The Magpie Emporium, Thursday (10/9)

[drumsticksandd20s]

If Steph wasn't putting her entire self into decorating the store for Halloween, was it even October?

The question was moot anyway, since she was entirely occupied with using craft foam, wire, and whatever else she had on hand to create a skeleton arm that looked like it was bursting out of a retired piece of wargaming terrain that'd been set up next to the register to look like a patch of dirt.

Saffron was judging the hell out of her, but that was only because it was a day ending in Y.

[OOC: Open! SP guaranteed.]

Comments

[giveittoyoursister]

Vi was helping!

You know for a definition of help that involved her pouncing on decorations and getting hopelessly tangled in them.

[drumsticksandd20s]

Yeah, Steph wasn't making nearly as much progress as she would have otherwise. Who knew?

"Vi. Babe," she said, putting down the foam thing that was just beginning to vaguely resemble a hand and hurrying over to scoop her currently-a-tiny-pink-kitten girlfriend up before Saffron tried (yet again, still unsuccessfully) to grab her and hide her somewhere Steph couldn't get to. "You're adorable, but it's too early to be taking them back down again."

[giveittoyoursister]

Saffron knew what was best for her humans but neither of them listened to her!

For her part, Vi's somewhat pitiful mews turned into purring when Steph picked her up.

[drumsticksandd20s]

Steph laughed and kissed Vi's soft fuzzy little head between the ears as she carefully disentangled her from the string of ghost-shaped lights. "You are my favorite tiny terror and I'm kind of glad to see you every October."

It was hard to let herself sink into a PTSD-induced sort of haze for a few weeks when you had the world's tiniest, most adorable, pinkest kitty cuddling you.

[pocketpretzels]

After lunch with Steven, there was a Watts poking his head into the shop. Followed quickly by the rest of him, of course.

Hat hung on its usual tentacle, he beelined for the dice. "Afternoon, Steph."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Hey, Llewellyn," Steph replied, turning toward the door just in time to miss Saffron trying and failing (again) to pick Vi up by the scruff of the neck and hide her somewhere. "Got some shiny new liquid core math rocks for you to play with today."

[pocketpretzels]

"Liquid core?" Watts echoed. "Those are the ones with- something inside that moves around?" he checked.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Generally something sparkly and glittery, but sometimes people go wild with it," Steph said, nodding as she slid over a small tin box with a set of dice nestled carefully into the foam insert. "This company makes a bunch of sets with, like, fake dragon eyeballs floating around in there, but given this town's population I try to keep those to special orders so nobody gets unnecessarily jump-scared by surprise eyes."

[pocketpretzels]

"Wise," Watts agreed, reaching to pick up one of the dice and give it a closer examination. "How interesting!"

[drumsticksandd20s]

Steph grinned wryly. "Just saying, people around here would be well within their rights to assume those were real eyeballs, which could imply any number of unsettling things. But aren't those cool? It's fun to just shake them and hold them up to the light sometimes."

[pocketpretzels]

Well, naturally, Watts had to do just that. "That is pleasing," he agreed.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"I keep a flashlight behind the counter here for just these sorts of occasions," Steph said gleefully as she produced said flashlight, turned it on, and shone it over the rest of the dice set (because she wasn't asshole enough to just point it in his face, geez).

[pocketpretzels]

"Admiring the, ah, how did you put it? 'Math rocks'?"

[drumsticksandd20s]

"You're damn right I did," Steph replied as a tiny pink kitty scaled her leg. "Ow, ow, ow, Vi, claws."

Not that Vi seemed to think there was an issue with that. She scrambled all the way up to Steph's shoulder, nipped at her ear, and then leaped off, flinging herself all the way into the office with a joyful mew.

"It's adorable when she's like this but I am so glad it doesn't usually last long," Steph said with a sheepish laugh.

[pocketpretzels]

"It's not something that's ever happened to me," Watts said. "Or Steven or Marc, for that matter." Though now he was looking thoughtful as something occurred to him.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Seriously?" It was a good thing she already had a cat scratcher in her office, or Steph might have had to worry about the sound of claws on cardboard that was coming from there. "Not ever? It happens to both of us, like, once a year for some reason."

