Players:
Summary: Various people show up at Nowhere.
Log Title: Going Nowhere Fast
Rating: PG
Nowhere
Nowhere is a community bar, with a slightly old world feel. All of the tables and chairs are made of wood, though there are some couches in a slightly offset room with green fabric. The music varies, depending upon the Owner's music taste for the day. Beer and Liquor are both served, but are both carded for as well.
At the front of the bar, right as one walks in,is a large sign. "Superhuman friendly establishment. There will be no tolerance for disparaging remarks based on one's genetic status. Any fights will not be tolerated within the bar. The management holds no responsibility for where combatants are teleported."
It is also quite impossible to use fake IDs here. There is a telepathic bouncer that works the door.
Scene
In the mood for fun David has literally dragged Nathaniel all the way from Thompson Square Park, through Mutant Town and towards Nowhere. Waving to the telepathic bouncer who knows David from the few times he has visited here, David pushes Nathaniel through and right towards the bar. Waving to the bartender without really looking to see who it is, He peruses his options for beverages. "So you've never been to this place?" David asks Nathaniel as though this is a popular spot, at least for mutants.
Nathaniel has taken the time to dry his wet shoes in a pay laundry, so he stumbles along after David without going barefoot. There's little requirement to actually drag him anywhere, but seeing as he has no idea where he's going and David does, the dragging happens somewhat accidentally. He drops onto a stool, pushing his sleeves up and giving David a wry smile, "No, never. I am an innocent soul, David. This is corruption right now. Terrible, terrible corruption." He turns to look behind him at the rest of the bar, propping his jaw on his hand and his elbow on the bar, "Can I smoke in here?"
Kai has been sitting on his own at a table, the bouncer let him through after scanning his mind and seeing the boy had no interest in alcohol and was only there to meet with someone, he's dressed in black jeans, a t-shirt patterned like a composition notebook, a black peaked beanie and dark grey converse, while sitting there he ponders on if the mutants in the bar are dangerous or not, though he supposes that it must be like human places, you get the good and the bad.
It is a rather popular bar, especially for mutants. Right now the place is pretty crowded, the voices of the patrons drowning out the music to some extent. There are actually three bartenders working tonight, but only one of them addresses the two newcomers. "No you can't smoke in here. And what can I get ya?" The tender is a younger woman with light blue hair and blue eyes. Her eyes flick to the door again as a man steps in, "Ah, Brucey. Finally decided to stop by eh?" When the man gets closer she leans toward him, "Fix up the park all safe like yet?"
His eyes light up when he spots Lil, "Hey, Lil." David offers a wave and a smile as he recognizes her from way back. Turning to Nathaniel, "Smoke outside. It's illegal to smoke in bars in the city. And you can pick the first round." When Bruce walks in, David offers a nod to the Nowhere employee and in doing so, does a little spin on the stool, but stops when he spots Kai in there. A bit surprised, David would normally say something about someone so young being in a bar, but instead offers another smile and somewhat loud enough for Kai to hear, "Hey, Kai." He waves goofily at the teen.
Nathaniel just looks appropriately crestfallen, sticking his tongue out at David for his bossiness and then folding his arms on the bar once again. He waves a bit to Bruce as well when the man enters, but seems relatively engrossed in trying to pick something out that's non-alcoholic. He winds up just asking for an energy drink and folds one of his legs up to rest his heel on his thigh, turning a bit to see who David is talking to now.
Kai looks round at the sound of his name, spotting David ne gives him a nod of recognition before turning back round, he runs his finger across the table creating a trail of ice drawing the same symbol as his tattoo, due to the nature of the meeting he's waiting for Kai has retreated back into his XIII persona.
