16137/Justice League Dark - Pumpkin Party

Justice League Dark - Pumpkin Party
Date of Scene:	02 November 2023
Location:	Candle, Booke and Belle
Synopsis:	Pumpkin Party!
Cast of Characters:	Nettie Crowe, Joshua Foley, Gabby Kinney, Sara Pezzini, Richard Stadler, Lydia Dietrich

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Nettie Crowe has posed:
    The Candle, Booke and Belle Shoppe (so many E's) is set up for a party.

    The tea bar has been cleared, and there are an assortment of teas and mismatched cups and saucers available for sampling to one side, with water in carafes marked with certain temperatures and 'for black teas' 'for fruit teas' 'for smoked teas' 'for green teas'. The rest of the counter is covered with dainties like cucumber sandwiches, meringues, and little teacakes and cookies, some dusted with orange colored powdered sugar to look like pumpkins.

    Most of the wares have been moved to a different room to allow for some small high-top tables and chairs. The acid-green jukebox is playing Halloween Hits like 'I Put a Spell On You', "Minnie the Moocher' 'St. James Infirmary' 'Abracadabra' and other assorted Halloween-y type sounds for the evening.

    There are tables set up with pizza, with sandwiches, and a bubbling cauldron of mysterious green, bubbling 'Witch's Brew' (if you decide to try some, tell Nettie so she can assign what it is to you!).

    There is a crackling fire in the fireplace adding to the ambiance of the room, where the lights are dimmed, and along all the rafters of the shop grinning, scowling, grimacing pumpkins flickering with orange light within are staring down at the party ? there appears to be one for every member of the party in attendance. Plus or minus.

    There are a pair of crows flitting about through the air, the familiar Corvax wearing a tiny party hat with pumpkins on it, and a hooded crow shyly poking his head out from behind other pumpkins.

    A large tub for bobbing for apples is to the back, and as Werewolf of London begins on the jukebox, Nettie Crowe, wearing a WWII nurse uniform (carefully patched up), looks over at the jukebox.

    "Really. And without our resident in the house. For shame."

Joshua Foley has posed:
Joshua arrives at the shop, the little bell jangling to announce his entrance as he hold the door open for a moment. He went thrifty with his shopping. A large orange sleeveless puffy vest is layered over a blue denim shirt with is layered over a light blue and white checkered shirt which is over a black T-shirt.

The checkered shirt and black t-shirt are tucked into a pair of blue jeans, that lead down to high top sneakers. He carries an inflatable guitar, and a polaroid picture of Nettie, which is why he quickly takes one of her so that he can complete the effect! "Hi, mom!" he greets her cheerfully, "And Corvax! Happy Halloween."

And as Werewolves of London winds down, the jukebox switches to 'Back in Time' by Huey Lewis and the News.

The Jukebox gets it.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
PUMPKINS. And spooky music, and the smell of tea as opposed to apple cinnamon pumpkin spice everything thank god. That god old after awhile but this still had that nice 'Fall/Halloween' vibe to it for Gabby. Which was perfect. After a few days away because of *things*, trying to give Josh some space, and enjoying getting to know someone new she's back to celebrate in a much more laid back manner than, say, the Hellfire Club.

She's dressed, of all things, a 1950's housewife. Except there's blood stains on her apron and the handle of a knife poking out from one bloodied pocket. Apparently she had enough of... whatever had gone on? Yes. She's humming happily as she enters dressed as such cracking a grin over at Nettie.

"Ah, brought out the old uniform?" She teases, only to crane her neck looking up at the rafters at Corvax and the new guy. "Hi guys! Let me know if you want anything specific and I'll set up a proper crow-sized plate for you."

As for Josh she grins as well, "Hey Josh. Nice outfit!"

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Hope you're wearing Calvin Klein underwear under there!" Nettie calls out, giving a little swoosh of her little shoulder-cape as she re-sets her hat.

    "And yes. Mind you it's a bit aged and needed a bit of patching. Forgot there was a bullet hole that I never fixed. Kind of left in a bit of a rush after things went a bit south there, but felt like it was a good time to bring it out. Almost ninetieth anniversary an' all." Nettie states with a grin, "Come in, come in, see if you lot can find your pumpkin up in the rafters if you so like." she motions, and watches the door to see if any stragglers show.

    "Have you two met the new crow yet?"

Joshua Foley has posed:
"Hey Gabby." Josh returns her grin. Apparently time apart was all it too to repair them back to something similar to friendship. "You got a little..." he gestures to his chest. "A little something there." He means blood, and he knows. It's the joke and the costume. But he is trying to perserve the friendship, at least.

When Nettie mentions the crow, Joshua /does/ know. He steps away from him for a moment. "He was Skullcrusher." he explains to Gabby. "Not that I know who he is now." A chuff of a breath and he takes some tea to soothe himself. That's over now. Stop dwelling on it."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Slipping in through the door being held open for her, Sara is dressed in what is pretty common for her. A black turtleneck with business slacks, and over that a cropped leather jacket. On her feet are her usual black leather biker boots, though these look pretty new, an indication that she had to buy new ones recently. In her hand she carries a pastry box from the Lil Italian Bakery, most likely her Aunt was at it again.

