ArchivedLogs:See These Eyes So Green

See These Eyes So Green
Dramatis Personae Liv, Jack, and Sergio	2015-08-03 "Have you accepted our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, into your heart?"
Location <NYC> IHOP - Bronx
"So, the Bronx Zoo is just like every other zoo everywhere else. Now, I know," Sergio grins, suppressing a laugh by bringing the straw of his milkshake up to his lips and sucking. The beverage is thick, and requires enough effort to shut him up. Not necessarily in a position to venture out alone, and plagued with insufferable restlessness for that very fact, the budding telepath lured Liv and Jack into escorting him on his first trip into New York City. A strategist at heart, it didn't turn out to be quite as an exciting trip as he probably made it out to be - having had a great deal of it planned, but very little actual knowledge of the city, or what would /actually/ be fun. The teen nervously adjusts the stuffed-animal monkey that hangs around his neck, clasped with velcro hands. Shifting his weight, the plastic of the trio's booth makes an awkward sound, "That was the seat." Around them, the 80's turquoise and purple triangle motif of the Bronx IHOP is hardly bustling. The overhead lighting washes out the chain restaurant of any ambiance and the only attempt to bring life to the place, sporadic potted pothos vines, only makes the place that more depressing. Jack's been in a pretty depressed mood himself lately but he's been suppressing it since getting back earlier and agreeing to come along on the trip into the city. He did say he was happy to go along with his new roommate. Dressed in his standard city excursion outfit of a jeans and a hoodie, Jack's doing his best to keep anyone except those at the table from seeing the fact that he looks like empty floating clothes. "Bigger than the only other zoo I've been to," he remarks. The awkward noise and Sergio's comment just get a little snicker of a laugh. "Sure it was," he jokes. Judging by the bags of souvenirs, Liv seems to have had more fun. A stuffed tiger sticks out of one overstuffed bag while a Bronz Zoo t-shirt, several sizes too big, hangs off her frame. She's also wearing a pink squid shaped hat over her green hair. "It doesn't need to be any different from other zoos. Zoos are always great." She picks up the menu and begins scanning the options, unable to resist giggling at the sound Sergio makes. "Daddy always blamed on the seat, too." Only one waitress appears to be on duty this evening, and one busboy. The waitress, who introduced herself by name when she took their drink orders, chews her gum like cud and stares over at the group of teens with mild irritation. As the busboy goes into the back, two men enter. Both are white, in their mid-twenties, and have seen better days. One wears a black yankees cap and pats his partially inebriated companion as he swerve-steps slightly into his path. At the server station, the waitress forces up a smile and bounces as she gestures to the nearly empty restaurant, instructing them to sit anywhere they like. Sergio has no problem laughing at himself, so he giggles a little, too. But just because he doesn't take himself too seriously doesn't mean he doesn't turn a little bit red over it. "Jerks," he mutters jokingly, sucking hard on the straw. Jack just snickers again around the straw leading into his chocolate milk. He's passed on most of the souvenirs but did get himself a t-shirt. "They kept everything in its enclosure too. Zoo in jersey had tons of like...peacocks and geese running around wild," he remarks. Falling otherwise quiet, he glances up as the two men enter. There's a slight tensing of his shoulders and the invisible teen keeps a watch in the general direction of the men. Just in case. Liv grabs her soda and takes a large sip through the straw. "Oooh, that sounds nice," she says as Jack describes the zoo. "Closest thing to a zoo I did back home was watching the tourists." She finally removes her squid hat as it begins to get warm, ruffling her flattened hair as she sets it to the side. "Gosh I'm starving, hope the waitress comes by soon," she says, casually glancing towards the drunks as they enter but decides to leave them be and ignore them. "Butterfly garden was nice. Too tempting to play with the flowers though." The Yankees Cap doesn't linger, opting to pat his buddy on the back once more and strut off. Passing the teens' booth, he bows his head and sneers at Liv knowingly as he continues to a table not far off. The sourness of body odor intermingled with ashy smell cigarettes lingers in his wake. Over at the server station, the waitress presses on a pained smile as she interacts with the other man. As he leans closer, propping up the wall nearest to them with his arm just over her head, it's clear enough that she's being hit on ...and she isn't that into it. Not paying the drunks, or the waitress any mind, Sergio goes back to fiddling with the orangutan around his neck, "Where you from?" He asks Liv, conversationally, before