Val Armorr and the Long Island Iced Tea
New York City -- West Village -- Zero Hour
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Inside, the Zero Hour is MUCH larger than it looks from the outside. The main entrance and gathering area has wood floors, plastered walls - mostly covered with posters and knick-knacks and other tangible ephemera from all over the world and various points in time, and is moderately lit. There are also several rooms that adhere more coherently to a single point in time or out there 'theme', each with appropriate music played over the speakers, lighting styles, furnishings and decor.
The Club, which also doubles as a restaurant, has one large kitchen - which can be looked into through a long window in the main room. There's also a single door in the far back corner marked 'ABSOLUTELY NO ADMITTANCE. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY' and watched over by two rather burly and stoic guards.
Perhaps the oddest feature of the Zero Hour, however, is the large mechanical archways in almost all of the walls - at least one in each room, sometimes more. Even in rooms where it's a break from the 'theme', there's one of these archways. At random intervals, they light up and hiss to life - letting people in and out. No telling where TO, though.
There's an odd, permeating sense of 'possible' here, like almost ANYTHING can (and probably WILL) happen.
<< There are +views here. >>
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It'd been a simple idea. Settle Laney down by introducing her to at least -one- of the Titans.
Unfortunately, Nightwing was busy. Garth was ruling Atlantis. Bart was somewhere. And Laney was itching to get -something- to drink, so Roy chose a rather simple method to try and kill two birds with one stone: he took Laney to Zero Hour, one of Lilith's businesses. With any luck, she might be around.
Unfortunately for him, Lilith was not there. Which leaves Roy to introduce Laney to a new drink he'd only found the other day.
"Silverale, Laney!" Roy says, seated at a bar. "Try it, it's not as weird as it looks. All the effects of alcohol, without the addiction and the hangover. I dunno where it's from, but Bart suggested it." He takes a healthy swig. "Sorry about Lil. We'll get 'em next time."
It'd been a simple idea. Settle Laney down by introducing her to at least -one- of the Titans.
Unfortunately, Nightwing was busy. Garth was ruling Atlantis. Bart was somewhere. And Laney was itching to get -something- to drink, so Roy chose a rather simple method to try and kill two birds with one stone: he took Laney to Zero Hour, one of Lilith's businesses. With any luck, she might be around.
Unfortunately for him, Lilith was not there. Which leaves Roy to introduce Laney to a new drink he'd only found the other day.
"Silverale, Laney!" Roy says, seated at a bar. "Try it, it's not as weird as it looks. All the effects of alcohol, without the addiction and the hangover. I dunno where it's from, but Bart suggested it." He takes a healthy swig. "Sorry about Lil. We'll get 'em next time."
Now, as to how often she's itching for something to drink, that's another matter. Laney had the grace to clean up a bit tonight--a white button-up two buttons from 'up' and the sleeves rolled, clean dark jeans, and the usual black lace-up boots, with a dab of eyeliner and lipstick. Yeah, she owns those. And ignore the pack of smokes tucked into one of those sleeve-rolls; every now and then it'll get a plaintive glance, now that smoking indoors is illegal in the Big Apple. "I hear weird things about this bar, Roy," she says, conspiratorial but cheerful about it. "They make their waitstaff dress like aliens or something. Never been here, though." She flags down one of said waitstaff, tersely ordering the suggested Silverale along with a Wild Turkey on the rocks. "Thanks," she grins reassuringly. "Anyway. I don't really go to straight bars much. The food any good?"
This is definitely a new experience for one Val Armorr--but then again Val is a man who's always in chase of new experiences, even if themed clubs are not amongst those experiences that he usually tends to seek out. Still, after a teammates' mention of the place, the idea of Zero Hour has sort of idled in the back of the mind of a certain orange-clad Legionnare, and he's found himself with a little down-time, and in the club itself if only to just see what it's about. It stands to reason that the man has no sense of 'casual' clothes; dressed as he always is in what appears to be a black bodysuit with an orange gi over it (with matching bracers!), Val's not exactly one to fit into a crowd.
