2020-01-19 - Heroes, Powers, and Corndogs

Summary:

Carrin runs into Gwen, and the two talk about super powers and heroing over corndogs.

Log Info:

Storyteller: None
Date: Sun Jan 19 08:57:59 2020
Location: A Corndog Place

Related Logs

None

Theme Song

None

gwen-stacycarin-taylor

It's hella cold.

Waaaaay too cold to go for a proper run, save for short distances in her usual costume. Which is an issue, because her clothes can be a bit damaged at full speed otherwise, but not having a hoodie, and being bundled up in a proper cap and earmuffs in New YOrk winter weather is just nooooot something Carin ever wants to do.

So she's trudging along, taking short sprints rather than zippin along the street as normal dodging between cars. Because it's nice to get into the city and, you know…do stuff. Because the school is nice and all, but she doesn't know a lot of people there and really most are in different classes, and she's super frustrated at being constantly BEHIND and uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh.

Only one thing can help with that, and that is a proper corn dog, she has decided.

So she's making her way over to where a review said one of the best places in town is, and hoping she's not going to freeze her butt off on the way.


It's very cold out here, as has been mentioned. It's also rather late at night; and predictably, Gwen is doing the super-hero thing, even when it's, well, really cold. Apparently criminals don't stop for weather so she can't either. Her spider-suit and lots of physical activity don't completely keep the could out, either, so she's wearing a denim jacket with a fleece liner over top of her onesy. And that helps, without being bulky, but it's still cold.

Apparently, one cannot fight crime on an empty stomach either; so after finishing the last snack she had in her backpack, the black and white spider is busy webslinging her way across town to one of the best corndog places in town. No, it's not the Bodega she worked at for years. Actually, it's not a Bodega at all, it's somewhere considerably better, if she could just remember the name of it.

Oh well, she's gotr the location in mind, at least; so she swings around a corner, lets go of her webline, does a triple summersault in the air, and lands on her feet on the sidewalk.

And immediately throws her hands up for balance and skids twenty feet on the ice, coming to a stop right in front of the door.


The problem with a hoodie is, when deployed, the hood dooooes tend to cut off your peripheral vision. Therefore, Carin, who's just arrive dat the door, totally doesn't see the spider heroine land…or her pratfall, or really realize she's in the line of fire right until Gwen performs a perfect sliding takedown of the other girl by knocking her off her feet as she yelps and goes down in a tumble to end up in a Gwenpile. "Ack!"

Annnnd then Gwen has a Carin landing on top of her, throwing out her arms to try and catch herself, then her palms promptly slipping on the ice as she headbutts Gwen's chest and rebounds to end up sort of sprawled across her, blinking dazedly.


Normally, Gwen's dangersense warns her about these sorts of experiences, and she can do something like y'know, not be in the way of it. Is it possible that Carrin just moves faster than her dangersense can account for? Is that possible? Why're you asking Gwen? She has no idea how it works.

"…That could've gone better for both of us," the spider comments, before extricating herself from the mess she has found herself, and bouncing back up to her feet, unwilling to let a couple of missteps ruin her day it seems, given the cheerful nature in her voice. She extends a hand down to Carrin, and plants the other on her hip. "I'd tell you to watch where you're going or say something else typically New York, but I'm pretty sure that was at least half my fault anyway. No bruises I hope?"


Carin sits up, blinking as she shakes her head to clear it, then peers up. UP close, you can tell that, yes, you CAN tell really well if there are bruises..that alabaster skin is going to show every mark. Like the little pink mark on her forehead at the moment, that definitely contrasts with the big green lightning bolt down the right side of her face and the spill of coppery red hair poking out from under her cap. "Y-yeah, I'm okay…" she says, taking the hand and trying to get to her feet with all the grace of a newborn fawn as her legs wobble a bit. "It's really slippery!" Yes, she realizes this is stupid obvious after she says it, with only makes her get a bit more flustered. "Um, sorry, I usually get out of the way in time…"


Gwen pulls Carrin up to her feet, and is gracious enough to hold on until she has her feet under her again. Gwen, for her part, seems to be fine, now that she isn't party to two people running into each other.

