Joel got a card a while back that Sid handed to him. It was matte black and said in gold 2-type font 'Church & State' on one side and on the other had nothing written at a glance. A tilt of the card found graphite and it had a date, and a time, and a location. What it lacked was a 'what'.
The ‘where’ seemed to be a storage rental place. And the location was a storage locker about halfway in. There was no sign of Sid. For that matter there was no sign of Lucky either. The unit in question, #074, (not an apartment as it seemed) was unlocked.
Joel showed up at the appointed time indicated on the card and in the appointed location. Standing around in the middle of the storage facility he kind of did a slow turn around looking about til he found the unit.
Standing in front of the unit Joel tucks the card into the pocket of his jeans and gives the door an experimental tug -- because why not? Finding that it isn't locked he opens it up and takes a gander at what he might find inside with some degree of curiosity.
- MEANWHILE, back at the batcave, or rather ON the batcave, there is a warehouse on the edge of the valley. On the roof were two plastic green lawn chairs, three hang gliders parked, and Lucky in a black on black Tuxedo and the Satyr, of course in white on white. No tie. The sunglasses, as always were on. He inquired, "He'll show. How long you reckon?"
- Lucky is already lounging in one of the chairs, drinking a beer. His Tux fits him flawlessly, of course. The man seems to fit into just about everything. Then again, he's got about the same dimensions that most of the mannequins that they hang on do, so that's not terribly surprising. "Who cares?" Lucky asks, in response to how long it takes Joel to get there. "Let the dude enjoy the journey. You're already on a hot date," he reminds the Satyr. "You got nowhere better to be. Let's see how he plays it."
The inside of the storage locker had a table, a full length brass mirror that was likely taken from one of the other storage units, and a white large square box with a white satin ribbon tying it together. Inside was an index card that had scrawled on it that read “So it may have slipped mention that this is a formal occasion. Look sharp.” And inside was a black tux, with a white shirt and underneath a card underneath that read, ‘When you’re done, Tony will take you where you need to go’. Who the hell was Tony?
- Sid wandered and slid his sunglasses up atop his head held in place by stub horns. Lucky was cast a sly grin. "Most epic, longest date ever... I know he'll be here. He needs this as much as we do..." He looked over and being up on the roof? Was he agitated? Anxious. Finally he walked back from the edge and sat. He took a deep breath. "Alright." He grabbed the other beer from the stolen hotel cooler with ice in it and popped the cap off with his keychain opener.
- Lucky grins. "Best -first- date ever," he tells the man. "Don't jinx my future plans before I've put all my cards on the table, now. You have no idea what the second date is gonna be like! That's the one where most people get -really- lucky." The elf stands, moving over to Sid and throwing an arm around him. "You worry too much. Right now, I bet he's adjusting his junk in that big, creepy fucking mirror you got from that dead guy's estate sale. And wondering why we didn't put comb in the box." Sometimes, there are signature pieces. That's one of them.
- Sid leaned against the elf and laughed, “I worry too much?” This seemed to take him by surprise. “You’re the one doing non-stop math and angles. Worry is my slacker hobby.” He patted the back of the black tux and said with a wry grin, “I might be convinced. Tony said he’d text us though.”
- “Yeah," Lucky says. "You worry too much. Worry is -my- area. You just relax and enjoy the show, and let me worry about the logistics. And yeah," Lucky agrees. "Tony said that he'd text you. I mean, I -tried- to get him to text me instead, but you have more money, and he's pretty loyal." Which is a point in Tony's favor, naturally. "So I stole your phone." Lucky produces the phone from his jacket pocket, waving it at the satyr. "Any time now."
Joel wanders in and peers at the table, the mirror, looks around behind and under things, and finally he reads the card and the instructions. Opening the box, both brows go up a little as he pulls out the tux, chuckling a little to himself and shaking his head. "Alright, why not," he says, mostly to himself. And without further ado, though after closing the door, he strips out of his clothes and into the Tux, using the mirror to smooth everything down properly. Without a comb though, the tousled hair remains, well.. tousled. Then he folds his clothes up and pops them into the box for the time being, before re-opening the door and looking around outside for, presumably, Tony.
Outside there was… that was not a limo. YOU’D THINK they would have arranged something that matched the attire? No. It was a Chao’s Chinese Delivery car. Though due to an accident on one side Chao’s had an apostrophe removed and it just read Chaos on it. There was a driver inside that waved and looked at the card. “You’re Mr. Joel?” At least his preferences for not having his last name Mistered was remembered. Well alright then.
"Yeah," Joel answers when the driver asks if that's who he is, chuckling a little bit. At least it wasn't Mr. White, indeed. He popped open the door and said, "So.. you're my ride, I guess. Do I get eggrolls with that?" He grins over at the driver and leans back, waving his hand, "Take me away, Chaos Man."
Tony did, turn around and handed Joel a quart sized container and he grinned with a shake of his head. “Sorry, man. Mr. Church said I shouldn’t feed you. You guys crack me up. Hey, good tux, friend.” Hey Tony was a good guy and at least enjoyed his job. Then again for what he was being tipped? Who wouldn’t have a good day?
