Summary:Saoirse pilfer's Hank McCoy's food while having a talk about being special in the park Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Early afternoon, and Hank has just gotten done with a speaking engagement at Columbia, so afterwards he did one of his usual things, he got some food from his favorite local sub shop, and parked on a bench in the park, near the gorgeous fountain. He's got in wireless earbuds, and is is listening to some music (if one is particularly keen of hearing the song playing presently is 'Immortals' by Fallout boy).
As he sits and listens, the rather oddly proportioned man munches on a foot long sub with LOTS of meat, and reads something on his his phone between watching the people ebb and flow through the park. He is dressed in a dark blue suit, massive leather shoes covering gigantic feet, and over it a tan tenchcoat, and yes, there's a fedora atop his head and he's wearing reading glasses of a somewhat frumpy style.
Saoirse is overhead flying on the wind slowly, twirling as she will with wild abandon. She's wearing a gray jacket that's open, since it's a little warmer out today. She takes her time whimsical as can be as she comes down into the park little by little. She perches her bottom onto a tree branch that shouldn't be holding her weight, then kicks off of it towards the man with the big shoes. She approaches Hank upside down, though her hair doesn't fall. Slowly she dips..dips…and her goal at least is to slowly come right in front of his face with a big cheerly smile, her hands resting within one another behind her back. Yup. she's trying to slide in right in front of him inverted, and offer a cheery "Hello! Ooooh, that looks tasty!"
Flying people of any stripe are definitely noticed by this man, he watches with interest, and can't help but smile a little at how much she seems to be enjoying herself. When she floats over, inverted, he doesn't seem at all bothered by the fact. Hell, he has a penchant for working on stuff while dangling from overhead, he really is about the best person in the world to be so approached! He was about to take another bite, then instead tears off a section for himself, and offers the girl the other half of the sub. It might be noticeable there's another sub in a bag next to him, so there's food to spare. "Hello there, young miss." He greets in a very deep, very cultured voice. Yeah, his elocution is /stunning/.
Saoirse expression brightens "Oh boy, I would!" She takes the sub with both hands and takes a big bite. The more she talks the more it's immediately apparent with her Irish accent. After chewing for a few moments then swallowing, she offers "My sister is Bonic Girl, she said I should come find you after your speech. She could't come here today because she was busy. I heard a helicopter so she's probably en route to some mission or someting. En Route means on the way to, it's just a fancy way of saying that. I wasn't sure what you would look like, so she said just look for the fancy smart guy with really big feet." She leans forward to touch her forhead with his with a soft conspiritory giggle. "I think I found him. Like Arby's, he has the meats! Well, the meats and the feets!"
The sub proves to have ham, roast beef, turkey, cheddar and lots of vegies on it, along with mustard and horseradish on a sourdough roll. All in all it really is pretty darn tasty.
The girl's demeanor is rather vivacious and engaging, Hank smiles up to her, though he does lean back a bit after the brow touch, that's a bit over the line for him for a first meet - a little uncomfortable, though his smile does not waver, and the girl might well notice at such close range that his ears have very faint points, and his teeth have small but visible fangs, the four canines.
He also wears Old Spice cologne.
"Ah yes, Bionic Girl, haven't really associated with her too much, but I do know the name." A sagenod. "I am familiar with the term, I even speak French." He says with a friendly gleam to bright blue eyes. A chuckles. "Big feet I definitely have, and yes, the 'meats' I suppose, since I have another sub."
Quirking his head to one side, he looks to the inverted girl. "Might I know your name? And how can I help you, miss?"
Saoirse flips a bit so she settles upon the top of the bench with her rump and her feet touch base with the seating area of the bench. "Oh right, I forget to introduce myself sometimes. I'll do it in english though, since I don't know French. Though it's probably the same pronounciation. I'm Saoirse Flynn. She said I should come find and talk to you. Well first she said annoy, but she caught herself at the end and changed the word, but I caught it. She also said if I got a chance to meet your bald roomate that I should rub his head for good luck and say that she told me to do so. I'm not sure what that's about."
A curious look comes over her face, every little emotion purely evident upon it as she experiences it. "She said that your a smart man with priciples and conviction. This was after she said the big feet thing. And that you aren't involved in the nanotech schenannigans that go on at the National Robotics research labratories so you are definately an outside influence in my world. Of course I would be an outside influence in your world. Though she did say that you might understand me a bit more than most because I went to a high school where they took people witih superpowers and tried to build them into heroes as they went to high school. I didn't get very good grades there. They gave me a diploma though in respect to acheiving the kind of success one does when they give their life for the betterment of mankind and/or excellence in commitment."
