Difference between revisions of "Welcome to Good Burger"

Jim doesn't always go out to Dearborn Heights, but when he does, he's apparently doing some casual house hunting. Turns out when you're a bird you can get an easy look at backyards, in the windows, you name it. It's really the ideal way to do a first pass at properties. Flying over a shopping center though, he sees a weird crowd forming around a food truck. People are practically fighting to get in line, and the people who have the food wrapped in white paper seem to be fairly eager to stay nearby. That's when he sees Kai, and flies on over.

Kai is less bundled than she ought to be, perhaps, for the cold, but at least she's got a (leather) jacket on, jeans, boots - all black. She'd look like a shit stirrer if her hands weren't firmly shoved in her pockets, like maybe she'd find some mitten-level warmth down in there if only she dug deep enough. Coming to a corner, she lifts a hand from her pocket to shield eyes from glare and turn in a circle. Ah: lost, or lost-seeming. The food truck gets a glance, but not a lot more. Incoming bird, on the other hand? A glance, then - still incoming - a curious eye.

Jim lands very near her, looks around to make sure nobody's going to over hear, and trills. "Kai, funny seeing you here. I was just house hunting. What is going on with that food truck? Have you ever seen a crowd that big?"

"Not where I meant to be," Kai offers, after watching Jim for a moment. She shoves her hand back into her pockets and turns to look at the food cart, peering with eyes squinted. Like maybe she's decided lunch is worth her time after all. "Suburbs are weird," she says. Buuuut seeing the throng, she dutifully starts her feet moving that direction. Maybe she can get a feel for what's up.

<<DICE>> Kai rolls Perception + Alertness (-2 from Wounds), difficulty 6  
<<DICE>> -1 successes (1 3 5, Specialty: No, Willpower: No) 
[HEALTH] Kai heals 2 Bashing damage! She is Hurt! 
[HEALTH] Kai heals 2 Bashing damage! She is Unhurt! 
<<DICE>> Kai rolls 2 dice, difficulty 6  
<<DICE>> 1 successes (3 8, Specialty: No, Willpower: No) 

Jim at least is observant even if his grumbly companion is not. "I've spent plenty of time in suburbs, miss Kai, but this is weirder than usual. Look at the people eating. Don't they look a little... weird to you? Anyway, if you want to get something to eat anyway, could you grab me a burger. I will uh, shift and bring you the cash to make it up when I swing back around?"

Kai laughs at that - no explanation for why, but she's always been a little inscrutable, hasn't she. "Sure," she says. "The works?" She listens for any modifications to 'everything on it,' then heads over to the truck. Mind, now, she's probably not going to fight to get in front; she's going to get a look at the menu, peer in white wrappers, and so on. There veggie burgers in this joint?

Jim trills "Sure, that's fine. I can eat anything in this form. Just uh, put the wrapper down under that tree over there. Ravens are good at finding where to hide food. It's in our blood."

<<DICE>> Kai rolls Perception + Alertness, difficulty 6 
<<DICE>> 2 successes (2 3 3 8 8, Specialty: No, Willpower: No)

Upon taking a closer inspection, Kai does firstly see that there is in fact an option to get a bean burger instead of a meat burger. Hand painted on the truck are the words "FRESH BAKED BUNS - TO DIE FOR - LIFE CHANGING DETROIT BURGER TRUCK" The line's moving fairly well, even if she has to get in back. And she definiteyl won't get to cut in without a scuffle.

<<DICE>> Kai rolls Perception + Awareness, difficulty 7 
<<DICE>> 1 successes (1 1 5 8 9 10, Specialty: No, Willpower: No)

Kai gets a faint whiff of something happening that shouldn't, every time the person in the truck shakes the seasonings over the sandwich and wraps it up.

Kai does get in line - at the back, there's no need to be particularly pushy, particularly when it gives her time to assess the situation. She pulls a hand from her pocket and brings it to her mouth, like she'll give her nail a nibble. Instead, she tears skin; a spot of blood wells. She lifts her finger aloft before her; probably she appears like - whoops, overaggressive bite. But she's not really concerned; the blood is an offering to the air, feeling the shape of the magic it carries.

