Scene #8270: PNL: Age of Majority

Owner	Pose
Stanley Padgett	The Happycade is in full swing tonight. All the games are popping, all the prize games are running attract mode all of that stuff. It's as noisy as it can be with a private party in the building. Over at the Dining Section, there's a collection of balloons, banners, cake, snacks and everything people might want for a party (BUT NO PIZZA). The banner reads "Happy Birthday Stan!" in big letters. There's a smattering of other kids here too. It's not JUST the Elites. Most of the Theatre Kids are here, along with a posse of the Reversal Players. Chastity too, though she's sort of off to the side. Stanley and Mr. Speck are side by side, at the prize counter, chatting about the Reversal, of course. Though... "...I can't believe you fixed a Wish. And the nerdy one in the corner was the girl who was... responsible?" Speck swirls a chip in elastic nacho cheese sauce. "...And she did it with aplomb. She's got a Persona and everything now." Stanley sips his water, and tries to not stare at Chastity. "...Well I'll be. Maybe there's hope for us all yet."
Charlotte Newman	Since going Public about their abilities, Charlotte has jumped at the chance to ... save money by not taking Ubers everywhere. Yeah. We'll go with that, and not at all an aversion to gig travel brought on by a series of bizarrely skilled yet traumatic drivers. She appears in the alleyway between the Happycade and Tony's Pizza in a haze of glitchy, smokey effects. She actually dips into the pizza joint first, just to greet the colossal Eastern European who runs the place amidst the sea of junior high football players patronizing his business. A few minutes later, Charlotte enters the Happycade itself, a flat red-colored garment box tucked under one arm. She skims over those present, then beelines for Chastity sitting all by herself. The younger girl is given a pat on the shoulder in passing as Charlotte swings around to the prize counter. The box is set on the glass, then pushed towards Stanley with a, "Hope it's going well so far, Birthday Boy. I got you something." She then glances aside with a respectful dip of her head, "And good evening, Mister Speck. Thanks for having us."
Kukuru	Kukuru's here, too! After hearing about a birthday party, she's spared... Actually, she hasn't really spent much at all thanks to the party being paid for already, so instead she's spent most of her effort on preparing extra food for the party. Burgers are the food she's settled on today, as she emerges from one of her signature clouds of unquestionably evil energy bearing a huge aluminum tray of the grilled and fried patties that all but requires her to stretch her arms out as far as she can to her sides just to hold onto it all. There's beef, pork, chicken, turkey, shrimp, and a few brown ones that look like they might actually be falafel. They're all in the same tray, though, so it's probably not vegan-friendly. She's dressed in her more reliable work-ish wear with the sweater and the jeans with the apron on top, too, so it's entirely likely Kukuru came here just after finishing her food prep. After finding a space for that extra tray of meat and other meatlike things, she sets a comparably more discreet gift box with white and green checkerboard wrapping on it before joining up with Stanley and Charlotte. "Happy birthday, Stanley! He-llo, Charlie~ He-llo, Speccy. How're you all doing? Everyone behaving okay?" Each one of them gets a hearty hug in turn, and she lingers long enough to hear them out before spotting Chastity off by herself. That definitely won't do. Kukuru moves to join her before long, giving her a firm hug as well and holding it for a bit longer than the others (to hide herself yawning, even if Chastity might hear it). "And how're you doing, Chassy? Are you feeling okay? Making sure to drink enough?"
Seras Victoria	Seras Victoria has come! And, given that it's night time, she's in high spirits. Full of energy compared to the few other times everyone's seen her, grim and focused and more than a bit confused. The draculina's bearing a brilliant smile. Such that one can very easily forget she's some kind of creature of the night. She IS bearing a small bag no doubt full of a few gifts. Of course, this time she's NOT in her uniform. Instead she's wearing faded blue jeans and a thin, light grey vest over a black blouse. Completing the outfit is a black choker 'round her neck, and a plain flat cap. The color palette is a bit gloomy but her cheery demeanor does much to offset that. Doesn't take her all that long to find the birthday boy either. She zips on over. "Happy eighteenth birthday. It's worth saying it again... though that's a VERY IMPORTANT birthday. Feeling like an adult yet?" Her tone's just lightly teasing even as she sets the small bag down on the table.
