It's like paradise, spread out with a butter knife :: [OPEN]

[bonhomme7h.livejournal.com]

Who: EVERYONE
What: Réjean has decided that more people ought to celebrate and help raise a bit of dosh for one of his favourite bars. See: flyer.
Where: The Apache.
When: Misdi night and into the wee hours of the morning.
Warnings: Discussion of Pickman's manky feet.

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. Tonight, the bar is packed with people from all across the city, different cantons and cohorts, all out to celebrate surviving the fungal plague. Patrons are encouraged to buy tickets for a door prize with the proceeds going to repair the damage tunnelling ants made to the cellar.

Comments

[cailisairgid]

Parties and Verbena go together like peanutbutter and jelly, which is most of why Sol rolls up to the Apache (black shirt, black pants, diamond earring, shirtsleeves rolled up, collar unbuttoned; his neck tattoo is partly visible, and so is a scar that winds up his forearm). He has an arm slung around the other reason, one Sebastian LeMat, and Sebastian's also the reason he doesn't plan to drink too much tonight. He's acting less as designated driver than he is potential 'necessary force', but you wouldn't know it to look at him, looking for all the world like Sebastian's troublemaking, bad influence uncle.

(It makes him homesick, for a minute; he grasps that feeling as fervently as he will enjoy the rest of his night.)

There's a sitter with Liesl and he's not due back 'til 3AM. He has every intention of making it count.

[heardmermaids.livejournal.com]

Sol isn't the only one faintly homesick. Sebastian has never been particularly good at socialization and party-going, but he does have at least a very little experience with trouble-making uncles (or godfathers). Entirely lacking in fashion sense, it was with a great deal of relief that Sol more or less threw a pair of jeans and a basic shirt at him and with only a little concern about wearing short-sleeves Sebastian was ready to go. Most of the scarring on his arms isn't too shocking; little nicks, burns, and a couple of oddly shaped old hex marks.

[wandandsickle]

Jones has spent the last few hours trying to look nice without looking like she's trying, with mixed success. She's not really sure why she did, although she always does her best for social events. (Well, church events and Consilium functions, which leave her tendencies in party fashion a little toward the "Sunday best" end.)

She's considering buying a raffle ticket when she looks up and see Sebastian walk in. "Oh, Sebastian! Hello!" she says, brightly. Maybe a little too brightly, but it's a little loud in here. "Oh, and Mr. Koenig," she says, quickly. "How have you and your daughter been?"

[cailisairgid]

It's all very highschool in a way that Sol finds charming (in a way he's smart enough to keep to himself, which he's mercifully pretty good at doing; neither of them need to be inadvertently condescended to just because they're adorable), and that aside, he's genuinely pleased to see Jones again. He's good with names, faces - people.

"Jones and the phone," he says, good natured, dropping his arm from Sebastian's shoulder to offer her a hand to shake. "We've been good- she hoped you liked the stickers."

[heardmermaids.livejournal.com]

"Hullo Jones," he says with an honest, open smile that make him look considerably young. In fact, if one was being generous, it could be fair to say he almost looks his age.

Unusually, he's come out tonight without Velcro at his side. While he probably could've used his dog for support, it wasn't worth the stress on both of them to have him in such a crowded space.

[wandandsickle]

"Oh, I did like the stickers, they were lovely. I saved the unicorn. I need to find something to put it on, now that I've got somewhere a little more permanent to live. Tell her I said thank you."

She runs a hand through her hair, idly twisting a few strands between her fingers. "And Sebastian, it's lovely to see you again." Oh God oh God what does one say in this situation, she does not know.

[cailisairgid]

"I will do that," Sol says, smiling, casting a brief glance around the room for acquaintances in the crowd; at some point, probably soon, he's going to extract himself from third wheeling. (If nothing else, they are likely neither of them inclined to party quite the way he is.)

Speaking of. "I need a drink- either of you want anything while I'm at the bar? I'm not buying anyone beer I'm ashamed to be seen with."

[heardmermaids.livejournal.com]

"Whatever's on tap and doesn't look too suspect," he replies easily. Sebastian won't really drink most of it, but it's the polite thing to hold and he does appreciate Sol's offer.

"I know I promised to bore you with a book, but at the moment, my apartment is still under a bit of quarantine and rubble." Or Malfoys. Same thing, really.

/facepalm wrong journal

[wandandsickle]

"Gin and tonic please, if you don't mind," says Jones. "And I don't mind—I've been busy myself helping get things straightened back out, helping some of my neighbors in Flyside. If anything, it's something to look forward to. I shouldn't think it would be boring." She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

[warped-inside.livejournal.com]

Oh excellent, another familiar face. Not that meeting new people is bad, but Tosh isn't so good at it that she doesn't take comfort in seeing someone she knows for a change.

"LeMat, hullo! I see you made it back in one piece. How is Velcro?"

[heardmermaids.livejournal.com]

"He's pretty good. Liesl is taking care of him for the night," he says with a small smile. "And you? I'm glad to see you're in one piece as well."

[warped-inside.livejournal.com]

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. Hope he got a sufficient amount of treats and petting when you all got back." She nods, raising one shoulder as if to say it wasn't any great accomplishment. "Didn't leave the building until the coast was clear, so I was completely away from the fray."

After a very brief hesitation, she adds, "What was it like?"

[heardmermaids.livejournal.com]

"Of course. He's a very conscientious animal." He's also a working dog, which means that much of what he does for Sebastian is less a trick and just part of his dog-job.

