Participants:
| Scene Title | Something Like A Happy Ending |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Scattered remnants of teams Alpha, Bravo and Charlie gather on the observation deck of the USS George Washington for their last day together, and in their own way, celebrate, mourn, and reminisce about the days they spent saving the world. |
| Date | January 18, 2010 |
It's the first time, in a long time, that the air has been warm. In a way, it's like coming out of baptismal waters, that shock of no longer being submerged deep down into something deep, dark and unnatural. It's like being given a second chance…
Funny, that.
"So, were you at Amundsen-Scott?" The voice belongs to Peter Petrelli, leaning over the railing of the observation deck's balcony of the USS George Washington, watching the sun set on the western horizon. Brown eyes taken in the sunset with a quiet subconscious for the first time in half a year. It's strange, knowing that he's alone in his own skin now, and equally strange knowing that the world is no longer gunning for him, or the people that matter to him.
"No, no… I was involved in the Madagascar side of Operation Apollo, though. Spent some time as prisoner of the Vanguard. I— This was all a lot more than I expected." Beside Peter, leaning over the railing with her arms folded on the metal piping, Captain Adelle Sanderson stares out at that same sunset, threading a dark lock of hair behind one ear. "You're… totally different than you were when this started." She offers of Peter's presence, resting a bit more of her weight onto her arms, blue eyes cast up at the dark-haired man.
Peter doesn't have much of an immediate response, just a shrug of his shoulders, turning to rest his back against the bars, elbows propped up on that railing, sleeves rolled up and the collar of his shirt unbuttoned comfortably.
"Yeah…" He admits distantly, "Yeah I kind've am."
Most everyone on this carrier has changed, whether they realize it yet or not.
Now that it's finally warm enough for some fresh air, Veronica wheels Gillian out in a wheelchair. Vee uses the handles of the chair as would-be crutches, her injured leg lifted a few inches from the ground. Her own crutches are hooked on the back so that she can lean on them once Gillian is parked.
The agent is wearing a pair of gym shorts, her thigh bandaged in both white gauze and tape as well as an ace bandage to help compress the swelling a touch, the white gauze covering a broader area of the leg than the elastic beige cloth. She slowly approaches the railing, giving the other two a little distance in case they are discussing private matters, though she lifts one hand to give a greeting.
"This okay?" she asks Gillian, not sure if they're too close to the railing for the more-gravely-injured woman's comfort.
"This is fine, thanks," Gillian says hoarsely, looking down at her bandaged hand as she tries to avoid shifting too much. The wheelchair isn't something she's ever really wanted to be confined to something with wheels, but— she knows she couldn't walk right now if she wanted. "Just don't push me over, or run into anything if you can avoid it," she says, glancing over her shoulder— and mildly regretting it. Okay. No twisting around either.
But while twisting, she catches sight of someone else… and can't help but grimace. He may have stayed with her for a few hours, but… She closes her eyes a moment, and makes sure the knot stays firm.
"Sawyer." Peter offers the firm welcome with a crooked smile, brown eyes angling down to Gillian in the wheelchair to whom he just offers a welcoming smile. "Good to see you're both up and about…" There's a furrow of his brows down at the leg, something going unsaid, but thankfully there's the noise of the ocean and the cry of gulls following the carrier — and the incongruent sound of a penguin from somewhere out of sight — to make up for the silence. Sanderson turns from her viewing of the warm sunset at the sound of the name being called, one brow jerked up and blue eyes scanning the wrong direction first, before settling on Veronica.
"Oh, Agent Sawyer." The marine offers a hesitant smile, leaning away from the rail, but winding her fingers around the top bar, using it to hold her weight as she leans back, almost like the way a kid would hang on a jungle gym, before leaning forward again and resting her arms across the rail once more. "It's… good to know you got out of this well enough." Pursing her lips, Sanderson considers her predicament for a moment, then turns to rest her back against the railing again, elbows propper up in much the same manner that Peter is.
