Participants:
| Scene Title | Picnic In The Sky |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Magnes and Claire have something like a first date — in the sky! |
| Date | August 08, 2009 |
The Verb: Roof
This is a flat roof, the surface grey concrete, which covers a building with enough space for sixteen apartment units on each floor along with elevators, stairwells, and maintenance areas at the center. It can be reached by an elevator and/or staircase near the right edge, a large freight elevator just back of the center, and stairwells centered on front and back of the building. The back left corner holds the large machinery needed for climate control of the interior. Discreet cameras placed all around the edge monitor the roof.
Near the elevator and stairs from the penthouse below is a pair of picnic tables and a sophisticated grill for cooking outdoors and eating when the weather permits. It's covered by an open air tent of sorts for shelter when rain and snow come.
The right front corner, overlooking 4th Street, has a sturdy wooden structure ten feet back from the edge. Here there are outlets for plugging in amplifiers and other electrical devices should Cat choose to come up here and make music. It has a set of glass doors which can be folded aside to allow approaching the edge and closed to protect against weather.
The front left corner features four each of small apple and cherry trees with garden chairs here and there around them, a number of sunflowers, tomato plants, potatoes, carrots, onions, peas, and various other plants chosen for their appearance in pots or planters large enough to hold them. Someone with access to the roof likes to garden, and has been doing so at any chance.
Later in the evening, when Magnes actually has quite a bit of free time after much training, he shows up on the Village Renaissance's roof again. This time his hair isn't gelled, it's allowed to stick up, about two inches long, combed back a bit so it's not too unwieldly. He'll have to see Raquelle one of these days. Tonight he brings two things, a box under his arm that looks much like one of those boxes you get on Christmas, and it turns out to be clothes and not anything interesting, and a picnic basket in his hand.
When he lands, he mostly just stands there, looking around to see if she's been waiting or not.
"Hey." Come the soft greeting as Claire steps out of the shadow of the building. Blond hair pulled back into a pony tail at the back of her head. She actually didn't go skater grunge tonight, no she decided to do something he might appreciate. She's wearing hip hugger jeans and white Ked sneakers, but that's not the important thing. No it's the fitted blue babydoll tee, with a faded distressed Wonder Woman logo. "Thanks for coming," said with a small shy smile. Her gaze goes to his hair and she smiles a bit brighter. "No gel tonight?"
"I think it's safe to take your word on things like hair gel." Magnes says as he sits the basket on the ground, then holds out the thin cardboard clothing box. "I don't expect you to wear this or anything, but I thought you'd get a kick out of it. It's a costume I made for you." The costume? It's a pretty accurate cheerleader costume like the one she used to wear years ago. "It was hard to figure out what fabric they actually made these things out of, but after that it was a pretty uphill battle. I think this is the easiest costume I've ever made."
Oh, and yes, he's oggling, and trying very hard to hide it.
Giving him an odd look, Claire takes the box and opens up to find the costume. Memories come flooding back when she sees it. Life was so much simpler back then.. until Sylar. Eyes roll up to look at him, a small amused smile. "You? You made this? It's good work." She runs a hand over the fabric. "What prompted you to made this?" She asks, even if she knows the answer.
It suddenly occurs to her, she takes a few steps back and sets the box gently on the ground. She them straightens and does a slow turn. "Well? I though if I wore this." Her hands brush over the fabric of the fitted tee, "you might feel a bit more at ease. Found it at a place called Hot Topic. Kinda retro, huh?"
"I make costumes for conventions and stuff. I think this is my first cheerleader outfit, but it was probably the easiest outfit. And I just got a kick out of it, making a Caire costume for an ex-cheerleader named Claire." Magnes, easily amused, snickers and shrugs his shoulders.
Then there's the topic of her outfit, which he openly looks up and down a few times, trying to find the right… words. "I, uh, well, at ease is one word for it." he says with his flushed cheeks, and a hand behind his neck, being bashful as usual.
Magnes has reconnected.
