Who: Matty MacKey and Hannah - Banana What: Come to a party! When: February 11, 2018 Where: Outside the Marketplace
Matty wanted syrup. He stood in the grocery stood and stared. He liked Aunt Jemima syrup. He also wanted some real maple syrup. Like maple syrup from Quebec. Or something. Still. He wanted the stuff that was completely sugar. Nothing was wrong with that, right? Just because he was Canadian didn’t mean he had to love maple syrup all the time, right? Heck, not many people even knew that.
Okay. Aunt Jemima syrup it was. He grabbed that and a box of pancake mix and headed to cash. Pancake Tuesday take one was on. He paid for his food and headed outside. He hummed as he swung his bag as he headed home. As he walked he saw someone he knew. He grinned and hopped over to her.
“Hannah!” Matty said, “There you are! How are you? Where were you?”
Hannah was just out walking. Her eyes hurt from staring at screens all day and she was starting to have dreams about people turning into monitors. Which was pretty disturbing. More disturbing than the crap going on around here lately, and that was saying something.
So instead of sleeping in on her day off, she was out trying to get some air and stay out of trouble. Hearing the familiar voice, she looked over to Matty and greeted him with a smile. “Hey. I’m okay. How are you? And… I was here?” That was a weird question, but Matty was kind of a weird dude. He was cool though, so Hannah wasn’t bothered.
“Yes, here, but I didn’t hear anything from you and I know you said before but I was hoping I would hear from you,” Matty said, smiling to Hannah. He held up the bag of food he got, “So I have syrup and pancakes. What are you doing out and about? You working?” He hoped she wasn’t working. He wanted to hang out. Or talk for a few moments.
She didn’t follow so Hannah just shrugged a little. “Sounds good. I’m just out for a walk, I have the day off.” It felt nice to say that, she felt almost normal for a minute there. “What’s up with you lately?”
Matty decided he would ignore the fact that she didn’t really reply about how she didn’t reach back out. Not that he expected it, after all she said she warned him about hanging out with her. It didn’t stop him from hoping, however.
“Nothing much. Same old,” he paused, “I gotta get my ID card soon. I’m running out of time but first!” oh! Yes! That! “Pancakes! Tuesday! My friend April is throwing a party. Did you see the post? Are you going?”
Hannah had no idea that’s what he was asking about. Listening to him talk, she just nodded about the ID card. She hoped he did go soon, to stay out of trouble, but that was up to him and none of her business. “Uh, yeah, I saw that. She’s your friend? I don’t think she’d want me there, with the job and all. I don’t want to mess up her party like that.”
Matty rolled his eyes and said, “I seriously don’t think she’ll care what you do. As long as you are nice and besides Micah is going and you know him right? So if he’s going, you can go too. So. Let’s try this again, are you coming?”
Hannah made a little face when Matty mentioned Micah was going. She didn’t know him very well, but their few interactions hadn’t been great. “I guess I can make a little appearance. If it really means that much to you. Wait… who else is going to be there?” She’d realized that this party might be a good opportunity to get in touch with some people without it seeming suspicious.
Matty saw the face and wondered what that was about. He decided not to ask. He wasn’t going to get in the middle of anything.
“Um, I don’t know?” Matty shrugged, “April posted it pretty open. I’m pretty sure Zayne said he was coming and Remy would probably come with him. And Rose? And I’ll bring Thursday too. I don’t know. A bunch of people?”
Hannah just nodded and left it at that. “So, like… do I need to bring something? Is it just like a chill house-party situation or is this going to be an all nighter?” Or as all-night as they could get with the curfew. Hannah would go to the party but she wasn’t going to get in trouble over it for a bunch of strangers.
“Just bring yourself,” Matty said with a smile, “I think it’s probably going to be a chill house-party sort of thing. This is April’s first party and I think I already overwhelmed her with the mention of Mardis Gras beads. An all night party may be too much.” He shrugged then had a thought, “Though maybe possibly you could bring one thing.”
