2020-11-18 - Guests, Ghosts, and Getting things Done

The tall man in the designer suit walks towards the fridge as indicated, opening it to do exactly as instructed -- this is just another every day situation and at the moment, he's the one thing that doesn't fit the scene -- not her. "Sure thing, Mrs Kelly."

Is this normal? The people outside did just tell Ravn that the woman is supposedly twenty years dead. He steals a glance at the bruises on her neck and reasons that they probably were not joking -- the look on the face of Mac, at least, was one of incredulity; the gamer girl had not heard this story before, either.

Who cares. There's someone cooking, this is the important thing.

Nicole heads into the kitchen, smiling to see Ravn there, and Ma. "I thought I heard something in the house, so came back in. Musta been you, Ma." She looks to Ravn then nods her head over to the perpetually 36 year old woman. "Ravn, Ma. Ma, this is a friend, Ravn." Seeing the eggs in Ravn's hands, she asks, "whacha cooking?" Her head tilts a little. "There's plenty of food outside..."

Ravn blinks. Then looks back at Nicole, and then, finally, at the window and the people beyond. "I'm not the only one who can see Mrs Kelly, am I?"

A strange question to be asking, maybe, when you're standing in someone's kitchen holding six eggs. It would at least be rather odd for the man to decide to walk in there and start stealing them on his own -- presumably?

He puts the eggs where the ghost of Joey's mum indicated that she wanted them and takes a step back in the fashion of someone who's a) very well dressed and doesn't want oven grease on his threads and b) is utterly lost in a kitchen. "Sorry, Mrs Kelly. I didn't mean to be rude. I'm just not all that accustomed to -- other people seeing things, too."

The wisp of a woman ( literal wisp here), waves her hand, "Ms. Not married. This is... this is my house. Call me Julianne." There is some distraction as her as Nicole comes in. She recognizes her now, though it helps that she knew her before too. "You're taller." They had this talk last week too. Looking to Ravn she processes this much curiously asking, "You one of those unfortunate Celano boys?" Oh the Finch family history. Her hand circles at the apology "It's alright, my brother was a drinker too." 'Seeing things' may not be registering her entirely. Looking to the pair of them she points. There are things to do in here! It might be a subconscious affectation she carries knowing she won't finesse the objects around the kitchen and recruits help. "Nicole, have you met this family? It's like feeding a pack of ravenous wolves with black holes for stomachs. I don't know 'enough' has ever described food around here."

"I mean... I did just say hello to her and introduce the two of you." Nicole smiles at Ravn. "So. Well, I think I see her." Nodding to Ma she says, "yeah. I grew a bit." She laughs and says, "that is true enough. Especially if you bring out burgers or ribs around Joey. They are frying a turkey though! A whole turkey! And people are bringing some very weird things. Eggos and ice cream, um, beer. Beer's not weird. How can I help, Ma?"

The Dane smiles slightly at the woman's barrage of questions and shakes his head. "I don't think I am an unfortunate Celano boy -- Julianne. My name is Ravn Abildgaard. Your son is helping me learn self defence." Because standing around someone's kitchen in a designer suit, talking to a ghost is perfectly normal, at least for Gray Harbor. The suit is probably the unusual part of that scene.

He glances to Nicole, possibly to gauge her reaction; Joey's partner -- fiancee? Right, fiancee -- seems a lot more at ease with the idea of her kitchen being haunted than Ravn expects most people would be. But then, perhaps Julianne cooking isn't exactly Return of the Living Dead, either. "I think they are experimenting with something new -- they call them waffletacos. It involves, apparently, a lot of alcohol and a lot of deep frying."

The Dane does seem a little out of it, like he's not entirely relaxed. Who knows? Maybe he is afraid of ghosts.

Julianne pauses and widens a warm smile to Nicole which pauses, eyes widening at Ravn's words. Slooooowly she turns on heel and looks out of the kitchen window. "JOEY LEE YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS BETTER NOT BURN DOWN MY GARAGE!" That might be what Vic was reacting to there. The cook book and the pan intended for the brownies lift off the counter by an inch. OUtside there's a muffled "It's fine, get back in the house, Ma!" Her fingers press to her forehead and form a small fist in that God gimme mercy gesture. To either of them she grouses, "When they found out about those the very first think my brother Jack did was get the garage caught on fire. It's not right It's not -" Looking up she looks to Ravn and Nicole. "This needs... brownies." In case people get hungry waiting for the fire department? A very Kelly Family Solution(tm). "You'll help won't you? Eggs go in that bowl and the recipe's there."

Waffle tacos seem to sound good to Nicole. After all, she's high like the rest of the town and it involves food. She nods with approval of the treat bt has to purse her lips together to stifle a laugh as Ma yells at Joey. "You tell him Ma. I tried to... oh right, I was gonna look for a fire extinguisher in here, just in case." Stepping up to the counter with her bare feet on the floor, she looks to the recipe. "Sure Ma, we'll help." She elbow-nudges Ravn and grins. "You gonna help, Mr. Fancy Suit?"

