2013.07.31 - A Man In Uniform

Mid-morning on a glorious summer's day. It's the time of day when the wage slave types are stuck in cubicle farms, squinting at barely visible windows, longing for the fresh (ish) air and sunshine that comes with not being stuck in an office building on a Wednesday morning. There are some serious advantages to working non-traditional hours, and there are two young women who are enjoying one of those advantages. Playing 'tourist' and seeing the sights on a wander through on the way to getting coffee. And pastries. And possibly shoes. Or music. Or earrings. But certainly coffee. It is clear that Fern is the one who knows where they are going (at least a little) and Jazmin is the one who is gawking in the 'totally not gawking' way that seems endemic in teen girls.

The Genoshan Embassy is not only a footprint in the area, it has become a foundation in many ways. The number of mutants visible on the streets has more than doubled, peppering the crowds with odd skin tones and beings of different shape, size and clothing. One such duo consists of a lizard-like man, with holes in his head instead of ears, green skin, and reptilian eyes. The other is an African fellow with mismatched eyes of brown and silver. Shift wears a uniform that is in many ways similar to that of those worn by the military-style guards patrolling the Embassy grounds, only his is more slim fitting, almost to the point of being skin-tight were it not for the armor-like padding that protrudes to cover his most vital organs.

As the duo walk, they are speaking quietly with one another. Shift is doing most of the talking, while the lizard man nods his head and listens.

"And that's Stark Tower," Fern points out needlessly, literally as her hand is up and one finger directed toward the building. "I met Mr. Stark. Kinda. Well, it was at this big thing, and he was really busy, but I think he looked at me for a second." A giggle comes with this and Fern shrugs her shoulders lightly. "Guys like him are always busy." For a few steps she ponders, before venturing, "I think that could be kinda... lonely. Does anyone ever just call him up and want to go see a movie and get a pizza, or is it all business, business, business?" She paces Jazmin easily, talking as if she's known the other girl all her life, even though they only met about a day ago. The abundance of Mutants in the area barely even registers on Fern, having grown used to the different denizens of the city after months here, and she sidesteps someone with vaguely orange skin. Heck, that could just be someone from Jersey!

"I.. sort of did that to one guy like him?" Jazmin offers as they walk, dutifully looking up at the tower in question, as if anyone could miss it. "I turned up at his office, and got his secretary .. or receptionist, or whatever, to call him and ask if he wanted a coffee. And he totally came and got coffee with me! Course I was also kinda holding his Starbucks card hostage, but that's besides the point." She grins and then nods. "Both of us were a little crazy on a timeline though, grabbing a coffee between meetings, so I think it's pretty business, business, business. Hey, we could go to the Stark Expo thing and try seeing if he wants to get a pizza!" She glances over, more curious in the uniforms than the reptiles (and others) within them, gesturing a little. "What's that?"

Fern actually looks a little concerned for the poor rich guys who barely seem to have a social life. Or, when they do, it's... less than optimal. "Yeah, they're always just that little bit preoccupied. Or surrounded by people who don't care about them." Turning her head, Fern takes in the pair walking by, and the uniform. "I think... I think he's from that embassy we're coming up on?" She doesn't sound very sure of it, but she's skimmed over news about Genosha in the paper, and knows that it could have a huge impact on many of her friends. "I suppose we could ask, but.... hm. Does he look approachable? I wouldn't want to butt in, but maybe it would be nice if someone showed some interest for a change and didn't just stare." As many of the 'tourists' are doing to the unique pair.

"I wonder if Justin'd do coffee with me again if I wasn't holding his Starbucks card hostage." Jazmin muses almost absently at Fern's commentary and then turns to look again, over to the pair and others beyond them. "There's no harm in asking, right? I mean.. if we're polite about it. They can tell us to go away if they want, right?" Subtle is clearly not Jazmin's strong suit, as she turns a bit, to start heading in that direction. "I don't get the staring thing, but I suppose I'm used to more diversity than New York seems to have."

After a few moments, the African and lizard-like mutants exchange some sort of pleasantries, before the lizard-man turns back for the Embassy with a folder under his arm that was given to him by Shift. As for Shift, he turns and looks about the area for a few moments before noticing a food cart nearby.

