The Race Who: April and Gavin When: Monday afternoon Where: Outside around the island.
Lately, April had been so focused on her classes at the Facility, and her part time job babysitting, that she really hadn’t had much time to just relax. She enjoyed the change of pace of having important things to do, but time to breathe was always good too. This evening, April decided to take a little walk and have some time to relax. The only problem was, she was so focused on just walking and not worrying that she didn’t pay attention to where she was going. Now, not only was she lost (again), but she wound up walking right into some poor unsuspecting person.
Some poor, unsuspecting person who was also a little lost in his own mind. He jolted form the impact and turned around, though with a goofy grin on his face instead of anything menacing. And, low and behold, a beautiful woman. How fortuitous this walk was turning out to be. "Sorry! Are you ok? Didn't step on your toes or anything, did I?"
Blinking, April has rushing to apologize, talking over his words in the process. “I am so sorry! I’m such a klutz, I do this all the time, you’d think I would know better by now. I am such a dummy. Are you ok?” She managed to catch what he’d said, or at least the main idea of his words. “I’m ok, thanks. But it really was my fault!”
Wowza she talked fast. Gavin was trying to keep up but he'd never been great with super-fast talking women. He ended up grinning, though, and just shook his head. "Not at all, not your fault at all. It was a happy mishap, in my book," He said, extending out a hand to her. "I'm Gavin."
April did tend to talk fast, especially when flustered like she was now. But, the guy didn’t seem too upset with her so she relaxed a little. She reluctantly shook his hand and offered a small smile. “I’m April, nice to meet you. And, sorry again.”
Gavin just kept his smile up, even as he shook her hand. He was actively debating whether or not he should zap some of that energy from her. She seemed to have so much of it that if he took some, she might not even notice. Maybe he'd try to, while they were still holding hands. "Hey, no worries, April. April's a beautiful name. Almost as beautiful as you. Is it also your favorite month?" He asked, using whatever skills he may have to try and distract her.
April blushed a little. As far as she could remember, she’d never been complimented like that and it left her feeling a little funny. “Thanks, but it’s not really my name. At least I don’t think it is. It’s probably not, but I just picked it so I could tell people something if they ever asked my name. And, thanks, I think? I don’t think I have a favorite month. Is that something a lot of people have? A favorite month? It seems like an odd thing to think of.”
Yeah, she was perfect. Gavin began a process he'd honed since he got his gift, working steadily to pull energy from her in a manner that wouldn't shock her or jolt her hand away from his. And if he kept talking, maybe she'd not feel awkward about still holding a near stranger's hand. "What do you mean it's not your name? Are you a secret, CIA agent or something?" He asked, grinning at her a little. "Favorite months are probably weird, but I have one. It's December. Something really…magical about December, you know?"
She did think it was weird that he was still holding her hand, but maybe that was just the way some people shook hands? April still wasn’t too confident in trusting her instincts since she had no clue where most of them came from. She felt a little weird, but figured it was just her usual confusion. “Oh, I don’t know my real name. Or anything much really. But I had to figure out something, so I just picked the month that it was when I woke up. But I’m pretty sure I’m not a secret CIA agent or anything special like that, I’m not smart enough for all of that.” She considered his comments about a favorite month, then shook her head no slowly with a bite to her lip. “Not really, but ok.”
He was going to tell her there was something magical about winter in New York City but he didn't. Because she'd just said she didn't know her name. Or anything, really. And that was intriguing as much as it was distracting. If he kept her talking, she'd be less likely to tell him to fuck off and he'd get a better high out of this. "Were you in a coma?"
April hesitated before answering. She had to think about it. But, it was her usual response. “I don’t know. Probably, I guess. When I woke up I was in this cold metal room and had blood on me. But that was at that other place. A coma sounds pretty bad, I don’t know if it was that bad.”
"Well, it sounds pretty bad but it also kind of sounds accurate," He said, still steadily trying to pull energy from her. He began trying to do so quicker, becoming greedy since he still needed to figure out how to calm himself in this regard. "At least you're out. Waking up without any recollection sounds horrible," His own speech was increasing in pace, his eyes beginning to dart back and forth, looking away from him and then back her way again.
She suddenly felt tired, which was weird since she didn’t remember having any trouble sleeping last night. Not thinking much more of it, she thought about his words before responding, much slower than before. “I guess… it was a little scary but, I don’t know. It was just me, and people were ordering me around so… I just had to go with it. And now I’m here.”