"Oh, no worries, English is fine, Saoirse Flynn." And yes, he pronounces it properly as 'Sorscha'. "The bald roomie is actually a mentor of mine, not a room mate, I presently don't share accommodations with anyone, though that might be changing in the near future." which fact clearly is a source of wonder for Hank. "I am pleased I made such a good impression on your sister." He says with a faint blush to his earlobes at the praise. "And I am definitely not associated with any sort of nanotech shenanigans." That she was trained to be a super IS rather close to home, his own schooling at the Institute when it was Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters would prove.
His brow furrows, and the earbuds are removed and pocketed so he can focus on the girl's words. Fortunately he has the mental acuity to keep up with the rapid fire speech, and the memory too. "So…what sort of help did you need? Guidance? Education? Systems checks to ensure you're not compromised?"
Saoirse nods "Oh okay! Then maybe you should rub his head for good luck? Unless that means some of his luck goes from him to you, taking his luck would be rude. And mean, so if that happens don't do that." Another bite as she considers how to proceed. "My sister and I were born in poor health. She was given nano's to help her fight cancer. I was severely disabled and unable to communicate with the world. I just..didn't grow up that way. So my father injected me with nano's too. Michelle altered my nano's though..they were changed to evolve on thier own only, not accept outside commands, and their primary goal was to keep me human while improving me to be more as a normal human while deciding what humanity is all on the nano's own. I'm a person that has been converted not all the way, but mostly, and I'm like a computer that has been allowed to be imperfect, imprecise, something a normal computer just can't be. My father is a traitor to the US, he enlisted the help of my mother..well, more he injected her to become a nano person and controls her, and my sister was put together by National Robotics and my father. So really I'm the only one that can't be upgraded like they can be, but that makes me pretty impervious to tampering too. Some things..nasty things happened. But..I'm worried about what will happen to me when I'm not human anymore. And Michelle feels like trusting in National Robotics completely would be something that isn't a good idea. She thought you would be a good person to talk to, and maybe you could help because your smart. And you know what they say? The bigger the feet..the bigger the..brain?"
"It depends on what culture you speak of, to the ancient Norse for example - luck or 'hamingja' can definitively be borrowed, and sometimes might wander off on its own, or could be loaned to another." Hank smiles. "But Charles would not relish having his head rubbed, so I think I'll just avoid it. Feel free to relay to your sister my regards, however." Hank finishes off the section of the sub he kept for himself, and then washes it down with some bottled water. A second bottle is produced form a pocket, and offered to Saorise in case she's thirsty. Manners: Not dead!
He listens intently to the story of her origins, and the nature of her family and the familial relations. And he can't help but be thankful, very much so, for HIS relatively normal family. "I can see how you would be concerned, so, perhaps we should schedule a time when I could examine you in detail and see if I can figure out how you work, and what if anything I can do to help you."
Saoirse shakes a hand to the water "Well..we want him to keep the luck he has..if he needs some, maybe he should rub your head?" She hmmns. "Well..okay, I think that is a good idea. I want to make sure that I'm not going to go like super crazy, or evil or something. Michelle's body was put together for military research and development. Mine used ocnventional technologies developed independant of the military research. So Michelle is much stronger than I am, she's like a soldier. Before I was done with school I effectively died. I overpowered my micro-reactor to stop my father's plans. It did stop him since Michelle was disabled, but everything was hurt and melted. It's been a couple years now and my arm grew back, and my skin, I learned how to talk and move again. But it's taken a couple of years to get to that point. It wasn't easy, but it was probably harder on my sister."
When the water is refused, Hank tucks it away again. "Very well, I'll see about renting a lab, let us exchange contact information and we'll coordinate a meet up for the exam. I'm fairly adept at biological and chemical science, less so with nanotech, so it might be a bit of a stretch for me. I might need to go to colleagues of mine to consult, is that okay with you? I'll also need to take samples for analysis and potential reverse engineering." He rests a dinner plate spanning hand on one of Saoirse's shoulders. "Truly, I am sorry things have been so difficult for you. Hopefully we'll be able to get things sorted, and help you get a firm handle on YOU."
