The Coffin Bean

[Rorrim Rory Bludworth]

Rory made a face.

"Not good. Four hours of Hiss-tory and then mother and I had a...discussion again about me transferring to Monster High. Needless to say, it didn't go well." Rory looked around. Marceline must not have been working that day. "Sometimes I wish I could just...I don't know, up and run away, you know? Be independent! Be my own manster for once. I'm not a baby anymore!"

Rory looked at the kids in the corner playing Spellbound. He wanted to wave to Glen, but he looked absorbed in a game with a skeleton boy with a shock of bright orange hair peeking out of his hoodie. Rory leaned on his elbows on the table and ran a hand through his blood-red hair.

"I'd give ANYthing to switch places with you, Dash. Seriously. The grass is always greener on the other side of the mirror."  

[Ronan Aalto]

Alas, he had no counter to that. He frowned and studied his cards, rolling the dice and drawing once more.
Carefully he set down "Dire Lemming", a card that featured a massive deformed rodent rampaging a medieval style village. He moved it to Kai's side but the rules stated it had to wait one turn before it could tap and rampage.
He nodded, indicating it was Kai's turn once more.  

[Dashner Hawke]

Dashner's heart felt like it sank. Watching Rorrim truly feel terrible made him feel terrible too. Dashner sighed and shifted in his seat.

"Rory, I... Listen. You're awesome, and I think you know that by now." He let out a small laugh to kill the awkwardness. "But everything will work out, I just know it! Hey, at least we are here right now..."

Dashner dropped his eyes to the table awkwardly. Deciding to change the subject, he made a suggestion.

"Want anything to eat or drink? I'm sure you're hexhausted after a long day at tombschooling."  

[Kai Merha]

"Dire Lemming! Oh, snap!" Kai picked up the dice and rolled them. Five! He could draw five cards. Kai pulled up five from his deck.

Everlasting Eyeball....Not super useful at this point, since Ronan didn't have cards to look at.

Barebones Brushblaster! Oh, that was a good one. It would allow Kai to sweep his side of the field clean.

Werecat's Meow...Kai wasn't really sure what this card did. He had bought it because he loved the impasto painting of a black werecat illustrating the card.

Fluffy Mouse, another card Kai had bought only for the art. It seemed very out of place in Spellbound as it was rather cute and not monstrous at all.

And finally.....The Doom Tomb! Oh, that was a good starter. It would let Kai redirect the blood pool towards his cemetery and render Ronan's cemetery dried out. That coupled with the sheep card could be a good combination.

"Hmm......" Kai studied his cards. He could hear Meowlody and Purrsephone start to giggle in the background.

Doom Tomb was the obvious choice....but! If he played Fluffy Mouse or Werecat's Meow, he could find out what they did, and this was just a practice game anyways.

But then again, maybe he should head off Ronan at the pass over the Dire Lemmings and play the Barebones Brush.

Except....maybe....

"Snerk....I knew this was going to be entertaining..." Meowlody whispered to Purrsephone as Kai picked up one card...paused...put it back...and tapped his chin...  

[Rorrim Rory Bludworth]

Dashner Hawke

"Want anything to eat or drink? I'm sure you're hexhausted after a long day at tombschooling."

"Sure!" Rory narrowed his eyes at the menu. "I'll take an "S"....or is that a number 5?"

Rory watched as Dashner put in their orders with the Furrista.

"So, uh, is Marceline going to show up tonight? I'd like to hear how her day went too."  

[Dashner Hawke]

Dashner swallowed. He didn't actually know where Marceline was, but he wanted to give Rorrim some assurance.
...
Yet he felt very weirded out that they were always asking about one another.. Oh well.

"Umm... I think she will eventually, yeah. Oh by the way..." Dashner put his hand down as Rorrim got out his wallet. "On me bro, your treat."  

[Rorrim Rory Bludworth]

"Thanks!" Rory replied brightly. He still hadn't resolved that mirror-image money issue, and after today's argument it was probably not a good idea to ask his mother for a regular-world deadbit card.

Thinking about that made Rory feel down and dull again, so he tried to redirect the topic.

"Hey, tell me more about school today. Even the boring parts! I want to know all about your classes!"  

[Ronan Aalto]

Ronan waited... and waited... and waited a bit more. After a good ten minutes of indecision he finally spoke up. "Just put a card down already."
He shot a glare to the werecats who appeared to have paused their game to shamelessly watch the two boos, they burst into snickering laughter at the Selkie's expression which only served to irritate him further.
"Don't you have your own game to play?" He snapped, they both smirked and pretended to go back to playing, though he still caught them sneaking glances and giggling every so often.  

