2018-08-07-Hero Worship
| Roleplay Log | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Hero Worship | Date | August 08, 2018 |
| Location | East Village, Manhattan, NYC | ||
- Thor01.jpeg
East Village, Manhattan. Corner of Avenue A and 7th, just across the way from Tompkins Square Park. There is a Simpsons Sky above, dotted with clouds, and the weather has granted New York with some reprieve from the oppressive heat for now; most weather apps are showing a comfortable 78 degrees. There are many reasons people come to this neck of the woods, and there are plenty of pedestrians about in fact; a middle aged rotund lady with a disposable cup of soda from the McDonalds down 7th. A pair of purple skinned mutant twins walking with ice cream cones from the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop around the corner.
Anya Corazon and her friend, Laura, are here for the food trucks. They're parked along the east side of Avenue A, lining the park for at least a block and a half. The street is filled with smells of all kinds, but Anya has her eyes on a truck selling Nepali Cuisine.
"Look at that." She elbows Laura twice. "Don't tell me you gonna get one of those nuclear burritos again when they got //Nepali Cuisine// right there."
The young woman's got her brown eyes set upon that truck with hunger on her face. Counter cultural as ever, today she's rocking knee high leather combat boots with buckles all over the place. Her half destroyed denim shorts border on inappropriate, legs drawn in ripped up fishnets, and the oversized shirt on her top sports a photo of Bob Ross painting a pentagram on a mountain. Gothic lettering on the back of the t-shirt reads, //HAPPY LITTLE SATANIST//, mostly obscured by the patch covered backpack she's wearing over each shoulder. She's done a new side shave on both sides of her head this time, the short hair dyed pink while what's left up top is colored silver and left to hang down the right side of her head. A single, fingerless leather glove, with studs on the knuckles, is worn on her left hand; a sweatband in pink, yellow and blue on her right wrist.
Ahhhh. Food trucks. One of the main reasons Laura made the drive down. And also motorcycles were relaxing. She inhales slowly through her nose, sampling the bouquet of food odors. "I do not think I have had Nepali. What's it like? Is it spicy?" Spice, was one of Laura's rather important criteria for food. Flavor is especially important after spending most of her life eating rather flavorless rations. She rests one hand on her hip, shading her eyes with the other to get a better look at the menu.
Not too far behind Anya and Laura is a woman with long red hair, wearing a "Halo Kitty" T-shirt and somewhat worn denim jeans. She gestures over towards the food truck in question, looking up towards her rather tall companion as she says, "Wait, how have you never eaten Nepali food in all the time you've been around here? That seems to be quite a sin of omission... trust me, I'm an expert in the field." She grins, looking around at the other people queueing for the food trucks. Her eyes do catch Anya and Laura, her expression darkening as she notices Anya's shirt. Muttering something under her breath, she shakes her head as if to clear it.
The redhead's tall companion definitely stands out. For one thing, big blonde men that look a bit like a walking mountain tend to stick out in a crowd -- even when they aren't carrying an umbrella on a perfectly sunny day. And honestly, even when he's wearing nothing more interesting than a humble hoodie and jeans... Thor has never done a very good job of blending in.
"As always, I will defer to your expertise," Thor replies with a broad smile, peering towards the food trucks over the heads of the crowd. "It has been an oversight, on my part. We can remedy it quickly enough."
"Hell yeah," answers Anya. "Just, like, tell 'em you want it //actually// spicy, not American spicy. They dial it down for most people who look American, because they're pussies." A pause. "It's like getting Indian, and ordering a ten when they only tell you they go to a seven. Comprende?"
The woman with Thor is gonna get a nice read of that shirt, for she slings the backpack off her shoulder to begin digging around in it. "Oh, now where the fuck," she mutters, then smirks. "Ah. Got 'em." Out come a pair of bright red sunglasses, which get perched on her nose promptly. "Do the brown rice," she tells Laura. "Do the combo lentils and chick peas, pick your meat, //definitely// do the cilantro and onions. And don't forget, don't bitch down the spice level."
