2024-12-26 - We Are Home for Christmas

Lucien arrives in a pair of black jeans with a dark red sweater on. His hair is a dark deep brick red and frosted with silver highlights as his nod toward silly festiveness. In his arms, he carries a tin full of reindeer shaped ginger/molasses cookies that he absolutely did not bake himself. But they're cute, and festive, and he makes his way in to set them next to the other items in the kitchen.

"Hey," he says to Julian. "Merry Christmas." Then he takes a moment to read his sweater and snorts just a little. "Appropriate."

Ugly Christmas sweaters are the norm, and Tig doesn't disappoint. She's wearing a black sweater showing strings of Christmas lights being gnawed on by squirrels, and her hair is tied back into a ponytail as she arrives with, of everything she could bring with her, a loaf of fruitcake.

It was an open invitation so she doesn't really know the people hosting, so when she arrives she smiles brightly and waves. "Hi! I'm Tig!" She holds out the fruitcake she brought in presentation. "I brought a fruitcake! I was thinking to myself I should probably bring something that nobody else is going to bring, and I couldn't think of anything until I went, 'Aha!' and thought of a fruitcake. So I got a fruitcake!"

Taylor is double not going home for Christmas; she's at the park full-time for the winter break from school AND, well, her home is on a far-away coast where it is probably not quite so freaking cold.

With the instructions for 'festive attire,' and in spite of said cold, she's gone a little more all-out on dress-up, arriving in a full on stereotypical red and white 'Ms. Claus' type outfit. Except, you know, the moderately sexed up costume store version rather than the 'friendly grandma' version. So a red skirt and top with puffy white trimming on the hem, cuffs and collar, big black belt (and boots!) and the stereotypical puffball cap. The dish she's brought is a little less exciting than the getup. It's... well, it's a casserole dish.

"Hey, Merry Christmas everyone." Arriving behind Tig, she sneaks a look toward the cake. "Ooh, cake." Even fruitcake is cake!

Lala arrives in cozy attire, charcoal leggings, knee high knit socks, and ankle boots with a little heel. Her long hair's left down in a mass of soft grey curls. Her sweater's white (she may have missed the optional uggo sweaters thing), but she does carry with her a covered dish, and she has white sparkly ornament earrings. She didn't bake these walnut brookies herself, instead engaging in bribery to get someone else to home bake them for her. (Team outsource!) There's a little heated pitcher of maple cream sauce ready to be plugged into an outlet to stay warm. (The walnuts are chopped and can be scooped from a separate bowl in case of allergies.) First order of business: "Hey, y'all!" Second: find somewhere for this foodstuff to go. She wanders off to do that.

"Thank you for the invite, Julian." She commandeers an outlet to plug in her little sauce warmer, and sets up little handwritten cards by each thing to indicate allergens present in each. She does a double-take at their host's sweater and can't help but laugh. She nods when Lucien comments, in agreement there. She notes Tig's uggo sweater and is really starting to feel like she shoulda done one up. "Hey, Tig. Lala." Her face might not be familiar, but anybody who listens to SPL on the radio or streaming channel may recognize the voice. "Walnut blondies, walnuts on the side here. Maple cream sauce on top. I forgot the ice cream..." she trails off. "Ok, not true. I ate the ice cream. I apologize. They really are better with some ice cream."

"Merry Christmas," she says to everyone, prompted by Taylor's saying it there.

Arriving at Julian's apartment, there is a small knock on the open door before Hawthorne steps through. "Hello? Hope I'm not late!"

He is wearing a green sweater with ornaments fastened by their strings with safety pins. Around his waist and over his slacks he wears a tree skirt, the fabric gathered and fastened with velcro adhesive. The skirt has various small gift boxes and bags hot glued to it and a bouncy spring gold star on a headband completes the look.

Seeing everyone in their attire he seems to relax a bit and grins, glad to see he hadn't misunderstood the dress code. "I brought cupcakes!" His present for the festivities is in a bag hanging from his arm next to another bag.

Julian smiles warmly at Lucien's arrival, welcoming him inside and taking the tin of cookies from the younger man. "Hey! Glad you could make it, Merry Christmas to you too." It's then that his sweater is noted and the good doctor just grins and winks. "Gotta find some humor in the profession, no?" He moves on inside to lay the tray of goodies around some of the other desserts he'd procured. "Make yourself comfortable, grab a drink."

Tig comes in next and her bright countenance immediately has Julian smiling back at her. "Hi there Tig, I'm Julian. Welcome in!" There's a soft bit of laughter at her heralding of the fruitcake and he nods quickly. "Super underrated, excellent choice. Thanks for coming! Let me get that for you." He takes the dessert and gives a little head nod to the younger, handsome man already inside. "Tig, this is Lucien. Lucien, Tig." Things are already hopping!

In comes Taylor too, dressed to impress! "Hi, welcome!" Exciting, shmexciting. Food is food! He helps her in and takes the dish from her, putting it in its rightful position as well. "Julian," he starts with, introducing himself pleasantly enough. "Make yourself at home!"

Lala's arrival is met with a gentler smile, "Glad you could make it, Lala." She's already getting herself settled in.

And a Hawthorne! "Cupcakes?? Front of the line, sir!" He laughs softly and ushers him in too. "Welcome, welcome!"

"Hi Tig," Lucien says when Julian makes the introductions, giving her a smile and then glancing around in the direction of drinks. He finds something non-alcoholic -- a can or bottle of soda, something.. whatever there might be, and then drifts out of the way of the kitchen to find a spot to perch idly and watch more people come in. Hawthorne's outfit gets a crooked smile and Lala and Taylor get a friendly wave as he takes a sip from his beverage and seems to be enjoying the already festive and somewhat silly atmosphere.

There is nothing festive in Benedict's wardrobe. Nothing even approaching a holiday color that he can pretend is thematic, so what he arrives in is a pair of slacks and a white dress shirt, which is, uh. Very monochrome. He's also carrying a glass cake stand, in which... there is a cake.

At least the cake is festive! It's sponge dusted with powdered sugar, leaking some sort of red jam out the middle, with decorative berries on top.

He knocks on the open door, just a quick tap-tap with his knuckles, before he holds the cake up as if in offering. "I heard there was a party," he says in greeting.

"Right?!" Tig says brightly as she hands over her fruitcake to Julian. "I just don't understand the hate for it. My grandfather used to make one every year and soak it in brandy and it was sooo goood. Of course, they wouldn't let me eat it when I was little but when I became a teenager they'd let me have a slice. This is just store-bought, though. I'm really not that good in the kitchen, so it'll have to do."

She raises a hand in greeting at Lucien and grins, "Hey, Luci-OMG!" This last is at the arrival of Hawthorne and his over-the-top costume. "I love it!" she tells him. "Especially the star. The star brings it all together."

Lala looks over when Hawthorne announces cupcakes. "Oh look at those." The candies and swirl on them look like little light strings. "How cute are they. I'll have one for sure." The whole ensemble is taken in next and she laughs. "Love a craft project."

"Can I get anybody a root beer or..." She surveys the drinks list. "Is that mulled wine?" She goes to investigate one of the crock pots, never shy about poking around in someone else's kitchen as long as she's not expected to cook. "Everything looks fantastic, Julian. Tig, how boozy is your cake?"

Like many, Taylor's first objective is to offload the dubious casserole, heading toward where people are dropping off the dishes. There, perhaps, it is her hope it can blend in with the remainder and hide her shame a little bit. But this is a bit of a no-go, it turns out, as Julian intercepts her to TAKE it rather than let her just hide it. She gives him a sheepish grin. "I tried! I just uh, googled a recipe though, so I dunno how it came out. I hope it tastes better than it looks."

