3270/With Costume You Get Egg-Roll

With Costume You Get Egg-Roll
Date of Scene:	07 September 2020
Location:	Chinatown
Synopsis:	Spider-Man and Firehawk meet up for food and costume design.
Cast of Characters:	Peter Parker, Julie Yan

---

Peter Parker has posed:
Boy, that old stereotype must be true. After beating up and webbing up a bunch of Triad thugs, you want to do it again an hour later.

But first, dinner. It's been a long day, the mandatory geology course has him seeing geosynclines in his sleep, and he still needs to grab groceries, but that won't be for another hour or so, when the good stuff is delivered to the marketplace next to Un-Pho-Gettable. And the Golden Dragon has an excellent selection. Plus, he gets a discount.

The order comes down from the roof access hatch, where the proprietor has thoughtfully swept the roof so that Spider-Man doesn't have to sit down in an inch of dust, dirt, and leaves.

So, one order of Mongolian beef, three chicken egg rolls, plenty of soy sauce, and a fork, because even Spider-Man has trouble with chopsticks. Unfortunately, in an effort to expedite the order, the server marked it in a special way.

Which means anyone ordering at the front can plainly see the line of tickets over the counter, with SPIDER-MAN written on the back of one of them...

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie had gotten a text from her 'Webheaded friend' about lunch, which was enough reason for her to join him at the dragon. Making her way to the restaurant, she snorts as she sees hints of weblines. Entering, she sees the tickets and quirks an eyebrow. "Let me guess, he came in from the roof?" She asks the guy up front with amusement.

Peter Parker has posed:
The counter guy, Chin, chuckled. "He gets too much attention if we seat him here, so he eats on the roof. He said you would be showing up, so I can take your order and bring it up to the roof if you want to join him up there?"

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie nods, "Sure. Gimme a steamed broccoli and chicken meal with egg rolls and soy sauce. Mellow Yellow with ice, too." She says, eyeing the roof access hatch. "I'll make my way up, sure." SHe does exactly that, opening it and climbing her way to the roof.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man is sitting on the clean patch of roof, sitting cross-legged, reading a magazine titled NEUROSCIENCE FORUM. He looks up as Julie arrives, then immediately stands and stashes the magazine in the backpack next to him. "Hey there! I was hoping you'd be about to show."

Julie Yan has posed:
    "'sup Webs." Julie grins, joining Spider-Man. "You do this for Owari too, or do you have a crush on me? I hate to break your heart, but I'd rather stay friends." Chuckling, she grabs a seat, waiting on her food. "So what'd ya call me for?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man sits down, and that is when she can see the new suit. It's a little cleaner, a little brighter in hue, and it doesn't have a thousand patch jobs hiding along the web design.

"Yeah, bad news about Owari...she got called back to Japan. I guess she completed whatever it was she was assigned to. I got her e-mail address, although I suspect that the encryption key is so intense it interrogates the electrons before it lets them through. I didn't know if you knew, but I wanted to tell you face-to-face. Well, face-to-mask."

Julie Yan has posed:
    "Shit, really? Shame, I liked her." Julie frowns, peeling her mask off and quirks her eyebrow. "You get a new suit? It looks a lot cleaner, and the web pattern's different."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man chuckles. "That's just because it's new, I guess. The material's a little tougher, though. I..." He pauses, then gives Julie another once-over. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but are you able to fight in that?"

Julie Yan has posed:
    "Yeah, but it's not exactly something I like patching up." Julie answers, "I need something more...rugged, I guess? Maybe something with pants."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man nods. "Yeah...listen, I was going to ask about that. I'm...in a bit of a better place now. Better material, better fabrication equipment. If you wanted to make your dream superheroine costume, what would it look like?"

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie perks up a little. "Really? Well, shit. Ya got a pen and something to doodle on?" She wonders with a big grin.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey chuckles and digs into his backpack, coming out with a sketchbook and a couple of mechanical pencils. "If you want to, you can keep those. But go ahead. We still have a little time before the food arrives."

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie begins doodling, getting really into what she wants. It's got a coat, and also it's got a mandarin collar and what looks like leather pants. "Oh man, this is so fun. So who'd you kill to get the new setup?" She asks, teasingly.

Peter Parker has posed:
"My bank account. It was in excruciating pain from the tuition and books, but this finally put it on life support. Say the appropriate prayers." He doesn't peer over the sketchpad's edge, seeming content to wait unti she's complete. "Make sure you note what the colors are, and any design you have in mind. You were partial to Firehawk, as I recall, so if you want to go with a feather design..."

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie winces in sympathy, "Oof. I know the feeling. I've been doing courier stuff just so I can have some spending money, besides other stuff. I got a lot of odd jobs..." Sigh. "Might need to find me a sugar-mama." She mutters under her breath, then taking the feather comment in mind. Sketching out a feather pattern on her coat's hem, she thinks. "I need it to be fireproof...then again I can magic that no problem." Adding a list of colors where needed, she then hands Peter the paper. "Alright, so what do I owe ya?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man takes the sketchpad and looks at it. "Okay...functional. It's rather ornate, but I think we can make this work. We've been working in a process to anodyze fabric to strangthen it, but it also gives it a silk-like look. So it will look like silk, but protect like leather. The scarf could be made of lighter material per your specs. I think we can line the soles with shagreen - shark's skin - so that it can grip without leaving a tread..."

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie nods, "That sounds good, but the scarf stays. It's a gift." She says, holding onto her scarf protectively. "It was from my Sifu. Sorry, but I'm not giving this up."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man nods. "All right, then. One less thing for me to worry about. Hmmm...this is going to take a week for the first suit, and four days for the second one. Because it's always good to have a spare."

