12351/Sandwiches are a Compromise

Sandwiches are a Compromise
Date of Scene:	19 October 2020
Location:	Clinton (Hell's Kitchen), Manhattan
Synopsis:	Ted Kord and Tandy Bowen cross paths, in mufti, days after Blue Beetle accidently injured Dagger. He recognizes Tandy and feels guilty so after they beat down some thugs he gives her a sandwhich and runs away.
Cast of Characters:	Blue Beetle (Kord), Dagger

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Blue Beetle (Kord) has posed:
Unlike many other super-rich heroes, Ted Kord is one of the few who is able to fit into the lower social stratums just by dressing down. In a two tone blue hoody that hides his physique, unkempt mop of brown hair, jeans and old sneakers that look like they have seen better days, and a pair of yellow tinted sunglasses he pretty much pulls off the everyman look. Probably because, despite his wealth and intellect, Ted sort of /is/ an everyman. He has few of the 'social graces' of the rich and powerful, nor the attitude of self entitlement. Sure, he ENJOYS being rich, who doesn't afterall, but despite what some people may think considering some of his past antics the money really is just an ends to a means for him. A resource to help empower others.



Oh, and the money also helps buy snacks as well.

Stepping out of the Al's Cornerstore, the inconspicuious Ted has a bag full of Bodega Goodies to take back to the AirBNB he is stayiing at. WHy would a billionaire stay at an AirBnB in Hell's kitchen? Well, not /all/ of Hell's Kitchen is a warzone. SOme parts have been gentrified and sport some amazing old buildings and establishments. And he needs to stay SOMEWHERE while they are renovating his new apartment. Of course he didn't STAY in the nice part for long, deciding to take in the.. lets call it Ambiance...

Dagger has posed:
Out from the shadows crawls Tandy Bowen. The shadows that is the alley that is next to the old Holy Ghost Church. She is wearing a bright white hoodie and a pair of loose jeans with holes at the knees. One of her arms is up in what appears to be a sling and there is a few bruises along her face. Unlike most superheroes with access to healers, or regenerative powers, she is just a normal girl at the end of the day with bones that can break and skin that can blister.

Heading down the sidewalk, she dulls the glow around her so not to cause too much of a stir. She can pass for a 'mutant' for the most part if anyone really tries to give her a good look, though with her normally unbruised and pretty features, she is left alone. As she passes by group of men, one of them swivels around and slaps her on the ass from behind, calling out loudly.

"Hey, baby! Who busted your arm up? Your daddy do that to you?"

Instead of a witty retort, Dagger glances over her shoulder at him with cold blue eyes.

"Oooohkay. Damn girl. You are trippin'."

Blue Beetle (Kord) has posed:
Pulling open one of the wrapped bundles from his shopping bag, Ted peels back the waxed paper and inhales the scent of his Chopped Cheese Sandwhich.. A Harlem original of fried ground beef mixed with onions, topped by melted cheese and served with lettuce, tomatoes and a lot condiments on a hero roll...

God it smells so good.

God it's so bad for his diet.

So mesmerized is her by the potential of this heart-attack inducing sandwhich that he doesn't pay attentoiion as he walks around the corner.. and into the back of one of the guys harrasing the blonde young woman..

And a whole bunch of steaming sandwhich goes down the dudes back.

"Oof" Ted complains and stumbles backwards, "Oh god I'm so sorry I..." He frowns, looking past Sandwhich-Back at the guy who just smacked the womans rear, and seeing her turn and stare him down..

"Uh... Am I.. interupting.." he looks at the dude he sandwhiched.. literally. "And.. so so sorry.."

Dagger has posed:
"Come on, baby. Why you being so cold for? With an ass that tight, maybe you just need to find a way to loosen it up."

The smirk on the man's face becomes broader as his friend takes his side, glowering at the woman with a lick of his teeth. "Don't you be disrespecting us now, lady. You even know who we are?"

