Testing time
Apr. 12th, 2014 03:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
melodymagic in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
birthright_rpgMelody had called Maddy the next morning, after meeting Theresa in the coffee shop, and asked her if she was working that day. She really wanted to try the potion, and it had a half life of thirty six hours before it started losing its potency. She'd been checking the colour and giving the bottle the shake it needed every so often to prevent the ingredients from separating.
When Maddy said she was working the late shift Melody was glad, and asked her to meet her for an early lunch, as Melody was working that afternoon and evening at a function in the Skylark. She hurried along the sidewalk, turning into the plaza and glancing up at the clock displayed in the centre of the outdoor dining area. She was a little late and she scanned the area, looking for Maddy. A series of small cafes and restaurants clustered around the area, making the most of the lunchtime trade from the businesses located all around.
When Maddy said she was working the late shift Melody was glad, and asked her to meet her for an early lunch, as Melody was working that afternoon and evening at a function in the Skylark. She hurried along the sidewalk, turning into the plaza and glancing up at the clock displayed in the centre of the outdoor dining area. She was a little late and she scanned the area, looking for Maddy. A series of small cafes and restaurants clustered around the area, making the most of the lunchtime trade from the businesses located all around.
no subject
on 2014-04-12 05:38 am (UTC)She sipped from her can.
“So what are we doing?”
Testing time
on 2014-04-12 05:50 am (UTC)"I did it!" she hissed, managing to remember to keep her voice down a little as she unwrapped the small silk kerchief and showing Maddy the bottle. "I finally managed to get it right, the colour is perfect, and I want to try it," she told her friend. The times she had failed, when the potion hadn't turned that colour, or had just basically exploded into a smelly mess in the beaker, she had gone in to Cool Beans for a commisatory cappuccino, and Maddy had consoled her, then kicked her ass and told her to keep trying.
"Thanks to you, I did it, and I want to try it, but I wanted you to be here, in case, I dunno, it doesn't work right?" She looked around, the early lunch crowd settling in and the orders being taken by waitstaff from the restaurants, numbers stuck on top of chrome spikes indicating where the meals should be delivered from the cafes.
"What if it doesn't work, or doesn't do what it's supposed to?" she said suddenly, slightly nervous.
And it was that nervousness, and the doubt in her abilities, that had been the main motivator for her to get this potion right. Her confidence, her whole demeanour had been frustrating, and she didn't understand why, until she'd been reading about this potion in one of the older books of spells Jazz had brought in from home one day, at Mel's request. That's when she'd started working on it, and she was finally able to test it, and Maddy was her 'safe' person, having heard the countless failed attempts at making it.
"Should I take it here?" she asked, nervously.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 06:10 am (UTC)She shook that memory off and looked at the tiny bottle and its contents.
“I say take it here. But just… just do a little at first, that way you can modulate until you get the ideal effect.”
That sounded smart, right? Oh god. What if Melody took this stuff and became a raging bitch?
Maddy smiled to cover up the thought.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 06:15 am (UTC)She looked around quickly, inhaled, and straightened her shoulders, lifting her chin as she pulled the stopper out, and looked at Maddy.
"Here goes, small swig coming up!" she said, forcing a smile and closing her eyes as she lifted the glass to her lips and tipped her head back quickly.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 06:28 am (UTC)Maddy crossed both of her fingers and curled her toes. It was hard to watch, so she squeezed her eyes shut.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 06:40 am (UTC)He recognized Melody’s profile. The last time he saw her, Brian stepped on her foot and smashed her into a wall. He thought it might be funny to startle her, in keeping with the trend, and see if she’d make that high-pitched squeaking sound again.
Through a haze of bushes he crept up behind the chattering brunettes, his headphones and a noisy track by New Order ensuring that he missed their conversation. Just as Maddy shut her eyes, Brian grabbed Melody by the shoulders and shook her, making a strange, “Blrrrrddddrrrrdahhhh!” sound.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 06:50 am (UTC)But her eyes were now blinking and each time she blinked her eyelids seemed to resist opening, and her vision went more blurry. There was a face, she thought she recognised it, but she also thought she hadn't been swimming in this sea before so she couldn't possibly know who it was, especially as his lips were now the size of the lower half of his face and made him look like a large grouper fish she hadn't known at one point... and then she started giggling, the vial still clutched in her fingers of one hand the other reaching out to grab the grouper's shoulder as she staggered a little.
"Youhavtagogivedemakissssstmakeupfthemallfalldown!"
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 06:58 am (UTC)Instead, she did a half-assed job of mopping up the mess on her leg, all the while watching her friend with a cautious expression. When she caught Brian’s eye again, she jabbed a finger at the tiny vessel, then at her mouth, then hissed ‘magic!’