Bruce waves a hand dismissively at Lil, "yeah. Damn Platypus has been washing me sands away again it seems. He'll be leavin back to Oz in a bit though. Visa's up. Good riddance though." He is dressed in a more normal fashion now. Blue jeans, a brown shirt, and a green jacket. He leans toward the bar and tries to make a cute face at Lil, "Could you get me a beer, sugar cube?" He smirks when she actually does it, offering a thanks before turning back to the others. He follows David's gaze and notices Kai, "Ah it's weirdy. Met him at the park earlier today. Not a normal person…"
"Yeah, he is not normal. Know a hell of a lot of martial arts and whatnot, but was still bullied in school." He says in respond to Bruce's comment. Shrugging as Kai seems busy, David notes the trail of ice and does recognize it from Kai's tattoo but for the moment thinks nothing of it, but turning to Nathaniel, "Hey, I am thinking I want a tattoo. Not like Kai's but something cool." He hmmmns, "But to be honest, I can't really think of anything I would want forever tattooed on my body and I am not sure where I would put it, if I even got one." To Lil, "Yeah, I guess I'll have a Red Bull too." Eyeing her for a moment, "You seem different, somehow."
Nathaniel grins at that, shaking his head at David as he gets his drink and just folds his arms again, "A tattoo, huh? Dyed hair, tattoos - you're becoming a punk." He cups his chin and stares thoughtfully off at nothing in particular, "I've been wanting one too, though. We should get you one of those electric pulse tattoos, the ones that look like the visual representation of energy signatures or whatever. For your whole skill-leeching thing. Or maybe just a leech!" This last comes with a sudden grin, though he leans forward to give a more substantial wave for Bruce afterwards, "Not a normal person? Just for a lark, could you point out what you consider a normal person for me real quick?" His expression is rather sardonically amused and he tucks his arms in a tight fold, looking at Bruce expectantly.
Outside the symbol Kai begins drawing numbers; a four, an eighteen and one hundred and twenty seven, then down one side he draws a J, K, G, O and R and on the other side is a V and circling the whole thing is the numbers one to thirteen in roman numerals before the teen just stops at stares at what he's done.
You aren't carrying anything.
You have 501 oreos.
Lil hands a Red Bull to Nathaniel, a beer to Bruce, and quirks a brow at David's comment. "I seem…Different? I don't see how but thanks? Maybe? I guess?" She hands him a RedBull and goes back to doing some important bar task.
Bruce shrugs and waves a hand dismissively in Kai's direction. "Hey, long as he doesn't cause trouble here." He glances at David, "Tattoos, eh? Just pick something you like and the artist can modify it for you." Bruce is pretty covered in tattoos, though none of them are currently visible with his present outfit. The man glances over at what Kai is doing. "Yo kiddo, if that leaves a mark I'll totally let Lil kill you."
"A leech? Really?" David feigns being insulted and then grins, "I don't know I like the idea of the electrical pulses though, or maybe something more tribal along my arms." He nods to Bruce's advice and then continues with Nathaniel, "Normal is a relative term. Like Nice or Fine or Ok. I guess he is as normal as any of us are. Or as anyone in the world is." Enough with the philosophizing. When he gets the Red Bull, he chugs it down and gets energized, "So, I want some fun, Nathaniel. It is up to you. To make sure I have fun and so far, you are not excelling at your task."
Nathaniel sticks his tongue out at Bruce for that missed comment, though he focuses on David and winds up studying his friend for a bit, "Hey. I'm /planning/ fun. This is straight up plotting going on right now. I think we should get one of those Mario growth mushrooms on your ass. What do you say? …and honestly, what do you expect? Bringing me to a bar where fake IDs are impossible and a telepath can toss us out? I blame you." He sits up straight, looking quite offended as he cracks open his drink and takes a couple quick swallows, "We could get you a clipboard, since you're all educational and mannerly?" He winds up giving a sidelong look at whatever it is Kai is doing, arching his brows curiously and shifting on the barstool. Eye. He exhales roughly and turns his attention to the bar in general, licking his lower lip while his eyes roam around, "Let's see…" It's hard to tell what he's doing. Maybe don't ask.
