15815/Meeting Magics

Meeting Magics
Date of Scene:	08 September 2023
Location:	Candle, Booke and Belle
Synopsis:	Nettie orders a bunch of take out for some visiting members of the Shazamly
Cast of Characters:	Nettie Crowe, Billy Batson, Joshua Foley, Freddy Freeman, Franklin Richards, Lydia Dietrich

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Nettie Crowe has posed:
    The Candle, Booke and Belle Shoppe is closed for the evening for a 'Private Event'. This 'Private Event' was 'because Nettie Felt Like it' -- the benefit of owning the building, the shop, and having dividends from a shipping company your brother created in the late 1800's.

    So now the shop is alive with magic. There is a crow up among the pumpkins set up for Halloween, snoozing away as a duster works itself across some shelves. A robotic cat is snoozing by the ancient cash register. There are more chairs set about and floor cushions besides, and Nettie Crowe herself is setting up what looks like an Indian Food lunch buffet. Everything smells spicy.

    She's got her gray hair pulled back in a messy bun on her head, her half-moon glasses perched on her nose, and she's wearing gray gloves today as she goes about, setting a pile of plates in place, followed by forks and spoons and a h u g e pile of garlic pita bread, steaming and fresh from an oven.

    There are a couple of chicken feathers in bright gold still floating about the place. She has one stuck in her hair to keep it out of the way more than anything els e.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson opens the door and holds it for Freddy. "C'mon. You'll love this place. "Okay, Nettie has acted as my advisor in magical stuff since the Wizard... disintegrated. Time you meet her and her peeps. I worked with a few of them. They're all pretty cool. Oh the crow is Crovax and he talks. Belinda from High School might be there. She's like a year behind us. Uhmmm oh the brrom is like Steve. It's a she and... well you have to see this. That's about all." He motions to Freddy to enter.

Joshua Foley has posed:
"Are human chicken feathers a spell component?" Joshua asks as he works on sweeping up the rest of the feathers, chasing them down in the process. He's still on edge from last night as he chews on the inside of his cheek.

Then he pauses in his sweeping. "Were you serious?" he asks Nettie. "I haven't had contact with my parents since they kicked me out when mutants showed up at the house. Pretty sure I'm emancipated by now, anyway."

As Billy and Freddy arrive, Josh looks up from his tidying. "Hello and welcome!" he greets.

Joshua Foley has posed:
"Are human chicken feathers a spell component?" Joshua asks as he works on sweeping up the rest of the feathers, chasing them down in the process. He's still on edge from last night as he chews on the inside of his cheek.

Then he pauses in his sweeping. "Were you serious?" he asks Nettie. "I haven't had contact with my parents since they kicked me out when mutants showed up at the house. Pretty sure I'm emancipated by now, anyway."

As Billy and Freddy arrive, Josh looks up from his tidying. "Hello and welcome!" he greets. His skin is still completely golden from using his powers, a small black blotch on his left forearm.

Freddy Freeman has posed:
Like a flurry, in walks a 5 foot 8 inch tall dynamo! Freddy is apparently disabled as evidenced by the metal crutch that clasps around his left elbow. But that's where the disabled part ends. He moves like a ball of energy that someone without a crutch would have to try hard to keep up with.

"Oh sick, you hang out in this place?" Freddy exclaims as he looks around the shop in undisguised wonder. With Freddy, what you see is what you get. He wears everything on his sleeve. He stops at a small table and picks up what looks like some sort of weird, small, fanged skull. "Oh sweet! Is this thing real, Billy? I wonder what it is." But that part of his attention span is already used up. He sets the skull back down and moves over to a small brass bowl with some sort of powder in it. He sniffs. "What's in here?"

ADHD had a baby with a hummingbird, and that is how Freddy was created.

Franklin Richards has posed:
Inside the shop, the unmistakable purr of a Rolls-Royce Phantom IV announced its arrival. Its radio blared "Another One Bites the Dust" before abruptly silencing as the driver's side door opened. Stepping out of the vehicle in impeccable attire was Franklin, who had just struck a lucrative deal selling some of his inventions and felt like indulging himself for a change. He sported stylish sunglasses, adding an air of mystery to his entrance as he confidently made his way towards the entrance.