Stanley Padgett	Kukuru hugs Chastity, and the girl blinks a bit, stammering. "H-Hey, I've got a mom now, a proper mom, so I... uh..." She won't flinch away, certainly not from this crowd. "I'm okay, this is all still pretty overwhelming. Stan took me to see the old man in the bus and I was sort of confused but like it felt pretty good in there. Though... I'm not sure why I'm the Death Arcana." A frown. I know what Death is supposed to mean but it's still a little off putting." Says the girl whose Persona is the Dark Witch from Snow White. Hmmm. Stanley... accepts the gifts in good spirits, and puts them to the side for now. "Didn't actually get a lot of these this time around, so... thanks. Not that I mind, it was a lot of people also bringing food. Like Kukuru." A grin at the Concord Mom. "And then like... I got a bunch of costume stuff and some energy drinks and some girl tried to ask me out and I had to let her down, so uh..." He looks to Seras on that one. "Being an adult is a state of mind, I think." Speck hugs Kukuru back, and then looks to Seras. "You must be the Police Lady I heard about on the news. Good work, by the by. I know they tried to play that off as some sort of Incident but I'm guessing it wasn't. The thing at the gym, I mean." A beat. "Oh, right. Hello. Harrison Speck, I was the man who wrote the code for Reversal, and the man who made the first Wish." He holds out his hand to the police woman. Stanley whispers to Kukuru. "....what over there is the best?" He nods his head at the pile of food.
Charlotte Newman	"Already? You heartbreaker," Charlotte teases Stanley, "It's probably best to not rush into things like that, though." She laughs a bit, glancing towards Seras when she appears. A hand lifts, "Good evening, miss Victoria. I'm sorry if I put you off the other day." Suddenly Kukuru! A warm hug is warmly returned with a, "Good to see you!" She's sure Stanley will open her gift later, it's not a thing that needs immediate attention. With Kukuru attending to Chastity's lonesomeness, then, she turns her own attention to burgers. It takes her quite some time to decide-- and eventually selects two sandwiches with various fixin's. On two plates. Charlotte then joins Kukuru by Chastity, setting a medium-rare burger with modest toppings in front of the mousey sophmore, "I wasn't sure what you'd like, so I went light on things. Miss Kukuru's cooking is real good--" Her eyes lift to the horned lady, "Thank you for bringing these. One cannot subsist on nachos alone."
Kukuru	Seras gets a lazy wave and broad smile, then a moment of hair-fussing. Someone needs to straighten that all out, after all. "You're... Victy, right? Nice to meet you again~" When Stanley asks for a suggestion, meanwhile, Kukuru takes only a second before answering "The shrimp. Definitely." An odd preference, perhaps, considering how the color of her hair might vaguely resemble a certain type of punchy shrimp. Like knows like, perhaps. Or maybe it's just a coincidence. "Oh yeah... She's staying there with you, right? Are you both getting along okay?" Kukuru does eventually let up on the affection, but not before fussing over Chastity's hair a bit. "It can be pretty tricky to get used to, mhm. Just don't feel like you gotta rush anything, okay? You can always count on us if things get too weird at once, especially if... Oh, you met Iggy and Deli, too? I hope they're doing okay in there. It's comfy, but if they never find a rest stop..." Kukuru sounds concerned at first, but that fades fairly quickly once her attention comes back to Chastity. "Death, huh? That's nice... It probably means you've got the power to stop it or something, if you try." She reassures, clearly having no idea what the significance of that Arcana is. "Or you might even be able to stop those bad people doing all the weird things with it if... Um..." She's not really sure where she's going with that. Shrugging lightly, Kukuru gives Chastity a gentle pat on the head afterwards. "Well, I'm sure you'll figure out what you wanna do with all that. I believe in you, and I bet everyone else does." With Charlotte coming over, meanwhile, Kukuru giggles softly at the compliment and waves a hand dismissively. "Of course~ You've gotta have plenty of meat to go with all the grainy stuff. That's how you can get big and strong like me." She boasts playfully, raising her arms to flex her biceps and puff her chest out like she's some kind of macho bodybuilder. Finally letting go of Chastity, Kukuru gestures at the main group with her head. "Wanna come to talk to everyone else? I bet they'd be really happy to see you, too."