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 07:07 am (UTC)He flinched as she clutched his shoulder. Mel didn’t smell like booze but he’d seen that sloppy posture before, that utter lack of vocal coordination, so looked to Maddy for help. “What’s she saying?” The only word he picked out was ‘kiss’. It wasn’t a horrible thought, but he didn’t think it was a real invitation.
Jab, jab, magic.
Brian blanched white up to his hairline. “Oh…shhhhhhit.” He splayed his hands but didn’t know where to put them. The sandwich bag hit the ground. “Oh god. Can you—can you stick your finger down your throat?” he asked, employing the tried-and-true method of dodging alcohol poisoning.
“What’s it do?” he demanded.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 07:14 am (UTC)Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 07:18 am (UTC)Maddy’s eyes bulged from the sockets as she watched Melody’s fingers squeeze Brian’s ass like a tube of playdough. “Uh…”
Frantic, she looked for a solution.
She grabbed a glass of ice water from a passing waitress and dumped it on her friends.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 07:32 am (UTC)She’s a pretty good kisser, he thought randomly, right before she cupped his ass.
Man, she was really gripping.
In the space of a few seconds, he thought about Valerie, and whether standing here in shocked acceptance was considered cheating, and whether their flexible relationship had a concept of cheating, and whether Valerie would just wish she was here to partake, and then, what the hell, he’d kiss Melody back because after all, he did poison her, and just as he was angling his face and returning the gesture, COLD!
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 07:46 am (UTC)And then she realised it was really cold water, and not the warmth she'd been feeling before, and that her tongue was somehow tangling with something... someone... else's ... tongue!
Her eyes flew open and she stepped back, eyes widening for a moment as she looked at the grouper who was now no longer looking so fishy and she thought for a long moment as to where the fish concept had come from but quickly dropped that thought and instead recognised Brian.
And the water dripping down his face was what she could feel running down her cheeks. "What the hell?" she exclaimed, looking at Brian, then down at herself, then at Maddy, standing beside them with the glass in her hand, giving her up as the perpetrator of the dousing.
Why did she douse them?
"Maddy, what was... " And as she spoke she could feel the tingle in her lips and her fingers, and other parts and she looked at Brian, and for the first time in her entire life she didn't feel the embarrassing colour rising in her neck, to turn her face beetroot red.
Instead she blinked, and gave Brian a grin. "Sorry about that," she told him, "seems something I drank agreed with me a little more than I expected!" Even as she was saying it she felt a thrill run through her, adrenalin that had been released by the potion, and probably the kiss and dousing, but most of all she could remember all the good things, and she gave Maddy wink.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 06:57 pm (UTC)Maddy put the cup down. Belatedly she felt bad about throwing the whole cup when a few chilly sprinkles might have sufficed, but no fixing that now. Instead, she came around the table and offered them the rest of her stack of napkins. Water wasn’t as sticky as Coke so they got the better end of the deal, in her opinion.
“At least it wasn’t a stranger. Or a dog.”
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 07:03 pm (UTC)“Seriously, are you okay? I am so sorry.” He took some of the napkins and blotted his face and neck, which seemed to have caught most of the damage. His headphones still worked, evidenced by the beats blasting from the foamy speakers.
Then, although it was none of his business,
“Why were you taking a sex potion in the plaza?”
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 08:30 pm (UTC)"Oh, it wasn't!" she told him quickly, eyes darting to Maddy, and wondering how much to tell him. But she quickly decided that given what had just happened she at least owed him an explanation.
"It was a potion to help with confidence,' she explained quickly, now feeling a little less of the tingling, and wondering just how long the affects would last. "Seems to work," she added, with a twisted smile and looking at Maddy then back at Brian. "Though I hadn't exactly been planning on taking the whole vial, especially in one go!" She punched him lightly on the shoulder. "So I have you to thank for that!"
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 08:43 pm (UTC)She dug the fresh pack from her pocket and collapsed in a chair. Now that the worst seemed to be over, she realized how freaked out she’d been. “If my hair turns white, I’m kicking somebody’s ass.” The pack thumped into her palm and then she unwrapped the cellophane.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 08:51 pm (UTC)His eyes shifted to Melody’s face and then away again. Ah yeah, change of subject needed. He pulled out a chair and sat down, welcoming himself into a private conversation as soon as he retrieved the sandwich bag. “I could use some of that for my— ” He had been about to say telekinesis but caught himself.
“Music?” Maddy prompted. Smoke twirled above her cigarette.