Laura nods, her nostrils flaring again a bit as... something definitely strange tinges the foodscape. She turns her head slowly, gaze resting for a moment on Thor and his companion, before she looks back to Anya. "Brown rice, Lentils and chickpeas. Chicken, Cilantro and onions. And an extra tip if it is adequately spicy. Understood." When they get to the front of the line, Laura places her order, and there's a little bit of haggling, and an extra twenty popped into the tip jar. She steps to the side while her food cooks and Anya orders, eyes returning to watch Thor.
The redhead chuckles, "As always... I think your memory is a little bit selective there. I mean there was that time with the rock trolls at Mag Femen." She looks mildly amused, though Anya is now getting a look of mild approval for the cuisine comments, and then she adds to Thor, "And what she said is right, if you want to have a real lightning strike in your mouth, tell them to bring the heat. Though I'd probably recommend getting a large drink, if you do..." A fair warning, that.
Thor holds up a finger and //starts// to argue the redhead's point with Mag Femen, but he trails off and glances off to one side. ...oh. Oh, that is right, isn't it. He slooooowly drops his hand back to his side and clicks his tongue, nodding once. "Well taken. I'd like to think I am a slightly better person now than I was then," he adds in a quiet, slightly higher pitched voice as he falls into the back of the line. He's not going to shy away from trying the legit spicy stuff -- but he is also going to take the advice of having a large drink.
It's difficult to tell if Thor has really noticed the attention Laura is giving him. If he has, he doesn't seem to find it particularly worrisome or unusual.
When it's Anya's turn, she gives the chef a fist bump before placing her order. She goes for almost the same thing, subbing out pork chili instead of chicken tikka, then leans closer to the chef. "Like //actually// spicy, okay?" She grins winningly, then moves along with her friend. Her friend... who seems to be giving someone the adamantium eyeball.
Anya turns her head to try and see just what Laura is looking at. That's when her jaw drops and she openly gasps, a sound much like holding back the shriek that wants to force its way out. "Holy //shit//!" she hisses in what unintentionally comes across as a stage whisper. "That's //Thor//!"
Laura squints a little, before nodding. "Yes. That would also explain why he smells like ozone, and some other strange things. I am somewhat surprised he has not been swarmed by one of his fan clubs yet. Since he has not, you could try getting his autograph." Her food arrives a few moments later and the dark haired teen accepts the bowl and plastic spoon, taking a bite. She chews, swallows, and gives an approving nod to the truck's staff. They have passed her test.
Ahadiel, aka Angela Davis, grins over at Thor, "I think you are... I'm sorry, I shouldn't be judging you based on the past, it's rude." She reaches over and gives Thor's arm a sympathetic squeeze, about to say something else... which is when Anya reacts to spotting the God of Thunder.
The angel grins wryly at Thor, "I forget how popular you are sometimes. Did you want to mingle a bit?" After all, he's already 'outed' as it were.
Judging by the smile creeping up beneath Thor's beard, the stage whisper did not go unnoticed. Still, he reaches up to give Angela's hand a grateful pat. "Think nothing of it. Of all people, //you// are certainly allowed to judge me. Someone has to keep me honest."
He takes a moment to order -- and pay for Angela's lunch as well, because surely that will make up for all of his past misdeeds -- before he turns to offer Anya a genuine smile. He tucks the umbrella under his arm so he can mime taking a selfie with both hands, both eyebrows arching inquisitively.
"You kidding?" Anya replies, turning toward Laura with wide eyes. "What if he found out how many times he's in my search history?" she whispers, before glancing back toward the dreamy fellow and his likely girlfriend. She bites her lip, clearly crushing on the fellow for a moment, before leaning back toward Laura.
