12496/National Bird

National Bird
Date of Scene:	26 November 2020
Location:	Cafe - Greenwich Village
Synopsis:	Cap and Dinah meet cute and have a chat
Cast of Characters:	Captain America, Black Canary

---

Captain America has posed:
Steve Rogers is pretty easily recognized, but they've at least gotten used to seeing him around the Village a little bit. New Yorkers like to play it cool around celebrities and Captain Rogers deserves more privacy than most.

He wears a jacket that doesn't do much to hide that he's wearing his shield underneath, strapped to his back, but he has a dark sweater and trousers along with a pair of boots. He orders his coffee with a smile, blonde hair tucked underneath a brown baseball cap, leaving a generous tip a she makes his way over to the window.)

Black Canary has posed:
Dinah Drake is, well, if anything, wearing an Ashes from Sunday jacket, jeans, her boots, gloves and no hat. Just hair, like Cap, tucked behind her ear as she too is heading to the table. The reason she's down here and not in Canada? That's because her band has a new single out...but she's still smarting over the fiasco in Salem Center, and yet...she still has a smile on her face. Spending time with her band will do that. Hell, she went clothes shopping with them, because they asked her to. Yeah, she's a soft spot for them. What fo it?

Either way she looks over the cafe and settles into a seat and smiles...and looks like she's several coffees into her day. Because, truthfully, she is.

Lack of grilled cheese sandwiches though, and..h. Dinah needs to rectify that one.

Captain America has posed:
Steve Rogers sees Dinah and raises an eyebrow, "Fancy meeting you. They say New York is one of the biggest cities, but I swear sometimes it seems like a small neighborhood. Care to join me? I'll let you have the funny pages," he says, holding up his newspaper.

Black Canary has posed:
Dinah grins and raises her palms. "Already read them. Paloma and Ditto were reading them earlier withh me" she adds and settles into the seat. "Ah, joys of hanging out with a band" she says and smiles. "Nah seriously, keep the funny pages, Steve, I'll ask my band for them later when we get done with our PR tour" she nods.

"So how've you been?" Dinah asks with a grin, looking from Cap to the cafe, then back to Cap again.

"Ah New York's kind of a big city small town. It's like if Starling got more American" she adds with a giggle.

Captain America has posed:
Steve Rogers shrugs, "I can't complain much. The occasional alien invasion or diabolical scheme to take over the world, but we somehow always manage to come out on top. Of course, now that I've said that, something truly horrible will probably happen. I'd knock wood, but I'm pretty sure this table is plastic."

"I've been to Starling a few times. Nice place. Good crab legs," he says. "And you? How is life for the Canary these days?"

Black Canary has posed:
"You jinxed it" Dinah gasps,"Watch, we'll get tofu or something horrible" she shivers with a laugh and shakes her head at Cap. "Ah I'm good. Ashes from Sunday are on tour for our new single" she adds looking pleased with a nod, her jacket's proof of that really. Still she laughs. "Aside from that, life's good really, my band, my flower shop and all that" she nods. "Had a run in with bigots at Salem Center yesterday, helped teach them a lesson"

With that she falls quiet, thinking what to order. "Coffee, maybe..." she muses and spreads her hands on the table. "Sandwiches and coffee I think. Yeah we got good crab legs up in Starling really. But. But" she says with a keen nod. "We got more hidden gems"

Dinah Drake, vigilante, singer....and tour guide?

Captain America has posed:
He sighs and shakes his head, "I'm sad to see that bigotry still has such a grip on the world. It was mad when I was a young man and, while it's better in some ways now, it's still so rampant. It makes me sad. But right will win out in the end, as it always was. I can't help but be a little impatient about it, though. Punching a bigot in the mouth always makes me feel a little better.

"Maybe I'll call you up next time I go, you can show me around the spots off the beaten path."

Black Canary has posed:
"To be fair, had help but hey, you're right. So tour of Starling? Check. Crab legs, see the sights, maybe fish with that shield of yours" she giggles and is having entirely too much fun picturing Cap scooping fish out the water with his shield. It's just too funny to her is all, though she nods and grins, then gives the Frankenmachine a dubious look. "You want anything to eat? I'll pay" she offers. No. Cap's not a part of her band, but...hey, she's still in her I am on tour, I am Mama Canary mindset right now as she checks her phone and cracks up laughing.

"I am going to string my drummer up by his fingers when I get back to the hotel" she says in mock anger. "Mostly since while DD's away, the band will...apparently, go wild with taekout and not invite me along for the food. Ah but. But" Dinah says, eyes glinting with amusement.

"I got your company, and a better place to sit. So" she adds pocketing her phone again. "Whatcha want from the bar? I'll pay, like I said if you want anything"

Captain America has posed:
Steve Rogers grins, "I think it's usually traditional for the man to pay in such situations, but I guess that's what I get for being a fish out of water. You should definitely have a talk with your drummer if you aren't being included in things. Team cameraderie is important, even if you're just playing music and not fighting off Hydra," he says.

