The Magpie Emporium, Thursday (4/27)

[drumsticksandd20s]

So maybe it wasn't the best idea, coming out to open the store with all the... whatever the hell it was going on around the island today. But Steph had always meant for the store to be a refuge and a safe space, not necessarily in this particular way, but she felt somewhat obligated. It could be nice, right? For people to be able to come in and play games and take a break from worrying about the very angry animals wandering around out there?

Little Bot kept whistling nervously and darting around from one spot of cover to another, and Saffron only stopped her constant prowling long enough to glare at the door and hiss every so often. And, Steph realized, the gremlins were nowhere to be found.

Well, that was less than reassuring. Maybe she should just... yeah, there went Steph, digging through the loose dice bin to collect every single d4 in there. Time to find out if they were really effective as caltrops, huh?

[OOC: Open!]

Comments

[needsacatchphrase]

"You good in here?" Jane called, bouncing on her toes with all that adrenaline going.

[drumsticksandd20s]

Steph did not say I am now, for the record, although it did cross her mind for a second.

"So far so good," was what she did say instead. "Hey, Jane. Having a busy day?"

[needsacatchphrase]

"Oh, you know how it is when weird, magic animals start picking fights," she joked.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Yeah, man, I hate when that happens," Steph said with a brief chuckle.

Was she incorporating this into a future game somehow? Absolutely.

[needsacatchphrase]

"Typical Thursday, right?" Guys, c'mon.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Peak Thursday," Steph said, laughing. "Guess I should have seen that coming."

[needsacatchphrase]

"At least it's not a Monday," Jane added. "Then the animals would be giant."

Oh no, she jinxed them all.

[drumsticksandd20s]

Steph's eyes went wide for a moment, then she shook her head. "Let's... maybe not give this place more ideas?"

[needsacatchphrase]

"Do you think it'd actually do that?" Jane. Yes.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"It's not so much whether I think it would do that as that I honestly can't rule it out," Steph admitted. "I mean, we still have part of an abandoned warehouse district left, don't we? That's just asking for giant rampaging creatures. It's like ground zero for them."

She knew her genre entertainment, okay?

[needsacatchphrase]

"Okay, I didn't mean it?" Jane said, looking around like whoever was in charge of this might hear her.

[drumsticksandd20s]

Okay, but surely the whole godly thing might have some extra weight with whatever mysterious forces of whimsy were at work on the island? Steph hoped so anyway.

"It was totally idle speculation," she added, addressing... well, some point on the ceiling, because she probably hadn't helped at all by elaborating.

[needsacatchphrase]

"What she said," Jane said, also looking up. "Um. So sayeth Thor?"

[giveittoyoursister]

"Steph? You okay?"

Had Vi heard about all the weird stuff going down? Yes. Had she immediately made for the store? Also yes.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"I'm fine," Steph assured her, as Saffron wailed dramatically and tried to fling herself off the counter and into Vi's arms. "Is it bad out there?"

She moved over to inspect Vi for any cuts or bruises.

"Are you okay?"

[giveittoyoursister]

"It's chaotic," Vi said, her arms suddenly full of cat. "There's a lot of animals out there and they're not friendly."

"I'm good," she added as Saffron let her know all about the terrible day she was having.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Chaotic terrible," said Steph, because she couldn't help herself. "And they're turning people into unfriendly animals, too, according to radio."

Saffron wasn't content with Vi's reassurances yet, and was sniffing very extensively at her chin and neck, front paws frantically kneading against her shirt.

[giveittoyoursister]

Vi groaned, and came over to bump her shoulder against Steph's as she did her best to soothe Saffron. "I didn't see any of that," she said.

Of course she had been pretty focused on getting here.

[drumsticksandd20s]

Steph reached out to put a hand on her arm. "Just as long as you're okay."

Saffron made a distressed little mrrrrr and started to settle down in Vi's arms. Look, she wasn't even grumbling about Food Human's proximity. That was how distressed she was.

[giveittoyoursister]

"Same goes for you," Vi said as she continued to stroke along Saffron's back with long, steady movements. "I'm doing better than some people, though."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"For real." Steph kept her hand on Vi's arm, tracing small circles with her thumb. "Please don't turn into an angry animal of some kind, okay?"

[giveittoyoursister]

"I won't," Vi promised, covering Steph's hand with hers. "But you've gotta stay human too."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"I will do my best," Steph replied, because after that conversation with Jane earlier she wasn't going to tempt fate and the island any more than she already had today. "I would love you anyway, if you did turn into a were-creature, but... I don't think you would love being that angry and smashy all the time."

[giveittoyoursister]

"Yeah, I'm already angry enough," Vi said softly. "It'd be tiring being even more angry."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Yeah. I don't want that for you." Steph scowled, just a bit, just for a moment. "You know, I haven't seen the gremlins all morning. Should we worry about that?"