[OTA] Shop Til You Drop

[falsepretences]

The trip to the outposts - they went to both Diamond and Spade - with Sophie had yielded a few sketches of buildings through a strange mist, but mostly it had cleared Jordan's head and made it clear to him that he was just so damn tired. Of being serious all the time, of keeping his head down, and of basically behaving more like he was forty six instead of twenty six.

The cure for this, obviously, was shopping.

Specifically the cure for this was hat shopping, though Jordan might also be getting distracted by a display of pocket squares too.

Comments

[maskofhearts]

"At the risk of sounding overly...what's the word, hypocritical? Don't you think you own a enough of those?" He asked as he came up beside his brother. Afternoon meetings were so much fun, smirking.

"Also, can we skip lunch today? Henry's wanting my attention for some planning for the Shakespeare on the Green production this year." He said with a bit of a bland look. "And, frankly, the best chance I have of not listening to Elisha's ranting about how much he hates Henry is to get this done and over with as soon as possible."

[falsepretences]

"Hypocritical is certainly one word for it." Jordan flicks a look at his brother, his lips quirking up as he adjusted the brim of the fedora. "I like hats, so sue me."

As to lunch, he shrugs a little and laughs. "You'd think he'd relax about it, considering you're in the off season. Is Henry going for more tragedy or something a little more cheerful this year? Like, say, Twelfth Night as opposed to Titus."

[maskofhearts]

"You should really be careful about who you say that to, you know. Someday, when I'm a starving artist barely getting by, I'm going to take you up on that." Hadyn offered, tipping his head to the side just a little.

As for Elisha and Henry, Hadyn just shrugged. "I think it is more personal now. The whole 'you hate it, and he won't let you go' line was in the last argument about it, I think. He doesn't really grasp the whole 'job' aspect of things." He said with a shrug, leaning against the wall. "Oh, I don't know. Either Twelfth Night or Much Ado About Nothing, I think. Either way, I won't be the lead this year."

[falsepretences]

"If it gets that bad, you can sue Grandmother." Yes. Yes. That would go over well. Then again, it wasn't likely that Hadyn would ever be completely penniless. "She's got more than me."

Jordan shakes his head as he takes his hat off. "Does he really think everyone in the world loves their job?" He asks. He does not, actually, love his, but it's what he's good at - and there's nothing else he really has a burning desire to do.

"Well, Gaston will be thrilled," he says. "Maybe he'll stop scowling in my direction. I think he blames me for you being better."

[maskofhearts]

"Gaston will be delighted I'm sure," he said, "but it isn't really the point. I think Elisha's glared Henry into enough corners that he's stopped trying to win." He said with a shrug. "Doesn't matter really, maybe he just doesn't want me to be over exposed."

Which was neither here nor there at the end of the day.

"And Elisha just wants me to do something I like, I suppose. I don't know. It is a stupid argument."

[falsepretences]

"It's not such a bad thing," Jordan agrees as he picks up another hat, examining the inside of the brim of it. "But you have to figure out what that is, and intimidating Henry isn't going to help you decide. It's not like he's keeping you from something else."

If Hadyn knew what he wanted to do, Henry would let him go. Reluctantly, but he wouldn't hold him.

[maskofhearts]

"I don't know what goes on between them, I only take wild guesses. Either way, it is likely to be a long, boring season for me. Which is for better or worse, I guess."

Oh well, he was just going to have to get over it he supposed. "How did your trip go? Find out anything useful."

[falsepretences]

"Nothing concrete. It's weird." He sets down the hat and leans his elbows on the counter. "If you go to the outposts, it's like you can see...buildings in the distance. Sort of misty, like on the horizon. But if you go towards them, you just end up Outside."

He frowns a bit. "They remind me of the embassy. All the spires..."

[maskofhearts]

"....What? Like some ghost version of the arcana lands is meeting us?" Hadyn asked, skeptically. "You can't seriously think that is happening. I mean...That would be like. That would mean..."

