Participants:
| Scene Title | Is This an Evolved Squid? |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Lance drops a squid on Joe's head. Brynn laughs. And they all make a new friend in Silvia. |
| Date | February 26 2018 |
The market the market we're going to the market! Joe sang it, the entire way, he also signed it for Brynn, the entire way. Just to make sure she knew he was singing it. He may have also skipped for a block, or four. Possibly more. Joe doesn't possess the shame gene. Or the shy gene. He's walking around with Brynn, signing to her as they look at stalls. Joe has a backpack on that's seen better days, worn with a couple broken zippers. But it's got stuff for trade in there that he's salvaged from… somewhere. He pauses at a stand where a lady has a bunch of books laid out. Raided from a library somewhere during the war if the stickers on the side are anything to go by. He's paused to look over the titles, tapping Brynn on the shoulder so she knows where he is. He's humming to himself as he browses, bobbing his head around to the beat of the music in his noggin.
Nope… no shy gene, no shame gene in him. The petite girl with him has a perpetual grin quirking her lips at his antics, despite the fact she can't hear what she is assuming is actually really bad singing. But it makes her giggle aloud, a sound not so often heard. She peruses the stalls, touching things with patterns and things with interesting textures. The torn jeans and well-battered backpack on her back make her look not so different from everyone else here, though younger than some. She shoves some of her hair out of her way and peers over Joe's shoulder to see what books are there. Spotting one around the edge of the table, there's a squeak of pleasure and she signs excitedly, Is this the one that you were reading to the Kids before you left?? Like, the next one in the series? If so, she's clearly going to buy it and send it home!
Given that the Red Hook District housed the Benchmark Center, Silvia had made the Red Hook Market a bit of a hangout. She enjoyed wandering the stalls and perusing goods when she had free time and some of the vendors even knew her name by now. So it's no surprise to find her there now. For now, though, she isn't looking through goods, she's looking through people.
Leaning against a wall near a stand selling Chinese meat buns, Silvia watches people as the walk by, hastily making notes or sketching faces, pencil moving across the page in a quick, determined manner. She stops when she notices Joe and Brynn, grinning a bit as she starts to quickly sketch their faces and jot down a few notes on their general mannerisms. She leans in closer a little bit when she notices the signing, to the point where she almost falls over, but she straightens herself up and looks back to her sketchbook, jotting down another quick note.
Joe uhhhs softly at the question of books, peering at the cover before he nods his head and signs back at her.
Uhhh yeah I think so? Could be? Not a title I recognize so probably. You got stuff to trade for it? Joe asking her curiously. He has no clue what Brynn has or doesn't have. "Whatcha looking for for the book?" He asks the lady in the stall, his hands letting Brynn know that he's asking for her. He lets his eyes wander around, that tickle at the back of the neck, that instinct of being watched. Brian trained him to pay attention to that, so he does, he just lets his eyes wander over some nearby wares and goods, looking out of the corner of his eyes to try and spot someone watching them. He sees a girl nearly fall over, but doesn't seem to notice her watching them, at least not yet. As he waits for the lady to name a price or to start negotiations he starts to do a little dance, fidgeting really but bouncing from foot to foot hips and shoulders swaying just a little bit.
The signing ensues rapidly as she lists out several paperbacks she could trade for the one she wants and a couple of miscellaneous things like a pad of stationary that has roses on it. Where the heck Brynn came by that is anyone's guess. But she did travel to get here.
As she signs for Joe, she shifts around the far side of the table, uncomfortable with the way he's looking. It's the way he and Lance look when they've gone on the alert to something not quite right. She places herself where she can also scan visually without seeming to be staring behind him. What is it? Something's wrong?
More notes are made on mannerisms before Silvia decides that her curiosity has to be saited. The pair won't be wondering who's watching them for long. She marches over towards the pair, waiting for them to not be occupied with the vendor before she clears her throat in an attempt to make them know she's there. Then again, she doesn't know what the scoop is other than they're signing. They might not hear her at all.
"My name is Silvia and you two are interesting people. Do you speak anything other than the language of sign?" She pauses. That didn't sound quite right, but she shrugs it off.
Brynn knows the look. It's not a facial expression, or even body language. It's just a shift of… something. But they all lived together so long that it's instinctive to follow eachother's lead when something is up. He lets the woman at the stall know what Brynn has for trade, and throws out a few things he has for trade as well. Batteries, a sattelite alarm clock. A handheld radio. He signs for Brynn and negotiates with the woman until goods are exchanged. We're being watched. I think. It felt like we were being watched. Joe signs back at Brynn, then turns to proudly present her with a book, thanking the woman who didn't drive too hard of a bargain before trading.
Joe spots the girl approaching out of the corner of his eye and signs for Brynn, hands moving subtly this time, not so obvious. I think it's that girl. Maybe just people watching like you. Behave. The last bit comes with a small smirk before he turns, spinning on his heel, rubbing grinding against concrete underneath him. "I sure do. She doesn't though. But I translate." Proven as his hands move to do just that for Brynn. His hands move as he speaks, natural and fluent, not having to pause to sign for her. "I'm Joe. This is Brynn. Nice to meet you. You okay? Saw you almost fall over there…"
Behave? Brynn looks a little offended — like she's the one who doesn't behave?? Rolling her gray eyes, she goes ahead and trades the books that she has for the book she wants and then shoves the one she wants into her backpack when Joe hands it to her. Shouldering the backpack quickly, her eyes on Joe's hands in case they have to run, she nods slightly. When the other girl approaches, Brynn offers her a cautious smile and a wave.
