16074/Brooding in Daylight

Brooding in Daylight
Date of Scene:	13 October 2023
Location:	Tribeca
Synopsis:	Invincible's coffee errand is interrupted by magical dry cleaning, curtesy of Balm!
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Mark Grayson

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Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Manhattan. A landscape of concrete, steel and glass, the roiling sea of people of all makes and models, creeds and classes, and atop them all the skyline provided an excellent vantage point to watch the streets below.

    And on a relatively calm and quiet autumn afternoon, with the sun shining and a pleasant breeze coming off the ocean, it was truly unusual to see someone in gray armor with a hood over their head casting shadow, crouched low on the side of the building, the dark gray roughly matching the stone work and concrete of the building she's sitting on.

Mark Grayson has posed:
And there's at least one colorful hero that's out flying about during the daytime. Bright wings, roaring engines, feathers, broom-riders. It takes all types. Invincible just flies. No accessories neccessary!

As he is floating over the city, he takes it in, basking in the cool Autumn weather, glancing down at the drink order that he was putting together. He absolutely refuses to go to Starbucks after Juggernaut hit him with one.

Glancing down, he catches sight of the dark figure and he lifts a brow, floating down to where she is. Floating a few feet abover the figure, he offers a grin, the sunlight glinting off of his goggles. "There's some great brooding statues over at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine -- though watch for the priests, they have spritz bottles of holy water to chase away brooders."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Afternoon Invincible," she states without looking up to him. "St. John's is definitely not my preferred brooding place in New York City. I lived in Hell's Kitchen for a while." Balm replies with a slight smile, turning to look over her shoulder at Invincible as she stands, crossing her arms over her chest.

    "I hope I'm not interrupting something. I don't run into too many superheroes during the day.... outside of Metropolis anyway." she explains. She looks at his drink order.

    "Shopping list?"

Mark Grayson has posed:
"Naw, just stretching my limbs. Got told my suit smelled of seawater after the whole tsunami thing, airing it out. By the way, that thing you did, with the spill? Really awesome." Mark admits with a grin, as he glances down at his phone.

"Coffee order. I think someone wants to see how many pumps they can get into a single drink." There's a touch of fond amusement in his expression. "But not Starbucks."

"So what brings you up here, thought your wheelhouse was Gotham? I mean, I was told that some of you turn to dust in the sun." She can't see the wink behind the mirrored lenses. He's in good spirits!

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "What size drink? Because each 'pump' is about two oucnes, so if it's a generic 'small' that's four-to-six." Balm considers. "I used to be a barrista for a Starbucks knock-off." she explains, and she gives a wry sounding 'hrm'. "I could make it *not* smell like sea water, but you'd smell like roses and pepper for a day or two, if you wanted. LEarned early on not to cast on people without asking."

    And she sits casually on the side of the building, one leg hanging down. She's got good, sturdy boots as part of her kit.

    "Wanted a bit of sunshine. And there's a bonsai exhibit across the street from here that I'm monitoring. Three of the displays are from the Gotham Botanical Garden, and one from Japan has a spirit attached to it. So I'm just making sure it goes smoothly until everything goes home." she explains, motioning to a building across the street.

    "... also that's Batman. He definitely dusts in the sun."

Mark Grayson has posed:
Twisting around to look at the gardens that Oriole (or is it Balm, he hasn't asked yet!), Invinvicible peers down at it. Wait, he doesn't have super-vision. "Wow. Are they really valuable, or does someone just have a thing for plants? I mean, I can't even keep a cactus alive." he admits.

At her offer to clean the costume, he peers back over his shoulder at her. He's still floating in the air, just casually there. He's really not all that imposing. "It's not gonna make my costume disappear or anything, will it?" he asks, just to verify! "And wait, a spirit plant? That's... new." At least to him.

"It's whatever size is bigger than a Venti. I mean, can't I just order a Super Extra Large and consider it the same thing? Everyone's got to have a name for their biggest drink."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Trenta. Thirty-six ounce cup, so that's eighteen pumps." she points out with a small grin "For most places, anyway."

    Balm turns and looks back up to Mark with a small smile, and she considers a moment. "I could make it so it does, but that sort of defeats the secret identity thing. It ordinarily doesn't -- I use it to clean up after tasking. Which in my line of work could mean anything from Killer Croc encounters to rescuing cats out of trees." she replies. "And the plant is over two hundred years old. In Japanese folklore, if something reaches the age of one hundred, it can develop its own spirit. Old lanterns, abandoned geta, swords..." she trails off a moemnt, ad gives a small smile.

