Participants:
| Scene Title | At The Mall |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Quinn, Sable, and Elaine journy out to the mall, looking to kill an afternoon. |
| Date | June 15, 2010 |
Situated on the north end of Battery Park City, the World Center Mall is the largest shopping mall remaining in New York City. With the destruction of midtown Manhattan and the general financial decline following the bomb in 2006, many former businesses that eclipsed this large shopping center have gone out of business. The World Center Mall is a three story establishment featuring 150 stores as well as dozens of fast-foot restaurants and a 20-screen cinema located on the mall's third floor.
Given its status as one of the last remaining shopping malls of its type on Manhattan, the World Center Mall remains a busy and active shopping center, crowded with people during operating hours and severely lacking in parking accommodations that have not been expanded since the time of the bomb.
Quinn didn’t go to the mall very often, mostly because there wasn’t really much need for her to – when she did, it was for some single that the smaller stores didn’t have, or to pick up a DVD, or the rare occasion she picks up some new clothes, or any number of really simple, mundane tasks that she really didn’t have much choice but to go to the mall for. It wasn’t that she disliked the mall, it was more that really she didn’t have much need for it. Even in that sense, she was much more of an indie girl than not.
So with that in mind, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been to the mall with friends, much less a small group of girls as mismatched as Sable, Elaine, and she surly looked to be. Maybe that was what made it so fun. And a mall this large certainly lent itself to fun. And mischief.
An arm slung over Elaine’s shoulder as they ride an escalator to the upper floor, Quinn points ahead with a smile on her face. The close proximity made her glad her hair was dry and the black dye she’d put in earlier that afternoon set now, lest she… well, that’s a thought better left unfinished. “Now, tell m’ somethin’ Elaine.” Her smile widens into a grin. “Were you really tellin’ the truth the other night?” She glances back at Sable behind her, winking. For whatever reason.
The mall was the sort of place Sable spent a lot of time during her better days. It was an oasis of air conditioned semi-luxury, where she could get her better employed friends to pay for warm food court food, and make her feel like a slightly less desperate hooligan. It was nice, though always a little unnerving - she felt like the disguise could slip anytime, and the mall cops would eject her for being a hooligan of a lower rank.
But here, with these gals, while she may not feel at home, she feels unconquerable. She walks with what can only be described as a swagger in her step, and when Quinn tips Sable a wink, her smile is at its most wolfish, her pointed canines nearly glinting. She scoots up behind Elaine, and slips arms about her from behind, hugging her around the waist and sticking her head (the lower step subtracting from her already meager height) up under Elaine's arm. "Cure our curiosity, hon, b'fore it kills us, catlike 'n' all."
Fun and mischief? Who could pass up an opportunity like that? Elaine surely couldn't. And while she wasn't the hang-out-at-the-mall type, she did enjoy the fact that malls had a lot of different opportunities, especially when it came to people. You could /easily/ find people to bother at a mall, not to mention food, and embarrassing underwear in department stores.
As Quinn ambushes her with the question, Elaine turns bright red, which was likely the point of the question in the first place. She peers between Quinn and Sable, trying her best not to look like she was as embarrassed as she was. "Oh, I answered honestly. But…" She lets the sentence stop there, for a minute, just for dramatic effect, before she continues on. "But you also have to take into account how many others I've even had. So, y'know, it /is/ true, which is all Magnes needs to worry about."
Quinn snickers in response, and as the reach the top of the escalator, she withdraws her arm and slips her hands in her pockets, grinning. “Fair ‘nough. Jus’ curious an’ all.” She pivots so that she’s facing backwards – a precious situation for one such as herself, particularly since she was wearing a skirt and falling backwards was about the last thing she wanted to do. But still she does it. “So, where to?” She only asks because she knows exactly where she’d go, and she doesn’t exactly have money to spend on music at the moment. “I don’t have much I actually need, so I’m for whatever.”
"Well, that ain't nothin' he needs t' know," Sable says, tone one of agreement, "You let him feel pretty fuckin' good about himself, and he deserves t' feel so. Boy's got more than a half decent heart in his chest. As do you, hon." She squeezes Elaine once before slipping out from under her arm and letting her go.