Hannah couldn’t help but laugh. “She seems like a sweetheart but maybe a little… naive? If you told her she has to flash for beads, you are the worst.” When he mentioned that she could bring one thing, she arched a brow. “That doesn’t sound suspicious at all. What do you want me to bring?”
“She is a total sweetheart!” Matty agreed, “And I am the worst but I don’t think we need to worry about her flashing. I don’t think. I’m bringing her beads just because.” See? Not the worst. Not completely, anyway. Okay. Bringing things! He grinned and said, “Music. I bet your music would make the party killer!”
Hannah arched a brow and smirked. “You haven’t even heard my music, how do you know?” Unless maybe he looked it up online, she supposed there was some stuff still out there somewhere, maybe a fan youtube video or something that the government hadn’t found and erased.
Matty shook his head but said, “I’m sure it’s great. We talked about it so I absolutely believe it’s amazing. And if it sucks, well, I’m sure we can discreetly change it but I’m not worry about that. So you game?”
Hannah smirked. She didn’t think her music sucked, other people certainly hadn’t felt that way. But it had also been a long time since she played. A really long time. What if she sucked now. That would not really feel great. Hannah wanted to believe that she was still good, even if she couldn’t do anything with her music anymore. “I’ll think about it.”
“Come on,” Matty said, nudging her lightly, “It will be fun. I promise and if I’m wrong? You can poke me with a stick or something.” Because that was an enticement, a promise to be poked with a stick.
Furrowing her brow, she looked him over like he was crazy before shrugging. “Okay. But it’s going to be some totally lame DJing since I plan to leave before curfew to avoid trouble. So, I can play an epic set, but only until like 11:15, at the latest.” She was only slightly joking. She did not plan on getting into trouble for this party.
“No one wants anyone to get in trouble,” Matty said, waving his hand at her. He didn’t want April to get in trouble either so party was probably going to end before curfew. He clapped his hands, “I’m so excited! I can’t wait to hear you play!”
Hannah smirked again. “Don’t get too excited, I’d hate for you to end up disappointed.” She figured if she ended up sucking, she could just play regular music. She used to be pretty good at reading a crowd, hopefully she still was and would be able to play things people liked, whether it was EDM or mainstream or whatever else people here were into.
“It’s pretty hard to disappoint me,” Matty said. They lived on this island. If he allowed himself to be disappointed by half the things that should, he would be sad way more than he wanted to be. He would just focus on the good things. “So do you have gear or something you need to bring over? I can offer a hand? Or two?”
Hannah just smiled. “I don’t need any gear. But I’ll bring my laptop, just in case. So what time does this party thing start? And you sure I don’t need to bring anything?”
“Um, I’ll let you know about the start thing. I’m not sure,” Matty admitted. He shrugged. “You are bringing music! That’s amazing enough. I’m sure you don’t need to bring anything else. If that changes, I’ll let you know.”
Hannah shrugged. It felt weird going to a house party and not bringing anything. In her head, her mother was yelling at her for being a rude guest. But she hadn’t seen or heard from her mom in years, and this wasn’t exactly a regular place with regular polite rules. So maybe not bringing anything but music would be okay. “Alright, if you say so.”
“Trust me,” Matty said with a grin. He was more than enthusiastic about this. Pancakes, a party, friends, this is what the island needed. They need a steady stream of good things. Maybe they could do more things like this in the coming weeks.
Hannah looked around and then back to Matty. “So other than pancakes, what are you up to for the day?”
Matty shrugged, “I don’t know. I wanted to make pancakes and that’s as far as I got. What are you doing? Just enjoying your day off?”
Hannah nodded. “I should probably try to catch up on some sleep while I’ve got the time, but I came out here instead.”
“You aren’t sleeping? Are they working you too hard? Do I need to start coming over and pulling you away from work?” He didn’t think going to the Facility or anything would stop anything but he could make the offer, right?
“I try, but sometimes working too much makes it harder to decompress, you know? Going and going gets your brain on repeat and then when you try to relax, it’s easier said than done.” Hannah wasn’t too worried about it. There wasn’t anything she or anyone else could do to change it, so why stress about sleep. That was defeating the purpose of what rest time she actually had. “Nice idea, but I don’t think that would fly.”
