Participants:
| Scene Title | Family Outing |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Finn introduces his newish girlfriend to his surprise teenage daughter. |
| Date | February 5, 2020 |
These days, a tour of New York isn’t what it used to be. Still, the vast skyline of Manhattan can be seen from a (safe) distance, even if there’s no eating cupcakes in Grand Central Station or peering over the top of the Empire State Building, or even riding the Coney Island ferris wheel. There are things to see: Yamagato Park, the war museum, the memorial wall. A tour of the New York Safe Zone is more like looking through a photo album of what once was, and maybe, with a lot of hard work and time, could be again.
With a bit of sightseeing done, it’s time for lunch. The restaurant in Red Hook is not much more than a concrete box with a bunch of picnic tables in it, but the food is delicious. Fresh lobster and crab are the specialty, but there’s also salads, sandwiches, vegetarian options. Finn’s picked out a seat where Lucille can find him — and June — easily.
“…so then the guy goes to grab me, right, but he steps on this branch and it’s like something out of Bugs Bunny, I swear; the stick just pops up and smacks him in the face, one of the twigs poking him right in the eye,” Finn says, grinning.
New York might not be the same, but it's hard to tell from the smile on June's face. She's even come away with a few souvenirs, given in trade with various stalls and stores around the city. Her bag sits at her feet, full of wonders. She sits across from Finn, sipping from her water and laughing at his story. She's ordered a lot of food, too much for such a slender girl, but everything sounded too good to pass up. And much of it, she's never had the chance to eat before. Or, at least, not since she was very little.
"That guy was trying to have a serious fight and you tricked him into some cartoon stuff," she says, amused. In real life, it was probably awful to see a branch jam into someone's eye, but she's lucky enough to have no basis to imagine that reality. Nothing but Bugs Bunny.
In walks Lucille and she is nervous on the inside as she looks around allowing her eyes to adjust to the shift in light. She knows that face anywhere and the tall woman makes her way towards the table, dressed in black and grays her boots clunk on the floor. While she's not married to Finn, learning he had a child a teenage daughter nonetheless puts Lucille a little on edge. She knows what it is to stare down a woman dating your father that is not your mother.
Don't overthink. You're cool, you are so cool, calm, collected. A real adult. That's right.
This pep talk sustains her as she finally comes to the table and smiles a warm smile, grey blue eyes flicking from Finn and then centering in June. "Wow, what a spread. She is yours," Lucille could get behind eating so much food. She likes June already. Lucille almost doesn't extend her hand but it's awkward to hug…. so… she extends her hand. "Hey there, I'm Lucille. Or Luce, Lu, whatever you wanna call me."
“For real, right?” Finn says, eyes widening and grin broadening. “So that’s the cool stuff, but most of the time it’s more subtle, Most people don’t even believe-”
Lucille’s arrival draws a small, nervous smile from Finn and he rises, gentlemanly, as she approaches them. “Or Lucy Liu!” he says brightly, though he’s never called her that. “Luce, this is June, June, this is Luce.” That’s already established, but he’s nervous.
There’s benches instead of chairs, so he can’t pull out a chair for Lucille, but he waits until she chooses a place to sit, then sits beside her. “You want anything besides what we got going on here?” he asks, handing her a clean fountain drink cup, then giving her a very quick very proper little kiss, since his daughter’s sitting right in front of them.
“Hi,” he adds, softer, green eyes studying hers for a moment, to check how okay or not okay she might be.
When Finn stands, June also stands and looks toward the new face. She smiles and it seems more friendly than nervous. Perhaps for her, meeting the girlfriend isn't as tense as meeting the actual father. Or maybe she's just trying to make a good impression. And to that end, she shakes Lucille's hand. "Hi Luce," she says before she moves to sit down again. "It's nice to meet you. Um, I mean, feel free to try any of this," she says to the spread. Because it is definitely enough to share.
"My, uh," she looks over at Finn, because she's really not sure what to call him, but eventually settles with: "Finn tells me you're a badass private military lady." This is the important part, apparently. Or, at least, it's what most easily comes to mind. She doesn't seem to mind the little kiss, but also appears to have not been watching during their greeting. Strategically.
