2013.04.30 - Bugs with Colors and Stuff

It's been a bit of a cloudy day, but that never keeps New Yorkers from being out and about. Heck, hardly anything keeps New Yorkers from being out and about, even transplanted ones like Fern. Today was her early out from work, and she decided to hit one of her 'must see' destinations, The Bronx Zoo. She has mixed feelings about zoos, but heard about the Butterfly Garden and has been itching, not literally, to get here ever since. 
 
While it's still a bit chilly, she's given in to the promise of warmer weather, and wears a short denim skirt and no tights. Of course, she's still got her black boots on, and tucked into one, her 'weapon' of choice. She's no Thor, but she carries a hammer, too. It's just a lot more normal than his. Her shirt is typical of her, a v-neck t-shirt, in a screaming shade of magenta that clashes magnificently with her hair. In one hand is clutched a zoo map, which she peers at intently before looking up and around, orienting herself. 
An afternoon at the zoo. The stuff that kids and families do. Not busy CEOs with multi-billion-dollar defense contracts to worry about. Which is why is odd that Justin Hammer finds himself here. This isn't his first choice of destinations by far, and it's pretty plain that he's not entirely impressed. The CEO is dressed in a light grey three piece suit with a black, blue and silver paisley tie, way overdressed compared to the rest of the zoo patrons. With him are two other men, both dressed far more casually. One is obviously a keeper of some sort, while the other has more the look of an administrator. Both of the zoo employees seem slightly nervous, like they're trying a very hard sales pitch on the billionaire. "I'm sure you're busy," Justin says to the more well-dressed of the two, "...but I appreciate the offer. I can just take a look around by myself." Why, WHY did he have to tell his nephew that he would consider donating to the zoo?
Peering blue eyes just happen to flicker over a face that strikes Fern as familiar, and they dart back and settle. Recognition makes her smile, but it's touched with curiosity. She looks around again, expecting.... an entourage? But it seems just to be Justin and two other men. She starts to move, sauntering, distraction slowing her steps to almost a crawl, and after a moment of this drift, she straightens, as she decides to approach. Worst case scenario, he calls security on her, they taze her, she ends up in jail. That is pretty worst. But still she moves, offering a more sure smile as she ventures, "Afternoon, Mr. Hammer." 
Nope, no entourage, no security, no assistants. Justin couldn't justify paying them to be here, when they have better things they could be doing. Hell, he really can't justify himself being here, other than he promised his nephew he'd look at the zoo. And if he didn't, his sister would surely give him more hell than it was worth. The two zoo employees both nod to Hammer and take their leave, leaving the over dressed CEO on his own. When he hears his voice he turns, looking toward the young woman whom he assumes just addressed him. There's a bit of confusion, then slight recognition. "Aren't you the waitress from the little Italian place I ate at last night?" he asks bluntly but not in an unfriendly manner.
Surprise shows on Fern's face before she can mask it, tempering quickly to a pleased smile. "Yes, sir. Fern," she supplies, grateful she's not wearing the nametag that insists her name is FREN. "It's nice to see you again. I hope you had a chance to enjoy the cannoli that Anita sent home with you?" Her manner is easy, which might be explained by the fact that she's not had a chance yet to google the gentleman. While money doesn't impress her, it can, in fact, make her a little more nervous and cautious about her behavior. But there's no sign of that as she steps closer still while she talks. Not close-talker close. Just closer. 
Justin Hammer isn't sure if it's simply who he is, or the generous tip he left for the waitress that causes her to remember him. Either way it doesn't really matter, simply being known by people is enough of an ego boost. Not that Justin needs any more boosting of his already awful ego. "I did, in fact, it was breakfast this morning." He offers the woman a smile that's mostly genuine, but there's still some sort of an off edge to it. A little like he's trying just a bit too hard. "No need for the 'sir' thing. Call me Justin," he offers the woman his hand.
Fern is a student of 'the human condition', which she feels is necessary for her craft. Watching people, catching the nuances that might help her create more believable characters herself. She sees something of that trying, she saw it last night, too. While it might put many people off, she can at least try to understand it, and she's always prone to giving anyone the benefit of the doubt. Her smile broadens at his own, but it comes without any effort or trying. Her hand goes out to shake his, her grip far from strong, but not limp and squishy either. "Justin. I hope you enjoyed them?" 