"Sabes que preferiria que conociera a la chica arana. Eso seria mucho mas rudo. Si?" She deftly transitions back to English, her tone flabbergasted. "Oh, God. He's looking right at me. Oh my god and he's a big dork too." She leans her head upon Laura's shoulder (assuming such a thing doesn't get her promptly snikt-ed). "I am such an idiot." She flushes furiously now and raises a hand to wave back at the clearly internet famous Asgardian.
Subtitle: You know I'd rather meet him meet Spider-Girl. That would be so much more badass.
<She is not here right now, and you are. And I do not believe that he is likely to be using your computer in the future.> Laura rests her hand on Anya's shoulder, gently pushing her in Thor's direction. <You will regret not having this picture later.> Plus, seeing her friends happy is one of Laura's guilty pleasures. It's nice to enjoy the little things in life, sometimes.
Angela smiles warmly at Anya, "Hi there. Love the outfit... well, except for the shirt, but yeah." She waves, "I'm Angela, and I think you know who /he/ is." She tosses Thor a wink, then steps over to the side so as not to be in selfie-range... which puts her standing by Laura. She glances over at Laura, "You didn't want a picture with him too?"
In his time spent on Earth, Thor has learned many things, including more than a few social cues. So when Anya and her friend begin quietly speaking to one another in Spanish, he does his very best to pretend he can't hear //or// understand what they're saying. It's only polite, and to be fair, Anya //is// still a little ways away when she says the more interesting things. Surely he's distracted by accepting his food from the truck. Surely.
Thor just grins a little wider when Laura urges her friend forward and his own moves away, and now Anya is given a very sympathetic look. "I think our friends are trying to help. Should we all find a place to eat together?"
"Ope." Anya is lightly shoved, and she walks up toward Thor with a darker than normal complexion. She looks //up// at the man from her diminutive height, then grins awkwardly. "Uh, yeah, probably." It takes a lot of effort not to toe scuff here.
For a moment, Anya stands there, holding her food in one hand and her foot firmly planted in her other mouth. She looks over toward Angela, then down at her shirt, blinking. "What? Oh, come on. //Tell// me it isn't funny as hell." She winks at Angela, before gasping when Thor suggests they all eat somewhere. "Whoa whoa! Hold on!" She doesn't quite think about what happens next; such things happen when one is star struck. Her food is balanced in her left hand, while the other reaches around in a display of near impossible flexibility, so that she can tug the smart phone out of her backpack. "Selfie first!" She pulls the food around her back, balancing it on finger tips as if she's been serving beer on a platter since she was twelve, and holds the phone out. "Show me them pearlies, amigo!"
Laura actually smiles a bit as Anya starts fangirling. She turns to Angela, giving her an appraising look. "I do not have social media. ...Also I am eating." She takes another bite, chewing and swallowing, before continuing. "Heroes are just people who choose to do the right thing when they can." Plus, when you've been spending months surrounded by capes, the awe of meeting people kind of wears off.
Angela smiles at Laura, "That's a remarkably level-headed attitude. Very nice." She nods, "It's nice to meet you, and... well, I would definitely not mind sharing a table with you two, if Thor is okay with it." She glances over at Anya, and gives her a bit of a wry expression as she cryptically adds, "That's the problem with it." She winks at Thor with that, apparently passing some sort of inside joke.
Thor doesn't even bat an eyelash at how deftly Anya is able to rearrange her things and balance her tray behind her back, though he //does// look a little impressed. Game recognizes game. Without hesitation, he leans over to look directly into the phone camera, and asides a quiet "I think it is a great shirt," to Anya before he flashes a winning smile.
He will probably owe Angela another meal for this, but he's pretty sure it'll be worth it.
Welp. Anya was //trying// not to blush, but that remark from Thor means she's gonna have to photoshop that selfie a bit before posting it. She gives a weird look to Angela before diverting to the selfie, grins big, and snaps a quick burst of photos, just to make sure neither of them are blinking.
"Is it cool if I post it and tag it?" she asks Thor. "People who don't ask permission are f..." The swear word is caught in her mouth. "... prrrrr" Don't say pricks. "rrretty thoughtless." Trying to distract from all of that, she points to some unoccupied benches around a table in the park proper. "Let's nab that spot before someone beats us to it!"