[Kai Merha]

"Okay! Sorry about that!" Kai raised up the Doom Tomb card and held it between his thumb and forefinger, preparing to lay it down. At that exact moment, Purrsephone stood up with an empty cup to head back to the counter for a refill. She paused behind Kai and 'accidentally' glanced at his card.

"You're going to play THAT one? Are you SURE?" She purred, then shrugged and headed back towards the counter.

"Oh, gee, maybe...." Kai slid the card back into his hand and returned to studying the cards he'd drawn. "Hmmm...."

Meowlody held up a claw and across the room Purrsephone air-high-fived her twin.  

[Ascreama Poweurgh]

Ascreama pushed open the door to the Coffin Bean and pulled in Meme, who wore a large frown upon her colourful face.
"Stop being grumpy and get in.. Yes, I'll get you a coffee, go find a table! I'm the antisocial one, remember?"
The blob ghoul danced over to the counter and ordered a large tray of coughies, paininis, painstries, heart-y soups and toxic fruit salads. Meme slouched at an empty table and tapped away at her moanbile as Ascreama wobbled over to the table, barely balancing the tray as she walked.

They were seated on a table near the back, over looking a group on monsters playing cards. Ascreama waved a globby hand at Ronan, waiting until he looked away before she began eating. They both sat back, blowing on boiling hot coughies and enjoying the dim but alive atmosphere.
 

[Meme Pennywise]

Meme scowled at the werecats on the nearby table; she'd never been overly fond of felines, let alone talking, malicious, scheming cats. She anxiously sipped her drink. There was a strange feeling in the air which set her on edge, like white noise in the back of her mind. She'd gotten more anxious and irate as the day trudged along.

Ascreama brought Meme back to the real world with a whisper,
"Ooh- There's the monster that invited us," her friend motioned to Kai at the playing table, taking a big bite of a pokeweed pie. "You li~ike him," She sang, "He called you cu~ute!"

"He called us cute," Meme stated, slumping back into her chair.

"He think we're cuu~te!" Ascreama giggled.

Meme hissed."You don't understand! I'm not the cute one! You're the cute one with your big eyes and sparkling goo and 'kawaii' clothes! I'm the one with the crazy laugh and pointy teeth and.. And.." She stopped suddenly, crossing her arms across her chest and huffed.
Ascreama pouted, a little stunned at the change in her friends usual happy demeanour.
"I'm sorry," The clown began, "I didn't mean it.. It's been a long day." She leaned over, side snuggling her friend and offering up a strawscary-bun as an apology.  

[Ronan Aalto]

Ronan waved to the two ghouls as they sat down, and sighed as Kai yet again was overcome with indecision. "Maybe if you close your eyes and just pick one blindly.. " He suggested sardonically. Those werecats were starting to get particularly irksome, he found himself idly imagining dumping a bucket of water over the two of them, which brought a faint smirk to his face.  

[Kai Merha]

Kai looked up from his cards and grinned at Ascreama and Meme, but then quickly realized he was wasting time and went back to his cards.

Ronan Aalto

"Maybe if you close your eyes and just pick one blindly.. "

"Oh! Good idea!" Kai nodded at Ronan. He could do that! Or he could continue mapping out a strategy...Hmm....blind choosing or strategy....which one....

"Uhmm...."

Meanwhile, Toralei had finished obliterating Eyera in a quick and decisive game.

"Look at that, I won. Guess it's plain to see you're not Spellbound Club material." Toralei purred at the eyeball-headed kid. She stood up and stalked her way over to Meowlody and Purrsephone. "How's the evening's entertainment coming?" She asked lightly, sitting at their table and looking at Kai agonizing and Ronan rolling his eyes.

"Goodness, Ronan, have a little patience. Don't you know, Kai made it all the way to the quarterfinals in the last local tournament? A purr-fect strategy takes some time, after all..." Toralei smiled at Ronan's dilemma.

"Here in Spellbound Club, we ap-purr-eciate ALL styles of play, even the more...cerebral techniques like Kai employs."  

[Layla LaMia]

The door of the Coffin Bean opened with a soft jingle of the bell over the frame and in slid Layla, with her deep purple purse slung over her left shoulder. Kai had told her during lunch that he was going to be playing Spellbound here as part of the school's club to help try out and initiate the new club applicants.

She glanced around to see if her other 'art chum', Nero, was here as well. She didn't see him but after a brief but careful inspection, she spotted Kai concentrating heavily on his cards as he played the new selkie boo.

Knowing she had best not disturb him, she slithered up to the counter and asked Clawdeen, "Might I please have a salted scarmel moancha? The biggest you have?"

"You got it." Clawdeen replied and she set about making the drink as Layla turned around to watch Kai's game from afar.