2547/Hashbrowns

Hashbrowns
Date of Scene:	21 July 2020
Location:	Empire Diner
Synopsis:	Johnny and Nessa continue their diner conversation over hashbrowns, followed by an entirely innocent shower serenade.
Cast of Characters:	Nessa Donovan, Johnny Storm

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Nessa Donovan has posed:
With the exit of Andi and Eddie from the Empire Diner, Nessa's attention was forced back to her table as well as her dining companion. There's also food to finish after all. "Sorry, wanted to see everything was good there." She glances briefly back towards the door before her attention returns to what was being talked about. Oh right, he was mentioning the dress. "I don't wear anything like that because I'd like people to be safe, to wear a dress like that I'd have to feel like I wasn't going to hurt anyone." She does, however, not seem opposed to looking at the dresses. "I haven't really worn anything like that before. I'm not even sure I'd look good in one." She flashes him a smile before she's digging into her hashbrowns.

Johnny Storm has posed:
"Ah, you've got those natural super-hero good looks." Johnny says with a little laugh, "You'd look good in anything you wanted to wear around." He says, "And you could go a little punk with the little black dress, some stockings, your leather jacket. That's a pretty classic pairing, if you ask me." He says, "And you'd basically be as covered as you are right now, except maybe your cleavage, and if anyone is touching you there, well, they probably deserve it."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Cursed with the face of someone saving the day," Nessa pokes at the hashbrowns with a fork before looking back over at him. She's clearly /thinking/ about it. "I could rock a punk look," she agrees after a moment. "... see, but if I'm fine with that, that means you've won, and then there's no more challenge for you." Her gaze goes back to the dresses. "/Maybe/." She distracts herself with those hashbrowns again.

Johnny Storm has posed:
"Maybe it's more of a metal, rocker look, but regardless. It's a good look. And, you know I'm right, and you're probably kicking yourself up here." He taps his forehead, "For never having thought about it before, huh." He says with a grin towards her as he takes up his fork and takes a chunk of syrup-laden french toast from plate to mouth, once he's done chewing on it, "And there's plenty further we can go with it, you'll have to come up with something new to challenge me with."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"I've never thought of it because why would I bother wearing anything other than jeans and some kind of shirt? It's my staple wardrobe. I'm not trying to impress anyone, I'm trying to be comfortable and keep people safe. Never felt the need to dress up." Nessa looks at the dresses, then at him. "But it might be nice, maybe. If I'm still safely covered, it can't hurt." She sets the fork down to retrieve a strip of bacon. "I suppose I'll have to try and find you something else to talk me into. But somehow I feel like that's basically every suggestion you make in general." She grins, and bites into the bacon.

Johnny Storm has posed:
Johnny Storm rolls his shoulders a little bit at that, "It'll help pull you out of your comfort zone, try new things, experiment." Johnny says with a laugh, "Plus it's something you'd never considered before because you thought it wouldn't be all that safe for people around you." He gives her a grin, taking another bite of french toast which he munches down. "And I agree. Anything you'd like to be talked into?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"There's a lot I haven't considered," Nessa points out. "Taking my gloves off feels weird. Being able to go to the beach and wear a swimsuit around other people? They're still things that feel much farther away than they are achievable. You're just looking at it from a different perspective, so you can see something I can't. Like making a dress work without risking anyone." Another bite of the bacon is chewed before she continues. "Anything I might want to be talked into ends up being something I just can't do yet."

Johnny Storm has posed:
"I thought you were going to go with something adventurous, like Skinny dipping in a glacial lake or something." Johny says with a chuckle at her, "But, we can start with the dress though, and figure something out for some of the other stuff." He gives a little nod towards her as he finishes off his french toast before shifting to the semi mythical hashbrowns before him. "So, Ketchup on them, or not?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa laughs. "Skinny dipping in a glacial lake would be /easy/. No one'd be around to make it dangerous or awkward. You've got to better than that if you think that's adventurous. Touching your hand? /That/ was adventurous," she points out. "It was a risk that could have backfired. Well, potentially. We didn't know what would happen. But you managed to talk me into that quickly." She looks down at the hashbrowns. "Try them without it, then with a little Ketchup. Don't smother them, though."

