Family Resemblance |
Summary: | Buddy, Kaylee and Shades go shopping in town and run into Kaylee's big brother. |
Date: | 2018-10-12 |
Related: | {$related} |
NPCs: | David Blake (Spectre) |
Scene Runner: | Kaylee |
Evergreen Square Shady Cove
This walking around shopping area has been under construction for quite awhile now. Finally though it is done and open for business.
It's not really a square, more live a big oval with a large fountain in the middle. There is no car access, but the parking lots are on the back side of the buildings with sidewalks passing between sections of stores and restaurants. The sidewalk follows the oval around past the businesses.
It is a fall evening. The weather is warm and overcast.
As a team captain, a student at Coral Springs has a lot of responsibilities. NONE of them involve volunteering to chaperone younger students who want to go to town on a Friday night. Especially if they'd probably prefer NOT to have the mother hen hovering over them and keeping them out of trouble on a Friday night. But that's just what Kaylee has done, commandeering what could have been an evening full of fun and adventure and turning it in to a Halloween Supply Expedition. Having gotten an Uber to pick them up at the docks and take them to the shopping district, Kaylee would certainly have laid out The Rules (according to Kaylee), involving not running away from her and not stealing or doing other illegal things. "And remember, boys. I can literally see EVERYTHING that happens around me, so don't think for an instant you can be sneaky!" she warns, though she's smiling when she does so.
Shades exageratedly rolls his head at the order. "Yes Captain MOM," he retorts, before returning his focus to outside the window. "You've only said that like, a hundred times. Can we *please* go now?" He's practically vibrating, looking at the various shops.
Buddy is bouncing pretty much the entire ride into town. He went shopping and got some new clothes the last time he went out. It was weird to own things. It is a weird human thing that he isn't use to. This halloween thing sounds interesting though. Dress up? Candy? Score! "I'll be good. Well, I'll try to be good. I don't ever try to be bad on purpose though sometimes I'm bad on accident. Please don't get mad if I'm bad on accident. I'll do my best to pay attention and — hey, what's that?!" He points to some of the halloween decorations that are already out.
Clicking her tongue, Kaylee frowns at Shades. "I'm NOT your MOM, Shades! I just don't want you guys to get into trouble or get hurt or anything! Plus, if anything happens, then I get into even more trouble and I really would like to try and make it through my senior year without having any kind of detention or anything, okay?" she asks, blind eyes looking in Shades diretion. At Buddy's excitement, Kaylee can't help but smirk, answering, "That's a fake cemetery, Buddy, and those are fake tombstones. So, do you guys wanna to look at costumes first? Or decorations? Or do you just wanna walk around and check things out for a little bit?"
"Look around!" Shades replies, probably a a little louder than was *strictly* neccesary, before flinging open the door and dashing into the shoping crowds without a backwards glance. He's headed in the general direction of a display of homemade candies, arms crossed behind his back in pose that would make it… well, more difficult for him to get into trouble. "Buddy! Com're check this out! Candied bacon!"
Buddy is a bundle of energy on a normal basis. Add to it the thought of candy, and that increases the energy level. Then the yell of bacon. "Bark!" Buddy actually barks. It isn't a boy making a barking sound, but an actual canine bark that comes from his mouth. He starts to head over in that direction. "Come on Kaylee." He reaches back to take her hand.
There's a facepalm and Kaylee shakes her head and chuckles as the boys peel out of the car. And then Buddy is grabbing her hand and tugging her along, too, and she follows, laughing quietly to herself. "Okay, so I am NOT wasting all my money on candy and junk food. So you guys can pick out ONE treat, each, and I'll get it for you. JUST ONE!" she emphasizes, smirking. Once they catch up to Shades, Kaylee will release Buddy's hand so he can go explore on his own. She'll tuck her hands into the front pocket of her hoodie and amble slowly after the boys, giving them room while staying in a close-ish proximity.
