poly_chromatic | [text / action]

I don’t remember the curses on a weekend like this being so uniform. It’s a comfort, almost, knowing that so many others are afflicted with the same thing.

It’s also startling to wake up and find that, not only is your body not your own, but someone you know is living a radically different life than they were yesterday. Startling, not surprising. Living in the City makes surprises few and far between (and those few surprises are almost inevitably unpleasant)—or so I think.

If you’re unhappy about your situation this weekend, remember that it won’t last. Nothing, good or bad, ever does.

[Justin is—like much of the City, it seems—not the same gender as usual. Also like many others in the City, he has decided to distract himself by drinking. After stopping by the police station to grab some work to do, he heads to one of the smaller bars in town. It’s not quite a dive, but only just. On a normal day, he would hide in the corner. Cursed, however, he feels confident enough that no one will recognize him and instigate a conversation.

Should anyone meander into this bar, they may see a young, willowy woman sitting alone, staring morosely at a stack of papers and drinking almost absently.]

[ooc: Genderswap, 'cause all the cool kids are doing it. Feel free to either reply to the text or run into Justin at the bar or... really, whatever strikes your fancy. Replies wil be from

ohcurses ]

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[Obviously Howl is hitting up every bar tonight to see how many free drinks he can get. Spotting a lady by the bar he saunters over and leans against the counter, stirring his straw in his drink.]

Good evening.

[Having men purchase drinks for him, needless to say, was not Justin's intention. Getting drunk enough to not mind if the curse lasts through tomorrow is.

He's pretty sure he doesn't know this woman.]

Hello.

You look like you're about to sort a small raincloud over your head any moment. What on Earth could be getting you down so much?

Existence.

Well that isn't bleak in the least. Have anther drink, that may cheer you up.

Unless you already have and you're the maudlin drunk type.

Good idea.

[He requests another of what he had been drinking. Fortunately, the bartender knows.]

I'm always maudlin. [That's almost a smile!]

[Peter plops down next to Justin, a drink sloshing in his hand, and just starts talking. Does he know it's Justin? No.]

I have got a philosophical question for you. If a guy turns into a girl and has sex with a man, does that make him gay? If he's still a man in his heart.

[Peter's intrusion startles Justin (who isn't usually easy to startle, but he may be a few glasses in). It's--oh, it's the drunk he met at the Blue Light. Not a friend who might recognize him.

And the question is, to say the least, unusual. Justin humors him by setting his papers aside and looking into his drink (what was he drinking again?) thoughtfully.]

No... not if one is biologically male and the other is biologically female. [Actually, this topic is relevant to his interests.] Or it might. "Gay" is a label. Labels aren't always dependent upon the... the genitalia involved.

EXACTLY! [slams his fist on the table] So what are they dependent on?

[SHIT that was unexpected.]

Labels? They're not dependent on anything. They're tools--that's all any words are.

A hammer is a tool. An axe is a tool. And a hammer is not the same thing as an axe.

No. It's not.

[He finishes off his... rum? Yes. It was definitely rum. Except he doesn't usually drink rum. His life must truly be coming apart at the seams.]

Words don't... they don't have concrete boundaries. "Gay" and "straight" aren't as easy to distinguish as a hammer and an axe.

[Peter rests his cheek on his hand and looks at Justin.]

Why?

Because people are more complex than tools. We need a flexible language to describe ourselves... something fluid.

Fucking useless if you ask me.

You. [he leans forward] Are really hot.

I don't know. Language gave us an advantage over the other apes.

[Peter gets a blank stare as Justin processes that. Those words, in that combination, have never been said about him, and he's not sure how to react. A decent person would probably mention the curse. A less-than-decent person might see if any other compliments are forthcoming.

Justin isn't feeling like a very decent person.]

Th-thank you. That's... different.

You haven't seen Planet of the Apes, have you?

You don't hear that often, I bet.

No. That's one of my many failings.

[He decides to go along with this.]

Never.

[sexy smirk oh yeah baby]

Well, we're just gonna have to fix that.

[Justin can't help but find it interesting how differently people respond to him when he's physically female and fairly unrecognizable. This train of thought results in an expression that could either be interpreted as boredom or interest, depending on how optimistic Peter's feeling.]

How do you intend to do that?

[Words? Who needs words? He leans forward to kiss her.]

[Oh. Well, that... wasn't entirely expected, since, as far as Peter knows, they've only just met. Justin doesn't particularly want to kiss anyone, let alone an odd man, but it's simply not in his nature to resist or protest.

He goes very still, passively accepting the kiss.]

You know, if he's bothering you I could have him dealt with.

[A lady with a blond halo of dyed curls slides into the bar next to them and orders another martini.]

[kiss is derailed by another hot lady]

I've got a bother I'd like you to deal with.... that sounded cleverer in my head.

[realization]

HOWL.

I'd keep it in your trousers, Vincent.

[Ehm. This looks like an excellent opportunity to just... take these papers and this drink and move to that unoccupied corner over there.

And not let that happen again.

Ever.]

What good does it do me there?

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