7048/That's not a Juggalo!

That's not a Juggalo!
Date of Scene:	23 July 2021
Location:	Flatiron District
Synopsis:	Gabby runs into Cain. Shwarma is had and potential plotting begun.
Cast of Characters:	Gabby Kinney, Cain Marko

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Gabby Kinney has posed:
Like many places in New York the city was bustling at all times. It was a bit less here this time of the day, just after rush hour and before the night shifts really began, but it was still busy. Enough so that Gabby has to weave her way past people on the sidewalk who seem to either not notice, or not care, that they were about to walk into the short teenager. A few come very close to jostling her before she dips away with a graceful, sure step, managing to keep her personal space from being completely invaded. Both hands are stuffed into the pockets of a lightweight hoodie rummaging for the money stuffed deep in the crevace of fabric as she approaches her goal: Shwarma.

Cain Marko has posed:
Different people have different circumstances. For instance, Cain doesn't deviate his own path an iota as he walks along the sidewalk. The enormous mystical mutate, currently somewhat smaller than when he's in armor but still towering over everybody else in sight, marches down the sidewalk wearing a by necessity custom set of clothes. A tentlike red button up shirt that's still straining a bit against his muscles, and a pair of slightly looser blue jeans tucked into a pair of heavy work boots. People either give way for the big man, or they get trampled over. Most people seem to choose to part for him, and there's a moving gap in the crowd in front of him. He's headed for... nowhere in particular. Just filling some of the copious free time he has between jobs, what with not needing to sleep and all. He's not paying that much attention to those around him, and not looking down that far. So he hasn't yet noticed th scar-faced teenager hidden amidst taller folks. He's a little harder to miss.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
It's really, really not hard to miss him in Gabby's case. Because somehow she ends up in the open path behind him finding her path suddenly quite open and easy to access as she continues along. The ease of movement thanks to being in Cain's wake causes her to grin broadly since she can pick up her pace. Though there's quite a difference in their strides she catches up to him taking a glance up at the enormous fellow. Then out of the blue she speaks up drawing attention with a hand pointing off a bit further down the street. "Hey, I'm tired of almost getting run over by these people but they ignore you. If it's not a big deal could you head that way a bit so I can get there quicker? Someone told me I should try Shwarma and I don't know what it is so I wanted to hunt it down and find out... Do you know what shwarma is? I can buy if you want to try it too! Eating alone sucks."

Cain Marko has posed:
There's a perpetual murmuring chatter all around of cource. This IS New York. But somebody speaking directly to you has a different sound. And the words from Gabby draw Cain's eyes down... down... down. The girl is maybe half his height, give or take some. The first thing his eyes focus on is naturally the scars. But he shifts his gaze away from that soon enough. He just stares at her for a time, saying nothing while he listens. Eventually he speaks. His voice matches the rest of him, a deep, rough bass rumble that sounsd borderline inhuman. "You got balls on you, kid." He raises a big hand, scratching idly at his chin. He's clean shaven, which raises the question. How does he shave? Finally he shrugs a huge shoulder, and heads in the direction in question. "Sure. You don't gotta pay though. I'm not gonna take some kids allowance from them." He doesn't look like he's moving quickly, but those loooong legs of his eat up the pavement. "D'you talk to a lot of strangers, kid? Cause I'm pretty sure that ain't a smart thing for a little girl to do."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"Just the interesting ones," Gabby responds as she practically jogs to keep up. There's no complaint of the difference in stride though nor does she seem to be getting out of breath. Got to love a teenager's energy. "And I'm not a little girl. ... I mean I *am* little but that's genetics. I'm almost seventeen," she informs matter-of-fact as if that makes all the difference in the world. Half jump, half-skipping over a grate in the sidewalk she continues without missing a beat. "Talking to strangers has actually helped me out a time or two if someone was following me. Just pick the biggest person you see and start talking like you know them, bam. Suddenly stalkers aren't so into tailing you."