"Oh, I was just staring too hard," Silvia admits truthfully. "I saw you signing and was interested. I haven't seen very much of the language of sign. You both speak it very fast. Your hands move con gracia." She tucks the pencil into its spot on the edge of her sketchbook and fastens the elastic around it so it's securely in place. "Perdoname for interrupting. I am very curious."
Joe turns his head to peer at Brynn, making eye contact. She knows what he means. He knows she knows that he knows she is not the good girl she makes herself out to be. He stares at her, tilting his head to the side a bit, one brow pulling upwards as if that is going to make his point for him. She knows. He then sticks his tongue out at her before he turns back to their guest. Guest? Well guest to the conversation. He turns back to the Silvia. "Con gracias? With… gratitude? Gracias right? For thank you?" He asks, looking to her then to Brynn, his hands moving as he speaks and as Silvia speaks, keeping her looped into the conversation. "Thanks? I think?" Joe looks a touch perplexed, but he's totally down to roll with it.
"Brynn can't hear. So I've been signing for years, but it's not hard to learn the basics if you want to. Like most languages it's really just about learning the most common phrases and words. And then from there you branch out. And you're not interrupting. We like meeting new people. Half the reason we come here is to meet new people. Actually probably more than half. We come to meet new people, hang out, and to trade for things. Probably in that order."
Brynn seems unsurprised at the rambling nature of Joe's conversation, so it's probablythe norm for the boy. She signs to him, If you're going to teach her Sign, at least teach her ASL, she informs Joe with a roll of her eyes. No point in having Cant if we teach everyone and their sister! Then again, that's perhaps a non-issue NOW, what with having the war over. Right? …. Right?
Shooting a smile at the other girl, she signs rapidly, Don't mind him, he can't keep his thoughts in a single straight line to save his life. Nice to meet you! What's your name?
It's in complete and unnatural silence that Lance appears… almost literally, as he deftly pulls himself up on top of a book-case near to the small group, perching there in a squatting position as he balances himself. The book shelf rocks a little, but it doesn't make any noise either. There's a mischevious expression on the teenager's face as he opens a plastic bag at his side, reaching in and drawing out a hand wet with water and… holding a squirming octopus. Maybe a squid. It's all tentacles and writhing around, anyway.
He holds a finger up to his lips in a 'shhh' motion in case anyone hears him, and then peers down at Joe, making an 'L' with his forefinger and thumb as he starts calculating angles.
"Con gracia…" Silvia struggles to think of the English equivalent. "Beautiful and flowing. Like a dance. Ah, grace. Gracia. Language can be complicated." She offers a small awkward smile. "But I learn fast, I have been told. I am sorry I cannot speak with Brynn too, please pass on my…" She seems to search for a word and not find it so she attempts it anyway. "… pass on my sorries to her." She offers Brynn a quick smile to punctuate what she's saying. "Maybe one day I will be able to speak to her as well."
Who said anything about teaching her Cant? She's gotta be part of the crew to learn Cant. Of course I want pretty much everyone our age to be part of the crew so… there is that. Also who made you lord and master of Lighthouse Cant? There might be a rude sign in there with that question, but the grin on Joe's face should hopefully tell Brynn that Joe is kidding. To be fair Joe is rarely serious. Though they got to see serious Joe during Operation Monkey Rescue yesterday so there is that. Joe doesn't notice the Lance. He's already solved the tingle at the back of his neck from feeling like he's being watched, and that was a Silvia. So he doesn't notice a Lance at all. Which will no doubt be much to his displeaure sometime in the next few moments.
"Grace? OH. Yeah that makes sense. So… to take it from grace to thank you you just add an S at the end?" He asks, forhead furrowing, features scrunching up before his shoulders shrug. "No weirder than English I guess. Some stupid rules in the English language. Very stupid. Didn't realize how stupid till I started learning sign." Joe does so, he always keeps Brynn in the loop. It'd be rude to leave her out. "Aplogies if you're sorry. Regrets if you wish you could sign too. I guess it could be either or. Maybe both. Sorries works just fine though. Sign Language works in ideas more than anything. And we'll totally teach you if you want. Lance is a better teacher than I am. He's more patient. I get excited."
Brynn just chuckles silently at Joe's rambling. She turns back to look at some of the books briefly, catching not Lance's movements but the squiggle of a limb … probably a split second before he drops it. Her gray eyes go wide, but she's not going to give away his prank — not her business, man! And if she steps in, she'll be the next target, darn it! She whips back around and signs for Joe, Well, she's cute! How was I supposed to know you weren't going to try to recruit her so you could have a girlfriend?!
Lance judges the distance very carefully, weighs the squiddy-thing in his hand… and then he drop-tosses it from above at just the right angle to land atop Joe's head. It's an intereting fact that on such a squishy impact, such cephalopods tend to immediately wrap their tentacles around whatever's handy. Like hair!
Once it's let go, Lance flips backwards off the book case and disappears behind it, although the departure leaves the bookcase rocking back and forth for a moment. Silently. It might be a giveaway.
