Players:
Summary: Giea, Fiona and Hildegarde meet up and chat.
Date: March 30, 2011.
Log Title: Kick and Villains
Rating: G.
NYC - Upper East Side
The Upper East Side of New York City is New York's richest living area. The apartments here are off the most expensive in New York, and in the United States, and the businesses that make their home here are some of the wealthiest companies. Elegant rows of landmark townhouses line the side streets. There aren't as many shops here as there is housing and businesses.
Fiona is out for a stroll tonight! Is she doing the crime fighting thing? Who knows! Who cares! It's definitely past her curfew though. Like, way past. Still, she likes the night air, less people out on the sidewalks… it's… quite nice, yes? She looks up at the moon as she walks; assuming there is one. And there damn well better be, or else everyone's in a lot of trouble!
Giea wanders down the street, tapping her cane against the ground in front of her. The neighbourhood is familiar to her, as she's walked it many times in the past. She knows when and where to turn in order to get back to her house, and with her sense of direction, it's surprising that she'd even manage to navigate that far. She does not look at the moon, nor does she look straight ahead. Her gait is slow, leisurely, like she doesn't want to get to its endpoint any time soon.
Tap tap tap… Yep! Fiona can definitely hear that, and it draws her attention to the woman using the cane. This being NYC, blind people are… if not common, then, not unheard of, given simply how MANY people live in a city this size. Fiona doesn't usually see them out alone at night, and many times they have a seeing eye dog so… it's pretty interesting. Reminds her a bit of sophie, actually… Enough to say, "Hi!" at least, in greeting. Her voice sounds rather cheerful, despite all the goings on.
Giea pauses for a moment at hearing the voice. She seems to be unsure as she tries to orient herself. Reaching across to touch the watch on her other wrist, Giea responds, "Hello?" She takes a few steps to turn in Fiona's general direction, smiling politely, "Who am I talking to?"
"Me!" Fiona says, "I'm Fiona. I'm just a high schooler around here," she nods - not that Giea can see it. "I just thought I'd say hi," she says cheerfully, "So you wouldn't have to wonder."
"Oh, well, thanks for stopping to say hi," says Giea, smiling at that. "I'm Giea, I live down the street and around the corner." She holds her cane a little bit closer to herself and smiles more brightly, "Are you enjoying your studies?"
"Well, you know… sometimes it's fun, most of the time I just do it 'cause I have to. Everyone keeps saying that it'll get better once I graduate… I guess I believe that, 'cause in college I'll be able to study whatever I want, yanno?" Fiona shrugs a little - typical apathetic high schooler, right here!
"Right! It's much better when you move on to do better things," says Giea, still smiling as she says that, "Whatever you want to do, whether an apprenticeship, or college, or whatever, it's your choice. I was lucky enough to get into NYU, which I didn't expect with my high school grades, I'm doing religious studies there right now."
"Religious studies huh? That's pretty cool. I was never really into religion that much, but lately, I've been starting to think that maybe there's something to it all… I don't mean like, any specific one, but, maybe as a collective they're on to something…" Of course, Fiona certainly WOULD think that, given everything she's been through. If there's a Hell, there must be a heaven of some kind, right? … Right?
"I'm generally interested in religious mythology and what it means to people, how they react to it. I'd consider myself spiritual, but… I have a hard time figuring out which would be the true religion," says Giea, smiling, "It's pretty cultural. What's been making you think there's something to it, if you don't mind my asking? I know it's a pretty personal question." She shifts slightly and leans forward on her cane, just slightly, since it's not meant to actually support weight.
"Well, just certain things… You know, supernatural stuff going on. I don't think subscribing to any one particular religion would be right, you know, but the idea that there's more to the world than just what you see, I think that's probably spot on! I mean sure there're mutants and whatever. But what if mutants weren't as common as they are? What if there were only a few of them. Nobody would ever believe it, right?" Fiona questions - it's rhetorical, though. "Well, you know… what if spiritual stuff is actually like that? Plenty of people don't believe in magic… even mutants who can do all sorts of crazy stuff."
A small crowd of people comes up from underground and wanders past the two girls. The computerized voice of the subway system can be heard echoing from down below before the train speeds off downtown again. A few minutes after everyone else is up on ground level there is a rather loud clanking noise coming from that stairwell. A woman emerges who looks not unlike most people in the city. She is dressed as though she may be wealthier than most, but other than that nothing seems to stand out. She pauses at the top of the stairs and looks around for a moment before moving toward Fiona and Giea. As she moves it becomes aparant that the sound is coming from her boots, which appear to be plated on the bottoms with metal.
