ArchivedLogs:Cash
| Cash | |
|---|---|
| Dramatis Personae | |
| In Absentia
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2015-03-15 I feel kinda weird standing here trying to pass cash to a couple of youths. |
| Location
<NYC> Busboys and Poets - East Harlem | |
A quiet, artsy spot nestled away on a side street in East Harlem, Busboys and Poets combines cafe and bookstore in a way a Starbucks tacked on to a Barnes & Noble could never achieve. The food is a solid, multi-national cuisine menu that caters to all kinds of dietary choices, and its fair-trade tea menu is extensive. Its weekend brunch tends to draw a large crowd, but there is ample enough seating both at tables and on its many comfortable armchairs and couches that at other times of the week there is never a wait. The walls are adorned with the work of local artists, and tucked in among and alongside the couches are rows upon rows of books, with a definite slant towards the political and the bohemian. It may not be the sort of place that someone like Domino would frequent, though locations like this do serve their uses. Who would ever expect something shady to go down in a bookstore? Don't answer that. Finding the store takes a little effort, it's somewhat off of the beaten path. The albino woman is all black leather trench, fingerless gloves and sunglasses once again, though the shades soon find their way on top of her head as she adjusts to the change of ambience. It's a lot different from the street outside. Just a few steps in and a man leaning against a pillar with a book in hand glances up to her with a smirk. The book is closed with a soft *thup* then, as casual as can be, is held out toward her at around waist height. "Page two-nineteen is an excellent read, my dear." Without breaking her idle stride Dom takes the book and dips her head at the guy, passing a casual salute his way with the hardcover in hand before wandering away to an open table. One that's tucked closer to the wall. Shady business is alive and well, regardless of the location. Head down, hood up, hands stuffed in his pockets, it certainly looks like Jack might be interested in shady business as he enters the store. Especially if shark eyes notice the hand he's currently using to hold the door open for the person he's with isn't exactly there. Just an empty space at the end of the sleeve. But Jack's not looking for shadiness right now. Nope, he's just out to enjoy his day. In old worn jeans and a zipped up red hoodie, the invisible mutant is in a pretty good mood. Unseen eyes scan the shop and Jack glances over his shoulder at the person he's with. "This place is pretty cool looking." Rasa wanders in behind Jack, hir eyes squinting change in light. The teen is covered in fluffy white hair, the kind that spills from the end of the short sleeved black tee and puffs up from under the collar. Hir face is a little more fuzzy than normal, missing the clear display of hir facial features that ze shows off at school. Hir tail swishes fuzzily from between hir tee and jeans, hir feet clad in large stompy boots. "It's a good shop. They have so many books, it's just super hard to pull them out of the stacks some times because they stuff them in there pretty tight. Food is tasty and the coffee's good." Ze slips gloved hands into hir pockets as ze looks around the room, hir attention falling briefly on Domino, due to the brightness of hir skin in contrast to hir clothes, but ze politely looks away. "So what do you want to do first? Food or books?" The problem with invisible people, no one else knows they're there... Except for the whole 'floating clothes' thing. That's a pretty good indication. That these hovering duds are accompanied by someone else who happens to have an abundance of white ..fur?, including a tail, the pair are anything -but- invisible. Domino takes a seat and props her feet up on the table, heavy boots left dangling over the edge (she's at least partially considerate there) while she starts thumbing through the book. Seconds later there's a complete double-take as she notices the two. ..One and a half. One and ..something..? Seconds pass as she just sits there staring at the two, a dumbstruck expression fully set across her monochromed features. (Whaaa..?) Staring may not be polite, but it is, at times, completely inevitable. "The fact that they won't freak on us for being mutants is a plus too," Jack remarks quietly, an unseen smile on his face. He hums as he inhales the scent of coffee in the air. "Let's hit the books first," Jack replies. "Hopefully there's no book-slides while we're browsing," he chimes. When he gets that feeling of being watched, hairs on the back of his neck standing up, Jack glances to the side. His gaze settles on Domino staring at them though it looks like just an empty hood staring back Domino's way. "I wouldn't go that far. They won't freak out at us /just/ for being mutants, but uh..." Rasa glances around the room, noticing the stares. Ze swallows hard then continues, "don't draw too much attention. If there's a problem, I'm sure we'll get blamed." Ze scuffs a foot on the ground, hir voice growing quiet and hir tail slumping downward. "Yeah, bookslides - I think we'll be safe. You'll see. There's just not all that much room for bad things to happen either." Ze starts to lead the way up toward the books, glancing over at Domino once more. Creepy... Oh