Summary:While out in the park, Gar Logan meets Keiko Kurita. There may have been some mixed signals. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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It's a beautiful day, just perfect for working in the sun. Things have calmed down for Keiko Kurita, sort of. There's the matter of the mark on her chest from last night. That's stinging and itching at the same time.
But work waits for no man, or woman and she's a job in Central Park. Repairing benches that line the broad walkway. Right now, the small, asiatic woman is crouched beside one, arms bared, trying to fix a slat in place. It's hard to miss the ink that covers her arms and disappears under the straps of her tank top.
The slat slips "Joder!" she mutters, a little more loudly than intended."
Wandering the park in the form of a moderate sized bloodhound, Gar is out to just enjoy some time in the sun. He's snuffling at the flowers and just enjoying the warmth. Catching sight of a balloon that has escaped from a child, Gar shifts from being a hound into a sparrow, flying up to catch the ribbon in his talons and flies it back do to the little girl that had lost it.
"Mommy! Look! A bird brought my bawwoon back!" That would be great if the mom didn't just see the all green bird and /whacks/ Gar with her purse, sending him flying as she screams about an infected alien bird. Landing in a pile of feathers near where Keiko is working on the bench, the green mutant shakes his head and puffs out his feathers as he takes in the young woman. Then he leaps over to where she's working, landing on his taloned heels on the dge of the bench. "What's a Joder?" he asks, taking Keiko in. "Hey, nice ink!"
Yes, the little green sparrow is talking to her.
The bird landing near her has Keiko looking before starting to move carefully to pull her rod from her toolbox. She doesn't shake it out yet, looking between the bird and her arms and back again. Clearly perplexed, she doesn't relax, a frown creasing her brow as she takes the bird in.
It's like she thinks Gar is something else.
"You talk… our spirit animals don't talk." Her accent is hard to pick. It's a mish mash of several and nothing is particularly dominant. "Joder!" she corrects - it sounds more like hho-derr when she does. "It's … a cuss word…" he gets that much from her.
"What are you?"
So tactful.
Fluffing his wings up and rising to a full seven inch height, Gar sparrows so eloquently. "I could be a spirit animal! But that'd be totally weird!" After a moment of making Keiko wonder, he leaps from the bench to change back into his more imposing five foot tall pointy eared green self. Complete with a warm smile. See! Threatening! "I would be well.. I'm a human. Just a different one." he explains, as he looks himself over in his purple and black body suit. "I'm Gar."
With that. he's moving to take a seat, folding his legs beneath him as he tilts his head to consider Keiko from a tilted angle. "What language is that? I've never heard it. What do you mean by spirit animals? Is that why you have animal tattoos?"
Keiko scoots backwards as Gar transforms, the rod extending to her staff. She does look abashed when he finally stands there and collapses the staff again, putting the rod in her bag - not out of reach, but not visible anymore.
"You're a mutant, yes?" She asks. So very direct. "Uh… Keiko…"
"Don't sit on tha—-" When he sits, the slat that she was placing gives way and slides off. It will leave Gar precariously balanced at best.
"Spanish." that's the answer to one of the questions he asked. "I uh … " there's some reticence there to answer that last question. "… you might say that, I suppose."
He could totally say that.
As Keiko moves, part of the burn she received last night comes visible. It's red and angry - but not blistered. Gar will see part of the sprawling script under the neckline of her top and Keiko rubs at it absently.
When the rod comes out, Gar holds out his hands, a brief moment of panic. "Whoa, whoa, I'm not gonna try to hurt —" and then the slat gives out and down goes the green mutant. There's a loud thud and ooof.
And a green mutant on his back - defeated by Keiko without even trying hard!
"You don't look Spanish, but that's cool." he's going to try so hard to change the subject as he bounces back to his feet and looks for the slat to try to help her put it back in place.
Then he notices the burn, and his brows furrow in concern. "What happened?" he asks, gesturing to the wound, without, you know, trying to stare too hard at the young woman.
