11909/Milkshake Madness.

Milkshake Madness.
Date of Scene:	07 July 2022
Location:	Mootant Town Milkshakes
Synopsis:	Gabby moves to Bushwick.
Cast of Characters:	Cheyenne Brawley, Gabby Kinney, Jessica Cruz

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Cheyenne Brawley has posed:
     "Cheers!" shouts a chorus of voices as a variety of old fashioned milkshake glasses are clinked together. It looks like Buster has decided to treat the whole crew from Mutant Works to some sweets.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
It was a rather nice day out, and Gabby had been in New York again. She was starting to spend more and more time here again. However, given it was that time of day that her stomach started rumbling and she was in Bushwick, she was lured in to the delights of dairy proportions at Mootant Town Milkshake.

The door is nudged open to allow her to enter, and she might not be immediately recognizable. She's actually dressed nicely for once! A sleeveless shirt with a cutout to show her collarbone is worn in a simple cream color. There's even a nice little necklace with a simple yellow crystal pendant adding a splash of color. Pleather pants and boots finish up the outfit.

Spotting the crew here she cracks a grin. "Hey Buster, hey guys! Good stuff today?" She asks while making her way to the counter to order.

Cheyenne Brawley has posed:
     Buster turns as his name is called, straw to his lips, cheeks drawn in as he takes a draught of a caramel coffee milkshake. He grins through a mouthful of shake, "Hey Gabbygirl, long time no see," he says, waving to invite her over. "Looks like it is our destiny to be together, whenever ice cream is involved. Tell me all the news."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney can only laugh at that as she grabs herself a drink. Something with chocolate and strawberries all smooshed together in one delicious concoction. "Great minds think alike," she points out with a grin. She does come over after she gets her treat though, nodding to the others in passing as well. "Not much going on, really. Been apartment hunting and apparently there's been some kidnappings going on around here. So watch out, okay?" This part is said to the others with a sterner, more serious gaze.

Cheyenne Brawley has posed:
     Buster frowns. "Kidnappings? They fit any profile?" He slides in the circular booth to make room for Gabby to join.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney shakes her head a little in response to the question. The offer to join is taken though, and she sinks down into the booth which drops her height a bit. Heeled boots only counted when you're standing. "I don't have a lot of details on it yet, I was only tagged into it a bit ago. Just people getting randomly grabbed off the streets. All mutants, of course," she adds while pausing to take a sip of her milkshake. "But nothing that seems to have a pattern yet. I know the people involved are cybernetic. Angel and a bunch of us saw some earlier and took them to task, but didn't get any info as to their plans."

Cheyenne Brawley has posed:
     The Texan lets a sigh out through his nose as he draws in more caramel shake. The caffeine seems to be getting to him. "What the hell is a cybernetic?" he says, tone folksy rather than angry. "Something to do with Bane and his terrorist group, again?"
     Just then a little scaly mutant with tufts of red fur about his head walks in - he has to push the door open with his back - carrying stacks of pizza boxes.
     "Lou's here," cheers Buster, sidling over further and beckoning the teen to make room for him.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"Naw," Gabby responds with a bit of an amused grin creeping over her face. "People with cybernetics are like, part machine," she explains. "Robotics. Uh. Not just prosthetics, they do this stuff on purpose," she explains with a little crinkle of her nose.

The door opening and greeting Lou has her scoot over more to make room for him too. "Hey Lou, good to see you."

Cheyenne Brawley has posed:
     "Hi Miss Gabby, you're looking sharp," says Lou in the city's thickest Brooklyn accent as he waddles over and sets his stack on the table, then hops into the booth beside her. "Buster," he says accusingly, "you didn't tell me you were ordering enough to feed an army. I could have used one to help me carry all of this."
     "Just wanna make sure there's enough for everybody," says the Texan with a wink, popping open a pizza box and tearing its contents in half - it's a thin, crispy flatbread topped with browned lamb, onion and herbs. He spreads a handful of flat leaf parsley over a half, followed by sliced ripe tomatoes and cucumber, sprinkles it with lemon juice, then rolls it up like a burrito; this he offers to Gabby with a big grin. "Switching back and forth between sweet and savory means you get to eat more. Give it a shot." Lou, meanwhile, pops open a styrofoam clam shell filled with eggplants stuffed with meat and cheese, along with rice pilaf. Another container holds a salad of pickled onions, herbs and white beans. Still another is heaped with the crispiest of oven roasted potatoes with a side of spiced yogurt sauce.
     Buster rolls up the other half of the split lamacsun and airlifts the empty box onto an adjacent table. "I caint understand why in the world anyone would wanna get mixed up with computers like that," he says. "First they're promising better vision and whatnot, and next thing you know you've got ads playing on the backs of your eyelids, and you caint turn em off. No thank you." He crunches his way through a bite of the flatbread, practically swallows it whole, then chases it with a mouthful of shake. "Do you have any theories on who's doing the kidnapping, or why?"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney glances down to her phone firing off a few quick texts before the phone is tucked away again. She grins at Lou along with a nod before she's thoroughly distracted by Buster's fixing of his ... pizza-ritto? Confused she watches until it's thrust toward her, and she reaches up to accept it with a nod.

