Spicy Hot Chocolate

Kiara
It's hardly what most would deem park weather, Denver at present.

Though the lack of radiant warmth has never particularly held the Verbena back from doing whatever it was she pleased to do. And not infrequently, Kiara Woolfe liked to run. There was a peacefulness, one might have even gone so far as to term it tranquility, to running the pathways that zig-zagged throughout the expanse of Washington Park. At present, the walkways that she preferred were touched with frost; it gleamed in the afternoon sunlight and adventurer though she was, the brunette also had an uncanny sense of self preservation.

Which was why she wasn't found traversing the depths of the park as the sunlight desperately quested to warm what it could but situated under a tree; a blanket spread out beneath her and the lake glinting in the distance. The world was become December's, in all her icy power and while the pagan respected it enough to dress for nature's demands (coat, boots, gloves, the usual adornments of the season) she wasn't afraid of it. At least, not enough to keep her from coming to re-align herself with it.

The Verbena's back was situated against the tree; her legs crossed neatly beneath her and there was, playing on her lips, a rather contented expression as she pressed one hand; gloveless; back against the brittle bark. If a stranger didn't know better they might have guessed she was listening to the tree. Which, the way the air around the Verbena hummed with a particular sort of vibration of energy, might not have been quite so far from the truth.

[Doo de doo, we're just harmonizing with nature, no big deal. Bit of Life 1. Practiced. Coincidental. Unique Foci, etc.]

Dice: 2 d10 TN3 (3, 10) ( success x 2 )

Grace
[Awareness!]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 4, 10, 10) ( success x 2 )

Grace
The last time they were here, they played basketball against Ian. If Grace had any idea what Kiara and Ian were playing for, she probably wouldn't have. But ignorance is bliss. This is so, even for Grace, as long as she doesn't know she's missing anything.

She's an odd beast in the park. Walkways are more of a guideline to her than anything, a signal that there might be such things as benches beside them. So, she's often seen making her own wandering path. Today, she's leaving a trail through the frosted grass that looks very much like someone didn't know where they're going. At one point, her trail turns sharply. Somebody feels like the cycle of life over there.

It might seem to Kiara that Grace is an unchanging creature. Does she always wear jeans, sneakers, and that red coat festooned with small plastic bits here and there? When she arrives at Kiara's tree, she's silent, watching, not wanting to interrupt.

Kiara
[Oh yes I should have done this before. Do I sense a Grace?]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (3, 5, 6, 7) ( success x 2 )

Kiara
The last time Kiara had been here, or, quite near to where she currently sits, there'd been a spirit nearby and other Awakened. He'd been wary of her, the departed, with her resonance that called to the fore the notion of something destructive, something entirely devouring and inevitable. It wasn't anything that got simpler; being feared the way he'd feared her in the moment. Though it wasn't the first time something other had felt her to be an implied threat.

Such was that of a child of nature; that felt cyclinic like her whims could be. It was easy to fear that which you couldn't control.

Grace's presence isn't a strange one to the Verbena; that keen sense of something shifting; sands pouring through the hourglass but in the moment; she doesn't feel her approach. Not until she opens her eyes after a protracted moment; a blink. A tilt of her chin upward at the shadow canting across her sunlit afternoon. It takes the brunette a second to come back. To divert her focus from the Pattern of the world around her and latch onto another.

"Grace, hey." She doesn't sound unhappy to be disturbed, Kiara, rather entirely at her leisure. Relaxed, you might have said, despite the chill in the air. There's a thermos on the blanket beside the female, a small wicker basket beside it. Somebody had been enjoying a winter's day picnic, apparently. The brunette shifted her weight a little; straightening. "You caught me mid-conversation.

They're happy." This, a tilt back at the tree behind her; the touch of a smile gracing Kiara's red mouth. "Winter agrees with them." There's a stretch and Kiara unfolds her legs, gestures at the blanket. "Pull up a square of blanket."

Grace
Grace looks up. "Aww man, we're not stuck in a painting are we? Happy trees?"

"I'm trying to get the plants to talk to me too. Though it's more like..." she says, and trails off. Okay, so maybe tread carefully here? Sometimes people can be a bit put off by the techno part of technomancy.

"Like they're having a conversation with the sunlight that I'm trying to decode. To see if I can use it to send my own messages, if that makes sense?"

She takes up the offer to share a blanket, stretching out her gangly legs, leaning back on her hands, in order to continue looking up into the trees.

"I wish I could say my ivy was happy with me, but it keeps getting nibbled on by cats. I imagine there's got to be some animosity there."

Kiara
There's a sharp grin, at that. Kiara tucks one leg back under her body to reach over and unscrew the top on her thermos. Her glove hasn't been refitted and the Verbena's fingernails are painted a bold crimson that matches her favored shade of lipstick. "God, I hope not, as soothing as watching Bob Ross paint can be I think I'd rather something a little more exciting." She lifts an eyebrow. "If I was going to be caught in some alternate universe. Picasso, maybe. Salvador Dal . Now he'd be worth it."

She reaches into her basket, takes out a pair of small cups. "All those melting clocks and ships made of butterflies?" The top of the thermos steams with something warm inside and when she pours out one cup, it smells like sugar and spice; something with chocolate. She sets one out and inclines her head toward it in a help yourself motion. Pours a second and curls her legs up; resting an arm across a knee and turning over what the other woman says.

"Nature talks to nature, without question. Interpreting what they're saying and using it - " Kiara nurses her chocolate in one hand; lifting it to her mouth to take a sip. "Let's just say I'm still trying to figure out what she's saying half the time." Her ivy is being nibbled on by cats. There's a breath of laughter at that. "Beware the scorned house plants." She wiggles her fingers back into a glove. Offers a thoughtful look the other woman's way.

"You know I was in here the other night and met a few newcomers. They were feeding the homeless. There was a lot of talk of God's work." Oh, there's a hint of something wry, there, in the pagan's tone.

Grace
"Newcomers? Doing God's work, eh? Well, feeding the homeless is good, I guess," Grace says, shrugs, still looking to the trees. "As long as they're not doing the God of Murderous Rampages' work, that's fine by me. I'd ask if you meant Kalen and Danny, because apparently Danny wants to bring the joy of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to all of Denver, but they aren't new and they don't really ever speak of doing God's work."

Grace takes the offered cup just as she did the blanket -- no thank-yous. There's only a look of surprise at the offer itself, and then complete acceptance, as if she were fully engaged in making herself at home on someone else's blanket, drinking someone else's hot chocolate.

"This is really nice. Hot chocolate on a cold day in the park? Brilliant."

Kiara
"It was a man and a woman. She was -" Kiara pauses, her expression knitting into something a little uncertain. A flicker of some agitation at the very fact. " - captivating, in a way and he was - " There, again. A flicker of something. She's smiling throughout it, though it verges here and there on becoming less sincere. More a grimace. "Oliver and Lavinia, I think they introduced themselves as. Said they were settling into Denver. Kalen was there, though."

Her smile returns then, a little more sincere. A little less burdened by whatever it was that grated at her about the newcomers presence. "They called us townies." There's amusement painted into the Verbena's voice at that; some pleasing warmth like that of the hot chocolate she's offered Grace. It seeps under the skin, that good humor. "I suppose they get points for that. It's a first, for me." She flicks aside the heavy fall of her hair from her face so Grace can see the full weight of her amusement at the fact. She's foregone any sort of hat today, the Verbena and her dark hair falls in waves; spilling down over Kiara's shoulders.

It adds to the picture of her being some wild thing at times, the pagan. Perfects that combination of dark eyes and red lips. The clatter of jewellery around her wrists; her neck.

"Mm, it's an old recipe. The secret is to add a little chili." She takes another sip from her own cup, resettles against her tree. "I come in here a lot. Just to sit and - " she tilts her face upwards; toward the treetops. "What about you? What brings you to the splendor of Washington Park on a Friday afternoon?" There's a decided tease to the edge of Kiara's mouth as she says this. As if she knows it's unlikely the park lures everyone back the way it does herself. That, or she imagines Grace has some deeper reasoning for finding herself within it without company.

Grace
"I don't know. I sometimes just feel like I need to get on my feet and go somewhere, you know? Like, sitting in front of the computer all day is my main habitat. Good stuff comes when I can sit there for days with just my coffee and not have to bother with anything. But then I get all antsy," Grace says, her eyes tracing the outline of the lake. She sips some hot chocolate, noting that not all of the heat of it is thermal.

"This is good stuff," she mutters. "Like the chili. Gives it character."

Her gaze then shifts over to the mountains in the distance. "Townies..."

There is a wildness to Grace as well, though not in the way of animals and plants and the cycles of nature. It's more to do with being unrestrained. Her mussy hair has a twig stuck in it today, and she really couldn't care less about that. Twigs happen. But there is always something a bit unnatural about her, isn't there? The way she doesn't like to look at people. The way her eyes tend to follow lines.

Kiara
"I do." Kiara murmurs, with eyes focused on Grace's features, even as she casts her attention out over the lake. It's late afternoon and cool; the crisp wind cutting across their small shelter intermittently. They're half protected by the ancient tree Kiara's perched against but there's no total concealment from the elements. It sends occasional sharp gusts that flip over the edge of the blanket the Verbena had lain out earlier. Rustles the leaves high above and whips the surface of the water up.

Chopping and changing the otherwise serene lake.

There's something thoughtful; perhaps sympathetic to Kiara's attention for a beat. A contained consideration before she chimes in with: "I've never been too good at staying in one place for too long. Winter is - " The Verbena's features twist into something rueful. " - a challenge, for me. I don't like the way everything stops. Freezes over." There's steam slowly rising off the cup housed between Kiara's gloved palms, a reminder perhaps, of the very subject of her consideration.

"Hibernation isn't really something I understand. I guess there's a reason for it but, " Thin shoulders lift in a shrug; dismissive. "Give me Spring any day." She's quiet for a moment or two then, Kiara, eyes perhaps taking in Grace's presence. The twig in her hair is undoubtedly noticed; perhaps the reason for the brief suggestion of a smile at the edge of the other woman's mouth. Her eyes dip down then, away and she curls up against the tree like a child might have against a doting mother.

"It's odd how often I meet people and spend time around them and never really know a single thing about them. You, Ian, Serafine." Kiara's dark eyes rove over Grace's face. "I get the impression there's a lot that happened here before I found my way into it."

