Participants:
| Scene Title | Burning Up The Dregs |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Meredith is frustrated, Gillian is desperate to help someone. They come together and set a time to try and test their powers combined. |
| Date | January 21, 2010 |
Staten Island's Coast - Near The Lighthouse
The coast of Staten Island is as much of a presence as its inland, with rivers that invade right into its heart as well as cutting off the circulation of transport from the rest of New York City. The coastal regions reflect a lot of this borough's rural nature, with rough shores and plantlife, broken brick, and general abandonment. The harbors are left to the devices of those that freely come and go, a conspicuous lack of official presence - a number of them notably overrun by the developing crime syndicate, but there are still quite a few, particularly on the coasts nearest to Brooklyn and Manhattan, that are accessible to the lawful public.
Outside of the Lighthouse - far enough away that none of the kid should randomly stumble upon her - Meredith stands out by the ocean. For a few moments, it just looks like she's staring out at it thoughtfully. Of course, the random piles of ashes that are strewn about her feet as well as in a circle around her may alert a wary person of otherwise. Eyebrows furrowed, the blonde stares out at the ocean with an expression that is equal parts frustration and anger.
She wasn't good enough. She was brushed away by the jerk who burned down her safe house, she couldn't help Colette when she attempted to help, she couldn't do anything right, it seemed like. If only she had more, could be more, maybe she could help herself. Help others. In another burst of annoyance, a washed up piece of jetsam catches fire and burns in a brilliant display of reds and oranges. Meredith pays it no mind.
While the children may be at a safe distance, the flares don't go completely unnoticed. The stumbling footsteps that approach can be heard when the rocks crunch against each other, and a few tumble down the hill for a moment. More footsteps, until the young dark haired woman isn't very far away. Gillian's coat is thick and warm, a scarf wrapped around her neck, and gloves. "I get that you might be trying to warm up the city…" she says, voice a little raspy as she gets close enough to rub her gloved hands over her coat. "I hear you've been staying here a lot lately. Juniper seems to like you." The other kids might too, but that one seemed the most obvious.
While Meredith's intention was to keep the kids out of immediate danger of her anger, that doesn't mean she's a saint. It's cold enough, still, that she doesn't want to wander too far from the lighthouse and the safety that it affords. Though she certainly has a desire to go out and light some bad guys on fire, that doesn't mean she's suicidal. That's not the sort of thing she'd solo. At the crunching gravel, the log on fire doesn't stop - it would be hard to make the fire go against it's very nature - however, the flame display eases. After a moment, it just crackles merrily in the silence.
"She's a good kid." Juniper. At least one person she managed to help. She'd managed to light the Nightmare Man on fire, keep him distracted so that he could finished - or so she thought. "I've not got a lot of other places to go. This seems like the last place people'll look for me." The blonde finally turns her head just slightly so she can look over her shoulder. "What're ya doin' down here?"
"I stopped in to see how the kids were doing— and Brian," Gillian says, shrugging a bit as she glances behind her, to the part of the building that's easiest to see from here. The tower. "I usually go up to the tower to think while I'm there, and I spotted the whole— setting things on fire act. Figured I'd see what's going on down here," she shrugs a bit inside her thick coat, as she moves down closer, glancing toward the smoldering log in the water.
There's a quick nod from Meredith to acknowledge the answer from Gillian, but she doesn't actually set anything else on fire for the moment. "Just—" sometimes, she has control issues with her ability. Especially when she's so angry at herself, her skin is practically crackling with adrenaline and unused power. "I'm frustrated. Didn't want to do somethin' stupid inside." And so she came outside in order to start her fireworks out of the watch of impressionable kids. Though they can probably still see her, she did attempt to be a bit discreet. "Nobody sent ya down here, did they?"
"I think Juniper noticed, but no, no one sent me…" Gillian says, glancing out into the water, well aware that not much damage could happen here that wouldn't be stopped by the dampness of the ground and the water so close. "Know what it's like to be frustrated. If I could set fire to things, I think there'd be a whole building in the city— or three— that would be burned down right now. Not to mention a guy who would probably have spontaneously combusted." Always gotta be a guy at her age… Little does she know the guy in question who would be a pile of ash right now happens to be the younger brother of someone this woman had been with!
Not only been with, but had a child with. Meredith frowns and crosses her arms. She turns slowly to face Gillian, keeping a reign in on the fireworks for now. It's both easier and harder to do with other people around. "Done that. It's not pleasant, I'll just let ya know right now." Maybe not the men spontaneously combusting, but the buildings. "It's why I like to focus on the little things." Her own ability is something dangerous, to be studied, it could qualify her as Tier Three. And, yet, it never seems to be good enough. "Not like it matters any."
"I'm not saying I would have wanted too— but I cause enough damage all on my own," Gillian gives another shrug, willing to recognize how many people she's killed without an ability that's even distructive by itself. It's the addition of other abilities that make her dangerous… "What do you mean it doesn't matter? If it makes you feel a little better, you can blow up a few pieces of wood in the water, it doesn't hurt anything."
