2369/The Bridge of Dreams

The Bridge of Dreams
Date of Scene:	07 July 2020
Location:	Washington Square Park
Synopsis:	Jessica interrogates Alexander on the source of a dream she had, confirming her initial impressions of him.
Cast of Characters:	Alexander Aaron, Jessica Drew

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Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Languid and luxuriant, the day feels as if it was made for just this very thing. For the lounging around and laziness one can only attain in the middle of Summer when the temperature is just right, the clouds are gently and puffy and wandering across the sky, and there's only a hint of a breeze in the air. Just enough to carry the errant leaf upon the wind and the scent of the freshly mowed grass and the lake with the paddle-boats nearby.
    It is a wonderful time, and the people in the park know it. So many of those in the area have taken to doing what they can outdoors. Some of the office buildings had emptied out with people taking their lunch breaks out and around the fountain and the benches. There is no shortage of food trucks along the street, and the tourists are definitely enjoying themselves.
    And if they are, then who is Alexander Aaron to disagree with them. For he too is sprawled on the freshly cut grass, his sneakers off and set beside his backpack against the old oak tree behind him. With his back upon the ground and one foot lifted in the air, he balances a text upon his bestockinged foot, holding it higher than normal but still readable as he ponders his current reading assignment, a treatise titled, 'George Mason, A Man Ahead of His Time.'
    Yet now and again the youth stops reading. He tilts his head and looks the park over, watching people wander to and fro. Something about people watching is eminently more interesting. Even if they're not quite as accomplished as Mr. Mason.

Jessica Drew has posed:
Even in the middle of New York City, the grace of a summer's day has laid its beneficent hand on the city. The number of days that the city is not suffering under blistering heat or torrential rainfall being few and far between. The charm has beguiled Jessica out of her apartment on her day off. She's searching for someone though it is far from official. Unofficial doesn't make it less than perplexing and troubling, her inner dialogue is robbing her of taking full advantage of the sublime weather.

Being preoccupied hasn't kept her from one of the best food trucks in the borough, Thai food is a good fix for the ills of the world, chicken in green curry and a half portion of pad thai, the type of comfort food she needs. While she is waiting for her order, she turns in place keeping a watchful eye out for the young man who she is looking for and to her surprise (she's not feeling particularly lucky today) sees him with a book propped up over his head idling. Food in hand, she strolls across the grass, to lay her shadow across his supine form and gives herself a case of deja vu so strong that she forgets herself. She stands dumbly over him, holding the steaming bag of food with her mouth half open in a forgotten greeting.

"Ah, ah, Alexander," she manages, at last.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    That's the one, the youth from the event with all the craziness. The one that she helped interrogate and investigate with those curious phantom-like eyes and the rumpled disheveled blond hair. He looks up, one foot still holding that book up in the air with one hand also supporting it to keep it even, his thigh pressed against his chest partially in a display of flexibility that might be surprising.
    What was that name he had for her? Oh right.
    "Hey, Bad Cop."
    Straightening up he rolls upright, the book flipping closed and set down beside him as he settles cross-legged before her, pulling one leg up further in his lap almost half-lotus-like. His head tilted to the side he flashes a smile, though it was a touch wry.
    "How are things? Is this an official visit? Secret things?"

Jessica Drew has posed:
The day of the interrogation, interview if you want to be PC about it, comes rolling back to mix with the fog she is carrying in her head from the previous night. Oh, the imp. Her green eyes narrow and she has half a mind to drop her bags square on his chest though it would be a waste of good food and most likely cut off any further conversation. The food is hot.

One sneakered foot taps on the grass and she tilts her head to one side, her dark hair shadowing her face.

Smiling sardonically, she nods her head. "Yes, there is more of that from where it comes from, if you're looking." Recovering from that initial hit of revisited memory, she adds, "Unofficial. Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Curiousity lights in those pale hazel eyes as he tilts his head one way, then the other, but then a nod is given. "Sure, pull up a seat." Of grass. Under the tree. But he shifts a little to face her more directly while he reaches behind him for his backpack, unzipping it with the whir of teeth. In goes the book on George Mason and then he zips it back up.
    That done he's able to give his full attention to her, eyes drifting over her features, and then to what she's wearing as if trying to gain some tell-tale clue before his attention returns to her gaze. His irises flitting back and forth between hers he asks, "Is something the matter?" A beat before he adds, "Did I do something?"

Jessica Drew has posed:
It is an unofficial visit, very off the books, so she is dressed like a college student - a pair of jeans washed to tissue thinness, one knee out, a green tank top that flatters her thin waist and full breasts, purple tennis shoes because she likes them. She carries a woven bag from Columbia in bright colors that suit the summer day. Unofficial.

