(no subject)

[watching_you]

The first time Veronica calls him, she hangs up right away.

She can't help it. It's mixture of feeling unsettled that she found him at all, and realizing that she has perhaps crossed the line between 'curious' and 'stalker'. But it had to be done. After she found out his name, it almost became a challenge, Googling articles on his mother's work, looking for mentions of place and time. They were overseas so her regular sources couldn't be used, and she couldn't think of an excuse that her father would accept, so she had to do it on her own.

There were a number of Abercrombys in London, not enough to be unmanagable but just enough to be a nuisance. After some cross-referencing of neighbourhoods and initials, she managed to eliminate most of them. After that it was just (metaphorical) legwork.

Finally:

"...and I'm looking for Quinn?"

"Yeah, that's me?"

And she hangs up.

"Okay. What the hell did I just do." She stares at the phone for a minute or so, then clears her throat, picks it up, pauses, and dials again.

Comments

[twoeyesonthesky.livejournal.com]

Quinn grins, though it can't be seen. "That so? I can do a couple of them-" Without warning, he changes inflections mid-sentence. "I'm particularly proud of my American one, although I doubt that's what you'd wanted to hear."

If she's ever heard John Preston talking, or Patrick Bateman, he just sounded like that. Only… whole, not constrained or plastic.

He goes back to his normal pattern of speech. "Anyway. It wasn't much fun, but Mum took it pretty well, considering. I remember that real clearly. Can't say I recall her ever much wanting to remarry, though she's been threatening to go after one of the neighbours now that I'm not gonna be cramping her style any more."

[watching_you]

Veronica's jaw drops, a little; she can't help but be impressed. "Oh my god! That's awesome! Where'd you learn that?

"That should be interesting. As long as you don't live next to a retirement home or a circus or something, anyway."

[twoeyesonthesky.livejournal.com]

"Television," says Quinn with a satisfied smile. "Your newsmen, mostly. They make it easy to learn."

He laughs. "Nah, that won't be a worry. Got a room all lined up already- it's over a pub, yeah, but I know the owner's son. Loads worse places to live, and it's not like I'll be far from Mum, either."

[watching_you]

"That's so cool. The only thing I ever learned from the news is that the world is filled with violence and hate and nothing ever good happens."

Then, she laughs. "I meant your mom's neighbours, y'know, going with her threat? Nothing better than having a carnie as a stepdad. Anyway. You going off to school or something?"

[twoeyesonthesky.livejournal.com]

"Oh, that-" Quinn shakes his head. "Nah, they're all respectable, pretty much. Shop owners and such. Least they were last I checked... School? Nah. 's time I got serious about the theatre, that's all. Got some big auditions this week. Any one of 'em'll be enough for me to move out of this place and get that room over Creedy's family's pub."

[watching_you]

"Oh! You're like an actor or something?"

The other Quinn mentioned something about this, didn't he?

"Who's Creedy?"

[twoeyesonthesky.livejournal.com]

"Yep." He grins. "Had a couple of bit parts here'n there after I left school- chorus stuff, mostly- but I've got a real shot at makin' a go of it now. Creedy's m'best mate. Works in his dad's pub."

[watching_you]

"Oh, wow. Good luck with your auditions. I always freak out when I have to do things like that."

[twoeyesonthesky.livejournal.com]

"Not a big fan of public speaking, eh? You get used to it, after a while."

He's utterly unaware of just how much it's possible to get used to, after a while.

[watching_you]

"Uh, yeah," awkwardly, "Heh."

Pushing herself back on track, "So, uh, what made you go in such a different direction from your mom? If you don't mind me asking."

[twoeyesonthesky.livejournal.com]

"Haven't got the head for it," Quinn answers. "It's all maths and numbers and science, even if she just thinks it's common sense. Did all right on my Foundation Maths GCSE, but only just. Blew it entirely on physics. That didn't go over too well with Mum, but she knew I wasn't lookin' to spend my life digging tunnels and building cities from the bedrock up anyway."

[watching_you]

"See, that's the kind of thing that I just, like, click with. Always been good at it, I dunno.

"And hey! What's wrong with digging tunnels?"

