Out Running

Summary:
March 1st, 2015: Mystique scopes out a new government asset.

Central Park Duck Pond

The Central Park Duck Pond.


Characters

NPCs

  • None

Mood Music:
[*<http://insert.video.or.music.link.here>]


***

48 hours, no more. You can't wear the suit any longer than that, Thompson. Go out, take back some of your life. Go see your family, finish your school, have a life dammit!
The words still echoed in Flash's thoughts even as he was leaving the grounds of the base he was operating out of. The driver of the car that took him back to the apartment didn't talk to him, but that was fine with the blonde young man. Sometimes it's good to be left with your thoughts. Just not for too long.
Back in the apartment, a nicely put together brownstone a few blocks off of midtown, he spent a chunk of time trying to get used to the lay out and to the titanium frame prosthetics that he'd be able to use in public. Nothing advanced or high tech about these compared to the nano suit he wears at times. They're the frames that one guy made famous in the Olympics, Pistolio? Pistorius?
But the apartment was too tight, too enclosed. Eventually he decided to go for a run. He changed into his New York Mets t-shirt, some running shorts, and slung his workout bag over his shoulder. In ten minutes he was down at central park running a few laps around the duck pond next to the kid's park. His bag and cane were set down on a nearby bench within eyeshot, all the while the young Corporal was trying to keep up a steady pace around the designated track.

***

One lap your bag and cane are alone on the bench, the next lap around and there is a young red headed woman watching you rub your laps. She isn't messing with your stuff, it is just a good bench to watch you run from. The legs are pretty much standout if nothing else right.

Really Mystique has sources and intel, data taps into a lot of the covert world and there is a project going on. She needs to make sure it isn't experimenting on mutants, or a threat to mutants. So she is watching you run looking like a very cute redhead.

***

That first lap as he runs past she'll see him glance in her direction. It's just a first glance that leads to a subtle double take and a furrowing of brow. Does he know her? She looks sort of familiar. Well, not really. She has that sort of MJ vibe but then again that could just be the whole cute redhead thing. Then again…
Then the second lap around and he's building up a sweat. It's a long ways around that duck pond. When he passes people she might see the way their eyes sometimes follow him. For some there's a certain look of a wince, as if this man running around on the metallic legs made them somehow embarrassed. Others offer a faint look of pity. But the young man runs with his head down for the most part, focused. Intent.
It's another pair of laps before he slows, drawing close to the bench. His footsteps tap out a short light rhythm as he decelerates and closes the distance to the redhead and where he left his gear. He stops there, one hand resting on the park bench and helping him keep his balance as he catches his breath.
Looking up at her through his bangs as a beadlet of sweat trickles down his brow he offers her a faint rueful smile and says, "Afternoon."

***

Myst watches the laps and Flash running. She isn't wincing though or not looking, she is actively watching him run along there. She does note the other people's reactions though. Filing everything away bit by bit. Truthfully other than Flash though she is mostly watching for covert handlers or people who may be a problem that are also keeping an eye on him.

When he finally makes it back to the bench and now to her she smiles a bright brilliant smile, perfect really. Cheater. "Afternoon…. I have to say you are amazingly fast on those. It reminds me of that Olympics guy."

***

A small white towel is pulled from his gym bag and he uses it to wipe his brow, then rests it upon the back of his neck. He takes a water bottle from the bag as well and takes a swallow, clearly enjoying the chilled water. At her words his lips curl into a wry chuckle and he looks at her sidelong, as if gauging her askance. "You know I was thinking about him earlier today. Pistorius. I think."
He pulls his bag off the bench seat and sets it down upon the sidewalk in front of the bench. Then he gestures with the uncurling of one hand towards the seat there as he asks, "Do you mind?" And unless she objects he'll sit down.
Across the way for a moment she might get the vague vibe of another set of eyes watching them. That one guy with the Corgi on a leash, he seems to be paying too much attention. But then again he doesn't exactly present the image of an operative. Of course she knows not to judge a book by its cover.
"I'm trying to get used to them, doc's orders." It's at that moment that he extends a hand towards her and tells her with a smile, "Flash Thompson."