"Si. The 's' changes things. You thank with grace. There are many similar words in English and Spanish, it is just hard to remember which ones. I recently learned the word 'quest'." Silvia seems very interested in the conversation, occasionally flashing a smile at Brynn so she knows she's not trying to leave her out of the conversation. And then she notices the squid-like creature drop onto Joe's head. She looks startled, nay, shocked having completely missed where it came from.
Really Brynn? Really? I think we have more important things to worry about at the moment than me trying to get a girlfriend. Like college, and babysitting service and also getting a bigger apartment that we can all crash in. Also your f- And that is ALL that Joe gets out with his hands before there's a squid thing. On his head. ON HIS HEAD! There's a moment of surprise as something wet plops on top of his head. His immediate thought is that he's become a bird bathroom. His very next thought is expressed out loud. "OHMYGODWHATISITGETITOFFAMYHEAD!" Comes out in a one solid streak of speech with zero pauses or breaks to differentiate words. He starts running around hollering as he reaches above him to try to pull whatever it is off his head. He SO does not notice a wobbling book case. He's more concerned with the freaking kraken that just divebombed him out of the sky. "SINCE WHEN DO SQUID FLY?!?!?!" He shouts as he tries to peel the thing off of his head.
There is a full-out peal of laughter, the kind that Brynn has only let loose with maybe a half dozen times in all the years the boys have known her. She has no idea what the hell Joe is yelling, but between his dancing, the shocked look on the new girl's face, and just the absurdity of the situation at hand, the petite brunette doubles over and howls with laughter. He looks like a freaking CARTOON CHARACTER, and Brynn's giggles are literally just unstoppable.
It's with an entirely too-casual air that Lance comes around the corner then at a jaunty stroll, as if to pretend he had nothing to do with this (but wanting to see the fruit of his labours). When he sees Joe's reaction, though, he can't hold on and he throws his head back and dies laughing, stumbling back a step, clapping a hand over his mouth as if to get it under control. He's pointing wildly at Joe with his free hands, and there's tears of laughter starting to form in his eyes.
Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if Joe hadn't been howling. But since he was howling and scrambling to get the thing off of him, Silvia panics. Is something going to drop on her head too? And then suddenly there's Lance laughing nearby. In an instant, out of reflex, she's suddenly gone, melted away into a pile of sand. For the moment, the pile of sand just sits there before it inches its way along to a crack in the floor to hide.
You know what is just as shocking as a squid dropping out of the sky to attack your head? Brynn losing it like that. Joe pauses, mid scramble and looks over at Brynn as she bursts out laughing. Then a tentacle wraps around his face, reminding him that the giant squid from 20k Leagues just materialized on his head and is trying to EAT HIM! His hands keep sliding off of the thing as he tries to pry it off of his head. Then he sees Lance and points an accusing finger at his best friend. "YOU!" He shouts and hollers, about to advance on his bro when Silvia… melts… into sand. Joe stops, blinking, eyes wide, the squid on his head forgotten for a half second. "Did she just?" He looks to Brynn, who is no help, too caught up in the throws of unending laughter, then to Lance, then back to the spot where Silvia was. "THAT IS SO COOL!" He shouts out in excitement. It's about then that he realizes the squid is STILL ON HIS HEAD. He resumes trying to get it off of his head. "What is this thing made of? OH GOD GET IT OFF IT"S TRYING TO EAT MY HEAD! WHY DO THESE THINGS HAVE BEAKS?" He shouts and hollers, then he… starts to headbang. Of course, it's not headbanging, it's a three stooges style attempt to get the thing off of his head.
Brynn abruptly stops laughing, her eyes going wide at the girl who just turned to sand. And then before she can really wrap her head around what she just saw, Joe's at it again. With a SQUID on his head! And her giggles start back up once more, her arms wrapping around her middle. She can't quite breathe properly, that's how hard she's laughing.
"Oh no, look out, it's— ahaha— it's going for your ear!" Lance verbally prods Joe on further as he tries to dislodge the squid, although he can't stop from laughing in the middle of it all, his shoulders shaking, grin nearly splitting his face in half. If it got any wider you could probably tilt his head back and get giant PEZ out of it.
Then someone just turned to sand and he's shocked enough that he just stares for a few seconds before shouting, "Holy shit a sand mimic, that is primal, girl! Joe, look!" Joe can't look. He's fighting a squid.
Silvia, for the moment, is content to stay safely nestled in a crack on the floor. Where it's safe. She might have gotten up, but there's all the laughing and rapid movement and it's a little much for her. So instead she hides, waiting for the squid to release poor Joe's head.
"I SAW LANCE! DESPITE YOUR NEWFOUND SQUID ATTACK POWERS!!!" Joe hollers at his Lighthouse brother. "AND HE IS ACTUALLY GOING FOR MY EAR! OR SHE!" Joe finally manages to slip his hand under the squid and pray it off of his face, though it doesnt want to let go, tentacles still wrapping around his head. The freakout is a little lessened now that it's not ON HIS HEAD. But his voice is still raised, just no longer shouting. He stares at Lance so hard. SO HARD. "Bro… get over here… and help me get this thing off of my head. Also Lance? Meet Silvia." He bobs his head, squid and all in the direction of the sand that's creeping along the ground by itself. "Silvia meet Lance. My best friend." That second line is delivered in the flattest tone possible. His hands are both occupied with squid and keeping it off of his face. "BRYNN WHY IS IT PINK NOW?? WHY IS IT PINK?" He turns and stares right at Brynn, then looks over to sand pile, then back to Lance. "SOMOENE GET THIS OFF OF ME!" He's not standing still either, he's still wobbling around trying to pry the thing off of his head. "WHen did squid get super strength? Is this an Evolved squid?"
