Summary:In which Hank runs into Alison and Sunny once more and they enjoy a quiet summer evening talking about music. Log Info:Storyteller: None, really -- it was a collaborative effort! |
Related LogsTheme SongSunshine Days, the Brady Bunch! (KIDDING!) |
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Early in the evening and Hank is busily amusing himself in one of the several parks in the area. He'd forgotten how much he liked the area when he lived here, not that the Institute isn't great — and there's LOTS of natural splendor, but there's nothing like the big city for a mix of things, especially an area like Greenwich Village. Sure, he gets some odd looks, but he simply smiles politely and goes back to people watching as he reads a hard bound book, looks like number ten of the Wheel of Time series. Hey! He's allowed to read fiction! Next to him is a small bag of popcorn, he occasionally flicks some to some pigeons.
This is an artist neighborhood…or at least it used to be…so Alison is more than happy to wander in the streets in the warm summer evening. Wearing a backpack and with a guitar case in one hand, she is dressed not much different than when Hank last saw her; boots, fishnets, shorts, t-shirt (the Pride one he bought her ironically enough), and an open jacket. She sings to herself as she walks, absorbing the world with all her senses - so of course she notices the blue fellow on the bench. "Hey, you" she greets with a grin; it's doubtful that she has mistaken him for another blue person. "Your cat friend not around?"
No, not too many hulking blue furred guys in the neighborhood, it would be pretty amazing if this one -wasn't- the one Ali met before! "Mm? Oh! Good evening, Miss Blair. Very nice to see you again." Hank marks his page in Crossroads of Twilight, and sets the book aside carefully. Clearly, he very much respects books. A toothy smile, made a bit toothier by rather smallish fangs, and he nods. "Indeed, Cat is presently at her studies back at the Institute, whilst I have just finished attending a lecture at NYU, and wanted to relax a bit before heading home." Sitting up straighter, he removes his reading glasses, tucking them into an inside pocket of his jacket. He's otherwise wearing a simple suit of black and massive size 20 shoes! "I trust you're well?"
"Call me Alison" she smiles warmly. "Thanks for the t-shirt." A quick gesture to it in case he doesn't know where she wears them. "Studying? I remember such things. You attend NYU? Nice. I was going to attend but, you know, long stories and all that. I decided to do what I want to do. And I'm sure you're the same. Oh…don't let me interrupt your reading. That looks like a thick book to get through."
"Alison, then." Hank allows with a polite nod. "And no, I don't study there, It's my alma mater. I still catch interesting lectures when I can, occasionally give some." Really? This guy? He's a biscuit over twenty and he -lectures-? Sheesh! Already broad, his smile broadens. "Glad you're finding the shirt useful." He laughs. "I've read it before, I was just enjoying the park." He leans conspiratorially forward. "For some reason there's folks who find my size somewhat intimidating, and then there's the fur…so…I read." A chuckle. "Well, I read -anyway-, but it does tend to minimize the scary." Noting the guitar, and having heard her soft self-singing, he chin points to it. "I take it you're a musician?"
"How old are you?" Alison asks with a furrowing of her brow. "Guess you're pretty smart to be lecturing. What subject?" She glances around at their pleasant surroundings. "It is nice, isn't it" she sighs. "Inspirational." A look of dramatic shock about people finding Hank intimidating. "Why? Who finds a huge ball of blue fur intimidating? I mean, you wear glasses. How tough can you be?" she teases with a grin before shrugging at his inquiry. "More a singer than a musician but I do love both. You should come to one of my gigs. Double the audience…if you don't scare the other one away."
Sunny is out and about, she however is dressed quite a bit differently. The weather was better and the cold hasn't really bothered the girl that much for a long time. Wrapped in simple black shorts, another bright and obnoxious shirt, Sunny even has her long and bright blonde locks tied back.
Seems she'd been running for exercise, but it really took a lot of running for the goddess to get tired!
