5611/No goulash today.

No goulash today.
Date of Scene:	16 March 2021
Location:	Chelsea Market
Synopsis:	What started as a good outing turned up a temporarily temporally tossed.
Cast of Characters:	Wanda Maximoff, Clint Barton, Pietro Maximoff, Anchovy

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Wanda Maximoff has posed:
'In like a lion, out like a lamb' truly describes March weather in NYC. It can go from warm, light sweater weather to cold, 'chill the bones and make bone soup' weather in the span of a day. Twenty four hours.

And in that twenty four hours, Wanda's decided that some stomach filling, comfort food is necessary. For some, it would be macaroni and cheese. For others, 'mom's meatloaf. For Wanda?

All ingredients must be perfect for her goulash. To that end, she's managed to recruit hand and eye to locate all that is required. Good, solid aged beef, smoky paprika, fresh eggs and flour so she can make her own egg noodles.. and the list goes on.

The sky is overcast, rain threatening, when the call is put out to join her. (No secret she doesn't like going out alone, and others may prefer it as well!)

Dressed in a red woolen coat that reaches her knees, jeans, warm boots finish the look, with red hair hanging down. She has a woven bag in hand; just another little thing that makes her feel like 'home' in a place where buildings are her mountains.

Wanda walks slowly in the concourse that is the path of markets; all manner of things can be bought, and most of them do not cater to the tourist trade. One or two do, if a 'native' chooses to bring family or friends along, but for the most part? It's all for NY.. for those who want a touch of home imported. Green eyes search for that perfect item, her manner and mood light. Lighter than it's been for a little while.

Clint Barton has posed:
Clint was lazing around the mansion, so was available when Wanda decided a shopping trip was the order of the day. A simple denim jacket over a grey hoodie provides him sufficient protection from the weather. Amazingly, he doesn't appear to be wearing a quiver or carrying a bow. You'd think this was a normal shopping trip or something.

He's walking beside Wanda, kind of half paying attention to the various foodstuffs they are passing, since he's not entirely sure what she's looking for anyway. Suffice it to say, he's dividing his attention between her and his normal 'I'm in public' level of distrust, scanning the crowd as they walk.

"So what are we actually looking for? You seem to have passed up a good number of things so far."

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
The cold doesn't particularly bother Pietro Maximoff. His metabolism is somewhat overcharged and if everything else fails, well, he can just... vibratehimself to warmth. That said, he is looking forward to winter being truly over and done with. It's not the cold really. It's the snow and ice. Move as fast as he tends to and a slippery surface underfoot is far from ideal.

Still, whenever Wanda lets him know he's needed he is going to be there, even if it is as an extra set of hands to haul around whatever windfall of foodstuffs she can find on this little trip. Of course, in all fairness he is the one who will reap the rewards so it does seem only fair. While he might be able to feed himself well enough, he would much rather mooch off of her cooking. And certainly her goulash is not to be missed.

He has been wandering a little far afield, popping in and out, knowing well her preferences by this point, when he makes his reappearance by his sister's side. "Their paprika," he begins with a shake of his head, "will not do. Perhaps the little shop up at the end of the row," he suggests.

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
"It has to be just so," Wanda returns, her tones lilting, sounding a touch on the 'instructional' side. Her head tilts to the side as she cranes it slightly to study the wares, if only briefly. This, this feels good, it feels //right//, and she simply hasn't been quite this.. balanced in some time.

Balanced.

Her pace is slow, undoubtedly agonizingly slow if her brother was forced to walk beside her. Now is not one of those times. A smile is on her face, and turning to get the report from Pietro, there comes a slight frown that creases her brow briefly. "What is wrong with Yevgeny? Is he getting it from different place now?" She's disappointed, certainly. There's no questioning her brother in terms of ingredients necessary; he knows!

A soft chuff exits the slight woman, and her expression moves from disappointed to considering. "I do not like it, but Ylena always had something for it. Perhaps her?" There sounds a soft warning attached to that, however, "Do not flirt with her, or I will hear it all." Wanda looks to Clint, a hint of a smirk rising after, "She tells stories of her and Pietro. Kindness is rewarded with .." She pauses a moment, searching, to pull the word from the air, and when she manages, she finishes, "..stalking."