Shades has become a unending font of words at the various displays. "-and at the tacqueria we would make flan in house and tres leche and churros, and man fresh churros are the *best*, and also Mom made the best hot chocolate from scratch, it's not so crazy oversweetened like the kind the food trucks would sell during the winter-" The stream of delicious exposition is interuptted by Shades running into what looks like a solid chocolate pumpkin, hollowed out and carved into a Jack-o-lantern, easily the size of his head. "Hey, Kaylee! You did say *one* thing, right?" he asks, turning around, grinning.
Buddy pauses in his place and stares at Shades. He looks confused and then looks at the various costumes shown in some of the store windows. The bouncing happy Buddy seems to have suddenly calmed down. He even stops looking at the bacon and the food that Shades is talking about. He places his hands on one of the windows and stares into it. "Um, Kaylee. Why do people get dressed up?"
The stream of syllables doesn't seem to phase Kaylee in the least, as she's prone to breathless expositions, herself. However, when Shades finds the chocolate monstrosity, she can't help but shake her head, pinching the bridge of her nose and smiling. "Yes, I did say one. But I am NOT carrying it and we are NOT going to cut this trip short so you can get it someplace where it won't melt," she says. And then Buddy is suddenly NOT walking with them and she straightens up, reaching out with her sentences momentarily to locate the other freshman. Coming up next to him, Kaylee blinks a few times, then shrugs and smiles again. "Because not all of us an just change shapes like you! Sometimes we wanna pretend to be something or someone other than who we are. This gives us a chance to do just that!"
Shades mrphs, giving the chocolate-o-lantern a lingering gaze, before sighing dejectedly. "Fine," he says. And then towards Buddy, "Uh, cause it's Halloween, and that's what you do on Halloween. I mean-" A brief pause. "Wait, did you parents never take you trick or treating?"
Buddy steps back from the window and looks back at Kaylee. There is a look of sadness on his face as he says, "Oh, Okay. Makes sense." He places his hands behind his back and starts to walk (with very little bouncing) to follow Kaylee. Glancing over at Shades, he says, "I can't remember. I remember playing as animals a lot when I was little even before I knew I could become animals."
"Wait, why does that make you sad, Buddy?" Kaylee asks after the boys sullen reaction. She walks closer to him and is just about to ask him another question when a voice rings out from behind them, "Nobody has to be excited about EVERYTHING, Kaylee-bird."
Whirling around, her mouth dropping into a wide 'O' of surprise, Kaylee stares in disbelief. "David? David!?" Her arms move to her sides and slowly start to rise as she slowly begins walking towards the man. That walk quickly turns into a run, however, and then a dead sprint as she lunges at the man. "DAVID!"
Shades stares at Buddy for a few long seconds, before shrugging. "Man, you missed out. I mean, you're a little too old to go trick or treating now, but it was always freaking awesome." At Kaylee's excited shout, he spins around, suddenly tensing- until he can tell that her reaction was a happy one. With one hand, he nudges his sunglasses back up his nose, while his other hand, while Kaylee is distracted, attempts to slip a Hershey's bar into his back pocket.
Buddy opens his mouth to answer Kaylee's question and then she goes running off. "Hey! You told us not to run away!" He looks at Shades and wonders what she is doing. "Bright Eyes!" he calls to her. Buddy looks at Shades, "I don't know. I'm not sure it would have worked for me." When Kaylee lunges at him, Buddy goes running to planning to help her lunge and tackle him if needed.
Standing just a little taller than Kaylee, the man in his mid-twenties just smiles a smile that rivals Kaylee's for its Wholesome and Goodness, his arms spreading wide as she runs. When she dives at him, he catches her easily and spins once before setting her back down, letting his arms loosen to around her waste. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were happy to see me or something," he quips, his nose wrinkling in a fashion very similar to Kaylee's when he smiles at her. "But I think you've startled your friends, so you'd better make some introductions before I get beat up," he teases, letting one of his arms fall away.
Kaylee, for her part, squees loudly and buries her face in his neck for several seconds after the inital glomp, her eyes glowing very brightly when she opens them again. She's also grinning, and the family resemblance is unmistakeable when she does finally turn back to face the Freshmen she'd brought into town. "I'm sorry, guys! This is my biggest brother, David! David, these are two students from my school. Corbin likes to be called Shades and that's him, and this is Buddy!" And, since Buddy had come running after her, if he's in range, she'll try to reach out and jostle his hair when she introduces him.