Removing the scarf from around her neck, she tucks it into the pocket of her jacket before looking around. The place looked amazing, like real Halloween and comfortable. At the precinct they had put up those stupid paper pictures on the walls, but that was the extent due to most of the officers learning that all those Halloween things were real.

"Wow Nettie, you went all out," she offers, before glancing to Joshua for a moment. She seems to be debating something but lets it go for now. "Aunt Ruth sent over some Penettone and Bussolai for the part," is then added, before she moves to add the container to the food on the table.

"Evening Gabby," she offers with a smile. "Good to see you."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "For what it's worth, I chose to give him a chance. What that ... monster... did to those children was unforgivable. He had regrets. I offered him a chance to get back at the man who did this and a chance to learn a different way. So... come down, Lad, meet the family."

    There's a flapping of wings, and the smaller, hooded crow comes down and lands awkwardly on the cash register. He sounds very quiet and scared as he half whispers, half croaks a 'Hello'.

    "This is Torny. Not his real name, mind you, but yes. He *was* an enemy once. And now he's in my charge." Nettie introduces the smaller, nervous bird.

    Corvax meanwhile flits down, and lands on Gabby's shoulder.

    "Don't you look a treat, Gabby. Off with the new beau's body parts already then?" Corvax asks in good nature and with horrible timing.

    "Ah! Sara, come down and join the fun. I was... hoping for a bit more of a bigger turn out... mm. Must be something going on I didn't take into account."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"Who's Calvin Klein?" Gabby jokes back to Nettie at mention of wearing things under here. Either it was an actual reference to what was popular underwear at the time, or ... she was making a Back to the Future reference. Either way she goes with playing clueless about it. Seemed easiest.

At Josh's remark she smoothes her hands over her apron with a little fake giggle. "Oh my how silly of me." At least she cracks a joke though, and grins broadly at Josh again. "You look good too. And..." Her head tilts up again at the second bird nodding. "I get second chances. I mean, I was raised to be an assassin myself." When he offers a hello she grins again, "Hey, welcome to the group." Even if he was now an undying crow. Kind of?

At Sara's entrance she peels apart from the group to give the other leader a quick hug, "Good to see you too Sara! The place does look great," she has to admit, "And I'm starting to wonder what's in that cauldron over there." Maybe she would dare to find out.

When Corvax settles on her shoulder she tilts her head to the side to peer at him from the corner of her eye still grinning. "Nah, he'd give as good as he'd get." Though she hadn't mentioned that to Josh yet. Oops.

Joshua Foley has posed:
"Yeah, I should have done better advertising it." Joshua admits. "I thought you had done more than enough word of mouth." He pauses however when Sara arrives. And he realizes she is not in costume.

When Gabby makes her way over to her for a hug, he waits patiently and when they part, he makes his way over to where Sara is setting down the baked goods. "I'm fresh out of plutonium for my DeLorean, or I'd go back and tell you there were costumes." Offered in way of apology, he leans in and gives her a kiss on the cheek. "You look great regardless."

"Hello Torny." he finally offers to the crow, his hand finding Sara's and taking it. "Mom trusts you, so I'm going to do the same." It's the best he can do right now.

But apparently, Gabby wasn't the only one that changed things up.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara accepts the hug with a soft chuckle, even returns it. She's not usually one to offer out hugs, but she will always accept one. "Maybe you should go check out the cauldron and find out if its safe, we are talking about Nettie here."

Accepting Joshua's hand in her own she watches the new bird appear and say hello. This was a part of magic she didn't understand, and Witchblade hadn't bothered to explain. "Hello Tony, nice to meet you," she offered pleasantly. If Nettie approved, see also turned this being into a crow, then clearly he was acceptable. "And evening to you as well Corvax," she adds, not wanting the other crow to get jealous.

Flipping open the pastries with her free hand, she is now content that she fulfilled her Aunt's instructions. "I haven't worn a costume since I was a kid, so even if I had been informed, I wouldn't have put much effort into it. Hope no one minds."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Corvax flits over. "Nonsense. This is strictly --" he picks up one of the pastries from Sara with his beak "A come-as-you-are event!" he states, and then flits back up to the rafters, disappearing amongst the pumpkins.

    That pumpkin is definitely wearing a top hat. That might be Zatanna.

    "Nonsense. I set it out among the group. They decide to come or not, Sunshine mine, but don't you worry none. This just means that we'll have a decent amount of food to bring to the cemetary afterwards." Nettie gives a small grin and with a carefully gloved hand she claps him on the shoulder.

    Torny looks very intimidated, shrinking back a little from everyone before Nettie picks up him in one hand.

    "Torny's his new name, and he's going to be workin' on being a good lad while I work on sourcing for him possibly a new body." Nettie explains.

