Participants:
| Scene Title | A Family Snow Globe |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | There are still sources of joy in Richard Ray's life. He picks them up from the airport. |
| Date | May 24, 2018 |
Floyd Bennet Airfield is the only operational airport in the NYC Safe Zone. It originally hosted commercial and general aviation traffic, before being used as a naval air station and then decommissioned in the 1980s, after which it was managed by the National Parks Service. Today, Floyd Bennet Airfield is the only means of conveyance for air traffic in and out of New York City. It is often congested with traffic, and scheduled flights take hours to arrive and depart. As the airfield is also utilized by the United States Armed Forces, security on the airfield is extremely tight at all times. Private aircraft are permitted to utilize the airfield, provided they have obtained proper authorization from the state of New York. In particular, the Wolfhound organization is frequently seen flying in and out of Floyd Bennet Airfield.
There's only one way to get into the Safe Zone by plane, and that's Floyd Bennet Airfield. Accordingly, the airport tends to be congested with traffic, which is why the flight that Richard Ray is waiting for is about two hours late.
Typical.
He's waiting in the receiving area, dressed nicely in a sleek black suit, black shirt, red tie, glancing at his watch and pacing a bit, aviator sunglasses perched upon the bridge of his nose.
Air terminals are a major test of one's patience. It's not so much the delays that stir up the stress, but the agitation of the people that it attracts. And having to wait to board an hour past departure time, and then having to wait ANOTHER hour on board before they can leave makes for really tough surroundings. And Harmony s not traveling alone, as she has two seven year olds along with, one of which has boundless energy, the other endless curiosity.
A couple of times, Harm thought she may have to slap an entitled individual or two, but to her surprise, her kids handled the situations very well. Lili's very well placed, 'Mommy, why is that man being so aggressive? I think he might be dangerous' deterred what was going to be a heated argument. Harmony could take her flight in peace.
So now as the three of them step into the reception area, assisted by a youthful terminal employee wheeling their luggage, she is checking her phone, while the twins are on the lookout eagerly,
"Do you think he's over here?" Ricky asks, moving toward the suitcase return.
"Probably not honey, and please don't climb anything, we'll find him." Harmony says without even looking up. She knows that's just what he was going for. Which her word is enough to stop him. "If I know your father, he'll be a bundle of nerves just waiting to explode at any moment. And probably right…" she clicks her phone close, and looks up, right over across where Richard is, "There, in fact." the dirty-blonde grins, pointing him out.
It's just as Richard's spotted that he's turning in the direction of Harmony and the twins, and as he does a grin spreads broad across his lips at the sight of them. The pacing breaks off into a direct beeline for the trio (and their airport-provided assistant) at a brisk pace, his voice lifting in a call out, "Well, look who I've found…"
After so many months away from his children, to see them is a moment's joy to brighten the week that he's had.
As he draws closer, he drops down towards one knee, anticipating a charge from at least one of the twins.
"Dad!" the twins elate in almost perfect synchronicity. They bolt the short distance with excitement in the clamor of their feet, taking care not to knock into anyone in their race to get to him. They're still relatively at the same height, Lili not quite hitting that girlish growth spurt that might have her scaling her brother by a couple inches. She's not the super girly type, opting for the comfort of capris and a comfortable shirt as opposed to flowy dresses and the like. Her hair with little braids woven along the sides. Ricky sporting his current favorite athletic sports tee at the time with shorts.
The pair jump to latch onto him as one might expect, "Dad, we made it! We thought the plane would NEVER leave!" says Ricky,
"Ricky didn't," Lili corrects, "But I looked up the flights over the past week and it's always been late." she shrugs proudly, "I expected it." Yep, she's the brain.
Harmony takes her time, letting the kids get their hugs in, "Well I'm consistent if anything. Second time I'm late, and both times I came baring kids." she jokes. She's left the skirts and cut off things for much more contemporary clothing, comfort and fitting almost business attire suitable for her agegroup.
Ray's arms close around the pair as they leap against him, bringing them in against him in a tight hug— one to each arm— and he presses a kiss to each of their cheeks in turn, grinning broadly. "You're always thinking ahead, aren't you, kiddo? I missed you two… how was your time up there, did you see any moose?" The latter somewhat teasing, his whole demeanor one of open joy.
It's not a side of him many people get to see.
He looks up and past them, a laugh stirring on his lips at Harmony's words. "I haven't objected either time," he teases her back, "Now have I?"
Animals and biology are the quickest way to get Lili talking, "Oh yeah! We saw one that was so big outside of grandpa's cabin! It was in the river because they're great swimmers and this one had to be half a ton!" Lili answers with exuberance,
"Yeah! His horns were like 'waaah!' this big and stuff." Ricky concurs her statement with a wide spread of his arms. "I wanted to climb up and ride on it's back, but they're pretty dangerous if they're messed with." They have so much they really wanna tell apparently.
"That you haven't no. Made you the happiest man on the planet both times, at least for the moment." Harm smirks and places hand on little Ricky's head, brushing down his tousled hair. "You're looking good. A lot less stressed than I thought. That's a good sign."