The proper, quick kiss is returned but no lingering for fear of making June side eye her from off the bat. "This is perfect," she comments, taking a seat and grinning while June asks about her job. Lucille looks over at Finn and shrugs her shoulders lightly, "I've been known to kick an ass or two. Even your- this goof right here. It's how we met." That's not the story June is asking for right now, not that it's romantic or anything. Definitely gross cuz she made him vomit everywhere in the ring of the Crucible but still.
"I work for Wolfhound so bounty hunting, lots of guns, lots of danger and bad boys," Winking at June as she takes a sip of her fountain drink.
"But what about you? Have any hobbies?" Lucille's tone is full of interest, she doesn't look between Finn and June but she does see a certain twinkle in their eyes that's the same, feels familiar. This must be what Delia felt like meeting her child from a lost future, or Nicole and her father. She wanted to make a good impression for herself and Finn. She also knew what it was like to barely know your father when you're a teenager, that sort of pain.
Finn scratches the side of his head at that slight awkward phrasing from June, but grins easily enough that hopefully June doesn’t feel bad for calling him by his name and not by any patriarchal title.
“She is a badass,” he nods, but then Lucille is giving away his secrets and his green eyes widen. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, Nellie, we’re not telling that story, are we? We really need to come up with a more polite version of the ‘how did you two meet’ for people like, I don’t know, daughters and sisters and other relations.”
You know, lie.
“It was 100 percent legal and I was really great,” he tells June with a solemn nod, reaching over to grab an onion ring from the plate of appetizers. “So what hobbies do you have? Hurry, list them all and in great detail so we don’t let Lucille talk anymore.” Luce gets a wink.
"She beat you up? And now you're dating?" June gives the pair of them a look. "Yeah, you might want to pretty that up some," she says dryly. Perhaps she wishes they had done so before this meeting, but ah well. Lucille's accomplishments get a wide-eyed look from the girl. She says it all so casually, and June's never even punched anyone before. And when the questions turn in her direction, she looks a little embarrassed.
"Well… There's never really been time for hobbies. Where I grew up. But I'm good with fixing things. Cars, clothes, tools… And I do have fun doing it!" She is trying to be convincing here. "Well, I don't hate doing it, anyway," she finishes a little more honestly. "Bee keeping," she tacks on. "I know some things about keeping bees. Yep."
It's possible her life hasn't been as exciting as theirs are on the regular.
"He was he was," Great, Lucille covers a laugh by drinking more of her beverage before she's focusing on June's every word, she had always felt her father hadn't listened to her, or taken her very seriously so in her attention she's hoping to be less like him. She realizes that she's accepted this and is all too here for it, June is precious.
She frowns a little at the sound of June's life, "It must have been hard growing up during all of that," the war and the aftermath of it. Realizing that might not be the best topic of discussion to linger on though…
"Bees?" A slow smile spreads across her lips, "I wouldn't be able to convince you to score me some fresh, grade A honey would I?" Raising her eyebrows as she goes to grab some bread and pop a piece in her mouth.
“Look, I’m very secure in my masculinity,” Finn says, leaning back and grinning. “I can admit she beat me up. My power can’t deal with someone messing around with my internals. Not much you can do if Lucille here decides to make you feel like you ate last Tuesday’s taco for lunch.”
The thought doesn’t keep him from grabbing a fried pickle and popping it into his mouth. He grimaces though at the mention of beekeeping. “If you pick that up in Providence, I’m going to have to find you a place far from my house to do it. Or wherever we live. Might see about trading with someone who has a better space for two of us,” he says, casually.
But back to the subject of bees. “I’m sort of afraid of bees,” Finn admits, glancing down a little sheepishly. “And yeah, I know they’re as afraid of me, blah blah blah, but I don’t believe it. Anything that’ll kamikaze your ass to protect some boss lady who doesn’t do any work, I don’t trust, okay?”
