2013.05.31 - Axiomatic Lunch

Late morning on a Friday in New York City. The shadows are creeping close to hiding beneath the buildings for that brief period of time before they start to crawl back out the other direction. The streets are as crowded as they ever are, especially with lunch hour approaching -- food trucks are taking up choice stations and street vendors are hawking their wares. Among this sea of humanity walks a young woman who has studied the city but has never walked its streets with live population at any hour, let alone this busiest time of the day.

Merle is enjoying herself. She's masked her natural coloration behind an illusion and she is wearing a newly acquired outfit consisting of a burgundy colored blouse with a cowl neck and buttons running up the left hand side with tight blue jeans and ankle boots. She stops at a food truck and looks over their menu items as she considers ordering something as an early lunch.

(Editor’s Note: [[Media: Merle's Burgundy Blouse.jpg|Merle is wearing this outfit today.]])

It might seem odd to some that a costumed crime fighter would stop for a meal at a food truck but not Axiom. When he doesn't pack a snack for patrols, he likes to help out the guys in the trucks. That's why there's not much surprise from them when there's a light thump atop the truck as Axiom hops down onto top of it and then down to the ground. He's careful to avoid bumping or landing on anyone but a few people are startled. "H-hi," he offers to one of those people on the street before turning to get in line at the truck. He's sporting some armor today on his left arm, the silver material glinting in the light.

Merle orders a banh mi from the truck and turns when she is bumped into by Axiom. She turns her attention to the person who brushed her hip and says "Hello," to him in her cultured British accent. She isn't surprised at the costume, she's very comfortable with being near a super hero apparently, and asks, "Who are you? I've never seen your costume before," she adds as if she expected to have been able to.

"Oh, s-sorry," Axiom chimes when he realizes he bumped into someone. He tilts his head a little curiously at how Merle doesn't seem to be surprised but when she asks who he is and mentions never seeing his costume before, he sighs and his shoulders slump. "R-really? I'm not in this for fame and I know I'm n-n-n-not famous but not even once?" he shakes his head. "I'm Axiom. With the Young Allies."  Merle says, "Sorry, got snagged by RL"

Merle smiles and says, "I'm not from around here, Axiom, so I'm sorry for not having heard of you." When she's told her order is up she hands over cash for payment and steps aside to allow Axiom to place his order. "Is this your normal 'beat' so to speak?" she asks him before taking her first bite of lunch.

"Oh," Axiom blinks. "Um, well... uh...welcome to New York City," he offers with a little laugh. When it's his turn to order, Axiom gives a little friendly chatter to the people running the truck before ordering himself a pork bun and handing over the cash. "Yep! It's part of it anyway."

Merle eats some of her banh mi while Axiom orders and receives his pork bun. At that point she steps further away from the truck and makes a gesture inviting him over. "I'm curious what super heroing is like here in New York," she says hinting at some knowledge about it elsewhere -- perhaps she's a reporter or a groupie.

Once he's got his food, Axiom blinks. He's not used to invitations to join people and he doesn't see much harm in stopping for a bit. So he follows Merle over. "Where are you from?" he's curious. "I g-guess it's like any other place, really."

After swallowing her most current bite of her lunch, Merle grins and says, "I would've thought it was obvious. I was born in Scotland but grew up near London." She leaves out the middling little detail about it having been in another dimension or that it was also technically the future, neither of these facts are ones that she feels she should be bandying about with people she just met.

"You'd be surprised around here. Not all accents lead to where a person's from," Axiom chimes with a little chuckle. "So you're from around the same area as Captain Britain, Knight, and Squire. That is c-cool!"

Merle nods happily as she hears a name she recognizes. "Yes, exactly," she says, fighting the urge to call Captain Britain 'Uncle Brian' like she's used to -- heck, it was the Braddock Manor she grew up on. "Excalibur used to operate out of the same part of England that I grew up in," she says... naturally they did, they were her family after all.

"That's pretty cool. I always w-wanted to team up with some of them sometime," Axiom remarks. He's already teamed up with one but he's not telling someone about that secret mission. Eating is bun, Axiom doesn't speak again until his mouth is clear. "I've always been based here in NYC, myself."

Merle's left eyebrow arches upwards out of curiosity as she takes a moment to finish her lunch. She then balls up the wrapper and looks about for a trash can -- seeing one about two yards away she tosses the wad of foil lined paper and crumpled cardboard though the air. She turns away before it hits the far side of the can and bounces down into the pile of trash and says, "I've only been in the city for a few days. I have family here you see."

"Nice shot," Axiom remarks as he watches the wrapper go in. "And always g-good to see someone I don't have remind not to litter," he adds. Yes, he's a superhero that asks people to pick up their trash as well as runs around fighting villains. "Well, I hope you have a g-g-good stay here. And that none of the city's weirdness gets in the way of your trip."

Laughing, Merle says, "Remember, London. Birthplace of the punk music movement and David Bowie. I was raised on weird." She reaches out to tough Axiom's arm as she says, "Thanks," about the compliment and the well wishes but she hesitates to actually touch him and then says, "I hope you stay safe, Axiom."

Axiom glances at the hand reaching for him and smiles. He doesn't mention that he doesn't know who David Bowie is though. "No n-need to thank me, miss. And don't worry about me. I'll make sure everyone stays safe."