16098/The Gotham Pumpkin Regatta

The Gotham Pumpkin Regatta
Date of Scene:	17 October 2023
Location:	Bristol Township
Synopsis:	A Pumpkin Regatta in Gotham City! Nothing scary happens other than Damian losing his cool at the possibility of one of his adoptive siblings' animals possibly being hurt. Caleb has no face! ... but don't worry, it's a mask. Stay for the Stephanie and Potato action!
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Stephanie Brown, Damian Wayne, Caleb Dykstra

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Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    DEAD MAN'S HOLLOW PARK - BRISTOL TOWNSHIP

    Copying other cities and towns for their Giant Pumpkin floats and celebrations, the Gotham Garden Club is hosting their first Great Pumpkin Regatta, in the brackish estuary water of the Gotham River, where it splits North and West of the city. This little park was chosen for its very thematic name, and of course because the long road to it provides ample parking.

    There are throngs of people -- mostly pensioners and retirees who have the time to pay attention and grow giant pumpkins, many of which were transported on pallets to be weighed and judged. There's a Pumpkin Launch where various home-made catapults and trebuchets were being erected to test pumpkin launches (with a good amount of land cordoned off against any accidental early delcarations of gourd war), and of course, there is the Regatta itself. A number of giant gourds have been hollowed out, secured with spray foam and sand balast, some even with simple sails and rudders arranged are standing ready at the shore at the edge of the park. Some have been set up as pirate ships, others with such fateful names as the Gourdtanic, the Pumpkin Up and even Gourdy McPumpkinboat are being checked over for their maiden -- and likely final -- voyages into the waters!

    Fairground foods have been set up, with various deep-fried goodies like mars bars, oreos, sticks of butter and funnel cake, pickles and kool-aid, and there are wings and burgers and french fries and one booth that is just labeled "HAVE A BALL" and advertise both prarie and mountain oysters.

    There is no seafood warning on this one.

    Phoebe herself is in attendence, holding a pair of leashes, one to Idu, the very trim and fit 'fuzzy Pharoah Hound' with the blue eyes that seems to be suspiciously taking everything in, and the other attached to Potato, a white bully breed that looks like he has maybe two braincells all together. Phoebe's wearing a head wrap with various Jack-o-Lanterns on it, and a black T-shirt with a ribcage showing a heart in the rough middle, jeans, and a light jacket.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The sound of a car's backfire can be heard as The Compact putters its way into the parking lot. The little purple compact car gives a shudder and then continues rolling forward to pull into a parking spot.

The door opens and Stephanie Brown climbs out. She's wearing jeans and tennis shoes, and a Gotham Knights t-shirt with a dark green zip up hoodie over top. She leans back into the car to unfasten the hood and then walks around to open it up. There's a yelp and Stephanie pulls her hand back, then pulls the sleeve of her hoodie down over her hand to shield herself from the hot metal as she opens it up.

"Oh come on, what's wrong with you?" she says with a frown as she looks at the engine. Then glances up to the festivities which are so much more inviting looking. Back down at the engine.

She sighs and lets the hood down, pulling out her phone to send off a text as heads over in search of others she knows. Alfred will know a good mechanic.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Be more sociable, he was told. Damian should go to more events. Not hide in the shadows and actually let people see him. He agreed with none of these ideas, but it was when someone started listing off all of the foods at this regatta that drew the interest of the young Wayne.

Dressed in a dark sweater with white collared shirt, grey slacks and a pair of black polished loafers, Damian was highly discouraged from the trebuchets and catapults, because he would have totally gourded someone into a fight and shelled them.

"I believe the sentence you are looking for is 'What's not wrong with you.'." comes the voice from behind Stephanie. Damian is holding a skewer with a roasted beast of some type of it as he stands on his tip-toes to look at the engine before she can lower the hood. "May I?"

It's not really a question, he hands Stephanie the skewer and goes to open the hood. "When was the last time you checked the serpentine belt?"

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
And he swore he'd never set foot back in Gotham...

