expiationlogs | Free Night at the Casino

Entry tags:

Free Night at the Casino

Who: OPEN to all / mingle log
Where: Queens (the casino!)
What: Wow July sure was a month! Time to take a breather and have a night out, courtesy of Toph and Mitsuru!
Warnings: N/A

FREE NIGHT AT THE CASINO

GAMBLING

Feeling down after that space infestation made you murder some friends? Getting tempted to bury yourself in the sand at the beach so no one can ever perceive you again?

Time for a tone shift! It's a free night at the casino. For tonight only, chips mean nothing -- which means everyone gets a rack of chips when they walk in and can let loose! Entertainment, food, and drink are also free within reason. (Abuse the privilege and find out who works security here the hard way!)

Welcome to Queens, the formerly shady but now revamped and reimagined casino in the entertainment district of Aldrip. Classy and minimalist but not gaudy, it's run, staffed, and heavily patronized by Chosen. Maybe you know someone who works there, maybe someone dragged you in to lighten up for once, maybe you're just stopping by for some fun.

Appropriately, the most popular game of the night is Queen's Blood, with tables set aside purely for teaching. There's also the standard casino games available in spades -- poker, slots, roulette, baccarat, blackjack, and so forth.

AT THE CLUB

It wouldn't be a casino without alcohol, music, and dancing. There's a low-key bar for those looking to have a conversation where they can hear one another over the pleasant live jazz, and a much livelier dance floor set off to the side in a different part of the casino with a DJ playing dance music.

FIGHTING TOURNAMENT

Beneath the casino is a massive underground cavern converted into a fighting arena.

It's a bit hard to find, intentionally -- either you were personally invited by someone or you stumbled across the covert speakeasy-style entrance in a corner of the main floor, possibly from the people jostling to go in and out. The stairs go down and down until they suddenly open out into the huge room, lined in walkways to view the fight.

There's three circuits to the fighting tournament: a bracket for fighting with powers, a bracket for fighting without powers (hand-to-hand and weapons only), and a shooting competition. Toph (

fieldtrip) serves as referee for all of the above and is prepared to break up anything that goes too far. This is just for fun, folks!

Sign up in the comment below and maybe you'll even win something! Toph promises a super cool prize to the winner of each circuit!

FORTUNE TELLING

Get a free tarot reading!

It does seem like some of the glitching in Aldrip has made it maybe a little more accurate than usual lately... or maybe that's inaccurate? Feel free to have the cards have a real effect on them with a glitch!

DOG THERAPY

In one peaceful corner away from the din and bustle is a dog petting station. All manner of adorable and highly trained dogs are available for cuddles and play time.

Some of them are even up for adoption if you want to take one home!

Kakashi (

battlefieldbrat) runs and operates this station with the kind supervision of Koromaru, our local good boy.

Code by

10billionghosts.

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[Scott is one of those people that finds this weird. Maybe because he's not used to being complimented by old ladies at all. Look, usually they're either ignoring him or giving him a stink eye for one reason or another.

The mutant slowly looks over at Kotone, noticing her smile still. She's probably used to having old ladies compliment her, huh? Yeah yeah, he can definitely see it now, mostly because he's experiencing the effects of it right now. But honestly, whatever mild irritation Scott has about this random encounter fades into fond exasperation, something in him still smiling. He's just glad that they're enjoying their night together, that both of them are alive.

Even if she's throwing some level of shade at him.]

She still spent more time in the bathroom-- [Scott closes his mouth, because the old lady may stop smiling at them if he made a comment like that.] Um, yeah, I wanted to look my best for our date together.

[He's trying.]

Ohoho! Good, good, never be modest if you don't have to!

[Now that Morph had a captive audience, they couldn't help but keep going. They weren't sure if either of them would catch on, but in the meantime, why not have a little fun?]

You remind me so much of my dear, departed Henry. Why, we had such a time together! We liked to go to the sock hops and share a malt together at the soda fountain. That was just a little scandalous at the time, mind you. And he always looked so handsome in his uniform...

[Did they even have the era right? Whatever, Morph doubted that either of them would notice. It's one of the reasons they steamroll forward with the grandma story, so neither of them would have the time to think about it.]

We really loved our bingo, too. In fact, I'm here for bingo night! Let me just get a pinch in for good luck, dearies.

[They slide the purse onto one arm and reach up to pinch both Scott and Kotone's cheeks at the same time - and not terribly gently, Grandma here has a surprisingly strong grip.]

