Summary:A festival in Spanish Harlem brings three heroes together. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Cinco de Mayo may have been almost a week in the past, but that doesn't mean that Spanish Harlem doesn't have reason to party. It's well known that the neighborhood celebrates two weeks in a row; in fact, the real Manhattanites who are 'in the know' understand that the second weekend is the better weekend. Why? Fewer tourists.
https://goo.gl/maps/eKs3rWZ7MWJqR7HG8
Poor Richard's Playground is the site of the festivities, which have drawn through the day and into the night. There are food trucks set up all over the place, and the mariachi band has been replaced by a DJ who is playing Latin-inspired house music paired with flashing lights. Some carnival rides are out in the street, which has been closed off, and though some police are hanging around and an EMT ambulance stands by, it's been nothing but good vibes tonight. Most of the people celebrating are residents of East Harlem, but the party draws a lot of outsiders in, along with passersby. Everyone is welcome!
Fewer tourists perhaps, but there is certainly one that is making his way along. He is towing a fine line between open amazement at the sight of the festivities and a half hearted attempt to keep his features obscured by the maroon hood pulled up overtop his head that casts shadow partially across his features. Kurt Wagner, Nightcrawler, takes a moment to pull his hood a little higher before he takes a slow drag on the cigarillo clinched between his teeth. Releasing a cloud of smoke, he walks a bit deeper into the crowd, his yellow eyes studying one of the nearby taco trucks from where he is.
It's a bit of a walk all the way from Brooklyn. But fortunately walking is not the only option. There's no one /visible/ flying through the air overhead, but when Avril emerges from behind the Rivera School across the street and strolls toward the Playground, it's not because she's been waiting around there for the past few hours to make her entrance. The good news is, no one's likely to notice.
Clad in a pair of blue jeans and a light cotton pullover sweater for a cool evening, she makes her way across 109th when there's an opening in traffic, and in a few more moments is safe under the trees, looking across toward the basketball courts, and smiling at the enthusiasm all around her.
The guy manning the taco truck waves Kurt over. He begins in Spanish, but upon seeing the blue skin behind that hood, he smiles brighter and switches to English. "All tacos just one fifty! Come, we have the best in Spanish Harlem!"
The two police officers may be keeping an eye on things, but there also talking with and hanging out with the locals, catching up. It's good vibes all around, but still, high in the air, a small drone hovers, black against the night sky and generally gone unseen. It pivots toward the school, and transmits something to its operator.
Upon a rooftop overlooking the park, Spider-Girl receives the drone's message and frowns. She's been perched up there for some time, keeping an eye on things, but the message brings her pause. "Que en la tierra…? Arana, evalua y confirma."
The drone turns and soars back over toward where Spider-Girl is perched, all but invisible against the darkness.
There is a moment where Kurt actually smiles at the friendly reaction sent his way from the Taco Truck man, his sharper than normal teeth glinting in the multicolored festival lighting. Pulling his hands from the pocket of his hoodie, he pats the hip pockets of his jeans before digging them into the pockets of his heavy jacket. Pulling out exactly two extremely wadded up dollar bills, Kurt moves over toward the truck and says in english, colored with a heavy german accent, "I only have enough to buy one. You may keep the change."
Tacos are a universal language. And Avril has been on her feet all day — well, that part's not literally true, but it /is/ metaphorically true. So once she's had a minute or two to adjust to the more relaxed atmosphere around the Playground — her feet's started tapping in time to the music, her mouth's started to curl up at the corners into a smile — the next order of business is food. In short order she's on her way to join Kurt at the taco truck, although she's polite enough to wait a half-dozen paces behind him until he's got his own.
Which means she probably hasn't seen his face yet. No idea there's even anything unusual about him! In New York, of course, 'unusual' has a different meaning than elsewhere. Meanwhile she's kind of humming quietly along with the DJ's current selection, even if she's a bit out of tune along the way.
"Then you get two," the taco truck guy beams, and gets right to work. "Be right with you, amiga!" he tells Avril.
Meanwhile, Spider-Girl is checking Arana by way of her HUD interface. "Looks like a glitch," she says to herself, or perhaps to the drone. "I'll have to check it out later. Arana, patrulla."
As the drone soars off to continue its monitoring of the festival, Spider-Girl creeps up to the edge of the building and smiles. It was a good night in the neighborhood she calls home, and patrols on the reg. Might be time for a little mingling. Turning, she flips over the end of the building and starts crawling down, hand over foot, upside down.
Another smile comes from Kurt, this one broader still at the declaration of Taco Truck Guy. He nods his head and then glances abruptly to the side as the man calls out to the woman behind him. Yellow eyes peer up toward Avril's face and he clears his throat before his eyes drift downward. "Excuse me, he will be done with my order soon," he says quietly toward her before stuffing his hands back into his hoodie pocket.
The brownhaired young woman is certainly taken by surprise when Kurt turns toward her, but it's a good deal more curious than alarmed. She has the look of someone trying to remember if she ought to recognize him or not. Evidently the answer is 'not'; a moment later she's flashing him a smile and saying, "That's okay, take your time. Waiting in line is the great American pastime." Surprised she might have been, but if she's alarmed then at least she's hiding it well. "At least here, we've got plenty to look at in the meantime, right?"
