Players:
Summary: Aiden yammers away about random things to Ashley while in Central Park.
Date: June 20, 2011
Log Title: Food Truck Choices
Rating: PG
NYC - Central Park
Central Park is a large public park in upper Manhattan, largest areas of green with people reading, having a picnic, or playing Frisbee. Walking paths can be found all around the park. In-between the large area's of grass, the park is shadier with many trees. A large road circles the park where joggers, bicyclists, and inline skaters are commonly found.
Central Park attracts a bit of a crowd around lunchtime with various business folk taking their afternoon strolls and buying lunch from the small food trucks set up around the park. After getting a lunch of dumplings from one of the food trucks Aiden now sits by the lake eating his lunch. He's dressed in a pair of skinny black pants tucked into combat books with plenty of buckles, a black sleevless shirt that zippers up the middle with buckles across it. Showing on his arms and neck are a variety of tribal green coloured looking tattoos. Next to him is a small boombox and a large duffel bag.
After finishing his lunch, Aiden stetches out his blue wings behind him not really paying attention to anyone who might be in that ten food raidus behind him. He puts the plastic bag next to him as he starts to leaf through the duffel bag next to him with several sounds of clinking metal.
As he peers about for something suitable for lunch, Ashley's gaze passes over the blue wings stretching out near the lake. He hasn't been completely sheltered, so he doesn't respond with screams of fear and terror at the winged mutant… but then again, physical mutations are still kinda few for him. Be cool, be cool, starings not cool.
Okay, so Ash stares for a few moments longer than is proper, before turning his attention away from Aiden and onto the food trucks. Ooo, BBQ!
As Aiden pulls out a mirror and a small black pencil out of his bag he can't help but notice someone staring at him for a bit. A friendly smile from the gothly looking mutant is given to Ashley along with a wave. He's always up for meeting new people and isn't exactly the shy type. As Ashley starts walking towards the food trucks he does speek up. "Don't go the dumpling truck, I just had it and it's too much money for too little food." At least it is in his opinion.
Having spent the morning getting to know Mutant Town Cloud heads to Central Park to grab some lunch, he's dressed in blue jeans, a pair of red sneakers and a black t-shirt, on his way to the food trucks he spots the winged mutant sitting down, walking over he asks, "Mind if i sit here?", he looks over at whoever Aiden is talking to and reckognises him as a student at the Institute, "Hey".
Well, he didn't get yelled at for staring, so that's always a good thing. Ashley probably expected to get bitched out if he got caught; this is New York City, after all. Aiden's wave is returned with a polite lift of his hand, as he turns towards the food trucks.
Aiden's call of caution on the dumpling truck captures Ash's attention, causing the teen to glance back over his shoulder; "Wasn't gonna hit that one, but thanks…" he replies with a hint of caution in his tone. After all this is NYC. Cloud's approach into the scenario is responded to with a similar wave back over Ash's shoulder: "Hey."
Aiden raises an eyebrow at Cloud for a second. "I don't mind and wait..I know you." He says being decent with faces but horrible with names. "You're that kid who was with that flighty chick at the lake. Sorry, I'm horrible with names." He says as he looks in the mirror he's holding to check that his eyebrows are still drawn on alright. Satisified, he puts the mirror back and pulls out a pair of metal batons from the bag. "I don't mind you sitting there just as long as you don't mind me practicing for a bit." He then looks back to Ashley. "Well if you need any help with which food trucks are good and which ones aren't, lemme know. I pretty much live off of their food." Hey, it's cheap.
Cloud nods, "Yeah we met in Westchester i think", actually he's pretty sure of it, you don't meet that many winged mutants, "Yeah i don't mind free country and all", he sits down and watches the food conforsation between the other two.
Ashley's attention shifts from Aiden to the food trucks, and his head bobs slightly, "Uhh.. yeah, sure, if I need help…" he answers, although that touch of doubt is there. It's food out the side of a truck, Ash's expectations aren't that high.
Leaving Aiden and Cloud to their conversation, Ash strikes off for whichever food truck advertises meat in burger-like form.
Aiden just looks at Ashley for a bit, the green in his 'tattoos' changing from a green to an orangish kind of colour. After a few moments of watching the teen he turns back to Cloud. "What's that supposed to mean anyway. Free country? It's a phrase I hear in American often but never really got it."
While Aiden and Cloud discuss the American Dream, or whatever it is they are discussing, Ashley busies himself with deciding which truck to eat from. Apparently it's a harder decision that he thought it would be.
Before he can really get an answer from Cloud, Aiden looks back over at Ashley for a second, something about him is nagging the older mutant and he can't really figure out what. A genearl feeling he's getting off of Ashley that he can't quite pinpoint without using his empathy. Taking a deep breath he walks over to the teen whose deciding what to order, the two metal batons still in one hand. "Hey, sorry to be all in your face but the Frites n' Meats truck there is pretty decent. The burgers are pretty decently priced. I'm Aiden by the way." He says offering a hand.
Blink blink. Ashley's attention is drawn once more from the various menus hanging or painted on the food trucks, back to Aiden and his opinion. "Frites N' Meats, eh?" the teen repeats, glancing past the winged mutant to try to locate said truck.
Oh, an introduction. Ash might be more or less a grump most of the time, but he's at least polite out in public. Aiden's proferred hand is taken in Ashley's, as the youth gives his name: "Ash. Thanks for the help. Figured I'd be standing here all day, and I've still got stuff to find…" he adds
Aiden tucks his wings against his back so they aren't in the way of anything but sometimes it's diffcult as they seem to just have a mind of their own. "No problem, I'm still new around here so I'm still learning a few things but if you need help finding anything I can try. I know Mutant Town really well and Coney Island."
