Participants:
| Scene Title | Badassitude |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Magnes stops off to see Dee for the first time in a while. |
| Date | August 2, 2009 |
Greenwich feels more like home every day, especially when Delilah spends the day completely elsewhere. Eventually, she comes back, excited to come home. Then again, the journeys can get lonesome. The weather is warm, the early night quiet as Delilah makes her way through the Village. She wears a pale tye-dyed dress, which hangs midthigh to meet a pair of stocking-leggings cut mid-calf. Her sandals are a bit wet from the walk, so her feet off and on make little squeaks on the soles. Her hair is down in loose curls, a white headband sitting behind the poufs of bangs. Dee passes at least one familiar face on the sidewalk, nodding a hello before strolling on.
Rolling along the roof, having spotted Delilah about a block back, Magnes jumps down into a nearby alley, wearing his semi-casual suit with gelled back hair, a generally different style than when they last met. He keeps his hands in his pockets, his open jacket pushed back as he leaves the alley to intercept her path, offering a friendly smile. "Hey."
It's what she gets for not paying too much attention to where she is heading- Magnes appears out of the mouth of the next alley and the redhead just about jumps right out of her skin. "Oh my gaahhhhahh-" Oh. Hey, wait. "-Magnes?" It must be the hair and the clothes, because it takes Delilah a moment to realize who it is. And then she brightens up, smiling. "Hey yourself!"
"I missed you, but I can go where ever I want now." Magnes quickly skates over, moving to wrap his arms around her for a brief hug, though he visibly winces. "Fuck… Can we go somewhere private?"
"Last I heard, you were at some kind of academy- I got a letter about it, and I called the number on it at least once- but they said you weren't able to come to the phone." She will admit to herself, when she saw where he had gone, she did hope that he didn't cause too much chaos. Delilah returns the hug, a bit more tightly than the casual norm, but that is how she always does it. And yes, she sees him wince from it. "Oh, yeah, sure- what's wrong?" Lilah looks rather intuitively down at the rest of him, a quick examination.
"I got shot about two days ago, went right through me." Magnes starts to slowly skate back into the alley, motioning for her to follow. "I'll fly us up to the roof, but uh, let's get into the alley where people can't see first, then I'll tell you all about it."
Delilah's eyebrows lift up in surprise. "Oh- jeez-" She wants to ask about it, but he gets to it first, sort of. Instead, she nods and follows him into the alley, at least ready this time for being lifted up into the air via antigravity. It's one of those things she needs to be ready for! "I'm sorry if I hurt you there… I like the hair thing, by the way."
"I changed my style as a last 'thank you' to Isabelle. I stuck with it 'cause I kinda like it." Magnes takes her hand, but when they start floating up to the roof it becomes pretty obvious that he's gotten much more control over his ability. The floating is smooth, things don't suddenly turn upside down, and he didn't even have to grope her by the time they land. "So, about the whole getting shot thing. It all happened in front of Old Lucy's. A sniper shot this woman from behind, then he was gonna shoot at her blind friend, so I jumped in front of it to block the shot. He didn't take the shot, but he came down and I think he was gonna come back, so I started shooting at him and he shot me. Huruma went after him and I got the blind girl out of there safely, but it was a bit too late for the other woman."
When she realizes that she didn't need to brace herself- Delilah grins broadly and peers down at the air below her feet. "You've gotten better." And then they land on the rooftop, where Magnes begins the short, quite action-filled story of his.
As he explains, Dee gets progressively more interested. "I'm sorry. Was that why they found that lone pool of blood the other day? And some poor guy all beat to hell nearby? And since when did you just…carry a loaded gun around?" As if she doesn't sometimes? Her voice softens a little at that question- curious in a few ways, but now realizing that he's obviously grown up some in the last month or so.
"I can't just depend on my ability, eventually I'll have to use a gun. But don't worry, they're legal, I'll officially be a cop soon. I'm sort've dating too, though I'm a bit sketchy on if it's gonna last… it's uh, really really complicated." Magnes has complicated relationships now! Well, if the person you're dating being batshit insane coutns as complicated… He briefly opens his jacket, flashing the guns for her to see, then quickly closes it. "The blood was either from me or the woman, but it'll be fine, it's all been handled. I just have to find that sniper, and figure out why he was targetting them."
