7132/The Gig Economy

The Gig Economy
Date of Scene:	29 July 2021
Location:	The Centinel Hotel - Mutant Town
Synopsis:	Laxmi meets Ruth - and gets invited on a sight seeing tour of India!
Cast of Characters:	Laxmi Mallick, Ruth Kincaid

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Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    Gig work can be a frustrating way to make a living - especially for a musician - but tonight, Laxmi has be hired by a teen group to give them a glimpse into the traditional art forms of Northern India. The kids would be arriving soon, and Laxmi is almost ready - dressed in her beautiful Kathak dance costume with full skirts and leggings, and bells ringing at her ankles with every step. Her hair is neatly pinned into place, with a matha patti head piece firmly secured to the edges of her hair line, and down the center of her head, with a beautiful fanning piece of jewelry suspended at her forehead. She's just making sure that the programs are set on each table, as she moves around the hall that's been reserved for the event.

Ruth Kincaid has posed:
    Gig work has been good to Ruth, but part of that is due to her range and speed. It might be kind of unfair to other delivery services, but she's still only one girl. It's not like she'll destroy the market. Mutant Town has also been good to her, so she's glad to have the chance to take on special jobs to support the community. Such as flying to actual India to pick up actual Indian curry and deliver it piping hot and fresh! "Delivery from Curry Crew New Dehli! Need a signature!" announces the girl floating outside, with a group of paper bags on strings trailing along as if they were party balloons. She's wearing her costume, the red suit bearing aircraft navigation lights but blinking only dimly, and her clear faceplate flipped open.

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "Oh, wonderful!" Laxmi remarks, as she shifts one of the programs just-so to make sure each place setting looks neat, and identical. "You're a real life-saver," she adds with a warm expression as she approaches - jangling with each step, a warm smile on her dusky features as she approaches to accept the paperwork. "I'm happy to sign - the kids should be arriving soon," she remarks.
    The kids themselves weren't mutants - not that she knew, anyways - but when they'd hired her and allowed her to choose the venue? She saw no reason not to support a Mutant-owned business when placing the booking. "It's remarkable that you can go for take out like this. I hope it wasn't too much trouble." Her words are kind, and seem to be genuinely reflected in her green-hued eyes and her smile.

Ruth Kincaid has posed:
    Ruth beams and kicks back in the air with one arm folded behind her neck, the other waving it off. "No! Not at all! As far as I'm concerned, if you've got a unique skill, there's a niche for you! It's all a matter of finding out what you can do with it. So here's how this works, don't try to take anything from me directly, or you'll get swept up in my effect." She pats around until she finds the right string, the one with the clipboard and pen attached, then unclips it and carefully pushes it against the top of the table, lifting herself up by reaction, and away from it. "Just set that back down when you're done, and I'll set out the boxes."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "And what happens if I get swept up in your 'effect'?" Laxmi asks in a curious tone, as she watches the clipboard get deposited. She retrieves it and signs - setting it back down on the table without any fuss, as she turns to watch how Ruth handles the various bags of food. "Honestly, it sounds like that could be fascinating - and quite fun," she adds - flashiing a brighter smile at the woman. "I'm Laxmi, by the way. Namaste." She presses her hands together as she offers the traditional greeting to the woman.

Ruth Kincaid has posed:
    "Well, then I'll just have to deliver you, I guess," she snickers. Then awkwardly, "Probably to right here since you look like you've got a thing going on. Ah, I'm Aerial. Or Ruth Kincaid when not in costume." with a shrug and twinge in one corner of her lip. "Anyways, it's perfectly safe to be a passenger, I do that all the time, but work before play." She flicks a line from the suit out to connect and reel the clipboard back in, and one by one she deals with the bags. First tearing the staple loose to make a hole, reaching in to make sure the trays inside are still rightside up, then carefully pressing them flat to the table and floating up in response, before releasing the line they're on. The styrofoam trays are still sealed with shrink wrap with steam fogging up the inside. "And there you go!"

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "Well - Aerial - it's such a pleasure to make your acquaintance, though I'm afraid I haven't a pseudonym to offer in return. My family would be absolutely livid, I suspect, if I went around offering some sort of superhero alter name." Just for a moment - a quirk of amusement shows on her lips at the thought, but she has no intention of going against the wishes of her family like that.
    "Your gift then - if it's not too rude to ask - it's nothing something you can stop? It always affects you and the world around you?"

