2013.08.21 - Of Wolves and Men

It's another beautiful, sunny day in New York City, with the promise of warming to almost 90 before it's over. Fern has ventured out to a coffee shop near the Stark Expo after exchanging brief text messages with Jazmin. Justin had phoned the Legionnaire at the tail end of their little 'incident' with a werewolf in the Queens Botanical Garden, so Fern wants to bring her friend up to speed on what happened from her own point of view. 
 
Already at the coffee shop, Fern is seated on a comfortable sofa set near a cold fireplace, with a rapidly cooling cup of coffee on a side table. She looks more pensive than she usually does, and has a worn look like she didn't sleep well. Dressed casually, in shorts and a tank top with sandals, she just sort of frowns lightly, looking into space at nothing in particular. 
It is apparently, not quite so much a casual morning for Jazmin. Or conversely, she has to work at some point in the not so distant future or not so distant past, and that translates to being out and about in costume. No matter that she doesn't wear it out and about all that often, in spite of furtive looks from the mundanes, she doesn't seem all that self conscious about being out in spandex. At least her spandex is generally fairly covering, small mercies.
Jazmin waves to the pensive Fern as she roams up to collect herself a coffee and a scone, coming in only a few moments to flop casually onto the couch next to the other girl. "Morning."
Fern pulls up her smile for Jazmin, but it's lacking a bit of the usual shine. "Hey Jazmin," she greets the intergalactic, time traveling teenager. "Thanks for coming out to meet me." She takes in the 'heroing' outfit, asking, "Were you working? Gosh, I hope I didn't pull you away from saving anyone." It's half a joke, half serious, because Fern knows that no one would stop in the middle of saving someone to go have coffee. Well, not many people. 
"Just got off shift, actually." Jazmin reaches an arm out to sling around the shoulders of the other girl to offer a hug. "And these days, my shifts are mostly paperwork and monitors, mixed with organizing, a bit more paperwork and some cat herding. If I'm actively hunting down a scumbucket, I let my phone go to voicemail." She offers a wry little half grin at that. "I'm glad to come and see for myself that you're okay. I nearly came to ambush you and Justin last night, just to be certain."
Fern leans into the hug without reservation, returning it awkwardly but gratefully. "He could have gotten hurt yesterday," she says softly. "It was just luck that I went out and bought that mace after what happened Sunday at the park." Yeah, she's been having an eventful week. There's a wry smile for Jazmin as Fern admits, "I think I'm a trouble magnet. I should just stay away from everything and everyone." 
"You both could have been hurt." Jazmin corrects gently. "And I'm glad you did get the mace.. but hiding away from the world.. this city is a trouble magnet. I mean.. it attracted the whole sproking Legion, for goodness sake. What happened on Sunday?"
Well, Fern's not so worried about herself as she is about Justin, although he's surely more capable of taking care of himself then she is. Her eyes roll expressively at the question, "Oh jeez, that was just a terrible time. I was going to a free concert in the park with a friend, and this monster showed up. Thankfully there were some heroes there, but no one could leave, and everyone was getting really scared and were seeing things. Heck, I think I even saw a spider the size of a puppy." For once, she's not exaggerating it's size for drama's sake. "I think it was three guys doing magic, because when I ran into them," literally, "they got distracted. And then my friend knocked them out, and the monster went away." 
"That.. you've had a crazy week, indeed! Was the concert any good?" Jazmin gives Fern a little nudge and a sly little grin. "Was the friend Justin?" The fact that spiders the size of a puppy and magic users really don't make her blink might speak volumes about Jazmin's general lifestyle. She takes a sip of her coffee. "Most magic users get really irritated if you distract them, it's a great tactic."
There's a quick shake of Fern's head at the question, no, not the question about if the concert was good, although that one brings her smile back. "No, it wasn't Justin." She doesn't offer up who it was, keeping a promise that she won't spill the beans since he's not 'out' yet. Fern even manages to pull up a laugh, wry though it is, and agrees, "Yeah, they weren't really happy with me. I got that idea when one of them said 'kill her'." Sure, she can joke about it now. 
"Generally a really good clue that whatever you're doing isn't on the baddie's list of preferred actions." Jazmin gives her another hug, briefly. "And scary as all hell to hear someone say that, and know it refers to you. Frak, we're going to have to get you fitted up for spandex soon at this rate." She offers a quieter smile. "But I will say.. good on ya for keeping your head and digging out the mace rather than freaking out. And good on Justin for thinking to call me. You too, missy.. call me. Its what I do and its nice to do it for people I care about."
