FLU EVENT: A Sick Woman's Scorn - Sloane, Open Tag

[Sloane Deveraux]

Of all things and times to be inflicted upon, Sloane had to get the flu just when the new management came in. Were she the petty type, she would have just said that her illness came from her superior, that she was allergic to Chief Inspector Farley but really, Sloane was not that horrible. She couldn't deny the coincidence however, especially given her personal medical record and perpetual clean bill of health.

Despite that, Sloane couldn't bring herself to stay in bed under the delicious warmth of her covers and rest the mix of headache, nausea and blocked nose off. So with a quick warm shower and stepping into her warmest overcoat, Sloane went down to the nearest coffee shop to get the strongest coffee shot man ever made before heading off to the police station.

And life seemed to want to throw a curve ball at her just for shits and giggles when the wind picked up and startles Sloane, causing her to jerk backwards, spilling the unlidded cup of coffee all over her black overcoat.

With a slew of curses strung out from her mouth, Sloane crumpled the already empty cup before depositing it angrily into the nearest trashcan. Untying the sash around her waist quickly, she took off her soaked overcoat, shivering in just her silk blouse and trousers.

She quickly made her way to the nearest cafe with a bathroom with one hand gripping her soiled coat and the other gripping her work bag. Avoiding eye contact with everyone in the cafe, she went straight to the bathroom and tried to wash off the coffee stains.

Hearing the door open a few minutes after, she was very prepared to yell at the person trying to get in. Little was known of Sloane's temper but surprisingly, it flared up irrationally if she got sick which was why she tried her damndest to remain healthy. Even she had the decency to never let anyone get the full force of her irrational anger.

The poor bystander...

[Rhett Goddard]

It was one of those work-days for Rhett. Being "work", well, stealing. He woke up early that morning, he had a couple of classes but they could wait, not having enough money to survive until the end of that day, that couldn't wait. He arrived at downtown, since it was workday and was early, people were walking all over the place trying to get to their jobs. None should expect being pick-pocketed this early in the day, that's why it was such a good idea.

He started walking with no general direction, discerning the people around him to find a good mark. Inadequate. Too young. Too creepy. Bad clothes. Has a gun. Too athletic. Umm... perfect mark. In the other side of the street, a man in a fine tuxedo and a coat walked calmly. Rhett had already caught the glimpse of the small bump a wallet inside a coat create and a fine looking watch in the man's left wrist. He crossed the street and walked in the opposite direction as his mark. Rhett unusually used the "bumping accident" technique to strip a man of its wallet, if a distraction was to be used, he preferred using an external distraction rather than creating one: it helped reduce his suspiciousness down to zero. Yet, due to the coat's fabric and style, and the way the man was walking, the bumping technique was the safest way to perform the feat assuring a high effectiveness.

And so he walked up to him, head leaning down. Their shoulders bumped for a fraction of second. The man didn't stop nor looked backwards, so Rhett decided not to say anything and walked normally. He turned in the next corner and checked the watch. Rolex. He put it in his pocket and looked at the wallet, plastic money and a few hundreds. He took the bills and placed the wallet in someone else's pocket along the way. He then calmly walked for two others blocks, catching a couple of other easier items in the way until finally arriving at a cafe.

He ordered a frappé and sat. If he was to count the money he had just gained properly, he could not do it in such an open and calmed place, plus, when the moment to pay the frappé he had just ordered arrived, he couldn't just take the pack of bills and find the proper one. He had to divide the big denomination ones from the small ones, place the smaller one in his wallet and conceal the others. He needed a bathroom. He looked around, apparently there was only one for both sexes, it was not unusual in small places such as this one. He stood up and attempted to open it. Closed.

"Taking long?" He, very awkwardly asked after knocking the door a couple of times.

[Sloane Deveraux]

The voice sounded young but at that moment, Sloane honestly couldn't care less. As if it couldn't get any worst, in addition to the coffee stain, the smell of the toilet was making her wretch. And the knocking was more of a pounding in her head at the moment.

She didn't answer the knocks as she scrubbed her coat under the running water. It was pretty hard to fight back the nausea though so she pulled the coat away from the sink and proceeded to heave out last night's ravioli. Her throat burned at the acidic after taste as more came out until she was doing nothing but dry heaving.

How the hell was she supposed to go to work now? Her coat was wet, she stank from the vomit and possibly the rancid bathroom. Today was obviously not a good day.

[Rhett Goddard]

"Is someone there?" Rhett asked loudly as he kept knocking the door while receiving no answer.

He tried to remember, he didn't see anyone going into the bathroom, maybe someone had left it closed from inside. He walked up to the counter and, coincidentaly, his coffee frappe was ready so he took it with one and offered the clerk a bill he took blindly from his pocket with the other one. Ulysses S. Grant... damn... I should have organized them before. The woman behind the counter took the money and gave him his receipt and change as Rhett just stood there with a fake smile.

"Hey..." He said slowly. "Is... someone in the bathroom? I think it got closed by accident or something..."

"Happens everytime." The girl took some keys and walked to the bathroom door, closely followed by Rhett. She proceeded to knock strongly. "Sir? Miss? Is someone there? I'm going to open the door, ok?"

"I already tried that." Rhett shrugged while sipping from his frappe. It was good.

[Sloane Deveraux]

For a moment, the knocking stopped and Sloane breathed a sigh of relief before regretting the decision because she had to breathe back the rancid stench in, causing her to spew her guts once more. But the knocking started over again and Sloane groaned. She turned the tap on to rinse any nasty bits off the sink.

