Bite they little heads off! Nibble on they tiny feet!

[baedalites]

Who: EVERYONE.
What: Catenrat party.
Where: The Apache and surrounding environs.
When: Givdi the 22nd of Toidaren
Notes: The topic threads are just suggestions; if you've got somewhere else that your characters simply must be, make your own thread. When your characters are ready to leave, they'll be given a little wooden cheese, a glass fish, and a voucher for a big basket of snacks.
Warnings: None yet. Please put warnings up on individual threads.

The Apache is much the same as it always is: dimly lit, with the jukebox playing in the background, and the bartender serving whatever's on tap. Above the doorway and wound through a few of the sets of antlers some enterprising soul has placed a garland decorated with little blue and green fish.

Comments

Re: Lounge and tables:

[studious_snake]

After he was freed from the tiny room and got settled in, he scanned through the journal entries in his CiD, not enough to get a huge about of information, but enough to find out about the party. Normally he wouldn't have gone, but he saw it was mentioned that it was after this that they'd be getting something to put outside the door, and that otherwise the cats and rats would do as they pleased with the giving and taking away of things.

He was a king cobra in snake form, and as such usually ate other snakes, but when snakes weren't available he could eat other prey as well, and in the current situation, rats would have to do. That meant, of course, he didn't want anything to be at the rats' discretion, so he figured it would be best to show up, get a fish to put out for the cats, and ensure the rats wouldn't be running off with a kidney or something.

Until then, he'd sit in a corner, eating and drinking nothing, waiting for the party to be over.

[truth_is_cold]

"They seemed dedicated." He admits. Then an idea occurs to him. He might as well start putting effort into his half-hoped scheme while he's at it.

"Perhaps I should speak with him myself. I'm curious about the assassination attempt that occurred with Nuala, I believe her name is. The xenian Hellsing princess who had some involvement with local politics."

If you're watching, Gediron, and this strategy pans out? This is for you. He supposed he should cover all his bases.

[gwynn]

Megan makes a beeline for the bar, of course -- and she's got a lot of money now burning a hole in her pocket, so she quickly finds herself buying drinks for other people as well. Hey, it's Not-Christmas, time to be generous! So in between chatting up the bartender, she accosts nearly everybody who approaches in an overly enthusiastic attempt to make friends.

[rhinemaid]

It's cooler and quieter outside than the bar itself, and more private than the courtyard that's still busy; it feels like more or less what Ilde needs after the film ends and she excuses herself quietly from Ivan's side for a while. She doesn't bother putting a coat over her dress, built to suit cold weather and prone to finding her feet slightly damp regardless of what she's wearing or where she is.

A rhinemaiden thing, she explained once to one of her students.

After a few moments in the quiet, she lights a cigarette (pack lifted from Ivan's jacket as she slipped out).

[truth_is_cold]

He makes it about halfway through the movie before his chest is tightening up and he quietly leaves to find the bar. He settles onto a stool, making a fist around a napkin and orders a full glass of whiskey.

A whole glass. It's what it'll take to even start to get through to his system.

Trance had kissed him a good-bye on the cheek. He wondered if when she made the universe better with what she did to him, if she got her wings. He drums his fingers on the bartop impatiently as he waits for his drink.

[wearethewilds]

Unlike Ilde, Hilmi is dressed warmly. Tonight it's simply a warm wool coat around 'going-out clothes'. He doesn't put a lot of thought into these things.

When Ilde leaves the bar, he follows her. This is the opportunity Hilmi has been waiting for: a quiet moment removed from the crowd wherein he can corner Ilde and find out where she's been. She was supposed to be home on whatever passed for Sunday around here. It's now Wednesday. Worse, he hasn't heard from her. Ilde isn't his girlfriend to monitor, but she's the closest he has to family - and if there's one thing Hilmi hated as a child, it was the adults not doing the things they said they would. He's finding Sonja and Ilde are the adults in this situation, and Ilde is dropping the ball.

Clearly, then, something is wrong with the world. (The irony of that idea isn't lost on him.)

He sidles up beside her and, instead of immediately pressing for information, produces his own cigarette. "Got a light?"

[rhinemaid]

"--Hilmi." The startle is subtle, but that's her all over; everything is understated until it isn't any more. People are used to her being so still, but the way she absents herself is more noticeable right now, a more palpable sense of distance that she's still edging back from, and she's not quite there yet. Not quite present.

"Right," half to herself, and then she holds out her lighter. "Yes."

[wearethewilds]

He doesn't let her light for him; he takes it from her, his eyes on her face rather than the exchange. For a moment, his brows draw together in a markedly clear expression of confusion and concern. Not something others get, this openness. There is the Hilmi who lures unsuspecting women to bed and disappears afterward, and then there's the Hilmi who is, right now, growing steadily more worried about his not-friend.

