Participants:
| Scene Title | Hell of a Christmas |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Tartarus is closed down for a Christmas party, in which a fabulous Santa shows up, along with an elf and some lack of Christmas cheer. |
| Date | December 17, 2010 |
It's cold enough outside that most people want to be inside, and just early enough that there's time to have fun before curfew hits. And inside the walls of Tartarus, a place that is usually packed is far emptier than it should be on a Friday of all nights. Nor does it entirely look like a goth club.
Someone has taken the time and effort to decorate for Christmas, just for tonight, as the garlands, lights and Christmas tree weren't there just the night before and likely won't be tomorrow night. The tree rests on the stage, a real one, the base circled by a red and green tree skirt. The skirt is almost completely covered with presents of various sized, shapes and colors, each wrapped meticulously and labeled with a 'To' but no 'From'. Presumably all of these are from the organizer of the party.
In lieu of a bar since there is no bartender available to serve drinks with all the employees given the night off, the bar has been turned into a buffet of sorts, with finger foods and drinks, both of the hot and cold variety, as well as the alcoholic and non sorts.
Mistletoe hangs from various locations, including every doorway and the middle of the dance floor. Rather than a DJ, music is being pumped out of the speakers by way of a computer programmed to play from an iPod. Christmas music, of course, but very little of it is traditional, at least in style. You might hear We Wish You a Merry Christmas, but it's likely to be a more modern version, or even techno.
Even Melissa herself has been decked out for the holidays. It may come as a shock to some people, but she's wearing color! More, it's bright red color, in the form of a short, sleeveless dress, red and white stockings that come to just above her knees, and, of course, a Santa hat. She may not be Santa, but she tried!
She's not holding Junie at the moment, but the baby is present, in a green dress since dressing alike is so lame, right? And the baby, for now, is in a walker, which lets her run around without giving Mel a heart attack. Avoiding those is good. Especially at a Christmas party.
Griffin isn't really feeling the holiday spirit. He looks the part, wearing his pinstripe suit and his santa hat. He is even trying his best to act the part, coming here early to help with the decorations, using his ability to hang things where most could not reach. Small smiles that didn't reach his eyes have been given to those around, with Junie being the only one he's really smiled at.
Currently, the man is stationed at the door, watching people as they pour in with a fake smile plastered on his features.
There are people actively trying to kill Richard Cardinal. Quite a lot of them, really. Which is why he doesn't choose to walk in the front door and perhaps invite some of those people to join in the festivities with gunfire and explosions. That would totally ruin the party, for one thing— well, maybe not for some people, but most people just can't appreciate a good holiday gunfight.
Therefore, Cardinal emerges from the bathroom. He's dressed in black BDUs, the jacket open to reveal the black t-shirt he's wearing beneath. He'd look like some sort of paramilitary commando, but he's got a jolly Santa Hat perched atop his head, so that makes it all better, right? Oh, hey, buffet. He migrates.
Kendall and Melissa kinda parted on bad terms, but he heard she was throwing a party, so he decided to show up despite everything. He even brought a present! It's wrapped in shiny red paper with 'Melissa' on the label, and he wanders among the crowd, looking around. Huh… are you supposed to bring presents to this sort of thing?
Fishnets, high-heeled boots, a fur-trimmed micro skirt, and a corset - Ygraine's gone some way towards dressing appropriately, though only her skirt, fishnets, and choker are red, the corset and boots glossy black. At the moment, she's perched on a stool by the bar, long braid of dyed-raid drawn forward over one shoulder - her tongue stuck out slightly as she focuses upon trying to get the end tied off just right.
As he makes his way into the club, Harrison pauses to allow his eyes a moment to adjust. He looks down at his "Ugly Christmas" sweater screaming in red and green in the shape of a shaggy Christmas Tree on the front. He runs a hand through his hair looking over at Griffin for a moment, turning away from the bouncer.
He begins to walk in the opposite direction the man is in case he is carding people tonight. His eyes begin to search the crowd for a familiar face.
Lurking in the corner, Gael is dressed in gray slacks and a dark red sweater over a green button-down shirt: not exactly festive, but at least vaguely the right color scheme for the season. The shirt is starting to visibly wear out, with little holes near the elbows and cuffs. Apart from Melissa, he doesn't see anyone else here that he recognizes… no, wait a minute, that's not true. The doorman. Didn't his face show up in one of Bill's old case files? Pushing away from the wall, he walks over to get a closer look.