"'n' Magnes ain't here t' lend me money," Sable says, "So I can't buy nothin'," she makes a face, "And I oughtn't t' fuckin' steal, I guess." She sounds maybe a little sore about this. Not necessarily because she planned on stealing, but because she's had to foreclose the option in advance. Mild pout.
Elaine grins at the others, stepping off of the escalator as she looks back to the two. They both remark a bit on either the lack of need or the lack of funds, which prompts another grin as the red-head reaches into her pocket, pulling out… a credit card. "No need to fear. If we need something, I've got it." Which, of course, has her looking quite mischievous. "Although.. I'm really not sure where to start. We can /always/ eat." Mall food.. always good! "And there's plenty of fun things we can find that don't involve stealin', Sable," she adds, as an afterthought.
Quinn quirks an eyebrow as the credit card is brandished, eyeing it with amused suspicion. Truly, plastic is a girl’s best friend. “Huh” is her only initial response, but a nod follows. “Ah, well, where to start then.” She looks thought, rocking back and forth on her heels, and then she snaps her fingers and opens her mouth to say something before shutting it again. “Actually, that’s much too easy. I ‘aven’t eaten though, so unless Sable has a better idea…”
As a poet once said, we are living in a material world. What that makes Sable is… being mentioned by Quinn? Sable snaps out of what appeared to be a momentary revery, maybe on the insane notion of a mall trip that didn't involve lawbreaking. Be it underaged drinking, smoking grass or employing the discount offered to the Five Fingers Club, Sable mostly considers malls a den of scum and villainy, of one sort or another. The idea of good clean fun? Huh?
She's a bit at a loss, then, when Quinn leaves Sable an opening to put forth an idea, it's a sort of 'stalling car' moment before she suggests, in a blurt, "Well… they got a fuckin' arcade here or somethin'? Maybe, like, cheapo fuckin' laser tag?" There's not a lot to do in some parts south of Mason Dixon.
Food is good and…" Elaine glances over at Sable's suggestion. "Laser tag? Well.. that could definitely be a riot." She glances to Quinn to see her ideas on the concept. "After all, nothing like people pretending to shoot each other." She winks.
“Laser tag?” Quinn looks at Sable, then at Elaine. “Shooting each other? What, is it like paintball or somethin’” Somehow, she’d heard of one but not the other, but being raised in a city where a glassware factory is the biggest attraction causes some mixed learnings, and she’d never really paid attention to anything like that when she lived in Boston. The phrase sounded familiar, but that was about it.
"Fuckin' you got laser guns," Sable lifts her hands and makes as if holding an invisible rifle in both of them, "'n' these stupid ass vests," she runs her hands down from her shoulders, pantomiming the vest, "'n' you run around drunk or stoned and you shout and shoot at each other. 'n' one guy is all the ninja ass one who wins everytime, 'n' sometimes he's a dick and sometimes he sorta cool." She shrugs. Like it's obvious. You know. That.
"Dunno if they got it, though," Sable says, "Plus I didn't brink liquor, 'n' I don't know where t' get green, so I dunno if it's actually any fuckin' fun otherwise. So maybe we can ditz around the arcade. We're going to get some fuckin' glances, though, in there. Three girls lookin' as we do," she whistles low, "We may b'come a spectacle."
"God, Magnes would be pretty jealous if he found out that we went and played this without him. I bet this is probably something he gets a kick out." Elaine glances over to the two of them, then smirks. "Well, we can always try and see if we can get in for free. We've got boobs, and that's pretty much all I bet it takes." She chuckles. "Although I bet it would be more fun with liquor. Which is a shame, cause I really don't think they have that in a mall."
“The arcade sounds right fun.” Quinn’s still rocking back and forth on her heels, looking amused about something. “Well, I think liquor makes most things – an’ I mean most – better. But I don’t have any in m’ bag, so we’ll have to make due.” She smirks at Sable. “Besides, it’d probably be… bad idea, at least runnin’ about an’ all that.”
"Though eatin' will kill what's left 'f my buzz quicker," Sable says, gazing at the sign above the entrance of 'The Body Shop' with a half vacant expression. Oookay, that explains maybe a little. Though… does it, really? "We could always load up on coffee or somethin'. Get our asses crazy jittery 'n' then shoot some zombies or, like, race cars or some shit." She grins, "Honest to fuckin' God? I'm just real glad we're here. I dunno… I feel good. Not that there ain't bullshit, but right now… zero bullshit. This is fuckin' cool and hell." Is that… sentiment?
