2166/Wandering Starling

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Wandering Starling
Date of Scene: 20 June 2020
Location: Central Business District
Synopsis: No description
Cast of Characters: Roy Harper, AJ Strong




Roy Harper has posed:
Starling City is a pretty thriving metropolis and the place where Roy spent most of his early years after Oliver took him under his wing. He knows the streets well, the neighborhoods, the good places to get food, the areas to avoid unless one is specifically looking for trouble. And so it is that they go a-wandering the downtown area after zipping away from Queen Mansion on Roy's zippy little red sports bike that he often uses around the city.

AJ Strong has posed:
Well, there is an unintended benefits to having to ride double on a bike, and so AJ doesn't really complain about the cramped riding space as he hangs on behind Roy with his arms around the other young man's waist. The helmet is borrowed of course, some plain black one he found in the garage that fit well enough. Though once they get downtown and he can climb off the bike he does stretch a little. "Never tell my dad I got on one of those.. he'd kill me."

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy isn't complaining about the proximity. He probably could have taken one of the other bikes for AJ but why, when he can have him riding along with him instead? His own helmet is a dark red, much like his costume, and his usual wardrobe. He grins over at AJ and says, "Don't worry. I don't plan on telling your dad about any of the bad influences I'm having on you." He gives him a little shoulder-bump. Then it's a stroll around downtown a bit. It's a typical city. There are shops and restaurants, traffic, people wandering along minding their own business. It's a Friday night so lots of people are on their way to the usual entertainments. "So, this is.. pretty much where I grew up," he grins with a shrug of his shoulders, "Much smaller than New York but.. it's home."

AJ Strong has posed:
"I mean.. New York is New York, but there's something to be said for less cramped." As two cars nearly bump on the street followed by a flurry of shouting out windows and horn honking, AJ winces slightly. "Still has the same charming atmosphere, though." He laughs softly, shoving his hands in his shorts pockets as they walk down the street. Well, AJ more ambles, peering in the windows of shops and restautants like a tourist, but at least a tourist that knows how not to block pedestrain traffic flow.

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy laughs a little and says, "Yeah well, some things are universal, regardless of the size of the city." And asshole drivers are one of them. Roy seems content with ambling. He's got nowhere to be in particular and no schedule. They're on summer break, so outside of training with Oliver, they're pretty much left to their own devices. "So uh, the only one you haven't met yet is Ollie's sister, Thea. She's pretty cool. She came by the school a little bit before the semester ended. I think she's going to be opening a club or something? Or working on someone else's? Can't remember." He smirks. "Not that she'll let me in."

AJ Strong has posed:
"Ahh.. the rich kid's playground. Open your own club or take over someone else's." AJ laughs softly. "Don't worry, I doubt I'd be let in either, yet.." His lips curl into a smirk as they walk past a French restaurant that has AJ stopping to glance over the menu. "Oo.. this one might have to go on the list." It's a fancier place, and definitely not somewhere they would go into dressed as is. He does look over his shoulder to Roy. "I might have to give the college here more consideration. Get some of that small town feel for a while." He jokes.

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy grins as AJ stops to look at the menu for the French restaurant. He makes his way over to look at it as well. "Definitely never been to this one," he grins. Roy's tastes are decidedly cheaper, and while he may have lived at Queen Mansion and eaten there plenty, it wasn't as though he were rolling in cash, himself, so eating out fancy was never anything he'd ever really done. Still, he doesn't seem against the idea. "Sure, add it to the list." He nods a little further down the street and says, "Down this way's the theatre and arcade I used to hang out at a lot. And around the corner there's an old fashioned soda shop type place if it's still there." It's probably still there. It's been there since the 50s.

AJ Strong has posed:
AJ seems to flop back and forth between wanting fancy food, and gorging himself at the local Big Belly, it always seems a coin flip for what the mood is going to be any given day. He looks in the direction Roy is pointing. "What? Like the soda shop from Grease? Or was that milkshakes?" He narrows his eyes slightly as he tries to remember. "I haven't seen Grease since my movie binge, and that lasted weeks." He rubs the back of his neck with a small, somewhat abashed smile. "Well, I dragged you to my deli, so take me where you want."

Roy Harper has posed:
"I don't think I've ever seen Grease, just that one song over and over again. You're the one that I want," Roy says, but does /not/ sing. He slides his hands into his pockets as they stroll along and grins, "I liked that deli. The bagel was great. But I don't know any great bagel places around here," he admits. "Hey, it's your first visit. We'll go wherever you want to go. Just.. kinda showing you the places I know." He smiles a little sidelong.

