Acrobatics And Explosions

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angelina_icon.gif bones_icon.gif

Scene Title Acrobatics and Explosions
Synopsis Angie runs into Bones again. He exercises, and they discuss powers, the group, and Humpty Dumpty.
Date February 27, 2010

New York Public Library


Angelina made herself scarce most of the day. The kitten was around though, some of the time anyway, and now the kitty has been reclaimed and Angie is doing a bit of exploring. She's even taken her coat off, which must mean she's getting more comfortable here, right? She's absently stroking the kitten's head as she walks around, finally poking her head into the room she found Bones in the night before. And, luckily, it doesn't look as though she met with the wrong end of a shotgun!

Bones is indeed in residence, his workstations as well as all the furniture pushed to the sides of the room, leaving quite a large, bare space. Shirt off, revealing his rather firm and excellently muscled upper body, he stretches in the middle of the room, a classical piano piece playing on the boom box. His eyes are closed making him unable to see Angelina entering.

Angelina may be skittish, and a little uncomfortable here, but she's only human, which is why she stands still and silent for a moment to enjoy the view. Finally she gives herself a little shake and moves fully into the room. "Hey Bones. Am I interrupting?" she asks, setting the kitten down so she can go explore, which she does.

"Hey there, Angie. No, don't think you are interrupting." Bones says, standing up after greeting her, watching where Angelina is going for a few moments before he slowly bends over backwards, placing his hand on the floor and kicks his feet up, bringing his toes to point at the ceiling. He moves with such a practiced, fluid grace and then skills, becoming absolutely rigid for the moment. "Do anything interesting today?"

Angelina stops and stares for a moment in surprise, then her head tilts until it's nearly parallel to the floor. "Wow. I tried something like that, I'd probably end up falling on my head and giving myself a concussion," she says, sounding a touch impressed. She straightens and shrugs. "Not really. Just poked around the library and area around it. Getting my bearings of what's here now. How it's different than it was before the bomb. You?"

"Huh? Oh, me? Nothing out of the ordinary really. Just had to turn off some gas lines, ordered some repairs, did some repelling down an old ventilation shaft that no one knew where it lead to." Bones says, making this sound like his every-day. "Just got back in about an hour ago. Someone has to pay the bills around here." he jokes, bringing his legs slowly down behind his back and places a foot through his arms, displaying his incredibly flexibility and brings his hands up, untwisting his body which in the process causes the discs in his spine to pop one after the other in rapid succession. He sighs and gives a chuckle. "Oh that's better…"

Angelina's brows shoot up. "Damn dude. And here I thought guys were supposed to be less flexible than girls." Forget impressed, she's a bit awed now. She certainly can't do that! "And what, you work for the gas company or somethin'? Didn't know anyone here had a real job," she says, finding a seat to watch the 'show'.

"Gas company?" Bones blinks, his head coming up, his expression conveying that he may have just been insulted. "Gas company? No, no. I'm one of the New York Sandhogs. I'm one of the three guys in the entire state employed to do urban exploration. New York is the only city in the world that has catacombs more extensive than Paris." he informs with a shrug, standing there with his hands on his hips. After a moment he shakes himself out though and begins to sway from side to side, moving one foot alternately behind the other, his stance slowly getting lower and lower to the ground.

"Sandhogs? First I've heard of them," Angelina admits. "Knew New York had all the subway tunnels and all, but wouldn't have called 'em catacombs. And more of 'em than Paris? Isn't Paris famous for all its catacombs?" she asks, while the kitten wanders over towards Bones, to begin batting playfully at his dreads.

"We're more or less urban miners for the most part. I'm a subdivision really. Mostly if you need a tunnel dug under an existing city, you call in the New York Sandhogs." Bones says, watching the kitten approaching. He does not give the kitten time to react as he suddenly scoops it up off the floor and does several side flips in rapid succession, his hands not even brought down to the floor to properly cartwheel. "Yes, Paris is known for its catacombs. And I'm not talking about the subways. I'm talking about stuff underneath the subways."

The kitten immediately tries to cling to Bones as she's scooped up, letting out a startled meow that has Angelina fighting off a grin. Or trying to. "Didn't know there was anything under the subways. Figured that was it. Well, might've if I'd ever thought about it."

Settling the kitten down on the floor, he shoves the furball across the recently-buffed floor towards Angelina. "Oh there is a ton of things underneath the subways. The subways are the tip of the iceberg really." he says, stepping over towards a large stuffed canvas sack off to the side that is serving as a punching dummy. Approaching it, he quickly, he bends forward with an almost-blurring speed and brings one of his long legs over his head, his foot connecting with the dummy hard enough to cause it to rock back and slap the floor popping up against. Continuing the momentum, his legs come fully over his head and uses that momentum to flip over, landing in a crouch with his large fists that are not wholly on scale with even his large frame slamming in to the bag, the power of the punch throwing the bag across the room to slam against the opposite wall.

