A Day in the Life of Tarot

[Logan]

The week before was long, arduous and highly stressful, so Logan decided to take a short stay-cation in the House of Cards. He sent out personal "party" invites to Hawl, John, Vincent, Rehtul Orlouge, and a host of other Tarot members, and he only hoped most of them would show up.

The psion set out some paper plates, napkins, but most importantly, the food. Potato salad, cole slaw, mashed potatoes, barbecue brisket, hamburgers, hot dogs and of course, chocolate cake (for Stella, of course) lined the munchkin table Vincent built for the occasion. There were stools, chairs, and other assorted seating places along with party games all over the place.

The only real question was who would show, and when?

This thread is purely meant to mimic the Golden Autumn Inn thread from Alth Day, except for Tarot members to kick back and have a blast together. Anything goes, just have fun! By joining this thread, you agree to full and permanent bunny permissions to your char(s) within the confines of this thread. While these posts may not be super long, we might considering submitting this for a no judgement some time in the future (monthly?), so keep that in mind!

[redford]

"Why am I helping you again?" John asked, dragging a chair into the room. It was massively built for John's frame. He'd been taking the thing wherever he went inside the House of Cards, because most chairs couldn't fit him and the ones that could...well...they were suspect. His other hand, John held a pot with gumbo in it, supporting it on the handles with two hooks formed from his armor.

"Come on, John, don't be such a party pooper," Logan piped up, snatching the gumbo from his hands. He laid it on the table, pulling the lid off the pot. steam billowed up from the thick stew. After it had cleared, and only a mist emerged, Logan leaned his nose over the pot cautiously, closing his eyes. He opened them, looking down at it, speaking cautiously.

"I like the smell, but what's in it?"

John removed a chair from the table, replacing it with his own. "Favorite of House Cromwell, gumbo," John said, sitting down for a moment. The past week had been rough for both of them, and John focused on his armor, willing a ladle into existence at the end of his hand, just then realizing his mistake.

"Oh, of all the-" John began, standing and rushing out of the room.

Logan looked after him, puzzled, but John soon returned with another pot. He set it down next to the gumbo. Another tiny cloud of steam rose toward the ceiling, revealing a bed of rice.

"John? Buddy?" Logan began, reaching up to John's shoulder, resting a hand there. "Pal? Friend?" he pointed at the gumbo. "What exactly is in this? I had to send for the brisket a ways off myself, and I'm not a fan of mystery meat."

John grabbed a bowl, spooning a generous portion of rice into it. "I ran into some big fox things while I was outside the other day," he began, the ladle reforming in his hand. John spooned some of the thick soup into it. "And I got the sausage from the back of the kitchen. It's good, I had some before I brought it over."

Logan continued to stare at the mysterious soup.

John began to eat with a spoon formed at the end of his finger, musing to himself that he hoped Hawl would be along soon, her incessant questioning about gumbo prompting the choice of dish.

[Rehtul Orlouge]

With a reluctance born of years of being locked in his room with books, Rehtul walked into the dining hall where Logan McCloud was waiting for everyone to show up. He had agreed to work with the Tarot, rather informally for the moment, and was now in the process of visiting their headquarters, meeting all of the people he had unofficially met back at the Golden Autumn Inn. With a halfhearted smile, he took a seat from around the table and planted it in the corner.

He then grabbed a paper plate and dipped some of the brisket and potato salad onto his plate and then immediately went back to his corner. A spoon and fork made of ice appeared in the man's hand and he blew on the salad to force its temperature to drop.

"And now I just wait until the others show up... bad form to eat before everyone else has even arrived."

[Hawl]

Hawl was not along soon, though for what might have been the first time for not fault of her own. She had put on her clothes, finished her chores early that morning for her Aunt Jess, fed the pets and even helped open the shop! What she didn't expect was the heavy press of people that morning, filling the smaller shop with it trinkets and more esoteric artifacts. Apparently some big shipment had come in that people were expecting, Aunt Jess' business contacts finally managing to cross the Fallien lands and bring their wooden crates across the sea.

"Can't I go now?" Hawl draped herself across the counter after the last customer had finally left. It was after lunch and her stomach was rumbling.

"To your party?" Jess raised an eyebrow, putting one of the glass glow globes back onto its stand. They sold out almost everytime they got a shipment. People liked light.

"Yeah! I'm clean and I have to bring presents!"

"That old Hannab-box from Akashima?"

