2020-05-31 TPC: Scoping Out the Gas Station - Tellurian
Scoping out the Gas Station - Tellurian
Participants: Flynn, Liam, Sandy, Snake
Storyteller: Nate
Location: An independent gas station on the 405, near the Santa Monica junction
Date and Time: May 31st 2020
Summary: The slushie machine is broken.
Mood Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l482T0yNkeo (optional)
(A continuation from: 2020-05-31_TPC:_Planning_for_success)
Heading to a gas station near you...
Liam made sure the Lion Pack knew up front that he was there mostly to observe and assist, they've already made the plans and he wants to make sure they're seen to the end point with as few casualties as possible. Of course there's that unspoken caveat that the Sept Leader will assume command if shit goes sideways, but for the most part it's Lion's Rules. Piling into the fourdoor with the rest, the surfer dude remains spry and flexible enough to cram himself into the back seat without much issue. Of course he's got the window down and is thoroughly enjoying the ride over with his hand out in the cross wind, which will see his hand bouncing up and down on the currents as he remains pleasantly amused.
Snake, meanwhile, has left the car for the people who're more ordinarily-sized, and taken a motorbike. He's looking a lot scruffier for this trip, his T-shirt plain black and all other identifying marks missing from his clothing. Even his leather jacket is plain, the one with the multicoloured feathered serpent on the back left... wherever he leaves his stuff.
After having stuffed the pack into the car, Sandy makes her way through the city, blasting Journey away in the speakers of the four door sedan. This is her 'get in the zone' music. 80's rock and roll. She is dressed in a pair of cargo pants and a simple black t-shirt with a hoodie on to cover her scars. Her fingers drum along the steering wheel, humming to herself. Once they arrive, she parks the car a block away, just in case there is an explosion, her car won't get caught up in it. Even if she dies, someone else can make use of it. "Here we are." She says as she parks the car and kills the engine. She takes a moment to squint at the gas station, then climbs out. Her eyes sweep the area, taking a good look around at what else is around the gas station.
Windows down are a requirement. Flynn isn't so domesticated to stick his face out the window, in Lupus or otherwise, but he certainly sits as leaned into the door as possible and only occasionally just happens to breach the window line. Purely by accident, surely. "I hope the other pack is prepared. Talens would have been good but we fight with what we have." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone and pulls up his web browser. He takes a quick glance up at the sign before punching in the name of the station to have some general info prepared.
The freeway looks as it always has, despite whatever else is happening on the other side of the gauntlet, here life continues as it always does. As those in the car head south towards the more northwards of the two gas stations, there is no sign of anything being out of the ordinary.
Nothing to see here as a surfer, a soccer mom, and a tech nerd step out of a sedan and start wandering down the street together! Liam's wearing board shorts and a tank top with skater shoes as he takes a glance around or three to make sure the neighborhood looks like it should. "Everyone's got their role to play, we'll be fine," he gives Flynn a reassuring shoulder squeeze.
The biker joins the little team, making it look like either the latest Hollywood superhero movie, or the latest Hollywood odd-group comedy.
This independent gas station follows the usual model; a large forecourt with a dozen or so gas pumps, and a small shop stocking all the usual snacks, magazines, hot and cold drinks (but the slushy machine is broken!) and random tourist junk. A couple cars are pulled in and being fuelled up by their drivers, and a short queue of people wait inside the shop as a middle-aged woman rings up their purchases.
The clothing Flynn wears is simple, the kind of jeans and t-shirt combo that don't stand out from the masses. "They're not pups anymore." He says quietly as he feels the weight of Liam's hand and then he turns his focus on the station. "One check the grounds, see if there are marks that don't belong. Another check the pumps. If any ask, Sandy lost jewelry. I will go inside. Sound good?" He proposes as he looks to the other Garou.
