2013.05.26 - Kites and Revelations

It's the fourth annual Forest Hills Kite Festival! An interconnected series of soccer fields and baseball diamonds have been set aside for the day, and the place is swarming with families, children, pets, little tents set up for food vendors and souvenir vendors and, of course, kite vendors. The main part of the open fields is available for anyone to set up their own little picnic spot and get a kite in the air, but be warned: with so many kites already flying it looks like a school of really crazy fish, collisions are likely at any given moment. And, by the looks of it, the trees that line the open fields have already claimed a few sacrificial kites. 
Somewhere near the middle of the fields, Sue Storm is standing next to a rather hideous brown plaid blanket, carefully assembling the support spars on a black, blue, and white kite that's a decidedly non-traditional shape. ( http://www.newtechkites.com/products.php?product=Evening-Star )
Another day, another errand...or it normally would be, but today, someone at the shelter knew that the kite festival was going on, and suggested in what was really more of a direct order that Jeremy stop pestering people for errands and actually take a day to go /enjoy/ himself for once. So it was that the boy ended up at the kite festival, given a ride there by one of the shelter workers and dropped off under strict orders to not leave until the festival was over and he'd actually relaxed and had fun at least a little. The first, he's managing. The second...well, pretty soon after his arrival, he ended up looking for something he could do to help somebody, and now he's climbing one of the trees that claimed a kite, sitting on a tree branch as he tries to get one of the kites free. He's...not so good at relaxing. In his defense, the owner of said kite /was/ a little girl who was starting to get all teary-eyed...but if it hadn't been her, Jeremy would have found someone else.
One might usually think that the sky above open fields would generally be a relatively safe place to make a sudden appearance. Most days that might actually be a safe bet. On days the sky isn't filled with kites flying around, dancing around each other dangerously until the inevitable tangling of strings comes along. It might thus be easy to understand the confusion when there's a faint rippling in the air some distance up, and then a young woman appears in a home-made super-hero costume suddenly appears... right in the path of a kite, which proceeds to whap her right in the face. There's a yelp from Penny, more startlement than pain, when it collides with her, and as her concentration lapses she starts to fall, only to catch herself another twenty feet or so down, where she starts hovering and looking around.
When you consider everything, Kate Bishop is a busy person. Or at least she should be. After all, you have the whole superhero thing, complete with her being part of multiple teams, and even leading one of them. And then there's how much time she spends volunteering at various charities. And the time she spends at high end charity events to raise money for them. And then there's her family.... All right, so maybe she does spend time with her sister, but not her father.
But anyways, with all of that, when should she really have time to relax?
To be honest? Right now. Heck, for the moment she's in jeans and a t-shirt, reclining on a blanket, and staring up into the sky at all those kites.
Its a nice day. Most of the experiments being ran are being watched by HERBIE, but otherwise there is nothing to fret. As Reed quickly joins Sue his hands filled with everything needed for a picnic. As well as a few things that aren't. Along with some other things. Wait why three coolers? Man he can carry a lot. Wait is that one of those quad propped remote controlled toys? As he sets everything down he looks towards the blond. "Susan, as directed I have your rainbow sherbert packed in solidified carbon dioxide too keep it cool and a six pack of 'pop' in cooler marked with the Gamma symbol." 
Hearing about the kite festival really gets Ben's gears going. Being well off, having little to no rent to be paid off, and being relatively debt free means a lot of spending money. And what does someone like Ben do with said spending money? That's right! Buy a lot of nerdy stuff!! 
Thanks to E-Bay Ben is sitting in his own spot in the park with the insanely large kite based off Darth Vader's Tie Fighter. Sure this event is in the name of good family fun, but it was a Star Wars!!! Any nerdy teen that watched the originally trilogy for hours on end couldn't pass up the opportunity when he came across the digital auction. 
Whistling "Everybody's Working for the Weekend" by Loverboy, Ben lowers the blue hood and stands proud with his dark blue jeans. He considered wearing an Imperial Officers uniform but there are horrific flashbacks from that one Halloween when he wore the Ben Kenobi costume. Flash made sure that wedgey wasn't coming out for days. Sure, there's the whole super power thing of today but bad memories are hard to kick. "For the Empire," Ben says low and then makes sure everything is set for a proper take off. People are going to stare because it's Star Wars and it's a damned big kite dwarfing many of the traditional kites here. Heck they already were since the thing comes up to his thigh when it's stood vertically. Tapping his new red vans shoes his dark brown eyes scan over the sea of faces and the sky littered with kites before the maiden voyage begins.
Sue Storm looks over at Reed and smiles indulgently. It's like she's accustomed to this kind of reaction to 'let's go have a picnic'. She looks around and waits for a good breeze to start her kite into the air before commenting, "Did you remember the sandwiches I made and put in the fridge?" She's guessing the answer is going to be 'no'. Then, before she can get her kite into the air she notices something a little further downfield. "Oh, look, Reed. Ben's here."