    "I... I *am* really sorry about everything that went on. It stopped being me for a while. Everything just... just hurt all the time." Torny states, ruffling his feathers and nervously trying to motion with his wings like someone would their hands, "An' Miss Nettie offered me a second chance after she saw what we all went through. And I accepted it."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney stares at the two a moment with eyebrows JUMPING up only for a rather broad smile to spread over her at the sight. It was good to know that they were happy after all. "Ah ha! Well then I guess I don't have to worry too much about things," she says with a laugh that tapers off to a softer look. It wasn't 'relief' she was feeling, it was just... actually happy for them.

"Your Aunt's pastries are always welcome here, Sara. Seriously she's a great baker."

As for the white and black crow she offers a friendly, "Nice to meet you too, Tony. I'm Gabby. One of the leaders around here, though admittedly the youngest." Nevermind she was the one who got some of them together though. Details! "We'll do our best to help you out, Tony." Torny? Tony? She wasn't sure if that was being stuck with or not.

Joshua Foley has posed:
"It's fine, Torny. I hope you find your peace." Joshua offers to the crow. But no offer to pet it or the like. He's not there yet. When Gabby makes the connection between the pair, Joshua grins over at Sara. "Yeah, we met at the burn the past thing that Lydia did and really hit it off." His hand gives Sara's an affectionate squeeze before letting it go.

And since noone else is daring to do it, he wil be the first to take a cup and fill it from the mysterious cauldron, while at the same time taking one of Sara's pastries to have with it.

"We went snowboarding the other day - then got turned away from the waterpark because of my skin." A roll of his eyes. "She tried to stand up for me and it was really sweet. So. Here we are."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Now that the name as been said by someone without an accent, Sara realizes she said it wrong. True New Yorker, shitty with accents. "Oh, Torny... my bad," she offers the bird, as if his not real name really mattered to him at the moment.

"It was not sweet, it's what I do. They have no legal ground to stand on, and I've already contacted a lawyer," she snorts toward Joshua. Okay, it was sweet, she stood up in front of everyone and announced they were wrong for using the color of his skin against him. "The manager's comment about not understanding about how the mutation happens, yeah, lawyer was all over that. I figure the lawsuit will hit the news in the next couple of days." You can take the NYPD out of NY, but you can't ake them stop doing their job.

"So what /is/ in that cauldrin?" she finally asks, to change the subject for Joshua's sake. "She was going to make more cannoli, but I made her promise to make anything BUT those instead," she adds to Gabby, then takes a moment to look between Joshua and Gabby. There was something there, but she had no idea and since she wasn't working, she would let it go.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "What's in the cauldron? Oh, my sweet child of summer -- it's witches brew! Fillet of a fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bake; Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg and owlet's wing... this and that and another thing..." Nettie trails off as she gives a wave of one hand, sturdy shoes tapping as she makes her way to the bubbling green, and she draws a ladle and puts it into a glass cup.

    She gives a grin, and offers it up.

    "Who wants to try?"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney regards the cauldron. With a stern, steady gaze. "Tongue of dog?" There's a long pause there as she considers it thoughtfully. "... You wouldn't take the tongue out of a dog so ... You let a dog drink out of it." She nods solemnly because that made SO much more sense to her. And while it may be yucky it was way less yucky than the thought of a dog tongue floating around in there.

"Eh, sure, I'll give it a go. If anyone's going to survive something weird it's me. Or Josh."

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Was this the place? Stadler frowned, as he consulted, first, the business card in front of him, and then his phone. It felt like he'd been walking in circles for a little bit of time, and perhaps today, of all days, wasn't the best time to do it. The Space Port could wait, they said, and as much as he liked giving candy out to children when they came by, he had felt a bit... restless waiting for them (and it always felt like there were less children each year). So. He might as well do something productive, and speak with this... witch about common associates.

The shop certainly looked the part, though he couldn't tell if it was aggressive branding or hiding in plain sight. Nevertheless, the name matched, so.

He stepped forward, hesitating slightly, before knocking twice, and trying the handle. He didn't even know if they'd be open around this time.

Joshua Foley has posed:
Joshua accepts the first cup. Because surely his mom would not cast a spell on him. Right? Right? As he lifts it up, he offers a bright, "Cheers!" to Gabby and Pez before he takes a quaff from the cup.

"Oh! This is really good!" he comments. "A little heavy on the lizard. Non alcoholic, of course!" A wink to Nettie. And then he looks around. And turns to Sara, "Pez, I didn't get like... donkey ears or a tail, did I?"

Which is way of trying to distract her from the whole waterpark thing.

Hearing the doorhandle jingle, he sets down his mug. "Be right back, I'll get it!" He wanders over and opens the door. "Oh! Mom... I mean, Miss Nettie said to expect guests! Please, come in!" With that, he steps back to let Richard in before he closes the door and moves to rejoin Sara.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Whether it was real witches brew, or just Nettie joking around, Sara had no intentions of drinking anything from that cauldron. Coffee, tea or alcohol, those were the things she drank most often and she seriously doubted Nettie spiked the witches brew.

"I don't see any additional parts," she offers with a chuckle. "But you could have grown witches nipples and I wouldn't see those." Yes, that comment did come from Witchblade but she laid claim to it.