...But he has, on a number of occasions. Just brief periods, until he could get the hell out again; doesn't need the attention from the mob, who should be sure by now that he comes over every once in a while. Even though if belatedly, by a few weeks, until the shows he's been on have aired.

Now, it's not like the mob - in particular the Vittorelli branch - would be on high alert about him... But, Caleb is not one to take chances, so, coming back to Gotham during Halloween, he had the one chance to come in... with a costume!

And the costume he picked up is actually an original. Full black from head-to-toe (yeah... black is that original, right guys?), but in a shade that is unnaturally black. In fact, against the lights, it's like he's a perfect black humanoid spot. He wears a hood, too, and his face... Well, it's really just an oval, faceless, gold-painted mask, no features whatsoever - not even eyes are visible. Ah, yes... He wears a cape, as well, of the same unnatural color.

And the Faceless Blot (yeah, the name sucks, but it's a one-timer, okay?) is out and about, enjoying the festivities - as much as he can, that is.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Damian and Steph's phones might give a 'ding!'

    >I happen to know a number of mechanics! Canelo's is in Brooklyn though. Jason might be the one to give a call to?< comes Pheobe's reply, followed by a pick of two dogs with corn dogs.

    >DOG EAT DOG WORLD<

    Phoebe's sense of humour is, as ever, intact.

    She walks around a bit, with the two dogs as they finish up eating their festival treat, and she almost runs right into The Blot.

    "OH! Hey! I'm so sorry --" she states, Potato wanting to get up close and personal (and get white hair all over the black costume!)

    "Hey hey, Potato, we gotta be invited to say hi, bubba!" she scolds gently.

    "I'm really sorry -- we're working on our manners, but he is super friendly.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown arrests the downward motion of the hood at Damian's request, pushing it back up. "Sure thing. Roberto had some guy do some special work on it when he got it. We were going to run them in this underground racing circuit. I admit there's some stuff I'm not quite sure what they did in there," she says of the engine, which actually is in quite pristine shape, and a surprise to most anyone looking under the hood. Also she takes care of her own Batcycle so isn't a novice with engines, at that.

"Did a round of maintenance middle of the summer," she says, "And replaced all the belts then." Her phone chimes and Stephanie peers down at it. "Phoebe's around," she says, looking up and about. The dogs help stand out in the crowd, allowing Stephanie to smile and offer a big wave over to Phoebe before turning back to the car. "It will probably make it home," she says. "If not I can always catch ride. Just need to make sure I grab my 'stuff' from the hatch if I do," she comments of her costume she has in there.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Peering inside the engine, Damian frowns. "I'm well aware of your prowess with mechanics, it's why I assume it isn't something as simple as the water level being low." While it does NOT sound like a compliment, it really is meant as one. "Could be a bad heater core" he suggests to her. "Haven't had to run it since the weather changed?"

That's when his phone chimes pleasantly and he glances down at it as he extracts himself from the hood. "So she is." he agrees with the assessment that Phoebe is near. And there she is. Straightening back up to close the hood, his attention turns to the pair of dogs. He lifts his hand and in a cupping motion, whistles sharply to get Idu's attention.

That's when his eyes fall on the figure in costume. His eyes narrow. His teeth grit, a subtle closing of a fist. "I thought your first costume was bad." That to Stephanie in a soft tone. "I stand corrected. I apologize."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
The Faceless (it has a more catchy name that way), looking around, spots a gathering of familiar faces - Stephanie and Phoebe, and even Damian, though the latter more from social pages. And he decides to make an approach. Now, that approach, given all the light absorption, and the purpose-filled movement, should provide for the appropriate Gotham setting, a.k.a. dark AF.

As he approaches, he stands there, not making a movement, and barely a sound. He stands for a few seconds, before asking, a distorted voice ringing out:

<<Greetings. How is the engine holding up?>>

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Damian should have seen the costume Phoeb designed when she first started out. At fourteen. There's a reason Tim's first order of business was getting her armored up.

    Maybe he didn't hear her when Potato went to go up and say hello, but she follows The Faceless over to the grouping of folks by the car. Idu immediately goes to a sit, looking expectantly up at Damian.

