Participants:
| Scene Title | Better Than Doing Nothing |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Tamsine wants to find a non-violent way to help the evo vs. non-evo situation. |
| Date | September 13, 2009 |
Suresh Center: Outside
It's a warm, humid and cloudy Sunday day. The gray clouds give the city a dingier-than-usual gloominess, a sharp contrast to Tamsine's fiery red hair and the sky-blue sundress she's wearing today. She stands on the sidewalk facing the Suresh Center, looking indecisive. A colorful polka dot book tote from the iconic The Strand bookstore is on one shoulder, a notepad and pen and bottle of water tucked inside in case she takes notes or needs to jot down a contact number. She takes a few steps more, then turns and heads back toward the bus stop nearby. Indecision is the name of just one of her inner demons. Anyone watching her will have seen this strange behavior taking place over the past several minutes, ever since the 10:55 a.m. bus pulled up thirteen minutes ago.
Kayla wasn't watching; she's currently otherwise occupied with getting out the front door, weaving through the usual Suresh Center gathering — yes, even on a Sunday. Perhaps especially. There's a small knot of kids loitering by a corner, playing a game that has no rules discernable to any onlooker; an elderly man sitting on a bench with his newspaper; a couple of other casually-dressed young adults talking animatedly as they make their way out to the parking lot, barely glancing towards Tamsine.
The morning's dull atmosphere fits Kayla rather well, her expression faintly disgruntled; it often is. She's dressed in khaki pants and a red blouse, black bag at her side of a size to accomodate notepads or a netbook. Gray eyes flick over the Center grounds, noting the people more distant from her, looking for a familiar face.
Even though his days have been rather preoccupied, he's in quite the chipper mood after his meeting the previous day with Teo Laudini. The Team is coming together and even with all that's gone down, it seems that things are one step closer to a solution than in previous days. With that, he volunteered to drive Kayla to the Suresh Center so that she could tackle a meeting and he'd chill. Perhaps take an interest in Evolved Basket Weaving or some other Olympic event.
The cowboy stays one-half step behind Kayla as she weaves her way through the Center and to the outdoors. He hasn't really spoken a word since she's finished her business, as he is ready to drive her back to the base, however he spies a familiar face and takes a detour, giving Kayla fair warning. "I think I know this one." he says as he starts towards Tamsine. Would be rude of him not to at least say hello.
Tamsine doesn't notice Len or Kayla as she's currently in the part of the cycle where she's heading back to the bus stop — but, alas, she's too late, the bus is just pulling away. She'll have to wait at least another 30 minutes for the next one. She turns to face back to the building once more, and it's rather hard to miss Len this time, nearly seven feet of him heading directly toward her. Her brows raise and she smirks a little, giving a shake of her red hair in disbelief. "I swear I'm not stalking you, Agent Denton," she says by way of greeting.
This one? Kayla pauses as her supervisor abruptly peels off to talk to someone, inevitably something she isn't exactly keen on. Now it's her turn to tag along in Len's wake, with every evidence of poorly-concealed (she does try for a nod towards politeness) impatience. Pauses, when he does so in order to talk to this person, whom the secretary herself considers impassively.
There's a lift of an eyebrow when Tamsine mentions she's not stalking Len. Perhaps even a faint hint of disappointment. Not everyone gets their own stalker. Maybe one day..
A brief flicker of a smile towards Tamsine as he gets closer with Kayla falling in behind. "Well, can't stay that I'm a hard person to follow, cause I'm not. So, even if you were, I'm certain I've not been making it very difficult for you." He tucks his thumbs into the front pockets of his jeans as he dips his head towards Kayla. "Tamsine Whitaker, Kayla Reid. Reid, Whitaker. Ms. Whitaker here is a bonafide hero." he states. He briefly recounts how she saved the life of an asthma patient by ensuring he make it to the hospital in a timely manner. He then explains that Kayla works for him and he was giving her a ride to the Center. Tamsine has been the benefit of Len's Jeep on a couple of occasions now. Len perhaps should have gone into public transportation.
"Nice to meet you, Kayla. You can call me Tamsine, rather than Whitaker," the petite redhead says with a smirk, amused at the use of last names on the second reference. "I'm just a civilian, after all." Her cheeks flush a little due to the "heroic" story. "Kayla… you look awfully familiar," she murmurs, her brows knitting together as she studies the woman's face. "You didn't happen to work at one of the shelters after the bomb went off, did you?" The woman looks put together and professional; Tamsine assumes if she knew the woman from the shelter, she was there in the same vein as Tamsine — to help. Perhaps a Red Cross or Peace Corps volunteer? She glances toward the Center indecisively once more, then back to the two "Homeland Security" employees.
