4468/Books, Wine, and Song

Books, Wine, and Song
Date of Scene:	23 December 2020
Location:	Rococo
Synopsis:	A meeting of friendly minds.
Cast of Characters:	Dick Grayson, Jane Foster

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Dick Grayson has posed:
'Tis the season, and buying gifts for a gang of eccentrics as ... well ... eccentric as the Bat-Family is no easy task. Nevertheless, Dick has always been the one who was good at it (in fact, he's often the only one besides Alfred who remembers to actually do it) so he has a reputation to maintain. Books are always a good gift, as there one of the few items that you never lend or borrow - only give.

At the moment he dangles from one of the rolling ladders with one hand, balanced as easily as he would be standing on a perfectly level surface. He holds one old, leatherbound edition in one hand and peers at the contents thoughtfully.

Jane Foster has posed:
'Tis the season to be jolly, fa-la-la---

Jane is not fa-la-laling. She's here, in fact, by request and that has something to do with the glass of red wine in her hand and a selection of favourite books laid out along with another Gotham personality. Apparently having a Nobel-winning astrophysicist sharing some of her beloved books is certainly a draw. Besides, it's not -too- much of a crazy event to count.

"You can be sure that while Maya Angelou is great, I adore Rilke to the ends of the earth. Not only because he professes a love of the stars, but something deeper and richer woven through the testaments of his favoured prose. You can just feel the way he moves the world," she explains with soft precision to someone on the other side of a partial stack. "You can't really go wrong when that awakens such wonder. I like Schwab's most recent one, too, though some might find it rather complex." The statement trails off with a laugh, and a ruffling of paper. The brunette of many podcasts and television displays isn't going on about Newton, so there's that.

A sip of wine and she nods as the manager drifts on to deal with the next display.

Dick Grayson has posed:
The manager bustling past jostles the ladder that Dick is hanging from, and while it seems like it may well topple he manages to keep it steady without so much as a raised eyebrow. Nevertheless, he takes a step back to hop down from the ladder to the floor with a dull thud. The book tucked under one arm, he moves towards the cashier but pauses for a moment by Jane. His head crooks to one side curiously, brow furrowing as he works to place the face in his head.

"I know you ... "

Jane Foster has posed:
A few books laid out as a display are just one atoll among many for the appraising scholarly mind to sail between. Many an islet dotted by a favourite tome or paperback allows for diversions, if the drinks common here didn't. Rococo is hardly ever crowded, even when the damp and cold of night clouded around Gotham invite everyone to seek the lit shelters they can find. Shortest night of the year barely past, and it feels even more besieged, so such sparks of electric grace are the more needed.

Jane wears a comfortable sweater and jeans, nothing too opulent, the scarf around her neck a statement piece for old maps and star charts. She smiles to herself, fingering the spine of another possible book of interest. Might be worth pulling out until the ladder squeaks. A sound worth turning to, a hand raised in warning like she might need to bat away a stray falling object, man, something. "Oh." Two steps back, a precautionary measure, prove unnecessary. "Hello! Careful, I wouldn't want you to trip right before Christmas."

That smile is swift to follow, friendly and warm. "You might know me? I hate to be the sort who assumes. I'm Jane, nice to meet you."

Dick Grayson has posed:
"Oh. Oh! Right, yes," Dick returns the smile, tucking the book more carefully under his arm so as not to drop it, "I read a paper of yours. Or a few papers. I think. I'm one of those scientific hobbyists. I like to know about theory and discovery, but I just smile and nod instead of piecing together the whole ... cosmology in my head, you know? Dick."

He extends his free hand to shake, glancing back towards the ladder for a moment: "Wouldn't worry about that. Even if I fell, I'm pretty bouncy."

Jane Foster has posed:
Jane Foster is many things, but arrogant or puffed up on her academic successes aren't truly part of them. Her hand drops to her side and she breaks into a slightly wider smile, enough to pass the boundary between reflexively polite and more openly amiable. "I hope you found them interesting or enlightening, depending on the paper. Admittedly, the topics can grow rather technical when aimed at my typical audience. Hobbyists are frequently as well-read or better in their specific fields than most, though. Don't undersell that."

She offers her hand in return to Dick, the right. Fingers are a touch cool, hinting at being outside. But neat all around, certainly clean, a faint scent of incense and woodsmoke found whatever soap she used. "You're certain? I would hate to explain to Bianca how you ended up splatted on the floor. Pleasure to meet you, Dick. Bouncy; isn't that something we could all use a little more of."

Dick Grayson has posed:
"I just attribute it to a broad and varied classical education," Dick answers, shaking Jane's hand before returning it to the pocket of the pea coat he wears, "A little bit of everything. Helps to draw the connections, but beyond that there's a lot of smiling and nodding. That said, I do like the idea that there's an alternate me in some other universe. I wonder if he's bouncy, too."

"So, do you live in Gotham, or ... ?"

Jane Foster has posed:
"Worldly education will never fail you in that respect. Look around and you can find just about everything here." Jane isn't in a rush to claim another book of poetry or go searching for a translation of an Arabic thinker circa 880. Neither is the latest bestseller or the Booker Prize winner on the agenda. She is in no particular rush, happy to engage Dick in conversation. Her wine is reclaimed from a shelf, set to her lips to best appreciate the flavour. "An alternate you? The circumstances that made you shift every decision you make, if we start off in simplified quantum theory. You might have countless alternate yous, each one made when you act one way and another you takes a different path. Branching off infinitely, here and here and here."