Pushing off the wall, Spider-Girl flips her body around in the air and lands not far from the taco truck. "Hey, Lito!" she says, waving her hand toward the guy at the taco truck. Having heard English, it seems reasonable enough to use it here.
"Heeeyyy, Spider-Girl!" Lito waves his free hand. "?Mantener un ojo en el festival?"
"Si," she answers. "And tonight I am bored, which is a good thing!" She glances toward the two waiting in line, offering a smile and a wave. The people nearby don't seem surprised at the sudden arrival of a costumed woman in black and white; she may not be known too well outside of Spanish Harlem (outside of a pesky callout in the Daily Bugle), but the good people here know her well, and seem glad for her presence.
Kurt nods his head in reply, his eyes flashing up to peer at Avril once again before he shifts his gaze toward the taco man to gauge the progress of his food. "I suppose it is. There are lines everywhere. At the trucks… at the museums… at the Statue of Liberty… at the bathrooms…" Kurt rambles in his quiet voice. He trails away in a thoughtful tone of voice that abruptly ends when Spider-Girl arrives and is hailed by the taco man. His eyes track back and forth, marking their conversation before he says to Avril, "These people must be knowing this one." Well spotted there.
And now someone's (almost literally) falling out of the sky. Just another day in superheroic New York, but all the same, Avril /does/ pivot toward Anya when she lands — oh, it's her. Much less alarming than, say, Graviton or Magneto or even the Vulture suddenly dropping in on a street festival. "My Spanish is still pretty mediocre," Avril admits to Kurt, "but that was my takeaway, too." She waves to Anya in return, asking, "You here for a taco too, or is there some kind of trouble?"
Lito soon approaches the front of the truck with two genuinely authentic Mexican tacos ready for Kurt. One is ground beef, the other chorizo, and both are sure to avoid disappointment. "Here you are, Azul. Enjoy!" His use of the Spanish for 'Blue' doesn't seem to be coming off as an insult, but rather, admiration. Lito then turns toward Avril with his chin lifted. "And what would you like, my dear?"
Spider-Girl is all grins, and stops bothering Lito so that he can get his work done. She does walk a bit closer to Kurt and Avril, responding to the latter. "No, no trouble. Not this time." She draws a deep breath, and glances about for a moment. "Usually I only show up when there is trouble, and I dunno if that's always the best idea. Most of the people around here know me, you know? Maybe they'll feel better seeing me doing something that isn't, you know, running away from a crime scene with the bad guys' asses webbed to a wall." She smiles a bit, but the mask over the upper half of her face is able to conceal the fact that this whole thing makes her nervous as hell. "I'm Spider-Girl," she tells both of them.
The corner of Kurt's mouth curls into a smirk as Avril agrees with his insight toward the spanish conversation they had overheard. He nods his head and then listens as Spider-Girl turns about to introduce herself to them. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Spider-Girl," Kurt says in a polite, though heavily accented voice. "I am Kurt Wagner, though the people in the circus are calling me the Nightcrawler," he says, dipping his head and pulling a hand free of his pocket to place on his chest. His eyes flit toward Avril as well, clearly including her in the introduction.
Avril directs her smile at Lito, saying, "Just one for me, please. You can pick what sort — surprise me! And whatever our guest would like," she adds, indicating Spider-Girl when she says it.
"I'm happy to hear there's no trouble," she admits, turning back to Anya. "And I see what you mean. Like police, right? That's why you see them around the neighborhood; if they only show up from crimes in progress, you'll feel /less/ safe when they're around, not /more/ safe." As for her name? "I'm Avril. It's nice to meet you both."
"Exactly," says Spider-Girl, after casting a glance toward the mingling officers. "I mean, I don't mind if I scare the bad guys, but the last thing I want is for my neighbors to get freaked out when I come swingin' in." She greets Avril with a warm handshake; should she take it, the glove of her uniform feels more like rough silk rather than any kind of conventional fabric.
Turning to Kurt, her eyes seem to go wide behind the mask; they're just barely visible behind the white globes when the light catches her mask just right. "No way!" she says. "You're in a circus? That is too cool. I kinda wanted to do that when I was little. Probably why I took gymnastics." She then tilts her head forward a bit, and her grin becomes rueful. "Cool skin, hombre. People are cool with that stuff around here, just so ya know."
Kurt is silent for a moment, just long enough for him to step forward to pick up the two tacos that were delivered to him, offering a grateful smile to the man inside of the truck. He holds one in each hand, and once he begins to eat he takes a bite of one and then the other. "I was in a circus, yes," he says between bites, his eyes shifting back toward Spider-Girl. "I have recently left it once we made it to America. I wished to explore the country on my own."
Avril shows no hesitation in taking Anya's hand; she clasps it only for a moment, but her answering smile is certainly friendly. "Makes sense to me," she agrees, "but I'm not sure whether I'm typical or not." A touch of self-deprecation enters her smile and her voice, and she shrugs. "It seems to be working out, though! At least, nobody's running away and screaming in panic."
