2020-01-17 - Poetry Wars

There's been some plans in the works at the famous Art Gallery in town. Tired of her windows being molested by the Sweet Retreat owner, she plots and thinks of a way to get back at him. Yes, some interesting words have been exchanged between the two, and you would think she might let things go, but when it comes to appearances, Hera tries to do her best. Busy classes do not need distractions and, hiring somme help, she finally has things in order.

The contractors don't hang around long, but some words are exchanged between her and the workers. "Ok so should someone get right up on the windows, not just looking in, but if someone touches the windows, like ON the windows, the sprinkler system will go off, right? Also, I can turn it off from the inside, right?"

Seems as if things are setup for now. Yup, that's the plan. If the wrestler is too obnoxious with the glass, he will get sprayed. It's only water, but it will be really really cold water. That business being done, she pours herself a glass of wine and goes to sit on the couch. Patting the empty cushion, she gestures for Hans to sit near her.

It was normal business hours this time as Leon guides his little NV200 in to park in front of the Vivid Dreams, which he much preferred to visit people during. He gets out and immediately stuffs his hands in the pockets of his Parka. Shoulders hunched, seems he had about as much love of the cold as anyone else. He seems to be carrying a small zip-up binder or planner of some sort tucked under an arm. Opening the glass door, he then presses his back against the bar, holding the door for the workman as they leave, smirking a little. Finally walking into the gallery proper, he glances around to spot Hera, making a little lift of his chin in hello, "Gettin some work done on the place, huh?" Hans gets a look, maybe a wink.

The dog immediately sits up a bit and when he smells the smell of his friend, Hans pads over and stands at attention. Yes, from one soldier to the other, her offers respect while Hera gets up to offer a smile. "Yes." she says, "Seems like my windows keep getting assaulted by some long haired creepy dude that claims he is trying to protect me. I love this town, but, that proves it's strange. So, please don't stick your bare butt against the window and you should be fine." Her eyes light up as she notices the portfolio, "Oh! A lot of people love your picture on display, they love it. Did you have something else for me to see?"

Leon removes a hand from his pocket so he can gently scratch at the top of Hans' head. He has a bit of a grimace, "Well, heck. You already hired a security company?" He looks a little dissapointed, "Honestly, after how easy it was for me to get in the other day, was hoping to make you a proposition for some upgrades. What'd they get you hooked up with?" The portfolio stays where it was, a little embarrassed he seemed to have been just a few days late on coming to call.

Hera shakes her head and says, "No no, not a security company, just someone to spray Everette down when he goes after the windows again. Hans is my security." She goes over to pet the dog and smiles at him, "And, my faithful companion. So, just /how/ easy was it for you to get in? If it was that easy, we need to have a chat about keeping my home safe."

"Oh, alright, then we're on the same page." He breaks into a relieved grin. The portfolio comes out now, inside is an Android tablet he unlocks. "So, yeah, physical locks worked just fine. How easy? Well, Hans let me in." He makes this statement while ruffling the dogs ears playfully. "Thing is, it was really easy. And you've got no alarms or anything should someone bypass them. Or just use a brick. If this was only your home. I'd propose different stuff, but... Well, as much as you seem to like your art, and... As nice as you were to me, I had a proposition for you."

Hera takes a deep breath and exhales. Part of her is clearly unnerved that her security is questioned but reality is reality. She quickly calms any notions about 'bad' things that could have happened and she looks at the dog. "Apparently you trust your new bro." She goes and pats the dog's head. Now that is done, she looks at Leon directly, "Good ok, I'm listening. I think I should hear what you have to tell me."

Leon holds his hands up, palms out, picking up on that tension, "Hey now, its not that bad. Basically, you can go as simple or as complicated as you want. I'm gonna offer installing a system for you, at the cost of parts. After that, there's a subscription per month to whatever monitoring service you'd want." He opens his tablet to one of the systems he was thinking off and passes it to her. Commercial access control, some cameras, tie-in for her phone so she could control or monitor from anywhere. "Its not totally altruistic." He admits, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "I'm not getting a lot of Access Control jobs around here, but I figure if I can be like, 'See what I did over there?' I get exposure, and mayyyybe you get some foot traffic?"

Hera relaxes a bit more and says, "Oh the price it's not that much of concern for me. I'll pay whatever you think is fair, I definitely will. But, you are right, I do need help in that department, I really do. Certainly, I can spread the word if you like. There's a lot of people coming in and out so it would give you good business in terms of referrals."

