Players: Aiden, Bruce, David, and July
Summary: Aiden, Bruce, David, and July are all at the Life Cafe and converse.
Date: July 13, 2011
Log Title: Conversing at the Cafe
Rating: PG
NYC - Life Cafe
Located in the East Village, the Life Cafe displays the vibe of area. This sidewalk cafe has a Bohemian feel with posters on the wall, a small bar inside, tables shoved everywhere, and even a secret garden tucked away in back for people to dine. The menu features burgers, chicken sandwiches, and quite the vegetarian enclave.
It’s relatively dry after a series of heavy rainfalls, the city is finally dry and showing some signs of life as people are out and about including David Alleyne. He is dressed comfortably in greenish shorts and a black/blue striped polo shirt. Sitting at the Life Café outdoor section he enjoys some coffee and ponders and getting a meal to eat. Having been cooped in at Xaviers, he decides he needs some fun so has called an old friend to join him for a meal, that friend, being July. Perusing the options, he gestures for the waitress and gets some waiter and says he is waiting for a friend.
And so the plastic girl arrives, wearing common street clothes as she smiles, "Hey, David." she says, moving to sit at his table, across from the guy. "How are you doing? How are things at the school?" she asks, resting her purse on the table and crossing her legs. "Been meaning to visit the school again… but college is keeping me busier than ever." she chuckles, shaking her head softly.
Smiling, David stands up as July joins him, then he sits across from her. “Hey been too long, July. Glad to see college is keeping you busy.” He smirks as he sips his coffee and gestures for the waitress to come over and take their orders. “You might not want to visit. Things have been crazy, which is typical of Xaviers, but surprising since it’s the summer.” David orders a burger and fries. “School got attacked.”
July giggles softly, "Tell me about it. I got so many things to do, so little time to do so, I'm being pulled from every direction, and I'm stretched too thin!" she then giggles again, "Yeah, pun intended." she grins, winking, before nodding to the man. "Yeah, if you visit, you might find my room empty, or me buried beneath a bundle of books." she grins softly. At the mention of an attack, she blinks, her smile disappearing, "It was? What happened? Everyone fine?"
The waitress brings out water for July and sets a spot on the table for her and then heads off to another customer. “Well, I still haven’t seen your dorm room, but I will definitely have to visit soon.” Leaning back in his chair and balancing it for a moment David continues, “Yeah, school’s on lockdown. I’ll actually have to head back before nine. Even staff has to be back at night.” Shrugging a bit, “It seems Heather’s parents are supervillains and they have brainwashed her, Robyn, and Shane. They attacked with mansion with some super-powered rat. Literally a rat girl who can mimic powers. Students got hurt. Emma got stabbed and is unconscious in the medbay. And Cerebra was destroyed.”
July blink-blinks, "What… how?" she asks, eyes wide at that. "I mean, how can one villain beat everyone? How can Emma be unconscious, and.. and…" she seems a bit too surprised. "Do… do you guys need me to go back to school to help you all?" she asks, "I'd be glad to and be back in an instant!"
“Well it wasn’t one villain. It was two, technically six. But really just two. Her parents are pretty powerful. One is a telepath and the other can increase powers. Heather, Robyn, Shane, and whoever rat girl is, have probably been brainwashed. Emma fought hard. And it was pretty memorable seeing her get slapped.” David shrugs, “Well, most of the students are home for the summer. So it’s a smaller student body, but I can’t imagine they wouldn’t want any help. Sam is in charge right now. So maybe give him a call.” He exhales as he finishes the coffee and the waitress comes with their meal. “But yeah, hectic as always.” David is seated with July at an outdoor café. It’s late afternoon.
A few people walking down the sidewalk stop and look terribly annoyed as the man in front of them stops abruptly. He is wearing blue jeans, a tan tank-top, and a camo army hat with sunglasses. He has large tribal tattoos climbing up both arms. "For Christ's sake, Lil. I told you I'm fine…Well I don't care, he's my dog…Well I'll just come by and grab him…No!…Ok later tomorrow then. I need to talk to boss man to see if I still have a job." He is talking loudly on his phone, pacing back and forth in front of the cafe. After a few minutes he hangs up and heads into the seating area, taking a seat without being seated by the wait staff. Bruce turns his phone sideways and begins texting while he waits for a waitress.
It's rare for Aiden to be out this way as he doesn't eat at many places but he's arranged to meet up with some friends from the Freakshow he works at. The winged mutant is dressed in a black button down shirt with buckles across the middle and a pair of black vinyl pants tucked into a pair of boots. A pair of goggles sits on the top of his head among his messed black hair. He's lead to the back of the restaurant, outside, to sit at an empty table while waiting for his friends. He gets a few looks from the large blue feathered wings that protrude from his back and the green tattoo like markings that show on his arms and neck. He looks around and recognizes David and offers him a smile and friendly wave.