Kai only gives one sign that he even heard Bruce in the form of a "Shhhhh" directed at him, standing up to extend his reach he continues drawing at a faster pace, an M is drawn and a line is quickly drawn though it, an A is drawn with a question mark next to it, then a C with another question mark, then a B and then a H, he stops for a couple of seconds then draws an icicle shape with a question mark.
Lil has her hands on her hips and is looking at Kai with an unhappy face. She nods her head to Bruce and then to the boy as if to say "Are you going to do something about that?"
Bruce doesn't like Nathan looking around for what he assumes to be trouble, but this strange mark Kai is drawing seems to have him a little more concerned. He sighs and puts his beer down next to David, "'Scuse me a minute." The man walks over to Kai and frowns at him. "So…Whatchya doing? If monsters pop outta that thing I'mma be Hella pissed. So will the demons who come in here once in a while." He frowns at the mark and glances over at a girl with red hair who seems also to be paying attention. She just shrugs and looks unconcerned.
Nathaniel glances over at Bruce when he gets eyeballed himself, sticking his tongue out at the man again. He continues his idle surveyal of the room, then turns back to David and jerks a thumb at a girl dancing in an odd shorts and tubetop combo, "She'll make out with you, if you talk to her long enough." He doesn't explain it much further than that, taking a drink of his Red Bull and shaking his head a bit. Eeeesh. Energy. He tilts his head back to watch Bruce approach Kai, admittedly rather interested himself.
David goes to speak to the girl that Nathaniel has pointed out leaving the others to deal with Nathaniel.
Kai still doesn't look up, "Shhhhh!", an I and a nine are added before he hmmms, "I'm gonna need a bigger table…, oh! and colour, i need colour", he speaks to Bruce without looking up again, "Can you mix a shot of vodka, a shot of blue curacao, a splash of rose blue raspberry mix and orange juice in a glass?", he then adds a circle with a triangle in the middle and a penguin?
"No I can't get you that damned drink! Well…I mean I CAN…But you're a bit too midgey to be drinking here. And I'm not gonna let you dump liquor all over the table so you can do your…Whatever the fuck you're doing." He shakes his head, "Clean up that mess. If you want I think one of the wee kids left a coloring book here from…That time we totally didn';t have children in this bar." He looks suspiciously as though he is lying right now. "Anyway…" He glances back to the two he left and "Why is David missing, what are you two up to? It's like I'm babysitting."
While speaking with the young girl, David peers over to watch Nathaniel and the others from time to time while still enchanting the young lady with some fascinating conversation.
Nathaniel is doing his level best not to just laugh at Bruce and Kai now, but he's not doing very well, holding the drink up against his mouth in an effort to stifle it. He jerks a thumb at David and the girl when Bruce asks, though he says, with a light grin, "You realize all I'm doing is sitting here? We're not kids. David's trying to get a little action right now. Calm down, dude." He glances at Kai and snorts a short laugh, which he promptly hides behind his can again, "I seriously expected him to say 'fetch this for me, barkeep.'" He abandons his effort not to laugh and just curls forward, resting his forehead on his arm where it's curled on the bar and laughing quietly.
Kai shakes his head, "It's not for drinking, only an idiot would allow that in his system, i need a marker, better put it in a plastic glass", a seven and a twenty nine are added, "It's not a mess", he stops when he runs out of table, "Do you have a bigger table?"
Bruce shakes his head at Nathan, "Yer kids to me." He pauses. "Not like yer MY kids, just yer kids. And you seemed to be up to something sneaky…LIL!" He holds up a hand and a rag is pelted at him. Bruce catches it and turns to Kai's table, staring to wipe away some of the symbols that are drawn there. "You're not drawing on our tables, damn it. The boss would have a hissy. And I'm not going to give you an alternative to that unless I know what all this is gonna do."
"Well, thanks for babysitting, then, old man. I'll let you know when it's time for lunchies," Nathaniel says, batting his lashes exaggeratedly at Bruce, his voice wry and drawling. He props his cheek on his fist again, elbow propped on the bar, while using his other hand to take a swig from the energy drink. Between watching Bruce battle Kai and David battle celibacy, he seems fairly entertained.
