Embarrassment at Barnes&Noble. (Open to all.)

[Veronica Devereux]

[OK, so, this is post-Museum thread. Felt the need to put Veri's sexiness to use, and publicly humiliate her.]

A relatively busy building, Barnes & Noble was an eclectic bookstore, housing all sorts of books to satisfy readers alike, whether they crave Sci-fi, Anime, How to's, or even good ol' porn. Speaking of porn, our very own mutant lovely, Veronica, could be easily spotted strolling through the "Mature" section, as the store seemed to label it. She had asked a manager about it once, and all she heard, or rather what she didn't block out, was that they did not need parents yelling at them for their children asking them what porn was. Hello? It's the 21 century, most of the kids have probably been in porn!

Any who, back to Ms. Devereux. Her heels clacked against the marbled floor, but was soon silenced when she traveled from one surface to the next, entering the extraordinary world of X-Rated magazines and movies. The tips of her slender fingers traced the covers of many books, most of which showed some bimbo posing completely nude with some dude, fully erect, posed behind her, doing something he shouldn't be doing. Shaking her head, the blonde made a "tsking" sound as she continued her walk down the first row. As she reached the end of the first row, she heard school-girlish giggling, and turned to find a group of boys huddled around a book with two naked women making out on it.

Trying her best to stay quiet, Veronica slowly snuck up on the group and glanced over one of the adolescent's shoulders, and leaned in to whisper in his ear."You know, looking at two naked guys is SO much more satisfying, at least, to me it is." The sound of a new voice caused all of the teen boys to jump and hide, or try to, hide the magazine behind their backs. Shaking her head once more, the female mutant busted out laughing as she turned on her pink heels and headed down the second aisle of the mature themed books.

The second aisle she happened to walk down was none other than the famous Playboy aisle. Dozens of magazines had girls posing "tastefully" as many critics would describe the covers. Stopping here and there, a few of the scantily clad, sometimes naked girls, caught her eye. Veronica wasn't a lesbian, to be honest, but she wasn't afraid to admit if another female was sexually attracting, something she knew drove men crazy. As she continued walking, a particular issue of the magazine caught her eye.

Approaching the stand, the blue orbs eyed no one other than herself. Veronica was staring at herself, almost fully nude, save a white sheet that covered the lower half of her body, on the cover of this month's Playboy. Her hair was done in curls, and her face was slightly done in make-up. Her body was adorned with small pieces of diamonds, each held in place by sticky glue that wouldn't harm her skin. A white necklace was wrapped around her neck, and her body lay in a pool of pearls, making it seem as if she was floating on a sea of white.

Feeling her face flush, Veronica read the titles on the magazine, one in particular that caught her eye."Ex-Con photo-shoot & Exclusive interview with a sexy mutant!" With balled fist, the girl yanked all of the articles off the stand, nearly knocking it over. turning so her back faced the stand, she hid the magazines behind her back so no one else would be able to get a peek at her.

[Rahne Sinclair]

Rahne doesn’t know what she’s doing here.

That is: she knows perfectly well that Primer dropped her off with the instruction to “blend in.” She knows this is one of a series of similar exercises in different locations... she saw a movie recently, she ate a meal in a restaurant, she went out for pizza, and so forth. And she understands, albeit dimly, that this is all intended to make her more useful to the mission.

But unlike the dining establishments, whose basic purpose was clear enough; unlike the movie, which she actually found somewhat enjoyable once she’d worked her way through the sheer novelty of it, this “bookstore” remains opaque to her. Yes, all right, she understands that most people can read, and that many do so for entertainment or education, and they come here to purchase books… but what is she supposed to do here?

> " You know, looking at two naked guys is SO much more satisfying, at least, to me it is "

At first Rahne has difficulty believing she’d actually heard what she thought she’d heard. But she has almost become resigned to this world, in which there is no abomination so ungodly that it cannot be discussed, or even performed, in public.

Still, she wants to take note of the speaker… perhaps God will give her the opportunity, once her current “blending in” exercise is complete, to track down this particular sinner. So she follows the voice, and then the clicking footfalls, and ultimately finds herself in an aisle filled with some truly abhorrent images, and a young woman attacking one particular display rack in something of a frenzy.

"Aye. Apalling, i’nt it?"

[Veronica Devereux]

Trying her best to rip up the magazines, Veronica had to give up when several passerbys and managers gave her the evil eye. Sticking her tongue out in retaliation, the blonde turned to make sure no was looking. Grabbing a bottle of water from her coat pocket. the girl opened the bottle and was prepared to dump the entire contents over the magazines, thoroughly ruining them.As she began to tip the bottle, she turned on her heels quickly, hiding the magazines and bottle behind her back.

> "Aye. Apalling, i’nt it?" She was face to face with a girl, who had asked her a question. Unsure of what to say, she managed to sputter out "Yeah..It's uhm..Appaling alright." the mutant tried to sound as sincere as possible, but knew it sounded fake. Clearing her throat, she capped the bottle of water, dropping it back into her pocket, the movement causing part of the Playboy magazine to be shown. Unaware of the visible magazine, she continued talking to the girl.

"So, what brings you to the uhm." she paused, nodding her head down the aisle,"Adult section?"

[Rahne Sinclair]

(( OOC: Just for reference, note that Rahne looks to be somewhere in her mid-20s, and is in fact a fair bit older than that.))

> " So, what brings you to the uhm, adult section? "

"Eh?" Rahne isn’t at all sure what the girl is talking about, although a quick look around does confirm that there are no children in this part of the building. Not that this is particularly noteworthy; as far as she can tell there are no children in most of the building.

But her assignment is to fit in, and she suspects that asking for clarification of the matter will mark her as an outsider, so she doesn’t. "T’tell ye the truth, I were following ye. What y’said t’yon boys… ‘twas ill-said.