fandomtownies | The Magpie Emporium; Friday, 09/16.

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The Magpie Emporium; Friday, 09/16.

Graham was feeling pretty confident about the direction he was planning to take the game that evening, so, in his downtime at the store, he figured he'd work a little bit on the vampire cloak for Guillermo's mini-foundry from shop class the other day, but the moment he tried to lay out the very nice crushed velvet he'd picked out for it, Saffron decided that it was exactly the place she needed to sit right now.

And not only sit, actually, but lounge, stretching herself out and making herself comfortable all over the velvet and the counter.

Graham, whose needle and thread had been poised and ready to go, just sort of looked down at Saffron, who, naturally, ignore him, instead just serenely grooming her paws and enjoying her new blanket, apparently.

She was just so cute, and looked so comfy, that he couldn't even really be mad at her, but he was now plotting to make her a vampire cloak, too. That'll really show her!

...he'd just clearly have to wait until he wasn't at work to work on it.

Sigh.

The Maaaaagpie Empooooor~rium is open!

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Come explore the wonderful world of games and comics all at your own leisure and pace!

Because he certainly isn't getting any work done on that cloak right now, that was for sure!

Grab some friends (or not! No friends is an option, too!), grab a table, and get your game on!

Surely, one day, Graham's table will actually collapse under the weight of all their snacks, and, hopefully, when that day comes, Steph doesn't just take it out of his paycheck.

There is pizza though, this week! As there probably will be from henceforth.

This week Guillermo had tried his hand at making a chocolate pie, apparently he was now making his way through the alphabet of different pies to make but he didn’t mind the challenge.

Of course he still had his usual several containers of empanadas as well, that hadn’t changed either.

“Hi,” he grinned as he arrived.

"Guillermo!" Graham greeted him brightly back. "Hello! And hello to you, too," he added, with a lift of his cap and a nod of his head, "Guillermo's pie! You look like you'll be a fine addition to our exceptional line-up of snacks on this grand evening!"

Guillermo smiled brightly, "it's chocolate," he revealed, "I do hope it will a worthy addition to all the snacks we have," he said shyly.

"I would expect nothing less!" Graham declared, his attempts to be very bold and proper about it diminished slightly by his chuckle. "Of a pie from Guillermo the Great! If anything, I'd be more concerned that it is we who are not worthy to bask in its delicious presence!"

Guillermo started blushing at that, “I hope it lives up to all of that then,” he said shyly, “I’venever made a chocolate pie before,” he admitted.

Edited 2022-09-16 20:30 (UTC)

"Well," Graham said, with a nod of confidence and a grin of encouragement, "if it's anything like you're other pies, it'll be amazing! Besides, you know what I say, I've never met a pie I didn't like, and I can't imagine it'll be one of your pies to change that, your food is the best, Guillermo!"

Guillermo’s blush had definitely redden with the praise, and he felt his glasses start to slip down his nose so he pushed them back up, “would - would you like to try a slice?” he asked shyly.

"Guillermo," Graham stated, the light of eager anticipation now in his bright eyes, "I thought you'd never ask!"

Well, he figured they'd get around to it eventually, but he was definitely pleased to have it sooner rather than later!

“Then one slice of chocolate pie coming up,” Guillermo declared with a bright smile as he set down his containers, got the one holding his pie and carefully cut a slice for Graham, put it on a plate and handed it to him.

“Here you go,” he said as he presented the cake shyly to him.

Jo's dad had sent a new care package with lots of sweets and chocolates as usual, so Jo was carrying quite a lot of food with her as she arrived.

"Hello," she smiled.

"Hey, Jo," Graham greeted her with a smile, and a wave of his hand, and, of course, an appreciative and grateful nod at the sweets she'd brought with her yet again. "How's it going? Have you had a good week?"

Jo smiled back, "It was rather good overall thank you, I heard from home and my friend Deidre, she said she may be able to visit for Parents Weekend," she told him. "How was your week?"

"Oooh, Deirdre?" asked Graham, his attention caught on that oh-so-familiar name. "The one that inspired your character, right? You'll have to introduce us, if she does come to visit! I'd love to meet her! And my week was great! Not as exciting as some weeks, but me and Triumph got a lot of pretty good training in, and that's never a bad thing!"

