Dare You Enter My Magical Realm?

[MurderWeasel]

((Misty Browder continued from SPLAT!))

Misty had forgotten whether she'd forgotten whose house this was or had never known in the first place. What mattered was that it was big, it was fancy, and it was jam-packed with a bunch of teenagers running on a hundred conflicting highs and desires. That gave the place a real and powerful energy, one which warped and contorted the boundaries of what those affected were willing to do, their behaviors and even the elemental facets of their characters. Misty had already seen a fight nearly start in the kitchen, but she'd split once it became clear nobody was actually going to get pummeled. Now, she a few rooms away, in a less populated part of the house, nursing a plastic cup of red wine she'd gotten from someone.

Parties weren't really Misty's usual scene, but more because she was rarely invited than because she didn't enjoy them. This party had been open to any and all, posters all over the school, and when you threw open your door like that you forfeited the right to complain about what slunk its way inside. Not that Misty was slinking, exactly—slinky, perhaps, garbed as she was in a little black dress with thin shoulder straps that ended about halfway to her knees. She paired this with stockings in purple and black horizontal stripes, plus a black cloak over the ensemble, one of her older and rattier ones made out of thick cotton because she wasn't about to risk beer being spilled on her nice stuff. Her shoes were black suede flats acquired from Goodwill; she wasn't exactly planning to get totally drunk or high (yeah, she indulged here and there, and there was nothing at all contradictory to her politics there; she took a nuanced approach to issues which said that pot wasn't a big deal but crack cocaine was probably worth stamping out), but things happened and if she was going to have to stagger home it'd be easier if she wasn't in heels. People had given her some looks about the cloak and the Halloween stocking but they could get bent; this was how Misty felt like partying and nobody could stop her.

The room she was in was of a purpose she couldn't really figure out immediately, too big to feel right as a living room and lacking the furnishings for a dining room. There bookshelves and a TV and a couch, but just lots of open space in general, which was a rich-person concept she guessed. There were bedrooms vaguely near here, some of which seemed closed off and some of which were probably going to end up co-opted by amorous party-goers all set to make for an awkward cleaning experience for the hosts. That was emphatically not Misty's problem. She would be long gone before any work started.

Right now, thought, there was fun to be had. The music was a distant pulse, pounding up from below, but that wasn't Misty's scene. She'd need to soak in the vibe a little more before she could deal with the DJing without oozing scorn. Her tastes were specific and there was approximately zero chance of getting anyone to weave "At the Blue Gates of Death" into their setlist. Instead, Misty had set her mind to trouble and risk, control and desire and humiliation. It was, in short, time for party games.

This was one of the quiet areas, probably in part populated by introverts dragged here unwillingly, but that was as little Misty's problem as cleanup. They could go find some closet to crawl into or else they could play her game. Quiet, awkward losers were the perfect prey anyways.

"Hey," Misty shouted, standing from the armchair she'd been sinking into. "Hey. Everyone, over here."

She clapped her hands three times to get the room's attention, as well as that of anyone passing by in the hall.

"It's game time. Everyone over here if you want to play Truth or Dare."

If you framed it like it was a planned, official party activity, that made it way less likely anybody would whine, never mind that this was Misty's project and hers alone.

[Fenris]

A party!!!!!!!!!!! Zen loved parties. Zen had been here for a while at this point and their main emotion was still just "!!!!!!!!!!!" because that's what parties were like! They were just lots of exclamation points, all the time, forever, and that's pretty much how Zen liked things to be. There were so many people and so much noise and so many different things going on and if one thing wasn't interesting enough you could just slide on to a different thing. And that's what Zen was doing! Sliding on. They'd been Dancing but they'd overdressed and it turns out dancing in a long-sleeve button-down and dress overalls was a sweat-inducing kind of activity, so it was onward to something less move-y, at least until they hopefully got to something significantly more move-y later in the night. That was how parties were supposed to go, after all.

It was then, as they were wandering aimlessly, that they heard Magic Words.

Truth or dare.

Heck yeah.

>> Zen Alicea Feliciano awkwardly continued without an exit post from Meditation and Premeditation

"Me! I'm in!" Zen was practically skipping as they headed directly toward a voice they hadn't immediately recognized. Which was weird, because they got around enough (hehehehe) that they recognized most GHHS voices pretty easily, but this one escaped her. A name came to mind when they saw a face, though. Misty! Right? They hoped they were right, because it would be awfully awkward if they were wrong. They were... well, they were aware that Misty existed. And that was pretty much it! Okay, they'd maybe heard a couple of things, and those things weren't super flattering, but they decided to put them out of their mind. It wasn't fair to judge someone based on stuff they'd heard in passing. It could be totally wrong, or maybe a misunderstanding, and in Zen's experience most people were pretty nice if you talked to them the right way. They gave Misty (please be Misty) a big smile and managed to resist the urge to go in for an immediate hug because, putting thoughts aside... aside, something told Zen that that might not be the best of ideas.

