifts very slightly to offer a brief hug, a promise of shelter. The big guy is actually rather warm, and that close she could catch of whiff of his deodorant - Old Spice, which is funny considering his vast twenty-four years of age! Very retro and yet it suits the guy.
"The problem is that you're in the metahumanity capital of the world, Skye. There's more superhumans here than any other city on the planet, save perhaps for Genosha. Of COURSE there's going to be those who might have a handle on your Handle. After all, you recognized mine, mm?"
He keeps his arm on the back of the seat but doesn't crowd Skye when she shifts again to hunker on the table. "When was the last time you got some /good/ rest?" He asks, genuinely concerned. "If you'd like to get a motel room I will guard your rest." From any other guy that would likely sound like a come on, but…not from Hank.
He smiles then. "Oh, I know, mysteries are your sacred herb, the thrill of the hunt your worldly high. I get it."
*
"Well yah, but..I'm not a meta, Hank," Skye voices in protest. "I'm just some…" her hands flounder around in search of the right words, "weird geeky gal who enjoys sticking her nose into shady business." She stops herself here, blankly staring at the table for the count of three. "Okay fair point." -Now- the shady business she's sticking her nose into has a very high percentage of irritating metahumans. That she also -wants- to bump into more powered individuals sometimes gets the better of her, too.
At the offer of a motel room she peers back to McCoy with another brow-tilted expression. "Hank," she starts in with a dead level tone. "I shouldn't -have- to be guarded while I sleep. Get me a name and I can take care of the problem myself. I'm not going to rest easy until I know I'm no longer a target."
Not that the offer goes unnoticed but beyond something of a hit to her pride it feels like putting a Band-Aid on a much bigger injury.
"'Sacred herb' and 'worldly high…'" she repeats while slightly bobbing her head. "I like that. Sounds like they were pulled right out of World of Warcraft but it works."
Letting out a quick breath and turning on the bench to lean back against the wall, she presses "So what's new on your end? Any progress with ..anything?"
*
"No, you are not. And there's no shame in seeking help when confronted with such, you have my contact info - if danger rears its ugly head /use it/." This last said with implacable firmness, ooh, Hank can be very firm indeed too. A grin as she speaks of WoW. "It does sound rather WoWish, doesn't it?" Yes, he's nerd enough to actually be happy about that.
He looks down, and then nods. "You're right. You should not." He looks up then, holding Skye's gaze if she lets him. "And I regret that my efforts contributed to your unsafeness, still, I have tried to make amends." And then he looks a bit frustrated. "Sadly, things have been at pretty much a stand-still in most of my investigations, about the only item of interest is that I finished my new armoured costum."
He reaches into his bag and takes out an obviously custom laptop, and looks to Skye. "So…to help keep you safe, I have some paperwork we need to work on, if you don't mind it, Skye. Unfortunately your Handle won't fly with 'the Division'. So, shall we use your Cory Sutter ID?"
*
Every once in a while Hank goes and does something which catches Skye off guard. The timely but unexpected implementation of The Firm Voice does the trick well enough that she's retreating eeever so slightly into her darkened corner.
He is allowed to hold her gaze, however. Whatever's gotten them both stuck between a rock and a hard place seems to still be outside of their ability to change. It isn't what she wants to hear but his honesty is still appreciated. Preferred, too.
The thought of paperwork has her struggling to keep from sighing. Soon enough Hank says something else which effectively destroys any chance of her seeming bored. "How did—" Wide eyes quickly shift into a frown. "We've gotta establish better boundaries, Hank."
Elbows fall upon the table. Hands soon become host to the hackerette's face as she grumbles a somewhat discouraged sound. When her hands drop back to the table her arms are left loosely folded again. "Yah..sure" she flicks a palm upward. "Use that one."
*
Hank is a lot of things, surprising sometimes, but his purest self is that of a caring protector, that's the core of him that endures when all else is stripped away. He regrets the need, but it DID get the girl out of her funk, and hopefully she'll listen. He /is/ pretty good at protection, you could do far worse than he in that regard.
