Summary:Saoirse wanders into Luke's, and encounters a god at play. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Saoirse has made her way in, probably rather randomly. She is..floating about 3 feet above the ground rather vertically. She hasn't ever been in this place before, it's starting to feel like someplace her sister would tell her not to go. Sill, nonetheless she's here! Approaching the bar she floats up about another foot or two roughly. "Hello!" she offers brightly, and with every word she speaks her voice seethes with harsh Irish accent giving away her ethnicitiy immediately. "Can I have a hamburger?"
It appears there's a bit of a contest going on! Then again, Saoirse may look somewhat normal compared to what's happening. At least four strapping fellows appear to be arm wrestling a powerfully-built gentleman — that is, all four of them are using both arms on his -one- arm. And going nowhere. And worse, Hercules is calmly sipping from a mug. Meanwhile, the waiter bustles over to take Saoirse's order. "Oh, hello… can you sit down? It's okay, just…" The waiter jerks his head at the demigod 'holding court'. "Those four fools think they're gonna move his arm at some point."
Saoirse hmmns. "Okay! I can sit!" She rights herself and comes to settle her curvaceous rump on the bar as she sits on the edge, kicking her feet independnt of one another just a little as her fingers curl over the curvature of the bar. "Why are they doing that? It doesn't seem very constructive, unless they are working out? They sure are putting a lot of effort in."
There's definitely a lot of grunting, some mumbled curses, and attempts to cheer each other on from the four. It's not working. The waiter leans over to quietly speak to Saoirse, "Well, ma'am, the problem is one of 'em challenged the big guy to arm wrestle — and the big guy is actually Hercules. Like, the Greek legend. So Hercules offered to let the guy's friends help, but…" The waiter straightens, and says, "Aren't you four done yet? Did you miss the part where he and Mr. Cage were tossing an anvil back and forth?"
Saoirse hmmns. She looks rather expressively curious. "I have an idea." She floats down to her feet using the bar to steady herself, quite unsteady on her feet. She takes a careful step. "Woaa.." then another "Whoaaaa.." a step here, then another, then another. She walks up to the struggling endeavour. She tilts her head as she seems to be inspecting Hercules, and reaches over with both fingers to begin tickling him. Under the arms, and across his sides are her main targets, fingers a wiggly. "I'll help!"
Hercules fortunately has finished his mug, or this might've gotten messy. "Ah! As usual, when raw might fails, feminine wiles are used against me!" Sadly, he doesn't seem near as ticklish as some, only twitching and grinning. "Come now, lads. You rose to the challenge manfully and let none call you coward. And of course, I'll buy the next round."
The four men trying to move Herc's arm futilely give Saoirse annoyed looks, but those fade at Hercules's words (and offer of a drink). One by one they release the Olympian's fist and arm, leaving Herc to turn his eyes on Saoirse with a sly smile. "Now then, what might your business be, hm?"
Saoirse hmmns. "Business? Oh, I know!" She reaches into her open denim jacket and pulls out a 'Ultra Puff' brand large-size marshmallow bag that's been opened but twisted to stay fresh. She takes out one of the marshmallows and leans over nearly falling over as she tries to shove the marshmallow right into Hercules' mouth. "It's to give you a marshmallow! Aren't they yum?"
Hercules makes a 'mmf' sound. This conversation is not going as expected by any stretch of his imagination. Still, he chews the marshmallow contemplatively, before swallowing. "A bit odd, after a strong cider. Still, it seems the food has improved from pate de guimauve." He arches an eyebrow. "So, lass, have you a name? Or shall I call you marshmallow girl?"
Saoirse is lost in daydream for just a moment. "Marshmallow Girl?" she kind of likes the sound of that. Her sister is Bionic Girl. She could be her less competent sidekick Marshmallow Girl! Hmmn. No. Probably not. People shoot at Bionic Girl, and Marshmallow Girl doesn't sound intimidating for people with guns. "I'm Saoirse! Hi! I like marshmallows because they taste good and remind me of a simpler time when they were a lot of fun. And I get as many as I want for free. It's my superpower. At least I think so. Yours is probably strength. And Sweating. From the strength."
Hercules looks at the waiter, who slowly shrugs, before turning his gaze back to Saoirse. "I… see," he says hesitantly. "Very well then. I am — obviously — Hercules of Thebes. So yes, strength is one of my traits." He pats the stool next to him. "Come, sit for a little bit. Do you desire anything to drink?"
