16446/The Strangest Bright Spot in Gotham!

The Strangest Bright Spot in Gotham!
Date of Scene:	30 November 2023
Location:	Freaky Tiki
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Scott Lang, Barbara Gordon

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Scott Lang has posed:
Gotham and Scott Lang have a strange relationship. There's something about the dark gothic monolithic city that appeals to him. Maybe because it feels like New York City's moodier brother. It could even be Miami's brooding cousin. The place is a contrast to what he's used to. That's how he wound up at a political rally to begin with.

And now he's back on the various streets of Gotham. He doest look like a tourist nor stand out like one. Just wearing a pair of jeans, a dark blue hoodie beneath a black winter coat. People may only think he's not around here when he looks. Honestly, he could just be a local that moved from one side of the city to the other. Someone like that may not remember where -everything- is.

Eventually his adventure carried him to an interesting sight, Freaky Tiki. Scott didn't think a place like this would exist in Gotham. That somehow the bright and tacky island decor would be a punishable offense in Gotham. Yet here it stands, a living, and metaphorically breathing, contradiction. And Scott can't help himself to go inside.

He stands out like a sore thumb against the island motif. It's all bright and colorful against his cool neutral colors. The colors he wore to blend in. Gravitating toward the bar, he takes a drink menu. Pale green eyes scan the menu before stopping on one item, "Are you serious?" he asks the bar tender. A finger nudges at a particular drink choice.

"If you're willing to pay extra," the tender says thinking not many order -that-.

Sometimes it helps to be employed by Tony Stark. "Ohhhh! You bet I'm taking one."

A few minutes later his drink comes out, a simple Mai Tai and it's served in an actual coconut glass complete with the little umbrella. It's the cup that cost extra.

Scott will take a selfie with the drink, a photo of the menu that includes the address, and a few decor shots.

Then he begins texting the same message to his two friends in Gotham.

-I thought a place like this would be outlawed in Gotham. Drinks are on me if you can stand the bright colors and lights.- Attached are the photos. Barabara Gordon and Phoebe Beacon get the messages, but he's unsure if either would even respond. Either way, it's not going to spoil his fun this Gotham evening.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara had gotten the message while she was on her way home after a business related outting. As it so happened she wasn't too far away from where Scott had sent her the text. She remembered him, of course, as the Avenger from that strange heist event awhile back. With a smirk, she made her way to the locale via her black sports car that she finds a parking spot for near the building's external facade.

Exiting the vehicle, Babs pulls her jacket out of the back, then throws it on as she heads inside. Dressed in a black jacket, a dark red sweater and black slacks, Babs has her fiery red hair tied up on the crown of her head, with a few loose strands framing her face. Her green eyes are covered by a pair of black framed vanity glasses, that she peers through at the interior of the place. She's been here before, but it's been some time.

She appears beside Scott then, on his left, and grins at him. "What have you gotten yourself in to now?" She asks him, starting off the conversation with a more upfront approach rather than your standard greeting.

Scott Lang has posed:
Scott is just sipping at his Mai Tai. Honestly, he's drinking in the details of everything. So, he misses a fiery redhead that walks up to him until she's almost right next to him. Those green eyes look at the black framed vanity glasses. "There's a familiar face! How are you!?" Scott asks and opens his arms for a hug. He'll set the coconut cup n the bar for a second.

"You say that like I've gotten into trouble. I'm just here with a drink. I just found this strange hole in the wall that I didn't expect to exist in Gotham. I mean you don't think of 'Cheeseburger in Paradise' when we're Gotham, but here we are!" Scott gestures about the place. A smile pulls at his lips, "How have you been trouble?" he asks, hoping that life treated Barbara well.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
When he sees her, and greets her, she smiles warmly toward him before offering him a light and quick embrace. When she pulls back, she gives another appraising look around the place before a light huff of a laugh escapes her. "Yeah, well... awhile back it became a big part of Gotham's counter culture to try and reinvent the city's image to out of towners. Thus you got places like this cropping up. This one has actually managed to survive though, which is a testiment to the idea in some ways." She pauses. "I guess..."

When she's approached for a drink, she asks for whatever Scott is having, then she looks back to him. "I've been good. Not always do I get a invite for a night out by an Avenger though, so I figured I had to check in, make sure there wasn't trouble brewing in the Freaky Tiki."

Her drink is delivered, and she accepts it in to both hands, as she wiggles her shoulders out of her jacket. "How have you been?' She counter-inquires toward him, before raising the drink up to her lips for a sampling sip of its sweet taste.

Scott Lang has posed:
"Speaking as the outsider looking in, you don't hear about this counter culture movement out of Gotham. It's fascinating and maybe like a train wreck. Something that's hard to look away from," Scott admits. No one hears about places like this so much.

"You got it!" and before long Barbara is handed her own Mai Tai with a coconut cup, with a mini yellow umbrella.

"I'm not Tony Stark Miss Barbara. He'd take you to fancy places named 'Che Che' and I'm a 'Freaky Tiki' kind of guy. I go for the unique, and arguably, odd," he gives a small smile. "And there's no trouble here, yet." Mischief dances in his eyes very briefly.

"I've been good. Trying to enjoy life outside of my jobs and when I'm trying not to be 'Super Dad.' It's been a process, but a good one," he'll take another sip of his drink. "How about you? How have you been? Have you been keeping out of trouble?" he asks with a curious brow.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara offers her thanks to the server before they make their leave of the two. She enjoys that sampling of the drink before lowering it down once more. Her eyes raise up once more when he speaks again, talking of his parenting causing her to strengthen her smile some.

