16064/Empires and Enchiladas

Empires and Enchiladas
Date of Scene:	12 October 2023
Location:	East Harlem
Synopsis:	Phoebe and Yaretzi hang out over some Mexican food and talk life
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Yaretzi Acama

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Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    In Spanish Harlem, among the loud music and louder dress of the city decending into nightfall and the season Fall, there is a restaurant. It was pointed out to Phoebe on a drive-by once upon a time, and she liked to visit it...

    ... because it was actually really, really hard to find Mexican Take-Out that was vegetarian friendly and was open really late, and wasn't in an extremely bougie area.

    So Phoebe was sitting at a wooden table outside, with sweet potato and black bean enchiladas and mole, with rice, listening to the probably 500th version of La Llorna she's heard over the last couple of weeks. Her pink hair is set in cornrows, her usual headwrap folded over her lap as she stirs the rice thoughtfully.

    There are a couple of people making commentary about rich people 'slumming'.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
For her part, Yaretzi comes to this particular restaurant (when she has the money for it) for the barbacoa tacos they serve daily, until they run out of meat that is -- they're a popular item! Such is how hole-in-the-wall places, where the food is made for the joy of cooking -and- eating manage to keep customers coming back. With two such tacos, wrapped in foil, in hand and a small brown paper bag containing a cup of salsa, a cup of cilatnro, a lime wedge in a plastic bag, and a pair of salt packets, she steps out into the sidewalk seating area in front of the place... and finds that all the tables are taken.

Pursing her lips at her bad luck, Yaretzi spots an empty seat at one table -- the one that Phoebe's sitting at, of course. Approaching, she asks, "Mind if I sit here? Not many other places free..." It's clear, too, that she doesn't recognize Phoebe, even after the appearance on the game show. Yaretzi's a superhero fangirl, not a rich-kid fangirl... :)

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Oh yeah, go 'head." Phoebe answers distractedly, cutting into her enchilada and giving a soft hmm. She narrows her eyes a moment, chewing thoughtfully on tortilla and sauce and sweet potato and black bean, and she tilts her head a moment as she looks to Yaretzi.

    She then snaps her fingers and points at the other girl as she sits down.

    "You were on the Match show, right?" she questions, her eyebrows rising up.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Yaretzi sits down and starts unwrapping the foil around her tacos. Her cheeks darken a bit at Phoebe's question. "Yeah, that was me", she says, actually looking across the table, now... and she furrows her eyebrows and purses her lips. A moment later, her eyes widen as she suddenly realizes across from whom she's sitting.

"Holy moley! It's you!", she says. "Thank you so much!", she blurts out, smiling broadly.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Good to meet you outside the game. I'm sorry I couldn't stick around -- had meetings first thing in the morning." Phoebe gives a smile and another wave of her hand. "So.. Yaretzi, right? That's a pretty bitchin' name." Phoebe compliments the other teen, and leans back a moment. "Hopefully the money's going to help out; I know it wasn't much, but I can't do too much without Bruce's permission." she explains, giving an awkward smile.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
"It's a *huge* help! I'll be able to cover next semester's tuition -and- books, now, thanks to you!", Yaretzi says, still beaming that smile. "What you did was awesome, really!", she adds, as she pops the plastic lid off her cup of salsa to dribble some across the top of the meat in each of her tacos. "...I thought the prize money was great by itself, but then you went and doubled it!", she says. "That was asesome!", she repeats.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Well, least I could do. I'm not as super as all the Titans that were on the show that night. They're the real heroes." Pheobe states, clearly embarrassed as she holds up one hand, cheeks and ears darkened. "But I'm glad it helped. Where do you go to school?" she questions out of curiosity, grabbing another fork full of her enchilada.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Yaretzi names a community college that's not too far from Spanish Harlem itself -- one of the 'low end, inexpensive' schools that cater to the poorer subset of the city's population. "I knew there were gonna be superheroes there, but I honest to god wasn't expecting some of the Titans...", she says, as she adds a spinkling of salt, then cilantro, to each taco. With all the dressing work done, she finally lifts one for a bite.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I think they were all Titans, except me and Nick Drogo." Phoebe replies leaning her head back. "You just got a Philantropist and Movie Star in with your grouping there. Not too bad. I'm friends with Nick, he asked me to fill the slot." she gives a small smile. "But it must have been pretty intimidating from your side, imagine sitting among them and going 'ohmigod, I'm just some person!'"

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Yaretzi nods, after a moment she seems to spend thinking (and chewing). "I just wish I'd had a chance to ask for autographs, is all!", she admits. "I wonder if they give tours of the Tower...?", she mutters to herself, although it's said loudly enough to be heard.

To a member of the Bat-family who's trained to spot this kinda thing? ...yeah, that was -acting-... she clearly knows more about the Titan's HQ than she's letting on.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "You know, I think they do, but only if you know them. You could probably write in and ask, since you appeared on a show with them." Phoebe gives a smile.

    "Speaking of introductions, Phoebe Wayne, by the way. Ah... don't mind me. THis place has the second best vegetarian enchilada's I've had in my life in the tri-city area. So I come down here to partake. An' do the Wayne thing and tip the rent. Best part of going blue collar to blue blood."

