16976/Sewer

Sewer
Date of Scene:	21 January 2024
Location:	Underground Skatepark
Synopsis:	An impromptu pizza party with Sma'shaw Ihaka, Mary Turner, Caleb Dykstra, Megan Gwynn, and definitely not exciting Phoebe Beacon
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Sma'shaw Ihaka, Megan Gwynn, Strix, Caleb Dykstra

---

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Never let it be said that Phoebe is scared to get down in the ditches and burn through the witches and slam in the back of one DRAGULA

    Also that is such an old song. Some low-fi hiphop phonk was playing over a bluetooth speaker (rather than the aforementioned earworm), and there were a few people skating and boarding around, and someone on a bike doing bike tricks. It's cold in NYC, but someone's brought a couple propane heaters down for people to warm their hands up by, and there's a couple of burn barrels going.

    A lot of the people here tonight have physical mutations, ears that can be tied into knots, animal like appendages, giraffe spots, useless physical items that mark them as 'different'.

    But tonight it's a party. Phoebe's brought pizzas by, and stacks of cardboard boxes and soda can cartons are nearby as Phoebe, wearing a worn denim jacket with wool lining, ripped jeans over leggings, and her pink hair braided is reclined on some pallets covered with old (but clean) carpet and blankets.

Sma'shaw Ihaka has posed:
Sma'shaw didn't really get away from the coast too often. He liked the safety of the ocean (ironic as that sounded), and more importantly the shelter that the Landshark provided. But if new found friend Phoebe was sending the invitation for a skating party...well, who was he to turn her down?

"AW HEEELL!!" The yeen hollered as he tumbled down one of the ramps, thankful for his enhanced toughness as he plonked chest first, slid to the bottom on his chin, and winced as the edge of skateboard bonked him on the noggin' as it clattered forward...just to reaaally salt the wound in his pride. "Pheebs, Oi tell ya'...Oi didn't think this one through very well. Skateboardin's a different beast from surfin'."

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Party party paaaarty!! how can she say no, even if her powers have been a teeny bit wonky lately?!

Megan is totally a 'freak' with her bright pink hair, Insectoid eyes and eleven ears, oh and those bright glittery fairy wings that make her stick out like a sure thumb! the neon green mini skirt and crop top and long black boots and gloves don't help either. She's here to make a statement as she rips up the dance floor.

Of course in this weather her trusty green wool peplum coat is worn over her outfit, adding a bit of warmth but with those dance moves she's probably plenty warm.

Strix has posed:
    A skate party? Why not? Strix has never been to one before. Heck, she'd never been //on// one before. When she was a kid, before she was sold to the Court of Owls to be trained as an assassin, skateboards were handmade affairs by bored surfers who wanted something to do in the off season. She'd never heard of them until she started getting caught up on pop culture once she managed to break away from them.

    Also, this was a great way to test the thermal suit that the Bat Family had created for her to keep her warm when she ventures outside in the cold winter months. She's wearing it underneath her overalls and flannel shirt and, even though she doesn't really need it thanks to the suit, a puffy jacket and some gloves.

    When she sees Phoebe she waves vigorously at her to catch her attention, and jogs over in her direction. <Hi!> She signs. <This looks like fun! Do you think somebody will lend me their board?>

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
You hear one or two things through the grapevine, every now and then - events in the neighborhood, where the happenings are happening, that sort of thing.

When it comes to knowing a thing or two, Caleb is no slouch. He knows who to ask. And it sure would be nice to reconnect with his old life before the mob came and took over his life.

So, the young man is here, with a skateboard of his own, grey-black in tone; and, right beside him, is Sheila, kid sister extraordinaire, and she too has a skate, although the color of her skate is a dark purple.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Skateboarding is pretty different from surfing... I've never been surfing." Phoebe replies from where she was sitting, hopping up to her feet as she looks over the hyena as he eats the deck. Ouch. That's *gotta* hurt.

    "You'll get it, Sma'shaw!" she calls out, coming to the edge of the dip as she looks to Megan, dancing in the neon green and black.

    Strix of course comes running up, and Phoebe gives a bright smile as she signs while she talks.

    "Hi Mary!" she greets the assassin of questionable age. "I have some older boards from home, do you want to borrow some pads and a helmet too?" she adds, and then she signs <Too small for my friend S M A S H A> and she motions down to the huge hyena, signing out his name to Strix.

    Caleb and Sheila's arrival gets a curious look from Phoebe, who by all rights, being a Wayne kid, shouldn't be down in a sewer skatepark.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn doesn't have a skateboard, nor does she now the moves. But she's more than happy to twirl and dance around on her skates, using her wings to better balance herself should she take a corner too fast.