***

Myst leans down and checks them out now. She straightens and slides her hand to yours "Emily McKnight, pleasure to meet you Flash." then she checks out the legs again. "Human ingenuity though.. it is amazing how technology.. medicine.. and sheer determination on your part can compensate for injuries like this…" she leans back and indicates the bench "Surely you can." she does have a faint Irish accent there. "How did you lose your legs if you don't mind my asking…?"

***

"Pleasure to meet you, Ms. McKnight." His handshake is polite, warm from his exercise, but he merely gives her hand a small squeeze of respect and then settles back to adjust the straps of one of the prosthetics. She's a student enough of people, expressions, mannerisms, that she can tell he's not entirely comfortable with his injury. There's the tinge of embarrassment in his eyes, a subtle hint of fear perhaps at mockery or pity. But then she can also tell that he's able to bull past it, remembering his rehab, owning his past and what's happened.
So when he looks back up at her and meets her eyes his small smile is a touch rueful. He tries to play it off by telling her levelly, "You've probably heard it’s like before. Gung ho guy goes to Iraq. Does his bit. Gets unlucky. Comes home." He tries to leave it at that with a small shrug. Though in his eyes she can see the ghost of those memories threatening to coming back, and that subtle effort he makes to suppress them and just keep on smiling.

***

Myst reaches out and puts her hand on his arm and gives it a squeeze "Well not totally unlucky right. Your alive. You get to run on awesome Olympics legs like a gold medalist right…" she seems to genuinely be trying to look on the bright side. No mockery or pity party in the girl it seems. "You seem way to good on those to be in rehab though, what do you do these days?"

***

If he's an operative, he's not what she'd call a deeply experienced one. There's no hint of subterfuge to him, not tell-tale of micro-trigger training where he tries to keep his story off his face. If he's a superspy or something, he's a terrible one. Then again perhaps he's a different type of agent. "That's nice of you to say. But right now I'm going to ESU. One good thing that came about of all this was that I get a free ride on the GI Bill, so hey."
Flash looks away when she touches his arm, but then looks back while scrunching up one eye at her thoughtfully. "Majoring in Sports Medicine. Yeah yeah, I know. Dumb jock stuff. But hey, it's what I know."

***

Myst shakes her head lightly. "Not so dumb, smart enough to stick with what you know and are good at right. Why should you feel bad doing what you are good at or know… also smart idea to hit school especially if they are footing the bill." she leans back studying the park and the Corgi walker, checking to see if he is still on watch. "I have to say though I am surprised with super people flying in armored suits and all the other wild technology I see in the Bugle around this town, that they don't have like cyborg legs for you at this point. I mean you are a war hero."

***

"I figure money has something to do with it," Flash gives her a faint smile, but he waves a hand to the side. "Besides, I'm just a Corporal." Of course he doesn't mention Project Rebirth 2.0, but hey a fella's got to have _some_ secrets, no matter how pretty the redhead.
As for the Corgi walker, he's heading off in the other direction now, little foot long pup wagging its stubby tail happily. Probably not a handler. Maybe he was just infatuated for a brief moment or two. Though there are a pair of businessmen walking down a sidewalk that might fit the profile. Six foot tall, sunglasses, heavyish coats.
Flash then breaks in and asks her, "What do you do, Ms. McKnight? If I may ask."

***

Myst understands this game, they could just be handlers swapping in and out and not trying to be too terribly obvious. She keeps a pretty subtle eye on them all and the duck pond as a whole. "Pretty much whatever I want to be honest. Dad was in the whole Irish Internet Boom. Tons of outsourcing and tax sheltering and he got out before the big recession hit everyone. I love New York though, it's such a fun city." she looks back to him now. "Money does open doors. I'm more just wondering why we don't live in a day of medical miracles in general… I mean Stark Technologies… van Dyne Industries… so many amazing companies but no robot butlers."

