7243/A Day at the Museum

A Day at the Museum
Date of Scene:	06 August 2021
Location:	Jules Verne Museum - St. Martin's Island
Synopsis:	J'onn takes the kids to the Jules Vern museum and they talk about martians and ice cream.
Cast of Characters:	J'onn J'onzz, Madison Evans, Irie West

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J'onn J'onzz has posed:
Every once in a while it's nice to just get out and see something new. J'onn signed up to chaperone a summer field trip for students of Happy Harbor, letting them decide the location... that's how he ended up at the Jules Verne Museum. Some where in the universe the cosmic powers that be were clearly laughing their heads off over this.

Arranging for transportation from the school to the museum for the students was easy enough, chauffeured town car because he doesn't drive.

Madison Evans has posed:
    Madison doesn't seem to see any irony in it. Nope - she's excited! Excited to be out in the city with her new friend, and one of her teachers. She's bouncing on her toes as she waits in line for them to retrieve their tickets, a huge, excited smile on her face. "I mean - I don't think we have a museum like this even in LA! Do you think we get to try out any alien tech? That would be sooooo cool!"

Irie West has posed:
"I've always wanted to come here," Irie says to Madison. "I never got to go when I was with my parents." Both J'onn and Madison knows that Irie is from the future, so she doesn't feel like she has to hide that part of herself around then. "Is there any Martian stuff here, J'onn?"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
The Martian has never been to this particular museum, though he has heard about it and been considering it, so when it came up as the place that students wanted to go, J'onn accepted.

"I have in fact heard there is," J'onn replies in his usual deep, but calm tone. The man was much like a bottle of valium in just how calm and collected he was, nothing seemed to rattle or upset him, at least not visibly. "It is my understanding that there is a display of what writers used to perceive as Martians, and then of course the reality."

Pausing to collect a map of the museum, and sign the school in as officially touring, he offers each of them a map first, then a small walkie-talkie like communication device.

"If we become separated, please use this to contact me immediately." The truth is, he could just follow their minds if he wanted to, but that would require him risk invading their privacy and he most certainly did not want to do that. He went to great length to ensure he didn't do that. If they aren't in his line of sight and he hasn't heard from them, he will reach out to find them just in case, but other wise, the walkie talkie is the way to go.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I promise not to go running off in an ill-advised attempt to steal any museum exhibits for further my maniacal plans for world domination," Madison rattles of promptly with a million-watt smile, as she clips the walkie talkie into place on her jeans. "Besides, if I did, Irie would stop me. Right, Irie?" she asks cheerfully.
    She turns her attention to studying the map, silently reading the names of the various exhibits. "Where should we start?" she asks. "I mean, we could start with the Martian exhibit. Or there's one for Kryptonians. And Asgardians. And the Chitauri- gosh. I mean, I guess I knew the universe was a big place, and there's a lot of life out there but- there's a lot of different alien races, huh?"

Irie West has posed:
Irie takes her own walkie talkie, even though, should she get lost, she could run around the entire museum in less than a second to find the main group. "That's cool!" she tells J'onn. "I'd like to see that."

"I would totally stop her and not assist her in her plans for world domination," Irie promises. "I /am/ a superhero after all!" She considers Madison's question with all the seriousness it requires, looking at the map. "It looks like we can start our way with Chitauri, and make our way around clockwise through the others and end with the Kryptonians. The Martian stuff is right in the middle."

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn doesn't have the heart to start listing all the aliens out there that didn't get included in this museum because Earth still didn't know about them. It was only a matter of time before the Earth joined the others out there in space, he wasn't going to rush it.

"The Chitauri are the primary attraction," he offers, indicating the direction the exhibit started in. He could already feel the looks of other patrons wandering by, a few staring, including the man who walked into a door jam, but he ignored it. "Because they were here once before, there is a lot of items collected. Shall we?"

