ArchivedLogs:In Which The Monster World Is Very Small, And Some Basketball Is Played (With Indeterminate Skill)

In Which The Monster World Is Very Small, And Some Basketball Is Played (With Indeterminate Skill)
Dramatis Personae Marinov, Paige, Taylor
In Absentia	2016-12-29 "As for a name, Monster Mash is copyrighted, sadly." (Set later in the afternoon of Mai's visit to Evolve.)
Location <NYC> Tompkins Square Park - East Village
Small but popular, this tree-lined park is a perfect centerpiece to the eclectic neighborhood it resides in. Home to a number of playgrounds and courts from handball to basketball, it also houses a dog park and chess tables, providing excellent space for people watching -- especially during its frequent and often eccentric festivals, from Wigstock to its yearly Allen Ginsberg tribute Howl festival. It's a cool afternoon -- not warm, really, though it feels far from wintery. The park isn't very crowded nevertheless, people scattered sporadically through the park. Over in the basketball court, Taylor has the courts all to himself -- nobody, evidently, particularly keen on sharing them with the betentacled youth. He is dressed in jeans, a Xavier's school sweatshirt with holes slashed through it for his many arms, sneakers. There's a backpack over at the side of the court, forgotten for now as he stands at the three point line. Glaring intently at the hoop. Shoots -- misses, snags the ball back with one looooong flex of an arm. Shoots again, misses again. The next time with an irritable grumble his longest arms stretch out-out-out and just /dunk/ the ball. THERE. SUCCESS. Marinov is glancing at their phone every once in awhile. They are dressed in a light black spring jacket with a forest green and black coloured scarf around their neck, and a pair of jeans with high top shoes. "Haha, nice dunk! Never seen that done from the three point line," says Marinov as they approach the basketball court from the side, seeming amused by Taylor's approach to getting it in. They tuck the phone into the jacket pocket and hold their hands out in front of them as a request to be thrown the ball, if Taylor so wills it, so that they can give it a shot as well. Having been invited to hang out Marinov, Paige easily spots them upon her arrival to the park -- they -are-, after all, the best dressed out of anyone else. Though she wasn't watching as the shot was made, her ears give a flick as the basketball bounces. As she approaches the felinoid individual, the horned girl offers a wave and a, "Hey." When she follows Marinov's attention to the court and catches sight of Taylor, her body tenses. She heard of what allegedly happened in the coffee shop earlier, but surface thoughts would reveal that she feels guilt more than anything else. Her ears might indicate this too, as they press downwards. Taylor is still scowling even after the dunk -- though Marinov's voice puts a smile on his face instead. "It's not cheating if I'm only playing against myself, right?" His tentacles scoop the ball back up, tossing it over to Marinov. His grey eyes flick over to the side of the court after -- overhearing Paige's thoughts before her greeting. His brows knit, though he's still smiling. "You play ball?" he wants to know, flicking the tip of an arm toward Marinov (and the basketball) in indication. Marinov catches the ball- careful with the claws!- and throws the ball at the net from where they are. The ball bounces right off of the rim back towards Marinov, who catches it again, ears flicking a few times. "I was hoping that I'd get that in and I'd be cool and casual, 'Of course I play ball.' Maybe throw in a wink. But I fucked up my chance... But, I mostly played stuff like horse, team sports weren't really my thing. I can dunk too, now, on account of being a great jumper, though, so watch out for that!" They pass the ball back to Taylor and look back towards Paige, "Hey, Paige! How're you doing? I just ran into Taylor here." Marinov's surface thoughts seem for the time being pretty uncomplicated, mostly patting themselves on the back for remembering to mention both Paige and Taylor's name out loud so that the other won't have to awkwardly fumble for names that they might have forgot. When Marinov returns her greeting, Paige's ears flick up once before settling back in an idle position. She -is- relieved that the other mutant's name was said, though she does not realize it was intentional. "Uh, I'm good! How are you?" This, directed to Marinov, before the blonde girl turns to Taylor. "Hey, Taylor! Fancy meeting you here!" She had been told that her name or description may have been thrown around in an earlier, not so great, interaction involving Taylor. If one were listening to her thoughts, they would probably learn that she is conflicted about offering support and not bringing up the topic at all. << Thanks, >> Taylor's silent mental comment to Marinov is both amused and relieved. "Here if you try it again I can pretend I didn't see that first shot. In