With NO CLUE what the hell Joe is saying, Brynn just shakes her head and when she finally stands upright, she's just chuckling in a more silent fashion. Cuz it's hysterical to see the boys go at it, and well… what the heck else is a deaf girl gonna do when her brothers are complete dorks at times? Crossing her arms she watches the antics, and then FINALLY, she signs to Lance, cuz Joe has a head full of squid, I think she ran off. Unless she's still under the table or something.
Lance's blue eyes roll in his head as he steps along over, grinning like a loon the whole time as he reaches out to carefully help unwrap the squid's tentacles from Joe's head — which is a lot easier when you're not the one whose head it's on, to be fair. "Jeeze, Joe," he 'complains', "Why are you all pissing off the flying squid? They usually don't attack unless they smell peaches — oh shit, did you use Gillian's shampoo?" He nods sagely as he peels a tentacle free, "That must be it. You gotta be more careful, bro, I mean you're lucky I'm here to save you. You're scaring off girls and everything."
He looks past Joe to Brynn, offering her a conspiratorial wink.
With Lance helping Joe now, things look less chaotic. Inching out of the crack in the floor, the sand pile moves to a clear spot, and then reforms into the shape of a girl, then promptly becomes the girl. Silvia blinks a few times, looking a little sheepish before pretending like nothing happened. Well, Joe did technically introduce them.
"Ah, hello Lance. It is nice to meet you." Silvia glances to Joe and Lance, waiting to see if the squid gets safely removed.
"It smelled nice okay! I like peaches and it smelled good. And… yeah!" Joe is very thankful to get the squid off of his head. "Now I smell like squid. I smell like squid don't I?" He huffs and stamps his foot as he glares at Lance some more. "Flying squid my backside. You…. you.." He looks around to where he was standing before, then eyes the nearby book case. His eyes widen and he turns to regard Brynn. Really Brynn? Really? He knows she saw Lance. He just knows it. You traitor! He mean mugs her for a second or two, but he can't maintain it. His poker face is not strong at all. Then the squid is finally free of his head and Joe steps back, then steps back a few more steps, hopping away like the Squid is going to reach out and bite him. Again. "It tried to eat my head! I'm sooooo gonna get you for that man. So bad. Just you wait." He's resumed signing for Brynn, but there's mischief in his eyes now. He's pondering just how he can get back at Lance. Lance's pranks are easier when he's pranking Joe. He doesn't have to worry about hurting him. He wags a finger at Lance a couple of times before he reaches up to feel his hair, which is all wet now from squid. "My siblings ladies and gentlemen."
Brynn is so totally lost initially and then Joe's signing at her, making the giggles bubble up again. She shrugs, looking totally innocent. I have no idea what you're talking about, she objects, sticking her nose in the air. And then she grins at Lance. Then she waves at Silvia once more. That was a radical shift that she did, did you see it? Is it sand? Like… beach sand? I've never seen the beach. What happens if part of it gets taken away from the rest? Then she looks sorry. That's nosy. I'm sorry.
"I don't know what you're talking about, man, it was a flying squid," is Lance's insistant declaration about the whole situation with the cephalopod, "You gotta be careful about the shampoo." As the squid twists and wraps around his fingers, he flashes a grin over to Silvia, "Hey. Good to meet you - that ability is totally primal, love it— " Noticing motion, he looks back over to Brynn, brows lifting. He considers how to translate, then just says, "Brynn thinks it was pretty cool too!"
"Primal?" Silvia questions, although he did say he loved it right after so perhaps the word meant something other than primitivo. "Ah, thank you!" She turns, giving Brynn a thumbs up. That's a universal sign that she can give at least. "I am glad you all enjoyed that, it wasn't fully intentional, I just got asustado. A lot was going on, I did not know if something would happen to me. It seemed safer to be down there than up here."
Joe though, the ever reliant Joe, translates Brynn's questions for Silvia. "Brynn wants to know if that's like beach sand, or just sand? Also what happens if someone takes some of the sand away from the rest? Are you missing a chunk? Do you come back smaller till you get your sand back? I'm expanding on her question. She just asked about taking sand away." He jabbers off in Silvia's direction, his hands moving to let Brynn know about his additions to her question. Then he rounds on Lance when he tries to play coy. "Careful about nuthin. You… I don't… I don't even have a come back right now." He turns back to Silvia, nodding his head in agreement. "Totally Primal. Oh yeeeaaahhh Primal is… like awesome, cool. It's slang. Just means you think something is awesome. Asustado? Whats that mean? Surprised? Shocked? Dismayed? Frightened? I'd be frightened too if Lance suddenly came into sight and you weren't expecting him." He turns and sticks his tongue out at said Lance, all the while translating for Brynn. "Probably was safer. For all you know you could have gotten squidded too."
