13577/It is so late it is early

It is so late it is early
Date of Scene:	14 December 2022
Location:	Arcade Diner - Park Row
Synopsis:	Late night and after a failed stake-out three Outsiders talk about life and drugs and the usual
Cast of Characters:	Conner Kent, Rose Wilson, Laura Kinney

---

Conner Kent has posed:
It is so late it is early, but in Gotham it is hard to know just by looking at the people. Half of those here are asking for dinner, and the rest (smarter half) are asking for breakfast even if they actually want dinner.

Conner really shouldn't be here. Finals in the ESU are over him, and he probably needs to study a little more. But there was a rumor about some smuggling going here, related with a new enhancement drug that has been on fashion on Gotham and New York. So he used it as an excuse to take a night-long break. It is as if he needs sleep (much).

Alas, no luck. But at least he gets to pay breakfast for Rose and Laura. Which might not be luck either, at least for his wallet. But maybe better than leave those two dangerous women alone in a crowded place.

Rose Wilson has posed:
Well, it could be worse for Conner. There could be a third or fourth tagging along if he'd let slip where exactly he wanted this 'patrol' to go through.

Rose for her own standards is taking it easy on him as she only orders a half order of hashbrowns and the proverbial three sausage links with a large milk. A small smile playing almost innocently over her lips as she leans abc slightly in her seat and gives the room a once over. "You always take us to such lovely places, Conner. Though I do appreciate it not being Carol of the Bells playing in the background." One brow lofting slightly as she turns her attention to their table mate.

Laura Kinney has posed:
Laura Kinney doesn't really need people to buy her food. She obtains enough grey money from various sources, the kind of places the IRS frowns upon, to fund her lifestyle. Complete with her high metabolic rate meal requirements. With enough left over for weapons, armour, bribes and international travel. Which is probably for the best. Even the Outsiders budget would start to struggle after a while with all the shoes her claws ruin.

She occupies a spot in the diner, tucked away in a corner of the booth, which gives her the best lines of sight while also allowing her to be as hard to notice as possible. A black hoodie makes it hard to get a view of her face. And provides nice deep pockets for a variety of concealed weapons.

She sniffs the air in between bites of a stack of pancakes that looks like an eating challenge. Bathed in enough syrup to start a shortage.

"There was great food back in Madripoor that time we visited," she points out. "Although there was a fairly significant chance of being attacked by cyborgs."

Conner Kent has posed:
"Everyone is a critic. But it is Tim-vouched," comments Conner to Rose. Probably not true, Tim has high standards. Except maybe at this time, where anywhere is good for a tired bat-person looking for coffee. Even in Gotham there aren't many places open this late (early).

"Oh man, Madripoor. But the cyborgs weren't locals, unless I am misremembering." Conner is not the one constantly reviewing old mission logs, you see. Also, what had Madripoor to his breakfast dish? Spicy raw fish?

"Anyway," he adds, lowering his voice, "I couldn't find anything but a couple PCP pushers. I sent the pictures to the databanks, but I doubt they are important," he didn't even bother to call the GCPD, they have more interesting things to do, he is sure.

Rose Wilson has posed:
Rose Wilson hmms and cocks her head slightly to the side as she ponders what a Madriporian breakfast might be. Spiced fish is a delicacy in many places after all. She forks up some of the crispy shredded potatoes and shrugs. "Small fries? Maybe for later if we get bored." She tucks the forkfull into her mouth and mmms are the richness of the buttery soaked delight. "Need to learn to cook these. Mine always stick to the pan."

"Should I be envious that I missed out on the ?borgs? Or just happy that it was while I was off getting my ass handed to me in one training place or another." She frowns slightly at a thought, "This wasn?t while I was with the Old man, was it?"

