13358/A Very Grey Birthday

A Very Grey Birthday
Date of Scene:	15 November 2022
Location:	Candle, Booke and Belle
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Nettie Crowe, Gabby Kinney, Michael Hannigan, Megan Gwynn, Tynan Ireton, Zatanna Zatara, Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe

---

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    The shop is not itself. While the building occasionally feels like it has a life of its own (and hearing Nettie speak of it, it may not be too far from the truth).

    Instead of rose hips and nag champa, the place smells like chocolate, like frosting. Rainbow jimmies. It smells like sweet ciders and heady burbons, like gin with extra lime and fruit punch and, of course, tea.

    THe phonograph in the corner is playing a variety of instrumental versions of 1940's classics like 'In THe Mood' and 'String of Pearls', and the lighting in the shop has dimmed from 'retail glow' to 'intimate gathering' for the occasion.

    The witch, however, was nowhere to be seen, though her familiar was flitting about, tucking balloons into the rafters.

    "Right then -- just need someone with a set of hands to show up..."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"Ask and ye shall receive," Gabby pipes up having walked in upon Corvax's spoken aloud hope. Holding both hands up she gives them a little jazz-hands wiggle to indicate they were ready and able to help as needed. A large gift bag filled with who-knew-what hangs in the crook of her elbow giving a little rattle as she moves.

A quick look around skims over the shop while she breathes deep the scent of yummy things. "The place looks great! Are we just going to jump out and surprise her or should we expect her to stumble in after a few drinks first?"

Michael Hannigan has posed:
As the duo set about with preparations, another guest of the avian variety shows up. A purplish black raven ends up flying through the doorway before the door had a chance to fully shut. There's a clack clack of talons upon the floor as the bird glances about to the small gathering. "Am I late or early?" Mike's voice calls out from the beak.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn has not been to the magic shop in a while..But she was ever curious, and how could she resist an invitation to a party nonetheless? So she arrives in a cute green dress, flared at the hips and a short furred white jacket to cover her arms, and cute white boots on her feet.

The nostalgic music has her swinging to the beat and smiling as she steps in, carrying some sort of shiny holographic silver gift box in her hands. "Happy Birthday!!" she sings as she swings to the music, searching for Nettie and her Crowe and a place to drop her present.

Tynan Ireton has posed:
    Its been a long road for Ty the last few months. The last time she was here, she ended up in Ireland. She took some time there, and found some relatives that she didn't know about. She spent a good portion of time just being there, around them, and around those who knew her dad. The family also took her on a trip to Scotland, where she had a minor incident with an actual Redcap. She stil has the bite mark on her forearm, since the little bastard had an issue with her stabbing it in the gut. And then a minor incident with a Banshee when she got back to Ireland left her having a few issues with hearing and constantly feeling a little cold.

    Either way, Ty has come to give gifts to one of her mentors on her birthday. She is carrying some tea herbs, a wrapped painting, and that odd drink that she's starting to grow very fond of, since it puts her on her rear when she drinks it. The woman stretches, and blinks a little bit as people are here. She checks the address again, and then takes a deep breath...

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Miss Kinney! Glad to see you, yes I'm in need a' pair a' hands!" the crow flits back down from the rafters to the bar, hopping forward and motioning his head to a pile of boxes. "If you could open those up and spread 'em around. Ordered some stuff from home, thought Nettle might appreciate, even if the lot of you 'Mericans don't have a taste for it. More for me!" he chortles, and then looks to Michael as he arrives.

    Feathers? They're ruffled.

    "OI! Michael, RUDE, copying my outfit! Gabby, you're not allowed to make him a hat." he hops to the larger raven, giving him the side eye.

    "And only reason I'm letting you in like that is because you were a good sport about the Wood Devils." he states.

    Megan Gwynn's arrival is met with surprise, and the crow flits up to the railing of the stairs down into the shop proper. "Well. Don't we look festive Miss Gwynn! That's not *real* fur, though, issit?" he asks, pecking a moment at the edge of a sleeve before he hops off, and flaps his way across the place again. "Hallo Tynan! Welcome to the party! Nettie should be along in about ten minutes or so, come in, make yourself comfortable, first time I've thrown a party in two hundred years, bein' a bit rusty -- and not a drop of rum in me!" the crow barks a bit of laughter out.

    "Nettie's on a bit of a walk on the moment. Picked a fight with her, so she'd have to walk and clear her head -- you know how hard it is to decorate with no thumbs?!"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney chucklse in amusement as she looks back over her shoulder toward the crow-Mike with an eyebrow raised. Rather than stare too much she's set to a task by Corvax though. "Hey Mike, hey Gwen," she greets only to pause as she starts to pull open a box to level a look at Tynan. For a moment she says nothing to the woman who had picked a fight with her on a very important day.