"Yeah, it's cool." Elaine perks at the idea of coffee. "Ohgod, that might be fun.. triple shots of something. And.. zombies! Man, that could be a lot of fun. We should have food /after/ whatever we decide to do, then."
“Mm! Triple shots!” Quinn perks up, pivoting so that she’s facing forward now. “I have jus’ the drink recipe for that.” A pause, and a finger pointed at Elaine. “I think you heard that one, yes?”
able tilts her head. She usually just takes her coffee black - all that other shit is too expensive, she things. These girls talking about shots makes her think of tequila, or vodka or (shudder) everclear - but she knows they're not. She just blinks, not sure if she's the missionary or the heathen right now.
Elaine grins over at Quinn, giving a nod before she looks back to Sable. "Aw, I don't think Sable's ever had any fancy coffee before." She teases, poking her finger towards Sable. "Don't worry, it's not bad, but it'll hit ya if caffeine affects you at all. Mmm, caffeine."
Quinn ceases her forward movement until Sable catches up to her, and this time she wraps an arm across the shorter girls neck as they walk forward, pointing forward as she had done with Elaine earlier. “Three shot ‘a espresso, sugar, cinnamon, an’ whipped cream. It’ll wake y’right up, I promise.”
Sable tilts her head, regarding the taller girl with a sort of mild suspicion. Like: what, are you setting me up? Is this a joke at my expense? She half expects a fancy-coffee drinking hazing prank, an initiatory humiliation. But then she realizes… she's not hanging out with dudes. These were chicks, and chicks were cool that way. She grins, and spreads her arms wide. "Show me yer strange 'n' wonderful ways," she declares to her companions.
"Hooray! A caffeine high it is. Trust me, this shit will be the best thing you've had.. well, second best to alcoholic beverages… but it's delicious and you'll sure be feelin' it." She looks to Quinn. "Yeah, we all need one of those. To the coffee shop!" Elaine states, practically leading the way forward, occasionally glancing to the other two with an excited grin, like a kid in a candy shop.
This certainly pleases Quinn, who takes to the lead of the group – and gets all of six steps before she realises she has no earthly clue where the coffee shop is. “Blast, do they have one of those map thingies around? This soddin’ place is huge!”
"Right!" Elaine leans over to peer at the directory, squinting at the letters until she finds it. "Alright, here's where it is, so if we are this little green star.." She glances around her for a moment, then points. "Thataway, chicas!" She almost spins around entirely to face Quinn. "We forgot the caramel. We need /caramel/ on top. Caramel kisses are more delicious…" She states in a sing-song voice. And… that's even WITHOUT the caffeine.
Caramel? Brilliant! Quinn had never once thought of adding that to her drink. A quip is Elaine’s reward, though. “Oh? I can’t say I know that from experience.” A hand to a hip, and a smirk, and the followup line works so much better now that Elaine’s facing her. “Care t’ show an Irish lass what you mean, then?” The delivery has an entirely straight face, despite her strong desire otherwise.
Oh, it's on! Sable realizes this. This is a little game of some kind that is tense with portent. Okay, maybe not portent. But it's a hell of a showdown. Spaghetti western style. Her eyes dart from Elaine to Quinn, back again. She walks backwards on their way to the coffee place, so as not to miss anything, and to hear everything.
"I'm a biiiig fan of caramel." Elaine states. "When we were younger, my mum would make it from scratch… takes four flippin' hours of continuous stirring to make it, and the whole house would smell amazing. Then you pour it all into trays… and it's all warm and sweet.. texture's the best part. Always got to eat it off the spoon." She then peers at Quinn. "We're getting extra caramel." And that is the only response the Irish lass gets as Elaine proceeds to turn back around, facing forward and lead the way towards the coffee shop.
Quinn just stares ahead for a moment, eyes narrowed even as Elaine walks out of her view. Several remarks and retorts slip through her mind in various degrees of crudeness or slyness, but instead she simply throws her arms up in defeat. “I swear, I can’t win for losin’!” And then she realises she mentioned extra caramel. “Oh, now y’r just bein’ a tease!” She turns, sticking her tongue out playfully at Elaine, smiling afterwards.
