Participants:
| Scene Title | Doing Nice Things |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Magnes meets with Elisabeth to ask a favor of her. |
| Date | April 21, 2010 |
Central Park has been, and remains, a key attraction in New York City, both for tourists and local residents. Though slightly smaller, approximately 100 acres at its southern end scarred by and still recovering from the explosion, the vast northern regions of the park remain intact.
An array of paths and tracks wind their way through stands of trees and swathes of grass, frequented by joggers, bikers, dog-walkers, and horsemen alike. Flowerbeds, tended gardens, and sheltered conservatories provide a wide array of colorful plants; the sheer size of the park, along with a designated wildlife sanctuary add a wide variety of fauna to the park's visitor list. Several ponds and lakes, as well as the massive Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, break up the expanses of green and growing things. There are roads, for those who prefer to drive through; numerous playgrounds for children dot the landscape.
Many are the people who come to the Park - painters, birdwatchers, musicians, and rock climbers. Others come for the shows; the New York Shakespeare Festival at the Delacorte Theater, the annual outdoor concert of the New York Philharmonic on the Great Lawn, the summer performances of the Metropolitan Opera, and many other smaller performing groups besides. They come to ice-skate on the rink, to ride on the Central Park Carousel, to view the many, many statues scattered about the park.
Some of the southern end of the park remains buried beneath rubble. Some of it still looks worn and torn, struggling to come back from the edge of destruction despite everything the crews of landscapers can do. The Wollman Rink has not been rebuilt; the Central Park Wildlife Center remains very much a work in progress, but is not wholly a loss. Someday, this portion of Central Park just might be restored fully to its prior state.
It's early in the morning, which Magnes doesn't mind much, sitting back on a bench in Central Park after pushing most of the snow away, just lounging back and staring up at the sky. He's wearing some blue jeans, black snow boots, and a black jacket with lots of zipper pockets all over the sleeves, completely zipped up. She'll definitely notice the bruises all over his face, cheeks, the side of his lip, an eye, his head. It's clear he was in one hell of a fight recently, though the swelling has since gone down.
He simply called for a mostly casual meeting, though he has a simple request for her, mostly a simple humanitarian request.
Zero degree-weather is not Elisabeth's idea of fun. She's wearing black-on-black gear, her blond hair tucked up into the hat that is pulled down over her ears. It looks like she's come straight from work, fully rigged out for the cold as well as carrying a weapon on her hip. She crunches into the periphery of the park, languishing under 10 feet of snow, and approaches him with no pretense of hiding. "Hey Magnes," she greets quietly. "What's up?"
"Hey, Elisabeth!" Magnes motions her over, there being a good ten food of clear ground around him, and he pats the bench. "I kind of wanted you to do something for me, it's nothing big or anything. I have this friend, and she had a mentor or something that she apparently lost. I know what that's like, and well, she says he was an audiokinetic, and she'd love to meet someone who does what he did."
There's a faint frown. "And this friend's name?" Elisabeth asks drily as she moves to sit down. Somehow, that description brings to mind someone that….. in this city, it just won't shock her if it turns out to be who she thinks. Magnes runs in a lot of the same circles she does. Blue eyes haven't missed the bruising, but she doesn't ask for now.
"Colette Nichols." Magnes still remembers when she was referred to as Nichols, so simply assumes that's her last name. He lets his elbows hang over the back of the bench with his arms spread, staring out over the large snow barrier surrounding them by proxy of him digging the bench out. "I just wanna do something nice for her."
Elisabeth huffs a laugh out into the frigid air. "Well, then you tell Colette she's got my phone number. Conrad set us up way back when, asked me to help her out. She refused my help back then. If she's changed her mind and wants it now, she knows how to get in touch with me. I'm still open to helping her." And Liz has far more control of her own ability these days too. "Con would be glad to hear she wants the help, honestly." She speaks of the man affectionately, as if she knew him well.
