ArchivedLogs:Mutant Networking

Mutant Networking
Dramatis Personae Anette and Tabby	2016-03-07 "Man, why the fuck did you have to make that the most tense situation ever?!"
Location Geek Chic
The interior of Geek Chic is brightly lit in contrast against the dimming sunlight outside. The signs and window posters are brightly decorated as they loudly try to grab the attention of any passing pedestrians. The interior is a bit on the small side, making it feel intimate. The decor screams that this is one of those niche shops for various sub, and counter cultures. Sitting behind the counter, staring at a television that is mounted on a nearby wall, is Tabitha. Her eyes look glazed over as she stares at whatever the latest feature is, which looks like some action movie about hackers. There's a few people inside the shop: a few teenagers who are browsing through some card game booster packs, and a man in a suit, who's busy on his cellphone while looking through different apparel. Whether Tabby is aware of their presence or not doesn't seem to show, as she gives them no indication of attention while they browse. That big explosive car chase going on seems to have her full attention, instead. The door opens and in walks Anette, taking her time as she makes her way into the store, looking around curiously. Judging by her clothes: long leather jacket, a 90's band tee, and black lace-up combat boots, there's a very good chance she is /not/ here for the geekier things. Still, she walks amongst the displays, briefly looking over the collectibles before she eventually makes her way to the more goth-y areas. Before she can really look them over, the TV also attracts her attention, naming the car explosion. She stands, gloved hand resting on the metal clothing rack as she watches the movie, taking only a couple seconds before she recognizes it. "Jesus, that movie's on /again/?" After the front door rings lowly to indicate a new customer, Tabby allows her eyes to shift away from the television, but otherwise she doesn't move from her sitting position behind the counter. In fact, she's leaning over the counter, arm resting on it, and head resting in her hand. If Anette catches it, Tabby does offer her a small smirk of acknowledgement after the woman's entry. Afterwards, her eyes shift back onto the action on screen. She sits like that for a few more minutes until Anette speaks up about it. To this, Tabby lets out an amused, raspy snort. While still sitting, she now looks over in Anette's direction with a bright smile. "Oh, come on, this is a classic! And it's only a classic because its on so much. It's pretty much choked down our throats, forcing us to like it." "Think they could force another movie down our throats?" Anette says, matching the grin though her eyes remain on the TV. "Maybe a bad horror movie. Troll 2? Catacombs?" She gives a quick shrug, finally breaking contact with the movie to continue browsing the clothing racks. "So, anything good in here? Besides all the nerdy stuff. Never been my thing and the last few years it's /everywhere/." "Lawnmower Man," Tabby drawls out, sounding amused by her own addition to the terrible movie topic. The man in the suit finally makes his way to the counter, with a few items in hand, which causes Tabby to stand up and pay attention. While she rings him up for his purchase, she calls out towards Anette, "Depends on what you want. We've got a rack towards the back that's a little darker. Black lace, velvet, really cheap corsets that you shouldn't touch, you know." She shrugs. "There's some actual vintage stuff back there, too, and if you need combat boots, we actually have a decent variety." Her attention then returns to finishing with her current transaction. She's not giving the man any visible attitude, and she seems to actually appear pleasant and engaging, which tends to be rare for places like this. "Oh man does that bring high school flashbacks," Anette says with a faint chuckle, resuming her browsing and allowing Tabby to actually do her job. Holding a handful of t-shirt up to her to guess their fit, she keeps two and drapes them over her arm while she continues to browse. "I've got enough boots to last a lifetime and I haven't worn a corset since I was 19. Vintage sounds interesting though." She continues to move on, taking a moment to admire the display of body piercings until the suit leaves. "Do you get a lot of people like him in here? Wall Street types?" "I don't know if I'd say /a lot/," Tabby starts with a shrug as she distractedly starts to refill the receipt tape in the register. "I'd say about thirty percent come in, and tell me that they need a birthday gift for their son, or teenager who won't listen to them." After she finishes, she glances in Anette's direction and adds, "Or..they have mistresses that they try to buy the terribly cheap corsets for, and play it off like they're getting it for their forty year old wife." She shrugs nonchalantly. "I think its funny. They're like really bad NPCs or something." "I made the cheap corset mistake /once/," Anette says, shuddering at the thought. "But hey, it means more money for you, I guess." She makes her way over to another rack of clothes, frowning slightly as she searches through them. "You know what would make you guys a ton of money? Clothes designed for mutants. You'd