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after a rather awkward silence from riding in Robbie's '63 dodge charger…which is rare that people ride with him in, given his line of work, it doesnt take them long to get from point A to point B, ending up at Luke's Bar to compare notes and probably just talk about what happened….and Robbie knew those questions were coming.
Coming to a complete stop at a parking spot, Robbie would simply say "here we are." and unlock the doors to allow himself and everyoen out of the car, making way to the Cigar Factory to open the doors nice and early for everyone for simplicity. He goes behind the counter and grabs four beers, moving back to set them at a booth, before just grabbing a chair and sitting in it backwards. just waiting for it was the difficult part. This may be an awkward conversation.
Or so he thought. Since when did Danny know Kung Fu and other martial arts….and who was the other guy? the Devil of Hell's Kitchen he keeps hearing about maybe? and who was the guy with the light….things.
On the way over, Danny made some sort of joke to Collen about weren't they just talking about him exterminating a tenement and fixing it up? Maybe he'll buy that one. But aside from that he was somewhat quiet on the ride over. But once they fall into a booth and he has a beer and is tipping it back, he says, "So.. that was eventful. Too bad the Devil had things to do." He assumes that's who the red-suited guy with the horns was anyway, "But man, that tastes good." Cold beer.
Awkward, yes. With a side of even more awkward. Although Danny's attempt at levity earns him a small bit of amusement, even Colleen is silent for the majority of the ride. She's cleaned and put away her sword, but kept it with her even when they head inside to grab a booth. With a beer in hand she nods in agreement, but then takes a hard, jagged left turn conversationally, "So what's with the flaming skull?"
"Right?" Carlos gestures to Danny, looking over at Robbie, kind of giving him a I'm-not-sure-you're-not-a-bad-guy eye. But he's pulled down his reddish-orange bandana from around his face, and offers up, "Also, I'm Carlos. Carlos Serrato. Also known as Carnelian. NOT orange, okay? I'll stick anyone to a wall who calls me orange." He glowers, but looks around, and hey, bar? "I need a drink if we're talking flaming skulls." He makes a point to keep an eye on Robbie for the moment.
Robbie would glance at Colleen for a moment, before Carlos introduces himself. "Robbie Reyes. nice to meet you." so far, maybe, but he doesnt say that, he then answers both of their questions at the same time. "A really long story that doesnt have a happy ending." he was blunt. too blunt perhaps. "I made a deal." he says simply, leaving it at that as he sips his beer, ready for all the pressing questions.
But he does look to Danny "Where did you learn Kung Fu? or martial arts or whatever?"
"Isn't Carnelian a shade of red?" Danny asks Carlos, consideringly, and then says, "Danny." He's famous/infamous, rich, corporate ceo, lost his folks in a plane crash, disappeared for over 10 years, reclaimed his company, then got framed for murder. Matt Murdock defended him. And yet, he doesn't assume anyone knows him. "Danny Rand." He gestures to the beer that Robbie brought over and pushes it toward Carlos. "Beer." He wasn't going to ask about flaming skulls, but he listens when Robbie tells his very short story. "Kun-Lung," he says, and then adds, "It's near Tibet. It's where the plane crashed."
"Colleen Wing." She is neither famous, rich, owns anything, and is almost certain only the wrong sorts know her on sight. The story about the skull though, well, she simply accepts it and doesn't pry when Robbie seems to not really want to talk about it. She slants a look at Danny, frowning just a small fraction at him before she takes a swallow from her beer, avoiding making an ass of herself by saying anything about plane crashes again.
"It's sort of what happens when red and orange get their happy time on. I don't know why my fields are that color, they just are. In LA, some reporter dubbed me the Orange Defender." Carlos seems just a little put off about that, but he nods around as they introduce themselves, pauses, squinting at Danny, "Hey, you're _him_. The guy who mur— ahh, didn't murder the guy, who is like rich." Pause, "Drinks on you." He grins suddenly, and takes up the offered beer. There's a long look at Robbie again, "You made a deal so now your face burns off from time to time?"
yup, and there it is.
He looks first to Carlos, simply giving a "mhm." at that "Not the kind of deal you should make, but sadly, not all choices are happy ones." he sighs a moment, recalling when he made the deal he made. But he shrugs, looking now to Danny "The fucks Kung Lung?" then he answers "Like a monastery?" he asks curiously, though he does look to Colleen, realizing she's a female samurai ninja and is likely quite straightforward with how she deals with things. sword.
"Duly noted. Carnelian sounds better," Danny agrees with a bit of a grin. The grin turns into a bit of a smirk then and he says, "I didn't murder anybody." And that much is true, the Rider would know. "But yeah, that guy." He then chuckles, "I'm allowed to by rounds, apparently, just not cars." He is going to get a lot of miles out of that one, he is, but he smiles over at Colleen. Then he studies Robbie and says, "So, uh, do you control that or does it just happen." He makes a vague gesture in front of his own face, to indicate the whole, burning melty bit. "Yeah, it's a monastery. The monks took me in and raised me there, until I came back."