Hawl smiled wider, nodding!

~~~

It took the girl, carrying the box nearly larger than her, almost two hours to finally find the Tarot's base. It also took another quarter of an hour to find someone to let her in, her short stature making it easy to miss her from the windows outside. Still, she had been to the House of Cards before (she thought) and knew where to go! After three wrong turns, she practically burst into the party room entirely too excited and happy to to see her friends!

An errant foot tripped up the girl, but a massive hand caught the girl even as she lost her balance. The box went flying, spraying its contents all over the ground as its courier was scooped up and placed smoothly on the table. The box's contents were all over the ground now, tubes upon tubes as trick as Hawl's wrist, with bright red and blue and greens printed on the sides. Long, caustic smelling fuses trailed out of the bottom, each terminating in a rubber seal with the city sigil of Yanbo Harbor. She blinked several times, not entirely sure what happened until she recognized Logan and John!

"Hello!" She slid herself back on the table, then stood up on it! She wasn't even as tall as Logan even with the table's extra help. She stood on tip toes, making herself level with him and wavering slightly. "Am I too late?"

[Star Strike]

OOC:

Quick note for anyone not used to Stella, *word word word* is her speaking Astéri, her native tounge

"*Not at all.*" Stella sang stepping into the room elegantly. Wrapped in a simple, indigo silk dress, the dress reflected silver as it shifted with their slight movement. A party was the perfect place to show off their new gown that Leona paid them in and with their hair pulled up in pins and combs, the childish Stella glowed the the elegance of an aging star. Hopefully Vincent would come and flatter them or have to go hunting for his Tap notes hidden in the House of Cards.

"Groundling *It is pleasant to see you shining today. My how this planet's celestial globe aligns to bring us this day.*" They ignore the stares and questionable glances as they cooed in their native tongue. Eyes glancing on the cake, "*Thank you groundling but I am not black hole nor is my star one yet.*" Closing their eyes, they open it slowly and glance around the parties present. "Vincent? Where Vincent?"

So help them Tarus if Vincent missed seeing them in their new dress.

[Cards of Fate]

A grunt escapes my lips as I slowly ascend from the depths of my slumbering subconscious. My eyes open, and my rough oaken desk greets me. I blink for several moments and force myself upright in my seat. I seem to have fallen asleep doing my paperwork, not an uncommon occurrence it seems recently. Taking a moment I stretch, raising my arms towards the heavens. Several cracks sound out as air is forced from my joints, I find another grunt escaping my lips involuntarily as I rub the sleep from my eyes.

My stomach growls.

Rising to my feet I glance around in dark room around me, praying to Jormill that I'd left a midnight snack for myself. After a moment I silently cursed myself for my lack of forsight and took a moment to assess my state of dress. My body was bare save for a pair of leather trousers, it would have to do. I carefully creep out of my office, blinking as the light from several enchanted orbs shone sunlight down at me from their fixtures on the wall.

Taking several moments I begin to wander to the kitchen, the ruckus of the ongoing party falling deaf on my ears. I open the door and blindly stride past everyone, my mind focused on one word.

Food.

A coo stops me in my tracks as a scent wafts across my nose, causing my mouth to water. I turn suddenly reawakened by the burning in my nostrils.

"Who made gumbo?"

[Rayleigh]

The alarm filled the small workshop, a shrill, unwanted noise that assaulted Rayleigh's eardrums in a most unpleasant way. She gave a low growl of discomfort from her spot in the corner, where she was crouched over a box of knickknacks: misshapen gears, all lengths of wire, buttons and knobs with no clue as to where they belong. The thunks caused by their shifting was entirely downed out by the invasive howling began.

"Where the hell are you?" she panted, shoving the first box aside and grabbing for another. Of course, the young mechanic had no idea what it was causing the noise. She had been working on a project at the workbench when the horrible sound, like the wailing of some mechanical beast, began. Had something merely fallen over, switching a power switch in the depths of the workshop she shared with Alyssa Snow? Or was it a more pressing matter, like a machine malfunctioning? Whatever the case, the brunette's nerves were as frayed as the wires in her boxes.

Gracelessly, she clambered to her feet, just before planting a solid kick in the side of the box. "No help at all," she accused through clenched teeth. Then, her volume increased as Ray stomped into the hallway. "Vince!" Her angry shouts carried down the corridor as she threw herself into another search, this time for her missing friend. "Vincent! I need your help." Consumed by her cries, the mousy woman nearly plowed into the man she was looking for. "Oh, Vince!" Slowly, her surroundings dawned on her. "Oh, a party." Her gaze shifted to the faces looking back at her. I had forgotten how many recruits had joined while I was away. "Oh, new people."

[Logan]

Logan laughed at the small gathering of Tarot members. It had been ages since they let loose and hung out together. To be fair, it had been ages since he'd let loose and hung out with anyone, really. The time with the Corone Rangers was... different. He'd spent a good two months at the Outpost, and for only a portion of the time was he conscious.

The psion's eyes passed across each and every arrival, and he smiled softly at all of them. Family was something the weary veteran longed for, and the Hierarchy offered an opportunity to turn a ragtag bunch of rascals and misfits into that very thing. The party was Logan's idea, and it was no surprise as he hoped it would bring the bunch together and hopefully help them all bond.

Before the telepath could offer Rayleigh an introduction or how do you do, she was gone, almost in a flash. It was odd, but not entirely unexpected. She'd recently made it clear she had intentions to leave the group, and so her arrival at all caught most everyone offguard. Then there was the adorably frightful Hawl, whom he got to know over the course of a small transactional excursion with the Sorie Trading Company. She taught him all about the mercantile guild and how it operated, and about many, many other things he had no desire to ever learn, especially from someone with a penchant for overzealousness. Vincent and Stella had arrived while he finished the remainder of preparations, and thankfully John hadn't forgotten the gumbo. All in all, the small hangout was going well enough.

"Did somebody say gumbo," he asked loudly enough for all to hear and then raised his hand in the air to shoosh everyone.

"But first, Hawl has something to say, I think."