2007-09-19: The Great Tie Intervention Of 2007 Wherein Cass Saves America

Starring:

Nathan_icon.gif Cass_icon.gif

Summary: Because we're here to help you, Nathan.

Date It Happened: September 19th, 2007

The Great Tie Intervention Of 2007 Wherein Cass Saves America


NYC - Bloomingdales

The time has come. The time for boys to become men, for men to become warriors… for Nathan's ties to be less eye-bending. Having not told Nathan where the two are going to go or even what they're supposed to be doing, Cass picked the senator hopeful up (or, well, caught a taxi to pick him up) and then directed them to a street address. This is all done in the utmost secrecy. Or as much as a bookstore owner can give to a shopping trip. When the taxi stops, the brunette tugs Nathan out of the taxi and the two find themselves in front of Bloomingdales - the mothership of department stores. Grabbing for a hold on his sleeve, as if anticipating his desire to flee, she jerks her head in the direction of the door. "Alright, Senator-to-be Petrelli. Your time has come. Follow me. And don't try to run. It will get you nowhere." There's a hint of a smirk.

The taxi pulls away just as Cass grabs a hold of the sleeve of his jacket, more or less sealing his fate. Whatever this fate is. Nathan blinks across at the department store, then eyes Cass as she speaks. "You're taking me on a shopping trip of the utmost secrecy?" he has to ask - oblivious, despite the fact that he's wearing one of his infamous ties right now - thick red and blue diagonal stripes. He thinks it's patriotic, okay. "You said this was important."

"Oh yes." Cass already is tugging him to the doors and then toward the men's department. "This is important. You see, I've figured out the perfect way to give you a boost in the polls." Ramon may bring campaign contributions and Peter advice for the future. Cass? Cass brings fashion sense. It's something, right? "And if I told you where we were going you would never have agreed. So I had to do this in absolute secrecy. I didn't even tell Peter, 'cause I know he can't keep a secret." Once in the men's section - she's actually scoped out the territory before bringing Nathan here - she moves straight for the impressive tie selection. There are walls with rolled up ties in wooden boxes. They're organized by color and pattern. None of them are red and blue diagonal stripes. Thank God. "Okay. So. We're getting you some new ties."

Nathan manages not to protest as he's dragged through the department store, probably not as fast as Cass would like, but inevitably, they stop in front of the Wall of Ties, and Nathan stares. "…." Okay this makes Cass, Elena, Mara, and Heidi who have all made comments on his taste in ties, as well as that one employee who asked if he was "positive" about the tie he'd picked out for the fundraiser last Thursday. "What is this, an intervention?" Nathan asks, a hand reaching out to inspect one of the far less colourful strips of fabric with a little disdain, letting it fall back into place as he fixes Cass with a look. The look says: damn your inevitable betrayal. "Did Heidi put you up to this?"

Yes, Nathan's ties. We shall make this place your grave. "Yes. This is your tie intervention, Nathan. We all love you very much, but our eyes cannot take much more of this." Cass lets go of her older friend almost reluctantly - wary of the fact that he may run. Before she does, she tells him, "There are security cameras. I will make sure that videos of you fleeing in terror from the tie section will be leaked to the press if you try to run." She'll do it, too. There's a bit of a laugh and she pulls out a shelf and starts to sift through tie after tie. "Take off the one you've got on, if you would, please. And, no, Heidi did not put me up to this. Though I think she'll thank me when we're done here." Looking at the suit he's wearing, she pulls out one that's a nice dark red.

…damn. Trapped. Nathan straightens out the sleeve of his jacket with some haughtiness, glancing around. Yes, there are people, and yes, there are cameras. jkgfdhgjkd. He purses his lips and makes no move to flee, and instead, raises his hands to reluctantly undo the tie he has on in sharp, efficient movements. "I think you're being a little overdramatic," he says, stuffing the current atrocity into his jacket pocket, casting a look over the ties on display. Before Cass can really show off the dark red one she's located, his hand reaches over towards a dark blue one. So far so good. Except it passes by it to locate the dark blue one with bright red stitching that suggests someone had to divide by zero to create such an optical illusion in its pattern.

