1965-01-12 - Tea Shop
Summary: A small gathering at Mrs. O'Riley's tea shop.
Related: If there are no related logs, put 'None', — please don't leave blank!
Theme Song: None
fitz kai mary-jane-watson peter-parker 


Kai it's a quiet evening. Kai's already been kicked out of the club he was performing at for starting his set with 'the thing about being queer in New York is…' The police came. It was a good night. Having evaded arrest, he's now in Mrs. O'Riley's with a cuppa and a plate of scones. Cops never look for him here.


Opening the door for Mary Jane, Peter grins. "Look, I know, you always find the best Christmas gifts after Christmas, right?" he asks his girlfriend as he lets in the cold blast of air before following her in. "I saw a tea set here that I think Aunt May would just adore.. and plus, well, it gives us a chance to spend some time together."


Fitz never looked for Kai here either. He did look for tea though. A mitten held the door behind Peter following him in. There was a warm and polite thanks to the other guy asit was propped open for him to grab revealing that thick, but polished Scottis brogue. "Oh1 Thank you." His eyes toom a moment to defrost and look around before mittens came off. And hey, familiar face. The engineer's expression warmed, "Oh! Hullo there. Kai. From the cookie place."


MJ grins at Peter, "Well, sure, let's take a look…" She smiles up towards Peter, kissing his cheek as she slips inside, then looks around a bit curiously as she takes off her mittens and tucks them in her coat, a red-and-white scarf wrapped around her neck to help with the cold.


Kai grins and looks up at Fitz. "Hey there," he says. "Yes, from the cookie place. You're the fellow from Glasgow." He raises his cup to Fitz, then gestures to his table. "Have a seat. I was just celebrating." His gaze goes to the newcomers idly. He's still on the run from the cops, so new arrivals are of interest to him. Then again, they're looking for 'a blond beatnik in a beret' so good luck spotting him amidst, oh, most of the population of Greenwich Village. Peter and Mary Jane don't look like cops, though, and he relaxes a bit. He even smiles at them.


There's a grin offered to Fitz in return, before Peter's cheeks warm to the kiss on his cheek. Slipping off his gloves, it takes Peter a moment to recognize Kai - the mouthy little guy from the UN - not that he can say anything on that. However! Leaning a little closer to Mary Jane, he asks her, "Didn't we see him at the Asgardian party?" Yeah, that one. With Mary Jane Enchantress. Ahem.


Fitz took a deep breath from teh cold and tilted his head with a squint, "Bishopbriggs actually but… eyah same thing." His head looked from Peter to Kai and both eyebrows arched up as one finger (though commical in the mitten) pointed to Kai as if silently asking 'You?' but polite as he was asked instead, "Oh? And what are we celebrating?"


Mary Jane blushes a bit at the mention of the party, since… well, that was pretty potent wine Loki was handing out. "I… um, yes, I think he was. Should we go say hi? I mean, it was… um…" She looks about as red as her hair right now.


Kai gives Fitz a game smile and a shrug. Yeah, him. "We're celebrating a successful set at the Jumble Club on 5th. I only almost got arrested for obscenity." He beams, and he's got such a sweet, boyish smile, with cherubic dimples. Him? Be obscene? Perish the very thought. When Peter looks his way, Kai waves. So friendly.


"Sure. Might as well be friendly for a moment - after all, it's not like you were.. terribly bad." Peter winks at Mary Jane before leading her over to the other table. "Hi." he greets the pair at the table with a small nod of his head. "Didn't we see you at Loki's party? With the goat that was supposed to be Thor?" he asks curiously. "I'm Peter.. this is Mary Jane."


Fitz found that to be startling news. One mitten was laid down and then the other trying to picture that in his head. "Did you accidentally cuss at a lady?" He wasn't certain what all the laws surrounded that were exactly. "A goat?!" He lookedbetwixt the three of them, "Was there supposed to be a goat there?"


Mary Jane smiles sheepishly at Fitz, "Um… honestly, most of that evening was a very pleasant blur. I don't think you were there, though… well, you could have been and I missed it. Mary Jane Watson." She nods towards Fitz and Kai, "Not interrupting anything, are we?"


