Bum a Couple {open}

[Marceline Abadeer]

Marceline stared at the spinning clothes. They were hers, so there was at least that. They also constituted a good half of her wardrobe. Turned out that clothing cost money (go figure), and money was somewhat limited. Marceline might be pulling in a decent amount from her busking and gigging, but it wasn't turning her into Miss Moneybags overnight. Plus, she had to keep buying food, guitar picks, and other necessities too. The money could only go so far. Speaking of money only going so far: Marceline was pretty sure she'd just dumped her last few small coins into the machine.

Small coins, because that was totally a sensible way of handling money. That was one thing Marceline wasn't a huge fan of here: the whole coinage thing, particularly since there were small and large coins. Right now, she wasn't exactly digging the fact that her laundry was about to be trapped in a cycle of wet. She supposed she could grab them and start spinning around or something. Get dizzy pretty fast though.

Seeing no other option, Marceline rose and sighed. No more watching the cool spinning, at least, not for now. Instead, she turned, looking around the laundromat. It wasn't a school day; she knew that much, so there were probably a few various young Shifted wandering about too. The place was about half full, give or take, though it felt busier, since the whole joint was just a tad on the small side. Marceline had been perched on a table provided for sorting and folding clothing, and she'd slid off it when she'd made her decision. There were a few tables lined up in nice rows, and a few rows of machines. All very bland and boring.

Marceline shrugged. Best to just get this part over with. She walked over to the closest person, rapped them on the shoulder slightly, and managed a "Hey," followed soon by: "got some change I could borrow? Need to dry my clothes."

[Deleted]

Jiro was enraptured. Okay, yes it seemed silly that a several hundred year old powerful vampire was entranced by spinning clothes but... well this was fairly new. Oh he knew about technology, but seeing was a new story. They werent even his things. Some old lady had forced him to do this for her (after a grave misunderstanding resulting in the very appologetic old blood having confused the womans granddaughter for his little brother) and as such well... he grimaced as a very large and lacy undergarment floated past.

As he and his brother often slept in locations where others did these things for them, or Kotoro handled it, the whole process was intreguing. Until the machine stopped and he realized he had to move the sopping wet cloths. Oh dear.

With hands smoking and painful he gathered it all into one pile and was turning around when someone tapped him, causing him to jump and throw the wet cloths in the air and all over himself. The lacy string of undergarments landed on the edge of his hat and his whole body began to smoke faintly. He flinched and managed a tight smile at the woman. "Ah.. yes.. of course..." His voice was thick with pain and it didnt help the coins were silver. He could feel the burn even through his brown gloves as he pressed them into the womans hands.

[Marceline Abadeer]

[remember: Jiro's completely human now. No vampire abilities or powers or anything whatsoever. Sort of what happens with the Shift]

Marceline's eyes fell upon the undergarment dangling from the end of the guy's hat. She couldn't not look at it, really. It was just sort of... there. She sort of wanted to reach out and prod it, but settled for pointing at it while giving the guy a slightly quirked brow and a meaningful look. Her lips were tugging at the edges, threatening to burst into outright laughter with just a little urging.

"Dude, relax," said Marceline, her voice imitating the words almost too perfectly. She took the coin with practiced ease, holding it up and smiling around it. Her slightly elongated canines, the one leftover from her own mixed background, showed from around the edges of her smile. "It's just laundry. Everybody's gotta do it. Though those," she tilted the coin toward the undergarments, finally unwilling to let them go, "are totally your color."

With a wink, she turned back to her own laundry, fumbling with the coins and trying to get them into the slots. Despite her own demeanor and speech, Marceline hadn't exactly used a laundromat... ever, really. She'd owned a machine that did the laundry, and before that, her parents had kept her clean. Weird. But she could figure it out easily enough, and pretty soon, her clothes would be tumbling away in the machine.

[Deleted]

(Im a little confused... so hes not allowed to be smoking/have fangs and those little tidbits? Is the very slight healing gone too? I made mention of these in my app and thought they were approved...))

Jiro stiffened faintly at the sight of the teeth. She didnt seem like a Kowloon child.. but she wasnt a Vampire.. he was pretty sure.. still he found himself thinking of the blade hidden in his coat. Then his mind caught up to his words as he flicked the lengere off, gatherig the clothes and flushing faintly.

"These.. arent mine" he explained meekly, shoving the items uncerimoniously into a dryer and dropping the coins in. "Its a long story really.." and a highly embarressing one at that.

