MAGIC AND MYSTERY ((Thread with sarah_branigan))

[wright_idea]

The Wonderbar, though it does serve alcohol, does not give off the appearance of a sleazy place. Rather, it seems to revel in its own eccentricity, showing off pictures of several unusual acts it's booked in the past as well as a generous assortment of musicians. Anything goes here, from ventriloquists to country singers to a trio of old French

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[sarah_branigan]

Sarah looks around, wide-eyed. "Oh... this place is fantastic!" She smiles, losing her world-weary expression for a few minutes as she takes the scenery in.

She takes a seat. "I'd love one, thank you. What're you having?"

[wright_idea]

"Just a whiskey, I think. I don't drink too heavily normally at these shows," he says.

He looks up at the stage. "I really hope you like the performer tonight. She's young, but she's pretty talented."

[sarah_branigan]

"I'll have a whiskey sour, then." Best to start off on a sweet note. "I'm not much of a drinker, either, but I live with a couple of teetotalers. As in, they totally drink tea."

She looks up at the stage as well. "Yeah? And she performs magic?"

[wright_idea]

Phoenix snorts. "That must be fun. It'd be like living with Edgeworth all the time," he says. He orders the drinks, though. "Still, you must like them if you live with them

[sarah_branigan]

Sarah chuckles a little. She's met Edgeworth; she understands. "Well, one of them's my boyfriend, so yeah, I guess you could I say I like him." She winks. "He's got a heart condition, so he can't drink coffee. The other guy's a limey. Don't get me wrong, he makes great tea, but sometimes a gal could use something stronger."

She looks at Wright curiously. "What circumstances?" she asks. But then the show starts, and she falls silent in anticipation.

She blinks, surprised by the girl's age, then stares at the giant puppet. "Is she... is this real magic or is she just that good?" she whispers.

[wright_idea]

"I'd be worried if you didn't," he replies, chuckling. "But yeah, I know how it is. Tea's like some sort of panacea in the Sanctuary, though. You say a word against it, you'd probably be lynched or something." He grins.

He doesn't reply as the show starts. He watches attentively, clapping and laughing at the appropriate parts. And yet if one were to observe him closely, there's an odd wistfulness, even melancholy to his expressions as he watches the young girl on the stage.

"She... she's really good. I've seen this act a lot of times and still can't see how she pulls it off," he whispers, an odd tone in his voice that's hard to pin down precisely.

[sarah_branigan]

"Good to know. Although there was plenty of booze, the last time I was there." Which, from her tone, suggests that was quite a while ago.

Sarah watches Wright for a minute or two, curious about his expression. Does he know the girl? But soon her attention is transfixed again on the stage. She applauds and even adds a whistle during the conclusion of a particularly complicated trick. "Really good," she agrees.

[wright_idea]

"Well yes, there's always booze. Probably because it presents so many situations where you NEED it." He winces a bit at the thought and, as the drinks arrive, sips a bit at his.

He nods a bit, smiling. He watches her some more, then asks, quietly, "Do you... think it's possible to get something good in your life, and still regret what you didn't get?"

On stage, she does something involving firing a cat out of a cannon. But the cat's okay, folks!

[sarah_branigan]

"You go there often?" She plucks the cherry out of her drink and eats it before taking a sip.

She glances over at him at his question, then frowns a little at the table. She unconsciously puts a hand on her stomach and rubs it faintly. "Yeah. That's possible," she mutters, sounding bitter.

Then the cat gets fired out of the cannon and she goes all O_O. "Holy crap, did you see that?!"

[wright_idea]

He chuckles self-consciously. "I kinda live there, actually. Well, technically it's an apartment that sort of got eaten up by the Sanctuary's side rooms, but anyway,yeah." He rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Couldn't really afford to move, and I didn't want to make someone else have to live in a place like that who didn't have to, so

[sarah_branigan]

"Why don't you live in your home world?" Sarah asks, confused. "Aren't you from L.A., like Mia?"

She looks at Phoenix, then at the stage again. Obviously what he lost has something to do with the little girl. "You can't have everything," she muses, peering into her drink. "It's unfortunate that we can meet alternates and find out what life would have been like had things gone differently."

She blushes and laughs as well. "It's pretty freaking cute, is what it is. The kid, too."

[wright_idea]

"Ah, well, technically I do. It's just that the apartment, which WAS in LA, also exists in the Nexus. I mean, like, if the landlord goes up to the door, all he sees is the apartment. But if it's me or Maya, we end up going right into the main Sanctuary, and the actual apartment is in one of the siderooms." He pauses at that and, deciding that's too confusing, simply adds, "Nexus, LOL."

He nods. "Or assholes from our future who decide to spring events they think are inevitable on you just to see you squirm," he adds, somewhat bitterly. "Though I have met a future me from that alternate situation. It's... awkward."

He chuckles. "Yeah, it is. Though I really have to wonder why she pulls everything out of a big pair of underwear..."

He's not kidding. It's not a style of underwear that any fashionable woman these days would wear, but it's definitely a pair of panties. With hearts. That she seems to be able to pull everything but the kitchen sink out of.

[sarah_branigan]

"Ohhh..." That makes a little more sense. Of course, it's disturbing that someone's apartment leaching into the Sanctuary would actually make sense, but that's the Nexus for you. "There's a man in my world that can make portals, but these days we just use PINpoints."

She wrinkles her nose and takes a long sip of her drink. "That's never happened to me, thank God. I just keep meeting alternates of my boyfriend." From the look on her face, that's not a good thing. Smiling a little, she adds, "I met your alternate once. He was a sweetheart."

She peers at the pair of bloomers. "I think I have a pair like that," she muses. "Not quite as large, though."

[wright_idea]

"PINs are definitely useful, though they have a bad habit of crapping out on you when you really need them, for some reason." He frowns a bit at the thought. "I mean, sometimes you just can't reach for it fast enough."

"Hmm?" He thinks. "Really silly gay college student alternate, or weird guy with the glasses that talks to ghost alternate?" he asks. (One would argue that he's insulting himself with the "gay" comment but, uh, that alternate really was gay. Which was bizarre to say the least.)

"Probably less random items in it too," he says as she somehow pulls out a stepladder.

[sarah_branigan]

"Funny, that's how I feel about the AV field," Sarah notes with a slight smirk. She swirls the rest of her whiskey sour a little before downing it. "But I've seen some wonderful places with PINpoints. My city isn't really connected to anything, you see."

She laughs at the descriptions. "Uh, the guy with glasses who talks to ghosts alternate. I didn't think he was weird."

She giggles again, watching the show. "Yeah, you could say that. That's not where I keep my -- hey, isn't that the cat she shot out of the cannon?" The same furry feline is being pulled out of the bloomers, looking no worse for wear.

[wright_idea]

"Hmm, I haven't really done a lot of off-world exploration with PINs myself," he says, mulling over this. "Maybe I should give it a shot." Actually, right now he's technically financially well off enough to go for it. He just can't get in the financially well-off MINDSET. Anyway, there are people to defend