2025-02-07 - Snugglebunnies and Coffee

Yay! Lunch rush! Said no diner server ever. Thankfully though it is at the tail end if it and the the last of the lunch rush dinners are finishing up their meals.

The wait staff bustle around clearing tables, cleaning areas, and starting the side work.

Among those finishing up is Kellin, on break from his long day of being a ferry captain. He is taking up a place at the counter, his nearly finished meal of some kind of sandwich and fries in front of him. One of the servers refills his coffee cup as he reaches for a few sugar packs to pour into it.

"Oh Captain, my Captain," Artemisia says cheerfully as she slides into a stool next to him at the counter. There are black ribbons in her blonde hair, sweeping it back from her delicate features, and she's dressed in a black leather jacket, oversized pink knit sweater, and a pair of cropped jeans and tall boots. "How fare the seas?"

Shirley still has her snugglebunny all bright pink and papoosed to her as she walks into the diner. She was hungry and so was her little companion. As she sees Kellin and Arte, she smiling happily and says, "Hey you two, how are things?" She is wearing something a little more dress down today, a pair of thermal leggings with a dark purple dress with little bats all over it.

As he opens the sugar and pours it into his coffee, Kellin looks to the woman greeting him. "Can't say much for the seas, but the lake in the bubble is faring well." He gives the beverage a quick stir "Have you found anyone to make your piano corset?"

"You found one of the pink...what are people calling them?" He hasn't really been following that thread on the employee forums since he doesn't have one. "I helped catch one earlier this week."

Artemisia orders a coffee and a bagel loaded with everything in the shape of a sandwich before she answers Kellin. "Alas, no. I think Tig may be able to do it but I may have already overloaded her with ideas," she says a touch sheepishly. "Snugglebunnies?"

And lo and behold one appears. "Hey Shirley, hello little one," Arte greets the pink pair.

Shirley happily smiles as she says, "Oh yes, I absolutely did. And yes, Snugglebunnies. I named mine Flower and still looking for the match for them. It is lovely to see both of you Kellin and Arte. Are either of you going to the party later tonight by the way?"

"Makes me glad I only steer a boat. I am not expected to have ideas for that sort of thing, or make other people's ideas happen." A notion he is perfectly fine with.

"Well the bunny part is accurate." He says of the name. "They are cute in a creepy sort of way." It's the black alien eyes that make them creepy for him. "It has a mate? Do they all have mates?" As for the party "No parties for me tonight. I have a ten hour shift today, and another tomorrow." And he has to pilot a passenger vessel, best do that on decent sleep.

"I think they're adorable. Fluff is at home sleeping. I didn't have the heart to wake 'em." Artemisia smiles and brightens. "Yes! They do. Sort of." She pulls out her phone to show the pair a video of Fluff and another bunny singing to each other on the Ferris wheel. She glances over to Shirley. "Yeah! I'm gonna try to make it."

"I like creepy cute things. I almost wish there were multiple colors so I could try and collect them all though, Lee might not like that many of them around. A girl can dream though," she mentions to Kellin.

She was about to answer but Arte confirms her assumption and says, "Aww, see. I need to find mines little song buddy. And I already have my outfit up in my room and how I am doing my make up and all that. It is going to be amazing." she sing-songs at the very end.

Kellin leans slightly to look at the video being showed to him. "They sing to each other, cute." He bit of a smile comes to his face.

"Gotta catch 'em all." He huffs in amusement at Shirley. "Erika and I found some weird singing mushrooms when we found her snugglebunny. It kept echoing the tune the bunny was singing."

"There is always something going on at the Paradise, maybe I can make the next one." He won't, that's not his vibe.

Maybe a little late for lunch, the rush just having passed, but it's never too late for pie. That's what Louise is here for, slipping in past departing diners. Off work, she's got the comfies on - leggings, oversized sweatshirt, ratty Converse, and after leaning bodily over the counter to grab a server's attention (we take our pie seriously), she settles in on a stool with coffee and lemon meringue and look at that: all is right in the world.

"The bunnies." She overheard, and shakes her head with a gesture of her fork. "Disgustingly cute, weirdly everywhere - anyone figure out what's up with that yet?"

"They're looking for their matches," Artemisia surmises for Louise about the bunnies. She giggles at Shirley's enthusiasm. "Mine was all chance." Then, she blinks at Kellin. "But mushrooms don't have mouths..."

Shirley looks curious, "Singing mushrooms? I thought I saw something on the bulletin about that but I was half asleep so I wasn't sure if I was seeing things." She looks to Louise as she responds with her pink snugglebunny papoose, "Not entirely sure yet, still trying to find mine's little duet partner. I love it so much though. My roomie also found one." As Arte brings up that point she asks, "Wait... how did the mushrooms sing exactly?"

