Forums » General Roleplay » (Closed) Summer Soiree: The County Fair

Emily frowned at Joey's remark about being on death row. What is he talking about? If he's not in prison, then he's not on death row. And then understanding came to her; Joey must have some kind of terminal illness. At the realization, her frown was replaced by a look of horror and concern. She was filled with sadness; the thought of someone so young having to face that was truly tragic, and she found herself having to wipe away a tear that was rolling down her cheek. She tried to think of something meaningful to say, but Joey was already leaving the cell, his ten-minute sentence having come to an end. Ultimately, she just got to her feet as he was leaving and say, "Good luck, Joey; I wish you well."

She noticed that dark patches were starting to appear on her skin in a few places; her tattoos were becoming visible. Too many strong emotions could cause that, as could calling upon her superhuman strength, like she'd done earlier at the Hi-Striker. The tattoos were normally invisible, but when they appeared, they served as a warning sign that she might be getting close to losing control of her constant thirst for blood. She decided to pay the bails for the two cheerleaders so they wouldn't be in the cell with her, but before she could call out to the bailiff, he appeared at the cell door and announced that time was up for the two teenagers. They exited the cell, leaving Emily locked up by herself. She resumed her lotus position in the sunlight and meditated until her sentence was over, and then she too left the cell.

“I’m Jessica Griffin.” She said to the guys. “That sounds good... maybe one day I’ll be back in the area.” Jessica said as she responded to Trevor. She doubted she would be back any ti e soon, for she was planning to head west after the festival toward California. The funny thing is plans do have a was of changing, like when she hooked up with Incorrigible, a southern rock band in Chicago. They were on their tour, and she live sessioned with them on their return leg for a hand full of dates. She parted ways with them in Tulsa Oklahoma as she had no desire to go to Houston, and her path brought her per chance through this county.

“Anyway, I should probably go. I might be back tonight to see you play...if I can find somewhere to stay the night.” Jess said as she picked up her guitar case.

“I’m Jessica Griffin.” She said to the guys. “That sounds good... maybe one day I’ll be back in the area.” Jessica said as she responded to Trevor. She doubted she would be back any ti e soon, for she was planning to head west after the festival toward California. The funny thing is plans do have a was of changing, like when she hooked up with Incorrigible, a southern rock band in Chicago. They were on their tour, and she live sessioned with them on their return leg for a hand full of dates. She parted ways with them in Tulsa Oklahoma as she had no desire to go to Houston, and her path brought her per chance through this county.

“Anyway, I should probably go. I might be back tonight to see you play...if I can find somewhere to stay the night.” Jess said as she picked up her guitar case.

"It was great meeting you," Tabby called through the bars of the tank. "I'm Tabby! Tabby Blackwell! We're the last band of the evening and start at 9 PM if you can make it!"

Trevor chuckled. "Ignore Short Stuff," Trevor replied. "But yeah, it was great meeting you and if you are around later, we start about 9 PM tonight on the main stage."

“It was good meeting you too!” Jessica said with a turn and a wave. “See you tonight!” Jess made her mind up to hang around to watch their band play. She would probably go set up somewhere near the gates to entertain the people as they left for the day and collect whatever they felt like tossing in her guitar case.
“Yeah... you too...” Jessica sighed out as she gave Trevor a quizzical look. She knew where the bands were playing, and wondered why he had to basically repeat what Tabatha had said after he instructed her to ignore her. ‘Typical guys’ she thought to herself as she gave him a slight smile. She then turned back to Tabatha and waved, saying before she walked off, “Hope you don’t get dunked too many more times.”

"Just ignore THEM," Tabby replied. "Don't worry about me. My shift is almost over, thankfully! Hope we see you tonight!"

Marie glanced at her watch. "Okay, who wants to dunk a cheerleader? Last call! Last call! We are about to have a shift change! Get her before she gets away!"


OOC: I'm planning to close the thread in about 2 hours or so, so this is your last chance if you want to play! We'll accommodate anyone and play out their scene the rest of the week as long as you get your first post in tonight.

Several more girls arrived at the booth in their bikinis. including a senior to relieve Marie of her duties. She was not dressed in the fancy attire of the captain.