    Potato, on the other hand, attempts to provide Stephanie with the song of his people with a Chewbacca-like sound, and then leaning his whole eighty-pound body up against her legs.

    Phoebe, on the other hand, gives a bit of a wave.

    "Yeaaaah I'm no help with the mechanic thing. That's why I've got friends with those skills." she states, but leeeaaans over.

    "But I don't see any radiator fluid leaking or smell gas -- so it's probably not a leak or a spark plug."

    The Pumpkins in the Regatta launch, and are beginning to get to the starting line on the river.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown lets out a laugh back at Damian. Though as she sees the person in the costume approaching she keeps what she says general-sounding. "DO you have any idea how difficult those are to sew?" she asks. "And on a high schooler's budget with the Dollar Store for materials?"

The blond coed crosses her arms and gives a sharp nod of her head as if that says all that needed to be said about her first costume. She swings her eyes back to the Faceless. And to Phoebe and the pooches. Which is such a good band name that Steph makes a mental note to suggest it later for a Fleetwood Mac tribute band.

Phoebe gets a wave, and the Faceless gets, "Well, better until now. And it might be the changing weather," she says, the final sentence aimed at agreement with Damian. Those high tech racing engines not exactly used to the range of temperatures of Gotham. Especially the ones that fit in a compact!

The greeting by Potato gets a squeal of delight from Stephanie, She leans down to hug the dog and thump his torso and give scritches and make faces back at him and tell him what a good dog he is.

Because he -is-!

Damian Wayne has posed:
"I thought it was just a hoodie and leggings." Damian manages before Phoebe and her companion arrive. "In comparison, yours was brilliant."

When The Faceless approaches the group, Damian takes a breath after looking the figure up and down and making a few quick judgements. And this brings him to quietly counts down from ten. He may need to do this a few times. And in a couple of different languages.

Fortunately for Damian, Idu is /right there/. The young man holds out his hand for the service animal to sniff, recognize as if he needed to, and then runs his hand over his face and head before lowering down. "Phoebe's not feeding you from the table is she? She's using the proper food and diet? Taking you on plenty of walks? She better be." he says, his voice warm for the dog.

A stark difference than when he's talking to everyone else as he remains crouched and like Stephanie, Idu needs to know he's the best boy.

Well. Second best. But Damian wasn't allowed to bring Goliath here. Goliath is the best dog demon dragon thing /ever/.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Potato loves everyone, this is a fact of the world just like 'it rains in Gotham' and 'Inevitably any Bat is called to comment on Nightwing's ass in whatever friendship they develop'.

    And Goliath IS the best dragon bat ever, Phoebe will attest to it and would baby talk Goliath again, A++.

    "Considering Alfred feeds them the same as Ace and Titus, man I should *hope* they're getting the highest quality food." Phoebe jokes to Damian. "And we go running every morning, even ran into Dick's new roommate on a trail." she jokes, giving a grin to Steph as Potato determines that Steph is The Best, and lifts one leg, tail thumping into the ground as he wriggles at the scritches and thumps, his tongue blepping repeatedly, and then hanging out as he chewbacca noises again.

    "This is Potato; he's an adoptee from the pound. I have a friend in the Veterinary program so I'm going to get him tested for blindness and deafness, because I swear he has a cheese radar."

    Idu, on the other hand, elegantly allows for Damian to pet his head, and his curled-over tail wags happily because yes, Idu is the best boy, he knows it, and he is happily accepting the affections.

    "So, you a mechanic, Faceless One?" she questions, looking to the fourth person hanging out around Steph's car.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
<<Hello, Phoebe. Miss Brown...>>, The Faceless' voice sounds slightly more casual, and his mask/visor falls on Damian, <<And you must be... Damian, Phoebe's sister. Pleased to meet you.>> He holds posture for a second. <<I am - among other things.>>

Under that mask, he is kinda grinning...

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown has so far progressed through, "Who's a good boy? You're a good boy! Yes you are! Yes you are!" and is now moving on to behind the ear scritches, showing her outstanding form by working in occasional throat scritches.

