Raaaiiiiiidddd!!!!!

Participants:

caleb_icon.gif kendall_icon.gif

Scene Title RAIIIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDD!!!!!
Synopsis There's a slight bug mishap in the library, and Caleb meets Kendall who offers him a place to stay.
Date April 18, 2010

Brooklyn Public Library

The central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library was designed to resemble an open book, two wings stretching out along the bordering streets, with the main entrance located at their hinge. Inside is the heart of one of the nation's largest public library systems; the Central Library alone contains over 1.5 million books, magazines, and other materials. It also contains the Brooklyn Collection, an assortment of references and ephemera that chronicle the history of the borough, and a Multilingual Center for non-English speakers and linguistic scholars. A cafe on the first floor sells coffee and snacks, while a restaurant on the third floor (open weekdays only) sells cafeteria-style meals. Internet access is freely available throughout the building.


Its cold, and its snowing. Though, even that isn't much of a real departure from the normal that has overcome New York City. The unseasonable coldness is becoming more and more of a problem as system after system begins to fail. Rolling blackouts are no longer uncommon, and more and more people find that they just can't keep warm in their apartments.

Such it is that people gather in public places, with another blackout striking Brooklyn, a host of people have found themselves gathering at the Library, with its generator. Someone has set up a drink line that is serving coffee and cocoa, people doing their best to make things better for their fellow man.

Kendall had just recently gotten over being sick with the Evo flu, so snow or not, he wanted to get out. And what better place to go than the library? He's missed reading books, and libraries are always free… provided that you don't return books late or something. Therefore, he's just one of the crowd huddling for warmth in the building, a look of resignation on his face. Man…

Caleb is looking for somewhere to shelter from the cold, anywhere, even a library, the brown haired teen is dressed in blue jeans, a light grey t-shirt, a dark grey jacket with two purple strips around the shoulders, a black cross around hi neck, black and purple sneakers, is wearing eyeliner and black nailvarnish, his overall look is quite scruffy, but he has an excuse, he's been living on the run for the last three months so hasn't exactly kept up with his laundry. He walks into the library and heads for the nearest radiator.

As the people huddle, there is suddenly the sound of clicks, and small squeaks. People begin to look around as to the cause of the sound, when suddenly there is a shriek, followed by people dashing away from one corner where what looks like a liquid is spreading on the floor, until you get a closer look at it and realize its a /lot/ of bugs. Roaches, and silverfish mostly, but also some spiders, and they'er spreading right for Caleb's little radiator and Kendall's table.

Kendall looks up to see what the commotion is, and he gapes at the insects before he hastily claims a chair and lifts his feet up to avoid getting, uh… 'bugged'. he sits on his feet and gazes at the insects with bemusement. "What, you mean the cold didn't kill them?"

Caleb looks up at the shriek and his eyes widen in fear when he sees the spiders among the other insects, with a yelp he runs and jumps up onto a nearby table, theres a crackle of electricity in his palms, "Why did it have to be spiders?"

A woman next to Kendall looks over at him and replies, "Well, obviously not." Her eyes looking at the swarm of insects as they begin to over run the library, coming out of the literal woodwork to gather towards a small girl who is cuddled near the back of the room, her eyes looking around in fear as they bugs begin to crawl around her, some of the more vicious bugs biting and stinging those who are too close.

Kendall blinks over at Caleb when he makes with the electropalms. Dude… The lady is more or less ignored since she's being all snarky. The little girl towards the back is eyed next, and Kendall tilts his head. "Is she doing this?" he wonders out loud.

Caleb eyes are also drawn to the little girl, he looks around to see if theres anyone nearby to help her, sorry but he is not getting off the table, "Wheres a couple of hundred cans of bug spray when you need it?", he's currently oblivious to the exchange between the other two.

The woman next to Kendall replies, "Hell if I know? I've never even seen that child before." Her eyes looking back towards Kendall for a moment, before she looks back to the girl, who seems to be relaxing slightly now that she is rather surrounded by bugs.

Kendall looks over at Caleb. "Well how about you? You seem to be one giant bug zapper anyway, right?" He's still perched on his chair and making no move to change that.