“She is,” Jo told him with a smile, “I’ll definitely introduce you if she does come, she’s waiting to hear from her head mistress if it’s okay to visit,”

“What kind of training did you do?” she asked, fascinated with what training was involved.

"Oh, it's mostly been speed training," said Graham, "especially since I'm getting a lot of combat training in now with my Fight Stuff! class. But one of the big events in the Tournament of Knights is a Duel of Speed, and so Triumph and I have to be ready to beat even the fastest of steeds when it comes time for us to join one day! You wouldn't believe how quickly he can get around the entire park at this point! But there's always room for improvement. We've got to be the best, if we want to even stand a chance at knighthood!"

“Oh that all sounds rather exciting,” Jo’s eyes were wide as she she tried to imagine what competing in an event like that would be like, “that must take a lot of work to prepare for an event like that,”

Libby had, of course, surprising no one, brought the healthier snacks again this week, the requisite carrots sticks and some cucumber slices, but she also decided to entice the group a little more by making some 'ants on a log', slathering a little peanut butter on some celery sticks and dotting it with raisins.

And if no one at the table ended up appreciating them, she had a feeling that at least Triumph would, later, when Graham brought the leftover veggies to him after the game.

"Libby," Graham grinned over at her. "Dressing the celery up for the occasion, I see!"

Remembering that he needed to try and talk to different people this week, Guillermo gave an awkward wave at Libby, "hi Libby," he said, "those celery sticks do look quite good," he told her with a grin.

"Hi, Guillermo," Libby smiled and gave him a wave back. "And thank you, you'll have to have some and tell me what you think."

It was peanut butter, raisins, and celery. She knew exactly what it would be like, she just wanted to make sure someone at them.

"Not as impressive as your pie, of course," she added, with a nod toward said pie, "but it's a good snack."

“I will definitely try some,” Guillermo told her and he reached over to pick up some celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins.

He ducked his head at the compliment about his pie, “I hope it’s okay, it’s definitely something I’m not used to making and I’ve never made chocolate before,” he admitted.

Then he took a bite of the celery, “oh wow,” he blinked, glancing down at it, “this is really great,” he told her, “thank you,”

"Aww, thank you, Guillermo," said Libby, her smile a little pleased at that, and appreciative, although she really didn't think it was all that big a deal. "It isn't much, just a little snack that's always a hit with the Littles, even though Charity always complains about not wanting to eat ants and picking off all the raisins, no matter how many times we tell her they're not really ants."

“They do look a little like real ants don’t they?” Guillermo tilted his head thoughtfully at the celery stick,.

“but I can see why this would be a favourite, I never would have thought of this combination, I’ve definitely never tried it with raisins,” he admitted.

"Sometimes," Libby said, "you can mix it up with chocolate chips, but that was usually for special occasions. Things like that never lasted very long in our house."

Guillermo nodded, “I will have to try it with chocolate chips,” he told her as he took another bite.

“It was one of the things that didn’t last long either at my house but then it was just me on my own,” he admitted, “I really liked chocolate,” he added, turning rather red as he did.

For her contribution to the snacks, Vi had brought along several bags of spiced nuts and crackers, along with bowls to pour them into.

"Hey."

"Hey, Vi!" Graham grinned, giving her his usual little wave. "Good to see you, welcome back, I'm glad to see you've brought some nuts to the array this evening!"

Graham, you were glad to see any food brought to the array.

Graham was a person after Vi's own heart, or should that be stomach, there. "Just doing my bit," she said.

Once it was time to finally get the ball rolling on their story once more, Graham cleared his throat to get everyone's attention, and he began.

"Where we left off," he declared, "everyone had been gathered at a table, enjoying the gratitude of the innkeeper for your assistance not only in keeping the goblin thieves at bay, but also the fire that had oh-so-mysteriously sprung up in the middle of the Grapple-palooza with said goblins, in the form of some very fine ale and...a few shiny gold coins for our pockets. Things definitely seem to be winding down; nearly everyone has left the tavern for the evening in light of the fire, the performance cut off short, but mostly everyone seems safe, if a bit discontent by the unexpected shortening of their night out. And perhaps you're all starting to feel a little bit of that, too, tempting to call it and go back to your separate ways, your separate paths, your separate lives...

