Summary:Gar Logan stops by to follow up on Sarah Rainmaker's offer to have him join the Young Avengers, and meets Koriandr, as well as getting free sopapillas. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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It's Saturday night again! And in Sarah's continuing attempts to feed her fellow Young Avengers food that is not ordering twenty pizzas from the nearest New York pizzeria, she's in the midst of finishing up her cooking, a spicy scent rising from the mix of meat and veggies she's got cooking on a pair of pans as she adds in a bowl of fresh sliced green chili to the chicken mix, then stirs a small pot of a creamy white sauce to get the chilis mixed in.
Yes, not everyone is a chile fiend like Sarah, but she's from the Southwest. Green chili goes in everything. Though she generally leaves at least some of it free of the spicy mix in case people prefer otherwise.
The Apache woman is dressed in a comfortable pair of sweatshorts tied at the front that show off her long muscular legs and a simple saffron orange te shirt that shows a woman dressed like the 1920s, first raised in the air, in front of a crowd of mustachioed men with fists raised in a Soviet style. Underneath, the shirt reads "My Marxist Dialetic Brings All The Boys To the Yard".
Gar Logan is no vegetarian, despite his coloration. What he is is capable of tapping at windows on high levels of skyscrapers. It's a tiny green hummingbird, beating its wings like the dickins, that appears at the window, and its beak rattatattatats rapidly against the nearest window that appears capable of opening. "Hey, Sarah!" calls the tiny creature, voice perfectly audible despite his size. "It's Gar! Hey! Lemme in! Thought I'd come check out yo… are those fajitas?"
Hummingbirds' olfactory senses are often thought to be nonexistant, but it's not true. They're just hyperfocused on what hummingbirds consider to be food. Well, as far as Gar is concerned, fajitas are definitely food — even if they wouldn't do much to his current form.
As a side note, hummingbirds, apparently, can salivate. That would explain the little splashes accompanying the redoubled rattatattatat.
Koriand'r is at home today, which means casual attire: a thin, violet, latex suspender bikini held on by a mantle around her neck, and matching boots that reach to mid-thigh, both set with green gems the size of hen's eggs. She'd have a nicer outfit if she was planning to go out, though 'nicer' is a relative standard for her. She's floating two to three feet above the floor of the living area, knees slightly tucked, just sort of wafting back and forth like a sleeping astronaut, when she hears a voice from the window.
She gives the bird a wave and a smile, then calls over her shoulder, "Friend Sarah, this small avian wishes to address you."
"The bird wants what now?" Sarah says, blinking as she looks up from her cooking, hearing her name being called, then transfers a few pans from active burners before she walks over, blinking at the green bird. "Oh, hey…" she says, smiling a bit. "I was expecting you'd be using the elevator for some reason. I don't know why." the Amerindian notes wryly, . "Would you let him in please Kori? Just open the window, that is." she corrects. As she's well aware Kori has a somewhat literal interpretation of what people ask her at times. So she's veeeeerry careful not to use idioms around her unless she can immediately explain what they mean.
"It's the Baxter Building," Gar says, loudly enough to be heard through the window. He has achieved attention, so he feels no need to continue tapping, and while he has absolutely noticed Kori, he manages not to stare. Visibly, anyway. All that rapid bobbing and flapping makes it hard to tell where his tiny eyes are actually focused. "They've got all kinds of security, and it seemed way more efficient to just come to the window! And man, I'm glad I made it in time for dinner!"
"Of course," Koriand'r says cheerfully and drifts over to the window to fiddle with the… stupid… lock… primitive latching mechanisms, grrr… until she can toss the window open and let in the tiny, loud, green bird. She does not comment on its oddity. What on this planet isn't odd? Maybe all the birds talk and she just hasn't heard them yet.
"You're lucky there aren't anti-Doombird zappers or something around the building." Sarah notes wryly, as Gar is let in. "Kori, this is Gar Logan, an actor and talented shapeshifter as well." she says simply. "I met him in the park a week or so ago." She grins. "And in fact, they will be stuffed sopapillas as soon as the latter are finished, though I can easily make them fajitas…the wonders of Southwestern food, it just depends on what put it inside."
Gar flutters into the room, makes sure he's not about to land on the stove, and then takes on his human form — still bright green, but a handsome young man, if decidedly short. "I suppose I'm lucky at that," he agrees, "but I figured that you guys probably have enough fliers that you wouldn't want your people to wind up like moths on a bug light. Hi, Kori, pleasure to make your acquaintance." He raises a hand to tip a non-existant hat. He's dressed casually, black jeans, red button-down, which goes nicely with his skin tone. "I just figured I'd come check out the Young Avengers base and see if you guys are still looking for members."
