Participants:
| Scene Title | A Supermodel? |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | This is exactly what Magnes thinks Claire from the 9th Wonders Comics would be today. If he only knew. |
| Date | August 03, 2009 |
Village Renaissance Building Roof
This is a flat roof, the surface grey concrete, which covers a building with enough space for sixteen apartment units on each floor along with elevators, stairwells, and maintenance areas at the center. It can be reached by an elevator and/or staircase near the right edge, a large freight elevator just back of the center, and stairwells centered on front and back of the building. The back left corner holds the large machinery needed for climate control of the interior. Discreet cameras placed all around the edge monitor the roof.
Near the elevator and stairs from the penthouse below is a pair of picnic tables and a sophisticated grill for cooking outdoors and eating when the weather permits. It's covered by an open air tent of sorts for shelter when rain and snow come.
The right front corner, overlooking 4th Street, has a sturdy wooden structure ten feet back from the edge. Here there are outlets for plugging in amplifiers and other electrical devices should Cat choose to come up here and make music. It has a set of glass doors which can be folded aside to allow approaching the edge and closed to protect against weather.
The front left corner features four each of small apple and cherry trees with garden chairs here and there around them, a number of sunflowers, tomato plants, potatoes, carrots, onions, peas, and various other plants chosen for their appearance in pots or planters large enough to hold them. Someone with access to the roof likes to garden, and has been doing so at any chance.
The rooftop is painted in warm colors of sunset, as Claire slips out of the door to the Safehouse. A small thoughtful look at the door, the blond shakes her head and heads out further on the roof, shuffling along in her fuzzy bunny slippers. When she gets to the edge of the roof, she settles down on the ledge and swings her legs around to dangle in a way. This is the norm for the ex-cheerleader anymore, leaning back on her hands she watches the sun slowly work to sink behind the buildings and stifles a yawn.
On his usual route back to the base, with a quick flyby over Abby and Delilah's place to make sure nothing's blown up, Magnes notices something Strange; there's a girl sitting on the edge of the roof. He doesn't make a sound as he slowly lowers himself about ten feet behind her, standing there, just watching. She doesn't seem suicidal… "That's dangerous." is the first thing he says, once again in his semi-casual outfit with the skates that just clash with everything.
Claire's whole body jerks with surprise as someone speaks up behind her. She half turns to look at who is behind her, first greeted by the sight of the skates and then slowly looks up at him. She looks like she was almost expecting someone else. "Oh… um… hey." There is a small frown and she turns back to the setting sun. "I do this a lot. Good place to think and clear your head."
"You live here? I've never seen you before, I usually come here to visit my friends. You know Abby or Deillah?" Magnes wonders as he slowly skates to the edge and carelessly plops down with the abandon of someone who doesn't seem at all worried about falling. "Oh, my name's Magnes, Magnes J. Varlane."
Studying the man next to her, Claire gives him a small smile. "You know them, huh? Actually, I do live here, but it's only temporary. Until I get back on my feet." She offers him a hand and says. "Claire." But she doesn't give a last name, just yet. "Nice to meet you Magnes. You come to visit them often? Cause I haven't seen you either."
"I've been busy, I'll be here more often now." Magnes takes her hand, and predictably, his cheeks light up. "I uh," a pause, awkwardly clearing his throat. "So, you uh, live here." In typical geek fashion, an ex-cheerleader's handshake shuts his brain off.
There is an amused tug at one corner of Claire's mouth as she watches him fumble a bit. "Ah, so we might be running into each other more." There is a glance of her shoulder at where he was just floating, her eyes move back to look at him as she points out helpfully, "Just word to the wise, don't sneak up on people sitting on the end of a roof. They could end up a splatter below."
"I'd catch you." Magnes confidently assures in the face of his awkwardness, taking his hand back to stare at it. Cooties! "So uh, you read comics or anything? You seem kind've hot to be a comic reader, but, never hurts to ask."
"No my thing." Claire admits with a small apologetic smile to him. "I was a cheerleader in high school. Too busy with school spirit and boys to read comics." She gives a little shrug of her shoulders and tilts her head a bit, she asks, "Lemme guess. You do?" Bunny slippers swing in open space as she talks. "Which isn't a bad thing. I mean, I've known people that do."
"I, uh, yeah. You should check out 9th Wonders, there's totally a cheerleader named Claire in it. I never really got her character, I mean, yeah, she regenerates, but she seemed especially accident prone." Magnes laughs, starting to swing his skates as well, staring down at the streets. "I'm still not sure how saving the cheerleader actually saved the world either."
Brows lift a touch and Claire looks amused. "Really?" she asks with a chuckle. Her face turns to the sun as she thinks on what he says, but then she asks softly, "Why don't you think it saving the cheerleader saved the world?" She knows the answer herself, but sometimes hearing it from a new perspective can be interesting.
"Well, it's just, sure, Peter got her whole regenerating thing, but if he didn't go looking for her in the first place, he wouldn't have needed it. 'Course I could be remembering it all wrong, I guess I just don't 'get' her. But y'know, I would have killed to be that geek friend she had, I think I'd be a lot less messed up if I hung out with a hot cheerleader all my life." Magnes, not looking her in the eye as he speaks so boldly, adds, "And by less messed up, I mean I wouldn't jump out of a window after getting a kiss."
