deercountry | [CLOSED-ISH (people can be bumped into!)] it's shopping time, girls

What: We're going to BUY SOME DANG CLOTHES AND NAIL POLISH AND DO OUR LASHES!!
When: 2nd December
Where: Starting in Wilful Machine and ending in Cellar Door!
Content Warnings: N/A, will be added if/when relevant.
( toplevels: scorpia - vi - jinx - robby - 2b )

The cold weather of November and light brush of snow has smothered the streets well into chillier mornings come December, and only threatening to layer more the deeper into the month it gets. For now, the snow it...somewhat manageable; shovelled and pressed down from the busier streets by foots and hooves, and the market stalls are determined by how daring the sellers are feeling, and if luck is on their side.

Mostly, it's the time of the month when you have better luck owning a store front, putting out a light that you're accepting customers, and hope they come to you for the month.

A certain group is. Or a certain group will try. Heading to their meeting spot in the Wilful Machine is at least easy when using lamp travel, meeting them at the canals that will certainly lose their business for the month and the water freezes. Some busy work was done beforehand to find out potential visits that would be keeping their doors open, and to gather a variety in selection for tastes to be explored. After all, how can you know what you like when you don't have options?

CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES

→ The catalogues have been changed to match the season, cloaks and warming outfits illustrated in their pages, with some examples on display and available on a rack, if you can fit into them. Tailors are all too happy to help in sharing how they can offer different colours, certain bloodstones to add warmth, or to make certain cloaks lighter, but no less effective in keeping off the cold; and oh, are you thinking about secret compartments for your blades? There's plenty.

There's always something for everyone: modest skirt-pants, turtle-neck dresses, stylised jackets, and even more colourful options. And are we going to miss out on the boots and more boots shopping? Please. Don't forget to accessorise too, from necklaces, bracelets, and whatever else might catch your eye.

HAIR, NAILS, AND SKIN

→ Finding the right outfit is good, but we can't forget the other essentials in dressing up: Yourself. Getting your hair recoloured on the spur of a day out might be too much--or, is it? There's options, from short buzz cuts to examples of what's in fashion. Some products even have paleblood in it to give hair that extra wow in the dark (and you bet hey loved the glow of the blood last month!). The same goes for the nail polishes, the selections ranging from bright to night-black to luminous. Those who offer nail products also offer to do nails right there, and even with a hand massage; and even those who will do your make-up will throw in a relaxing facial beforehand, if you find the right spot (and are willing to barter the right goods).

There's no one style for all in these establishments, with the only limits being what you dare to try and your imagination. Feeling gender-neutral today? Well, aren't you in luck.

FOOD, DRINKS, AND DANCE

→ There's the cafés along the way during this day out that may catch one's (or a few) eyes for a quick drink to warm one up, a certain smell to draw a person in (is that freshly cooked herby bread? Heck yes). But as the day goes on, the night drawing in earlier these days, there is a place to put an end to this shopping trip (and once purchases have been securely put away): dinner, drinks, and a floor for dance. People are free to come and go as they please with the group, but there's a table waiting for any to come in a nice cosy tavern, for people to show up again in their newer outfits, should they please. It's a good time for chatting, relaxing, to do it off their feet; to get rosy off some drink if that's their flavour.

And then the end of it will take them to one last stop: into Cellar Door. Their cheeks might be freezing by the time they get there, but the dance clubs are always warm and alive, buzzing as soon as you walk in. It might be busy on the dance-floor, but there's booths available, spots where those unused to the activity can get up their courage, ... or take advantage of the very pretty drinks they serve here.

Maybe it's not your scene, or you can give anything a go once -- in the end, what matters is that you had fun.

( ooc: hey gang, hope this write-up helps with making toplevels!! please feel free to bring up any fashions or styles, the above pics were just examples. There's no real set places being visited, and your character doesn't have to be around for every single thing. 👍👍 )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( should caffeine and alcohol go together? probably not but it's better than her guzzling down more alcohol. and the girl is refusing to drink water so maybe this is better than nothing. it's been some time since she's spoken with saeri. the last time they chatted was for her suggesting to go to a certain.... store, in which she did. and load and behold, she did purchase a few things there. and she's got the other girl to thank, too. because now whenever she gets riled up from blowing up beasts or shooting them down, she goes home to..... take care of the rest.

any......way....

there's a delay to jinx's reaction when saeri appears by her side; eyes drag to peer at her face and then to the drink. the girl shrugs nonchalantly because sure why not? she is planning to get trashed to the point she'll be out of commission for several days. and why? she needs the sleep, really. not that she had any problems before, thanks vi's bloodstones, but sleep is a beautiful thing. )

[Good thing they messed it up by making it a half-cream espresso shot instead of the double black espresso with whipped cream she'd been asking for. A lot less caffeine than she'd been wanting, but too much if she were to drink both. So she scoots the pretzel closer to Jinx and then the cup. And since she's right there, she'll plop herself into the chair across from her, stretching her legs out to the side because they were too long for the little table.]