Franklin was dressed in a sophisticated black and gold ensemble adorned with circular patterns down the front where it fastened. Upon reaching the door, he cast a cautious glance around, a testament to his belief that it's only paranoia if there's no real threat. Nonetheless, he couldn't help but smile as he decided to open the doors without further ado.

Upon arrival, Franklin greeted the gathering, waving to everyone with an air of familiarity. "Hey, what's up, people? Good to see everyone again." His attention shifted to Joshua, whom he affectionately referred to as "the chicken guy." He quipped, "Oh hey, it's the chicken guy. Hope you remembered to take care of that." A chuckle followed as he waved, moving deeper into the gathering.

Reaching into a pocket, he retrieved an ancient-looking book, its pages filled with forgotten language and rich history, rather than magic. He presented it to Miss Nette, the host. "Thanks for having us over again, Miss Nette," he said with a warm smile. Leaning in a bit closer, he added in a conspiratorial tone, "Don't tell the others, but I brought a little something extra for the punch later." He grinned, winked, and lowered his voice to ensure discretion.

With that, he moved away to greet the others, a mix of familiar faces and new acquaintances filling the room.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    There's the tell-tale tinkling of the bells that announces a new arrival to the store, and Lydia pushes her way in out of the dimming sunlight of summer. Once she's out of direct sunlight she seems to perk up, her skin shedding its deathly pallor and taking on a more ivory color, and the dark bags under her eyes disappear. Her lips are full and red, and the starfield that constantly surrounds starts to blink back into existence.

    "Smells like curry," She says, her sensitive nose twitching at the earthy smells. "What's the occasion? Not that you need an occasion for Indian, mind you."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Anything can be a spell component or reagent; in your case you were cursed to be a rooster, and you were exchanged back. I'd like to hold onto as many feathers as we can find, just in case." the witch states, and looking back over to Joshua, she gives a small smile, and she reaches her left hand out to set it on Josh's shoulder.

    "I meant what I said, every bit. You deserve people who will care for you, not just on their terms but on your own, Joshua, but of course if you're not open to the idea, it'll hold." she states, and gives a small laugh "I've been known to leap before looking before--", and then she turns her head to the door as Billy Batson walks in, with friends in tow.

    "Ah! Mr. Batson. Mr. Richards welcome back to the Candle, lads. Thank you, Mr. Richards --" she accepts the book, "I'll be happy to take a look at this volume. You do know I love a good, old book." she jokes -- and then to Freddy, she watches with amusement as he walks around the shop.

    "The skull's a decoration from a craft store, but looks real enough. That's powdered lizard gizzards, you probably shouldn't huff that and absolutely do not pick up any of the jewelery, it's cursed." Nettie states to Freddy and gives a bit of a wave. "I don't beleive we've been introduced, Mr...?" she looks to Freddy.

    And as Lydia comes in, Nettie gives a grin.

    "Ah, yes, well, I only lived on the stuff for most of a century, dinnit I?" she calls to the writer.

    "Come, come, there's introductions to be had all around."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson leans over close to Freddy and says, "Don't touch that. It'll turn you to stone. -Hello folks. This is my brother Freddy, I brought someone besides Freddy." He reaches into his jacket to produce -STEVE! The stylus stands upright and writes, <Evening all!> Then plainly rotates as if looking around for someone.

"He has a crush on Nettie's broom," Billy explains to Freddy. "Is Besom about?"

Freddy Freeman has posed:
Billy gets a narrow-eyed brotherly glare for his comment. But Freddy stands up straight and takes a step or two back when Nettie identifies the powder as lizard gizzard. But his gaze stays locked on it for a moment or two. The only thing that exceeds Freddy's curiosity is his fearlessness. He turns toward Nettie, but steals one last glance at the powder in a To Be Continued sort of way, and holds out his right hand enthusiastically.

"Hi, glad t'meet ya!" the be-crutched teenager exclaims. "I'm Freddy Freeman. Billy's brother."

He looks at the powder yet again. "So what's a gizzard anyway?"