Laura nods. "That does look like a good spot. It will be more comfortable in the shade." She follows Anya over to the bench, slipping into a seat and setting her bowl on the table. She retrieves a water bottle from her own backpack and takes a sip, her gaze flicking back and forth between their apparent new dining partners. ...Shit. Small talk is not one of her good points. "...The food here is very good." Welp. Could have been worse.
Angela takes a seat, "Well, this is about as good as you can find it, unless you go to Nepal. I was there a... while ago. Amazing food. Great artwork, too." She glances over at Thor with a fond expression, then looks over at the other two ladies, "I just run a little art studio in Hell's Kitchen. Make my own bronzes there, plus some sculpture and... other things." She gets a bit of a wry look, "You will not believe what people will pay for an authentic-looking weapon for cosplaying."
"You are absolutely welcome to post it. Thank you for asking." Thor doesn't have any social media accounts of his own, but he knows these things make people happy, so he is //of course// a thousand percent in favor of this. With a cheerful smile, he follows Anya and the others to their chosen spot, and waits for the three of them to sit before he claims a spot of his own. He leans the umbrella against the bench.
He flashes Laura a smile as he prepares to tuck into his own food, and seems perfectly happy to let Angela do the talking while he does. Everyone is speaking so highly of this food, he's a bit eager to see if it lives up to the hype.
"Awesome!" Anya answers Thor, before settling down next to Laura, and finally gets to opening her food. The patch-covered backpack is set on the ground, a thermos produced from within, and she takes a moment to dig in. The girl seems to eat as if she's never eaten before, but she does pause when Angela tells them about her shop. "Really?" she asks, eyes wide. "What's the address? Do you have open gallery shows? I //love// those."
Suddenly remembering her manners, she sets down a plastic fork. "Oh, my name's Anya. This is mi amiga, Laura." The fork is taken up again. "I can't believe you've been to Nepal," she says to Angela. "I've never even left New York. Well, I mean, I was born in Mexico City, but we moved here when I was really little."
Laura looks a little confused at being pinned by Thor's smile suddenly. She tries to return it, although the expression doesn't /quite/ make it all the way into her eyes. "She is right, I am Laura. It is a pleasure to meet you." A few more bites of food are chewed appreciatively. She's traveled a lot, but... not for the best of reasons. And it's not like she got to enjoy where she went. Best not talk about it.
Angela laughs, "I do, occasionally, but here..." She reaches into her purse, and pulls out a business card. The logo is a broadsword, framed by feathered wings, "My card." Which has her name, email, social media, and business phone all on there.
Angela then continues, "And yes, it was a while ago, but I've been... well, part of the benefits of what I do is being able to travel a fair amount, so I've taken advantage of that. Mainly to see other cultures and look at what they've made. It's fascinating, really."
Introductions are much more important than food, especially since Thor needs a moment to let some of these spices die down //just// a touch. Laura and Anya both end up with a comparatively massive hand outstretched in their direction, in turn. "Laura. Anya. It is a pleasure to meet you both. A meal is always more enjoyable with friends." Yes, Angela counts. But now it's //multiple// friends, and thus, obviously, better.
Anya loads an app on her phone, scans the card against the table. All of the info is stored in her contacts, and the social media accounts are followed. She then slides the card back, smirking, while simultaneously swiping back to her photo app, where the selfie with Thor is on display. "I'll just lose it. Curse of the college student."
Thor is greeted with a handshake that would belong to a normal human. She's had her powers just long enough to not make //that// rookie mistake.
Laura Kinney shakes Thor's hand firmly, meeting his gaze unflinchingly. Firm, two shakes. ...Probably something taught by Logan. Then she goes back to her meal. "Agreed. I have made many friends since starting school. It makes life much better." She nods sagely, before taking another bite. "...I will have to eat at this truck again in the future."
