13295/Merry Mayhem at Mootant Town Milkshakes

Merry Mayhem at Mootant Town Milkshakes
Date of Scene:	07 November 2022
Location:	Mootant Town Milkshakes
Synopsis:	Bunny and Gabby both visit the holiday petting zoo set up by the proprietor of Mootant Town Milkshakes, where Tommy is helping out an old employer by running samples. Nothing bad at all happens! Except maybe traumatizing Bunny's little sister some (she kinda had it coming though).
Cast of Characters:	Tommy Shepherd, Gabby Kinney, Bunny Macleod

---

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Even though it's only a few days into November, the holiday celebrations have already kicked off in Bushwick. At least in Mootant Town Milkshakes, whose proprietor has been wearing a Santa hat and full beard since November 1st. And to his credit Cozwick is pulling it off, because somehow it doesn't clash with his blue skin. He has events planned for every weekend until the New Year, and what that means for today is that several baby cows from one of the farms upstate that he sources his fresh dairy from are in town for a petting zoo, as well as a few other assorted animals. Goats and sheep, primarily.

    There's a theme there, one might notice.

    And so far, things are going well. The families of Bushwick have turned up in spades, and as a result an entire half-block has been barricaded off to support the crowd. Free samples of both ice cream and hot chocolate are being passed out, and that's why Tommy is here: being an ex-employee who left in relative good standing with a particular skill set well-oriented for this sort of event. He's wearing an apron for the restaurant under a puffy jacket, as it's fairly cold out. The Louiseville Bats hat he has pulled on backwards is his small, silent protest against celebrating Christmas so soon after Halloween.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Petting zoo? At an icecream place? Of course Gabby was there. She had a list of things she wanted to check out, that she'd put on hold for awhile, and oen of them was 'festivals and events' for the seasons. She'd hit that Strawberry fest next Spring, and still planned to run out to an orchard soon. For now, this was close to home, somewhere she was familiar with, and an easy thing to swing by to without a lot of planning. Perfect.

Along with those in line she had been waiting, a bit impatiently, to see the cute fluffy pettable things. Oh and icecream. Spotting a familiar figure out here she finds herself hopping up onto her toes to wave above the head of a fellow taller than her in front. "Hi Tommy!"

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Look at all those dairy-producing animals.

    Of course, Bunny would be here, though today she is OBVIOUSLY in Macleod Messaging Service gear -- shirt -- jeans -- SNEAKERS (though the well aware would know they're wheelies), and accompanied by Benny, Barry, and Beth-Anne, who like her are blue-eyed, and unlike her retain their natural blonde hair.

    "BEEERRRNIIIIICE. I wanna ride a cow!"

    "You can't ride the cows, squirt." Bunny replies, "They are Pets Only."
    "Can I ride the cow?" One of the boys asks.

    "Absolutely not, Barry, you cannot ride a cow."

    "Whataboutagoat?!" Barry replies.

    "... I don't think you can ride a goat, brat."

    "I want ice cream."

    "I want a strawberry milkshake!"

    "I WANNA RIDE THE Radio Edit COW BEEEEERNIIIIIIIIIIICE I'LL TELL DAD AND SCREAM OUT MY LUNGS!" the youngest Macleod of THAT Macleod family screams out.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    One kid screaming amidst half a dozen other unbelievably loud children; the individual voices are indiscernable to Tommy at this point, beyond earning a mental flag to avoid. He's not the only one passing out samples, anyway, so one of the other, ACTUAL employees can handle that. This is just him doing Coz a favor.

    "Hey, Gab!" he says as he threads his way in-between two encroaching family groups with the surety of someone who spends most of his waking life avoiding obstacles. Into Gabby's hands immediately goes both a little paper cup of steaming hot cocoa (with exactly two mini marshmallows in it, AKA the max amount of mini marshmallows the cup is capable of containing) and another little paper cup, this one with peppermint mocha ice cream. "Howsitgoin'?"

    Briefly, before she has a chance to answer, Tommy zips away and returns with a much more empty tray. So empty that, after handing out a couple more samples to people passing by, his tray is actually empty. So he tucks it under his arm.

    His eyes are still scanning the crowd, though, and that's when his focus alights on some colorful dyed hair that he recognizes. "'Ey, Bunny!"

