Liar Liar

[Star]

"We need straws."

If anyone's wondering if that's a joke? This is as serious as it gets.

"Preferably the bendy ones? So you can hook it over the edge so it won't fall in. But you know if you just buy wine in boxes, they have a spout. Then you don't even need a straw."

Surely he's not oh so carefully stealing glances at Campanella to see his reaction. And they say the Intervallutrix is the devil. Flipped open pizza box tops are the flop of this hand, and the steaming slices the chips to rake in.

"Maybe?" Blue-green eyes flicked over to B-Ro to answer. "Can't be music now that everyone's Auto-Tuned and can't be books now that they're all digital. Like, is it wrong to be into the actual visceral experience of reading? Not bouncing around TV Tropes on your phone, but flipping pages. Smelling the ink and paper each time. Seeing all the imperfections of the print. I dunno. Sure, digital books are convenient, but so are hookers."

And everyone would prefer to actually fall in love, right?

"As for secrets? I have none," he declared airily to Tyche as a slice of the Philly and Supreme were nabbed. Catch that? That's exactly what a lying chinchilla looks like. "Truth? Date night. We even ran into Campanella ."

[Campanella]

There it is.

Campanella can't help himself. The pause as he secures a slice of Philly Cheese Steak; the wince.

Wine. In boxes. Straw or no straw.

"Depends on the... movie... in question. Some are definitely not Art. Some are. Some want to be. And there are some which I believe are playing the long game. They are not Art now. But they will be recognised as such in years to come. Say what you want about the recent glut of super hero franchises, but I do believe they are an attempt to develop a much more long form narrative than cinema usually sustains. For a general audience."

Was the Moros admitting he liked something low brow? And did you spot the attempt to cover his interests up?

His glance flicked to the Illusionist.

Had the games begun already?

[Briar Rose]

Briar Rose snaps her fingers and shoots them Star's way. Straws and spouts.

"Gotta, man, gotta." agreeing this time with Tyche. She picks off a falling pepperoni slice, gobbles it up and licks her finger, before bringing the slice of meat lovers to her mouth.

nom nom nom

"Not what I expected, but maybe I should. Books. Covers." another bite, this time when she speaks there's a string of cheese hanging off her lip, her lip tries to swipe at it. "I like physical media, over digital. I like paint and charcoal. Getting my fingers stained, and knowing there's not an 'undo' button."

Stuffing her face, she gives Campanella a look, brows lifted she might have said something, but it was garbled around the crust in her maw.

[Tyche]

Tyche herself is already deep into a slice, but she has the sense to swallow before she speaks.

"Books are dope!" Tyche offers bluntly, "And, uh... say what you want about vinyl, but I knew a guy before... all of this? Really into it. And swore it sounded better."

She nods to Campanella on his super hero review.

"Probably? I mean, they're based on comic series, pretty much. And those things run for, like, a long time," Tyche says, "That's why the have to pick and choose between the stories I guess? I mean, you KNOW lots more shit happened, but they can't put all on screen. That'd take decades. And the actors would probably keel over before then."

[Star]

Aw yeah. You know what Camper van Beethoven is getting for Christmas. Hopefully Franzia has a Box of the Month taster's club. Side note? See if they come in juice box size. Or should that be called Consilium-sized?

"Sure, but, like. Art can totally be different things. You've got... Citizen Kane. Or Tron: Legacy for visuals, or The Matrix for technique, right? And no doubt. Those hero movies have brought serialized stories to the big screen that were never thought possible. Really the only thing that's even come close is the The Fast Saga. You know, Fast and Furious, et cetera," he answers. Okay. Yeah. Maybe he's seen his share of movies. Movie Night may have been A Thing once upon a time. "But, yeah. Definitely general audiences. Who'd like that garbage anyway?"

The game. Is afoot.

A nod and smile is flashed at Rose as he settles into a seat and begins to nibble at each slice. There's no undo button for that hair, girl.

"Well, it could have," the angel affirmed to Tyche . "Sounded better? Like, legit. If he had an old tube amplifier? Because, like. Here's the deal." Oh no. This is what actual interest looks like, leaning forward, long fingers dancing in displays. "Modern media is digital. It's been converted. Then the amp converts it back. You take old vinyl, put it on tubes, and it's all analog. Grooves. Needle. Glass. Wires. Sound. There's no converting and then decoding. No Analog, digital, digital, back to analog."

