Summary:Carol make her way back to Luke's for more conversation Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Afternoon is usually slower at Luke's. There is a period of time between lunch and happy hour that the bar sits relatively empty of customer, and this is when Luke tends to do the maintenance around the tavern. At this moment, Luke is up on a ladder towards the back of the tavern with his head up above the ceiling tiles, working on something in the crawlspace that sits above.
Well, normally Carol wouldn't be out this way for lunch, but she was handling a bit of HYDRA trouble is the area, and… well, it is about that time. And to be honest, she liked coming in the other night and having a good vent and talk.
So Carol walks in, wearing a USAF shirt under her trademark leather jacket, along with her normal jeans. She glances up at Luke, "Hey, this a bad time?" She grins up towards Luke, head tilting slightly.
Poking his head down from the hole in the ceiling, Luke looks towards Carol, "Oh, hey Carol. No, not at all. Just fixing the light fixture up here. I'll be with you in a moment." He pokes his head back up into the hole, his voice muffled he continues, "Let me guess, one diet coke with lime? I'll have that for you in a sec."
One thing about being nigh-invulnerable is that you don't worry to much about things like shutting off the electricity when working with wiring. There is a bit of a sizzle sound and the lights dim ever so slightly as Luke works.
"Damnit…Carol, I hate to ask, but can you hand me the electrical tape? I left it down there. It's in the box by the ladder."
Carol chuckles, "Yeah, need a hand up there? I'm pretty good with circuits… majored in electrical engineering at the Academy." She picks up the electrical tape, then casually flies up towards Luke, giving him a wry grin as she hands it over, "And here ya go." Tiny light motes play around her as she channels her powers, showing off a bit perhaps.
Luke Cage says, "Showoff," Luke says with a grin as he takes the tape from her. From her new vantage point she can see Luke has two live wires twisted together in the fingers of his other hand, completing the circuit to the broken light. Looks like it might have gotten chewed through by a rat or some other kind of urban blight. Using his teeth, he grips one end of the tape and tries to pull off a piece. "I suppose I could use and extra set of hands. Want to tape this thing while I hold it?""
Carol grins, "Alright, can do…" She sticks her head and arms into the hole, taking the tape back as she pulls off a piece, "Here, hold it steady, Luke." Nice thing about her powers is that she's just hovering in the air as she tapes the held pieces of wire together, "When's the last time you had an electrician in here to check the place?"
Luke Cage releases the live wires and the lights brighten a bit as the flow of the electricity isn't arching though his body. "Thanks." He maneuvers in the tight quarters to look at Carol with a grin. "Honestly, it's probably due. Who knows what has been crawling up here. I try to keep things tidy, but this is New York. I might have mutant rats or some giant cockroaches or something else equally as disturbing. So, diet coke?"
Carol grins, her face right next to Luke's for a second as she says, "With lime, sure." She then floats back down and out of the way, so Luke can get back down. Settling for an easy landing on the floor, she does hold the ladder safely, since… well, she isn't exactly sure what his powers are, just that he has 'em. Best to not take any chances.
Luke Cage chuckles, crawling down the ladder and brushing his hands off on his jeans. "With lime."
Leaving the ladder where it is, Luke makes his way back to the bar and slips behind it to wash his hands and prep the Diet Coke (with lime). "That going to do it for you, Carol, or were you in the mood for some food as well?"
Carol grins, "Lunch was definitely on my mind, Luke… what would you recommend?" She chuckles, "I have the rest of the afternoon off, since I busted a HYDRA cell working out of a warehouse a few blocks down. Speaking of cockroaches… they keep coming up like them, I swear."
Luke Cage says, "Ribs." Luke says without any hesitation. "I'll get you a plate of ribs and fixin's. If you don't mind getting your hands dirty that is. I'll give you a wetwipe." he adds with a grin. "Hydra? Those dicks still hanging around? How many times do you guys wipe those dudes out on a daily basis to just have them pop up again. This hero job you guys do seems sometimes fruitless at times.""
Carol chuckles, "Eh, someone's gotta do it, But yeah, they really do like to live for that 'cut off one head two more will take its place' nonsense." She grins at Luke, "And I don't mind getting a little dirty, so yeah, let's do ribs with the fixins. If it's really good I might have to bring over some friends." Well, they can't do schwarma ALL the time, contrary to what Tony thinks.
Luke Cage's eyes open a little wide when Carol mentions bringing over her friends. "Uh, yeah. That'll be cool. Good publicity at any rate. As long as your friends don't trash my place. I'll be right back."
Luke slips into the back kitchen area for a few minutes, leaving Carol to her own devices while he preps her lunch. A few minutes later he returns with a plate of ribs, cornbread, greens, beans, and mashed taters which he places down in front of Carol. "Here ya go. Enjoy. BY the by, thanks for coming back. Feeling any better?"
Carol grins, "Yeah, feeling a lot better. Just needed to talk about things, I think." She chuckles, "And hey, we tend to be pretty well behaved… well, okay, Thor can be a bit out of control, but he means well." When she sees the plate, she mmmms in satisfaction, "Okay, that looks great. Smells great too." She chuckles, "And thanks for listening, Luke. I really do appreciate it."
Luke Cage says, "As I said, it's my job." Luke says as he starts to wipe the countertop down with a towel. "Bartenders are nothing but cheaply paid therapists without all the fancy schooling," he jokes, "But I'm always happy to help. You're welcome anytime. Hell, you don't even have to order anything. Word gets out that an Avenger in here is going to boost the walk-ins. Not that I would be so bold as to slap the down on adverts or anything. You are all just people too and deserve your privacy.""