"Of course we'll be fine. We're amazing." Sandy says with a grin to Liam as she runs a hand back through her hair to settle it, then makes her way to the gas station with her usual confident swagger in her posture. As she sweeps her gaze, she gives a glance over to Flynn and nods her head. "Sounds good. I got the pumps since I got the lost rocks.' She says as she holds her hand upwards, giving a wink to Liam. "I lost our wedding ring, honeybuns." She says with a wry grin before she starts her way over.
"Leaves me reading the road," murmurs Snake, who goes to do just that and stand near the point where the tankers refill the main tanks, his eyes on the ground as he scratches at the back of his neck. Just some big dumb guy looking at not a lot.
Liam just nods along with the plan and moves towards the pumps with the general rest of them, giving Sandy a big grin as they come around the corner to play his part, "No worries, man, we'll find that earring eventually, just gotta look high and low yanno?"
"Look to the earth, Snake. The seals." Flynn says as he points off in the lot towards one of the metal lids to the gas tanks underground. That said, the Theurge heads for the station interior. He looks to the woman behind the counter and the counter itself before his eyes start slowly roving the interior in the guise of seemingly looking for just the right snack.
Nobody really takes much notice of Snake. He's probably waiting for a ride or something, maybe being picked up or intending to hitch. Either way he's over there, not bothering anyone. A few of the people filling their cars eye Sandy and Liam with curiosity, but don't call out or anything. They're busy, and the pair are just something to occupy attention while they wait for tanks to fill.
Inside the courtside shop, there are three aisles of *stuff*; magazines, tourist junk, snacks and such. A Starbucks branded coffee machine, and a slushie machine with an 'Out of Order' sign sticky-taped to the front. A middle-aged woman is working on checking out the ever-present queue of people buying things and fuel, while a teenaged boy is just about visible through an open door at the back, mopping the floor of the unisex toilet cubicle.
For the one inside, and maybe those outside if they have very sharp ears, there's the sound of some classic rock being played inside the shop, faintly. A cover of AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell', with someone doing their best to sound like Bon Scott on the vocals.
o/' ~hin' that I'd rather do. Goin' down, party time, My friends are gonna be there too o/'
As she wanders along the pumps, Sandy is inspecting the ground as she goes, though she subtly will take a peek at the pumps as well, just to see if there is any marks or glyphs that may have been slipped on them. She'll wander past the seals as well, taking a look to see if any of them are jostled loose or manhandled. She has her phone out, snapping pictures of anything out of the ordinary as well. It doesn't appear she is too concerned about those who may watch her. She is probably just using her camera to zoom in.
Liam is really good at playing the squinty 'helpful guy' because he's not really at all helpful, but he means well! ANd it's hard to say he doesn't when he gives folks a smile and a friendly wave as he moves by them filling their cars. He's got eyes on ground, he's checking out along the islands and underneath cars, just anywhere an earring may have rolled off to really!
Snake is checking the ground, the tank lids, and the various bits of equipment used for unloading tankers. His ears may not be up to much - fortunately, right now - but there's nothing wrong with his sense of smell, and as a professional pyrotechnician he's got a good idea of what some fuel adulterants smell like and the effect they'll have.
Trusting the others to search the outside, Flynn keeps his focus inside. Real inside. While pretending to be browsing the magazines, he's tapping into one of his gifts to shift his vision into x-ray. Plenty of things can be hidden on the outside, but even more on the inside - including back rooms.
o/' I'm on the highway to hell, on the highway to hell / Highway to hell, I'm on the highway to hell o/'
The gift of interesting kind of vision doesn't seem inclined to work just now, leaving Flynn looking at walls covered with bland white wallpaper and floor covered with cheap grey lino. This is not an upscale kind of place.
Outside in the forecourt, there is no sign of glyphs or any particular marks that are inconsistent with the general use of the place, though there are a few clumps of sand where it has been spread over spilled fuel and left to blow away on its own time.
"Welp, I can't find my earring, babe." Sandy says once she heads back to Liam with a shrug of her shoulders upwards. "I probably lost it at home." She gives a glance around once more, rubbing the back of her neck. "You see anything by chance?"