She does spy a familiar face or two, smiling and waving at Phoebe as she spies her and moves towards her. "Heey how you been? I dig the pink hair, Soo awesome! When did you do that?"

She smiles at Sma and Mary, not too familiar with them but she might have seen at least one of them in passing.

Then there is Caleb whom she grimaces at, after their last meeting which didn't go down too well. "Heh, we always meet in strange places." she says by way of greeeting. At least she's not shedding red dust this time..?

Sma'shaw Ihaka has posed:
The laaarge mutant yeen pulls himself up from the bottom of the dip, fluff and all, cricking his back softly. "Think Oi'm gonna let m'self have a break, given m' sea legs a bit of gettin' used ta' this skatin' nonsense. Moind passin' me a sloice in the meantoime?"

He hauled himself up, board in tow, hopping and planting himself at the edge, dangling his legs over. Still no shirt on him, his toned upper physique visible, but he was earing denim shorts and, more importantly, pads on his elbows and knees, even had a helmet on! Though he was a little annoyed with it messing up his undercut...

Strix has posed:
    Strix nods vigorously when offered the use of one of Phoebe's spare boards and pads. She probably doesn't need them due to her healing factor, but she might as well practice safely.

    When introduced to Sma'shaw she turns and gives him a big wave in greeting. Megan gets one, too, when she shows up. <Hi!> she signs, looking over to Phoebe with a hopeful look that she'll translate for her. Which she does. <I'm Strix. I like your wings.>

    When she gears up, she somehow manages to get the elbow pads over her thick coat, and she grabs one of the spare boards. She watches the other skaters, her tone turning from the carefree nature to kind of scarily intense. When she's seen enough, she plops down the skate and takes off on it.

    For the first time on a skateboard, she's doing pretty good. Her balance is impeccable, and it doesn't take her long to get used to the board. She doesn't try the dips just yet, instead content to skate back and forth on the flat until she's confident in her ability to stay on.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Heya", Caleb says to the gathering group.

To Megan in particular, he says, "We sure do", but his eyes are drifting towards Phoebe - but he quickly returns his gance to the faerie girl, "with a lot less dust than last time, hopefully." Grin.

Now, to Phoebe, "I hadn't pegged you for a skater, Pheebs."

Also to Sma'shaw, he greets, "Hey there."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I'm not." Phoebe replies to Caleb, and gives a wry smile. "But what use is being rich if I can't randomly throw parties for people and buy fifty pizzas on a whim?" she asks. "All right, for everyone not in the know -- this is Sma'shaw. He's a sweetheart. This is Megan, she's terrifyingly good at what she does. This is Mary, she's also a sweetheart, and this is Caleb and his sister Sheila, who is smarter than her brother by a fair shake. But Caleb is also pretty smart. So pretty sure she's going to be a supervillain when she grows up." Phoebe jokes, digging out spare gear. It's bright pink and yellow.

    "Mary also likes your wings, Megan. She can hear you just fine, just can't talk. Know what *that's* like." Phoebe murmurs, her hand touching her throat where the wide ribbon rests, and then straightens up. "As for my hair? Six months. Multiple choice: turned colors during a kidnapping by a witch in New York, exposure to new forms of space rock in Metropolis, or lost an argument with a demon-powered muscle car." Phoebe jokes.

    "Or I decided to really stand out and go to a shop every two weeks to hit my roots."

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn smiles and nods to Mary and Sma. "Nice to meet you both, I'm pretty sure I've met you both in passing at one time or other." she is used to seeing all sorts of strange and unusual mutations by now so is not so intimidated by Sma, at least he's not big AND aggressive.

She does beam at Mary, "Ooh you like em? Thanks!" Phoebe's explanation causes her to smirk. "Heh, I wouldn't be surprised either way, still pink rocks!"

She attempts a cautious smile at Caleb. "Thankfully no angry mobs around trying to kill me, forcing me to try and *harmlessly* scare them away rather than resort to violence either." she replies somewhat coolly.

Sma'shaw Ihaka has posed:
Sma'shaw gives a nervous little smile and waves to some of the others gathered. He didn't feel nearly out of place this time, given these were Phoebe's friends. "G'day. Name's Sma'shaw Ihaka, y' can cahll me Smash f' short. Ended up crashin' some fancy dance thingy fer tha' New Years celebration. First toime in a tailcoat suit." He grins a little as he grabs some pizza and cola...and he furrows his brows, snapping his look to Pheebs.

"Oi, what a tick, ye nevah told me about a demon-powered muscle cahr! Oi oi oi, why am Oi only 'earing about thos now?" Sma'shaw huff in mock betrayal. "Oi demand a story toime as recompense...an' maybe deets on where ta' foind this cahr and wrangle it, haw!!" His big teefs showed in a razor sharp grin, his tail pick up in wag-speed as he bit into the slice of BIZZA with mega chomps!

