xp_logs | Marie-Ange and Madelyne: The end of the world as we know it (backdated)

Having made use of Marie-Ange's shower and bath products, Maddie begins to talk with her host. As a result, the world will never, ever be the same again.

Maddie sniffed her arm, again, as she settled onto the living room sofa. She had been sniffing herself ever since getting out of the shower. Marie-Ange's shower products were all citrusy and vanillay, and somehow she had managed to come out smelling like a creamsicle. A point she had to share with her current host.

"Is it weird that I want to lick myself? I mean, I smell just like a creamsicle. Ooh or an Orange Julius."

Marie-Ange was not quite sure what to make of Maddie. On one hand, the teenager was brash and bold, and it should have annoyed her in the same way that Cammie or Jubilee did, but she was also thoughtful and considerate and genuinely funny. Which is why instead of replying, she laughed, shaking her head slightly. "I am sure we can get you an Orange Julius if you really want one. I imagine that chewing on yourself would be uncomfortable." Even that, she could not say without some uncharacteristic giggling.

Gaze alternating between her pale, freckly arm and the chic French woman, Maddie pursed her lips in concentration. On the one hand, she wanted to test the notion that chewing on herself would be uncomfortable, but on the other hand, Maddie didn't particularly feel like chewing on her arm. So she decided against it, and settled on looking across at Marie-Ange. "Nah. No thanks. I don't need anything. I just smell really tasty."

"I always thought that all those girly oriented stuff would make me smell like I just popped out of some saccharine, glitter and pastel saturated, Disney Princess land with talking animals and singing flowers."

Marie-Ange raised an eyebrow, and jutted her head towards the decidedly non-girly assortment of Amanda's Stuff that was in the apartment. "Even if I was inclined to wear pastels, which, generally no, I try not to wear anything that looks like chalk or grandmothers, this apartment is decidedly a Disney Princess Free Zone. Except for Rapunzel, because we like her. She hits people with a frying pan." And her talking animal was a lizard. Who did not love that?

"I prefer Kate Middleton," Maddie gave a firm nod. "She didn't let Wills' breaking up with her stop her from having fun. Then he realized he was crazy and got married. She didn't talk to birds about how she was going to hold out for Prince Charming.

"I like the idea of being a princess and having a tiara as much as the next girl. But I'm not going to wallow and weep."

"Does she hit people with frying pans? No. Therefore Rapunzel is better." Marie-Ange said, laughing. "Tiaras are over-rated. They get caught in your hair and require so many hairpins. I think if you are royalty, you should be the kind that gets to wear a hat. But not the space monster hats. No one needs space monster hats." She could not remember for the life of her which of the royals had the terrible hat.

"You never know," the younger girl protested. "Her husband could like totally be into that." She nodded firmly, a punctuation to end the argument.

It was not often that Marie-Ange conceded defeat easily, but there was just nothing she could say to refute the suggestion that Prince William could perhaps be into kinky sex. He was a royal, for all she knew, he likely was. "You win." she said, smiling. "I am not sure what you win. Coffee? I have a lot of Starbucks gift cards I give to people who do me favors."

Maddie's eyes lit up at the mention of Starbucks. Sweet, chocolatey, frozen coffee-like drinks topped with whipped cream on a hot summer's day. All the caffeine and sugar rushing to her brain, sending her systems into hyperdrive. One of those venti fraps would keep her going all day. It was very, very tempting.

But it was also, she knew, a very bad idea. Which was why Maddie's face changed into a mournful expression as she shook her head. "No thank you," she replied. "Mixing me with coffee is a bad idea on par with launching nuclear weapons at the moon."

"They make decaf." Marie-Ange said, with some amusement. "Besides, it is rather like having someone else's child visiting. I can give you caffeine and then send you over for someone else to deal with." Which was so very tempting. "But perhaps another prize? I am not sure what you would like for winning. What do teenagers do now besides read terrible fiction and listen to dubstep?"

Maddie's nose wrinkled in disgust. Decaf was gross, terrible fiction was stupid, and dubstep... well, okay, that stuff was fun to silly dance to. But still. She had better taste than all of that, if she did say so herself. But Marie-Ange seemed insistent on rewarding her with something, so it was time to think. Lips pursed in concentration, hand running absentmindedly through her damp hair, Maddie racked her brain for ideas. Tiaras were already out, and she didn't feel like ice cream or baked goods, which pretty much meant the teenager was running out of ideas.

"You work with the seedy underbelly of New York City, right?" She sounded nonchalant, even a little dazed, as she continued to play with her hair, lost in her thoughts. "Where would a girl go to get a fake ID?"

"For a good fake ID, or the cheap kind that only works in terrible stores with no selection?" Marie-Ange pulled her feet up onto the sofa and rested her chin on her knees. "The cheap kind you can get from half the street vendors, but they will overcharge you and it will not be worth half the money." Of course, on the other hand, Madelyne was telepathic, and for all Marie-Ange knew, could just get one for free if she pushed. Still not worth the effort though. "The good ones require a professional, and a bit more effort than just winning an argument about who is the best princess."

