14787/Cupp of Bad Medicine

Cupp of Bad Medicine
Date of Scene:	27 April 2023
Location:	Gotham University
Synopsis:	When an unwelcome visitor shows up at Gotham University 'just to talk', Robbie Reyes takes exception with his taste in cars, treatment of women in general and especially creeping on Phoebe.
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Robbie Reyes

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Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Spring Time in Gotham. The trees are leafing, there are lilacs in bloom sharing their heady sweet scent with the brightness of tulips, and occasionally, like a day like today, it's warm enough to venture outside with just a light sweatshirt to combat the elements, and even some of the girls were in sundresses and skirts as the end of the class day approaches.

    College life was abuzz, with skateboarders and scooters zipping along the streets around Gotham U, especially near the Solomon Wayne library steps where students were gathering to catch up on the gossip or make plans for Wednesday evening.

    A brand new charcoal Mercedes Benz GLS SUV with crisp black interior leather pulls up to one of the spots right out front, skidding on the breaks and creaking into park, like the driver isn't quite familiar with how to drive a stick shift, and from the clearly expensive vehicle comes one Phillip Cupp. Crisp new haircut, charcoal suit pants with a blue shirt rolled up to his elbows, matching charcoal tie and a clearly VERY expensive looking Rolex on his wrist, which he anxiously checks the time with.

    There does happen to be a clear spot next to him on the diagonal parking.

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Sex. The trees are having sex. And Robbie, much as it pains him to say it, is allergic to sex. Tree-sex, that is. Not the other kind!

He's just finished a ten-minute sneeze marathon, which has necessitated a detour to the pharmacy for some allergy medication. Kid hasn't been sick in years, but the goddamn tree-sex gets him every time. Go fucking figure.

This is probably why he pulls into the main parking lot of the University a little later than intended. The low growl of the Charger's engine is unmistakeable, though, as the menacing black vehicle slots in coincidentally beside the Benz. He parks, leaves the engine running for the time being, and quickly fires off a text to Phoebe begging for forgiveness.

He hasn't yet spotted Cupp climbing out.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Allergies are weird that way.

    Phoebe would tell him how *weird* it is to have spring allergies and be able to heal a broken spine overnight. Cupp, however, has no such knowledge. He wouldn't even be able to tell Robbie apart from any one of Phoebe's many siblings if he had to, but who doesn't appreciate a classic car?

    "Nice ride. Who refurbished it? Gotham Motors? XTreme Wheels down in Robbinsville?" Cupp asks, citing two very, very high end garages that do custom work for rich people like him.

    >No problem! Lindsay and I were finishing up on some writing samples. Be right out!

    Phoebe's return text is prompt, and she can be seen from a distance, wearing orange-rimmed sunglasses, a cream-colored hair wrap and a very pink sundress under a 'borrowed' hoodie.

    It may or may not be Robbie's hoodie. It's a mystery.

Robbie Reyes has posed:
The lanky young man in the driver's seat is definitely no Wayne, thank you very much. For one, he's too scrawny (well, in comparison to most of the boys on Phoebe's side of the family). For two-- well, it doesn't take any kind of keen investigative skills to discern the fact that he has his roots in the *barrio*, not in old money. Has that hungry, kind of junkyard dog vibe about him. Messy black curls, grease smeared along his throat. Battered old leather jacket, and the knees of his skinny jeans only get more shredded by the day.

But he looks up as the guy outside his open window addresses him. Narrows his eyes slightly. "Nah man, did it myself." His mismatched eyes graze over the expensive suit and pause on the rolex. "Don't I know you?" He has not yet spotted Phoebe.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Ah, got a love of motors, huh? Ha, too complicated for me. I'll stick to law!" Cupp answers, and seeing that the young man with the hungry look and the messy curls definitely isn't one of his type, he gives that too-wide, too-many-teeth smile and offers an up-nod to Robbie, sticking his hands in his pockets.

    "Well, I *am* running to be a senator to represent the state of New Jersey, and run a very successful law office." he smiles as if it were something to be humble about.

    And then there's an uptick in fear about the area. Phoebe caught sight of Cup, and she freezes in her tracks. Lindsay, one of the girls from the Pink Metal outing taps her shoulder very lightly and there's a brief exchange, and the hood of the hoodie comes up over the head wrap, and the two duck into the shadows of the library as Phoebe wrestles with an unusual amount of pure fear.

Robbie Reyes has posed:
The 'love of motors' comment paired with the too-broad smile is.. kind of creepy, to be honest. Robbie narrows his eyes slightly but doesn't grant that a response. Or even a slight shift in his expression-- which is somewhere between bored, annoyed and suspicious.

Eli doesn't seem to give much of a shit, so whoever the guy is, he must be small potatoes. Lawyer? Looks and sounds like pond scum.

Then he catches a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of someone familiar. Leaning out his open window, he starts to call her name-- and instantly realises something's wrong.

The mismatched eyes flick back to Cupp, and he looks him up and down like he's properly taking him in for the first time. "Hey, yeah, I remember you. Some stupid Christmas fundraiser for rich white guys?"

