13885/Orange is the New Black

Orange is the New Black
Date of Scene:	19 January 2023
Location:	Luke's Bar
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Luke Cage, Koriand'r, Danny Rand

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Luke Cage has posed:
    It is a typical night at Luke's bar. More or less. There have not been any fights recently, no gods coming to tell stories of how they invited football, no strange wizardly types coming to hunt down evildoers. Just the regular patrons, and occupying a spot behind the bar for the moment is the owner, Luke Cage. He may not be the best bartender, but he is always willing to pitch in when his servers need, and right about now Kathy is going through a rough possible break-up and was either on the phone out back with her boyfriend, or having a good cry about it. Either way, that left Luke to attend to the relatively slow mid-week crowd.

    "I think the Giants can do it," argues one of the patrons leaning against the counter, stabbing a finger at the man next to him. "The Iggles can't stop the run nearly well enough." Down from the two men arguing over sports is another group currently in a pitched battle to decide which four men should be on the Mount Rushmore of Motown. The only clear consensus on that so far is Marvin Gaye.

    Luke, himself, moves fluidly between the conversations, offering a sentence here and there when he drifts into its orbit, taking orders and filling drinks. A far cry from leaping into volcanoes.

Koriand'r has posed:
If there was one thing about Earth that was vastly different on Tamaran, it was the differences that had seemingly sprung up simply from pigmentation. And yet, despite the shallow hate it had bred out in too many, the diversity of culture was one of the greatest attractions for Princess Koriand'r to this planet.

Of course being a tall orange-skinned alien girl kind of made her stand out even without the whole public superhero thing and her modeling, but that hardly seemed to bother her as she pushes her way through the door into the bar that a friendly local had told her about.

Luke Cage has posed:
    All types find their way to Luke's Bar. It is kind of a thing. Luke is very clear that all are welcome, and his status as a hero is well known. So it is not uncommon for a hero to find themselves in the bar, or some other being that is not quite normal. And for the most part, the patrons do a very good of following that rule. Tall gorgeous orange skinned women, though, are far, /far/ from what any of them are used to. So while the patrons do do their level best to go on about their business, their conversations definitely suffer a bit of a lull as Koriand'r walks in. Recovered quickly enough, although certainly plenty of eyes linger upon her.

    Luke sighs to himself, but also realizes it may be a losing battle, and if he is lucky, the new arrival will not even notice it if he does not call attention. "Evening," he calls to her as he makes his way along the bar towards the arch of it closest to the door. "Welcome to Luke's."

Koriand'r has posed:
If the shift when she entered the room was noted by Kori? Either she was ignorant of its meaning, unbothered or accustomed to it as she made her way towards the bar with a smile, lifting a hand to Luke's own greeting as she found herself a seat.

"Hello! I was told by a nice man several streets over that this is a 'comfy place to grab a drink' and I wished to see it."

Well, direct, but Kori was not one for subtle. "I would like something to drink please. Whatever is most popular here."

Luke Cage has posed:
    There is a certain element of relief that Luke feels as Kori seems ignorant of the looks she is getting. "I am glad that someone was talking so highly of us," replies Luke with a warm smile. He waves a hand to indicate one of the empty stools, conveniently a few stools away from either the sports or the music argument that has resumed raging once the initial shock of Kori's arrival has faded. "If you want what's most popular..." He takes a moment to look around as his patrons. Most of which are drinking beer off draught. He shrugs for a moment, and then reaches down below the bar to pull up a chilled glass. "This is certainly a grabbable drink." He pours a decent, wheaty lager and sets the frosted glass down in front of her. "I'm Luke. Let me know if you need anything, I'm here to serve."

Koriand'r has posed:
Grabbable drink got! Kori nods her approval with a grateful smile as she takes the offered seat before she settles down. Was the drink going to be to her taste? Well, it was anyone's guess given her sometimes weird tastebuds. Still, she takes the glass in both hands, pondering the liquid for a moment and giving it a light sniff. Probably odd behaviour, but she -was- quite clearly an alien.