Hildegards pauses once more and holds a finger up to her mouth as she looks up one street and down another. She mutters something that sounds German and approaches the two girls. "Um…Excuse me, I don't mean to bother you but…The subways are all messed up from the construction. Am I anywhere near Grand Central Terminal?" The woman is Hildegarde VonRegenleif. She's not terribly famous, but she's been on TV a few times for some books she wrote a short while back.
"Well, that's certainly true, and in a world where we see all kinds of seemingly miraculous, unexplainable things, well, I'm kind of surprised more people don't believe! But that's fine, everyone finds their own route to fulfillment," says Giea, nodding firmly at that. As Hilde speaks, Giea tries to reorient herself so she is facing between Hilde and Fiona. "Grand Central Terminal? I'm not sure."
Fiona gives Hilde a bit of an odd look, somewhat confused by the clanking noise. Who wears metal boots? Furthermore, who wears metal boots and then doesn't appear to be at all constrained by the massive weight of the things? "I'm pretty sure we're not anywhere near it… But… I'm not really sure how to get here from there, either. I'm a little further from home… than normal, I guess."
The woman frowns and makes a slightly appologetic expression as she notices Giea's condition. "Ah well…" She turns away from the two and glances around again. "Oh wait, is that…That's Stark Tower there? And…" SHe glances around some more. "Oh and Christler is way down there. Looks like I'm about fifty blocks north." She mutters something unpleasant in German and glances at her watch. "Looks like I'll be catching the late train back to Westchester…Or I could Taxi I suppose." She glances back at Fiona, "Oh? A tourist?"
"Oh, yeah, I've been told that Stark Tower is around here." She gestures accurately in its general direction, but it's not terribly accurate, "Sorry that you were so inconvenienced… I get lost a lot on the train, too." She taps the cane on the ground a couple of times and notes, "I'm Giea Parkin, by the way. Do you need any help getting to where you're going?"
"Er, no, not really! I just live over in Manhattan, so I'm not sure I could give you direction to get there from here… I'm sure I could find it, though," Fiona says pretty confidently. "At least, I'd hope so…" she blinks, "Oh, Westchester? I have a couple friends that live out there."
"Er, no, not really! I just live around here, I'm just not quite as familiar with this part of the neighborhood, that's all.." That and it's dark! Um, yes. Temporary lapse, right? "I'm sure I could find it, though," Fiona says pretty confidently. "At least, I'd hope so…" she blinks, "Oh, Westchester? I have a couple friends that live out there."
Hilde smiles at Giea. "Giea? Nice to meet you. I'm Hilde. Hildegarde erm… VonRegenleif." She says the last name a little quickly. She is on talkshows occasionally, but the reason she's a little hesitant about her last name right now is the appearance of another VonRegenleif in the media. Hilde's sister, Elke, has been rising up in the ranks of pop culture with her band "Nixie".
The woman turns now and smiles at Fiona, "Ah it happens to everyone. It just happened to me, after all. And yes, up in Westchester. It's a little inconvenient that the subway doesn't go up there. Though I suppose it works out for the best."
"VonRegenleif?" Fiona seems to recognize that name, though, maybe she's not sure what it associates with. "Hm… that sounds pretty familiar," she nods. "Well anyway, I'm Fiona. O'mally," she introduces herself - her name is not particularly famous for anything! And neither is anybody in her family really.
"Oh, Hildegarde VonRegenleif?" repeats Giea, eyebrows raising up. "Are you… um, excuse me for asking, since I have a hard time recognizing people, but are you the author of Descendents of the Gods? I'm a fan of your work, I read it a little while ago. Well, on audiobook. If you are, that is. But it doesn't strike me as a terribly common name…"
Hilde is about to tell Fiona that her last name is terribly common and that's why she heard it somewhere, but then Giea mentions that it isn't common. Of course it's not common, but at least the girl recognised Hilde and not her sister. "Oh? Yes I wrote that book. Glad to meet a fan. Actually I am coming back from a reading at Cornell now." She stops and studdies the two girls. Nope, neither appear to be students. "And hello Fiona, nice to meet you as well."
"It was very interesting. I'm a religious studies major right now, and I've read your other books. I'm also interested in the mutant community, I run a blog about human rights issues. Usually with a focus on deaf and blind culture," says Giea, gesturing next to her ear to indicate her hearing aid, "But also racial and mutant issues… But I, um, shouldn't bore you with my silly blog stuff."
