Starring:
Date: November 20, 2009
Summary:
Three blondes meet in Central Park… no this isn't a joke…
"Blondes in the Park"
Central Park
Central Park is beautiful today. Peaceful, even. The rain has let up for the moment, and the sun peeks through, but it's still a crisp fall day. Dressed in her peacoat, jeans, and sneakers (yes, sneakers, her feet are killing her after yesterday's quest for Ivory), Sydney finds herself sitting on a bench in the park for some peace (ironically, the same bench where she'd seen Eric only a week ago). Her hair is pulled back into a loose ponytail, and she has a plastic drug store shopping back next to her with several items inside. Sighing, she flips through the latest copy of People magazine (which she'd also picked up from the drugstore). "Unbelievable," she mutters rolling her eyes.
Unlike Sydney and her sensible footwear, Hallis is all about high fashion and when it comes to shoes it's the higher the better. Also dressed in jeans, she struts and hiptwitches her way through the park. She has her head held high (in spite of the People magazine) and is smiling. Life just couldn't be better.
It is then that Hallis spies Sydney perusing the magazine on the bench. The angle she is holding it at allows for a good view of the cover and the picture just causes her to cringe. "Oh. My. Gawd." She states, shuffle running to the bench and sliding in next to her therapist. "They put you in there too? What is with that picture?! I was sure I was holding my head up better than that!" The content of the magazine doesn't bother her, it's a tabloid. They're all the same.
The gorgeous weather, the shopping (using someone else's cash), and the temptation to get out and abount in her own body to enjoy the weather has lead Emily to Central Park of course. And you have to throw in a small dose of people-watching, with no small focus on the fitness-minded individuals out and about enjoying the unseasonable weather. She's got no particular store in mind, nor does she have any shopping bags on her person. She's not familiar with Hallis or Sydney in person, but she peruses tabloids from time to time; she'd much rather people-watch in person though.
As Hallis and Sydney sort of congeal over the magazine, Emily is strutting down the walk. Today's ensemble is a newish silverish-gray look; a gray button down overcoat, grayish silver one-piece, blunt toed black pumps, a black purse. Her hair is up, her dress is cut both low and short, and it's pretty clear that she loves her long, lean legs; in her 3 or 4 inch heel's she towers over 6', and takes full, long strides.
The therapist jumps slightly upon Hallis approach, before shrugging her shoulders, "Apparently I'm having an affair with the Congressman." She rolls her eyes and shakes her head slightly. "It really is a horrible photo," Sydney agrees quickly as she glances at Hallis. "I don't really know how they managed to get it…" She frowns and sighs before snapping the magazine shut and observing, "You don't seem all that upset by it…"
After returning the magazine to the shopping bag, she extracts a bottle of brown Clairol hair colour. "What do you think?" It's at this moment that her gaze shifts … to the blonde… Gene told her to avoid the blonde from the police video. Swallowing, she tries to appear casual, but between the stress of losing Ivory, her current therapy clients, and the tabloid cover, casual-Sydney happens to be wide-eyed. Her gaze lands on Emily and then quickly looks away.
Hallis' bright face turns sour and the grimace that appears at the site of the bottle of dye nearly causes her brain to melt. "What the hell? Sydney, you cannot.. I repeat.. cannot use a bottle on your hair. You might as well just kill yourself, really. Who does the bottle thing?" And she flips her own curly tresses over her shoulder in a way that shampoo girls do in commercials. "Go to Jacques, get him to dye your hair if you really think you need to turn from fabulous to frumpy."
She pulls the magazine from Sydney's grip and opens it again, "Seriously, I never would have guessed you the type to have an affair with George." Her wide blue eyes slide over to give Sydney a sidelong glance and she giggles. The tall blonde receives a cursory glance, but only to note that she is so tall… like an Amazon.
