Log:Crawfish Music Festival at the Gardens

2021/04/08 Carpenter Magda Grant Grimm Porter Bree 1

It's a lovely spring day. With brigther and better weather comes festivals and events. It's early evening and the NOLA Crawfish Music Festival has started the first day of it's five day run, ending on Sunday. A large section of the park has been set up with food and shopping vendor booths, gaming booths, bouncy castles, inflatable slides, two music stages, and of course, a massive crawfish boil.

Gabrielle thought this'd be an interesting event for a date. She's actually dressed for it, too. She's wearing a black rocker lace up front dress and knee-high lace up black leather boots. The dress, though split by a deep lace-up V in the front, has a vintage rockband logo on it. She's just finished flashing her ID and gets a paper wristband showing she's allowed to order from the beer booths.

Carpenter is dressed...casually today, for once. He has the day off. And the weather is getting warmer. He's in a plain blue t-shirt that fits snugly, as well as jeans and comfortable dress shoes. The same kind he wears when he's working on on his feet all day. "This was a nice idea. Thanks for suggesting it."

Grimm smiles at Carpenter and offers to hold hands. "You say that now, but wait 'til we hit the fried alligator booth," she teases.

Music! Bouncy Castles! Food! Facepainting! Did we mention Bouncy Castles?! Not so bouncy that anyone need fall from the sky today, though. Porter emerges from the crowds already on the ground. And upright, even!

His normal casual is currently accented by a face painted up with black nose and whiskers, some crawfish crumbles down his front, and a partially-defeated cone of cotton candy in hand.

Carpenter chuckles. "It's meat. It'll taste fine, I'm sure. Like eating, I dunno...bison."

Grimm looks impressed at Carpenter's response. "Nothing phases you," she smiles. "It's a lot like chicken, actually. Way better than frog legs, though they got some of those here, too."

Carpenter frowns a bit. "I'm not interested in frog legs, though. I like the little guys too much."

Grimm blinks at Carpenter, surprised. She smiles more as she learns something new about him. "I had no idea. You a big kermit fan, or...?"

Carpenter shakes his head, "No. I just grew up with a frog in the house as a pet. So...I like them?" He smiles.

New Orleans is an interesting place, and while Magda enjoys the French Quarter for its architecture, the music, the partying, and the food are much lower on her list as reasons to enjoy it. She thus would not normally go in for a Cultural Fair for it -- or really, of any sort -- but when someone you're interested in invites you to something you're not, well, the foolish and the wise both say that the idea is to pay more attention to the former and less to the latter, and hope that an entertaining time is had, for the company if nothing else. (After all, there are entire groups dedicated to enjoying the truly terrible of their type of entertainment, from cooking to movies to books.)

Today, she carries with her a purse of sorts, more a satchel than anything, slung over her head the way you do for satchels. There's nothing in it that she can't lose, but you never know what souveniers you might acquire at such a place ...

Grimm offers to take his hand as they get ready to walk in. "Really? I had no idea. What was its name?" she asks, genuinely interested in learning more about Jack.

Carpenter smiles. "Her name was Skippy. Not sure why. My sister named her, and didn't tell me the reason."

"Yoooou have a sister?" Gabrielle asks in shock. "You never mentioned that. We need to get beers and you need to tell me more about this," she insists as they get past the gate. She's in search of the nearest beer booth when she spies Porter. Initially, she doesn't recognize him at all, but her head tracks back and then it clicks and she chuckles to herself.

Grant Shields just got cleared for field equipment! He was at the range, playing- ahem- testing out his new shiny space age raygun when he realizes the time.

"The only teleporter in the world who can't be on time." He says, chiding himself and opening a portal to the otherside of the shooting range. He steps through before opening another portal- skipping long hallways & stairwells entirely where possible before making it out to the parking lot.

From there its just a quick - perhaps dangerously so - bike ride on to the Gardens & the music festival.

He of course arrives in time to realize he's still in a flight jumper & the rest of his kit. He rubs his face.

"Unbeleivable. Ok- jsut going to have to make do." He says, unzipping the flight suit and with a bit of clever adjusting and some hoisting of holsters he looks like he just got off of work.

As to why he asked Magda out for a festival liek this, well that's simple. Something like this reminds him of crawfish boils at home, and all the other treats of the Gulf Coast- of which New Orleans is one of its finest, and most esteemed gems.