"That's because this place is sort of like a junction between different eras. Just walk in and you're liable to see -anyone-... take a look at that guy who just walked in, see? Takes a real man to wear orange as a primary color." A wry grin from Roy, as he nods at said man before turning his attention back to Laney. "Anyway, I wouldn't say this is a straight bar. More like an open bar for anyone or anything."
It's hard for Val *not* to be aware of the eyes on him, even in a room which is full of a lot of potential for crowded, wandering eyes. He tips his head at the pair in a brief, curious gesture, his dark eyes moving first over Roy and then Laney. Then there's a hint of a frown, and he reaches into one of the pouches on his belt--apparently even men who dress themselves in orange and black latex have utility belts--and pulls out what look to be ... earplugs. Which he promptly puts into his ears, before moving towards the bar rather unhurriedly.
"You've been watching way too many Star Trek episodes, Laney," Roy grins, as he takes a swig of Silverale. "I -think- it's a Future outfit. Be nice, he's coming this way." He lifts his glass at the newcomer, before commenting, "And no, I'm not putting you on. Lil explained all this before, but I'm not exactly sure about all the details of -how-. It just is a bar that all of time touches, okay?"
Laney frowns, swigging to give herself a moment to word this out. "I don't believe it, Roy," she finally flatly avers. "We don't have a door to the future. We still have uncured diseases. We have social ills. Poverty. Racism. Sexism. Homphobia. I'm sorry, Roy, but either we're not talking to the future or they're still just as bad as we are, and I have a really hard time believing this world never gets better." She cracks her knuckles, shrugs, and takes another drink. "Maybe other dimensions or something. I'd buy that, I guess. You've been to other dimensions, right?"
"The way time works, honestly, it's a little bit of both." It's Lilith - and she pretty much just there, all of a sudden, like it's the old days. She's even got a drink -- some purple, frilly, slightly glowy-looking sparkly girly thing that originates from God only knows where (in a martini glass, naturally). "Time travel, dimensional travel... in some cases it's identical." A bit of a look and smile to Karate Kid at THAT bit - "I didn't bother with learning the ins and outs of the mechanics of the science, but needless to say the Zero Hour exists everywhere and everywhen. Welcome to my club, I'm Lilith Clay."
For a moment or so, it seems like ever-fashionable Neon Orange Gi Boy is going to come and sit right next to Laney and Roy. At the last second, however, he choses a seat a little down from them, demurring the bartender's initial attentions with a quiet-voiced English that's odd only because it's completely and totally devoid of any sort of accent at all. Almost *painfully* textbook. For the time being, Val's well enough occupied with trying to figure out what's in all of the things being offered here.
"Come on, Laney, it's not -that- improbable. It just means we got a lot of work to do." Roy laughs, reaching over to dig an elbow into Laney's arm. "We were -just- in one, remember? I can say I'd be happy not to be in another one of them again... hey!"
Roy laughs, getting to his feet and being sure to grab ahold of the glass and hand it over to Laney before grabbing her in a swing and a hug. "Lil! I wanted to catch ahold of you, but you probably knew that. This is Laney Lopez. She doesn't believe in the future."
Laney sniffs as she gets up and sticks out a handshake hand, the other firmly shoved into her back pocket. "I believe in the future. I just don't believe any decent future wouldn't give us some advice on how to fix things. ...I mean, I'm not asking for their machines, or whatever, just their ideas." She twists out a crooked smile and ducks her head at Lilith. "Hey. Nice to meet you. Old friend of his?" There's a chin-jerk toward Roy. "Or are you going to be his friend someday in the future, or something?"
"I've been his friend -entirely- too long sometimes, I think," Lilith says in a teasing tone after hugging Roy back. "As for getting advice from the future, the problem is thusly - every decision creates at -least- one alternate future. Time is far more stringy and tricky than you think - only the past to now is a straight line, and even THEN things can get... strange." For lack of a better word. Lilith smiles again, "I hope you don't mind if I join you? I'm not... interrupting anything?" Roy gets something of a look, though Lilith doesn't actually look AT ALL serious as she asks.
