AJ is no techno-wiz. But having seen the home of Marty the Soundless, it was a mere matter of plugging in the street names on that sign near his house, and a-presto! A destination! Helps that they know it's to the west, 20 miles or so? Near Burlington but not? So, after a little digging, and planning, AJ sets out to go pick up Ashe.
Presently, the pair are cruising along, waiting for Google to tell them when the next turn is. "Soooo... you got a plan here? Like. We... spying? Going to go knock on his door...?" Because AJ isn't exactly the 'make a plan' type.
Ashe is silent most of the way up. She does talk a little though, mainly about Sam Witaker had talked to a few Custodians. There's a look over to AJ when she asks about a plan, "Is Marty the type to kill you if he catches you sneaking? If so, then we can go knock on the door. If not, then we can sneak. I'd like to take a look around for a few minutes before going in either way." she admits. "And...are you armed?" she adds the question.
"No one's going to kill me," AJ says, with total confidence. "Though he is, uh, the type to try, you know?" she asks, and glances aside, and flashes a big smile. Even in her 'human form', her mouth was still big, and she showed a lot of teeth. "Summer ogre. Attitude problem," she explains. Then eyes are back on the road. "So, I got no problem sneaking. Just... maybe do a lap around the town to see what's what? Maybe we'll get lucky and see a Lost on the streets?" she asks.
"I'd like to get married again before I die. So I'm not dying tonight either." Ashe chuckles softly. She is surprisingly not the creepy cloud of shadows when she's got her mask up! "Let's just check out the town, see what's up. Don't give your real name. Unless we kinda have to." she tells her. "This is going to be a long night." she adds.
"I never give me real name," says AJ, whose real name is not AJ. "Though, we can get married if you want. I mean, it's probably too late to get the forms filed and all but maybe... mmm. No. Probably no Elvis chapel. Sorry, babe," AJ says. Then she continues on... On and on! First, to downtown. Or whatever passes as downtown in Burlington! And then it'll be a slow meander north, to marty's house.
The city is busy, it being a Saturday night, but Vermont, even in Burlington, has nothing on NYC traffic patterns. Plenty of pedestrians, plenty of crowds, lights, cars. As the duo approaches the Old North End of the city, buildings get older, more residential, and, how shall we say it, look like they have much lower rent than elsewhere in the city.
Ashe chuckles at AJ, "I think my other half would be terribly confused if I came home married to someone else." she tells AJ. "But if that goes south, sure, I might turn to dating chicks." she muses. "So if we get split up or something happens, do you have a way to get out of here? Just in case?" she asks her.
"Confusion is good for people. Keeps them on their toes," AJ muses, as she leans forward, to look left and right, to keep her eyes open. She's looking for the street, and also looking for weird people. "Huh?" she asks, looking aside. "Oh, babe. Don't worry about me. No one catches a fox," she assures, with a sweet smile. And after a few random streets, and a bit of meandering, AJ angles for Marty's house, directly. "Should be just up ahead here..."
Ashe laughs as she looks to AJ, "That's also a good point." she tells her. Then she sobers a bit, "I worry about everyone really. I'd rather not lose anyone." she points out. Then she looks towards the street they're coming up on, "Do you want to park away from the place and walk up or just roll up?" she asks.
As AJ well remembers, thanks to the Contract, the building they are looking for is surrounded on all sides by perfectly mundane other buildings. Going down Pearl street, they pass a UU church on the right, a few windows lit up, and their mechanical helper instructs them to please take a right turn on Elmwood Avenue. Signs for the Elmwood Avenue Cemetery, a fairly large block of land on the map, start showing up on the sides of the road, along with signs for the Co-Cathedral of Saint Joseph and Saint Joseph's Church. Before they can be reached, however, the map instructs the pair to take a right turn on Grant Street, then proudly states that they have arrived at their destination.
In actuality, they are three houses down from it, which AJ will know, because the building they are in front of does not look like the 'Marty's House' from her magically plopped-in memory.
Marty's house is, oddly enough, a crisp, clean, tidy little place painted a minty green and tucked beneath a pair of maples hitting middle age. No lights are on, and the curtains are drawn. There is a short driveway, but no vehicle in it. Approaching the house unseen would be nearly impossible in daylight, but at night, options are better. It has no shrubberies to hide behind, and barely any yard.
AJ, keen-eyed fox that she is, notes that there are subtle winks of camera lenses positioned around the building in such a way as to keep a more mechanical eye on the entire area.
