14279/Young, Just Us! Interlude: The Haunted Shop

Young, Just Us! Interlude: The Haunted Shop
Date of Scene:	05 March 2023
Location:	A Darkened Alleyway Shop in San Francisco
Synopsis:	When everyone knows the rules about giving names to the Fae, a backup plan for a customized, magical escape room comes out. And the team's fully magical member misses on account that she's the one who planned it! (Scene left unfinished)
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Gabby Kinney, Carin Taylor, Tim Drake, Laura Kinney

---

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The shop didn't have a name. It didn't have an outside window, it didn't even have a presence really beyond a door marked 'KEEP OUT' and a sign that says 'Ring Bell for Service' --

    That actually ended up being a front for a bar. They got carded. Phoebe didn't have her fake ID or her magic card on her and they got turned away.

    The actual shop had an arrow on the main street pointing to its door, and had a window displaying performance art shoes and fishnets and an autograph of THE GREAT GIOVANNI ZATARA with a sticky note saying that it was *NOT* for sale.

    The bell even rings cheerily as people walk in off the side alley. The shop front is noticably colder than the weather outside, and there does not appear to be an attendeant.

    The shop looks old, like a cross between a 1910's apothecary and pharmacy and an old shoe store. Boxes are piled on shelves, and ancient taxadermies of 'mystical' animals like jackelopes and pixies riding on hedgehogs are on the very top shelf.

    It smells like cinnamon, patchouli and dust. Like grandma's from the 1970's.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney had her fake ID on her, but she didn't think the supposedly haunted place was a bar to begin with. None the less she was following Phoebe's lead, right into the store--Where she pauses, blanches, and whirls around to head back out immediately with a hand clasped over her mouth and nose. "Hoomygod," she wheezes out sucking in several deep breaths of marginally fresher air to get rid of the smell of 'musty old stuff' that had just hit her like the driest air on the planet.

It only takes her a moment to fish out a bandana which was neatly folded up that she holds up to her nose to inhale familiar scents to focus on. It wasn't as bad as walking into a charnel house or murder scene but it was unexpected enough she hadn't had time to brace herself.

"Okay," comes her bandana muffled voice. "Need a warning for that in the future."

Carin Taylor has posed:
    The little touristy 'magic' shops on the Pier were all well and fun, but certainly catered to a different crowd. The feeling when entering this one is... palpably different. Carin gives a little shiver at the sudden temperature shift, blinking. She'd brought a jean jacket to go with those cutoff shorts today and she's wearing a proper shirt up top. No bikini this time! "...oh... whoa.." she looks around, breathing in deep.

    "This is... I know there's places like this in Gotham and New York but I never figured California... well. Everything is everywhere, right?" she gives a lopsided smile, but keeps her voice low. It's as if she jsut doesn't want to disturb the air even, as she squints at one of those hedgehog-riding pixies. "...I wonder if the Director would like one of these.." she muses, lopsided smile shifting more into a playful one.

    In her mind, she truly doubts that Nick Fury would want a hedgehog-pixie on his desk. But the thought amuses her.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Creepy shop? Tim's in. He doesn't need much more than the dangling of a mystery in front of his nose to be there, and the potential promised by a maybe-haunted magic shop is... well frankly, more than enough. Maybe less specifically suited to his interests than the puzzle shop from their day on the pier, sure, but still interesting enough to pique his curiosity.

    So here he is. Jeans, windbreaker, sunglasses, his typical "I'm not a billionaire's adopted son" outfit, nothing too pricey or high-label to attract attention. He takes up the rear of the group, so he's a few seconds behind in realizing that their first attempt is actually some sort of secret bar, maybe some sort of Prohibition-era speakeasy style thing, but he doesn't get a glimpse of inside. Instead he just laughs as the door closes in their faces, and then the group's on the move again, this time in the right direction.