Carol smiles, "Alright, well, I don't take any responsibility if Kang shows up to wreck the place if we're here." She gives Luke a bit of a wry look, "Don't worry though, we have a Platinum Damage Control account." She finishes off the lunch with… well, a bit of surprising speed. Look, cosmic powers mean cosmic hunger, at least she's not eating stars or anything. Just ribs and fixins.
Luke Cage says, "If Kang shows up to wreck the place while your here, he isn't going to just have to deal with the Avengers, he is going to have to fuckin' deal with me." Luke says with a narrowing of his eyes. "I might look all sweet, but give my place a hard time and you will see just how spicy I can be." As if to set the point, Luke slams his fist into his palm sending out a minor shockwave. He watches Carol eat and grins, "Do I need to go get a second plate?""
Carol laughs, "Nah, but it is pretty good." She blinks a bit at the shockwave, "That is pretty spicy." Her eyes dance a bit as she gives Luke another appraising look, one brow arching a little, "Do that again and I might ask you to arm wrestle." With that, she gives Luke a wink, taking a sip from her diet Coke.
Luke Cage says, "You wanna arm wrestle?" Luke says with a arched brow and accompanying grin. "Sure, why not. I would be interested to see how I compare to Capitan Marvel." Luke places his elbow on the table, arm straight up in the air waiting for his opponent to present arms. "We should put a wager on this, shouldn't we? That is how these things are usually done, right?""
Carol chuckles, "A wager, then? Well, hmmm." She smiles, tilting her head as she looks over at Luke, "What did you want?" One brow arches slightly, as she takes a stance across from Luke, offering Luke her arm as she hmmms, "I'd say a free lunch, but that seems a bit banal, honestly…"
Luke Cage says, "I don't know, make me an Avenger for a day?" Luke says with a chuckle. "I'll give you a free lunch if that is what you want, sure. If you want something less banal, then offer up an option. Free lunch for a year?" Luke moves his head left and right to realign the vertebrate with an audible popping noise as he gets himself into position, hand slipping into Carol's as they prep for the arm wrestling match, "You say when.""
Carol laughs, "Well, I'm well off enough, I don't really need a free lunch…" She pauses, and grins slightly, "When's your next day off of work. I mean, assuming you get any, that is?" She rolls her head around a bit, her neck popping slightly as she then closes her fingers around Luke's hand, bracing herself as she says, "Ready."
At the word ready, Luke shoves his arm towards the side with a grunt trying to take the match by sheer brute force and timing, throwing his body weight in there for good measure as well. To his glee, at least according to the smile on his face, he moves Carol's arm down towards the bar top.
And then….
Carol's arm just stops moving, after Luke manages to get to about a 15 degree angle… and to Luke's credit, she does look suitably impressed. "Reason I asked… is well, maybe you wanted to go out to dinner, if you had a free night. Loser pays?" Her eyes sparkle, at that, as Luke might get the sinking feeling that when she talks about who loses… she definitely doesn't think it's her.
Luke Cage says, "Sure…" Luke says with a grunt as he tries to push Carol's arm down. He may be resigned to defeat, but damnit he is going to try his best! The veins pop in his arms, neck and forehead as he pushes his musculature to the limit as he tries to press for that 15 degrees. "You're on…""
Some things are inevitable, really. Thanos thinking he's going to win only to choke in the final moment. Tony chasing after a skirt. And, well, Carol gives Luke a smile, as her arm starts moving… in the direction that favors her, despite Luke's effort. "Any particular place you'd like to go? Since you're going to be paying…" She does, at least, look like she's working. Somewhat.
Damn, she's not even sweating.
Luke on the other hand has beads of sweat forming on his bald pate, and the look on Luke's face is priceless and humorous as the large man tries in vein to stop the inevitable. Thump…Luke's hand hits the bar top with a resounding thud as his knuckles wrap the wood. "God damn!" the bouncer says, looking over at Carol with respect and perhaps a bit of awe. "I thought I was strong, but lady, you aren't anyone to mess with.."
Luke snorts, extracting his hand from Carol's and rubbing at his wrist, "You won, your call. I own the place, so I can take off whenever. Name the night and the place, and I'm yours."
Carol grins impishly, "Well, I did just say dinner…" She gives Luke a wink, nodding once towards the bouncer. Then, she looks back at Luke, "Friday night, how about Angelo's? It's not too ar from here, and Italian sounds good to me." And well, it isn't that spendy a place, but it's nice.
Continuing to rub at his wrist Luke snorts in amusement, "Alright, Friday night it is. Angelo's. Am I picking you up, or are you flying yourself over?" Luke shakes his head, rubbing at the little indentations his knuckles made as they hit the wood, "What time? 7? 8? Or are you an early bird and like to beat the dinner crowd?"
Carol grins, "I can meet you here, if that works. Or would you rather meet up there? And I'm thinking 8. I'm a bit more of a night owl these days, so eating later works for me." She looks just a teeny bit smug, though that's probably less about the arm wrestling and more about the fact that she just scored a dinner date. Yeah, she's feeling like she's back.
"Eight it is, we can meet here. I'll call and make some reservations," says Luke as he reaches for a bar napkin and a pen. He jots down a number on the napkin and slides it over across the bar, "Here, in case you need to cancel due to world ending conflict or something, but I suspect I would hear that on the news anyway." He smiles over at the blonde, "You know, I've never been very good at loosing, but I think in this instance I don't really mind."
Carol chuckles, taking the napkin and pocketing it in her jacket as she smiles over at Luke, "Yeah, I didn't think you would." She winks again, "And Thanos better not try to conquer the world that night, if he knows what's good for him." Another grin, as she makes her way towards the door, "See you at eight, Luke… I'll meet you here." A few errant light motes dance around her, as she gives the bouncer a friendly fistbump on the way out the door.