104/It's A Jungle Out There

It's A Jungle Out There
Date of Scene:	24 February 2020
Location:	Bronx
Synopsis:	Have the Fates intervened in the formation of a new friendship? Nicole and Alexander build trust and share popcorn.
Cast of Characters:	Alexander Aaron, Nicole Adams

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Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Some days even an Olympian might feel like they're a monkey in a cage. Though, to be fair, the new habitats for the Great Apes are pretty darn nice. With the pools, the toys, the much larger area to run and play. But then as Alexander Aaron, the young Phobos looks on, popping a small piece of popcorn into his mouth, "Cage is still a cage I suppose."
    It was the late afternoon in the Bronx, and the tourists were there in abundance. People moving hither and yon, the ebb and flow of people appreciable. Oh there were a good amount, but not nearly as many as on the weekends. Standing there as people moved past and behind him, Alexander continued to eat a piece of popcorn now and then.
    He looked much as he did at times, those handful of days he'd come into the bar. Though right now out and about, he was wearing a grey peacoat that hung heavily on his body. A beanie cap was on his head and over his shoulder was an ESU backpack. But it was still him, the pale features were easily recognizable from a bit of a ways.

Nicole Adams has posed:
     Even a barkeep might need a break at times from a job they love. The lights might lose their lustre, the music might sound tinny and dim, and smiles seem fake and painted on plastic instead of flesh and blood. A change of perspective was good Nicole hadn't had much of a chance to get out and about since moving to her new apartment and starting at the Good Room, so it seemed as good a day as any to do just that.

     The late afternoon chill could not, however, penetrate the thick, black woolen hooded swing coat she wore, nor would her toes ache from the cold in their thick, black winter boots. Black jeans and an emerald green sweater complete the ensemble. She wears no hat, opting instead to have the hood of her coat up and over her head. She's also right behind Alex, though from this side she can't be quite sure who it is. "We're all of us in cages at some point in our lives, I think," she remarks, one brow arching upwards.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    With his back to her she likely won't see the blink-blink that she causes him as her words enter his awareness. He then turns and offers a smile, though at first there's no hint of recognition. Just a friendly thing to say, 'I am aware of my social contract obligations to acknwoledge you,' and then he's turning back.
    But then there's that double take and he shifts on one foot to look better and he says, "Oh hey." He pulls his scarf to the side a bit and then his smile broadens a little. "You're..." Does he remember her name, what sort of impression did she leave? Enough of one as he delves and recovers, "Nicole."
    "Hey." He says eloquently.
    Then he looks again in the direction of where the great apes are currently walking around languidly. "Yah, I was just saying to myself this place is nicer than some I've lived in."

Nicole Adams has posed:
     Nicole smiles and dips her head in greeting. "Alexander, right? Screwdriver, hold the vodka, and don't skimp on the ice?" She chuckles softly, leaning forward against the railing, observing the apes in their habitat. Her smile remains, but for a moment, there is a slightly harder look in her eyes. "Funny, we treat them sometimes better than we treat our own."

     Wow. What a conversation starter.

     The somewhat more somber mode lingers for a few moments, those peridot eyes fixed upon the apes as they lumber about their cage. If eyes were windows to the soul, what could be lurking within hers? "Other than that, how have you been?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    The blond young man in the pea coat shifts a bit to cast his gaze toward the apes, then back to her. Perhaps he reflects for a moment, then looks to the apes once again. He comes to a decision and then takes those three steps needed to step back and stand at her side, so now they both can look at the silverbacks as they trundle across their environment.
    Without looking at her, just standing almost shoulder to shoulder, Alexander smiles a little, "Most of my family." He begins, letting those words hang there. Then he adds as he glances sidelong to her, "Would be really mad if people felt they descended from apes."
    He holds up a finger, "But, not like for the traditional reasons."
    With that mystery broached he finally answers her latter question. "I'm good. I have been meeting a lot of interesting people. I think you might be one of them."

Nicole Adams has posed:
     Turning towards the golden-haired young man, Nicole seems to regard him with slightly more intensity than before. She cocks her head slightly to one side, simply taking stock of him and the words he spoke. What could he possibly mean by that? A light snort escapes her in a puff of mist near her nose and mouth, sound muffled if not frozen by Winter's chill. "I guess families can be a tricky thing, especially when their belifs differ wildly from one's own." Her fingertips drum lightly on the cold metal railing, with a soft, dull ringing sound, and there is again a foggy sigh captured near her lips.