"Alright, Blackwell, your time is up. Go ahead and get out and dry off," Karen instructed.

Tabby eagerly scrambled out off of the bench and out of the cage surrounding the tank as another 1st-year member took her place. She moved back behind the curtain behind the dunk tank to gather her things. She grabbed her towel and started drying off so she could put her clothes back on over her bathing suit.

Marie had not been in the tank at all since she was a senior. She grabbed her purse from under the table and gave some brief instructions to the next member in charge and headed off a moment later.

A few minutes later, Tabby pulled her jeans over her bathing suit. She peered around the curtain and saw Trevor and Matt were still hanging around the booth. They were obviously waiting for her and were distracted and busy talking. Matt was probably quoting some scene from Star Wars. Tabby snuck between the booths while they weren't looking and made a wide circle using the crowd as cover. She made it to the jail booth and tapped a sheriff with an oversized cowboy hat on the shoulder. "Excuse me," She said. "I have two scoundrels I need to take a warrant out for."

"Well, looks like this show is over," said Matt, referring to Tabby's stint in the dunk tank. Their guitarist had left the tank and was presumably getting dressed "backstage", while some other girl took her place in the tank. "I don't know that girl taking her place, and Marie and Doreen are out of jail, so we can't taunt them a second time. Looks like we're going to have to find some other way to kill time before the concert. Have anything in mind?"

*tag Trevor*

"Once Tabby gets dressed, we could go find Starla; I know she's around here somewhere. Maybe we'll run into Gary and Shelley too," said Matt. After a few minutes he glanced at his watch. What was taking Tabby so long? "Shouldn't she be out by now?"

"Well, looks like this show is over," said Matt, referring to Tabby's stint in the dunk tank. Their guitarist had left the tank and was presumably getting dressed "backstage", while some other girl took her place in the tank. "I don't know that girl taking her place, and Marie and Doreen are out of jail, so we can't taunt them a second time. Looks like we're going to have to find some other way to kill time before the concert. Have anything in mind?"

Trevor shrugged. "There is plenty of other things to do. We have several more hours til we have to get ready to play," Trevor replied. "We can check out some more games or just walk around."

"Once Tabby gets dressed, we could go find Starla; I know she's around here somewhere. Maybe we'll run into Gary and Shelley too," said Matt. After a few minutes he glanced at his watch. What was taking Tabby so long? "Shouldn't she be out by now?"

Trevor nodded. He didn't see the two deputies in the oversized cowboy hats approaching.

"Excuse me," One of them said. "Mr. Scott? Mr. Hunter? I'm here to announce a deal that will keep the Empire out of this place forever!"

"We had no choice," the other deputy replied. "She arrived shortly before you did. You're going to have to come with us."

The deputies both pulled out handcuffs. Tabby was watching from a safe distance with a big grin on her face.

Joey had wandered out to look for that musician and maybe sit and smoke and listen to her! But she was nowhere to be seen. He shrugged at the loss of his rat and a few doobs, and he went back into the video arcade tent.

Going over to see if anyone managed to bump him off high score on the High Speed pinball game, she saw a couple guys in TealCove letterman’s jackets standing there. One guy was working hard at the game and was pretty good, but when he let a ball get past the flipper and go down, he slapped the side of the game. He was close to passing Joey’s score from earlier. He wondered if one of these guys was Tophat’s missing boyfriend... he put a token in the Astroids game to pass the time until the jocks cleared out.

Matt looked at Trevor in surprise, and then back at the deputies. He had no doubt about who was responsible for this. She'd even talked the deputies into quoting The Empire Strikes Back. Matt had to fight back the urge to ask the deputies "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" He ultimately decided not to, considering he himself was shorter than either of the deputies.

"This 'she' that arrived before we did: was it a feisty little redhead? I'm sure she's sorry. I'm sorry too." He grinned and allowed the deputy to handcuff him.

Once he and Trevor were in the cell, Matt said, "You know, she already got us back for that time we had her jailed; that's what that scavenger hunt was all about. That means we now owe her."

