SUE: Airwaves (Joe and Remle)

[Joe Honnick]

Joe nodded to Remle and thanked her as he walked through the door. Having her go first through the door was a strange thing, he was very traditional, he’d just grown up in a different time and it was still strange to not dive for the door to open it before she could. He followed her toward the truck and glanced passingly at his own vehicle as they walked. He didn’t comment more than a raise of his brow at her umbrella. The weather wasn’t calling for rain and looking up there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Joe got into the truck and blinked in surprise. He hadn’t thought that the windows were tinted, it must have just been a trick of the light. He climbed in feeling old having to haul himself with a little effort into the truck. His knee was starting to give him more and more problems the older he was starting to get.

“Thank you,” Joe said with a pleasant smile, “We’ll probably need a lot of help,” he assured her. Both he and his wife were starting to get up in age and even though he was still strong from his time playing football he was not as strong as he used to be. He watched her and listened very carefully to what she was saying and his mind was working out the numbers in his head. “I’m sure I can find someone in my organization who can edit audio, I would be interested in possibly getting a discount on airtime,” he negotiated. He looked around the road watched it as if he were driving himself. “Make a left, then up here at the light make a right.” He pointed looking forward at their path. “Are you from the area?” He asked casually.

[Remle Boyd]

"I am certain we can manage that with no issues. Once I explain the situation I'm sure the station manager will agree with me," she added. If he didn't she'd just find a way to make it happen anyway since Joe was very much going out of his way to assist them. She wondered what had happened to make the generator's back fire. Still, without a constant electrical feed it would have shut off eventually and they'd be scrambling for a generator. She would need to bring up the possibility of storing a gas-powered generator in the station after this. Not that it had ever been an issue in the past. They had the electric generator and the power had turned back on way before it would have powered down. But to have the generator just die completely, it must have been some surge. She pulled safely out of the parking lot and turned left, her foot pressed against the pedal in order to do the posted speed limit. They had to stop at the light but she put her indicator on and inched forward as others were able to safely turn.

When Joe asked if she was from the area Remle looked at him sideways for a moment. She knew he was being polite and that she had to keep being polite to him, if only because she wanted something he had at the moment. Her expression didn't change (which was also fortunate that her sunglasses were so large and dark) as she casually answered. "More or less, I moved here from California originally. I've lived here long enough to feel like a local," she shrugged as she was finally able to make her right hand turn onto another street. "What about you?" she turned the conversation back to Joe in order to avoid having to answer any more.

[Joe Honnick]

Joe gave her a smile and held out his hand, always the businessman it was a good deal. She might be a friend of meta humans and maybe even a meta human herself, but Joe wasn’t a fool, he was not going to trust her but he was going to take her at her word, but he would want something in writing once they got the station up and working again. “Thank you, I’m glad we can work out an agreement.” Joe might not trust or like meta humans but there were members of PUSE who were meta humans, it wasn’t about hating meta humans, it was about protecting the country from meta humans who would sue their power for intimidation and manipulation. The fact that Joe didn’t like meta humans was a small part of a much bigger picture. He watched the road as she drove, a nervous habit gained from teaching his two daughters how to drive. If he never had to go through that again he would be content.

“California, wow,” he smiled and widened his eyes, “That’s a long way, what brought you all the way out here?” He asked curiosity taking hold. Everyone had their own story and it was fascinating. It was always interesting to hear the stories in court, nothing was ever completely clear cut but no matter the sob story justice had to be served. “I’m from Ohio originally, my first job was right here, I met my beautiful wife and we settled down here.” He smiled, he was a very proud man, proud of his daughters and the family that he had built here. “Take a left up on 9th.” He added in as they drove. It was a pleasant little town and a small town that was nice and quiet, at least it had been, until the rush of meta human activity. It seemed there were more students every year up at that school and imagine that he’d never heard of meta humans until his daughter brought one home.

[Remle Boyd]

Remle waited for an appropriate time to shake Joe's hand and made a mental note to draw up a contract when she got back to the station. She'd have someone in legal check it before having her manager approve it so that Joe could sign it and they could be on their merry way. There was a beat of silence before Joe continued with his questions. As Remle was busy paying attention to her driving she took a moment before answering. "Weather mostly. After graduating I realized that I couldn't stand how sunny it was in California, so I got a job in Burlington and then when I was looking for DJing work I was hired on to the local station here."

She obediently turned left on 9th and kept her eyes on the road, focusing mostly on keeping the shadows in place around the cab of the car so that she wouldn't be so tired later. "You sound content with your life, I can only hope I can say the same when I'm older," she admitted with a contemplative hum. “Do you and your wife share a profession?” she wondered politely, trying to keep the conversation on Joe in order to keep him from feeling awkward about being in the car with a young woman he had met less than an hour ago.