Grace
"Here? Well, I mean, just in this park alone... The Message occasionally pops up here in the form of a scarecrow by the lake. He's nice. There was this guy who got stuck in the 'spirit world' and he used the last bit of oomph that he had sending a message across to us, just so he wouldn't be forgotten. The Message kind of, I don't know. Gained sentience? Over here it looks like a scarecrow. Over there it looks like an owl-angel. Some people I know come to this lake and have picnics just in case Mr. Message pops in to say hi.

"Not everything here is so nice though. I mean, you have Ginger now. You can read. We have been through a lot. And no matter what the new guys like to say, we're all new guys here. The real old guard? They got wiped out about a couple years ago."

She sits up to balance herself while drinking the hot chocolate, because it wouldn't do to dump it all over herself on accident. Its heat is appreciated.

"There's one thing about Denver. It never freezes here, if you catch my meaning," Grace says, and there is a note of anger there. Not at Kiara, but at whatever force it is out there that seems to want to kill and/or torture everyone in existence.

Kiara
There is something very soothing to the hot beverage in both their hands. A strange juxtaposition to their conversation but it somehow works to anchor them in the moment. There's something very human to it, after all. The sweet yet spicy chocolate; a warm drink for a winter's day and all that's missing, really, are marshmallows roasted over a fire.

Call backs to utterly benign, mortal things. What tethers a person to the world while they're in danger of finding pathways beyond it, after all. Grace talks about The Message, the park, what's come and gone and picnics in their very spot. Kiara's expression suggests interest; curiosity; banked investment where she sits, curled up; hands clasped tight around her plastic cup in their soft leather gloves. "I don't doubt it's seen a lot, this place. I got that impression from what I saw. Looking across."

It never freezes in Denver, if she catches her drift. The way the brunette's smile fades a little; settles into something a touch more subdued, she does. There's a certain way she looks off into the distance; a certain way she breathes out carefully that says she knows it well. Kiara's mouth is mutable as it folds and arranges itself to suit her expression. Resignation, maybe. A shared anger banked there with it that matches that heard in Grace's voice.

"Yeah, you could say the same was true about New York." She looks back then, meets Grace's eyes and there's a suggestion there in Kiara's - Pain, commiseration, understanding of some unnamed horror that couldn't quite be shaken off like rain from an umbrella after a storm. "You know what they say about cockroaches, though," she considers her hot chocolate. "Persistent little buggers."

Grace
"Mmm," Grace says, nods, drinks some heat in.

"So far, at least going back a couple of years, we've had some level of weirdly good bad luck. Shit keeps going down and fucking with us, but we keep going. Really, yes, rather cockroach-like at that, I guess. Maybe we just make our own good luck by being so damn stubborn."

Grace walks the park alone, trying to find peace. Something inside her doesn't want to be tethered -- wants to find the paths beyond the here and now. It doesn't care about the danger. She does, though.

Some days that tether snaps taut. The need to go rises, though 'to where' isn't really a meaningful question. There is no where.

"I guess where you are doesn't really matter in the long run. Shit happens anyway. That's what I gather, at any rate. None of us seem to have simple, uninteresting lives. It just doesn't work."

Kiara
Kiara's eyes gleam a little at that. She laughs and - dipping her head, pours herself a little more hot chocolate from the thermos. The edge of her mouth is always hinting at something. That's Kiara, though. The eternal sense that for as much as she offers - she holds back, too. Perhaps that's a learned trait of the Awakened. When you never quite knew where the Technocracy was going to show up, you got accustomed to talking in half truths. In codes and veiled glances.

Kiara's people had made something of an art of it throughout history. Persecution did tend to have that effect.

"You know, I have to admit, before everything -" She sits back on her knees; her thumb toying with the rim of her cup. " - I would have called my life exactly that. Uninteresting. Predictable. And even for a while after it - " She glances at Grace, then away, smiling. Some faint impression of mirth at herself; her past. Her journey.

"I sort of clung to this idea I could do both. Be both. As if one wouldn't infect the other." She looks back; eyes searching the other woman's face. "But you're right. It doesn't really matter where we are. It all - " She curls her lip. "Finds you out, one way or another. At least we're in good company, right?"

Grace
"It's possible. To do both. There are some who make a real effort at that, and manage to make it work. A lot of us have professions in the 'real world' although I've never figured out how. Then there's the ones with children.

"There's no way to avoid 'infection' though. It's not like you're literally two people. Just one person with two lives."

She drinks the last of her spicy hot chocolate. It's no longer really hot by now, but the spice is heat enough.

"I've found it's simpler to try not to do everything at once, though."

Kiara
"I envy them that. I mean to an extent I have both but - not quite the same way. Not, mind you that I'd go back to the way it was before, but - " There's a sense of loss snarled in there, somewhere. Behind the easy smiles and dramatically painted dark eyes. The way Kiara speaks of her old life, as if it's a monument to time she can't quite recapture. Echoes and ghosts of the times that had come before.

Footprints in the sand long since washed away.

" - it's easy to remember it with a certain wistfulness on the other side, I guess." The Verbena finishes her second cup and carefully stows it back inside her wicker basket. There's a myriad of other things in there when she lifts the lid. Bunches of wrapped herbs; something in a glass that resembled misty water; a plastic baggie of what could have been dried leaves. Food items too, one supposes, somewhere.

Kiara carefully pushes herself to her feet; brushing down her jeans with gloved hands and shifting the basket to one side so its freed from the blanket. "Speaking of real world professions, I have a session tonight I should probably get back and set up, for." She'd mentioned it once before, what she did. How she made some use of the connections between who she'd been and what she was.

A healer, that's what she'd called herself. A practitioner of energies. "You should stop by one of my classes." She casts Grace a winged eyebrow, a briefly coy look as she sets to carefully folding a corner of the blanket up. "It's good for a little clarity of mind. Or if you prefer," she picks a few dry leaves from the folds of the fleece. "I do private healing sessions, too. It's not quite the same kind as hot chocolate, but," the brunette shrugs, smiles. It's a brief, contained thing. Easy, unfussed about the likelihoods of Grace taking up the offer.

"It's a way to calibrate yourself, so to speak."

Grace
The blanket is being folded, and so, Grace stands and removes herself from it. She's not a cat, to get upset when the blanket needs to move out from under her.

"That would be interesting. I've never seen reiki before. I wonder if I could see it work in the... you know, the 'Tapestry'. Or whatever you call it."

Some Virtual Adepts would scoff at the very idea of reiki. Pseudoscience at best, right? Too much woo, not enough foo and bar. The ones like Grace, who have seen far weirder things than palm healing and who have 'grown up' around the Traditional types, not so much.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that people have found so many different ways to hack the universe, really.

"It was nice to talk with you, fellow townie," she says, and her eyes flit to Kiara's just in time to perform the fakest of formal bows. "I look forward to the next time you give me a drink and conversation."

Kiara
"Reiki is about using the energy that already exists in the world. With the right intention, you can map it. Channel it. Use it to heal or conversely - " Kiara pauses folding her blanket, straightens, her hair scooped back from her face in a restless; impatient gesture. " - well, there's a lot of different kinds of will workers out there. The way I use it, it helps me see life. Articulate the patterns, understand them."

She tucks the blanket under the edge of her basket; picks it up to stow under an arm and smiles; a dimpled, bright thing as Grace mock bows. "Likewise. We should make a habit of it." Kiara tilts her head, motioning them toward the frost-bitten pathways. The sun is beginning to dip; the temperature shying as it does.

"After you."

In their wake; there's a small square of lawn warmed by their presence; the frost has melted away; but it won't take long for it to recapture the verdant grass. It was December's whim, after all, and one that brought with it a decided touch of ice.

We all like pi

Kalen Holliday
[How awake are we?]

Dice: 7 d10 TN7 (3, 4, 6, 7, 7, 8, 10) ( success x 4 )

Kalen Holliday
[And how distracted by Resonance are we?]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10) ( success x 2 )

Alexander
[Are we aware today?]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 8, 9) ( success x 2 )

Grace
[Awareness too!]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 5, 6, 10) ( success x 2 )

Kalen Holliday
Kalen has some strange affection for this diner.  He comes to work and have coffee and pie.  By now the staff have gotten used to him, spiky hair and shimmery eyeliner and laptop and actual printed newspaper.  It doesn't seem like the kind of place you should expect to see him.  There were times when he spent time in places like this because he had nowhere else to go.  Because they were warm and relatively safe and there was coffee.  And sometimes he tries to remember who he was then, before all of this.

To remember what magic gave him.

Tonight he seems relatively awake.  There is a half-finished slice of key lime pie on the table.  A recently refilled mug of black coffee.  Silver eyeliner and just a hint of something pale and shimmery and purple brushed over his eyelids brings out the green in them, bright against his pale skin.  He's wearing a white shirt that is clingy and soft and artfully shredded in a few places.  Gray jeans.  It's rather more than he usually bothers with, but far less than he can do.

Some things, like temporary tattoos of butterflies, are just more suited to all-night affairs in altered states of consciousness in buildings one isn't supposed to be in.  Back in the time he came here to remember...that kind of thing was a bit more commonplace for him.

Grace
The place is like Kalen's other office. He likes pie. Grace likes pi. It all works out, doesn't it?

Grace has her own mug of coffee at the opposite end of the table, though she keeps having to remind the waitress that she's there in order to get it refilled. Her type of pie tonight is a slice of pecan sweetness that has yet to be messed with too much. She's too engrossed in whatever's happening on her phone.

And, to put a counterpoint to Kalen, she certainly doesn't look like a business partner with the man. Jeans of the starving student type, and a black t-shirt under her plain gray turtleneck jacket are her choice of attire.

And she wears no silver eyeliner. As she told Alyssa some days ago, that would probably be an invitation to blindness via liquid liner wand.

Alexander
What would any gathering of Mages be without others being strangely drawn into their orbit?  Somewhere along Colfax is a guy riding a motorbike.  The from and the to aren’t particulary important.  Neither are they overly clear – there’s no destination in mind, and he’s been riding around for a while.  A visit to the plains probably happened at some point during the journey.  There’s probably a metaphor in there somewhere about how the journey is the important part.

But we digress.  Somewhere along Colfax is a merging of two familiar resonances, coming from a diner that Alexander is coming to know.  Maybe not as well as Kalen, but he’s been here a few times and he’s not completely unknown to the staff.  So in his walks, buried in his leathers and with his helmet carried in one hand.  An order is placed at the counter before he walks the rest of the way to join Kalen and Grace.