Moving away from the railing, Peter walks across the deck of the balcony over towards where Gillian's been wheeled. "I've got her," he offers in a quiet voice to Veronica, angling her wheelchair around a bit to keep her facing the warm breeze and so she can see the sunset. He looks down at her in it, offering a hesitant smile and a hand on her shoulder. "These things suck, don't they?" He has some sympathy for that particular situation, after all.
Deciding to drag herself out into the open, Claire steps out onto the deck. Stopping she closes her eyes and inhales deeply, glad for the ocean air. Catching at blond strands that flutter into her face and tucking it behind her ear, the regenerator scans the deck to see who else is enjoying the warmer climate. At this point anything feels warmer then Antartica.
Sanderson and Peter are picked out quickly, shortly followed by the Company agent and Gillian… tho the later isn't as familiar. Booted feet carry her closer to the the grouping of people a small smile on her lip. "Peter… Sanderson… if I remember right." Claire gives Peter a soft smile before turning blue eyes to the Marine, giving her an apologetic smile. "Bravo team… I remember that as well as a few other things."
Veronica nods to the marine and then smiles at Peter, reaching for the crutches before he wheels her off with Veronica's mode of transportation. Leaning on her crutches once more, she nods. "It's good to be out and about. It's a nice day out there. Good to feel the sun." There was sunshine in Antarctica, but it didn't seem to warm, just blind them all in its brightness upon the snow. "How is everyone doing?" It's an ineffective, stupid question, but … they've all been through something traumatic. It's only polite to ask.
"Yeah— this does kinda suck," Gillian admits with an attempt at a smile. It comes off forced, even with the appearance of a dimple on her cheek. At least with her body turned toward the sunset, she can focus on that, and not have to look at much else. Turning around to face the others right now would be painful, and possibly rip opening up stitches from the surgery. The doctors would drop kick her in the head. Navy doctors are no joke!
"But at least I can still do this," she says, lifting one of her feet and wiggling it a bit, even carefully bundled up in a boot and many socks. It was something he couldn't do when he was in a wheelchair. Man, that brings back a memory… But she shakes her head a bit and focuses on the sun— and the knot in the back of her head, in case he doesn't take care of that for her. "The sunset is nice here. And it's way better than fucking Antarctica."
"Bennet!" Sanderson interjects with a bit of enthusiasm, pushing herself away from the railing entirely with a broad, cheerful smile. "I was worried something worse might have happened to you on mission. I'm really glad to see you're still in one piece." A relieved sigh slips out of the marine's lips as she folds her hands behind her back, taking an at ease stance near the blonde. "I don't know if you heard yet or not, but it looks like I'm going to be headed to New York with the lot of you." Sanderson's smile grows a bit in crooked quality.
"Agent Kershner talked to me shortly before Apollo's Shield began, and after my tour of duty here, I've been offered to fill the missing Logistics team position on New York's Squad 1 of Frontline. I get to work with Michael Spalding." There's a tone of hero worship in her voice as her lips creep up into a smile.
"Spalding and I served a tour of duty together in Iraq back in 2008. He's a hell of a guy, found out he was Evolved in that same tour've duty. They called him bulletproof after that. I'd heard about his promotion to Squad-1 while I was out in Afghanistan before this whole Operation Apollo thing got started. Everyone in my company was rooting for him. Heck, we saw that video of Frontline down in Chinatown taking on the Triads, amazing stuff!" Then, with a quirk of one brow she looks over her shoulder to the ship door. "Come to think of it, Varlane was there that night wasn't he?"
Across the observation deck, Peter rests his forearms on the handlebars of Gillian's wheelchair, leaning over one of her shoulders as he talks. "Hey, you're lucky you got off with as little injury as you did. I heard a little bit about what happened to you and your team…" Peter's brows furrow, head hanging for a moment. "I'm sorry you had to get put through all that."