"Don't worry about it," she replies. "Like I said, pretty sure at least half of it was my fault. …Hope those bruises don't hurt too much," she adds. The spider shrugs lightly, and clasps her hands behind her back, once it's safe to do so. "I was just gonna grab a corndog or two. Wanna come join me?"


Carin blinks in suprise. "Uh….sure?" she says, a little shyly. "If you want, that'd be cool. Is this place good, I've never been here, but I heard it was good an' stuff, so I figured I'd try it out but no one else wanted ta go so I went by myself so uh…y-yeah…" She cuts off her motormouth when she realizes she's starting to babble. "Uh, I'm Carin?" she says, reaching over to open the door for Gwen. There's a definite Chicagoland accent to her voice when she talks.


"Spider-Woman," replies Gwen, just as cheerfully, grinning behind her mask. "And yes, this place is pretty great. They do a decent variety of fast food, but their corndogs are pretty top notch, all things considered. Way better than anything you'll get at a Bodega."

Kids these days. No brand loyalty.

"Good selection of soda, too," she adds, as she darts inside and stops to hold the door open for Carrin in turn. "Good to meet you, Carrin. You're relatively new to New York, if you don't mind me making a guess?"


"Well, like a year now, I think…" Carin seems to be bouncing back pretty quickly from meeting a superheroine as she silps in after, stamping her feet a bit on the entrance mat to get rid of some of the ice and snow on her shoes. "I mean, I kinda…uh, ended up here, then ended up goin' ta school here, so…yeah. I mean, nearby, nto in the city itself, but I had to get out an' do stuff, y'know?" she says, smiling a bit at Spidergirl.


"I completely understand. I was born and raised in New York, and I've never lived anywhere else, so I can only imagine what you're going through from moving." She shrugs lightly, and waits for Carrin to be all the way inside before letting the door swing shut behind her — not fast enough to slam, of course.

There's no lineup, so Gwen just walks up to the counter, and holds up two fingers. "Two corndogs, please," she requests in a cheerful tone, "Aaaaaand… a Lime Coke!"


Carin muses to hesrelf it would be nice if she remembered previous stuff like that. 'Ah, well, you'd be, um, suprised about how quick you can get used to things." she says, following Gwen up, then says. "Um, same for me, and a Coke Zero?" The girl behind the counter grins. "Sure, coming right up. This together or separate?"


"All together, I got it." Gwen pulls a few bills out of a jacket pocket, and provides them to the lady behind the counter. "Keep the change, too," she adds.

With that done, Gwen turns to face Carrin while she leans against the counter, and looks the other girl up and down. "Never could quite get into Coke Zero," she admits, "But hey, you drink what you like, yes?" She chuckles softly. "Actually, I wouldn't be quite as surprised as you think. I wasn't born with super powers, I sorta… got 'em by surprise. Pretty much overnight when it happened. When I went to bed, I was just plain 'ol me, the next day I was… a lot different." She perks an eyebrow upwards, making the corresponding eye on her mask get bigger. "I'm guessing you've had a similar experience?"


Carin makes a face. "I'm more a Diet Pepsi girl, Zero used to taste kinda like that…now it just tastes like Diet Coke pretty much. So I'm kinda expecting they're gonna close down the line after they've got everyone used to it tasting the same so they don't lose people but they can, like, use the same formula." She shrugs a bit. "The sugar makes me jumpy though otherwise."

She tilts her head, listening then says slowly. "Uh…w-well….sorta." She hesistates, then inwardly says 'fuck it'. If anyone can get it, it seems like this girl might, right? "I don't remember." She taps her head lightly. "Some people sorta kidnapped me…and messed with my memories. I can't remember a lot. I'm pretty sure I had powers when I was younger, y'know? But…I don't remember hardly any of it. Really, nothing's been clear save maybe the last year or so since some people got me out."


"Well, if you ever think you're gonna have trouble with those people again, I can promise you that either I or any of the other Spiders will all help you out," Gwen replies in a solemn tone of voice. "That's what we do, afterall. Don't ever be shy about asking us for help."

Corndogs and soda don't take long to serve up; Gwen takes the tray in one hand, and glances about for a seat. …Which is easy, since she and Carrin are literally the only customers in here at this hour. So, she just meanders over to the nearest table, and plops down in a seat.