Sable is keeping up with them, staying with the pack, but her mind seems to have taken a brief vacation. Where her consciousness goes, inspired by transcendental imagination, we should probably not ask. Whatever place this conversation has sent her, it takes her a while to return, and when she does, she blinks, as if waking. "How the fuck much further?" is her only and instant question.
"Right here!" Elaine exclaims, gesturing to the aforementioned coffee shop looming in front of them like the holy grail. "So, ladies, coffee?" She grins, gesturing inside like Vanna White.
“You’re gonna trip if y’ keep that up, Sable.” As Elaine makes her presentation, Quinn pumps a fist, dashing on ahead. “Feckin’ right on!” Quinn proclaims, sidling up to the counter, flashing a smile at the cute cashier behind it. “Right then, pay attention now, this is a precise drink I need you to make…”
The yellow-eyed girl has presence of mind enough to see Quinn's smile, and the cuteness of its recipient. She nods to Quinn, "Same f'r me," she says, without flourish or volume, just a quick confirmation, before she turns to Elaine, clearly leaving Quinn in one-on-one conversational space with the gal at the register. She remembers her previous agreement. "Y'know, I thought you were maybe halfway normal when I first metcha, just cuz you were sweet 'n' all. But yer batshit, hon," she grins, "I dig it."
"Magnes rubs off on a girl, y'know? Kinda hard not to be crazy when you're around a guy who likes to play superhero." Elaine grins, though she glances to Quinn, nodding her own 'make that a third' to the order. She'll let the two chat. She's privvy to the ways of wingmanning. She can see what's up. "Sweet and insane don't have to be mutually exclusive."
Quinn does converse for several moments with the girl behind the counter, occasional motions of her hand and leaning forward, a grin on her face. She points to a CD sitting by the counter, and pulls up a small little card from a display, smiling. Money is exchanged, and a nod before Quinn finally turns back to the other girls, holding up a CD she’s just apparently bought - American Slang by The Gaslight Anthem it reads.
"Ah, no luck," she remarks, looking at Sable and shrugging. "Not really… interested. I got the drinks, though," she pauses, pointing at Elaine, "you gotta get the arcade." Money spent she didn't have in the pursuit of women. She was sure there were many men she could commiserate with.
Sable gives a sniff, "Her loss," she says, "But it can't be fuckin' helped. No accountin' fer taste, now is there?" She keeps her head down on the subject of money. She's got nothing to offer. Yet. Yet. On that point she is vehement. She's good for it, she swears. As the drinks arrive, she plucks two, and turns to offer them to each other girl, waiting until the others have their drinks before snagging her own.
"Oh, you shoulda let me get the money. Yeah, I've got the arcade, for sure." Elaine chuckles a little bit. "It is her loss. She has no idea what she's missing." She eagerly looks at her drink as it arrives, grinning from ear to ear.
Quinn laughs and shakes her head, taking a sip of her drink after does. “I can’t even comment on that one. Y’make it too easy!” Well… maybe she can. “But, if you want to know what she’s missin’, let me know.” Then she laughs, patting her on the back. “I’m kidin’, of course.” No. No, she’s not.”
She turns to Sable, shaking her head. “That’s what I’m not used to, I guess.” A shrug, and then she turns. “So! There’s this arcade?” She looks around for another mall map – in her infinite wisdom, she hadn’t looked when they were at the other one previously.
Sable spins around, looking for a directory. But as luck would have it… Sable grins and points, "Fuckin' right there!" she says, indicating the darkened space and dull neon glow of an arcade that must be pretty damn old, but thus classic. She starts jogging towards the arcade, nearly spilling her drink as she does, slurping some down to try and lower the level safely as she does, and getting a small splash on her nose.
Sipping her drink, Elaine can't help but grin. "Only way these things could get better is if you added some Baileys to it." She comments, moving after Sable towards the arcade, taking her time so she doesn't spill her drink. Can't possibly do that! "Looks kinda classic. Wonder if they have the old school Donkey Kong sorta thing."
“That might be able to be arranged, later. Or, well, another day. I think I’ve had enough for now.” She grins, watching as Sable bounds off, shrugging. She walks lazily alongside Elaine, sipping her drink. “Now, Donkey Kong is somethin’ I know, I’d love that. And Street Fighter!” Quinn makes a mock punch to the air, and laughs. She’d never really been one for video games, but she knew some.
