Participants:
| Scene Title | Luke Nukem |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | A chance meeting on a rooftop finds Delia less afraid of someone and Luke a little more bitter. |
| Date | September 6, 2010 |
Gun Hill: Rooftop
Situated atop the Gun Hill apartment building, five stories above street level, the rooftop of the tenement building overlooks the Bronx's gritty urban landscape. A single stair access leads out onto the smooth concrete rooftop surrounded by a three foot high red brick wall with a masoned top. Ventillation pipes and a chimney that connects to the singular fireplace down in the basement rises up from the concrete rooftop, though the chimney's old brick is crumbling and weathered.
A pair of old sun-bleached folding lawn chairs are situated out on the roof along with a plastic cooler, while white sacks of loam and soil are set next to large lengths of scrap wood, a box of nails and a few carpentry tools; a project in the works.
It's not unusual to find Luke roaming the streets of New York City randomly. However, ever since that curfew came into place, it's been cramping his style, especially since he's currently on probation and it'd be bad if he broke the law again. Now, after that magical time, Luke is on the roof of a building he doesn't live in, staring up at the sky in a decidedly grumpy manner. "…fucking stars." not like many stars can be seen anyway, since NYC is the City That Never Sleeps.
Staying inside the apartment day in and day out has been rather nerve wracking. Though she knows it's a good idea to stay inside, Delia is killing for a breath of fresh New York air. Opening the door to the roof, she steps out with her book and a the envelope she's been using as a bookmark.
The redhead is dressed in a pair of faded old jeans, t-shirt, graying tennis shoes, and a hoodie. Everything she brought from home, pretty much the only clothes that actually belong to her. Without a real security blanket, these garments have become it.
As she turns to close the door, her shoes make a grinding sound against the asphalt rooftop. There's a pause as Delia twists her head around to make sure no one heard it and that's when she sees the back of a stranger's head. He's talking to himself… complaining about the stars.
"You have to be outside of the city to see them. There's too many lights here."
Luke turns around when he hears someone talking, but it's just some woman. She can get a good view of his face now, since there's a light shining nearby. "Who asked you?" he replies rudely. "I don't want to see them anyway, there's no reason to leave the city." someone seems to be in a bad mood, but maybe that's normal? He looks Delia up and down. "Who the hell are you?"
Delia's blue eyes grow wide with shock at seeing Luke's face. She freezes at the doorway and seems to be in suspended in time for a minute or two before her eyes dart back toward the door. One just doesn't forget the face of someone who burned a man alive. "I— " her voice comes out in a mere whisper. "N-no one… I'm no one important." Slowly, she reaches back to the door to open it, but it stays closed. Locked. Perhaps the manager of Gun Hill doesn't like his or her tenants to stay out after curfew, perhaps it's just stuck. Regardless, Delia is trapped up on a roof with a murderer.
Oh hey, she's terrified of him! Luke smirks in satisfaction, though he's not entirely sure why she's scared of him. But, whatever, who cares. He strolls towards her, already in a better mood. "What's got you all scared?" he asks her.
She tugs twice on the door, her blue eyes watering as Luke approaches. "P-please don't … " Delia stops short of actually finishing the sentence, uncertain of whether or not it will provoke him into doing exactly what she doesn't want. A rapid series of blinks leaves her watery eyes glazed over with tears as she drops her book. Two puzzle pieces spill from the envelope inside it and she looks down for a brief moment, that might have been a mistake. Looking back up at him again, she edges her foot toward the book and pieces.
Luke isn't really being threatening or anything, and makes no move to do… whatever it is she doesn't want him to do. Instead, he notices the puzzle pieces, and with a sudden motion leans down and grabs them, frowning as he flips them to the back to see what's on them. "Where did you get these?" he demands, gaze flashing up towards her.
