ArchivedLogs:Any Car, Any Time

Any Car, Any Time
Dramatis Personae Dakota, Marinov, Nic
In Absentia	2017-08-16 "Isn’t there someplace there you can really let loose?"
Location <WES> Sinkers and Suds - Salem Center
Taking over the spots where a popular coffeeshop and burger joint once stood pre-zombiepocalypse, this diner, though very new, has modeled itself in the throwback style of Salem Center's main drag. Black and white checkerboard floor underfoot, steel stools cheerfully upholstered in bright red vinyl, brushed chrome tables both standalone or in the booths that line the walls. The servers are impossibly perky, the jukebox only plays oldies, and the seats at the long counter also often include conversation with the very chatty soda jerk manning the fountain there. The smells of fried food and fresh coffee generally fill the air. Marinov is sitting down in a booth that they've claimed as their own. The teen is lounging sideways on the seat, snapping a quick picture of the place with the caption, 'This place is straight from the 50s.' Their fur pattern has been slightly altered, though their spots are all in the same place, they are multicolored with the rest of their coat having been changed to silver. The teen wears a charcoal coloured english cut suit, with a cobalt-coloured foulard necktie. With the day being as warm as it is. They've already ordered some water for the table, with four glasses there (three for people expected to show up, and one just in case something unexpected occurs), and the ice has barely melted in the cups. Nic holds the door open for a couple leaving the diner before slipping in. The gymnast is wearing a long sleeved purple button up shirt which is left unbuttoned showing a plain white t-shirt underneath black skinny jeans cover up the bottom half and lead down to black and white all stars. After a moment he spots the silver teen with multicolored spots, and although they look quite a bit different than last he saw them there's no mistaking Marinov. He quickly makes his way over to join them sitting across from them and offering a smile "Hey hope you haven't had to wait too long for us, Dakota should be along too, she said she'd meet up here. I heard you've had some errr... excitement recently you're alright though right? Oh and the new colours look good, you're always surprising me with stuff like that." "Uh, yeah, I'm alright," says Marinov, sitting up now that one of their friends has arrived, "Got a little bit chewed out at school for everything, had to take an extra exam today, it's been sorta a hectic couple of days." They shrug slightly and say, "I've been here for only a couple of minutes so don't worry about it. Besides, I'm fine with being by myself a little bit." Dakota's entry is noticeable, primarily for the fact that she immediately approaches Marinov and Nic to place her hands on their table. "You," she starts, grinning at the felinoid teen. "Are freaking news, kid. You got arrested with /Steve Rogers/. /Captain America/. Holy shit." The mutant wears a black graphic t-shirt with the phrase 'I Am No Man' and a depiction of the Witch King's helmet with a dagger through it. With a sigh, she plops down on the bench next to Nic and slides in to lean against him, reaching for his hand with hers. "Was it scary?" "Well if chewed out was the worst of it that's not too bad... I heard you got arrested, what happened if you don't mind my asking?" Nic asks sliding one of the glasses of water over to take a sip. "Heard you beat someone up at a rally or something?" The teen looks over at his girlfriend when she comes in puts her hands on the table "Whoa really? Captain America? I didn't hear that part, now I gotta hear the story!" As Dakota sits next to him she finds his hand easily enough, and the boy leans over to kiss her cheek "Hey pretty girl, glad to see you, it's been a while." At the question of if it was scary Nic slowly shakes his head remembering his encounter with the police when out with Marinov and Paige "I'm sure any time dealing with the fuzz is scary let alone actually being arrested... We ran into them with their robots that time, and it still kinda freaks me out." Marinov takes a drink of their water, and looks between the other two slowly. After this moment's pause, they speak: "Yeah, Captain America decked this mutant nazi right in the face. It was like a poem, written and delivered on the end of a fist." They count out on their fingers as they speak, "Captain Steve Rogers. Walloped a fucking nazi. Right in his smug face." They shake their head and say, "But like, seriously, it was fucked up and I only remembered after I got arrested that I had an exam the next morning." The smile on Dakota's face when Nic kisses her cheek is definitely one of satisfaction. "Hey you, too," she offers back, giving his hand a squeeze when he mentions his previous encounter with the Sentinels. "You know I'll keep you safe from them, right?" Her concerned gaze is affixed on her boyfriend and it sounds as though she is