Participants:
| Scene Title | Enjoy The View |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Agent Marks gets a ride home. It makes her apartment feel cramped. |
| Date | March 18, 2009 |
Shooters Bar And Bistro, Staten Island, Financial District, and Le Rivage Apartments
Once upon a time there was a girl named Kat. She started the week by walking into room with 35 dead teenagers, and it went downhill from there when she was ultimately impotent on a mission that eventually lead to the capture of Tylar Case. It has been one of those weeks. She was told, "Kat.. you need a couple days off. Get some rest." Well, fine. The first day was spent in the hospital while her bones recovered from being swollen and locked. The second..
Well, that's where we are now. Where she has been since the place opened up. She figured she'll drink herself some, maybe do something stupid. Bar fight, casual sex, hangliding. Something. She is nursing her third drink. Something dark and wet. She's already forgotten what it was, and she reorders by simply saying 'Another.' This should make for a fun evening.
It's the middle of the workweek, the third day of it having ended, and Maria's curious. She's been in New York nearly a year now and is familiar with most of the city, but not much time has been spent exploring Staten Island. For some the absence of bridge and regularly running ferry across the river might be a hindrance, for others deterrent might be found in needing to deal with seedy folks offering passage at inflated prices. None of that presents an issue for Maria.
She simply steps out of the Biomere Inc. building in Morningside Heights, near Columbia University, and rises into the air. A short time later she's crossed the water and checking out Staten Island from above. Sighting Shooters by the tables and chairs outside, she picks it as a place to deal with being thirsty and descends. Her touchdown is gentle, feet meet pavement as easily as a feather comes to rest after floating to earth, and she strides forward toward the doors.
Katherine continues to sit quietly. Occasionally, someone will sit next to her. They'll exchange a few words and inexplicably the second party moves away from her. Okay, so perhaps casual sex is out. There's still two other possibilities. Well, she hasn't entirely written off the third. She never really looks up when the doors to the establishment open, but she keeps her head forward watching the TV on the wall.
There's nothing much on the television. Some sport or somesuch that she never really understood, but there's a ball involved. As it nears dinner time, she considers the possibility of eating something, but passes on it for another 'another', which comes to her.
A stool a few spots down from Katherine is chosen and settled onto, the diminutive brunette sliding the messenger bag she carries around to the front in so doing. Maria looks over at the other female engaged in the art of drinking, and pauses a moment. The face seems familiar. But her attention moves to the bartender moments later when she's spoken to and asked if she wants anything, giving a simple answer. "Coke, please." Then a Power Bar is pulled out of the bag and opened.
She's not quite gone, but working her way there. The order of a Coke causes her brow to arch and she turns to see who might be ordering and spies Maria. Her not-quite-foggy memory kicks in and she squints her eyes a little. There's a flicker of recognition before she offers a smile. "Maria, is it?" she asks remembering now. The flyer, according to Harrison. Also somewhat famous, according to her as well. It's probably not too often folks see others flying around in the skies.
"That's me," she answers, offering a smile. "Kat Marks, right?" Maria picks up her glass when it comes and takes a long drink, then bites off more of the power bar. They're very good for replacing that which is used during extended flights, not that she's done one of those since her trip to the Azores that day.
The distraction of actual conversation that doesn't start with, "Hey baby…" causes her to push her drink away from her for a moment. "Hey. Nice to see you again." She stands and slides down a couple seats, to move close. She still leaves a stool in between not to completely impose but at least there seems to be a friendly face about this time of the day. "How was your trip?"
"It was pleasant," she answers with a spreading grin. "I went from island to island around the chain, spending time up in the mountains and just relaxing." Maria lifts her glass again, holding it in hand while talking. "The view of Ponta Delgada from the Sete Cidades is amazing." Not to mention from above while airborne.
The glass is twirled around on the counter as she listen, a small smile on her face. The first in.. days. But, it's a small one, so don't get too excited. Katherine nods. "Well, if I knew where that was and could fly, I would probably check it out myself." she admits. This girl probably does need some serious vacation time, but things do not seem to be letting up any time soon. Not enough where she could actually take one. "Must be nice, I'll admit. Being able to go where you want, when you want."
"It is," she answers easily. "Most folks can, it just costs money. That place is in the Azores, islands governed by Portugal, maybe three quarters of the way across the pond. Admittedly, it is easier and faster to get around when ground transportation isn't needed." Maria turns a bit in her seat to face the agent more fully as they converse.
Katherine reaches over and picks up a napkin and twirls it around in her hand. "Some of us don't get energy efficient abilities, but we play with the hand we're dealt, I suppose." The napkin holds still but begins to transform as she keeps her attention on the one sitting next to her. "But maybe one day I'll hop on a plane and travel the world and see a few sights, drink a few drinks and have a general amount of amusement. If I'm lucky, it'll be at someone else's expense." she grins. The napkin is now in the shape of a paperdoll, only without folding or cutting.
