13674/I'll Take A

I'll Take A
Date of Scene:	29 December 2022
Location:	Cathedral Square - Founders Island
Synopsis:	A group meets over Soul Food, and Miles might be going to Hogwarts!
Cast of Characters:	Miles Morales, Hellboy, Lonnie Machin, Austin Reese

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Miles Morales has posed:
    It's not as cold as it is going to get in Gotham, but it's getting there. Salt has cleared the sidewalks and roads, but snow is piled up wherever it can manage to do so. Icicles hang from old stone gargoyles, leering down at the shivering populace. Snow isn't falling at the moment, but it could start up again at any moment.

    The line for Honey Hole Soul Food, a #trending food cart, has quite a line today. A few dozen folks are lined up in heavy jackets and beanies or hats, chatting away the afternoon, or waiting in silence. The smell of the amazing food drifts from the truck's windows as a cheerful, tired older African American woman serves up delicious soul food with a street food twist.

    Miles steps into line and reaches up to tug his beanie down a bit more to keep his head warm. He's wearing a dark red beanie, along with a heavy, hooded jacket with fur around the hood, and jeans with nice boots. Normally he'd be in athletic shoes of various vintages, but the snow ruins those so fast! The young man flashes a friendly smile to the person in front of him in line.

Hellboy has posed:
    Everywhere on Earth is cold to Hellboy. Guy is merely annoyed from being frozen in a glacier. Gotham in the winter-time is nothing. After all, everywhere is cold compared to the fires of hell. Turning, he looks back at the kid behind him. "Hey, Kid," he grumbles out. The cambion is dressed in a tee shirt, his nebulous but not very warm duster, action pants (?), and a pair of boots that obscure his hooves. Before Christmas, he had on a santa hat a couple times, but now, his balding head and angle-grindered horns are unadorned.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    Lonnie is normally pretty assiduously a health food guy, applying the GIGO philosophy to both life and technology. But, as he would say, one of the greatest cons the rich ever pulled is trying to guilt people into leaving the world's pleasures only for their enjoyment, so he's in line to get some greens and red beans and rice before going to his evening shift at the soup kitchen. It isn't ALL trying to lash out against the corrupt apparatus of the state. He looks up at Hellboy, and then mumbles, "Ask for the hot sauce they keep under the counter."

Austin Reese has posed:
You know years prior, Austin never would have tried a place like this. Couldn't have afforded it, he would have said. Really it wasn't his style, until he got wrapped up in everything. Now his horizons have been expanded, and he finds himself hopping into the line for food a couple of places behind Hellboy. Hard to miss. "Hope you save some for the rest of us, big guy." He jokes with a grin.

Miles Morales has posed:
    "Whoa...are you Krampus?," Miles asks with wide eyes, looking up at the red behemoth. "Figures you'd live in Gotham..." His accent certainly isn't local. Brooklyn, maybe? He turns to glance between Lonnie and Red, one in front of him in line, and the other behind. "Oh man, they have Clackamacky back there, it's true. Amazing hot sauce." He nods. He looks like a college kid, so it makes sense that he'd be pretty familiar with street food.

    He chuckles at the comment from Austin, and then looks up at Hellboy. "Just kidding, man. Hope I didn't offend you."

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy rolls his eyes at the sass, but turns finally to Miles. "Don't worry about it, kid, I've gotten worse." He steps forward as the line slowly shifts. "These guys think they're clever," he says to the young man. "They're using humor to defuse the situation." He offers a Right Fistbump of Doom. "You look smart. You get it."

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    Lonnie looks at Hellboy, and then the kid in the 'Smash-Clowns' punk band t-shirt daps fists with him. "You're just a man in line for some chicken to me." He says, before he looks at the other two, and then he says, "On a day like this? I put just a drop of the Mad Dog 375 on my red beans and rice. Keeps me warm for the rest of the day." He offers a hand to them both. "Lonnie Machin. I'm out here dismantling anti-homeless architecture." He's literally got a file and pliers in his jacket pocket.

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy's pocket buzzes. He pulls his Right Fist of Doom away as he lifts his phone in his left hand to look at it. "Hang on, guys," he says. Putting the phone to his ear, he says, "Yeah?"

