The museum reopens [Mingle]

[ourearth]

Date:14-03-19
Characters: Open!
Note: Like all welcome mingles, this is a SoL free-for-all mingle meant to get new characters involved by centering around something relevant to them. This one has the special addition of two NPCs wandering around in the backround so your character can encounter them, if you’d like. Without further ado, please welcome Felicity Sirrell!

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The clean-up efforts after the tsunami are well underway. The streets have been cleaned, the debris on public and private property has mostly been removed, and while much still stands to be renovated or replaced, Mossgate and Tarwich look more or less like they always do once again.

What better time to have a little event? More precisely, what better time to reopen with a bang. Which is what the town museum on the end of the High Street is doing. Like most houses on that street, the building got hit by the tsunami, but it got lucky insofar as it got only hit by the tail end of it and much of the collections had been evacuated anyway due to the building work in the aftermath of the bomb threat last year. Plus the tsunami did not hit the public library part of the museum, so all the books remained unharmed.

Which is why the museum can reopen now, looking all fresh and… well, not new, but a bit better than before with renovated bathrooms and a new coffee machine in the cafeteria.

And also a special exhibit. It’s been advertised all over town for the last few weeks: The library is reopening, and there will be a temporary exhibit about Bible Errata!

A whole room in the museum has been dedicated to this, showcasing a few original books and having posters and informational material around them and many other examples of failed typesettings and misprints of the Bible that are funny or amusing. It features, among other things, the Book of Kells (in which Matthew 10:34b should read "I came not to send peace, but the sword". However rather than "gladium" which means "sword", Kells has "gaudium" meaning "joy". Rendering the verse: "I came not [only] to send peace, but [also] joy"), the Manchester Edition (in which the heading on Chapter 3 of Leviticus and the first verse has "bees" rather than "beeves" (plural of beef) so that it reads: "How the peace offerings must be of bees, sheep, lambs and goats") and various misprintings of the King James Bible.

The special pride of…. Okay, maybe not the museum, but at least the local gay clubs, which have actually run a fundraiser or two to bring that specific Bible here, is the "Affinity Bible" from 1927, which contains a table of family affinities that includes the line "A man may not marry his grandmother's wife."

On the day the exhibit opens, the cafeteria serves special amounts of cake on top of their usual fare of coffee, tea and scones. There’s a tombola (because why not do fundraising where you can?). And obviously there are speeches at some point, a children’s choir sings, and everyone of distinction drops by to be seen, say a thing, and show appreciation of the reopening.

Comments

[saveournpcs]

"A president, you say?" He thoughtfully taps a finger against his lips. "I could live with that, yes, I do think so." Nel receives a pleased look. Well done, inspiring him so. And also just... hey. This is probably his first actually friendly conversation here.

"Do you want to pet the cat?" He takes his other hand off the cat as well, resting it beside him to free up cat petting space.

[vernal_miss]

A nod given to confirm her answer, Nel waits for judgment on the impression she took from his appearance seated with the fluffy cat. Deemed acceptable, she presses her hands together with a grin and seems quite proud herself.

Invited to pet the cat, Nel perks a little taller onto her toes with immediate interest, "Oh, yes please! We have lots of cats that come stay with us at home and I do love them." Moving to stand next to the chair, and a bit more out of the way, she offers a hand forward for the cat to see if it would like to smell her with fingers curled. Some felines are more cautious than others, but so long as this one seems amenable, she'll take advantage of the space opened and gently stroke its fur.

"Such a lovely kitty... Must be very well behaved to come in here."

[saveournpcs]

"The cat oversees the place," he comments, not sounding in the least like he's joking. "And the people in it.

Why do you have so many cats that come to stay at your place, little girl?"

[vernal_miss]

"The cat lives here at the museum?" she asks to check her understanding. Clearly that would explain why this particular feline was allowed inside. Perhaps this cat keeps an eye out for anything that could damage the exhibits or sneaks in with deliveries, or simply keeps everyone who works here feeling less stress.

