Five Mutants Walk Into A Bar

Summary:
May 28 2014: Nancy, Scott, Hank, Doug and Calvin discuss Nancy's future in at Sal's Bar

Sal's

Sal's is a run down brick building with a flickering neon sign that only lights half up. It's situated in the shadow of a large, slightly less rundown tenement building, on a street corner. The alley in the back provides employee and delivery access. The owner and barkeep, Sal, keeps order more or less, but the place is frequented by the blue collar and the down and out, so it can be a bit rough on the best of nights.


Characters

NPCs

  • Sal
  • Barflies

Mood Music:
[*]


Nancy O'Neal after returning from a quick jaunt to Mexico, Nancy gave Doug a call. "Hey Tights. Seen the news? That Jericho guy showed up in the mall and… okay, we should talk in person. Never know who is listening in on the phones. Hey, meet me at Jeri-curl's bar. Wanna check in on him after the mall anyway. And bring that Doc friend of yours." The phone message ends with a click. SHe left no time of when to arrive.

Jericho is a few hours into his night. Week nights are usually a little slow to pick up, especially with most of the clientele being pretty blue collar. He's been playing a slow, jazzy set at the old piano, mostly to entertain himself but it does lend the rough bar a certain noir sensibility. Sal, over at the bar itself is pouring a beer for one of the customers sitting at the subtly mismatched stools that line it. A few other patrons are sitting at the scattered, rough hewn tables that populate the rest of the bar. Yep. Pretty slow.

Getting into the club was easy, and as long as she doesn't order booze, there is no reason to make her whip out her id. She walks past the piano, giving Jericho a tip of a non-existent hat. She then head to a secluded table by the wall. She knows she doesn't look the sort to come to this place, but she ignores the stares of curiosity over a goth girl at a jazz bar.

Jericho cocks his head curiously. The hell is she doing here? He goes into a sassy rendition of 'Fever' with a bit of improv. Well, he had told her where he worked, after all. Pity she doesn't seem to have brought her cello. Ah well. He glances back to the door to see if anyone came with her, like the frankly frightening 'weapons ex nihilo' girl. Thankfully, seems not to be the case.

Finding Dr. McCoy had been like grasping sand from a beach with the back of the hand facing skyward. Still, at least, he'd finally tracked down the good doctor, who was in company with a few of the other X-Men.

Abashedly explaining the situation, of how he'd met a power dampener, one who'd denied the existence of her power even though she'd tested for the X-factor gene, he'd convinced them to come to the bar where Nancy asked to meet. Because she'd specifically mentioned Dr. McCoy, Doug had no troubles with it, but the other two… well, they could either slip in and observe quietly or they could meet straight up… it all depended, really, on what sort of mood Nancy was that day. (And Doug had to admit to Calvin and Scott, he really had -no- idea. He'd just wing it based on her body language as soon as he saw her.)

Scott Summers enters the bar and takes a look over to Doug. He doesn't bother to remove the smooth black jacket he wears over a mauve turtleneck. One hand is buried in his pale pants while the other fixes his hair slightly. "Nice place, Doug. I'll get us some drinks." Scott nods to Calvin and makes his way to the bar.

Hank McCoy isn't necessarily keen on being dragged out in public, although he's a bit more malleable in terms of social activities than many might first assume. The mention of the power dampener though, seemed to greatly pique his interest and he seemed more willing than most other times to go out and meet the girl. Woman.

The real problem, in his eyes, however, is that it's no longer very cold out and bundling up in a coat, scarf, and hat is much less of an option unless he wants to overheat. He settled for a pair of slacks and a traditional button-down…even though he did bring the hat along. Not that it really hides anything. Where mutants are concerned, he's quite obvious.

When Scott mentions drinks, he offers a quiet, "I'll take a beer." You can take the man out of the Midwest…

Cal nods to Scott and makes his way over to where Doug is. Given his drink of choice is good beer, he doesn't bother reminding Scott. Instead, he scans the club for the one they're here to meet. Possible mutant to recruit? Always interesting. A power negator? Best they get her before someone else does. And teleporting is so much easier than driving from Westchester. The night's cool but he's forgone a jacket, wearing his usual boots, jeans and a snug polo. "Evening Doug. Nice to see you again."