"At least you're here now," He said, grinning a little more. He should stop. Really he should. But her energy was incredible and she hadn't even noticed he was pulling it from her yet. "Let's talk about something else. Anything else. Anything you want. Ice cream, lingerie, whatever you want."
April definitely thought it was weird now that he was still holding her hand, but she didn’t want to be rude and pull away. Sometimes it was hard to tell what would make people mad, and she didn’t want to be any trouble. Using her free hand, she rubbed at her forehead, feeling a little dizzy. “Ice cream? Lingerie? Those sound like funny things to talk about. What about you? How did you get here?”
He should stop. He should totally stop and help her sit down, but he just couldn't. Not when he was getting such a great high off of her already. He kept pulling, barely making sense of any of her words. "Brother and I were partying off the west coast, do you like to party? I bet you love to party. We should party sometime, you and me. That'd be awesome. But yeah, we were partying and then we got hit by those after effects like BOOM, you know? So then we were here and here we are now, still here…"
(Tag! Let me know what you want to happen with April. :) I can have him pull back or keep going, it's up to you! :D If he pulls back, he'll probably run around like a puppy for a while, if he keeps going, he'll definitely make sure to get her somewhere safe. I vote for pulling back only because they can still talk more :)
He was talking super fast now and April imagined this must be how people felt when they talked to her sometimes. She couldn’t really make sense of what was happening, but suddenly she knew she didn’t like it. Her hand slipped out of his, partially because she wanted to let go. But also because her hand was suddenly much smaller. In fact, she was much smaller altogether, having suddenly and rapidly shifted into her child form. Instead of a pretty blonde young woman, she was now a dark haired, curious looking toddler, but with much the same features as before. She was clearly the same person just… younger now. And watching him with curious silence.
"Oh wow, holy shit!!" Gavin stared, wide-eyed, at the toddler before him. "What the fu…What the hell is going on?" He wasn't sure, but he felt like the f word was worse than any other curse word he could say and right now he was way too hyped up not to cuss. He looked around exaggeratedly and then looked back down at her. "Is this your thing? Are you…what is going on?"
Blinking her wide eyes, April watched him carefully before finally speaking in a small voice, not so different than the one she’d used before. “Did you have too much candy today? You’re acting funny.”
He should probably have felt badly about stealing energy from a child but she hadn't been a child when he started and now he was just weirded out. "Uh…yeah, maybe, I dunno. Where do you live? I should walk you home. Shouldn't leave you out here on your own…"
April was used to the changes in herself, and the usual reactions about it from others. But she wasn’t really sure what had happened prior to her shifting. She was getting better at controlling it, but it still wasn’t foolproof and she wondered if she’d missed one of the signs they were teaching her about in her classes. Looking around, she considered his question. “I live somewhere around here, I think. I get confused. Why do I have to go home? I was having a nice walk and talk with you.”
"We can walk and talk. I like walking and talking but I just didn't think…Figured you'd wanna go home, I dunno." He said, shrugging a little as he started walking. He thought about offering his hand again, but if he did he'd take more of her energy and maybe that wasn't a good thing if she was going to Bejanamin Button herself back to a baby. "Hey! Let's race! Wanna race?"
April thought about it for a moment and then grinned, nodding. “I like to run, I’m really fast. Sometimes I have to run away from those people with guns and they can never catch me. Are you a fast runner?”
Gavin didn't have to think on it very long. He nodded a little and grinned, though slowed the smile as the words caught up with him. Running from guys with guns? "You've lived a pretty badass life, you know?" He asked, grinning once more before looking around. "I am a fast runner. We'll just have to see who's faster…Race you to that building over there and back. Deal?" But he didn't wait for her to answer, instead just bolting off toward the building.
He definitely got a head start as April was always a little slow to process things. She was confused about exactly how badass her life was, mostly because she could only remember the last few months. But once he took off, she stopped thinking and started moving. He was bigger than her, at the moment anyway, and so he had a longer stride, but she was quick and could at least catch up to him on the way toward the building he’d pointed out. As she ran, she shifted again, this time with a little bit of intent, her main goal to win the race. So by the time she’d made it to the building, she was older again, probably about mid-thirties now, but with the same dark hair, large eyes and wide smile. Just a bit taller now, and definitely more curvy. “How’d I do?”
