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Post by The Administrator on Jul 2, 2009 1:07:35 GMT -5
Near downtown Mercury is a large, open park. Complete with a small petting zoo, vendor stands, trees aplenty, a playground, paths for walking or bike-riding, and a lake (with enough ducks to give beleaguered parents cause to sigh when their children when they get too enthusiastic about feeding the ducks there). There are a few boats on the lake, and oftentimes there are people performing in various ways along frequent stops, generally near benches or on favorite bridges. There is also a theater deep in the center for open-air theater, a favorite pastime.
By and large, it is the breath of fresh air and nature in an otherwise concrete, steel, and glass city.
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Post by Daniel Palmer on Jul 3, 2009 13:55:26 GMT -5
Event: Mercury Annual Independence Day Cookout Date: afternoon to evening, July 4 2025 Open to all Mercury citizens
Everyone is invited to the Mercury Annual Independence Day Cookout!
The park has been thoroughly decorated with red, white and blue balloons and banners, American flags, and the like. An orchestra plays music in the theater, broadcasted throughout the park by the speaker system. Later in the evening, there will be a fireworks display over the lake.
Several large clusters of grills have been set up, each surrounded by a ring of tables. Numerous paid volunteers take shifts operating the grills and serving the food. The park grounds are dotted with picnic blankets and crowds of people.
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Post by Daniel Palmer on Jul 3, 2009 13:57:02 GMT -5
Palmer is currently working one of the grills, with Jamie close by and munching on some food.
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Post by Anei and Hokori on Jul 3, 2009 15:00:23 GMT -5
The White siblings, put on leave from SWORD while their injuries from the destruction of the Russian freighter fully heal, are enjoying the festivities as well. Patriotic by default thanks to their upbringing and conscious of the holiday, they got a day off from training on July 4th, Independence day hasn't quite been ruined for them.
Rachel leads the way through the crowd, attempting to politely mingle enroute to some refreshments. Palmer's grill is spotted, and chosen, the older twin waving hello and offering him the ghost of a practised smile, hoping her collection of bandages, and healing bruises don't throw off her delivery, "Hey. Any chance of getting a freshly cooked hot dog for my sister and I?"
The younger twin catches up and mirrors the expression, "Smells good if there is."
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Post by Daniel Palmer on Jul 3, 2009 15:34:43 GMT -5
"Why certainly, young ladies." Palmer serves up two hot dogs for the women. He tries to not stare at their injuries.
"How are you today? I hope you're enjoying the holiday?"
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Post by Anei and Hokori on Jul 3, 2009 15:46:05 GMT -5
"A little hot but very nice, thank you," responds Arella, putting ketchup and relish on her hotdog, "Looking forward to the fireworks tonight. We've heard good things about the Mercury City displays before moving here."
She smiles sidelong at Rachel, picking up a little on Palmer's discomfort.
Rachel smiled back and finished condimenting her hotdog before laughing gently at him, "It's okay to ask about the banadges if you want; I know they stick out like a sore thumb. Nothing worse than unfortunate work inuries we're taking time off to let heal, much as we'd like to do otherwise. I'm Rachel, and this is my sister Arella, by the way."
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Post by Daniel Palmer on Jul 3, 2009 16:07:18 GMT -5
Palmer moves around the grill and offers a handshake. "I'm Daniel Palmer, and this is my adopted, uh, my Jamie." The words came out somewhat uncomfortably. Jamie had her hands cupped around a flower and some dirt, like a potted plant, and was going around, showing as many people as she could. Hearing her name, she runs over to Palmer.
"We live at Clearwater Apartments - you heard of the place?" Palmer offers more information.
"Unca' Palmer, why are the ladies covered in boo-boos?" Jamie adds, while presenting her flower to the twins.
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Post by Anei and Hokori on Jul 3, 2009 17:26:17 GMT -5
"Actually we moved in there not too long ago ourselves, apartment 325," replied the older twin, returning the man's handshake with her free hand.
