17318/Some Fresh Air

Some Fresh Air
Date of Scene:	02 March 2024
Location:	Back Yard
Synopsis:	The new college student finds Noriko hitting some balls at the baseball diamond. They have a quick chat and come up with some new ideas for the slip n' slide.
Cast of Characters:	Noriko Ashida, Patty Sloan

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Noriko Ashida has posed:
It's evening, the sun has set, letting the crisp night time air invade the senses.  Most students have retreated to the rec room or other indoors hangout spots, but the blue hair speedster who can be seen making things disappear from here and appear over there or other various odd jobs (like stocking the kitchen and so on) about campus is at the baseball diamond, smacking balls into the deformed backstop at an astonishingly destructive velocity.  The skins of balls that have seen better days litter the ground nearby.  The routine seems to just grab a ball from the bucket, toss it up, then smack it with the wooden bat.

Even with those bulky gauntlets on, this seems to be old hat for the young woman, who shoots off balls at a machine gun like pace in a blur.  Though if one were to really watch her, she isn't hurrying at all.

Patty Sloan has posed:
Patty is out as well. She didn't want to go in just yet. The air is crisp and it felt nice against her wings. She quietly wonders around the back yard, looking around and taking in the sights. The thing that gets her attention is the repeated sounds of a bat hitting a ball at a blinding speed. It sounds like a gun going off. Quietly she walks toward the sound, not wanting to disturb anyone. Or more importantly, distract and wind up with one of those balls coming her way.

As she approaches the baseball diamond, she sees the lightning fast mutant girl moving crazy fast while busting the tar out of baseballs. "Yikes." She comments upon watching this. "I would hate to be the catcher right now." She giggles as she continues watching.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko runs out of balls pretty quickly, annoyingly quickly for her.  She separates out the bucket into four after tossing the bat aside and each bucket suddenly pops up into place.  Then all of the balls start to hop up from the ground, one after the other in rapid succession toward the buckets, as if they were just hopping up in themselves like Mary Poppins had something to do with it.

Then, there's a tableau.  Noriko is suddenly a few paces away from Patty, the bat propped up over her shoulder.  "I haven't seen you.  You're new.  Oh wait!"  Noriko snaps.  "Wings."  She isn't really dressed for the weather.  She has a thin dual-colored raglan long-sleeve on and some cargo pants, but she acts like it is the middle of July, save for not having a drop of sweat on her.  "I'm Noriko.  I work here, well, not on this diamond but I work around the Mansion."

Patty Sloan has posed:
Patty has clearly never been around a speedster before. She watches as the balls make their way towards the bucket. "Okay that's really impressive!" She comments loud enough to be heard but not really yelled or anything.

Then Noriko is right in front of her. "EEP!" She stumbles backward and flutters her wings. The fall is nowhere as bad as it could be as she lands softly on her backside. Quickly she stands up and brushes herself off. "Hi! Umm yes I am new. Nice to meet you." She stands there as she is examined. "Yeah I got wings. Nice to meet you, I'm Patty. Or Sylph I guess. That is the codename I gave Roberto and the Professor I guess." She smiles a little. "I am a student at the college. Nice to meet you." She smiles and extends a hand to shake.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko never hears Patty, not the way Patty hears Patty, at least while she's zooming around.  If she does hear the compliment, she doesn't let on.  Instead, she stands with her gauntlets at her hips.

"Codename?  Were you some ex-operative or secret weapon or something?"  Nori cocks her head to the side, her eyes twitch down, up.  "I'll go with Pat.  It's the fastest."  No she doesn't ask if this is something Patty wants to be called.  Her mouth is open when she sees the extended hand.  She blinks, unused to people wanting to shake her gauntlet or touch her.  She steps forward to take Patty's hand.  Her gauntlet is hard, kind of flexible, but cold to the touch.  It looks like it could use a paint job.

"They wanted me to go to college, but it's really hard for me to not fall asleep in lectures...or go insane with boredom, so I decided to get the only job that has food as a major benefit."  Nori smirks.  "What year are you in?  Do you know what you want to study?"