    "Deep breaths," he says to Gabby as she passes by him on the way out, only to have to no-sell his own reaction to the smell. Sure, he's not a super-smeller, but it's still pretty pungent. "Gold rush ghosts, the Winchester mystery house, even the Queen Mary's berthed down in Long Beach." This is said to Carin, who he joins in admiring (or maybe just staring at) the pixie figures. "When you think about it, our entire country is young. But the supernatural is tied just as much to strong feelings as it is historic places."

    He pauses, and then looks over at Carin with a half-smile. "Though it's not my specialty, so maybe that's all BS. I don't know."

Laura Kinney has posed:
Of course some of the group knew it was a bar without even going inside, the smell of alcohol clear to enhanced senses, but given the outing was the Birthday Girls idea. Well perhaps she'd been planning a few drinks before shopping! Still despite having plenty of fake ID upon her person Laura couldn't get drunk if she tried. So when they get turned away it draws little more than a shrug from the (retired) mutant assassin.

There's a brief sympathetic look as her sister rushes out at the aroma of the magic shop. But she's too stoic to make such a retreat herself. And really if you can get used to the air in Gotham you can get used to any smell.. It's a skill she's sure her sister will obtain in time.

Then again perhaps Gabby has too much common sense to get used to enduring such things!

She's sticking with her civilian tourist disguise or 'outfit' as it's usually called. A simple dress and sensible shoes for walking in. Matching bag and no obvious signs that she's secretly carrying an arsenal of weapons. "People were living here before America was even a country," she points out. "So I wouldn't be surprised to find the supernatural. Besides people tend to bring their ghosts along with them..."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Remind me to take you guys to the Flipside or the Curio sometime." Phoebe murmurs, pushing her shades up as she looks around, wearing jeans and a long-sleeve shirt as she breathes out into the dust of the shop that flits this way and that in a few beams of sunlight from a high window.

    "Sorry, Gabs, didn't realize that it'd have such a strong smell -- but you all can feel it, right?" she murmurs.

    "And our country is young, but the *land* is /old/. The Appalachian mountains have caves that have no fossils, because they're older than /shells/. Native Americans worked with gods like Coyote and Raven and the Buffalo Woman. The Rainbow Crow. Blackfish--" Phoebe states as she pays attention to a particular mote of dust -- and that's when a very cheery voice pops up from behind the counter:

    "HI THERE! Visitors from the East Coast huh? What tourist traps have you visited yet? Anything cool?"

    THe figure is thin, small, dark-skinned and gray eyed, with jet black hair shorn very close in an all-over-the-place, bed-wraggled haircut.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"The Goblin Market is a bit worse but there's usually at least a breeze under the bridge," Gabby bemoans a bit unnecessarily. It was more her grumping because she was uncomfortable rather than disliking the place itself. Her eyes dart around taking in the various nicknacks and curiosities, though she notably skips over most of the dead stuffed animals. Fakey fake.

"Yeah, I can feel it," she agrees quietly and far more seriously while reaching up to finger the little wire wrapped stone necklace that Phoebe herself had given her per request. "I'm trying to become more aware of how things feel--" she starts only to cut off when the voice pipes up.

Instinctively her hand lifts to declare with some giddy cheery, "I got slingshot into the air on a ride at the pier!"

Carin Taylor has posed:
    "I'm... afraid I lost a lot of what history I studied in school..." Carin says, looking sheepish now. Her smile fades some, but it's still there. "...making new memories to fill in the blanks and wipe old bad ones is what trips like this are for though, right?" she asks, turning to Tim, Laura, and Phoebe. "Though I'm not sure how much 'history' I can really appreciate. Things move too slow for me usually as it is."

    She's no Speedforce-er but she does have to contend with being 'out of time' most days. She's been doing her best on vacation, though, savoring everything as it comes. "I probably have a few ghosts of my own too, come to think of it," she shrugs at Phoebe. A sympathetic look is given to Gabby, though, "...um... I can help you air out your clothes with a little..." she lifts a finger and makes a circular, twirling motion with it. "..when we get outside?"

