11239/A Little Dose of Normal
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| A Little Dose of Normal | |
|---|---|
| Date of Scene: | 20 May 2022 |
| Location: | Papa Toni's Pizza & Italian |
| Synopsis: | No description |
| Cast of Characters: | Phoebe Beacon, Damian Wayne, Carrie Kelley
|
- Phoebe Beacon has posed:
Papa Toni's Pizza & Italian is one of those places you don't expect to see anymore; the red and white checkered plastic tablecloths. The green bottles holding parm and red pepper flakes of indeterminate age. A jukebox with a collection of 80's and 90's hits tucked to one side between a EVERY QUARTER IS A WINNER candy machine and every dollar is a loser claw machine. There's a long counter in green with yellow oak trim where a bunch of pleather-covered stools for single eaters and slices, with booths around the corner for those who have friends to eat with. One wall is lined with mirrors -- ostentatiously to make the place look bigger.
And it was here, a couple blocks away from the college, that Phoebe had agreed to meet some friends of the Absolutely Normal variety.
Jason -- Phoebe refered to him as Jayjay was the oldest looking and the tallest, with dark hair and dark eyes and a complexion that called out a Southeastern Asian heritage. He was wearing an MIT T-shirt and had a tablet with him -- along with a stack of gaming books.
Nick was a bigger white guy, stood nearly six foot three with blondish hair and a round face, wearing a Three Wolf Moon shirt *absolutely* unironically.
Nate AKA Nacho was a bit shorter, a bit squatter, but had an absolutely friendly aura about him, wearing a Gotham Rogues T-shirt with an on-purpose mustard stain for Condiment King night at the stadium. THey had already ordered some apps to share -- a big pile of greasy cheese sticks with 'red' sauce, some chicken tenders with 'less red' sauce, and several pieces of garlic bread covered with cheese.
The place smells of smoked meats, burnt cheese, and slightly like an ashtray.
And as Phoebe, wearing a gray T-shirt and jeans leads in her new friends, they all hop to their feet and shout "PEEBLES!"
- Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian, of course, has to maintain appearances. To all the world, he is the normal teenage son of one of the world's most prominent billionaires. Any one of Bruce Wayne's personal or corporate enemies could benefit by targeting Damian. So he travels with elite, high-end personal security. Two jet-black SUVs pull up in front of Papa Toni's. Some suited, sunglass-wearing men looking very much like Secret Service agents get out and have a look around. Two enter Papa Toni's. One goes to check out the bathrooms while the other holds the door for Damian.
The teen heir walks in wearing black slacks, brown leather shoes, a white button-up shirt with black and gold W cuff links, and an expensive watch on his wrist. He looks around the room awkward. He's not frowning exactly but he's certainly not smiling. He moves over toward where Phoebe is with her friends.
"Hey," he murmurs in a muffled tone.
- Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carries doesn't require guards, an escort, or anything of that nature, and that suited her just fine. It was likely the entourage drove Damian crazy, but keeping up appearances was one of his obligations... it just sucked. Pulling up to the pizza place on a low end Honda Kawasaki motorcycle, she parked and removed her helmet. Today was a casual day of jeans, a t-shirt with a random robot on the front of it, a brown leather bomber style jacket and brown leather knee boots.
Striding inside as if she owned the place, really it's just an aire of confidence, she glances around for Phoebe and Damian, the two she would know, and heads toward them with a wave and a cheerful, "Salutations."
- Phoebe Beacon has posed:
Phoebe was taken aback by the bodyguards -- she didn't advertise her adoption, and didn't exactly require that level of security (and when she felt like she did, she could always call Laura up).
The trio of boys look on, meanwhile, in a mix of awe and horror as some guy pokes his head into the bathroom!? What even is this?
"Peebs, you didn't tell us you were bringing someone famous! Oh man --" Nacho states, staying standing, slamming his hands down on the table. "An Actual Wayne! ... wait, can they eat commoner food? Should I have ordered something fancier? Calamari?"
JayJay seems nonpulsed, but Nick is a bit quiet, crossing his arms insecurely as he looks on as Damian makes his entrance -- and then he pauses, and looks Carrie up and down. His lips purse in appreciation -- and then firmly keeps his attention above the neckline, going to push out chairs for Carrie and Phoebe with his feet.
"Ladies!" he states with a grin.
Phoebe takes off her sweatshirt, and motions around. "All right, introductions -- this is JayJay. JayJay goes to MIT where his concentration is in molecular biology and the behavior of random activities at a cellular level. This is Nick -- Nick's heading off to UMass Amherst in the fall majoring in music education and minoring in classical guitar." Nick, three-wolf-moon and all, gives a wave.
"This is Nate, but everyone calls him Nacho. I've known him since kindergarten, we've pretty much been friends since--"
"Since she slammed me into a wall and broke my nose for pulling her hair. Nice to meet you! You must be Damian, but ah, don't know you, Ginger." he gives an easy smile to Carrie.
"Guys, this is Damian. He's my little brother now, by adoption."
And then she motions to Carrie. "And this is Carrie, she's pretty much a professional badass and super smart with the tech things."
- Damian Wayne has posed:
There are three suited, sunglass-wearing men outside the restaurant. They carry themselves like they are packing heavy-duty hardware under those suit jackets. One stays inside the restaurant near the door keeping a close eye on people coming and going. Damian seems oblivious to them. Even armed with their guns, Damian could take all four of them in a fight if he had the *flu*, but appearances must be maintained.
