Log [Alison, Haroun] Walk in the Park...

[x-dazzler.livejournal.com]

Backdated to Sunday, Feb, 13th. Alison and Haroun decide to take advantage of the fact that he's somewhat mobile and head out into town for a quiet day together. Nothing explodes, no surprise attacks, and a quiet moment in the bookstore is followed by a walk in Central Park.



Haroun hated the wheelchair, but he hated trying to stand right now even more. But he had managed to find a nice sunbeam by the big window of the bookstore to bask in, and he had a stack of books on his lap. A very big, comforting stack. And not all of them were lurid, either! He'd lucked out in the Electronics section of the bookstore. Alison was somewhere behind him - he couldn't tell where - probably getting the two of them some tea. With his body, and especially his kidneys, working overtime to purge the toxins from all his bruises out of his body, fluids were definitely In Order.

What she liked about this particular bookstore, at this particular hour on any Sunday, was that there were actually still sections that were quiet if you knew where to look. And it had wide, airy idles and windows pretty much everywhere. Tray in hand, two over-large and steaming mugs of tea on it along with a bottle of water, Alison walked down the row of book shelves and turned the corner, pausing as she saw Haroun going over the books he'd found with a rather possessive air about him. Smiling a bit at the sight she crossed the distance slowly, feeling lazy and not at all guilty about that either, setting down the tray on the small table in front of them before claiming the chair nestled in the corner. "Surprise tea, house blend. No clue what's in it since they wouldn't tell but it smells good."

Haroun smiled at Alison. He looked far less ghastly than he did earlier - most of the bruising had faded - but he was still stiff and in a fair bit of pain. "Thanks." he said, picking up his teacup and sipping from it. He then made a face. "Either my tastebuds are off or this tastes like aromatic dirt. Try yours!" he asked her.

Alison did, and smiled a bit - the first taste was indeed earthy-flavored, but it mellowed into something pleasant, she found. "I like it. Give it a bit of time, it'll grow on you." Her lips quirked and she wrinkled her nose at him. "No mold jokes." Settling back in the chair was nice, the vaguely lingering soreness subsiding to quiescence when she didn't move after a moment and far less make-up being needed to conceal the remains of the black eye. Impulsively, she reached out and tapped the tip of his nose, lightly. "You look a lot better. Going out today was a good idea."

"I feel better. Even though this tea is growing on me like a fungus." he said, putting the emphasis on the last word. "Just feeling some sun helps." he admitted. "I still hate the chair, but if all goes well I should be able to shuffle around under my own power possibly as early as tomorrow."

"They use fungi for tea," Alison informed him, cheerfully. "Maybe there's some in this one." Outside was good - it could easily have been a stroll on the mansion grounds as anything else, of course, but the lure of heading out into town and just lazing about on a Sunday afternoon, perhaps showing Haroun a bit of New York City as she'd promised a while ago had been too tempting. She'd already found a few books for Miles and a few more for Paige as well - there were never any book outings without picking a book for Paige, at the very least.

"If the medstaff decide you're good for it, maybe we can go for a small stroll outside tomorrow then, mm?" They were still, for the moment, off active duty - neither Scott or Ororo had even batted an eye at the request, simply showing her that the status had already been extended on the schedule already. "Forecast says it's going to be sunny for the next few days."

Haroun stared at his tea and then set it aside, determined to never touch it again. "Right. Well, I doubt I'll be up for many extended walks for a while." he said sadly. "It sounds like a lovely idea, but I'm just not up for it right now. Too much risk of permanent damage. Take a raincheck on that?" he asked with a grin. "A raincheck on a walk during a sunny day. Huh." he said with amusement.

The water bottle was solemnly picked up from the tray and set close to him on the table, Alison never batting an eye. Men could be such little boys sometimes. "Rainchecks for a sunny day sound like a good idea to me, as concepts go," was the pensive murmur, Alison not quite wrapped in sunlight as Haroun himself was right at that moment. There was Central Park and hot dogs on the schedule for when they were done lazing about here, Alison herself not all ashamed about the lounging about. She eyed the books she'd found for herself earlier from the pile on the table, and decided that relocating them elsewhere now that tea was present was a good idea. Where The Wild Things Are was on top, the new edition gleaming up quietly at her. It was, she decided, a good idea to get that one.

Haroun knew two things about children's books - Jack and Shit. He did, however, greedily take the water bottle and pull a healthy swallow from it. "Ahhh, washes out the taste of the fungus." he said with a grin. "Nice clean chlorine-tasting water. Mmmm." he said, obviously hamming it up a little. "Hit the spot." His stomach grumbled at him, and he looked at Alison sheepishly. "The sunbeam is nice, and the books are good, but I'm hungry. And the little cafe attached to the bookstore doesn't have anything I can eat."