As for why they have so many cats, "We feed them and I make sure to grow catnip for them. They really like that. And I think they also really love my Mum!"

[saveournpcs]

"No. You do not live in a place to oversee it."

He listens thoughtfully at the description of why all the cats come to Nel's house. "Why do they like your Mum especially much?"

[vernal_miss]

There goes that scenario. Nel looks curiously from the cat to the man, “Oh. What place is it?” Now Nel is thinking it must be some location outside Mossgate and that the two are here as tourists. It is better to outright ask rather than play a guessing game with most adults.

“I think it’s because my Mum knows how to get on with them so well. She can tell when to let them sleep and what will make them happy. I think cats know when someone means to be good to them and can. They trust her.”

[saveournpcs]

"It's a place very different from this one.

...Though not too different. He recognizes enough to feel comfortable. Don't you?" This goes to the cat, who doesn't show much of a response, indeed mostly ignoring the humans around her. They haven't paid attention to her for five seconds, they deserve not being looked at.

The man turns back to Nel without seeming much impressed by being ignored. "Your mum sounds interesting. Tell me more about her."

[vernal_miss]

“Very different...?” she repeats with an intrigued tone. “Does that place have a name?” Unphased by the way the cat is no longer granting them attention, Nel begins to pet the cat’s fur once more. As she does, she keeps an eye on the cat’s tail for any signs of a favorite spot or an area she should leave be as her fingers make their way to areas other she knows cats might prefer.

The request for more information about her mother makes her smile with obvious adoration, “My Mum is very smart, and very kind. She’s a doctor, and she looks after loads of people that live here. That keeps her busy, but she still manages to make time for all of us. Cats included.”

[saveournpcs]

"You would not know it. But it is home for me."

The cat reacts as any cat would to the petting, though it still fakes ignorance of the humans. Well, or attempts to, anyway. The tail is a mean traitor here.

"Oh? What kind of doctor is she?" ... "What does she do as a doctor?"

[vernal_miss]

“Have you lived there very long? I’ve lived here my whole life,” which granted is a little over a decade, but it matters very much.

Careful not to fixate on the cat even as she stays attentive, Nel suppresses the urge to smile with pride when she finds that favored spot to scritch and pet.

“She’s a GP,” she gives as a basic answer, then asked to expand upon what that means, she is happy to comply, “Lots of things actually. Mostly she makes sure people that are sick get the right medicine or people that have conditions are taking good care of themselves. She can also fix up small injuries to heal, and if she needed to, she could do a simple surgery.”

[saveournpcs]

"I lived there my whole life, too.

But now I am here. What do you like about this place? And what do people like about this place?"

"...So she helps people with all kinds of things." He ...almost sounds disappointed.

[vernal_miss]

"Did you come to visit then? Or maybe you'll live here now? There are lots of nice places in town to see, like here at the museum," she starts.

Then Nel looks thoughtful as she considers how to answer, a warm smile on her lips as she recounts what she loves about living here, "What I like... Well, I like that we have such nice parks, and we can go to the beach, and I think the weather's lovely most days. We have lots of really nice people that live here too! I think everyone likes that. And...I guess they like that we have plenty of shops and that we do fun things all together."

A little confused by the note of disappointment, she tilts her head, "She knows some specialists too."

[saveournpcs]

He nods slowly, mulling her words over, and then taps a finger against his mouth, almost dropping the cat in the process who rewards him with an indignant screech and lands safely on the ground, where it glares at them both and then stalks away.

He looks after it and then turns to Nel.

"I'll be here a lot.

And perhaps I will meet your mother as well.

And you again. Because I have to go now." And with that he stalks after the cat.

[vernal_miss]

The manner in which the man effectively dumps the cat to the floor and away from petting startles the child back a step, hand left hanging uncertain in the air in front of her chest. That floating hand is then used to wave as the man departs to follow the cat.

“Oh, okay. Bye bye for now!”

[saveournpcs]

He turns around for just a moment with a surprised expression, gives an aborted awkward wave, and then leaves for good.