Sydney? George? Could this be the threesome of destiny…the threesome from the front page of this current issue of all the tabloids? Emily takes a few steps past the two girls, before pulling up to a stop. With some precision, she spins in those heels, and looks the two ladies over. "Sydney? Hallis? From the Hallis-George-therapist love triangle?" She looks the girls up and down, smirking a little bit, knowing even before they answer that they are…Hallis IS front page news afterall!
"I just want anonymity! I've never been in a tabloid before, even without the name!" Sydney smirks as she sighs about the bottle. "The bottle thing is easy, and in a few weeks I'll go blonde again. It's just… temporary. Very very temporary so my coworkers stop posting it around my office."
Sydney turns bright red at being recognized. The redness extends from her forehead to her neck, and likely underneath her jacket. She's a therapist, not some kind of celebutante like Hallis. Plus, the girl she was blatantly told to avoid is talking to her. Her lips twitch as every muscle in her body tenses. Tentatively she responds, while furrowing her eyebrows, still attempting to be casual, "…yes…?"
Smiling to the tall blonde, Hallis nods, "Yeah, I'm Hallis and this is my therapist, Sydney." This is quite a treat for Hallis. It's been a little while since someone recognized her and actually come up, Washington, actually. Turning back to Sydney, the petite blonde just shakes her head and tsks. "You don't need anonymity. Think of all the crazy business you'll get now that people think you're sleeping with George. Now as soon as they find out about the poacher, rowr! Hot commodity!"
"Intriguing…lovely to meet you two," Emily says, with a rather…well, dashing? smile. Backtracking a bit, she comes closer to the women, particularly intrigued by Sydney's reaction to her. She's been people watching for so long that she can tell Sydney is rather uncomfortable with her presence. To test the waters a bit, she extends her hand, first toward Hallis; she's sure to keep her eyes on Sydney, however, wanting to see how she responds…might tell her if Sydney is aware of just what she does in some way, and if that's the reason she's acting the way she is.
Sydney's lips curl into a weak smile, "I suppose. But I rely on my credibility as a therapist. This doesn't exactly strike confidence in people…" She quirks an eyebrow, "Poacher? What poacher?" She glances at Emily again, and states with that same weak smile while the tone lacks sincerity, "Nice to meet you…" As Emily offers her hand to Hallis however, Sydney reaches for Hallis' hand to prevent her from shaking the extended hand. "You don't want to shake her hand! Very cold out, cold hands and all," the words are oddly abrupt. Nervous. Edgy. Sydney forces a very strained very toothy grin.
As Hallis' hand is pushed away by Sydney, she frowns and gives an incredulous look to the therapist. "I— don't?" She gives the other woman an apologetic smile and a helpless shrug. "I guess it's too cold." Then she rises from the bench and passes the magazine back to Syndey and gives them both a wave. "I have to get going, actually. I'll talk to you later?" Then she turns to the Amazon and gives her a wider smile, "It was nice meeting you, I hope to see you again."
"Well, maybe…though I think it's more likely that I'll see you, rather than you seeing me," Emily says with a nod first in Hallis's direction then in the direction of Sydney and the magazine. With Hallis walking down the path, Emily turns back to Sydney, giving her a cool, confident smirk…maybe bordering on a sneer. "So…how much do you know?" she asks, wasting no time, as she slides down onto the bench next to Sydney. They're just two blondes having a casual chat on a city park bench, nothing strange to see here!
An eyebrow is quirked at Emily, and the blonde tries to play coy, sliding away slightly from Emily, "I'm not sure what you're talking about…" She points to the magazine, "I know that these are full of lies… and that it's a beautiful day out… and that I'm a therapist who managed to get into the gossip rags…" Smile. See? She's innocent of everything.
"I don't mean that…" she says, reaching out with her slender fingers to pull the magazine away from Sydney's face, to keep her from hiding behind it. "I mean the deal with the handshake. I was just going to shake Hallis's hand…she is a celebrity afterall…and you reached up on purpose to pull her hand back. It's not that cold out…you're not even wearing gloves. So, what do you know?"
Blinking, Sydney hmmms. "I know enough," she says simply. "I saw a video with you in it once…" She swallows. There's a fairly long pause before she smirks, "A friend told me to avoid you." She purses her lips together and slides down the bench further, still unsure.
