| Defenders Pop Quiz |
| Summary: | Sally and Kate quiz their new hire, Mary Jane, to see if she has the heart to really work out at Defenders for Hire |
| Date: | 2014-05-31 |
| Related: | Various |
| NPCs: | NA |
| Scene Runner: | NA |
| Social/Plot: | Social |
| Players: |
 .. .. .. |
Despite the big mess not far away from the office, Mary Jane Watson has been at work on time every day, as arranged. She had classes on Friday, of course, but she did make sure to reply when texted by Ms. Blevins - and yes, that's what she calls Sally in her head, and on her phone - to make sure she was alright after the train 'accident'. Saturday, though, is a big day for Mary Jane, as she is able to come to work early and stay late. She doesn't have a modeling gig, so she got to the office at nine in the morning. Then she started in on all of the typing and such that didn't get done the day before, with all of the chaos. Typing done, Mary Jane moves on to filing. And then she sits at the computer, answering the phones, and running searches on more questions of investigative method and procedures. She really does want to learn.
Not far away, positioned behind MJ's desk, lies the long, framed backpack she is never without. She tries to keep it out of the way and out from underfoot, but it's not a mere small backpack, so sometimes there's just not a lot she can do. Some might even wonder why she carries such a big pack. But no one has ever asked.
Sally is walking in with one of the other members of the team, Kate. Clad this day ina white with black lettered 'CBGB' t-shirt, white loose-fit jeans and blue Converse, "So, look is this what lesbians wear? One of the people i'm following is spending time in the Village, and I wanna blend. I'm not sure, cause i've only been a lesbian for a little bit." She obviously talking in a playful tone, nothing at all serious in her tone as she puses and holds the door open for KAte.
Kate Bishop blinks as she follows Sally and just stops dead at the door. "Wait. Are you trying to say that I would know more than you?" She scoffs and walks in through the door. "I've got just as much experience in this as you, thankyouverymuch!" She huffs and goes to put her messenger bag on the desk only to find Mary Jane there. "Oh.. Hello." She says, formally, looking to Sally. "Now, I don't want to be stereotyping but I always thought it was a short haircut, a flannel shirt and birkenstocks. It's not like I was handed a bloody toaster when we started dating." Kate is not so playful, a constant undertone of seriousness at all times, beginning to increase now that there's an employee in the room.
Mary Jane looks up, and is doing her absolute best not to let her eyes bug out or anything, as Sally and Kate come in. Most of her work thus far has been with Sally, though she does know Kate in passing. But she'd had no idea that they were … or was that joking? She can't tell. And it's none of her darned business anyway! They're PIs, and willing to hire her to help out so she can learn from them about their jobs. So … be professional! "Hi. No messages yet today, though we have had a few calls. I left the transcripts of the last two client meetings on the desk inside, and they're in the client folders on the computer as well. Can I get you anything else?" she inquires of both, without giving any hint she picked up anything about that conversation.
Sally is all smiles, looking over to see Mary-Jane as she speaks up, "Oh, hey MJ!" she says, "Mary-Jane Watson, Kate Bishop. Kate Bishop, Mary-Jane Watson. The receptionist I told you about." she offers the intoductions. The previous little conversation one to be picked up later, outside of prying eyes and ears. "Thank you MJ, and I'm glad you're ok and got home ok." she offers to the just slightly younger than her girl.
Kate Bishop nods and grabs one of the chairs, bringing it to the desk and sitting,propping her fet up on the deak. "A pleasure Mary Jane. I'm glad you take this job so seriously." She glances to Sally and shoots off a look, almost telepathic. She returns a look to Mary-Jane. "I am also glad you got home in one piece. I do assure you that we do not wish for the hazards of this job to come so close to the office." She thinks a moment. "Do you breathe, Miss Watson?"
The teen redhead turns to regard the brunette of the pair, watching her get comfortable with only a small modicum of surprise, having expected her to take Sally into the inner office rather than sit here with her. "Ma'am?" she offers, a tad non-plussed. "Of course I breathe, ma'am." She's not sure what that was about. But she'll ask, and see what happens.
Sally moves off to tbe back office, snagging up the afformentioned transcripts. Sally's head bent down, reading over the conversations, half listens to Kate and MJ speak to each other. Hrmming to herself. Looking up, "Kate, be nice, she works with us and helps us out with the investigations in the office…"
Kate Bishop nods and thinks. "Good. You breathe. Yes. Do you feel? I mean.. emotion-wise, not… with your hands." To emphasize the point, she waves her hands about. "Miss Blevins.." She says, formally. "You have your way of handling business, I have mine." She smirks.