Oh hey, Cardinal looks like he's recovered from his beating. And holy crap, Kendall showed up. Melissa pauses in the act of lifting a glass of eggnog, possibly spiked, to her lips when she spots him, and brows lift. HMM. She distracts herself by grabbing a cookie and offering it to Junie, who promptly zooms off, gumming on the snowman.
Now it's time to start greeting people. "Hey Richard. You're looking better than the last time I saw you," she calls out to the shadowman before eyeing Gael for a moment as he goes into investigate mode. But she leaves him be in order to look surprised when she sees Harrison. "When the hell did you get back in town?" she blurts out.
"Ho - Ho - Ho Bitches, guess who's baaaaaack!" Annnnnd he is back in town officially. Raquelle/Santa Claws? - Okay so he is wearing a santa hat but the rest of his ensemble is such a modern up to date santa clause that toss the top-hat aside, which he has left off tonight, it is Santa's evil/sluttier twin from the south pole. YOU decide. He enters the establishment, not at /all/ quiet as he lugs a red and white sack behind him and saunters further into the establishment, blowing a kiss to somebody he doesn't know and tosses a candy cane their way. Always cheerful!
And right behind Santaslut comes a little person dressed like an elf. It's not a midget forced to wear the costume, although he does appear slightly irritated for some reason, a direct contrast to the cheerfully chiming bells on his pointy shoes and hat. He's escorting Raquelle, standing just behind him and to the side. Attendant elf?
Harrison smiles softly as he walks over to Melissa. He looks different…grown up? Mature? Or well rested. As he opens his arms to embrace her he stops in case she is upset with him and says, "Yesterday…thought I would crash the party. Missed ya Mel. Miss me?"
Griffin quietly watches as everyone slips in, his brows raised quietly. Santa slut gets a smirk and a shake of his head; seems he's not doing much in the way of carding tonight. Otherwise, Griffin Mihangle is being quiet and withdrawn, watching the scene to ensure that nothing bad is going to happen. His arms remain crossed over his chest, green eyes trailing over the room.
At the call of Cardinal's name, he looks up from where he's pouring himself some coffee. Because you have to start off with coffee, right? Possibly it's just a bit Irish. He brings his chin up easily towards Melissa, walking along in the direction of her and Harrison, "Hey, Mel. Well, it's been a few weeks, y'know—didn't get hurt that badly. What were you doing running the games, anyway?" Sipping his coffee, he finds his gaze wandering along after Ygraine. Only he doesn't recognize her yet. Mostly because he's not looking at her face.
Sighing slightly, Ygraine unfastens the last few twists of her braid and sets about giving it another go - her gaze lifting idly, then fixing upon the rather odd encounter between Melissa and Kendall. Weren't those two meant to be close? That body language looks distinctly less than casual, however…
The arrival of Santa Slut has Melissa stopping, grinning, then heading towards Raquelle. "Hey honey. How many guys you gonna catch under the mistletoe before you let everyone sit on your lap?" she asks teasingly, offering him a hug. Then she glances down to his elf, then looks around for a Kendall. Oh yeah, he has to be behind this.
She looks back to Harrison, shaking her head. "Nope, not one bit. And it's not crashing. I would've invited you if I'd known you were back in town." Cardinal's comment has her snorting softly. "Yes you did. Trust me, if there's anyone you can't lie to about how badly you were hurt, it's me. And I wasn't running anything. I was just there…doing some research."
Harrison looks slightly hurt at the 'not one bit' and nods. "I can see your playing host. I can catch up with you when ya get a chance. Anyone here from the "gang". Harrison means Messiah as he has not seen any of then he knows…nor has he seen Kendall yet. He sees a corner and points, "Come see me when you get a second."
Where's Nadira? Oh right, behind the bar. Where else would she be? She's dressed in a red dress, just something she happened to have laying around. Right now, she's making holiday-themed drinks, as well as drinking one of her own.