Arella rolled her eyes, children another species entirely to her, and smiled tightly for the girl's benefit, inspecting the flower with every trace of serious interest she could muster, "What a nice flower. The reason my sister and I have boo-boos is because we got in trouble at work, and things got very exciting."
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Post by Daniel Palmer on Jul 3, 2009 18:11:03 GMT -5
Palmer replies, "We're in room 225, if you ever want to drop by."
Given the extent of their injuries, Palmer is very reluctant to continue that line of conversation. Jamie, however, had no such limitation. "Whatcha do wrong a' work to get your boo-boos?" Seeing that one of the girls is seemingly interested in the flower, she offers it. "Here ya go lady. Issa magical flower that will make your boo-boos not hurty anymore!"
Palmer is quick to intervene: "You don't have to answer about your injuries that if you don't want to..."
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Post by Anei and Hokori on Jul 4, 2009 1:58:02 GMT -5
Palmer's comment brings a flash of unpleasant recall across the younger twin's features. She didn't remember *alot* about her childhood before VEIL and SWORD, but what she did recall pointed out that this kind of thing could only hurt the child. "Sorry," she apoligized to girl and guardian, "But teaching you about our kind of trouble is your 'Uncle' Palmer's job. When he feels up to it. But I will take your flower, just in case."
Rachel watched her sister put the flower behind her ear before offering her own apoligetic shrug, tone low and sincere, "I'd enjoy that, offer, Mr. Palmer, I really would. Long as you don't mind a pair of young Supers visiting your home. God knows we could use the practise socializing."
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Post by Cordite on Jul 4, 2009 13:50:30 GMT -5
Slipping in with the eddies of the celebrating folk in the park, a small, Asian teenager moves through the aisles of smoking grills.
Andrew Cheung is getting ready to go back, but has decided to enjoy himself on this one day.
As he always does when he walks as Andrew outside of Walsh, he has his trusty P228 in an inner belt holster, two extra magazines in a body strap under his collared shirt. He whistles happily.
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Post by Daniel Palmer on Jul 4, 2009 14:07:59 GMT -5
At the revelation, Palmer grows alarmed. He beckons Rachel over to a more isolated spot away from would-be listeners.
"What kind of powers do you two have, and what line of work do you have to be in to get hurt that badly? You're both very nice women, but I have to play it safe here for Jamie - I'm sure you understand..."
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Post by The Minister on Jul 4, 2009 14:09:39 GMT -5
"What's wrong dad?" Melissa asks, noting her Father's sour expression.
"Nothing, just arthritis finally catching up with me," Gabriel replies with a mischeivous grin, casually rubbing the heavy bandage on his thigh that was carefully hidden under his slacks. Several other, lighter bandages dotted his body as well, and were similarly covered in the longsleeve buttonup shirt he wore. They'd only had a couple of weeks to heal since Cygnus, and most of them still had stiches. It was fortunate that Marty had been a battlefield surgeon, so The Minister didn't have to show up at a hospital with shrapnel wounds.
Mellissa narrows her eyes, suspicious of Gabriel's answer. She drops it though, as she had everytime before that. Her decision is reinforced by the youngest of her two boys shouting - Cameron's older brother Luke had snatched the glasses off of his face and ran off with them. The eight-year-old was just as quickly running off after his three-year-old senior brother, and darting through the crowds ahead of their mother and grandfather before Melissa could even shout off a full name.
Gabriel, meanwhile, was chuckling at the whole scene. His daughter gives him a disapproving stare, and he blushes sheepishly. "They get this from you, y'know," she berates him unconvincingly. Despite her apparent irritableness, he could see her amusement nonetheless.
"Boys will be boys, Dove." Seeing her expression turn from anger to worry, he quickly puts in, "Go get us some food, I'll get the boys before they stir up too much trouble."
