Participants:
| Scene Title | Rapture And Registration |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Three women converge and meet at Rapture. There's registration encouraged, a discussion about shrinks and a sighting, on paper, for a company agent, even if she's just a shrink. |
| Date | July 8, 2009 |
The pulsing beat of bass throbs through the walls of Rapture, a high-class nightclub in the heart of Harlem. Rows of expensive cars line up out front of the exclusive club and a crowd of would-be patrons wait outside, cherry-picked by the bouncers to have only the cream of the crop on the interior, while leaving just enough eye-candy outside to entice other patrons. The club serves as a respite for the trendy and the influential from the grind of daily life.
On the inside, Rapture is as much a spectacle as it is a structure. Multiple dance floors in tiered balconies overlooking an enormous central dance floor ringed by plush leather-upholstered booths. Pale blue light shines on the wrap-around bar that curved around the back of the establishment, and the entire building is filled floor-to-floor and shoulder-to-shoulder with the pulsing, flowing sea of people dancing to the rhythmic beats of electronic dance music piped through the expansive sound-system.
The night has only really just begun at Rapture, and the beautiful people are streaming in past the velvet ropes, cocktail dressed and trendy suits flowing through the doors past stony-faced bouncers. The beat is top notch, as always, some French independent techno or a remix of same, and Isabella Sheridan feels daunted for once her in smirkingly confident life. She's dressed to impress, but she's hardly in Chanel, just a sleek green dress, high cut with a slit up the side and matching heels, her hair tumbling down her back. She carefully weaves through the crowd, wondering if 'hey, I'm part of a secret organization' will somehow get her past the gatekeepers. Not likely.
Alia had, apparently, decided to go out for fun for a night. Her outfit is nowhere near the ritz level of most present, a simple little black dress with the only really notable feature of it is the fact it was backless. A set of slight heels, and her hair pulled back into a ponytail finished off the outfit as she walked into the waiting crowd, fairly certain that she'd get not much closer, but you never knew.
NO, but Bella will get in because she is one of the beautiful people. Wendy gets in because she's a regular, daddy has money and well, daddy has money. Her taste vary and tonight she felt like hobb knobbing with the rich and spoiled. IN a bright red dress, tight and runched all the way up one side, chunky black necklace and heels that scream rich, Wendy is flouncing her way to the velvet line, planting a kiss on the bouncer and popping her way past. This is how she usually gets in but today, today she see's Alia. THe girl from the park. "Andrew. A friend is here, she's coming in with me" Says the goldfish eye'd woman and with that, pitter patter shuffle shuffle in the precariously high heels, Wendy's arm looks around the technopath. "You're with me tonight!" And they go in. Much to dismay of those around Alia who would take joy in the girl not getting in like the rest of them.
Beyond the velvet rope they go, Wendy with Alia, walking in, or well - mincing in - behind Bella.
Bella is a student of psychology, so it is always interesting to see a particularly skillful manipulative flourish. As Wendy effortlessly sweeps Alia into the club with her, Isabella glances over her shoulder and takes quick note. A smile pricks the corner of her mouth and she slows enough to get within earshot of the pair; that's pretty close considering the bass thump that washes over them as they enter Rapture proper. "You have to teach me that trick. I can't rely on luck every night," she says, flashing her smile, "I'm Bella, by the way." Introductions being important for the creation of social ties, and all.
Alia blinks as she's swept inside. She introduces herself to the face she doesn't recognize. "Alia." She smiles at Wendy, even as the outfit made it take Alia a moment to even recognize her… it's a far cry from the painter-smock of a shirt and a sweater of the other day.
"Hi Bella! Wendy Hunter!" And Alia's introducing herself. 'It's really easy. I've been coming here since I was legal. And two years before that. I give myself another five before they think that I'm far too old, but it helps that I have my family's name. You gotta act like you belong here too. They won't question the proper attitude." She offers her hand to Bella. "Drinks? I can get us a booth if we want"
Who's Bella to turn down such an offer. Her smile flashes. "I'd be delighted. But only on the condition I buy the second round," she says, and moves to Wendy's other side, letting her take the lead, as she seems more than fit. "This is the first time I've been out in /quite/ some time. I'll need extra liquor."
Following the other two with a grin, Alia finally speaks. "Good, Still haven't gotten to cash my paycheck." She smirks a little. "Sounds good!" She finally says over the volume of the music as they get closer to it.