Then she just shrugs, and greets, "Hey Ty. Party time is imminent so let's get to it!" It was Nettie's day and she wasn't really angry anymore. So she focuses on opening up the boxes and pulling out whatever was inside. "I really, really hope there isn't that ... what that stomach lining sausage."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
It's the witching hour. Just inside the door of the festively decorated shop, a purple bar of light sizzles in the air. A long leg clad in wide black trousers steps through it, conveniently followed by a neatly tailored jacket over a silver lame blouse. Zatanna arranges a wing of raven black hair behind her ear, a faint smile turning up her lips as she takes in the balloons.

"Corvax, you have outdone yourself!" After another look around the shop, "Tell me, I haven't beaten Nettie to her own party."

A few steps take her over to a table where she deposits a sturdy bright red bag. "Hello everyone. Look at you Corvax with a friend no less. Hi Gabby," she smiles, nodding. "Hello Tynan - back I see. Hello Megan, I haven't seen you for ages."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Hearing the complaint from the crow, the much larger raven turns to look over to him. The head tilts. "I was running late and had to fly. Also I had another reason."

Stilling, Mike grows quiet before tilting his head down. The bird's form enlarges and shifts, becoming more human shaped, with an addition.

Once returned to normal, Michael Hannigan looks to the bird and starts to walk over to the table, careful not to jostle the tote draped on his arm. Gently setting the bag down. He lowers the side to reveal a cake box. And not a smear of icing to be shown on the edges of the protective shell. "You said to bring cake, didn't you?"

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn beams and waves to Corvax, "Hi! How ya been, Corvy?" she has to resist the urge to grab him and hug him cuz he's kinda cute. But thankfully she is distracted by other arrivals, and grins and waves towards Mike and Gabby, setting her gift down with the others. It's in fact not that big, just a hand sized box, but hey, they do say that good things come in small packages. "Oh, this? It's faux fur, not the real deal. I mean it's not like I went out and hunted one of those ice wolf demons down and stole their fur...Although come to think of it, they were kinda pretty..."

Tynan Ireton has posed:
    Ty simply nods her head to those gathered. She taps her ear a little bit, and winces. She breathes out. The woman walks over to the crow, and tilts her head a little bit. She gets out a small thimble, and puts a little rum in it, putting it by his perch. A minor peace offering. The merc puts the painting and the tea off to the side, and takes a seat. She's careful to stay away from much of the others. She notices Zee and Gabby speaking, and she nods her head a little bit towards them.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "What, don't like cultural exploration, Miss Kinney?" Corvax questions.

    Luckily, there was no haggis. You can't get real haggis this side of the pond, and Corvax doesn't have the ability to go THAT far with so much on his bill. No, these are all baked pies. Some pasties, some hand pies, savory foods and smells. Chicken and mushroom with gravy. Steak made with dark stout gravy. Hearty sliced black pudding, wrapped in wax paper and accompanied by dark rye breads. Hard cheeses and small-production gins.

    "Oh, that's right smart of you then, Michael. Look at that. Clever, must be why you can turn into a corvid. Crow's're still better, though. Less pretentious, mate." he jokes, unusually good natured. "What kind of cake did you get?" he hops.

    "Luckily faux fur is made from real dinosaurs. Wouldn't hunt no demon creatures though... they're likely ta come back and bite you on the arse!" he hops to the side, and as Zatanna makes her appearance, the crow gives a happy sound.

    "And good evening to you, Miss Zatanna! She's late with purpose. She doesn't know there's a party. Doubly not in her honor. But she should be back, momentarily in fact --" he cranes his neck to take a look at the thimble (and might have given a wink to Tynan in the process, who doesn't like a thumble rull of rum?

    HE also looks up at the old clock above the bar.

    "She should be back any minute -- aaany minute...."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"Yeah," Gabby agrees absently while she sets out all the pasties and hand pies that were in there to be arranged on the tea bar area for display, and future consumption. "Seems like a bad idea to be wearing demon fur. Then you smell like a demon, and a bloodied one at that. Some things like to hunt injured creatures."

A grin is flashed over to Zatanna giving her a nod. "Hey there, welcome. Just in time it seems if Corvax is right on the timing. And," she adds to the bird in question, "I like trying new things but some things just *stink* too much to bother."

"You can put the cake where ever there's a free spot, Mike."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
"Alright Gabby." Finding a free spot, Mike shimmies out the cake holder from the remnants of the tote bag before he carefully undoes the latches locking in the cover to the base of the carrier. With a slow lift, he reveals a square cake, tan colored in icing with black stripes of chocolate going diagonally across the top. There's a tan ripple of icing along the edges.

