2394/Hail Tabby, The Olive Queen

Hail Tabby, The Olive Queen
Date of Scene:	09 July 2020
Location:	Olive Garden, 9025 Xavier Drive, Yonkers, NY
Synopsis:	Birthday Dinner for Tabby! Yay!
Cast of Characters:	Illyana Rasputina, James Proudstar, Tabitha Smith

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Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Cool people make reservations to assure there will be bottomless breadsticks and lemonade.

Cool people show up in swanky glitter-wear best found on the grounds of a Jazzercise class circa 1987.

Cool people take their BF/BFF/GFBF to the mall on their birthday.

Because this is fucking Yonkers and it's still 1987 in a city that never caught up with the times in the Big Apple, and that's just the way the locals like it. Olive Garden sits right by the Hyatt (reservations also accepted, if bemusedly), and it has a line. Why? July's a prime time to be born, that's why. Tuscan architecture sanitized for the country shabby-chic lovin' McMansioners beckons, complete with friendly young lady handing out fancy beeper-coaster ninja squares and cheerfully warning the wait is now "One hour and fifteen minutes, but we have crayons for the kids and space at the bar!" One $9 Tuscan sunset-coloured drink is sure to appease the Karens and the Beverlys. Probably not the Red Hat Society ladies, but they're headed out; it's bedtime.

Queues are for /suckers/ because, that's right. Tabitha Smith and party has an actual reservation. And a party. None of this grungy sticky table in the back, oh no. Prime seating by some olive grove-tastic mural on the wall and a view of a terrace that's mostly not pointed at the Interstate or over the big driveway to a heavenly view of Boston Market. They got green grass and the sweet smell of steak at a Longhorns next door. . Not that it matters because only losers ride shotgun. Suckers!

Instead, they get to teleport onto the roof of a defunct Sears and slide down the three-storey railing into the uncool parking lot and slink up like they own the place because, well, it's Tabby's birthday.

Aw yiss. Breadsticks and noooo line.

James Proudstar has posed:
Let's be honest. Jimmy is the kind of guy who walks into an Olive Garden and has managers immediately thinking to themselves "Please don't order anything all-you-can-eat...." You see, it's not the fat guy that you really have to worry about. It's the big muscley fellas that can REALLY pack it away, and Jimmy is both of these things. He's probably going to order something all-you-can-eat.

Not so much for the glitterwear, Jimmy settles on jeans and a polo that looks like it's threatening to have Jimmy go full Hulkamania if he so much as inhales deeply. He lets the ladies precede him through the door, then ducks (literally) within, accompanied by the usual glimpses-to-outright-stares.

"MOMMY THAT GUY IS REALLY TALL!" Exclaims an observant five year old whose mother does her best to quiet him. A couple awkward chuckles are heard. Jimmy just smiles a touch wryly, and lifts a hand to wave to the kid. He's really good at the angry Apache routine but things just go alot smoother in public if he at least opens with the "Big lug."

The chair creaks beneath him when he sits but mercifully holds. And once all three are seated he reaches over to place a small gift-bag stuffed with colorful, glittery tissue paper in front of Tabby.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Still not old enough to drink legally. But that just means that by hook and crook, the REAL party is later. That's what magical teleporters are for, right? Abusing those friendships by convincing them that teleporting out kegs is just practice for other things later on.

Before that, comes the food. Tabby dressed up because 1) birthday and 2) they are going to a nice place for her birthday! She's opted for a black mini-skirt, strappy sandals and a bright pink, sparkly tank top. Because, that's fancy, right? The birthday blonde is all smiles as they settle at the table, "I //love// the breadsticks."

Then there is a present placed in front of her and she doesn't even hesitate to start digging through the tissue paper.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
No signs of midnight Goth empress here, no. Illyana dares to look somewhat with the times in a sundress lashed up the back by all of Home Depot's supply of straps and cut into a fierce handkerchief design. Can't separate the girl from the glittery gladiator sandals, though, or the fact they come equipped with heels probably doubling as a Renaissance assassin's weapons. Why she feels the need to be armed when a better weapon is at arm's reach -- and hungry -- is a question for the ages. But she can actually walk in them, even more concerning..

"Smith" is the magical word to unlock the doors to being seated where they are, and forget one of those annoyingly squished booths intended for Lilliput's population. Oh no, they actually have space to sit in there with an Italian feast and six other plates filled by salad or breadstick remains. The ghostly look cast after excited five-year-old trouble marks the child. No, there's no reason why /he/ gets himself a pile of Andes mints when the waitress isn't looking. Be nice and the Demon Queen will be perfectly angelic back. She has portal theft down to an art, all in all.