Still a bit non-plussed, Mary Jane considers the question long enough to figure out what she's being asked, and then nods. "Yes, Ma'am. I have emotions. I feel. I still don't understand the purpose of these questions." But hey, she'll keep playing along. Hell, they're /paying her/ to sit here and play along.
Sally sends her own look back to Kate as she continues to pepper the girl with questions, moving around the room stand behind Mary-Jane, reaching down to rest her hand on the back of the chair the girl occupies, a bit of unspoken support for the girl she hired.
Kate Bishop ns and smi."Good.. We're off to a good start ." She moves her feet off the desk and sits up. "A woman comes in crying because her grandson keeps running away. She keeps finding him in a bad neighborhood. She has a jar filled with the last of her life savings in it, and she wants to hire us to find him, make sure he doesn't run off again. What do you do?" She stands and walks over to the mim-fridge to get a bottle of water.
With Sally's current position, Mary Jane's pink-trimmed gray backpack, with the hard frame, is right behind her against the wall.
Mary Jane continues to pay attention, listening to what Kate has to say, puzzling through it. "I welcome her to the office. Ask her to take a seat. Listen to everything she has to say, and record it all for transcription and details later. I try to comfort and reassure her, at least that she is being listened to and taken seriously. I ask her to please put her money away, as I'm not supposed to take anyone's money until she has spoken with one of you. And I try to reach one of you if at all possible, to discuss the case, since someone is in danger and could be hurt." All of which is absolutely true. The question that wasn't asked, and where her responses would vary from the truth, would be the question of what she'd do if she couldn't reach them. But no one asked that. Yet.
Sally Blevins sends a small smile to Kate as MJ answers. She's pleased with it, but she still watches Kate. Curious, but seeing the point she's trying to make. She closes the transcrription, watching Kate, patting the back of MJ's chair.
Kate Bishop sighs and leans on the desk. "Did someone draw up a damn handbook?" She shakes her head. "You're right.. but you're focused on formality and procedure, Watson." She sighs again and shakes her head. "I'm Katie." She points to Sally. "That's Sally, and the rainbow blur is Mary. We're not Ma'ams and Misses, ok?" Se takes a swig from the bottle. "We're an agency, yes, but there's a reason why we're here. A reason why we're so young. It's the one thing that separates us from all the other private dicks out there. We actually give a shit." She stomps her foot for emphasis. "We're not looking at profit margins. We're not sticking to policies and procedures. We take the cases that need us most. We. Care." She then smiles brightly to the girl. "So relax. Stop worrying about the formality. I know you're here to learn. You want to be some kind of reporter?" Kate does her homework too.
Mary Jane considers Kate curiously, and then smiles. "Sorry if my manners upset you, Katie. It's just that my Aunt Anna always told me that good manners and politeness are the grease that keep the gears of society moving. It costs next to nothing to be polite, and some formality can often put folks at ease, giving them a structure to relax in." Obviously, it's a lesson from an older woman. Just as obviously, it's something Mary Jane believes in, given she has patterned her normal responses to it. "I love people. And yes, I want to be an investigative journalist. Which means I want to be a better investigator, and I'm hoping to learn more about being good at that while working here." And helping out. Not just with the typing and filing.
Sally shakes her head, "Like I told Kate when I had this idea, the big stuff will pay for the important stuff. The two kids who skipped school paid for by the two cheating spouses." Smiling as she moves to perch her butt on the edge of the desk on the side without a computer, "It all balances out." she says with a smile. "And please yeah, we're all far too young to be 'Ms'." she says with a smile over to MJ, "It's a great lesson to use, but formality is not always needed." she says, "Gotta read the situation, see whether formality or a more casual demeanor is needed."
Kate Bishop nods. "Politeness is all well and good, but we need people to know that we care, and we'll do the best we can to right their situation." She nods. "And if you want to do investigative journalism, you're going to need heart. Lots of it. You want to fight corruption. You want to help out the underdogs. The little guys. That takes heart and perseverance." She smiles, drinking from the bottle. "Also… It's not like we're pros at this. We do what we can to save people. We're not formally trained. So…" She shrugs. "You're gonna learn from the same seat-of-the-pants taht we're flying from."