June doesn't seem like she wants to talk much about the war, so she's more than happy to skip right along with Lucille. She tilts her head a little, then holds up a finger. Leaning over, she digs around in her pack, pulling out odds and ends to unbury the prize. One glass jar of honey. She places it on the table, then shoves everything else back into her bag unceremoniously. She nudges it over toward Luce. "Brought some along with me. I'll need like… hives and bees and equipment to start a steady supply, though."
She doesn't chide Finn for his worry, only nods her reassurance. "You have to keep the hives sort of off on their own. They don't like us disturbing them. And you don't want anyone who isn't prepared to wander into the area. Gotta be careful with bees." She certainly can't blame anyone for being at least a little afraid. There is a smile, though, that he's so willing to reorder his situation to fit her into it. "I can make a hive anywhere, really," she says, in an effort to be accommodating herself, "unless there's a lot of traffic or something like that. Almost anywhere."
"A gift, I should have brought you something." Though June's gift would be considered more sincere and less trying to win anyone over she was just, doing the nice thing. Like her father does at least in Lucille's experience. "Thank you," Taking the jar of honey and smiling over at the teen before she too takes a fried pickle and pops it into her mouth.
The knowledge that June dispenses is impressive to Lucille, much because when she was June's age she was worrying about gymnastics and the latest boy band though with the war and all that it entailed it wasn't that much of surprise that teenagers had better things to occupy their time with these days, like saving bees. She doesn't inquire too much about where they will be living but she'd like Finn and June close. Closer than Providence.
Finn's fear of bees makes the brown haired woman smile faintly and she squeezes his knee under the table. "Aw, have you never been stung before? Delia and I, my younger sister," Gaze sliding over to June, "Would get stung all the time at the summer cabin our parents kept, thankfully neither of us is allergic."
June’s smile draws a bigger one from Finn. “I’m sure people would appreciate fresh honey, anyway. I think there’s a couple of people who have hives, but they’re sort of in the boondocks.” The boondocks of the boondocks, truly.
“You can buy her her first ‘I heart New York’ shirt. Iconic,” Finn tells Lucille, leaning to kiss her cheek for the sentiment. “I haven’t really bought you a gift either except food yet, and that doesn’t count, but we’ll go shopping and get some clothes and anything you need that you didn’t have room for in your little cart,” he tells June.
His green eyes slide from Lucille to June, before he suggests, “Maybe you two should go clothes shopping. I’d probably try to put you in a Care Bears onesie or something. I don’t know what girls like.”
At Lucille’s question, he shakes his head. “My dad was allergic so we were sort of all terrified of them growing up,” he says with a shrug. “I used to carry an epi pen just in case. These days it’s pretty unlikely I’d get stung if I’m allergic, but… oh hey!” His eyes light up. “You’re probably like a walking epi pen!”
"Well, we don't need bees," June says, her head tilting a little as she looks between them, "Or if I really want to set something up, I could find a place. Doesn't have to be at home." She came to find Finn without much of a plan on what to do after she found him. So she doesn't have her heart set on anything. But she doesn't want to be the reason Finn gets his first sting and ends up in a hospital or worse.
She starts to turn down gifts, kneejerk politeness. But when Finn mentions clothes and necessities… well, she does have a few things missing. And most of her clothes— which isn't a lot— have seen better days. So instead of turning them down, she looks over at Finn, eye wide with curiosity.
"What's a Care Bear?"
"You know, I guess I am an epi pen. Your epi- wow this is so corny." Laughing and eating a fry and taking a sip of her drink. The look of utter horror at Finn's suggestion of attire for June is apparent and Lucille almost spits into her drink. "T-that is something you will never have to know about. Not if I have anything to say about it, because clothes are my jam." Clothes? Lucille could do clothes, it's like a lay up from the gods given then by Finn to impress.
"If we're talking clothes, ohhh I love clothes. There are some stalls in Red Hook, really good finds and there's /always Yamagato Park. Have you been yet?" For all the alarm it caused having a whole other nation right in their city, it was still a sight to see and experience.
If only the rest of the Safe Zone could be so polished and new.
"How about tomorrow? I'll take you around." It seems to be an easy offer, "I'm a local," Winking over at June and nudging Finn. "We know the best spots. And are confident in that," Lucille grins and grabs two more fries.