Her expression softens, and she puts a hand on his shoulder. "Be careful, Dad."
He nods, and starts after the boys in the crowd. As always, Gabriel knew that Melissa's worry and call for caution was never about him being an old man.
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Post by Anei and Hokori on Jul 4, 2009 14:22:13 GMT -5
"Nothing too exciting. Just super strength, precognition, and the boosted reflexes we need to make use of both," she offered softly, free-hand darting down quickly to produce her SWORD badge and slipping it away again, "Injuries in the line of duty."
Arella spotted Cordite from the corner of one eye and dismissed him, precog senses perfectly content to ignore him if he wasn't going actually hurt anyone near-by right now. Also, her hotdog was too good to divert too much attention from.
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Post by Lucien Astin on Jul 5, 2009 1:36:50 GMT -5
There are two young men strolling through the park, looking for the best place to see the fireworks from. In most ways, they’re a study in opposites: one about five-ten, lithe and tan, with mostly straight, long brown hair, an angular face and sardonic raised eyebrow and smile; the other is almost six and a half feet, golden blond, with more well-constructed features and a kind of shyness and almost fear. Except, that is, for their noses: one look at them identifies them as relatives. It’s something about the nose. “I’m glad you could come up for them this year, little coz,” the shorter of the two comments.
The taller one shrugs. His shoulders are hunched—and somehow, despite the fact that he is tall and quite handsome, at first glance—even second or third—you might overlook him. It’s almost as though something is hiding him as he shrinks into the crowd.l“I’ve seen it before, Cameron” he replies in a soft, lilting Scottish accent. “On TV, and in Blackwork. And Walsh. It’s the same thing all over America.”
And then he pauses.
“Except possibly Warber. Their Pops orchestra might be worth it.” As if to back up his comment, he carries a case slung over his shoulder—a case for a smaller member of the guitar family (in this case, a mandolin).
Cameron, visibly older, simply rolls his eyes. “As much as I agree with you, Lucien, this one’s still pretty awesome. I watched one from one of the roofs, once—nearly off campus, honestly, but it was kind of neat. It’s this—“
And quite suddenly the two young men—eighteen and twenty-four, respectively—are overwhelmed by small children. Namely, one eleven-year-old carrying a pair of glasses crashes headlong into Lucien’s somehow previously unnoticed legs, pursued by a boy who looks rather disoriented. As Cameron is wearing glasses—long and rectangular, with plastic frames—and Lucien is carrying a pair in his pocket, they immediately guess the reason why. Cam raises that sardonic eyebrow and smiles a little as Lucien reaches down almost absently to halt the boy running with a kind of practiced ease.
Cam, just as absently, reaches down to pull the glasses from the older boy’s hand. “Here, I think these are yours,” he says to the younger boy. “And you shouldn’t be taking your brother’s glasses—he could hurt himself, and you, particularly in this crowd.”
Lucien kneels down so he isn’t towering so much over the boys, his curly hair falling into his eyes as he peers at the two, shoulders very slightly less hunched than they had been before. He exudes an air of utter forgetability: the kind of person who you want to help them, to help you, and then you’ll forget they ever existed. Unless you were speaking to him, you still would never notice him. “Where’re your parents?” he inquires in his quiet, foreign voice.
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Post by Daniel Palmer on Jul 5, 2009 13:16:12 GMT -5
"Nothing too exciting. Just super strength, precognition, and the boosted reflexes we need to make use of both," she offered softly, free-hand darting down quickly to produce her SWORD badge and slipping it away again, "Injuries in the line of duty." Palmer registers a moment of surprise at the SWORD badge, and their "not too exciting" power set. Nevertheless, they were still public figures, like himself. "You -- and your sister? -- are welcome to visit my place, since you both seem like responsible young women. Don't prove me wrong."
