[FIN] Dead Issue

[Gwennythe]

"Hm. She seemed nice. I, uh, actually meant it about the garden. It's a nice garden." Tambrey tried not to shrug, as that probably wasn't a great idea while they were carrying the box.

The negative answer to getting to see inside was double-edged; on the one hand it was disappointing to have to wait, while on the other it was very encouraging that it was properly prepared for storage, was as large as it was, and was being described as 'interesting'. It did mean she was going to be willing Sync and herself faster and faster on the way back...
She couldn't help herself from asking.
"Well, uh, so you've seen it of course? Could you describe it?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"That's good," he commented with a wry smirk. "I'd hope she seemed nice, it's all part of the act. Not that she's normally not nice, of course, but normally she wouldn't want to just sit around listening to a bunch of old ladies gossiping about what the young neighbor's doing with some girl behind his wife's back, for example. And unfortunately no, I can't," he said with a soft shake of his head, a few wisps of his lavender hair falling in his face as they approached the stairs. He let Tam go first so he'd carry the brunt of the box's weight. "Or rather, I couldn't give you any kind of proper description. Margaret and I are both in espionage; our forte is this, living an act for as long as it takes. Neither of us is a paleontologist in any definition of the word, unless you count our elderly neighbors as fossils."  

[Gwennythe]

"Well... Um, I'm not sure I'd count, uh, gossiping as part of, um, being nice, but I know what you mean... You, uh, both seem nice."

Tambrey then found herself with another double-edged scenario.
A lack of description meant she was once again left only her thoughts and speculation based on the vaguest of what she knew of the fossil, but also it meant that once she finally /did/ get to know it would be an absolute and total surprise, which could be nice.

"Pft." She blew air in amusement at the comment Oliver made. "Well, I guess I'll, uh, find out back at base. I'm, uh, very very interested in it."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Mmh, maybe 'nice' isn't the best word to use there," Oliver noted thoughtfully, his expression matching his tones as he focused on the stairs as they carefully ascended. "Patient might be a better term. Gossiping is a good way to get information, but it can take a lot of time and patience to get it. You should hear her cuss them out when we're down here, it's great. We have to be careful how we talk and act upstairs, but down here we can say whatever we want." Apart from his free choice of words, Oliver didn't particularly act much different down in the basement level compared to the house's facade. He offered Tambrey an amused smile. "Heh. It sounds like it. I'm going to guess you work in the labs."

While the trip up lasted twice as long as the one down, it ended soon enough as they reached the top of the stairs. Oliver hefted the box carefully into one arm, straining to hold it as he used his free hand to access the security panel. This one had different features than the outer one, if Tambrey cared to study it; instead of a scanning screen, this one contained a video feed of the dark room that showed the same exact scene that they left before. With the tap of one button the lights in the stairwell darkened, and another tap of a different button preceded the smooth sound of the door opening back into the dark room. Oliver adjusted his grip on the box back to both hands before leading the way back into the dark room.  

[Gwennythe]

"She swears?" Tambrey grinned at the idea of the old lady down there and cussing out the people she gossiped with. When Oliver guessed she worked in the labs, she kept the grin.

"Yep. Bio, with a specification toward bio engineering and genetics, or genetic engineering. Mostly cloning, but, uh, also how to better form those clones. De-fossilization is something I've come to, uh, /really/ appreciate over the past year but fossils themselves are just super neat too..."

Her eyes did note the screen but she didn't comment on it; it was a good idea and the purpose for it was fairly clear.
She was quieter now.
Nosy neighbours and all that; she remembered his gesture from before.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Oliver offered her a knowing, mischievous smirk but remained silent, only nodding at her words as the secret door slid smoothly back into place. He led the way back through the dark room and once more juggled the box to free one hand, this time to bring them back into the closet. "Here we are!" He announced once they'd emerged back out into the hallway once more, and once Sync and Margaret were in sight Oliver gestured to the former, "and here you go. Once again I apologize for its awkward dimensions."

Sync said nothing as he stepped forward to take over Oliver's half of the box so he and Tambrey could carry it, but his typical smirk held noticeable hints of frustration.

"I hope you like it," Margaret said as Oliver moved towards the front door, ready to open it for them whenever they were ready to depart.  

[Gwennythe]

"Oh, don't worry! Um, I'm actually rather happy you even had such a good container for it."

It seemed like the exchange was complete and all that was left was to get the box to the car and then get back to base...