Hers aren't! That's the funny thing. Delilah seems quite attentive, even through the 'complicated' and the flashing of holsters. "So you're packin', a two-step from being a cop, and in something 'complicated' with a girl." The redhead perches her hands on the edges of her hips and eyeballs Magnes up and down suspiciously. Mock suspicion, of course, and a slightly bemused tone. "Who are you, and what have you done with Magnes?"
"Well, we're not having sex or anything, right now there are probably only two women I care about enough to actually sleep with, and uh, neither of them are likely to happen. But I like this girl, so I'm hoping it doesn't burst into flames, or, y'know, she kills me or something." Magnes says this with an almost nervously amused smile, suggesting that there's actually a hint of truth to his concern. "So how have you been? You're one of my best friends and I haven't seen you in forever. I can see anyone whenever I want now, I think, so we can hang out again, when I'm not busy. Academy training takes up most of my day. Oh, and uh, wanna see my scar?"
"…you're scared your girlfriend is going to kill you?" Delilah asks only after she gets the hint of truthfulness out of his expression. "I've been okay." She smiles back, rocking slightly on her heels. "Lot's of things going on all at once, lots of people having problems- but I'm doing alright. I try to stay busy lately, I suppose." Maybe that is how she is supposed to act, after something like Pinehearst, and before the clouds start rolling back in to block the sun out. It's a time to try and relax- and get the same out of everyone else. Not to mention pick up some strewn pieces.
"Your scar? You don't still have it bandaged up?" Dee looks down a bit almost expectantly. That's a 'yeah, sure'.
"It's stitched up, but Abby referred me to a healer, so I'll be fine soon. I'm gonna ask her if she can keep a bit of it as a reminder though." Magnes raises his shirt, and he has been working out, even if he's still painfully oblivious of his progress. First he peels the bandage of the front wound back, showing the rather gross looking stitches before pressing it back on, then he turns around to show the exit wound, which is quite larger. "It'd be bad to take the back bandage off, that one's a lot worse."
"Oh." It's hard to tell if that sound is in response to what he said, or what's under his shirt when he lifts it up. Because really, that is easily the first thing that Delilah notices before he moves his bandage. Perhaps out of habit, one hand goes to help make sure that the front has been plastered back on correctly; Dee's hands hover dreadfully close as he turns to show her the rest of the bandage. "At least you'll heal well- healer or no." Maybe the academy fed him something new? "You look a lot healthier than you did living over Panucci's, I'll tell you that much."
"Bullets hurt, never get shot. I've been shot two times, I think I'm more, uh, 'gangsta' than most of the rappers in Hollywood now. And uh, healthy?" Magnes asks, not quite getting it as he looks down at himself, then just shakes his head as something registers. "Oh, you were asking about the girl I'm dating. Uh, it's a long story, really, probably silly." he answers, attempting to write it off.
If he only knew how close she was to that- and that she shot someone else. Ten times! Not over it, even if the bastard had it coming. Delilah shivers just a little, a thoughtful look on her face. "Yeah, sure, healthy. You used to be… fluffier. It's amazing how guys can fill out so fast." And he moves on, and she did sort of ask. "Well, why would you be scared she'll hurt you? Now that can't be too healthy."
"I'm sure she won't, like I said, things are just really complicated. If she does, well, it'll be my fault. You'll keep this stuff to yourself, right? I should have kept my mouth shut, really, but I'm used to just telling you stuff." Magnes shrugs, suddenly just floating into the air, then holding a hand down for her's. "If I'm uh, more filled out, it's probably 'cause academy training is hard. I've been training from morning to evening almost every day for weeks. Come on, let's fly."
"It's not like people come knocking at my door asking questions about your personal life, Magnes." Delilah informs him of this quite dutifully, watching him as he rises from the rooftop. He really has gotten better at that. She tucks her hand into his, still looking up. "Do they actually teach you things up there, or are they just turning you into the proverbial 'I love a man in uniform' guy?"
"They're teaching me things." Magnes easily lifts her up, shifting her weight so she's floating next to him, then he just starts to slowly fly high over the buildings, giving them a rather nice view. "Did you know that if you hit someone's nose the right way, the bone fragments launch into their brain? You learn a lot of crazy stuff, but I never plan to kill anyone, with my ability I shouldn't have to. I've been taking some classes on the side too, so I've learned a lot. I just hope one day I can have a long rest, maybe after graduation. I miss how your apartment smells."
When they get a bit higher up, Delilah can't help but reach over with her other hand to hold onto his shirt- coat- whatever's there and not in the area of his wound. If humans were meant to fly without tools, they would have wings- so of course, flying is always a bit weird. A little more now because he seems so good at it.
