Players:
Summary: Kalindi spots an opportunity in a homeless teen.
Date: November 18, 2009
Log Title What Do You Have To Sell?
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'.
Today Jeremy has decided to camp out in the park in mutant town. He sits against a low wall in the part with a thin, ragged blanket around him. A carbord sign reads 'hungry, homeless, please help'. It's been a long time since he's been ashamed to beg for money. Jeremy's hair is tangled and ragged and he looks in dire need of a wash but it's not something he can easily get.
Kalindi, adorned with some kind of clips in her hair, that make it seem that there are strands of gold in her black hair, pauses when she sees Jeremy. She has been feeling pretty normal for the last few moments, but when she dresses herself, she seems to not really be dressing in her own style anymore. She wears a red and black dress, more suitable for a little girl than for a teen. Kali pauses upon seeing Jeremy and tugs on her backpack. She walks up to him and says in her strange otherworldly accent, "What is it that you eat?"
Jeremy looks up at Kalindi and is kind of surprised at being talked to. Most people just tend to ignore him. "What to I eat?" He asks sounding a bit taken back. "Uhh..anything." When you haven't had a decent meal in a long time, you can't be picky. He pulls the blanket tighter around him, but if he's cold or it's a defensive act, it's hard to tell. "Are you going to help me?"
"Well, you see," Kalindi begins, "when I was cooking for my lunch this morning, my servants made me some sandwiches." She kneels down and puts her backpack down in front of her, opening it up. Other than the sandwiches she referred to, there is plenty of glittering gold. Since it's all in one lump, it would be ridiculously difficult to steal. It's a wonder that a girl with her frame could even possibly carry such a thing. "The first one, it was too big. I could not get my mouth around it." She pulls that sandwich out of the bag. "The second one, ah, it was too small. There was nothing on it." Because Kalindi is a vegetarian, both of the sandwiches she pulls out just have some vegetables on them. She puts those two wrapped sandwiches in from of Jeremy and pulls out the last one and says, "This one. This one is just right. It is for me."
Jeremy's eyes do widen at spotting the gold his mind can't help but think of what he could use it for, none of it good. "Thank you." He stammers out as he reaches to grab one of the sandwhiches offered. Jeremy doen't care what's on them, just that it's food. On his hands are a pair of gloves with a few holes in them, and he doesn't bother taking them off. It's weird because he seems to make sure that any of the gloved fingers with holes in them don't touch the sandwhich. "Thank you for sharing your lunch."
"Oh, this is not my lunch. My lunch was made earlier, this morning. This is for if I am not home for dinner, I will have something to keep up my strength." Kali closes the backpack and lifts it up by one of the straps (which seems to have a gold clasp on it) almost effortlessly, despite what must be very heavy contents. "I was going to get rid of those sandwiches anyways. I do not give things away that I would use. Those things, I would only sell."
Jeremy nods as he eats the sandwhich given to him, maybe a bit too fast, but then he's so skinny it's hard to tell when he's last eaten. He seems very imtimitated by Kalindi, mainly because she mentioned servants and she seems like a rich, well off woman and Jeremy is niether rich nor well off. "I don't really have anything to sell, I just try to get by day to day."
This is when Kalindi smiles pleasantly and sits down on the grass in front of Jeremy. She has no qualms with entering into negotiations with people who are under duress, and that's exactly what she intends to do. She takes a bite of her own sandwich and says thoughtfully, "You have many things to sell, I am certain. Things you can do, things you have learned, things like that."
"I..I can't do anything." Jeremy says quickly, shaking his head. "I haven't learned anything either." He is being a bit defensive as he has secrets he does hide and he doesn't really trust anyone. "I am just trying to get by is all." He says shaking a bit as if he's cold or scared.
Kalindi smiles and says, "Nothing at all? That is such a pity. I can't buy nothing at all." She takes another bite from her sandwich and chews on it thoughtfully, "What is your name? I am Kalindi."
"I have nothing to sell, like I said before." Jeremy is also terrified to admit he's a mutant and not many people know that about the teen. "I am Jeremy." The Asian says as he's already finished the sandwhich Kalindi gave him. "Thank you again for the food. I don't get to eat that often."
