[Social] Paying for Tuesday's Beers

[Will Stanton]

"Oh, nothing as boring as money," Will scoffed. "Something a bit more exciting."

"Perhaps the should bet one of appearance -- winner gets to decide what the loser looks like for the rest of the evening. Or of the night -- the loser must accompany the winner for the rest of the night, and not back out no matter what. Or of secrets, with the loser revealing something they've not told anyone. Does one of these appeal to you, Thrax?"

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax blinked and raised a brow. "You can shapeshift other people? I've seen a lot of powers but never that."

While the idea did make him a little nervous, he wasn't yet ready to share his secrets. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to lose.

[Will Stanton]

"Hrm? Oh, no, no, no, that would be impossible. Truly and certainly impossible. There are other ways to alter one's appearance, though, for monoforms around the world."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

I am what Earthlings call a dumbass.

"I'm going to blame the green stuff for that bit of stupidity." He chuckled uncomfortably.

Shaking off the awkwardness, he pressed on. "So! Yeah. Wager accepted. Let's do this."

[Will Stanton]

"Well, best of luck, and let's have fun out there," Will smiled.

Then, she picked up an axe, handling it much easier than she had a minute ago, and hurled it at the target. It didn't quite hit the bullseye, either, but it was just inside Thrax's practice throw.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax gave Will a sly grin. "Trying to hustle me, are you? Well, two can play at that game."

He drank some more of his green stuff and put the mug down before taking up a second axe with his right hand. "I'm not lefthanded," he revealed with a smirk. He threw it... and would have hit the bullseye if not for the bubbles tickling his nose causing an inopportune sneeze.

"Damn iiit..." he groaned.

[Will Stanton]

"Ah, my very own Princess Bride," Will said, the reference presumably going over the head of the alien. "And hustle? I'd never. It's just that I've trained with the Dread Goddess Morrigan, so I've handled a couple of axes in my day."

Will tossed an axe from hand to hand, taking time with her aim. Her shot also missed the bullseye, though she was consistently hitting the second ring. "Though I'm more of a spiky arms sort of guy, when I have to stoop to direct combat."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax gave Will a skeptical look, unable to contain his doubt. "You trained with a goddess? An actual deity, in person? You sure you haven't been conned?"

[Will Stanton]

Will just grinned. "I've been around the world a time or two, and I've seen all kinds of things.

It's your throw, fuzz-butt."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Fine, act like saying that is in any way normal," Thrax responded with a smirk before sighing. He took up his third axe and hit just inside the bullseye.

He whooped excitedly. "Woo! Yeah! Nailed it!"

[Will Stanton]

"What, fuzz-butt? There's quite a few of you around here. 'Tis the area for them, after all," Will grinned, her next throw also hitting the second ring. No bullseyes just yet.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"None as devastatingly handsome as yours truly." He grinned with the confidence in his appearance few animalistic mutants possessed, especially outside of Genosha. Of course, as far as Will knew Thrax could be from there.

He flipped his next axe and threw, making the mistake of trying to show off. As a result, he hit the third ring in a throw that could cost him the whole match. "Well, fuck."

[Will Stanton]

"Right. Let's see what we can do with this," Will grinned, hefting her last axe. She passed it from one hand to another, gauging it's weight, the feel of it against her palms. She took a few steps back, jogged towards the line, and lept, twisting in midair as she threw...

Her throw was a little bit off-target, heading towards the second ring -- a score that would leave Thrax ever so slightly in the lead. But, at the last moment, the target...moved. It hopped just the slightest bit to the left, correcting the slight inaccuracy in aim, and leaving Will's ax reverberating, dead-center in the bullseye.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax's attention was almost too focused on the showboating throw to notice the blatant cheating. Almost. "Hey! That's cheating!" he laughed. It was good that money wasn't involved or he would be very upset. But it wasn't and he wasn't the type to hold a grudge over little things.

"But I'll let it slide on account of you buying the drinks."

[Will Stanton]

"Ah, for something to be 'cheating', it would have to be against the rules, yes?" Will said, innocently.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

The large alien opened his mouth to argue the point but couldn't. Instead, he smirked. "As someone who's pulled that stunt, I can't actually fault you for winning by playing between the rules."

