Participants:
| Scene Title | His Jacket |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Elle and Cardinal pay a visit to an adress on a crumpled receipt. |
| Date | January 25, 2011 |
Adel's Apartment
To all outward appearances, Elle Bishop has left Redbird and the protective care of Richard Cardinal and his gang all on her own. The little redhead wears a pair of jeans, and a purple 'My Morning Jacket' t-shirt. She looks like she should be cold, out in this weather. Especially when she has what appears to be her jacket, an old military jacket that's been patched up several places, hugged to her chest as she does.
In reality, Elle has not abandoned Richard's care. In fact, she's carrying Richard with her, in the shadows of the purse she has resting over her shoulder. As she approaches the door with the address marked on the back of the crumpled receipt, she promptly whispers into her purse, "We're here." Then she turns contact-green eyes up toward the door.
After a moment, she raises her hand, knocking, before stepping back and hugging the jacket that Howard left on her to her chest, frowning. She hopes he's here…or at the very least, that the people in this crappy-looking apartment know where he is.
There's the sound of tapping feet coming from inside, as if someone's dancing around the room— and music as well. But not loud enough that Adel doesn't hear the knock on the door. "Just a minute!" she calls out, feet pattering across the loft until she turns off the music, and then the sound approaches the door. The door doesn't open right away.
Because she's squinting through the peep hole.
Her voice definitely doesn't belong to Howard. It seems young and perky enough, though. The door doesn't open right away. One can almost imagine her considering. Deadbolts are unlocked, and the door opens part way, catching on a security chain that won't be much protection against a violent kick, but this is a tiny red head! How much trouble can a tiny red head be?
"Can I— oh my god." What started out a question, turns into an exclamation. "That's…" The door slams shut. Then reopens a moment later. "Where did you get that jacket?" The worry and immediate protectiveness is in her eyes.
Such a delightful understatement. How much trouble can Elle be? A lot of trouble, really— especially after the ego boost that came with blasting Sylar away like she did. That was really awesome. She hopes he'll have scars. And maybe some radiation poisoning. That would be totally awesome with Elle if that were the case.
Elle blinks a few times as the door opens, revealing someone who definitely is not Howard, who she was really hoping to see. She keeps the jacket hugged close to herself, apparently not quite willing to let it go any time soon. Stupid mysterious saviors— she's going to probably kick Howard in the shin next time he sees her for ignoring her request that he stay right there. Jerks.
For a moment, she can only stare, watching Adel. Then, her contact-green eyes turn back up to Adel. She raises her brow, only to wince slightly when it moves that cut from the pavement of that terrifying scene. Stitches help, but they still hurt. "I— uh, some guy named Howard gave it to me." She answers Adel somewhat uncertainly. "He kinda— well, he kinda saved my life, and I wanted to thank him. And give this back to him." She glances down to the jacket. "And I was hoping that, if he doesn't live here…well, at least I could maybe find out where he is?"
She glances down at her purse, then back up to Adel.
"He… he took off his jacket?" Adel says with more than a little worry plastered on her face, looking around the room as if he might suddenly appear there. "He's practically naked without that thing it's…" she trails off, unsure on how else to really explain to the woman just how important a piece of clothing can be to one person.
Never mind he's had it since he was born. The first thing he was wrapped in. What Adel always knew he'd probably die wearing.
"He's supposed to be staying here, but I haven't seen him today, he… occasionally runs off and does his own things without saying anything, and… come on in. I— what happened? Is he okay? Was he hurt?"
Elle tilts her head toward her shoulder, before turning her eyes down toward the jacket. It fits her just right. Strange, really. "Yeah…first thing he did when I met him, before I even knew his name, was to put this on my shoulders." Even though she didn't really need it. She got most of the blood out of it's fabric, though there's still a few small stains in the collar.
After a moment, she turns to peer up at Adel, slipping in when she's bidden to do so. "Last I saw of him, he was okay. He— there was some pretty crazy stuff happening, and he kinda saved my life, and I think he saved the lives of two of my friends, as well." Once she's in, she sets her purse down by the door, though she's not letting go of the jacket. She wants to give it back herself.
"He helped me out a lot— and I wanted to thank him. I hope you don't mind that I came— he had your address on a receipt in the pocket." She fidgets a bit, glancing to her purse once more, before back to Adel.
