15862/Those Old Timey Songs

Those Old Timey Songs
Date of Scene:	14 September 2023
Location:	Candle, Booke and Belle
Synopsis:	The merits of Coffee and Tea are debated. More introductions are made with the new (old) members of the JLD, and the old (younger) members.
Cast of Characters:	Gabby Kinney, Michael Hannigan, Lydia Dietrich, Hellboy, James Barnes

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Gabby Kinney has posed:
One Honey Badger had been absent from the shop for several days in a row having been off taking care of business somewhere else. Every now and then she found her attention drawn elsewhere. Back now, she nudges her way past the door into the shop wearing a hoodie pulled up over her head because while she was gone in the tropical climes of REDACTED, it had gotten a bit chilly here in New York. Enough to pull out the Fall gear.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Whelp. A lot of stupid stuff happened.

Well, more so than usual. But the quick summary is due to a certain incident, Mike is having to walk his happy butt back to the Candle, Booke and Belle to replace the very thing he got yesterday. Fun times.

And this is how a certain entertainer enters the store. Grumpy, hair pulled back and hidden underneath the backpack he's wearing for carrying supplies.

"Nettie, you won't bel-"

Mike pauses as he looks to Gabby.

That is not a Nettie.

"Hi Gabby."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Tonight Lydia is minding the store. She doesn't do this often, since she usually has obligations to fulfil at night (mostly just teaching at Hope House) but tonight she told Nettie that she'd close up shop.

    "Hello, Gabby, Mike," she says from behind a counter, slipping in a bookmark to mark her place in what looks like a bodice ripper of a romance book, only it's unclear which of the two female leads bodices are going to be ripped.

    Her golden eyes turn towards Michael, "I think I can assure you that whatever it is you don't think Nettie would have believed, she most certainly would."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney lifts her head to peer from beneath the hood over at Mike with a quickly flashed grin. "Hey Mike. Yeah it's me," she affirms as if it weren't the most obvious thing in the world. Her steps lead her immediately toward the drink counter in the back where she just... doubles over the counter with arms zombie-stretched in front of herself to make grabby hands in the direction of the lone coffee pot she'd managed to get situated back there among all the tea goodies.

There were only a handful of them here that used it. She was among them, though there were times she'd just go for tea if she felt like it. Really it just depended what mood she was in.

"Did I miss anything? I've been off catching up with my sister. One of them anyway," she clarifies.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Hearing another familiar voice (At a JLD hangout, who knew?) Mike turns his head to look to Lydia. "...Ok fair point. But-" He pauses.

"Hey Lydia." He starts over, remembering a bit late about the manners aspect, "By.. any chance does Nettie keep record of the teas she sells? I need to repurchase something I got yesterday and I can't remember the blend name."

Gabby's question gets a glance, "I'm not much better off. I've been pretty swamped with work." He looks curious, "I'm assuming one that's still on earth."

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy had been napping on the couch upstairs, because he just didn't like going on the subway late at night to get back to his place. People are scarier than monsters sometimes.

He's in an 8 XL t-shirt that fits tight on his body, bearing the classic Ghostbusters logo. He yawns theatrically as he comes in only to find people looking at each other for one reason or another.

"I'm just comin' out to get a cup o' joe. Don't mind me," Hellboy says, "Or is this one of them situations where I should go upstairs and strap my gun on? It's sea monsters, isn't it? It's always the friggin' ocean."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia makes a show of giving Gabby a disdainful sneer and muttering, "Coffee," like it was the worst word in the universe. "It's been slow tonight," she says. "I've been catching up on some reading. Once again thinking about reorganizing the shelves into some semblance of order, but that'd only piss Nettie off. Maybe next time I'm angry at her I'll do that."

    She shoots Michael a grin. "If she doesn't I'm pretty sure I can figure out which one it was that she sold you. Let me take a look at the books." And when she says 'books' she means actual physical books. The Belle is the kind of establishment that does everything the old fashioned way.

    She lets out a beleaguered sigh as everybody starts asking for coffee. "You know if you wanted coffee there's a good place about a block up the street. We do tea here. //Tea//. The gentleman's drink. At least according to the British. But what do they know?"

