Pier Pressure [Open]

Gideon sat reclined in the back of an old navy blue pickup, his legs crossed as he rested back on elbows that held his upper body propped up. He wasn't too far away from the pier but he wasn't exactly in the heart of the festivities either. Something festive was going on, he wasn't completely sure what, but it was the pier so there was always something happening. With just his front teeth Gideon split the husk of a sunflower seed and swallowed the edible kernel. He felt restless, absolutely nothing of importance needed his attention yet his body was wired for action. The night was cool, a steady breeze moving in from over the water keeping things nice and windy as usual. Louis spit the two halves of seed out into the pile that gathered near his boot clad feet toward the foot of the truck bed, and then tossed more seeds into his mouth.

With a loud and purposely obnoxious groan the man rolled his neck to either side before tilting his head back to focus on the bright twinkles of the sky. Not too many of the stars above were visible thanks to the bright lights of the city, especially those of Pier Park, but somehow a few bright burning stars millions of light years away still managed to make themselves noticeable from Gideon's location. Focusing on them made him wonder if he could ever move something like a celestial body such as planets or stars. Of course the ones he looked at now were probably long since burned out, but he tilted his head slightly and locked eyes on the full moon. How much stronger would his telekinesis have to get to make it possible - would it ever be possible? He couldn't even move large sports utility vehicles at this point. Gideon gave an exaggerated pout before emptying his mouth of all the sunflower seeds he'd been cracking the whole time.

Beside him in the truck bed was a pistol, a light weight beretta, and as he scooted for the edge of the back of the truck he collected the weapon with one hand. He was out because he had nothing else to do, nothing in store to make a move against the DTRC and no likely targets on hand to wipe out, so he went out looking for a bit of fun. How much fun was relaxing in the bed of an old truck? Not much. Since he was so close to the pier and he was looking for entertainment anyway, Gideon decided to stop playing the "too cool" angle and head down to see what he could get into at the pier. Lifting up the back end of his leather jacket Louis plunged his pistol into the back waistband of his dark jeans. Did he really need a gun? No - both because he wasn't looking for any trouble, and because if he was, a gun would hardly be necessary - but he liked to have it anyway.

((Cool if I jump in?))

Securing her hair into a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck and off center to the right, Zoe squared off to the chain link fence that surrounded the outskirts of the pier parking area. She ground her teeth slightly, giving the metal of the fence an irritated scowl. Phasing was easier, but she still couldn't figure metal out. Luckily, Zoe could see the other side of this fence. Taking a deep breath, she looked around to ensure no one was around to see. She then fixed her eyes on a point just a few feet ahead of her. As she breathed out, Zoe closed her eyes and then pop!

When she opened them again, Zoe was standing right where she had been looking. Her heart was racing slightly, but it was hardly noticeable. she was getting better. With a self satisfied smile, Zoe flipped the bid to the fence with one hand as she sauntered toward the noise and lights of the pier. She'd been keeping a low profile for some time now and decided she deserved a little fun.

The ferris wheel loomed ahead over the boardwalk, lights flashing and dancing along its many spokes as it slowly turned. Zoe adjusted her jacket, zipping it half way up to keep the wind from her core. She wasn't cold, but the wind could zap the warmth out of you if you let it. That same wind carried the smells of all kinds of food with it, causing her stomach to growl as a reminder that she hadn't eaten anything since that morning. Well, she could fix that easily enough.

She could see a stage ahead with a band performing, but in the noise and chaos all around her, she couldn't yet hear what kind of music they played. She'd have to get a bit closer. As she did just that, she watched the people around her. Families moved in energetic groups of colorful clothing and white toothed smiles; Packs of teenagers awkwardly tried to understand how to interact with each other; couples walked with hands clasped and shoulders touching. Zoe took it all in. She enjoyed the anonymity crowds provided. She could move through these people and none might even notice. It was strange how relaxing that could be.

((Of course!))

People. Gideon absolutely hated people. Not that he was hellbent on destroying all of mankind or anything (though he did figure Titans should reign over them). Honestly most people were okay as long as they kept their distance and didn't try talking to him. Just seeing another person wasn't enough to trigger anything in Gideon, he wasn't a psychopath, but if anyone decided he looked like the type of guy to ask for directions..well, they'd probably be spending a decent amount of time collecting their teeth from the floor. Gideon never understood what it was about people that made them what to interact with others so desperately. Were humans really that lonely and needy that they just couldn't function if left to their own devices? Blah, disgusting.