"What was happening? What the hell was he doing running off on his own? Dammit. I told him I would help and the first chance get gets he runs off on his own," Adel seems genuinely upset, angry even, stomping her bare feet on the chilled floor as if stepping on his unruly toes.
"That idiot better not be hurt or I'll… do something."
The threat seems to lack weight, but her hands are suddenly held out toward the red haired woman with the coat, not noticing the strange glances to the purse. And the next questions come in a rush, almost blending together they're said so fast. "Who are you? Why did he help you? Give me his coat."
Elle blinks a few times, her brows raising as Adel shows the fact that she's rather upset at the fellow who helped him. As she holds her hands out for the coat, the redhead only takes a step back toward the door. The coat is held up, but not offered. "He wasn't hurt— don't worry. I got hurt, and he helped me…took really good care of me." She frowns.
"I'm— my name is Elle Bishop. I don't know why he helped me, he just kinda pulled a cowboy and showed up in the middle of Nowhere, New Jersey and saved my life." After showing Adel that the coat is indeed Howard's, Elle hugs it back to herself. "I— no offense, but I'd rather return it to him personally. It's kind of important to me— he saved me from something really bad."
She offers another brief glance back to the bag. What the hell do I tell her, Card? Then, her gaze is once more on Adel, frowning. "This coat— it fits me perfectly."
In general, Adel lives by the heart in her chest, and wears it on her sleeve, and makes it readily visible. So the myriad of emotions that flash across her face range from surprise, to shock, to jealousy, to anger, to frustration, and then finally to a kind of panic as she reaches forward and tries to grab onto the coat. "You shouldn't have that, it's his. It's been his forever, he— he wouldn't just— you shouldn't have that."
She's taller than Elle, and somewhat athletic looking at least in terms of upper body strength, hand strength. Banging a drum for a living can do that, and being a dancer besides helps. But in general, she doesn't seem much like a threat, other than being the emotions in her voice and on her face.
"He's not here. I'll tell him you came by, but that's his jacket."
Elle…doesn't let go. In fact, she stiffens, her grip on the jacket becoming vice-like as she frowns up at Adel. "Nothing against you, miss, but I would really recommend you remove your hands from my person." Strange. It's rather warm, this close to her. She seems to be quite literally radiating body heat, and the fact that Adel is grabbing at the jacket is only making it warmer.
"He left the jacket on me— I would really prefer to return it to him on my own. He— he saved me and my friends from The Midtown Man." She takes a few steps back, not about to let go of the jacket— the one thing she has from the guy who saved her. "I'll more than happily return it to him, it's not even my style, but…but please understand, I would like to do it face to face."
Elle is really doing her level best to keep from getting upset herself— that could be disastrous. Either she'd burn her clothes off again and have to make Cardinal loan her his (she didn't bring a change of clothes today), or she'd end up putting a hole in something— and maybe hurting Cardinal.
"Elle…" A whisper from the purse as a shadow darkens it; sweeping over the fabric, her arm, down her body and to the floor, the hollow voice of Richard Cardinal speaking dryly, "…to be fair, it is his jacket. Relax a little, or you're going to make it combust…"
Between the heat, the obstinance, and the sudden unexpected third party, the poor girl who hasn't even given her name has a reason to yelp loudly. Adel's grip doesn't loosen from the hold of the jacket, but there's a sudden strange glow coming from around her. Not against her skin, like many powers, but in a perfect sphere all around her.
It's faint, not the kind of light that would cause Cardinal to shrink away in pain, and for the first second it doesn't seem at all solid. The second second, though—
That's when it becomes a force to be reckoned with.
The shadow suddenly finds itself forcefully pushed from the interior, the six foot sphere that formed around the girl's body, and unable to work his way back in. Her hands release the jacket and she jumps back, and away. For an instant, while Elle is inside it, it seems as if she's suddenly floating. Gravity comes back for her as soon as she's out, but not for the girl, suspended in the middle of this slightly visible sphere, almost orange in color.
"Who— sorry, I— panicked. I… no one else was…" Despite the explanations, the defensive sphere doesn't go down.
