2013-02-03 - Double A Pizza

"You r-r-really don't have to thank me, ladies."

Axiom, power boosting member of the Young Allies, just sighs and blushes more a small group of teenage girls continues to gush over him. Pictures are being taken and there's a lot of giggling and talking about how friends will be jealous and not believe it. Axiom just looks like he wants to escape but all he gets is a sympathetic look from the police officer that's busy shoving two very shocked and bruised would-be muggers into the back of his patrol car.

A few moments earlier, those two muggers had tried to relieve the girls of their purses and phones at knife-point. They'd been surprised when Axiom stepped out of an alley and quite politely asked them to stop. Then they laughed...and then they met pavement as the girls and anyone else nearby was treated to a display of Asgardian-taught martial arts moves that left both men sprawled out and injured. Someone probably got it on camera-phone too.

Luckily enough for Axiom, the girls eventually move on. Not without leaving Axiom with a slip of paper with phone numbers and twitter handles on it though. He puts on a smile and waves as the girls go but just ends up sighing when they're out of sight. "M-man...I'll give these to Speedball or Changeling..." he mutters, looking at the paper and thinking of his teammates. Of course he's just standing there on the sidewalk now, the city moving on with the afternoon.

Walking down the street, Victor Borkowski was sure to wear his hoodie up. This city wasn't as kind as the one he was used to- but it had better pizza than he could find in Illinois. His hands in his pockets, his eyes on the ground. Deep thoughts in the young, green-skinned man's mind left him less aware. He nearly ran into a group of girls as they hurried off tittering and giggling about their recent meeting with an /actual superhero/. Curious, Anole was quick to follow the tracks back to their source-

"Oh! You!" Vic said, surprised as he nearly ran into Axiom, "You're the one who saved the girls?" he asked, with a smile beginning to shine.

Stuffing the little paper into his belt, Axiom's preparing to head back into the alley and up the fire escape. He's pretty surprised when someone nearly runs into him too. "You? Me?" he blinks, not used to being recognized. When he sees the green face under that hood, Axiom jumps and starts to smile himself. "You! Hi...umm...y-yeah, I guess I did."

Anole's smile grows, a bright thing. "Good!" he said, "They /really/ thought you were something else, if what I overheard is true. Must have been really amazing, huh?" Anole looked down the street. "Are you busy? OR.. would you be up for some pizza? I've got a little extra, and someone should say thanks somehow, yeah?"

Axiom just ends up blushing again as Anile smiles and mentions that. "I d-d-don't know about amazing. I j-just did what Thor and Sif have been teaching me," he says a little bashfully. "Oh, um, I was actually about to go get some pizza when I ran into this. Sure."

"You know, I found a place that does a Chicago Style pizza, I've been missing home. I'm Victor, by the way." Anole offered as he began to walk with Axiom, smiling bright. "Wow! Thor?! Like the guy on the news?!" Vic wondered over as he looked down the street, and began to walk with Axiom. "Thanks, its a lot nicer to go eat with someone than alone."

"You're from Chicago?" Axiom asks curiously as he walks with the other. When asked about Thor, the power booster matches that bright grin with one of his own. "Yeah, him. I live with him and his fiancee Sif," Axiom replies. "It's really c-c-cool!" he adds. "You're welcome but you d-don't need to thank me," he chimes. "Oh um, I guess you know I'm Axiom," he offers with a nervous little chuckle. "But um..." he lowers his voice to say the next part. "If y-you want, you can call me Eddie."

"Well, I'm from Illinois." Vic replied, "And if its not a kielbasa on the grill, its a Chicago style pizza for me when I'm homesick." His hands had been stuffed in his pockets now, his own cheeks with a touch of color. "I'll call you Axiom for now." he offered, tapping the side of his nose with a wink. "At least while you're still in uniform."

"Oh," Axiom smiles. "Kielbasa? What's that?" he's never had it before. Or heard of it to his knowledge. He blushes faintly again at that wink, nodding. "Sounds good t-to me. I just know some people that don't like using c-codenames when hanging out."

"Oh, its a type of sausage." Vic replied, "Polish country sausage. Its /amazing/ with sour kraut, a little mustard. And you /have/ to have onions with it." The young man replied as he continued with this new friend towards the small pizza place Vic had discovered online. He held the door for Eddie, "After you!" he offered, politely. "And if you're prefer Eddie, I'll call you Eddie. Its your name."

