2013.07.03 - The Goddesses of Shopping

It's early afternoon in Metropolis when Megan and Cessily arrive in the city to meet with Elysia. Which for Pixie means only a few hours to hit the stores before they close! Panic! They're due to meet Elysia outside the station and Pixie emerges first, although she might not be immediately recognizable. As with most of her trips into town, she's concealing her mutant nature. Not hiding, exactly, but just not wanting to draw too much attention to the group. She's wearing a yellow hoody, which conceals her wings, pointed ears and pink hair, along with a pair of pink sunglasses which cover her black eyes. Although she doesn't exactly look inconspicuous in those colors.

"I swear that is the loudest ensemble I've ever seen," Cessily tells Megan as they walk up the stairs from the subway. Cess hasn't quite matched Pixie's towned down look - can a metal girl ever be toned down? - but her outfit's straight up simple, a denim skirt and a pink, square cut top. "How's the summer treating you, anyway?" she asks. Cessily looks up and down the street, then reaches for her phone. "She should be here....speedsters are always late though, right?" she asks with a light laugh.

There is definitely an oddly converse tardiness to how fast a speedster goes, probably having to do with the issue that they already see the world in slow motion, so they overcompensate by always thinking they have more time then they really do. Elysia's attire is pretty simple, a pair of black and red professional grade running shoes, tennis socks puffing around her ankles, jeans that look like they were applied with a paint gun and airbrush, a t-shirt that reads 'All those that believe in Psychokinesis, Raise my hand' stretch across her chest, and her ponytail sticking out the back of a MET-U baseball cap. She jogs up, obviously not trying to look like she is fast, despite the fact she can break the sound barrier more then 5 dozen times over, and even before she was powered was almost a shoe-in for the Olympics' US Women's Track Team. She waves as she nears, "Sorry I'm running a bit late. Had to stop a few times for snacks and forgot my money and cards so I had to go back for them."

"What do you mean? I'm keeping a low profile!" Pixie responds to Cessily, eyes wide behind her glasses. She gestures at herself. "See, no wings, no hair showing, I'm subtle!" she announces, firmly. She regards Cessily and pouts. "Totally rocking the low profile thing. I'm even /walking/ here," she announces, in mild complaint. For someone who barely stays still for a second, she's used to being in the air. "And we took the train here too! No magic. I'm, like, totally undercover," she says proudly. The grumbling ceases when Elysia jogs up, however and she grins and raises a hand in greeting. "Hey," she says, the pout instantly replaced by a wide grin.

Cessily snickers at that, smiling. "Right, because neon pink and a hoodie in summer are totally subtle. Anyway, if you want to be a secret agent, don't you have to be Scottish?" she teases. Cessily smiles and waves. "Hey!" she says. "Elysia, this is Megan, she goes to my old school. Megan, Elysia, we've run into each other. She's pretty cool," she says. "Alright, so do we have a target list for this thing?" she asks, looking up and down the street for obvious stores to hit up. "Start with the feet and work our way up?" she suggests, pointing out a tony shoe emporium halfway down the block.

Offering a hand to Megan, Elysia smiles, "Pleasure meeting you." then giggling at the arguement, "This is New York, weird looking is actually more likely to be blown off then focused on. I think I saw a three foot tall cockroach boy wearing fatigues and a Captain America t-shirt holding a 'will work' sign, like eight blocks back." she pauses a moment, as if pondering the question, and then nods, "Shoes sound good. I need several pairs of running shoes, some new pumps, maybe a pair of open-toes, and couple of pairs of proper heels for the Academy of Tomorrow, cause I am determined to get accepted and want to have my uniform already bought and ready to be worn when I do."

Pixie grins at Elysia, "Hey there," she says cheerfully. "Yep, Megan here!" She sticks her tongue out at Cessily and smirks. "And yeah, don't mind Cess," she says. "She's just being a cow," she says smugly and tugs her hoody down lower over her face. If anyone's going to draw attention to them, it's not her! Totally subtle, so there! She gives Elysia an admiring look when Elysia reels off all the purchases she intends to make. A girl after her own heart.

"Moo," Cessily says, deadpan. Nope, she can't pull it off, and breaks into a grin. "Alright, sounds good," Cessily says, heading off towards the intersection. "You're being totally too energetic about that, Elysia. You know they'll just turn out to be evil and want to do experiments on you or something," Cessily suggests in a half-joking tone. She gets to the store and opens the door, holding it for her companions and then popping in herself.

Shrugging, Elysia smiles, "Well Bart and Leo didn't seem evil, and you saw their library. How can any place that encourages reading like that be evil? Nah, they'll turn out to be alien hybrid clones and time travelers or something." giggling. As she gets inside she surveys the room, and immediately grabs a pair of size 9 running shoes in green and white, smiling gleefully, "These look like the pair I won Nationals in." then she seems to flicker a moment, and there are a pile of boxes near her ready to try on in all kinds of varieties, even some things she didn't mention like mototcycle and hiking boots.