She turns her attention to Phoebe to give a nod at the comment about the new roommate. Or, cave-mate as it may turn out to be. Bucket-mate? Well, it's a bucket in a cave beneath a room, so the terminology is left to the reader to decide.

"Are you cosplaying," Stephanie asks The Faceless, "Or out here advertising something?" She seems to guess cosplaying as she doesn't notice any signs like for a garage on the caped mechanic's costume.

Damian Wayne has posed:
'Faceless One.' Phoebe just called him 'Faceless One'. Now, his two 'sisters' have been around long enough to recognize that subtle bristle that races through Damian's frame. "It does not mean someone would not slide him an errant pizza crust." that to Phoebe, as he rises to his feet, dusting off his hands after petting Idu and his attention turns to the regatta as the pumpkins are floating down the river.

"Are you here as the evening's entertainment?" comes the question from the youngest Wayne. "I have not seen you with balloon animals, card or parlor tricks or a ventriloquist's dummy."

And that's when Stephanie joins in, and Damian feels a kindred spirit, at least for a moment. But right now, as he looks at his own distorted refraction in the Faceless One's faceplate, he grunts. "I am going to secure some fried /something/ for you and Phoebe, Stephanie. I will be back soon."

A pivot on his heel and he is pratically marching on his way towards the food tents. Because staying there would have ended in bad things.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
The Faceless (One) repeats the question, <<Cosplaying...?>> After a moment, he answers. <<If this were cosplaying, then it would mean there was some original I would have to base my costume on, right?>>

<<No>>, he continues, <<I'm not cosplaying. This is an original of my own design.>> He adds, <<Let's just say that I'm here, and the Halloween season is the only time I could find to come here, circumventing my self-imposed exile.>>

He looks at Damian, <<I'm here to have a good time, just like you or everybody here gathered. Nothing more.>>

Back to Stephanie and Phoebe, he points to Damian (although it may be hard to tell, with so little detail from that dark fabric), <<Pissed at something, and I'm to blame?>>

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Faceless One. Yes, but it was more in regards to this guy having no face. A week ago Phoebe didn't have a face. It was a weird Tuesday.

    It got fixed by the question of 'What's brown and sticky' and the answer not being a stick.

    Potato is absorbing all the attention, His tail has become a weapon of mass distruction and occasionally hits Stephanie's shin as he provides messy bully kisses and wriggles of epic proportions.

    Idu on the other hand appears to have developed a :expression as Damian decides to take his leave, but he looks to Phoebe. Phoebe lets go of Idu's leash and Idu picks his leash up in his mouth, and goes to follow Damian to make sure he's all right.

    Phoebe leans back on one heel.

    "Also, that would be Damian, Phoebe's brother. And given your cadence of speech, the way you're holding yourself, and the odd lack of people around you--" Phoebe trails off a moment, her eyes narrowing.

    "I'd say that you're someone who knows me better than Damian -- who'll be fine. Some of us are a little more sensitive to not seeing faces on things, they tend to creep me out too." she jokes. "Did we go to school together?" she questions, and then she tilts her head towards the river.

    "We should go try to take in the pumpkin float before they all sink into the estuary, though, c'mon."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown is willing to follow along to see the pumpkins. She'll let Phoebe take the lead and fall into step behind her. Working a remote to make the Compact beep as the alarm is set. For not the first time she glances back at the car, envisioning it with even more capabilities than the race circuit called for.

But the smells of the fried Gotham fair delicacies pulls her attention back forward. And watching as the giant pumpkins turned boats drift down the river.

"I wonder if they do something special to grow them that big?" she asks. And in other company there would probably be a pointed Poison Ivy comment made here, but she knows the first rule of Bat Club.

Damian Wayne has posed:
When Idu catches up to him, Damian gives the dog a ruffle and takes the lead. Apparently Phoebe did this just to tether him and keep him from wandering off. He wasn't! He just needed to breathe for a moment.

Arriving at the fair tents, he disappears for several minutes, off doing Damian type things. He'll be back shortly!

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
The Faceless (One), realizing his mistake, makes an audible 'gah!'. Damn you, Sheila, for being in Caleb's mind all the time, he now thinks 'brother' but 'sister' comes out his mouth. Psychology at its best! Maybe even psychiatry.