With the jiggle of the door, she found herself wondering if it was locked or not, so when Joshua opened it she was convinced it was. Never in a million years did she expect to see who was standing there.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    The Candle, Booke and Belle is open at all times to al friends. Stadler had the card, and the door opens to him easily, showing a small party going on in the shop, with apple bobbing, an acid green 1950's jukebox jamming along to Ballroom Blitz as a golden boy dressed like a certain 1980's Time Traveler who kissed his own mom once, a 1950's housewife who absolutely could *not* take one more minute of her now-pieced-out husband, a WWII nurse from the UK, and Sara Pezzini.

    Nettie doles out additional cups of the bubbling Witch's Brew.

    "Ah! Mr. Stadler! Come in, dear -- welcome to our Pumpkin Party. We're just gathering and celebrating a new year and whatnot. Come, come, have some tea or coffee. A biscuit. A sandwich." she motions Richard into the shop in invitation. Nettie just gives a smile from beneath her nurse's cap.

    "Everyone, this is Mr. Stadler. He works at the school our Miss Gutierrez attends when she is not with us." she introduces Rick easily enough "And also helped out against Goosifer."

Richard Stadler has posed:
     "Uhh.. .ahh. Thank you." Rick said to the teen that opened the door. He frowned. Certainly he looked familiar... perhaps that Golden Boy when they were dealing with the Hell Goose? That sounded rather plausible there. And the setting simply made him realize that, once again, he felt like a kill joy in a button down shirt and some sturdy pants. The jacket could have been at least a little festive, certainly, but the last time he had worn a costume must have been a decade ago.

He wasn't counting his uniform; that only felt a bit like a costume these days.

"Ms. Crowe. Good to meet you again, and you're... err... friends, I should assume. I do recognize your... ahh... son?" He says, his tone questioning. "I don't think we've met, however,"He says, extending a hand to Gabby prefunctionary, as he scans the room...

Oh.

"And... ahh. Ms. Pezzini. Fancy meeting you here... I... well, I do seem to be interuppting a party. Though I really should have expected that." He says, before looking over the tables, and grabbing a coffee from what must have been an overflow. "I do appreciate it. I'll never turn down a good coffee, but I had thought we'd-"

It took him about half a second after swallowing to realize that maybe the coffee had been seperated for a reason. His hand quickly goes over his mouth before making more if an issue, and he at least manages to swallow it. "God- Sorry, what- Gah."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia can be heard before she can be seen. From outside the door she can be heard singing, 'A Spoon Full of Sugar,' in her sweet and dulcet voice. When she arrives it's clear //why// she's singing that: She dressed up as Mary Poppins. It's a rather good costume, very movie accurate, including the hat with the daisies, the large canvas bag and the umbrella whose handle whose head is carved into that of a parrot.

    "Hello, children," she says greeting them all in a British accent. "I hope you're all behaving today. If you haven't I'll be very cross, and you wouldn't want that, now would you?"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney glances over at the fellow who comes in with a grin. Not a familiar face, but it seemed he knew Nettie and he had the card. Plus Josh seemed to find him familiar too. When he offers a hand she takes it giving it a firm shake, and thankfully that is NOT real blood on her. "Gabby Kinney, JLD lead, one of four," she introduces. "Welcome in! It's as good a time as any to visit," she assures while turning back to regard that cauldron that Nettie had poured out. She was going to be next to try it.

Except she sees Stadler go for the coffee.

"Oh, no you don't want to--! Too late." She regards the way Stadler reacts to it, then glances over at Josh skeptically. "Now I'm not sure I want to drink it."

When she hears another coming in, she lifts both hands to cheer, "Lyds!" in greeting... Only to pause at Mary Poppins and the fact that she herself was dressed as a 1950's housewife who was currently a bit blood soaked. "Oops?"

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara moves back over by Joshua and slips her arm around his waist. "Mr. Stadler, you can't interrupt a party, you simply join one," she states with a smile. She of course is not in a costume, unless NYPD Detective counted as she was in her work clothes, and her badge was still hanging on her belt.

She pauses there as Lydia enters, one look at the costume and she instantly knew it. "Lydia, that is a wonderful costume! And no, I have not been behaving today... I never behave."

Her attention returns to Richard and his reaction to the brew mistaken for coffee, thus giving her another reason not to drink it. "This is Joshua," she indicates the young man whose body her arm is around. "Nettie's son, and my boyfriend."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie stares up at the sweet sounds of a Spoon Full of Sugar. She gets this... expression. It's both harrowing and hallowed and hollow. She looks up at Lydia.

    And she points her finger at Lydia.

    "YOU! YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD NEVER AGAIN ALLOW YOUR SHADOW TO CROSS THE THRESHOLD OF MY DOh hello Lydia dear, smashing costume. Terrifying, really and truly." Nettie states as she looks to Stadler's reaction to the brew, and she gives a slight wince. "Aye, lad, that one's not coffee." she sounds amused.

