capeandcowllogs | Coffee break!

Coffee break!

WHO: Toxin/Pat (

manlygirlskrull)
WHERE: A nearby (vegan!) coffee shop
WHEN: Sometime shortly after Godzilla calmed down
WARNINGS: Um. Strong coffee?
SUMMARY: Xavin is flying and on fire and then Toxin and Xavin go get coffee
FORMAT: Uh. Quicklog? D:

It had been just a few moments since Toxin had ended his conversation with Xavin via the network and his eyes were already to the sky. Flying and on fire, huh? Well that shouldn't be too hard to sp--oh, would you look at that? There was definitely something streaking across the sky.

The symbiote raised his hand and waved, hoping to catch ~~what he hoped was~~ Xavin's attention.

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With Karolina at work, and none of the others in sight, Xavin had become restless. In theory, the concept of guarding the porter had seemed exciting enough—hence the unprecedented turn out of heroes and the like to the false Iron Man's tower—but in actuality, nothing was happening. The whole thing was mundane. After several hours of being alert, Xavin had resorted to browsing across the networks, and occasionally checking her watch to see how much closer work was.

As such, a coffee break seemed entirely sensible. Xavin took to the air, flames on—there didn't seem much point in being slightly more subtle, considering in influx of super-powered types to the tower in the past forty-eight hours—and circled the building, to where Godzilla had last been stationed.

A man on the ground was waving at her, and Xavin sincerely hoped it was Toxin, and not somebody intent on wasting her time. Landing and extinguishing her flames in the same movement, Xavin gave a slight nod.

“Hello,” she said, “You are Toxin, correct?”

Impressive. Briefly, Toxin wondered why he couldn't have flames--then remembered how Godzilla's burning skin had felt. Right. High temperatures are bad.

"Er, yeah. That's me. Xavin?" Without waiting for an answer, he added, "Nice to meet ya."

Really, this quick break would be exactly what he needed. Pat hadn't had much practice at meeting people lately, what with most of his attention turned to his newborn and his wife and his father and the police force, so really...he didn't know what he was doing. That didn't mean Toxin couldn't be good at it, though. And really, in a place like this, he was going to need some friends.

Might as well get started.

"I hope I don't put ya off too much with how I look. I know Carnage is s'posed to be around here or somethin'. I'm nothin' like him."

“It is nice to meet you, also,” Xavin said, more out of habit than anything else. The amount of people she'd met in this world had been ridiculous—back in her universe, she'd become accustomed to dealing with the mismatched, tight-knit group that had become her family, and not much more.

Even their neighbours were irritating.

Still, it didn't hurt to make an effort, and coffee was coffee; one of the best parts of life on Earth, no doubt. Xavin shrugged slightly, in response to Toxin's concern.

“It does not matter to me,” she said, and pointed to her face. Her skin turned hard and green, ridges forming in her chin, and the colour spread to her ears as they became pointed. In an instant, it faded away once more. “It is not my place to be aware of what your history with this Carnage is, but you ought not be judged by appearance alone.”

With that, she turned, tilting her head slightly, in a gesture that he should follow.

Hm. Perhaps refraining from mentioning Carnage until the subject was brought up by the other person was a better idea. Then again, Toxin couldn't deny the paranoia brought on by so many equating "symbiote" to "utterly psychopathic murderer"... This was apparently a lesson in keeping one's mouth shut.

Besides, the sight of someone as different as himself made him feel as if he fit right in--and that was beautiful irony, for sure.

"Well, I appreciate it. A bunch-a people thought I was gonna do somethin' bad because I'm related to him." Noting the gesture, Toxin set out to follow his new acquaintance. She seemed nice enough.

Edited 2009-03-14 22:37 (UTC)

Xavin nodded as Toxin spoke—it was an unfortunate story, but a familiar one.

“I see. There was a similar situation, in the world I am from,” Xavin explained as they walked, “You ought not be held accountable for the actions of your father, or anyone else. So long as you do not intend to follow in the footsteps of Carnage, there is no problem in your being here.”

Xavin paused for a moment, and then tried to lighten the mood.

“I believe we are from the same universe. What was the last thing to happen in your world, before you arrived here?”

"Nah. Carnage was dumb enough to pick one of New York's most devoted cops as his baby's host. Psychopath he was, genius he was not." Thoughts traveled back to that day--the explosion as Carnage tried to repress the birth...not even knowing Pat had been chosen as the host...Gina nearly getting killed... Toxin shuddered. Not pleasant thinking.

"In my world?" Toxin transferred his thoughts to the last significant event before leaving. "W-well...it was 2005... And I had just put Razor-Fist back in the joint at Ryker's Island..." Geez, was there really nothing big that he could think of? "Uh, I dunno...what kinda things are you askin' about?"

Xavin listened, making a note of all the new information in the back of her head. Toxin was a police officer; they'd definitely had problems with those, in the past. Strange, Xavin thought, how she was more deterred by that fact than the symbiote. Regardless, she did not feel much need to purposely find reasons to distrust him—it was just coffee, and she was more than able to protect herself.

“I was mainly referring to events that have affected the “superhero” community as a whole,” Xavin explained, “Noticeable villains, the dispute over registration, the Skrull invasion. That sort of thing.”

The symbiote was completely unaware of the information he was dropping at the moment--he was more concerned with trying to make a good impression.

"Well, I guess if y'put it that way, I'm really too new to the 'community' to know anythin'." Toxin laughed dryly before explaining. "Haven't really even had the symbiote for a whole year." And that meant his powers hadn't even been around for a year. Really, his only contacts with the world of "capes" were Spider-man, Black Cat, and his unwanted symbiote family.