Her eyes observe the change to that napkin. "That was energy efficient enough," Maria decides. "Traveling is always good. I didn't get to do enough of it when I was with the Navy. I had a shore billet all four years, at Norfolk, enforcing contracts with vendors." That would explain the way she carries herself with that bearing which indicates such a background. "The biggest thing is knowing what you want and going after it, really."
It's not often one sees Katherine Marks in 'civilian attire'. She normally has a suit on, but today is one of those rare t-shirt and jean days, considering her forced day off. She places her drink on the paper doll and shrugs. "It does come in handy when I need a quick exit, or a have to open a door, or just all around foolishness." She nods at the admission of being prior military. "You struck me as someone who might have served. Didn't do that myself. At least not until my present job anyway. But my father served. I was an Army brat."
"Open a door?" Maria asks. "I'd say it's more like create a door. And maybe put the wall back when you're done too." She lifts that glass again, for a long drink. "Mine saved my life," she shares. "When I found it, it was very badly needed."
It's been a few long minutes since the last time that Katherine took a drink from her glass. She does so now then sets the glass back down. She grins about the door comment, nodding. "Been there, done that." Fairly recently too. Her eyes catch movement upwards and she glances up and realizes it's only the television and brings her attention back down. "Saved how? If I can pry a little bit."
"It was scary as hell then, but makes a good story now, nine years later," Maria shares, not seeming to mind the question at all. "I was eighteen, just out of high school and getting ready for college at UVA. I went hiking up in the mountains with some friends and set out on my own after camping for a night, to just take an early morning walkaround, you know?" Her hands gesture a bit as she speaks now, the eyes are animated in telling the story.
"I came across a place where there was a good bit of gravel and loose dirt near the edge of a cliff, and the ground gave out under me. Nothing to grab, I just got swept over the side, it looked like a few hundred feet down, with rocks at the bottom."
Katherine arches a brow, nodding. "I guess if you're going to get an ability, when you're right at death's door is a good moment to get it if it'll save your ass." she grins, then nods for the woman to continue her story.
Her expression, the flash to her eyes as the agent speaks say it all. No shit, in effect. You can say that again. "So there I am," Maria continues, making a falling motion with her hands, "screaming my head off and cursing in both Spanish and English because I don't want to die and I'm only eighteen, plunging toward those rocks which look so sharp and hard. Thinking they'd never find me, the bears and other creatures would get me first. Bracing for the impact, then thinking hey, why is this taking so long?"
"Then I look down and I'm just standing on air, I only fell about thirty feet."
She laughs. "I would have shit myself." she admits. Katherine reaches up and brushes her finger through her hair, combing it back. She seems to be genuinely enjoying he conversation as she listens. "So, how did you figuure out how to get out of the air?"
"No comment," is her answer on the matter of bodily reactions. "I stood there a while, just being glad I wasn't a red stain on the rocks and getting my heart out of my throat, then I thought about it, concentrated on going back up. That first landing was hard. I didn't have anything close to fine tuned control, as I'm sure you can imagine."
Katherine nods. "I do. I clearly recall the moment I have my first ability experience. I didn't do drugs as a teen, but I sure felt like I had been doing them." she chuckles. "So here you are super-famous-flying girl. If you believe the hype, I mean." She teases of course. "So, what is it you do now, besides wow the masses with your aerial maneuvering?"
"I did make the papers once," Maria admits, "when I came across Liz at a burning building and plucked a kid out of the fire. I never thought about the press and cameras. I might've hidden my face if I had," she asserts. "Flying in the open without fear is one thing, being a media figure in any way is another." A quiet laugh punctuates that, followed by answering the question. "I work in biochem. In a lab."
"Which means you're probably too smart to be hanging out with the likes of me." she grins. It's a good natured jest. "I think I recall something about that fire in the papers and the rescue. I didn't connect the dots, really. Nice job with that, by the way." She picks up her drink but adds before taking a swallow. "I do prefer my anonymity, I will confess."
"Someday," Maria muses, "it'll be like that. A woman will be able to fly and no one think anything unusual about it. Maybe nine, ten generations forward, there'll be enough of us and people will have gotten much more accustomed to seeing it. But for now, all we can do is not let fear rule our lives and be who we are. I couldn't not fly. It's as natural to me as walking and talking."
Katherine shakes her head. "Not me. There are days when I completely forget that I even have it. It's one of those things that I have to concentrate on for it to occur at all. Well, at least since I've gained control of what I do. At first, I was reforming everything in sight. Touch something and it would be a different shape — I didn't say distinct shape either. But after a while I was able to push it into the back of my mind and now I only is when I need it. I hate to be too dependant on it."
