ArchivedLogs:Like I Belong

Like I Belong
Dramatis Personae Penny, Felix	2013-05-19 Penny gets to go shopping at the mall with 'bestdad'.
Location <NYC> Central Park North & Manhattan Mall
Central Park North is slightly quieter than its southern counterpart, being further uptown and slightly out of the bustle of the City - insofar as one can escape the bustle of the City even here, in the acres of green and blue that make up Central Park. The reservoir is in the northern half, providing miles of jogging and biking trails along the clear water, as well as benches for people to sit and rest. For once, Penny is actually waiting around for someone else. Out near a public restroom in the park, she is sticking around hoping to see her buddy/part-time paternal type after arranging a meeting when she'd been hanging out in the Loft hallways. It's getting a little dark out here, so now is the time for this sort of thing, what with the park mostly emptying out. She bounces from foot to foot, eagerly. Why? She's going to get to spend time with Felix who, along with Corey is right up there in her list of favorite people. And what's more, she's got a present held between her teeth: Daffodils torn out of someone's garden. Rounding the corner at a rushed pace, Felix comes into view, wearing his usual sport coat , jeans, and t-shirt. It does not look like he enjoys being in the park during the evening hours. He looks happy to see that Penny is already here and waiting for him, and makes his way over to her. "Hi Penny." he says with a warm caring smile. "What is that you have there. Is that for me?" Reaching into his pocket he produces what looks like paper, rolled into a tube and wrapped with a simple ribbon, but it looks just loose enough that it could easily be slid off. "I have something for you too." Penny grins a little bit as Felix approaches. Being nearly invincible, Penny sometimes forgets that people like Felix are more susceptible to muggers and such. So she's there waiting with a certain eagerness as she dumps the daffodils on top of her open palms and holds them out to the man. She nods emphatically... though the sight of a present has her bouncing from foot to foot in eagerness. Indeed. She doesn't know what it is and she already likes it. Cautiously, but not with any fear, Felix takes the daffodils and places his present in their place. When revealed, his gift is two pictures, the same two that were taken here in the park just days ago. One picture with Penny and Corey, and the other with Penny and Felix. He takes a good smell of the flowers. "Thank you." he says, still wearing his smile. Then he reaches under his sport coat and spins a small pack around to the front, "I also brought you something else you will need for our trip," and produces a small shirt and some jeans that look to be the right size for her human form. It is probably the math geek in him that is able to size things very good. Additionally he produces a small watch, which looks like it has a timer preset on it. "We will need these for our trip tonight." But, he does not hand the clothes to Penny, yet. The girl claps her hands effusively on seeing the pictures, which makes a sharp 'clacking' sound. Her hands are not well made for clapping. Then the girl peers close at them with a pleased, sort of far-off look on her face. Good memories. She turns slightly and bumps the man with her covered shoulder affectionately, then looks at the clothes curiously. She wiggles her talons in the air at the man, as if to indicate that she does not currently appear to be in shape to wear them. Still, as for the issue of trip, she lifts her eyebrows curiously. Trip? What trip? "We are going shopping," Felix announces, right away realizing he elevated his voice a bit. In a much quieter voice he adds, "But, we need to change things a bit first." It is clear that he means in human form. "We need a private place first." he says looking around for something a bit less open. He tucks the clothes back in his pack, for now." Penny points at the bathrooms, then trops into one of them at random and clunks around checking for stragglers. A lone homeless person is ousted, mostly startled by her appearance and leaves. Then she peeks her head out and points back into the bathroom, clicking her talons eagerly. Felix makes his way into the now empty facilities, looking around once more before he enters. He checks the bathroom one more time just to be sure, and then finds something to jam the door so nobody happens in at an awkward moment. Next, he lays out the jeans, shirt, a washcloth, towel, soap, the watch, and a small pair of sandals. He holds out his hand, "Ok, I think we are ready," and then closes his eyes. Penny reaches out to touch Felix's hand gingerly to avoid drawing blood as best she can. Like ever, she has the shiver, the odd moments where her clothes are hanging on her, the way she goes from sort of hunched over, to the world being kinda huge again... It's a little disorienting, but in a good sort of way. It takes her a bit longer to do what she has to. She is then