The inside of the container had sharpie written in it and the container had to be disassembled somewhat to read it, and a … blindfold? The container read: Hey I know I promised to take you out, or make you take out. Couldn’t remember. Put on the blindfold. Enjoy the ride.
Joel takes the quart sized container that Tony passes him and raises a brow. If they said not to feed him, then what is in the container, he wonders. He opens up the container and unfolds it a bit, getting that little metal bar off the top is surprisingly more difficult than one might imagine. He reads it and chuckles a little, "Thanks, man." He takes out the blindfold and settles back, tying it on and making sure his eyes are covered. Let it not be said that he is not a good sport. Then he settles back and says "Please don't crash into anything.. I'd like the opportunity to at least have my life flash before my eyes."
Tony laughed in a good natured sense and slowly pulled out of the gravel drive. “Well that’s one way of getting out of my sister-in-law’s wedding rehearsal dinner. I’ll do what I can.” The drive took forever. Okay it only really took about twenty-two minutes, and tony couldn’t sing for a damn but loved to sing with his radio and yes Joel was encouraged to join in if he knew the words and if not? Eh fuck it, he was allowed to make up his own. FInally the car pulled to a stop in front of a warehouse. Tony handed an envelope, sealed, to Joel. “I’m supposed to give you this and to say, good luck.”
This letter read: Time to climb to new heights.
The building was a storage warehouse for Apex construction. What the rest meant? Who knows.
- Sid turned and an affectionate glance narrowed and the fury rose and fell all at once with a laugh "Frederick Douglas! You cheaty rabbit tossing cheese punting lawn of a gnome!" Wow he was REALLY tearing into that one there trying to make a swat at Lucky. ""Duuuuude I will climb you so help me." But then? It buzzed and Tony alerted, "It's done"
- I was pretty much planning on you climbing me later," Lucky reminds the satyr, "so that's not much of a threat there, kid." Because goat. Get it? Though just about then, the phone buzzes, and they can hear the door shut below. "Shhhh," Lucky says, handing Sid his phone back. The game, apparently, was just alerting the man that he had lost it in the first place. "He made good time."
- Sid slapped a hand to Lucky's chest and whispered "Places. Let's see how he does."
Joel did indeed sing along with the radio on the way out, and who knew? He can sing. I mean, he won't be winning any Grammy's, but he can carry a tune, and he doesn't seem to mind whether Tony can or not. They're having fun. But eventually the ride comes to an end and the envelope is placed in his hand and he says, "I assume I can take off the blindfold now." It's rhetorical. He does take the blindfold off to read the instructions, and says "Climb to new heights, eh?" He gives a wave to Tony and then starts wandering toward the warehouse. Is there a ladder? He looks around for some way to climb on top of the warehouse. Then perhaps some construction equipment to take him to the roof? A crane? If he finds nothing outside, then he tries a door to see if he can get inside.
Well the door was locked but further investigation of the building found a glass window that was higher up about 5-6 feet off the ground and not very big at all. There were drain pipes, and a sliding bay door that had a 4” gap to it and a chain. There was also a few trees on the lot though not next to the building. Apparently this might require some B&E finesse? Or scaling the building in some nature to try a roof hatch, or trying to squeeze through the gap or a dirty window in a brand new tuxedo.
There are two options as far as Joel can see. One, he can bend back a tree like in a cartoon and fwing himself onto the roof. Two, he can break in, and so that's what he opts to do with a little fancy lockpicking to get in the door, preserving his fine new tux. Might as well check out what is inside.
The Yale lock popped and opened cleanly in such a way that it simply looked like the night foreman forgot to finish locking it and nothing looked particularly disturbed. The inside was mostly storage for lumber on one side and on the other side storage tiers for quick set concrete. It had all the grace and elegance one could hope for in a warehouse with an office and…. Hullo, a roof hatch above the tier racks. That had a lock on it but what was one bitty lock between friends?
Roof hatch away! Joel climbs up the tiers, making his way toward the roof hatch without too much difficulty. He navigates it alright, even wearing a tux. Eventually, once he gets to the hatch, he finagles that lock as well, perhaps not as cleanly as the other, but who's going to be looking that close at the roof? Who knows? But he doesn't worry about it too much. Instead, he pulls himself up onto the roof.
And on the roof: Was an assembly of 3 hang gliders folded. There were two green plastic lawn chairs. On the gravel roof there was a stolen hotel ice bucket with a beer in it, and in the chairs facing the hatch: Lucky in a black on black tux, naturally because he is the ghost of Johnny Cash. In the other Sid in a white on white tux, because he lived for contrast. The Satyr tipped the rest of his bottle back and set it down. He rose to his feet slowly with a clap and a grin that reached from ear to ear. “Fashionably on time.”
Lucky looks down at his watch. "Not even a -little- late," he sighs, shaking his head. "Man. We're gonna have to come up with harder challenges." Moving over to Joel, he throws an arm around the man's shoulders, offering him the sort of mid-grade white-bread beer that regular people who don't brew their own in the Hedge drink. "This way, sir. Destiny awaits. Sid, too. Not as flashy as Destiny, but he's cheaper, and doesn't require a pole."
