8515/Jubilee Visits the Candle

Jubilee Visits the Candle
Date of Scene:	01 November 2021
Location:	Candle, Booke and Belle
Synopsis:	Mairin and Jubilee are finally actually introduced and Jubes runs off with the most powerful magic item in the world.
Cast of Characters:	Mairin Moran, Nettie Crowe, Jubilation Lee

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Mairin Moran has posed:
    It's dark, and Mairin knows the shop is closed. Knows also that Nettie is probably worrying about her, since she's always back inside before now, but she can't help but be smiling anyway. She bobs along on the sidewalk, weaving through the ussual city foot traffic and only getting the occasional glance. She wouldn't even get that if it weren't for the little both-bot fluttering around her, shining a little light on her path. She's wearing a long white dress today, embroidered with white vines that twist around the seems. And her mop of hair is down, fluttering in the wind and ocassionally into her face, which only makes her smile more.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Overhead, there's the caw of a crow as one alights on a lightpost. Hard to tell if it's Corvax acting as a spy or if it's just a regular city crow.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    The Candle. Nettie had mentioned it to her but Jubilee never actually /visited/ the place for herself. With the shenanigans of Halloween over, this evening is as good as any! And so, Jubilation Lee finds herself walking down the sidewalk with some unfamiliar awkwardness in her steps. Paradoxically, if she just stopped paying attention, she'd almost glide across the sidewalk despite taking normal steps. But, she's working on the masquerade of the vampire, so to speak, and is paying extra careful attention to every step she takes. Unfortunately, this attention results in an awkward, almost Frankenstein's Monster sort of shamble. She's learning how to walk for the first time...again.

    Jubilee is dressed for the turn of the season with an almost 'Hufflepuff' kind of vibe. She wears a plaid, pleated skirt that's mostly yellow with black. Black tights cover her legs, non-descript black sneakers on her feet. Her top is a form-fitting yellow tank-top, exposing her arms and much of her bust. She may be dressed for the chillier nights, but she is a vampire and really doesn't need to worry about the cold.

    And so, Jubilation dopey-walks right up to the Candle's door, turns the knob and....it doesn't open. "Oh," she mutters, taking note of the posted hours. And just like that, she turns around and spots a familiar face. "Oh, hey," Jubilee calls out, waving in the direction of Mairin, unsure of her name but sure that they run in the same circles some of the time.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    If Mairin spots Corvax, she doesn't let on. Of course it might not be Corvax, but assuming every crow *is* Corvax unless proven otherwise is just... oddly comforting. It's nice to think that Nettie cares enough to be looking out for her on the regular.

    She spots Jubilee at the door to the Candle even before she turns to give a wave, and is already practicing her 'Yes, we're closed' speech, but then the woman turns around and Mairin is giving her almost the same look that she's giving Mairin. That 'Don't I know you?' kind of look.

    "Hi!" she greets as she walks up, her moth-bot fluttering up to a light to do what it is that moth's do. "Yoooou're Jubilation? Right? You were there at the hall of mirrors..."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    The door opens after Jubes pulls on it. No sense in keeping people out in the cold. Even if they are vampires.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Yes, hi!" Jubilee replies with a grin. "You have all the cute robots!" The vampiress drops the act of trying to walk correctly, presumes she's with friendly company that probably already knows what's up. Or is she? Did John send a memo? "Do you know Nettie? She told me to come by and check out her store but I guess I'm too late..." To illustrate that, Jubilee tugs on the locked door again. It opens. Of course it does.

    "Or maybe I'm early for tomorrow!" she adds with a little bit of a laugh. Jubilee either doesn't notice the crows or doesn't think to question them.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin laughs and gives a shrug as she holds the door open for Jubilee. "Yes I am... Yes I do... and Normally you would be," she says as she lets the girl enter before her. "Come on in. Nettie must have dropped the wards for you. Ordinarily you wouldn't be able to get in now."