Angelina leans forward to scoop up the kitten, who digs claws into her shirt almost immediately. "Huh. Well, guess you learn something new every day." Her lips curve a bit as she watches him, leaning back in the chair and relaxing. "So is this a normal routine for you, or are you showing off for some reason?" she asks.

"Huh?" Bones blinks, cocking his head at his spectator, for a moment seeming as though he does not completely understand. "What? This is just warm up. The /real/ stuff is set to music." he says with a bit of a smile. Even after that physical exertion, he is not even breaking a sweat or breathing hard. "My father is one of a dozen or so real Capoeira Mestres in the world. He taught me everything I know. I actually teach one of the mid-level classes at the family dojo."

"Okay, you just lost me. What's…capra mestes?" Angelina asks. "But you really like music, huh? You play anything? Or just sing…" Lips curve a touch and a teasing note enters her voice. "Or try to sing, anyway?"

"A Cap-oh-WERE-ah MEH-stray-" Bones sounds out the words for her, the coloring of an accent behind the spoken title/rank. "is the highest rank possible to be held in the art of Capoeira. All that tumbling you just saw me doing. The rank represents years and years of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears. It is like… like holding three or four doctorates, all in the same subject." he explains, telling of his father's monumental achievement. "And the title is not bestowed upon you by those of a higher rank than you. It is given by one's students." - With a smirk, he points at her. "Hey, my singing might be unpleasant but at least I try to keep it to myself. You don't see me on Fox making a fool of myself. And no, I don't play an instrument."

Angelina grins. "No, but I was subjected to your singing last night. But I can forgive you. I appreciate anyone who appreciates music. Even if they suck at it themselves." Her head tilts. "But a student gives the title? That seems a little backwards. I mean, wouldn't someone of higher rank know better just how good you are?"

"It has much to do with the Capoeira culture. You are dealing with people who criticize your every breath and movement, who would not even be impressed if you rose from the dead after a week. And a whole 'panel' of these people who are quite skilled as well all have to agree that you deserve the title." Bones flops down to lay down on his back on the floor, staring up at the ceiling for the time being.

Angelina nods. "Okay, I guess that makes sense. Guess I'm just used to the other way. Where is this…capoeira thing from anyway? Doesn't sound Japanese or anything like that. And speaking of names…Is Bones your real name?"

"Technically, I suppose it originates in Africa but black slaves who were brought to Brazil in the sixteenth century were the first to make it an art and means of self-defense, formalizing it. The slaves wish for a means of self-defense that their masters would not recognize as such, instead putting it to music and making it appear as tumbling and dance." Bones is practically an encyclopedia some time and on the most random subjects. This one just happens to be on point this time. "And Bones is as real a name as you are going to get out of me. Even my mother calls me Bones. She apologizes on a monthly basis for naming me what she did."

Angelina laughs. "It's that bad, huh? Well, why Bones then? You a big fan of the TV show or something? You dig up bones in your spare time or something?" she asks with a grin. "And you are the most…random person I've ever met. Catacombs, capoeira, guns, and whatever it was you were doin' when I found you last night."

"Part of the catacombs thing. I'm qualified as a city engineer. Electrical, mechanical, hydraulic…" Bones rolls over and pushes up, practically flowing up to his feet. He steps over to her and places his arm on the table in front of her. "Lift my arm. Keep one hand here on my bicep to make sure I am not employing any muscle. With your other hand lift up my forearm." he instructs. If she does so, she would find that indeed his muscle is relaxed and that his arm weighs quite a bit more than it should. In fact the normal person would have trouble moving with bones that heavy let along moving around as fast and as agile as he does.

Angelina looks at him with a mixture of curiosity and wariness, but the kitten is set down, and a hand set lightly on his bicep, before she reaches for his wrist with her other hand to move his arm. Her brows lift as she starts to draw her hands back. "Okay, what's the deal? You some kind of Wolverine or something?" Ahh…pop culture. Gotta love it.

Thinking for a moment on his answer, he shrugs simply enough and sets his jaw. With a sharp jerk of his arm, three long bone claws shoot out of his skin, partially mimicking the comic book character mentioned. Where fantasy and reality meet the road though is where blood pools around those holes in his skin where the bones protrude. "I suppose you could kinda say that." Gotta love it.