"I am Koriand'r, though most people know me as 'Starfire'. It is a pleasure to meet you Luke."

Luke Cage has posed:
    It's not every day that someone with orange skin walks into Luke's bar. And he has known an alien or two - or a god, or a living fist, or whatever - so it does not really take him back all that much as he watches Koriand'r sniff the beer. "If you want something more fragrant, I do have some nice wines as well, " he offers. Presumably the smell of beer is not great no matter what planet you are from, but who is he to judge?

    "Ah, pleased to meet you. I have heard of you." He inclines his head in greeting. "Most people know me as Luke." He pauses after saying that, as if realizing it sounds a bit odd, especially given that he just offered his name. But he just continues on anyway. "What brings you to New York, and Harlem?" He considers her for a moment. "On business, or just touring?"

Koriand'r has posed:
"I was doing a patrol," Kori offers lightly, taking a small sip and seeming to ponder the taste, rolling it around on her tongue before swallowing. Well, she hadn't seemed revolted, so that was a good sign! "Someone fled into this area and then broke into a small shop to hide. They were not a local, but the man who owned the shop was. He pointed me here."

Business then it seems, or at least it started that way.

"I am between modeling jobs and have been visiting a friend of mine who lives in the city, but the Titans are never too far away from New York." It was likely almost refreshing in a way, a luxury those with secret identities didn't have, to talk about the 'life' so openly.

Luke Cage has posed:
    "Ah, that makes sense. Yeah, people like to come to Harlem to hide." Luke glances around the bar for a moment, as if sizing up just who is in there, before looking back to Kori. "It's the kind of place where people can easily avoid being noticed. Good place to lay low." He flashes a smile. "For most of us, anyway."

    "I didn't realize you were a model. Makes sense though." He pulls out a glass of his own and pours himself half a beer. "One of my friends tried to get us to do a calendar once, and I think it sold a bit. So I don't think I count as a model, but I did do a photoshoot and it was exhausting." He lifts up the beer and takes a swallow. "I'd rather go a few rounds with the Rhino than do that again."

Danny Rand has posed:
"Exhausting? You had to have a bowl entirely of yellow M&M's, and what was it, Water from some spring in Tibet that you had read about," was Danny speaking the truth, or cracking a joke. It was hard to tell, but the blond haired, blue eyed, white boy coming into the Harlem bar sold it.

Looking like he belonged in sunny California, terrorising Danny LaRusso with Cobra Kai, he wore a black suit, white shirt, and canary yellow tie, though he had white sneakers with yellow accents, which kind of set him apart from any corporate crowd, and the jacket was definitely unbuttoned.

Approaching his good friend, and companion, he asked, "I'll have a bottled water," and then he raised his right hand, palm showing, and scanned it across his front in a gentle motion, "any bottled water is fine by me." And yes, he was smiling as he did that.

Koriand'r has posed:
A blink, a tilt of her head, there was another approaching who didn't fit in, though at least Danny wasn't bright orange with vaguely luminescent red hair and green eyes! The alien Princess who was currently trying beer in a Harlem bar does give a little giggle to Luke's words, but it was Danny's arrival that does bring a blink before a glance back to the night's bartender.

"This is the friend you spoke of? The 'Calender man'?"

Luke Cage has posed:
    "Speak of the Fist, and he shall appear," replies Luke, his baritone laugh filling the bar as Danny picks right into the conversation. He nods to Koriand'r, waving a hand to indicate Danny. "Danny Rand," and then Kori. "Koriand'r, also known as Starfire." He looks at Danny. "I didn't tell her my other name. Don't spoil what I've got going." He grins over at his friend as he lifts the glass up, taking a long swallow of his beer.

    Nodding to Kori, he sets the glass down as he continues. "My friend here is the source of all of the worst ideas I've ever gotten involved in." He considers for a moment. "Which makes me wonder why we are still friends. Why is that, Danny?" Clearly a joke, as he laughs before taking another swallow of beer.