Joshua Foley has posed:
"I'll make sure to collect as many as possible." Joshua says and lets out a breath. "I mean. You gave me a home and all. I don't have a problem with it." he finally allows as he finishes picking up the feathers and desposits them into a bag.

He doesn't press it any further with the current company but he can talk about it later. As he watches Freddy, he entertains the idea for a moment if he could becomed trained enough to heal such crippling injuries.

However, it is Franklin that draws his attention. "Oh... hey again." he offers. "Yes, Miss Nettie and Wiccan were able to reverse the curse. I'm fine now, if currently this color..." a sigh, then he reminds himself. "If your hand okay, Miss Nettie??" before adding.

"Oh, for everyone that I haven't met. I'm Josh. No codename and stuff."

Franklin Richards has posed:
Franklin approached Billy with a friendly smile. "It's been a while, but it seems like we keep running into each other here," he remarked, a hint of amusement in his voice. "No disappearing acts this time, I promise!" He grinned, recalling past encounters.

His attention shifted to Freddy, and he couldn't help but tease, "And you're his brother. Maybe you can talk some sense into that hard head of his from time to time." Franklin's tone was light-hearted, emphasizing the playful banter. He extended his hand for a handshake. "I'm Franklin Richards, by the way. And I believe it's the muscular part of the stomach," he added with a touch of technicality, showcasing his knowledge.

Leaning in slightly, he whispered, "I've heard it tastes rather good." He shrugged, displaying a hint of skepticism. Turning to Shazam, he inquired, "Haven't seen Mary around. I hope she's doing well." His attention then shifted to Josh. "Oh, that's good to hear. If Nette's involved, you're in good hands. But umm... I wouldn't recommend trying your healing powers on her. Trust me, I found out the hard way; it doesn't work well." He grinned, sharing a humorous anecdote.

As he turned to face Nettie, Franklin couldn't help but praise Josh. "You should have seen Josh out there, face to face with Circe. Didn't even lose his temper as they threw spells at him. You have a good friend there," he said with genuine admiration. Nodding to Josh, he added, "A powerful one too, from what I've seen."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "A gizzard is little pouch of stomach that birds have that has a bit of grit inside it to help aid in digestion," Lydia explains, as she glides into the store. "Which explains why finding one in a lizard is especially so rare."

    She smiles at the majority of the new people she hasn't met yet. "Hello, all. I'm Lydia, resident author of titillating tales of lesbian love and the supernatural, and occasional right hand woman of Nettie."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Broom's downstairs. Elizabeth -- out of the saag!" Nettie calls out as a metallic cat blinks innocently after batting a piece of goat cheese, and gives a digital 'miyaaaaaw' as Nettie leans over to pick her up, and she natters away a bit "Yes, it's lizard stomach, no, do *NOT* eat any of the reagents -- Franklin stop encouraging Freddy, if he comes down with some sort of malady because he eats a reagent and has a bad reaction I will be disgruntled!" she states as she points at Franklin. "I don't want a repeat of the last time someone decided to eat the frozen fertilized mantis eggs and then had leaf mantis nympths errupting out of his digestive orafices!" Nettie threatens good naturedly, and then leans over to Freddy "It's not gizzards. It's Bartender's Friend cleaning powder, it's corrosive, don't eat it, Zipper." she already tags on a nickname.

    And she breezes by Joshua, giving him a Look and just says "

    "Joshua McNally Foley--" yes she knows it's not his middle name. She doesn't care. "You're a regular healing Elixer. It's true, even Franklin wasn't able to handle the healin' in the same way you did as a chicken. You're remarkable." she states, taps him on the nose in a 'boop' and comes back over to Lydia, where all the younger lads are hanging about a little distance away, and she pets on Elizabeth the Cat, turns to Lydia and gives a nod.

    "I've decided to adopt." she states simply.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson waves to Josh, "Billy, from Athens? The one who flipped out over being grabbed by a crab? Good to see you again." Franklin receives a clap on the arm. "Always glad to have you back, Frankie. You remember the area code I gave you?"