Laura Kinney has posed:
"I was trying to watch more movies to have a good idea about popular culture for the next movie night," Laura notes idly, giving the room another sniff for contraband. Or perhaps she likes the smell of pancakes? "And I saw a series of films which reminded me of the last time I was in Madripoor by myself. Except that I did not have a dog for someone to kill and I didn't pay for things with gold coins." She blinks a few times. "I did throw a poisonous frog at someone. Right into their mouth. I felt a touch bad for the frog..."

She looks over at Rose and gives a shrug.

"We'd have invited you but you were doing your own thing. As usual." A hint of a smile. The irony of her being the one to say that not lost on her. "You can find just about any food there if you look for it. There's an arms dealer who makes the best Turkish coffee you can find outside Turkey."

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner shrugs. "I don't remember the exact date, we can check later, but it is not very important. Maybe it was where Laura got her odd obsession with super-spicy things," because it is weird where the clawed girl's interests have gone in the past couple years. Then again, they kind of pushed her to find things she liked.

"The thing I remember about those borgs was they someone said they were half-rotten," offers Conner. Good detail to mention while they are eating, too! "Like undead-cyborgs?"

Rose Wilson has posed:
Rose Wilson doesn't seem bothered at all by the description of the rot-borgs. She gestures with the fork and a small grin. "Conner, there is nothing wrong with liking spicy foods. I should share with you some of my auntie's picked cabbage some time. Or maybe some of the fish sauce I get for the holidays every year that I'm around." She pauses as she tries to recall if she got any this year yet. Finally shaking her head as she can't recall. Laura getting a grin and a thumbs up. "Frog-darts for the win? Red, green, or one of those black ones? Had one that I nearly had trained for a bit. Lovely black color with vivid green-blue spots."

Laura Kinney has posed:
Laura Kinney rolls her eyes at Conner. "I've always liked spicy food ever since I left The Facility," she points out. "It's just I wasn't making my own hot sauce then. Eventually the store brands got a little too... bland for me."

And the things she makes now are too spicy for the Phoenix to consume. And can eat the varnish off a table.

"As for the cyborgs they did smell like they'd died. It was why no-one complained when we cut them to bits. Or when Gabby threw one off a crane." She smiles, proud of her sisters performance. "It was a small red and black frog. Don't know where it came from I was fighting a hoard of thugs in a market. But it must have been poisonous because just picking it up with my bare hands gave me a contact high." It's best not to think about what it did to the person she threw it at. Anything that impacts a healing factor mutant would do shocking things to a regular Human.

Conner Kent has posed:
"You didn't even know what 'like' meant when I met you," he replies to Laura, smiling. Knowing Rose had a trained frog is noted for... the future. It is probably odd even in her family. However...

"Hey, stop protecting spicy food likes. I need ammo to tease Laura. It is pretty hard, but she is getting better at catching snark, I am proud of her." It is a needed trait in the Outsiders, too. "Your pop culture is getting decent, too," he adds to the brunette. Encouragingly? Maybe.

Rose Wilson has posed:
Rose Wilson grins wickedly and shakes her head, "No. I happen to truly love spicy food as well. Maybe someday we?ll get you into it as well. Perhaps we can start off with kimchi stuffed pupusas. Or if you want something more authentic, chorizo and cheese instead."

Laura gets a grin, "Perhaps I could do another spicy cooking night. It?s been a while since my last exploits in the kitchen. Though that reminds me that I think I owe a new pan after the non-stick withered and died under the sauce."

Laura Kinney has posed:
Laura Kinney tilts her head. Frowns.

"You were teasing me?" she wonders. Then in a deadpan tone she adds "I simply assumed you had terrible taste in food." Is she joking? Is it a serious question? Who can say?

She turns to Rose and raises an eyebrow. "If he needs ammo we can just loan him some." Gun humour. "As for another spicy food night... Every night is spicy food night. Or should be. If there is anything you can't improve with spice I have not found it yet."

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner has questionable taste in food, like most Americans. At least he ate more than burgers and fries in Hawaii. A few times. "I like chorizo and cheese, what are you talking about?" He protests. "And Laura's spicy sauce qualifies as a chemical weapon. Pancakes, pancakes are good food, you heathens." He waves a piece of pancake with his fork, as proof. "You can't use pancakes as ammo, can you? Wait. Don't answer that!" Some things are better left unknown.

