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

[wearethewilds]

That satisfies him enough for the moment; Hilmi is quite a simple creature, or so he believes of himself. Though there is some niggling doubt in the back of his mind (something is wrong, very wrong) he decides it's probably just the time and place and possibly Ilde's period.

Or something.

In any case, he's off the hook where emotional support is concerned, so he gives her a fleeting smile in lieu of a farewell and turns to head back in.

[hearditbothways]

"And when you say 'grew them', do you mean soiling and watering them yourself?" Shawn leans forward to get a better look at them.

Nope, no seam, no stitching, no sticky tape indicating that this is, in any way, fake. Which of course just reinforces his statement. He takes another sip of his beer. "Because I could imagine that reaching there with, say, a ewer can get kind of tricky."

[gwynn]

"No!" She giggles and helpfully raises her wings -- the dress she's wearing is backless because that's always easier for her than fighting with straps and zippers and holes -- so that the place where they actually connect to the muscles in her back is pretty obvious. Putting aside the utter anatomical impossibility of them actually functioning, let alone being able to carry her in flight... They look awfully fragile, thin and full of tiny veins. "Grew 'em the old-fashioned way. You know, like hair." She pauses. "Well, that makes it sound kind of gross, actually."

[captainredwhiteblue]

"What? No." He shakes his head, kind smile still firmly in place. "It's not pathetic to enjoy something like that. I think the fact that it makes you emotional shows how much it means to you. Of course you want to watch it every year."

Re: Lounge and tables:

[requiresssacrifice]

Now that he was paying his own bills for the first time in... years, Rex was going to take advantage of the free food offered at the party and eat what he could. Right now, he was working on a slice of pizza, because, well, he wasn't the biggest fan of fried foods. He stood in the lounge, looking around for somebody to talk to so that he wasn't just standing around in the way, getting his... awkwardness all over everybody.

Rex was never really very good at parties.

Jay, at least, he recognized from the Network, so Rex eventually made his way over to him.

"I see you made it out of that room," he remarked. There, idle chatter established.

Re: Lounge and tables:

[studious_snake]

"Yeah. The fairy girl let me out." He then paused, looking a bit awkward for a moment, not really knowing what to say next, but knowing that he didn't really want to sit staring at each other in silence. Naturally, his mind went to what information he still needed to know, and what ways he could find out more.

His eyes focusing on a nearby decoration, Jay decided to tackle the most present issue first. "So...uh...what's with the cat and rat stuff? Normally I'd think it was a local myth, but considering the fact that I woke up locked in a room in a strange city where people who can fly is a normal thing, I don't want to write it off too quickly."

[toldastory]

Martha had been drinking the worst and most evil sort of drink. It was a drink that large and it was sweet and it tasted like there was no liquor in it at all. Somewhere the way she had lost the light-weight drinker version of herself (between Jack with his hypervodka and Severus with the firewhiskey was what she was guessing) but this drink was hitting her much harder than she expected.

Which meant that it was time for another one really. One slightly tipsy Martha-Snape Jones grinned at Hasi and shook her glass a bit. "Can I have another one of these please?"

[leviohhhhsa]

Hermione makes a valiant effort not to twitch as the book's gently tugged away from her, and gives another embarrassed smile. "It isn't that I'm not enjoying myself, really- just that I came out for some air, and- well, I had the book in my bag, so why not?"

Because it's overly solitary and possibly quite rude. She's not stupid; that answer is very much obvious to her when she thinks it out logically.

"Er," she says, moving on, from one uncomfortable topic to the next. "Anyway, Kate, I've...sort of got a confession to make." Best to nip the deceit in the bud, right?

Re: Lounge and tables:

[requiresssacrifice]

Rex shrugged, looking down at his pizza with a little frown as a tiny pool of grease transformed into a tiny river, heading towards one of the edges. He fussily dabbed it with his napkin.