think someone would have cashed in on that by now." Tabitha starts to respond to Anette's comment on the cheap corsets, but stops at the woman's next words. Her face sobers, no longer looking amused. Quietly, she now watches the woman a little more intently than previously. "I dunno," she lowly, and cautiously starts in response. "I mean..some people are really against that kind of thing." Her tone and body language don't give any indication on where she stands on the issue. She doesn't tense up, yet she doesn't seem to relax either. Tabby just looks cautiously as she watches Anette sift through the different items for purchase. "But, I mean, I'm sure that /someone/ would buy it. But, I don't own the store, so I don't make those decisions." She pauses briefly. "Would you buy one? I don't know if mutant would fit in the goth or nerdy section." "Yeah, you're probably right," Anette reluctantly agrees, leaning up against the rack as she watches Tabitha curiously. "The second a store pops up catering to mutants, it'll get firebombed to the ground within a day." At her question, Anette raises a slight brow, briefly debating whether to be honest or not. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd buy them," she eventually says. "Then again, I'm lucky. Backless tops serve the same purpose." Tabby shifts uncomfortably behind the counter at the mention of the firebombing. She suddenly glances upwards, potentially looking for something, like a camera, and she starts to unconsciously fiddle with her hands. Maybe she really didn't like the mention of that? "That's not even funny," she calls out, projecting a little louder than before. "I left places like that." Tabby suddenly stops fiddling with her hands, and she steps away from the counter, but only a few steps closer. Her eyes narrow in Anette's direction, likely assessing the woman, or potentially sizing her up. "Lucky?" She asks in a suddenly confused tone. "How are you lucky?" Her hands suddenly look tense at her sides. Anette shakes her head, yellow eyes watching Tabby's reaction closely. "Not meant to be funny. It's the truth. You think you left that behind? New York's just as bad, if not worse." She tilts her head slightly as Tabby approaches, a soft smirk appearing. "Lucky may be a poor choice of words. But I do have it a little easier than some." She carries the shirts over to the counter, setting them down as if ready to pay for them. She slips her leather gloves off her hands, setting them down on the counter as well and revealing the talons hidden underneath briefly before she goes digging in her purse. Pulling a handful of bills out of her wallet, she holds it out for Tabby to take with an amused grin as she waits for her reaction. "It's a pain in the ass to blend in but I can still do it," she says, clarifying her earlier 'lucky' statement further. As Anette approaches the counter, Tabitha visibly tenses up, her shoulders drawing upwards ever so slightly in tension, as though preparing for any potential where she has to physically react. Her eyes continue to watch the woman with more focus, her jaw tightens, and she starts to play with her hands again - potentially a nervous habit. Her sudden shift in body language definitely gives the vibe that she's ready for a fight if necessary. As Anette takes off the leather gloves, Tabby sees her hands, and her posture immediately softens a bit. And as the money is held out towards her, she closes her eyes, and draws in a deep breath. Tabby tilts her head to the side, away from Anette, and calls out to the few kids that are still in the store browsing, by name. "You guys have to leave now." The kids, who are likely here often, protest slightly, but they make their way out of the shop, leaving just Tabby and Anette inside. She glances back down at the talon before her. "Gotta suck to always have to wear those gloves," she remarks lowly, before suddenly letting out a low obscenity, and shaking her hand vigorously, like she just burned her palm. The woman takes a step back, holding her hand. "Man, why the fuck did you have to make that the most tense situation ever?!" Tabby suddenly groans towards Anette. "Really, not fuckin' cool... You're a mutant. Great." Pause. "I'm not gonna start any shit with you." Anette can't help but laugh at Tabby's reaction. "Seriously? I'm just a paying customer. Did you think I was one of those assholes? I suggested you sell mutant friendly clothes!" Now that the situation has calmed down some, Anette sets the money down and slips her gloves. "Gloves aren't so bad. It's the coat that makes life hell in summer." Tabby's sudden outburst and hand shaking earn a slightly concerned look, eyes narrowed and looking down at her hand. "You ok?" she asks, looking back up to Tabitha at her final sentence. "Great. I'm not looking to start shit either. Just figured a place like this would be...more open to mutants." "Hey, I don't know. Those assholes can be really sneaky, and I really don't want to potentially lose my job or have the cops come in asking questions. I've dealt with that already." Tabitha breathes, and moves back behind the counter. "Yeah, I'm fine," she lowly remarks, ignoring the cash on the counter for now. "Sometimes fight or flight can get a little explosive with me. It's a thing. I really don't like tension with the