Summary:In which Koriand'r and Teresa sell a game they have never played. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
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Teresa knew it was going to be tough getting her life going, but this was…unexpected. Games? Like the Mitsuhama Game System Rose had? Blocky sprites, bleeps and bloops and…
She looked up from the printout of the ad to the double doors of the convention center, currently hosting GameCon 2019, then shrugged and went to the side door marked STAFF and knocked. She was wearing the simple t-shirt, jeans, tennis shoes, and ballcap hiding her long locks of hair.
The door opened, and a bearded guy said, "Yuh?"
She checked the printout. "I'm here for Blasted Landscape Software? I'm doing a modeling job?"
"Yuh, one of the booth babes. Follow me."
He left the door open, and Teresa stepped in, wondering what she had signed up for.
Koriand'r is already in the dressing room. One tends to arrive early when one can fly and can't maintain any interest in a secret identity; and one tends to be instructed to arrive early when working with people who aren't familiar with her bioluminescence, so they can adjust accordingly. At the moment Teresa opens the door, Koriand'r is standing half-naked in front of the makeup girl, practicing the dimming of her natural light for the makeup girl who is gazing at Koriand'r in open-mouthed amazement. Her hand is stroking Koriand'r's bare shoulder as Teresa enters, a circumstance that causes her to blush and exclaim unnecessarily, "Wow, you weren't kidding that your skin gets cooler when you turn down your glow. That's very interesting! Oh, hi, Ms. Karan!" She at least manages not to say, 'I didn't see you there!'
Koriand'r, seemingly unaware of any subtext involved here, turns to Teresa and smiles brightly. Literally brightly: her glow ramps back up, slightly obscuring the details of her face with its pleasant, golden warmth. "Hello, friend!" she greets, seemingly unmindful of her half-nudity. "We are the work partners today, yes?" Despite her height, her voice is very high-pitched, nearly childlike.
The situation is new. Teresa is unfamiliar with the current stae of things, video games being one of the big topics. But she has been to shoots before, and she has no issue with any stage of nudity. She is a professional model, after all. Koriandr's appearance, however, is new. As well as the more-than-healthy glow coming from her skin.
"It seems that we are…" she says with a startled smile, taking off her ballcap to let the long flaxen hair spill down over her shoulder and down to her upper back. She ruffles her own hair, letting it fall naturally, before stepping forward. "My name's Teresa…and I must say you are a very compelling young woman."
Koriand'r beams (mostly metaphorically) at the compliment while the makeup girl, who bears the memorable name Annaliese, regains her composure out of Koriand'r's line of sight. "Thank you! I find you most pleasant as well. Are you familiar with the playgame we are here to represent?" she asks curiously, making no move to sit in a chair and have her face painted or her hair done, no move to find an outfit and slip into it. Conversation is apparently the more important priority.
Teresa chuckled. "Not a clue."
Annaliese chirped, "Oh, we have a TV set up so you can watch the gameplay whiile you get ready." She moved over to the TV set in the wall, then grabbed the remote and pressed a button.
Teresa smirked. "I'm sure you don't need to show me a bunch of blocky…"
The screen flared on, a starship with a round, curved prow flew through a starry expanse, and the camera zoomed in, seemingly through a window, until the bridge crew, composed entirely of golden-skinned females, sat at their posts.
"…pixels?" Teresa finished, stunned.
Annaliese smiled. "Kori…Teresa, this is ULTRAVERSE. You two are playing warriors from this game. Kori, you'll be playing the part of Andara Kielis, the Larai warrior. Teresa, you are Joanna Huntress, the Earth Legion commander."
Koriand'r accepts this subtle hint to get back to business. "Very well," she agrees with only a single, disinterested glance at the television before turning her attention to Annaliese, who has at least overcome whatever embarrassment she was dealing with. "And what am I to do when I wear this name Andara Kielis?"
Annaliese smiled. "I'll give you a script of many of the things she says. Just…be commanding, fearsome, direct, that sort of thing. Teresa…?" She turned and saw Teresa staring at the screen, her mouth slightly open, eyes wide. "Teresa?"
"This…this is not a movie? People PLAY this?"
"Well, it is in-game footage, so yes."
"Mein Gott in seinem heiligen namen…" she breathes, then looks to the other two women. She looks shocked. "How many…people play this?"
"Well, it's an MMO, so we're thinking…three, four million at once?"
Teresa BLINKS. She looks stunned.
"I…think I'll go get your costume, Teresa…give you a minute. I'll get yours as well, Miss Kori, they should be done with it."
Annaliese smiles and steps out. Teresa is still looking at the screen, where two fleets are converging in space.
Koriand'r looks curiously at Teresa, speaking tongues or whatever she's speaking. Her curiosity actually makes her rise into the air, floating up until her toes lose contact with the floor, before drifting back down. Focus, girl, focus. "And my costume for the event is this?" she asks, pointing to a barely-there outfit of segmented plates, persumably a form of armor that will cover only her shoulders, hips, forearms, and public indecency areas while draping loose fishnet over her ribs and thighs. Koriand'r has not seen Predator and does not get the outfit's homage, nor does she seem put out by it, just asking for clarification.