Pursing her lips at his question, she sits down cross legged, placing the bags next to her. They exude the delicious scent of well made Thai food. Hands balanced on each thigh, she regards him a moment, one shoulder lifting into a shrug. "I don't rightly know. To be honest. I'm not even sure I know how to go about asking this." She studies him a moment longer. "Want some food? Um, that's not what I want to ask you. You'd have to share containers with me but they put two sets of chopsticks in the bag. Maybe they were telling me I ordered enough for two."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Brow furrowed, it's clear he's trying to solve a problem like Jessica as he peers at her with that open curiousity. But a glance is spared to the bags, to the food therein, and for an instant she'll likely see his gaze shift toward the thoughtful until he shakes his head, "No thanks, I ate not too long ago. But it does smell good."
    That said he turns back to face her, resting his hands upon the leg of his jeans just along his drawn close calf. His oversized t-shirt hangs loose upon his athletic frame, hiding most of him from casual glance. But his eyes remain open and wide and intrigued.
    "I wouldn't put it past them though, they might be trying to encourage you to share it." That said he lets that line of questioning fall off before he embarks on another. "So what's up?"
    He looks at the bag again then back to her, "Is there a mission?" Since on the one hand, that... would be interesting.

Jessica Drew has posed:
"Noooo," the roundness of her vowels marking her clearly as British. "True, it could come through me but not this time. I," she scrutinizes him like she is expecting him to morph into a Chimaera before she can frame her question. "We. It's that. Oh, dear. A lot of what I'm going to ask you about has to do with the fact that your father is a Greek divinity," she says with an audible breath of relief at having crossed that barrier. She lifts both hands questioningly, "Right?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    The youth's head bobs a few times, though he has the wherewithal to look around as if to make sure not too many people are around. But then again the possibility of eavesdroppers is fairly remote, at least for people tracking him. A SHIELD agent however...
    "He is, yes. And so am I, technically." Since he hasn't 'died' yet he's more a demi-god at this point. But he does not clarify for the moment. Instead he cants his head to the side. "Is something wrong?"
    The blond youth shifts and unfolds his leg, tucking it back under the other to sit more easily and cross-legged as he keeps his attention on her. "He's the God of War. Retired."

Jessica Drew has posed:
Sara snorts at the word retired. "What would the world be like if he were on active duty, so to speak?" She waves her question away as rhetorical. She nods, hunched forward, contemplating her fingers that she twines together between her legs then looks up.

"There is a lot I don't know about the, ah, Olympian crew. You must have different powers, I imagine. Just like, the people who have mutations do. I tried to do a little homework. Is telepathy something that is common among you? Sharing thoughts, for example?" Unaccountably, her fair skin flushes at the question, her throat and cheeks rosy by the time she finishes.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Ummm," Alexander says intelligently as he watches her for a time, but then his eyes lift upwards as if trying to gather the information she wants from the deeper recesses of his mind. His eyebrows lift and his gaze shifts to the side, but then he looks back to her. "Well it depends. Some of my family have a really disparate cross-section of powers. Usually they're associated with their Word or their sphere of influence. Telepathy is possible, though I'm not sure if it may be the same thing you are thinking of."
    A hand lifts to rub at the back of his neck thoughtfully as his eyes slip to the side as he ponders, "I mean, my grandfather was able to speak into my mind once. And as beings I know we have a... strong mental presence? So I've been told before."
    But then he leans forward a little and asks, "Did something happen?"

Jessica Drew has posed:
Jessica's face crumples, she straightens it out more or less after a deep breath and steals a glance at him. "Ah. Maybe." She leans forward and tugs a tuft of grass crossly, "Can you send dreams? Isn't that rather a Greek deity sort of thing to do?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "I can't." Alexander says almost instantly as his eyes lift upwards, "I mean I don't think I can. But it's not something I've ever done." He cants his head to the side however as he watches as that small swath of grass before Jessica is dealt with oh so harshly.
    Quirking an eyebrow he looks thoughtful down at her hands as she tears up a piece of grass, then back up to her features. "That would be more something for maybe Morpheus. Or maybe Hypnos. Nyx or Erebus?" It seems there are a few options as to who might have the capability.
    "Though I don't know any of them to look at them. I didn't meet them so I'm not exactly an expert on them, but it sounds like it could be part of their spheres of influence."

Jessica Drew has posed:
Either the boy is a master of deception, she does not give him the benefit of the doubt or he is unaware of Jessica's dilemma. Interrogation techniques come to the fore, at least allowing her to straighten up, release the grass she had been torturing and look him straight in the eyes. Interesting eyes with their colors giving them so much depth, forest and sea.