"Pff. It's wonderful tea. I think I'm going to buy some to take back home." Alison sniffed at him, taking a sip from her mug with deliberate care, eyes dancing with amusement at him above the rim as she did so. "Heading out sounds good. I'll just have my wonderful tea transferred to one of those lovely huge cups they have and we can go pay for the books and head for the Park. How's that sound? There are a lot of little places in the area that should be just fine for you."

"You do that." he said with a shudder. "I'll stick to my lovely mint tea. A little taste of home, even if my supply is running low." He said. "Here. You pay for the books, I'm going to go wheel my plastic butt outside and enjoy some more sunshine." he grinned, and then handed the stack of books to her.

"Can we find any here in town, d'you think?" she asked, even as she added the books to her own pile. "Our place might be able to do something about that there." There was a faint smile on Alison's lips as she said that, as silly as it was to be pleased with the entire idea that they had their place. Which she was, without any intention of changing that too. She waggled her eyebrows at him cheerfully, pretending to ogle his behind through the chair before wandering off to pay, hips swaying just a touch for his benefit in the process.

"Don't know. Are there any decent import/export shops near here?" he asked as he wheeled himself out. "And yeah, that's a good idea. Which reminds me - we should go back there sometime soon." he said with a grin. Ah, blessed sunshine! It felt so good on his skin so he rolled himself out of the way of pedestrians and basked until Alison was done with the purchases.

Alison returned in short order, having had no qualms at all about asking the bookstore to have the order sent by courier to the mansion. She paused nearby and watched Haroun enjoy the sunlight for a moment, the wheelchair gleaming under the sunlight - it was one of the models similar to those that the Professor used, in consideration to Haroun's still recuperating back. But Central Park called. "All done, and the books are on their way to the mansion," she informed him. The trip to the Park wasn't long - just a few streets really, Alison having parked the van between the Park and the bookstore to minimize the having to get back in and out of the vehicle too often while in town.

Haroun nodded. "Fair enough." he said. "Warned Kuk that they're coming, I hope? So we don't have a repeat of the Delivery Girl Incident?" he teased with a small smile. "Next stop, Central Park?" he inquired with a grin. Manhattan was turning out to be a fairly interesting place, really.

A wide grin answered that, Alison pausing even as they turned a corner, the drab and grey building having obscured the view up until now. "Yes, he knows. Nyah. And... Would you be meaning this old Park, by any chance?" She bowed, stepping out of the way so that he could get a view of the sadly not lush and green park, as it might have been in the spring or summer, but still nonetheless lively area now in his view. Most of the passersby in the street ignored them, though Alison caught one or two knowing smiles from people noticing her actions, as though amused and yet approving of someone getting an introduction to the city that way.

Haroun smirked. "Yeah, I guess it would be that park, now, wouldn't it?" he said, then laughed. "Very nice, you got me on that one. Take advantage of the injured man, why don't you?" he smirked. "Well, let's not just sit here, let's get going!"

No, Alison reminded herself sternly. No taking advantage that way of the injured man. Being in public was somewhat of a problem too. Darn it all. She settled for stealing a quick kiss before leading the way into the Park, along the more well-traveled paths. "There's hot dog vendors thataway," she said at one point, cheerfully pointing down one of the paths. "And... we could hit the zoo after, if you like. Or Seneca Village."

"Seneca Village sounds nice." he said as he made the wheelchair zoom along the path. "But my stomach demands sustenance, and since this is awfully public I guess hot dogs will do. If I can find any with no pig in them. I am not terribly big on zoos, but we could go if you like. Could be relaxing and fun."

The walk was good - working out stiffness, the lingering soreness still present but fading with the warm up involved in keeping up with Haroun. Someone was driving the wheelchair along the same way one would a car, she noticed with a great deal of amusement. That and the hunger probably was edging things along. "Junk food it is then," she grinned cheerfully, not at all unhappy about the simple decision making involved in choosing either hot dogs or a pretzel. "We'll see whatever hits our whimsy in terms of destination after Seneca Village, mm?"

Haroun nodded, and then slowed the wheelchair down - the ground was getting bumpy, and he really, really didn't want to take a spill. It would hurt, a lot, and be unfair to Alison. She'd have a bitch of a time righting him. But the Mecca of his needs was in sight - well, one of them, anyway.