Steve doesn't see Besom or Broom to give her sur name. He tilts up at Lydia and then begins writing furiously on some paper. Billy raises an eyebrow. "He likes to be useful writing things for people. I guess you drew his interest." Billy has about a million questions for Lydia, who seems pretty nice for... you know. Steve is writing writing like a demon, almost blurring. He fills a page which is shoved towards Lydia. Hearing about Broom the stylus hops off the table and slides around feet to dive down the stairs.

Freddy Freeman has posed:
Freddy is reaching a bit of saturation with all of the new people he is meeting, but he the exact right combination of energy reserves and low attention span to handle it. "I don't know why anyone would want lizard stomach."

When Franklin extends a hand, Freddy shakes it enthusiastically, the way he pretty much does everything. "Sick car, man! Can I borrow it?" the crutch-walking young man asks. He's just kidding, right? I mean, he /must/ be.

He turns to head further into the room to go meet more people: Tynan, Lydia, and Joshua. But /just/ as he's turning his hand whips out very deftly and dips into the powder that Franklin was saying tasted good. He licks his fingertip and proceeds to walk to the others and he stops /dead/ and his eyes open wide. He lifts the hem of his shirt, revealing his too-scrawny abdomen, and starts to furiously lick the fabric of his shirt trying to wipe the disgusting powder off his tongue. "Ughhhh...gods...does anyone have...any water?"

Joshua Foley has posed:
As soon as Lydia mentions the books, Joshua's cheeks flare, the gold even brighter as it covers the deep blush on his skin. Someone may have peeked at Lydia's book and found it far outside his rating.

When Franklin advises him not to heal Nettie, he clears his throat. "I already did." he admits quietly. "Her hand looked like it was getting worse, and I just wanted to fix it." a blink of those blue eyes brings him back to Nettie.

"E-Elixir?" he asks in confusion. "I guess if I'm part of the group, I'd need a field name..." comes the murmured comment. Then Nettie says she's inclined to adopt. "There's so many here you could!" he starts to say, then she boops him on the nose and his eyes go >.< and he's left dumbstruck.

"That'd be cool fr." Then Freddy speaks up and Joshua quickly adds. "Not water, milk!" he calls out, heading towards the fridge to grab one to bring to Freddy.

Franklin Richards has posed:
Franklin waved to Lydia with a friendly smile. "I think Val might have that book," he remarked. "She doesn't let me into her room anymore since she bedazzled the Doom Bot," he added with a hint of wistfulness, then quickly turned playful again. "Still, it's good to meet up. We seem to be unintentionally tracking Miss. Crowe a bit ever since I started hanging out with Billy." He chuckled, clearly joking and not realizing Freddy might have taken a piece of the material.

However, his playful demeanor faded momentarily as he looked at Nettie. "Aww... okay, you have to admit we had him going for a bit. I was sure he would've taken a nibble, and we do have a healer. Though you're right, corrosive is no good," he conceded, not previously aware of the nature of the substance.

As Freddy shook his hand, Franklin smiled warmly. From his pocket, he produced a set of keys with an F4 keychain and handed them over. "Sure, I have a heck of a mechanic, so I'm not too worried. Though, try not to hurt yourself, as Billy would take it out on me," he joked. However, his tone shifted to seriousness as he added, "But seriously, perhaps after the meal and no drinking. We shouldn't contribute to drunk driving from anyone."

Having handed over the keys, he turned his attention to Joshua. "Ah, that isn't good. I wouldn't worry about it too much. She has ways to counter that stuff. And 'Elixer' isn't bad, way better than my field name. I mean, who likes being called 'Powerhouse'?" He shook his head, displaying a hint of self-deprecating humor. "Worst nickname ever!"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia turns an amused smirk to Nettie. "So I see. You're just a glutton for punishment I take it then." She shakes her head at Joshua. "We don't really have code names in the JLD. Not unless you want one." She looks thoughtful for a moment and strokes her chin, "I don't think we've ever had anybody who had a secret identity."