Saoirse climbs up onto the stool to sit, slow and unsteady till she's finally settled, then she seems comfortable. "Oh, are we using where we're from too? In that case I'm Saoirse of Ireland." A bright smile "Well I'm not old enough to drink, I'm only 20 years old. I wonder if they have diet seagrams or diet canada dry ginger ale. I like the flavor of it." She hmmns. "If my sister was here, she could have maybe beaten you. She's Bionic Girl, she has robotic limbs and works with the military a lot. I'm not strong like that though. My best power is unlimited marshmallows. Though sometimes I have to wait for delivery. The second one would be the floating thing."
Hercules looks puzzled. "Well, I don't exactly have a last name to use… though one lady did suggest 'Reeves'." He shrugs lightly. "They have nonalcoholic brews here. A ginger ale for my new friend," he says to the waiter, who nods and zips off, presumably to get Saoirse's food as well as the drink. "It would be interesting to meet your sister, though I must say I have not met any who have matched my strength in this day and age."
Saoirse nods "Oh, I have one of those. It's Flynn. If you get married, since you dont have a last name, maybe you could take the woman's last name so you would have one too?" She looks rather thoughtful "Michelle, she's my sister Bionic Girl, she is robotics-enhanced, and does combat duty against super people, and things like that. It's okay to talk about it because she's public about it. She doesn't have a secret identity." She hmmns. "Are you one of those hero people too, like she is?"
Hercules looks thoughtful, as the waiter brings Saoirse her burger and ginger ale. "It's a good question. I hadn't considered it… I am just happy to be a man who helps others. Of late I've been working in the DZ, helping reclaim it foot by foot. It's slow going." He smiles slightly, "I have been informed that routing a river through it is NOT an option. So we move debris a little at a time, reclaim a little more each day."
Saoirse blinks and looks concerned "DZ? That sounds like Disaster Zone? I wonder if I could help? I have unlimited marshmallows bags that I usually get a box or two at a time. I could ask for more..I could probably help in other ways? I don't know about diverting rivers though.."
Hercules nods. "Disaster Zone. That's what it's called. And I'm sure the workers there wouldn't mind someone bringing supplies. They had me running pallets of bottled water to the work crews until they realized how strong I really was." He smiles impishly. "Saoirse, do they not teach the old stories of Greece any more? That was something I did, a long time ago."
Saoirse hmmns. "They probably do..but I was born with a brain that didn't conform to normal. So I didn't really have regular schooling. I was involved in a incident a few years ago where I had significant brain damage. It's been a couple years of speech therabpy to re-learn how to talk, and how to move around on my own, and walk..but I still don't walk very well. I'm more comfortable floating. So I'm terribly sorry if I did know about it and forgot, sometimes things are a bit of a jumble. But I'm a lot better now, I can have independant action and thought now!"
Hercules shares a quick look with the waiter, before turning back to Saoirse. "Ahh. I think I see a little more clearly." He smiles broadly at her to show good cheer. "I hope you're not… what's the term…"
"Playing hooky?" the waiter offers.
"Yes, that's it!" Hercules nods. "I hope you're not playing hooky and keeping someone worried, Saoirse."
Saoirse looks rather confused "Hooky is usually used to refer to school, in which I received an honorary diploma from Coral Springs for an act of heroism dispite grevious bodily harm. Are you referring to me being disabled? I may have been born that way however I am not anymore. I do however have non-linear thinking. That means my thought processes do not follow the same way as perhaps yours does, my brain processes information kind of all at once. Don't worry though, I might not look very effective but I'm able to defend myself if I need to."
Hercules clearly didn't follow all of that, perhaps because concepts like that weren't exactly covered three millenia ago. So he just latches onto the 'able to defend herself' and nods. "I just wouldn't want to see you hurt. Nor does anyone else here." Especially if they know what's good for them, considering who the proprietor is.
Saoirse shakes her head and reaches over to pat the top of Hercules head and try to ruffle his hair. "Your sweet, however not all pain comes in the form of ouch. Because my body was modified, so I was able to think and communicate, my mother had said that I'm filled with sin, and that god will burn me in hellfire and hates me. My father betrayed the nation, and his family. People can hurt one another without needing to be physical. I can handle the physical, that's simple. The other kinds of pain are more difficult. Though I think that's the same for anyone. No one wants to feel bad about themselves or who they are. I think..that people should be happy with who they are."