"Hello, friend Gar," Kori exclaims, smiling widely as she drifts over to capture his cheeks in her hands and kiss him. That done, she floats backward as if nothing weird just happened and explains to him, proudly, "A sopapilla is a small, fried pastry dish."
"Uh…" Sarah isn't quite quick enough to warn Gar of the incoming kissing. "She's, ah, European in style." she says lamely after a said kiss. "And yes, that's what it is, and I'm going to put the fillings inside said soapilla, so if you have a preference? I've got a variety of veggies, peppers, onions, and chicken and a green chili cream sauce too."
Gar is in the process of greeting 'friend Kori' in turn, but then he is smooched. Sometimes Gar rather wishes that something other than his brain operated on cartoon physics. He can't do the thing where his lower half rises into the air, parallel to the ground, and crashes to the floor when the kiss is broken. He just feels that inwardly. Not so much injured, but generally shocked. However, he is an actor, and he covers well. "I've had sopapillas," he manages, his voice only unstable for a second or so. "They are delicious — and likely better than fajitas, if I'm being honest about it. Bring on the sopapillas!" He quirks a brow at Sarah for a moment. Europeans kiss on the cheeks, in his experience — not full on the lips while wearing an outfit that would get her banned from a number of beaches in California and France.
Okay, maybe not banned. But would certainly earn her a lot of angry looks from other women.
Koriand'r looks at Sarah reproachfully, and shakes her head at Gar. "She is being ironic," Koriand'r explains. "I am not of the Europe." She floats over to Sarah's position, which, given how much shorter the human is, ends up being necessary for Koriand'r to complete the otherwise simple manuever of embracing Sarah from behind and kissing her roundly at the place where the ear meets the cheek. Revenge extracted, or demonstration given, or whatever on Earth that was, she releases Sarah to return to Gar. "So what is the thing you wish to avange, friend?" she asks, pivoting in her float until her body is more or less parallel to the ground so she can lower herself to look Gar in the eye.
It's certainly a little odd to Sarah, she's used to being one of the tallest women in the room…well, aside from Caitlin, of course. She lets out an undignified squeak at the unexpected kiss, but doesn't seem bothered by the display. Used to it by now, perhaps? "Mm, what's this, revengeance?" she says curiously, motioning to the counter by the kitchen and the stools there. "Have a seat, want anything to drink? Let me just prep the sopapillas and food will be served.
Gar doesn't seem to object to Kori closing in like this. She is a gorgeous woman, to be sure, and if she's taller than Sarah she simply towers over him — he's short for a guy, and particularly for a super guy. "Nothing in particular," he replies. "You guys are the Young Avengers. Sarah suggested I should check out the team when we met before, so I figured I'd come over since I was between… things." To be fair, he should have come sooner. But he's been busy. He's been busy getting everything into his apartment, buying things to fill his apartment, making sure he has season tickets for the Knicks, arguing with his agent, trying to track down really good Chinese food that delivers to his apartment…
The life of a star, you know? Busy busy busy.
"I have mostly been able to handle my own revengening, with the help of a lawyer or two," he continues, moving toward the chairs that Sarah indicated. "But, you know, I like being able to help those less fortunate, less able to protect themselves, less green."
Koriand'r considers this, ignoring the table for now, just floating in place for a moment. "Then you are looking to expand your vengeance to new and exciting sources?" she guesses.
Points do not go over Koriand'r's head. Her reflexes are too fast. She would catch it.
Sarah heads back into the kitchen, sauntering in and starting to work at getting those sopapillas which are currently sitting on a paper towel after their frying, then carefully cuts them open to start filling them up. "Mm, well…I'm actually not sure what the procedure for joining the Young Avengers is." the Apache muses as she works, peering over her shoulder, her long raven hair falling down her back to the top of her shorts. "I'm thinking though that if no one has an objects…I know what you can do, and you strike me as the sort of guy we need here. Kori, what do you think?"
"I'm mostly looking to lend people assistance," Gar explains patiently. The alien woman doesn't seem stupid — just very literal. "The avenging and revenging is entirely optional. Not that I can't do that sort of stuff — I do a great Hulk impression when I turn into a gorilla and start smashing things — but I'm pretty versatile, all things considered. I make a great fly on the wall, too."
