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When told to help herself, Gwen did, and with gusto! she grabbed a plate and helped herself to almost everything that was put out before her. Jambalaya, Andouille gumbo, red beans and rice, and the prospect of crawfish, while a horrific experience for the little crustaceans, only made her appetite grow. Sure, she would have preferred a steak, but she was eager to not only try new things, but test the culinary skills of this Marie, or whoever else put their food on the table. And thus far, all of it was passing with flying colors.

She was so indulged in her meal that she hardly paid attention to those around her, and she made extra careful not to get any food on the white ruffles on her chest. She might have digested some of her white facepaint, but it never killed her in the past.

Gwen was drawing towards the end of her plate and was contemplating on getting some more or saving room for the crawfish, when she spotted the manx rubbing against Millicent's leg. Being an animal lover, especially cats, Gwen beamed, and having no idea who this cat was, or what, Gwen scooted closer to Marie and the cat. "Such a beautiful cat! Is she yours?"

She pulled off her glove and extended her hand towards the cat, wanting to snuggle with her but content with a simple sniff of rub at this point. Though she loved Micah, she would do anything to have a cat living in her house. Her mind immediately wondered to Pippin but it was only for a moment, as she coaxed the manx over. "Will you let me pet you, pretty please?"

“ You too, Mista’ Jett, and don’t be so alarmed. It’s just good fun, sweetie; I don’t bite and you ain’t quite my type.”

Marie pet ********* absent-mindedly while she spoke, her attention hopping over to Gwen like a flash of ADHD. Gwen was also given a once-over, but the resulting comment was somewhat different.

“ Oh, I love dat costume!”

The girl’s cat costume and the fact that she was petting a cat finally reminded Marie that she had promised to fix said cat a plate of food. Standing up, she walked to the nearest table and began spooning little samples of everything onto a plate. She then returned to ********* and set the plate in front of her.

“ I’ll get ya’ a lil’ pecan pie if ya’ finish dis; somethin’ makes me think you’d like it.” There was a glint in Marie’s eye, suggesting that she knew – or at least suspected – knowing ********* from somewhere. “ I can peel ya’ some crawfish later too.”

Giving ********* one last stroke, Marie stood up to look at Gwen,“ So, who ya’ supposed to be?”

It'd been luck of the draw that she'd encountered Azzo that day, and she'd been more than happy to catch up with the young man. She wasn't as lured by free food but why turn down the offer to join him at the picnic? The theme had given her a run for her money though.

Her earrings jingled as she shook her head to his question. "No, I haven't had the chance before." Nor really the reason to. All she ever heard of the holiday was excessive drinking and exposure, not something she had any particular interest in taking part in. But this picnic sounded like fun. Proof there was more to Mardi Gras than drunk college kids she heard about on the news, at least? Much like her companion, Lilith had decided to dress up... though not necessarily to his extent, so far as she could tell. A call to her roommate from her final year at Crystal for help with an outfit suiting Mardi Gras had resulted in something more Venice Carnival inspired. It'd started with a black mask with peacock feathers they'd found while shopping, and things escalated from there. A layered dress of--from what she'd been told and promised again and again--blues, greens, and black was accented with various dangling gold beads. The mask covered only part of her face, leaving her mouth free to her relief. Her ears were kept uncovered as well, allowing her to sport a pair of black and blue dangling earrings. Gold bracelets clinked as she walked, and were quickly becoming a favorite to play with.

She'd at least hoped the outfit wasn't over the top, but she felt comfortable under the layers and listening to the various parts rustle and jingle. "How about you?" came her return, turning her head slightly in his direction. "You certainly seem at home in... this." This was punctuated as one hand lifted to tug lightly at the sleeve of his costume. While she couldn't be at all certain less he flat-out told her how extravagant--or not--the outfit was, certainly sounded like a bit was going on there.

Her other hand held her cane out somewhat before her, clicking her tongue a few times here and there to get as much information about the area as she could. The sounds of people and music excited her a bit- ...goodness was that the food she was smelling? She might not be able to blame Azzo for wanting to go mainly for the food, after all. As they got closer though, another jingling beyond her own accessories made her lift a brow. Was she hearing that right? Suddenly, she was a little sad she'd left Raja at home. But perhaps it was for the best. The golden retriever might not have been received especially well. Holding off for the moment on trying to determine if she was hearing *********, she turned her attention back to the dark haired boy. "Bee-line for the food first, I take it?" She said it with a smile. The smile may or may not have been hopeful.

Always eager to help and try new experiences, Gwen hastily volunteered, taking off her other glove and fastening them to the rope that held her tail on around at the waist. She had never seen live crawfish before, only cooked, multiple ones on a plate and already red and ready to be eaten, so this would be a new experience for her and Gwen LOVED those.