If Cass was able to go through her first plan there would be a little collar around Nathan's neck and every time he reached for a tie such as the one he's going for now, she would push a button and he would get a little shock. It's like training dogs! Or an invisible electric fence! But the fence is only around disaster ties! If only. Before Nathan can actually grab that tie, she moves to gently smack his hand away. "Ah ah ah. You are here to learn. Not to take. Nathan, that tie looks like those books where you if you cross your eyes and pull it away from you, something 3-D will pop out of it. Do you really want to ruin the eyesight of the American people?" The nice red tie she originally picked she holds out to him. "Here. See. Hold this one up and look in the mirror."

Nathan's hand jerks back when it's lightly smacked, looking almost offended. Almost. Mostly because he has a tie very much like the one he was going for at home, until the dogs ate it. Or it was fed to the dogs, as is more likely the case. Sulkily, and with a dark glare, he takes the recommended tie from her, stepping to the side to hold it up against himself. It. Well. It works rather well with the suit he happens to be wearing today, but now it's the principle of the thing, so he's going to complain no matter what. "Don't you think it looks kind of severe? Or old." Because you know, optical illusion ties are all the rage these days. "There's nothing wrong with a pattern, look— " And he moves to go take down a dark blue, brown and green paisley patterned thing that while isn't bright, it looks something that the Collider in 2008 is meant to create. But before Nathan can actually grab it, he stops and pulls his hand back to give Cass a wary look, not about to get hand-smacked again. See? He's learning.

What Nathan doesn't know is that Cass has a standing bet with Monty that whenever he feeds Julius one of Nathan's ugly ties he gets twenty bucks. Is that actually true? No. Cass has not yet met Simon or Monty, but when she does that bet is so on. "Well, you are kind of severe and old." Of course, the woman says it with a grin on her face, so she's obviously kidding. "No, there's nothing wrong with a pattern…" she trails off as Nathan makes for the paisley tie and her eyes actually widen. Is he joking? "Unless it is the pattern that you just picked out. Paisley? Nathan, this is not the seventies any more. That looks like it's going to try and eat my soul." Good learning. Putting the red tie down she picks something else out. This one is a deeper blue with small embroidered ovals on them. "See? Look. A pattern that doesn't make me want to claw my eyes out. And it's not too severe and it doesn't look old."

Maybe Nathan likes ties that appear to be soul eating. Maybe that's the whole point! Cass gets a glance at the first jab, then, Nathan rolls his eyes. "You know, I wasn't wearing ties in the seventies, how old do you people think I am?" he mutters, though he takes this new one off her to look into the mirror with. He studies his reflection for a moment, before he draping it over his arm, picking up the red one as well to join it, even. "Fine," he relents. "What else?" It's a prompt to get her to look for more. Because when she's distracted, maybe he can ninja-add a tie that's more him to today's shopping haul.

Maybe Nathan does like those sorts of ties. And what Nathan does on his own time is no concern of hers. However, when he's in public, he should wear respectable ties. "I don't know…a hundred and sixty? Maybe just a hundred and twenty?" That should cover the range pretty well. The two ties are joined together and Cass does indeed go searching through the ties for a few more that he can wear to political events and the like. Picking one out of her small pile, she holds it up against his suit, to see if it may fit. It's blue and has donkeys on it - the symbol of the Democratic Party. As she does so, she gives him a bit of a smile. "I figure…if you're supposed to be a president one day, you should look the part."

While her back is turned, Nathan edges to the side to take down the paisley tie Cass had damned, and slips it underneath the dark blue tie. Maybe she won't notice, and he doesn't even give her a 'I didn't do anything!' smile when she turns back to him, staying neutral. He glances down at the blue tie of democraticness, then back up at Cass when she says that. An awkward beat of silence, and Nathan takes the tie from her, putting it onto their selection of items to buy, further obscuring the paisley one. "What, you mean in the future we're meant to be preventing?" he states, wryly - and quietly, as there are people around, after all. He takes another tie from her selection, flipping it to inspect it, before squinting back at the Wall of Ties. "Do we like stripes?" he asks her, because he's coming to terms that maybe he doesn't know what makes a "good" tie. Maybe. He still digs the paisley, though.