Clint Barton has posed:
Clint chuckles, shaking his head, "Well, that doesn't sound like too much fun. I try and avoid being stalked wherever possible." He smiles at her, "It's much easier when both parties are actually involved in the relationship. Less running and screaming, that sort of thing."

He watches Pietro zip up and report in, commenting, "Is it kind of cheating to have someone who can scout the entire place before we even take four steps? It seems like it somehow."

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
Admittedly Pietro would probably be going a little insane if he was forced to walk alongside the other two. Oh, he would try for his sister's sake but sooner or later it would likely become unpleasant for everyone involved. No, it is definitely best that he be given the freedom to zip about as he pleases. There are times to be attached at the hip and then there are times when a little separation is preferable.

Besides, while Wanda might not be entirely comfortable with crowds -- they're not his favorite either -- there is at least another pair of wary eyes to keep a look out for trouble.

See? Clint is good for something. That would be almost gushing praise from Pietro. If he chose to share.

"Pfffft," he says to his sister's inquiry, a sound of disgust. "Yevgeny sold out to his cousin. The man is a half-wit. He changed suppliers to save a few dollars," he says with a shake of his head before giving a heavy sigh. "But yes, I expect that Ylena will have what we need," he conceeds.

Anchovy has posed:
It's New York and strange is the normal so when a small gaggle of teenage girls enter the mall a few hours ago with a velociraptor wearing a black sleeveless leather vest and his talons painted with copious amounts of black fingernail polish following them a lot of people don't even blink.

The girls have been shopping, for hours, and the velociraptor is being very helpful carrying many of the heavier bags in his jaws behind them his talons making tickticktack-tickticktack sound as he walks behind them like a well-trained boy-toy. One of the girls has green skin and rainbow hair. (The hair is dyed) One of them has a lion like tail and eyes. They are all wearing matching leather jackets of a street-gang and have a variety of piercings. It's pretty safe to assume they are on a shopping trip from mutant town.

"Just one more?!" one of the human looking girls begs, "We might not be able to come again for a long time!" the green skinned girl who is tallest and somehow there-for the leader, says, "No. We're already late enough. We should get home." See, leadership qualities!

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
Wanda looks up at Clint and at his declaration, reaches to wind a hand to his elbow briefly. "Much less screaming, yes," is agreed with a warm smile. "Running? Well.. you are difficult man to keep up with." She glances at Pietro, the humor still playing upon her face, "You are easy."

As they walk slowly, Wanda's hand drops once more to check a stall with fresh tomatoes, and in crossing the space, catches an eye on the.. less than human-appearing mutants. Green eyes linger before they're back to the produce, though she's keeping them in view out of the corner of her eye. "Is not cheating," is declared lightly, ".. simply using resources." Like the Hawkeye.

Wanda looks back over her shoulder at the report of her brother, and frowns again before nodding in defeat. "I thought it would happen. It is shame, though. Ivan is.. suspicious looking. He may be idiot, or he may be something else."

That thought passes, however, as Wanda moves to the more pressing issue of actually gaining some good, smoky paprika. "Do not tell her anything," she warns. "Nothing." She waves a finger in the air, and her head ducks slightly as she eyes Pietro for a few lingering heartbeats, "Nothing." She turns away once more, muttering in low tones in Russian. Someone is not thought of highly!

Clint Barton has posed:
The group of girls and their rather unusual... pet? do catch Clint's attention as well. It may be New York, and while green people are old hat for him, dinosaurs are a quite different matter. The group gets added to his mental 'keep an eye out' list as he scans the crowd. The critter seems tame enough, even acting as a cargo carrier, so maybe it's ok after all.

He easily keeps up with Wanda's pace, given that she's taking her time to look things over, and even pokes at a few items himself. He can cook, after all, even if his version is a little basic. "So we're looking not only for paprika, but a specific kind of paprika, then? Might be a good thing we've got your brother along to scout things out then."

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
For Pietro, on the other hand, he not only keeps an eyes out but can be out and out suspicious. He also does not have the social nicity -- or perhaps the pretense -- to hide behind that polite shield. He's generally more then willing to get into someone's face. That said, while he might never have spent anywhere near the amount of time as their half-sister on Genosha, the strange and unusual is not exactly unexpected to the silver haired mutant.