unabashedly wriggling out of the buckles and straps, and making use of the sink and the soap. It takes her a little while, and she's all the while making sounds, playing with her vocal chords to reclaim some measure of her old ability to speak. It's a long painful process,"Oooer. Ooor. Lix. Oap. Ow. El." She seems to only manage single syllables. Eventually, though, she is tugging on the man's sleeves, mostly clean, and clad (if a bit sloppily thanks to inexperience with all the clothes),"Ook. Ook." Opening his eyes, slowly, Felix looks over Penny with a nod and a smile confirming she did a good enough job with everything. He scoops up the soap, washcloth, and towel, rolls them up and stuffs them into the pack, along with the harness which will be needed later. Then he checks and sets the time on the wrist watch. "When this starts beeping you need to be near me so I can keep you in this form." Reaching into his other jacket pocket he pulls out a pen and a small note pad, the kind that can easily be held in one hand, and holds them out to Penny. "We should head out of the park. I would like to take you to the mall to pick up some clothes, and a couple of other things." he adds with a big smile. Penny takes the notepad, then points at the soap,"Oap." Then the towel,"Ow. El." She seems rather proud of these expressions. She follows this by writing on the notepad in a slow, careful hand,"Thank you." The next movement earns Felix a good squeeze and a hug, and then she's leaning up to grab one of his hands and point out the door meaningfully. Looks like she's ready to head out. "Car! Vroom! Store!" Hey! Look at that. Full words. One syllable... so much easier. "Your very welcome." Felix looks just like a proud father with those words. He unjams the door and takes a peek outside, good nobody there, it could look really awkward for a man and a young girl to to be leaving the restrooms together. Then he takes Penny's hand, "Yes, we will drive to the mall in my car." Felix walks with Penny out of the park and to the car, its a red Toyota Prius. He opens the passenger door first and makes sure that Penny gets in and can get her seatbelt on, then he moves to the other side of the car and tosses the pack into the back seat and gets in himself. The car is very quiet, being one of those hybrid cars. Off they go driving through the city, during which the watch will beep. Felix will show Penny how to turn the watch off if she does not already know and then hold out his hand. Resetting the 'timer' takes no time at all and just causes the warm feeling to go away. The trip takes about 30 minutes and then they are at the mall. It's a LONG time for her to stay still for that long, so unless stopped, this will very shortly devolve into her playing with the buttons on the dashboard. In fact, the AC and Heat are her favorite knobs and those will even occupy. She rubs her hands together and eventually even starts drawing pictures on her notepad and paper. Mostly smiling stick figures representing various persons of inderminate identity. The watch, of course, provides another welcome distraction that she is GLAD to play with. She even gets into the rhythm of anticipating the watch each time it is reseat. Easier to keep her soft when she isn't turning razor-sharp everytime, after all. Playing with all the knobs and buttons did not bother Felix at all. Now that they are at the mall he walks with her, but not in any apparent direction, allowing her to look around and take everything in. He guesses that it has been along time since she has been in a place so full of people, shops, and everything else. "Where would you like to go first? Food? Clothes? Other?" This trip is after all for Penny, and he does not look to be in any rush, just happy to be here with Penny. Penny is definitely loving the car thing alright! Ironically, what she ends up wanting to listen to? Old country songs. Things like Billy Ray Cyrus and the occasional 'Charlie Daniels'. Of course, with Penny's reduced ability to concentrate (even fully human, she's got a short attention span), she grabs the man's hand, and, after a moment to examine a map stand, she begins tugging the man off in the direction of the food court... And, as one might predict, points at the first photo-booth the two encounter. Felix is happy to stop and take pictures with Penny, having a good time with it, some nice pictures and some with funny faces, however she wishes to have him pose. After the photos he will go with Penny down to the food court, and let her pick whatever she wants. He is kind of along for the ride, letting Penny lead him, an boasting the 'proud father' looking smile. It's probably not surprising that Penny scouts the pizza place with the largest slices she can see and just points at a thing with the most topings. Not particularly picky, this one. Then she begins scribbling on her notepad: New place. Noone is staring. Like I belong. Felix buys pizza, the one with all the toppings as requested, one for Penny and one for himself. "You are no different than anybody else. It is just