17390/The Three Mice That See

The Three Mice That See
Date of Scene:	12 March 2024
Location:	Nettie's Workshop
Synopsis:	The Three Mice that see conspire with how to rig the third round of the game in Frank's Favor.
Cast of Characters:	Nettie Crowe, Joshua Foley, Frank Noble
Tinyplot:	Third Time's the Charm

---

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    The workshops in the Third Floor Workspaces were often left empty. There weren't as many new, fresh young faces in the Justice League Dark these days. The focus on Gotham had worn Nettie thin between the oddities of demonic super slugs that consume all things within their range, to the weird thinnings and trails of chaotic magic coming out of a city jealously guarded by a guy who is two steps away from having a fursuit. Not that she would ever say such to Batman in person, she liked him too much for that.

    Now, however, she is sitting on the floor in a pair of black gym shorts, her gray hair pulled up and bound in a bun in which her wand is struck through, and she is wearing a "WORLD'S OKAYEST MOM" T-shirt.

    She is regarding a cage. The cage is well-appointed -- it has dollhouse beds and blankets, and a table with chairs and even a privacy screen where one can use the little litter box if they must, because even though she captured creatures she strongly suspected to be fae in origin, she's not about to let them go without some creature comforts. They even have a tea set provided because what is Nettie if not a very tea person. She has her own tea set, beset with cobwebs and crows and skulls, and is drinking from something that looks violently purple.

    "So. I feel perilously curious today, my friends." she states. The two crows -- Corvax and Torny -- settle overhead.

    "What shall we discuss today?"

    The cage itself was wound from cold iron, enchanted strongly, and she suspected should she have the opportunity to shove even her most powerful 'friends and associates', they may have trouble getting out of it.

Joshua Foley has posed:
You know who got Nettie that WORLD'S OKAYEST MOM shirt? It might have been this guy. Might have been Belinda, though. Arriving at the workspace, Joshua is holding a bundle of alternating light and dark blue clothing in his arms. "Hey, mom." he greets, before he pauses as he sees that she seems to have company.

And despite the fact that the company seems to be mice? He doesn't seem to be all that surprised. Not anymore. He's grown accustomed to this since he was adopted. "Corvax, Torny." the young man offers before he comes over, a hand brushing over Nettie's shoulder in greeting. The closest she allows for a kiss on the cheek.

"Usually, we call an exterminator when there's a mouse problem." he points out. "I didn't know we were in the business of negotiating with possible terrorists." A little smirk offered.

Frank Noble has posed:
Mr. Kind would say to Mr. Right, "You should tell them about our situation."

Mr. Right harrumphs, "We know nothing about them. They might be agents of the enemy."

"Well they know nothing about us."

"Sigh. I'm the one that's supposed to be right, remember?"

Mr. Kind merely smiled...as did Mr. Necessary from the shadows. He had seen enough to know that he was likely known and seen, and made no disruption to change that dynamic.

Mr. Right came to the bars, and speaking in older english, bespoke the request, "Might we have parlay with our generous host?"

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Hullo, Josh. Fae rules are in place, love." Nettie greets Josh, and then she gives a slight huff, and looks to the mice.

    "Absolutely. I'm Nettie, one of the leaders of the Justice League Dark. This is Joshua, a healer." she introduces her 'team'.

    "As I understand it, you lot were at an uprising of the undead, feature spreading like a virus through bite. I hope that you've found the accomodations comfortable, if a little boring, but please do understand that first; I mean you no harm. I am doing my best to be a good host under the circumstances. I also don't want to have to get a demonic friend to join in to rules lawyer our communications, so I would prefer we do so on mortal terms." she states, and she pushes her teapot's spout through the bars of the cage and adds just a drop to the thimble-sized teacups within.

Joshua Foley has posed:
"Fae rules. Got it." Joshua then wisely goes quiet.

Fae Rule 1 for Mundanes: Don't talk to the Fae.

At least that's what both Nettie and Sara suggested to him. Because like giving a mouse a cookie, if you give a fae a word, they will start to twist it and the next thing you know, they have you in a bind and you're having to travel to some outworld to try to get your soul back.

Plus, Nettie handles the Parlays, Joshua does the healing. It just doesn't work the other way around.

Frank Noble has posed:
Mr. Right says for the benefit of his brothers, "I am Mr. Right. This is Mr. Kind, and that, the shadow skulking in the corner that all of us here know about is Mr. Necessary. We are not, in fact, fae though our supernatural gifts are from and thus derived from said Fae...and thus certain rules and courtesies from that same realm apply. Justice League Dark" he says for his brothers, "is a combination of heroes and anti heroes and Absolute Messes from Earth Prime who supplement the heroes of the Justice League on the arcane side...."

he looks at the shadows in particular, "and whom are to be trusted...."


He looks at Nettie, "We did not, in fact, contribute to the nonsensical contest between the fae lords, but have previously been victims of their nonsense. We're here to try to keep Frank from dying or getting sent somewhere else in hopes he can undo Jarvi's reign on the lands he came from before returning ehre."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Well, your brother Mr. Necessary is welcome to join us for tea." Nettie states, holding up her hand and producing another thimble-sized teacup. Joshua is also provided a regular size teacp, and additional violently purple tea is poured.

