[Social] Paying for Tuesday's Beers

[Will Stanton]

"You can fly? Next time, lead with that![/i] Will laughed.

She jumped towards Thrax, dwindling and diminishing as she did so, ending up as a small novelty keychain.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax caught the keychain with a grin. A strong breeze picked up as he called upon the air to raise him over the rooftops. He was less stable in the air than he remembered—there wasn't much call for the ability between the occasional visit to a planet—but he quickly got the hang of it. It really was like riding a hoverbike.

With one last wobble, he projected himself towards the park with the portal. "I'd like to see the other you catch us now," he said with a smirk.

Wait... Can you actually hear me without sensory organs?"

[Will Stanton]

"Oh, I can do plenty, organs or no organs."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

The flying hyena-man flinched at the unexpected response and lost lift for a terrifying second. "Including talk, apparently! Any other surprises while I'm at a fatal altitude?"

Dude. You asked.

[Will Stanton]

"I'm full of surprises. I'm 99% surprises by weight.

I exist sort of conceptually. My cells take in interactions with the world, and my mind translates them into something I can understand. I can feel your palm around me; feel my body compressing when you squeeze. I can hear you despite my ears being made out of molded rubber; I can see the cracks and crinkles in your palm, smell your sweat from your nervousness in the air. There's very little I can't do. I'm basically a shapeshifting savant."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Pff. Me? Nervous? I don't do nervous," he scoffed, denying it a bit too emphatically, "I live in the moment. Worrying about the future is for suckers."

[Will Stanton]

"Oh, maybe you just have an allergy to cheaply-made plastic then. Probably should get that checked out," Will joked.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"There was dust in the air or something," Thrax explained. Nervous? Impossible!

As he began to descend towards the park, he asked, "So, you're like the ultimate shapeshifter? That sounds super useful! I mean, you can even literally be in two places at once! My powers are awesome and all but I'm just one guy."

[Will Stanton]

"Well, it has its ups and downs. But I'd take my chances against any other shifter, for sure."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax landed gracefully, light on his feet despite his size. "What next, m'lady? Back to playing dress the fuzz-butt?"

[Will Stanton]

"Nah, your butt seems adequately covered. I may be tapped out -- unless you have something you want to try."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"I mean, the night's still young. And you've gotta make sure I keep these on the rest of it," he said with a grin.

Smirking, he added, "But if you wanted to take them off of me again I won't stop you."

[Will Stanton]

"So eager so quickly. Adrenaline does a number on you, doesn't it?," Will teased. "Maybe I just want to stay clipped to your pocket and observe, hrm? Or do you really want me to get you out of those clothes?"

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax thought long and hard about it—heh—but decided he didn't actually have enough energy for another go on that ride. Disappointed, he answered, "As much as I hate to admit it, I'm good."

Abruptly changing the subject, he said, "I could eat, though... but, then, I've mooched enough for one day."

[Will Stanton]

"Whatever keeps the furnace firing, then. If we need to cram some food in you, we can make that happen."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"But, if you're offering, I know better than to turn down free food," Thrax grinned, blissfully unaware of how bad an idea it is to accept food from the Fae or even what a Fae was. "What's good around here?"

[Will Stanton]

"If you want maximum calories for minimum bucks, there's a diner across the street," Will offered.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Perfect! I practically live on cheap and greasy diners." He grinned and started walking. If that was true, he must have a great metabolism and exercise regimen to be in such great shape. Or alien diners are just healthier in general.

"What is British food like, though?"

[Will Stanton]

"Boiled until grey," Will said, shaking her tiny plastic head. "They had to invade the rest of the world to get introduced to the concept of spices."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax wrinkled his nose at the description. Even his emergency rations sounded more appetizing. "Please tell me this diner isn't British. I'm easy to please but not that easy. I need flavor, at the very least."

[Will Stanton]

"Oh, that's the good thing. The British were reverse-invaded, by the Indians and the Irish and a bunch more, and they brought with them edible food."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"So, they got their revenge by destroying a 'rich culinary tradition' of unequaled blandness?" Thrax smirked. "Poor, poor England."

He couldn't ask more without completely revealing how little he knew about Earth history, if he hadn't already. It was challenging to pretend that the things he was seeing and hearing weren't for the first time. Asking about too many things that were common knowledge was going to be suspicious.

[Will Stanton]

"They'll get over it, with their Tikkas and their teas and whatnot. Just had to be forced upon 'em, is all."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

That's right, Thrax, smile and chuckle like you know Tikkas are. He knew what tea was, at least! Humans weren't the only species to figure out how to boil leaves.

As they neared the diner, the big guy caught a whiff of what he would later learn to be curry. It smelled wonderful and exotic, although everything on Earth was exotic to him. He had to restrain his curiosity as he casually opened the door to step inside. But, just before he did, he said, "Maybe you should turn back into a human so I don't look like a crazy person when I'm talking to you."

[Will Stanton]

"And what if I don't feel like it? What's in it for me?" the cheap plastic keychain grinned up at him.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"My services include singer, dancer, bodyguard, getaway driver, transporter, lifter of heavy shit, and reacher of high shelves," he answered. He probably shouldn't have mentioned getaway driver to a superhero but Will did just engage in a bit of petty theft.

[Will Stanton]

"Yeah, I don't have the need for any of that right this moment, but I'll keep all of that in mind for the future," the plastic keychain nodded.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Guess looking crazy is part of my look for night," he sighed, exhaling slowly before stepping into the diner. He simply had to remember that this was all was worth it for free food.

[Will Stanton]

"Hey, I can't help it if you're not selling what I'm wanting," the keychain smirked up at him.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"And what is it you're wanting, mister talking keychain?" he inquired as he found an empty table.

[Will Stanton]

"Something unique and interesting and exciting that can hold my attention for more than 30 seconds," she said.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"I'm a very good musician, thank you very much. Out of this world, you could say," he smirked confidently. His pride as a Stormsinger demanded satisfaction. "Just tell me where and I'll give you a show like nothing you've seen before."

[Will Stanton]

"Alright. Go on, then." Will nodded.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Not here!" he hissed. "Normally I love to show off but... I have my reasons, okay?"

[Will Stanton]

"I believe your exact words were," she said, shifting into a plastic keychain copy of Thrax, "just tell me where."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"I didn't think that far ahead, okay? I don't want to end up on your YouTube or something."

Shit! 'Your' YouTube'? Are you trying to sound like an alien?

[Will Stanton]

"Your head's not very full of brains, is it? Well, we can stuff it up with some curry or something as a replacement," the Thrax-keychain agreed.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"I've got plenty brains, I'm just too impulsive for my own good," he answered a little sulkily, feeling defensive.

When the server put down only one menu, he gave Will a questioning look. Was he going to eat, too, or just be a talking accessory the whole time?

[Will Stanton]

At the moment, Thrax hadn't offered his keychain something worth shifting back for, and so Will seemed content at the moment to make things as awkward as possible for him, staying small and cheap plastic. Who had a keychain of themselves, anyway?

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Fine. Be that way.

Thrax, who could read English for unspecified sci-fi reasons, still didn't know what most of the dishes actually were. Though, Will had mentioned something called tikka so the chicken tikka masala—inauthentic as it would be, but he didn't know that—was what he went with. And for his beverage he asked for a suggestion, ending up with a lager.

Once they were, once again, relatively alone, he asked, "Tikka is good, right?"