being quite sincere. "Not that you need keeping safe, but they don't just get to take you like that while I'm around." Her attention turns to Marinov when they start speaking. "Nice haiku," she comments with a smirk. "I'll --- " Dakota looks up at the ceiling, an expression of concentration on her face. "I'll kick Nazi ass. I will kick them very hard. They will not be smug. They let you off for the exam, though, right?" Nic chuckles softly and smiles at Dakota "You're super cute when you're protective, but I don't think you really have to worry. They're not after me, even then they weren't after me we just happened to be around when the cops felt like flexing their bigotry muscles... I appreciate it though sweetie, glad you have my back if I need it." turning his attention to Marinov's story he slowly grins "So if I get this straight... you actually got to see Steve Rogers, Captain /America/ literally punch a literal right in the freakin face? That sounds like it's almost worth getting arrested for." He squeezes Dakota's hand when she talks about kicking Nazi ass "Well... don't go out of your way looking for Nazi ass to kick hun. I gotta keep you safe somehow too, and I don't know that I can take a whole group of Nazis." "I had to write it today," says Marinov, rubbing their face, "So at least I didn't get a zero or anything beyond a stressful day. Which is why I'm gonna get like a fuckton of sausages." They shrug and then say to Nic, "Don't think you're gonna need to do much to protect Dakota. If anything, I'd rather have her at my side in a fight than you. She's got firepower!" They make a gun shape out of their hands and mouth the word, 'Pow'. Snapping her fingers, Dakota points towards Marinov and winks before rolling her eyes. "It's not cute when I'm serious. And I've always been serious that I could accidentally hurt /you/. I might have more control now, but it's not like I'm not dangerous whether I want to be or not." She disentangles her hand from that of her boyfriend's and picks up a menu. "I can kill people. I /could/ kill people. If the Nazis come knocking at our doors, I'm not standing down." She pauses for a moment and looks up as she muses. "I could probably do more damage than Captain America if I wanted to." A shrug and she's back to perusing the items for sale. “Don’t count me out completely, I got me some moves ya know!” Nicodemus says to Marinov when they talk about Dakota being more use fighting Nazis “Been taking capoeira, and my mestre said I have real talent for it.” He sighs slowly and shakes his head “But I know Dak would kick many more nazi keisters… but I want to be able to keep my girl safe just as much as she wants to protect me, even if I’m useless in a Nazi fight.” The boy takes a drink from his glass of water, then smiles at Dakota “Yeah I’d say you’ve gotten better hun, you haven’t even knocked me out of my chair in weeks.” When she releases his hand Nic also grabs up a menu to take a look. Marinov scratches their cheek lightly and looks down at their water in contemplation, letting the silence from the others looking at the menus linger before the answering a previous question: "... It was scary. Not like... the fighting, that's like whatever, I'll fight anyone, any time. But just. Things are real bad. They arrested us, not those fucks. And it feels like more of this shit is happening. I'm scared for my friends, and I'm scared for me." Dakota releases her hold on her menu to let it fall to the table with a soft 'fwip', having determined what she will be ordering. The female teenager raises her brows to look at her boyfriend. "You're going to /dance/ at them? /That's/ something I would /really/ like to see." Her expression changes when her attention shifts to Marinov. "I don't understand either. They don't teach us these things at school, yeah?" She lets out a sigh and raises her hand as if she were in class. "'Ms. Munroe, why did Marinov get arrested for having insults and objects hurled at them while the literal Nazis go free? Didn't we fight a war against them?'" As her arm falls listlessly, she affixes the world around her with a dull gaze. "It's stupid. It's wrong. It's bogus." Her eyes then narrow conspiratorially. "We should do something." “The discrimination knows no ends I guess… It is quite baffling people, will people will pretty unanimously agree, unless they are actually Nazis, that Nazis are wrong, the oppression they’ve enforce and are still trying to follow is wrong… yet oppression against mutants is just fine?” Nic shakes his head not really focusing on the menu he’s holding “They’d rather have Nazis running around than nice, decent people just because their DNA is slightly closer to the Nazis? It’s just… lunacy, I can’t understand it. The boy gives Dakota a smirk when she equates capoeira to dancing “Dance at them yes, that’s what the slavers thought about the Angolans in Brazil, you can ask how that turned out for them.” He furrows his brow a bit at his girlfriend’s last comment “I don’t know that I like that look in your eyes, this /something/ you’re suggesting is bound to be dangerous.” "Yeah, well, people might pay lip service to fucking fascists being bad, doesn't stop them from turning a blind eye when black people are getting shot or queer people are getting their rights stripped or whatever the fuck else," says Marinov, waving a hand in the air lightly. "So you'd think people would agree that these people are bad, and maybe those are the words coming out of their mouths, but when it's time to take action. Fuck. Nowhere!" The teen rubs at their stomach lightly and says, "Do something? I mean. You can come to rallies and counter-protests and stuff too? Or do you mean like... beat the shit out of someone's car with a crowbar? 