The kite finally comes free, and Jeremy smiles, waving down to the now-cheerful little girl he was helping out. He lowers the kite down to her by its string, then carefully climbs back down from the tree...just in time to spot the girl falling from the sky. With a meep, he starts running full tilt towards her. "H-Hang on! I'm..." And then she's stopped herself, and Jeremy kind of skids lamely to a halt, staring up at the girl. "Um, um...a-are you okay, miss?" he calls up, waving at Penny.
When Penny realizes that another kite is coming right for her, her eyes widen and she drops a few feet again before glancing around at the ground. Hearing someone call up to her she grins and gives a wave. "Yep!" She calls down. "I just" then there's a shimmer in the air and she vanishes midsentence, only to reappear at the same instant just above the ground near Jeremy, where she falls the last half inch or so. "didn't expect the sky to be full of kites! I hope that I didn't make that person's crash. Did anyone see whose kite I hit?" She sounds worried, apologetic, like she's more upset with herself for the accident than at whoevers kite hit her in the face.
And as Penny has her incidents with those kites, Kate Bishop shakes her head, just watching that from afar. That is before she shakes her head and reaches for a certain familiar pair of 'sunglasses'.
All though as she notices a certain /other/ kite, she just blinks, as if she can't believe it.
"A tie fighter? Seriously?"
With a smile growing on his lips he starts to nod yes to her without looking up. "Affirmative. All of the food that needs to be preserved is in Beta cooler with the pop. And the condiments as well as Petunia's potato salad is in the wicker carrying case." As he hears her mention Mr. Reilly name mentioned, Reed looks up and squints. "Really? Where?" He answers her before pausing, with a quick glance Reed looks around before reaching into his shirt pocket and retrieving a pair of thick rimmed glasses. Amazing powers, yes. 20/20 vision, not so much. 
Wandering around the field between stalls and doing an admirable job of not running into things, Senri admires the beautiful weather and the kite flying skills being demonstrated. Word of mouth over at the pizzeria she worked at had brought her here, fortunately on her day off. Ever since she found out what her power set was, she's taken every opportunity to practice, and kite flying? Fun -and- relevant. She soon finds herself standing before a simply adorned stall advertising stunt kites. In spite of only having experience with single-line kites, the added maneuverability of the second line appeals to her, and she purchases one on the spot. 
Package in hand, she sets to wandering again, her senses open to the air around her. Recently, she's found that she can 'see' air currents, after a fashion, and it is this she practices as she tries to find an ideal spot to set up. So it is that she notices the disturbance in the air that is Penny overflying the fields. She looks up and quickly pinpoints her location visually, then winces as the kite collides. Her attention is drawn briefly to the ground again as a somewhat familiar voice calls out to the girl floating safely in the air above them before returning to the kite that was hit. It was currently plummeting toward the ground, sadly, but this was something she could fix! Concentrating on the kite and the air surrounding it, she coaxes up a gentle breeze that is nonetheless strong enough to bouy the kite up into the natural wind again. Nodding satisfaction, she looks back down at the person who first made the attempt to aid the girl. With a small flash of insight, she recognizes the boy as the one who had been at the shelter. She smiles with a wave, and makes her way toward them.
Giving a gentle tug and seeing nothing happening Ben eyes the sky and then the ground. With a little bit of a running start the Tie-Fighter takes flight. Holding it up with kite strings in both hands the childish smile smears itself across Ben's face. Sure all the Star Wars memories are Peters but they're his too. They would influence loves and likes, such as the kite moving through the skies. 
"WHOOOO!" he screams out then just enjoys watching the ship weave. Piloting it is a lot like webbing through the city. So after a rocky start and a shaky stabilizing Ben starts moving the thing like a pro. His voice could probably be overheard by many that did and didn't know him.
Jeremy laughs a bit. "Um...y-yeah...I guess there's kind of a lot, isn't there? I-I mean, I /knew/ this was a kite festival kind of thing and...I didn't expect that many. I wouldn't want to t-try flyin' in the middle of all that! Um, I'm glad you're okay, miss." He spots someone waving out of the corner of his eye, and looks over. A blink, and another blink. Is that someone he recognizes? He thinks hard about it, and suddenly his eyes widen. The girl that was there during that one time...he shivers a little at the memory. "Um, um...hi..." he says, returning the wave in much more subdued form, though he does spare a glance at the screaming man (to make sure it's one of enjoyment, not terror). Following the man's line of sight, he too spots the TIE Fighter kite. "Wow."
"Controlling the tie fighter kite," Sue tells Reed. She's very amused but at the same time very glad to see Ben actually enjoying himself. And, she has to admit, a little bit glad that the young man hadn't thought to test that kite by flying it off the roof of the Baxter. That might not have ended s well. "You even remembered the potato salad?" She changes her mind instantly, setting her kite down on one corner of their ugly blanket to claim a seat. "I think I'm hungry now. Do you want to see if Ben's hungry, or should I?" Because heaven knows, there's probably enough food packed in these multiple containers for, oh, at least EIGHT people.
And as Kate continues to watch the Tie Fighter kite fly, she shakes her head. That is before she yawns and leans back. At least for a moment. All though as she hears certain things, or thinks she hears certain things she does quirk an eyebrow.