Danny Rand has posed:
If Danny were more aware, he might have made a joke about Calendar Man being a different guy that hangs out in Gotham, but Danny wasn't that knowledgeable about villains. He hit them. They generally didn't get up until the police arrived. And that was the totality of his involvement with them. Someone could make a joke about him being a living One Punch Man.

Danny took a seat on one of the stools, legs wider apart than was probably necessary, but he was used to falling into casual positions that didn't really seem that casual to others. Hearing Koriand'r, Danny at first thought she was named after the herb, but when Luke added Starfire, he had heard of that name, "the Titans right... or was that Teen Titans?"

"Which one, Black Avenger, Mr. Sarcasm, Mr. Street-Tough Black, Giant Man, Ace of Spades, Phoenix Man..." he avoided the obvious one, and even slipped in one that wasn't a real name that Luke had gone by, or been called, at one time or another.

And then, turning to Koriand'r, he said, in an earnest voice, "Luke is one of the kindest, gentlest, but tough, guys you will ever meet. You could do a lot worse than spending some time with a guy like him."

"Hey, only the second worst idea you've ever gotten involved in. That worst one's all on you buddy." Now what could that be? Sounds like a story Luke should tell.

Koriand'r has posed:
"Titans," Koriand'r offers, a little blink as she looks between the pair in consideration and light confusion. Obviously she didn't get the joke about the 'Hero for Hire's name, but then she'd already been around plenty of strange types in her time as a heroine. "I mean...It -was- the Teen Titans, but when we are no longer teenagers then..." she shrugs, gesturing lightly and then finally took herself a sip of her drink experimentally. It was like she still hadn't quite decided if she liked the taste or not.

Danny's praise of Luke brings a little smile, a nod of her head and then a look back to Luke. "That is what friends are for, no?"

Luke Cage has posed:
"Careful, Danny, don't need to get word around that I'm serving Teen ANYTHING around here," chides Luke, laughing again with that soft baritone before he takes another few swallows of beer as Danny and Kori sort that out.

"And yes, the best part of friendship is getting those horrible ideas, hearing those horrible ideas, and then DOING those horrible ideas." He raises his glass as if in salute to Danny. "And then getting OUT of this horrible ideas."

Danny Rand has posed:
"Not all the X-Men are men," Danny offers to Koriand'r, defending the Titans' past name. "Though you're probably right. There's a time and a place for all things, and its time had passed." Seemingly oblivious to his faux pas about the age and a bar, Danny only offers an, "oh," followed by "right," after a pause. Danny lifted up his bottle of water, toasting with Luke, and then drowning about a quarter of it.

Koriand'r has posed:
Kori actually laughs at that, a grin to the joke before she shakes her head. "It is okay. Very few of the Titans these days are actually teenagers. I think it was a...clarity thing?" she offers, that last word said with enough doubt it was probably someone else's words. Another sip of her drink as the toast passes and Kori frowns a little, shifting a little on her seat and reaching down to her waist where a small pocket-watch like device rests, silently vibrating. "I will be a moment!" she loudly declares before making to step outside.

Luke Cage has posed:
"Yeah, I could see what being unclear." Luke glances at Danny and nods tapping the side of his nose at the realization about the drinking age. And then as Luke turns his attention back to Kori she shifts her attention to that device. "Of course," he says to her with a smile. "We'll be here."

He straightens up a bit and finishes off the glass of beer before looking to Danny. "So how are you doing these days? Fisting going well?"

Danny Rand has posed:
Danny nodded along as Koriand'r explained the situation with the Titans, though gave her space when the device began to vibrate. Some people would peer, trying to see what it was. Danny looked over to Luke at that point, and took another sip of his bottled water. "Take as much time as you need," he added in agreement with Luke.

And that last question got quite the groan from the Immortal Iron Fist. Even he knew that was phrased horribly, "you should hear yourself, right now."