2014.01.14 - Rain's Magical Garage Sale

It's before the garage sale. It's before it. Which means morning. Mornings are generally not a thing one Peter Wisdom, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., has any truck with.

This time, though, he seems to have managed it by dint of not going to bed the night before. The clothes he's wearing aren't fresh, but they also don't seem to have been slept in. The box of doughnut holes and big insulated carton of coffee he's carrying, on the other hand, are totally fresh. And obviously a healthy breakfast.

The thing with Moontree Manor is that, like other spooky manors, it has that big wrought-iron fence around the grounds, and a gate, and even if the gate's open, it's a point of entry. In fact, aside from the sky, it's the point of entry. That's why, when two strangers hit it at once, it's slightly awkward.

"I'm pretty certain," the man in the rumpled suit says, smelling of alcohol and cigarettes and the breakfast goods he's carrying, "sale's not open for business for a bit, yet."

Suspicious. That's the other thing this Englishman looks, paused there at the gate, staring at Darix Tyner. And trying to step past him.

Mornings aren't really Rain's thing, either. But she was in the kitchen, dashing between coffee pot, water boiler and such. There's a pause, peering out a window as she notices the two fellows at the gate. And really, it's a fairly safe manor - some factors considered. Who is going to rile up witches? Also, they tend to not buy much in the way of Avon. But noticing the guys at the gate, Rain heads towards the living room door and out to open it for them. Thought she'd given one or both the gate codes, but - Rain sometimes thinks ahead of herself.

"Hey!" She waves from the pathway and heads towards them. She seems surprised, but smiles. Captain, the trenchcoat wearing cat follows in tow.

Darix Tyner got over his cold. Yaay! Then he got assaulted by angry Earth spirits that got woken up for-- whatever the reason. So he got to play hero... which thankfully he was able to keep rather low key beyond forced to have to show he has the ability to use magic.

Bright side-- it didn't get to his job. Other upside, none of the public remained around to take pictures, or they were distracted by Ninja McNinja Snake Eyes.

The man saw that Rain was going to do a sell of many of her magic items and since he was feeling well enough and things were at last starting to warm up. He made his way to her mansion. As he buzzed the gate to let her know he was here, he heard a voice behind him that caused him to raise an eye brow.

The black haired man with his single red streak peered over his shoulder to the SHIELD agent. Those gold amber eyes stared right at him for a long moment before he hrmed softly. "I could say the same to you."

That is when then Rain's voice comes across the courtyard and Darix looks over with a warm smile on his face. "Hey Rain!"

As for Pete, he may notice that Darix is pretty heavily bundled. As in he has on a turtle neck, a hoodie, and then a jacket. Along with snow boots over a pair of normal work boots.. and a pair of gloves. Then there was the two scarfs. Yes. Rain has odd friends.

Whereas-- Pete the Suit Guy is strangely underdressed for the cold weather. His eyebrows go up as he's half through the gate, and he holds up the coffee and pastry and gives Darix a puzzled look. "Do I look like I'm here to buy--" he starts, and then the gate buzzes and he startles, looking past to Rain.

Then his face goes for the big grin, and then it slowly morphs to one of mild panic. Voice suddenly thick, Pete shoves the Dunkin stuff at Darix, "(Hold these hold these!!)" and turns to sneeze violently, away from the other guy and Rain and the foodstuffs.

Rain is glad to see Darix up, out and about. And ninja are pretty distracting in a way. Rain is glad to have the company, too. She seems amused seeing them both there. Odd friends for an odd witch. It works out. The universe has a way of evening things out this way. Weirdly, Rain doesn't seem to think either of them are dressed oddly. That too, is strange. She unlocks and opens the gate for them. She smiles as Pete goes to grin, and so does Darix!

But it soon turns to a look of concern as Pete sneezes violently. "Um. Are you guys okay? It is pretty cold... there's coffee, tea and stuff inside if you'd like..." She offers. "I am glad to see you both," She is! She's just dreadfully awkward, living up to that Engineering stereotype in full. "Please, um, come on in." She peers at Pete, making sure he didn't sneeze his Englishness or brains out or something (Amy'd never forgive her and Rain just cares lots).

Darix glances over to Pete and was about to make a quip when suddenly he is handed the stuff and nearly fumbles it a bit. He blinks a few times when suddenly Pete starts to sneeze violently. "..Man, I hope your not getting that flu virus running around.. that would kind of suck."

He then looks over to Rain. "Yeah. I'm fine, better then I was last I sent you that email." He admits with a mild chuckle and then looking back at the guy. He then steps in close to Rain and leans down just a tad to whisper. "..and you know this guy..?" He looks at her, then back at the agent, and then back at her.

Interesting choice in friends indeed.

Darix then stands back up straight and hrms. Though in height, he is far taller then Pete, at least by several inches at that. "..and yeah.. we.. probably should at least get him inside. Besides, warmth is always nice."

With that Darix starts to make his way for the inside of the house.

"I'b fide," says the Englishman, scowling and holding his hand up over his face as he fishes in his pocket for a handkerchief. Then he remembers he's not that particular kind of gross and doesn't carry one. He just trails in after Rain and Darix, hoping to find a tissue as soon as possible. "Ad I'b dot code."

Current running theory is that he inhaled a bug or something. His theory, anyway. He schleps in behind them, giving the Captain a look. He asks the cat under his breath, "Protect be frob the duck, yeah? Wands to kill be."

Rain looks concerned for Pete. "There's a box of tissues, too. It has math equations on it, to the left of the Anubis statue," Rain explains. Captain's ears perk as he gets a look from Pete. One ear cocks a little, and if - well, there's a faint feline smile. He merps as they follow along. Rain looks to Darix and nods. She smiles. "I am glad. And yes, this is my friend - Pete." She offers. Time passes, and there's not a lot of shuffling and moving to do before things genuinely get started.

There are tissues, coffee, tea, a few random free snacks and things set out. Fortunately, she's got the ability to heat up the garage and it's actually weirdly nice considering she nor her aunt had a car. Either way, TIME PASSES BECAUSE THAT IS HOW TIME DO - and people are welcome to linger, eat and enjoy themselves as things are moved out.

''A TIME WARP HAPPENED HERE BECAUSE RAIN IS TERRIBLE AT TIME ZONE CONVERSIONS! COMPLETE WITH AUTHENTIC WOBBLE!''

Darix watches Pete as he goes to get a tissue and then goes to place down Pete's things, before removing his jacket, the hoodie, and the two scarfs. "Pleasure to meet him. I'll.. introduce myself to him in a moment..." He admits.

Then TIME SPEED UP! Yes, stuff was done, boxes were moved. Etc. Etc.

Now Darix is pretty much chilling out by the fire, or more like leaning near the fire place and drinking a thing of coffee as he watches people coming in. He isn't the biggest social person, but hey. If Rain wants some help or someone needs help getting something. That is what tall guys are for.

It's a Sunday afternoon. Since the Polar Vortex has sobered up and seems to mostly be going home, it's chilly but not overtly cold. The sun is shining, glistening and bright. It is stark in the sky, utterly bright but its warmth fails to truly reach the world. The sky is a soft blue, welcoming people outside and adorned with a wispy scarf of soft, puffy clouds. The manor's gates are open, a cold sort of welcome that stands in contrast to the welcome that awaits. Her garage door is open, and the heat has been augmented so it's a fairly warm place. A few tables with various goodies set out sit, eager to be looked at and turned over. There's a stack of books here, an alchemical spread of goodness on another table (Rain is STILL godsawful at reading runes and aramaic) there. Refreshments are towards the back, in the warmth and she does not seem to protest those in passing taking food.

Captain, an orange tabby cat in his grey trenchcoat sits, peering at visitors. Richard the duck is here, too ... hoping to get pet or for some bread because he is a duck. An intelligence enhanced duck. But a duck nevertheless. Her friends have helped her set up and Rain is shyly roaming about. She seems to play hostess alright when not cowering. "Thank you guys." Smile. And it's not too hard to have heard word, or simply see it in passing. It is not limited to the magic community, it seems. Whether this is intentional or not is hard to say. Rain is a being of unintentional chaos. At least nothing's on fire or a newt.

A boring little faded-gold sedan of Japanese make pulls to a stop outside of Moontree Manor, its driver having heard that garage sales usually only have worthwhile finds if one arrives early enough. Helena isn't one for this kind of thing usually, but a little research about the house has given her reason to be curious. And, if she happens to find a good Latin book or two while she's here, bonus. She exits the car, pauses to make sure the doors are locked, then walks toward the open garage, almost on a beeline for the stacks of books.

Cinque walks into the garage, and after taking a few moments to see what is being offered, he makes his way to the stacks of books.

About ten minutes ago, a motorcycle pulled up to the Moontree Manor and parked. It's rider was just one of those stubborn guys who won't give up the bike until it's obscenely cold out, especially when he can bundle up for the ride. The stylized leather jacket was bound up tight, concealing the sweater (oh my God, is he actually wearing a sweater?) beneath, and a beanie was revealed when the rider lifted black-leather gloves to remove his helmet.

Then, Kwabena Odame proceeded to hang out by the bike, chain smoking three cigarettes while eyeing the manor dubiously.

It's not that he doesn't like Rain. Quite the opposite, in fact. But this business of magic and magical things is both ridiculous and terrifying to him. He's just not sure whether he wants to go in there and tinker around with things, or get back on that bike and ride far, far away. Then again, if some jerk decided to show up here and try to steal something, he could always offer a few good punches.

So, eventually (and perhaps with a fair share of hesitation) he throws the third cigarette to the ground, stomps it out, and goes boldly walking up toward the manor proper, peering back and forth beneath his shades.

Once things really get rolling, he moves himself from the warmth of the fireplace to the garage itself. He is mostly just observing as people start to come in and mostly making sure no one needs help with anything by quick glances. He does look over at the duck and stares at the creature.

Those gold amber eyes piercing at the bird. He doesn't remember Rain having a duck. He remembers the dino. The cat.. but not the duck. When did she get a duck? Oh well, none of his business.