She probably is very straightforward. Sword to the face. The mention of a monastary, though, that gets a bit of a queer look from Colleen before she snorts in amusement, trying her best to hide that laugh behind her beer. It doesn't end well, and once more she's left spilling things as she coughs, "What…you missed the violent world out here or something?"
Looking at Danny, Carlos sounds interested, "Huh." He shakes his head slightly, "You actually went and learned martial arts in some like monestary from monks. That's… cool." He shrugs, and grins, "I learned kendo and judo from my step-father, though I also attended a dojo back in LA. They don't have any kendo dojo's here yet, unfortunately." He purses his lips a little, "Okay, so we have a monk-trained martial artist, a guy who made a deal with the devil and burns his face off, a mutant.." he lifts a hand, "Aaand a badass chica?" He looks curiously at Colleen. "I heard something was going down there but wasn't entirely clear what it was. I've been pretty much sorta soloing it up, trying to keep Hell's Kitchen safe. More or less. But branch out from tiem to time."
Robbie would look to Danny, nodding a few times. Though when he asked his question if he can control when he turns into the Ghost Rider, he nods vaguely. "Sometimes. rarely though, it can happen. Depends who I'm after." the devil needs his due after all. Though when Carlos mentions making a deal with the devil, Reyes just stares at him. Looks like he hit the nail right on the head.
"You're right. at least Hell's Kitchen is safe…for now. Scum like them all over, those were just a few Rats. I've been looking into their weapons deals for some time. Didn't think I'd have company." he looks around the table.
Danny reaches over and hands Colleen a napkin, and says a little more seriously, "I wanted to find the people who sabotaged the plane and killed my parents." Then he nods to Carlos and says, "Yep, pretty much my whole life, from the time I was a kid, until I came back here. I've studied many forms, weapons, and techniques." He taps his bottle lightly against the table and says to Carnelian, "I honestly didn't know that anything was going to go down there. I was looking at tenements in the area. I'm thinking of starting a project to fix some of them up. But when I saw the Hill Boys swarming, I figured something was going to go down." He grins over at Robbie a little then and says, "I didn't think I'd have company, either.. but I'm sure not complaining." He turns then and points a finger at Carnelian, "Except for you. You with the shield and the knocking me on my ass." But he grins, then.
That foot is constantly going into her mouth, it seems. Colleen accepts the napkin to wipe up the spill before she glances at Carlos when he asks what she is, "I just know how to use a sword." No special flaming skulls or deals, or even any kind of mutant powers. Just a sword. "One of the teenagers I'd…I knew, I think it was his aunt's cousin's grandmother, something. They'd been telling him about what had been going on, I just happened to have strange timing dropping in."
Carlos can't help but look a little sheepish at Danny, "I didn't know who was friend and who was foe, really. Ahem. In the future I will try to not knock you on your ass." He tilts his beer back, and looks curiously between them, finally letting his gaze settle on Danny, wincing at the mention of his parents dying, "That's rough, mi amigo." He purses his lips, "Do you make a habit of getting in the trouble when you see trouble before you?" He nods to Robbie, "Unfortunately, that's just one neighborhood— you're right. They're all over." To Collen he flashes a grin, "Hey, I respect using a sword. We should practice together sometime; there's no kendo dojo's around so I could use the practice."
Robbie nods a few times at Carlos "New York is filled with it, that's why I'm on the streets. For the most part, anyway." he looks then around the table "So, real question is, was this a one time deal?" he asks curiously, flashing them all a look. He does glance to Danny though at his words "He's right you know. He didn't kill him." he states in a matter of factly. What? the Rider knows. and if the Rider knows, Robbie knows.
"Good timing," Danny says to Colleen with a little grin. He doesn't seem to mind her constant foot-in-mouth syndrome, either, giving her shoulder a small nudge, but not enough to cause her to spill again. Then he laughs at Carlos good-naturedly, "It's alright. I'm fairly resilient." He lifts his bottle in Carnelian's direction and says, "All the time," without an ounce of shame in it. The question about whether or not it was a one time deal or not — Danny glances to those gathered. "I mean, I don't mind jumping into things on my own, but it seems to me it's always better to have backup."
"I've found that agreeing to group adventures isn't always…great." Colleen replies, taking a swallow from the beer before she sets it down, pushing it away from her, wiping her hands off on her pants, "But I could agree to more of this."
