15395/I Thought That Was...

I Thought That Was...
Date of Scene:	16 July 2023
Location:	East Harlem
Synopsis:	Shazam meets Golden Eagle and it goes well!
Cast of Characters:	Billy Batson, Yaretzi Acama

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Billy Batson has posed:
Taco Night was a sacred tradition in the Vasquez family. So When Rosa, mom to some, needed some of her special spices, Billy was immediately volunteered to head into Spanish Harlem to procure what really amounted to a foreign version of Adobo But you needed that spice. Adobo would not cut it. Of course Rosa was grateful and had no idea her foster son could fly to Spanish Harlem in the blink of an eye.

Billy wanders the aisles of the store, with a basket nearly full of thing Rosa asked for, as he checks a list STeve wrote out for him from memory. It turned out Steve was multi-lingual and provided translations. Hmmm Pico de Gallo... he thought he saw that.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Taco night's not only for the Vasquez family. The Acama family does tacos, too... and that's why Yaretzi's at the local store, buying stuff. She's got her basket with loaded with corn tortillas, a bundle of cilantro, an onion, a couple of tomatoes, a couple of smallish limes, and even a single cerrano pepper... and she's on her way to where she can buy a pack of ground beef. Except that she's got the ingredients for pico de gallo instead of pre-made stuff, her shopping list looks pretty identical to Billy's -- except she's not got an actual list with her; she's already clued on what to buy for taco night, clearly!

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy seeks the ingrediuents for pico. Whatever Rosa wants she gets. Victor told him that a long time ago. That was how innocently he found himself grabbing the hand of a pretty and petit young blonde woman. In fairness, he was looking at the list. He immediately apologizes in what little Spanish he knows. ?Pardoname senorita.? Then he realizes he is still holding her hand and releases.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Yaretzi's a local... and she can tell, easily enough, when someone's trying to speak Spanish when they don't know how. When she responds, it's in clear English, too -- though maybe she has a slight 'latina' sort of accent to a non-local. "Uhm... can I help you?", she asks, blushing a little at having had her hand taken hold of, pulling it away. Her eyes fall to Billy's basket and the list he has in the hand of the arm that the basket's handles are looped over. A moment later, she says, "Oh! You're shopping for taco night for your family, too?", she smilingly questions.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson grins. "It is a sacred duty in the Vasquez household. The Vasquezes fostered me for four years. I learned enough Spanish to get by. A little bit of Chinese from another sib and Freddie taught me some Klingon. I'm Billy." He bobs his head. Since she already pulled her hand away. He learned that from Eugene too.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
"I'm Yaretzi", is the blonde latina's reply (though, she's blonde thanks to bleach/dye, without any doubt). "Sounds like a good family you've got there", she adds, before asking, "...you ain't having trouble finding stuff, are you?", with a nod of her head at the list he has in his hand.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson slaps the list. "I got everything but the fixings for pico de gallo. But mom, Rosa, said I can buy a jar if that happened. Rosa is pretty cool." He looks outside the store. "Do you live around here?"

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
"Yeah, I live just down the street, actually", is Yaretzi's reply. "If she was planning to make it fresh off ingredients, that's always the best way to get salsa, instead of from a jar. Lemme grab some ground beef, then I can show you where the stuff's at, if you want?", she offers.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson says, "That's awfully decent of you. Rosa usually sends Pedro, who does speak Spanish and happens to be a foodie. I have two sisters and three brothers. It was a multi-racial, multi-cultural family, in Queens. Actually we moved here from Philly. My older sister, Mary was going to go to Hudson or Empire U. Long story there. I'm originally from the Midwest, a little place called Fawcett City. But I've lived a few places. May I ask you a question?" He of course has an ulterior motive which has nothing to do with the pretty girl helping him. Really.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
"Sure, ask away", Yartezi says, as she reaches out to grab a one-pound pack of 96-percent lean ground beef to put into her basket. "Can I see your list, so I know what all you're missing?", she then asks, holding out one hand.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson hands the list over. "My main problem was pronouncing the Spanish word for Bison meat. The clerk pointed me at the aisle for housewares. Anyway I was wondering, do you see that superhero -Golden Eagle around? Tall, dark haired, beautiful? Flies around in a white costume? I'm kind of looking for her."

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
"Bison meat? Y'all are gonna put bison meat into tacos? My family usually just uses ground beef or bistek...", Yaretzi says, that very last word 'bistek', sounding like she's saying 'beef steak', but in a Spanish sorta way. She glances over the list, then into Billy's basket. "I can help you find pretty much everything here, except... bison meat. I'm pretty sure they don't sell that kinda meat here..." She then points at the list, "...and, trying to read past that fold and wrinkling that's mangling the handwriting on this part, I think this says 'bistek', which is awesome in its own right. Wanna get some of that instead?", she suggests, pointing just a bit down from where she just picked up the ground beef at the packages of bistek.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson could get the bistek here and bison on the way home. Flying was great that way. "It sounds good. thank you, But like I said, I'm looking for Golden Eagle. Do you have any idea where I could find her?" trying to deflect Billy is pretty much impossible. Even if you had dazzling brown eyes. "I have to reach her."