"Well Bella. I am a professional Dilettante! Yes, those do exist! SO if you need to have a bit of a refresher course on how to have fun then don't worry! I'll help yo….." She's distracted for a moment, looking off to the left a little like a prairie dog that's caught wind of a predator. but just like that, she snaps back to attention. "I'll help you get back on the bike so to speak!" And with that, she leading them towards a table that's be prepared, one of the little nooks that offers some more protection off the music than just on the dance floor.
mince mince mince
Bella arches a brow as she sees the charmed spot that's been prepared for Wendy and whomever she chooses to grace. Hunter may be a name she has to look up afterwards. For now, yes, fun. Not plotting. Fun! However fun plotting may be. But, yes… yes. Normal fun. At an upper crust table. Right on. "I've been in med school for too long. 'Fun' to me sounds like an extra long nap, which is precisely the opposite of what we're aiming for here, I'm sure."
Alia giggles as she takes one of the seats at the booth as they reach it. "Fun. Good Music. Good Drinks. Good company." She says the words in that utterly simple way that is just plain fact.
flop
DOwn Wendy goes, draping herself across a pillow, arms akimbo. There's a rattling off of a series of drinks, obviously for the table as a whole and she fishes out her credit card, offering it up to the waiter who takes it discreetly. "So. A doctor. A technopath and a Dilettante. Sounds like the start of a strange movie" She giggles, the bangles on her wrists jangling. There's that gopher look again, craning her neck to track something unseen. "I say, we relax, we drink, men will come and we can have a good time and I'll get us taxi's back to wherever. That way we don't need to worry about how much we do drink"
Oh, now see, that makes things /so/ much more interesting. Bella does a solid job not obviously perking up at the mention of technopathy. Instead she tries to keep her interest in the 'curiousity' register. "Very strange! I've never met a genuine Dilettante, /nor/ a technopath," her eyes scan from the former to the latter, fixing Alia with an interested gaze, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but that means… what?" she leans around to get a look at the DJ's booth, "You could change the music selection from here?" Her eyes move back to Alia.
Bella's not going to get an answer cause it seems that Alia has excused herself to use the ladies room. Without bringing the herd as is the norm with women and bathrooms. So it leaves just Wendy and Bella at the table. "Doctor in what, can I ask? I'm curious. And you came alone! For shame, you'd think you'd have come on the arm of someone"
"I'm a head shrinker, actually," Bella says, using the disrespectful, and rather dated, slang with the appropriate dash of self-effacing irony, "And, well… I have a busy professional life. I don't get out much, and even when I do… dating seems rather, um, daunting I suppose," she bites her lip, expression impish, "It's a cliche really. Successful, career driven woman with no talent for love."
"Solving the mental ills of others while wasting away of lonely heart disease in her beautiful therapy office" Soooo traumatic. Really. "Well, you have given yourself the right prescription tonight Dr Bella. Bella bella bo bella donna. We shall drink, be merry, find men, use them and throw them away. But, shrinks are good. Everyone needs a good session of clearing cobwebs ohhh here comes our drinks now!" And indeed they are, about 6 of them being put onto the table while Wendy gets distracted again. By the waiter.
Bella listens to the cadence of Wendy's banter, head tilting ever so slightly, hair swinging at an angle. She finds herself smiling, and she reaches out to take a gin martini, fingers delicately taking the olive skewer and starting a tiny whirlpool in her glass. "Have you ever been in therapy?" she asks, "You strike me as the sort of person who does a great job keeping themselves cobweb free without professional help."
"mhhh hmm I have one. Family uses one. Since as long as I can remember. Dr. Tormenson must be getting ancient now, but everyone needs one. A shrink that is. Business is good? What do you specialize in?" Her attention split between the waiter and Bella before she leans over to take the last drink from the waiter, brushing her fingers over his. Just the barest of touches. "Thank you. Have them add ten dollars at the bar to my tab for you" There's a wink given before her own martini in hand, she's plucking out the olive with scarlet tipped fingers.
Obviously Bella doesn't get out enough. She feels like she's doing a clinical study of social pairing behaviors, not having a night on the town. To remedy the issue, she take a solid sip of her drink. She smiles. "Excellent gin," she comments, "Is this Bombay Sapphire?" But she has to answer Wendy's question before she can expect an answer of her own. "As a matter of fact? Evolved psychology. A field that is, you can imagine, rather recent."
"It's something, I don't know what" But, lookit here. "Evolved Psychologist. But you yourself aren't evolved" And as if to just double check, make sure that the sense aren't fooling her, Bella's now the recepient of a touch from Wendy who cocks her head to the side for a moment then shakes it. "Nope, you're not"
Bella glances down at the touch, then up at Wendy, curiosity in her eyes. "No… though how would you know?" she inquires.