"I never heard of Conrad, I mean I think I heard his name mentioned a few times, but, never met him." Magnes says with a hint of curiosity, since Conrad predates him getting involved in all the craziness of the city. "Elisabeth, is everything I heard really true? The virus being manufactured, the Evolved camps, Summer Meadows being built with an alterior motive?"
For a long moment, Elisabeth looks out over the park. "Conrad's dead," she says bluntly, softly. "He did bringing down ConEd when the Vanguard attacked last year." The other question, though, requires a bit more time to respond to. Finally, she looks back at him and says simply, "I can't speak to the Summer Meadows thing, but the rest … is coming, yes."
"Yeah, I figured. My sources are pretty reliable." Magnes doesn't seem happy about her confirming, since his demeanor drops a bit, but he just shakes his head and moves on. "I hope life's treating you alright. I broke my first heart, even if it was unintentional, but other than that, I've got a lot of stuff going on in my life now."
Heh. Broke his first heart. Elisabeth can't really comment on broken hearts — hers has been broken several times just in the past couple of years. "Life's treating me as well as can be expected, Magnes. I'm on the streets with a FRONTLINE unit backing up the National Guard in an Evo-induced ice age. The Vanguard remnants are still chasing some of us. And all hell's breaking loose with the virus and the Evo flu. So I keep busy," she replies mildly. She has no idea if anyone's told the boy that Cardinal is alive, but she holds her tongue on that information. Frankly, it's not Magnes's business anyway, and she doesn't want the kid blabbing it to the wrong people.
"I haven't had any trouble with the Vanguard, but I heard about the assassins from a few people. I've been staying clear, well, as much as I can manage anyway." Magnes isn't exactly in a position to completely avoid Raith, not that he'd want to anyway. He reaches into his pocket to pull out a package of Twizzelrs, holding it over in case she wants one. "But I pretty much stay on top of FRONTLINE news anyway, I often have to remember your approval ratings and the statistics of your success and how it might impact public opinion. My brain's on overdrive since I started working for Tracy, it feels incredible."
He's working for…. Tracy? Tracy Strauss? Elisabeth didn't know that. And makes a mental note of it for Jessica. Perhaps Magnes can get the mighty-blond in to see her twin. "Glad you're enjoying the job," is her reply to the matter. "I'm glad that you're staying out of trouble," she adds with a faint quirk of a smile. "Anyway…. you tell Colette that my door's always open to her, okay? That hasn't changed from last year. If she doesnt' have my number, go ahead and give it to her. I'm around." She pauses and comments quietly, "She may require reassurance from you that I'm not… well, that my job doesn't preclude my ability to help her off the books and keep my mouth shut. Please do that out of hearing of anyone else, if you don't mind?"
"Yeah, my job can be boring and pretty dull at times, but it is mentally challenging to have to recite numbers off the top of my head in meetings, or else risk Tracy's wrath." Magnes nods at Elisabeth's offer, pulling a Twizzler out to take a bite. "I'll tell her, and I'll make sure no one hears. You can trust me."
"Mmmmmm," Elisabeth replies. There's not overt doubt about that in her tone but only because she's working at containing it. She's already walking too fine a line. "Enjoy the boredom, Magnes. 'May you live in interesting times' is a Chinese curse, not a blessing." Elisabeth moves to stand up. "I need to get back to work," she says quietly. "Have a good one, okay?"
"You too, Elisabeth. Thanks for coming out." Magnes stands, and what he does next is partially because he can, and part because he's sure Elisabeth doesn't want to have to treck out of the park's snow again. He goes flying over the ten foot mound in a straight line, sending the snow flying into the sky in large cloudy poofs until he's on the other end of the park, then just turns up into the sky.
He's got one hell of a path, with a ten foot wall on each side.
There's a chuckle from Elisabeth when he shows off a bit, but truth to tell, she's beyond grateful. Sludging through the snow requires snowshoes in the unplowed areas, so not having to deal with that? Yeah. She appreciates it. "Thanks, kiddo. You should hire out as a plow to clear streets," she teases, throwing her voice toward him without even a conscious effort. "See you around!"