[Game Thread] Under the spreading chestnut tree...

[Ajivani]

Originally Posted by Moridain

Steadfast blinks at the realisation, and peers at the world around him curiously. He hopes that he hasnt caused this himself, somehow...

He walks into the crowd normally though, as if nothing were wrong. He walks to the first phone booth in sight, slipping in correct change for his call, and dialing December's number.

"This is December." Her voice is dry and thin.

[Ajivani]

Originally Posted by LostViking

"Damn. Some people just have no will to live. Assuming we don't get hit by a semi how much farther is it to the ranch?"

"T'aint much along." The rest of the ride passes in silence, and Cody pulls into the large drive. There's two large paddocks and several outbuildings here. You hear the excited bark of dogs somewhere in the distance. There is a hybrid SUV parked in front of the second house, with a man fiddling with something in the back (Manwithdoor's character... helloo out there!) Cody hops out of his truck, looking quizzically at the man, and grabs your things. "Come on inside," he says. There is a black woman in her mid thirties standing on the porch, drying her hands with a dish towel. Her hair is dredded and she's wearing a pink sweater.

"Cody, don't you let that man freeze in my driveway," she says with mock menace. Cody harrumphs at her, and gestures for you to follow him inside.

[ManWithDoor]

Jeff looks up from his SUV and waves sheepishly. "Sorry to keep you waiting, ma'am! Darn suitcase got jammed a bit. I'll deal with it later." Closing up the car, he walks towards everyone else. "Hello, I'm Jeff. Good to meet the lot of you. We expecting many more?" The man looks like he has mainly caucasian ancestry, with brown hair and green eyes. Of average height and build, he would easily blend into a crowd if he cared too. His steps are fluid and balanced, giving him an unconscious grace. He is wearing blue jeans, an unmarked t-shirt, and a thick black winter coat.

[Ajivani]

The woman beams at you. "Deedee said something about a few more -- five of you, I think -- and I sure hope so because I've been cooking all day. Come in and get some coffee, okay? I'm Melanie."

"She's Missus December," Cody supplies. "Don't know where Deedee is just now, but she'll turn up."

"Dee is upstairs looking after that cat scratch that no one bothered to tell me about," Melanie says sharply. "And you, Cody Ellis, of all people should know better --" Just then Cody's cell phone rings, and the harassed man takes this God-given opportunity to escape Melanie. She looks at the two mages assembled on her porch and says, "Well, there's pie and coffee. Come on in."

[SGL2286]

Hearing the commotion and goings on, a woman about 5'5"/5'6", with some Israeli features comes out onto the porch, her hair dyed white, past her shoulders in a simple braid, looking fairly cute, but no runway model for sure, looks around, and appears to squint a moment before nodding, and returning inside. You can hear the sound of plates being brought down and a knife being retrieved.

[LostViking]

Jonathan gives the others a nod in greeting. "Let's save the pleasantries for somewhere less cold. You know, I used to think it was cold in New York." A strong shiver runs through him and he pulls his (fairly thin) wool coat tight around him and heads inside.

[SGL2286]

The white haired woman will have gotten two plates down, and two coffee mugs down. "Coffee? Pie? What do you desire?"

[ManWithDoor]

Jeff blinks for a couple seconds, making the mental note that this Deedee and December appear to not in fact be the same person. Deedee sounded too much like a cute nickname, and he knows he'll confuse the two until things get sorted out. He sort of assumes the white-haired one would be this Deedee. Then who is this Melanie person? Oh the joys of meeting new people.

Remembering his manners, he bows slightly to the black lady who first addressed him. "An honour, Melanie. Thank you for your hospitality. Some hot tea would be greatly appreciated." He goes inside.

[SGL2286]

Entering, Jeff would see the white haired woman is heating water, getting some tea leaves out, and a teapot.

[Ajivani]

"Oh, it's no problem!" Melanie exclaims. "It's not often we get your kind of visitors around here."

Cody steps inside and slides past Melanie. She notices him but diplomatically refuses to comment. He heads upstairs.

A few minutes later, you see a tall Indian woman (wa-wa, not dot dot) making her way carefully down the stairs. She's about 5'10 and 140 or so pounds, with long flat muscles. She's got long black hair with a skunk stripe braided into it, and she's not beautiful but certainly handsome. Her age is oddly indeterminate; by the skunk stripe and the crease between her brows perhaps forty, but her rapid liquid movements indicate a much younger age. She's wearing a pair of heavy dark jeans and a gray knit sweater. She comes into the room, limping slightly. "Almost a house full," she comments. "I am December."

[SGL2286]

The white haired woman pulls down another cup and a plate, and looks to December with a quizzical look

[Ajivani]

December nods wearily and limps to a barstool along one side of the kitchen island. "Sit down, sit down," she says to her visitors. "Cody's gone to pick up stragglers. Hope we can resolve all this without much fuss."

[SGL2286]

The white haired woman cuts a piece of pie, pours some coffee, and brings both over to December, then looks at Jeff and Johnathan with a look that says what do you desire?

[ManWithDoor]

Jeff notices the look, and gestures for both a piece of pie and some of the coffee. Good enough. While tea is his preference, it's easier to not be an inconvenience. He nods his head politely to their host. "A pleasure to finally meet your acquiantance. Is their anything we can do to make our presence here less of a burden? Besides the ... unpleasant business that has brought us all here, of course."

[SGL2286]

The white haired woman cuts you a piece of pie, gets another cup down, and fills it with coffee. After bringing both over, she pours hot water into the teapot, pours it out, adds leaves, hot water, and lets it sit a few minutes before adding more hot water, bringing it and another cup over and placing it in front of Jeff.