"Four people, alone, can cover more ground… but four people together can accomplish more then what four individuals can accomplish, if they learn to work together." Carlos looks to Colleen thoughtfully, "What kind of sword do you use? I was preoccupied." He asks, "I ask, because well." He reaches a hand out, and a knife made of carnelian light appears in his hand, and, he offers it over to her to hold. Its not as showy as a light-sword, so a little slightly more covert, "I ask because if I'm in the vacinity, I can give you one made out of my shields. When people hear 'shields' they think defensive— and that's true— but the edge of my light is sharp enough to cut through steel. If I seal the light it can be manipulated by anyone as long as I keep line of sight. It might take some practice because as you see, the shields don't *weigh* anything at all so the balance is a little weird.
Robbie would nod in agreement with the three before him. "Agreed. The help gives us more oppurtunity to get the job done, that being, keeping punks like them off the streets. Alright, guess this is a team now." he shrugs, sipping his beer. God help us all. He does lift his bottle as if to do that clink thing most teams do when he guesses they make things official. He turns his head to everyone, giving a small nod.
Danny studies Colleen for a moment but then he nods, "Well, to each their own. I'm certainly not going to push anybody, but I'd like to cover more ground, be able to do more, and have backup." He does watch as Carnelian produces that knife of light with some fascination. "That is pretty cool." He lifts his beer in Robbie's direction and says, "A team.. for those who are interested. Maybe I'll see if I can find the Devil again, see if he feels like getting in on this. I know he's got his own gig but.. sometimes it's good to have others around."
"Katana, mostly." Colleen replies, glancing down at the knife that is offered to her, giving it a curious look before she reaches out to take it, examining it a moment before she hands it back. There's a bit of a shake of her head to Danny, "I recently discovered that someone I was working with was less than honest about their intentions. That's all."
As she goes to hand it back, Carlos shakes his head slightly and it just vanishes. "I can do katanas— I use a light-katana myself— in my sleep. So if I'm around, especially if we're up against something steel isn't as good for, feel free to call 'katana' at me. I'll make one for you." He grins at Danny, "When I was little— my mutation manifested much earlier then it usually does— I used to make light toys to play with. Fortunately I didn't know how to make them sharp until much later, thus explaining why Carlos here has all his fingers and toes." He pauses, considering, and reaches out for a napkin, and pulls a pen from inside his jacket, and writes out a phone number. Then another on a second napkin, and so on, until he passes them out. There's actually two phone numbers on each, "Top is my apartment, bottom is my work. Serrato Autoworks. Family business."
Robbie would nod a bit, looking at all of them. Following Carlos's example, Robbie writes on some napkins too and passes them out. "Home number on top, call me at work on bottom. Just ask for Reyes and you'll get me." he nods.
He looks to Danny at his words on possibly getting in Devil, "Good. We can always use the extra hand."
Danny nods to Colleen and doesn't push for more than what she's offered, seeming comfortable enough with that explanation. Then he chuckles at Carlos and says, "Fortunate indeed. Having all one's digits is a good thing." He then glances over to Robbie and says to Carlos, "Reyes is building me a bike. He does work on cars, too." Then he writes his own numbers down, adding them to the napkins that are being passed around. "Home, secretary. If you call the secretary just tell her it's about the iron fist. She won't have any idea what you're talking about, but she won't ask questions and will put you through to me."
"Sure.." Colleen replies, looking a bit curious as she tries to imagine what might not be good against steel, but she reaches for the numbers as they are passed out, taking the napkins and tucking them carefully into her pockets, "I don't have a phone, but you can find me here sometimes." She gives the group a bit of an apologetic look at that, reaching for her beer once more.
At mention of Robbie building a bike, Carlos turns a curious look to the man, as if suddenly seeing him in an entirely new light. He might still periodically burn off his face— that won't ever stop being weird— but if he's a mechanic too? Well that means he has a redeeming quality. All this is conveyed by expression alone. "Well, in the interest of full disclosure, if we need to *get* somewhere, I can get us there a little faster then driving, if only because there's no traffic or… Wait." He looks to Colleen, previous comment registering finally, "You said you were working with someone who didn't have true intentions? What's up?"
So, 'Jack' is back with reinforcements. Jack himself still looks relatively down at heels - canvas parka, red henley over a darker t-shirt, old jeans. Someone does not like being the least bit cold.
With him is a slighter, (apparently) younger blonde man, whom Buck holds the door for. "Yeah, this one guy builds bikes. I'm thinking of trying to find an old Ural - they're sidecar bikes where the back wheels are the drive wheels, so you can drive 'em in snow without killing yourself…getting him to fix it up. They're like the bikes we usedta steal from the Germans, when they could. Guys were a nation of assholes, but they sure knew how to engineer stuff…."
Robbie glances to Carlos, then looks to everyone else "I can drive us places." he looks motions outside to the dodge charger that he drove them in. "If you have another option, go for it." he shrugs a little, though he nods at building a bike for Danny.
Though at Colleens words, he also gives her a look, but Carlos is asking the questions, so he just leaves it there….but Danny's words is what catches him. "Iron Fist?" he says under his breath, as if trying to decipher something he really didn't know.