Ash glances from the located meat truck, back towards Aiden. A flicker of something across his features, the shadow of confusion from the phrase 'Mutant Town,' but Coney Island is recognizable enough. As the young hoodie-wearing man starts towards the indicated food truck, he turns his head back towards Aiden, "Know anyplace I can get a pair of ice skates, then?" he asks, expecting the winged one to start moving as well.
Aiden raises a drawn on eyebrow for a bit in contimplation as he follws along with Ash before answering. "Noooo…I don't. I'm not really the sports type but I'm sure there are sports stores around here. Man I haven't ice skated since I was really little. Well not really little but like since I was ten. It just feels a lot longer."
"Damn…" Ash mutters as he slips into the line of people waiting to order at the Frites & Meat truck. "I know it's summer and all, but there's got to be someplace in New York City that'll sell me a pair of ice skates…." he grumbles, mostly to himself, as he leans to check out the menu on the other side of the back of the head currently in his way.
"There probably is just me and sports aren't something that really go hand in hand." Aiden says with a grin. "Well unless you count fire breathing as a sport but I highly doubt that. I'm sure you can use that internet thing to look it up. I'm told that you can use it to find stuff."
The mention of firebreathing causes Ash to cast a sidelong glance towards Aiden, as he wonders what it is with him and attracting firebugs lately. He doesn't pursue that course of inquiry, however, instead choosing to grump about "Yeah, I probably could, if I had access to the ‘Net…" he says, lifting up the 2-year old shopping guide that he’s been using as a point of reference in its stead.
It takes Aiden a second to register that 'net is slang for Internet and he nods. "Sorry, I don't have anything that connects to it but there's the library that allows you to look up stuff for free. That's where I tend to go when trying to look stuff up but I never seem to find what I'm looking for." He says with a grin though his tattoos change to a blueish green colour. "But I bet finding ice skates in New York city over the internet computer would be easier than trying to find people."
The color changing tattoos bring a twitch to Ash's brow, a slight lift of surprise. He handled the wings easier than he handled the magic inkwork. "Yeah, I'll prolly end up having to do that, or head back to school…" he grouses, pitching the useless field guide into a trash bin nearby to the line. Unless, of course, Cloud returns from his momentary zone-out by the lake to be pressured into giving a helping hand.
Noticing the look on Ashley's face, Aiden gives a grin. "They tend to do that. No big surpise that I'm a mutant. They change colour based on what I'm feeling. Besides having a handsome set of wings I'm also an empath." Then at the mention of school, Aiden just shrugs. "School overrated, or for me it was. Actually I shouldn't be discouraging people from going to school. I just never really found it something I missed or something that caused me to miss out on stuff." He then looks at Ashley for a bit. "Sorry if I'm bothering you, I just tend to yabber on at people."
"Oh, I'm stuck with school, at least for another year…" Ash grumbles in reply, his attitude darkening briefly at the concept. "..but I'm sure they'll teach me somethin' useful." he muses. He is going to Xaviers, after all, even if that's not a fact he shares.
The youth continues through the line as people place and receive their orders, and narrow shoulders shrug under the layers of cotton. "Eh." he answers, rather noncommitally, at the concept of being bothered, as his attention goes back to the food menu.
"I never finished school. Never really had the chance but I don't think I missed out on anything. But like I said I do the whole fire breathing thing, among other things. I do a whole act in a Freak Show so I don't think knowing the history of Canada or United States or whatever is really needed for what I do." Aiden rambles.
Alright, the second mention of firebreathing has really drawn Ashley's attention. Turning to face Aiden, his head tilts to the side, "All that…" he starts, motioning towards Aiden's physical mutations, "…and you're a firebug, too?" he asks, a touch of slight amusement in his tone.
Aiden raises an eyebrow in a questioning look. "Firebug? I wouldn't really call myself that. I also do a bit of escape artist work and sword swallowing. Fire breathing and Fire dancing are also part of my act, I just don't do the fire swallowing thing." He says as he's not itching to try that. "I don't have any firey mutation stuff if that's what you mean, I'm just a empathic bird guy."
And here Ash was thinking that the Mutant God was being really funny and throwing a bunch of pyros at him. Well, at least Aiden isn't seriously invading Ashley's personal space and asking all sorts of personal questions, like other firebugs he knows.
"So, so it's like spitting alcohol over a torch kinda firebreathing?" Ash asks to clarify, "…y'know, the 'normal' way." as he shuffles forward a bit further in line.
"More like lamp oil, but yes. And Yes, the..uh..normal way. After I left home I got picked up by a mutant freakshow and thus..learned the trade. I've been doing it for ten years now." Aiden says. "That's what these things are for." He says holding up the batons. "I was gonna practice my fire breathing and fire dancing before heading to Coney Island to work for the night but, I like talking to people."
"Well, normal as opposed to mutation-based…" Ash muses. In the back of his mind, now he's wondering if he could pull off a trick like that. But the more forward part of said grey matter is focusing on the fact that it's almost his turn to order, yay food. "If you need to practice, don't let me stop you. I'm gonna be a poor conversationalist.." …what, he was a good one in the first place? "…here in a minute, anyway…" he says, motioning to his place in line.
"Yeah…I should leave you be anyway. Well it was nice meeting you and if you ever want to catch the show in Coney Island, that'd be pretty awesome. Well..I hope you find your ice skates." Aiden says with a smile as he gives a wave. "Take care!" He says before heading back to his stuff and fooling around with his small CD player.