Hilde waves a hand dismissively and then stops and puts it down, realising the girl cannot see her gesture. "Oh I'm quite alright with such things. Most of my books are written about the anthropological and evolutionary aspects of mutation, but I also am fairly active in the mutant community of this city. It seems harder and harder to NOT be involved with the human rights of mutants in this city. Especially if you happen to BE a mutant. Especially a publically known mutant who writes about it."
"Yeah, I have… noticed that. I mean, I'm not even a mutant, and I got caught up in it!" Fiona glances over at Hilde, still wondering about the boots. "What about, I dunno, other superhuman powers though? I mean, you know, non-birth mutations and such…"
"I suppose not. I try to be involved with mutant human rights as much as I can, even though I'm a non-mutant," says Giea, smiling, "But I admit, at the moment that's not much, but hopefully I can get my voice heard more than just on the internet." She shakes her head and makes a huffing sound, "It's just such a shame."
Hilde glances at Fiona. "Non birth mutations? I suppose genetic modification could cause mutations to occur. And people not from this planet can also have abilities that may seem superhuman. I hear an alien or two works for…Someplace that I know of." Probably shouldn't mention Barnes to a couple of people she met on the street. And I've heard vague rumors of a girl who claims to be related to a demon, though I don't know what that's all about." Hilde shrugs and turns to Giea, "Well every little bit helps. The internet has become a powerful tool. And especially now it's probably the best way to get your message out. Mutant Town is having drug issues it seems. People who are generally peaceful have turned violent and people who are generally violent have turned…More violent I suppose."
"Yeah I've run into a few of those myself… it's pretty nasty, this drug called Kick. It seems to drive people insane," the sorceress murmurs. "I mean, like, off the wall. It's almost like Meth or something, but it increases their powers too. There doesn't seem to be much the cops can do about it, either, I mean, how do you face down a guy who can summon a 3 story sand monster with pistols?" Fiona questions, shaking her head. She seems worried that the violence will spread to other parts of the city.
"Yeah, I've heard about the surge in drug violence in Mutant Town lately. I admit, I don't know much about it, except that sellers are taking advantage of the issues at play there. And this NMO… really, it's kind of scary. I'm worried that it'll set back public perceptions," says Giea, putting both her hands on the top of her cane.
Hilde nods and ponders for a moment. "Yes the sand mutant is problematic. He calls himself something odd. Wallaby or something. I know during the Mutant Town shootings someone blew him up and we all thought he died. And I heard somewhere that someone took him out with a lot of water once. Honestly he's problematic enough when he's not high. If he's on Kick it could get really bad." She nods again, "And yes the New Mutant Order could really screw things up down there. We just narrowly avoided a war with the NYPD down there. If narcotics are suddenly an issue it could trigger a nasty backlash from the authorities."
Fiona nods, rubbing the back of her neck, "Well, I ran into him the other night and he actually WAS on Kick, he acted totally insane. We fought for a little bit and then he left me alone though." She thinks, anyway. Yeah, she's just going to say that! "Of his own accord, though."
"Wow, that sounds really scary. I don't even know what that'd be like to get attacked by someone like that…" says Giea, looking mildly horrified. "I guess I'm relatively defenceless, though. Which I guess some people take as a message to pick on me, but there seems little point in that."
Hilde frowns. "I'm not familiar enough with him to guess why he'd just wander off. From what the papers say he seems to run around attacking people in retribution or to protect Mutant Town. Maybe he stopped seeing you as a threat? Or maybe the kick wore off I don't know." She shakes her head, "Either way I don't think I've heard of any mutants good or bad who'd attack an innocent bystander with no way of defending herself."
"Yeah, something like that, I think the Kick wore off…" Fiona shrugs, "I'm not exactly defenseless, anyway. But, I don't think he'd just attack you, I said something to him first. I forget what it was. The whole evening is rather blurry, actually."
"Oh, no, people usually just make fun and stuff. That's what I mean. I don't think it's usually mutants or anyone in particular, but this Envy woman, she threatened me before, tried to kidnap me or something? But I think she's a little, um, unwell." Giea makes a bit of a face at that, before adding, "Still scary, though."
Hilde nods. "Yeah. Not quite sure how Kick works or why or what it does afterward. Maybe I should look into that. If I can understand it better maybe I can use what I learn if a Kicker gets violent with me." She ponders for a moment, "Envy…Envy…It sounds vaguely familiar, but nothing comes to mind immediately. She tried to kidnap you? Something on your blog?"
"Hm… Envy…" Fiona murmurs, "The name sounds a bit familiar… But… that's pretty nasty. Yeah, why WOULD someone try to kidnap you? You can't be that radical… I mean, you're not one of those mutant haters, right?"