Then Jack and Kai walk in, and he gives them a soft wave. But he gives the group a look that says 'keep what happened on the Down low.'
Kai slips in when Jack holds up the door, and he says, "Thanks, mate." Slighter, English man. He's in a long woolen coat to fend off the cold, and under it a turtleneck and black chinos. "If you get a bike, give me a ride on it," he tells his friend.
"I can arrange regular transportaion of various types if it's needed," Danny says and nods to Robbie and Carnelian, "Good to have a few alternatives, depending on what we need and when, so all of that sounds good." He looks over to Robbie then and says, "What I do.. that's what it's called. Call it a.. specialized martial art of sorts." When Jack comes in, Danny gives him a wave in greeting as well as his friend, "I tell you, once you run into someone here, they keep coming back." He grins and then turns his attention back toward the table.
"Yeah." Colleen replies, glancing back and forth between everyone before she sighs, "So I was part of this…group, and they supposedly were doing things for good reasons and stuff. But they really weren't. Nothing more than that, really." Which, there might actually be more to it, but with the new arrivals and reconizing of one of them, she leaves it at that. Instead she glances at Danny, "So are you going to buy the building?"
Carlos settles into a companionable silence, taking the napkins, folding them and slipping them into his pocket. He looks to the new arrivals with a curious tilt to his head, but for the moment does not immediately add to the conversation.
"Of course," Bucky agrees. HE's clearly warmed to his subject. "Urals can carry three, actually. One passenger behind the driver, one in the sidecar." Just imagine Steve, Buck, and the Howling Commandos all clown-piled onto a pair of overburdened German scout bikes. He heads for the bar, but he waves at the assembly at the table, amiably enough. "Most of those were here the other night. Guess they're regulars," he says, affably.
Robbie just puts his hands in his pockets and gives a little nod to Colleen at her words "Sorry to hear that. Don't know who to trust nowadays." and thats all he offers on that, before he looks back to Danny at his words. "Hm. Right then. We'll see yeah?" he shrugs a little. "specialized martial art. Alrighty." he says, understanding very little of Danny's words.
Kai trails after Bucky, and he grins broadly at those gathered at the bar. "Hello, folks," he says as he settles beside his friend. "I'd like a bottle of whiskey." Sure, little fella, dream big. "Jack, you want to share one or do you want one of your own?"
Danny takes up the napkins from the table and tucks them away as well, into his pocket. He gives Robbie a small grin, and says, "I'll show you later." Clearly it's not something that he is apparently going to do right then in the middle of the bar for demonstration purposes. He gives a nod to Kai when he and Bucky settle at the bar from the booth where the rest of them are sitting close by and says, "Evening," with an easy smile.
"Sometimes things are too good to be true." Colleen agrees, sort of, on the matter of not knowing who to trust. She finishes off the beer, setting it down on the table before she leans back in her seat, falling silent like Carlos for a moment or two before she reaches over to nudge Danny, "The building?"
Carlos rises, and as these new people are here, he reaches across the table to offer a handshake to each, "I'm Carlos." he introduces, and if they shake or not, after, he settles down and takes a long swig from his beer. He then winces, "Wait, no one really uses a sidecar, right? I mean, people have pride, taste, and a sense of shame?" He looks between them all for confirmation.
"That depends," Buck says to Kai, eyeing him a little sidelong. "How drunk do we want to be when we go home? Because you know what a lightweight I am?" In what world does that make sense, considering Buck's got a good bit of musclemass on his companion….and he tends bar for a living. But he seems to mean it. Then Carlos is making introductions, and Buck takes his hand, willingly. Right one, of course. "I'm Jack, I was here the other evening. This is my room-mate, Kai." Then he's looking at the rest, squinting as if to summon memory. "And that's…Robbie, Danny, and Colleen?"
Robbie would nod lightly to Bucky as he manages to remember each of their names. "That's right. Good memory." he nods once, looking then to Colleen, giving her a tilt of his head, but he doesnt press. He does ponder a moment when Carlos's query, before just offering a small shrug.
"I remember you," Kai tells Carnelian. "Carlos. We met in Central Park this past summer, and I met you," he tells Danny, "in this very bar." He inclines his head to Colleen and Robbie in turn. "You two I don't know. Like Jack here says, I'm Kai." He then tells Bucky, "Let's share a bottle. I don't want to have to carry you home." Again, this should not make sense given their relative apparent muscle mass.
Danny raises a hand in greeting as Bucky introduces them around the table, when his name is mentioned. Though when Colleen asks about the building he nods and says, "Oh.. yeah, I still intend to buy the building. I mean, we did do a bit of damage of our own and it's completely full of holes now. It's going to need a lot of repairs. But I think we exterminated it pretty well." He looks thoughtful. "It will just take a couple of days to get all the paperwork in order, but I have people to handle that."
Danny also grins at Kai and says, "I remember that. Hey, good to see you again."