"I'm getitng nothing off you. The waiter though, He's… I think and you can probably bet the bank, is … " She has to think on it. It's not one that she's come across too many times before. "Something to do with Metal. I got a sort of taste in my mouth, you know when you run your tongue over a fork? The metallic taste? When I touched him. I was watching him move around the floor" Wendy offers a smile before she lifts a hand to her mouth in dismay at herself. "Oh! I'm sorry. I can detect abilities. That's my ability"
Curiouser and curiouser! It's a Herculean feat for Bella not to do… something! An aside to an invisible audience, or at least some sort of veiled comment. But this is no time for Snidely Whiplash. She offers, instead, her most dazzling smile. "That's /fascinating/!" she says, "I've heard of a few cases like that but… that's just really, really interesting," she half-blushes, hiding a bashful smile behind her drink, "Sorry. I will struggle /not/ to bombard you with clinical questions. It's just… well… there is a reason I went into my field of specialization."
"Oh please. I bet i'd have a hayday in your office. I like to collect them. The evolved. Well no, I mean not collect. Great now i'm having pictures of keeping evolveds in cages in my loft like little pet birds or something. But no. I like to.. it's like a scavenger hunt for me. I like to know what that burning beacon that is trying to get my attention is. THere's still sooo many that I don't know, don't have names to" She shifts in spot, bringing her feet up to curl underneath her. "Like Alia. Technopath, i've met three others. I came across one that i've never felt before though, in the park. It was like.. someone was pulling strings.. very strange"
The dramatic irony here is too delicious. Bella drinks more so as to avoid making some stupid comment or another, keeps her mouth busy so that she can just listen to Wendy. "It's quite the opposite of many people who, no matter how open minded they try to be, are always /afraid/ that this or that person is evolved. I had patients came in whose paranoia was focused exclusively around loved ones and co-workers being secretly evolved. But since you can know, one way or another… it's more about discovery than fear."
"It's like a cook, swearing he'll take a bite of every dish ever made, before he dies" Wendy nods. "Must be interesting, your practice, regardless. So. No social life other than tow evolved girls in rapture on a wednesday night drinking? Damn, I do have to get you out. What's your sort of thing that you like to do, when not poking round peoples heads?
Bella's smile becomes positively wicked. "In my college days, I used to go to the roof of a building on the Columbia campus with the other med students, and do shots of cheap vodka for every drunken undergrad we saw slip on the ice. It only worked in winter of course. Sort of a seasonal thing. Ah… my youth!" She takes another drink, almost done with the martini. "Is there some sort of responsible adult equivalent to that?"
"Yeah, it's called going to the roof of the Columbia campus with expensive vodka and doing shots in the summer every time a professor is stopped by a student, or in the winter with the ice thing." In other words, some things don't change. "Or there's Karaoke. Always Karaoke. Or there's big boring dinners with important people. Always that"
Bella makes a face, "I have to deal with enough boring people as it is during seminars. Pass," she polishes off the drink, and grabs the next, the slight flush to her cheeks suggesting she's working a buzz, "Karaoke? Now /that's/ something I haven't done since high school. Jesus," she sniggers, "Me and my friends brought down the house with eighties hits."
"Ohhh I could show you the best places from really high class ones to this one, over on 82nd, and you can go up on a stage with a really really really badly dressed drag queen and sing old Abba songs" Wendy nods, matter of factly. Like she's done that a couple hundred times and it's actually quite believable that she might have. Her attention goes off again at a small gaggle of people that go past, eyes narrowing till they're not so close anymore and she looks back to bella, eyebrows raised, expectant, waiting. Something.
Bella charts the progress of this particular gaggle, as if maybe, if she squints the right way, /she/ can see their genetic trace as well. But no dice. Her eyes return to Wendy, and, mirrorlike, her brows lift as well.
"…yeeeees?" she says, a tipsy smile curling her lips, "Am I missing something? Some sort of, like, social queue?"
"Waiting to see what else you might like" Wendy supplies.
Bella rolls her eyes, "But of course," she says, "Out to lunch, as always. I never listened to much Abba. I mean, besides the stuff you automatically listen to just by being remotely involved in American culture. 'Dancing Queen' uh… 'Money Money Money'. Y'know." She swirls her new drink, before lifting the olive out and munching it, "Mmm… I guess there is always," she gestures to the nightclub, "Dancing."
