16565/Something in the Air

Something in the Air
Date of Scene:	14 December 2023
Location:	Candle, Booke and Belle
Synopsis:	Kelly and Billy meet at the Candle. There are cookies. Billy Kaplan eats himself and Kelly PRaetor gets an invitation to the Justice League Dark
Cast of Characters:	Nettie Crowe, Billy Kaplan, Kelly Praetor

---

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    The Candle, Booke and Bell is usually set for Halloween year-round, but this year it appears that there's reason to celebrate in the bleak winter.

    Holly and ivy are wound around the rafters and above, set in the collection of skulls Nettie has deigned to admit are real, and most are a good eighty years... liberated. A tree is near the fireplace, kept in a pot and quite alive and to be returned after to the forest of its origin. Presents are wrapped and set under the tree in varying sizes.

    At the tea bar there are cakes and cookies set up as if in a small party. There is even a small, unobtrusive Menorah set up with the appropriate amount of candles alight, a small way of honoring those she lost in the war.

    And those who remain.

    Candles in other arrangements are safely burning, likely warded against destroying sections of the shop.

    And Nettie herself is wearing black jeans and a particularly ugly Christmas sweater. It's green. It has a three-headed llama on it. The heads are all breathing fire, and then there are poms everywhere on the weave.

    "... no, no Corvax, I don't think getting a 'Baby's First Christmas' is *out* of the question. He'll see humor in it!"

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    As a Gay(tm), Halloween has always been Billy's favorite holiday. Mostly for non-denominational reasons, but ever since beginning his journey into being a witch, he's taken a liking to the historic reasons for the holiday.

    Of course Samhain is long since past -- seriously, how is it already December? -- so he comes dressed in his usual wear, which means jeans and a nerdy t-shirt. Today it's one of those touristy type shirts, though in this case it's espousing a ski resort on Hoth, and has been augmented by a hoodie and then a heavier jacket for extra warmth. And in his hands he's holding a stack of presents, all wrapped in different (often wildly so) types of wrapping paper and ribbon.

    He shoulders his way in through the door, almost trips over the doorjam, and flails about a bit as he tries to keep said stack of gifts from toppling. The fact that he doesn't drop any, or knock anything in the shop down as a result, is some kind of Hanukkah miracle that's for sure. He pauses for a breath once he's regained his footing and lets out a thankful woosh of air, before he perks up.

    "Hi Nettie, hi Corvax!"

Kelly Praetor has posed:
    Halloween was a fairly nice holiday. For those that weren't familiar with Kelly's new look, she was able to just wander around with zero issue and lots of compliments! Kinda awesome, kinda bittersweet, but not really a big deal. Now, however, with the winter holiday season in full swing, Kelly decided it would be proper to stop by the shop, as she really was over due for a visit, and see how things had been. The only contact she had been since then was to send some funds over for the broken window. (If Nettie cashed that check or not, she didn't know.)

    Luckily for Billy, Kelly wanders past the door just long enough after to not catch the mis-step or the greeting. Currently she was wearing an undershirt, a Meteors jersey sized for her new frame without pads, and a leather bomber jacket for warmth against the weather. ... She knew she wasn't cold blooded since her change but the winter was biting a lot harder since her change. Anyone glancing up would get a wave of a greeting from her.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie knows all about The Gay(tm). She married her wife on Halloween for Reasons. Mostly because it was Halloween and her wife was six foot of redheaded Amazonian-type woman who could drink all of the officers under the table. Nettie was not a hundred percent convinced she wasn't an Amazon.

    Wonder Woman in/deed/.

    "Ah! Billy, come in, come in -- biscuit?" she asks, motioning to a tray of gingerbread cookies. "And my dark soul, Miss Praetor as well. Come down, dears. Meet the new kid." she motions, as a hooded crow (which means he's a bit pied, gray and black and a little smaller than Corvax.

    "This is Torny. He's earning himself a second chance by doing some work for me. Torny, this is young Mr. Kaplan and Miss Praetor." she introduces the two.

    Torny sounds distinctly and violently American:

    "HOLY SHIT -- YOU'RE A DINOSAUR!"

    Corvax flits from where he was poised on a femur that was sticking out of pile of cedar garland.

    "Well spotted, lad. Now apologize to the lady."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    The treacherously tipsy tower of treats (and other assorted goods) is set down on an available patch of counter, so that Billy can avoid any further potential spillage. And then he pipes up with an enthusiastic "Sure!" as he sheds his coat (but not the hoodie) and stores it somewhere appropriate, too.