Finn laughs at Lucille’s aghast response to his Care Bear onesie comment, but leans back to watch her gush about clothes and light up at the prospect of taking June clothes shopping.
Better her than him.
One hand drapes over Lucille’s shoulder as Finn listens to her talk. He nods to the question about Yamagato. “Yeah, we went for dinner yesterday, but that’s it. Just some sushi and mochi before heading to the hotel. We’re in for a few days at the very least, so we’ll head back there before we go — or you two can go. I probably shouldn’t push my luck there.”
Given his affiliations with Praxia, it wasn’t wise for him to be there at all. But the call of sushi is a strong one.
“Tomorrow would be perfect. We were going to head to Brooklyn College and poke around there, but that can wait another day. I,” he glances at June, then back to Lucille, “can use the time to maybe look around for job prospects, maybe see if there’s any openings for housing. See what the options are, if country mouse here wants to be city mouse.”
Finn’s gaze returns to June, and he offers a small smile. “No pressure. Just making sure we have choices. If you want any of them, that is.”
"I hadn't had sushi since I was a kid," June says, as if she isn't still a kid. But probably she means pre-war. The smile on her face gives a good review of the meal, although she doesn't have a lot to compare it to. She enjoyed it and that's her only bar. Shopping, too, isn't something she's done much of in recent years. Not the way Lucille means it, anyway.
"Yeah, I— I mean, jeans, t-shirts, that's all I really need," she says, but there's some excitement in her nod to Lucille. "We could do the College, too. I mean, can shopping really take all day?" By her tone, she can't imagine that it possibly could. Her expression softens as Finn talks about his own plans, a smile turning crookedly upward. "I want them," she's quick to say, "Choices. Good. Yes, I want them. Your… pilot thing would be easier up here, wouldn't it? The… search and rescue thing?"
She may have just gotten here, but she's not missing an opportunity to nudge her dad toward better choices.
"Mmm sushi," One of Lucille's favorites though she appreciates Finn's discretion on coming near Yamagato, that wouldn't be smart especially after just connecting with his daughter. Lucille would have no problem taking June to get some new threads. "I love a practical woman. All you need is a few items, everyone needs their basic uniform to go out and conquer the world. You'd be surprised how much you can say with a black shirt," Talking fashion, clothes isn't something she gets to do that often anymore and if she does just with Rue who also remembers the times of walking the catwalk and posing for numerous photo shoots.
"Well what is a shopping event without a little spa treatment after?" Waggling her eyebrows and daydreaming of the mani pedi she's needed. Backing off slightly and leaning into Finn she grins, "Or a short store run and college right after," Wink, she doesn't want to be overbearing but as the topic of discussion changes to Finn's choices in employment Lucille looks up at the man.
"I think I'm with June there," And so not for selfish reasons.
“So, like, last week?” is Finn’s quip to June’s declaration of not having had sushi in so long, and he grins before reaching across her for another fried pickle.
His expression softens when she perks up at the topic of clothes and when she says she wants the choices, he looks over to Lucille, a dopey smile on his face that shows he’s proud of this teenager who ostensibly shares some of his DNA.
He nods at her question about his piloting. “Yes. It would be easier to find a job up here than in the middle of nowhere, I think. I’ll look into calling up my old boss — hopefully he’s still kicking.” He makes a face. “Hopefully he won’t hold it against me that the loaner bird didn’t make it out of the war.”
Lucille’s agreement draws his eyes that way, and Finn nods once in understanding. They’ve had a slow start to their relationship, but now they’ve made things official, well, it’s probably not a great idea to keep it long distance.
“Then we’re all in agreement. Girl day tomorrow. We’ll do a midday check in and see if we want to hit the college in the afternoon or let you two keep shopping and loofah-ing or whatever you do on a spa day, and play it by ear,” he says, before leaning forward, an eager smile broadening his face.
“So — what next? I hear they got Nutella crème brûlée at a shop around the corner.” Today, it seems, they’ll just eat their way through the Safe Zone.