Deli-CAT-essen Opening Day

[x-catseye.livejournal.com]

Before Deli-CAT-essen opens for business, Catseye voices some fears and Clint gives her the reassurance she needs.


Clint made sure he had a rag in his apron pocket and that everything was as straight as it could be in the back. Sharon had followed through on her offer of a job and this was the deli's opening weekend. It was exciting - and also kind of terrifying. This was the first 'real' job he'd ever had and, besides wanting to do well generally, he didn't want to let Sharon down. "Okay," he said, sticking his head out into the area behind the counter. "I'm ready to start busing tables whenever the people get here."
Sharon's head whipped around when she heard Clint's voice as if startled out of a nap. Of course, she hadn't been napping, just lost in deep thought. The deli wasn't even open yet and already there was a crowd of around thirty picketers outside with signs protesting a mutant-run business in Salem Centre. Was she insane to be going ahead with this? The cops had been required to provide temporary barricades to keep the picketers from blocking the entrance to the deli, and so far they were respecting the distance they were required to keep. Sharon had already gone out to introduce herself to the protesters and brought them coffee and cookies, which she'd hoped would guilt some of them into leaving. And maybe it had, but if so, those who'd left had been replaced, and their number seemed to be growing as the clock ticked closer to the grand opening. She was seriously worried. What if they turned violent? What if one of the customers or staff got hurt?

"What if nobody gets here?" she asked Clint when she processed his comment, eyebrows knitted together in worry. "Nobody except protesters, I mean?"

Clint looked from Sharon to the people outside with their ugly signs and uglier words. "I mean," he said, not entirely sure how to say what he wanted to say. "When stuff like this happens at Pride or gay weddings or whatever, people just continue on. There's nothing they," he tilted his chin toward the protesters, "can do about us being open. And there's nothing they can do about people who do want to come in and get a sandwich or something. Just like how there's nothing they can do about the piece of paper saying my dads are married." He quirked a smile. "And if they get ideas in their heads about causing more trouble? We've got some pretty awesome friends who wouldn't mind stopping by to keep things civil. Y'know, black leather suits and all. But I don't think it'll come to that."

"I hope not," Sharon agreed, biting her lip. "I really want to be able to handle this by myself. By ourselves," she corrected, since including Clint in her troubles, though she felt sort of guilty about doing it, made her feel a lot better. A lot less alone. "I mean, I hope our awesome friends come by to eat," she corrected with a nervous laugh, "I just hope they don't have to bring their black leather suits because the protesters are as smart as you are, and realize there's nothing they can do about us being open or people coming in for sandwiches." Because it seemed to her like there were things they could do. Like firebomb the place. But she had to hope they were smarter than that. "Do your dads have to deal with a lot of things like this?" she asked curiously.

"Not really anymore," Clint said, still smiling. "I mean, there'll always be people who don't agree with it - with them being together legally and all that. But Steve and Andre are pretty cool about it most of the time - philosophical, I guess. There's nothing you can do to directly influence them, so demonstrating that what you are isn't a threat to them is the best you can do most of the time. Like the cookies you took out to the protesters." He looked out the windows again and smiled, seeing people he recognized from the mansion making their way toward the door. "Looks like we're up."

Following Clint's gaze, Catseye couldn't hide a squeal of excitement as she saw Yvette and Amanda approaching, along with some of her classmates from college. And Evan and his wife! She waved happily to her brother and sister-in-law, and her eyes widened when she saw Evan followed closely by their mother and younger brother Harrison. Wow. That was a surprise, but a pleasant one! "People!" she said to Clint, sounding astonished. "Look! People are coming!" Touched by the people who had come out to support her, she adjusted the fuzzy cat ears she'd put on her head and flung open the doors.

Brunch/Lunch (Sue/Vanessa) - placeholder

Sarah and Sooraya meet at the deli for sandwiches and Sarah thwarts some protesters with her powers.

Tucking the car keys away in her purse, Sooraya shook her head at the thong of people as she made her way through. "Excuse me."