The more distance she gets from each little incident, the better Fern deals with it, and she's already pretty much processed the concert thing. Having another thing happen so soon was just really bad luck, and shook her up all over again. Still, there's still that humor that she never loses entirely. "Yeah, I thought that a pretty severe reaction just for bumping into someone." Or... launching at them. Whatever. She laughs and holds up one hand in a stop gesture, "Oh heck no. I've had an offer like that already. I'm no superhero, I can't do special things like you all can. That's why I keep hanging around with you all," she adds with a grin and a light nudge. "But that guy yesterday.... I got a good look at him before he went all fangy. And he said that he's wanted for murder." She pauses and her nose wrinkles distastefully, her voice dropping, "He said he... skinned someone. Ugh. Not a nice guy at all." 
"Not every hero has innate powers. Some rely on tech. Which.. isn't the best plan for safety, it can bite you in the tush if it fails at the wrong moment." Jazmin's voice holds a note of .. something more than the light teasing she's been favouring at that nugget of wisdom. "Well.. I'm glad you hang around with me, even if its just for my protective abilities." She wrinkles up her nose in response. "Describe him? So I can let the Legion know to keep an eye out for him, and we can bring him in to the authorities. That sort of crap just doesn't need to happen."
The light frown returns to Fern's face as she pulls up a mental image of the man that accosted her and Justin, and her eyes unfocus as she looks into the cold fireplace. "He was a bit taller than Justin. Brown hair. Kind of built, but not bulky. Not until he turned into the werewolf, anyway. His eyes were unique. They were gold, more like an animal's color than a person's. Nothing really special about his clothes, but he had on one of those vests with all the pockets under his coat." She pauses, then looks away from the fireplace, coming back out of the pulled up memory. "And he was really rude. I mean, beside the whole wolf thing. He was a real jerk, insisting on talking to Justin about something, he never even said..... OH!" Clearly something just occurred to her. "He said he'd already talked to Tony Stark. So maybe they have some clue who he is?" 
"MMmm." Jazmin nods as she listens. "Golden.. more golden than mine?" She blinks at Fern, turning her head to show her rather unusual amber coloured eyes and then makes a face. "Yeah.. rude seems to come with the territory. I'll ask Pepper, or Tony. I've a meeting with Pepper at least a little later this week. If I survive taking folks camping." She quirks her head. "Why'd he want to talk to Justin? What did Justin think about this monster wanting to talk to him?"
Fern peers intently into Jazmin's eyes, considering the comparison of hers to those of that weird werewolf. "I think his were more like an animal's than yours are. Kind of like... a lion. Not like a kitty cat with the funny pupils, but like a lion." She did have a good look into them when Wolfy was trying to stare her down. Her head shakes, one lock of hair dislodging, shoved out of her eyes with a casual swipe of one hand. "I don't even know what he wanted. He started off saying things about Tony Stark, and then said if Justin didn't want to talk to him he'd go to Lex Luthor or someone at Wayne Enterprises. Oh hey, they should probably be warned, don't you think?" she asks. Then another thing Jazmin said dawns on her. "Camping?? Gosh, I miss camping. Make sure you take marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate bars." Clearly those are the most important survival tools for the little waitress. 
"I can mention it to Tim.. if I ever track him down. He's a cutie pie, kinda intense, but cute. You should meet him. Unless you and Justin are a thing, and then well.. you can still meet him, just not quite in the same cutie pie sense." Jazmin mmms thoughtfully, taking a sip of her coffee and then grins. "Got those packed. I've .. uh.. never been camping, but I found that on a website that was making suggestions. I wasn't quite sure what marshmallows were, they seem.. weird."
"I think I know who you're talking about. Leo Luthor took me by the Wayne building, but I didn't get to talk much. Tiffany had an 'emergency'," she says, again rolling her eyes lightly, "And I had to go back to the booth and bail her out." When Jazmin mentions Fern and Justin being a thing those blue eyes widen, then she grins. "Oh heck no. Me and Justin Hammer?" The very thought seems to amuse her. "He reminds me of my brothers more than anything. He's all older and stuff." Sure, age doesn't really matter that much in the long run, but still. "Anyway, I don't do things well. I make the wrong choices, so I'm just giving up. I have to concentrate on my career, anyway." Very practical minded. Those sort of resolutions never seem to stick though, no matter who makes them. "Oh gosh, camping is great! We used to go a lot, my family. Marshmallows are awesome when you toast them over the fire on a stick. Then, when they're still hot and melty, you take a graham cracker, put half a chocolate bar on it, then put the marshmallow on and another cracker on top, so it's kind of a sandwich. Mmmmm. Just talking about it makes me want one." The verbal instructions come complete with accompanying hand gestures, just in case she's not clear. 