At the sound of Claire's voice though, Peter straightens up and looks over towards the blonde and then to Sanderson with a quirked brow as the Marine seems more than content to talk Claire's ear off. Peter cracks a smile, shaking his head, and casts dark eyes over to Veronica. "All things considered?" He offers with a joking tone of voice, "I think we're all doing pretty good."
Magnes seems to ascend from out of no where, if no one saw him flying around in the distance. It's cold, so he has a long sleeved gray NAVY sweat shirt, hands in his jean pockets, white sneakers dangling. He lands on a rail in time to hear Sanderson talking about Chinatown, tilting his head. "FRONTLINE arrived right after I did most of the hard stuff." he says with a faint smile, looking from Claire, to Gillian, then his eyes rest on Peter with a slight frown.
There is matter of fact smirk for the Marine, "Well.. I think you more then anyone know how hard I am to kill." Her facing becoming a touch more serious as the woman continues to speak. "Really? Congratulations then, from what I remember, you deserve it." Turning to rest her backside and her hands on the railing she gives Sanderson another grin, "I'll try to make sure and not cause you and your team too much grief." Joking about her terrorist past a bit, something for the most part put behind her.
Glancing over at the others, as she talks to Sanderson, "Gonna be a little surreal going home, going from combat to… well.. somewhat normal." She sounds a little less then trilled about trying to fit back into her old life. " But hey, since your in New York, we'll have to keep in touch and you'll have to tell me what all your doing with FRONTLINE.. or at least what your allowed."
Magnes' arrival gets a small smile, "Hey Magnes. Out flying?"
The company agent raises a hand to wave to Magnes, then smiles at Peter's cheerful enough assessment of how everyone is. "Better than the alternative, that's for certain, right? I'm glad to see you've… well. Recovered well," Sawyer says to Peter, now an entirely different person than the one she met in Argentina. She leans against the railing, setting her crutches to one side.
From her wheelchair, Gillian nods quietly, remembering the sight of Rico taking off his vest and falling to his death, forcing them to leave him behind. She still hasn't gone to find Dahlia yet, but… She'll see if someone can get her to come visit her in the sick bay.
"The doctors said I might need to visit more doctors when we get back… but better than the alternatives." She could be dead, like Rico… "We actually had it pretty okay, until me and Noriko got shot… Rico and Ivanov kicked some fucking ass, and Noriko's got some surprising uses of her ability… I mostly just stood there, until it became obvious that we had to go with— with your back up plan. It probably would have worked fine, if we hadn't gotten shot and…" She trails off, biting back some pain. And guilt.
"Lost control and took out the whole station." It wasn't part of the plan, at all. But neither was nearly getting killed. The arrival of Magnes leads to her trying to glance over a little, but she can't do it very well. "Isn't that your niece?" she asks, gesturing toward Claire, before she waves from her wheelchair at Magnes.
"Hey, Frontline's totally civvy-work," Sanderson states with a raise of her brows, "I'll be able to tell you all about it, no problems. I highly doubt a college student'll be giving me much to worry about anyway, right?" Sanderson's lips creep up into a lopsided smile. "If the grape-vine on the ship's any indication it means I get to hang out with Harrison too, she's going to be on the sister squad. Ain't got a clue who else's gonna' be out there, but I figure it'll be a good job to have everyone together in a way."
Shifting her weight to one foot, Sanderson folds her hands behind her head and cracks a smile, looking up and over at Magnes with a wrinkle of her nose. "I hear that Squad 1's first assignment when we get settled in is gonna sweeping block to block on Staten Island, getting the homeless out of buildings they're squatting in and to proper shelters, and helping people who fled that ol' area back into their homes. That's the kinda' stuff I want to do, helpin' people live a good life, y'know? Puttin' law and order back in place, helpin' the cops be able to do their job again without havin' to worry about the gangs out on— " Sanderson's watch starts beeping repeatedly.
"Oops, heh, meds time." The brunette quirks a smile, reaching down to pull out an orange pill bottle from the pocket of her camo pants, rattling it around and removing a pair of large capsules that she pops into her mouth, swallowing dryly without much difficulty.