Caleb looks round at Kendall, looking even more freaked out than before, "I…, i don't know what you mean", he didn't notice his ability spark up before and is terrified by the thought that Kendall might know.

The bugs continue to swarm around the little girl as she whimpers softly, eyes going from person to person while she sits there, before she finally says, "I can't stop…"

Kendall looks over at Caleb, then at those around him, then at the little girl. "Pretend they're not there, or tell them to go away?" he suggests. He really has no idea, but at least he's not freaking out over any show of power like he would've a month or two ago. "And right." he adds to Caleb. "What was that lightshow then?"

Caleb mouths the words 'can't stop', "Is that girl the one doing this", he's not asking anyone in particular, he's keeping an eye out to make sure no spiders are making their way up the table before looking over at Kendall, "I don't know, you were probably seeing things isn't this more important?", he points at the bugs.

Rachel looks over at Kendall, before she says, "They won't go away, I'm trying." She looks between everyone as she lays there, looking at the bugs and then back to everyone.

"Well if you could do something about it, why don't you? The girl's scared, and there's nothing I could do about it." Kendall points out. He also has no idea how to deal with little kids, or, related, girls in general, so a little girl is beyond his comprehension.

"What the hell do you think i can do about it?, i'm on the same page as you here", even if Caleb used his ability, he has very limited control of it.

Rachel shivers while she sits there, and by now, Kendall and Caleb may very well realize that they are now the only people in there with the girl as she continues to hug her legs.

"Well I certainly don't know!" Kendall retorts, looking at the girl. "Maybe step on some, that might make the rest run away?" he can't think of anything else.

"I am not going near those spiders, you do it", at this point Caleb does not care about looking like a wuss, and is regretting not running out the door when he had the chance, the cold is much more prefurable.

The little girl looks between the two of them while she sits there, and then back at the bugs, whimpering quietly as she tries to get them to go away.

"I wasn't talking to you." Kendall eyes Caleb and shakes his head. "Sheesh, afraid of bugs or something?" he mutters, then looks at the little girl. "How about you step on some to make them go away?"

Caleb is still watching the bugs werily, ignoring Kendall's comment about being scared, but he does get an idea, he starts looking around for…

The little girl is looking around, still scared as she rocks, before her rocking finally upsets a book case and it hits the little girl in the back of the head, the bugs starting to scatter and go back to where they came from.

Kendall blinks as the girl gets hit, and winces. "Oh, well, if that's all it takes…" crisis averted, he moves forward to check to see if the girl is, y'know, still breathing and stuff, then looks back at Caleb. "I'm Kendall." introductions seem to be in order now, at least to him.
Caleb exhales loudly when the bugs leave and jumps down off the table and follows Kendall over to check on the little girl, "Hey Kendall, I'm er, Scott", no way is he giving him his real name.

The little girl is dazed while she lays there, before she looks at them and then whimpers before trying to crawl away deeper into the library.

Kendall shrugs when the girl wanders off, then nods. "Nice to meet you, I guess." not quite the best situation for such. "I won't tell anyone." he adds. "I didn't want anyone to know about mine either."

Caleb nods, "Yeah nice to meet you too", not that he's gonna see him again, he's gonna get out of New York as soon as he can, he can't risk Kendall saying something, "I still don't know what you're talking about dude".

Kendall shrugs and drops the subject. "Well, whatever." he glances towards the windows and sighs. "I wish this snow would stop covering the city. It's cramping my style." uh, not really. "You like reading?"

Caleb looks outside and shivers, it is not going to be fun sleeping outside in that tonight, "Any idea when it's gonna stop?", he looks at the books around them, "Err sometimes i guess, when i get the time, i only really came in cos it's cold outside, do you?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. The only thing I know is that it's not natural. Someone's doing this. Someone who can control the weather." what else could it possibly be? "Either that, or the next ice age has started." Kendall jokes.

Caleb sighs, maybe if he hit up enough people, he might be able to steal enough cash to get a room for the night somewhere, he looks from the snow to Kendall, "Someones doing this, you mean one of the evolved?"