Matty nodded. That made sense. He shrugged and said, “So maybe next time give me a ring or something. I can help. Or distract. I’m good at that.” He was about to suggest that she could pet him but then realised that could sound terrible. Maybe it was best they said nothing, “I can still try?”
Hannah just shook her head a little. “I wouldn’t bother you like that. Besides, things are pretty strict in the barracks. Lights out includes no phone calls.” Hannah wished she got to live in one of the houses like everyone else, at least then she could pretend to be like the others for a few hours a day.
“That sucks,” Matty said, “What’s it like in the barracks? Do you have your own room? Or do you like share the space with other people? Are there mostly guys?” He realised he was peppering her with questions and maybe he should stop. No one liked to be peppered like that.
Hannah thought about it for a minute and then shrugged. “It’s kind of like a cross between what you see on those army shows on TV and those prison shows. We have our own rooms, but we have to follow strict rules about waking up and making the bed and all that kind of crap. It’s mostly guys, but they keep us girls on a different floor. I don’t really know why, it’s not like they pay any attention anyway. There’s not too many females there, and even less mutants so, I think they stay away mostly because of that. Some of them really really hate mutants, you’d think they could catch it from us the way they act.”
“Your own room sounds good,” Matty said, “What happens if you keep your lights on after?” He made a face at the mention that some really hated mutants. “I don’t understand why they hate us. It’s not like we did this on purpose. I didn’t ask for them to blow up a plant so I could get wings. Don’t blame me for someone else’s mistake.”
“You just get yelled at and they turn them off. I try really hard not to break the rules though. If it’s anything like back at the lab, I really don’t want to deal with that kind of punishment again.” Hannah hadn’t always been so by-the-books, but her rebellion taught her how bad things could really be. “Wait, what? You have wings? You’re kidding.”
“Lab?” Matty asked. Was she at Riken too? He looked up at the sky. Sometimes he really really hated this place. When she asked about his wings, that always brought a smile to his lips and he nodded, “Yup. Full out angel wings. I can fly too.”
Hannah was curious now. “Shut up, really? I don’t believe it. That is so cool. I met this girl that could fly once, it was pretty epic.” A girl in the lab, but she was probably dead now. She definitely wasn’t here. Either way, wings sounded really cool, but she wasn’t going to ask to see them. She didn’t know how Matty felt about stuff like that and she didn’t want to be rude.
“Want to see them?” Matty may not have asked for his wings but he was pretty damn proud of them. If he had to have a mutation, he was not opposed to this one at all, “I have to warn you that I’m going to end up taking off my shirt if you say yes because I can’t really do shirts and jackets with the wings. So if you say yes, I promise I’m not going to strip naked randomly. There is a reason.”
Laughing, Hannah shrugged. “If you’re cool with it, I am too. But it’s kind of cold out so if you want to pass, that’s cool too.” She was definitely intrigued now, these must be some wings. She also figured, if he was going to go all out and show of his mutation, if he asked about hers she should probably give him a good show of it too.
“Eh, it’s fine,” Matty said. It was a bit cold but whatever. He took off his jacket, handing it to Hannah and then pulled off his shirt, handing that to Hannah too. He rolled his shoulders before letting his wings appear. Since they were outside, he let them stretch out to their full length instead of trying to keep them close to his body. He grinned. He always felt so much better having them out.
“Ta-da! Wings!” Matty announced.
Taking his jacket and shirt, Hannah watched curiously. When he let his wings out, she blinked, impressed. “Woah. You weren’t kidding. Damn. Were they always that big, or did they start off smaller and grow?” She couldn’t imagine what it must have been like waking up one day with wings. Trippy was one way to think about it.
“Oh, they were always that big,” Matty said, wincing at the memory of the night they appeared. Well, they grew that night and it was the most painful he had ever experienced. He had passed out for most of it but when he woke up, he had these wings. He reached for his shirt and jacket back. She didn’t need to keep holding them.