The nose wrinkle deepened. It's not like she could go to her parents and ask for money for a fake ID. She supposed she could ask for something else, but strangely enough she wasn't the biggest fan of outright lying to her parents. Besides, there wasn't anything she could think of asking for, especially not something that was probably cash only.

"How about a middle of the road," she asked, uncertainly. "Like good enough to look almost legit and I use my powers to convince whoever that it's really real?"

Marie-Ange almost laughed, but caught it before it was more than a amused sounding noise. "Or you could try to convince me that a very good one is somehow worth my time by offering me your time." Lessons in negotiations with a teenaged telepath with definite potential to be a hell-raiser. It was all too much like corrupting the young but really, if Miss Madelyne Pryor wanted a fake ID, she would manage one no matter what, and this way she would not get arrested.

Maddie leaned in, chin propped on her hand, her eyebrows raised in interest. "I am intrigued. Please, continue."

"A decent fake ID would take me at least an hour and also require you to come into the office and get a photo taken, and since I have a job, and you have... summer vacation, I think a few hours of your time assisting me with a project would be a fair compensation." Marie-Ange explained. "Nothing illegal of course, that would be rude to ask. You have already made your lifetime quota of felonies no one will ever know about. "

The teenager nodded slowly, turning the words over in her mind. It seemed like a fair enough proposition to her, but there was one key detail still missing. "You still haven't actually said what it is you want me to do."

It was hard not to like a teenager who actually picked up on that kind of thing, Marie-Ange thought. "I promise, nothing terrible, but both I and my cousin need to replace some clothes, and having a shopping assistant is helpful. I promise, nothing strenuous, just fetching drinks and taking bags back to the car, and possibly being a second set of eyes if I tell Jean-Philippe to stop wearing long-sleeves year round."

"Sparky McSnarkerson wears long sleeves all year?" Maddie pulled her face into a look of mixed disgust and disbelief. "Maybe that's why he's so cranky. All that overheating and shit." She sighed and shook her head sadly. That poor, poor man. Maddie certainly would not call herself a master of fashion, but long sleeves in the summer? That was just downright wrong!
She was overheating just thinking about it.

"All right," she continued after a moment. "I'll do it. And don't worry about me I'm deceptively strong, and these guns are fully loaded." Flexing her muscles, the teen girl kissed her bare biceps and grinned broadly. "I just need a ride down and a day's notice so I can clear my schedule. The peace talks with North Korea will simply have to wait if need be."

"Are you certain you did not have any of Amanda's teas? Or one of the brownies marked "do not eat - full of drugs"?" Marie-Ange had raised an eyebrow at Madelyne and was peering at her curiously. "The label on the brownies does not lie. You should not eat them, it might get
one of us arrested."

"Woah woah woah woah woah. Hold up." The younger girl raised her hands, motioning for the woman before her to stop. She squinted, mirroring the curious look in Marie-Ange's eyes, with a bit of skepticism thrown in for good measure. "Let me get this right. You're telling me that there are pot brownies in this apartment. And you're telling me that I can't have any." Maddie threw up her arms in exasperation, and settled back against the sofa, arms crossed.

"You are so mean. Like totally mean. You're practically like challenging me to have one just to go against what you're asking."

"They are for my work." Marie-Ange said, clearly trying not to laugh. "If you exhibit a strong reaction to caffeine, then other drugs in an unsupervised setting is probably not a wise idea." Of course, that was just opening her up to being the supervised setting. "I am saying you cannot have any at the moment. Find out why caffeine affects you and if other medication does, and then we will talk. Better if you try it in a safe space than out at a party where you find out that it gives you a seizure or makes you see tiny blue trolls everywhere."

Maddie paused and brought a finger to her lips, brows furrowed deep in thought. For several moments, she stared directly at Marie-Ange, eyes unfocused as the wheels turned in her head. Then, Ah ha! Her eyes lit up, back straightened, and her finger pointed directly at the woman. "That. Is a very, very good idea. I like the way you think, Marie-Ange."

"That is because I am a very clever person whose life you should strive to emulate." Except the opposite of that last half. Marie-Ange was not going to say that out loud, of course. Best Maddie not quite know what they did at Snow Valley just yet - at least not the worst parts. "Besides I would so hate to be a hypocrite. Amanda and I used to sneak alcohol in our room and I am fairly sure she kept a few less than legal plants."

"Please," the younger girl held back her excitement as much as possible. "Teach me your ways. Pass on your knowledge so that it may carry on through the generations to those of us worthy of knowing it."
"Act like you know what you are doing and never get drunk, or if you do, have a roommate who can make hangover cure out of plants and old socks." Marie-Ange suggested. "I do not however, recommend the crush on older Spanish men. Should you come across any, run in the other direction."