Darix does keep to himself and just stays out of the way. Though as he peers away from the duck he looks at some of the snacks present. Debating if he should get himself something or just-- behave and save it for the guests.

Poltergeist arrives in a cab, paying in cash and taking the time to hit a quick cigarette before making his way inside. He's working hard to keep his psychic shields high, not for fear of invasion (he couldn't prevent that anyway), but to keep his own destructive powers contained. Probably wouldnt due to piss off a pack of powerful occultists by losing control and caving in the roof, not to mention destroying the very items they came to seek. Not a good first impression. Still, nicotine fortified, there's nothing for it but to go in and see what comes.

Rain's aunt was at least a couple of centuries old when she - bought the metaphorical farm (or brought the roof down. REALLY brought it down). And to that end, there are some very old books. Somewhere, a bibliophile just exploded. But not here! And some are carefully kept in plastic, but still available to view. There's the odd book in Latin, some German and a few other old languages. Some even seem to be runes outright. Oddly enough, there's even a very old copy of the Canterbury Tales amidst the books.

Art supplies rest near the books. Something labelled 'Soul Paint' sits near brushes. What could that be? There's an ancient manuscript on Goetic magic near a crystal ball said to enhance one's clairvoyance. A translating magnifying glass sits by it. A small rack of clothing hangs as well. It seems Rain's aunt was slightly shorter and a bit differently built than Rain. A few robes, dresses and the like linger. Pants and shirts, too.

Rain herself smiles and waves to people. "Hello there, please feel free to come in. There's food and drink." And she beams at Darix, thankful for his help. And Pete, too! Rain smiles, waving to Kwabena, too. She probably remembers his uneasiness. "Welcome." Yes indeed. She's doing her best to make the rounds, moving to greet Huntress and Cinque. And Poltergeist. Though, Rain looks a little overwhelmed herself.

One moment there was nobody, and the next moment there's a long haired redhead at one of the tables perusing crystals like she's been there for hours. Lilith picks one up and look through it with one eye closed; "Nope." Puts it back down. On to the next.

When your jobs involve running around the streets for the majority of the day, it's not hard to hear stuff, whether or not that stuff was necessarily intended for your ears. So Terry had heard the rumors of a rather interesting sale going on in the normal day-to-days of his job... and when he heard /who/ was putting on the sale, he knew he had to drop by. The woman of the hour was definitely a... memorable encounter for the formerly far more dour teenager, so it was definitely a must, and upon spotting Rain among the crowd, a friendly wave is offered.

However, Terry's not on his own today as the male teenager, dressed in his usual black-on-black attire, is arriving with a certain someone who he managed to talk into doing something that... he at least /thought/ would be a little more mundane than their usual fare.

It's one of those things, where one thing leads to another thing and suddenly there's a whole tangled web of things going on. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but sometimes it doesn't have to. Talia's drawn here because of something which happened not all that long ago, which just happens to bring her within the orbit of someone else that had been involved with the Greenwich Blackout. Small world?

The blue-hued woman, with glowing golden eyes and a spade-tipped tail, is perhaps the only one here who is more interested in seeing a some-one- rather than a some-thing.-

She also seems to share Rain's timidness, quite literally attempting to become one with the shadows (she can do that, too!) as the Wagnerette approaches the Witch. She's fine in waiting for her turn, a chance to catch Rain on the side. "Hey, uh..you got a second?"

Lawnyard sales are actually a good idea if you need a bunch of clothes and have not too much money on hand. Maybe someone of about your size had something to offer, so Jane Roe had done to wander to the better part of time even though she did not fit too much there. Slowly she strode onto the area, her feet kicking up a bit dust as she went to look over the items. Books, made of paper? Such a relic. Paint? nothing for her, unless it was black facepaint or a collection of charcoals. Kind of her color: dark.

Helena Bertinelli offers a faint and brief smile to the other book-lurker (Cinque), glancing at the spines of the books without touching them to locate the ones written in Latin specificially. When

Dressed in a pair of black cargos, black t-shirt and a white hoodie, Zack made sure that he put his glasses in place before he came to Moontree Manor. The dark haired youth takes his ear piece out and tucks it into a side pocket. He's not been to the Manor recently. His blue eyes look around at the items here and there. Hands are thrust into the pockets of his hoodie. There's a lot of things here and it is a chance to get things at a good place.

Tsk. "Nope," Lilith sighs, four crystals down. Wrinkling her nose, she finally makes visual contact with a small selection of crystal balls. "Ah *hah*," she says quietly, heading right for them. "Come to momma..."

There's a Pete Wisdom still there from before and helping Rain and Darix set up, and he's cranky-looking -- not unusual -- but appears to have developed a cold or something. He's carrying a black coffee around and is wearing black leather gloves, occasionally nudging wayward items back into their spots on the tables. He leans over Helena's shoulder and slaps a hand over a book that'd been edging her way. "Careful," he tells her, tone congested, "some of them bite."

Poltergeist keeps towards the edges of the milling crowd, eyes flicking about occasionally for signs of a familiar face, but, so far, coming up empty. He does get momentarily distracted by some vintage Tarot decks, oversized Art Deco things, the card edges carring a yellow patina of nicotine. One of them seems steeped in Thelemic imagery and he realizes they're Crowleys. Hmmmmm. Good thing he brough his checkbook.

Rain smiles, and waves back as she spots Terry's friendly wave. "Hello! Please feel free to drop in, and there's stuff to eat and drink." Rain seems to do okay as a hostess, but she has the awkward of 10 Reddit Posters hanging on like determined gin monkeys. If only she could find a tonic monkey. And then Rain is called to by Talia. She smiles. "Hello! And sure, what's up?" The witch tilts her head. It seems mundane, aside from the odd magical goods and alchemical reagents of all sorts. Having tons of travel time and ability gives you quite a collection.

And mercifully, things seem cheap enough that it's more Rain is trying to rehome them than profit. Grief makes you clean out the attic sometimes. She smiles in passing at Lilith, listening and looking to Talia now. Poor Pete gets a look of concern.

"Really, I am interested in all of the books, really." Cinque returns the smile to Helena and says, "This is not very my subject area, so I thought this would be a good place to start developing my own knowledge base." Cinque peers down at the stacks of book, then back at Helena. "I could be persuaded not to buy them all, if it I could copy the book."

Captain, an orange tabby cat in his grey trenchcoat sits, peering at visitors. Richard the duck is here, too ... hoping to get pet or for some bread because he is a duck. An intelligence enhanced duck. But a duck nevertheless. Her friends have helped her set up and Rain is shyly roaming about. She seems to play hostess alright when not cowering. "Thank you guys." Smile. And it's not too hard to have heard word, or simply see it in passing. It is not limited to the magic community, it seems. Whether this is intentional or not is hard to say. Rain is a being of unintentional chaos. At least nothing's on fire or a newt.'

Rain being among the first people Kwabena recognizes when he enters the manor, he returns her smile along with a simple wave of his hand. The poor girl looks busy and frazzled, which helps to take his mind off the ever-present suspicion that something is going to jump off the wall and eat his face.

With so many people greeting Rain, he decidedly leaves her alone for the moment. He removes his shades, unzips his jacket, and tucks the shades into an inner pocket. There's a sigh of relief before he's shifting his shoulers back and forth, uncomfortable in that damned sweater, especially with the warmth that is coming from the garage. His eyes dance about, looking for one of those industrial heaters one might find strung at the ceiling, but he finds nothing.

Not helping his skittishness, here!

There's a table nearby, with some things on it. When he notices them, he seems alarmed, one hand halfway through reaching out to touch something before it's stalled in the air as he thinks better of it.

So many people here and they just keep coming! Darix thinks to himself as he shifts a bit where he stands. He ends up reaching behind his neck and rubbing his neck a bit, trying to keep up with how many people are here and who is doing what. He hate for someone to try and steal something from Rain.

Darix does look over at Poltergeist about then. Making note of what they were looking at and since they were away from the larger group, they were easier to keep an eye on. Soo, that is what Darix does.

A yard sale, in this part of town...?

To be honest, when Terry told Kate about this, she didn't believe it was real. Especially considering what little he told her about the person running this sale.

And yet, the dark haired woman did come along. Sure she's in designer clothes, a pair of tight black leggings, purple boots, a puffy purple coat, and a head scarf tied in a fashionable way around her hair, but this... This whole thing feels a bit off. Albeit in a good way. In fact there's a bit of a smile and a nod at Rain as she greets Terry while she sort of tries to give the whole area a quick glance, unsure where to even start looking with this stuff...

Jane carefully stepped towards where she had spotted a closet, which might offer some clothing or such, hopefully something fitting. That it was a magical yardsale she had no idea, and even if, she would not be too interested in the magic part. "let's see what is in here..." she muttered as she pulled open the doors, wying whatever hung in there - some kind of gothic dresses, googles looking like for aviators and leather gloves? "Who lost his steampunk stuff?"

Helena Bertinelli looks at Pete oddly, then at the book he nudged away from her. Seriously? Is he for real with that? She dismisses Pete's 'helpfulness' as weirdo-ism, then raises her eyebrows at Cinque's explanation. "Uh, sure. I'd be okay with that." She hasn't turned around to notice Talia or Lilith or any of the other more unusual-looking sale-goers, or she'd be taking Pete's warning much more seriously.

Daimon Hellstrom arrived in a flash of hellfire, teleporting here through Hell itself. Why? Because its faster than driving or walking and it makes a cool sort of entrance, he's a fan of that.

The young Son of Satan is dressed in a long black leather trench coat and tight fitting latex pants with silver chains hanging from the belt loops and a set of combat boots. No shirt though, allowing the large inverted pentagram brand on his chest to be rather visible and obvious.

As he arrives his ears are elongated and pointed and his hair seems to be on fire but that fades away moments after his arrival and he goes back to looking normal. He sees Rain and raises his hand up and says in a loud voice, "Hey Winter, good to see you again." Yes he knows Rain prefers to go by, well, Rain. But he is the Son of Satan, he tends to do things like that.