Pixie follows after, but is still obviously fighting her build up of energy from being stuck on a train for an hour or more. She skips and ducks behind the two friends, her feet constantly on the move. She'll no doubt wear out her own sneakers before too long. "Whatcha talking about?" she asks in a rush, somewhat behind on current events. "The Academy of Tomorrow DOES sound like a school for time travelers," she says, agreeing with Elysia. "That would be cool," she concludes. "Can you, like, run so fast you can turn time backwards?" she asks Elysia brightly. "I saw that on a movie once. Oooh, shoes!" she beams, immediately distracted by the shinies.

"If it were a school for time travelers," Cessily observes, idly browsing, "wouldn't it be the Academy of Yesterday? Or are they from the past?" Cessily ohs at Megan and explains. "So, there's this new school called the Academy of Tomorrow that seems to be wanting to poach...special students from other schools. I mean they knew I was enrolled at Empire STate but gave it a try anyway," she says. "So I went to an open house. It's...interesting. I dunno, I was looking forward to a 'normal' college experience," she says. "Oooh," she says, picking up a pair of red strappy sandals.

There is a shrug and then Elysia is trying on shoes, the piles seeming to grow larger, and the boxes strewn around her like a box fort, "Sor far, no, not that fast. Maybe if I had a flux capacitor to use, cause the 88 miles per hour is nothing, and I can make the 1.21 gigawatts in my sleep." she giggles, "Ooo, then I could go back and show off, maybe meet the heroes of Myth, and even become one..." the wall of boxes to one side of her growing faster and making her fort pretty solid looking, while a smaller pile forms behind her, less fort like and more like a neat pile for easy moving.

Pixie's nose wrinkles as she absorbs this information and considers it. "Wait, no, wait, they'd be the Academy of Tomorrow because they come from tomorrow," she says, counting out on her fingers as if this will aid her thought processes. "If they were from the past, they'd be the Academy of Yesterday, because they come from yesterday, right? Although you could be right, because if they come from the future, they'd consider this yesterday, but they'd probably not call it the Academy of Yesterday because that would make it sound like they were from yesterday even though today's yesterday for them because they're from tomorrow. See?" she concludes, eventually. Logic! You can't argue with logic. Her nose wrinkles again and she lowers her hand. "Wait, what were we talking about?" she asks, then oohs again. "Oh, yes, shoes!" She makes a beeline for a nearby rack which has the brightly colored sneakers. "Of course," she says, after a brief pause for thought. "Maybe you do go back and become a hero of myth and you just haven't done it yet. You could be that... Greek goddess who was really fast," she observes. "What was she called?" She grins suddenly and pounces on one of the sneakers, holding it up. "Nike! That was it!"

"Do they name themselves relative to how we'd see them or how they'd see us?" Cessily poses, and then shrugs faintly. "I won't claim to understand time travel logic!" she says with a laugh, sitting down to try on the red shoes. "Goddess of victory!" Cessily says with agreement, laughing. She gets the shoes buckled and stands, "What do you think?" she asks the others. "You do seem to like competing, Elysia. It fits."

The thought brings up ideas, then Elysia looks down at the Swoosh insignia, "Would people of Ancient Greece think the Swoosh is actually Wings? Wow! That would be sort of awesome if I turned out to be Nike." she smiles, "But then if I'm Nike..." placing a few more color selections of the company that took its name from the Greek Goddess and placing them on the pile behind her, "Would you two be anyone? Or would I take someone else with me? Maybe Leo? Maybe Leo is Adonis?" giggling a bit at the idea of taking the blond son of Lex Luthor to the past to be a hansome heartthrob thousands of years in the past in a skimpy toga or something.

Pixie picks out a pair of sneakers with pink laces and soles after a moment of trying to figure out the corresponding US and UK sizes. She turns back to the others and grins. "Didn't Nike have wings though?" she asks. "In which case, she could totally be me! That would be pretty cool. I'd like some worshipers to peel grapes for me and fan me," she says, cheerfully. "You might be Hermes," she says, considering. "Oh, wait though, there was a goddess of the rainbow with wings," she says cheerfully. "I read about all this stuff once. I'd totally be the goddess of rainbows," she says, throwing her arms wide and posing dramatically. "Kneel before the glory of Iris, mortals!" she announces, getting an odd look from the clerk, especially when she almost loses her grip on the shoes and is in danger of posing so dramatically they almost go through the window.

"You know, I'm not sure," Cessily says, humming. "Probably does in art. Blurs into medieval angel stuff," Cessily only half paid attention in art history class. "I've no idea who I'd be," she tells Elysia, "Maybe the golem? But that's less fun," she says. Pixie gets dramatic, leading Cessily to laugh aloud and duck reflexively, in case of flying shoe. She peers over at Elysia. "Sounds like somebody has a crush!"