Over by Gillian, Peter nods his head to her question with a furrow of his brows. "Yeah, I should probably go say hi to her." He offers in a hushed tone of voice, reaching out to slap a hand on Gillian's good shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze. "I'll be right back," he notes with a nod of his head, straightening up and making his way past Sanderson and over to Claire.
"Hey," Peter quietly and somewhat awkwardly offers up to the blonde. "How…" his words fail for a moment, brown eyes diverted down to his feet, then brought back up again. "How're you holding up?" It's a difficult question to as, all things considered, especially with allt he losses they've suffered. Some of it hasn't even really hit him yet.
"Yeah, learning that flying too high in Antarctica is the worst idea ever. It's strange, up there, totally different from New York. Not a building in sight, it's so… surreal, like heaven or something." Magnes lightly drops down, sitting on the rail with his sneakers securing themselves on the middle rail, next to Claire. When Peter asks his question of Claire, a hand reassuringly pats her shoulder, then he pulls it back and grabs the rail again. He's still adjusting to platonicness, but that was pretty platonic! "Um, Peter, right? Kazimir's… completely gone?" He tries to look casual, but it's hard to hide the hint of loss in his tone.
Nose scrunchign a bit at the mention of college, but Claire does manage to say. "Yeah.. beyond the toga parties." It's almost painful to say it. "I have no idea what to study." Ready to get off that topis quickly, she finally does what she's been meaning too… " You know.. Sanderson.. I.. ah.. never got to thank you for.. you know.." Claire looks a bit sheepish mentioning one of the first real memories she has that isn't a strange blur. "… putting me back together again." Tapping the side of her head.
When Sanderson's watch starts beeping and she pulls out the pills, Claire starts to ask about it, but her Uncle ends up distracting her. The smile she gives him, fades at his question, and Claire has to look away as well, of course, that brings her to look at Magnes, giving him a small smile as he pats her shoulder, as she answers Peter's question. "I'm doing okay considering. The.. ah.. I haven't lost anymore memories from what I can tell.. Doctors say I probably damaged some of the new brain tissue, but that's it." She slowly turns her head back to Peter, searching his face for a moment.
"It's good to see you again, it has been a long time.. or it feels like it for me at least. It was hard to see another person driving the wheels of my favorite…. person." Claire gives him an affectionate smile, hesitation in the last word, as she glances at Magnes out of the corner of her eye.
The hand against her shoulder makes Gillian close her eyes a bit for a moment, and she makes a motion towards Veronica, beaconing her closer. "Do you think you could take me back to the sick bay? I think I got enough fresh air." And there's something wrong, but it's got little to do with the wound in her stomach. "I know it's not exactly easy for you to wheel me around, sorry." The wound seems to have made her more apologetic. Or maybe something else has…
Shooting a look over his shoulder to Magnes at the mention of that name, Peter's expression is about the same as one might expect if someone asked if Cardinal was totally gone to Liz. Just momentary shock, confusion, and then mild resentment. "Yes," Peter states flatly, looking to have less patience for Magnes than Kazimir did, which really is kind of strange. With a grunted sigh and a shake of his head, he looks back to Claire, crossing his arms over his chest, brows furrowed.
"I think you should pick up something like criminal justice," Peter offers with an affirmed nod of his head. "You've got someone like Cat who can tutor you, and heck, imagine how the world would feel having an invicible police officer?" There's a lopsided quality to his smile, less so from physical impairment than the wryness of his comment. "From terrorist to police officer, that'd put some people's panties in a twist."
Having finished taking her meds, Sanderson offers a dismissive wave of one hand to Claire. "Hey it's… it's nothing. You covered my ass out there ont he front lines in Madagascar. You could've left me for dead more times than I can imagine. You, Ruskin and Huruma are probably the three people I knew I could count on most out there." She's distracted, though, by Gillian's comment about being wheeled back inside.