As soon as Bruce begins to wipe the table Kai slams his hand down and starts freezing over the whole table leaving the marks preseved underneith, he then moves to another table and begins redrawing the symbols that had been damaged, he pulls out his phone then starts copying something off it, "Please refrain from damaging these until i'm done, you don't have the faintest clue what they're for so…", he frowns and stops talking.
The "other table" seems to have a couple people sitting at it. "Hey! What the hell man? Eh Dingo, get this kid outta here. He's throwing off my game!" The man appears very unhappy that his table is having symbols drawn on it.
Bruce sighs and makes a gesture with his hand that causeses a small sphere of sand and dust to accumulate above it, drawing in particles from around the room. "I don't care what it's for. We're gonna get slammed in about twenty minutes and I don't need the tables frozen over." Bruce lays his hand flat a few inches over the frozen table and the sand flattens out over the ice, spinning rapidly and eroding the ice off the top of the table in a rapid manner. "Sorry Jim, gimme a sec here."
Lil shakes her head and watches the mini-fiasco as it unfolds. "You know that kid?" She's talking to Nathan now. "David seemed to at least. You don't think he's trying to open any portals or anything, do you? Last time that happened it took a week to clean up."
Nathaniel blinks when Kai makes the table ice over like that - typically not exactly a passive gesture. He glances at Lil and shakes his head, looking back at Kai and Bruce, "No. I think he goes to Xavier's, but I don't know him." He fidgets with his drink for a few seconds, sucking at his lower lip and looking a touch conflicted. He glances over to check on David, then slinks off his seat, carrying his drink over to peer curiously at all the sand-scrubbing. He sips at his drink, position casual to the extent of his free hand in his hip pocket; cheerily, he smiles at Bruce and says, "Let me know if you want any help." For Kai, he twitches his can at him and adds, "You know you're in someone's, like… property, right? This isn't a fucking sidewalk for you to go all hopscotch on."
"I don't understand, these make no sense", Kai pockets his phone and goes and sits back down to wait for whomever it is he's ment to be waiting for, he points at the sand burrowing into the ice, "You're gonna damage they table you know?, you should be carefull", he looks over at the door as the person he's meeting is late.
Bruce shakes his head at Kai, "You apparently don't know who I am. I have to sand these tables down all the damn time. Now you gonna order something propper or are ya gonna….Do whatever you were doing…Which you shouldn't. Stop doing that." Realising that the boy did stop he adds, "Yes, just like that…I guess." He sighs and shakes his head. "Why are all you yanks so crazy?" He seems to be asking this of Nathan, but he waves a hand dismissively and heads back toward his beer instead. The icy table is now back to normal, though it may need some new varnish in the morning.
Public> Rocket says, "Is that a Power Wheel? Oh god it just turned into a robotic raccoon with chainsaw arms!"
Nathaniel flips his hand up in the air at that, "Again! All I've been doing is sitting - why do you keep treating me like I'm running around naked?" He eyes Kai and shakes his head, taking a drink from his can and stating, "That's not crazy. That's just being kind of a dick." He shrugs and returns to his spot at the bar, dropping his elbows onto it in the universal sign of surrender. He'll just sit and wait until David comes back. Hmph.
Kai feels his phone vibrate and pulls it out of his pocket to check it, "Great", he's not coming this has been a complete waste of time, sighing he gets up and walk over to the bar and waits for one of the bar staff to free up.
Bruce sits down and picks up his beer, frowning at Lil, "You know…I don't come here on my days off to work." The woman just smirks and walks over to Kai, waiting for him to order. Bruce turns and leans his back against the bar, looking out over the crows with his elbows back on the bartop. "So you go to Xavier's now? Is that what David said? Or you used to go and now Mr "Freez things into the Table" goes there?" It seems he is speaking to Nathan.