Pouting a bit, Elysia ponders, "Nah, you have to be someone cooler then the Golem. I'm Nike, Megan is Iris, maybe you're Thetis... she was silver footed and like a water Nymph, you could be mistaken for a being of water." she sort of shrugs at the crush, "not sure it is a full crush, but he is cute, and it doesn't hurt that he is wealthy, plus I think he really wants to get me into the school, so maybe the attraction is mutual?" she blushes a bit and goes back to trying on shoes, and then after a moment her fort seems to shrink as if boxes are poofing back to where they came from, and only the pile behind her remains unscathed.

Pixie grins and lowers her arms since no worshipping is forthcoming. Bah! She hops onto a seat by the other girls and slips off her own shoes to try on the newly claimed sneakers, revealing colorful striped socks. Goddess of the rainbow probably isn't too far off. She wriggles her toes, then slides one shoe on. "Or you could be, um, Proteus?" she suggests to Cessily. "Like, another god of water and always changing shape," she says, distractedly. Considering how flighty she appears to be in her academic studies, it might be surprising to discover that she knows any of this stuff. Who knows where she absorbed it. Probably from a cartoon, knowing Megan. She looks up, grinning, having tied her laces and looking for gossip. "So, who's Leo? Who's Leo?" she digs, always eager for gossip.

"I guess I could be. I don't float as easily, but at least I don't freeze," Cessily tells Elysia. She spins and takes a seat. "And rich," she adds. "That always helps cuteness," she notes. She ooohs at Megan, "Good one, totally forgot about that. Wait, it's there a villain named Proteus?" she asks, as she takes off the shoes. "Leo Luthor. He was our tour guide at the Academy."

Pulling out her phone, Elysia shows the contact image for Leo, "That is him. He is looking into helping me get some grants and scholarships, and may even have a job line up for me." she then lounges back, waiting with her selections, since she is done and probably ready to head on to the next stop.

Pixie blinks at Cessily and gives a shrug. "I have no idea," she says, blankly. "I don't keep track of what all the guys trying to kill us call themselves," she says with a pout, then finishes lacing the other shoes and stands up, bouncing on the spot to check for comfort. "Hmmm, is he related to that bald, rich guy you see on TV?" she asks, distractedly, then glances at the phone and grins. "Oh, maybe not. Hair!" she proclaims, and hops a few paces in the sneakers, then apparently decides against them and sits down to pull them off.

"Probably good for your mental health," Cessily says, then laughs. "I dunno, the bald look kind of has some dignity to it," she suggests. She puts the demo shoes away, content not to buy anything yet. She eyes Elysia curious as she goes back to the street. "I'm surprised you don't just wear flats all the time," she says.

Smiling, Elysia says, "Actually, the super wealthy dignified bald guy, Lex, is Leo's dad. He is a big business guy, does all kinds of charity, and way more." she looks at the shoes, and then shakes her head at Cessily, "I believe Mel Brook had it said best: When you got it, flaunt it. Heel help me flaunt what I've got, and plus power heels help add height, and height helps make men feel intimidated, helpless, and submissive, which means more influence. It is like some psychological conditioning that guys think if they have to look up to a woman, then he must obey and respect her, so why not take advantage of it?"

Pixie slips on her own shoes and replaces the others on the rack, glancing at others, but since the only others that appeal to her only come in children's sizes (seriously, why are all the pink glittery ones for kids? Bah!) and so she follows the others without complaint, for once staying quiet and just listening to the conversation and considering what's being said. "So, like, when I fly a couple of feet above guys, they must feel totally intimidated," she concludes aloud. "Hah!" She grins widely and makes an internal note of that conclusion. "I guess if I shaved my head I'd be intimidating AND dignified," she says with a smirk at Cessily.

"Well sure, but we don't all get our jeans from a bucket of a paint either," Cessily says. She shifts her shoulders and has a vague grumble about her. "You do. Don't you notice how htey all clear out form ahead of you?" Cessily asks Pixie, and then she grins wickedly, "Damn right!"

Pouting, Elysia shrugs, "Hey, all that running has given me great legs, I can't help it that most jeans are tight on me." then there is a beeping from her phone, "Oh, shoot, that's a message from one of my bosses. He must have a rush deivery. I gotta bale. Can I call and maybe catch up with you two later?" looking at the message on her phone to see where she has to go and how long she has.

Pixie smirks and gestures, almost swiping someone walking past the group. "Clear out of my way, guys! Pixie coming through!" she says with a grin. "That's fine by me! I don't worry about scaring them off. They just can't handle my awesomeness," she says cheerfully. She falls silent as Elysia gets her message and then nods. "Sure thing!", she says, giving a little wave. "We have SHOPPING to do. I'm not heading back until I've spent some money," she says, grinning at Cessily. "I hope you're in for the long haul."

Nodding and moving quickly, Elysia asks a clerk to hold the pile of boxes and says she'll be back. She then waves, and moves out the door, and a moment later is gone, almost as if she'd never been there at all. She'll be back for the shoes and more shopping, but work calls.