James Barnes has posed:
    There's a bike parked outside the shop, but the person it belongs to hasn't shown their face yet. Which is because Bucky has been waylaid by a nice old lady who needed help crossing the street. Yes, actually. That's a thing that happens, and to him especially. He just has this sort of aura that seems to attract it.

    Probably they can just sense that he's an old guy at heart. Which explains why so many of them flirt with him.

    Finally though Bucky enters the Candle, Booke and Belle, only to see that there is already a small grouping of people inside. Not quite enough to be a crowd, but he still almost turns around and leaves. Almost. There's a moment where he clearly hesitates at the door, but then he finally takes that next step in, and heads towards Lydia at the counter, though he stands a bit off to the side as if he's waiting for an opportunity to cut in. The back-and-forth about coffee seems to amuse him, though, judging by the faint smile on his face. He has a package tucked under one arm, not particularly large... maybe about shoebox-sized.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
The store's getting a bit busy. "Nothing of that nature, Red." Mike assures, glancing up to the literal red head...body...arms... Red guy. "My housemate had a guest over last night who was an idiot. So I'm having to go replace some stuff. Including the tea I got yesterday."

Lydia's offer to look into the purchase gets a smile from the performer. "Thanks!"

He glances over to the coffee drinkers and then back to Lydia, giving a bit of a smirk. "Coffee's good too." He offers up in defense of the others, "...Then again I'm not always a gentleman."

Seeing the newcomer, the musician drifts to silence, smile faltering for a bit before he gives a quiet nod of acknowledgement to Bucky before he turns, moving closer to Gabby and Hellboy. "So it's been awhile, Red. How've you been?"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney makes grumbly noises, though just for show. She finally pushes up from leaning on the counter to stand properly. All the better to turn and look over her shoulder at the old man at heart that just came in. "Hey Bucky. You met everyone yet?" A gesture is given around. "Lydia, our fourth illustrious leader. Mike, music guy ghost guy we don't really know anymore. Red of course," she adds only to pause. "You two might have a lot to talk about."

"Be glad I'm not just chugging a six pack of Coke, Lyds."

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy might know Bucky from back in the Winter Soldier days, given they sometimes operated in similar sectors during the cold war, but he isn't likely to connect that masked assassin with the guy here, unless he's already really famous and everybody knows but even then, probably, he doesn't always pay attention to news and crap.

"Glad to hear it," he says to Hannigan. "I've had some bad roommates. We had a yeti in the headquarters for a little while, back in the 70s. Shed like a mofo. I literally have a nice coat tucked away somewhere made of his hair. Shit'll keep you warm on the North Pole."

"When Gabby introduces Bucky, he raises his big old hand of doom in greeting, "Howdy."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Bucky's indecision hasn't gone unnoticed by Lydia. The vampiress turns her strange golden eyes to the man and gives him a gentle, welcoming grin. "Please tell me you'd like some tea," she says. "I'm surrounded by heathens who only want coffee."

    Despite being ivory pale, and dressed in a manner that brings up a goth Mary Poppins to mind, there's a warm air to the woman, almost motherly, though perhaps in an otherworldly manner. Or that part is because she's surrounded by a starfield of twinkling lights that blip in and out of existence around her.

    When she's introduced as the fourth leader of the JLD grins and shakes her head. "I'm only in charge of in the after-hours because of my, er, sleeping schedule."

    She pulls out a ledger that looks for all the world like it should be in a Victorian Londoner's shop and starts perusing the entries, looking for Mike's name. "Well, if I can read Nettie's handwriting you had some of the lavender lapsang." She looks up, "Sound about right? We should still have some in stock."

James Barnes has posed:
    It's very possible that the Winter Soldier knew Hellboy, but Bucky isn't the Winter Soldier. Some of those memories are pretty fuzzy. Either way, he doesn't react to Hellboy's appearance other than to offer the assembled group a silent nod when he's introduced. And then he lifts his free hand to return Hellboy's wave, expression serious. So maybe there is some recognition, there.

    Or maybe that's just how his face looks all the time!

    The offer from Lydia gets a tip of Bucky's head, one piece of hair coming free of the bun it's in to fall across his forehead in a way that clearly annoys him. He ignores it, though, and says, "I'm just here to drop something off for Nettie. But, uh, sorry, I'm also more of a coffee drinker. Never got used to tea when I was overseas."

