12066/Midnight Mootant Milkshake Madness

Midnight Mootant Milkshake Madness
Date of Scene:	18 July 2022
Location:	Mootant Town Milkshakes
Synopsis:	Micola and Tommy get to know each other a little bit over midnight milkshakes. It's a perfectly wholesome encounter (shocking, given Tommy's usual behavior).
Cast of Characters:	Tommy Shepherd, Micola Maximoff

---

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    There's a lot to be said about the eccentricities of Bushwick. Usually negative, in the press and online and amongst the worst humankind has to offer, but to the people who live here, it all makes sense. Those who either fear going out and about during the day or physically cannot do to some side-effect of their mutation benefit from businesses that operate at odd hours, far later into the night than even New York's night life does.

    And admittedly, Tommy has no issues with the sun, beyond the occasional sun-burn due to being fair-skinned. But he does keep odd hours, because he sleeps less than most people and in much smaller chunks at a time. Also, late-night milkshakes are amazing.

    Someday in the next five to ten years his lactose intolerance is going to kick in and Tommy will rue the day. Now, though, he's got a line of glasses in front of him, each filled with a different variation on those insane stacked milkshakes that have been mega-trendy on the socials. One has an entire piece of chocolate cake on top of it, another has several full-sized cookes arranged in a fan like the feathers of a Vegas showgirl. The milkshake he's working through right now though has an entire fruit salad on skewers that he is dutifully chomping on, despite what some people might assume about a teenager's eating habits.

    Okay yes he's eating probably 20,000 calories-worth of ice cream and assorted novelties in one sitting, yeah.

    And potentially due to the late hour, Tommy is dressed down. Sweats that probably double as pajama pants, a threadbare t-shirt that has holes at the neckline and under the arms, and one of his ever-present baseball caps. Today it's the Fighting Phils hailing from Reading, Pennsylvania, which isn't all that far away. The logo is of some kind of flightless bird with its dukes up. The dukes are, yes, fists coming off the ends of its wings. Weird.

Micola Maximoff has posed:
Micola had wanted to get back into the old routine and sadly that meant that Pietro was probably having a small panic attack somewhere since she hadn't called to check in yet. But...milkshakes! The blue haired woman is wearing cut off jean shorts, a black t-shirt and a grey hoodie. Her tattoos are bright and her hair is pulled back into a headband that looks a bit oversized for her.

She spots the white hair at the counter and almost mistakes it for her other half, but it is assuredly not. The woman finds herself a seat a few down from his and looks over to Tommy for a second, she had seen him before, but that time there was a dead body to deal with.

"Can I get an ice water, thank you." she tells the waitress at the front.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    There's only a vague glimmer of recollection in Tommy's eyes as he surreptitiously glances at the new arrival. It's not like they'd met, and on that particular day he'd been more focused on Pietro (and getting away from Pietro) to make any particular note of who his older doppelganger was with.

    As it stands, though, he's of a mind to bail and run. Which is basically just his default instinct, developed even before he had actual super-speed to run away with. But these milkshakes ain't cheap, not with the amount of toppings (and work) that goes into making them, and he's not exactly flush with cash on a good day. This is a treat. He's treating himself.

    So he's going to stay, despite his reservations. Because chances are if he remembers anyone, even faintly, they probably weren't his friend. Might as well rip off the bandaid quickly.

    "You're not here just for their - okay, yeah, you can't get water that's perfectly ice-y but not actually frozen anywhere else but from Coz, sure - but like, you gotta order a milkshake. They're the best."

Micola Maximoff has posed:
Micola gives a smile down the way to one of the other waitresses, "You're working late!" she comments to her. Then she's looking back in Tommy's direction and she offers him a more relaxed smile. "Oh, no, I just like to get water to go with it." she tells him with a nod. "I just always get stunlocked on which one I want so need something to sip on while I unwind." she states.

"Do you have a favorite that you'd recommend?" she asks the younger man. "I might get some cheese fries. I've not had any since June...and boy I wanted some when I was in the hospital." she muses.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    No overt signs of subterfuge. No immediate sneer or narrow-eyed look. Both of these are points in Micola's favor insofar as Tommy's willingness to stick around in her general vicinity. And her explanation, well, it makes sense. Tommy nods along.

    "I have the same problem," he says, though at least those moments of conundrum are (to an outsider) no more than a fraction of a second. To Tommy, though? An eternity of deliberation. Lists of pros and cons for each option. Internal debates with fully voiced moderator and enthusiastic audience.

    He frees another fruit skewer from the mountain of whipped cream it rests in and starts working his way through it, teeth digging into a piece of pineapple as he slides it free. It's an excuse to have another one of those silent conversations with himself as he considers the question, though he finally decides on, "Tis the Season." Then his head tips to the side. "Holiday flavor unfortunately. But it comes with one of those Little Debbie christmas tree cakes on top and, look, I know I could just buy a box of them but it's not the same."

    Somehow despite him not stopping to chew or even take further bites, the skewer is now empty. He sets it down in a stack of already-used sticks, no doubt from previously consumed shakes. "Regular menu? If you like chocolate, then the s'mores shake. More fruit stuff? Uhh... the American Pie one is good, if you can stomach the jingoism."

