the sun in my disgrace [OPEN + MINGLE]

[rangerbecket]

WHO: Raleigh Becket
WHERE: 6I village, Inn
WHEN: 21 August - mid morning
OPEN TO: All + Mingle
WARNINGS: Put on your Eclipse Glasses TBD

---

Raleigh had been on his way back from his normal morning routine of checking his traps and fishing for a while when he noticed the sun wasn't quite the way it normally looked - he'd caught a glance at the reflection and saw that the sun, normally perfectly round, was looking a little like a lemon that had gotten beaten up at the grocery store. Huh. An eclipse. He hasn't seen one since he was in Ranger training and he hadn't gotten a good look at that one because he hadn't been directly in the path of it (and, obviously, he'd been preoccupied).

This one, though, looks like it's just starting so Raleigh has time to go to the Inn and tell the people there that there's an eclipse starting and they should get something to try and look at it. He's not exactly sure of the science behind it but he remembers being a kid and making something with a box and earlier he'd done pretty well with the water. Maybe they can take pots outside with water and just look at the reflections? Might work. Maybe, too, one of the scientists has a better idea of how to get a look at the thing.

For his part, it's just something that's different from the norm. Raleigh hopes it's not a sign that the sun's going to start moving backward or staying up all month like it had a few months back and that it's just a perfectly normal, natural event. After earthquakes and people getting sick with some kind of crazy illness, it was good to just have something...mundane to focus on.

Comments

[babyhunter]

"You know. When I first saw that movie I didn't even know that it was Hugh Jackman." Huge Jackman was on Clary's list of actors that Clary would bang if ever given the chance. "Not enough facial hair for me to get it." She waved her hand around her chin with a smile.

"I liked Kate. She was hot." Clary was very straight but she could appreciate an attractive actress. "Not my type but hot." She nodded her head as if that was all that needed to be said.

"I think everyone can moonwalk in socks on a slippery floor." She laughed and held out her hand to Major. "Can't I call you Nathan?" She felt like that was more normal. "I'm Clary Fray." She also had a much longer actual name with up to 3 last names depending on who you were talking too.

[majorlyugh]

"Ah, so you're into the facial hair," Major says, vaguely pointing in her direction, as though coming to some kind of realization. "It's funny. I find that people - women especially - are insanely divided on the whole beard thing. Some women love it, I've found. Won't date a guy without it. Others are so vehemently against it, you'd think a beard straight up murdered their pet or something," he laughs. He laughs again, harder this time, at her admission about Kate Beckinsale.

"Yes. Yes she was. Is? Wherever she may be, I'm sure she's still being hot. I don't think I have a 'type,' per se. But it doesn't take much for me to appreciate someone's attractiveness. And .. she had it. She had the attractiveness."

He places a hand on his heart, as though wounded.

"Ouch. That's so rude, stealing my MJ thunder like that. This is why we can't have nice things, you know?" He takes her hand, feigning reluctance, before offering her a sad sort of handshake. He might be pouting slightly. "I mean, you could if you wanted, but I can't guarantee that I'd have any idea who you were talking to." He nods a little. "I'd normally say, it's nice to meet you, Clary, but you kinda killed my vibe there with your moonwalking comment."

[babyhunter]

The first person who popped into Clary's mind was Jace. She firmly pushed his face away though she did note that he had no facial hair. "I don't think it's just the facial hair. I'm honestly good either way." She paused. "Not that you're interested in my preferences."

Clary cringed. "I don't know actresses rarely age well. They use so much make up on screen that they're all wrinkly and gross when they're older. Like their skin forgets how to hold together and I'm also pretty sure her boobs are fake. So then you have weird saggy bags." She had no idea why she was going into this much details.

"Moving on." Clary looked down at the sun wishing the eclipse would come faster.

Her head tilted to the side and she rolled her eyes at him. "Really? That killed your vibe? You have to have more talents than just that-- Nathan." She was obviously teasing him and wouldn't call him Nathan... often.

[majorlyugh]

"Sam - you know Sam? With the blue hair? - Sam was pret-ty adamant about absolutely zero facial hair when it came up in conversation, though part of me thinks that it's because she doesn't like Ravi, and Ravi has the best hair I've ever seen - on the top of his head and on his face. So I have a feeling he just made her hate beards. I've yet to talk to Ravi as to why they dislike each other, or if he dislikes her at all, but - yeah, that's my guess. Beard-hate-by-association." He shrugs innocently. "I mean, I'm not gonna stop you if you wanna talk about them?"