The pretzels are the shit from here, but the new girl is still learning the coffee orders.

(jinx takes a quick glance at the new girl saeri is referring to. by the looks of her, the worker appear to be the type who doesn't know what the fuck she's doing. oh well, sucks to be her. her attention is back on the pretzels, grabbing one to bite into it. should she make an effort to try and speak again? it's such an on and off thing and it gets tiring not knowing which she'll get. so:)

Close friends with anyone? Vi, I know.

( what she is trying to say if she is friends with anyone in this outing group besides vi. jinx knows a few of the people here but not all of them. )

[Saeri pulls apart her pretzel out of habit, leaving it in neatly divided sections before she starts to eat it. More to savor that way. For a brief moment, she wonders how much to say, she remembers how Jinx was on the network, but she's not hiding her friendships when the one that would be the most contentious is the one Jinx already knows about. She shrugs, talking around a large bite of fluffy pretzel goodness.]

Eh, besides Vi, Robby's my student. Tutoring him in rune magic. He's the one who invited me on this. Not that I'd turn down getting to spend a day with friends and cute girls. Who would? Ruby and I used to hang a bit when I got here the first time, too.

[Haven't really done that much since she came back, but girl's married now, she's not surprised. And she and Scorpia are only just getting to know each other after all the Weird before.]

What about you? Making friends?

( how interesting that they seem to know the same people! perhaps this city isn't as big like she originally thought. is it necessarily a bad thing though? in some way, it's a little similar how zaun was. everyone knew almost everyone and how they stuck and banded together. downside, however, it means she can't really go as overboard with mayhem the way she would like to. it'd be hard to dash and hide from her crimes if the community isn't so big.

how tricky this will be for her. consuming another pretzel with no table manners in sight, she nods with a smile. )

Mmhm! A few.

( and she is still trying to get use to the concept of.... friends. sure, powder had friends but not jinx. well, not human friends, anyway. )

[Hm. Not as much talking as she expected from Jinx. She has seen her around the network, heard how chatty she can be. Is it them being out here like this making her feel quiet--shy? does Jinx get shy?--or something else?

Something does seem to be going on with the Coldbloods this month. Darkbloods seem to be doing fine--in her opinion, she hasn't noticed anything different from her typical behavior--but Coldbloods? Yeah, something happening there.]

Perfect chance to boost those numbers tonight. Robby's a good kid to buddy up with. [She says as if they aren't the same age.]

( she wonders if robby would be someone she would get along with. jinx saw his face maybe once or twice before this, but never paid much attention to him. maybe when she can talk regularly again, she'll look into that. )

Hope he isn't boring.

( because if he is, automatic ditching will definitely be a go. )

I mean he's no immortal skeleton-boy, but being average doesn't make someone a bad friend, either.

[And really, Romero is one of a kind. She tries not to judge people on him.]

I'd never had friends who I had to explain magic to before I got here.

Magic. Was it born? Or could it be made where you're from?

( she can't help but to be just a little bit curious if magic could be fabricated in other realms too. or was runeterra just an unique world who discovered the possibility. )

[That is a question right there. She's never specifically thought of magic in that binary of terms before, although she gets exactly what Jinx means when she asks.]

Huh...both? We're born with it, but some are born with more than others, and the world we live in is full of it enough that even if you are weak in magic there's ways to still utilize it. So you can make magic work for you even if you don't have a lot of inherent magic to you.

[She holds up her left arm to show off her the long tattoo of linked runes there--cut through vertically by a jagged, branching scar that's been reinked to cover the damage.]

Like this.

Hmmm...