Epiphany arrived to the magical garage sale with her date, John Constantine. Because apparently she thought it would be amusing to bring a date to this shindig. Then of course nothing about this was a normal garage sale.

She was wearing a purple dress with a black peacoat, and black tights and ankle high boots. It was good to get out of the lab, lately all she ever wore were lab goats and hazmat suits. She looked up at Constantine and smirked, "Told you it would be interesting."

How to approach the matter that's on Talia's mind? Probably by being direct. Get it out there and move on. Catching an elbow in one of her three-fingered hands and curling that whip-like tail closer around herself, she looks back at Rain with that blank yellow stare and steps up to the proverbial plate, speaking softly enough to try and keep it between just the two of them. "I'm sorry about what happened. ..Whatever happened. I'm not entirely sure what happened but I know it wasn't good, so..."

It's probably just coincidence, then, that the book Pete slapped and moved away from Helena and Cinque moves again, on its own, and the cover flaps open. A breeze. A stiff breeze. One of the other books in the stacks giggles, and Wisdom glares at it. Then he moves off, warning given, and spots Kwabena-- and he just grins. Stalk, stalk, stalk-- and before he can scare the shit out of the man on purpose, he passes by Darix, and sneezes violently behind Shift.

Poltergeist raises a hand to Epiphany as she arrives, relieved to at last see a familiar face. He's been browsing among some of the books himself now, lingering over a tome on exorcising and banishing rituals. Having suffered at least a dozen (useless) exorcisms in his life, he's become fascinated with the rituals, accidentally brushing against Lilith in his reverie, saying "Oh, pardon me, miss!" in his posh accent. A small cabinet of figurines behind him rattles ominously, a figurine inside falling over, but unharmed. "Oh, dear..." he frowns.

Wow. People. Rain's eyes are wide. She smiles to Kwabena, and offers as an aside, "You should try the books if you want." Those are normal! Ish. The soul paint sits near the art supplies - whatever that paint may be. Funny, that. There's tarot cards and other odds and ends. Even supposedly enchanted thread. What kind of person was Rain's aunt? Apparently a very strange and eclectic one if all the finds here are to be believed. Rain's attention is on Talia for the moment.

Captain is peering intently at Kate for a moment, cateyes intent. His ears flick. Because cat.

Rain also did not quite expect a flash of Hellfire. She jerks a moment, eyes wide. But then. It's Daimon. He and the other familiar newcomers get a smile and a wave. "Salutations! Good to see you, too." And a giggling book. Rain might have a small heart attack at some point. She looks to Talia and shakes her head. "It wasn't your fault... so ... no worries," She offers. And oddly enough, if Talia looks, she might notice that there's a gem/fragment similar to the one they found that day near a crystal ball. Funny that. The alchemical reagents sit prettily, glistening in bottle and wrapped in beautiful packaging. The odd clothing includes an old, WWII trenchcoat and - yeah, her aunt was probably also a minor degree hoarder. And nothing seems to be harmed, so it is all good! Amongst the figurines are several crystals, some more or less genuinely enchanted than others.

Cinque shifts through the books and starts to sort them. He places a couple in a separate pile, and hands the pile to the Helena. Cinque eyes the moving book and looks at Helena, "Yes, this is really not my subject. I might have to call down someone to help me with these items. I might be missing that is really of some use." Cinque hands Helena a card, "This is to my friend's Barber Shop in Harlem. It is called, One-Two Cuts. My name is Cinque Forten, he knows how to contact me. Just give me a call, when I am able to copy the books.

"That sounds... actually rather fantastic right about now." Terry replies to Rain, reaching over for Kate's hand to try and give a tug over for introductions. "Kate, meet Rain. She's a pretty interesting to talk to. Rain, meet Kate, she's a really good friend of mine." he offers to each in turn... before moving to sneak away and dig into the refreshments. Especially given that he'd forgotten to eat before his own arrival. It's definitely been an interesting arrival so far -- and that's without even really looking at the items yet. Some guy just teleported in out of nowhere, and that blue girl over there looks strangely familiar...

Then there was a blast of hellfire and that suddenly catches the Darix attention and he narrows his eyes slightly. Then Pete sneezes after he passes by. Darix takes his gaze away from the man who arrived by fire and gives a concerned look to Pete.

If the guy is sick, he really shouldn't be here.

Poltergeist for the moment is forgotten as his attention returns back to the guy who arrived by fire. Cause Darix to cross his arms over his chest. Then it was the sound of a figurine falling over that gets Darix's attention back over to where Poltergeist was and he grunts softly.

Darix then heads over to the cabinet. "I got it." He says calmly, moving to open it up and reach for the figurine to place it right back where it was. This may not be a wise idea and sadly with so many different people with magical abilities here and all these items. Its kinda screwing up his magic sense.. and kinda placing him on an extreme edge slowly.

For a few long seconds, Kwabena is just standing there like a statue. Daimon's entrance causes his eyes to dart over toward the hellfire with vicious speed, driven by a paranoia that doesn't reach his limbs or shake the steadiness of his hand. He then looks back to the crystal ball he was reaching for, quite convinced that somehow, the proximity of his bio-electrical energy or whatever had caused that to happen.

Fish out of water, this guy.

Promptly stuffing his hand back into his pocket, he turns away from that table of... of things and follows his nose toward the smell of coffee. Coffee is good. Especially natural coffee, not the kind that might turn him into a newt. He reaches for the pot, lifts it, turns it this way and that while inspecting it for pentagrams or things written in odd languages, then pours a cup and sets the kettle back down before it can bite his fingers off. "What?"

His attention immediately darts over to Rain, and alarm visibly drains from his face when he realizes it's her talking. "Oh. Books. Yeah, books I can handle." Recognizing Talia, his demeanor grows significantly less uncomfortable, and he flashes a wave toward the Wagnerette, before turning away to leave them to their conversation. It looked important, and he's got coffee and weird books to look for!

Helena Bertinelli takes the stack of books offered to her by Cinque in surprise, but accepts the business card readily enough. "Um, okay. Say, would it be worth it to you if I brought along some of the other books already in my collection?" She glances at the card, then frowns faintly and looks down at the now-open book on the table. It's the same one Pete warned about. Tucking the business card into a pocket on her jacket, she reaches to close the book again with her free hand.

Really other than Rain, Zack doesn't truly know anyone that's here right now. The British youth is going around just looking at the odds and ends. The truth was that he was a little anxious with this many people all around him. That an there were people who had no idea how magic worked that could be handling them didn't exactly give him happy feelings inside of him. Blue eyes flicker around as he sort of meanders about. "Hello Rain." He says as he seeks her out,"I'll need to speak with you soon."

One crystal ball in each hand, Lilith brings one up close to her face and peers through it... then the other. "Hmmmm." One.... then the other. She is having difficulty deciding! AND THEN she sees Daimon Hellstrom through one of them. She lowers both hands, the crystals hovering where she let go of them, sighs deeply, then goes back to trying to decide between the two of them which she'll take home.

Arriving by Hellfire and teleportation is one way to make an entrance, though for a gal that's one quarter demon and surrounded by sulfur and teleportation it's almost like a family reunion waiting to happen. Except that Talia has no idea who that other guy is. Funny how many different versions of Hell can exist at any given moment, -that- guy doesn't look like the son of the Devil she's related to.

There's plenty of things to keep track of, already. Rain's surprisingly cool with what had transpired. Another mutant's waving at her, to which she offers a meek smile and a wave back to Kwabena. Still not trusting that guy, she is.

Then there's that whole gemstone sitting nearby. While not attuned to magic like her 'father' is, there's still something about it which calls to her. Rain's given a more genuine smile, no harm no foul, but TJ's attention is officially drifting toward that table. With the crowd as active as it is she has to resort to claiming her prize by snagging it with her tail up over the heads of others standing nearby.

... and then Pete Wisdom violently sneezes behind Kwabena, and that steady hand of his finally fails. "GAH!" He spins about, hot coffee spilling all over his blessedly still be-gloved hands. "What de... Jesus fffff..." Realizing how loud he's being, Kwabena abruptly hushes his voice after his eyes dart around. "...fffucking Christ, Wisdom!" Then he takes a couple of steps back, eyeing the Brit warily while switching his coffee to the other hand and shaking off the spilt liquid onto the floor. "Tell me you didn't get dat plague by reading one of Rain's books!"

The next new arrival does not appear in a blast of hellfire, merely in a mild aura of somewhat dubious fashion choices. On foot, also, and with one of the ubiquitous journals with pseudoleather covers under her arm. And without newt. Romany Wisdom: bringing books to a book sale since, er, well, at least now. "Good afternoon," she calls to Rain more or less politely, and adds the needless observation: "Popular." At least it's a familiar accent for Zack, not that the area lacked those. There's no actual pause in Romany's stride as she orients on and heads for the Table of Alchemical Goodness.

And as Kate is introduced to Rain, she blinks, and says, "Nice to meet you. And friend of Terry's is always a pleasure."

Of course as soon as that's said, she notices Captain, and her gaze sort of lingers on the cat for a moment. But she doesn't say anything. Not even if, sor some unknown reason the cat's gaze causes her to shiver slightly.

The way others arrive, via helfire, or the apperance of various people here doesn't cause the out of costume archer to blink. Even if she has a sort of fish out of water feel to this place and what's going on.

On the other hand, as she thinks she notices some clothes not too far away, she inwardly hrms slightly...

And Kwa will, therefore, be at the book table just in time for Helena moving to close the book that Pete warned her about.

As soon as her hand's close enough, the book closes on it with a snap, tiny little teeth sinking into her hand. It doesn't hurt more than a kitten bite, but, well, kitten bites aren't the best ever thing to experience.