AJ Strong has posed:
"Don't worry, I'll sniff out a bagel place eventually. City this big? There's got to be a good bakery floating around somewhere. Just gotta put a bug in the right ear." AJ smirks as he strides along. "Well, then I want to go where you want to show me. There. Problem solved." He laughs, moving around a person who's not paying attention to where they're going with that NY casualness.

Roy Harper has posed:
"Oh, I'm sure that there is," Roy grins. "Just not someplace I ever went looking for before." He strolls along the sidewalk, easily moving with AJ around one person or another. He just always seems to have an inherent awareness of where he is and others are, and adjusting his speed and trajectory as he goes is a natural kind of flow of movement. He doesn't even think about it. They wander past a furniture store, and then a smaller tobacconists, and another filled with all kinds of herbs that can be smelled from the street. "Alright," he says, when AJ says he wants to go where Roy wants to show him.

AJ Strong has posed:
AJ wrinkles his nose as they walk by the tobacconist, though sighs when the herb store overwhelms the tobacco smell. "God.." He lingers by the window for a moment, gushing overthe smell of the herbs before he tears himself away to move on after Roy. Where Roy flows through the crowd, AJ is a bit more twitchy, he moves around people and manages to avoid bumpng into things, but as typical with him, sometimes it seems his brain and body aren't wholly on the same wavelength.

Roy Harper has posed:
When Roy notices AJ slowing down and stopping by the herb shop, he falls back, circling back around and grabbing AJ's elbow to tug him inside instead of just standing outside on the sidewalk. As they make their way inside there are herbs hanging to dry everywhere, jars upon jars of loose herbs with little bags for scooping them into, loose leaf teas, teapots, even herb-infused oils, and little decanters of them to try in tiny little paper cups. The shop owner smiles when they come in but lets them look around undisturbed.

AJ Strong has posed:
AJ flails a little as he finds himself dragged inside the herb shop. "Ah.. hey!" Though he doesn't really fight that much, tugging his shrit straight once he has his arm back to himself. "I was just looking.." Though he moves over to the teas like a bee to flowers, where he starts poking through the tins, sniffing certain ones. Might as well now that he's inside. "Oh god, I think this one has ginger."

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy grins and says, "Yeah, and now you're looking up close, where you can smell them proper." He picks up one called "blood orange smoothie" and takes a sniff, "Oh shit, this one smells like creamscicle." He shoves it toward AJ to make him smell. "How does tea like this work? I've only seen the ones that come in little baggies. Or you know, the pods for the keurig." Yes, Roy does not know how tea works.

AJ Strong has posed:
AJ still has the ginger tea in hand, looks over at Roy, up to Roy's hair, and back to the tea. "Must have a thing for ginger." He takes the one proffered by Roy and gives it a little sniff. "Orange and vanilla, definitely." He smirks at the question however. "Oh boy, are you in luck. My grandmother was very into traditional afternoon tea before she passed. Came from an old English family, so you know.. That's how she would want to spend time with you, over afternoon tea." He looks around the shop until he finds an infuser. "So for one cup, you put the tea in this, keeps the leaves inside while it steeps. IF you're doing a pot, you can just throw it in loose and most of the tea will sink to the bottom of the pot. You'll always get sme leaves but..." AJ shrugs. "Then you get the local crazy lady to read the tea leaves and tell you your fortune."

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper can't help but snicker a little bit at that and says, "Must have." Then he listens with a little bit of a grin as AJ talks about his grandmother and how one goes about preparing loose leaf tea. He laughs when he gets to the end and says, "And if you don't have a local crazy lady? Can you like, just make up your own?" He sets the jar back on the shelf and squints as he looks around, then drifts over to the flavored olive oils. He pours a little bit into a tiny cup and tastes it, then makes a bit of a face. "Augh, okay, not that."

AJ Strong has posed:
"I'm sure there's an app for that. Snap a picture of the inside of your cup and it tells you your future." AJ laughs though he goes quiet after a moment holding one of the teapots, black clay with bamboo decorations. "She'd always read my cup for me, telling me one day I'd get better. Eventually I got old enough to know she was just trying to make me feel better, I guess she was right afterall." He laughs a little at the face Roy makes, though he's actually gathering a few things up. "Tea might be nice to have back at the dorms.."

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper glances over at AJ and watches him as he holds one of the teapots. He wanders back over and slips an arm around his shoulders, giving him a little one-armed hug before releasing him. "Sure, tea's good." Not that Roy ever drinks tea, really, unless it's the iced variety. But that doesn't mean that he wouldn't. He continues to wander around, poking through the spices, eying the various combinations, but it's not like he cooks, and so he doesn't have any need for them.