     "Me? Interesting? As if."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Well," Alexander looks to the side as he ponders and rubs the back of his neck. "I think, we sort of evolved from mankind. A long time ago probably." Those pale blue eyes that went their way toward jade shift to consider the peridot in her own. His smile is warm, openly given and wry as he offers her his thoughts on the matter, though perhaps does not do too good of a job of explaining what that matter is.
    "A sort of manifested zeitgeist fueled by latent psionic talents." He shifts his stance a little, arms crossing over his chest as he ponders, "At least that was the idea someone pitched to me. Can't remember who though."
    Then his brow knits as he recalls and answers her latter question, "But oh yeah. Interesting. Like that one guy that was there at the bar I talked to. Or Izzy."

Nicole Adams has posed:
     Now Nicole began to shift on her feet a little bit, her brows furrowing. Just how much had Alexander guessed about her? Had she been careless with the orange slice a few nights past? Could he have possibly guessed what she was?

     "The guy at the bar... you mean the one who didn't have the sense to put on a coat?" How could she forget him? She hadn't seen him, or Izzy, or the others since that night "What was his deal? What's he got against coats?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "He." Alex says as he points up in the air as if offering revelations, "Is an X-Man." And she might well think him so perceptive, and perhaps having guessed about her. Then he ruins it all by telling her. "But not like you, I mean like... when I meet someone, I sometimes get a vibe about them. That they're interesting and if our fates will entwine. And I got that sort of vibe from you."
    He uncurls a hand the other direction, gesturing calmly. "And, to be fair, from Bobby. And Isabel. It's... part of my family thing. They're known for, like. Magic."
    A curious partial confession at least, and she may well think he's loopy, which would not be too far a jump to be fair.

Nicole Adams has posed:
     That got Nicole's attention. Both brows raise, and the color drains from her face for a moment. "Holy shit." That group was but whispers to many, legend to some, and heroes to others. People often talked freely at a bar, and she'd kept her ear to the ground on mutant matters to a degree, insofar as she could without potentially endangering her employment. The Good Room was supposed to be an inclusive place, but when it came to mutants amongst the employees? She had no idea and was not keen on taking any chances.

     A soft huff escapes her, and she simply shakes her head. "Guess I'd better not screw up his drinks, then. Or yours. Though seriously, magic? Really?" The last word was uttered with a note of disbelief, her gaze leveled at him with distinct hints of the same.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Yeah, I sorta get that." The disbelief and doubt, Alexander stuffs his hands in the deep pockets of his coat and looks off toward the play area that the apes seem to be moseying over to with their lazy gait. He shifts back on his heels, looking at the toe of his boots, then back up at her sidelong with one eye scrunched shut. "I learned a while ago when you meet people, where there's that sort of connection, they're going to play a part in your life somehow. And I'm not meaning this in like a hippy-dippy sort of way. I mean..."
    A hand draws clear and opens palm up as if asking for her to trust him and take the very words from his hand. "For people like me there are actually beings called The Fates, that sort of tweak things, try to change things a little, draw people into our orbit or try to create clashes or dramatics. Things like that. I used to be fairly... closed about it. But then figured if you can manage to get along with most people then hey, they're usually not inclined to declare vendetta against you and your family, or swear utter vengeance."
    Then there's a pause as he adds, "You know?"

Nicole Adams has posed:
     "Wait, do you mean like, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos? The way you talk about them, it's almost as if they're flesh and blood, not old stories." Were these beings for real? Surely they were just the stuff of myth. Nicole shook her head, still not quite believing Alexander, but neither does she dismiss him entirely. "So what if your family declares a vendetta against you and your kind? What then?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Ah, usually it's bad news for the person. Since they're cruel. But yah. Clotho I kinda cheesed off a while ago during a gathering." Alexander shifts his feet a bit, uncomfortable, then looks toward her and murmurs. "I was sort of born into it and then had to be acknowledged. My father is umm, Ares. You see. Olympians. Sort of like Asgardians, but yeah. More magic."
    A simple explanation, though difficult for him to fully compose as he frowns, looking at the apes and perhaps on some level wishing he could be out there jumping around then going through this gauntlet again. Since this... is usually the moment when a person either rushes off or grows irate or reacts strongly however it goes.
    "But I uhm, always figured it was better to bring this up earlier. You know? Than after a few weeks or so or when something weird happens, like harpies attacking or something."

Nicole Adams has posed:
     "Ares. As in, the god of war?" Nicole didn't run, nor did she otherwise react strongly. She'd seen how lives could be torn apart by someone trusting another with information about themselves, and having that trust betrayed. How, then, was this any different? She slips her hands into her coat pockets, her silence only broken by the various grunts and cries of caged creatures throughout the zoo. Mentally, she ran through the few stories she knew of Ares and his kin, her brows knitting.