"Hi! I don't think we've ever talked but I'm Zen and you're Misty I think tell me if I'm wrong I'm pretty good at names usually but I think I'm right anyway truth or dare!! Is this like a party Thing or was this just your idea because it's a good idea either way!"

[Jilly]

((Abel Zelenovic continued from I've Got One Less Problem Without You))

"Yeah man, like, you should've scheen it. Dude just bumped into me and whooop!" Abel spilled and caught the liquid in his red solo cup in one fell motion as he dramatically retold the Mello Yello story to Stepney, his new best buddy after Andy left to go powder his nose or take a shit or whatever. So here Abel was in one of the quieter parts of Forrest's big ass house with his arm wrapped around Stepney's neck all up in his face with his story he had to tell, rambling like Stepney probably couldn't tell what in the god damn hell he was talking about in the first place. "But Katrina and I... uh, Katrina and me... we good."

God, he loved his best bro Stepney so much. He took another swig. What drink was he on now, the 3rd? 2nd? 5st? Who knew, but he wasn't driving tonight anyway so it was all good. Maybe he'd stop after this one. Probably not.

Someone called for Truth or Dare. God, he hadn't played since... since... he wasn't really sure right now but that was besides the point. It was like a middle school party all over again. Abel was so there.

"Ush! Schtepney and me are in!" Abel let Stepney go and thrusted his drink hand upwards to the ceiling. He didn't wait for a reply before he snatched Stepney's wrist and dragged their way over to where Misty and Zen were chilling. Misty was cool; Zen was... hmm. Abel took a spot closer to Misty and set his half-full cup down. Then he changed his mind and took another swig before setting it down for real. "We are scho ready."

[Cactus]

Like many mansions, there were a myriad of rooms for students to get lost in. While the party primarily raged in the common areas, this one particular room had a mish-mash of students in it. There were the outsiders, the outcasts, the ones who weren't up for dancing and were there more just to say that they attended the event known as Swiftball.

At Misty's carnival-like proclamation, some of the teenagers in the room managed to move even more to the periphery. Being caught dead playing something as potentially risky as truth-or-dare? That wasn't in the cards. No sir, not today. Not when the risk was so great - people had seen what one misstep had done to Lucas Brady's reputation, after all.

But what was a fun time at a party without a little bit of risk?

Connor Lorenzen pulled his tall frame up from behind a couch, slipping his phone back into his pocket and leaning against the front of the couch so that his arms - beer in one hand, flopped down the edge.

((Connor Lorenzen continued from Feels Like Summer))

If there was one thing that the superstar athlete didn't need, it would be a scandal, but through his entire life, Connor had been taught that sometimes, you needed to take a calculated risk. Image was everything and more often than not perception was reality, but in a simple game of truth-or-dare, Connor was comfortable enough with the man that he was to know that he wasn't really putting a whole lot on the line.

Besides, Madison had fled to what he'd assumed was the washroom and she was nowhere in sight. This was a rare evening in which both of them had opted against being the designated driver and since it was essentially the school party event of the year, both of them had wanted to take it in.

Madison, of course, had taken in a few too many drinks. That, or she'd gotten lost talking to someone. He smiled a kind smile as he thought of that concept. It wasn't very likely, after all. He'd never admit it to her, but she wasn't exactly the belle of the GHHS ball. She knew it, but they made one another happy enough, so that was fine.

"Y'all having a round?" Connor looked around, assessing the other kids in the room.

Abel, he knew. A member of the baseball team, he was a nice enough guy and they'd been at enough parties to have a friendly back-and-forth already. Misty, on the other hand, wasn't someone he actively sought out for social gatherings, but the few times they'd spoken, she hadn't done anything egregiously terrible, reputation notwithstanding.

He didn't know the third student at all. No matter - he couldn't know everyone.

"I think I could get in on that. A little bit of a throwback, ain't it?"

Connor flashed a friendly smile at the other teens gathered around the couch. It was a little unusual for the top athlete of GHHS to be away from the thick of it, but right now, he was exactly where he wanted to be. He took a sip of his beer.

