8547/A Surprise for Nettie

A Surprise for Nettie
Date of Scene:	04 November 2021
Location:	Candle, Booke and Belle
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Mairin Moran, Nettie Crowe

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Mairin Moran has posed:
    It's Halloween, night, and that means that the Candle is locked up tight. Mairin knows this. As surely as she knows those locks and wards will let her pass. And as surely as she knows that Nettie is probably huddled away in her workshop or kitchen working on some project or another.

    Ok, that last part is just an assumption, but she feels it's a safe one. Which might be why she's left the party at the Magician to return to her temporary 'home', ducking and weaving her way through the night's craziness, to walk through the Candle's doors, the little bell announcing her presence a little more audibly than the wards do.

     Mairin, herself, is hardly recognizable. Gone are the worn, dated, and instantly forgettable clothes she seemingly slaps together in a dark closet. Tonight, she has obviously put more than a little thought and planning into what she's wearing. Her ruffled, white blouse shines here and there with bits of silver and green threadwork in vines and flowers. Its neckline is left open a Mairin-scandalous length revealing the bright sapphire of the Night Brigade amulet laying against her chest. Short, slightly puffy sleeves end above her elbows, leaving the rest of her arms to be kept warm by a pair of long, black, cotton gloves. A full, dark green, cotton skirt, hemmed in a silver, celtic rope pattern, lays over a crinkling black petticoat that provides just enough lift to give some depth. The skirt ends a bit below her knees, revealing black tights and velvety black flats accented with tiny, silver moths.

    Light makeup around Mairin's eyes makes their dark blue even more striking, especially when framed by the curls of hair she has let fall around her face. The rest forms a loose, twisted bun secured by a silver comb decorated with little rabbits. To further protect against the cold October night, she hugs a grey shawl around her shoulders and arms, clutching both it and a black handbag in front of her.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    it was true. The Candle was locked up tight after some shenanigans during the day from some of the more normal visitors and shoppers, including one that insisted Nettie close her shop forever and repent. That one got a nice little trial of 'go the heck home' tea and a promise to 'consider it'.

    NEttie had changed from work clothes to her more-interesting-work-clothes, gray woolen arm warmers that she has partially pulled over her palms, an oversized gray shirt, dark gray skirts and leggings and a pair of BRIGHT PURPLE llama slippers on her feet. It's known by now that she has a tendency to mill about the place after hours, cleaning, reading, speaking to Corvax in one of their own esoteric languages -- Corvax might have revealed that he knows just about every tongue she does. And she was there, curled up by the fire place, the crow perched on the back of the chair as they have a quiet conversation in Italian, while going over some vellum scrolls.

    Corvax looks up as the bell rings.

    "Torna uno dei cuccioli!" he caws, with a small laugh, and NEttie looks up at him with an amused expression.

    "Did you have a good time at the Magician, poppet?"

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin grins as she sees Nettie and Corvax and raises an eyebrow at Corvax's comment even though she doesn't have a clue what it means.

    "It was nice," she answers noncomittally as she walks over to lean against the wall nearby. "I even talked to people," she adds with a grin.

    She looks at the scrolls for a minute before asking the obvious. "What are you reading?"

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie pauses a moment, and she looks Mairin up and down, her head tilting a little bit, before she looks down at her pages. She might be blushing, just a little bit.

    "Talking to others is good. Make friends with all of them. If John's allowing them in when the bar is closed they're likely good people to know if you're in a pinch." Nettie suggests, "you might even make a /friend/ or two." she adds on with a slight smile.

    "Oh, these?" she shuffles papers. "Notes from a magi in the 1700's. The Italian's a little old fashioned and quite particular to its locality in Abruzzo, but the notes themselves are resistant to translation." she states.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin laughs a little, a bright, happy sound. "I *do* have friends Nettie," she teases. "I mean... at least two or three. How many more could I possibly need." She's grining as she says it, giving away the joke.