"Oh, yeah, they're big ol' things," Richard grins broadly as the two natter on about the moose, "They are dangerous, though. If a car hits them, they tend to just get annoyed, and crush the car." The latter said in a slightly conspiratorial tone, as if he was telling the pair a secret. Then he's moving to rise, "But! You can tell me all about your trip when we're safely at home." There was a very subtle stressor on safely there. The kids wouldn't notice. Harmony might.
He brings a hand up, tugging the shades down a bit— tired, red-rimmed eyes meeting Harmony's as he offers her a fainter smile, "All a show, darlin'. It's been a bad week. I have a lot to tell you."
It almost strikes Lili as strange or just unusual. But her youthful excitement fogs up her observant prodigy brain. Harmony makes the connection though, and it's indicated with a slight incline of a brow, and she instantly turns up the severity a notch. As the kids go on, Harmony looks cautiously through both corners of her eyes. Protect mode in effect, just in case. Not even back five minutes and the possibility of danger? "Lili, why don't you and your brother go and look through the bag for what you brought for your dad?" A task of distraction, that seems to work as the two of them remember they brought something and rush over to the cart to go find it, "A really bad week. That can be costly as far as you're concerned. Small street level, city wide possibility of destruction or global catastrophe?"
They're not far, but Richard keeps an eye on them anyway. An airport is a busy place, and who knows what sort of people might be looking for a chance to kidnap someone? "A little bit of all of the above," he says quietly, giving his head a little shake. Then a more serious look is given her, and he breaks the first bit of news bluntly, "Remi's dead. They said it was a landmine accident but any idiot can see that's some bullshit cover story."
"What?! You're kidding me!" Harmony expresses her surprise quietly enough. Still, she looks around for a moment to make sure she didn't draw any sudden attention, "So like… was she hunted or ambushed or— well first of all, how come this is even happening?" Harmony was not really aware of what had been going on in the city as of late. School had taken up her attention, along with the kids.
"We don't know. She was on her way home, and…" Richard grimaces, "I just got back into town myself, I haven't even— gotten a chance to talk to Jaiden about it. I can only imagine what he's going through, and Graeme, and those kids…" His gaze roams over in the direction of the twins, his heart aching at the idea of their 'cousins' suddenly without a mother. "It wasn't just her. There was an attempt on Kaylee, too, things are— there's a lot of weird shit going on lately, Harm."
A slow breath's drawn in, "Like, pre-war level weird shit."
Harmony doesn't show any signs of emotion aside from some worry and irritation. Just her showing her control over those power swaying feelings that could put people in danger. Her eyes going to her children, brows knitting into a frown, "Pre-war… That would figure. No rest for the weary." she slowly shakes her head, "Alright. First thing's first, getting them to safety. From there, I'm all in, anyway you need." Harmony isn't carrying the twins, and her capability to do anything for her children's future is probably a little frightening in some cases. There is a touch of 'whoever I have to kill' implied in there a bit. "This kinda crap has to stop."
Ray's chin dips in a slight nod. "There's… one other thing. Better news. But it needs to wait until we're out of public," he says. Assassinations? Sure. Whatever this is, though, this requires security. He slides a hand over her shoulder, giving it a squeeze… and then he's stepping over to the twins, "So what was it that you got for me, hm?"
"Better news means better mood." Harmony says, trying not to sound so terse with it. But then she has to shake that off, for the sake of her kids. Lili is a perceptive one, and she picks up on when something is wrong. And adult speak does not confuse her in the slightest. So she has to erase her face and just be in the moment. By the time that they've chatted, the twins have dug through the carry-on bag all the way to the bottom. With Lili taking things out of it and handing them to Ricky to hold one by one till she finds it.
"Found it!" Lili declares, and takes out a show globe with little figures inside. "There was this man in the city, he makes these. We both saved up to have it made for you. That's all of us in there, from the bunker. Like in the winter time? And there, if you look at it right, is out god-mother, watching over us all." she shakes the little globe to get the snow starting, which does in fact reflect a picture of Liz there along the inside lining.
"They have been excited about this for months." Harmony laughs.
At the sight of the globe, Ray grins broadly. "Oh, wow…" He crouches down to be closer to them, watching the snow gently stir over the tiny figures, the little picture noted with a softer smile. He reaches out to take it, holding it up, letting it catch the light. After a few moments, he reaches out to sweep them both into a fierce hug again, "Thank you. It's beautiful."
Harmony watches, her worries melting right away for these kinda moments that she's been waiting for. She has to catch it on film for the scrapbook, "You guys get to spend the whole day with dad while I go tomorrow and get some things squared away with school. And maybe you'll get to see your aunt Val and Kaylee soon too. They've probably given strict orders to ensure they're seen first." Harm chuckles.
"They have," admits Ray with a grin, pushing slowly to his feet. He looks to Harmony, and then down to his children, and he says softly, "Come on, all of you. Let's go home."