Summary:Gwen and MJ visit Angela and Miles at Carpenter Studios. Food is eaten, talk is talked, and plots are plotted. Also there is instagram and joy. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Already, New York is getting ready for Christmas. It really is too blasted early, but it gives Miles a chance to work on some of his music while he's working in the shop. Broom in hand, headphones on head, he's pretty much alone at the moment while Angela's getting lunch. And having the chance to be alone means he's standing upside down on the cieling while dusting off some of the fixtures.
She never cleans up there. Plucking out a feather, he rolls his eyes before tossing it in the little trashbag at his side as he hums along and sings while sweeping.
"Check it..
Check-check it out,
Joy to the world,
That I just saved.
You all can sleep soundly,
I'm always on the clock,
Vanquishing Doc Ock,
And then away I swing, Hisnd then away I swing,
And then away, away I would swing, if I could swing…"
The door opens, and into the shop wanders one Gwen Stacy; she unzips her jacket upon entering, which she's wearing over an ESU t-shirt, skirt, and boots, with her everpresent backpack slung over one shoulder. Her cellphone is tucked into a pocket inside her jacket, with the cords for a set of earbuds running up to each ear. She's busy listening to something with a lot of drums, guitar, a bit of saxaphone, and no shortage of energy.
She's also busy looking around, but not looking up, as it happens. She walks around for a moment, looking left and right, before thumbing her phone to stop the tune and pull the buds out of her ears.
"Hey, Angela?" she calls out, standing at the counter and peering towards the back area. "Miles? Either of you here?" She pauses. "The door was open, hope nobody minds that I came in!"
Angela, however, was running out for a lunch errand, and because she's not a jerk, she also got something for, "Miles! You still working? Take a break and have some lunch, I brought burgers!" She looks around, and unlike Gwen, she's a flying creature by nature. So she does look up.
And she grins, just a little bit, as she quickly says, "Hey, Gwen! What brings you here? Miles is just finishing up with some tidying in the back." Which she says loudly enough for Miles to catch, and hopefully get the hint before Gwen also notices things.
Miles, in headphones, at first didn't hear Gwen's entrance. As he swats at some cobwebs with the broom fitfully, it's Angela calling out to him that gets his attention. And then he looks down, and there's Gwen. Looking too fine for words, and then Angela's reminding him that he's currently doing his Lionel Richie impersonation and he gives a slight yelp as he releases and flips around to land on his feet.
Knocking back the 'phones, Miles shoots Gwen an easy smile. "Hey, it's Angela's favorite customer." he says with a teasing lit as he rubs a hand through his hair. Mainly to shake off some of the dust from where he was just cleaning, and Angela is announcing lunch. "Aww, yeah. Sacred Shakesauce here I come."
Gwen turns to her left, spinning around to look back towards the door, just as Miles is jumping to the ground on her right. Perfect. (At least, for Miles.) She grins at Angela, and then to Miles as well, having apparently seen absolutely nothing. Nothing!
"I certainly hope not," she replies to Miles, giving him a wink, "'Cause I haven't bought anything yet." She looks back at Angela, glancing back and forth between the two, and looking at the food Angela is bringing in. "Oh crap. I'm now that person who shows up and interupts right when there's food happening for the people who work in a place. …We used to complain about those at the Bodega on a daily basis. I can always come back later?"
Angela smiles, "No, don't worry about it… I'm a bit of a harsh taskmaster, but I like to think I'm also fair." She chuckles, and looks around the shop, liking the look of it as she hands Miles' lunch over to him. Exactly as he wanted, if not perhaps requested. Then she grins over at Gwen, "So what can I do for you Gwen? Or were you here to see Miles?" Her eyes dance a little bit in amusement as she moves to the counter with her half of the lunch. Which is pretty similar to Miles' really.
There's a roll of Miles' eyes at Angela's tease and he accepts the meal. "Come on, she's my friend." he comments with a chuckle as he moves to sit on the edge of the counter. Taking out the burger, he offers the fries to Gwen. "Never eat these things." comes the offer as the young man unwraps the burger. "Actually, I've met someone. Have a date with her next week."
There's a little shrug of his shoulders. "She's like.. a local actress or something. Has all of these instagram followers.. what did she call them.. the Watsons?'
Gwen opens her mouth to refuse the fries (afterall, it's Miles' lunch) but then he insists that he doesn't eat them. "Well, I can't pass up fries that aren't going to be eaten," she admits, and pops one in her mouth. "Thank you!" she adds, after swallowing it. "…Oh, Mary Jane? She's a friend of mine, actually, though it's been a little while. She's awesome. I hope things work out for you both." She grins at Angela, "Though, hey, I like the way you think."