"I— I found them… One of them was in an envelope in a book I got from the thrift store. The other one was one the street…" The two pieces, have the words 'BEEN' and 'BOORISH' on them, by the look of the boorish piece it must be the one she found on the street. Delia lets go of the door handle and twitches her eyebrows together for a moment and gives Luke a rather puzzled glance of her own. "You— " Her face smooths out, finally cluing in that he might not recognize her. It was a fairly fleeting glance he had… but he was the one that stared at her the first time, not the other way around.
Luke digs in his pocket and pulls out a third piece, with the word 'RATIONAL' on it. "Someone sent me this. What I want to know is, who the hell knows where I was staying?" Luke's technically supposed to stay at that octagon place, but he kinda just roams around, except on days he's supposed to be there for his probation officer.
"oh…" The sound comes out as a small sigh and Delia just looks down at his piece while chewing on her lower lip. "I wish I could help you, but I don't know." Delia hasn't seen or read the news lately, she doesn't know any of the stories going along with the pieces. "I just thought the first one was sort of neat, like a Nancy Drew mystery or something." She gives him a slight, rather apologetic smile and shrugs her shoulders once.
She stopped being afraid of him, huh? Hmm. "Well now I know there's more than just mine. I thought whoever sent me this was being a smartass. If I ever found out who did it I'd break his balls. Gotta be some kind of stalker, to know where I go." Luke narrows his eyes.
Reaching down, Delia picks up the book and holds it with both hands as she regards Luke carefully. The fact that he would break balls? She doesn't doubt it one bit, not after what she's seen him do. "Maybe they're trying to send a message?" Captain Obvious has put the 'Get a Clue' hat on. "I mean, of course they're trying to send a message… I just… Do you know any of the other words?"
"No. But it's clearly obvious there's more than just these three." Luke snorts at Delia. "You're not very smart, are you?" ooooh, contempt. "I've never seen any other pieces than these." and he starts putting all three back in his pocket. Hey, look. He's stealing your pieces.
"Hey, those two are mine— " Delia blurts out the words before she has a chance to even think about what she's doing or who she's doing it to. When she does, her eyes go wide and she backs up a step or two and bites her lower lip nervously, "I mean… You can have them, if you want… I mean… Uhh.." Her eyes dart around the rooftop looking for some avenue of retreat back to the safety of her apartment. Finding none in the immediate vicinity, she sort of just stands there, gripping her book as though her life depends on it.
"What?" Luke frowns at Delia. "You want them back? Come and get them." smiiiiiirk.
Averting her eyes, Delia shakes her head and looks down at the rooftop. After a moment's consideration, she raises her chin boldly and shakes her head again, this time more firmly. "No, I don't want them. Two pieces isn't going to do me any good. You can have them." Her response to his biting aggression is overly friendly and gracious. Giving him a rather easy smile, she holds up her book with one hand and nods in the direction of one of the skylights. "If you don't mind, I'm going to go read. Have fun with the puzzle."
Luke seems disappointed. Aww, she's not wanting them back? Luke snorts and pulls them out of his pocket, tossing the two she had back to her. "Whatever." it's no fun anymore. "Three pieces won't do me any good either, and if I ever want them, well, I know where to go now, and I know what you look like." oooh, is that a threat?
Shrugging, Delia doesn't even look at the pieces before she turns her back on him and stalks over to the skylight she motioned before. Sitting down, she opens her book and begins to read a few of the pages by the light from inside the building. "Might as well keep them," she says, sounding rather uninterested. "They just get ruined in the rain and you won't be able to use them later." Him knowing what she looks like doesn't really bother her. She knows who he is, he doesn't seem to know her.
Well, if she doesn't want them anymore… shaking his head, Luke grabs them again, returning them to his pocket. Then when it seems like she's going to be ignoring him, he goes to the door. Which, like before, is locked. Annoyed, he holds his hand out at an angle, and the metal door starts sparking a little. Then he pulls on it, and the door is opened. However, well… locking it again might be a problem considering the deadbolt and the lock itself is melted and then yanked open. Eh, at least he didn't destroy the entire door.