"Okay. What is this anyway?" It's given a little sniff testingly. The question about the kidnappings earns a shake of her head. "No, nothing yet. I figure the more the word gets out to keep an eye out, the better off people are though. I know they use syringes to knock people out before dragging them off. And the few I saw earlier were dressed nice, looked like suits. That's the best I got right now. When I know more I'll pass it on."

With that information given she takes a bite of the pizza-ritto which earns a rather pleased noise from her.

Jessica Cruz has posed:
Jessica Cruz showed up after a while, reluctantly. A flash of dark green light came from a nearby alley, before a disheveled Hispanic woman walked into the place, wearing rumpled clothes. She looks around and trudges over to where Gabby is sitting, eyebrow raised. "What?" she asks softly, putting her back against the wall as she stares at Gabby, not sure why she was summoned so shortly after meeting Gabby in a place between dreams and reality, mind and matter.

Cheyenne Brawley has posed:
     "You mean the folks that were snatched up were wearing suits, or the ones doing the snatching?" Buster busies himself with opening boxes and more boxes, divvying contents onto fancy paper plates decorated with Ottoman geometric patterns. Each gets a buffet-style assortment including a slice of stuffed eggplant, some rice, an oblong beef meatball dolloped with a spicy tomato sauce, a cabbage roll stuffed with moist ground chicken and garlic, a square of pastry that looks almost like a quesadilla, some bean salad, some potatoes dressed with thick yogurt sauce, and a handful of small buttered potsticker-looking dumplings. One such plate he slides in front of Gabby. "I know just the spot to put up a notice; there's a billboard right outside The Centinel that everybody passes on the freeway headed downtown."
     "I'll spread the word around the neighborhood," says Lou, accepting a heaped plate from Buster as well. When he smiles, it's clear that his gums are lined with rows of teeth all the way up. "I'll also do a little legwork. Ask a few questions." He eyes Gabby with an index finger pressed against the side of his nose.
     When Jessica arrives, the whole table, which is crowded with a bunch of construction workers, pauses and looks at her, then to Gabby, then back to the newcomer. "You're welcome to join us for a bite," says Buster with a tentative expression.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney holds up a finger to point at Buster's second remark. "The people doing the grabbing. So be careful with everyone. Travel in pairs or groups if you have to be out late or in less accessable areas, if you can. Let people know where you are, where you're going, when you expect to get there. Things like that." A glance is cast around the table and room taking in everyone, even the big tough guys. "This goes for everyone, okay? They're not being picky about who they take from what I've heard."

Satisfied that she's got the point across well enough, she nods emphatically at Lou's assurance as well cracking a grin. "Knew I could count on you, Lou. Thanks." Then her attention shifts up to Jessica to wave to her. "Hey Jess, come say hi to the guys."

Noticing the hesitation, she adds, "She's new but cool," she assures. "This is Lou," she adds gesturing to the reptilian fellow next to her, "And this is Buster," she adds sweeping her hand toward Cheyenne. "Figured you could use some fresh air and good food."

Jessica Cruz has posed:
Jessica Cruz just murmurs, "Do they have pancakes here?" She seems rather shy and withdrawn, glacning at the tough guys. "Are... people being abducted?" she asks, shivering softly. A slight pulse of fell green light comes from her left hand, making her swat her left hand with the right. She isn't meeting anyone's gaze. "It's not..." She then whispers quietly, 'the mob' before returning to normal speaking voice, "... is it?"