"Hm?" Koriand'r asks Sarah, apparently lost in her thoughts before returning to herself. "Oh! I have no objection. There is much vengeance to be had. I do not mind sharing," she declares magnanimously. "Welcome to the Young Avengers, friend Gar." She embraces him loosely, careful not to hurt him, then releases him and asks, "You shift shapes? Do all your people have this ability?"
"Mm, he's a metahuman Kori, but a unique one. So just like me, just…green and shapeshifty." she says amusedly as she finishes, then starts plating out the chicken and sauce in the soapapillas, then the roasted veggies on the side as she brings them over, as well as a little basket of additional sopapillas and a small bottle of honey. "Well then…since I have no idea where Dani and Ali are right now to get their opinion, I would say that's a tenative 'you're in' overall.' she says amusedly. "I'll get you added to the security for the building."
"Well, thank you," Gar says. That was quick. He'd sort of figured they'd want to vet him, get other members to meet him, that sort of thing. But he'll run with it. What's the worst that can happen?
Don't answer that.
"I'm just a human who got exposed to genetic recombination therapy to cure a deadly disease I got as a kid," he explains. "But yes, I can turn into any Earth animal. Gorilla, hummingbird, blue whale, velociraptor, dodo. You name it, I am it." He inhales the aroma of the sopapillas and notes, "If you cook like this all the time, Sarah, I will have to adapt my exercise regimen or the only part they'll hire me to play is Jabba the Hutt."
Koriand'r considers this. "Is that painful?"
Sarah sets down some silverwear and fetchs some water bottles if people should need it. Not everyone enjoys mildly spicy, though she's certainly dialing back her usual chile levels for the benefit of those who don't. But still. And really, she's not sure how much it affects Kori in the first place. "Well, if I don't cook, people eat junk food, and I like cooking." Sarah says with a little shrug. "I usedto do it all the time with my mom."
"I mostly eat out," Gar admits. "But not typically junk food." He has the money to eat good food out, little talent in the kitchen, and a desire not to be hungry. It tends to work out well. "I'll happily chip in on ingredients and whatever." Then, to Kori, "Changing shape? No, it's just… kind of like a full-body sneeze. One second human…"
There's a faint sound of air collapsing to fill the void he leaves behind.
"Next second horned lizard," continues the horned lizard that has taken Gar's place, before it turns back into the green man and he reaches for sopapillas.
Koriand'r continues to ignore the food. "I am surprised. My shape only changes very slowly, so it has always been quite painful when it changed rapidly. Perhaps that has been because the changes were caused by weapons?" she muses. "Maybe if I had changed my shape myself, it would have been different." She nods vigorously, delighted at her unexpected profundity, then asks, "We are ignoring you, friend Sarah. How do you feel?"
Sarah is wiping her hands off on a dish towel as she blinks at the attention on her. "Oh, it's fine…I don't mind listening too, I know you've got lots of questions for him." she says simply. 'We had plenty for you when you first ended up here, remember?"
"If it hurt," Gar observes, "I'd probably change it a lot less. As it is, it's kind of the secret to my success. They do not hire non-shapeshifters to play shapeshifting aliens on TV when there are shapeshifters about to prevent them from spending a fortune on special effects." The young man grins and notes to Sarah, "These are excellent. Thank you." He takes another bite of sopapilla, clearly pleased.
Koriand'r is indeed not stupid, and she notices Sarah changing the subject. "I do remember," she confirms, then tactfully returns her attention to Gar, face guarded as if she's expecting some kind of terrible blow. "Do you enjoy your work?"
Who knew Kori was such a good interviewer? Sarah is listening thoughfully as the two talk, while she bustles around cleaning up the food and putting away more stuffed sopapillas for later when the other members arrive. Or just for lunch tomorrow, one of the two. "He's made quite a few movies…I should show you a few of them." she comments thoughfully.
"I'm sort of between jobs right now," Gar replies, "but I do like acting. It's fun to be somebody else — even if that somebody else is a green humanoid who turns into animals. As it almost always is." He pauses a moment before noting, "I mean, last summer I played Hamlet in summer stock at a Malibu resort, and there was no shapeshifting there, but, you know, still green." A glance at Sarah, a wry smile. "Most of my movies aren't really worth the cellulose they're filmed on. SyFy originals and that sort of thing. I was one of the sharks in Sharknado 4." He rolls his eyes at this. It was years ago, and he had much worse taste in movies. "But Space Trek was pretty darn good, and we have our share of fans."
Koriand'r nods at Gar dubiously. It's not that actors are unheard of on Tamarand, but she doesn't quite grasp the passion that drives anyone to do it. Still, she reflects, she doesn't need to understand. "I celebrate your joy in your work," she returns simply, sincerely.