"Just a fracture," Cardinal dismisses with a shake of his head, "Hurt like a sonuvabitch and I had to wear a cast for a couple've weeks, but it was a small one." His arm's still fragile now, but he's not exactly going to advertise that one." A pause, and he nods to Melissa, "Good. Apparently I just missed the hit squad the owners sent after me when I left, so… good to know you don't work for them now, or anything."
Kendall is behind the elf, and he's also behind Melissa, literally; without using illusion to make himself invisible, even, as a plus. Instead, he was just being sneaky. So once behind Melissa, he reaches his arm around her to hold the wrapped present with her name clearly labeled RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER FACE. Not to interrupt her conversation with Harrison…. ok, so he is, but whatever.
Rolling her eyes, Melissa pokes Harrison in the shoulder. "I was kidding. And part of the joys of a party like this is I can talk to whoever I want whenever I want. I mean, I did—" Blink, blink. There's a present in front of her face. "Uh…" Nog is set aside, and she glances back to Kendall. "Hey. Thanks. You've got a couple presents," she says, nodding towards the tree. And indeed he does. Two of them with Kendall's name on them.
She sits down to start opening, very carefully, with minimal ripping and glances at Cardinal. "Oh, I know," she says in a wry tone about the pain. "And nah, don't work for 'em. Don't know who they are, don't really care, to be honest. Don't go there to do business." Nevermind that one of them wants to do business with her. It's not important.
The package is opened, Mel looks inside, then she busts out laughing. "Dude. This is so not right for a brother to get a sister!" she says, pulling out a pair of underwear. Sexy thong underwear.
A quick stop by the bar to freshen up his drink; a smirk as the traditional opening of inappropriate presents begins; and then… yes, that's almost certainly the face that Gael saw in the corporate records a while back. He spent a lot of time building up a good memory for that sort of thing. "Hi," he offers, approaching Griffin closely enough to be seen in turn, "I think we used to know some of the same people."
A hug and a kiss on the cheek and then Raquelle steps back, winking. "Oh honey, mistletoe is sooooo last season, but I promise the folks who get my jingle bells and jangling will get extra candy in their stockings for sure." He drawls before laughing softly and looking to Steve - The Elf. "…you should've worn the sun-glasses Stevie Wonder, c'mon and help me find a comfortable place to perch." He chuckles and then turns to watch Melissa receive her gift, flashing Kendall a thumbs up of support before looking back to Melissa. "Awww, honey it just means that he wants you to know that even your shapely little ass has his brotherly support."
Cardinal brings a hand up to the edge of his brow and away to Melissa as she steps over to investigate her presents, a wordless farewell, moving to mingle through the crowd. As well as he mingles, that is. He's not as social a person as he once was, but he has coffee and a santa hat, that has to count for something, right?
Steve the Elf clears his throat. "As you say." wow, irritated little Santa's Elf. With a cheerful jingling of the bells, he starts walking around, following Raquelle. Maybe he's making sure nothing pops out while Raquelle is walking?
"Well you did mention how you want to get a man, so maybe wearing something like that would help." Kendall replies innocently to her, then hurries away in case she wants to threaten him with violence. Actually, now he goes to open his own presents. He eyes the contents, then picks one up and holds it out. "Thanks, Melissa, I'll make sure and put all of them to good use!" he tells her loudly. What's he holding? A condom. He's trying to embarass her, isn't he.
Harrison smiles a bit brighter now at Melissa as he turns his eyes upon Kendall. He gives the kid a wave when Santa Slut catches his attention. He cocks an eyebrow and hmmms before getting himself some eggnog and begins to sip it. He pulls at his ugly holiday sweater.
Green eyes shift toward Gael as the man approaches, Griffin raising both eyebrows as he peers quietly at the man for a long moment in thoughtful silence. No recognition shines on his face. Finally, he speaks to the older man, shaking his head slowly. "I don't recall your face, sorry." His brows arch toward the fellow, inclining his head toward Gael.
"My shapely ass doesn't need to be a brotherly concern," Melissa tells Raquelle, tucking the thong back in the box and setting it on the bar. Then, alas, Kendall's innocent comment has some of her enjoyment fading, and his next comment has her smile growing tighter. "Just make sure you read the damn book." Oh yeah, that was a bit forced. But it's the point of the present. Honest.