"Can I pass, please?" She frowned a little as the last two people she pushed through almost seemed more focused on shaking their phones then the world around them. "What..." Her mutterings died away as she saw Sarah standing jus besides the door.

Sarah had the same idea as Sooraya and many others, and found herself at her friend's delicatessen. It was packed and she was trying to pick a path through the crowded area when she spotted Sooraya.

"Heya!" she called out, waving as she edged her way around of group of people who were getting up from a table. Sarah quickly slid into their spot as they left before anyone else could take it, and gestured for Sooraya to come and join her. "It's so crowded here, holy crap."

"I had not expected anything like this. Thanks by the way." Sooraya gestured at the crowd as she slit into place. Raising her eyebrow at Sarah, she gently commented: "I hope Cats will be getting lots of positive reviews on the web tomorrow."

"You're more than welcome." Sarah replied with a grin, unzipping her coat. She took a glance around at everyone looking at their phones. There wasn't much she could say about it, really, given how much time she spent on her own phone, but Sarah liked to think she wasn't that distracted in public. "They'd better. Definitely lots of traffic here, so that's a good sign, I hope."

"As long as it are positive reviews and not like those idiots outside. It shouldn't matter who the owner is." Sooraya shook her head at the protesters and picked up the menu. "This does look pretty interesting!"

"If only we could filter those idiots out, ugh." Sarah sighed and rested her chin in her hand as she glanced out the window at the protesters outside. "I wonder how long they'll keep this up." She shook her head before turning to the menu herself. "It does look pretty awesome, right? She's done a great job with this place, I'm so proud of her!"

"It looks amazing. She did some great work here. And all of this look delicious." Sooraya mentioned as she scanned the menu. "I missed the taste testing she did, so I am looking forward to trying things out."

"It really does and I'm staaaarving." Sarah scanned the menu and tried to narrow down the options of what to order, which was difficult because it really was all looking delicious to her. "I seriously don't think you can go wrong no matter what you pick." Of course Sarah was highly biased but she still believed it to be true. "What are you getting?"

"I think I am in the mood for something with fish." She scanned the menu and picked out something. "There, a sandwich with smoked salmon and trout."

"That sounds good, and I think I'm going to get this one here." She pointed out a cleverly named sandwich on the menu and was about to explain why she'd picked it when Sarah noticed a flash outside the window. Looking at the crowd, she saw many people taking snaps on their phones of the place and of all the people protesting outside.

A bunch of them were visibly angry and were doing things like sticking their middle fingers up at the restaurant while their friends took pictures of them doing so, no doubt to post online or on social media to try and hurt Cat's business.

"Wow, that's horrible!" Sarah gestured to what was going on outside and shook her head. "What the actual eff?"

Sooraya looked over her shoulder, then frowned. "You've got to be kidding me. They are really that childish?" She shook her head. "Not like we can do much about it... Unless." She eyed Sarah, a thought clearly running through her head.

"Could you reach them?" She was careful to lower her voice, not wanting to be overheard.

Biting her lip, nervous as well about being caught, Sarah glanced outside. "Yeah, I mean, they're not that far away or anything, and it's only cell phones." She focused and concentrated on scrambling all of the offending persons' phones, not trying to break or permanently damage them, but just to make them go temporarily haywire or shutdown.

For a moment nothing happened. Then as one, people started shaking their phones, pushing furiously on buttons or muttering under their breath. Some all three at the same time. Sooraya quickly covered her mouth to hide her laughter. "That is great, Sarah. Totally what they deserve."

She quickly glanced around the restaurant, trying to figure out if other people had figured what happened. From different corners she saw Marius and Laurie glancing at them, considering looks on their faces as they realized what probably happened, but no one else seemed to have figured it out. "And looks like nobody realized what happened." She muttered in a low voice, still stifling her laughter.

Sarah looked around as well, not even thinking about that, and she was glad that Sooraya appeared to be right. "Phew, yeah, you're right I hope." She grinned in relief and looked back out the window, glad she'd been able to put a stop to them. "Take that, suckers! Though, um, maybe I should make my order to go, just to be safe."