Major's eyebrows lift with each new critique.

"Damn, okay. So much for feminism," he says with a light, slightly tense laugh. "It isn't really their fault, though, is it? That they're forced to wear so much makeup? Besides, there's nothing gross about aging and wrinkles. It's ... just a part of life. I've got plenty," he gestures around his eyes and forehead. "Also, hey! Boobs are good no matter what. I don't care if they're fake or real or whatever. I like them regardless. I will always defend boobs, of all shapes and sizes and authenticities. And .. uh, I don't know. Her body, her choice? I'm with her? Did I do that right?"

He sighs.

"Nathaniel.

And you don't know. I could've been banking on that one thing, and now my dreams of being an MJ impersonator in LA is totally crushed."

[babyhunter]

"I don't think I've met her and I would have definitely remembered someone with blue hair." Clary rolled her eyes at Major. She liked Ravi's beard though she didn't think that it was a deal breaker. It was a shame that Sam disregarded guys for facial hair, usually there was more too it than that, but Clary wasn't in the mood to dig. She'd have to meet Sam and ask her... later.

"Yeah but how do you know it was her choice? Also, you really need to see fake boobs gone wrong before you can claim that you like all of them. If I had google I'd show you. It's awful. I'm also pretty sure that you're saying that about boobs because you're a guy which isn't exactly flattering." It was very guy-like of him though. It didn't bother Clary, she was used to it but she wished that guys weren't such pigs.

She thought of Jace again and signed. She had no luck with men. They were all awful... or related to her.

"I'm sorry. Were you banking on being an Michel Jackson impersonator? If you can show me at the inn then I'll relent and say that you're awesome."

[majorlyugh]

"Ah, yeah. Well. She hates beards, FYI. So if you find yourself in the Beard Haters Club, you can find her, and I think she'll oblige you." He reaches up to scratch at his stubbly chin. "Personally, I've been more of a clean-shaven kinda guy, but I've grown my facial hair out on occasion. At this point, it's mostly that I need to figure out how to get a razor of my own instead of using dangerously sharp blades to trim the hair off. Or maybe I just let it all go and become the town's Rip Van Winkle." He could go with a long-ass snooze under a tree right about now.

"I mean, I guess it could have been through coercion or something, but I'd hope that modifying her body like that would have been because she wanted to have larger breasts - or the way some women get breast reductions. That kinda thing. I guess each situation is different, but I'd hope that if she did, it was because she wanted them, not because someone made her feel shitty about herself or something. And I've seen fake boobs gone wrong! It's scary, but more for the woman than for me. There's chemicals and stuff in those implants. Or there used to be, I think." He lets out a bit of a laugh. "Hey, I can't help it, okay? But I'm saying that I like them no matter what - size, shape, real, fake, whatever. They're nice. They're soft. I've known plenty of dudes who were gross about them, though. Took some serious craps on women who didn't have whatever kind of boob they thought was "best" and all that garbage. I'm a non-discriminatory boob man."

He'd gotten into a heated argument - or debate, really - with a room mate in college once, boobs vs. butt. He honestly appreciated all parts with no real pickiness, but he did have a preference for boobs when it came down to it.

"Could you imagine? I'd be the worst MJ impersonator out there!"

[babyhunter]

Clary inspected Major's jaw thoughtfully. "I think you look better with the beard. Scruff makes you look older." Given how he acted it probably helped Major be taken more seriously. "I think it's hot but only on you. It'd say it's a case by case opinion." Simon would not look good with facial hair while Luke on the other hand... Clary wondered if the fact that Luke was a werewolf had anything to do with that. It was a question that she would log away for later.

Her attention snapped back to Major and the slowly shrinking sun that reflected in the box that he had made. She wondered why it wasn't getting darker yet. It looked as if the sun was as bright as ever.

"I have no idea how you know so much about fake boobs and I honestly don't want to know." Though Clary would also google 'chemicals-in-fake-boobs' when she has access to google again. "I feel like I now know enough about you to write up a dating profile. So, you need help finding someone because I already have ideas on how to sell you." Clary snickered softly. She was kidding though her teasing was playful and light. It was nice to talk to someone like this. Even if it was about random ass topics. He reminded her of Simon, which hurt because she missed him, but it was nice too.

