rainbowlounge | The Villa Is Open

Zephyr had a plan. "We are gonna make you the best electric milkshake that ever was!"

"Or will be!" Pip joined in, clapping her hands over her head as she danced along before him and Roa and generally got in the way of where they were trying to walk.

This gave Zephyr plenty of excuse to pause at the end of the hall and make himself a sweeping gesture. "In the historya... ah..." one that should have ended with him banging his hand on the wall.

Except for the part where the applicable wall had disappeared and not in the usual behold the busted drywall kind of way. It was just gone. Likewise, the hallway and the entirety of Sky Plaza.

Zephyr stood on some low, sweeping stone steps. That happened to be outside, while just a moment before been /inside/ and headed to the kitchen. "OK, what the hell?"

Roa took in the sudden sky all golden up the flanks of the villa before them and held her finger to her lips in curiosity. "I don't know, actually." Then, she attempted to walk down the way they had come. This got her over the steps and almost to the spray from the fountain in the drive before it became quite apparent merely turning around wasn't going to accomplish much besides dampening her shoes. Back up she went. "This *looks* like where they held the last Court of the Manor."

"You dunno?" his next sound was an odd one, not a moan and not a laugh, and awfully feline besides. "Yeah, that's not freakin me out or nothin. Dun you know everythin?"

"Zephyyyr. Same to you."

"You guys," interjected Pip, her bare toes rapping on the stone. "Think this's kinda the same thing happened to Seb."

"Hm?" Zephyr craned himself her way, and their hands tangled together, wires all a-flash.

"Mm!"

"Mnhn."

"Nnn~."

"Well, I like your theory so far," Roa nodded. Mostly, she wasn't being silly right back at their latest ridiculous display. Mostly. "Happened to Siebenkas...?"

"Yeah, he had this dream," the elder of the two evokers almost began to explain, digits working.

Whatever he meant to coax out of the recollections between them, Pip took over, swaying as she did. "He thinks was a dream, but is totally notta dream. I know. I touched him thinkin about it an it was all wrong fora dream. Still didn't make any sense, but not the same kinda way dreams do."

"Also, Seb never dreams he's nekkid. Fun fact."

("So useful, too," Roa remarked, quite to herself.)

"But, he walked outta his bathroom an alla a sudden, he was in this bar in Old New York an there were all these other people an he was almost kinda sorta mebbe flirtin with this mob boss lady over gin an tonic and then there was this real cute muddy guy. Seb didn't think he was so cute, but I did. He got way more distracted by the other lady evoked with her eyes and the booze was good an there were pretty blond polyamourous peeps bonkin in the restroom an... an... an..."

Her not so little description might have gone on another few hours, except that Zephyr reached around with his unoccupied hand and tickled her. The way they'd tangled up together, she must have known it was coming.

Which left Roa to conclude Pip wanted tickled more than she wanted to discuss any washroom adventures. "On one hand, that sounds very much like a dream to me. On the other, if there's some sort of precedent for people in our manor suddenly disobeying all known laws of physics. And you're not playing some sort of elaborate prank."

"Hey! I had my heart set on givin you your first electric milkshake an that's not somethin I'd go back on for any money." Next thing she did know with any certainty, Zephyr had play staggered over, clutching at his shirt, "'m so disappointed it /huuurts/."

"Well, you can make it up to me when the universe goes back to normal."

Grin for the time being, too.

"It is going to go back to normal?"

"Did last time. 's why we still gotta Seb an notta portal to someplace called Dan's," said Pip.

"Alright, so why don't we...?"

"Make the besta it?"

"Yes!" Roa swung from Zephyr's grasp. He only then reached for her, trying to find that place in her moments where the best meant [concrete] he could play after and with her. As it was, he missed her as she skipped the villa steps instead, swirling her skirt in her hands and calling back after: "We're going to get company, right?"

"Woul, that'd be nice, but if not," he shrugged. "We get blitzed an watch the stars come out." A quick little sigh and a pop of his shoulder after, he followed.

Pip watched the space in the sky where the clouds should have been. The end of her nose twitched. "We're so gettin company. Can smell it, almost. Somethin's zactly not right out there." Laughing then, she blew past them both and straight through the doors.

Stuff you actually need to know available in this direction:
http://rainbowlounge.dreamwidth.org/18653.html

Have fun!

ETA: This post has not been up thirty-six hours and we officially have more than 500 comments. SO I SUPPOSE THIS ISN'T FUN AT ALL AMMIRITE? XD

ETA II: I am really, really touched that everyone wants to take care of the deceased fellow in the pool. I'm sure he appreciates it (he didn't even have a name in the story where he first appeared ;_;). But, alas, there was only one of him and he's currently being handled. He may be installed in a bedroom shortly, and should that happen, I will give him his own thread for poking purposes.

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Acantha smiled and sipped her Mai Tai. She had, after all, been called much worse than weird in her time. And when it was so effective...

Most of it didn't interest her, frankly. Assassins, corruption, that was boring, predictable, and it certainly wasn't her problem. No, the truly intriguing part of that response was the very last bit. "Psychic, huh?" she said, considering that. All Time Runners had a basic ability to guess, with an above average accuracy, certain future events. The scope was very narrow, though.