"Thanks." He turns away to cup the end of his cigarette as he lights it, inhales, puffs, draws the lighter away and takes a long drag before releasing a stream of mingled smoke and condensation. It doesn't occur to him to treat her like one of the Manhattan people, using subtlety and subterfuge to maneuver her into talking. Instead, he holds her lighter hostage as though it might keep her from stomping off and is very nearly accusatory when he comments, "You didn't come back on Shundi."

[rhinemaid]

It's more of an accusation than a question, and so Ilde opts not to treat it as the latter; the fingers of one hand curl under her palm, tightly, and her expression blanks interestingly. No distress, no upset, but no response, either, just-- cool distance, like she's not even there.

"No," she says, matter of fact, her eyes on his hands and her lighter. A pause, quieter, "No."

Explaining this is not something she really wants to have to do, but she's not entirely sure how to get out of this conversational pot hole again; it's much easier if she can make sure people don't notice anything in the first place. That's how it usually works. She's good at deflecting, when she's more in control of what people see, but the absence of any reaction is indicative of just how uncomfortable she is.

"I...decided to stay. For a while."

[wearethewilds]

The fact that Hilmi notices the way her expression blanks and thinks nothing of it is just another tally mark for him either in his complete inability to be empathetic with his comrades or in the long column dedicated to self-centered behavior.

He does better with words than with reading emotions - and it is he reply that puts him off lecturing her about keeping her promises or some other such silly concept. There's something wrong with how she's responding, even if he can't put his finger on it.

So he goes for the most obvious route: asking. "You okay?"

He asks curiously, with a hint of concern he rarely shows anyone, much less Ilde, whom he once called a bitch for some stupid reason or another, who cockblocks him and makes him feel guilty for enjoying his privileges in life, who drives him up a wall and makes him hate whatever the hell his life has become. Ilde, who is screwing a vampire and is right now very much and very obviously not okay. "You seem upset."

[norea]

Never let it be said that Hasibe doesn't have an outfit for pretty much every occasion: this one is low-cut wrap dress in glittering silver, not too short, paired with her usual stockings, this time in opaque black, along with towering black heels...and a sapphire pendant necklace that must have cost someone a pretty penny. (That someone is, of course, not her. She doesn't even remember the last time she paid for her own jewelry.)

This is a dress that wants a drink to accompany it, preferably something high in alcoholic content. Unfortunately, for most, that's a difficult feat. Hasibe's little lean over the bar is very much not to use the angling as persuasion (that's both a touch high school and not necessarily a win, regardless of the dress), but rather to ensure that she catches the bartender's attention. One smile and a moment of prolonged eye contact later, she's ordering her drink.

"Anyone else waiting, while I've got a moment?" She glances over her shoulder, figuring she ought to take advantage of her temporary access.

[deservesadaisy]

"I think I had those removed," he says, with a sardonic smile, "but I promise not to heckle. It seems like you've had quite the success with the turnout." It's easy for him to fall into this - it's not quite a roll, considering that he's more or less comfortable with Njoki, but he navigated his own world in a certain way, and making the small talk while his companion didn't was not so strange.

[leviohhhhsa]

For a moment, she doesn't know why she's being addressed as Penelope- and then remembers. Ah. Yes.

There's little reason to keep up that particular charade anymore- she's already dropped it with certain people- but there's a degree of awkwardness in trying to explain that her name isn't really what she said it was.

She smiles up at Kate nonetheless, a little sheepishly, and closes over her book. "Oh, er- I'm taking a break from taking a break, put it that way. Probably not very social, I know. Enjoying the party?"

[joiedeviolet]

Camped out on the closest sofa with a mug of hot chocolate and far too many marshmallows, Kate eyes John warily when he asks her that question. Of course she's still interested. When's the last time any of them had a moment to just breathe? To relax, watch a cheesy movie with some friends and not worry about anything but if there'll still be onion rings later? Besides, the movie is a good enough excuse for her to hang out with him without anybody question motives and suchlike. It's not a date nor is there any of the pressure of a date hanging over either one of them, even though she did put a little more effort in her outfit tonight, complete with the requisite lilac perfume she always wore back home. It's just two people who know each other at a holiday party. Nothing more, nothing less.

At least right now.

"Yes. Yes, I am," she throws back, setting her cup down on a nearby table. "I'm going to guess you're not?" Kate's not going to force him to stick around, but she'll be a bit disappointed if he left.

[rhinemaid]

The attempt she makes at a half-way reassuring smile here is small and taut, if not outright unconvincing. There's a brittle-thinness to her mood and manner, a tightrope walker made of glass, and it's not as well-hidden as she'd ordinarily like.

