Participants:
| Scene Title | Decoy and Bait |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Kendall earns a quick $50 that he probably regrets when Kase puts him up to talking to a difficult and sharp-tongued speedster. Kendall's ultimate assessment: People are freaks. |
| Date | December 30, 2009 |
The five acres of the Central Park Zoo are divided into three major exhibit themes: the Polar Circle, the Rain Forest, and the Temperate Territory. It features everything from leaf-cutter ants to the ever-popular polar bears; California sea lions to colobus monkeys; the two-toed sloth to the Japanese macaque. The exhibits are always a major draw for tourists, but the zoo offers a variety of classes and programs intended to educate the public in wildlife and wildlife conservation. The associated Tisch Children's Zoo includes a petting zoo and the Wildlife Theater, as well as a variety of exhibits targeted to the younger audience.
Lovely Afternoon in the Zoo? Seriously…the Zookeeper chick was hot but…but the Zoo? Kase walks along dressed in a pair of loose fitting dark jeans, a pair of dark green and white converse sneakers that match the green and white button down hoodie he wears zipped up over over a fitted tank-top up un. A dark green and white truckers cap is worn to the side and a white and green bandana is wrapped around his wrist as usual as he moves along quickly…seemingly innocently. Before he takes off running rather quickly, backpack strapped to him tightly and he's not exactly watching where he's going as he runs past the sea lions. Get out the way!
Zoom. There's running, and then there's running. Daphne has just stolen something halfway across the park. A cell phone. Not because she needed it, but because someone hired her to steal it, apparently for the information stored in the smart phone. She doesn't really care, as long as she gets paid. Just around the corner from the sea lions, the gray, red, and white blur slows when there's no one in sight, until it becomes Daphne's petite form. She sits on a bench across from the monkey house, and pulls out her own cell phone, to send a text to the person who hired her for this gig.
Kendall just felt like going to the zoo. Maybe he's consoling himself with the fact that no matter how oppressive his parents are being lately, he's not locked up in a cage. Right? Right. He just happens to be right in front of the sea lions, staring gloomily at them. Huh, maybe being an animal in a zoo wouldn't be so bad. You get free food and stuff.
Kase skids to a stop as he notices Kendall thoughtfully and then double-takes to see the person who used to be a blur, taking a deep breaths and making his plan as he runs up beside Kendall and slows to a stop, leaning against the railing as he stares at the sea lions as well with a shake of his head. He's quiet for a few moments. "You wanna make 50 dollars?"
Fingers move quickly over her teensy tiny Qwerty keyboard. A moment later, her cell chimes a reply. In meeting. Will meet at 5 pm at same diner as last time. Daphne makes a soft growl and rolls her eyes. She doesn't want to hold onto stolen merchandise that long, if it's not something she's planning on keeping. Oh, well. C'est la vie, as they say. She's safe enough here looking at the monkeys. She notices the young men almost around the bend of the trail, but pays them no mind.
"I don't want to sell any organs." Kendall replies immediately, then blinks and looks at Kase. "Er…" flush. What on earth was the kid thinking about? "Er, $50? How?"
Kase glances over his shoulder towards Daphne for a few moments before licking his lips and looking back to Kendall with a soft chuckle. "I don't want to take your organs brah, don't worry about that." He's got that…Hawaiian local accent…islandy and lilty, a bit raspy. "I need you to go over to that girl over there…you see her? The blond with the woopdedoo hair?"
Reaching into her courier bag, Daphne pulls out a green apple that contrasts cheerfully with the red coat she wears. She crunches into it for a large bite, chewing thoughtfully as she stares at the monkeys. A moment later she glances at her watch. Five o'clock is still a couple of hours away — an eon for her to sit and wait. Her feet bounce on the snowy ground, as if itching to move.
Kendall looks around until he spots what who thinks the guy is talking about. "Her?" he asks, jerking a thumb in Daphne's direction. "Want me to give her something or something?" whoa, man, busted down to playing cupid for some random stranger. Not cool, man.
Kase thumbs the side of his nose and just laughs softly. He's vaguely amused as he chuckles softly and shrugs his shoulders. "I need you to go up to her…and tell her that you think you've seen her somewhere before." Are you listening? He doesn't say it, he just arches an eyebrow but he asks it with that eyebrow. "You got that?"
She takes another couple of bites of her apple before tossing it in a nearby trash can and getting to her feet. She can't zoom on out like she'd like to, with people in sight range. So she has to simply walk. She begins to do so, turning to head in the opposite direction of the two men standing by the sea lions. As she walks, she pulls out some earbuds to tuck into her ears, flipping an iPod on her belt on.
Kendall regards the man warily. "So you want me to walk up to that lady over there and tell her I've seen her somewhere before? Am I allowed to know why?" he waits expectantly for about… 3 seconds, then shrugs and heads in Daphne's direction. "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" he asks her, carefully not meeting her eyes. Maybe her nose.