There the casserole will remain, for any brave enough to delve its mysteries.

Freed of her burden, Taylor looks toward raiding some of the other foodstuffs being piled up and unloaded, since many of them are of a sweeter and more immediately appetizing appeal. Cupcakes, cookies, cakes? Load her up! She starts making a little plate.

Julian takes a beat to make sure that everyone is comfortable and milling about. Dishes are arranged in their right places and he quickly gets another bucket of ice ready for drinks. Benedict arrives and if there's any noting of his 'unfestive' attire, it's certainly not evident in Julian's greeting. "Hi! Absolutely, come on in." He reaches out for the cake to get it ready next to the other 'serts.

Tig's comment on her love of fruitcakes has him laughing softly. "Different strokes and all that I suppose. But wow, are people missing out!" Lala roams freely and comfortably and there's something about that which really helps Julian relax a bit. As does her remark. He offers her another smile and nod. "You're too kind, thank you."

He takes a moment to pause and while he doesn't demand the attention, gets things kicked off a llittle more 'officially'. "This is such a wonderful turn-out. I have to confess that the idea was borne of Lucien over there, whether he remembers it or not, a few days ago. I was debating whether or not to try to do something like this and..wow...super pleased to see everyone. I'm Julian, for those that don't know me. I've worked here since the 'early days'. There is no 'objective' for anything tonight, other than hopefully some laughter, some peace of mind, and the making of some new friends. Please don't feel obligated to stay any longer than you want, but you're welcome to stay as long as you like!"

The music changes to something a little slower and more intimate, as opposed to one of the faster tempo'd songs. He goes on about milling again and smiles to Taylor. "Hey, it's literally the thought that counts here. Thanks for making the attempt!"

There are a couple of faces that Julian doesn't know well and he marks those out and needing to meet before much longer. For now though, he lets folks get comfortable.

Socializing is fun. Socializing is important. Hawthorne can do this! A nod as Julian welcomes him and he nods, "Hawthorne." Offering it for whoever might need the introduction. "Thanks! There's some vanilla and some chocolate too since I wasn't sure what people would like. They took forever to cool, but I hurried over after decorating them."

A table is found to set them on before he takes one present in one hand and offers the other over to Julian. "Thank you for putting this all together...it's nice to have somewhere to celebrate and people together." The bag would have a decorative mug, cocoa mix and an individual sized bottle of whiskey. A small note is attached that reads 'A little Holiday Spirit'. Because whiskey...punny!

"Not at all," Tig says to Lala. "I didn't know how many dry people were going to show up, so I decided on a fruitcake that everybody could enjoy." She shakes her head as she makes her way to the table where all the food is and starts loading up a plate full of various sweets, including a slice of her fruitcake. "Besides, you can't really buy a boozy fruitcake anymore."

When Julian puts the attention on him, Lucien grins a little crookedly and says, "I mean, it was your idea. I just said I thought it was a good one and I'd come." And here he is, perched somewhere, possibly on the arm of a couch or chair with his drink watching people arrive. He's not going to take full credit though, He'd just mentioned that he was staying at the park for the holidays, after all.

He waits for a little of the commotion around the kitchen to die down before he slips in to find himself a plate and digs into the more savory foods first, particularly that turkey, and a bit of gravy, and a couple of sides. It's not a large plate but it is a sampling of the things that Julian had prepared before they arrived.

"I eat microwaved mashed potato cups on the regular, Taylor. I'm sure your casserole is better than that." Lala's being completely sincere in that comment. Her fridge is in a sad state. "Nothing wrong with a googled recipe!"

"I'm not that kind, Julien. You having a house full of food helps a whole lot," Lala says with a laugh. She finds a place to put down a handbag, somewhere tucked out of the way. "Cheers to you, Lucien," Lala says, raising a cup of what smells and looks like mulled wine. The truth is in the tasting, which she does. "I brought a bottle of Buffalo Trace," she says, fishing it out of her bag. It's a casked Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey with an aroma of vanilla and molasses, with some brown sugar and spice to the taste. It's a pretty smooth bourbon, all told.

A second bottle comes out, but this is a sparkling grape juice. "This one's sharp and tart and sweet." It has real pucker power, but contains no alcohol. She puts those both somewhere easily accessible on her way to put together a little plate of goodies. She samples a bit of everything she saw someone walk in with.

"Yeah just about any kind of microwavable junk is actually more my usual speed," Taylor admits, glancing over to Lala as she brings up the very enticing prospect of pre-made mashed potatoes-like substance (TM). There may be an equivalence in habits here as she's lived on plenty of the most dubious of dorm-room stereotypes. "I thought about just buying some kinda dessert but I figured we'd have a lot of those."

After putting together a dessert plate she goes ahead and adds a few items of real food as well (priorities!) and then goes to hunt herself down a drink as well. Is there eggnog? There better be eggnog!

After handing off his cake to Julian, Benedict sidles off to the side to appreciate the spread of food. "Ah, maybe I should have brought something savory instead," he muses, ponderingly. "But you can't go wrong with a Victoria sponge during the holidays."

If it weren't already obvious he was very British by the accent, well, the name drop of his dessert contribution probably does it.

And then he takes very much after Tig by getting a plate filled with sweets first, rather than the mains.

Miriam is a little late, but... let's call it fashionably late. She shows up in a lightweight burgundy dress that definitely looks like something someone who worked at a ren faire for twelve summers straight would own, a reusable shopping bag in one hand.

"Can I use your oven? Can't really pre-bake a brie," she says by way of greeting. Not that she really knows anyone here except -- oh, hi, Benedict!

"Good to have you, Hawthorne! Hope you enjoy yourself this evening. Really, it's my pleasure. I think this will become a new tradition for as long as the park decides to keep me around." He winks at the man and takes the other offered present. "Thank you, friend." That wasn't at all expected but he's touched by the gesture all the same!

"Smart choice, Tig. I had an uncle that had a solution to that problem: 'dry' fruitcakes. He used to slip a piece down into a tumblr of brandy until the cake soaked it all up. He was a 'fun' one during the holidays..." He laughs softly and shrugs.

"Oh, please Lala. I think I know kindness masked in bristles when I see it." He winks and grins, but does look around at the home filled with goodies. "Don't let Lucien get it twisted, though. He's borne of, and with, good ideas." There's another smile over to the young man before he for absolutely no reason happens to pick up a book on his coffee table. "Huh..how'd this get there?"

A mystery for another time.

Benedict makes himself comfy and gets a warm smile before Miriam arrives. "Hi, absolutely! Help yourself."

"Come to Tarjay with me sometime. I'll show you where they keep the good stuff," Lala says to Taylor, like she's in on some secret stash. Really it's just trash gourmande behavior from someone who can't be assed to learn to cook a proper meal. "You can also bribe your neighbors to make stuff for you," she confesses. Though not explicitly admitting to the fact that these fancy homemade dessert things she brought aren't made by her hands, it's a fair and truthy hop to be made. Not even a jump at this point.

She looks over to Benedict when he mentions Victoria sponge. "I don't know that I've ever had a proper one." She glances around to see if one's materialized somewhere. You never know. "Oooh, cheese. Nice." Baked brie no less! She laughs at something and then says to Julian. "I'm not so sure. How long you spend in the South? And how long you spend around southern ladies?"

She finishes tucking a bunch of different things onto a plate, a couple bites of each item, and navigates her way back to a comfy seat at one end of a couch, curled up with her socked feet under her. At some point she slid off her heels.