Sif doesn't tend to get out and just walk much. It's not really her style to simply...wonder. She always has a purpose. A destination. Except for today. Or so it would appear. Looks can be decieving though.
Dressed in a pair of snug jeans and a black high neck shirt that's split to the bust in the front and laces in the back as well as a pair of black suede boots and her sword at her hip, the raven haired Goddess seems to be wondering aimlessly through the various vendors and throng of people that has gathered.
She may or may not have spotted the familiar faces of she recognizes but if she does, for now, they are left to enjoy their day in peace. Pausing at one of the snack vendors, her brows draw in confusion. "What is a funnel cake," is muttered, more to herself than anything else.
One her lower back, on the right, just before the waist of the low rise jeans, there's is a red area that almost looks like a welt unless one can see close enough to see the small wound there as well.
"I didn't know," Penny admits with a soft laugh, rubbing a hand at the back of her neck and looking embarassed, even with a mask on. Her accent is very British. "I thought that way up there would be a safe place to teleport to, not a minefield." She's admitting this as she catches the kite that she nearly downed being righted by someone, and that brings a smile to her face... and some relief. "Yep, I'm fine," she confirms again to Jeremy. "Just surprised, but nothing wounded but my pride."
"S'cuse me! S'cuse me!" Ben cries out to people he walks by while controlling Darth Vader's Tie Fighter. The kite is pretty big and he doesn't want to run other kites out of the sky. The brown hair teen even moves by a yawning teenager wearing a familiar pair of sun glasses. Circling around her he says, "Nice to see you Merida," he's not about to call his teammate and team leader by her codename. However, they haven't exactly shared secret identities yet. Calling her Robin Hood, or even different parts of an arrow seem highly inappropriate, especially 'Shaft.' Although whenever she would enter the Terminal he would be obligated to bust out some Isaac Hayes until 'Merida' beat him with her bow. Merida, after the spunky redheaded archer from Disney's Brave, seems the most appropriate name. "You look good! We should run into each other more often," suddenly the kite dips, "Excuse me the dark side is calling me away." On that note Ben keeps moving away. 
Going back toward the crowd Ben cries out, "Lord Vader coming through!" trying to warn other kiters. "How's it going?" he greets someone that gives a thumbs up to his kite. "How's it going?" he says randomly to others.
Dressed in dark blue jeans, black t-shirt with the atomic symbol on it and the words 'Physics doesn't Bohr me' written under it, Ulrik adjusts his flatcap as he comes wandering through the crowd. He's here... No idea why he's here but that happens a lot. He just sort of ends up places. He's rather surprised by the kites in the air, and he looks really quite lost, which isn't really surprising since he most likely did get himself lost again. Adjusting the flatcap on his head a bit so he can look towards the kite, he considers them for a long moment before lets out a little sigh sound.
Blink.
Kate props herself up ontop her elbows at the guy circling around her. In fact, she chuckles and shakes her head slightly. That is after she takes a few moments to finally place his voice. After all, she has never seen him with his mask off before.
"I should have figured that you would be the one with that... Red."
Yes, 'Red'. Why? Well, just like how he can't call her by her code name, she can't call him by his. All though 'Red' is awfully close to scarlet.
"And we should. Heck, we /all/ should..." is said as he heads back off, and she starts to /finally/ get up. All though as she does notice at least one person who appears familiar, buuuut...
"I'll ask. I will return." Reed says to Sue as he stands up and heads over towards the 'Ben Star'. "Mister Reilly." Reed says in his best Agent Smith voice. He's a nerd, he's allowed. "We have nourishment and refreshments oer at the area we designated for our feasting spot. You are welcomed to join us." Reed stops and looks up and smirks. "Interesting kite." is all he says, he doesn't wait for a reply before returning to Sue.
Jeremy smiles at Penny. "That's good. Um...you gave me a real scare for a moment!" A long pause, and he looks over at Ben and his kite again. A long pause, and he whispers to Penny (though loud enough that others might hear too), "Um...i-is he, um...is that /from/ somethin'? I mean...the kite and stuff. It seems awfully familiar." He looks over at Senri again. "Um...s-so...have you been okay? Um, sorry...I-I don't think I remember your name...or...or even if you gave it. You know...I'm tryin' not to th...I mean, um...sorry, I'm kind of bad with names sometimes."
Sue Storm smiles after Reed as he goes to talk with Ben, starting to open the various containers, though she has to stop and remind herself what a 'gamma' looks like. Well, whatever it looks like, she ends up having to open each container briefly to figure out what is where. And the 'solid carbon dioxide' comment is quickly explained when she sees the dry ice in one cooler keeping ice cream nicely frozen. Claiming a bottle of chilled water for herself, she opens the wicker basket to get out a plate and waves hello toward Ben as Reed returns to their 'feasting spot'.
"When I fell?" Penny asks with a smile. "Sorry for the scare. I only keep myself up when I'm concenrating." Her eyes track up to the tie fighter and she tells Jeremy, "it's from Star Wars, I think. That's a really big kite, isn't it?" With her eyes darting around at others she laughs. "Some of them are beautiful." Her attention comes back down from the sky, taking in Jeremy and the person he's talking to. "I'm Skip. Don't worry if you don't remember it, I'm not always great with names either."