"One of the better breakfasts I've had in a while," Justin returns with a bit of a chuckle. "Nothing like desert for breakfast." He gives the area another quick glance, still not one-hundred percent sure he wants to spend the time to walk around. But his six year old nephew insisted he couldn't just give the zoo money, he had to SEE the animals. And the next family get together he was sure that the kid would question him, and if he answered wrongly... Well, it wouldn't end well. He already isn't fond of dealing with his sister.
There's something amusing about someone with Onora's particular abilities wandering around the zoo but... Here she is! Dressed in a long, chocolate brown skirt that swirls when she walks, and a pair of light grey flat boots that match the grey and brown top she wears. Hair that normally reaches the bottom of her hips has been pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes, one blue and one green, lazy move around the area as she takes everything in. It's during this sweep that she spots Fern and begins weaving her way through people to get to the girl.
Fern might catch just a glimpse of trepidation on Justin's face as he looks around, and she lets her eyes stray as well, before he looks back. "I was going to see the butterfly garden," is offered conversationally. "Have you been there yet?" She turns her attention back to the man a second before Onora would have entered her field of vision, missing the approach for the moment. 
Justin Hammer looks back to Fern when the woman speaks again. "No, I haven't. I just got here," he replies. There's a butterfly garden? Really? Was that here last time he was here? Some twenty-plus years ago? He caught site of Orona, but not having any reference for who she is, he doesn't really give her another glance. She's just another person at the zoo, for the moment anyway.
Onora would giggle if she were capable of it. She's not though so as she comes up behind Fern, she brings a fingers to her lips in a 'ssh' motion at Justin. Fern's left shoulder is tapped and Onora ducks to the right only to wave the cotton candy she was carrying in front of Fern's face.
Fern offers, "I was going to head that way, if you didn't have anything planned." She's no super anything, so is entirely clueless that she's being stalked until the tap on her shoulder. She falls for it, of course, turning to see who tapped her. "Hey.... oooh!" Confusion turns immediately to delight at not only the sight but the smell of cotton candy, and it takes a second for her to tear her eyes away from the sweet treat. "Onora!" Delight squared. She sneaks in around the cotton candy to hug the other young woman, then immediately makes an introduction. "Justin, this is my friend, Onora. Onora, Justin Hammer." 
The CEO's expression changes to something sort of flat when the second woman approaches and makes a motion for him to be quiet. OK, then, not to worry about that. He nods to Fern but hesitates in answering, seeing where this is going to go... And it goes just as expected. Justin offers another forced smile and a hand to the newcomer. "Nice to make your acquaintance," he responds in an uncharacteristically polite fashion. As if the trip to the zoo wasn't odd enough for him, it's starting to look even odder. Still, he has to at least be polite, as his reputation is on the line. The weapon's dealer has enough trouble with his public image as it is.
The hug was happily returned to Fern before Onora once more offered the cotton candy to her. When introductions are made, the blode turns to face Justin and reaches out to take his hand with a smile and a polite nod of her head.
That change in Justin's expression doesn't escape Fern, either. Unfortunately for Justin, when Fern gets onto a first name basis with someone, she assumes a level of comfort with them. She's from a small town, it's just how she rolls. If he's not feeling comfortable, she has an irresistible urge to try and fix that. "Onora doesn't speak," she puts in, as casually as if she were discussing the weather. "She and I met in Greenwich Village the other day, spent some time window shopping." Fern can also easily talk enough for the both of them. Her attention shifts to Onora for a moment. "Did you get a new phone yet?" 
Justin nods lightly at the explanation. The young woman must be damned trusting to consider someone she met randomly just a few days ago as a friend. Definitely didn't grow up in the big city like he did. He doesn't respond verbally, simply offering a bit of a smile when Fern announces that Onora is mute. Wait, why does a mute woman need a phone?
Fern's question brings a bright smile from Onora as she reaches into her pocket and pulls out said new phone. The keyboard is slid open and a new notepad application opened. 'Yep! Thankfully. I can't believe that idiot threw my phone into the street!' There's a pause before she looks back and forth between the two and then adds on. 'Am I intruding?' and then shows the phone to Fern.