"Eh, some of them are cult classics though, right?" Sarah says curiously. "But, well, I'd hope helping us out helping people and bringing bad guys to justice will be pretty good for you too. I mean, we haven't had to figh ta lot of bad guys, mind, but some disasters and stuff…" She hesistates. "…well, mostly me when there's a hurricane or something."
"Thank you," Gar says, smiling at Kori, reaching over to give her arm a squeeze. It's small wonder that he finds the alien woman attractive — she's sort of built to make people find her attractive — but the squeeze is not one of desire, but appreciation. She clearly doesn't understand his desire to act, but accepts it anyway. For somebody who's had his life, that means a great deal.
"I will grant you, Sharknado the 4th and Megamoeba vs. Colossal Waterbear do have their fans," Gar says, smiling wryly. "I'm not sure they should."
Koriand'r frowns at Gar. "All people should have the things that give them pleasure," she informs him firmly, sternly. She lands as she says it, which is probably indicative of something or other.
"As long as it doesn't impinge on someone else's rights." Sarah adds after a moment. "I mean, as long as people are good with it, go for it though." She shrugs her shoulders and smiles a bit. "Yeah, I've seen the latter, it was ridiculous but in a fun away." She glances to Kori, unsure of her change in mood.
Gar studies Kori for a moment, her stern tone of concern — not that he thinks she's angry at him or anything of the sort, but it must reflect something in her own life. A glance at Sarah, and he can see her confusion as well. "So, Kori," he says after a moment, "may I ask, what brought you to our little blue planet?"
Koriand'r considers Gar sternly for a moment longer before deciding to let it go. Her brow metaphorically lightens (it's already glowing, after all), but she doesn't resume flight. "My planet was overrun by invaders; I was sold to them as a token of surrender; I was experimented on; I escaped." Her eyes grow brighter with each word until the final two, almost blinding at the end, and the room's temperature becomes subtly but noticeably warmer as her glow increases. The heat backs down when she reaches the end of her story, though. "And this planet is nice," she concludes, nearly cheerfully now. "The climate is most enjoyable and the people, though small, are well-formed. It reminds me of vacations on the islands, with technology left behind, just the simplest machines to provide the minimum comforts of life." She puts her arms out to her sides and twirls once on her toes, taking in the air before settling back down again. "And your food is tolerable, which is fortunate for me."
'Good to know." Sarah says amusedly. "You know, if you want, we can sit down sometime and just have you try different things and find the sort of food that really appeals to you? I don't mind. Sort of a giant taste test thing. I imagine your taste buds are a bit different." She hesistates, then looks at Gar. "…wait, could you turn into something from her world if you knew what it was? I mean, then you could tell me what the differences are…"
Sarah glances back at Kori, then frowns faintly. "…I'm sorry that happened to you Kori. I'm glad you escaped and that you're safe here, far from the people who took you."
Gar ahs softly, eyes going wide. "I was sold into slavery too," he says. "After my parents died, after I was adopted by a very kind man… the man he trusted most sold me off to thieves. So… I don't know exactly what you went through… but I can certainly understand some of it. It sucks. I'm sorry." But she's already back to her more cheerful demeanor — like him. He's sort of amazed, never expected to find a reflection of himself that way. "We'll definitely have to take you out to try all the possibilities," he adds, nodding in agreement with Sarah's proposal. "And there are few better places in the world to seek new food to try than New York." To Sarah, then, he says, "I can only do Earth animals, as far as I know. I could try, if she could give me an idea of what sort of creatures are found on her planet, but… I've always sort of figured that if I could turn into an alien animal I'd be able to turn into the alien sentient species as well, and I can't. Earth animals share at least the basic building blocks with humans — I can't say the same for alien species necessarily."
"Humans enjoy experimentation," Koriand'r observes, ruefully amused, shaking her head as if to say, 'What can you do?' But, with what grace she's capable of, she nods. "Very well, I will submit to the experiments for now."
That…seems to strike deeper than it should. "I'm not experimenting on you." Sarah says after a moment to Kori, her eyes dropping slightly. "It's only if you want to. I'm not going to make you do anything." She moves to start putting things away at that, turning quiet for a moment. "That's a shame…" she says to Gar after a moment. "It'd be neat if you could show off all sorts of alien creatures too. Imagine the sci fi movies you could get into."
Meanwhile Sarah is just…pushing down some memories of her own that are a bit too fresh and unexpectedly dredged to the surface of her thoughts after Kori's recitation of how she arrived.
