the_best_sister | Lighthouse Cottage

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Lighthouse Cottage - Friday Evening

Outside on the picket fence of the Lighthouse Cottage, a simple sign was tacked up:

Allen Wrench Party

Come inside and help with IKEA construction.
Free booze!
Free food!
Way too friendly dog!

Inside, the promise was kept. If your idea of food and booze was stacks of pizza boxes and mostly cheap beer and hard liquor.

Yelena had spent most of the week fixing up the place, but the IKEA shipment had only arrived yesterday, so the furniture was still a work in progress. The walls and ceilings were freshly painted white, but the carpet, drapes, and lighting in the two-bedroom cottage were a riot of mismatched colors. It was like someone had thrown a Jackson Pollock painting into a blender with that psychedelic boat trip from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

And right in the middle of this chaotic, colorful mess was Yelena, sitting cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by half-assembled IKEA furniture and discarded instructions. She’d been at it all day, and it showed. She’d given up on any hope of a put-together look, dressed only in a tank top and athletic shorts, her hair a tangled mess falling into her face.

The living room was mostly done, there was a dining room table standing on its own four legs, and one bed was finally put together in the bedroom. But there were still stacks of flat-pack boxes waiting to test her patience. At this point, it was just about survival.

And maybe, bribing people with enough booze to help finish the rest…

[Open to all. Up early because I might have a hectic morning. ]

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Adrian showed up with Boston and Bran. "My cat got an invitation to the party, but I was told I could come along, too," he said with a laugh.

Boston sauntered in, his tail lashing in the air. "As the guest who was actually invited, you can fetch me a slice of pizza," he told his witch.

"You can't even have cheese."

"I can have bacon."

“I also have something called Hawaiian pizza that I am told is very good,” Yelena told Boston. “You might like it but it seems kind of weird. Thank you for coming Boston.”

And then she looked at Adrian with a fake quizzical look. “And what was your name again?”

Edited 2024-09-06 12:04 (UTC)

"Thank you for the invitation, Yelena," Boston said, sitting up primly. "An excellent choice, by the way. I'm quite experienced with giving directions and then telling humans that they're following them incorrectly."

"Quite experienced," Adrian agreed with a sigh. "I'm the roomba repairman, Pants McGee. I believe you were acquainted with my father, Pantalones."

“Wow, you grew up quick. I just met your father last week and he look just like you,” Yelena deadpanned. “Boston is he safe to let near my Roomba?”

"If he gets drunk, he might try to take it apart, though I'm not sure how far he'll get with only an allen wrench, and I made him leave the rest of his tools at home."

"Hey!" Adrian protested. "We agreed."

"After a 'discussion' about it." How a creature with no fingers could so appropriately convey airquotes was a mystery. "He might also try to magic it up so it can fly just to show you he can."

"Hey!" Adrian protested again. "...Actually, no, that's fair." He might have planned to do that sober.

“Ooooo. So you want to impress me?” Yelena teased. “I can’t wait to see you try.”

"Stopping you from talking shit about my magic," Adrian said, holding up a finger. "Slight difference there."

“Eh. What’s the phrase? Potato, potato. Tomato, tomato.”

It should be said she did not change the inflection on any of the words and so they all sounded the same.

"Is that what they say?" Adrian asked, his brow raised. "Either way, potatoes and tomatoes are different things."

"They're both in the nightshade family," Boston offered. Like a helper.

“Right, so they are all the same things,” Yelena said loving Boston’s logic. “So what are you going to impress me with? Will it be your dope dance moves?”

"Really interested in seeing me dance naked," Adrian said, crooking a smirk at her. "And I was thinking about surprising you with a flying roomba, but now it might just be not talking shit about your furniture." He wrinkled his nose at the bookcase. "Is that particle board?"

For shame, Yelena.

If every piece was hardwood, Adrian, our environment would be in deep trouble!

“I need furniture and they delivered,” Yelena said crossing her arms. “And I’m more interested in your dance moves.”

There were sustainable harvesting practices, Yelena! The Blackwoods had been using them for years!

"Are you now?" Adrian asked, eyebrow raised. "Just so we're on the same page, is this the kind with my clothes on or off?"

Kitty didn't know either of them. Yet here she was, looking for all the world like she wanted to say Pspsps.

Adrian was very methodically pulling ham off a slice of Hawaiian pizza to offer to Boston while Boston silently read the instructions for the Hasvik wardrobe to best ready himself to lead the team of allen wrench workers he expected to have under his command. Glancing up, he saw Kitty's indecision and shook his head. "Getting you another slice, Boston," he said.

"Mmm," the cat replied, still reading, consternation growing in his expression. Which was interesting on feline features.

But rather than heading directly to the pizza, Adrian eased over to Kitty. "A regular hello would probably be better," he said in an undertone, though he seemed amused. "He's very touchy about his dignity."

"Sorry," Kitty said. "I just immediately like him. Hello to both of you."

"No need to apologize to me," Adrian said with a laugh. "He's been my familiar for twelve years and I'm still tempted. Also, it just means you have great taste in cats."

He offered his hand. "Adrian Blackwood," he said. "And that's the cat who puts the Boss in Boston."

"Kitty Pryde-Barton," she said, shaking his hand. "You've got a familiar, huh."

She totally wasn't shocked, it was kind of a casual 'hey cool' tone.

Which was the response more often than not but Adrian still marveled every time.

"We argue over who has who, technically--"

"You're my witch!" Boston called over, mostly by rote.

"--but yes. I'm a Witch of the Blackwood, which nobody seems to know of here."

Kitty smiled and said apologetically, "I don't either. But it does sound badass."

"Thank you!" he said, offering her another grin. "I'd like to think we are, though most of the people who know about us think of us only as purveyors of magical cosmetics and the like."

And that Witches of the Flesh were the slutty ones, but again, that didn't really make anyone think badass.

"Does it hat mean glamours and things?" she checked.

"Oh! You know some magic!" he said, even as he shook his head. "Not usually, though we certainly can make glamour potions. But things more like...rejuvenation creams, makeup that changes different features or provides magical effects, that kind of thing. If you'd like a lipstick that makes literal sparkles when you smile, I happen to have a few shades you might like."

"I didn't know that was something anyone could do." Congrats, she just heard something totally new here! "And I might take you up on the lipstick because it sounds awesome."

"Oh yes, we've spent centuries innovating various formulas," he said proudly, leaving off the part where it was all that stood between them and Gilgamesh deciding to wipe them out of existence. Look at him, intuiting party etiquette! "I'll be selling it through a store in town. Pick Your Poison. I'm in on Thursdays, though it'll be there regardless."

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

throughaphase - 2024-09-07 00:33 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

witchoftheflesh - 2024-09-07 00:39 (UTC) - Expand

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