"Hi." Colleen replies when she's introduced, lifting a hand to wave in Kai and Bucky's direction before she smirks at Danny, "Of course you do." It's not said with any distaste, just a resigned amusement as she continues to remap her mental image of him. She glances at Robbie, then Carlos, and then back, "So you both work on cars, am I getting that right?"
"Oh, I remember you now!" Carlos nods to Kai, but rises, smiling around, "But excuse me, I have an early shift tomorrow. Nice to meet you all." He taps his forehead in an almost-salute, then makes his way out.
"Fair enough. YOu buying?" Buck asks Kai, sweetly. And he's the one room-mate with a job. "The first one, anyhow." Kai says one, but they might well end up with more. There's always a cab to be taken home.
Robbie glances over at Colleen when she asks her question, nodding a few times. "That seems to be the case." before Carlos rises to go do what he's gotta do, and thus does he get a nod in goodbye from Robbie and thats about it.
However, Reyes would soon get up. "I should head out too. Got a few more stops to make before I can call it a night." he nods lightly. "So long Danny, Colleen. Probably see you both soon." he recalls pocketing those napkins before he simply nods and walks off, giving Kai and Bucky a nod as well.
"Sure, I'll be your sugar daddy, "Kai tells Bucky, and he nods the bartender over to put in the order: bottle of whiskey, two glasses. Money's handed over. The little blond guy has enough to cover it. He gives Robbie a nod as he heads out, and he waves to Carnelian. Then he tells Danny with a grin, "Yeah, it was brief, but I remember." Colleen gets a broad smile.
Danny nods and says, "Was when we were doing the lunch club here, pretty often. I have beenbusy during the day lately so haven't been coming by at lunch time as often as I'd like." He grins a little over at Colleen and says, "Maybe I'll even get a little plaque and dedicate it in your honor." Now he's just teasing her.
Colleen returns the smile, giving the pair leaving a nod, and otherwise simply going quiet. Right up until Danny suggests getting a plaque in her honor to put on the building, "If you do…I want it to read…I'm not even sure. But something clever, and maybe about rat extermination."
"Pfffffft," says Bucky to that. But he's teasing…and clearly in a mood for the whiskey. He pours for Kai first, then himself, then lifts his glass to clink against the elf's. "To sugar daddies," he says, before he knocks it back.
Kai clinks his glass to Bucky's. "I'll drink to that." He does, too. He knocks the whiskey back like it's water and sets his glass down. "Hit me," he tells Bucky, nudging his glass toward the bottle. He grins at Danny and says, "I was thinking about coming back here, and Jack was on his way out so I tagged along. Good to see a familiar face. I was down in Hell's Kitchen for the longest time, now I'm on the Upper West Side. I don't get to Harlem too often."
Danny nods to Kai and says, "I live on the Upper West Side. But I spend a lot of time down here and in Hell's Kitchen," for reasons that are a mystery to most people. He then grins and says, "It's a small world. We just met Jack last night." When Colleen mentions the plaque he considers and says, "In Memory of the Rodent Erradication. The Colleen Wing Rat Free Tenement Project" He grins at her, a brilliant boyish grin.
There's just a slight, quiet snort when they toast to sugar daddies. Not. A. Word. The label of her bottle is absently picked at as she glances towards the pair at the bar, then she glances at Danny once more, "That'd be a very large plaque to say all that. Maybe just…something more brief? Yeah?"
"Should make it a little tombstone with a cartoon dead mouse on it," Bucky suggests, idly. That one shot has already brought a pink flush to his cheeks.
Kai pours himself and Bucky another glass. "Yeah, we're at the El Dorado," Kai says. "I still have a place in Hell's Kitchen, I'm down there a lot." He flashes Danny a dimpled grin. "What are the odds? We were bound to run into one another." As for the rat eradication plaque, he considers over another drink of whiskey, then comes up with "Pied piper, something something." Thinking is hard, okay?
Danny can't help but grin at bucky's suggestion and then looks over at Coleen and says, "Small bronze plaque with a cartoon dead rat on it?" He waits to see if she goes along with the idea or not. "Oh, you're at the Eldorado? So am I. Seems that we're neighbors." He finishes off his beer and sets the bottle aside then, not seeming in any rush to get up toget another one.
"Small bronze plaque with a cartoon dead rat would be fine." Colleen replies after a moment, rolling a piece of the torn label between her fingers before she drops it into her empty bottle, pushing it away from her. She then crosses her legs, fingers lacing together as she glances between Danny, then the two at the bar before she leans in towards Danny, "Small plaque."
"I could design it for you," Buck suggests, after a second shot. Half a bottle, and he think he's Renoir. Great.
