Glam, Guns and Glitter

[sweetcandygirl]

Harley Quinn is wearing a tailored armor jacket as she strolls through the Nexus plaza today. In one hand, she twirls a baseball bat (covered with stickers, glittery writing and bloodstains). Pop! A piece of gum is formed into a bubble and clicks against her tongue as she pops it loudly.

She finds a table to lean against, her neon pink tights clash against the yellow halter top visible under her jacket. Her hair is curled haphazardly over her head. And she checks the streets of the plaza, leaning forward to look all the way to the north, and then all the way to the south.

"Pssst…." Harley whispers to people as they pass by. "The Walrus and the Carpenter were looking for you..."

"Nah!" She laughs. Brightly. Flashing a million-dollar-smile. "The spy game is so over-rated these days. Besides, White Spy and Black Spy both cheat."

"But tell me... cough it up... when did you last cheat to get what you wanted?"

Comments

Ki ki ki, ma ma ma!

[mrhix]

This was a promising sign.
Not unlike a shark drawn to drops of blood in the water Sin had its own stench and Jason was ever guided towards it.

He stormed over to Harley and without a word kicked the chair she was sitting on out from under her.

He was getting the hang of attacking people in an indirect way.
His anger and hatred simply had to be focused on objects close to people rather than them.
Such a tactic would strain a mind of higher purpose but for a being as purely motivated by violence and used to concentrating on singular objectives it was not impossible.

[chiaro_oscuro]

"Not so long ago. When I first arrived here, I had to cheat to keep myself fed and out of the winter. I stayed in the Underbelly for a while. While I scavenged, I also found scam artists there and gave them a taste of their own medicine."

When he was new, lurking in the Nexus Underbelly, Ben hadn't been above cheating in gambling games or swindling people to get the money he needed to put food in his belly and afford visits to inns. His Force abilities were an asset in his tricks. It was a long way to fall from Supreme Leader, and he wasn't proud of ripping off strangers, exactly, but he was a Solo after all, and like any Solo he was a capable cheat.

He was picky about his targets, moving among the Underbelly's more criminal element, and he knows a lot of the rough types he played against had every intention of cheating him if the Force hadn't given Ben an upper hand. He read enough of their minds to feel their greed and their intentions, and took some satisfaction in teaching them humility. He relished their rage when he scooped up their money and went on his way.

"That's no longer necessary, though I'll admit to enjoying the sport. The looks on their faces were worth it." He jerks his head in Harley's direction. "Looks like you were in a fight, and got the best of it - don't think that's your blood on that bat.

[sweetcandygirl]

"Scavenging ain't cheating. It is survival." Harley pops another bubble.

"Must have been some low level scum. They usually let their emotions show the most." Harley is very familiar with criminal element. Even the criminal element in the Underbelly. She knows how the game is played.

"Nah. This... this... this... ohhh and this one... are mine." She points to a few spots on the bat. "Can't stop from blood spraying anyway it wants. Ya'know."

[chiaro_oscuro]

"Scavenging isn't cheating," Ben agrees firmly. His experiences are not the only ones he's thinking of when he says that.

He looks over Harley's armor and her bloody weapon. Recent fight, definitely. He's not going to ask what happened, not yet, anyway, but it's probably quite the story.

"My particular skillset helped in my scams, and in choosing my prey. They certainly let their emotions show when I was done with them." There's a knowing smirk. Ben's pretty sure he's made enemies there, although low-level scum, as Harley put it, doesn't scare him. He could've single-handedly beaten every one of them if he'd had to - which is probably why none of them ever tried to stop him from leaving with his winnings. "Still, you won. That's the most important thing."

[silverseamariner]

"I'm a pirate, lass." Captain skekSa chuckles when she hears Harley's question. "Cheating and swindling comes with the territory!"

Not that she's especially known for cheating, and she deals honestly in the Nexus, but back home she's not above breaking the rules to benefit herself or the Sifa under her care. She has no alleigance to the Court of the Crystal or the Emperor, so she'd be more than happy to cheat them if given the chance.

"Another fighter, I see! That's a curious weapon you have there. I like the personal touch you gave it." The Mariner turns, showing Harley the cutlass that's buckled to her side. She bows slightly to Harley, seemingly not bothered by the blood. "I am Captain skekSa. It's an honor."

[sweetcandygirl]

"I LOVE PIRATES!" Harley beams. "I always wanted to ride on a Pirate Ship. Avast ye! And plunder 'em all!"

She uses her bat as a sword for a second, parrying with invisible opponents.

"All my weapons get the personal touch..." Harley flashes a hand to the glittered gun on her weapons belt.

"Harley Quinn! Pleased to'meetcha!" She returns the bow, since it seems to be polite.

[silverseamariner]

"I'm afraid I don't have my ship with me, seeing as there is no port or ocean, but you're in the presence of a pirate, Miss Quinn." skekSa's red eyes gleam. The Mariner likes Harley already.

She hums approvingly as she takes a look at Harley's glittered gun, then gestures to a set of egg-shaped devices lashed to her belt.

"My thunder-eggs are of my own invention. Explosives. I aim them at a target and boom. I take some with me in the Wilds, in case I run into trouble."

[sohoangel]

Aziraphale has gotten used to Harley's colorful and eccentric wardrobe by now, but she never fails to surprise him. This time it's the words she whispers when he approaches her. He chuckles a little at the reference. "Did they wish to speak to me of cabbages and kings?" he asks, before giving her a warm smile. "And how are you today, my dear?"