    It's sweet tasting. Almost floral and grape.

    "I see. Frank and I have crossed paths before. There was quite a to-do and knot in the leyline that day." she explains to Mr. Right.

    "And thank you for the correction that you were not involved with that. I would very much like to speak to the responsible parties. This Earth has enough issues."

Joshua Foley has posed:
"Should I get them some snacks as well?" Joshua asks this of Nettie, again, not addressing the mice. Don't give them an inch. Even if Nettie agrees to the snack, he will go gather a little lemon tea cake, bring back to the table, and then let Nettie handle it from there.

So he's not directly giving them a gift. Cautious, so very cautious, from the golden-skinned healer, as he takes up his own cup, one that was broken but has been put back together with gold leaf. And he pours himself a cup of tea as he waits for an answer.

Frank Noble has posed:
At the offer of Guestright, the hidden mouse walks in and smiles, bowing graciously and taking his tea. He wears a long red cloak though to the discerning eye the inner layer of it is 'tin foil' just like Frank's...

Mr. Right continues and sips his tea, "I can give you their best summoning names...as fae lords as you know they have many, but they are unwise to summon. They make common cause with Lords of Order and Lords of Chaos...worse, they are part of a pernicious grouping of magical powers of middle level called the Table of Sa, games on games on games, and more favors and tricks they have....its rarely worth it. Our best hope, is to play their stupid game and help Frank win.

If we do it right," his eyes twinkle, "Conditions can be added severely limiting their ability to operate here. Which, given what I know of your organization would not be unappealing?"

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Yes. I beleive some of the honey cakes, flavored lemon, would be appropriate and match well to the BUtterfly Sweet Pea-Sweet Rooibos blend." Nettie replies to Joshua, and she reaches over to open the cage, now that they have established some ground rules. They are, after all, in a witch's house.

    And she has tried her best to be a good host to them in spite of her suspicions.

    "You are, indeed, right, Mr. Right, about the Justice League Dark having an interest in limiting these activities on this plane." Nettie replies, and she gives a smile to Joshua.

    "We can suspend the fae protocol in this case, as long as we're polite." she states to the golden boy, and then in explaination: "He's my son, and I'm teaching him to lead should anything happen to me. He's a clever lad and very dedicated."

Joshua Foley has posed:
"She has a lot to teach me if she expects me to lead. It is more my girlfriend's thing. The Witchblade." Joshua offers politely, as he turns to gather the tea cake that was requested. Cutting off a slice and then dividing it into thirds, the young mutant plates and brings over the desserts.

However, despite the relaxing of fae rules, he's remaining for the most part quiet, his attention instead that of a careful observer - trying to learn, but there's no telling how good he may be at things.

So Nettie better have no plans for that extended vacation soon.

Frank Noble has posed:
Mr. Right smiles politely seeing the difference between Joshua and Nettie, ahving learned sometimes not saying what is Right is wise. He looks at Mr. Kind, "You both clearly have courageous hearts."

Mr. Right nods at this, for it is true. He dabs a napkin at his mouth and listens, "I myself always favor protocol since it makes negotiations so much easier, but informality is not unamerican and when in Rome..." he shrugs, "It is my understanding, on investigating such things, that you did an Augry of some kind of Frank...and how did that go?"

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie gives a smile.

    "Unfortunately I am a product of a long bygone age, Americans are terribly informal in some cases, aren't they?" she gives a smile.

    "Indeed, I did do a little fact finding. Unfortunately, most of what I saw... is not easily parsed." she states, a peturbed look forming on her face as she gives a slight sniff of the air.

    "The warning was to NOT meddle in affairs --" she trails off, and then gives a slight smile.

    "Josh can tell you that I'm unfortunately very good at meddling."

Joshua Foley has posed:
"She's been working hard to train me to scour me of my Americanism." Joshua offers flatly, as he listens to the conversation, but when Mr. Right brings up that Nettie interferred and meddled, there's a small sigh. Not one of disappointment. More... okay, all is as expected. Carry on.

"Wait, you couldn't parse it?" he asks of his mother, nose scrunching up in thought before he takes a bite of the cake. Okay, the cake is good, but now he's paying more attention. There's very few things that confuse the Greywitch.

Frank Noble has posed:
Mr. Kind smiles, "We are all unique, and that's OK."

Mr. Right just looks at the personifications of motivational posters and looks at Nettie as if to say, "You see what I have to live with?" And then he sighs, "It is a lot. I surmise, but do not know it awas two powers...Serendipity..the power of the Helm of Mambrino...and best not meddled with indeed....at all...." he shudders as if form experience, and then says,"and the lords who put a spell of memory blocking. If he wins, that gets removed...what I porpose is not trying to summon them to talk, but to summon them with a proposal fo r the match...they LOVE that kind of thing and gives us some control to tilt things in Frank's favor...."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "No. It was like expecting the normal trickle of information to come through and instead getting blasted with the collapse of a dam." Nettie replies to Joshua. The cake is very good.

