Participants:
| Scene Title | I'll Take The World With Me |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Two random people meet, discuss the fate of the world. |
| Date | June 25, 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 a hot day in New York, and Central Park has become the place to go. With all the shade available, not to mention the playgrounds for the kids, it's pretty popular. Even Luke's here, claiming an entire park bench as his own and…. throwing rocks at pigeons. It's getting towards evening, as well, so the sun's starting towards the horizon and taking most of the day's heat with it.
Heat is no problem for Nadira. She's used to the warm weather, so New York's climate at the moment, is literally a walk in the park. Her pace is slow as she wanders about, taking it all in. It's her first time in New York, so she's taking the time to /really/ know it. Luke, however, catches her gaze only in the fact that he's throwing rocks at pigeons. Interesting pastime.
Luke is just bored, and it's really funny seeing the stupid things squawk and fly away, only to come trotting right back to where they were. And he even hit one once, but it just sort of fluttered in place. Whenever someone walks near him he looks up just in case it's a suit coming for him, but so far no one's tried starting something with him. When he sees Nadira looking at him, however, he returns her gaze belligerently. What? Got a problem with him throwing rocks at pigeons?
Pidgeons are dirty birds, and Nadira isn't much a fan of them herself. New York City pidgeons, in fact, were /used/ to the noise and the craze of the city, so rocks were hardly an issue for them. So as Nadira observes the rock-throwing behavior, she doesn't seem annoyed or disgusted, more like amused. She offers a small nod as she smirks, simply to show there's no negative feelings involved.
The belligerent stare becomes a bit more suspicious. "What? Do you have a problem or something?" negative feelings? Luke's full of them. Paranoia, antagonism, the whole nine yards. Anger management issues too, apparently. He hefts a rock, considering.
There's a slight laugh. "No, no," Nadira insists, taking a glance back towards said pigeons. "Sorry for interrupting. Please, don't stop on my behalf. I'm just passing through." She holds her hands up in the classic 'I'm not involved' position before she moves /around/ the bench, so as not to get in the way of Luke's pigeons.
Luke drops the rock, turning to watch Nadira move around the bench. "Do you randomly smile at people like that?" he asks, still sounding suspicious. Maybe she's a government agent coming to take him away or something, trying to lull him into a sense of security.
"Not always. Though I've noticed randomly smiling at people is a good way to get surprised reactions. Does no one smile in New York?" Nadira comments, hands behind her back. "You.. seem a might jumpy. If I'm bothering you, I can leave."
Luke should just tell her to scram, but… then again, she is rather attractive, even if she is a little older than he is. "This is New York." he points out instead. "Grumpiest place on Earth, New Yorkers are famous for it."
A chuckle. "Well, grumpy's a good word for it. I just didn't realize how bad it is. Did someone put something in the water to make everyone this way?" Nadira peers about, as if expecting to get shoved out of the way by some intent jogger or busy businessman.
"Something like that." the teenager shifts in place, scanning the area and crossing his arms as he does so. "Don't expect people to be friendly with you unless they want something from you." Luke looks her up and down. "And with the idiots in this city, there's one main thing that'd come to mind with that pretty face."
Now a grin. "Oh, I'm sure they'll have a surprise coming if they try the wrong thing." Nadira pauses. "So the first rule is to not trust anyone nice. Sure makes being friends with someone difficult, doesn't it?"
"You're better off without them anyway." gee, Luke's a tad bit bitter, isn't he? "People you've trusted your entire life would turn on you in an instant."
"I've experienced that a bit myself." Nadira murmurs. "So I can see what you mean. But life's not meant to be lived solo. Humans thrive on interaction. Wouldn't you get bored if all you had to talk to were pigeons?"
"Who says I talk to pigeons? I just throw rocks at them." Luke responds quickly, turning to level a death glare at the birds. "Stupid things. And who says you need someone else? I don't think so. I live my life just fine without people. It's you who wants to talk to me."
Nadira smiles. "I told you I could leave if I was bothering you, and you didn't send me away. Which leads me to believe that my presence is not entirely unwelcome. Don't you get bored, though, if you don't talk to people or have friends?"
"If you don't let people close to you, they can't hurt you. I don't need friends, and there's plenty of things I can do to keep from being bored, like punching some punk's lights out." Luke's… kinda violent. "And if you're using yourself as an example, don't think that just because we've talked that we're automatically friends." ooh, harsh.