"Nah, that's not necessary. It might even look more suspicious if you left now." Sooraya finally stifled her laughter. "Besides, we don't have the chance to catch up that often, so I am not just letting you walk away." She shook a finger at Sarah, her eyes twinkling.

"Good point!" Sarah said with a laugh. "Plus I can eat sooner if we stay, which is good because hungryyyyy. And we can catch up on top of all that." She grinned at Sooraya and leaned back in her seat, smirking once more at the angry people outside before turning her attention back to her friend.


Molly decides to help out the deli by bussing tables in roller skates and Cecelia helps her clean up the mess that ensues.



"You're really going in there?"

Cecilia turned her head to look at a stout woman with a ruddy face staring at her in disbelief. She glanced at the door of Sharon's deli, than back at the woman and the protesters surrounding her. "Yes?" She responded, tilting her head, unsure precisely what the issue was. "I'm hungry?"

"But those freaks!" A tall, gaunt man next to the portly woman objected. He was holding a sign saying "No Mutants In Are Backyard." The misspelling did not seem ironic. He grabbed her arm. "They're unsafe! And unclean!"

At least Cecilia know what she was dealing with. "Yeah, but.." she stared at him and wrested her arm free. "I'm a doctor." That usually shut people up. "So if you'll excuse me..." She pushed by the bewildered couple and entered Deli-CAT-essen. Fortunately for Sharon, despite the mess outside, business didn't look too bad (Salem Center was starving for corned beef, apparently). She scanned the room looking for a mildly familiar face.

A whirring noise was heard as a small girl wearing a purple cat-eared hat and a white hoodie with rainbow sleeves skated down one of the aisles, picking up plates on a pair of roller skates. Molly had decided to help out by taking things from off the tables to give Clint and the others a break. She tried to ignore the yelling outside, and glanced up. "Welcome to the Deli Cat place! Someone will be here soon if you want to sit!" she said.

Well, Cecilia had to give Sharon props: She hadn't skimped on the cat theme, that was for sure. Cecilia looked down at the small girl in front of her who, child labor laws being what they were, probably wasn't allowed to be this close to food service. "No, I'm—"

A flicker of recognition hit her. She'd seen this girl around the mansion, or at least looked through her medical records. "I know you," she suddenly said, wrinkling her brow. "I think?"

Molly tilted her head. "Oh! You're the new doc. I'm Molly! Molly Grace Hayes!" she said, carefully propping up some plates to shake the lady's hand.

"I go to...the school," she said, whispering all hush hush as she glanced around.

Cecilia eyed the plates warily as she shook Molly's hand. Hopefully the girl had been blessed with an enhanced sense of balance, because this set-up seemed precarious. "Nice to meet you, Molly," she smiled warmly.

Looking up, Cecilia caught Clint's eye as he spoke with a frustrated customer and gave him a wink. It occurred to her Molly was probably right to keep their affiliation with Xavier's school quiet. She'd been fortunate to pass.

"Love your hat, Molly," she finally said. "Your decision? Or Sharon's?"

Molly beamed proudly. "Mine. I made it for the occasion!" she said. Her moment of happy distracted her from the plates, however, and they went tumbling, clattering to the ground. Luckily only one broke, the rest just sent half eaten food everywhere, leaving Molly's eyes to widen to the size of frisbees.

"Oh my gosh!"

"Hoo boy," Cecilia muttered as a half-finished sandwich bounced off her force field. She was unsure whether she was reacting to gravity's effect on leftovers or Molly's reaction. "No worries," she reassured the girl, who she thought looked unnecessarily guilty. "We'll just find a broom and sweep things up..." She craned her neck, looking for a deli employee who wasn't busy. Seeing nobody (except Kyle and another woman, presumably his girlfriend chattering somewhere in a corner), she decided to take matters into her own hands.

"You pick up those plates," she told Molly, "and I'll find... something. A mop, maybe. Or at least gloves." Watching the ground for cold fries and mangled rye bread, she gingerly made her way toward the counter where Clint had been standing a moment earlier and retrieved a broom and a dustpan from behind it.

