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The late summer morning dawns bright and clear over Manhattan, and Christine Preston had her alarm clock set to rise with the sun so that she would have plenty of time to get ready to meet Sam for breakfast. It was a whirlwind of a night, with the jewel heist thwarted and the discover that the hero she was working with was, actually Sam. And they had definately progressed to the committed boyfriend/girlfriend stage of the relationship, to boot.
By the time 8 am had rolled around, Christine was waiting near the entrance to the apartment, wearing a pink dress over a white blouse, nylons, and heeled shoes. A ribbon choker was around her neck for decoration, and a pink hairband holding her hair back. A quick kiss to Sam and they were off to a deli just around the corner. As they waited in line, Christine looks over at Sam and asks, "So, have you ever had bagel and lox before? And what do you normally eat in Arizona for breakfast?"
*
Sam had arrived promptly at eight o'clock; breakfast dates were a big step in a relationship, or so he assumed, and it wouldn't do to be late to the first one. He had gotten home late in the night after helping stop that robbery, but managed to get a few hours of sleep before waking in time to splash some water on his face and make it to Christine's apartment on time. Thankfully, boys don't need much time for primping. Shower, clean shirt and pants, and he's good to go. He compliments her appearance on arrival, and the two are off to the deli, and are soon waiting in the line, holding hands.
"Nope, never," he says. "But I'm not picky, I like just about any kind of food. Back home, usually just cereal and toast, but on the weekends sometimes my mom'd make huevos rancheros, or chilaquiles. She didn't have time to do a lot of cooking, and I never had much of a knack for it.. we had traditional Mexican breakfast whenever she had the time and energy to put it together, but it wasn't very often," he says. When he says the spanish names, Sam's accent and diction is perfect, as if it were his native language. Which it practically is, though he's never really let on. You wouldn't exactly know it to look at him, except for the dark hair, but he comes by the fluency honestly.
*
"Who-ay-vos Rancheros? Chee-lay-kee-lays?" Yes, Christine's Spanish is rather terrible. "What are those? I've never had Mexican food before. I hear that it's kind of spicy, though." As the line advances and after Sam gives an explanation, Christine give an explanation of her own about bagels. "So, you pick out your bagel. You have plain, sesame seed, poppy seed, onion, or everything. It gets toasted, then they spread cream chese on it. That's the basics. You can also get it with smoked salmon, tomato, shaved onion, and capers. I usually just get it wihtout the tomato and capers."
*
"Well, huevos rancheros are basically eggs and salsa on tortillas, we usually had them with beans. Chilaquiles are fried tortillas, with pulled chicken, eggs, salsa, and cheese," Sam explains as he moves along in the line. "Mexican food isn't overly spicy, usually, unless you want it to be. My mom always like a little bit of a kick in her meals, but my dad never did, so anything we ate together was usually pretty mild. I got my mom's palate, I think," he says. "She enjoys just about everything; I don't think I ever saw her turn her nose up at anything."
Sam moves along in the line, and when it gets to be his turn, he chooses an everything bagel, with everything on it, except the capers and the onion. Breath, and all that.
*
Chritine get her usual, minus the onions this time. She makes a mental note to start carrying breath mints in her purse. Cups of coffee are procured along with the food, and Chrsitine leads Sam over towards one of the street tables to sit down. She takes a somewhat un-ladylike sized bite of hers, and watches Sam give his a try. "Well, I don't think there are any mexican restauraunts around. Not outside of Spanish Harlem, anyways. We have lots of Chinese and Itallian restaurants. And pizza. And hot dogs over on Coney Island." SO many places she needs to show Sam in New York…
*
Not to be outdone by a girl, Sam takes the same sized bite of his, succeeding in smearing cream cheese and salmon around his mouth in a most un-distinguished fashion. Oh well, she was going to see him be a bit of a slob eventually, right? He realizes how much of a mess he's making a moment later, and uses a napkin to clean up the excess. Slow down there, Sammy.
"Probably not on the upper west side," he says with a bit of a smirk. "But I'll bet I can track something decent down. Mexican food is easy to find back home, but Chinese and Italian are a little harder to come by. At least, /good/ Chinese and Italian. I'll eat what's good wherever I am," he says finally, before taking another probably-too-big bite. "There's a pizza place I found over in Brooklyn I could eat at every day for the rest of my life and die happy. You know, probably at 30, from eating pizza every day."