Well, he honestly didn't know what it would mean, aside from 'not good'. Frowning he shook his head though, and looked off.

"Whatever is going on, if it keeps it up, the castles are going to be five minutes from town and the town will have doubled in physical size at least."

[heartvestment]

"Wear this," Edie says, tugging a floral snapback onto his head before properly saying hello. "You can look like a douchebag in style." An impish grin twists at her lips as she steps back to survey the look.

[falsepretences]

"I think not," Jordan drawls, and the hat comes off and - oh - straight onto Miss Evangeline Huntly's head. "It's better on you. If you insist, though, darling, you can find me a floral pocket square."

[heartvestment]

"Honey, I bet I could make you a floral pocket square. How hard could it be?" But after a little pawing through searching, she'll pull out a few. "There's floral, but there's also paisley, man. How can you say no to the little sperm?"

[falsepretences]

"I, personally, make it a policy to never say no to little sperm." Or paisley. As the case may be. "Screaming pink, though? Do you think I can pull it off?"

[heartvestment]

"Stop fishing for compliments, Mr. I-Can-Pull-Off-Anything." She nudges him in the side. "I bet you could wear plaid on plaid and no one would look twice."

[falsepretences]

"It works as long as there's a common color," he tells her. Some people just know how to dress, instinctively. Some people just like fucking with the genuine populace; it's hard to say which one Jordan really is.

[heartvestment]

She raises her eyebrows at him, then grins. "I'll take your word for it. So are you looking for pocket squares for any reason or did you just wake up this morning with a craving?"

[falsepretences]

"Everyone wears suits in the Spades." Some Spades seemed to wear nothing but, but Edie would know that; her cousin was marrying one of them. "If I have the burning urge to conform one of these days, I at least want to throw them off with accessories."

Like lavender pocket squares. And coordinating ties.

[hey_sexy_latte]

What about shoes? Surely going shoe shopping is also a good cure. That's what Teresa thinks, anyways.

Which is why she'll be eyeing a pair of boots to help relieve the stress that's been building since the Deck's latest weirdness began.

[falsepretences]

Hot boots. He's a guy, after all, and he can't help but think about what Teresa would look like walking down the streets in those boots. Still...

"Not for work at the cafe, I'm thinking."

[hey_sexy_latte]

A grin as she looks over at the Spade.

"Probably wouldn't be wise. My aunt would have a heart attack." Not to mention the male employees weren't related to her would probably be-- a bit distracted, to say the least.

"It'd probably only be for special occasions."

[falsepretences]

The ones who were related to her would probably be distracted by the other men's distraction. Jordan was so glad he didn't have any sisters.

"What kind of special occasions are those appropriate for?" He asks, grinning a bit as he picks up a chocolate and violet fedora to try on. "Trips to the Wild Card?"

[hey_sexy_latte]

"Likely," she answers, bending to get the boots on properly, "Girl's gotta have a bit of fun some time, hm?"

And in the Deck, most of the parties she liked to partake in were in the Wild Card or the other in-Town locales like it.

[falsepretences]

Balls weren't so much parties as glittering obligations, really. Of course, the last one Jordan had gone to had been the Spade Ball, which had suffered from...unfortunate timing.

He'd danced with the then Ace of Diamonds and saved Sophie Berthier's assistant from a thing named Marco, but that was about the highlight.

"We'd all become really dull otherwise," he says dryly, "as I know from personal experience."

[hey_sexy_latte]

"Not get to party much in recent times, Jordan?" she asks with a sympathetic pout, "Such a shame."

Although she supposes he's been busy with other things, from what she's heard. How sad so many fun people get caught up in the hullaballo of Challenging and Suit-switching. It's all entirely uninteresting, to her.

[falsepretences]

"Oh, it's my own fault. I'm a drama queen." He grins a bit at her as he adjusts his hat. "I just can't leave well enough alone, you know. I get bored."

Which was...actually kind of true, really.