He texts Magda as he jogs up:

Carpenter nods to Grimm, "Yeah. She's a couple years younger than me." He notices Grimm's gaze focusing on Porter. "Is that..."

Porter happily tears off pieces of pink fluffiness to consume. After a bit, though, all the sugar makes one get a bit thirsty. Just as he starts to look around for a booth with a line shorter than 'tomorrow,' a man leaving a beer tent at a clip nearly runs him over. "Hey! Wait up!" the man calls to someone. To Porter, he says, "Here, hold my beer!" before running off into the crowd.

Well, that's serendipitous. Porter washes down some of the sugar with that. Hopefully it's not too strong.

Magda receives the text, and smiles a little, turning around to look for him. It's tougher when you're short, and have decided on particularly not using your powers, but the Secret ID techniques aren't /that/ old, and she moves over to a concrete-base light post and climbs up it, just a twenty-something needing some height, looking around to try to locate a didn't-change-after-work Grant. >> Not a problem, << she texts back. >> If you're in a flight suit, I know how comfy those can be. I'm a little way up against a light-post near the gate looking for you. <<

"I...I think that is," Gabrielle chuckles. "Hmm...would you kill me and ensure no one found the body if I suggested we go to a face painting booth?" she asks Jack playfully.

Grant looks at the PDA and almost runs over someone, barely spinning out of the way, but as the crowd thickens he slows down.

He checks the message and then starts looking for a lightpole with a small framed woman on it as he lines up to get a 21+ wristband.

He gets to the gate as he spots her, and waves towards her to get her attention as he steps forward one spot.

Carpenter chuckles, "I...don't really have an interest in gettting my face painted. But if you want to do so, I'll happily watch."

Magda lets her sense of energy ping her when something -- someone -- strange is relatively close; Grant registers as one, and it enables her to look in that direction in time to see him waving. She waves back, and hops down, working her lateral way through the crowd. "Bonjour!" she says in greeting as she reaches him, her eyes lively. French seemed ... appropriate.

Gabrielle pouts faintly. "You need to loosen up a little," she says lightly, not actually bothered that he's not on board.

Porter now spies Grimm and Carpenter and offers them a smile (that makes his whiskers twitch) and a big wave. "Hey! How're you g-*BRRP*-uys doing? Having fun? Er, excuse me." He washes down the belch with another sip of beer. That should help, right?

Grant smiles. "Bon-jure!" He replies as he enters, his accent proving too much for the French language's delicate pronounciation.

"I hope you haven't been waiting long." Grant says as he offers a dual purpose hug- one part greeting, one part consolatory prize.

Carpenter laughs at Grimm's comment, "I've been told that before. Yeah." He gives Porter a wave, "Umm...you okay over there?"

Gabrielle grins. "See? It's some good advice. What're you worried about?" She looks over at Porter in surprise at the belch. "You getting wasted?"

Magda laughs briefly -- at the massacre'd French as well as at the hug. It's been a while, and her return is tentative. "No, not at all," she replies, and looks up at him, a peculiar smile on her face. "Were you running the FTL sim again?" She knows how space-crazy he is, and would be willing to bet he's run it more than the one time she was there to watch.

Grant shakes his head. "Not today. But I did clock an hour and a half yesterday- and the day before too. That was a good time and I made a good time." He says proudly. "Today I was on the range, testing my new field weapon. Just finished up the prereqs to requisition something from the armory." He doesn't add anything about the Anarctic mission having pushed the brass into putting him a bit further ahead in line since the rookie is running with a more rough and capable crowd than the other cadets.

Bree has just made a delivery at the country club, and is taking some time off from running around the city. Besides, there's food here...

"Oh? What did you acquire?" wonders Magda. Weapons per se are not her field of expertise, but one can prevent a physicist from knowing weaponry in the same way one can prevent an oceanographer from knowing about fishing: you can't. She pays her entry fee, and shows her ID, and gets her paper wristband for alcohol consumption, listening to Grant's response.

"OH- just a low-capacity energy weapon. Its designed for pilots- so not a lot of rounds, but its got a lot of punch." Grant answers though is just barely audible above the crowd. He knows its best to keep your limitations on the DL, not that he has any intention on using it any further today. "Its called the 'Challenger High Energy '. Its actually pretty fun to shoot. Not sure that it beats my old magnum tho'. Somethin' about that kickback- like a horse that makes it feel so much more ... I dunno, tangible maybe."