Johnny Storm has posed:
"What am I, noone??" Johnny asks curiously, "Or is it just not awkward to do that with me around." He says with a quick retort to her as his fork moves to scoop up the first bite of hashbrowns, munching them down, "And you can't exactly have me talk you into touching your hand again though either. Since we've already gotten that under our belt."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"That's entirely different. Are you skinny dipping too or are you just standing there awkwardly?" Nessa smirks. "I didn't even know you were part of this scenario." She picks up another slice of bacon, pointing it at him. "You can't talk me into something I already enjoy," she points out. "So we'll have to come up with something else." She bites into the bacon, chewing thoughtfully.

Johnny Storm has posed:
"Look, I could join you in glacial water, though I'm 99 percent sure I'd burst into flame and turn it into a sudden steam bath if I did. One of those automatic response things." Johnny says with a grin, "So, I'd have to sit on the sidelines, maybe in a lounge chair. But, this is going to happen." He says pointing his fork her way, "Especially since you've said it's something you already like!" He takes another bite of hashbrowns, "These are pretty good." The free hand reaches for the ketchup, starting to squirt some onto the pile of potatos.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"I /like/ swimming. I don't do it often because it's hard to find places where no one else is swimming in order to wear a swimsuit." Nessa makes a face at him. "Right, like I'm going to skinny dip in front of you." She pauses, then says quickly, "That was not a challenge, don't take that as the next challenge." She finishes off the slice of bacon before she looks back over at him. "Besides... I meant I enjoyed the handholding." She glances down at her hashbrowns for another bite.

Johnny Storm has posed:
"Look, it's not weird if you like the idea of it." Johnny says with a playful little shrug of his shoulders to her as she backpedals on the skinny dipping thing, "I get it, I'd want to go do it too, if you were me." He takes a forkfull of ketchup'd hash browns now, muching them down, "We can do that again too of course. But if neither of those is the next challenge, we've still got to come up with one."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa chuckles, taking a bite of hashbrowns and chewing on it for a moment to allow her to speak before she continues. "It's just not something I get to do, the handholding I mean. Skinny dipping's a piece of cake. The handholding is like... spending years listening to your favorite musician and then finally getting to see them play live. So it's not like it'd take /any/ convincing." She looks back over at him. "Alright, a challenge. Something I haven't done, which should be easy, but it's got to be something that I'm hesitant about or scared of. Or embarrassed about." Then she gets a blank look on her face. "Oh god, I thought of it but I don't want to tell you."

Johnny Storm has posed:
"It's going to be pretty hard for me to figure it out and get you to do it if you don't actually tell me." Johnny says in response to the last, nodding a little, "If it's something as impactful as holding hands, I think it's worth the flushed cheeks just to get it out. You can text it to me if that's easier." He offers before shifting back a little in his seat and leaning back a bit, reaching for his cup of chocolate milk.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"It's not as /nice/ as holding hands. And I'm not sure I want to do it because it's mortifying and it would have to be a public thing," Nessa puts her face in her hands for a moment. It's not quite as helpful to rub it with gloves on, so she does, her hands returning to the table. "It's going to sound reallly, really dumb, but it's something no one can really talk me into, so it would be interesting to see you /try/." She looks at her plate of food, as if unsure if she were going to use it to distract herself, then she just looks back up. "Singing. In public."

Johnny Storm has posed:
Johnny Storm tilts his head a little, "I promise I won't laugh." He says as she says it's something really dumb, still lounging there as he watches her, his brow raising after a few long moments, "Singing in public, really?" he asks, a grin does come to his lips, and it's probably almost a laugh, but he holds it back. "Okay, I'll bite. If you don't sing in public, or infront of people, where do you sing?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"... the shower," Nessa coughs, looking down to her hashbrowns and quickly shoveling a bite in as she focuses on not finding the whole thing incredibly embarassing. She finishes it, then makes a face at him. "I mean, I don't think I'm /bad/ at it, mind you. That's just something I find incredibly hard to do and it's also making a lot of people look at me doing something I already feel vulnerable about. Music's got a lot of emotion."