July nods softly at that, "I'll… I'll try to finish some things back at college, then I'll call Sam to see how I can help." she nods again, looking a bit lost for a moment before taking a sip of her water now, "Wow. Robyn… poor boy." she says softly, sighing a bit. She's very good friends with Robyn, too. "Any idea where they go after that?"
The waitress looks rather annoyed at Bruce, but then she thinks she will get more tips so she heads over to Bruce to take his order. As David talks with July he spies the loud man with his accent and notes the tattoos and blinks, ‘Nah, it can’t be.’ Shaking his head and then catching site of his waving friend and waves back with a smile gesturing for Aiden to join him and July. “No idea, but I’m sure they will be back. The good thing about Robyn and the others. They are resilient. They have to be at Xaviers.” With that, David takes a bite of his burger.
Bruce seems actually annoyed that the waitress is interrupting him during his very important Twittering. "What? Oh it's you. Beer me. Whatever's…Eh Landshark I guess if ya've got it. And can I get a menu?" The waitress gives the man a disapproving look as he treats her in a less than friendly manner.
Bruce pulls off his sunglasses and quirks a brow at her. "Also can you stand there and stare at me instead of doing your job? Very good! Now scram." He is about to get back to texting when he notices Aiden walk into the area. No one he's familiar with, but Bruce has been…detained for a couple months.
If there is one thing Aiden doesn't really care about it's the fact that he's an obvious mutant so he makes no attempt to hide what he is. Sitting at the table he takes a small mirror out of his backpack and starts to make sure that his eyebrows are still on right and that his guyliner hasn't smudged. Eventually he looks back at David and nods. "I'm sorry, I can't remember your name I just remember we met with that kid, Kieran. How's it been?" Then noticing July he nods to her. "Sorry if I'm interrupting your date. I'm Aiden." He says offering a hand.
As Bruce makes a bit of a scene he can't help but look over at the man. "Wow…seems like he in a bit of a bad mood."
July nods softly to David, and she sighs, "I know they are, but…" she trails off, her head turning to look at Bruce, then frowning softly, then to Aiden, and she arches one eyebrow at the guy and chuckles, "No, I'm July." she waves, "Nice to meet you. David's friend?"
The waitress hmphs, “Yeah, we have Landshark.” She rolls her eyes and drops a menu on his table before leaving mumbling a rather nasty word as she does so. When Aiden arrives, David stands and smiles, “It’s David. Aiden, right?” He quirks his brow but he is sure it is correct. As July introduces herself, “We graduated from the same school where Kieran goes now.” Looking back at the table where Bruce is and comments, “If he is who I think he is, then he is perpetually in a bad mood. Good man (for the most part) bad mood, though.”
Bruce quirks a brow at Aiden when he makes the comment. The two tables are not terribly far apart, and since Bruce is admiring the boy's wings his attention was directed that way anyway. He decides not to say anything though, since it's nice to see obvious mutants out and about outside of Mutant Town. It seems the waitress is also a bit distracted by Aiden's wings, this causing her to stumble and drop Bruce's beer on the ground. "Oh wonderful! This is how you get ants. Do you WANT ants? Because that's how you get them. And maybe if you stopped breaking all the nice dishes…" "Sir it's a bottle. It's not a dish…I'll get you another." The waitress does not seem happy for some reason.
"Nice to meet you July. And that's right David. I'm horrible with names." Aiden says as he'll probably forget his name the next time they meet again. "And I don't know about friends we met once, had some food and then went our own way. That was two months ago I think." The he watches the waitress and Bruce's exchange and sighs before heading over there with the napkins that were on his table. "Here, let me help you clean this up." He says to the waitress. He's a waiter too so he knows what it's like dealing with difficult customers.
July smiles to Aiden and nods, before looking back at Bruce when Aiden does so. "Say… he looks kinda familiar…" July says, arching one eyebrow for a moment, tilting her head while studying Bruce, but then shrugging gently and looking back at David once more. "So, anything else… howare *you* doing, David?" she asks, a smile on her lips, before looking at Aiden again, "Want ot join us?"
“Well, not friends yet. Hopefully we will become friends, though.” David smiles when the waitress stumbles and David hears Bruce’s comments, “Yep, it’s he.” David actually smile sat Bruce is ok though Bruce is supposed to be in jail. He bites his lower lip then smiles, “Hey Bruce. I thought it would be a long while before I’d see you again.” David pauses then adds, “But it is good to see you.” Returning his attention to July, “I’ve been better. I had to take a break from the school after a trip to Nigeria. I came back in time to see the latest class graduate.” He speaks a little louder, “Bruce, you can join us, if you like as well.”
