OOC/MuseVerse: Inkwell Party!

[clockwork_doc]

When he's not roleplaying in the Rift or the Nexus, the Doc Brown known as "Clockwork" lives in the Inkwell Bar and Grill, the local restaurant and hangout for his mun Victoria's muses. Clockwork also happens to own the place, so it's very easy for him to conscript it for his birthday. Anyone entering today will find that the bar has a wide selection of various cakes on it for people to sample, along with freezers full of ice cream. Clockwork himself is seated at the bar with a slice of chocolate cake, smiling at anyone who comes in.

Anybody's welcome to drop by, either just to say "hi" or to grab some cake. (One warning -- you might want to avoid the cake on the far left of the bar. Mrs. Plum made that one, and being a dead cook from "Corpse Bride" prone to putting body parts in her meals. . . .)

Comments

[docsgirl.livejournal.com]

Of course, since this is a muse bar, Victoria's other muses are there. The other Docs are getting slices of cake for themselves and their friends, while the Martys commandeer the jukebox. "Anything in particular you wanna hear, Clockwork?" VampMarty calls counting out quarters.

The one non-BTTF muse, Victor, is standing a bit off to the side, enjoying his own slice of cake. He's also quietly made a small sign for Mrs. Plum's cake to warn any newcomers. He likes his dead friends, of course, but he knows not everyone likes their cooking.

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

"Nah, you can choose what you like! I trust your taste in music!" Clockwork calls back between bites of chocolate. He's quite happy being with his muse counterparts and their friends, and it shows. The weather in and around the Inkwell is quite nice.

[thecellsiam.livejournal.com]

Aubrey has already helped xemself to a piece of cake by the time xe spots Doc and wanders on over. By this point, it's almost redundant to say xe's a bit nervous (people, y'know), but xe's there, at least for a little while.

So xe leans on the bar next to Doc, grins, and says, "Hey, nice place. And Happy Birthday."

[gigs-83.livejournal.com]

Lisa rushes in wearing her work uniform: Pepsi-blue Base Theater shirt, black jeans and her Hooters shoes (they're the sneakers the girls wear at Hooters...they don't slip!). Her hair is unbrushed and she seems rather in a hurry.

Scanning the faces, she waves at V's other muses and quickly jogs over to Clockwork. "Heya! I'm gonna have to be back later cuz I gotta go pay for Shada -- he's my horse -- and then I gotta go to work, but I'll be back! AL and the guys will be by later, too. They've both...er, all added you to their friends list I think."

She is interrupted by her watch alarm beeping. She grimaces. "Damn! I'm late!" She smiles at using one of Doc's own lines -- even if this version didn't know it -- and gives Clockwork the biggest hug she can.

Turning on her heel, she rushes out the door, shouting, "BYE!!!" as she exits.

(Hehe I miss RPing, though I've never done it like this before. ^^ It'd just be like *rushes into the Inkwell* Oh, hey Doc! *walks over to him* yadda yadda, hehe.)

[clanoftheswords.livejournal.com]

Meanwhile, in a scene that's all too similar to Marty entering the Palace Saloon in BttF III - enter Farley, looking both excited and nervous, and for good reason. Though he was thrilled about the party when he and the other muses got the invite, right now he's feeling a bit worried about what will happen when the other Docs discover that one of Rift!Doc's closer friends once tried to kill a superhero/helped try to blow up New York City/helped try to take over the world.

So he went on ahead of the others, which is why he's standing in the doorway now, wearing his Coat of Badassery draped over his shoulders like a cape. Considering that he's also wearing his "Fools" t-shirt and jeans, he kind of stands out...

[exiledqueen.livejournal.com]

"Congratulations. You're one year closer to death." That's the right thing to say on human birthdays, isn't it?
Mab drops a package into his hands. It is a medium-sized box, fairly heavy, wrapped clumsily in green tissue paper and done up with a tattered red ribbon. One side is slightly lighter and warmer than the other. Faint whooshing sounds emanate from within.

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

Doc grins back, finishing up his own slice. His mun is wondering if he's had any REAL food today. "Hi Aubrey. Thanks. Glad you could come." He frowns a little as he glances at the others. "It occurs to me that perhaps I should have warned you that the other muses were eight different versions of me." Pause. "And, well, Victor." He motions to the thin young man hanging out near the piano. "How are you?"