It's another jogging home from the gym, and passing by the first set of windows, the gym clothes wearing behemoth passes by the first window without molesting it, long free black hair bobbing and twisting with the way he runs and concealed black earbud cord, held backpack over his left shoulder. A leisurely pace homeward bound from the gymnasium only a few doors down. People on the sidewalk parting like a sea of some color, to get out of the giant's way only to fill in at his wake until he gets to the door and…

Enters.

Opening the door as he slows to a normal stroll, Everett doesn't go inside far. He doesn't need too. Operations this time calls for a quick exchange; leaving behind a single piece of paper from a pocket-sized notepad, and taking one of Hera's cards. Operation Bulky Ninja successful, Everett's ducking under the door jamb back outside before the door has a chance to close.

---The note reads:

Of course it's natural we're only just friends
Your hair turning white, cataracts at the lens
You really are a sight to behold
And not just because you're a million years old.

But you ask about the other night
Where upon there was such affright
When I made of myself where I touched
And in reply, your fists had clutched
Believe me, as sure as I ride on a motorbike
When it is demonic, that like recognizes like

The visits to your shop
Those, they can stop
But just remember, boo
You started it by throwing that shoe.

Leon sighs with a bit of a grin. "Ok, but lets not also jump straight into 'Money is no Object'." He chuckles, "We can do cameras on the entrances and cover most of the floor easily. We can include stuff to your apartment too, if you want. My house, I've got fully set up Smart. I can control thermostat, accessing parties, monitor..." He trails off from the full speil as the door opens, brows knitting as he peers at the entrance and exit of a man even Leon thought of as bulky. His eyes flit quickly back to Hera, blinking, the question on his face of what the heck just happened.

The windows would express just how happy they are not to be violated if they could talk. Seems as if Hera's work to 'spray' Everette was all in vain. "I would like my apartment to be secure, most certainly. That's the place I try to sleep at night of ourse. Having the thermostat linked in would be a very nice feature. So all of this would work from an app on my smartphone or something like that?" Then she sees she enters and groans a bit. But when she goes to open the note she laughs, "Oh if he wants poetry wars, this is what he will get." Looking at Leon she says, "Give me a minute." It's then she puts pen to paper and, eventually, it'll be delivered to the muscle man. The lines read

You may call me old, but I am rich
One thing I'll never be is your bitch
You claim to defend me with all your might
But I have a much sharper sight
To pound your foot when you grab my butt
Be careful, next time you will be cut
But if you wish me well, what did you find
I get the impression you could be kind
So share with me what you found
And maybe you can come back around
No need to keep secrets from me
What is this demonic thing you see?"

The next stanza will get to Everett somehow.

Leon does a few more confused rotations. Empty doorway, Hera, doorway, Hans. He was clearly confused. Finally, he lets out a breath in a chuckle, shaking his head. He waves off her words, letting her write her poem, whiling his time by flipping to the back of the portfolio, what Hera would probably be much more excited to see. Each new photograph comes with a negative, should she want to retain the quality to blow it up. He'd wait patiently for her to finish while he lays them on a table nearby, then goes back to finding stuff to show her on the tablet about the security system prospects.

Hera would easily be distracted by art and this time is probably just like any other. "Ohhhhh" she says, "Definitely some classy things here. Did you want me to just go through them and see what would be the best to showcase? Some of these definitely tell clear stories, and I think it's the stories that remind us why we have come this far." Blinking a bit she takes herself away from the images and looks back over at him, "We were discussing a security system though I think. Protection is important after all but, yeah, I like these, they are nice."

"As always, just leaving it in your hands." is Leon's answer to that. He smiles at some of his own work distractedly, "And yeah... Been an interesting ride." After a moment, he comes back to the serious, "Yeah, you can absolutely do everything from your phone nowadays." He pops out his own phone and unlocks it, opening his own app to show her. "Dryer is going, and looks like Maggi is out. Since we're both gone, it lowers the temp, saves energy. I can unlock my front door from here if I want to." He taps a button and a view from his front doorbell buffers and loads. "I'm using residential grade stuff, cause obviously I have windows in the ground level, just not worth it. We can go higher grade for the gallery, stuff that will last through heavy use. You can even set things on a schedule."

