12427/Island Breezes

Island Breezes
Date of Scene:	14 August 2022
Location:	Freaky Tiki
Synopsis:	Arthur is not her uncle or even distantly related. Kora is relieved.
Cast of Characters:	Arthur Curry, Kora Ikassis

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Arthur Curry has posed:
    "No, no, no." The voice is loud, bombastic, a voice of a man that knows he's loud and has no qualms about being loud. "You gotta plink them, man. You gotta plink them. Like this..."
    The night is alive in Gotham's Freaky Tiki, a place alive with Tahitian wonder and a fairly large crowd that's laughing and drinking and enjoying the place for what it is. A good drinking hole. The owners are present in the main room, pouring drinks, laughing, and sharing as they can in the festivities while a half-circle of people are standing and sitting around that tall loud guy who has his place in the corner. Dressed in blue jeans, a black t-shirt and a black leather vest with several chains and emblems, he's got a wild look to him. Particularly because of that long hair pulled back into a ponytail. And who has apparently liberated a ukulele off the wall.
    "Not just strum, here. G-C-E-A-C-E-A-G." He executes those chords with the pick hitting the strings nicely though his fingering could use some work, but he plays the intro to a song that isn't easily discerned off the bat.
    "Now you try." He hands it back to the other 'musician' who is a large man with dark skin who laughs and shakes his head, "You're crazy Arthur, you can't even play man."
    "Screw you, man. I am the best." Though that might be a little boastful even as he leans past the crowd around him and calls out, "Hey Terry, another beer?"
    

Kora Ikassis has posed:
    Since Kora's arrival in the US, it has been an endless string of firsts: first big city, first cars, first jeans, first public transport. The Embassy had her chauffeured and the driver apparently was told to stay.

     Noisy Tiki bars may top the list. Looking for a relative of her father another. She is not sure how many begats there might be or how Olympian blessings figure. Suffice it to say that when she informed Diana's secretary of the trip, she received an odd glance, a few cautions, and the chauffeur.

    The young woman has been working on killing what a new friend called "her deer in the headlights" look. The expression had taken a few minutes of explanation in which she learned the word 'road kill' and 'jail bait' and something called 'PC'. She has patient friends. 'Jail bait' merited a wrinkled nose.

    Kora's eyes narrow at the blast of noise when she walks into the room. She makes a beeline for the bar to order a club soda and asks for her father's friend. Her glance wanders over the room, looking for the man the secretary had described - tall and loud. She expects him to remind her of her father. And, it really is quite easy, because there he is, the center of the room.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    Yeah, that's the one.
    The one standing there with the other 'musicians' as they laugh and share a pitcher. It's all good vibes and good times, though there's maybe one table where people aren't appreciating the loudness. Then again what does one expect when they come to a Tiki restaurant! Clearly it's their own fault.
    Yet she's able to see him from afar, and... sorta like her day.
    If she squints.
    Could just be the manner of the man. Larger than life, enjoying himself, and slapping a guy on the back even as he starts to extricate himself from the crowd and heads his own way toward the bar. Then there's a /kathunk/ as he sets his empty beer mug down near to Kora. "Terry! Beer me."

Kora Ikassis has posed:
In the small island village where she was born, everyone knew everyone else. She hadn't thought to describe herself to Arthur, she looks like any other twenty-something year olds in olive green chinos and an orange camisole under a light hooded jacket. The other Amazons had been taking turns with teaching her how to dress. Only the long, dark intricately braided hair swinging down her back is out of the ordinary, and perhaps her sea green eyes. Otherwise, she would not be out of place in Athens with her flawless olive skin and chiseled aquiline nose.

    The bartender pulls the beer for Arthur and looks between the two, then indicates Arthur with his thumb, saying, "I think this is your date. But, you know, you could do better, kid."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "You hurt me, Terry. You really know how to hurt a guy." Arthur says as he points the beer bottle in the direction of the retreating bartender. Though it does bring Kora to the man's attention as he turns to her and half-smirks as he says, "You believe the nerve on that guy?"
    A sip of beer and he then yells in the direction of the man, "Very stern Yelp review!" Which only gets him a hand gesture that is terribly rude.
    "Hey," He then says to her, "You're Kora, right? Arthur." At that he swaps the beer into his left hand and extends his right to her in the way of greeting. "Got your message, what's up?"