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

Clockwork doesn't have much of a chance to react to that flurry of motion beyond a laugh and a return of the hug. "All right, I'll see you all later!" he calls after her as she rushes out.

Once she's gone, he looks over at Paige, his Fairycorn. "She always that full of energy?"

"Only when it comes to you all, I think," Paige says with a whicker.

[tigereyedrogue.livejournal.com]

Daimon comes wandering in with a heavy, suit-box sized gift wrapped in silver paper. "Oi!" he calls, waving to the Doc as he sees him, and brings it over with a grin.

He has to pause a moment as he walks past the cake-bar; just catching scent of the one on the far end makes him choke, and he gives it a wide berth.

He's wearing his gloves and colored contact lenses, not knowing what sort of crowd it would be, and looks around curiously. "Happy Beatings, Booze and Chocolate Day! So this is your Chicago, eh?"

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

Clockwork isn't the first to notice Farley as he stands in the doorway -- it's TeenDoc. The 17-year-old Spark version of Doc grins madly as he sees the man. "Great shirt!" he says, going up to him. "I could probably use one myself."

That comment does get Clockwork's attention, and he looks up. "Oh, hi Farley! Glad you could come by! Come on in!" He waves him toward the cakes. "We've got plenty of food!"

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

Clockwork waves back with a smile of his own. "Hi Daimon! Thanks for stopping by!"

He chuckles at the question as Daimon looks around. "Er, not quite. This is one of those places you go to get away from Chicago. Though, really, the museverse is just as crazy." As evidenced by the large crowd of rather odd people -- including eight different versions of Doc, in addition to good old Clockwork.

He notices the reaction to the "special" cake and grimaces a little. "Yeah, try to ignore that one. Mrs. Plum -- she's one of the cooks -- made it special for Victor's friends. He -- usually hangs around with dead people." Oh, he's explaining this badly. He'd call Victor over, but he gets the feeling Victor wouldn't do much better. "Ever see a movie called 'Corpse Bride?'"

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

Depends on the human you're saying it to, Mab.

Clockwork, for his part, isn't sure what to say or do at all. The absolute last thing he expected was for a Fae to walk into the Inkwell and give him a present. The only thing keeping him from bolting into his room is the fact that she's VERY outnumbered, and he doubts Victoria would let anything happen to him. Especially on his birthday. "Thanks," he finally manages to say, for lack of anything better. Politeness helps, right?

[tigereyedrogue.livejournal.com]

Daimon's just starting to notice that. "Damn, you've got a big family. Right. Well, this here should help sew together your geeking capability on various worlds." He sets the gift down on the bar next to the Doc.

Daimon shrugs and smiles wanly. "I know of the movie because it's one of Danica's favorites. I can deal with vampires and any undead who don't actively drop bits off. It's the bits themselves that get to me. Like a sort of allergy." He shrugs.

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

Clockwork snorts. "The mun really likes Back To The Future," he says, smiling. "And crossovers. And alternate realities."

"And us in general," VampDoc adds from the pool table.

"Yeah." Clockwork looks at the gift curiously. "Oh, thanks!" He pulls off the paper and opens it. "You really didn't need to get me anything."

"Ahh, I see," Clockwork says, looking slightly uncomfortable. "It's one of Victoria's favorites too. Victor's the only non-BTTF muse she has." He points to the thin, pale young man by the piano. "His undead friends are pretty nice, but you might want to stand back, since they do seem to lose pieces of themselves on occasion." Another look at that cake.

[exiledqueen.livejournal.com]

"Don't mention it." Mab nods at the box. "It's a kind of demon (http://www.auburn.edu/~smith01/notes/maxdem.htm), I think. We were using it to annoy some physicists, but they died..." She looks wistful. "...and we just had it knocking about taking up space. I imagine you can find some sort of use for it."

Ignoring the other inhabitants of the room, she wanders over to the cakes (leaving a sad little trail of falling leaves behind her) and begins poking her fingers into the slices. "Why do you humans celebrate birthdays, anyway?" she calls back. "You're just getting older. Are you looking forward to dying or something?"