Ruth Kincaid has posed:
    The laugh that follows is strained, but she's still smiling. "Woke up one morning tangled in my ceiling fan, haven't been able to get down since. Mom didn't take it well. I think I've got most of the rules figured out, but sometimes it still surprises me. Hook something to me, it flies too. If it's big there's a bit of strain before I can take it, but a grocery run? That's nothing."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "It does sound handy - but it sounds like it's a bit of a trial, too," Laxmi says with sympathy. "It's good you're making the best of it. I don't suppose there's any chance you'll ever learn to control it completely - to turn it off when you'd like?" She lets out a sigh before adding, "I hear that some never do. I suppose I should count my blessings that my own gift requires effort to use - or I might well be forced to live my life as a mute."

Ruth Kincaid has posed:
    "Yikes! That would be..." Ruth flips completely upside-down while rubbing a finger on her chin, frowning. "I've got text to speech and back and internet translation in my suit through an app, so maybe you'd be able to do the same if it came to that? But still... oh! I don't even know what your talent is, so... Share?" She grins and puts a hand out. "I'll pull you up."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    There's hestiation on Laxmi's features, as her gaze flicks towards the empty doorway. There's no one else here. Would it really matter if she broke a social taboo for once? "I'm not supposed to touch others, outside of my family," she admits quietly. "It's part of my culture. But... perhaps this once?" she suggests, reaching up hesitantly with her hand.
    She continues on to answer Ruth's question with a simple, "Oh, my gift allows me to affect the emotions of others with my voice. It's wonderfully useful for performances - I can make people feel awed, or saddened, or elated..."

Ruth Kincaid has posed:
    "Oh! Oh, sorry! I didn't know!" The offered hand is yanked back. "You shouldn't make a snap judgement on if you wanna break a taboo like that or not. I mean, uh... well first off, I am wearing gloves, so you're not actually touching me. Sec-- THIRD, why would touching someone be taboo? Sorry, I just don't-- but second, we'll just use a line!" She shoots out a tether from her suit and offers the loose end instead. "There, just hold on to that or something?"
    With that momentary overreaction out of the way, it's time for another overreaction. Her eyes widen at the explanation of the gift. "You've got like... mind control stuff... Mom said that was the worst kin--" SNAP. Mouth shut. Stop. Talking. Breathe. Think. "I shouldn't have said that. I'm sure you're absolutely nothing like what came to mind just now."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "It is simply our way - it's a part of Hindi culture, and showing respect to one another," Laxmi explains. "But it's very out of step with mainstream American culture, as you can imagine, so it's something I've often struggled with, being raised here." She loves her culture and her family - but there are times she wished to ignore its precepts.
    Still, she's happy to take the line instead, and rather than looking offended, she looks amused by Ruth's words. "I am mindful of the ways such a gift can be abused. I use it heighten my performances when I'm singing - I presume that people have come with the hopes of being moved, and so I don't see it as too terrible of an imposition in that situation. And I've used it in emergency situations, to calm things and restore order. That's about it, though."

Ruth Kincaid has posed:
    Ruth tilts her head, "I'm sure there's some meaning and significance to it, and I'd love to know more of the history and reasoning behind it." And as the line is taken, "It's gonna feel a little weird right when you grab hold."
    Which is no lie. Abruptly weightless, hair and clothes billowing like an underwater shot, feet slipping off the floor. The sensation of simply being abandoned by Earth and the very concept of down itself, to be irrevocably still and that it's the rest of the world moving around instead. "Then thank you. I'm glad you've been able to help people."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    Laxmi lets out a gasp - followed by a delighted laugh. "Oh, my, this is..." There's another breathy laugh. "I wonder if this is what it feels like to be in space? Amazing. Though I can only imagine how frightening it must have been to have woken like this one morning - for you and your family."

Ruth Kincaid has posed:
    "I couldn't tell you. I never tried it on someone else who's been to space to find out. But I think that's basically what's happening. I don't have any mass, so a lot of physics just... isn't paying any attention to me." She swallows and drifts backwards, spooling out more line as the distance between her and Laxmi grows. "Yeaaah, scary, about that." she sighs. "Hey, have you heard of this uh... Reverend Stryker guy?" Comic beat while she forces a somewhat manic excitement. "Guess what church we went to at the time!"

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "From... the Purrifiers?" Laxmi asks in a shocked, and alarmed tone. "Oh, gracious, surely your parents don't still listen to that bilk?" she asks a bit anxiously. "I mean, my parents don't exactly approve, but only out of concern for my own well being. They wish I would keep my gifts secret to protect myself." Which, unfortunately, is a sentiment she can entirely understand.
    "You're away from him now, surely?"