"Everything is always better when I am around, Archer," Pietro retorts, his tone just slightly brusque, slightly condescending. See? He is practically being on his best behavior here. He probably deserves a special treat. Maybe he can talk Wanda into baking cookiees.

He does nod to his sister's assessment, both about Ivan and her desire to tell Ylena nothing. That's pretty easy of course. He agrees with both afterall. "There do appear to be a few new stalls about since last time we were here. I will check them out as well to see if any of them are woth our time," he says as he lopes around the both of them, that constant need to be in motion making him seem just a little hyperactive.

Anyone who assumes that doesn't know the half of it of course.

Anchovy has posed:
One of the girls in the group giggles conspiratorially and says, "We know your mom wouldn't have let you drive the car if Mr. Feathers hadn't come." Then the Lioness picks up the train of thought, "Oh, yeah, she wants you two spending lots of quality time together like a family." She says as they all stop and look at the Velociraptor. The tall green girl rolls her eyes, "You just had to make it awkward." She mutters but the first girl says, "Well?" to the Velociraptor, "Tell us? Are you hot for Angie's Mom?" and suddenly all the girls are looking at him like he's the center of the universe and he is very, very confused. Angie pretends not to be curious but she's not, not listening either.

Not knowing what to do Anchovy sets the bags in his teeth down, taps his largest claw on the floor three times while making a kind of sub-vocal, purring sound in his throat. The girls look at each other, then one of them SQUEEELS with glee and starts jumping up and down soon all of them except Angie have joined her as the Lioness chants, "I knew it! I knew it!"

Angie mutters, "I'm going to go warm up the van." The velociraptor's head bobs up and down following the movements of the jumping of the girls which leads them to think he's agreeing with them and making the squealing even more excited and the Raptor even more confused... but at least they seem happy?

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
Wanda nods her head and ghosts a smile, "Of course specific. I do not like inferior spice for something important. It makes big difference." The difference between watered down goulash and 'the real stuff'. "We are also searching for onion, tomato.. Pietro knows." She does rely upon her twin, it's true. That smile, however, that lingers doesn't quite reach her eyes as she looks to the corner. Her brows crease, looking to Clint to gauge whether or not the creature is actually real or a figment of her imagination. Her shoulders tighten a little, and once she finishes the transaction, the bright red tomatoes are placed in her woven bag.

Pietro's response to Clint's comment gains a fond warning look to her brother before she looks to Clint, her voice lowering. "You know he is being nice, yes?" Just in case the archer didn't recognize it, she's more than happy to point it out. To the both, one and the other, "Gentlemen," and does she need to say more?

More stalls, though? "Go look. See if anything is wor-- be careful at end," Wanda calls out a warning. "Is.." but she's not about to yell over the distance. Her twin should know and understand her warning. It's.. glowing.

Parts of it, anyway.

The dinosaur surrounded by the teens, well.. there's something that twinges at her. She's got her attention around, and her head cants. The teens, well.. they're teenagers, regardless of 'status'. "They are not very nice," Wanda's voice is soft in the statement.

Clint Barton has posed:
Clint nods, keeping an eye on the raptor group during his scans around the crowd. Leaning closer to Wanda, he murmers, "Dinosaurs aren't exactly what you expect in Chelsea, really. And yes, I do recognize Pietro behaving. He's actually almost pleasant today." He quirks a little grin at Pietro on one of his zoom-bys, then looks back to Wanda as she calls out her warning before looking over at the stall she's referring to.

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
It might not be his very best behavior but if they wait for that they might never be able to make it out on the town. A close approximation to polite is not so bad in the grand scheme of things.

A look, a warning, even some polite chiding is unlikely to make much of an impression on Pietro. Most of the time. Everyone has their exceptions and she, apparently, would be his. Either way he dips his head ever so slightly in Wanda's direction, a silent promise to be better. If only a little. "I'll be careful," he promises her without hesitation, a little more serious, or at least he seems to take her request as something more then the usual sisterly concern. She has a knack for this sort of thing afterall and he would be a fool not to trust it.