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Post by Anei and Hokori on Jul 5, 2009 13:29:12 GMT -5
"Trust me, we get that enough at work to have that at the back of our minds all the time. Supers aren't exactly welcomed with open arms at SWORD, a pride thing far as I can tell," she answers, "Your own work, Mr. Palmer?"
Arella comes up to the two, mostly eaten hotdog in hand, expression curious as she gets close enough hear the response of the man who kidnapped her twin sister for an improptu interogation.
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Post by Daniel Palmer on Jul 5, 2009 15:24:24 GMT -5
"I'm an officer with the MCPD." As usual, he leaves out any mention of his vigilantism.
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Post by The Minister on Jul 5, 2009 15:52:38 GMT -5
Luke's face blushes when confronted with the idea that he might have gotten him or Cameron hurt. "We were just playin..." he starts, although the younger boy pouts, wiping fingerprints off of his lenses before replacing them. He then unceremoniously shoves his older brother, and Luke gets ready to start a shoving match when Lucien asks him where his parents are.
The black curly haired boy looks around into the crowd and and starts to get nervous, as his mother was no longer in sight.
"I... I dunno..." he says to Cameron, apparently having forgot that it was Lucien that asked. Worry was welling up in his voice, although he was doing his best to swallow it.
"You got us lost!" Cameron yells, pushing his older brother again - this time Luke starts shoving him back. "Did not, maybe if you weren't such a little dweeb!"
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Post by Anei and Hokori on Jul 5, 2009 17:22:28 GMT -5
"Pleasure to meet you then, Officer Palmer," replied the younger twin, "You grill a very good hot dog, and your... child is very charming."
Rachel rolls her eyes pleasantly at her sibling, taking the chance to wade into her food. Interesting how these kinds of days can go, really was.
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Post by Cordite on Jul 5, 2009 18:59:08 GMT -5
Luke's face blushes when confronted with the idea that he might have gotten him or Cameron hurt. "We were just playin..." he starts, although the younger boy pouts, wiping fingerprints off of his lenses before replacing them. He then unceremoniously shoves his older brother, and Luke gets ready to start a shoving match when Lucien asks him where his parents are. The black curly haired boy looks around into the crowd and and starts to get nervous, as his mother was no longer in sight. "I... I dunno..." he says to Cameron, apparently having forgot that it was Lucien that asked. Worry was welling up in his voice, although he was doing his best to swallow it. "You got us lost!" Cameron yells, pushing his older brother again - this time Luke starts shoving him back. "Did not, maybe if you weren't such a little dweeb!" Andrew is not looking where he goes when as he walks through the barbecue, a cheeseburger on a paper plate in hand, and he fails to register the two quarreling youngsters in front of him, spilling between them, falling, but somehow managing not to drop the burger, spinning as he goes onto his back. He sighs and looks up at the two boys. 'I'm sorry.' Suddenly he realizes something. Lying between his legs is his sidearm, in plain view, having come loose from the used inner belt holster. He quickly snatches it up, and looks nervously at the kids.
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Post by The Minister on Jul 5, 2009 19:25:10 GMT -5
Cameron had been pushed straight into Andrew and had fully seen the firearm fall onto the grass, and Luke's attention is drawn as well with the younger boy's quick exclamation of "Whoa!"
"Is that your dad's gun? Timmy's dad has a gun too it's just like that one except it's longer and it's brown and silver and it has a different name on the side and it's more like a square." He pauses a moment only to breathe before continuing.
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Post by Cordite on Jul 5, 2009 20:31:04 GMT -5
Andrew stammers, and shoves the weapon in his the back of his pants.
'Uh, um... A toy! It was a toy.'
He tries to smile disarmingly. 'No big deal, just playing a game.'