“Hi guys.”  He almost asks how things are going, but that’s occasionally a risky question to ask.  So he settles for, “How are you both?”  He begins the task of getting out of his jacket and some of the layers built up underneath.  It is heading towards winter, after all.

Kalen Holliday
Kalen circles something, taps out a note into the mapping program, makes a note on the paper too.

Kalen looks up when he senses Alexander.  Alexander gets a wave and a flash of a smile, and then Kalen slides over a little, nudges enough of the things he's working on out of the way for Alexander to eventually have food arrive and have space.

"Please tell me you brought home that charming creature with the apocalyptic orange hair," is his greeting to Alexander.  Warm and just shy of purring.  Mischievous.

Grace
It's no longer 'headed towards winter' as much as it is winter. It's amazing Grace isn't wearing her amazing technocolor technocoat. But alas. The coffee certainly helps keep warm.

Alex, though. In his presence, it wouldn't matter how many layers you put on, you'd still feel the nip of chill.

Grace's eyes flit up from her phone, then flashes a smile when she sees who it is.

"Wha huh? Apocalyptic orange hair?"

Alexander
Ah, but there are degrees of winter and the city has still to descend into the deepest depths that it has to offer.  But whatever your definition of the current season, it’s still not the most pleasant weather to be travelling at speed without ways of staying warm.  One day, perhaps, there will be other ways to do that than a couple of t-shirts and something thermal underneath them.  A small pile of clothing gets stacked roughly on a nearby, vacant seat.

Grace gets a smile in return, but then he looks as confused as Grace feels.  “I.. have no idea who you’re talking about.  Orange hair?”  The only person that springs to mind with strangely coloured hair would be Lucy, but that’s pink.

Kalen Holliday
"Blue eyes.  Spent the night trying to work up to asking you to dance."  Kalen smiles.  "I suppose it doesn't matter.  I tried very hard not to give the impression we were dating.

"Serafine thought that Gallowglass and I had a romantic thing going on, once."  He sounds so mystified by this.  As though the fact that he had practically poured himself against Gallowglass' side in a bar would mean so many other things coming from most people?

"I finally did sleep, though.  Much better."  Again a smile, this one warmer and slightly less playful.  "How are you?"

Grace
Ugh. Adam. Why Kalen seems to like that guy so much is beyond Grace. He's the worst. For all that Kalen likes to spend money in strange ways, he at least hasn't picked up the elitist snobbishness that sometimes goes with that.

She tries not to let that distaste for a certain someone show.

"Somebody's got a secret admirer? Huh. Congratulations, Alex. I think."

Could be he doesn't want to be admired. Probably not, but you know...

Alexander
There’s another moment or two before the penny finally drops.  “Oh!  Yeah.  Her.  The one who wouldn’t take no for an answer once she had worked up the courage to ask.  No, she eventually lost interest and ended up finding someone else to go home with.  And I pity the poor soul who did, she’ll have her stuff moved in by the end of next week.”  His coffee and pie arrive, slipped onto the corner of table vacant of Kalen’s things and the other flatware already in use.  He pours some cream before taking in a sip.  He clarifies things for Grace.  “We went out clubbing last night.  My cabalmate here abandoned me to the mercies of the woman with orange hair.  Abandoned!”  He clutches his hand to his chest before poking his tongue out at Kalen.

“I’m doing ok.  Can you remember what time we left this morning?  I didn’t wake up until the middle of the afternoon.  I’m usually up with the sun.  I’m glad you slept well, though.  Maybe we should do that kind of thing more often.  It was so much more fun that that last trip to the Black Orchid.  Less painful too.”

“And how’s Grace doing today?  Is there a winner in your bet with Alyssa yet?”

Grace
"Ahh, then I take back the congratulations," she says, and prods the pecan pie with a fork.

"No," Grace says to his question of bets, and rolls her eyes. "He refuses to cooperate and set anything on fire. We had such faith in him, but he only managed to produce cookies, not smoke. Very disappointing."

Pecans get speared on the end of her fork. She nibbles on them.

Kalen Holliday
Kalen laughs as Alexander dramatically proclaims he was abandoned, leaning into Alexander for a second.  "We should.  Sleeping past noon is my new favorite thing.

"And listen to him.  Like I don't have some women who moved into my pretend house the day I met her."  Kalen laughs again.  "Really, Alce, that is just how you find someone to pick up your dry cleaning and raise attack puppies."  Is he joking?  He doesn't sound like he's joking.

He wraps his hands around his own coffee, more for the warmth than because he intends to drink it.  "Still no idea what sugar cookie recipes to use, maybe I'll narrow it down to six.  I may yet set the kitchen to flames."

Alexander
His own pie – cherry, for anyone who may be interested – gets picked at with a fork and the end is quickly eaten.  “I’m sure you can find things to smoke that would have a similar effect.  Although you might wants to sort out those cookies first, I hear that getting the munchies is an unfortunate side effect.”

He smiles around the fork when Kalen talks about women moving in.  “Somehow I can’t see Grace picking up your dry cleaning.  Unless you make a habit of inviting women to stay.  I’m sure there’s an orange-haired woman out there who would be all too happy to arrange your life for you.  I don’t know about the attack puppies, though.  Are they there to drown intruders in slobber?”

Another smile for Grace as he adds his own bet to the pot.  “Five bucks says there’s a door to the pits of hell in the kitchen by New Year.”

Grace
"Alex. Please. I did not go live in Kalen's house the day I met him. I didn't know him from an ax murderer. He does just make a habit of inviting people to stay with him," Grace says. "He's talking about the lady he picked up to raise puppies, after she almost killed him."

As though that explains everything.

Grace just smiles and eats more pie.

Kalen Holliday
Kalen looks over at Alexander, and smiles just a little.  "Yeah...I kept meaning to tell you about that, except in some ways the less you know about her the better, all things considered.  But...it's been months now.  And she's very happy running my errands and raising puppies that will eventually be guard dogs for the library.  I think she's okay.

"Anyway, I think I'm leaving the door to the pits of hell in the cellar.  More thematically appropriate.  And I've already reinforced the door with iron."

Alexander
“Um, ok.  I’d ask who this puppy-raising woman is, but if you think it’s best I don’t know...”  They had already had a little conversation about keeping secrets back when Alex had first agreed to join the cabal.  It would have been one thing if what Kalen had neglected to mention had been about him.  But what they’d agreed about keeping secrets about other people was a bit fuzzier.  It isn’t so much that Alex wants or needs to know everything that’s going on in Kalen’s life out of some need to know for the sake of knowing.  It’s more that Kalen wants him to be there for when Kalen forgets certain things.  It’s about trust.  And Alexander does trust Kalen, so he lets it go.  If it’s not something that Kalen is going to need to reminded about that whole human thing then...  “Fair enough.

“Are you sure iron will be strong enough?  That stuff melts, you know.”

Grace
"Oh..." Right. Alex is a cop. Don't mention the attempted theft and murder bits in front of him. Grace almost forgot about that.

"Oops. Sorry. I didn't say anything," Grace says, chews pie, tries to look sufficiently contrite.

"Kalen, you've reinforced all the doors. You like reinforced everything."

Kalen Holliday
"If I promise she's not going to break any laws I don't ask her to from now on, will you not arrest her?  It's not that I care if you know, I just...the whole story would leave you in a very awkward place with your job.  She was confused and scared and she made a mistake, but she's outside of those circumstances now.  She doesn't want to go back, and I...I made that happen.  I gave her a new life, and I'd rather like her to keep it.

"So...reinforced fireproof door to cellar.  Got it."  He sighs.  "Actually, now that it's about to be very public knowledge, I should put in an actual panic room."

Alexander
“It’s fine.  Really.  I’m actually surprised that whole thing hasn’t been more of a thing that it was.”  There’s a glance at Grace, but there’s no malice.  She had her reasons for keeping him at arm’s reach.  There may well be other times in the future where the same conflict comes up – it would be amazing if it didn’t – but he tries not to think it’s anything personal.

The pie sits, half-eaten, as Alexander takes a drink from the coffee cup.  “You did think about that way of getting out in case the place gets sieged, right?”

Grace
"To be honest, I like the way you care about security, Kalen. Even if it is a bit over the top, it feels good having a place to go that's better than my apartment."

Better than her apartment, where anyone could bust down the door. The apartment she barely lives in. It works as a 'normal' address and that's about it.

"Well, what you don't know, you don't have to report, right?"

Grace
[Ugh. It is 1AM. Do you guys mind if I jet out? I didn't see it was this late. We can say Grace gets really interested in her phone or something.]

Kalen Holliday
"I still tell you all the fun secrets," Kalen says with a smile.  "Promise."  And that is, perhaps surprisingly in context, a rather serious promise.

"I...the last place I was...it didn't even matter.  So...not exactly.  Mostly it's set up to withstand something of a siege.  And there are things I can do to reinforce the building.  They're a bit draining to keep up with outside of a threat, though they may be more worthwhile soon."

Alexander
[I'm flagging some too, so not a problem if we find a wrap]

Monsters and (Gingerbread) Men

Kalen Holliday
[How awake are we?]

Dice: 7 d10 TN7 (1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )

Danny
(awareness if it's really needed)

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 4 )

Kalen Holliday
[And how distracted by Resonance are we?]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 5, 5, 6, 8, 8, 10) ( success x 4 )

Kalen Holliday
Kalen doesn't sleep for long at all.  And he isn't prone to spending much time dozing.  What are another five minutes of nightmares really going to get him.  So he wakes up, and starts coffee, and then pulls out cookbooks.  They've been read and there are little post-it notes with writing on them.  There is a new leather-bound journal, this one a lovely cobalt blue, for taking further notes in.  Of course there is.  Already, carefully transcribed, are the recipes for four different (but very similar) recipes for gingerbread men.  

He has ingredients too, all set out, and it looks, with the eggs nestled into bowls and ceramic containers of flour and sugar and glass jars with salt and spices, like a cooking show for people with the money to import bourbon-soaked vanilla beans (ready in case he makes it beyond gingerbread men) and organic sugarcane.  Practically everything on the counter is organic.  Traced to some source or another that Kalen finds up to his standards.

This is, perhaps, the most expensive gingerbread men experiment in the history of Denver.  Possibly Colorado.

And Kalen, with the kind of expression and resolve generally associated with the development of alchemical formulas, is very carefully measuring flour.  He maintains that he cannot cook.  And, by strict definition that might be true.  But he can follow instructions.