“Actually no. My telekinesis,” he said, folding his arms on the table.
Maddy kicked him under the table. “Shut up, you do not have telekinesis.”
“Oh really?” Brian stared at her. “You’re saying women have got the lock on special powers?”
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 08:57 pm (UTC)And then when he made his revelation she stared at him, then Maddy and then back at him.
"You are telekinetic?" she said, the usual squeak gone, but the volume needing a little bit of work. Fortunately everyone around then was so engrossed in their own conversations, or lunch, that her voice was lost in ether.
"And why don't you want him telling me?" she found herself asking Maddy before she'd realised she was saying it.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 09:08 pm (UTC)She leaned forward. “Brian, for real?” A shake of her head. “I knew you’d been weird lately, but I thought maybe you were experimenting with heroin or penises or Republicanism or something.”
This was a seriously jarring revelation. Maddy, who could open any door she wanted, had come to think of herself as astute when it came to people's secrets.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 09:20 pm (UTC)Maddy snorted and kept smoking, deliberately looking at their neighbors.
He ignored his friend for the moment and focused on Melody. “Yeah for almost a year. Came out of nowhere.” He wished he had a pair of sunglasses because it was bright, even with the umbrella overhead. “Sometimes I second guess myself. You’re lucky I stopped breaking things every time I get caught off guard. That definitely counted.”
He stretched out his hand for the vial. It was probably empty, but if there were a few drops left, he wouldn’t mind taking a hit.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 09:27 pm (UTC)"You want it? You get it," she told him, surprising herself a little, but getting used to this. Sort of. Her eyes darted across to see Maddy's face and she wasn't sure what she saw there. Her friend, for the first time Melody had seen, looked a little out of sorts.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 10:14 pm (UTC)A waiter approached and asked if they’d like a round of drinks.
“Yeah, water,” he said, wiping his palms on his jeans.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 10:15 pm (UTC)Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 10:27 pm (UTC)"Hey, he might have brought us lunch!" she suggested, indicating the paper bag Brian had collected and reached out to grab it. "Something special for us?" she added.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 11:09 pm (UTC)“I just don’t like you keeping secrets from me,” she said, chewing on her cuticle.
Brian’s mouth twisted into a smirk. “Yeah right, like you don’t keep things from me. I know you slept with Joey, by the way.” He let go of Melody and accepted the water as it arrived on the table.
“I did not!” Maddy shrieked, then rounded on Melody. “Joey’s our drummer and my roommate. I did not have sex with him. I made out with him. Once. He smells like pizza.” She scoffed but her cheeks had turned red, not over Joey but because she was thinking of Valerie and that secret. He was right, she was being a hypocrite, but it was hard to back down once she got going. “Okay, fine!” Her hands flailed. “I’ve got a secret, too. I’m the one Valerie was talking to that day, when you had that argument.” She gave him a pointed look.
Brian’s mouth opened. “Are you s… fuck you, Mads!” He thought back to the night at the Dive when Maddy had hit on Valerie right in front of him and it all made sense. “God, I am an idiot.” He drank his water because he didn’t know what else to do. Knowing this didn’t change anything, it just made him feel out of the loop, which he supposed was how Maddy felt two minutes ago.
He guessed that made them even.
He reached over and slapped the back of Maddy's head.
"Ow!"
Awkward silence fell over the duo.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-12 11:33 pm (UTC)"Uh, sorry, didn't mean for that to come out," she said, and looked from one to the other. It didn't take any major brainiac to figure out that this was some major revelationary stuff taking place in front of her, and in a way she was glad the attention had been diverted from what they were here originally to do, because she was pretty sure what she was now hearing was something that would have made her turn beet red and run away earlier - that Brian was somehow involved with a girl called Valerie, who was talking to Maddy in a way that was really upsetting Brian.
Or something like that. She had to wonder if the potion was making her brain hurt, or the conversation going on in front of her.
"Who's Valerie?" she asked before she had a chance to stop herself.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-13 12:05 am (UTC)“Not really,” he said, turning his glass in a wet circle. “We’re together. Sometimes we’re with other people, too.”
Maddy raised her eyebrows.
He shrugged. He had not tested any of these new boundaries and he doubted Valerie had, either, because she had promised to tell him when and if that came up. He trusted that she would, and he’d been so ecstatic after their night together that he didn’t feel like questioning anything. He just felt relief because they were okay with each other.
“So Melody, what’s the confidence thing for?” He sipped his water.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-13 12:25 am (UTC)"So I don't have to worry about watching my back, in case she hears about ... before?" she blurted out, again the whole 'out loud' thing catching her a little by surprise.
