maskormenacelogs | Workin' all day, now it's time to unwind. Kick back, relax, take a load off your mind.

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Workin' all day, now it's time to unwind. Kick back, relax, take a load off your mind.

WHO: Josh Foley & Laurie Collins
WHERE: Clubs around Heropa
WHEN: Sometime in June
WHAT: Letting off steam and having fun in a club
WARNINGS: probably some drinking, terrible dancing, awful flirting

[ Sometimes, when he's talking to her, he forgets that he's twenty-one and has gone to hell and back. Sometimes, it feels like he'll look up and see the campus the way it was back then. He'll hear Julian taunting him, David sighing and rolling his eyes in frustration as he blows off studying for yet another test, and all will be well. Life is easy, and uncomplicated and the biggest worry he has is how the hell he'll pass half his classes when they're being taught by telepaths who can catch him cheating.

That's then, though. This is now.

They're grownups. They'd grown up differently - worlds apart, leading very different lives, and now they were brought together by a bizarre twist of fate... and things are awkward. Incredibly, incredibly awkward - they're still trying to find a balance, and...

Well, he's not good at that. What he is good at is shoving his problems aside and not thinking about them. He's good at good, no-strings-attached fun. And maybe that isn't what they should be doing, but Laurie's been stressed and he's still kind of trying to find a place in all this mess, so this is what they're doing. ]

So [ he's wearing white, because white stands out nicely against his skin. Form-fitting white shirt, white pants, a pair of white gloves trimmed with black on his hands to prevent accidental healing and/or harming. There's actual effort put into his appearance. That stark white hair is even styled. He cuts a decent picture. ] I got a list of like ten places that are apparently pretty imPORT friendly, so like, if they suck we can bail. And if they really suck we can find a dive bar and see what happens.

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[ Laurie's less conspicuous, mutations aside. Josh's thing... That's a whole ensemble, and she can't imagine how he's going to manage to keep it so pristine. A (ahem) flattering blouse and fitted jeans, cuffs rolled up and short heels on... She's not extremely well-versed in club-hopping, but she doubts anybody will turn her away at the door. ]

Sounds pretty viable to me. [ She answers as she idly fixes one of her earrings, realizing too late that she should've done something else with her hair. Maybe she'll just ditch the earrings altogether. Hair up, dangles are fine. Hair down? Not so much. ]

How bad can they be? I'm sure we'll be fine.

[ They're along Heropa's main nightlight drag, as it is. It's Summer, and the Florida air's thick, but there's always that wind coming in from the ocean. There's quite a few places clustered together out this way, so... ] Where are we starting?

Some places are stingy on the drinks, or the dancing, and some of them just like, go too far with it. This way.

[ He inclines his head towards what looks like a hole in the wall. Something pretty small and stealthy, but go around the corner and you find the bouncer who takes a look at them and steps aside. ]

Sounds complicated. [ Said lightly. It sounds like it may be a personal problem, but Josh probably isn't too different from anybody else. You wanna be selective about where your time and money goes. Either way, he's more well-informed than she is, so she trusts his judgement in the matter. It's probably better, even, if he's a bit finicky about it.

She raises an eyebrow and a smile at the entry process. Okay, then.

Her shoes click as she follows along behind him, and... Yep. It's a club alright. The music's escalating as the enter, and she has to stand close to make sure she's heard. ]

Wanna try the bar first?

Sure, sounds good.

[ He'll let her take the lead. The prices here are pretty reasonable, there's a decent amount of them. Drinking is, uh, complicated when your body has a healing factor so he'll just order something with a high alcohol percentage. ]

[ Easy enough. Laurie can lead that far, at least. She orders a vodka cranberry, lets Josh order (with maybe the slightest face-pull at his choice, but... healing factor), and opens a tab. Boom. See? She's a perfectly viable club patron.

While they're waiting... ] So, how's things?

Oh, y'know. Still getting in the swing of things here.

[ So proud. Look at you living this club life. ]

You?