He holds her gaze, not harshly, but he is firm about this. This is important stuff. The situation is a shit sandwich served cold, no question, but it is the one they got so they might as well just deal, and deal EFFECTIVELY.
Hank quirks a brow. "I /am/ a hacker too, you know. And really, you didn't back trace my whole life? You clearly have info on my financials based on your not so empty threat earlier, even if it was said in jest…I was born at night, Skye…not /last/ night."
He smiles as he says that last bit to take any sting out of the words. "I am sorry, I can only say it so many times, but I can also and fully intend to make things right." And with that he opens the laptop up, and logs in…his password is at /least/ sixty characters long, though how the hell he types so fast with this ginormous fingers is a mystery.
*
They may both be hackers but there is plenty which separates the two. Where Hank is wise enough to know better, Skye is intelligent enough to be arrogant about it and be put off when someone can match, or beat, her at her own game. Strangely, all of her time spent with the Rising Tide may have made her somewhat complacent in this regard. One of their rules of conduct is that they don't do deep dives on one another. Not unless there's a compelling need for such.
Outside of 'the guild' the rules are quite a bit different and she's used to having enough safeguards to keep others from nosing into HER life. On one hand she should be flattered that it takes someone with his IQ and skill level to find a way in!
"Okay," she grumbles then follows up with a more determined "-okay.- Fine. But if it wasn't -you- I would be halfway into entering your info into the national terror watchlist," she teases with a thin smile. "Seeing as you already know so much about me I'm not sure that you even need me here beyond formalities."
*
Truth be told Skye will likely feel a bit better, his info, though considerable, is not complete. Hank is good, very very good in fact, but who the better hacker is would be hard for anyone not in that 'l337' subculture to even begin to guestimate. It might actually be fun sometime to SEE, to find out in a hacker throwdown showdown.
Since he's not part of 'the guild' he doesn't have access to the rules, still, he's pretty darn smart.
He smiles when she grumps and salves her ego with her threat. "Actually, there's quite a bit to be done." He looks up then, closing the lid of the laptop as he waves over the waitress, the Cone turned off as the serve approaches. "I'll have the usual, get my friend whatever she wants too, please."
The server, one 'Rosie' if the name on her top is accurate, smiles. "What can I get for you?" Once the order is placed, Hank will wait for their drinks to arrive, in his case a pitcher of beer, dark stuff.
*
Oh, right..! They're at a bar! Skye almost forgot. She even forgot that all of this hiding and skulking about hasn't given her quite so many opportunities to get something to eat, either. "Ah..a Corona and some jalapeno poppers..?" she asks, hopeful that they do indeed have both of these entries without having taken the time to look at anything resembling a menu. They both seem like safe bets in a bar and given her attitude tonight it might be nice having something to snack on that bites back.
Then she comes back to the matter of 'quite a bit' to be done. Hands clasp together over her mouth for a moment as she mentally collects herself for what is gearing up to be a somewhat less than pleasant evening. "Okay. Let's get this done." Like ripping off that Band-Aid which Hank had tried to provide earlier in their encounter.
*
Hank grins at the server. "Get her a burger too." He looks Skye up and down, making a big show of pondering. "I'd say…the deluxe with cheddar and bacon would do." He looks to Skye to confirm or deny, and then Rosie smiles. "Coming right up, doc." And then she sashays off and returns with Corona, a small bowl with a cutup lime, and Hank's pitcher of dark beer.
He'll pick up the also full mug of beer the server dropped off, draining about a quarter in one go.
And then he opens the laptop for some preliminary work. The computer is fairly drool-worthy, the most obvious customization being the oversized keyboard for his oversized fingers.
"So…in order for you to have legal CI status there's some paperwork, I was able to put it off for a time but that grace period has passed." In truth it isn't a /bad/ experience, but it will take some time.