'cause I'm in. I'll fight any car, any time." When a server stops at their table, Marinov orders many different kinds of sausages with no sides. Dakota's order is a western omelette with a side of home fries and a glass of orange juice, classic diner fare despite it being far past breakfast. She doesn't seem to have much to say on the politics of the situation, but her eyes shift to Nic and she grins when he comments on her 'something'. Though it fades and is replaced by a thoughtful expression when Marinov's proposal comes through. "A car? That could be fun. Maybe an abandoned one, though - I don't really want to be sent back to Mass right now. But I really /would/ like to beat the crap out of /something/. Guess that's not the best idea to do on people, though, either. But we could have some fun with cars. Especially after what happened." Her attention turns to Nic again and she smiles. "Right?" Turning his focus back on the menu Nic decides to order a Monte Cristo with some fries of his own, but sticks with water to drink. The need sighs softly when the idea of beating up a car comes up, he didn’t think Marinov was actually serious, but it seems like Dakota has already latched on to the idea. “I get that you want to let out some steam and a car is definitely much better than a person… especially if that person ends up being me.” He looks back to Dakota, it’s not like he can turn her down when she give him that smile “Well… if you’re really going to do this it has to be abandoned for sure, roughing up somebody’s car who’s totally uninvolved in any of this is just going to make things worse. Also gotta be super discreet cops’ll take any excuse to throw the book at you, and Marinov was just arrested…” "Yeah, I was joking, but also smashing shit up is super fun. Have you ever wanted to just break something, Nic?" says Marinov, scratching their chin thoughtfully. "But I mean, yeah, if I was going to break a non-abandoned car, theoretically, it'd be someone who deserves it. It'd be like indirect vigilanteism, where the victim is an innocent motor vehicle." Marinov pauses and then says to Dakota, "Wait, go back to Max? Are you a serial killer, Dakota?" Her fantastical, unrealistic dream quickly imploded by the others, Dakota sighs. "I don't know," she says, leaning gently against Nic. "Sometimes I just have all this energy and I want to /do/ something. Plus, sometimes screwing with people can be fun." A brow raises at Marinov's question. "Tay, what the heck? /No/? I said 'back to /Mass/'. My home. Home state. Mass/achusetts/. Gods." Still, she is grinning. "Also, they never had enough evidence to convict," she finishes with a wink. “Oh sure, I expect everybody gets the urge to smash some shit up sometimes, my brain just usually convinces me not to follow through on things like trashing some rando’s car.” Nicodemus answers Marinov’s question with a shrug. The boy looks towards his girlfriend with a small and gives her a little hug when she leans against him “Well glad to hear you haven’t been convicted, though I’m still not sure I shouldn’t worry for my life whenever we hang out.” After pondering a moment he offers “What about your school, doesn’t it have a super gym or something that’s designed to help mutants learn to handle their powers? Isn’t there someplace there you can really let loose?” "Your brain convinces you not to? That's the problem, thinking with your brain, not with your heart," says Marinov, shaking their head disapprovingly. "But yea, maybe we can get something set up for you in the school so you can blow some shit up, Dakota?" They tilt their head slightly, "I usually work pretty hard to burn off energy, but there's plenty of places for me to do it." Dakota's eyes grow wide at Nic's suggestion and Marinov's validation of it. "Wait, seriously? I thought those set-ups were only for people who had more control," she shifts slightly, though only to reach an arm around her boyfriend's back to return his hugging and nestle more comfortably. "Oh gods, that would be so goooood. There's only so much 'do this', 'do that', 'breathe this way' training I can take, /ugh/. And so much just sitting in class, it's so /boring/. I want to /do/ something. Do you think they could get cars in there? And, hey. He has a /perfect/ heart."