She raises her voice then, so it carries to most everyone in the room. "All you bitches better be drinking heavily and having fun or I'm gonna sic Santa on you!" A pause, then she looks to Raquelle and stage whispers, "You gonna be letting people sit on your lap and tell you that they've been naughty? Err, nice?" Another pause, then another call to the room, "Also, presents under the tree. If you don't see one with your name, just grab one without a name."
Presents? Really? That's a surprise. It hadn't occurred to Ygraine that there might be anything for her, other than a chance to spend some time with her late-as-ever girlfriend. Finally securing the end of her briad, she lifts her gaze once more to quickly glance around in search of a certain tardy Irishwoman, then slips carefully off her stool and stalks over to the tree - heels clicking sharply on the floor, rapping out a rhythm very nearly in time to the music - there to sink into a crouch that shows off even more fishnet than before as she sets about searching for anything with her own or Quinn's names on them.
Yes, that's a laugh from slutty Santa before he coughs and adjusts his grip on his bag and he chuckles softly, shaking his head. "Condoms…" He gives Melissa a /look/. "I hope you didn't get me the same thing honey, I order in bulk." Raquelle laughs softly and gestures to Steve. "Bah, what else would I be doing wearing this much red and /velvet/ in public without charging 20 bucks for a - " He cuts himself of. "…hug." Shifty eyes and he's all about finding a chair.
"Ygraine, right?" It's from behind the woman, Cardinal's question fairly certain— but he's not absolutely sure. He meets a lot of people in his time. He's trying to be social, though, so why not introduce himself to someone he only vaguely knows? The fishnets have nothing to do with it, of course. He cranes his neck, looking to the presents, "Shit. I would've brought some if I'd known this was a gifting occasion."
After a surprised start, Ygraine leans back a touch, resting her forearms on those fishnets as she peers around and up at Cardinal, her expression curious. After a moment, it's clear that she's got the impression that she +might+ recognise him, but has pretty much no idea at all where from - let alone whom he might actually be.
"I, ahhh, yes", the Briton confirms. "I'm afraid that you have me at a disadvantage, however."
Gael shakes his head. "No, I don't think we've met in person before. You used to live in Chicago, though? I had an old colleague who moved there a few years ago, a William Fenway—" It's not a rhetorical question, this might be someone else who happens to bear a resemblance - or a twin brother, it wouldn't be the first one of those - but if he's right, then that should be enough for Griffin to figure out who he is. Or rather, was.
"It's the holiday for giving." Steve the Elf reminds Raquelle. "Contrary to the now stereotypical 'shop til you drop' mood that's taken over this sinful society."
Kendall puts the condom back in the box with the rest of them and shoves them to the side so no one else walks off with them. Or maybe they should, Kendall isn't sure why he needs flavored lube anyway. Because that sounds kinda gross.
"Charging for Santa's lap? Tsk!" Melissa says, leaning back against the bar and picking up her drink, watching the baby running around, and into people. She glances towards Cardinal, head tilting. "Aren't you supposed to give presents at these things?" she asks, brow furrowing lightly. Christmas parties aren't something she's had a lot of experience with.
Harrison moves to sit down and runs a hand through his hair. His eyes begin to scan the crowd as looks for people he knows. He presses his lips into a fine line and wonders where is Ash? Where is Ling? Where is Peter…Rupert…his eggnog comes to his lips as he drinks and leaves himself a white film on the upper part of his lip.
"Richard Cardinal." A tired smile from the shadowman, his coffee cup brought up in a slight toast to her, "Don't worry, I get that a lot. I know a lot more people than know me, after all…" A pause at Melissa's words, and he exhales a chuckle, admitting, "No idea. It's been awhile since I've been to a party when I wasn't there to spy or something."
Nadira's making some Bailey's milkshakes, cleverly renamed a Peppermint Blizzard due to the fact that there's some peppermint thrown in. Once she's done, she leaves a bunch up on the bar before heading around to the party proper. She's not behind there all night, at least.
"Awww, you're so cute Stevie, now please help me find a chair to sit in so I can do my job, thank you sweetie, you're a doll. Mwah mwah." Raquelle murmurs to Steve the Elf before turning to look between Kendall and Melissa and then a baby he's never seen before. "You aren't require, it is a common thing for folks who do stuff like that but it isn't a necessary thing."