Brynn is once more giggling, the sound stifled behind her hand because she just can't help herself. It's ridiculous how much the boys actually amuse her, and she pulls in a soft breath when Joe asks her 'very rude' questions of the other girl. She speaks something other than English, right? she asks the boys. Because a couple of those words, Joe just finger-spelled — or at least tried to. And they're completely not words she knows.
"Oh my God, guys, you can't just ask someone what happens when you take parts of their body off! Jesus!" Lance is, apparently, offended on Silvia's behalf as he looks at the two, starting to make a sign… wait, there's a squid. He carefully pries the squid off and sets it on a nearby table, ignoring it as it starts to climb on a book. Stop gathering intel! She's not an enemy combatant, she's just a girl! He rolls his eyes, looking over to Silvia, "Sorry, they have like no tact." Says the man who staged a squid attack.
"Asustado is like…" Silvia makes her hands into claws and makes a rawr face. "… like scared." Brynn gets a smile from Silvia and she explains in her direction, trusting one of the boys to translate. "I would say like beach sand. Sand between your toes." The rest of the questions do make her a little nervous, especially since this was the first time she'd really talked about it outside of her family. "It is okay," she directs towards Lance. "People are only curious. People have been curious about me before. I will show you all again sometime in an area less ocupado."
Spanish methinks. Joe signs back in response to Brynn's question. He looks around for somewhere to sit, and when he doesn't find anywhere immediatley nearby he flops on the ground. Cuz apparently Joe needs a sit after the horrific squid attack of 2018. Totally just did bro. Totally just did. So clearly we /can/ ask it. We probably just shouldn't have. He's grinning at Lance as he signs it, then looks back to Silvia. "Lance is offended on your behalf cuz Brynn and I are being rude." Joe explains to Silvia with a wide grin on his face. Clearly he is not sorry at all for being rude. He wants to know about her cool power. "We're all Evolved." Joe points at Lance. "Silent Ninja." Points at Brynn. "She does the most primal stuff with color." He signs for Brynn to give Silvia an example of her power, holding his arm out for said example of power. "And I'm invincible." He states proudly. He's always loved his power. It allows him to be as reckless as he wants. "Oh Astounded? Astutado? Sounds like Astounded now that I think of it." He blinks when she makes the rawr face, a wide for her antics. "Oh she fits right in. Yes she does." He looks over at Silvia and nods his head. "Oh, yeah sorry. We all grew up together. We've known eachother for a long time. So I tend to forget that not everyone else is as happy to share as we are. My bad."
I wasn't gathering intel, Brynn objects. I wanted to know just cuz it's cool! And I've never seen beach sand! Not like that — they've been in New York along the river and in freaking Canada. She's still never even made it out to the eastern parts of the city to see the ocean for heaven's sake! And then Brynn, whose power is probably the easiest to showcase among them, does what Joe asks … and turns his forearm pink. And leaves it like that. Then she signs, We should probably make ourselves scarce here, guys — having this conversation right here in front of the bookseller isn't smart. She's gonna call in the cops or something… It's not like the Squid Incident didn't draw a little bit of a crowd. She pivots on a heel and heads around the stall to somewhere else — she doesn't like people looking at her!
"I think like, uh— startled, maybe?" Lance takes a stab in the dark at the word in question, the 'rawr' face bringing a grin to his face again. Then there's the worried hand-signals from Brynn, and he briefly freezes up - then protests, hands moving quickly, There's nothing illegal about what we're doing! Too late, as the deaf girl's taken the chance to slip away, and he lets his hands drop, muttering to Joe, "Look what you did now." Yep! All Joe's fault! Back to Silvia, he waves a hand, "Sure, if you want! I mean, yeah, somewhere that isn't the market later, maybe!"
"I do not mind talking about it. I just think my parents would worry." Silvia nods slowly. "But it is good to be among friends." After a moment she's beaming again. "So many interesting abilities…" And then she's got the sketchbook open again. This time Lance's face is studied as she draws a rough outline of him and then jots down a few notes. She doesn't explain what she's doing, instead going back to the conversation. "I will be sure to show you again, since you liked it. Since it is 'primal'." She grins. "I just do not trust that no one in the market will scoop me up into a jar."
Joe looks down at his arm, then back to Brynn, then down at his arm. Okay you can change it back now Brynn. Brynn? Brynn! Why he's signing with alarm as she runs off is anyone's guess. He looks to the Brynn who goes full camoflage and disappears, then down to his bright pink arm, then back. "Barnacles." He mutters, then sighs and digs in his backpack until he pulls out a long sleeved shirt that he can pull on over his t-shirt and his suddenly pink arm. It was a nice day in New York for February. Got up to 50. So he was just wearing a t-shirt. "First I get squidded. Now I've got a pink arm." He mumbles as he puts his backpack back on his shoulders. "What I did? You… you squid dropping ninja! And that sounds like a really weird compliment! I'm off my insult game today okay!" Today? Pretty much always. In fact always. "Scoop you into a jar? Oh my god can they do that? That would be… ummm that would be horrible." His excitement at the concept of using a jar as a weapon doesn't fade but… "I just… sorry I mean that would be awful. I just thought of using you as like a grenade. Throw a jar of sand at someone, they are super confused, until sand person appears and like… goes all The Mummy on them."
