Food, Fashion, Ferret (2)

[Molly Quincannon] Molly's usual text-flurry to Nat (yes, she heard about Lara's new tat. While pleasant about it, she didn't have a whole lot to say, perhaps because her own 'certain someone' doesn't really do gestures and she doesn't want to think about those that do overmuch) included something about Dim sum & shopping? Might get a new ferret, or maybe *gasp* clothes. Assuming a reply in the affirmative, Molly gives a restaurant name and can be found sitting at a table near the window with two glasses of Coke and a basket of prawn crackers.

[Natyana Wapanee] And in breezes the little Popple. Reply most certainly in the affirmitive. She's looking the usual, if not still a little baffled by said tattoo and the whole thing regarding that. So food and shopping with the best friend is gobbled up excitedly. She takes a seat at the table, grinning ear to ear at the leet-geek she adores.

[Molly Quincannon] "You're grinning." Molly doesn't look in a bad mood or anything, but she certainly doesn't have quite that level of grin. "When you grin at me that way, I tend to have to do things the likes of this."

Out of the laptop bag comes a midsized box. Inside the box is a pair of fur-lined gloves, black cashmere scarf and a black-and-white winter hat that's designed to look like a panda face, ears included. "Call it a memento from our last little adventure," she says. "Also, I don't figure you've got winter gear, given where you just moved from, and I'm at least used enough to en-why-cee winters to know what's needful."

[Natyana Wapanee] She takes the box suspiciously. When it's opened, she does that heart warmed melting smile. "That is so awesome... thank you. Yours should be arriving in a few more days. Probably monday since it's almost weekend."

She leans back in the chair, stretching a bit. "Dude, we are gonna so rock this city with the crew stuff. Bad. Ass. Team."

[Molly Quincannon] "Man, I hope so," says Molly with a bit of a sigh. "I think we're going to have to sit down and decide what we want to do about things at the house. Apparently things at the house need someone to take the proverbial mallet to the current set-up. They admit they don't talk to each other and the whole thing turns to clusterfuck at the drop of a hat. But that's all the political crap that I guess it's mostly my job to handle, though I'm going to want you guys to go over the list of rules and let me know what you don't agree with. I have ideas on a few bits, but ... today's not the day to discuss it, I don't think. Today ... it's the weekend. I intend to enjoy one responsibility-free afternoon at minimum. And so ... shopping. Israel says that ferrets do best with the company of another ferret. So possibly a Peter or a Mozzie ... or even a Kate, though I'm not sure about a bunch of baby ferrets running around my place. Or, as I said, possibly clothes. Without Isabel. The places she shops ... the stares I get from the shop clerks make me feel a bit like Julia Roberts pre-'major-sucking-up' scene in Pretty Woman. Yes, I have seen a chick-flick or two. Try not to faint," she adds with a grin.

Then, with a roll of the eyes, "Don't I even get a hint? You torture me!"

[Natyana Wapanee] "Piss on the political crap for now. I agree, an afternoon being irresponsible girls and going shopping. And dear goddess... yes please no snobby stores." Laughs, shaking her head. She wasn't comfortable being in there, but had full sympathy for Molly, who was the one stuck going in and out of the dressing room. "Another ferret and clothes maybe? We can accomplish multiple goals at once. This is a good thing. Far as chick flicks go, Pretty Woman doesn't count. Everyone has to see that movie."

To the latter, she just grins and shakes her head.

[Molly Quincannon] The latter gets a wrinkled nose, a stuck-out tongue and a going back to the task at hand, though she stops long enough to flag down a waitress to order a few little plates of nibbly things to share - dumplings and spring rolls and little ribs. "There's only a few," she says. "I figure dinner after, but going shopping on an empty stomach is never a good idea. And ... I was looking up online this whole thing about 'geek chic' I keep hearing about? Dude, it's pathetic. Apparently, all 'geek chic' involves is being a girl and wearing glasses. There's no actual fashion movement about any of it! That'd make me 'geek chic' right now, and I am so not! I am nerdcore!"

[Natyana Wapanee] "You are totally nerdcore but you make it look awesome. But if you wanna step up the look, hell you know I'm right there with ya for it. And who knows, maybe there'll be some incentive for me to do something other than midget-bulldyke-chic. How do you think I'd look with a moustache?" She grins, swinging her feet and almost frothing at the selection Molly orders. Least her excitement is evident for trying new foods. It's a start, righit?