"Yeah. Hi." is all he manages to say as he grabs a chair for himself and sits down with a somewhat mildly bitter expression on his face. He's definitely not this socially dysfunctional around the family, and both Phoebe and Carrie might well sense that he is leaning into the awkward billionaire kid role a bit. He idly grabs a menu to peruse it. Does he...does he realize the menu is upside down?
- Carrie Kelley has posed:
Interesting group of friends Phoebe has, that's what runs through Carrie's mind as she is looked up and down, then offered a chair. Making certain that chair is by Damian, she settles into it and offers a smile. "Bachelor degree is Computer Sciences and Computer Engineering," she offers with that smile, then looks over at Damian's menu.
Upside down or not, she looks it over and shrugs, "I'm good with any kind of pizza, just no fish..." Now is when she leans in to whisper in Damian's ear.
< "It's upside down, and smile, this isn't an interrogation." >
- Phoebe Beacon has posed:
It wasn't an interrogation. JayJay shoots Phoebe a concerned look, but then takes charge of the situation, sliding some paper plates over to Damian, Carrie, and Phoebe herself. "We ordered a bunch of apps, and took the liberty of getting a cheese and two pepperoni pizzas. Hope that's all right. Kinda going to be Nick's going-away party and Phoebe's coming-back party, y'know, after she graduated her alternate highschool in New York." he states, and then Nick pipes up with:
"It wasn't an alternate highschool. You saw the gossip rag. She's a Wayne now. Has the glitz and the little brother to prove it. She's Bougie. Soon we'll see her face all over the magazines and she'll be tryin' to wear Marilyn Monroe's shoes." he jokes. "We all went through Aikido class together. We're pretty much the Martial Arts family, we're the top four students in the studio." he pulls a cheese stick apart. "Damian, Carrie, you guys do any martial arts? Or just nerd-and-or-slash-rich-guy-stuff?" he questions out of curiosity.
Nacho gives a smile, and gently punches on Phoebe's shoulder. "See, you hang out with the smart people, and you get the smart people stuff. Heard you aced your PreMed exam through the grapevine at church. Your mom seems kinda miffed though. Heard her surgery went all right."
"Oh, yeah, I heard about that but ah... Caroline and I aren't on speaking terms. Haven't been since before Christmas." Phoebe explains softly to Nacho, grabbing some garlic bread. "Heard she spent it with you and your family -- thanks for looking out for her."
- Damian Wayne has posed:
Let's be clear about something: Damian has a difficult time with strangers in general, but he really has a difficult time with *male* strangers. When Nick asks him if he has ever done any martial arts, Damian locks eyes with Nick. He stares daggers at the young man and for a moment Damian's hand twitches under the table. Carrie might have to intervene, and surely she might recognize the build up in tension in Damian.
By some social miracle, Damian does not grab the nearest plastic butter knife and gut Nick from throat to balls. Instead he averts his gaze. "Just some karate classes at the gym," he lies.
Carrie's whisper in his ear *does* seem to calm Damian a bit. He flips the menu back around right-side-up, but since food was already ordered he closes it and puts it down.
This is hell for Damian, and he is writhing in the flames.
- Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie lays her hand lightly on Damian's shoulder, no more intervention then that, just enough to remind him he's not alone and if it's too much, she's there to make all kinds of excuses to get him out. The other reason, to remind her little brother that no matter how bad it gets, he's always got back up.
"I've taken a few karate classes," she offers back idly, that part the truth, and not the lie. "Not very good at it though. I intend to make a robot who can fight for me." She beams a smile at this, probably joking, maybe?
Since there is already food, she reaches over to slide a piece of the pizza onto her plate, then eyes Damian, seeing if he's going to go for some or if she's going to get him a slice. If he doesn't get a piece, she'll put one on his plate for him.
"What you all get to drink? Soda goes best with pizza, was thinking a Coke or Dr. Pepper if they have it."
She shifts her eyes to Nick for a moment, but only a moment, sizing him up in that moment... she doesn't need longer than that. "Congrats you graduation, I mean I assume that's why you're going off to college now, right?"
- Phoebe Beacon has posed:
It's about to get worse. Nacho brings out two three liter bottles, one of Bargain Brand Grape soda, one of Bargain Brand Pineapple Soda.
And then hands out red solo cups.
"Don't worry, I eat here two nights a week, Tony lets me bring in anything I want to drink." he explains with a grin.
JayJay gives a grin, and sort of observes, the quiet, older one of the group.
Nick gives a grin. "Actually, I'll be heading up early. I'm in the UMass Marching Band on trumpet, so I'll be going through band boot camp and getting the lay of the land a bit early. Gotta find a part-time job to pay for incidentals that'll work with crazy band scheduling." he admits with a shrug. "It'll be a tight squeeze, but between what I've got saved up and what my grandparents put aside for me, should be fine." he smiles.
"I'm taking a gap year." Nacho gives a grin, "My great-uncle runs an Elephant rescue in Maharashtra, so I'll be heading over there for a year of experience before I go to veterinary school. I'll miss my mom's samosa, but I get my great aunt's cooking and a year's worth of elephant work." he grins. "I wanna work in an exotic rescue so friggin' bad. Like have you ever seen the private zoo animals and how little their habitats are and how poorly they're treated? Elephants in a fourteen foot by ten foot space! Not cool."
"You jerk, you didn't tell me you were going to India!" Phoebe protests dramatically, grabbing some cups and beginning to pour grape sodas out. "I'm going to *have* to make time to visit!"
- Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian gets up from his chair, walks over to the cooler, grabs himself a bottle of spring water, and returns to his seat. He opens the bottle and takes a sip.
