13739/Happy Harbor: Game Night (January)

Happy Harbor: Game Night (January)
Date of Scene:	17 January 2023
Location:	Library - Happy Harbor High School
Synopsis:	January game night goes off without a hitch and a surprise visitor!
Cast of Characters:	Morrigan MacIntyre, Xiomara Rojas, Tommy Shepherd, Belinda Gutierrez, Bunny Macleod, Gabby Kinney, Molly Hayes, Balder

---

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
It's friggin' cold out! But it's warm and comfortable in the library at Happy Harbor High School! As per the usual with game nights, Morrigan and others have rearranged tables in the library for people to sit at in groups to play the games that they want to play. And there are all kinds of games on the racks that have been pulled out. So there shouldn't be any issue finding something.

Pizza and other foods have been ordered and lined up buffet style with plates for the students and others that show. There are plenty of drinks. Both hot and cold. There is a plater of cupcakes for dessert this month, but others are welcome to add to the sacrificial sugar pile.

Morrigan's actually in better spirits this week. And she can see again, which might have been a help. She's currently sitting at a small table with Riordan (who is in his human form). The two are in the middle of a game of chess.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Game night! Woooo!

It's entirely possible that Crush gets way too excited about game night, not that it shows over much. The give away is the black t-shirt with Dungeons and Dragons dice on the front in sparkling red glitterish paint. Where she found one in her size is probably best left to mystery and wonder.

Arriving early, she would help with set up, moving things as needed because let's face it... it's easier for her to pick up the tables then other people. Once everything was in place, pizza would go onto a plate with some chips, some soda would be selected and a chair taken. For the moment she's content to munch away and see what games are going to be popular, and thus which table she will join.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Schlepping it down to Staten Island is usually a chore, but having super-speed helps! It takes a couple of trips given the amount of cargo he's carrying (and the cargo his cargo is carrying) but all that means is Bunny is left standing outside the library for roughly... let's say 30 seconds, before Tommy reappears again, this time ferrying Gabby. Who he sets down on her feet quickly so that he can dart off for one final trip.

    Because he can't forget the most important cargo of all: homemade cookies!

    Once he's back, he escorts both ladies inside and gestures over to the board game selection for them to peruse while he goes to add their assorted sundries to the buffet. The gigantic platter of cookies that he brought in is set down, and a quick placard is made from a folded index card from his backpack to list the ingredients. Which is a heck of a list. The usual cookie allergens are joined by chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, M&Ms, rainbow sprinkles, pretzel pieces, mini marshmallows, and raisins. Thus they are so titled Monster Cookies.

    "Do you want me to introduce you to the Director of the school?" Tommy asks Gabby and Bunny. "She's right over there with the guy I was telling you about, y'know," his voice drops to a whisper, "The one that transforms into a dog."

    Back to normal speaking tone, he adds, "Also, there's pizza." Not that either of them would have missed that important fact.

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Game night! GAME NIGHT!

Belinda practically bounces with a positively ridiculous amount of energy, excitement propelling her from place to place. Arriving a few minutes after Crush, Bel unconciously falls into a semi-director role, orchestrating where tables shoud go, food should be set up for proper grazing opportunities, pizza delivery placement-- the tangy scent of sausage and pepperoni and ham and bacon and pepper and bacon and pineapple and bacon and anchovies (eww) and still more bacon...

Might be a bias in the ordering there.

.....infinitely distracting!

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny comes in tow behind Gabby and Tommy, looking marginally uncomfortable. She's wearing rollerskates, which seem to be how she's transported via super=speed. She rolls, lazily, for about ten feet while Tommy darts back to grab Gabby, holding two cartons of Capri Sun Pacific COoler because it is RUDE to show up to a party without something.

    "OH hey... I was here back in October for a Halloween party... wait..." she pauses, and there seems to be a slow connection being made, and she turns back to Tommy "You know the director of Happy Harbah?!" she asks in a mildly exagerated Brooklyn accent.

    "oooh, pizza."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney carries in a well-stuffed bag of treats of her own to add to the mix. She hadn't really explained WHAT it was she'd brought of course. If she had, someone would have tried to talk her out of it no doubt. Once she arrives via Tommy taxi service she leans her head toward the entrance indicating for her to follow. Of course Tommy's back in a second anyway to lead the way.