At the idea of her being 'scooped up into a jar', Lance's gaze darkens a little. "You— I mean you should be safe here, but," he steps closer, voice dropping a bit as he turns serious suddenly, "Some guys outside the Zone tried to grab my sister the other day, so make sure you stay in the borders. I don't know what they wanted her for, but it was probably— bad, you know?" He smirks back over at Joe, "You're always bad at insulting people."
"I don't want to be in a jar," Silvia says, even if part of her thinks that a jar of sand thrown at someone might be interesting. "My parents would come find me if something happened to me. They are smart people and have watched out for me for a long time." She does look concerned. "I hope your sister is alright now. I will stay within the borders, of course. I had not thought of leaving. I mostly stay where it is safe."
Joe makes friends fast. He learned to. Years of people coming and going, of new kids joining the Lighthouse all the time. Some people would move to the… make no friends they always go away policy. Not Joe. He ascribes to the make friends with people while they're there policy. "I'd help too. If I knew you were missing. I'd help find yah. You're cool in my book. Lance would probably help too. I mean he can be a bit stodgy sometimes. But he's a good guy and likes to help people in need too. But he's definitely not a vigilante. But he is definitely a ninja. And he'd be super useful." He also realizes she doesn't like the idea of the sandjar grenade so he keeps further comments on that to himself. But there is definitely an inner monologue about the usefullness of a sand person grenade. "Staying here is good. I mean really though they'd have to get the drop on you. Or have a vacuum cleaner. Though I imagine a vacuum cleaner would soooo not hold you for long." His eyes widen then. "Have one of your parents ever accidentally vacuumed you up?" Cue Lance smacking him in the back of the head?
It's a loud impact as Lance's hand kisses the back of Joe's head too. Not that it'll hurt him. It'll probably hurt Lance more. But it had to be done. "Jesus Christ, Joe," he rolls his eyes, and then flashes Silvia a wry smile, "Yeah, she's— mostly okay now, just saying. You know, to stay safe, and all."
"No, I cannot say that they have. I do not really just sit around as sand very often. Although you would have to leave the vacio going to keep me inside. I could just slip right out. But a jar with a lid there's no way to escape it." Silvia doesn't seem to like the idea of being trapped, so she moves subjects. "I am glad your sister is doing better. Perhaps I will meet her too. I am enjoying making new friends, even if they ask strange questions." She points at Joe. "No jars."
There's that thud. Joe's been expecting it for a bit now, so is not surprised when his head suddenly bobs forwards under the impact. He knows he's been smacked, but there's no pain from the blow, and it doesn't interupt his speech flow either. "Hey, everyone used to throw knives at me for fun. And other stuff. Mala used to fling me around the house. She had super strength. She was one of my best friends." There's a moment where some deep sadness flashes across Joe's face after mentioning Mala, but then it's gone and he shakes it off, though his grin doesn't quite come back in full force. "No jars got it. But you should totally test your powers. Like if you could make a hand with your sand? Just a hand? You could totally twist the jar off from the inside. Sorry no jars. We could punch holes in the lid so you could definitely escape if that's better." He dodges away from Lance, but probably not quickly enough. "No jars. Promise promise no jars. I get excited about people's powers. I love have powers. Sometimes I forget that not everyone is as uhh… exciteable as I am?"
Lance shoots a shocked look at Joe when he mentions Mala, a name like a knife in the gut; he grimaces then, glancing away briefly before looking back, "Yeah, well, nobody's as excitable as you. Did you get into Gillian's coffee?" He's going to check. Joe's bad enough without a caffeine high. Then he smacks the back of Joe's head again, "Ow! No jars she said! Not with holes, not with— " Another smack, "— no holes, no jars! Period!"
He looks back at Silvia and deadpans, "I apologize for Joe. He has a mental deficiency."
Silvia glances between Joe and Lance. While she herself could be considered somewhat excitable, she was certainly not bouncing off the walls like Joe. She wasn't entirely sure he didn't try to bounce off the walls. "I had a best friend once, when I was little." She says in response to Mala, but she doesn't elaborate on that either. Instead she moves back to mention of abilities. "I have not tested everything I can do, I have mostly used it to escape danger. Life is dangerous." She looks between the pair once more. "Your abilities, do you often use them?"
Joe sees the shocked look that Lance shoots him and Joe nods his head at the look. Yeah… that just kind of slipped out. It was a knife in the gut for him too. And he's the one who said it. He reaches out and will settle a hand on Lance's shoulder for a few seconds before letting it fall back to his side. "Sorry." He murmurs an apology to his buddy before the question about caffeine. "Nah no coffee. Too bitter don't much like it. Though cold brew coffee isn't bad. Have had that a couple times. Not as bitter." Then his head is bouncing forwards, twice as he gets smacked by Lance. "That's gotta be hurting your hand." He comments with his customary grin now back in place. "Yeah, it's called being awesome. You only wish you suffered from it LANCE!" Joe makes a face at Lance before he steps to the side and away. "Trying to save you from breaking your hand on my head." By way of explenation for dodging away from him. "Well, mine isn't a turn off and back on sort of ability. Unless I get negation gassed. Brian's done that a few times when I needed punishing. But yeah, we make use of our abilities constantly. That's how Lance approached so quiet. Me? I use it all the time. I mean I'm bulletproof. Or at least as far as I know. Never tested it with high end…. probably shouldn't talk about being shot with firearms in the middle of the market huh?" He glances to Lance for confirmation.