*
Christine giggles at the smear on Sam's mouth, and she reaches over with a napkin to help wit the cleaning. "It's good, isn't it?" she asks of the bagels before taking aother bite of hers. She thinks for a bit as she chews, then says, "Well, if you find a Mexican restaurant nearby, I'll give it a try. Although I'll probably spend half the time asking what I'm eating." The conept of eating pizza every day gets a smile from her. "You know, considering out heritages, I don't think either of us has to worry much about watching what we eat. We're probably immune to the effects of unhealthy eating."
*
"You're probably right," Sam says with a chuckle. "My dad could eat everything under the sun and not gain a pound. I definitely got my metabolism from him." He pauses a moment, and takes a sip of his coffee. "Just no tolerance for alcohol," he says quietly. "The bagel is great," he continues quickly. "Never thought to try one like this. The salmon is /really/ good." He'll have to remember about this place, if he's ever up this early again for breakfast.
*
Chistine is happy that Sam likes the breakfast. "Jewish eateries are also plentiful around here. I'll have to take you to the Carnagie Deli. It's right next to the theater and they serve these enormous sandwiched; as big as your head and piled with pastrami." Another bite of her breakfast and more wiping of her mouth to remove cream cheese that oozed out the side. "Okay, tell me more about mexican food. What's your favorite dish to eat?"
*
"Sounds fantastic," Sam says when Christine mentions the sandwiches as big as his head. He's just a big fan of food in large quantities, really. Quality is great, but quantity can't be beat. He takes another bite, finishing his bagel, and wiping his mouth afterward. "My favourite Mexican dish? It might sound a bit strange. It's called 'menudo', but I practically /never/ get to eat it, because it takes so long to make." He takes a quick sip of his coffee before continuing. "You need to boil the meats for a few hours before you can even start making it, but the flavour at the end is amazing. It's a bit of an acquired taste for most people, and usually when people find out what it's made from, they're not interested in trying it. My grandparents used to make menudo whenever we would visit, so I was eating it from a pretty young age," he explains. "There's a place in Tuscon that makes a decent one, but we didn't get up there very often."
*
CHristine finishes her bagle as well, and looks at Sam curiously. "So, it's made from things that you have to trick people into trying to eat? I think I might pass that up on general principle." She smiles, still intrigued by the idea of a new culture of food, but a bit more wary. "I should probably take you for some sightseeing before classes really start up. Any place in particular that you've heard of and want to go see?"
*
"A lot of Mexican food is the way it is because they needed to use every part of the animal. Couldn't afford to waste it, because of droughts, and whatnot," Sam explains, "But yeah, some of it isn't exactly in line with the American palate. I won't hold it against you," he says with a smile. "But really, people would eat a lot more different things if they didn't ask questions about it first." Another sip of his coffee, which he takes black. "I've tried to get around to see the city as much as I can in my free time, but I haven't gotten to do too many tourist type things. My mom actually sent me with a list of things to do, and I've checked off a few of them, but not everything yet. Still haven't visited the Statue of Liberty, or taken the elevator up to the top of the Empire State Building, or the New York Public Library. I mean, I could pop over and see the Statue of Liberty, I guess, but it seems like cheating unless I actually put the effort in to do it on foot," he says. "You've been to see all of the usual tourist traps and historical sites, I imagine?"
*
"Mostly through school trips," Christine says with a nod of her head. "Maybe not so much tourist traps, but definately the historical sites. So, I can play tour guide for you." Finishing her coffe, Christine gathers up her trash and stands up, ready to go. On the move, it's probably safe to talk about more sensitive topics, since, as Sma pointed out, everyone keeps to themselves on the streets. "So…how often do you go out and patrol?" She still speak in a low tone to prevent accidental eavesdropping.
*
Sam gets up as well, moving along with Christine as the pair depart the deli. He takes her hand as they walk along the sidewalk, and when he speaks he keeps his own voice to a lower volume as well, since the topic of conversation has changed to something more sensitive. "A few times a week," he says. "I don't really keep to a schedule, just go out when I have the time to spare. I haven't really /done/ much. I always try to keep from letting anyone get killed, even the criminals I'm trying to stop.. not everyone shares that way of thinking though," he says a bit grimly. "Twice I've tried to help someone, and they've ended up killing a bunch of people themselves. That robbery the other night was probably the first time I've successfully helped stop a crime without someone getting hurt."