"I'm new myself, so I couldn't tell you much." Now that the pizza situation was handled, he brought his gaze up to look at Jay, a bland, neutral expression on his face. "But I was told that my own cat disappeared to go to the annual cat... conference. Where they handle cat business." Judging by the tone of his voice, Rex was neither convinced nor impressed.

[toldastory]

Food. Yes, Martha was definitely in need of some food. The sweet-and-deadly liquor that she'd been drinking was rolling about a largely empty stomach, and while the feeling of being tipsy was fun, she didn't want it to move into the realm of illness.

It was sheer dumb luck that had made it so that Martha had found herself in possession of nearly an entire pizza. She'd missed real pizza, and the cheese was still in that delightful molten state. If only it had pepperoni on it then everything would be perfect with the world.

Re: Lounge and tables:

[studious_snake]

Watching the grease dribble down the pizza, Jay's upper lip turned up in disgust. Human food was not appetizing. The expression faded when he forced himself to look at Rex's face instead of his food, however.

"Cat business." Jay's tone was a bit flat with that. "And what's that, exactly? Making sure the rats in the city are premium quality and that there's a ball of yarn in every paw?" It sounded a bit ridiculous to him. "Are they sure this isn't some kind of cat mating season and they aren't all in a mating ball in a dark alley somewhere?"

This whole thing was weird, though probably worse for the guy wondering where his cat really went off to. "Hope your cat comes back. And I guess I shouldn't be too skeptical, I mean, it's not like this place follows traditional logic, but still..."

[requiresssacrifice]

Rex, himself, was somewhat tipsy-- just enough to feel warm, a little loose, but not enough to lose control over himself. Now that he'd had a few drinks, he wandered back to the lounge to seek out some more free food. If there were any peanuts left, they were going to be wrapped up and shoved in his pocket for later snackage. He moved over to the peanut bowls, frowning when he found them empty. Damn. Rex grabbed a handful of pretzels and started away, then spotted Martha with practically an entire pizza. He stared at her for a moment, then... Well, what the hell.

"You're not going to eat all of that yourself, are you?"

Re: Lounge and tables:

[requiresssacrifice]

"Whatever it is, it's all very mysterious." He took a bite of pizza and chewed quietly, scoffing a little once he swallowed. "Mating ball? Come on, they're cats, not garter snakes."

Not that anybody but Rex or another similarly geeky herpetologist would get that.

[ruinedu2]

Olivia isn't precisely dragging as she is coming down with an acute case of culture shock. She escapes into the cold with a sigh of relief that puffs out her cheeks for a moment as she exhales. She looks up from watching her steps to ensure she doesn't catch a discarded bottle -- already done that once -- to spy the man across from her. That she blinks twice, caught off her guard, is only because she's just finished her third pint.

She smiles, not tired but somewhat weary. "Hi there. Quite the party, isn't it?"

Re: Lounge and tables:

[studious_snake]

He shrugged. "I've never had cats before, I don't know how they do it. I just know some animals do the mating ball thing because I've seen one in my sister's room before." Awkward pause. "The snakes were mating in a ball, not my sister." Another pause. "My sister's a herpetologist."

[subtlescience]

Severus has been dragged here as unwilling as ever to engage in social interaction; he doesn't wish to deal with the fallout of an outright refusal to attend these absurd get-togethers. So he makes use of it and picks out his ex-student at her table and slipping away from whatever inane conversation he was pretending to appreciate.

Since her arrival in Baedal, it's the first time Severus has seen Hermione Granger in person. She looks far older than he remembers her, and it does leave him feeling rather wrong-footed. After all, the last he saw her (without the barrier provided by the CiDs), she was peering down at him as he bled to death. It seems strange to him to think that life has, indeed, gone on. The world didn't simply come to a halt when he died.

Children grow up.