Carpenter doesn't get an answer from Porter right away. He says as an aside to Grimm, "He's okay, right? We're not going to get a bus load of nuns crashing through here, right?"

Gabrielle whispers to Jack, "He's...a super lightweight. Things may get weird if he's had three sips." She doesn't comfort him by saying the bus thing won't happen. "Anyway...are you afraid criminals won't take you seriously if they catch you with face paint on?"

Magda ahhhs softly. "I have heard of that, but I have to confess that I'm not entirely certain of the provenance of the ... sense of it." She considers this thoughtfully, her eyes distant as she looks beyond the fair's people and displays. "Well ... maybe I do. A little. We learned weapons on the kibbutz."

Carpenter shrugs and smiles to Gabrielle, "That might be part of it, yeah."

As Bree wanders the fair, munching on crawfish, she spots some people she recognizes: Detective Carpenter, the only guy on the force she's even starting to respect, and that Porter guy (not the one who tried to crash the moon), and that professor she'd been seeing at the Underground, Dr. Kudzu or something....

Gabrielle chuckles softly. "Well, I'm supposed to be the Mistress of Tenebration, conduit of the Qliphothic...you think I'm worried what people will think if I put on some face paint?" Goth face paint, anyway.

Carpenter shrugs and smiles. "I think...you have powers, so your appearance is less of an issue?"

"Mmmmmm. Maybe." Gabrielle will give him that. She grins. "Okay, so what do you want to try first? We definitely got to have beignets at some point, though." She notices Magda and tries to hide her surprise. "Whoa. Is that...Magda? On a date? With the rookie?"

"We had basic training, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to worry about being armed regularly." Grant admits, "But- this city is hotter than most when it comes to action. Gamma base has 20% more dispatches than other facilities, so it was only a matter of time."

He looks about before turning back to Magda and double-taking at seeing a Lancer on date night. He looks surprised and thing, 'Good for her' before asking Magda, "So what do you want to do first? Grab a drink?"

Magda lifts a shoulder in a mild shrug. "To be honest, I don't know if I'd trust what's on sale here. I'm not a heavy drinker in the best of times, but ... I'm open to seeing what they have available. Wine, perhaps -- a riesling or a merlot." She lets Grant steer them through the crowd, missing Grimm in it, perhaps due to the crowd's distractions. "I'm fairly confident someone can get you more than the standard course. What was it again, sear?"

Carpenter smiles to Gabrielle. "Getting a beer and a beignet sounds good." He looks in the direction Grimm indicates. "Mmm...maybe? I didn't get a good look, I'm afraid."

Grant scoffs. "Trust? This is a slice of Classic Americana. As pure as Barbarque and running through some of the most beautiful backwoods ya dun ever saw." He says, deciding to find Magda some wine before finding a booth serving alligator to rip that tightly-wound band-aid right off.

She wants him to lead, so he does. Smiling at Grimm, her date & Porter who he recognizes. He gives Bree a nod who seems to know them.

Magda laughs as Grant emphasizes his Texas accent, less interested than most in crowd-watching at the moment. "I somehow doubt it's quite like /that/. More Cajun, less Kentuckian. I /know/ the back woods around New Orleans is swamp, Mister Grant," she teases.

Gabrielle happily leads to the beer booth first. When they get there, she flashes her wristband showing she was carded and orders an amber ale. "Well, I hope it works out for them. Wouldn't have guessed that pairing, so I'm out ten bucks."

Carpenter orders the same kind of beer for himself. "Who were you betting on, exactly?"

"Sapphire. Y'know, what with her jet constructs and space travel, and how he's all crazy about that stuff," Gabrielle says quietly as she receives her beer in a clear plastic cup.

"Ok- ya got me." Grant says with a laugh. "Its a bit swampy. But those k'juns know how to throw down anyway."

He saddles up to the 'Decanter Station' booth after noticing a section with wines listed on the menu. The name is completely lost on him.

"And yeah it was the SERE course. First half is done. Now I've got to sign up for the live half- which has to wait for the monsoon season to be over in this year's location. I decided to sign up for the next one." He says, answering her previous question. "Figure there's plenty to learn under Vic than taking the standard path. None of the other cadets got to make an Anarctic run." He adds, almost beaming.

Carpenter nods and chuckles. "Ah, so you were betting on who he'd hook up with. Got it. I'm afraid I don't know Sapphire that well."

