2012-09-07 Mall Ratz

Brooklyn has had better weather. Rain, rain, and more rain, and the gray sky casts a gloomy pall over streets and through windows.

Of course, that only brings people into Hazelton Mall, where even the gray tinge coming in from the huge, transparent panels that make up the roof can't compete with the lighted signs and illuminated displays, which set a cheerier mood. The entryways might bear footprints and puddles, but the gloom seems to lift about five feet beyond the doors.

Places like this put Jubilation Lee in a better mood just by existing. Clad in designer flare-leg jeans, blue and yellow tennies, and a pink screen-printed tee (bearing the name of Whip Rush, a local retro band) beneath her familiar yellow raincoat, she's fairly flying through the corridors, ducking and dodging around displays, signs, and stalls as she plays an impromptu game of Stop-Tag with a friend. "Come on, slowpoke! I'm miles ahead of you!" she teases, looking for the right store sign. She saw it last time, but that was two weeks ago...

Are there fancier places she could be shopping with her advance for the flagship album for Stark Records? Sure, but she wouldn't be able to get HALF the stuff on 5th Avenue as she can here. This place is more her speed, anyway - fewer uptight wonks. The sort of snappy, sarcastic, dying-to-be-hip types though? Ali is aaaaallll too happy to mingle with them - or deflate them, whatever seems most appropriate.

Ali is presently in low-rise denim capris, sparkly silver jelly flats, and a bright blue wrap-top with long sleeves and a v-neck. Her hair is gelled back and augmented with a black headband (Gwen Stacy-style, not Karate Kid); and SHE is /SHOPPING/ -- not far from the ongoing game of 'Stop-Tag', probably.

Whitney wouldn't normally be caught dead at a mall, and this one doesn't even pretend to be anything more than it is. Still, here she is, chasing Jubilation Lee through the place like an idiot. She dodges around the signs, slips past displays, and cuts through packs of cattle in pursuit of her young friend. She is even laughing despite herself. She is dressed in jeans and leather riding chaps over those and a leather biker's jacket with Einstein on the back sticking his tongue out. "Don't make me taze you bro!" she calls to the girl up ahead of her as they recklessly make their way through the controlled environment that is, the mall.

"As if!" Jubilee fires back, laughing. She's enjoying this. The crowds make the game interesting, since neither she nor Whitney can see over them. Of course, that does make knowing where you're going a little trickier! "You don't even have a tazer!"

She darts around a hot dog vendor, swoops past a fountain, and finally sees the sign she's looking for!

Of course, it distracts her enough that she looks away from where she's going. The next second, she's stepping on a silver jelly flat and going nosefirst into a taller person's blue wrap-top! "Yoomph!" Stumbling, the diminutive mall rat grabs for /anything/ to keep her balance. That tile floor hurts, as she knows from long experience!

"YOW!" Alison shouts as her feet are stepped on - but her reflexes are fast and she manages to at LEAST pivot step out of the way of the onrushing teenaged tornado and try to grab /her/ by the collar of that awesome yellow jacket so that hopefully she won't fall. "SHEEzus!"

Whitney nearly joins the traffic pileup, but manages to slide along the tile flooring to a stop right before impact. She puts a hand out as she slides, her hand barely bumping Alison as her biker books finally come to a stop. Under her jacket she's wearing a form fitting tee with the Punisher symbol with a Hello Kitty bow on it. Her wild mass of blond hair is currently kept somewhat under control by a bright pink Hello Kitty bandanna, kitschy jewelry decorates every finger and swarm about her neck. "Good catch."

The teenaged tornado misses her grab, and goes through a split-second of panic... and suddenly finds herself hanging by her raincoat collar at an awkward angle. But at least she doesn't get reacquainted with the concrete floor! "Okay... I probably owe somebody I can't see a very big thank-you," she says, a little breathlessly. "But could they pull a little, so I can stand up and do it face-to-face?" There's just a touch of wry humor in her voice.