Shades walks up, shifting to Way Mature mode. Or at least his best approximation of it. "Hey. Yeah, call me Shades," he says, holding out a hand for David to shake. Until a thought occurs to him, almost immediately breaking his Way Mature mode. "Uh, hey, are you like your sister? With the whole- like, light up thing?" Annnnndddd Way Mature mode deactivated. "Cause like, I've been arguing online with this one guy that- well, he was saying that supers are just randomly distributed, but like, there's the Masters family and, I mean, it makes *way* more sense for supers to tend to show up in clusters like family, right?"
Buddy lifts his head to Kaylee's hand as she jostles his hair. It is a very animal behavior like a cat or dog lifting its head to a petting. Buddy looks up and then up higher at David. "Hi Mr. Tall. How did you get so tall?." He places his hand on his own head and then moves it forward until it lines up with David's chest. He then lifts his hand up high to try and reach the top of David's head.
"Corbin!" Kaylee exclaims, frowning at the boy. "David doesn't have any powers! He's in the military. They don't let supers just be in the army!" Which perhaps should have been pointed out earlier- David happens to be wearing the BDU of the US Army, complete with cover. The name 'Blake' is emblazoned across one pec, with several bars on the other. The bars on his collar would mark him as a lieutenant, which might seem a little odd considering how young he looks.
For his part, David just chuckles and continues smiling at the boys. When Corbin puts on his adult face and offers his hand, David likewise looks more serious and gives Shades a very firm and adult handshake. The question and argument, though, just makes him smirk and he lets Kaylee respond in his stead. Buddy's reaction gets a little more surprise from him, but he still doesn't say anything about it, instead treating Buddy's question with the honesty and sincerity in which it was asked. "By eating my vegetables, getting a good night's rest and staying physically fit while I was growing up," he responds, with a Public Service Announcement nod of affirmation to conclude the statement. And it may be easier to see where Kaylee gets her poster-girl personality from, now.
Shades gives Kaylee a brief look that, even through the sunglasses, conveys a profound sense of 'Right, the *military* doesn't have supers, pull the other one it has bells on'. But, there's better things to discuss, like, "Cool! What branch are you in? One of my uncles was in the Marines. What rank are you? Captain? That'd be funny, since Kaylee's a Captain; I mean, just a Team Captain, but still."
Buddy jumps up to try and look at David's face. "Vegetables? I don't know what Granger and Mr. Shocky feed me. It was kibble and didn't taste too good. Maybe that is why I'm so short." He then jumps again. "I'm pretty fit thought. I can do all sorts of cool stuff. Wanna see?" Of course, from Buddy, that probably means changing into an animal.
"Nononono, not now, Buddy!" Kaylee says, grimacing and waving her hands to prevent Buddy from shifting into a billion different things. "I promise, you can show him later, okay?" Hopefully, that will be enough to tide him over.
David seems as unphased by Corbin's excitement as Kaylee was. Probably because he's known Kaylee all her life. "Well, young man, I'm a lieutenant in the U.S. Army. And you be sure to thank your uncle for his service, for me. Being a marine is no easy job; they're the first to go and last to leave in a lot of pretty scary situations," he responds. "And are you on Kaylee's team, perhaps? How's she doing?" Then David turns his full attention back to Buddy and he smiles again. "Well, that's great that you're staying in shape. But hopefully, whatever you were fed before, you'll be able to get a balanced, nutritional diet at the school. Just make sure you don't focus on just the desserts!"
Shades gives a quick shake of his head. "No, I'm part of the Athenian League. She's the captain of the Promeathians." A brief hesitation. "Uh. Sir?" The last is added with some obvious unclarity about if it's neccesary. "And I guess she's doing pretty good, even if she would rather play basketball than be a superhero." That last which is still said in the most incredulous tone possible because, *honestly*, SUPERHERO.
Buddy nods his head and says, "Oh, I eat all sorts of stuff. I eat grass and weeds, nuts, worms and lizards and squirrels. I even catch fish. Mmmm. That is yummy. I haven't tried desserts yet." He hasn't had a successful human meal yet since coming to school and just eats whatever he catches as an animal. As they start talking about teams, Buddy says, "Oh, I'm on a different team." He chuckles and says, "It's a secret."