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Yaretzi's eyes widen a bit. After a moment, she says, "You mean the new heroine that's been flying around? I've seen her flying by a few times, and on the news... uhm... I can't help you find her, sorry!" She looks away just after she starting speaking her reply, hiding her face by the simple advent of turning away to reach for a pack of the meat she's suggested for the Vasquez family's taco night. When she turns back with the meat in hand, offering it to Billy, she keeps her eyes averted. "Uhm... the rest of the stuff on your list is just produce. Unless you -really- need help with it, it's pretty easy to find...", she adds, kinda head-nodding towards the produce section of the market.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson notes he did something to put off /another/ girl. The Batson luck holds. "All right. Thank you. I'll get the produce closer to home. Thank s again for all you did. It was nice meeting you, Yaretzi. Enjoy your taco night! Adios!" He goes to the cashier to pay for his food. Slight frown there.

Billy exits the market. He should have known, locals look out for their heroes, other than Shazam. She must be well liked here. He steps outside after he finishes with the purchase. He's about ready to find a good spot to change. Distracted by many thoughts.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Yaretzi looks up as the boy moves away, and, with her basket of shopping complete anyway, also heads for the cash registers to check out. She's pouting, too, but anyone who actually knows her would recognize that it's not an 'upset' pout, but one of her thinking. She's got a completely lack of 'poker face'... and she keep glancing over at Billy, too, though she's trying (and probably failing) to have the eyeballing be unnoticed.

A few minutes later, she's leaving the store, still kinda pouty, with her bags of groceries in hand, and turns down the alley she always uses as a shortcut to get back home from the market.

Billy Batson has posed:
The problem is other people are using her shortcut, three young toughs in colors have knocked Billy into a wall. Groceries spill. Knives come out. Billy faceplants into the wall. As hands start shoving him and going through his pockets her turns and yells, "Shazam!" Lightning strikes.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Yaretzi turned the corner just in time to see what's like a snippet right out of a superhero movie... the young man calling down lightning to transform into the superhero!

Her jaw drops open, her eyes wide, as she watches the three gangers get slammed back against the alley walls, slumping to the ground unconscious. She's not looking at them, though -- she's looking at Shazam.

Then, she gives away her presence by saying, "Holy moley...!"

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam notes his lightning is a curious thing. He has transformed with others in close contact, hugging in fact, with no ill effects. But those were friends. These guys were not and they got blasted and knocked out. He was about to stoop and retrieve his groceries when he becomes aware of Yaretzi and he stops and peers. Then Shazam walks over to her, looks down and smiles. "Did you just say 'Holy Moley'?" He's not sure she saw Billy very well.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
"Uhm... yeah, I did Captain... er... Shazam!", Yaretzi says. She glances back and to the side and quickly steps farther into the alley. "I know why you were asking about Golden Eagle now, too!", she adds. Glancing back the way she came, and then forward deeper into the alley, she then says, "If you weren't who you are, I'd never do this, y'know..." The girl pauses a moment, taking a breath and letting it out slowly, before saying, "Cuatli!"

There's suddenly lightning, but it's not lightning -- it just looks like it. It's white, and kinda ghostly-looking, and it seems to form out of nothing and nowhere around the girl, flowing to her and enveloping her. It glows the whole time, but never so brightly that it's blinding, but it does completely obscure her from view for a moment, before seeming to simply 'absorb' into her... but it's not Yaretzi standing there, when the 'lightning' enters her body; it's Golden Eagle. "Now we're even again!", she says, her tone making it clear she's kinda in a huff about it, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam folds his arms. "I didn't ask you to show me for the record. However, I appreciate the professional courtesy. I'm glad we met. This is awkward now. I wanted to apologize for being so forward. I mean we have our secrets for a reason. You're entitled to yours. In my case... a lot of heroes know I'm who I am... are these guys still zonked out? Maybe we should take this to the skies?" He does blur for a moment and the groceries are gather up and bagged again.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Golden Eagle, whose groceries vanished when her own transformation happened, says, "Yeah... but I can't hang out for long, 'cause my family's waiting for me to get back with the groceries", even as she simply lifts her feet from the ground by the simple advent of bending her knees a bit -- she flies just that easily, hardly having to even think about it. "Like I said, you're Captain Marvel... Shazam. If I can't trust you, who *can* I trust?", and starts floating up into the air.

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam flies after her. "I killed the Captain Marvel name quick. There's this nice lady who got to it first. I'm Shazam. I appreciate the trust obviously. I didn't want it to happen like this but stuff like this happens all the time to me. I think one of those guys," he gestures upward as he flies, "Sees to it but they aren't saying. Anyway I want to give you my card. In case you ever need to reach me." He reaches into his belt and produces a business card for Billy Batson of course.

"If you ever want to team up with the Shazam Family, or Shazamily. Or you could drop into our lair sometime. We have a nice set up."

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Golden Eagle takes the card, slipping it up under the back of one of her gloves, along the forearm. Her eyes widen and she smiles in that 'fan girl' sorta way, but just for a moment before she gets control of herself. Kinda clearing her throat, softly, she says, "... that'd be pretty cool", still wearing a big smile.