Angela replaces the card, then smiles, "Fair enough, I have plenty though. And if you lose it, then someone else might find it. Being a self-employed artist isn't the easiest thing in the world, after all." She gives Thor a wry look, "Actually get quite a few requests for Mjolnir replicas, though most of the time they don't want them to be too heavy." A bit of a face at that, as she apparently likes striving for realism.
There is a very, very slight furrow to Thor's brow as he shakes Laura's hand. She reminds him of someone but he cannot for the life of him put his finger on it -- maybe Hogun? Yes, she reminds him of Hogun. That must be it. How pleasant.
As he takes Anya's hand, Thor gives Angela a very surprised look (and, quite possibly, give Anya's hand slightly more of a squeeze than intended). "Mjolnir replicas?" he echoes. "I... huh. This is strangely flattering, actually," he muses, casting a look down at his umbrella.
"Good, innit?" Anya says to Laura, grinning wickedly. She looks back to Angela then, and is about to say something, when she feels a very familiar sensation coming from a certain mutated gland in her wrist.
If she was blushing before, now her face is going a bit pale. It isn't quite easy to break her handshake with Thor, and it isn't because he's devastatingly handsome. "Oh my god." She turns slowly toward Laura, still assuming that her Spanish won't be recognized and murmurs, "Solo estoy loco con Thor."
SUBTITLE: I just 'nutted' on Thor.
With a syrupy sweet smile that is entirely forced, Anya turns back to the Asgardian and uncurls her fingers. Webbing has now attached herself to the man by their wrists, and when she turns her hand, it's visible. Her eyes lid, and she tries very hard to hide all of the panic and embarrassment with a demure expression. "Quite a grip you got there, big guy."
Laura... smirks a little. This time it's genuine, and does reach her eyes. "Do not worry, I can fix this. You will want to stay very still, though." With a *snikt*, she pips one hand claw, and guides the adamantium blade between the two to sever the web string precisely without cutting either of them. Job done, the claw retracts, and she wipes her knuckles with a napkin, the wound gone by the time the napkin is back on the table.
Angela blinks a bit, then can't help but laugh at the Spanish from Anya, replying in kind, >> Well, that's something you don't see every day. Don't worry, I can keep a secret. << She winks at Anya at that, still snickering, though it grows a bit muted as she watches Laura do her snikt-thing to cut the webbing.
Angela smiles slightly, switching back to English, "I've not walked around this world for twelve thousand years without being able to keep a few secrets. So don't worry about me. Though, Thor, we might need to get you back to my place and get that cleaned up." A bit of a smirk at that, as she apparently is used to seeing women get a bit... excited around the Thunder God.
One might expect that Thor isn't //that// current on slang. It's an easy assumption to make -- he looks like he lives at a ren faire. But when Anya explains to her friend what's happened, he legitimately struggles to maintain a straight face, having to clench his jaw a bit to keep a laugh from escaping. Hide it by looking down at your wrists, big guy, don't embarass the poor girl any further.
"Oh dear. My apologies, did I --" Thor cuts himself off and blinks once as Laura comes to the rescue, his expression brightening. "Oh. Thank you. That could have been awkward. Honestly, Angela, it isn't that bad," he says obliviously, waving his free hand as he peers at his newly-freed wrist. He's pretty sure he's seen worse on the subway.
Anya does in fact hold very still. She doesn't seem surprised in the slightest by the sudden appearance of a hand claw, but she does lift eyebrows a bit at seeing how quickly the wound healed. Pulling her hand away, she makes a funny little gesture with her fingers, and the webbing slips out from a nearly invisible fold on her wrist, falling harmlessly to the grass underfoot. Her eyes go from one face to the other, a coldness in them that only warms when she realizes that... yeah, her secret's safe here. Angela might have gotten a longer look than the rest, for some reason.