"Hey, don't worry about it Sawyer." Sanderson notes with a wave of her pill bottle back and forth in the air. "I've gotta go see the Doc to refill my prescription anyway. I can wheel Childs down." Tucking the empty pill bottle into the pocket of her pants, Sanderson makes her way over to Gillian's wheelchair, gripping her fingers around the handlebars. "You're more than welcome to come keep me company though, yeah?" She quirks a brow up at that, grinning broadly before pulling Gillian's wheelchair out from its position, angling it around towards the door.
Peter offers a nod of his head in farewell to Captain Sanderson, then turns his focus back to Magnes, arms still crossed. "So what're you doing when you get back to the states, Varlane?"
There's got to be a great answer coming for that, knowing Magnes.
Speaking of those coming and going from the Med Bay, there is the form of a certain Asian finally coming out from the hospital to get some of her own air. Her eyes looking around blankly as they go to each person who is there. Her eyes going to Gillian for a moment, eyebrows knitting as she tries to remember something from the report. She can't quite grasp it, not that she really read it anyway. Reading is a more than a little difficult for the hydrokinetic at this point, let alone the confusion that has been ever present since she first regained conciousness to find out that a very sizable portion of her life had been completely deleted from her. Even Sanderson gets that blank stare from Noriko as she says, "Um… hello." Ahh… awkward second first impressions.
"Well, I was doing online college courses. I'll get the credits transferred from that, then likely pick a good school in New York. I was actually gonna try and talk to Claire about it later, to see what she's gonna do. But I've been working on my law and investigative degrees." Magnes looks down at Claire, shaking his head with a smile. Even old Claire would cringe at having to say something like that, so he finds it mildly amusing. "I might talk to Cat, maybe we could put together a band in the Rock Cellar, don't know. I've never been in a band before, but I really wanna start playing piano again. I want, well, a hobby, other than skating and geeky things." He winces slightly at a particular thought. "If you forgot how to skate, Claire, I think you can skip that skill. I'm pretty sure if a normal person got cut and broke so many bones while learning to skate, it means the universe is kind of against it."
It's a bit of a shock to step out onto the observation deck beneath the catapults at the back of the ship and find practically everyone out of the teams who survived standing out here. Elisabeth hesitates at even joining the group — she's been laying pretty low the last couple of days all the way around. Catching a quick breath and lifting her chin, though, she squares her shoulders a little and walks out there with a brief nod at those whose eyes she catches. "Hey all," she greets quietly.
Hand is lifted in farewell to Sanderson, "Don't be a stranger… I'll try not too.. you know.. that college life.. Boys, beer and studying." She literally has to choke out the words, the idea of college really not sitting well just yet.
"You can't be serious, Peter." Claire gives him a look that accuses him of being insane. "Me? A police officer? I can't see it." The thought actually makes here chuckle. "I'm sure I'll come up with something… just.. not.. that." Eww. Magnes gets a studying look, brow arched. "I learned how to skate?" She gives him an odd look.
"I just haven't been able to even start wrapping my head around a normal life.. it hasn't been normal for a very long time. I mean, I'm still jumping at the occational bang. So even college seems.. so… god, I don't even have the word for it. " Claire gives a little huff looking up at her uncle. "Especially the last month or so.. it's going to be hard to put that behind."
Noriko's greeting pulls Claire's attention to the two men with her. "Hello Noriko. Glad to see you up and around." Then behind the Asian comes Elisabeth, Claire's smile falling a bit. "Liz." She offers in soft greeting back, giving the older blonde a gentle smile.
"No problem," Veronica says to Gillian. She also knows the reason Gillian asked her, after protesting she could wheel her damn self earlier, a fight Veronica won, has less to do with being tired and more to do with the others present. "I can do it," she tells Sanderson, but the woman seems intent on playing hospital resident, and so Veronica hobbles after on her crutches. She nods to the tentative greeting of Noriko, then smiles at
"Thanks," Gillian says, unable to really look back at the woman who offered to wheel her away for Veronica. "The doctors probably didn't want me out very long anyway," she adds, hand dropping briefly to rest on her shoulder, as she's moved around and wheeled toward the exit, on the way back to the medical bay. Which leads her right past the blank Noriko, and the newly entered Elisabeth. There's a small grimace that has nothing to do with pain as she waves at Elisabeth. She knows what the other woman lost… And she hopes it wasn't her fault that Cardinal had to… do what he did.