[twoeyesonthesky.livejournal.com]

"Nothing at all," Quinn reassures the girl on the other end of the line. "I'm more a people person, is all. If I hadn't gone into acting I'd've buckled down on the exams and gone for a teacher or something. Mum says that's Dad's genes talking- he's a salesman."

[watching_you]

"Yeah," and she thinks of a castle full of frightened survivors, looking for a leader. "You do sound like someone who's good with people."

Her brain catches up with her mouth, then. And she silently slaps her palm against her forehead.

"Uh, so, um, what sort of things has your mom been looking into recently?"

[twoeyesonthesky.livejournal.com]

He laughs. "Well, it's kind of you to say so."

Definitely a phone number worth having.

"Oh, right- sorry, got distracted there. Mum's firm's got a dig in Camden Town- they're finally expanding the Northern Line on the Underground. Been pissing around about that for years, pardon my French. Damn near won the bid on the Tottenham Court Road expansion, too, but there was so much red tape in that she withdrew her bid. She's got a couple of other excavations lined up outside the city when that's done."

[watching_you]

"Sounds great. What kind of... I mean, how does she decide what kinds of projects to take on?"

How does she avoid digging up dragons?

[twoeyesonthesky.livejournal.com]

"Mum's very big on two things: preparedness, and hunches," Quinn says. "She'll spend ages goin' over the geological surveys for a possible dig site, and if she gets a bad feeling about it, she'll check it out with a seismic survey of her own, on her own ticket. She's got the best rep for safety of just about any firm head I know of. There was this one dig, back when I was eleven- would've run clear into 2000 and some, that's how big it was- that she wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole 'cos she couldn't get past the creeps this one spot on the survey was givin' her. Some sort of fissure in the rock, or something- anyway, she didn't like the look of it, and wasn't about to try and accommodate it, so she didn't take the job."

[watching_you]

Veronica's breath catches, and her next response is throaty: "Did she... did someone else ever...?"

Because things change, little things, big things. Someone gets a feeling and a schedule is pushed back another few years, until someone who thinks he's more lucky or who's just less cautious makes the mistake that someone else managed to avoid.

Why she is so paranoid about this she can not say. All she can think of is a phrase that she remembers hearing her mother mention when Veronica was little (and later, a phrase mentioned often about her mother). There, but for the grace of God, go I.

God hasn't shown much grace to Neptune in a long time.

"Did anyone else ever take that job?"

[twoeyesonthesky.livejournal.com]

"Nah," says Quinn. "Mum put up such a stink over it that the Government brought in some people from IOSH to check the surveys over. Couple of weeks later it got declared the most geologically dangerous spot in London. It's completely off limits to any further digging or heavy surface development, so the owners worked out a deal where they got tax credit for makin' the real estate into a park instead."

[watching_you]

"Ah..."

Veronica does the best she can to avoid sighing with relief, as she pulls her hair back from her face and bows her head.

"Well that's - good. Good. I mean, I'd hate to hear that someone got hurt or... something."

She's well aware that she sounds foolish now, but she doesn't care.

[twoeyesonthesky.livejournal.com]

"The Occupational Safety Board's big about that kind of thing," says Quinn absently. "Organised labour's a lot stronger here than it is in the States."

He glances over at the clock perched on the edge of his desk and winces.

"Oh, bugger. Listen, Veronica, my first audition's on the early side tomorrow. Is there anything else you'd like to know? I mean, d'you want me to let Mum know you called or anything? I'm five hours ahead of New York, I dunno where in the States you are..."

[watching_you]

She looks up at her own clock, and winces.

"Oh - damn, I - I'm sorry. I wasn't even keeping track. I'm in California so I'm pretty far behind. I should let you go."

[twoeyesonthesky.livejournal.com]

"It's all right. No harm done." He smiles, the phone still pinned between one ear and his shoulder, and stretches both arms over his head. "Hope I was at least a little useful to you, eh?"

[watching_you]

"Yeah. Yeah, you were. Thanks. I really... well, thank you."

Remembering herself, "And hey, good luck with your audition tomorrow!"

[twoeyesonthesky.livejournal.com]

"Thanks!" says Quinn, and hangs up the phone- and then curses quietly, because he forgot to ask for her number.

Oh, well.