Gideon patrolled the activities of the pier shoveling handfuls of seeds into his bearded maw, cracking shells and spitting them out as he went. Just what was he going to get into? A ride? Yeah right, heights did a damn good job of freaking him the hell out. Louis was an adrenaline junky but roller coasters were definitely not his drug of choice - maybe he'd take some lonely broad into one of the port-o-johns. Carefully cutting tracks around the groups of friends and clusters of couples Gideon eyed the seemingly unlimited number of stands offering typical carnival foods. Cotton candy, fried oreos, corn dogs, funnel cake, and a bunch of other crap that only wasn't referred to as crap when it was surrounded by hundreds of people, live entertainment, and rides.

Nonchalantly the man made his way to a line, holding his right hand low down at the front of his pants. He glanced around as he lightly flicked his index finger up. A black wallet from the back pocket of the jeans in front of him floated into the air, hovering in the small gap between the two peoples. Using his telekinesis Louis eased a ten out of the wallet and quickly slipped it back into its home. A smile pulled on his lips as he examined his prize just before fisting it into his own jean pocket, soon after followed by retrieving a five from his own wallet. He had money, he just didn't like parting with his own.

The line moved a decent pace and in no time Gideon was at the front of the line. Five was given for the fried bread doused in sugar and two dollar bills were retrieved for change. Louis gave a curt nod before shuffling off away from the concession stand. Green eyes slanted marginally as he eyed the rides that were more vertically challenged, the ones that wouldn't threaten to give him a severe heart attack. Maybe a few more bites of funnel cake would make him more willing to board one of the insane coasters, he gained more courage with a sugar high.

Now closer to the stage, Zoe could hear the supposed rock band really trying. She listened for a while, but just couldn't get into it. Another stomach growl had her shifting her focus to how she might attain a nice corn dog. Looking around at the scattered groupings of people sitting in the audience area, she didn't find any good marks. All of the women had their purses too close to them, and none of the men seemed drunk enough just yet. She hadn't quite gotten to the point with her abilities that she could control a phase through just a pocket without enough focus to give her away to her mark. But if the mark was a drunk man, he usually just thought she was being handsy and didn't tend to notice the missing wallet until it was too late. But it didn't seem like tonight would be her night for pickpocketing.

Turning away from the awful music, Zoe scoped out her dining options for the evening. Most of the little trailers looked the same, sold the same food, and charged the same amounts. Fair type foods lacked the variety of her beloved food trucks, but there was something about this kind of atmosphere that made eating anything but corn dogs and funnel cake seem like heresy. It took a moment, but Zoe found one little trailer that seemed set up perfectly. It's back was to another trailer, leaving enough space behind for her to pass, but no one on the other side to see her. The corn dogs, her goal, were resting under a heat lamp on the back side while the vendor faced away from them when tending to customers. The part that made it perfect was that this trailer was designed to work from both sides if needed, and so there was a glass window right by the corn dogs. The metal sidings of the trailer would otherwise have been able to deter her.

Zoe made her way toward the trailer, narrowly avoiding bumping into a man in a leather jacket as he lined up for his own food. Zoe gave a scowl, but said nothing. She needed to not draw attention to herself right now and the look on his face made him seem like the kind of guy you didn't want to mess with. Slipping behind the trailer, Zoe ducked slightly as she waited for the man working inside to turn toward the customers at the other window. When he did, Zoe slipped her hand into a sleeve and pushed through the glass with ease, plucking a jumbo corn dog from the rack and quickly darting away.

Easy.

With a little more pep in her step, Zoe moved back into the general flow of people, taking large, satisfying bites from her corn dog as she went. Now it was time for some fun. Still happily chomping away, her eyes scanned the different amusements presented at the Pier. The ferris wheel was always a pretty ride, but boring. Maybe a roller coaster? The lines for those seemed long. Maybe later when the families started to go home. She walked, tossing her already empty corn dog stick into a trash can. The people all walked a little closer together here near the rides, crowded as they vied for the different waiting lines. Two kids darted past, causing Zoe to have to quickly step to the side to avoid being plowed into. Consequently, her little dodge only served to bump her into someone else.

"Watch it!" she yelled after the kids before turning to see that she had jostled the same guy she'd seen before. He still seemed menacing, but Zoe couldn't stop the corners of her lips from twitching at the sight of powdered sugar on his face. "You again." she said, backing up out of his personal space, still trying to hold back her amusement.

Briefly, Louis wondered if the shindig on the pier offered any booze. The thought on alcohol had been a brief one because he had to remind himself that he didn't drink, not anymore. He had battled with drugs for a while and once that habit was kicked he'd turned to alcohol. It didn't take the man long to figure out alcohol was just as bad as the drugs he was slamming, so eventually he got that monkey off his back too. Sometimes he might dabble in a beer here or there, but his limit was always one and they were never less than a month a part - he still had a month to go.

