3344/It Comes In Pints

It Comes In Pints
Date of Scene:	12 September 2020
Location:	Swordfish Bar (SHIELD)
Synopsis:	Hill, Coulson, and Falcon have beers in the Swordfish and discuss Mandatory Fun.
Cast of Characters:	Maria Hill, Sam Wilson, Phil Coulson

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Maria Hill has posed:
Afternoon on a weekend at the Swordfish. Missing agents in the field. Any number of potential world-ending calamities on the docket. Helicarrier is actually grounded, again, this time due to something mundane at least (but the 'Days Since Last Incident' sign has still been reset to 0). Basically, though, despite these facts, this is really largely business as usual for SHIELD.

And there have been evaluations running, around, during, and despite all the chaos. Perhaps because of the chaos.

THe Deputy Director, however, is off-duty, like every agent in the Swordfish. She's got a small table, and is playing a virtual game of mah-jong solitaire on a tablet.

Sam Wilson has posed:
It's not quite business as usual for Sam Wilson; he has been off duty for a few weeks, since the double-whammy of the plasma gun wound and his weird time-travel ordeal with the Grail-seeking Nazis. It's the longest period of downtime he's had in years, and tonight he felt so frustratingly out of the loop that he decided to drop in at the Swordfish. Catching up on SHIELD events still counts as downtime, so long as he's drinking, right?

At the bar, he orders a Peroni in a tall glass, then turns to survey the room for familiar faces. An unlikely one is the first to catch his sight: the Deputy Director, of all people. Normally he wouldn't bug her during her own downtime, which is rare and precious, but he reasons that as he doesn't actually have any work-related news to bug her with, he can't offer too much of an imposition.

Worst case, she'll respond to his interruption by having him dragged to an overseas black site, which will at least provide a break from the homebound monotony. He approaches her table, gestures at an open seat, and asks, "Would I be interrupting...?"

Phil Coulson has posed:
As he steps through the door, Phil Coulson makes his way over towards the bar, steps slow. When he arrives at his destination, he offers a few words to the bartender along with his order, before he looks around the room. He pauses as he looks at some people over near the corner, shrugging a bit as his gaze continues moving around the room. As he sees both the Deputy Director and Sam Wilson, he offers them a nod, turning his attention back to the bartender as his order is ready.

Maria Hill has posed:
"Wilson," Hill greets Sam with a half-smile. She doesn't seem to be shooing him off, or calling in the Calvary. At least May hasn't shown up yet to glare at Sam in her usual way. "Not at all. How's recovery been treating you?" She notes Phil coming in, and gives him a nod and a half-tilt of her head, an invite of sorts to join once he has his drink.

Sam Wilson has posed:
Sam takes a seat with a smile -- not making him leave is as good as an invitation from Hill. "Not too bad," he answers her with a little shrug. "Getting better enough to where I'm a bored, which is either good sign for my recovery or an extremely bad one for my mental health. Two weeks without strapping myself to a rocket with wings and I'm /bored./" He half-smiles and takes a sip of his drink, then waves at Coulson as Hill's attention shifts.

Phil Coulson has posed:
Phil Coulson nods as he retrieves his glass, with one more quiet comment to the bartender, before he moves away from the bar, over towards Hill and Wilson. "Mind if I join you two?" After all, it's only polite to ask, right? He smiles as he glances around bvery quickly, then back to the others again.

Maria Hill has posed:
"Of course, Phil," Maria says warmly to Coulson. The former Marine is generally only that genial to three people, likely, as far as Sam has seen: Coulson, Palamas, and Fury. Truth to tell, there's only a couple people outside that list she's equally friendly with, and one of them only behind the closed doors of her office. Still. Her eyes flick back to Wilson with amusement. "Boredom is the death of many agents, Wilson. I'm sure Coulson could give you many examples of things that have gone horribly wrong when someone gets //bored//." She smirks, turning off the tablet and picking up her beer. "Worse is when it happens to someone in R&D."

Sam Wilson has posed:
"I don't think the kind of boredom I get from too much Netflix is likely to kill me," Sam says wryly, setting his beer back down. "I'll keep that in mind before I leave my couch and head back into the field, though."

He offers Coulson a little shrug, and gestures toward one of the remaining free seats. "Doesn't bother me. Just here to catch up a little bit before going back on duty, so you might be just the people to talk to. I know broad strokes of what's going on, but obviously people aren't blasting me with details over text messages, either."