Joshua Foley has posed:
"Hi. I took off my shirt to distract Goosifier." Joshua reminds Richard. "You know, the Golden Egg?" A lame smile as he leans into Sara, his own arm hugging her in return as he waves to Lydia. "Evening, Miss Poppins!" he greets her warmly.

"You really should put a Hazmat sign on that brew." comes the small and playful tsk from the golden healer as returns to working on his pastry he had gotten earlier.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Stadler is still recovering from the unexpected swig and coming to terms with the flavor when Nettie makes a rather ominous proclamation to the room in such a way he can swear he feels a bracing wind rustling to the leaves of the trees bordering a graveyard. Or something, honestly, the flavor of this as something warm may have been throwing him off. But he was questioning if he needed to bring a gun /everywhere/ for just a few moments.

"It's fine. FIne, sorry. Just..." He says, before taking a more deliberate sip, letting it sit in his mouth for a moment, before swallowing. "Just wasn't expecting... whatever this is. Not bad, certainly, but does it have any caffeine in it?" He says, briefly, checking the cup.

To Lydia, he extends his hand again. "I... should hope she's not exactly that mad aganist a Mary Poppins, but I assume it was a joke. I say I'm feeling a bit under dressed." He says, before motioning to Sara. "Though I imagine this isn't a costume, the badge provides some color for it. Though, I'd imagine that badge means you might know a bit about interrupting parities." It was in jest, at least, before he looks over to Joshua. "Though I... didn't know you too were dating. I remember you, though. Running around that feathered catastrophe on Staten Island. I assume you're... one of those kids that goes out in costume to fight evil, then?" He says.

Gabby hets a firm nod at her profession. "I should expect to see more heroes around here. I don't know why they seem to pop up where I go. I didn't expect being a school teacher would be so exciting."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia looks taken aback by Nettie's reaction to her costume, blinking in confusion. When the woman calms down she shakes her head and mumbles, "Of course Mary Poppins is a real person. I just hope that I haven't angered her."

    Once properly inside, she goes over to one of the tables and sets the bag down on it. From it she pulls out a small cask and a wine glass. Of course what she pulled out was larger than what was inside the bag. It's all part of the costume.

    "I'm sure the real Ms. Poppins doesn't drink blood wine, but there's only so far I'm willing to go for accuracy," she explains. She nods to the cask. "Blood wine is the only thing that can get me drunk anymore. People are welcome to give it a try but it takes a certain kind of..." she gives the room a fangy grin, "appetite to appreciate."

    "It's a pleasure to meet you," she says, taking Richard's hand. Her hand is a bit cold to the touch, and the ever present starfield that surrounds her tingles on the skin. "I'm Lydia Dietrich. Night caretaker of the JLD."

    She gives Sara a very convincing disapproving frown. "Well, then. I guess I'll just have to sing at you."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "The Poppins is written into every page of the Bible, Mr. Stadler, our last encounter left me with some curious scarring that I dare not show with you young folks around." Nettie pipes up and she goes to fill another cup of the Brew from the cauldron.

    "No alcohol, no caffeine, wouldn't want to jog up anyone's anxiety with an unknown quality. As my Son stated though, plenty of lizard." she jokes, sweeping herself up a moment.

    "One thing you should never do however is threaten any of the Banks children, you know. Her lot are territorial." she sstates to Lydia, and the necromancer (retired) plucks up an old fashioned tumbler and sets it near the vampire.

    "Being a school teacher can be terribly exciting. I almost went into teaching professionally after my stint at Oxford, you know, but then I got sucked up into the birth of the Punk era and goodness, there were quite a lot of people who were terribly fascinating that I ran into." she gives a wry smile.

    "And yes, Joshua was among the fighters facing Goosifer as well. Miss Kinney is one of my favourite allies. Sara and Lydia have been boons in the care of the League Dark... and..." she pauses, and she looks around.

    "... well. I'd hoped for more of our company would put up an appearance. So... cheers, duckies." she states, fishing her flask from her pocket (it has scratched off B BARNES and has A CROWE written on it) and she thoroughly drains about half.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney reaches out to take a cup of the SUSPICIOUS stuff at this point if only because she said she would. A testing sip is taken. She tries not to sniff it too much if only because her nose might tell her something she doesn't really care to know. Her lips smack afterwards a time or two thoughtfully.

"Not bad," she has to agree with a renewed grin. A tip of her head is given to Stadler. "Eh, I've got all that training from ... places." She pauses. Maybe she shouldn't say that in mixed company? Shrugging she continues, "Might as well put it to good use. I'm not really a 'magic' sort myself but I do okay. Sorry I couldn't be there to help with the Hell goose this time, though."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Oh that's all right Gabby. After all, these things do come in threes." Nettie interjects cheerfully

Joshua Foley has posed:
"I am not stripping again for Goosifier III, the Goosifiering." Joshua says flatly. "I would rather stand on the sidelines, wave pompoms and cheer you on."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara removes her arm from around Joshua's waist long enough to go and collect a cup of coffee. A dash of cream, a sprinkle of sugar, then she stirs them in and retracts a spoon that is still whole. Some might thing the coffee would eat it, it's that strong.