"Freezing at the sound of Agent Richards, "I'll go but only if you ta," Reeds gone before the statement can finish up. Pulling in the fighter in for a landing Ben snags the kite then walks to Kate, "Do you want to join me and my family for some sandwiches?" He extends his free hand, "Ben by the way. Reed and Sue are like the parental brother and sister I never had." Butterflies moved through his stomach. Breathing hard he tries to center himself. 
"I can just call you Merida if you wish," he adds knowing that Hawkeye keeps her identity a secret. Running his hand, once it goes back to him, through his hair Ben just stands there very awkwardly. "I think they got Potato Salad too. Ben Grimm swears that his Aunt Petunia makes the best stuff," Ben Grimm always swore by his Aunt like she was a saint in the kitchen. "Her roasted chicken is heavenly though. So it should be wooorrrthhh it," trying to tantalize his teammate.
 
Senri's attention is finally drawn toward the large and highly recognizable kite, chiefly due to the loud and exultant scream. This draws a wry smile from her, and she takes a moment to appreciate the skill with which it is being flown before turning her attention back to Jeremy. "Mmhm! I've been really good, actually! How have you been? ...Oh! I don't think we were ever formally introduced. I'm Senri! And you are?" Turning her head to smile up at Penny, she says, "Nice to meet you, Skip!"
There's a slight pause before the out of costume archer says, "Call me Kate if you want me to call you Ben."
Then there's a slight pause. Sue? Reed? /Ben Grimm/?
Yeah. Like there's much that can be said regarding that. /Especially/ after the recent team meeting.
"Sure. I'll join you. That is if they don't mind another."
Jeremy goes to tuck his hands in his pockets, then realizes that introductions usually involve handshakes, and pulls them back out. "Um, Star Wars...okay..." Funny how that sounds like it's entirely unfamiliar to him. He looks between Penny and Senri, and offers a nervous little smile. "Um, um, I-I'm Jeremy...it's really nice to meet you, Miss Sk-Skip, and...and /really/ meet you, Miss S-Senri." He offers a hand to each in turn.
"You too," Penny says to both Jeremy and Senri, and she takes the young Jeremy's offered hand to give it a shake. "Thank you for worrying about me when I fell, too. The world's best when people look out for each other, right?" Granted, the costume that she's wearing isn't very well made, which makes her look like she might be one of the sorts of people who wants to be a super-hero, rather than someone who is. On the other hand, she can fly and teleport. "Hey," she adds, looking over in the direction of the picnic with going nearby with certain notable luminaries. "Is that who I think it is?"
Senri gives Jeremy a warm, confident handshake and replies, "And you, as well." Then, following the direction of Penny's gaze, she looks over at the picnic getting underway. Sure enough, she's sure there are familiar faces, but out of costume, she can't quite place them. Therefore, she settles on asking, "Who in particular? There's a good bunch that look really familiar..."
Walking toward Reed and Sue, Ben makes sure Kate is moving with him. "I'm sure there's enough for you. Aunt Petunia likes to cook for an army. Sue spent a few days breaking down her recipe to serve only four people," he explains waving to two familiar faces. "Reed, Sue, this is my friend Kate," then turning to Kate, "Kate, this is Reed and Sue." Again the butterflies come back as two sets of people representing the people in Ben's life are about to meet for the first time. Breathing hard he looks between them hoping it goes well. 
Brown eyes try to stay focused, "Is there enough for my friend to join us?" the question is meant to stall as he tries to calm his nerves. Why is he getting so nervous?
Sue Storm looks up and smiles hello as Ben and Kate approach their picnic spot. Sorry about the blanket. She says quietly to Reed, "Reed, look, he brought a girlfriend along." And then she speaks up more loudly for the two younger people to hear, "Hi! Please, join us. I'm Sue, this is Reed. Ben, if you want to park your tie fighter over here by my kite, it should be out of the way enough."
Pulling a small notebook from his pocket, Ulrik actually begins writing out the formula with near as he can remember all the correct variables for windspeed and such. Yes. He's doing the math mostly in his head even if he's writing it down. As he's doing so he's sort of meandering through the crowd muttering about the windspeed and needed lift to be able to get various kites off the ground and thereby how much they must way based on their construction. Scratching his head a little bit as he looks up at the tie fighter, his flatcap going a bit crooked atop his head.
Jeremy shakes hands with each. "Um, I think so too," he says to Penny. "If you can help somebody, you sh-should...that's what I think." He peers in the direction Penny's looking, uncertainly. "Um...I-I don't really know...I'm not really good with stuff like that. I, um...I don't watch the news much." He tucks his hands in his pockets, chewing his lip a little, though he takes a few steps closer...not likely he'll spot anyone he knows, but you never know, right? Besides, he can't help being curious.
A pleasure to meet you." Reed says as he reaches over to stretch out the blanket for the newcomers. "Any friend of Ben's is a acquaintance of ours." As he finishes the welcoming he dives right into the food. He doesnt grab a lot. Overeating has never really been his thing to do.