<<DICE>> Kai rolls Perception + Awareness, difficulty 4 
<<DICE>> 3 successes (1 2 5 9 10 10, Specialty: No, Willpower: No)

The line is moving quickly. There's someone a few spots behind Kai who grumbles "Why can't people who get in line know what they want BEFORE they get in line, Let us get in faster." Another adds "I came from Windsor to get some. oh sorry," the Canadian then apologizing for gently brushing the person ahead of her as the line gets a bit pushy. Kai meanwhile does get a sense that the shaking of the seasonings is less of an additional bit of flavor punch to the food, as it is the completion of some sort of, well not ritual, but ritualized activity. That is most definitely affecting people's minds..

Kai, not knowing where the hell Windsor is, probably misses that significance. But there's enough here to go on. "Long way, huh?" she asks. "How'd you hear about this place?" Conversational. She pulls her bag from her shoulder so she can fish for cash in the front pocket, and makes her way toward the front.

"Just across the river. I guess I should write the Prime Minister and ask him to get us some nice food trucks like you have in the States, eh?" No she could hardly have less of a more Canadian cadence. "I was down here to see a specialist, because of the wait back home, and I saw this truck. I couldn't resist. Been coming back ever since."

The person in line ahead of Kai can be heard to ask if the meat is Halal. "No," the person at the window of the truck answers. "But the bean burger has no meat at all in it." A yell from deeper in the truck. "I mean, no animal products at all. Only wheat, vegetable fats, beans, and our secret blend of spices." The customer hums. "I normally like a good kebab, but sure, give me the bean burger." And sure enough, a burger is handed off from deeper in the truck, and the person at the window lays it on the paper, shakes on the seasonings, and wraps it up in an exchange for the cash.

And now Kai's up. "Good afternon, what'll it be?"

"Is that what Prime Ministers are for," Kai says - like maybe that's a joke, or maybe politics actually make sense, suddenly. She gives the person a smile as they head off. To the guy behind the counter - "burger with the works, and a veggie burger, hold the extra spices." Since there's got to be at least a second to get that together, while she's offering the cash: "you mix up your own veggie burgers? -Nobody- does that. Everybody uses Boca or if you're lucky Morningstar Farms." Veg life frustrations.

The guy in the truck pauses. "What, you can't order a burger without the spices. The spices are what make the burger! I promise you, lady, that the spices are allergen free, no matter what your allergy is." He then leans forward, and nods. 'that's right, we make our own fresh from pinto beans every day. Come on, try the spices. Everyone loves them."

"I thought everyone was lining up for the fresh-baked buns," says Kai, offering a laugh. It is, after all, what it says on the side of the truck. "If I can't get it without extra spices, skip the veggie and just give me the regular burger, thanks." Now, she is not a powerhouse of emotional insight, but you better believe she's watching the guy in the truck. Hey, she'll even lean on the window and glance - see if she can see who else is in the truck, give them a satisfied customer smile. "How do you guys do without halal meat out here? Lot of demand for that." Smile.

The guy in front rolls his eyes, and turns to call out for one burger with everything. Kai gets a glimpse of the kitchen area in the truck, being staffed by another guy, who looks similar to the guy in the truck. Both have a vaguely nordic appearance, like they came from Wisconsin or something. The sanitation looks sound: disposable gloves, hats, aprons. Everything looks clean.

"Alright, one burger with everything. And we get by with the bean burger. Don't get me wrong lady. The buns are great. But if we put spices on the truck nobody would care. People think fresh baked buns sound amazing, but when you try one, you know it's the spices." By the tim ehe's done with his line, the burger is handed to him, and sure enough, he sets it down on the paper, which has some faint writing around the edges. Then he opens it up, shakes the seasoning on it, closes it, and carefully folds it with the exact same pattern he's used every other time.