<<Well, that's just great. Me, poster face for botched presentations...>> A slight motion of the shape that could indicate a shrug, <<Good thing I don't have a face.>>

He starts to move with them towards the estuary. <<Not to my knowledge, no.>>

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Oh! It's selective breeding! The variety they're growing is probably Atlantic Giant, they require a lot of care and a lot of space over their growing area --" Phoebe begins, and then she continues excitedly "but they require a lot of specialized care, like after a certain point you have to shade the gourds themselves, and it's become an increasingly heavy burden to find places to grow them because they take up so much space and you have to move the area you grow these particular kinds to prevent borers and striped potato beetles from getting into them. You also have to hand-polinate because some vines grow all female or all male flowers so you have a chance of not having the right gametes to make the fruit, and THEN once you hand polinate you cut down to four flowers per vine, and then once you get an idea of how your gourds grow it's one gourd per plant so that plant can devote all of its resources to making that one gigantic. And pretty much all Atlantic Giants are decended from a couple of plants from one farm in Maine like, thirty years ago and now it's not unusual to have pumpkins that weigh more than some small cars!" Phoebe states with excitement, talking with her hands as she motions hand-polination, explosive growth.

    "And part of the reason why they're so pale is because of the lack of sunlight that causes the pumpkins to turn the jack-o-lantern orange, so a lot of them are yellowish or yellow-red without turning orange...." Phoebe trails off.

    "... my dad and I tried to grow them one year in our back yard, before the fire." she explains to Steph, who might remember that Chuck Beacon, Phoeb's OG adoptive dad, was indeed a lieutenant in the Fire Department in Gotham City, and one of the few who stayed through No Man's Land.

    "And you have a face, I'm just trying to figure out whose face it is." Phoebe states smartly, making kissy sounds at Potato so that he toddles along happily.

    Idu follows Damian. He indeed has his 'Service Dog' vest on, and is SUCH a good boy with Damian holding his lead, being terribly professional even as he sees... other dogs not being so professional.

    Such is the life.

Damian Wayne has posed:
After disappearing amongst the carnival tents for a while, there is a bit of a commotion. Damian is apparently at work, because when he comes back out, he is not alone.

He is carrying three corn dogs and three lemonades in plastic cups in a drink carrier. However, Idu has riders. A pair of three foot tall stuffed teddy bears dressed like Superman that even has the little black hair and the 'S' curl on their foreheads.

When he comes back to the group, he explains. "I was told that when you go to a fair, you win prizes for your loved ones or family and friends. As you are the latter and I am not seeing anyone, these are yours."

He off-loads a bear to Phoebe. To Stephanie, he comments, "Your car looked like it needed a passenger. And you are seeing my brother, so I guess you count." Bear offered to her. "I have also procured food and beverage. Do we know what pumpkin has won yet?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown is caught by surprise by Phoebe's knowledge of giant pumpkins. Her very poorly functioning internal filter just barely stops a quip about being ready for Gotham's next big supervillain with a pumpkin theme. Holiday Pie-Man, or maybe The Gourded Terror.

But no, she swallows it down, and is glad she has as Phoebe reveals that source of her knowledge. "That's pretty cool," Stephanie says in a tone genuine with a little bit of emotion. "Spending that kind of time together with him," she adds.

And then Damian arrives in the perfect moment to keep Stephanie's thoughts and emotions from running down that patriarchal rabbit hole. She grins at the bear. "Thank you," Stephanie says as she examines the ursine stuffed animal. "I love him," she says. Damian earns himself a smile and Stephanie takes the refreshments when offered.

She looks back over to No-Face, he of the mutating hero name. "So, yeah, are you someone we know?" she asks.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
<<And is it that hard?>>, The Faceless (One) asks, with perhaps something of a chuckle. <<I keep my face hidden because I don't need the fame and recognition.>> He adds after a second, <<Although with you, it would be alright.>>

To Stephanie, though he doesn't change posture. <<Well, we met once... Thoguh knowing me for real would likely count as a 'no'.>> His attention turns towards the car. <<So, the engine hasn't given you any problems whatsoever? That's good.>> Maybe a hint dropped?

