15726/All he wanted was coffee...that's all

All he wanted was coffee...that's all
Date of Scene:	27 August 2023
Location:	Upper East Side
Synopsis:	Bruce slipped away for coffee and ends up in a potential robbery. The robbery was broken up by some of the Spider family and no big, mean green monster.
Cast of Characters:	Bruce Banner, Cindy Moon, Peter Parker

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Bruce Banner has posed:
Standing at the counter, waiting patiently, Bruce has once more slipped away from the mansion and his would be keepers. These escapes probably keep him from running off completely. He has ordered a cup of coffee and is doing his level best to not be noticed.

Of course, that being said he probably stands out worse than usual. The barista seems to know him and they talk easy, though Banner isn't the best conversationalist.

Cindy Moon has posed:
The sharp angles of Manhattan's Upper East Side skylines create a rhythmic pattern of shadows and light as Silk effortlessly swings from building to building. The chimes of nearby church bells blend with the distant hum of traffic, creating a soundscape unique to New York. Each swing, each leap feels like a dance in mid-air, a performance only the skyscrapers and occasional pigeon are privy to.

"Honestly, Lola, you wouldn't believe the kind of week I've had," she chatters into her earpiece. Her voice contains a light-hearted lilt, just the faintest hint of strain heard as she hits the valley of the swing and starts rising back into the air.

"....No! That was one time!" Silk protests, executing a flawless spin around the flagpole atop a luxury apartment building. "And you promised never to bring it up again."

She's is about to say something else when her attention is diverted by a sudden flare of her Silk-Sense. Below, a old, junky black sedan pulls up abruptly in front of a small, chic coffee shop. The engine idles for a moment before two men get out. Even from her aerial vantage point, she notes their tense postures, the way they glance around surreptitiously.

But it's the unmistakable glimpse of metal, the sheen of a gun barrel being quickly tucked into a jacket, that has more alarm bells ringing in her head. Both of them. And then they head for the coffee shop's entrance.

"Lola," Cindy says hurriedly, "I gotta go. I've got a... situation here."

Without waiting for a response, she ends the call and reroutes her trajectory. In moments, she's descending rapidly towards the coffee shop. The urban soundscape changes again, becoming louder, more immediate: the nearby honk of taxis, the murmur of people on sidewalks, the soft jingle as the coffee shop door opens and closes, allowing the two men inside with their hands tucked into their jackets as they look around -- likely making sure there aren't any cops sitting at any of the tables.

Bruce Banner has posed:
No cops. Just a few of the regulars and the weird guy that randomly arrives. He glances towards the new arrivals, but looks away again. He is oblivious, at the moment, that the men are armed. The monster inside doesn't stir so it is clear he is calm.

His drink arrives and he thanks the barista and steps away to make room for the new arrivals.

His phone buzzes and he glances at it, immediately distracted from everyone by whatever is on the screen. He frowns thoughtfully and shakes his head in disgust.

Cindy Moon has posed:
They wait their turn, so at least they're polite coffee-shop robbers. But, as soon as they make it up to the register, the guns come out. One man shoves his in the face of the cashier. The other waves his around the restaurant in general.

"Give us all your cash!"

"NOBODY MOVE!"

The girl, probably eighteen or so, behind the register throws her hands up and her eyes go wide. "Take whatever you want from the register! Please, just leave us all alone."

Another voice, younger, possibly a college student based on the hint of a tremor speaks up from the crowd, "Man, you know they?re putting all the cash in digital wallets these days, right? You guys are a bit behind the times."

A tense silence follows, the second gunman looking through the crowd. "WHO SAID THAT?!"

And at about that time, there's another jingle from the door as a young woman steps in -- her body glad head to toe in a black-and-white skin-tight suit with a webbed pattern, her blood-red mask covering the lower half of her face, long black hair left loose against her cheeks.

"Hey... you guys know you're double-parked out there at the curb, right?" Silk asks as if nothing at all was happening. "There's a tow truck pulling up..."