[Joe Honnick]

Joe laughed, relaxing a little bit. Maybe some people really were just fond of clouds. There didn’t have to be a meta thing for this to make sense. “That sounds understandable, but most people would give anything to be in California over here.” He chuckled, he’d never been but that was definitely some place that he would have loved to go. It was just a little far and well, when he and Jasmine were young maybe but once the kids had come along it had been way too crazy with them and work. “Were you always in radio?” He asked curious, making pleasant conversation.

Joe smiled and nodded his head a bit. He would say he was very content, very happy indeed. “I have been blessed,” he said with a small smile, “Life is what you make of it. If you’re happy with what you are doing you try to make it better and move forward. The thing is to not stay anywhere that makes you miserable. Life’s too short for that.” He smiled, not sure why he was lecturing her on his opinions of life. Joe laughed a little and shook his head. “Oh no, my wife is far wiser than I am. I’m just a lawyer. When I met Jasmine, she was working creating herbal remedies. She’s so brilliant, I can’t even keep up.” Joe had absolutely no problem accepting the fact that when it came to an argument his wife was always right. It was truth more often than not. “If you don’t mind me asking, why radio? Are you into music or news?” He asked, hoping he wasn’t overstepping his bounds.

[Remle Boyd]

Remle hummed in agreement. It was true that many people often longed for the sunny shores of California, but she couldn't count herself among them. The landscape felt too bright and alien to her now. "Yes," she responded politely. "I was always interested in how radio works, how it keeps us connected to the world. The history of radio is fascinating," she explained. She didn't mind Joe's advice, it was nice to have some once in awhile and it wasn't un-asked for in this instance. She bristled a little thinking about the advice Dakota had given her and calmed herself down again just as quickly. He'd been right and she just really disliked being wrong...about anything.

"Herbal remedies?" she repeated curiously. "That does take a lot of skill," she commented. Remle could only imagine how much schooling the woman had gone through (hopefully) in order to identify different plants, their healing qualities and how to mix them with other herbs in the effort to heal and relieve and not accidently poison or kill someone. "Was she a doctor or a botanist?" Remle asked, wondering how anyone got into that field that wasn't already interested in the field of medicine.

She wasn't startled by Joe's question; she had been expecting something along that line to come up sooner or later. "Music, I wasn't interested in athletics when I was younger so I played in bands, practiced music and listened a lot; because of my interest in radio anyway it just seemed like a good fit. Are we getting closer perchance?" she asked as the truck finally left most of the down town traffic behind.

[Joe Honnick]

Joe nodded, he had never really gotten into anything like that. He’d always just known that he had to do his best to better himself and provide for his family. It had become much more important when he’d gotten married, but he sometimes would have liked to get have gotten into something interesting like radio or science. Jasmine’s side business had been amazing and fascinating and he did feel bad that she’d dropped it to take care of the kids, but now that they had more time they had started an herb garden together and Jasmine was able to do what she loved. He smiled absently as he nodded. “It’s fascinating, something I wish I could learn more about it.” He looked at Remle for a moment raising a brow and wondering if he’d overstepped his bounds. Joe was all about unsolicited advice, which didn’t always earn him friends.

“It certainly does,” Joe agreed with a nod. “Make a left up here.” He pointed to the traffic light. “She was actually a secretary,” Joe said with a smile. She’d been working with the same law firm Joe had started his career at. “She learned a lot of it from her mother. Her mother has a little bit of a witch doctor thing going on, don’t tell her I said that,” he added, smiling conspiratorially at Remle, “She’s really good at teas.” He was glad that she had started to get back into it, well not that she had ever stopped in the first place. But she had definitely had a talent and Joe was happy if she was happy.

“Did you really?” He asked with a smile, he was truly impressed, for him who had no musical talent what so ever it was always extremely impressive. “That’s amazing. Well good for you.” Joe nodded, “Yes, if you make a right up here on Amber Grove.” He pulled out his phone and belatedly let his wife know that they were on their way. He added a estimated time of arrival of about five minutes. She was probably going to kill him since she was unprepared to have guests and she loved to keep a clean house and make an impression. “You’re going to make another right onto Oak and we’re the second house on the left.”

[Remle Boyd]

"A witch doctor? Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," she commented. Normally, Remle didn't have problems keeping a conversation going but the stress of the day was finally catching up with her in addition to the already long day she had spent at the station. That combined with her general unwillingness to open up to people was making this drive more difficult than it had to be. On the bright side, she might actually get some sleep when she got home! Having something to look forward to made her much more cheerful as she followed Joe's instructions. She slowed her driving down a bit in order to be able to spot the road ahead with ease, and also because the shadows on her window and the tinting on her glasses made some of the signs a bit difficult to read.

She made her right onto Amber Grove and began to keep a look out for Oak. She heard her phone go off in her pocket and realized it must be someone from the station calling to tell her about something. She hoped it was good news, but she wouldn't be able to check until she stopped driving. Sooner than she had hoped she saw the sign for Oak and turned right again, looking head to spot Joe's house and pulling up along the curb and parking the car. "Excuse me just a moment," she said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked her messages. The intern had returned with gasoline and there was already a promising lead on a generator of their own. She sent another text back informing them she was just getting ready to pick up the generator and that they would be back as soon as possible. "I'm ready when you are," she said as she got out, sans the umbrella this time, but kept her shades in place as she shut the door and locked it.