For the moment, Cass says nothing about that paisley tie. If she noticed him slipping it into the pile, well, it will just stay there for now. "Aw, come on. Not even a smile for a donkey tie?" The book store owner puts on a bit of a pout for that. Of course, she was showing it to him while talking about his possible future presidency when he turns into a split personality crazed person. But…come on, it's a donkey tie! "No, I mean, in the future that we're going to remake." Her voice is pitched just as low to that. "You could president, still. We just have to make sure it's the right you. I heard he had good taste in ties." There's a smile and she turns a bit toward the tie rack to eye it. "Yes. We like stripes. Depending on the colors and spacing." Even with stripes there are qualifications. "Really, a tie isn't supposed to take over your whole suit, you know? It's just supposed to accentuate it. Add a dash of color to those greys and dark blues and blacks. You know what I mean?"

Nathan doesn't smile. He in fact makes a :| expression, though he goes back to studying the ties. He listens to her and makes a non-committal shrug of agreement, before tentatively picking up a diagonally striped tie. It's not bad. It's not perfect, either, because it has a streak of loud red and the direction of the colours might induce sea sickness - but the muted tones that accompany it are kind of nice, and he holds it out for her inspection. Even as he asks, "Peter told you about that?" of the matter of future MPD-ness.

"You of all people should know that Peter cannot keep a secret." Cass gives the tie that Nathan holds out a bit of a once over. She raises an eyebrow at that loud stripe of color. Well. This is certainly a work in progress, but they're getting somewhere at least. "Are you picking that tie out because you actually like it or because you think I'll let you keep it?" That's the difference there. And his answer will determine whether it stays or goes. Then, back to more serious discussions. "But I'm glad he told me as much. He told me enough about my supposed future I had myself a little mini breakdown. I think he thinks that I'm someone who might be able to help with that. And, you know, the other stuff."

"…" He glances down at his selection, for a moment stuck as to how to answer her. What's the right answer! "…both?" Nathan finally says (fence sitter!), still holding it out and waiting for approval of some kind. It can't be that bad, can it? "And Peter needs to know when a good time is to keep a secret," he adds, in a tone that suggests he might just throttle his brother with a newly bought tie. "There wasn't anyone with you when he talked about it, was there?" It might be Cass, and all, but possibly turning into a sociopath is not something Nathan wants spread around, even in their immediate group of heroes. He hasn't even told his wife, yet.

Waiting for Nathan's answer, Cass rolls her eyes and just takes the tie from him and puts it back. "Flip flopper," she teases and picks out another tie. This one is striped in grey with one light red threading through it. It's a good tie. Holding it up briefly against his suit, she drops it into the pile. "Well, I was a psych major, Nathan. I think he thought I may be able to help with that." Don't use a new tie to throttle Peter! Use an old one! "Yes, Nathan, he called a press conference and told the entire press core. For some odd reason I think he thought you'd keep it to yourself and wouldn't get the help you needed should it, God forbid, actually start to happen. Now, I can't imagine why that is, can you?" Not that Cass is really one to talk about her own desire to keep her depressing future from others.

Nathan gives Cass a look that's just bordering on a serious glare, but he's not about to rail against honesty. He does, however, withdraw the grey one she added and hangs it back up. "Looks like a school boy tie," he tells her, sullenly, and starts walking on further down towards the end of the tie section, unseeingly touching a few but picking none up. "There's a difference between finding out you're the victim in this story, and finding out you're the villain," he adds, quietly - but only due to the setting, his tone remaining somewhat sharp. "It's not a matter of saving me, here, it's a matter of stopping me. Forgive me if I'd rather people not find out that the guy running for Senate might screw the world over one day. Even if he is four points down in the polls." But enough about me… "What about you, anyway?" he adds, with a slightly challenging tone of voice.