"Nah, I've met Morrigan before. I actually attended school here for my first year out of the labs," she explains with a little shrug, and sidelong glance at Bunny. "Did I ever tell you about that, yet?" Sometimes it was hard for her to remember, as much as they hung out. "Anyway, I wanted to get the real experience if I had to go to school. I won that years science fair with a Coke and Mentos geographical demonstration of the Yellowstone Geysers." There's a pause before she adds, "Though given the other guy had made a working rail gun that blew through most of the school I think they may have gone the safer option there."

While Tommy lays out his stash of cookies she pulls a bowl out of the bag she carries. Just a simple plastic one in bright red with stickers adorning it with careful labels such as 'WARNING' and biohazard symbols. The next thing she pours in? A bag of Warheads followed by at least a dozen Paqui One Chip Challenges in their various coffin shaped boxes.

Molly Hayes has posed:
    Molly's here? MOLLY'S HERE! The pint-sized (but now over five feet?! With some curves?!) powerhouse is here, loading a plate up with pizza. Two or three slices and a can of cola, too. She's been a fixture of Happy Harbor for a bit, with her being held back and occasionally trying to not punch a wall down. But she lives for game night! "Hey! Heeeey!" she meanders over to Morrigan. "...what's for games tonight?" she asks, the weird penguin-y arms of her big round white Boo hat wiggling.

    Yep. It's a Boo hat. Or more accurately, a bootleg 'Ghostie Boo' hat. Which is designed to look like it's chewing on her head. The rest of her attire is, well, a big distressed-looking hoodie with an equally distressed design of a picture of an equally destressed Hulk Hogan from the 80's.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Rio looks up and around, like he senses someone is talking about him. The tattooed man gives a wave to all the students that come in, "Come on in, get some food and a game and everyone have a good time." the man states. His dark eyes flick over people and then go back to Morrigan and the chess board, "This game is going to take us years." he murmurs to her.

"Given neither of us age or die it'll be fine." Morrigan muses quietly to Rio as she makes her move with one of her pieces. "We might need more pizza this evening." she chuckles as people start in.

Molly's question makes her look up though and there is a smile, "Whatever you want to play. We don't have any set games for the moment, so whatever you and others might like to play." she explains to her.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Munching on the selected slices of pizza, Crush watches as people arrive. Some she has seen around the school before, others are new faces. Still a bit of a social distancer, it was something she was working on, she remained in the chair she choose but thanks to Czarnian hearing, she heard every conversation just fine.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    There's new information being revealed to Bunny, and new information being revealed to Tommy. "You went here?" he asks, and then tries to think back to his first semester, wondering if they ever crossed paths. Nothing comes to mind, seemingly, and as he eyes up the bowl Gabby puts out (he's already snagged a Capri Sun from Bunny's offerings) he shakes his head.

    "Well, she's pretty hands on. And, uh, I'm kind of a special case anyway. Came in late, had to do a bunch of catch-up." He doesn't elaborate, but he does make his way over to Morrigan and Riordan to say hello, as is polite.

    Though apparently he's just motivated by being in a good mood, because Crush and Belinda both get waves as he passes by, before he sidles up to the table with the chess board.

    He waits until Molly's spoken because, again, good mood Tommy means actual manners, and then says, "We've got enough to play Codenames." He's dressed in a slouchy hoodie and sweatpants which are ostensibly to fight the cold, even though they leave his ankles exposed. Kind of defeating the point, here.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "Codenames? What if we don't have a codename? Do we just get one assigned that might not have anything to do with us?" Bunny asks as the pinkhaired, rainbow-colored-tutu-dress wearing, roller-skating girl asks as she drifts slowly backwards, and then pushes herself forward, giving a bright smile.

    "Greetings Happy Hahbahrites!" she states, offering the Vulcan Peace Sign!

    "I'm Bunny, the Plus Two."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Belinda works like a dervish, arranging everything she can-- including a last, quick dash grabbing several slices of pizza (with jalopeno, naturally) stacking them to a three-fold paper plate before stalking away. Stealing up on Crush's table, she takes a few, quick breaths, nostrils practically quivering before she settles opposite.

...ya know, I still can't believe that isn't really awesome makeup, Belinda comments quietly, smiling as she settles down. I mean, there?s all the things that the city is known for-- and that scent is on everyone!--but yours reminds me of....

She pauses, blushing with a quick cough. "...well, anyway! Good to see you again. I heard you were doing studies outside school?"