"Well, now, hold on there, young man," David says, holding up a tut-tut finger as he responds to Shades. "There's more than one type of hero out there, and they're ALL pretty super. As long as she's doing her best and pitching in, it's not our place to judge how she uses her talents." He then offers Corbin a nod and a smile to reinforce his point. And then Buddy is talking about eating … stuff. Somehow, David takes it right in stride, smiling at the young man and folding his arms across his chest as he listens. "Well, as long as you're getting all the vitamins and nutrients that you need, I'm sure you'll do just fine. Keep up the good work!"
"Hey! I TOLD you, I wanted to play basketball FIRST! If the world was ending tomorrow, you know I'd be right there on the front lines trying to save it!" Kaylee protests to Shades. But, then her brother steps in on her defense, and the way Kaylee preens and smiles, it's obvious how much she looks up to her brother. He's just so durn GOOD! Buddy's response, however, causes her to grimace and shake her head. "Buddy! You need to start eating in the cafeteria with the other students!" she chides.
Shades hrmphs, crossing his arms behind his back. "Whatever, I guess," he replies. The dampening from being shut down lasts approximately fourteen seconds. "Okay, so, what kind of guns do you shoot? Are you deployed- I mean, I guess you'd be on leave right now, but I mean, are you gonna be shipping out soon? Do you have, like, a squad of troops that you give orders to?"
Buddy shakes his head at Kaylee and says, "But everything looks and smells so weird. I don't mind catching my own stuff. I did it for a while between Suzie and Granger. Besides, he said it was fine." Buddy points directly at David and then higher to point at his face. Buddy doesn't always understand human social rules. "Oh, what's that?" He sniffs the air a few times probably picking up some scent that his keen animal senses detect. Buddy runs off down the street and turns a corner. A couple moments later, the cry of a golden eagle can be heard. A little boy says, "Mommy, that boy tired into a birdy!" The mom shakes his head and says, "Jimmy, that's enough candy for you tonight. Sheesh."
With Halloween coming up and, more importantly, Dia De Meurtos, Sierra is out shopping for costumes. The Aztec god inside her also enjoys this time of the year - lots of death, even if it is fake. She wears jeans and a t-shirt, the latter with 'It's not me, it's you' written on it, a cap pulled down and sunglasses - incognito! And then she sees the nerd convention. Should she avoid them? Nah, where's the fun in that? "Kaylee" she waves. "Buddy". Oh…he's gone. The other two she doesn't know, no matter how famous Kaylee's brother may be.
"Kaylee, it's not your job to police where he eats if the school allows it," David admonishes his sister. She pouts at him for disagreeing with her, but he just puts his hand on her shoulder and gives her a stern look and she sighs and nods.
"Ohhhh-kaaaay," she relents. And then Buddy is suddenly running off! "Buddy! Buddy, come back here!" she calls after him, but the little guy has already disappeared into the crowd and around a corner. And away. Well … so much for no running away from her …. Kaylee frowns and folds her arms across her chest, her brow furrowing as she tries to pick him up in her spatial awareness and fails. Yup. Gone.
When Shades asks a bunch more questions, David chuckles and shrugs his shoulders. "I'm in the Army. I shoot lots of guns. And I'm on assignment, right now. I'm a specialist, so I don't get 'deployed' like standard troops. I'm actually more of an administrator now, than soldier. I don't have a commission or troops or anything that I'm always in command of. If I'm going in to a war zone or anything, I get attached to a batallion while I need to be there and get releasd when I'm done," he explains to the boy. And then Sierra comes ambling over and David offers her an All-American Smile as well.
"Sierra!" Kaylee chirps, smiling. She tucks herself under one of David's arms again and puts her hand on his chest, gently hugging him. "This is my oldest brother, David. David, this is one of the only girls that started school with me, Sierra," she introduces.
Buddy has disconnected.