"Don't you pay attention to what's going around you?" Keiko huffs, holding a hand out to help the green elf up. "I was on that when you got here. It's why I swore." The asiatic looking woman looks mournfully at the job. She's not going to be able to charge the extra hours on this.
Well, she could. But she won't. There's something about ethics buried in there.
"And what does looking Spanish, look like?" There's a slight tug to the corners of her mouth as she asks that. "I … think I was born in Peru and I lived most of my life in Central America." Which probably means that Spanish is her first language and English her second.
If she's discomfitted by the staring, it's not because of where Gar is staring. It's because he's staring at that brand. "I … a gout of flame came out of an arcane object and marked me yesterday." Is she joking? She has to be right? That's the sort of thing people say when they don't want to answer the question.
"Whoa, like Indiana Jones, Lara Croft tomb raider type stuff? Looks like it hurt." Gar says, and then he realizes what he did in messing up her project. "Sorry! I sorta.. ended up here - cause well.. nevermind. Long story! But there was this balloon, then a girl, and he mom and I think it was a Louis Vetton purse."
"Anyway!" he announces, before reaching down to roll up his sleeves. He's scrawny - there's barely any meat on those bones as he straightens up to his full five foot height. "I made this mess, what can I do to help you fix it?" he asks her.
"And uhm, I'd probably stuck my foot waaaaay down my mouth with that whole.. you don't look Spanish thing. Sorry, big melting pot and all that!"
"Lara Croft is a fraud. Indiana's better." Keiko answers. "It did hurt and I wasn't very well after." She still might not be. She said it happened yesterday, after all, but a woman has to eat. "What's a Louis Vutton?" eclectic set knowledge the tattoo bearer has.
Gars about the same height as her. She's lean and wiry though where he might just be scrawny. "You can help me with the slat. It needs to be held in place while I secure it…" It's damn heavy when he tries to pick it up, it's no wonder Keiko was having trouble.
"What's that about a balloon?" The dusky skinned woman skinned woman turns to pick up her tools again. At the base of her neck, there's an outline. The starting of another tattoo perhaps?
Turning back, she crouches, waiting for Gar to give the help he's offered. "I don't see a melting pot around here…"
"Okay! We'll have this up in a flash!" Gar offers, as he moves to the slat and starts to try to lift it. "Ungh!" It barely budges. "Grrr!" Nothing. He struggles and struggles, twisting in every direction to try to lift it. "This is really heavy!" he huffs and puffs.
"Of course Indiana's better, he had the fedora and the whip!" he offers, and then he bites on the side of his lip as he considers the slat. She may notice a reverse canine sticking out over his upper lip in the thoughtful look.
And then he changes. Growing large and big, Gar takes on the form of a large green gorilla. "Now let's try this!" he manages, as he moves to lift the slat with a lot more ease.
"Oh, a girl lost her balloon. I got it back. And well. Whack. Here I am." he explains, before glancing towards the dusky skinned woman. "The tattoos. Do they hurt?" he asks curiously. "I mean. If that's too personal a question…"
Keiko watches as Gar struggles, she had didn't have quite as much trouble as he did, but the slat definitely is heavy. As he transforms, she rocks back and blinks. "That's not magic. I'd know if it was …"
She's having trouble holding her end in place and with Gar there, like that … she makes a decision. Murmuring some words she touches the image of the tarantula at her right wrist … a few seconds later a blue glowing version of it appears. Except it's huge. That's got to be 24inches on leg span. "Arananet. Hold my end of the slat up."
The spider waves a leg as it's addressed and scuttles under the slat, pushing it's back against it. This leaves Keiko's hands free to fix it in place before she moves to Gars end and starts the same.
His story, makes little sense, bringing another frown "My tattooes? Not … now. No. Getting them? I don't know if I could explain what it was like…." She doesn't mention, at least yet, what it's like if the creatures are hurt.
"Dude, we can totally do King Kong vs. the Tarantula Queen!" Gar announces in shock when she summons forth the tarantula. So it seems that they have the slat under control, so that's cool. But now it's left him with yet more questions than answers as the green mutant shakes his head. "Nope, not magic. Just what I can do, you know." he gives a shrug of currently massive shoulders.