With Damien's return, he replies, <<Now, Damien doesn't know me at all - which is fine.>> To him in particular, <<Sorry that you feel upset, but I am doing this for the spirit of the season... And my own protection.>>

<<He looks at Phoebe, <<I will give you a hint...>> He leans closer - if allowed, that is, <<Ninjas...>>

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Idu is only forty-five pounds of dog, the almost-two-year-old sighthound struggles a little under the fact that he's now carrying two three foot tall stuffed teddy bears with superman symbols on them and looking *extremely* disappointed that he's been reduced to 'pack animal'. He is horrified. Here he thought Damian was a noble kindred spirit, but no. No. BETRAYAL.

    "Aww! Thank you Damian -- this'll go great next to my Unlicenced Batman and Robin of Indeterminate Identity in my apartment!" she smiles, holding up Superbear and accepting the refreshments.

     As the two Superbears are lifted off him, he flops to his stomach. And then to his side. And then to his back and YOWLS as if he's dying, making a big scene as he rolls back and forth like a toddler. And while this is going on, and drawing attention, Potato just sits and tilts his head, ears pricking up. He's also sat on Steph's foot.

    And as Caleb leans forward, Phoebe tenses. Faceless and keeping his distance was all right, leaning in towards her, she can feel the muscles in her arm tense, because if it's Phillip Cupp under there -- the bastard running against Harvey Dent and threatening Phoebe's safety to the point where someone had to step in and break his nose -- she's going to throw him into the river.

    Luckily, it is not. She raises her eyebrows, and then takes out her phone, and types in to the recent messages:

    >Caleb Dykstra.<

    "Idu," she comments, "you're making a scene, calm down."

    And Idu, pitching a fit, rolls to his stomach and seems to Plainly Say, with an actual humanish voice:

    "No."

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian draws in a breath. "This is the thing. And I'm sure you never heard this before, so I'm just going to explain." he says to the Faceless One. "This is Gotham City. Where clowns are not funny, the fauna can and will kill you, and some even think a gun is weak compared to some of the things you can face."

He looks to Stephanie and Phoebe and continues. "So when I see someone that is in a costume and cape and he is not really sharing his reason for being here other than his own protection, I get skiddish. I'm a Wayne. And Waynes and other rich kids tend to make really nice kidnap bait for those that want to try to make a quick buck. So you will pardon me if I feel unease in your presence."

And before he can say anything further, Idu is throwing a fit. "The animals were barely ten pounds total, he should have been able to handle that...." And then Idu /talks/. Damian's eyes widen and that angry look is suddenly focused on Caleb. "What have /you/ done to Phoebe's dog?!?" he demands angrilly.

Hair-trigger goes click.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
If the masked person isn't committing any crimes, threatening people with condiments or quilts or kites, then Stephanie seems content to focus on the food that was brought back. She is a growing college student after all. And she doesn't seem to make the connection about the car engine, but then it is a kind of vague connection at that. As she listens to Damian's comments to the Faceless One, she gives a tiny bob of her head in agreement. "Of course the snipers would shoot you if you did," she says, peering about as if to see where the Wayne protective details that doesn't exist has set up now.

But, back to eating. "This is good," she says after a first bite. "Oh no! There goes one of the pumpkins!" Stephanie points down towards the river where one of the pumpkins seems to be having a ballast problem. Is starting to gradually tip to the side. The people inside are trying to lean the other way to keep it upright.

But it tips further and further. People are pointing and the crowd starts to make a little noise. Then for a few moments it starts to tip back towards straight, causing the crowd's pitch to change. But it's for naught as the pumpkin lists again further, until finally the rim reaches the water surface. The river pours in and soon the pumpkin's crew are swimming.

The only thing that could take Stephanie's attention from the sinking pumpkin would be a talking dog. The blond's eyebrows go up and she turns to regard the animal.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
<<Yes...>>, The Faceless (One) sighs, <<Gotham City; where every day is Halloween.>> A quip that he learned from his days working for criminals.

