15959/Slipped away without notice.

Slipped away without notice.
Date of Scene:	27 September 2023
Location:	The Coffee Bean
Synopsis:	Bruce slipped out of the mansion for coffee. He happened to meet Mary Bromfield at The Coffee Bean. They had a nice talk and Captain American joined for a while.
Cast of Characters:	Bruce Banner, Mary Bromfield, Steve Rogers

---

Bruce Banner has posed:
How do you look guilty? Doing pretty much what he's done so far. Bruce walks into the cafe, head down and avoiding eye contact. Maybe not guilt, but definately not hiding in plain sight. The only place Bruce doesn't physically stand out is in a lab, then his big brain makes his stand out. Beyond hiding in a 3rd world country, stealth just isn't his thing, probably never will be.

When he arrives at the counter, he orders a cup of coffe black. Nothing fancy at all.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary was, for her part, actually chatting amiably with one of the baristas. as she apparently has a history with the Coffee Bean. Indeed, the astute might notice a few pictures of her on the "Employee of the Month" wall from a while ago, though nothing recently. Though she does pick up on the troubled aura that Bruce seems to be giving off.

Murmuring something to the barista, she picks up the coffee ordered from her, as well as her own chai, and walks over towards Bruce. Handing him the coffee, she gives him a smile, "Hey, here you go. Didn't seem like you needed your name yelled out today, huh?"

Bruce Banner has posed:
He's a little surprised when he approached that way, but he nods and takes the drink,"Thank you." he replies,"For the coffee hand off and the no yelling of my name. You are not wrong."

He shuffles his feet a little and then tries to find his word again,"I am Bruce." he tells her very softly, barely audible between them,"You are very aware of people and their behaviors. Maybe I should pay you for lessons." He's trying to be conversational, he's just really bad at it.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary laughs softly, "Nah, I just used to work here, so I saw a lot of people. Including ones that were pretty troubled." She gestures over towards a chair, "And well Bruce, I'm Mary. Want to talk?" She grins, "Don't worry, I haven't worked here for a while, this is just free time."

Bruce Banner has posed:
He looks at the chair, back to her, and then the chair again,"Sure. Bear with me as I am not the best conversationalist. I wouldn't want to waste too much of your time." He manages a litle bit of a smile as well and moves towards the table, but with the good manners to wait until she sits before he does.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary grins, "Not a waste at all. Was in the neighborhood so thought I'd stop by the old Bean and see how the people were doing." She waves towards the barista behind hte counter, sitting down in an adjacent chair to Bruce's. "And don't need to be a great conversationalist, though I tend to natter on a bit anyway with what I do now for a living."

Bruce Banner has posed:
Taking a ginger sip of the coffee, Bruce nods as he listens to her,"It is a nice place. Not far from my...home I guess." he tells her with a shrug,"Glad you don't need a good conversationalist, I am bad at it."

He is quiet for a moment and tells her,"Bruce Banner. I am Bruce Banner. If you don't know my name you are probably better off." He is trying for friendly conversation, but warning the young lady about the company she is keeping.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary blinks a bit, "Oh, okay, that explains it." She gives him a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, it's a pretty easy going place here. Even supervillains need coffee, so trouble tends to avoid this place more often than not. Well, I think there was one time the White Rabbit tried to hold up this place on Easter Sunday, but it didn't go well for her." She grins a bit, trying to make a bit of a joke about it, and...

It's weird. She's actually completely unfazed with the revelation of who Bruce is. So either she doesn't know, or she doesn't care. Or, she thinks she can handle it. Hard to say which of those three would be the most weird.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers is walking down the sidewalk. His hands are in the pockets of his light green jacket, and he has on jeans and boots. A baseball cap on his head is his best chance of anonymity. At least just walking down the street, and mostly keeping his head down, it is enough. Most people are on their way somewhere and not really paying attention to others beyond avoiding bumping into them.

A glance is made in a window of a travel shop, at the picture books and posters they have for various destinations they think will be appealing to New Yorkers. A photo of some of Rome's ancient remains draws Steve's eye longer than the rest, bringing back a memory or two. Though visiting them today would be far easier than what it took to get to Rome 80 years ago.