that some people can not see past what their own eyes tell them." He is happy that Penny feels like she belongs, and is sure the both of them understand this is only temporary once again, but it is not bothering him today. "I wish other people did not wear such blinders, it is to bad that the world has to be such a mean place sometimes," he adds with a smile of reassurance that everything will be ok. Penny has to work really hard to express her next thought, but she labors hard at the pen and paper to make it clear: 'When red, Penny tough, sharp. No harm. People soft, easy to hurt. One accident. Hurt. Fear understandable. When Penny soft, no hurt for them, no fear.' As if she doesn't blame them for their fear. She then starts doing her best to make quick work of her pizza. As if she couldn't eat fast enough. "That is exactly it." Felix understands exactly what Penny means, and he eats his pizza too, though maybe not as fast as Penny. "Do you want something else to eat? Maybe ice cream?" he says looking over towards the Baskin Robins. Looking back at Penny, still with that smile on his face, "Or are you ready to go clothes shopping?" Acknowledging that she is full, Felix finishes up his pizza then goes along to the clothing stores. "Penny is already pretty, we just need to get you some clothes that are pretty too." Felix beams with pride. "How about that one first?" Pointing to the Hot Topic Store. "Remember we are shopping for /pink/ Penny. I am not sure what, if anything, will work for /red/ Penny, but maybe the camping store." Penny points into the clothing store again, practically goes bounding in. In short order, she's already showing preferences. Short-ish (though not scandalously so) plaid skirts, black fishnets and t-shirts, and even a bright hot-pink jacket. High-heeled boots, too! In short, literally nothing she's picking out matches in almost any conceivable manner. She scribbles a note and hands it to one of the cashier ladies: "Felix is buying me pretty clothes." Felix follows Penny around the store, smiling the whole time, yep he really is a proud 'dad'. When she makes her way to the counter, he nods at the cashier, agreeing that he will in fact be paying for all the items. Turning to Penny, "Would you like to try them on first? Maybe wear them /home/?" He does check with the cashier to make sure this will be acceptable first. Penny makes a WOOPing sound and briefly taps her watch to let Felix know she needs a 'recharge'. When she comes out, she's got all the clothes slapped on together. One of the 'helpers' has to send her back in with tips to help her get it put on right no less than twice. When she finally comes out, though, she almost looks read for a rave with the hot pink jacket over the plaid skirt with its chain belt, high-heeled boots, and t-shirt and fish-nets. It's almost comical how she totters around like she's going to fall in the heels. Watching as Penny tries on the clothes and gets help, Felix can not help but snicker a bit. When everything is finally in order he takes a good look and nods, "Pretty Penny in pretty clothes." Though he is unsure about the shoes as she struggles to walk around in them. "Are you sure you want those shoes?" He is not implying that they are bad, or not pretty, just that they may be impractical, at least for now. But, he probably will not argue if she really wants them, being naive in the ways of being a father figure. Penny has to totter a little on the heels, but she appears pretty determined to master them. Still, doesn't stop her from stumbling over, grabbing Felix's arm, and using it to hold her up for support,"Want. Like. Challenging. Fun! Pretty!" She leans on the man, and declares, of herself,"Pretty!" Felix nods and smiles when Penny indicates she would like to keep the shoes. "Yes," he agrees with her declaring herself Pretty. Now that everybody is satisfied with the clothing choices, he makes sure to pay for everything on their way out. Next stop up is the camping store, but not before a short side trip to one of the photo-booth's for some more pictures. At the camping store Felix picks out a /very/ sturdy backpack, one that has metal loops, is waterproof and has a reinforced back, and he gets some metal climbing clips. Penny also picks out a small emergency kit and a compact life jacket. The backpack is large enough to hold everything on the shopping trip and still has more room for a few more things, like a frame with photographs. Felix also puts a prepaid credit card in the pack, with $100 on it, and there is a number on the card, so that if it runs out somebody can call him and he will recharge it. He also makes sure that Penny knows about the card, so that when he is not around she can use it. Several hours at the Mall have come to an end, and Felix feels that Penny is well outfitted. He drives them back to the park, and after finding a secluded spot returns Penny to her 'normal' state. Before he leaves he secures the pack to her harness so that it will not easily get knocked off or destroyed by her form. It was a great evening at the mall."