13231/Bonfire and Musing

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Bonfire and Musing
Date of Scene: 01 November 2022
Location: Wayne Estate - Bristol Township
Synopsis: Phoebe lights a balefire and is practicing magic on the grounds of the Wayne Estate. Austin Reese, Jason Todd, and Alfred Pennyworth join her for cider and marshmallow roasting and musing lightly about ancestors.
Cast of Characters: Phoebe Beacon, Alfred Pennyworth, Jason Todd, Austin Reese




Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    It's not often that Phoebe takes a night purely for herself. Usually it's preparation. Sometimes it's training, or an agreed meeting with some other esoteric or occult being. Seeing as it was Halloween, she should be out on patrol against the ghosts and goblins that may haunt Gotham's streets.

    But tonight she was wearing a worn leather jacket, covered with geeky patches that advertise fictional establishments and locales.

    She'd claimed a bit of the far lawn of the house, with some rocks and old trees as a place to practice so that it wasn't technically in the house, and that was nicely keeping with the house rules. A bonfire was running, ringed by stones and a metal fire ring to keep everything nice and safe, and a few hammocks were hung in the trees to make it a comfortable place to sit and talk or research from one of her books.

    In front of her, a white candle was burning, and the sweet smell of citrus, roses, and spicy black pepper hangs about her, a cone of incense burning on a little eartern plate.

    Idu, the wiry-haired red-and-white sight hound, is sitting off to the side. He's wearing a dog sweater with spooky, scary, skeletons on it.

Alfred Pennyworth has posed:
Alfred has been on candy duty this evening. Wayne Manor is always worth the long walk in exchange for the king sized candy bars. But as the river of trick or treaters had finally diminished, he steps outside now to sweep the back porch, a task that he'd had to put off earlier. He glances across the yard toward the bonfire, just a sort of sanity check to be sure it's well in control, and pulls a slightly apprehensive face when he sees Phoebe sat there apparently about to engage in some kind of witchcraft. Not that it would normally be any of his business. He just knows how weird Gotham can get on this particular night. For now, he lets her be, and keeps sweeping.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd isn't much of a Halloween kinda guy, usually. Still, there's a first time for everything. He's even dressed up - as himself! An often moody once-dead guy. It seems almost appropriate for such a night as this, even.

After riding out from the city, he made his way into the Manor, finding it rather quiet, even empty feeling, after the Treating Hours had ended. That itself seems fitting for the holiday, but it is the fire and tendrils of smoke rising from the far lawn that catch his attention.

Making his way out, he's wearing black jeans, a gray tee, riding boots and a worn leather jacket.

Nearing the fire, he studies it for several heartbeats before moving past, to intrude upon Phoebe's quiet reflection with Idu.

"Happy Halloween, Pheeb."

Austin Reese has posed:
It's Austin's birthday. And it's Halloween. This time last year he was on his first unofficial mission with the Bats. Tim had slipped him an earpiece, and he had chopped a leg off of some kind of undead spider monster that had killed a bunch of people. That was a weird birthday.

That might be why he's been hanging around the manor, just wearing a flanel shirt and jeans. He'd been watching scary movies in one of the dens for most of the day, but had seen the fire out of one of the windows, and wandered his way down onto the porch, holding a bottle of water as he looks over at Alfred, "What's Phoebe doing?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe looks up as Jason approaches, and she gives a small smile. "Hey, Jason." she greets him, her hands around the flame of the candle, protecting it from the breeze before she reaches for a lantern shade, and places it over the candle to guard it.

    Idu's curly tail gives a wag as Jason approaches, the hunting hound tilting his head.

    "Just... finishing up on a couple of things. I think. I've been at it a while today." she breathes out with a small grin. "C'mon, warm your hands by the fire, fellow traveler of this Night of the Thin Veil. Wooooo --" she wriggles her fingers "So spooky!"

Alfred Pennyworth has posed:
"Summoning spirits of the dead, probably," Alfred quips briskly, sweeping a small pile of leaves and pine needles over the edge of the porch, where they are now the gardener's problem. "Or, to be more precise," he adds, crossing over to stand near Austin and plunking his broom bristles-down on the floor, looking rather like a wizard leaning on his staff from the waist up, "I don't know. The bonfire is rather atmospheric though, innit? Shall we ask her?"