"Nope! Today is a 'get sick on sweets day,'" Tig declares, as evidenced by a pile of sweets big enough to give a diabetic a sugar coma just by looking at it. "And booze. Can't forget the booze. But it can't be just any booze. You gotta put it in the egg nog because it's sweets day!" So she does just that.

She nods sagely at Julian. "I think we all have that one 'fun' uncle in the family. Mine was Uncle Baker, but everybody called him 'Bubba.' He had a... um... 'farm' down in Colorado."

"And bad ones, too," Lucien adds with an amused smile as he looks up from his plate of food that he has begun to dig into, a bit of turkey with gravy halfway to his mouth. There's a glance toward the book that is sitting on the table, but he can't quite read the title, looking puzzled briefly. But then he hears the magic words and echoes Lala's "Cheeeese. Nice!" Definite enthusiasm from the Canadian judge. "What sort of farm?" Lucien asks guilelessly of Tig.

Listening to everyone converse and joke, Hawthorne smiles and seems to relax more. Julian gets a nod at the thanks, "Of course. My grandma used to make the little jars of cocoa so I just kept the tradition going. The recipe is under the lid. You can use water or milk as well."

Waiting until everyone else has gone through the food line, he steps forward and gets a bit of everything.

Once he has his plate ready he goes for a drink. Looking around he tries to figure out where to settle and graze. There's a brief look of intrigue as Tig mentions her uncle was a farmer. Then a look of consideration. Then a look of realization...before a look of confusion to Lucien. Wait. Now he isn't sure what to think...so he eats.

Lala glances over at Tig when the subject of Uncle Bubba's 'farm' comes up. Her brows rise too, but she doesn't explicitly ask after whether or not farm was meant to sound like it's in quotes. But she's definitely thinking it. Thank goodness Lucien asks, so she doesn't have to. Her grey eyes flick his way, and her lips twitch a little grin.

"It's not high class, but it's what we got. Makes me miss a good bodega, though. Not a New York girl by birth, but had a good few years in the city. We do have a little bit of that community here, though."

Benedict doesn't really get out enough to recognize anyone in particular here, so this is very much him putting himself out there. Of course Miriam's arrival earns a quick wave, though he doesn't immediately gravitate to her side. As much as he might want to approach the only familiar face, he instead lingers near the food.

There is indeed a Victoria sponge on the table now, thanks to Benedict handing it off to Julian. "It's as proper as it gets, I used the same recipe I grew up eating," he says to Lala, of the cake.

"Er," Tig stumbles at Lucien's question. "He grew pot before it was legalized," she explains. "Like I said, he was the fun one." She grins as she starts digging into her sweets, and shrugs. "Only did it the once, though. Had a bad time so never again."

"Never been to New York," she says. "I lived in Seattle for most of my life, and then down in Flordia during my apprenticeship at That Other Place. I'm so glad that I got out of there as fast as I could."

How long has Julian spent in the south? Not very. But he's known a few of those 'southern belles' and Lala doesn't seem to fit into that stereotypical mold. "Not long enough, it seems!" Once everyone seems to get settling in and making themselves a plate of goodies, he does the same. It's a sample platter of just about everything, not a lot of any one thing.

"Bubba Baker..I bet that's a guy that has a ton of stories." He grins and shakes his head. Lucien does, indeed, ask the clarifying question. It being Colorado, the farm could be any number of things these days!

"Oh perfect!" With plate of yummies in one hand, he looks at the jar of cocoa that Hawthorne has brought. "Can't wait to try it!"

There's a glance to Benedict who seems to find some sort of connection in Miriam which makes the man relax a touch. So far, the vibes seem great!

"Oh! Before I forget--again--whenever you want to leave, please take a bag from under the tree with you. It's not much, just a little something in the way of thanks for coming." And yes, he will make sure that everyone has a goodie bag before they leave. It will contain a small, festively wrapped baggie of shortbread cookies, a 'company' ornament that he had custom made that reads: "Don't Break the Spell-bound", a pair of handwarmers, some lip balm, a card with his office's number (and profession) on it, and a small, sealed box that has a Christmas-y puzzle inside, just for fun!

"Thanks!" Miri chirps when Julian gives oven permission and she grins at Lala when she expresses enthusiasm for the treat. "I'm not the world's greatest cook, but give me a brie and some puff pastry and I can make a whole room happy," she promises. Lucien, also, gets a finger-gun.

No hard feelings, Ben, but she doesn't do more than wave either. There's a brie to bake! She saunters into the kitchen, sets the oven to pre-heat, and goes about unpacking her bag. There's the brie, the puff pastry, boozy apple jelly and amarena cherries. She even brought a foil tray. Thoughtful! Easy clean-up!

She opens up the packages, greases the pan and artfully wraps the brie in the puff pastry.

"Oh," Lucien says when Tig says her uncle had a pot farm and then shoves some more turkey into his mouth, apparently entirely unphased by this. He is, instead, somewhat absorbed by his food, though his attention skips from conversation to conversation around him. Benedict gets a moment or two of study as well as the cake. "It looks good," he comments, and will likely try some once he's done with his non-sugar-based meal.

"I've only been to New York for competitions," he says, poking at some of his sides. Miriam's comment gets a broad grin from him as he says, "Can't go wrong with cheese."

"Oh yeah, they've got everything!" Taylor is apparently dialed in at the correct level of ironic enjoyment of things to pick up on the meme-ified version of the superstore without question. At least in her case, though, she seems entirely serious about the practicality of the store's selection. "Even their grocery section is pretty good."

Tig's story about her uncle gets a slightly sly sidelong glance!

"I'm West Coast too," she offers to the conversation as it turns toward various origins and travels. "I think..." And she looks briefly over at Lucien as he mentions competitions. "Same? No wait, I think I went once with my family when I was a kid. But recently, yeah, only for meets."

"What kind of competitions?" Tig asks Lucien. "When I was in high school, I was part of the Robotics Club, and we would go to competitions for that. Never to New York. We made the finals one year and ended up going down to San Francisco for it, but we didn't even place." She shrugs as if that doesn't bother her in the least. "It was a lotta fun, though!"

She grins at Julian, "You have no idea. Have you seen Tucker & Dale vs. Evil? He was kinda like that but without all the accidental murders." She chuckles, "He looks like this big scary redneck serial killer, but he was the gentlest soul I ever knew." Her good mood slides away as she sighs. "We lost him a couple of years ago to pancreatic cancer, though. Cancer is a bitch."

"Thank you," Benedict tells Lucien, at the compliment. "I make one every year. At least now I won't spend the next three days eating a slice for breakfast, lunch and supper and calling it meal prep." He's more than a bit curious to see what Miriam is cooking (or rather, baking) up in the kitchen, though he'll bother her about it when she's not busy.

In the meantime, he tries the fruitcake. "Oh, this is quite nice," he says, aiming that to the general audience in the hopes of the comment getting to the original maker.

"He sounds like someone I might have known in Tennessee," Hawthorne says to Tig with a chuckle. "Moved to Michigan as a kid though. Now I'm here. Ta da."

His hand shifts its hold of his drink slightly in a nervous habit before he takes a drink. The instructions from Julian earn a nod and then Tig's information about her uncle earns a sympathetic frown. "Cancer. Definitely a bitch." Raising his glass briefly in a sort of quiet toast he takes a drink.

"Skating," Lucien says when Tig asks, "I'm a figure skater. Still in training while I work here." He smiles though when she mentions robotics and says, "That sounds really cool. What sorts of robots did you make? Were they like battle bots that had to fight each other? Or.. like, did you have to make them to do something specific?" He looks thoughtful, trying to think of other potential robotic-style competitions.

