7834/On the Side of the Ahgels

On the Side of the Ahgels
Date of Scene:	14 September 2021
Location:	Cafeteria at Gotham Cable Studios
Synopsis:	A cunning plan is devised to restore Simon's fortunes.
Cast of Characters:	Michael Hannigan, Simon Trent, Thomas Blake, Satana Hellstrom
Tinyplot:	Theme_of_the_Crime

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Michael Hannigan has posed:
With the type of persons that frequent the studio, there is plenty of opportunity for the abnormal. But if there is one thing normal that goes on, it is that everyone needs to eat at some point. And for that reason the Cafeteria at the studio more than justifies its existence.

With it being a typical meal time, the dining area is reasonably populated with many persons taking advantage of the communal seating near the cast and crew members of their respective shows. And over to one side of the dining area, are those who are on site for Theme of the Crime test episode. There are even three Catmen.

It appears the large guy from the audition came back and is currently dressed up as Fat Catman while Nick lucked out and is dressed in a suit. So, the before and after. While at the table, the two have opted NOT to sit next to each other.

Simon Trent has posed:
     Simon Trent, the fantastic hero that he is, is dressed in a commissioners uniform from his head to his toe, he's done up in all manner of fancy makeup and costuming for the affair and wearing a fake mustache that he was told was required of a proper and prim police commissioner. Truth be told he couldn't stand the way it felt on his upper lip just hanging there glued into place with spirit gum, he'd never been the type for a moustache but he wasn't about to let people around him know the facts of the situation.

     He makes his way through the cafeteria walking over towards his lovely potential costars with a bright and friendly smile across his face even the mustache can't hide.

     "Hello there oh fanciful felonious felines." There's a natural friendly aura about him that's all too infectious as he makes his way to set down at the first available seat. Something that just tugs at the heart for a bit of a smile even when he's not speaking an earnestness that's hard to find in almost anyone else.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake is already in the cafeteria and surrounded by the Ivy League, his biggest fans. That is figurative in Kathy's case, she being five nothin in thick sock. Also at the table is the Puffin. Thomas has just finished telling a story which everyone finds hilarious. Laughter rings. Thomas holds court but eventually, as Simon enters and walks over to the Cat crew. He looks at the cats and looks away quickly shaking with a quick bout of silent laughter. "Hey Mr. Trent. I reserved a table for you over there. Sure enough, there is a table with a buck knife embedded in it.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Hearing the greeting, Nick glances up from his sandwich. A hand reaches over to cover his mouth, still pausing to get more food down before actually talking. "Hi Mr. Trent." Nick greets, the tone to his voice pleasant, although offset a bit. He pauses, hand lowering as he's fully swallowed the food. He starts to wave over to an open seat near him but when Thomas speaks up, he looks over to him. Turning his head to see where Thomas is pointing, he looks to the empty table that has a very effective reservation sign on it.

Nick's brows lift at the sight, lowering his hand. Oooooo-kay.

Nick looks back over to Thomas, giving a questioning look.

Fat Cat looks over to Simon, giving a grunt of greeting, spittling out a bit of the chicken he's eating.

Catching the tail end of that, Nick covers up his sandwich at the display, looking back over to Simon. "Table seems a bit empty. I'll sit with you."

Simon Trent has posed:
     Simon turns his attention when called with a bright flash of pearly whites he lifts his tray high into the air with one hand. "Well now that sounds like a plan" before'moving over towards the Ivy League. He's in high spirits from a hard day of work with a spring in his step that bounds him in their direction with relative ease.

     At a glance he doesn't seem to mind quite where he ends up setting. Though he does adjust his mustache with a bit of a lip waggle. The thing looks completely natural as if he'd grown it himself the wonders of modern applications, now if only it felt natural on his upper lip.

     Still he's an academy award winning actor and a little bit of discomfort is not only expected but embraced with the territory. He slides himself down into the reserved seat before allowing his tray to rest down before him with a light thud.

     He's eating light as usual, a lovingly crafted caesar salad, a cup of pudding and a tall glass of apple juice to one side. Health food is the name of the game when you make it to his age and he plans to be bounding around well past his age.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake begs pardon and retrieves the knife, wiggling it a little. He settles down having already had a crack at the ribs section of the buffet. He seems to be enjoying the company and the thin aura of normalcy he has achieved.

"Once again, Mr. Trent... very sorry for the mint incident at the Beacon." He actually manages to look embarrassed.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Moving away from the blast zone. Nick ends up settling at the same table with the others. Fat Cat either doesn't notice or doesn't seem to care. That must be some GOOD chicken. Catching the tail end of the apology as Nick sits down, Thomas is fixed a questioning glance again. "Mint incident?"