Having taken the cotton candy from Onora, Fern pulls off a piece, then offers the fluff to Justin to do the same. Yes, she's offering out Onora's candy, but Fern actually has a couple bucks to buy another, and she wouldn't -not- offer to share. She reads the message on the phone quickly, and laughs softly, "I'm just glad you got it replaced." 
 
To bring Justin into the loop so he doesn't feel left out, she also shares information. "She accidentally bumped into some guy and he threw her phone out into the street. Can you believe that?" She sounds honestly incredulous and shakes her head. "Some people." 
 
Another glance at the phone and Fern's smile is back, her head shaking, "Nope, you aren't. We were going to the butterfly garden, come with us?" Justin didn't say no to her offer, after all.
 
OK, now Justin sees why a mute woman would have a phone. Makes sense, with everyone using text messaging and the like. Plus, that's a lot more convenient than carrying around a pad of paper, or trying to use sign language. Then there's a spark of an idea, perhaps a chance to add a bit of humanity to his war-mongering reputation. After all, isn't Stark into all that touchy-feel philanthropy crap now? Hammer takes a piece of the cotton candy with a muttered but polite thanks. "That's awful," he replies to the story about the fate of the woman's phone, most of the usual condescending tone out of his voice. "I'm glad you were able to get it replaced." It's pretty much set in stone now, looks like he's going to go see a garden full of fluttery bugs with a couple of strange women. Could be worse.
Onora doesn't seem the least bit upset by the cotton candy being shared around. It's not terribly expensive after all! When it comes back to her, she takes it and then pulls a piece off of it and pops it into her mouth.
The invitation is met with a smile and a nod of her head, a grateful look being given to Justin and Fern both before she motions with her hand for them to lead the way.
Of course, Fern manages to get the cotton candy she peeled from the cloud stuck to her fingers, so it takes her a second after surrendering it back to Onora to get it together. A cotton candy trail floats in the air as she moves to start them walking in what she hopes is the right direction. Her map is now jammed into a pocket of her skirt, very helpful. Despite the heavy looking boots, her step is light. "It should be just down this path." She sidesteps, deftly putting Onora in the middle of the trio, so they can both read the messages fairly easily. "So I came out to see the butterflies... what brought you both out?" Fern asks, her eyes landing on each in turn. 
Justin Hammer falls in step with his two unexpected companions. He has no idea where anything is at, the map that the two zoo employees gave him got stuck in the inside pocket of his suit coat and hasn't been looked at since. Walking in a line like this, he notices for the first time that Onora is the same height he is, maybe even a bit taller. "I'm considering making a sizable contribution to the zoo, so I thought I'd come take a look around," he answers, leaving out the details about how a six-year old and his nagging mother pretty much forced him into it.
Fern leans forward as she more or less leads the little group, looking across Onora for a moment to Justin. "Really? That's awesome. I mean, I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about zoos, but donations do so much to help the animals." There's admiration in her eyes as she says this. She may not have googled him, but she still assumes he's got -some- money after what he dropped at the restaurant. "So many people have the means to help, but simply don't." 
Oh, just wait until Fern DOES run a search on Justin's name and figure out who she's walking around at the zoo with, and just how much money he has. Usually the CEO is a lot more boastful about who he is and what he has, but so far the two women have been spared his usual pretentious behavior. "So, so true. No sense in not trying to make the world a better place." He offers up another one of those slightly forced grins. Yep, make the world a better place so it's worth fighting over.
For now, Onora remains silent (like she has any choice in the matter here!) and is happy to follow along and listen to the two chat. If she knows who Justin Hammer is, she isn't telling.
In the gentleman's favor, when Fern does get to the library and curiosity prompts her to search his name, she will certainly be incredulous at any information that would paint him in any ill way. After all, she knows him! He's been perfectly nice. "I used to volunteer at the animal shelter, back home," she offers, "It was so hard not to bring home the animals that got stuck there for a long time. At least it's a no-kill shelter." Volunteering time can be just as valuable as donations, and is the only real option Fern had to help. "I guess asking if you both like animals would be pretty stupid, since we're at a zoo." And who would be at a zoo if they don't like animals? 