"I figure these snugglebunnies are just more of the magic leaking through. Same with the mushrooms." Kellin pulls out his own phone to show them the mushroom picture he took.

"I posted that on the boards as an FYI." Kellin wasn't expecting any response, he just wanted to inform. "Bunnies aren't pink with alien grey eyes either but..." He gestures to Flower, the Snugglebunny attached to Shirley

Lou nods towards Arte around a bite of pie, makes a vague hand gesture to stand in for a response until she swallows. "My sister and I found a couple of 'em too, guess we got lucky that they weren't too far apart from each other. And the theory that it's magic leaking through checks out, but still she purses her lips thoughtfully, against her fork. "Just makes you wonder what's changed. Like, why now," she muses, then leans over to peer at Kellin's phone, because she sure has invited herself right in to this conversation - she makes a sound of appreciation. "That's pretty rad."

"They are actually rather cute," Shirley comment to Kellin as she looks over the photo of the magic mushrooms. "And I.. I know they aren't but I love it so much and the cuddles are amazing."

"Now I am wondering what might leak through magically come March, so many possibilities. But the magic bleed through is rather accurate. At least it is cute and not vicious?" She suggests to them both as she pets on her snugglebunny. She places and order for herself and for the snugglybunny as well before settling completely into her seat.

"Where's it bleeding from is what I wonder?" Artemisia admits with a sigh, finally taking a sip of coffee. Then she crinkles her nose and adds a lot more sugar.

"It's not really a question of now. It's been leaking through for quite awhile. As time passes the hole the magic is leaking through is just getting bigger." Kellin explains between sips of coffee. "That's my theory at least." He looks at each of the women with his mismatched eyes.

Where though has Kellin shrugging "That's another real question. It's like the park opened for business and the magic started creeping in. It wasn't like this before that."

"Makes me wonder if it's us," Lou counters, "More than it is just time passing. More people, using more magic; like we showed up and took whatever little bits of magic-" Expressive finger waggle there, to illustrate. "-were lying about, and now we're charging up a battery." She would look at it that way, electrical/mechanical sensibilities, but she shrugs a moment later because really, what do any of them know. "At least it's cute," she agrees with Shirley, with a quick smile for her and her bun. "I named mine Freddie."

"That is indeed the question Arte, I wonder how we will find that out," Shirley comments to Arte's question. She curiously listens as Kellin explains that about the magic not creeping in until the park opened for business. She hmm softly before she says, "You think? But then someone would have needed to use magic for that to occur, right? Oh, have you found Freddie's singing partner yet?"

"I don't have a theory," Artemisia says honestly to Kellin, lifting her slim shoulders in a shrug. "I figure as long as it's benign and beautiful, we might as well enjoy it like we've been. A magical amusement park sounds like something out of a story." Then, she checks the time. "Oh shoot. I gotta go. Nice seeing you all." The small blonde says, paying for her food and grabbing the bagel to go.

Kellin ponders what Louise has offered theory wise. "So when we leave the islands to go the the mainland we are away from the battery and lose the magic." He gets what she is saying "It's a good theory. The magic still had to come from somewhere though." The employees weren't the source of it.

"Right." He says to Shirley. "You have to have one before the other or you have a paradox." He gives a wave to Arte as she heads out "See ya."

Louise points, like bingo when Kellin helpfully adds that morsel to her theory. Of course, then he points out the inherent question, where it all comes from and she ughs expressively. "I know." Don't think it hasn't had her frustrated, mulling over that very fact. We like knowing how things work - all this is beautiful, wonderous, joyful, and confusing.

She watches Arte go, and tips up her coffee. "Same, gotta get to a job." Just needed the fortification of caffeine and sugar to tide her over. She digs into the pocket of her sweater to pull out a wad of cash to toss on the counter. She hesitates though, after slipping off the stool, to look back at the other two -- we missed a step somewhere in here, and she points at herself. "Louise." There we go. "Good luck with the bunny," she adds for Shirley, throwing in a wave as she heads on out.

Shirley offers a wave bye to Louse and Arte as they take their leave. Her attention focused on Kellin then as she says, "Well, whatever it is. As long as everything stays mostly tameish, should all be fine. In theory at least."

"So many questions and not enough answers." And no one around that even knows the answers if there were any to have. Maybe the would all be happier not knowing, sometimes not knowing is a good thing.

"Kellin." he will toss out to Louise as she departs "Have a good one." and then there were two, which is about to be one "I would like if to stay all tameish. I have seen enough action in my life." He doesn't need to see anymore. He pays for his own meal before getting to his feet "It was good seeing you again, Shirley. I have a ferry to pilot. Have a great time at the party." he then gathers his cane and heads out himself.