(no subject)

[behind_me]

On encountering a bar where she wasn't expecting one, the first thing she does is to step casually to the side, so there's a wall at her back. Another glance around suggests that no one here was expecting her or shows anywhere near the surprise at her appearance that she does on arriving.

No one attacks her. Which is promising.

She makes her way through the room to the Bar, where an explanatory brochure meets her, and after a quick scan of that she orders her first drink: low in intoxicants, in a tall glass so she can nurse it anyway.

So there she perches, one foot still on the floor, at the very end of the bar where she can see most of the room, and looking like she's been here several times before.

The deadliest woman in the galaxy waits patiently for the other shoe to drop.

Comments

[have_no_mercy]

Tess attends the bar to get a second cup of tea. True, she could have ordered a rat to do it, but she's so used to getting up and being on the go. Gamora is a little noticeable, so Tess leans over a little to ask her the first question that pops into her mine.

"Are you Martian?"

[behind_me]

Gamora had noticed that many of the people here seem somewhat limited in terms of pigmentation, but it doesn't quite register that this might be why she stands out: certainly the brochure did not mention anything about which people were more common that others.

She tilts her head minutely at the question, not quite sure what to make of it, but immediately says:

"No. I don't even know where Martia is."

[have_no_mercy]

"Mars. It's in the Milky Way galaxy."

Of course, if the other woman isn't from there, who knows what her side might call it. So she'll try another tack.

"Have you heard of Earth?"

[behind_me]

"Right," she says at the phrase 'Milky Way,' "I'm from Andromeda. Earth..."

It takes her a second "...do you mean Terra?"

LOTS of planets call themselves 'earth,' but Terra has come up a few times in strategy, even if Terrans don't as a whole get out much.

[have_no_mercy]

"It's entirely possible, yes. We tend to get a lot of alien attention."

For some reason she can't figure out.

"The Andromeda galaxy?"

[behind_me]

Gamora simply nods. If there's a planet calling itself Andromeda she doesn't know it.

"Why do you get so much attention?"

Other then the fact that it's probably harboring at least one Infinity Stone. But the question is just curious, almost friendly. And definitely not a test to see if this Terran knows the answer.

[have_no_mercy]

"I don't really know what started it."

It's an honest answer.

"But they've been coming here for centuries at least. Likely longer."

[behind_me]

That fits with what intelligence tells them. The Asgardians included Terra uinder their protection several centuries ago. One of the reasons they haven't swooped directly in is the worry that Odin might get involved. That and the wizards.

Still, Gamora doesn't really feel the need to treat this as an intelligence gathering conversation. If Tess is still standing, then she nods towards a nearby barstool invitingly, and takes a sip of her drink.

"Which ones?"

[have_no_mercy]

She sits with a nod of thanks, and takes her cup of tea to cool.

"Kryptonians, mostly. They're the ones who seem to have been using Earth - Terra - as a place to visit for a very long time. There are others, but they show up randomly and don't stay too long."

[behind_me]

"I don't know - " she adjusts her assumptions based on 'Mars' - "Krypton? Either. Is it also in the Milky Way?"

Intergalactic travel isn't that common, honestly, so it probably is. But she's also wondering if this is the 'different universes' thing the brochure mentioned. If Terra is visited more often by these Kryptonians than Asgardians or Kree, and their intelligence hasn't shown it up.

[have_no_mercy]

She shakes her head.

"Oh, no, they're galaxies away. Or they were. They were destroyed some years ago. I'm not sure what galaxy they were in. I doubt he knows."

She'll have to bug Clark about it. That or go to the AI.

[holdingacat]

Well, if the other shoe does drop, Cecil can narrate it. In the meantime, he's leaning on the Bar, looking a bit battered, but cheerul as he and Bar discuss the best way to destroy Strex-chits, the 'payment' he's been getting lately from his new bosses.

"I mean, shredding then burning them sounds like a good compromise to me."

[behind_me]

There's only so much one can get from eavesdropping, and she judges he's close enough that she can interrupt without being considered necessarily rude, so Gamora waits for that particular break in the conversation to clear her throat and ask:

"What are you shredding?"

[holdingacat]

Cecil fishes a pair of violently bright yellow strips of paper out of his (snakeskin pattern) leggings, Strex's heavy logo stamped on them in black.

"This - what my employers, whom I am contractually obligated to not say anything negative about, have decided to pay me with. It's only accepted at businesses they own, which, lucky me, is nearly the entire town." Cecil explains, managing to pack a whole boatload of negativity into that statement, despite what his contract might say.

[behind_me]

"But not this business?" Gamora asks. She's pretty sure that this isn't the real reason he's so annoyed at the idea, but it's a natural question.

[abyssum_invocat]

Sinthia is watching the green-skinned woman carefully from the doorway to the kitchen, holding a teacup and saucer with a little plate of heart-shaped pastries. She recognizes the stance and the set of her shoulders.

"Are you waiting for someone?"

[behind_me]

"No." Gamora has of course been aware that the woman was there, but hadn't looked over before. She does so now, lifting her glass and wirling the drink inside a little before taking a sip.

"Why do you ask?"

[abyssum_invocat]

"You haven't relaxed yet," she says. "Either you're waiting for someone or you don't feel at ease here."

It seems simple enough to figure out. "Hello."

[behind_me]

"Hello," says Gamora in return, her head tilted slightly. She doesn't relax often, it's true, but it's not insignificant that this would be noticed and pointed out.

"Were you going to sit down or eat those where you stand?"

Talking of not relaxing - at least Gamora's sitting down.

[abyssum_invocat]

"I normally do."

Sit down, that is. She comes around Gamora, not turning her back to the room, and sits at a barstool, back to the bar. She can converse just as well to one side.

"Plyushka?"

[behind_me]

The pastries, Gamora assumes.

"Thank you," she says, taking one between her fingers and holding it up to examine before doing anything else with them.

"Did you make them?"

[abyssum_invocat]

"No, I got them from the kitchen," she says, shaking her head. "They're good. Cinnamon-flavored."

[behind_me]

Gamora gives the pastry a decent look from all sides, and sniffs at it once. The brochure did say not to accept free food, but even before the modifications, Gamora had a sturdy constitution.

She finally takes a single bite, chews, and nods her approval with a smile.

It's good.

[abyssum_invocat]

"It's not one of the strange ones," Sinthia says absently, a bite or two into the second of the little pastries, once she's sitting down. "Just...a cinnamon roll. In a heart."

She shrugs. "They're popular in Moscow."

[behind_me]

"I've never been to Moscow," Gamora says. "I don't think I've even heard of it before."

It's not the strangeness that prompted the caution. She's generally cautious about accepting food, just in case. Really, it's an invitation to tell her more.