Axiom listens closely, nodding. He makes a mental note to look this up online since it sounds like something Thor might like too. "I'll have t-to try it sometime," he says. "Thanks," he adds as he steps inside. "Either n-name works. Even these d-days, I'm just happy that people call me a name and not some insult," he admits with a little chuckle.

"Oh, its nothing, Eddie." Vic said as he walked into the Pizza joint with his fellow young hero. "So, why are you worried about people insulting you? You seem like a really nice guy to me- I mean, for what my opinion is worth." The green skinned Mutant sat then, "So- what do you like on your Pizza, Eddie?"

"I'm n-not really worried. I'm just well...before I m-met Thor and Wiccan, people..." he shifts a little, trying to think of a better way to say what he has in mind. Eventually he gives up. "I used to b-b-be homeless. And people usually only hurled insults if they acknowledged me at all b-back then," he says. "You're a really nice guy too," he says, sitting down. Axiom's not too worried about hanging out in public with someone while in costume. He's not nearly well known enough to attract any papparazi or hero-seekers. "Oh um...any w-way really. I'm not picky."

The word Homeless had Vic's face turn in a concerned way- the young man just reaching across the table to give Eddie a pat on the hand. "Its alright. Any dietary concerns?" Vic wondered as he looked over the Menu. The table was one for two. "I'm a big fan of just.. Everything. Like a whole mess of cheese, and meat, and vegetables. All piled in that deep crust- its just /amazing/." The young man offered, as he looked towards the kitchen and raised a hand. A waitress came. "Something you don't like on your pizza before I make the order?"

Eddie blinks at the pat then smiles. "N-nope. I'm not allergic to anything," he says. Looking up at the menu, Eddie makes a curious little noise. "S-sounds like we have similar taste in pizza. Everything," he grins. The power booster shakes his head at the question. "Nope, I'm g-g-good with anything you wanna order," he chimes.

"Alright, great!" Vic grinned, and nodded towards the waitress. "One with everything, and water for me." He looks towards Eddie, "So. What got you into the heroing business?" He looked around, keeping his voice hush. "My codename is Anole." he said with a little grin. "Though, I don't think I could hide myself completely with a mask."

"Water for me too, please," Axiom speaks up for the waitress. He waits for her to go before turning back to Victor. The question makes him blink a few times almost as if Victor asked if the sky was blue. "Being a hero is the only thing I've ever w-wanted to be. Getting to do this is a dream c-c-come true," he replies a grin. "Y-yeah, you'd probably need like...Iron Man armor to hide completely."

Vic laughs with Eddie's joke. "Can you imagine how awesome it would be to get a hold of a suit of armor like that? You could fly all over the world, and just be the hottest guy." He gave a bit of a sigh, "I guess its true what they say about money being the best power. Still, I think I'd give the green skin up with the rest of it and go live a normal life, if I could. But, " Vic paused, "But I guess I think I'm this way for a reason. I was born like I am, so..." he shrugged. "Its the same as anything else I was born with."

"It's g-g-gotta be awesome to wear that suit. Flying is pretty great too," Axiom agrees. The masked teen gives Anole a curious look at 'hottest guy' but doesn't ask. "Money c-could be a good power but it's how you use it that matters," he says. "You've g-got some pretty cool powers too," he adds. "Reason or n-not, I wouldn't trade this for the world. Heck, even without powers I'd b-b-be trying to help out," he admits sheepishly.

"I know, right?!" Vic said, grin only growing. "And I'm just part Gecko or something." he said, "The worst part was losing my hair. Going bald, even, would have been okay. I mean, not that anyone ever made me feel weird back at home. That was New York's special gift to me." The young man offered sarcastically. "Anyways, its good you want to help people. I have to help them, now that I am what I am. GOt to be the bigger man, as my Dad would say. And because I know better, I have to act better. That's more Mom's thing." Anole looked up quietly to Eddie. "I'm just worried, you know, with all the riots. People keep talking about registration.. It sounds a lot fascist to me."