Sable pokes around, looking from screen to screen, hiding her drink behind her back and grinning at the clerk as she passes him. Her slightly nutty look and propensity to flash those notably pointed canines, she attracts as much discomfort from the other, almost exclusively male, patrons as she does interest. "Anyone know where the fuckin' Tekken is? I need t' get my King on."
Elaine, of course, warrants plenty of looks. "Well, it's a shame we didn't go somewhere there'd be a more.. feminine population for y'all." She states, glancing around. "Street Fighter? Oh, I remember the classic one. I used to play that all the time. Do we need to get some quarters or tokens or what? Remember, I'm buyin'."
Quinn strides in behind Elaine, and she probably warrants some looks too, and maybe a snicker, she doesn’t look like a chick who’d be wandering into an arcade. She pauses, bending to look at a machine as she enters. “Looks like quarters.” And then she sees it as she stands up, on the opposite side of the arcade – Dance Dance Revolution, and a grin spreads wide across her face. This game, she knows. She sucks at it, but she loves it. “I know what we’re playing!”
Sable circles back, having spotted a Tekken machine but having not the quarters to play it. She'll remember how to get back there. She'll return… She spots the DDR machine, and grins, "Ah yeeesss," she says, hissing slightly, "My old fuckin' foe. I ain't always top notch at this shit, but I'm murderous good at a few songs I know."
"Oh god. DDR." Elaine murmurs, headed over to get some quarters for the machine. "You know, now that I think about it I should probably just hold the drinks and watch." Hmm, Elaine afraid of a DDR machine?
Quinn saunters over behind Elaine, giving a nudge. “Oh, come on. It’s right fun, and you know it. What do you want t’ play, you’re payin’.” She looks over at Sable with an arched eyebrow. “Familiar, are we?”
"'course," Sable says, starting to limber up, doing little stretches and jogging in place, "What the fuck else didja think I did when I was thirteen? Go t' school?" Sable snickers at the very notion.
Elaine glances at the two of them, shaking her head. "You two go. Besides, we can't /all/ play at the same time." She sips from her coffee. "And I'm /horrible/ at these games. I look.. kinda ridiculous."
Quinn chuckles, shrugging. "I look totally daft, m'self. I think that's the point, personally. Though I read online that some people use it to keep in shape. Imagine that, huh? A game for keeping in shape." Clearly, Quinn isn't up to date on her video games.
"Fuckin' blasphemy," Sable says, stepping up to the game and sticking out a hand for quarters. Fearless, and always theatrical. "Games ain't s'pposed t' be good f'r y'. If a game's good f'r y', it should be a fuckin' side effect, not the goddamn point. Then it ain't a game no more. It's fuckin' exercise."
"Well, it /is/ sorta a side effect. Y'know? People should just not go in expecting it to make 'em lose weight… I mean, some people are looking for a miracle cure." Elaine gives a handful of quarters over to Sable, then holds her hand out with some for Quinn. "Got my mother's genes, so I'm lucky. Comes right off."
Quinn offers a smile to Elaine, nodding thankfully. “Wonderful, thanks.” She pivots back the machine,a nd for whatever reason cracks her knuckles. The words “Supernova” are emblazoned in greens and blacks, lit up across the top of the machine. “Fancy a go, Sable?”
"When it's you askin', hon," Sable says, with a sly grin shot in Quinn's direction, "I won't ever say no." She could wink, but that would be overkill. She starts to slide quarters in, entering her into the game properly, and getting into stance, feet wide, arms held free of her body.
"Alright! Now I want a clean game, ladies…" Elaine states, smirking, taking along sip of her coffee and enjoying the caffeine. "Although I can't say I'm sure which of you I'll be rooting for."
Quinn eyes Sable, joking sticking out her tongue before manoeuvring her foot to the arrows and navigating through songs. She settles on one called “White Lovers”, and grins. “You get the next one, winner gets third? Assumin’ you last that long, of course.”
Sable looks dead ahead, her features pure cocky self-assurance. Her attitude must have been such a pain to deal with for some of her past compatriots. "Let's start this shit up."
Elaine, if she had a racing flag, probably would have waved it. But she doesn't, so the metaphorical flag will have to do. "… winner gets another coffee?" She offers with a laugh, proceeding to watch the two dance-battle it out.