"Hey Noriko," she adds, unaware of the other woman's issues, but not looking as if she's not likely to find out right now.
Huffing out a bit of a confused breath, Sanderson crosses her arms and watches Veronica wheel Gillian off of the observation deck with furrowed brows. The marine looks up to Elisabeth as she's coming in while the others are leaving, and it's clear just from the look Sanderson gives the older woman, than there's pity in the back of her mind. "Hey, Harrison…" Everyone's addressed her like she's damaged since Richard's death, and Sanderson seems no different. On her way out from the observation deck, Sanderson slaps a hand on Noriko's shoulder and offers the dark-haired woman a smile. "See you 'round, Amagi." It seems they know each other? There's not really time for Noriko to question it, when Sanderson disappears thorugh the doorway and back inside the ship behind Gillian and Veronica to head to the medical bay.
"College?" Peter's voice chimes in with a quirked look over to Magnes. "Not a bad idea, really. Probably the most sane thing that's ever come out of your mouth too if I remember correctly." Raising his shoulders into a shrug, Peter shifts his weight to one foot and offers a side-long look at Claire. "Hey, maybe you two'll wind up going to the same school?" There's a grin, broad and teaing offered from Peter.
"I think I've decided on what I'm doing, but I'm going to take a few weeks once we get back to the city to sort've settle into my own skin, it's been a long time since I was able to walk around like a normal person." Peter's lips creep up into a smile. "I think the first thing I'm going to do when I get back, is go see a show down at the Surly Wench, get a beer, and pretend for five minutes like I have a normal life again."
Noriko turns quickly to look at Sanderson, the asian wondering what the heck that was, before her eyes go back to Elisabeth, the only person on the deck whome she knows, thanks her being around when she woke up. That, and being told that she could trust her. She leans in towards Elisabeth and asks in a soft whisper, "Can… I get introduced by you? Or.. them introduced to me."
There's another female voice heard, as the source of it makes her way out onto the observation deck. She's got a guitar across the torso, held by a strap, and a small portable amp. The red Fender Strat, no less. Words are prefaced with a chuckle, she seems to have heard Peter's comment. "The Surly Wench, eh? A really good guitarist used to play there." A patch of space is taken up, she letting her eyes wander and settle on others present to nod silent greetings.
It remains unclear if she'll be playing here or not.
Magnes leans over, raising a hand to whisper into Claire's ear. "I know talking like a valley girl makes you wanna rip your hair out, so if you want me to fly you away, just say so." Then, he sits up, eyeing Elisabeth with a gentle smile when she greets them. "Hey, Elisabeth. Um, sorry about the other day, I was a complete jerk, just stress I suppose. Maybe we can talk later?" Though Peter talking about them ending up in the same school makes his cheeks go a bit red, and he raises his shoulders, trying to casually shrug it off. "Ah, uh, maybe, who knows."
When Cat arrives, he nods his head in a greeting. "I should say sorry to you too, since, well, same reason at Elisabeth."
"Hey, Vee. Gilly." Liz drops a hand on the augmentor's shoulder as she's wheeled on by, giving a light squeeze. She hasn't really seen Gillian much for most of this trip, but clearly there are no hard feelings of any kind. She nods to Sanderson, who she doesn't honestly know from Adam at this point except by face. "Sanderson." Her personal issues are being carefully kept just that — personal. Between friends, where she can manage. But damn it wierds her out to realize so damn many people seem to know. Christ, had Xiulan tattoo'd something on one of their foreheads when she wasn't looking??