Rose Wilson has posed:
Rose Wilson hmms and nods slightly, "Challenge accepted." She glances over to Laura and arcs her brows up to see if she wants to help qualify pancakes as ammo. "Well, there are ways to weaponize almost anything." She pulls over a napkin and produces a pen to start jotting down ideas. "Let's see. If we can get it moving at..." *scribble-scribble* "That would make the impact energy this..." She glances over to Conner again and asks, "What? You didn't mean as literal ammo?"

Laura Kinney has posed:
"I'd personally use the batter as a weapon. Rather than the pancakes themselves," Laura says after some consideration. "Get it hot enough, it'll be sticky, a bit like edible napalm. Not quite as good as a cheese pizza though. Fresh from the oven they're just murder on the eyes..."

She glances at the math. "We just need Bart to run forward and unleash them. For optimal results we should freeze them first though. Makes them more durable. And that will reduce the speed we need to get everything up to for lethality."

Rose Wilson has posed:
Rose Wilson nods slightly to the information from Laura, then shakes her head. "If you want the edible napalm, sugar bullets. The heat of the powder ignites the packed sugar 'bullet' And what hits it a flaming caramel. Works as a party favor with sub-sonics at...." She blushes, "It was a hit with Dad for birthdays, if he boithered to show up."

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner looks between the young women, and huffs. Now they are teasing him. "I am in favor of edible ammo if they are pancakes. No freezing them, though, that is... tasteless."

Ah, the conversations to have a the time of the night. They don't even have the excuse to be tired. "But it gives a new meaning to the term sugar bomb."

Laura Kinney has posed:
"Molten sugar is a cruel way to go. Almost as bad as dunking someone in a frier," Laura says, looking out the window like she's remembering something especially unpleasant. "All this talk is making me hungry. I wonder if they do food to go for when we're done." Which is quite frankly more shocking than the casual talk about violence. Given Laura's already eating her way through enough pancakes to feed anyone but a Speedster.

"Do we know anything more about this mystery drug? Any precursor chemicals we should be watching out for? Effects on the user that might give us a clue who is taking it.. That kind of thing."

Rose Wilson has posed:
Rose Wilson chuckles softly at the frier comment. "That is not the worst I've seen, really. But yes, knowing about the chemicals and effects are on folks. Is it worse than what happens with me when I have a little too much epinephrine?" She offers a small sad smile as she knows how she gets.

Conner Kent has posed:
"Hmm," Conner checks his Starkphone. "Not much. Sounds too good to be true. Makes people smarter, keeps one up better than coffee, no secondary effects at all..." and they went without enough information, but hey, sometimes you need a break from studying or planning how to murder people with sugar.

"It probably turns you into murderous clown after the sixth dose or something," decides Conner. As usual for Gotham drugs. Wait, it was in New York too? Seems he needs to do some more research.

Laura Kinney has posed:
Laura Kinney blinks a few times. "And the price?" she wonders. "If it works better than coffee... why are we in a diner? Surely the best places to find people using that drug would be Gotham U dorms. Ideally before a big test. Anyone taking it isn't going to need caffeine. And it sounds expensive enough to be outside the price range for.. well... here."

Rose Wilson has posed:
Rose Wilson frowns slightly as well. "Yes, the does sounds like they would have a big market at the uni this time of session." She pulls out her phone nad puts in a search for all the uni's in Gotham and New York. "Well, depending on the costs, they could be hauling in big bucks readily."

Conner Kent has posed:
"We are having din... breakfast, Laura," points out Conner. Unlikely a gang of smugglers would lurk here, right? Uh. Might be worth to take a second glance, although at this time of the night everyone looks rather shady in Gotham. Present company exclude... lets not go there.