Honestly, Justin is sort of indifferent to animals. Except maybe military or police dogs. He doesn't have any pets, and only vaguely remembers the dog that his family had growing up. "That had to be tough," he offers, doing his best to seem interested. "Seeing all those homeless animals. Takes a strong person to do that sort of work." And volunteer your time without being paid for it. Yep, it's that touchy-feel crap again that he really doesn't understand, but pretends to care about.
Fern smiles at Justin's words, but she shrugs her shoulders carelessly, "It just takes caring enough to do it. It wasn't always nice, but it was nice often enough to be more than worth it." Justin Hammer reminds her, in some ways, of Warren Worthington. Men of means who, she knows in Warren's case and would not have to reach far to assume in Justin's, simply have led a vastly different life than she herself has. If Justin knew that Fern had Warren feeding a couple of sheep, he would probably be thankful this is only butterflies! As they walk, Fern knows that Onora is silent for a reason, but she still includes the other girl by linking arms with her. 
If Fern had mentioned the name Worthington out loud, Justin would know the name instantaneously. The woman seems to be able to keep high-class company. "So you're a waitress now, and you've taken care of homeless animals. Any plans beyond that?" He's not asking to be mean or rude, he's simply curious if the woman is looking into anything beyond the career she currently has.
Onora smiles as she links arms with Fern and offers her the cotton candy once more. She has been listening to the conversation around her the entire time and, had she had something to add, would have but for now she's content to simply enjoy the company!
Fern tears off another strip of sticky sweetness and peeks over at Justin. "I'm an actress. I haven't really broken into anything yet, but it'll be any time now." She sounds far from discouraged, despite having had some pretty flattening disappointments. "I met an agent, and he wants to try and get me into commercials. I'm not signed with him," she's from Ohio, not stupid, "Not until I see if he can do what he claims. In the meantime I'm still going to auditions." A lot. Her head tilts curiously, and she volleys back, "Onora is a linguist, she's going to college here." She'll let her fill in details about herself if she's a mind. "What sort of business are you in, Justin?" 
Justin arches a brow. "Actress? Hope to see you on Broadway some time. I know a few folks, if I get a chance, I'll mention your name." Hammer never misses an opportunity to pull strings and flaunt his influence, so if he mentions the woman's name and she breaks in big, that's just another tally on his record. He blinks at the mention of the mute woman being a linguist. Guess she has to stick with written languages. Unsure what to say about that, he skips over to answering Fern's question. "I'm just the CEO of a little company that does defense contract work. You may have heard of it, Hammer Industries." He does get a somewhat boastful tone in his voice, and is obviously being somewhat sarcastic about the company being small. Mentioning Hammer Industries is like mentioning Stark Industries or Lockheed Martin- almost everyone's heard of it somehow, somewhere.
Onora's shoulders shake as if she's laughing. Her fingers move quickly over her phone's keypad and the message is shown to Justin. 'Ironic, I know.'. He says small company and there's a huff of air from Onora's nose that might be meant to imitate a snort. She knows who he is so she knows well that 'small' is not the way to describe his company.
Fern's eyes widen at Justin's words, "You would? Ohmygod, that would be so nice of you!" From her enthusiasm, it's not a far stretch to think she might just scoot over and hug Justin, but she does manage to restrain herself. "Thank you. It's just... so great of you to even think of that." Unfortunately, Fern is not so up on things as Onora is, so Hammer means about as much to her as Stark and Lockheed Martin. Just not something that's really on her radar. "You mean like... tanks and stuff?" That's defense stuff, right? 
The CEO looks at the phone when it's offered, and grins in return. "Hey, never let your disabilities hold you back," he says to her with a motion of his left hand. Smiling wide, Justin nods to Fern. "Anything to help. If I got connections, I may as well use'em. And yeah, tanks, munitions, missiles, warheads, things like that. We have some civilian stuff too. In fact..." He looks back to Onora. "One of the things we're working on is a mobile data unit. Something like a tablet, but more powerful. Might come in useful for you." The prototypes are still too large for their intended military application, but would work well in a civilian market.
That causes Onora's head to tilt off to one side and her brows to draw together curiously. The message 'I'm not sure I understand...How?' is typed out and then shown to Justin, that curious look being turned on Fern to see if she's able to grasp what Onora isn't.