"Okay," Molly said, nodding quickly. She wasn't even really supposed to be really working so she didn't want to get Catseye in trouble. Crouching down, she stacked the plates up in piles and put them on a table.

"I think they carry buckets or something too to put the plates in. Maybe they have one in the back!"

"Yes," Cecilia nodded, "okay. Good call." She disappeared for a minute, then returned with a plastic bin in tow. "You want this, or the broom?"

Molly tilted her head up thoughtfully. "The bin, I think," she said. Cause it might've been heavy for someone else to carry. She glanced behind her outside. The yelling people were still there, holding signs that said mean things on there. She didn't get it. Even after all the bad guys she still didn't get it. She understood they were there, that there were evil things in the world that had to be stopped, but she couldn't figure out why they did what they did. Why they hurt or they killed.

"Okay," Cecilia grunted. She grabbed the broom and dustpan with one hand and toted the bin under her arm. "Here you go," she passed the bin to Molly, then followed her gaze outside. "Oh," she said knowingly. "Them." She began to sweep up the bits of sandwich strewn about the floor. "You never mind them," Cecilia tried to reassure her. "No way they'd risk doing anything violent so publicly."

Putting the plates in the bucket, Molly shrugged. "I can fight them if they do. I just don't understand how people can hate people that aren't like them. I know...I know they're afraid of us but we're not that different. We have bad guys who have powers but there are bad not-powered people too," she said, then sighed.

"Sometimes I think some people hate people cause they're bored."

"You might be right," Cecilia agreed as she pushed the broom against a resistant piece of pastrami. "But I guess we can take comfort in knowing we can stand together. Not every person who gets ostracized is so lucky." That sounded preachy, but after everything she'd been through, she knew it to be the case.

It took Molly a moment to remember what ostracized meant before she figured it out. "Oh," she said, nodding a little. She sounded a little like her mom.

"Sorry," Cecilia looked up from the floor and gave her an apologetic smile. "Didn't mean to get so... you know Heavy." She glanced outside again. "It's a shame they had to bring down what's such a nice occasion, though."

"It's okay. Everyone who comes in likes it here," Molly said, propping the bin up against her hip. It looked heavy but she didn't seem to have a problem at all. Her eyes also seemed to have taken on a faint purple hue.

"They just haven't given it a chance."

"No," Cecilia shook her head, "they haven't. And they probably won't." She turned back to Molly, making note of the girl's violet-hued eyes. "But we shouldn't let that bother us." She pointed to the dustpan. "I mean, look what they're missing out on."

Molly nodded. "Totally. Maybe...maybe they'll come around?" she said hopefully. She really liked the hamburgers here, and, well, everything else.

"Maybe," Cecilia echoed. "A good deli in Westchester is surprisingly hard to come by. And even if they don't," she pointed behind Molly, where Kyle Gibney was scarfing down a sandwich to his girlfriend's mild chagrin, "I think we'll keep them in business."

Molly smiled. "I hope so," she said with a nod. "Well...I should take the dirty stuff to the back. It was nice to meet you Doc Cecilia."

"Same to you, Molly." Cecilia returned her smile. "Hopefully," she added, looking down at a piece of lettuce on her shoes, "further away from food service."

Angel and Hope find a fun way to help disperse protesters and discuss mutant dietary needs which leads to Hope's idea to write a book on hosting a dinner party for mutants.


"...Yeah, so anyways I told my dad, 'Look, I'm all grown up, if I want to dye my hair blue-' oh, okay, just walk away. That's cool too."

Angel couldn't help but feel grimly satisfied as she watched the two protesters walk away. She hadn't even been inside the deli yet, she'd seen the group gathered outside and instantly launched into her own form of defense - talking them to death, one or two at a time. So far she'd sent seven people scurrying off.

She smiled for a moment before moving on. "Hello good sir, I'm here to bring you the word of Jesus Christ."