Figures, right? Ohm-brimos.

[Campanella]

Campanella is silent as he consumes the slice of Philly Cheese Stake.

Then he gets up again to forage some napkins.

Then he calmly picks a slice of the meat lovers. Stares at his wine. Goes away a third time and returns with another bottle and more glasses.

"A better pairing," he says without a hint of apology. He pours himself a second glass while he listens to the Ohm-Brimos' exposition.

"I have nothing as domestic as a date night. But I have shared a woodland cabin with an Archangel."

He looked at his new wine glass, swirled its contents. And down the hatch.

[Briar Rose]

Ah, excuse me. Anyone who wants to murder some time. Like, ya." she adds some valley girl at the end. "Or, y;know. Oogle those moogles." was something playing Final Fantasy, someone might have been playing Final Fantasy.

A brow raised high as Campanella leaves, coming back with more wine. He was fancy. Dude was fancy, not even just wine with swanky glasses, but for real, pairing wine with pizza fancy.

She didn't know anyone did that. Well, now she does. She does make gimme motions for the wine when she dives into the Philly Cheese Stake. She wasn't gonna turn up her nose because it was Extra.

"I'd ask how you know that, but I think I'd get back something to do with the piped piper and a klondike bar." a wry, teasing look over her slice of 'za

A snort,

"Did you share a cabin with an Archangel, or did you share a cabin with an Archangel?" is the first thing that comes out of her mouth, along with a lil brow wiggle

[Tyche]

Tyche offers a noncommital shrug to Star at the talk of vinyl.


"Couldn't tell ya if he did or not, I never really paid that much attention," she admits. She was a teenager then, after all, and the boy in question was a brief friend during her equally brief time in Duluth - before moving to another foster home. The last one. "He was super into the vintage music thing, but I was more into his Nintendo."


Tyche played games now and then. Like, real ones. Outside of the bars.


"Date night?" she asked before recalling the visitor Star had said might happen into town, "Ooooh. Visiting or...?"


Eyebrows raise as Campanella departs for better wine, the Acanthus granting him a smirk as he returns.


Like Rose, Tyche's eyebrows are a-wagglin'.


"My, uh, date life? Pretty lame in comparison," she offered.

[Star]

No one picking up what he's laying down? No debate over Burr-Brown DACs versus TI? Nothing about measuring THD in 6 or 8 ohms? Oh well. Watching Campanella's processions are entertaining enough.

"That track suit makes you look like a Russian gangster."

Every type 'Russian gangster' into Google? Guess what the first auto-complete suggestion is.

"Oh, uh. Uhhhhhh. Michael? I remember him. Unless it was someone else, but, he's definitely the only one I remember that straight up introduced himself that way," the regular angel mused. "So. How was that. Shacking up with him?"

And while waxing poetic on sound waves was totally doable, there's only a blank look for Rose at the mention of 'moogles'. He's 99% sure that wasn't a weird pronunciation of 'muggle' because she definitely hadn't said 'uggle'.

There might be some Tuesday going on lol

"Something like that!" Happy eyes blinked at Tyche. Visiting made it sound like We were... separated. Distance is an illusion, yo. "Wait, unless you're just asking if she's, like, moving in? I mean. She visits here, too? But no. If that was the question. Or, yes. Visiting. Nothing... more."

Look. It's complicated. Sooner or later they'll notice the angel isn't always actually in his room when he goes in his room. Intervallutrix means living in about five different places.

"And, uh. I find that hard to believe."

Because once upon a time? He'd totally be curious if she was one of those Guardians.

[Campanella]

The Moros gave Briar Rose an ambiguous and depreciating smile.

Campanella ate delicately, almost as if he were trying to pose.

He paused, used a napkin to wipe his fingers and dab at the corners of his mouth.

"It never really took off, to be honest. Oh... We had a session where we cleaned out the cabin and took stock. The good Archangel did not stick around for too long. The cabal I'd been trying to build limped on a short while after that but the various potential members simply kept fading away. In the end I kept it as a little retreat for myself. So in the end, I cannot really answer your question. He was never around long enough to find out."