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd smiles back, his hands tucked into his pockets. He looks over to Idu, "Hey boy.." He walks over, "Sounds good to me." He looks over at Phoebe, "Not so spooky here. Spooky is the drive up to the front gate off the highway. It's like Legend of Sleepy Hollow every Fall" he jokes with a smile. His hand pulls out to gently scritch Idu's ears a bit before he finds a place to sit. "Nice fire. Wish I'd brought something more than myself. Sorry."

Austin Reese has posed:
"A grand idea." Austin replies to Alfred, as he hops off the porch and then wanders his way down towards the bonfire, "Hey Phoebe. Hey Jason." He holds up his hand that's not holding the bottle in a bit of a wave, as he moves over and sits on down, "Do we have any magical powder to throw into the fire before we tell our spooky story?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a smile as Jason loves on Idu, who accepts the gentle headpats. It's not from one of his favorite humans, but he'll accept from Jason, who is at elast on the Supernatural side of things.

    He does turn as Austin makes his way over the grouping, his tail wagging again as the red-and-white dog in the spooky sweater hops off from where he was sitting and begins to make the rounds, sniffing at cuffs and knees until he's satisfied that no one here is a monster in disguise.

    Phoebe gives a slight smile, and she shakes her head. "Sorry, left my copper sulfate in my other spooky jacket." Phoebe replies to Austin, and she gives a grin. "You got a spooky story to tell?

Alfred Pennyworth has posed:
Alfred doesn't follow Austin immediately, just looks out thoughtfully over the lawn and the young people of what he considers very much to be his extended American family. He turns and steps briefly inside the house to put his broom away, and when he emerges again he's carrying a tray with several objects on it.

He strides at a purposeful pace across to the gathering, and gently clears his throat as he steps into the ring of firelight. "Sorry I didn't think to bring any copper sulfate down from the house," he announces, "But you all did seem to be missing these." He proffers the tray with its bag of marshmallows, box of graham crackers and several chocolate bars. There is also, because his young charges are really not so young anymore, a six pack of hard cider. "See: I come bearing gifts. May I join you?"

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd isn't a favorite of many. He's okay with that.

Looking up, "Austin." He pauses, glancing side long at Phoebe as if he feels like he's forgotten something. He cheats, pulling out his phone. Tucking it away he looks all pleased as if he remembered on his own, "Hey, happy birthday, Austin." He shrugs, not having a gift, but he at least reaches over to offer a fist bump.

He considers, pulling out a clip of taser rounds. Because he's always armed. He pulls a couple rounds from the clip and pries the taser slugs off the casing. A moment of fidgetting and he has removed the lithium ion batteries from the rounds. Tossing them into the fire, he seems unrepentant for the notion of air pollution.

"Can't give you a rainbow. No zinc, barium or copper, just lithium." It isn't long before the yellow flames take on a red color.

He glances to Alfred, almost expecting a reprimand, but he offers a faint smile and nod. "Thanks, Alfred." Pausing he looks around the group almost meekly, "Probably should toast marshmallows on just this side for a while." What flavor does lithium impart to a marshmallow? Probably better to avoid finding out.

"Please do." Join the group.

Austin Reese has posed:
"I'll be honest, I don't think I could tell a fake story that would come close to some of the real ones I've seen since I ran into you on that rooftop, Phoebe." Austin replies, "Although this time last year I was fighting a demonic serial killer with a hatchet and that was BEFORE I met you."

When Alfred does finally join them, he gets a grin on his face, and then stands up and moves over to take the six pack from him so he can use both hands on the tray, "Thank you Alfred." He takes one of the cans of hard cider, and cracks it open, taking his first (legal) drink, and of course, he gives Idu a ton of pets when he comes over, giving a special focus to scratch behind the ears.

Jason's fist bump is returned, "Thanks, dude." He doesn't expect gifts from anybody, after all just being here is the best gift he's ever gotten.