Balder has posed:
Was it game night? Balder was unaware of such an activity tonight - he just thought it might be possible to check out the library of the school his friend was attached to. Midgard libraries were always such a wonderful mix of new stories to the Asgardian. Especially interesting to him, are the stories of the Nordic pantheon and their heroes. Those often brought a smile to his face.

Now, stepping into the ... rearranged library, he gives pause at the door. His eyes scan and find a sign indicating what exactly is going on. Game night! The big man steps in, out of the door way and glances around. Who knows who he might see here - Earth is so full of unique individuals.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
As Belinda moves up on the table, Crush's red eyes shift to look at her a smile comes to her black lips. She remembered meeting this one, and how her nose was sharp to scents around her.

"I got lucky with these facial markings," she comments, gesturing toward the black marks around her eyes that looked much like some sort of goth painting in black. "Imagine if they'd been polka dots or something like that... I'd of had ta paint my face pure white ta hide from that."

Chortling over the thought of that, she finishes off piece of pizza number one before asking, "What does my scent remind you off? I could tell ya what yours reminds me off." Wiggling her brows a little at Belinda, she takes a long sniff of the air then a drink of her soda.

"I'll be started college at the end of this term, but learning outside the school, not really, not yet. I'm working for Mr. O'Connail in construction, and uh..." she looks around before dropping her voice to an almost whisper... no, Crush can't whisper, everyone can still hear her just fine but she doesn't think so. "... I'm hoping ta help out the Justice League. Went ta the moon with Superman, he's sponsoring me."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"I don't think it's like that kinda codename, Bun," Gabby points out while she moves to snag at least one of those monster cookies. The super sours and super hots would be after awhile. For treats and challenge purposes. At least the bowl had plenty of warning for those who might not knwo better.

"I thik it's a game like Werewolf Hunt or whatever. Only spy based," she considers with a shrug. "I'm up for it if others want. I don't get to play games often." A bite of the cookie is taken as she moves closer to the others trailing along with a nod. "Hey, I'm Gabby," she greets the unfamiliar faces with a perhaps unnecessary wave of her free hand. "Old student. Be careful of the warheads and one chip challenges, they'll hurt a bit. Still fun to try though."

Another familiar face comes in which causes her to grin brightly. "Oh hey, Balder! Been awhile! Hope everything's okay with the whole..." her hand gives a little vague gesture as if to encompass 'everything'.

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Belinda stifles a grin, mumbling as she wolfs down a slice of the bacon/ham/sausage/pepperoni/jalopeno. "Metal," she answers after wiping her lips off with a paper napkin, grinning sheepishly. "And leather, an' something... I dunno. Totally 'you', and like nothing I could compare. Peppery, spicy, tangy.... Strange, but in a good way." She pauses for a few seconds, attending to the second slice of 'zza in the classic New York style-- rolling it up from crust to tip, licking a bit of extra tomato suace threatening to run from one end of the pizza-turned-tube.

She strives to appear non-chalant... an effect utterly failed for the most remote of senses as she softly squeals! "You went to tha' /moon/?" she exclaims in a hushed breath, quivering with awe. "...oh, and met Superman?" she adds, as an afterthought. Because-- /moon/! "Wow, gran bueno! And I thought my most exciting thing this year was working in a junkyard for Papa Ortega!"

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan gives a chuckle at Bunny's greeting, "Welcome. Please make yourself at home while you're here." she tells the young woman. Then she gives a look as the doors open and there is an Odinson standing there. She gives a bit of a wave, "Your Highness." she greets him.

Riordan's gaze also follows hers and there's a bit of a frown, "I see we're meeting other Gods from other Pantheons." he comments to her.

"Shush you." she whispers over to him. She then waits to see what exactly Balder is going to do.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Hoooooo boy there's royalty here? Tommy's head whips around at super-speed, only to let out a deep sigh tinged heavily with relief. Not any of the royalty he is maybe, possibly related to. "It's a board game, Bunny," he says as he scoops the box up off the table. Gabby's explanation gets a supportive nod. "It's sort of... word association-y. I suck at it but it's fun."

    He retreats to one of the tables that has been moved over for the occasion.

    Though on second thought, he doubles back to grab a deck of cards. You can't go wrong with a good game of cards.