Seras Victoria	If the light look of shock on her face is any indication, Seras might not have been expecting an actual answer to a teasy comment like that. But after a few moments of eyes wide and mouth slightly agape... her lips press together in a warm, solid smile. But with Speck then distracting her, she turns aboujt to face him. "Oh... Seras Victoria." She reaches out to gently shake the man's hand. Her grip is firm nevertheless... firmer than one would expect from such hands. And she picks her next words very carefully. "Keeping stuff that goes bump in the night mum is never easy. These things are more like a roller coaster. Hope nothing like that shows up again. ... but you MADE the Reversal...?" She's briefly mystified thinking about that. Smart phones are new to her, but PROGRAMS that can some interact with the supernatural just weird her out even more. Then with Charlotte grabbing her attention... the blonde vampire girl sends a slightly embarassed look her way. "I'm still not sure how you figured it out." Says Seras, tone nevertheless containing a hint of praise. "But since nobody's acting creepy, or running away screaming, I guess it's not a problem." She tries to relax and tamp down on the embarassment, stance loosening a bit, but it's clearly a somewhat sensitive topic.
Stanley Padgett	Chastity huffs a bit at all of that, before she sighs. "Apparently 'Death' is all about great change and I know that I've brought that and... whatever, I'll get things figured out." She pokes a few more times at her phone, before she looks at Kukuru and Charlotte, one offering food and the other offering a spot to chat. "...I'll take the burger at least, you guys are here for Stanley, I'm here to get out of the house and also get cake." An embarrassed look. "Dad and Agatha are REALLY happy with each other lately. All the time." Oh. Speck picks up a slice of cake from the food table, and then looks to Seras. "Long story, short? I'm a game dev and also have a degree in paranormal behavior. And I was tasked by NovaTech to help them make a game based on some weird urban legends from Japan. Stuff about a Shadow World and the Dark Hour and the Midnight Channel. All stuff that gets whispered about but no one wants to talk about out loud, where official things happen." "And I made the first Wish, that every child that came to my Arcade would be safe." A blink. "And that held for six years, until that attack on Stan and Charlotte. Anyways. I made the Wish, NovaTech wanted me to reproduce the results, and I couldn't, so I got fired. Stripped of all my research." A shrug. "It's worked out though, HappyCade is enough to live on, as long as you don't mind the smell of pizza." Stanely has retrieved a Shrimp Burger, and slathered kewpie on it, and is monching away, as he slips over to catch the tail end of all that. "...doesn't it feel nice to be able to say that all out loud to people, Mr. Speck?" "...It does, yeah."
Charlotte Newman	Towards Seras, Charlotte shrugs with her eyes closed, "You're a Multiversal and clearly helping keep the peace by stopping monsters. You said yourself you stop the things that go bump in the night. That's what really matters." One eye opens, "Besides, there've been so many stories and movies lately about heroic vampires. I don't think you'll find many people in Lampport who'd be immediately afraid of you for being one yourself. Not unless you're... like, actually a monster." Seras probably knows someone who meets that description. "We're here for Stanley, but that doesn't mean you should be left all by yourself," Charlotte assures her kouhai. Eyes closing, she adds, "But it'd be rude of me to smother you with attention too, so I'll respect your wishes if you'd prefer." One eye opens, "I'm always here for you though, just so you know." Kukuru flexes and the girl laughs, "I don't think eating all the vitamins in the world could make me as strong as you, but I appreciate the thought miss Kukuru." She excuses herself from Chastity's table, taking her own burger with her, and rejoins Stanley and Mr Speck. Eyes closed, she offers, "Mister Jan cares about us almost as much as you do, I think it'd be a beautiful thing if you guys could work out your differences. Teamup for the ages." With a laugh, she adds, "Just like those stories where the hero and villain have to work together because something even scarier showed up." To Stanley, she offers, "Being public about our abilities has been a lifesaver for me. Do you have any idea how crazy every single Uber driver is? I'm convinced I already have gray hairs because of them."