Alison was still behind him

The Hot Dog Stand. Pure junky crap inna bun, but for some reason, he was craving them. In a major way. He had to wait, though, for Alison to catch up before he could order. He tapped his fingers on the arm-rest of the wheelchair as he waited.

Catching up with him, Alison chuckled. "You have the look of a starving man about you," she said, pointing out the obvious and ignoring the fact that the smell of food pretty causing her to adopt a similarly starved expression of her own. "Oooh. Ok, I'm hungry too."

"Hah." he said, in a self-satisfied sort of a way. "Now, do me a favor and get two of the all-beef dogs with everything on 'em." he asked her. "I'd do it myself, but wheelchair, street-vendor, usually not a good combination. And nobody here appreciates a good haggle." he said wistfully.

"Mmmm." Well, since he'd so obligingly given her an opening.... Alison leaned forward, the scarf she was wearing loosely trailing down on his lap as she rested her hands on either arm of the wheelchair. "Weeeell... if I'm going to play fetch the food, might I claim a little something first for it?" Everythign on 'em wasn't that fun in terms of kissing afterwards, too, when you got down to it.

Haroun grinned at her audacity - it was one of the many things he loved about her. "I suppose so." he mock-grumbled, then made up for it by putting some heat on the kiss - much to the amusement of the guy selling the dogs in the first place. "And oh look, I have breath mints! So you can stop making that face now."

"It takes serious breath mintness for New York hot dogs with everything on them," she replied with a throaty murmur, stealing another kiss quite brazenly before finally pushing herself upright. "Two hot dogs for the handsome Moor," she declared, confirming the 'order' before turning to face the vendor, adding a pretzel for herself and two drinks. She was fairly sure there would be more snacking later on, but this would be a good start.

Haroun had to keep himself from publicly salivating at the smell of the dogs. The effort was made far harder than it should have been by the nearly-audible grumbling of his stomach. "And these are the industrial-strength breath minds." he said with a wicked grin. "The kind that could suck all the paint off your house and give your family a permanent orange Afro."

"Mother would just make sure to hide the mirrors and pretend nothing happened until her hairdresser got home," Alison replied, a hint of wryness to her voice as she paid the snickering hot dog vendor for the food. "Make the world the way you want it to be, not like it really is." Turning around, food in hand, Alison followed him as they wheeled a distance away from the vendor and then handed him the hot dogs, sitting lightly on one arm of the wheelchair while balance both drinks and the pretzel in hand. "Eat. You get to put those mints to the test later."

"I live to serve." he said with a grin, and then chowed down on the dogs. They were as delightful as he thought they would be, well-cooked and juicy. He ripped through them politely but quickly, wiping off his mouth thoroughly when he was all done. "That was delicious." he said. "I could use another one, or better yet, one of those pretzels. With brown mustard." he grinned. "After all, if I'm going to challenge the breath mints, I'd better really challenge the breath mints."

'Someone's rediscovering the meaning of junk food," Alison snickered, barely a third through her own pretzel. She took another bite, then offered him half of what was left of hers. "We'll finish this one up and then I'll just go get another for each of us, mm?" Sharing was fun. And teasing him with the pretzel, she discovered, was fun too.

"Bah." he said companionably, and then took the pretzel to devour it. "I told you I was hungry." he said once he swallowed it. "This whole healing thing - takes it right out of you. And I'd like another pretzel, please." he said, before polishing off the remnants of her pretzel with great delight.

"Mmm." She waited until he was done, savoring her own pretzel probably too fast but it had to be done to eat it while it was still warm, after all, and then leaned over to brush her cheek against his, before kissing the tip of his nose lightly. Straightening up, she smiled at him. "One pretzel with mustard, coming right up!" Handing him the drinks she wandered off to get more pretzels for the both of them - unhurried and unstressed, just enjoying the afternoon to the fullest.

Haroun held onto her drink with one hand, and sipped from his ice-cold bottle of water in his other hand. This was just what the doctor ordered - it felt _good_ to get out of Medlab. His back still hurt - hell, he still hurt! - but come Monday he should have been able to hobble around on a cane, and get back to teaching his classes.

It didn't take long for Alison to wander back, two pretzels in hand and a smile on her face as she caught the expression he wore. "And another pretzel for you," she purred, bowing down as she offered him his before sitting down lightly on the arm of the chair again. "And one for me." She grinned down at him though, instead of just tearing through it just yet. "Having fun?" It was one of those silly questions one still liked asking, even when presented with evidence that supported the fact.

Haroun grinned. "Well, I could do without the black-and-blue feeling, and the lower back pain, but yeah, I'd say that I'm definitely having fun. How about you? You enjoying ferrying my crippled butt all over town for books and hot dogs?" he asked her with a silly grin. "Give me a week or so to get back on my feet more fully, and I'll even take Miles out for an afternoon."