She listens, for now, watching the late evening amongst the buildings below. "You miss the smell of my apartment?" Lilah chuckles. It's amazing that sometimes Magnes can be pretty level and suddenly say something that just happens to make him a little weirder. "You'll have to teach me that punch- I have a mean right hook, you know…"
"I learned how to kill people so I would know how not to kill them. Most of my ability training was learning control, not to accidentally destroy a city street in the middle of a fight, or kill someone. I wanted to learn how to be responsible so what happened in Shibuya doesn't repeat itself." Magnes slides a hand around her waist, for no particular reason, he just does it. "And your apartment always made me feel, well, comfortable. It's like stepping into Wonderland or something."
Dee's apartment isn't particularly special like Wonderland, so she is left wondering where he got the parallels. Maybe it is all the baking? "If you had to, though, would you? Kill someone, I mean?" She sounds like she is fishing for something, but it isn't clear what.
"If there were no alternative, if even giving my own life wouldn't stop this person, if this person were going to harm my friends and maybe even the world, then yes, I would have no choice. I'd dig to the very bottom of the well to find an alternative, but if I had to sacrifice a little bit of my morality, a bit of my soul, if it meant saving people? I would." Magnes answers, trying his best to give a suitable answer as they appear to begin landing, the building obviously Delilah's.
She'll go over what he says many more times before she goes to sleep tonight- but ultimately, he answers well, and she'll come to the same conclusion again. It was a necessary evil, killing Edward Ray.
Delilah is painfully quiet as they drift down towards the rooftop of the Renaissance building, only looking up to Magnes when they do touch down. "Thanks." For the ride? Sort of. But mostly the answer- not that he'll know it apart from her being grateful for a lift.
"It's cool, I like flying, though I like jumping more, flying's more pleasant for the passengers." Magnes says, snickering and moving a hand to lightly run a finger through her hair. "I hope we can hang out more, like before. I don't think my co-workers would appreciate going to a convention much."
Delilah tilts her head just enough to illicit it as a response to his touching her hair, but not quite a response that seems to ask for another. "It's not like that's the only thing there is, Magnes." She smirks for a second or two. "And I've seen worse things to have as hobbies, to tell the truth."
"So, next time why don't we go somewhere you wanna go?" Magnes asks, since it certainly couldn't hurt. "I have my conventions and comic shops and skate parks, but what about you? I wanna go to a place you like."
"I go places with my friends- the same old stuff as you or my neighbors. Girl things. You don't happen to want to come to a shoot or something, do you?" Delilah laughs, wondering if she even meant it or not after it comes out. "Been thinking about the beach. Or taking some friends out to a club- boy, do some of them need that. Or even the beach. Everyone seems to be in such a cruddy mood." For good reasons, but it pains Dee to see it!
"Hey, I have a great idea!" Magnes practically having a lightbulb over his head, raises a finger excitedly. "Maybe if we put our money together and stuff, since I've been saving up a lot, we could like, rent a cabin by a lake or something, my mentor recently did it for me, it was fun and relaxing. We could even make camp fires and stuff."
Just the two of them? She'll have to consider that- if not, well- it does sound fun. "Maybe." Dee grins back at him, glancing over a shoulder towards the door on the roof. "It does sound fun. We'll see." It seems unlikely, but maybe he can at least come along on something less weird. It's one thing to do that with a mentor. "I should be getting in." The redhead bounces that inch or two onto her toes, leaning up to peck Magnes on the cheek, one hand still lingering on his arm. "Thanks for coming to see me, Magnes."
"Hey, we're friends, right? I'll be back soon. Oh, and ask anyone else you might invite if they wanna chip in too. I mean, I'm getting a good salary now, but I'm not rent-a-cabin rich yet. Well, I don't think I am at least…" Magnes will have to ask Carrie, beginning to slowly float back into the air, having a flare for the dramatic as his jacket sways in the wind. "Call me some time, I can use my phone now."
"I will, Magnes." Delilah smiles up as he floats into the air, the wind on the roof lifting curls of her red hair. She picks up a hand and waves a tiny goodbye with her fingers, taking a few steps backwards towards the door. "I'll see you later- don't get shot again, okay?"
"Next time I won't forget that thing called 'cover'." Magnes laughs, waving, then woosh, he darts off into the air until he's completely vanished from sight.