"Of course, I got my fuzzy ass banned from that fine establishment as a result. And very nearly left sans intact kneecaps."

[Will Stanton]

"And your kneecaps may well be your best feature! We'll have to highlight them," Will nodded.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Actually, I've been told that my eyes are my best feature," he responded. The fuzzy young man did have kind, intelligent eyes that practically glittered when he smiled, fitting well with his carefree demeanor. Though, now, he wondered if Earthlings had a thing for kneecaps.

[Will Stanton]

Will leaned in, close, examining Thrax's eyes.

"They're pretty good," she admitted after a moment. "We can highlight those, too."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"How worried should I be about you making me look ridiculous?" he asked with a slightly nervous laugh. Thrax wasn't exactly a dignified soul but he did have some pride in how he presented himself. Although, the university swag he had been so generously provided wasn't exactly fashionable either so maybe Will would actually be helping him out?

Yeah, he didn't think that was likely.

[Will Stanton]

"Oh, you shouldn't be concerned about that at all. Life's too short," Will said grinning.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

I'm doomed.

"Well, now I'm a thousand percent sure I'm going to regret this." He smirked. "But all the best bad decisions are things you can laugh at later! So let's go!"

[Will Stanton]

"Regret only what you don't do," Will advised. "Never regret a choice that makes life more interesting.

Now come. To the thrift shop!"

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Sound advice!" he responded as he followed Will out.

While walking down the street, he couldn't help but ask, "Do I get any hints what you have in mind or are you just making this up as you go? You seem like the type to go where the mood takes you. I am too."

[Will Stanton]

"Well, if I told you what I had planned, then you'd be really bored while it was happening, wouldn't you? There's no fun in that."

They had arrived at the door to some sort of thrift store, which didn't open immediately when Will turned the handle.

"Just a little stuck," she explained, fiddling for a moment, before swinging the door open.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax followed Will inside the shop for things humans no longer wanted. There was so much he hadn't seen before that it was difficult to keep his curiosity in check. He was supposed to know what they were like any human would. But, at least, clothing was self-explanatory and that's what they were there for.

He picked up a small cartoonish figurine with a big head in turned it over in his hand before putting it down. Some kind of religious object, maybe? he thought as he turned his attention to the clothes.

[Will Stanton]

Wyll was quickly flipping through the racks, picking up things and discarding them left and right -- a "no" to some glitter-covered Crocs, a "no" to the loudest Hawaiian shirt in the history of mankind, a "no" to a rhinestone-encrusted belt with the words "Big Boy Energy" on the belt buckle.

"Alright, go ahead and take it all off," she said, eying the clothes with a critical eye.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Right in the middle of the store?" he asked, surprised. He had thought humans were more squeamish about nudity than that. "Well, okay," he added, starting to pull up his shirt.

[Will Stanton]

Now that Thrax was looking around, the store seemed remarkably devoid of other shoppers. Or clerks. Maybe it was just super-automated?

"Nothing anyone here hasn't seen, and we've got to know what we're working with, don't we?"

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax thought back to the way they came in. Did they break in? Surely it was just automated despite the decidedly analog look of the place. Will was supposed to be a superhero, right? Those didn't break in to stores.

None of those thoughts stopped him from stripping down to his donated boxers. They were working with well-defined muscles, a tail, and copious body hair. Furries are going to absolutely love him. "Done. Unless you mean everything."

[Will Stanton]

Will looked down, with a grin, eyes lingering longer then they needed to. "Well, I wouldn't want to infringe too much upon your modesty, and we did specify 'appearance'. Besides, I think I have the rough outline of what's going on, you don't need to prove your the total package if you prefer to keep an air of mystery."

She walked a circle around the tall Hyena man, slapping him on the rear as she completed her circuit. "Right. We'll start with this," she said, tossing Thrax some shiny black leather pants, labeled 'medium'. If Thrax could wriggle his way into these, little would be left to the imagination -- it'd be maybe a step up from body paint, but that's about it.