"Irish Coffee Cake." He answers Corvax's question regarding the type.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn groans as she peers around at the assorted edible goodies on the table. "Oh darnit, I knew I forgot something...I was supposed to bring cake, wasn't I? But...I'm no good at baking, and looks like you have lots of goodies here already.." she licks her lips rather hungrily, sauntering a little closer to the table, looking for a plate and a fork and stuff.

"Sooo, are we gonna sing Happy Birthday or have some special ceremony for Nettie? Where is she, anyway?" she peers around, smiling and waving to new comers who arrive.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Gesturing toward the table, "You have put on quite a spread, Corvax. If only my firebird were half as handy as you. Bravo ! Well, I won't start eating before the guest of honor is here but I wouldn't mind a little tipple of gin."

Zee admires a colorful label before pouring herself a healthy shot into a tulip shaped glass from a row near the bottles. After sniffing the aromatic spirits she lifts the glass to the crow then more generally to the room.

"Cheers."

The word demon catches Zee attention. With an inquisitive tilt to her head. "What's that? Someone is wearing demon fur?"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney finishes placing the treats Corvax had got before plucking up the bag she'd come in with. "I did not forget cake myself. I got one I used to get with the Queen of Limbo." Sometimes it was just more fun to give titles than names even if she knew Illyana better by name. Grinning with avid amusement she pulls out the nicely boxed cake to set on a spot. It was layered. MULTIPLE layers of... very thin cake. Piled high and covered with white frosting that was then covered with what looked like crumbled cake or honey comb candy. Maybe a mix of both.

"No one is wearing demon fur. I'd sniff it out," she assures Zee. "Even if my nose is still a bit tired of smelling things after the bigfoot the other day. I suggest we yell 'Surprise Nettie!' but that's me."

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    Charlie comes in, honestly in a good bit of a hurry all said. She is positive she must be late.

    Which is very impressive considering how she gets around. It's like a speedster being late. Though in this case it is more like an ADHD squirrel being late. So maybe not that impressive.

    Still the teen comes in wearing her usual gear, which includes stompy boots, jeans, and her wonderwomen hoodie. She blinks and looks around.

    Wait. Is she somehow not late.

Tynan Ireton has posed:
    Ty writes down on a sheet of paper, and moves it over to Cor. It reads simply, 'Found a banshee. Punched a banshee. Having a minor hearing issue at the moment, and forgot to recharge the temp aid.' Nothing fancy. She stretches out a litle bit, as she waits. The woman does feel a little out of place, especially given that she can't hear much. At least the spell that Cor helped her make has been very useful while she recovers.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Glad to hear that, Gabby. Awful stuff."

Zee knows the whirlwind spirit that just arrived. Catching her eye, she shakes a finger at Charlie with a playful smile. "No, you've arrived before the guest of honor."

Young as the Charlie is, Zee gestures to the table and holds up her own drink, "Want something? I think we are holding off eating these lovely cakes until Nettie makes an appearance."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "-- Jaysus, Tynan. That could deafen you!" Corvax states, hopping down to the piece of paper. He awkwardly pats Ty on the shoulder with a wing, because yes, it could -- and did- deafen her.

     And right about then, the door's handle jiggles, opens, and closes again as if the door wasn't quite ready to let the person in!

    Its next attempt is accompanied by soft cursing and the smell of tobacco smoke from a hand-rolled cigarette.

    "Oi, Corv, grabbed you some animal crackers on the way in so you can go an'--"

    the smell hits her first.

    Nettie blinks owlishly from behind a pair of glasses that are perched crookedly on her nose, her hair pulled back in a low ponytail of utility and not of 'actually having hair done', wearing an oversized olive drab sweater, a pair of dark gray leggings and wet sneakers. She looks around the grouping.

    She looks at the food on the table.

    She looks at the balloons.

    "... did I miss somethin' while I was out for a smoke?"

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn blinks at Zatanna and grins sheepishly, "Hi, again! How you been?" she's only met her a handful of times, but she'd probably recognize a prominent magician like that anywhere. "Demon fur? Oh no, this is just a fake jacket, but...A demon fur jacket would be cool..Probably a lot warmer than this one.." well that's kinda paradoxical sounding but.

She makes a face at Corvax. "Silly! Dinosaurs dont have fur, especially not fake fur!" although the thought causes her to giggle. She quirks a curious brow at Gabby however. "Bigfoot? You met Bigfoot?!"

And then she gives a double take at Zee. "Oooh, you have a bird friend too? That's sooo cool! What's their name? Are they as clever as Corvax?"

Annnnd there's the birthday girl! She grins at Nettie. "SURPRISE!"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"A bigfoot," Gabby corrects to the question from the excited Megan. Just as the door rattles she reaches back into the bag she'd withdrawn the cake from to just grab two fistfulls of... something. As Nettie finally steps in she turns to throw both arms into the air with a cry of, "Happy birthday, Nettie!"