Pete groaned and slapped the side of the pinball machine when his last ball got past the flippers. And he'd been so close to beating the top score! It wasn't his fault, of course; he'd been distracted by that cute brunette with the nice legs playing Ms. Pacman nearby. At least, that's the excuse he told himself, though he wouldn't voice it aloud to anyone. The girl looked familiar; he thought she might be the friend of those two underclassman cheerleaders Marie had had him and Jerry spying on, the one who worked as a carhop with them at Speedy's Drive-in. He'd only seen that girl from a distance, though, so he couldn't be sure it was the same girl. If it was her, she sure had gotten Marie's and Felicia's panties in a bunch for some reason. Doreen's too, he supposed, although that was probably just her following Marie's lead. Girls must all be crazy, he decided.

He reached into a pocket to get another token, and discovered he was out. "I need more tokens," he said to his friend Greg, who'd been playing pinball with him. "I...on second thought, Marie's shift at the dunk tank is almost over," he said after glancing at his watch. "I guess I'd better get over there. She'll be waiting for me."

Now that she was released from the charity jail, Emily thought it might be best to leave the fair and seek solitude away from the crowds. As she was making her way through the fairgrounds towards the parking lot she passed a big tent that was set up as an arcade, and she happened to notice a familiar face at one of the machines inside. Joey, one of the people who'd been in the charity jail with her, was playing a game of Asteroids.

She stood there a moment, pondering whether it would be a good idea to approach him. She felt like she'd like to talk to him about a comment he'd made in the jail cell, but she was reluctant to pry into someone else's business. Also, if she approached him he'd likely want to know why she was covered with a number of tattoos now that weren't there a few minutes ago. It was a topic that she wasn't eager to discuss. When she'd been in the jail cell with him, she had appeared to be free of tattoos, but now an ornate crucifix appeared on the back of her right hand, a sword adorned her upper right arm, and the arms of a balance-type scale appeared across her upper chest just below her collarbones. On one side of her back was the image of a medieval monk accompanied by a doe; the other side displayed an image of Jesus praying at Gethsemane. There was another sword running up the center of her back, more ornate than the one on her arm, with wing-shaped quillons and lines emanating from it suggesting rays of light. Above that sword and just below her neck was an image of a crown of thorns, although that last tattoo was covered by her long hair and so not easily visible.

After a few seconds of consideration, she decided to go into the arcade and speak to Joey. She stopped several feet away from him and waited patiently for him to finish his game. When he was finished, she stepped closer and said, "Hi, remember me? The non-cop you did time with?"

“Hey! Buddha! Yeah, I remember you. I’d offer you a toke but some vagabond musician chick made off with my stash.” Joey said as he glanced over at the jocks as they left his favorite pinball game. If he was distracted, it was only to check to see if he still had high score.

Throwing his head to the side quickly to get his hair out of his face, he gave the lady a glance and said, “so uhh... you got ink. Did a good job hiding it in the clink.”

Once he and Trevor were in the cell, Matt said, "You know, she already got us back for that time we had her jailed; that's what that scavenger hunt was all about. That means we now owe her."

"Yes, yes she did," Trevor said noting that Tabby was watching them from a safe distance. "So, we have the next 10 minutes to start thinking about our scavenger hunt list..."

Marie spotted Pete and walked over to him. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you," Marie growled. She noted Joey was hanging around the area. "I've had enough carnival for one day, let's get out of here and go to River Oaks. I'm ready for some dinner and hot tub time!"

She grabbed Pete by the arm and tugged at him, eager to make her way to the festival gates.

OOC: I think that's a wrap for all of my characters. Thank you again to everyone who participated. Maybe we'll do another one next year.

"Buddha?" Emily laughed jovially, realizing the two of them hadn't exchanged names while they were in the cell. Her father would have gotten a laugh out of hearing someone call her Buddha, she thought. "I'm Emily," she said with a smile.

He looked around at her and immediately noticed her tattoos. "Well, my ink isn't just any ink; it's special," she said. "You know those old mood rings that were popular back in the 70's, that had gemstones that would change color based on your emotions? My tattoos are kind of like that. The ink is usually transparent, but it can turn opaque under certain conditions. See, I have this, uh, extremely rare medical condition, and the tattoos let me know when it's acting up. I don't usually like to talk about it, but...I kind of got the impression from your 'death row' comment that you might have a condition too. And I was wondering if you'd like to talk about it."