“They are really soft too,” Matty said, “I prefer them out but, yeah, shirts and whatnot. People like me dressed or something.” He laughed.
Handing him back his things, Hannah just nodded with a little laugh. “That’s pretty fucking epic. Can you fly really high? I mean, you don’t have to show me, I imagine the guards don’t like that too much.”
“I can get pretty high and go for long periods of time. Or I used to,” Matty hadn’t had much of an opportunity to keep his wings in shape but the way he was pushed before, he imagined he still could, “but you’re right. I go up too high, they tend to shoot me down. Which hurts on landing so I don’t do it much anymore. Though sometimes I try. I just… want to fly. Use them. I wouldn’t leave.” He said the last part quietly. He would leave if he could bring Thursday with him. He wouldn’t abandon Thursday here, however. So he wasn’t a risk. Not at all.
Hannah couldn't help but laugh at the way he phrased it. But she tried to just focus on what he actually meant. “Wait. They shoot you? Like, with bullets and shit?” Frowning, she forgot about what she’d found so funny just a moment ago. “That is really, really fucked up. I’m sorry they did that to you.”
Matty shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. It was but what could he do about it? Nothing, “Tranquilizers mostly. They don’t want me dead, I don’t think. They just don’t want me in the air. Which I guess they don’t want me to try to escape.” He assumed if he kept doing it, they would try to figure out a way to clip his wings and that seemed a lot worse than them shooting at him. He just had to keep low enough to the group so they wouldn’t.
Hannah nodded in understanding. “Yeah, they don’t want me to try to escape either.” Yeah, she shouldn’t have said that, that was a little too much information. But maybe he wouldn’t focus on that. “The wings are pretty awesome though. It sucks that you can’t have them out all the time, I bet they get cramped up hidden like that.”
“How can you escape?” Matty asked, curious. She said before she had powers with sound, right? He wasn’t sure how that helped but he was curious.
He nodded and said, “They do but I can get away with being shirtless at home. And I know where stuff is so there is little risk of me hitting things. It’s just being out. Come the summer, I’ll have them out more. Winter is always the pits.”
Hannah hesitated and glanced around before lowering her voice in response. “I can travel through like computers and shit.” That probably made no sense, it still didn’t make much sense to her, but she could do it. She could probably even show him, if they weren’t somewhere so public. “Yeah, winter kind of sucks.”
Matty looked at her and said, “Seriously? Do you get like really tiny like Ant Man or do you like… change forms or something?” Either way, he couldn’t help but think that was really cool and it was written all over his face. Hannah = really cool. He tilted his head, “How do they stop you from doing it?” Why was she still here?
Hannah smirked and just shrugged. “I don’t know, I never really watched myself do it. I don’t think I change though. I just hack in and then… go.” She didn’t like talking about this, and it was pretty obvious. “If they catch me, they… like trap me in there. It’s… not great.” That was an understatement. It was absolutely terrifying and Hannah didn’t want to think about it for one second longer than necessary. “Anyway, I should probably get going.”
Matty’s eyes went wide and said, “That sounds terrifying! I suppose that’s reason enough not to try and escape.” He didn’t know what form she would be in but that still sounded just terrible. He also felt terrible they would be leaving this conversation on such a negative note.
“Hey do you want me to come meet you on Tuesday? We can head over together if you want?” Matty asked, trying to think of something more positive.
Hannah hesitated before nodding.”Uh, yeah, sure, that would be cool.” If she was going to the party and Matty was there, the guards were going to know anyway, so why not go over from the start. At least then it wouldn’t look like she was trying to hide something or anything suspicious like that.
Matty smiled to her and said, “Awesome! So I’ll see you then!” That was definitely leaving on a better note. He’ll meet up with Hannah and they can go over and have a great night, with great music. What could be better?
“Yeah, see you then. Take it easy.” Hannah gave Matty a little wave before heading off back to the barracks. Maybe, if she could do it quietly, she’d try to play around with some music to prep for the party. She was actually looking forward to this now.