Patty Sloan has posed:
"I dunno why they asked me about a code name. I never thought of one before yesterday. Sylph just kinda suited me ya know?" Then there is the nickname. She shrugs, "Meh, could be worse. Pat is fine." As she shakes the gauntleted hand she smiles. "A pleasure to meet you." She laughs a little. "I umm... I don't think I was a secret weapon or anything. If I was I think I was a let down." She laughs again.

Then she listens to Noriko's story and she gives a smile. "If your mind moves as fast as your body I can definitely understand that. It would be a nightmare trying to listen to someone drone on and on." She goes quiet a moment and smiles. "I am a Freshman and I am not entirely sure yet. There are so many options out there its hard to settle on just one, you know?"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Yeah, Noriko could have called her Patty Cakes, but that one seemed to sail by the girl, or she's just not that outright mean.  "Maybe you were a secret weapon, secret even from yourself," Noriko postulates without much conviction.

"Does your mind only move as fast as your body?"  Noriko arches her brow at Patty.  In other words, her mind moves much much much faster than her body.  "Oh so we would have been in the same year.  Yeah, easier just not to do it.  - But yeah, if I ever do stuff while we talk, it's not personal.  Also, I'm electrically based so I /will/ drain your batteries if you have any.  Again, not personal.  I also might short out the lights around you, or pass on a few electrons.  Not personal.  Unless it is."  Noriko doesn't elaborate.

"Occasionally I might even just disappear to go discharge some electricity.  That's always personal," Noriko says without any explanation whatsoever.  "So I'm sure everyone's asked.  Do you fly?  Or are you more like an ostrich?"

Patty Sloan has posed:
She smiles and nods. "Maybe. That would certainly blow me away. Among other people!" She laughs.

"I understand. Doing You are so fast that average speed stuff like small talk must be dreadfully slow." She smiles. "Well I needed to charge my phone anyway. Its okay if it gets drained. "Eep! Sounds like you have quite the amazing abilities. Mine are not as elaborate." She smiles to Noriko and Shrugs, "I mess with the air. Like I can make the wind blow really hard if I want."

Then there is the question. "I umm... I don't know. I think I have to learn to fly. I never really tried due to having to hide my abilities for so long. I had to use belts to tie my wings down so they didn't pop out."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Yes.  It actually takes concentration to stay slow," Noriko explains.  There is a lot more to Noriko's abilities, but she doesn't elaborate beyond the bullet points she deems appropriate in the given moment.  "That's cool.  Maybe you blow people away or do other things with wind," the speedster says with a shrug.

At the word of Patty having to hide her abilities, Noriko's jaw tightens for a whole second before it releases, but the rest of her remains still.  "They must feel good to get out then.  I bet they're all kinds of sore.  Might not even be up to full strength.  I haven't seen how fast I can go either.  It'd be really cool if you were able to pick someone up."  Noriko seems to bounce around topics rapidly without any acknowledgement that this is not how most people talk.  She does seem excited about the last prospect, her eyes narrowing just slightly as if she has ideas, or wants to have ideas, or knows there should be ideas.

Patty Sloan has posed:
Patty nods slowly, understanding how difficult it must be. "Yeah maybe. Maybe I can make tornadoes or something!" She laughs. "I don't think I can cause wind to blow that hard. It would be cool though..." She smirks playfully. "I mean just imagine controlling something that untamed!

At the mention of her wings she nods, "Yeah it feels great having them free. I think I need to get stronger to actually fly. They are definitely sore. So is my ribs and sides from those belts. Those things stink. I understand why I had to wear them but they really hurt after a while. Then when I would get excited or anything my wings would react and it would hurt." She then ponders carrying other people. "Hmmm. I would have to get much stronger. With my wings and with the rest of my body too. It would be pretty cool though. Lifting people up and carrying them around through the sky!"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Dropping kids into the lake!  I get to throw kids into the lake.  The ones that want it.  I'm also pretty good at sliding across ice," but ice skating is something Noriko doesn't mention.  "You could do it and say you need target practice...dropping kids I mean," Noriko adds when she realizes she might have skipped around in topic.