Kukuru	"Death is a pretty big change, mhm. If it's natural, it's fine, but... It's my job to make sure it's only natural death, okay?" Once again, Kukuru misses Chastity's point completely, but she still offers her a reassuring smile regardless. "And just because it's Stanley's party doesn't mean you gotta stay quiet. Things like this are more fun with friends, especially if..." Somehow, Kukuru actually catches on to what Chastity means afterwards. "... Oh! Aw, that's sweet of them. And you for..." Clearing her throat, Kukuru abruptly turns her attention back to the rest of the crew without elaborating on that. Notably, Speck starts talking about NovaTech. It's details she's mostly heard of before, but it's good to have that refresher anyway. "We still need to figure out how those Wishes happen, yeah... Then maybe we can turn them into something that's just good and not so.. Mixed up with good and bad things." She suggests, stepping away briefly to grab a plate of food for herself. It's stacked pretty high, but it's easy enough to balance once she figures out the right way of holding it all and carefully sliding bits directly into her mouth. "What's the next move, anyway? Because... Um. We know it's NovaTech, right? What else do we need to prepare for?"
Seras Victoria	The story as told gets a wince from Seras, but she smiles at Speck nonetheless. "Don't mind the smell at all." That might be a lie, depending on how much garlic's in their ingredients, but Seras would never willingly show discomfort over something like that if she can stomach it! Although Charlotte calling Seras a 'heroic vampire' brings a strange look to her face. A whole different sort of embarassment. Of all the things she's been called, being called a 'heroic vampire' is clearly new. "A-" Her words catch in her throat as it tightens. It's one hell of a combination to think about... She gulps a moment later. "Oh right... NovaTech. The ones behind this... they clearly knew something about what they were getting into. This isn't an accident. If you'd like, I bet I can get an investigation launched by the Paladins. Whatever this company is up to is... I can't even begin to count the number of applicable charges around 'opening a doorway to nightmare wonderland and letting monsters assault, threaten, and kidnap people.'"
Stanley Padgett	Stanley blinks a bit at the talk about an investigation into NovaTech, and he looks to Kukuru. "...Didn't the Concord go check them out already? What did you guys find?" Chastity... finally sneaks over to the prize counter, carrying a little card that she puts in front of Stanley. "...if you guys are going to go do dangerous stuff, I can stick around the school or something and help... protect it there. I think I can sort out how my powers work." Harrsion takes another sip of water, the lean man rubbing his face a bit. "Listen, I appreciate you trying to get me to patch things up with Jan, but... no, the man's a menace. Can't be done. No compromise." Siiiiiiiiiiiip.
Kukuru	"Did we...? Um. Lemme see if there's anything on that." Kukuru sounds confused, but that's not too far from how things usually are with her. Taking her phone out, she gets a focused look on her face as she starts poking through the various work channels she's got to try and find what it is, if anything, had been found by someone else in the Concord. It seems she genuinely doesn't remember that it even happened. Regardless, if she does find something, she'll regurgitate the details in as fancy a sounding voice as she can manage! That mostly amounts to her usual speaking voice, but while occasionally nudging her glasses up or adjusting them by the rim to make herself look smarter as she reads things off. "If the Paladins have anything they can help with, that'd be great, too. More brains on a thing like this never hurts, you know?" She suggests afterwards, taking a moment to shovel more food into her face to recharge.
Charlotte Newman	Harrison states his position regarding Jan. Charlotte lets out a beleagured sigh, eyes closed, "Two houses, both alike in dignity..." Eyes opening, she offers, "You can't fault me for trying, at least." She clearly thinks the whole rivalry is kind of childish, but men are going to have to settle matters like this as men do. "I take it the notion of a good vampire is more than a little unusual where you're from?" Charlotte asks Seras, "I understand. We're all shaped by biases formed from our own experiences. And in your native world-- and perhaps, in most worlds-- it's definitely a good thing to be cautious about. Here, though..." She recalls the teachers' reactions to Kukuru as a fellow teacher, "...I think this town is pretty open-minded to Multiversals coming and going. So long as you aren't creeping about or biting people, you're probably fine!" NovaTech comes up and she glances down in thought, "It feels a bit like storming the villain's castle. Going by the front gate is probably pretty dangerous. If they had a field office somewhere, maybe I could get into their system through a workstation or something... Get some info that could help us make a better plan than 'kick the door in and see what comes out'." She glances at Kukuru, in case the Concord lady's digging pulls up anything helpful.
