Participants:
| Scene Title | Soup? |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Delia and Jaiden go back to her place to find the cupboards are bare. |
| Date | September 26, 2010 |
Gun Hill — Delia's apartment
Getting in just before curfew is called, Delia and Jaiden make their way inside her empty apartment. She didn't figure that they had enough time to drive all the way to Brooklyn and her jittery feelings about being arrested bring down her level of fun. Though she doesn't have a big screen, or many of the amenities that he has, the place is quiet.
"I don't think I need to tell you to make yourself comfortable," she smiles up at him as she peels the shoes off her feet. Delia leaves him in the entrance way to stalk into the kitchen and rummage through her cupboards to try to find something for them to eat. "Uhm… I have some cans of soup? You like mushroom or chicken noodle?" The cupboards are practically bare. The fridge? Even more so.
"I can do soup." Jaiden calls from the entrance of the apartment as he kneels to unlace his boots, first the left, then the right, leaving them and his socks in a neat little pile by the front door. Wiggling his toes for a moment, now that they're freed of their leather prison, he follows behind Delia to the kitchen, looking in the cabinet where she stands to see what she may have to play with. "I'm good at this sort of thing - making something from not much of anything….humph. Any ramen noodles? Any canned anything? Any frozen anything?"
"Uhm… not really. I haven't had much of a chance to go buy any groceries," she admits sheepishly. Her eyes are downcast to the counter as she pulls a couple of cans of chicken noodle soup from the cupboard, leaving it with only five other occupants. One can of mushroom soup, a can of pumpkin pie filling, a can of lima beans, a cap of evaporated milk, and the all important staple… one can of ravioli. She's saving that one for a special occasion.
"Maybe we should have gone to your house, you have better groceries." Delia grins as she pulls a small pot from one of the bottom cupboards. "Do you want anything to drink? I can make some iced tea? I think I have… uhm… water. Dad took all of his beer when he left, so I can't offer you any of that."
"Right, well…" Jaiden looks at the two lonely cans of soup and resigns himself to getting 30% of the sodium needed for a day in a single serving. Sadly, the can has two of them, giving his girlfriend a small smile before putting an arm around her shoulders. "First thing tomorrow, you and I are going grocery shopping. We're going to stock this place up good and proper."
"No, I can do it… I just.. I haven't had enough time." Though time is really all she has nowadays, so it's likely just an excuse. "I could probably ask my dad for some too, he just has other things on his mind." Blinking rapidly she looks up at Jaiden with a brighter outlook and raises her eyebrows. "You know what? I bet I can ask Sable if she has anything I can borrow? I bet she'd have something… She said if I ever needed anything I could just ask."
One of Delia's arms wraps around the large man's waist and she leans into him, closing her eyes a little. "Sorry, I should have stocked up sooner. I didn't even think about food when I invited you over. I just wanted to be closer to the clinic. They've been needing me more at night… then there's some people that live here. They sort of need me at night."
"Want to talk about it?" Jaiden rummages around in a drawer for a can opener, finding one hiding near the back of the drawer, holding it up triumphantly before setting to work on the can. "The way you stated that, it sounds like they need you in their dreams rather than for medical emergencies.
"A couple of people do… I've been trying to convince one person to stop using refrain but it's not going so well. She thinks that because she can hide it well, it means she doesn't really have a problem. She's scared of the withdrawals… and the Institute finding her and getting her hooked again." Picking up the second can of soup, Delia pops it back in the cupboard and gives the man beside her a bittersweet smile.
"If they catch me, they'll probably do the same thing to me," she adds quietly. "I'm not supposed to be scared of that happening, people keep telling me that it won't happen, that they won't let it… but… How do I know Amadeus and his friend won't turn me in? Or my dad?"