[Marceline Abadeer]

[you're reset to human whenever you Shift. You might have a few cosmetic tidbits here and there, such as Marcy's fangs or the various ponies' multi-colored hair, but you lose nearly all bonuses and abilities. Jiro won't smoke, because as of right now, he's 100% human, or close enough to it. He's likely to heal slightly faster than he would, since they do retain very few of the powers that are more natural.]

"Sure they're not," commented Marceline, not turning to look at the man. She had her own laundry to situate, after all, and there was something mesmerizing about staring at it. Plus, it just came off a little cooler if you didn't look at someone when you talked to them, and Marceline was definitely down with that. Her eyes did flick over as she caught the motion, noticing the guy shoving the clothing into the drier. She smirked at that; speed was always a sign of a guilty conscience.

"Does it involve your mom dressing you up like a pretty, pretty princess?" teased Marceline. She chuckled, tapping her foot against the machine a few times, looking at the spinning laundry. "Actually, I'd be careful about the whole princess thing. I know guys who would totally go for it. You're pretty enough."

She clucked her tongue, smiling. She couldn't help but think that the Ice King would go for anyone who just happened to have "princess" as a label, even a guy like this. Though at least the guy did look manly on the outside; Marceline had to give him that.

[Deleted]

(*sigh* I wished that had been mentioned sooner... is it alright that he just has a sensitivty then to those things? But no smoking? Cuz severe sensitivities to light and water are normal...)

Jiro sighed. Even Kotaro wasnt this... pestering? No, this woman wasnt severly annoying just.. a bit much on top of all the other things as of late. "That would probably be less.. uncomfortable then the truth." He admitted more to himself. His gaze flicked to her and her odd comment. He personally hoped he didnt encounter anyone like that. "Then I guess I hope I do not encounter them" he mused with another of those thin smiles that didnt quite touch his eyes.

[Marceline Abadeer]

[well, we do have the information and stuff that pretty well lets people know that they're pulled over and depowered and all. It's not like the mental reactions are going to go away for Jiro or anything either; he's spent several years knowing that touching silver burns and light feels off. It's not likely that his brain is going to instantly switch over and think all that's happy, not unless he almost wills it (which is what Marcy does). No smoking though; not at least till Jiro's been here a while]

Marceline's eyebrow quirked further, threatening to disappear straight into her hair. "More interesting than being a guy who likes to dress like a princess? What happen, some crazy old lady give you a quest? You gotta watch out for those; they're usually whack jobs that just want someone to do their chores."  Not that Marceline had ever done anything like that to her friends or anything. That would just be wrong. Obviously.

Marceline tapped the dryer, as if her touch would encourage it to do its job a little faster. As she did so, she looked over at the guy, who still seemed far too serious for his own good. "You'd probably be able to handle him," she offered, nodding her head slightly. "You look like the type who can handle himself," she turned back to the dryer, tapping her fingers a few more times. After a few random taps, Marceline started drumming something very much akin to a tune, one that seemed to flow quite well with the rumbling of the machines around her. She hummed a little under her breath, a half-smile just tugging at the edge of her lips.

Hey, it was a laundromat, you gotta make your own entertainment.

[Deleted]

(Ah ok. I think I can manage that)

Jiros expression visibly fell at her words. His head dropped in a defeated posture. She had hit the nail on the head so to speak. "Actually... thats exactly it..." he sighed.

The machine rumbled under his hands, the sensation a curious thing. The sound of rythmic tapping went unnoticed at first, but as it grew to a steady tune coupled by the womans own humming, Jiro couldnt help but glance over. A small smile touched his features. He thought to comment but was uncertain just what to say. So instead he let it slide. However he couldnt resist mimicking her motions, creating a complimentary beat though he did not recognize the tune. It was a way to allieviate the boredom and awkward atmospheee after all.

[Marceline Abadeer]

Marceline smirked. She'd guessed it in one try, and the poor guy just looked so deflated about that. Not that Marceline could really blame him: it was kinda embarrassing, being caught up by some little old lady and turned into her servant for the moment. Thankfully, Marceline generally avoided such occurrences. She elected to let it lie for now, enjoying beating out the beat instead.

When the guy started to join her, Marceline couldn't help but feel surprised. She paused for a moment, looking over at him. his beat was slightly off, sure, but it wasn't like everyone was a professional musician. Even Marceline got little details off. She chuckled, and moved to drum again. The humming picked up, before turning into words:

"Stuck in the laundry~watch the clothes go round~ wonder if my life's goin' round to~ we all bum a couple of coins~ stick them in the laundry~ watch the clothes go round~ wonder, oh I wonder, wonder if my life's goin' round to," she ended with a humming trill and a double-slap onto the dryer. She paused, tilted her head to the side, as though running the lyrics through her mind. She nodded after a bit, before looking over at the guy. "So, what's a guy like you doin' in a place like this? I'm guessing that the lady wasn't a grandma or something, right?"