"And the potion was a test, I've been trying to make it for ages, and finally yesterday I managed to get it right, so I had to test it, and I'm not prepared to make anything for someone else to test if I'm not prepared to try it myself," was the best she could come up with right then, mainly because it was basically the truth. Though she was pretty sure there were going to be potions she made to order that she wouldn't be trying out.
"I just wasn't expecting to try the whole vial at once," she added with an arched eyebrow in Brian's direction.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-13 12:36 am (UTC)“Hey, next time you’re doing magic in an uncontrolled environment, maybe you should use a dropper,” he countered. “Just a suggestion.” He smiled at her.
Maddy perked up. “Do they have to be good potions, or could you give someone temporary Eczema or diarrhea? There’s this guy who comes into the coffee shop that I’d love to screw with. He stuck a piece of gum in the tip jar. Already chewed.”
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-13 12:41 am (UTC)"Ewww, seriously? Already chewed? Dammit, you just need to add laxative to his next cuppa java, because that? Is gross!" She grinned as she thought of something. "Or, there's this bush, and the branches have that sort of 'medicinal' use, and it's supposed to be almost instant, so I could give you a twig and you can stir his coffee with it!"
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-13 12:50 am (UTC)Brian was stuck on the previous thing. “Couldn’t you add the drops to your drink?” he asked, swirling the glass of water at her.
Maddy sighed. “It probably futzes with the magical properties or else she would’ve thought of it, right Mel?” She looked to her friend for confirmation.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-13 01:05 am (UTC)She looked at him, head to one side as she studied him for a long moment.
"You feeling anything different?" she asked, wondering if the few drops he managed to get from the vial had any affect on him.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-13 01:14 am (UTC)Maddy reached across and plucked him. "What Brian means to say is that he's got an exceptionally high tolerance for substances. Isn't that right, Bri?"
He sighed and pushed back his chair. "That's my cue. I gotta get to work anyway." He fished two dollars from his wallet and gave them to Maddy to cover his water. Standing there, he pressed play on his walkman and adjusted the headphones. "Later Mads." He circled behind Melody's chair and squeezed her shoulders like the first time. "Later hot lips," he mumbled in her ear.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-13 01:25 am (UTC)Once he was gone she turned to Maddy. "Okay, now you spill, what's the goss on whatever it was that happened there, with this Valerie? And what were you two talking about that ended up with them fighting?"
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-13 01:44 am (UTC)She fanned herself and sobered. It was necessary to think through her explanation; she didn’t want to seem evasive, but some of those details were personal and not really her business.
“Eh, Valerie wants to sew her oats, try to figure out who she is. You know. Totally normal college stuff. She’s a nice girl. She spilled the beans to me and I told her that Brian’s a besotted romantic with big gaga moon eyes and he wouldn’t be down with an open relationship, she was gonna break his heart, blah blah blah. They ended up having an argument and breaking up. Now I guess they’re back together, except apparently I was wrong.”
She scratched her head and settled her glasses higher on her nose.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-13 01:58 am (UTC)"That almost makes sense, except the whole thing about this Valerie and her figuring out who she is bit," Melody said, eyeing Maddy sideways a little as she thought. Her head angled a little and lowered, eyes fixed on Maddy as jumbled pieces started to fall into some sort of place in her head. "Hang on, wait... are you saying she hit on you? His bandmate?" she hissed, leaning forward a little.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-13 02:14 am (UTC)It wasn’t easy to give a plausible reason, even though there was a perfectly good reason.
“She just knows that life is short,” Maddy said, stretching hard for a kernel of truth. “She wants to make sure she lives it, and I think Brian was her first serious guy, you know? And he used to be really commitment-phobic, he was just kind-of living in his head, not really paying attention to anybody around him, and then he fell hard for Valerie and he… went in a little hard.”
Eeesh. Maddy needed a real drink now. But she was not going to be responsible for outing a person as bisexual, even if she happened to also fit the bill.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-13 02:32 am (UTC)"And having heard myself just say that I think we can call this little experiment with the potion a great big success," she added, rolling her eyes and giving Maddy a reassuring smile. "You hungry? Because I'm starved, and it's my shout," she said, standing up, purse in hand.
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-13 02:48 am (UTC)She propped a shoe into a nearby chair and fluttered her hand at Mel.
“Scoot!”
Re: Testing time
on 2014-04-13 03:13 am (UTC)"So far so good, and killer potion skills!" she hummed to herself as she approached the counter. A pair of blue eyes, topped by a mop of dark hair looked up as she approached the counter, and she put on her most beguiling smile as she ordered their lunch.