"An Antarctic run?" Magda asks. "Oh, now you /have/ to tell me about that. I haven't been down /there/ in a while. Where's the live half going to be?"

Gabrielle admits quietly, "I don't really, either. Just that she does spacey stuff. Like...a blue version of Spirit's powers, only she's not undead." She holds up her beer to him. "Cheers to the sexiest date here," she smiles. She's a bit biased.

Carpenter raises his beer as well. "Well...thank you. But I think I only come in second place." He smiles slightly, "Especially given that dress you're wearing." He chuckles and sips his beer as he thinks about what she just said. "So...the commander is undead? Like a priest could order him to begone?"

Grant nods. "Oh- well, I can't tell you much yet. Its part of an active investigation. Moving parts and stuff- you know, out of my pay grade. I'm the chauffeur, so sitting in on those chats is a bit daunting." He admits as they move forward in the line. "It was real pretty though- in a stark kind of way. Like seeing the sand dunes for the first time. Just more... endless. And cold. Colder than sin really and plenty of places to hide 'em." He leans in to say, "I'm not itchin' to go back that's f'sure. But those Fleet shuttles are a smooth ride though- mostly anyway." He adds that last bit as he thinks of the 'landing'.

"Some Pacific Island from what I can tell- but it could be in the Indian Ocean too, at least if I'm reading everything correctly. Lots of clues, but as you can bet they aren't specific so you can't prep too much ahead of time." He explains.

Bree is starting to get one of her headaches - like almost every time she's around lots of people these days (since Z left to 'find herself'). She's starting to think about leaving, when she sees Carpenter again - and gets an eyeful of his date...

"Well...not...quite. I've heard some stories about it. I mean, he died, yeah. They he came back from beyooooond the graaaaave," Gabrielle uses a spooky voice and wiggles her fingers for effect. She drops that act and chuckles. "Well, it was more like he returned through scientific means than magic. He's not like one of the traditional undead. I think just...hm...maybe it was the physical part of him that died, but his stored energy and consciousness lives on? Though....maybe saying 'The power of Christ compels you!' may work and get me out of a long meeting."

Carpenter laughs, "I'm...sure you wouldn't regret saying that in a meeting. That won't come back to bite you, so to speak." He grins, and sips his beer.

Magda ahs at the 'investigation, can't talk'. "That was one of the parts that irritated me about working within the justice system," she confesses. "As a scientist, I have always found that talking to someone else -- by which I generally mean being forced to explain myself -- is invaluable when it comes to putting everything together. Forces you to put it in order inside your own head.

She listens to Grant's comment about the 'Pacific Island' part, and nods thoughtfully. "Bring a knife," Magda suggests. "I'm told that a good survival knife is the best thing for, well, survival. You can manage almost anything if you have a reliable basic tool like that. The one thing really necessary for boot-strapping, as it were. I, of course, would utterly suck on that sort of thing, operating off the presumption I couldn't use my abilities."

"Yeah, that....well. I've never seen him angry, so what's the worst it could be? Y'know, aside from getting kicked out of Starguard Gamma," Gabrielle chuckles.

Carpenter chuckles. "SGG is a paycheck. And it's work you're suited well for. So...it's worth not tossing it away." He takes a deep breath, thinking about his own future with the department, which causes his smile to fade briefly. But it returns in a matter of moments. "Let's grab something to eat."

Grant nods. "Yeah- its new for me dealing with all that too. I mean, I get secrecy and what not, but this is the first time I've been part of something like this. Getting roped up in some local business while I'm nearby is one thing- but this was like, a different league." He explains, commiserating a bit. "But I bet science gets a bit cold-blooded that way, then again bureaucracy is pretty cold-blooded too."

He laughs and replies, "I'm pretty sure they won't appreciate me opening gates & tackling trees. But they can't do anything about my triathlon training, I'd wager. But I've been shopping for a good survival knife for a month now. I'm sure my Pawpaw's war knife won't be up to modern standards." He says before pivoting subjects to her life, "So- speaking of science, what are you studying this week?"

"True. Also it's always the quiet and calm ones, so...if I turn up dead in the next, oh, week or so, there's your suspect," Gabrielle teases with some dark humor. She notices the fade in his smile and looks mildly concerned. She nods and follows him along to his choice of food. "Sure, Handsome. And...what's on your mind? Something you want to talk about?"

