Summary:Lunch at Stonewall Inn, a date set for later. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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A lovely summer afternoon in New York City is the perfect time to go out for lunch. And a beer. So, to the Stonewall Tavern seems an obvious choice for Ren. Sure, it's bar/lounge food, but she doesn't really care. It's a place where people don't stare, and that's good for her. She sitting alone at a table, quietly eating some kind of pasta with what looks like a bottle of wine, and a glass.
Or at least where when people stare, it's for good reasons. Though 'stare' would not quite describe the delighted look in the eyes of the young woman approaching Ren's table. "Hello, Ren," she greets, in that pleasant London-accented voice. Sarah Black is smiling warmly, looking relaxed and upbeat, and dressed for the warm summer day in a casual outfit that suits her nicely. (https://tinyurl.com/yyatfd6f)
Ren looks up from her meal, "Oh hey! Sarah, right?" she asks, trying to remember the woman's name. "Nice to see you." she offers with an easy smile. "Decided to go out for lunch today?" she wonders as she hides that smile behind a long sip of wine.
Nodding, Sarah replies, "I have the afternoon off, so I thought I'd get out and about and enjoy the sunny weather. I was in the neighborhood, so I decided to stop in here for a drink and something to eat. I've only been here once before, back earlier in the year when I first came to New York. Seemed about time for another visit."
After a beat, she asks, "Mind if I join you?"
"Well, it is a historic location here." Ren says, nodding as she indicates a chair for Sarah to join her, "Sure, get a glass and we can share this bottle of wine." It seems she means to drink the whole thing with her pasta. "I have a shift tonight, but, I can't sleep all day." she says with a chuckle.
"Be right back, then," Sarah says, smiling brightly, before stepping over to the bar for a moment. She's soon back, with a wine glass in hand, after speaking briefly with the bartender and gesturing over toward Ren's table. Seating herself, she says, "I've been making a point of seeing the sights around the city since I got here. A lot of the historic places don't mean so much to me, not being American, but then there's the ones like here." She gestures around herself, as she continues, "Doesn't matter where you're from, if you're queer, this place means something."
Ren quietly filled Sarah's wine glass- a generous pour. "Oh, for sure." she says, as she sits back to talk to her impromptu lunch partner. "What places have you been already?" she wonders, "I've lived here for a while, I don't think I've been to a lot of the tourist places." she admits with a sheepish smile.
"Well, the Statue of Liberty and the top of the Empire State Building got crossed off the list early, to pretty much no one's surprise," Sarah answers, with a chuckle. "And I've always loved museums, so I've been making the rounds of them, slowly. And Times Square, and Central Park, and a lot of the other places that you see in all the travel guides and brochures."
She pauses for a sip of wine, taking a moment to savor it. "Mmm, that's rather good. Thank you for sharing it with me," she says, smiling. "Anyway, outside of the more famous places, work has taken me all over the city. There's still a lot I haven't seen, though."
"Oh? What's your job?" Ren wonders next, grinning. "Yeah, those are school trips for New York Kids." she says next, "Those and Ellis Island." she continues, "That place is spooky." she admits.
Spooky. Sarah restrains herself from reacting to that, seeing as, professionally, she knows spooky. "Oh, yes, I stopped there, too. Apparently, I have distant relatives on my mother's side who came through there. Seeing if I can find their descendants is on my to-do list." About then, one of the bar staff comes over to the table with Sarah's lunch — the same pasta dish Ren was eating. "Thank you," Sarah says to them, before returning her attention to Ren.
"As for my job, well…" She hesitates for a second. Not everyone likes what she's about to say, and she's well aware of it. "I work for SHIELD. WAND Division. I'm a field agent."
Ren's pasta dish is just a fancy mac and cheese. Comfort food, really, but a nice alfredo is a great lunch! The crunchy fried onions are just extra umami. "Oh, that's pretty cool. A lot more impressive than what I do." she says with a self-depricating laugh, "So, you're like a witch or something?" she asks innocently, "Is that offensive to ask?"
There's visible relief in Sarah's expression when Ren's reaction is so positive. Chuckling and shaking her head, she says, "No, not offensive at all. You've seen me do magic, back when I conjured that little illusion for you when we met. The people who trained me, back home — who include my Mum, by the way — would use the term 'Combat Mage'. 'Magician' is fine, too. Technically, I'm MI-13, seconded to WAND here in New York. Spirit of international cooperation and all that."
"Oh, that's pretty cool. So you're like a magical combat spy or something." Ren says, not really understanding anything from the super-heroing world, despite her being a part of that world now. "Magician, huh?" she continues as she takes a few moments to enjoy wine and pasta. "What sort of things do you do, then?" she wonders, "I mean, is it like being a cop, or something?"
"Well, one of my friends has described us as, 'When things go bump in the night, we bump back.' Which isn't so far off, joking aside," Sarah begins. "When there's a threat that's supernatural in one way or another, it's our job to deal with it. Both in the sense of dealing with things directly and of investigating them to learn where they're coming from or what's causing them, and if smaller incidents might be part of a bigger problem that's brewing. You probably saw news reports a while back about the children who were being abducted. That was some nasty business. We ended it."
"Oh yeah! I read about that online!" Ren says, nodding. "That's some freaky shit, Sarah." she remarks. "I mean, I'm not sure what I'd do if I was in a situation like that. I am *not* a fighter." she continues to admit with a little smile. "I'm glad that's over though. No one wants to see kids hurt."