"Hmmmm, and does your friend have a name? Any particular reason why you've been told to avoid me?" Emily smiles quite confidently, happily almost at Sydney, even as she slides down the bench. Testing the waters a bit, she puts her arm up on the back of the bench, and reaches out toward Sydney's hair slowly, seeing if she'll let those long fingers twirl in it a bit.
"Um… " Sydney considers and then shakes her head a little, "No. He doesn't have a name. It is he who shall not be named himself," Yes, she just made a Harry Potter reference. As Emily reaches to twirl her hair, Sydney leans away… only to fall off the bench. Quickly she stands to her feet and brushes herself off. Finally she answers semi-concerned, "I was told you're dangerous…"
"Well…in a way, I guess I am. But I'm not insane. I can be, if that's what you mean. But I made a promise to reel it in, at least for a little while. Until some more dangerous folks are taken down, at the very least." When Sydney slides herself off the bench, Emily chortles a bit, and stands up, and offers her a hand to help her up.
Hesitantly Sydney looks at the hand with some apprehension. "Uh…" she glances at it, but accepts it against her better judgment, half-expecting to be invaded by the body snatcher. "Do you …" she glances around and hushes her voice, "Do you mean you're taking down the government types?" She stares at Emily incredulously.
"For the moment, it would seem…yes," Emily states, as she gives a little flex and grunt and helps to haul Sydney to her feet. Her power doing just work by skin contact…there has to be some conscious decision on her part, so for the moment, Sydney is left to herself. "Thanks to someone named Prometheus…he seems to think that he can change me."
"Hmmm," Sydney offers with an arched eyebrow as she rises to her feet. "Is he an idealist-type? Thinking that abilities are some grand gift?" She smirks as she's left control of her own body. She pauses and then suppresses a chuckle, "I'm a therapist. People can't change others. We can only change ourselves." There's a pause, "Do you want to change?"
"Hard to say. We'll have to see." Emily gives the therapist a little smirk. "But then, I already knew you were a therapist, thanks to the gossip mags and all." "But I'd say he's an idealist…maybe too much of one. He wants me to do what I can do to help, I guess. To take the gift I was given and use it to benefit others…but I don't know that that's feasible. It IS my gift afterall, not his."
Sydney shakes her head a bit, "Naive I suppose on his part." Kind of like making a deal with the devil. "But I guess it suits your purposes for now." "Do you want to help other people?" She presses her lips together into a thin line and crosses her arms across her chest.
"It all depends on the person, really." While Sydney seems to close off her body language, Emily leaves hers nice and open, letting the arm holding her purse by the straps hang at her side, and gesturing while she talks with her free hand. Once or twice though, she does look around, making sure their conversation isn't be overtly listened or looked in on.
"Who would you want to help?" Sydney asks as she peers at Emily curiously. "What person fits within the realm of worthy?" She hugs her arms tighter together further closing herself off. Clearly, she's not comfortable in this situation, particularly as she ordinarily consciously opens her body posture.
"That's for me to know…and the rest of the city to find out, ja?" One corner of Emily's mouth is pulled up into sneer that's more cruel than anything. "For the moment though, I've enjoyed our little conversation. It's always wonderful to find someone who's familiar with my work. And now, I'm off to enjoy some shopping, right under the eyes of our ever-so-watchful police and government goons." Seems like she has trouble with authority, and seems to thrive a bit when she's showing them up. Either way, she spins on her feet, and continues to walk away, in the same direction she was headed before being sidetracked. With her back to Sydney, she holds up a hand and waggles her fingers. "Good bye for now, Sydney. You should try and get on the cover with George next week though!"
"I'M NOT SLEEPING WITH GEOR— CONGRESSMAN DAWSON!" Sydney yells as Emily wanders off. Of course, the entire park can hear. Mortified, the therapist turns several shades of crimson as she strolls back towards the Distress Centre to further consider her potential as a brunette.