    "And hoenstly if you ask any barrista for 'the largest you have', they will give the biggest size."

Mark Grayson has posed:
"So. That one hundred years then it gains a spirit, is that just a Japan thing or an any thing, thing?" This is the first that Mark has ever heard of such a thing and it's got him curious.

There's a chuckle as he considers Phoebe. "I don't really know much about magic, I admit. But if you can get me along faster for the cleanup, no complaints here. But I don't really have complaints about getting my girlfriend a frappe if she wants one." A shrug of his shoulders. Though when she's fully sugared and caffinated, she could be a force of nature.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Balm gives a little smile, ad she tilts her head back. "That's the tradition in Japan. Some things have spirits just by virtue of being physical in other traditions. Magic's weird." she replies, and then she raises her hands, palms up and pointing at Mark.

    "Munda indumentum hominis coram me. Redde mare ad mare." she states, her voice warm and echoing, and she makes a small face as she pulls the ocean and salt from Mark's costume. It may tingle.

    Mark's uniform now smells like roses and citrus and the warm bite of black pepper.

    "THere. That should both smell and feel better."

Mark Grayson has posed:
"Is it like..." Mark is pondering this for a moment. "Like a well of souls type thing? Or why there's so many shows about people getting hit by trucks and ending up in other worlds?" Someone's played way too much Dark Souls. "But that sounds really neat."

Then she casts her spell. That feels new and a little shudder goes through him, but as the new scents hit his nose, his nose curls and he brings up his hand to cover his face as he dry sneezes. "Oof, bless me." he murmurs.

Floating down to settle near Phoebe, he peers at the building again.

"Do you work with Batman often? I mean, being in Gotham and all. I once was down there to help with a construction crane that had toppled. But people were like - you don't need be around here in costume, because you can't save people here, this is Bat Country."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "It is definitely not an isekai, and *man* if I got hit by a truck and ended up in the Dark Souls world, I would panic. Just flat out. Nothing prepares you for that level of dismal hopelessness. Not even Gotham." Balm states with a smile. She's definitely a geek.

    "Bless you." she states as he sneezes, and she gives a shrug.

    "Sometimes. I work in Gotham with his permission, because there are some things the Bats don't handle. Demonic possessions, supernatural stairways that appear in the middle of Robinson Park... occasionally a Hellmouth opening in a laundromat." Balm explains with a small smile. "And they appreciate the help, but the idea is that the less Metahumans in Gotham, the better. Otherwise more and more bad guys show up

Mark Grayson has posed:
"That's the whole, if a house doesn't have a gun, then noone with a gun will ever visit. But I'm not going to try to test anyone's patience. Especially since the villains that tend to go after me like property damage. Like. A lot of property damage."

He holds up his hands as Mark adds, "Not that I'm big into that! I'm still learning what I can and cannot do." he admits. "And it's probably best that I don't go getting intio fights in the city because again, big mess. And yeah, totally FUBAR'd, if you get isekai'd into Dark Souls."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "If Gotham doesn't have Super-Man, then no one shows up to test their strength." Balm replies with a small smile. "That's one of the reasons why I try not to show up on television repping my home town." she gives a small grin, and she rubs the back of her neck.

    "That's like if you get run over by a giant Spirit of Halloween truck carrying haunted D&D dice, then you're fubar'd for isekai'ing into Dark Souls." she pauses.

    "I am going to send that to Red Robin. He'll enjoy that."

    She gives another small smile. "And Batman has the ability to kick out just about everyone."

Mark Grayson has posed:
"Or if there's a void because there's no Superman, then someone shows up to try to claim it." Mark shrugs. "I'm not going to debate it though. I was made aware by the Titans not to go into Gotham unless invited, so Count Dracula it is."

He stretches out. "Looks like you got this pretty well in hand and I should stop distracting you from it and I need to get this order back home when done. It was good seeing you again, though I don't remember if I caught your name."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Heh, trust me, it's a conversation that I've had with The Batman." she gives a wry little smile.

    "Balm." she introduces herself. "I know Caitlin called me by that name, good enough." she states quietly.

    "And you're fine. I've got a security feed on my mask."

Mark Grayson has posed:
"Then Balm it is! No takebacks." Mark says with a small grin. "Cait's pretty awesome, though."

"It was good seeing you!" And with that, he's heading off.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "... yeah. Pretty awesome." Balm states flatly, and she turns her attention back to the Bonsai show.

    "Be safe out there, Invincible."