Kai keeps on drinking, filling his glass a third time. And Bucky's, because as much as he's claimed he doesn't want to carry him home drunk, it's still pretty funny to watch. The little guy isn't the least bit flushed, not glassy-eyed at all. "How about that?" he says to Danny with delight. "Maybe we'll see each other in the hallway. I'm the one with the little dog, looks just like this." He gestures over himself. "Can't miss me."
When Coleen leans in, he grins a little and says, "Okay, small plaque." It seems that he's nto going to push that any further. There's making a joke and there's knowing when to let it go. When Bucky offers to design it though, Danny says, "Sure." He laughs at Kai and says, "Duly noted. I'm the one without the little dog."
"Perfect." Colleen straightens back up, going back to letting the talk of apartments and little dogs wash over her. She does not live on the Upper West Side, and she does not have a little dog. None of these things are things she can actively contribute to, except for that looks of mild amusement at the very strange turn her day has taken.
That makes Bucky grin wickedly. They'd better pray he does not remember that offer next morning. Though Kai will surely remind him.
Kai will indeed, and he keeps the whiskey going. "I'll keep that in mind," he tells Danny. "So what are you folks into? Like, music? Art? I'm finishing up pieces for an exhibit in Soho. I'm still nailing down a location." Amidst the warehouse and abandoned chic. "What do you do?" This to both Colleen and Danny.
Danny nods his head to Colleen, seeming to agree with her. When Kai asks what they're into, though, Danny says, "I like music, dancing, art. I don't have any particular artistic skill of my own, but I like to look at that of others. When you get your exhibit done, let me know. I'd like to come and see it." Then when asked what he does he says, "Technically, I'm the CEO of Rand Corporation," a giant conglomerate that works in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, research, and development. He's worth a lot. His company is worth even more.
"I used to work with at risk youth." Colleen replies to the question of what they do, shaking her head, "But I'm between things, currently." She glances at Danny, then back to Kai, "Music, dancing and art are all good. I like history, as well."
And for his part, because reticence might seem rude, Buck notes, "Me? I tend bar, down at Lux." As if they'd all necessarily know where he meant.
"I know what you're into, you sicko," Kai tells Bucky, because nothing's fun like making one's friend look shady for laughs. There's a glint of humor in his eyes to give him away, though. He nods to Danny's request to let him know when the exhibit happens, and he says, "Rand Corporation? You seem so young and cool to be The Man." He shakes his head and clucks his tongue. Such a shame. "I like dancing. And history. History is fascinating."
"I'm less The Man, and more the guy who keeps The Man honest, much to his frustration. I'll be honest, most of the board doesn't like me, and they're not super happy about the fact that I make them think about things they'd rather ignore and just go about their business. But I think it makes us a better company if we work to really do what's helpful for people and make sure that the work we're doing isn't hurting anybody," Danny says, and as he says it, there's that stubborn conviction that is in every word, because he really believes in what he's saying. Then he shrugs his shoulders and says, "Someone's gotta pay attention," to Kai. "Otherwise The Man just runs amok."
"He puts do-gooders to shame with his do-gooding." Collen observes, tilting her head in Danny's direction, "You should hear his pitch about his renovation project, which is what the rat thing is about." She then pauses, glancing back and forth between Kai and Danny for a moment, "Why not an art gallery show or auction or something to benefit those that need help? Oh, do it like…Christmas time."
Bucky watches Danny with pleased surprise. When he's finished his explanation, he says, with evident wonder, "Man, you meant every word of that, didn't you? Good for you."
Kai perks up. "Oh! Oh, that's groovy! Like, man, that's what people in power should be doing. My exhibit is for mutant rights. Mutant rights are human rights. I do other work, too, though. Here, let me give you my card." He takes a cocktail napkin from the bar and grabs a pen. Scrawling his number down, he hands it over. Trusting soul, is Kai. "The art gallyer is a great idea. This is amazing. I didn't think good people ever made it to the top."
Danny adds Kai's napkin to the wad of napkins with numbers on them that he has in his pocket gathered over the course of the day's activities. He nods to Bucky and says, "In the end, doing the right thing for people is more valuable than just profit. Profit is good, it lets us do more good things, but in the end if we hurt people, that only ends badly. Not everyone sees it that way, but, well, that's what I'm there for. That's why I didn't just let them take the company when I got back." He then says, "I could help with an art gallery show, or auction.. or help you find a place to put yours.. if you're still looking." This, he says to Kai.
"Right?" Colleen responds to Bucky when he gives Danny that pleased suprised look, one corner of her mouth kicking up briefly before she shakes her head, "If more people thought like you, the world might be a better place."
There's still incredulity in Buck's face. But he elbows Kai gently. "Man, it's your chance," he tells him in a stage whisper.
Kai nods to Bucky, his curls bouncing. "I know!" he squeaks. Then he clears his throat and says, "Erm, yes. Yes, I'm still looking. We should discuss this soon." When he tries to act all official, he just looks all the younger for it. "We definitely have to discuss this soon." He stretches though and says, "But right now, I've got to get home in time to walk the little dog. His name's Kevin." He finishes off his drink and hops off his bar stool. "We'll talk again!"