Frowning just a bit, Cass shrugs and lets him put that tie back. If he's not going to wear it, why buy it? As she follows closely behind him, she doesn't say anything at first. "Well, see, that's the thing. When you have a split like that, there's you and then there's the other one. So in this case you're not the villain, you're the victim, too. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that it's a matter of saving and not just stopping you." Then, she adds with a touch of good humor. "You're a politician. Of course some people think you might screw over the world some day. Comes with the job." When he brings up her possible future, the good humor's gone. Fingering the fabric of a tie, she almost frowns. "What about me?" He may challenge, but she won't make it easy for him.

The good humour is appreciated, it seems, and Nathan relaxes a fraction. And the idea of being a victim isn't fun either, even compared to the alternative. And though he doesn't know enough about the… condition? Condition, he has to add, "But it comes from me, doesn't it." A shrug, and he takes down a dark green tie, and surely Cass can tolerate that. Not even a hint of pattern. He holds it against the sleeve of his suit, as he's walked away from the mirror, and adds it to the pile. "Your future," he prompts, not really looking at her. "I know that you die, but, in the supposed possibility that I wind up President and still sane maybe there's a way I can help." Which is a very flimsy excuse, Nathan simply wants to know out of an abstract idea of 'you got shown mine now show me yours'.

If there's one thing that Cass is almost always good for, it's the glass is half full sort of logic and viewpoint. "Yeah, well, just because something comes from you doesn't mean they're you. Think about children. They're grown in their mothers wombs and yet when they're born they're not clones." Sort of a stretch, but it sort of fits. The dark green tie is eyed, but allowed to drop into their ever growing pile. Soon Nathan may have enough good ties to last him till the election. "Well. I apparently get killed by a bomb at a rally that just won't exist if we succeed. It's for the peaceful co-existence of people…who are special and those…who aren't." To put it vague speech. And if Nathan doesn't 'out' everyone in the future then there can't ever be that kind of rally. She lets Nathan keep sorting through some ties, observing, and then asks, apropos of nothing, really, "What made you want to be a politician?"

And he has a MATCHING GREEN SUIT TO GO— not really, that would be terrible even by Nathan's standards. A tie is picked up - it has rottweilers on it. He doesn't add it to the pile, but he doesn't put it back either, because it has rottweilers. Apparently, they are now in the Wacky Tie section, and Nathan secretly approves. This underscores their conversation, and he nods to Cass's words - there's almost a hint there, and he'll have to think about it. Talk to Rianna, even. This next question, though, gets a glance. A year ago, that would have been an easier question. "It was what was expected from me," he says, simply. The Petrellis are a weird crew - highly manipulative but very blunt about the fact - and that's a nicer way to put it than 'I was groomed to be one from start to finish'. "The eldest son of a prestigious family is supposed to make something of himself, right?"

Another tie that is just eyed by Cass. God. A dog tie? Oh God, how can she say no to a dog tie? "Fiiine," she relents and waves it over toward the pile for him to decide to do with it as he may wish. There will be few wacky ties that Cass allows. This is not his private collection! This is for press conferences and rallies and the like! "But you like it? My father expected me to become a doctor…but it wasn't really for me. So I stopped. I mean, wasn't being a lawyer prestigious enough?" There's a pause and she explains herself a bit more. "I maaay have looked up your Wikipedia article. I was tempted to add a middle name for you, but I couldn't decide between Clark or Abner."

Well while we're here, we may as well get some awesome ties, okay! Nathan smirks as he's allowed to keep the rottie one - his sons will appreciate it, so he puts it into the pile. Maybe he'll give it to Heidi to give it to Simon and Monty to give back to him for Christmas, or something, as is how it usually works. "Being a lawyer - hell, being a soldier before that - could have been prestigious enough," he agrees, lightly. "But it wasn't. It never is." Which sounds unnecessarily pessimistic, but… it's true. He'd been pushed towards and been pushing for Presidency all his life. That was always the plan. "…Abner," Nathan repeats, squinting at her. "I. Okay." Dismissed. He takes down a black and green tie - it has writing on it, which is always a bad sign. 'Kiss Me, I'm Irish!', against a black background, accompanied with green smooch-marks. He holds it out of Cass's snatching range. "For Jack," he explains, quickly, before he can be smacked for it