Saoirse hmmns. "Well..life has always been confusing. I wasn't given a choice in what happened. Michelle suspected..she wanted what was best for me, but our father wanted perfection. I didn't have the capacity to say yes or no, my mother said that there wasn't anything wrong with me, I was how god had intended. After I started improving and she found out she said that god hated me, and I was an affront to god, and he hates the sin that I had become. So..being hated by god for what my cells have become is kind of a downer. But in good news I can now pee on my own, I can pee like a pro, no help at all anymore!" She seems rather proud of herself. "I know there's that Thor guy, he's a god of thunder, I was thinking of asking him if he would put in a good word for me with the almighty god so that I won't burn in hellfire when I die. Though technically I don't age anymore so hopefully I have time to change his mind."
She pats the hand on her shoulder lightly. "Grandma, what big hands you have!" A soft chuckle and smile. "My father beleived with mutants, and aliens, and threats that humanity could not survive unless they were transformed into something more hearty. Mutants weren't enough, too slow and random. With nanotechnology he transformed himself, then my mother - my sister says he did that to torment her, transforming her into what she hated the most. He was trying to transform a population center in Africa and..well, even someone like me who is fumbly can be a heroine once in her life? Even if that ends up being fatal..and costing a lot. People in nanotechnology are probably the most likely to try to use the technology for thier own personal means. So while National Robotics isn't an evil organazation, some people are great, they have been involved deeply in the events that have happened. I don't have a job or anything. I need to get one before I move out of Michelle's apartment. Some people think I'm dangerous, some harmless, some just a waste of potential and possibility. Maybe I'm a dreamer, maye I'm just dumb? I've been called a non-linear thinker since the nanites had to put toether my brain twice. Michelle usually refers to it as Goddammit Saoirse!"
Hank can't help but feel his heart go out to the nano-girl when she speaks of her formative years. His brow furrows, and then he frowns. "Saorise, listen to me very carefully, this is absolutely essential information - your mother was wrong. You're not damned by virtue of what you are, of what was done to you without your consent. Damnation requires /choice/. One cannot be inherently damned, not like this, so you don't need to ask Thor to intervene with the almighty as you're not damned in the first place."
He is actually and very genuinely upset, even angry, that a child victim would be treated so, lied to so.
"It is the choices we make that define us, it is our character that exalts or damns us and that is something one has to choose." He smiles at the Red Riding Hood quote, though he's pretty far from a wolf in a nightgown! "As to a job, that's a good thing to get, I can maybe help out if you can tell me what skills you possess, or what you enjoy doing."
Saoirse looks rather confused "Are you sure? Because she seemed pretty sure about it. She then said she was damned to hellfire because she was a nanoperson too. She disappeared along with my father." She kicks her feet a little as she rests her hands in her lap in front of her. "I had started seeing a girl who made me feel very special in school. We were going to get married. But after the incident where I effectively died it was a lot to take. I lost the engagement ring because it melted off from the heat along with my arm. I also really couldn't recognize her or understand her. She couldn't take it and she went back to Mexico. She might be a hero down there..I hope not, I wanted her to move to Ireland with me and get married and have a regular life. Mother before the change said that every time I kissed her that my soul turned just that much more evil. So..I don't remember how many times we kissed, or snuggled, but it was probably a good bit. Michelle said it doesn't work that way..but my body doesn't work the same way as hers does so..there isn't any telling. I just don't think that a person should be judged on if they are male, female, or any sexual type. If you feel a connection, if there is love, if you make someone feel good, then that's what's important. Not the fiddly bits." She looks around, then leans closer and brings a hand up to clasp to Hank's ear to whisper softly "By fiddly bits I mean a woman's breasts, vagina, or a man's penis and the other parts that I don't really remember the proper names for).
Sitting back up "Well..I'm not very good at a lot. I know some military codes of conduct and rules. But not all of them. I'm good with labeling software and labelers, but they don't let me have them because I label everything. I can sing sometimes, but only things I've heard before and know pretty well. I can understand binary and hex, but..can't everyone? I like to eat tasty things. Um..Um..I get unlimited marshmallows from Jet Puff as part of Michelle's contract deal. That's my best superpower! There's the other stuff like healing, and gravity maniupulators, and stuff like that but the Marshmallows are definatley the most important one. I'm not really able to lie. I don't have to tell people things if I don't want to though. That's not really a skill I guess. Hmm. Oh, I'm really good at building pillowforts!"
"I am absolutely sure. Your mother was mistaken about that, and about the love between you and your former fiance. As you say, the fiddly bits are irrelevant. If you love, and that love is freely returned, your genitalia don't matter a jot. I mean, I prefer women, but I could see myself potentially loving a man - it would probably require some extraordinary circumstances, but I'd like to think I'm open minded enough to feel romantic love for a man. Fraternal love? Not a problem, but the other would be unusual. But MY preferences, are -mine-, and I don't judge others for having different likes and wants and desires. That's not right, that's offensive. So again, your mother was mistaken."