"No idea. It won't be expensive until they have some addicts, I guess," because the report hints it could be very addictive. "Good point, though, I better ask around campus next week."

Laura Kinney has posed:
Laura Kinney frowns. "To be honest if you are marketing a product making it expensive to start with can be a plus," she explains. "It makes it seem more exclusive and high quality. If you want to appeal to the college educated crowd you don't want to seem like you're selling cheap crap cut with powdered glass. Still the college budget means it can't be priced too high. Or else they'll have spent all their drug money on kegs and... I don't really know what college students do. Outside of a few movies we've seen on move night. And those do not seem to be based in facts..."

Rose Wilson has posed:
Rose Wilson nods towards Laura as she explains. "True. And yes, there would likely be a high probabilty of sales on the campus setting. The tough part might be the where to start providing. I'd think a party, but honestly, which type? The ones most likely to be after something like that would not be the ones most likely to be needing to be in classes that would require the boost in intellect. Would also have to be something that probably breaks down quickly in the body, else there is the chance of it popping on the random screening that some uni's require for their sports scholarships."

Conner Kent has posed:
"Paying the rent takes most of my budget," replies Conner. But that is New York for you. Maybe in Metro or Gotham the college student can afford expensive drugs. They probably pay a third of what he pays for his studio.

"Surprisingly, a lot of party-hard students are also very study-hard, honor class types," and some also do drugs. It is hard to generalize. Or maybe he needs to sharpen his investigation skills. Probably both. "Plus drug tests look for known drugs. This is not known yet, I guess."

Laura Kinney has posed:
Laura Kinney laughs. "Conner is right designer drugs don't show on drug screenings until they're widely known about. And by then they've usually tweaked the recipe to make a different variation."

She glances around to make sure no-one has taken an interest after her outburst then adds "They can only test for things they know about. And sports programs are not exactly rushing to find new drugs that might ruin a winning streak. If I was to sell that particular drug I'd just hang around the library during college hours. Find people looking burnt out and stressed. See if they were interested."

Rose Wilson has posed:
Rose Wilson mms and shrugs, "I never really got the whole college thing myself." She hangs her head, "I've done mostly independant studies and learning on the fly." Not exactly an oddity among those she's most often with, right? Though she again nods to Laura's statement. "That would be a good marketing posisiton, yes. And true they do not want to break their streaks, but the other teams do. So I'm not so certain they are so far behind in their screenings. And some of those screenings look for the more commonly produced factors of the breakdown. Such as enhances cortisol levels, or adreanal secretions."

Conner Kent has posed:
"I have never seen a drug pusher at the library or the computer labs," considers Conner. "Those I have seen are never students." He smirks at Rose. "I told you college could be fun, you never listen to me. Admittedly, I am at one point now it also requires quite a bit of my time to keep decent grades. It will be over soon. Then I will have to find a job."

Or, you know, become a vigilante that steals money from gangsters, which sounds like a lot of boring work. Or maybe a mercenary! But mercenary is also a job, isn't it? "Anyway. I think we should call it for the night. If there was a drug deal going in the neighborhood, we missed it."

Laura Kinney has posed:
"Taking bags of cash from de... unconscious criminals is hardly work," Laura says matter of factly. "If anything it's just a little more effort than fighting normal crime. Although I suppose you'd have to hide the income from the IRS while I don't legally exist so have no tax records to hide the income from..."

She takes another long sniff.

"There's nothing suspicious happening here unless you count the freshness of pot of coffee. Which is overbrewed something horrific." Of course that's ruling out themselves. Who are by far the most weird and wacky individuals to visit the diner in the entire time they've been in there...

Rose Wilson has posed:
Rose Wilson chuckles softly, "There is nothing at all wrong with hte merc work. See fantasic, or not, places. Meet glorious people. Get shot at occationally three or four times a day. What's not to love about the life?" She winks to Laura, "Camen Islands. Their danking groups make dragons seem tame when crossing them. The IRS only wishes they were as well trusted."