"But then, of course, that is when the table you all happen to be gathered at is approached by a rather tall and willowy woman, who looks as though she carries herself with an elven prestige, though she is very much human. She is dressed in fine clothing, indeed, silks trimmed in velvet of an exquisite made, the tailoring rich and details, clearly one of the many nobles who find themselves in Cenmich on holiday from their aristocratic lives. She is a bit older, though the silvery whiteness of her long hair cascading about her shoulders seems quite natural, but not from age. Her eyes are a cool violet that give her a bit of an icy appearance as she looks over the table, and speaks...

"'I must say,'" said Graham, pulling himself up and looking down his nose at the table to really embody the noblewoman he described, his voice gaining a higher, haughtier, accented pitch, "'you all handled yourselves rather impressively out there. No doubt many of us have you to thank for both our lives and our purses this evening, and I count myself among them. My name is Lady Debora Anastazia Melodica Agneesian Roth, and I--'

"Here," Graham narrated, gaining a grin on his face as he lifted his hand to give a little bursting gesture beside his eyes, "her eyes seem to just light up with an intrigued little smirk.... 'if any of you might be interested in a bit of a....' She seems to toy around with the possible words, '.....proposal. You see, I've been looking to hire on a few...capable individuals to help me out with a task, and your impressive showing tonight may actually save me the trouble of having to post about it on the morrow. I assure you, I will be happy to even pay you quite a bit extra, for the convenience alone! What saaaay you? Any takers?'"

"I lean back in my chair," Vi said, demonstrating. "And say 'I'm listening', since Wind's been around long enough to know to get the details, and the cash if she can, before agreeing to anything."

Libby, nodding a little at this, found herself easily following Vi's lead, although she leaned forward instead of sitting back, with an eagerness that transcended just her character's interest. "And I...I mean, Esthrana takes note of Wind's interest, and, looking around to see who else might be before throwing in her own two cents, and she says, trying to be very cool about it, but probably not as much as Wind is--"

Maybe a little method RP there? Perhaps.

"'I would certainly like to know more...before agreeing to anything, of course!'

"But you can tell," Libby added, perhaps unnecessarily, because her face was practically a mirror to the sentiment, "this is very exciting for her, this has all already been an absolute thrill for her."

"'Ohh~ho~ho!'" Graham's voice as the Lady Debora Anastazia Melodica Agneesian Roth trilled a little extra just there, a hand to his chest as his eyelashes fluttered, "'well, it's a very simple thing, reall, but it's quite important, so I plan to pay quite handsomely for it. But you see, it's my brother, Lord Donovan Alexsander Michelangelo Donatello Luigi Roth. He is a need of an escort to the northeast of the realm, to Mount Freeland, as soon as possible. I fear he can't make the journey alone, as I'm sure you've all heard the roads are growing increasingly dangerous in these hard times, so I was hoping to procure some good, honest folks to protect him along the way. And I can see, clearly, that you are all such people with this fine show of bravery and honor this very evening!'"

Edited 2022-09-16 20:49 (UTC)

"'Well, I don't like brag,' which I actually totally do," Vi said. "'But I'm sure you don't need look any further.' I'm looking around the table as I say this."

"And I'm definitely meeting that look with a grin," said Libby, who was very much embodying her character in that moment as she gave Vi the same expression, before shooting it over to Graham, "with a nod and a 'I certainly haven't got anything better to do!' Barely containing my excitement, because, really, I don't, and this is way more than I could have ever imagined going to happen that night, and now I'm looking around to everyone else, too!"

Certainly, absolutely, definitely not inspired by real events.

*coughcoughcough*

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The Magpie Emporium; Friday, 09/16.

Mod Your Shopping - 09/16.

Shop with Graham - 09/16.

The Game Lounge - 09/16.

Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 09/16.

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Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 09/16.

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 09/16.

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 09/16.

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 09/16.

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Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 09/16.

Graham's Table: Gameplay - 09/16.

Re: Graham's Table: Gameplay - 09/16.

Re: Graham's Table: Gameplay - 09/16.

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Re: Graham's Table: Gameplay - 09/16.

OOC - 09/16.