Danny takes a napkin and gives it to Kai after scribbling his numbers on it as well as his apartment number. They're neighbors and all, after all. "Just come by sometime if you like and we can talk about it. I'm sure I can help you find a place for it." He then gives a bit of a wave. He then looks over toward Colleen and gives her a little grin. "I'd like to hope so. I'd like to hope that more people can."
"Good luck." Colleen calls towards Kai when he starts to make his exit, rolling her eyes very faintly at Danny, that amusement resurfacing. "Hope, sure…but the reality is, most of us are more concerned about money and materialistic things. Comfort, and power…not enough are going to think like you do."
"I better follow him home. The dog'll end up drunk if I don't." And with that cryptic statement, Buck's leaving a generous tip, and slipping off after KAi.
Danny glances after Bucky, looking a little curious but not asking about the dog and the drunkedness. Then he looks back over toward Colleen as she rolls her eyes at him. "It can't hurt anything to hope for it though, and try to work for making things better. If we give up, then it definitely won't happen." He then looks around the bar for a moment and says, "Want to go for a walk? I feel like getting some air."
"You're right…it doesn't hurt to hope." Colleen replies, but there seems to be an unspoken but after that, and it remains unspoken for the moment. At the mention of a walk she nods, however, starting to get to her feet, "You can tell me more about this monastary you grew up in."
Danny can sense that but, but he chooses not to acknowledge it, at least, not for the moment. He gets up and begins to head out after covering all the drinks. Then, once they are out on the sidewalk in the crisp autumn air he draws in a deep breath and then lets it out with a grin. "I like the chill in the fall," he says and then says, "Kun Lung is a city unto itself. The monastery was a peaceful place to grow up. I meditated, trained, practiced, learned, studied. There were other children there, and a family took me in after the crash when they found me. They gave me a purpose, a focus for my fear and anger."
"A purpose and focus?" Colleen wonders, following him out onto the sidewalk, buttoning up her jacket before she tucks her hands into her pockets, "My grandfather would tell me that anger and fear only had one purpose." She glances at him, frowning just a bit, "My grandfather was a hard man…but he lived by a code that allowed little to no room for fear and anger."
Danny nods his head and says, "I focused my fear of what had happened, that feeling of being alone, into finding an answer to it, finding solace in my own mind, peace within my own self, and family within those who had taken me in. For my anger, a focus of my energy into channeling it into a desire to study, to practice, to make myself ready so that I could face those that took my family from me someday."
"And that is why you've come back here." Colleen might end up with her foot in her mouth a lot, but at least she remembers some details of their earlier conversations. One hand pulls out of her pocket, scratching lightly at her cheek before she sighs, "I can't imagine what that might have been like for you…Whatever it was though, your…" She waves her hand, indicating him, "Desire to do right by people, that's rare."
Danny nods his head, "It's part of the reason. Another part is wanting to do right by the company that my father helped to build, and to have that company do right by its employees and the people who benefit from its products. And part of me wanted to come home. Even if most of the people that I knew when I was here don't really .." He shrugs his shoulders, "I was just a boy, and now I'm not a boy, and the bonds that you expect to last, that get you through that time apart — sometimes they're not there when you come back. People thought I was dead. They moved on."
"Hard to make room in your life for someone you thought was dead." Colleen muses quietly, shaking her head a bit, "You really aren't like anyone else, you know." He probably does know. "Also…not that I'm saying that the man with the little dog is really a risk, but you should probably avoid giving your number and things out to just anyone. The sort of money you have…it'd tempt even the most upright citizen given the wrong circumstances."
Danny he has no idea, really, that there aren't many, or any people like him. He just is, who he is, a product of a lot of circumstances and an inherently good and good-natured personality that was touched by some things, and not by others. He glances over at her and looks at her quizzically, then he smiles and says, "I don't give out that information to just anyone. I've only given it out to a small handful of people, and most of them are the ones that you've met."
"The twin mechanics makes sense, considering what we observed." Colleen admits, then she gestures towards the bar they just left, "But the man with the dog?" She shakes her head, sighing just a moment when she realizes that he honestly doesn't understand the risk he took. She reaches out to grab his arm as she comes to a stop, "Just listen…not everyone is who or what they say, you need to be careful, alright?"
Danny walks along by her side, and when she grabs ahold of his arm, he stops with her, both eyebrows going up just a little bit. There's a moment where he just looks into her eyes, studying them, the line of her brow, the set of her lips. "Okay," he says, studying her, and then finally he nods and says, "Sure, I'll try."
"Good.." Colleen replies when he finally agrees, giving him a nod in return before she releases her hold on his arm, turning to start walking down the sidewalk once more. She returns her hand to her pocket, falling quiet for a good half block or so before she wonders, "You think there are any available apartments in that building after all this?"