Johnny Storm has posed:
"A shower singer, really? I always thought that was like a..." He snaps his finger a couple times, "An Oxymoron, or a stereotype, or something?" Johnny says with a little grin at her, perhaps finding it more entertaining because she's actually so embarassed by it, "Okay, so, we need to get you to sing for me first then. That's gonna be the first step no matter what we do. So, I guess we need a shower then." He finishes off his glass of milk and sets it down on the table as he lounges, "What songs do you like to sing?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa grins. "Yeah, I guess I'm the stereotype. But it's easy to sing in there, harder for people to yell at you if they hear you being loud, and it does sound good. That joke about acoustics isn't just a joke." Her cheeks are certainly flushed by now, as even talking about it has some factor of embarassment to it. "A lot of the time it's whatever's being played a lot, whatever's popular. I hear a lot of stuff at the diner, music all day long, so whatever's current tends to get piped in. I'm a fan of rock classics, though."

Johnny Storm has posed:
"Okay, so what's it going to take to get you to sing for me then. In private I mean." Johnny says as he looks towards her, "We can worry about anything else more public in the future and everything." He says, giving a slight nod of his head towards her, "I think coming of your stage fright might be a harder hurdle than getting you to touch someone!"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"I'm not going to lie, this is an incredibly difficult task ahead of you if you're up to the challenge," Nessa laughs. "Because I think it's going to be pretty hard to get me to sing for just /you/." She scratches her head with a gloved hand. "I mean, the conditions would probably have to be right. You could get me drunk but /that's/ a challenge in and of itself... because I'm Irish." She shrugs. "Besides, it still is hard for me to touch someone, just less hard to touch someone like you." There's a long pause before she adds. "I mean because I /can/ touch you."

Johnny Storm has posed:
"I've got a pretty amazing shower, you know." Johnny counters, "Just imagine trying out the accoustics in there." He shrugs a little, "Drunk could work though, I think I'd be up for that challenge. Any other ideas how to get it done maybe?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Oh god. There's another challenge," Nessa points out. "You're just coming up with so many of them now. Good luck with the shower." She finishes up her hashbrowns before looking over towards him. "I'm not gonna tell you how to do your job. You're the one that's gotta convince me. You're clever. I don't think you'll get it, but I'd certainly like to see you try. Harder than saving the world."

Johnny Storm has posed:
"I've got a pretty solid working theory that if I get you into my shower, you'll be unable to resist busting out into song." Johnny says with a little snicker, "And I'm telling you, it's something else. Rainfall shower, spa tub, heated floors, though I suppose that's not entirely a selling point for you huh. You've never lived until you've experienced how the rich and famous shower."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"I mean, I'm pretty sure you could impress me with a shower /easily/. Getting me into it might be challenging." Nessa does sigh at the thought of the fancy bathroom. "I'm pretty sure I'm about as far from living as you can get then. You somehow manage to enjoy these things every day and I'm only seeing that stuff in magazines. It's a little weird." She grins at him. "That's why I wanted you to do the diner experience. This is my little world."

Johnny Storm has posed:
"Well, what if I were to show you something from another planet right now, let you touch it even." Johnny says, "Something. Would that convince you?" he asks, his brow lifting a little and a wry little grin, "Something you literally would never believe wasn't from this world."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa narrows her eyes as she looks back over at him. "Why do I feel like this is a trap?" She makes a face. "Because that's a very tempting thing." She seems thoughtful. "Would I be agreeing to /just/ the shower?" There's an awful lot of thought as she's trying to figure out just how there's some kind of trick involved.

Johnny Storm has posed:
"Just the shower, I don't even have to be in there, unless you invite me in obviously, but yeah, just that. Hell, you don't even have to use it." Johnny says to her as he leans forward, resting his forearms on the table. "What I've got to show you you'll literally not believe was out of this world. I'm positive."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa makes the face again, then leans forward as well. "Alright, fine. I will step into the shower." She doesn't have to agree to anything else, after all. "So show me your alien thing, whatever it is." She's more than curious enough to agree to those terms, after all. "You'd better not be lying to me, though, Johnny Storm." She doesn't make an actual threat in anything other than tone.

Johnny Storm has posed:
"Well." Johnny says at that, "I need you to close your eyes then, and give me your hand. You can keep your glove on." He says, "Then, you can open your eyes when I tell you, and you'll have the alien artifact in your hand."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
While Nessa's still unsure, she offers her gloved hand towards him. "Alright, alien artifact." She shuts her eyes. She's not twitchy or uncomfortable, she seems at ease just waiting to find out what the catch is.