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb looks at Phoebe with a deadpan look, "She's smart, and I trust her to be smart enough to not go down the stupid dark spiral like I have."

But Sheila intervenes, "Caleb... you're a hero, even if you don't admit it!"

"Well, if I am one", he replies, "Don't you think you should keep my identity secret? Because villains out there, you know, they come after heroes through their loved ones."

And that's how she goes silent, maybe even embrarassed - or worried.

So Caleb looks at Phoebe, "Well, then out of all those options I say the demon-powered muscle car." He shrugs, "You got a mechanic for a boyfriend. And given what I've seen so far, it wouldn't have been the wierdest shit to have happened." By his tone, he's kidding - any resemblance to actual events are purely coincidental.

Back to Megan, "Well, the important thing was that no-one got hurt. All the better, right?"

He smiles at the hyena guy, "Yey, I'm Caleb, this is Sheila." He wonders, "Your accent... Australian, by any chance?"

Strix has posed:
    Mary rolls up to the assembled group and just kind of grins when she's introduced as a 'sweetheart.' That's not something she'd ever thought she'd be introduced //as// to be honest.

    <I say that a witch kidnapped you in a demon powered muscle car, drove you to Metropolis, and then exposed you to a space rock,> she signs to Phoebe with a grin. <Most likely explanation.>

    

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Mary votes that a with kidnapped me in the muscle car, drove me to Superman's hometown and exposed me to space rock, which is why my hair is pink. How is it --" Phoebe gives a laugh "HOw is it that no one believes I dye my hair?!" she asks in bewilderment as she goes to grab some pizza (extra cheese and mushroom) for herself. "Occam's razor, guys. The most simple explination is the most likely." she grins, and flops down next to Smasha.

    "And this is only the third time we've hung out. You have to wait until the punch card is hit ten times before I start chattering about demons." she states.

    With a *very* meaningful look to Megan, who knows better than anyone else here Phoebe's encounters with the supernatural.

Sma'shaw Ihaka has posed:
Sma'shaw lets out a veerrry deliberate 'pshaaaw!' "Holdin' out on me? Foiiine, Oi see 'ow it is." He chuffs with faux indignity, turning his snout up and away from her. Truly, he's been wounded beyond words, their friendship will never recover from this. He sweated a meatlover's pizza with EXTRA bacon, hompff-ing down on it.

He swiveled his ears to Caleb and...Shiela, a name that his his grin crackin' wider. "Aye, tha's the accent alri-hi-hight...'ang a sec? Yer name's -Shiela-?" He snickers, tilting his head and letting out a bit of a yeen cackle! "This shiela's a Shiela! Hahahah~! Love it. Good name, in all honesty, jus' a bit funny where Oi come from. If oitha' of ye got 'meet a hyena poirate' on yer bucket list, bettah mark it off now, ey?"

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn laughs, "Heh, Pheebs, we know you too well, your life is way too exciting and dramatic to be something so mundane as getting your hair dyed." she smirks.

"besides the alternative is way too boring." Megan continues to twirl circles around the others even as she speaks. "Heh though I'm surprised my hair hasn't randomly burst into rainbow colours given what little control I have over my chaos magic...I'm sure that's why I accidentally sprinkled nightmare dust on those people in the skating rink the other day.,"

Strix has posed:
    Since it looks like everybody else is chowing down on pizza, Mary decides to take a slice of plain pepperoni for herself. <Nothing is simple with you, Phoebe,> she manages to sign with the pizza in her hand. <Which is why my guess is the best and most probably right.>

    When Megan admits to accidentally sprinkling nightmare dust all over the skatepark, she looks very carefully at where she's at, at Megan, and then rolls slowly backwards on the skateboard to get some distance between her and the mutant.

    <She's not going to accidentally turn me into a toad, is she?> She asks Phoebe who seems to know Megan best.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe stares a moment at Megan with a stern expression.

    "Yeah. Being a thrice-orphaned rags-to-riches heiress is *so* exciting." she states dryly. "I'll take you to my next finishing school catchup session so you can also look at a formal place setting and tell someone what each piece is in French."

    To Mary, Phoebe signs <No. If she does, I'll fix it.> she signs back over to Mary, without staying what she's signing. She gives quiet looks to Caleb and to Sma'shaw, not willing to tip her hand too early in the latter's friendship or at the moment in the former's.

    "So -- yeah, boyfriend is a mechanic. He works at Canelo's in Brooklyn. We kinda keep our relationship on the downlow... he doesn't like a whole lot of attention placed on him. That's about the most exciting my life gets other than meeting Smash here, who is just the greatest hyena I've ever met."

    Bud and Lou are horrible at conversation.