cocking his head to look over at Jack in surprise, "Where are /both/ of you from?" "It wasn't really. Those birds were -mean-," Jack replies, an unseen smile on his face. "I think our waitress is a little busy," he murmurs, attention half on the conversation and half on what's going on over with the drunk. When asked where he's from, Jack shrugs a little. "Nowhere special. Just Newark over in New Jersey," he says. "Fair enough. I've heard fun stories about geese. Wouldn't surprise me if all birds were the spawn of satan," Liv takes another gulp from her soda before clearing her throat. "Surprised the accent don't give me away. Georgia. Savannah specifically." As the guy passes by her, she coughs a bit at the stench but continues to ignore them. Though it is admittedly getting trickier. "Remind me, we oughta tip her good. I think she's gonna need it," Liv adds, a bit quieter than the rest of their conversation. "It's probably messed up but ever since Harry Potter, the reptile and snake houses are always my favorite," Sergio plunges his straw into his shake again and again to loosen it up. "Oh, right! I knew that. Not everyone is orange." He winks to Jack, "I don't know anything about Georgia besides like, spanish moss." Lifting his head to look up from their table for the first time, he scans over the booth, "What do you mean?" The waitress slips away, showing the man two upturned wrists as she curls her upper lip. Still, her walk remains flirtatious and bouncy as she crosses the dining room. "I'll be right back for you guys," she says to Jack, Liv, and Sergio as she makes her way into the restrooms. She turns right, into the ladies' room. Drifting after her, the drunk sways, and braces himself against the trio's table. The surface shakes as he slaps both palms flat and blinks hard to focus, "Y-you look like a green ...witch." He smiles, laughing and nodding in approval of Liv. "I don't think the snakes would be as happy if we let them out here," Jack jokes. Yes, he's read Potter. And seen the movies thanks to a certain sharky classmate. "I mean there might be trouble," Jack sighs quietly, nodding in the direction of the drunk and the waitress. He turns his head away when the waitress gets close to their table but still nods. "No rush," he offers sympathetically. Of course when the drunk gets close and laughs at Liv, there's a faint rattling of the silverware and condiments on the table. He stays quiet but the way his shoulders are set gives away how tense he is. "Y'know, I hear letting the animals out of their enclosures is frowned upon at most zoos," Liv adds, agreeing to Jack's sentiment. Though she does offer a quick grin to Sergio. "Spanish Moss, yep, that's pretty much it. Had friends who used to make drinking games out of tourists who'd touch the moss. Not supposed to..." Whatever reason there is for not touching the moss is lost as Liv glances towards the drunk man who has somehow become fascinated by her hair. "Uh...thank you?" she replies hesitantly, not all that sure what the proper response for this moment is. Sergio's hand shoots out under the table and presses into Jack's leg as support, "Have you accepted our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, into your heart?" He asks the drunk, in seeming earnestness. He stares up at him, pathetically upturning his eyebrows. The drunk draws back his hands, as if he's been splashed with acid. Saying something unintelligible, he backpedals into the dining room in the direction his friend had gone. However, in the not-so-large restaurant, the man in the Yankees cap is no where to be seen. The man turns around twice, confused, before plopping himself down in any old seat. Jack glances up at Sergio when he feels the touch, unseen brows arching. He lets out a breath of relief and relaxes when the drunk backs off though. Nodding a little 'thanks' to Sergio, Jack leans back and ends up snickering a bit when the booth makes another awkward noise. "Thought things might have to get...physical there a moment." Liv breathes an audible sigh of relief as the drunk wanders off, though she turns to glance towards the other two curiously. "What...what just happened? Did you scare him off with the power of Christ or am I missing something?" Bringing his hand sharply back to his own person, Sergio offers Jack an affirming, if not slightly awkward, nod. "You're totally not the only one who has experience with tourists," he explains in a quiet, joking tone to Liv. He smirks as he peeks over his shoulder where the man stumbled to, puffing out his chest with renewed confidence. "I don't know why I'm pretending to look at this, I just want pancakes, dude," he says as he looks back to the open menu and closes it. Left to his own devices, the drunk waits. He sighs audibly, and scuffs his foot against the floor impatiently. Finally, he staggers back across the dining room towards the restrooms, entering and turning left. A moment later, he reappears, looking this way and that. He's still alone, and still confused. The waitress