    The smell, though, doesn't seem to bother her, and she blinks when the person emerges from the back and speaks in such bright tones. Colorful tones, even. "Pier 39," she says without skipping a beat. "Great tourist trap, delicious too," she says, smile broadening.

Tim Drake has posed:
    "Don't we all," is what Tim has to say about having ghosts, though he punctuates it with a smile Carin's way. He's aiming at being reassuring, even if the topic is a morose one. None of that touches his expression, though, as those Bat acting skills come into play. "And I can't feel anything. Sorry."

    Not a lick of magical sense, this one. Too much science in his brain, even if he acknowledges the paranormal with more regularity than his mentor.

    He looks up from the pixie statues at the sound of a new voice, which he assumes to be the shop's proprietor. After catching Phoebe's gaze to shoot her a raised eyebrow, he nods along with first Gabby, whose enthusiasm earns a less rehearsed smile, and then Carin as she answers the question.

Laura Kinney has posed:
Laura proceeds to idly stalk around the store like she's hunting for something or someone. A bargain perhaps? She certainly doesn't look like the sort of customer a shop like this might have. "I don't think I've ever taken a history class," she muses. "Unless you count research into a location for... business purposes as learning about the history?

Her head tilts at the question from what she assumes to be the proprietor. And she offers a little shrug. "Nothing especially touristy. I have been enjoying the night life though." Sure enough she's barely been around at night for enough time to need a bedroom. What no-one knows for sure though is if she's actually been visiting clubs or roaming the streets for nefarious Kinney reasons. Or more likely. That the nightclub visits are just cover for such mischief..

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe shoots Tim a look back with an arched eyebrow, and a curious look to the runner of the shop, but she seems somewhat relaxed. Guarded, maybe, but no more than Tim's used to her seeing as she draws back a little from the group, especially Gabby's giddiness.

    "Being shot off the pier at 39 is no joke! Were you there when the guy who fastens you in got the idea to drop the big bolt from his pocket just before you took off? the small lady smiles, "It's a pretty busy place all and all, but I don't get down there much! Well, welcome to the shop! May I have your names please? Is there anything in particular you're looking for?" she cheerily asks, taking out a Sharpie and a collection of 'Hi! My Name is -' tags, looking over the assembled group.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney laughs at the suggestion of the bolt dropping. The handkercheif she kept over her nose and mouth was slowly working it's way back to her pocket, slowly, as she got used to the smells. It helped to focus on something else for a few moments to ease her way into the pungent odor that the shop brought with it. Even Nettie's shop was a hit in the nostrils for her though most of it was tea. Just. A LOT of tea. Everywhere.

"Oh, sure!" she responds quickly when the proprietor asks for her name. Purposefully quick she tries to jump over the others in giving such out as she declares, "I'm called Scout." Real name? Hell no.

Carin Taylor has posed:
    Carin doesn't have a lick of magic to speak of, either. In fact she's probably the most teched-up person here, next to the Kinney girls. So that means negative amounts of magic? It doesn't matter. At the request for names, though, she opens her mouth--and then closes it when Gabby gets the idea. She's still next to Tim though and frowns, whispering to him.

    "...Toni and I watched 'Spirited Away' right before we left on this trip..." she mumbles. Bonding before a big vacation, she's not going to be back at the Triskelion for a week! Then she speaks up, approaching the woman and taking a tag. She smiles at 'Scout' and nods, "Jane." Plain Jane. Jane Doe. She's not very imaginative, quick-as-hell mind or not.

Tim Drake has posed:
    And Tim, who always has a backup identity at the ready, nods along with the rest of the group and answers "Jack," at the appropriate time, before he leans slightly to the side towards Carin to say, "Ghibli's always a good choice. You should check out Howl's Moving Castle too if you haven't seen it." His favorite is Princess Mononoke, but that's not one you recommend right out the gate for sure.