     It is almost with hesitance that she speaks next, choosing each word carefully. "Maybe someday," she begins. "You'd be able to say the name you were born to. None of the stories I remember of him ever mentioned a child named Alexander."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Ah," There's a beat as he focuses mainly on the way the two silverbacks in their environment seem to be jockeying for position, each shifting posture, exerting themselves. All in some pantomime of activity. Yet Alexander considers them thoughtfully, then looks sidelong towards Nicole and offers in reply, "That is... complicated."
    Yet unlike other times when people speak of such, they use that term to close off conversation, to shut down inquiry. Alex, however, he is perhaps merely just offering fair warning before he grants her some insight into what has passed for him. "I was born, like. Normal. My father raised me as best he could."
    He lifts a hand out of that deep pocket of his coat and rubs the back of his neck. "Then I was kidnapped by someone who wanted to hurt my father through me. It was... this big to do. I ended up almost killing him." Gone for the moment is that overly casual manner, that spacy idiom. "After I was brought home, the rest of his family felt it was acceptable for me to join them. So I took on the mantle given, and that was Phobos. The God of Fear."
    He looks at her and then says, "It's... not exactly a good opener in conversation. And I lose a lot of friends over it."

Nicole Adams has posed:
     Any sensible person would be turning tail right about now. For a moment, it seemed as if Nicole might do just that. Her posture reeked of tension, her fingers curled into fists and unclenching in her pockets; their imprint is plain even beneath the thick, insulating wool. But for the growls and grunts of the silverbacks in their enclosure, there isn't a sound from either of the two.

     How could she run, though, when he trusted her with something as sensitive as knowledge of his lineage?

     The question was, could she do the same?

     After several long moments, her right hand shifts within her pocket again, and she glances at the small bag of popcorn which had thus far been Alexander's snack. From the top of the small pile left within the gaily striped paper bag, one single kernel shifted, shuddered, and slowly began to rise into the air. With their backs turned to passerby, it was unlikely that others would see the minor display. The kernel floated higher, just enough for him to capture it on his own if he so wished.

     Her lips quirked upwards slightly, her peridot eyes registering understanding and acceptance, rather than fear. "I broke ties with my own kin, because of what I am. So trust me when I say, I've got my own share of complications to deal with."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    The youth looks at the floating kernel of popcorn, overcooked and slightly brown with a twist of that spritzed on faux butter, it is a mundane thing but in some ways this first moment of shared connection, it is a kernel of popcorn that will likely live on in his memory for years.
    He smiles to her and then as if it were simply the most natural thing in the world he extends the bag to her, offering her more if she so wishes. "You see."
    Alex speaks with an ease of him, a calm, not quite as seemingly foolish or silly as his other manner through which she first met him. But more a signal an easing of barriers as he lets himself be more himself.
    Then he tells her, "Fate."

Nicole Adams has posed:
     The floating kernel of popcorn, with its singed edges and overly salty, buttery coating, remains in the air a moment longer near Alexander. When it becomes apparent he was not interested in eating it, Nicole herself dips her head forward to capture the treat, with a silly little grin on her face as the popcorn crunches lightly between her teeth. She withdraws her hand from her pocket to pluck a few more pieces from the bag, considering each one carefully as if it might hold the secrets of the universe. Perhaps in another reality, they might do just that. Either that, or it was like something as simple and foolish as cloud-gazing, to pick out the shapes of each one and put a name to it. Popcorn-gazing? Was that even a thing?

     A light chuckle eases the silence, real warmth in Nicole's eyes, her tone lightly teasing and good-natured. "I'm still not going to let you score any booze at the club, you know."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    He claims one kernel for himself as she is welcome to the rest, though his is round and well-formed with a yellowish tint from that whateverbutter that they inflict on them. He pops it into his mouth and chews a few times, then meets her gaze, looking at her eyes as that subtle shift enters them.
    But it's at her wry comment that he snorts, just a small exhalation of air that would be a laugh if he gave it more energy. "Are you kidding? Dionysus is my uncle." He crinkles his nose a little and then lightly turns to the side to give her a slight bump with his shoulder as if scolding her, but affectionately so. "I could probably hook you up with way better stuff."
    A grin, then his eyebrows lift. "But. I suppose you should know, that alcohol doesn't really affect me. Well. Like, normal alcohol."

Nicole Adams has posed:
     Nicole stifles a chuckle, or at least attempts to. However, the attempt is a miserable failure. "That had to make for some pretty wild parties. Talk about having a cool uncle." She leans in for a return shoulder-bump, taking the mock scolding rather well--and giving as good as she gets. "But you're still getting virgin screwdrivers."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Deal," Alex says and he nods again, holding the popcorn in hand and then extending it to her as they both watch the great apes continue their dominance ritual. And all the while Alexander munches and shares.