Bruce Banner has posed:
While he is oblivious at first, not even he can miss the noise and the waving guns,"Great." he mutters softly and shakes his head,"This is why they don't let you out Bruce." he growls softly and starts to take slow, deep breaths, trying to remain calm.

He doesn't move yet as they seem to be more interested in the register right now. That said, he finds his attention slipping from the robbers when he hears the voice from outside. He blinks once and then again when the young lady enters the building. He knows Spider-Man some and he has heard of other Spider types, but this one doesn't really seem familiar to him. He is at once relieved and wary. This could get dicey fast and the other guy is the last think anyone needs.

Cindy Moon has posed:
The two robbers momentarily forgot about the cashier and the smart-mouthed college student, turning their focus on the new entrant. For a split second, their expressions are almost comical -- a mix of confusion, annoyance, and recognition. After all, they might be criminals, but they're also New Yorkers, and New Yorkers know their local superheroes when they see one.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" The one with the gun aimed at the crowd growls, clearly trying to regain control of the situation. But his attempt at bravado comes off a bit shaky, especially when he's clearly rattled by the appearance of Silk.

"The name's Silk. Maybe you've heard of me? I'm kind of a big deal in the superhero circles..." she says, her tone dripping with sarcasm. She thumbs back over her shoulder towards the door, "And seriously, that tow truck is going to make a mess of your getaway car."

But then she pauses, her eyes widening as they settle on Bruce.

"OH MY GOD. Do you guys know who that is?!"

Dark eyes shift from Bruce to the bad-guys, eyes resting in a mixture of humor and actual concern.

"You guys are soooooo screwed, and you don't even realize it. If you could do me a /huuuuuge/ favor and put the guns away so I can web you up, everyone would be grateful. Including you. I promise. Cause.. otherwise you might get pounded into dust, and /I/ don't wanna get pounded into dust..."

Then those eyes are back on Bruce, and she gives a pleasant little wave.

"Hi, Dr. Banner! I.. you don't know me. But, I know you. Big fan. Don't freak out, okay?"

Bruce Banner has posed:
Nothing like guns to make the day interesting. Banner is watching things still, breathing very steadily and doing his best to not let the pulse rate go up. He glances between the two thugs and the young Spider family member. While the men are concentrated on her, Bruce pushes the lid on his coffee free.

Initially he is confused by her insistence about how screwed they and then he realizes she recognized him. He ecan't help but laugh a little, still calm and looking at her, then back to the robbers,"I am calm. How calm I remain is on them at this point."

He meets the gaze of one, difficult for him to do and yet he manages,"You gentlemen should really listen to the lady before the police arrive...or something far worse."

Cindy Moon has posed:
"Uhhhh..." One of the goons starts to ask, blinking and chuckling when his eyes turn on Bruce, "/That/ guy is going to pound me into dust?"

"...Sort of? I'm going to be honest with you, we're not really besties, so I'm not sure how he identifies.. if it's like /him/ him or like a /different/ him.."

The other goon blinks. "What?"

"You guys /really/ have your heads in the sand, huh? What's big, mean, green, and wrecks city blocks before breakfast?" Silk asks, then winces a little, looking over at Bruce. "Sorry. That's probably offensive.. I should have said /saves the world/ before breakfast, but I was going for more of a threatening vibe, you know? But without the actual mass destruction part."

It's almost as if she keeps forgetting the bad guys are there, and they themselves don't even really seem to know how to process that, just getting ever more agitated by Silk ignoring them.

"HEY! WHO THE HELL IS THAT?!" one of them shouts.

Peter Parker has posed:
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... Spider-Man!

The webhead releases his webline and backflips through the air, landing right at the entrance like he just stepped off a bus. "Woah! Hey! Guys, it's just some burned coffee. Violence won't salvage your macchiato," he quips at them, and holds his hands up, palms out, in a disarming gesture. The webslinger looks at Silk, gives her a subtly reassuring nod, then focuses back on the robbers. "Let's just-"

He realizes who is behind them and the eyelenses on his mask go wide. "Oh man! Dr. Banner! Hi!" he tells the scientist. "We met before, I'm-- remember me? I'm Spider-Man," he says, tapping his fingers against his chest. "Big fan! Can I get your autograph?"