so -very- creepy... Dom may not see Jack staring back but she can feel the weight of his invisible stare all the same. A few more seconds pass before one of her hands slowly drifts up and motions to the pair in a detached wave, as if she just discovered that aliens had been living amongst the world unseen this entire time. The ironic part is that she's a fellow mutant! They really do come in all forms and varieties. When the other two start to drift further into the store the albino gives a quick but subtle shake of her head to clear out of the momentary daze, blinking a few times before turning her attention back to the book in hand. Page two ..uhm. It did start with a two, didn't it..? Aw, crud. Now frustrated instead she closes the book then lets it re-open as it will, coming across the right page without having to hunt for it or remember which one it was. Score! As he notices more stares, Jack's shoulders tense. He hums a little and starts wondering if the plans Kaine suggested are a good idea after all. "I'll take the heat if something goes bad," he whispers. An unseen brow arches when Domino waves at them and Jack hums. "You have any idea who she is?" he asks, nodding slightly in Domino's direction. "Oh, don't do that. I can handle the heat. If things go shitty, you should hit your panic button and go for help. That is always what we do, okay? It's saved my ass more than once." Rasa drops hir voice low to get that suggestion across before glancing over at Domino once more, this look a little longer and more direct than before. Then ze looks to Jack once more. "No. I don't know her. Do you? Seen her around before?" Another crazy point here is that if the situation -does- go bad..Dom would be right ther helping the other two. She has no idea who they are. (She can't even SEE the one, presumably there are indeed two...) It takes her a little longer to sense the tension growing within the building now that she's not adding to it, her own attention starting to drift out across the rest of the crowd. At the same time there are subtle motions of a hand which extracts a loose page from the book she had been given, en route to an inside coat pocket. She can review the specifics later. Once that's out of the way she'll just keep her hand there for a while longer, subtle as ever, inches away from a hidden sidearm. Thank goodness the rest of New York City isn't as full of security measures as Stark Tower is, it's been two weeks now and the only time she's had any problems with being armed had been when she went to see that freaking Industrialist.
"Oh, I'd run, Jack. I'd run as fast as I can and as far as I can, but sometimes I am the problem and you are more than encouraged to just run like hell away from me too." Rasa exhales softly and turns hir attention to the books. Ze peeks over at Domino once more and wrinkles up that furry face of hirs. "Oh good. She's looking elsewhere. What were you looking for in a book? Fiction? Nonfiction? Comics? If comics, we're kind of in the wrong place. Evolve is good..." There's something else nagging at the back of Dom's thoughts now. It isn't related to the crowd so much, which is so far keeping cool about the situation. Which is always a good thing. One more glance is passed toward the pair as they start to disappear further into the store, considering the situation with a long sigh. Knuckles lightly rap the cover of the book resting before her once, twice, then she's out of the chair and back to her feet. Approaching the two mutant youths from behind. With hands in coat pockets. She probably shouldn't be doing this, but..it's one of those feelings. Something which she just can't shake now that it's already taken hold. There's only one way to play this one through. She just has to woman up and deal with it. "What?" Jack frowned at that even if no one could see. He wasn't sure how Rasa could be a problem but there were a lot of things he didn't know about hir. The bookstore didn't seem like the place to discuss it though so he let the subject go. He chuckles a little when comics are asked about. "Mostly fiction. Mystery stuff," he replies. "And well," his voice takes a little embarrassed tone. "Maybe something non-fiction like...how someone would get started as a detective or Private Eye," he says, having been thinking more about it since a conversation with Kaine. His back is to Domino as she approaches so he doesn't see her but he's still tense and hoping there isn't trouble. "Ohhh. Well. I'll tell you a story sometimes." Rasa is a little sheepish, hir fir tinging a little pink in some lights. Ze considers the bookshelves themselves now, turning hir gaze upwards to the markers the label them. "I don't know if there's much of a manual. Maybe there's a memoir from someone who knows better. Though, honestly, if you wanted to know, I could hook you up with my P.I. friend." The hairs on the back of hir neck start to stand up when Domino draws closer, causing hir to turn hir head quickly -- then struggling to make it look casual. "Oh, hey. Are we in your way? Apologies for that..." The ease in which the white-furred individual spots Domino's approach is somewhat off-putting, as well. She's usually really good at sneaking up on people! Before she can reach the two she actually hesitates in her next step, looking right back at Rasa with slightly widened eyes. "Ah..no..nothing like