"Ya just... squeezed the wrong place," Anya says quietly, offering an explanation to Thor. "The, uh, adhesive will dissolve and it'll fall off. In... about six hours." Her affected hand rises and rubs awkwardly at the shaved hair behind her ear, but soon enough she's back at it, digging into her food and tapping at her photo app. The silence lasts a whopping three seconds, before her head darts upward. "Hey, don't either of you believe that bullshit on the Bugle, okay?"
Laura nods to Angela, taking another bite of food and sizing up the woman herself. "It is no problem. Thank you for not freaking out." Surprisingly, some people get squeamish about Laura's claws. And there was yelling the last time people found out she used them for food prep. People didn't want to eat her stir fry after that, even the people who could take the heat. "Do I need to go to the Bugle and make corrections?" She gives Anya a meaningful look.
Angela chuckles, "Never really trusted that newspaper too much anyway. Too sensationalist." She glances over at Laura and smiles a bit, "Looks painful, but I've seen people with similar... gifts. Though I tend to stay out of the whole 'cape' business, typically. Thor is just an old friend from way back." She then flashes the thunder god a smile, before looking at the other two, "I don't know if you'd quite believe what I am if I told you, so..." Because yeah, thunder gods and mutants are one thing, but actual /angels/?
Six hours. After a moment's thought, Thor simply tugs his sleeve down a bit further and lets the lingering adhesive catch on the fabric. There. Now he //might// not end up with his lunch stuck to his hand. "Nothing to freak out over," he assures Laura, aiming a smile across the table at her and Anya both. "Do not worry. I believe what I see for myself first and foremost, it is... safer that way." Though not always a guarantee that he is not being bullshitted, //Loki//.
With just a hint of trepidation, Thor reaches for his drink, though he looks more curious about the possibility of getting it stuck to his hand than anything else. "If it would help, I would be happy to vouch for you at their offices." Because that's totally what Laura is suggesting.
"Don't tempt me, Frodo," Anya answers Laura. Thor however gets a look, as if she just might be about to take him up on it. After a moments consideration, she shakes her head. "No, Gracias. At least... not yet. That whole thing was kind of not... my usual thing." Her tone, of course, suggests she might not have quite yet determined what he'd 'usual thing' is.
Now, Angela gets a smirk. "Magic space alien arachnids kidnapped me. It was totally like Close Encounters. I even made a spider mountain out of my flan." Unable to hold it for long, the girl snorts a laugh and explains, "Bit by some kind of freak bug. Really, what could be stranger than all that?"
Laura... Actually hasn't seen or read LOTR yet. So Anya just gets a slightly confused look. "It is painful, yes. But it is not a problem." She nods along to Anya's story, before chiming in herself. "My story is strange. But people usually do not want to be around me after they hear it. So I will not tell it."
Angela grins a bit, "Well, then I suppose the fact that I'm a semi-retired angel of vengeance that's focused on various artistic expressions over the past three thousand years is normal." She chuckles, "With occasional breaks for fighting frost giants or rock trolls, of course."
Thor just inclines his head as Angela drops her bomb, and very helpfully adds "She's older than I am," in a stage-whisper across the table. He is probably going to get far worse than a little web stuck to his wrist in a moment. He better finish his food while he can.
"Not all stories need be told. Certainly not at a time like this," Thor muses thoughtfully, regarding Laura with a small smile. "Perhaps if we come to know each other better, we can share some stories. Not necessarily that one, but... some."
"Really?" Anya rolls her eyes at Laura. "I //am// visiting your school, and I //am// bringing Lord of the Rings. There are really awesome fight scenes. Might give you some ideas."
Shes back at her food when said bomb is dropped. One might consider it comical, how her chewing slows gradually, eyes looking between Angela and Thor, then back and forth a second time. The whole process of denial, disbelief, then arguing with herself and coming to certain conclusions plays out on her face. It culminates in her glancing down to the shirt she's wearing, and strangely finds herself sort of hunching herself tighter together, as if that would be able to hide the big pentagram that a two dimensional Bob Ross is painting upon one of his mountains. "I did say it was a joke," she says, then casts a worried look toward Thor. "Right?"