<<DICE>> Kai rolls Perception + Awareness, difficulty 4 
<<DICE>> 1 successes (1 1 2 8 9 10, Specialty: No, Willpower: No)
<<DICE>> Kai rolls Intelligence + Occult, difficulty 6 
<<DICE>> 0 successes (1 3 4 5 5 10, Specialty: No, Willpower: No)
<<DICE>> Kai rolls Intelligence + Esoterica, difficulty 6 
<<DICE>> 5 successes (4 5 6 6 8 9 10, Specialty: No, Willpower: No)

As Kai watches the food being prepared, she begins to get the sense that this really is more than just a food truck in operation. It's an ongoing ritualized rote. The writing on the paper, while she can't specifically make out what it is, is clearly part of it. The spices are part of it. The folding is part of it. And surely, back there, the cooking is part of it. Everything is coming together to make this burger come together, to give the eater a sense of bliss, and to amke the eater highly suggestible. "Enjoy your food lady, welcome back anytime."

"Sure thing," Kai says, and takes the burger. She gives it a little lift in parting, and gets out of the way of the people being so darn patient, dontcha know. She meanders away - back the direction she last saw Jim - but rather than leaving the burger under the tree, she continues on down the street, whistling as she goes. Maybe he'll get the clue.

Jim flies back after checking out the house. His feathers are ruffled. "Why do they have an outdoor cat?" he trills to Kai as soon as he's safe to talk to her. "And not a nice one like miss Jamila either. Anyway, so do the burgers look good? Didn't you get one for yourself?" Visibie in his beak is a 20 dollar bill, which he holds up to her after he lands.

Kai laughs. Maybe at the mental image of Jim getting roughed up by a house-sized cat, maybe at the actual image of Jim talking around a $20. She waves off the money. "I skipped out on it. They're doing some kind of ritual in there, and they wouldn't sell me one they didn't 'finish'. You might not want to eat it." There's a pause, then: "Then again, you might. It might be -really good-, and if you don't care -" she holds it up. "I can leave it under a tree. Or I can go take a closer look at it, do a little research. Figure out what kind of scam they're running."

Jim rolls his head to the side. "This is... a mystical magic thing isn't it?" He flaps, and caws. "Of course. A cat, now this. Well miss Kai, I owe you one for saving me from an evil wizard's hamburger. And I'm still keeping an eye out for your biker gang but I haven't seen them even once in my flying around the city. I might could fly home and get something to eat safe if you don't mind me bailing on you to work on that, miss Kai."

"An - evil wizard's hamburger," Kai repeats, and smiles. Like maybe she wouldn't have put it quite that way. "You go on ahead," she says. "Oh - but about those bikers?" she adds. "If you wanted to go circle around a couple biker bars in Toledo, I think I found them. Might be at a place called Blue Devil, might be at a place called Roadhouse. I don't know if you get that far out."

Jim repeats. "Blue Devil and Roadhouse in Toledo. Ohio? Understood miss Kai, thank you kindly and good luck." The bird then flaps to take off quickly, which really gets his wings moving, flying off back in the direction of Detroit. So now Kai is left with a burger that really does smell great. Well it would smell great if she ate meat. The lettuce and tomato probably look good?

Kai confirms the Ohio thing, but lets Jim get on his way. Then she gets her bearings and wanders back eastward, toward the forested park she was looking for. Once there, she finds a park bench to settle in on and checks out the burger with a little less going on around her. Looks over the folding, the writing, gives the burger a really good sniff. She wants to know what's in those spices, because useful information.

<<DICE>> Kai rolls intelligence + esoterica, difficulty 6 
<<DICE>> 3 successes (1 2 5 5 6 8 10, Specialty: Yes, Willpower: No)

Kai is able to have a seat and look at the burger. Studying the spices in particular. Smelling them, looking at them, but not tasting them. She begins to understand that this is, at first glance, a pretty standard spice blend you'd buy off the shelf. However the individual components are not. The garlic is an odd color, slightly pinkened. The basil is of an old variety, not at all used in mass production of dried spices. etc. etc. Everything about it reeks of old ways and strange doings. And she notices a few other spices in the blend in small quantities, not enough to taste. But a combination traditiionally believed to induce hypnosis and sleep.