"I make costumes for conventions and stuff. I think this is my first cheerleader outfit, but it was probably the easiest outfit. And I just got a kick out of it, making a Caire costume for an ex-cheerleader named Claire." Magnes, easily amused, snickers and shrugs his shoulders.
Then there's the topic of her outfit, which he openly looks up and down a few times, trying to find the right… words. "I, uh, well, at ease is one word for it." he says with his flushed cheeks, and a hand behind his neck, being bashful as usual.
"Ah.. but wait.." Claire says trying to sound all mysterious. She bends down to pick up the box again. "This.. is actually pretty cool. Thanks." She holds up a finger and moves into the shadow of the building again, setting the box on a small table sitting there and pulling something out of a bag. Holding it to her chest, she gives him a sheepish look as she closes the distance between them. "I personally think. You should dress how you want. It's really a statement of who you are." She unfurls the dark charcoal gray shirt and holds it up against her, as her head tilts down to look at it. "I had to guess on size. So it might be a size too big." The front of the shirt is a faded and distressed batman logo. "But I thought you might like it." Looking up at him again, she holds it out to him now.
"Wow, a girl actually encouraging me to wear this stuff." Magnes appears genuinely surprised, carefully taking the shirt and holding it up. "You're awesome, I just thought you should know. Thanks a lot, for this." He carefully folds the shirt, walking over to the picnic basket to start taking things out. First he removes the folded blanket, leaving it to float in the air next to him, then he removes a Panucci's Pizza box, leaving that to float too, and places the shirt into the basket with the cans of Game Fuel. The floating things might come as a surprise, but he really wasn't even thinking about it, used to using his powers for general convenience. "So, I was thinking, wanna have a picnic in the sky?"
Brows lift high on Claire's head when the blanket starts floating. Slowly she steps over while he's doing his thing and touches it lightly, her expression openly curious. "What is it you do exactly?" She presses a hand flat on top of the blanket testing it. "I've met flyers… but your different. Way different." She glances sideways at him. "I… saw what happened in Japan."
"Gravity manipulation, but only for things I touch, and myself." Magnes answers, though his tone gets a bit darker when she mentions Japan, suddenly stopping what he's doing. "I…" He clears his throat, looking up at her. "Are you mad at me, at all?"
Claire is distracted by the floating blanket and almost misses the question. "Hmm? Mad?" Brows drop a bit the look confused. "No, why? Should I be? Though.. didn't look like you had this much control." She gives him a small little smile, "Was a rather badass looking fight, though." Her gaze goes to the blanket and then into the sky. "You sure about this picnic in the sky?" Sounds like she's actually considering it.
"If I had as much control as I do now, I might have been able to win. A few weeks of training with Hiro didn't cut it." Magnes suddenly covers his mouth when he lets a name slip. "I, uh, disregard that." He's trying not to tell people he's associated with… well… most anyone he shouldn't be associated with. "Yes I'm sure about the picnic, but I thought you'd be mad, you know, because it was immature and all that stuff. I was doing what I thought I had to do, I thought he had Kimiko, you heard he yelling her name in the video. I thought if I let him capture me, or beat me, I might not find her."
Pointing at the blanket Claire asks with a raising of her brows, "is it safe to sit?" She doesn't seemed bothered at all. "Well, if you were trying to find someone, then how is that immature? Though seriously, I think we've all had our immature moments." Claire's has had her share for sure. "Your motivation was honorable though."
"I think I'm learning a bit more about staying discreet and not destroying city blocks, though I still make a few mistakes." Magnes raises his shirt, showing a white bandage on the front of his ribs, near his heart, and one on his back directly parallel. It's either a stab wound or a bullet wound, that much is obvious, but that'd have to be one long knife to go through to his back. "Hold on, I've gotta set it up." He pulls the rather long blanket out a bit more, shaking it, then raises a foot to carefully step on to it before sitting down completely. He pulls the basket and the Panucci's box up too, keeping them both close to him, then holds out a hand for Claire's. "I want you to sit next to me, safety reasons, y'know…" this being said bashfully, suggesting it's not the only reason.