The truth about that is that Kalen has never seen any reason to learn to cook.  He's had people or restaurants for that.  Kalen's complete lack of experience cooking is entirely because he has other things to do.  Thus far, target practice has always won out over things like learning to make souffl s.  There are people, mundane people who do not need to devote their nights to saving the world, who can devote years to perfect salmon souffl .

And now he, and at least one of his cabalmates, are planning to learn to make Christmas cookies.  And that, finally, has brought him here.  Carefully sifting and measuring flour into a mixing bowl that has never been used, with a sifter that has never been used, and measuring cups that have never been used.  A preheated oven, which has once been used to roast a chicken.

Danny
*He's lean, he's built like a cat, all sleek angles and honed athletic grace. Clearly he takes care of himself, but it's the bohemian attitude he has for everything that is crucial somehow to just how Danny seems to function.  During his sleep, he shifts to curl around who he's with, he smiles a lot in his sleep too.  As if he's always on the edge of a known secret and he's content with his lot.

Now however he was upright and his usual bright chirpy self having had pronounced himself awake after about an hour of coffee. Now he was in the kitchen and looking around the books and the things that Kalen has gathered. He rubbed his hands with glee and grinned.* Right, lesson one.   Cookies. Do you want them to be hard or gooey?  What filling and we might want more decorations, and those little tubes of food colouring to decorate the trees.

*Then he marches over to Kalen and with both hands going to cup his face gently he kisses him.* Thank you. Seriously, thank you for understanding me and getting on board with this. *Then he strokes Kalens cheek again and rubs his hands in a business like manner before turning to look at the kitchen.*

Right good, you're sifting... but first we need to get the butter and sugar into the mix and cream it all up, trust me on this... *he nods.* Gooey are the best for baubles... but ginger bread men we want brittle, something with a decent bite to it. *He leans to pick up some crystallized ginger and nods.*

Kalen Holliday
"I was just going to follow the instructions and see which ones were the best," Kalen says.  "Because I have no idea."

He laughs and waves a hand in the direction of cabinets.  "There are things for decorations, just not out yet.  I am given to understand you have to wait for cookies to cool to decorate.  And I am not sure we'll get to trees today.  Unless we make gingerbread trees.

"Which is, I suppose, possible.  I was simply planning to test all the people cookie cutters on these.  And maybe the dogs.  Ginger people might want little ginger dogs.

"But, by that logic, I suppose, also trees.  There is a box of trees and reindeer and other Christmas themed cookie cutters in the box I have labeled, with great originality, Christmas."  Which Danny will find next to other boxes labeled equally originally with labels like, 'carnival' and 'dinosaurs' and 'plants' and 'animals.'  Also present, all kinds of cookie decorating supplies.  Down to gold foil and high quality food coloring. The kind you need for ridiculously vivid colors. Interestingly, the food coloring shows signs of having already been used.  It is the only thing that does, save for, tucked in the back, meringue powder.

Danny
*All he could do was laugh with delight.* Oh man you have really pushed the boat out on this one huh! *Well colour him impressed as all hell right now.*

Okay, the key to any success with this is going to be the instructions.  But, I also know a few decent ways to change things and bring about the same effect. *he moves closer and rests his hand on Kalen's back lightly, the way he always does.*

So what do you want me to do?

Kalen Holliday
"Well.  Of course you do."  Kalen sets the little bowl of precisely measured flour aside and begins to measure brown sugar.  Which he already knows to pack.  Look at that.

"But I don't know what it would be changed from.  I'm sure it is amazing.  But I already suggested you or Kharisma could make cookies, and Alexander wanted to maybe make them.  So...I have to figure out my cookies.  Or possible the first steps to Alexander's and mine.  Otherwise I'd have just asked you or Kharisma for your recipes."  He explains this as though he has given it way more thought than people should give Christmas cookies.  But then, he and Alexander are both looking for something.  And it has, in the end, both nothing and everything to do with learning to make cookies.

"But I'm getting her brownie recipe.  Like some family heirloom recipe.  Because, seriously...those are incredible."

Danny
Yeah I can well imagine. *he nods.* Okay... So you're the one doing it. That's cool, I'll just sit here drink coffee and sample.. *He nods.* Do I get a spoon with the bowl after each batch? And can we decorate them too! It only takes a short while to do it.

Kalen Holliday
Kalen laughs.  "Decorating them is probably the one thing I have similar experience with.  There are already bags of royal icing in the fridge."

"And of course you get to taste them."  He frowns.  What can Danny do?  What did he do for Kharisma?

"Do you want to line the baking sheets with parchment paper?  Or whisk the eggs?  We need two.  Eggs.  But four baking sheets."  Because of course he's memorized the recipe.  Even though he has it out, he barely glances at it to confirm the number of eggs.  More precaution, than anything.

Danny
*Danny nods, making his way to the sink to wash his hands and remove his rings. Then he makes his way over to get to work on the eggs.  It was simple to crack the egg on the side and hold the shell one handed..* So you said you and Alexander are doing them?  What do you want to do with these ones?

Kalen Holliday
"I'm learning about them.  So I understand them when we make them."  Kalen nods.  "So we don't set anything on fire.  And know what kind to make.  If they're going to be terrible, I want to know before we are making cookies for everyone.

"Not that we won't share these, because there are going to be a lot of them.  But...I assume not all of them will be good.

"I was thinking that if we do making cookies while you are making things for Thanksgiving, we could decorate cookies and maybe make some of the ones you need a press for.  We can set that up in advance, so all we'd have to juggle is the oven.  And not so much counter space.  We can use that table for decorating."

Danny
*He nods in agreement.* That sounds good. I was thinking of maybe having a hogs head as well as a Turkey. For christmas... *he narrows his eyes thoughtfully.* well we'll get to that later.

With thanks giving, what do you think about? Honestly? Lets take it back to it's values. *he taps the whisk on the side and moves the mixture towards Kalen. Right, so greaseproof paper.

*He smiled again.* Thanks giving with my parents always involved everyone.  Friends would come by, there'd be drinks with some of the faculty at our place.  Their kids would come along and we'd all just go chill out in the poolhouse or the basement.  I had the entire of that place done out.  But it was good times.  *he nods.*

Kalen Holliday
Kalen pauses to watch Danny while he talks about values.  His hands on the whisk.  The way his hip leads into the turn for parchment paper.  But not his eyes.

"Honestly?"  He says softly.  "All I remember about Thanksgiving is that other people got turkey.  And pie.  I'm sure we did have it, when I was very young."  Before his sister died, though he does not mention her now.  "But I cannot remember."

"Christmas.  Birthdays.  Any holiday, mostly.  I remember, just barely, one Christmas.  And then that is all until a few years of formal holidays in the Chantry.  Which I did not plan or prepare for.  There was food then, turkeys and hams and roasts and geese and vegetables I didn't even know existed.  And Marcellus and I exchanged gifts for Christmas.  I've gone for holiday mass in Santiago now, the last few years.

"But mostly...mostly what I remember about holidays is that they were for other people."

Danny
*He paused and turned to look at Kalen. Then steps closer and kisses his temple before going back to what he was doing.* Well not this time.  Christmas, Thanksgiving, all of it... we're going to bond together with it. It'll do us all a shit tone of good after this past year.

It'll be good for the Chantry as well, it'll infuse her with warmth.

Kalen Holliday
"We did do some holiday stuff at the House.  I missed a lot of it because I was...."  Freaking out.  "In Santiago."

Danny
*With an up nod he smiles and makes sure the tins are ready. Then goes to watch what Kalen's doing, one hand hovers perilously close to the bowl.*  This time is going to be good. It's a family thing. *he shrugged as if it all made such good sense to him.*

Kalen Holliday
"I know.  That's why I'm doing it."  Kalen gives Danny a curious look.  "I'm not worried about it.  I just want to have this cookie thing figured out in time."

Danny
You'll get it figured out.  Also, to help with time did you know you can freeze premade cookie dough? Just take it out the day you bake them and cut them into shapes. *He pauses and grins.* When they're all cooled we can all decorate them.  What do you think?

Kalen Holliday
"We never froze it, but I know you can refrigerate it.  We never made it so far ahead to need it frozen."  He smiles.  "I was thinking to just bring ready to decorate gingerbread cookies.  And then dough for the cookie press ones.  Still fresh cookies.  But, less to bake because you'll need to be baking too.  And whoever.  You might have kitchen help.

"Or maybe no one will come.  I don't know."

Danny
Aw I'm sure people will come. *He smiles again.* But we do need to make sure that people know about it.  You've told Elijah have you?  And Arionna, she gave me to pass on to him her phone number.

Kalen Holliday
"We can't bring her to the House," Kalen says quietly.  "She has no concern for anyone outside herself.  Practically over everything else.  She can't be trusted to know where it is.  If it suited her she'd bargain with it.  So no.  I'm not inviting her.

"I worry about her.  But that's no reason to endanger people who trust me to protect them."

"Elijah knows.  I figured we could just post to Ginger again, too."

Danny
*He nods in agreement to both the things that Kalen says.* What have you said to Elijah about it?  I'm not sure what happened to her, but she's got issues.

Kalen Holliday
"Nothing, yet.  I haven't seen him yet.  But I'll let him know."  He sighs.  "I hope she learns to trust us, gets to a point where we can have some expectation she won't betray us.  But...for now...as much as I hate it.  She's on her own.

"I might have Elijah bring her here sometime, that's partly what this place is for.  But not the House.  Losing some books and a structure is one thing, but risking a Node is another entirely."

Danny
I agree whole heartedly.  She's really clever, that much is clear, but she's got no idea how to cope with social things.  I think she's never been given the chance.  How do you deal with an injured stray?

Kalen Holliday
"With immense patience."  Kalen shrugs.  "Kharisma had to do it with me.  But she and Jack and I...I needed them.  And I knew that.  Suddenly the world was full of things I'd never seen.  And I knew that they could help me.

"I don't think we'll have a chance until she decides she wants help.  I'm not entirely sure she'll survive learning that she can't be on her own.  That even of we don't see the world, all of us, the same way, we can still work together.

"Right now...she wants to be right.  She wants to be the only one who is.  And...magic is complicated and personal.  It's based on the ways in which we interpret the things that we experience.  What is true for how one of us does magic is often not true for another.

"Until she gets that, she's not going to work with us.  She'd have to be able to respect other positions for that.  I'm not mad that she hates Christianity.  She can spend the next three decades trying to convince me, and that in itself wouldn't bother me as far as faith.  But the underlying thought that she is the only one with valid knowledge and experience in a conversation...that's the problem."