"Dnacings overrated and for when you've had three more drinks and uninhibited. And you don't care who's rubbing up against you, just that you're having a good time" Wendy reaches for her clutch, fishing out a silver cigarette case and plucking one of the thin sticks from her hand. a dainty silver lighter is fished out next and it takes her a few moments to light up and blow the smoke away from Bella.
"Then let's either drink up, or cruise for karaoke, if you're in the mood," Bella says, "I'd suggest fishing for men, but I feel it's better for me to /ease/ in rather than dive in head first," she makes a face of theatrical daintiness, "I need to harden my heart, lest it be broken," she says in a half-convincing high class southern accent.
"But diving in is sometimes the BEST" But drink up. Drinking up she can do and the cigarette holding hand maneuvers said cancer stick around so she can grab her second Martini and tilt it back, lips around the rim. Little by little, the liquid drains away between her scarlet lips. "Good karaoke, bad karaoke?"
Alia finally returns, sighing softly as she settles into the seat… before grabbing her drink and drinking down a good distance into it in one shot. She finally awnsers the question simply. "No." She shakes her head then grins. "Maybe someday." She sips and watches the crowds but isn't exactly jumping out of her seat.
Bella gives a sheepish grin, "I'm sorry if the question was /forward/," she says, "I should be more sensitive, I should /know/ better. It's an uncomfortable topic, particularly since, unlike say, puberty, which can be embarrassing in and of itself, evolved manifestations aren't something parents typically prepare their children for. In that sense, it's really more like, well," she shrugs, "Being gay. An inviolable fact of people's lives that few people are prepared for." She bites her lip again, "Aaaand… I'm talking like I'm a textbook again. I'm sorry. I guess one martini isn't enough!" And she sets about to fix the problem.
"MOre martini's!" And Alia is back. "We're going to go do some Karaoke. We haven't decided where, but for now we are going to get drunk" one of the drinks is pushed over toward the youngest woman there. "Drink up" When wendy passes it over, there's a distinct maneuvering to keep herself from touching Alia more than necessary, despite having linked her arm around her's earlier.
Alia shakes her head as she seemingly lacks words to explain why she was upset and doesn't really have a good reason to stay so. "Just one of /those/ weeks." She grouses and sets down her first drink, finally emptied, then tries again. "Only second time I've heard that word. Oh, and a bank robbery at my bank." She picks up the second martini with a grin and a smile of thanks.
"If we /do/ sing Karaoke," Bella says, with the air of one making a pronouncement, "I /will/ sing at least one song by Guns N' Roses. I just have to decide which is worth wrecking my voice over." She eyes Alia, "Your bank got robbed? I can't believe people actually /rob/ banks anymore. It seems so… retro, I don't know."
"Oh, my god, you were in a bank robbery?!" That's a little louder than it should be. "You should be flat out on your back with alcohol by now! I know I would be. Or locked up in my studio and carving their faces out in clay" There's an exaggerated nod to Bella. 'Guns n roses! I promise"
Alia digs into her purse, pulling out a neatly folded piece of printer paper. Unfolded, it is a digital 'sketch' of the bank, the robbers, and the others Alia saw present, with the names attached of those who introduced themselves while the chaos struck. She sips at her second martini. Which are which is pretty obvious. the robbers are all wearing ski masks in summertime. The others have fairly decently accurate sketches, and among the notables are Doyle, Adam, Kaylee, and Phoebe. "Every rose has thorns?"
Bella peers at the 'sketch', fascinated in a way only someone with the first one and a half serious drinks in a month in them can be fascinated. "Yes!" she agrees, "Just like every night has its dawn. And every cowboy sings a sad, sad song…" She pauses, "But that's Poison. Or White Snake. I get those two confused."
"Oh heeeeeyyy!" Wendy grinds out her smoke in an ashtray and taps at doyle on the picture. "String guy! Do you know his name? Did you do this? With your ability?"
Alia nods. "Poison. Fitting name." she sighs. "I made the iamge. The normal way." She says simply. It's not photo perfect, and is definitely drawn, likely photoshop or something similar. She leans back and works on finishing off her second drink.
"Think I could have a copy of that?" Bella asks, playing it off as drunken over-interest, "I've never seen a bank robbery outside, y'know, a /movie/.
There's a glance to Bella, another cigarette fished out and lit up. "Jason" She murmurs, blowing out smoke slowly, upwards.
Alia shrugs as she gives the image a second look to make sure the watermark she put in the background is obvious so it isn't being used for something later without her being able to go 'hey, mine' before handing the copy over. "Don't know him, really." She anwsers as she grins. "Gave digital copy to the cops at the scene." she shrugged. "Beats trying to give a verbal report."