Bruce frowns at the two as they clean up the spill and broken glass. He bends down and whispers to Aiden, "Hey! What are you doing? It's her job to clean it up…And you're ruining all my fun. Do you know how boring it gets sitting in…A place where you can't torment waitresses? It sucks. And the guy who owns this place is a jerk, so it's alright to be mean to the minions."
The man hears his name and perks up, glancing at David and blinking. "Oh wait, I know you…" He glances once more at the waitress and shrugs. "Oh well…" He decides that he will move over to the other table. Might be a good way to see what's been going on in the outside world. He leaves his menu on the table after hiding a hundred dollar bill for the waitress. "Hey doll face, I'll be over here."
Aiden lets out a sigh to Bruce and shakes his head. "Have you ever been a waiter? And it's fun to be a jerk to others? I must have missed a memo somewhere on that one." He says shaking his head. "I'm sorry you had a bad day but it's no excuse to take it out on someone else. Especially someone trying to work for a living. Now, do you want me to buy you another beer since yours got dropped?" He offers before looking to the waitress and apologizing to her. As he sees Bruce move to the table with the others he shakes his head. "Nah, I'm waiting for a few friends of mine from the Freakshow, they should be here soon. Thanks for the offer though."
July nods, smiling, "Well, we'll see. And I…" she trails off as her cell phone starts beeping. She blinks, and pulls out her phone and reads the message. "Damn it." she curses and sighs, "Looks like I forgot to pick up the copies of a book I need. I'm sorry, guys, but I gotta go, if I want to pick up this copy and still be able to study it today." she says softly, standing up. She waves to all before rushing her way out. "It was nice seeing you again, David! I'll talk to Samn later!"
It was good seeing you too. Let’s do this again.” David stands up when July leaves and then looks to Bruce, “Aiden, Bruce. Bruce, Aiden.” As Aiden helps the waitress and offers beer. “I’ve been meaning to check out the Freakshow. Some students saw it and enjoyed it. I’ll get around to heading to Coney Island to see it.” He then looks to Bruce, “So how’ve you been? You look good for someone who was where you were.”
Bruce quirks a brow as July suddenly takes off. He offers the girl a nod as she passes by and takes her seat, holding up a hand to Aiden. "I'm a bartender, it's similar…And of course it's fun to be mean to waiters. That's what they're there for. But I'll pay for my own drinks, thanks." He offers a half wave when he's introduced by David and shrugs at the question. "Well they actually treated me pretty well there. Mostly wanted to bring me down from that Kick…Then you know. I got bored and left."
"Thanks. I'll remember that if I ever see you at the bistro in mutant town." Aiden says since he's a waiter there. "Well that'd be awesome to see you there. And speaking of friends, I see them coming in now." An interesting bunch, mostly tattooed and looking like the don't belong in most social groups. "Nice seeing you again David and Bruce…it was interesting." He says trying to be polite as he heads over to meet up with his fellow performers.
Waving to Aiden as he joins his friends, “I’m surprised you don’t know Aiden. I’d have thought you knew everyone in Mutant Town.” David smiles, “They are going to have create some place entire new and not even imagined yet that could hold you. How did you get out?” He looks to the waitress and makes a drinking gesture pointing the picture of a coffee.
Bruce shakes his head, "I don't recall meeting him. But the last few weeks before I went away…I don't remember them very well." He shrugs and thanks the waitress once she brings him his drink. "Yeah they probably weren't too happy to find me gone…Several days before I actually got out. I just dissipated and waited for them to come in and investigate." He takes a swig of his beer. "So…What's been going on since I went away? I hear the drugs are all gone."
“They are. Looks like everyone who dealt with the Kick situation dealt a blow to whoever the dealers were. For now. Things like drugs. Never really end. But other than that. It seems Mutant Town has been alright except for some random attack.” David ponders a moment as the waitress brings him his coffee and Bruce’s beer. He asks for the check and then asks Bruce, “You seem to know a lot about mutant happenings in and out of Mutant Town. The latest ‘villains’ is this couple, Mindbender and Upgrade? You ever hear of ‘em?”
Bruce frowns, "Another attack in Mutant Town? Figures they'd hit when I was away…" He ponders for a moment. "Upgrade? Mindbender? No I haven't heard of them. Obviously codenames though. I haven't been back to Nowhere yet. Once I pop in and see some people I might be able to collect up some more information." The man takes a mighty swig of his beer. "If ya come search me out in say…A week? I might be able to give you something to go on. I kind of want to see how strongly SHIELD's gonna come after me. They tended to leave me alone before Kick, and now that it's gone…Well we'll just see."