The one shop is left behind, and Steve gets a glance in the Coffee Bean as he's turning his head back. He almost does a double take, pausing and slowing down just a bit as if he sees someone familiar inside.

Bruce Banner has posed:
He laughs, not at her, in general. Covering his mouth he looks down for a moment trying to stop the laugh. Finally he tells her,"If that explains it you are an impressive lady Mary." he tells her and raises his cup to his lips.

A little more this time as it has cooled a little,"I don't want trouble for sure. Mostly I am happy to do my research and try to solve my problem. It doesn't work out that way usually." he admits. Noting her calm actually makes him clamer as well.

There is a little tension in his eyes when he sees Steve come in. He doesn't really twitch so much as just have that cat/canary look in his eyes. He sighs softly and glances around the room and past the door,"Hello Steve. Did you draw the short straw? Lara around too?" Not accusing, just saying it as he sees it.

He nods to Mary and indicates to Steve,"Mary. This is a friend of mine who gets tasked with finding me sometimes. Steve Rogers, Mary. Mary, Steve Rogers." No he isn't all that great at social settings, but at least he manages to do that one right.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
While Mary was fairly nonchalant regarding Bruce, when Bruce introduces her to Steve, her eyes do grow pretty wide. "Steve Rogers? Really? Um, wow. I mean, wow." She pauses, trying to collect her thoughts a bit as she seems to have hit the barista equivalent of a Blue Screen of Death.

First thought: Wow

Second thought: Wow.

Third thought: Billy is gonna /die/ of jealousy.

Then she smiles, "Um, it's nice to meet you, Mister Rogers."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers sees Bruce Banner seem to spot him outside, which seems to make up his mind, if he wasn't decided yet, on going in. He turns and walks back to the door, opening it and passing inside. But stopping to hold the door for a mixed group of teens who wander out, laughing with each other loudly. Only one of them offering him a thank you for holding it for them.

Letting the door go once the group is through, Steve makes his way over to accept Bruce's greeting with a wry smile back to him and a shake of his head. "I was just out looking at an old motorcycle that someone has for sale and saw you in the window," he says to Bruce. "Just me. Lara's at work I think." Which would be SHIELD.

He turns his attention to Mary, giving her a friendly smile at the introduction. "Very nice to meet you as well, Mary. Please, call me Steve. So are you one of Dr. Banner's students?" Or former students.

Bruce Banner has posed:
For his part, Bruce is bad at poke face and smiles pretty wide when Mary reacts to Steve that way. That rarely fails. Steve Rogers = Fandome. It tends to take the eyes off him at least for a while. He takes another drink of his coffee and nods to Steve,"Bad luck all around. I hope you were fortunate with the motorcycle at least. I am going to have to get better at hiding. I get caught by coincidence."

He glances to Mary and lets her answer the questions, uninterrupted more. Coffee. Oh yes. Coffee.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary blinks, "Oh, um, no, I used to work here and well Dr. Banner was looking a bit uncomfortable so it seemed like he needed someone to talk to and I figured well he might need someone to talk to so I thought why not and then um Steve wow Steve okay um..." And then she takes a deep breath... because breathing was something she wasn't doing there for a moment.

Deep breath. Inhale. Okay.

"So um yeah, though I don't have much of a knack for physics. I'm just finishing my degree in computer science. Should graduate next spring."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Bruce," Steve Rogers says, "You don't have to hide. Not from me certainly," and he briefly rests his hand on Bruce Banner's shoulder in a reassuring way before turning his attention to Mary.

Even if he hadn't managed it naturally, Steve's ability to be disarming to someone reacting to his unexpected appearance has had enough time to get fine tuned. The smile is understanding and reassuring for Mary. His tone of voice as normal as anyone else in the coffee shop. "Computer science. Well, then you are far up on me. I just have to hope whoever programmed it made it easy for me to use when I'm on one. And you should have seen my first laptop SHIELD gave me. Ended up with all these pop ups trying to sell me things. They had to send someone to clear them off," he says, blue eyes twinkling with a little merriment at his own expense.

"Bruce, mind if I get a cup of coffee and join you? Or if you wanted some alone time, I can just see you later back at the mansion," he offers. Nope, not going to drag Bruce back, apparently.

Bruce Banner has posed:
Looking up at Steve, Bruce relaxes a little and nods finally,"They tend to frown when I slip my leash." he tells Steve with a shrug,"I just figured you were sent out to find me."