trade you gotta pretend you didn't see how many times I fucked it up before doing it the cheaty way." He has snagged the ball out of the air with his actual hands this time, bounce-passing it back to Marinov. "Yo, Paige! How are --" Though he breaks off at the thoughts going through Paige's head, eyes wider before he just /snorts/. "Wait, /you're/ the friend with hooves and horns? Shiiiit, yo. I hope you /charge/ for every bigot that wants to use you as their token. Make a killing." Marinov's ears perk up when they hear Taylor's mental comment, a bit of red in their ears as they realized their self-congratulating thought was heard. They nod to Taylor and say, "I didn't see you make any shots at all before your sweet dunk, what are you talking about?" They take the shot again and it goes in. "Shit yeah, of course I play ball!" they say excitedly, giving a wink to both Taylor and Paige. The teen then get distracted by the comment about bigots, "Huh? Did someone say something about Paige?" Marinov picks up the ball and starts idly dribbling it. Though she cracks a grin at Marinov's successful shot, Paige's attention is soon diverted. "Y-yes," comes her rather timid response as her ears -press- downwards, face reddening slightly. "I--I heard what happened. I am so sorry. We had just met a few days ago. She texted me about it -- she's all upset -- and told me what she thinks happened, but she was wrong." The horned girl gestures with her hands in an appeasing manner before sighing. "She was an asshole, Taylor, I'm sorry. I didn't know she was like that. I wouldn't have told her about Evolve." And she does seem quite genuinely apologetic. In response to Marinov's question, she responds, "It was this girl Mai. She's...she kind of lacks tact, but from what I heard happened, that's putting it a bit mildly." "/Damn/ yeah I'd say you do!" Taylor's whoop is enthusiastic when Marinov's shot goes in. He shakes his head slightly at Paige's apology, waving one hand in vague dismissal. "Not your fault, some people are just --" Shudder. "This chick at Evolve today told me my arms are gross and then pitched a fit when I --" He pauses, frowning. "Actually I didn't /even/ tell her to leave at first, I was just leaving because what the fuck? But she got mad that I was offended and doubled-down on the awful and /then/ I told her to leave." His grin after this, though, is briiiight (if not /quite/ shark-levels of toothy): "... so she asked to speak to my boss to complain." "Oh shit. She complained to your manager? I imagine Shane was all, 'No, Taylor, you've got to endure people talking shit about your body, the customer is always right!'" says Marinov sarcastically, laughing with a hint of incredulity, "But seriously. I can't imagine that went her way, Shane's awesome. Shit like that pisses me off... Like, she'd probably be mad if someone told her that she had a gross face, yeah? It's such a shitty double standard." They roll their eyes and then toss the ball towards Taylor (assuming he's paying attention enough to catch it). Paige lets out a sigh of relief in regards to the way Taylor handles the situation, though she does shift uneasily on her hooves. Her ears have relaxed once again and a giggle escapes her at Marinov's comment. "I mean, I'm not the best with obvious mutants, but I don't really think people are -gross- or something because of it. I mean, -hello-." Here she gestures from head to hoof with her right hand, which then finds her left arm and scratches at it gently. "And, heck, my family ar---" A moment's hesitation as she cuts herself off and her ears flick, though the thought that she was about to complete is clear in her mind. Her family are -Friends-. "Are awful about these things, you know? They're really kind of anti-mutant and stuff. I heard what Shane said-- well one version of it. What did he really say?" A wide smile crosses her face as she the imagines the possibilities of what the shark-mutant could have said. "Yeah no kidding I was fired on the spot." Taylor's continued grin puts lie to this easily enough. He nearly misses the ball, though fumbles it out of the air with two of his arm curling snug around it. Bounce, bounce, bounce; his dribbling is kind of lazy. His brows crease at something unheard. "That sucks about your family, I mean, that's -- intense. And no yeah I mean -- everyone's got their shit they're dealing with, right? And I /know/ it's hella unnerving sometimes when people see me for the first time but. I don't hold it against people what they're /thinking/, but to come out and /say/ to my face -- like /damn/ y'know?" His head shakes; there's an extra tension in his shoulders as he quirks his brows up toward Paige, catching and wiggling the ball in heads-up before passing it. "Shane told her that there's a whole-damn-world outside where she can have her gross opinions and she could take her bigotry and GTFO. I got hella lucky with bosses, that's for sure." Marinov also mentally finishes Paige's thought when she