Ruth Kincaid has posed:
    Peace, relaxation, arms spreading in gratitude and acceptance. And then suddenly the room seems to teleport, flung past too quick to see, until the wall on the far side of it comes to rest with Laxmi just bumping off it and feeling no impact. The tables are over there, upside-down? Floating is weird. "God gave me what I needed to escape, and revealed the corruption of his teaching, all in the same beautiful stroke. I think it was a sign, and I-- I was about to say I wish I'd realized sooner rather than staying and trying to make things work. But I don't think I /do/ wish that, because I wanted it to work, and wasn't done trying."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    Laxmi gasps at the speed with which they move across the room, and she pushes away from the wall gently, looking around as she tries to ascertain her current position, in relation to where she had been not long before. "This is so strange," she murmurs to herself before.
    "The divine spark within us provides - if we are open to it," Laxmi agrees. It was clear the two women were of vastly different faiths, but that doesn't seem to bother Laxmi in the least. "I'm glad you found the strength to protect yourself - physically and emotionally. It can't have been as easy as all that."

Ruth Kincaid has posed:
    "Well... today it provides curry!" Because enough of the bad mental place for now. "I hope your event goes well, and please let me know if you... ever want to show me around India and show me the culture? I'll arrange the flight."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "Oh, gracious, I would absolutely love to," Laxmi agrees enthusiastically. "I mean - I've only ever visited family during summer holidays and the like - but I could certainly show you around northern India, and translate for you. I would be delighted to." After all, who could say no to such a generous offer?
    "I think I hear the children coming - come to speak of it," she adds in wry voice, looking towards the door from her strange perspective, not at all perpendicular to the floor.

Ruth Kincaid has posed:
    "Right! Well, let's get you down, then." The room jumps again, this time ending up with the table and chairs in easy reach. "Try to sit in the chair, and move yourself into position only by touching the underside of the table. The last thing I want is to flip the table over and ruin all the food. Then unclip yourself. Grit your teeth first, it helps you not bite your tongue."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "You can bite your tongue?" Laxmi asks in surprise, before following the instructions. She grabs the chair first, trying to pull herself towards it, and into the right position to sit, only touching the table when necessary. Righting a table would be so much more work than righting a simple chair. It helps, perhaps, that she has so many years of dance practice - she's well used to contorting her body.

Ruth Kincaid has posed:
    The lack of leverage is palpable, the slightest touch making the floor or table slide away, and trying to sit without some pressure counteracting it will just lead to floating out of the chair. But braced against the underside of the table it's doable, and when the line slips free gravity suddenly slams back, the transition sharp and jarring. Easy to see how someone who had gotten used to not supporting the weight of their own head might have just had their jaw close on their tongue, or the air knocked loose from their chest.
    "I could have made that easier on you but I would have had to touch you and push you down like with the clipboard. Sorry."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "Oh, no, no. Quite alright," Laxmi answers with a breathless laugh. "Gracious, how unusual. No, I quite appreciate the consideration you showed," she adds, giving the other woman a smile, before climbing back to her feet. "It's interesting," she remarks. "We both are limited in our ability to touch others - though for such vastly different reasons. I'm sure it was a difficult adjustment for you to make."

Ruth Kincaid has posed:
    Ruth's reeling in all her lines and disposing of the trash from the bags when the kids start arriving. "There's difficulties. Showers, for example. But it looks like I need to go. I can call you back at the number you placed the order from?"

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "Yes, anytime," Laxmi confirms. "That's my cell. And thank you again." She presses her hands together once more - smiling at Ruth and quickly adding, "I'm sure no one will mind if you wish to stay and watch - but I'm sure you're very busy." She turns her attention to the teens next, all smiles as she approaches. "Welcome, welcome! Please find your seat. We ordered all of the curries mild tonight - just to be safe - but we do have some very spicy pickles for the more adventurous to enjoy. You'll find everything is vegetarian tonight - since part of the goal tonight is to learn about the Hindu culture," she begins to explain, each step jangling as she moves.

Ruth Kincaid has posed:
    "I'm as busy as I decide to be. I could stay, but right now I want to earn a bit more money before taking a nap," she smirks. "The jet lag's a killer." That's her goodbye, and with a wave she's suddenly at the door again, then slipping out upside-down and up into the sky.