Once they have their food, Hank had the loaded nachos platter - it is supposed to be for four, he manages it himself though he is willing to share. Only after they're served does he reactivate the Cone of Silence. Sure, USE it, but don't FLAUNT it. Not here.
*
When Hank amends the order Skye takes a moment to look slightly offended (which isn't very legitimate) before caving and gently nodding her head with a meek "And that, yah…" She'd be offended that anyone is treating her like this except that it's..kinda nice to know that someone's genuinely looking out for her. Not even her foster parents (several sets of them) managed to reach such a level.
…Cripes that man can put away his beer…
Skye's already stealing a glance or four at his laptop while he works.
Hmmh. 'Legal.' As far as Skye knows her actual name -is- Cory Sutter right down to the birth certificate. She's still apprehensive about using it on anything. Certainly on any -legal- documents. Who knows what she might be signing up for? The only times she's really had to deal with paperwork beyond insurance for her van was during these periods of getting new parents. It's always left her feeling uneasy.
At least they have food. Lots of food. Though not so much given Hank's obvious appetite. Two hollow legs and an industrial drum for a stomach, no doubt! Having such a meal will help keep her mind distracted from the officialness of their meeting. Silver linings.
*
Hank just Spocks a brow up, until she accepts the addendum, at which point he smiles. He can definitely imbibe some serious quantities of beer to go with the moderately insane amount of food, but as many calories as he burns in a given day - yeah - big guy like him /needs/ serious amounts of fuel. Unaware of Daisy's foster parent situation, Hank simply leaves off when she accepts, and Rosie departs.
Seeing her studying the rig, he turns it around and slides it over to her to let her study. "The keys are back lit, but also project a field above them, the clicks are entirely unnecessary - the keystrokes are triggered above the keys, they /do/ work, but only if the field goes down, or if in power saving mode. The OS is pkLinux, my own flavour - the core commands are all the same and I have some additional added for my scientific endeavors. Oh, 128 bit OS, 256 bit encryption. Significant internal storage, and such." All in all it is a very sweet rig he's made for himself.
He enjoys his beer as he lets Skye play with the laptop until the food arrives and they can eat, and then get to the actual work needed.
As they work, Hank takes out his reading glasses, and morphs them into the visor before he dons it. "We might want to backfill some of your history, pad it a bit, the identity is very very good, but we can tighten it up if you're so minded."
*
Well hellooo fully custom built portable peripheral device! Skye's eyes gleam a bit in hearing about the specs but they do break long enough to roll slightly when Hank mentions 'pkLinux.' "Branding. Very important" she states with a gentle nod. "Now I'm half wanting to create a rival system called SkyeOS. Let's see…"
She knows her way around Linux, alright. Granted there's only so much she can do in the limited amount of time while the owner of the system is -right here watching her work- but she's covering a lot of territory in short order.
"Nice use of disk management. Looks like you've gotooooh that's good RAM. God am I gonna have to upgrade again? You've got like -thirteen times- the"
Food?
FOOD.
Skye is torn, really she is. On one hand there's this fancy hand-built and fully custom wonder of portable technology. On the other hand..there's a big fat cheeseburger. This is the true reason why humans as a species have two hands.
Lefty grabs the burger and stuffs the first bite into her maw while righty coordinates with her eyes to freestyle over the enhanced keyboard. Clearly she's no stranger to typing one-handed, both due to eating habits (which aren't the best) and multi-tasking with several devices all utilizing their own input methods.
This goes until Hank inevitably puts an end to it. Her hand slides right along with the keyboard while he attempts to rescue the device from her reach. So focused she is that when she glances back to Hank there's a double-take involved, she never saw him put on visor…
Then comes the sheepish smile. "I'd be disappointed if we didn't."