Oh, we'll just see about that. "Seriously. I mean, you were in the navy, a prestigious lawyer." Cass seriously can't see why his family wouldn't be proud of him. Or think that wasn't enough. "I think it's in the name. I mean, think of the alliteration. President Petrelli. It just sounds right." Trying to keep Nathan from slumping into some sort of funk, or maybe even to try and not hear that sad tone of voice. But, on a more serious note, she adds, "But running for President…running for Senate even… has to be something that you really want to do. Or you're going to start to hate what you do and yourself for doing it and the people who you did it for because you did it for them." Then, it's back to something lighter. Sort of. "D-did…are…are you buying a kiss me tie for Jack? Are you trying to send him a message?

Blink. "N-no, I just thought…" Nathan glances down at the tie he's holding, goes back to his :| face and— adds it to the pile, so there. "Yeah, that's right, and after that I'll tell him how I really feel," Nathan says, tone bone dry. Honestly, he just thinks Jack will find it amusing. But it's back to the serious topic, and Nathan absently sorts through the collected ties for purchase. "If I stop now, all the work I've done in my life won't mean anything anymore," he says. "So you can believe I want it."

"For your secret rendezvous in the back room?" Cass merely smirks again and raises an eyebrow. "I'm so happy for you two. I always thought you'd get together." Then she just shakes her head and laughs, leaning against the wall o' ties. "I don't think that's true. All those things you've done in the past stand quite well on their own. I'm just…I've got a vested interest in just checking to make sure. Not only will it be a drag when you have to go live in Washington D.C. most of the time, but, you know." Other reasons. "Can I be one of your Cabinet Members?" Back to being silly again.

Okay Cass wins this round of gay-chicken, and Nathan kind of winces and raises a hand in surrender. No more. He moves to lean an arm against the wall as well, shrugging the other shoulder. "It's not like dropping out of the race didn't occur to me," he says. "It's the obvious solution to a lot of problems. If you want the truth, it's tempting." But there's still that driving ambition to grapple with, the part that HATES hates hates the idea of quitting, of feeling like he failed at what he'd been built up to do. He communicates all of this in another shrug. "But no, you can't. Cabinet members don't deface my Wikipedia page. Someone probably worked hard on that, you know."

Grinning, Cass clenches a fist and pulls it close to her in the classic 'yesss' manner. That's right she won gay chicken. "And I can't say that a huge part of me wants you to, too." That way they can be sure. "But, ultimately, it's your choice. Either way, I'll be there to help you out." Because that's what friends do. They organize tie interventions and they stick by each other. "And hey! I said I almost did. I mean, come on! Nathan Clark Petrelli? That's genius and you know it." There's almost a pout there, which quickly turns into a half grin. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to threaten all the hard work you put into it." He just totally left himself open for that quip. How could she not take it?

Nathan rolls his eyes at Cass, but ultimately, he has no comeback. None. Taking his weight off the wall, he holds up the ties they've amassed. "Let's go get these rung up. Some of us actually have a career to get back to," he says. Then, he glances at them, then at her. "I'm paying for these, aren't I."

A double win for Cass! This is the best tie shopping trip ever. Not that Cass has ever really gone tie shopping before. "Forgive me, Mr. Senator," she bows a little. "Wait, that's for royalty. Well, whatever." Looking at the pile and then at Nathan, she just give shim a sheepish smile. Then she roots through the ties in his arms until she comes up with the blue donkey tie. "This is my gift for you. But, you're the one with the mansion and I'm the hippie girl with the occult bookstore. We could totally have a sitcom based on our lives if we were somehow forced to live together, you know. It'd be like Dharma and Greg…but actually funny." She gives him a grin and starts tugging him in the direction of the cash registers.

"Great, I've graduated from soap operas to sitcoms," Nathan says, following along wearily as he's tugged towards the counters. "Can't say it'll be much of an improvement. And when did One Life To Live get werewolves?" He's missed a few episodes, okay, he's a busy man. The snakepit of silken ties are put down - along with the paisley Collider experiment - and a credit card brandished. Congrats, Cass, you just saved America.

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