[Oh... is this the start of a social link? Kotone's smile doesn't fade at all, but it does drift subtly away from her eyes, becoming an expression of polite, genuine interest instead of the bright devotion that's obvious when she's focused on Scott. She doesn't know what a sock hop or a malt is, but that sounds nice! If this were back home in Iwatodai, she'd expect to hear a booming voice in her head telling her she's unlocked a new arcana.

Actually wait, hang on, there's something she wants to ask about.

> Sock hop...?
> Malt...?
> Uniform...?

She spends so long mulling over her dialogue choices that suddenly- ouch! A pinch! A really strong one, too!! Her cheek is stretched comically to the side, but she still manages a questioning, if a bit garbled,] Do you have a picture of him in uniform?

[Like, this old lady probably isn't one of the Chosen? At least, Kotone's never seen her in that context before. And as far as she knows, there aren't too many uniforms out and about! So she's curious as to what that could be.]

[This old lady is continuing to drone on.

It's taking a lot of self-restraint on Scott's end to not interrupt her. Even when he's feeling his best, he doesn't really like it when random people interrupt his date with Kotone and he's far from his best now. A part of feels impatient, just wanting her to go away despite how nice she's being, but he knows that will only make Kotone upset. Sigh. At... at least she's by his side still, so that counts for a lot. Focus on that, Summers.

His hand slowly tightens in Kotone's for a moment, like he wants to keep on reassuring her and-- ow! W-what the hell old hag?! Not to mention that she's really strong for someone her age. The mutant can feel his cheek still being pulled and there's a slight whine to his voice as he adds onto what his girlfriend is saying.]

Shouldn't you hurry to your bingo game now?

[Okay, maybe he's doing the opposite of doubling down on what Kotone said. But his cheek really hurts!]

Edited 2024-08-06 14:23 (UTC)

[It was amazing what you could get away with when you looked like a sweet elderly person. Morph can tell that Scott's getting annoyed, but Kotone is still as polite as ever. It didn't seem like either of them were willing to tell a little old grandma to go pound sand, at least not yet.

Taking it that far is a little tempting, but instead Morph relents after a moment, letting go of their cheeks and chuckling heartily. They ignore Scott's question completely in favor of answering Kotone,]

Oh, if only I had brought it with me! He was a G.I., you know, but he never once told me what being stationed was like. Men simply won't talk about their experiences with war. In fact -

[Before the next Grandma Story can go any further, they get a little smirk as they take a small step back, their form growing taller and thinning out as they shift back to their natural look.]

- I'm always asking Logan if he knows Captain America, and all he's ever said is, "Lay off it, bub, I'm busy drinkin'."

[Okay, so Morph is probably the only one that's going to understand that punchline, but they're still pretty pleased with themself. They don't even have to change their voice to approximate Logan's signature growl.]

Edited 2024-08-06 18:54 (UTC)

[Scott! Don't be rude!! She puffs out her cheek a bit as she glances up at her boyfriend almost reproachfully. Old people who like to talk usually give her things, like new Personas or maybe some melon bread-

!!]

Oh! Hi, Morph-san.

[She doesn't know any of the people they're referencing (Captain America?? Really?? She thought "Cyclops" was funny enough as a nickname), but it doesn't dim her smile at all as she brightens with the recognition. If Morph can be out here goofing around pretending to be an old lady, that means they're back to (whatever passes for) normal, right? And that's a good thing!]

I didn't know you liked bingo.

[Unless that was also part of the story...? Anyway, if they're expecting her to tense up or be generally uncomfortable in their presence after their last encounter, it certainly doesn't seem so from her initial reaction.]

[..........

Can he blast them into the stratosphere??

Unlike Kotone's bright smile, Scott's face just scrunches even more. This fucking asshole man. What are they even doing?? Well, being annoying, apparently!! They're pretty good at that, especially with the whole old lady act they just did. As he rubs his now released cheek, however, some of that irritation fades away because Morph's back to normal, aren't they? They're... healed from that infection just like everyone else. They're teasing him and Kotone, a far cry from that monstrous figured that wanted him to die. He's... glad, really. Morph is a good person, he knows that much.

...

Something passes over Scott's face as he keeps his palm pressed against his face with an almost faraway look. He- he doesn't blame Morph, how could he?? People were infected and stuff. No one meant any of that. Not like he hasn't been attacked before in this world. Heck, Kotone almost killed him a year ago. ...It doesn't mean that he still hasn't thought about their encounter, how Morph practically screamed at them, the pain in their eyes. It just felt more personal.

It wasn't fully on the front of his mind when thoughts about Kotone and Ryoji haunted him, but Scott definitely hadn't forgotten about it.

