Damn your love

[saltnpepperbeard]

WHO: Edward Teach, OTA
WHERE: The Diner
WHAT: Ed's being a nuisance
WHEN: Mid Sept
WARNINGS: TBD, smoking



Sugar

Ed didn't realize quite how used he'd gotten to the taste of finer things aboard Stede's ship until he was a few months into his time here. He stared at his cup of tea, if you could call it that, a distant scowl forming as he shoveled a ungodly number of spoonfuls of sugar into it (7, if you cared to count), stirring it idly. He'd lived off far worse than this, for far longer, but this lacked the pleasant perfume of Stede's brand.

He caught his reflection in the drink and scoffed at himself. When had he gone so damn soft?


Smoke

The unlucky diners of the day would find an added haze to their meal. Edward had settled in quite comfortably, pipe in hand, quite unaware that there was anything offensive about this action in modern times. He had his leg propped up on a chair, and made for a rather intimidating figure as he sat there, smoke encircling him. Will you approach, or will your nerves force your lungs to suffer through the meal in silence?

Comments

Both? Both.

[doubled_speed]

Well, he'd definitely gone soft enough that this was definitely something that wasn't going to go unremarked upon by the manager of the diner, who was on his way in with a fresh box of fruit and paused just inside the door to cough.

"Fucking hell, smells like Jersey in here, what the actual fuck gives," he cursed as he put down the box and waved away the smoke. "Shit man, who would have thought I'd have to put up a 'no smoking' sign in space."

With that he moves to the stranger's table, skirting around the chair his leg is up on and points at the pipe.

"Put it out or get out," he said, before frowning at the process of the man shoveling sugar.

[saltnpepperbeard]

People speaking to him so plainly still hadn't stopped being a unexpected novelty, and Edward blinked, arching a brow at the lad and taking a drink of his tea before acknowledging him.

"...put it out?" he repeated, a calm to his voice, despite the warning in his gaze. He took another draw on his pipe before lifting it inquisitively. "Why's that now, Boy?"

[doubled_speed]

See, it's so easy to talk to literally everyone plainly when you are pretty sure you can take them in a fight. And they are in your space. Look at him, he doesn't even see any warning in that gaze. Just some old fart who thinks he's got privilege or some shit.

Especially with that choice of address. Tommy actually flinches for a moment, thinking of far too many people who used that term for him. Good thing his temper is mostly under control. But damn he wants to snap even worse for that.

"Tommy. You'll call me Tommy. And it's because it's my diner so it's my rules. And because that shit will give you cancer and while I don't care if someone chooses to give themselves terrible diseases, I care that studies show that second-hand smoke is actually bad for literally everyone. So no smoking in here."

[saltnpepperbeard]

Shifting in his seat, Ed's propped up leg dropped with a heavy sound, and he eyed the boy a moment before obligingly turning the pipe over and tapping out the ashes.

"Tommy," he corrected with a flourishing turn of his hand, squinting up at him with a curious smirk, "Your rules then," he agreed, nudging the chair across from him out with his toe and nodding for the lad to sit.

"The fuck's cancer?"

CW: guess we're discussing cancer now

[doubled_speed]

Dude, don't flourish. Makes you look weird. What are you even trying to be. Still, he guesses the guy needs told. Maybe his world doesn't have cancer. Maybe he's someone from an old place. Probably the latter. He's using a damn pipe.

"Well, Big Ed, do you mind if I call you Big Ed? You've got a whole 'biker boss' look going, and that feels like a Big Ed name. Anyway, cancer's basically when you do some shit that fucks up your body, and it kills you by mutating. In the lungs that tends to come with tons of holes and tar in them and they start turning black and gray and disgusting. More disgusting. It'll kill you. And then there's oral cancer. Throat cancer. All tons of shit you can get from smoking. Shit way to die."

Not that there are great ways to die, but fuck, it's not a good one to go. And he looked some of it up, once. Mostly when he got to know Teddy more because then he'd looked into Teddy's dad and apparently the might Mar-Vell had fallen to cancer of all things. Apparently even Kree could get that.