*
"Well, you're probably having better luck than me," Cristine says with a reassuring squeeze to Sam's hand. "My first night out was the night after our first date, and I saw this runaway truck that I thought was being hijacked by SPider-Man. I dropped a barrier right in front of the truck, and it turned out that the driver was unconcious and Spider-Man was trying to rescue him. If he hadn't been there, I would have killed that poor man." There's a look of shame and embarassment on her face as she relates the details. "I failed. But no-one was hurt, thank God. And I learned an important lesson."
*
"Well, isn't the most important thing that we're trying? I mean, the world needs people to try to make it a better place. Those of us who have the power to do some good in the world, should. Otherwise, I think we're really no better than the people intentionally doing harm," Sam says. He /might/ have gotten a bit of that speech from his father's final words to him. "Just because we don't do it perfectly the first time doesn't mean we won't do better the next. We just have to keep trying to be better," he says. "And next time, we'll be out there together, right?" It'd be nice to team up with someone who wasn't intent on slicing people into pieces, for a change. "The Spider-Man was trying to rescue the guy? I thought he was a criminal.. the papers all say he's a menace." Which probably goes to show that Sam shouldn't just believe everything he reads in the paper. But if you can't trust reputable journalism, what is the world coming to?
*
"I thought that too!" Christine says about Spider-Man, nodding her head in agreement. "But he did save that man. So I don't know." She shrugs a bit. "Maybe he has some amount of conscience and doesn't want anyone to get killed in his crimes. Like Robin Hood. Only…you know…a villian, not a hero." Nice to see the 'Threat or Menace' campiagn is working. "But I agree with yo about trying to do better. Even if we fall, we have to get back up and try again. One of the first lessons of the Long Island Riding Academy."
*
Sam nods in agreement as well, at the last statement. His opinions about Spider-Man have been pretty well exclusively coloured by the Bugle's coverage, and it definitely hasn't been favourable. Maybe he should save his opinions though; it's entirely possible that in his Nova persona, he could be seen as a villain rather than an attempted hero. "Just need to be careful, make sure we assess the situation well before we jump in. In my case, make sure the person you're trying to help isn't hell-bent on murder themselves," he continues, making a bit of a face. "Maybe we should try to track Spider-Man down, get some answers from him ourselves," he muses.
*
:Christine nods in agreement. "That sounds like a good idea. At best, we'll capture a criminal and bring him to justice. At the very least, we'll know more about him and have an ally. Maybe even help clear his name if he's being framed." Already, Christine is thinking of how they might track Spider-Man down. "There was another superhuman at the truck scene. A woman, who looked like she knew some kind of Oriental fighting style and had fists that glowed. I didn't cach her name, but the three of us stopped a robot that was being transported inside the truck and escaped after the crash." A thought occurs to Christine and her eyes light up. "You know, maybe that photogrpher that takes all the pictures of Spider-Man knows how to find him. I can't remember his name, though…"
*
"Parker," Sam says. He's got a good memory for these kinds of things. Helps that the Bugle at least has the decency to credit the photographer. "Maybe start with him," Sam says, "And see where he leads us. You think this other woman might know something, too? Were they working together, or just happened to be in the same place at the same time?" Plenty of opportunities for mere coincidence, so it's probably best to make sure of things before jumping to any conclusions. "And I'll say it now.. New York is a little weird, right? This kind of conversation doesn't happen anywhere else in the world, I'd bet."
*
Christine shakes her head. "No, they didn't seem to know each other. So, I just think it's a case of same time, same place." The name of the photographer gets Cristine to nod. "Right. That's the name. We shold ask around at the Daily Bugle for him. Maybe one of us could pretent to be looking for him to return a lost item and they could give us his address?" And rather than take offense at Sam's assessment of New York being weird, Christine smiles proudly. "It's the best city on Earth. I'm sure conversations like this don't happen anywhere else as often. If at all. Hey! Maybe if we bring in Spider-Man, we can join the Avengers. It would definately prove our abilities if we brought him to justice."
*
Sam chuckles, "You think we're ready for the big leagues already, huh? I'm pretty sure my armour could handle whatever gets thrown at it, but I don't know that I'm exactly on the same skill level as the likes of Captain America," he muses. It's a bit ironic, since Sam is usually /very/ confident in his abilities, but then he's never considered the idea of joining a team of 'professional' heroes. The thought it a little bit intimidating. He's not even an adult. "Sounds like a solid plan, for getting to Parker. Wouldn't be hard to find a busted up camera, pretend it's supposed to be his. And I suppose that between the two of us, we could probably hold him down long enough to get some answers, if we're able to track him down. At least figure out what his intentions are. You can tell when people are lying, so we've got that going for us," he says with a smile and a squeeze of Christine's hand.
