Players:
Summary: It's dinner time in the Barnes Cafeteria.
Date: November 22, 2010
Log Title: Meatloaf, Cars And White Hairs
Rating: PG
Barnes Academy - Cafeteria
A large open space with dozens of tables is attached to a kitchen module and a few freezer bays. Trained chefs prepare nutritionally balanced meals for staff and students here that is usually actually pretty tasty and after hours, there is an a la carte fridge with glass doors open to all. The cafeteria is even equipped to handle non-traditional metabolisms and there is even a small private dining module towards the back for staff dinners, guests of the teachers or for use by students with dietary requirements that might disturb others. The entire ceiling is a dome of transparent material and full-spectrum lighting gives the whole space a pleasant, sunny atmosphere, bolstered by the video monitors on the walls showing various live land and sea scapes.
It's about dinner time and the cafeteria has a few people in it. One of them is Quetzal. He's dressed in his SHIELD uniform as that's what he tends to teach classes in. He's just most comfortable in a uniform after having to wear one for years. He's alone at the table eating some teriyaki chicken over rice since that was one of the things on the menu for the evening and he didn't feel like cooking in his room. Sitting on his shoulders is a ferret that seems to be talking to him about random things.
Clad in a standard issue SHIELD uniform is Leo Osborne. The one who went missing about nine months ago. However, the name on his uniforms says Bay instead. Troy Bay for those that look close enough. As he walks into the cafeteria, he looks about. The secret is out in the X-Community, and it might as well be here. He hasn't alerted his family, as he's still waiting on Fury's response for that, but there's no point in covering his true face anymore. He has been missing from his classes for a while, but there has been a substitute. So, anyone in the mutant powers training groups may wonder what was going on. He offers a nod to a person or two in the room, not that any recognize this face. It's not Troy's old face.
At one of the nearby tables, a redheaded Hindi girl sits. By one hand, a mostly-finished plate of finger food, still being picked over occasionally. By the other, a stack of three textbooks, the topmost one laid open to be studied from. Her head raises, as the new arrival makes his entrance, and her cheeks pale and flush in turn, as she out of all the others recognizes the face. Slowly closing her book, Rashmi lifts a hand toward Leo in greeting, clearing her throat.
Dashenka wouldn't recognize Leo from Troy, one way or the other, since she's a relatively new transplant to America. Even though her native Moscow is a bustling metropolis in it's own right, it still doesn't compare to New York, so she's still a little bit overwhelmed by all that is happened to her. Still. A bear has got to eat, and that brings her to the cafe. She grabs a tray at the line and peers skeptically at the choices before her. "Do you have any fish?" she asks in her almost comically thick Russian accent.
Like Dashenka, Quetzal doesn't know Troy from Leo either. He came to the school when Agent Bay was missing. Spotting the familiar face that is Rashmi, Quetzal gives her a smile and a nod. The ferret on his shoulders scurries down and walks over to her. "Hello! Did you ever get to have your ice cream?" Verde asks as Quetzal gets up and slowly walks over to put his unwashed dishes where they belong. He stops behind Dashkena and smiles. "The fish here is never that good."
Leo… honestly doesn't notice Rashmi's wave. He's too busy avoiding most of the looks from some people. He sits down at the table next to where Quetzal is. As an older SHIELD agent, Leo tends to flock near them, instead of the kids. Though, he's still a bit bright in the room. He looks down at his plate and considers whether he's really hungry or not.
Rashmi's hand lowers a bit, in the manner of one not sure what to do with it, but at Quetzal's question, the redhead wrinkles her nose. "…No, and I think I'm going to swear off Coldstone forever. The worst things keep happening whenever I try to go, and anyway Burgers and Cupcakes is only a couple blocks from my parents. Oh, um, try the meatloaf," she calls over Quetzal's shoulder to Dashenka. "It's actually really good today."
Dashenka shrugs at Quetzal. "Da. But fish is fish. I … do not think chef would like if I ask for baby seal." She says this with a straight enough face that it's hard to tell whether or not she's joking. "So. No fish today. Meatloaf, then."
Quetzal puts his hand on Dashenka's shoulder and smiles. "Well they do not have raw horse either." Just like with the Russian girl it's hard to tell if he's joking or not. He walks over, with his usual limp and cane, to where Verde is with Rashmi and the animal shifts from a ferret to a canary and lands on his shoulder. "How are you doing today Rashmi?" There's a friendly not to Leo from Quetzal as he sees a fellow SHIELD agent. "I'm Agent Quetzal." He says offering a hand while he keeps his cane in his other hand.
