multiversallogs | the city called to me and i came [OPEN]

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the city called to me and i came [OPEN]

It's Shundi afternoon, and Raven is out in the city. Along with her plans to meet Kate at the coffeeshop called Queequag's (it's always a good idea to scope a place out before you go and apply for a job there) and drop by the University to register for a couple of classes, she figures some window shopping is in order. Until she has a steady income there won't be any shopping bags going home with her, but a girl can look. Maybe try a few things on, check out what's available for decorating her room once Charles has a house picked out, things like that. Fun stuff, and a chance to get away from the Inn for a while.

[OOC: ~~I'm going to set up some threads for encountering Raven at various locations, please wait to tag until I'm finished.~~ Finished and open!]

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Raven is sitting at one of the tables on the deck of the coffeeshop, very slowly nursing a cup of coffee and watching people pass by on the street as she waits for Kate to arrive. She's definitely interruptable if anyone is so inclined.

Shopping! Or at least the part that comes before the actual paying for things. Raven can be found all over the bazaar, just enjoying looking at clothes and interesting odds and ends.

If you happen to be at the University for any reason, you might find Raven checking out the campus and the cirriculum, and discussing the schedule for her new job there. (And if you happen to work at the University, Raven will be on rotation in the clerical pool as well.)

There's no way Raven can pass up a visit to a place with her own name on it, and she's charmed by the boutiques and the weekend market. It's never a bad plan to know where the nightclubs are located either, and although they're closed at this hour of the day, it's no effort at all to temporarily copy the face of what looks to be a janitor after he steps outside for a break, and slip in unnoticed just to have a look around.

When she steps of the back door and into what she thinks is an empty back alley, Raven takes a quick look around and then changes form, the janitor's appearance giving way to her natural blue, and then back to the pretty blonde she's used so long it feels almost as comfortable as her own skin.

Aimery was out at the Bazaar looking for a gift for Lex or something he could use to complete his costume. Birthdays were a fairly new tradition for him, but he vaguely recalled celebrating at least one and had read about them enough in his novels to know what they were supposed to entail. But what counted as an appropriate gift from an employee to an employer? Or did the fact that they were friends and had a certain closeness override restrictions of title?

That contemplation was why he'd parked himself in front of a tent selling cloth accessories, and why he was staring down a display of beautiful handmade ties. There was one that was deep purple with what looked like gold threaded through it along the edges, just enough to catch the light every now and then, and Aimery thought it would look good with Lex's coloring.

But did he really want to get him a tie? Aimery hummed in annoyance at himself, then glanced around a spotted a young woman nearby and called out, "Miss? Could I bother you a moment for some advice?"

"It would be more flattering in blue," says a certain someone, now standing behind her—looming, rather, at a friendly distance. Hi. Nice...blouse, or whatever it is she's looking at right now.

If she's open to be interrupted, here's Kate coming to do just that. She's dressed very casually, a plain white tanktop under a unzipped pink and white striped hoodie, black jeans, and black boots. It still feels weird to her that she's going to hang out with Mystique of all people. Even though Raven isn't Mystique just yet, the fact that Kate knows what the blonde girl becomes in a few years is something she can't shake just yet.

Regardless, though, there's a spring in Kate's step as she heads towards the table where Raven's camped out, plopping down into the other chair the only way a teenager can. "What's up?"

Tommy is doing his rounds (aka: finding places to cause trouble) and he's in the middle of moving everything on one display into rainbow order when he notices the cute blonde a couple booths over.

She looks familiar, so he zips over and leans with his hand braced against a nearby pole, smiling in a relatively charming manner.

"Heeeey there. What's up?"

Time to see if she remembers him.

Shopping (even window shopping) would have been more fun with someone to share it with, Raven thinks, which is why she's fussing through a pile of scarves with a frown. And why she responds to request for help with a happy smile.

"Absolutely. But you have to agree to pay me back with some yourself." She spots the tie display the man is standing in front of, and steps closer. "Oh those are gorgeous."

Of course Raven remembers. A moment ago there wasn't anyone standing there, so she looks up with a start, but recognition kicks in right away and she grins.

"Hey, Speed from the future, right?" she teases. "Nothing much, just browsing around."

It's a familiar voice, and one Raven is still relieved to hear in this foreign place. She turns and holds up the blouse (which is a shade of green that works great on a blonde, not so much on a blue-skinned redhead).

"Blue's not really my color right now. And I'm not doing anything but looking anyway. Didn't really expect to see you out here shopping."