"Refrain allows you to retreat into your own head and stay in the dream for an hour. The aborigines would call it going on walkabout in Dreamtime, but the crash after the thirty minutes or so…not a good thing." The opened can is poured into a pot on the stove, starting to heat through, the whole pan given a light shake to spread the noodles and chicken evenly so it'll heat through properly. "The long and the short of it is, Refrain, even hidden well, is still addictive and causes you to compromise your ideals in order to get just one more fix. I've heard it's as bad as heroin as far as addiction and withdrawal, and the psychological impact of being able to experience the good parts of your past?" Jaiden shakes his head. "I can see the appeal, but damn if it's not frightening."
Her last few words give him pause, glancing to the door, the window, then to her again before leaning on the counter. "I can't say I know what'll go on if any of us are caught. Your power, generally speaking, is fairly minor, while mine can sink a battleship or run the Institute's water park for a year if i set my mind to it. Just know that I'm not turning you in, ever, and if I'm with you when they come, or hear they're coming?" Jaiden glowers at the floor, darkly. "They'll wish to god they hadn't."
Gliding up to Jaiden, Delia places one hand on either side of his face and angles her own to catch his eye. "Promise me you won't hurt anyone," she urges softly. "Promise me that, please? Even if they do raid this building and get everyone hiding here… Promise me." The seriousness of the issue is expressed by the worried set of her lips and eyebrows. "I don't want you to give them a reason to go after you, if they think you're dangerous, they will."
Leaning up, she gives him a soft kiss and then breaks it just enough to speak against his lips. "You're the first person that I ever shared a dream with on purpose. I want to keep doing that for a long long time." He can likely feel the small smile playing on hers before she draws back again to gaze up into his eyes. "You don't know how important you are to me."
"Delia I…." Jaiden starts to speak but that imploring look followed by a kiss steals the breath from his lungs, steals the words from his lips. "I won't hurt anyone. Delaying tactics while people escape. Only defending myself if they attack…" He hooks his thumbs in her belt loops, holding her close to him, nodding. "No, I don't think I do, but I think I'm getting an idea at how important I am to you."
"Important enough to want you to be my first boyfriend," the smile on her lips spreading until it threatens to break her face in half, crooked as it always has been. There's a glint of amusement in Delia's eyes as she slides her arms around Jaiden's neck and leans forward, against him. She fits quite well, her height matching his save for a few inches, just enough to make it completely worth reaching up to steal a kiss. "You're super important… more important that you'll ever know." Then her voice lowers as she lets loose a long sigh, "…my giant."
He nearly protests that he's not that big, but when she first saw him, he was a giant, towering over her by at least her height, with hands that would dwarf her head. He is her giant and those first impressions….made a thousand years in the past…still hold strength today. He crouches slightly, his hands moving beneath her bottom to lift her slightly, his mouth finding hers in a gentle kiss. "So you don't just run through everyone's dreams. Just mine because of the meeting we had in your youth. I get it."
When he breaks away to speak, her lips trail the line of his jaw and down to his neck, pressing soft kisses all the while. "No, not because of… I think I would have done it anyway." One of her hands comes down to rest against his chest to feel his heartbeat. Then she stares into his green eyes for a long while. "I saw you in the grocery store that day it got robbed… You were wonderful and so brave. You made sure everyone was alright. So… I had to get to know you better. When I saw you asleep on the train, I couldn't resist. I wanted to talk to you, to get to know you. It's not because of a meeting when I was little, it's because of who you are." Had she not taken the leap, chances are she would have filed away the childhood experience among those long forgotten.
“You’re so sweet.” Jaiden’s voice is low and quiet, barely more than a whisper, the words murmured only a scant few inches from Delia’s ear, the exhale of breath tickling her skin lightly. “I think that’s the thing about me - I don’t really think of myself as a hero. I’m just a guy who can do interesting things with water and tries to to the right thing by people. There’s so many people out there trying to take advantage of others….so few people trying to be fair to the world. I fill a niche, I think. The real nice guy, who doesn’t want anything from anyone.”
He rests a hand on her shoulder, bending her back to press a soft kiss to her mouth, his eyes closing as he savors the closeness.