"I think it might be rude to refuse entirely, so I'll take some of those hot wings they have on offer. With the bleu cheese."

Black Canary has posed:
"I told them stay out of trouble" Dinah nods keenly, "I'll just remind them of what you said, and wings. Sure! Sauce?" she asks, looking pleased.

"Don't I know it. I've been yearning for a team for so long" Dinah sighs and finally, reluctantly gets up to go get wings, sandwiches, coffee and....hey they have those funky hexagon cookies? Those, too.

"Team camaraderie" Dinah nods over her shoulder to Cap. "Is important. Which is why I am going to have a talk with my whole band about it. Not that I want to throw a wrench in things. But. It needs talking about, honestly" she says and falls quiet, working her way to the bar and waiting patientlyy.

Captain America has posed:
Steve Rogers frowns, "Seems odd that you'd have trouble with that. You're capable, experienced, easy to get along with. I'd offer you Avengers membership but unfortunately that's not within my authority. I can bring it up to Tony if you'd like, though."

"Regular sauce is fine. I don't mind it if it's extra hot. I handle that stuff pretty well. Maybe I should have a beer just in case to cool it down."

Black Canary has posed:
Dinah could make a smart comment about the sauce, but instead she threws what she hopes is a flirty look to Cap. "Beer, wings, hot sauce. This is turning into casual hour" she nods, her own sandwiche and coffee looks responsible and boring. "I'm not sure Alpha Flight would like that unfortunately, but with Director Danvers heading it up it's more likely. So yes, talk to Tony about it and see what can be worked out. I'd jump at the chance. Not literally since I don't wanna shower you with beer or sauce or coffee, but..." Dinah says with a nod.

Hey, Cap just gave her a good shot of hope. Which is a good thing, and the wings are brought over, while the beer is poured. "You'd genuinely talk to Tony about that?" Dinah asks carefully, and smiles.

"So" she says. Topic change. "I've two tickets to give away for an Ashes in Sunday gig. You know a fair way to see who wins them? I was going to have something interesting to see who wins the tickets"

Yep, Dinah's still, in the back of her mind...hoping, hoping Tony says yes to her being an Avenger. Oh yeah and Alpha Flight too. Carol Danvers made it workk, so...just she's afraid it'll conflict with her being in Alpha Flight and the Justice League too. But hey. If it gives her a family, it is worth it!

Captain America has posed:
Steve Rogers nods, "Of course. As I said, you're more than capable. I have no doubts about your abilities. He might do some grumbling about classified this and top secret that, I can't do anything about that. He and SHIELD do love their mysterious things," he said.

He smiles at the flirtatious look and takes off his hat, takes a moment to pull off his hat. "Alpha Flight's a good idea. I have no problem with that and I don't see any reason why you couldn't do both. Hell, maybe an official liaison would be a good idea, encourage synergy between the two teams."

Black Canary has posed:
"Oh don't I know it. I liaise with SHIELD on behalf of Alpha Flight, I know all too well classified this, top secret that, and then some" Dinah nods keenly and grins. "See, you got a pretty bird waiting your table, Cap. You're good people" she winks and nods keenly. "Wherever is fine, if I end up a full member, that works, if I end up as a go between and helping out, but can still play guitar in the lounge with a view over the city" she nods and sips her coffee. "That's good too"

Which is her fancy way of saying hey, if I end up allied with you guys, good. If I'm a full member, better.

Taking a bite of her sandwich she glances past Cap to the bar then back to Cap again. "Though are the stories true about you guys?" she asks. Oh here they go, the whole in my mansion... stories.

Captain America has posed:
Steve Rogers sits back and cocks his head, "I used to play a little bit of guitar myself. Not well. I'm better at art than music. Sometime I'll have to show you my sketchings," he says with a wink.

"Something can be worked out, I'm sure. The important thing is to always have the best resources on hand to get things done," he says, taking the wings as they're slid in front of him.

"And what stories would those be?"

Black Canary has posed:
"Sketches are good" Dinah concurs and sets down the sandwich. "Music though, that's as much art as drawing. And....what stories?" she asks with a mischievious look. "Well, I imagine you're in your mansion and you're not really these amazing badass types when you're at home, right?" she grins and knows she certainly isn't. What vigilante would own a flower shop, how boring!

Dinah looks to the wings for a moment and cants her head again. "See, I just don't buy the super tough hero all the time thing" she stage whispers, tappping her nose with a grin. Nah she's teasing him, and playing off the assumption that heroes are heroes all the time. "How are you with flowers?" she asks, leaving that one to be taken in many, many ways. Yes, She owns a flower shop after all. it's how she asked it though...

