new beautiful things come in the first spit of snow on the northwest wind

[heardmermaids.livejournal.com]

Who: Any and all Hellsing Staff & guests they invite.
What: Fall dinner.
Where: Hellsing Guild Hall
When: Shundi evening.

At some point during the week, Sebastian posted a brief notice up on the staff bulletin board:

Autumn Dinner
Sunday Evening. Dining Hall. Potluck. BYOB.

When Sunday rolls around, Sebastian has brought along a tray of fruit, cheese, some preserves, and fresh bread.

Comments

[returntous.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately for Maggie, lurking in corners is exactly what Mabel has been up to since her rather unfortunate stint in 'could be possession, yeah let's go with that' land. Autumn had given Mabel an excuse to bundle up in a protective layer of long sleeves and thick clothes, but it didn't help her feel any less exposed. Her contribution: a store-bought platter of veggies.

Drifting on the edges of the crowd, Mabel smiles in an awkward, twisted way at Maggie, looking for unspoken clues to indicate she needed to give the girl some space.

[platanera.livejournal.com]

Corners are nice places to be in. You can watch everybody else from a safe distance without having to get involved in things and really, nobody looks at the corners too much. It all works out.

Except now. Maggie feels Mabel's eyes on her and it's a little strange since she never expected to be noticed. But the girl looks like her in a place where everybody else looks as different as they can. That deserves an awkward smile and nod in return.

[returntous.livejournal.com]

Well, it's not a hearty 'how you doing' but she'll take what she can get. Mabel's pretty sure she's not going to get a cold shoulder or funny looks from anyon (possession being part of the job hazards), but it doesn't make her eager to seek out old friends nonetheless.

"No offense, but you look - " Like you're about to start climbing the wall. " - Pretty uncomfortable there. This ain't your thing, huh?"

[platanera.livejournal.com]

"Not really," Maggie mumbles before she remembers to take her fingers from between her lips and speak up. "I just started here." So I don't know anybody are the unsaid words that hang in the air.

Is this what people do at potlucks? Tell complete strangers they look uncomfortable? The longer Maggie spends in Baedal, the more she realizes how sheltered she's been. It would surprise people that she's not the stereotypical rude New Yorker all the time, but when you have an overbearing mother who keeps you home when you're not working, shit like this is what you end up with. Potlucks and other social events just don't fit into that equation.

"You?"

[returntous.livejournal.com]

Mabel is just kind of blunt like that. A confrontational edge had shaped her upbringing, when it came to fighting bullies at school or getting the job done.

"I've been here for awhile, I've had time to get used to... uh, the stranger aspects of it." As if she wasn't one of those strange things.

[platanera.livejournal.com]

"Vampires?" Maggie's tone is one that says she hopes that vampire is just it. Okay, well, there's Hellboy and Nuala who clearly aren't vampires, but Maggie would like to keep the number of strange things that don't exist in her world to a low number. Preferably one in the single digits.

[returntous.livejournal.com]

"Anybody who can take the idea of vampires that calmly will probably fit in here just fine." She's trying to be assuring. It's hard when you can't tell what the line is between normal people and those who decide to join Hellsing. "Technically I'm in the ghost department myself."

[platanera.livejournal.com]

"Ghost department?" Ghosts are one thing Maggie's oddly comfortable with. Blame it on her particular choice in religion, but ghosts don't scare her as much as demons and vampires do. "You do what with them?"

[returntous.livejournal.com]

"'Research and Exorcism.'" Go-go Gadget airquotes. "It sounds a bit better than 'paranormal investigator' which is what I got saddled with before I got here. Not too sure about the exorcism part, but hey, looks nice on paper."

[platanera.livejournal.com]

"Same shit, really," Maggie muses but not in any way to downplay the importance of Mabel's job. Her fingers find their way back into her mouth; she isn't nervous this time. Just contemplating Mabel's occupation. "Either way, somebody has to send them packing. Might as well be somebody who knows what they're doing and not some douchebag with a video camera and a Ouija board."

[returntous.livejournal.com]

"You would not believe the number of douchebags with video cameras and an Oujia boards." Mabel rolls her eyes at the memory. "One good thing 'round here is having the less-than-normal waltzing around on a daily basis cuts down on the stupidity. Somewhat."

[platanera.livejournal.com]

"Too many. And when a ghost kicks their ass, they want to cry and then look for somebody to clean their house." Maggie sounds as if she knows far more about ghosts and spirits and ookey things than she lets her... and she does. But that's neither here nor there right now because it's Mabel's job to do those things apparently.

"Maybe," she shrugs, "That red dude scares me, though."

[returntous.livejournal.com]

"Red dude...?" There were two Mabel could figure; Alucard (who scared the hell out of her, so she sympathized), or Hellboy. She'll choose Hellboy, because she didn't want to admit to being scared of Alucard. "The big guy? Hellboy? Oh, he's great! Big push-over, really."

[platanera.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, sure, right." Nothing that looks like him or is his size is just a pushover. Let's all be thankful that Maggie hasn't run into Alucard. She'd probably quit Hellsing on the spot if she did without being prepared. "He's still fucking terrifying.

[returntous.livejournal.com]

"Understandable. I think I was ready to bash his face in when I first saw him, if I could've reached it." Mabel makes a vague, what-can-you-do gesture. "He's not nearly the strangest thing you'll find here, though."