"It wasn't good. We couldn't help a lot of people, but all in all, I don't think it'll be too much long term damage to the city as a whole." From the way he talks about it, being out and about in the madness of the city under plague really doesn't seem to have been all that bad. Either he's not easily affected by horrors, or he's seen far worse and fungal zombies and giant ants don't really compare.

[warped-inside.livejournal.com]

"I had a dog once, a puppy. It's been a while, though, and I don't think he'd have had much success doing actual useful things."

Tosh's smile turns sympathetic. She knows how that feels, having to measure success in terms of acceptable losses. "It's better doing something that's only somewhat helpful than doing nothing at all. Thank you."

[heardmermaids.livejournal.com]

"Velcro was in training to be a working dog when he got cracked on the head and now, he's hardly got a sense of smell. Still, he does his job well." Tosh has probably seen Velcro on a day where Sebastian had put on his official 'dog on a job' vest. Not only does it ensure that people don't distract Velcro, but it goes a long way to letting Sebastian have his space on the days he needs it.

"There's no need to thank me. It was just my job."

[obscuredvision]

A bit later in the evening, Ava sidles up to the bar. She glances over at the man she's just moved to stand near; she means it to be her usual, quick and appraising have I seen this face in a vision before once-over, second nature to her now. But she's had a couple of drinks and things are fuzzy around the edges and reaction times are more slow.

She realizes it's not a glance anymore, she's held that look long enough for it to be approaching significance. "Hello," she offers with a bright smile, acting as if she meant to do that all along. "Do you know if this seat's taken?"

[cailisairgid]

Unaware of the purpose of that glance but, admittedly, relatively accustomed to female attention at this point in his life, Sol smiles back and gestures smoothly to the stool beside him. He's nursing a beer, and that might be it for a while; he's supposed to be nominally responsible tonight. (Nominally.)

"Nah," he says, crooked and friendly, "go ahead."

[obscuredvision]

"Thank you very much." Ava perches on the stool, back straight, one hand carefully smoothing down the hem of her striped dress to make sure it doesn't ride up as she sits. The moves are practiced, not failing her even though she's buzzed because it's always been that important that she stay composed.

She offers him a hand to go with that friendly smile. "I'm Ava."

[cailisairgid]

It's a familiar vibe - hyperfeminine brunettes are sort of his type, but Ava's probably less likely to set fire to his roses than some of his exes - and he shakes her hand, relaxed. When he leans forward, there's a subtle hint of a scent, not a cologne...roses? Yes. "Sol," he supplies, faintly smiling, still. She is far more colourful than he is on any given day of the week. "It's a pleasure."

[obscuredvision]

Roses. Interesting.

But neither that scent nor his name ping anything inside her head, and she lets herself relax fully from her vigilance. It's exhausting, at times, having to compare so much with what she knows, but necessary. That makes the times when she can stop for a while that much more enjoyable.

"The pleasure is all mine, Sol. Have you been here in the city long?"

[cailisairgid]

"A couple months," which is longer than some, but not nearly as long as others - accordingly, he says it as though her mileage may vary on whether or not he gets to say he's been here long. It sure as hell feels like a long time, but the first week felt like an age, too, for all that he'd hit the ground running. "My daughter and I - I work for Hellsing, so the childcare benefits are pretty good."

[obscuredvision]

"...oh. Your daughter's here as well?" she asks, with that pleasant neutrality people summon when they just have no idea what to really say. If he needs childcare then his daughter isn't an adult; it's a bit terrible, to Ava's thinking, for the city to do that. But perhaps Sol would rather her be here with him than be left behind.

"I've been here about that long myself."

[cerebric.livejournal.com]

Parties are an interesting place for people watching and Charles could not be more pleased that he has enough control over his telepathy to shut out all the mental chatter around him. Through all the people he sees a familiar face and he stops, wondering how exactly to greet his friend under these circumstances.

When he walks closer he realizes that something is off. Details about the man are all wrong and he gives no kind of powerful mutant vibe that Charles can't block mentally. Charles is too close not to say anything now so he pretends that he had intended to greet this stranger all along. "Do you know if they have given away the door prizes yet?"

[cailisairgid]

Powerful something else, but who knows if Charles can tell that - a close examination of his mind would probably be a little confusing for a telepath at first, if they weren't accustomed to people walking around with clear memories of lives previously lived alongside their present realities.

(There's less pressure to leave your mark on the world when you already did, two thousand and change years ago.)

"I...don't think they have," Sol says, after a moment's thought, apparently rolling with the approach of a stranger perfectly readily. He's a wolfish kind of a man up close, pleasantries laid over danger and both equally true of him; he is good-natured and friendly, and he could probably rip someone's spine out if he had a reason to. "Bought a ticket, then?"

[cerebric.livejournal.com]

The look of danger is at least one Charles is familiar with. It's odd how two people can be so clearly different, yet share enough in common even at the onset of meeting a person the sense of common ground isn't one Charles can so easily shake.

The aforementioned danger doesn't bother Charles in the slightest. He's not a fool but he's no coward and knows from experience not to base everything entirely on looks. He doesn't make it a habit to read anyone's mind without their consent, but he can sense that while not a mutant, this man isn't exactly the average human either.

At the question Charles gives a slight chuckle, shaking his head. "Not in the slightest. It's my curiosity speaking, I'm afraid. I haven't been in Baedal long and as far as I know these prizes could be anything."