    He puts the package up on the counter on a clear space, and pats it once. "Is it okay if I leave it with one of you?" he asks.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Mike's smile regains strength as Hellboy shares stories of nightmare roommates. "Well, at least you got something out of that living arrangement. Fortunately for me it was the housemate's friend and not the housemate himself. He's a very good guy. Last night was more a fluke."

It isn't until Gabby starts to make introductions that he glances up and looks over to Bucky, lifting a hand to give a half wave to the soldier.

As Lydia speaks to him, he quickly looks away from the soldier to direct it to the one with the ledger. "...That sounds about right. I remember lavender was in the name. I couldn't remember the other part. Thanks again."

"I tend to switch between coffee and teas depending on what I'm doing. If I'm doing a lot of voice work it's usually tea."

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy looks questioningly at Gabby's remark about stuff to talk about with Bucky. "Do I know you, man?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

To Lydia, he shrugs, "Look, I like tea for goin' to sleep, but I like coffee to wake me up. They both taste kind of terrible, but in their own unique ways. But that's kind of the point. Sometimes you can like something even if it tastes bad. That's probably a life lesson or somethin'."

He's just going to carefully get his mug now and wait a chance to be served (or will serve himself, given the opportunity. He has very long arms).

Gabby Kinney has posed:
A sniff. Two. Even as Lydia bemoans about tea and hopes Bucky wants that, Gabby can feel her grin growing. SHE knew the truth. "That smells amazing, Buckster," she remarks off-handed only to gesture for the counter. "It'll be safe enough here with us. Probably."

A quick step leads her behind the counter to snag a mug which she fills with a bit of coffee. Only to do the horrible thing of adding cream to it. "Eh. When I'm *cold* I want coffee. I feel like it just..." A shrug comes as she tries to find the words. "Forces its way into me easier? I don't know. Might be my genes taking over there, but at least I haven't started on whiskey and cigars yet. No offense, Red."

Which DOES remind her! She turns and gestures at Bucky. "Oh! You remember 'Lucky'? That's my ... er... yeah I'm a clone of him. Anyway!"

Gesturing between Bucky and Red she adds, "Both of you are old as heck, were in WWII, and probably like watching those old timey movies a lot."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Should be fine," Lydia tells Bucky as she takes the package that he brought. Her nose wrinkles when she gets a hold of it, though. "Coffee? Really?" She shakes her head and tucks it under the counter. "I'll make sure she'll get if I see her later tonight."

    She gives the old soldier a curious glance. "I don't think we've been officially introduced. I'm Lydia, as you know," she says, holding out a pale hand. "A pleasure to meet you."

    She shakes her head. "I don't know why, but I //feel// like I should be one of those old people who have been around forever. I keep hanging out with them. I'm only twenty-seven. Just a babe in the woods."

James Barnes has posed:
    "It's possible," Bucky says in reply to Hellboy, but then he shrugs one shoulder stiffly. "Met a lot of people over the years. Don't remember a lot of them, admittedly." The 'except for the ones I killed' goes unsaid, because while his whole countenance is kind of a Debbie Downer, he at least does his best not to overshare. But there's a lingering sort of grimace that shows he's on uneven footing here, nonetheless.

    Though it isn't there for long. He plasters on a much more neutral expression when Lydia offers a hand, and he looks at it a second before extending one of his own for a shake.

    Weirdly, his handshake is very firm. It feels like his hand is made out of metal.

    "James Barnes. Most people call me Bucky, though." He nods over to Gabby as he pulls away, but doesn't linger overlong, already taking a step backwards in preparation for turning and heading to the door. "Yeah, I only watch old serials and listen to swing," he says... and is that... a joke? Is he joking??? The slight lift of one corner of his mouth suggests he is!

Michael Hannigan has posed:
"Ok, technically I'm older than you, but even if going with chronological years, early thirties is NOT old." Mike offers up in mock protest to Lydia. Technically he's in the 'does not age' group but, he's one of the newer members with just a decade of membership.

A brow lifts as something Bucky says draws his attention to the soldier. "Really now?"

James Barnes has posed:
    "Nah. I have Netflix. And Spotify on my phone." Bucky shrugs one shoulder and lifts his hand, waving once before he heads out, leaving the package behind with Lydia.