Danny
She uh... *he frowns and turns to face Kalen.* She shape changed, she said she was being chased by something in the forest, a mountain cat I think and she flew. She actually shape changed into an owl to get away.

*He stops to gauge Kalen's reaction.* I dunno... I mean she's woodsie, she's old fashioned, kind of like that whole mad cat lady thing.  The way I deal with her is I just bear in mind that she's got issues socially. And what she says is absolutely what she means, but she doesn't have the filters in her head to tell her to play nice.  You know?

Kalen Holliday
"I find that endearing.  Don't mistake an assessment that she can't work with others and can't be trusted for anything it isn't.  All things considered, I rather like her.

"But what was it she said, about ruling with the heart and fatal mistakes?  We can't bring her to the House until she can be trusted.  And I'm not sure that will ever happen."

Danny
Maybe not.... *he mulls it over.* But you never know what's going to happen do you, well... *he gestures.* You know what I mean.  TIhe thing is, she's got skills, and if that turns out to be something we can help her to understand I think it'll be to our benefits.  But I do get what you mean about trust. Trust is earned.  Maybe Elijah will find another side to her?

Kalen Holliday
"I'm hoping so.  I can see it sometimes.  But...at least for now...she's not ready."

Danny
No, she's not. *he sighs softly.* I just.. I dunno, I guess I can see that anger in her and, I don't even know if it is anger any more, it's her coldness.  You know?

Kalen Holliday
"I do.  I know."

Danny
So I guess we just take our time, keep and eye on things and let things figure themselves out? Perhaps she'll do Elijah good?

Kalen Holliday
"He might."  Kalen laughs.  "He's not going to be much good in a fight, I don't think.  As a rule.  But...he has a lot of other skills.  Ones I don't have.  And once he learns to use his brain on occasion, I think he'll be pretty brilliant."

Danny
I'm sure he will be. But that's why in a weird way they compliment each other.  I think they'll do eachother good in the long run. Bring him out of his shell a bit and, it'll do her good to know that not everyone is an enemy.

*He looks to the work Kalen is doing.* So, how's it going. I think we're about ready to roll aren't we?

Kalen Holliday
"I think so.  We just need to let the dough sit for a bit first.  I guess we could flour the countertop."  He smiles a little.  "Elijah will be so excited about all of the cookies."

Danny
I'm sure he will be. I'm going to make some whisky orange muffins. *he grins.* And maybe some toffee and ginger bread muffins... if you're good. *He grins.*

So, tree's, men... stars, gingerbread stars go well. And peppermint balls, I'll show you how to make peppermint sweets, you can knock them up in about ten minutes and there's no cooking. Cinnamon balls is the same principle. But if you shape the peppermint dough when it's still just soft; you can dip the mint in melted dark chocolate after.

*He grins.* It's my moms recipe.

Kalen Holliday
"You may overestimate my interest in cooking," Kalen says with a smile.  "I am mostly interested in not cooking."

Danny
*He chuckled at that.* Uhuh, I get it now, you're going to flirt with the oven then walk away... Heartbreaker. *he laughs.* C'mon then, let get this lot rolled out and shaped.

*he watches as Kalen preps the surface, leaning back against the counter with his arms folded.*

Kalen Holliday
Kalen is not a stranger to flouring surfaces.  He sprinkles flour and spreads it out.  Puts out the dough to roll.

"Look.  I've never made any pretenses with the oven.  The oven knows we don't really have a future."

Danny
*He snorted his amusement at that.* It's not going to turn into some.... *he stopped what he was about to say, because Kalen would probably say how yes, Ovens can become monsters. Given the right incentive.  Instead he laughed again.* It'll be fine. Just keep to the recipe.

Kalen Holliday
Kalen laughs, and half-heartedly bats at the dough with a rolling pin.  Apparently that he's not really done before.  "I'm not worried about the oven.  I think it has a thing for the toaster anyway."

Danny
I would be more worried about the dishwasher and the laundry machine. *he confides in Kalen, holding his hand up as he talks behind it to prevent the appliances listening in.*

Okay... rolling the dough.  Have you ever given a back massage?

Kalen Holliday
Kalen arches up one eyebrow like the answer to that question should be obvious.  Of course...it isn't, perhaps, the most obvious thing.

"Yes."

Danny
Right well, use the rolling pin like you're massaging it up someones back slowly? *he shrugs and smirks.* And this I honestly can't wait to see. *He moved back so he could indeed just watching.* 5 millmeter's thick is the ideal. Half a centimeter.

Kalen Holliday
"Yeah, that has no relevance.  The motions are entirely different.  Maybe for bread dough, but not for this."  He glares at the dough a bit, but after  second gets the hang of rolling it and getting it to do what he wants.

Danny
And watch out for splits. *he grins.* You're doing well actually.. *He squats down and checks the width.  It's good... what about that side?

Kalen Holliday
"I know how cookies work," he says with a laugh.  "And, figuring out depth and all of that, I can do.  I have seen this done a good few times, and I have eyes.  You aren't working with a five-year-old."

Danny
Well... *he shrugs standing up and moves away.* I'll go make coffee then.  What shape are you going to use?  I have to admit, I can't wait to have one.

Kalen Holliday
"No idea.  What shapes do you want?"

Danny
MMM...... *he stretched slowly and then nodded.* Stars and tree's.

Kalen Holliday
"I thought people made gingerbread mostly into ginger bread men.  Stars and trees and all from sugar cookies."

Danny
Mix it up!! *he shrugs.* In Germany they make big fluffy cinnamon biscuit cake things.   Go on then, gingerbread men.

Kalen Holliday
"It doesn't matter.  I just thought...."  He leans over to get the box with trees and stars in it.  "What would I know about it?"

Danny
Do whatever feels good? *he shrugs again.* Go with whatever you want to do, it's the thought of doing it, then the time given making it that matters. It shows you care.

Kalen Holliday
Kalen shrugs.  "These are just experiments.  They aren't to show anyone anything."  He cuts a few stars and puts them on one of the cookie sheets in a neat row.

Danny
Now remember they'll spread a bit, I dunno if it says that in the book you're following.  So give enough room round the edges or you'll have to amputate someones leg or arm.

*He watched as well, then ventured closer.* Want me to re roll?

Kalen Holliday
"This part I've done before," he says softly.  A line of trees joins the line of stars.

Danny
*He comes closer to watch grinning.* Those look good.

Kalen Holliday
He could say that of course they do, because they are exactly what Danny wanted.  Kalen...well, he wanted to draw little buttons on gingerbread men.  Give each of them a tiny little smile.  Because he has decorated cookies yes, but not for Christmas.  He colored pictures of them, on school tables.

And he says they aren't to show anyone anything.  They are experiments.  But almost nothing he does is really ever casual.  He spent too long learning to watch other people, to project exactly what he wanted to.

"It's hardly difficult," is all he says.  "You should know."

Danny
*He laughs.* I'll get you a gingerbread house kit as well then in that case.

Kalen Holliday
"How hard is it to get icing and graham crackers?"  Kalen asks.  "Those little milk cartons."

Danny
It's pretty easy to get.. *he shrugged.* Why?

Kalen Holliday
"So why would they make kits?"  Oh, Kalen.  Kalen.  Those aren't real gingerbread houses.  "But I guess that could be fun."

Danny
Well you make the walls, the kit has the template and instructions on how to make it. How to use the icing to get a desired effect... *he shrugged.* Then you build a landscape around it..  but the gingerbread walls are all made from.. *he gestures.* Gingerbread dough.

Alyssa Solomon
Alyssa doesn't visit Kalen's place as much as other people might think.  For cabalmates, they have a fair amount of time that they spend apart, which Alyssa would joke is probably better for each other's physical well-being.  (Yes, it's only a joke.)  In truth, she has her work and he has all the things that he does, which keeps them both busy.  There are other reasons, but that's probably the biggest one.

That doesn't mean that they never hang out though; just that it doesn't happen often.  And so occasionally she decides to stop by and check in, make sure that no one's on fire that shouldn't be.  Because some people need to be on fire, but not all of them.  That's what she's doing today as she shuts the door behind her.  She hasn't gone over the top today, but at least she's made up which is a change from the last time she saw Kalen.  She's going old-school with the classic Death look: hair black and curly, pale skin with eyeliner ending in a curly-Q at the corner of the left eye.  Black tank top under a Victorian-style jacket, nice-sized ankh hanging around her neck, jeans and heeled boots.  She left the parasol at home though, because that's only for special occasions.

"Knock knock, filthy Hollower in the house," she calls out as she exhales from a clove.  "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Kalen Holliday
Kalen looks at Danny for a few seconds, expression unreadable, but then, whatever the Hell that expression is it dissolves as he hears Alyssa.

He goes bounding off toward her, grinning.  "Hey, Angel!"

Danny
*Danny checks the sheets of biscuits, then dashes forwards to break off a tiny bit of the cookie dough and is back where he was all innocent a moment later, with a hidden treasure in his mouth. Raw Gingerbread dough... Oh now all he needed was chocolate icecream.  He hurriedly makes sure it's all gone before they get into the room again.* Hey... How's it going?

Grace
[Awareness?]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 4, 5, 9) ( success x 1 )

Alyssa Solomon
"Oh look, the gang's all here."  She chuckles a little bit as she slips out of the jacket, tossing it aside on a couch.  She unhooks the holster clip and sets that on the coffee table.

"Or most of the gang.  Or some of--"  She pauses.  "Actually, I don't even know who the fuck the gang is anymore.  Ah, fuck it.  Two people are here.  That's a gangette.  How goes it?"

Kalen Holliday
"Awesome.  We're making gingerbread cookies."  Kalen flashes her a grin.  "It was going to be gingerbread men but then Danny wanted stars and trees but there are angels and we can make some just for you."  That is an excited tone, not as showy as some of his more public tones.  But they both know about shows, don't they?

"You should come with me and Alexander and probably Grace to pick out the tree.  But not until after Thanksgiving.  Which you should also come to."  He is still smiling, because Kalen still gets ridiculously excited about having people to invite to things.  "Fortunately Alexander assures me that it is very difficult to fuck up getting a Christmas tree.

"How are you?"

Danny
Gangette. *he laughed.* Now that's an interesting term. It does work though in it's own way. How are you Alyssa?

*Didn't he just look like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth... And Kalen had already asked that.  Instead he made his way to wash a few things.* Do you want me to put them in the oven or just get on with washing up?