Johnny Storm has posed:
Johnny Storm will reach out and take hold of her gloved hand, drawing it across the table towards him until her fingers, then palm, are pressed up against his chest. He'll wait for a few moments before he says, "Open them."

Of course, her hand is just pressing up against his T-shirt with the funny writing on it, no alien device or doodad anywhere to be seen!

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa slowly opens her eyes, peering across the table at her hand against his chest. "... okay, you're right, I don't believe you. Your t-shirt? I mean, I know the writing's weird and I don't get it but there is no way you got that shirt from /another planet/." And yet... he's Johnny Storm.

Johnny Storm has posed:
Johnny Storm flashes a grin at her, "Yep, it's...." He speaks a word in Kree that no doubt sounds unintelligable, and would probably be fairly accented if it were heard by a native speaker, "It's a drink, I guess like coke here, or something." he explains with a little shrug of his shoulders, "So, shall we pay the bill and get on out of here?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Yeah, sure," Nessa agrees when he mentions the bill, slowly retracting her hand. She's busy blinking at the fact that he has an alien equivalent of a soda shirt. It's /baffling/. That and he was speaking whatever it was, too. It's pretty clear she wasn't expecting all of that. She does wave the waitress down for the bill, shaking her head a bit. "I can't tell if I'm infuriated or amazed right now. Good job."

Johnny Storm has posed:
Johnny Storm will pull out his wallet and a credit card from within it and set it down on the edge of the table for the waitress before smiling at her, "I can show you something else that's weirder, though, I personally think this one is pretty weird. It's super comfy though."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Thank you," Nessa comments as he drops the card for the waitress. She'll reluctantly accept, mostly because he /is/ the one with all the money. "What? Something weirder?" She grins at him. "Alien leather pants made from some kind of weird three-eyed beastie?" She's peering at his shirt again though. "Is it soft?" Hard to tell with the gloves on, so she didn't really get to cop a feel from his shirt.

Johnny Storm has posed:
"Go ahead and touch it if you'd like." Johnny says to her as she peers at it, gesturing a little toward her, "And no, leather pants aren't really my style, if I'm being totally honest here."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa takes a moment, removing one of her gloves as she carefully reaches over to touch the shirt so she can get a feel of the fabric. "Yeah, I can't say I can picture you in leather pants. I think leather pants are kind of a very specific style that few people can really rock. So what's weirder than an alien shirt about soda?"

Johnny Storm has posed:
"Well, that's what I say." Johnny says, "About the shirt. It's so weird because it's so.... I dunno, normal, right?" he says with a grin at her, "I think you're on the same page as I am there." The shirt is really soft, and while it looks like cotton, it sure doesn't feel like it, almost a silky or satiny feel, though, not quite.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"I always kind of think of aliens as really strange and different so the shirt... really is kind of funny, actually, because it looks like something you could just pick up anywhere," Nessa agrees, fingers rubbing the fabric for a moment longer before she pulls her hand back. "That's really cool. It's kind of the weird equivalent of 'I went to this place and all I got was this lousy t-shirt'."

Johnny Storm has posed:
"They're both strange and different." Johnny says to her, "But simultaneously very similar. Most of them anyway." He says, taking the receipt from the waitress and signing it, tucking his card away and moving to stand up from the seat, "Shall we?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Strange and different. That could describe a lot of things. A lot of people, too." Nessa gets to her feet, gesturing with her ungloved hand. "Lead the way, collector of alien artifacts," she chuckles, taking a moment to put the glove back on for safety's sake.

Johnny Storm has posed:
The trip to Four Freedoms Plaza is a rather quick one, all things considered, and the trip up and into the Fantastic Four's part of the tower is probably a strange one for an outsider, almost like going through some of the strictest security you might expect at a military facility, except with a futurustic and high technology twist to it. All of this to get to Johnny's apartment, it's luxurious, but also probably pretty normal, that is, if you discount the framed picture of Johnny Storm and Superman, the other members of the Fantastic Four, as well as the Justice League and similar, not to mention the photos of alien worlds, besides movie posters and similar memorabilia. "Welcome to Casa Johnny!"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa is certainly looking at /everything/. Even the luxurious furniture gets a once over because this is not her standard of living and so she's taking the chance to actually experience it. "You certainly live a weird life. I don't even want to know how much everything in here costs. More than I make in a year, probably. Wow." That's a pretty bizarre concept to her. "Alright, you promised me the Fantastic bathroom tour."