"I met him briefly at a tech presentation that Howard Stark did at the Expo. Which.. well.. those are kinda weird for me to go to, but kinda neat too." Jazmin shrugs a little and then nods. "He was asking good questions, so I got his card to track him down later. If I manage to, I'll mention the werewolf thing to him." She ahs at Fern and looks a little sheepish, any blush seriously hard to see in her skin tone as the topic settles back on Justin. "I.. kinda was thinking of seeing if he was interested. Although with my luck, that's just cue for him to get kidnapped, lose his memories or something else horrible, so perhaps for his sake, I shouldn't. And.. he probably isn't interested anyhow." She wrinkles up her nose. "Nevermind that whole weapons thing, which is kinda challenging. But.. anyhow!" She ahems softly and watches the demonstration and grins. "That.. makes a whole lot more sense than what the website tried to explain. I totally want to give that a try. Most of the Legion have never really had much in the way of wilderness, the future isn't much on it, and many of us .. well.. yeah. I thought it'd be neat. A new challenge."
Girl talk! Fern shifts closer to Jazmin, warming up to the subject. "You like Justin? I mean... 'like' him?" Her smile comes back at full strength. "I think that's awesome. Justin... I think he's a little clueless. He doesn't seem like he thinks about a whole lot other than work unless you make him. But that doesn't mean he isn't interested, it just means he's a typical boy. I won't say anything," that seldom helps and Fern doesn't meddle like that. Much. "But I think if you want to see if there's something there, you ought to. Liberated woman and all that, we don't have to wait for a man to make the first move." She pauses, then adds, "Although, it would be really nice if they just did. Things would be so much more simple." No, she's not thinking of a certain winged playboy at all. Of course she's not, she doesn't do things. "Well, you have my number. If you get stuck in the woods, or can't figure out how to make a s'more, call me," she offers with a grin. Looking up at the clock on the wall, she makes a face. "I have to get to the Expo soon. I'm pulling another shift." 
Girl talk! Jazmin chews on her bottom lip a little. "I think I do? I mean.. enough to get that jump of excited when I saw his number on my phone, and a wicked rush of adrenaline when I thought both of you were in trouble. He.. yeah. He's a little clueless, but I'm a little pushy, so it should be alright. We walked around the Expo some.. he was at that same tech presentation I was, and it was.. good. Awkward, cause apparently I'm the only one who asks him about his personal life. So I think you are totally right.. he's all work work work. But.. there's more to life. I just don't know how to .. y'know.. make it not just be a friends thing.. or if I should.. or if he'll freak out cause I'm like.. half his age. Gah, it's complicated." She grins and laughs. "Knowing us, it would totally be the woods that completely stymies a pack of freaking superheros from the future. Electric whale sharks? No problem. An alternate dimension that's an eternal reality tv show? Piece of cake.. okay pain in the tush, but we coped. The woods? I dunno about this. How long is the Expo going on anyhow?"
"I think you need to be a little pushy with Justin. And, as his adopted sister, I give you permission to be bold." Well, she's adopted him, anyway. She reaches to gather up her bag from the floor, adding, "And if he's really clueless, let me know. I'll thwap him for ya." She'd actually like to see Justin happy and thinking about something other than work all the time. And who better than someone she already likes, like Jazmin? Not some society beesh that Fern doesn't like. "Call me when you're back from camping, so I know you're alright. I'm sure you guys will rock the woods." She stands, shouldering her bag, "I think the Expo will be another couple weeks, but I'm not positive. I should probably find that out, so I know how long my schedule will be wonky like this, huh?" There's another grin, and Fern leans, giving the younger superteen another hug. "Thank you, Jazmin. It's helped a lot, talking to someone who understands about these things." 
Jazmin leans up to give Fern a warm hug. "Clue by four for Mr Hammer, gotcha. I'm so glad you're both alright. Call me if things go weird. And yes.. I'll call you when we get back from camping." She laughs warmly and nods. "I'm enjoying the Expo. More the other exhibits than the frenzy that was the opening, but it's interesting. Take care, perhaps I'll catch you at the Expo too!"
Category:Log