    He's headed towards the location of the biscuits (which he is worldly enough to know is British for cookie) when Kelly enters, so he spins on his heel to offer a wave. And in true New Yorker fashion, doesn't so much as blink at Kelly's saurian form. His hand drops back to his side after, and he slides into place at the cookie counter to look over what's on offer. Are they gingerbread people or just regular circular cookies? He bets any gingerbread person that Nettie would make would have some really interesting decorations.

    "Happy holidays! The place looks awesome, love the decor." He spins in place to take them all in again now that he can properly appreciate all of the wintery touches.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Happy holiday lad. Glad to have you here with us. Try these ones --" Nettie motions to the Gingerbread People.

    They are set up like various people in the Justice League dark. One has a black outfit and gray arm and a scowl. One is golden colored and has sparkly hands. Another is obviously Gabby, complete with the scars on her face and a grossly oversized smile. Sara Pezzini, Zatanna, and even someone in a trench coat with a :| expression. Several variations of skulls with flames. Billy himself. Sprite and Talia and Lydia. A chimp with a deerstalker hat.

    Really, just a whole bunch of different people in the JLD.

    It appears that Nettie got bored.

    There's also a bunch of Batman and Superman cookies. At least two Robins.

    Just a whole lot of odd folks as cookies.

Kelly Praetor has posed:
Blink. The surprise from Torny causes just the blink and nothing more. Why? She has heard that -plenty- of times since the change so, "It's alright, Nettie. Not the first time, probably won't be the last," she sounds more amused than irritated by it. Billy reacting 'not-at-all' is even MORE refreshing. "Sorry it's been a while. I've been, ah, ... training? Is that a good word for it? Probably.." That mostly involves a lot of running, jumping, and probably running into other folks doing the same on the rooftops of NYC. Something it seems every non-webslinger learns to do.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    Is it narcissistic to eat your own gingerbread cookie self? Or is it on the opposite end of the spectrum: would it be considered self-effacing?

    The turmoil is plain to see on Billy's face, his brows furrowing as his hand hovers uncertainly over the Wiccan cookie. Finally, though, he plucks it up between two fingers, pinching one of his gingerbread legs, and then... well of course he steps back to take a picture with his phone.

    "This is awesome, Nettie!" More pictures are taken, as Billy does a half-circle spin to find different backgrounds for the cookie to pop out against.

    He almost doesn't want to eat it. So, for now, he doesn't. "I just wrapped up finals, thank goodness. Then I slept for like 16 hours." Billy smiles, relief written all over his face. "Oh, what sort of training?" he asks, as he turns towards Kelly.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    It could be that Nettie was going for some sort of Jungian consumption of the self in order to rebuild in the new year, consuming and expelling the old in order to create the new. However different people start their years at different times.

    And Nettie just never stopped.

    "Oh well, you know I've baked for..." she pauses.

    "I'm going to ignore the sixties and early seventies." she mutters with amusement, giving a small smile as the hooded crow looks rather ashamed.

    "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm still getting used to having a body that's not all fucking machine and everything, and it's just that I've never seen a walking talking dinosaur!"

    "Other than Nettie." Corvax 'helpfully' adds.

    "Yeah other thaaaaaa--" Torny goes wide eyed, and then just sticks his head under his wing.

    Corvax looks very smug for a bird, and then grabs a Superman cookie to consume.

    "Well, you know it's a something." NEttie replies to Billy. "And good on you for resting! Last time I took a final I think I slept for about two days."

    "You were awake for six beforehand." Corvax barks.

    Nettie makes a :| face, and then turns back to Kelly.

    "Yes, poppet, what kind of training were you partaking in?

Kelly Praetor has posed:
After a few introductions and her greeting, Kelly wanders further in, spies the biscuits, considers taking one, but waits for a moment while Billy enjoys the sight of them, then she plucks one that appears to be Zatanna and chomps down without really any thought about it. Sure, Nettie may be what she is, but Kelly isn't expecting Nettie to voodoo the cookies or something odd like that.