[Molly Quincannon] Molly snickers. "You do not have 'midget bulldyke chic'. You have 'compact casual chic', which is more alliterative and therefore awesome. And I dunno if I want to change the look entirely." Small baskets of shareable nibbles turn up. "Or at least, not at the expense of mine. I just ... don't actually get any of the clothes she threw at me. Pencil skirts. High heels. How does anyone move in that shit? I gather that moving isn't the point - or maybe it's how teetering around in those tight skirts and wobbly heels makes the hips move a certain way. That seemed to be her theory. But ... I dunno if that's right for our way of life. I mean ... the running, man; the running."

[Natyana Wapanee] "Dude, seriously? We'd be girlitized and completely caught with our skirts riding and crying about a run in our pantyhose instead of actually running, then next thing we know we're damsels in distress, wearing perfume, and crying over broken nails. Fuck. That. There is absolutely no sensible reason with our line of what we get ourselves into to wear any of that shit. It's not conventional, and not logical. I don't give a rats ass about looking pretty."

[Molly Quincannon] Molly makes a face and then nibbles one of the dumplings. Then she blinks at the dumpling. "Mmm. That's nice. Should find a recipe for these. Anyway. I figure there's a use for girlie. Sure, it's not us; we're the hands-on, in-your-face chicks. Isabel ... I see her as the kind who wraps people around her little finger and distracts people from the stuff that's going on over there, y'know? The grifter type, y'know? Just needs a bit more confidence and learning how to use what she knows - both esoteric and mundane."

[Natyana Wapanee] She plucks one of the ribs, swinging her feet and starting to nibble, nodding a bit. "So... Who is she? I mean... obviously she's in the know, but I couldn't pin her down on anything specific. Someone new, for sure.... And I didn't get the feel she liked me much." Shrugs, smirking.

[Molly Quincannon] "Isabel Burrows," says Molly with a smile. "British, old money ... and my apprentice." That last spoken quietly, as Molly picks up a spring roll. "Apparently she's been around Chicago longer than I have, but she's really new ... I mean, really, really new to our way of life. Word was that people tried to teach her, but it sounds more like no one really had the time or the patience to try to find a way to make things make sense to her, so she floundered around and nearly got ganked a time or two and mostly got looks that said, like, 'Babe, get a clue'. But how was she supposed to get a clue with no one actually explaining shit to her and be sure she understood? So I volunteered and whaddya know? She actually can be taught! Actually, she's really quick when you find the right way to tell her about it, so now she's way less clueless and is even using her talents. If she ever shows an interest in the Beyond, so to speak, mind if I send her your way?"

Then she sighs and clicks her tongue in a bit of a tut. "That's two I've got under my wing now, though at least Ellie knows how to use her talents reasonably. Just ... now she's got a place to stay, usable eye-dee and I'm looking through some of my contacts to find her a job so she feels a bit more self-sufficient. I've got a friend in the Tribune's admin department who says they could use a runner, so there's that. Or maybe an file clerk or something at Tree of Life, but I'd have to ask Jarod about that one. Or I think they could use an intern at my place, but I dunno how she is on tech. Or our favourite coffee shop needs a barista..."

[Natyana Wapanee] She blinks to all that, nibbling at a rib. "So wait... you have... two students?"

She thinks on that, frownign a bit, but nods. Not one to have ever dealt with student-type things, so for now she just listens interestedly, and eats. There is tasty noms that she thoroughly enjoys. "Ok... well is there anything I can do to help on that end? I mean... I've never dealt with it, but hell if there's some way I can help, lemme know."

[Molly Quincannon] Molly chuckles. "Well, one student really. Though I guess while I'm teaching Isabel about the esoteric stuff, I'm teaching Ellie how to set up the mundane crap that everybody more or less needs. Or maybe just teaching her that there are people who care - who want her to have a roof over her head and a stable life and don't want anything from her. I mean ... she was living on the streets and in libraries, eff-eff-ess! I couldn't just leave her with no name, no way to support herself, no permanent roof over her head, and doing Kibo-knows-what to make sure she doesn't starve, y'know?"

She thinks about the offer of help, then shrugs. "Not off the top of my head, but if I think of anything, I'll let you know. I figure her job interviews will be way different than mine. Just ... help me explain the spirit world and all that to these two if they show an interest - if I don't learn about it first, that is - and that'll be plenty."

[Natyana Wapanee] She nods, blinking a few times. "Well... Can never know too much about the spirits. Even I'm still learning loads every day, and been picking up on work with it lately so yeah, totally. The more we can reconnect with the lost knowledges the better, you know?"

