Players:
Summary: Thompson Square Park is a popular place for musicians and polar bears.
Date: March 6, 2011
Log Title: A Night In The Park
Rating: Pg
NYC- Thompson Square Park
Thompson Square Park is a small park in the middle of Mutant Town. The benches might need a fresh coat of paint, the fence might be rusted in places and the pavement is raised and has cracks but it's all part of the mutant haven and fairly relaxing. Trees and grassy areas are in between the many paths, there are a few structures and benches along the path as well as a special area of the park that is marked 'the dog walk'.
//Two trees have been planted in the park as a Memorial to Carmencita Florez and Detective Baxter each with a plaque stating the tree is in their memory. //
It's early evening in Mutant Town and the weather is pleasantly cool out. There's a slight breeze that flows through the bare trees and there aren't that many people in the park tonight. In one corner of the park sits a lone Japanese teen looking up at the starless sky. He's wearing a leather jacket over a pair of jeans and a violin in a case sits at his feet. He seems almost out of it the way he just keeps staring at the sky.
As the sun begins to set Vinny wanders into the park in his usual semi-waddling gait. The hybrid mutant a regular fixture in the park as he comes here every night to practice with his powers once folks have cleared out. In one hand he carrys a small plasting cooler, over his other shoulder is slung a long metal tube with a screw-cap on one end. Some kind of case most likely.
This is the first time that Dashenka has come to Mutant Town. A place such as this could never exist in her motherland, and she has spent the majority of the day exploring the place in awe and wonder. It's getting kind of late, now, and she should be heading back, but for now she wants to wander about the park for a bit before heading back. She's dressed warmly… well… warmly for her. She's wearing a thick, grey wool dress that comes down to just above her ankles, and an olive wool overcoat that looks like it was made for an enlisted Russian private back in world war I. Which it was. They just don't make things like that anymore.
Finally tearing his eyes away from the sky Jeremy reaches into his jacket and pulls out a pack of cigarettes lighting one up. He takes a long, almost lazy, drag before leaning over and picking up the violin case. Once he opens the case up and takes out his instrument, Jeremy starts to tune it, the sound echoing through out that one area of the park.
Vinny pauses at the sounds of the violin being tuned and looks around for a moment or two. His senses alert him to several presences in the park around him but he doesn't recognize any of the impulse paterns. Following the sound of the instrument he spots Jeremy but hangs back not wanting to interrupt.
Mason has had a busy Sunday that was planned. However, most of the things planned didn't happen. Why? Because he didn't feel like it, mostly. Instead, he called up Giea, and decided his time would be better spent with her. So into the park he strolls, holding Giea's hand as he does. His guitar is over his back, he had left it at school by mistake on Friday, so the opportunity to get it while in town was not passed up. "I should describe what the stars look like for you." He laughs, "There aren't any. But this is New York, so I guess there's not a whole lot to see here, anyway." He hasn't yet noticed Vinny's waddle, nor Jeremy and his cigarettes. Even Dashenka and her thick coat go mostly unnoticed. Giea has his attention.
While Giea holds her cane close to herself, she does not seem to be using it to guide herself, instead trusting Mason to navigate for her. She smiles slightly and says, "I guess we're on even footing if you can't see any stars in the city! I kind of imagine it would be like points of heat on a smooth surface of cold, given what I've been told and read." She does not notice anyone either, because sound and sight are both easily lost on her. When she picks up on the tuning of the violin, she starts adjusting her watch, pulling Mason's hand up slightly so that she may do so.
The sound of Jeremy's tuning hasn't gone unnoticed by the Russian girl, either. She wanders over to where the sound is and after recognizing who it is waves a hand out to him. "Privyet," Dashenka calls out to him. "I did not be knowing that you would be out here." Her accent is thick, almost comically so, but her mangling of English is better than what was when she first arrived in this country.
Jeremy is almost done tuning when he hears Dashenka and he looks up and gives a smile to his classmate. "I come out here sometimes. I had to meet up with an old…acquaintance so I decided to hang out here for a bit." He says quietly taking a long drag off his cigarette again. He tugs on his gloves, making sure they're on tightly. "So how are you tonight?"
Vinny pauses as the woman steps in, not really knowing either one he doesn't want to intrude and heads towards his usual practice spot, a bench near some storm drains and a small playground. Taking a seat he sets the cooler beside him and begins unscrewing the cap on the tube.
The teen star notices the violin as Giea adjusts her watch. "I've been meaning to ask, why a watch? You can't…see it, right?" He adjusts a little to bring them closer to the group. "It looks like there is a bit of a gathering here around the violin," he informs Giea as they draw closer. "I think I know that guy with the violin, too." He announces himself. "Jeremy? How're you doing?" A smile draws across his face.
"Yeah, I guess it's probably weird," admits Giea, as she taps on the watch's face demonstratively, "It's often how they design the control for hearing aids, though, so that it's not as conspicuous when you adjust them, so that you aren't immediately identified as hard-of-hearing. Not that I'd really mind, but this is what I've got." The girl smiles and repeats, "Oh, a violinist? That's nice." As Mason approaches, Giea pulls herself closer to him and lets herself be guided.
