Participants:
| Scene Title | Duuuuuuuude! |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Anders and Luke bump into each other, and Anders invites the somewhat antisocial Luke to a bridge party. |
| Date | March 8, 2010 |
The low brickwork walls flanking the entrance to this subdivision pronounce it to be 'S MMER ME DOWS', black metal letters pitted by age and each tilted slightly askew by decades of weather and neglect. The rest of the subdivision echoes this theme — pavement cracked, its lines worn and faded nearly into obscurity; small lawns littered with autumn leaves and dying grass, shrubbery poorly pruned or not trimmed back at all, such flowers as there are in most cases long since grown wild. The buildings are a mix of townhouses, duplexes, and quartered apartments, most of them with paint peeling at the edges, a few boarded over and sporting jagged holes where the windows weren't quite protected enough. Feral dogs slink at the back of the streets; their feline counterparts are less commonly seen, usually visible as no more than a streak of motion disappearing into the bushes or someone's cracked-open garage door. This isn't a neighborhood where people are seen lounging on their porches as the sun sinks low in the sky; to stay out as darkness gathers is to risk unwanted attention, and the consequences thereof.
The cold, wintry day started sunny but grew more and more cloudy. Now at sunset, the alleged sun can't even be seen, and the gray and dismal light simply begins to fade, growing more gray and more dismal by the moment. That doesn't stop Anders from whistling loudly to himself, hands shoved in his pocket as he trudges toward Summer Meadows. The snow is so thick he has to literally goose-walk — at least someone else has been this way so he can walk in some stranger's foot steps. The song he whistles? "My Humps" by the Black-Eyed Peas.
Luke was starting to go stir-crazy staying cooped up indoors day in and day out, so, heeding the warnings, he cautiously made his way out, taking a meandering path through the city. Eventually, and without actually aiming, he ends up in Summer Meadows, wandering around. He passes the loudly whistling Anders and rolls his eyes at him as he struggles through the snow as well, without the benefit of previous footsteps.
"Duuuude!"
Yes, Anders is that guy. He turns and follows Luke and pulls from his coat a stack of flyers. "You from around here? This snow sucks the big one, huh? I swear my freaking knee caps are numb. I need some of those thigh high boots the Go-go dancers wear or something. Or maybe some of those rubber pants fishermen wear, but they aren't as sexy, right?" He holds his hands up as if to ward off an attack. "Kidding, kidding, I'm no transvestite or anything. You live near here?"
Luke doesn't register that Anders spoke with him at first, concentrating on placing his steps. Then paper is rustled, and he pauses in place to turn and look at him. "What?" Surly? Check. Uncommunicative? Check. Annoyed? Check. "Something like that." he adds, though eyes the flyer curiously. "I'm not buying anything." he adds.
Anders gives an off-kilter grin at the teen. He pulls out one of the neon-green flyers and hands it over. "Not sellin' a thing. There's gonna be a party under the Queensboro bridge tomorrow night. You should come, bring your pals. I promise it'll be a good time. Lots of hot chicks!" What better way to get a teenaged male to a party than the promise of hot chicks? "If you got any hot chick friends, bring 'em too. Not that I'm into jailbait." He puts up his hands again, and shakes his head. "I'm not creepy or anything. You lame or you game?"
Luke takes the flyer and reads it, then shrugs. "I'm game." what else could he reply and not lose his Man Pride? "Think I'll come alone though, no one I know is worth inviting. So… under a bridge? Really? Isn't that where bums live or something?" not that Luke's one to talk.
"Awesome, dude!" Anders' grin broadens until it overtakes his face. It's hard to find a more affable bloke, even if he sounds like Spicoli at times. "Well, there'll be fires to keep us warm, and hey, bums gotta party, too, right? Besides, it's like big winter bonfire type of thing, and you can't really do that inside." He stuffs the rest of the flyers back into his coat and turns to walk the same direction Luke had been headed. "So you got a name? I'm Anders, or Stu… whatever you wanna call me 's'good withme." He offers his glove-clad hand.
"Larry." blatant lie. Or… maybe not /blatant/, but it's certainly not the truth. Luke isn't about to go around telling people his name! He's Wanted! "Right then." the hand is glanced at, thought about, then Luke reaches over to shake his hand briefly.
"Cool," Anders says amiably enough, seeming to take the fake name at face value. "You live in Summer Meadows? I just moved there before Christmas. It's all right. At least they're patching it up and shit. It's better'n Staten at least," he chatters and continues walking in the direction Luke had been moving, even if it was in the opposite direction. "I was gonna head out to the city but this snow sucks and I can't afford a cab," he says, explaining the change of direction.