Julie Yan has posed:
    "Okay. But seriously, do I owe you for any of this?" Julie asks.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man looks thoughtful. "For the materials...can you come up with $50?"

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie stares at Spidey dubiously, but she shrugs after a moment. "I mean, sure I guess." She says, before she begins to access Venmo. "Not gonna lie, I was expecting waaaaay more for the materials."

Peter Parker has posed:
Well, it was going to be more like $100, but he knew he could talk to Mr. Bundheim in the Garment District for the stuff.

"I know a guy. Kept some AIM guys from trashing his clothing store. Don't worry about the labor. Knowing you'll be wearing my handiwork will more than make up for it."

Julie Yan has posed:
    "Fair enough." JUlie chuckles. "It's a good thing too, I feel safer already-Oh!" She grabs the paper again, before scribbling out some numbers. "I Forgot my measurements. Do NOT give these out freely." She says, giving Spidey a stern look before she returns the paper.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man chuckles. "I should have asked about that. You might need to visit a clothing store for the final fitting, though. It'll just be me, you, and the proprietor."

Julie Yan has posed:
    "Right." Julie nods, and kicks back. "So can I ask you something? How hard was it for you to get a proper fit for your costumes? 'cause that must've been really hard to get right."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man chuckled. "LOTS of trial and error. Buying stuff that I didn't know how durable it would be. Learning how to sew. Had one time where the whole costume got shredded and I had to web myself from belly button to mid-thigh. Someone got a picture of it. Look up #SpideyWhities."

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie makes a face of abject horror, "JEEZ. That...had to hurt after." She winces, shuddering at the mental image. "Yeah, I was the same. A lot of time I spent trying to sew this dress together after getting torn up, or slashed, or even shot at."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man nods. "Superheroing on Five Dollars a Day. How to Manage Your Crimefighting Budget." He pauses as a tray rises through the roof hatch, followed by a waitress with a hand as steady as any surgeon's holding the tray.

After she departs, Spider-Man lifts the mask to expose his lower face. "But the important thing is that you help people. That makes up for a lot."

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie smiles, "Yeah, exactly. That's what matters. THe costumes and the gimmicks are a bonus." She nods, taking her food and beginning to pick things with chopsticks, deftly plucking up meat and veggies in between shoveling piles of rice down her throat.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey sips his Cherry Coke, then begins mixing up rice into his Mongolian beef and eating them together. He does like a lot of soy sauce on it.

"Mind if I make a few observations about the costume? Purely suggestions, of course..."

Julie Yan has posed:
    "Sure." Julie nods, taking a bit hungry bite out of her egg roll.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey flips to a new page in the sketchbook, working quickly as he sketches out the domino mask, but with sharper lines and angles. He holds it up for Julie to see. "How about this?"

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie raises an eyebrow, and looks. "...oh I like that. A LOT. She's looking beautiful already!"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey nods. "It has more of a bird-of-prey look to it. Want me to make the mask look like that?"

Julie Yan has posed:
    "Please do!" Julie nods. "Oh man, I am excited. How do you think we should get it to fit? Spirit gum or some cloth?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man smiles as he sips his drink. "There is a bonding agent I was working on in the early days. Bonds to skin when treated with a chemical, but a bio-electric charger run over the mask will deactivate and reactivate the adhesive. Stuck with the balaclava mask, but for you..."

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie raises an eyebrow, "Wow...I'm shocked they don't have you working for Stark Industries or something. That's amazing..."

Peter Parker has posed:
The smile softens a bit...with a note of regret. "Yeah, well...I did something stupid and bollixed that opportunity when I had it. Shows that even smart people can do pretty stupid things."

Julie Yan has posed:
    "We're all human." Julie just says. "I could've gotten so much further, so much easier, but it didn't feel right. So I told the Chinese state to go stuff their offers up their ass and went across the ocean." She says, munching on another egg roll.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man nods, noshing on another bit of rice, beef, and bell pepper. "Well...if you don't do the same stupid thing again, it's a learning experience. And you have to be true to yourself, Firehawk. Because in the end, that's who you wake up to seeing all the time." He paused, then said, "I think we can improve the costume by layering the delicate work over the main layer and molecule-bond it so it is seamless."

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie nods like she knows what Spider-Man's talking about. She has NO grasp on the fancy science stuff, all she understands is that this material is really good. "How's it gonna do for blades and such?" She asks, slurping up some chicken pieces.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man hmms. "Well, the mask might get cut, but it won't fall off as a result of it, so at least you won't have to worry about being unmasked..."

He sits up as something occurs to him.

"Firehawk...me and some others have an independent communication network set up that uses an augmented reality inferface. Our own criminal database, text/voice/data communication. It would mean adding lenses to the mask...but if you would like some assistance in anything, or reach out to other like-minded individuals to see if they need help...I can add you to the Spider-Comm system."

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie shrugs. "I'll mend that." She says, before she listens with an eyebrow arched. She's not sure if she should mention the Birds, but...

    "Hmm. I mean, it'd help. I'm all for it." She says, holding out her phone. "How's this work, you download an app on here?" It's a burner, she's learned her lesson from last time she had someone upload an app to her phone.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey chuckles. "Actually, all the hardware will be in a choker necklace you can wear, or an armband. The mask, earbuds and glove inserts will be connected to it. Let me cook up a set and I can demonstrate it with the costume when you get it."

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie finishes her meal, and perks a little. "Oh that's even cooler. Sign me up for that!" She says with a big grin. "I think I'm gonna go and pay for my food, then go out for patrol. Seeya round, Webster. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." She blows a kiss, before heading downstairs.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man watches her go, smiling thoughtfully.

This is actually as rewarding as fighting bad guys, helping another hero out.

"Wait...Webster? THAT'S new."