[OPEN] BABES IN TOYLAND

[speakveryclearly]

Date & Time: December 20th, 2013
Location: New York City!!!
Characters: HOLIDAY SHOPPERS. Please note that with mod approval, any character is allowed to have joined the mob in front of the transporter, regardless of whether they responded to the network post advertising this event.
Summary: In a bid to conserve energy, over a dozen transports do all of their Christmas shopping at once. I hope you brought money!
Warnings: None for now!

All the transports are dropped into New York at 6:00, simultaneously but scattered. Coding the drop points for this mission was hell.

It turns out that the weather is actually fairly mild on this date; there is snow neither in the air nor in the ground. That isn't to say there's nothing of visual interest: All the lights of the city are on at this hour.



The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree was lit back on December 4th.



Shop until you drop, Transports.

Comments

steph | open

[controlledvariable]

[Steph has four things to do: buy Christmas presents, buy herself an outfit for the Borgia party, buy cookie supplies, and get her tattoo finished. The first two things are prioritized, so she spends most of her time in malls or in the stores lining the streets, slowly gaining more and more shopping bags.

The dress for herself ends up coming from the Ted Baker store on Fifth Avenue, after she spends way too much time trying on different dresses. Most of the presents come from LUSH, a few from Best Buy, and the rest from clothing or department stores. Later in the evening she picks up all the ingredients for the cookie baking at the end of the month, even if grocery shopping isn't half as fun as everything else.

It's more fun than sitting in a tattoo parlour, getting the bats on the nape of her neck finshed, although the end product of that is more than worth the pain.

Even later in the evening, she finds a spot near the tree, having acquired a gingerbread coffee with whipped cream on top, and just watches the crowd. Saul is with her for most of that part, but occasionally one of them wanders off to investigate something, leaving the other alone. Sometimes it's nice to feel like she's disppearing into the crowd, after the stress of the last few months.

At least the purple in the lower half of her hair makes her easy to spot in a crowd for people who know what they're looking for, and it seems like she's permanently attached to a cup of coffee.

She just misses Starbucks, okay?]

[unmasking]

[Who doesn't miss Starbucks? Peter's on his second peppermint mocha when he spots Stephanie in the crowd. He doesn't exactly know her that well, but they're here, and he's afraid of disrupting this place too much with his presence. (Which, for what it's worth, is an excuse and code for "he's too socially awkward to chat up strangers unless he's wearing his Spider-Man mask." It's just how he works.)]

Hey, having fun? [It's asked after he trots up to her and comes to stand alongside her. Peter, for his part, looks pretty cheerful. He can't really help it.]

[controlledvariable]

[She turns when someone addresses her, recognizing him straight away and giving a bright smile, which probably answers his question.]

I am, yeah. [It's a chance to forget about all the bullshit or a little while, about Jesse and Dick and the war.] You look like you're enjoying yourself.

[unmasking]

Well, New York helps. It's infectious here, or maybe I'm just glad to be home.

[It's a home, and he knows he has to be careful. Anything like "I never thought I'd see it again" might seem strange, and he's not interested in the very involved story he'll have to make up that doesn't involve his name on a gravestone. No, he's not interested in that.]

I haven't done much exactly, but it's good.

[controlledvariable]

Going home makes things easier.

[There's something bittersweet in her smile, because unlike a lot of the Transports from Earth, she can't just go into the past and visit Gotham. The VR simulation she made helps, but it's not the real thing.

She doesn't let it bother her, though, just forces her smile a little brighter and holds up the bags in her hands.]

I've probably done enough shopping for about five people, so don't worry about not having done much.

[unmasking]

Yeah, it certainly does. I'd rather be up there—[He points up.]—but they're absent a Spider-Man, probably, so that'd be strange. [He doesn't even bother to hush his voice, because he doubts anyone is listening in, and he's still trying to figure out where he's going with the whole Spider-Man thing. Going from zombies to mutiny to politics really involves a lot less punching on the normal transition of things, and he's aware of that.]

And shopping is good. I mean, you could be shopping upstate somewhere. That wouldn't be doing much.

[controlledvariable]

It wouldn't make too much of a difference if you don't let anyone see you.

[Although that might be a little tricky when he has a bright red and blue costume, but she doesn't know how good Spider-Man is at stealth.

The comment gets a huff a laugh.]

I've got a stolen credit card and a utility belt with unlimited twenty dollar bills, I think I could find a way.

[unmasking]

Not that easy. The trick is to swing between buildings. I'd stand out. [And he has a feeling that that might ruin all of their efforts if some Spider-Man guy came out of nowhere in a world considerably lacking superheroes. And his guess so far is that they're really lacking superheroes, given everything.

It's only after that remark that he processes the rest. Which follows with:]

Can I get one of those utility belts?

[controlledvariable]

That's the problem with having bright red in your suit.

[There's a reason that Robin's cape was black, because while the bright colours served a purpose, sometimes secrecy was more important.]

Well, I could make you a normal utility belt, but you'd have to weaponize it. That's why mine's the way it is.

[unmasking]

The secret is that I didn't design the suit. [He shrugs uselessly. In hindsight, he knows he could come up with something newer and sharper, but he likes the design; he likes what it means to him. Plus, he kind of wants that version of the suit but it being one that can't be easily destroyed.]

... And what if my suit is my weapon?

[controlledvariable]

I didn't design mine, either. [Babs made it for her, which was a nice gesture, and it's not like Steph doesn't like her suit. Still.] You could always make yourself a new one.