The presence of the food cart seems to bear kindly upon Shift, for the barely-noticable smile on his face has suddenly broadened. "What ah you selling?" he asks with a distinctly Ghanaian accent.

"Gyros," answers the vendor. "Gyros of all kinds! I have lamb, beef, veggie, pork--"

"Lamb, please," answers Shift. "Peppahs, onions, as much hot sauce as you can fit."

Following along with Jazmin, Fern laughs, "More diversity than this? You'd probably freak out in my home town. It's all small and there's no Special People or anything like that. But there's a lot of corn and some cows." Small town Ohio boiled down to it's bare bones. It takes a second for it to register, the name Jazmin dropped, and Fern looks at her companion, "Hey! I know a guy named Justin, and he's.... " But by then they're nearing the two men, and Fern tucks that thought away to bring up when there aren't such pressing matters. She tugs lightly on Jazmin's arm as the men part ways and Shift moves to the gyro cart, whispering, "Maybe he won't like being bothered when he's getting lunch." The word brings a small, strangled growl from Fern's stomach, which gets ignored.

"Thiiis.." Jazmin gestures to the mutant-friendly area they're in and grins. "Seems normal. The rest of New York? Seems.. yeah.. not as diverse. I mean.. lots of different shades of humans, but all humans. Or mostly." She pffts softly. "We're just asking.. it's like a two second question and then we know we're not interrupting something super important. C'mon. Besides, I'm hungry too." She heads off in Shift's direction, bringing Fern along with her, the latter entirely more polite than the former.

While ordering, Shift's keen (and mis-matched) eyes notice both Fern and Jazmin. The grin on his face falters just so, but he eyes them for a second or two before turning back to the vendor, paying for his order. He cups the gyro in his hand, takes a big bite, and seems more than pleased. "Mm," he emotes to the vendor, nodding his head. "Mm hmm! Mmm hmm, mm!" Swallow. "Yes, good, good, tank you!"

When Fern and Jazmin come closer, he looks right in their direction. "You two aren't lost, are you?" he asks, showing genuine concern.

Fern is still hissing ineffectually at Jazmin, "But we don't wanna bother...." To no avail, as the Legionnaire stays her course and Fern trails along like the string of a balloon. As Shift addresses them she blushes lightly, but the concern eases her and she shakes her head, "Oh no, but thanks, it's really nice of you to ask. We were just..." She looks to Jazmin, letting her own words trail off in hopes the bolder girl will pick them up.

"Nope! For once, not lost. Well, Fern isn't, and I could probably make it home from here, once you're in the sky, it's so much easier." Jazmin replies brightly, entirely confident in coming right up to a stranger and chatting. "But! We do have a question, if you don't mind. It looks like you're from that building there." She gestures back at the Embassy, glancing there and then back to Shift again. "What is it, exactly? I mean, seems to be full of interesting people, but we're curious." Midway through her question, the cell in her pocket binglydeebeeps and she at least waits 'til the end of the query before digging it out to glance at it briefly and then wrinkle up her nose at whatever it's said before looking back to Shift.

There are two blinks of the eye before Shift recognizes what he guesses to be... embarrassment? An altogether coy grin spreads across his face, and he moves just a bit so that he's positioned to face both. The grin broadens into something more like a smile at Fern, before he turns toward Jazmin. "Dat?" he asks, and motions toward the building "... is de Sovereign Embassy of..."

His voice trails off, however, as Jazmin looks down at her phone. Glancing back toward Fern he finishes, "... Genosha."

"Oh! Is that where it is!" Jazmin's voice has that ah ha sound of recognition before she reaches out to touch Fern's arm lightly. "I will be right back, I just have to cope with this. Rokk wasn't kidding when he warned me that I could never really hide. Damn omnis." She offers an apologetic smile to both of them, stepping away to cope with something or other on her phone, in a language that clearly isn't english.