    "We could play Spoons, too. That one's a lot more chaotic." And to assist in said playing of Spoons, Tommy makes his way over to ye olde buffet. Well, mostly to get a couple slices of pizza, and a can of soda to supplement the Capri Sun he definitely already drank, and a cupcake, and one of his cookies, and... look, the point is, he samples everything. But he also scores a few plastic spoons from the setup, because those are necessary for Spoons. The hint's in the name.

Balder has posed:
Familiar faces! The big man nods to both Gabby and Morrigan. "Good evening, Gabby and Morrigan!" The man greets, in a friendly and energetic manner. There's a wave to those others who might glance over, even as he heads towards those familiar people. "Balder, if you would." He winks to Morrigan.

Looking around, then back to Gabby. "Things are moving along, as best they can. I've been searching for family and trying to sort out why there are certain parties intruding upon Midgard. How are you?" The man asks, taking in the faces of those who are enjoying food and fun.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Crushes grin broadens, one brow lifting slightly as Belinda describes her scent, or rather how the smaller teen defines the scent. She crunches a few of the chips she took, then lines the second slice of pizza with the rest.

She notes Bunny's introduction and offers a wave in that direction, but then Balder is entering and that seems to grab her attention for a moment. So many new faces, and this one Ms. MacIntyre is calling 'Highness', so she decides to memorize that one... Balder, just in case.

Once she has him memorizes she looks back to Belinda. "Yeah, going to the moon ain't as exciting as I thought it would be, but then I was just in meeting rooms," she offers regarding that. "Superman sorta, well... he checks up on me now. It's cause of my da... fa..." nope, still can't call him any of those things without getting angry and to match the sudden flash of answer, her eyes go bright red for a moment as she spits out, "sperm doner" then her eyes return to a more normal, less scary red.

"You wanna meet Sups? I could probably arrange it, he's /really/ nice, just like ya see on TV and would expect him to be," she uses this topic to cheer herself back up, and even looks excited over the idea of introducing Superman to someone.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "... everyone here is so fricking *cool*." Bunny whispers to herself, half-hiding like her namesake behind Gabby, flattening a Capri Sun at someone so casually saying 'oh hey let me introduce you to Superman'. And there's more royalty.

    The blonde-turned-pink teen on skates siddles a little bit to grab a slice of pizza (free food is so important when you have such a big family), and she decides to not let her mouth get ahead of her brain this time by stuffing it full of food.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney glances over toward Tommy when he starts to fetch spoons looking a bit confused. "Not familiar with that one, Tombo," she points out. Bunny's quiet gushing of admiration at everyone just earns a bigger grin. "I'm glad to hear things are going mostly alright. If you need help with anything of course, you know where to find us," she states to Balder before pausing. "Ah, sorry let me introduce. That's Tommy, my boyfriend, and that's Bunny, my girlfriend." She explains waving to the two currently gathering food. "So I'm doing pretty good! Haven't had to stop anything too powerful lately. Mostly keeping things running smoothly."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Belinda stares, shock clear on her features as she stares at Crush. And then delight-- she bites down on her pizza, the better to contain a faint 'squee!' as she nods vigorously, eagerly. "Idlfftu--" she says, manners utterly forgotten around a mouthful of rolled pizza. She mrrfms, chewing quickly, savagely, swallowing with a healthy dose of soda to follow up and force down. "I'd love to," she manages again, croaking out the reply with a laugh. "Aiee, I'd have to get ready! Should I dress up for occasion? Bring steak? Everybody loves steak. Abuela's cornbread! Gotta make some before meeting--- mmph!"

She takes another quick bite, scarfing the rolled food down in a fierce frenzy. Pointedly, carefully not saying anything about Parental Figures... or glowy red eyes. Pause, thoughtful.

"Do you think they have ever tried Frisbee on the moon? I mean, sure there was golf. Wasn't that Michael Jackson?"

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Half a cupcake stuffed into his mouth, Tommy can only wave when he's introduced. He's also busy shuffling cards, being a little showy in letting them fly in a cascade through the air in an arc from one hand to the other.

    You learn a lot of card tricks when all you have is a deck of cards and time. Which Tommy had plenty of, once upon a time.

    "Four cards to start. First person takes a card from the deck, passes a card to the next person, and it goes in a circle into a discard pile at the end." He holds out the deck for Bunny to cut it, then resumes shuffling. "Aim of the game is four of a kind. Whoever gets it lays it down and then you have to grab a spoon. Whoever doesn't get one, loses."

