10547/Patrolling Happy Harbor is not like Patrolling New York City

Patrolling Happy Harbor is not like Patrolling New York City
Date of Scene:	23 March 2022
Location:	Harbor Road and North Street
Synopsis:	Mania's patrolling Happy Harbor uneventfully, before Bart shows up for food with Andi joining him. They eat a lot. She is awkward about a few things.
Cast of Characters:	Andi Benton, Bart Allen

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Andi Benton has posed:
With the sun down in Happy Harbor, Mania has gone out on patrol. New York City may be busier for this sort of thing, but that doesn't mean there's no crime across the water in Happy Harbor.

It's just..so far tonight, there's /nothing/ going on. This street is quiet. So is that street. Not even a purse snatcher or a cat stuck in a tree.

Ignore the probability that Mania trying to get a cat out of a tree might send the poor thing off to another place. At least it'd be out of the tree.

Internally, there is a conversation going on.

<<Mania>> We are bored, Andi. When are we going to do something?
<<Andi>> We /are/ doing something. We're patrolling.
<<Mania>> But it has been quiet for at least two hours.
<<Andi>> Then that means people are being smart enough not to start anything around us.
<<Mania>> There must be more dumb people in the city.

The host and symbiote are perched atop a building overlooking Big Belly Burger's. A break for some chow might be in order.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen has ran over to Happy Harbor to get food tonight. He stops in an alley nearby and speed changes back to Bart, from Impulse. Bart comes walking out of the alley. He looks much like a normal teen heading out and about. So whistling a bit, he pulls his phone out to pull up the Big Belly Burger App, and makes his order as he is walking up to the place.

Andi Benton has posed:
Symbiote senses are good. Very good, in fact. Good enough to catch the sounds of someone exiting the alley, someone that apparently wasn't there moments ago. Maybe they were napping quietly? The area wasn't checked that closely, at least in the last ten or fifteen minutes. It's the whistling that helps draw attention to Bart, solid white eyes squinting in the direction of his phone. A logo on it looks the same as the Big Belly across the way.

Mania hops down to land in the same alley, making virtually no sound, and the symbiote peels away from the young woman to retract inside. Somehow. Best not to scare anyone, especially if food is about to be on the docket. It's the least Andi can do for Mania, having behaved well. Clearing her throat, Andi moves alongside Bart, but keeps a few feet away. "Hungry, too?" She's dressed in a goth/punk way.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over to the woman, his brow raises a bit as she looks familiar. It takes him just a second to go through his mental rolodex. "Andi? Andi Benton? " He asks, and nods his head a bit to her and says "Yea, I thought I would stop by, and see if they have their secret menu still." He offers with a smile. "Care to join me? He offers.

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi's still got hair similar to the way it was in school: purple and with a bit of a pixie cut here, short there, left to drape over to one side. Still prefers her blacks and pinks and purples, as well. The wardrobe is not very different from the way it had been.

His memory is apparently better than hers, for she squints again but this time, in a more normal human way. "Yes..? Who are you, again? From school, or did we meet at the record store?" That job. The one she's barely even doing any more, with so much else going on these days. "Why wouldn't they?" she asks of the secret menu, then she shrugs at the offer. "Sure. I'm getting something there, anyway."

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over and nods "Bart Allen, I was a year behind you." He offers in explanation, and while she might not remember him. "Well you never know if the manager might have changed, or someone decided they should not carry the stuff any more. He moves to hold the door for the girl

Andi Benton has posed:
"Oh. Yeah. I knew that," Andi lies. What she's honest in is saying, "I didn't spend a lot of time around others. I just wanted to graduate and be done with school forever." She didn't participate in extracurricular things, no after-school programs, no sports (ugh), no band, no science club, no green team, none of it.

She stuffs her hands into the pockets of a hoodie she's in, after the door is kept open for her, grunting a begrudging 'Thanks' in response. "Do you live around here, then?"

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen shakes his head and says "Na, I live out in New York, but this is one of my favorite Triple Bs. I figured I would grab some before I go to work tonight, maybe take some in with me for lunch as well." He follows her in and says "Yea, I was a bit of the nerd type in school, with playing DnD and such."

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi Benton remarks, somewhat pointedly, "You must really like the place if you're coming here from the city for something before work, unless you work around here too." Maybe that's it. A small line ensures she'll have to wait, as she did not place an order ahead of time on the phone, whereas Bart did and should just be able to pick it right up off to the side. "Anyway, I wasn't really..anything. Don't even know why you'd remember me."

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen says, "Well, I work in Gotham, so stopping along the way there aint to big a thing. " He smiles and says "I have a photographic memory, and I remember you in the year book." He will stand in line with her, and says "And everyone is something.""

Andi Benton has posed:
"That place. I never hear anything but how dark and creepy it is, like even in the middle of the day, it's dark. Stuff like that," Andi says, shaking her head. A couple ahead of them finish their order and move off to the side for it. "Oh, the extra section they added? I transferred after I think they sent the whole thing off to be printed."