"That's what I'm assuming. Whoever it is, he or she is really strong though." Kendall shrugs. "I can't do anything like this, uh… not that I can control the weather or anything."

Caleb is very uncomfortable right now, "You're one of the evolved?, are you regestered?", do people keep tabs on the regestered?, could they be watching now?

"I am, and… no." Kendall admits. "My parents found out about me and kicked me out." cue emoness. "Fortunately I had someone I could stay with, since I don't think I'm ready to be homeless. There's people out there that help people like us, that hide us from the government and stuff."

Caleb can't help but feel bad for Kendall, he wasn't kicked out he left by choice, it must suck to be rejected like that, "Who helps hide you, and do you know other people like you?"

"I know lots of people like me, and…" Kendall looks around furtively. "I don't think I should say anything else. Wouldn't do much if someone overheard. It's supposed to be a secret."

Caleb runs a hand though his dirty hair, "Yeah, i guess your right, you need to keep your secrets, you don't wanna get caught", he pulls out a chair and sits down, "What is it you do?", his voice is lowered.

"Nothing all that interesting." Kendall shrugs one shoulder. "I draw stuff, and it becomes real, only it's just illusions that seem really real." he tells Caleb. "I don't think I should demonstrate here though." another uneasy glance around. "I'm… not really used to using it whenever I want."

"What you draw becomes real?", Caleb's in awe at this, wow, no wonder he hasn't been found yet, "So if you were about to get caught, you could draw a car and drive it away?"

"No, because what I draw doesn't actually become real." Kendall shakes his head. "People just think it does. They can be touched and stuff, but… if people don't believe it's real, it disappears."

"Weird", Caleb looks at the clock, it's getting late, he's gotta go get his bag soon and hit ssome of the public for some cash, hmmm, "Hey Kendall, you got any money i can borrow?, i'll pay ya back".

Kendall pats his pockets regretfully. "Sorry, no… the people I stay with just feed me, they don't give me any money." which is a pity, because Kendall has a card game addiction and needs his card fix. Ehehe.

Caleb shrugs, "No probs dude, I'll get hold of some, somewhere else", hmmm, people pay fines to libraries don't they, there might me some money nearby, theres not gonna be many large crowds outside cos of the snow, he may have to take a more forceful approach.

"You know, if you need a place to stay, I know somewhere you can be safe in case anyone's looking for you." Kendall remarks. "The place I mentioned earlier? Trust me, no one would find you there and there's plenty of beds."

Caleb bites his lip, it's a tempting offer, all the more tempting cos of the snow, but by agreeing to it, he'll have to confirm he has an abillity, "What makes you think I'm hiding?"

"Well you're denying being Evolved even though you just admitted so without actually coming out and saying it, you look like you're on hard times, and you don't seem to have anywhere to go. Either you're hiding from someone, or else you're just living on the streets, in which either case you'd probably be best off somewhere warm to sleep tonight." Kendall is one of those people who can analyze things at a glance, like Sherlock. "And you came in here looking for somewhere warm, which if you had somewhere to stay, it's not." warm, that is.

Caleb actually jaw drops, "Whoa dude, you're smart, like really smart, how did you get all that, I wouldn't have", he bites his lip again, "But to go I'd have to say I was evolved right?, no saying I am, but would I?"

"Well if I brought you there, they'd know you are. There's not many who aren't that know of that place. I only know a few, and they're all pro-Evolved." Kendall nods sagely. "It's a really nice place, and it's not like you have to stay there all the time, you can go out whenever you want, you just have to be careful that no one follows you back."

Caleb nods, "Ok, thank you Kendall, I'm glad I ran into you today", he stands up smiling, "But can we stop off at an alley down the street so I can pick up my bag?"

Kendall regards the door skeptically. "Sure, if it hasn't been stolen by now." he hasn't lived in NYC all his life for nothing! He knows this place.

Caleb shakes his head, "It won't have been stolen, i hid it on a fire escape, it would be hard to find if you didn't know where", he's from LA, he knows to be carefull with his stuff.

"Yeah, ok." Kendall nods, tugging on his jacket. "Lead the way, then, and I'll do the rest."


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