Fern is entirely used to her friends getting calls and even called away at any given moment, and she takes it in stride, barely glancing aside, her attention remaining on Shift as he replies. Her brows lift as her guess is confirmed, eyes straying to the building, before Jazmin catches her attention. Fern nods, not understanding entirely everything Jazmin just said, but agreeable, smiling, "Do what ya gotta do, I'm not going anywhere." Indeed, now that the ice has been broken, Fern turns back to Shift, "Genosha... I've read about it some in the paper. It's terrible, the troubles there." Her usual smile is turned lightly upside-down, and there's actual concern in her eyes, not just that 'I'll send a dollar a week and they'll take care of themselves' concern most might display. "I'm afraid that I don't know a lot about it though," she adds, apologetically, as if she's failed on current events.

Shift seems unbothered by Jazmin's sudden excusal, though he does give her a brief look as she departs, as if there was something funny about what she'd spoken. "Dere are some few troubahs, yes," answers the accented mutant. "More dan dat, in fact. Howevah, I can tell you that de peopah of Genosha have strong hearts and an unbreakable spirit." He smiles in an effort to reverse the downturn of Fern's frown. "Dese troubahs will not last long."

Shifting a bit so that he might adopt a slightly more comfortable stance, he studies Fern a bit more closely. "I am Kwabena," he offers, and shoots out his free hand in greeting.

Fern does brighten a measure at the positive words, always wanting to see the better side of things rather than dwell on the negative. "I hope they don't," she says, a soft earnestness to the words. She's not aware if anyone she knows is directly involved, but she knows there's a chance, and it concerns her. The offered shake is taken without hesitation, "I'm Fern, that's my friend, Jazmin." There's a nod toward the other girl, before her eyes return. Her hand might be a little warm, but at least it's not sweaty, and her grip is firm, not wishy-washy, although it's clear there's no power behind it, nor is there meant to be. "It's nice to meetcha, sir." The uniform brings an automatic addition of a more formal title by default.

"Oh, please, please, just Kwabena." There is a pause, and a glimmer of mirth crosses the African's face. "Or you can call me 'Shift'." His handshake is made to match, something he's good at doing. Releasing it, he takes a bite of his gyro, taking a moment to chew and swallow before gesturing with the food in hand toward the nearby cart. "You should give it a try. Nevah, evah fear de food carts. So, you and your friend, Jazmin, you ah just out to see de town?"

Fern's grin breaks out, and she nods, "Kwabena." Again, expressive brows lift, her curiosity unavoidably coming to the fore with the most simple of inquiries, "Shift?" Of course, if he's connected with Genosha it's not a leap of Einstein magnitude to assume he's what she refers to as 'Special'. As he takes a bite of his lunch, Fern watches the people passing by, because it's kind of creepy to stare at someone as they eat. "Oh, I love the food carts," she replies, looking back to him now. "I'm kind of showing Jazmin around, since it's my day off, although I've really only been here a few months. But I explore a lot, so I know the city a bit better. I'm trying to be a little help, at least."

"It's a nickname of sorts," answers Shift. "Some peopah find it easiah to remembah a name like 'Shift'." With Fern's approval of the food carts comes a more relaxed expression--albeit difficult to truly look at ease in such a uniform. He turns his head about, indicating the city as a whole. "It's a very big city with many things to see," he acknowledges. "I think that is what makes it so appealing."

Suddenly, Kwabena seems to fix Fern with a pointed look. "You are not troubled dat I am a mutant?" he asks. Brutal honesty wasn't one of his strong points. He's more curious than anything.

There's a nod, and a thoughtful expression. "I can see how it might be easier to remember. I like Kwabena, though. It's unique." With a name like Fern, how can she not appreciate the unique? Any input she might have had about the wonders of the city is lost in the direct look and question from Shift. Her head shakes, red hair shifting and quickly being pushed back out of her eyes with one hand. "No," she answers honestly, bringing up a smile, "I'm not. We're all different in our own ways."

"Well, don't think too much of it," he answers. "Kwabena means 'born on a Tuesday'. No joke. Most Ghanaians have a naming ceremony when dey become Americans, but, I'm not American." He lifts a mockingly warning hand. "But don't go calling me 'Tuesday'. I have a friend who has dat nickname on lock down."

Fern's answer draws an appreciative expression back to Shift's face. "I had a feeling you weren't. I can almost smell de hatahs, you know? Dey look at you a certain way." Turning to the side, Kwabena takes another bite from his gyro, but it would seem he's not bothered at all by Fern's presence. "So where ah you from? Originally?"