"I actually did come to ask you about something, but it can definitely wait until after we've had food, yes? Especially since Miles was awesome and hooked me up with fries." She pauses. "That you paid for."
Angela chuckles, setting her lunch on the counter as she starts nibbling on the fries from the bag, "Well, he's been doing a lot of good work around here." She grins over at Gwen, "Well, spill it, what did you want to know? Might as well ask while you're here, right?" She arches a brow, looking curiously at Gwen, "After all, to the bold go the spoils."
Finally getting his burger unwrapped, when Gwen mentions MJ's name, Miles' brows rise "You know her?" he asks. "Okay, you're totally my wingman on getting me the 411 and stuff." There's a tease in his voice as he takes a chunk of a bite and chews, leaning back on the counter. "Sooooooo good." he mutters, working on swallowing down the bite instead of talking around a mouthful of food.
Thankfully the door was unlocked, Mary Jane barges in like it was home (or not), having spied the contents of the shop on her sidewalk approach. The bell rings at her entrance, and despite seeing those gathered and partaking of lunch, her mouth drops at the replicas that were on display.
And she wants every
single..
one!
Can't afford it though!
For the sake of manners, she stops and gives a wave, a near bounce with a klunky boot, waiting for the allowance to approach. "Hi guys!"
Angela looks up as MJ arrives, and grins as she recognizes the look in her eyes. She waves from behind the counter, a Shake Shack bag in front of her, from which she plucks fries to nom on. After swallowing one, she grins, "Hey there, welcome to Carpenter Studios. Something I can help you with?" She doesn't exactly recognize MJ from Instawhatsit or whatever, but there's limits to the social media she keeps up to date with.
Oh man, if all the shops. Miles taking on a job so that he could take MJ out was supposed to be a secret! How'd he know that she'd want to show up here…
…if he did, he'd probably brought her here sooner. As it stands, though, Miles was in the middle of a bite when he hears her voice and his bite is sudden, causing the burger to blow out of the bun and spill onto his lap. "Mary Jane??" he asks in confusion.
But he's digging around for napkins to clean up with. "…are you stalking me?" it's asked teasingly but he's trying to clean up after totally embarassing himself and you know, not have sauce all over his lap.
"Hi, thank you!" Mary Jane offers to Angela, finally approaching the tiny crew, hands placed in front of her. "I'm just here to see this guy." A finger jutts towards Miles, whom she stands next to and regards with a one armed hug as he cleans up. She clearly didn't mind him making a mess, but he would be messed with about it later on.
The look upon her face is serious now, as she gives a slow nod towards Miles. "I have people watching your home, your job, where you go to school.." She lets at trails off, then cracks a teeny bit of a laugh. "No. I mean. Sort of. But.. oh I don't know how I got here but I -really- don't want to leave.." Cause this place was -so- cool..
Angela grins, "I can relate to this, I don't want to leave either… wait, no, I live in the back, so I don't." She chuckles and gives MJ a wry look, and really does look like her fictional older sister. "So you're Mary Jane? Miles says quite a bit about you." Grinning a bit more, Angela goes back to her lunch, though she seems to be humming something…
(This, to be precise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApXoWvfEYVU)
Returning MJ's hug, Miles grins as he presses closer to the woman. "How's the leg, slugger?" he asks her worriedly, glancing down at the boot. "Oh wait, we did meet!" he points out. "At that party at Luke's. I had to ah.. leave early." For reasons. You know how it is. With that, he's carefully tearing the burger in half to offer the piece that he didn't take a bite out of to MJ.
"I didn't know you liked all this stuff, I'd brought you down here sooner." he points out with a chuckle.
Gwen was working up to telling Angela what she was thinking about, when as if on cue, MJ herself made an appearance in the store, as if summoned somehow by speaking her name. Like literally. So the blond girl opens her mouth, stops on the first letter, and shuts it again. After that, it seems like the safest thing to do is to wait while MJ and Miles talk, and MJ and Angela talk, and Miles and Angela talk.
There are fries, fortunately; so Gwen uses that as cover for being a complete introvert and doing what introverts absolutely do best: watch everyone else talk while she clams up.