Carrying the coffee back over, she slips her arm back around his waste."I missed this Goose thing, most likely was armpit deep in Implings or working with the Avengers," she states then takes a sip of the coffee. "However, the idea of using a shirtless Joshua to distract it amuses me."

Joshua Foley has posed:
"That is what you'd focus on." Joshua says with a laugh. "It is getting far too cold for me to try that stunt again." he confesses. "And you're just going to have to find the time to work with us, when it shows up again." A wink to Sara as he hears his name.

He swivels to look up at Nettie, "Healing services available 24/7!" he chirps warmly. "However, I am no longer available as 'bait'."

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Stadler hears Gabby mention training locations, and can't help but let a ghost of a smirk out. "Oh, well, trust me, Ms. Kinney; places are the best placed to be trained to do 'things' at, I certainly can speak from some experience." He noted. Though, given what Ms. Crowe is announcing, it does sound like I may have... 'joined' some sort of team event. The... magicians, right? Something like that W.A.N.D. I keep reading about in the paper? I can certainly appreciate those skills. I think I might know a few with some small talents in it, as well. Again, as a school teacher. I'm suprised,"

He does give Nettie a bit of an impressed look. "Oh... ah. When I say 'teacher' I mean at Happy Harbor High School. I'm afraid I've not taught at some place so prestigious... hell, I suppose the only university teaching experience might be being a TA when I was in Metropolis."

He doesn't mention guest lectures. No need to be a braggart amongst witches.

"Not that I can speak much to Punk, but I'll take your word for it. Fight the power, ehh?" He says, giving an awkward smile and raise of his fist.

And... well. He simply has to stare at the cask. "Can you... what exactly is 'blood wine', in this context? Last I checked, you couldn't really ferment blood... well, I suppose hyperglycemia might make it a bit easier. Though I doubt that's what you have in mind."

And to Sara, he shakes his head. "You... ahh... well. It was a lot of geese, and a lot of rancid goose fat. That's what I remember of it, and I'm just... glad to leave things like that to the Coasties in the future."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "You know, I never was ever able to get a job as a teacher," Lydia says, as she pours herself a bit of that blood wine. "Not for wont of trying, though. I glowed green at the time and, well, nobody would ever come right out and *say* it, but people just don't want somebody who looks radioactive teaching their children." She chuckles and takes a sip, closing her eyes and relishing the flavor. "I do night classes, now, out at Hope House. I teach mostly English, but I help people prepare for their GEDs as well."

    She lets out a small, helpless sigh. "The first Hell Goose was bad enough," she says. "And Nettie's right. These kind of things always come in threes. We should keep an ear out for Goosezilla or something soon."

    "Normally you can't ferment blood, no," she tells Richard. "Not without magical help. There's a ritual that lets you do it, though, and it takes great care in order to ferment it right." She takes another sip of the viscous red liquid and makes a yummy little sound. "It's more like blood whiskey, if I'm to be honest. Doesn't quite roll off the tongue like blood wine does, though." She motions to the cask with a free hand. "You're welcome to give it a try."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Oh, I didn't TEACH at Oxford. Treated myself to classes from an old friend." Nettie replies, and then motions around "After I won this building from a friend of his in a game of Rummy in the Himalayas." she pauses a moment, and thinks back. "In the Thirties. Right after I married Addie." she explains. "Nice caps. They included each other in each other's books."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara actually chuckles softly before stating, "I'm a senior agent of W.A.N.D, Richard, we do all kinds of things..." she then mutters, "School teacher." and chuckles again. Many agents of SHIELD had other jobs, but after seeing Stadler in action, his pushing the school teacher thing was really funny to her.

"Hell goose, seriously?" She snorts and keeps right on chuckle. Witchblade is not laughing, he's heard of those things and described it to her as a Canadian Goose on crack, but she doesn't comment further.

"Night school can be very helpful to numerous working people, and English was the course I had the most problems with. I never knew I'd have to know that many grammatical things to write police reports."

Joshua Foley has posed:
Joshua goes quiet for a moment and holds onto Sara as the conversation whirls around him. When they finally get back to something he can understand, he turns to Richard. "...I'm training to be a doctor. Or a paramedic. I don't know which one." he admits. "I just started college and for the most part, its been me studying medical texts so I can understand how to use my powers better."

"I figure if I can be a doctor... maybe, stay in Bushwick, help mutants there. I'm already doing that, with the minor stuff. I don't know. I want to help, but..." he closes his eyes and shakes it off. "No. I want to help. No but." And he pushes himself back into being more friendly. "I had to shower for three hours to get all the goose fat off me."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney finds her way over to the SNACKS because they're there, and they're made for eating. One of the cookies is snagged to munch on as they all start talking about training, jobs, futures. She merely shrugs a little bit. "Justice League Dark. Kind of an odd name but we're a branch of it and we do the spooky stuff. It was something else before, but we evolved into what we are now." A pause comes as she smiles softly. "I think we're a lot better than in the past."