"Really, Alison, I'm shocked…a gentleman would never ask a lady -her- age…but…as you're not gentleman, and I'm not a lady, I suppose I will answer." Hank's amusement is manifest as he teases. "Three and twenty years have I, good lady." No comment about the smarts, but he does answer the rest. "Well, biochemistry mostly, though I did speak to a group on x-ray free-electron lasers, it was pretty dry — hardly suitable conversation for the park, mm?" He follows Ali's gaze about the park, and nods. "It really is. Maybe I'll see about renting an apartment out this way again, I did like it here." A bark of laughter as she teases. "Oh yes, I'm hardly a threat, a regular milquetoast indeed." Blue eyes are bright as she explains her talents. "I'd love to attend, and will even sit somewhere out of sight to minimize any potential audience diminishment." He smiles then. "I can play a little, perhaps you'd care to sing something?" His gaze shifts as he makes out another familiar face, jogging by and jogging his memory. "Sunny, I do believe, a good friend of yours, yes?"
"I'm nineteen" Alison informs Hank to make him feel better about giving away his age. "I'm not a lady" she laughs, "Probably not very good either, but thanks. Twenty three and you lecture about biochemistry. Nice. And free electron lasers…I hope my eyes aren't glazing over too much. An apartment in New York? Damn, you must be rich too. But don't you dare sit out of sight. If people can't handle you there, that's their problem. I don't do that discrimination shit. Ooh, what can you play?" A glance around at the announcement of Sunny's presence and she waves to the jogging blonde. "Yeah, good friend" she nods in agreement. "Sunny!!"
Being a 'lady' was overrated, just ask someone who'd tried it during the 1800's! When she's addressed and she's greeted with the sight of the big blue Hank and Alison. Tilting her head to the side, the blonde girl lifts a hand before adjusting her path. "Hey there!" she grins, tilting her head to the side. "Fancy seeing you here."
"I'm sure you're both good and a lady, Alison. I won't accept any other assessment." Hank says brightly before laughing. "As I said, not exactly the best topic for the park." He shrugs good naturedly about his wealth. "I have a few patents, hardly rich though." He settles back a bit, and then grins. "Right then, I'll sit front and center, and damn the bigots." He's clearly okay with that, certainly consistent with the 'Mutant and Proud' shirt he was wearing when they first met! "Well…" Hank looks a little embarrassed about the instrument. "I used to play the guitar, but with 'these'…" He waggles his fingers, the tips essentially clawed. "…haven't played in a couple years. I have considered learning the drums though." He rises and offers Sunny a polite half-bow. "Hello, Sunny…bright the day!" Fortunately Hank has never been a lady, not in any time, least of all back in the day!
"Of course you fancy seeing me" Alison teases Sunny before giving her a hug in greeting and a kiss to each cheek. "Look at you, all fit and sweaty. What brings you out here…other than showing off in tiny shorts. You remember Hank, right? He actually remembered my name today."
Alison turns back to smirk at Hank. "I forgive you about forgetting me last time. Drums would be pretty cool for you though it is a lot different to guitar." A little laugh. "You could be like Animal from the Muppets. Sorry, no offence intended. Animal is pretty cool after all. You could still compose using a music program or something…and those claws would be awesome for Spanish guitar. Play with them rather than your fingers."
"Ah pffft!" Sunny retorts towards Alison, poking her tongue out at Alison in good humor before she looks back towards the furred Hank and his lamentation over the guitar. "Maybe you should try the harmonica?" she muses with a grin before stepping closer towards the pair and grinning at Alison's words. "Just keeping fit…and how awesome -do- I look in these shorts?"
"There's a slight chance, albeit a measurable one, that you both might be a tad biased one towards the other." Hank observes dryly. A soft cough as he's reminded of his error the other day, and he shakes his head. "I appreciate that, Alison…now perhaps someday I might forgive myself." He actually goes very still a moment at the Muppet comment, and then he LAUGHS. This is no shy, little gentle thing, this is a full on belly laugh as he plops back down on the bench he had been occupying (much to it's lament!). "Oh…my…stars…and…garters…" He grins. "I would need to get some bell bottoms — striped of course, and a fringed and beaded leather vest and a headband…" A few more chuckles of Beast the Drummer channeling Animal…and then he looks up again. "Oh, yes. Programs, that sort of thing, but…Spanish guitar, I hadn't considered that. I'll have to look into it, I rather enjoyed guitar." A self mocking grin. "But I think you're right, the drums would be fun too." And he could play with all four limbs! "And naturally I'd design a killer sound system that was potent, easily portable, and highly programmable." Eyes of bright blue look to Sunny, and chuckles. "Harmonica, interesting thought too. Perhaps a theremin!" He lets Alison judge the quality of the view re: Sunny's shorts, not his place to say!