"Ouch." Claire offers sympathetically with a little wince. Something she never has to worry about. "What did you do to deserve that?" Looking at the hand and then him, she for a moment looks hesitant, but then… what's the worst that happens? She falls and dies…. and well… come back to life. Smiling she reaches out and takes his hand before climbing onto the blanket to sit beside him. "We fall and I will haunt you." She teases lightly, only a touch of nervousness to her tone.
"Don't worry, I have much more control over things I'm actually touching, and you might not notice, but I'm controlling your gravity too." Magnes explains, and suddenly the blanket starts to ascend into the sky. Magic Picnic Blanket Ride! The science, do not question it.
As they're ascending, he decides to go ahead and explain the wound, sounding rather casual about it after having his entire arm bitten off recently. "Saved a blind woman, but her friend was shot before I could do anything. There was a sniper, I got in front of the laser, intending to take the shot, but he didn't do it. He came down, I guess either trying to get away or to get an easier shot, but I started shooting at him myself, and well, he shot me. I held my blood in, which I guess saved me from bleeding to death long enough to get the blind girl away. This woman I know, Huruma, she was there, not sure what happened with her and the sniper."
"Wow." Claire says softly. "Sounds like quite the adventure, Magnes." Her hand continues to rest in his, "So, if it's easier when your touching that mean we shouldn't let go?" She asks with a look that sees to say, 'I know your up to something' and a squeeze of his hand. "It's going to make eating kind of awkward, " she teases. She can't help it. "Anyhow, I'm glad it wasn't a fatal wound, I've been enjoying talking to you."
"I've had slightly more dangerous adventures, but I won't ruin the night with those stories." Magnes of course goes red again with that look she gives him, simply nodding. When they're high up, low enough to have a nice view of the city (turned away from Midtown), but high enough so no one could easily spot them, he reaches to open the Panucci's box, revealing a rather large bacon, pepperoni and cheese stromboli, already cut in two halves. "I made this thinking two things, 'What would be easy to eat up in the air', and 'What would be the complete opposite of something a cheerleader would eat'. A stromboli will go right to your thighs, but uh, I don't think anyone will complain…" Of course, with a compliment, he averts his eyes as if she'll turn him to stone with every flirtatious compliment.
Claire chuckles at his explanation for his food choice. "Hey, I'm not always watching my figure. I am allowed to be naughty now and then." She gives him a shy smile. "Though you feed me too much of this kind of thing and I'll probably put on some pounds." Still holding his hand, Claire leans over and out a bit to look at the scenery below and slowly look out over the city. "I bet you do this for all the girls you meet."
"Well, I can say I've never really been on an official date before or anything, but I did have a picnic with a girl on the Statue of Liberty's head once." Magnes admits, snickering and taking a large bite of his stromboli. "Honestly, I've never had an easier time talking to a girl before. I mean, on one hand, you're, well, attractive, but your personality, just the whole way you carry yourself, you don't make me think about it a lot. I forget I'm talking to an attractive girl and it's more like just talking to a person. I mean, except the parts where it's not…" There are plenty of moments where he definitely knows he's talking to an attractive girl.
Straightening again, Claire reaches for her half of the Stromboli. "Soooo.." she starts coyly. "..are we calling this an offical date? Good company, food, romantic view.. Sure seems like one," She doesn't look at him, she let's her gaze wonder the view. "It's been awhile since I did that whole date thing."
"I uh, date, date…" Magnes audibly repeats under his breath, suddenly turning his head to take a good look at her. "Um, yeah, a date's cool, first date, yeah." He's not nervous at all, really! He's suddenly quiet for a minute or so, then decides to try and break the awkward silence, "H-hey, uh, are you evolved? I don't care if you are or not, it won't change anything, I just, was wondering."