Wisdom, on the other hand, is merely severely crankily taking a tissue out of his pocket and blowing his nose, coffee held up and away from mucus problems. "nDoh," he says, which sounds like a 'no' with a horrible headcold. "'Llergic to subthig. Dod't tage your glubs off. --" Alarm. "Fug, by sisder's here." He offers Shift his coffee, which he did not sneeze in, as an apology for the coffee spill.

"Yes, I would love to see the rest of your collection. If you collection is quite extensive, then I can meet you." Cinque tilts his head slightly towards his left shoulder as he taps his foot a few times, "It take me a bit longer to copy the books that way, but I would still enjoy seeing your books."

Leaving the cabinet with the gothic clothing behind, Jane once again continued to walk over the area, her eyes looking over the exhibits. She wouldn't need a shelf soon, neither a calculating machine from the 1910s or a set of green vases. The brass knuckles she finds on a table however are more interesting, and she eyes them carefully, picking them up to get a feeling for them. heavy, but they might do their job... how much were they? carefully she looked for a price tag on them...

Daimon noticed a few people he knew after he settled in, he met Lilith a little while ago at the X-Factor office party. And he knew Epiphany Greaves... rather well. The man with her seemed to be John Constantine, never met him but the man had a reputation in the magical community so he wasn't hard to identify. Plus Daimon's father really hated Constantine, meaning to Daimon, John Constantine was a great man. Pete Wisdom he didn't really know, more than recognize from that thing in Rome a while back.

Well, he guessed Walt Disney was right.. it really was a small world after all

A quick smile towards Epiphany as he walked over to Lilith. Had to be a nice co-worker after all. He smirked at Poltergeist as he approached where the too of them were, "Lilith, right? Gar's friend?"

Rain seems happy as people arrive, even if she looks overwhelmed. She is looking between Talia and Terry and Kate with the introductions. "Thank you, Darix!" She tries, really. She looks to Terry. "Pleased to meet you, Kate," Rain nods her head politely. She smiles to Kate and Terry. "I am glad you both came today." And Captain is an ordinary orange tabby, aside from his snappy sense of dress (trenchcoat!). "Good afternoon!" This to Romany. And Rain looks concerned by the exchange between Kwabena and Pete. "Things shouldn't make anyone sick..." But then, magic is a touch unpredicable and in this case, there was a lot of dust.

Rain does seem surprisingly okay with what happened. Though... that in itself may be alarming. A hapless soul who bumbles into terror probably accepts it after a time. She smiles and nods to Zack. Rain is doing her best to make sure none are left entirely out.

The soul paint glimmers next to the paint brushes and - there's Romany! Rain beams nd waves. But she does her best to give Talia most of her attention as she can. "... oh hey! I found that in a small jewelry box. No idea what it is. Seems magic /somehow/, but ..." She seems impressed at the tail dexterity. Any prices are likely hung up nearby. And really, they're pretty cheap. It seems Rain is more interested in quietly sending them out to new homes than profit.

Poltergeist slips a small flask out of the pocket of his trench, taking a quick hit of an entirely different sort of spirit, wincing a bit as the harsh liquor hits his throat, "BAH!" he gasps, a little more loudly than intended and, then, a might sheepishly "Er...anyone care for a nip?" he grins, not noticing when a silvered dagger on the table behind him launches itself to stick point-first into the ceiling.

Darix stares at the odd figure and its little 'oh no' kinda face. He places it back where it was and points his finger at the figures, "Stay." He says simply as he goes to close the cabinet door once more. Not like he actually expects figures to follow what he says or even do what he says.

Seriously, he may have a pretty big secret, but he is, far as he is concerned, very low on the food totem pole when it comes to magic.

As he turns to see more people showing up, he takes notice of the young teen he met recently and places his hands in his pockets and makes a few steps off to the side to go back from being in an open spot. Not that anything happened between him and Zack. Actually they kinda saved Central Park! But that is the thing, Darix doesn't like people to know he has the ability to use magic and more so, he doesn't want to even be /seen/ as a hero.. or even gain a reputation of one.

He just likes being your average guy. Really. He does.

Darix eventually slinks over to where Pete is and then looks at him for a moment. He really does feel bad for the guy. "Do you, like, want to head inside for a bit or something? I mean, I know you came here to help Rain, but-- I don't think the problem is clearing up."

Kwabena squints his eyes while trying to determine just what, exactly, it is Pete's saying. His mouth opens, then closes, then, "Wait, you have a sistah?" The offered coffee is greeted with a gloved fingertip, which politely pushes the cup right back toward Pete. Plague or no plague, that's just... just not alright, unless there's whiskey involved, he doesn't share drinks. Rain's absolution that her artifacts were not flu-infuzing doesn't do too much to erase his concern, though it does help.

"Listen," he says, darting eyes back toward Pete as if the man was a source of safety. Which... that isn't funny in and of itself, not at all. "You tell me if I go reaching for some thing dat's going to, I don't know, miniaturize me or give me a bad case of... of... of something nobody wants, alright? Or if--"

Kwabena goes silent as the book clamps down on Helena's hand. He turns to look at the book, her hand, herself, then looks back to Pete and points at the book three times, eyebrows raised. "Or dat!" Beat. "Christ. Where's dat coffee? One moment." He smiles winningly to Pete, before moving off to refill his cup.

Epiphany waved back to Poltergeist. She had already met a couple of the people already here. She mouthed the words "Show off" to Daimon. But you know, son of Satan and all that.

She dragged Constantine to the table full of various alchemy ingredients, looking everything over. "Let's see what we have here. Eye of newt. Who uses eye of a newt for anything? Wait I can use it for that lead into gold one."

This is the point at which Wisdom sneezes five times in quick succession, then shifts uncomfortably. And looks desperately like he is trying not to sneeze again, face screwed up. "Yeh--" he tells Shift in a slightly strangled voice. He looks up at Darix, eyes watering, and he shrugs. Then reaches up to scratch at his arm-- the one holding his beleaguered coffee. He takes a sip, then scratches at his shoulder. And sneezes again, then looks really aggravated. "I'll go," he says irritably, "I just-- thig subone dumped spores od be or subthig. Look, bate, cad you bind 'at bloke? He's scared ub everythig."

Then Wisdom shuffles away, doing a triple-sneeze, and heads for Romany.

Helena Bertinelli yelps in surprise a bit of pain when the book BITES her, dropping all of the other books in her unbitten hand. "DAMNIT. LET GO!" She's trying to pry the book off of her hand, no telling how well thT is going.

Does Talia have any need for a respectably large sized gemstone that has an unidentifiable magic within it? Not at all! But it's pretty and it's priced to move, so heck. What's a gal to do. Maybe helping out with this whole garage sale will give her some feeling of redemption, too. Shopping -always- helps. "Alright, you've caught my interest."

The gem in question is lightly flicked into the air so she can catch it with her hands, completely oblivious of any resonance that it might happen to emit while also being completely drawn toward its peculiar complexity and blood red hue. "Shiny." This is her, back to being positive. This is her also being drawn toward another table. Jewelry!

There is a slight pause with all of the sneezing nearby, TJ blinking once then glancing down at herself. She'd sooner blame the cat in the trenchcoat than blame herself, but stranger allergic reactions have happened.

"Quite," Lilith responds, looking directly at Daimon through one of the two crystal balls - though she's lost track of which she saw him through the first time, so she can't recall if this is a 'strike one' or a 'strike two.' Giving up, she sets them hovering again and flicks one with a finger, listening for the resonance. "Looking for anything in particular here, or just trawling?" He's here, they share a workplace, politeness. "Hmmm." She flicks the other and considers.

Romany doesn't change course when Epiphany drags Constantine to the table, but her hand might perhaps move just a /little/ more quickly than normal. She reaches out and plucks a single small case from the table. After a close examination of the tarnished silver inlay, she tugs a small square of cloth from one of her pockets and wraps the case in it -- only then does she crack the lid, still cushioned in the fabric, and peer inside at what appears to be ... perfectly normal dog hair. Satisfied, she fastens the lid again, keeps the whole thing wrapped in the fabric, and then gives a sweet smile at Epiphany and Constantine. Well, at Constantine. Epiphany's share of it might be more sympathetic. "Good afternoon."

Then? Incoming Pete. Romany eyes him, and this time her version of hello is: "Kindly don't get snot on this."

"Want anything while I'm over here, Kate?" calls Terry from the refreshments table while he pours himself a drink -- and then follows that up by collecting anything the brunette had asked for, should she do so. Refreshments in hand, he moves next to deliver /that/... before starting to gaze around the sale properly. Brown eyes quietly scanning for anything of particular interest... and, given his own tastes? Definitely seeking out musical treasures that might be found.

Jane tries a few punches into the air with the brass knuckles, trying to get a good feel for them before she looks for the owner and seller. Hopefully they would not stress her pockets too much - living in motels was not really cheap, even if you live in the cheap ones and if you have no steady source of income. A bill with Jacksons face (20 USD) on it was the most she could spend on this day, and should the knuckles cost more than 10 Dollars, she guessed she would have no chance to get some clothes besides them...

"Winter's a friend of mine. So I'm here more for moral support, honestly." Daimon says with a smile to Lilith, totally picking up on her lack of interest. But in response to her lack of interest is his own lack of interest, in her lack of interest, "Though the wonderful thing about garage sales is that you never know what you're going to find."

He shrugged slightly and said, "Rain's aunt left her a lot of stuff, and if her house is anything like my house she probably doesn't even know half the stuff she has. Makes for good deals." He looked at the crystal ball that Lilith was so looking at, "You don't want that one though, it has a of some variety of a curse on it. Not sure what though."

Darix notes how much Pete sneezes around him including how badly his eyes were watered. That was-- odd. His shoulders stiffen up and bit and yet the sound of 'let go' catches his attention.

"What the..?" He looks over seeing a book-- bitting someone's hand and winces a bit. "..Rain.. Uuh.." he tries to get her attention and then the book.