[ She's leaning on the bar, oh-so casual, and she shrugs. In all honesty, she's not sure she's feels great. She feels better than she did a couple months ago, when Cass had broken things off and it made her feel at least a little worthless, and then mad that she felt like that over something that was hardly anything significant in the first place.

Now she just feels... Existent. For just a little bit, she'd felt extraordinary again, and now-- ] I'm fine.

[ That's all. Fine is enough. She's making a conscious effort to just... be different, to adjust whatever it is about her that makes her Never What Somebody Really Wants. Until she figures that out, though, hits some kind of counter-Laurie epiphany... Yeah. Fine.

Their drinks are set down in front of them, and Laurie doesn't hesitate to pop her straw into her mouth. She takes a decent first drink. ]

First impressions?

Not bad.

[ he cranes his neck around, taking in the sight. Fine typically translates to jot actually being fine, but he isn't gonna press. This is supposed to be fun.

He tips his head back and takes a healthy gulp. ]

Definitely been to worse.

Good. Awesome. [ Granted, the Mutant bar on Existing in Public may be pretty low, but... They aren't gauging a school or a super-team, so their perspectives may be closer to normalized here. ]

You, uh... You wanna find a corner or something?

[ She's probably going to need a drink or two before she's ready to figure out dancing. A little more talking is probably easy enough, though, and they'll probably be interrupted by curious natives before she and Josh hit an overly-awkward wall. ]

Yeah, sure.

[ There's a booth over there that's relatively far away from the noise and sound, easy to slide into. he gets another drink. ]

[ Laurie's cool with one for the moment, so she slides into the booth to wait out the couple minutes until Josh gets back. She should've found something else to say in the meantime, but... Bleh.

Maybe work? ]

So... Any zany medical happenings recently?

[ reconnecting with old (dead) friends is hard and that's a huge part of the reason he hasn't. he drums his fingertips against his glass and considers. ]

A guy came in with a lightbulb up his butt? So that was a whole thing.

Oh, god. [ Laurie lets out a burst of a laugh at that, more surprise than humor-based, as... Ouch? And why? (Like, she kinda knows why, but...]

Jesus. Can your powers even do anything about that, or..?

Not really. But thankfully I was just on standby to make sure nothing was permanently screwed up.

[ because people are so stupid ]

But because I'm the new guy they had me give the 'just because it can fit doesn't mean it should' talk.

Yikes. Couldn't they have left that to, like... a proctologist? I'm sure they all must have that speech memorized, the poor saps.

[ She acts out a face of pity, eyes closed and shaking her head slowly. Then she takes another healthy sip of her drink and turns up a half-smile, coupled with a little shrug. ]

I mean, they chose to become proctologists. They had to have known, right? But still.

It was kind of worth it to see the guy's face. Like, dude was so embarrassed that it was an import giving him the talk. I swear there's like zero perks to that specialty other than crazy good pay and weird stories.

[ he grins back. ]

What about you? You writing again?

[ She's about to hope out loud that this mystery patient is able to discover some needed combo of This World's Dr. Ruth and butt plugs, but-- Well. Maybe it's better that he asks an unrelated question first. That might not be the most graceful thing to blurt out, after all.

As for the question... She blows a raspberry and takes a drink. ]

I've been stuck. I dunno'. The whole thing with Cass kinda crashed by mood for a bit, and then I was gearing up for finishing school, and... [ A hand gesture that suggests disintegration. ]

Maybe I'll just slap together a book of cruddy poetry next.

Oh yeah...

[ He'd be lying if he said he didn't see her flirting with the other girl on the network, even if he isn't the chattiest of chatty guys. That, plus Laurie wanting to get out on the club scene? Yeah.

He takes another drink. ]

What, uh, happened there, exactly? mean, if it's not like, prying or anything. [ like is cass secretly blind deaf and dumb to let a catch like laurie collins walk out her life? ]

[ She waves a dismissive hand. She's determined to make the whole thing no big deal, even though she's pretty openly oscillating on it. Hadn't she just said it crashed her mood? Well, whatever. ]

It was nothing. I mean... I guess the sticking point is that it would've been nice if it was something, but it wasn't. Cass wants something --someone, I guess-- very specific, and it's got nothing to do with me.