Dashenka nods, and stuffs her hands back into the old coat. "I am doing well," she says. "I have not yet been to this, uh, Mutant Town, so I am thinking that I should see it." She glances about herself as Jeremy's violin has started to attract more and more people. "I have found it very… uh, chert poberi… what is word…. educational."
There's a nod of recognition to Mason from Jeremy. "Hello Mason. I'm doing pretty good, yourself?" He asks, his tone fairly reserved and quiet. "I play a little bit of violin, it's relaxing." He says to Giea who he assumes is friends with Mason. He fidgets a bit as he finishes up his cigarette. "I used to come here a lot more before I started going to school."
Removing the cap from the case Vinny removes from it a long wooden tube covered in aboriginal symbols in bright colors, a Diggeridoo. Getting comfortable he raises the instrument to his lips under his bill. A droning tone emits from the long instrument to drift on the night air. Various trills and vibrato added to the resonance of his playing.
Mason nods as he answers, "This is Giea," he says. "Looks like you're starting a concert here," he says. And he just happens to have his guitar with him. "Giea, this is Jeremy, and — wow, look at that." He hadn't quite noticed Vinny's appearance immediately. But the platypus causes a doubletake. He gives a nod to the instrument. "A diggeridoo," he announces in Vinny's direction. "Never really seen one before." He adds to Dashenka, whom he hasn't addressed. "I'm Mason," he offers his free hand, which happens to be his left instead of his right.
Giea waves, though not directly at Jeremy, when she is introduced. "Hey, nice to meet you, Jeremy. Are you playing the violin? That must be a really cool instrument to know," she asks, since it was not explicitly told to her. "A diggeridoo?" she repeats, raising her eyebrows slightly at that, "I can't say I've ever come across one in person. I think I can kind of hear it?"
Dashenka grabs Mason's hand with her own, her grip surprisingly strong. "Udovol'stvie vstretit'sya s vami. I am Dashenka." She blinks at Giea in surprise. "I have met this woman before," she says. While her phrasing may be a little harsh, her tone actually sounds quite pleased. "In the park. There was women who threw gems at us." However, the Russian has never encountered a diggeridoo before. "That is an odd sound."
Jeremy shakes his head. "No, no concert." He takes out another cigarette and lights it. "Nice to meet you Giea, I'm Jeremy." He says to her looking around the area. His eyes settle on Vinny and he watches him for a bit. It's his Platypus looks and his diggeridoo that cause him to just focus on him for a bit. "I guess this is kind of a small world here." He says as it seems Dashenka and Giea know each other.
Vinny doesn't seem to react to the curious looks from the group, likely having been stared at enough that he tunes it out. Cheeks puffing in and out in the circular breathing needed to keep up the constent tone of the instrument he sits stone-still as he plays. After a minute or so his eyes begin to glow until they become a featureless blue color, from a nearby storm-drain there's a gurgling noise before a large column of water nearly a foot thick rises out of it. From another grate a few feet away from where he sits another column emerges, and yet another from a third grating about 30ft away. The columns rise to a height of nearly eight feet before begining to sway back and forth to the resonating music, like cobras dancing to a snake charmer's pipe.
Mason smiles, though he is taken by surprise from Dashenka's strong grip, and the look is clear in his eyes. "It's good to meet you," he says, trying to pretend that it was a normal handshake. Giea can probably feel it through his grip though, his hold on her hand instinctively tightens a little as he tries to maintain the handshake from the strong russian woman. "Giea, there is a man over here who looks like a platypus," he says. "A mutant, probably. But he is playing that flute you hear, and water is coming up out of the grates nearby, and making big pillars of water, like snakes dancing to the music," he describes for her.
A look of surprise crosses Giea's face, and she moves her free hand in a vague waving motion when Dashenka speaks, "Oh, you were there, that's right! I don't really know exactly what happened, but there were sharps things, crystal, flying objects, and a bear! I think." The explanation is for anyone who would listen, and then she orients her face up towards Mason. "Um, that's kind of different."
Dashenka nods enthusiastically. "Da! A polar bear. That was me." She blinks as all the water starts to dance and sway. "Eto ne to, chto vy vidite kazhdyi den," she says, taken aback.
The water coming out of the grates cause Jeremy to visibly tense up and he starts to put his violin away. His eyes don't leave the moving water. "You don't think…" He says quietly hoping that Vinny doesn't have any ill intentions. "And I'm not seeing things right?" He asks sounding uncertain.
Vinny plays on, as the reverberating tones of the diggeridoo drift on the night air the Columns pull free of thier gratings and beging gliding across the ground towards where the platypus man sits. One stops directly in front of him about six feet away from where he sits and the other two suddenly arc through the air and cascade down into the center, the three becoming one large mass. As the trilling and pace of his playing increases slightly the mass of water begins to change shape, though into what isn't immediatly clear.