Seras Victoria	Seras frowns slightly at hearing there's already these many chefs in the kitchen, but does glance over at Kukuru to show some interest in those findings. Of course, answering Charlotte is a much more personal thing. "It's... well... there's a reason knowledge of their existence is suppressed. And they are exterminated whenever they're found causing a mess. I'm told there are one or two like me who live quietly with government support... but..." She shivers where she stands. "You wouldn't want to be on the sort of mission my fellows have to deal with. They're not fun." She blinks a few times, then makes a strange face. "Unless you're my Master, but he's--" She stumbles with her words for a moment, eyes swiveling about... "He's... not the sort to wish people happy birthday or take a stroll through the park." She finally manages to exclaim, as if this explains everything. She deflates a bit later. "I'd never just up and bite someone! ... Haven't.. might not ever..." The young woman blurts awkwardly. God knows, being one, some part of her probably WANTS to. She shakes her head rapidly to clear it. "Well... I wonder what the Concord's found out...?"
Stanley Padgett	"Don't you quote that stuff at me too, Missy, I get enough from Padgett." Speck nudges Stanley, and then looks at the group trying to sort out the Concord's involvement. "If you did go over there I'm not sure how much I can help. They've moved Headquarters since I was fired, and I'm sure few of the... well. The front runners in the Program these days would take a shine to seeing me again. At least they don't care, so long as I just... keep to my arcade. They haven't been round to try and shake me down." Stanley starts to pick up his gifts, one at a time. He shakes the Garment box that Charlotte brought, and then starts to open it.
Charlotte Newman	Charlotte's gift is a black zip-up hoodie of great quality. There's a little badge on the left side of the chest, the smiling Theater mask crossed with a fencing foil. On the back is a big chibi representation of the famous Ghost Doggo shadow creatures that dwell on the Reverse side of Lampport. In this stylization it looks more like a cloud of fur with a dog face, all curled up and snoozing with no visible feet. The girl smiles, "It took a few tries to get it right with the artist, I'm just glad it got done in time. I figured you'd like something to wear when it's cold, but light enough to also wear casually. Do you like it?" Speck's objection to her joke gets a wave of her hand, "I do hang out with him a lot, it's bound to happen." With Seras' admission, the girl hums thoughtfully, "I had a feeling things were a lot more...bloody, in your usual line of work. I'm no lightweight, I'll help if and where I can, though that does sound more than a little distressing." Her head tilts, fixing the vampire with a curious look, "I get the impression your Master is very different from you. We can save that discussion for another time, though."
Stanley Padgett	"Oh thats so COOL, Charlotte, thank you!" Stanley is already trying to yank the thing up and over his head, struggling a little bit at it. Too much arms, still, despite, you know, being 18."
Kukuru	"It's useful if you're in a fight and need to." Kukuru replies to Seras, opening her mouth briefly to reveal a mouthful of jagged, sharklike teeth. She makes little gnawing sounds playfully for emphasis, although it's entirely possible she's done it in the more serious sense sometime in the past. Maybe just not in front of anyone here. "If they're giving you trouble still, though... Hmmn. Let us know if they do, Speccy. Or if you get any..." She struggles with the word for several minutes, only snapping her fingers after Stanley gets to work on the gifts. "Business cards! That might tell us more about where they are, mhm. Then we can..." Wait. Charlotte mentioned not breaking down the door. "... Show up on the roof instead." Clearly, that's the best plan Kukuru can come up with, although she sounds like she's got no problem with that. Kukuru, for her part, brought Stanley a gift of... A knife! More specifically, it's a hunting knife with an ornate handle that's clearly made by someone that knows how to make good knives, and it doubles as a firestarter thanks to the detachable chunk of flint poking out of the bottom. It's not long before she starts eating again, but not without making sure everyone else has had their fill as well. She even goes as far as serving food if she needs to, bringing around snacks and meat and drinks and cake. After all, Kukuru isn't going to let anyone leave hungry as long as she's here.