Lucien grins at Benedict and says, "I don't know. You say that like it's a bad thing." He doesn't sound like he'd mind eating cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not that he would. His coach would murder him in cold blood.

Miri gets her cheese going in the kitchen, talk of 'home' and crazy relatives are swapped a bit and Julian takes a drink of his aromatic wassail. He nibbles at bits of goodies here and there as he takes up a seat near most of the others, but lets the conversation go on around him without interruption.

Tig's clarification of her uncle's description has him laughing softly and shaking his head. "Haven't seen that, but sounds like I need to." Julian has no idea what a masterpiece he's missing out on!

His lips press together in a sympathetic way and nods. "One of the hardest things to go through, even as a loved one." Oh yeah, there are plenty requiring his services in times of cancer treatment.

He glances between Lucien and Tig, Taylor and Benedict, Hawthorne and Lala, and checks on Miriam in the kitchen again, making sure that all is, still, well.

"Typically you have a task your robot needs to be able to complete, with a limit on how much you can spend on it," Tig explains. "The cheaper and faster it manages to do that task, the more points you get. Battlebots is fun and all to watch, but it just wasn't the kind of thing that I was interested in building. I like my builds to have more finesse to them than brute strength, which is probably why I ended up as an Animatronics Engineer here."

"Are you doing any public performances yet?" she asks Lucien. "I'll swing by and catch a show if you are. I work after the park closes, so I've usually got all day free to poke around the park. Makes it easy to really get to know the place, you know?"

"I could stand to hear a Bubba story or two. Guy named Bubba always seems to have a good story, or is that a lot of good stories got a Bubba right in the middle?" Lala shakes her head and tucks into the food, tasting a small bite of this, then that. "You got parting gifts and are hosting the party?" Her attention strays to the gift bags under the tree. Who doesn't love unwrapping things to see what's hiding in there? If a supervillain ever wanted to catch her in a trap, all that would be required is a prettily wrapped present like an invitation.

"Doesn't have to be fancy to be good, I say," Lala says to Miriam, regarding brie and puff. Lala looks at Lucien for a moment when he brings up competitions, like she's trying to place his face. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, refresh my memory." It's almost on the tip of her tongue, like maybe she saw one of the shows he was in recently, but can't quite recall. It's a big park! Tig asks, too, so she doesn't feel too bad about not knowing offhand. "Rest in peace, Bubba," she says, raiding her glass at the tale of a pot farmer lately missed.

At Julien's answer she ohs, "Been meaning to check out the new show. Looking forward to seeing it."

The oven is sufficiently heated and Miriam pops the brie in, setting a 30-minute timer. With step one underway, she flutters out of the kitchen to find a drink and a snack.

"Cake is all right. Give me salt and fat over sugar any day, though." She realizes an introduction might be in order and upnods to the room. "Miri Lazarus. New knight on Team Baddie."

"I had a friend in school who was into that stuff. Robotics Club?" Hawthorne nods to Tig, "It was really cool, but went totally over my head," he admits with a laugh. "I'll stick to gardening. It's cool you found a way to work that into getting a job here though."

The talk of Lucien's performance has him realizing just how many talents and skills they have here. "Quite the talented family Spellbound has created," he muses.

As the smell of brie starts to fill the kitchen he looks to Miriam, "I will never say no to cheese. Or cake. Congrats on the Team placement too."

Late and perhaps beyond the edge of fashionably so, but Dan's brought himself and a companion. Danny's in Christmas sweater in shades of blue, white, and gray adorned with a pattern of tauntauns and Imperial walkers. At his side is one of the dogs from his show, the Malinois named Joker. Joker's even in a version of festive attire, with a velvet ruff in silvery gray and blue around his neck. The wrap around the end of his leash declares him a service dog.

"Hi," Dan's a much quieter presence offstage, almost shy, voice husky and low. There's a hint of uncertainty in his face, as well, like he's had to work himself up to facing those he doesn't know well in a social situation.

The smell of goodies still permeates the air and drifts out into the hall. Had that been responsible for luring in yet another Spellbounder? Perhaps! But in comes Danny all the same with his pup. "Hi there! I'm Julian, come on in." His instinct to pet Joker is halted when he sees the identifier on the leash. "Make yourself comfortable, grab a drink, some food. We're just regaling each other with stories of crazy robot uncles...I think." That...doesn't sound right, but Julian grins all the same.

He spares a look over at Lala, "Well, of course. I'm not a barbarian." His lips curl a little higher as he takes a bite of Taylor's casserole that he winds up clearly enjoying.

Lala finishes her wine and rises to snag the bourbon and crack it open after rinsing out her glass in the kitchen, seeking out some ice, and dropping a few cubes in her cup. She pours a single, then returns, wending through the party to make her way back to her spot on the end of the couch. "Hey," she greets Dan with a salute of her glass. And then she says to Joker, "Hello, furry baby." No attempts to pet unless Joker finds his way around to where she's sitting.

"Hm," is all Lala has to say to Julian's comment. Very neutral, very demure.

Lucien seems genuinely interested in hearing about Tig's competitions, poking at his food and nibbling on it as he listens to her describe the competitions. "That's really cool," he enthuses when she describes the process. "And I can see why you got into animatronics from there."

"I'll be in the new show that's opening up soon, the swan lake performance. You should come and check it out once it opens." That invitation is also extended to Lala. "I'm in the current one, too, part of the ensemble."

When Danny comes in he lifts up a hand and waves, "Heya. Happy Holidays. There's lots of food!" He grins at the sight of the dog as well.

"Here, let me find you a pic," Tig says, setting the plate aside and pulling out her phone. "Yeah," she says as she scrolls through the pictures. "My ideal job is to work for the Jim Henson Company, but that's a pretty high bar to clear. I figure a few years here to get some real experience under my belt I can start sending my resume in." She looks up and grins, "I can even do a bit of puppeteering, but my passion is building the things more than anything else."

She looks back down at her phone and scrolls a bit more before finding the picture she wanted to show. "Ah! Here we go. This is Bubba with my niece, Bea. She's about 9 months, here." The photo is of a tall man who's big in the kind of way that people would mistake as being overweight but hides his strength. With a face full of beard and an unkempt hairdo, he really does look like the serial killer type if it wasn't for that kind and gentle smile he's beaming down to the baby in his arms. Also, the reindeer antlers on his head help.

"This is him the last Christmas he was with us," she says as she passes her phone around for people to look at. "I'm so glad he got to meet her before he passed."

The scents have definitely intrigued the dog, by the way the Malinois lifts his nose and sniffs. But he's on-duty and thus remains placidly by his human's side, for all that his tail wags with increasing fervor.

Dan's got a container tucked under his arm, which he proffers to Julian. "Enchilada meatballs," he explains. "My mom swears by it for potlucks." The explanation of crazy robot uncles makes him grin, slowly. "That so? I've got a couple of crazy uncles....and I guess I am a crazy uncle." Belatedly, he remembers the need for introductions. Lifting the hand not holding Joker's leash, he says, "Dan Kimball. I work on the Midway with Joker here, and the four other dogs. Though Joker here has a couple of jobs." Apparently performing in the canine circus is his side hustle.

"I'll find my warmest thermals and come down and check it out," Lala says to Lucien. "Rink's cold by my recollection, but I'll brave it for the beauty of performance." She smiles as a pic of Bubba and a new generation appears. She says to Tig, "Looks like a sweet man." She maybe has a different rubric than others, but the serial killer hair doesn't red flag for her. She glances up at mention of enchilada meatballs, intrigued, but that's a foray for after she finishes her drink.