Kalindi shakes her head and says, "Oh, the food, it is no bother." She gestures towards the other sandwich, that is as of yet uneaten. "Take that one, too. It is just bread and cucumbers and some dressing. Nothing nice, but more food." She brushes her hair from her eyes, "What is it that you believe, Jeremy? What do you think?" She takes another bite of her sandwich.
Jeremy reaches out with a shaking hand and takes the second sandwhich, it's been a while since his last fix and he's starting to feel it a bit. "Th-thank you." He says taking a bite from the second sandwhich, eating this one a bit slower. "What do you mean by what I believe in? I'm not reglious or anything. And I don't really think much, just that this life sucks?" He says not really sure what she's asking.
"Do you believe in souls? Do you think there is such a thing?" says Kalindi, shrugging. "I am not asking if you are religious. Just what you believe in." She eyes Jeremy for a couple of moments and says, "And… Is there anything that you want in life?"
"I never really thought about it." Jeremy admits. "I am from an area where a lot of people believe in that sort of thing but I dunno." He was never really religous where a lot of people around where he lived were. "I think there are things everyone wants in life, I mean does wanting a new life count?"
"What would you do to get a new life? What would be different?" says Kalindi, tilting her head. "And what kind of life do you want? Me, I would not take a new life. But I guess that this one is my new life, and my old one is gone already."
"I wouldn't know what to do to get a new life." Jeremy says nervously. He tenses up a bit and starts to look around his blanket, patting his pockets to see if he has a cigarette. Afer a bit of searching he finally finds one and a pack of matches. "What are you trying to ask me? Why do you want to know about me?" He asks lighting the cigarette with a shaking hand. He's getting nervous around Kalindi but it's not hard for JEremy to get nervous around people.
"When I see people in your situation, who seem to have nothing to lose, I wonder if I should maybe do something," says Kalindi, thoughtfully. She shrugs and notes, "But it is like I say, I can't give away anything that I will use. That, I can only sell. But you have nothing to offer, nothing to exchange. Do you see my dilemma?"
"I can give you my old blanket or some of the old clothes I have, that's about all I own. Stuff I can find on the street." Jeremy doesn't understand that he can sell nonmaterial things, and that's it is what Kalindi is hinting at. "The last time someone told me they could help me it just made it worse."
"What did they do to try and help you?" says Kalindi, perhaps a bit warily. She's not really interested in repeating any other kinds of offers Jeremy might have rejected in the past. "Do you think that I am here to do you harm?" she asks, to follow up her first question.
Jeremy chews on his lower lip between drags from the cigerette and doesn't know how to asnwer that. "They just offered something to help, and to take away…..my problems. It works but it doesn't." He says bring the cigerette back to his lips. "I don't know, anyone can bring you harm, even if it's people you love."
Kalindi shrugs and says, "Anyone can bring you help, even if it is a stranger." She finishes off her sandwich and says, "Do not be so quick to dismiss opportunity, because it does not come around very often. Just be sure to understand the bargains you make."
Jeremy shakes his head, the last time he let someone help him he ended up with a drug problem. He just have trust issues. "Well you did help with the food, and for that, I thank you." He says trying to stound polite and not ungrateful. "I really do appricate the sandwiches."
Kalindi nods and she says, "Mmmm. Maybe next time I have leftovers I will bring them to you, if I can find you." She doesn't really expect to be making any bargains at this point, since Jeremy doesn't seem the type, but she's willing to try and wear him down over a longer period. "Something better than these sandwiches. I did not even make those."
"Thank you." Though Jeremy isn't about to say where he'll be next because he doesn't exactly know. "The sandwiches were delcious." He's not choosey about what he eats. "They were fresh and I really did like them. I haven't had cucumber in a long time." Where some bums will complain about food given to them, Jeremy is just thankful for anything.
Kalindi smiles at Jeremy and states, "Ah, well it is not a problem. It is as I say, though, if I have leftovers, you will taste something that I cooked myself. I am good at it, you know." She is sitting on the grass not too far from Jeremy, who seems to have set up camp as a beggar in the park.
Jeremy takes a final drag off his cigarette, his hand still shaking, before putting it out in the dirt and pull the worn blanket tight around himself again. There's a sign next to him that says 'hungry, homeless, please help'. "Thank you, I haven't had a home cooked meal since I left home." Even at the runaway shelter it wasn't exactly home cooked food, more like cafeteria food. Once in a while he'll hit up the soup kitchens. He does return the smile, even if it is a small nervous one.