Hercules accepts the ruffling of his hair with good humor, but his expression flattens a bit as Saoirse recites off some of the things about her mother and father, and he nods. "Quite true. Wounds in the heart are harder to mend." He gently takes Saoirse's hand in both his broad ones, and smiles at her. "But such is friendship, that we work to bind up each other's wounds." He's a fairly straightforward fellow, after all. "I have had my share of family woes… though I've a friend who I think actually has it worse."
Saoirse laughs softly, leaning towards Hercules and tilting her head a bit with a goofy smile "You have really big hands! I know someone with really big feet too." She sticks her tounge out at him for a few moments. "People don't know what to think of me. Because..I'm something they don't know what to think of. I'm hard to predict, they don't know to be annoyed, or feel bad, or angry with me. I'm just..me. And I'll be the best me I can be, but I'll also encourage other people to be the best them they can be. That's what I beleive in. Beliving in people has cost me a lot of pain. But I have to follow my heart to it and I'll continue to be let down, or feel pain but it's what I believe makes me human."
Hercules holds up his larger hand to compare to hers. "Well, yes. I am a very large person, though thankfully not so much I can't get good clothes." His face softens. "Do not concern yourself too deeply with what other people think of you. I have found my best to be when I focus on helping others, and not worrying if some think ill of me. If they wish to ascribe ill intent to me, that is on their shoulders, not mine."
Saoirse hmmns, pushing her hand into his when he holds them up. "Pattycake!" she giggles softly and is all smiles again for a moment, though it falters a touch. "Well..someone..my father made a copy of me. A copy of me that is not softhearted. And that copy was deadly. Without the moral compass to keep he in check she was very deadly. So there always is a worry of..what if I turn into someone like that? She was stopped..and put away. But people have seen me be a terrible person. Even if that isn't who I am. Not many, but..well. My father is the one that made the copy of me. He's done terrible things to people. Sometimes I worry people might get me confused with the unfeeling murdery version of me. Michelle said she buried her so deep in a hole that she'll never find her way out, so that's good. But I feel kind of bad for her. It's not her fault she was born..created evil."
Hercules nods slowly. "I know of such things. I had to bury the immortal head of the Hydra deep, before it could grow back or poison the earth around it. And I have made errors, regrets that reach from here to Olympus." He cradles her hand in both of his. "Sometimes, the world is unfair and cruel. It falls to us to try and make it better, as best we can. Does that make sense?"
Saoirse hmmns. "Well, I fired a superlaser by overpowering it. It's this really superpowerful space beam thing. It burned off my arm completely, and it completely burned out my brain, my chest, and then I fell like a thousand feet into the water. It's okay though because I got better, but it's taken me 2 years to get to where I am. But I know what it's like to lose your limbs. It's really painful and unplesant. It's also really itchy when it grows back. The Saoirse copy is like me, it has a reactor, like it's heart. When mine burned out of my chest and was destroyed, Michelle ripped it out of the copy and put it in me. She could still recover because our skin collects sun like a plant, that's why she said put her in a box and bury her. She said that she tried to mutate humanity into robots and kill her and me, so fake-Saoirse doesn't get to live. But was that really the right thing? That she should have to die so I can live? I don't know that was the right choice to make. But..she would most certainly regenerate if she was unearthed, and probably would do bad things again. So I do know what it's like too to have to bury things or they have a consequence of loss of life."
Hercules hmmms. "I'm not certain I followed all the details of that, but I can answer your question." He points outside. "Out there are children playing, being children — hopefully. They deserve, I think, the chance to grow up without the fear of being changed or twisted against their will. It is one thing to sculpt oneself and seek change, another to force it on others."
Saoirse nods her head "I was changed as a child..I wasn't given a choice, but I wasn't really able to make a decision either. I decided..it's wrong to force that on other people, so that's why I stood up. Even fumbly people like me can make a difference once when it's really important. My father will try again at some point I'm sure. And there's not any shortage of people trying to asert thier will. It would be wonderful if they could think about other people's feelings sometimes." She lets out a soft somber chuckle, then leans over to lean /into/ Hercules, right agianst him front to front and rub her cheek against his. Though she might have to manuver a bit to make that happen. "Your a sweet man. Thank you for talking with me."
Hercules carefully pats Saoirse, letting her lean into him. "It was my pleasure, Saoirse. You just take care of yourself, and keep trying to do the right thing. Follow your heart. Mine may occasionally lead me off the beaten path, but it hasn't led me wrong yet." He looks wry. "The gods know, I certainly don't dare listen to my head."