<<Mania>> Why do you tell him we are nothing, Andi?
<<Andi>> Because I don't remember him, and I don't know what his deal is.
<<Mania>> He could be a friend.
<<Andi>> I don't have many friends.
<<Mania>> Even we see enough to know that is because you don't let them become friends.

There is a grunt of annoyance that suddenly surfaces, the only thing Bart can catch from the internal exchange. "Yeah. I guess."

When it's time to order, she gets enough for two people, maybe even three.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen 's brow raises a bit at the last bit. Bart's order is as much if not more than hers. He adds to his order as she has ordered hers, figuring it will be less noticable since she is ordering more. "Gotham aint to bad, I work night shift at the zoo myself. It can be dangerous but as long as your careful and if you see something wierd you go the other way, it aint to bad.

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi Benton certainly doesn't look like someone who could eat that much. She must be taking some home. Yet, by the time the food is placed out on a tray, it's clear there is nothing bagged up to go. She looks from hers to his, then back again, and shrugs once.

"I'll take your word for it. I spend most of my time in NYC doing.." She cuts herself off, shaking her head. "It's not important. You work at a zoo? I guess that's cool. At least animals usually aren't jerks or scumbags." Drink. Check. Condiments. Check. Table. Check.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen nods and moves to sit across from her, and says "Yea, I get along with animals pretty well, my girl friend is trying to set up a rescue center for animals that have no where else to go. Once that other shelters can't find homes for.

Andi Benton has posed:
<<Mania>> If they can't find places for the animals, we could always eat--

Andi blurts aloud, "Do /not/ finish that thought!"

Upon realizing she didn't keep the response inside, she rubs her forehead and exhales, closing her eyes.

<<Andi>> Aaaand now he probably thinks I'm nuts, talking to myself.
<<Mania>> We do talk to ourselves, though.

"Sounds like a good thing you're doing I hope it works." She says, quickly, before snatching a burger from her tray, digging into it with aggression, eyes down on her food instead of on Bart.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen nods, and says "Yea, we try to make sure that nothing bad happens to them." He figures she was saying not to mention some animals were put down. He starts setting his food out and has a burger than has pretty much every type of meat they have in the place, and has ordered three or four different sides.

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi Benton steals a glance toward Bart, under the guise of reaching out for some fries, then some onion rings, and her drink. He doesn't seem to suspect anything. Good. A tightness in her shoulders loosens slightly, her body language not so stiff. Words give way to eating, and it'd be a wonder she isn't putting on the pounds with a diet like this. If both of them only knew. Maybe they already do.

"..right. No putting down the animals. Oh. We'll have to get some dessert. We saw chocolate." 'We?'

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen hmms and says "I am not sure about chocolate, but yea finding some dessert would be good." He figures the We she means is he and she "So, what have you been doing since you graduated, if you don't mind me asking?"

Andi Benton has posed:
"More for us, then," is Andi's response to the question of chocolate. The first burger doesn't last much longer before she's practically guzzling down the soda, to the point she motions to the machine as she gets up for a refill, returning to deal with the matter of what she keeps herself busy with. "Just, uh, things. Around. Here and there. You know." So, so evasive. But, this is Andi here, not Mania. It's a little more difficult to just say it.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen 's brow raises a bit and says "Everything ok?" He asks concerned that maybe with the girl having disappeared at the end of the school year, and now seeming to be either hiding or ashamed of what ever she has been up to.

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi Benton waves a hand at the concern, forcing a smile that is anything but natural. "Yeah! Great! Just, you know, stuff we can't talk about with just anyone. Secret things. Important things." Another bite of the second burger, teeth visible with the next grin. "Why do you ask?"

<<Mania>> This is what happens when we keep hiding. We have not even told your sire.
<<Andi>> Not. Now. Please.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks to her, and says "I remember what it was like being new around here, and have had some friends, who ended up in some bad spots, that I try to make sure others aren't and if they need help and I can help, I want to help.

Andi Benton has posed:
"We kind of look out for others, too," Andi says, all she trusts herself to say on the subject. There is a low sound in the back of her throat, one that sounds like a sort of contentedness. From the food? It's getting put away, that's for sure. "So, like, that's good. Right?"

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen nods and starts to say more, but his phone beeps, and he takes it out "Looks like I need to go if I am going to catch the train in for work." He tells her. He had put another order in to take with him earlier

Andi Benton has posed:
A small sigh of relief comes from Andi as the phone gives Bart the excuse to be on his way. "Definitely. Don't want to be late for work. Good talk. Guess I'll see you around sometime, especially if you come over here for the food." The good thing about this is she'll be able to finish her food, and maybe even get some more, without question. There are other things that may or may not come out over time.

And, once finished eating, once chocolate desserts have been savored, it will be back to boring Happy Harbor patrol. Then again, they could probably get away with just going back home early and watching some TV.