    "That sounds... facinating." There's no joke in her voice now. She even takes a step closer before stopping and giving a small smile. "Would you... like to take a break? I was wondering if you'd look at something I've been working on in the training room."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "As many as you need to shield yourself from the worst of it, Rabbit." comes Nettie's quizical answer, and she purses her lips a moment, and then gives a shrug, glancing up to Corvax.

    "You've been at it for a few hours, Nettie." Corvax replies, examining his wing. "Even I can feel your eyes getting tired."

    "Mm. Right then -- lead the way, Mairin, let's see what you've got cooked up."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    She grins and turns to lead the way up the stairs. "It's nothing that impressive really," she explains as she walks. "i just had a very particular problem that I wasn't sure how to work out for a while. So I had to get..." she pauses as she walks into the training room. "A little creative, I guess."

    She sets her handbag off to the side on a table, but pulls out her wand and flicks it through various motions that have nothing to do with spellwork. "You see, I have this friend..." she says as several mini-bots raise into the air, a dim light beaming from them. "And she was going to be all alone, while everyone else was having a party..." Several more bots crawl out from behind tables and cabinets, a soft crackle coming from their little speakers. "And I knew that I just had to.. *try* to do something for her."

    The room begins to fill with the sounds of a band warming up. Elctric guitars, drums, bass... all going through the checks you might here at a concert. Then the floating mini-bots fire up their projectors, creating an imperfect, but passable, slightly holographic image at one end of the room of a band... the Sex Pistols to be exact, taking the stage.

    Mairin tosses her shawl and wand off to the same table as the handbag, then reaches her hand out to Nettie. "I hope that your own personal concert will do?"

    Absent the shawl, Nettie can now see, even in the dim 'concert lighting' of the room, intricate wards... carefully, and painstakingly stitched in silver thread around the cuffs of Mairin's gloves. Wards specificly atuned to protect against Nettie's curse. Wards particularly designed for Mairin herself.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie is at first apprehensive when she sees all the bots. She reaches for the wand in her own sleeve, her eyes narrowing a moment, until she realizes what she's seeing. A light show. A mic check?

    ... that's Johnny Rotten. And she tilts her head in mixed confusion, apprehension and appreciation. It was definitely a surprise, and she even takes a moment to poke at one of the projections. Bi-location was not unfamiliar to her, but holographic technology?

    "Mairin... this... this is amazing."

    she turns to the other girl, and she purses her lips. "You didn't... you didn't have to do it. John hosted Halloween because the veil's thin. He wanted to give people a chance to just be-- unworried about it for a tick." she states, rubbing the back of her neck -- and then she spies the silvery threads in Mairin's gloves.

    " -- what in... Mair, are these *your* work?" Nettie questions, looking at the wards built up onto the gloves.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    "Nettie, you don't do soemthing for someone because you *have* to." She walks up a little closer, her hand still reaching out. "I *wanted* to." She does pasue at Nettie's raction to her gloves though and gives a smile. "John and Chas helped, gave feedback. But I did the research and design. Even added a little blood when I stitched them. I'm not very good with a needle yet." And Nettie might remember the feverish devotion Mairin's shown to needlework the past few weeks. "They should be strong enough to at least dance for an evening."

    She reaches her hand a little closer. "Want to?" The first chords of 'God Save the Queen" echo through the room. It really does sound like they're right there, stage-side.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "-- Sex Pistols aren't precisely dancing music, Mair--" Nettie gives a small laugh, and she draws her own hands back, though her cheeks are red. She shakes her head, looking to the holographic Pistols, and then she takes a deep breath.

    "... Poppet, this is... so much that I know is coming from a place that you want to show how much you care... but..." she trails off a moment, and she looks up.

    "You're progressing so quick-like. Those wards shouldn't be on your mind for at least a year. Especially blocking out--" she purses her lips, and she does reach out, gently, taking Mairin's hand, and turning it so she can see the wards that she's stitched.

    "Bit of upkeep, these might be reuseable."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin just shrugs a little, starting to bop to the music as it plays around them. She's a terrible dancer and it shows. "I only need them to work for tonight," she says, dismissively. "Come on, Nettie. Just for once... You keep telling me to relax and have some fun. You need to follow your own advice."