Grace
Grace stumbles into the kitchen wearing blue jeans and a gray t-shirt with a spoon on it. This spoon is wearing dark sunglasses and bending out of the way of some bullets. You know the movie. Hell, even Kalen probably does.

She looks like she's forgotten to coffee today. And it's how late in the day?

"Oh. No wonder I heard so much going on in here. Today's the day Kalen sets fire to the kitchen. I forgot," she says, sniffs, and makes her way over to the stove to grab a kettle.

So much for 'hello'.

Alyssa Solomon
"Oh, it's easy as shit to fuck up getting a Christmas tree.  Alexander apparently hasn't seen The Charlie Brown Christmas, Christmas Vacation or just about every other Christmas movie ever made."

She grins a bit.  "At least you're not going plastic though.  Christmas is surrounded by enough fake bullshit, I've always thought fake trees were just taking it over the top.  Hey...guy whose name I should remember but don't."  They've only properly met once, after all, and that was very briefly.  "And hey Grace.  You look like I usually feel."

Kalen Holliday
"We have to cut enough for all of them and bake them at the same time so we can take half out in seven minutes and half out in ten and see which ones are best," Kalen says to Danny.  Because...there are experiments to do.  Serious, serious experiments about cookies.

He finds the angel cookie cutter and cuts a few of them, layering those onto the sheets too.

"Hey, Kit.  Nothing is on fire.  Yet."

"Mmmmmmmm..." he says to Alyssa.  "I think he wanted me to calm the fuck down.  We'd had enough of a moment already.  I made him promise to help anyway.  And to decorate.  I think he was a little amused."  He smiles.  "That's Danny.  My boyfriend.  Like my actual boyfriend, not like your definition of boyfriend.  We go on dates and everything.  He is trying to help me make cookies, even though I am a jerk.  Apparently we are going to make gingerbread houses."

His eyes light up.  "You want to make haunted gingerbread houses next Halloween?"

Danny
Danny. *He supplies helpfully for Alyssa, and Grace as always made him smile with her candour.*

I'm sure he's not going to burn down the kitchen. As for tree's we're going to need a few.  Big one's that we'll all have to decorate. It's going to be so cool. *He grins.*

We do go on dates. *He nods.*

Grace
Grace gives Alyssa an odd look, while she tries to figure out what that comment means. She looks down at her shirt. Alyssa usually feels like she's in The Matrix? Or, Grace looks terrible, which is how Alyssa usually feels? Yeah. Okay. Probably the latter.

"Oh. Well, you look less like shit than I do I guess? Congrats?" she says, and shrugs.

She takes the kettle over to the sink and fills it. Just let's get the caffeine on. Then brainwork like figuring out the right things to say to people can happen.

"He's sure he's going to burn down the kitchen," she says, to the sink. "Did you pick up fire extinguishers? Alton Brown says those are a must. So I believe it."

Alyssa Solomon
"Needing caffeine," she clarifies to Grace.  "You look like you need caffeine.  I usually need caffiene, because of private eye hours."

Kalen calls Danny his boyfriend, and Alyssa has a thousand quips that come to her head.  It's to her credit that she doesn't launch off any of them.  See, she's got restraint some time.

"I don't have a definition for boyfriend, because I don't have boyfriends.  Hell, I barely even have fuckbuddies anymore.  This town has the social life of a Big Bang Theory cast member, before the hot chick moves next door."

"But nice to meet you Danny--again.  Unless the last time I met you was a dream and we're in an episode of Dallas or Lost, or Twin Peaks."  She makes her way toward the kitchen.

"Haunted gingerbread houses sound awesome.  What's the current betting odds on 'Doesn't burn the house down, but does make smoke billow out?'  I'll put down a tenner."

Kalen Holliday
"Someone is even more excited about holidays than me," Kalen says.  "And can cook turkeys.  Without setting anything on fire."

He rolls his eyes at Grace as though the night before he hadn't suggested one fire extinguisher might not be enough.  "But, for the record, we have fire extinguishers."

There is a little huff at Alyssa.  "Yeah, well.  This is why I ask Alexander all the relationship questions now.  It's his favorite.  His last response when I texted him in the middle of the night about it was 'ask Serafine, I'm going back to sleep.'"  Kalen sounds amused, so that probably isn't the whole story.

He laughs at Alyssa's bet.  "Fuck.  Some of you have so little faith in me."

Danny
*He laughed hearing that from Kalen before he commented on the haunted house, he shook his head and chuckled at Alyssa too..* For the haunted thing,it could be done you know, a little bit of dry ice for example.. I'm sure you whizzkids could do it.

It could be done with a church too? Or is that too ambitious? And; no, Kalen's not going to burn the house down.

*He looks from face to face then shakes his head at Grace.* How are things with you?

Grace
"Oh, yeah. I am at that," Grace says to Alyssa. "I thought at first you might mean my shirt or something. Don't mind me. I'm not with it."

She puts the kettle on the stove and turns to lean against the wall, eyes crawling up the opposite corner of the room.

"I'll put some down for 'has to use the fire extinguisher'. No, Kalen, we have no faith in your cooking ability. Especially after you continually state how difficult it is not to summon demons while doing silly cooking tasks. You brought this on yourself."

Alyssa Solomon
There's a small but distinct drop in her mood when Serafine's name gets even mentioned.  Someone has some lingering issues there.  But she leaves it behind and the grin comes back in force when Kalen mentions there's little faith in him.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, Kalen.  I'm sure that you're great with food preparation.  But you're a fuckin' Flambeau.  Nothing against you guys--you know I like you a lot better than most Houses.  But when it comes to cooking, I expect an overabundance of flames."

Kalen Holliday
"I was more concerned that you felt the fire extinguisher wouldn't be necessary," he says.  He adds another little row of angel cookies to the sheets.

"I was thinking little marshmallow ghosts.  But not...you know...dry ice and all."  He looks over the cookies.  "Okay.  I think they're bakeable."

Danny
Wait, you... summon demons while cooking? *He had to laugh more at that... Staring at the group of them and retreating to a place he could sit down after he'd washed up the first batch of utensils. He tossed the oven gloves to Kalen as he got comfortable.*

(I'm going to need to bail I'm afraid, there's a funeral I have to go to tomorrow. Sorry!! Just fade him out of the scene if that's okay with you all?)

Danny
(Thanks for the scene)

Grace
Grace goes about the business of making coffee. The grinder buzzes, but since Kalen got a top-of-the-line model, it doesn't buzz too loudly. Coffee goes in the french press carafe, and after the kettle whistles, it's ready to go.

She laughs at Kalen's joke. More concerned the fire extinguisher wouldn't be necessary. "Well, in that case, we have the utmost faith in you."

Alyssa Solomon
"I'll do you one better, I'll bind a few spirits to the marshmellows.  Then you really will have marshmellow ghosts."

Kalen Holliday
"I'm not sure how I feel about real marshmallow ghosts."  He pops the cookies into the oven.  "Let's see what we do or don't light on fire, shall we?"

He leans back on the oven.  Danny's off a bit, leaving them be.  And it isn't that he doesn't trust Danny, but....  "Have you talked to Alexander lately?" He asks Alyssa.

Grace
"I heard he was there for the whole... cannibal thing," she says, and shakes her head. "He seems a little off, but I can't blame him."

Alyssa Solomon
"I haven't talked to anyone lately, including Alex," she says with a shrug.  "I tried to help out with the cannibal thing but Serafine and I had a difference of opinions on things and she wasn't exactly willing to compromise, so I backed off."

Kalen Holliday
Kalen listens to them both.  He's a bit lost about how people keep having these experiences with Serafine, because he doesn't see quite the same things.  Granted, he doesn't tend to argue with her.  That all he wants to do is adore her might be a key part of that.

Serafine isn't what he's worried about right now.  "He was there.  And from what parts of it I do know...it wasn't the easiest place to be.

"I've spoken with him a few times since."  There is a pause as Kalen tries to figure out how much of it to talk about.  Probably not much.  "And he'll be alright."  He looks over at Alyssa.  "But maybe give him a call?  I think he could stand to know he has friends right now."

Grace
"I'd give him a call, but I don't know how well that would go. We haven't always been what you'd call 'best buddies' exactly," Grace says, and turns to the coffee to dispense some into one of the mugs that accumulate next to the sink. It's not as strong yet as she'd like, but it is caffeine.

"Mmm. Yeah. Sera doesn't like violence," Grace says, lets that hang in the air as she walks toward the door. "I'd help with the cookies, but you know. Stuff. Stuff needs doing. Now that I've got my coffee I might be able to do it."

[And I have to go! See you guys, thanks for the scene!]

Alyssa Solomon
She scowls suddenly at Grace's statement, but stays silent until she's gone.  She doesn't say anything in response to Kalen, just lets the Virtual Adept go and waits until she's gone before she looks to the Hermetic.

"As just evidenced, Kalen...I'm not anyone's friend in this city.  Kind of yours, I guess, and that's about it.  Everyone else pretty much just fucking tolerates me the rare times I show up around you, so they can snark about how I'm such a violent sociopath."

Kalen Holliday
"I've never gotten the impression Alexander dislikes you."  He glances after where Grace vanished.  "Besides, I'm shamelessly using Danny to invite people to things so they'll show up.

"Grace has weird thoughts about a lot of people.  I don't know why."  He frowns.  "But she was the first real friend I had in this place and we work, even if she gets along with fewer and fewer people lately.

"What about your new abrasive friend?  You ever end up getting coffee?"

Alyssa Solomon
"The other Hollow One?"  She shakes her head.  "Not yet.  Maybe at some point, but we're really probably not going to be friends.  I'm in support of the Hollow Ones being considered a Tradition and he's not.  That divide within us is...well, imagine a Chorister talking religion with a Verbena.  They might be able to get along, but friends probably isn't going to happen.

"And I'm not telling you not to hang out with Grace.  I'm telling you that I'm getting sick of her constantly shitting on me and one of these days I'm going to snap on her ass.  She either treats me like shit or acts like I'm about to shoot her in the head every single time we meet.  Just about always has, and I'm tired of it.  I don't think Alexander dislikes me, but I suspect he doesn't particularly feel an affinity for me either.  You know we've actually been in each other's presence maybe five, six times?  Not more than that.  When I say I haven't talked to him recently, I mean that I haven't talked to him since July.  I know that's on me too, but I've put offers out there and he hasn't followed up.  There comes a point in time when you just give up."

Alyssa Solomon
[[Edit to "telling you not that you shouldn't like Grace"]]

Kalen Holliday
"I know he wants to talk to you.  He tells me he wants to get together and roast marshmallows.  Sometimes he's...."  Cold?  The man with the Frozen Resonance?  "Really far away."