"Awesome enough to eat" Alison grins to Sunny, throwing in a wiggle of her eyebrows and a hand squeezing the blonde's rump. "Harmonica? I'm not really into blues. Theremin's are cool though." She can't help but smile at the laughing Beast…even if it concerns some onlookers. "A sound system? You know how to build those things. Hmm…you might just be my favorit blue beast. Oh, definitely the vest and bell bottoms. That would be an awesome look." As she stands next to Sunny, an arm slips round the other woman's waist, hand resting on Sunny's hip.
"What in the hell is a theremin?" Sunny questions, clearly having missed the existance of the more exotic instrument. The squeeze on her rear earns a noise of amusement before Sunny lazily shrugs her shoulders and then glances back at the crowd around them. Yeah, they were probably attracting some looks between the three of them, but whatever.
A little shrug, she gives a grin towards Hank. "You should go the other way. Three piece suit, maybe a little pocket watch chain. Distinguished and all that fanciness. Bet you would pull it off."
"A theremin? Fascinating intrument, invented by a Russian scientist. It consists of a pair of antennae that control the frequency and volume you produce by moving your hands through the air to between them. It has a rather eerie sound, a lot of horror movies used them for dramatic effect." Hank's quite used to being stared at, I mean…yeah…blue fur, 'nuff said, true believers. He grins then as Ali approves of the vest & bell bottoms thought. "A sound system? That would be relatively simple, what would be challenging is getting the best mix of volume, purity and miniaturization!" And he's got a distant look, but then he shakes his head and nods again to Sunny. "Oh, I have suits, though I like the pocket watch idea, perhaps a monocle too, just for the dangling chains?"
"I think he wears suits normally" Alison points out to Sunny with a laugh, though she is thankful that Hank explained the theremin. "It does make a pretty cool sound. Would be pretty cool in a dance track." A quirk of an eyebrow at talk of the sound system. "How small do you think you could make it? That would be pretty cool. I could really do with that. It would make performing so much easier." Now she has a distant look too. The possibilities! "I think dangling chains are meant to have big gold clocks on them."
Well, Sunny tilts her head to the side. Theromin sounds weird enough, but then that's probably about right. Of course, she didn't know Hank usually pulled the dapper look, she'd only seen the pun shirts until now! Talk of the dangling clock however makes her blink a little, frowning and shaking her head. "That just sounds…I mean why wouldn't you have a pocket watch. Or one of those fancy phones…do people hang them from gold chains too?"
Modern fashion was weird.
Hank can't help but pull a face at the thought of HIM with dangling clocks. "Mmmm…so, no monocle." Hank says with a hint of the emphatic before he gets back on track. "How small? I have no idea…need to ponder a bit, I imagine fairly so. It is an interesting problem, I will admit. Let me think about it, off hand…I suspect the whole thing would probably be about the size of a snare drum, though possibly smaller." Hank grins. "And really…your favorite blue Beast? Do you know many, then?" If teasing were part of the Olympics he'd be a medal contender for sure! Rising again, he offers Alison and Sunny a bow, each in turn. "Alas, I cannot linger further, ladies fair. I -do- however, promise to see what I can come up with for you in the sound system arena." A notepad is taken out of another pocket, and then he jots down a phone number and email. "If you are so inclined or need my help with something, feel free to reach out." And no, he is not hitting on the obvious couple, he's not nearly that dense! "And…thank you both, dear ladies, for most diverting converse!" Knowing Hank — he WILL make a theremin, with his hand-eye he'd probably be good! Having taken his leave, Hank departs, book tucked under an arm as he moves.