"I dunno. I mean, I guess she was trying to use me to threaten other people who were there? I don't imagine I'd blog anything that should offend her so much," says Giea, looking rather perplexed. "I'm kind of aligned with those who advocate for human rights for mutants."
Hilde nods. "Yes I don't think there are many mutants out there that would attack someone on their side. I find it hard to believe anyone would be out to get you." She shrugs and glances at her watch again. "Well I suppose I should catach a Taxi before it gets too late. Luckily the traffic isn't so bad this time of night. It was nice meeting you both."
Fiona nods, giving Hilde a wave goodbye, "Yeah! Seems like I'm meeting a lot of very interesting people lately…" she decides, "Have a safe trip home!" she turns to Giea, "Myabe…"
"I find it hard to believe, too. I don't know if she is out to get me, in particular, but it was scary when it was happening," says Giea, shrugging slightly. "It was nice meeting you too, Ms. VonRegenleif. I hope to make it out to you speaking sometime." She turns towards Fiona again and notes, "Well, it's always nice to meet new people."
Hilde offers the two another quick wave and steps toward the street to hail a cab. One arrives rather quickly and the woman gets in. If she's looking, Fiona may notice that the Taxi lowers substantially as Hilde boards. It seems that the woman probably weighs much more than she appears to. After a moment the Taxi takes off down the street.
Fiona blinks at the taxi as it drives off - then turns back to Giea, "Yeah. I can imagine that would be rather scary… I mean, well. Especially if you didn't have any way of fightinb ack." Now that Hilde is gone, Fiona makes a squick swipe with her portal keys, opening one up - and yanking out her cell phone. "Well look, if anything like that ever happens again, call me, okay? I may not be a mutant, but I do have abilities that can help out…" She says, before facepalming a bit, realizing the other girl is blind. "Erm, I can put it in your phone if you want!" she says sheepishly.
"Well, um, thank you," says Giea, raising her eyebrows slightly in a surprised expression. "I'm not really much of a fighter or anything. I mean, most people've got an advantage over me anyways." She pulls out her cellphone and opens it up, "What's your number? I can input it alright."
Fiona reads Giea off her number, nodding, "I suppose I'll tell you more about it later! Maybe over the phone or something. I don't really feel that comfortable discussing it right this minute, though."
"That's fair," says Giea, nodding, "I'm not really sure who would overhear or anything, but I guess there must be people around. There's always people around." She feels the handle of her cane and notes, "So you live in this area?"
"Yep! All my life, actually," Fiona nods at Giea, stretching and yawning. "I'm pretty familiar with it, but sometimes I get a bit ditzy, especially if someone puts me on the spot."
"I see. I'm not really good at navigating, so even in this area I'll sometimes get lost. I usually take my time when I'm out on walks, though," says Giea, smiling cheerily, "But when people ask for directions, I never know where to point! It's hard to remember."
"Yeah, I'm kinda the same way, I mean, I'm not blind or anything, I just sort of have a horrible sense of direction," Fiona laughs, shrugging a little bit.
Chuckling, Giea says, "Well, I don't think I have a bad sense of direction 'cause I'm blind. I know better navigators than myself who are also blind. That being said, it makes it hard to use landmarks at all."
Chuckling, Giea says, "Well, I don't think I have a bad sense of direction 'cause I'm blind. I know better navigators than myself who are also blind. That being said, it makes it hard to use landmarks at all."(re)
Fiona nods, yawning, "Well, I actually live up… thattaway," Fiona points down 59th street, "Actually," she laughs a little, "So it's not THAT confusing. Not really," she decides.
"I don't know what thattaway is," says Giea, seeming a bit amused at that. She shrugs and gestures off in the general direction of her home, pointing her cane, "I know my place is just over there."
"Oh, I meant the other side of Central Park… you know, Upper West Side," Fiona's face goes red - she's very embarassed about that, but it's probably better for her that Giea can't actually see it. "Oh, well that's neat! We live on opposite sides of the park, then."
Giea nods, and smiles, "I suppose we do…" She turns in the general direction of the park and says, "It's a long way to cross without getting turned about, though!"
"Speaking of which, I should probably be gettin' home though," Fiona decides, looking back across the park again. "But, we can always meet up pretty easily! I can come over here. I have a bike'n stuff. Though, I'm trying to get my dad to buy me a scooter. I'm pretty close, I think!" she gives Giea another wave, before realizing it won't be seen, "Anyway, nice meetin you! See you later!" she calls as she skips off down the street.
