ArchivedLogs:Find a Penny, Pick It Up

Find a Penny, Pick It Up
Dramatis Personae Corey, Felix, Penny
In Absentia	2013-05-15 Felix and Corey find out a bit about Penny
Location Central Park North
It's one of THOSE days. She HAD been sleeping in a bush. Had been. They're a little warmer, it's not like thorns hurt her anyway, and bonus: usually people can't see her there, the way shadows always seem to be hanging over her. Today is one of those rough days. While it's a less heavily populated path, usually... A small horde of school children around the ages of ten and twelve have gathered here. Poor Penance does not know what to do! They found her, and at first it was hurling 'mutie-abuse' verbally at her. And then it sort of devolved into something ugly. She's afraid running anywhere else will drop her somewhere more populated, and the kids have started throwing things! Rocks, soda cans, trash... And, well, she certainly can't just take swipes at them... So she mostly sits there, huddled with her talons over her head, sort of enduring the righteous fury... of a bunch of ten year-olds. Out on a jog after work, Corey's pace eats up sidewalk at a good clip. Side buttoned blue jogging pants met a tight gray t-shirt at his waist, and he had managed to keep the stubble down at least. A light bead of sweat runs down his brow, and as he wipes it from his eyes, he sees the group of children around the bush. Frowning, and figuring that they were abusing some poor animal at first, he hears the mutie freak pejoratives being thrown into the shadows of the foliage. Adjusting his pace to get there quicker, he came up to the group with a disapproving look on his face. "'Ey! Get out of here ya brats." He lets out a high pitched whistle and gestures for them to scatter. From the opposite direction, Felix rounds the corner, casually walking along, reading a book and enjoying the nice weather in this /normally/ quiet section of the park. The noise up ahead prompts his attention and he picks up his pace, curious to see what all the kids are making a such a commotion over. He has still not notices what is in the bushes there, but clearly they are taunting something, then he realizes the off comments they are also making. "Hey, you kids! Get out of here! I am calling the /cops/," pulling out his cell phone as he approaches the /gang/ of youngsters, and makes like he is dialing the phone. Several of the kids scatter just on seeing an adult, and a few when he shouts. That still leaves two or three ten year-olds who stick around and protest,"But she's a mutie! Look at her! She's up to no good! Ain't she illegal?" Another one tosses a full soda can which tumbles into the foliage and sprays everywhere as it opens up on the razor-sharp skin of her face, leaving her covered in sticky soda. Then another dude shows up dialing his phone, to all appearances, and the rest run past Corey, screaming. After they are clearly gone, the girl sticks her face out of the foliage, followed by the rest of her. Almost like a purring cat, she approaches Corey and bumps the leather-clad part of her shoulder against the man in a sort of affectionate manner, then skitters backwards on all fours to eye Felix from a slightly shorter distance. Her eyes bore into the man for a moment, then she looks at Corey while pointing at Felix at the same time, eyes quirked in question. Unsure of himself what he will even do if the kids do not leave, they finally depart as another fellow approaches. Recognizing the professor from the other evening, he inclines his head with a smile. "Good timing on your part. Many thanks," he says before his gaze goes towards the incoming face. Blinking that it was the silent girl from the bakery, he smiles at the affectionate bump. "Yes. he is not a bad man. An easily startled one, but not a bad one." He glances to Felix with a slight shrug. "This is Penance, she does not speak though. At least no more than a mime would." Putting away his phone now that the kids are gone, it appears Felix did not intend to dial his phone at all. He does not appear shocked at the sight of Penny emerging from the bushes, but he does slow up his pace quite a bit, especially when those eyes shoot him a glance. There is a moment of unsureness about his face, at least until Corey acknowledges him. A warm smile appears on his face and he approaches, but cautiously, "Hi... I am, umm, Felix." Penny crouches in a frog-like pose for a moment, then retreats to her bushes, and comes back dragging (oh so carefully) a bag with the Happy Cakes bakery behind her. Careful not to cut it, she spears, with her talons, three delectable pastries from inside (two on the right, one on the left). She eats one right off the right talon, then holds her talons out to offer pastry to both Corey and Felix. When Felix introduces himself, Penny starts casting her gaze about. It takes a moment for her to find what she is casting about for. Shooting a gaze at Felix, she balances carefully and slights her foot over to tap a penny lying on the walk with one of her talons. Infuriatingly, on the second tap, her foot-talon goes through the penny and sort of just sticks there. She frowns visibly. Accepting the pastry as he had accepted the cream puff last night, Corey inclines his head as he says "Thank you. Hanna's baked goods are quite nice aren't they?" Holding it in his hand, he watches her as she taps the penny a few