    He hasn't yet put two and two together about her pipsqueak entourage.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney accepts the treat samples without hesitation. She rather doubted she had to worry about someone trying to poison her... Not that she worried about that to begin with in spite of her sisters' many, many attempts. A grin is cast toward Tommy, and she winces a little at the noise that causes her head to tip to the side at the sheer volume of the kids.

"I think they hit a note that can't normally be heard by most people. Which of course I can," she utters with a ruefull sigh before grinning once more. "I'm doing good, I'm just trying to enjoy some of the whole 'Fall Festivities' and such this year. Plus I mean, icecream."

Speaking of which she tips the icecream cup into her mouth squeezing at the bottom so it just pops in without difficulty leaving her to quietly nom on the delicious selection. Peppermint, couldn't go wrong with that. It's gulped down in a second as she looks over to the girl he calls out to as well.

"Oh, I met her a bit ago." A little sniff to the air is taken, and she cringes. "Aaah. Older sibling babysitting duty," she theorizes with a solemn nod. "Let's go say hi." After all she figured that was the next stop for Tommy.

"Hey, if you guys are good I'll show you a magic trick!" she calls out to the noisey siblings with a quickly flashed grin.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "He called you Bunny!"
    "Did you go to school with him?"
    "IS HE A MUTANT HE RAN REALLY FAST SO FAST I DIDN'T SEE HIM RUN I'M TELLING DAD YOU WERE HANGING OUT WITH MRFffbleblmmm--" the youngest gets a hand over her mouth.

    Bunny looks HORRIFIED as she dives for her younger sibling.

    "Kid. We are. In Mutant Town. We. Live. In. Mutant. Town. Exnay on the Utantmay." Bunny states.

    Her brothers -- one who is taller than her already by two inches, give stiffled laughs before they look over to Gabby.

    "Hi~" the taller one states, trying to sound suave. "I'm Ben. This is my brother Barry. We're Macleods. Our dad owns a business, and we're set to inherit." he winks at her.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Tommy's face goes from actual excitement -- someone his age that he knows and doesn't mind hanging out with (unless they're at IKEA)! -- to shock -- wait why are these children screaming about him -- then straight to regret -- oh god what has he done -- slow enough that the sequence of thoughts showing on his face can be seen and interpreted. Though he does have the good sense to, after a pause, flash an apologetic half-smile in Bunny's direction.

    Which he then also turns on Gabby, given that it's his fault he's invited this upon them.

    Though his expression does a complete 180 after Ben's introduction, and he has to hold his serving tray up to cover the lower half of his face as he tries to stifle his laughter. Right before he stage-whispers, "Ooh, an eligible bachelor," to Gabby, complete with an elbow to her side. Gently, of course. Well, the teasing isn't gentle. The elbow is.

    He does motion between Bunny and Gabby though, saying each of their names as he does so. Introductions, there you go. "Either of you seen the cows yet?" he asks.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney watches Tommy's reaction to calling out to Bunny earning a wide grin of her own. It was good to see there was another person he was apparently enjoying seeing, after all. He'd had a lot on his mind for a long time now after all.

Just as she starts over, still holding onto the sample of hot chocolate which she was totally going to enjoy in a second, she finds herself caught up in Ben's flirty greeting.

The smile kind of freezes on her face but in such a way that she was trying so very hard not to laugh because that was mean. It doesn't help when Tommy elbows her lightly whispering that teasing remark.

"I'll get you for this," she whispers back through her teeth though he hadn't done anything himself. It was just some friendly banter. Lightly she clears her throat to nod toward the group while clarifying, "I'm Gabby, nice to meet you all," she offers in a friendly manner.

Then thank GOD Tommy suggests a change of topic. "Oh, not yet!"

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "We just came past the zoo and--"

    CRUNCH!

    "OW! BETH-ANNE!"

    "I WANT TO RIDE THE MOTHER-FARKING COWS AND TAKE ONE HOME AND RIDE IT TO SCHOOL SO THAT I DON'T HAVE TO STEP IN THE FARKING SNOW THIS YEAR AND RUIN MY BOOTS I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS IS SO DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO COMPREHEND! I WANT TO TALK TO YOUR MANAGER! CALL DADDY IMMEDIATELY!" the girl, who can't be older than eight, cries out. Except she doesn't say 'farking', and everything is clearly enuc

Bunny Macleod has posed:
everything is clearly enuciated properly as if she's had some sort of classical schooling.

    Bunny's eyes are wide adn she looks like she was stuck between slapping her sister or escaping her. Fight and flight are a weird mix.