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I'd be a very benevolent dictator," Madison remarks as she starts leading the way towards the exhibit in question. "Free ice cream on Fridays! Taco Tuesday every week! Education is always free! Are you sure you want to stop me from conquering the world, Irie?" She flashes her friend a smile - not seeming to even notice the way people are responding to J'onn's presence. "Have you met the Chitauri before Mr. J'onzz, sir?"

Irie West has posed:
"Yeah," Irie admits, "but I bet that the Martian stuff is cooler." She's not trying to suck up to J'onn at all now, is she? Maybe. Or maybe M'gann was something of a family friend of hers in the future. Maybe both. Probably both.

She looks thoughtful about Madison's benign dictatorship. "I don't know...." she says. "Would we still have to wear these school uniforms? Oh! Make girl scout cookies happen all year long!"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn looks between the two, listening to Madison go on about world domination and Irie at first standing firm against her, but apparently year round Girl Scout cookies would win her over. The corner of his mouth twitches upwards into a slight smile, earth children were amusing.

"The Chitauri are not the sort that one just meets," he offers in answer to the question, not touching the world domination part of the conversation. "They are always looking from one war to the next, a way to conquer the universe. They believed with Loki's assistance, that they had the upper hand or they would never have come to Earth without certainty they would win."

Now he shifts his attention to Irie, "I am uncertain what they may actually have. I realize I am not the only Martian, but what sort of thing would be interesting enough to put in a museum in the first place?"

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Oh, com'on, year 'round Girl Scout Cookies are pretty much a given. You mean, that's not a thing yet?" In the future Madison means, but doesn't say. "I'd think that by the time 6th edition came out, you know...?"
    Her attention shifts back to J'onn and she frowns before asking, "So - all the Chitauri are like that? I mean - I guess I just sorta assumed that was only //some// of them. Seems a sad way to live, always running around looking to fight and win and conquer and stuff. I mean, my own plans for world domination not withstanding. And really, anything from Mars would be cool! What games did you play there? How did you cook your food? Was there TV and movies and theater and stuff?"

Irie West has posed:
Irie raises a hand to speak to J'onn even though he's /right there/. "Why do aliens keep trying to conquer Earth? Don't they know it's a Bad Idea?" You can hear the capitalization in her voice. She grows a little more serious at J'onn's question though. "Art and artifacts," she answers. "Glimpses into Martial life. I know I could just ask /you/ or M'gann but seeing it for yourself helps you imagine what life would have been like if you were a Martian."

"You'd think, but no." she says. "Still once a year around. Boy Scouts keep trying to make their own thing. They tried Boy Scout branded energy bars once, but it didn't stick."

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
While walking along J'onn is looking at the items that were collected for the exhibit, and then Madison rapids off numerous questions at once.

"Sometimes the thinking of another species and what they consider important is as alien to the human mind as their appearance," he replies, in a way to both of them. "There is something that humans seen to have as a part of the species that many of the other races in the universe lacks, or admires, or simply cannot understand. Some out there do not see the qualities of your species at all, and believe you all to be easy to conquer and control."

He pauses for a moment to look at one of the picture of the giant flying centipede like things the Chitauri used. "It is difficult to compare Martian life to life on Earth, what is considered important here is not precisely similar to Mars. There was theatre of course, and music, arts were important, but I cannot speak for how it is now. I have not been to Mars in a very long time."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I want to hear Martian music and see a Martian play! Could I eat Martian food, or would it be like... poison or something?" Madison asks with curiousity. "I ate some food on Greg's ship - that his ship, you know, synthesized somehow with like a Star Trek style food replicator. It was pretty good, and didn't kill me." Obviously. "Yet."

Irie West has posed:
"Well they're wrong," Irie says with determination. "We're not so easy to conquer /or/ control! We've got super heroes and even villains who'll fight along side us! I mean you can't conquer the world if the world isn't there." She adds brightly, "I helped fight an alien invasion once!" Her eyes go wide as she realizes that she let a spoiler slip. "I mean... what alien invasion? There totally wasn't another alien invasion. I don't know what you're talking about."