AJ Strong has posed:
AJ is not much of a cook either, so he's pretty much holed up with the tea, though he does add the oragne tea that Roy seemed to like to his pile of products and brings it up to the counter. "Are we allowed to have hot plates? Ehh.. I can always hide one in there, it's not like they search our rooms all that often." Look at the bad influence Roy has had on him, considering breaking school rules.. for tea, no less! Hoolligan.

Roy Harper has posed:
Such a hooligan. Roy grins over in AJ's direction and says, "Pretty sure we could. Or one of those electric kettle things. Or you know, use the dorm kitchen thing." Not that he's ever used the dorm kitchenette. The microwave is usually scary from lots of kids using it who have not learned how to clean it after. He wanders back over and notices that AJ got some of the orange tea that he liked the smell of and grins.

AJ Strong has posed:
AJ wrinkles his nose. "Oh god, the dorm kitchen.." He shudders. "I'm pretty sure if we didn't have a cleaning crew that that would be the number one source of disease in the entire city of New York." He looks at his new tea pot. "I guess I can order an electric kettle, too. They can't hold that against me, and I don't want to have to walk out of my room when I'm finally in a study groove."

Roy Harper has posed:
"Well, no reason we can't have a hot plate either. As long as you keep it hidden and don't burn the dorm down, I don't think they'll be the wiser," Roy says with a grin, bad influence as usual. He waits while AJ's purchases get rung up, and then wanders back out of the shop and onto the sidewalk. "Hey, first souvenir from beautiful Starling City. New teapot."

AJ Strong has posed:
"I'll treasure it forever." AJ quips with a smile. "Now, let's hit this soda shop of yours, all the tea talk has me thirsty. And hungry. Or I might just be hungry." He's probably just hungry, as if he's ever not hungry. "I'm sure I'll be leaving with a few fresh bruises, too when we finally get down to business." He siles, not seeming to bothered by that line of thought either, in fact he might be a little eager.

Roy Harper has posed:
And so Roy does lead them down around the corner to what is an authentic 50s era soda shop with the low counter around the old fashioned machines. There are also booths along the windows and that's where Roy settles, falling into one of the red vinyl seats and sliding up against the window to lean against it, looking into the shop. He doesn't bother to pick up a menu. He already knows what he's going to get. "Yeah probably. Last time I was out here we practiced with the escrima and he kicked my ass. But then, they're his thing, not mine. So, it's good. I'm learning. But I was sore as shit for a bit after."

AJ Strong has posed:
AJ slides into th booth across from Roy, setting his prizes on the seat next to him as he reaches for a menu. "Escrima..?" He tilts his head. "MAybe I should try them. I was thinking I need a melee weapon. Like I said before, if something is to close to me I bring them along when I hop, so I need a weapon where I can reach and keep them out of range if I want to leave them behind or move in close if I want to pull them. I think it might work.."

Roy Harper has posed:
"Sword's my melee weapon of choice," Roy admits. "I'm actually better than Ollie with a sword." He flashes a grin at that. "But then, that's why we train with stuff I'm not good at, so I can get better. Escrima's pretty cool, though. You should give a try to whatever we've got. See what you like best and what works best for that. I bet Ollie could recommend something, too." He draws one knee up and rests his elbow on it.

AJ Strong has posed:
"I was thinking a staff. Good reach, and I could use it to vault if I needed some extra height. OR maybe I'm just being silly, you're right though, I'm sure Ollie would have an idea." AJ peeks over the menu, and seeing burgers, well, that ort of settles his mind. He does not know how to pass up a hamburger, it's just not in his DNA. He leans back in the booth with a sigh. "It's nice being able to talk about this with someone, too."

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper grins and says "Not a bad idea. Ollie's going to want you to train probably 100% with just your weapons and reflexes, so that anything you can do, you can do without any additional .. help." He shrugs his shoulders. "It makes sense." Despite the fact that he can think of a hundred cool ways that AJ can use his abilities to augment fighting skills. "But that's because that's the way we fight. We're all just.. " He gestures at himself. "So.. that's the way we learn."

AJ Strong has posed:
"There's some stuff I can't.. not use. It's just always going." AJ tilts his head to the side. "Like... I don't know how to explain it. It's weird. I don't even know if some of the things can be shut off, honestly, somethings I'd like to turn off once in a while." He wrinkles his nose but sits up as one of the waitstaff comes over. Of course he orders a bacon cheese burger, but with rootbeer and onion rings today.