[Molly Quincannon] "Awesome; thanks." Then she grins and polishes off another one of the dumplings. "I dunno how we do it, y'know. The learning and the working and all the rest of it. And some of us even have day jobs to go along with it! If I wasn't who I am, I'd say there weren't enough hours in the day."

Then she looks over the picked-over remnants of the dim sum. "Well, I'm done if you are, so I guess it's make-your-mind-up time. Ferret ... or clothes?" Then she shudders. "Man, she wants me to give up the black hair. That's just ... I can't even imagine it its old colour anymore."

[Natyana Wapanee] "If I had to get a real job ontop of all this? Gawd. I dunno how Ashley does it, or any of the others. They get mad respect for it, honestly. I'd burn out way too fast I think."

She's had her fill, now just nibbling at a stray bit here and there so it doesn't seem like it's all going to waste. But she nods. "Yeah, lets get moving. I'll have to head home soon and get something thrown together for Lara dinner"

[Molly Quincannon] Molly pays the bill (any attempt that Nat makes to do so gets comprehensively waved off) and off they go, heading in the general direction of shopping. "Man," she says when they're on crowded streets and thus unlikely to get eavesdroppers, "it seems your destiny to end up cooking for Cultists. And you're not helping about the 'where first', y'know. Though I think the pet store closes earlier. And ... if I go ferret-shopping, there'll be that thing where I can't take a live animal into clothes stores. So I'd have to put that off another day. Oh, dear."

Teasing sarcasm, how we love thee.

[Natyana Wapanee] Of course there's argument. To even be resorted to Molly's feet being sat on and a small woman wrapping around her legs to try and prevent her from taking the bill to the counter. Which could get them both humiliated and kicked out for wrestling, but Nat's having too much fun with it to resist.

"I'm thinking so. Not that I mind, it lets me get better at it. And with cooking, there's always room to get better at it. Just like most other things, and it's something I really like doing and I like to share so it works." There's some looking around, and a thoughtful nod. "Whatever will we do! Guess there will be.... multiple shopping trips this weekend! OH NOES!"

[Molly Quincannon] That gets a chuckle even as Molly veers them towards the pet shop. "So you're going to come with me for the clothes shopping too, hmm? Do you just like seeing me come out of changing rooms in totally idiotic outfits? I mean, that thing with the skirt and the blouse? I looked like a Mirrorshade!"

[Natyana Wapanee] She laughs, walking along with Molly. "It's the whole quality time thing, actually. I do like to spend time with you that doesn't involve business all the time. I mean yeah, there's always that potential, and it's sorta how we wound up being BFFs and all that, but then there is maintenance. Cuz like... you don't spend quality time with the people you love then it tends to get like unwatered plants. Fade, wilt, and you're full of awesome and that's something that shouldn't be let to wilt."

[Molly Quincannon] Molly looks Nat's way and smiles. "Yeah, that's a good way of looking at it. Though at least I keep in touch with Twitter and text if there's not much a possibility for quality time. But seriously, nothing says quality time quite like a pet shop."

Which is, as it happens, up ahead. Enter Molly, who looks over at the cage of ferrets a little ruefully. "I don't believe I'm thinking of getting another furry little con artist. I must be out of my mind." Then she looks at Nat again and asks, "Hey, does Boomer need anything? Chewy toys? That kind of thing?"

[Natyana Wapanee] "Hell. Yeah. Pet shops rule. Boomer needs some new toys anyways. And no, you aren't buying. Try it and I buy the ferret." She eyes Molly suspiciously as they step inside, and she chuckles. "There's always quality time. Somehow, some way... even if it means quality time tromping around in knee-high muck and getting frosty and sharing hobbit pizza."

[Molly Quincannon] "I won't buy any of the toys you have your eye on," says Molly, "and you are not buying the ferret. Ferrets are way costlier than squeaky chewable rubber. And man, don't remind me. The arms are better but I have never wanted a bathtub so badly in my life. An hour-long hot shower and two cups of hot coffee and I was still chilled to the bone afterwards. But I had all that bedding you bought me to bundle in with cup of coffee the third. Lucky, too; I'd have had the nastiest cold if not." Then she chuckles. "And the hobbit pizza was cool. I should take you to DaVinci's sometime. The whole thing is made to look like an Italian Renaissance workshop like Leonardo da Vinci would have had. And their pizza is awesome." With that, she peers into the ferret cage to see if one decides to pick her the way Neal did.

[Natyana Wapanee] "I told you I could've probably done something to help... stubborn ass." Still a little huffy at Molly's not letting her do something. That could've been dangerous, and cost limbs or something. Ok... yes. A bit of exaggeration there, but when has the little woman not over-reacted to possible injury or death to her best friend? There's been attempts, of course, but largely failed ones.