has not reappeared. As he passes the first time, Sergio boxes out his shoulders somewhat in case he might try to talk to them, again. When he stumbles back out of the bathroom alone, the teen glances around the restaurant with a little more suspicion, and back to his friends. "Isn't that what everyone comes here for? Pancakes and whatever special they have on TV?" Jack offers. Of course as the drunk stumbles around, Jack frowns. He leans up, looking around. "Where'd the other one go?" he asks the others. "With the hat?" Liv begins to slouch timidly in her seat again as the drunk reappears. "I know they have good food here but...maybe we should get leave or something? Pay for our drinks and go?" Liv glances around the room briefly, trying not to move her head. "C'mon, there's gotta be a freakin potted plant in here to work with...just in case." At this point, she's opened her menu up but is using it as more of a barrier than shield than actually reading it. Furrowing his brow, Sergio presses his spine into the soft backing of the booth. He closes his eyes and after a moment, slumps down against one of his friends. Rising from the booth, Sergio's disembodied mind pauses in the middle of the table. He hesitates, the sight of himself in such a vulnerable position giving him pause, but presses forward. Moving in the direction of the restrooms, at first he steps left towards the men's room but, finding only an empty blackness there, he turns right. "Hey, what happened to him? Is he alright?" The drunk reappears, lonely all on his own, and nosey. He dips his head, as if to try and catch a glimpse Jack's face. Jack shakes his head as Liv suggests leaving. He may not like fighting but he's got a bad feeling and wouldn't feel right leaving until things are sorted. He recognizes what Sergio is doing when he starts to slump. He isn't sure if his disembodied roommate can see but he offers a quick 'got your back' nod. When the drunk comes close, Jack keeps his head turned away. "He's taking a nap. Had a busy day." Liv finally notices the vines dotting the dining room and idea clicks. She hunkers down behind her menu, her eyes locked on the vine closest to the drunk. Trying to remain subtle, she rests a hand on the table, relying on minimal movements to accomplish this. Slowly, a single vine begins to grow, slipping down the windowsill inch-by-inch and crawling across the floor. Reaching the drunk's ankle, it wraps itself around his ankle, loosely at first. She's counting on the drunk being to wasted to notice, or at the very least for Jack to continue his distraction efforts. Once the vine is wrapped about, Liv takes a sharp breath through her nostrils and her concentration intensifies. If anyone was paying attention, they may have noticed the plant, at least near his ankles, suddenly grew thorns. With a quick flick of her wrist, the plant tightens, thorns digging into skin, and unbeknownst to those watching, begins to pump a plant-based sedative. This is, of course, assuming everything goes correctly. Whether or not Jack means to be, he is quite a distraction. Perplexed, the man leans in, "Why don't you look at people?" He asks, almost hurt, before drifting his attention back to Sergio. He reaches out to grab hold of the passed out teen's arm and give him a shake, "He's-" The man pauses, eyes fluttering as if he might have just felt something, "-drrrrrunk." <<Thewaitressneedsourhelpinthebathroom.>> It takes less time for Sergio to return than it did for him to coax up the courage to intrude upon the sanctity of the ladies' room. When he does, he blurts out his words, projecting them into the minds of everyone around. It's as if he's right beside Liv, and Jack, and simultaneously the drunk. <<GO.>> The drunk tries to react to the voice, but with a jerk, he slides down to the ground and gathers there like a puddle. Jack starts to reach out to grab the drunk's wrist when he goes for Sergio but the sudden projected voice has him pausing. It takes him a moment to parse it, but once he does the invisible teen is bolting up in his seat. He's relieved when Liv handles the drunk and gives her a nod along with a quick 'sorry' before he's dashing for the ladies room. He pushes open the door without even stopping, eyes darting back and forth as he searches for the waitress in distress. It takes a moment for Liv to break her focus but once it's gone, the plant collapses on the ground next to the drunk. She gasps for air, having expended quite a bit of physical energy to do what she did but at the urgency of Sergio, she quickly gets up and makes her way towards the bathroom. "What...what's wrong?" she gasps, still trying to catch her breath as she frantically looks about the room for the waitress. Inside, the bathroom is shockingly lit. The drab, beige and off-navy tiles look dirty, even when they're clean. The waitress let's out a whimper and scuttles away against the back wall. Her shoulder slams the automatic hand drier, which begins to loudly blow out hot air. She doesn't appear to be physically