"I got a bit of a sniffle, but I think since they're going to be boiled alive, that should kill all the germs, right?"

She thought about it for a moment, and it hit her like a ton of bricks. Boiled alive. Boiled alive. They would be boiled alive.

Gwen looked down at the little critters as they shifted about and on top of one another, tiny little claws snapping and beady little black eyes staring up at her, as though to beg for mercy. Gwen loved meat and seafood, but she had never seen, or would be the one to do so, them killed before, but she had already volunteered. What a dilemma!

'It's okay... they know they taste delicious and they've accepted their role in life,' Gwen told herself, wriggling her fingers and reaching down, making sure not to breathe on them, or sneeze or cough. Their little legs tickled for a moment but there was no pinching, yet, and she looked to Marie, unable to bring herself to look at the little crustaceans that looked to her as their angel of death. "They... won't feel a thing, right?"

Boiled alive...

********* was not the only cat that had catched the smell of food. A certain cream colored turkish van had found it's way to the picnic area as well. Unlike *********, she didn't recongnize any familiar human in the party. But there was one scent she knew and that scent belonged to the cute manx cat over there.

"Meooww!" Cora greeted and trotted closer to her tailless friend. Suddenly, there was a scared manx cat in front of her. A confused, curious high pitched crrr sound escaped from Cora's mouth as if she was asking what was wrong.

Not soon after, the feline noticed the strange critter as well. Curiously, cautiously Cora circled the crawfish, her fur raising a bit as she did so. After a moment she freezed, standing still, her muscles tensed. She lifted her front paw slowly. And waited. And waited. Until suddenly her paw quickly shot towards the crawfish, making it more frightened as it had been.

“ Nah, no germs gonna survive da boil, and da crawfish been on ice a while, so dey pretty numb. Actually gotta hose ‘em and get ‘em movin’ a bit more so we can weed out da dead.”

With that, Marie turned around and grabbed a hose that had been laying behind her. She turned it on doused the crawfish; the angry squishing noises instantly increased in volume.

“ Right den! Toss da live crawfish in da pot. Some like to play dead, so check and make sure dey really are. Also, keep an eye out for escapees.”

Speaking of which, Marie noticed ********* and another kitty – another star kitty, well lookit dat! - having a stand-off with an unhappy crawfish trying to make a break for it. Marie walked over and deftly picked it up by the head, ignoring its flailing claws.

“ Why, thank ya’ kitty! Good job. You and your friend gonna help us? I’ll peel y’all some crawfish when dey ready.” Marie stroked ********* and pat Cora on the head, before turning and sending the crawfish flying through the air towards the pot, which it landed in with a dull metallic thud; nothing but net.

The Squishies are Angry

The water has woken up the crawfish! Roll a 10-sided dice, and if you get a 6-10, your character has experienced a crawfish's disapproval!

Micah sniffed and cuffed at her nose when Jett questioned her dress. A grin spread across her lips and she answered, "I'm Derpy! Long live the Derp!" She laughed at her exclaimation of pride, punching the air with a small hop. However, if Jett were to ask if she was freezing, then the answer would have been yes. Absolutley. But her dress, or lack there, of, was a part of her plan. Derpy messed up. A lot. And she would wear shorts in winter, but that was what made her lovable. She messed up, but she tried her darndest to do good.

Marie's instruction pulled Micah from her thoughts. She'd... why she'd never had crayfish before. She watched carefully as the others sorting the angry crustations. She would... probably not touch them for now. She didn't feel like dealing with a pinch.

She would, however, pop then into the pot. Micah had to do something to earn her keep, right?

By one claw, Micah deftly picked up one of the ornery beasts, watching it flail around in her fingers with a sick glee. Soon, my pretty, you will be in my belly! She giggled and tossed it into the pot.

And then, like something right out of a horror movie, the thing popped it's head back out at her. Micah's smile vanished as soon as it set her beady little eyes on her. She could wear it laughed. One claw came up over the rim of the pot, followed by another. It slowly hoisted itself out of the pot, watching her.

Micah let out a small, high scream and punched the little demon back into the pot.

"And stay dead," she whimpered.

Fun fact: Mauvians spoke words.

Which meant that right now, as Cora approached and used her own mimicked feline noises to make do, ********* had no idea what she was saying. She got the gist, but that was merely due to circumstances more than actually understanding.

She and Cora could eventually go on the sidelines and have a legitimate chat, but for now, she'd be keeping her eyes on the escapee. That was, until Marie came and saved the day! She reached in and plucked that sassy little crawfish up and like a basketball star, made a shot that hit the target.

Under the woman's hand, her fur seemed to soothe down a bit, the manx leaning into the woman's hand. It was only once she seemed to go back to what she had been working on that she snuck in a tiny whispered "...hi Cora..."

Cat language was not her thing. She could fake it, but that was about it.