Should they even talk about something like that? Morph is pretending that they're back to normal, so maybe Scott should act like he's fine too. That's why he's out here with Kotone in the first place, pretending to be a regular teenager for a night. At least one of the reasons.]

Yeah, didn't know you had the same tastes as a withered old grandma. Guess you have as much hair as one. [Wow.]

[Okay, so Kotone was as hard a nut to crack as ever, but Scott's initial reaction makes it hard for Morph to hold back a cackle. Up until he went and dropped that zinger, anyway. C'mon, they could obviously have hair if they wanted to!!]

Ouch, kid! You like to aim below the belt, don't you?

[Yeah, Morph is still impressed by Scott's teenage attitude, but at the same time it might be nicer for all that attitude to be pointed at someone that wasn't them. ... It was still better than the two being totally put off by Morph's presence, though. Kotone even seemed to be pretty happy still? So maybe their 'warm them up with the grandma act' trick had paid off.

With that in mind, Morph sucks in a deep breath and stands up a little straighter.]

That was acting, I'm not here for bingo. I, uh - I didn't want to interrupt your good time, but could I talk to you two? For just a minute?

[And somewhere that wasn't just standing around in the middle of the casino, ideally. This didn't require privacy, just somewhere quiet they could chat and make their apologies.]

[Scott!! Kotone still giggles though, because she thinks Scott's sarcasm is funny. It's rarely aimed at her, anyway, and never maliciously, which makes it even easier to laugh at. She squeezes her boyfriend's hand and sticks her tongue out a little bit at him as if to wordlessly command him to be nice! but returns her attention to Morph in short order.

Her smile fades a little into something still pleasant, but more curiously neutral at the request, though. Another glance toward Scott to make sure he isn't going to kick up a fuss, then she shrugs herself with another smile.]

Sure! I'd even be okay with two minutes.

[Sorry Scott, this is probably important! They can get back to enjoying the casino after this.]

Edited 2024-08-27 21:52 (UTC)

[He's allowed to be mean to his future teammate!! That's how it goes.

Although, a lot of Scott's own lightheartedness drops when Morph asks that question. It's pretty easy to put two and two together, knowing that the other mutant probably wants to talk about what happened last month. He's tempted to just tell them right now that everything is fine, that he doesn't hold anything against them, but seeing the look on Kotone's face, he knows that they should listen to this. Besides... he sees that this is important to Morph and so Scott nods, his expression turning more serious and perhaps familiar.]

Might even bump it to five if it's good.

[He's somewhat joking again, but Scott intends to hear them out for as long as needed. If he knows them at all, then he's sure that they feel guilty about what happened and... he understands that feeling. A knot develops in his throat, but he manages to nod, push down his feelings. He's fine, he'll have to be.

Just needing a little assistance, he squeezes Kotone's hand.]

Great.

[Morph turns, gesturing the two over as they lead the way to a sitting area nearby, sinking down into one of the chairs. This part wasn't going to be easy, but Morph had been thinking about it a lot, and even taken the time to talk to a couple of people about the whole thing. They were as ready as they could be for this conversation.

Sitting there with their arms loosely draped in their lap, Morph takes a deep breath before starting,]

It's the elephant in the room, isn't it? I got brainwashed by an alien force and tried to kill you two. Scott specifically. Believe me, if there was a way for me to stop it, I would have. I just wanted to make sure that you know that thing I became wasn't me.

All that stuff I was ranting about has been over and done with for years. The gnosia made it all feel like it happened yesterday. I don't blame Scott for what happened to me. Not my Scott, and definitely not you.

So... I just wanted to say thanks to the both of you, for stopping me before I could do something terrible.

[Kotone squeezes Scott's hand back, understanding his need for reassurance, and briefly runs her thumb over his knuckles. Morph had asked to speak with both of them, but even if they'd asked to speak with Scott alone, she wouldn't leave unless Scott wanted her to. She'll even let Scott pick a chair to sit in first before squishing herself in right beside him. If that means half-sitting on him, well, that's literally on him. He'd taken her death too hard for her to let go for something like this.

There's still the faintest ghost of a smile curving her lips as she lets Morph speak, but her eyes are more serious as she listens. In all honesty, as frightening as it had been, it hadn't been any worse than monsters she'd faced in Tartarus. It had been scary, sure, seeing somebody she knows transform into that, but... well, only the next day, she'd seen one of her dearest friends transform into something far worse and then kill her.

But this isn't about her, not really. It's for Scott. The virulence with which Morph had attacked hadn't gone unnoticed, nor had the things they'd said while in the throes of the alien force. For her part, there's no thanks or apology needed, something that might be clear in the little tilt of her head and quirk of her smile as one shoulder rises and falls with a subtle shrug. In her mind, they'd both simply done what had to be done.