    He follows after Laura at a much more sedate pace, making a similar circuit of the shop as she is. "If you ever want to take some classes, just let me know," he tells her. "Take it from the eternal Senior at Gotham U, courses that are just for pleasure are a million times more enjoyable than something for a degree."

    Given he's not here for any particular reason, he adds a "Just browsing!" to the shop proprietor's last question.

Laura Kinney has posed:
"Violet Hunter," Laura says without even batting an eyelid. Her own cover identities are so heavily rehearsed that you'd need to be a telepath or know her really well to pick up that she's lying. Her exploring of the shop doesn't seem to slow down either. Nor does the occasional sniffing of the air. She's not really as used to magic as her Sister, but her senses are exceptionally sharp and she's pretty in touch with those animal instincts that feral mutant powers often come with.

"Do all your guests get nametags?" she wonders. "It's an unusually personal service." Thankfully it might be a weird shop but it's not the sort of weird which has her reaching for whatever concealed weapon she's taken along with her.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe was exceedingly proud that not a single person in the group gave out their real name. That's a valuable lesson to learn when dealing with the supernatural.

    "Ami." is what she adds for herself, and she waves off the question. "Souvenir hunting." she comments, poking around in some of the shelves.

    The odor seems to clear for Gabby. Now it smells like a cinnamon cookie instead of heavy patchouli. She gets a sudden urge that she should go towards the side of the shop, which can be ignored, since Scouts do tend to find things.

    If she goes looking into any of the boxes, Carin is just going to find the book 'See Jane Run' with her on the cover. It looks like she's a bit fearful.

    Tim, as he's browsing, is going to find a box. It's brightly colored and has circus animals on it, and a metal handle with a blue ball on it. Take a guess what he's found?

    Laura would find a stack of nametags. They smell like peanut butter and burning campfires, listing SCOUT, JANE, JACK, VIOLET and AMI on top.

    "I try to be as personable as possible to my customers! So many come through here, it's sometimes hard to remember names. And it helps in case someone has to wander off for any reason!" the host states, and she leans forward, hands forming fists and supporting her chin as her gray eyes look between all the visitors.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
That was unexpected. Out of all the things that could happen the change in scent was hardly one that Gabby had anticipated. Her gaze moves over to the woman who could easily be her twin with a raised eyebrow as it seemed the change in smell was unique to her. So far. "Cookies?" she puzzles over mumbling beneath her breath. She does scan over the area though, carefully, before glancing back to the proprietor.

"And your name? Since we're all making introductions," she reasons with a bright grin even as her attention is pulled subtly back toward the corner of the shop. She's doing her best to split her attention between everything though. Something at least she was good at.

Carin Taylor has posed:
    "Our first... date... after I got back from, um, meeting you guys... was binge-watching all of Sailor Moon..." Carin says softly, nodding to Tim. "...I think Jojo is next on our list. Work's been less busy since the renovations and repairs finished," she gives him a smile. "I like that Ghibli covers... a lot of great themes. Like.. Mononoke's depiction of rampant industrialization..." she gives an absent nod to the old lady, "Ah, same as the the others, miss! Thank you!" and seems to smile to herself as she hears everyone giving, well, fake names.

    "...I'm not watching Grave of the Fireflies, though..." she says in a small voice, lips pursing as she finds... herself on a book? "Oh... hey... Ami?" she calls out to Phoebe. "This looks. Really... um... accurate..." she trails off. Carin? Running in fear of something? More likely than you'd think. Running is kind of her Thing(TM).

Tim Drake has posed:
    It's a jack in the box. And he gave his father's name, Jack. Because the best lies are the ones based in truth, and he wasn't expecting a one-off mistruth to have any kind of impact. As it is, he stares down at this toy for a long moment.

    Initially he brushes it off as nothing, but Carin sounds suddenly unsure, and that sets off warning alarms in his brain.