Cain Marko has posed:
Cain snorts softly at that. "Almost seventeen, huh." The ninety year old, admittedly effectively immortal human can't help smirking slightly. "Hmm. You don't get out much, do you?" He glances down at her. She strikes him as a little naive. Which is strange, since those scars look like she really should have some seasoning to her. Pretty soon they reach the entrance to the shwarma place, and he squints up at the sign. "Not gonna lie. I dunno what shwarma is either." He considers the teen. "You get followd a lot?" He opens the door for her. He's not generally what you'd consider polite. But kids are different.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney gives a somewhat indifferent shrug in response to the question. Tipping her head to the side she regards the Shwarma restaurant as well considering it thoughtfully. "More than I'd like, but not so bad lately after the last guy got dealt with. Yeah, I have no idea what shwarma is either. But it smells like meat of some sort in there so that's a good sign. I hope." Her hand lifts to offer up her fingers crossed together hoping she's right on this. With another grin she looks uuuup at Cain once more. "I'm Gabby, by the way. Nice to meet you. Let's go find out what this is all about. I'm starving."

Cain Marko has posed:
Cain nods his head. "Hmmm. Other than you being a tiny, cute kid alone in the city, any particular reason for it? And the name is Cain." He does head inside with the mini mutant though, ducking down to avoid hitting his head on the doorframe. Once inside he sniffs the air a little and glances around the restaurant. "Hmm. Wonder if they have any chairs that'll fit me." That's an issue a lot of the time. He strolls up to the counter though, like before just expecting people to get out of the way. He glances at people already eating as they go. Looks like... roasted meat?

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney scoots into the restaurant without any real hesitation as soon as she can. Though she does look around trying to get a better idea of what they're in for by glancing at the meals of others, too. "Oh bread and meat and... This looks promising!" Quite pleased with the idea she digs out a wallet that looks as if it's made of duct tape. They were a thing! It had a lot of stickers on it for decoration too. Rainbows, and holographic kitties. Yeah totally not a kid. "Oh, yeah, I escaped from a lab and they want me back but I think they're figuring out that's a bad idea these days. Nice to meet you, Cain," she offers back before pausing. Cain? She tips her head up at him again squinting as if she were trying to remember something... but it's shrugged off. It wasn't as if they were at odds right now. "I'm not alone totally in the city, just out for the day. I like trying new foods since there's a *lot* I haven't tried. Oh! That looks good," she adds as her attention squirrels away toward a dish coming out that was piled high with meats. "I'm getting that."

Cain Marko has posed:
The sight of the wallet makes Cain's lips twitch a little. "Put your wallet away, kid." He takes out his own wallet. It's on the big side. Maybe it's custom made too? A regular sized one would be a little awkard for him to work with those huge fingers. Though not impossible. He starts to pull out some money, then pauses and stares at her as she explains her background. "You escaped from a lab." He glances around the restuarant they're in. "You're awfully open about that, Gabby." He steps up to the counter, and points towards what the tiny feral mutant indicated. "Yeah, I'll take two of those. One of them in a bigger size if you have it." He takes out the cash to pay. Maybe debit cards aren't a thing for supervillain-ish mercenaries. Taking a number for the order, he guides her towards a thankfully open corner booth. There's no way he's fitting in that thing. So, he just settles onto the ground cross-legged beside it and rests an elbow on the surface. "So what were you doing in a lab?" He's studying the diminutive girl he's randomly run into. SHe's kind of fascinating. Especially with all this talk of labs and people chasing her and the like. He supposes growing up somewhere like that would explain the weird naivety she has.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"I know. Sorry. Gabby's as much a moniker as a name. I just talk a lot. Most of my sisters didn't talk a whole lot so I guess I got used to filling the silence. As for being open about it, well, I figure they're the ones that were at fault for doing what they did. But," here Gabby pauses glancing at the overly large wallet with a nod of acceptance that she was told to put hers away. So she does, tucking it back into her pocket without putting up a fight. He was bigger after all. "I should probably cut back on that huh? Sorry." A super serious face is put on as she attempts to not be talkative. Somehow, in spite of her otherwise young nature, she manages to pull off a scowl with a tremendous accuracy. It only holds for a few moments before she lets out a breath. "But I can't explain why I was at a lab without telling more."