The menu apparently deserves quite a *bit* of analysis, complete with faint, head-tilting frowns that appear over Val's face. He does spare a look upwards and a smile for Lilith as she smiles at him, but the smile is just as reserved and muted as the frown. And then, still quietly, he leans forward to request of the bartender a Long Island Iced Tea, in the tone of a man who's probably expecting it to be actual *tea.*
All of a sudden, anything paper or cloth flutters in a brief gust of wind, and there's the hint of ozone and crackling in the air, and speed lightning trail, and then it's all settled and Bart's standing in front of Laney and Roy's table, across from Lilith, grinning. "Hey. Be right back. I see a lonely Legionnaire." And then just as abruptly, he's leaning on the bar next to Val. "" Yeah, Interlac. And then he notices the earplugs. "Oh. Good. Lil's a telepath but it could've been awkward."
"... Nah, you're not interrupting anything. Actually, I wanted to introduce you to Laney to try and get her to sign up for Nightwing's little group. Laney, this is Lilith Clay." He starts to elaborate, but is distracted by ... "Bart! I was trying to reach you. Where've you been... you know this guy? We were just talking about him." He glances at Karate Kid. "Sorry, we were discussing the Future. Name's Roy Harper. Any friend of Bart's... probably -could- be a friend of mine." He offers a handshake.
This is all getting to be a lot of people at once, and some of them super-fast, and Laney's eyes get a little wide--and this without her trademark goggles on, either, almost like she's pretending to be just some girl for the night. But Lilith gets a much sharper glance after the 'Nightwing' remark. "It's...a good name," she manages, suddenly tenser though still friendly. "So--oh! Bart. Hey." And now the sherbet salesman from the Future, or whatever, he's apparently worth talking to, too. She just sort of flickers her attention between the lot of them, backing up against the bar carefully.
Val isn't necessarily *lonely* so much as *exceptionally* out of his depth. The drink arrives just after Bart, so there's no time between Val ordering it and recieving it for him to catch a good whiff of what's really in that glass. Instead, he looks up to Bart, blinking a couple of times to process the speedster's arrival, before he smiles his quiet, reserved smile. "I felt it was an apropos time for them." Val says, referring to the earplugs, before he scoots down a few seats as he's been requested, only to extend his own hand to give Roy a friendly shake. "I hope to be a friend. I am Val Armorr."
Lilith just smiles at Bart and Val again, but nods a little as Laney speaks - moving to stand almost protectively next to her, sort of a buffer-zone if you will. "It's all right, we'll take this 'upstairs'," the redhead lightly intones. At which point, she takes her Titans business telepathic - addressing Laney at this point. < < That's -quite- the interesting timepiece you're wearing... I take it that's what your 'gig' is? > >
"And Val, that's Lilith -- she's been in the future before, during the huge crisis in time a couple years ago -- and this is Laney, and she rocks," Bart finishes the other introductions. Then he looks thoughtful, and peers at Val's drink. And eyes Val sidelong. "Well. Okay. I'll be your designated driver. Anyway-- Roy and Lil are Titans; Roy, Val's a Legionnaire. You were really talking about the future? Like, just the future like of the team, where it's gonna go? Or like the thirty-first century?"
"The future in general, Bart" Roy grins, as he pulls back. "So Bart and you're from the same future, Val? Do they all dress like you? Laney doesn't believe it, but then again... I don't think she knows -where- you're from, Bart."
Said timepiece's carrier starts violently, and blurts a surprised curse in Spanish, completely losing track of what the menfolk are saying. And she's gone white as--well, as white as Laney can, anyway. Sort of taupe, really. Her eyes lock with Lilith's, and her right hand drops back behind her where it's less obtrusive. "I wait tables, Ms. Clay," she intones deliberately. "And I do first aid. That's my gig."
Lord. Lilith cuts Roy an immediate look, "I thought you'd told her I was a telepath?" She'd smack him upside the head, but there's a lot of there between her and him. But she shakes it off fair quick with a toss of her hair, and produces a card - which she then offers to Laney with a warm smile. "I see you'd rather discuss this privately - just give me a call when you're ready." Roy gets another -look-.
"It is nice to meet all of you." Val says politely, inclining his head in a respectful echo of a bow towards both of the women. His next act is to blink down at his outfit, his eyebrows raising faintly. "Not generally, no. This is my uniform. It is..." A pause, as he seems to consider his words, "Not indicitive of the traditional Legion uniform." In lieu of something else to do, it's about *now* where Karate Kid tries his drink--and reacts with something that's almost like *shock*. Which is a pretty big step in emoting, for Val. At least he manages not to choke on it, but swallow it mostly gracefully. He does give the glass a bit of the hairy eye, though.