Gavin had glanced back at her when she was a kid and then looked straight ahead again. By the time he looked her way once more, she was no longer a kid but some gorgeous, tall, dark-haired woman and he tripped over his feet and came crashing to the ground with a thud. Flat on his back, he gazed up at her and a goofy grin showed on his face. "You won. Whatever hell power that is, you got a good thing going there..."
Initially, April had moved a few paces ahead of him, her reaction time off not surprisingly. Backtracking, she looked down at him on the ground, arching a brow. “You are very strange. And coming from me, that’s saying a lot. Are you ok?”
"I'm very strange?" Gavin asked, though all it did was make him burst into a fit of laughter. He probably was really strange, but he was getting that from three separate girls. Maybe he'd taken too much of her energy and he was freaking out instead. Hoisting himself back up again, he looked over at her and then bolted, starting back toward their starting point to try and win the race anyway. "Catch me if you can!"
Between her uncontrolled age shifting, and the running, and the unexplicable tiredness she’d felt since meeting Gavin, April was not likely to win any more races for a while. Initially, she tried to run after him, but after a few paces she slowed to a stop. Feeling lightheaded and out of breath, she threw her hands up a little. “I don’t think I can. You win this round.”
He got a few more paces ahead of her before he realized she'd thrown in the towel. Turning around, he grinned a little. "Yes! I am the victor!" He said, throwing his hands up in the air and just standing there for a while. Then he dropped his hands and started over her way. "Want me to walk you home now?" Maybe he'd drop a present by her house sometime too, for the energy she unwittingly gave him. Or maybe not, it'd depend on how he felt later, but it was a good thought.
Going home actually sounded like a pretty good idea right now even though just minutes ago she was against it. Taking a deep breath, she nodded with a smirk. “That would be good, I think I need a nap.”
"Naps are awesome," Gavin said, smiling a little as he started walking then stopped after a few paces. "You lead the way. I don't know where you live." But at the very least, present or no present, he'd make sure she got home safely and that was more than he did for a lot of people.
Rubbing her forehead, April looked around for a moment before hesitantly choosing a direction in which they should walk. “I don’t always know where I live either, so let’s try this way.” She was getting a lot better with not getting lost on the island anymore, but the fatigue was definitely affecting her already poor sense of direction.
"We'll find it," He promised, giving her a smile as he started walking beside her in step. He had no idea what her house looked like or where it was but she was definitely lagging and that was his fault. And for the first time he wanted to make sure that she actually got home safe so he was going to step up and make sure she was safe.
Dragging her feet a bit, she tried to stay alert and pay attention to things around them. “It’s near the house with the pretty flowers out front. But it’s too cold out now and the flowers died so it’s harder to find. I should paint it a different color so it’s easier to find, but I don’t know where to find house paint, I don’t think it’s the same as paper-paint.” Although she was really starting to feel tired, she still rambled, that was just how April was. “Hey, maybe that’s it over there.” She nodded to a line of uniform houses, not really designating one in particular.
Gavin was concerned now. He moved closer to her and put a hand on her back, over the shirt she had on just so he wouldn't be tempted to take more from her. "Ok, well…let's get over there and see which one it might be." Because yeah, dead flowers as the only landmark weren't really going to help. "Can you think of anything else about it?"
“No, but I have a key.” She fished it out of her pocket and held it up. “I think maybe it’s the one in the middle, I can try the door.” Normally, it probably wouldn’t be such a good idea. But, if they were near her house, her neighbors got used to April wandering and trying to get into their houses by accident. It was a wonder that no one had gotten really mad at her yet. Approaching the middle of the grouping of houses, she went up to the door and tried the key. At first, it didn’t catch in the lock, but on the second try it clicked open. Maybe she was better at remembering her house than she thought, but she second guessed herself because she felt so drained. “This is it. Thankfully.”
Gavin smiled, a relief in him when the door finally opened. He was thankful they were here and that they were safe. "Hey, you should..call me tomorrow or something. Let me know if you're feeling anything better?" He asked, hoping that she'd let him know. He didn't want to drain someone so much that he permanently hurt her.
Shrugging, April reluctantly agreed. She didn’t really understand why a relative stranger would want to check up on her. But Gavin seemed nice enough and she didn’t want to be rude. “Ok, I can do that. Thanks for walking me here.”
He nodded a little and then took a step back, still watching her and the door. "Just…drink lots of water, ok? And sleep. Get lots of sleep. And thanks for the run, April. See you around," He said, walking backwards away from her and starting toward the sidewalk, although reluctantly for the first time.