Cain Marko has posed:
Cain lets out a low sigh. "Look. It's your business who you tell what. I'm just saying." He reaches out to the much smaller girl, settling his huge hand on her head. It's heavy. He ruffles her hair up a little. "I dunno what they did. But probably. And talk all you want, I guess." Something about that scowling face seems oddly familiar. It breaks before he can figure out where he's seen it before though. "You already told me you were in a lab, so keeping going won't hurt." He glances around the busy shop. "Just keep your voice down if it's not something you want a lot of people knowing." Soon enough, a server comes with their piled meats. Seems theyh carved them up fast. He sniffs at it curiously, then picks up a piece with his fingers and pops it into his mouth.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney moves over to the table joining him. Thankfully the chairs are easy enough for her to get into without issue though she could probably swing her legs off a stool or higher chair. It was comfortable enough at least, and they were made of rather sturdy wood so it was quite possible that it would be fine for Cain too. "Right. I can do quiet," she assures only to shrug. "Haven't scared you off so far either so I guess it's okay. Besides, got to talk about something over dinner." Another rather eager grin creeps over her causing those scars of hers to crinkle a bit in the process. She pays it no mind as she grabs a fork to load up a large chunk of meat. "I'm a clone," she explains quieter right before taking a big chomping bite. A little happy jiggle-dance comes as she sits clearly enjoying the still hot dish. "Mmmfukdishishgood!" At least she grabs a napkin before she gets messy or tries to talk more than that. It's gulped down quickly. "They made me and my sisters to be guinea pigs for their experiments. Or at least that's what we ended up as."

Cain Marko has posed:
Cain can't help letting out a loud snort at the mention of not scaring him off. "I don't get cared off by nuffin, kid. Don't worry about that." Hah. Him, being afraid of something. That was a good one. He eyes the seats, and rests a hand on it in turn. Slowly applying pressure and seeing when it starts to creak. Hrmn. Maybe if he doesn't move around much. He clambers to his feet, and slides in across from her. Unless she wants her legs squished by his knees she can't really sit across from him. And if he was a normal person the way the edge of the table presses into his stomach would be really uncomfortable. But it works for the most part. He keeps on using his fingers, showing off worse table manners than the teen he's eating with. He blinks a few times at her explanation, letting her continue for a time. Absorbing the information, a small scowl settles over his features. "....that's fucked up." He gives his head a shake. "What sort of place would do that?"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney nods readily in agreement. Whether she's bothered by his table manners or not she doesn't seem to show it. Really, with her family, she was used to odd things on occasion. This was nothing big at all. Even if he was big. Leaning her own elbows on the edge of the table she lifts her reloaded fork to wag in his direction. "Well from what I learned, the main scientist in charge had been working for another group and had gotten his hands on a sample of some very sought after mutant DNA. Aaand he grabbed some, ran, set up shop with the highest bidder--" She pauses to chomp into the bite before continuing. "Totally failed at replicating the project because the DNA was from the original clone not the original source so they just ended up with a lot of look alikes and tried to make the best of it."

Cain Marko has posed:
In no time the plate is empty, and Cain is flagging over the server to order another one. Once they leave he focsues on Gabby again. "Mutant clones. So you're a mutant then? Or... does it still count as being a mutant if you're a clone?" He doesn't know how that whole thing works. His interactions with the mutants in general and the X-Men in particular weren't exactly... civil. He shakes the thought off, the booth creaking ominously. "So, highly sought after mutant DNA huh. Anybody I might have heard of? Trying to think of any shortie mutant ladies I mighta run into at some point." She does look vaguely familiar. If she wasn't so pleasent, he has the weird feeling he'd want to punch her in the face for some reason. Not sure whre that came from.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney pauses to fiddle with her plate a moment. She tears up some of the pita that came with it to soak up some of the juices on the plate while contemplating how to answer that. "Probably. And yeah I'm a mutant. All my sisters ended up without an active x-gene, but I was the last of the batch. They stopped trying to 'adjust' the DNA at that point. Lucky me," she adds with a wry grin. The soaked bread is tucked into her mouth to chew as she waits for the waiter to refill for Cain's dinner. Her own? Well she was certainly making a goodly dent and far more than one might expect for someone her size. "It's actually a guy. The first alteration was to make us girls because they thought we'd be easier to control. Anyway, you mighta heard of him. Goes by 'Wolverine' a lot."