Kai shakes his head and tells Fitz, "I do topical humor, like human rights, mutant rights, that sort of thing. Sometimes you gotta break a few eggs, you know what I mean?" He's got a strangely New York cadence but a very much English accent. He then gestures to the other chairs at his table and says, "Not at all, not at all, please join us." He puts the plate of scones in the middle of the table, thereby making them public property. "I'm Kai," he says, "Kai Alfsson." He then adds, "The Yule goat is a tradition mean to honor Thor, but he wasn't there, so…"


"Peter Parker. I was there to take pictures and got roped into a date." Peter smirks aside to MJ as he pulls out a chair for her, so that she may take a seat. "Who would the goat have represented had Thor shown up?" he asks curiously.


Fitz considered this, "SOooo had Thor been there they'd be… very very Thor-ry?" Oh yes his jokes were absolutely not funny. Bless him he tried. "Seems an adventurous undertaking with all teh riots this summer."


MJ can't help but groan at Fitz, then she gives Peter a wry look, "I'm never complaining about your jokes again. At least for this weekend." She sits down in the offered chair, and glances over at Kai, curious to hear the answer to the question as well.


"Oh no, the goat would be there regardless," Kai says. "It just would have honored Thor instead of standing in for him. That was Loki's idea." He smiles as he mentions Loki. So dreamy. "It was a great party. So much feasting and drinking, and the goat went home with someone, which is also tradition. We didn't even have to break into someone's house and sneak it in."


"Ah. So.." Peter shakes his head. He's not going to ask questions. Or make assumptions, since he's just going to glance over at Mary Jane. "What, just for tonight? Come on, that one earned me a 48 hour pass, at least." he says with a wink at her.


Fitz was specifically curious into this cultural phoenom. To Ms. O'Riley he asked with that earnest politenes of his, "Lady Grey? WHole pot and, um, plate of biscuits for the table, if it's not a trouble?" He had a government salary and the young couple too looked like nice folks. "Did they have the honey mead and all?" Seems he knew something of the traditions.


Mary Jane eyes Peter, and grins, "Maaaaybe, we'll see how you act on probation, tiger." She then ahs at Fitz, "Well, I think they might have had it, but… well, I think there was something about that wine. It was a very pleasant blur, though."


"Yeah, we had honey mead, and we had stuff mortals could drink without dying," Kai says. "I say 'we' but I'm not really an Asgardian. I'm from Alfheim." He sits up a little, proud of himself, and he takes a scone, slathering it with jam. "But Alfheim is near Asgard, so we share a lot of cultural traditions." He nods to Mary Jane and says, "That was Loki's special brew. I'm not surprised people tripped."


"Yeah." Peter says and then glances down at his watch, and there's a sigh. "Ugh. I have to get those pictures done before the deadline, or Jameson won't pay me." he grunts. "And I'm in the habit of not working for free." He starts to rise to his feet, glancing to MJ. "If you want to stay..?" he asks, giving her a quick schmeck on the lips and a murmured word before he's preparing to head out, pulling back on his gear. "It was nice meeting you, Kai, and Fitz, was it?" he asks, just to make sure.


Fitz offered a nad to Peter with an honest smile from the Scotsman. "It was. Peter, yeah? Think I've seen your work in the paper. Pleasure to meet the talent." But he was leaving and the tea just arrived with scones. OH good the woman withthe Irish last name got it. Regarding Kai and back to Mary Jane he added, "It is absolutely no problem. Something to be said for good company."


MJ smiles and murmurs, "I know," to Peter as he goes, then gives Fitz a grin, "That's very nice to say… honestly, they don't value him as much as they should there, I think, but… well, I love his work with the paper. And not just because I'm dating him."


"I'm all for good company," Kai says agreeably. He then nods to Mary Jane, morose as he says, "That's the work force for you. I avoid it, but I've got the luxury of being able to." He has a sugar daddy, after all. To Fitz, he says, "Did you make cookies with your oven yet? I haven't, but I'm going to." Then, to MJ, he explains, "We were at this candy shop the other day and they had these little ovens you can make cakes and cookies in. The cookies were so good. I already ate all of mine. I was going to share, but I didn't."