speaks, wearing as much concern as they can on a face like their, ears tilted forwards towards her. "Yeah, Shane seems pretty stand-up," says Marinov, putting the backs of their hands on the back of their head, "Yeah. Life's hard enough without people wanting to comment on the mutation you wear out in the open every day." They take a step aside out of the way when Paige is passed the ball. "I mean, I sort of expect that bullshit with non-mutants, but... is she a mutant? What was she doing at Evolve?" Paige's eyes widen slightly at Taylor's comment and her ears flick upwards once and recognition plays across her face. "Oh. Ooooh. She -did- say something about -- Are you...can you read minds? I, uh, guess I understand if you don't want to talk about that. I just didn't know." Apparently the horned girl hasn't put it together that if Taylor -is- able to read thoughts, he's probably heard hers since this conversation began. When the ball is tossed to her, she blinks in surprise, but manages to catch it, ears flicking as she looks down at the sphere in her hands. Once Marinov is done speaking, she glances from it to them and tosses it in their direction. "I...told her about it. We met in Central Park. Fiona was there, too. It was all a bit of happenstance. It was raining and cold and, well, I was kind of having a bad time and I -may- have been crying. I was going to show them Evolve, but the place was closed for Christmas Eve, you know? I haven't been there with either of them yet, really." Paige takes a deep breath and lets out a heavy sigh. Surface thoughts would reveal that she knows the answer to Marinov's question on whether Mai is a mutant or not, but made a promise not to tell anyone. And her thoughts then switch back to an encounter more than a month prior. "Shane set me straight the first I met him," she admits, expression softening. "But he also gave me some advice. It's a shame Mai won't be allowed in Evolve anymore. I think she could use the support group I go to; it has -really- been helping me a lot." "Getting a sandwich," Taylor answers the question of what Mai was doing at Evolve with a shrug. "Wait, did she /tell/ you I'm a telepath? That shit gets people killed." Silently, to Paige alone, << Maybe she needs support -- maybe she needs some friends. She's /got/ to learn to find it without shitting on other mutants -- and /outing/ them too? She'd be putting a support group in danger. Maybe, >> his mental voice sounds very tired, << I should talk to her again. >> Aloud, though: "You telling me you only met her last week? She pulled out the I Got Horned Friends card saying you one of her damn best friends. People got /nerve/. -- Oh man, shit, Taylor," directed to the other Taylor now, more excited, "speaking of freaks Shane mentioned you might be planning some kinda /thing/ for us monsters?" Marinov catches the ball when it is passed to them and says, "You want to take a shot?" They start bouncing the ball again, seeming more at ease than usual when they have something sort of active to do. "I think... well, you're probably right? I don't really know your support group but maybe she'd benefit from it, but... she's gonna have to learn to hold her tongue steady, yeah? 'cause people who are just manifesting or whatever... they tend to need things kept under wraps the very most." At Taylor's question, their ears perk right up in surprise, "Oh yeah! Yeah, I mean, I'm working on it, trying to get help where I can. Like, an arts festival, I guess? I want to showcase art and stuff for mutants who, well, look like mutants. Me, well, you can probably guess the sorta thing /I/ would want to showcase." They mouth 'fashion show' with a glimmer of excitement in their eyes, and while reading Marinov's lips is really quite hard, they think the words much louder. "But there are lots of artists out there making fucking great work who just aren't getting their due." Paige visibly winces as Taylor speaks in her mind. It's not that the action causes her any physical anguish, it's just that she's always caught off-guard when it happens. In time, perhaps, she'll get used to it - at least, that's what she hopes. However, she is relieved at and in agreeance with what the young man suggests. Outwardly, she nods to the tentacled youth and felinoid teen. Apparently she doesn't think Marinov is asking her about taking a shot. "Yeah...but maybe I am? I mean, like, what if she doesn't really have that many? I don't---I mean, I consider Marinov to be, like, my best friend." Ears flick and she blushes very slightly at this admittance. "Maybe I'm like one of her only -mutant- friends? I can talk to her for sure. I have her number and all. And your idea," here she gestures idly with a hand. "Would probably help too. Maybe if you two sat down and talked calmly. Not that I blame you for being upset! Or for how you handled it. I think what happened in the end was all fair given what preceded it, you know? But adrenaline and feeling defensive never really helps either side