Bella takes the copy, beaming gratefully before sliding it into her purse. "Thanks. This is way cool," she makes a face, "Did I say way cool? Okay…" she gets to her feet, "Someone needs to cycle their system before more antiquated idioms pop into my mouth. I'll be right back, ladies."
"Use the powder room, i'll get my card back and reserve us a table somewhere!" Wendy assure Bella before looking over to Alia. "When did you register?" It's an innocuous question really.
Alia sighs. "with what time?" she says simply. It has been, after all, only a few DAYS since she knew she was evolved. And one of them was spent basically recovering from the mental shock of being a witness to a well organized well executed crime of major purportion while not being able to do a damn thing about it.
"You mean you didn't know you were evolved?" Now it's wendy's turn for surprise, surprise that is interrupted by another puff on the smoke. "Wow. Wow. Uhh.. I can help you if you want, take you down to the station. it's harmless really. They just get you to fill out some forms, you give em a fingerprint, you get a little card to slip in you're wallet"
Alia looks like she wants to melt into the shadows as she simply says two words that explain a good part of her reluctance. "Brooklyn Library."
"Oh" Well,s he can understand that, but she leans forward, stubbing out her half smoked stick. "The odds, of that happening, is so very low, and they're working really hard on finding these Humanis First bastards and giving them the injection. But you cna't be scared, you can't show them that you're scared, cause if you do, then they've won. It's that simple"
Alia sighs softly. "was already different." she sounds absolutely sour on the subject as she downs the remainder of her drink. It's questinoable if she even bothered to taste it this time. Something about this cuts deep, and the young lady looks down. "it sucks"
Bella took her sweet time, but she's a loyal employee who doesn't shirk the details. She weaves her way back to the table, her smile in no way resembling that of an informer, no siree. She waves, though she quickly notices the mood isn't precisely celebratory back at her table. She comes up closer, expression concerned.
"Yeah, but know what sucks more? Getting slapped with a fine and hauled in fingerprinted against your will and then turned out onto the street again. Better to do it yourself with your head held high and proud that you got a little something better than the rest of the people on the street. I mean, really, out of how many evolveds there are, how many do you hear the deaths about? About the same as you hear about car accidents, and other normal shootings cause some guy didn't like that his girl looked at another guy and so he killed her out of jealousy. I get so angry at all these people who say registering is like the gestapo. It's so not. It's like, this big registry of people who have these amazing beautiful abilities that can help others. I mean, lookit, you made that picture right? Well, that picture is with the cops now and the cops are totally gonna be able to use that to get those guys, those bank robbers"
Alia shrugs. She remains without comment as she tries to find words. And as usual fails. She looks towards Bella, remembering the comment about medical school. "Expressive Language Disorder?" It's a question, but what she means by it, is hard to tell. She sighs and just leans back as words are not her strong point. This evening while fun for the most part has been in it's own way incredibly taxing.
Expressive what? Is that even a real thing? Wendy just raises a brow and then flops back in her seat, yet another smoke brought out from the slim case. "whatever. Don't come crying to me when a cop tags you and you get brought in the back of a cop car. It's really not that frightening a process" But she looks over to bella when she returns. "Horses watered?"
Bella's brows loft at Alia's words. "I had no idea!" she exclaims, "You do marvelously well." She glances to Wendy, "ELD. It's a disorder that makes it difficult to communicate linguistically. You'd never be able to tell, would you?" She quirks her lips, "I agree, though, if we're talking about registration. It's important, from a clinical standpoint alone. Who knows if the genetic irregularities might be linked to pathologies, you know?"
Alia simply sighs. It's like being backed into a corner. She looks to be somewhere between nervous and sick. "… thanks. Work hard at it." She mutters. "Wasn't… always this good." She sighs as she stands up abruptly. "Should… go now." She looks like someone who can't decide between staying and bolting.
'Take care" Wendy's done her part, she really does believe that registration is good, has a good purpose. She looks to Bella and away from the departing compass beacon that is Alia and her possibly departing evo status. "More people SHOULD register, really. Would show those bastards that we don't fear them. So, we going?"
Alia gives a brief nod, then 'minces' her way outside through the crowd, never once giving away that she doesn't belong. The girl has her confidence, even if her life has been shaken upside down three different ways in about as many days.
Bella watches Alia as she goes, pursing her lips, "Poor girl," she says, "But I'm sure she'll come around," she smiles at Wendy, "I couldn't agree with you more… easy enough for me to say, of course, not being evolved." She nods, "Let's get moving. The night won't stay young forever, and neither will we."