"I know, right?" Gar replies. "Though it'd be nice to do the occasional movie as an actual human." He chuckles softly. "Somebody's talking about doing 'The Cat Who Walks Through Walls', and my name came up for the cat. Not that the cat actually talks. I read the book." To Kori he offers, "We want you to find food you really like — not just tolerate."
Koriand'r is surprised by Sarah's reaction, and opens her mouth to say something, but before she can, Sarah turns away and Gar changes the subject. She frowns unhappilyit seems to her a terrible idea to repress these obviously painful emotionsbut then, humans do seem very cold in the first place; maybe it hurts them less than a Tamaranean. They certainly seem to enjoy solitude more, or, at least, not enjoy it, because they don't seem to enjoy much, but… accept it?
This line of thoughts isn't exactly legible on her face, but the series of connections being made can at least be observed in her distant gaze and her shifting facial expressions before she snaps back to the present. "Very well, but it is not a pressing issue. Food must be consumed whether enjoyed or loathed," she observes accurately.
"Sure, but food should be something to be enjoyed more than loathed. It's one of the simple things in life that make you happy, like getting a good nights sleep or being warmed or cooled depending on the temperature. Having a shelter. A place you can call your own." Sarah notes, looking back over. Really, it's the opposite with her, she's got a rancher kid's view of not talking about painful things much combined with a sor tof social distance from not really having anyone around when she was growing up her own age until relatively recently. So just talking about such things…she doesn't know where to start, and if it hurts her, obviously talking about such things around Kori, who's had it worse from the sound of it, would just hurt her, and she doesn't want to do that so she's just going to keep her big mouth shut on subjects. Besides, she's more interested in making her teammate…or teammates, now… more comfortable. "I mean…you have thinks you enjoy doing, right? You said this planet was like a vacation, sort of, so what do you do on vacations on your world?"
Gar takes a long moment before he speaks again, trying to interpret the unhappy frown on the lovely alien's face. He can tell that there's a cultural disconnect here, and he wants to understand — but maybe now is not the time. "We'll talk more about this, alright?" he says, reaching out toward her, giving her hand a squeeze. "I'm sure we're pretty strange to you. I think we're misunderstanding something." He is pretty open about his pain in general, but he's told to repress it, or channel it into his acting, or something like that. Men are not supposed to hurt.
Touched, Kori squeezes Gar's hand back, and laughs merrily at Sarah's question. "The Earthlings of Earth are not strong enough for what I would do on vacation," she says, grinning. Her teeth are perfectly white and, perhaps oddly, not glowing. "But you are still wonderful people."
"That does make imagination run wild." Sarah says wryly. "So fun only involves doing stuff with or to other people?" she wondesr curiously, starting to set dishes in the sink to rinse off before putting them in the dishwasher as they talk.
"She clearly hasn't met the Hulk yet," Gar observes to Sarah, a little amused. "Totally from Earth," he tells Kori, "but he is the strongest there is. He'll tell you himself, I hear." He does glance at the clock though, and he looks, perhaps, a bit disappointed. "Unfortunately, I'm going to have to get going," he continues apologetically. "I will be here whenever you guys need me — and probably more than that, all things considered — but right now I have to go talk at an acting class about how to break into film." As if he has a clue. He's doing a favor for a friend. "Thank you for dinner, Sarah — and Kori, it was wonderful to meet you. I'll see you both very soon, I hope."
Koriand'r looks at Sarah, surprised. "Of course! What can you enjoy without someone to share it with?" At Gar's attempt at an exit, she nods, takes his face in her hands again, and regards him. "You are small and strange and very kind," she informs him, and looks for a moment as if she might kiss him, but doesn't. She just smiles, releases his face, and asks, "Are you leaving through the door or the window? Oh! No, don't tell me. I wish for the surprise."
5R Sarah gets an amused look at Kori's enthusiasm for the suprise. "No problem, and you're welcome, glad you enjoyed it." she says to Gar. "Come back some time when you've got a couple hours and we'll see if we can have Dr. Richards get you set up to come in and out through security the regular way. Or, you know, like a bird door thing?" she says, wrinkling her brow a bit in though. "We could probably do something like that. I mean, we probably shoudl just have a window that opens anyway considering how many people fly here…"
Gar smiles at Kori. "And you are tall and unusual, but sweet and lovely," he replies. "I'm looking forward to being a part of the team." To Sarah he nods, even as he opens the window — it's just more efficient to fly from a high place, and it tends to get him across the city faster than any car or bus. In a moment there's a green eagle on the sill. "Later, ladies!" he pronounces, and then, with an avian shriek, he's flying away to the northwest.