Participants:
| Scene Title | Saks, 5th Avenue |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Some last minute shopping leads the paths of Rose and Charlie to cross with Josh. Some fun ensues. |
// This elegant department store has been dressing the well-heeled since 1902. Opened by Andrew Saks, the original store was located in Herald Square (where Macy's resides). After merging that store with Gimbel's, Saks opened this Fifth Avenue store catering to the wealthy in 1924. Today, Saks Fifth Avenue welcomes all to shop amid its luxurious environment for men's and women's clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances and accessories. Designers like Calvin Klein have their own sections to display their latest fashions. Women's collections are featured on floors two, three and four and active/casual wear on five, with the men's section taking up the sixth floor. While you will find the top designer labels like DKNY, Saks Fifth Avenue features its own house brand, SFA, which tends to be a more affordable alternative for shoppers. Just one of the features this store offers is its complimentary hotel delivery, enabling shoppers to have their purchases delivered to any Manhattan hotel.//
Riding up the escalator, a young blonde woman can be seen, staring up at the ceiling with a soft smile on her lips. "It couldn't possibly be that high, could it?" She seems to be conversing with the tall, black-suited brick wall behind her, though he never says a thing. Her accent is the posh British one would hear if they turned on the BBC Evening News, but more natural. No nasal stuffiness here! "I wonder if they have any nice gowns here. I had to leave all my favorites at home." The Secret Service Looking Man nods once, but still says nothing. At least, that's what mortals see…
"Who needs this much bloody clothes?" a lanky young man in an offensive, tartan suit asks the world in general - riding behind the young woman and the mountainous bodyguard on the escalator, "Ye' get what ye' wear around the house. Ye' get what ye' wear to th' pub an' ye' get the suit yer buried in."
He shakes his head, reaching out a booted foot to nudge the bodyguard in the back of the leg, "What about a frilly pink dress for you, Pussycat?"
You know, this is decidedly not the kind of place that Josh would normally be found. After all…He's a professional wrestler. But aparently there has been talk of changing his gimmick. Which means he's going to need a suit and an expensive pair of sunglasses. So he finds himself in the fancy part of town, looking over suits. Though right now he's in between stores. The last one didn't make suits in his size.
There's a decidedly warning rumble from the bodyguard that sounds remarkably like a big cat's rolling growl, though few - if any - notice. Rose giggles. "I'm to tell you that 'We are not amused', Charlie." As the escalator reaches its destination, girl and bodyguard step off. "He's going to bite you one of these days," she sing-songs to the boy behind her. Bite, because to her and Charlie - and Josh, if he happens to spy them in here - there is no bodyguard, but a massive golden lion. In the middle of Saks. On a Sunday. "But…but…" Turning to her other human companion, Rose looks up at him with wide eyes, though there's a sparkle of mischief to their oh-so-innocent gaze. "Wouldn't you get tired of wearing the same things all the time?"
"We are a big golden ponce, we are," the punkish young man tells the bodyguard with a broad grin before he looks to Rose.
"Why?" Charlie seems genuinely boggled by that prospect, "I like what I wear. Maybe if ye' had some sort of disorder, maybe. 'Sides, easy t' make th' same thing look diff'rent, aye?"
Charlie then removes his jacket and turns it inside out, revealing an alternating stars and stripes lining and a black 'anarchy' symbol spraypainted on the back which he then dons, "See? Diff'rent but th' same. Expand ye' mind, Alice."
Yeah, Josh just walked past Saks. Then he stopped mid-stride, and took a few steps back, to peer into the store at the lion standing there next to the two people. He uses a finger to lift his sunglasses for a second, before he puts them back down and then heads into the store itself. He thinks maybe he'll go say hi. He sure as hell doesn't look like a normal Saks customer, wearing jeans and a pro-wrestling t-shirt.
Rifling half-heartedly through a rack of suit jackets, Rose conveniently looks the other way as Aslan steps right on Charlie's foot. This would be bad enough if he truly were the human he appears to be, but when over 500 pounds of Pure Lion throws his weight around… At any rate, it's only for a moment; he's used to the idiot boy by now. Turning around, Rose wrinkles her nose at the new "fashion" her companion is sporting. "Oh, I like the plaid much better." Then a light seems to go off in her head and she smiles very slowly, very brightly and very sweetly up at Charlie. "I'll let you broaden my mind if you'll let me broaden your wardrobe." There, that's a fair deal, isn't it?
"'s tartan, not plaid. The devil wears plaid, Alice."
He lets out an angry but half-hearted 'Oi!' as the lion steps on his foot, stepping out of the way to avoid further experiences of chunky lion rage. As he waves a hand to indicate to Rose that she can broaden his wardrobe if she likes, he glances sidelong and spots the man in the pro-wrestling t-shirt.
"Oi! Th' oily lad wrestlin' show! Oi! Over 'ere! I watched one a' yer flicks at th' 'otel! Oi! Lookit! Over 'ere! Do a bodyslam!"