Kayla smiles slightly at the exchange of names, offering a brief of her chin and no attempt at a handshake. Len's story earns him a hint of sidelong glance; she doesn't look impressed by word of Tamsine's 'heroics'. Admittedly, the healer has some degree of cause. Gray eyes flick to the other woman as she chimes in, Kayla's gaze sharpening in consideration of her features. "No," she replies succinctly, folding her hands before her. It keeps her from fidgeting under Tamsine's inspection, or turning around and walking away. "I didn't."
Well, this is going well. At least Len would think so. He really would seem oblivious to any discomfort on anyone's part as he glances from one to the other. He doesn't recall anything about Kayla working for a shelter, but again, it's not his business. Either she does and she doesn't want to say, or she doesn't. He grins to Tamsine. "What brings you out here on a Sunday?" Or any other day, for that matter.
"Oh. Sorry, you just look really familiar," Tamsine says with a smile. Over with the protestors, a shout begins to begin — "Hell, No! Evos Go!" Well, no one said they were very smart or creative. She wrinkles her nose and turns her focus back to Len. "I … I don't know. I thought maybe I should quit sitting around and being afraid and maybe try to help out somehow. Make people less afraid of Evolved people, make Evolved people less afraid of their own powers, help someone, but now… I don't think I have it in me." She frowns a little. "I got into a bit of an argument with a … a friend, who seems to think that the only solution to the problems of this world is violence, and he seemed to think I was naive for thinking otherwise. But I guess unless I actually try to help in a non-violent way, or any way, I have no reason to talk. So I'm here to see what maybe I could do, but…" she trails off, glancing at the protestors. "But I don't know what I could do anyway." She gives a shrug of one shoulder, and her dark eyes look sad for a moment.
Kayla looks past Tamsine at the protestors, quietly listening to the woman talk with Len. Her silence is broken with an abrupt response to Tamsine: "Go in, ask, and you'll find out." Obviously polite got left behind somewhere along the way. Gray eyes turn briefly to Denton. "I'll go on ahead," she states, leaving them to finish their catching-up without the burden of her presence.
Len watches as Kayla walks off and shrugs. Yeah. He turns back to Tamsine and grins. "She's got a point." As blunt as it may have been. "The only way you'll find out if there's anything you can do is to walk in and ask. Even if all you do is get educated, because there are plenty of lectures and discussions that you can attent, it's at least something. I've even attended a couple myself." he notes. "Doing nothing, is probably the worst something you can do. There are far too many in this city who are doing that."
Frowning, Tamsine watches Kayla walk off. "I swear I know her — oh." The eureka! moment is delayed, and it's not a happy one. "She wasn't working there, she was … a refugee," she murmurs, more to herself than to Len. She shakes her head sadly. "I… apologize to her, if I upset her, will you?" She glances back at the Center, then the crowd. "It's a nice idea, the center, but doesn't it paint maybe a big target on everyone's back for those people?" She nods toward the protestors. "It's why I keep walking up and down this sidewalk trying to decide."
Len turns towards the protestors and shrugs. "Depends. They.." he points his thumbs towards those who carry signs and shout their little ill-rehearsed sayings, ".. will never become educated, without those like you who take the time to learn and share with them. Right?" he smiles. "If you want, I'll be more than happy to escort you into the building. I doubt any of them will risk tangling with me right about now. Besides, I carry a mean looking gun on me." he nods, dipping his hat towards her. "What do you say?"
"I guess…" Tamsine says hesitantly, before nodding, mustering her resolve. Never mind she'll have to leave without him at some point, past the same group of angry people. "Really, don't you have work to do, besides coming to my aid all the time, Mister Denton?" she says with a smirk. "Anyway, I don't really know how I can help, but I guess education is a good idea. I read up on stuff all the time, as much as I can, but it's not always the same."
He leads the way towards the Center, putting himself between her and the crowd who seems more bent on yelling and sign waving, then they do to want to hurt her. The words they say are meant to scare and hurt, but Len is there to ensure her safety. "I'm a public servant. You're part of the public, aren't you?" he grins as he walks up to the entrance. "Go inside. Introduce yourself. Tell them you want to help and ask what you can do. It's that simple. I promise you they won't turn you away."
"And what about … them? I mean, how do I make sure that they're not going to follow me home and … there have been so many kidnappings and violence," Tamsine says softly. There is fear there — how could there not be? She already survived one Humanis First assault. "You can't protect me 24-7, after all." She smiles at that. "And your friend is waiting for you. I shouldn't keep you long."
"She'll wait. No one will mess with her." She's got more bite than she's got bark. "And she'll eventually forgive me for keeping her waiting." He pulls the door open. "I'll be out here when you're ready to go and drop you off on my way back." Len motions for her to go on inside, there's nothing in her way now. Nothing but herself.
Tamsine smiles. "I can't rely on you for everything. Thank you though. Go on, go back to work, and don't worry about me. I need to be a big girl sometime, right?" She gives a little wave, then heads inside the center, looking a little lost like the new kid on her first day of school, before heading to the counter for help — and to help.