As he looks about, that's… when Leo notices Rashmi. He blinks and pales for a moment before he stands up and takes the initiative to walk over to the talking group. He looks to Quetzal and offers a hand. "Troy Bay. Agent Slide, soon… hopefully to be under a different name." He offers, so that Rashmi might know that he can't go by the other name right now. He offers a hand one by one to the others. Of course, if the hand is accepted, there will be a hypercharge of energy. Five espresso shots without the nasty jitters, just pure, good energy.
"Welcome back, um… Agent Bay," Rashmi says first, cheeks darkening as she realizes how bad her gaffe *would* have been, had she not been prompted, and turns to Quetzal. "Mostly, sir? I'm just glad to be back. I like the Mansion, I'm happy to volunteer my time there… But having to take a leave from the firm *and* the Embassy and do all my classes long-distance? …Yeah. I'm sort of glad I'm not doing that anymore."
Dashenka gets her plate of meatloaf and gravy, and wanders over to sit with her roommate, whom she's only met in passing. "I had been not knowing where it is my roommate was," she says. "I was thinking that staff was mistaken that I had one."
Quetzal is hit with the jolt of super light caffeine and blinks a bit surprised. "That is an interesting effect Agent Bay." He says as he feels quite refreshed and energized. "So are you going to be taking any language classes with me?" He knows Dashenka will be. "I also am going to be teaching some flying lessons, as in piloting." He then raises an eyebrow at Leo curiously. "A different name?"
"It's good to be back. In more ways than one." Leo says, offering a wink to Rashmi. "From that odd kidnapping while I was heading to deliver something to that school you came from…" He explains, offering a knowing nod to the redhead. "We'll talk more. Next time you have a training session with me." He explains. He offers a smile to Quetzal. "Horse? Seal? No thanks." He shakes his head with a chuckle. He nods to Quetzal. "Yes. I no longer need the power suit they gave me, which made me Slide. I've gained abilities of my own. I'm hoping for Halo." He says, pointing to the nimbus of light over his head.
"Halo'd work well, yeah," Rashmi replies, glancing up at the aforementioned ring of light. "Okay, then… Again, it's good to have you back, sir." Her attention turns to Dashenka, the redhead chuckling softly. "Well yeah… And you're probably going to wonder if that's still the case, given how much work I do outside the school… But it's good to finally actually meet you, I'm Rashmi Franklin."
"Ah!" smiles the Russian. "I am Dashenka Ivanov. Please do not mind the white hairs in the bath." She pokes the meatloaf with a fork curiously before asking. "What kind of meat is in meatloaf?"
Quetzal shakes his head to Leo. "I don't expect to have horse here. It's something my little sister likes, I never could get the taste for it." He then motions to one of the chairs. "Do you mind if I sit down?" Sometimes it's not exactly comfortable on his leg to stand for long periods of time. "What kind of work do you do outside of the school Ms. Franklin?" He asks wondering a bit about the students here. "And the meat in meatloaf is cow I believe."
"It should be." Leo says with a nod before looking about. "White hairs in the bath? Oookay." He shrugs, pointing to his own hair. "Ah well, I have white hairs, too, so I can't say anything." He grins, winking.
"I don't," Rashmi chuckles. "I mean, you're the one leaving all the little white hairs in the bath. *I'm* the one leaving the *long* red ones in. So we're fair, right? And yeah, usually beef, but sometimes also pork, or lamb, or something else. Really all depends on what the cook feels like putting in, but it's hard to *seriously* mess up meatloaf." Looking up at Quetzal, she blinks, scooting out the chair next to her. "Oh no not at all sir! Um… well let's see, there's the volunteer work at my old school on Sundays, unpaid interning for the Genoshan Embassy on Saturdays, and part-time legal assistant to Ms. Walters in the afternoons after class."
Dashenka nods to Leo at the mention of white hairs. "Da. Sometimes to clean fur you must take shower." She turns and listens to Rashmi's long list of extracurricular activity. "That is… lots. I … have few classes. Not much class needed to fix cars, yes?"
"That is one thing I am glad about, that I don't have white hairs yet." Quetzal says since a lot of men his age tend to have them. "You are quite busy Rashmi, I hope you find it all quite satisfying." That she's spending her time the way she wants to. "And please, you can just call me Quetzal or Agent Quetzal, Sir makes me feel like a superior officer which I am not." He looks over at Dashenka. "So if I ever have car trouble, I can talk to you?"
"I knew you'd be busy." Leo says with a shake of his head before thinking. "Speaking of your school, there's a student there that I need to spend some time with. We had some… interesting times while we were kidnapped." He offers. "Connor. I want to make sure of how things stand afterwards. He seems like a good guy." That's all he says about that to Rashmi before looking to Quetzal. "I know. I get sick of being called sir. I'm the same age as some of these students." He rubs the bridge of his nose. "Or damn near close."