One of the ubiquitous Olivias shows up to take drink and appetizer orders, and in this, Illyana prefers to go dead last. She gets a salad if no one else does, shimmying on Tabby's other side while the wrapped gift bag is on its way to being demolished. She has a present. No doubt. There /is/ a cake, somewhere.

To Jimmy, she murmurs, "We're supposed to bring them to the /table/?"

James Proudstar has posed:
Surprise! It's a bag of colorful glittery tissue paper!

Oh wait, yes, there's something at the bottom...It's...le gasp!...a jewelry box! And once that lid is lifted open there's a bracelet of silver (like..actual silver) links, spaced at regular intervals with beads of turquoise.

To Illyana's query, he glances to her and gives a shrug, "Don't know that there's any set time unless there's a party involved. Could be now, could be later, could've been earlier. I just felt like doin' it now."

Sure enough, Jimmy orders the soup, salad, and breadsticks...all you can eat. Though perhaps to take the sting off, he ALSO orders a Tour of Italy. Got to save room for dessert, though, so there doesn't seem anything else on the menu besides some of that peach iced tea.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"You don't even have to get me a present." Tabby points out, hearing the question posed to Jimmy about if now is the time for presents or not. When she pulls out the jewelry box there is a widening to her eyes, and after seeing what is inside.....Can anyone guess what happens?

There's a happy squeal that she keeps very quiet before she moves to give him a hug and a kiss, "It's amazing, thank you!"

But then there is ordering, and she gets the fettucini with added chicken AND shrimp, plus soup and mozarella sticks.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
A girl needs a shrimp scampi to grow, totally. For that's what Illyana eventually might order for herself, and if that's not to be plundered, then she goes simple enough with a marinara sauce, more chopped tomatoes, and not a whole lot else. "Nyet, I do. I can give presents, which is its own kind of gift."

Slender fingers curl around the glass of water brought; her choice for a glass of wine can be put off if no one else is having anything of that sort. Because even though Tabitha isn't legal, her ID says she is. Maybe that's all that counts. Or water into wine is an actual trick. Still, she smirks at that breathless squeal demonstrated by their favourite bombshell, straw brought to her lips.

Clearly she liked it. Point to Jimmy.

James Proudstar has posed:
Jimmy returns the hug and the kiss, grinning, "You're welcome, babe, I'm glad you like it. Happy Birthday."

Tucking in to the appetizers follows fairly swiftly once they arrive. Jimmy looks a touch perplexed that Illyana seems to separate presents and gifts, but unsurprisingly there are a lot of things Illyana simply thinks differently about, and usually for good, if oft-horrible-in-origin, reasons.

He does make the addendum of both marinara and Alfredo sauce for the dipping of breadsticks. Because hey, they should go all out on Tabby's birthday, right?

Tabitha Smith has posed:
The bracelet gets put on, and Tabby holds her wrist out towards Illy to let her see the gift, "Isn't it pretty?" She wonders, twisting her wrist this way and that. Point for Jimmy, indeed.

But then she turns her attention towards the appetizers, tearing off a piece of one bread stick, "Of course you can, Illy. Just saying that you don't have to. I'm just happy to spend my birthday with you two."

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
"Gorgeous. The silver keeps you safe and the turquoise purifies and heals. Only kings, shaman, and best warriors were allowed to wear it. I can enchant it for you, if you want." A breadstick by any other price might be just as savory, but a pleased friend makes all the difference in the world. For that, a certain contement. Perhaps Jimmy's perplexed state is clear to the sorceress, perhaps not. She reaches along the line of Tabby's back to brush her fingers against his arm, anyway. Explanations can come later, her tortured upbringing not withstanding.

But, no, it's a pushed matter. Sort of, in the best way.: "A present I give to you is a gift to myself. A good thing, da? We see others' happiness as a gift they offer to us."

A Russian thing, though it's also a Jewish thing, an Orthodox thing, a Masai thing, a white-haired Ororo thing; a widely shared thinga-ma-cultural-jiggy. But good cause for an equally torturous process of picking things out, especially when faced by literally the whole damn dimension as her oyster.

Silence, patience and grace don't go hand in hand often, but she crosses one leg over the other and sips her water. Attack on the marinara sauce with the breadstick wouldn't be sporting, so she waits for a moment when Tabby is distracted and.... Goes for her nose. "En garde!" insisted with deadpan sweetness.