[saltnpepperbeard]

Big Ed. That was a new one, and Ed gave a surprised chuckle, allowing the surprisingly well guessed nickname for the time being.

His nose crinkled at Tommy's description, head tiled with rapt attention. "Is that right?" Was this Tommy one of those educated lads who went around stealing bodies to cut up?

Still, there could hardly be much worry, Ed had been smoking since he was a young thing himself. "Not a lot of good ways to die in my business, so..." he shrugged a shoulder.

[doubled_speed]

It's damn fucking right.

"Before all of that, it starts fucking with your lungs, your ability to breathe properly, your ability to do lots of exercise. I'm a runner, so it's worse for me," he notes. "And it can make things worse for people who are already sick. So only do that outside, or in your own spaces."

Because it's not his business if Ed makes himself sick. Just himself and those he's responsible for.

"What's your business?"

[saltnpepperbeard]

Ed frowned faintly, overtly aware of his breathing at that moment, and he shifted with grumble. The kid was getting in his head, that was all.

"You don't sound like you're asking," he noted with an amused tilt of his head at the nerve.

He casually examined his nails. "Mm? Piracy," he answered, sounding almost bored.

Smoke

[crystalmaster]

Radley is definitely not pleased, and coughs as the smoke gets too close. He gets up from his table and starts over, ready to complain, but stops when he sees how the guy's dressed. It rather looks like he's not from a modern time period. He does look intimidating too.... Not someone Radley wants to pick a fight with without knowing more about him. But he also doesn't want to have this smoke problem going on.

Sighing, he tries to think of a different approach than originally intended.

"Hi," he greets. "Have you been here long? I'm pretty new."

[saltnpepperbeard]

Ed's aware of the shift in posture as the other approaches. It's not uncommon for people to reign themselves back once they realize who they're dealing with. He glances up almost absently, drawing on his pipe and silent for a long moment.

"Longer then some," he notes pointedly, lifting his head then so that the whole of his intimating focus was on Radley.

[crystalmaster]

Radley nods. "I'm still not sure what to make of all of it. How do you feel about all the futuristic technology?"

[saltnpepperbeard]

God, that. Ed's brows jump, hardly able to begin to put his feeling to words.

"It's fucking mental," he praises, "Can't make sense of most of it." It was as good as magic, but Edward's determined to understand how it works on at least the most basic level.

[crystalmaster]

Radley winces, no stranger to such language even though he doesn't use it himself.

"It's pretty something, alright. I've seen machinery back home, but it's still decades behind things like these spaceships and the data points. This diner reminds me some of back home ... except I guess they must be more lax on some things here. The eateries back home usually don't allow smoking."

He speaks mildly, friendly, hoping not to sound confrontational.

[saltnpepperbeard]

"Pretty sure the technological marvels of my time would have most of these people in stitches," Ed notes with a bit of a sullen look. He's often prided himself on having a keen mind, and can't help but feel defensive.

Ah. There it is. Ed arches a brow, nodding along as his lips form a ring of smoke. "Naturally," he says, putting on some false airs, before his nose scrunches curiously, "And why is that?"

[crystalmaster]

"Oh? What kind of technology do you have back there?" Radley genuinely wonders. Would that be from the start of the Industrial Revolution, he wonders.

"Well, in the time I come from, a lot of people are bothered by smoke and it's also been found to be a health hazard," Radley says. "Some places will have a separate section for smoking, since some people still do it anyway."

[saltnpepperbeard]

"Pocket watch with little gears inside. Telescope. Heard of this new uh...piano, I think. Supposed to be like the harpsicord. Haven't seen one for myself yet," Ed explains. He's still a few decades off from the Industrial Revolution, and according to history at least, won't live long enough to see the wonders it brings.

"A hazard now?" he hummed, wrinkling his nose. There was some talk of that now, but this was after countless years of touting the health benefits, so it seems strange to Ed that things could change so much. "Are you one of those people that are bothered?" he asks pointedly, lifting his chin.