Angelina wasn't expecting him to agree, even partially. And she definitely wasn't expecting a demonstration to prove it! She jumps a little and her eyes go wide as she stares at the claws. "Holy shit. I was being a smart ass! I didn't actually figure you were like him. Just…you know…the metal. Your arm was heavy."

"My bones are very, very dense, making them incredibly hard to break, if virtually impossible to fracture. I also am able to shape and grow my bones however I wish." He says, a tinge of pain or discomfort entering in to his voice before those bones slowly slide back in to his fist. Now without the bones blocking the blood flow, his blood flows freely from the wounds. He reaches in to his back pocket and withdraws a rag that is already colored with long-dried blood and he places it over his wounds, wrapping it around his knuckles. "It'll stop bleeding in a minute here." he assures.

Angelina winces sympathetically at the blood, then she looks up to him. "You didn't have to hurt yourself just to demonstrate it for me, though. Could've just told me. But…as demonstrations go, it was a pretty good one." She hesitates for a moment. "My ability is less of a defensive tool than yours. It's a weapon, really…"

"Yeah, sure. I'm Wolverine and your Jubilee. All we need is a guy that shoots lasers from his eyes and a weather witch and we got ourselves a real X-Team." Bones jokes as he turns to sit on the table with his feet resting upon the floor, keeping his bleeding hand elevated above his shoulder. "As for hurting myself, if we all plan on surviving together and doing what we are suppose to do, we have to have a damn good idea of what each of us can do."

Angelina shakes her head. "I don't know who Jubilee is. I just watched the movies, I didn't read any of the comics or anything like that," she explains. "Card knows what I can do. Peyton too. It's just…weird sharing. Hid from registration because I'd get locked up if they knew what I could do, and I…well, we went into the trust thing last night." She takes a slow, deep breath. "I blow stuff up. Without C4 or any kind of explosives."

"Wow… You really are Jubilee…" Bones blinks and his head jerks back for a moment before he smiles and chuckles. "Well hell. That's pretty damn cool. Or must be, I guess." he brings both of his legs up, sitting cross-legged on the table. "And yeah, I'm not registered either. I seriously doubt that they would want me walking around free. Or would let me keep my job. I like my job."

"So Jubilee blows stuff up too? Good guess then," Angelina says, sounding a little surprised. "And yeah, I think it's cool. Not something I can really enjoy like some people with their abilities, but…I do gotta admit to liking a good explosion," she says with a bit of a sheepish smile.

Bones shrugs, seeming to accept that explanation, giving a slow nod. "Yeah. Those of us who cannot just go throwing our abilities around have to be happy to settle for the little things in life." he thumbs his nose a little and continues that casual smile of his. "Well good. You just solved several of our problems concerning entrance and exit strategies."

Angelina's brows lift. "I did? Though I guess if I did that could be why Card recruited to me to join this little group of…whatever we are."

"We are a pro-actively responsive protest and action group." Bones says quite wryly as he gives them such a very PC designation that will in no way be what the press will likely call them one of these days. "As for the boss, while we definitely could use your help, I am sure he had more than just your ability in mind as a motive for recruiting you."

Angelina's head tilts. "You do? I mean, I've worked with him in the past, but…I dunno. He didn't really explain anything. Well, sort of what we did, but it was all kind of vague. I'll have to see if I can track him down for more details. Though i don't imagine that'll be easy to do."

"Yeeeeah. I have actually been trying to leave him alone and not bug him about anything. He seems really very week from what I can tell. And something tells me that if he relaxes too much or loses concentration, he might very well cease to exist." Bones licks his lips, shaking his head a little, definitely not seeming as though he would enjoy Cardinal being gone.

Angelina winces a little. "Are you serious? Damn. You have any idea how to…fix him? I don't even really know what's wrong with him. He mentioned a nuke and all, but I don't get how it made him like he is now."

"Me? Oh, you are asking the way wrong person. I might be able to pass myself off as an engineer, but I am definitely no genius. I haven't even the slightest idea how to put Humpty Dumpty back together again." He holds his hands up momentarily as if to display his ignorance on the subject. He glances down though at the watch strapped to wrist and slides off the table, walking over to pick up a backpack against the wall. He shoulders it and unwraps his hand which is indeed no longer bleeding and one can almost make out that the wound has already scabbed over. "Hey, I got to go check out one of the builds on the western edge of midtown. I'll see you later, huh?"

Angelina nods. "Yeah. Looks like I'll be sticking around. If only for the regular showers," she says with a faint smile. "I'll see what I can dig up. Or who I can dig up, who might be able to help him too."


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