"Oh good. What -is- it indicative of?" Roy asks, before jerking his head up at the sharp tone from Lilith. "What? What'd I ... oh. She said she knew the Titans! I assumed she knew who you were! I mean, for chrissakes, she knows Gillhead!"
Bart's expression clears, watching Val. And then he does his best impression of Michael Dorn. "It is a *warrior's* drink." Then he glances at Roy. "Same future, yeah. More or less the same -time-, too. My cousin stayed there, is a full-time Legionnaire-- what are you guys *doing* over there?" He cranes around Val and Roy to eye Lilith and Laney. "Laney, are you gonna go into shock? From too-much-to-the-head-at-once?" He should know all about that. He causes it in people all the time.
Laney up and punches Roy on the arm--not too hard. "Well *maybe* I've never had anyone *talk* in my *head* before, Roy! I knew the Titans *on TV*, not, like, at the breakfast table! Ay! Cabron!" And then she takes a deep breath, turning back to Lilith and taking the proffered card. "Sorry. I, um." She tries--very clumsily--to think loudly: < > Some embarrassing surface thoughts float by, at least one about some girl behind Lilith without very much on. <> It goes on for a bit. She grabs desperately at her drink, and drains most of it.
You paged Bart Allen with 'Oh noez! I have LOST you!'.
"I may have been in the Justice League for five whole minutes, Roy," Lilith, in contrast, admonishes gently, "but the reason my identity is not a secret is because 9 times out of 10, people don't remember who I am ANYWAY." 'That redheaded girl who hangs with the Titans? I thought that was Starfire?' etc. Shaking her head again, Lilith resumes telepathic communication with Laney. << I can hear you quite well, I promise. Just relax and think - I can hear you. So, tell me about your watch? >> To Val, however, Lilith says out loud - "We have Silverale on tap if you don't like it."
Val is just about ready to entirely give up on that drink, and then Bart speaks. And somewhere, deep in the depths of Val's placid, balanced soul, a little bit of pride sticks its head up and calls out, 'Hey, *I'M* a warrior!' He sets his jaw just a little bit, and takes another drink just out of sheer stubbornness. Surely, the Karate Kid has seen worser foes than a tall glass of...whatever it is in this glass that is MOST CERTAINLY NOT TEA. Bart gets a smile that's largely unreadable before Val's attention is neatly dividing between Roy and Lilith. "It is indicitive of me. It is styled after the ancient training uniforms of Terran martial artists." A blink in Lilith's direction, and another faint smile. "That won't be necessary, thank you. Silverale is ..not my usual indulgence."
"You get used to it, Laney. If you're going to join the Titans, you might as well get used to Lil, to fighting over pizza, and... let's see... what am I forgetting, Bart?" Roy glances back, notices Laney's rather constipated look, and decides it might be wiser to just stay out of that direction for the moment. "Uh, sorry. Anyway... styled after Terran martial artists? And is orange in fashion in your era?"
"Prank wars," says Bart promptly, glancing over from where he's getting himself an orange soda. "And bad jokes. And fast cars." He picks up his glass and -relishes- the first sip. "And relationship drama, and assault with nail polish. Also Mia's cookies."
Making a rude gesture at Roy, Laney vehemently mutters, "*Conyo*!" And then it passes behind her. "Look," she continues more pleasantly, "I haven't really agreed to join, you know, just to check things--" And then she hears something or other and wheels a little on Val. "What, you're telling me they have *cultural appropriation* in the future, too? Are you even Asian at all, man? Seriously. Ay. As an Asian American, I gotta say--" and then she snorts and decides it's not worth it, and gives a little more attention to her bourbon. "Conyos. Ay."
Val doesn't have *quite* enough of the alcohol in his system yet to really do more than blink, fairly owlishly, at Laney. "I am an orphan." He tells her, fairly point-blank and without any sense that he's digging for any sympathy. "And I was not born on Earth. So, I do not know. It was meant as a gesture of honor." Then he's looking back to Roy, and brushing almost self-consciously at the front of said gi. "I don't believe that it's any more or less in fashion than any other color."