"I see. So, they're magic? The tattoos, right?" he asks her curiously. "I mean, was that like.. something you wanted?" comes the next question as he moves to watch Keiko at work.
"Hold the slat, please. Arananet can hold that end but I need you here …" She works to secure it, glancing at the green Gorilla as she does.
"Please don't fight her, she doesn't do that…" The spider doesn't fight, interesting. What does she do? She's enormous.
"I know. I've seen others like you, in M-Town when I work there." Keiko says quietly. "Are you is school? Do you work? It looks like a really useful thing… Does … it hurt? When you change?"
Some mutants it seems to. At least that what it seems.
Was it something she wanted? There's a flicker of something as Keiko tightens the bolts "I … wasn't given any choice. It was accept them or … " she takes a deep breath. No ones asked her this. Not ever.
"Oh. I didn't mean literally fight her. You don't watch movies, do you?" Gar asks, a tilt of his head in thought at the young woman, before glancing at the spider. "I bet she could weave an /amazing/ hammock." comes his admission as he looks thoughtful.
"Naw, doesn't hurt at all, just have to think about it. Does it hurt when you use your tattoos?" he asks her in return. "Like, when you got that burn, if that was on a tattoo, would that make it worse?" he asks her curiously.
And then he puts together the meaning of her words. The gorilla's face sinks, showing empathy at her tone. "When I was eight, I was really sick. My dad had to give me an utested medicine - it turned me this color." he finally responds. Perhaps trying to reach out to her. "I am sorry that someone did that to you. But.. I am glad you are using it to help."
"I watch movies and TV series. Netflix …" Keiko answers. "I … just didn't watch a lot before a couple of years ago." Much of her understanding of the western world is shaped by that, actually. She glances to Arananet and considers. "She does. It helps when she … goes looking for things for me." The spider stands still while the pair of them works.
"Yeah, it does. More depending on which one I use. I barely feel Arananet now but the others …" she shrugs. It's probably good she has something to do with her hands. Something to focus on. "It would hurt, yeah. It would hurt the spirits bound to them."
His admission has her looking up, dark eyes wide, almost … glassy. "Was it worth it, do you think? Being made green to save your life?" she shakes her head "I'm not … I wasn't. I was just trying to … hide."
"I don't know." Gar answers. For a large gorila, there is a moment of sadness that passes over his face. Gathering his thoughts, the green mutant gives a faint smile. "Both my parents died a couple of years later. But I'm still here." And there's been a /lot/ that he has gone through since then. "But before I become a complete downer. Spirits?" he asks curiously, waiting for Keiko to finish her current work.
"And hey, if you watched Netflix, you probably totally saw me. I mean, if you ever watched any of the sci-fi stuff!" he suddenly brightens. It's a clear attempt to changing the subject off things that are completely bumming the pair of them out.
Keiko dashes a hand across her eyes as she watches, turning her attention to the bench again. She's nearly done here. "That's good. That you're still here." Arananet scuttles out from underneath the bench and moves towards Gar now, clearly interested in the green mutant. "I'm sorry you lost your parents. I … didn't know mine… not really."
She shakes herself and gestures to Arananet at the question. "Spirits. They bound the spirits of animals to me, I had to endure the ceremony and master the spirit. If I survived, which I did … I could call them."
She doesn't show him her arms but he can see them. And she's not closing the conversation down.
"Maybe? What … were you in?"
Once the beam is in place, Gar becomes his human form again. He peers at the tattoos a little more closely. "That must have been.. a very trying experience." he says to her, not sure if talking about his show should even be in the target area. "Oh, it was this show that was on for one season. Space Trek 2062. I mean, only fanboys really know about it, cause most of it was taken away. I don't even know how Netflix got a hold of some episodes. I still have a DVD from my time on there." he shrugs his shoudlers and then considers her.