[ It's nice to be able to tidily wash her hands of it, maybe. At least there's that. ]

It was nice while it lasted, though. Oh well.

Well, that's dumb. She's dumb.

[ Which is by far and above the most like himself he feels like he's sounded in years. She's dumb. And maybe one day she'll realize how foolish she is for wanting something - someone - who isn't the girl right here before him, because a fantasy of a person, of a relationship, is just that.

Shame she keeps falling for people like that. He thinks of her book and then has to take another healthy drink, because whose fault is that? Him, Josh Foley, king of the assholes right here. ]

No, it's fine.

[ Well, it's not fine, but she's at least past name-calling. Laurie's tendency is to turn blame at least partially onto herself; what is about her that repels people this effectively? What's she lacking that people need?

Maybe her expectations are just unrealistic. Maybe it's dumb to hope for real affection. ]

I just... I'll adjust accordingly. I'm trying to reevaluate what I want against what makes sense.

[ Can she find a steady boyfriend/girlfriend? Apparently not. Could she find people who might at least pretend to like her for short periods of time? Maybe. Who knows?

If all she is is filler, then why not go ahead and accept that? ]

[ Oh.

His fingertips drum uneasily against his glass. He considers, briefly, just grabbing her arm and hauling her out onto the dance floor. Putting this whole uncomfortable conversation behind them. ]

Hey.

[ A start, then a stop. He drags his fingers through his hair. ]

Just so you know, I read your book. And, uh...

[ He has no idea how to word what he wants to say. He's not smart enough for this, or her, or anything. ]

And like, before we go party our faces off, I really need to apologize. [ Seems as good a place as any. ] Like, more than a spewing all my sins kind of way. I was a huge dick to you.

[ The words "I read your book" could go in a couple of awful directions, and she might blanche a little at the idea. As he pushes forward, she bites lightly at the inside of her cheek. ]

Yeah. [ Receiving the apology isn't bad, it's just... It's difficult. It's a mess. It's-- ] It was dumb teenage bullshit. It wouldn't even matter anymore if I hadn't died in the middle of it.

[ Which is her tried to cut things off and not deal with them right now. She's never going to deny that Josh hadn't been perfect, maybe hadn't been good, even, but-- He'd been a kid, and he'd been obviously and profoundly affected by what had happened to her.

That doesn't excuse it, doesn't wipe the slate clean, but she's determined to show all signs of being over it, of being better. ]

Maybe, but...

[ He's not sure he even has the words for it. He usually doesn't. He's not - he's not smart like David, or good with conflict resolution like Sofia. He's blunt, but not like Noriko's to the point straight forwardness. And he'll never have Jay's ability just to skirt by his own feelings and dodge the drama. ]

Nevermind. I'm a moron. I'm getting another drink and then I'm gonna show these chumps how to really dance. You in?

I might need another two before I'm ready to figure out dancing, but yeah. Definitely.

[ It might've been good of her to admonish him for calling himself names, but... The subject's dropped, and she's content to leave it in the booth. She finishes off her current drink and slides from her seat to start on their journey back to the bar.

Once they've got round two in-hand, she's fine to follow him to the dance floor, if nothing else. He immediately commands attention, which is to be expected. She's getting looks and whispers, too, but the gazes don't linger as long. Whether that's good or bad... She won't worry about it. It's pretty pointless in the scheme of things. ]

Go for it, champ. I'm happy to watch for the time being.

There's nothing to figure out, you just gotta go for it.

[ It's all part of being, y'know, him. Eyes are always on him. He'd wanted that before his secondary mutation had kicked in. Now he isn't a huge fan of the spotlight, but he's also learned to tune out the noise of other people's opinions.

And he's going for it. Not in the usual way he might - he's definitely not drunk enough to yank his shirt off and just start spinning it over his head - but he's employing some halfway decent footwork and rocking to the beat, being pretty careful not to draw too much attention to them. ]

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Workin' all day, now it's time to unwind. Kick back, relax, take a load off your mind.

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