Probably he shouldn't have said that in his outside voice.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The girl who was walking with Phoebe pokes her head out, and appears to try to casually lean against the door. She's talking. Maybe giving a rundown.

    "... oh." Phillip states, leaning against the front of his Mercedes SUV, and he looks the Charger up and down a moment, and he gives a snort.

    "The fundraiser was for one of the Waynes' pet charities. Something about kids of criminals getting to see their parents. Only went because I knew she'd be there." he gives a snort.

    "So. You're Robbie Reyes. What's so special about you that she keeps you around?"

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Suppressing the urge to climb out of the car and go chase Phoebe down, the kid blows a breath out his nose and turns his eyes back on Cupp at the 'oh'. Or maybe the snort. There's a tiny raise of one brow like, you dissing my ride? But at least this time, he doesn't say it out loud.

He does however run the tip of his tongue along his lower lip while Cupp talks-- and there's a clear and unambiguous flare of disgust when the guy mentions stalking his girlfriend at the party.

"Special?" He snorts a laugh and darts a glance in the direction Phoebe's hiding. "Nah, man. I ain't too special. But I don't fuckin' creep on her, either." Back to Cupp, he tips his chin slightly to the guy. "Somethin' you maybe oughta consider for next time."

The implication being, with some other girl.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    He is clearly dissing the Charger now that he knows who Robbie is. His smile turns into a little sneer as his head tilts back a little as he looks down his nose at Reyes in the car.

    "At least I get out of the car to open the door for a lady. You're just sitting there." he growls, clearly frustraited that he couldn't come up with any other insult to sling at Robbie. "I've known her for longer. You have /no/ idea the work I've put into--" he begins, and then he breathes out, calming himself as he removes his hands from his pockets, and goes to run a hand over his slicked back hair.

    "Look, I'm here to pick her up, I just wanna talk to her, alone. And YOU. You shoulda accepted the ten-kay to break it off. You coulda afforded a car wash for this old heap."

    Phoebe comes out of the library, little more composed, her sunglasses pushed up and perched on her forehead now, and she tells her escort to hang back a little bit. So pink sundress, faded hoodie, sneakers and head wrap she makes her way towards the Charger -- notably on the passenger side.

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Okay, Robbie's going from pissed off to plain amused. "I'm just sittin' here," he repeats drolly, trying to stifle his smile-- and somewhat failing as he betrays a hint of dimples. "And you-- you *known* her longer? Well, you got me there."

And maybe he's going to just leave it at that, and ditch this tool to go find Phoebe. Except the slimebucket has to go and admit he's here to harrass her. Because he's stupid as well as gross.

Door pushed open, the lean young man climbs out, shuts his door, and immediately winds up to deliver a bare-knuckled haymaker right on target: Cupp's nose.

There's a little bit of time for the guy to react before it hits, but not much; Robbie's not terribly big, but he is *fast*.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Cupp considered himself quite smart. He also considered most people who weren't him to be dumb and subserviant because he was their better. He's the type to dump work on his admins at four thirty on a Friday, because he knows they have plans, and his plans are more important.

    And the announced-to-be-running-for-senator doesn't catch the haymaker movement, he assumes it's a feint. Or that Robbie isn't going to connect hard.

    There's a satisfying crack, though. Nose broken. Spurt of blood, and cursing beneath the bubble of breath before Cupp goes to return fire.

    He's not a scrapper. He's not a boxer. He's maybe done Tae Bo, but he's bigger by a little bit, and he works out (for presentation, with a personal trainer). He's slow and telegraphs his moves.

    "You -- stupid, little punk!" he burbles, blood staining his nice blue shirt and his charcoal slacks which, at right this moment, he considers worth *far* more than backing down.

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Sadly for Cupp, Robbie never wastes time with feinting when he means to break someone's nose.

Which, as it happens, is precisely what he was going for here.

A few students passing by shriek. One of them's already scrambling for his cell phone in record time. The guy in the suit and the Mercedes *might* be a teacher here; Robbie could well be a senior with an attitude problem pissed about a failing term paper. Well, a senior with an attitude problem and a mean right hook.

The riposte from Cupp actually does land-- though it lacks that satisfying *oomph* of having actually broken something. In fact, there isn't so much as a bruise to show for it, despite the fact that the guy definitely hit him hard enough to leave one behind.

"Been called much worse by much better people, *pendejo*." He turns his head and spits; the trace of blood suggests Cupp did actually hurt him, however temporarily. "Now get the fuck outta here."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    There's a childish chorus of 'FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!' 'Dale una paliza a ese gringo!' and at least one 'yeah beat up that creep!' that might have come from Lindsay, who had been escorting Phoebe, who looks -- not quite horrified, but definitely Stressed as she pushes through the crowd, reaching Robbie and putting herself between the two.

    "Hey, hey you okay?" Silly question. She's purposefully checking him first.

    Phillip Cupp seems absolutely *affronted* and his face is already turning a little green from the bruising.

    "Hey, *HEY*. Fix this!" he hisses, "or I'll tell everyone your secret!"