Nancy O'Neal's abilities are at their medium range, neither fueled by anger or dulled by music or sleep. So she's seen before the effects of her talent would be noticed. She sticks out like a sore thumb. The only goth in the place. She has taken off her leather jacket and is wearing a black lace shirt along with her black jeans. Her Black Doc Martins are practically the only footwear she owns, so it's no surprise to Doug, at least that she's wearing them now too. She spots Doug, looking for him. When she notices that he isn't alone, or at least that it's a bigger group then she expected, she arches a brow, giving Doug a flat, unamused look.

There's a low murmur from a couple patrons near the bar at Hank's appearance. Bigotry. Hard to escape even in places like these. Perhaps surprisingly though it gets silenced by a hard look from the big man behind the bar. Jericho at the piano looks over to the door to see what caused it. Aaaah. Friends of Nancy, it seems. Interesting. More than she'd been with either in the park or in the mall. He lets his hud wander over them and turns back to the piano, switching the set up to something a bit more… peppy. It'll give his hands something to do while he runs a quick search to see if any of them have had their pictures on that great all knowing oracle: Google.

Scott nods a few times to the bartender and smoothly slides a note across the bar. Within a few moments he's got the beers and is back at the side of Hank and Calvin, taking a look at the young lady who takes a look at Doug. "Looks like she's not happy we're here, Douglas," murmurs Scott.
"That's her," Doug notes with a nod, making it clear that ten feet was the limit by the way he maintained that distance from Nancy. Of course, that distance was gratefully maintained after one of those -glares-, and Doug looks sheepish. "Guess she didn't like the extra company," the young man states, probably quite unnecessarily. Pulling out his smartphone, Doug rings up Nancy. "Hi. Um… they're friends of the doctor, and they might want to talk to you too. The guy with the shades is Scott, the other one is Calvin, and Dr. McCoy's the one in the hat.

Nancy O'Neal answers her phone after the first ring. It's almost as if she knew the phone call was coming as soon as she saw Doug. "It's a party? Everyone here wanting to see you talk in gibberish?" She sighs softly and rolls her eyes, beckoning the group over to the table. She glances over at Jericho as well. She sits back down and watches the men as they approach. "It's not even my birthday," she says to Doug on the phone, "But you brought me beefcake anyway. Thanks."

"Mr. Ramsey, it's good to see you…" begins before Scott hands him the beer. "Thanks," is offered and he's about to lift the glass to his lips when the introductions are made. There's a pause before a slight frown, "It doesn't need to be announced so loudly, thank you." The fact that the girl supposedly knew of him might not actually help at the moment. "Did you tell her that you were bringing others?" is murmured to the linguist bafore he finally does take a sip of the beer. The glass is then transferred into his left hand so he can push his glasses up on his nose to look at the others…and the goth girl.

The bigots are ignored…with some difficulty. Even after five years, it hasn't gotten any easier.

"It isn't gibberish," Hank finally asserts, "Douglas here has one of the keenest minds for language that I've ever known. It might just be -the- keenest…and I thought that -I- was well-versed in them."

Scott makes his way over towards where the group is sitting, beer in hand. When they arrive at Nancy's table, Scott helps himself to a seat and leans back in the chair. He brings one leg over the other and looks relaxed as Hank speaks, though he doesn't bother to say anything.

Nancy is intriguing to Scott for several reasons. First and foremost, if it's someone who might benefit from learning at the Institute, then Scott is all for exploring options. Second, someone with Nancy's particular skill set could be extremely effective tactically speaking.

Cal looks over to Nancy once Doug points her out and takes a moment to study her. Once his beer arrives, he takes a sip then walks over toawrd her. There's a brief pause as he starts to feel the effect of her power but he continues and extends a hand. "Hello Nancy. As Doug said, I'm Cal." Once the hand is taken, or not, he takes a seat.

Nancy O'Neal is friendly enough. She takes the offered hand, shutting her old flip phone as she does so. She smirks and turns to look at Hank, arching her brows again. She looks him up and down, not seeming phased by the blue fur, but rather just gathering information. "YOu ain't heard him try to talk with me around yet, fuzzy." She nods to Scott and sits down when he does. She turns to her jacket, putting the phone in a pocket and a lollipop out of the same one. Unwrapped and popped into her mouth, she then reaches down to pick up a paper bag with handles and slides it over the table to Doug. "Pressie for you from Mexico."