Annaliese smiles. "Yes, that's the combat armor. Miss Karan is different. Shinier." She smiles encouragingly, then steps out, leaving Teresa and Kori alone.
Teresa takes a deep breath. "I had no idea…" She looked to Kori, suddenly aware of how she must look. "You'lll have to forgive me. My name is Teresa Karan, but I also go by the code name of Flare. I…it is a very strange story. But a month ago, for me, it was 1993."
Koriand'r, who has no idea how long a year is on this planet (she knows the factual data, but has no context for it that allows her to grasp how much can change in that time) but has been told to pretend she's Maltese, nods sympathetically, robotically. Her glow dims. "I see. That must be quite the shock," she observes diplomatically, then remembers she's supposed to be changing into her outfit. My, it's intricate! Much too intricate to talk about Earth customs! Look at this shoulder piece, it opens at the throat and then locks there when closed, how could anyone possibly understand such complexities with less than their fullest concentration?
Teresa looks to Kori, then sees what she is deaing with and smirks. THIS is something she understands. "Here now, let me help you with that. As the saying goes, it's not my first rodeo."
She walks over, examining it. Yes, this is how it goes. "All right, Kori…undress and let me help you. The mesh bodystocking goes on first." She unbuttons the top three buttons of her blouse, taking a deep breath. "I can help."
Koriand'r nods, her glow still dimmed. Now Teresa thinks Koriand'r can't even dress herself? What a tangled web of deceptions she's woven! But she does her best to adapt, peeling herself slowly and carefully out of the purple latex (or at least latex-like; the material is thinner than most rubbers of its type, and oddly reflective) she wears as not to accidentally stretch or tear it with her herculean strength. Once nude, she feels slightly more comfortable, at least enough that she begins to dimly glow again. "Very well," she says by way of indicating she's ready for whatever help Teresa wants to provide. "Are you nerved?" she asks, observing that deep breath with some curiosity.
Teresa smiles. "Very impressive body, Kori. And no, I am not nervous. I have been doing this for a couple of years, just not here in New York." She opens the legs of the bodystocking for Kori to step into, then raising it around her body, noting the girdle that will hide her private parts. "It seems to be just another day of smiling and playing a role. Like children do, only for grownups." She looks to the TV, then says, "Except games of this sort have changed drastically for me. I had no idea there was so much development in it, and that it was so accomplished."
Koriand'r nods as she steps into the hardly there mesh, accepting without comment that her body is impressive. She would know, after all; she's lived with it all her life. "You sound as if you disdain the playgame," she ventures as she steps into the belt (rather than hook it on: the tiny loincloth would be an indecency risk in real life, so what appears to be a belt and loincloth is actually more like a pair of shorts trying to had that fact with its design).
Teresa looked to her as she opened the sleeves of the thin bodysuit. "Please do not misunderstand. It is not disdain…it is comprehesion I have difficulty with. Control of such a game seems highly intricate. I am simply trying to understand how such a game would be controlled, ja hein?" She smiles encouragingly. "After the initial shock, I find I am quite intrigued."
"As to comprehension, I can make no promises," Koriand'r apologizes. She shrugs into the sleeves with some disapprovalshe thinks the outfit would be pretty if it were more draped than skintight, which would demand sleevelessnessbut accepts it gracefully enough. "I believe it is controlled with a small device held in both hands, with buttons which, when pressed, cause an object on the screen to take corresponding actions," she supplies helpfully.
Teresa nods as she clips the final fastening closed, then begins chesking the suit for kinks, tight spots, and the like, adjusting it slightly at the hips, just under Kori's chest, and at the armpits. "All right. I'll undress while you move around in it. A little discomfort now will be much worse eight hours from now." She smiles and slips out of her tennis shoes, then finishes unbuttoning her blouse to reveal the lace bra underneath. She reaches behind her to unhook it, sliding it off over her shoulders with practiced ease.
"Oh, I anticipate no discomfort," Koriand'r assures Teresa, which is true. With her strength and toughness, mere clothing doesn't bother her. She watches Teresa undress with a factual lack of shame or prurience, asking, "I have not seen your costume. What will it be like, do you know?"
Teresa shrugs, then begins undoing her belt and pants. "I am sure it will be something eye-catching."
And that is when Annaliese re-appears. She looks at Teresa and Kori for a long moment, then lays out the costume for Teresa. It appears to be a black latex catsuit with contoured armor for feet, hands, shoulder and chest.
"…hmm. Covers most of the body?" Teresa says with wry humor.
"Plus the eyepiece." Annaliese holds up a headband with a clear panel over the right eye.
"Of course…must protect the head." She chuckles.
"I do not mind the fantasy," Koriand'r observes. "If people wish to enjoy it, then that is well." She does a neat little half-pirouette on her toes, then catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror, which reminds her. She walks over to the makeup table and presses her palms to the counter, leaning over it, staring intently at herself as she clenches that little muscle in her mind that turns off her absorption reflex. Her skin begins to dim, orangeish now rather than gold, and the flames in her hair die out, leaving it merely scarlet. Even her eyes dim until it's possible to make out some minor details of her pupils. Her face is blank during this process, all of her concentration taken by it.