Rain smiles a little at that. She tilts her head. "It is." Captain looks a bit miffed at the sneezing. Not HIM! And coincidentally, Richard the duck wanders across Pete's path, hawnks in amusement and struts off. By now, even Rain looks concerned. "Do you need some sudafed or benadryl or something...?" Poltergeist gets a smile in turn and she's watching people come and go. There are still refreshments out, and she looks to them, too. She smiles to Jane amongst her browsing and is watching people. More out of concern and care, really. She genuinely wants people to feel welcome and find a thing. Daimon, too and - so many names and faces. But it's a happy overwhelmed.

She peers over, noticing Jane's looking for someone. "Might I help?" And it's probably about 5 or so. Again, Rain wants this stuff to move, really. Grief is funny that way and Rain's repressing her emotions more than a bus of nuns going to a nude bar in Vegas. "Ack, is something cursed? I'm really sorry. I looked over all the stuff, but - my aunt has about a couple of centuries on me." Sorry! Talia gets a smile. "Don't worry. I'm glad you came by." Captain now, has moved to peer at Helena since the biting book. "Ack! Oh no! One second. Are you alright, ma'am? I thought we had a big rubber band and a label on that one. Where'd it go...?" Oh geez.

And Darix gets a nod. "Sorry..." Sadface.

"Maybe a cookie and some coffee if there's any." Kate says back to Terry as she starts to drift closer to those clothes to look at. As soon as she does that, she, smiles and nods at Rain again, and even says, "Thank you." if only so she isn't rude. But for some reason, she sort of feels a tug she can't shake.

And yet, even as she drifts that way, she can't help but pass by Talia, quirking an eyebrow as she notices that gem she has. That is before she practically jumps as she notices that book biting Helena.

Cinque moves away from his stack of book, and tries to help Helena with the biting book.

Right. Spores. Kwabena just stares for a moment, until Pete calls him out like that. Eyes narrow and he remarks, "Dat's what you get for not using protection, Wisdom." Hey, at least he's grinning. The guy feels more at home when he's being vulgar with his friends, after all.

Then again, there is Helena, and she's dealing with that book. What do they say about facing one's fears? Right. Kwabena goes right over, sets down his nearly empty cup of coffee, and joins in the effort at trying to pry that book open. It takes a few moments, and once she's able to wriggle her hands free, he pulls his hands back dramatically and lets the book slam shut on itself. He looks from Helena to Rain, blinking his eyes owlishly. "I... didn't hurt it, did I?" Then he looks back at that book warily, but frowning, like he might have just slapped a baby or something.

Lilith frowns, looking at the one Daimon just told her was cursed, eyes faintly glowing this time while she does... and her eyebrows fly up in surprise. "Oh! You're right." She's actually surprised by that? She even gives him a sincere, "Thank you. I should mention it to her." The other she moves over her shoulder, while she holds the cursed one with both hands.

"... I'm unaccustomed to demons being anything but malevolent," Lilith offers - with only mild trepidation in Daimon's direction. "I've not really given you anything resembling a fair shake."

The book's not a very STRONG book, so it doesn't take monumental effort for Helena Bertinelli to pry it off her hand with the help of Kwa and Cinque, but it snaps at her a few times after, like it's a little paper piranha. On the worn leather cover, the faded gold words state 'Carnivorous Trees' and the name of the author. The rubberband and label are lying on the table next to a red d20, which is also magical.

Pete sneezes into his hand, glaring balefully at his sister. "I'b goig hobe," he tells her, then adds sternly, "dod't get possessed."

Then the book moves jerkily on the table and starts snapping in Kwabena's direction.

Poltergeist touches a small figure of a demon, a leering, tongue-lashing thing with giant batwings that looks rather like Gene Simmons' version of a Batman costume. On contact, his eyes glow red and his head falls backwards, drool running down his mouth as an eerie, alien-pitched voice spills from his throat, a chitinous quality to the speech, "I aM tHe bRinGeR of DeCaY, woRsHiP aT tHe fEcuNd LoIns oF mY cYclOpiC pHaLLuS--"

And then he jerks away, the glow dying and swallowing heavily as he blinks rapidly, his voice hoarse as if strained, "Nope, nope, won't be buying that..."

"... who moved that rubber band? Geez, I'm sorry. You're not hurt, are you?" Rain looks alarmed at the attack on poor Helena. "I am SO sorry, ma'am," She shakes her head. Rain smiles and waves to Kate. "Sure thing! Pleased to meet you. Hope to see you guys again," Terry included. Rain looks to Kwabena, "No, it's fine. I had to almost step on it to get the rubber band on. I wonder how it got pulled off," She furrows her brows. "Um. If you find anything bad, let me know and I'll move it. I am very sorry."

And then Poltergeist does his thing and Rain's eyes go wide. "Um. Hi. I don't know. I am so sorry. Are you okay?" She seems concerned about Poltergesit too, now. If her eyes could go any wider, they would. She does seem willing to make amends and contain anything potentially dangerous at least.

"Don't be ridiculous," Romany says to Pete. "Of course I won't." ... and then she turns her head to look toward the red glow. "On second thought. Just a moment." Giving Poltergeist and in fact his entire table the best berth she can, she navigates toward Rain, taking out that apparently-blank journal and waving it in Rain's direction. "Don't suppose you'd be willing to entertain offers of moderately useful barter?"

"Five? uhm... that is ok... you have something in the cloth department that is not looking like goth, is not a dress and not looking like it used to be something for flying?" Jane asked, looking over the stuff close to her. "What's with that pile of ropes over there?"

Daimon raises an eyebrow and says, "I'm the Son of Satan, not a demon. But I understand the source of the confusion."

Daimon smirks again and says, "I do have demonic powers, like the ability to see magical items and sense magic. And the teleporting through Hell thing. But really that's just because of how I was born, we can't pick our parents after all."

Daimon looked down at the crystal balls and pointed to another one of them, "That one is the good one to be honest. There is a small imperfection in it, but that will actually make the image more clear."

"Also, despite me sound proud about being the Son of Satan, I announce it because I want people to know who I am and what they are getting into. In reality, I hate my father and have dedicated my life to fighting him and the evil he tries to bring to this world." Daimon said seriously, dropping his normal smarmy pretense that he gets when talking to woman.

It takes both Cinque and Kwabena helping for Helena to finally get free of that book, and seeing it snapping after Kwabena, she slaps a hand down on the cover. "Down, boy." What the hell kind of garage sale did she walk into here?" And then she notices the d20. And of course it's sitting on a '1'. And she's JUST nerdy enough to recognize the little item and what it means. Well, S*. She looks at each of the two men that helped her, then points out the die, keeping her hand on Snappy McCarnivorousTree so it doesn't bite anyone else. She'll cover her hand in bandaids later.

Then the book is snapping in his direction. Then Kwabena is narrowing his eyes and calculating just how much of an uproar it would be if he pulled out a gun and shot the damn thing. Then again, might that not be like shooting a baby? That's... a lot worse than slapping a baby. Also, unsilenced weapon in close quarters makes you not the most well loved party-goer, and if the objects here aren't going to turn him into a little Shifty Newt, the people just might.

Case in point? cYclOpiC pHaLLuS guy over there.

Kwabena's mis-matched eyes are blinking owlishly as he turns to stare at Poltergeist, then back to Helena and Rain. Without a word, he reaches into a pocket inside his jacket, produces a flask, removes the cap, takes a long drink, then just quietly offers it to Helena.

Poltergeist smiles wanly to Rain, clutching his throat for a moment, "Me? Oh, of course, just fine, I mean *cough* *cough*" he leans forward and calmly spits out what appears to be a large spiny caterpillar, the legs wriggling constantly even as he furtively shoves it in his coat pocket, "Totally my fault, I should've...waited an hour after eating..." he murmurs, his hair literally standing on end, a slight charge in the air, "Sorry, Rowan Coventry, rather new around these parts," he says in his crisp British accent.

Cinque gathers Helena's books that she drop when the book starting to bit her. Cinque offers her books back to her while making sure no one is taking the books he left at the table. H

After the book seems to be on the handle and Poltergeist seems to be ok. Darix just slinks off to a back corner to stay out of the way once more. Yet again, just watching people.

"I'll keep that in mind," Lilith says - though a small smile forms at the corners of her lips. She ... stares a little, interrupted in mid-thought by the sudden book attack and cYclOpiC pHaLLuS! Shaking her head a little, Lilith looks over at Daimon, "Maybe you should have helped her identify what was safe for public consumption." Teasing.

Lilith DOES start to make her way towards Rain, though, and in doing so keeps the conversation going. "My own mother is... well. I'm still not really sure where she fits in or what side she's on. If I'm being totally honest, I remember meeting her but her face is muddled in my memory. For all I know she could be..." Huh. She WAS going to say 'just as bad', but when your father is Satan that doesn't really stack up. "Almost as bad," she settles for.

And Zack! Rain looks to him. "Hey, sorry," She looks worried. "How are you?" And she's watching Poltergeist, smiling back at him. Then her eyes widen as he coughs up and - wait - did he - Her eyes are still wide. Oh geez. "Pleased to meet you, Rowan. I go by Rain. Welcome and help yourself." She looks to Kate and watches the things going on. Wait. Did Helena just set her hand on chompybook.

"Wait no-" Chompybook makes sort of a raaaaaaawr in a tiny, squeaky voice kind of noise. "READ MEEEEEE SEYMO-- you're not Seymour, who the hell are you?" It's SNARKY. Rain looks horrified and glances to Lilith. "Hi! Um. I am sorry. And oh? You - have my sympathies." Oh geez.

Rain looks to Jane. "Um, there might be some jeans... feel free to help yourself." And Romany! Rain smiles at Romany, "Sure! Help yourself for now, stuff just needs to find a home."

Okay, that book's watched Army of Darkness one too many times. Things are just starting to get -weird- around here! So Talia lurks from the ceiling. Away from the books, away from most of the other people. Bird's-eye view of the tables and offerings as she crawls about overhead like a (much) more friendly xenomorph. If something catches her interest, and plenty of things happen to do just that, she just snags them with her tail for closer inspection.