She lets hers and Scott's joined hands rest on his thigh as she glances up at her boyfriend. This is important for him, she's sure, and she's more than content to let him take the lead on this.]

[There's a faint smile on Scott when Kotone decides to squish right beside him on the chair instead of taking one of the empty ones nearby. She's never embarrassed about this sort of thing, at least when she's the one starting it, but it truly helps to have her this close. Maybe he should be a little stronger, show both her and Morph that he's okay, but Scott only rubs his thumb across hers before he looks over at the shapeshifter. He knows that he and Kotone may look a little silly, maybe even fully involved with one another, but Scott's definitely giving the other mutant his undivided attention as they speak.

It hurt, somewhere, when Morph said those things to him. Morph wanting him dead, the pain in their voice and eyes, that combination definitely stayed in his mind afterward, even when he was closing his eyes for the night (although, the day after, something else happened and his mind ended up being swallowed by other things until now). And while he knew that it was mostly the infection talking, it's relieving to actually hear all this, a weight that he didn't know still existed loosening from his chest.

It's easy to just forgive them, right? It's Scott's initial instinct, because Morph is a good person. They're sometimes annoying, but Scott knows they would fight hard for him and the others. He's sure about that. That other Scott, Morph's Scott, fully believed in that too.]

I'm... it's okay. Don't worry, I knew that you didn't mean any of those things. [No point in making this worse by admitting that he was hurt, at least a little. Whatever guilt that Morph's been feeling is more than enough. Scott slowly breathes, before looking more certain, ruby glasses looking at Morph with a certain conviction.]

I'm glad that the infection is gone and you're back to normal. [Did they stop Morph before they killed anyone? That would be good. Scott doesn't ask though.] I'm... glad we were able to help you.

Edited 2024-09-04 16:44 (UTC)

[Seeing the two of them acting like normal teenagers at a prom was honestly pretty nice, though it made them think about how much of a shame it was that they both had to be stuck in a place like this, accused of crimes and dealing with whatever crazy threats were thrown at them. It sucked for everyone, sure, but the amount of younger people in the city made it that much worse.

Morph breathes out an audible exhale, managing a smile that's just a little fragile.]

Yeah. It did help. I knew what to expect from you, but I had no idea Kotone was packing that sort of power. What are you, anyway, a gun magician? [???]

What happened... it's not the first time something's brainwashed me into trying to hurt my friends. It's a long story. At this point I'm pretty sure I'm just unlucky like that.

[Kotone keeps running her thumb along Scott's knuckles, her smile softening to something almost proud as he speaks. She knows he's a pretty emotional guy, and it would have been difficult for him; honestly, she thinks Scott would have dwelled on it a lot more if it hadn't been for everything else that had happened pretty soon afterward. But it shows a lot of growth, she thinks, that he's able to keep calm and talk about something like this.

Outwardly, though, she just snorts a laugh at being called a "gun magician" and just shrugs at the accusation.] Sort of!

[And doesn't elaborate beyond that. Literally nothing personal, she just hates being the one to give exposition and avoids it as often as possible. In spite of hating to explain things, though, she squeezes Scott's hand briefly and glances back at him for a moment before returning her attention to Morph.] Something like that happened to me once before, too. My friends didn't hold it against me.

[He's not going to be stuck elaborating on Kotone's powers again, right?! RIGHT...

If Morph doesn't ask them to elaborate, Scott's not going to volunteer that information. He's sure that Kotone or someone (or him...) will explain it to them later, but he's totally fine just leaving that topic alone, even if the next one is a bit harder to talk about. Hah, maybe it would be better if he talked about her Personas, but this is still important. Morph's talking about what they went through and Scott truly wants to focus on that.

It really sucks that they had to go through something like that again. Something that's just awful, there's no other way to put it. Scott bites his lip, nodding, something sympathetic flashing across his face as he squeezes Kotone's hand back when she talks about her own trial with being controlled. He definitely remembers that. He almost died that day.

Perhaps he can talk about Phoenix now, but... is it the same thing? That wasn't entirely the fault of this place, not to mention he's not sure if he can talk about it now.

So, he doesn't bring that up. Although...]

Something like that happened to me too, sort of. Lost control and everything.

[He destroyed the club building. Hurt a couple of friends.]