times till the coin gets holed. "Oh, are you saying you want to be called Penny instead? Well, alright." He smiles again, taking a bite of the empathically charged pastry and looking to Felix. "Out on a walk? Or just passing through the park today?" "Yes, coffee shop. I remember. Corey, right." Felix is obviously good at remembering names and faces, even though he may not have been directly introduced to them. After all it was a small shop, and easy to over hear the conversations at the other tables. He graciously accepts the pastry that has been offered, taking note of the name on the bag. Looking on as the talons poke at the penny on the ground, he looks unsure of what this means, until Corey offers an explanation. "Is that right, you wish to be called Penny?" Looking back to Corey, and with a smile, "Just out to enjoy the park and the weather today." Penny is relieved of the pastries and now freed to escape into jack-assery. In other words, what follows is a whole lot of her bouncing around in circles on one foot, trying to shake her foot so the penny comes off. She doesn't get free of it until she falls on her back and finally just uses her hands to slice the thing off. Once the coin is off, though... She nods at Felix, encouraging him to call her 'Penny'. She then skitters forward and harvests another pastry out of her bag, eats it, then another. Then she looks sad for a brief moment as she holds the bag up to Corey showing that it is now empty. Saddest face. "I'm sure you can visit Hanna again, and she will sell you all the baked goods to your heart's content," Corey says with a chuckle. "She did say that all were welcome after all. So go visit whenever you want." He speaks with warmth, or at least being nearby him is enough to provide the feeling. "Besides, you should probably have some other food than just cream puffs. Sandwich, vegetables, you know, variety, healthy things." He shrugs a this, looking to Felix as if he could help the matter. "And yeah, the weather is getting better again. I can't say I'm adverse to the cold getting left behind." It does not look like Felix finds any humor in the struggle to remove the penny, more saddened to see this actually. He takes a bite of his pastry, pleased when Penny regains her footing, "Penny it is then." There is a smile on his face now, not at the antics, for it seems he has put those behind. "He is right, you should probably eat more healthy," though he does not look an more sure about this than Corey does. "Definitely better than the rain the other day." he adds with a little chuckle, perhaps a joke Corey may catch. At the suggestion of buying more food, she lifts her hands up in the air, stands up straight, and spins. There is no money pinned to Penny's 'clothes' like last time, and she has no actual pockets. So... no money. Still, she skitters over to her bush, and slashes a few bits free of it so that the more comfortable 'bedding' lays on a pile on the ground. She then makes beckoning gestures to Corey and Felix and points at the 'bedding' on the ground. Inviting them to chill in her living room? Appearing thoughtful, Corey shrugs as he lowers himself down to sit in the improvised bedding material. "Well, there are plenty of food kitchens around for the homeless. And I'm helping a friend with a food garden for communities as well." He drums fingers on his leg thinking of options for her. "I don't know how well the Disabilities laws apply to mutants I'm afraid. People tend to be real dicks to them, though I guess fear will lead one to all sorts of actions." The way he talks, he doesn't seem to include himself as a mutant. "But still, I mean you could probably get a job doing something with your abilities. You'd probably make a great butcher if you could find one willing to take you on." He does nod at Felix's commentary on the rain though. "Yeah, the rain and cold together just gets unpleasant all around." Felix follows suit and finds a seat in the 'living room'. With a caring smile, "Would you like to be able to visit the bakery and shop there?" Perhaps this is an offer to put some money on account for Penny, so that she does not need to worry about such things. "There is likely somewhere for you to fit in, but certainly I would not go looking door to door. I have time right now, I can help do some looking for you." Penny taps her talons on her face, then drags her talons in the dirt, drawing a can of soup. Then she draws a plus sign next to it, followed by a picture of a pig with a police hat and a whistle. This is followed by an equal sign, and a picture of a stick figure with Penny's spiky hair x-ed out. She makes a sad face at Corey as she finishes her drawing, then. When Felix asks the first question, she bobbles her head up and down, nodding. The second question? It gets an even bigger nod. She draws a stick figure of herself sitting next to a house in the dirt. "Ah, I didn't know the police caused you problems." Corey frowns at this, but follows her picture story as it moves on to the next part. "So you have a home then? Or is that the home you want?" There's a keen desire to help that shows on his face, but also a frustration there. "I wish I could talk to you easier, it must be more frustrating to you than to us to have to converse this way." He looks to the professor and gives him a smile though, the kindred spirit of helping there. "Do you work with mutant groups