"No, I don't. I'm just here because I'm bored. Had to get out of the house even though it's freezing out here." Luke shakes his head. "Eh, cabs are ripoffs. It's quicker walking because there's no traffic that way." except for stoplights, but jaywalking's good too, if illegal.
"Dude. You came to Summer Meadows because you were bored? You must be really, really bored, 'cause there's nothing to do here. The city's where it's at, but I don't got any credit for an apartment there, and they were willing to take me on my word, help me get back on my feet at the ol' SM. It's all right. I mean, I'd rather be in SoHo or Little Italy then out in the boondocks, you know? It's still better'n Staten." He pauses. "Where you live, then? It's a long walk out this way. Queens?"
"Around." Luke isn't being very forthcoming, and his tone kinda suggests that maybe, just /maybe/, he should stop asking. "Somewhere I can't throw parties, so not worth knowing about."
Anders shrugs and trudges along in the snow, silent for a few moments. Apparently he has a pause button if not an off switch. "You should stop by Summer Meadows sometime, though. There's some hot chicks there! And there's all these little charity bunnies who come by to paint the buildings and drop off food and shit like that. You got spare time, come by on a Saturday or whatever and pretend you're there to help out and you'll probably see some of 'em. Some maybe even your age like. You legal, man, or still playing in the minor leagues?"
"I'm legal." Luke replies quickly. And it is the truth! "Paint buildings? Really? what for, they're just going to get messed up again. I'm not going to help." such a good samaritan.
"Well, why take a shower? You're just going to get dirty again," Anders points out, that off-kilter grin lifting the right corner of his mouth again. "And sometimes the hot chicks like guys who are willing to help out. That whole 'bad guy' thing? It's mostly a lie. The girls who like the bad guys are kinda creepy if you ask me. Now, I'm no philanthropist, but I'm willing to help out if it means the little charity bunnies think I'm a good guy and it might earn me a date with 'em! It hasn't happened yet, mind you, but I think their resistance is wearing down."
Luke snorts in response. "What, you think that annoying them enough will get one of them to finally give in and date you?" harsh. "I think they can tell that you're only doing to to get their attention. Most girls I've met aren't /that/ stupid. But then again, you might get lucky with a dumb blonde."
"You know the number one thing girls say they look for in a guy? Sense of humor. I mean, probably depends who's doing the research. Masters and Johnson would probably come up with a different answer, but Cosmo and Playboy says sense of humor, so I'm gonna go with that one, ya know?" Anders looks knowingly at the teenager. "So anyway, dude, you should find one. A sense of humor, that is. Not a Playboy, but maybe it'd lighten your load a bit, you know what I'm saying?"
"In order to have a sense of humor, you need to have a life that doesn't suck balls. My sense of humor kinda died a few years ago." ahh, so Luke seems to be taking the somewhat emo outlook on life. "Besides, a sense of humor isn't everything. Having too much of one turns 'em off too. Who'd want a guy who can't ever be taken seriously?"
"Owch. Don't hold back the punches there, Lar," Anders says, wincing as if he'd been injured. "You're probably right. This girl — one of the hotties from the Meadows? She was all pissy at me for daring to tease her and shit before noon. Said something about her 'rules.'" This is punctuated by air quotes and a roll of the eyes. "Super fine, but man, a downer. Her name was Mel, but I called her Melancholy. Maybe you two could hit it off. Your personalities are pretty much the same — much too serious. Maybe a party's what you both need. And as far as life sucking balls, I say anything that sucks balls isn't a bad thing… I mean, come on! If you take it literally! But metaphorically speaking? Whose life doesn't? I mean, I live in Summer Meadows. I used to live in Staten. You think my life ain't sucking?"
Well let's see, did your mother sell you out to the government, who then threw you in a maximum security prison to rot for a few years, and then after unintentionally breaking out being on the run from said government the rest of the time? Do you wake up from blackouts to find out you've murdered at least two people without knowing it? ….probably not! "It can't be as worse as mine, I don't see how it'd be possible." Luke replies as those words go through his head. Silently, fortunately.
"Man. You might need to get some bennies or something. I might have some Vitamin R if you got any cash for it, but don't tell anyone I offered. I don't need to get put in jail again, that's for damn sure. Lemme know if you want it, and I'll bring it to the party — which I'll see you at tomorrow night, right, bro? Maybe you just need laid, but that I can't sell you." He grins. Their steps have brought them to the outskirts of the subdivision. "I need to get some shit done, but I'll see you tomorrow. Bring some brew and some friends, dude!"
"I don't need to get tossed in jail either, so no thanks." Luke replies, continuing on his path out of the subdivision. "I'll come." he adds, since it does seem like fun. "And I can get laid whenever I want!" bluff, or no? Probably bluff.