Reaching out, there's a tenative touch to Keiko's arm, against one of the tattoos. Probably not the tarantula. "You didn't know your parents? What happened?" he asks her, glancing up to meet her eyes. Yeah, okay, they're green too.
"You got used to it. They trained us hard .." Keiko says quietly. She's got six tattooes that he can see, that's six times she did this - at least.
"I loved that show. I … didn't recognise you. But I'm not a fanboy." she says "I don't own a fan, actually." Semantics. She's so not good with them. "What was it like? Being on a show like that?" She's interested at least as she packs up her tools and straightens. His touch causes her to pause a little as she returns the gaze. Oh, yes, his eyes are very, very green. "I … was taken from them and … this …"
"You did?" there's surprise on Gar's face as he blinks at the woman curiously. "You're putting me on!" Usually, he mentions the show, and he could be his own cricket to chirp. "Oh, well, you don't recognize my uh, well, other face!" He considers, and then changes his appearance. It takes a few more seconds than his usual animal forms, but he finally takes on the alien apperance of the thin green science officer. "That help?" he asks, and then snickers. "It saved them /tons/ in special effects and CGI!"
"Plus they let me make up my own aliens and stuff. It was really cool." Then he's caught looking into her much darker eyes, and finally it connects that his hand has lingered far longer on her arm than what could be considered /proper/. His cheeks darken bright red and he returns to his usual pointed ear form. Then he frowns. "Oh. This.. I see, it wasn't something you wanted.. but came to accept and do something with. Something good. That's pretty cool,…" And then he realizes, he hasn't even asked her for her name yet.
"Mmmhmm, I did. I spend a lot time watching movies and TV, spent a lot when I came to the USA." Keiko blinks as Gar changes "You … might have been my favourite character…" she smiles a bit shyly.
She hadn't noticed that Gar had taken too long. Keiko's a bit strange in that regard. The blush gets a curious look though she doesn't say anything.
"They're mine now. Part of me. They do what I want … mostly." She's still thinking on what the woman said to her yesterday. Treat them as friends, not tools.
"I couldn't live without them now, really. I'm … Keiko, by the way."
"Well, if you ever want, I mean, I have the unaired second part of the season finale - you know, the season two premier that never was." Gar says with a thoughtful smile. "If you want, maybe we could.." he toes at the ground in thought, hands folding behind his back.
"I mean, if you want, we could watch it together sometime?" he offers to her. "Or you know, if you want to borrow it!" Because he doesn't want her to think he's asking her out.
Even if he is trying to totally ask her out - even if she has no clue. That's how it goes right? "And yeah. That's how I feel about the animals I become. I mean, I could probably be in a circus or something, and be some kind of.. you know, animal mocker. But they deserve better than that, right?"
"You do huh?" Keiko is clueless that Gar might be asking her out. "Maybe we could… I don't own a DVD player." Because of course she doesn't.
"It is. My spirits rely on me to survive and I rely on them. I have to look after them and … Circus?" She has to think on that a bit. "Oh, yes. Why would you do that? You got good work and … it looks like you try to help people."
"I was just uh. You know. Trying to empathize? I guess with the whole thing with the wanting to do good with what happened to you.." Gar kinda chuckles, and waves his green hands. "Anyway! Great. We'll get together sometime!" he offers to her, before the green mutant blinks a couple of times and glances at his watch. "Oh gosh, I didn't realize how late it was. I need to go do a couple of things… but I'll se you later, Keiko, okay?"
And just like that, he's becoming an owl to fly off. "It was a hoot to meet you!" Leave them with a laugh.
And no clue on how to contact her later.
Doh.
Keiko blinks as Gar flies off "Ooook." Arananet waves a leg as Keiko mutters some words and touches her tattoo, the spider dissipates to blue smoke that trails to her arm. "Interesting man…" she says to herself.
Bending down to pick up her toolbox, the tattooed woman moves to the next bench. This job is going to take her most of the day.
Does she think about the fact he doesn't have her number? No. Why would she? Keiko is totally oblivious. Then again, she's a Craigslist listing, so there's that.