interstellar5555 | Going Once, Going Twice

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Going Once, Going Twice

Who: Rarity and whomever would like to talk with her
What: Rarity getting loose ends tied up before Sans goes on his teleport spree and gets her out of ~~dodge~~ Virgo
When: April 8-10
Where: Wherever you want, though mostly in Virgo
Warnings: We'll see?

It's been an odd, very tense sort of month. There are things happening in the background that Rarity can't quite put her finger on, and it's keeping her on edge. (Of course, it doesn't help that her hands no longer feel right, and her balance is terrible. This is what happens when you have the wrong number of legs, and the wrong just about everything.)

She may be in the penthouse, making tea or putting together different outfits in an attempt to make herself feel better; she may be in the Virgo lobbies or building at large, looking through the museum she rarely ever spends time in or committing the cardinal sin of wearing flats to the club; she may be out and about on the town, usually at a park, though the fashion district has caught her attention as of late, her bodyguard (regrettably) never far behind.

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"Fired, officially." He shakes his head. "Something happened to them. Blanche is using them for... I don't know. But they didn't go home."

He finally looks at her. "This band has been through a lot of loss, Rarity. If you can find a way to stay safe, you take it." Whether with them or against them... so long as she wasn't hurt.

It's a good thing Rarity isn't holding anything, or it would be in pieces on the floor at this point. For a moment, all she can do is stare and remember to breathe. Greg wouldn't lie to her about this; somehow, that makes it both better and worse all at once.

"What about you?" she manages quietly. "Blanche gave you magic - is it keeping you safe?" She can hardly believe that it is - Greg is too tired and twitchy for that - but she needs to hear it from him.

Greg looks away again, teeth gritted. He hates seeing that expression on her, hates making her feel this way. But she deserves to know.

"I'm too valuable for him to hurt. I'm fine. I'm just... just worried about the rest of you, you aren't..." His face screws up. He's not very good at being some big protector. "I'm trying to help, but I'm just one guy."

Her expression is blank for a few seconds, as two and two come together to make a very terrible four. "You're too valuable to hurt, but we're not," she breathes. "Is that- are we collateral? You behave, or he hurts us? Is that how this works?" It's not an accusation - simply ugly surprise.

Tell her she's wrong, Greg. Please.

"He never said that," Greg admits. But they know it's there. "He kept Steven safe for me." Another veiled threat, that Steven had been smart enough to escape.

"I can do all sorts of stuff with my powers. Stuff I don't even know yet, but he does. He hasn't asked me to do anything but my job." Yet. "So long as we play, it works out."

She shakes her head slowly as Greg talks. It's bad - it's worse than she knew, and she'd thought she knew quite a bit. "And what happens when he tells you to do something you don't want to do?" The way things are going, it will be a when.

Greg doesn't have an answer for that; he's been wondering himself.

After a deathly still pause, he glances at Rarity--not her face so much as the hem of her dress. "Does your magic let you protect yourself at all?"

The non-answer is not reassuring, but for now, it's answer enough, and Rarity doesn't pursue it.

"No," she says after that pause has passed. "I can move things with it, but that's about it."

Another moment of silence passes, while Greg chews it over.

"I... I've been able to change things. Make them different. I've never tried it on a person. I don't--I don't want to force anything. But. I can maybe help you get... closer. To who you were." It's only a theory, an idea slowly developing in the back of his mind. But it's something.

She's only ever heard of one other person doing this - the person who gave her her purple hair and her magic back. "Like the person in the mask," she says quietly. It's difficult to fathom, yes, but certainly not the strangest thing she's heard this week.

She's wanted so badly to do something to help - she wants Greg, who's being so passive, to do something as well - this may just be a compromise. It's risky, yes, but so is doing nothing, and if Rarity is to be hurt, she knows exactly which way she'd prefer it to happen. "I'm willing to try if you are," she says. "A duet, then?"

"I think so." It makes sense, right? He's never seen how it works, but... if they can do it, so can he, right?

Greg rubs at his face. He's tired. He's scared. He wants to do something. Greg nods at her. "I uh. I'll go get... my guitar..."

"Wait a moment, please." The coffee had finished while they were talking; she fetches a new mug from the cupboard, pours fresh coffee into it, and magics it over to Greg. "I thought you might want this."

He takes the cup from the glowing grip of her magic, hesitates, adds a little milk. Just to take away a bit of the bitterness. "Thanks, Rarity." He limgers a moment, taking a gulp and absorbing the scent. "C'mon. We better do this before we lose our nerve." He can't speak for her, but it's a definite risk for him.

"Of course." She follows him down the hall, teacup floating easily beside her, and shuts the door behind her when she reaches his room. After a moment of consideration, she sets the teacup on a nightstand and magics a pillow instead, shoving it into the crack under the door. "I'm ready when you are."

Greg's paranoia has peaked with a certainty that no pillow, nor indeed any door, could stop anyone who wanted to from overhearing. Still, he appreciates security blankets as something soothing.

He slings his guitar strap over one shoulder, looks at Rarity, and nods. She's not got her violin, which means singing. He'll match her rhythm.

Well, probably not, but it certainly makes Rarity feel better. The pillow of secrecy exists for a reason, after all.

For a moment, she stares, wide-eyed, and gestures questioningly to herself. He's the one with the magic, yet he wants her to start?

Well. Alright. Um.

Oddly enough, it doesn't take long for the song to come - it seems to be floating in the air, waiting for them.

"Do you remember when we didn't care?"

Though Rarity picks the song, Greg picks out the part of the guitar as easily as if he'd made the decision himself. It's only a matter of what's already inside Rarity, locked away somewhere, and making it audible. That should reflect on her person, too.

Or maybe not? Instinct tells Greg that it will work, but he's still flying blind here.

"We were just two kids
that took a moment when it was there."

"Do you remember you at all?"

Something resonates deep within her; it's partially the fitting words, yes, but there's also something she's felt before, with the person in the mask. It's magic at work, tentative but growing, and she stays with it.

"Another heart calls..."

"Another heart calls...
Yeah I remember when we stole the night
We'd lie awake dreaming 'til the sun would wash the sky."

It's an incredible magic, unlike any of the sort he's handled before. It feels more solid, more real--because it's not just his, he realizes. Adding in the heart of another's magic, even if Rarity wasn't the active wielder, made it full of so much more life.

"Just as soon as I see you,
But didn't I, didn't I tell you"

"As deep as I need you"

The magic builds with the music, swelling with Greg's guitar and tingling down Rarity's spine every time they harmonize.

"You want to leave it all"

They sing together softly, giving voice to the magic, until it settles comfortably into Rarity at the end of the duet. Greg might have enjoyed simply stopping and feeling the ebb and flow of the magic itself, but stopping the music early would have destroyed what they'd built.

Now he finds himself a tad winded from the performance, in a way being on stage never had. He looks at Rarity, uncertain. She's the one who's done stuff like this before, anyway.

"You okay?"

It's different with Greg. Rarity is accustomed to the masked people helping her out - accustomed to their magic - but Greg's is warmer, somehow. More familiar. She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly as the magic settles. "I think so," she replies, offering him a smile. "We'll have to see what happens."

Despite having just felt the power around them, the lack of anything immediately obvious makes Greg doubt it actually worked. Like she said, they'll just have to wait and see. "Yeah. We'll just... take it easy, for now."

Greg does his best to return her smile, but doesn't quite manage. He's too tired, too afraid. But he's hopeful, too. If it did work... he'll be glad he did what little he could.

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Going Once, Going Twice

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