Phil Coulson has posed:
"Ah, yes, there's a long list of things that have gone wrong when someone gets bored," Coulson replies as he takes a seat with a bit of a smile. He nods as he hears Sam's words about what kind of boredom it is. "I suppose that kind of boredom might be a bit less dangerous, but only a bit," he replies, a bit lightly. Nodding again as he hears the part about catching up on things.

Maria Hill has posed:
Maria hmms. "Well, you're technically still on medical leave, Wilson, so if you're fishing for details, you'll have to wait until you get back into the Trisk." She lifts her glass to him in a mock-salute. "Speaking of leave, I'm under orders for three hours each week of 'substantive recreational time' and it can't involve sparring or the range, so if anyone has any ideas of 'fun' I'm all ears."

Sam Wilson has posed:
Sam sits back in his chair and tilts his hands back, palms out. "Guilty as charged," he admits, to the question of fishing for details. "I guess that's fair. Think I'll give it the rest of the weekend, at least, but if there's an emergency you need me for tomorrow, you have my number." That seems to be an offer open to both of them.

Presented with the question of recreational time, his brows inch together and his head tilts to the side. "I mean, here there's pool, or darts, or we could yell at a college football game. The Swordfish doesn't really offer much beyond that and your basic drink-and-bitch -- by design, if I had to guess."

Phil Coulson has posed:
Phil Coulson nods at Sam's words, taking another sip from his drink. "I'll keep that in mind," he replies to the part about having his number in case of emergency, before he pauses momentary at the talk about recreational time. "It's not like I'm a master at finding ways to spend recreational time," he offers, before he adds, "I usually either come here or go for a drive, or something like that."

Maria Hill has posed:
"Hrm." Hill looks annoyed, though more at the situation than their responses. "Ah well. I'll figure something out. Apparently 'assigned recreation' isn't recreational. Perhaps I should make a hobby out of annoying someone annoying. Like Stark." There's a grin on her face for a moment, then she drinks her beer. "Or maybe take up pinball. You think we could get them to install a pinball machine in here, Coulson?"

Sam Wilson has posed:
"I want to see that requisition form," Sam says with a smirk. "One pinball machine, by order of the deputy director, for MANDATORY FUN TIMES." He says the last three words in a stern, authoritarian tone. "We could ask them to start booking bands, I guess. Blues would work, maybe classic rock covers. Probably nothing /too/ fun, or we'll ruin the vibe. We could start a fight, but I don't think anyone's dumb enough to try it, unless we hop to another bar."

"Stark's actually kind of hard to annoy," he says, thoughtfully. "Or, in some ways, ridiculously easy. Really minor acts of bad luck will sometimes do it, but anything major he just sort of rolls with. Plus, I think he just categorizes other people as annoying, generally, and it's tough to rise above the level of his background expectations."

Phil Coulson has posed:
"Annoying Stark? Some would say that would be the opposite of recreation," Coulson replies, a bit lightly, before he nods a bit at Sam's words about that. But the part about a pinball machine makes him look thoughful for some moments. "Pinball, huh?" Then he hears the 'mandatory fun times' comment, and he's unable to hold back a brief chuckle, shaking his head momentarily. "You know, some would probably say that a pinball machine is something the place lacks," he offers.

Maria Hill has posed:
"Seems like a plan then," Hill gives both of them an amused look. "Even better if the Pinball Machine is named 'Mandatory Fun'. I think it will fit in quite well, and see, I'm helping." She drains her beer. She gestures towards Sam. "And see? If Fury asks, you have, in fact, now seen me out of my office."

Sam Wilson has posed:
"I can get a notary and sign an affidavit, if you need me to," Sam answers Hill, deadpan. "I, Sam Wilson, hereby witness and affirm, et cetera." He breaks character to flash a smirk at Coulson. "Oh, I don't know, on the rare occasions you can actually get a rise out of him, it's pretty funny. Steve's better at it than I am, of course. Mostly just pretends not to have heard of things. It's the not knowing whether he's being serious or not that does it."

He takes another sip of his Italian beer and shrugs. "Even if it's the Addams Family pinball or something, we can always get some duct tape and rename it ourselves."

Phil Coulson has posed:
Phil Coulson chuckles, as he takes another sip of his own beer. "That would probably be needed," he offers to the part about an affadavit. "Or at the very least video proof, I suspect." That part about Steve being better at annoying Stark makes him smile, before he nods at the mention about the pinball machine. "I'm sure someone have hidden artistic talents and could paint a new name on it too."