"Oh, wait, right, one second," Will said, grabbing the pants back. She looked at one finger, shifting it into a thin metal spike, and cut a small hole in the rear. "We wouldn't want any chafing," she said, handing it back.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

The alien was skeptical that the pants would actually fit but, hey, if a beautiful woman asked he'd try. He was far too invested in where this might be going to turn back now. So, with much groaning and cursing, he squeezed himself into the tight, leather pants. Any tighter and he'd be singing soprano.

"Well, how do I look? Kinda worried about actually moving but that's a problem for the me a minute from now."

[Will Stanton]

Will grinned. There'd be some creaking noises when Thrax walked, for sure, but the effect was more or less what she had in mind -- very little left to the imagination, with the tail hanging out the back sure to draw plenty of attention.

"An excellent start, I think. Were it up to me, that would be fine, but alas, the rules of society exist despite my best efforts. So you'll need, at a bare minimum, one of these," she said, tossing another article of clothing to Thrax as she moved on towards accessories. This was a baby-blue crop top, with "SUNS OUT, GUNS OUT" written in a comical font with a grinning sun underneath. Apparently, Will had no pressing desire to re-cover Thrax's abs, or to let him regain an air of suave sophistication. This one would probably at least fit, with its tightness being part of the design of the shirt itself.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Upon getting a good look at the shirt, he laughed like it was the funniest thing he'd seen in ages. He hurriedly put it on. "Not gonna lie, I don't hate this shirt and the way it shows off my muscles. If you've got it, you've got it."

Joke's on Will; while occasionally suave, Thrax wasn't the least bit sophisticated even by Crocutan standards. He was easy to please and didn't care much what other people thought of him, unless flirting was involved.

[Will Stanton]

"Hey, the goal wasn't to make someone hate their appearance, it was to control it. What, did you think if we had bet the night, I would have made you do something you would have found loathsome? Not my primary goal, at any rate. I'm here to help, afterall," Will said.

And with that, she handed Thrax a faux-fur jacket with a pattern vaguely in the hyena-realm -- not quite matching his normal fur patterning, but not the most garish clash imaginable. There was a fine line between 'hot' and 'ridiculous', and Will seemed determined to have Thrax tip-toeing across it.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

As far as the alien knew, the ensemble Will was creating was the height of Earth fashion. It was definitely a far cry from what he was used to wearing. Putting on the jacket, he did a twirl and grinned. He at least felt like he looked good. "Nice."

"But, uhh, you sure you're up to paying for all this?" he asked, rendered naïve by his ignorance. This was definitely a burglary in progress.

[Will Stanton]

"Oh, don't worry your head about that," Will said, waving her hands around. "I know what I'm doing; it'll all be fine," she grinned, bringing in the accessories.:

• A deep red silk scarf, which she draped dramatically over Thrax's shoulder ("It makes you look important!")
• Glossy platform boots, with a slight heel -- giving Thrax an easy four extra inches of height, not that he needed them
• A fairly sizeable belt, with a gold lion head buckle on the front
• Satin gloves, with Will tearing out the tips to make them fingerless satin gloves to give his claws room to breath and work.

And, lastly, Will stretched out to get closer to Thrax's face, and pinned one, two, three clothespins on his left ear. "Very chic, I assure you."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax winced as the clothespins snapped onto his ear. "And painful."

He lifted up the boots, raising a brow at them. "Not as painful as squeezing my feet into these monstrosities. There's a reason I don't wear shoes."

"But," he sighed, taking a seat to give it an honest effort, "A bet's a bet."

After managing to get one on, he said with veiled pain, "Okay. This is going to be okay."

[Will Stanton]

"You're going to look fantastic, I tell you. A real head-turner."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"I'm pretty sure I already turn heads," Thrax answered with a smirk. Though, bravado aside, he knew that it wasn't because he was an all-around awesome guy. Squeezing his other foot into a boot, he attempted to stand...

... and promptly fell back onto his furry butt. "Okay. Ooone more try." He rose with a groan, feeling as unsteady as a baby deer. Storm, how could Earthlings walk in these things!