He smiles smiles a little when Steve starts to talk with Mary and the two interact more. He nods and assures her,"You will be hard pressed to find a better man than this one. The laptop was amusing though. Not that I am much better. My last one had a terrible accident that I don't recall, but I did see the fall out.

Looking back to Steve he shakes his head,"Not at all. Have a seat. Thank you for not trying to drag me out of here tonight."

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary blinks, "Wow, SHIELD gave you laptops with adware? What the heck is that about." She looks, then shakes her head, "Don't tell me, lowest bidder, right? Oof." She smiles a bit, feeling a bit more herself as she visibly relaxes, "Though, well, I'm just a streamer online, games and such. Which I guess sounds a bit weird but it pays the bills and then some, for sure."

"Though the nice thing about computers these days is that they are pretty user-friendly. At least compared to what they used to be."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers gives a soft chuckle and a shake of his head back to Mary. "Oh no, it wasn't their fault. Apparently when you go to look things up you shouldn't click on... well, just about anywhere it seems like. It was self-inflicted. But now I know better," he tells her with a quick grin.

The thank you from Bruce just gets a nod and an understanding smile back from Steve. "Let me get some coffee then," he says, moving over to place his order. "A cup of American roast. Black, please," he tells them, and then pulls out some paper money to pay for it. He returns soon with the cup, and coins in his hand that he seems to be counting as he thumbs the coins to where he can see each.

"I remember the first time I went to buy a cup of coffee for myself here," he says, shaking his head and slipping the coins into his pocket. "Used to be a nickel, you know."

Bruce Banner has posed:
"Computers are getting easier yes." Bruce agrees. He glances to Steve and pushes a chair out a little with his foot. The mention of the nickel coffee makes his pause a moment,"I think the cheapest I had coffee was a quarter. I have wondered in the past the level of adjustments you have had to made. I can't imagine." From the guy that becomes a monster, that's saying something.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary hrms, "Well, I think I've seen coffee for a buck at a couple places growing up in Philly, but well, everything seems to get pricier. Though, oh no, don't click on everything..." She winces a bit, remembering coaching her foster parents through that sort of thing.

"But yeah, not so much the programming end as the business end, though I do a fair amount of the former too. Might start my own studio, eventually. Though right now I stream to pay the bills and keep the lights on."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve takes the seat, slipping his jacket off and revealing a charcoal grey t-shirt beneath with the US Army logo on it. The jacket goes over the back of his chair as he takes a sip of the coffee. "There was really quite a lot to get used to," he confirms to Bruce. "People were good about suggesting things. Still are. Mostly music, movies, TV shows, and the occasional history item. Even after years there are still any number of comments I don't really get, pop culture things."

He takes another sip of his coffee and says, "So I watched Game of Thrones, since that's what everyone was referring to. And then the ending went how it did. And -no one- ever makes those references anymore," he says, chuckling and holding up his hands as if what's a guy from the 1940s to do.

"Well," Steve says to Mary, "Computers seem like a good area to get into. Probably end up working for Tony some day," he teases.

Bruce Banner has posed:
"I know I am behind on most...what did you call it? Pop culture. I am aware of its existence, but I never have time." Bruce comments. He looks towards Mary and asks,"Do you make house calls fixing computers? Mine have a tendency to have terrible accidents? Might as well make sure someone worthwhile works on fixing them rather than putting one more imposition on the staff at the Mansion."

He glances back to Steve and admits,"I saw one scene of that one. After watching the man have intercourse with his sister and then push a child off the tower. I was pretty much done."

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary perks up at the suggestions, and adds, "I hope the Rocky movies were on the list. Not Five though, that one wasn't good. The others are pretty solid though." She grins, "As a Philly native, I'm obligated to mention those."

At Bruce's question, she pauses a bit. "Well, I normally don't do IT work like that, but I can, and for you guys I'd be happy to help out." She smiles a little, "And not just because my little brothers would be totally jealous. That's just a side benefit. And I couldn't get past the third episode with the puppy." She makes a face at that.

Steve Rogers has posed:
"There is definitely a more... explicit amount of content in today's films," Steve says, commiserating in response to the part of the show that Bruce remembered.

