Scene #8099: PNL: Forsooth, a Hame Burgerer ft Stan and Charlotte

Owner	Pose
Stanley Padgett	It is a quiet evening at what was formerly the Suffolk County Public Library's southern branch in Lampport. It is now "David E. Francis Library" with the subtitle 'provided by Alexandria Library Services" Locals still call it South Branch, what few locals remain in this part of town. A LOT of people from out of state moved here to take part in The Boom, and the neighborhood has gone from 'lived in' levels of Shady to 'sanitized for your safety'. Then again, both Stanley and Charlotte are not locals, and have no idea about the power struggle that came with the donations to rebuild this place from a run down warehouse to glistening shining jewel of progress. It has free wifi and both Stanley and Charlotte don't look homeless so they're not getting hassled. "...So yeah. Mineeapolis, Seattle, Houston, Parker's Grove and now here in the last 6 years." Stanley sips on a bottle of water, while the pair sit out on one of the Reading Is Fun-Damental balconies in the Teen Section. There's KILLER RAD artwork and AWESOME motivational posters, to go along with the decent view over Lake Solstice.
Charlotte Newman	"You really have been all over," Charlotte remarks, not looking away from the bookshelf she's examining. She's already picked a pair of novels out, and yet, searches for more that catch her interest, "How does Lampport compare? Would you want to go back to one of those other places or prefer to stay here?" Pausing, she straightens her posture and glances his way, "It does feel like this is a place I ... 'belong'? It's hard to describe." She pauses, then clarifies, "Not the library. This town. I can't really imagine living anywhere else, somehow."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley huffs a little bit, and murmurs. "I mean... It's not bad? I've lived in worse places? But it's not like I have much of a choice at this point. When I hit 18, I'm pretty sure I'm just... getting cut off by my dad. So this is where I'm going to be." Stanley stubbornly flicks at his phone a bit, and then looks out over the water. But that second part gives him pause. "...I mean it's got that feeling to it, right? Like... this is a place you should be." A beat. "...besides the fact that we've apparently be given a task to save the place. So we might as well make it good, right?"
Charlotte Newman	Rather than check the books out, Charlotte snaps pictures of their covers, then puts them back on the shelf. Apparently satisfied, she takes herself a seat a few spaces from the young man so she can stare out over the lake herself. "Making the world a better place, one incident at a time, does have a nice ring to it," she admits, "Even once we've cleaned up Lampport, there's a whole Multiverse out there that we could improve, even in tiny ways." Planting her hands, the girl leans back on them, "That's a nice thought. Though I think it's pretty far away right now." She pauses, glancing down pensively, "If even what we're able to do here is enough that I can be remembered when I've moved away or...whatever else, I think I can live with that."
Stanley Padgett	That gets Stanley to put down his phone in his lap and sigh. "...I just.... I've never had a chance to do that myself either." He reaches up and pokes at his pink hair. "..This sort of stuff is just... I want ot stand out as much as possible, you know? Be bright and awesome and cool and hopefully people remembered me that way, right?" "To actually DO something? I just... haven't had the chance." It takes a few moments for him to find his words again. "Seriously. I want to help you do that. I want you to be remembered, and we can both leave ideas of ourselves behind behind, right?"
Charlotte Newman	Charlotte's head tilts away from Stanley, but her eyes rest on him as he speaks his mind. She doesn't interrupt, though her gaze wanders out to the water once more. Finally, she lets out a, "Thank you. We just met, you didn't have to say that, but I really appreciate hearing it." Her eyes close, "And I'll return the favor. We can make this a year to remember, I'm sure of it. If we really do manage to save the town, anyone would have to be living under a rock to not know who you are after that kind of thing." A hand lifts, stifling a little laugh, "That hero who's so busy saving the day."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley takes a breath, and then sighs. "Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them onto thy soul with hoops of steel, but do not dull thy palm with entertainment of each new-hatched unfledged comrade." He rubs his legs, and tucks his phone into his breast pocket. "...This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." A beat. "Or woman. Or Newman." A snort. "Polonius was a piece of work, a rotten, hollow man, but the advice was still good."
Charlotte Newman	Charlotte stares when this seemingly practiced quote comes out from such a disheveled person. She's at least polite enough to wait for him to finish before letting out another little laugh, "--Wow. I know I said I didn't think you were in Band, but I sure didn't expect Theater." "I guess I thought you were the sort who wouldn't bother with any clubs," the girl admits, "First impressions-- really can be deceiving." Leaning forward a bit, she asks, "Were you thinking about acting as a career, or is it more of a hobby?"