    "Princess Mononoke is my favorite." This is said in a totally normal tone as Tim backtracks, away from the toy and towards Carin, to take a look at the book. "Ami," he says, warning in his voice, and then makes a quick hand gesture for Gabby and Laura's benefit: danger, watch out, something freaky's going on.

    Okay there's no hand signal for "something freaky's going on" that part is just communicated by the furrow of his brow and the faint grimace of his expression.

Laura Kinney has posed:
Laura Kinney looks wary. More so than usual. The stickers couldn't have made it from the store owner? Employee? Magical entity masquerading as such? over to where she is without cheating some how. She picks up the labels and glances around at the rest of the group, her head tilting as if so say 'are we really putting these on?', before holding out the sheet of labels.

She shrugs at her sister. This isn't her kind of weird. Her training covers conventional threats and most of the time she's only tagging along in the final stages of a monster hunt.

"I have never really watch much animation. Although I did find the one with the talking robot tanks had a very relatable main character."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Grave of the fireflies is not the easiest of watches." Phoebe replies with a soft hum. "I did cosplay Sailor Moon at the last anime convention I went to with Robbie and Gabe -- let me tell you how fun *that* was." Phoebe gives a small smile, and a look to Tim. Keep Talking. She's trying to figure this out.

    This is her kind of weird.

    Cookies are a great distraction. The cookies smell stronger the closer Gabby gets to the back of the sho -- and lo and behold there is indeed a blue plate with cinnamon cookies on it! They look soft and steam rises off them.

    Carin is definitely running in fear of something off the cover of the book. If she flips the book over, there is a picnic that looks overturned.

    The Jack in the Box gives a brief rattle.

    There are more than just their 'given' names on those stickers, but Phoebe gives a slightly disturbed look.

    "Don't put them on." she whispers in as quiet a voice as she can manage, and then she reaches into her backpack.

    "Ah-ah-ah, Tsuki-chan~. That'd be cheating. You're exempt from the game, you know, on account of being the birthday girl." their host states, watching with amusement.

    ""My name is Concern."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney just stares at the plate of cookies a moment. Just a moment, and then she looks over her shoulder toward the proprietor with a bemused expression. "I know I've been known to eat most anything, but come on. This screams a bit much 'Alice in Wonderland' doesn't it?" A gesture is given to the plate of cookies which she ends with a single finger bapping down on the plate to send them to the floor. Just in case any others had the sudden urge to become a cookie monster.

"Okay, Concern. We're all very concerned at this point so that's fitting." With a sigh she fishes out her necklace again glancing down at the stone which appears to be just a stone. At least to the eyes of others. For her it's lit and glowing in a way that was very concerning indeed to her. It's rolled between her fingers as she turns slightly to nod at Phoebe. "It's lit up. All around us now," she explains though perhaps unnecessarily. Lightly clearing her throat she flexes her fist at her side. No, best to keep the claws under wraps for now.

"And what 'game' is this exactly?"

Carin Taylor has posed:
    The clues of things being freaky going on are all around now, and while Carin is usually not at all used to 'weird magic bullshit', she's in the thick of it. The book is turned over and over in her hands, frowing as she looks at the picnic. She tries to analyze the picture for details and then just... opts to do what she does best: Speed. She opens the book and, perhaps it's the worst idea to do in the world right now, reads it. She speed-reads it. Details like the circumstances of what she's running from, and if the names of the others are in there, too, are what she looks for.

    Not that it takes long at all. A fraction of a second, with time to blink over at Concern afterwards. "...so if we don't eat the food we'll be okay?" she asks, tilting her head. Ok she's still leaning on the Spirited Away business.

Laura Kinney has posed:
X-23 tilts her head and shrugs. "That's a very interesting trick," she notes blandly. "I wonder if magical entities find that annoying. That Humans can change their names so freely and without concern."