*
Hank is smiling hugely as Skye offers that sheepish smile, clearly, he -delighted- in her enjoyment of the machine. Even though he did start to pull it back, he ponders a moment, and then firmly turns it about so she can keep using it. "We can work together with my visor, why don't you keep using the laptop for now, hacking on a tablet is /doable/, but vastly inferior to a laptop or desktop, mm?"
He grins. "Well, if you want to make SkyeOS, you've got a tag line built in - 'With SkyeOS no limits'." Hank slides a small thumb drive her way. "Source code, minus the scientific functions, also a user's manual." Because RTFM (Read The Fucking Manual) /is/ a thing. "Why reinvent the wheel? Check it out, decompile, tweak to suit yourself."
What follows is sure to be a lot of fun. Coop coding and such, probably not something Skye's really that used to doing. Frankly, neither is Hank, though he does have a couple people at SHIELD he's worked with, prior that he mostly did his thing solo. Working like that, they probably both pick up a few tricks in the several hours before they finish.
Not NEARLY as boring and awful as she expected no doubt.
A grin then, when the server approaches. "Rosie, dear lady, forgive me for having monopolized one of your booths - please, let me make it up to you, mm?" His tip is quite generous, and then he looks to Skye. "So, give you a lift?" She did take the HackerMobile to the place, but there's a motel not too far away, and he's betting after this day she'll /need/ some rest, and his offer stands to guard her as she does.
Apparently chivalry is /not/ dead, wounded maybe, but he takes his Palladium Knight moniker pretty serious, Hank does.
*
Ha HA! Skye wins another slight victory! Hank can barely finish voicing the offer when she reaches out with the one non-greasy hand and drags the machine back into her immediate area of influence. "Really isn't" she agrees about working on a tablet. "Better for video and drone control though." Both of which may become necessary in short order, given her lifestyle choices.
It isn't long before she's burying her face in the crook of her clean arm with a groan. Just as easily her head's lifting back up in time to spy the incoming drive, there then palmed in about a quarter second. Score! "Don't mind if I do, big guy."
It's a fun effort between the two. Skye's had the pleasure of multi-user hacks on a couple of occasions but there's something special when everyone involved happens to be within speaking distance. Unlike Maestro who is gods know where in the world. Or the two people, one of them a confirmed Spider-Lady, whom she had first interrupted then assisted with some other endeavor weeks ago.
Working side by side with Palladium Knight? -On his own machine?- Yah. Pretty damn cool.
Her amusement dwindles eventually, and fairly rapidly as Hank returns with the offer of guarding her overnight. Blank eyes, mouth opening then closing… Skye.exe has stopped responding.
"You're not gonna let this go, are you," comes her flat reply once she's able to find her words again. "I'd manage..but I -am- too tired to fight you over it."
*
Hank shakes his head. "Nope. I know how /I/ get, and I have significant physical advantages that let me push myself to extremes." His gaze is kind, but again, utterly inflexible. "Please, let me help you get a good night of rest, you're /wilting/, Skye. You're going to crash, and that is /bad/." He smiles when she gives in gracefully (for her), and then packs up his laptop (sorry, you don't get to KEEP it), and offers Skye a gentlemanly hand up…with a dinner plate sized hand.
He escorts her out to Bessy (his Grenada), and gets all the doors on the way. Once they're driving, he grins. "Thank you, this was a lovely day. I have done co-ops before, but it is a rarity."
Once at the Motel, he goes in, gets the room, and then once they pull around to it - the motel is /really/ old school, one story, lots of ground level rooms, a pool in the middle of the rooms along with a play ground area and sandbox.
He goes in first, and makes sure the room is secure, then rather politely keeps his back to the room as Daisy gets ready for bed, he just /looms/ in front of the windows looking outwards, the curtains and drapes drawn, hands tapping away on his holo-keys, currently invisible as he stands watch. He even adjusts the cone of silence to a cone of white noise to help her sleep! And Hank absolutely will NOT wake her until she's slept herself out, if that's sixteen hours later, well, that's fine, he has plenty of online stuff he can do.
*