"Bon apettite," she offers as she claims her Lime Coke and picks up a corndog. She lifts her mask up just above her lips — showing pale skin and no lipstick — and takes a big bite out of the dog. "Mmm. Delicious."


Carin take hers, pausing to put a huge glob of ketchup in one of the hot dog containers, then walks over to sit down across from Gwen. Apparently for her, hot dogs exist for dipping in ketchup liberally, though she take sthat first bite a bit more carefully…still hot! "Mmm, fuck that's good…." she breathes out happily, then looks suprised. "…thanks. I appreciate it. Um, they're called AIM. It's like…it stands for ADvanced Idea Mechanics, I think. Or whatever the hell they want to twist it into." she says with a frown. "I still got a implant thing in my head from it."


"…I have absolutely no experience with implants, except that I know they're definitely not cool if it's done to someone without their permission," Gwen replies, before taking another bite. "I'll watch out for these AIM people. If I hear anything, well, I'll just… keep an eye out for you and let you know, Carrin." The spider shrugs her shoulders lightly. "I'm glad you escaped, though. And I'm sorry all of that happened to you. What do you think you're going to do next?"


"WEll, I mean, it's /kinda/ cool." Carin admits. "It's like having a smartphone in my head, kinda. Can see stuff on my eyes, pictures an' stuff, respond to calls in my head….if it hadn't been for the whole 'screw you, memories!' thing, it wouldn't be too bad." She shrugs slightly. "Well…I'm with the people who helped me, they gotta school that I'm attending, to kinda try to catch up." She frowns. "I mean, I get the feelign I wasn't the greatest in school to begin with, but forgettin' everything through high school reaaaaaaally sucks." She sighs. "So I'm constantly playin' catchup to everyone else, feels like."


Gwen polishes off the first corndog with two more bites. The girl can eat, certainly. She leans back in her seat, and points the de-corndogged stick at Carrin for a couple of seconds. "Life isn't a race," she says at last. "I don't dispute that it sucks, but… I don't think you should feel like you have to be catching up to everyone else? Just let it happen at the pace you can manage, it sounds like you've got more than enough to be stressed out about already."

The Spider picks up her Lime Coke and gulps down about a third of it through the straw. "The Implant sounds like it could be pretty darn cool, aside from the memories thing," she agrees. "And if the people who helped rescue you are looking after you, that sounds like you're in a good situation right now?"


Carin mmms, then says soberly. "I'm pretty sure this is the best my life has ever been, actually. From what little I've remembered, it seems like it sucked pretty hardcore." She smiles a little. "So, yeah, I know, I just…gotta keep moving forward, right? Figure out what to do now."


"You don't have to rush it," Gwen points out. "Even if you are a speedster. You are a speedster, right? I'm guessing that's what it's all about for you." She slurps up another bit of soda, and picks up her second corndog. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, by the way, I know that's a pretty personal question and I don't want to be rude, or pry." She shrugs, and takes a big bite off the corndog. "I'm going to University, with no idea what I'm going to do afterwards just yet. …Right now I'm just glad I need a lot less sleep since getting super powers, so I can manage to super-hero and study at the same time."


Carin is rapidly finishing off her hot dog….and obviously forcing herself to stop and taste it. She seems like the sort who's used to gobbling her food down quickly. "Well…yeah, what gave it away? The huge lightning bolt? I could throw green lighthing or something." Carin says amusedly, then tilts her head. "You're gonna try to have a life and be a cape too?" she says curiously. "But not, like an Avenger or something like that?"


"Everyone's got a life," Gwen answers. "Just… question is, what sorta life is it? I still want to do my post-secondary, sure. I'd like to get a masters, maybe even a doctorate. If I'd decided to give it all up and dedicate myself to nothing but heroing, join the Avengers if they'd have me… Well, that'd be just as legit, I guess." she shrugs, and waggles her bitten corndog around in the air. "I didn't ask for powers, and I never planned on being a superhero, it just… sorta happened. But I'm still me, I'm still the same girl I was before, just… now I can climb walls and throw cars. And I kinda like being independant, y'know? The Avengers probably aren't a great fit for me, or me for them." She demolishes another large bite off her corndog.

"So the question you've gotta answer, eventually, is what do you want your life to be? 'cause I'm pretty sure it isn't always gonna be 'girl on the run from bad people'. You deserve more, Carrin."