“Well, hopefully SHIELD knows better. But yeah, if you don’t mind. I would think you or Lil or someone would be able to find out some information of those two. They are pretty powerful and have gone after the students.” David sips his coffee, “I don’t like when they go after students.” The waitress brings the check, “I’ll cover your meal. While you may not be the most likeable guy. You do a lot for our kind.” He places a large bill in the waiittress’ hand, “This is for his meal as well as the little issue earlier.” He smiles at her and as she walks off, “Their codenames kinda give away their abilities. Mindbender has bent the minds of some of our students and caused them to go awry. And there is some kind of rat-girl who can mimic more than one power at a time. She was wielding telepathy, telekinesis, and pyrokinesis all at once. And may have gotten my powers or one of our other students who can absorb and replicate energy. So watch out for yourself. They may be around Mutant Town too.”
Bruce nods and waves a hand at the table he was sitting at earlier. "I hid something for her over there too. It's fun to be a jerk, but I always tip pretty well to prevent them from poisoning me the next time I visit." He thanks David for the offer of dinner and orders a Turkey Club. "I…May have met the rat girl. I can't quite remember…" He frowns, "Attacked the school though? Barne's or Xavier's? I heard that Xavier's had some extremely powerful tellepathic sheila runnin the joint. Did she fix the bent kids?" He shakes his head, "Fire rat could be a problem though. Fire doesn't mix well with sand. And the last thing we need is her sucking up my sand powers."
“You’re welcome for the meal. Least I can do.” David sips his coffee and then decides to look for some sugar, “Well, the attack was well-planned. Three of the students were turned by Mindbender and Upgrade. No one died, but they did enough damage. It was Xaviers that was attacked. We’re on high alert and will be ready, but any information you can dig up might be good. Though with the attacks on Mutant Town and other random spots. I am pretty sure SHIELD and Avengers would be on it. I think it was the rat-girl who caused some trouble in Mutant Town. I know one Avenger was there from what it said on the news. Some of our students have encountered the group, but it seems they are being targeted, in particular. And there are still three still in their thrall.”
Bruce frowns again. "Alright so the two, Mindbender and Upgrade, are definitely working together? And they're targeting Xavier's…Has anyone seen them? Do you know who they are? Maybe old students who had similar powers?" He shakes his head. "So they have a few of your kids? I'll give you an email address. If you could just send some photos I'll show them around the bar and see if I can get any more info for you. Any of those kids have any particularly troublesome powers?"
Wanting to be careful how much information he gives to Bruce, David sighs as he knows Bruce would be able to get this more than most from Xaviers. David reaches into his pocket and pulls out his cybershades. As the last few patrons exit, just leaving Bruce and David in a rather secluded part of the outdoor café on the empty street. When he puts on the red shades, they seem to flicker and a holographic keyboard seems to appear. David begins typing furiously sending information to Bruce regarding Mindbender and Upgrade. “They are parents of one of the students. Timeslip. She views the world differently than most, but her world moves faster than ours and thus the appropriate powers. Psyche can possess people. And Kiloton can explode. She literally explodes. Their powers have been upgraded.” All this is input into the email that he sends to Bruce. “That’s the information I know.” The keyboard disappears and David removes the shades.
Bruce nods and thanks the waitress as she brings him his sandwich. "Alright well…Those are all problematic powers. Why couldn't you have lost someone who can control butterflies or someone who can smell colors or something?" He sighs. "I'll see what I can find out and try to meet up with you in the next few days. I'll also check out the embassy and see if they have any information, though if Rashmi hasn't fallen out of favor with Magneto she probably knows whatever they do." Rashmi, there's someone else he'll probably have to make amends with. His phone starts to ring and he answers it. "He what? Oh alright. Yes he gets like that sometimes. I can get him now, yes…Well I'll have to catch a subway…Yeah I guess a taxi'd be faster. Fifteen minutes? Ok bye." He hangs up and calls the waitress over to ask for a container for his food. "Sorry about that, Lil's been watching my dog and she needs me to pick him up now." He packages his food and stands up. Sorry to run, stop by the
Bruce says, "Sorry about that, Lil's been watching my dog and she needs me to pick him up now." He packages his food and stands up. Sorry to run, stop by the bar and I'll get you some free drinks…Assuming I still work there…"
"Ok, well I see you have to go. Thanks for the help and I will take you up on those drink offers." David grins, "It was good seeing you and I am glad you're free. Well out of prison, anyway."