"Believe me, I don't make friends that easily and I trust even slower." Nadira watches him, folding her arms over her chest. "So.. violence is a good time? Anything else, or do you stick to that? That sorta thing will get you in trouble fairly quickly if you aren't careful.
Luke laughs humorlessly. "Trust me, I get in trouble for existing, so why not? It's not like people would leave me alone. And violence is definitely a good time, even if I get my ass kicked. It's all about survival, after all."
Nadira shakes her head. "If the world were simply about surviving, we wouldn't have the ability to talk. It'd be entirely unnecessary. So I can't say that I believe that, but your philosophy is your own and it's not like I'm going to try and change that."
"It's a waste of time, really. Talking isn't really necessary, all it does is complicate things." Luke rolls his eyes. "Without talking, there wouldn't be lies, or sarcasm, or any of that."
"Lies and sarcasm, however, can be fun." Nadira notes. "But if I'm wasting your time, I could always leave. I mean, after all, we're talking and I'm clearly making things complicated by that." She pauses. "So, I'll leave when you tell me to."
Luke shrugs at Nadira. "Do what you want, I couldn't care less." Luke's right about talking complicating things, because he's saying one thing but actually meaning something else. It'd probably kill him to say otherwise, however.
Nadira purses her lips, staring at the pigeons. "Well, right now I'd like to continue chatting. Haven't really met many in New York that have wanted to bother talking, and since you haven't told me to get lost, then I'll stay until I annoy you with my presence." She studies him. "My name's Nadira."
Luke eyes her. "What the hell kinda name is that?" now he's just being rude. A beat or two passes, and then he mutters "Luke." well it's only natural to reply to someone with your name when they offer theirs, he's not that rude.
"It means rare in Arabic." Nadira raises an eyebrow, but almost seems amused at the hostility. "Although I'm sure in your perfect world we wouldn't bother with names?"
"Probably not." Luke replies without shame. "The world would definitely be a much quieter place, that's for sure. Not all this pointless yapping."
Nadira sighs, almost thoughtfully. "There are people I definitely feel are contributing to pointless yapping. But I don't know if I'd like an entirely quiet world. Or at least even /too/ much quieter. Sometimes the noise can be a blessing."
"I certainly don't think so." Luke frowns, shaking his head. "Humans should follow the natural order of things. Evolve or die, and don't friggin' overpopulate the world."
"I get restless when it's quiet. Means there's nothing going on." Nadira comments, glancing towards the sky. "And I'm not much of a fan of being bored, staying still too long when there are thing that could be more fun." She ponders his use of the word 'evolve' for a moment. "I'm sure there are quite a few people who'd disagree with you, rather violently.
Luke smiiirks. "Oh, yeah, I ran into one the other day. He won't be walking for a while." hehehehehe. "If they violently disagree with me, I'll just have to violently disagree with them!"
Nadira chuckles. "Oh, I forgot. The violent thing. Well, I suppose that works. Means there are less assholes out there bothering the rest of us. It's interesting how things are different in the U.S.. I suppose I should have studied a bit more of U.S. politics before heading over, hm?"
"Screw politics. Don't even bother, both democrats and republicans are shitheads who try their best to fuck over everyone." Luke is…. anti government.
To put it mildly.
Oh, that's a sentiment that Nadira can get behind. "Well, agreed there. I'm just a little /concerned/ about some of the stuff I've heard now that I'm here. It's not necessarily more /hostile/, just more.. well, more vocal in regards to certain issues. /That/ I could stand people being quieter about."
"Oh, what, you mean the whole forced registration?" Luke sneers. "If those twits in the White House knew just what sort of thing some people are capable of doing they'd shit their pants at the mere thought of trying to force them to do anything."
"You got that right." Nadira seems a bit angry. "Plus it's kind of sick how they get to basically show the world what ability everyone has, so, y'know, if they want to force someone to do something…"
"Hah, I'd like to see them try to force me to do something I don't want to do, see how they like massive pain." Luke clenches a fist. And yeah, he just admitted that he was Evolved, but he doesn't really care.
Nadira has practically done the same herself. "Yeah, but not everyone's able to defend themselves. I've seen some pretty bad shit go down." She shifts her arms a bit. "Well, if anyone survives anything, I've no doubt you'd end up on top simply by attitude alone."