Awesome. Foreign fans. Josh has done a few shows in Britan, of course, so he recognizes the accent. He walks over to the two, and glances sidelong at the lion for a moment, "Okay." He says, as he reaches out like he's going to grab ahold of Charlie. After all, the guy wants a bodyslam.
Rolling her eyes - just a little - Rose pulls out a particularly nice-looking black sweater to look at held up against her chest in the mirror. Dressing room shortcut. She does't mind Charlie's antics or the approaching wrestler. It's nothing new to her. She's just a young British teenager out shopping. Well, she was. In the mirror, she sees Josh make as if to grab Charlie. Without even having to consider it, she reacts, pulling her sword from its sheath on Aslan's back and inserting it - and herself between the two boys. "I can't even try on a new jumper without you getting into trouble, can I?" She asks the question without ever looking away from Josh, but it's rather obviously meant for Charlie. Aslan, wise to Charlie having asked for it, merely lays down where he is, watching the whole scene with more than a hint of amusement.
"Ha ha!"
Charlie is laughing the whole time, even when it looks as though he's going to get physically assaulted by a professional wrestler, "One sec, mate."
He removes the large feather that appears to be resting in the band of his cap, instead placing it in the now-inside pocket of his jacket.
"Right."
But then Rose is getting between them, playing the great defender, he pats her on the shoulder and pushes her to one side, "Easy, luv. He ain't out to hurt anybody. Just playin' about, weren't ye', mate?"
"Whoa!" Josh jumps back when the sword comes out, and then eyes the woman with it, "Easy lady. You could put somebody's eye out with that thing." He knows he could disarm her if he really wanted to do so, but at the same time, she's a woman, and he'd really rather not have to hit her, if he didn't have to, "So why don't we put this away and talk this out.."
Lowering her blade, Rose blushes a light pink. "All I saw was him goin' for you. What was I supposed to think? Fine, have at it. Kill each other for all I care." Muttering under her breath about stupid boys, she walks over to where Aslan is laying and re-sheathes her sword. As a sort of afterthought, then. "Don't hurt him too badly, Charlie. We'll be over in the dresses when you're done." And with that, she and Aslan saunter off down the aisle, though the lion looks over his shoulder once, seeming to laugh at Charlie's coming misfortune.
Charlie reaches out to pat Josh on the upper arm with a grin, "Almost got yerself sticked there, mate. Or worse yet - de-bollocksed. Nasty business."
He shrugs his shoulders and watches Rose depart, still grinning broadly, "Anyway, yer that bloke, aren't ye'?"
"Yeah." He says, "Josh Syx, at your service." He says, as he offers a hand to the guy, "I gotta ask, though." He says, as he looks at the woman and her lion, "What's with the cat?" He really seems curious, since..Well, it's a f'ing lion, and nobody seems to notice it at all.
The word 'cat' seems to do the trick. Stopping almot mid-stride, the young blonde girl turns around slowly, regarding Josh suspiciously once more. Cautiously, she backtracks a few steps, stops and folds her arms over her chest. "What cat?" she asks of the wrestler. After all, better safe than sorry…
"That giant friggin' lion that you just pulled that sword off of?" Josh offers, since he assumes it's pretty obvious to everybody that it's there. And then he snaps his fingers, "I'm getting Punk'd, aren't I?" He says, as he laughs, "Okay Ashton, come on out. You got me man. Good one. Giant lion in Saks. Didn't see that one coming, gotta give you credit." He starts to look around for some cameras.
Oh. Well, that makes it kind of obvious then, doesn't it. Just as Rose is about to open her mouth and respond, however, the man starts rattling off some nonsense about ashes and punks and seeing something coming. Tilting her head to one side, she clears her throat. "Sorry, but what have ashes got to do with Aslan?"
"Huh." Josh looks back at her, "Nevermind then." He looks at the lion, "Aslan? Oh, right. The lion." He says, as he looks back at the woman, "Okay, so you have a lion. But nobody but me and you, I suppose, seem to realize this. So either we're both crazy, or nobody else can see him." He arches a brow, "Are you, you know…" He makes a motion with his hands, like he wants her to finish his sentence. Because in theory, she should know what word goes in there.
"Reckon he might be a bit like ye', Alice," Charlie points out, jerking a thumb towards Josh, "An' a bit like me. Who knocked up yer Ma there, Muscles?"
"Charlie!" Rose scolds. "Don't be so crass!" Although the image of the small, blonde, rich girl scolding the older, taller, grungier punk rocker must indeed be a laughable one, Rose seems to be in earnest this time. "He might be. Or he might be Titanspawn. They see Aslan too, remember." Turning to Josh, then, she cuts straight to the point in a rather innocently blunt sort of manner. "Well? Are you friend or foe, Mister Syx?"
"I ain't one of those monster things, if that's what you mean." He says, "I mean, hell, they keep tryin' to kill me all the time and shit as it is." He says, "Two giants and some kinda worm thing in the past two weeks. This is already getting crazy." He says, "But yeah, Ares." He says, as he looks back at Charlie, answering his question as well.