She looks up at J'onn, "Do you know any songs? Can you sing? What kind of plays did Martians have? Did they have comedies? OH! What kind of humor to Martians have?"

And then Madison has her attention, "A /replicator/? How did it know what earth food was even like to replicate. Like, if you asked it for a baked potato how would it even know what a potato is?"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
This particular trip was taking a turn that J'onn wasn't entirely comfortable with, he wasn't one to talk about himself. How do you explain to teenagers that you are over a thousand years old and make it sound normal?

When Irie let's slip whatever it is that she starts immediately trying to back track and cover up, he merely lifts a single brow and let's it go, clearly she didn't want to go into it.

"Of course they are wrong," he nods to Irie. "It is my honest opinion that human's are one of the strongest most adaptive species in the universe, though they are quite young comparatively."

Now he looks between the two of them, both had hit him with a few more things regarding Mars. "Martian food would likely taste rather bland to you Madison," he begins with. "I do not believe it would poison you, but would really not be interesting compared to the wide variety of things offered here on Earth. Now, there is something both of you need to understand regarding me and Mars," again, a look from one to the other, and then his voice gets quieter. "I have not been on Mars in over eight-hundreds years, and cannot return there for reasons I am unwilling to share at this time. You are likely better asking M'gann the other questions, you will get more recent answers."

Madison Evans has posed:
    Madison blinks at Irie - then beams and asks brightly, "Well, was it a Romulan invasion? Or was it Rodians? I mean - I'm sure it wasn't Wookiees. But I could see Trandoshans pulling something like that." It didn't even occur to her to wonder if J'onn was familiar with the fictional species she was citing.
    As he speaks, though, her attention turns back to him, her expression curious and attentive. "Gosh - that's a long time. That's like..." She tries to do some mental math. "Fifty times longer than I've been alive. Whooooooa."

Irie West has posed:
"You got that right!" Irie says enthusiastically, "Next invasion I'm going to give it to 'em! Pow! Pow-pow-pow!" She boxes at the air, her hands nothing but a blur since she's moving at super speeds.

But J'onn's admission of age brings her down a few notches. "That's sad. Do you miss them? Have you been here all this time or were you out wandering space?"

Madison gets a giggle, though. "It was the Klingons, silly! They hadn't joined the Federation yet!" She nods and adds, "It's negative 50 times for me!"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
Again J'onn pauses to look at some random trinket collected for the exhibit, hoping it was rendered inert before being put on display. "Yes Madison, it is quite a long time," he comments before looking back to the girls. He hadn't missed that most everyone around them was giving a wide birth, most likely wondering if he was was part of a show or something.

"I have been on Earth for 800 of the nearly thousand years I have been alive," he then answers Irie's question, or rather begins to. "I miss my people a great deal, but it is not safe for me to return." He then looks to Madison to add, "Rodians are not likely to invade anything, they make better scouts and information gatherers. Trandoshans are only interested in the Hunt, so conquering is not really in their nature. Wookies, well, they are truly generous by nature, and thus have no needs for controlling others. Romulans most certainly would like to conquer the entire Federation, some sort of personal grudge against losing Romulus, just as the Klingons were forced to join the Federation over the loss of Praxis."

It would appear he knows fictional alien races as well.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "OH! Klingons. Right. My bad," Madison says brightly - before simply staaaaaring at J'onn at his recital of the various races she'd mentioned. As he finishes, she can't quite help it. She bursts into laughter, and then exclaims eagerly, "That. Was. EPIC!" She looks to Irie for confirmation of this fact. //Wow//.
    When she sobers up she adds, "Well. As soon as I have my own space ship, I'll visit Mars and I'll pick up stuff for you. You know - like how I'm looking forward to Salt 'n Straw and Inn 'n Out next time I'm in California."

Irie West has posed:
Irie looks up at J'onn, impressed. "Wooooooow." She turns to Madison, "He knows as much about this stuff as you do!" She never really got a chance to do a deep dive into scifi lore, but some of it is rubbing off of her just from hanging out with her friend.