The little d20 wobbles a little like it's trying to roll on its own, then settles back down pitifully. Pete slinks away from Romany and thumbs his nose at Shift on his way toward the gates-- and then he stares at Poltergeist as he passes, because caterpillar out of mouth. He's just. Not gonna ask. No. He is going to leave -- SNEEZE -- and try to determine what the hell is the matter with him. His head's not supposed to be made of solid snot.

"Hello Rain, Oh I am doing well enough. Ran into a spot of trouble the other day. Been meaning to talk to you about it. Be good to get your opinion on something. Someone used some magic to forcefully wake and enrage a summer earth spirit." Zack says as he looks around,"Was that a joke about Little Shop? Really? Couldn't we have had a bit more fun of a reference?" He asks curiously as he keeps his hands in his pockets,"Oh and I met Santa... Like the real deal."

Yeap. Kate tries to avoid chompy book. But then again, as the thing that Poltergeist finds makes itself known, she sort of stops dead in her tracks. And stares.

And blinks.

And stares some more.

And without thinking her hand does sort of brush against a small pile of purplish clothes on a table nearby, her finger getting caught on it.

But unlike other objects, nothing major or /overt/ happens when she touches. At least not yet anyways...

Helena Bertinelli snags Kwabena's offered flask, take a hasty swig of whatever's contained in it, then hands it back before reaching to accept the stack of books that Cinque has so thoughtfully picked up off of the floor. Of course, that's when ChompyBook starts TALKING. And, sorry, everyone, but that is more than Helena's language filter can handle. "Holyshitittalked!" She recoils from the talking book and the weebly wobbly d20, cluting the rest of the books in her arms as if using them as a shield.

Jane smirks and picks up a rope, giving it a look before she puts it away to give the black and red one next to it a look. "That one is nice, but is that blood?" she asked, yeaping up as the word blood seems to make the rope twist and twirl, creepiung up her wrists to tie them together and bend them on her back "HELL, what are theese?!"

Dangerous words, from Rain to Romany. "I'll drop by with this later, then," the elder Wisdom sibling says. "When it's a bit less likely that someone might wander off with it." Rowan Coventry receives a brief fascinated look, but Romany clears her own throat a moment later (with less of the pre-chrysalis about it) and detaches with a faintly apologetic air. "Pardon; think my brother's sinuses may need an exorcism." Run, Pete. Run now.

It takes a slight balancing act, but Terry's not a stranger to those. The dark haired teen makes the delivery of said cookie and coffee - made the way the archer likes it. He wasn't kidding about being good at /those/ details. Granted, given that she'll likely have to take them from him and her fingers are occupied it might be a bit tricky, so he decides to set them down on a clear bit of table for the moment.

Of course, then talking book. That's something that makes him jump. And then /stare./ "Did it just say what I think it...." Blink, blink. Then a sharp shake of his head. He knew Rain was an interesting person, but this... definitely ratchets up the level of interesting a few more levels.

Daimon laughed a bit and said, "What am I her keeper? Rain should have checked it out herself." Daimon was helpful, but there were limits, "Besides I'm sure it's all just harmless fun. Magical objects need their recreation as well."

However as he walked with Lilith and saw the continuing chaos that was being unleashed by Chompybook and held out his hand.

"STOP!" he said with authority to the book. His eyes burned with power as he did so. He wasn't sure if it would work, but the simple charm from the Son of Satan might be enough to make it stop it's craziness.

Yeah, at this point, Kwabena is looking around for help. Rain is... being hosty. Pete is thumbing his nose and taking his plagued ass out of here, and Talia... where did Talia go? Damnit.

Kwabena takes the flask back, eyeing that wobbly d20 warily. He downs another healthy snort, then reaches over and with a flick of his hand, swipes the d20 right over toward chompy book.

"Eat dis!"

Give it something else to chomp on, two birds with one stone. Make that three, since no gun has been involved.

While Daimon starts to 'handle' the book, Lilith turns her attention to Rain; "Oh, no condolences necessary." Smile! She nods her head at the crystal ball floating by her shoulder, "I'll purchase this one." She holds out the other - clutched in her hands - to Rain. "This one has a curse on it. Can't tell what sort."

Cinque goes back to his books and casual manuevers his way from some of more extreme weirdness that is taking place in the yard sale. He notices Darix and makes his way towards him, "How are you? Are you here for research?"

Rain smiles to Zack. She tilts her head, looking concerned and frowns. "... really? That sounds like a lot. I'd be glad to have you by sometime." She offers. She looks apologetic, and glances to Kate and - the dress doesn't seem to do anything, nor do any of the other clothes. A soft sigh. "I checked these things out. I guess this is a humbling reminder that sometimes magic does its own things," She looks a bit sadfaced.

Bur Rain soon smiles to Romany and nods. "Sure thing. And um, okay. There's benadryl in the bathroom. No holy water. That tends to be kind of bad for my people," She admits.

The book turns to Helena. "Your MOM talked-" And then it simultaneously gets Son of Satan'd and its face stuffed. That poor d20. Though, the dice is just stuck, as if it were in a hole - and not chomped. The book is frozen at Daimon's power. Rain looks meekly to Terry and Kate in passing and a beam at Talia on the ceiling.

"Um, thanks. Sorry. I guess it wasn't so aggressive-" Geez. Rain looks to Lilith. "Sure, whatever you'd like to drop off for it. I think it was a buck or two. And that one suits you." Then a frown. "Really? Geez. I am so sorry. I will have to work harder on that." The book is frozen, and Rain will carefully take the crystal ball with the curse to set it somewhere safe for disposal. And hey, it's true. Maybe the nomfed dice will make its way back. But it got nomfed.

And then things get kinda weird over by Jane. "Um. What kind of rope - what are -" Rain looks baffled and starts a quiet counterspell to free Jane. "Okay, I thought that was mountain climbing gear."

And as that d20 goes flying towards the book, Kate's hand ends up caught in that purple cloth a bit more, all without realizing it.

Then though as Terry comes over with that coffee and cookies, the socialite moves her hand to try and take them...

Only to reveal that what she is caught in appears to be a dress. Maybe a slightly older style, but it looks like an ankle length, sparkly, but purple evening gown. And on top of that, as it's unfurled, a pair of white opera gloves fall from it as well.

Of course, aside from the fact that it was sort of stuck to her hand (but that might be her own fault), nothing at all overtly strange happens when she touches it. Instead well, there's a faint, "Niiice..." as the out of costume archer looks at the dress.

On the other hand as she notices what's going on with the ropes out of the corner of her eye, she does wince slightly.

Jane eyes the black and red rope, then her molested wrists "hell, these more seem bondage or to sacrifce someone! And they don't like the word Blood..." Not a wise idea to name the word again with the rope still at the feet as they now try the same as before, just on Jane's feet "HELL! someone get me a knife, I am going to SHREDD them!"

On his way out, Pete almost makes it before Romany decides to Help him-- and then like some kind of sixth sister sense he looks over his shoulder in alarm. "Shit," he says, and then starts sprinting, and disappears around the corner and down the street.

The little d20 stuck in the book mouth is, it should be noted, 20-side up.

"Rain, honey, I love you like a sister. And your beauty lets you get away with a lot from me." Daimon said with a smile picking up the ChompyBook and taking the D20 out of its mouth, "But did you even -remotely- check -any- of these things before you just set them out here to sell to anyone who happened to come by."

He then looks at the rope that had been tying up Jane and says, "I will take the rope though. That is going to very useful in -very- many ways."

Romany follows Pete, silver-inlaid case rescued from risk of Constantine in hand, at her previous walking pace. With the pleasant smile of someone who knows exactly how good someone else's lungs aren't at the best of times, and therefore how long someone is likely to be able to flee. In January air. While their nose is doing *that* to them.

Romany Wisdom goes to: Bristol.

Jane gets an eyeing from Terry at her words -- and a sharp swallow. Okay, that one... he miiight want to stay a bit away from. He might look the part, but /she's/ a bit scary with all that rope!

Then his attention goes back to Kate just as the dress is unfurled, and his eyes widen just a bit. Looking to it, looking to Kate, and back to it. His own fingers even reach out to feel the material, but the words are already being spoken. "I think it likes you," he offers, lips quirking up in a bit of a grin. "...and you'd look gorgeous in it. I think you found a definite winner."

"I did!" Rain protests, eyes wide and looking a bit horrified. "I would feel really bad if someone got hurt. All this stuff was quiet and peaceful. Then -" A handwave. "I guess that'd be my luck. I checked for magic, curses, enchantent..." She clearly seems at a loss. "I wonder if the catalyst was all this energy and life," She considers. "Although, I will confess that I am more like sorcerer in regards to that sort of thing." More natural, primal than artificer.

And then the rope thing starts. Her mouth opens. Her mouth closes. "... you can have it," Rain offers meekly to Daimon. "And thanks for your help." She reallly did not anticipate that sort of thing. "It's funny the weird things you find out about someone after digging out their stuff." And Rain IS apparently a bit mortified. And worried. "If anyone needs restitution or healing, please let me know." Rain is more than willing to make amends. "You should probably take a few things for free if you wish." And Rain's spell should help drop the rope in its tracks so Jane can wriggle free. Rain is already moving towards Helena. "I can mend your hands if you'd like."

It's starting to seem as though the items for sale are taking more interest in the shoppers than the shoppers are in the items for sale. When the call is made that someone's interested in the happy length of cord in the corner, Talia peers back at Daimon from the ceiling with one eye notably wider than the other. "Subtle."

Poor Rain's up to her neck in trying to keep everything around the place in order, so TJ makes sure to have exact change ready to pass her way when a moment presents itself, again making use of ye olde taille. "Hey, good luck down there!"

And yes, Rain is so far over her head.

Poltergeist takes a second to himself, grabbing a comfortable looking chair and taking another swig out of his flask. So...that's what actual possession felt like. Horrifying...but edifying. He does crave a cigarette something rather wicked, though, as testified by the way the lamp next to him starts to flicker, "Best feed the nicotine beast. Back in a trice."