Bruce Banner has posed:
There is a nod towards the newest arrival. His concentration is on controlling his breathing and pulse rate,"I remember yes." he replies to the young man in the red suit,"We get through this without an appearance of the other guy and I'll sign whatever you want." he suggests and turns his attention back to the yelling guys with the guns. He meets one of their gazes, not trying to stare him down. Instead he is hoping maybe if he is calm the robber will calm.

Cindy Moon has posed:
...Then there were two of them. And even these goons aren't stupid enough to think that going two-vs-two with Spiders has a very good outcome.

"SPIDER-MAN!" one of them shouts, causing both of them to give up focusing on Silk to look at him.

Then Bruce is being asked for his autograph, and suddenly Silk has /none/ of the attention.

"Suuuuuuure. /Everybody/ knows Spider-Man. Nobody ever wants /my/ autograph," she grumps, her dark eyes cutting over to Spidey with a little, amused squint.

With Silk busy talking to Spidey, the two gunmen take a quick glance at each other and then decide to scale the counter to make for the doorway into the back.

There's a little *twip* from a twitch of Silk's hand, though, and a spray of web from her fingertips hits one of them squarely in the back, pinning him to the wall beside the door in an /incredibly/ awkward pose that looks a little like Wile E. Coyote's silhouette in the ground.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter reacts almost simultaneously with Silk, catching the other gunman with a web bullet to his gun hand and to his foot. It pins him against the countertop and floor, and all he can do is grunt and complain loudly about the webbing until Spidey hits him with a third mini-web right in his squawk-box.

"Everyone's OK, right?" he asks the crowd, and looks around them with a careful examination. Once he's sure no one's been injured, and that Silk managed to defuse a REAL disaster, he exhales in relief and looks back at Banner.

"Sorry, Doctor Banner, about nerding out there," he apologizes. "Can I-- would you mind if I bought you a cup of coffee?" His eyelenses focus on the drink next to him. "You've already got a drink," Peter observes helpfully, and looks to Silk, then back to Bruce. "How about a ... scone or something?" he stumbles. "I'm sorry, I'm just--" he rubs the back of his head, then gestures with the same hand and lets it flop to his side. "Big fan," he adds, a little lamely.

Spidey looks at Silk. "You're not being -any- help," he accuses her. Like it's *her* fault he's falling over himself in awe!

Bruce Banner has posed:
Seeing the two get handled, Bruce relaxes a bit more. His breathing is steady and he puts the lid back on his coffee. He nods to the pair and replies,"I am fine. No visit from the other guy. That is always a good thing."

His attention moves to Spider-Man and shakes his head,"It's OK. I don't get that real often." he comments with a chuckle,"A little more lately than usual, but I manage."

He glances between the two spiders and tells them,"This is the sort of thing that makes the Avengers not want me out in public. You two stopped a disaster. If I had anything to give you I would. No good comes from the other guy getting loose." He glances towards the webs and tells them,"I would be interested to see the formula of chemical compounds you use for the web lines."

Cindy Moon has posed:
Silk actually makes a small amused sound under her mask as Peter fumbles to try to buy Bruce something (as if she didn't confess literally seconds ago to being a big fan, herself, after being able to pick him out of a crowd without even expecting to see him).

She does meet Spidey's mask-eyes, though, when he turns to look at her, and her retort is a single word that drips with unrestrained humor. "Nerd."

No, she really /wasn't/ being any help.

But then Bruce is offering to give /them/ something and she raises her hands slightly, shaking her head.

"Honestly, we're just glad to help," Silk says, apparently speaking for both of them. She does walk forward, though, a little saunter that brings her up in front of Bruce.

There, she holds out one hand, palm up, as if asking for his. After all, she wasn't about to do anything sudden or drastic after managing to keep him from getting upset thus far.

"May I?"