Jericho was perusing the image search results and considering a more refined search when Doug and Nancy flipped their cell phones on to do their ridiculous talking to one another from ten feet away thing again. That was… mighty obliging of them. He quickly tap's Doug's cell for a better virtual vantage point to listen in. As fate would have it, names come rolling his way. Names quickly get attached to pictures and digital offerings are sent up to the Google servers once more. As the information comes back, whatever it happens to be, he studies it with some interest. He's now swing into a near perfect cover of "Piano Man" as they talk.

"Nnnh… I could've called first, I suppose, about the extra company," Doug mutters to Hank, as he closes his smartphone. "But it was kind of a last minute thing, so… I figured if she didn't want it, she'd just shut us down and walk out." He pauses, waiting for Hank to make the connection between power dampener and Doug's mutant languages power, and just why Doug was maintaining a ten feet radius from the goth girl, and in doing so, catches the bag and peers in. "What…"

Scott begins to feel the light pressure from behind his eyes dissipate for the first time in a-well, a very, very long time. He remains cool, however, knowing that something along these lines was likely to happen. What Doug said was true, then.
Scott takes another swig and lets Hank do the talking for now.

Sticks and stones may break bones…and words still hurt. Hank grips the glass in his hand a little tighter and takes a few deep breaths, his eyes averted while he maintains his composure. "If what I was told is correct, then you were the one asking about -me- and not the other way around. It would behoove you to act in a more conciliatory manner if you actually want to have any sort of conversation with me." Golden eyes look back and seem to narrow, "I don't have the patience to deal with arrogant youths who seem to feel that the world must, of course, revolve around them."

That said, he then turns to Doug, noting that he's keeping his distance, "Wouldn't you just default to your first language without the mutation?" He's also not moving closer…yet.

"Scientists." Cal notes to Nancy. "So stiff and proper. Especially when the haters are giving him looks so take it easy on him, please. You should see him when he actually lets his hair down and rocks out." They all should see that. Maybe someday it'll happen.

The bag holds a black velvet jacket, intricately embroidered. A Flamenco jacket. "I thought of you, Tights." She shrugs her shoulder. "Other then Paul, yer like the closest thing I have to a friend so… I brought you something back." She is about to say more, but pauses when Hank starts talking. She blinks in surprise and starts to smile. "Keep talking nerdy to me like that and yer gonna get me all hot under the colander. Sorry if I touched a nerve. I give everyone nicknames. Like Twinkletoes here." She points a thumb towards Doug to indicate who Twinkletoes is. She winks over at Calvin. "I'll play nice. It's the least I can do when Dougie brings me all this eye candy to look at." She leans in closer to DOug and Hank, but keeping her distance. She smiles devilishly. "And yes, the eye candy includes you, Indigo."

The piano player twists in his seat when Hank starts in and the tension goes up just a bit. Tate and Rick, the two loudmouths by the bar, proooobably won't do anything. But then "Beast" starts getting upset and he shoots the bartender a worried look as he starts to play something a bit smoother, more calming. It may be noted in the pauses between conversation that he's *really* good. Near professional level. He's also helped Sal break up more than one brawl, sometimes the old fashioned way, sometimes with a bit of 9mm parabellum. His eyes slide over to Nancy mentally imploring her *not* to start a bar fight? He's still pretty banged up from his last brush with the world outside the bar. He almost audibly sighs in relief when she doesn't light into Hank and turns his eyes back to the keys.

The more Nancy talks, the more Scott seems to frown. At one point during her talk he exhales and even goes so far as to check his cell phone. I came down from Salem for this? He can't help but wonder it. He trusts Doug's instincts but evidence suggests that this one might be more trouble than she's worth. Young, for sure. But he expected something more.

The teasing doesn't exactly mollify him. Hank lets out another sigh before he turns away from Nancy, quite pointedly, and looks to Doug, "Just -why- am I here? If it's to be teased and baited, was this really necessary?" There's more than one reason why he hides in his Lab when he's not teaching a class. Teenagers can be annoying.

Nodding at Scott, having a decent read on the man's body language, Doug smiles as he regards the flamingo jacket, before moving over to sit down next to him. "I think the power's worth looking at, but… she's also one of those rebels against society. Like, you know… Logan?"
Wincing, Doug offers a helpless shrug at Hank, before commenting to Nancy in a louder voice, "Play nice, will you? They're not like, you know, Illyana."