    She follows, closing the door behind and stopping to make sure her bot made it inside with her. "Were you looking for anything in particular? Or did you just want to browse? I know where most things are... I spend as much time here as I do my own place. More, these days." Theres a pause as she considers.. "Oh, I'm Mairin, by the way. I don't think we've been introduced." She holds out a hand. Her manners are on point today. Weird.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    The lights flicker on inside the shop, coming to life as the duo enter. A ceiling fan wobbles as a crow perches on it, giving a low caw. The place smells like tea and smokey dragon's blood tonight. There were some cushions left out on the floor -- Nettie might have gotten roped into a long discussion about something. Or someone else had been borrowing the shop.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation follows Mairin into the shop and nods her head. "Wards. I know what those are!" she insists gleefully. She knows in the sense that she heard of the word, knows the Curio has them, and knows they required a drop of her blood. What an ordeal that was!

    When Mairin introduces herself, Jubilee turns her head and smiles. She takes the older woman's hand in her own and shakes it. Jubilee gives it one good shake, as is her style, before letting go. Her hand is soft to the touch and initially icy cold, far colder than it should be given the outside temperature. "Jubilation," she replies. "Jubilee. Jubes. Whatever you want." She does accumulate nicknames.

    With that out of the way, Jubilee's nose wrinkles a little as she smells the shop. Her senses are hyper sensitive now, like most vampires, and most of these scents are new and unfamiliar. "It smells like Hot Topic," she remarks, comparing this very real shop with the one at the mall that tries to fake this particular smell.

    "Oh, I'm not looking for anything, really... I don't know. I saw Nettie playing this card game, though... " Jubilee goes up on her tippie-toes, perhaps to try and spot the thing she's talking vaguely about.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Somewhere Nettie feels insulted. Hot Topic. *Hot Topic*. The corsettery she sells here are actual cloth and leather and not PVC ThankYouVeryMuch!

    Across the room there are a number of books and boxed decks of tarot cards. Nettie's are not out. The crow above them watches the two... like... a hawk.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    If the tempurature of Jubilee's skin phases Mairin at all, she gives absoutely no hint of it. She just laughs and walks around the counter to start up some water for some tea. Has Nettie already cleaned them out for the night? Yes. Will Mairin re-clean it after she's done. Of course.

    "Don't let Nettie hear you call her shop a Hot Topic.. she says, still laughing. She'd get all mad." Which would actually be adorable, but Mairin doesn't say that. Nettie does have a reputation to maintain after all. "Do you mean her tarot cards?" she asks.

    Water started, she walks back around towards where some ordinary tarot cards are laid out, picking up cushions and compulsively straightening product as she goes.

    "We keep some here... Feel free to take a look and see if any speak to you." She leans up against the wall and glances up at Corvax, giving the bird a smile and a little wave.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Yeah, I'd get mad, too," Jubilation agrees with a smirk. She probably bought that skirt there. Where can one get a yellow and black plaid skirt if not Hot Topic? Maybe the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but that's in Florida and not, presently, in New York. The question about tarot gets a squint. "I don't know... I think she was playing blackjack or war or something but the cards didn't look like ones I've seen. I just remember when it was her turn, she drew one and everyone freaked out. It seemed fun." That's Jubilation's flawed memory of Nettie pulling the 'Death' card for someone, Chas maybe?

    Jubilee glide-walks over to where Mairin indicates and leans in, as though inspecting them closely, as though she might have any clue what she's looking for. "They're not all the same..." she observes. Jubilation reaches out and grabs a box, flips it around, inspects, shakes it, puts it back in the wrong spot, grabs another, repeat ad nauseam.

    "So, do you, like, work here? Or did we just do a break-in? I wanna get our story straight." She turns her head and grins in Mairin's direction. A grin which, unfortunately, reveals four razor sharp fangs -- two on top, two on the bottom.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    "I guess you could say I work here," she answers with a shrug, just leaning against the wall and waiting for Jubes to decide. "I mean, I'm Nettie's apprentice. So I spend a lot of time here for that. ANd I started sleeping here recently due to..." she gives a smirk of a smile. "Well... bad dreams. And since then Ive been helping out with the shop more. But I actually *work* at Columbia University. I'm a research scientist."

    The water starts to whistle so she heads back that way. "I don't know much about the decks," she says, just talking louder as she's further away. "But my understanding is that they are all different for a reason. A deck should be personal. Something that speaks to you. Like a lot of magic, it's about connection."