Turning her attention to the group still standing about, a single brow lifts in sardonic amusement at Claire's vehemence about being a cop. "Oh… I see how it is. Turning your nose up at my calling," Elisabeth offers in a light tease. The amusement doesn't quite touch those blue eyes, still too cool and detached from all of this, but she's at least trying to connect; trying to make it look like she's okay. "No need, Magnes," she dismisses quietly, unwilling to have the conversation with him — and hiding her resentment that he'd bring it up so publicly. Her fuse is very short right now. She offers a faint smile to Noriko and nods slightly, nodding to each person as she murmurs names into Noriko's ear (the ones she hadn't already greeted by name) — Peter, Claire, Magnes, Cat. "Shit, Petrelli…. hasn't anyone told you yet? They removed 'normal' from the dictionary — it's an urban legend," she quips mildly, nodding toward the newest arrival in greeting.
"Maybe.." Claire murmurs, glancing at Magnes, still looking uncertain what to think about him. Though she has to resist the urge to punch Peter in the shoulder. "I had thought about trying to go back to Madagascar too. I didn't think I'd miss the place, but there were some people I met ther.. situations I'd like to check on… but I don't know. A lot of bad memories too."
"You…" Claire adds giving Peter her full attention. "Should also go see your family, I know I'm going go see my mom at least when I get back. Of course, while your at it.. if you see your brother…" There is bitterness and anger in Claire's tone, when she says the next thing, "You can punch him for me and tell him thanks for nothing." She keeps it rather vague with Magnes around, but she trusts Peter to get the meaning. "Make sure he knows the gory details, too."
Claire gives Liz a smirk when she look the older woman's way and an apologetic look. "You do the police thing well, but I just don't see me doing it. I'd have to watch my P's and Q's too much, I think."
Peter cracks a smile as he sees Cat comeout from below decks. Shifting his weight to one foot, he offers a snarky comment and a smirk to her sentiment. "I dunno," comes with a rise of his hsoulders, "I wasn't ever really that big into cover bands." Thesnorted laugh's clearly a teasing one, as Peter pats Claire gently on the shoulder and slips away from her and offering only a quiet nod to Elisabeth, not really knowing her all that well at all.
"I was just on my way out, Cat. But when you get some time later," Peter notes with a quiet tone of voice, "I'd like to talk to you about something before we get back to the city." Glancing over his shoulder to Claire and Magnes, Peter grants them no more than just a sharp nod and a faintly crooked smile.
"I don't have any intention of seeing Nathan at all…" He's lying, entirely. But it's easier — and quicker — than the truth. "I'll see you all around…" Peter adds in a quiet tone of voice, moving thorugh the doorway and out of sight.
Noriko nods her head to Elisabeth before she says softly, "Thanks." She manages a bit of a smile, its infinitely less embarassing to have someone say hi and you know their name. Looking at everyone, she starts to come out from the doorway a little more, still looking unsure of herself and of the company that she is surrounded by.
Eyes track Peter as he speaks to her and makes that exit, Cat choosing to simply reply "Yes, we do need to converse." It's a neutral tone she uses, not betraying anything of what topics may be part of that or her feelings regarding them. Once he's gone, her attention shifts focus to Magnes. "We're good," she answers, very much choosing not to dwell upon that.
From there she's quiet. Noriko is noticed, but attention doesn't linger on her. Most likely she's opting to observe and get a handle on what memory alterations exist without seeming at all intesrested.
Magnes can't help but frown a bit at Elisabeth, but doesn't say anything more to her. instead looking 'between Cat and Peter. "I think starting a band would be interesting. Don't know about cover bands, I just wanna play piano. I imagine after this, I'll certainly be able to afford one…" He shakes his head, leaning back on the rail a bit in a way that'd seem suicidal for someone without gravity powers. "The air smells nice."
There's a thoughtful expression on Elisabeth's face as she watches the interactions. "You're welcome," she says quietly to Noriko. Then back to Magnes, she says, "Piano, huh? Never knew that about you," she comments.