*
Christine frowns a bit at Sam's idea for questioning Parker. "I don't really like the idea of roughing someone up. Sure, we ask, but we try to convince him to help us out. There's two of us and we should eb more than enough to handle Spider-Man. If he doesn't like that route, remind him that when we do catch Spider-Man, Parker could be considered to be an accomplise. I don't know if that's how the law really works, but I'd be willing to bet Parker doesn't know for sure, either."
*
"Oh no, I meant Spider-Man. Not Parker," Sam says, trying to clarify. He really didn't mean to suggest that they pin a hardworking journalist down and beat answers out of him.. "I'd think Parker would be happy to help us out, considering his stories are all about how awful the guy is. Can't imagine he'd want to let Spider-Man keep terrorizing the city, if we're offering to help." Poor, naive Sam. "Of course, the guy is his meal ticket. Might be tough to convince him to give that up."
*
"Oh…sorry about that," Christine blushes and leans over to give Sam an appology kiss on the cheek. "SOmetimes I forget that you're not like most of the boys I've known; you think with your brain, not your fists. But yes, Parker might be conflicted about giving up something so lucrative. But, sometimes the right thing to do hurts in the short term. I'm sure he can still get legitimate work as a phtographer after SPider-Man's been dealt with."
*
"It's okay," Sam says, happily accepting the peck on the cheek. "I wasn't clear, it wasn't your fault," he reassures her. "I'm sure Parker wouldn't have any trouble finding other work.. his photos of Spider-Man are probably getting him a lot of attention and recognition. Especially since he seems to be the only one who can get decent ones." You'd think that people would be able to put two and two together around that, but no. Sam's no different. "So let's try to track down this Parker, and see what he can give us. We know where he works, at least," Sam says, cracking a bit of grin.
*
"It's a plan," Christine agrees. "It's Saturday today, so I'm not sure if the general offices of the Bugle are open. I've got classes until 3:30 on Monday. SO, maybe we start up Monday afternoon? Or do you have Basketball practice then?"
*
"Monday afternoon works for me. Practices are Tuesday and Thursday, no problem there. I'll meet you after your last class," Sam offers. "My last class on Monday ends at 3:00. We should have plenty of time to get there before they close up for the day." The pair has ended up walking fairly slowly, but since Christine's apartment isn't far from the deli, they should be getting pretty close by now. "Plans for the rest of the day? Studying? Partying? Inviting your new boyfriend up for wholesome board games?" He gives Christine a light squeeze, and a smile to indicate that he's joking. Mostly, at least.
*
"Studying," she replies with a quirky smile. "Then taking the ferry to Long Island for dinner with my family." Christine realizes that this is probably a sore subject for Sam, so she takes his hands in hers and squeezes. "You know I want to tell them all about the amazing guy that I met and am now seeing…But they're not even ready for me to be dating. Just…please be patient and let me tell them in my own way when I think the time is right." She looks at Sam and gives him the puppy-dog eyes and that illuminating smile of hers. "Please?"
*
Sam gives the girl an understanding nod, "Believe me, I'm in no big rush to come face to face with the grandmother of yours. I almost think I should wear my armour when I finally do," he says with a joking smirk. Well, half-joking. The woman kind of terrifies him, and he's never even met her. "You study, and see your family. When you get back, maybe I'll take you out for dessert, if it's not too late for you." It's still early in the relationship, and Sam hasn't even mentioned Christine to his own family, even though they'd be a lot more eager to meet her. Taking things nice and slow, for now at least. "And really, I agree. Timing is important. You should wait until you're ready, for sure."
*
"Hmmmmm," Cristine smiles and gives Sam a kiss, a proper girlfriend kiss, on the lips. "How did I get so lucky to have the one guy in Manhattan who's smart, sensitive, undterstanding of my crazy family *and* is okay with my extra curricular activities? The perfect nam. Who can't ride a skateboard." She giggles and squeezes Sam's hands. "I'll call you when I get back home, alright?"
*
Sam presses his lips right back against hers, and if she's paying attention to such things, Christine would notice an emotional response from it. Not that he wasn't happy before, but, you know, kissing. "Hey, I can ride a skateboard. Really well, actually. Like I said, it was all a clever plan. And it worked!" Because hey, he got the girl, didn't he? Yes, he'll have bruises and possibly a scar on his knee, but totally worth it. "You call me when you're home, I'll fly over," he says with a smile. He might not /actually/ fly. But then, he might.
*