    She watches Freddy's antics with a small amount of amusement, and when he asks for some water, a golden tendril pulls out of her starfield and futzes around behind the counter before pulling out a small glass which she obligingly fills with water and hands it over to the young man. "Don't worry. Gizzard is perfectly harmless.... usually."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "TECHNICALLY my identity's secret. Not everyone goes around announcing what they've done -- but ah... Bucky I beleive is also a secret. Just not from us." Nettie questions, and she looks over to Franklin and shakes her head "For a bit until he starts trying to eat the reagents. Really, walking into a witch's home and starting to put your tongue on things is how people end up with all manner of magical and arcane maladies. Toads, rabbit ears, teeth falling out -- not to mention dead." Nettie adds the last one like it's 'not really a big deal'.

    "Though you're right. unless you knew me in the '20's or '40's no one really calls me Greywitch aside from that one little Batling that one time... the girl in the purple." she considers, and wrinkles her nose.

    "Eh, of course I'm a glutton for punishment, Lydia. And now you are too. Welcome to the Leadership. Next take-out is your call, I'll give you the 'company card'." she jokes.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson facepalms but sees Freddy is being taken care of. If worse came to worse he could have transformed them both. Let him drink a lot of milk or whatever as Pantheon and then turn back. His fists unclench. then he turns to Lydia and asks, "What did he write for you? He usually does research... but he's a little wild now. I caught him going online on my PC and looking at Flair pens the other night."

Freddy Freeman has posed:
Freddy gratefully accepts both beverages -- the water from Lydia and the milk from Joshua. First he guzzles down the water like there will be no tomorrow. Some of it runs down his chin and neck, soaking into the neckline of his T-shirt. He draws in a deep breath and exhales hard, then guzzles down the milk in a similarly rushed fashion.

"That was...that was not as tasty as you led me to believe," he says between deep breaths to Franklin. But his expression and body language communicate the amusement of one who grew up in a house full of two things: loving family and lots of pranks.

He turns to his brother and holds up the keys to one of the rarest, most expensive cars in the history of cars. His mouth opens wide and his face blooms into a shocked, pleased smile...which also reveals that his tongue is gray at the moment. He silently mouths, "Oh. My. Gods." to Billy.

Joshua Foley has posed:
Joshua was just about to lay hands on Freddy to heal him, just in case. But the water and milk seemed to have done the job. He fades back slightly from the others, taking some of the garlic naan to snack on.

"I'm a mutant." he explains to Lydia. "If I use my real name, people can track it back to here and attack the shop. Especially considering... the Reavers think I'm dead and I want to keep it that way."

Franklin Richards has posed:
Franklin smiled as he observed the interactions, then turned to Freddy and offered a shrug with a grin. "Some lessons can't be learned through words," he quipped, still somewhat amazed that Freddy had actually eaten the unusual material. "You're lucky, though," he continued, "Miss Crowe said there are many worse things. No licking our host, for example, no matter how good she might taste." He chuckled, giving Nettie a thumbs-up to signal his acceptance of her warning, not to convince anyone to eat strange materials again. Surely he wouldn't fall for that trick twice, or so he hoped, considering Nettie might not let him off the hook a second time.

Turning his attention to Josh, he reassured him, "You're good here. I'm a mutant too, though I didn't go to... the school." Franklin was cautious not to reveal too much, as he knew the topic of mutants could be sensitive, with some mutants being public about their abilities while others preferred to keep them hidden. "But let's just say I wouldn't want to be the one trying to attack this place. Just ask Miss Crowe what happened to the last two who tried."

As he finished speaking, Franklin began to help himself to the food. "You know, funny story," he began, "I ran into that pickpocket again. Nice lady, though a bit jumpy. I kind of felt bad for her; she's not in the best situation. But I'm somewhat limited because I can't interfere too much in the normal human situation. I tend to... overdo it." He grinned, acknowledging his unique abilities.

With a nonchalant shrug, he turned his attention to Freddy, partly to ensure he wasn't approaching Nettie and partly to offer a reminder. "By the way, the car only takes Premium. No joke, as it won't drive right with the regular stuff." Franklin smiled and gave Freddy a thumbs-up, hoping his message was clear.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson looks at the keys and then says, "I would not drive that car in Manhattan, on a Friday night no less if I had Irie's reflexes. Thank you franklin, maybe we could take it for a drive in the country, another time. Anyway... I'm going to get Steve and keep him out of trouble." He heads down the stairs to play chaperon for two intelligent artifacts.