"Need a roommate?" Mary quips back. She was totally kidding, sort of! Nodding towards Angela, she gestures at her leg. "So far so good.." Did they meet? Yup! Mary Jane wasn't going to mention it though, introductory conversations are a silent favorite of hers. As Miles offers the burger, Mary Jane takes the piece and steps to the side. It was clearly obvious where she was going. Another step, and then another, and soon she was like a cat or a small pup, attempting to lean against Gwen while she pops the bite of the burger into her mouth, muttering.. "Mmhmm.."
Once she swallows, she elaborates. "For the movie I'm working on soon. Has medieval weaponry innit. I think."
Angela grins over at MJ, "Well, if they need props made, I can definitely manage something… and well, I do pride myself on being authentic." She ahs, "Yes, you were at the party at Luke's bar, with Miles. Sad that you had to leave before I performed a bit of karaoke. That was fun, something I don't get to do too much of." She glances curiously at Gwen as the blonde grows a bit quiet, but doesn't say anything about it since… well, some people just don't want to talk too often.
Gwen's silence didn't bother MJ. They did go to school together after all! So if she could, she'd snake an arm around her to hug her tight, and move away to give her space. "Actually, do you mind?" She asks of Angela. "I read a tiny bit of the script and it looks like there's going to be a massive battle. I know the production company hasn't picked anyone for those sort of logistics just yet, so…" Well, she did offer, so of course she didn't mind!
But she does remember that night, albeit briefly. The redhead sitting next to the hulking big guy who seemed like her best friend! "I wish we could have seen it, I love watching people sing. Brings a bit of joy, you know?
Angela nods at MJ, "Well, I do love to express myself, particularly with singing. It's something I've done for… a while, really." She chuckles, lips curving in a smile, "As far as supplies go… well, I can definitely help with props if needed, within limits." She shrugs a bit, "I mean, iit's just me, and now Miles, but he's not trained as a blacksmith so he couldn't really do too much to help with the prop production."
Gwen is sufficiently surprised by the hug that she drops a fry. "Oh, oops!" she manages to wrap an arm around MJ to return the hug before the other girl pulls back; and then she tries to figure out where the fry went. …Totally can't do it, it's been eaten by the floor or a counter or a really hungry suit of armor, or something. It's just gone, so she sheepishly gives up.
"I, uhh, was wondering about props as well, actually," she finally admits. At least, the elusive Gwen reveals her purpose. "But, not for like, movies or anything, just for me. I was wondering how hard I'd have to save, to commission a sword from you." She pauses, and blushes softly. "I, uhh, have a particular one in mind."
"I wish I could. I sound like a drowned rat. If I do kareoke no one would be my friend anymore." She was serious. But since she doesn't know much about the production of her own movie, she would be sure that she could show a few pieces to the director to get his guile. And.. like any oddball teenager, she wipes her hands along her sides to pull out her phone. "Mind if I take a few pictures?"
It was Gwen's turn to speak her business, and after the hug, she grins towards the young lady and sets about taking pictures of the replicas around the shop. But she lingers close enough to listen. Christmas -was- coming up, and she finally had enough money to buy something for all of her friends..
Angela nods over towards MJ, "Sure, go ahead." She then smiles over at Gwen, "Oh, something specific? What did you have in mind?" She looks somewhat curious, as her interest is definitely peaked by Gwen's request.
Gwen is pretty darn sharp about a lot of things. When it comes to MJ's plans, however, she's totally oblivious, as per usual. When Angela asks what she's after, she blushes softly, and pulls out her phone. "Uhh, this," she mumbles, unlocking the phone (biometrics and everything) and pulls up a picture of a cartoon character. "It's the new She-Ra," she admits. "And, y'know, I've never done the whole cosplay thing before, but I thought if I'm gonna try it, this is the most awesome character I've seen in a while. Also, her sword is super cool."
Scoooooore! Now all MJ has to do is go home and watch She-Ra! And stay off of Instagram! It was MJ's turn to be a quiet introvert, now her fingers were moving at a rapid fire pace, the tiny click-click sounds eminating from her phone. And she was still, totally listening.
Angela grins, "I like it! I don't watch too much television, but I do catch that on Netflix when I can. Bit worried that Catra might be a bit too hard to redeem, though. Every series does need an antagonist, though, so there is that." She smiles a bit, "I think I can definitely manage that for you. Once I figure out what materials I need, I'll give you a quote on how much it would be to craft."
"Right?"