Elle doesn't seem to be phased by the fact that there is a living shadow climbing on her to the floor. And she really is about to respond to Cardinal with a well-placed witty remark, but it's pretty much interrupted before she can say anything. Mostly by the six foot sphere that has suddenly appeared around the girl. And it's pushing Cardinal back. That's— that's interesting, is what that is.
The jacket still in her grip, Elle goes along for the ride, for the most part. She just kinda…watches, as the girl's evolved ability shows itself. The whole gravity thing— that messes with her more than anything, and she takes a few steps back from the girl.
"Interesting ability." She says this as if she's not surprised— after all, Howard did that sparking thing. Still, Elle holds to the jacket. "And he left the jacket on me, Richard. I was out like a light— it wouldn't have been hard for him to get it back, especially when I didn't even have my arms in the sleeve." She feels like she's the one who is supposed to be giving it back to him, somehow.
Oh, hey, it's a ride! Wheeee.
Except that Cardinal isn't always that comfortable with abilities than can affect him in his near-incorporeal form, the shadowy shape swiftly streaking beneath the nearest piece of furniture and out of sight much as a mouse shooed away from a bag of rice on the floor.
Elle's part in the ride doesn't last long, but she's not ejected quite as forcefully, since Adel gives up trying to hold onto the jacket to get her out. She chews on her lower lip as she looks around, trying to find the voice, the person being addressed. "Did you say Richard?" she repeats the name, still floating above the floor in that shimmery ball, that seems to change color slightly, but not size or shape.
Perhaps the color depends on her mood, cause the red starts to go out of it, making it more yellow than orange, perhaps showing her lessening panic.
"I'm sorry, I— I guess if he left it with you.. maybe he thought you were cold or something, but…" Her hair's even floating inside this bubble. "I… you're not law enforcement or something, are you?" There's a spike of some kind of color, as she begins to float backwards. Toward the window. Like she may make a float for it.
Cause floating is all she seems to be able to do to move.
Elle blinks a few times, before nodding slowly toward Adel. "Yeah, I said Richard." She blinks a few times, glancing about for Cardinal. When she can't find him, either, she turns back toward Adel. "Sorry about that— it's a friend of mine who I kind of have to bring along with me wherever I go." To protect her from the clutching, claw-like fingers of the Institute.
She watches quietly, brows raised as she peers at the floating girl, raising her hands in a disarming gesture. When she speaks, her voice is gentle— as gentle as someone like Elle can be, at least. "No way, definitely not law enforcement." If they were law enforcement, they wouldn't have wrecked that police car like they did the other evening.
Then, she hugs the jacket to herself again. She really did try hard to clean her blood out of it for Howard. "If you're a friend of Howard's, then I'd like to call you a friend, too."
"Sorry for startling you, there… startling you…"
It's harder to pinpoint the voice now that Cardinal's removed himself from open view, his echoing voice tending to drift a bit, "…and no, we're not law enforcement. I'm just making sure Elle's safe, she has some… people after her. …enforcement…"
Though her eyes seem to be trying to find the source of the voice, Adel looks like she's settling down. Literally. The six foot sphere floats down to the floor, her toes touching, and then it dissolves. Her hair falls from it's floating position, around her shoulders, and she settles on the floor with a soft thump.
"Yeah— I'm his friend," she says. "Adel. Adel … Starkey. I'm sorry. I don't like sudden voices, especially not…" She waves a hand around, as if trying to touch something and explain that way. "Is there a place I can tell him to contact you? I think he'd want that back even if… even if he left it on you."
Elle glances around toward Cardinal's voice, before turning back toward Adel. She watches thoughtfully as the girl floats down to the ground, relaxing just a bit more, both for herself and to reassure Adel that she's not here to hurt her or Howard. For a long moment, she watches Adel. Then, after a bit of internal debate, the radioactive girl extends a hand.
"Nice to meet you, Adel. It's alright— everyone gets jumpy sometimes. I don't blame you, anyhow. Richard is creepy sometimes." She pauses for a moment, before rummaging in her purse. She pulls out a business card, glancing at it as if to be sure that the number is right. Then, this is offered out to Adel with a faint, if apologetic smile.
"It's pretty easy to get in touch with me— just have him call me there, or go to that address." It's for her apartment in Redbird.
