15178/A Second Visit

A Second Visit
Date of Scene:	03 June 2023
Location:	Central Park, Manhattan
Synopsis:	J'onn and Jess meet once again. This time, she lets him walk her home.
Cast of Characters:	Spider-Woman (Drew), Martian Manhunter

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Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Tonight, there was a huge birthday party for one Tony Stark, at the Ritz Calton. It's been in all the gossip magazines and social news for weeks, plenty of glitzy photos appearing in social media. Some kind of circus performers, famous bands, and an exceptionally popular chocolate fountain. Everyone is in their glitzy best, looking glamorous, happy, and for the most part, drunk.

Jessica Drew is none of those things.

Well, sure, she's wearing a simple, but elegant red silk dress and matching heels, but one would be hard pressed to call her glamorous -- her hair hangs simply, she has no jewelry or makeup. She certainly doesn't look drunk, and while not happy, she at least seems at ease.

One might wonder why then she chooses to set off across the middle of Central Park this late at night. Really, it's practicality -- home is the mansion on the other side of the park, and there's no way she's paying for a cab, no matter how seedy it gets in the park late at night. And boy does it ever. Supernatural hearing really can be a curse. She avoids the thicker bushes with a grimace as she strides along, heels clicking along the path.

Martian Manhunter has posed:
J'onn J'onzz and Tony Stark have never really acquaintanced themselves iwth one another.

Is it no surprise that the Martian Manhunter makes no appearance there? Besides, parties were never much J'onn's slice of tea, even on Mars. So now, he's sitting on a bench in Central Park in the guise of the man who joined her for the cheeseburgers. He has one in his hand, in fact, just enjoying the evening. His eyes on the horizon.

Looking around occasionally, but otherwise just enjoying a meal. "Mmm...this is delicious."

Why? Because CHEESEBURGERS. And it's not like he has anywhere fancy to be or people to impress. It's just him being himself. He senses the mind of Jessica Drew nearby, but to respect her wishes, he doesn't alert her to his presence. In fact...it's quite possible she already knows he's there.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
There are behaviors that are just become default when you're a woman living in New York. Things that aren't even thought about. Crossing the street. Taking a longer, safer way around. Avoiding lone men loitering around in the Park. It's not to say that Jessica's oblivious to those choices, she just doesn't care. She's not inviting a fight, but it wouldn't really ruin her night to be in one, either.

So it is that she merely walks towards J'onn, no sense of alarm in her bearing. There's not really even any recognition until she gets closer -- she doesn't have enhanced vision, and it is dark. It's kind of the cheeseburger that clues her in. Really, what are the odds, at this time of night?

"...huh." The Avenger slows, looking intently at him. Coincidence? The paranoid spy part of her thinks not.

"You can't take the cheeseburgers," Jess tells him as she strides closer to the bench he's on. "That's my thing." She even has these t-shirt.

Martian Manhunter has posed:
Fear the living in a profession where they die young.

No doubt Jessica can handle any problem that comes her way. And if she can't? Well, at least she'll try. Though he can /feel/ Jessica coming closer, the human guise of the Martian Manhunter turns his attention to her as she draws near. "...but I like the cheeseburgers." He remarks, looking her in the eyes. He realizes he's being rude in that brief moment and gestures to the spot beside him.

"Would you like to sit?"

A simple question as he scoots over to make more room for her. He takes notice of the dress she wears and he acknowledges it. "You look splendid. Did you have an event to go to?" Which means his appearance here is probably lacking in the ways of classical spycraft. Either that, or he's not trying to hide.

"Can it be my thing too? We can share the thing."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Sure," Jessica agrees, in a perfectly reasonable tone, as her head tilts to pin J'onn with a look. "But they're mine." How do you argue with such straight logic, really? Jess apparently missed that lesson in SHIELD classes 'try not to fuck around with aliens, it's not nice'.

After a moment of consideration, she walks nearer and takes a seat. She smells of champagne, but there's absolutely nothing in her bearing that appears inebriated. Neither does she seem in any way afraid of him. It's not really bravado. She knows who and what he is, she's pretty confident she's wholly safe. Depending on how far she pushes the cheeseburger ownership, anyway.

"No, I look ordinary," she counters, with a faint frown. "I just, you know, actually took a shower. And dressed in something I haven't been wearing for two days. God. I think I'm depressed, I just realized." No, it isn't a thing she just realized, but it's a thing she just realized she's going to have to admit to the SHIELD psychologist in her next check up. That's going to go down real well. "It was Tony Stark's party. I went for the hor d'oeuvres. They were well worth it. I heard a rumor Thor helped pick the catering, but that's probably an exaggeration."

