Impulse and Effect
Summary:
Veronica bought 500 date rape drug detection coasters when they hit the market and sent some to all her friends. She also sent ten of them to Madison Sinclair. The results of that spur-of-the-moment decision surprised even her.
Author's Note:
This was originally written for as a practice prompt using the word "tainted" for AdorkableAuthor's Veronica Mars Promptober Festival 2018 challenge on A03.
When Drink Safe Technologies launched its date rape drug detection coasters, Veronica bought a small load of them, customized for discretion—she made sure to leave a couple in her car, wallet, and purse at all times, and she gave a few to Mac and Wallace and basically all of her friends. She gave a small stack to her dad.
Then she told herself, what the heck, and sent some to Logan as well, told him not to take it weirdly because she was sending them to everyone she knew. And who knows, maybe navy peeps needed those kinds of things when they went on shore leave?
And she sent ten coasters, impulsively and non-sarcastically but also anonymously, to Madison Sinclair.
Then she promptly forgot about it. Not the coaster, of course. She used that every time she was at a bar or on a date. But she did forget that she'd mailed out a few of them to various citizens of Neptune.
So it was a surprise when Veronica was at the 09er one night, discreetly surveilling a woman suspected of cheating on her fiance, and the bartender asked her if she'd like a coaster.
"Can't be too safe," he said.
"Thanks," Veronica replied, "but I've got my own. Started carrying them almost the moment they became available." She showed him her customized coaster, placing it on the counter as he served her drink.
The bartender nodded. "Smart. We started stocking them just this month. One of our regulars got her creep of a date arrested after her coaster showed her drink had GHB in it. Bastard had dosed it while she'd been distracted by a friend."
"Good for her."
"I know, right? Hey, there she is. Maddy, hey, Maddy! I was just telling this lady here about your coaster and that asshole date who dosed your drink last month. She's got a plain one like yours too."
Veronica turned and was shocked to see Madison Sinclair approaching.
"Veronica Mars," she said, upper lip curled in distaste.
"Madison Sinclair," Veronica said, matching her tone for tone, lip curl for lip curl.
Then Madison glanced at Veronica's coaster, and her eyes all but popped out of her head. Not, Veronica thought snidely, a very attractive look for the bottle blond.
"Who gave you this coaster?" she demanded.
Veronica frowned. "No one. I order them special, in batches of 500 so I can get them customized."
"We did that with ours, so it'd show the 09er logo," the bartender chimed in helpfully.
"Have you always used this design?" Madison asked, and okay, she had this weird intensity going on that was seriously throwing Veronica off her game.
"Yeah? I bought my first batch right after the company launched them. Why?"
Madison stared at Veronica's face for a long moment. "You sent me ten of them in an anonymous package a while back."
Huh. She'd forgotten about that. "Eh. I sent a bunch of them out when I got them." She waved a hand dismissively.
And things get crazy weird when Madison reached out, grabbed it.
"The coasters have saved me four times now. I bought more after I used up the ones you sent me."
Veronica goggled. In the two years since she'd first bought them, she'd never had the test come up positive. The implications shocked her sufficiently that she stopped trying to pull her hand away for a moment. "You should probably re-evaluate the caliber of guys you're seeing."
"I know," Madison said. "But I just want to thank you."
Okay, somehow Veronica had thought she'd come to the 09er, but she'd obviously walked through a portal to bizarroworld. "Uh. Okay?"
"No, seriously. Your coasters saved my life, and I want to thank you." Madison smiled, and it was a real smile, not her usual I'm-about-to-do-something-to-mess-you-upsmile. So, yeah, definitely bizarroworld.
"Okay. Um. You're welcome, I guess."
"Can I buy you a drink?" Her erstwhile nemesis laughed. "I promise you won't have to use a coaster."
"I've, um, got a drink, but thanks." Also, it was Madison Sinclair. No matter what she said, Veronica was going to use a coaster.
Madison nodded. "All right. Let me know if you change your mind. I'll be right over there." She waved in the direction of a booth where a couple of other 09ers Veronica recognized from Neptune High days were seated.
Not a chance in hell. But Veronica was mature now, and she'd learned some discretion. "Thanks."
A couple of weeks later, an anonymous package was sent to Veronica, care of Mars Investigations. As she cut open the packaging, she thought idly that the package was too small to be a horse's head ala The Godfather or anything too sinister.
She was surprised to find that it contained a starter kit from Undercover Colors, which tested for more drugs than the coasters did, even if it wasn't something you could just leave on the bar or the table like the coasters.
There wasn't a note or anything with the package, but Veronica knew exactly who had sent it.
When she ran into Madison Sinclair at Java the Hut not three days later, she let the other woman buy her a drink. And told her exactly why she'd sent a high school nemesis a set of coasters two years before.
In Logan's next email, he mentioned that Madison Sinclair had come Dick Casablancas' house and kneed him in the groin when he answered the door for no apparent reason. He asked if she had heard anything about it or why it had happened.
Veronica grinned as she typed out her response. Why no, she hadn't heard about it, and she wasn't exactly someone Madison Sinclair would share confidences with, now was she?
She didn't say a word about cleverly designed coasters, packages in the mail, or tainted drinks.
Note:
This is a work of fiction, but the date rate drug detection gadgets mentioned here are not. A quick search should get you to the necessary sites and stores for both the Drink Safe coaster and the Undercover Colors starter kit.