Kase turns to watch after Kendall, tucking a hand in his pocket and following after him looking thoughtful and keeping a safe distance to make sure he sees the reaction with a quirk of an eyebrow and a small smile at his lips. This should be interesting if nothing else.
Daphne stops as the teen walks up to her, turning to regard Kendall with arched brow and narrowed eyes. "Hell, kid, I don't know. It's a big city. Maybe you have. Maybe not. And if you have, so what? It doesn't make us BFFs and I'm not gonna sign an autograph for you, okay?" she tosses, though of course, somewhere behind the scornful reply, she's a bit nervous, wondering if he's somehow witnessed her stealing something. Part of her says that's impossible, of course. At any rate, her MO is to cover it up with snarky banter.
Kendall has no idea how to react to something like that. "Autograph, are you someone famous?" he asks her with a faintly bewildered stare. OMG! He's talking to someone he's never met! What's he supposed to DOOOOOOO! of course, it's mostly internal mindflailage, outwardly he's all… pretending to be cool.
Kase comes up behind Kendall with that islander swagger that comes automatically, by now he has a toothpick he's nibbling on the end of as he looks Daphne over, almost unnaturally blue eyes sweeping up and down the young woman before he turns to Kendall. "/Dayum/ brah…you have good taste…" He drawls softly, rolling his shoulders and chuckling softly as he thumbs the side of his nose.
"Sarcasm, kid. Sarcasm," Daphne says with a shake of her blonde "woopdedoo" hair. She gives a roll of her eyes and then gives Kase an 'Are you for real?' look. "You two working this corner or what?" she tosses at him. One hand lies easily on the top of the courier bag, the strap of which crosses her chest in a secure way.
Kendall eyes Kase. "I dunno, I think I'd rather date girls a little closer to my age." he replies, taking a few steps away from Daphne, discomfited by her attitude. "I'm not jailbait." seriously, jailbait is supposed to only refer to hot young girls!
Kase sighs and if allowed with reach out to snag Kendall by his sleeve to keep him from escaping and he just grins at Daphne with a shrug of his shoulder. "I notice you over here lookin' alone and suspicious, thought you'd want some company so folks stop staring. I mean beautiful, all along, at a /zoo/? You like the animals or you up to somethin' or your boyfriend or girlfriend on a potty break." He sighs at Kendall. "Cool it brah, nobody's using you for bait."
"Sitting on a park bench looking at monkeys is cause for suspicion? This fucking city is worse off than I thought," Daphne says, flinging her scarf around her neck with a flourish. She frowns at Kendall. "Easy, Sharkbait." Jailbait, Sharkbait… what's the difference? And he's young and innocent like that fish in that movie. "I'm not doing anything that would require any diversion, but it's oh-so chivalrous of you to offer it, Decoy Boy."
"I think this was /his/ lame excuse to pick you up." ok, so Kendall is a tad bit annoyed. "What, you can't ask a girl out yourself?" he demands of Kase. "I have enough problems as it is." social skills: 0
Kase actually has to /laugh/ at that, nose wrinkling. "Calm down now…you got a name?" He slips the 50 out of his pocket and offers it to Kendall. "I was just gettin' you away from the moping and looking like bully bait brah, don't worry…I know how to get girls." He blinks over at Daphne. "I just needed to get the boy's feet wet, but you got a number I'd take that too."
Kendall's reply actually gets a laugh from Daphne. "Smooth," she says with another roll of her eyes. "You two know each other, or are you like, starting your own Big Brother, Little Brother program here in Central Park?" she asks Kase, glancing from Kase to Kendall and back.
Kendall hunches his shoulders in his jacket, although he's pretty quick to take the $50. It's for emotional trauma. "Never met the guy before in my life. And I don't need help! I just like girls /my/ age, I'm not one of those kids who have the hots for 30-somethings!"
Kase facepalms as he listens to Kendall. "Dude…seriously, you are going to die a virgin you keep callin' chicks /old/." He sounds concerned, he really does. "I'm sorry goldie, we are just meeting now, I try to help out where I can but it is so hard to find prodigies at it. You are hot though, even if you already know that."
"He didn't call me old," Daphne says, watching the money get pocketed with a shake of her head. "And I'm not 30-something, Sharkbait. Always aim for younger than the person looks when throwing around a range, and if you say you did, I'll have to test out my new nunchuks on your nether regions, got it?" Her dark eyes slide back to Kase, after probably terrifying the man-child with her threats. "Goldie? I'll have you know I pay big bucks not to have any yellow in my hair."