"I think that can be arranged," Ali says with warm wryness - while giving Whitney an acknowledging wink for the compliment before pulling back a bit to help haul Jubilee to her feet. "You were going at a pretty good clip, there -- not running from donut-stuffed mall security, I hope?"

Whitney reaches out to assist Jubilee, "No. The closest mall security is out the West entrance, talking with a friend about video games." With Jubilee back on her feet she says to her, "And this is why we don't run in malls. You should have let me know I'd be going to a mall when I came up to visit you. I would have brought my racing Segway. We could have had fun then."

Normally the very picture of grace, Jubilee is right now an awkward, blushing weight. But with Alison and Whitney both helping, she manages to regain her balance, displaying a wealth of multicolored jelly bracelets on her right wrist, mostly blue, silver, and white. "I was doing fine, until..." The smallest person here glances at Allison, thinks better of it, and doesn't finish the sentence. "Thank you very much," she says instead to the tall blonde. "I was running from her, actually. I wanted to get in there and switch clothes so she wouldn't find me, but I was too slow." Judging by that impish twinkle in her eye as she points at Denim Depot, she must be teasing.

"Well, she'd certainly never /recognize/ you if you did that in /there/," Ali says with a thoughtful rub of her chin - and then she adds wryness right back; "But would you ever forgive yourself for the fashion harakiri? I mean, there are worse ways to go but I don't think they even SELL prairie dresses anymore."

"I dunno. If there is a place to find them...this seems to be the place. As long as they are stamped approved by Sixteen Magazine," snarks Whitney. She eyes the Denim Depot. "But hey, jeans are jeans. If they've got Levis, what more do you need?" She eyes the pretty woman that Jubilee nearly creamed, "You look...famous. Do I know you?" She thinks, "No. I definitely know you. Right?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of a jacket..." Jubilee starts to say, but she can't finish the sentence because she goes into a gale of giggles, half amused, half embarrassed. "No, I probably wouldn't. Prairie dresses? I could just take off my pants and be committing less of a crime against good taste!" She gives Whitney an apologetic look, then looks back to Alison. "She's right... blonde hair, blue eyes, tall, one-sided pixie 'do." Then her own blue eyes go wide. "You're Alison Blaire... Oh, wow! We're totally talking to Alison Blaire!"

"In the flesh!" Alison beams, though she picks a bit at her hair at the mention of it - "Though I'm considering a change. It's getting a little stale, you know? Gotta keep up with the Victoria Beckhams and all that." But she drops the subject pretty quickly - who knows wether or not she was actually serious. "And who do I have the distinct pleasure of gabbing with?"

"I thought so!" Whitney grins and claps Alison on the back with a heavy right hand, "Wow. I really admired you having the guts to come out like that. It was inspiring. A shame about the movie though." She then points to Jubilee and says, "This is Texas Pete, and I'm Whitney. Whitney Pratt." She starts patting her jacket, "Hey Pete, you got anything we can get an autograph on?"

Jubilee gives Whitney a very soft raspberry. "I'm Jubilation Lee, and I always liked your hair," she replies, with a megawatt-powered smile. "And I really liked how you didn't hide what you were. You're just like me!" The Chinese-American teen is almost giddy with excitement. Whitney's question gets her to think about something else. "I have a Sharpie... but nothing to write on. Oh, fudge..."

"Well, I had to be convinced," Alison admits. "In the end, I thought it would be a good idea. I knew there would be backlash, but I had /no idea/ it was going to be as bad as it was. Things are starting to look up though, so apparently it gets better! Nice to meet you, Jubilation - Whitney." Griiiin. While the girls scramble for autograph supplies, Alison has.... empty pockets. Except for the money and stuff. "I'd offer to sign an arm or something, but that's generally for people who're gonna get tattooed and you both look a bit young for /that./"

GearBox snickers and pulls off her jacket, showing off her right arm, which looks a bit oddly off, but it is covered with bright tattoos. "One of us is an adult, the other one is bucking for baby sister status." She then pulls at the neckline of her shirt, dragging it down to expose what little cleavage she has, "Sign my boobs! That would totally be rockstar!" Then she says to Jubilee, "Have her sign your phone!"