Kora Ikassis has posed:
    Kora hesitates before taking his hand, then extends hers in a firm grip. He might feel the calluses along the base of her fingers from many hours of weapons practice. He is nothing like what she expected.

    "Yes, Kora Ikassis. Nothing is up. I, ah." Her clear brow furrows an instant at Yelp but, she forges on despite his brusque manner.

    "I was told that you are on the same team as the Princess. And...that we could possibly be related. Though I'm less sure of that, now."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Possible," Arthur says as he settles in against the bar, taking another sip of his beer. He seems utterly at ease with the world and entirely pleased with himself, which to be fair... isn't so uncommon for a man in a bar in various stages of inebriation. Yet he seems to be paying attention to her well and hasn't made a pass at her at least.
    "Diana? Yeah, we work together." He gives a nod and then smiles as he lifts his beer to a man entering the pub's main door, tossing a greeting that way before he lowers his eyes back to her. "Kora then. Arthur, Arthur Curry. If we have a relation that's possible. The whole Atlantis thing, or Greece?" A connection to the gods assuredly, and by blood to the submerged isle, but perhaps not truly that close of a relative.

Kora Ikassis has posed:
    Kora has been schooled to identify herself as Greek but her brief excursion through Athens had done little to encourage the association. She shrugs and accepts the possibility. At Atlantis, she tilts her head doubtfully, then suggests with faint hope, "Does Poseidon reside there?"

    Feeling foolish or out of sync has become a common experience for her recently. Being the last in the lists of warriors and the first one downed is a more comfortable sensation in her experience, at least, you can train to be better.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "I don't spend much time there," He tells her quickly, blithely, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "I don't think he does, I think he's on Olympus?" Though he gives a small shrug with his shoulders even as he sets the beer back down beside him. A hand reaches over to the bowl of peanuts and he scoops out a handful, casually popping them into his mouth one after the other. Though slowly.
    "Me, I sort of do what I can to take care of the ocean. I swim around, help people that need it. Other times I..." He looks around the place and gets a small half-smirk, then shrugs again as he spreads his hands.
    "Well, such as you see."

Kora Ikassis has posed:
Side against the bar, Kora takes a long look around the room, a smile blooming on her lips. She had expected someone else, someone grand, not someone who reminds her of the fisherman at home. The realization sets her at ease. She nods, the smile growing.

    To the bartender who has returned to their end, "Two beers, please." Kora has begun to appreciate cold drinks.

    "Something like my father. It is important work helping people and then relaxing."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "So Diana got you squared away, or you need some help from me?" He asks as he pops another peanut into his mouth and chews for a little bit. He finishes the last one then dusts his hands off and wipes them on a napkin that he sets by his beer mug before helooks back.
    "Figured out how you plan to approach life or you just visiting for a little while?" Since as he says that he looks across the room, then abruptly he raises his voice.
    "Hey Hogan! Yeah you, Hogan! Seven and one, buddy! You owe me!" He points at the bearded man across the room as he widens his eyes a little as if to impart the severity of this owing that the man has in debt. But then Arthur turns back to Kora.
    "What is it you do, kiddo?"

Kora Ikassis has posed:
    "I will stay in New York now to be on Diana's team." With an open-handed gesture, Kora adds quietly, in sharp contrast to his loud voice, "To aide her with her mission."

    "So, I will stay for as long as I'm needed as an aide when I am more familiar with things here."

    Now, she is on more familiar territory, having learned how to answer the inevitable questions about nationality, school and work. "University, a small job at a forge, and, of course, like all of us, training.

    Belatedly, she adds, "I also swim but haven't of late." Then she takes an abrupt breath, and ducks her head, realizing how much she has missed the sea. She covers the moment with a sip of beer.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "That's good," Arthur replies, "You could make worse decisions."
    That said he grins and thumps her lightly on the shoulder. "So you'll be around New York at the embassy and picking up all the surfacer bad habits, not a bad itinerary."
    As he says this he takes a sip of his beer and then thumps it on the countertop before he gives her a nod.
    "So clearly the next step for you..." The Atlantean looks back to the corner where he came from, "Is to learn how to play the ukulele." At that his grin widens as he gestures with a shoulder, "C'mon and meet the guys."