Smoke

[alwayssomethingtolearn]

_{[ Typing from phone, but I had to strike while inspired ]}

As he smokes, Ed will notice he's being approached by a tiny thing of a girl with bobbed blue hair and some odd manner of a skirted sailor's uniform. Ami remains as polite as polite can be, even if her wider eyes and folded hands show she's quite impressed and not in the secure way. This man was not from her time, maybe not even her world. Who knew what he'd think of a fresh faced girl from the well off part of future Tokyo? Or even do?

Yet, still, someone had to say it. Summoning up her most proper manner of fact tone, she near-whispered, "Sir, do you know that smoking is a leading cause of lung cancer and of lowered life expectancy?"

[saltnpepperbeard]

Straightening up, Ed takes in the girl with a curious tilt of his head. Everything about her appearance is fascinating and novel. He lingers on the hair, which doesn't seem to be a wig, or any of that coloured powder he's seen the fancy ladies use in their ridiculous fashion.

"...is that right, love?" he says casually, turning the pipe in his fingers. "And are you worried for Ki>my life expectancy? Because I can assure you, this won't be the thing that ends me," he adds with a teasing smile.

He drops his leg from the chair and gestures for her to join him if she likes.

[alwayssomethingtolearn]

With an invite such as that, how could she refuse? Ami politely took the offered seat, making sure her skirt was neatly set before she folded her hands on her lap. She was still quite intimidated with his answer, her posture shrinking with those wide eyes, but his welcome had eased her fears enough to accept the invitation.

"I worry about everyone's health," she answered softly but without hesitation. Facts about such things as lung cancer and emphysema were about to escape her lips, but then Ami noted her 'patient' might not understand such terms. Maybe it would be better if she started properly to have him reciprocate. "My name is Ami Mizuno, I am a school student from Tokyo and intend to become a doctor some day."

[saltnpepperbeard]

Pushing hair back from his face, Ed's demeaner softened a little, and he set the pipe aside, watching her speak with an attentive tilt of his head.

"Edward Teach," he offered in kind, looking quite intrigued by her ambitions. "Quite lofty goals, Miss Muzuno," he noted with an approving smirk. "Is Tokyo in the east?" He hadn't heard the name before, but it sounded like it would fit in that region.

Sugar, Oh honey honey

[only_an_echo]

"...To be honest, I'd make the same face."

The voice was accented, but spoke clearly through the helmet's filter as the former ARC Trooper walked by Edward. It wasn't really any of Echo's business to be observing a man and his preparation of tea, but there was no one else around. And the diner was never that busy no matter what time he stopped in.

[saltnpepperbeard]

The accent sounded almost familiar, and Ed did a double take, nearly falling back off his chair with a start at the helmeted face that greeted him.

"The fuck is that??" he muttered in surprise, eyes wide. Just as quickly curiosity overtook whatever shock he had experienced, on his feet and quite in Echo's person space, tapping on the helmet with an awed look.

"What metal is this?"

[only_an_echo]

Maybe he should have taken his helmet off first. Too late for that now. And look how fast the man recovered!

Fortunately for Echo, he was used to having people in his space, leaning back a little to maintain it while Edward did nothing to keep his hands to himself. "One that you're probably not familiar with," he briefly explained, looking the man over again. The backing released from his headpiece in the meantime, his hand and scomp raising to lift the helmet off of his head. "It's more of a compound mixed with plastoid."

[saltnpepperbeard]

Oh look at that... There was far too much to take in all once, Ed giving the man a fascinated once over. "It's an armor?" he confirmed. Like nothing he'd ever seen. And the man himself- what was all of this?

"S'fascinating, man. All of it," he breathed in wonder.

[only_an_echo]

Despite looking a bit tired and gaunt, Echo was very much alert. A hint of a proud smile quirked at the corner of his lips. "It's an armor," he repeated, confirming Edward's open wonderment. "And thanks. It's not completely standard, but it keeps me alive."

Stuffing the helmet under his scomp arm, he offered his left hand to the pirate. "The name's Echo."