Gwen throws her hands up in front of her, just after tucking her phone away again. "I mean we all knew Catra was gonna be Adora's nemesis, but I always feel for her. She was always stuck playing second fiddle, never valued by anyone except her one friend who switched sides. So I mean… I know she's the 'bad guy' — or… 'bad girl' — but I really do want her to get redeemed."
Holy crap, spoilers Gwen. On the plus side, while she has noticed that MJ has retreated into her phone, she doesn't suspect that anything is 'afoot'. Afterall, for pretty much anyone of similar age to either her or her friend, sudden bursts of phone activity are nothing suspicious.
Spoooillleerssss!
MJ wasn't mad though! She still had to watch it! At least to see what Gwen was talking about. She was going to slip a nice little letter to Angela, quite possibly close to Christmas time, footing the entire bill for it all and it would be glorious! And anonymous! In fact, two birds one stone. Mary Jane was in the process of promoting Angela's business. Her phone usage gets totally absurd as she turns away from the ladies to lift her phone, fixing her hair in the camera as she angles herself in the perfect position to snap a few pictures for Instagram. Hashtag, Carpenter. Hashtag, Medieval Life. Hashtag, You'd look good in metal.
Angela wasn't born yesterday, after all… in fact, she was born about as far from yesterday as you can manage, so glances between Gwen and MJ and does some mental math. Then she grins, "Yeah, it'll be interesting to see where they go with it from here. Can't wait for the new season." She nods at Gwen, "And you might just secure a bit of a discount with that fandom. But don't tell anyone else, I have a reputation as a tough negotiator." She smirks a bit, obviously joking about that.
Gwen clutches a hand over her heart, "I would never tell a soul. Also, you're a wonderful person and I appreciate you." She blushes softly, tugging on the strap of her backpack over her shoulder. …And then her phone notifies her of several Instragam posts from someone she watches, so she looks, and has her hunch proven correct. "…One second," she murmurs, looking at her phone and adjusting her own hair before replying with a picture of her own. Hashtag, Warrior Princess.
"Oh.. this is good.." MJ takes one last picture, this time a motion capture; in execution she looks really dumb. But on video, the repeated movement looks great! Once she was done, she heads towards the counter top where Miles had taken his leave, and continues to putz around on her phone. "Carpenters is totally going to be trending. I also sent out an email with pictures to the director. Hopefully he's not too busy.."
Yup, Instagram was blowing up, Gwen's picture gets a heart and a quick little comment. 'Rock on!' So 80's! Hashtag Warrior Princess Rocks!
Angela smiles and poses over Gwen's shoulder, then chuckles a bit, "I suppose that means I need to have some sort of social media… um, thing. I might have to put Miles to work on that, since he's my paid intern and all that." She chuckles and looks over at MJ, "And thank you for the word of mouth, I do appreciate it."
Which is when the laptop on the counter starts dinging with incoming messages, causing Angela to blink, "Wow, that's pretty fast…"
Gwen chuckles softly. "Well, yes," she replies, "That was fast, even for word of mouth on the internet." She pauses, glancing back at MJ, "Unless you're talking about Mary Jane Watson, in which case that was just above average. She's always fast. Insanely fast." She looks back down at her phone, to see she got a heart and a comment. That's usuually about all she gets so that's good in her books. "You might be about to get a lot more busy, Angela."
Yup, Angela's life was just about to get more interesting. Sales will probably and most definitely go up. More exposure, though the bad side? MJ really didn't know. In fact, she hopes there wasn't a bad side. Not to mention, commenting on Gwen's picture may just get her looked at too, but Gwen was a very pretty girl! Why not be a model! That's a conversation for another day!
"It's no problem. Anything to help us stick together, you know? It's a bad world sometimes and I just want people to be happy." A childish notion, but it really, really was sincere!
But MJ kinda wrinkles her nose with a smile, then holds up her phone. "I'm going to be like a superhero for uh.." She stops her pose, thinks.. and shrugs. "Stuff!" She'd cackle, because phones were the new guns and social media the ammo. She's quick draw Watson!
"Ok ok. I have to get back home before they come looking for me. I left my scooter and people will get fussy." She gestures at her leg. "Let's catch up ladies? And get coffee soon?" And more gift ideas…
Angela grins, "Sounds good, Mary Jane Watson. Don't worry, I won't overwork Miles too much with all the business that appears to be coming in." She chuckles, and nods at the mention of coffee, "Coffee sounds good, and perhaps we can do some karaoke too, the nearby coffeehouse has open mic nights… and I do love to express myself that way." She smiles warmly at Gwen and MJ, "Now, I think I need to review commission requests."