InsaneJournal

Who: Dani Storm (PERFECT STORM) and Marcus Sexsmith (THE AURALIST)
What: Marcus and Dani find a date to the wedding!
When: Forward-dated to Tuesday, April 14th, approximately 5 pm, before these text messages.
Where: PG-13, for ~insinuations~
Status: Completed log



Dani let out a sigh of relief as the bell rang. She thought she had known what she was getting into when she signed up for the class, but had quickly realized that even she was going to have her work cut out for her. The name for the class pretty much said it all - it pushed her to her limits regularly, and walking out of the class without at least a mild headache was rare, if not impossible. But Dani loved a challenge, and by extension, loved this class for making her work. And hey, anything that could help her throw Johnny Justice Jr. just a little bit farther or a little bit harder was a-okay in her books.

She stuffed the lecture handout into her binder, which in turn was shoved into her book-bag. Waving good-bye to a couple of friends as she headed out into the bright afternoon, Dani pulled out her phone, and began scrolling through to see if any new posts had gone up on the journals. Her pace slowed as she got absorbed in responding to the entries, and soon enough her fingers were flying on the little touchpad with such determination and speed that if a pole had decided to crop up in the middle of the courtyard, she would have walked right into it without noticing.

For Marcus, Psychological Stamina had become more of a frustration than anything else. As of late, he felt like he had hit a brick wall with his powers. No matter how much he pushed, it didn't matter. Had he seriously peaked at 19? Was this all there was? Lulling people to sleep and getting stoned on a boring afternoon? His PDA vibrating in his pocket pushed those thoughts out of his head. Pulling it out, he saw it was another text from his step-sister, Georgiana. He signed inwardly, knowing what it was already about. Marcus shoved the device back into his pocket and picked up his pace, remembering that he needed to talk with Dani.

Once outside, it wasn't long before his eyes settled on the back of her very familiar head. "Dani!" he called across the quad. "Hey, Dani! Wait up."

Dani didn't hear the voice until the speaker was less than five feet behind her. "Yeah?" She stopped and whirled quickly, the person pursuing her almost colliding into her frame. "Whoa," she said, sticking an arm out instinctively to steady the man. It was Marcus. "Hey, Marcus. What's up?"

"Sorry about that." he mumbled, readjusting the strap of his book-bag on his shoulder. Marcus paused for a second, trying to decide how exactly to approach the subject. Might as well tell her everything. "You know my step-sister, right? Georgie? I got an email from her this morning. She has 'snagged me an invite to the event of the season'. I'll give you three guesses as to what it is."

Marcus knew Dani didn't need three guesses. What else would it be besides the wedding? To be honest, he was surprised Georgie was able to swing it. There were a lot of things Marcus wasn't. A supporter of the ELE was one of them. Then again, if he knew one thing about his step-sister, it was that she got what she wanted. Why she wanted him there, that was another story. Marcus decided to chalk it up to an attempt at sibling bonding.

Dani grinned. "Well, given that I actually have met your step-sister three times this week alone, I'd say I have an unfair advantage." Georgie had mentioned something about making Marcus come to the event, but Dani had been skeptical. This wedding was as League-centric as any event could be, and as far she knew, Marcus wasn't particularly prone to rubbing shoulders with Dr. Horrible's crew. The invitation wasn't surprising (how do you veto your maid of honor's brother anyway?), but Marcus's apparent acceptance of it was. "You sister definitely gets what she wants, doesn't she?" Dani mused, tipping her head sideways, "Lyla made a good choice."

He chuckled quietly and nodded. "Uh, yeah, you can say that. Georgie, she's something, alright. Anyway, considering she's maid of honor and all, I'm guessing I can't bail?" He'd be lying if he didn't admit there was a slight concern that they'd eat him alive at the wedding. It wasn't his usual scene, that was for sure.

"What do you think?" he asked, ready to scrutinize her reaction for any tells that he shouldn't attend. "I should probably go, right?" His question brought on another realization. The whole +1 thing. Crap.

"Bail?" Dani scoffed. She hadn't known Georgie very well or for very long, but she could already guess her response to the suggestion. "You'd probably have an easier time convincing me that I do not, in fact, hate Johnny Justice." She shrugged a shoulder, a half-sympathetic gesture. "I think you're doomed, my friend. Doomed to a night of hobnobbing with the elite Leaguers. Your very own secret dream, finally come true." Not that she would complain if Marcus attended. Jackie was bringing Justice, and between sharing a room with the mismatched lovers and Dominique's perpetual catty commentary, Dani's sanity depended on finding an outside ally. Marcus would fit the bill perfectly.