[Deleted]

Jiro tilted his head slightly in amusement over her lyrical addition, although he did admit she had a pleasant voice. His hands stilled in preferance to listening, his gaze thoughtful. He nearly jumped out of his skin when she spoke, having not noticed the lapse into silence with his occupied thoughts.

He tilted his hat to glance at her in momentary confusion before his mind caught up. He ducked his head and sighed. Figures she wouldnt just let the subject lie. "I mistook the womans granddaughter for my little brother... although to be fair why she was wearing something meant for boys is beyond me. And why the childs hair was so short."

He scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish expression.

[Marceline Abadeer]

"Wishful thinking," offered Marceline, gesturing widely as she did. "Happens to people here all the time."

Though she hadn't suffered it, yet. Mostly because the people she would miss were either A) here or B) possessing of brilliant pink hair. Made things a little easier in the long run. The ex-vampire queen leaned forward slightly, looking over to where said lady and her granddaughter were. She studied them for several seconds, before nodding slowly.

"Totally a resemblance. Girl's got your nose," she said, half-joking. She chuckled, leaning back and locking eyes on the spinning machine again. She beat her hands against it, wishing that she'd thought to drag her guitar along with her. It just hadn't made any sense to drag it to do laundry, at least, not when she'd been leaving the house. Now she was wishing her fingers had something to do. Which was weird; she was normally perfectly chill. Something must be making her edgy...

Marceline looked over at the guy, studying him intently. Him, maybe? But... why?

[Deleted]

Jiro chuckled softly as he followed her gaze. He supposed it had been a silly mistake, but his natural overprotectiveness for his brother had left him terse and ill at ease since he had arrived. He worried constantly for Kotoro, wondering where he was and what he was doing. Had he made it to the Special Zone? Had he run into trouble? Had Casa found him?

The last thought spiked a wave of fury that made him ground his teeth. He would kill her if she lay a hand on him. She had always been presumed dead but... something always left him... wondering. He sighed and glanced back at the girl, noticing her own discomfort. "Is everything alright?"

[Marceline Abadeer]

Guy coming out and just calling Marceline on her fidgeting? Bold. Real bold, considering that she was a Vampire Queen and all. Though, come to think of it, Marceline hadn't introduced herself yet. She couldn't recall hearing an introduction from this guy either. Weird. Then again, there had been the whole panties thing and the whole borrowing money thing and the whole singing thing. So maybe not so weird as you'd originally figure. Or something.

"What's your name, stranger?" asked Marceline, figuring she might as well go for broke. Remembering her manners (barely), she nodded to him, smiling wide enough to show fangs and extending a hand. "I'm Marceline, creature of the night, slacker, and musician. There," she pointed with her other hand, "now you're obligated to fork over some info, hat guy."

[Deleted]

Jiro stiffened at the flash of fangs and her blatent choice of words. Still, she was unlike a Kwoloon child...

Jiro attempted a pleasent smile and slipped his hand over hers. "Mochizuki, Jiro. Old blood, fellow 'creature of the night' as you so blatently put it." He decided to leave out the whole kin-slayer buisiness... seemed a tad too much for now. "And apparently servant of the corrupted elderly" he added dryly with a slight drum of his fingers on the machine.

[Marceline Abadeer]

Fellow creature of the night... old blood... Marceline felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle. A vampire, and one that seemed to have retained a bit more of his natural traits. Marceline had almost willfully suppressed everything that was tainted about her, vastly preferring humanity. Most of the vampires she'd met that weren't her... weren't nice. Heck, she was only nice because of years of contact with cool mortals, and even then her moral center was just a little bit closer to evil than she would have liked.

Marceline realized that she'd lapsed into silence for several beats too long. She flashed another toothy smile, putting her canines on display yet again (she couldn't help it; old reflex by now). "Awesome, always glad to meet a fellow creature," she said, keeping her voice level, as though this were all quite chill. "You digging the sunlight now? I'm totally catching rays whenever I get a chance. I might even tan," she held up an entirely too pale arm, which really wasn't supporting her words in the slightest. Wasn't like she'd been here that long, and she generally stuck to the cool of the shade...