If the look on Fern's face is any indication, she's no more enlightened than Onora. But she is a little technologically impaired due to lack of funds. Heck, she goes to the library to use the computer. And, not that she'd tell anyone, but her parents still pay for her phone to make sure she can call them regularly. Ah, the life of an actress/waitress. If not for the generous tips left by two particular customers, one of which may just be walking down a path in the zoo at this exact second, she wouldn't even be here. "Like for communication?" 
 
As the trio approaches the enclosure where the butterfly garden is housed, Fern frowns lightly. The sign announces it's an additional fee for entry. Cripes, it's surprising they don't charge for air in this city. 
Justin looks between the two women. "Yeah, it's an augmented reality sort of setup, and it uses a combination of a touch screen and eye movement tracking for navigation. Could make communication easier, not to mention real-time translation is one of the features we're working into the software." If he gives Onora one of the prototypes that will help with the beta testing. Plus, if she uses it and it works, it's another little bit of positive publicity for him and his company. Hammer Industries helps mute girl to be a linguist. Suck on that one, Stark... AS the group draws to a stop Justin sees the sign and Fern's reaction. Without hesitation he pulls out his wallet and buys an admission for both of the women. He got an all-access pass from the zoo administrator he met with when he first arrived.
There's a slight stumble in Onora's step at the explanation. Her head snaps up to Justin, eyes wide as if she's afraid to actually believe him. Her bottom lip is bitten down on and her eyes cut over to Fern and then back to the CEO. What is she supposed to say to that? The prospect of being able to 'speak' again in a manner is... She doesn't even notice the sign, the payment, none of it. Shes almost in a daze as her mind whirls around with the possibilities.
With her arm still linked with Onora's, Fern feels the stumble and her frown deepens a measure. "You alright?" she asks, immediately looking down to see if there was something on the walkway. Blue eyes raise to see Justin taking care of the extra charge, and her smile blossoms again. "Justin, thank you." Such a simple thing, and it delights her to no end. 
Justin finishes paying the entrance fee and looks back to his unlikely companions. He catches Onora's expression. "I'm serious. We could use a beta tester. Interested?" Another one of those over the top smiles. Not so much for the fact he's helping someone who is likely to be grateful for it, but because he's imagining the look of disgust on his biggest competitor's face. To Fern, he nods lightly. "My pleasure. After you," he says as he motions towards the entrance to the garden.
Onora nods at Fern, her body shaking just slightly. She hasn't been able to talk since she was a young child. The question from Justin has those dual colored eyes looking up at him. There's a moment of thought before she nods her quickly. She'd be happy to be a Beta Tester for it!
Fern focuses again, catching up on the conversation. "Very cool." Although she says it mildly, her smile is broad and she gives Onora's arm a squeeze, teasing lightly, "I really hope it's not a Stephen Hawking voice. You would think a guy that smart would have a better voice." For just a moment she's wandered off mentally again, but no, she's back, and she lets go of Onora's arm and leads the way into their destination, the Butterfly Garden! 
Hammer falls in step with the two women again. "Oh, no, we'll make you sound a lot better than Steven Hawking, I promise you that." He chuckles lightly, glancing around at the garden. He sticks his hands in his pants pockets as they walk and tries to look impressed.
A soft smile is given to Justin as well as a nod of her head in thanks. Onora squeezes Fern's arm in return, a hand coming to cover her mouth as if she's giggling. When the other girl releases her, Ona's hands clasp in front of her, eyes wondering around the area in slight awe.
There's a soft laugh at Justin's reassurance, and Fern says, relief in her voice, "Thank you for that. You just earned a free cannoli." When she finally takes a really good look around, her steps falter and her eyes widen. "Wow..." And a butterfly flutters past her head. "Hey! Watch where you're going," she laughs. It's a beautiful area, all green plants, dirt paths and Monarch butterflies. "How do they keep them all from flying away?" is asked as she turns slowly in a circle. 
Justin watches the near mid-air collision with a smirk. "Hey, not going to argue with more free desert," he offers in return as he continues to slowly walk down the path. His movements seem a bit fidgety, now that he's not walking somewhere with a purpose. Probably the large amount of sugar he eats has left him with a permanent case of ADHD.
Fern holds one hand up, trying to put it in the path of a butterfly to intercept on the backs of her fingers. The second try is the winner, and she gasps as she lowers her hand with a new passenger. "It's so pretty," she breathes, not wanting to actually speak and disturb the pretty bug. 