"I don't know. Well-" Clary took a look at Major again, leaning forward as she stared at the middle of his face. "Okay. You have one thing working against you. Your nose is too big. MJ didn't have a nose." A smile tugged at the edge of Clary's mouth as another thought came to mind. "When I was in grade school. I remember seeing a book in the library that read 'checked out white; returned black' and on the binding it said it was Michel Jackson."

[majorlyugh]

He blinks at that admission, caught off-guard by her bluntness. After a few seconds of stunned silence, he lets out a laugh and shrugs, finally feeling something akin to embarrassment. He glances down at the ground, kicking at a pebble with the toe of his shoe, drawing some ill-defined lines and shapes in the dirt.

"Ah, well, thanks. I appreciate that. I didn't expect that to come out of your mouth just now, but thanks. I also feel like most people are trying to look younger, you know? Botox and face lifts and whatnot." He pauses, glancing back up at her with a slight squint of suspicion. "Wait a second, are you saying I need to look older because I'm otherwise immature? I believe the term is young at heart, and I am happy to be that way. I'm here, I'm immature, get used to it!" The laugh that follows is an obvious way of showing - he isn't offended. At all.

"Because I like to learn things, and I like to learn about important things, like boobs. That's why. What, a guy can't do some research about stuff that doesn't directly affect him?" He puts a hand to his chest as though mortally offended and hurt. He isn't, but he puts on a good show of acting like it. "It's too bad internet isn't even the vaguest of things here. I mean, we don't even have the electricity to run a computer, let alone the thing itself or the World Wide Web. But duly noted. If I feel the need to do the whole 'dating profile' thing, but like scratched on papyrus or something like the Ancient Egyptians, I'll hit you up."

He reaches up to cover his nose with his hand, pouting underneath it.

"Excuse me for loving myself the way I am!" he protests, matching her humor. The mention of the book, though, gets him to laugh. "That's terrible, but hilarious."

[babyhunter]

Clary laughed. "It's a compliment and no. I don't think you need to look older. It was an observation." She pushed her fingers though her fiery hair, pulling the silky strands over her shoulder as she dropped into a cross legged position. Crouching was killer on her thighs and she had no idea when this eclipse would fully arrive.

"Just take the compliment." She advised him with a roll of her eyes.

Clary was probably the last person that anyone should go to for dating advice. The last person that she had fallen for ended up being her brother. That was awkward as fuck and Clary spent a lot of time trying not to think about Jace or their kiss.

"Terrible but hilarious the name of your sex tape." She looked up at him with a grin. It was fun to tease someone who took it so well. It made her miss Simon.

Slowly the sun was being blocked by the moon. Clary looked down in time to see a small sliver of the sun left. It wasn't all that dark at first but as the moon continued to move, she noticed the shadows around them becoming lighter or the sun was becoming dimmer.

"It's happening." She turned her head up though she didn't look directly at the sun. Not yet.

HAHHAA b99 ref excellent

[majorlyugh]

"Yeah, yeah," Major starts with a playful roll of his eyes, holding up two fingers on each hand in the air to do air quotes around the words, ""An observation." Sure. I know an insult when I hear it."

Major follows her lead and takes a seat on the ground. Definitely better than standing or crouching while waiting for the event to finally take place. Holding the piece of cardboard closer to the ground also made the edges of the invading moon all the clearer, and he glances around as the light begins to fade.

It's eery, to say the least.

"That's definitely the name of every sex tape I ever could have made."

XD - I couldn't resist!

[babyhunter]

She smiled. "I'm sure it is."

Clary's eyes are more focused on the waning light than Major now that the moon had almost fully eclipsed the sun. It wasn't completely pitch black at it's peak but it was dark enough to be unsettling. Clary tilted her chin towards the sun, watching the ring of light before quickly looking back at the ground.

She wasn't interested in getting blinded.

"Wow. That's crazy. I haven't seen an eclipse before. Not like this anyway." Clary made the assumption that they didn't happen often. She remember one when she was younger but it didn't get completely dark out, maybe because she hadn't been in the right path of the eclipse.