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

Clockwork nods quickly, gently setting the demon-in-a-box aside. He has no idea what he'll do with it, but hell, the Inkwell's seen weirder.

He frowns as she wanders over to the cakes and starts poking at them. Good thing there's enough for everybody to get a slice. "It just makes us happy," he says, a little coolly. The temperature in the place may drop just a fraction of a degree. "An excuse to make merry with friends and family." You have no idea about looking forward to dying. You've never been on the other end of the madness you perpetuate.

And Mab may be ignoring the other inhabitants of the room, but they're certainly not ignoring her. At least one of the other Docs is keeping an eye on her. She hasn't done anything threatening yet, but they know how frightened Clockwork gets around Fae.

[exiledqueen.livejournal.com]

"Making merry is an excuse in itself. There's never not a reason--you people do it to keep out the cold and the dark, or to ask the light and warm to stay." Mab tastes one of the cakes. "Does one of these slices have a bean or a pebble in it, or something?"

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

HatterDoc pulls his hat a little lower over his eyes at that sentiment.

Clockwork raises an eyebrow. "Not to my knowledge, no." He just keeps himself from telling Mab to try the cake on the far left. Now that probably has something in it.

[exiledqueen.livejournal.com]

"I suppose that rite hasn't lasted, then." Mab is mildly disappointed--no ritual killing to look forward to anytime soon.

She makes her way to the far left of the table, lifts up a slice of the cake, and takes a bite. "But I see this one has an eyeball. My compliments to the chef."

[clanoftheswords.livejournal.com]

Farley glances up in surprise at the teenager, especially when he sees some of Doc's features in him. "Er, thanks."

One quick trip to the cake table later (pointedly avoiding the "slightly corpse-y" cake), he takes a seat next to Doc. "Thanks. Oh, and the other mes will show up in a bit. One of them got it in their head to try and make some of this for the party (I managed to copy the recipe before I came out here)..." He passes Rift!Doc a handwritten recipe card (http://firefly.wikia.com/wiki/Mudder%27s_Milk#Recipe_for_non-alcoholic_version) for his inspection. (It has the recipe and a brief explanation as to the origin.)

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

TeenDoc just grins and goes back to whatever it was he was doing. It seem to involve a pool cue and a lot of gears.

"Ahh, I see," Clockwork says with a chuckle. "Well, they'll be in good company." He makes a sweeping hand motion, encompassing all the other Docs in the room. "I swear I have no idea how she keeps track of us all." And look, there's some steam, right on cue.

Clockwork takes the card and looks it over. One eyebrow raises. "I see. Well, at least it's non-alcoholic." He shrugs. "I'll give it a go. Having a furnance for a stomach means you can digest practically anything."

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

Clockwork doesn't even want to know what she's talking about. Hell, he wishes she wasn't even HERE. His fingers are twitching a little with the effort of keeping his mouth shut. But even though its his bar and his world -- well, old habits die hard. And in the presence of most Fae, Clockwork's first reaction was to stay silent and not upset them. (Probably the smartest reaction.)

It just figures she'd like that one. Clockwork sighs a little. "I'll pass it on." Hell, it'll make Mrs. Plum happy, so why not. On the other side of the room, by the piano, Victor gawks in shock.

[exiledqueen.livejournal.com]

"Oh, do." Mab plucks the half-eaten eyeball out of the cake and studies it. It occurs to her that this might be some new rite entirely that the humans have thought up--eating the bodies of the dead on a day of birth. What a lovely symbol! She marvels at the imagination of the humans.

"Who was this, anyway?" She notices the pale boy staring at her, and waves it at him. "Anyone you knew?"

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

Clockwork isn't sure if she's talking to him or Victor, but Victor seems rather disinclined to answer. Not that Clockwork blames him. Poor kid.

"I--" He pauses. Actually, he has no idea what's in that cake. Mrs. Plum just uses whatever random body parts fall off the corpses who come by. Nobody seems to mind. "It's a mix," he finally said, flatly. "Corpses walk around here." If she wants proof of that, Bonejangles and Emily are probably hanging around somewhere in the crowd.

[exiledqueen.livejournal.com]

The pale boy has caught Mab's eye. There's something deliciously liminal about him, something she can't quite put her finger on. "Is he one?"