Nathaniel is still feeling a bit miffy in Bruce's general direction, eyeing the man for a few seconds before he shakes his head, "No, I used to go there. I think that guy is a student there now, but I don't really know. I don't know him." He takes a longer drink of his Red Bull, his free hand tapping out a light staccato on the bar, a fairly typical smoker's twitch. He smirks a bit and points out, closing one eye, "I actually told you that earlier - I'm going to art school. He told me you worked here, so we decided to come and check it out."
Kai smiles at Lil, "Can I have a glass of juice please?", he listens to the conforsation Bruce and Nathaniel are having, theres that name again Xaviers, what is that place?, no matter, his focus is Barnes not the best idea to go off mission at this point.
"Ah, right. Art and all that. Sory, mate. Platypus has me a bit scatterbrained." He shakes his head and takes another swig of his drink. "Well I guess I'd rather him at Xavier's than Barne's. They seem to train up people specifically to hunt mutants there. And most of them are just wanna be mutants. Humans with way too much time and money." He shrugs. Lil, meanwhile, pours a glass of orange juice for Kai. She adds a dash of pineapple for kick and puts an umbrella in there to be fancy.
Nathaniel blinks at that, turning in his seat and folding his legs up in a way that looks like it should be uncomfortable for someone with his height, "Wait, Barnes does? I hadn't heard that. I thought they were actually accepting mutants?" He pauses after a second, looking slowly back in Kai's general direction and twitching his nose before focusing on Bruce again, "Were you and the duck-bill friends, or is it something else?"
Rejoining his friends, David hops up onto the barstool and looks to Lil, "Hey, I'll have another Red Bull. Lil, thanks. And sorry about before if I offended you. You look different, but you always look good." That is said with a genuine tone. Not hitting on her, just stating a fact. Turning on the stool to see Bruce, Kai, and Nathaniel. David smiles, "So did I miss anything good?"
Bruce shrugs, "They do take mutants there, but they always end up causing trouble for the people in Mutant Town. I heard a while back they were studying the weaknesses of their own students so they could use them against them." Granted, he heard this from one student there. One probably not trustworthy student. "And yeah Vinny was my friend. I think the stress of the city got to him. It'll be better for everyone with him back in Australia…Assuming the RAIC doesn't pick him up."
Lil smirks at David and turns to grab him another drink. "Alright, if you say so. Maybe if you visited more often I wouldn't look so 'different'." She makes air quotes at that and moves down the bar a little to fill another order.
Nathaniel frowns at that, folding his hands around his can now, "That… would be pretty bad. Have you had anyone actually look into it? Rumours can't really be trusted." He arches a brow at Bruce, then turns as David arrives, smiling lightly at the man and lifting one of his hands in an unneeded wave, "Hey. Not really. Had some kid acting like he owned the bar, but I think he's done. How'd it go?" He watches the exchange between David and Lil and says, with a sympathetic but amused smile, "Maybe you should stop digging yourself deeper, dude."
Kai smiles at Lil again, "Thank you", he turns slightly when he hears Bruce talk about Barnes, "Barnes is training mutant hunters?, you may need to double check your source", he takes a sip of the juice and pulls out his wallet to pay, "How much is it?".
Offering Lil a smile, "I'll come by a lot more. I've been doing some outreach in Mutant Town, so I'll come by." Turning to Nathaniel, "It was fun. But I sensed nothing from her. Literally nothing. She has absolutely zero skills or intelligence." David shrugs, "Really other than the coke we shared, wasn't really worth much time. And she is a bad kisser." Looking between Kai and Bruce, "Yeah, I don't think Rashmi would be at a school for mutant hunters."
Lil comes back down this way to catch Kai's question. "Eh? Tell you what, you promise not to ice up our tables next time you come in here and it's on the house." Generally Lil gives free juice and soda to the designated drivers anyway, but she'll pretend like she's doing him a favor if it might prevent future annoyances. Lil smiles at David when he mentions visiting more and then looks past him when he says the girl he was with has zero skills and intelligence. She laughs out loud and shakes her head. "No that's Becky. She's got some sort of psychic shield. Keeps people out of her head. Maybe that's what happened. Can't say I know about her kissing skills though."
