[Social] Paying for Tuesday's Beers

[Will Stanton]

Will stood behind Thrax, placing two hands on the small of his back for balance. "C'mon, you're not going to be beaten by a pair of platform boots, are you? You can do this, strut your stuff," she grinned.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax took a single step and stumbled, almost twisting an ankle. "Nope. Nope. Not doing the shoes. Gotta draw the line at injuring myself," he said as he sat back down to start freeing his feet. The theoretical possibly of this interaction leading to something wasn't enough to risk bodily harm. She wasn't that hot.

[Will Stanton]

"No shoes for you, hrm? You're opting to go barefoot?" Will said, with the same grin on her face.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax looked back at her side-eyed, with worry on his face. "I am suddenly afraid of Plan B."

[Will Stanton]

"Oh, I think we're jumping several steps ahead of ourselves if we're thinking of Plan B already," Will said, that same grin still plastered on her face.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Right. Of course. Will was no more a planner than Thrax. Why should he start worrying about plans now? He smirked and nodded. "Because there is no plan. Gotcha."

[Will Stanton]

"Oh, there was. But if your feet need to breathe, I think we can accommodate you," she said. "It's just....slightly off the terms, you know."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Have I been a bad, bad boy?" he asked with an amused, playfully suggestive smirk.

[Will Stanton]

"You might find out just how bad you've been," Will smirked back.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"I should misbehave more often," he smirked. Was this going where he thought this was going or was she just playing?

His smirk deepened as he dropped one of the gloves on the floor. "Oops."

[Will Stanton]

"Playing with fire, are we, Thrax? We like to live dangerously?" Will grinned, placing one hand on Thrax's bare six-pack. "Is your adrenaline pumping now?," she added, breathily.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Among other things," he answered, waggling a brow as he leaned into her touch. In the back of his mind, he knew he might be burning a bridge with Robin by hitting on her parent but, well, he wasn't currently using that organ to think. If he was, he'd realize what was off about his current situation.

[Will Stanton]

"Well. Let's see if we can't pronounce trouble incorrectly a couple times," Will grinned, stretching up to grab Thrax by the back of the neck and drag him down towards her normal height.

((FTB))

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Sometime later...

While they, at some point, moved the festivities to a secluded corner of the store, the noise they had made could have easily alerted a passerby to their carnal hijinks. But the risk of getting caught only made it more fun.

Laying there with a grin on his face, Thrax said, "I should hook up with polymorphs more often."

[Will Stanton]

"Clay has its advantages, especially in the hands of a talented sculptor," Will agreed, looking around a little bit of the damage the two had caused.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Following her gaze, he winced. This was not what laying low and staying out of trouble looked like. He really had to stop letting his hormones drive. "So, uhh... I probably should have asked this earlier, but... we broke in, didn't we?"

[Will Stanton]

"That is an awfully serious allegation, Thrax," Will said, crossing her arms.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"I mean, nobody else is here, the door was 'stuck', and I'm pretty sure this place isn't automated. Do they even have automated physical stores? I mean no offense, but you can see where I'd get the idea we aren't supposed to be here."

He had one job and he was blowing it. He couldn't let Ashlie find out about this.

[Will Stanton]

"Oh, don't go wasting your pretty little head by getting ideas. That never leads to anything good."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Unlike a certain beast of destruction, Thrax didn't let barbs like that get under his skin. He knew he wasn't dumb—merely impulsive and, currently, massively ignorant—and if others underestimated him then so be it. Besides, Will didn't seem to be doing more than teasing. Nothing worth examination.

"Oh, yeah, too much thinking about the consequences just leads to inaction. Can't argue with that."

[Narrator]

There was a tapping on the front door to the store.

"Oi. Anyone in there? We've received a complaint..."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax's eyes widened. "Shit! I knew it! You picked the lock! Damn it, I can't get arrested! I'm not exactly in this country legally." he whispered.

[Will Stanton]

"I didn't pick the lock; I used a key..." Will hissed back -- the origin of said key not being strictly relevant at this point in time, surely.

"Alright, quickly, stand up and get closer to the wall."

[Narrator]

There was a creaking sound, and the door to the shop began to open, a flashlight beginning to sweep across the store.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

While his trust in Will was a bit worse for wear, the alien had no better option than to comply. So, he quickly gathered up both all of the discarded clothes and scooted closer to the wall before standing up. He mentally uttered a prayer to the Stormsaint that this worked out.

