Post by delphia on Feb 26, 2011 12:28:33 GMT -5
Anti Schemer:
“Go Fish.”
He was old, but he wasn't so old that he couldn't appreciate a pretty young thing's company like this. Even if it was rotten how the Schemer treated his guests...so he couldn't help copping a look at that outfit, like a second skin, she was wearing, that hid nothing at all.
“Now when Winston was 12 he use to pretend he was Captain America. He'd steal the trash can lid from the old metal bins for a shield, and once he glued a couple 'a stars to his mother's hat. Got her riled up really well. His father him pay for a new one by doing shores for the neighbors and such. Wasn't cheap, neither, even though his dad was loaded. Designed some fancy stuff for the military or something, and they paid him big for his ideas. Don't really know what any of it was, but it wasn't any of my business, either. Army wouldn't let me serve because of my asthma, so I was just suppose to just drive him around, do some odd jobs...nothing special now. But it was big back then.”
Elissa Powers/Empowered:
It was a discomfort being so long trapped within the electric cells of this place. Quite often she had attempted to escape with no success, as if there was some field dampening the abilities her suit gave her. It seemed only luck that she would have the company of anyone while here, even if the person was an old man who was so obviously lonely. Yet his 'Schemer as a kid' stories were more funny than she might otherwise have expected.
Selecting a card from the deck he had set upon the table before her cage she adjusted the cards in her hand, making it easier to view and match. So far it was three to nothing. Just how bad could her luck be?
“Do you have a two?”
Anti-Schemer:
Pulling out a card he handed it through the bars to her, smiling pleasantly as he let her play twice. She might be some fancy, and sexy, super hero, but when it came to games she was absolutely horrible.
“Go fish! Have a 6?” he asked her, and waited for her to hand it over with a self-pleasing grin.
“Anyway, one day Win'd been good for a while, so he dad decided to get him a god. One of those energetic Beagles. Considered them a 'real' American dog back in those days. Perfect for a real American boy pretending he was a real American hero, ya know? They took one look at each other, and no matter how much his mother growled that was the end of that. He named the pup 'Bucky', and told an old brown towel to make a little cape and all, and they'd run around pretending they were fighting Nazi's and stuff.”
Elissa:
The pout came naturally without thought as Elissa passed through her only six to the old man to add to his own. “That's kind of sweet,” she commented in reply. “So what happened? I mean to make him so...so...uh...” Then she was left without words to comment on just how the Schemer had become. Did she dare say something nasty about this old man who remembered the sweet little boy the terror of the world had once been, or was it a taboo to comment on such matters to the elderly we were instructed to respect?
Anti-Schemer:
He smirked as he took the card and tossed down another pair.
“You mean such a bastard? Your turn,” he reminded her.”
“Well, one day they let the dog out like normal, and it didn't come back like it normally did. We didn't have leash laws in those days. And fences weren't to keep people in or out, but more a decorative item, ya know? If people put them up as a barrier it was either to protect their flowers, or because they were completely anti-social. Didn't even worry about locking our front doors, or taking the keys out of the ignition when we parked the car. It just...it was different back then.”
He signed. Heavily, studying his cards as he waited for her to ask for one.
Elissa:
For a long silent moment Elissa sat watching the old man who seemed to deflate instantly. It was as if something in the mention of changing times had turned off whatever was holding him up. Or maybe the past was the strings that had held him aloft like a marionette, but now that he was old and virtually useless those strings had been cut to be used for something else instead. Something younger and newer that wouldn't even appreciate what the gifts it had been given.
“Do you have...uh...an eight?” For a moment Elissa had forgotten they were even playing a game. Now she blushed as she concentrated on her cards again only to realize there was not even an eight among her selection. “What happened to Bucky?” came a quietly toned question from her lips.
Anti-Schemer:
“Don't know much about history, huh? I thought you were a librarian,” he grumped, thinking of Captain America's sidekick suddenly.
“Oh, you mean the dog,” he said a moment later while handing her an eight, but not even noticing she didn't put it down with anything.
“We went out scouring the neighborhood for 'im. I took the car while Winston, the younger, since the older was already at work for the day, went out calling for the dog. Just drove around, not seeing a bit of anything from the dog. Or the kid.
“Saw another kid, though....” He trailed off for a moment, going distant with the memory of it. When he spoke again his voice had dropped.
“This kid climbed up on the roof of a house...stood there for a long moment, just looking out across...whatever it was he was looking out across. Then he raised his arms, and....jumped,” he croaked. “Went head fist into the drive way. Cracked open his skull like some ripe melon. Freaked me the hell out so bad I jumped outta the car without even turning off the engine. And when I got over there there was Winston, kneeling in the grass, with the kid laying dead not more than a few feet away. At first I thought he'd gotten the kid's blood on him, I was so freaked out. Then I realized it wasn't the kid's. It was the dog's.
“When I asked Winston what'd happened he just looked up at me, with these big tears rolling down his face, cradling the pup. 'He killed him.' Couldn't hardly understand him he was crying so hard. Had to get him to repeat himself three times before I understood what he was saying, by then he was growling between his clenched teeth. The kid'd beat the dog to death. Broke every bone in that animal's body with a base ball bat. 'I made him pay for it,” Winston told me, and I swear I could FEEL how angry he was. I didn't get it, of course. But Win'd made the kid climb up there...made him jump. Like he does now. Only people don't just jump off roofs and that's the end of it now. No. They jump when he wants them to do something, and they're not really free. Who knows what else Winston would have made that kid do if he'd taken his time then like he does now.”
