9th Opportunity :: Action/Video

[recognize_an_opportunity]

[Meyer doesn't always take a day off work. In fact, this is his first day off since the casino opened. That's why, on this lovely afternoon, he's wandering a little aimlessly now, cigarette in hand, looking for something to pass the time that isn't work.

For awhile, he wanders around the area by the fountain, occasionally stopping to sit down and write something down in a tiny spiral bound notebook, then standing up and wandering again. After awhile, though, he seems to get bored, and turns on the video to ask a question -- or rather, make a proposition.]

I'm going for drinks. Does anyone want to come?

[It may be a bit early in the day for drinking, but it's his day off -- this is what people do on their days off, right? With that question posed to the entire City, he strolls off in search of a bar that has relatively inexpensive and plentiful alcohol.]

Comments

[recognize_an_opportunity]

There's me, Al, and that Darmody kid. I'm hoping that fills the City's quota.

[Yes. "Kid." Because it's not like he's older than Meyer or anything.]

Don't worry, I'm good at staying out of danger.

[spotlighted]

I hope so, too. You're all pretty swell guys, I kind of like that being my image of the 1920s, really.

[Well, maybe in terms of how he acts he's years older.]

Okay, I'll rephrase that, then. I don't want someone coming and shooting up the casino while I'm trying to work.

[recognize_an_opportunity]

Nobody's ever shot up one of my card games before.

[Not that they haven't been tempted to. Not that he hasn't had to diffuse several tense situations. But she probably doesn't need to know that.]

[spotlighted]

There's a first time for everything.

[She looks confused to find her glass empty again, and pours most of the rest of the bottle into it.]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

I didn't say I hadn't been shot at before.

[He looks at the bottle, pours the tiny bit that's left into his own glass, and then gestures for another to be brought to the table. He's undeniably feeling the effects of the alcohol now, and he can't say it's unpleasant. Maybe this day off thing is better than he thought.]

[spotlighted]

Have you ever actually been shot, though?

[Oh good, more wine. She's feeling a little rosy already, but she'll keep on drinking as long as he will.]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

[And he'll keep drinking forever until he's very drunk.]

Once. Not badly.

[spotlighted]

I'm not even going to ask the other question, of course. I don't think I want to know the answer.

[Which would be how many people he's shot.]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

[Not as many as people might think.]

I prefer to solve my problems in a more diplomatic manner.

[spotlighted]

[When her main image of gangsters is the Valentine's Day Massacre, she's increasingly worried about both the shooting and the being shot at.]

That's the smart way to do it. You're a smart guy.

[recognize_an_opportunity]

I try. I have friends who...

[He shrugs, nearly spilling some of the wine as he pours some more.]

... are impulsive.

[spotlighted]

I bet you end up cleaning up after them a lot.

[recognize_an_opportunity]

That's an understatement.

[spotlighted]

So you want to learn how to say "clean up after yourself" in Italian?

[recognize_an_opportunity]

That's one of the first things I learned. Right after "go fuck yourself."

[Apparently he's now inebriated enough not to mind swearing in front of her, which he'd generally consider somewhat impolite.]

[spotlighted]

[She starts giggling at hearing him swear, it's something she doesn't associate with him at all. And then she can't stop giggling for a minute or two because of the alcohol.]

That's one I still remember in French. "Va te faire foutre!" I think one of my life goals will be to tell people to go fuck themselves in every language.

[recognize_an_opportunity]

It's "vaffanculo" in Italian, if you were wondering.

[He'll have to remember that French one. Not that he has a huge purpose for speaking French, but it's useful knowledge.]

[spotlighted]

Vaff-- vaffanculo?

[She repeats it a couple of times to make sure she's saying it properly, then starts giggling again.]

I sure hope there are no Italians at the next table.

[recognize_an_opportunity]

[He looks around surreptitiously, as though looking for hidden Italians, then nods, smiling.]

Or French people.

[spotlighted]

Yeah, we pretty much insulted half of Europe there, huh?

[She takes another large swallow and refills both their glasses. She's completely lost track of how much she's drank by this point, and is fairly certain she's drunk. It's been a good while since it's been to this extent.]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

If we want to get most of the rest of Europe, we can always insult the Russians.

[He's pretty sure he should stop drinking at some point soon, but he's not sure why he thinks that. Maybe it's the fact that he has to really concentrate on not knocking over the glass as he picks it up for another sip. He doesn't normally drink to excess -- he's too much of a control freak to do so.]

[spotlighted]

I'm pretty sure my very existence is an insult to the Russians.

[recognize_an_opportunity]

How do you figure that?

[His very existence is probably an insult to the Russians, too.]

[spotlighted]

Oh, right. I keep forgetting that I'm from the future with you.

[She makes a strange gesture with her hands as she says 'the future' as though it's some mystical thing. She's so used to being fifty years behind most of the people here, it's still quite a novelty to her.

It's also the first time she's had to explain the cold war, and she's doing it while completely drunk.

She sits up a little, getting into storytelling position.]

So after the war-- There was another war, the one I was involved with, in the 40s. And Russia was on our side, but after the war there was us and them as the big military powers. And Russia's completely communist, so that was kind of a problem, especially when you've got most of Europe having been ravaged by the Nazis and Russia like right there next to it. They got most of Eastern Europe, and we gave as much aid to Western Europe as we could to try and contain the spread of communism, and we've been in a war with North Korea for the last two years and everyone in the States is scared that everyone else is secretly a communist and so we're all checking for reds under the bed and the government seems to think it's fun to harass citizens and accuse them of being Soviets for no reason.

[She sounds rather bitter there. She also realises she's not making much sense.]

The whole idea of the free market and American capitalism is an insult to them. I'd like to think not only do I support that, but I'm a damn good example of individual freedom you only get in my country.

[recognize_an_opportunity]

[It takes him a couple seconds to process all of that. Really, she'd done a good job of explaining it, for someone who'd had quite a bit to drink. And he understood most of it, except...]

The Nazis did what to Europe?