":Dunno if I"m smart enough to do the college thing." Carin says doubtfully, but she frowns in thought, considering it. "I dunno, I mean…AIM, they wanted to turn me into some sort of psycho cyborg soldier who would just kill anything they pointed at. I don't really like fighting a lot. I mean…I don't wanna fight most times, I'd rather run away. It's what I'm used ta doing." She sighs. "I got nothing but respect for someone like you who goes out there and fights bad guys and criminal sand does crazy things to save people, I dunno if I could do that. If I could be…brave, you know?"


"Hey," Gwen replies, after destroying what remained of her corndog and dropping the stick like a defeated enemy. "Don't worry about any of that. Something that a friend of mine made clear right up front is that having super-powers does not obligate you to be a superhero. I'm doing it because… I can't not." She picks up her pop for a quick gulp. "But I will tell you, being brave isn't about not being scared. I'm scared most nights. I'm scared all the time, courage is just about doing what you gotta do even though you're scared." She shrugs lightly, "But you're not obligated to do anything you don't feel you want to do."


Carin mms, pulling the last bit of her second corndog off the stick and popping it in her mouth to chew and swallow, those emerald green eyes meeting Gwen's as she considers her words. "…I'm scared all the time too. But I don't want anyone to be hurt cuz of me. Or because I didn't do somethin', I guess." she says slowly. "I just…I'm afraid I'm gonna mess things up worse."


"Things happen," Gwen quietly acknowledges. "You can't account for everything any more than anyone else can. Being a hero isn't always about succeeding. I'll be honest, usually it's about doing everything you can, sometimes doing a little more than you thought you could, and trying to work out how to live with what you couldn't do." She shrugs lightly, "I'm sure any cop out there would say the same. You just do your best, and that's all you can do. …Same as any other job."


The redhead leans back in her chair a bit, frowning to herself a little. "…okay." she says finally, nodding slightly. "Wow, you're good at this stuff." She smiles a little. "The best I can do, huh? I guess I gotta…start somewhere, right?"


Gwen snorts, and shakes her head. "Got at it? I'm still a newby. I haven't had superpowers for even a full year yet." She shakes her head, "You only gotta start if you want to, Carrin. But sometimes… Well, sometimes what happens, honestly, is someone just needs your help. And it'll be you who can save them, and only you, and nobody's going to do it for you, and… and you're just a good person so you just do it."


Carin fidgets a bit, then sips from her drink, looking thoughtful now. "…okay." she says again, shifting forward in her chair a bit. "It seems too simple almost…" she admits. "But…I guess it really is alla that, isn't it? Just…doing something cuz someone needs help." She mmms. "Seems hella easy, but…I'm guessin' it gets tricky in practice, sometimes?"


"The principle is simple," Gwen acknowledges. "Actually doing it… I dunno. Sometimes it feels pretty cut and dry, like… you see someone getting mugged, you just stop the mugger. But sometimes it's… really hard to figure out what to do, and it's not like you can phone a friend for advice most of the time."

Gwen picks up her soda and basically annihilates the rest of it, before lobbing the empty cup into the garbage can at the far wall. "I dunno if I'll ever call myself 'good at it'. I just do the best I can." She pauses, long enough to pull her mask back down over her chin. "Being a hero isn't about powers. You don't have to have them. The only thing a hero does differently from everyone else is running towards danger instead of away from it."


Carin tilts her head, then smiles a bit. "I'll remember that." she says. "Um, hey…here…" She gets out a pen and scrawls a number on a napkin, then offers it to Gwen. "If you ever need speed for somethin'? And…I did have a code name. I mean, it's kinda silly but…they called me Velocity, before. So..um. Yeah. Thanks for the talk, it really helped." She smiles. "Good lucky heroing?"


Gwen takes the napkin, and tucks it away in a jacket pocket. "Thank you!" she replies. "I uhh… don't have a cellphone number I can give out without giving up my real name, yet, but I'm workin' on that." She shrugs, as she rises from her seat. "And Velocity is cool. It is definitely not more silly than Spider-Woman." She giggles softly, and shakes her head. "See you round, Velocity. You're a good person."

And with that, the young heroine walks back out into the street, and there's a soft 'thwip' as she's webslinging off to the next hangup.


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