16156/Late Night Neon Greasy Spoon

Late Night Neon Greasy Spoon
Date of Scene:	23 October 2023
Location:	Batburger
Synopsis:	Qira meets a fellow fringe-dweller during the late night shift at Batburger.
Cast of Characters:	Eddie Brock, Qira Quest

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Eddie Brock has posed:
   <<Venom>> "Burnt. Dry."

The rumbling, deep voice rings through Eddie Brock's head as clear as a bell. He doesn't pay it immediate attention, instead planting both elbows on the table and looking down at his Batburger Deluxe with a bite freshly taken out of it. He chews on it thoughtfully, brow furrowed.

Academically he knows it should be tasty - or tasty enough for fast food, anyway - but something takes that out of the experience.

   <<Venom>> "Promised us brains."

"For cryin' out loud," the man curses under his breath, throwing the burger bake down into the crinkled wrapping paper and earning a few concerned looks from other late-night diners.

   <<Eddie>> "Gotham's full of scumbags. We just need to find them and -"

   <<Venom>> "Should be looking! Now!"

   <<Eddie>> "Let's just finish the burger and -"

Suddenly, the burger is sailing through the air before it strikes the window with a dull thud. As it slides down in a cheesy, pickled and ketchupy mess towards the floor Eddie looks down at his hand before hissing low and under his breath.

"We talked about this. You gotta wait your damn turn ... "

Qira Quest has posed:
Qira glances up as the cheeseburger hits the window right next to her head when she steps inside. Watching it slide down for a moment. Reaching over, she slides her fingers under the bottom bun and uses it to scoop up as much of the mess as she can. Settling the top bun back into place, Qira makes her way through the tables to drop the burger onto the tray in front of Eddie.

"Dropped this."

A very brief glance will show eyes that are eerily inhuman despite the iris and pupil both being of average size for a human. The coloring is off, and there's something in the pupil, a brief flash of red, like the nightshine from an animal. She gives a brief nod, then starts towards the counter, licking ketchup and mustard off her thumb and fingers.

She's short, barely over five feet, whipcord lean, and covered in baggy street clothes that suggest homelessness.. or at the least, poverty.

Eddie Brock has posed:
   <<Venom>> "Smells strange, Eddie."

Eddie looks down at the returned burger in front of him, his brow creasing as he ignores the Symbiote's warnings. The thing didn't even have a nose. How could it know if something smelled strange?

He rises quickly from his seat, tossing the remains of the burger into the trash before he hurries over to stop alongside Qira. He can recognize 'going hungry by reason of economic constraint' when he sees it.

"Here," he tells her, smiling through a five o'clock shadow and the look of someone who isn't exactly swimming in cash himself, "Let me pay. Sort of ... sort of an apology for almost hitting you in the head with a burger."

He opens his wallet, looking down inside, before adding: "I mean ... unless you're planning on ordering fifty burgers or something ... "

Qira Quest has posed:
Qira tenses slightly when she hears the footsteps hurrying up, ready to lash out at a moment's notice. The offer to buy her food, however, has her relaxing again.

She doesn't answer right away, perhaps debating pride versus hunger. Eventually, she gives a nod, "Alright. Uh.. thanks." Qira glances up at Eddie briefly, lips twitching faintly at his comment.

"Batburger Deluxe meal, jokerize the fries, water."

She turns her glance towards the kid at the counter, who in all respects probably looks older than Qira herself. Having given her order, Qira looks back to Eddie, "Not sure I could eat fifty. Thirty, maybe... but not fifty."

Then she's sidling down the line towards where the food will come up.

Eddie Brock has posed:
"Yeah, believe me. Sometimes I feel like I could eat a horse."

Eddie fishes a few wrinkled, beaten-up notes from his pocket and passes them across the counter to the cashier. He tips, though not enough to warrant more than a glassy-eyed stare from the kid, and smiles half-apologetically before moving down the counter after Qira.

"So, you're a Gotham native? I'm from New York myself but I'm here on ... uh ... "

   <<Venom>> "TO FEAST!"

" ... business."

Qira Quest has posed:
"Uh.. not... really. Guess I might as well be, at this point. Been here.. six years?"

Qira shrugs lightly and stares at the floor, hands shoving into her pockets. She glances up at him and gives a small nod. "Lots of that. People come in, people go out. Keep a hand on your wallet, lots of sticky fingers out here."

The food arrives and she plucks up the tray, giving a nod to Eddie as she starts towards a booth that lets her glower at the door (and thus anyone coming inside). Setting the tray down, she tears open a few of the ketchup packets with her teeth, squirting it out onto the wax paper unwrapped from the burger, until she has a nice puddle of it.

Eddie Brock has posed:
   <<Venom>> "Wasting time. Hungry."

Eddie moves to take a seat opposite Qira, shuffling over to the side so she can see past him at the door when he notices that's what she's doing. He's still got his own half-finished cup of Sprite which he takes a sip on noisily, rattling the ice around inside. He seems to be making a point to some unseen observer. As if to say 'I am staying here as long as I want.'

"Yep, yep. Been careful about that. Six years, huh? The air quality out here ... surprised you haven't sprouted a second head or something."

He laughs uncomfortably, then takes another sip.

Qira Quest has posed:
Qira lifts a brow at his exagerrated movements, head canting to one side, then shrugging to herself. She squirms her way out of the oversized pullover and sets it on the seat next to her so she doesn't get anything on it. Underneath is ratty grey a-shirt that clings to her, making her have to tug it back down into place. It also exposes a wealth of startlingly white hair, all pulled back into a ponytail with shorter locks framing her thin face.

Giving a small snort of maybe-laughter, she nods, "Between the Joker venom in the water, the Scarecrow fear toxins in the air... kinda surprised everyone here isn't either some weird mutant creature or some powered up vigilante hero." She slathers her seasoned fries through the ketchup and noshes on them before adding, "Still pretty sure a lot of the newer villains cropping up are from all the weird shit floating around the city. That's why I live outside the city." In the swamp? It has to be pretty bad for the swamp to be the better choice.

"So... business... means you're either some mega mogul, a scientist, or a reporter. Only people that come to Gotham for business. Which one?" She flicks a glance towards him.

Eddie Brock has posed:
   <<Venom>> "Defender of the Innocent. Punisher of the Wicked."

Eddie clears his throat, as though someone nearby just said something incredibly awkward and he's pushing the conversation ahead. Except nobody actually said anything.

"The latter. Reporter. For the, uh, the Daily Globe."

   <<Venom>> "Former reporter."

Unnecessary details.

"Just in town to cover a conference. Boring stuff but an excuse to eat on a per diem. What about you?"

The twist of his mouth suggests he already has an idea, but he asks before he can think better of it.

Qira Quest has posed:
"I'm into the redemption business. Mostly myself." Qira flicks a glance towards Eddie, then lifts a shrug, "Don't really do the 9-5."

She gives a nod, "Reporter. What's your name?"

To her, she's trying to hold a conversation. To him, it probably sounds more like an accusation. Or interrogation. She's not super socially apt.

Looking to her food, she eats up a few more bites, managing to make the food disappear pretty quickly despite the talking back and forth. The burger has only a few bites left, most of the fries are gone, and the water bottle is down the last third.

"I.. find people. Do things to them. Get paid. It's a living."