Austin Reese has posed:
Austin knows the name Lonnie. How could he not, after all. He hasn't actually had the chance to meet Lonnie yet, but has absolutely heard Phoebe and Tim going on about him. All good things, honest.

He speaks up after a moment, "Did they install some new ones or something?" He asks of Lonnie, as he hears about what he's doing out here. Austin has done his fair share of sleeping on places that are now being taken over by that kind of architecture, so he has a vested interest in finding out where it is.

Miles Morales has posed:
    Miles glances at that huge stoney fist and brings his own up to bump it. While he holds back to seem normal, Red can likely tell there's a lot more strength behind that fist, even held back, then he should probably have. He's still learning how to hide everything, afterall. "I'm Miles," he offers in a friendly tone. "So...are you a Mutant or something? Or..." He asks with a smile and a friendly tone, but his brow furrows a bit, trying to be polite, but he's so curious! He shuffles up behind him as the line moves up. He turns to shake Lonnie's hand, then, and his eyebrows go up. "Oh, whoa. Like those studs they put on flat surfaces and stuff? That stuff should be criminal." He leans away from Hellboy as he talks so he doesn't bother him on the phone.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    "They're ALWAYS installing it everywhere they can get away with it. Spikes under bridges, benches with third rails in the middle..." Lonnie looks indignant for a moment. "Instead of working on getting these people safe places to stay off the streets, they just try to deny them ANY place to sleep. And they destroy the urban environment in order to do it. Do you think they give a damn that those benches aren't comfortable to sit on, or that those spikes instill a sense of subconscious oppression in the poor?" He shakes his head. "Sorry, I get worked up about it."

Austin Reese has posed:
Austin makes a face, "Some folks still do." He says, "Just seems like the folks that do aren't much interested in being in charge of anything." He muses, "My name's Austin." He responds, after Miles introduces himself, "And yeah, it should be criminal, Miles. Instead a lot of it gets put up by the city itself. Or private businesses that think it'll keep unhoused folks away."

Miles Morales has posed:
    Miles frowns softly as he listens to Lonnie. "That sucks, man. I mean, understatement of the year, obviously, but..." He adjusts his beanie and sighs, glancing from him to Austin. "We had a pretty good program back in brooklyn banning them in some areas but...not all. It's hard work changing all that. Normally I'd be against damaging property and stuff but...in this case? Nah, in this case you're in the right, for sure." he shakes his head again and sighs. "Gross stuff." He looks to Austin then and nods with a frown.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    "There are places in Gotham where they're even gluing spikes on tree branches in order to keep birds from perching on them in order to 'protect their cars'. It's an obscenity, is what it is. They think they can control nature." Lonnie rolls his eyes upward. "Sorry... I haven't eaten all day, and I've been filing down spikes. Austin - I've heard about you a little. It's nice to finally meet you." He glances back to Miles. "Your accent... Brooklyn?"

Austin Reese has posed:
"Out of towner huh?" Austin replies to Miles as he hears him mention Brooklyn, "School?" He looks about the right age to be a GU student, but he hadn't seen him around campus that he could think of. Different program maybe? And then Austin grins to Lonnie, "From Phoebe I assume. I'm sure she said nice things."

Miles Morales has posed:
    "Brooklyn, baby, born and raised. I'm here for school," Miles explains. The line continues to shuffle towards the food cart. "So, uh...anything cheerful to talk about? You guys have a decent Holiday?," he asks hopefully, glancing between them. He looks over to Austin, then, and nods. "Gotham U, yeah."

Lonnie Machin has posed:
"I don't celebrate holidays." Lonnie says, crossing his arms. "I don't really see very much to celebrate, and I can't make merry while poor people starve." He shrugs, and says, "But really I don't begrudge most people for finding a little warmth and happiness where they can grab it. I've got a lot of connections with the Zine community in New York - wait..." He tilts his head. "Are you the Miles Morales who paints those graffiti murals?"

Austin Reese has posed:
"Sweet. What program?" Austin asks, "I'm working on the engineering program right now. Kinda...Late getting started for reasons but I'm getting caught up." He's always happy to run into fellow students outside of campus. Lonnie's mention of Miles' artistic adventures does get a tilt out of his head though.