As for his question, he hesitates a little, hands coming together so that he can grab hold of his fingers. Angels aren't supposed to cheat, and even though he and Crowley managed to pull off quite the trick, fooling both Heaven and Hell, he's not about to reveal that secret to anyone.

Perhaps he can settle for something that is a little more common knowledge.

"Well... this was Crowley's idea, mind you, but I went along with it. When it came to our assignments, it became obvious to Crowley and myself that we were more or less cancelling one another out. It seemed... well, rather pointless to put all that work in if the net result was the same. So we agreed to do a little work for one another and help out when we could. So long as the reports got filed, it didn't seem to matter. And as for what I wanted... well, it was to spend more time with Crowley. Which paid off rather nicely."

[sweetcandygirl]

"Nah nuh nuh…" Harley tsks her fingers at Aziraphale. "No how are you today... because the answer to that one always has shades of grey."

"That sweet. You going along with him... and bonus middle square that you got to spend more time with him. Did it include plotting by wine and a fireplace?"

[sohoangel]

The angel is a bit taken aback by her reply. "All right," he says, a hint of concern in his blue eyes. "I certainly don't mean to pry. Although I don't ask merely to be polite, either." The other angels on his world only take a superficial interest in the lives of humans, but he genuinely cares about Harley's well-being.

He smiles demurely at the question, looking down at his hands. "Quite often, yes. He spent a lot of time in the back room of my bookshop on the pretext of business. Although The Arrangement is several centuries older than that."

[dennis_murdoc]

"I don't usually need to cheat. Does sucker punching someone in the kidney without warning count as cheating?"

[sweetcandygirl]

"We could find out... Look that way!" Harley teases him. She is not going to try to sucker punch him.

[dennis_murdoc]

Dennis laughs.

"Mmm, tempting, but I'll pass."

[the_rebel_son]

Lucifer hasn't had much time to speak with Harley and to see her out in the handiwork of one of his own gets his attention where he might otherwise continue about his business. The question though is worth attention.


"If I am to answer this I need to know if you count manipulation as cheating.""

[sweetcandygirl]

"Mmmmm depends on who is being manipulated. If it is some naïve little girl who would believe anything you say... then yah, it cheating."

[the_rebel_son]

"If manipulating beings near my own age, experience, and intellect does not count... potentially never." And that sounds very strange to say being that he is the Devil. "I may not have ever cheated."

Saying it a second time didn't make it sound any less weird.

[chiron_survivor]

"Harley!" Adia's voice cuts through the general chatter of the Plaza as she hurries over, eager to see her friend. Although Harley has thankfully not dropped off the face of the earth since her abduction, their coffee dates happened less and less frequently, or at least became more variable.

"Cheated?" She looks confused by the question, but she's willing to play along. "Um... I'm not sure. I'm not very good at cheating... sometimes I'll let my friends win at cards if the game is going on too long. Does that count? Cheating to lose?"

[sweetcandygirl]

"Hi Adia!" Harley waves.

She laughs at the example. It sounds so like Adia. "Sure. Why not. Someone can cheat to lose. Sometimes that is how a scam artist will run their game... lose a few times at first, up the ante... and then win big."

[chiron_survivor]

"Like hustling?" Adia grins, pleased that she knows the name for running that sort of scam. "I've never done that, although I was accused of it a couple times when playing foosball. It's not my fault that people assume I'm not very good at it."

Now that she's up close to her friend, Adia takes a closer look, hoping to read Harley's mood. "Did you want to grab a coffee?" she offers. "Just us this time, Caspar's off training Princess."

[attackpatternbattista]

"Cheat? Me? Never," This is the initial response from Delia, who flutters her eyelashes and gives Harley an innocent look. Although she can't quite hide the smile, or the mischievous glint to her eye. "I tend to think of it more as...." She gestures with one hand, "Creative use of what I have available."

"After all, when one's a former Pirate, she uses any and all she can."

[sweetcandygirl]

"Your creative skills are very admirable." Harley grins, flashing her teeth.

[attackpatternbattista]

"Considering that oftentimes I have to work with what I had, and that wasn't terribly much, you learn quickly that rules are very much guidelines." Delia shrugs, then flashes a quick smile herself.

[eumenis]

"If they want oysters, they're gonna have to go to Kinner's stand," Furiosa tells Harley with a smirk, in response to the whisper about the Walrus and the Carpenter. Not too many texts have survived the Apocalypse, but Through the Looking Glass is one of them, and it's one of the Dag's favorites. (She understood that reference.)

"You look like you're ready to kick some ass, Harley."

She raises an eyebrow at the question, then shakes her head. "I'm honestly not sure. Can't cheat where there are no rules to begin with."

[sweetcandygirl]

"Man. I should go to his stand. Craving some seafood now." Harley grins.

"Always do my best to kick some serious ass."

Harley nods at that. "Your world is all about survival. Ain't it?"

[eumenis]

"I know, right?" She cracks a little smile. "You have no idea how awkward it is to get a craving fried clam strips in the middle of the desert. This place has ruined me."

Secretly, she's relieved to see her in better spirits than when they met last, in the fall. Maybe they don't know one another all that well, but it's always good to establish mutual respect with another fighting woman.

"It is," she agrees with a little nod. "And the further out in the Wasteland you get, the fewer rules there are, until the only one left is to survive."