"You mean any that aren't full of holes?" Danny asks and then shakes his head a little bit as he slides his hands into his pockets and begins to walk alongside her once more. "Probably not. I'm likely going to have to help them find temporary housing as we begin work on all the repairs and then help them all move back in after. But probably once the renovations are done, there will be apartments leftover. Why?"
"Sounds like a lot of work…what about those that don't want to keep moving around, are you going to find them somewhere else entirely to live if they don't want to relocate twice?" Colleen wonders, glancing at him, then back forward before she shakes her head, "Just curious…I might be interested in one, if you happen to have one when the renovations are done."
"There might be one or two that can be renovated without having to move anyone. There wasn't a lot of fighting on the third floor, so most of that might be salvageable," Danny says. "I'm really going to have to go back in there with a building inspector to find out exactly what needs to be done. If we can do it like a slide puzzle and just, renovate a few units, move people, then renovate their units.. that might work. It just depends on how much noise people want to put up with and whether they want to leave their current places or not." When she says she might be interested, he nods his head and says, "Sure. I mean I know part ofo that building was vacant, so there will be empty apartments."
"You've also got to contend with the police department after all that, they'll need to release it." Colleen pauses for a moment, then continues, "Consider me your first new tenant then, when you've got one that is both vacant and available." She glances up and down the street for a moment before looking down one of the side streets as they start to cross it, abruptly switching topics again, "You any good, at the martial arts?"
Danny nods and says, "I have lawyers who can work on that. We have an entire department dedicated to real estate acquisition. I shouldn't have to do more than sign on the dotted lines once all the contract work is finished." He smiles then and says, "That's a deal." He holds a hand out for her to shake, and then they continue on their way. Her question has him smile a little as he looks over to her and he nods. "I've trained a lot. I'd like to think I'm.. confident enough to defend myself."
"Of course you do." Colleen doesn't even sound upset by it, just resigned and amused in turns as she reaches out to take the offered hand, giving it a shake. She then continues on for a little while before she steps towards one of the side streets, "We should spar sometime. But not tonight…maybe this week, once you're done with your lawyers and galas."
"You should come with me," Danny says then, "To the Halloween party." He looks at her curiously as though gauging her reaction to that suggestion. "It should be fun. Music, bobbing for apples, costumes, not a gala or formal attire in sight." That last part seems to be his own preference, more than anything else. "And sure, we can spar. Whenever you like."
Surprise washes over her face at that, then she looks uncertain for a moment before she nods, "I could come with you, sure…" But, just because of that uncertainty she double-checks what he means by WITH. "Like a date, or just…friends going to the same place together?"
"Like as my date, to a thing, that we would go to together," Danny says, and then pauses, "Unless just going as friends going to the same thing would be better? Whichever one will get you to agree with it, but I meant the first one." He waits to see whether that makes a difference, studying her.
Colleen's quiet for a little while, debating on if it makes a difference, and if it does, which she might prefer over the other. Eventually she nods, "Alright, we can go as like a date, to a thing. I don't have any costume, though…so what are you going as?"
"I don't know yet," Danny admits with a shrug of his shoulders and a grin. "Want to go hit up a costume shop tomorrow and see what we can find?" There's a little bit of a sparkle in those blue eyes when she agrees to go with him. "It will be fun. Fun is still okay to have, right?" He grins over at her sidelong as he continues to walk along.
"Yes, fun is still okay to have." She replies, giving him an exasperated look at that, "Just not buying me cars…it's very easy." She lifts her hands, holding them out in front of her, palms up, "Car…" She lifts a hand, then the other one, "Everything else." She gives them a bit of a up-down thing before she lets the everything else hand win, "We can go to a costume shop. I think there's this old one down in Chinatown…used to supply one of the theaters I think."
Danny holds up both hands in front of himself and says, "I already promised — no car. On my honor, I swear, that I will not buy you a car. Or pay Reyes the difference on a car. I won't even buy parts and have Reyes put them into the car. Car is off the table." He grins then and says, "Alright, tomorrow. Costume shop. Meet you there?"
"Would you have bought parts and had him put them in?" Colleen doesn't seem to have considered that, and is giving Danny a weird look for a moment before she nods, "Tomorrow, costume shop…say…one?" She doesn't wait for the answer though, instead starting to move back the direction they came from, "Chinatown…don't forget."
"Sure, why not? If he found the car and we could upgrade some parts in it to make it more reliable? I would have footed the bill for some upgraded parts," Danny says with a shrug of his shoulders, "But like I said.. I have vowed not to mess with the car in any way, shape, or form." Then he nods and says "One is good," watching her suddenly change direction and head back the way that they'd come. He stands there for a moment, just watching her go, looking mildly perplexed. Then he shrugs and slides his hands into his pockets, whistling a little to himself as he continues on his way.