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Post by The Minister on Jul 6, 2009 2:37:46 GMT -5
"What kinda game do you play? Timmy's dad wouldn't let us see the gun and the only reason we got to see it is cuz Timmy knows where his dad keeps the key to the case and cuz we stacked a bunch of boxes up so he could reach the closet. Sometimes when we play guns we pretend we're police officers chasing after badguys like the Corrite guy that was on TV and we shoot each other. It sucks when Timmy plays cuz he always wants to play Corrite but he never admits when he gets shot cuz he says his armor blocks everything and its really dumb."
"Shut up, Cameron," Luke interrupts. "He doesn't want to hear about stupid Timmy."
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Post by Daniel Palmer on Jul 6, 2009 14:11:32 GMT -5
"Pleasure to meet you then, Officer Palmer," replied the younger twin, "You grill a very good hot dog, and your... child is very charming."Rachel rolls her eyes pleasantly at her sibling, taking the chance to wade into her food. Interesting how these kinds of days can go, really was. Hearing a reference to her, Jamie speaks up again. "My home that got all smokey and burny an' Mama went gone but Unca' Palmy was brave and saved me!" She beams at Palmer. Palmer thinks quickly for a cover, but it isn't very good at all. "Yes, our, uh, her old place burned down, a month or so ago, and we only moved into these apartments recently. I'm only taking care of her until her parents find a new place." Jamie, thankfully, had lost interest and run off again.
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Post by Cordite on Jul 6, 2009 15:04:59 GMT -5
Cameron had been pushed straight into Andrew and had fully seen the firearm fall onto the grass, and Luke's attention is drawn as well with the younger boy's quick exclamation of "Whoa!" "Is that your dad's gun? Timmy's dad has a gun too it's just like that one except it's longer and it's brown and silver and it has a different name on the side and it's more like a square." He pauses a moment only to breathe before continuing. Cordite smiles silently, and Andrew Cheung laughs. 'He's a scary guy, isn't he? Cordite that is? Do you think that?'
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Post by Anei and Hokori on Jul 6, 2009 19:45:26 GMT -5
The White sisters share an amused glance at the clumsy lie, but given they had secret of their own to keep, they wouldn't challenge him on it. "I'm sure you'll do the best by here you can," Rachel offered with a smile after swallowing her bite, "So... The Mercury City Police Department as heroic and well equipped in real life as it says in our training manual?"
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Post by The Minister on Jul 7, 2009 1:04:40 GMT -5
Palmer thinks quickly for a cover, but it isn't very good at all. "Yes, our, uh, her old place burned down, a month or so ago, and we only moved into these apartments recently. I'm only taking care of her until her parents find a new place." Jamie, thankfully, had lost interest and run off again. "That doesn't have anything to do with the fire in Blackwork last month, I hope?" Margaret butted in. Margaret had a complete lack of inhibitions about butting into other peoples conversations. Luckily, balancing four plates of hotdogs and various sides had a fortunate habit of drawing suspicion off of one when popping in to hear gossip to perhaps drop into a news blog. Her eyes scan the trio, taking note of the two battered sisters and the Mercury police officer - although she missed the White sister's earlier proclamations about super powers. "I heard that it took a few days to put out," her eyes measure Palmer's reaction.
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Post by The Minister on Jul 7, 2009 1:15:53 GMT -5
Cordite smiles silently, and Andrew Cheung laughs. 'He's a scary guy, isn't he? Cordite that is? Do you think that?' Cameron shrugs, "I heard mom talking about corrite one time. She was talking to dad 'bout this sposy -" "Exposé, dweeb," Luke interjected, although his interest in the conversation was quickly dwindling as his concern grew with the absensce of his mother or grandpa. "Expusy about corrite. She didn't seem scared much."
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Post by Daniel Palmer on Jul 7, 2009 1:26:41 GMT -5
To Rachel, Palmer replies with a smile: "We certainly try to live up to everyone's expectations. If you would like to talk business later -- "
As the other woman starts in, Palmer fears, but correctly predicts, what was coming. "No, of course not... why would someone -- a MCPD officer -- like me be called to Blackwork? ... You need any help with those plates?"
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