harmed, nor are her clothes torn. She looks horrorstruck. Initially with his back to the two heroes, the man with the Yankees cap slowly turns around. As he does so, he tugs the hat up and off. From under its brim, he reveals a third eye, from which fear permeates. The emotion surges forward, rattling at anyone wherever it can. It was powerful against the lone waitress, but appears to have spread thinner, when shared between three people. In the other room, Sergio returns to his body. He gasps, initially trying to get right up. "NNn!" He whines, clutching his forehead as a dizzy spell takes him and he spins over the table. Jack's expression would be priceless if anyone could see it. He wasn't expecting to be dealing with another mutant and suddenly the plan flies out the window. The fear makes him tense. Fixtures and stall doors rattle and Jack's fists clench and unclench. "I'll keep his attention...can you get the waitress out?" he murmurs to Liv, heart pounding in his chest. Not waiting for a reply, Jack steps forward. "Alright, jerk...one chance to stop," he says, reaching up to pull his hood back. He's hoping the sight of a 'headless' guy will cause some rattling right back. For a moment, all Liv can do is stare, her eyes wide and her mouth open slightly in shock and fear. Already exhausted from her use of power, she's susceptible to the psionic attack. Still, she manages to shake it off, though she can't help the shiver that falls down her spine. "Waitress, right..." she murmurs, quickly lowering her eyes and making her way to the other woman. "C'mon sug, it's alright," she says, taking the waitress left hand in hers and wrapping her right arm comfortingly across her back. After a gentle nudge, she manages to get the woman headed towards the door and out of the bathroom. Outside of the bathroom, there is a great weight lifted without the fear. The empty restaurant is almost peaceful, with the sleeping drunk tangled in a worse-for-ware pothos plant. At the table, Sergio is in a new position, but appears to be unconscious still. Or again. "Thank you! Thank you!" The waitress whimpers, clinging to Liv as tears stream down her face. Without warning, she lays a passionate kiss on the green haired girl. The three-eyed man prowls forward confidently, closing all but the eye in the center of his forehead. It fixes on Jack as he takes another step, and another. Without Liv and the waitress to absorb some of the fear, it crashes over Jack like a tidal wave. And then, the burden spreads. Someone else, unseen, carries some of the weight. <<Take out his motherfuckin' eye.>> Sergio's voice is shakey, but angry. As the fear increases in Jack, the rattling gets worse. Lights flicker a little as bulbs are shaken by the invisible teen's TK. He'll be joining his friends in the headache department. Jack shakes too, arms trembling as he fights to hold his ground. For a moment he flashes back to that night he and Jax were attacked, the fear he felt when he was sitting there with an arrow in his side. His shoes squeak on the bathroom floor as he edges back. And then the weight eases and Jack lets out the breath he didn't know he was holding. Registering Sergio, the invisible teen nods and lets anger surge in him as well. All the telekinesis is focused and Jack directs it in a sort of telekinetic 'jab' at that eye. He's moving at the same time, an invisible fist flying for the man's jaw. Not one to leave her friends behind, Liv leans against the wall just outside the door to the bathroom. Again working with the closest plant, she suddenly shoots both arms out to focus her energy. Like a shotgun, a vine suddenly darts out mid-air straight for the attacker. No fancy thorns or poisons this time, just a good strong, whip-like attack at his face, with careful attention to his eye. Liv begins to shake with exhaustion, putting every ounce of concentration and energy into her attack, though she does have the benefit of being outside the eye's influence. The fear empath reaches up to block what he sees as a hollow sleeve coming at him with his forearm, but having been concentrating so hard on his fear-mongering, has no way of comprehending the boy's telekinetic prowess. He hisses as blood spurts out from the socket in his forehead. Stumbling forward, set off balance by Jack's other assault, the villain falls in line with Liv's attack. Her vine whips almost delicately through the air, tossing his head to the side with a harrowing scream. When the vine can go no farther, a fat, dislocated eye continues to fly through the air past it. The once powerful eye makes a loud 'plop' from where it lands in a nearby toilet bowl. It looks surprised. Jack stumbles after the attack, gripping the sink to keep himself upright. He pants, catching his breath after expending all that energy. Unseen eyes flick towards the toilet and Jack feels his appetite fade. Pulling his hood back up, he starts to head outside to gather his friends. Pausing in the doorway, Jack focuses his TK again to flush the toilet before exiting.