Hope stiffed a giggle as she watched the man's face go dark as he looked down on Angel. A somewhat wicked idea occurred to her and she considered it for a moment, she simply decided to give into it. Quickly she smoothed down her skirt, closed the upper button of the blouse she was wearing and folded her hands neatly as she approached Angel. "Excuse me, ma'am. Are you quite sure you have been saved yourself? Are you quite sure you have heard the Word? How can you save this man if you have not been saved yourself?"

Angel pulled an offended look at that. "Excuse me, are you questioning my level of savedness? Because I can assure you, I've been saved. I've been so saved, my savedness is an aura that extends out and encompasses everyone around me, saving them in association!"

As she spoke, her arms flailed about, emphasizing words. She was careful not to hit the man she'd been talking to originally, though there were a few "accidental" close calls. After a moment of listening to her babble, the man made a noise and walked away. Angel dropped her arms, watching her go, and after a moment she started giggling, clapping a hand on Hope's shoulder. "Thanks for that."

Hope threw a quick glance the man's way before letting out another giggle. "I know I should not be doing that, but I could not resist."

"Yeah well they shouldn't be yelling about how mutants are abominations, but that's not stoppin' 'em." Angel through another look at the crowd before gently steering Hope towards the door. She'd messed with the protesters enough, and there was no reason to get a student mixed up in her fun.

Besides, she was hungry now.

"I am guessing you would enjoy some lemon tea with honey?" Hope asked as she let Angel guide her inside. Inside it was comfortably busy, though not overly crowded. "Especially if that was not the first protester you awed into submission."

"Seventh actually, but I'm alright. I can talk for hours without getting tired. It's a gift." She laughed. "Or a curse depending on the point of view." She saw Wade and Doug in the corner and gave them a quick wave.

Hope nodded and smiled at the men as well, having seen them around the mansion, though she didn't really know well. "I believe the Irish call it the gift of the gab? It can be a good thing to have, I think."

"Well I'm not gonna lie, it's saved my life a couple of times." Angel grinned. She was proud of her gift of gab. She stopped at the register, grinning when she choices. "Ooooooh. Everything looks good."

"Fattoush Salad? With chickpea's and buttermilk dressing." Hope softly demurred as she though out loud. "I do not think I have had it before. It does like an interesting choice to try out. Something new is always fun."

"I think...I'll get a grilled cheese with bacon. And a chicken salad. Ooooooh and meatballs with mushroom gravy. And a dozen cookies. And...no, I think that's it. For now. Anyways. Put us on the same tab," she added to the cashier, indicating herself and Hope before telling the girl, "Meal's on me for being my partner in crime."

"Thank you." Hope smiled at her, before she directed another request at the cashier. "May also have a some of the sliced fruit and a cappuccino please?" She turned back to the older girl and said: "I do not think I could eat that much..."

"Not many people can." Angel grinned. "Mutant metabolism, it's a very special part of being an energy projector." Not that she had actually done anything to require projecting said energy. She was just hungry.

"Oh, that is right! We did discuss that during my science class with Dr. Grey." Hope replied as she and Angel made their way to a table. "I am sorry, I should have remembered that."

"Aw, no big deal," Angel assured her easily. "Not like it's something you need to know for every-day living. I myself know next to nothing about psis despite living with and working closely with them."

"It is a good thing to know when you are hosting an event with certain guests so to speak. There are more mutations which might need accommodations." Hope smiled mischievously. "Perhaps I should write a book."

"'How To Host A Dinner When Your Guests Are Mutants.'" Angel giggled. "Chapter One - Energy Projectors. Chapter Two - Shapeshifters. Chapter Three - Psis."

"As mutants become more common, I suspect some etiquette experts will be writing something like this. After all, they do for most other situations..." Hope giggled as she thought of some the details in the books she had. "They can chose to pay attention to all kind of details."

"Well there are a lot of things you have to pay attention to if you're going to be hosting a mutant dinner," Angel said pragmatically. "Like if you're inviting someone like Kyle - er, Mr. Gibney - he can't eat a bunch of things other people can eat because of preservatives and artificial flavorings and stuff, so you'd want to make sure you have food he can eat. If you're inviting someone like me you'll want to make sure you have a lot of food because - well, like you just saw, I eat a lot." She shrugged, turning back to her food. "Anyways. Dig in!"