[And then he says that, so she adds:]

Or try to get it to evolve into something a little more stealthy. As for the utility belt, mine's part of my suit which is my weapon, so I guess it'd depend if you could convince your suit that the belt counts.

[Did that even make sense......]

[unmasking]

[Fortunately, Peter is a scientist and a superhero who thrives on quick talking and banter. He manages to make it out of what Stephanie says with full comprehension.]

I'd have to make the belt important to me somehow. Some way to be a better Peter Parker. [He pauses, considering that.] So some kind of ... engineering device. For mechanical things, ready to still jump into a fight at a moment's notice. Probably way more effective than what I've been doing.

[controlledvariable]

More of a toolbelt, then?

[She grins, but she does mean that suggestion a little bit. Although after a second she gives him a look up and down.]

Spider-man's meant to be pretty streamlined, right? Would a belt break that up too much?

[There's a thoughtful look on her face that could either mean awesome or terrible things will happen.]

[khajidont]

[Jaime probably shouldn't even be in the same area as Steph is while she's trying on dresses, but to be fair, he doesn't actually know where he is. At all. He knew he was in the right area for a little while, because he got a bunch of his shopping done, but he made a wrong turn somewhere down the line.

But he's got a tiny cup of tea from a place giving out free samples - it tastes moderately of flowers and he doesn't actually look like he's enjoying it all that much but hey, free - and he's happy enough to just be walking on an actual street. When he sees Steph through the window, he can't help but poke his head in to say hello.]

Hey, Steph! [he says, waving at her.] The dress looks nice!

[Is it actually a nice dress? He has no idea. He does not possess the skill of discerning taste. It is a dress, and it is on a pretty girl, therefore it is a nice dress.]

[controlledvariable]

[Steph turns at the sound of her name, smiling when she sees Jaime.]

Thanks, Jaime. [She does a little twirl, as if to show off the dress, but her expression is playful. She doesn't expect a teenage boy to care much about dresses.] What're you doing in this part of town?

[She doubts he's buying expensive clothes for anyone for Christmas.]

[khajidont]

I have no idea, [is his honest answer, though he doesn't look any less cheerful for it. Once the person at the counter starts giving him the evil eye for letting the draft in, he hurriedly steps in all the way and shuts the door behind him, offering her a hasty apology.]

What're you trying on dresses for anyway?

[As much as anyone in Exsilium may like nice clothing, it's not exactly the weather for anything beyond bulky winter jackets and boots.]

[controlledvariable]

Got lost, huh?

[She's not surprised, Steph had to ask another shopper for directions not that long ago, because she doesn't have a whole lot of experience in New York.

As for his question:]

Vanozza Borgia is having a Christmas party, I don't think "jeans and a t-shirt" are gonna be acceptable.

[Even her normal style of dresses probably aren't acceptable.]

[khajidont]

Yup. I got most of my presents anyway, so I mean. [He waves one hand in an exaggerated motions of panic.] Oh no, I'm lost in New York at Christmas time.

[He honestly wouldn't mind being lost here for a couple more days, but there are enough Transports falling on this place like a pack of hungry sharks as it is. His only plan remaining is to raid some of the obnoxiously fancy hotels' washrooms for those little portable containers of toiletries, and he can call it a day.]

You really think they're gonna care all that much about the dress code?

[controlledvariable]

[That makes her laugh]

Truly a fate worse than death.

[Steph wouldnt mind a few more days either; the idea of a vacation is a tempting one, but there's things to do in Exsilim, unfortuantely.]

They're the old fashioned type, I'm pretty sure I'll get in trouble if I don't curtsey to the right people.

[nobles, ugh.

(also she does kind of just like wearing nice dresses but that's a secret)]

[khajidont]

[That elicits a snort from him, mainly because he's having a hard time imagining anyone clinging onto such old social graces during a war of all things. Sure, he still calls people Mister or Miss, but he honestly doesn't expect anyone to get offended about leaving it off.]

Maybe you should curtsy to everyone. [He leans back against the wall, crossing his arms against his chest even though he's got a few bags hanging from them already.] Better be careful, or else they'll take away your title and you'll be a plebe like the rest of us.

[controlledvariable]

[And of course, she curtsys to him, even if the effect is lost when she's wearing jeans rather than a skirt and has her hands full of bags.]

I don't think I could be any more of a plebe if I tried, so that's not much of a threat.

[khajidont]

[He contorts his expression into one of exaggerated surprise. He's a terrible actor, but one of his many useless skills is to make spectacularly stupid looking faces.

Only most of the time, it's not on purpose.]

And here I was thinking I knew a princess. You've destroyed all my hopes and dreams.

[He has, in fact, met one princess but found himself not caring too much about people's titles one way or another unless they preferred to be referred to in a specific way. When it's not important, he's all about the path of least resistance.]

[controlledvariable]

[She shakes her head, laughing.]

I could always just introduce you to Anne Boleyn.

[Will she ever get over how weird it is that she knows Anne Boleyn? Probably never.]

[khajidont]

Anne Boleyn.

[Give him a second to think back to history classes of yore before his expression changes to one of enlightenment.] Oh!

[...and then he looks a little horrified as he remembers exactly what happens to her.] Oh. [Yikes.]

Wow. She's really here?

[controlledvariable]

Yeahhhh.

[That sure is a thing that Steph isn't sure whether or not she should tell Anne about.]

She's really pretty.

[That.

Okay, Steph.]