    She laughs a little, "Dancing, flailing... whatever you want to call it. I *know* you want to do *something* to the music."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Mair -- this isn't -- please --" Nettie takes a breath, and she drops her hand, and shakes her head "Wait a moment, Rabbit. This isn't about parties or the Pistols or about me-- the veil between this world and the next is at its thinnest. I don't go out and attend parties in case... in case someone reaches out who wants to -- or needs to -- talk to me." Nettie states, and she gives a gentle smile. "Would you like to see the circle I have for it?"

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin bops a little more, looking utterly confused. Then stops. She turns to walk to the table with her wand and uses it to stop the bots. The hologram flickers off, the music fades, and she stands there, back to Nettie for a momment before turning around, a smile on her face that is only a little forced. "I'm sorry. I.. just wanted to help." She takes another deep breath, and the smile grows more genuine. "Yes. I would love to see."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Mairin, I know you want to help. You are trying, and I'm not very... willing to be helped." Nettie decides on Phrasing, and she tilts her head back. "Rabbit, you're part of the first group of students I've had in eighty years. What you can do with your bots is so beyond anything I ken and it is nothing short of amazing. You're smart, and talented, and beautiful, yes all of those things." Nettie reaches down, and she takes both of Mairin's hands then, holding those gloved hands in her own.

    "Bit by bit you are coming into my world, but I'll never quite understand yours." she states gently -- and then she leads Mairin up. Up two more floors of empty space that might someday be apartments, or dormitories. They've also been warded, but not as strongly as the practice space, that fall=back point.

    And Mairin and Nettie would make their way up to the rooftop.

    Corvax caws, and several other crows seem to have gathered around.

    And there is a large circle there. It's complex, created for binding and channeling, amplification. Refined over a century of use.

    "... did I ever tell you, Mairin, I was married, once. To one of my students. Oh, she was a fiery Irish lass from Belfast, could outdrink every one of the brass and had a mind for sneaking into the tanks to --" Nettie pauses. "Well. She was a... a firecracker, Addie was. She was one of my sterling eight. Nurses and WAC volunteers in World War Two." Nettie explains, drawing her skirts around her slightly in the chill.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    She listens. Genuinly, closley listening, to everything Nettie says. Her gaze intense and focussed. But Mairin says nothing. She blinks in surprise a little at the news that Nettie was married, smiles widely at the idea of Addie being a 'firecracker' but still says nothing. Even as she sees the circle, something that would ordinarrily capture her complete attention, she barely acknowledges it. So intent is she on Nettie. She has a guess where this is going. Few of Nettie's stories seem to end happily. And so all she does is squeeze the other's hand a little tighter.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Mary Jessop was another one of my students. She was someone who I trusted with the safety of the others. She was strong willed, but..." she purses her lips "There was a darkness in her that she let swallow her. I've got my darkness too. You saw a touch of it at the Wal-Mart. But now..." she frowns a moment, and she looks up.

    "Mary betrayed us. She told the SS where my students were going to be. Four died, including my Addie. The remainder, I wiped their memories, sparing them the trauma of knowing what happened and why. All the magic lessons. Every fight for progress... I robbed from them."

    Nettie gives a gentle squeeze to Mairin's hand.

    "I told myself I'd never have students again. No more puppies to train to bark the right way and have a ball of light appear... because every year I wait for Addie, or Nat or Elizabeth-- any one of my students to reach out. Or my family. Just one whisper so that I would be able to ease some of the guilt from this old soul of mine." she states to Mair, looking over the circle.

    "... so you understand, better, why I am how I am."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    She looks closer at the circle... then back to Nettie as she turns to face her. "I do," she says softly. "At least a little. You talk about not being able to understand my world, and I... I don't think I'll ever really understand yours. And... I've never felt loss like that. I can't even imagine it. The pain of it."