Julian takes a look at Tig's uncle in the phone and smiles. "Seems like a wonderful soul. I'm happy you had what time you did with him." There's a tightness to his smile, something practiced when dealing with this kind of thing.

He moseys over to Danny to take up the enchiladas from the man and sets it beside the rest of their feast. "Smells 'en-credible'." It's a terrible attempt at a pun that's only on the border of being one! "Glad to have you Dan and Joker." He helps himself to one of the newest bits of the dish and turns to Lala with a smirk. "I think what you're wearing now will be plenty warm, provided you don't plan on sliding across the ice on a whim." He laughs softly, trying to imagine what that might look like.

"Oh wow. Definitely will have to check that out," Hawthorne says with a nod as Lucien explains. "Despite being in Michigan awhile now I still can't do cold well, but I'll also bundle up to come show support," he chuckles. Lala had the right idea!

At Danny's arrival he nods given his hands are full, "Nice to meet you. I'm Hawthorne," he offers before looking to Joker. "Joker seems like Employee of the Month material to me." It doesn't matter Hawthorne just met him. Look at dat face! Then, talk of enchilada meatballs has his attention, "Yes. Please."

Tig's photo of her uncle has him giving his attention to the phone then and he smiles, "Agreed. He seems like he was a wonderful person to know."

Definitely a terrible pun, but it earns a chuckle from Danny nonetheless. "They're good," he assures Julian, entirely earnest. "And thanks," he says. "Discussing the upcoming ice show? I don't know how you guys do it. I can skate, but just barely."

Hawthorne gets a sympathetic look. "I feel you there," he says. "Place I'm from only gets snow once in a blue moon." He gives Joker a fond look. "Couldn't agree more. He's a real good boy." That praise has the Malinois grinning, tail wagging furiously. It's enough to have Danny maneuvering the pair of them out of the space near the entryway to somewhere out of the flow of traffic, lest that tail sweep something off the coffee table.

"Yeah," Tig agrees, once everybody's gotten their look at Bubba. She slips her phone back into her pocket and picks her plate of sweets back up. "He was a great guy."

Joker hasn't escaped her notice. Now that she's done talking about her uncle she mosies on up to Danny. "Can I pet him?" she asks, giving him her best puppy dog pleading eyes. You never pet a service dog without asking first.

"Seattle gets snow, but not very much," she says. "Not like here. I kind of like it! I need to find a park or something that has a bunch of it so I can make a proper snow man, and snow angels."

There's a tentative knock on the door as Robin shows up with a goldfish bowl filled with goldfish crackers and single serving scoop net. He lingers in faded grey jeans and worn, partly painted biker jacket to see if this is the place maybe but the volume of people might be a good indication to come in or run quickly.

There's a small upnod as he brings it in to find a place with the other offerings. Does this fit the assignment? No idea.

"Enchilada meatballs," Lucien says outloud and then, plate in hand, still a few things left on it, he makes his way to the kitchen to get some of that. Because it sounds amazing. Where he is putting it all is anyone's guess, but he sure did bring his appetite this evening. As he passes Danny he says, "Lucien, or just Luc. Ice show." Then he grins and says, "Hi Joker!"

"Yeah, the rink's a little chilly, but if you bundle up it shouldn't be too bad," Lucien says to Lala as he makes his way in to put some of those meatballs on his plate. To Hawthorne he says, "I'm from Toronto. Pretty used to it, myself. I mean, considering I've been practicing on the ice since I was little." He then asks Danny, "Where are you from?" A hand lifts in a friendly wave as Robin makes his way inside.

Lala's tucked into the corner of a couch nursing a bourbon on the rocks, still fully cozied up in a white sweater and layers. "I think it takes you blood a long time to adjust to relocation in elevation and temperature," she says to Hawthorne, as if she's in no danger of adjusting to Michigan temperatures anytime soon. No one tell her it's usually colder than this, and this weather is Spellbound magic.

She raises a hand to welcome Robin in a nonverbal greeting.

Danny's pity chuckle has Julian dipping his head thankfully. "I think my ability to 'skate' is relative. Probably look more akin to a toddler trying to walk, if I were to attempt to skate next to some of these professionals, but there's something magical--no pun intended--about it here, especially during this season."

To Tig, he sort of grins. "Or..maybe you just need to find someone that's capable of getting some ice and snow made for you." Maaaaybe she catches the meaning, maybe not! Robin shows up with a giant bowl of goldfish and Julian smiles with a wave. "Hi there Robin! Come on in. Let me get that for you." Alas, too late. He's already found a good spot, but he's still at the young man's side and introduces him to the group. "Friends, this is Robin."

"And that is, Danny and Tig,--" he motions to each. "Hawthorn, Lucien and the one and only Lala." Perhaps he knows the rest of them, but the greetings are made all around.

Joker must know that question well, for Tig's pleading eyes are mirrored in the dog's own, as he turns that look on Danny. Dan relents with a rueful little laugh, and says, "Joker, off-duty." That's his at-ease, for he advances to the end of his leash to go make friends with Tig, first of all.

Lucien gets a dog grin in passing. "I mean, I rarely go home with any, when I make 'em," Dan notes. "But I'm biased. I'm from a farm right by Savannah, Georgia. Nice warm coastal city. First time I had to live in the mountains, boy, did I suffer."

"Hey, Robin," he says, before looking around to the others as they're introduced. Smiling shyly - Joker's the ambassador here, it seems. "And yeah, this is Joker, my right-hand boy."

Tig scowls in confusion at Julian's comment. "Someone that's capable of... Oh!" She brightens. "Right! The magic thing!" She chuckles, scratching the back of her head as she says, "I've been so busy getting settled in that I kinda forgot about it. I haven't gotten anything so it's not like it's at the top of the mind."

And now that she and Joker have gotten permission, her attention immediately goes to the dog. "Hello," she says in that voice that everybody gets when they talk to a dog. "Who's a handsome fellow?" she says as she scratches along the dog's spine, making sure to pay special attention to the butt. "You are! Yes, you are! A handsome and special boy, and definitely a good doggo."

Robin warms a shy smile to them and points to himself and then uses his name sign which is really a bit like 'dimple' with the R hand. For now he listens and works on catching up with the conversation where it is and getting a small plate of food. There's a pause as he recognizes his neighbour and the dogs. he makes a couple signs on repeat greeting the dogs and plates his small variety of food. <<This look s great. Thank you for hosting>> He knows doc doesn't sign but the point is perhaps in the expression of gratitude overall.

"Guess that's a good sign," Lucien says to Danny as he promptly cuts into one with his fork and pops it into his mouth. There's a noise of approval as he discovers why that is before he finishes chewing and says, "Oh, yeah. Much warmer there. I've never been, but I've heard."

He grins as he watches Tig greeting Joker and then reclaims his seat, now consuming the meatballs that were added to everything else on his plate. He studies Robin, as though trying to figure out what he's signing, but he has no idea. But he smiles at the joy. The joy is the important part after all.

Lala tucks the backs of her fingertips under her chin in a little pose that last but a moment, then laughs at her intro. "Pleasure." She picks up her drink from where she left it balanced briefly on her thigh, fingers steepled over the glass to keep it safe now.

"I was born about tow hours south of your area, down in Jacksonville." That'd be Florida, but she doesn't specify. "Most of my life in the humid bake that is that coastline." Wistful? Yeah, a little bit. She watches Robin sign his name, and she sign spells right back for hers, zero hesitation.

"Magic thing?" Danny echoes, a little blankly, glancing between Tig and Julian. Behind on the conversation.

Joker, of course, is in ecstasy. He makes those little groaning sounds that some dogs do, tail still waving. When she hits that particular spot at the base of the tail, he ends up doing that little dance.