"Yeah, I know who you are." Tandy says to him in a low voice. "You're pieces of shit that I don't care about."

"Wha--? Hey now! I'm going to break that other arm of -- " As he gets hit from behind, followed by a back full of sandwich, the large man glowers and turns around to face Ted. "Hey! What the fuck, man?" He says, stepping forward to try and give him a shove backwards. "Are you blind or something?"

"You keep talking like that, you will soon be by the end of this night." The angel without mercy speaks up from behind them, causing the man to look back to her with wide eyes.

Blue Beetle (Kord) has posed:
Ted relases another oof as he is shoved back, into Sandwhich-Back's friends who have stepped up behind the in mufti scientist/businessman/sometimes hero. Ted isn't a /small/ man, but the guy and his thugs are a bit more massive than he is.

"Dude! I said I was so-...." But before he can finnsh he ealizes that the 'leader' /threatened/ the young lady and Ted grits his teeth.. But as he steps foreward each of his arms are grabbe and he is held back by two chuckleheads.

"It was a freakin accident! And thats no way to talk to a woman, you ass hat.." he gripes.. Then blinks as she threatens Sandwhich-Back..

This may get ugly...

ANd is she.. glowing slightly?

He spots the cast.. the bruises... and swallows hard. No.. It can't be her.."

That guilt swells up in him and he realizes that if she /is/ who he thinks she is.. and despite heer having powers.. she is a> Still injured, b> it was his fault and c> Despite having powers is as fragile as any human and outnumbered.

He looks over his shoulders, first at Tweedledee and then Tweedledum.. and sighs.

"All I wanted was a sandwhich..

In an instant he surges /backwards/... Pushing back /WITH/ their grips instead of against (which they were prepared for) and pasing between them. He pulls them TOGETHER, twisting his arms around each of their which were holding his, and slamming them together with force.

Dagger has posed:
"Ha! Look at the spunk on this bitch! Roger, let go of that idiot and come help me out here."

As Tweedle-Leader turns around to spot his friends, Ted is suddenly in action!

"What the hell?" Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a pair of brass knuckles, sliding them over his hand. "I don't know who the fuck you think you -- argh!" There is a flash of hot light from Tandy's hand as the man drops to his knees, clutching at his face as a shard of light sticks out of his back from between his shoulders. Over her eye glows a cresent moon as her powers activate.

"I told you that you'd be blind. Bitch." The woman's voice is cold and uncaring as she watches the man break down into a loud sob, muttering something about 'Jesus' and 'His Holy Light'.

Once the two men who got slammed together stumble back in pain, they look ready to engage with Ted, that is until they see their fearless leader hit the ground. They look from him, to Tandy, then to Ted as they start to back off. ".. We don't even like him."

Blue Beetle (Kord) has posed:
Pulled free of the tweedles, Ted takes a few steps back, falling into a fighting stance, presenting half his body foeward, the other half behind him. One arm held back, he twirls the bag of snackage round and round like some 70's kiung-fu movie weapon, centripigal force holding the goods.

He stares at Blondie, who just light-bulbed Fugly Sandwichback in.. well.. the back. He bites his lower lip and tears his eyes away and to the others.

"She /did/ tell you all." he says, still whipping the bag around like it could hurt someone if judiciously applied.

"Pick up your not-friend here and get the hell out of here."

Dagger has posed:
The two men reach down to grab their friend by the shoulders, hiking him up and starts to drag them back and away from the woman who is lit up like a candle before them. Her one good arm has a long shard sliding free of her palm before her fingers wrap around it. She eyes them as they head off, then gives her hand a flick off to the side to disperse the light.

"Nice moves back there." Tandy says to Ted before she reaches up to pull her hoodie up, then turns to start back down the street, cradling her bad arm against her chest and stomach. "Sorry about your sandwich." She calls over her shoulder to him. What was it she set out to do tonight? Crap. She forgot. Hopefully a walk will calm her down and help her remember.