then? I meet some occasionally that I would love to be able to direct to something like that." There is a confused look on Felix's face, he does not understand the drawings on the ground, but he seems relieved when Corey appears to be better at this. There is a definite smile of pleasure when Penny accepts his help. "I will take care of the first as soon as I can. The other may take a little time." At the mention of /wishing to talk/, it looks as though a light bulb has gone off in his head. "I may have a way for her to speak to us." Looking at Penny and then Corey. "But, only if she is willing." he adds." There is a pause at the mention of mutant groups. "No, not really, things like that draw to much attention in my opinion." Penny makes a sad face at Corey... When the second question is asked, however, her eyebrows shoot right up and she points at him effusively. She points at the picture of the house in the dirt, then at the bush to indicate that they are in fact IN her home. Then she's tilting her head slightly, a look of concentration clear on her face. She skitters on all fours up to Felix, look at him carefully. Then she slowly, carefully nods at the man to make her response to his proposal as clear as she possibly can. Watching Felix curiously, Corey passes his gaze over him to see if he was holding any sort of device to help her speak. "Well if it helps and she's willing I can't say its a bad idea." He glances to Penny at that, curious how she will interact with whatever device was going to be used. "It will be nice to learn some more." Glancing again at the picture and her pointing, he does not at her words, that this was a home for her in some ways. Despite the weather, Felix is wearing his sport coat as he usually does. Clearly he has that nerdy professor look going on here. He hands the sport coat to Corey, "I think she will need this, if you don't mind." The other hand is held out, palm up, slowly towards Penny, an offer for her to take this hand. "I must warn you I do now know exactly how this will work, but I will go slow and be as gentle as I can." Clearly he does not intend any harm, nor does he desire to cause it. Penny shoulder-bumps Corey again. Obviously, the young girl has some sort of visible affection for the man. For all that, though, she is actually looking... well... A little nervous now. Still, with a sort of nervous, flinchy-motion, she lifts the back of her claw up to touch one of Felix's fingers. It's like putting one's flesh against a razor-blade. At least she is very ginger about the way she does it, though. Seeing no device presented, Corey looks at Felix more curiously. "Oh, so you are a mutant yourself, forgive me." He just nods at this as he looks between the two, and pats the shoulder she bumps into him with some reassurance. "Just be careful both of you. I wouldn't want someone hurt just because I expressed desire to speak. Its selfish and silly, and definitely not something worth being hurt over." Nothing he says causes him to look away though, and if nothing else his power may help prevent any bleeding to death. Felix smiles and nods at Corey's comment, then closes his eyes, perhaps he needs to concentrate, perhaps he is being courteous. Either way, there is nothing spectacular that happens when he activates his power. Though Penny may shiver a bit as she gets the feeling of goose bumps and an ever so sleight chill. The power is applied slowly, gradually, and as gently as possible. The mutant gene in Penny should slowly shut off. However, he is ready to turn the power off, or reverse it if necessary. Shiver indeed. Her diamond-hard skin is not particularly rife with sensation, so anything other than a sort of awareness she's making physical contact is generally new to her. When Penny feels the power moving through her, it's... odd. One of the first things to happen is that the shadow that follows her around everywhere disappears, leaving her fully lit up (which has her blinking her eyes a little, since her eyes are always a little shaded). Then her hair almost seems to shorten... Really, though, it's losing whatever trait keeps it sticking out behind her... And then it softens and becomes actual black hair. Her eyes are next. One moment, they are a solid, softly glowing blue... Then they are the normal, if clear blue eyes of a young woman. Meanwhile, the redness fades slowly from her skin as it begins to lose its sharpness. At the same time, her talons shrink slowly, ever so slowly. THIS gets the majority of her attention, leaving her eyes wide and surprised. Indeed, after a few minutes of this, she is left staring at her hands, which now have little fingers instead of long talons. Her skin is pale... unusually so, like someone whose skin hadn't seen the sun for a while. The last thing to go is her height. As her skin drains of its color, she also shrinks a little, losing around half a foot of height. The buckles and straps that serve as her clothing suddenly hang very loosely on her... And of all things she is shivering. Suddenly, it is very cold. When it is done and no more change seems forthcoming, she blurts out a sound. A loud, non-specific, ululating sound of surprise. She claps her arms around her and makes another one of those sounds. The look on her face is now caught between irritation and utter surprise. She moves her mouth around and makes several more sounds. Looks like it's been