Hank laughs softly. "Yes, I caught your meaning about the fiddly bits." He says with a nod.
When she talks about her job skills, or lack there of, he looks thoughtful. "Well, maybe something simpler, like food service? You like food, right? So almost anyone can get a job working as waitstaff in a restaurant, or cleaning the dishes, or the like." He's actually somewhat at a loss about what to do here. He's not sure that Saorise is employable, but maybe doing something simple like that would work. He hopes.
Saoirse smiles softly "Well..you seem like a very nice man, and I'm sure you will find someone that suits you well. Love is nice. Sierra used to smoke the pot, and stay up late and sneak out, and wore her skirt too short, so I'd always be turning her in. Defined rules are important."
Saoirse frowns a little "I'd probably want to eat the food, and I also can't really walk very well. I learned to fly before walking, and after the second recovery period it's just been easier to manipulate gravity than walk. I should try harder at walking, but I'm very unsteady and uncomfrotable on the ground. I have a trust fund that she is in control of, but it would be nice to find something I could do. I am an adult now after all. People get kind of concerned when they see a floating person."
"I try to be." Hank says with a smile. "There's enough mean people around, I don't feel particularly like added to their number, much better to be kind." His smile grows brighter as he says this. "As to finding someone, I may have already, I know I love her. She definitely seems to return the favor, we'll see how things go."
He nods about the rules comment. "Mm, it is important to have structure. Here's a thought then, perhaps we should find a set of rules to live by that will help you get along better with folks. It might be a good start."
A shake of head about the food, Hank leaves that idea alone for now. "Well, first things first, when we examine you we'll see if we can't help you to walk better. We just need to establish a set of goals, and then take them each in turn to get you to where you want to be."
Saoirse hmmns. "I know a little something about girls! I am one! Let's see. Somewhat of a rewards system works well. Sierra liked sex, that was a good reward for her. Sex is okay, but there's often things I like doing more, like eating smores, or labeling things. It's alright, but it's not always my favorite. But it's something she needed. We weren't allowed to have sex on school grounds, so we had to go off-grounds to do it because I refused to do so otherwise. Girls often liked shiny things, and pinks and reds. I think the most meaningful things are things from your heart. I liked the idea of making your own valentine from hand, or you could make your own fortune cookies with little notes of things you like about her for a dinner you make. You could replace hersy kiss flags with little notes of encouragement for her too. You could also build a pillowfort or a blanketfort, those were always fun to build and play in."
Saoirse looks rather thoughtful. "It isn't that I like rules, it's that I like definitions. I love when everything is definable and catagorizable."
She twists her mouth to the right side in uncertainty. "That's a good idea. Let's do that, but people have told me to watch my bodyspace before, and while it's a good idea, I'll probably forget. I've always been someone that uses more senses than most. My fingies want to feel textures, colors, I want to smell what someone smells like, my senses are what bring these things into me. People think I'm weird, and I probably am for it. I'm not sure it's definable if you can say that your weird yourself, I don't want to be someone that is very full of themselves, whom has an untennable ego."
"I was one briefly." Hank admits. "Only a week, but it was an interesting experience." And his own darn fault! True story.
Hank might just blush a bit more with all the sex talk, allowing. "Sex is a lot of fun." He admits. "But one cannot always do it, so less intimate rewards are just as nice, like a smile, or a simple touch, a hug. Those sorts of things. Also kind words, those are very good rewards for most people." He relaxes when she shifts to more playful suggestions. "I like the idea of making things for people, I made a cat for one friend of mine, she rather likes it. My girlfriend likes pinks and reds I think, and definitely likes it when I get her treats, sometimes she just needs someone to talk to so she texts me. I DEFINITELY will have to do the pillow or blanket fort thing, I bet she'd get a kick out of that."
He nods then. "Structured." He observes. "You need structure to work with, you need to know what things are."
Hank actually had super senses for a long while, he can relate to Saorise's comments on that. "Oh, the thing is that people generally want to be asked before you sense them up close, touch in particular is something to be mindful of. Some people don't mind, but others do. Make sense?"
Saoirse hmmns. "I haven't heard of that superpower before. But I think you really need at least a month to experience what being a woman is really like. I've never been a man though." She considers "Make sure you have enough pillows, for the pillowfort. But it's a lot of fun, and have blankets to make the roof. That's my suggestion."