"I think I can make little dirt devils.  Maybe we could make ours duel, or like each person picks up an object to smash at the other object where they meet like an air battle."  Noriko shrugs nonchalantly, then yawns, covering up her mouth and the small crackle of electricity at the back of her mouth.  "I'm sure you'll get strong soon-So do you guys have roommates?  I mean I live in one of the apartments, so it's a bit different."

Patty Sloan has posed:
"I could blow kids into the lake! That I know I can do. I blew an adult into a DVD display in a walco." She laughs. "It was freaky when it happened. I thought I was going to get arrested but I made an escape with a guy who had a space ship. I know it sounds silly but its one hundred percent true! It was a weird day. He dropped me off in New York City. Talk about a rough trip. I didn't have anything but my bank card and the cash I was carrying."

"I might be able to do something like that." She makes a throwing, twisting motion with her hand. Some wind whips up and goes spiraling about making a small dust devil. "Something like that?" Then the topic shifts to if she has a roommate or not. "I don't think I do yet. Would be cool to have a roommate though." She pauses and smiles, "That sounds like a lot of fun. I wanna find a job I think."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I wish I had arrived by spaceship," Noriko genuinely grumbles half to herself.  "That's cool though.  You could blow kids down the slip n' slide.  That'd be helpful...or...back up?"  Nori tilts her head at the spurious thought that escapes.

The sudden movement causes Noriko to step aside rather quickly, watching how Patty's wings move in slow motion.  One of the benefits of being as fast as she can be.  "Yeah that works," she says with a quick nod of approval for the dust devil.  "Well, roommates are important.  Trust me.  Like-what kind of job?  One where you can use your abilities or-?"

Patty Sloan has posed:
Patty shrugs and smiles, "Probably. I mean its just a matter of directing the wind where to go. Plus going down a slide, you could get some good distance off of it with a bit of a wind push!" She laughs a little. "Imagine a kid getting blown up a slide. That would be funny as all get out to see. Make people do double takes."

Patty gives a smirk. "Yeah that was fun! I never made one before." She then looks at Noriko and smiles, "I'll bet. Making friends that you can work with and help out? That would be great." She takes a deep breath and smiles, "Well Before I came here I was a cashier at a non-profit thrift store. I really wanna do something to help people. That is where my heart is at. I wanna make things better for the world."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"That'd be great.  I'll push them down, you blow them back.  We should setup some giant inflatable pins and take turns."  Yes.  Noriko really doesn't bat an eyelash at this.  She's serious.  "Yeah.  It's happening," she determines as if there is nothing left to be discussed.

"Nice.  Looked like it was your fifteenth at least," Noriko plucks the number out of thin air.  "Yeah.  You could say that. - Well I'm sure there's plenty you can do along those lines.  I know there are opportunities to help out in Mutant Town and plenty of people at the school are involved with charity and non-profit work.  Depending on what you're interested in, I'm sure someone can hook you up...Look, I need to work on getting these dents out and then I have to meet..somebody, but, let me know if you're able to get any air yeah?  Or even just gliding."

Patty Sloan has posed:
"That sounds like a lot of fun! We can totally do that!" She giggles playfully. "The kids will have a field day with it." She smiles happily. "Okay then. I look forward to this!"

"Oh yeah? That would be really cool. I will need to talk to someone about it. I love helping others. I really want to do that. I will ask around." She then listens, "Oh yeah that would be a good idea. I should probably head to my room and get ready for bed. I will keep you posted of my progress. I should be able to glide... I mean I can do this!" SHe flutters her wings and lifts off the ground about a foot before dropping back down. "Anyway I will see you later. It was nice meeting you Noriko!"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko watches Patty lift up off the ground with an open mouthed smile.  "Think happy thoughts!" she says, without explaining it, before she dashes off, snagging up the buckets along the way.  There's a loud THWACK that sounds like it lasts a second, and all of the dents have-well at least they've been dented back.

The dust kicks up around Noriko's feet.  She makes no effort to hide herself, but there's a brief tableau where Noriko can be seen tossing an electrified peace sign Patty's way before zipping out of there like the Road Runner.