Joshua Foley has posed:
"Yeah. But I can't reverse time or warp reality. I only know one person that went to that school that helped me." Joshua still got the t-shirt, but he never really got the education.

"And healing or no, bullets still hurt." he points out, as he continues to snack on the naan. "And resurrection is... a pain."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Whoa, whoa, can we NOT discuss licking me, please?!" Nettie makes A Face a she straightens up with indignity. "I am definitely horrible for anyone's health, that and I've got a mean right hook!" she warns, before giving a small laugh.

    "Too right, focus on not getting shot before we get you something to make you not get shot. That goes for the lot of you. Even you two." NEttie had pointed at Billy and Freddy. She surmised that Freddy may be among the Shazamly.

    "After all, Necromancers are just healers who get there very, very late, and it's never as clean as one would like!"

Freddy Freeman has posed:
"I mean, I don't know what /any/ of that means," Freddy says to Franklin. "I've never even driven before." Then he gets his hair trigger attention span distracted when Josh says he's a mutant. So Freddy crutch-walks rapidly over to Josh, his face beaming with excitement all of a sudden.

"I promise not to lick you, ma'am," Freddy says as he passes by Nettie.

"Bro, did you say you're a mutant?" Freddy asks with obvious excitement. "That's so cool! What can you do?"

Franklin Richards has posed:
Franklin chewed thoughtfully for a moment, wearing a smile as he nodded in Nettie's direction. Then, he turned his attention to Joshua, offering some insight. "You know, when you heal, you're doing something pretty remarkable. You're altering reality, albeit on a biological level. It's much more impressive than you give yourself credit for," he said with a shrug, recognizing the significance of Joshua's abilities. He shared a bit about his own role, adding, "I'm just a guest myself, really. I chip in here and there, especially when it comes to the big stuff, or if Deadpool happens to be around. We oddly get along," he added, with a hint of amusement.

When he noticed Freddy's admission about not licking Nettie, Franklin had to suppress a chuckle, as it was not a comment he had expected to hear that day. He chose not to comment on Rogue but had a quiet moment of for an act of kindness he had once performed, even if she didn't know it was him.

With a sigh, Franklin gazed up at the sky before addressing Miss Crowe and Lydia. "Miss Crowe, thank you for having me. Lydia, it's been nice to meet you. If you ever need something... edited," he added with a wink, "just talk to Miss Crowe, and she'll have my contact. I doubt you'll need it with the impressive tools you have here, but any friend of hers is a friend of mine, even the quirky, blood-drinking ones."

He sighed again, more to himself, as he said, "I hear you, I hear you." Then, he turned to the others and spoke his farewell. "Until next time... I'm sorry, but it seems there's never a dull moment." With a snap, a black portal opened behind him, crackling with little bolts of lightning. Franklin had folded space to his next location, and in the blink of an eye, he stepped through, leaving behind the car for Freddy to handle. The portal closed just as quickly as it had appeared, leaving the group in silence, minus one Franklin, who had vanished.

Joshua Foley has posed:
"I heal. Myself and others." Joshua explains to Freddy. "I apparently, can also cause damage with a touch. But I only did that once. In a crisis. I've been able to heal up to... reviving myself from the dead after being caught in a building explosion."

He stiffles a small yawn. He's clearly still tired from having been a chicken in New York.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "And you're damn good at it." Netter comments to tag onto Josh's statement, then she goes to sit back in her normal stool behind the counter, with the robotic cat still in her arms as she looks around with satisfaction, and she shakes her head "Oi, cheeky, Mr. Freeman, and you may call me Nettie. Everyone does." she comments, "Now, please, I don't want to pack up this food an' I've heard legendry about how much lads your age pack foodstuff away. Is there *anyone* allergic to cashews -- don't have the orange one. That's shashahani."

Freddy Freeman has posed:
It's as though Freddy had forgotten that he is perpetually hungry, and Nettie just reminded him of that fact, and it floods back in with a vengeance. He grabs a plate and piles about as much food on it as he legally can without the store getting fined for some sort of zoning violation. He crutch-walks while deftly and easily carrying the plate with one hand over to a table. Freddy certainly does not let his disability have any rulership over his life, it would seem.