"Huh?" Shades turns at the unfamiliar voice addressing Kaylee, and then… stares for about half a second, before twisting back to look between Sierra and Kaylee. "You *know* Ladama Ardiente?" he accuses-loud-whispers towards the later. "She like, blew up a cartellos headquarters! And maybe a small island! There's all sorts of stories!" After half a beat, he adds, "Could you introduce us?" towards Kaylee, in an even softer voice.
So…this is a Kaylee brother? Could he look more white bread? "Hi" she half greets, half grunts to the man. "Yeah, me and Kaylee have been through a lot together. We're the survivors." A teasing smile before this other guy is going off like a crazy man. Sierra lowers her sunglasses a little to peer over them at Shades. "Do I know you?" she asks, though it seems he may know a little too much! "And a little less of the 'Lady', thanks."
David crooks an eyebrow at Sierra's non-commital greeting. But, he doesn't say anything about it. However, Shades reaction draws his attention again, then he's looking back at Sierra a bit more seriously, as if sizing her up.
Kaylee, on the other hand, is oblivious to what Shades is talking about and just rolls her eyes and snickers at his reaction. "Sorry, Sierra, Corbin is pretty excited to be at the school and meet other people with super powers. But at least he's always happy to see people!" she offers, always with the silver linings. "Sierra, this is Corbin, who likes to be called Shades. Corbin, this is Sierra," she says, gesturing between the two of them.
Shades actually squeeks at Sierra's gaze, an involuntarily released high pitched sound, and backs up a step, before he readjusts his own sunglasses higher on his nose from where they slid down. "Uh, right, sorry, I just- you know, it was just kind of a made up name over on the Villanos y Vigilantes forums cause, cause, like, no one really knew who you were but the footage kind of made out someone that looks like you, I mean, she's probably not you, cause the Mexican government never released an official comment and it was just an unofficial name anyways, so, so, no harm meant! Hi! Sierra! Not Ladama!"
Shades' reactions aren't making Sierra feel anymore comfortable, though Kaylee's explanation helps…a bit. "Hello, Shades, nice to meet you. I wouldn't believe what people write on the net. Whenever you read something there, just remember anyone can write anything they like. Would you read a book by a dribbling lunatic criminal without references, sources or evidence? So why be happy to believe it when it is on your computer?" She makes a mental note to hack that wesbite later. "Yeah…probably not me." Sierra doesn't sound very convincing.
Sensing the tension that rises between Shades and Sierra, Kaylee grimaces and immediately tries to be helpful. "Yeah, Sierra's like, super nice and friendly and really loving and caring and tender and everything so she couldn't possibly have done anything really bad like that ever because she's such a sweetheart and a good person and so nice and everything!" Because raisins. David, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be buying it at all, though he doesn't speak on it.
Instead, David clears his throat and turns to Kaylee, putting his hand on her shoulder again. "Well, Kaylee-bird, I was happy to bump into you this evening. I'll be around for a couple of days on this assignment, but I don't think I'll be here past this weekend. So, if I get the chance, I may hit you up and see if you want to hang out some, tomorrow. But I need to get back to work." He then turns and nods to Sierra, reaching up and touching the edge of his cover. "Miss." He then turns and offers another very serious and adult handshake to Corbin, giving him a very serious and adult eye-to-eye, man-to-man look. "Mister Shades. Keep up that energy and enthusiasm. I hope to hear good things about you in the future."
Shades bites his lip and nods several times, accepting the handshake and using the time to switch back towards Normal Shades. "Peace, Lieutenant David," he replies. And then gives Sierra a longer look, his expression shifting from apprehensive to curious. "So, uh. You go to Coral Springs too, then? That's cool." He brushes a hand against his hair, nodding along at Kaylee's words. "Well, uh. What kind of powers do you have? Like, I can turn into a shadow and do some other weird stuff with shadows. I mean, sort of. I'm still sort of figuring it all out."
Another of Sierra's curt nods to David as he appears to leave. "Nice to meet you. Don't worry, your sister is in good hands." A sweet smile for the brother that doesn't look sweet at all, before a more sincere one for Kaylee herself at all the nice things she said. "Awww, thanks Kaylee. And you're a sweetheart too." She seems a little surprised that the other girl was so nice about her. And…touched? "Yeah, I go to Coral Springs" Sierra nods to Shades. "Senior. Shadows? Nice. I'm a witch…at least that's what most people call me. I work with fire mostly, but I have some other surprises. And you'll find that new powers just keep popping up when you least expect it."