Allowing himself a moment to just be a regular old teenager.

For once.

[Pippi]

“Uh-huh, uh-huh, yeah, wow, gosh, really?”

Man, having a high tolerance for alcohol could be a really neat party trick sometimes.

((Stepney Cruz continued from Clinging to Loss))

Listen, Stepney enjoyed a drink as much as your average high school student, he just found it a lot easier to actually hold his liquor than most. His friends would occasionally say he was missing out, not getting drunk with them, but they were just missing all the wonderful benefits that came with remaining mostly sober. Not waking up with a brutal hangover, for one. Being much less likely to lose money and much more likely to gain other people’s money, for another.

Watching the people around him make absolute morons of themselves without even being prompted, however, was far and away the best and most important part.

Stepney could barely contain his grin as Abel ‘talked’, a term used in the most generous of manners, to him. He really didn’t have a clue what the hell the guy was talking about, and he didn’t need to. The sight of Abel catching all of his drink in his cup with laser precision one moment, before nearly spilling it all down his front again the next, was far more entertaining than the story he was trying to tell. All Stepney had to do was nod and smile and make noises of confirmation, and even that last part wasn’t necessary. He could probably have told Abel the tale of Darth Plagueis the Wise, and Abel would have listened to him like he’d discovered the secret to immortality.

He took another sip of his drink, and was just about to egg Abel on to tell him more of his fascinating story, when… somebody stood up and said the magic words; Truth or Dare. His eyes lit up. He glance at Abel, but Abel was already dragging him over to the group, and now his grin was as wide and bright as the moon itself.

Hell, and he’d worried things might have been boring without Andy to push into terrible ideas headfirst.

“I heard the word ‘dare’ and my Spider Senses started tingling,” Stepney said, putting his drink down next to Abel’s and flashing his grin at everyone gathered round Misty. “So, who else we got here so far? I wanna know who my fellow victims are.”

[MurderWeasel]

It was like magic. Misty called, and they came. They came from near and far, from across the room and from close by, summoned by her promise of irresponsibility and impending humiliation. Whatever happened now, it was really their faults for signing up. The weak (or maybe the smart) had scattered and fled before her. Those who remained were the foolhardy and the brave.

The first was a bouncy girl who introduced herself, sort of, as Zen. Misty didn't know the first thing about her, but Zen knew Misty's name so maybe they'd talked at some point and it had just been unmemorable, or maybe Misty's reputation preceded her. Misty was pretty sure Zen was hopped up on something, just at a first impression, because that level of enthusiasm wasn't natural. Then again, maybe it was just the party atmosphere. That was all it took for some people to totally strip away their inhibitions. Whatever the case, it boded well for the game.

Next up were Abel and Stepney, who Misty was slightly more familiar with, at least by reputation. Abel seemed friendly and also already nice and drunk. Another easy target, then. Stepney, on the other hand, could be trouble. As far as Misty knew, his whole thing was pulling fast ones on people or taking dares. Well, hey, where would the fun be without some challenge?

And then, then there was Connor. Misty knew of Connor, of course. Everyone did. He was the football star, the personable one who seemed like he could make a good impression on anyone. He managed to be well-respected despite being close with Wyatt and dating Madison, which was pretty incredible when Misty thought about; heck, Wyatt's presence even got on her nerves sometimes and she agreed with the vast majority of what he said and thought his ability to slam people's buttons was hilarious. Connor was social teflon; nothing his partners in crime did ever stuck to him. This left his presence in the game circle a bit confusing but not unpleasant. Misty wasn't immune to his good nature, especially when he seemed to be on the right side of a lot of the issues she valued, or at the very least not on the wrong one.

There was a call for introductions, courtesy of Stepney. Fair enough. It'd be best to be able to call each other out directly.

"I'm Misty," Misty said, giving a flourish with her cloak and a bow and then dropping back into the armchair. It was so soft she felt like she sank at least a couple inches into it.

"Everyone knows how this works, right? I can go over the rules, or someone else can, just in case it's been a while for anyone. We've gotta make sure we're on the same page before we get started."

Misty was mostly fishing with that, to see if anyone was going to insist on any stipulations. If not, their funeral.

"Oh," she added, raising her voice again, "still room for more if anyone else wants in."