[Joe Honnick]

Joe smiled and fell silent as his sad attempt at a joke fell flat in the car. Well, maybe Remle just didn’t have much of a sense of humor, or maybe she didn’t find that kind of humor very funny. Either way Joe just gave the directions and let the girl follow them. Soon enough she pulled up to the house and Joe saw that Jasmine’s car was still in the drive way. He got out of the car, nodding and giving the girl a little bit of space to make the call she needed. “Right,” he replied and motioned for her to follow. He led her up the steps to the front door and walked in welcoming Remle into his home after him. Jasmine hurried around from the kitchen. She was a short, homely woman with a kind smile and clear evidence that she had raised two children. The wrinkles distinguished her Joe though, she still complained though.

“Jasmine this is Ms. Boyd, she is from the station where we are putting the commercial on air,” he explained. Jasmine smiled warmly, “Can I get you anything to drink, sweetheart?” Ever the proper hostess. “The generator is in the shed out back, it is probably buried.” He motioned for her to follow him out to the back yard. “The herb garden,” he said as he led her past a large span of flat earth filled in unorganized rows of herbs that grew under the close care of his wife. “I dabble in herbal teas,” his wife said humbly. Joe snorted, “She can make a tea to cure the common cold,” he boasted for her. She shook her head at him, but she was beaming with pride. He opened the shed and signed, the generator was indeed buried, but not nearly as bad as he’d feared. It would take little time between the three of them to clear the space enough to get it out and to the car. Joe took the first box and put it off to the side declaring it as the temporary residence of the things they needed to move.

[Remle Boyd]

It would be impractical at this point to have shadows around her, plus it would strain her energy if she did so. That being said Remle carefully let them go in the car before finishing her phone call and trailing after Joe. She thought he had a lovely house and told his wife so when he introduced her, but declined the drink, “I’m sorry, we don’t have much time, but thank you for the offer,” she returned politely as she nodded at Joe’s assessment of where the generator might be, once more following him through the house and out the door, tips of shadows in her wake, reaching out to her minutely as she walked quickly past. She spared a glance at the untidy garden and reflected that growing your own herbs was probably quite cost effective at the end of the day.



“Ah, that sort of thing would be rather popular,” she commented, thinking about a tea that could cure the common cold. “I like the smell of sage personally, I’ve heard more than once that it’s a good cleanser for aura’s and such,” she added so as not to seem perfectly ignorant of all herbal things. When they arrived at the shed, she was heartened to at least see that the generator was at least obtainable and quickly rolled up her sleeves in order to help with the work. She was stronger than she looked to a point but the heavier looking boxes she either left for Joe or helped him move until the generator was uncovered. She was feeling tired a bit wrung out by then from the physical labor and resolved to start lifting weights or something as soon as possible. “We should be able to lift this into the back of the truck with no problem, I think there’s some rope back there that we can secure it with,” she stated. If she worked fast they could be back at the station even sooner and be back on the air. She might even land herself a bonus.

[Joe Honnick]

Joe smiled at his wife. She was always that person who would be willing to gift you everything that she could. This woman was also polite and she was a hard worker to go through all of this to put her station back on the air. He smiled thoughtfully. She was such a kind person. Joe’s smile grew as his wife glowed with pride. She shook her head. “He’s exaggerating,” she giggled but was clearly pleased by the compliment. And Ms. Remle indeed was helping and his wife was indeed glad. Jasmine brightened. “Ah! Sage is indeed good for the aura, you’d probably like the clear scent of mint too.” She guessed then she retreated back into the house. Joe shook his head but smiled anyways. She was the love of his life and he was so glad to have found her. He was lucky. Lucky to have found her and lucky that she had stayed.

“Wonderful,” he said as they worked to clear the path to the generator. “Are you doing okay?” He asked, politely, not assuming that she was weak, but he himself was feeling a little weary. He was a lot older than he was the last time he’d done this magnitude of heavy lifting, he wasn’t done but he was starting to get a twinge in his knee and in his back. The sooner they got this done the better. “Alright, why don’t you see if you can get back there, and I’ll go backward.” He said gesturing to the far side. She was a good deal smaller than he was, he wasn’t going to fit back there so easily. He made a mental note to clean out the shed of all of the useless things. “Alright,” He grunted as he lifted, without her help he certainly would have been out of luck. They did indeed make it to the back of her truck, but not without Joe getting winded. He took a breath and Jasmine again appeared. “Here you go deary,” she said holding out a small pouch, “A little sage and a little mix of my own. Should help you clear your aura, and will be a nice tea for a headache.” She smiled pleasantly.