David chuckles, once, and then mostly ignores Sierra's attitude. He has *Things To Do* and they don't involve letting little girls get under his skin.
"Awwww!" Kaylee whines when David announces he has to leave. She lets him shake Corbin's hand before glomping him again and SQUEEEEEZING him- which seems to have little affect on the well-built man. "I love you!" she chirps loudly, giving him another squeeze. Then, she lets him go and waves lots as he turns to leave. Without the ability to see or read facial expressions, she mostly misses the interplay between her brother and Sierra, everything hunky-dory in her version of the world. However, her explanation to Shades seems to confuse her a little. As David turns and heads out, Kaylee cants her head to the side and looks in Sierra's direction. "Who says you're a witch? I've never heard anybody call you that. Or the alternative, either." Then, she smirks, wrinkling her nose a little as she folds her arms across her chest. "Honestly, I don't think anybody thinks you're as bad as you want us to believe you are, Sierra. And it's pretty hard to start rumors about yourself when nobody's gonna repeat them."
Shades starts to relax, since it appears that Sierra isn't going to just, explode or something. "Oh, that's cool. I don't think I've met an actual witch before. And fire sounds *awesome*." The last of his apprehension fades away. "Kaylee, witch isn't, like a bad thing. It's just another kind of… another way of doing stuff. Like Ms. Vallista, she could tell fortunes. But the fire stuff is more like with Blaze; most people think all he can do is blast things with fire, but he's actually shown a lot of finer control." Half a beat. "'Course, Blaze first showed up walking out of a forest fire, so, uh, maybe his finer control came after that. But anyways, cool! Yeah, I'm just a freshman, I just started like, a week ago, but man, so far everything has been AWESOME." As he gains speed, his grin begins to grow back to normal.
"I'll get you in touch with my priest back in Mexico City, Kaylee, he couldn't stop calling me a witch /and/ the other one. He wanted to burn me at the stake. Which probably wouldn't have done much" Sierra shrugs to Kaylee before a little smirk. "Nah, I'm not that bad. Love has softened me. And I'm totally mature now. I barely kill anyone anymore." Sunglasses turn to look at Shades. "You're very excitable, aren't you" she notes. "I think you're going to have a great time here. Which team are you in?"
Kaylee harumphs and makes a face at Sierra. "But nobody around HERE calls you that!" she says. Then she sticks her tongue out at the girl. And then she sighs and smiles. "Speaking of love, I've gotta get a move on if I wanna get the decorations I need before they start closing up shops. Sierra, do you mind hanging out with Shades so he can keep looking around while I shop? I'll get us an uber back to the dock when we're done."
"Athenian League!" Shades replies, tapping his chest. "And yeah, I've heard that about being excitable before- wait, did you say your priest wanted to *burn* you at the stake?" He stares, incredulous at Sierra for half a beat. "But- why? Wait, are you also like, from the past like Sydney? Cause that sounds like something from back then. Or are supers just that… treated like that in Mexico?" His head swivels between Kaylee and then to Sierra. Do you know how hard it is to do puppy-dog eyes from behind sunglasses? But he's giving a best effort.
"Umm…I guess I can look after him" Sierra replies to Kaylee before looking Shades over once more. "Good luck with the decorations." A hug and air kisses for the /much/ taller girl before she turns towards Shades. "My priest didn't have to make a huge leap to think I was a witch. He never liked me in the first place, and then I start shooting fire all over the place. If it looks like a demon, it must be. So…kill it." A pause before she adds, "And there's the whole Aztec god inside me thing as well. I'm not from the past but /he/ definitely is."
Giving Sierra a squeeze, Kaylee grins and closes her eyes as they hug and she rocks her friend a little. "Thank you SO SO SO much! I'll be back in a few!" she announces. And then she releases Sierra and litterally skips off to start shopping. Now, if only David were still around to help carry the bags …. Oh, wait! Shades can help when she's done! Yes, that will work out just fine!