Johnny Storm has posed:
"You'd actually be surprised, really. I mean the things that would be expensive probably can't actually be bought, things Reed makes." Johnny says, "The other stuff is well, mementos and things like that, those are probably worth a lot too." He says before walking through the room towards the door to the bathroom, opening it up and gesturing a little through it for her, "Ladies first."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Mementos are worth a lot, I'd say, but a lot of their worth is in the memories attached to them," Nessa's still looking around as she follows, moving into the bathroom as she talks. "I've got lots of things that don't mean anything except to me." She steps into the bathroom. "I'm only going to do this if you swear on everything that you won't laugh."

Johnny Storm has posed:
The bathroom, boy is it nice, it's a large space, with a large walk in shower with a rainfall head and various other luxury amenities, as well as a separate tub, there's probably even a TV hidden in the wall somewhere. Large counterspace, double sinks, and plenty of storage space. It's all rather clean too, perhaps shocking from the terminal bachelor.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Holy..." Nessa's now taking the opportunity to give the bathroom a once over the same way she had the other room. "I can't believe people /live/ like this." She peeks around, wandering the bathroom before she moves over towards the shower. "This certainly is luxurious. And it /is/ a nice shower, and I hate this." She doesn't sound like she hates it, though. She takes a step closer to the shower, then gives him a look. "Like I said, no laughing."

Johnny Storm has posed:
Johnny Storm will walk over and hop up onto the counter, "Promise. No laughing." He says to her as he lounges back on his palms, "And it is a nice shower." He gestures towards it, "She's all yours, give her a go."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa double checks to make sure he's serious about the not laughing before she moves, stepping into the shower. At first it kind of feels awkward, just standing there, in a shower, fully clothed and preparing to sing. It takes her a moment to settle her nerves, shutting her eyes so it's easier not to see the luxury of the bathroom or the fact that /someone is listening/. A breath in, a breath out. She's silent for a moment, but she sways just slightly. She's imagining the intro. Finally, she starts to sing.

"Love of mine, someday you will die
But I'll be close behind and I'll follow you into the dark
No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white
Just our hands clasped so tight, waiting for the hint of a spark
If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied
And illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark."

The first couple of words are slightly shakey, mostly because it's a different environment than she's used to. But she's a natural, falling into place with the tune, easing into being comfortable with what she's doing. She does, in fact, like it despite all her protests. Probably because she can be blissfully unaware of her audience when she's got her eyes shut and she's standing in a shower.

Johnny Storm has posed:
There's no laughter, not even close, infact Johnny's actually, for once, silent as he sits there on the bathroom counter, listening to the fully clothed Nessa singing in his shower, there perhaps is some humor to the scene of course, the absurdity of it at least, but the singing itself is rather enjoyable to listen to!

Nessa Donovan has posed:
There's no interruption, no laughter, but perhaps at this point Nessa might not have noticed. Her attention is on her singing, and with her eyes closed, there are no real distractions. She's pretending it's just her.

"In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule
I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black
And I held my tongue as she told me,
Son, fear is the heart of love, so I never went back
If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied
And illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark."

For someone who only sings in the shower, she's very good. Good enough that she could do something with it, if she really wanted. The magic is that she sings it as if it's a story. It's not just lyrics, it's something she's telling with every verse.

"You and me we've seen everything to see
From Bangkok to Calgary and the soles of your shoes
Are all worn down
The time for sleep is now
But it's nothing to cry about
'Cause we'll hold each other soon in the blackest of rooms
If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied
And illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark."

As the song finishes, there are a few seconds where she lets things sit the way they are before she opens her eyes, already turning red and doing her best to sink down as if somehow that would allow her to get away. The drain, unfortunately, is no way to escape.

Johnny Storm has posed:
Johnny Storm offers a light applause as she concludes, "Bravo!" he exclaims to her, giving a little grin, "I didn't actually think you were going to just burst into song right away on me." He says, "But it was really good, I'm glad you did and that you let me hear it. Now to figure out how to get you to share that joy with a bigger crowd."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa's gloved hands cover her face. "See, I knew this was a terrible idea." She carefully moves to climb out of the shower shortly after. "I will give you this, at least you didn't laugh." She offers him a tiny half-smile, perhaps of gratitude.