[ussbansheec] A Meeting in Central Park
- From: Korem Jaska <Haku_Mele@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ussbansheec@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 03 Jan 2009 09:25:33 -0500
_A Meeting in Central Park
_by Adonis Kaartaren, Maria Wagner, Rabbi Chaim Brightman, & Razor
/"We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to
interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word
has been spoken."--Fyodor Dostoevsky /
***follows right after 'A Type of Heaven'
His arm still around Maria, Adonis nodded toward the path ahead of them. "Look,
Maria, they're still there."
"Oh good! Come, I want you to meet a friend of mine," Maria stated as she took
his hand, pulling him toward one of the chess playing pairs.
Two pairs of eyes looked up as they approached. The old man's, dark and warm,
regarded them kindly though Adonis detected a bit of wonderment at the color of
Maria's hair. The boy's eyes were the pale blue of ice. They'd lit up
slightly when they looked at Maria but, as they took him in, Adonis detected
immediate caution and wariness. The boy's voice, though, took him by surprise.
It was calm, cultured, and seemed to belong to someone much old older and
sophisticated.
"Rabbi Brightman, this is Maria Wagner. She's one of the teachers at that
school," the boy said.
"The one you still refuse to go back to," the old man said with a teasing chuckle. He
didn't offer to shake Maria's hand but he smiled at her warmly. "My young friend here has
spoken of you and your family, mein kint, and politely at that."
Maria knew better than to be offended at his lack of a handshake. He was a Hasid and they just didn't shake
hands with women and especially not unmarried ones. "I'm pleased to meet you, sir," Maria said
with her usual sweet smile. "I know how much these games mean to our young friend." She touched
Adonis' elbow then. "Razor, you know how you've asked questions about aliens and expressed interest in
meeting them?"
Adonis kept a straight face but the boy's face spoken volumes. He raised a fine brow
that said 'why are you stating the obvious?' and Adonis knew, if it hadn't have been
Maria, that the words would have been spoken aloud. Instead, the answer was, "Of
course. There don't seem to be very many of them here on this coast and Magneto forbids
non-mutants on Genosha."
"Then I would like for you to both meet my very good friend, Adonis Kaartaren,"
Maria said simply.
Adonis felt the wonderment of both minds but didn't pry out of courtesy.
Instead, he enjoyed it, allowing the feeling to further improve his mood. The
boy's ice blue eyes were staring at him, calculating it seemed. The rabbi's
eyes, however, reflected the same wonder as his thoughts.
"Are you really not Human?" the old man asked.
"Only a quarter. My father is Betazoid and my mother was half Human and half Lokiian,"
Adonis explained. "They were both Starfleet officers."
"Amazing," the old man exclaimed. "I would never have guessed. When I first met my young
friend here, I thought maybe he was but he is as Human as the shayna maidela with you." He held a thin
hand out to Adonis. "I'm glad the Lord has seen fit to allow me this meeting."
Adonis shook the proffered hand, which was stronger than its age made it seem.
"Some non-Terrans do fit in quite well, sir, but there are quite a few more that
don't."
"And why/ should/ they fit in?" the boy asked in an almost belligerent tone. "Is it
not the right of an individual to /be/ an individual?"
"It certainly is, friend. It's just that, to the naked eye, I happen to look just like a good percentage of the people who live in this city. In my case, it's what's inside that differentiates me from Humans. I am both telepathic and telekinetic," Adonis explained.
That answer seemed to satisfy the boy. From the way he introduced Maria to the
rabbi, Adonis knew he was a mutant but it was everything afterward that told
him that young man was very touchy about fitting in. He sensed a very
intelligent but inexperienced soul. Then there came a flash of outright
disgust.
"/Ms. Frost/ is a telepath, too."
"My friend, I don't like her /either/," Adonis admitted. "She has no manners."
"Ach, the /both/ of you behave," Maria scolded. "Say nothing if you can't say
something nice."
The boy flashed Maria a mischievous smile, one that flashed the tip of sharp canines.
"She wanted to name us all, as if we were stray pets and not thinking people, Miss
Wagner, so I'll agree with your friend but I will stop but only because you asked."
"Then what is your name, friend?" Adonis asked. "I heard Maria before but we were
sidetracked before she could give it to me."
Razor blinked. Very few adults bothered to ask so politely. He respected his genetic very much
and really did like him but some of Magneto's feelings about aliens had begun to sink in. Razor
was now quite pleasantly surprised. "Razor," he said simply, mentally thankful that the
man had offered a handshake. He still very much hated touching strangers but he held up a hand to
display his neatly manicured nails. "These can be quite sharp."
"Impressive if you have such good control," Adonis mused. That had been a bit of
cheating. Adonis hadn't peeked mentally. Instead it was that the young man's thoughts were
unguarded and he simply read them. Phrased as it had been, he could tell that it was a good thing
to say since there was an immediate sense of pride and satisfaction. "Though I'm also
impressed by the game I see on the board. You're doing quite well for a young man your age."
"He's sharp, this young one here," the rabbi offered, earning him a quick sharp fanged
smile. "It does an old man good to be challenged so well."
"I know you want to get back to the match then," Adonis said with a smile as he reached
into his inside coat pocket to pull out two cards, "but I want to leave you with these. If
there's ever anything I can do for either of you, please don't hesitate to call."
Where the rabbi took the card with a nod and smile, Razor took his gingerly, leery of
anything from strangers. He read it over carefully then turned that icy blue look back
to Adonis. "You're Starfleet too?" he asked carefully.
"Yes," Adonis said simply. "I'm the senior counselor on the Pathfinder2
project."
"The one that is searching for Banshee," Razor said, almost to himself. "Tell them
to hurry themselves along with finding the ship. If they had accepted the help both my genetics
were capable of giving, they would have found it /long/ ago."
Adonis almost snorted aloud in the face of teenaged arrogance but he maintained control.
"I'll try again, Razor, but it's a hard road."
"Try harder, Doctor," Razor stated. "My brother is on that ship and I haven't met
him yet. It's upsetting my genetic and nobody wants him upset. /Ever/."
"I'll do my best then and I will call you personally as soon as I hear a thing,
alright?"
"Thank you," Razor said with all the dignity and sophistication he got from both his genetics.
--
Whatever I now seem to be,
Yet more is to be found in me.
--James Dillet Freeman
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