Hera seems to be taking his advice into consideration. "Thank you." she says, "I am very glad that Maggi brought you over to show your talents. You should give yourself more credit you know. But." she does add, "I think I do need to formally thank you for your help. I'm still not sure what went on to be honest. I know I made a fool of myself in front of Mac. But, one thing I have learned about myself is the past is the past. I do owe her an apology though." Leon being her friend she lets some gossip slip, "A friend of mine has a crush on her, but you didn't hear that from me." But no need to go on long side topics, "So, the system even keys into appliances you said? Should they malfunction I would be notified? Thewlis is definitely a man to trust of course but, if the security is that good, I'm impressed."

CANDY-GRAM!

Not exactly. A bicyclist from the city delivery pedals to the gallery and pulls her bike off the road to lean the slender ten-speed bicycle against the building before she stops and searches in her satchel to make sure she has everything. Then the bubbly young woman enters after swinging the satchel over her shoulder again, looks around and calls out, "Hi! Eh?" She checks the label of the envelope she's to deliver and then looks at the two in the room, more pointedly at Hera. "Is there a Miss Fancy-Bottom here? I have a certified letter from Mister," he pauses to check again. "Mister Sweet-tooth?" she says with the inflection that the college-aged woman isn't sure. "Look, I just need a signature." the courier subjoins, offering courier decaled letter and clipboard with her hands.

Just how much money is Everett spending on this? Isn't this why texting was invented?

Inside the letter is a single piece of paper from a pocket-sized notepad on which is written:

Ain't nobody call you bitch
Unless your dog is a snitch
You certainly make a good pitch
Now get your mind out of ditch

And while it's true I'll keep you safe
Or try, you see I am no waif
T'would be Grace who would chafe
If harm was allowed to strafe

The impression is shallow
What's beneath is hollow
As last night, If you follow
When I kept it from the stage to swallow

Leon squints at that mention and gossip, having to connect some dots mentally. Maggi's nickname for the girl was slightly different so it takes him a moment... And then of course he has to cock his head. Everything he'd heard about the game shop owner was that she was about as cuddly as sandpaper. But scuttlebutt was scuttlebutt, so he'd be passing along that little nugget.

"Hey, the government has stuff like this for years, but yaknow, they miniaturize, make things easier to produce over time, people figure out theres a market for it... Then I get more toys to play with." he breaks into a grin, clearly looking forward to being able to tinker.

Hera gets the candygram from the courier and shakes his head. "He's a tenacious one, that is for sure. If you wait for a bit I'll give you a huge tip to send a message /back/ to the source." Talking with Leon is more important it seems. "Oh, they definitely do. The government has its hands in too many things if you ask me, but I wouldn't post that on the Internet mind you. Well, I guess it's obvious that I'm up for this, very obvious. If you can't stay safe in your home something needs to be done. Fortunately the only real security problem I've had is a guy who needs a haircut more than a basket full of troll dolls. Maybe he really doesn't mean that much harm though." She looks over to the windows that did NOT spray cold water in winter, "Just my luck. Oh well. Higher grade does some the best way to go. Just let me know what I need to do to get this started."

Of course another poem is sent back to Everett:

You will never know if I swallow or spit
But you do not seem to know to quit
Still you didn't tell me of the demon's pit
And your notes are not a serious writ

As far as Grace, she's a true friend
One who will stay with me, thick and thin
You need to protect her too, or it'll be your end
Read my words well, on this note I send

Regarding my creative and deep mind
It springs forth of words of all kind
They may start to put you in a bind
But your ego seems to make you blind

Leon packs up his portfolio as he chuckles at another exchange, zipping the thing closed. "I'll get some stuff ordered and work up an actual plan to email you. I look at it this way. I wouldn't have been able to get you home safe and in bed if this stuff was in place already. Unless you had me authorized anyways." Tucking his little package back under his arm, and his hand in his pocket he smiles at Hera, "And I'm glad you're better now. I'm gonna get on down the road."

Hera smiles and nods her head, "Right." looks down at Hans she sees him wag his tail and the poor doggie whines as Leon tucks his package under his arm. "He sees you as a friend, I can tell. We are both thankful for your friendship and yes, I am much better now. Just too much vodka too soon. I'm used to wine and the wine I am used to well, it's not that strong. Give Maggi my love, ok?"

Hera reaches for her cellphone and blushes a little. If Leon is still there she looks at him with a bit of a grin, "It's confirmed." she says, "I do have a date and." she reaches down and scratches Hans behind the ears a bit, "I already know what I'm going to wear."