Simon Trent has posed:
     "No worries Thomas, it happens to the best of us." Simon clearly having moved past the incident by now even though it had only been a few hours prior. "If I had a nickel for every time something similar happened to me during a Gray Ghost showing I'd have four nickels, which is incredible to consider that it's happened four times with different people almost every time."

     He lets out a deep belly laugh before settling in with his salad enjoying the meal with a polite series of cuts made to the salad.. Who cuts their salad? Apparently Simon Trent cuts his salad. He looks over towards the group before saying. "Oh I was just beaned by mistake with a junior mint meant for another, a classic case of mintstaken identity."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake reddens a little. "Junior Mints are not ideal missiles. I'm better with throwing knives, or darts, or ca... boomerangs. Those are aerodynamic. And that French girl's accent distracted me."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
The younger actor turns to look to his elder, listening to the explanation. The side of his lip curls upward in amusement. The pun ends up triggering a minor wince. His head bows as his head shakes side to side. The wordplay does eventually win out as Nick lets out a small chuckle, "Oh that was bad."

He starts to unwrap his sandwich again. "French girl?" He prompts Thomas for more detail before biting into his sandwich.

Simon Trent has posed:
     Simon continues to eat his salad with a knife and fork enjoying the meal and the company even as he rubs the back of his head lightly with the palm of his hand. "Kaboomerangs sound like something we'd have come up with on the Gray Ghost." offered as he adjusts his seating slightly that fake mustache still less than comfortable perched atop his upper lip.

     He lightly jokes as he opens up the pudding cup a nice butterscotch pudding that he'd been hoping to enjoy from the moment he saw it on the buffet table. "Oh craft services you never fail to impress."

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
"Yes, Thomas. French girl?"

The voice is familiar. The hair. The eyes. The body.

But not the clothes. Someone has crashed the staff party and is dressed up like a cat. If you think Michelle Pfeifer in the second Burton Batman looked like a cat.

And somehow, without actually having the neon sign present, she's got that "HELL HERE" vibe going on.

Yes. Somehow.

Satana leans on Thomas' shoulders, voice in ear. "Meow, babe," she purrs. Then, louder, "Who are all your adorable friends?"

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake rolls his eyes at the question. "It was some teensy little french nerd girl watching a movie and sitting near me. We got to talking a little. She sounded like Maurice Chevalier chugging helium. I... I... " He seems to lose his train of thought seeing what Satana has on.

...

"Baby! Come to daddy!" He gets up and practically bends her backwards kissing her, despite her demonic strength. Call it adrenaline. He whispers something quietly in her ear before olding a chair for her and sitting down. "This is the great actor, Simon Trent. That... you know who that is, that's Nick. What are you up to and where's Foxy? She sort of zoned out on me in the midst of a... conversation. Gentleman, this is my reason for living -Satana Hellstrom."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Nick chews quietly, listening to the mention of Kaboomerangs. Chewing thoughtfully, he imagines boomerangs with explosive charges on them which work out great until someone miscalculates on the fuse length. Then it's a race full of uttered explicatives. And then he's trying to imagine what a french woman chugging helium would sound like

That mental exercise ends up dying away as a familiar voice speaks up, seemingly questioning Thomas's activities. The performer ends up swallowing the bite of food a bit too early getting it stuck in his throat. Eyes wide, the sandiwch is set down on the table quickly as Nick does what Fat Cat should have done. He turns away from the table, angling his mouth towards the floor as he coughs violently into his hand, loosening the food up once more. He lifts up the non food catching hand to a wave in Satana's general direction.

Simon Trent has posed:
    Simon comes to a sudden stand the moment that nick begins to choke. He's ready at a stand to assist the other man without even a second's hesitation. He stands next to nick for a brief moment ensuring that the other man is alright first and foremost before finding his seat once more still having been unable to dig into his delicious butterscotch pudding.

     "Goodevening Miss Hellstrom" He offers only once he's certain everything can return back to a normal calm. A bright and friendly smile crossing his presently mustachioed face as he relaxes at the table grabbing finally his first spoonful of butterscotch and downing it before anything else strange or dangerous, strangerous if you will, can happen.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
Ignoring the proffered chair and just using Thomas instead, Satana takes a seat, doing the catlike wriggly-squat thing to get comfortable (and for no other reason whatsoever!), while fingerwaving at the others. She does use the set-out chair. To put one leg up on, using her bent knee as an elbow rest.

"Nick, nice to see you again. I keep meaning to call."