"Deal, and I think so too," he grinned in response, grateful for her friendliness. Aimery picked up the purple tie he'd been eyeing and held it up so they could both see it better. "My employer's birthday is coming up and I was considering getting this one for him. However, I've never bought a birthday present and I don't know if a tie, even a pretty one like this, would be too little or too much, considering we're also very close friends outside of work. Do you think a tie would be appropriate?"

He is carrying just the one shopping bag, made of plain brown paper; he lifts it slightly as though to show off its lacklustre appearance. "For work." No fun is being had, nothing to see here, etc. (If only she could have seen him at the pet shop.)

Since she's turned, the blouse receives a longer and more considerate look—but when Erik goes on his thoughts seem to have skipped ahead. "Have you eaten yet?"

The changes in styles is something Raven is still adjusting to, although it's the kind of adjustment she's enjoying a lot more than having to get used to being essentially a captive in a city-sized prison. So long as she doesn't think too much about that aspect of it, the rest is actually a lot of fun. So she greets Kate with a bright smile, and thinks maybe she'll scandalize her brother by spending her first paycheck on a pair of jeans.

"Just people-watching. Do you want some coffee? I've already kind of scoped out the place, it seems nicer than you'd think from the outside."

"Oh, I think a tie is a really good gift for an employer." Raven kind of catches onto the nuances of 'close friends', however, and bites her lip on a grin. "And it is a really nice tie, so I think it could do for a friend too. The only person I've ever bought presents for is my brother, but I'd buy him a tie."

She pauses, and then lets the grin sneak out. "Okay, I'd buy him a more professor-ish kind of tie."

"You have a job that pays you to go shopping?" That is the kind of job Raven could get into. She'd have a lot more fun at it, too.

Since Raven isn't going to buy the blouse anyway, she doesn't mind that Erik doesn't elaborate on his opinion of it. "No, but I've been eating my meals at the Inn, it's cheaper there. As of today I am gainfully employed, however."

"Any place seems nicer than you'd think from the outside here." Baedal's officially the creepiest place Kate's ever been, including that time warp that Kang yanked them to forever ago. Here, it always seems like something will jump out of you from both a dark and a well-lit corner. Constant vigilance is key. But even superheroes need a break and Kate's going to accept this moment as one.

"See anybody interesting? And yes on the coffee with two extra shots," she replies, leaning back in the chair and pulling her legs up to cross over each other. She could go for a third shot, but Kate's taking tonight off from patrol; two shots is enough to ensure than she doesn't faceplant into sleep in front of Raven.

"Protective footwear," he answers, in the way that implies smart-ass without actually saying it. Her declaration completely trumps that, however. "That's excellent, though, I'm glad to hear it. Where are you working?"

Aimery looked at the tie thoughtfully as she spoke, thinking it over. If a tie was suitable for a brother then surely a fine one like that was appropriate for whatever sort of friend Lex was.

"Yes, I don't know that this one would do for a professor," he grinned right back. It was a little too flashy for what he imagined a 'professor' to be, but, "It will suit Lex though, and if he doesn't like it then next year he shall receive two ties."

Actually, maybe Aimery would get him a second gift anyway, just in case. He shrugged that thought away and extended his hand to her, still grinning, "Thank you. I'm Aimery."

"If he doesn't like it, next year get him two really bad ties, and make him appreciate your good taste this year a little more," Raven suggests, with a laugh. She has no idea what kind of relationship the man has with his boss, but if it's close enough to buy him a fancy birthday tie, it has to be close enough to share a little joke.

She shakes his hand, smiling back at him. "You're welcome, I'm glad to help! I'm Raven. And I'm afraid I have to admit I'm not as nice as you, I'm only shopping for myself."

Raven makes a face at the tone, but brushes it off. She likes Erik well enough to not mind a little teasing. "A coffeeshop called Queequag's, and part-time in the clerical pool at the University so I can take a couple of classes there."

Which is pretty exciting, considering Raven's education has basically taken place in the Xavier family library all these years.

"I'll keep that in mind." It's actually pretty good advice -- Baedal has a strange look to it, and although it's easy to tell where the really dangerous places are, it's not always so simple to tell the difference between actually seedy and just questionable from the outside.

Raven hops up with a grin and goes to fetch Kate's coffee, returning to set it down with a slightly over-dramatic flourish. "Your coffee, miss." She plops back into her seat and glances out the window. "Just about everyone. It's such an amazingly eclectic population, and even though Charles is here, I still feel a little bit like the baby bird tumbling out of the nest for the first time."