"I'm fine," she says, because she always does, "It's just a little busy in there for me." That's almost normal. Finding the quietest place at a party was a knack even before she started feeling the need to do it for her own mental health. She's slipped out of parties in Baedal before just because there were so many people-- she feels oddly reassured by her reasoning, even if it doesn't release any tension.

[rhinemaid]

"Trust him as far as you can throw him," Ilde says, on the subject of whether or not he plans to heckle; she's still quieter than usual, and still pressing close to Ivan's arm, but there is a concerted effort being made not to fall completely into the background. The more she lets herself get away with, the harder it'll be to climb out of it, she reasons, attempting to compromise between complete withdrawal and the fact that she sincerely doesn't like how much of herself feels on brittle and on display when she tries to give more.

[wearethewilds]

Hilmi studies her long enough without smoking that when he finally remembers to ash, the cigarette's a quarter wasted. He looks away and gives it a practiced flick with his thumb.

"You know," he starts with a frown, "If you need to talk..."

The offer hangs there. It's not a good offer; it's rather the sort given by someone who doesn't know how to handle being a shoulder to cry on. If she needs to talk, he'll listen, but he's not sure what he can do to help.

[rhinemaid]

What it lacks in general usefulness, it slightly makes up for in 'being startling' and 'evident sincerity'; Ilde scrutinizes him like she's trying to find a flaw in that, momentarily bewildered by the attempt at thoughtfulness. That, at least, is more commonplace than not -- Ivan's remarked how she always seems disappointed when she can't pick holes in something he's just said, and he's not wrong. In this case, though, it's more momentary puzzlement as it dawns on her that he doesn't appear to be screwing with her.

"...thank you," she says after a moment, with some effort; she wants to dismiss it out of hand, she wants to say I don't need that because she doesn't, she's fine, she'll be fine, there are so many ways in which this is not a subject open for discussion. She also, on the other hand, wants to continue poking Hilmi in the direction of decency, and not discourage any efforts he makes on his own. Like 'caring about her', however odd and unexpectedly.

She exhales smoke, wrapping her free hand around herself, and says, "It's okay." It's not. "But thank you. I'll probably be home tomorrow."

[wearethewilds]

Stubbing out his half-finished cigarette - a sign of wastefulness he hasn't yet managed to overcome - he then shoves his hands in the pocket of his coat. He no longer wants to be out here because this is awkward for him. Ilde is one of two constants here in Baedal for Hilmi, and she is behaving oddly. He wants to go back inside where there's too much noise and too large a crowd and lose himself in it so he doesn't have to think about why the woman beside him is so obviously not here.

But he can't just leave. It isn't concern, but his own pressing need for reassurance. "You sure about that?"

Promise? he means. If he were a child, he would sound wheedling and hopeful. Instead, his query is just...dubious.

[rhinemaid]

"Tomorrow," she repeats, trying to sound slightly more solid in her decision; she can't hide at Ivan's forever, after all. (If they were ever moving in together, Ilde accepts it as a given that he'd be obliged to move in with her; his apartments are about as personally significant as hotel rooms.) "I'll see you at home in the morning."

[toldastory]

"No spoilers. Got it. The movie's better without them anyway." Dropping down comfortably onto the floor, Martha pulled her legs up to her chest like a kid and perched her chin on them. Her drink was within grabbing range, and she grinned up quickly.

"Does someone have the tissues?"

[fuckrobertfrost]

"Nah, I am. You want anything before it starts?" John clarifies, eyeing the crowded bar and then adding in that same deadpan, "Maybe send help if I'm not back in five."

He hasn't been thinking of this as a date, because, well, it's not. But it'd be a decent way of figuring out if they have anything more in common, or if there are any wildly disparate views or something. He liked what she'd said in the library, and he's sure she's at least somewhat okay with mutants, so she seems to be potential friend material.

[wandandsickle]

Jones wanders by at some point, attracted by the sound of what must be a film playing, but even having a CiD with video functions, the idea of television is still something of a novelty to her. She idles in the back, craning her neck curiously over the heads of the other viewers.

"What picture is this?"

[hearditbothways]

And there is Shawn, not only accepting the drink but heading over to Megan with a broad grin.

"What is this!" He stops in front of her, one hand going to his head, fingers wiggling close to his temple.

"My psychic senses are tingling. I suddenly sense an aura of extreme awesome in this room..."

[joiedeviolet]

"I'm fine," Kate assures him, pointing to her hot chocolate. "I already ate so I'm good to go for another couple of hours or however long this movie is again."

The only wildly disparate views she has from him is that little Magneto fanboy status John has. She'll never agree with him on that, even if Erik is the grandfather of her closest friends. As far as being okay with mutants, look at who she hangs out with and fought for. If Kate had any problems with them in general, then it's too late for that now.

"I'll tell them to hold off on pressing play until you get back."