in those kinds of situations." At Marinov's words, she grins and her ears flick in curiosity. "You're thinking of doing, like, an entire -arts- festival? That's...wow, that's impressive. I never did anything like -that- in high school. Maybe they'll be some other fashion designers there or, who knows, maybe you'll catch the interest of some patron -- they still have those, right? Either way," Paige remarks. "It sounds like it'll be fucking fantastic." "I /was/ calm. She just thought I was aggressive because she's a bigot and I /look/ scary so I must have been aggressive." Taylor shrugs, but it's a little deflated. "I've had plenty of practice being calm around people who are being terrible at me, though, s'all good." He perks up again quickly enough. "That sounds rad. I don't really -- /art/. Well I mean, I dance, but I don't... but I know hella artists whose work would be fantastic in a show. And the world can always stand to be more dapper." Taylor lifts his hands, beckoning for the ball. "/Are/ there still patrons? I want a sponsor. Pay me to start the first all monster dance troupe. -- Do you have a name for it? Any art festival needs a snappy name." Marinov tosses the ball towards Taylor so that he can take another shot, and just nods when Paige mentions them as a best friend, "Yeah... I mean, I guess you've had to build a lot back from the ground up. I dunno, maybe she has too? I've met her before, I think, and she seems like someone who might benefit from like... a 101? You know what I mean?" The teen shrugs and continues, speaking to Paige: "I've never done something like this in high school, either, I can only make that claim if I actually pull something off." They crouch down and arch their back, which causes a few popping sounds, golden eyes turning to Taylor. "And even if you don't art, I'll need models for my stuff! If you can dance, then surely you can work it! Though maybe if there's lots of interest, I might not even have time for my own thing, but that'd be fine." In a joking tone: "As for a name, Monster Mash is copyrighted, sadly. I'm trying to figure out something catchy like Evolympics was." "I could see 'imposing', given your height and all. 'Aggressive', though, that's something else. But you're not -scary-. Sure, your tentacles kind of, you know, surprised me at first? But, nope, not scary." Paige follows this statement up with a definitive nod. "You've met her?" This, obviously directed to Marinov. "I knew Fiona and you had met, but Mai too?" The horned girl lets out a puff of air and her shoulder slouch a bit. "It's really too small a world." A momentary look of confusion is given to the teen, ears flicking, but Paige soon realizes what they mean. "Ah, yes. Yes, I should, uh...I'll talk to her. Maybe it'll be best coming from me since I'm one of her best friends, it seems." Paige listens to the other two converse about the festival, a smile on her face. "I'm sure you'll think of something." "Well, I think I met her in the garment district, 'cause I was doing some recon there," says Marinov, "It was a girl named Mai anyhow, I told her to add me on Facebook or something, she seemed generally friendly. But yeah, it can be a pretty small world, especially if you stick out enough to be recognizable." They right themselves and then survey the area lazily with their eyes, "Oh hey, I'll be right back... " They give a quick wave and jog off. While their sudden departure might be seen as mysterious and aloof to some, their surface thoughts tell a different story: << Wow that’s a crazy looking bird! >> "I'm sure you'll pull it off. If you need a hand with anything just -- reach out, yeah? That's one good thing about it being a small world." Taylor's smile is bright. "Usually plenty of other freaks glad to help out when you need." His eyes widen faintly when Paige says he wasn't scary -- surprised, maybe. Warmer. "Oh -- oh. Most people -- {thanks.}" Quieter, genuine. His knees bend before he takes a shot -- it spins around the rim a few times before finally tipping in. Marinov's sudden departure is met with a chuckle. He snags the ball back out of the air, lifting his brows to Paige. "Play you? Around the World, maybe." "She -is- friendly. I might be, uh, learning some unarmed fighting techniques from her. I think her heart is in the right place, but she's a bit...I'll figure it out." A shrug is offered to Marinov right before he dashes off. "Take care, Marinov?" The expression on her face is concerned and confused. Though she doesn't understand the word Taylor says at the end, the message seems clear enough and her smile returns. Her hands move in an open sort of gesture. "Okay, to be honest, I first -thought- you were scary. My brain has been sort of...rewiring, I think? I mean, like, that's what the group helps with." She blinks in surprise when the other mutant invites her to play basketball. "Well, I've never been -good- at basketball, but sure!" Ears flick. "If you, uh, teach me what Around the World is first, though."