Wiping her mouth with a strip of toilet paper, Sloane dragged herself to the door and swung it open even before it was fully opened from the other side. "You would think hearing vomiting noises would be a clear indication that someone is in here." She glared at the woman on the other side of the toilet, not yet seeing the younger boy behind her, who was the cause of the original knocking.

[Rhett Goddard]

((so very sorry for lateness. in the middle of finals over here))

"Oh I'm so very sorry, miss." The girl quickly apologized and attempted to retire from the bathroom closing the door, but was suddenly stopped by Rhett just behind her.

"But I'm not." Rhett kept the door opened in what, most certainly, was an odd action for the three of them. "Are you like pregnant or something or is that contagious?"

"Let's just leave her alone." The girl attempted to close the bathroom once again, but Rhett wasn't lettnig her. "if you urgently need the bathroom, there's one for staff in the back. I can take you to it."

"No, see." The smell of vomit was reaching Rhett's nose by now, yet he maintained the door open. "I don't know if you've heard, but there's a highly contagious epidemy of flu out there. If she just sneezed or coughed while she was in the cafe, we are all directly exposed. I just feel the dire need to know if I should buy a pack of vitamin C pills on the way back home."

[Sloane Deveraux]

Sloane raised an eyebrow at the sudden appearance of a blond boy behind the staff who pushed against the door. "What kind of question is that to a-" even before she could complete her sentence, Sloane ran back in to dry heave. "Close the damned door," she growled in between heaves.

When the boy kept talking and not closing the door, Sloane moaned and quickly rinsed her mouth and patted her face with the cold water. Vitamin C? Was this boy for real? "Grow some balls, child. All the pills would do is make your immune system weaker." Sloane barked before grabbing a few pieces of toilet paper and held it against her face.

"And holding the door open isn't going to help the other customers." She had had enough of talking so she pushed against the young boy and consequently out of the cafe. She leaned against a wall and tried to suck in some fresh air but all it did was make her even sicker.

[OOC: No worries, take your time]

[Rhett Goddard]

((i'm a free person finally! hello vacations :] i'm so sorry to be back so late))

"Oh women..." Rhett painfully sighted as the clerk-girl closed the bathroom door by pushing him aside.

"I'm sorry to disturb you ma'am! If there's anything I can do to help you..." The girl said as she turned her attention to Rhett, who calmly continued his drink. "Let's leave her alone, shall we? She doesn't need to be disturbed"

"She doesn't? But I need to use the bathroom too. AND she's making others uncomfortable." Well, most likely I am the one making them uncomfortable... "Hey, lady..." Rhett knocked the door again. "Throwing your guts out it's not actually a good sign you know? Most just puke a couple of times but if you keep at it you're gonna get dehydrated. Put yourself together for everybody's sake..."

"Sir, I'm going to ask you to stand aside and leave the poor woman alone." The clerk talked in a more serious tone, most likely bothered by Rhett's prying attitude.

"You should go get here some saline solution or energy drink you know." Rhett leaned at the door and closed his eyes. "When she comes out she's going to be pretty weak. Also smelly, you should get her some mints too."

Suddenly Rhett found himself losing balance as the woman in the bathroom opened the door via pushing it and as soon as he turned around, she was already outside. Fast...

"Hey!" Rhett walked out and found her leaning on the wall. He took two pills from his pocket, and offered to her. "If you trust receiving pills from strangers, these might actually do you good." As a sign of trust, Rhett took one and swallowed himself.

They were pills for headache, but placebos are for everything.

[Sloane Deveraux]

[OOC: YAY for you! I'm not sure if you were aware but I had written Sloane to have gone out of the cafe so do you mind editing your post to fit that, maybe?]

[Rhett Goddard]

((god, why did i not notice that... I edited now))

[Sloane Deveraux]

It was dumb for her to have stayed near the cafe since the noisy child had come running after her and was now offering her drugs. When he wallowed one himself, Sloane had to wonder what this young boy was doing with pills at all. He didn't seem sick.

"Grew up to not take candy from strangers so...thanks but no." The fresh air was actually doing her a little good so she thought it would be okay to leave. But the boy was still hanging around her. She knew he meant well but he was not helping her headache out at all with his talking. The boy talked too much. How can someone talk so much?

"Don't you have school to go to? What are you, twelve?" Sloane asked, sucking in deep gulps of air.

[Rhett Goddard]

After the woman said no to the pill, Rhett immediately threw it in his mouth and chew it, swallowing the small bits and passing it with his frappé.

"That's two noes." He said as the girl from the store arrived.

"I thought you two had left. Think this might help?" She showed an energy drink to Rhett who immediately pointed at the sick-looking woman.

"Drink up, cop, or go back home." Rhett turned around and walked back into the store, sitting in the place he was firstly.

"You might be dehydrated, he thought it would be a good idea." The girl said softly. "Take it. It's on the house."

"Hey, think that bathroom could get cleaned anytime soon?" Rhett yelled from inside, much at the dismay of the few customers still around.

[Sloane Deveraux]

Sloane accepted the energy drink with a little smile. "Thanks," she unscrewed the cap for the drink and took a few long sips.

The kid was getting on her nerves. Who did he think he was ordering her around anyway?

"I'm sorry for the mess inside. I cleaned most of it up." Sloane raised a hand in apology before holding up the bottle of energy drink in thanks.

With another glare at the boy who had disappeared into the cafe, Sloane moved slowly up to the precinct.

[OOC: I think this can be wrapped!]

[Event !]

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