Hope tried a small bite of the salad, then took a larger bite. "Do you think Ms. Smith would give me the recipe to this? This would be wonderful to serve if I ever have to host a lunch?"

"Oh I'm sure she would, just talk to her," Angel said with a smile. "She's not some crazy 'mine mine mine' person when it comes to her recipes." She looked around as the door opened, giving Clarice a wave.

"Looks like the whole of Xavier's will be coming here today. I think I am seeing a few more people." Hope lifted her hand and waved herself. "And I know that girl from speech class at high school... That is good!"

"Catseye puts a good meal together, I don't know how anyone could resist it," Angel said with a nod as she nommed, moving on to the meatballs. "Even if you're an anti-mutant bigot. Food is food."

"On of the things we all have in common." Hope agreed as she gave another wave. "All of Xavier's is truly coming here. There is Matt." "I think I will save the rest for later." Lorna wrapped up the rest of her sandwich before taking a sip of her drink. Looking out the window and shook her head, "Don't they have anything better to do than stand outside with signs to protest a deli?"

"Well we need to support our own," Angel said, puffing her chest out slightly. "I mean, one of our friends owns her own business. That's totally awesome."

"Amen to that." Hope let out a small giggle at the reminder of how they met up.

Angel had a mouth full of sandwich at that point, so she just held up her sandwich in a mock toast. Amen.

Supper/Late Evening (Jean/Logan) - placeholder

Kurt and Lorna make a doggy date and Lorna gets a teleport home when the deli finally closes for the night.

"I think I will save the rest for later." Lorna wrapped up the rest of her sandwich before taking a sip of her drink. Looking out the window and shook her head, "Don't they have anything better to do than stand outside with signs to protest a deli?"

"Apparently not", Kurt said dryly, looking around at the staff clearing up. "But it all seems to have gone quite peacefully, considering."

"You are right. Could have gotten worse and that is something Cats shouldn't need on her opening day. By the way, thanks for coming with me." Lorna said to Kurt with a smile.

"I would not have stayed away", he answered, smiling back. "Not for such a good cause."

"I agree. Plus it seems we aren't the only one with the same idea. There is Angelo over there." Lorna waved over at the man before looking back at Kurt. "I might have to come here at least once a week if I want to try everything on the menu."

"And Jean-Philippe with him", he noted, smiling over at the two men. "I am sure Catseye would appreciate the business, although word of mouth to spread custom beyond her friends would be even better."

"I still have friends in Salem Center, I'll make sure they get the message to eat here." Lorna looked back outside, "Oh good. They are going away now."

"It is getting dark and colder", Kurt said with amusement. "And with the restaurant closing, it seems they have reached their limit."

"Good. Then again it is pretty cold outside, even when the sun is shinning. Which reminds me, doggy play date? Lili has been getting restless."

"Gladly. Triscuit is always happy to see Lili - and I will try to keep him from being too rough, she is an elderly lady now."

"I think I will save the rest for later." Lorna wrapped up the rest of her sandwich before taking a sip of her drink. Looking out the window and shook her head, "Don't they have anything better to do than stand outside with signs to protest a deli?"

"I think dogs will continue to behave like puppies sometimes as long as their bodies allow them to", he said, amused. "In my experience, at any rate."

Lorna laughed, "I hope I am like that when I turn that old in dog years."

"From you, my friend, I would expect nothing less."

Lorna lifted up her almost empty drink. "To long life, dogs and to Cat's awesome opening day."

Kurt grinned and clinked his glass against hers.

Lorna finished the rest of her drink before looking at the time. "Well it looks like they are officially closed. Should we be on our way back to the manor?"

"I think we should", he agreed. "Can I offer you a lift?"

"That is kind of you. I'll take you up on that offer." Lorna said as she stood up.

"Then your teleporter awaits", Kurt said with a grin, offering his hand.

Lorna returned his grin and took his hand. "I love this part."

"Really? No one else does."

"Preferences. Not everyone likes to fly either."