Helena Bertinelli offers Cinque a vaguely confused parting smile, then she looks at Kwabena again as he feeds the d20 to the book. Did she really just see all of that happen? She backs away from the collection of books, Cinque's choices for her still in her arms. She might be on a collision course for one of the other tables. Maybe the crystals and other breakables?

Cursed ball handed over, Lilith slips a tenner to Rain. Her own purposes met, and having not been bitten by a book, temporarily possessed by a statue, or ... done up by rope, it's definitely time to get while the getting is good. "See you at the office, Daimon," - and then she's gone.

Hopefully... /HOPEFULLY/ the dress doesn't do anything /bad/! Because as Kate does set it down, it doesn't stay caught on her. And yet, as she picks it back up, there is a subtle change in the woman. One that causes her to smile slightly before she nods once.

"I agree. I think we have a winner." is said towards Terry, before she kneels down to pick up the fallen gloves as well.

Of course as the rope is dealt with, she shakes her head and tries to wander back towards Rain, while holding that dress...

Jane jumps up as soon the rope falls again, wriggling herself away from it and tossing the next best objects at it - which happen to be her brand new bras knuckles "Screw that bloodthirsty rope! Who needs a rope that tries to bind up people on hearing blood?! I am out of here." she yells as she tries to get away. Well, the most obvious reason would be to immobalize bloodsucking peolle who yell blood all the time... Vampires seem have a liking for the word... as do people have when cursing.

Daimon smirked as he collected his new fun rope. As he picked it up it tried to tie him up much in the same way it had done to Jane, "Behave!" Daimon scolded the rope and it seemed to just stop, "That's the thing with magic objects. You have to be firm with them, just like there were a puppy or a demon horse."

He went over to Rain and handed her a one-hundred dollar bill, "This is for the rope." As he saw Jane run off because of her encounter he added, "Oh come on I can think of twelve different uses for rope that ties people up. And that's before I even get to the practical ideas about restraining bad guys."

Kwabena take a step back. He reaches up to scratch at his bald head, seemingly very befuddled by everything. Then he just grabs his cup, walks over to get more coffee, then glances over toward Rain. The poor girl's so flustered. Walking her way, he grins a bit. "Hey, look at it dis way. Nobody's gotten seriously injured. Could be a lot worse!"

And in the back of his mind, he's wondering just how much worse it could get. Glancing around, he decidedly adopts a space that is at least an arm's length from everything, even though he's waiting for the next strange item to come alive and do something dangerous, unsettling, or just plain naughty.

Rain will quietly fetch the new knuckles and hand them back. "Here, and I am very sorry. If I can make amends, please let me know," She nods to Jane. Rain seems quietly humbled and a bit tired. Even sort of sad and worried. Poltergeist gets a glance. "Sure thing. There's room on the porch. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask." It seems like Rain just got in over her head on this one.

Rain quietly looks humbled by all of this. Deep breath. "Well, if anyone is hurt, they are welcome to take things freely and I will provide food and healing." At least she's noble enough to accept fault. Kwabena warrants concern. "Thank you for being here," She smiles at him. "And yeah, I am glad." She admits. "Please, help yourself." As people line up to pay, she carefully gives change. "I am glad you came by. Thank you. And I think that will look beautiful on you," She offers to Kate.

She looks to make sure Zack is okay. And pauses as Daimon pays - for the rope. Her eyes go wide. "Are you sure? Thank you. You didn't have to..." But she is gracious and goes with it. "And um, whatever floats your metaphysical boat."

And as Kate walks by something covered in a black cloth, the cloth falls off. Revealing a statue. A statue of an angel that has its head in its hands.

Not that she looks at it as she carries that dress towards Rain.

Then again if people look away from the statue for a moment, and then look back, it might look like the statue has... Moved? Yeah. Because its hands are not extended forward and it looks like it's a foot or so away from where it was before...

"So do we have any more mystical items that are going to cause mayhem?" Zack asks curiously, tilting his head a little bit as he looks about. He takes his glasses off and begins squinting against some bright light. He's trying his best to adjust for it.

When Kate unveils the angel statue Daimon's eyes get wide, "RAIN! Where the Hell did your aunt get that!"

He stared at the statue with unblinking eyes, "That is the most dangerous thing I've seen on this plane of existence. I didn't even know they still existed." He shouted as he continued to look at it, making sure not to blink.

Helena Bertinelli takes a moment to calm down, then looks at the titles of the books she's holding in her arms. Huh. This one looks interesting...

Wait. The cloth - the cloth came off!? Rain pauses. "How did that even- I thought I locked that up?" She looks confused. "She apparently ran into it at some point. She needed eye drops for weeks after." She recalls. "What's it... do?" She looks REALLY alarmed now and glances to Zack. "I guess so!" Okay, now STARE at it.

A deep sigh. "Okay, look, statue dude. My aunt is /dead/. You can drop whatever grudge you have and go HOME. Go on now. Shoo. Shoo. And if I catch you causing trouble, you'll just get banished again or - whatever it is my aunt did. I have her diaries." Even with the little hand flicky gesture. That's a BAD ANGEL. BAD. "And stop stealing my tablecloths." Clearly, cluelessness lends itself to bravery. But Rain has only been dealing with magic for a year or two at most. She looks to Daimon. "I really owe you one." So really. Rain has no idea, apparently. She does smile politely at Kate. "Um. I think maybe you can just keep that and let me know if it fits okay first. I couldn't sell something if it didn't size right." And let's face it. Fashion designers love their own custom sizes. "I think it does, but then it might be itchy." Glower at the angel.

No, Kate doesn't look at that statue. Nope. Instead she just blinks at Daimon. Then at Rain. And /especially/ what Rain says about the dress.

"Ooookay."

Then, and only then does she turn to look at the thing that has the Son of Satans attention. And well...

As Rain tells the statue off, it turns its head. And looks right at her. That is before it's shoulders droop before it spins on one foot and just sort of wanders off on it's own?!?

"SHould I even ask?" is of course asked by Ms. Bishop.

Helena Bertinelli looks up when she hears Rain's voice, then stares after the statue that the spunky little witch just scolded. "I won't ask if you won't," she says aside to Kate. Because clearly, here is someone else as clueless as she is about the weirdness going on all over the place. Maybe it's time to speak up. "So, um, how much are the books?"

Daimon calmed down and sort of snorted a bit, "Huh, didn't know they could move if you were looking at them. Maybe it was a different species or something. Well anyways that's all sorted it seems."

He looked over to Rain and pinched her on the butt and then said, "I'm going to take off now, honey. But if your sexy butt needs any help you've got my number so call and I'll be back here before you know it."

It beats dealing with refunds. Rain's sort of had a long day. She smiles to Kate. "Sorry. I didn't expect things to get quite so whacky," She admits. "It is quite a lesson." She pauses. "No, my aunt had a few enemies. I guess it's not shocking they'd turn up now and then." A powerful, ancient witch roving about would attract and deal with some menaces. She looks to Helena. "That's okay. You can take them. Would you like your hand mended up or any bandages?" Some people aren't comfy with magic healing, it seems and Rain respects that. The garage sale is still going a bit, though it is far quieter now.

Some passersby are taking advantage of the refreshments and the angel seems to be skulking off, unable to terrorize or do his thing. Rain looks to Daimon. "Me either. It seems a bit weird, but ..." Then she gets pinched on the backside and eeps, jerking straight. "O-okay, have a good evening. And erm. Thanks. Will do. Be well and stay safe." She seems completely uncertain of what to make of that. "Good luck with the rope."

Cinque was looking at one of his books that he is going to purchased, when the statue starts to walk around the room. Cinque smiles to Rain, "I was wondering how much these books are too.

Helena Bertinelli frowns faintly as Rain tells her she can just take the armload of books, all with Latin titles on their spines. "Are you sure? I'm pretty sure some of these are rather valuable." She does recognize the title on the one book she picked herself, and it's a text she's been saving money for for MONTHS.

The sale seems to be winding down, but people linger. Rain looks to Helena and nods. "Yeah. For me, this was more about - letting my aunt's stuff find new homes." It's sort of hard to want to keep it around. "Also, I wasn't really going to get around to a lot of it. And you got hurt because I didn't bind a book strongly enough," She notes. "That was my fault. So um, please feel free. And if you need any bandages or care, let me know. I normally do healing as a profession." Beam.

But Cinque is here too! She smiles over to him. "Umm. Whatever you'd like. Or nothing. It's been sort of a whacky day and I can't find my list anyway." Sigh.

"... I bet that book ate it." Sadface.

Vic Sage just now arrives to the yard sale Helena had told him about. He was busy looking into other things. But He decided he should turn up just incase anything interesting was to be found. And spending time with Helena was always a plus. He catch sight of her and makes a b line straight for her. Catching glimpses of very intreresting artifacts in his periffereal vision as he goes.

He reaches Helena putting his hand on the small of her back. "Hey you, What do you have there?" Vic says seeing the bite she has.

Helena Bertinelli was in the middle of turning to set the armload of books down on whichever convenient surface she could find when Vic 'sneaks' up on her and touches her back. She startles and just barely manages to keep a hold of the books, while her free hand throws a short jab of a punch at Vic before she's even realized it's him.

Cinque reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet. He pulls out a few hundred dollars and hands it to Rain, "It seems that things have changed for you, but my cousins mention about you being out of work. Either way, I think this would settle any kindness showed to my cousin.

Vic parries the punch and says "And you wonder why I was so shy and awkward about showing you affection.". Vic smiles to let Helena it's ok and gives her a single arm hug. "So you got a lot of stuff there. But what happened here?" Vic points out the bite mark sounding worried.

Vic also manages to look around the table and see some thing of interest that he notes mentally to ask about once He is assured the Helena is fine.

Rain seems surprised by Vic's arrival and making a beeline for Helena. They must know one another. She tilts her head. She looks like someone dropped a safe full of centipedes on her foot in abject horror as Vic startles Helena and is about to get jab-punched. But monentarily, there's a Cinque. "Oh! Er, thank you. Wow." Her eyes widen. "Tell your cousin I said hello and hope he is doing well. I seem to be getting more work these days," Nodnod. But she does look grateful. "Please enjoy your books. I am glad you came by."