Louis expertly dodged the people stomping around giggling and being altogether obnoxious. Years of living on the street you learned how to keep your personal space yours, unless of course you were planning to stick your sticky fingers in a few pockets. These days though Gideon didn't need to resort to those antics, telekinesis was so much better than randomly bumping into strangers. Speaking of...Louis instinctively glanced down upon feeling another body collide into his own. He scanned the ground quickly, making sure nothing on his person had been donated to the filthy boardwalk, his bright eyes then turned to stare on the person who'd run into him. His funnel cake was held in one hand, slightly crumbled from the assault, and that did nothing to help the scowl that was etched deep in his bearded face. Th rest o the world seemed to fade away now.

All the annoying laughter, the horrible cover band playing in the distance, the creaking of worn out rides, and the puking of that one kid who'd rode the ferris wheel one too many times all faded away into nothing but white noise. All of Louis' focus, and frustration, leveled on a female who was a bit shorter than himself with an abundance of black hair sprouting from her scalp. His head tilted a fraction, eyes thinning into a narrowed hard look as he examined her. "Something funny?" He only locked on her eyes, a narcissist like himself rarely focused on the features of others, but he could tell there was bubbling amusement hidden beneath the surface of her straight face. The hand not clutching onto the powdered fried treat was lifted to brush away the white flakes Gideon could feel resting over his lips. He found it somewhat funny that he'd been randomly thinking of pick pockets when suddenly someone had clashed against him - ironic?

She didn't make a hurried exit though, but maybe that was just because she was an amateur. Or perhaps she saw him as a lone guy in a herd of couples and thought that bing a lone female she could get him out of even more money. Of course it was also entirely possible that she had simply walked into him on accident, but when was anything ever that simple? His eyes still locked on hers, Gideon sucked the tip of his thumb to rid it of the powdered sugar. "You should watch where you're going, you never know what kind of people you might bump into." His scowl was still in place as he leaned close toward the girl, uncomfortably close, "Could be one of those freaks." On the last word Louis pulled back just enough for the girl to catch sight of his lips, the ones that were now curled into a wicked grin. He toyed with the idea of giving her an example but he doubted the necessity of whipping out the telekinesis just yet.

Even as she tried not to chuckle, when the man's gaze locked with her own, Zoe couldn't help but feel a cold shiver run down her spine. She managed to hide the way it caused her skin to rise in goose bumps, but she was more wary than ever of the man. He wasn't just a grumpy guy; he might actually be dangerous. At his question, though, Zoe managed to relax some. Those corners of her lips dipped into a mock frown of grave seriousness. "Nope." she replied, dramatically wiping her thumb across the edges of her mouth. He apparently got the hint, as his own thumb did the same across his own mouth.

Zoe smiled in earnest now, a bit self satisfied, a bit relieved that things weren't escalating. But just as she was about to turn and leave the man, he spoke again. This time, he gave a warning. Zoe couldn't stop the sudden chuckle that escaped her. But when the guy leaned forward, she leaned back slightly. The added bit about freaks was accompanied by the smell of sugar and deep fried dough on his breath, along with the general unpleasant smell of breath in general. Zoe wasn't much a fan of breathing in other people's leftover air. But again, she couldn't help but chuckle.

"Thanks for the heads up." she replied, her eyes showing her mixed feelings of this guy that seemed both menacing and harmlessly off kilter. "Anyone else I should be on the lookout for? The boogie man maybe?" she said, lowering her voice somewhat, as if they were now having a seriously conspiratorial conversation. For added effect, she darted her eyes around, on the lookout for imaginary enemies.

She held character for a moment, but then dropped the act. Tilting her head, Zoe's eyes said get real. There had been a time in her life when situations like this might have scared her, terrified her even. But in the past few years, Zoe had learned that her gifts were really quite handy. She knew, for a fact, that she could teleport away from this man in the blink of an eye. It didn't even matter if he managed to get a hand on her. She'd slip through his grasp and be ten feet to the left, or a mile away. She could still feel that spot, just inside the fence, where she'd jumped to not long ago. And there were a dozen other places -jump points, she called them- within range of the pier that she could escape to without too much trouble.

"I can handle myself." she said, her face dropping to a flat, almost challenging expression. Now she looked him square in the eyes as well. Sure, she should probably just walk away now, but she was feeling bold and didn't want to back down. Let him be the one to walk away first.