Kalen frowns.  "I...ran into him a few days after I woke up from that coma and he told me he'd been reading to me and I maybe lost it a little.  There may have been hugging.  Like, a lot of it."  But that isn't entirely true either, maybe.  Because he remembers Serafine telling him Alexander didn't like to be touched, but Alexander letting him get away with it.  Talking about absent fathers and the nature of the universe.  What happened in the umbra the first time they met the Message bound them and Serafine in ways he doesn't know how to explain.

Kalen drinks tequila now.

"He's pretty into the idea of learning to bake cookies.  And decorating them.  And trees.  I get if here is complicated because of Grace, but maybe come to the one we decorate at the House?"

Alyssa Solomon
She frowns a little, listening.  There's a bit of a conflicted look that passes over her face when Kalen talks about Alex, before she shakes her head and finishes off the clove she's smoking.

"Yeah, maybe.  I don't know, I feel generally as tolerated there as I do here.  I get that I'm a bit of a bitch sometimes, but I've been thinking like I might just not be cut out for being part of this city's general Awakened community for a while.  We'll see, I guess."

Kalen Holliday
Kalen sighs.  "I get that sometimes this place is...weird.  And...I guess you should do whatever you think you should do.  But I want you to stay."

There is a pause.  "But I also want you to be happy, so...."

Alyssa Solomon
That makes her crack a little grin.  "Well, I'm not leaving the city.  Not right now, anyway.  I have a perfectly good occult investigation business going on after all.  You're not getting rid of me that easily.

"I'm just saying..."  She sighs.  "I don't know.  I'm saying I'm tired of this bullshit, but there is no fix short of me blowing a gasket which will just make things worse, so I'm preparing to content myself with being the strange chick who stops by and doesn't ever really know what the fuck is going on with anyone."

Kalen Holliday
"Well.  You don't have to hang out all the time, I guess.  I don't know.  I'm frustrated too, but I don't...have a perfectly good occult investigation business?  I don't know.  I'm still trying to figure out how to help a bunch of people who mostly want to be all suspicious because of where I come from.

"Gotta love a town where politically it seems easier to be an Orphan than a Hermetic."  He laughs.  "I can't say I entirely blame them.  There are places I could go, easier ones.  But I don't."

Alyssa Solomon
"That, my fine firey friend, is because you're either a masochist or an optimist."  She walks over to the counter and hops up on it, sprawling slightly.  "Or an optimasochist.  Or a Masoptimist.  Or all of the above."

She smirks.  "Me, I just want to have a good spot to roast marshmellows from when it all explodes."  Which is a joke, of course.  She doesn't actually want to see the whole thing fall apart and she wouldn't celebrate.  But she can joke about it.

Kalen Holliday
"Yeah.  Marshmallows are weird for me.  I've done them twice.  Both times someone ended up crying.  But Alexander likes them.  I think he likes to get away from people sometimes.  It's sounding kind of good right now, actually.  Fires and something like quiet.

"Hopefully not in the wake of a giant explosion."  He smiles a little and pulls half of the cookies out of the oven.  "But I so rarely get what I want."

Alyssa Solomon
"I can get that," she says when Kalen mentions Alex liking getting away from people.  "Hell, I'd be worried if he was a magic-using cop who didn't want to get away from people sometimes.  He has to deal with the absolute worst possible poor examples of humanity.

"Are there any explosions on the horizon?  Outside of your baking, I mean."

Kalen Holliday
"I'm still looking into that club, chasing down some leads.  One does not simply start a war with leeches."  He sighs.  "And one of them has principals.  He even let us go."

"The technocracy has Alicia's father and one of them is at least pretending to have principals."

There is another sigh, this one heavier.  "I find myself in the rather uncommon position of thinking that if it can be managed our best option may be an admittedly uneasy peace on both counts."

Alyssa Solomon
Her painted brows furrow, and she runs a hand through her hair.  "Yeah, I saw the whole thing with the latter on Ginger, but didn't really want to chime in on the mass panic.  I don't envy Alicia on that.  As for the fangy corpsified types..."

She hops off the counter, goes looking for something to drink.  "I guess as long as 'uneasy piece' doesn't mean I can't blow one's head off if I see it attacking someone."

Kalen Holliday
"I'm not sure it's even a little possible.  But...if there is an option for less violence, I'd rather like to take it.  There are ghosts, and a lot of them.  So...I'm definitely up for killing one of them.  There may be a wider organization, and I'm trying to look into that.

"I just...half of what we fight lately seems to be us.  I can't not wonder if...I don't know.  If I'm going to kill anything, even an already dead thing, I want to be sure about what I'm doing.  That's all."

Alyssa Solomon
She pauses there.  She has a lot that she could say, but she doesn't.  Instead, she looks at him, hand paused in the process of pulling out a glass from the cabinets, and cocks her head.

"Do me a favor and finish the thought.  You can't not wonder if...?"

Kalen Holliday
"We really have some moral high ground after all.  If we are, at least by nature, better than monsters."  He sighs and pulls the second half of the cookies out of the oven.  "I'm beginning to doubt it."

Grace
A bit later, Grace walks in again carrying an empty mug, looking a lot less tired and perhaps even a bit chipper. "I smelled cookies. Also, my mug is defective. It lacks coffee."

"What are you doubting?"

She's rather ignorant of the conversation going on, as evidenced by the lack of dourness expressed. Someone's finally awake. Or at least the brain is running at optimal speed.

Alyssa Solomon
"Hey."  She sets the glass down and walks over to him.  The woman full of snark, jokes and barbed quips is dead serious as she puts a hand on his shoulder, turns him to face her.  Grace is given a quick look, but she doesn't acknowledge her yet.  She has something more important to say.

"There is worlds of difference between them and us.  We're infuriating, pig-headed and quite often we're assholes.  But first off, we don't actively pray on humanity and we stop those that do when we can.  Don't ever start thinking that we're no better than them.  That kind of doubt is the kind of thing that cripples us.  I want to grab a lot of the people in this city at this point and shake them like I'm an English nanny, but we aren't monsters.  We're people, and thus fallible and capable of terrible mistakes.  But we're still people, and fighting for the right thing is not only important, it's what makes us who we are.  Got it?"

Kalen Holliday
"Humanity," Kalen says softly to Grace.  "Ours.  That of monsters.  Humanity in general.  Pretty much any way you can take that."

He doesn't fight with Alyssa, and he listens to her. Quiet.  "There is a difference between examining what the right thing is and giving up on fighting for it.  I'll still fight monsters, it's pretty much what I do.  But we aren't all good and I'm not entirely sure they're all evil.

"It just means I want to really look at the things I kill before I kill them.  I can't say I value justice and not actually pursue it.  That's all."

Grace
"Ah. Well," Grace says, her face drooping out of its casual ease. "I would say that if a thing is not monstrous than it can't really be called a monster, huh? Monsters are monsters because of what they do, not because of what they are, really. And there's plenty of humans that could be called monsters. Plenty that could be called saints too, or whatever good label you want to put on them.

"This is about that one vampire I tracked right? Well, you know, if I met a vampire who got their sustenance from animals or whatever, like one of those vegetarian vampires out of Twilight, I'd... Well, I want to say I'd kill them on principle, but you know. I wouldn't. Even if they sparkled."

But that guy? He charmed Alicia and tried to drag her out into the alley. So far, the morality score on his side is not looking so good as far as Grace is concerned. She does not say that. Not yet anyway.

She just walks over to the coffee carafe and pours herself some more.

Alyssa Solomon
She lets Grace give her argument, and she doesn't particularly look like she disagrees.  She doesn't disagree with Kalen's assessment either, and she nods a bit when the two of them are done.

"You're right, we're not all good and they're not all evil.  Look at Cunty McItaly and her Thankinyan fetish.  She wasn't good.  I know there was a little debate about that and I didn't speak up much as I wasn't really involved in all that, but she made a choice.  Good intentions, hell, yadda yadda yadda.  When you knowingly choose to free a Deep Umbral Lord, you've passed benefit of the doubt in my mind."

She sighs and shakes her head.  "Examining is fine.  But don't doubt.  Good men who start doubting the intrinsic morality of mankind...that's how people turn evil.  Questioning is good.  Doubt and pain are what turned some of the people around me when I was growing up into bad people.  They lost focus and they lost perspective by wandering into those muddly grey areas.  Tunnel vision isn't always such a bad thing, is all I'm saying."

Kalen Holliday
"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure that isn't where I'm going."  Kalen smiles a little.  "And even if I try...I picked my cabal very carefully.  If you and Alexander can't stop me, I know at least you'll shoot me."  Which he means as a point in her favor, naturally.

He doesn't comment on Lucia.  Victoria.  He understands where Alyssa is coming from.  But he also meant it when he told Elijah that there was no sin that could not be absolved. And that complicates where he stands on some things.

"Where I should be going is to take one of these cookies to my amazingly patient boyfriend."  His smile widens, just a touch.  "I'll be back in a few to decorate at least a few of these.  For practice."

[And I, alas, need naps.]

Grace
Grace snorts at 'Cunty McItaly'. Oh, but Alyssa can turn a phrase, can't she? But then, the conversation continues. Doubting the intrinsic morality of mankind? Well. For the answer to that doubt, you'd have to pin down what morality actually means. Everyone's got a different opinion on that. Mostly boiling down to 'what I do'.

"Nobody's ever going to have to shoot you, Kalen. You're too catlike. We'd just have to dangle some string in front of you," she says, trying to inject some humor into the whole horrible idea of Kalen turning evil and having to be put down. She can't even imagine it, really.

"I would be a terrible cookie decorator," she says, wandering over to the racks with her coffee in hand. "What about you, Alyssa? I mean, you do a great job with your... You know. Face."

There is a point there where Grace replays the last bit of conversation in her mind and realizes how stilted that came out. Makeup. Alyssa does a great job at her makeup. There are words for things. Yes.

Alyssa Solomon
Alyssa could take offense at that, but she doesn't.  She gets what Grace was getting at and she chuckles a little, shaking her head, gesturing to her made-up face.

"Nah, this is a totally different situation.  I can do this in my sleep.  Literally, I once put on a full look when I was technically asleep.  It wasn't fancy, but it worked.  Baking though...that isn't really my thing.  You'd think that they're similar skillsets but they aren't.  Kalen's probably better at it than I am."