Kalindi nods and says, "I am a vegetarian, though, so if you are wanting meat, you will have to suffer without." She gets quite in a huff when people complain that none of her meals have any dead animals involved. "I will be making dinner tonight, I think. If you are still here in the morning, I will give you some."
"I'm really not picky, I'm happy with any food I get." Jeremy says as he's not about to complain about not having meat if it means having food. "Thank you, I'm not sure if I'll be here in the morning…it all depends." If a cop comes by and yells at him for being there or not or if he finds another place to wander too. Jeremy doesn't really plan where he's going to be.
Taking a trip into mutant town is always a different experience, and like it's namesake, there are many folks here who are mutants. Brian himself doesn't look mutated though. His crimson red hair being one of the only things that may give him away. The Xavierite looks up in the sky as he walks around the park. He notices that Jeremy has made camp up here, and notices the sign. He turns his back while he looks in his shirt pocket for some cash that he can offer the homeless mutant.
Kalindi doesn't notice Brian at the moment and she says, "Then I will have leftovers, and my servants will have some. This is fine, too." She claps her hands together to suggest that this is a great thing either way. She glances idly around the park.
"It must be nice…to have servents. You must be really rich." Jeremy just says bluntly. All her talk of servents and the large amount of gold in her backpack just leads him to believe that. "I wish I had something to offer you in return but I don't think you want what I have."
Brian moves to the two talking. "Here, man. It's not much, but it's what I got on me." He bids, extending out the thirty dollars to Jeremy. The look on his face is not pity, but a kind of optimistic smile. He doesn't acknowledge Kalindi right now, but that's because he's kind of focused on Jeremy's situation.
"Eh, they are rich, I have some money, but it is the servants who are richer," says Kalindi, being quite honest, even though the statement doesn't really make much sense in most contexts. Being that she kind of leads a cult, though, that's natural. She is startled by Brian's approach but this just causes her to look over at him with a bewildered expression.
Jeremy looks up at Brian and blinks as he's handed the money. He's surprised but he's not too proud to take it as a gloved hand, with holes in it, reache out to take the money. Once Jeremy counts it seems surprised. "Are you sure mister?" Even though Brian can't be much older than him. He's not going to pass on that much money, that's good to go for drug money. "Servants who are richer? Still it must be nice."
Brian gives a nod to Jeremy. "Yeah. Go ahead." He says, drawing his hand back and smiling. As he believes in karma, he's feeling a bit good right now. The energy projector looks to Kalindi, wondering about richer servants and all that.
Kalindi just blinks a couple of times at Brian, exchanging look for look, and then says to Jeremy, "Well, yes, it is. They are very useful to have around, and it would be lonely if I lived alone."
Jeremy takes the money and puts it in his pocket feeling a bit more in higher spirits. "It does get lonely being a lone but I'd rather be alone than give up." And die he means but he doesn't say the last part. At least he knows he'll be getting his next fix soon and that's good for the pre cognative.
Brian just nods and starts to leave, the talk of servants makes him a bit…disconnected from the situation. Even if he did live in a mansion, everyone does their part. Or you know, are forced to because of punishment. But even then it's like washing the dishes or yardwork.
Kalindi nods her head slowly at Jeremy and says, "Well, you should not give up. Maybe you will get an opportunity that you can take." She stands up and pulls her bag up onto her shoulder.
Jeremy watches Brian leave with a faint smile on his face, at least there is some relife in site for him. "I haven't given up on living yet, I don't think I will either." He looks downs and sighs. "There really aren't many oportunties for a washed out teenager like me."
Kalindi smiles and says, "Well, I am sure that we will see about that." If one knew Kalindi better, this might almost come off as an unnerving kind of statement. However, she just appears to be a teenage girl. She uses her fingertip to draw some gold from her backpack, and she forms a disc of it. "I will have to be going. Maybe we will see one another again." She steps onto the disc and waves.
Jeremy is sure if he's glad or not that someone is positive about his future but a part of him thinks it's because she's well off and just thinks it's easier since she doesn't know his hardships. "Thanks again for the food and take care." He says as he just stares wided eyed as she leaves on her gold disc. Maybe she's a mutant too…Jeremy almost wants to kick himself for being so guarded.