Fern grins, looking up at the taller man, even squinting as she theatrically studies him for a moment. "Nah... you don't really look like a Tuesday. Maybe.. maybe a Thursday, but that's pushing it a bit too. And definitely not a Monday." She slips her hands into pockets in her skirt, tucking them away so she doesn't start fidgeting, although her tendency for that is betrayed by her inability to stand completely still for any length of time. She shifts from one foot to the other, even bounces lightly sometimes, and her eyes dart around frequently, but always return to Kwabena's face. Her manner has eased a lot from the first moments of the meeting, and it shows in her ease with the conversation.

"Well, some people are just kinda stupid," she says, "And they always looks for reasons to call people different instead of looking for the ways we're the same." Fernglances back to Jazmin, her eyes sympathetic for her friend not getting much of a break from 'work', but her attention comes right back. "Oh, I'm from Ohio. Small town kinda between Columbus and Cleveland," as if that might mean something to him. "It's a lot different than here. And you're from Ghana? Bet it's a lot different from home for you too, huh?" There's a sheepish smile as she adds, "I kinda thought from your accent that you might be from somewhere else."

For a moment, Shift's mismatched eyes are sprinkled with mirth. Given the way she seems nervous and jokes about his name? Might as well have a bit of fun. "My dear Fren. Are you flirting?" Without missing a beat, he makes a move to disarm her from the embarrassment he half expects her to exhibit. "Your name plate says 'Fren', not Fern." He pauses to take a bite of his gyro, which is now nearly finished, and simply chews on it while casually observing what response she might give!

"Ohio. I have been dere. Ran about in Cincinnati some few times. It's definitely not de Big Appah, but it has it's charm." He glances momentarily toward Jazmin, before fixing back upon Fern with a half-cocked eyebrow. "You're right, dough. It's just a mutation. Scientifically? No diffahrent den someone with an unnaturally high IQ, or someone with a genetic disposition toward having twins. I have met some few mutants. It is not always a blessing, I hope you undahstand what I mean. It can be a handicap. I think dose stupid peopah don't really undahstand dat."

It is with an exasperated and perhaps a little overly theatric sigh that Jazmin finally finishes her call and shuts the phone down to shove back in her pocket before moving back over to rejoin the conversation. "Sorry about that. Work stupidity. Well.. No. Not really stupidity, but I'm venturing past hungry right towards starving, which makes even reports I've been waiting on feel like they will never end." She sniffs in the food cart's direction and then back to the pair and Shift's gyro in particular. "Does it taste as good as it smells? What'd I miss. Hi!" She grins at Shift. "I'm Jazmin, and .. Now I'm pretty sure I'm interrupting, so I'll just shut up again."

If he was looking for a blush to rise into the redhead's fair cheeks, Shift won't be disappointed. "Oh gosh, no," Fern protests immediately, looking almost dismayed that she might have come off as bold and forward with her innate sense of playfulness. "I mean, it's not that I wouldn't." No, that doesn't sound any better for her case. "I mean, it's just..." Her eyes drop to the tag she'd forgotten to take off, having worn it as a joke for meeting up with Jazmin. So the Legionnaire would recognize her, of course. "They spelled it wrong," she says lamely, having long given up on requests for a corrected one. While it takes a while for the pink to fade, she grabs onto the rest of what Kwabena says, frowning lightly. "I have a friend who was worried when we would hang out together, that someone would start something. He's kinda unforgettable looking. He wore this band around his wrist that could make him look like someone else. He chose Errol Flynn a lot. I preferred him blue, actually." Her grin resurfaces finally with this recollection, strengthening as Jazmin rejoins them. "Oh heck no, you aren't interrupting!"

Good honest laughter comes from Kwabena at the tail of Fern's response. "Here I thought my day was made!" he answers. "It's not often a lovely lady flirts with a man in uniform," he jests.

And, suddenly, his laughter goes promptly away when Jazmin rushes back over. Given how dark his natural skin tone is, it's a bit difficult to notice any blushing, though he does reach up and scratch at the base of his bald head for a moment. "Hello, Jazmin. I am Kwabena." He offers his free hand in greeting, and soon enough, his light-hearted smile has returned. "De food is very good, I recommend you both try it."