Justin turns to look back over at Fern and her new friend. It's... A bug. With colors and stuff. It's not terribly aerodynamic, so that's a bit of a curiosity. He makes a mental note to try and figure out how exactly they do fly. "Hey, caught one," he comments, doing his damnedest to seem gentlemanly and interested. His mind has already started wandering back to work, especially the data pad. It really could be a new break into a civilian market and a tremendous opportunity. Guess he'll have to thank his nephew for suggesting a trip to the zoo after all.
Fern's bright smile is directed toward her companions, and she moves toward them very carefully, trying to make the butterfly think it's not moving. "Have you ever seen one up close?" she asks them. "We used to run around down by the creek (which she pronounces crick), catching butterflies and dragonflies. And lightening bugs at night." Mental note: go to Central Park after dark and see if there are lightening bugs. 
Still being politely interested, Justin leans down to look at the insect. It's still just a colorful-flitty-bug, but it is sort of interesting. He's still curious about the flight mechanism, and if it could be the inspiration for his next guided intercontinental ballistic warhead. "Nope, can't say I ever have," he admits. He doesn't speak any quieter than usual, and his naturally obnoxious demeanor may spook the poor creature Fern has temporarily tamed.
Onora stays in the background for a bit, leaning forward to peer at the butterfly before her eyes light up and a hand covers her mouth. If one follows her line of sight, she's staring at the butterfly who is doing a wonderful impersonation of a bow on top of Fern's head.
Something disturbs the butterfly on Fern's fingers, as it's wings flutter and it weaves it's way through the air, doing a looping circle over the group. Fern laughs again, "City boys." It's a friendly chide, and she looks over to Onora, "What?" The one on her head is so light, she's unaware it's there. And the one that had perched on Fern's fingers? Apparently it just wanted to visit with Justin, because the fluttering stills as it lands on the CEO's shoulder. 
Justin snorts lightly. "Yeah, well, I didn't have much choice on where I grew up," he says before grinning. "You caught another one." He points to Fern's head and is oblivious for a moment to the one that landed on his shoulder. It flits it's wings which catches the man's eyes, and he pulls his head to the side awkwardly to look at it, brows furrowed as he tries unsuccessfully to lean away from it. It's not going to poop on him or something, like a bird, is it? This is an expensive suit he just bought and had tailored...
Onora lifts her phone, snapping a quick picture of Fern with the butterfly on her head and then turning the screen to face her friend. Her shoulders tremble with laughter as she covers her mouth with her free hand. That is, until she sees Justin's reaction. Reaching over slowly, she lightly nudges at the butterfly with her fingertip, shooing it away.
Fern's eyes go up first, as Justin points, then drop to the phone that Onora holds out. "You so have to send me that," she says, giggling. Despite her movement, the butterfly on her head stays put. Maybe it likes cheap peach shampoo? As she looks over to Justin she notices -his- new friend, and she giggles again. He does get mad props for not screaming and keeping his cool. "This is.... excellent." It is a simple statement of fact. 
Yep, Mr. Badass CEO who makes weapons of mass destruction managed to not freak out about a butterfly. But then he gets saved by a girl, and that pretty much negates everything. Justin regains his composure, watching the insect flutter off. "If you say so," he returns to Fern's statement, looking between the two females who must find this entertaining. At least maybe this will help his 'evil capitalist war-monger' image some.
At the insistence the picture be shared, Onora nods her head and smiles. The motion is repeated at Fern's statement. Obviously, she agrees. A look goes to Justin and she smiles at him as well before venturing away from the two and a little further into the Garden.
The 'if you say so' gets a grin, and Fern reaches out to lightly pluck at the sleeve of Justin's expensive suit as she moves after Onora. "It's so nice. The plants and the butterflies. It's so peaceful." Despite the fact that there are children around, and they don't typically lead to 'peaceful'. But the 'magic' of all the butterflies seems to bewitch even the most cranky of the youngsters. It does not seem to bewitch very rich men in very expensive suits. 
Honestly, if you want to really impress Justin, things need to blow up. The bigger the boom, the better. But he'll at least fake being interested in nature. He doesn't flinch away from Fern like he did the butterfly, at least, though he does straighten his vest and suit coat. "Yeah, it's nice. Good place to come and think." He eyes another butterfly as it glides past the group.