"Mmm, ditto on the black and blue. And today is wonderful." It was too - unusually balmy weather for the season, a sense of unhurried fun to the entire day that wasn't showing any signs of going away. And not that Alison would ever admit to it, but it was a nice change from the previous day, even though that had been pleasant in it's own way. "And it's a very nice butt I'm getting to ferry all over town, I'll have you know." A wink, and she continued. "Miles has a few afternoons that are class free still. He'll be hitting nearly all the regular classes after the summer, actually. He's nearly caught up now..."

"Good for him, I suppose." he said noncommittally. "Right now, I don't think I could keep track of him properly, not being the most mobile person on the planet." He got a wistful look on his face at that, and then glanced skywards. It was a perfect day for a flight, really, and he itched to take to the sky.

Then his back twinged, and he pushed the temptation away. Even if the 'ware was suggesting that it was doable, if he kept it slow enough.

"He'd probably be playing fetch-something-for-the-Haroun, really." She took in a slow breath, closing her eyes for a moment. Fresh wind, warm sun. It was a nice feeling. "He popped in several times between classes to check in on both of us the day after we got back. You kept snoozing away because of the meds." Miles had had to be told several times it was normal that Haroun would sleep that long. She opened her eyes, looking up as well, pondering how soon a flight on the Blackbird would be allowed to him, if not one using his powers. Perhaps asking Hank discreetly might give Haroun some leeway, there.

"Oh. Well, that's very nice of him." he said with a mix of surprise and pleasure in his voice. "I'd like that. I don't anticipate having many needs, but if he wishes to help I certainly will not turn him away. Speaks well for him as a man, and as your son." he said with a grin. "I've got a stack of grading to finish at some point, and my Arabic students need to be rebroken to the notion that my classes are not cakewalks, and I expect people to work for their grade."

Well - just letting know Miles that it wouldn't be unwelcome and leaving it at that worked for Alison, and she suspected Haroun would get a tentative visit and offer to help out of it. "He's a good kid," was all she said, though the smile spoke volumes at that. Her lips quirked, and the mention of frying pans being used to wake up Scott and Wanda was somewhat sidestepped for the moment. "Work can be fun, too," she offered mildly, taking a deliberate bite of the still hot pretzel at that and sighing in satisfaction at the taste.

Haroun smiled at that, and then stretched as much as he dared. It hurt, but felt good at the same time. "Flight class is coming along nicely. You're all interested and motivated, and getting you folks to think in three dimensions is coming along easier than I was thinking that it would." he commented, taking a bite out of his new pretzel. "If desk-work comes well, then in a few weeks we can look at the simulator."

A low chuckle answered that, even as Alison balanced pretzel, mustard and self to claim the other water bottle from him. "Yes, well. You could say there's this nice shiny reward at the end of that one, what with several of the class' students just dying to be allowed to touch the 'bird, mm?" Alison, for her part, had the vague terror of bringing back the Blackbird with a scratch on it only to see Haroun die of a cardiac arrest at the sight, but then again she wasn't quite as 'oh, new shiny toy!' as some of the others were. Not that she was any less diligent because of that - the worry was quite the motivator, along with the little voice saying 'I'm leaning to pilot whaaat?'.

"I should just take some film of Paige drooling, sell it on the Internet." he said with a laugh. "Make a couple of extra bucks. Or watching Jamie's parent gibber - I don't recall which one, but I think he mentioned that his family has Air Force ties." he said with great amusement and a bite of pretzel. "I'm actually enjoying teaching that one. And I've got some Ideas for the simulator. To more accurately simulate real-world conditions." he grinned. "It's good for them, makes 'em display some adaptability."

"I'd have to do Very Bad Things to you if you did that," Alison beamed down at him, smiling cutely. Some things just required saying. "And his mother, Jo, was the one all enthused about the 'bird." She leaned back just a touch, breathing in deeply once more, the soreness from the fading bruises not even bothering her all that much. "It's good that you're enjoying teaching that," she said, lips quirking just a touch. "Probably filters down to your students too." Considering the enthusiasm once he got started in any of the theory classes couldn't have been avoided if you had a parachute and did a LEO jump to get away from it probably did have something to do with it, yes.

Haroun chuckled at that. "But I usually enjoy your Very Bad Things." he said with a laugh. "And yeah, I am enjoying it. Must be slowing in my old age." he said with a grin. "And hey, we've got more park to see, so let's get to it." he said with a wink.