"Thanks, Nettie," he says with a signature Freddy Freeman smile...a smile that was designed to be just cherubic enough to get him out of trouble, which he is in a lot.

"You can /heal/?" he says around mouthfuls of food to Josh. "Man, that's like the sacred domain of the gods. What a sacred gift."

Joshua Foley has posed:
"Yeah, sure." Joshua still is coming to understand his powers. "But apparently they have a very clear side-effect." He holds up his hand, as if Freddy can't see all of his golden skin. "I don't think girls go for guys with skin conditions." he quips a little playfully.

"Don't worry, Miss Nettie. I can eat more and more later. I'll probably be up late studying tonight!" he admits.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "OI. Joshua Saint Albert Foley, one nice thing about yourself lad." Nettie states with a point of a finger.

    "An' it's true. A lot of magicians can heal a bit in a pinch. Usually hurts. I can't do it, not very well an' not reliably. One of the ol' leaders of the JLD could. If you had questions, you could ask Miss Kinney to get in touch with her, or Mr. Ketch I s'pose might still keep up with her." she considers.

    "I can't."

Freddy Freeman has posed:
Freddy eats with record speed. The rumors were absolutely true. "I don't think your skin color would affect how girls would feel about you, bro. I mean gold is pretty sick. You're a literal golden boy. My powers were loaned to me by gods, and I don't think the gods give out powers lightly. If you can heal, I bet it's a reflection of something special you have inside. And girls can sense that sort of thing." Even in this form, he has some limited access to the Wisdom of Solomon

He nods in Nettie's direction. "Hey, Miss Nettie, what sort of trouble does my brother get into around here? I need ammo."

Joshua Foley has posed:
"I'm a good skateboarder." He uses the same exact words that Nettie used on him last night and Joshua flashes a smile. He really can be handsome when he smiles.

When Freddy asks Nettie about what trouble Billy gets into, he tsks softly. "We don't share that information. Probably because everyone has dirt and their own decision if they share it." He looks to Nettie for approval.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Your brother doesn't get into any trouble. He helps me translate ancient texts and punches three-headed celestial boars in the face." Nettie answers back. "He's a good lad and sets a high standard for interacting with your siblings." Nettie replies, and Nettie looks to Joshua with a slight grin. "But Joshua's right. Everyone has dirt on them. No one's in the League Dark because they're boyscouts. An' you, Zipper, aren't in the League Dark at all."

Freddy Freeman has posed:
"Just because he minds his behavior here doesn't mean he doesn't into trouble," Freddy says with a sly grin. "Oh man, the stories!" He shrugs a bit. "But he's a hell of a brother and a great leader." It's obvious that Freddy has a massive amount of affection for his brother.

The young godling gives Josh's shoulder a playful whap. "Hey, we should go boarding sometime, man. You could show me some stuff. I can ride around but I don't know much in the way of tricks and stuff."

Joshua Foley has posed:
"I'm really good. I used to have a Tik-Tok and a YouTube, but I had to close them both down when I was dead." Joshua admits as he takes a bite of one of the cashews. "And Nettie's right. Even me, as a newbie, aren't exactly squeaky clean."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "No one's without their dirt." Nettie replies with a wry smile, because whooooo boy does she have some Bad Stuff in her past.

    "And I shall ammend: he doesn't get into any trouble with me. I have been known to start bar fights, sidewalk brawls, occasionally make off with a motorcycle that's not mine... I once stole a bus. That was a fun trip to London." Nettie recounts thoughtfully.

Freddy Freeman has posed:
Freddy stands up and finds a sink. He crutch-walks over to it and rinses off his plate and fork and leaves them in the sink. "Miss Nettie, thank you for having me over. I gotta head home. It's pretty late"

He jots down a phone number for Josh. "Text me or something if you wanna go skating sometime, bro," the young godling says to Josh. "It was cool to meet you both."

Joshua Foley has posed:
Accepting the phone number, Josh takes out his phone, scans it and presses a button. A moment later there's a ding on Freddy's phone and Josh's contact info appears with an image of a skateboard as an icon. "Looking forward to it!"