Clearing her throat, she nods, "That's quite a cast of characters capable of doing that. Any of them have it in for you? I mean, capable of trying to fool someone using you? Ah, how have your dreams been lately?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Well," Alexander chews his lower lip for a moment as he looks to the side, "I mean, they all share a province with Hades in some ways. They are under his masthead if that makes sense. They all owe him fealty in some way. So if Hades has a reason to be displeased with you they could be acting on his behalf."
    He reaches to his side and grabs his backpack and pulls it in front of him, holding it there as if he might need it sooner rather than later, or might need to hop up and run as if speaking about this topic might draw the ire of whatever being of power they name.
    "The situation on the island was ostensibly a celebration by Hades. Maybe one of them... has cast a hex on the people involved with the arrest of those people that were there? Might be acting on their on capricious whim? Maybe see if your co-workers had the same dream?"

Jessica Drew has posed:
"Oh, crikey. I hope not," pops out of her mouth before she can stop it. "Ah, nevermind. But that does make sense. Oh, that makes so much sense."

Mouth pressed into a flat line, she jerks a piece of grass out and looks at it in surprise before dropping it, "Could you make some inquiries on your own without it stirring up any trouble? I'll keep an ear open to what the other agents in the case may have been going through for my part."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Those hazel eyes track her, the way her features move and shift, the flow of her eyes from point to point. He tries to make sense of the sentiment she's sharing but not entirely understanding as he shifts his weight to the side, supporting himself with one hand flat upon the grassy soil.
    "I don't really have any avenues of inquiry beyond my father. But sure I can check with him, though I doubt that'd bring much information to the fore."
    He cocks his head to the side and then murmurs, "Maybe you can start at the beginning, tell me what happened?" His eyes lift up to hers then down as he perhaps can sense the slight hint of jitteriness to her. "Or whatever you think might be relevant."

Jessica Drew has posed:
Jessica can dissemble if she needs to from training on the part of HYDRA, more from SHIELD, but she doesn't. She lets him see some of her dismay. That British need to downplay drama kicking into overdrive covers most of it. Closing her mouth, she says primly, "I'd rather not. Unless, it would make a difference to how you make your enquiries. Though I doubt it." On an indrawn breath, she looks sharply at him, "Your uncle is who? Dionysius?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Yeah," Alexander gives a bob of his head and straightens up a little, "But, to be fair, I have a lot of uncles. It's a large family." Considering how many children Zeus has, acknowledged and unacknowledged... it's impressive.
    "Though no, I don't suppose it would be making a difference on how I ask my father." Since he's the only one he can really talk to easily. That said he looks to the side, and then back. Then to the side again as he lets his thoughts wander. "Was it, you think, maybe a prophetic dream? Or something dire or scary?"
    He looks at her sidelong, as if trying to discern what he can from those subtle shifts of her features. "I mean. I don't hold any real ill will against you. If that's what you're worried about. I just call you Bad Cop because it makes me smile."

Jessica Drew has posed:
"I don't worry about it. You just call me bad cop because you're a smart ass, you mean," she replies immediately, shaking her head and rocking in place in amusement.

"I rather don't think it's prophetic and hardly dire just...." With a wave of her hand she leaves the sentence unfinished. "It was very real. Too real for it to be a normal dream which is why I'm asking you about your family. Because at first, I thought you had done it as a prank."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Ah," He says as if that revealed something to him, which it doesn't. Instead he does smirk a little at the smart ass comment and does not dispute it. Instead he draws up one leg to his chest, wrapping his arms around it and resting his chin on his knee as he ponders the conundrum before him.
    "I don't really pull pranks if they require forethought and then it's usually a spur of the moment thing that I just decide on on a whim." That said his lip turns up a little, "But I can tell you I didn't do anything like you're saying. Or at least as far as I'm aware."
    He reaches out with his sneaker and touches the toe of her shoe with his as he still ponders things, then tilts his head to the side as he looks at her. "If it helps at all, I'm sorry you're dealing with further weirdness that you think is connected to my weirdness."

Jessica Drew has posed:
The amusement fades as she asks herself one more time whether he is having her on or telling the truth. She chews the inside of her cheek as she contemplates him, so handsome and so self-assured for a boy his age. Fearless. Seemingly indomitable. The ignorance of youth or some wellspring of power that she can only imagine?

She moves her foot away and dismisses the apology with a wave of her hand though she looks at him kindly, saying, "Life is weird. Life is doubly, triply weird if you work for SHIELD. One does not go there expecting a suburban home with a rose garden. So, no worries and thank you."

Pulling one of the bags to her, she opens it and looks inside, then glances at him, "Sure you don't want any?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Preeettty sure." Alexander says, letting the words hang there for a time even as he looks across the way at her. He doesn't make a move to get up or to head off, still content to sit there with his backpack nearby. "For all I know it could be SHIELD mind-altering drugs, where one moment I'm sitting here all normal, and then the next I'm all running around in combat suits and throwing my weight around pompously demanding people do what I say whenever I flash my decoder ring and membership badge in their direction."
    His smile turns a little wry, a little wicked as he dares impugn her workplace with such perfidy, but then he looks away and then back. "Or is this your way of making it up to me when I had to pay for yours and May's lunch that one time?"
    His head bobs a few times almost vindictively as he points two fingers at his eyes, then points those two fingers at her as if to tell her that he's watching her.

