2020-05-07 - When Luke met Carol

Summary:

Carol stops by Luke's to test her will, ends up getting a laugh out of it.

Log Info:

Storyteller: None
Date: Thu May 7 23:21:13 2020
Location: Luke's

Related Logs

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Theme Song

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carol-danversluke-cage

It's been a long few weeks for Carol. Things were going pretty well in her life, all things considered. And then…

Brunnhilde left.

No note. No anything, really. But Carol took it like a champ! Mainly by taking advantage of the fact that her powers keep her from getting too badly affected by sitting in the apartment and having Haagen Daz… but hey, no one else has to know that!

In any event, she's decided to test her willpower. Which, for someone recovering like herself, is coming to a bar. So she walks into the bar, dressed rather casually in her flight jacket and T-shirt and jeans, and meanders over towards the bar. Looking at the bottles behind the bar, she steels herself a bit, then says.

"Diet Coke, with Lime. Please." And she smiles, though it's a bit of a forced gesture. A smile isn't really something she's feeling right now.

"One Diet Coke with a lime coming up," the large black man behind the counter says as he reaches for a glass to fulfill the order. Luke glances over at Carol, a smile plastered onto his own face but one that is much more genuine. "You look like a woman with something on her mind. You here for free therapy, or do you just want to be left alone?" asks the bartender as he slide the cup of coke with lime up onto the bar top in front of Carol. "I've got ears if you want to talk. Don't even have to listen if you don't want me to."

Carol smiles a little more genuinely at that, "Yeah, it is pretty obvious, isn't it?" She chuckles, "Girlfriend left me, just came home from work one day and poof. Her stuff's gone and just a note saying she's moving on." She sighs and shrugs a little as she grins up at Luke, "Not sure how much you want to hear, but I definitely wouldn't mind talking." A bit of a shrug, at that, as she hmmms a bit.

"So, yeah, considering I've had some… problems, with the wagon, I wanted to come here and make sure I could keep myself from falling off. If that makes sense."

Luke Cage winces a bit, "And for that, your drink is on the house. Nobody deserves to be ghosted like that. If you are going to leave, at least be man, or woman, enough to do it face to face." Luke wipes down the bar in front of him and places and elbow onto the counter to rest on it. "I'm all ears, and now that I know you are in the program I won't let you do something you regret."

Carol grins, "At least as far as booze is concerned." She chuckles, "Thanks, I appreciate it. Was pretty much a hot mess for a while there when I was drinking, in all the worst ways." She hmms, "I mean, we were together for several months, and I thought… well, I thought we were really tight. We had some bad times, but we got through them and were stronger for it. Never felt that way about a woman, or hell, a man, before." She gives Luke a wry look, "And then, yeah, poof. That was… harsh. I still can't quite wrap my head around it."

Luke Cage nods. "As far as booze is concerned. Any other regrets are still on the table." Luke says with a grin and a wink. "Sounds rough. No reason or idea why she left at all, huh? That is the worst. You don't even know why. At least most the time you have an idea it is coming. Fights, or arguments or lack of intimacy…but it doesn't sound like that was happening."

Carol sighs, "No, nothing like that. Only thing I can think of is… well, I was trying to get her to join me where… where I work." She shrugs a bit, looking kinda familiar, though she hasn't given her name yet. Of course, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel isn't normally seen in her civilian clothes either. At least with her public persona being what it is.

So, she sighs, "Yeah, it's not the worst break up I've had, but it's definitely the strangest. Wish I knew why, but…" She raises her glass to Luke, "Thanks."

Luke Cage nods, eyeing the blonde a bit more as she hesitates about her work. As recognition dawns on him, his brows shoot up a bit but he manages to hold his surprise in check. "Of course, Captain." is all he says to indicate he has an idea who she is. "So, this work…guess she didn't think it was up her alley? Still, not a reason to ghost someone. Dick move, that."

Carol makes a face at Luke, sticking her tongue out at him in a very un-Captain Marvel-like gesture. "Carol works, honestly. And yeah, I was trying to get her on the Avengers. She would've been pretty good at it, too, if she… if she wanted to be." She sighs a bit, shaking her head.

Luke Cage nods. "Carol it is. I'm Luke." Luke says as he offers over his hand in greeting. He doesn't hold back on the squeeze, knowing she can take it. Hell, she can probably break HIS hand. "Welcome to Luke's. I have a saying about people that stick their tongues out at me, but since I don't want my ass kicked to the moon I think I will refrain, just this once."

Carol shakes the offered hand, and grins warmly, matching the strength as she looks… suitably impressed, "Well, Luke, looks like you got a few skills yourself." She smiles, giving him a friendly look, "Alright, I'll be good. Mostly. But you earned it the once for calling me Captain." With that, she actually tosses him a wink, the conversation putting her in a better mood it seems. "Nice place, I've been by here before but don't think I've ever had a chance to come in."

Luke Cage says, "I've got my own skills, sure, but ain't no way I am in your class, lady. You could kick my ass from here to the moon and back without breaking a sweat." Luke says with a chuckle, "But I do my part. I at least try to, around here anyway." The big man shrugs his shoulders, "Well, I'm glad you came in. You should show up for the ribs sometime. I serve a mean plate of ribs and all the fixings." Pause, "You don't have to be good on my account. I am the one that has to behave here. As I said, I don't want you kicking my ass.""

Carol chuckles, "Geez, unless you start cackling about world domination, I'm pretty sure kicking your ass isn't on my agenda, Luke." She gives him a friendly smile, "Seriously, relax. I'm just a woman who had her life turned upside down and just needs a few safe drinks and someone to listen. And well… you seem like a good enough guy to let me do that." Her lips quirk a bit, "The others… they don't really get it, I mean… I've got friends there, but it isn't the same thing."

Luke Cage grins. "Fair enough, Carol. My usual line when someone sticks their tongue out at me is 'Don't stick that out unless you intend to use it.'" Luke does take a step back from the Avenger, just in case. "But no, no plans on world domination." The bartender grins, pulling out a glass of his own from behind the bar to sip at his water. "So, tell me Carol, what does it take to be an Avenger anyway?

Carol grins, "Be neither cruel, nor cowardly. Never give up, never give in." She hmms, "I think that's the best way to describe it, really. I mean, some of the best of us haven't had any powers at all, so it's not like you need those to do the job."

Then she gives Luke a bit of a sly grin, "Oh, I can use it, Luke. Trust me." She laughs at that, then finishes the diet coke that she was given, sliding the glass back towards him for a refill.

Luke Cage says, "Sounds like a saying I heard in a movie once. Never give up, never surrender. That was a good movie, I should see if I can figure out what that was and watch it again sometime." Luke exclaims, taking another sip of water…one he almost chokes on as Carol continues. "Oh, of this I have no doubt." he says with a grin as he pulls the soda gun from under the counter to refill the cup. "But I got you to laugh, which is a good turn around from when you came in here today, so I would say my mission is accomplished.""

Carol laughs, "Yeah, you did. And I'll take it, gladly." She mmms, feeling a bit more like her normal self as she just relaxes, feeling more at ease than she has the past few weeks. "You're definitely setting a flight plan for a good tip, I can tell you that much."

Luke Cage says, "Hey, it's what I do." says Luke with a shrug. "I listen, and if I can I try to help make the people in here a little bit happier than when they came in. I've had a lot of practice. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but I try never the less. Glad I could be of service."

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