Snake grimaces at something, then exhales and makes his way over to the gas station proper and ducks his way inside. Once there, he starts doing the thing where someone who isn't quite sure what they want is looking over the shelves to see what's available.
"Well shit," he mutters and sighs some, "Maybe we should check inside, didn't you use the restroom?" he asks Sandy before mozying her direction without much to report either. He'll shoulder bump the woman and angle towards the convenience store itself. They can look for earrings in there too.
"Sounds good." Sandy says as she bumps her shoulder back against his. "I could have lost it in the snack aisle." She says to him with a smile, then slips her arm into his as they loop together. Happy couple these two. She married a surfer bum. As they head for the gas station proper, she nudges the door open with her free hand. "I may use the bathroom while we're here too."
o/' No stop signs, speed limit, nobody's gonna slow me down / Like a wheel, gonna spin it, nobody's gonna mess me around o/'
Nobody is bothered about intruders here. The valuables really aren't that valuable, so the main security is licence plate cameras on the forecourt, and a single cam over the cashiers. No guards, nobody caring about shoplifting or whatever. So nobody really notices Liam as he slips out of notice with Brother's Scent.
There's an unconscious sort of shuffle from the three people in the queue, leaning away from the direction of the Garou in the room as hairs prickle on necks and a vague feeling of being threatened colours their body-language. Likewise the cashier glances a few times out on the shop floor as if expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun, her brow furrowing a little at her localised sense of unease.
Flynn clenches his teeth, biting back the bubbling of frustration as the gift fails to heed his call. He walks a little further down the aisle and glares in passing at the automotive accessories. After several seconds of banishing his annoyance with slow breathing and refocusing his mind on his task, he tries once more to call on his gift of Weaver-enhanced senses. This time it seems to work, though it's take a close eye to see the subtle green cast over his eyes. Maybe it's just the reflection of a neon sign as his eyes slowly take in the span of the building and floor.
Snake looks thoughtfully - very thoughtfully - at the snacks, then catches himself up a couple of bags of chips. That done he goes to peruse the soda, with a wince at the sight of the slushy machine out of order. "God damnit," he grumbles. "No slushy after all. Oh man, that lets out this whole trip."
Liam is getting a sense of the place, slowly but surely as he wanders along the back coolers with the big packs of cheap American pisswater, he even opens a cooler that looks into the back stock room to get a look for anything strange that way as well. He does take a gander at the Employees Only door, but when he sees there's electronics that would prevent him from just wandering back, he doubles back instead. Harumph.
After giving a glance over towards Snake, Sandy gives him the 'eyes' as she glances over towards the employee only entrance. As she makes her way to the cashier, she plucks up a few snacks along the way as she goes, then dumps them in front of her. She leans forward some with a bright smile. "Howdy. Can I get a pack of Marbys, and .. " She starts listing off a couple different flavors of cigarettes that are behind the counter.
Flynn passes by his companions and sees Liam, pausing near the older man as he looks to rummage in the cooler that just so happens to be within mumbling range of them. "Nothing odd to my eyes here." His green-tinged eyes fall on the keypad and then away just as fast. "I'll can check the Mirror." He closes the door to quiet the whirring compressor and moves towards the bathroom. "Bathroom open?" He asks the teenager who'd been mopping the floor with as friendly an expression as he can offer with lidded eyes.
"I-uh.." the teen begins to respond, then turns to look up at Flynn, blanching somewhat as the force of the guy's curse hits him. "Uhm... um. Yeah?" He decides that is the best response, grabbing his mop and bucket and scuttling behind the counter, leaving Flynn to the privacy of the single toilet cubicle, the floor still wet and smelling faintly of bleach.
The woman behind the counter, wearing a 'My Name Is Ella' tag with a smiley face on, definitely does not have a smile on her own face. "Yeah, sure," she chirps, trying to keep a good customer-service-voice going even though she's broken out in fear-sweat, turning to grab the packs that Sandy has specified, but glancing back over her shoulder as if distinctly uncomfortable putting her back to the Galliard.