"What's a Salt 'n Straw? Never heard of it?"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
At the move past the Chitauri and into the next small alien collection.

"As I have been around for a while, I have had a great deal of time to read and watch all kinds of entertaining things," he comments, looking between them again. "I have made it a point to find out as much as I can about all kinds of Earth entertainment practices. Science Fiction of course, amuses me a great deal." Since it is just them, and the one guy still staring, he wiggles his brows. "The imagination of the writers creating world and universes completely out of their minds alone? How could that be anything but entertaining."

The man who is staring gets looked at more fully and J'onn realizes that is it the girls he is staring at, so the Martian merely places himself between the oogler and the girls. He may or may not have, at the same time, touched the man's mind with a mental scream to drive him away.

"But yes, what is this Salt 'n Straw?"

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Oh. My. Gosh, it's an ice cream store!" Madison explains. "They're all up and down the West Coast. They use local ingredients - so each location has a different menu. And they're do, umm, unique flavors. Olive oil ice cream, ice creams with cheese in them, fermented blueberry ice cream... And they have monthly themes for limited edition ice creams. They made, like, a turkey-and-gravy ice cream for Thanksgiving. A baked bean icecream in the summer - for like camping. And during Halloween... They had an ice cream with candy coated bugs, and an ice cream made with chocolate... and //blood//. ...it was actually pretty good," she admits. As she talks - she bounces on her toes excitedly, while gesturing with her hands.
    //Someone// likes Salt 'n Straw.
    

Irie West has posed:
At first Irie is delighted to hear about the Salt n' Straw, but as the list of ice creams goes on her expression turns into one of horror. "Baked bean ice cream?" she repeats unbelievingly. "Turkey and stuffing ice cream? ..... /blood?!??/" Yes. That many question marks. She looks up at J'onn, "Is she kidding us?" She looks back to Madison, "Please tell me you're kidding us."

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
There is no change to J'onn's expression, even if half of those ice creams sound absolutely disgusting. In his alien mind, ice cream is meant to be sweet and dessert like, not savory and creamy at the same time. The one that really made his brain twitch was the baked beans ice cream. Not a single part of that sounded good.

"I am afraid I can neither confirm nor deny this list of ice creams, Irie," he finally offers. "I know nothing of this place, but am not in a hurry to visit."

Madison Evans has posed:
    Madison can't help but giggle at the reactions. "Not all of their ice creams are weird. They have cookies and cream too. And a salted chocolate ganache one that's soooooo good. But seriously - all those ice creams are real. AND they encourage you to sample. You can walk in and say 'I'd like to sample everything please' and they'll let you. And they do 'tasting flights' of icecream. So you get this plank with like four little glass bowls in it, and they put four scoops of ice cream in it - whatever you choose... It's so good." She lets out a sigh - filled with longing. Yeah, she misses Salt 'n Straw.
    "The turkey one - they crisped up turkey skin and then candied it so it stayed crunchy. It was like... sweet and salty and crunchy. It was good."

Irie West has posed:
"Hunh," is what Irie says when Madison further explains. "I guess free samples of everything is good. How many times can you do that? Can you, like, fill up on ice cream that way?" Madison would know, by now, of a speedster's legendary appetite. "I can eat a /lot/ of ice cream, you know."

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn considers the concept of free samples and comments, "I would not seek to take advantage of the business in that way, would only sample those that truly interested me, and only once." He eyes Irie. "It is not wise to test the boundaries of free samples."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I mean, I only went in there the first time and did the 'I want to try everything' thing. Because I did want to try everything. So many of the flavors are soooooo interesting. But after that, I would only ask to sample the five monthly specials, you know? Or a new flavor if they changed the main menu. Because it just doesn't seem fair to, you know... umm... cheat like that." Because that's how Madison sees it. As cheati- "OH MY GOD THAT LOOKS LIKE A DEATH RAY!"
    Abruptly, Madison bolts to one of the exhibits to study it more closely. "Oh. Huh. It says this is a replica of the thing they used to un-shrink-ify Bushwick!"