Roy Harper has posed:
"Well, I mean, anything that's naturally just part of you that you can't directly control -- I don't think that counts in this scenario. I think he just wants you to learn to fight as though you only had what everyone else has in the event that for some reason you have to," Roy shrugs his shoulders. "But I mean, if it's part of you it's part of you. There are some things you can't turn off." He grins when the waiter comes over and he orders himself a plate of buffalo chicken tenders and mozzarella sticks with a small chocolate shake and a glass of water.

AJ Strong has posed:
"I don't think I've looked forward to getting smacked around before." AJ laughs softly, though it is a little nervous. "And I need to learn to fight without my powers, because I'm sure there will be times when using it just isn't an option. I don't know how.. but.. I'm sure it'll happen. Relying too heavily on the weird stuff will probably get me in trouble."

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy chuckles a little bit at that and says, "Yeah, that's one of the side-effects of getting into what we do. You find yourself looking forward to some things you never thought you would." He grins and then smiles as their drinks arrive, nodding to the waiter before reaching for his milkshake and taking a sip. The food won't be much longer before it arrives. "So uh, did I mention that last time I was out here, we were taking Vanessa to a court date and got attacked by the head of the crime ring she was testifying against and we totally took him and his henchmen out. Ollie wouldn't let me keep the guy's rocket launcher," he grins.

AJ Strong has posed:
"No.. in fact I think you may have told me your trip was boring and you were glad to be back at the school." AJ says with an arched brow as he sips at his root beer. Then goes wide eyed, peers into the glass and takes anoher sip. "Did they put crack in this? Holy god. And what would you do with a rocket launcher? Really, that sounds like it would cause more problems than it would help."

Roy Harper has posed:
"I dunno," Roy admits with a shrug of his shoulders. "I didn't actually wanted to keep it. I just wanted to see if he'd let me if I asked." He grins then and takes another sip from his shake. "Pretty sure there's no crack in it, but this place is really good." The food does arrive very shortly after, and Roy grabs a mozzarella stick, the cheese fairly oozing out of it. "So good," he mumbles. "No, that was the time Ollie thumped me with the escrima. I think the trial was after that.." Roy looks thoughtful. "Either way.. was before I told you about .. stuff. I thikn."

AJ Strong has posed:
"Right. Well. Glad you didn't get blown up by a rocket launcher. I'm kind of fond of you and that would put a damper on my day." AJ picks up an onion ring and takes a bite out of it, setting it aside as he grabs a knife and cuts the burger in half, just for easy handling, he's definitely going to eat the whole thing. HE mms appreciatively after the first bite, mouth too full to make any comments beyond that.

Roy Harper has posed:
"Yeah?" Roy grins, and then his expression turns a little more serious. "I'm glad you're part of the team now. I was really surprised when Ollie said to just invite you on over." Meaning, to the Arrowcave, not just the mansion. "He's not a real forthcoming guy." To say the least. "But I really wanted you to be part of this, not just you know, because you want to do this sort of thing but.. I wanted you to do it with me."

AJ Strong has posed:
"He seems to trust you. Yeah.. I can tell he's not the most open guy, but that much is obvious." AJ takes another bite of burger, holding that in one hand, and an onion ring in the other. "I just hope I prove worth the effort. I'm going to try. I mean, it can't be any worse than that Biology final." He smirks at his own joke then sighs. "I really want this to work out. But the team and us.."

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper reaches over with his foot and lightly kicks AJ. "Hey, you're worth the effort no matter what." He looks suddenly serious. "You're already so much better than me. And with a little training, you're going to kick ass, too." He smiles a little crookedly, then. "As for us, we seem to be working out pretty well, I think. Right?"

AJ Strong has posed:
"Better than you? I'm pretty sure you could kick my ass. I might lead you on a good chase, but you'd win in the end." AJ shakes his head. "You're sronger and quicker, and I have nothing to help me there, so until I can do some training." He shrugs. "Unless it was a music battle, then I'd totally kick your ass." He does nod to the final question. "I think so."

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper grins a little crookedly and says, "I meant.. you know, good. Trustworthy. Heart in the right place. When Ollie found me I was a thief, and a liar, and kind of a bad seed." He smiles and shrugs his shoulders. "You've got your heart and head in the right place. Way ahead of where I was when I started all this. You just need training. You've already got all the important stuff." There's a little bit of relief when AJ nods, and his smile becomes a little less crooked. "Yeah, I think so too."