"And if he hadn't gone looking for her, she might be dead and a madman would have had her ability" Claire points out without thinking. Realizing she just let something slip, her eyes widen a touch and she freezes for a moment. The mention of a kiss, pulls her attention and she jumps on it. "You jumped out of a window after getting a kiss?" She asks curiously. "Seriously?"
"You don't read comics, eh? But, yeah, I guess after everything I've seen Gabriel do, we're better off without a regenerating one…" Magnes says this rather seriously, though of course he could very well still be talking about the comic. Her next question easily derails him though, answering with, "I, uh, well it was a French kiss, I thought she was trying to seduce me, so I panicked."
"Okay… so maybe a boyfriend once showed me one cause he thought I looked like the Claire in the comic." Claire tells him, not looking at him. It's a total lie, since she's lived that life. She eyes him looking rather amused when he mentions panicking at being kissed. "Don't tell me…" She leans towards him and narrows her eyes at him. "…your a virgin? I didn't think it was possible in a guy."
"H-hey, I could say the same thing about girls! I only know one, I think." Magnes, completely flustered now, doesn't even realize he's standing on the side of the building, pacing back and forward in his skates. Yeah, that's probably a tad strange…
"That's a yes if I ever heard one." Claire observes with a grin, watching him pace. She pats the roof next to her. "Sit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up an embarrassing subject. I just never met a guy who'd panic at being kissed."
"It's alright, I mean, you are a cheerleader, so, I guess it's understandable…" Realizing just what he's doing, Magnes suddenly floats up and lands back on the edge next to her. "I uh, that doesn't freak you out or anything, does it? I mean, the floating and stuff."
"Was a cheerleader. I am far from that now." She points out quickly. " And I know Abby and Delilah. You think I find your floating odd?" Claire asks arching a brow, with a small smile. She just slowly shakes her head, "Nah. It's not odd at all. I've seen weirder stuff. And I once had a boyfriend who could fly."
"You seem pretty, well, down to Earth, I guess is one way to put it." Magnes observes, suddenly laying back on the roof with his hands behind his head, legs still dangling over the edge. "Since you seem, well, in the loop, did you know there was a secret about the 9th Wonders comics?"
"Down to Earth? I don't think I've ever heard myself described that way." Claire muses, thoughtfully. Turning a bit, she looks back at Magnes as he lays there, openly curious. "What secret? There was a secret?"
"Well you're certainly easy to talk to, now that my brain isn't firmly plastered to the ground." Well, technically Magnes' brain is closer to the ground than ever, but… "The comics, they, well, they're based on real events." he answers, figuring 'they tell the future' might be pretty dangerous information. "It's hard to be critical of the characters since they're real people, but I often wonder, what happened after the comics stopped? Who all survived the explosion in Manhattan? I feel like I read a previous lifetime, like silver age characters looking into the golden age, you just wonder, what happened?"
She studies him quietly for a moment, finding it odd that someone actually cared what happened to the people in those books. "Seriously? Real people?" She looks back out as the sun finally dips below the buildings. "That's a pretty interesting question though. You'll have to let me know if you ever found out what happened to that cheerleader named Claire."
"I have my theories. Since she was a regenerator, I'm guessing she didn't die. So she's either a super model, in college, or maybe she's like a cheerleader on a sports team now, that'd make sense." Magnes clearly does not see comic-Claire as an action girl, staring up at the almost fully darkened sky now. "You must be pretty sick of a dumb conversation like this."
Claire can't help but chuckle. "A supermodel? Do…" There is a quick correction on her parts, "does she come off as that shallow?" She reaches over to swat his knee giving him a small smile. "You don't think she could have done something more with her lift? You know… maybe she's a part of some underground group or something? But a supermodel?" She wrinkles her nose a bit and shakes her head slowly. "Next think I know you'll be suspecting she's a playboy bunny or something."
"I don't think she's really shallow, I just never saw her having anything other than a normal life. And I don't see her being a Playboy bunny either, 'cause, well, even if she was a cheerleader, she always seemed so… wholesome. I'd say that's one of the most redeeming qualities of her character." he explains, clearly not hating the character, just having a few misunderstandings.
"That's a relief then." Claire murmurs, with a sigh. "Well, life can be a surprise and take us down roads we don't expect, even if they don't look like the road we should be taking." Climbing to her feet, fluffy bunny slippers scrape on the rooftop. "People will surprise you Magnes." She motions to the door with her head. "I should go back in, get something to eat. It was nice meeting you, Magnes. Maybe we'll run into each other again sometime, huh?"
"It's a relief?" Magnes appears visibly confused by her reaction, but clearly he hasn't reached World's Greatest Detective status yet, suddenly floating up to his feet so he can see her off. "And, yeah, sure, I think this is the first time I've ever had a real conversation with a somewhat normal girl, it's nice." Somewhat? Well, she is wearing bunny slippers, and sat on the edge of a roof…
Claire eyes him thoughtfully, her expression amused, "Well, maybe one day I'll explain somethings to you. Not now. I don't know you too well yet." She flashes him a smile and tucks blond locks behind her ear as she starts to turn for the door. "Well, if you are friends with Abby and Delilah, I'm sure we'll get to have more of these conversations." She moves to open the door and glances back at him. "Take care Magnes."
"I, uh, good night, Claire." Magnes suddenly rockets into the air, possibly repeating to himself that he's currently dating, while filtering out 'a sociopath' part; it makes the faithfulness easier.