"A bear?" Mason echoes. "Wow, that was really some day for you," he says to Giea, reaching up briefly to stroke her chin gently. "Wait, you were the bear?" he asks Dashenka. "Wow, mutants everywhere. I guess that's what happens when you visit mutant town, though, huh?" he adds. Likewise, Mason isn't certain of Vinny's intentions, but he tries to keep his cool. From the exterior, he appears rather fine with the situation, letting his hand leave Giea's only to wrap around her waist. However, his hands seem to be cooling a little from the unspoken nervousness he feels regarding the display.
"Oh. I mean. I guess I should have got that at the time. But I totally didn't put one and one together and get that you /were/ the bear," says Giea with a blank look on her face as she processes that information. She doesn't say anything as she notices the difference in Mason's hands, instead noting, "So, this water, sounds pretty neat."
"Da," agrees Dashenka. "It is unusual. I do not think he means harm," she muses. "I would think that if he did, we would not be here wondering if he did."
Jeremy finishes up the second cigarette and stands up. "I think I'm gonna get going now. It was nice running into you again Mason. And Giea, it was nice meeting you." He looks to Dashenka and nods. "See you back at school." And with that Jeremy heads off, looking back a Vinny a few times before leaving the park.
Plays on as the water in front of him begins to move once again. The single column thining out and going taller as it begins to take a humanoid shape. As it begins to finish forming the glow in his eyes flickers and goes out and the water drops to the ground with a splash. Vinny stops playing and lower the instrument with a sigh. "Bloody hell.. almost had it that times. How the blazes did I pull that off the first time?" He seems to be muttering to himself more than anything else.
Mason watches the water snake around before the platypus as Jeremy gets to his feet. "Jeremy, it was good to see you," he says. He starts to explain to Giea. "Yeah, the water is changing shape. I'm not really sure what it's turning into, but it's bigger. Oh, it's almost there, it's a…" The sound of the splash ends his commentary. "Aww, he lost it," Mason says. He's a bit relieved to know that he isn't about to be drowned in the park or any other sort of terrible water fate will befall him and Giea. He reaches around Giea with the other arm, and with his hands around her, he starts clapping. "That was really good!" he calls out to Vinny, offering a word of encouragement to the duck-billed mutant. "Your power is really cool."
"I'm sure it was pretty cool," agrees Giea, "from what I heard described." She carefully claps her hands a few times before crossing her arms. She adds a bit quieter, "I'm sure I'd have been very impressed." She taps the ground in front of her with the cane lightly.
Dashenka gives Giea a somewhat piteous look, feeling bad for her, but tries to keep it out of her voice. "Da. Impressed," she says, with a smile, "Or very, very wet."
Vinny stands and gives a wave to the others. "G'day. Sorry if I had ya a bit on edge there, tryin' to get in a bit'a practice. Don't quite have the hang of the whole water control thing." he returns the Diggeridoo to it's case and fastens the cap back on. Picking up the cooler he sets it on the bench and pops it open. "Care for a cold one? I got plenty to go 'round." He holds up a rather large can, Fosters Beer."
Mason looks at the cooler. "Wow, that's really nice of you," he says. Free beer always is a good temptation. "I might need to pass," he adds, a little disappointed sounding. "I think it's almost time to be heading home." He releases Giea, and guides her toward the closest bench, where Jeremy had just been sitting. "I'm going to go find us a cab," he says to Giea. "I will be right back, okay?" He lifts her hand in his own so that he can give it a kiss. He figures that if Dashenka protected Giea from Envy, then she's surely safe with the russian for a few minutes. "It was good to meet you," he says to both Dashenka and Vinny jointly. "I'll be right back," he reiterates to Giea before leaving to find the cab.
"Okay," says Giea to Mason, nodding to him and smiling, "I don't think I'll be moving from this spot." As Mason goes, she grips her cane again still, just to check what's in her immediate surroundings. "Personally, I don't drink. I'm under the legal age in New York. But thank you for the offer!"
Dashenka looks interested in the beer, but when she hears Giea mention that she's under age she shakes her head. "Nyet. I am too young, too, to drink here." She gives the large can a curious look, however, "But that is a very big can."
Orienting towards Dashenka, Giea taps her cane on the ground a few times and crosses her arms. "So, ummmm. I can't tell. Are you… /always/ a bear? I mean, I haven't made any physical contact, and I guess I wouldn't know either way."
"Nyet," says the Russian girl. "You could tell by my voice. It gets lower." She steps up to the Giea and gently (for her) takes her hand. "See? No fur."
"Oh, I'm hard-of-hearing, so that kind of thing is sometimes lost on me. I'll pay more attention, though!" says Giea, smiling at that, though, touching Dashenka's hand to examine it before noting, "I guess I've never thought of becoming a bear as a thing that people do. I guess that kind of shows my narrow world-view, huh?"
Dashenka's shrug can be felt through the contact with their hands. "I would not be thinking it is something that is happens often," she admits. "Only great Russian hero, Major Ursus and myself can do that. Though he is brown bear, and I am polar."
"Oh, I guess that makes sense. I guess I just don't know much about the mutant community, and I want to know more…" says Giea, leaning slightly on her cane, "'Cause I write about blind and deaf community kinds of issues… and I try to understand others, but I'm not always directly exposed."