Captain America has posed:
Steve Rogers smiles, "Oh, you're right about that. I'm a softie by nature. I wanted to be a cartoonist before the war broke out. I'm a sensitive artist soul who got picked on all his life. I think that's why I was right for the job. A macho and assertive man would've taken my abilities and become as bad as the people he was fighting. I'm not saying that to brag, I've just seen too many men who thought they were heroes ruining it by going on a power trip," he sighs.

"I like flowers. More of a smeller than an arranger."

Black Canary has posed:
"Flowers and a teddy bear for you then" Dinah muses. "I'm putting together my Christmas list for folks, you see" she grins and looks amused then her eyes turn serious. "We're not that different really, we've both been through hell and back and we're still here, after all" Dinah observes.

"Oh, you're right. Big difference between a hero and an asshole on a power trip" Dinah mutters. She could name quite a few....dozen....who fit that definitionn. "Hey, you want to sketch Ashes on Sunday and do our tour artwork and get paid for it?" she offers with a glint in her eye. "Admittedly...getting all of us both in the same room, and staying still long enough will be a problem, but..."

With that she smirks and sips her coffee more. "Photographer no showed so I figured I'd ask since you brought up sketching. That and I like you" she adds and sips her coffee moree then bites into a hexagonal cookie. Because...apparently, cookies in shapes are in this year in the tri-state areaa. Circle cookies are boring. Let's make hexagonal cookies, there's a few cookies that'd get Dinah thrown out of a math exam for cheating if she brought them in and was asked to work out surface area...thankfully her school days are a long time gone.

Smeller of flowers. Arranging is....honestly, it's easy, in theory. Then you spend weeks second guessing yourself. Welcome to my daily life at Sherwood Florist. What goes by the roses better, does yellow, or blue, or maybe white, or green or..." she sighs. "Seriously, you have no idea"

Captain America has posed:
Steve Rogers smiles, "I'd be more than happy to. Don't worry about paying, Uncle Sam's got me with more resources than I can use. I'm just one guy, I don't know how guys like Tony or Bruce Wayne manage to handle having so much money. I grew up a working class Brooklyn kid. Being wealthy makes my skin crawl," he smiles.

"Tell me what you want and I'll see if I can come up with something. Maybe I'll 'Google' a few of your videos to help inspire me," he says. Yes, he made the finger quotes around Google.

Black Canary has posed:
"We'll pay you in beer and snacks" Dinah giggles, "Sure, look us up, just promotional stuff for our album we're working on...shh, I wasn't meant to tell you that. But" she admits with a nod.

""But, you grew up a working class kid. Still bettr than me. I grew up on the streets and got taken in by a kindly sensei, and all that. You know how it goes"

Translation. He probably has read her file.

Dinah shrugs. "I've no idea how to cope with being rich. Honestly, I'd just give it to charity or something. I got my band, I got my florist shop, I got my folks in Alpha Flight and a few other places, that's good enough for me" she admits. "This is gonna sound catty of me, but I look at guys like Tony or Bruce and I think to myself, yeah, you might be rich, but you happy where you are in life?" she says. Good way to smack talk Tony Stark there, even by accident. "What I'm saying is" she carries on, inspecting the hexagon cookie in her right hand. "Is. Money and lots of it, doesn't mean you are happy after all"

Captain America has posed:
Steve Rogers smiles, "I don't know, Tony seems pretty happy to me. Maybe he's just pretending. But I doubt it. Don't get me wrong, he has a serious side and I don't mean to make light of him."

He'll give another wink, "I'll keep it under my hat. Even though I just took off my hat. I don't think I've had much life outside of being Captain America in a very long time. I hope to get a chance to be Steve Rogers sometimes, without neglecting my duties."

Black Canary has posed:
Dinah giggles again, "See, you're right" she saysas her phone buzzes, "Oh come on. How. How did...never mind. A certain drummer is going to get yelled at when I get back to the hotel. How do you even get pineapple behind the headboard anyhow? I need to rein in my band before we get thrown out of the hotel. Just because we're a rock band...does not mean we need to trash hotel rooms" Dinah fumes. "And yes. hats are for heads. I. I..." Dinah sighs ahd groans. "I need to get going and school my musicians in how to behave. No doubt they'll plead and cry. They better not make me cry" Dinah points out. Because there's a difference with crying, and a Canary's Cry. The latter would just get Dinah thrown back to Canada and barred from hotels. And problably make the news, too.

Captain America has posed:
Steve Rogers smiles, "I guess you'll owe me an extra round of wings,' He smiles, "I'm glad I could run into you. Tell your bandmates that Captain America says they need to start behaving or I'm going to have to come in and bust 'em," he says with a wry smile. "Although, if they cry like you say, I'm probably useless. I always surrender to women crying."