The rest of the cookie dissapears and another treat is taken up, but she doesn't immediately start chomping on it. "I'll pass on the bloodwine for tonight. It is a bit odd but ... kind of makes me feel tingly a little." Says the underage girl who probably shouldn't be drinking but is acting as if this were completely normal. "Eh, people wanted to use me as a killer. I want to be a hero. I'm good with that, where ever it takes me."

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Rick nods over to Joshua, and brightens up a bit. Well this he could understand! "Oh, you have plenty of options, then. I know you aren't likely to take Undergrad in Ann Arbor, but New YOrk does have some rather good schools, though I always like to recommend CUNY before jumping over to Columbia; they're more likely to have the EMT training you need there, being work based and all. I think you'll be able, if you focus, to do well in premed. And lord knows we need more doctors, especially where they aren't normally."

He opens his mouth, briefly, before closing it. THere was one place where he knew they would provide medic training, and the recruiters could do the job there. No need to send more young kids into hell, these days.

"Are you?" Rick says to Sara, doing a passing job of feigning disbelief. "Well, perhaps I should pick your brain at one point. Learning how things work is always useful. And I know, it certainly isn't a glamourous job, but I get to see how well the future of this country is coming along, which..." He says, turning over to Nettie. "Includes Ms. Gutierrez. Who I trust, in this case, is in good hands at her after school job?" The question is, admittedly, a serious one. "

Gabby gets a bit of a look when she mentions 'passing for tonight', and Rick shakes his head as well. "Tempting, but I keep my drinking to select times. The rest of the time it's water and caffinee, my co-dependent friend." He notes, setting his brew down to grab a cup of the same and cautiously, this time, sip it. "Keeps me away from the Nicotine at the moment. But I might drive myself to drink if there's another goose in the offing. I... really do not envy being covered in that stuff again. Three hours sounds just about the right of it, and fat gets just... clogged in a drain. Had to lie to at least one plumber."

There's a pause, and then a casual comment to Gabby. "How old are you and which people?"

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "There's some crossover between us and WAND as far as I know. I've not been invited, but now I've been rather committed to running this lot. Just the administrative and paperwork, mind." she waves her hand, and then she gives a look to Rick.

    "I protect Belinda like she's one of my own, which means not only would I put a bastard in the ground on her behalf but no one would ever find their sorry remains. Y'kin ask Joshua about how I take care of my family, Mr. Stadler." she states.

    Also, I have a cantrip for cleaning goosefat now. Should come in handy over Christmas."

Joshua Foley has posed:
"Well, when your whole power set is 'healing touch', your options are kinda limited." Joshua admits as he heads over to the snack table, joining Gabby at gathering some baked goods. They're both kids. It's what they do."

There's a frown that forms. It's not for Gabby, it's aimed at Mr. Stadler. He clears his throat. "I was homeless and living dumpster to dumpster when Nettie found me. She cleaned me up, took me in, and showed me the affection I've missed in my life for almost three years. She's the best mother I could ask for, and that's as someone that had a mother that abandoned him. She treats Belinda and I /very/ well." He grabs a few more cookies and makes his way back to Sara. "And what's it matter how old Gabby is? She does more than her fair share around here, and is fucking amazing as a leader and a friend."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia nods at Joshua. "Before I got involved with the JLD, most of my time was spent in Bushwick helping out. I created the golem that patrols the area. It was the first big project I ever did. Took months of research." She lets out a little chuckle, "Everybody just kind of assumed that it would go berserk and start killing people, but that was just //one// golem //one// time. Baruch has been going strong for... gosh... three years now? About that long. He's only ever hurt people who were trying to hurt the people of Bushwick."

    "I'm not that familiar with W.A.N.D." she says with a frown. "From what I understand they're the government's branch that handles the supernatural, like S.H.I.E.L.D. does the spy stuff. We're a bit... more low key, I guess. Not that we don't handle some of the big stuff out there but..." she shrugs. "It's not like we all can be everywhere."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Being a detective, as well have having a living lie detector on her wrist, Sara was impressed without how well Richard pulled off feigning disbelief. "I will always make myself available for brain picking, Mr. Stadler. My work with SHIELD and the JLD is important to me, though I'm no real expert on magic.... Witchblade is however, and he loves to show off."

Her eyes shift to Nettie for a moment when she mentions about asking Joshua regarding how she treats her family. She had been told Nettie adopted him and found herself wondering if she would get 'the talk' at some point.

"We all look after Belinda," she then states, looking back to Richard. "I've helped her out with some training, and she is signed up for further training to help protect herself."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney pops another snack into her mouth to chomp on while the conversation flows around her. Except of course for the questions which earn a lift of an eyebrow, and a sidelong glance over toward Nettie and Lydia. Ah, yes. But then he inquires about Belinda. "Moon Moon is totally safe with us. She's awesome," she adds in making it clear that 'Moon Moon' is likely a joke about her werewolfness.

"I'm nineteen, a mutant with a healing factor which makes it impossible for me to get drunk, poisoned, drugged, or the like. So yes sometimes I try just to see if it'd do anything. Usually doesn't. Mostly I drink Coke and Rootbeer." It's shrugged off and she answers the other question with, "Alchemax labs the people who cloned me and my sisters. The labs may have blown up already. It's been quiet for awhile on that front."