FOR SOME REASON.

"Always around the same time of year, come to think of it. Just one more thing to add to the Calendar O'Weird."

[pocketpretzels]

"Not even once," Watts confirmed.

He did have a tendency to fall ill with a summer cold near the end of July fairly consistently, though?

The mention of calendars caused his expression to sober, as he gave Steph a searching look.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"I can't decide whether you should be glad, or sorry you're missing out," Steph said, then tilted her head at the look on his face.

"...what's up?"

[pocketpretzels]

"How are you doing?" Watts checked.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"How am I --" Steph blinked a few times, then shook her head. "Oh! I'm... doing okay, actually. Thank you. Seems like having a few days with my hands full of hyperactive cat mischief every year does a lot to keep me from getting dragged back down into all my shit, you know?"

Seriously. It took a huge percentage of the day.

She relaxed a bit and gave him a smile that was a bit tired, but genuine. "Thank you for remembering, though. And checking. It really means a lot."

[pocketpretzels]

"You are one of my dearest friends," Watts reminded her. "Your well-being is very important to me."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"And that is very important to me," Steph replied. "I'm trying to be better about making sure people don't think I take that for granted. I doubt it's ever going to be easy, but it gets a little bit easier every year. Or... maybe not, but I'm getting better at dealing with it."

[pocketpretzels]

"The ache never truly vanishes, not that I've found," Watts said, with a bittersweet little smile. "But having others around who care for you does help ease it."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Yeah." Steph's answering smile was wistful, and some sadness still showed in her eyes. "I'll never be completely over all of that, I get that now. It's just sort of like... I'm figuring out how to build around it instead of trying to get rid of it."

She reached out to chuck him lightly in the shoulder.

"And that's a job that's definitely better done as a team. Maybe I should get us jerseys."

That... would not actually happen, but she could entertain herself coming up with a logo anyway.

[pocketpretzels]

There were very few people who could do something like that and not have Watts flinch away.

"I don't know that I'm suited to a sports jersey," he admitted, glancing down at his, well. Suit and tie.

[drumsticksandd20s]

Oh, Steph knew. That was part of why her smile got a touch brighter.

"You could probably rock a baseball one," Steph teased, "but nah, it's really not your style."

[pocketpretzels]

"The concession offerings at modern baseball games are quite spectacular," Watts informed her. Which was... sort of vaguely connected to what she'd said? Maybe?

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Spectacularly priced, too," Steph couldn't help adding. "What, have you picked up a new pastime?"

[pocketpretzels]

"I have always been interested in good food," Watts told Steph.

[drumsticksandd20s]

Steph gave him a mock exasperated look. "You know what I meant," she said fondly.

[pocketpretzels]

"Ah, yes," Watts scratched at his chin. "Marc and I have attended a few sporting events from time to time. Not just baseball."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Oh, okay, that makes more sense then. I was thinking that live sporting events really didn't sound like Steven's kind of thing." Steph reached over to straighten up (ha) a couple of display dice sets that had been knocked askew, most likely by a rampaging tiny pink kitty. "Got a favorite, or are they all kind of weird?"

[pocketpretzels]

"Sport?" Watts asked. "I suppose it depends. Baseball is- not terribly fast-paced. Leaves plenty of time to enjoy the food on offer. I do enjoy watching hockey, though, even if it has changed rather significantly from my own time."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Somehow this does not surprise me," Steph said, grinning impishly. "That had to be a trip, the first time, with all the safety gear and arena lights and everything."

Please understand that her mental picture of hockey in his time currently consisted of, well. People in fancy blazers and hats, like polo except with 100% less horses and 100% more ice.

[pocketpretzels]

"And it's much- faster," Watts nodded. "Louder, too."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Louder, no fucking kidding. I take it you're handling that part okay?" Steph asked. Just because she thrived on that kind of energy didn't mean she assumed everyone did.

[pocketpretzels]

"I've gotten accustomed to it," Watts said. "I do enjoy a certain amount of- bustle. And noise. In my everyday. To a point."