"Oh, ah, just.. trying to figure out what I can do. I've only been like this for .. ah," she ticks off a few fingers, mentally counting, "4 and a half months, so, figuring out limits and such.." ROOKIE TRAINING. "Answer is, pretty damn speedy with the reflexes needed to manage it."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    "That sounds like what I had to do when I first got my powers," Billy says. He stows his phone back in his pocket, apparently satisfied with his pictorial chronicling of his cookie-self. And then he bites his own head off.

    Figuratively? Literally? He's not sure which applies. But Billy enjoys it nonetheless, dusting gingerbread crumbs from the corner of his mouth as he chews.

    Once done, Billy contemplates the rest of his cookie-self before saying, "Hope you haven't earned as many bumps and bruises as I did when I was learning how to fly." Then he laughs. "Correction: when I was learning how to land."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "See, this is why I use a *broom*. Is it all fancy with flitting clothing everywhere? No. But it gives you a handy place to hang a set of goggles. You /do/ use goggles when you fly, don't you Billy?" she asks, and then leans over "Also helps with the landing. The learning part anyway. Dirt everywhere." she murmurs to Kelly playfully.

    "Honestly everyone should wear goggles. They're just plain fashionable, look at all those Steampinks."

    "Steampunks." Corvax states. "Tricornes are better."

    "... uh..." the hooded crow blinks. "Go team... baseball caps?"

Kelly Praetor has posed:
"Eh, not so much. Being a former quarterback helps a lot with already having a bit of a foundation to work from. Just have to like... upscale? Get used to being even faster than before is wild. At full speed it just feels like the world is slowing down.." Pause. "I wonder if that's how it is for the Flash. Probably more like the world is standing still.."

Goggles. .. Huh. ... That's not a bad idea...

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    "I absolutely am not capable of flying fast enough for goggles to be necessary," is Billy's answer. "That's why I 'port most places."

    Billy chews on an arm of his cookie-self for a moment as he contemplates what his favorite head-based accessory. "Well I'm sure my brother would be on team baseball caps too but I think I'm going to go with, uh... sunglasses?" He's taking this random sidebar awfully seriously, frowning with a thoughtful look on his face as he tucks his chin against a closed fist.

    "Or, uh, what are those leafy head wreaths that they wore in Rome?" Clearly he is not yet in his masculine "obsessed with the Roman Empire" phase yet.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Laurel Wreaths." Nettie answers Billy as she hops up onto her own counter to regard the others. "And you should still wear goggles. Your poor eyes. They make those transition lenses now. Rather neat. I should look into getting tinting ones. In purple maybe. Hrrrm..." Nettie gives a small sound, and then she reaches behind the counter and pulls up a tumbler. A steel tumbler with a straw. It says "BAD WITCH" on it, and she sips as she considers.

    "Sunglasses are a good possibility though. I remember when they were invented -- well, re-invented."

Kelly Praetor has posed:
"Eh, I like the goggles idea better than the rest of those," Kelly chimes, decidedly in that field now that the idea has come up at all. "I don't THINK I got that second inner eye-lid thing, if I did I haven't noticed it or figured it out. .. Maybe if I go swimming I can find out for sure." WHO KNOWS. Another chomp.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    "I'm going to put these under the tree for everyone," Billy says, halfway through his cookie. And since he's got one hand occupied by said cookie, he pauses in cookie-eating to mutter a few words, hand extending towards the pile. The gifts begin to glow blue and lift off the counter, floating through the air over everyone's heads towards the tree.

    One by one, they drop down to the floor and tuck themselves into place, and their mystical outline fades as Billy lets out a slow exhale. That wasn't particularly taxing, but that kind of precise manipulation required some focus, and the forehead wrinkles from squinting fade as he blinks a couple of times.

    Self-satisfied, he nods to himself and then waves his cookie in the air, or is he trying to wave the cookie's arm, its single remaining limb? Who knows.

    Either way, Billy calls out, "I'm going to go study upstairs, let me know if you need anything!" and then off he goes, a hurried step to his gait.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Thank you Billy, lad. Have fun studying above! There should be a fresh round of chocolate milks are in the lounge cooler!" Nettie states with a big smile, and a wave to Billy as she looks over to Kelly.

    "So. You are someone who I've been meaning to speak with, Miss Praetor."

Kelly Praetor has posed:
And just as she was about to swipe one of the skull-shaped cookies. Billy gets a wave as they head upstairs before Nettie draws the raptor's attention. "Ah, yeah, I've been meaning to stop by for a while but things got a little hectic for a while there. I hope my little letter for the window got here at least."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Oh, I wasn't worried. Insurance covered it, that's why I carry it. I'm not above using a brokerage if I need to get something done." Nettie gives a small smile over to Kelly, sipping from out of that tumbler.