"Lucky me." he joked. Alright, so it'd likely be uncomfortable, but from what he could gauge, his life wouldn't be in any immediate danger. "Guess it won't be so bad, right? I mean, you'll be there. Could be worse." It was as if he was trying to convince himself to go more than justifying his attendance to Dani. He would, at the very least have someone to talk to.

"So tell me, who's the lucky guy you're bringing to this shindig?" Marcus began, a look of curiosity was etched on his face. He prayed it wasn't someone like Nate. "Georgie stressed the whole +1 thing in her email to me."

"Exactly," Dani nodded, glad that Marcus was trying to talk himself into going. This way, she didn't have to. "You could be stuck there, all alone, with no one but your sister and Justice to talk to."

Switching her bag from one shoulder to the other, Dani bit the corner of her lip in consideration. "I haven't really figured that part out yet. But yeah, Lyla and Georgie have been on us about that too, since they need to figure out seating arrangements within the week." She looked up at Marcus, knocking his arm with her elbow, as her eyebrows wiggled playfully. "How 'bout you, Marcus? Who's your lucky girl?"

"Dude, I have no idea. I know it's a wedding and all, but it's probably not the kind of place I'd bring a girl on a date." The girl he was thinking about, of course, was Mary. But it was way too soon to be asking her out, let alone asking her out to a wedding on a first date. He rubbed the back of his neck as he considered his other options. "Wedding's aren't Hanselle's scene and I doubt Amy would wanna go to an ELE event." A quiet sigh escaped his lips, "Looks like I'm in the same boat you are."

Dani grimaced. "Yeah, that would probably be bad idea, especially if the girl's not aspiring towards the league herself. Maybe you can bribe one of them?" Her voice sounded uncertain. "Promise to their laundry if they come? I don't know, man." She heard the dejected sigh and looped an arm through his. "Come on, now," she tugged him gently, resuming her walking, "we can figure something out."

All the six-packs in the world probably couldn't convince Hanselle to go and Amy? Marcus wouldn't want to bring her there period. As the pair slowly walked in the direction of the Capes dormitory, another idea popped into his head. "This might be a crazy idea, but do you wanna go with me?" He stopped walking, and with their arms linked together, effectively stopped Dani from moving forward too. "Hear me out. It doesn't have to be an actual date, we'd be able to keep each other company and..." he paused, "and I won't try to get into your pants if you get drunk." He braced himself for her likely rejection. "What do you think?"

Dani stared blankly at Marcus for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Aaah," she tried to push the picture of Marcus trying to get into a drunk girl's pants out of her head, but found the image too amusing to forget. But the look on Marcus' face sobered her up, and she hurried to clear his misconceptions. "You can stop looking so worried, Marcus. I would love to go with you." She started grinning again, completely aware that she probably looked like an idiot. "It's just the idea of you trying to talk the pants off a drunk girl... I would pay to see that." Whatever things Marcus may be, disrespectful was not one of them. "But just so you know, you're consigning yourself to the wedding party." Hopefully he was aware what that meant.

He let out a big breath of relief, pleased that things went the exact opposite of how he expected. "Hey, call me old fashioned, but I like to save the romancing for when the other party is sober." His expression was earnest, but there was a tinge of defensiveness to his tone. "...Or soberish." He added as an afterthought.

As he processed the rest of what Dani had said, Marcus cringed when he realized what 'consigning himself to the wedding party' would mean. "Hold up, Dani. Are you saying I'd have to take dance lessons?" Someone had mentioned the entire wedding party had been signed up for them. "Is it too late to take back my invitation?" He asked, only half joking.

"It's not old fashioned, it's cute! In fact, if I had any shame at all, I would follow your example. But alas..." She trailed off with a sidelong smirk at Marcus. Both of them knew Dani's tendencies to flirt with anything vaguely attractive when inebriated. Marcus had had to swoop in and save the day (or in this case day after) more than once.

"Hey now," she said, shoving Marcus to the side with her free hand, "no takebacks. You're signed on for the refresher courses, rehearsal dinner, the whole shebang. Actually," Dani's eyes grew wide, as a lightbulb went off almost visibly inside her head, "I have an even better idea."

Oh, no. He knew that face. He knew that face all too well and he had a feeling Dani was not about to suggest they have a "conference call". "Um. Dani? I feel like I should let you know that I am actually scared right now."

Dani simply smiled and resumed her walking, pulling Marcus along with her. "Don't worry, Marcus. It's nothing bad." She flashed her widest smile at him, and the slightly sadistic pleasure she was going to get from whatever she was cooking up was obvious on her face. "I think you're going to love it."