And Rain pauses at Vic. "... I - we can clean that up if -" Pause.

She looks lost and apologetic. She does smile weakly. "I will restack these books. If um, you need help carrying anything. Please let me know." Or anything like healing, really.

Helena Bertinelli blinks and promptly looks sheepish and apologetic when she realizes she just tried to punch Vic. When he points out the bite marks on her hand -- which are oddly not curved like those of a mammal's mouth but perfectly straight like she was bitten by a book (but that's just not possible) -- Helena has to think fast for a moment to come up with a plausible reason for it. "The... cat. Yeah. The cat didn't take too kindly to me." Sorry, Captain.

Cinque raises his right eyebrow slightly., "Uhm, my cousin was Tousaint Walters, he died in a warehouse fire. I probably should have explained that before hand." Cinque awkwardly taps his foot on the ground, and peers down at his books, "Uhmm, thanks for the books."

"Must have been some cat." Vic says not quite believing her but not willing to push the issue as long as she is ok. Vic gives her a peck on the cheek and goes to look at the things available to buy. A magnifying glas catches his eye he goes to pick it up. "Hey you think i should get this to use when I'm out in the field. I can look all classy and weird at the same time really mess with people" Vic playfully says to the huntress.

"..." Rain looks like she got hit over the head with a brick. Also made of centipedes. She winces. "I - I am so sorry for your loss," She seemed to like him. "He was a good person," She offers. "And it's okay. I was thoughtless. If there's anything I can do, just let me know. And, er, you're welcome." Awkward. She seems genuinely guilty for it. "It was a pleasure to have you by."

Captain would give an indignant merf if he would have heard that. But for now, the trenchcoat wearing cat is curled up in a sunny spot. Rain smiles a little as Vic checks out the magnifying glass. "It translates a good number of languages. But not like, all of them ever. It's kinda old." So largely older earth languages. "And um, does that need to be cleaned?" A peer to Helena and Rain looks worried.

Helena Bertinelli scoffs at Vic good-naturedly. "Sure. But you have to wear a deer-stalker hat, too. A plaid one." She rolls her eyes to indicate that she's only teasing, then finally sets the books down to rummage in her purse. She gets out a small wallet and pulls a thin stack of cash, then looks over at Rain. "Cleaned? OH. Um, maybe. Aren't cat bites usually prone to infections?" Are book bites prone to the same kinds of infections?

Cinque nods, "I am all right, but thank you again for the books.

Vic frowns slightly at the mention of an infection. But ignores it for now. "I'll take it" Vic says abpout the magnifying glass.

Vic then gets to looking around leaving Helena's side for a moment. Vic get's an odd look on his face and starts make odd noises and ramble to himself excitedly. "Oh this this is exactly what I need" "I knew it i knew it" "Cult of elder gods" "I must have these".

Vic returns with a pile of books of his own. All old and worn and rather impossibling looking. the books are Al Azif of Abdul Alhazred, The Pnakotic Manuscripts, Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan, Unaussprechlichen Kulten, De Vermis Mysteriis, and the Grimorum Arcanorum.

"Yeah. I can either heal it here, or show you to the bathroom," Rain offers. Some people are less comfortable with magic than others. She minds either way. Then she smiles a little at the back and forth between Helena and Vic. Aw. The crowd seems to be dispersing as people pay for things, refresh themselves with refreshments and drift out. Captain gets petted now and then and he closes his eyes happily.

Richard is strutting, as ducks are wont to do. Rain waves as Cinque heads along. "Farewell!"

And Rain kind of boggles at the book pile. "Wow. Um, yup. That's definitely a pile. I am glad you found some you like." She sort of stares. How are these things - man, her aunt was into some WEIRD stuff.

Helena Bertinelli eyes the duck a bit confusedly, but doesn't bother him. He IS just a duck, after all, right? She offers Rain a smile and a nod at the offer to help patch up her book-bitten hand. "Whatever you think is best." It really only just stings a little anymore, honest.

Once Vic is back by Helena's side he is quick to put his arm around her. Just some thing he wants to get in the habit off, being close to Helena. He doesn't make a show of it, he tries to not call attention to it. "So um how much for all of this?" Vic asks. Vic looks at Helena handing over the money for her stuff, he wants to stop her and pay for her but knows stunts like that will earn him a punch that Helena wouldn't apologize for.

Aw. Rain smiles at the two. "Um, whatever's good. The list got eaten earlier." Handwave. "And honestly, I'm kind of brain drained." Then a pause and she looks to Helena. "Sure. I'll mend it for you. Don't worry. And that's Richard. He's smarter than a normal duck. Blame Loki," Penance duck. "It's a long story." Either way, Rain goes quiet a moment, looking completely and utterly zoned out. It takes her a couple of minutes, since her magic is not the fastest to deploy (but then, if it were fast AND subtle, that's hardly fair).

But it'll be mended completely, as if the bite never happened. "I try to keep that quiet when I'm not on the job, but." A shrug and a smile. "I think my cover was thoroughly blown today," She remarks wryly. So she doesn't seem too worried about it at the moment.

Helena Bertinelli looks at her hand in amazement when the pain recedes and any trace of the bite marks has faded completely. "Wow." She then counts out ten dollars for each book in her stack and gives a glance warning him to pay at least the same for his own book selections. "Here, Miss Moontree. I know this one book is worth three times this much. It's the least I can do." You know, for blaming the cat when it was that chompy book that bit her hand.

"Thank you for that ms." Vic says before pulling about 3 $50 bills and giving them to Rain. 6 books, a magical magnifying glass and healing his girlfirend, well worth $150 he thinks.

Vic then pets the cat and leans down to whisper at it "I know it wasn't you don't worry"

Rain smiles a little. "Thanks. I appreciate it. And it's okay, like I said, I owe you for the bite." Animals and books alike, it seems. She looks to Vic and nods in respect. "Thank you both. Do you need any help carrying things back to your car?" She asks. She carefully tucks away the funds, glancing over her shoulder. The 'angel' has skulked off to pout, finding his archnemesis long dead.

She seems quietly happy, and Captain blinks at Vic, having been napping. The cat has to warm up a moment and he merps, confused at Vic, but his tail flicks a little and he's being petted. So all is well in Catland.

Helena Bertinelli offers Vic a smile, then replies to Rain's offer to help carry the books. "No, thank you. I think we've got everything okay." She watches Vic share a quiet word with the Captain. Is he scolding the cat? Oh, I hope not.

Vic continues petting the captain for a another moment or so "you're a good kitty

Vic straightens up and smiles back to Helena taking her hand in his and looking at it "All better?"

Then asks of rain "would you have to have some totebags or a boxes for all the books?"

Helena Bertinelli shakes her head no at Vic. "It's not that many, really." Well, unless Vic's six selected tomes are too much for him to carry on his own. ;)

Merp, purr. Captain is pretty happy. His ears lay back as he's relaxed, eyes closed.

Rain smiles. "Yeah, sure. I can bring you a box with a totebag in it," She offers and turns around. One of the empty sale boxes is brought over for him. "Here you go. This should do." She has to let her smile at the two. "And sure thing. Captain says thanks, I think. He looks happy now."

Helena Bertinelli returns Rain's smile as she snags the tote bag out of the box for her own books. One thing about Latin texts: they're not usually all that wordy.

Before Vic can take back his request because he was shamed into it by Helena Rain is back with a box. Vic Smiles "thanks you" He then puts his books and magnifying glass in the box. The thing his books are old and heavy not too much for him but it's better for them if kept safe in a box during transport. These book contain what Q hopes would be clues to the conspiracy and the dark forces comeing to take over. There was probably more but seeing as Q caught a glimpse of Daimon Hellstrom leaving he assumes that he took whatever would be most useful.

Life is a bit different when paper isn't nice and thin like today's is, probably. Rain makes sure the two have their things nice and safe, smiling back to Vic and Helena. She has no idea of Vic's great conspiracy spotting. She's just helping herself move on after her aunt's rather violent and unexpected passing. And maybe a little bit paranoid about falling houses (just a little). "Be well and have a good evening," She offers. "I think we should start cleaning up, Captain," She looks to the cat.

Helena Bertinelli shoulders her tote and looks around. "Do you maybe want some help cleaning up?" Yes, she actually noticed that she and Vic are pretty much the last people here. Well, unless you count the sulking statue.

Vic echos Helena's offer "Yes I would be happy to help pick up if you want"

Vic picks up his box of stuff. "I'll just put this in the car and run back up to help, Hun you want me to take your stuff to the car?"

Rain glances around. "There's not much left, really. I am fine either way. It'll be pretty quick. You're welcome to the food if you wanted it. Otherwise, I'm going to be the Mayor of Leftoversville." She quirks a smile. And really, all that's left is remainders, odds, ends that are easily tucked back in. And free food and drink? Yeah, those held up well but it is apparent they were free. "But I appreciate it. So - um, sure!" Why not? Quicker is good.

Helena Bertinelli looked at you!

Helena Bertinelli smiles to Vic and hands him both the tote bag of books and her purse. "Okay, tell me where to put things." Giving Chompybook a bit of a glare, she steps over to help Rain with the tidying up.

Vic takes the box tote bag and purse and places everything in his car. He looks at the moving statue sulking in the corner for a moment. He return in a hurry.

"So what needs to go where?"

Rain pauses. "We can just move the tables in for now. I don't have a car, so the garage is storage. I appreciate the help." And Rain will tidy up with them. Fortunately, most things have been sold and moved along. Only a few tchotchkes, trinkets and such remain. They are welcome to take whatever they like out of whatever is left. And happily, it's all done before sunset, when the temperature truly begins to drop. Captain and Richard follow along, both quiet and not wanting to be left alone. Silly critters.

But it has been a pleasant, if humbling and chaotic day.