"It really is a good first date." Claire offers as a compliment, before taking a bite. The mention of being evolved makes her look away from him. She doesn't' want to lie…. but she isn't sure she wants him to figure out who she is. "I… I do." Looking down, the blond licks her lips. "I —I'm just not ready to tell you about it. It's nothing as great as your." There is a little sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Don't worry about it. I'm a guy who reads comics, I know all about awkward power situations, so I won't push it." Magnes assures, idly chewing a piece of bacon from the stromboli, a rather loud plane flying by from a few hundred feet above them. "Crap, forgot about those. So uh, since we don't know much about eachother, anything you wanna ask me? Sorry, I'm really really new at this, so I'm not sure what I should be doing."
Claire can only stare as the airplane goes by, her eyes wide in awe. "Wow… " She glances down again. "What? Oh.. I dunno." They start playing twenty questions that could be bad too.. Dammit all. Think of something Claire "Oh.. hey, speaking of comics. You know if there is a way to get my hands on a set of those 9th Wonder comics?" Tilting her head a bit, she watches him curiously. "I've heard about them, I was shown one.. but I've never read them. I'm… well, kinda curious."
"I have them up to the part where Peter saves Claire, then it turns out he's alive 'cause he absorbed her ability. I haven't really read much after that, but the later ones are probably easier to find. I mostly stopped buying them 'cause I thought the whole cheerleader reveal would be more… interesting." Magnes explains, unknowingly commenting on the girl sitting right next to him again. "I might give it a chance some time, see if they went anywhere with it, but considering Midtown blew up, I'm thinking it was a bad end. And since Isaac Mendez is dead some prints are worth more than others."
Watching him silently for a moment, Claire asks softly, "More interesting how?" She takes a bite of her Stromboli. "And this comic is all about real people? What… what did you learn about the cheerleader?" She can't help but ask. "I mean.. what did you think of her and all?"
"More interesting as in, well, it's hard to say if I had any true expectations, but I think her character got built up a lot all so they could give Peter her ability. I think they could have done more with her. Maybe they did, but the way her character was handled threw me off a bit. Say you have Barbera Gordon, the first Batgirl, and you build her up, and everything is getting closer to building her up to this awesome climax, and suddenly it just fizzles." Magnes tries his best to explain, clearly geeking out in the process, but quickly moves on to the next question.
"Honestly, other than the confusing treatment of her character, I really do think she was an interesting character. In the beginning they hint at her being this typical probably unlikable cheerleader, then you learn more about her. she hangs out with this geek guy, she realizes the other cheerleaders are total, well, I'm sure you can think of a word, and she seems like a really likable person in the end. And I love how she handled that guy who accidentally kills her. There's this part where she crashes the car with him in it, that's where you realize this character has the potential for being totally freakin' awesome." And, after that little rant, he sits his stromboli back into the box, grabbing a soda and popping the tab with his thumb.
All emotion kind of just slides off of Claire's face as he talks. He knew something she thought was secret. Her father has had the guy's mind wiped to protect her, but here was someone who knew. How many of her secrets were in these comics. She allows a slip to touch her lips. "Now I'll have to hunt down these comics. You got me curious about this comic book Claire." Maybe Cat and Helena can help her track all the books down. "See what kind of expectations I have to live up too," she adds as a tease, leaning over to bump her shoulder against his.
"If I were you, I wouldn't worry about expectations." Magnes smiles, boldly moving an arm around her shoulders, nodding to the soda in case she wants a drink. "You seem more mature and sure of yourself than her. I mean it's obvious you're going through some hard stuff right now, but the Claire in the comic always seemed a bit aimless, while you seem more, well, focused. I don't know what you're focused on, but you've already decided that you're meant for greater things than being a cheerleader, right?"
"I'm still curious though." Claire comments softly, and a touch thoughtfully. The arm around her shoulder pulls her attention and she look at with with a small amused smile. "Thanks…" She murmurs as his assessment of her. "I guess I'm focused on finding a direction in my life. I was feeling rather aimless until I got so sick that I almost died." She actually leans against him lightly, with that arm around her. "Kinda makes you reassess your life.. almost dying."