"You're also a SHIELD agent," Rashmi says with a touch of asperity. "And it'd be nice if *someone* now and again realized that sometimes respect is *genuine,* not just a poke." Pausing to haul herself back from Rant Mode, she clears her throat. "…Um. And I'll be sure and let Connor know you're asking after him. He *is* a really good guy, and I imagine they were pretty interesting times if half of what he said about what happened to him were true…" Shaking her head, she looks from Dashenka to Quetzal. "….Well yeah, I know I'm making myself *way* too busy… I can't help it. I need a lot more to fill my head than most other people, and if I'm not multitasking or powers training, I tend to drive myself crazy thinking in circles."
Dashenka gives Quetzal a big grin. "Da! I can fix your car. I make sure I learn English so I could read manuals." She looks taken aback at Rashmi's bit of soap boxing. When she calms down, however, she nods. "I see. When I want to keep my head busy, I work on car. Much less travel."
Quetzal doesn't know if Rashmi is talking to him or to Leo. "Well I don't mean being called Agent Quetzal or Mr. Quetzal but I'm used to reserving Sir for a superior officer. I've never really had any agents under me." He was in a squad but he was never a commanding officer in SHEILD or the Self Defense Force. "I am not saying that much to do is a bad thing, I need the military life or else I find I get lost and bored." He then smiles at Dashenka. "Well I hope I am a sufficient English teacher for you."
"And now, I have so much more time to do things. With these powers, I only sleep three or four hours a day, if that. Sometimes, only two." Leo shrugs softly. "I can understand needing a lot to do. But college classes and teaching have me pretty booked. Along with getting kidnapped to some other dimension of strange halloween like beings, and being turned into the living incarnation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." He shakes his head with another laugh.
Rashmi's eyebrows rise at Leo's description. "Jekyll and Hyde… wow. So that demon or whatever it was must've either had a really good or a really *horrible* sense of humor, from all the stories I've taken…" Blowing out a breath, she tucks a lock of her hair behind an ear, nodding at Quetzal. "Oh I totally understand, sir, and I'm sorry I went off like that. It's just everytime I try and call someone Sir, or Mr., or whatever, they look like they just noticed something going off in the garbage. It's… a little annoying, when you try and treat someone with the respect they're due. *Any*way, um, Dashenka. Have you gotten a chance to see much of the City?"
"Some," admits the Russian girl. "Not much. Still settling in from escaping Russia." Despite being such a big girl, she looks awfully bashful as she admits, "It is such a big place. I do not know what I should see."
"Escaping Russia?" Quetzal asks as he's not sure what that entitles but then he knows how things can sometimes be over there. "Just ask a classmate to show you around. I still need to get out an explore a bit myself." He's seen some of the hot tourist spots. "Agent Bay, I'd like to ask you more about this..kidnapped to another dimension sometime but right now I need to head out." His after dinner smoke is calling him. He stands up and bows his head to Rashmi respectfully. "Well thank you I do appreciate it." He says about giving respect. "You all have a good evening." He says as he limps out of the cafeteria.
"There's a full report available for everything official. But I do have lots of unofficial knowledge as well. Some is confidential due to people outside of their costumed identities, but I'll more than happily talk." Leo says with a nod before looking at Rashmi. "Sick sense of humor. Robyn, myself, Connor, and others got affected badly." He explains a bit. Not so much. "But, I do want to talk to you about it at sometime, as well."
Rashmi nods quietly. "Next powers training session would probably be the best idea, then. I look forward to it, Agent Bay," she adds with a quick smile, raising a hand to wave at Quetzal's departing back. "Well… What *have* you seen, Dashenka? And what do you *like?* I mean there's just about everything to see, but it helps to narrow it down if i know what kind of stuff you're interested in?"
"Cars," is Dashenka's immediate answer. "The good ones. The 'muscle' ones. Like '69 GTO. Have not seen one in person. Very few in Moscow."
"I'm probably gonna run in a few. I have aq lot of energy to burn." Leo laughs as he finishes his plate before looking about.
Rashmi nods to Leo, smiling. "All right… Have a good run, Agent Bay! So… cars. Hm. I'm…. not really big on cars. But, hm. I have a friend who's really into trains, and I could ask him to ask his boss about where to find a good car museum?"
Dashenka nods, grinning at her roommate. "I would /love/ to see car museum!" She pokes at the meatloaf some more and shakes her head. "I do not think I can eat this," she concludes. "Thank you for suggestion. You may have if you like." She stands and pushes her chair back under the table. "I must go to our room. Have to take care of business. Do svidaniya."
Rashmi bobs her head, smiling brightly. "Goodbye, Dashenka. Have a good night, okay? I'll talk to Theo as soon as I see him!"
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