And Pietro is no fool.

Even as he zips off once more to check out some of the scattered shops and look for necessary ingedients up to the standards of his sister, he does make sure his path takes him close to the strange throng nearby.

Anchovy has posed:
Seeing the pack leader moving on without them, Anchovy, or as the girls know him, Mr.Feathers, slips his long, talloned fingers into the straps of the bags and gathers them up then makes a almost barking-seal like sound deep in his throat and takes a step towards the stragglers. Using the raptor-call and the body language to try to communicate to them that they need to calm down and get moving. He feels nervous suddenly like there is something in the jungle moving where he can't see it. As they walk Anchovy keeps looking around but his eyes can't catch Pietro or at least what he sees of him doesn't register as a person. Just the unknown and unknown is bad.

The raptor harriers the girls along but they are still giggling and leaning close to whisper to each other the girls walk almost in a huddle as they talk about the newly discovered romance, they believe they have discovered. As they pass through the center of the booths making people move out of the way of their group like mean-girls do. Wanda and company might overhear one of them saying quietly to the others, "How would that, you know... -work-?"

The Lioness in the group replies with the absolute wisdom of being 5 weeks older than the other girls. "Life finds a way. Life always finds a way." Herding them along towards the parking area by following the scent of the green girl when they walk by, Wanda feels... a lot of something from that Raptor. He is weird to a magnificent degree. It's not power, not energy, but something more basic to the universe... It's hard to pin down without, well, pinning him down. But hey, it's just a living, possibly cosmic, dinosaur, everything will be fine if she ignores it. Not everything is a world ending threat, right...?

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
"A veritable saint," Wanda's words are distracted, green eyes coming to stare at the raptor. It's easy to write it off in terms of 'that is a dinosaur walking around', absolutely. But, from the look on her face, well... her expression is quizzical, puzzled, and a little concerned.

"There are things in store," and still, her words sound as if they're spoken from a woman miles away, "but that isn't.." That isn't her concern at this very moment.

The strings of the bag are grasped a little tighter; the thing is acting as something of an anchor for her. She can see, feel Pietro get closer to the creature, and as he starts to get closer to the raptor, Wanda calls out a warning to her twin. "Do not go near!" and suddenly realizing she yelled, puts her free hand up against her mouth as if to keep anything else from coming out. At least that loudly, anyway. In that next second, just in case, Wanda waves that free hand and a defensive shield rises. It's invisible, and only one who can truly sense the energy it puts out would even begin to realize it's there. It's only meant to keep her brother safe from this unknown, strange feeling creature. "Is time to leave."

Turning green eyes up to Clint, he's probably seen that look before, "We should leave. I.. I will find something to make for dinner later." That balance that she'd felt earlier?

This is why Wanda never goes places alone!

Clint Barton has posed:
Relaxed Clint vanishes the moment Wanda goes vague, he's seen this before. Eyes sharpen, and he moves somewhat between Wanda and the dinosaur group. Yeah, it's not the smartest move given that he's a normal human and pretty much everyone else involved at the moment isn't, but there it is.

He nods to Wanda when she addresses him, "That's fine, if you think we need to go, we'll go. You can cook tomorrow, we'll order something tonight." His hand has slipped inside his jacket as he watches for whatever is troubling her.

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
There is usually a sort of built in trust, built in conncetion between twins. Pietro and Wanda might occasionally take that to new extremes.

Is he all that concerned by the group wandering around with what looks to be a dinosaur? Maybe a little. But he's seen far stranger on the beaches of Genosha -- heck even wandering the streets of Manhatten. The world is full of strangeness, both wonderful and terrible. Sometimes you drink that in. Sometimes you run away as fast as you can.

When it comes to how to react in those circumstances, Pietro usually takes his queues from Wanda. He might present himself as the confident, even arrogant one, but at the end of the day he usually follows his sister's lead. So if she says these people are trouble, they're trouble. End of story. So when she cries out, when she throws up that invisible barrier, the speedster veers off, whipping around at an almost one hudnred and eighty degree angle, zipping back over towards his Sister and clint.

He doesn't really stand on ceremony either, racing towards them with hands ready to cradle them as he prepares to race them right out of the market.