Stanley Padgett	The young man takes a breath, and then stands up on his chair. "The summers flower is to the summer sweet, Though to itself, it only live and die, But if that flower with base infection meet, The basest weed outbraves his dignity..." People are watching through the window, but Stanley doesn't seem to care, as he SONNETS in Charlotte's general direction. "For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds; Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds." He huffs, and sits down, and sighs. "Right so, every single time I have changed schools since 7th grade, one of my classes has been doing Shakespeare. English, Theater, History, LitCrit, all of them. So I've had.... too many years of the Bard so far."
Charlotte Newman	Contrasting the supposed bravado on display by the boy, the girl with him is rather dumbfounded when he gets up on his chair and doubles down on the iambic pentameter. That, she thinks to herself, is definitely something people are going to talk about for a bit. As Stanley settles down, Charlotte raises a hand and makes a 'simmer down' sort of gesture, "This is still a library, try not to get us tossed out, huh?" She does manage a small smile, "You did make me laugh, though. That really changed the mood, thank you." She pulls open her bag to retrieve her phone, checking the lock screen clock, "--Oh. There's a burger place about a block from here. They're still open for an hour. My treat, if you want." Being one of the more gentrified suburbs of Lampport, and the way she dresses, Charlotte must live somewhere around here, "There's a control point there too."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley huffs and shifts to try and calm himself down from his Ecstasy of Pentameter. "Yeah , sure I will never turn down free food. Grandma always said 'Free is the best spice'." The young man hefts up his ubiquitous duffle bag, and then blinks. "...Oh, you really are from the fancy region of town, aren't you?" A beat. "Not that I'm judging, but I get to hear afwul things from Uncle Sid all the time about the outfits that moved into Lampport and how they're ruining all the opportunities for people that used to be here in favor of 'Plastic Ideals'."
Charlotte Newman	Charlotte shrugs, "I didn't have much choice what house my folks bought." Standing up, she adjusts her handbag's strap, "They're always out on business, I never see them-- I basically live alone except for the caretaker." She pauses, glancing up in thought, "..Who, come to think of it, I've never actually seen? But they're clearly tending the lawn and stuff..." She dismisses this with a wave of her hand, "Don't worry about it. I sure don't."
Stanley Padgett	he walk out of the Library, and to the burger joint, is fairly easy. It ought to be, with the money that was spent rebuilding South Lampport. The place is "Auntie Em's Shake and Steak" with a stylized witch holding a burger in front of a tornado. Stanley hummmms a bit to himself as they take a seat and wave down a waiter. Stanley will in fact get a bacon butterburger, and some fries. And a soda. "...That sounds pretty swank, I guess, but I suppose it's not that far from what I've got going on. I mean, the caretaker is Uncle Sid and he swears at me if I'm not home on time, but it's been the Weekend for so long that I guess he hasn't had to do that to me for a while."
Charlotte Newman	"Swank, huh..." Charlotte frowns a touch at Stanley's assessment, "It's a little lonely, though. At least I don't have any distractions when I'm reading or doing homework." She gets herself a burger meal as well; and a strawberry shake. All paid for on plastic, which is tucked away right after. "Getting scolded for being out too late doesn't sound like a good time... But only on school nights?" She lets out a thoughtful sound, "Maybe he does care... Or he's worried about a curfew officer." She dismisses that with her free hand, "Not worth worrying about."
Stanley Padgett	"Well with all the cops around, I guess he just didn't want his uhhhh foster kid getting Legal Attention. This isn't exactly a... uh." Stanley sighs. "I'm pretty sure Uncle Sid is like a bookie or something. Not exactly on the up and up." He pats at his body, puts his phone on the table, and then takes off his school tie. No sense getting burger dripping on it, even if it's made out of indestructable space age turbo fabric.
Charlotte Newman	Picking at fries, the girl makes another thoughtful noise, "At least you see him, even if he's kind of lousy-sounding." She pauses, then seems to visibly...deflate, a little, "There's someone waiting for you. Someone who hasn't forgotten you exist. Whatever Mister Sid's reasoning, he's /there/..." . . . "Ah," She perks up suddenly, grasping on an attempt to change the subject, "Do you do a lot of reading? I'm always looking for recommendations, I've only recently gotten into fantasy so I'm on the lookout."
Stanley Padgett	"Oh, yeah!" Stanley puts his phone back in his pocket, and then reaches into his duffle bag to pull out his Lexia, and slides the tablet over to Charlotte. "I've really gotten into like... light novels and other stuff. Don't laugh, they aren't all about villainesses." The pad flicks on with a familiar flash of the Alexandria logo, and some splash ads, and then Stanley's book list. It is in fact a lot of graphic novels and YA and light novels. Their burgers arrive, and Stan starts in on his butter burger with a hungry noise. "Sorry, this is the first thing I've eaten since breakfast."