Miles Morales has posed:
    Miles nods slowly to Lonnie and looks for something to say in response, but can't seem to find it. Then the question comes, and his smile returns. "I am! Whoa, you've heard of me?," he asks, seeming surprised. He looks to Austin, then. "Oh, uh...engineering," he responds.

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy hangs up his phone as he looks up from it. The line has completely passed him by, and it looks like the rest of them as well. Such is the ebb and flow of the chaotic city. He raises the Right Hand of Doom and waves a finger around at the kids...well, to him, they're kids. "Hey, one of you Miles Morales?" he asks, having heard the name. He's at the very least the only somber adult in the group.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    "Of course I have!" Lonnie says, "I cited you in one of my Hacktivist discussions about urban artists taking art out of the hands of the the elites and giving it back to the people. You're *incredible*! People have the right to enrich and beautify *their* urban environment for *their* community enjoyment - that isn't just a privilege of the rich." He looks over at Hellboy, and then points at Miles. "He's Miles Morales. I'm surprised you're not going to school for art, but it's an education you don't really need."

Austin Reese has posed:
"I mean it seems like you could probably turn that art into a job the way Lonnie is talking about it." Austin says, "But hey if you're doing engineering too, I could totally use a study buddy sometime. Most of my education has been kinda, you know, the hard knocks variety." Hellboy coming back over asking for Miles makes him not in response to Lonnie's words.

Miles Morales has posed:
    "Wow, that's crazy," Miles laughs with a shake of his head. "I mean, thank you! I'm just...wow! Heh. That's super flattering, man." He nods to Red, then. "Yeah, what he said..." He turns back to Lonnie and chuckles. "Don't really need a degree in it to do what I do, yeah..." He looks back over to Austin and considers. "Eh, not really...I...don't want to make it a job, if that makes sense? Hard to explain."

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy grumbles. "Yeah," he says. Lots of words all jumbled together that could have been eliminated by one guy raising his hand. Hellboy lifts his phone. "This your work?" he asks. The picture of the painting has been made full-screen by Hellboy, and it fills his phone. It's a beautiful work of art to those who like such tings, and it is definitely a Miles Morales original...or rather, it was at one point. It's been sprayed over. Edited. It doesn't bear any additional tagging, nor was his removed. This wasn't a gang thing, but it was almost surgically edited. It's subtle, but Miles would know his own work.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
"He doesn't want to turn his art into a commodity." Lonnie offers, helpfully. "It's not something meant to be bought or sold, just shared." He puts his hand over his heart, and says, "I don't know if you see yourself as an Anarchist, Miles, but you certainly embody the spirit of it." He turns and glances at Hellboy's phone, and furrows his brow.

Miles Morales has posed:
    He blinks as he leans in to examine the picture on Red's phone. "...It was. What happened to it?," he asks, his eyes widening a bit. "Someone messed with it. Carefully, though..." He doesn't seem to hear Lonnie's mention of anarchy, though, as he's focused on this new mystery!

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy sighs. "Crap," he says. He looks at the vendor, then back at Miles. "There goes dinner." He sighs again, rubbing his forehead between his eyes briefly before letting his hand drop almost limply to his side. He Right Thumb of Dooms over his shoulder. Exasperatedly, he says, "Come on, I'm supposed to take you to my bosses for some kinda arcane test."

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    Lonnie looks at Hellboy, and then he blinks. "Uh-huh. Extradimensional stuff? But he's already saying that the work's been altered from his original. Wouldn't that testimony prove a negative for whatever kind of-" He shuts his mouth with a click. "...You're not going to compel him to come with you by force, are you?"

Austin Reese has posed:
"Arcane? Like magic stuff?" Crap. Is this kid a magic user? And of course Phoebe isn't around to do her thing, "Who are your bosses anyway?" SHIELD maybe? Could be Feds of some kind. He doesn't know which agency a big red guy would work for.

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy shakes his head. "Come or don't, kid, but I really don't want to have to chase you." That almost answers Lonnie's question. Hellboy looks like a tired, put-upon drudgeon in his current state, skipping supper to take the kid in for this test. It doesn't look like it would be hard to outrun him, even for a normal human. However, demon, so probably surprises.