Peter Parker has posed:
"The form--" Spider-man's eyelenses blink in visible confusion. Banner's interested in *his* webfluid? No one tell the good doctor that it's something Spider-Man cooked up in a high-school chemistry lab at the tender age of fifteen. "Well, sure. It's a complex compound molecule," he clarifies. "Different chemicals at different reaction rates, which is what gives it so many properties. It's a lot like spider webbing but refined for me to store in liquid form. It's a suspension of ethyl acetate in salicylic acid, with some--" Spidey pauses to look around the coffeeshop, at the many individuals there who are listening to the conversation with the 'super-celebs' or flat out recording him on camera.

"....tell you what, I'll drop a copy of it off at Avenger's Mansion next time I'm there," Spidey promises Bruce. "Also I think I've got a copy of your book on high-energy states, if you don't mind, an autograph would be just.... /so/ cool," he admits.

"Silk makes her own, though," he adds hastily, and gestures at the other Spiderling. "Like, internally, it's a different process with some native protein amalgamations," he explains helpfully.

Bruce Banner has posed:
Banner looks from one to the other, taking in what they are saying. He nods to Spider-Man and tells him,"I would appreciate it." he tells him,"Not that I could use it, but I'd like to study and possibly reverse engineer just so I can understand it better." He shakes his head and chuckles softly,"If you bring that to the Mansion I will sign your book for you." he assures Spidey.

He looks back towards Silk and he frowns just a little. Not mad, more curious. She hasn't tried anything crazy before now so he nods. He raises his hand and places it on hers if that is what she is wanting. His hand is a little cool as he touches hers.

Cindy Moon has posed:
The entire time that Peter's /rambling/ his super-techno-nerd-whatever-nonsense, Silk seems to entirely zone out. She lets her attention wander, eyes finding a mother and child and giving them a little finger wiggle of greeting. New Yorkers -- even the families were still there enjoying their snacks and drinks with gunmen webbed to the wall and counter, respectively.

When Bruce sets his hand in hers, there's a little smile with just her eyes.

"This kinda shoots my chances of getting invited to the Mansion in the foot, but..."

And then she raises her other hand to his wrist, a little tickling sensation crawling across his skin as the webbing crawls out and surrounds his arm, forming a kind of thick bracelet that stops short of being a 'bracer.' It's pliable and moves a bit like leather, though.

"It's taken me a long time, but I can kind of... control it, if that makes any sense -- make it more rigid, or elastic, or thinner, or thicker... I don't know if that changes its chemicals or not." Yes, she called them chemicals. "That'll give you something to look at if you get bored, though."

She releases his hand, then, and there's a little shrug of her shoulders as she steps back again.

"Plus.. you know. Friendship bracelet. Because I'd /much/ rather have you as a friend than an enemy," she muses.

When she looks back at Peter, finally, one can almost see her sticking out her tongue under her mask.

Peter Parker has posed:
Oooh, Silk's one-upped him in front of his science idol. Spidey looks at Silk and his eyelenses narrow to pointed slits at her. He can *absolutely* tell she's sticking her tongue out at him-- and he's fighting hard to resist the urge to do the same thing.

"Hey, is that Spider-Man?" someone shouts from the other entrance. A big man in a trucker hat and faded safety vest can be seen trying to push through. "I see you, you chump! I got a bone to pick with you for bustin' up my ride!" he bellows.

Spider-Man's eyelenses widen in alarm and he looks at Bruce and Silk. "Well, that's my adoring fan club," he says with a dry humor. "And probably my cue to exit, before some debt collector tries to bill me for Rhino busting someone's car up. Dr. Banner, a real pleasure to meet you," Spidey says again, and offers Bruce an enthusastic, two-handed handshake with his farewell.

He turns away, and looks sidelong at Silk with a very pointed expression that's utterly unreadable behind that mask. But it looks like he's holding back a *scathing* recrimination. "/Silk/," he tells her with a crispy tone-- and steps out of the cafe. With a deep flex of his legs he launches himself into the skyline, web-slinging away from his detractor!