Blue Beetle (Kord) has posed:
The bag's twirling gets slower and slower as the thugs drag off their fearless moron, er, leader and when they are finally out of sight Ted stops the rotations all together and his shouilders slump a bit in relief. He turns to face the now dimming metahuman and nods slowly. "Uh, yeah.. You know.. Tai-Bo does wonders.." he says, a bit uncomfortably and falls awkwardly silent as she starts to walk off

And after a few moments of inaction he curses himself and stides after her.

"Hey, wait a sec!" he calls out. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Dagger has posed:
"Yeah. Totally fine. I love Hell's Kitchen. Full of well adjusted people." Tandy calls over her shoulder to him as she stuffs her glowing hand back into her pocket. Food. That's right. She wanted food.

Pulling her hand out of her pocket, she stares down at the crumpled bills in her fingers, sighing after a quick count. Street Hot Dogs again. At least this time she gets to actually eat rela food that is not chips. If Ted is still following her, she's quit paying him any attention for the moment.

She's trying to do math in her head. How much will she have left after hot dogs and a drink? Two dollars. Breakfast will be a Mickey D's sandwich tomorrow then.

Blue Beetle (Kord) has posed:
It takes a moment or so for Ted to fall in step beside her and he catches her lost in counting the crumpled money in her hand. It's not the bruises that gives it away since he knows he is the cause of those (damnit) but the combination of body language, how worn her clothes are, the fact that the sling is makeshift.. And the lungy look she has. She isn't starving, he knows, but she isn't eating regularily.

Damnit, Ted.

Guilt is a prime motivator for many things.. but he has the feeling, from her tone of voice, that she is a proud person and any thought of direct and unsolicited charity would perhaps offend her.

Maybe a different tac..

"Well good.. You're doing fine. Thats nice.." he says.. "So, uh.. HEY! I wanna thank you.. for keeping those dudes from beating the crap out of me! How about I treat ya to something to eat?" he says, and holds up the bag that is still FULL of food.

Dagger has posed:
"By keeping the guys from beating the crap out of you, you mean watching you use clear martial arts to take them both out of the fight? I didn't do anything I wasn't gonna do to that guy anyways. It seemed to me that you came to my aid." Tandy grunts out as she glances over at him from behind her blonde bangs. At least she looks clean, so she has access to running water of some type.

"I also kinda blasted that guy with a light knife. You sure you wanna be seen around one of those scary mutants?" There is a sour tone in her voice as she says that.

Blue Beetle (Kord) has posed:
Okay, she's a smart one. Despite some of tehe jokes he has made in the past (Usually just to get under Power-Girl's skin), Ted has never ascribed to teh belief that blondes are dumb. Well, maybe sometimes but you can't compare all blondes to Booster Gold.

"Okay okay, you got me... " he says, being honest. "I'm just... I'm just trying to offer help without offending you..." He admits and then finishes that with "I'm sorry."

There is somethingin the way he apologizes that goes beyond the mere hoping to not insult. A much deeper level to his apology.. a guilt that is almost palpable despite how NOT guilty he is for some reason trying seem.

"And why would I have problem with Mutants.. or any other kind of metahuman?" he asks.. Which in a way of sort of an odd of saying it since the majority of people tend to not seperate the two types, just lumpin all under one label. "I'm not going to say some of my best friends are mutants, though if they are I hope they tell me one day. People shouldn't have to hide or be ashamed of what they are."

Dagger has posed:
"Fear of those that are more powerful than you are natural to have. It's just the way we are as a society. It's fine. I don't need help. You don't need to save me, Mister. I got enough superheroes poking their nose in my business these days."

Tandy pauses and turns to face him, cradling her arm against her body. She stares at him, straight into his eyes, then shifts her jaw a bit in thought. "You hitting on me or something? If you are, I'm not really good at .. uh.. reading .. people .. these days. I'm also a ton of baggage you don't wanna carry around."