"Given that you were worried that we were law enforcement," Cardinal's quiet, whispering voice stirs in the room as he slithers from beneath some furniture and crawls up Elle's back, perched so to speak on one shoulder, "It might not be the best idea to send him to Redbird, Elle, if he's wanted by the law. It may be being watched… watched…"
"Redbird, huh… Like the Cardinal," Adel says as she looks over the card, flipping it over and over in her fingers, before she empties her hand and shakes the young woman's in front of her. "Nice to meet you. He can be reckless and stupid, but he means well. If he saved you… then it wasn't for anything bad, I promise."
The card appears again, held up halfway between the creepy voice and the redhead. "How 'bout this— Once I see him, I'll call the number and give a meeting place. Neutral ground, no snoopy eyes, you two and us two. He may not agree to it cause he's kinda… goes to the beat of his own drum— sometimes I think his drums got lost entirely, but… I can try."
Elle blinks, her brows raising. This is true. Redbird is contracted to the government. She glances toward the shadow on her shoulder, reaching out to quietly pat…her own shoulder. Not that Richard can feel it, probably, but it amuses her, just a little. "Yeah— like the Cardinal." She smiles. "Richard's right— Redbird probably wouldn't be the best place to go."
Then, she tips her head toward the card, and Adel's offer. A pause while she considered, followed shortly by a nod. "Yeah, that works for me. Just…tell him that I have his jacket. And that I'd really like to thank him for his help." She hugs the jacket. "He was— really nice to me. Didn't leave my side while I was awake." One hand moves toward the stitches on her head, then back down to the jacket before she actually touches the wound.
"Really? Man, it's so rare to hear someone actually say he's nice. He usually comes off as a total asshole to strangers," Adel says with a laugh, looking at the coat with a kind of protective longing. It must be important if she's still vaguely tempted to jerk it away and take it.
"But he really is a big softy half the time— don't you dare let him know I said that, though. He'll sulk for a month and be all hissy the next time I see him. But I'll definitely give a call as soon as I can and set up something. Just don't thank him too much. It'll probably make him uncomfortable."
Elle's head cants to one side, and she offers a faint smile. "Yeah, he was kind of an asshole to a few of the other people who were with us. Wouldn't let a— friend of mine even come near me. But he was nice to me." She shrugs quietly, smiling to Adel. "I won't tell him you said that, promise." She grins faintly.
Then, she extends her hand toward Adel. "It was really nice to meet you, Adel. I hope you can get in touch with him soon. I would really like to get this back to him." She glances back down to the coat. "It looks well-loved." To say the least, with the stitched up parts of the jacket.
"Sorry for startling you earlier," Cardinal's quiet voice murmurs, "I didn't expect to have to come out, but… well. Perhaps I'll see you soon in a little more material form."
"I would like that Mister— uh— Richard!" Adel says, opening the door for them, but looking warily around for the man that isn't really showing himself. This time. The idea of a more material form? Probably a much better thought! "I look forward to seeing you both!" And despite the weird moment there was in the middle, she seems genuine and all smiles again.
Elle offers a smile to Adel, stepping out of the door. "I look forward to seeing you again, Adel. Have a good night." All smiles now, Elle turns, making her way away from the apartment, still hugging that jacket like she is the chosen one to bring the ring to Mordor or something. All things considered, she handled that fairly well. A few months ago, she would have zapped Adel for making a grab like she did.
Then again, when she's seen what she can do these days, she kind of has to watch herself. This is no question of a little zap— she does, after all, have a more dulled down version of the ability that caused Midtown.
As they slip out the door, Cardinal's voice is a quiet murmur in her ear. "We should talk to Brian," he whispers, "He knows something about this Howard guy… maybe you can get some answers from him… from him…"
"That was totally Richard Fucking Cardinal," Adel says once the door is firmly closed and locked, the music playing again to drown out residual noise. "What the hell did you get involved in, you blond haired moron." She digs around in her desk, looking for something until she pulls it out.
A hand held laser pointer pen.
"Yeah, definitely taking this, just in case," she says to herself, as she flicks it on and runs the beam around the room, little red light hitting the various shadows before she clicks it off and puts it in her pocket for safe keeping and easy access.