“Go Fish.”
He was old, but he wasn't so old that he couldn't appreciate a pretty young thing's company like this. Even if it was rotten how the Schemer treated his guests...so he couldn't help copping a look at that outfit, like a second skin, she was wearing, that hid nothing at all.
“Now when Winston was 12 he use to pretend he was Captain America. He'd steal the trash can lid from the old metal bins for a shield, and once he glued a couple 'a stars to his mother's hat. Got her riled up really well. His father him pay for a new one by doing shores for the neighbors and such. Wasn't cheap, neither, even though his dad was loaded. Designed some fancy stuff for the military or something, and they paid him big for his ideas. Don't really know what any of it was, but it wasn't any of my business, either. Army wouldn't let me serve because of my asthma, so I was just suppose to just drive him around, do some odd jobs...nothing special now. But it was big back then.”
Elissa Powers/Empowered:
It was a discomfort being so long trapped within the electric cells of this place. Quite often she had attempted to escape with no success, as if there was some field dampening the abilities her suit gave her. It seemed only luck that she would have the company of anyone while here, even if the person was an old man who was so obviously lonely. Yet his 'Schemer as a kid' stories were more funny than she might otherwise have expected.
Selecting a card from the deck he had set upon the table before her cage she adjusted the cards in her hand, making it easier to view and match. So far it was three to nothing. Just how bad could her luck be?
“Do you have a two?”
Anti-Schemer:
Pulling out a card he handed it through the bars to her, smiling pleasantly as he let her play twice. She might be some fancy, and sexy, super hero, but when it came to games she was absolutely horrible.
“Go fish! Have a 6?” he asked her, and waited for her to hand it over with a self-pleasing grin.
“Anyway, one day Win'd been good for a while, so he dad decided to get him a god. One of those energetic Beagles. Considered them a 'real' American dog back in those days. Perfect for a real American boy pretending he was a real American hero, ya know? They took one look at each other, and no matter how much his mother growled that was the end of that. He named the pup 'Bucky', and told an old brown towel to make a little cape and all, and they'd run around pretending they were fighting Nazi's and stuff.”
Elissa:
The pout came naturally without thought as Elissa passed through her only six to the old man to add to his own. “That's kind of sweet,” she commented in reply. “So what happened? I mean to make him so...so...uh...” Then she was left without words to comment on just how the Schemer had become. Did she dare say something nasty about this old man who remembered the sweet little boy the terror of the world had once been, or was it a taboo to comment on such matters to the elderly we were instructed to respect?
Anti-Schemer:
He smirked as he took the card and tossed down another pair.
“You mean such a bastard? Your turn,” he reminded her.”
“Well, one day they let the dog out like normal, and it didn't come back like it normally did. We didn't have leash laws in those days. And fences weren't to keep people in or out, but more a decorative item, ya know? If people put them up as a barrier it was either to protect their flowers, or because they were completely anti-social. Didn't even worry about locking our front doors, or taking the keys out of the ignition when we parked the car. It just...it was different back then.”
He signed. Heavily, studying his cards as he waited for her to ask for one.
Elissa:
For a long silent moment Elissa sat watching the old man who seemed to deflate instantly. It was as if something in the mention of changing times had turned off whatever was holding him up. Or maybe the past was the strings that had held him aloft like a marionette, but now that he was old and virtually useless those strings had been cut to be used for something else instead. Something younger and newer that wouldn't even appreciate what the gifts it had been given.
“Do you have...uh...an eight?” For a moment Elissa had forgotten they were even playing a game. Now she blushed as she concentrated on her cards again only to realize there was not even an eight among her selection. “What happened to Bucky?” came a quietly toned question from her lips.
Anti-Schemer:
“Don't know much about history, huh? I thought you were a librarian,” he grumped, thinking of Captain America's sidekick suddenly.
“Oh, you mean the dog,” he said a moment later while handing her an eight, but not even noticing she didn't put it down with anything.
“We went out scouring the neighborhood for 'im. I took the car while Winston, the younger, since the older was already at work for the day, went out calling for the dog. Just drove around, not seeing a bit of anything from the dog. Or the kid.
“Saw another kid, though....” He trailed off for a moment, going distant with the memory of it. When he spoke again his voice had dropped.
“This kid climbed up on the roof of a house...stood there for a long moment, just looking out across...whatever it was he was looking out across. Then he raised his arms, and....jumped,” he croaked. “Went head fist into the drive way. Cracked open his skull like some ripe melon. Freaked me the hell out so bad I jumped outta the car without even turning off the engine. And when I got over there there was Winston, kneeling in the grass, with the kid laying dead not more than a few feet away. At first I thought he'd gotten the kid's blood on him, I was so freaked out. Then I realized it wasn't the kid's. It was the dog's.
“When I asked Winston what'd happened he just looked up at me, with these big tears rolling down his face, cradling the pup. 'He killed him.' Couldn't hardly understand him he was crying so hard. Had to get him to repeat himself three times before I understood what he was saying, by then he was growling between his clenched teeth. The kid'd beat the dog to death. Broke every bone in that animal's body with a base ball bat. 'I made him pay for it,” Winston told me, and I swear I could FEEL how angry he was. I didn't get it, of course. But Win'd made the kid climb up there...made him jump. Like he does now. Only people don't just jump off roofs and that's the end of it now. No. They jump when he wants them to do something, and they're not really free. Who knows what else Winston would have made that kid do if he'd taken his time then like he does now.”