"Then you know just what it's like," His laugh is more rueful than wistful. "You'd think growing up there, I'd be used to it, but no. I'm actually more into the cold. Just not the driving hazards when it gets real bad," he adds to Lucien.

Robin gets an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, man, I don't really know sign. But glad to meet you."

When she's done giving Joker his due attention, she straightens up to greet the latecomers to the party. "Hey, I'm Tig!" she says with a wave. Robin's signing gets a slightly furrowed brow. "Right. Um. I've got this." She digs deep in her memory for the few classes she took to teach herself ASL and she manages to spell out her name to him after some hesitation. <<Sorry,>> she clumsily signs. <<Not good at sign.>>

She turns back to the conversation at hand. "Rain," she says. "Lots of rain where I'm from. If you stand still for too long, you'll start growing moss."

Joker gets some lovin' from Tig, and is introduced by Danny because Julian is a terrible host and forgot to mention the doggo! Danny also gives a bit of his history which Julian listens to and nods, Tig's moment of recognition finally comes and he laughs softly and winks. "Yeah. That whole thing."

And while he doesn't know exactly what Robin is saying with those signs, he knows the young man's spirit and smiles all the same. He does know the sign for 'thank you', so that is noted and taken as plenty.

A great deal of listening continues from his place in the home, enjoying the banter from those around him. "So many people from the South, wow. Okay, maybe you do need to bundle up before going to see Lucien's show then."

But Danny says something that gives him a little pause. He looks around the room before clearing his throat. "Mhm," he starts simply enough. "I'm guessing you haven't experienced anything..unusual here yet?" That's not uncommon, of course. It takes a bit of time for certain people. And there's a bit of (not-so?)blissful ignorance for many newcomers. "This place is...special. Beyond that 'oh we love it here so much' kind of way."

Robin inclines his head to Julian catching people up and warms a grin to Lala repeating her name sign with the horns thrown at the end. There's a pause before the math gets making asking her <<Wait you're the DJ? Nice.>> It's to Tig he signs back with one hand, his other holding his plate <<no no you're good. That's awesome. Hi Tig*>> Though he points to his ear and nods 'yes' then to his throat and shakes his head 'no'.

Looking to Danny he smiles and shakes his head giving him a 'that's alright' sort of gesture. As they're talking about origins he sets his plate down after taking a bite and points to the base of his thumb knuckle on his right hand. That's Michigan for SE Michigan area.

Lala glances from their host, Julian, to Danny at the casual mention of unusual things there might be to notice. She absolutely doesn't weigh in on that, not here and now. Though those that listen to her night show know she occasionally touches on rumors and oddities in the park. Some people think it's made up, other people believe. As is with life and the these things beyond mundane experience.

She nods at Robin's question, a yes. She finishes off her bourbon and rises. "Anybody need a refill or fancy a drink?"

Lucien empties his plate and then gets up, heading toward the kitchen. He catches Robin's motions and seems to catch on, "Oh, okay. Cool. Try the baked brie. And the meatballs. And.. uh, everything. It's all pretty good." But he's wandering in to get himself some melty cheese and some dessert, two things that are apparently good together. When he comes out he has some of the sponge and some of the cheese, and a cupcake. "I'll take a root beer," he says when Lala offers refills or drinks. He'd heard her mention that earlier.

Now it's Julian who gets dog greetings, it seems. Dan follows the Malinois's prompting, asking, "Is it okay if I let him off leash? He's very well trained, he won't get into things or try to eat food that's out."

As his host starts that explanation, he grins more broadly, "Oh, yeah, that. No, just making sure that's what you were referring to. Yeah, I've had my innings with that already. Thing that freaks me out about it most is how little upset I am, y'know? Like, that's the weirdest thing about it, that most everyone I've met who admits to knowing about it isn't scared of it."

Belatedly, he glances over and says, "A root beer would be great, if there some left."

Tig shrugs. "I haven't really seen much of anything, at least, not that I know of," she says, as she drinks her spiked eggnog. "I admit, it's pretty cool, but it's not really why I came here. Still. I'd like to see something, you know?"

She shakes her head at Lala, and raises her cup. "No, thanks. I'm good." She downs another gulp of her eggnog, but must have gotten a bit too much for when she's done, she lets out a hiccough.

And now there's two of her. Side by side. "Excuse me," they say in unison, and each frowns when they hear their voice coming from beside them. They turn towards each other and a series of emotions flash in quick succession. First surprise, then confusion, then panic. They point at each other and let out a panicky yelp when they realize what's going on.

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod," they say, perfectly synchronized, each starting to hyperventilate. "Calm down, Tig... It's okay. It's okay. You were warned something like this might happen. Think about this logically and work through this."

They close their eyes and take a deep breath. "There are two of me," they say. "My consciousness is only in this body, therefore the other me must have the same yet different consciousness. We're perfectly in sync which means, one of two things: One of us is a mirror of the other, or one of us is an exact copy of the other, and we haven't experienced a diverging event that would break the synchronization. So how do we do that?" Their faces both light up as they get an idea. "Oh! I know!"

They both turn towards Joker and lean down, patting their thighs. "Joker! Here boy! Want some more lovin's? I've got scritchies for you!"

Lala nods to Lucien, "Heard." She disappears into the kitchen briefly, scooping up a few bites of some other dishes that arrived since she last made a pass through here. She eyes the sponge after Julien grabs some and scoops up a little piece for herself, then tucks a couple bottles into the crook of her arm and delivers one to the skater on her way by. "Your rooty beer, sir."

"For me, it's a personal thing. I was a little tweaked at first, but hell. Everybody else isn't worried, why should I be?" She offers a bottle of root beer over to Danny before she returns to her seat again. She sits down somewhere after the brief monologue and calming chant Tig's got going over there. She takes a second to notice Tig's gone duplicate. There's a brief double take, but there she is twisting off the top of a root beer without comment.

Julian politely declines Lala's offer, but appreciates her assistance with impromptu-aid all the same, even if it is simply polite. Robin seems to be settling in nicely and that has him at ease once more. Things are going rather smoothly! Lucien's apparently working on the naturalistic approach to being a changeling, chomping down on e'eeeerythang. Atta boy. And who can really blame him?! It's all an incredible spread.

Their host moves to stand as well, wanting a bit of a refill himself, because...yummers. But Joker sets his sights on him! "Oh, absolutely! Seems like a good enough boy. Probably about to eye those enchiladas you've been taunting him with on the walk over, though." He winks and nods once more, now knowing that Danny is in fact familiar with Spellbound-shenaniganery. "There are definitely those that are." Afraid of their abilities, that is. He doesn't dwell on that either.

He checks in on what Lucien's adding to his plate and playfully spears a bit of cheese from his guest and moooooves it on over to his plate! Food-thief, this one. "Lala, how did you get into the dj'ing busi--"

Aaaaand that question is cut off as Tig splits into two! Literally. This is his first time experiencing the actual act of it. He's seen the results, but having it happen in front of him? Well, that's something else entirely. He's on edge, for a moment, ready to help her understand things or talk her down...but the end result seems to be double Joker rubs, and that's just fine. He looks around the rest slowly, judging their reactions as well.

"I don't think it's particularly scary," Lucien says. "I think it's pretty fucking cool." He grins over at Danny. "But like, I guess I could understand why someone might think it was scary. I just don't."

"You haven't seen anything? Or like, you haven't been able to do anything? Because it's like, literally everywhere.." And then there's two Tigs. And he blinks. And then he laughs. "Whoah. That's pretty damn cool." And then he falls entirely silent as he watches Tig talk her through this particular brand of power. He reaches over and takes the rootbeer from Lala with a quiet, "Thanks."