The otherwise featureless shape - aside from that shiny mask - recoils when Ibu the dog snaps and barks, and apparently... Talks?? <<I'm just as surprised as you are.>> But yes, you can't see it, and the distorted voice hides it. <<And apparently this Halloween, dogs get to talk.>> He shrugs, <<Somehow.>>

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Damian-- Damian stop -- it's okay--" Phoebe is one hundred percent unafraid to reach out and touch Damian, looking to grab him by the shoulders before he tries to stab Caleb under the arm. Because under someone's arm is a REALLYAWESOME place to stab them if you want them to die quickly due to all the heavy-carriage veins and arteries, and she knows Damian DEFINITELY knows this fact.

    And Phoebe switches over language to Arabic, though hers is antiquated and horribly Egyptian <Idu has not been harmed. He is misbehaving. I promise to you, he can talk on his own.> and then she takes a deep breath, looks to Steph with contemplation a moment, and then to Caleb, and she goes, very loudly:

    "Man have those ventriliquism lessons paid off! Hey -- is that the Gourdtanic that sank first?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian is grabbed by the shoulders and comes to a halt. Only because it's Phoebe. And she's right about everything she suggested. His attention turns to her though when she switches to another language and he calms. <<Is this new?>> he asks her in return.

He squats down to Idu. "If I realized you were harmed, I apologize. I will get you an extra cut of steak tonight, even if I have to sneak by Alfred for it." he promises.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
<<Yes, they did>>, Caleb The Faceless tells Phoebe. <<Boy, you got me good.>> He adds, <<A little more touch on the Arabic, though...>> Queue back to where he worked for the mob, and sold drugs to a lot of people - Arabs included, so he would recognize the dialect, even if not speak it.

He watches Damian's interaction with Idu. Why is he talking like the dog would understand his sentence?

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Thank you ancestors for the gift of Tongues. <<No, he's been able to talk for months. He just chooses when he wants to. And he understands us perfectly, he's misbehaving because you made him work. Just... don't tell Alfred or your Father.>> Phoebe replies, and then she pats Damian on the shoulder and releases him.

    "He's mad because he had to carry something is all. He's *fine*." Phoebe assures both Damian and Caleb, and Idu, chastized, huffs out and hops back to his feet, and then sits as if nothing he has ever done has been wrong.

    With Stephanie checking in with the grounded gourds, Potato is seatless.

    He chooses to sit on Damian's feet next.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Because Damian likes dogs more than people. It really is that simple. He gives the dog a gentle ruffle.

There's a nod to Phoebe. <<Tell them what?>> he asks dryly, before he rises up. "I have played games. I have tried food. I have watched the pumpkins. I believe I am ready to go home."

And hide in his room or the Cave. Another pat to Idu and a gentle nudge. "I will see you soon, sister." he offers to Phoebe, as he prepares to depart.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
The Faceless (One/Caleb) looks at Ibu and then Potato. <<I thought about getting a dog, once. But not only was the maintenance something beyond our scope, but I wasn't going to allow some mob bastards to...>>, he lets his voice trail off.

He nods as Damien departs, <<Nice meeting you, Damian. Wish it had been under better circumstances.>>

Back to Phoebe, <<I couldn't allow a pet to come under harm, with our precarious situation then.>>

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Thanks, Damian. I'll drive Steph back if we can't get her car working. As it turns out, this guy's a mechanic." she motions to the costumed Caleb, and then she turns back to Caleb, the man, the myth, the costumed guy. She has Idu's leash back in her hand now, along with the Superbear, the Lemonade, and her fried foods.

    "No, no, I get it. If anyone were to hurt Idu or Potato, I'd be pretty upset. Kinda like if someone were to hurt one of my brothers' pets, they all have equal chances of going John Wick or Worse on anyone that hurts one of our family or our furry family members." Phoebe remarks with a small smile.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
<<Well, you know how pissed off I get...>>, The Faceless (One) replies in something of a whisper. But then, he changes subject, <<Okay, I'm gonna go find myself something to eat.>> Deadpan. <<Though taking the mask off's gonna have to be away from prying eyes...>>