Cal gives Nancy a small approving nod and swigs some beer. He hears that exhalation. He recognizes that exasperation. "We all have defenses." he notes to no one in particular. And as much of a handful as young girls and boys are, young men and women can be even more so. Glancing around the bar, he inhales deeply thens hakes his head. "Strange." And unpleasant. He's had Logan's powers for years. To suddenly be without feels like he's in a plastic bag.

Nancy O'Neal says, "Doug told me that you would be the one to talk to to confirm if I really do have this power thing. Unfortunately, Jeri-curl over there on the piano went and proved it all before I could see you. Caused a ruckus in the mall and I sorta did something stupid. Or heroic. Or both. Still, if you could tell me more about… me, it would be super cool. And who's Logan? I'm guessing, since you're using him to refer to me, a great big pain in the ass?"

Okay… tension not *really* going down here, time for plan B. Jericho takes a break as Nancy points him out and walks past the group of mutants to the bar where Tate and Rick are. He reaches behind the bar for a beer and leans in to murmur something quietly. Those with more than human senses can just make out a very firm suggestion that it's late and neither of them want to worry their families by being out all night. The two men get up and somewhat reluctantly leave without a second glance toward Nancy's table. Jericho himself stays at the bar, leaning on his elbows and sipping his beer.

"Logan is… well, sort of like a grumpy Canadian troll," Doug sighs, running his hand through his hair. "And if you tell him I said that, I'll deny it."
Looking back towards Hank, Doug motions towards Nancy. "Look, you remember what it was like to be a teenager, right? It wasn't -that- long ago, was it?"

Hank McCoy glances over at the piano player when he murmurs things to the two barflies…and they obey. Interesting. He glances over at Cal and tries to catch his eye and indicate the other before he looks back to the others. "Tell you about you…how? If you're a mutant? I'd need a blood sample for that." He takes a long swig of his beer and tries to calm himself down. Teenagers can't help that they're annoying. But they are here for a reason, no matter how obnoxious she is. "All right then. How do you do…what you do? I see that Mr. Ramsey is keeping his distance…" as he is, himself. Maybe he's learned his lesson at not experimenting on himself?

At Doug's question, there's a snort, "I don't know that I ever really -was- a teenager. Chronologically, no. It wasn't that long ago." But he was in graduate school then.

"You know, this isn't really a conversation to be having across a ten foot space in public." Cal notes, reaching up to run a hand over his hair. "Not even close. A walk seems called for. Or a conference call." He does take note of the piano player who seems to carry some authority but that just makes it even more clear they shouldn't be talking here.

Nancy O'Neal smirks and starts to chuckle. "You're calling me a troll now?" she asks, her eyes dancing with mirth. "And I'm not a teenager. I'm twenty. Not that much younger then you, Tights." She gestures to the other chairs at the table. "I don't bite. And I'll try to be nicer. I already know I'm a mutant. I thought you could tell me more about this thing I do. How does it work? Why doesn't it work on that Illyana chick?" She chuckles, "Now you're asking what I was asking. I don't know. It just seems to. I only found out about it a couple weeks ago. From him, actually." She looks to Calvin and nods her head. "Makes sense. I thought it was just gonna be us three. And didn't realize that Doug and the good doctor were so shy. Let's head out."

Jericho turns his head slightly and waves as she suggests that. It's nothing obvious, just a quick rotation of his hand outward into a farewell gesture that she might notice and know he's not ignoring her, just choosing not to interrupt what sounds like an important conversation.

"It kinda fits, doesn't it?" Doug replies dryly, as he nods at Calvin, before glancing over to Jericho. "Listen, why don't you guys talk, while I go over there and say hi?" He notes dryly, "I doubt I'll be any good near Nancy, so you guys talk things over. Maybe get her to have a doctor's appointment…?"

Nancy O'Neal looks over to Jericho and nods in return, but Doug is the one that gets her attention. "Really? A troll?" She takes out the lollipop, gesturing with it as she talks. "Grumpy I'd agree with, but troll? I don't think I'm hairy or ugly enough for that." Upon the comment of a doctor's appointment, the lascivious smile on Nancy's face is enough to let others know what she's thinking.

