12277/Misshapen Identities

Misshapen Identities
Date of Scene:	03 August 2022
Location:	Empire Diner
Synopsis:	Delores gets three steaks! Then Thomas and Michael take them from her (to be fair, they did order them). The men are upset about the quality of the writers on their show. Delores is thoroughly bamboosled. Also:
Cast of Characters:	Michael Hannigan, Thomas Blake, Delores Klein
Tinyplot:	Theme_of_the_Crime

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Michael Hannigan has posed:
With it neither being the lunch hour nor the dinner hour, the Empire diner is currently experiencing what could be considered a lull period. There are plenty of seats available in the diner, but the tables that go with them are mostly in need of busing. With the only Front end worker currently ringing up an order over the phone, that's not happening anytime soon.

But should one want to wander ALLLLLLL the way to the other side of the diner, there are a few clean tables left. And near those clean tables are a pair of men. The smaller of the two ended up with the seat showing his back to the rest of the restaurant, but the mirrored backing to the wall does not make him at all blind to what's going on behind him.

That is, if Mike were to stare at the mirror. Instead the musician turned actor is sipping his coffee and glancing down to a small bound printout before him. A brow arching as he looks to the paper.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake looks over the diner table at Mike and points to the script he was reading from. "This is the most juvenile crap I ever was in my life. And that's insulting the intelligence of juveniles! What happened to the story hooks we established in Season One? The drug ring targeting Mutants, the new vigilante? The corrupt acting commissioner? That was some good stuff!! Now here -we're just throwing each other in death traps. Whut happened? And... they have you, the Music Master, stealing hats. You're off theme!" He says the last with his voice dripping venom. He nudges Mike's print out to him. "G'head, read it."

Delores Klein has posed:
    The woman who enters the diner looks as out of time as the diner itself. She puts on a smile as she enters the place, waving to the wait staff who smile and wave back before pointing her at a table. She walks toward it and notices the two men at a nearby table, though she largely ignores them and sits down with her back to them, looking out the window. What a lovely day.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Hearing Thomas's complaint, Mike looks over to the copy in front of the larger man. Determining where he is reading, the musician gives a small nod. "Yeah it's pretty much gone camp." Mike agrees, "I don't think the writers were really expecting the show to be renewed so they didn't have enough ideas lined up to fill out another order. He flips back a few pages, "I'm surprised you're taking the hairball gag scene so well."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake gestures annoyedly. "So you get this weapon that fires solid light music notes at people. Music is SOUND. No more hypnotizing people... wait what?" H flips through the script. "I spit out a airball that tuns out to be a grenade... I'm not doing it. And... they nixed Fluffy. I get to drive a Cat-illac. Cat Woman is laughing herself sick somewhere. And... the heck is up with the Ivy League? They get thrown though a turbine and get their costumes shredded? Dude, I didn't get those ladies employment to demean them. I'm going straight to Pete."

Thomas indulges in raising his voice, which fortunately is rare. A few heads turn. "What? I am nice to the ladies and I watch out for them in my own way!" Catman PFFFts loudly.

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores plucks up a menu when it's provided and begins reading through it. She sits with very prim and proper posture, no slouch in her form at all. "Water, I think, please," she says to the waitress with a smile.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
The server gives a nod and moves back over to the counter to take care of that.

Mike stares at Thomas on his soapbox. Head tilting to the words being chosen. "It is a bit much. That's for sure." He allows, glancing to the coffee and the lack of plates. "Sure taking some time to get our food out."

The door to the kitchen slams open as a, seemingly still tired from the lunch rush, employee walks out with plates. There's a quick stride over, setting the food down in front of Delores before he quickly retreating back to the kitchen.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake pulls his phone out and speed dials a number, "Hey buddy, you should clear your appointments for today because I'm coming down there in about an hour, grabbing you by your greasy mustache, yanking you out of that stupid tack suit you think makes you athletic and throwing you across the lot. Me? I'm okay. How are you? Good. Now what kind of garbage are they foisting on us. 'Foist'. It's a word. It means to force something on somebody through trickery... yes I read a lot of books in the slammer! How did I find the time when I was getting... listen Pete, the writing sucks. Why aren't you writing?! Why camp? Uhhuh. Uhuhuhuhuhuh."

"And that lady just got our lunches! Excuse me poised lady, those are our orders." He gets up to take the plates.

Delores Klein has posed:
    Delores raises an eyebrow as a lunch is placed in front of her, along with another. "Perplexing!" she agrees with a smile at Thomas. "Perhaps you're trying to foist something on me?" she continues innocently up at him from her place seated near him. She backs off from the attempted banter fairly quickly, however. "You'd better take them; he's not allowed to serve food twice."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Mike grows quiet as Thomas gets on the phone with the other producer. Another glance is directed downwards to the script is made before the general exchange of insults draws Mike's attention once more. The pauses raise some questions but there's a general sense that at times it is better to not ask.

The unspoken question is soon forgotten as Thomas's declaration about the misdirected lunches causes for the younger man to glance up, seeing the mirrored image of the Dual dished Delores. "F-" Mike bites back his commentary as he starts to get up, following after Thomas in time to hear Delores's suggestion.

"Hello." Mike greets, reaching over to pick up his plate. "Guess he thought you had a companion in the bathroom or something."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake takes the other dish and smiles back. "Isn't 'foist' a great word? Like 'donning' or 'togs'. Don your battle togs! Let's see... Michael, you got the steak and I got... two steaks. You should eat more. Okay, the waiter is safe. He served it once. Then I served it."

"Apparently a group of civic minded citizens in Gotham have derided our show as being too dark and not reflective of the real Gotham. Also we're glamorizing criminals. This is the city that made Breaking Bad number one, by the way. Anyway they threw out the scripts ideas and wrote this... crap. He said if we didn't like it, write our own script. Since you're so talented and I'm a master criminal. I had no idea master criminals had trouble paying their bills."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
"No, I only need the one." Mike responds in protest, looking to the dual steak plate. "I write music. Not scripts." He frowns, "If he's saying to write our own script, then I see no reason why we can't go with the ones they tossed."