[Fenris]

There were so many people!!! Which was good, cause it was truth or dare, and truth or dare needed a bunch of people to stay interesting! Not that Zen was super opposed to playing with fewer people. Or with just one person, really. Someone could just tell them to do a bunch of dares in a row and that would be pretty fun but they guessed getting other people to do stuff was also part of the fun. They never really saw the point in the Truth part of truth or dare though? It mostly just seemed to make people uncomfortable and that was no fun at all! But they probably shouldn't judge what other people found fun. Especially when they hadn't started yet!

They glanced at each person in turn, smiling and nodding and waving. Misty- well, Misty they'd already said hello to, and they'd gotten the name right, so that was score one for the night! Abel and Stepney they knew a touch better, at least well enough to be actually pretty sure they were getting their names right. They didn't really know know them but they knew them by reputation and by being friends with some of their friends and that was something! And then... football guy! Whose name Zen didn't know at all. Zen didn't play sports and didn't really know anyone who played sports unless track counted as a sport which it probably did so probably they shouldn't repeat that sentiment to Aurelien, but anyway, they knew he was Important Football Guy, but that was pretty much it.

Stepney asked for introductions! That was their cue. Zen raised a hand excitedly, their curls bouncing with the rest of their body's enthusiasm; their wig was shoulder-length, curly and blonde today, a Blaise special, matched by light blue contacts of a not-quite-natural hue.

"Hi! I'm Zen and I think I know all your names except yours—" they nodded at Connor "—and I am expecting some high quality dares or else I will be very disappointed in all of you!"

[Jilly]

Heh. Conner was here, too. Now it was a party; only 2-ish girls, so Amber would be okay with this. Probably. Using Truth or Dare to snag a few kisses was so 7th grade anyway. They were all adults here, all ready to pull out the big guns.

He raised his hand with a finger in the air. "Think we're all good but one, uh, thing; can we switch if we don't like a dare or a quesshon or whatever?" The basics were always the same, but that was the most important house rule.

Oh right, introductions. He waited for Zen to finish before giving his. "Oh I'm, uh, Abel. My guy here is Stephanie... sorry, Step-uh-knee."

[Brackie]

((Kayden Brockman continued from Just Dance))

--into the room where he suddenly noticed a bunch of other teenagers sitting in a circle. He could feel a few eyes on him, which he wasn't a stranger to, but this was right off the bump of a bump so his own eyes were probably black dinner plates. He looked around the circle.

"Oh, this isn't the stairs. Hi Abel."

Kayden spun on his heel and went back through the doorway, closing it behind him.

"Bye Abel."

Well--

((Kayden Brockman continued in Just Dance))

[Pippi]

“Nah, it’s Stephanie, you had it right the first time bro. Stephanie Cruz, at your service. The one and only, here in the flesh.”

That almost certainly wasn’t gonna fool 90% of the people gathered here – no doubt they’d heard of the exploits of Stepney Cruz before, even just in passing, and the number of Puerto Rican men with that name in the United States was almost certainly one – but it would almost certainly fuck with Abel’s poor drunk head. Which was kinda cruel, but hey – he’d almost certainly forget about it the following morning, the amount he was drinking.

Which also meant it was no-holds barred when it came to daring him.

The rest of the little congregation was… hmm. Misty wasn’t somebody that Stepney had expected to meet at this party, let alone any party. A book burning seemed more fitting for her. But hey, good for her for showing up, he supposed. And considering she’d been the one to set this truth or dare up, maybe she was a little more carefree than he’d thought at first. And the figure that claimed to be Zen sure sounded like a Zen and acted like a Zen, and was bouncing off the walls like a Zen, but… Stepney’s mental image of Zen, vague as it was already, always featured black hair. This figure did not have black hair. When the only feature you could use to differentiate between people was their hair, this sorta thing REALLY threw you for a loop.

And then there was the Mysterious Fourth Guy, who hadn’t given their name yet, but who Stepney could guess was one of the school’s athletes, judging by their build.

Pretty interesting assortment of rogues. This was gonna be fun.

“Don’t-“

Oh. Sudden Kayden. Hey there, Kayden. Dude looked strung out, so leaving was almost certainly the right choice; engaging in any sort of competition with Stepney was liable to make that even worse.

“… Anyway, uh, you don’t need to worry, Zen.” Stepney grinned, taking another drink and pointing a thumb at his chest. “’High-Quality-Dares’ is my middle name. It’s hyphenated. Parents really set me up for success, there.”

He nudged Abel with his elbow, turning his grin to him.

“And I guess you can skip if you want, bro, but, I mean… You’d be letting your best bro Stepney down, if you did, and you wouldn’t want that, right?”