Fitz gave Mary Jane a pained look. "I'm in research and development. I know how that goes," He comisserated with a soft drag of his O's. "People are always so heated to ask for what they want but if it works out and is useful the never really go back and retroactivly thank the creator. But we take comfort in knowing our things are put to good use, yeah?" He moved a scone to the small plate and shook his head. "Nooo not yet. I got called in late night to work on a project. Shame too." Filling in the gaps there was an electric enthuasim to him when he spoke, "Tiny trays slide into a box trapping the ambient heat off a standard issue lightbulb. Brilliant really."


Mary Jane smiles at Fitz, "R&D? Really? What do you work on? I'm actually working on my applied physics degree. Seemed to be more interesting than just engineering." She nods, and listens to Fitz's description with interest, and chuckles, "Yeah, sometimes the simplest solution is the easiest one, but it gets to be way too easy to just make things more complicated."


Kai glances between the two of them. "I'm not educated. I'm an artist," he says. "I'm used to not being appreciated, but I don't mind. You're doing it right when they hate you." He chews his lower lip, then admits, "No one really hates me either, though." Alas. "What do you research and develop?" he asks Fitz, echoing Mary Jane.


Fitz blushed from ear to ear and muttered quietly, "I work on researching and developing things." He paused adding, "I'm… an… engineer." He sighed. What was important was he enjoyed his work right? "Sadly per company policy I can't discuss them, but suffice to say it justified the debt I accrued for geting my degrees." MJ got a smile. "Applied physics is a fascinating field. I went particle. Sometimes wish I hadn't. Applied has more fun in application. You lose fewer projects that way too." He lifted the teapot and refilled Kai's cup in a sign of support, "Well let it not be said we fail to appreciate you Alfsson."


Mary Jane makes a face at Kai, "Hey, I do have a band! Well, I'm the lead singer for the band, anyway, though I'm not really the boss. But that's another story." She grins over at Fitz, "Yeah, I'm probably the only physics major with a minor in music. But I like the synergy of the two." She mmms, "Well, as long as you like what you do, I think that's the most important thing."


Kai perks up. "You have a band? I usually play alone, and I do a little poetry and standup, too. I almost got arrested for the standup, but that's fine. Lenny Bruce is one of my heroes." He nods to Mary Jane, curls bobbing. "I love what I do. I think it has meaning. What we create is what lives beyond us, and art tells the story of it all."


Fitz didn't lose interest that the physics weren't applied to machinery or device at all. "That's fascinating. Who knows, you might surprise us all and create a new instrument." There was a grin of thought to that. "Who is Lenny Bruce?" Now he was curious and a bit unfamiliar withthe reference, but as it was inspiration enough to teh company gathered clearly he was worth learning about. "Wish that I were musical. Sang at church. That was about it. I don't think performers get enough credit for talking to strangers much less performing. Bravo. Both of you."


MJ nods over at Kai, "Yes, I do. We're just starting to get some gigs, now that we have a bass player finally… I hope, anyway." She grins, "Hoping this means I can quit waitressing because after that and school my feet are just killing me, let me tell ya." She then blinks, "Oh, shoot! My shift at the diner is coming up soon, I promised Linda I'd help her close." She smiles sheepishly, "Thanks for keeping me company after Peter left, it was nice to meet you both Kai, Fitz." She waves and then stands, hustling her way out of the shop as she's late, she's late!


Kai stares at Fitz. "Lenny Bruce," he says, as if saying the name again will clarify everything. "The man is a god. He's a comedian, he's fantastic. I caught him at Cafe Au Go Go in April. He was arrested after the show. He does the sketchy jokes, you know? "To is a preposition, come is a verb?" He casts MJ a briefly apologetic look for almost touching upon an obscene subject. Not that he wasn't letting 'er rip in front of women at the club. He then tells her, "It's great to see you again. Good luck with the band!"


Fitz was impressed. He ate teh scone and listened to teh colourful tale unfold squinting and then blinking with wide eyes. He ate his scone. munchmunchmunch. "Soundslike someone we should drag one of my friends to go see. He has that sort of humor about him. Tho," He pondered uow racocous Agt. Barton already was and winced, "I dunno that he needs encouragement."