Lance offers a faint smile to Joe at the touch to his shoulder, and then the other teenager promptly loses all his points. He scrubs a hand over his face, "Yeah maybe let's not do that, Joe, that's a great — that's a great plan, I'm glad you thought of it." Back over to Silvia, he admits, "I use mine a lot. Makes it easier to get privacy and shit too. Or when I just need some quiet."
Silvia laughs a little bit, starting to really enjoy the antics of the pair. She nods slowly at the depiction of their abilities, then she grins. "They can't get me with that gas. As long as I turn into sand I'm safe. I… escaped once doing that." She admits, but doesn't go into further detail. "Maybe I should use mine more. I just use it for survival. For la seguridad. I've never really used it for fun. I just draw for fun. Or read." She suddenly bursts out in the widest of grins. "I'm going to make comics of you guys."
"Yeah, I'm glad I thought of it too Lance. You sure weren't shutting me up." Joe mean mugs Lance for a moment, or two. But he can't hold mean mugs, so it slips back into a wide grin. "Or when you're getting up to things that you sh-MY SHOES! Do you know how hard it is to get superglue off my feet? Even if I can scrape them with a knife it takes FOREVER. Also dulls the hell out of the knife. By the way your kitchen knife needs to be sharpened." He turns to look over at Silvia when she mentions putting them in a comic, his eyes super wide. "You are? Primal!" He does a little happy dance right there, which mostly consists of some wiggling in place and some happy goose style feet stamping. "You should totally use yours more. See I'd play pranks on people. I'd like pour water out onto a mat or the floor and then turn into sand and let my parents think I'd tracked in all this dirt. And then when they go to find you and make you clean it it's GONE and you're just chillin on the couch playing with your phone."
"I mean it's probably easier for us, I mean, nobody can see our powers," Lance admits with a chuckle, "Well, they can see Brynn's, but— " he smirks over to Joe, "Well then stop eating all my peanut butter and maybe your shoes won't get filled with glue." That said, he flashes a broad grin back over to Silvia, "Comics? Really? You, like, draw comics and shit? Primal…"
"I wouldn't make a mess or bother my parents like that, why would you… oh, bromas." Silvia had to wait for enough context for the word to sink in. "Pranks, si. It is a clever idea but it is also harder to move when I'm wet sand. Still, I would not make a mess for them. They have been good to me." She grins again at the reaction she gets from them both at the mention of comics. "Si! I draw comics. They are mostly in Spanish but I am practicing my English too." She opens her sketchbook to show off some of her people watching sketches. There's Brynn, Joe, and Lance with some notes in Spanish near them each. The art's not bad, it's clear that she's been practicing for a number of years and has some measure of natural talent.
"Totally Primal." Joe echoes his own statement, and then Lance's statement as well. "Well maybe if you would stop gluing my shoes to my feet, or to the floor, or to the walls and ceilings I would stop eating all your peanut butter!" Joe shouts at Lance, but he's grinning as he does it. "So apparnetly the peanut butter and glue war will continue! FOREVER!" Joe pauses, glancing back over to Silvia as she says she wouldn't do that to her parents. He looks nonplussed. Why? He doesn't voice it, but the confusion is quite plain on his face to see. He doesn't get why she wouldn't prank her parents. But then she's showing them sketches and he ooooos at the drawings. "Awesome! Can't wait to see the finished product. You're pretty good. You and Brynn should work together on something. She's an artist too. All about colors. Like you could sketch it and she could ink and color. I mean the two of you could put out like professional grade comics. IF you wanted to that is. I mean… uhhh… like I said. I get super excited about stuff. Super excited."
Lance's brows leap up a bit as she shows off the sketchbook, and he crowds in to peer at it with Joe. "Oh wow, that's really good… and hah, yeah," he grins, glancing to Joe, "Brynn'd love this. She's all about art, art, art. Especially anything colorful…" He looks back at the sketches, "Don't think anyone's ever drawn be before!"
Silvia is beaming. Seems she gets pretty excited too when you get her talking about the right thing. "You really like them? I have some finished ones but I left them at home, I use my sketchbook to sketch and then I draw the real thing on nice paper. I haven't had many people to read my comics though, mostly my parents and the other people where we were. I've never thought about having a publico mas amplio. I would love for more people to see them. Lots of people. I hope Brynn would be willing to help me."
"Dude. I /know/ Brynn would help you. /Especially/ if it means putting me and Lance in comics doing stupid stuff and making fools out of ourselves. I mean mostly me. Lance is the serious one. All dour and scowly. He broods." Joe shrugs his shoulders a bit. "Oh if you ever need words clarified? Just ask. I know you have a few times, but if you do? Ask. We're used to it with teaching the other kids ASL and stuff so they could talk to Brynn. And so we'd have silent communications. Good thing to have." Joe looks at the sketches again and noddles his head up and down. "Yeah. Totally like them. Can't wait to see the finished drawings. Make sure to highlight my grace under fire. My gracia under squid attack. My gravitas." He puffs his chest out and adopts what he thinks is a regal posture. Stiff backed, chin tipped back so his nose is in the air. "Publico… published comic book? You should."