"I fully intend to try it." Jazmin agrees as she reaches out to shake the offered hand, her own grip strong and confident. "Nice to meet you Kwabena. I think I'm aiming to just eat my way through learning New York, and then I may totally need to write myself into the training schedule like a dozen times, because it's so damn /good/."

Fern seems a little relieved that the conversation drifts to food, so she has a moment to get over the flustered. "Hey, we could share one, Jazmin. I got some good tips yesterday, I'll treat." She doesn't give a chance for protest, already pulling money out of her pocket and stepping up into a lull in the cart's business. "Hi! One lamb, please." Her politeness alone usually marks Fern as 'not from around here', but it seldom fails to get a smile in return. As she waits for the exchange of food and money, she does turn to let her eyes settle on Shift for a moment, before she's brought back to the moment with a blink at the vendor's "Miss? Here ya go." "Oh, thanks!" Fern responds, taking the gyro with both hands, walking back to immediately offer it to Jazmin first.

Thinking of something Fern had just said, Kwabena diverts his attention toward her momentarily. "You see, I can undahstand someone wanting to fit in," he offers. "But, you know, I say it's bettah to just be yourself. I guess it's easiah for me to say, since my eyes are de only tell. But, you know, I have a friend who is blue? With fur and a tail? He nevah chooses to hide, unless he absolutely has to."

There's something cryptic about the way Shift says that... as if he were possibly involved in something beyond civilian or basic military life.

For a moment, he watches as they pay for a split of food. He was never one for charity. He hated receiving it, and that often made him sensitive to giving it. "You... two..." he starts, hesitantly at first, before taking a breath and finishing. "Want more? I mean, I just was paid. De Embassy pays well." He motions toward the cart with a frown.

"You sure? I'll get cupcakes later, how's that for a deal? Or the next one if we're still hungry. They are pretty big." Jazmin offers to Fern as she reaches to lean in and take a bite of the gyro and then mmmmms happily. "Okay this is good." She declares and then offers it back to Fern to take a bite of. "At least one of my Legionnaires is green. One? Maybe two or three. Green's a pretty common skin tone. I've been on mission with a purple cat, wonder if is the same guy? Oh wait you said blue, not purple. He was distinctly purple."

Fern smiles at Kwabena, shaking her head lightly, "Shoot, this would be enough to fill three people, if they aren't big, strong guys like you." Again, she's not attempting to flirt, but it's her line of work to make people happy, and compliments are part of that. "Thank you, though, Kwabena, it's really nice of you." As Jazmin samples the gyro first, Fern's eyes widen. She's not the most knowledgeable, but come on... how many furry, blue, tailed Mutants are there? Well, probably more than she'd expect, but she goes immediately to the familiar. "Kurt Wagner? He only offered because he thought it would be safer for me. He's sweet, was very concerned." There's fondness to her recollection, and surprise that the pair know each other, and that surprise holds as she looks to Jazmin. "Keith? He's a purple cat that I know." It really is a small world, even in this big city. Fern accepts the gyro, taking a bite bigger than most would suspect her capable of.

"Do you know like.. everyone?" Jazmin asks of Fern with a laugh. "Keith, yep. Okay.. tell me.. is he always like.. crazy shy, or did I really just intimidate the daylights out of him?" She chews on her bottom lip a little, her expression curious. "I thought he was going to try and become one with the wall when we were talking later, and well.. it really could have just been me, I'm not the most.. uhh... unassuming sort. And when it was Rokk and I together, well.. we can both be kinda forceful personalities." She looks to Fern and explains briefly. "Rokk.. one of the guys I menti.. oh wait. No, that was Jubes and Jocelyn I was whining to, you weren't there. Whoops."

The question gets a laugh in return as Fern passes the gyro back, covering her mouth to quickly chew and swallow without spewing any of the tasty food onto the street in her amusement. "Not everyone. But being a waitress sure does help." Plus, she's some kinda magnet for people who are more than simply human. "And I get out in the city a lot." She considers a moment, then shakes her head, "I didn't notice him to be especially shy. Who's Rokk? Sounds like a wrestler or someone who would play something with a ball and a lot of hitting."