    "What I really wanted to talk about is your affliction. I've never seen any sort of... dinocanthy. Sauropothy?" she questions, her lips pursing in thought briefly.

    "And I'm quite keen on making a trip to the badlands. But I feel like you should be either with us, or at least appraising us as part of the group."

Kelly Praetor has posed:
... Oh huh. Now she'll check with her accountant about that check she sent. Wouldn't bother her either way what Nettie did with it, but whatever. That's not as important right now. "The badlands... oh! You mean where my father worked? .. Huh. I never even thought to wander up that way and take a look around.."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "I'd see about taking a trip out there to try and see if there's anything to be seen in the Aether. Take a few friends maybe sometime after the holidays." Nettie explains, and she purses her lips a moment as she rubs the back of her neck. "If that's fine by you anyway. But I would like to extend the invitation to hang out with our group. Especially if you're pursuing physical activity in the vigilante justice sector." Nettie states, one eyebrow arching up.

Kelly Praetor has posed:
"Oh, no no, I like the idea of it. It just never occured to me between now and when you looked at the pendant my dad gave me. It's not a bad idea, worth a shot to be sure. You just say when and I'll make sure that there's nothing going on out there that would give us any trouble. There's always some digs going on around Hell Creek so I can find out whatever we need. I imagine you'd want to look where he found the claw to begin with, yeah?"

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Not a bad idea, no, but there is a little bit of business between now and then." Nettie comments, and she leans forward.

    "You. Need. A. Team. I have vigilantes who work in this organization I run. It's handy for backup, or social outings when you're not wanting to be the strangest thing in the room." Nettie offers, and then she motions to herself with both hands.

    "Obviously *I* enjoy being the strangest thing in the room."

Kelly Praetor has posed:
D'oh. She was so focused on the thought of visiting the Hell Creek formation that she completely skimmed over the invitation. Invi. oh. ... ooooooooooooooooooh. ... Well, silly Nettie, if you were going to do that you shoulda made a raptor cookie too! "Ah haaah. I see. Well, by this point, I am hardly normal. So long as you can handle an extra reporter or two considering the damn PAPPARAZZI STILL FOLLOW ME AROUND SOMETIMES," why the shouting? Eh. You never know when some of those bastards are around. No camera flashes tonight. Seems. "Last thing I want is those idiots plastering something on some newsrack rag that you don't wanted seen."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Those rat bastards. Want me to hex them for you?" Nettie offers, eyebrows rising. "MAgic does like to fiddle with digital technology somewhat. All their pictures turn into poorly photoshopped other celebrities. Especially dead ones." she reckons quietly if she could do such a thing, and she gives a small smile back over to Kelly.

    "Because if I have to make a sauromorph gingerbread cookie, I need to know before Christmas Eve."

Kelly Praetor has posed:
"Hah, nah, I've managed to make a lot of them realize if they're going to snap-flash me they had better get to running or they'll lose a camera. And -now-? Well, no one has managed to evade since August." For obvious reasons. "So things have at least slowed down. A lot. Some of them are just stubborn, whatcha gonna do?" Anyway, back to the question at hand, "Tooooooooooo be fair, I was thinking about asking but didn't want to seem very forward about it so, I think we have the same idea here. You don't need some blood do you?" Its a tease. She's not serious. . . . right?

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Whatcha gonna do?" Nettie imitates Kelly's accent. "You are going to hex the bastards that keep pestering people! Photographs, in people's faces, making an awful mess of things -- hex 'em!" Nettie cheers.

    ANd the question about Blood amuses her.

    "Only if you want to make a blood pact." and Nettie gives a very, very toothy grin at that.

    "gotta decide what you want out of *THAT* one beforehand."

Kelly Praetor has posed:
Blink. Oh. "Ah, we'll just leave that alone, for now.. then.." SHE WASN'T SERIOUS. She never even knew magic was real at the start of this year! Bluh! "Ahem. Well, that aside, if you need my phone number and a few other things- .. actually you probably already have them from the letter from before. SO. If you need, reach out. I could always get a seperate line so that I don't turn it off for reasons." So. Many. Reasons. Being a public figure means your public phone number doesn't really get picked up much.