    She bites her lip... thinking. "All I know. All I can say... Is that I'd happily share it with you. I know," she hurries to add, "You don't want me the way you did Addie. The way you *do* Addie. And I get that. But I..." she takes Nettie's other hand, holding them together between them. "I don't even know her. She must have been an increadible woman. They *all* must have been. But I know if it was me... I wouldn't want you to... Feel guilty."

    She sighs and looks down at their hands. "It sounds stupid to say. I'm sorry. It's not like you can just turn it off. I'm sure you would if you could. I just..." She looks up again. "I just want you to be happy Nettie. Actually *trully* happy. I don't care who or what makes you happy. If my leaving and never coming back would make you happy I'd gladly do it. I just want you to be.... happy."She shrugs a little.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "... no actually.." Nettie states a moment, hiting at the inside of her lip. "The problem is that 'want' is a strange word. Desire. Love. Lust. Want to spend time with. Want to bed. The old -- oh how does John put it -- 'romp in the sheets'." she gives a soft snort, a roll of her eyes. "To get to know better, dating all of it. Want contains so much for such a little word. Were this a different near, I might not have had such reservations about it. Could have pinned you to the tea bar and left you covered in bitemarks and bruising and gasping for air." Nettie releases Mairin's hand there, and she pats herself down, looking for her cigarette pouch, pulling one of her hand-rolled and a lighter, and she sparks a cig.

    "/Wanting/ you is not a problem, Rabbit. I have some very ethical concerns regarding that already, considering you are my student, and I'm responsible for your safety when it comes to the occult."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin's eyes go a bit wide, as Nettie contradicts her. She blinks... and then goes bright red at the description of just what Nettie might like do were the situation different. What she, apparently *wants* to do.

    She folds her hands in front of her, completely unsure what to do with them anymore. "I... I thought..." She fumbles for words. "I don't know what to say," she finaly manages.

    Can she say she'd like that? Can she say that she wished for it?

    "I didn't mean to..." she suddenly says. "I mean... that," she motions vaguely downstairs. "I wasn't trying to..." She struggles for a word... "Woo you.." She winces.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie gives a side-eye to Mairin. "You're going to disappear into your hair if you keep turning shades."

    She smokes quietly for a moment, then she takes a few steps forward -- minding the circle, and goes to lean off the roof. There's a quiet moment as she looks out over the city.

    "No, but you wanted a relationship with me. You asked me out." Nettie points out, "Not even knowing fully who I am. What I was, the prices that I have paid to forget. And now this world has moved beyond what I've ever been able to do with magic, so teaching the next group will be so much more difficult. And I happened to catch your attention." Nettie gives a slight smile, and puffs away on her hand-rolled cigarette. "You have the worst taste in women, Mairin."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    She actually laughs at Nettie's side comment, allowing some of the tension to ease off of her.

    She watches the woman look out over the city for a few moments, just listening to her, then walks over to join her, standing close enough for their elbows to touch. "Maybe..." she admits. "But I don't think so. I think I've fallen for someone who is... Increadible. Strong and brave, but also kind and gentle. Someone who cares. Who cared so deeply that when her students were hurt, she didn't just tell them to suck it up and move on. But... gave them peace. Even at the cost of her own."

    She's quiet for a while, then looks over. "Do you want me to go, Nettie? Honestly. I feel like I'm just making your life harder, and I never wanted that. I swore I would never leave you, but... if you tell me to. I will."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "No, Mairin. But I don't want your promises, either." Nettie comments quietly. She takes a deep breath.

    "There's more to that story, but that can wait for another time." she states quietly, and gives a slight smile. "Well, if you're staying, you're staying, until for some God-only-knows-reason you do something so amazingly dumb that even I cannot fathom it, in which case I think you graduate. C'mon. I was about to order some delivery pizza. D'you want anything?"

Mairin Moran has posed:
    "I..." She seems to want to say something more... or ask more... But she thinks better of it and just smiles instead. "Yes. I would love some. Whatever it is you're having." She turns back to the door that leads down into the building, then holds out a hand for Nettie.

    Hey... she's warded. She might as well take advantage of it while it lasts.