[Right now Morph's not too interested in asking for more info about Kotone's whole thing, though they might try to get a little more out of one of them about it at a later date. Yeah, they're curious because the magical spirit beings had been weird and tough to fight, but they can worry about the whole 'how do you fight a gun magician' problem later. It wasn't that they were planning on fighting Kotone again, just that suddenly there was something new they needed to prepare for.

Hearing that both of them went through a similar experience makes Morph frown. What, was brainwashing starting to go around like a disease? And something beyond the gnosia was doing it? That wasn't good at all. Even for the X-Men, that wasn't something that happened every day. Yeah, there were glitches going around and other strange things, but Morph is still getting used to what goes on here.]

It feels pretty bad, huh? To lose control over yourself like that. But yeah, my friends forgave me. And the bad guy that did it got chased off, so things worked out.

[What they'd gone through at home had still been hard on Morph for a few reasons, but they didn't need to go into all of that. They had already shared plenty. They just needed Scott and Kotone to know where they were coming from.]

As long as you two don't hold it against me, I'm happy. But hey, go get back to having fun. I don't want to take up your time by being all gloomy.

[At least in Kotone's case, hers had been a cult whose members have since died horrible deaths. So! Probably not at risk of coming back (as far as she knows). But keeping with the theme of the evening, she doesn't elaborate on something Morph didn't ask, just humming softly and nodding. Even before her arrival in Aldrip, she'd heard about how one of her teammates had lost control of his Persona and accidentally killed someone, and witnessed herself how much that murder had torn him up inside.

So she does understand where they're coming from, and it's evident in the slight quirk to her smile. She just nods when Morph verbally wipes their hands of it and dismisses it as something in the past. No need to pry for details if the older mutant isn't inclined to share! But Kotone will remember that.]

You're welcome to hang out with us if you want! [she offers, the sympathetic tinge to her smile disappearing behind something more mischievous. She's teasing Scott, mostly, because he'd been so annoyed about the interruption from the old bingo lady.]

[Morph's right, it did feel bad, but similarly, all his friends forgave him. They did more than that honestly, as he thinks about Mikey and how the biker tossed him a sleepover and crap. Kind of girly, but whatever, he appreciated it then and he appreciates it now. Not that he's about to invite his teammate over for a sleepover, but he definitely holds no ill will towards the other mutant.

The forgiveness is definitely apparent in Scott's expression, lasting for a few seconds before it scrunches in slight displeasure. Kotone inviting Morph to their date night, of course.

She's definitely teasing, but also...

Maybe in any other scenario, Scott would've easily rolled his eyes or went along with it, but it's clear that he's not too fond of the idea. He just wants to spend time and be normal with her after watching her die in front of him, is that too much to ask???? But those upset feelings that threaten to climb to the surface are swallowed down, repressed, and he only stiffens in his seat for a moment before breathing out.]

...Yeah, that's cool. There's a lot of games open.

[Morph does briefly think about it, but they're also not totally blind. They flash the the two a smile as they rise from their chair,]

Naaah, I think I'm going to go hit the dance floor. I heard the music earlier and it's not bad.

[It would at least work to burn off the rest of their nervous energy. They're relieved that their apology went over so well, but Morph meant it when they said they didn't want to interrupt Scott and Kotone's time together. They weren't all that keen on hanging around and being a third wheel during what was obviously a date - they'd just be a mood-killer to a mood they didn't need to witness in the first place.]

We can always get together and hang out some other time. Don't be strangers, okay?

[Kotone glances up at her boyfriend when his posture stiffens, the concern in her eyes not quite matching the bright smile she's still sporting. On a normal day, she'd expect Scott to gripe a little, but still be okay with it. This doesn't feel like that, and inwardly, she winces; he must still be a little too raw for something like that. All she can do for the moment is gently squeeze Scott's hand, rubbing her thumb over her knuckles in a wordless apology.

Luckily Morph can read the room well enough to excuse themself, so she just turns her smile on the older mutant and gives him a thumbs-up with her free hand.]

Okay! Have fun!!

[Definitely nothing personal, Morph!!

Nonetheless, he's relieved when the other mutant declines the invitation, Scott's posture visibly relaxing as appreciation sticks to him. It's easy to agree to Morph's request to hang out some other day, bidding them farewell with a small wave before he wraps his arms around the girl on his lap. Yes, he's being clingy, just a little dependent on her presence, but Scott doesn't care to push away those feelings. She's always accepted him, even when he's being like this. It's one of those things he loves about her.

It feels like he can still be open and emotional without worrying about her reaction. Of course there are other friends here that he's open with, but not as completely. She's just really special to him.]

...Let's stay like this, just for a little longer. [He requests quietly, face pressed lightly against hers.]

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Free Night at the Casino

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