Lunch with Hal

[metalgearwrecks]

Who: Hal, Gordon, Samus, Falcon, Ziio, Joel
What: Lunch downtown
When: Lunchtime
Where: Bistro de Ville, downtown
Warnings: Nerd talk will be heavily involved!

Hal was feeling slightly apprehensive about meeting his new peers at Smash Academy. In an attempt to alleviate this, he thought he might break the ice by inviting the Smash Academy staff to lunch. He just hopes that Gordon has passed on the invitations that he said he would...

Comments

[golonghorns]

Joel hadn't been exactly sure what to make of the invite. He hadn't personally met Hal before and considering he was generally paranoid about the intentions of every person he met ever....? It was difficult for him to put on something clean and arrive on time.

Nothing personal. He just wasn't a people person.

Still. Here he was in a clean pair of jeans and a sawdust free flannel shirt. A non-muddied up pair of boots and a gun concealed on his person.

He'd never tried this restaurant, but he was hungry enough to eat about anything.

[trustycrowbar]

If there was some kind of concealed carry law in Final Destination city, then this group was going to be in a hell of a lot of trouble all around. Gordon always carried something on him, this time a pistol tucked into the waistband of his pants and hidden under a RIDICULOUS orange sweater to chase off the chill in the air.

"Joel." Gordon approaches with a nod. "Thanks for coming. Hal wanted to know who he should invite, and you were one of the first people I thought of."

[golonghorns]

Joel grabbed Gordon's hand and gave it a firm shake.

"Thanks. That's not somethin' I hear real often."

He was hardly the life of the party, after all. Unless you were expecting to be ambushed by a giant purple cyber-ape.

[trustycrowbar]

A Giant purple cyber-ape? He hasn't been ambushed by one of those in years. THAT'S NO REASON NOT TO EXPECT THEM, HOWEVER.

"Hal should be around here somewhere... He was just here a moment ago. Where--oh wait."

He turns and spies the comic book store set in the strip-mall promenade behind him like a neon nerd-magnet.

"...Nevermind. I know where he is. Come on." He beckons, his tone amused.

[golonghorns]

"Alright."

Joel followed along behind Gordon and saw where he was headed. It was a comic book store.

He couldn't help remembering Ellie's love of the things. What was the series she was so keen on...? Savage something. Savage...? Savage Starstorm? Starlord? Savage Starlight! That was it.

It didn't matter. It wasn't like she was here anyway. But he would have loved to take her to a place like this. Buy her a full set of the books she liked so she wouldn't have to deal with those damned cliffhanger endings he remembered her hating so much.

"You sure he's gonna be in there? Guy's on staff so he's not gonna be real young, is he?"

[metalgearwrecks]

Having turned up a little early for the luncheon he was very much looking forward to (because he just LOVES interacting with people he's never met before), Hal notices a comic book store just across the street from the restaurant.

"So HERE'S where you've been hiding..."

With almost child-like glee, he hurriedly scuttles towards Atomic Comics, in the hopes that they're stocking the latest and somewhat evasive edition of Big Japanese Robots!!

While sitting on the ground in a Buddha-like cross-legged position, he enthusiastically delves into the exciting world of Big Japanese Robots!!. After what seems to be an eternity of excitement, something catches Hal's attention in the corner of his eye.

"Oh, em, hi guys...", he says while he slowly turns his head to meet the gaze of Gordon.

"Sorry, I just HAD to check this place out. You'll never guess what I found!"

With a big grin, he lifts the comic in his hand towards the two men towering over him, as if wielding the mighty Excalibur.

"It's amazing how, after all this time, I finally found this rare edition of..."

Realizing that he's yammering, he stops himself.

"Oh, em, sorry..."

[golonghorns]

"Uh. It's fine, man."

Which it was. Joel just had no clue how to appropriately react to that much sheer un-ironic enthusiasm. Maybe Gordon would have better luck.

[metalgearwrecks]

Realizing that he's still on the floor, Hal swiftly jumps upright, almost losing his very tentative balance in the process.

"Em, okay guys. Maybe we should head across the street."

[icequeen_aran]

Unfortunately this was one invitation that would fall to the wayside. Samus kept the slip of paper in mind when received from Gordon, but all in all this was ill-timed. With the recent poison epidemic spreading around campus, and Falcon getting into a scuffle with Blood, Samus had not one but two people to play nurse to. If it wasn't bandages and cautery, it was puke and fevers. Add that to someone's busy agenda who already wasn't the most social of butterflies to begin with, and the date passed right by her without even realizing. Sorry, Hal.

Perhaps Samus would be better caught at a time and place she didn't want to be caught, like under one of those cursed mistletoe that would frequent the campus later in the month.