"I don't know, after the first three times, or four, I'm not sure if reading a comic to Gabriel counts as almost dying, you tend to realize that you must be doing something seriously wrong." Magnes relaxes slightly when she leans against him, the blanket starting to slowly descend. "I enjoyed my life, the life I had four months ago, but I made so many mistakes, I'm still making mistakes, fatal mistakes. I've started to wonder lately, am I ever gonna be good enough to survive a situation and not have to use the phrase 'Almost killed me'? I'm still so new to this stuff, I don't even want this life, at least not the situation I'm in right now, but I'm still expected to succeed, like there's some high standard I'm supposed to meet that I didn't ask for."
"Sounds like a hell of a situation to be in." Claire watches the decent with open curiosity. " Why stay in it?" she asks suddenly. "If it's so bad, can't you just… change it?" Of course, who is she to talk. That thought makes her sigh, "The cards we have been dealt suck. I keep hoping to change my hand, you know? SO I guess I don't have much room to talk when it comes to situations." Tilting her head she studies him, "I guess the best we can do is learn from our mistakes and make the best of things," she gives him a soft smile. "Thanks for the dinner, Magnes. It was a nice change from the norm."
"I don't have a choice. But don't worry about it, I'll be fine eventually, I hope." Magnes lands them gently on the roof so they're basically sitting with their backs against the wall of the door, still keeping his one arm around her shoulders. "It was a nice dinner though, I suppose we could pick better topics for a date. I didn't mean to be such a downer. And I'm always open to advice, not everyone can take the advice they give."
"I thought the conversation was just fine.." Claire lifts her chin a bit, but then she reaches up to brush at his hair. "I think I like it without the gel." She says if she's been having some debate in her head over it. "But that's up to you really. Like I said. How you dress and present yourself is a statement of who you are. An expression." She gives him a wider smile. "When you visit me.. or hang around me. Dress how you want, I won't judge. Show me… you."
"Alright Claire, if that's what you want. I really do dress because I think it's how they want me to dress, and I figure people might think I'm more mature, but, I miss the way I used to dress, at least a litte." Magnes turns his head to face her when she brushes his hair, awkwardly staring with rosy cheeks. "I uh, well, this is the end of the date, so, I figure it's customary to uh, I mean…" A deep swallow later and he still can't get out what he wants to say.
"Good. You should. It's a deal then. Around me.. you dress as you want." Claire declares firmly with a nod of her head. Watching him fumble over the mention of the customary kiss, makes her want to laugh… however, she's not that cruel. After dealing with guys that are so confident and sure of themselves, this was kind of…well… refreshing and kind of cute. So while he continues to fumble and stutter for the right wording, she leans over and presses a kiss to his lips. Not a long one.. Just a simple kiss… perfect for the ending of a first date. She pulls back slowly with a shy smile. "That what you were trying to say?"
Magnes presses two fingers to his lips. Yeah, he needs therapy, quickly. Apparently he likes the nice girl more than the sociopath girl, go figure. "I, uh, yeah, thanks…" He has a huge grin on his face, he can barely suppress, even while trying to keep his head down to hide it from her. "Tonight was awesome, I hope we can do something again soon. Maybe something conventional like a movie." he suggests, still geekily grinning to himself.
Claire finally starts to pull away so that she can climb to her feet, "It was very nice. I kinda needed that. Thank you, Magnes." She tucks her hands in her pockets as she steps back a bit. "Movie next time? Sure. I'd like that. Not sure when the last time I went to a movie was." She looks thoughtful. "Anyhow… I — uh — Better go in now. You take care, yeah?"
"Yeah, uh, call me if you need anything, or just wanna talk. You can keep this stuff." Magnes reaches into the basket, taking the shirt she bought him, and grabs his half of the stromboli from the pizza box. "Later, Claire!"
He wooshes into the air, and even when she's lost sight of him, she can hear the distant shouting of "Woooohooooo!"