"Not just by yourself, though." Meredith doesn't exactly pull punches at the best of times and she's in a bad mood as of the moment. It's not like she's not appreciative of the help that Gillian has given her by allowing her to stay at the Lighthouse, but she's also a little defensive at the moment. "Blowing up pieces of wood in the water does nothing. It lets out some steam. Where it matters, I just don't have the…whatever." Her hand waves in a nonsensical gesture, her attempt to explain the 'whatever'. It's the power, the prowess, the ability to do what she needs. "I just never seem to have it together enough. Either I'm burnin' somethin' down I don't want to, or I can't burn anythin' down right at all."
"Guessing need to learn how to control it better, then," Gillian says, though despite the words that could seem condesending, she isn't trying to be. "Maybe you should find a building no one will mind you burning down and figure out how to control it well enough that you won't— destroy stuff when you don't want to." In a way, she's reminded of her own training, when she had to learn to hold back her ability, control the power that someone would get from her. It still fails at times, when emotional or in pain, but— maybe another lesson will help someone else too. "I know a place on the island. No one uses it anymore, and it's practically destroyed by a giant iron guy already."
Meredith narrows her eyes a little more at Gillian. The last thing she likes to be told is how to use her own ability. "I can control it fine." Unless her adrenaline is rushing. That's what calls the fire and that's what makes it hard to keep down. "It's just not that easy most of the time." Especially when Meredith can be a bit of a hot-head at times. Not like her brother, but she has her pride and she has her sticking points. If anyone crosses them, it's hard for her to keep herself under control. "It's just that stuff with the nightmares. Made me all upset. Goddamn mind screwer."
"Yeah, I got that shit myself. But the guy I live with said it should be over, and I haven't had any bad dreams since," And Gillian really disliked what mind fucked dreams she got— even if she had to agree with them. They came from her. They were her… She stopped liking herself a long time ago. "If you have a hard time controlling it when it's tougher, maybe you need to train under extreme circumstances. I could maybe help with that. Make you stronger and see if you can learn to control it when you're like that." In a way, Gillian knows she's just desperately trying to find a way to help… And her ability is one of the few ways that she can help, how no one else that she knows of can.
"Yeah, I got that shit myself. But the guy I live with said it should be over, and I haven't had any bad dreams since," And Gillian really disliked what mind fucked dreams she got— even if she had to agree with them. They came from her. They were her… She stopped liking herself a long time ago. "If you have a hard time controlling it when it's tougher, maybe you need to train under extreme circumstances. I could maybe help with that. Make you stronger and see if you can learn to control it when you're like that." In a way, Gillian knows she's just desperately trying to find a way to help… And her ability is one of the few ways that she can help, how no one else that she knows of can.
With a snort, Meredith shakes her head. "Thought he was gone a coupla times." The visions she was thrown were very real and very much a part of her own psyche. But she doesn't want to own up to that. It's his fault that all these things happened to her. If he'd just left her alone, her safe house would still be intact and she wouldn't be living hand to mouth. "I'd burn the whole place down in one shot," she tells Gillian.
"Maybe I secretly want you to burn it down," Gillian says with a shrug, thinking on the place she's suggested. Every time she visits Staten Island, she drives by there, to see what's happened with it. The giant hole in one of the main walls deters people from slumming it inside, as it doesn't make it easy to heat. And with the reclaimation beginning, it's possible the government will try to rebuild it.
"But the idea is to control the burn, I guess? I dunno. Maybe it was a fucking stupid idea." She shrugs in her big coat again, and looks away back to the building. They have a person who could burn down the whole Lighthouse easy living there now.
The smirk Meredith gives Gillian isn't one of mocking. It's just her kind of response to Gillian. Her arms fall from being crossed against her chest to her side. She stuffs them into her coat's pocket. Eyes drift back to where the log has started to just smolder in the water, the smoke coiling up into the air. She's living surrounded by kids now. If she lost control while sleeping again, she'd burn them all alive. They wouldn't stand much of a chance. "Where is this place?" It's not an agreement just yet, it's a concession.
"It's the Great Kills Public Library, here on Staten Island on Giffords Lane. But you wouldn't know it's a library now if you went inside," Gillian explains, shrugging a bit as she does. "I've used it for training before, by myself and with Brian." The guy who runs the Lighthouse and seems to be in twenty places at once— cause he practiclaly is. A fourth of that, at least. "None of the houses around it had squaters either, so…"
There's a quick nod and Meredith turns around completely again to stare moodily back at the ocean. Her hands clench in her pockets as she thinks this over. The sound of the dirty water lapping on the beach isn't what the blonde is listening to currently - it's the sound of crackling ashes. "If you really want to help, meet me there Tuesday night. Wear something light." Because it will be getting very hot.