"Yes -- yes, of course." Ravn pulls his blazer off and leaves it on a chair away from the stove. "What do you need me to do? I warn you, my experience in a kitchen is pretty much limited to cereal and microwave dinners. What are we making -- more cupcakes? I do love cupcakes. This weed thing has me eating cupcakes like my life depended on them. Even my cat is eating cupcakes."

The gloves stay on, though. Because clearly, sleek black silk gloves are the obvious choice for cooking adventures. Ravn seems to have a very, shall we say, personal take on some things.

Julianne looks to Nicole, "Riiiight?" There is some relief that settles on the specter having someone agree with her. When asked what he wants done the ghost's hand picks up the eggs and brings them over. They in all theory should not be moving, but, well, they are. Take em, boyo. "You crack those and beat the shit out of em with a fork. No shells." Looking to Nicole she adds, "They're not supposed to be crunchy. Still, Nicole, don't let the boys burn everything down. Someone's got to have some common sense around here." Looking to Ravn she asks, "Your cat eats cupcakes? Don't use the foil wrapper. You don't want them snacking on that."

Nicole glances to the recipe then looks up to Ravn, "brownies. Which go well with cupcakes." She grins and does this sort of lazy humming laugh. Poor girl has munchies on the brain. Looking towards the man's hands, more specifically, the gloves, and gives a nod in their direction. "You might want to take those off. They could get messy." Wrinkling her nose, she is imagining egg goo covering the black silk. "Man... now I want cupcakes," she murmurs when Ma and Ravn talk about cats eating cupcakes.

"I will do my best, Ma. You know your boys, hard to control sometimes. I am sure Joey will be super safe though." Cuz, that is what Joey is known for; being safe and careful and never taking chances. Right.

"Oh, I have a spare pair in my coat if I need," Ravn replies, completely missing the point. "I don't touch things without some kind of protection -- I have a nerve system disorder. If something surprises me or doesn't feel like I expect, it's a bit like sticking your hand in an electrical socket, or holding on to an electrical fence."

At least he knows how to crack eggs (and not pour all the white into his own lap). Beating the shit out of them might be hard to do literally, but the Dane does his best with the fork. From the looks of him he's one of those men whose usual business in a kitchen involves nuking a microwave meal or eating cereal. He's not unwilling to help but good lord, you'd better tell him exactly what to do and watch him like a hawk because he has no instinct and no experience.

Ma Kelly looks to Nicole and says bluntly, "Those boys came into the world a hazard and they haven't stopped since." Her attention shifts to Ravn and his gloves. "Europeans are so fancy. I should get me a pair." Also completely missing the point but not insisting otherwise. There's small direction on how to hold the fork using her fingers as a gesture so he knows how to angle the thing, "Otherwise you're just shoving ti around the bowl. My brother used to do that. Covered the kitchen in flour or what I thought was flour. I'm glad he stuck to boxing."

There's a sigh and she leans a hip on the counter looking to Nicole then Ravn and then Nicole again, "When you have kids do not hide coke in the kitchen. That's a sure fire way to have a near catastrophe on your hands. Can't tell flour from it. I'm still... so..." the lights dim a bit and flicker and go back to normal. Looking to Ravn her eyes narrow, she looks in the bowl and nods. "Good boy."

Nicole's eyes remain focused on Ravn's gloves, very curious about them until he mentions a nerve disorder. "Oh...." Her nose wrinkles when he describes the sensation being akin to electricity, clearly thinking it unpleasant, giving a little shudder before pushing away the thought from her mind.

No worries about him being told exactly what to do. Ma is here.

She has to laugh when Ma speaks to her so bluntly. "No worries, Ma. Pretty sure they will never fully stop. I guess... I kinda like it that way." She shrugs a little and watches Ravn get a lesson on how to mix batter properly. Until, that is, Ma turns back to Nicole. She can't help but grin a little. "I promise, if I ever have little nuns, I will not hide coke in the kitchen. Preferably not anywhere in the house..." She bites her lip when the lights start to flicker, looking to them nervously. When Ma turns back to give Ravn more direction (and praise), Nicole breathes out a soft breath of relief. Topic changed.

"I'm pretty sure one's not supposed to hide coke in the kitchen," Ravn agrees good-naturedly while learning how to beat eggs. He too glances up at the lights and then at Nicole. An eyebrow is quirked slightly -- and then unquirked when the ghost changes the topic of conversation and the lights stop flickering. Ah.

He takes the hint and asks, "You Kellys must have lived here in Gray Harbor for a while, then? Some of the family names in this area seem to go back a long time -- not just the Addingtons and the Baxters, but also some of the others. This town has a very seven generations feel to it -- that's a running joke in my home country, that you're not able to consider yourself properly belonging somewhere until your family has lived there for seven generations. Until then, you'll always be 'that fellow from out of town' even if you were born there."