Well, good. He needs her intelligence and the sense of maturity that has hopefully accompanied the addition of a few years. He doesn't sit beside her, but instead stands at her elbow; it's familiar to loom over her, and it takes him a moment to remind himself that he is not her teacher. She is supposed to be his ally.

"Miss Clearwater." Dry tone, dismissive and disinterested in her alias. He has come to find aliases are pretty well useless here in Baedal.

[toldastory]

The familiar voice threw her for a moment, and she blinked quickly, having a distinct sense of deja vu. Right, Rex was here too, and she knew him and they were still in the city after being chosen from gods. Blimey, it still sounded silly especially when it came to her slightly spinny mind.

"I hadn't decided," Martha admitted, and then she shifted the plate towards him with a smile. "You can have some if you like. It's just cheese though. I didn't catch pepperoni." Regret at that? Definitely.

[manipulativni]

Katherine arrives fashionably late, wearing a tiny lace dress with her hair loose around her shoulders. She begins walking, intending to make a lap around the party and seeing who's there before hitting up the bar or the dance floor.

[rhinemaid]

"--Katya," and there's Ilde, coming back inside from the alley-way (she smells like cigarette smoke and perfume), lacking any of the sway on her high, high heels that would suggest she might've been drinking at all this evening. She's neither the most animated nor the most social tonight, but it's been forever since she's seen Katherine and she's missed her, and it's been a shitty week, and suddenly: there are hugs.

[leviohhhhsa]

She had been ensconced in her book, and snaps from it with what's not quite a jump, instantly expecting some kind of punishment. It really does border on ridiculous, that particular Pavlovian reaction. It certainly makes her feel like an idiot.

What on Earth is he doing here? 'Snape' and 'festivity' are two concepts which don't seem to mesh in her mind, no matter how she tries to wrangle them into a logical connection. "Sir," she says, a little tentatively, having to force herself away from 'Professor'. Reminding herself that she is not his student, she adds; "I didn't expect to see you here."

She sounds rather wary; the question of why he's here talking to her is clearly implied in her tone. After all, she highly doubts he just wants to wish her a merry Catenrat.

[manipulativni]

"Nimfa," she replies, a brilliant grin on her face, and the hug is returned with much enthusiasm. She clings for a few beats, Ilde's been missed greatly and while Katherine doesn't particularly feel like being social herself, the possibility of seeing Ilde is one of the main reasons she came out tonight. "God, it's good to see you again."

[rhinemaid]

"I missed you," she says, when they start to separate again; she doesn't ask what Katherine's been up to, figuring that she'll tell her if she feels the need, but just focuses on how pleased she is to have her company now. (She's off, slightly, but Katherine's known her since shortly after she arrived in Baedal, saw the way she was then; she's made progress, but it's like she's reverted, still and distant and uncertain beneath the immediate rush of relief at Katherine's own presence.)

[manipulativni]

The answer to that question, were Ilde to ask, would be 'not much'; she's been laying low since the anti-vampire incidents. It's too soon to notice much difference in her friend yet, but she does want to get her somewhere quiet so that they can catch up on things (as much as is possible in this kind of setting, anyway).

"I missed you, too," she says, taking hold of one of her hands and squeezing it. "Come, let's get a drink, find somewhere to sit."

[gifted_hands]

Tadhg has slipped in rather quietly to the outskirts of the group around the tv, leaving him in a good position to note another newcomer. He offers the young woman a smile and then...stares for a few moments. This is not, mind you, a "checking the pretty lady out" stare. While it's just as intent, it doesn't linger in the same places.

He does come back to himself quickly enough, and he even caught her question. "It's called It's a Wonderful Life," he murmurs. Traditional Christmas film with Jimmy Stewart."

[requiresssacrifice]

Rex looked at the pizza, considering, then took a slice. He wasn't hungry, really, but another slice of free pizza wasn't going to hurt him. (Great, it was like he was back in college.)

"Thanks," he said, folding the slice over itself. "Where's your... husband?"