She finally gets a bottle of alcohol, not really concerned with what it is.  Tequila, it ends up being.  She pours herself some and caps the bottle.  "You may not be a decorator, but you've got to be good at the baking, right?  It's kind of like...I don't know.  Edible programming, right?  Recipes, logic, all that sort of thing."

Grace
"Bah. Baking is chemistry. Complicated organic chemistry. The extent of my usual involvement in it is a microwave and something left-over. For as much shit as I give Kalen over his cooking ability, I'd probably do worse. At least he's extremely good at following the instructions, huh? Exacting. Like if he were one teaspoon off it might actually have summoned a demon," she says, smiling at the ginger-people on their cooling rack.

"I tried doing full-on makeup once or twice. Trying to be normal. Not really making it. Everything's usually okay until I get to the eyeliner and mascara part. I usually smudge everything because doing it precisely just leads to me getting liquid liner all over my nose or in my eye or something else bizarre."

She shrugs, smiles a bit, as if that's not really something that bothers her. Why do it if you're not good at it and don't really care?

Alyssa Solomon
"Eh, makeup isn't about being normal unless you want it to be."  She hops back up on the counter and swirls the alcohol in the glass.  "For some people its about the opposite, standing out in the crowd.  For some it's about showing what you're really like, however freak flaggish it may be.  I was like that with it at first too, though.  I had all this knowledge about rituals and esoterica and I could tell you which Gnostic angel belonged to which order, but put some kohl in my hands and I was completely useless."

She smiles a bit at the memory.  "Took my Hollow One sponsor to teach me how to do it right, and even then it was a long, grueling process in which I thought I was going to blind myself nightly."

Grace
"Really? Sounds kind of..." Enforced? Fitting into a norm? A lot of work for something superficial? Her face goes through a round of discomfort as she again tries to figure out what to say.

Come on, Grace. Play nice.

"Hard. Did they make you do it?"

Alyssa Solomon
"Oh now, he didn't make me to anything.  I wanted to know."  She shrugs and takes a drink of the tequila, relishes the burn down her throat.  "I was kind of lost at the time.  Didn't know what to do and like any good fifteen year-old, I decided that going dark and brooding was the way to go.  Of course, it didn't hurt that I was sleeping in a goth club, but it just seemed to fit.  Christopher took one look at my fucked up raccoon eyes and said 'I'll help if you promise never to look like that again.'"

She grins.  "And thus began the first step of my induction into the Hollow Ones.  Well, more like the first tenth of a step, but same difference I suppose."

Alyssa Solomon
[[Oh no.  Not "Oh now."]]

Grace
She snorts again at the 'fucked up raccoon eyes' statement. That's about how Grace's attempts at heavy eye makeup go. "Guess I could have easily ended up going in another direction, had I landed in a different place at the right age."

She takes a gingerbread cookie while she's talking, and pokes around at the decorations until she runs across something that makes her blink a couple times.

"Oh for the love of... Gold?" she sighs heavily, sarcastically. "Kalen bought food-grade gold leaf for the cookies."

The indignities that must be suffered under the whims of someone with more money than he knows what to do with, eh?

Alyssa Solomon
Grace isn't the only one that snorts at that.  "Jesus Christ, Peter Murphy and Robert Smith.  I swear, that man doesn't understand the meaning of the word 'understated' sometimes."

There's no real irritation in Alyssa's tone; it's more wry amusement than anything.  "But then, if he was great at subtlety and understatement he wouldn't be Kalen.  So I guess I'll take it, you know?"

Grace
"True. True. I mean, the deep pockets do come in handy sometimes when we're buying computing equipment," Grace says, not with any real irritation either. At least that's one thing they can agree on: Kalen isn't horrible.

It's a start.

"But he lets me pick the tech stuff out, which means I can steer him away from having a solid-gold laptop case or whatever," she says, and bites her cookie (arm first, without looking -- poor cookie is going to suffer).

Alyssa Solomon
"Is it wrong that I kind of want to get him a solid gold laptop case for the holidays so that I can see him preen over it and you roll your eyes in exasperation?"

She says it with a Cheshire cat grin.  It's a good-natured ribbing, without any kind of malicious needling present in the tone.  She takes a swig of the alcohol, kicking her feet slightly in her seat on the counter.

Grace
Grace shakes her head. "Oh that is so wrong. Evil. Not even halfway good."

She bites her cookie in half, and mumbles: "Don't even give him the idea."

"You know, these are really... not bad," she says. "Could use more ginger maybe. I'll see if Mr. Exact minds a slight adjustment to the recipe. I'll see if he thinks it'll summon ginger monsters."

Alyssa Solomon
"Ugh, ginger monsters.  Soulless bastards."  She couldn't help it, Grace set that one up perfectly.

On a whim, she hops off the counter and walks over, picks one up and takes a bite.  There's a pause, a slow chew and a considering look, before she nods a little.

"Okay yeah, not gonna lie.  These are pretty good.  Kudos to Chef Flambeau."

Grace
"You know, I have yet to actually see him catch anything on fire? I have told him what a shame this is. Maybe that's why I bug him about it so much," Grace says, and leans up against the still-warm oven door.

"We're doing a shitty job of acing the Bechdel test right now," she adds, laughs a bit.

Alyssa Solomon
"Eh," she grunts with a little shrug, leaning back against the counter.  "The Bechdel Test is flawed to shit anyway.  Useful, don't get me wrong, but way too binary for my tastes.

"Besides," she says, "I have two counterpoints.  One, we had a full conversation about makeup and how I learned to put it on, so we technically have passed for the conversation as a whole.  Second, we're not doing it because Kalen defines us.  We're doing it because he's about what we have in common, to be honest."

Grace
"True. Maybe that's my problem. I don't have anything in common with people, aside from the whole... magic thing. Which, okay, honestly, let's face it. I see it all so differently I can't even learn or teach it. And Kalen. Occasionally I'll have Kalen in common with somebody," Grace says, quirks up a little smile at Alyssa. Like us, see?

"Or the only thing I have in common with someone is that we both went through horrible shit together. There's that, too."

Alyssa Solomon
She considers that for a long moment, black lips pursed.  Grace is right, to be sure...there isn't a lot that they have in common.  Or at least, that they know of.

"Well, I'm willing to bet that there's something more than that.  We just don't know anything better."  She cocks her head, watching the Virtual Adept for a long moment.

"I don't actually know much about you, now that I think about it."  Clearly, she had already thought about it moments before, but that's neither here nor there.  "Tell me something I didn't know yet.  Story time with Grace and Alyssa."

Grace
"Something you don't know yet. Hmm," Grace says, and covers her mouth with her hand as if pondering. "I shaved my head once when I was a rebellious teen. Talk about standing out in a crowd, huh?"

She looks at her cookie while she talks, lest dreaded eye-contact be made. But eventually she has to get rid of the prop, and it goes down the hatch.

"Wasn't really me though. Was for everyone else."

Alyssa Solomon
"Shaved your head?  Nice."  She tries to imagine Grace with a shaved head and it doesn't take her that long before she nods.  "Yeah, I can see where it probably wasn't your style.  I think it'd be a good look for you though."

She takes a sip of the drink.  "What prompted you to do that?  As opposed to wearing it in a mohawk, going goth or getting a safety pin through your left nostril, I mean."

Grace
"I didn't want to be attractive to anyone. It was too much effort trying to figure out people's weird reactions to my puberty," Grace says, and shrugs. "I wasn't doing it for allegiance to punk or anything like that. Just me trying to... I don't know. Gain some control. Didn't work really. Just pissed off my mom."

She shifts on her feet, goes after another cookie.

"What about you? Tell me something I don't know."

Alyssa Solomon
"Hmmm."  She runs a hand through her hair, frowning a little as she thinks.  She's talked a little bit about certain aspects of her history with Grace and others, so she bypasses them.

"Did I ever tell you my mother was a Washington lobbyist?  My father wasn't anything quite so visible, but he was a definite power player.  Had membership of a ton of societies like Skull & Bones, Freemasons and such, and used them a lot.  Obviously, Hermetic too, but I'm pretty sure you knew that."

Grace
"Woah. Shit. That's uh... Quite some power huh... powerful parents," Grace says, and her face betrays a mix of sympathy and discomfort. Despite the fact that Alyssa ended up at a goth club at fifteen, it says nothing about her parental relationships of the present.

It's uneasy for her, speaking of people she doesn't know.

Alyssa Solomon
"Yep, they were a real power pair."  She finishes off the glass and sets it next to her on the counter.  It's casual at this point; she's not that same person and she moved on years upon years ago.  She throws Grace a sidelong smile.  "I was kind of a real shit growing up about it, too.  They raised me studying Hermeticism.  Mom wasn't Awakened, but she was a Consor.  And I was a bit of a teacher's pet in my little Awakened version of prep school.  Bit of a Regina Goerge...pretty snotty to everyone around me."

She shrugs.  "Sometimes bad shit breaks you, sometimes it makes you stronger.  I ended up stronger, which is good because I would have been a complete nightmare if I'd continued on that path.  I'd have been exactly the kind of Hermetic we all hate."

Grace
"I was a teacher's pet too. But I wasn't snotty, I don't think. Just afraid of other kids. I couldn't talk to people my own age, you know? I probably would have been terrified of you. Or hated you. Probably a good thing we never met as kids," Grace says, and smiles a far-away thing.

"It's such a good thing, that we actually change with age, huh?"

Alyssa Solomon
She huffs in amusement, nodding.  "Yeah, it is a good thing.  For sure.  Because I would look terrible in a plaid skirt these days."

Yep, it's joke time again.  She winks at Grace.

"This has been fun, but I should go and make sure the ritual stuff I've got mixing together at home hasn't somehow turned into some new type of biological nitroglycerin and blown up my apartment.  I already lost my security deposit and I'd hate to have to pay for all collateral damage.  I'll catch you later, though?"

Grace
"Well, you know, when you paint the walls with blood, it kind of tends to make the landlord angry. Who knew?" Grace says, a smile on her face, a little hopeful that Alyssa sees it not as the insult it appears to be on the surface, but the kind of jab you only make with those you're comfortable with.

Fake it till you make it, isn't that what they say?

"Yeah. Later. Come see us, you know. Whenever."

Alyssa Solomon
She does take that as a good-natured jab; that kind of humor she can deal with well.  She smiles a little bit, more sincerely, when Grace says to come by whenever.

"Thanks.  I might.  Say bye to the chef for me.  I'll call him later."

And then she's heading out, into the city.