"I've got plenty of heart!" MJ protests to Kate. She's definitely got spunk, and isn't letting the (slightly) older woman intimidate her with their questioning of her ways and means. "OK. So keep a seat on my jeans. Got it." Yes. She's making a joke, if a feeble one. "I know it's important that we help people, and put them at ease. But you also said that this was someone's grandmother. Grandmothers appreciate politeness and manners."
"I think…" Sally begins, "Look at the situation, see what's going to be needed, and go with what you feel is going to be best for that person and the situation they're in." she says with a smile. The blonde pushing off the desk, looking down at MJ, "Relax, look, see what's best, act." she says softly. "And yeah, you're gonna make mistakes, but we all do."
Kate Bishop laughs and nods. "Exactly. Don't stress over it." She turns to Sally. "Now what were those transcripts about?"
Mary Jane nods to both women, and then offers, "By the way. If you wanted, you can call me MJ. Most of my friends at school do. Even the photographers do." Photographers? Yeah. School journalist and model, remember?
"Cheating spouses, one straight couple the other not, Mary was interested in one, I put the…I don't remember which I put in her casefile list." she says, "Hence my will I blend in lesbian country comment. One of them is in the village. LIke, I wanna blend but I don't wanna say 'Hit on me' but also don't wanna say 'I'm working here'." Smiling to MJ, "No problem MJ, and please, it Sally."
Kate Bishop shrugs. "Well… Nothing says lesbian and unavailable if you bring your girlfriend with you?" She smiles, then turns to Mary-Jane. "We'll see about that, Watson." She grins.
Mary Jane Watson
This attractive young woman appears to be in her latest teens or perhaps her earliest twenties. A lovely redhead of average height with deep, jade green eyes, she has pretty noticeable curves and a trim, hourglass figure. Her features show a model-quality symmetrical beauty. Her voice is rich and strong, a soprano with strength and great diction, perfect for public speaking or possibly singing, with only the slightest New York accent. Her long, deep red mane tumbles freely over her shoulders to mid-back length, her bangs trimmed short to frame that lovely face. Her makeup is artfully minimal, perfecting and highlighting her already striking features.
She is currently wearing a white scoop-neck t-shirt, peeking out from the partially-unbuttoned V of a dark forrest green long-sleeved button- down blouse, tucked into blue denim jeans that are fitted but not painted-on tight, with a thin brown leather belt through the loops at their waist. She sometimes wears a soft brown leather jacket, and often carries a deep forest green backpack with brown suede shoulder straps and detailing. Simple gold studs dot her earlobes. Brown loafers cover her feet.
Sally Blevins
Before you stands a young woman about 5'6 in height and in her mid-teen years. She has medium length blonde hair thats pushed from her face, and goes down to just below her shoulders. With a tilt of her head, her unpainted lips are easily noticed. Sally has a pair of blue eyes, cold looking, distant, and lost. Most might call her cute, with slight angular features and a symmetry that lends itself to what some might call 'pretty'.
Clad this day in a black ball-cap looking pretty faded and weathered, still the white calligraphy overly of an N and Y can be seen on the cap, with her hair pulled into ponytail that hangs out the back. A black cotton hoodie worn, unzippered halfway to reveal a dark blue st-shirt. There's a pair of well-worn, faded blue jeans and sturdy boots worn.
Kate Bishop
A striking young woman with long, flowing black hair and bright blue eyes. A sharp nose leads to full lips, which are nearly always in a form of a smile. Her skin is pale, but her complexion is flawless. She's a good height, at about 5'9" and she has an athletic build to her. A lean frame, with defined muscles and proportioned curves.
The young woman is ready for the fall weather, wearing a lavender cardigan sweater, with a white scarf, and a pair of black denim jeans. A pair of lavender pumps are on her feet, and she carries around a purple leather purse.
Defenders For Hire Inc. — Hell's Kitchen
The door opens up to a small office and waiting area. The walls are painted a pale blue and have various paintings from local artists hanging from them. A few fake plants occupy the corners of the room, along with a water cooler by the waiting area. A coffee maker and mini-fridge stand near the water cooler. The waiting area consists of four chairs lined up against a wall. Opposite the chairs is a large mahogany desk with a new computer and phone system on it. A bank of file cabinets occupies a far wall, and a number of windows allow in plenty of natural light.
- Obvious Exits:
- [O] - Back Alley — Hell's Kitchen
- [OF] - Office — Defenders Inc. — He