Cain Marko has posed:
The server is back soon. Cain lets them know he's probably going to want more, and begins to eat again. "Hmm." He listens to her, and then she gets to the name of her 'Father', and he briefly chokes on his food. Which is pretty impressive for him. He pounds on his chest with a big fist. "Glrk. So you're a clone of Wolverine...?" Okay. That explained why her face made him kind of want to punch it. Going by his reaction, he seems to at least have heard of Logan. He leans back a little in his seat. Well. It was mostly fractionally shifting his posture. He couldn't really move much. "I guess that explains why you're not too worried about talking to strangers. Though maybe you should be even more careful in that case. THere're probably some folks who don't like him that might try to get at him through you."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney holds up a finger at that with a little shake of her head. "Clone of his clone, I'm like the reprint. That's the gist of it though." She leans down to swipe a napkin over her mouth before she reaches out to fish a bottle of hot sauce off the table to add to her dish. "I usually don't say who I'm cloned off of though to be fair." Here she pauses with a little impish grin. Maybe she did know a thing or two? "Couldn't pass up seeing the look on your face if you did know, though. Anyway they labs did teach me a lot. How to fight, how to... do stuff." Here she looks down breaking her gaze to fixate on her plate. "We got out though. I'm enjoying freedom."

Cain Marko has posed:
Clone of his clone. Ugh. How many copies of that guy are there around? "Well, so far you seem like more an upgrade on the original than a reprint. You're certainly more likeable than him." He does clean his fingers and mouth from time to time with napkins. He doesn't have NO manners. He goes quiet as she mentions her training. He reaches out again with the hand he's not eating with, and rests it over one of hers. "I'm glad you got out, kiddo. Sounds like a bad situation you were in." Normally he honestly wouldn't give a crap. But she is a kid. He doesn't like seeing kids being abused. "So. The people from that lab, they still try to get you back at times?"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney smiles up at him appreciating the comfort offered from that touch. "Thanks. I'm trying to do my best since I'm one of the few left. The others didn't... Well. The last experiment got them." Another shrug. This was something she seemed a bit more tight lipped about though, and she's quite happy to answer the last question rather than delve deeper into it. "Only a few of them. There's this one guy who really messed with us, one of the head guards. He's the one that marked us so he could 'tell us apart'." A gesture is given to her cheek to indicate exactly what she meant. "A hero type got ahold of him the last time he came after me. Haven't heard from him since."

Cain Marko has posed:
The big man grunts a little at that. "I see. Sounds like a real asshole." His eating has slowed down. But, he still finished the second plate and is starting on the third. He eats a lot for a guy who technically doesn't need food at all. "Mmmf. You happen to remember where this lab is at?" He tries to sound casual as he asks this, watching her through half-lidded eyes. He's not the best at subterfuge, though. Probably better than she is at it, admitedly. The stort has started to put him into a bad mood. Not one aimed at her, thankfully. But he can't help feeling like smashing something right now.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"Mysteriously burnt down while we were escaping," Gabby offers almost apologetically given he was fishing for where it was. "An aquaintance of mine has been having issues with them too, though, and has more information on where they and their bigwigs are. I'm planning on reaching out to him soon to get some more info on it. Should have dealt with them ages ago. They go by 'Alchemax'," she explains as she polishes off her last bite of food and considers the plate. "I think I'm full. I think."

Cain Marko has posed:
Quickly finishing off his last plate once she's done, Cain says, "Mmmmf. Well. If you ever do decide to go deal with them, gimme a call." He fishes around in a big pocket, and finally produces a business card. Offering it to the little mutant. There's just a number on it, no name or anything else. "I don't usually do pro bono stuff. But this sounds like it needs to get done." He wipes his hands and mouth thoroughly, and hands the additional money to the server. "You need a cab home or somethin? I'm sure you can take care fo yourself, but you can't be too careful."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney reaches out to take the card that was offered regarding it solemnly with a single nod. It's slid into her pocket where she'd put her wallet earlier so it will be safe and sound. A little pat is given to the pocket. "Thanks. And yeah I think that might be something coming up soon. Had people offer to help but kept telling me to wait and wait and wait. Think they want me to forget it." Then again if she was with wolverine and his crew, they might be hoping just that. Flashing a bright grin she reaches out to grab hold of his hand giving it a friendly little squeeze. "Thanks for dinner, and I'll be fine. I know my way home from here. Thanks!"