For a moment Penny seems torn, like she wants to go over and say hello, but then she makes a decision. "I actually need to get going. The park was just a brief stopping point in my practice, and I've got to be somewhere in a little while." She lifts a few inches into the air as a smile spreads on her lips, beneath the mask that covers her face. "Again, nice to meet you two." As soon as she's done saying that the air shimmers around her, and for just a moment somewhere-else seems to be visible past her as she she folds space. Then everything goes back to normal, and she's gone.
3... 2... 1...
Cue Kate facepalming.
"Girl friend? Hardly." is said as Ms. Bishop tries not to roll her eyes at Sue. That is before she moves over towards the offered spot.
"I'm more like a coworker. At best. Like his boss at times, buuut..." She shrugs.
"It's nice to meet both of you though. Ben has spoken very highly of you both."
Wincing and rubbing his temple, "She's not my girlfriend but she is a good friend. Not just a co-worker," Ben admits his stance of Kate to Reed, Sue and Kate herself. Ben because of circumstances and a rough life didn't admit to some things fully nor did he have much. So what some people may have viewed as an acquaintance or work friend, Ben considers them to be a true blue friend. 
Running his hands through his face, "So not funny Sue," Ben grimaces a little. Then turns to Reed, "What's on the Menu?" he figures Reed would give some science technical terms that Ben would gladly translate.
Sue Storm waits for Ben's reaction before laughing. "Sorry, couldn't resist the chance to tease Ben a bit here. Please, join us." As she's making room for the two newcomers to join them, she sees Ulrik a little ways away jotting something in a notebook. Remembering the young man from Justin Hammer's NYU building dedication, she stands and waves and calls out to get his attention and invite him over. "HEY! Join us!" Of course, considering they're in a huge open field, it would be just as likely that she's calling out Senri or Jeremy for them to join the picnic.
Jeremy blinks a few times, looking side to side. "Um..." He doesn't at first spot who Sue's waving to. Not that he's going to assume that it's him, given that he doesn't even know this lady, but nevertheless he kind of hesitantly starts walking closer, half out of curiosity, half out of social uncertainty. By the time he actually /does/ spot the person Sue's actually waving at, he's...rather close. And now it's awkward. "Um, um, s-sorry, I'll...um...I don't, I mean, um..." He looks at Sue, then Reed, then Ben, then Kate, and finally over at Ulrik. "Um...s-sorry...I was just, um..." Quick, find an explanation! "...you looked familiar and, um...never mind." He takes a couple steps back, looking about like he might possibly find a graceful exit strategy hidden under a rock nearby or something.
And as Ben adds that extra clarification, Kate shakes her head. But well... For the moment, she goes silent. Because well, what ever she was thinking about saying, this is definitely not the time, or the place. Especially as the person Sue comes over, if they come over, and she nods at them in greeting.
As soon as Reed is asked what they have the scientist goes in for the whole shebang. "Let's see... Ham, turkey, chicken and.. tofu sandwiches? Really tofu?" Reed looks to Sue with an inquisitive look. "As for the sides we have chips, potato salad, coleslaw, macaroni salad, and some sort of unknown concoction that I may need a electron microscope to tell you it's true origins. "Reed just seems to stare at the container so stuff with a scientific gaze. He even reaches to his side for his scanner, which Sue told him to leave behind. What exactly is this Susan? Reed finally says as he lifts it up to her. 
"It's good to be around people." Ulrik says looking up from his notebook and looks at Jeremy smiling,"Miss Storm is a good person. Do not fear her." He says cheerfully. The truth is he'd like to run but that's not in keeping with his outgoing personality. "Hello Miss Storm, it is good to see you again." The Swedish young man's accent is thick when he speeds, his hands sliding into the pockets of his jeans,"Hello Mr Richards." Yes. There's a bit of hero worship there.
Needless to say, Senri is somewhat surprised when it seems that they are being called over. She follows Jeremy from curiousity of her own. Though it turns out that the woman is calling someone else entirely, that's fine! She shoots Jeremy an encouraging grin as he looks around, then in a laid-back tone says, "Seems there was a bit of a mix-up. Sorry!"
Sue Storm seems just that much more pleased when Jeremy and Senri approach as well as Ulrik. "Hey, the more the merrier. Join us." She doesn't comment on Reed's question about the tofu sandwiches -- the stuff needs to get eaten SOMEHOW -- but when he questions the mystery container she snags it out of his hands. "That's /my/ onion dip. Mine. All mine. I'm not sharing it." Well, not unless someone asks nicely.
Jeremy is /just/ about to escape by any means necessary (read: run, no matter how awkward it is) when multiple people--most notably, the one who called out in the first place--assure him it's okay. "Um...r-really? I couldn't, I mean..." He looks at all the food, and, well... "I-I guess, um...okay. Thank you, Miss Storm!" That's what Ulrik called her, so that's what Jeremy's calling her. He steps over near Reed, and looks down at the container. "Um, is there somethin' I can do to help, mister?"
Reed starts handing around the food, plates and plasticware. "Please help yourselves. We have pleanty. And there is enough for seconds." Reed looks up with his thick framed glasses and smiles. "It is a pleasure too meet you all."