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
"I'm... Yaretzi, but you already knew that, right?", is the local girl's reply. "... maybe I will, sometime", she adds, about asking the Titans for a tour, and before another bite of barbacoa taco. The tacos are greasy, like good barbacoa's supposed to be, but she's expertly catching all the dripping in the tin foil -- she's obviously done this before. After chewing a bit, she asks, "... you come here for the veggie enchiladas? Are you vegetarian, or just in the mood for that, this time?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I mean, I recall it from the game, but it's nice to meet you outside of a game show." Phoebe gives a small grin as she stirs up her enchiladas again. "Ah... yeah." she trails off a moment, then expounds:

    "I grew up vegetarian. I typically don't eat meat because sometimes it gets too greasy and can upset my stomach." she explains, and she gives a smile. "And I kinda... well. I got spoiled Someone made black bean and sweet potato enchiladas for me and I pretty much fell in love with him. So there's that." she jokes.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
With a nod of her head, Yaretzi says, "Well, not many other places around here that I know that serve any sorta actual vegetarian things. Good thing you found this one. I've never had those, though. I kinda like meat a little too much, I guess", she adds, with a shrug and a smile. The tacos she's eating are being made short work of, too.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Psh. You're good. Almost everyone I know eats meat. It doesn't bother me. The guy who made me the enchiladas pointed this place out for me, since I liked his so much. But it's not the same. The mole's close, though." she gives a small nod as she leans back in her chair.

    "So what are you studying in college?" she asks, her eyebrows drawing up.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
"General studies, for now... I'm taking a freshman programming course, too", Yaretzi replies. "Mom rolled her eyes when I told her that, saying that I was just taking that 'cause I like video games -- but it's also a pre-req for the computer hardware courses I wanna take later", she adds. Her tacos gone, she wipes at her fingers with a napkin, then starts putting everything into the brown paper bag, clearly intent on not leaving a mess behind when she leaves.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Programming's a great foundation for going into pretty much anything programming related. App creation is huge. Ohmigod I should commission an app that tells me at which apartment I leave my favorite socks." she murmurs. Her eyes go wide "... *I* should learn programming." she states, and then shake sher head a bit, "So you're going into tech? Defense, red hat, white hat?" she questions thoughtfully. "My brother Tim's the tech head in the family, but we all know a little bit about this and that. Just in case we need it." she gives a bit of a crooked smile.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
"Well, I watched videos online and learned how to put together my own computer, and then my parents saved up money to buy the parts. I've had it for, like, ten years now... but it's not like I can afford to upgrade it. I wanna know what I'm doing when I try to tinker with it, again, or build myself a new one when I can afford to buy better parts for it. I guess I haven't thought, too much, about what I wanna specialize in, to be honest... kinda just going with what I like, so far", Yaretzi says. "Can I ask what you do?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Ah... well I'm a college student on the pre-med track at Gotham University. And sometimes I go to meetings and social events in lieu of one or another of my brothers so that I can disappoint everyone and rubber-stamp the purchase and subsequent wipe out of medical debt. Because seriously," she holds both hands out.

    "We are a first-world country and the fact that 'medical debt' is a thing should be outlawed in my personal opinion. It doesn't make me particularly popular in Wayne Enterprises though." she replies honestly.

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Yaretzi nods, frowning a little. "Yeah... dunno why there's such at thing as any sorta debt for education... or why anyone should hafta pay for going to a doctor. Just lookit Canada!", she says, clearly in agreement, gesticulating with both hands as she speaks.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Tell me about it. I grew up the kid of a firefighter, I remember some skinny Christmases where I'm pretty sure *Batman* delivered presents and not Santa." Phoebe replies, holding her hands up "Capitalism, man. Retail medical is a thing. And it shouldn't be, right up there with pay-for school hot lunch and anti-homeless archetecture." she states, "also doesn't make me popular among some Gotham Elite."

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
With a shrug of her shoulders, Yaretzi says, "Anything that means money'll go to those who aren't rich makes those who are kinda balk at it, usually. If it weren't for simple greed, there'd be no hunger in the world, or homelessness and hunger here in America, even. Hopefully, younger people who actually wanna fix things will make things better. It's all the old, rich people who're running things right now that're messing it all up."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "That'd be nice." Phoebe admits, holding her chin in her hand. "Even though I've got 'Wayne' on my credit card, I'm still limited at what I can do, for now. There's only so much we can push at once. But let me tell you, pretty much all my extended siblings? We think like that. We spend Christmases in soup kitchens and handing out presents in shelters. A lot of us have pet charities. Mine's the Children's Works in Gotham... aaaaand pet rescues, 'cause I do love my dogs." she gives a small smile.

    "So, what is it you'd *like* to do, Yaretzi?"

Yaretzi Acama has posed:
Yaretzi looks like she's got something she wants to ask, after what Phoebe's said, but the question asked by the other woman derails that train of thought. Bashfully, she replies, "I'm a gamer... computer games. League of Legends, MMO's, that kinda thing..."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "That's cool. I'm more of a tabletop gamer myself. My brother sometimes runs D&D, when we've all got time, and I LARP." she gives an embarrassed smile. "But computer games do sound like fun. I just get so lost with MMO's, but not real familiar with League of Legends. I feel like they should have Batman and Wonder Woman expies on there, othewise which legends are we leaguing?" she asks in playful consideration. "I wonder if there is a Justice League video game."