Moving at a snail's pace, Fern leans over to smell a flower. She looks at Justin, trying to decide if he means it or not. City boys sometimes just don't get the value of green. Plant green, not money green. She prods him gently, "Isn't it nice to be away from an office? Smell the dirt and flowers?" Turning, her eyes catch Onora just a few steps ahead, and one hand comes up quickly to stifle a laugh. In the center of the other woman's back is a butterfly. "Ninja butterfly," she whispers, glancing to Justin. 
"Yeah, yeah, it's good to get out of the office," Justin finally admits. "Connect with nature, get some fresh air, y'know. Sparks the mind to be more.. Creative. Come up with new ideas" Now he's reaching for stuff, and his usual cocky tone is slightly more evident even though he isn't trying to be snarky. He's just bad at talking. The ninja butterfly comment does draw a grin from him, then he subconsciously checks both shoulders for passengers.
Unaware of the butterfly on her back, not that she'd care, Onora turns to look over her shoulder at Fern and Justin. She smiles once more at them before finding a place off to the side and folding her legs under her to sit indian style, going perfectly still.
As Onora settles the butterfly lifts off her back, fluttering away to join it's compatriots. Fern watches it's wobbly path, considering it's flight in a very different way than Justin. While he thinks analytically she is much more a creature of feeling. As it flits past him, her eyes stay on him and she smiles, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Do you really think that, or would you be happier behind a desk right now?" It's a direct question, but far from hostile. It's curious. 
"No," Just answers quickly and honestly. He actually hates being behind a desk. Sitting still isn't his forte, one of the reasons he's not nearly as good of an engineer as he claims to be. "No, I wouldn't rather be behind a desk. This is nice, really nice. A change of scenery." He glances to Onora as she sits statue still, arching a brow. Guess this is as good a place as any for one's tai-chi meditation or whatever it's called.
Onora's eyes slip to her two companions and arches a single brow at the conversation between them. When Justin looks over at her, she drops her eyes to a spot beside her then looks back and forth between the two in silent (as if she can be anything but...) invitation.
Fern is actually quite pleased by Justin's answer, and she nods her head once. "Good." She notices Onora's look, and steps over, shuffled away from the other woman enough to leave a space between them. In a fluid motion she turns and smooths her skirt as she drops to sit. She pats the ground in that space, looking at Justin, then turns her head to grin at Onora. Speaking can be over-rated. 
Oh, no, they're not serious... Justin shakes his head and offers one of those strained chuckles he's so good at. "No, I don't do the tai-chi meditation thing," he says, holding up his hands in a slightly defensive gesture. There is no way he's sitting down, in the dirt, not even for two cute chicks. It's.... Just not happening.
A look goes from Justin to Fern and she smiles. Her phone is pulled out and her fingers move quickly before she hands the device over to Fern. 'Perhaps it is time we take pity on our generous companion and find lunch before calling it a day, hm?'.
One can only be pushed so far, this Fern understands. They have found Justin's limit. She's trying not to laugh, and she takes the phone to read the message, then nods. "Yeah, you're right." She pops up to her feet, turning to offer Onora her hand but speaking to Justin. "Onora suggests that we find something to eat. I think that's a great idea." Zoo food! More cotton candy! Hot dogs! Soda! Alright, probably not. She brushes her skirt off briskly, ready to head off with her fellows. 
Just is, thankfully, spared that bit of embarrassment. Yes, he wants to help his poor image, but that was going a bit far. He relaxes at the reprieve, putting his hands back in his pants pockets. At the mention of food he checks his watch, flicking his wrist to shift his cuff out of the way. "I would love to join you lovely ladies," he says apologetically, "But I have a meeting here shortly I need to attend. Before I forget, though," He pulls his other hand from his pocket and fishes into the inside pocket of his suit coat, pulling out a silver card case. He extracts two business cards, and offers one to each woman. "My card. The number listed is my personal cell. Onara, drop me a text, we'll talk about the data pad."
Standing and dusting herself off, Onora reaches out and takes the card with a grateful smile. Once Fern has hers, Ona waves at Justin and dips her head then reaches out to link arms with Fern to go enjoy lunch and... who knows what trouble from there!
Category:Log