Well except maybe that time when he turned six when he got a Nintendo Wii for his birthday.

He does sit back and watch the flames crackle their differnt colors from Jason's light show with the battery, "I bet we could get some from downstairs. But that's probably not an appropriate use of resources."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a snort at the idea of Alfred being refused a spot at the fire, and she motions for him to join them.

    Idu is VERY interested in the tray and marshmallows, his tail wagging faster. Who doesn't love food.

    "Yeah, I don't think I could tell any stories scarier than my experiences either." Phoebe replies quietly to Austin, but as Jason takes apart the taser rounds, she winces, her eyes going wide as she shifts her weight, prepared to shield everyone if the batteries didn't burn as expected, but burst instead -- but she's surprised (and releived) that there's no little explosions. Just yellow flames from the lithium, and she relaxes.

    And does not accept a cider. Because it's not legal for her this side of the pond.

    "Probably not the best use of resources... and also, this fire was made with a purpose." she teases, looking over to Jason, and she leans back.

    "It's supposed to keep away bad spirits, and also welcome ancestors to join us, with the thin veil between the worlds." she looks up to the stars trying to fight through the thin cloud cover.

    Idu flops himself down between Alfred and Austin. His nose was still very focused on the tray.

Alfred Pennyworth has posed:
Alfred does indeed give Jason a brief exasperated frown, but refrains from verbal chastisement. "Ah, so you /were/ summoning the dead after all," he remarks, easing himself down onto the grass. "Not for dogs," he informs Idu, although he produces a small milk bone from somewhere up his sleeve and hold it out as a peace offering.

"Someone else can scrounge up some sticks for skewers, then; I've done the hard part already, haven't I?"

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd moves to sit until Alfred speaks about needing roasting sticks. The summoning the dead comment gets a side glance but nothing more. "I'll get some." He turns and heads for the trees, eyes looking across the ground for some fallen branches first before he may choose to cut any from the trees.

Austin Reese has posed:
Phoebe's explanation gets Austin to turn his head and listen in, "Ancestors huh?" He has wondered a bit about his own history, he doesn't really know much of anything about his family past his own parents. For a moment he shakes his head, pushing that thought back away as he takes a drink from his cider. He's from Gotham, that much he does know.

Austin is about to volunteer when Jason is up in a flash and grabbing some sticks for the group, so instead he pats Idu on the head a few times, "You know I never really ventured this far out of the city before. Well I mean, I went to New York a few times, but I was always in the city proper. This is pretty far out of the city itself."

Speaking of the city, it was remarkably quiet for Halloween. Which Austin is NOT complaining about in any sense of the word. A Halloween without some Jack-o-Lantern themed villain trying to blow up a department store's Christmas section in the name of Halloween or something like that would be a great change of pace.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "And just so you all know, my ancestors *definitely* had sweet tooths. So S'mores are a-OK by my Yaru-wheyt ancestors." she adds, just in case anyone gets the notion she's mad about the sudden intrusion of candy, and she grins as Idu makes himself at home. She looks up as Jason goes to gather some sticks, and she stretches her arms up over her head a bit.

    "And not really 'summoning'. It's more of a nice gesture. I... don't think I want to try summoning anything. Didn't go too well last time." Phoebe remarks quietly, watching as the yellow dies down in the flames as the batteries fade off.

    "Loads of different places have traditions for remembering the dead, ancestor worship comes in a bunch of different forms. I just thought... you know... with the way the last year has been it couldn't *hurt* to light a balefire and hope for the best." she gives an embarrassed laugh.

Alfred Pennyworth has posed:
"I think it's an excellent idea, Phoebe; please don't take my teasing to heart," Alfred smiles in what he hopes is an encouraging way when he detects the embarrassment in her voice. He takes one of the ciders for himself and sips, savoring the tart flavor. "A nice, /quiet/ way to observe the holiday that doesn't involve Jack o Lantern themed villains." Wait, is he psychic? No, he just knows Gotham. "Now then, if Mr. Todd hasn't gotten lost in the trees, perhaps we can make an appropriate offering to your sweet-toothed forebears."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd returns with three sticks of proper length and general durability to be used for toasting marshmallows. He hands them out to the others, "Here. These should work well enough. Didn't even have to harm a tree." The ends are already carved down for skewering marshmallows even.