Lilith just pats Laney once on the shoulder and turns her attention elsewhere, after all, something's coming. Mmmm. "I'll be right back, I need to go talk to someone about something." Because THAT'S real specific. Of course, she doesn't go TOO far - in a blink, she's behind the bar and closer to the wall, quietly talking to one of the other staff members there and making a few vague gestures at the front door with her free hand.
"Dude there's no *countries* where we're from," says Bart almost lazily, and almost patiently. Weird. He rolls around so that he's leaning his back against the bar, and his orange soda's in one hand, and he grins a little toothily at Laney. Even if he's not a glowing gold scout anymore, his eyes are still that color. "English is a dead language. Japanese and Icelandic and a really mutated Quebec French are all still around -- I don't remember what else -- but there's no *countries*. There are many many many traditions, and there's always culture flavor everywhere, but when the galactic perspective is 'well, I can tell people from -this- planet from people from -that- planet', details like region are a specialist thing."
Dick Grayson enters. No more fanfare than that. No one notices the model-hot guy enter - matter of fact the only one who gives an initial glance of recognition is Jay, to whom Dick gives a respectful nod back - and that's the way he likes it. He does look around as if trying to see if someone's here and he speaks quietly to Jay for a few seconds who points him in the direction of Roy and the Gang. He stops by the bar and orders a club soda before heading in the direction of the impromptu Titan Drinking Practice.
"Lord, I've had enough drama to last me a lifetime," Roy says with a half-frown. He grimaces at Val. "You -really- are from the future." And then his gaze shifts back to Laney, and he flashes a grin. "Trust me on this, you're not going to find -corporate- rules in the Titans. Nightwing usually runs a tight ship, but not -that- tight. It's not like he's the Batman."
The domino-masked redhead at the door looks profoundly startled. He'd seen Dick coming, and had been about to gesture someone else over to stand in for him -- but there was no *time*, and then just that matter-of-fact greeting-- Jay stares. "Dick," he hisses, "did you come through the home door and sneak past me? We're not supposed to mess around out there--!" And he's gesturing out the door that Dick just came in through. "You don't want to make trouble for your counterpart..."
Laney shakes her head, muttering into the glass of bourbon, and orders another as she finishes it. "Convenient. Imagine There's No Countries. Everybody colorblind. Cute." Mutter mutter. She scans the room, waiting on the barkeep, and settles on Bart. "So. Hey, again. You involved in," it's sort of a round gesture, "this whole thing, too? Or is this just, like, some kind of superhero bar?"
Poor Val is very, very confused by Laney's reaction. He's doing a lot of blinking tonight, which is mostly the only expression of that confusion. He glances between Laney, Roy and Bart before he pulls his drink towards him as if he needs to be galvanized to even touch it, and takes another sip from it. He *will* finish this thing. Again, his attention is to Roy, his eyebrows lifting. "I did not claim otherwise." People in the past are *weird*. Val's not sure how Bart does it.
Dick Grayson runs a hand through his thick raven mane and gives Jay an apologetic smile. "Sorry, man." he says, looking around, "It's been a helluva couple of days and it's been a while since I've been in here, granted. Sorry if I slipped protocol." he looks around again, "Look, have you seen Roy or Lil around? I got a voicemail saying they wanted to meet, but no one answered at either place. Have they shown up here, by chance?"
"A lot happens in a thousand years, Laney," says Bart really quietly. "I mean, think about the world a thousand years back from *now*." He's actually straightened up. Then he grins crookedly. "And yeah, I'm a Titan, too, but this is also kind of -- well, yeah. Kind of a superhero bar. It's got doors open all into, you know, hypertime. So the past, the future, a million alternate dimensions, a million alternate futures-- they kind of change, but don't worry about it. You probably need to drink more before there's any more of -this- conversation."
--now Jay looks kind of... choked. "Uh," he says, "wait." He looks back at Lilith with a completely 'oh shit' expression on his face, and then looks back at Dick, and then gestures over to Roy and Bart and Laney and Val. "Uh. They're over there. You-- you're from-- nevermind. Go on over."