    "Don't mind the girls. They're sooooo emotional." Benny states, leaning on a handy street baracade, which nearly collapses under his weight. He catches himself, though. Barry makes a face and then states:

    "I try to pretend I'm not related to him. Are you a friend of Bernice's?"

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    All good humor drains out of Tommy as Beth-KarANNE's rant continues. The pale arches of his eyebrows climb higher and higher towards his hairline until those muscles are fully stretched out and can go no higher, and he looks away to make eye-contact with Cozwick above the crowd. Or try to, at least, but Santa Coz is otherwise preoccupied with some other tykes, and even Beth-Anne's surprisingly well-verbalized screaming does just kind of blend in with the rest of the cacophony after you get a certain distance away.

    There are certainly plenty of people closer by that are looking at them with either judgment, amusement or a mix of both in their eyes.

    So he steels himself. After all, he's technically not an employee, just doing this for a bit of under-the-table cash. He looks down at Beth-Anne, the corners of his mouth turning upwards, and says one word:

    "No."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Well that was unexpected. It causes Gabby's eyes to widen staring at the mini-Karen in the making with mouth slightly agape. Being the youngest of her own siblings, this was quite eye-opening to see someone act so... so... Bratty. "Huh, guess it really does matter how you're raised.

A slight shake of her head comes as she looks away allowing Tommy the malicious glee that comes with being untouchable and ABLE to say 'no' without issue. This was gonna blow up. She knew it. Instead she flashes a small grin toward Ben and Barry to offer them a shrug.

"Kind of, we've run across each other a couple times. Only recently though," she admits with a chuckle. "If it helps I could give your sister a little scare?" Her eyes slip toward Bunny as if seeking an answer for that one. "Though maybe not."

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "That's good. She hasn't had a lot of friends since she dropped out of school." Barry states. Benny reaches over and grabs his shoulder.

    "No one's supposed to know she's not in school! Dad could get in trouble!" he protests, and then they hear Tommy give his brilliant speech in miniature.

    Bunny was still holding her little sister's shoulder, shaking her hand out after Beth-anne bit it.

    Beth-Anne pauses as Tommy says no.

    She looks as if she can't really handle the weight of the word. As if the stars were not in the right alignment. The gears turning in her head as her blue eyes focus on Tommy.

    And then she takes a deep breath.

    "I... Want..." she begins, her voice starting very low and tight, "MY FAAAAAAATHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!" SHE BELLOWS out, and there are a couple of people who are beginning to wonder if *she* is a mutant with the volume and peircing quality she's getting.

    And then she reaches into her little penguin bag, stabs a quick call icon with her finger, and waits.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Having given his answer, Tommy visibly checks out of whatever Beth-Anne is saying with the signature bored affectation of every retail worker in this day and age. The way he angles his body away from her is both subtle and purposeful, and instead his focus shifts to Bunny.

    "Are you the sole responsible authority for these kids right now?" he asks, while side-eyeing the older of the two boys in an attempt to roughly guess his age. Proooobably too young to saddle with the likes of Beth-Anne. Though maybe she'll call the dad in and that will solve that. "There's a ghost tour running down in DC that I want to go check out, but you have to have a driver's license. Pretty sure I can handle running two people down if you're willing to do the piggy-back-ride thing again while I stabilize Gabby's head."

    Behind his tray, Tommy gives Gabby a silent thumbs-up in support of the proposed scare.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"It's okay, I'm no Narc," Gabby responds to Ben and Bart using a phrase she'd picked up from Negasonic. She really wasn't though. At Tommy's little suggestion she just allows herself a lazy smile, and turns around. The little cup of hot cocoa is tossed back in a single shot with a sigh of apparent enjoyment.

Then she makes a gesture, bent over a bit, potentially doing something with that little cup. When she turns again she moves to crouch in front of the screeching Beth-Anne.

"Bet you never saw a trick like this before," she states as she holds her hand up with fingers stretched out and doing the obvious 'missing thumb' gesture.

Except, after the standard part where the thumb is pulled away, she cups her hand and holds it out to Beth-Anne to display... the actual. Thumb. In the palm of her hand.

"They aren't your cows. They're not made to ride. They're just babies... Like you. And if you tried to ride them you'd fall off, break something, maybe have something fall off like I did..." the thumb is tossed in her palm, a single time, caught, and pulled away. "So shut up, get your cocoa and pet the cute baby cows. That's all you're getting today. Ask for a new pair of snow boots if you want your feet dry."

