17050/Jogging Memories

Jogging Memories
Date of Scene:	30 January 2024
Location:	Sheldon Park - Bleake Island
Synopsis:	Ted and Nettie go jogging and meet a not so scary thug.
Cast of Characters:	Ted Grant, Nettie Crowe

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Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant wearing gloves and a tracksuit over a full body suit, part of an uncompleted uniform. Part of that is because of the nasty Gotham weather. He has very broken in running shoes.

At the moment the pugilist who's often pissed is doing some warm up pushups and waiting for Nettie Crowe to give her a little jog and assess what she needed to get in shape. Ted does the push ups on his knuckles. He'd do it on his finger tips but people are around and he's not a show off.

"Cold as a witch's... nose."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "TIT, TED. A WITCH'S TIT." comes Nettie's snappy response. She's not sure why she agreed to this. This seemed like a horrible idea.

    She's wearing gray leggings and a racer back under her jacket, coming in with well worn sneakers and in general looking extremely crabby. Her nose is scrunched up, her lips are set in a thin, and she is, in fact accompanied by a pair of birds.

    "Could also go with ARSE these are *not* made for winter wear I have no idea what that lady was talkin' about at the sporting goods store!"

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant springs up and dusts his hands off. "The exact phrase is 'cold as a witches left tit in a brass brassiere. And you will be glad who light that is when you start moving your ass. Mmm I do have better outfits at the gym though. I'll comp ya one." Then he folds his arms and says, "Did you smoke today?"

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Ugh. Haven't worn one of those in ages." Nettie grumps. Corvax and Torny hang out on her shoulder (and hat) respectively. Torny weirdly looks very worried... and is wearing a little sweater with OXFORD on it.

    "I smoke every day. Have since I was fourteen." Nettie states.

    That is a long time smoking.

    "Is that a problem, Mr. Grant?"

Ted Grant has posed:
In an odd sort of perspective defying stance, Ted cannot loom over the far smaller Nettie. He had learned this. He simply says, "The health benefits of quitting would outweigh the jogging almost overnight. I will forebear the obvious jokes about it stunting your growth. But I doubt I could make you quit. That's why I turned down training Carrie Fisher for those sequels. Ya both got heads harder than mine. Anyhoo, let's go." As a few snowflakes fall he starts jogging.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Carrie Fisher -- now that was an amazing lady. I can only hope to do so much good for the poor mentally inflicted after I pass. Then again..." Nettie reaches into her jacket for her flask, and then glances up at Ted, and then tucks it back with an eyeroll.

    "Aye, lad. Head hard as stone on me. Can't say that for most of the company I keep some days."

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant says, "Ah well, yer a nurturer and a teacher. So hard heads are like speed bumps. I got these two, a mom and daughter. I'm trying to get them outta a cult. The daughter is 19, a fantastic lecturer and scholar and is the most pitiful, shy little thing I ever met. Thinks I'm a daddy substitute. Me??" He snorts and makes sure his pace equals Nettie's.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Is that so? She pitiful and shy because she's got the overbearing cult status, or pitiful and shy because she's being bullied by the cult? Need a hand breaking them out?" Nettie asks, keeping her pace well and her breathing even. "Is the mum attractive?" she asks, jokingly.

    "An' you're a teacher y'self, Ted. Goodness knows you've got a whole school. I just teach a couple people the basics of how to not sign deals with demons and THAT fucked over a fair amount of people already!"

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant says, "I'm old enough to know you never turn down a student of the mystics arts who wants to help. Funny thing... the Specter was hanging around the HQ one time, in the early years.So young dumbass that I was I ask him what happens to the people who make a deal with a demon and find a way to wiggle out it? Do the demons ever go after them?"

"Specter looks at me and... that was not fun and says, "Mortals rarely find a way out of their contract. But some of the contracts are drawn WITH such an escape clause. The demons find letting a few mortals go encourages more to make deals," Then he gave a slight smile and disappeared.I didn't sleep well for a week."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Ugh. Never met anyone holding the Wrath of God in person, and hope never to. Thought I knew a fella once, who did. Now he's mostly retired and livin' with a Faerie, has a kid. Don't see him no more 'round the place. Also weaseled out of an infernal contract. Clever bastard." Nettie mutters and she pauses a moment as they turn a corner, her eyes darting to a brownstone. "... isn't that supposed to be in -- naaah-..."