AJ pulls the car to a stop, then puts it into park. She looks up ahead, squinting into the darkness. "That one," she tells Ashe. A few moments later, a few moments of staring, and she looks aside. "Security cameras, I think," she says. "So..." her eyes are back on the house. "Play it straight, and he gets us on tape... or try to sneak up?" she asks. "I mean. This is your call, babe. I'm not even sure what our mission is here. Just wanted to get you here."
Ashe gives a bit of a frown, "It's been so long that I'm not sure I remember the original plan. But, with the latest stuff I'm not sure anyone has talked to Marty. Just Samantha." she ponders a moment. "No cameras for the moment. I might take a trip around the houses though." she looks to the other houses as well.
"Alright. Well... you do your thing, I'll stay here?" AJ offers, with a glance aside. "Just, ya know, call if shit goes sideways. I mean. If you can?" she offers. "Or just yell loud. I'll hear," she assures. And just to make sure, she starts rolling down the weather. Who cares if it's 50 degrees out, she'll be fine.
The other houses are relatively quiet, given the hour. The flickers of television screens, the steady glows of computer monitors and, from one house a few down, the sound of a party of some sort in progress -- pounding bass, bright lights, a line of cars in front -- are the utterly mundane and completely human-normal activities du jour. Nuit? It's at an awkward angle to see Marty's home from, and across a side street.
Ashe gives a soft nod as she reaches up and rummages around in the back of her hair. A few seconds later she has Uvall. "Showtime, buddy." she whispers to him as she pets the little bat. "I hate my job." he says as he looks to AJ. The Ashe does her thing! Which is she turns into a bat that's about the same size as Uvall and starts to flit off up high.
Ashe gives a soft nod as she reaches up and rummages around in the back of her hair. A few seconds later she has Uvall. "Showtime, buddy." she whispers to him as she pets the little bat. "I hate my job." he says as he looks to AJ. The Ashe does her thing! Which is she turns into a bat that's about the same size as Uvall and starts to flit off up high.
AJ just eyes the bat, and the woman, and then gives a slow shake of her head. But doesn't comment. She says quiet, and instead pulls out her phone, and starts messing with it. She's just the get away driver, now!
The night is full of bats! What are bats doing?
Ashe and Uvall do their circuit. Mapping the area they are in. Ashe flits after Uvall and bites at him playfully and Uvall counters. See...happy little bats. Doing batty things. Be cool. Then Ashe swan dives down towards AJ's truck and the little bat flops through the window and into the floorboard on the passenger side.
"Jesus Christ!" AJ squeaks out, as there's very suddenly a bat in her car. "God.. fuck... warning, or something," she mutters out, then takes a breath. "So... find anything?" she asks. Not actually expecting a positive response, cause neighborhood seems boring as frick. "I mean, if not, I can just pop into his house right quick... though... might be considered an act of war or whatever..."
Ashe shifts back into the redhead and not the fuzzy butt vampire bat. "Incoming?" she tries not to chuckle. "Nothing looks out of the ordinary. And no, no popping in unannounced. I just wish I knew for certain if going up and talking to him would cause major amounts of shit. Not to mention us kinda finding his place all CIA like." she muses as she sits in the floorboard.
"Bats can squeak and shit," AJ grouches, as she eyes the other redhead for a moment. She then sucks in a breath, and shrugs. "He came up on our piece like he owned it. So, you know, we do the same, it seems fair. Just saying... doesn't look like he's home. So we knock on his door, all we get is... he knows we came by," she says. "But we slip inside, maybe we find something cool? Or start a war... Your call, babe. You're the one that's got, like, a fancy job and shit..."
"I'll squeak next time. Squeaker, squeak squeakity, squeak." Ashe nods. Then there's a look to the house and then back to AJ, "If we go in, we're going to be declaring war of some kind. I don't want that on your plate or mine. If we walk up and he's not home, we can go hey, we stopped by, wanted to chat, but you weren't here." she states. "Wait...not like they'd know who the fuck we were since our masks are up..." she hrms. "Do you just want to get the fuck out of here or want me to go knock?" she looks to AJ.
"Could say we're selling girl scout cookies?" AJ says, as she glances away from the house, and to Ashe. Big smile! "I mean, seriously, mask up or not, if we walk up, they'll figure it out. They're smart. Plus, like... Marty's going to remember the super sexy redhead he met in the cafe." She pauses. "So, you go. Just... you know. I'll stay nearby, out of the cameras, but you knock. They don't know you, plus-... wait. No. You run the fucking apper, they'll be able to work out it's you..." She sighs. "Whatever! Let's just go knock!"