"Well," Maria considers briefly, "I don't fly indoors. So there are places and times, just like any other tool. That's what it is in the end, a tool, just like the ability to walk and use our hands."
"I would ask if you come around here much, but I've heard that line about forty five times today." she grins. "I wouldn't want you to necessarily think I was making a pass." Katherine finishes her drink, but doesn't ask for another. "I've only been in here a couple times, but I don't recall seeing you here either time."
"No," Maria answers. "I've not spent a lot of time outside Manhattan. I've explored just enough to know I like Manhattan best. I just decided to come have a look at Staten Island today." One brow lifts for a moment as she considers the bit about making a pass, and she laughs it off. "And no, I don't think you're into other women, Kat."
Little does she know. "Don't be judging the cover of the book too quickly now." she chuckles. "I am too bullheaded for most men to stand." She grins. "Hard to believe, I know." Of course, while jesting about judging. "But I didn't get that vibe from you, either. So don't worry." Katherine stretches her arms out in front of her, stifling back a yawn. It's very much a tired yawn, as opposed to a boring yawn.
She seems to have it very much all wrong. Maria, apparently, took the remark about a pass as Kat meaning she doesn't swing that way, rather than saying she does but wasn't making a play. "That's their problem." she offers. "If men can't handle women with brains, they don't deserve us." Her cola is lifted and finished off.
She would drink to that. But.. as tempting as another drink is at the moment, she's already going to have to take a cab home. Another drink and she may not even make it to the cab. Well, okay, maybe a few more drinks before that happens. "I hear you. I certainly do." She moves to get to her feet, which she is still pretty stable. "It was nice running into you again. Nice to talk about things other than cop stuff, or criminals or that sort of thing." she offers a nice genuine smile. One she doesn't often give. "It's been a hell of a week and I needed something to get my mind off of things for a while."
As Kat stands, Maria makes a mental assessment as to whether or not she weighs more than 130 pounds. "Good to run into you too, Kat," she offers, while considering whether or not she could carry and fly the agent home.
Katherine does not weigh 130 pounds, she in fact weighs just under 120. Might even be leaner these days with the cases she's been on. She smiles once more to the nice flying lady, "Be safe on your flight home." she requests and walks over to the door, opens it and steps out onto the sidewalk. As the door closes behind her, she stops and inhales, taking a deep breath of the air. It's on the chilly side, but it actually feels good. Makes her feel alive. Like she can feel something again. She doesn't move just yet, just enjoying the moment.
On her feet, seeing the agent is light enough to carry and indeed probably well under the nearly 140 pounds doctors say a woman of five feet six inches should weight, Maria approaches. She grins. "Want a ride home, Kat?"
She's just a little startled to be approached so into her brief moment of meditation and she turns to see Maria beside her. Kat arches a brow and looks up into the sky. "You mean like.. up there?" she asks. "Am I going to be your Lois Lane?" she kids and nods. "Hell, it's not often you get offer a ride to fly across the city. Sure."
"Lois Lane?" Maria laughs, her head falling back a bit. "Hardly." She steps outside the place and finds a spot, then rises a few inches off the ground; just enough to let the agent wrap arms around her and get secure. She shifts the messenger bag around to the back also. "It'll be the best view of things you've had, Kat."
"It probably works best for you if it's the same way you'd ride with someone on a motorcycle."
Kat grins. She might actually have to get a motorcycle if this turns out in a favorable manner. Meaning, she doesn't actually let go and plummet to the earth. She walks over and steps over the woman and careful sits on her back, scooting down more towards her rump so not to put too much pressure on the lower back. She lies forward, gingerly pressing her chest against the Maria's upper back. Her arms go around her and she holds on. "Let's see what you got, Flygirl." she whispers into her ear.
She's already a few inches off the ground when Kat takes hold, to match their heights. The added weight doesn't trouble her as much as one might expect for someone of just five feet and three inches. Maria concentrates and starts to rise into the air, with passenger. The pace of it is slow, to avoid overwhelming the agent, but soon they're fifty feet up and moving forward toward the water. It can be seen up ahead in the late afternoon sun.
There's a first wave of "what in the hell am I doing up here?" but once Maria starts to go, those feelings are lost as the thrill of exhileration begins to take over. Kat is not about to let go, so she holds firmly to the woman, mostly looking over her shoulder as they go. She watches the water as it moves underneath them. She remains silent, at least for now as she takes in the sights.
Her forward speed is restrained, Maria opting to go no faster than forty miles per hour as the ground behind them soon becomes water and Manhattan on the other shore becomes less distant. The altitude increases all the while, lifting them to about one hundred fifty feet above the surface by the time one quarter of the river crossing is done.