"He's a genius," Kai says with a sigh of admiration. "I've been around a long time, Mr. Fitz, and let me tell you, there are just people who stand out. This one, he's going to be a legend. He's going to be one they'll be talking about long after he's gone." He nods, convinced of this. Given how long he's been around, he's probably developed an eye for this sort of thing. He grins, then. "Of course this sort of thing should be encouraged. We're too uptight as a society. We need to destigmatize, man."


Fitz offered, "The kind of bard immortalized in song in another's work?" He seemed oto appreciate the concept. "I often wonder if they said that about William Blake when he was alive." The young engineer's mind wondered on that a bit to the work of his predecessors. "Must be something to be like them. You siad you know you're not into Physics," hey he was polite and not casting a judgement, "I really don't fancy myself at all as artistic. Not, you know, in any classical sense. Makes me wonder what sort of mindthey possess and how they must have seen teh world having mastry of both hemispheres. but, then again, I suppose they told us, didn't they?"


Kai says, "Sadly, most people don't know they're great until they're gone. Robert Burns, for example." The great Scotish poet and national treasure, dead young and in misery. Kai's features soften with sympathy for the poor man. "Oh, I'm down with Physics," he says. "I'm just not educated. Physics is great, studying it is groovy, too. It's the artistry of the universe. Knowing how to play with it? That's deep."


Fitz blushed and bit his lip offering to Kai with a wistful grin thinking back, "There was this woman I worked with on and off for a while, brilliant, just absolutely brilliant, but she calls it the music of the stars, and said it was like we were dancing with them." There was a clear fondness in that memory, but it wasn't sorrowful. "Made me feel a bit of a frog in the lab from time to time. That's lucky though. I'd imagine the world would grow a lot quieter without people that inspire us anymore."


"Even princes feel like frogs once in awhile," Kai says. "In the old days, science and art were inseparable. You and I would be very much alike. I like the idea of the music of the stars. Sometimes I feel that way about my art. Either way, we're dazzled by beauty, aren't we?" He wrinkles his nose as he contemplates a quiet world devoid of inspiration. "That's why we need Lenny Bruce," he says. "Love him, hate him, he makes you think."


Fitz smiled thinking of that whimsical manner the two were alike bound by math in some perfect balance. "In several countries around the world they still are. India, Sri Lanka, Japan. I think, threats of having sensibilities confronted and assailed he sounds a fascinating fellow. Um" He dug out a small golf pencil and asked, "Have you your book with you?" Because everyone had a little black book right? "If you're up for it and there's things coming up I'd very much like to hear about it. I can't say I've honestly really left my neighbourhood much yet but to take the tube to work."


Kai does in fact have a little black book, and he takes it from his pocket, tossing it on the table in front of Fitz. "Stick with me, and we'll have a grand old time," Kai says. "I'm all about helping people broaden their horizons. Think of me as your fairy godfather." He laughs a little as he says fairy. "You'll be looking at everything with a brand new perspective."


Fitz looked up his number that he had connected to his new flat, not yet memorized. "Well, if you're hosting parties withthe likes of Loki, round about I figure I'll be runnin into you anyways." Because he already had a meeting with the Asgardian Embassy later in the week and there was a high liklihood of overlapping circles there. "This is good though. Last place I landed for my job I didn't get to run into so many colourful people in my first go out."


"I definitely party with Loki a lot," Kai says with great confidence. "You're in New York now," he says, "Greatest city in the world. You'll run into all sorts, mate. I'll probably introduce you to most of them. Right here? Right now? Best time I've ever been alive in the best place I've ever lived."


Fitzgrinned wryly, "Better than London?" There was the challenge there. "I dunnoooo we do have the Beatles there. They're doin pretty good. Now I know you may be asking yourself how an interesting fellow like me comes to know this, but I assure you, we might have done acoustics testing ofn a few concerts in the name of science. Not really I mean but it was worth using as a good enouch excuse to get them to let us go."


"London is a close second," Kai says with a wink. He laughs with delight. "That's a perfect excuse. Besides, I'm sure you could find something profound in their acoustics as well as their artistry. They're the grooviest. So, were your findings conclusive? That they're the ginchiest? You might need to see them again to be sure."


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