Micola Maximoff has posed:
Micola listens to him as she looks over the menu that is on the counter top. She didn't exude under cover spy or assassin vibes. She really didn't. She also knows that speedsters need to intake a lot of calories and be kept in motion.

Sort of like sharks.

"Dang it that sounds really good." the woman chuckles as he talks about the Christmas shake. "I'll have to grab one when Winter rolls around and I'm on my regular volunteer schedule." she nods to this. "I think that I'm going to go for this Mint monstrosity thing though. Mint sounds good right now." she grins. She puts her order in when the staff returns and then looks back to Tommy, "I'm Micola." she offers. She doesn't offer a hand or anything. She didn't want to spook him.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    "It's actually gingerbread flavored - uh, the holiday shake is, I mean. But yeah they do a special mint one around then too." Tommy tilts in closer to Micola, conspiratorily, to stage-whisper, "It's the same shake base as the Monster, they just make the toppings more festive."

    Clearly he thinks himself something of a milkshake expert. At least here at Mootant Town Milkshakes.

    With a satisfied sigh, he pushes away whatever milkshake the fruit came with, the glass empty. "Not as good as the Pride shake from last year," he mourns. Next up is the s'mores shake, based on the crushed graham crackers around the top of the glass, mini marshmallows, and all that chocolate drizzle.

    Oh, yeah, and the actual fully assembled s'more (complete with toasted marshmallow) on top.

    "Tommy. Nice to meet you." And he actually means it! This has been a perfectly acceptable interaction thus far. It's like he's leveling up his social stats as they speak. He wipes his hands clean on a napkin carefully before he reaches up to turn his cap around backwards, and the mutant physics of his hair (a nightmare to manage on a good day) ensures a white shock of it appears through the hole in the back. "You volunteer around here? Nice of you. Most people don't come into Bushwick with good intentions."

Micola Maximoff has posed:
Micola gives a smile when he tells her the secret, "Ah, well...I won't tell anyone else. It's pretty delicious." she chuckles. Then she's listening to him talk and there's another smile, "What was the Pride shake?" she asks him. Since he was the shake expert!

"It's nice to meet you, Tommy." she tells him with a warmer smile. "And yes, I've volunteered down here since I was...19 or so. So going on ten years." she admits. "No one else in my family is a mutant so I figured helping out down here might help me get to know more people and offering a helping hand is something I like doing." she tells him. "But yeah, a lot of folks come down to mess with people that they shouldn't...or worse." she frowns.

Then she breathes for a minute, "I told myself I wasn't going to get stressed today." she muses. "So what do you do when you aren't being a shake connesuir, Tommy?" she asks him.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Underneath the counter, Tommy's leg bops up and down. The whole sugar high thing is, from what he understands, basically a myth. But he's dumping a lot of calories into his body, perhaps in preparation for some task ahead of him. Hard to tell, really, given that he actively slows himself down to near-human speed as he devours the s'mores shake.

    It's still a shade over the line of what his mother would think is appropriate eating manners, but she isn't here and he wouldn't care what she said anyway. Tommy was telling the truth when he said this is his favorite (of the chocolate offerings). It's THAT good. Good enough to savor for as long as he can manage.

    "It was frozen custard instead of ice cream, real fruity." He blinks once, twice, in rapid succession. Then he snorts and slaps his forehead. "Now I get it."

    S'more pinched delicately between two fingers, he leans in for a sip of the shake that was previously hidden beneath said treat. "Uhh.... gig jobs, mostly. I do a lot of food delivery through the apps, some courier stuff here and there. Best if I'm not customer facing, honestly, I don't have patience for that BS," he explains in-between bites.

Micola Maximoff has posed:
Micola doesn't comment on his table manners. Wasn't her job to and she was definitely not anyones mom! Not yet at least. There is a bit of a laugh when he finally gets the reason the Pride shake was like it was, "It is okay." she tells him. "I'm a tattoo artist over in Brighton Beach, I own Hunter's Moon. Had a consulting job but...the NYPD fucked that up really good." she sighs to that. She had liked it...until it almost killed her.

"Gig jobs give you freedom and keep you moving, so I suspect they are good things to do." she nods to that. She gets a chime on her phone and there is a chuckle, "What a worrier." she muses softly. "Sadly I have to take my shake to go, but it was good to run into you, Tommy." she tells him as she slips off the seat.

"Oh, if you are a fan of sweets there is a Night Market over in Brighton that makes homemade Baklava. It is the best in NYC." she offers to him with a smile.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    The mention of tattoos has Tommy's shoulders inching upwards towards his ears a little. He'll never be able to sit for one, not unless the tattooist themselves is a speedster, and what are the odds of that ever being a thing?

    "That's cool," he says, though, despite his own personal reservations. He's still got the dregs of the s'mores shake to go when Micola's phone goes off, and he reflexively checks his own, before he nods. "Drink it fast before it melts in this heat." He winks, and then turns his attention more fully to his phone as a way to disengage.

    But the talk of food draws him back in. "I'll definitely check that out!" he promises.