Her control is still good, though she feels the physical spending of energy from double her own weight being held aloft it doesn't much show. "What neighborhood are we aiming for?" she asks, turning her head partway to ask the question.
Directions are spoken into Maria's ear, as Kat answers the question. As they go higher, Kat finds her eyes drawn down below. The streets and cars get smaller, the lights become tiny dots and she is almost breathless at it all. Her grip tightens just a little as she squeezes her legs together. She's almost certain Maria would not let her fall, but she's not so certain about herself. "This is fabulous." she murmurs softly.
"Yes," Maria answers. "This is why I enjoy it so much. The freedom, the way the air feels as it goes by. I normally don't go faster than the speed limits for cars when I'm over city areas, but there's just water under us right now, so…" Her forward speed accelerates to nearly one hundred miles per hour and she shifts to fly parallel to the Manhattan coastline and give a good view of it while her legs lift and she shifts carefully into a horizontal position.
Maria would feel Kat's grip tighten if she was paying attention when the speed picks up. Admittedly there is a rush as the speed hits. Her hair flicklers behind her as she feels the wind rushing past her face. At that speed, she can't open her eyes, but she can definitely feel the speed. She finally has to duck her head down, pressing her nose into the side of Maria's neck so she can catch a breath. A soft "God.." can be heard, and rest assured there is no prayer involved.
A short time later she slows, then comes to a stop and hovers out over the water so the full view of Manhattan can be taken in without distraction from having it pass by and the wind along with it. "Enjoy the view," Maria invites, adding "we'll start moving again whenever you're ready, Kat."
She's enjoying it herself, being able to show someone as best can be done without conferring the power itself why she loves doing this so much. Why she does it out in the open as much as possible despite what people tell her the dangers are.
Extracting her nose from Maria's neck, Kat is able to open her eyes again. There is a small gasp that escapes her as she looks down over the city. There is a first thought of, "God.. I could die if I fall from up here." But that is quickly replaced by silence. A reverent silence that Kat reserves for very few things. This would be the second time she has given such silence in the last 7 days. It's not a matter of when she's ready. It's a matter of, why would she ever want to come down from here? Something nags her in the back of her mind and she grumbles as she whispers, "I'm ready." Her eyes will try to take in as much as she can before it's all done and over with.
Forward motion resumes, thirty miles per hour at most, and soon Maria has them over the streets of Manhattan. She negotiates the streets and buildings with practiced ease, making her way along to the place she was told her passenger lives. The position of her body shifts again to vertical. While the speed of travel is restrained, the journey is shorter than one might think possible in crossing Manhattan due to being able to follow straight lines and not needing to obey traffic signals. What traffic, at that? Helicopter operate a good distance above the height she's chosen.
Kat's eyes remain open as they continue forward now with a destination in sight. This is one view of her neighborhood she has never had before. Her grip loosens just a tad as she realizes that she's squeezing a little harder than she should. As they get closer, Kat relays additional naviagational instructions, then points to her balcony several stories up on her building. Her key will get her in that way.
As the building is approached Maria slows to just over one mile per hour and floats into position so they both can land there. Her feet stay about three inches above the surface to allow Kat room for standing given their different heights, and she waits while the passenger does so. "Best ride ever, yes?" she asks with a laugh.
Katherine takes a moment before she finally slips down from the woman and as her feet his the ground, they are shakey. But she feels so alive right now. It's.. very strange. She lifts the corners of her mouth as she steps up to the woman and places her hands on her cheeks and leans forward, placing her lips onto hers. It lasts for 2 seconds, tops before she pulls back. It wasn't a kiss of passion or lust but merely an expression of gratitude for the experience that doesn't come around very often. Without regard for any offense taken, Kat steps back. "Thank you." she says as she walks backwards towards the glass doors.
She's a bit surprised by the kiss, and it shows a bit, but Maria doesn't recoil. She just nods in reply and starts to rise a bit. It's only now she begins to wonder if the earlier remark about making a pass was indicative of a non-standard orientation the agent has. "You're welcome, and good night, Kat," she offers in reply, as her feet reach a spot high enough to clear the balcony rails. Then she turns her body and moves away from the building.
Acceleration soon gets her back to thirty miles per hour, and she vanishes from the agent's sight.
The key opens the lock. Thank God. She'd never tried it before. She steps inside the modest apartment and suddenly, it just feels a little cramped in here. Kat picks up her pillow, a couple of blankets and steps out onto the balcony. She makes herself a little bed on the concrete and lies down, looking up at the stars. It's not long that sleep overtakes her.
 March 18th: Crudely-Drawn Heart |
 March 18th: I Want Forever... On My Terms |