[Cactus]

Connor surveyed the room, nodding to each of them as introductions were made. He was privately glad for the introductions; it was embarrassing not to know someone's name, particularly if you had a class with them in the past. Both of the mystery students -- he realized with some shame -- were people he'd shared classes with before. Unfortunately, they hadn't made an impression for whatever reason, and so the new information entered his mental rolodex, filed away for future recall. Stepney and Zen. Two unusual names for two relatively unusual people, at least as far as he was concerned.

He smiled at the circle. This was probably going to be fun. Connor took a sip of his beer, allowing for a moment of silence as he swallowed the cool liquid. Looking around the circle, he pointed at each of them in turn, repeating the names out loud.

"Right on. Misty. Zen. Abel. Stepney. It's a pleasure to make y'all's acquaintance. My name's Connor." He aimed the last bit primarily at Zen, who had outwardly confessed to not knowing his name. He supposed that surprised him a little bit, but neither of the mystery classmates seemed the type to outwardly be interested in sports, so it wasn't altogether unexpected.

"As far as ground rules," he casually pointed his beer at Misty, "I think it's pretty simple, ain't it? Answer the question, do the dare, and if not? Y'all have to take a drink."

On cue, he took a sip.

"Only ground rule I'd think to suggest is maybe we keep things light -- nothin' that might hurt anyone's feelings too badly. Ain't no point in feelin' bad on such a night!" He pondered for a second, and added one more caveat. "Might be good to try and avoid anyone gettin' hurt at all. The last thing I want is to see any of y'all to the hospital tonight."

That request was twofold - Connor genuinely didn't want to see any harm come to anyone, but he also knew that these kind of games could spiral out of control quite easily. The last thing he'd need would be to get injured on some stupid dare, and put his season -- or his reputation -- at risk. Connor grinned at the group. Madison was still nowhere to be found, and if the past held any indication, she would likely monopolize a bathroom and subsequently doze off in a room somewhere. A part of him thought to check in on her, but he dismissed it. He could do that later. For now though...

"Otherwise, I'm game. Misty, why don't y'all start us off?"

[MurderWeasel]

Everyone was introduced, so the ritual could begin. This was going to be really, really good, even for a round of half-drunk party Truth or Dare. The ecosystem that was their little circle was becoming quite clear, and it presented vast and varied opportunities.

Zen and Abel both seemed three sheets to the wind, which marked them as the prey. They would be easy enough to coax into various humiliating and compromising positions and/or statements, and probably somewhat limited in the threat they posed in return. Probably everyone involved could figure that out except them. They'd be the ones in unfortunate photos on Facebook tomorrow, quite possibly with no recollection of how they ended up there.

Misty and Stepney were the predators. They were the coyotes all ready to devour the tasty, helpless, juicy little drunk rabbits. Of course, there was some potential for danger there, if they decided to go at it or target each other, but Misty thought that game would recognize game and prevent that. She certainly didn't plan to reach for her big red button first. They had the whole mutually assured destruction thing there, hanging over their heads. If Stepney decided to screw her, she would make him bleed. Surely he could see that.

And then, there was Connor. Connor was, well, just Connor. By virtue of that, he was partially off-limits, protected from any true nastiness unless he chose to lower himself from his station and throw the first blow. If Stepney or Misty messed with each other, the retribution would be swift and within the context of the game. If anyone truly targeted Connor, though, they were putting themselves in much further-reaching social jeopardy. Probably not from Connor himself, of course; Connor was pretty much a sweetie who didn't need to go breaking knees to make his point, but embarrassing the star quarterback was sure to result in a fun little visit with the goon squad that was the rest of the team plus Madison, who was probably actually the more scary part of that.

Come to think of it, several of the more socially-maladjusted in this game didn't seem quite aware of the brightly-colored warning patterns indicating Connor was not to be nibbled upon. That wasn't Misty's problem even a little, though.

"Okay," she said. "I think I will start us off, then. Thanks."

She pulled herself up straight, aware she still wasn't exactly cutting an imposing figure.

"We'll go like this: I choose someone, then once they complete their challenge, they choose someone else who hasn't been called yet, and so on until everyone's told a truth or completed a dare, with me going last. Then the next round starts. You're not allowed to call the same person two rounds in a row. So, everyone'll pretty much get to ask everyone else something eventually. Make sense?"

Misty definitely wasn't about giving the inebriated time to protest that, no, that was too complicated. She'd just point them right if they messed up. So, she quickly clapped her hands, loudly, preempting any replies.

"Good. So, it's my turn, and my victim will be, hmm..."