a while since she's been able to say anything. For the moment, she manages,"Oooo!" Blinking at the sudden transformation, Corey stares at Felix, before his normal instincts kick in and he hands the jacket he was handed over to Penny. "Are you alright? Here, I can give you these too." With a swift motion, he whipped off the side buttoned exercise pants showing he was wearing a pair of black running shorts beneath it. "Between coat and pants this may help a bit." He offers those to her as well before he looks to Felix. "What did you do? Shape-shift her?" Keeping his eyes closed until he is sure that Penny is clothed and decent. "Not exactly, I temporarily turned off the genetic change effecting her." Yep, it appears that he did indeed anticipate this side effect and is being very respectful. Slowly he opens his eyes, making sure it is acceptable for him to view Penny now. Once he is sure, "I am also sorry, this is not permanent, maybe 10 minutes." He seems happy to have helped, and sad at the same time knowing this is not to be forever. "Let me know right away if you start to get a warm feeling on the inside. We want to make sure the return is gentle." As though he had all the patients in the world right now, "Take your time Penny, when ever you are ready." he adds with that warm caring smile once again. Penny looks almost like a child playing in her father's clothes when she has the exercise pants and coat, but... it makes her feel warmer, which gets an enthused smile and sound from Penny,"OOOOO! OOOOO!" Then she hears the sound of her voice, and LAUGHS. "AHAHAHAHAH!" She looks at Felix and Corey, and points at her mouth, and tells them happily,"Oooeeeeoooeeerr." Then she's practically bouncing around shouting things... until she steps on a sharp rock, causing her to flinch and fall over,"ACK!" She plops onto her butt, lifts her foot, and looks at it like it's grown a third eye. There is a small, superficial amount of blood from where it is cut. She pokes the tiny wound, then says,"ACK." She leaves it alone, stands, and carefully hobbles over to throw a hug on Felix and Corey... Only to stop shortly after and sniff at one of her arms. "BLECH." That's her reaction to how she smells right now. So she leans over, and sniffs it again. Same reaction,"BLECH." Her expression brightens again, and she goes rummaging through the pockets of the borrowed clothes until she finds a pen. She writes on her own arm: "Need shower. Cold. Home is cold. Ten? Not much time. Job now? Home now?" With a look of concern at her sudden pain and anguish, Corey steps forward to try and help before she's already up and hugging him. "Its nice to see you too. I can clean out the cut at least so it wont be as bad." Taking a folded up napkin out of his running shorts, he glances to Felix. "Ten minutes? Ah, so not so much a long term solution as a temporary gift." He looks a little sad at that, and kneels down next to the foot Penny has cut. "You can lean on me while I clean it out. It wont take too long." Since after all, his powers are already surrounding her and helping. Reflecting Penny's happiness, Felix maintains that smile he has, at least until Penny indicates she wants to seek out a job and a home. The warm smile fades, while he is happy, he is also saddened at the same time. Glancing down at the ground, with a now sullen look on his face, "I am so sorry, Corey is right, this is only a temporary gift." Then after a short pause, he adds "I wish it were not so." It is easy to see that he means well, and it pains him having to tell her this. "Please, enjoy the gift while it lasts." A small tear leaks out and runs down his face, this is a guy who truly cares. As if to say 'don't worry', she hugs Felix again, then turns to lean on Corey, trying to bend curiously to get a view of the cut he's going to clean while he does it. As she does so, she raises a hand to her face, and pantomimes taking a picture, then points at herself and the two men,"Ict?" She wants to take a picture? She bares her teeth at Felix in a wide smile, as if to suggest he 'cheer up'. Taking the effort to carefully clean it up, Corey looks up at her with a smile. "See, it doesn't even look that bad. Just superficial, you're getting better already." Crumpling up the napkin, and not seeing a trashcan quite nearby, he puts it in his pocket. "Hrm, I have a phone on my camera but its not very good. Is yours any better?" He glances to Felix at that, figuring that if she was putting on a brave face, then they ought to as well. "And that is an amazing power you have. I don't know how some of the people I have met would feel about it, but even a few moments may mean a great deal." With reassurance from both Penny and Corey, Felix wipes the lone tear off his cheek and forces himself to cheer up for the moment, at least on the outside. The warm caring smile returns to his face, but he is not that good at hiding the sadness still lingering in the background. He motions to one of his jacket pockets, "Yes, my phone has a decent camera." It does not look like he intends to dig the the pocket of the coat that Penny is now wearing though. At the mention of 'amazing power', "If you say so, as long as I can use it to help others." After a brief pause he looks at Corey and adds, "Please keep this as quiet as possible. While I would be happy to help any friends you have, I also do not like to draw lots of attention." Penny