Blue Beetle (Kord) has posed:
Ted whoas and holds up his hands.. coming to a complete stop... bag still swinging a bit by his hand. "Hold on there, Flourescant Girl.. First off, I am not /society/. I'm just a simple guy who isn't an idiot. Just because you got some extra bits, doesn't make you more or less human. A Volkswagon Thing and a Porsche 911 are both cars, after all. Second, I'm not a superhero," which is true, he ain't 'super', "And I ain't trying to nose around in your business. I'm just trying to be a good person /and/ thankful.."

And try to pay foreward a debt.

He then blushes profusely. "And finally, I ain't hitting on you. I mean, yeah your're hot. Totally hot. I mean wow, so out of my league hot.." he stops, blinks, shakes his head. "Ignore me. Anyways.. I am NOT hitting on you. You'd KNOW if I was hitting on you. I'm terrible at it. I say the totally wrong things and and make LOTS of innapproriate innuendoes which I am usually not aware of and end up with my foot in my mouth. And I would totally be starring at your rear and/or chest."

And with that he hold's out the bag.

"So please, take this before I feel any more awkward being way to honest about even a SLICE of my many many faults..

Dagger has posed:
There's a lift of Tandy's brows upwards, followed by a flush of her cheeks as her eyes roll upwards and to the side. Taking a glance towards the offered bag, she steps forward and peers into it for a moment, then looks up at him again. "We are not like cars. You're like a car, I'm like an atomic bomb that can scorch the Earth depending on my mood swings."

Stuffing her hand into his bag, she pulls out a box of crackers and some cheese sticks, stuffing them into her hoodie. "You aren't out of my league. Guys that stick up for women against three assholes is sorta the kinda thing girls find attractive by the way. Don't sell yourself short. You're also cute."

"Thank you .. for being a nice guy. Hell's Kitchen doesn't have many of them. Most woulda joined in, or just ignored it go down."

Blue Beetle (Kord) has posed:
Wow... okay...? That is sort of a first. Being called cute. To his face, anyways. Usually it's him calling the girl cute.. or something siilar.. He feels a bit off balance at the moment.

"Bombshell maybe. Not a bomb...." he says without thinking, then winces. Really Ted?!? Ugggh. He could kick himself.

"And.. Uhm.. Thank you?" he says, making the thanks a question, and ahems. "I mean, for not getting all.. out of shape, for me stepping as if I thouight you /needed/ the help. Not for calling em cute.. I mean..". He's faltering here...

"I couldn't ignore you. You're pretty unforgettable. It took me a moment to recognize you from the al.."

Oh crap.. He isn't thinking straight. He may have said too much. So when she is pulling her hand from the bag he quicly withdraws his own from the handle, letting it hang from her wrist..

"I.. I'm sorry.." he suddenlyy blurts and turns on heel. "I need.. Sorry.." and he quickly walks away, shiving his hands in his own hoodies pockets as he steps around the corner.

Leaving her with the bag holding three more sandwhiches, some jamaican patties, a box of chocos, and a few bottles of dr. pepper... And $76.44 in change.. apparently he is the kind of person that just drops the change from a purchase into the bag till he gets home.

Dagger has posed:
"I hear that all the time." Tandy says in regards to being unforgettable. By now, the cresent moon has faded from her face as her powers has discharged, leaving behind just the frail girl with the broken arm in a sling and the bruises upon her face. When he steps back, she has to stumble a bit to grab the bag before it falls away from her.

Wait, what did he say? Recognize her from where? She hefts the bag up, blinking as she watches him make his get away around the corner. Frowning, she glances down into the bag again, then zips it up slowly as best she can, then throws it over her shoulder.

Her lips press into a tight line of concern, and instead of heading home to the church, she starts down the street again. No need to catch a tail of where she lives at. What a night.