The question aimed her way has her glance down for a second before she bounces her gaze back up toward him. "Always trying. Ever the challenge, however." She says, before a sigh is taken and released. "I just got out of a late meeting with some of the board connected to my company. I run a Green Energy company based out of Gotham here, and Metropolis. It's, uh, been a troublesome experience over the past decade, but one that has been very rewarding too in a lot of ways."

Another sip of the drink is enjoyed as she gives the mixture a little stir. "Being out of the wheelchair helps a lot, though." She quietly adds, just letting it slip out that she was in one, not really thinking as to whether Scott would know anything about any of that or not. Entirely depends on how much he's checked in to her public information.

"What do you occupy yourself with, when you're not... Avenging?" She inquires then, a grin showing on her lovely visage.

Scott Lang has posed:
"What strides has your company made?" Scott's general curiosity gets the better of him. "I know with all the tech that floats about might give different fields some much needed boosts," Scott muses a little bit. He's curious about progress like that, it's the electrician in him.

"Wheelchair?" Scott asks with genuine surprise. He'd rather have someone tell him his past than snoop. If it's needed, Scott's not above snooping. "So, we both had our prisons," Scott lets that little bit push forward. Although she might know that since Scott doesn't hide his past. There's public record, a couple of interviews, the works.

"Well, I play the drums. I do magic. I'm trying to figure out the rest of it. I'm a Dad, Avenger and a few other things. Trying to figure out of all the in between I guess," Scott feels like the hero world kind of took him by surprise. He gets thrust from one strange world of survival to another one. The second just comes with a codename and a costume.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Babs lowers the drink after another sip, and quickly nods her head two small times. "We have a fairly sizable wind farm off of Gotham's eastern coastline, which has been a significant boon for power to many of the northern sections of the city. Unfortunately... Gotham isn't known for its sunlight, but really that has helped us advance the amount of energy that solar paneling technology is able to bring in. But... our most well known project of late, I think... is directly above our heads right now." She states, her eyes even glancing upward for a moment before she smiles softly at him again. "We bought a retired GCPD blimp, and converted it in to a solar flyer, of sort. It gathers solar energy from above the clouds, and brings it down to a number of air stations mounted on the peaks of Gotham's tallest skyrises. This energy gets destributed throughout the city, rather than specific regions alone."

She stirs her glass a little bit again, as she smiles at his talk of what he does for non-heroic moments. "I imagine your kids adore having a super hero father, let alone one who does magic tricks too." She says then with a light grin gracing her lips.

"I uh... my father is the Gotham Police Commissioner. James Gordon. It was something that inspired me for a long time growing up to become a Cop myself. But, when I was in my late teens -- about a decade ago -- I got caught up in a home invasion, and took a shot to the back. It had me in a wheelchair for a long time, most of my 20s." She draws in a breath, her shoulders rising inside her red sweater, before dropping a little again when she exhales it. "Technology is amazing though, and with new discoveries in neural networks, well.. I'm back on my feet." She finishes that with another soft smile toward him.

"Thus I live every day quite thankful, and try to be a positive reactor to hopefully power others around me. Or so that's the arrogant-sounding hope anyway..."

Scott Lang has posed:
"I don't know if she adores me. I just try to be a Gd Dad and hope the actions land, y'know? I'll know how well I did if she has a lot of good memories to talk about," and then he grins widely. "Who doesn't like magic?!" He'll snag his umbrella, flick off any of his drink. "Like the umbrella. How I can put it behind your ear like so," and just like that the umbrella is gone. Unfortunately, Scott doesn't know that Barbara is trained in slight of hand. She could stop him or feign ignorance. Either way, he'll -try- to make it seem like that umbrella "appears" at the other ear.

Successful, or not, Scott presses on. "How goes the Blimp project? What d you do if it's a rainy or stormy day? Have you modified the craft to go above the clouds? You can always get some solar energy that way.

Then the tale about an ambitious girl that wanted to be a cop. A home invasion forever changed that. Much like nanotechnology forever changed Barbara's changed trajectory. "You were always amazing, chair or not. I mean you've had this company for how long? The ideas probably came while you were on the char. They would still press forward whether, or not you could walk," Scott doe believe in the term "handi-capable."

"Positivity isn't arrogance, even when you hope to spread it to others," Scott tries to defend that attitude. "We need more positive people in the world," he takes his drink and gives it another sip. "It's what people do every day when they're in costumes or uniforms. They give everyone else hope, unless they're trying to rob a bank or something."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Whether or not Babs knows how that umbrella trick works, or not, she keeps to herself. She does widely smile at it, and does even laugh softly for the trick put on for her sake. Her right hand goes up to slide some of her red hair back behind her right ear then, as she gently nods her head two soft times toward him. "My dad's magic tricks involved telling us to clean up our rooms, or he'd haul us down to the precinct to book us." She jokes back, before her drink is hoisted up again.

When she sips it, lowers it, she nods two quicker times to his question about the blimp. "Yeah. It ascends above the clouds on the more dreary days where it soaks up the sun's rays, then comes back down below to make a tour between the sky stations. One of them is atop my own building, the Clocktower. It's a surreal experience to get to see some of the creations I've dreamed up in the past decade, live and in-person like that, from the comfort of my own balcony. And yeah, one of many ideas I mused up out of thin air while stuck in that chair..."

She turns the drink glass around in her hand, as she gives a look at a passing group stepping past them. When she looks back to Scott, she affords him another sincere smile. "Well. Certainly trying, at least. Gotham is known for many things, sadly Bank Robberies is one of those things too. But we Gothamites are tough, and we got a lot of super people helping to keep us safer too..."