Jessica Drew has posed:
No. She will never like him though he makes her laugh. She does, laughing helplessly with her hand to her brow. "I am not making up for that lunch. You deserved to buy it for us and likely owe us another were I the sort of person to go about counting that sort of thing." The emprise of the dream dissipates a little from the laughter.

She takes out chopsticks, peels off the paper and cracks them apart with a decided air. "Well, then excuse me because I'm ravenous. I didn't have breakfast." She fishes out a white carton with fold open lid and pries it apart releasing a delicious, complex aroma of basil, hot peppers and chicken. She looks up at him inquiringly before deftly picking a piece of chicken out and popping it in her mouth.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    A snort comes from him as he shakes his head and murmurs, "Mmhmm," With an air of disbelief that might be surprising in its efficacy. But he looks away while she starts to fiddle with her food and her chop sticks, occasionally stealing a glance at it curiously and perhaps considering some act of robbery in case he changes his mind.
    But he looks up into her eyes and murmurs, "Good luck collecting on another lunch. You're lucky I don't abscond with your food right now purely on principle." That said he does leeeean forward and seems to look over those white cartons with a curiousity that's clearly on the verge of a feline about to paw at something it finds intriguing.
    "So. Why is this dream so embarrassing?" He asks.

Jessica Drew has posed:
"Take some food. There is stir fried pumpkin, stir fried veggies, this chicken and pad thai, oh, and these fish cake thingies that will burn your mouth but taste so good. I got carried away but figured if I didn't share it I would have more for later," she says, indulgently around a mouthful of food.

"Go on." She is not going to answer his question then relents somewhat. "Think about it. Your uncle is Dionysius, need I say more?" Chopsticks poised halfway to her mouth, she leans forward, eyebrows hooked high.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "No fun with permission," He replies almost instantly, and of course he'd think that way. But that doesn't stop him from looking and looking very curious about the various food items. One might get the impression he doesn't have Thai food very often, or ever to be fair.
    "Yeah?" He then asks as she replies to his question, then she elaborates and he says simply. "Oh."
    A moment as he reflects and then he says, "Oh!"
    But then his smile spreads a little. And then a little more, almost cheshire-like as he looks away.
    "I see." He says as he bites his lower lip and then looks across the way at her. Indeed, one could almost imagine the little canary feathers that might be sticking out the side of his mouth he looks so damn satisfied.

Jessica Drew has posed:
Jessica's eyes lid as she thinks to herself, 'What a jerk.' Aloud, she says after opening another carton filled with sticky rice, "Don't get all excited about it. I'd worry that your uncle is targeting people, myself. Next time, if he decides to do it again, it might be gory. You know. Whips and chains, all matter of blood and gore."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Possibly, possibly." Alexander reaches in then and steals a small pepper half with a quick dash of fingertips, then pops it into his mouth. He chews a bit and looks thoughtful. But even the most rigid poker-face would not fool her for she can see the slightest hint of a half-smirk even as he chews a bit more.
    Until finally he broaches the idea, "You know, perhaps it was just, like... repressed emotions. They can manifest in things like that." He nods his head sagely, clearly an expert on the matter considering he's halfway into the first semester of a psych 101 course.
    "Doesn't have to be something mystical and magical. Might just be, you know, something else." He says oh so innocently. But not at all so.

Jessica Drew has posed:
Looking up at him from under knitted brows, she shakes her head, drops a clump of rice into her green curry sauce and eats it. "Wishful thinking on your part, I'd say. No and no. Besides it was much too, eh... it wasn't dream like.

"Nor was it mystical or high woo woo. It felt like it was made to make me uncomfortable and like a prank. Period. No more to be said about it. Have a fish cake. They're great. Dip it in the amber sauce in the little cup."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "No, no. I think it might be best if I got up and left you to think long and hard about your clearly difficult situation." He does reach back for his backpack and slings it over one shoulder, slipping his hand through the loop and then tilting his head back at her. "I mean, it sucks if this is a thing being done to you. M'sorry."
    He then pushes himself to his feet and rolls a shoulder with a faint wince, "But I mean... maybe it's not. Which, is kinda cool in a way." There's a small shrug given.
    "If I hear anything I'll call and let you know. Ok?" And as he says that he stuffs his hands into his pockets and tilts his head curiously at her, as if expecting her to offer some final sortie to try and get his goat.

Jessica Drew has posed:
Waving her chopsticks at him, "I'll let you know, Alexander. And keep in touch if you hear anything. Bye!" She stabs the chopsticks into the carton and kills whatever it was that offended her in it in one go.