Too bad. He was in the mood for goulash. Next time.

Anchovy has posed:
Being, dumb as a box of rocks and not understanding what is going on, Anchovy hears Wanda call and his head darts up to look for danger but doesn't see anything threatening the girls, so he just ignores it.

The mutant girls stop their giggling and move closer to surround poor Mr. Feathers comforting him as they walk, "Don't let those racists get to you Mr. Feathers. They just aren't used to seeing someone with a diamond mutation like you have." One of them says while she pets his arm.

The Raptor isn't at all offended or upset that she called out to avoid him. He likes all this attention from the girls protecting his feelings. He chitters a sound like he's talking back to them as they walk with him lowering his head back down and relaxing with them as they go to leave. He doesn't understand what's happening but he's enjoying it and he's sure it will lead to much food once they return home to Angie's house. Much food is good!

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
Wanda nods her head, her attention still truly fixated on the raptor, even if she's looking a little distantly past, through Clint. It's //that// look, and it's one that, thankfully, most don't ignore. She's puzzled, feels //strange//, and simply 'not right', and she doesn't seem to be able to identify *why*. What is causing it, however, she can sense that in spades.

Pietro has never failed to at least listen to her warnings, even if he may not always heed them. There are always levels to warnings given; and with Wanda's unease, it's probably a safer bet to listen. Couple that with the slightly red-tinged bit of energy that hangs there before pulling it down and away, there's some added weight to the warning.

Pietro's turning around and heading back quicker than the beat of a heart is met with her hand to take his as he begins to move through. She's taken this route before, many, many times.

It really is a shame. Goulash on a chilly day like today would really have hit the spot.

Clint Barton has posed:
Clint has been through this before. He doesn't like it, but when you pal around with the people he does, getting carried places is just part of the job. He may not actually see Pietro coming, but after Wanda's warning, he expects he'll probably be getting one of those rides any microsecond now.

He does notice that the cause of all the worry seems singularly uninterested in Wanda, Pietro, or anything really besides the group he is with, but he trusts Wanda's feeling on these things. Coming to a quick decision, he whips out his Starkphone and tells it, "Tony, take a picture" as he aims it at Anchovy. Yes, of course Stark named his phone line's digital assistant after himself. What else would he do?

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
It's a good plan really. One more reason to be glad to have Clint along on their shortened shopping trip. And if their homemade dinner is postponed for another night at least nothing too unofrtunate happened otherwise. That's not a small accomplishment in and of itself at times.

Either way, when Pietro sweeps the pair of them up his hands almost immediately move to support the backs of their heads, insuring that this little impromptu trip does not leave them with a nasty case of whiplash. This isn't really his first rodeo either and he knows how to compensate for his powers.

In a flash the trio is out of the market, racing along the sidewalks of the city almost too fast for the eye to even register, never mind actually track. In very short order he is coming to a stop, easing both of his passengers into place right outside the Avenger's Mansion. It's a little unnerving just how fast he can actually do that in some respects. "I will go pick us up something to eat," he says gently, laying a hand on Wanda's shoulder for a moment, studying her expression. "Then we can talk about it," he adds. "I will be back shortly."

And then Pietro is gone again, little more then a blur as he dashes off.

Anchovy has posed:
Exiting the area with his gaggle of gangers, the velociraptor baby-sitter makes his way to the van. It's too cold for his tastes but the van they ride in is nice and toasty after a few minutes. He likes it in there. He rides in the back of course. Seats are not made for people of his body shape.
A.I. Tony can get a good shot of him. He's not someone who keeps a low profile. If Clint. looks into him they can find all kinds of footage of him running around mutant town, hanging out in the park, playing with children. He's captured in photos on Facebook pages, on Instagram accounts. He seems to be a fairly normal person leading a fairly normal other than being a velociraptor who has no legal identity because, well, you know.

If Clint really puts some effort into it, he'll be able to use street camera footage and contextual clues to figure out the raptor lives in a warehouse on the edge of mutant town. After looking into the history of that building, he will find that it is far more sinister than the raptor himself. It is owned by a shell company of a shell company of a front for the Foot-Clan.