"Looking up? I'm glad. You /sooo/ didn't deserve what happened," Jubilee says, offering the black Sharpie to the mutant rock star and pulling out her phone. Which is a tiny thing, and black anyway. "Oh, it's too small! Nobody'd be able to read it," she sighs, disappointed. "I'll think of something..."

She pulls off her coat and glances at it, frowning thoughtfully. But it's her second coat of this kind. The first met a noble end that she can't talk about here. Surely she has /something/!

And then she catches sight of Whitney, and remembers. "Oh, perfect..." And she turns her back to Alison and quickly unbuttons her jeans, sliding them down to her knees. "Sign these!" she says, gesturing to the back of her purple-striped panties.

Dazzler looks around - because young-looking girls doing this at anyone but each other is BOUND to get attention; and while Alison DOESN'T look embarrassed, persay, she does look CAUTIOUS. "ID's, both of you. Hearts for the fan love, but unless you're /at least/ 18 I am soooo not signing body parts or undergarments."

Yes, the pop-star is carding them.

Whitney is forced to put away her cleavage in order to drag out her New Jersey Driver's Liscence, Whitney Pratt, age 24. Of course, she still looks closer to thirteen than thirtty. "Read em and weep. Now please sign my boobs!" She laughs, stuffs away her wallet, then drags her shirt back down, "I'm stretching out my Hello Punisher just for you." While she waits to be signed she says to Jubilee, "You are busted miss little britches. And what is it with you and those things? I thought I convinced you to get cool panties the other day."

Jubilee blushes, and her look of disappointment might bring down Old Scratch himself. "16... and I really haven't got anything else I can fold up and put away someplace," she says, and pulls up her jeans. Whitney's question just deepens the blush. "They're in the laundry."

She looks around for a stationary store. Frankly, paper of any kind might work, so long as it isn't smeared with ketchup, mustard, or grossness of any kind.

Whitney's ID checked, she gets her boobs signed as requested - Ali tries to keep it nice and scripty, she signs it 'Dazzler' and adds a little star-burst design. Seeing Jubes' dismay, Ali comes up with a thought. "I could sign the inside of your jacket - hidden so it doesn't wreck your flow, but in an easy enough place to show off if you want to, AND I can do it so that you can have it cleaned without wrecking it."

After getting her boobs signed, Whitney laughs and says, "Okay, so is it inappropriate to go around in just my bra all day? I totally want to show off." But in the end, she covers up her awesome autograph, but not before standing next to Alison "Take my picture with her Jubes. Then I'll do you!" To Alison she says, "Sorry. A bit fangirl, but you're my first rock star."

"I wasn't thinking of showing it off," Jubilee says, but since she can't find anything else, she does lay the coat over the back of a bench for easier signing. She stifles a giggle as Whitney talks of parading around sans shirt, and flips open her phone. "I think I can picture you both... if you're up for it, Miss Blaire," she adds, respectfully.

"Dazzler or Ali, please," Ali corrects gently. She picks up the coat and turns it to the inside lining underneath the lapel. Ali takes a moment and concentrates, holding her hand just barely over the spot. "I've only made this kind of light a few times, I'll be ready in just a sec..."

There's a slowly growing glow from her hand and a kind of thrum, and then... Done! Dazzler has signed her name just like she did on Whitney's chest, only like a laser-printer! That baby'll never come out. Hopefully Jubilee remains a fan.

"Picture time!"

Right about then Whitney gets a call on her own phone and she drags it out to answer it. After a short conversation she turns to them both and says, "I am so sorry. I got to go meet my folks." Then to Jubilee in particular she says, "You want to come? I am sure they would love to meet you." Without waiting she gives Dazzler a quick hug, "It was awesome meeting you. You are awesome. Thanks for being such a hero." Then she grabs Jubilee and starts dragging her through the mall, "They are up here for a vacation, we are going to go out for dinner. You'll have a blast."

<< FADE OUT >>