"You sure?" is offered to Doug before he looks over to Cal and gives a nod. "A walk. All right." He finishes off his beer and sets it down, moving closer to the table…and Nancy, in order to do so. The lascivious grin causes him to cast Doug a bit of a glare. It's a glare, though, that goes from gold to blue in the space of a couple of breaths. In fact, those eyes are now the only blue about him.

This was not quite what he expected and yet it's somehow more than he hoped for.

"Fascinating." Any resemblance to Mr. Spock is completely unintentional on Cal's part. "We really need to teach you how to turn that on and off. It could definitely be a problem in the wrong time and place."

Nancy O'Neal watches as Hank approaches and looks just as surprised as he is. "Woah… tell me I did that. That's even cooler then two at the mall." She gives Hank another once over now that he's not furry, waggling her brows at him and then turning to Cal. "Well, that was sorta why I wanted Dougie to introduce me to his doctor friend. I thought he might be able to teach me how to turn it off. I mean, I suppose I could go to Polyglobal about this, but really, I don't think they were that ethical of a company to start with, so I just don't feel totally comfortable about being in their back pocket again."

Jericho glances over his shoulder to see what exactly happened. Aha. So he is Hank McCoy. That is interesting. Still, he doesn't interrupt. This seems like an inopportune moment to do so. And he doesn't want to accidently tense folks up again. So he drinks more beer. Beer is good and turns back to face the bar. He's watching though. There's a couple mirrored surfaces behind the bar that are good for that kind of thing.

Hank McCoy looks at his hands…no longer clawed, blue, and furred. He can feel that the rest of him is different…back to what it was before his little experiment five years ago. "This…is incredible…" is managed once he's found his voice again. His mind works quickly to regain some sort of linear, cohesive thought, "I think she should definitely come up to Salem." He looks to Nancy, "You need to come up to Salem."

Pausing briefly to say hello to Jericho, Doug blinks slowly as he realizes something… nods at Jericho. "Be right back." And thusly… on to the little boys' room.

"Hank, stop giving away secrets." Cal chides and then looks over to Nancy. "No, you shouldn't go to anyone else. And while Hank is good at figuring out the why of things, others are better at helping people make the most of what they can do. We're going to need to think how best to get about this but don't get the idea that we're not interesting in helping you. We'll definitely be in touch."

Nancy O'Neal keeps wearing that smirk as she looks at Hank. She takes one of his hands and turns it over, peaking under the sleeve. "Okay, that was totally awesome. So, Salem? You asking me out on a date, Doc??'

"A date?" There's a moment of confusion before Hank focuses on Cal, "I haven't said anything compromising. I'm not prepared to take any blood samples here and I would need them in order to see the how and why of this." Huffiness just doesn't look the same without the more animalistic appearance. Now, he just looks sort of…geekily miffed.

"Yet." Cal agrees. But given Hank's transformation, he's not taking chances something might slip out. "I assume Doug has your phone number. We can get it from him." He stands then smiles down at the girl. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Nancy. We'll be in touch."
Nancy O'Neal says, "Well, at least someone seems to have liked meeting me. Let me guess, you like that Logan guy too?" She takes the offered hand, shaking it heartily. "Yeah, Twinkletoes has my number. It's how we talk. 10 feet away and on our phones. Looks pretty dumb, but it works. Call me, I might be busy, what with school, work and training, but I'd love to learn more about what I can do. Like that toning it down thing." She looks to Hank then and ruffles his hair. "Yer cute when you're mad. In a very brainy way. It's adorable." She is in high spirits as she leaves, waving and walking out of the club, taking her field of negation with her."

Jericho watches her leave. It was good, really, to learn that she can be a normal person. Perhaps running into her again wouldn't be a bad thing, which, given how things have gone over the last few days seems to be a distinct possibility. He glances back to the others present and gives them a nod, watching with some interest but no particular surprise as the doctor inevitably changes back.

Hank McCoy reaches a hand up to straighten his hair…hair which returns to being fur once Nancy moves far enough away. He looks back at Cal, his lips pressed together, "I need to figure out how she does that." He retrieves his hat and sets it back on his head, "You staying in the city or heading back?"

"You've never been able to find out exactly how any of the others do what they do." Cal points out. "Why? Yes. How?" He shrugs. "Mutation." How and why it manifests in people is not going to be answered any time soon. "Just don't make yourself worse in the process." Again. "Nor can you invent a shrinking ray so you can carry her in your pocket." The Pyms will have to block Hank's calls. "Come on, let's get back."


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