A Time Reader, on the other hand...well, it was the stuff of legends, the ability to see Time itself and all its branches, all the little points of crisscrossing timelines and destinies. Most people thought they were a myth, a story told to children. Even her fellow Runners doubted their existence sometimes, or thought they'd died out. And the Time Institute's official stance was very similar.

Acantha knew better. In her line of work, no one worked that hard to convince you a thing didn't exist if they weren't up to something.

"How psychic, exactly?" she asked, and took another sip from her glass.

Muuuch better topic of conversation. Everyone was going to survive this one.

"Only kinda. 'm an evoker," Pip explained, and held out her hands as if this could be proof.

Oh, which it totally wasn't if Acantha hadn't come from close to her own time.

"Think they usedta call that bein telepathic, cept we're not tele anythin Gotta touch people to get stuff."

"Interesting," Acantha said, mulling that over. "What kind of 'stuff' do you get, when you touch someone?"

"Good question," replied Pip. "You want me to show you or tell you? An yknow, I held the handsa serial killers already. I won think you're scary."

Acantha regarded her for a moment. It could be risky, but it could also be worth it. Finally, she nodded and held out her hand. "Show me," she said.

She might learn something interesting for herself, after all.

OOC: Acantha's Runner abilities mean she'll be able to see several possibilities for Pip's immediate future, and probably (but not definitely) be able to guess which one will happen. So Pip will probably realize that she can do that when she touches her. And of course feel free to have her pick up on any of the other things Acantha's been scheming about in this thread, lol.

Pip did no refuse an invitation, it was not in her nature.

No matter how much she might have fished for it in the first place, but still.

She reached out and laid both of her hands on Acantha's, fingers creeping up over her wrist.

First came the little shock, that swoosh past of this mind unfamiliar to her own. Actually, come Acantha, it was definitely more like two or three swooshes.

She knew things Pip had not yet conceived of, and these had to sort themselves out, besides the pattern of what neuron flickers went through. Even then, something close to interference swooned there, as if all of ideas had been vignetted and got all frosted around the edges, while in the middle they passed by quite clear.

"Gotta say, I never toucheda Time Runner ora Time Reader bfore. Not that people go round tellin their courtiers that kinda stuff in the first place, let alone lettin us get in any quality pokin. An Winters' kinda a /jerk/."

Acantha could admit that she was impressed. "Of course Winters is a jerk," she said easily. "But he's useful." And that made him worthwhile.

There were possibilities swirling around Pip, a little web of maybe-futures, if this path or that path was taken. More than people usually had, even, which was interesting.

"Can you sense what I can?" she asked next.

Pip swayed back and forth, her town apparently between nodding and shaking her head, "Is funny you mention that cause most senses, they're like movies to me. An a movie can totally getcha in the end with its movie stuff, but your time thing. You're kinda blurry cause we just met an all, but the time thing's like extra blurry an I can kinda /taste/ it too."

Her tongue flickered in the corner of her mouth as she chased down one particularly juicy looking strand in that web. When she got there, however there and getting worked, she found only this dusty mirror of herself looking down at her cel phone as it rang and it rang. Some ways, she answered and some ways she did not. Some ways she flung it at the window in the common room.

Pip frowned. She liked her phone. Why would she do that?

(OOC: she's only seeing a little bit of the associated day, but that's the first time she kills anyone. And it's someone she knows, so that's him desperately trying to call her.)

Edited 2012-07-01 02:44 (UTC)

Acantha hmmmed to herself and followed Pip down that strand. She studied the outcomes and, after a moment, highlighted the one she found most likely. "86.9% chance of happening," she said.

Really, it had been a good phone. It spoke more network languages than the average tech and its vocal dial out requests usually worked on the second try. It was purple and sparkly and light and it had the hook for her several dozen charms built right in. OK, well, perhaps it wasn't light given that last one and the sparkle wasn't quite what it had once been.

"Imma miss you," she said to the phone. "We knew this couldn't last forever, but still."

With that, she poured herself some milk, hit it with its own weight in malt, stirred that up and offered Acantha a toast.

"Imma miss you too. Your waaay spooky, but ish fun!"

Acantha smirked and clinked classes with her. "It is," she said, finishing off her glass. "You know, there are people, where I'm from, whose talents outstrip even mine. They wouldn't even need to be touching you--they could just see your futures, everybody's futures, the world's futures, all of them, instantaneously. And they'd be able to see every dot that lead to every possible outcome and not just choose which would be most likely, but guarantee it if they wanted. Or change it entirely."

The thought of that kind of power...the power to control Time itself. Intoxicating.

Sounded damn fine to Pip too right then. Even better than all of the malted milk in the world. Acantha was fairly /vibrating/ with it. Now that. Maybe that was feature, not a bug. And cool on top of more cool regardless.

"An you really dun mind workin for the government so much? I mean, if I got to do that kinda stuff in that kinda situation, I'd prolly be OK with it too, but still seems like goin rogue'd be more fun."

Acantha couldn't help but laugh at that. "Oh, the Time Institute isn't the government. The Time Institute is far more powerful than the government," she said. "Governments are subject to oversight. We prefer to operate...under the radar, so to speak."

Pip crossed her eyes a bit at this revelation, went so far after to drum her free fingers on her ever so slightly sugared lips.

"Then why dun they have concubines an nekkid boy dishes an places like this?" The last asked with a glance over the crystal firefly ceiling. "What fun is that?"

The Villa Is Open

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