Steve pauses for a moment in apparent thought at Mary's comment about Rocky. "I don't think so. I recall a Rocky and Bullwinkle. Clint's suggestion, that one, I think. Only watched a little of it."

He reaches into a back pocket and pulls out a little pad of paper. Steve opens it and flips. And flips and flips and flips. Finally finding the current page, he borrows a pen from one of the staff and writes down, "Rocky," as he says it aloud as well, then passes the pen back to the person. "I'll have to look into it. Something about the mountains?" he asks.

Bruce Banner has posed:
"Given what happened before, I don't think I want to know about the puppy." Bruce admits with a shake of his head. He takes a drink of his coffee again and sets the empty on the table." When she talks about her jealous brothers he laughs again. A little more at ease this time. He nudges Steve and tells him,"Maybe you should go visit them at home some time. Make their whole world." he teases.

Considering the movie Bruce admits,"That would be worth a move to the front of the line, particularly the first one." he tells him,"I don't see a lot of movies, but that one is a good one to look at, like she said. I haven't watched the fifth one, I think I only got as far as the Russian."

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary actually giggles a bit, "Oh no, it's about Rocky Balboa. A boxer. Well, a fictional boxer, from Philadelphia. Though we do have a statue of him up in Philly." She grins. "Though Rocky and Bullwinkle are pretty cool too."

Mary grins, "Oh, Billy and Freddy would freak out so much if they met you. And they'd probably want you on their podcast. As far as Rocky movies, watch the first four, then watch Rocky Balboa, as it's not numbered but the sixth and last one, well, until they started a spinoff series which is also good."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Well," Steve replies to Bruce after the mention it is a film worth seeing, "Maybe we can have a movie night for it. I'd wager Thor hasn't seen it either. If we tell him it involves a hand to hand fighter, I bet he'd want to show up for it."

Steve takes another sip of his coffee and then there's an electronic chirp from his jacket. He reaches into it, pulling out a phone and activating it. Apparently it's biometric as he just puts a thumb on the screen.

A smooth, melodious voice that Bruce Banner would recognize as JARVIS comes from the phone. "Captain Rogers. I may have found a new lead on Frank Castle. I believe you wished to be informed right away?"

Steve nods his head as he replies, "Yes, thank you JARVIS. Heading back to the mansion now." He puts his phone away, and then digs in another pocket for something else. "Please pardon me leaving hastily. I've been tracking the Punisher for quite awhile now," he says.

Steve rises and passes over a card to Mary. "Here's a number for the mansion. Call and we can figure out something for your brothers. I could probably deliver them a pizza or something," he says with a faint amused smile.

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce nods when Mary talks about the movie,"I can't say I cared for the one with the real boxer in it, but the rest were well done. I haven't had time to watch the Creed movies yet. I don't get a lot of time." Rocky and Bullwinkle might be lost on him. He smirks when she talks about freaking out her siblings and nods approvingly,"Torture of your siblings is always fun."

"If Thor hasn't watched it, he would enjoy it I am sure." he agrees,"Barton might be a little too obnoxious. He has probably already watched it anyway." He pauses when the com goes off and Steve interacts with it. Hearing the name, Bruce raises a brow,"Castle? The Punisher?" he asks warlily,"Watch that one. There are few more dangerous than the ones that have nothing to lose." Sounds like experience for sure.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Mary takes the number and smiles, "Well, sure, you got it. It was nice to meet you Steve." She pauses, then adds, "I know you don't need me to tell you, but be careful, okay. Always gotta be careful around guys with gun fetishes." She makes a bit of a face at that, then looks over at Bruce, "Need your coffee topped up? I can probably get you a second off my tab."

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce looks at the empty cup, pauses, and then finally nods,"A refill would be good yes. You don't have to pay for it." he assures her. He watches Steve leave and shakes his head,"Castle is beyond dangerouse. At least he can't hurt...well the other guy." he tells Mary. He is referring, of course, to the Hulk.

For the rest of their time together he does his best to be a social sort, but really does struggle. As the time progresses, he does get more comfortable with her and it shows in his ability to converse.

Eventually he has to get back to the mansion. This is puncuated by the arrival of two SHIELD agents. He sighs and tells her good bye and mentions needing to find a new coffee house now that they have found him here.