When Josh speaks up for her as well she offers him a fist-bump. "I'm working off the 'saved the world, can drink if I damn well please' rules."

With that said she reaches for more cookies only to start piling a few of various sorts onto a napkin. "I'm stealing some for Talia's son. ... I should probably tell her I'm dating him soon before that becomes more awkward."

Richard Stadler has posed:
    "Well..." Rick trails off a bit, at the strong show of support for Belinda, he lets out a bit of air. "Good. She's an exceedingly smart kid; a lot of promise with some of her projects, and I expect her to go far in college. The last thing I want to see is her rushing off into some sort of... dangerous situation, as teenagers do, without being well-prepared for it... though... Moon Moon. I'll have to store that away." He muses, taking another sip of coffee.

To Joshua, and Nettie, he gives a firm nod. "I appreciate hearing that, both of you. Helps put my mind at ease that she's got someone responsible looking out for her, though I still think I need to have a good chat with her. As for Ms. Kinney, well... hearing that a 19 year old was being trained to kill people sets off some alarms in my head. So I like to know what's going on, and whose out there, and the idea that there are some labs that are into human cloning- don't get me wrong. It's an interesting field, but a morally fraught one.. As I'm sure you don't need me telling you from the safety of a metaphorical arm chair. In terms of drinking, though, do note that you're on a businesses premises, and I don't think the city's code enforcement is going to have the understanding necessary not to make trouble. "

Another pause. "Ms. Pezzini I do appreciate that, and I'll have to have a meeting with you on it. As well as perhaps ask what sort of training Ms. Gutierrez is receiving. But, ahh... did I hear something about a killer golem patrolling Bushwick?"

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "One of Lydia's finest workings." Nettie states, "Marginilized people protecting marginilized people... and I wouldn't go as far as to say 'responsible adult'. I'm a witch, retired necromancer, former world war nurse. I mean, goodness ... wait -- /TALIA'S SON/?" NEttie blinks. She looks to Gabby a moment.

    "Good Lord. Make sure you take him the dainties too; they just don't keep."

Joshua Foley has posed:
"I'm 20 and a mutant. My ability allows me to heal anything I have knowledge of the injury of. I also heal and can resurrect myself. I am also immune to poision, alcohol, illicit drugs and probably disease."

"So Gabby and I are living our best lives." Just not together. He returns Gabby's fistbump before returning where he was next to Sara. When the announcement of Talia's son comes up, he looks confused, "I didn't know she had a son." he admits. "Good job, Gabby!" he encourages, though there are some quiet words to Sara.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
For the time being Sara listens to the conversations happening around her while sipping her coffee. She enjoyed parties in a different way than others, for her it was the people watching and listening in that made it an event, when there was no alcohol of course. If there was alcohol, she would be dancing on a table... not because she was drunk, but because it was fun.

As Joshua returns, she leans in to listen then chuckles quietly and replies just as quietly.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Thank you, Nettie," Lydia says raising her glass in a cheer to the proprietor of the establishment. "I wish I could say that at the time I really //knew// what I was doing, but knowing what I know now I probably would have done things differently." She lets out a low chuckle after taking a sip of her blood wine, "Then again, if I did it that way, it probably //would// have gone berserk and started killing people. God. It feels like it was a lifetime ago."

    "Wait. Talia has a son? You're dating Talia's son? I..." she shakes her head. "You know what? I have no room to talk. I knowingly dated a reformed international terrorist."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"Oh they didn't train a nineteen year old to be an assassin," Gabby assures Stadler with a quick laugh, and shake of her head. The fistbump reciprocated from Josh earns a quick dip of her head before she continues. "They trained me until I was 15 when I escaped."

The whole talk of Talia's kid earns a nod, and a bit of a grin. "I've known him from a few years back. We kind of reconnected recently, so. Yeah." A little grin is given around before she takes some of those sandwiches too. Dainties. Whatever Nettie wanted to call them. "Right. Well I ought to be off for now. Have a great night everyone!"

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "I'm...." Nettie pauses a moment. And then she looks down. "One hundred and sixty nine in two weeks or so. Yes, yes, nice." she waves a hand. "No one's allowed to celebrate my birthday, by the by. And of the four of us who lead, none of us are really aging on time." Nettie states, and motions to herself "'Few crows feet and my vision's going a bit, but still look twenty-four."

Joshua Foley has posed:
"I should get going as well. Do you want to stay, Sara?" Joshua asks her, before he blows a kiss to Nettie - cause she's mom. "I'll be at the shop bright and early!" he promises. And he waits for Sara to tell him if she's staying or going before he leaves.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     "Well.. you look very good, for 169." Is the least Rick can say to that bombshell. "And I don't exactly... like hearing that a company can get to that, Ms. Kinney. I can feel my head getting a little bit twisted, at the moment, so I think I better save my sanity as well and head out. Thank you, Ms. Crowe, for inviting me."