[Will Stanton]

Will dove at Thrax, liquifying and spreading out as she did so. She flowed over Thrax's body, clay wrapping around him the best she could, conforming herself to Thrax's shape.

A conveniently placed nearby mirror made it clear what Will was doing -- she was putting the skin of a mannequin over Thrax; a plastic shell that might well belong in a shop. This was tough -- Thrax was big, and wasn't human-standard shaped, so Will had to tuck up and squeeze parts of Thrax to try to get him to conform to the proper shape. Even that wouldn't work on the face, so Will left that Hyena-like as she flowed over his muzzle -- a blank, hyena-shaped mannequin wouldn't be that weird in Mutant Town, would it?

She spread herself thin enough over Thrax's nose so he could still breath through her clay, and his eyes so he could still see, albeit with a slight grey filter to the world. He was otherwise sealed tight, Will serving as almost a second plastic skin pressed against his own.

[Will Stanton]

"Hello?"

The flashlight was put down as the lights came on, and Will walked further into the store. He was in his X-Men uniform, looking from side to side at the store.

"We're sure this was the store that had the alarm?" he said, apparently to no one. A pause. "No, I'm not saying you can't read the board, I"m saying....yeah, OK, I'm on site."

He started walking down the aisles, investigating the thrift shop and the path of destruction the two had left.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

It was a very good thing Thrax wasn't claustrophobic or the current situation would be a special kind of hell. It wasn't a concept his people had anymore but he had been around the universe enough to understand the idea of a place of eternal punishment. Of course, this wasn't by any means a pleasant experience; he could breathe but, without being able to expand his lungs much, he couldn't breathe well. He wasn't certainly not a fan of that! Though it was an impressive use of shape-shifting!

[Will Stanton]

Will -- the X-Man Will, not the other Will -- was taking his sweet time investigating the damage. He squatted down in front of the 'mannequin', back turned as he examined some over-turned shelves.

"Maybe just some punk kids trashing the place, though I'd expect some graffiti. No sign of forced entrance," he said to whoever he was talking to.

He didn't seem to be paying the mannequin any mind, but his position was kind of trapping Thrax and Will. They could try to remain motionless and hope this Will simply didn't catch on, or they could try to make some sort of move.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax held his breath as much as possible in case this male Will could hear him. He thought about running for the door but, even if he got away, the X-Men had his ship. There was nowhere to run to. The impulse was there, though, and getting stronger.

And he felt a sneeze coming on. Oh, no you don't! Don't sneeze!

[Will Stanton]

The Will wrapped around Thrax sealed off his nose even more, hoping that if he couldn't stifle the sneeze, maybe she could muffle it enough...

But X-Man Will was moving on, heading out the back door and checking the back alley.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

With a quiet snort, the tingling in his nose subsided. When mannequin-shell-Will eventually released him, he greedily sucked in a full breath. "Holy hell, that was close... Thanks. I owe you another try at those shoes, at the very least."

He didn't wait for an answer before he creeped towards the exit, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and carrying a ball of assorted clothing.

[Will Stanton]

"Don't worry, that guy's a dope. Wouldn't see a trick like that if it was right in front of his face," Will demurred.

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Gotta say, I'm surprised you didn't call him a dummy," Thrax responded with a smirk as he headed for an alley to get dressed, "I mean, it was right there."

Once safely out of sight, he began putting the strange outfit back on. True to his word—the second time around, at least—he even forced his feet back into the horribly uncomfortable shoes. "Ugh. My feet are going to hurt so much later."

[Will Stanton]

"If you can't run in those, you may want to put that off. He'll double back sooner or later..."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Good point." Thrax reversed course and took the shoes off, much to the delight of his feet.

"So, how do you plan to outwit... well, you? Again, anyway," he asked, trying to wrap his head around Will's abilities. Why were polymorphs always so blasted weird?

[Will Stanton]

"Oh, I can't. But we have an ace up our sleeve."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

The metaphor went right past him, having no exposure to human card games. Judging by context, though, he assumed it had something to do with having an advantage of some kind. Was it—he hesitantly pointed to himself, raising a brow in question.

[Will Stanton]

"You! Yes, you. He knows what I think and would do; he doesn't know what you think or would do."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

"Assuming I get caught in the first place? Usually I just charm my way out of things or, failing that, punch and run. And punching you seems like it'd be ineffective."

Storm. I make it sound like I'm a career criminal. Which... I am, I guess? Technically anyway!

"Wait, I forgot for second that I can fly... sort of. I don't get much practice at it but it's useful in a pinch. So can you, I dunno, turn into something I can carry?"