"You could say that it made a lot of us particularly motivated," Sarah replies, nodding. "We deal with a lot of ugly shite — A lot of it that the public never knows about. But when they're preying on kids… That's where the gloves come off. That's when we bump back, hard."
"But enough about me. How have things been for you? I'd really love to see you dance again. You're stunningly good."
"Yeah, I would, too. I mean, if I had any skills to bump." Ren agrees, "Oh. Well, thanks! I do have a degree." she says, "Fine arts, focus on dancing. Pretty well useless in Burlesque, but I do get some work here or there in music videos and such."
"With skills like yours, I'd have to imagine you'd be in demand, yes," Sarah says, smiling as she nods. "It's like I said the night we met. We've both devoted a lot of effort and study over a long time to learn our respective crafts. We paid our dues, as the saying goes. I understand what that's like."
"Not really in demand, no." Ren says after a moment, lifting her hands. "These sort of aren't good for a dancer." she admits, "I was working for a ballet company here, and these happened, and that was that." she says with a shrug of her shoulders- non-commital.
"We should go out clubbing, I can show you New York's night life." she says to Sarah with a little grin.
"I can see where that could be a problem for professional ballet," Sarah replies, nodding. "But I've seen what you can do with them while performing. And I know it's only my opinion, but for whatever that's worth, those make you all the more beautiful and unique as a dancer."
"And I'd like that, very much," she replies to the clubbing suggestion, her smile brightening again after fading somewhat as she heard of Ren's professional difficulties.
Ren just looks down at her food while Sarah says those things, "Oh. Yeah.. I guess that's true." she says half-heartedly, "Thanks." she goes on, still smiling, albeit a bit sadly.
But party! "Oh! Cool, when's good for you? I mean, I go out almost every night after work, so any time is good for me." Ren says, her smile more confident now.
"Tonight is out, I'm afraid," Sarah says. "It's a work thing. But over the weekend or sometime next week would be possible. I can probably throw together something to wear with what I brought over from home, but if I know enough ahead of time, I can go shopping if I need to."
"They're dance clubs. Wear something you want to dance in." Ren replies, "I know all the best places. Is there like a theme you enjoy? Music style? Er… drug policy?" she adds the last one in with a bit of quiet, "Some of these places are pretty.. um. Colorful. In that regard."
"I'm from London. I'm used to quite a mix of things," Sarah replies, grinning playfully. "And as for that sort of thing, well, I don't usually indulge, myself, but that's not because I have anything against it. I have… a literally supernatural resistance to alcohol and most drugs. It takes a lot to make me feel anything, and then it doesn't last long. It's usually not worth the effort or the expense to try to get me high."
"That sucks." Ren replies, "A lot of my evenings tend to end up drunk and stoned, so, kinda important to know about up front." she admits, with a shrug. "It's part of the club scene, you know?" she asks rhetorically. "I like to be fully inside the whole scene. It's sort of what I do for fun when I'm not at work. Or eating lunch." she says, drinking more of her wine with a bit of dusky pink coming to her cheeks.
"Well, like I said, it's not a judging thing or anything like that," Sarah replies. "With drinking, I can at least enjoy the taste, like this lovely wine," she says. "And nothing goes with a good steak like a pint of Guinness. I just don't get much of the other effects."
"I'll have a good time, even without that part. I've learned how to find my own fun. But back to the clothes thing — I don't know what it's like around here, but at home I've danced at places where if you hadn't spent a week's pay on designer clubwear, you weren't getting in the door. And I've been to places where the dress code is basically, 'Don't be naked,' and mesh, a thong, and pasties were the thing, or body paint and booty shorts." She grins, and adds, "Those tend to be more fun. But let me know what's appropriate for where we're going, and I'll make sure not to embarrass you."
"I can get us into any club in Manhattan." Ren says, "I know all the bouncers." she says with a grin. "It really depends on you, though, and how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go. Just wear an LBD, and some heels. A touch of makeup- you'll look enough the part we can get in everywhere." she says with a chuckle.
"I think I can manage that," Sarah says, with a quick laugh. "And I'm willing to follow your lead, and you'll learn I have a curious streak a kilometer wide, so I'm open to pretty much any new experiences."
"Sounds like a plan." Ren pulls out her phone, "What's your number?" she asks, then, "I'll one-bell you so you'll have mine." Her phone has actual buttons- no touch screen. More of a blackberry sort of deal. Those metal fingers probably don't do well on touch screens.
As she's taking out her own phone, Sarah gives Ren her number, then saves Ren's to her contacts once the call rings in. "I'm really looking forward to this. Thanks for asking me."
"For sure, it'll be fun!" Ren says with a wide grin, as the phone-number transaction takes place. "I've got to get going." she says, as she puts money down for her bottle of wine and pasta- having finished during the conversation. Both the bottle and the meal.
Somewhere in there, Sarah managed to eat her lunch, too. Waving it off as Ren starts to put down cash, she says, "I've got this. I'm going to stay around a little longer anyway. Go enjoy the rest of your day. I wish I could come see you dance tonight, but I will, sometime soon."
"I'm not letting you buy my lunch and my bottle of wine." Ren says, the money already down. "I'll see you later!" she says, and off she goes!