11694/Catching up, Banner Style

Catching up, Banner Style
Date of Scene:	29 June 2020
Location:	Apple Park - Salem Center
Synopsis:	Bruce and Shannon catch up in the park
Cast of Characters:	Hulk, Nightingale

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Hulk has posed:
With life being what it is, and the current state of the country, Bruce Banner has been understandably keeping even more of a low profile than usual. Of course, being holed up in a lab somewhere suits Bruce just fine most of the time. It would be some time before negotiations were dealt with and a satisfactory compromise could be made on scheduling.

Meanwhile, Shannon has received a message requesting a meetup at Apple Park, along one of the jogging paths. Bruce Banner sits there, his black shirt and jeans contracted by the white baseball cap over his head as he types into a laptop computer, sitting on a bench.

Nightingale has posed:
     Current state of the country notwithstanding, Shannon herself had been keeping something of a lower profile than usual the past couple days. While usually her replies to Dr. Banner's messages were prompt, now she hesitated. Did she really want to poke her nose out in Salem Center again that soon? Still, there was no way to tell when he'd be by that way again, so she tamped down lingering worries and replied in the affirmative.

     When she arrives at the park, she's dresed for the warmer weather, in bright blue leggings, a long white t-shirt with a hippie Tweety Bird on the front, and old but well cared-for white sneakers. However, she's keeping her wings tucked in behind her more tightly than usual, and she's keeping her head on a swivel. When she sees Dr. Banner, she allows herself a smile, waving as she approaches. "Hi! Haven't heard from you in a while... how's everything going?"

Hulk has posed:
"It's going. I've had to move my mobile lab twice from the riots, but nothing to be done about that." Bruce informs her, before putting the laptop to one side and gesturing next to him. "Take a seat if you'd like."

Nightingale has posed:
     Nodding, the winged teen slides onto the bench next to Dr. Banner, simply glad to see a familiar face. She still seems to be on alert, though, her gaze darting from one area of the park to the next. "Kind of used to you moving about, that's just the way things are. I'm glad you're safe, though." She allows herself a small smile, scuffing the ground beneath the bench with the toes of her sneakers. "So what's going on? I heard a little bit from Mr. Summers and miss Grey..."

Hulk has posed:
"I'm working out a schedule with them. The problem is I have other obligations with the Avengers... and I can't exactly keep a consistant schedule on when The Other Guy comes out for a while." Bruce puts both his hands in his lap, "I do what work I can while I'm still in control... and then hope when he comes out that I'm not too far away from my mobile home."

"How about you? You seem a bit on edge." Bruce inquires.

Nightingale has posed:
     "Well, you did kind of let me know about those things right from the start," Shannon replies, dipping her head in response. The little blue braid on the left side of her face sways gently, with its three little silver beads glittering in the sun. "Those things have to come first. I get that."

     However, when asked about why she was on edge, anything resembling a smile fades, and she just goes dead silent for a while. When she finally does speak up, her voice is very soft. "Ran into some anti-mutant protests outside the Burger Joint here a few days ago. Got jumped. Not the first time it's happened, but... it got pretty ugly. I think if one of the normal humans hadn't stepped in to help, I might have wound up in the medbay this time."

Hulk has posed:
There's a slow nod, and Bruce just sighs, "Yeah, I get plenty of both fans and people who want to see me dead because The Other Guy refuses to be controlled. I can't say I blame either side for any of it. I can only imagine how it goes for you and yours, though."

Then, he brings one hand over and pats her knee, "For what it's worth, I'm glad you weren't injured."

Nightingale has posed:
     "Much as I want to, I can't blame the protesters much, either. I was just trying to get home after a date, and they were just exercising their right to free speech. Problem is, it got physical, I was pretty badly outnumbered, and shots got fired in my defense." The young healer in training pauses, shivering a little bit. "Glad I wasn't the target."

     There is a more companionable silence for a few minutes, some of the tension draining off. Behind her, there's a soft ruffling of feathers against the back of the bench as her wings relax a wee bit. "It can be pretty rough sometimes, being a mutant. You're either loved or hated, there isn't much in between. And all a lot of us want is to just be able to live in peace with everyone. But the world's not such a simple place. I accepted that a while ago. But it doesn't stop me from hoping that dream might be true one day."

     A ghost of a smile appears on Shannon's face, the corners of her lips curling upwards as she reaches over to pat Dr. Banner's hand. "Thank you. That does mean a lot, it really does."

Hulk has posed:
Then, he leans back into the bench proper, and gives a small hmm. "It certainly seems like the world just keeps repeating itself. With the number of aliens coming out of the woodwork so to speak over the last decade, I was expecting people to bring their focus onto bigger problems... but I guess mutants being human themselves just gives the more irrational among us an excuse to deny self-awareness." Bruce shrugs.

Then, he looks to Shannon, and he has a kind smile, "If I were a psychologist, it'd be an interesting character study. But for me? It's rather sad. Still, you're alive and you have people who care about you and you are in a safe place." Bruce points out, "At least you never have to worry about that."

Nightingale has posed:
     "True. And even better news, I finally convinced my family to get the ball rolling to get out of Dodge, so to speak. So hopefully soon, they'll be safe, too." She pauses, pursing her lips a bit. "I was pretty worried about them last fall, when that whole mess was going down with the big Sentinel factory in Connecticut. That was just one town over from where I grew up. So no, not a very mutant-friendly area... and it seems to extend to the families of mutants as well as the gene carriers themselves. So yeah, that's at least one big weight off my shoulders."

     The young mutant's smile is now equally as kind, and she actually dares a very, very light shoulder-bump in Dr. Banner's direction. "That's true, I don't have to worry about that. But you've got people who care and worry about you, too, I'll bet. At least one of them is right here."