Confetti flung into the air it flutters down with all the weight of metallic crepe paper that glints in the light. All smiles she holds her hands up still a moment longer before dropping them back to her side.

"I'll help sweep up later," she promises as she realizes just how messy this might end up.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Not nearly as clever as Corvax, Megan." Zee purses her lips before adding, "Alev is powerful though. Good in a pinch. He keeps an eye on things when I'm not home."

Zee adds her voice to Megan's and the others. "Surprise, you old biddy! Corvax pulled one over on you."

Raising a hand and opening her fingers wide the magician adds a spray of scintillating stars to the shower of confetti. "Happy birthday."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Mike looks over to the new arrival and smiles. "Happy Birthday. Hope you like cake." He looks over to the cake he brought and the one Gabby did before looking to the assortment of other goodies, "I suspect every invitation sent out said to bring some."

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    "Oh... thank kittens.. not late." she breaths a sigh of relief and moves over to look a the table with Zee and looks at the drink. "Rootbeer would be good." she notes chipperly.

    When Nettie comes in though she looks over distracted and then adds her voice to the others as well as the confetti. "Surprise!" she grins "Happy birthday!"

    Hopefully Corvax didn't lie to them all just to get a party with cake.

Tynan Ireton has posed:
    Ty just blinks as everyone starts throwing confetti. She thought it was Nettie's birthday, not New Years. She just smirks a little bit, and nods her head to Nettie. The merc does give Cor a small pat on the head. She writes down quickly, 'It is what it is. Youth and wisdom are rarely combined. I'll be fine soon.' The trip did do some good for her. Settled her down a little bit. She simply nods her head to Nettie, and raises a glass. Just for now, its best to just act as casual as she can.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Well, there is cake. And pies, and all manner of goods.

    Nettie pauses, completely taken by surprise as Corvax flits over, and lands on her shoulder. She raises a hand, and she points

    "You did all this? An' then picked a fight over some miniscule thing so that I'd have to leave?" she questions, and she looks around. She presses her lips together, wrinkles showing at the corners, and her pale aqua eyes looking over the shop, the assembled people, and she rinkles her nose a moment and then wipes at her eyes.

    "Oi! All right you lot, 'fore we get to the celebrations and such, I'll 'ave you know that there will be *no* singin' of the birthday song, so--"

    and she sticks her tongue out, and raspberries everyone.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney dusts her hands off on her pants leaving only a piece or two of stray confetti to static-cling to her clothes. And that errant piece in her hair. Grinning she steps to the side to reveal all of the lovely cakes and pies and the like which were had. "He did, he sent out invitations and everything," she explains with a laugh.

"I brought Russian Honey cake. I won't sing," she agrees though she DOES pull out a polkadot pointy hat from the bag. Batting her eyes she says, "Buuuut... Or there's a crown one if you want?" Glancing at the others she grins. "Shouldn't the birthday gal have a hat?"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"It's only out of respect to you that we won't sing it," replies, eyes twinkling with mischief, she flourishes a hand.

".yadhtrib yppah ,gniS" A chorus of tiny voices, bass to treble, rises from the table spread with food.

"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday dear, Neeeettieeee..."

Blinking innocently, Zee raises her glass. "Glad you came back in time."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
As the food starts to sing, Mike looks over to the Irish Coffee Cake. The lines of chocolate shift, making the outline of a face singing. Well, that's a little disconcerting.

"Well, that's Irish Coffee Cake." He states to Nettie. "I'd wait til the singing ends before we stick a knife in it."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Aauugh, Fancy Pants, Zatanna, did you hafta make it sing?" Nettie inquires, a playful scowl on her face. "Usually the food doesn't start talkin' 'till I'm deep in the cups." Nettie gives a small grin "Not that it ever has anything worthwhile to say, naturally. Goodness, what a spread, you have... you have all outdone yourselves." she states, and she bows her head forward and to the side so that Gabby can hat her.

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    Charlie at least has no issue with singing food. She is more than happy to help herself to the offerings. Except the actual birthday cake.

    A small appetizer is popped into her mouth midsinging. Hopefully there are no reprecussions.

Tynan Ireton has posed:
    Ty gets up, and heads over to Nettie. She hands over the Tea box, and inside, is 500 grams worth of Yellow Gold Bud tea bags. Something like 250 bags worth. And then she hands over the paintings. The first is a potrait of Nettie inside a magic circle with the Runic alphabet around her. The Runes are draw wrong just enough that power can't be pushed through them. Ty made sure the painter messed that up. The second...Well, its more of a joke painting for fun. It starts out as a crow...until you get to the head...which is a very brightly colored Cockatoo. Its head crest is up, knocking a certain pirate hat off, and it has a small eyepatch. It even has sparkles in it. The bottom of each painting is labeled. Nettie, Teacher. And Corvax, The Sparkle Pirate!