( so it's an uncommon thing in other realms. good to know, good to know. and it's too bad this sort of information can't be thrown back to where she's from. the northside would lose their shit over it, she thinks. especially when it's rumored mages are the most wicked things and almost wiped out a species. unlike the piltover, though, to have that much of an ability to get rid of a population like that seems pretty neat.

she doesn't crave for power like silco, buuuuuuuut it was handed to her on a silver platter, she wouldn't say no. jinx (being her obnoxious self) reaches over and pokes saeri's arm to see if something would happen if she did. probably silly to think something might but... trench is a strange place filled with strange people where strange shit happens. )

Edited 2023-01-05 03:18 (UTC)

[All the times she's shown her runes off, she's never had someone just come out and poke them. It's kind of ridiculous but also exactly what she should expect from someone as unpredictable as Jinx.

She lets the runes react. The ink shimmers and glows a silver that shifts to a glittering obsidian color when it touches the scar and bleeds over the branches of it like black lightning. It hurts a little--maybe always will--but not the way it did in the beginning after the injury. She reaches down and picks up the spoon on the table, which promptly turned into a thin, very sharp knife.]

( oh wowie! what a fantastic ability she can do. jinx wonders if she can turn anything into a weapon and not just a simple spoon. or does it have to be the components of the silverware? things she will have to remember to ask and chat about when she can communicate properly. but knowing jinx, she... may forget until she sees her face. having to deal with delusions, memory loss, and mixing up two memories into one big memory, it get difficult from time to time to remember the simple things or conversations.

but that's where bananas come in. despite being her omen, he behaves more like a service animal than a typical omen. he doesn't like fighting at all unless provoked. he would much rather hold jinx during her meltdowns or give her a refresher on every day events if she gets confused. )

( to show she is very impressed and intrigue, she claps while lightly bouncing in her seat. )

[She's smug, and there's a little smirk on her face. Jinx still isn't talking, but she's reacting, so she doesn't think she has any problem understanding her. Whatever is preventing her from talking isn't Saeri's business unless she is making signs that she needs help. So she manages to avoid her reflexive need to know and ask and Figure It Out. No, shut up, leave it alone--just let her be. Vi would appreciate that.

Hopefully.

The metal shifts and reforms back into the spoon and she holds it out so Jinx can inspect it if she wants.]

Metal-warping is both practical and can be fun for showing off. Can make a bunch of shit as long as I've got access to the right amount of materials. You should see what I can do to my hand.

( jinx gladly takes the spoon and does her own little investigating. sure, it's just an ordinary spoon now but she is curious if it left any permanent damage since it's back to its normal form. it doesn't seem to be. no side-effects in sight. but at the mention of her hand, her eyes widen more with curiosity. with the spoon down, she props both of her elbows on the table with her hands resting on both cheeks.

go on, show her. you have jinx's full attention to demonstrate on what exactly can that hand do. )

[Okay, so maybe Saeri is enjoying showing off to Jinx a bit more than she should, but whatever. Impressing Vi's little sister--she's only a year younger than you Saeri--seems like a good use of her time when Jinx isn't threating to kill anyone.

Saeri isn't wearing gloves or anything, so the prosthetic hand is obvious. She runs her right hand over her left and the fingers extend into claws. Then she runs her hand over the back of the limb which causes spikes to grow out of it.]

This works for shaving some skin off to get some of those beasts in the forest to back off.

[Another pass of her fingers and the hand turns into a short blade. Shining and sharp and tiny little runes detailed around the edge of the blade.]

Or you can use this. Tried to make a great finger guns pun once, the kickback wasn't worth it.

( how fun this is! it would be pretty cool if she, herself, can do something like that. like what if her arm can be morph into a gun and then that forms into more guns?! wouldn't that be crazy stupid but amazing at the same time?

anyway. jinx claps again at all she is displaying and will even laugh at her misfortune of that finger gun pun. too bad she wasn't there to see it! maybe jinx can talk into saeri to do it again as a reenactment. )

[She is not sure if Jinx is laughing at her dumb pun failures or at how great her skills are, but she'll take it. She does finally shift her hand back to normal and wiggles the fingers to make sure all the joints are working properly. It does feel a bit tight, but there's no grinding. She might need to adjust the width or her sleeve again later.]

So metal-warping is only one thing runes can do. The benefits of permanent inscriptions. Temp ones are good for quick jobs, but the power runs out of them fast.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[CLOSED-ISH (people can be bumped into!)] it's shopping time, girls

cw: sex shop and masturbation mentioned. face in hands!!!!

haha you're welcome jinx

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