Bruce Banner has posed:
Studying the bracelet, Banner hmms thoughtully. He looks between the two and then at the detractor. A sigh and he resists the urge to say something derogatory at the one causing trouble.

"Take care Spider-Man." he calls after the departing web head. His attention moves to Silk and tells her,"I would prefer to remain friends as well." he tells her with a nod,"I don't have too many of those out in the world and I'd rather not run off the few that I have."

He scowls at the people outside going off on Spider-Man and sighs,"If the other guy had arrived at least you and Spider-Man wouldn't have to deal with all that non sense." he muses. Probably not being serious, but he raises his coffee to his lips to cover a potential smile.

Cindy Moon has posed:
Cindy does /not/ look intimidated by Spider-Man's squinting. If anything, it makes her own eyes smile a bit more brightly. She does make a kind of clicking sound with her mouth when the guy comes in to 'pick a bone' with Peter.

"Oh, so it's not just me," she murmurs to no one specifically.

But then Peter's making his excuses and she nods, reaching up to tuck a bit of hair back behind her ear. Maybe it's just in her way, but it almost seems like a nervous... maybe disappointed tick. There's a flicker of it in her eyes, too, like she didn't really want him to go.

The way he says her name on his way out, though, seems to wipe whatever concern she had away, leaving utter amusement in its place.

"Spidey."

Then her attention is back on Bruce. "Ehh. It's not to bad. These ones didn't have pitchforks. Those are the /worst/. But, you've always got friends in us, and if you ever want to grab a coffee some time, uhhhh..."

She makes a little pen-and-paper gesture, and the kid she'd wiggled her finger at earlier helpfully produces a paper and crayon.

"For the /win/."

She scribbles her number down, in crayon, and passes the crayon back with a wink. Then she makes the kid her own web tiara and comes back with that crayon number.

"...Here. If you need a friend, call me. We used to have a Spider-Signal. Like Batman, you know? But for some reason people got freaked out when we projected a giant spider over New York. We got calls about PTSD. It was a whole thing."

Beat.

"I'm not going to be able to keep up with the science talk, but I can... I don't know, web up bad guys that try to make you mad."

She shrugs.

Bruce Banner has posed:
Watching the interaction between the two of them, Banner frowns a little. For the moment he leaves it alone. When she gets the crayon and passes him a phone number he pockets it, smiling a little at the interaction with the little one. The web she uses certainly interest him on most levels.

He looks back to her as he pockets the number and tells her,"I will call if needed. If you need me I am usually at the Avenger's mansion. It's just down the road." He indicates the direction and tells her,"A few blocks that way."

While he is usually the logic guy and not good at the personal things he suggests,"Spider-Man stresses himself a lot. He will settle down a little and I can put in a good word for you if he shows up at the mansion like he said."

He takes another drink of the coffee and glances back towards the mansion. A sigh and he tells her softly,"For now I would vacate. SHIELD figured out I left the mansion and they are looking for me. I can take the brunt of this until they realize the webs are there."

Cindy Moon has posed:
"Oh, I... I know." The Avenger's Mansion was hard to miss, and the Spiders that patrolled New York knew it like the backs of their webs. They had to, given that it was hard to navigate using GPS when you had to swing, too. Plus, the ETAs were always off, anyway.

"I don't... I mean, I wouldn't..." Just show up randomly, unannounced, to the Avenger's Mansion, apparently.

But then that already elevated stress-level at the thought of going in the Avenger's Mansion is carrying over into the comment about putting in a good word with Spider-Man, which elicits a sudden, nervous laugh.

"Oh, you don't..." Have to do that? She stops herself and forces a second to take a breath. "It's... complicated."

Then there's that comment about SHIELD, though, and her smile returns.

"And, uhhh... they're sort of already here. Just not.. officially."

She offers a little roll of her shoulders.

"Maybe my training officer won't be mad at me, this time! But you're right. I should probably call her, now that you mention it... Nice to meet you, Dr. Banner."

She gives him a little wave and then turns for the door herself, rounding and running /up/ the side of the building rather than down the sidewalk. Then a glimpse of her can be seen swinging away.