"I 'ear he's a right lad, Ares," Charlie says with a grin, apparently unperturbed by being scolded, "Khow what I mean?"
Charlie makes a crude gesture with his fingers that hints at Ares' prowess in the bedroom and continues to grin like a maniac, "Anyway, see? Not a Titanspawn, Alice. Big war god wrestlin' bloke."
Rose smiles knowingly at that. "Aries, Greek god of war… You two ought to get on just fine then, Hatter." Reaching down to rub at a spot just behind Aslan's left ear, the young woman offers her free hand to Josh, though with the palm down as a lady would, not to the side as a gentleman would for shaking. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mister Syx. I am Lady Rose Hunt of Norfolk and this is my Mad Hatter, Charlie X of the unMerry Men." There, proper introductions all 'round. Nanny would be so pleased.
"Lady?" He huhs, "Well, it's nice to meet you." A glance at Charlie, "Mad Hatter? Like the Wonderland thing?" Or the Batman villain, he thinks a second later. He figures, if she's some rich British chick, she's probably here because New Atlantis is the center of high fashion, or at least they like to think so.
"She likes t' think so," Charlie says with a grin, not going into any further detail about that, "I'm personally 'ere on tour … givin' ye' all a taste o' the highest of bloody high art."
Poking Charlie in the ribs playfully, Rose grins. "Don't forget, though; we start school tomorrow." To Josh, she explains. "My father and step-mother are on Progress with the Queen and the rest of our family. I decided to spend the time studying abroad rather than staying at home alone." She smiles brightly. "I'm rather glad I did. It's really a fascinating city."
The song 'Hero' by Skillet starts playing rather randomly. Josh digs out his cell phone and looks at it, then looks back at Rose, "Shoot." He says, "I think I should probably get going." He says, as he silences it real quick, "Hey, it was good to meet you, though. Good to see others like me runnin' around in case something crazy happens." He turns to walk off, and takes a few steps, but turns back around and walks backwards a bit, "Hey, catch me on Monday nights." He says, as he flashes a smile, and then turns and ducks out of the store.
Charlie watches the man depart and shrugs his shoulders, turning around to look at Rose, "I 'ate famous people. And by 'ate I mean I don't like 'em, not I 'ad 'em for dinner."
Shrugging her own shoulders in a comically unconscious mimickry of Charlie's own move, Rose turns to face her friend. "If you dislike them so, why draw his attention like that?" Aslan bumps her thigh with his nose and she straightens. "Looks like it's time to move on. Fancy a bit of tea, my dear Hatter?" Nodding in the direction of the attention they're starting to garner, she threads her arm through his and turns towards the door.
"Dunno," Charlie says with a shrug of his shoulders, "Felt like it."
He glances down at the lion and shrugs once again, "Yeah. Tea. Tea an' a pint." A pause and he swears, "Can't have a pint 'ere, can I? Fine. Tea."
Walking towards the doors, Rose stifles a yawn behind her free hand and sighs. "I'd hoped to remain anonymous longer than this, but at least we got more information than we gave." She may look cute and innocent, but two solid years of fighting Titanspawn have taken their toll on Rose's once near-perfect trust in people. "What d'you know about that bloke anyway? Anything useful?"
"Ares is a 'ard man an' no mistake," Charlie points out, yawning a little himself and straightening the lapels of his jacket, "His kid'd be pretty tough 'imself, I reckon. As for what I know 'bout 'im … a wrestler and an action movie bloke far as I can tell or remember."
Rose considers this in silence for a few moments. "I bet we could take him if we had to. Couldn't be any worse than that thing impersonating poor Nessie last year." Her small frame shudders rather a bit intensely at that memory. "Nasty business, that was." Stepping out into the cold, she pulls her wool duster closer to her neck and wrinkles her nose at the city smell. "I thought I saw an Irish pub a couple blocks back. Maybe you can sweet talk them into your pint."
"I can sweet talk anyone into anything," Charlie says with a laugh, "But yeah, I don't reckon 'e'd be much chop as a bad guy. Might be fair t' 'ave 'round on our side, though."
This is an interesting idea, and Rose gives it due thought as they walk. "Not a bad idea, actually. It would be good to have some raw brawn to work with." There's a disgruntled rumble from the lion walking on Rose's other side and she smiles before laying her free hand in his mane. "You know you have far too much intelligence to be considered raw brawn, Aslan." He seems to be satisfied with this, but whatever his response, it makes the Lady's face take on a much more serious mein.
"That an' yer a ponce," Charlie murmurs out of the side of his mouth at the lion, grinning to himself all the while, "Best keep an eye on 'im anyway, I reckon. Let's not go formin' our own Mighty Avengers jus' yet, eh?"
Aslan takes the high road this time - since they're in quite a lot of public - and ignores the boy. Laughing, Rose nods and leans against Charlie's shoulder for a beat before straightening. "I'm quite happy with the team we've got going, thanks." The grin fades a little. "Still, never hurts to keep an eye on a strange scion." A shake of her head and the smile returns. "C'mon, you. Let's go see about that pint before you waste away into nothing!"
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