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "Unfortunately, I am the 'responsible adult' since I'm three years older than Mr. Suave over there." Bunny admits quietly.

    "I'm totally suave!" Ben replies. His voice cracks.

    "You're smooth like a brick, Ben." Barry states.

    And then Gabby comes in close with the cup.

    And the call didn't connect, because Mr. Macleod is a busy man, and Beth-Anne watches, and then the realization creeps over her face as she gives out an ear-piercing scream, which then gets burried in Bunny's shirt as the eight year old FREAKS THE FRACK OUT. "BEEEEEEERNIIIIIIIIIIIIICE HER THUMB IS DETATCHABLE THAT IS SO GROOOOOOOSS MAKE HER STOP MAKE IT STOP I WANNA GO HOME!"

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    All Tommy has to say to that is "RIP." Like, as one word, homonym to the word which means "to tear or pull (something) quickly or forcibly". Though he does pat Bunny's shoulder in commiseration. He then steps away into the crowd, only to return from the opposite direction a moment later with a tray laden with more samples. Which he offers to Bunny and her brothers first, pointedly keeping it held too high for Beth-Anne to reach.

    Though she's too busy freaking out about Gabby's detached thumb, maybe. And Tommy immediately starts assuring the surrounding parents that it's, "Just a parlour trick, don't worry!"

    He sounds very convincing, even though he has a sneaking suspicion that he might be telling a lie.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney stands again holding her thumb in place, and then lifting her free hand to wiggle all her fingers. Not the hand she'd gotten the thumb off of, but that's currently tucked around the cup with her thumb inside so that it has a chance to reattach. Sure she could just regrow it, but it did take a bit to regrow. Thankfully the kid is buried in against Bunny so it's not like she's looking much.

"Totally attached," she states simply with a shrug only to clear her throat and offer Bunny an apologetic look. Okay so she didn't realize she'd react like that. Maybe she should have, but she was never that sort of kid growing up so it hadn't occured to her.

"Yeah have some of the samples that's a good idea," she agrees nodding thankfully toward Tommy.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny gives an embarrassed smile.

    "It's all right, Beth-Anne, see? It was just a trick." Bunny explains.

    Bunny is sure that is an absolute lie.

    "All right, let's go *pet* the cows -- oh, thanks Tommy! -- and then we'll head home. I've gotta make some overnight deliveries." Bunny explains, and she rubs an ear a moment.

    "Say goodnight to Gabby and Tommy, Squirts."

    "Goodnight, Gabby!" Benny winks.

    "Goodnight Gabby and Tommy, sorry for my brother and little sister. I promise, the odd siblings are normal." he states plainly.

    "BEEEEERNIIIIICE I WANNA STRAWBERRY SHAAAKE!"

    "And you misbehaved already and caused a scene, so maybe if you're good I'll swingby and grab one tomorrow, but you're gettin' nothin' tonight, sistah!" Bunny states, and she bodily picks up the eight-year-old, throws herover one shoulder, and she gives a wave

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Samples dispersed, Tommy gives an informal salute to Bunny and her clan as they begin to make their way over to the petting zoo. He spends a little bit longer clearing out his tray once again to the waiting hands of those surrounding them, then returns to Gabby's side. "I can get you in to pet the baby cows later, we get half an hour uninterrupted with them at the end of the event and I get a plus-one," he tells her.

    Cozwick makes himself known with a belly-laugh of a "HO HO HO!" from much nearer than Tommy was expecting, and he rolls his eyes with a heavy sigh.

    "I miss Halloween." And then he hip-checks Gabby, glancing at her hand to check for healing thumb-age before he nods. "Serious about that ghost tour though. We'll figure it out. I'll text you when it's cow time, okay?"

    And then off he zips.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney breathes a sigh of relief when things seem to wrap up nicely. Though perhaps that was a bit too far to go for a child that young, at least she seems to be bouncing back easily with her demands for milkshakes. I mean. Milkshakes do solve a lot of issues.

Grinning toward Tommy her eyes light up at the mention of cow petting time. "Heck yes," she agrees with a grin. "On both counts. Cows and haunted tour," she agrees, pausing only to bump her hip back against his at the hip-check right before he zooms. "Holding you to it!" she calls out only to turn to meander through the crowd for now.