She stroked her chin, theatrically, like she would've if she'd had a beard. Actually, she did have this one stubborn, wiry hair right at the point of her chin that grew back again and again no matter how many times she plucked it, but she'd taken care of that this morning. Her brother liked to say that was just the proof that she was a real witch, that everyone knew witches had beards. Misty liked to say shut the fuck up.

"Stepney."

She leveled her finger at the boy, and grinned widely.

"So, Stepney," she said, letting her voice turn teasing. "Pick your poison. Truth?

"Or dare?"

[Pippi]

Ah, Connor. Stepney was in the presence of the big man himself, it seemed. You didn’t even need a cursory knowledge of the sports scene at George Hunter to know of Connor, although getting to know him was a different matter entirely. It was kinda funny, really; him and Connor had never interacted before, different social circles and all that, and now that they’d finally bumped into each other, Stepney straight up hadn’t recognised him. Heh. Yeah. Okay, it wasn’t that funny, more a mildly amusing sidenote, but-

Oh, shit, he could drop a huge dare on Connor freakin’ Lorenzen. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, right here, without Madison’s piercing gaze tracking him. Unless she was hiding behind one of the sofa cushions or something.

He couldn’t just go launch straight into that, though. Going for the biggest target first wasn’t satisfying. He’d have to build it up; throw a couple softballs for Abel and Zen, a curveball for Misty, and then, like, a really REALLY big baseball for Connor, really let them see the sort of stunts he could pull. Not that he had any hard feelings towards the guy, far from it. Just, this was like being given the opportunity to yank the president’s pants down; didn’t matter what your feelings towards the guy were, you grabbed hold of that opportunity with both hands.

It wasn’t his turn yet, though, and it looked like Misty didn’t subscribe to the same school of philosophy as Stepney did. He raised an eyebrow, looking at her with an inquisitive smile on his face, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms. Interesting. Veeeery interesting. Bold strategy, Cotton, lets see if it pays off.

“Alrighty then,” he said after a pause, catching Abel with a side glance as he leaned forwards again. “Just so y’know, I’m in agreement with Connor’s ground rules. Unless, of course, you’re willing to part with some cold hard cash. Then, anything goes with me.”

He flashed Misty his most charming, disarming grin, the sort he gave to really drunk people when he had three definitely-not-rigged cards face down in front of me.

“Your finest dare, please, Ms. Browder.”

[MurderWeasel]

"Alright," Misty said. "And the ground rules are fine."

The grounds rules were perfect, in fact, because they were incredibly vague. What counted as hurting feelings "too much?" That more or less depended on how sensitive a little snowflake you were. Misty planned to more or less ignore that provision until and unless someone directly complained.

Of course, she wasn't going to actually lay into Stepney right off the bat. This was the lull, the deceptive start, the false sense of security. She needed something funny that wasn't going to sting too badly. She'd sort of been hoping he'd pick truth, but hadn't expected it. Not with his reputation. And, speaking of that, she was definitely not going to be letting money enter the equation; she was broke enough without getting fleeced. Let the suckers take the bait if they wanted, of course. That was none of Misty's business.

"In that case," she continued, leaning forward further still, to the point where if someone gave the back of her chair a good kick she'd probably spill forwards out of it, "I dare you to..."

She drummed her fingers together under her chin, thinking, then grinned. Perfect. Stepney wasn't the only one with a reputation to play to.

"Cut off a tiny lock of hair for me to hold onto. No particular reason."

Misty wasn't going to actually do anything horrible to him with that, of course. Probably. Unless he really decided to mess with her later, in which case she was already all set for revenge. A solid insurance policy, she thought.

[Pippi]

“Well, first things first, ‘no particular reason’ has always meant ‘I have a very specific reason in mind’ since the dawn of time, Misty, we both know that.”

Stepney rested his elbow on his leg, and his chin in his hand, and smirked at Misty. Oh yes. This was definitely getting somewhere. First impressions had clearly been a little off; they were both evidently playing the long con, just in different ways. Misty’s dare was definitely a good start, but he could tell that was what it was; a start.

But even if following along with the dare was playing directly into Misty’s hand, he was absolutely still gonna do it. That was his brand, after all, that he would do basically anything for money - and sometimes, when he was feeling charitable or a little bit buzzed, for nothing at all. Besides, he could absolutely guarantee he’d done worse than anything she’d throw at him.

“And second things second…”

Stepney grinned, took a sip of his drink, and stood up.

“I’ll be right back.”

In the blink of an eye, Stepney had vanished out of the room.