"Be glad he didn't push you out of it," Kate chuckles as she puts an enormous amount of sugar and cream in her cup so her drink is less coffee than additions. Oh, teenagers.

"You eventually get used to it, though I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing." Even back in the other place, Kate was unsure if becoming complacent with the environment was giving up or adapting. There's a big difference between the two and one option is something Kate isn't fond of. She's fought too long and too hard just to hand her fate over to mysterious alternate dimensions just because exits were hard to find. "You settle in, find a place, get a job, and live. It's not bad on one hand, but on the other, you wonder if you're accepting what you're being given without a fight."

Edited 2011-10-03 15:07 (UTC)

"Really!" Look, Erik is impressed enough that it straightened his question mark. His eyebrows raise and everything. "Good for you, Raven. Congratulations. ...Come." He then lifts his hand toward her elbow, not quite touching, but nearly, as though inviting her to turn. It seems done a whim, but isn't quite. "We'll have some lunch, my treat."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Raven," Aimery said firmly with a polite bow of his head. Her name interested him; she didn't look like a raven with her beautiful blonde hair and soft features, but perhaps naming conventions had changed, or maybe it was a byname like le Gode, or a family surname.

"Shopping for yourself is not mutually exclusive to being nice, after all you did help me despite it. Are you looking for something in particular or just browsing?"

Or perhaps the disconnect comes in the fact that these aren't Raven's natural features at all.

"I was looking at the scarves, but it is just browsing for right now. I just got a job today so until I get paid, it's mostly wish list shopping. But you did promise to give me your opinion in exchange for mine, so now you're stuck looking at scarves too."

How can Raven resist an offer made like that? She smiles at managing to get such a positive response, and does him one better on the silent invitation and turns, then threads her arm through his. It's okay, Erik, she does this to Charles all the time.

"I accept. Where are we going?"

Considering recent, er, events—of which no one has spoken since, presumably—a little familiarity is to be expected. Erik isn't bothered by it. He does wonder what a certain adopted brother would think, should they happen to run into him by coincidence, but isn't about to reject the gesture for that. And so, they shall walk linked at the arms and make a very fine pair indeed.

"I hadn't thought that far ahead," he admits, although really he did, he just hasn't eaten much in this neighbourhood. "Let's have a look further along this street, perhaps we'll get lucky." ...yes.

Eames isn't the type of person to be noticed when he doesn't want to be, and while idly casing the perimeter of the jeweler next door, he certainly doesn't want to be. He's coming around one corner, newspaper in hand and a fairly obnoxious straw fedora on his head, when he sees her and stops.

"I'm– sorry, did you just...?" ...shapeshift from a dumpy janitor into blue scaled skin and then into a shapely young lady? He doesn't look afraid or alarmed, or even entirely surprised. There's hesitance to his expression, certainly, but it's warmer. More like fascination.

Edited 2011-11-05 22:41 (UTC)

Oh crap. Raven stops dead in her tracks and looks so completely and obviously guilty, mentally berating herself for not being careful enough. First line of defense is to see if she can convince the guy he didn't see what he thought he saw, though, so she immediately turns a sweet if slightly confused smile on him.

"Did I just what? Um...door was unlocked." See, just a little harmless trespassing, absolutely nothing interesting going on here.

Oh, obfuscation, how cute. He almost smiles, but– no, she might take that the wrong way. The act might not actually go over so badly on someone not intimately familiar with the intricacies of body language and deception, but, well.

"Yes, I'm familiar with that method, actually." At least he's not fussed about the minor law-breaking? "What I hadn't seen before is the little trick afterwards."

"Was that a glamour?" It didn't look like a glamour. Not that he's dabbled much in the magic side of things himself, but he pays attention.

Okay, so clearly he knows what he saw and pretending otherwise won't change that. It's fine, if worse comes to worst she can always run and get lost in a crowd.

"Glamours are...fairy magic or something like that, right? So no, it's not. It's a mutation." And because it's usually helpful to keep a potential aggressor off-balance, Raven shifts her shape to copy his. "Not a trick."

That's not just his face, it's his voice as well.

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the city called to me and i came [OPEN]

Mog Hill: Queequag's

Aspic: Bazaar

Brock Marsh: Tipitaka Medaw University

Raven's Gate: Private for Eames

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(this thread is now dated to a few days prior to the festival, we do what we want)

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