"It is a pleasure to meet you again Mr Richards, I've read most of the work that you've published." Ulrik says looking at Reed,"I find your work to be absolutely fascinating." He says excitedly. "I'm not really hungry. I ate before I left from my Physics lab earlier." He says smiling a bit and he tries to give Jeremy a reassuring look as he rocks a little from heel to toe.
Sue Storm keeps her container of onion dip close while scooting everything around so people have room to sit. "Well," she says to Ulrik, "would you like something to drink? I'm sure we have plenty of beverages here... somewhere." She's already forgotten which container holds what.
"Physics? Really?" Reed looks as his interest is piqued. "Hotchkiss, Donahue or Brody?" the names are that of the top professors in the colleges around the city that Reed sometimes visits. As he waits for an answer he reaches over to the cooler with the drinks and opens it without looking. 
Senri perks up noticeably at the invitation and chirps, "With pleasure! Thank you!" Finding an open spot, she settles herself onto the ground, helping pass out the eatingware as it comes around to her. That done, she takes Reed up on his offer, and takes a bit of everything (except for Sue's onion dip, of course). Yes, even the tofu sandwiches. She happens to like tofu, actually. Her servings are small ones, but they add up to an appreciable calorie load. Before she digs in, she pauses, bowing her head and closing her eyes for a few moments. Her lips move very slightly, but she raises her head and opens her eyes again before that movement is really able to be registered. With that, she starts in on her plate, starting at the 6 'o clock and working her way clockwise.
Jeremy helps out with the distribution as much as he's allowed, and takes a turkey sandwich for himself, along with a bag of chips and (after he locates them) a soda. "Um...thank you very much," he says, finding a seat. He bows his head, whispering a quiet prayer, and then looks up at the others. "Umm...so you're...scientists and stuff, huh?" Yes, he is clearly entirely unaware who Reed and Sue Richards are.
"Hotchkiss, I study at the New York University." Ulrik says in thickly accented English,"My mother is Astrid Magnusson." She's a physicist in Sweden. "My specialty is the way light can be manipulated." He says seriously. Thinking for a moment, he tries to think when he last had something to drink and decides to accept a drink of whatever happens to be available. He's not that picky really.
Sue Storm ahs as Reed opens the correct cooler, taking cans of soda out to offer around. "Well, no, I'm not a scientist. But considering how much technobabble I know, I could probably play one on TV." She smiles at Jeremy, and claims her own plate of sandwiches and dippable vegetables. Opening the onion dip, she actually offers it around. It's not that she won't share it, she doesn't want Reed putting it through the mass spectrometer.
<Professor Magnusson? I have read some of her Her work is spectacular. Tell her I say hello next you speak to her.> Reed says in Ulrick's native language with a broad smile. He's always had a good ear for things such as language. Reed takes great pleasure in sending greetings to scientists around the world. Some of which he's worked with or wants to. 
"Oh. Um...I don't know a lot of, um, technobabble...but I think it's really cool anyway." Jeremy digs in, and when the onion dip is offered, shakes his head. "Um, no thank you, Miss Storm. But this is really good!" He still doesn't exactly look /comfortable/, but food goes a long way towards making him less likely to run for the hills, it seems. He blinks as Reed lapses into another language, and looks very impressed, forgetting his food momentarily as he stares towards Reed.
Sue Storm simply says aside to Reed as if this is something she has to do regularly, "English please."
.....
The afternoon, spent with new friends and family members, simply flew by. Hyuck. But, now that most of the people around have left and the sky is mostly clear of kites, Sue is packing up the last of the dishes and utensils to take home and either dispose of, recycle, or wash. Her kite lies where it's been the entire afternoon, at the corner of the hideous plaid blanket.
Jeremy is, as is apparently his custom, helping out with the packing up in any way he can (and managing, astonishingly, to /not/ be in the way while he does so). It's only right--he ate their food so he's helping clean up! "Thanks again, Miss Storm, Mister Richards...it was awfully nice of you to let me join you. N-Not too many people would've done that, you know?" He smiles brightly. "And it was really good."
 
Being a member of the service industry, Senri is not at all averse to cleanup and does so with a will, wearing a cheerful smile all the while. She had placed her own kite next to the one already resting on the blanket, and goes to retrieve it when everything else has been taken care of. Echoing Jeremy's sentiments, she says, "Yes, indeed! Thank you very much!" 
Looking around at both the sky and the field, a mischievous glint enters her eyes as she says, "Well, it seems like we have the sky pretty much to ourselves now."
With a smile Reed holds up a hand. "No need to thank us. It was our pleasure." Ever the giving back type Reed looks to his little four propped toy and then looks to Jeremy. Reaching into his pocket he pulls out a small screened controller. "Here you go. Have some fun." 
Sue Storm smiles at Jeremy, hoping the young man is finally a little more at ease around them. It's kind of like earning the trust of a skittish cat. "I'm glad that we were able to host, and again, sorry about the blanket." She apparently feels the need to apologize for the sheer ugliness of the thing. Maybe that's why it's being used for this picnic instead of something else. 