Then Julian is stealing off his plate and he gasps, "Hey!" But it's mostly teasing.

Robin looks from Danny to Julian to Lucien gesturing in support. That. Being scared of it understandable. He shares in pantomime pointing to himself, first time? (it's one finger up) and there is an an expressive look of WTF with a side of 'did anyone see that?? The resolving nod of yes, it's relatable.

Then Tig bisects herself with osmosis and the back of Robin's hand covers his mouth in a silent snicker. There's a flourish of hands to Tig(s) or Tig and Tig Too and a small golf clap. He doesn't seem startled by it, but he is entertained.

Lala's always gonna pick up duties to help so the host doesn't have to run around and keep the conversation flowing. Comes of a big family. She rarely does a kitchen run without fetching something for somebody else too. "Anytime, Luc." That 'you're welcome' comes a little late, because, yeah, two Tigs is distracting, even if she's seen bilocation before. Lala smiles when Tig calls for the dog. What better use of four hands that petting the goodest boy?

Dan's accepting the root beer, offering Lala murmured thanks, when abruptly there are two Tigs in the room. He nearly drops the bottle, but manages to save it after a moment's fumbling and a muttered "Shit!" He's left staring for a moment, gaze ticking back and forth between the two copies of Tig. "That's a new one on me."

Joker emits a whine of confusion, head tilting first to one side, then the other, before turning to look at Danny in search of a cue. It takes Danny a beat to realize his attention's being sought, and he gestures Joker forward. The Malinois pads over to the right-hand Tig, apparently accepting the oddity just that easily.

"The unknown can be terrifying," Dan says, slowly. "I don't know of anyone who can definitively identify the source of this change, this magic. Did they build the park on a hellmouth or something?"

Luc offers a smile to Lala and a loft of his bottle before he takes a long slow swallow from it, watching the Tigs with Joker. "Poor pup's a little confused." He then edges his plate closer to Julian, fine with sharing, despite his protest. He then takes a bite of the cake and lets out a sound of happiness. "Oh, that is good."

"Maybe. I wonder if they knew what they were doing when they built it here. Like did they build it here because they knew there was magic? If so, how? Wild."

Everyone seems to be handling Tig's predicament well enough, especially Tig! Of course, there are going to be some things to 'learn' when it comes to being able to split like that. "One of the wilder ones," he smiles to the two Tigs, speaking in reference to that particular ability.

And of course, Lucien's weak protests are just met with a shrug as he goes on munching that little bit of cheddar. He does manage a grin though before seeing Robin's reaction (that clap) which has him laughing softly.

He turns his attention back to Dan for a moment and shakes his head. "If anyone knows the 'source', I've certainly not heard anything about it. I couldn't even begin to speculate."

Robin watches with amusement and interest while the dogs try to figure it out and he snacks. He signs though and little holiday green letters appear like a comic strip overhead as he signs no longer worried about scaring people now that a woman was just pulled into pairs in front of everyone and people seem cool with it. The magic is the friends we made along the way???

Looking back to Julian he adds finally now that the fear factor is broken, 'Thanks for having us over man. No idea about the source. I saw nothing stand out @.@;! than usual when I was on maintenance'

"Good boy!" the right-hand Tig says, grinning as she gives the dog plenty of scritches. The other stands up with a pouty little disappointed "Awwww." She shrugs. "At least we have divergence now." The other nods. "Yeah," she agrees. "We'll see where it goes from here."

Right-hand Tig stands up and looks at her counterpart. "Want a turn?" Left-hand Tig brightens up. "Yes, please!" She closes the gap to lavish even more attention on the puppers.

"Maybe there's a faerie gateway somewhere on the island?" Right-hand Tig muses while left-hand busies herself with the dog. "If it were a hellmouth I'd expect more demons and vampires less..." she gestures between herself and the other Tig. "Whatever the hell this is."

Left-hand Tig shakes her head once she gets her fill of puppy affection. "I have so many questions about how this works, and I'm trying not to have an existential crisis over this." Right-hand nods in agreement. "Yeah," she says. "Like... which one of us is the original? Are either of us the original? How long is this even going to last?"

Left-hand says, "Yeah. Will one of us just... disappear at the end of it? What happens to those memories? It's like creating a whole new person out of thin air only to have it snuff out at the end of an indeterminate time is kind of horrifying if you think about it."

Julian gets their attention, though. "You've seen this before?" They ask in unison.

"Pup's not the only one," Danny admits, without hesitation. "Man, that's a freaky one to get," he commiserates with Tig. "Though I'll admit I lost it the first time I popped off. It was before I knew that magic here was really a thing."

Luc gets a sidelong glance. "I feel increasingly sure they did," he notes. "I was talking to a guy named Enzo about it, not too long ago. I feel like the park was built as a disguise for the magic source here. People see real magic and think it has to be fake. Like putting a fake horn on a real unicorn, like in that old movie."

He's nodding at the pair of Tigs. "Maybe. I know I sure didn't go down to the crossroads at midnight to make a bargain."

Robin's message is now fully received as Julian smiles back to the young man. "I'm glad you could make it, Robin. Very happy to have you here." Further speculation about the source and he has...no idea whatsoever. Not able to dispute or affirm a thing.

The two Tigs turn their attention to him and ask him something together. "Oh, yes. But that's about the extent of my exposure to it. If you want, I'm sure I can direct you toward a couple of people that can do something very similar--if not the same thing--and they can help you along."

Julian's phone goes off and it's one of those calls that a doctor must answer. He has a momentary look of grimness that quickly fades into a mask of hospitality once again. "Keep eating and enjoying, I'll be back."

Lucien looks up and blinks a little bit as he sees the text appearing over Robin like cartoon bubbles and grins, "That's cool, too." He idly watches Tig as she sorts out her duplicate nature while he pops pieces of cake into his mouth, then wrinkles his nose a bit at the thought of a whole person ust sort of snuffing out. "Creepy," he opines.

He then glances over to Danny and asks, "What happened to you?" And since they're sharing he says, "Wanna see mine? Well, one of mine. Or both of mine, I guess." He shrugs. He's already cracked the seal on that one so he seems to be comfortable enough, especially with this group.

"Yeah, that'd make sense. Very Last Unicorn," he grins at the reference.

Amused, Lala sips her root beer when the subject of a crossroads is brought up. "You can find such interesting things at midnight in out of the way places." She watches Tig for a bit, because seen it before it not, it's uncanny.

She tips her bottle to Luc at the offer of showing the party. "Sure." She hms at the talk of a source. "Like one thing that makes the island what it is? I heard the place wasn't really inhabited before, not by any real number of people, but never went too far into research mode. Just a couple rumors here and there. Nothing substantial."

Robin's ability to caption himself gets a grin from both Tigs. "Handy!" says one while the other says, "Neat! Is it just words?" The other pops in, "Oh! Can you do pictures?" They look at each other and grin even wider. "Heck yeah! We're getting the hang of this!" one says and the other nods enthusiastically. "Heck yeah!" She puts a hand up in the air, "Tig high-five?" The first gives the raised hand a good ole slap. "Tig high-five!"

Right Tig turns her attention to Julian. "That'd be wonderful. I'll make sure I'll..." She glances over to her clone. "We," she corrects, "Will get you our phone number before we leave."

Left Tig scowls and pulls out her cell phone. "Speaking of phones, do you have one, too?" Right echoes Left's scowl and pats down her pockets and pulls out a matching phone. "Yeah," she says. "Weird," they say together. "How does this even work?" Left asks, and Right just shrugs helplessly since she hasn't any more of a clue than Left does. "I guess we'll figure it out," Right says.