When he presses for joint custody of the cheeseburgers, he gets a side-eye from Jessica. "So, there's an Earth thing. When it's your birthday you get any wish you want. And it's my birthday for like..." she pauses, and glances at her empty wrist. Technically it's already past her birthday, but she's not getting specific, "I'm wishing that the cheeseburgers are mine and only mine. Sorry. It's the law." She's like, almost entirely honest. Almost.

Martian Manhunter has posed:
"Hmmm..."

J'onn brings a hand to a chin, as if to consider what she's said. "Perhaps if we possessed true joint custody, they could be both of ours." He suggests, still playing the role of the diplomat. She approaches and takes a seat and he seems pleased by this decision. Either because he enjoys her company, or because loneliness is a terrible poison that slowly corrodes the mind.

Whichever.

"Do humans have a different definition of 'ordinary?'. Hm...I suppose it must be like on Mars, at times. You are told you are beautiful too often for you to feel any sincerity from it. I will refrain from causing you more grief." He dedcides then, before he hums. "If you believe yourself to have depression...perhaps I could be a decent therapist for you? Though I understand you harbor mistrust for my abilities due to your previous experiences. Yet, I feel it would be a disservice not to offer it to you all the same."

He hums softly. "That...seems ironclad. Very well. Despite my love of cheeseburgers, I will give them up so yo ucan enjoy them."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
The strange look Jessica gives J'onn is probably something he's used to by now, even if not always solely from her. "No, ordinary is pretty... well defined. I'm not even wearing make up. My hair's not done. This is literally a roll into the shower and out the door look." It's not that she doesn't have self-confidence. She does. She just knows the difference between when she tries and when she's half-assing it. Like she did for this event tonight. But hey, at least she left the mansion. That's a plus.

"Mm... no thanks." Not even a beat needed to decline, and it's polite enough but firm. "I already have a psychologist and I /have/ to see him. No way am I adding another." That's not the whole reason, and he really does strike close to home when he says she mistrusts his abilities. Wanda's the only telepath she lets play in her head.

Jessica looks absurdly pleased to have won this battle of wills. Hopefully he doesn't turn it back on her when it's his birthday... nah. Surely not. "I'm glad we settled that." A shiver takes hold of her. Her shoulders are bare and it is chilly at night. She rises to her feet. "I'm headed that way," she points vaguely in the direction of the mansion. Is it an invitation to walk with her? Maybe. She's irritatingly non-direct, and since he's agreed not to read her mind, he can't cheat.

Martian Manhunter has posed:
"Well-defined how?"

J'onn was a man of many questions. If it could be asked, he will ask it. Though he looks at her a moment, long and hard, before he smiles. "I do believe you to be beautiful. You list these flaws of yourself, and I believe they are insignificant because your beauty overshadows them all."

He smiles softly towards her thten, warmth in his eyes. "I understand. At times, it is difficult to accept others when you do not trust them, no?" He asks of her, though he watches as she seems to rise up to her feet and begin to point towards a direction. A non-direct invitation to walk with her?

He balls up the last of his meal and he places it neatly back int hte tinfoil wrapping, covering it neatly and placing it in his bag. "It would seem, so am I."

Acceptance!

He rises to his feet and begins to walk with her. "What is the Mansion like?"

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Like, normal. This is me being normal? Last time you met me was sub-normal." Hence ugg-boots, unwashed hair stuffed in a beanie, and the cheeseburger t-shirt. Jessica is almost definitely not helping with definitions here.

There's a slight narrowing of eyes as she glances sidelong at J'onn. "I'm not sure whether to take that since you said your true form is horrific to humans. But I'm going to pretend it's a compliment for everyone's sake." She's feeling kindly, so she's going to take the path of least resistance on that one. "No, I just don't like people poking in my head." That extends, it seems, to both telepaths and psychologists, even if they don't use mind powers. "It rarely ends well. And I try to at least learn from history."

Despite the fact that she's wearing heels she strides with an easy, sure confidence; even over uneven ground there's no chance she'll lose her balance. "It's... I don't know. A place. It's big. Lots of technology. I miss JARVIS. His voice." She sighs a little. "You should ask Tony for a tour. I'm sure he'd love to meet an alien. Or maybe not. I'm never quite sure how he'll react. I'd invite you in but, you know, I'm still on the suspicious list because of... things." Things she doesn't care to speak about.

As they reach the mansion and she glances up at the gate, she slows. "I suppose I can allow you /one/ cheeseburger a day, J'onn Jones. But don't you dare go over, or you'll destroy my birthday wish." Jessica's feeling magnanimous. That's also apparently her way of farewelling him, as she steps up to let the mansion's current AI scan her, and then heads inside.