There is however a subtle shift in her posture. Changing to a stance which allows her to react quickly to trouble. "The rumour was a haunting, rather than people going missing?" Then again how would anyone make a rumour about it if they'd gone missing? "Something tells me eating the food won't improve our situation. But it's probably not a guarantee we'll be safe." She tilts her head at Carin. "Safe is generally only a relative term."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    See Jane. See Jane Run. Run, Jane Run -- with a picture of a large golden ant.

    See Jack. See Jack Hop. Hop, Jack, Hop. -- with a picture of a jack-in-the-box missing something in its hands.

    See Scout. See Scout See. See Scout, See. -- with Gabby holding a pair of binoculars on her head.

    See Vi. See Vi Ring. Ring, Vi, Ring -- with a picture of Laura holding what looks to be a dinner triangle.

    The book is just that

    Concern seems utterly unconcerned.

    "The game isn't as fun if I have to explain it to you, but fine. Here we go. This is an Escape Room. You nerds have some clues to get out of it. She's not allowed to play because she booked it for you geeks and knows the answer because this is the back-up because you're all such *smarty-pants* about not giving the names." Concern rolls her eyes. With a snap of her fingers, Phoebe and the labels are gone.

    "You could all just quit and then she has to give up something precious in return."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney snaps her gaze over to Phoebe, arm pointing accusingly! Only to drop it down by her side again with a shrug. "True or false, b-day girl? Also ominious so let's avoid the 'give up something precious' situation. All I've found so far are cookies," she explains simply with a glance to the others as her mind has already shifted to 'let's figure this out!'

Carin Taylor has posed:
    "...uh... she's... she's gone..." Carin frowns, looking around for Phoebe. Then she blinks at Concern. "...look, if anime has taught me anything, it's to not give pertinent details about your person to eccentric women in dusty shops!" she states firmly. There's a tiny little huff and she looks at her book again.

    "..okay.. so.. um.. I think the book.. has clues? I... need to find a golden ant? And... Jack.. maybe the box has something in it? And... Scout needs binocular... and... Violet. Uh. Dinner.. triangle...?" she tilts her head. "...are we forming the weirdest band ever?"

Tim Drake has posed:
    "Okay, escape room rules: if you find anything, tell the whole group, don't keep it a secret. Anything could be a clue, so don't ignore things that seem normal otherwise." Tim puts his hands on his hips, clearly seeming to take this whole thing in stride despite... well, this whole thing being what it was. But it's also like him to immediately take control of things; the paranormal element of this doesn't have any bearing on that, apparentely. "Normally also there's stuff about not being rough with the props but, uh... who knows how this is going to go now."

    Carin's narration of what she sees in the book helps, because it directs Tim right back over to the jack in the box. He does indeed start cranking the handle, already grimacing as he waits for the rendition of Pop Goes The Weasel to stop and the jack to... pop, out of the box.

    Somehow the song feels even creepier than usual, though maybe that's just in Tim's head.

Laura Kinney has posed:
"Item retrieval," Laura notes with a nod of her head. "That's simple enough. Presumably we need to find them and then 'use' them in the specified order to progress to the next stage." Her eyes dart around the room. It's not quite clear if she's searching for the named items. Or surveying the room to work out which wall she would claw her way through if she needed to actually 'escape' the room.

Her attention eventually returns to the sheet of labels. Using that as the start point for a methodical grid search. "It's really not so different to minesweeping," she muses. Mostly to herself. "Except it's less obvious what might blow up in our faces."

She sniffs the air too. Trying to focus past the aroma of the establishment. Trying to hunt for the barest of hints of anything metallic.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "The cookies were a red herring. They're just nice, normal cookies." concern replies, and she watches everyone with amusement evident on her face. Which is all the more concerning.

    POP! THe Jack in the Box pops out. Its hands are spread apart. There are holes where something may be placed.

    And there's a little paper banner: "Sound-Alike but I go CRASH! Function and number keys. Stop Signs. Hieroglyphs. Wedding Rings. I belong between the hands -- what am I?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Below the Jack in the Box there are a number of boxes with musical instruments -- none of them are dinner triangles though. Guitars, violins, drumsticks...