Maria Hill has posed:
"No no. I like the duct tape idea. Seems to fit the ambiance." Hill smirks. She gets up and grabs another beer from the bar, and a bowl of the mix of peanuts and crackers of dubious flavor, which she brings back to the table. "Maybe one of those awful zombie-shooting games too," she adds as she comes back.

Sam Wilson has posed:
"Oh, man, like Area 51? I used to kick ass at that at the movie theater," Sam answers with a grin. "Put in double the money so I could guns-akimbo it, too. Guess I never really grew out of that. Dad used to get /so annoyed/. Couldn't tell whether it was the money or all the shooting."

He looks somber for a moment, before he smiles at Coulson and points out, "If Fury needs me to provide video evidence, he's getting off his game. It's just that whatever he's got is inadmissible in court."

Phil Coulson has posed:
"True," Coulson replies to Sam, offering the man a bit of a grin. Taking another sip from his beer, before he offers a chuckle at the mention of the zombie-shooting games. "Sure someone won't argue that it doesn't count as recreation?" he asks, a bit lightly.

Maria Hill has posed:
"Video games are recreational, right?" Hill narrows her eyes slightly, and then laughs. "Though if you have any other ideas, I'm open to them." She pops one of the crackers in her mouth, then makes a face. "So, cheese flavored, but also... not any cheese I've had before. This might be on par with MRE crackers."

Sam Wilson has posed:
Sam's eyes widen and his nostrils flare at the reminder of those unique MRE flavors. "You know, I actually pretended I was vegetarian for a while, because the pasta ones were so much better than the salisbury steak? That's not even a joke. People on base also used to barter the tiny little Tabasco bottles as an informal currency, but I think that might have been kind of universal."

He smirks and adds, "I count it as recreational, because the evil invading aliens mostly go down in one shot. When was the last time we got that lucky in real life?"

Phil Coulson has posed:
Phil Coulson chuckles, "Good point," he replies. "Feels like a long, long while since we were that lucky to get the evil down in one shot. Like forever, really." He keeps silent at the mention of the MREs, simply listening.

Maria Hill has posed:
"Wilson, everyone pretended to be vegetarian." Hill looks amused at that. "Also, there's a better tabasco than tabasco and they'll make the little bottles as well as normal sized. Friend of mine from Tennessee turned me onto them." She pulls up a website and slides the tablet over. "Try this. You will not be disappointed. All of them are good, but the one with the cold brew coffee-- I know it sounds weird-- is amazing."

Sam Wilson has posed:
Sam snorts with his own amusement at the memory. "Who would have thought, when I told that little white lie to my CO, that years later I'd be working for the world's preeminent spy agency?"

He looks over the website Hill pulls up, committing the brand name to memory, and then continues as he browses, "I liked the stuff, to cover up some of the nastier MRE flavors, but I wasn't nearly as into Tabasco as this other guy in my unit. He would pick out the little stopper thing so he could dump the whole bottle out at once, rather than a drop at a time. Kept the Tabasco economy stable, at least: a one-man inflation control. I'll have to check this out -- thanks for the recommendation."

Phil Coulson has posed:
Phil Coulson chuckles as he listens, glancing over at the tablet as well. "Sounds like that guy would keep the entire economy going there," he offers to Sam. "There's lots of interesting types of food that sounds quite weird and taste good, so I don't doubt it's amazing."

Maria Hill has posed:
Hill nods. "Wish I had this stuff when I was still in the service," she notes. "Didn't find out about it until last year, but it's great. Goes on every sort of takeout you can think of." Ah, yeah, ex-military. Hot sauce on everything. "I'll see what we can do about a couple of games being added to the bar, though. Should be fun for more than just me."

Sam Wilson has posed:
"We didn't have as many internet mail-delivery services when I was deployed," Sam says wistfully. "Amazon and WayneCart, which were hardly what they are now, plus a couple of upstarts, but it was kind of limited. These guys probably didn't even exist."

He passes the tablet back, takes a sip of his beer, and smiles. "But yeah, I think we'll all appreciate Mandatory Fun when it gets installed. Kind of a throwback, kind of ironic, but not really. Like the Swordfish itself."

Glancing at Coulson, he smirks. "He did a lot for the unofficial economy, yeah, but probably the local plumbers, too. Weird guy."