Once everything's cleaned up she smiles at Senri and picks up her kite, a simple single line one despite its artistic and ornate shape. "Ready when you are."
Jeremy blinks, staring at Reed for a few moments, and very hesitantly reaches out to take the controller, looking down at it. "But...I-I might...I mean..." A long pause, and he looks down at the toy, quite nervously, then back at Reed. "Umm...is...is there anythin' I shouldn't press 'cause it might make the thing, um, time travel or shoot off into outer space or blow up or somethin'?" He still doesn't really know who Reed is, but...he /has/ gathered that the guy is really, /really/ smart and knows a lot about science. That /could/ mean "mad scientist!" He looks over at Sue, blinking again. "Um...what's wrong with the blanket?" he asks. Maybe it's a beggars can't be choosers thing, or maybe he just has odd taste.
 
Senri gives a sharp nod with a wry grin. "It may take a little bit. It's been a while and I've only ever used regular diamond kites." As she speaks, though, she begins unpacking the kite, retrieving the directions first and reading through them carefully. "This is apparently a stunt kite. I've never flown anything but regular diamond kites before, but I thought I might try something new."
With a chuckle Reed shakes his head. "Nothing. It's just a toy. It can't be broke and it won't time travel. Sue has her kite I have my flying toy that never runs out of power due to its stable cold fusion battery." oh yes things are great. 
Sue Storm smiles back as Reed offers his RC toy to Jeremy, then leans a bit to look at the instructions that came with Senri's kite. "Oh, wow. Dual line. Think of it like steering one of those snow sled tobbogan things. You pull on the right line, it'll spin to the right. Left to the left." She points to one section of the instructions. "And that. If you make it loop two times to the right, you have to loop it two times to the left again or the lines end up twisted around each other and it'll crash." She then smiles sheepishly. "I killed a fifty dollar kite like that last year."
She /had/ to mention breaking something. Jeremy goes a little wide-eyed listening to Reed mention /cold fusion/ of all things when talking about his "toy," but he's /just/ starting to calm down when Sue mentions losing a Very Expensive (to Jeremy) Kite by what sounds like a really easy mistake to make. There's no graceful way to hand the controller back, though, so Jeremy very nervously looks down at the toy, then at the controller, then at Reed, then at Sue, then at Senri, and finally back to the controller. He makes that meep sound again, swallows hard, and hesitantly works the controls. On the bright side, he's discovering that this isn't entirely unfamiliar...evidently he's done something with RC toys before. On the downside...Reed's assurances about its unbreakability are all well and good, but if he's wrong, Jeremy doesn't want to know what happens when you break a cold fusion-powered toy. The toy takes off a little but then comes right back down--not hard, but enough to make the kid cringe. Another try, and he actually keeps it in the air, if in very wobbly manner. "Um...wow, okay...I've...I've done stuff like this a little...I guess, but..." He manages to get the thing stabilized a bit. "...I-It's workin'."
 
Senri listens attentively as Sue leans in to look at the directions and gives her advice. "Ah? I thought it was something like that. Thank you for the advice! And I'm sorry to hear about that kite. Honestly, without the heads up, I probably would have done the same thing." Her expression is a mix of sympathetic and grateful, and she starts to work on assembling the kite with great care. In the end, though, it goes faster than she expected, and before long, the kite is complete and ready to go. "Okay! All set!"
As things are finished being packed up Reed looks to Sue and Senri with a smile. His attention is then turned to Jeremy who's finally got the quadcopter under control. "Well done." Reed says as he watches the toy float. "The good thing is: you'll get a chance to get better at it." he states as he loads his arms up with coolers and a basket. All of which seem to fit perfectly in his hands. As he glances to Jeremy again he offers the young man a smile. "It's yours now. Have fun with it and fly. But if you ever need any help you know where we are. Can't miss us." Yes that was an open invitation to come to the Baxter Building. With a smile still on his face, Reed leaves the park and takes their things to the parking lot to load up their flying 'car'.
Sue Storm waves after Reed with her free hand and calls out, "I'll be home by dark." Then she looks at Senri and grins, then at Jeremy still likely seated on that eyesore of a blanket. "Oh, you asked about the blanket. It's just the exact shade of seventies' brown plaid. And if you think that can't get any worse, turn it over. I spared you the olive green, mustard yellow, and orange."
"What?" Jeremy's too stunned by Reed's statement to even reply as Reed walks away. It takes him a long moment--spent making the toy travel not-entirely-stably back and forth in the air as he thinks--to figure out what to say. He looks to Sue. "M-Miss Storm, I..." A long pause, as she brings up the blanket again, and he looks down at it. "Oh. Um...yeah...I guess that'd be pretty bad..." A long pause again, and he looks over at her. "Um...about /this/," he says, motioning with the controller at the toy, "Um...I can't. It's so nice of him, but...I can't. I-I live at...I mean...I'm always at...aww..." He hangs his head a bit. "I-I live at a shelter. I-I couldn't take somethin' like this there...for all /kinds/ of reasons."
Sue Storm blinks, then double-takes at Jeremy's admission, her kite falling forward on its face. She leaves it there and walks over to sit next to Jeremy, her expression very serious all of a sudden. "Then it'll just have to bring you home with it instead of the other way around."