"See ya, Peter." Claire offers as he leaves, lifting a hand in farewell. It's a relief to see him it's one of the few good things thats happened lately and a part of her clings to it, to keep her sane. Blue eyes then drop to Cat, giving her a nod of acknowledgment.
A glance to Liz and then Magnes, as she pushes away from the the railing. "I'm gonna head in and see if I can get a hold of my mom, let her know I'll be home tomorrow. Been getting mostly voice mail.. but we'll see. So Ill see you around. Magnes.. Talk to you later, Liz… you'll have to show me where I live tomorrow." She says softly to the older blonde as she passes, touching her arm briefly as she passes.
Noriko looks over at Claire for a couple of moments, before her eyes go back around while she stands there, and she fidgets a little, before finally deciding to move to the railing and just look at the water below her, unsure of what to say or do at this point.
"A band," she remarks quietly, "interesting." No comment on whether or not Cat would include Magnes in such a thing comes. Instead, the woman of many possible professions focuses out over the flight deck and water beyond, her fingers commencing to move over strings and frets. At the proper place, her voice joins in. Some will find it familiar, others may not.
In the town where I was born
Lived a man who sailed to sea
And he told us of his life
In the land of submarines.
"See you later, Claire." Magnes casually waves, then nods to Elisabeth. "Yeah, I play piano. My parents were super strict, they're the 'raise a perfect kid who'll be president' types. So, home school, piano, no comics or TV. I had to hide comics like most people hide porn magazines. And sneaking to watch TV… man. Only reason I had video games is 'cause my grandmom would buy them and my parents were being polite by keeping them."
He shrugs, then looks down at Cat from his rail. "Yeah, I've been thinking of a band. I was gonna ask you if maybe you wanted to do something, you probably know more than me. I know you said it was your dream…"
Noriko looks over as Cat begins singing, and nods her head a long with it a little, not that she really knows the song. Looking over at Elisabeth for a couple of moments, and sighing softly. Standing up from the rails to move towards the other woman, she asks of the woman quietly, though, it does carry a little. "If you have a moment, can I get you to read me some documents." She doesn't explain why, but with the explanation Sarisa had given, its not too hard to guess.
Does she hear, while standing near the rail with eyes trained outward as she plays? Maybe, maybe not. Cat doesn't turn to face anyone. Her voice continues on, as fingers work the instrument. Her attitude may well be what, people don't know Yellow Submarine? Nonsense! This possibility is evidenced by not deviating from it.
Magnes smiles at Cat's playing, then looks over at Elisabeth. "To be honest, Cat's the only person I know who's seen me play piano, except a bunch of people in this music store. I've never even played for Claire."
Elisabeth merely chuckles at Cat. If she knows the song, she doesn't join in, though she nods slightly to Magnes. She doesn't mention her own skills. "Good luck with it" is what she says to him, sincerely. Hey… it'll keep him out of trouble. Then she looks at Noriko curiously. "Sure," she says quietly. "I have time now, c'mon." She nods to Cat and Magnes and excuses herself.
Noriko nods her head a little and smiles at Elisabeth before she says softly, "Thank you." She then gives a last look towards Magnes and Cat, before she starts to move off to follow Liz, not like she knows the either of them.
She'll be out here for a while, not seeming to care if she has an audience or not. Cat's just playing. Sometimes it's vigorous and upbeat, at other times more somber. It may well be that she's picturing a previous crowd out there where planes launch and return, where water stretches out as apparently endless green.
Oh let the sun beat down upon my face
With stars to fill my dream.
I am a traveler of both time and space
To be where I have been.
Some minutes later she moves from Kashmir to something else of a classic rock variety, then another and another. Zeppelin, Heart, Benatar, Stones, Beatles, The Who, Eagles, AC/DC, Metallica, Nirvana, Eric Clapton, Hendrix, and then some.
One might well wonder, if in a band with this woman, could she or he ever keep up with her mental library of music and lyrics?