big ol' M word. That sets it off real quick, and I can't always /hide/ it." She pauses, taking another deep breath, while fidgeting with her hands again. "I'm open to mutants, /very/ open. I'm not sure if my bosses are, and I'm not willing to risk losing a job over it." Tabby then tilts her head slightly upwards and towards the side, indicating towards the nearest security camera. Suddenly, the front door bell rings. Before Tabby can even see who the potential customer is, she barks, "We're closed!" in a loud, and angry enough tone to cause the person to suddenly leave. "Shit, sorry," she says to Anette. "I'm talking about hiding and you've gotta wear those gloves. That ain't fair... I'm guessing the coat hides more?" "I don't blame you. The world sucks," Anette says, leaning up against the counter again as she watches Tabby. As Tabby discusses her...issues, she can't help but grin. "Explosive? Not gonna lie, that sounds fun. And potentially useful." She steals a quick glance at the security cam, giving a gentle nod as she gently clasps her own hands together. "And then they wonder why so many mutants become criminals." Tabby's outburst at the sudden entrant gets a startled jump and her eyes widen, looking towards Tabby curiously. "Does you boss know you're chasing customers away? I mean, I can just leave if it's easier..." Though she doesn't look like she's leaving anytime soon, having made herself comfy against the counter. As her own abilities are asked about, she grins again, as if she enjoys this discussion. "Wings, actually." "Right now, this is more important than money," Tabby responds. Motioning to lean against the back section behind the counter, Tabby crosses her arms and shrugs slightly. "It can be fun," she smiles. "And useful. It helped save my butt a bunch of times. I just like being discreet about it. Getting caught won't do me any good." She suddenly shrugs. "Criminal is a harsh word for a label. Sometimes you gotta survive, and your talents are all you got to help... Then again, sometimes that crime is deserving." Tabitha's brow then arches upwards curiously. "Wings, huh? I guess that's cool. Can you actually fly, or did you lose the mutant lottery there?" "What's more important, mutant networking?" Anette asks. "Yeah, I guess so. My abilities tend to get me into more trouble than they get me out of. Just ask the cop whose ass I saved right before he shot me." She chuckles a bit, her lips forming a small smirk. "Well, I'd rather be labelled a criminal than a terrorist. Which I have been actually." The comment about her wings gets a broader grin. "What kind of owl would I be if I couldn't fly? I can and do. I used to hang out Central Park at night but I've fond more secluded areas to work out." "I think that networking can be benefitial. It reminds me that I'm not alone in this big scary world where everyone is out to make me an enemy. I've helped a bunch of mutants out in the past. They were being attacked just for existing. Shit like that doesn't fly with me." She pauses. "Pun not intended. It cost me a lot though. I mean, whatever I had, but I was trying to mind my business and be normal. Or, you know, pretend to be normal - whatever that is." Tabitha then asks, "Why'd he shoot you? Did you swoop him up, or something, without his permission?" "Pretending to be normal is overrated," Anette says. As she covers her most obvious features with a coat and gloves. "You know, I know people who have, how do I put it, dedicated themselves to that cause. Protecting mutants from being attacked for existing. Fixing all the shitty parts of the world. Well, trying to anyway, it's hard to tell just how successful it is." Anette takes a deep breath, breathing it out with a loud sigh. "There was another mutant who...well, I think he lost control of his powers. The cop was in harm's way and I swooped down to save him. Cop just saw another mutant and assumed I was trying to attack him." "Oh," Tabitha says, sounding a little surprised. "You did swoop at him." Unable to help herself, she smirks at somehow assessing that correctly, but the smirk doesn't linger for long. "You've got a mighty big task in front of you if you're trying to fix the world." Her gaze sweeps over Anette's features, as though studying them while suddenly in thought. Softly, she adds, "I'm not sure this world is able to be fixed." The young woman then decides that this is a good point to start ringing Anette up for her shirts - likely as a means of distraction. After she rings up the apparel, she takes the money that was left on the counter, and starts to count it. "Is it working?" She asks Anette. "Helping mutants not having to fear their own shadows? Stopping anti-mutant attacks?" "I picked him up and moved him away from a giant green guy, there's a difference," Anette corrects with a smile. "Well, eventually we'll save the world. Meanwhile we help out where we can." Once her items are finally wrung up, she take the bag and runs her hand through the handles. "I think it's working. When you're fighting fire with fire, things tend to get a little messy but in the long run, things will be better. We've helped a lot of mutants." Adjusting her purse over her shoulder, she looks to Tabitha with a grin. "Keep the change. I'll see you around." And without a word, she makes her way towards the door.