"I think the registration thing was somethin' that happens to me later. Spider-Man mentioned some kinda 'initiative' thing, then said he was from a couple years in my future?"

Edited 2009-03-14 23:54 (UTC)

Well, that certainly cancelled out any potential Skrull related awkwardness or anger.

“I am not really a part of it, either,” Xavin answered, “Before arriving here, I had only been on Earth for several months. However, the goings on do feature prominently in the media, so I assumed you may have heard something.”

Turning the corner at the end of the street, Xavin quickly glanced at Toxin. It was reassuring to meet people who at least were from the universe, in some strange way. At the very least, conversation was somewhat easier.

“Those things will happen in your future, yes,” Xavin said as they approached the vegan restaurant. “It was 2008, before I arrived here, though I did spend sometime in 1907.”

It was really nice to meet another "super" who wasn't quite as in the loop as himself. "Gotta admit, it's still pretty weird to talk to people who are...from the future." All of this weird alternate universe stuff...it was enough to make a poor, mild-mannered police officer's head spin.

"Oh, this the place?" Toxin asked as Xavin led them to their destination. "Here--lemme get that." Not wanting to abandon politeness, the symbiote stepped forth to hold the door for her. Toxin took a second to consider losing the black and red so he could just settle in as a normal guy, but he wasn't sure if he was supposed to do that. Wasn't he told to protect his identity or something?

“I have yet to meet anybody from my future.”

Xavin wasn't entirely sure what kind of reception Toxin would receive, looking as he did. What with all the anti-mutant propaganda being spread around, panic and paranoia had reached an all time high in the city; she had seen people staring on the streets, but, accustomed to such behaviour herself—albeit in smaller doses—Xavin had done well by ignoring it.

Not quite used to such gestures, Xavin faltered for a moment, before realising the door was being held open for her.

It was warm, inside, alive with the buzz of conversation, but in no way crowded. Xavin made her way to the counter and ordered—just a regular coffee with soy milk, but the strongest of any blend she'd tasted. Well, the caffeine would certainly come in useful for work, later.

“Would you like the same?” Xavin asked, removing her wallet from her jacket pocket.

Toxin glanced left and right as he entered after Xavin, his nerves getting to him as he came to realization that he was very much in public right now. Walking here hadn't been so bad with his attention on his accompaniment, but stepping into the place...well, that was a little different.

"Hm--oh, uh. Lemme...no, just black coffee, please," he told the cashier, fighting the urge to growl in the worker's face and ask what the kid was staring at. "And uh, do they just take regular American dollars here? 'Cause if so, lemme get it. Like, both of our coffees."

After holding out his hand, a tentacle delivered Toxin's wallet to his open palm. He still had some cash on him from before his little trip to this place. "I mean, you were nice enough to come 'n sit with me."

“American dollars are legal tender here, yes,” Xavin said, watching as the tentacle crept towards Toxin's open hand, wrapped around a wallet. If he wanted to pay, Xavin was not about to object; money was tight enough as it was, and she probably should've been sticking to the instant coffee they had back at the apartment.

Still, she observed the way the cashier took the money, his hands shaking a little. She sighed. He was lucky that she had opted not to spawn tentacles—not that she ever had done so before, of course, but it was entirely plausible.

“You will be needing to find a job, if that is all you have,” Xavin stated, pointing towards Toxin's wallet. “Do you have friends here? Family?”

Toxin again resisted the symbiote's urges to intimidate the cashier with a growl or something. "Yer right about that. The only person I even knew 'fore gettin' here was Spider-Man...and the only one I've met since that was Godzilla. Family's back...where I came from." He tried to muffle the inevitable sigh that came with thinking of Gina and Eddie, but failed.

"What is there to do 'round here? I don't know how much experience I've really got--I'm a cop, and that's what I do best, I guess."

The nervous cashier returned with two coffees, and Toxin accepted them, nodding Xavin towards an empty booth where they could drink and talk ~~inconspicuously~~ uninterrupted.

[ooc: Sorry it took so long to tag! D: ]

Xavin sensed that discussing Toxin's family wasn't the most appropriate step forward. She remembered how difficult it had been for her, when she arrived and Karolina was still elsewhere; of course, Spider-Man (the elder, she assumed) wasn't the worst person in the world to be stranded in an alternate universe with, but it still wasn't the same.

She watched him speak over the rim of her coffee cup, nodding as he spoke.

“It is much like any Earth city,” Xavin said, placing her drink down against the tabletop, “though lacking in police. If that is what you are good at, it would not be difficult to resume such a role here; however, you may need to find yourself a second job. I do not believe being a police officer would pay.

“Outside of work, I am not sure what to recommend to you. It depends what you are interested in. There are a vast number of libraries in this city that I have found to be enjoyable, as well as the more common sources of entertainment this planet offers. Bars, malls, cinemas and the like.”

Sipping as Xavin spoke, Toxin mulled over her words while rolling the taste of the hot drink over his tongue. This had been a good suggestion--he now held a great cup of coffee in his hands.

"Huh. And here I was expectin' something crazy. Guess alternate universes aren't as sci-fi as I thought." Another sip. "Maybe I'll look into somethin' temporary just to get off my feet or whatever. Need to get some bread in my pocket." Toxin took a moment to keep a mental tally of his funds from now on--and this little outing put him at $34.27.

Well, at least with the ability to web-swing everywhere, he wouldn't have to take a cab. That'd eat up his money faster than anything else.

"So what about you? Where'd you get a job, hn?"

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Coffee break!

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