    And she hops over an abandoned trash pile.

    "I have turned away people who wanted to learn from me. I bring nothing but death and problems, Ted. That's been my bag since the *first* World War."

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant shrugs and hops a hydrant. "I've turned a couple away. Some people learned from me an'... they thought they could dodge bullets like Spidey. It ended badly. There was a couple people tried to take over Wildcat, without asking and it didn't end well. There's so me people... just ain't worth my time. They won't go anywhere. The boxers... I see their faces change from getting hit. I seen them get dementia. Mohammed Ali, the greatest went that way. Goddam shame... all the good he did outside the ring and people remember him for silly poems and arguing with that asshole Cosell. Though they were pretty funny."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Honestly, only two or three in my life I've ever met I wanted to teach so badly -- an' I married one of them." Nettie states as she passes by the brownstone. She pauses a moment as she rounds an alley, "Do you smell someth--"

    There's the report of a small gun, a revolver, and the alley lights up briefly as a bullet makes its way towards the jogging pair!

    Torny, the crow on Nettie's hat, screeches, Corvax (the older, larger crow) yells out profanities and Nettie hits the ground.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant does a similar move to Nettie. Except he is not merely falling to grab ground. It's more like he drops to all fours before springing at the man with the gun. Two bounds close the distance swiftly.

Wyatt Earp summed it up: acting always trumped reacting. Even if you're being covered, make your move. The other man has to react to you and you have the better chance of acting first." Of course fists vs. guns was not fair. Not remotely. Mystery man reflexes evened the odds, shock evened them some more. Being six foot five also lent some terror to the gunman. Hopefully. People were a little crazier these days. Ted rises to close in at arms length.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    PEople are crazier. Who commits crime in a city protected by BAT PEOPLE?

    Luckily, Nettie had hit the ground well, and was pushing herself up, her eyes narrowed as her expression darkens.

    Two bounds meanwhile closed distance, but even though Ted was tall and looming, weapons are great equalizers. The twenty-something with a twitch and poor clothes holds the gun up again, and yelling into the air, he tries to fire at Ted!

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant turns to minimize his target area. The gun fires and the bullet whizzes by his chest. Then he gets his hand on the gun man's wrist. He jerks the gun up in the air. It fires again. Ted unceremoniously kicks the thug under the arm in the torso. Ribs are bruised at the very least.

Ted leans in on the man, nose to nose.

"What... were you going to do wit' this?" he inquires.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Hey man! HEY!" the mook yelps as he's kicked in the side, and he goes sprawling to the ground. "D-don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!" he calls out, curling up on his side as Nettie arrives in the mouth of the alleyway, her birds returning to her head and shoulders. Her knees and toes are scuffed and those leggings are ruined.

    "I got hired to spook some people who live in the area!" he explains "They're supposed to be blanks in that gun! I just wanted to scare people and get paid!"

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant sits on the man, straddling him. He disarms him to check whether the bullets are blanks. "Really? Paid to scare people? Usually you hire someone to dress up as a ghost or monster. Who's paying?"

Ted raises an eyebrow at the man. "Hey, sweetie you and the birds okay?"

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "I'm not your sweetie, and the lads are fine. Just a little jarred.

    "I don't *like* being shot at!" the smaller of the two crows protests, flapping his wings like panicked arms.

    "I... I dunno. Just gave me a bag with five hundred dollars and the gun!" the man pushes himself a little further away from the two.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant lets his full weight come down on the man's abdomen.'Did I say we were done? Actually. I am done. You want him, Nettie?" He makes a note to refrain from further 'sweeties', Sheesh.

"Okay, Imma let you up. My friend may sic her birds on you. Not gunna lie." He wonders what and who is behind this? Scaring people? You want to scare Gothamites, you don't use guns. You send in clowns.