Saoirse has no blush as..she's quite obviously not rather shy. "You should get her a scarf. A pink scarf. That seems like a thoughtful gift. Something really soft. If you like you can wear it for a week then give it to her, so it has your scent on it. Then it'll remind her of you for at least a few days."
"It does make sense" she comments "But it's hard to control the impulse. I hug people a lot. I'm a hugger. I believe in supporting people and trying to help bring them up through constructive means and supportive optmisim. I..believed in humanity. Instead of evolving out to something else, I want to beleive that it has the capability to overcome it's sense of trials, tribulations, and own prejudices to allow it to evolve into something that is accepting. I think the evolution has to be mental, not physical. That has cost me greatly, but I still have that belief that special individuals can make a difference to the whole, but the whole has..a lot of hate."
"It was an accident, and I agree, a month or nine, to really get the full experience. I could have induced the monthly via chemicals, but it would have tainted other parts of the process, so we opted not to." He's all for SCIENCE!, but…yeah, not so in favor of mucking with the results of it, even if there were interesting other bits to compensate. SCIENCE! first.
"Oh, I'll lay in a goodly supply for the fort, and a good blanket or two as well." He inclines his head. "I thank you for your expert advice on fort construction, I'll bear it in mind." He will too.
He smiles at the scarf idea, and the thought of wearing it is a nice one, scent being one of the more powerful memory triggers out there, that's actually a very inciteful suggestion.
"As to the hugging, make that a rule, you should always ask a person you don't know well if it is allowed to hug them. That will likely be a good way to smooth things along. Friends are generally okay to hug, however." He sighs faintly at the last bits, and nods. "Evolution is a process, unfortunately, and there IS a lot of hate in the world." A nod. "Your father tried to move it along physically, the term for his views is Transhumanism, but yours is probably the better way. It will just take time and effort, and is far from a sure thing."
Saoirse hmmns. "It's probably better you didn't spend the nine months probably." If that's what she think it means, there's a lot of physical changes and emotional ones that happen.
"Sometimes..well. Maybe humans will struggle. War. Nuclear war..now mutant warfare. High level technology. Could I have tried a teensy bit more in combat training? Probably. But I didn't want to be one of those weapons. It isn't..human, be be trained and treated as one. I've been told before that I wear my heart on my sleeve, it's not though. It's in my chest, under my boob, next to my reactor, somewhere in there or so. They say I feel too much. I think..that not thinking about someone else's point of view is part of the problem. Which is strange because I don't think about that when I hug people."
Thinking a moment, she reaches over to pinch at Hank's cheek and pull it a smidge. "And don't make that girl a cat, or anything sciencey. You should make something low tech, something that your just awful at. Because if you put in the effort to do something for her at something you aren't good at it shows your willing to try new things, and make an effort for her."
"I hadn't even thought of it until just now." The nine months, and then Hank nods firmly. "Definitely better not to have, I agree."
He smiles faintly. "That's an expression, Saorise. To 'wear ones heart on their sleeve' means that it is exposed, and vulnerable to harm. It means you care very deeply, sometimes too deeply and get hurt a result, they didn't mean that it was literally there instead of where it belongs."
He blinks at the pinch, and then nods slowly. "Like a macaroni sculpture? I haven't done one of those since I was six." Rising, he smiles and offers Saorise the other sandwich. "Here, you enjoyed the first so much I would like it very much if you would accept this one." He also takes out a business card. "My contact information, send me a text message with yours, and I'll save it and will let you know when I can meet to do the examination."
A smile. "I must go, my girlfriend is expecting me for dinner, and I need to run some errands first. It was very nice to meet you, Saorise. I look forward to seeing you again, and yes, it is okay to hug if you wish."
Saoirse ooo's "Alright, I love hugtime!" She hops up off the bench to float about a foot above the ground, leaning over to hug Hank. She looks at the card after a moment or two of hugtime. "Okay, I've texted it to you!" She raises her sleeve to show a rather large module, sort of looks like a giant watch. It has 'Gundam MK II Watch' around it on the top, then the bottom 'Lt. Emma Sheen'. It's been professoinally laser-cut perma-decals. "I've got a communication module. They put one of my favorite characters on it because I kept forgetting to wear it. It lets me do bluetooth, and texts and stuff."
She hmmns "Well..I'll take the sandwich, just as long as you don't really need it and won't have a hungry tummy later. And Macraoni structure. Yes. Very much. But don't make it perfect, the imperfection is what will make it perfect to her. The imperfection in our lives is what we should cherish the most." She smiles brilliantly "Okay, just let me know what timeframe work, because I don't have anything that really sticks me to a particular schedule."