Jazmin laughs and shakes her head. "Naw.. that's Booster. Who did play something with a ball and a lot of hitting, as best as I can tell from videos. Rokk is Cosmic Boy.. and uh.. it gets sort of complicated. The short answer is that he's the former leader of the Legion.. uh.. Legion of Superheroes. Which is my team." She explains as she holds the gyro a bit. "It gets more complicated when you include all the messy of the fact that we knew each other before we got the New York, and uhh.. he was a lot different then, and now we're both here, and yeah. But its cool, it's good. We run into that sort of challenge a lot with the nature of our team."

Fern glances over at Shift, who has been rejoined by his companion from earlier. She doesn't want to stare as the men talk in low tones, but she does try to read from their body language if there's some sort of problem. Knowing that they have a friend in common, and Fern would guess probably more than one, she's warmed to the man even more. "Booster?" she asks Jazmin, "Is that his real name? Cosmic Boy, that's kinda cool." She looks apologetic again as she says, "I'm not really so up on all this hero stuff. There's so many of you," she adds, sounding honestly surprised. "But... If you all knew each other, did you all come here together? Like... charter a bus?" Clueless.

Jazmin chuckles. "No.. his real name is Michael, Booster Gold is his code name, and well.. it still feels weird to call him Michael, he's utterly Booster in my head." She mmms softly, offering Fern the last bit of the gyro after she's taken her bite. "There are a whole lot of us here. It keeps surprising me too, I'm not really used to it." She uhhs softly and then shakes her head. "No, we all came seperately, and often arrive pretty surprised that other Legion members are already here. New York is.. kinda a lot of culture shock, but we're coping. It gets complicated."

The names are noted in her head, Booster Gold and Cosmic Boy, and next time Fern is at the library she'll try to Google them. She frowns lightly as she takes what's left of the gyro, but the frown fades almost immediately. "Still, you have friends. And you're making friends here. You should bring some of your Legion of Superheroes people to the restaurant sometime, we'll throw you a little welcome to New York party." It's a wonder that Anita Bella takes in any money at all, with as prone as they are to thinking of people before cash and often comping meals. But they're a ragtag family who all believe that no one should go hungry. "And I'm sure Jubes and Joce would be better guides, but if you ever need anything I'll always be willing to help," she offers. The last bite of gyro is popped into her mouth, and Fern crumbles the wrapper in her hand, looking around for a garbage can.

After a few minutes of quiet discussion, Shift is once again excused from the green lizard man. He's halfway through reaching into one of his pouches for a cigarette, when he suddenly remembers the women he was speaking with. How could he have forgotten! Blinking twice, he returns, having completely missed the conversation (and a few other familiar names to boot).

"Fern. Jazmin. I must apologize, but dere is need for me at de Embassy now." He looks between the two and says, "Well met, howevah. If you should evah desire a tour, please, ask for me at de gates." He makes to turn away, but remembers yet something else, and turns back toward Fern in particular.

"Where is it your restaurant?" he asks. "I would love to stop by some time."

"I do, and I am. And I've got an amazing team, who is really more like family a lot of the time. We're good to each other, and it's important. Well most of the time. We give Garth a hard time, but I know he's got my back if need be.. sprock.. he hasn't even mocked me horribly for having to come literally carry me home, out of a fight." Jazmin laughs softly, shaking her head a little, clearly far more concerned with her performance in said fight than having gotten injured. "It's been good, surprisingly so. And I will totally bring some Legion folks by and introduce them to Italian food." She turns towards Shift and nods. "Sorry about getting work snagged. I so very get that. I would be very interested in a tour, I will stop by."

Fern was surely a Girl Scout back home, because she's always prepared for things. Like carrying cards for the restaurant in her pocket no matter where she goes. She whips one out, offering it to Shift, the little paper giving the address and phone number for Anita Bella in Brooklyn. "It's ok, Kwabena, work happens. Yeah, I might stop by too, it would be interesting. And I'd love to see you at the restaurant. If you see Kurt, tell him I said hello, will you?" There's a broad smile for the man, her eyes holding as he turns to go, before she looks to Jazmin, "Didn't you say something about cupcakes?"