They return their attention back to the conversation at hand. "Strange," Right says thoughtfully. Left nods, "Yeah, you'd think that they'd have developed something more substantial here before now." "It's prime real estate," continues Right.

Robin smiles with a shy awkwardness to it signing rapido but translating the subtitles to English syntax for the signers in the room. 'Thanks. Useful. Allows me to have whole conversations with random ppl without 💀 my phone battery'

When Luc offers to share there's a grin and an enthusiastic nod follows to encourage him to show his talent too. Looking to Tig he tries to assure %150'Heard of a few people. All are safe that I know.' This is all he knows of it but the expression attempts to be encouraging there. There's a pause though he shakes his head, 'Whole scenes. Working on making them better. We have characters visit front of gallery to tell their stories. Paint it in open space as we go. Cave painting without walls.' He's a little proud of that/ Little bit.

Looking to Danny, Lala, and Lucien he points for one of them to share there. Lucian said he would and he's curious about this one.

"My sisters love that movie," Dan says, expression a mingling of reminiscence and humor. "I still know it by heart. But that's how this place strikes me. I wonder if whoever decided to make it happen here made a deal with the fairy folk or something."

The question of how he freaked himself out has him looking amused, though more at himself than anything else. "I'll show you," he says, as Joker ambles over towards Lucien next. He takes a step back, two, sets down his bottle on the coffee table. Another pace away and he collapses in on himself somehow. What's left when he's done is another dog. Bigger and heavier-boned than Joker, with a glossy black coat and bright blue eyes. He looks at the others there, tail wagging a little, as if he just can't help himself.

Lala pauses mid drink when Danny shifts into a dog. She glances between Joker and dog-Danny. "I really don't know whom to offer belly rubs at this point..." She makes no move to offer them to anyone, which is a good bet that was more of a joke than an offer.

Lucien abandons his plate and his drink on the counter to crouch down as Joker comes over and uses both hands to give him plenty of scritches and pettings. "Hey there," he says with a grin. "You are so good." Then he watches as Danny just collapses in on himself and becomes a dog, bigger than Joker but still like Joker. "Oh hey! That's awesome! Animal shapeshifter." He's familiar with that one.

"Mine's uh, more of a people shapeshifter," he says as he straightens up and then gives himself a little shake and just like Mystique in the movies, he transforms from head to toe and suddenly there's a very different looking man in front of them -- taller, dark haired, with a goatee instead of clean shaven, deep brown eyes instead of blue, a differently shaped face, though still wearing Lucien's clothes, which makes his sweater a little shorter (but not too short) on the new figure. Even is voice is deeper when he speaks. "Ta da.."

Right Tig grins at Robin. "That's pretty darn cool," she says. "I'll have to make sure to catch you when you're out doing your thing."

Left Tig nods at Dan. "I'm not much of a unicorn girl, myself," she says. "So I never really got into the movie. Labyrinth, however..." She squinches her fists and arms tight to her chest and shivers. "Mmmm! That's the stuff! I must have watched that a hundred times by now. Now, if only we had our own Goblin King..." she says with a wistful little smile.

Danny's shifting into a dog gets both of their attention, though. "Doggo!" shouts one while the other breathes, "Coooool." They glance at each other and Right says, "Can you do any other animals?" while Left says at the same time, "Where do your clothes go?" They glance at each other again and start giggling.

Right glances over to Lucien right when he changes, and nudges Left, nodding over to the now tall, dark, and handsome man. Left looks and her eyebrows go up. "Oh! That's neat! Can you do anybody?" Right nods enthusiastically. "Do Jareth!" Left seems surprised at this suggestion as she turns to Right and gives her another nudge, this time a little more forceful. "What?" Left scowls. "Just because the man can change his shape it doesn't mean he has to take the form of your middle school crush." Right plants her hands on her hips. "As if you weren't thinking the same thing." Left's cheeks blush a little as she's been called out so she folds her arms in a huff. "At least I'm not the one who said it out loud."

Lala looks between Lucien and Danny, Joker and Tig. "Huh." And back to Lucien. "That's a pretty neat trick. I hadn't seen that one before." She tucks her hand under her chin and rests her elbow on the edge of the couch. "It's probably a good thing magic doesn't leave the island, because that one has a lot of possibilities on the mainland."

"Yep. Labyrinth." She shakes her head. "Goblin Kings." Sigh. She fans herself and then laughs. "The music, though. The kidnapping children less so."

"That... wasn't the possibility I was thinking of, but stay wholesome, girlie."

Robin watches Danny become a doggo and his hands cover his mouth careful not to knock anything askew. <<Awww so smol! Doggo!>> His hands are signing maybe for his own narration or Tig and Lala there. Looking back to Lala he signs 'Idk I wanted to be stolen as a kid and get to be a goblin. I think I'd be a lot more zen if I could live there, build, and be ridiculous."

When he turns to Lucian he makes a small joke in awe of what the blonde's accomplished here 'My voice gets deeper when I do this too. Dig it. That's fucking amazing. You have trouble ever getting back?' the dark humor that he doesn't make noise but in theory it can't be proven to be false either.

"Copying someone exactly is hard," Lucien says to Tig. "I um, tried to copy my dad and I like, was super exhausted after and couldn't change again for a while. I can kind of do approximations though that are pretty close without like, complete exhaustion." He gives a slight roll of his shoulders but does not, in fact, turn into Jareth. He just switches back into himself, which means his hair is no longer the festive red with silver tips that it was when he came in. It's back to its normal white blond.

He shakes his head at Robin and says, "Turning back is easy. I can do that any time. No danger of getting stuck."

Lala grins and goes to buss a few empties, taking her bottle to the kitchen to toss into recycling. She vanishes down the hall for a bit, presumably in search of the powder room, and calls back, "I'll be back." If this was a lot closer to Halloween, she might hesitate to say that leaving a room. And yet.

Clearly, Danny's pleased by that response, by the way his tail wags ever more furiously. Joker, however, comes over and gives him an urgent whine, which stops the tail. Dog Danny sniffs a few times and then he's abruptly returning to his former shape and clipping the leash to Joker's collar.

Sheepishly, he notes, "Uh, someone here needs to go O U T. But yes, I can be other animals. Just....people tend to respond to the dog, best. I'll be back in a little, if things are still going."

With that, he's slinking out, Joker padding at his side.

"Awww," the Tigs pout in disappointed unison. "Still neat, though," Left says approvingly. Right, however, has a different thought. "Can you change sex?" That gets a glance from Left, but she doesn't say anything.

"Regardless," Left says with a sigh, "It's good that you can't get stuck as someone else. Getting carded would be a pain."

Right nods at Lala. "Yeah. These powers in the hands of the wrong people can be really abused if they were let out into the world beyond the park."

Left gestures between the two clones, "This will be handy if I need to work and be somewhere else at the same time." Right nods in agreement. "Yeah, though I'd have to come up with a system to choose which of us would do what when, and try to keep it fair." Left looks over at Right. "Flip a coin?" Right looks thoughtful. "That could work. We'd have to figure out who's heads and who's tails, though." "Hmmm," Left says, humming in thought. "Yeah." She, then, shrugs dismissively and says, "But that's a problem for Future Tigs." Right nods again, "Future Tigs."

"I uh, haven't tried," Lucien admits to Tig, reaching up to rub a little at the back of his neck.

He lingers for a little bit as the others talk some about powers and their potential applications before he drifts back into the apartment to go seek out the restroom himself, perhaps. But he's back after a little bit and lingers into the evening, stealing a few more of those desserts to sample.