He finds a place to drop down and sit, watching the fire.

Austin Reese has posed:
"I'm sure they appreciate it, wherever they are." Austin says to Phoebe, as he glances over at where Jason is headed back with the sticks, "Awesome, thanks." He takes the stick and, once he has it in hand, reaches over to grab a couple of marshmallows and stick them onto the end, before poking it near the fire. He's thankful that not every Halloween is this quiet, or he might not be hanging out at this one.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I know you wouldn't mean anything by it Alfred. I've heard you intended insults. Something like that hits my poor, sensitive heart and I'd probably just die on the spot." Phoebe returns with playful hyperbole, accepting a stick for herself, and she looks to Jason.

    "Aren't you going to toast one?" she asks of him, her lips pursing a moment.

    "Last Halloween I was locked up tight behind another magician's wards to protect me from my last living relative. Halloween before that I helped hand out candy from my doorstep. Before that?" her nose wrinkles. "I think me and two friends harangued a bunch of bullies. It's kinda nice to have a quiet night." she states, then leans back and knocks on a tree.

    "I remember, once upon a time, I was maybe... seven. My dad took me and the friend group trick-or-treating. He was kinda The Good Adult in all our lives. Got us all into Aikido with his teacher. Taught us to look out for each other and everyone littler than us." she smiles, turning the marshmallow so that it toasts evenly.

    "He's kinda the inspiration for 'The Gotham Beacon', you know?" she explains, invoking her previous moniker. Good thing it changed to Balm.

Alfred Pennyworth has posed:
"But you've neglected to tell us the most important thing," Alfred declares. "What did you dress up as?" He accepts a stick when one is free, and goes about toasting his marshmallows with the same precision as he does any cooking task: that is, it must be BROWN all the way around, but not charred.

"Your father sounds like a good man," he adds, quietly. "I'm sure that if he does see this fire tonight, he's proud of you."

Austin Reese has posed:
"I like the current one better." Austin offers, as he pulls back his marshmallows once they have a nice crust on them, "My dad was in the GCPD. He was SWAT. You know I had planned on following in his footsteps one day, I suppose this is close."

He finishes off his cider, and leans back a bit where he's sitting as he starts to put together the s'more, "You know sharing a birthday with Halloween was always interesting. Lots of spooky themed birthday parties growing up that now I realize were my parrents using my birthday as an excuse to hold a Halloween party.."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd listens to the recollection from Austin and Phoebe. His expression is intent but he doesn't offer any insights into his own family. There wasn't a lot there to have missed.

He glances over to Phoebe at her question about toasting marshmallows. To that he does smile, "I will but there were only three good sticks. I'll get one after one of you has finished. I'm not going to waste away if I don't get the first s'more or anything."

He looks to Austin, 'There are worse things to use as an excuse for a party. Unless it's Christmas, having a birthday on a holiday seems cool. To me anyway."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a grin, and she holds out her stick with her toasted marshmallow to Jason.

    "Here, if these are the regular marshmallows they have gelatin in them. Technically I can't eat them on ethical grounds." she explains, and she gives a wry smile.

    "I went as Batman. The four of us all went as Batman. We were all Batpeople. So, imagine if you will, little Seven-Year-Old me in first grade with my accidental best friend Nacho, our friend Nick and our adopter JayJay, a whole two years older than us, all squeaking out 'I am the night!'"

    And she puts her chin on her fist.

    "Could be worse. The Gotham City Youth Protection Services didn't know mine, so assigned it Valentine's Day and said 'eh, close enough'."

Alfred Pennyworth has posed:
"I'm quite content to have my birthday well across the calendar from the holiday season," Alfred remarks, with a little mischievous smile. "I always ended up with more presents that way." He does not, however, deign to speak about his parents. Sharing sweets and alcohol with the young crowd is one thing, but talking about his childhood feels too much like 'When I was your age we walked uphill to school both ways in the snow.'