"Oh yeah, totally," Lance agrees with a smirk over to Joe at his words, blue eyes rolling as he's described as 'dour'. Then he's looking back down to the sketches, grinning, "She'd love to help, I'm sure. She loves, like, collaborating and everything." He leans back then, raking a hand back through his hair, eyes widening, "Oh, sweet, yeah. You could make comics and, like, sell them here in the market!"
"Publicado por un publico mas amplio." Silvia cheers, looking between the two again. "I will have to spend time and take lots of sketches so I know what you look like when you move. Ah… escena de accion." She nods. "If Brynn will help me color it, I could draw and write the comics." She grins again. "This will be… primal!"
"Brooding sourpuss." Joe fires back after Lance's eye rolling. Cuz you know, calling people names is proper response to eyerolling. Especially poorly chosen names. Joe is not good at the insulting people thing. Then Silvia is exploding with excitement. And it doesn't take much to get Joe's excitement meter climbing again. So he hops around a bit, jumping up and down sort of deal, all super excited to be in a comic. "She'll totally help. I know it. She loves art. And you saw what she did with my arm." And just to emphasize he pulls his sleeve back up to show off the bright pink, then puts it back down. "She's amazing with color. If she was still here I'd tell her to give you an example. Aaaand this would be a good way and a good reason to teach you ASL. Help you communicate with her if you two are going to collaborate." Joe looks to Lance, then back to Silvia, then back to Lance, then back to Silvia again. "Oh. We should… figure out contact stuff. Uhhh I mean we come here a lot but…" He pauses, patting his pockets. "I don't have my phone. Lance do you have your phone? Or a piece of paper?" Apparently entirely forgetting that Silvia has a whole notebook of paper.
"Uh…" Lance pats himself down, "I mean, I've got my phone but - like - I only get reception in Elmhurst. I've got a landline, though, um." He looks around, "Shoot, uh, grab a book-mark or something?" Yes, a bookmark. You're in a stall full of bookshelves and books, there's an artist there, but go for the desperate bookmark!
"I live not very far from here so I'm in the market a lot. We have a landline too." Silvia opens her sketchbook to the page with Lance's rough sketch on it. "Just write your number there." She insists. No need to go hunting for paper. She scrawls her own number on the corner of one of the pages, rips it out, and offers it to Lance. "If you're ever looking for me, try at the Benchmark Center."
"Dude! Why don't you have a piece of paper? The least you could do if you're going to squid someone is have a piece of paper ready for them. God Lance." Joe grins wide, teasing his best pal before he looks around a little bit himself, looking for somewhere to pull a piece of paper from to write down Lance's phone number so Silvia can get a hold of them. "Oh." It comes out very… dumb. "Oh…." He looks at Lance in a clear 'We're morons' sort of look, then gestures to Silvia's pad. He clears his throat and looks up at the sky, whistling softly. Yeah that didn't happen. They did not just scramble around trying to find something to put Lance's number on for the girl with a pad of notebook paper. "Benchmark center? Okay. I think I know where that is." He ohs softly. "Lance, Aunt Gilly is opening a library in a couple weeks in Doyle's name. We should go to the opening. Just random thought, popped into my head. You know, pay our respects and stuffs." There will be tears. "You should totally come to that" He says as he turns to Silvia. "The library grand opening. Doyle was a friend of ours. A protector."
"Oh." Lance smacks his palm against his forehead, stepping back over to snag the offered paper. A pen, now, a pen he has! He pulls it out and scribbles it down, admitting, "Yeah, you should come. Doyle was— well, he was pretty primal. Great guy, super patient with us when we were young…" He grimaces a bit, offering the paper over, "Anyway. Yeah! You should come, and I'll talk to Brynn about the comic, and stuff!"
"I met a nice woman who bought me some books, she said she worked at the library. It would be nice to thank her again for the books. I'll be sure to come. It will be nice to see you both again and it sounds like it will be fun." Silvia hugs the sketchbook to her chest as she takes the paper. "You can let me know then if Brynn is in for the comic. Then I suppose I will need help learning the language of the sign to speak with her."
"Doyle was pretty awesome." Joe nods his head in confirmation of Doyle's awesomeness. "Primal Silvia. We'll call you. I mean probably Lance since it's his phone. But we'll chat at Brynn and fill her in about the comic book. And that's awesome. About the lady buying you books. Always good to hear about random acts of kindness. Means people are still good. At least some people." He looks over to Lance. "I'm hungry." Then back to Silvia. "I'm glad we ran into you Silvia. This was awesome. Minus the squid. The squid was so not awesome." He glares at Lance for a second or two. And then more, and then more. Until like a good ten seconds has passed.
"Alright, let's go find Brynn and some food— " Lance flashes a grin back to Silvia, moving to step off, "It was good meeting you. See you soon, alright? We'll be in touch, or see you at the library and shit—"
"I'll see you two soon. Thank you again for the comic ideas. Hasta luego, mis amigos!" Silvia flashes a grin back at the pair, then nods once, and begins to set off in the opposite direction back towards the exit to the Red Hook District. She had some comics to work on.