"I'm sure we will! From what Oliver said, it sounds even better than we were expecting. A really really lovely, uh, quilt! Thank you!" Tambrey was ready to leave, of course; she really wanted to get the fossil back and actually see and study it.
"It was lovely to meet you as well; a very, um, pleasant trip!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah, that's good," Oliver said with a nod, holding the door open as Sync began to head out and into the yard again, wasting no time now that they had the fossil. Their mission objective did not include 'stand around and socialize for a while' by any stretch of the imagination, and the grunt was eager to complete their mission.

As if to give evidence of Oliver's previous comments, a small elderly woman was bent over the corner of her garden - the corner conveniently closest to the house they were departing - and just so happened to be partially facing their direction while 'focusing' on her 'gardening.' Sync paid her no mind and felt no need to say anything to the rockets they were leaving, since Tambrey seemed to have that covered.

"Oh good, I'm glad," Margaret said brightly, offering a parting wave that Oliver mimicked a moment or two later. "Do let us know if you'd like another quilt, I'd be happy to make you one!"  

[Gwennythe]

"We may take you up on that!" Tambrey decided the 'socializing' was a good 'natural' part of the cover, especially with the neighbour out to watch. She held the box with one hand for a moment to give another little wave, before they carried it over to put it in the car.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Once their box was stowed safely in their vehicle and once they themselves had hopped into it as well, Sync closed his door and fastened his seatbelt as Oliver and Margaret offered one final parting wave and disappeared back to the house's interior. "Sedgewick? Seriously?" The grunt asked once Tam's door was shut, ignoring the neighbor's not-so-subtle curiosity as he turned the car on and maneuvered it out of the driveway and back onto the street. He didn't particularly look nor sound amused. "Sedgewick and Tansy. What kind of things are you into that those are the first names you can think of?"  

[Gwennythe]

"Oh hush Sedgewick." Tambrey couldn't help but grin, and if the neighbour could lip read- unlikely but possible- she was going to see her still referring to him by that name until they were out of sight.

Once they were, she elabourated, and didn't sound all that sorry, more vaguely amused at herself.
"I, um, used 'Tansy' before. It's from a book I read when I was younger. A 'T' sound helps me to, uh, remember it's my name even though it's not. As for, uh, Sedgewick," She grinned "I kind of, uh, pulled the first 'S' name that popped into my head. It's, uh, a brand from some of my old lab equipment. Rafter counting chambers to be exact. Um. At uni, I used to use them a lot. Always did like that name..."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

A sneer slid onto his face and he made a soft 'heh' sound. "That says a lot about the kind of person you are," he noted aloud, but refrained from elaborating on that statement of his own accord. Instead, as he guided the vehicle from the residential neighborhoods back out onto the main roads, he queried, "So the box we picked up is actually a fossil and not a quilt, right?"  

[Gwennythe]

"It does?" Tambrey invited Sync to elabourate, as she, too buoyed by the fact they'd picked up a /fossil/ to study to be too bothered by his sneer, reached to connect her MP3 and start the music again.

'Space Unicorn' by Parry Gripp scored the start of their journey back to base.

"Oh yes. Well. Um. I'm pretty certain it is. It's definitely /not/ a quilt and, uh, those two didn't seem like the sort to mistake a random rock for a fossil..."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yep," he affirmed, either not getting - or, as was more likely, ignoring - her subtle encouragement for him to explain his reasoning.

He frowned faintly at the console when one of her nerdy - or girly, he couldn't decide which - songs began playing again, but didn't comment for now and instead slowed the car to a halt at a red light. Thankfully the light didn't last long and quickly turned green again, so he continued down the main road, following it down towards the grassy fields at the city outskirts and the open stretch of road connecting Jinko to Sandalwood.

"If it was a quilt, that's the heaviest one I've ever had to carry." Granted he hadn't had to carry many quilts in his time at home, but still. Her next words brought a skeptical expression to his face as he asked, "Are you sure?" Maybe not the young guy, but he wouldn't expect the old lady to know the difference between a rock and a fossil even if the latter jumped up and bit her in the face.  

[Gwennythe]

"In what way?" Tambrey prompted at the one word answer.

The song was relatively short and before too long would wind down and finish. After just a beat it would be replaced by 'Never Split the Party' by Emerald Rose.

"I'm pretty sure." Tambrey responded with a bit of a grin. "Oliver there used the word 'palaeontologists'," this word was accompanied by a bit of a cocky little shake to her body and voice; she was very pleased "and so often people confuse 'archaeologists' in that role instead."