She makes a gestures with her hands like claws grabbing for something. For some reason. An unfathomable one. Paired with an almost cruel playful grin.

Her eyes then fall on Simon. "Ooh. I think I heard of you. You've been around forever! You're, like, a legend in crime circles!"

Beat.

"Fighting. Crime-fighting. Circles."

Oopsie. Only the face is not showing any hint of embarrassment. Just amusement.

"Alles klar, Herr Kommissar?" she asks after eyeing the acting legend's outfit. "Did I guess right? Some kind of Kripo show? I really must look up your latest projects!"

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake ponders for a moment. "Satana... I want to ask you to do something, for me. Mr. Trent and his show meant a lot to me, it was bright spot in my really awful childhood."

"Some miserable so and so's have taken a lot of his money that should have gone to renovating a very run down section of Gotham. I want to get it back and see the guilty punished. Will you help me? Nick, that goes for you too." His arm tightens around her tiny waist.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Once things have calmed down. Nick becomes aware of Simon lingering nearby. "I'm alright." He murmurs softly to Simon. The hand at his mouth lowers, closing and turning downwards. His lips press together into a thin line before he looks over towards Satana, "Hi Satana."

He turns, reaching over to the dispenser to grab a few napkins before turning back, bringing them over to the closed hand. For some reason, he's no longer wanting the sandwich.

He is tempted to step away to go wash his hands but when Thomas starts to detail a situation going on, he looks over to Thomas. When he's adressed he tilts his head, glancing towards Simon before looking back to Thomas, "What did you have in mind?"

Simon Trent has posed:
     "Police commissioner, but close enough." Simon offers with a light chuckle and a smile before returning to his butterscotch. What can be said except the man loves his butterscotch when it's provided free of charge.

     His expression changes somewhat when the loss of finances is brought up. He looks more than a bit surprised for a brief moment before collecting himself back together. "I've always wanted to see park row prosper," He admits after a brief moment of silence. "The money may have gone missing but I would spend my entire fortune over again if given the chance to do any different." He sets down the cup of butterscotch onto the table looking over towards an open spot of ground. "The people deserve some level of hope in dark and trying times, and if I can give that then it's worth every lost penny."

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
"Oh, you know me, silly dear! I'm always down for punishing the wicked!"

How can someone dress like Catwoman, talk in a thrilling contralto, and still give off Peg Bundy vibes?

"Whose soul do I send screaming to Hell?" she asks, her eyes gauging Simon thoughtfully. "And I approve fully. I love giving people hope."

Left unspoken: to crush it later for even greater despair.

"So I'm doubly down for this. Punish an evil-doer and give people hope. Count me in." This followed, mysteriously, by, "I'm getting hungry anyway."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake gives Satana his best, 'Please don't kill anyone look.' He frowns a little. "You do what you want with it; it's your money, Mr. Trent but... I am no hero. I am just a man who likes to take a bully, who set themselves on a high perch and thinks no one can touch them, and give them a hard shove. I've stolen millions from honest people and paid for it. I have a skill set. I am very good at stealing money. It took Batman to stop me before. This person is unlikely to go to Batman for help."

"Our first goal is to make some money for you... some big bucks. You donate it to Park Row Renovations and we follow it to its destination. Now to give them this money... you set a condition. What with the way they were burning through chairman... you want to pick the next one." He gives Satana a relatively reserved -though long kiss.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Nick looks back over towards Simon at the mention of spending all of his fortune all over again. He blinks. "Well, I can understand wanting to help. We got music collaboration project going with Shaw Records to raise funds for some charities. Plus the toy drive thing. And there are usually some charity dinners..." He lets the topic drop. Holiday seasons are just, full of fundraisers. No point listing all of them.

He looks to Thomas, staying quiet as he listens to the man detailed plan.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
"He really is too good to be true, isn't he?" Satana says to Thomas as she regards Simon. "You want to make your fortune back...so you can give it away? That is utterly charming!"

Somehow she manages to make 'charming' sound like a dirty word. Yes, that kind of dirty.

"Well, anyway, it was nice seeing you all," she continues, getting up from Thomas' lap and filling his vision with something else. "But when Thomas plans things get dull. And I've got to prepare a few things of my own for his plan. I'll be in my 'lab', Magic Thighs."

With that Satana slinks out the front door (emphatically NOT how she entered!), seemingly trying, via hip and shoulder counter-rotational magic, to attract every pair of eyes in the place as she does so. As is her hobby.

"Toodles!" she calls out, raising a hand to fingerwave over her shoulder.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake motions the men remaining at the table closer.

"I have a cunning plan..."