"Sorry about that," Axiom offers an apology for New York. "The city has some...r-r-realy nasty people in it," he says. "It s-s-sounds like your parents are pretty awesome people," he says. "It's g-good you're helping out too," he adds. When the registration comes up, Axiom lowers his voice and leans in. "I c-can't stand it too but...well, awhile back when there was that b-big push for registration...I don't think we'll have to worry about it again for awhile. There were s-some bad guys involved with that and we stopped them."

The pizza arrives soon, Victor's face plastered with an excited grin. "Oh, I don't worry much about the people here, I mean, its not like they get to decide what I do with my life. How I react, or how I feel. Hate is dumb, generally. No matter what, someone would hate me, I guess."

Victor would begin to eat with gusto! "I'm glad to hear that, though. I hope no one brings it up again- I was at those riots not too long ago." he said, "MAn. It was /crazy/. So many people got hurt."

Axiom offers a smile as the pizza arrives too. "Well, I'm glad you're d-dealing well with it," he says. He starts to eat as well, a little more slowly just out of habit. His expression becomes one of deep concern at the mention of the riots. "You g-got out okay, right? Riots are really crazy and dangerous."

"Well, some idiot screamed loud enough to drop almost everyone. Ruptured my eardrums- And not just mine. A bunch of other folks felt it, too!" Vic said, a certain excitement there. The pizza was being eaten with knife and fork- just too much on it to be stable any other way! "Mmm." Vic's eyes closed. "Its /so/ good." He's then back to the Riot. "It was pretty crazy, I mean, I just went out to support Mutant Pride, you know? And then some crazy guys attacked us, a car blew up not far from me. I was lucky, I sort of thought something might happen so I brought a mask, and did what I could to help people."

Eddie winces at the mention of ruptured eardrums. He's never quite had an injury to the ear that bad himself but he's got to imagine it hurts a lot more than some of the sonic attacks he has dealt with. "It really is," Eddie agrees about the pizza, taking another forkfull himself. "Oh man," he looks a little more worried when the exploding car is brought up. Axiom's a worrier. "I'm glad you were helping. And s-s-sorry I wasn't there to help out. I was going to come but I g-got held up stopping this crazy guy with giant scissors."

"Oh, its okay." Victor offered up, smiling still. "You can't be everywhere. None of us are Superman." Vic chuckled quietly, more Pizza eating happening. Forkfuls of delicious cheese meat and vegies! He sips his water, "Was he running with the scissors?" The young man asks impishly.

Axiom glances around quickly and then gives a conspiratory whisper. "I g-got to meet Superman a couple times and copy his powers. It was w-wild! Superboy too. He's um...a really cool guy," Axiom blushes at that. He pauses mid-sip when asked that question. "He was."

"Probably good you stopped him then." Vic laughed. "Oh, wow! You've /met/ Superman? I wish /he'd/ been at those Riots. I can't help but think he'd have calmed things down, somehow. MOre so than a bunch of crazy mutants."

"Yeah. He was trying to catch these kids and it was pretty n-nuts. He hit pretty hard t-too," Axiom rubs his jaw a moment at the memory of the punch he took. "Oh yeah, Superman would have definitely c-calmed things down. I still can't believe I m-met him," he says. There's a pause as a chime goes off from Axiom's belt. He blinks a few times and takes out a StarkPhone from his belt to check the message. "Oh man..." he frowns. "I've g-got to get going. One of my t-teammates needs a hand with something," he says. There's a pause, Axiom considering Victor a moment. Eventually he smiles and takes a small piece of blank paper and a pencil out of his belt as well. He quickly scribbles down an e-mail address and a phone number before offering the paper to Victor. "If you ever need a hand with crazy stuff or umm...just want to hang out and grab something to eat or see a m-movie or something, you can reach me with these."

Anole nods, taking the piece of paper and putting it into a pocket after a quick look. "Okay, I'll text you my email. That way you'll have both!" Vic said, giving a little wave. "Hopefully its not too serious, and stay safe."

"Great, Axiom replies, standing. He fishes a little money out of his belt and puts them on the table. "For the t-tip," he says, not wanting to make Vic cover the whole bill. "It d-doesn't sound too serious. Just like he tried to use his p-powers to d-d-do something he shouldn't have and now it's a mess," he says, giving a little fond snicker. "It was nice running into you again, Anole. I'll see you later," he says, waving his friend's way and heading for the door.

Anole waves towards Axiom as he heads out. "See yah!" he then looks back to the Pizza, finishing up his dinner.