    "The Helm of Mambrino?" Nettie questions, and she pauses a moment, and then gets a flat expression.

    "So they blocked his memory and launched him as the centerpeice in some... game?" she breathes out. "I hate this."

Joshua Foley has posed:
"What's the rules of the game?" Joshua asks as he settles back into place. Bite of cake, sip of tea. "Okay, yeah, no drinking from the firehose." A small check of a note, to make sure he had that right, before his attention turns back to the conversation.

He has no idea what the helmet it, he's staying out of that conversation, instead, waiting to hear what the game is and trying to be a supportive son.

Frank Noble has posed:
"The opposit actually. He lost the second round, and Order banished him and wiped his memory, not allowing him to die due to his success when he was Order's champion in the first round. It was Jarvi that sought the third round...and he got it...Chaos is anxious for a rematch; Order not so much..."5r
"And yes, Frank is a wielder of the Helm of Mambrino. An obscure artifact but home to the spiritof Serendipity....of not inconcisderable albiet subtle power...

He nods to Joshua, reassessing his thoughts of not being ready for Nettie's shoes and says, "An astute question. The rules fill six volumes but the relevant rules are that the third challenge is the choice of of the challenged or their proxy. I happen to know how to act in his proxy since he has no memory of being a previos champion."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Hrm. Well. I don't serve the Lords of Order. Nor do I work with the Lords of Chaos. That's a bit out of my experience range." Nettie reflects quietly as she rubs the back of her head in admittance, and she looks back to Right.

    "So. If you're acting as his proxy, what game is afoot then, dear Mr. Right?"

Joshua Foley has posed:
"So, two challenges split, one to go, and the game hasn't been set, but there are rules." Joshua draws in a breath. "I guess asking them to play Call of Duty is out of the question." Said flatly, the young man glances towards Nettie as she announces the game is already afoot.

"Wait, it is?" A closer peer at the mouse. "Okay. So, is this like... a part of him, then?"

Frank Noble has posed:
Mr. Right says,"Because I know Jarvi's background, and he is from a world not unto your own. Make the challenge sufficiently Geeky and Nerdy and he will feel he has it locked down. I am happy to get you a copy of the rules, though they are written in Rabbit and might need a magfnifying glass. Or I can simply school you int he basics though that might take a few days. Jarvi is, at his core, a nerdy human who hates to be bested or not taken seriously...the weirder, more arcane it is, or that allows you to use the JLD....the better you will do."

Mr Necessary finally speaks, "Its his greatest weakness. Let Grenademan....BE ...Grenademan.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Can it be parsed to English? My Lapine-English translation has to go by way of Lhasa and I'm afraid no one has time for that." Nettie states jovially, sitting cross-legged on the floor, and she gives a hum.

    "... a trivia contest. A pub trivia contest geared towards Grenademan's interests."

Joshua Foley has posed:
"Oh, I was going to suggest one of your D&D gaming sessions." Joshua admits with a mote of disappointment.

What, he found it impossible to win!

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Find two friends and I'll make them bi-weekly occurances. Sara doesn't count, she thinks she can win my favour with *strip club outings*."

Frank Noble has posed:
Mr. Right nods, "Bar Trivia is a capital idea...Dnd...bear in mind, the first round involved a bet that the rest of his DND group couldnt survive the zombie apocalypse, so Jarvi went and GOT a magic tome and MADE one...Dnd is a stronger area for him than Frank...As for Bordello um...." He pauses and caughs.

Mr. Kind blushes.

Mr. Necessary smiles, "Jarvi is not at all sercure in his mascunlinty.....Frank is but I'm not sure any of us want to see that....."

Joshua Foley has posed:
"So yeah. D&D is out unless mom decides to rule lawyer." Joshua is blushing for some reason (probably related to Sara and strip clubs) and is just going to sip his tea and behave. Nothing to add here, Mom has this well in hand.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "GENTLEMICE I AM NOT BRINGING FRANK TO A CATHOUSE." Nettie makes a face of *disdain* at the very thought.

    "There are many things I would do for this reality. I have bled, I have given up my life, my wife, my students, I have given up family members AND had to put up with demons playing around in my brain, I am *not about* to inflict Frank on strippers and prostitutes."

    Nettie looks insulted. "I have limits."

    She recovers her cool.

    "Bar trivia. Tir Nan Og Pub. Sufficiently nerdy items. Give me Grenademan's interests and I'll compose a forty-question contest."

Frank Noble has posed:
Mr. Necessary is laughing hysterically, "Oh I LIKE this one..." and deactivates the C4 he strapped to the building as a precaution. He produces a small pebble, "In case you ever need something taken care of but dont want it done by the pure of heart." He bows.

Mr. Right listens to the statement and finally nods, "That is Right Madame."

Mr. Kind merely smiles and says, "I'll give you a complete list by morning."