Cheyenne Brawley has posed:
     "I reckon we need a neighborhood watch," says the Texan, finally settling down with his own plate of Turkish delights. He folds his square of quesadilla-like pastry around a meatball and scarfs it down like a sandwich. "I swear, Bushwick is getting more and more dangerous these days." With a spare hand, he strokes the point of his beard. "But I betcha we could do something about the computer whatchamacallits - I know a geeky feller in New Jersey who might be able to come up with some type of scrambling gizmo."
     "Luigi Quagliano," says the little scaly guy by way of introduction, looking to Jessica with a tender expression. "You're welcome here, please have a seat. Buster will make you a plate too, right buddy?" The black-clad man is already in the midst of doing just that. But at the mention of the mafia, Lou presses his lips into a thin line and looks down at his food, but ultimately turns to Gabby with a sad furrow of his brows, as if to say 'say it ain't so'.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney blinks in singular surprise when Jessica jumps to that conclusion. She knew the woman was scared of the mob, for reasons, but this was really driving it home. Her expression softens a bit at Jessica--as well as Lou--and she shakes her head. "No it's not. Relax, you're in good company here. There's a fair bit of crime in Bushwick, but I've never heard of it being mafia related at all," she assures the pair with a shrug.

"Might help, I dunno, Buster. Worth a shot. The Brotherhood was doing patrols around here for awhile and probably still are, but it seems like it's not as much lately."

Cheyenne Brawley has posed:
     "The Brotherhood," says Buster thoughtfully, slidintog yet another plate of food into a spot where Jessica could jointo them, if she so chose. "I keep hearintog about them, but never see hide nor hair. Other than Tintoy, every once into a great while." Returnintog to his seat, he looks to Gabby as well. "How do I get into touch with them?"

Jessica Cruz has posed:
Jessica Cruz just blinks. "'Brotherhood'?" she asks blankly, staring between Gabby and Buster. "Ummm..." She blinks, calming down when she was assured it's not the mob. She sighs softly as she looks at the plate, a bit frazzled by everything. "There's a lot of people here..." she mutters.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney shakes her head a little bit at the pair. "It's a mutant thing," she explains to Jessica. The others here really were mutants, though, so she tips her head back to consider while taking a long pull off her chocolate strawberry shake. "Mmm. Not sure, really. I know they've got ties to Genosha. I know the one that runs them is Mystique... but she's a shape shifter so *finding* her is kind of. Uh. Yeah. They're an ex-terrorist group--Wait, I know that sounds bad," she begins holding up a hand. "They did some stuff, not so nice, to try and further mutant rights. But they've been trying to change that and just help in not-so-bad ways."

Cheyenne Brawley has posed:
     "Genosha, huh?" Buster pairs a bite of tomatoey stuffed egglplant with buttery rice sprinkled with slivered almonds. "Maybe I'll pay the Queen a visit and see if I caint get a line dropped to somebody in their network." When he mentioned the green-haired goddess, he gaze goes a little distant, face frozen with a dopey grin.

Jessica Cruz has posed:
Jessica Cruz slowly works on her pancakes. She is staying quiet for now, just watching and learning abou what's going on. Mutant stuff isn't really her forte - she has enough problems with magic. Good pancakes though.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney grins a little bit at Cheyenne's doofy expression. A little elbow is given to his side as she chuckles. "Someone's got a thing for Lorna. But yeah, check with her. Even if she can't officially admit connection to them she can probably point you in the right direction or else send someone your way."

After this is said her phone goes off and she glances down at the screen with a frown. "Ah shoot I gotta go. Got another apartment opening up I wanted to check out. S'cuze me Lou," she adds waiting to depart from the booth. To Jessica she offers a smile. "You don't have to stick around but Buster and them are good people. Might not hurt to make some friends outside of us, yeah?" It was an attempt to help the poor girl be more sociable at least!

Cheyenne Brawley has posed:
     Buster is jolted out of his daze by the teen's elbow. "Got a thing for Lorna?" He snorts, but doesn't deny it. "You know, The Centinel is a great spot to lodge. Robert Marksman owns the place - right comfortable, and lots of good folks around. I'd like to have a Gabbygal around permanent-like." As she makes to leave, the foreman looks at his watch and makes an impatient rolling hand gesture at the Texan. Buster huffs a sigh and picks up his plate, sliding out of the booth behind Gabby. "Let's finish up on the way back to the jobsite, fellers. You got the boxes again, buddy?" He winks at the little guy.
     Lou hops out of his seat and sweeps the spot on the bench where he was sitting with a paper napkin. "You looking for a place to stay in Bushwick, Miss Gabby? I know of a nice rent control place near a dog park on the outskirts," there's a measure of concern in his tone. Buster, on the other hand, gets a wagged finger, but the reptilian fellow grins and starts collecting empty boxes and other garbage.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney chuckles. "In or around Bushwick. My sister-in-law's got a place she offered me but I wanted to at least make a real go of looking. Get the whole 'I'm an adult now' experience," she explains while polishing off the last few bites, and grabbing her shake to go. "Mmf. But I can check into that, too! For now I gotta run. Thanks for the meal!" And off she goes.