fishes through 'her' pockets until she finds a cellphone, then hands it to Felix. She points at herself, then Corey, then repeats the motion, only pointing at herself and Felix this time. Looks like she wants a picture of each of them. She doesn't actually move away though, until Corey finishes with her foot, then skips back carefully and gives a thumbs up. She wiggles then pen in the air, writing on her arm: 'Will not tell anyone.' She even draws a little smiley face after that to show she is joking. She then switches to the other eye: 'No crying. Good day.' Nodding at the request, Corey crosses a finger over his heart. "I'll not speak of it unless you okay it first. I guess the police and other government agencies would be interested in you as well. A terrible burden to carry." Shaking his head, he moves to pose beside Penny, draping his arm over her shoulder as best he can from the height difference. "Alright you can take the picture first, and then I can figure out how to get the picture. Don't want to waste too much time, you know your limits." He does however put his smile back on to full bore for the picture so that the memory will be a good one. Felix takes the cell phone, flips his thumb across the screen a few times, presumably to find the camera application. "No crying." he nods in agreement, still smiling warmly. Holding the camera out in front of him he takes a few picture of Corey and Penny together, then he shows Corey how to operate it. "Just point and press the screen here." pointing at one of the little icons on the screen. "It will focus automatically." After he is sure that Corey is clear on the usage, he moves over to Penny and puts his arm over her in like fashion and makes a big happy smile for the camera. Penny poses with a big toothy smile for Corey, and when the picture is over, she even hops up for another hug/squeeze. Then she hops over to squeeze Felix again for another picture. She takes the Pen and TRIES to write the word 'Penny' on his hand. Like watching a kid in a candy store. Accepting the hug with a smile and a return hug, Corey looks to her face, and adjusts a strand of hair out of the way. "There you go. Now you're ready for your next photo-shoot." Taking the phone from Felix, he backs away a few steps and watches the screen. With tongue perched between his lips in concentration, Corey tries to line up the shot so it isn't blurry or just crappy. He does however take multiple pictures just in case he screws up one or another. "There we go, Penny pictures are taken. I'll have to give you my email address so you can send it to me." He looks at Penny though thinking a moment. "I think we can get it printed out at Kinko's or whatever and put it in a frame for her. Maybe a metal frame." Although he is not quite sure what Penny wants to write on his hand, he lets her do so, and then a great big smile appears on his face. Felix touches the place where the word "Penny" is, as if indicating this is something he will cherish, though knowing it will eventually wear off. Hugs and squeezes are warmly accepted as well. After the pictures are all taken, "I can print them at home and then find a frame, or maybe we can set a time and let Penny pick the frame." He smiles a the both of them. "I can certainly email you the pictures. Right from my phone in fact." After a little pause, "This has certainly turned out to be a good day." Penny is in the middle of grinning effusively when she feels a certain tell-tale warmth. Heaving a sigh, she informs Felix,"Ooooer. Oook." She shrugs out of the exercise pants and coat, and hands them (including the pen back) and then wraps her hands around herself for a moment, cold again. She tugs on Felix's arm and points to herself meaningfully, then looks up at him expectantly, finger pointed at her own nose. Watching her give back the clothing, Corey shakes his head sadly. "A temporary gift indeed. Still at least it is a gift you can give." He smiles to Felix at that, and makes sure to write down his email while the professor tends to Penny, not wanting to see it himself. "And I'll make sure to find a nice and durable frame for it. Don't want anything to happen to it after all." He clears his throat a bit, resisting the sadness of the event. Trying to keep his warm happy smile, but obviously a little sad the moment had come, Felix holds out his hand, this time with no hesitation or caution as he knew this moment would arrive. He closes his eyes as he did before and allows the 'gene' to turn itself back on. Making sure to let the transformation be as gentle a return as possible, but also, not wanting to prolong the inevitable either. "We can always do it again." he says softly. It's still apparently a little painful. In an odd sort of way, her skin and muscles seem to tighten and contract in on themselves. For a moment, the temperature in the area drops noticeably as energy is drawn from somewhere. The area around Penny darkens as shadows engulf her, and her eyes light up. As her posture hunches again, she gains a half foot of height again. Her hair lengthens and stands out as it converts to solid red blades, and her fingers and toes loosen into talons. Her straps and buckles? They soon all fit her body tightly again. And when it's done? She's back in her usual frog-like position, staring up at the two. The only thing that doesn't change? The clear adoration etched in those eyes.