She inspects a couple of displays with a grunt, then turning and moving over to the cage to peek in with Molly.

[Molly Quincannon] Molly smiles and puts a hand on Nat's shoulder. "I appreciate the worry. But let's save that for emergencies, y'know? Sometimes it's better to handle stuff the old-fashioned way. All's well, right?" For Molly, of course, there's little that she'd consider an 'emergency' these days unless it equals or surpasses the whole Nephandi thing. That might well be a little worrying ... but not today.

Today, there is one inquisitive little ferret who sits up and peers at Molly while the rest keep on with their playing or napping or whatever. This one's got a band of black fur around his eyes, giving him a bit of a raccoonish look. "It's ... staring at me," she tells Nat, looking sidelong at the little Dreamspeaker. "I don't know if that means it wants to be my friend, or it wants to eat my brains."

[Natyana Wapanee] She smiles, reaching up to pat Molly's hand. "What crew would I be to only fret over the big things? I don't care if it's a nasty papercut. I worry, and I wanna protect. It's one of the reasons you love me."

She peers at the furry little thing, and laughs. "Oh now that's cute. It looks like it has little bandit goggles on or something."

[Molly Quincannon] "...But he's staring at me." She looks over to Nat and grins. "You say you worry about my every soldering iron accident and paper cut, and you want to send me home with a brain-eating ferret?"

She unselfconsciously sticks her hand in the cage to reach out for the little bandit-looking ferret with the creepy stare ... and her hand is intercepted by another one - similar bandit-goggles, but smaller and apparently more active. The more rambunctious ferret wraps itself around her wrist, clinging with little claws, and gives her thumb a playful sort of gnaw. Molly looks at her ferret-wrapped wrist and then at Nat. "...Um. I haz a flavur?"

[Natyana Wapanee] She laughs, shrugging. "They're cute, and trainable, and keep you busy building small civilizations inside your house for them to play and exist in."

She rocks up onto her toes and pokes her hand in, giggling at the active one pouncing and investigating Molly's flavor as she reaches for the other one that was simply investigating. "So whatcha think little furry thing? Is she raspberry or lemon flavored?"

[Molly Quincannon] The rambunctious ferret chitters and continues its explorations, climbing Molly's arm. The staring one backs off out of reach of Nat's hand and just keeps staring. Molly, trying to divest herself of ferret, says, "I imagine my flavour is 'coffee', actually, thinking about it, and ... hey. Hey. Hey hey hey you little spaz, what are you doing?" What the rambunctious spaz is doing, in point of fact, is sniffling around the edge of her collar. "Agh, tickly tickly tickly! Gyah! Okay okay if I take you home will you stop with the tickly? Agh spaz tickly stop!"

When the spaz stops with the tickly sniffing and just settles on her shoulder, Molly sighs and looks at Nat. "Oh look. I can haz ferret." (Yes, Molly can speak LOLcat.)

[Natyana Wapanee] She cracks up laughing, her arm pulling back when the ferret shies away, not too fussed for it. She smells like Boomer, that can't be appealing to something small and crunchable. She does turn to Molly, and makes some attempt to help... but the furry thing seems to be escaping her. Either that or she's just laughing too hard. Maybe both.

[Molly Quincannon] Molly looks at Nat and then shakes her head, trying to fight the grin and failing. "Oh, yes, fine. Laugh at my tickly pain. Just wonderful. Well, you're not a Mozzy or a Peter, are you?" She looks over at the little ferret as best she can and then says, "You're a Hardison. If you get into my rig, I will introduce you to Boomer."

Then she looks back at Nat. "I think I'm going to need more jingly toys. And Hardison is going to love the Habitrail. So many places to run and so many things to gnaw. Apparently, building a Habitrail version of the Deep Roads has its perks. I hope you and Neal get along."

[Natyana Wapanee] She's.... still laughing. She can't help herself. Finally she gives up trying to help, and instead pulls out her phone. And starts taking pictures.

"This is just priceless, and I have to."

[Molly Quincannon] "Oh, eff-eff-ess, Nat..." Now Molly's trying not to laugh, as the newly-named Hardison hams it up by sitting up on Molly's shoulder and clinging to her hair. And Nat gets some truly epic pictures to post on Facebook (or wherever) before Molly can get to the cash register with the ferret, a harness leash for the little animal (and one for Neal) and a few new jingly toys. Followed by chuckling over the photos over a quick cup of coffee before Nat has to get back to throw together dinner for Lara and Molly has to take her new pet home.