Teresa watches with keen interest. "That is impressive. I myself am something of a solar battery. I absorb light energy. But with a costume like this…" she picks up the catsuit. "I shall have to refrain from using my powers until I can wear something to help replenish them."
She slips out of the last of her underthings and begins dressing in the latex suit, working it up her body a little at a time.
Koriand'r picks a bottle of baby powder from the various canisters and vials of makeup on the counter, considers it, then selects a bottle of lotion as well and walks carefully over to Teresa, offering each. "You require specific clothing to absorb light energy?" she asks, interested.
Teresa chuckles. "Yes. To expose as much skin as possible. There are receptors in my skin that act like solar cells." Teresa takes the powder, giving her skin a moderate dusting around the shapely thighs. She seems to have little trouble pulling it upto cover her. "I wear a cape, but also a costume that is basically a one-piece swimsuit. French-cut thighs, strapless…but it is for a good cause. I shall have to ration out the energy I use while wearing this."
Koriand'r nods at this description of the costume. It sounds fine, but that's not the part of it she's interested in. "Must you open yourself consciously to absorb this energy, or is it reflexive? Can you choose to be more or less receptive?" These are the questions sparking interest in her eyes as she circles around to face Teresa directly.
Teresa ia sliding her arm into the supple latex sleeves, making sure to prepare heself for the gloves. They will need to be adjusted slightly. "It's reflexive, actually. I'm always in a state of receptiveness. I know when my batteries are full, and i do not run the risk of overcharging my body. However, if my skin is cut, I…leak light, basically." She starts work on the other sleeve. "Could you put some lotion on my left arm, please, Kori?" She tugs experimentally. Nope. Definitely going to need it.
Strange; Koriand'r didn't introduce herself. Perhaps Teresa is a fan. (The possibility of Teresa having done some kind of professional research does not occur to her.) She shrugs the thought off and squirts a dab of lotion into her palm, just a little as not to risk overgreasing Teresa, and strokes it into Teresa's flesh. "Can you absorb light from others?" she asks, still apparently on that train of thought."
Teresa looks thoughtful. "It depends. Really bright man-made light works, but sunlight is more powerful. Probably because it is everywhere when the sun is up."
The lotion does make it easier. And maybe it's the company, too. "Thank you, Kori," she says after the hand slides fully out of the end of the sleeve. "Okay." She reaches down to pull up the zipper in the front of the catsuit, exhaling as she pulls it up past her chest, the latex molding to her body like a second skin. "There,,,!"
Koriand'r nods curiously. "We should experiment later," she declares. (Somewhere, the spirit of H. Jon Benjamin cries, "Phrasing!") She watches with interest Teresa's breathing techniques to get into the suit, which seem too deliberate to be unpracticed. "You have worn such an outfit in the past?"
Teresa chuckles. "Let's see…I've worn dresses from fifteen major designers. Silk, satin, feathers. I have also worn a mermaid tail for a commerical, various costumes (including my own for a walk-on role playing myself in a movie), diamonds, and even reflective tape." She rubs lotion into her hands before putting on the latex gloves, which mold as well as the catsuit does. "There. Now, all we have to add are the armor bits. I'll help you with yours first, so I can adjust the suit for comfort."
"Thank you," Koriand'r says politely. Alas, that lie keeps coming back to haunt her! All she can do now is pull her knee-length mane of crimson over one shoulder to expose her back, since there's obviously WAY too much hair to put up in a bun or anything, and await Teresa's assistance.
the rest of the "armor' is much easier to put on, and in a couple of minute Koriandr is ready. "Okay, I may need help with the breastplate. I can't quite reach the snaps in the back." She holds up the armor to her chest, turning around. I think there are two clips. Could you get those for me?" She chuckles. "Not very well-designed if I needed to get out of it in a hurry. Some designers seem to favor form over function." She looks over her shoulder, blue eyes sparkling. "I would like to see you again after this gig. You seem like a very interesting person, Kori. Hopefully we'll be able to talk during this convention, and more than just…" She looks to the paper she was given. "…saying stuff like, 'The battle is joined!'"
"That would be most pleasant," Koriand'r agrees as she helps pull the armor on. "And I do not think it is surprising these outfits as the silliness. They are costumes rather than armor, after all." Says the alien whose armor is scaled plastic with a boob window. "Are you accustomed to them being more serious?"
Teresa chuckles. "It just sounds like the kind of stuff I heard from powerful scheisse-heads like Doctor Destroyer. Melodramatic, overblown." She smiles at the double-click of the clips, then turns to face Kori. "I like it when people speak plainly. No attempt to sound important. If you're important, people will sense that when you talk anyway."
"Ah," Koriand'r says wisely, to cover her confusion. "I believe I understand what you refer to. It seems to me that people are very concerned with seeming to be someone other than who they are."
Teresa nods. "Yes. But I hold no illusions about myself." She steps back, looking at herself in the full mirror at their reflections. "Yes…I think we look imposing enough as characters." She looks back to Kori. "Ready to become an object of lust?" She winks.
"I am always that," Koriand'r observes factually. "Why, is that something you would not wish to be?"