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Great, now Gabby felt bad about the cookies. A little bit. Probably still not a good idea to eat food in a magical esape room. A slow nod is given as she starts to turn in a circle around the room looking, examining, and listening.

"Uhh. Not going to lie, I've got no clue there," she has to admit about the riddle. So instead she looks for binoculars? Or a looking glass, mangifying glass, telescoping thing... something to look through.

Laura Kinney has posed:
"Logically speaking," Laura says, her head tracking back and forth. "The only musical instrument I can link with Hieroglyphs would be cymbals. Hieroglyphic symbols." She frowns. "Also whenever you see a Jack in the Box in the Gotham papers it's holding cymbals." At least when it's not armed with a machine gun or somehow rigged up with dynamite.

"But it would seem to check out as stop signs use pictographic language. The exchange of wedding rings are symbolic gestures. You get the idea."

Which just leaves finding some. And presumably the boxes of musical instruments would be the sensible place to look first. Of course that doesn't mean she dives right in. She still pauses, sniffing for signs of explosives and other traps, before starting to rummage.

Carin Taylor has posed:
    "Oh.. that... that sounds right.." Carin purses her lips. "...symbols... cymbals.... ah, yeah... function keys..." she laughs. She's on the hunt for... a golden ant, though? Or. Maybe a picnic basket. She looks at the back cover of the book again and starts hunting around to see if any items on the shelves match what's depicted in the upturned picnic. "...that's really smart..."

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim doesn't jump when the jack in the box pops out. He doesn't. Because he's clenched too tightly for that, his whole body turned into one high-strung muscle. But then it's over, and he's reading the little banner, which Laura handily solves. "Makes sense," he says.

    And then once Laura has deemed the area with the musical instruments safe to dig through, he joins in that effort, though he keeps the jack in the box cradled in his elbow.

    As for the rest, he trusts Carin and Gabby to keep the search up. "Let me know if either of you find anything else," he calls out from where he's crouched down, opening up boxes of possibly-haunted string and wind instruments as delicately as he can manage.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    And Cymbals! Cymbals in a little box underneath a guitar. They can be taken out, and once fitted to the jack-in-the-box's hands, they ring-a-ding together, and the whole of the shop shakes as the shelf sinks down.

    Room one solved! Next clue: SEE JANE RUN

    THere are... bugs. Bugs coming up out of hte floor the size of whole hands. Beetles, lady bugs, staghorns, termites, fuzzy bumbly-bees and of course, ants.

    The upturn picnic appears in the center of the room.

    Now, how is the group going to handle all the bugs everywhere?!

Carin Taylor has posed:
    Carin's eyes widen. She gets the full benefit of watching the creepy-crawlies emerge from the floor in slow motion. Her eyes track their movements, counting them, counting their legs. She doesn't hyperventilate. She can't, functionally, with how her lungs work. She freezes. Stares. And watches. Then her mind kicks into gear and she focuses. "Gold. Gold one. Look. Look for the gold one.." she says quickly, chewing on her lower lip. "..maybe it's in the basket?" she asks.

    Not that Carin has a fear of bugs but there's something about wading into a sea of... hand-sized insects that is absolutely unsettling.

Tim Drake has posed:
    There's a whole gamut of thoughts running through Tim's brain at this next development, most of them some variation of "You've gotta be kidding me." He doesn't say anything, though, just climbs up onto the nearest available surface and starts looking left and right. Carin puts voice to what he's doing: looking for that golden ant.

    But there's a lot of other things swarming, and even implacable Tim seems bothered by the amount of creepy-crawlies in the room, his jaw tight as he continues to scramble upwards. From his new vantage point he can at least see the picnic area, which he examines from a distance. "I can't make that jump, but..." For a brief moment he contemplates wading in through the bugs, but after that moment has passes, Tim hasn't budged. So it's probably not happening.