"I didn't call her old." Kendall exclaims hastily. "And I'm Kendall. Not Sharkbait." right, he was asked his name before, he just got distracted. "Uh…"
Kase mmhms softly, looking thoughtful as he chews on the end of his toothpick as he watches the two, chuckling and arching an eyebrow. "You still look like a match…I like the look though. It is daring." He winks and nods to Kendall. "It was implied, Kendall, it was implied."
"Your name isn't really Sharkbait?" Daphne's eyes are wide in mock shock. "Man. That's my super power, you know? Finding out people's real names just by looking in their eyes. Someone must be negating me or something, if I got it wrong. Or maybe it really is Sharkbait on your birth certificate, and your parents realized they better call you something more conventional." That's all out of her mouth in one breath before she flashes a smile at the compliment. Looking like a match is a nice compliment, in her eyes. Shiny, hot, bright. "Thanks, Decoy." She begins to walk again, though at a slow enough pace they can keep up if they want.
Kendall flinches when Daphne mentions super powers, and he edges away a step further. "Well, I, uh, better get going." he tells the two, taking another sliding step back. It's clearly obvious that something is bothering the kid.
Kase looks between Daphne and Kendall and back to Daphne and then back to Kendall, narrowing his eyes as he watches after Daphne. "Mm…you are welcome…" Then he looks back to Kendall, sighing softly and tugging a small card from a pocket, writing his number down on it and offering it to the kid. "I owe you one man if you want to bounce, I won't keep you, but you call eh? You need somebody to bust heads or help you out."
"Skittish, aren't ya," Daphne says with another arch of her brows. She sighs a little, shoulder rising then falling with the exaggerated inhalation, as if mustering the energy to say what comes next. She stops walking to turn and look at Kendall. "Look, kid. Kendall. I'm sorry if I gave you a rough time, okay? At least you made fifty bucks, right? This guy — he's not bad. Just don't take his advice on how to start chatting up girls, and you'll be okay." She offers a smile.
"I wasn't intending to take his advice since he seems to be doing a worse job than I am." ooh, ouch. "I do my own thing." which, at the moment, is nonexistant, but no one needs to know that. Kendall edges away another step.
Kase just has to give Kendall a look, thumbing that side of his nose and tucking his pen away once more as he rolls his eyes and looks over to Daphne, running a finger along the brim of his hat and just smirking. "Oh goodness, baybee…you no know me." He fakes a pout and looks back to Kendall. "You wanna learn how to have a girl for every day of the week, you gimme a call, yes?" He gives another tip of that hat before looking back to Daphne. "They be so cute this age, no?"
"Just don't spend that fifty on hookers and blow, ya hear?" Daphne says to the retreating Kendall, before glancing at Kase and giving a rueful headshake, a non-verbal 'Tsk' if ever there was one.
"What kind of person do you think I am?!" Kendall exclaims, then glares balefully at Kase. "I'll call you if I ever need to scare a girl away." now he's just being rude. "There's some kinds of girls I'd never want hanging around me."
Kase eyes Kendall once more and then looks to Daphne and back to Kendall. "…you take it too seriously man, chill…you chill, we talk, okay?" He shakes his head and looks Daphne like 'what can you do?' Then he shrugs his shoulders.
"Namely, girls like me, I think he means," Daphne stage whispers to Kase, eyes sparkling and lips pursed in amusement. "Yeah, kid, you need to mellow a bit. There are people to be afraid of, but words are just words. Relax. I was teasing. Everything I've said today? You can throw it out or take it with a grain of salt or something like that. Remember, you're the one who came up to me with a lame pick up line, whether it was yours or not. What's an old matron like me to do? Shoo you away because I'm not looking for jailbait, right? So I did. Only without saying 'shoo.' Only since your friend here is more determined than you are, it didn't work so well." She looks in her bag and comes up with another green apple and tosses it — slow, underhand softball style, so as not to freak him out — to the teenager. "Have a good day, boys."
Kendall wasn't expecting something to get thrown at him, so he fumbles the apple, drops it, and miraculously manages to catch it before it hits the ground. Then he stares at it in confusion, then shakes his head and shoves it in his jacket pocket. "Ehh, bye." what kind of farewell is that? Shrugging his shoulders, he turns and trudges off. "Sheesh, no wonder parents tell their kids not to talk to strangers, they're all freaks." he mutters.
Kase looks to Daphne at that, licking his lips and just smiling slowly to himself as he turns to watch Kendall leave and get his apple! He hmms thoughtfully and then lifts a hand to wave to Daphne. "Be safe now…"
Daphne walks slowly enough, turning to watch Kendall run off, then smiling and giving a wave to Kase. "I have an appointment in an hour I have to get to," she says with backwards shrug. Never mind that she can leave in 55 minutes and make it there in time. "It was nice to chat with you, Decoy." She manages to walk to the end of the trail, turning left and once she thinks she's out of sight, accelerates into her preferred form of Blur.