Bree is out of crayfish. And Carpenter and his beautiful date seem to be heading back toward the food booths, so Bree tags along. Something tickles the back of her mind - there's something familiar about the slightly older woman.

Over by one of the performance stages, the crowd roars, and pain spikes through Bree's skull. Forget the food - she has to get out of here.

Magda ahhs softly. "Yes, the ... grabbed-to-go-on-a-mission is a little, mmm, I think 'freaky' would be a good term, if I'm using it right. Oddly enough, the science part of science is utterly comforting to me; it can't care, and doesn't, it simply -is-. It's the scientists that can be a problem, and you can find jealous fame-chasers there as much as anywhere. It's called 'publish or perish' for a reason."

She listens to the commentary about knives, and suggests, "That's the sort of thing I could certainly help with -- Mistress of Magnetism and whatnot. As for this week's science, putting the polish on my high-energy particle thesis. I'm ... not sure they're going to like it, but ..." She smiles, almost wolfishly. "The math and the data are on my side. Can I tell you that it is /insanely/ difficult having to design an experiment, then be forced by scientific rigor to be on the other side of the hemisphere at the time it's run, just so people can be comfortable with knowing you didn't fudge the results?"

Bree staggers off toward the park exit.

Carpenter shakes his head, "Just thinking a bit about my career, such as it is. That's all." He smiles. "And wondering if I'll ever get promoted if I stay where I am."

Gabrielle smiles sympathetically and leans in closer to lightly bump shoulders with him affectionately. "They owe you several raises and promotions by now. And recognition for the crazy cases you've cracked. You're the best damn detective this city has." She takes a breath and sighs it out, thinking on that. "What would you do if you went elsewhere? I know we chatted about a few options, but what're you feeling now? Is this because of metahumans and Liberty getting rolled into the department?"

Carpenter chuckles. "No, it doesn't' have anything to do with Liberty. So far...they've been okay, as far as I can tell. But...well, you never know." He shakes his head again, "No, it's just more of the same feelings I was having previously.

"Well, if the Senator was messing with your head to make you think they were cool, I'd probably notice it." Gabrielle leans in and playfully squints at his temple for show. "Mmmm. Nope. Nothing unusual there. Just the usual stuff on your mind." She pulls back and sips her beer, then replies more seriously, "You're great at what you do. If you're really not happy there, maybe it's time to look into other options. That senator you helped seemed pretty grateful. Maybe he could be a good reference for other jobs? What about...UEMS?"

Carpenter nods slowly. "That might work. Or the FBI, I suppose." He pauses and shrugs again, "I'm...generally happy with the work. It just would be nice if the pay increases were better, I guess?" He chuckles.

Gabrielle smiles kindly. "I'm sure more pay would be nice. Especially since you're risking your life on the job. I...could see you as a fed, sure. Investigating weird cases. Ohhh. Like the X-files!" she grins. "I was kind of looking into being a Fed earlier during my classes, but...I figured my past record would've stopped me from getting in. I was really focused on kidnappings and missing persons for...obvious reasons."

Carpenter chuckles. "I'm not sure if they'd take me, anyway. I think they have an academy you have to go through for training, too. But it's a possibility."

Gabrielle nods. "Like Quantico? I mean, you've got on the job training. That'd probably be a breeze for you."

Carpenter shrugs, "It would mean being away for a while. And...I don't want to be away for a while." He bumps shoulders with her again.

Gabrielle blushes and smiles, getting bumped. She chuckles as they get into line for food. "I don't want you to be away, either. But I don't want to stand in your way. Maybe...it's something to think on. I'll be graduating this summer, as long as the world doesn't end or something like that." Still a decent chance of that happening. "Maybe...we could get into the training program together."

Carpenter smiles. "Maybe. We can talk about it when you decide what you want to do. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good. And I'm flattered you'd be willing to pass on that to stay close," Gabrielle smiles.

Carpenter grins, "Well, sometimes...sacrifices have to be made to make things work. But I'll keep looking at my options."

Gabrielle's surprised to hear those words. She says the first thing that comes to mind, and is surprised when it turns out to be, "I love you." Just as simple as can be. Usually it doesn't come so easily. She smiles at how natural it feels now, and leans in for a kiss on his cheek. "I hope I'm worth it, Jack. But...you know I can teleport a long way. It's not like any place would be too far."

Carpenter smiles. "I love you too. And I know. But the city here is home to me, too. So, there's more to it."