    "Tea?" she asks, but she already seems to know the answer since she's not getting two cups. Must just be being polite.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "No thanks!" Jubilation turns her head and calls back. No tea for her. She continues like a bull in a china shop, touching, poking, prodding, inspecting. If someone would ever suggest she should make herself at home, Jubilee likely already has. "A scientist..." Jubilation turns to face Mairin, a look of confusion plainly obvious. She holds a box for a standard RWS tarot deck with both hands.

    "You're a scientist? But, what about..." Jubilee makes a sweeping gesture with her hand, bringing attention to the shop and its contents. "...What about all this stuff?" Apparently, science and magic are opposites in her mind. Science has already failed to explain her condition, after all.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin just chuckles as she leans over the counter, tea in hand. "What about it?" she asks, but with a look that says she knows exactly what Jubilation means. "There are all kinds of things that science can't explain. Science can't explain how we were sucked into a mirror to end up in some extra-dimentional house filled with monsters ready to devour us. Or how I've learned to manifst my own will into a drawn circle. Or how Nettie can predict something with a tarot deck," she says, motioning to the one in Jubilee's hands.

    "I actualy view them as two complimentary forces... magic, and science. Two forces that compliment and interact with each other. It's just a matter of seeing where their fingers touch."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Yeah, well, it just /hasn't/ yet," Jubilee replies, shrugging her shoulders. "Not can't." Maybe can't. Who knows? Her tone is evocative of someone with an open mind but with a particular lean in one direction. It's the attitude of someone who learned one thing for eighteen years and is coming to terms with a brave new world.

    Mairin's point about Nettie making predictions draws out a big grin from Jubilee. She looks down at the box she holds. "I thought she was playing a game!" she exclaims. "So, these can tell the future?" An over-simplification, for sure, but it's enough for Jubilee to reproach Mairin at the counter holding the box.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    "Well..." Mairin grimaces. She didn't mean to get the girl's hopes up. "Let's just say they *can*. With practice, instruction, and time." But she still rings Jubilee up. Business is business after all. And she never said the cards were foolproof.

    "If you ever want to see how science and magic can compliment each other, just let me know." she says as she hands over the recipt. "I'd be happy to show you."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Sure, sure," Jubilee replies quickly. It's not enough to keep her from looking down at the box in her hands, this magical box of enchanted cards that tell the future effortlessly and always. "Wow...."

    Jubilee sets them down on the counter and gives them a nudge across towards Mairin. "So, these are, like, a thousand bucks or something?" She says it flatly, zero emotion, with no indication of whether she could or couldn't afford it. Truthfully, no way, but what is a fair price on a deck of cards that tells the future!

    "Yeah, sure, I'd like to see it sometime!" she adds, grinning at the idea of science and magic sipping from the same straw.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    "Twenty-five actully. Plus tax." Mairin answers. "Well, come back by sometime in the evening. Or maybe I'll see you at the Magician. I usually have my things with me, but right now they're all upstairs."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Twenty...five..." Jubilation blinks her eyes a couple of times and slooooowly reaches down the front of her tank top. A ten and a twenty are pulled from who-knows-where and slapped onto the counter. "All sales final!" she insists. Normally it's the store that might say that, but Jubes thinks she just spent twenty-five bucks on a magical artifact. Freemasons are liable to be hunting for this, she thinks.

    "Okay, cool!" she says with enthusiasm. "I'm working over at the Magician, too, so, you're sure to find me there. Part time, I mean." She grins and shrugs her shoulders. How does one work off a magical amulet?

Mairin Moran has posed:
    She can't help but laugh at Jubilee's enthusiasm for the cards. She cashes her out, and hands back her change and recipt.

    "Sounds like a plan. I look forward to it. In the meantime... Stay safe. And..." she bites her lip a sec... "Stay where you know you can eat." It's a weird thing to say.. but it seemed to be the bigegst danger Demona faced, so she just wants to make it a wish for Jubes. No one deserves what happens if a vampire of any kind has to resort to... more intelligent prey.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Uh, you...too," Jubilation replies hesitantly. She didn't understand the platitude and just did a 'you too' the way she might when a movie theater employee tells her to enjoy the movie.

    She shrugs her shoulders and flashes the older woman a quick peace sign. "See ya, around, Professor Magic!" Jubilation grips the tarot deck tightly and turns to glide-walk on out of there before Mairin changes her mind about selling her this veritable hoary hammer of the gods!