When Kurt explains a little of his background, she's curious, of course. "How are you finding it so far? America, I mean," she asks, her head tilted slightly. "Like you thought it would be, or different?"
Lito soon comes over with Avril's taco, this one a tasty chicken one. "Gracias, seniorita," he tells her, before nodding toward Anya and pointing toward a taco sitting there on the edge for her.
"You could spend years just exploring the five boroughs," Spider-Girl tells Kurt, before giving Avril a look. Her head shifts to the side a little, curiously, but she doesn't remark on what the young woman said. Instead, she reaches for the taco with a grin. "Gracias amigo. Lo aprecio."
Lito didn't charge Avril for Anya's taco, and the word of thanks seems to have double meaning between the two.
If Avril catches that look, she doesn't comment on it, or, for that matter, react to it; she just agrees, "Probably, you could spend your whole life doing that," before taking her taco from Lito with a grin. "Oh, no," she says, "thank /you/."
Despite not being asked for money, she's not about to let this pass, so — taco in one hand! — she finds some nearly-folded bills in one of her jeans pockets, and cheerfully slips them into the tip jar. Just about enough to cover hers, Anya's, and, for good luck, Kurt's second. Generosity is one thing, but everyone has to eat. "It's sort of too bad, really," she says; "there's a lot of things that get missed, I think. In the city, I mean. But …" A little shrug. And then it's taco time.
Noticing that Kurt has become distracted, Spider-Girl instead focuses on Avril. "I've lived here since I was little, and honestly, I barely ever leave Manhattan." Turning from the taco truck, she fills the space a bit as Avril eats. "Honestly, I was in Staten Island the other day, for the first time ever. Saw D.C., in eighth grade, but I think I was too busy crushing on boys to really appreciate any of it." She shrugs, and walks away to give Lito room to help other people. "You grow up here?" she asks, before biting into her taco with an expression of deep gratitude.
Following along in step with Anya, Avril shakes her head, while chewing; she doesn't actually answer, though, until she's had time to finish this mouthful and swallow. "Not here-here," she says; "my parents live in Scarsdale. But I always loved coming to the city, even when I was really small. So … here I am. Well, technically, I live in Brooklyn, but it's still a lot closer to 'here' than Scarsdale is, right?"
"Yeah," Anya answers between bites, and pauses long enough to throw a fist bump to an 8 year old boy who runs past her, mimicking the web shooting. "I was born in Mexico, so, I got ya beat there. Never been to Scarsdale, is it nice?" She shoves the rest of the taco into her mouth as if she doesn't have any manners at all, noshing on it like a starving person. While they walk, she casts her eyes around, just taking stock of familiar and unfamiliar faces alike.
"It's okay," Avril answers. "It's home, so — it's hard to compare." She is of course eliding the truth; it's one of those nice Westchester County towns lived in mostly by rich people who for one reason or another don't want to live in the city. Which fits in with her generally good manners. "Or it /was/ home, anyway. I guess it isn't really any more. What about you — do you remember where you lived in Mexico at all? How old were you when you moved here?"
"Moo moung." Spider-Girl blinks and quickly gulps down the food. "Sorry! It's the thing." She motions a bit. "Whatever happened to me, s' jacked up my metabolism like crazy. I eat like a fuhhhllipping horse." It almost sounds as if she wasn't going to say 'flipping' there. "I was pretty young, don't remember much. Kind of a long story." Her tone darkens a bit there, but she doesn't expound. Everyone has their secrets; especially people who are wearing masks. "Spanish Harlem's become much more of a home to me. Gotta tell you though, I still can't stand the winters." She isn't remarking about Scarsdale; what she may or may not know of, or assume of it, is remaining safely concealed.
"That's okay," Avril reassures her, smiling. "Eat when hungry, sleep when tired. If you get hungry faster than other people — well, they aren't you, are they?" Listening closely to what the other woman has to say, she nods, agreeing: "They're not really my favorite, either, honestly. It can be fun to go skating outside, though. I had some friends in high school who were really into skiing, too, but to me it always just seemed like a really elaborate way to break a leg."
That last part draws a truly humored laugh from Spider-Girl; her laughter is sharp and abrasive, suggesting a bit of a rough upbringing. "Right? Knew some people who kinda got into parkour. I was always like, no. No way. Abuela would kill me if I did anything like that." She's about to say something else, when a bunch of kids come running her way. She turns to look at Avril, half smiling. Their parents are ushering them back and they all seem sad. "I better go over there." She reaches out and lays a hand briefly upon Avril's shoulder, saying, "Really good to meet you. Glad you're enjoying the festival. If you see that blue guy again, Kurt? Lito was right, people here aren't put off by blue skin. Yeah?"
"Pretty much," Avril agrees. "There's always one or two bad apples in every barrel, but I don't think he'll have any trouble. I'll keep an eye out just in case, though," she promises. Glancing over toward the kids, she fights back a smile, mostly unsuccessfully. "How cool is it that they're coming right to you for help? Go on, be a hero!"