 
Senri makes no effort to get her kite into the air just yet. She stands by silently with a small smile on her face, inwardly rejoicing at the turn of events for her... friend? They've only met once before, but went through a seriously dangerous situation together. If that doesn't count as fire-forged friendship, she didn't know what did. She'd noted the location of the shelter afterward, but was at a loss for how she could help the boy out. And now, completely by accident, here help was. A good day, by all accounts.
Again, it takes a long time for Jeremy to reply, and he lands the toy, setting the remote down. "No," he finally says, shaking his head. "I-I...there's all kinds of reasons I can't do that either." He looks over at Senri, then at Sue again. "You're...you're really nice, and...I'm really happy that you want to help. I am. But...I can't. I'll...I'll come by if I need help, I promise. But stayin' in one place, with a bunch of nice people...that isn't somethin' I can do right now."
Sue Storm tilts her head a bit as she looks at Jeremy before asking as kindly as she can, "Why not? If you're worried about breaking stuff, rest assured that our home is about as break proof as possible." She leans toward the boy a bit and offers conspiratorially, "One of our family is made out of orange rock."
 
Senri's reaction mirror's Sue's own as she turns over Jeremy's rejection in her head and drawing on what she knew of the boy to try and discern the reasons behind it. If memory served, he was the one that had been washing windows. Now that she thought about it, she could swear she had caught a glimpse of him up a tree going after a kite earlier that day. Then there was his rushing to try and help the girl, Skip. She still couldn't pin down a solid reason, but she thought she had discovered a key aspect of the boy's... personality? Not quite the word she was looking for, but service and self-sacrifice seemed to be very important to him. Maybe that was why? Of course, there could be any number of reasons why he chose to decline, and even though her mind sought after them, she consciously made herself let the matter lie. He had his reasons. That was good enough. At least he'd accepted the invitation to come for help if he needed it.
Jeremy blinks. "Or...orange rock? Wow. That sounds neat...I'd like to see that, but..." He sighs, hanging his head. "Somethin' bad happened. Really, really bad. I don't know what...I don't know why...but it did. And...I-I think it was my faul...I mean, I think..." He breaks off, and starts again. "And there's things that've /been/ happenin', and...I'm tryin' to figure them out and I kind of think if I'm...I'm in one place they'll happen /more/. So...I'm gonna keep movin' around, and try not to be noticed and stuff. That way if somethin's lookin' for me it doesn't find me...least not much."
Sue Storm smiles again. "Have you considered the possibility of asking someone to help you with the things that have been happening? Some of us kind of know what that feels like." Yes. Us. She looks up at Senri, clearly not wanting to exclude the dark-haired young woman. "Not to mention, I live in one of maybe three or four places in the entire city that's safer than even a police station."
Senri continues to hold her peace, first out of courtesy, then because she couldn't have said it better than Sue did. She did nod firmly in acknowledgement, however, when Sue looked up at her. Then she simply says, "It's true, believe it or not. All of it."
Jeremy nods a little. "I-I've been askin' around, and...I've got some people kind of...lookin' into things. But..." He hangs his head. "I don't mind more. If you want to help, I-I'm not goin' to say no, Miss Storm. If you want to see if you can figure things out...I /want/ someone to figure them out. Okay? But..." He looks over at her. "Even if you say it's really, really safe...I'm not stayin' in one place. I can't." He gets to his feet. "Look, I'm...I'm goin' to go, okay? I-I should go. Y-You've got to fly your kite; you came out here for it...and I'm okay."
"I won't pressure you, Jeremy. But if you ever feel you need a safe place to stay..." Sue goes completely invisible for about a second before reappearing again in the exact same place. "Come to the Baxter Building and ask for me or Reed. Or if you can't come to us, call and we'll come to you. I mean it. You're not alone." Of course, now she wishes she were in the habit of carrying a spare comm unit, or phone, or even just a business card.
Jeremy gives a little smile at Sue's assurance that she won't try to force him...but when she disappears, he /jumps/, scampering quickly back as he's surrounded by a blue aura of light. When she reappears, he seems to calm a little, but it takes several more seconds for the light to blink back out. "Um, um, um...o-okay, yeah. I-I'll...I'll think about it." He goes a little red at his overreaction, and takes another couple steps back. "Um, tell Mister Richards...thanks for the offer of the...the thing, and...but...you know. Um..." He manages to get himself somewhat calmer again, and brings back that little smile. "I-It was nice to meet you, Miss Storm. And, um, nice to see you again, Miss Senri. Um...have a good day, okay?" And with that, he starts walking away, as quickly as he can while still feeling like he's being at least a /little/ bit polite.
Yup. Exactly like trying to befriend a skittish cat. Sue carefully packs up the little RC flyer and its control box along with the blanket, doing so to keep herself from chasing after the boy. That's NOT what he needs right now. She IS going to make sure the toy is there for Jeremy when he does choose to stop by the Baxter. Once everything's bundled up, Sue stands and dusts off the knees of her jeans before looking at Senri with an apologetic smile. "So. Kites?"
Category:Log