James Proudstar has posed:
Jimmy's packing it away at his usual efficient clip, giving a nod to Illyana's sentiment. A nice one to have, in his opinion. He doesn't launch any attacks of his own though it also seems that Tabby's defense from errant breadsticks is up to her.

"So...your call, Tabby. What do you want to do /after/ dinner? Or is it just "fall into a food coma?" He chuckles, watching Illyana's sneaky breadstick ambush with considerable amusement.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"Is that so?" Tabby looks surprised by the whole silver and turquoise information. She turns her attention back to the bracelet, turning it around her wrist for a moment. Then she starts to eat again, only to get whapped in the nose with a breadstick.

There's a blink, then she wrinkles her nose at Illy before sticking her tongue out, "I thought we could go dancing."

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
"Paris," recommends the blonde sorceress like there's nothing at all unusual about that. "Or Ibiza, or Berlin. I know some good clubs that way, da? You don't get told no when you want a drink so much." She knows these things, apparently. Trust in a demon much as they like, but it probably goes with the territory of understanding sin and vice.

A bite denudes the breadstick of some of its length, and the Russian leans back, rather than doing a bad take on Lady and the Tramp. (Because which is which?)

"Disco, midnight gothic? That dancing for square people?" Run, Jimmy, /run/.

James Proudstar has posed:
"Not that last one." Jimmy notes, his own nose wrinkling, albeit more in distaste, "They actually tried teaching us that in school when I was a kid. It wasn't a whole lot of fun even when I wasn't as much taller than all the other kids."

A bowl of salad and of soup have both disappeared, bit right about now the main courses start to show up.

"Sounds fancy." The places that Illyana mentions, that is, "Even I've heard of Ibiza, though. That place is supposed to be crazy."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"Ibiza?" Tabby reaches for her napkin to wipe her fingers off before she leans back in her seat, then she reaches for her water. "Ibiza sounds very, very fancy....and expensive."

There's a slightly worried look about that, for some reason, despite the knowledge there doesn't NEED to be money for these things.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Deadly incantations of place and time lilt across Illyana's lips, and she ought to know better. "They taught you to dance in squares." Deadpan delivery to Jimmy comes with a poised brow, a look of fascinated horror. "Why? It is so unhappy looking. Torment for students, maybe?"

Her school system could be blamed. It /is/ Xavier's, after all. Look at the head honcho.

All the same, she picks up her fork and Illyana spins out the angel hair pasta with a purpose, watching Tabby's reaction and suddenly smirking. Maybe, maybe not. "Ibiza is only expensive where the famous DJs go. It's where Europeans our age go to party. Maybe like Miami and Rio, da? Good beach, good music, cheap clubs. The water and sand are free, and it's summer."

Give her devil horns already. "You need a string bikini, shorts, a smile. That's it. Especially James in a bikini top, just imagine." She dares to smirk. Almost a grin.

James Proudstar has posed:
"Well, the girls really do need some support, you know." Jimmy deadpans in-between the last couple mouthfuls of lasagna. Though there's an amused glimmer in his dark eyes that gives up the ghost on staying completely nonchalant about it. "I'm up for whatever, pretty much wherever. Though if you're looking for nightclubs we'll probably need someplace closer to home...isn't it the morning over there right now?" He's not quite sure on how many timezones separate.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"We could go...and stay." Tabby suggests, tucking her straw into her mouth to take a sip from it, then she sets it back down, "I say we go...where ever it happens to go. Who cares. Just never stop partying."

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Illyana Rasputina replies without so much as batting an eyelash, mid fork-twirl, "That's just so hot right now." She can even sling a German accent, sorta. It's probably a bit concerning with how easy she sidesteps into a basic accent, if one were not already aware of the particular malleability of demonic tongues. Still, though, she goes back to trying the angelhair pasta, all tomato goodness with a few shrimp tossed in.

This is bliss, with her people, and she's going to be a good long ten seconds silently marinating in having enough to eat for once. Nothing ever more than that. Life's pleasures are seized but devoured far too often with mechanical efficiency.

"Four hours," she adds without doubt. "The partying reaches a peak in the next hour or so. It will go all the way until dawn. Elusive and mysterious Americans joining entices them to play. We can come back to New York when it's really in the swing?"

All an offer, though. "Choice is the birthday Tabitha's."

James Proudstar has posed:
"I dunno about /forever/ but we can make it one hell of a night." Jimmy replies to Tabitha, looking back to Illyana to hear the answer as to timezones and the tempo of the parties. So with that cleared up he gives a sage nod and looks back to Tabby, grinning, "You heard the lady...go ahead and set our itinerary. Then we can finish fueling up and get to it."