Lucky, though, looks a bit incredulous. "You really got into a car blindfolded with a random chinese delivery guy? Man. You're -such- a weirdo." Though he doesn't make that sound like a bad thing. If anything, he sounds pretty proud.
Joel comes up out of the hatch and, upon discovering Church and State waiting for him, strolls on over to meet Lucky half-way. He accepts both the arm and the beer, lofting it to the pair of them as he takes a drink from it, glancing over at Lucky with a raised eyebrow. "Sure, why not?" He reached into his pocket and pulls out the little Church and State card that he'd received and says, "If it was going to go wrong, it would at least go fabulously wrong, right?"
Sidney was smug, and satisfied. Hell he was proud of him. With that the Satyr walked across the gravel and hugged Joel, grabbed his head and kissed him on one cheek then the other giving one side a friendly slap "Look at this guy, State. Future ghost of Charlie Sheen I want one. Seriously." He cleared his throat and folded his hands behind his lower back. "Now. Last question... Final test, Joel. If your friends all jumped off the side of a mountainside into the valley what would you do?"
Joel blinks a little bit as his head is manhandled and then kissed, blinking a few times, those big black eyes widening a little in what one might assume is surprise, chuckling. "Did you seriously call me Charlie Sheen? Like.. crazy asshole Charlie Sheen? Can I be like.. I dunno.. " He falters a little then, trying to find someone else more appropriate. "I'm more John Cusack than Charlie Sheen." He chuckles then and raises a brow at the last question and then says, "As a responsible ride operator, I'd make sure their gear was in working order, then jump off that shit, you know, to properly tell the tale from an experienced point of view."
"You were right," Lucky tells Sid, trailing a few paces behind Joel as he releases the Brewer. "The Tux was a good choice. Really shows off his ... assets." Sid probably said that first, of course. Because the poor Censored Satyr just can't catch a break, except for at the rarest of times, when his Censors fall asleep at the wheel. "Seriously, J-man, you should stop wearing such boring clothes. Sid can hook you up. He's knows people." Not that Lucky's one to talk. Normally he's dressed in all black, and is trying really hard to not draw attention to himself. Though as Sid asks the Important Questions, Lucky gets a bit quieter, listening to Joel. He's quiet a moment, thinking it over, before looking to Sid and saying, "The Judges find this answer socially acceptable. What say the Priesthood on its moral worth?"
Sid stood stone still looking, weirdly natural in a tailored tux. The question though made him turn red along cheeks and pointed ears “That was...an expletive...not a form of address.” The rest? This shit? This shit he took seriously though that undercurrent of the grim Dusk seemed to be left elsewhere. “The Clergy finds the abundance of willingness, cunning, and immoral turpitude to meet muster.” Now being Jewish he didn’t make the Sign of the Cross at Joel. He did take up the same body language to draw a smiley face in the air with the same reverence. “Joel, whom will need a new moniker… Church and State have watched and found you exemplary in the realm of daring in the face of new trials while respecting the well being of those around you. It is with our utmost respect that the Motley, Jokers Wild, wishes to extend membership to you...and we’d really like to party with you. In this Summer season will you join us, and thereafter indefinitely to your will, in our misadventures and exploits in exchange for our concern for your well being...and the posting of any required bail money you may find yourself in need of as a result, direct or indirect, of company business?” He blinked and looked to Lucky and quint “I hang around you and Gisa too much” The smirk suggested he didn’t mind this at all.
There is the faintest hint of coloring to the edges of those pointed ears for just a moment and then it clears as Joel regains a little bit of his composure, only to pause again, growing a little bit more surprised at the extended invitation, glancing from one to the other. He'd expected shenanigans and likely random craziness, but an invitation to join a Motley, that wasn't in his realm of expectation, and he's a little taken aback, not with reluctance, no. "Yeah," he says, honestly, "I'd really like that." It's like he was just asked to hang with the cool kids and told they wanted him to be part of their club, and he's a little worried he didn't understand correctly.
Lucky blinks again. "Wow. He just... -agreed-," he tells Sid. "He did't have to think about it or anything. Like..." He looks up at the Satyr, curiously. "I don't know if I should be feeling fuzzy or frightened right now. He either doesn't know what he signed up for, or he -does-, and he's crazier than we are..." Still, he moves up behind JOel, hanging off the man's back. "Welcome to the team," he tells Joel, grinning brightly. "We're gonna be a -terrible- influence on you. I think."
Sidney said with his usual casual observance. "Yeaaaah well he still needs a name. AND we're going to need to vista print new business cards. Now. Have you ever used a hang glider before? I'll go through basic operations before we go so I don't have to be right. When safety is concerned? Don't let the Dusk be right. That's a bad day for all." At least he could have fun with it. Two fingers pointed to the gap. "Behind this building is the yawning mouth of the valley and through it a river and down across said valley is a boat with lunch waiting for us." He chuckled to Lucky and shook his head, "Yeah your poor virgin ears. However will they cope?"
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