"Ella? I love your name by the way. My best friend is named Elle. She's really into body building. Oh! Can you grab me some Lucky Strikes too?" Sandy says as she reaches into her pockets, then starts to fish out some money, counting through the change. "Actually, put the Marbs back. Um.. " She ducks down, then pops back up with a pack of gum that she adds to her snack pile. "Annnd... oh! Do you have those cherry flavored smokes? My brother loves those too. I think they're pussy smokes, but he thinks girls like the way they smell." Her eyes roll upwards as she makes small talk. "I really should make him buy his own stuff, but he got laid off recently. Are /you/ hiring by chance? Maybe I can get an application." Distract. Distract.
Liam chuffs lowly for Flynn with a nod, letting the Theurge do his thing while the older wolf just stays in the background and out of sight and mind, not making much of a fuss as he continues to just stay aware. Perhaps this isn't the spot, but he doesn't rule it out just yet.
Snake reaches out to pick up a bottle of soda, and as he does so his fingers twitch open. And with that, and a surge of Gnosis, he uses the trick he managed to coax out of a friendly Gremlin - or at least one that was departing never to plague him again, which counts as friendly - and some things just... stop working. And he meets Sandy's gaze and nods, once. Done.
"Thank you." Flynn says as he ducks himself inside to close and lock the door behind him. It may be a hasty decision, but he's committed himself to the idea. Something has to be eluding him and he's not going to be satisfied until he finds it. So he steps up to the mirror and tries to use it to look across to the other side. Safer to look before one leaps.
"N--no, we're not," Ella tells Sandy, her sweating only getting worse as there's a very inauspicious click from the till screen, as it goes dark. She looks aghast, tapping at the screen as if maybe expecting it only to have gone into screensaver mode or something. Then she reaches for the phone - same problem. Frowning, she looks out to the forecourt - all the lights are still on, the pumps are still running, what the fuck?
"What's up? Everything okay?" Sandy asks as she keeps dolling out dollars and change from her pocket, taking her sweet time. She gives a curious glance over towards the screen, then back to her. Her brows lift upwards. "Damn. Are they doing those rolling brown outs again to save power? I fucking hate living in California." She says as she leans her hip into the counter.
Snake quietly abandons his attempt at reaching for a bottle of soda, and abandons the bags of chips as well. Calling on Gaia's gifts, he becomes just that much more difficult to notice, which is quite a feat. And then he's heading for the employees-only area, and quietly dodging people on the way.
Maybe it's the sudden shudder in the power that disrupts Flynn's focus, but he fails to see through the mirror. He sucks in another irritated breath and then reaches over to smack a hand down on the handle of the toilet. With a snort, he turns to step out of the bathroom. "The mirror isn't clear enough." He grunts towards Liam. "It's not safe to go further, not from in here. I think our time here is done. We should get away, cross, and check on the others." He does see that Snake blurs from sight in the corner of his eye and so he starts moving away so as not to draw additional attention.
Liam takes Flynn's advice to heart and is quick to give everyone the Eye and a tilt of his head towards the exit. He'll leave himself, and shuffle around to the car once more to cram himself into the back and roll the window down immediately.
Once investigations are up and they came up empty, Sandy leads the rest of the pack to the car. Once in, she calls over to her shoulder. "One down, one to go? Let's peek at the next one and just make sure that it's ruled out." She says as she taps the radio on again, turning it up. Back to Journey.
Snake's curiosity fails to turn up anything interesting; he cases the joint and then leaves, meeting up with the others again outside. "Well, that was interesting," he says, as they head back towards the vehicles. "There's something about that gas just ain't right, folks. Time to call in people to get the names of suppliers, and start tracing."
Once the scout pack regroups, Flynn follows them back out to the car and tries again to peek once they're safely shielded from most view. He sucks in a breathe through his bared teeth at the sight. "The others are in battle. I see them all still standing, they seem to be well against the big Furmling and several Hoglings. We should be fine to cross and wait for them, or meet them elsewhere."