Ashe gives a chuckle, "Skirt isn't short enough to be selling cookies." she tells her. Then she takes a breath and pops open the car door, "Alright. Let's go do this." she nods to herself. Then she starts heading up to Martin's house. Not hiding or anything.
The house remains dark and quiet, and somewhere, to be sure, little electronic eyes are recording every step Batgirl takes.
"Yesss! Action!" AJ says, with a bright smile. She slips right out of the car, closes it, and doesn't bother to lock it. Because the roof is made out of vinyl, c'mon. Anyone with a sharp stick can break in. She then follows along, after Ashe, always right along. She flashes a smile to the camera. "Go knock! And get ready to apologize that your skirt isn't short enough."
Ashe is going to feel bad about this. She didn't even tell Byron where she was going. Oh well. She then looks back to AJ and there's a laugh, "I'm not even mentioning my skirt." she shakes her head. Then one pale hand rises and knocks.
...Knock
...Knock
...Knock
For a good thirty seconds, there are no signs of life from within the building, but then the keen-eared hear the creak of slow shuffling footsteps, rhythmic, coming down stairs from the sound of it. There's a quiet rattle of chains, then a slight opening of the door, just enough to reveal an elderly human(-seeming) woman in a ratty old red and green plaid nightrobe. "You ladies lost?" she demands, sleepy and querulous. "Markson boy's party is that way. Can't miss it."
Ashe had her head turned to the side as she was listening to AJ and there's a bit of a chuckle, "Creepy is kind of our thing." she tells her. Then she hears the chains and things and her head whips around about the same time the old ladies face comes into view and the voice is heard, "I'm terribly sorry." The womans Scottish accent actually comes out of hiding for this! "It would appear that we are. Our GPS flaked out on us. I am sorry for rousing you at this time of night, ma'am." she states sincerely. Because waking up Nana's was not her thing. Unless it was Nanan, Nana.
AJ will stay quiet, as Ashe attempts to lie. It's her show to run! Not to mention, AJ herself isn't that great a liar. Foxes are sneaky, but lying requires words and AJ is bad at those, generally speaking. So, she stays quiet, and instead she focuses on the woman. Focuses intensely.
The woman sniffs, mollified, and as she looks from Ashe to AJ, her expression shifts, puzzlement flickering into mild distaste and annoyance. And a tremorous hand pressing her nightrobe more firmly against her chest, just in case. "Stay away from those boys down the street," she cautions Ashe, avoiding looking back at AJ's odd stare. "They're no good for anybody, but their mama won't listen."
Ashe gives a bit of a bow of her head, "We won't be going near the party, ma'am." she tells her. Accent still on the loose. "I'm dreadfully sorry that we woke you. We'll be on our way now. You have a lovely night." she tells her with a soft smile. Then she gives another dip of her head and then turns to AJ and smiles, "Back to the road." she tells her as she starts to head down the stairs.
"So, maybe..." AJ turns, and points. Thataway? Her GPS is off! She doesn't know what to do! She just shrugs, and then starts heading back. "Thank you! Night!" she calls over her shoulder.
The sound of heavier footsteps comes from deeper in the house, a male voice calling, "Ma? What is it?" as Ashe is starting to turn away. Marty's voice. The old woman nods, meanwhile, satisfied by the girls' response, and closes the door, though her voice is still audible enough (albeit muffled) to hear her reply of, "Just some lost girls. Go on back to work. I've been getting up these stairs for forty years, and just because..." At which point the mutual distance between speaker and hearer is too far to make out the rest.
AJ doesn't stop, not when there's another voice, not when there's additional chatter. She doesn't say peep until the pair is back to the Jeep. Wherein, once the doors, are closed... "Oh my gaaaaaaaaahd! He lives with his mom!" she squeals. Then a deep breath, and she looks to Ash. "That was Marty. I'm totally for sure. Would not mistake that for anything. He lives with his mom," she echoes. "Oh my god. Oh my god." Pause. "Hey, you want tacos?"
Ashe is oblivious as she walks away. Not knowing the voice. Because she probably would have went back. When AJ squeals there's a look to her, then back over her shoulder, then back to AJ and she laughs. "That's...maybe she's sick? Maybe he's protecting her?" she wonders. "If we fuck with his mum's place he'll probably murder us. So...glad we didn't just pop in." she points out. Then she nods, "Taco's sound great. I'm going to text Byron and let him know errands are done." she chuckles.
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