***

"Yeah, I have a friend who sometimes talks to me about tech things. I tell him I don't want to hear about robots until they're able to do my laundry for me." Flash smirks wryly as he shifts to the side, lowering one prosthetic from his knee and swapping to the other. He starts working on the leather straps, making sure the fabric isn't rubbing too roughly against his flesh.
But then he gives some of her other words a thought and looks at her sidelong as he opens a hand in her direction, as if offering her the words from his palm. "But sure you can do a lot of things with a decent bit of coin. But well, what's your passion? If you had your druthers what would you do?"

***

Myst adopts a thoughtful look there, then plucks nothing off your hand and tucks it away. "Probably save the world. It is a very messed up unfair place that needs to be saved from itself. It seems pretty much out to crush people and stomp them flat for no good reason. The animals need saving. The rainforests. All sorts of people. I mean have you seen the mutant town place down…" she waves vaguely "Why do people treat each other like that… it just doesn't seem right." she shrugs "So ..I tend to shop and help with charities…"

***

"It's good that you do what you can then," Flash turns his head slightly, tilting his gaze like a curious canine. "My goals aren't so lofty. I tend to focus on like, what's in front of me." There's a beat, then he realizes that what he just said could kind of infer that he's focusing purely on her. So he smirks a bit to himself, and shakes his head. Looks away as he sets his prosthetic foot back down upon the ground.
His thoughts distance for a moment, then he says. "Mutant town, I don't know enough about. I've talked to a few people. Heck some of my friends from school turned out to be mutants. The few people I've talked to some have said they preferred being there in Mutant Town, you know, like a place to belong?"
Flash looks back at her and lifts a hand to rub at the back of his neck, pulling that white towel off of it and holding it in both his hands. "But it's like, if they want to live somewhere else they should be able to. I mean, this is America. The whole point of why I… you know. Went off to do what I did was to protect freedom and what we have here. Not just for a few folks, but for everyone and…"
He stops after a moment, as if realizing he was going on. His cheeks color slightly and he smirks again, "Sorry. I tend to ramble when I get all flag-wavey."

***

Myst smiles "Well I'm not American but I get it. You don't need to apologize for being a good person Flash Thompson. Also I am pretty sure the problem is probably that some very close minded people do not believe that Mutants are people. It is the fear of the Other or the Different. It seems sometimes to almost be a portion of humanity's nature to exclude and focus on the Other. People use it to shore up their own power, profits, control of the others. It is why some people attack super heroes in the press. It is why religious people attack gay people or mutants. It is pretty much the way those in power operate always… scapegoating the Other."

***

"To be fair, I joined up because of Spider-Man. I know, dorky right?" Flash perhaps means that Spider-Man, a possible mutant, was his inspiration. He doesn't know that Spidey isn't exactly a mutant. But hey, he never was one to split hairs.
"But anyways, that stuff is above my paygrade. Like I said, I just try to do what's right for what I can effect. Maybe someday people will be able to say, 'Hey that Flash, he didn't make an entire mess of things.'"
He smiles wryly, then reaches forward to grab his gym bag, pulling it up in one hand and then reaching for his cane with the other. "I should probably mosey. But it was really nice talking to you, Ms. McKnight."

***

Myst eyes Flash and then nods "Well you seem like a nice guy Flash Thompson. You probably won't make an entire mess of things. Just remember why you got into things." she shifts and slides up to her own feet "Nice meeting you" she shakes your hand one more time and then turns to head off now. She got a pretty good read on him for the moment.

***

For a moment, Flash lets his eyes follow her departure. There is a certain appreciation for the female form, but to his credit he turns away only after a moment and starts to move off. He makes his way down the sidewalk, footsteps taken carefully and his balance strong.
What's more he also doesn't seem to notice how intent the pair of businessmen watch him. Curious, that.

***


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