that. Listen..." Here's where she brings her hands back out into the open, one of them holding a pair of twenty dollar bills. Call it a hunch. "Didn't mean to freak you kids out back there," she says in a lower tone while offering each one a bill. Heck, in part she just wants to watch the one fly off into a hoodie pocket from the invisible kid. Freaky and cool, all at once. "If y'all aren't opposed to hand-outs from a stranger, that is," she adds with a slight shrug and a thin smirk. She knows what it's like. More or less. "Okay. We can trade stories if you'd like," Jack replies. He looks the books over as well, unseen fingers sliding over a few spines. There's faint, almost ghostly impressions on the softer ones when he touches them. Just the sort of thing that creeps some people out. "Really? That'd be great," Jack perks up at the mention of a P.I. friend. Even if he finds out he's not good for the job, Jack wouldn't mind meeting an actual detective like that. When Rasa notices Domino, Jack glances back and he turns to face the approaching woman. And then the money comes out and Jack looks as surprised as empty clothes can. "You want to just...give us cash?" "Sure. Yeah. Don't worry about it," Rasa replies to Jack, hir voice a little lost in hir distraction. Hir head tilts to one side as ze studies Domino for a moment, brow furrowing. "Oh." Ze blinks a few times and then looks over at Jack, studying his hood before turning back to the benevolent woman. "Um, I mean, why? I... well, we're teenagers. We're not really going to turn down free money, with our limited income, but why? I mean, do we have to do ... something?" "So long as you two aren't going to get offended by it, sure," Domino answers Jack's question in a light tone. Then with an expression which is equal parts confusion and amusement she says "No" to Rasa. "You kids just look like you could give forty bucks a good home. From what I can see of you both, anyway," she adds with a meaningful glance back to the Invisible Kid's hoodie. The money is easily regained for her at the card table, anyway. Or from the contract which she just picked up from the inside of the book that's now left behind. "You two aren't alone out there, either. Stay out of trouble, and all that jazz. I find out either of you put this toward a drug habit then I'm not gonna be happy, but I'm willing to play those odds." Jack studies Domino as well. He's still paranoid enough to expect some kind of catch. He glances at Rasa and shrugs a little in reply to the hood study. "Free money's free money..." he trails off. An unseen blush crosses Jack's face and his shoulders slump a little at the glance at his hoodie. "Thanks," he chimes, reaching out to accept the bill. While it looks like there's just an empty sleeve there, the bill is indented like a hand takes it and it floats there as Jack folds it in half and then slips it into his pocket. "Oh." Rasa continues blinking in confusion before ze finally narrows hir eyes a little on the money. "Would it make a difference if you knew my parents pay money to make certain I am well cared for -- if far away from them? I mean, I appreciate the notion, but I don't really want you giving all your money away on kids you think need it, but I'm not sure I'm the person who needs it the most." Ze glances down at Jack and gives a little smile. "You can have mine, if you want." Well, Dom got her own wish fulfilled. She's not sure whether to shiver or mutter 'That is so cool' when the bill is taken by Invisiboy. "Just try not to sneak up on me down the road, alright?" she asks the guy. Smirking anew, she explains "I'm pale enough as it is without being scared out of my own skin." With Rasa's following question the albino's quickly moving one step ahead. Right as the suggestion is made for Jack to take both of them she's switching her aim and offering him the second twenty, as well. "Looks like it's your lucky day. I don't care which one of you takes it, just take the darn thing already. I feel kinda weird standing here trying to pass cash to a couple of youths." Jack stays very quiet regarding parents. His own are a subject best left undiscussed in public. Rasa's offer gets Jack smiling if invisibly. "Thanks..." he murmurs to his friend. The second bill is taken much like the first and Jack gives a laugh. "Don't worry, I don't do much sneaking in this weather. Would have to Magic Mike it and the cold isn't very friendly to that," he jokes sheepishly. Rasa nods and smiles, letting Jack take the second bill. "Well, thanks. I mean, it's really kind. And we appreciate it. I'll keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't buy drugs with it too." Ze reaches out an arm to snake around Jack's shoulders, starting to tug him away from the kind lady and back toward the books. Domino isn't sure what a Magic Mike is but she doesn't get hung up on the matter, dipping her head with a slight nod and a "Good deal." Then with a smile to Rasa, she says "Appreciate it. You two take it easy, I've gotta roll." There's her good deed done for the week! Now she's off to do some very bad things involving a crowbar and an expensive new car. Jack chuckles a bit at the mention of buying drugs, shaking his head. He'll let Rasa lead him away, already thinking about paying for both their lunches now that he's got that cash. "Thanks again," he offers, stuffing hands back into his pockets. | |