    Pointedly Tommy dumps a big handful of spoons in the center of the table, then gestures to the pile. Belinda and Crush are glanced at in open offering, but Tommy doesn't interrupt their conversation. "There's basically no limit on how many people can play, though we might have to grab a second deck to increase the pool."

    Decks of cards and plastic cutlery: two things you can definitely get your hands on in juvie.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
"Of course." Morrigan gives a smile to Balder. Then she's quieting down to look at the chess board again, looking over the next move with Riordan. "I think you've got mate in the next few moves." she tells him. "Maybe we need to play slower next time." she muses to that.

Riordan gives a bit of an amused look, "You do attract some of the weirdest folks. Colette is right." he points out to her.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Crush blinks once, then a second time and manages to contain the laugh that really wanted to escape over Belinda's reaction and answer. To help keep the mirth contained she takes another bite of her own pizza, chewing and swallowing before speaking again.

"Nah, ya don't have to make anything, unless you want to," she begins. "He don't expect anything, but is always getting gifts from people as thanks."

She then takes a moment to think about frisbee on the moon as she adds, "Michael Jackson was that singer who dangled his kid over a balcony. It was Alan Shepard, an Astronaut, who played golf on the moon... and now I wanna play frisbee on the moon." She hmms softly, eyes narrow slightly as she tries to think of a way to ask Sups if she could play frisbee on the moon, and if they have space suits for humans cause talk about something cool to offer a friend.

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Clearing her plate of the last of its contents, Belinda puts the last two slices one atop the other, a sandwich of meat, meat, meat, tomtao sauce, peppers, meat, bread, and meat. With an anchovie tail suspiciously sticking out. "It would tickle mi abuela all kinds of happy if he tried it," she explains, finishing her culinary masterpiece with pizzazz. "More if he liked it! And..." She frowns, brow wrinkled as she considers the question. "On one hand-- frisbee, probably with a liberated weight from the gymnasium." She whistles quietly, eyes wide in abject innocence. "But si, yes-- that might be a problem. I mean, really not a lot to breathe in space or on the moon. Some of us likes our air-stuffs, no?" She grumbles good-naturedly, setting the paper plates aside as she gazes with profound pleasure at her pizza sandwich. "Oh, yeah. Ick. Maybe he should have gone to the moon!"

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Rio finishes off the game of chess with Morrigan and then stands up, moving over to the table where Tommy and company are situated, "What is...spoons?" he asks the group.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    An that's when a packet of skittles goes flying as Bunny attempts to capture spoons.

    "RAINBOW AND CHAOS REIIIIIGNS!" SHE CALLS OUT, GRABBING AT THE PLASTIC SPOON AS IF IT WAS HER ONE GOAL IN LIFE, TO CONQUOR THE CUTLERY, TO LEAP BEYOND EVEN THE SPEEDSTER, TO BEST THE HONEY BADGER AND SCOUT AS SHE, THE SHIELD, TRIES TO WIIIIIN!

Balder has posed:
At the introductions, Balder nods to Bunny and Tommy. "A pleasure to meet you. Balder Odinson." He offers, by way of greeting. A smile then to Gabby, nodding to the small woman. "I appreciate it. I might accept your offers of help, as I am in need of all sort of magic to help find my brother." He grumbles. "The other, he's easy to find - which is more troubling, truth be told."

"So what is this, tonight? Games of chance?" He asks, even a he watches the spoons competition.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Tommy has already long since figured out the necessary handicap he has to place on himself to make games like this work. Maybe it's counting to a certain number. Maybe it's reciting Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" in his head. Who knows. Either way it's perfectly timed so that, as Riordan comes over to inquire about spoons, he is locked in a heated scramble to grab a spoon whilst Bunny and Gabby try to do the same!

    "It'srealeasyjustsitdown," he says, then reels himself back in with an apologetic grin. The explanation he launches into after is done at a painstakingly normal human speed, with Bunny and Gabby pulled in to help demonstrate the passing-in-the-circle, the picking up from the deck and discarding, and then setting down four of a kind to initiate the battle over spoons.

    To Balder, Tommy shakes his head. "Nah. Betting games. Buy in's a pack of skittles."

    All this talking makes him miss someone setting down four of a kind, so he comes up empty handed in the spoon scramble. Grousing, he tosses in a couple warheads so that he can keep playing.