Heh. That's true. "Yeah, I'm like a cockroach, a nuclear blast couldn't kill me." Luke seems inordinately pleased at being compared to a cockroach. "If the world's going to end, it's gonna be me who does it, probably."
Nadira wrinkles her nose at the idea of being compared to a cockroach herself. "Well, I hope you don't decide to bring about the end of the world. As horrible as it may be from time to time, I think it's worth living in."
"Eh, the world's safe for now, it'd be too much of a hassle to end it." Luke squints up at the sky. "Besides… I'd need one heck of a power boost."
"Well, I'm a little glad that the world's a hassle, then. Perhaps that's the whole reason why we're talking—I'll bother you enough so that you don't destroy the world." Nadira smirks, glancing at the sky as well.
Luke lowers his gaze to regard her again. "Hah, bothering me would make me more willing to destroy the world, rather than less." he picks up a rock and flings it at another pigeon, causing a whole crowd of them to flutter a few feet away.
Nadira watches the pigeons leave. "Well, there goes my plot to save the world from total destruction. I suppose I'd better give up now, hmm?" A pause. "I really don't get you, though. I know we've got all this talk, but.. you'd really not care? At all?"
"Well I don't believe in reincarnation, or heaven and hell for that matter, so if I'm going down I think I'd take the world with me since I won't care about it once I'm dead." or maybe Luke's joking to get a reaction out of her.
"And there's no one in the world that cares about you that'd be hurt if you died trying to take down the world?" There's a slight frown from Nadira. "I don't know. It just seems like a pretty grim life."
"No, it'd be the other way around. I wouldn't die trying to take down the world, I'd take down the world because I'd be dying anyway." Luke surely doesn't have that much power.
Nadira frowns again. "So if you ever end up dying your plan is to take down the world with you? Not sure I like the whole world's fate hinging on you. No offense."
Luke waves a hand. "Take a look around you, at all this shit going on. Wars, famine, diseases, people committing crimes every second? At the rate humanity's going, we're going to destroy the world anyway. I'm not a tree hugger or anything, but sooner or later we'll run out of stuff to steal from the Earth, and then what? It'd be better off to destroy the world. Rather, the actual world wouldn't be destroyed, just life as we know it."
"Well, if it ever gets /that/ bad, I suppose you'd be doing the world a favor, but.." Nadira folds her arms again. "Until then, you aught to at least try to find some enjoyment out of life."
"I do. Kicking ass. Giving people free admission into the Darwin Awards." Luke seems especially amused at that last bit. "Actually, inflicting pain on people is fun all by itself. Not that I'm a sadist or anything, normally it's only if people ask for it." not literally, however, that'd just be awkward.
Nadira sighs, albeit briefly. "Again. Doesn't seem like much of a life, but.. if you're enjoying it, I guess that's all one can really ask. You live your life. It.. still just seems like a lonely one to me, but.. if you're enjoying it, then I'm glad."
Luke looks at Nadira oddly, standing up. "Why would you be glad about that? You don't even know me. What the hell, sympathizing with complete strangers?" well they're not complete strangers, they exchanged names after all.
"Well, your life seems chaotic. You're throwing pigeons at birds. Violence makes you happy and amuses you. If my life was like that, I'd honestly wonder what the hell happened to me to make me like that. Isn't always an answer, that's just how some people are, but as long as you haven't crossed the fine line between violence and senseless slaughter, I don't think you're making the world any worse. Sure, I don't know you, but it's kind of nice to hear someone surviving and doing it just fine even in such a bizarre way." Nadira says, glancing at him as he stands up. "What, am I not allowed to sympathize?"
"I was kidnapped by the government and locked in a maximum security prison. My mother sold me out to them." Luke informs Nadira flatly. "I don't need sympathy." actually, that would make someone more sympathetic, likely.
Nadira pauses as that. The truth comes out. "I can't say my life's been quite that bad, but suffering is universal. Some I was close to sold me out because of my ability. I left everything I knew behind because of it. I wouldn't say it's sympathy. Sympathy implies you simply feel bad for the person. I don't pity you. I can't say my life was like that, but I know what betrayal feels like."
"Well, anyway. I feel like punching someone in the face right now, so unless you want it to be you, I'm outta here." Luke scoops up one more rock and hurls it at the mob of pigeons, then starts walking off.
Nadira watches Luke move off, her gaze following him before going to rest on the pigeons once more. "Good luck," she calls after him. "I hope they deserve it."