Bruce shrugs, "Look, all I know is what I was told. And the one who told me that dissappeared shortly after telling me he tried to leave Barne's and they sent a task force after him." So he SAID anyway. "But anyway, how do you know Rashmi isn't just infiltrating them, hmm?" Yes. Because Rashmi totally seems the type.
Nathaniel glances at Kai again and quirks a half-smile, "So, you draw on tables, ice tables, and then eavesdrop?" He shakes his head and looks back to David only to laugh at that, shaking his head and gripping his can with both hands again, "Wow, Davie. I didn't realize you were looking for someone so well-rounded. It's too bad she's a bad kisser, though. I could find you another one, but it just seems cheap, now." He grins playfully at his friend, then looks to Bruce, lifting his can to take a drink, "She may not know, too. Rashmi tends to think the best of people, right? She's not stupid, so if they're doing that, then they may be doing it where she can't see - or to her, for that matter." He frowns at the idea, twisting his can a few times on the bartop, "It's worth looking into."
Kai nods, "Ok, i was trying to think but i didn't understand it, sorry", oh, he's heard that name before too, "Rashmi seems nice, she was pretty quiet but she asked questions", he frowns at Nathaniel, "Eavesdrop?, i just heard what you said, why?, is it rude?, am i being rude right now?"
"Well, you know Nate. If you don't find one tonight, then I guess you will just have to do." David laughs loudly, "HA!" Looking at Kai, David tilts his head, "You've met Rashmi. She asked you questions." He forms a smile as he remembers Kai speaking of a new school and then just shakes his head turning back to Nate, "It's a fine school. Anyone who goes there is lucky." And to Lil, "Oh, then if she was shielding her skillset, then my apologies to Becky. But, Lil, something tells me you would probably be a good kisser. If I should ever be so lucky."
Lil quirks a brow at David, "Seriously? My uh…Boyfriend is sitting right there." She nods to Bruce, who belches and responds, "Damnit Lil! How many times I gotto tell you I'm Gayer than Christmas?" Lil frowns, "You're supposed to play along, you idiot." And then some ice cubes are tossed in Bruce's general direction.
Bruce rolls his eyes and brushes the ice from his shoulder, "Yeah a good school if you want to end up dissected or locked up like a zoo critter." He turns to face David again, "When Rashmi goes missing you come find me. She helped us get Lil back and I'm not gonna leave her to them if it comes to that."
"No one who HAS to go to a school for mutants is lucky, Dave," Nathan says with a sudden flat tone, though he exhales and rakes his fingers through his hair only to cock his head and study Kai again, "…Maybe. If you didn't know, it's cool, though. I guess it can be hard to tell sometimes." He finishes off his energy drink and sets the can forward so that Lil can pick it up for him, adding, with a smirk at David, "Stop playing with my emotions, you player. I'm not joining your little weird love quadrangle." He adds, as he slinks to his feet, "If Rashmi goes missing, it won't be for long. I'm going to smoke a cigarette. I'll be right back." He tucks his hands into his hip pockets, adding, with a smile for Lil, "Don't worry, I'm not running out on the check." He heads off for the door, humming idly to the music under his breath, through he throws back at Bruce with a flick of one hand, "Christmas is not gay! It's just going through a phase!" Bwaha. He'll be back soon.
Looking around, "Bruce, you're gay?" David shakes his head, "Never would have thought that" He hmmmmmns, "You know what I think I might try a cigarette too." Shrugging at he looks to the others, he follows Nathaniel. "Dude the gay Christmas joke. Awful! Just awful!"
Bruce laughs at the Christmas joke and finishes his beer, just shrugging as David heads out. "Actually I've got some work to do, so I'll see you guys later." He sits down his bottle and shoots Kai a glance. "You stay out of trouble, understand?" The man then stands and steps behind the bar, heading through a door to a back room. "I'll see ya later Lil. Probably stop by before the bar closes." She offers a wave and he heads out.
~ Fin ~