Griffin's brows arch toward Gael. Briefly, he glances toward Melissa, then back to Gael, offering a shake of his head. "That name doesn't ring a bell, sorry. I did live in Chicago for at time." He tilts his head to the side, eying Gael curiously. "I don't remember a lot about the past several years, sadly. I apparently got a concussion." A shrug.
“Oh. Well, I figured you were supposed to, so…" Melissa shrugs and motions to the tree. "Besides, I like giving people stuff. Even when there's no real reason to." True that's bitten her in the ass occasionally, but hey. She nods at Raquelle, smiling again. "Gotcha. Works for me. And where've you been? I had to do my hair myself!" she says, as if horrified at that fact.
Steve the Elf goes off without a word, and a few minutes pass. Then he reappears, dragging an enormous throne-like chair, resplendent in gold gilt and green and red velvet. Now where did a little guy like that get such a huge chair?It's placed in a specific area, and Kendall wanders over behind it for a second, then comes back around. There, now it's safe to actually sit in. As a finishing touch, Steve the Elf rolls a length of red carpet in front of the chair. There.
Late to the party, Kendall's missing coworker has apparently managed to find her way here. She's not dressed in the fanciest of clothes, but she clearly tried to make do with what she had. The teen heads on inside to look around, a little nervous perhaps. "Hello." The teen mumbles to no-one in particular. She's apparently headed for Kendall first, by the looks of it, as she starts to hover near the older teen.
Late as ever indeed! There's no ceremoney, no fanfare when Robyn Quinn arrives, late to the party as always. And not even fashionably late this time, she's just straight up late! The door is pushed open and Quinn scurries in rather quickly, dressed in her black button down coat, skirt, and stockings, another coat folded over her arms. It's with a sigh that the black coat is taken off and - honestly, QUinn has no idea where they keep coats here, she's never had to bring one before, so it's simply draped over an unclaimed chair. Revealed underneath is a bright white and red corset, and almost immediately a similarly coloured victorian inspired jacket, not unlike the one she wore to the club's opening, is thrown on in an attempt to keep her arms warm. Eyes scan the crowd as she wanders out, looking for familiar faces.
Harrison hmmms as he looks around a bit more and waits for Melissa to stop speaking so he does not interrupt and asks, "Hey Melissa. Where is everyone? I was hoping to see Ash. Hell even Ling. I don't see Peter or Rupert. They coming tonight? I wanted to show Ash how I had been working on my drop kick."
A hand is lifted and Melissa waves to Quinn, while eyeing Anna suspiciously. But before she can say or do anything, Harrison is asking unpleasant questions. "Ling's dead," she says softly. "So's Rupert, thank fucking god. No idea where the fuck Ash or Peter are, and not sure I particularly care either," she says, more bluntly. Seems Ling's the only one of the bunch she cared about. Awww.
"You're good people darlin', good people indeed and I haven't been around because I was spending some time with family but my holidays will be in the sweet new york. Oh yes indeed." Raquelle gives Harrison a once over before blowing him a kiss and then he saunters off towards his chair to give Melissa time to speak and the like. "Why thank you sweetie!" He coos. "Such a good…little thing. A cute little thing…" He's so not going to ask a question about how. He just drops into the chair, sprawling out with a leg thrown over one arm of the chair and the bag resting near his feet. "Ho ho…god I'm tired of calling for Christmasy prostitute, who's the first, c'mon I don't have all night, daughters to feet, boyfriends to fornicate with…chop chop chop, who wants to sit on Santa's lap?"
Gael furrows his brow, considering: is Griffin telling the truth? He sounds like it… and if he was lying, then admitting the Chicago part would be a lousy way to go about it. The memory loss clinches it; that is most definitely something that he's encountered before. "Sorry to hear it," he replies, not insincerely. "Hope you've been able to get back on your feet since."
Cardinal's head snaps over to look in Melissa's direction, his brow furrowing into a wrinkle between his eyes at the mention of Ling's death— something that, apparently, he hadn't heard. A frown deepens as he looks between Melissa and Harrison, watching their interaction with blatant interest. No subtle eavesdropping here.
Harrison blinks and goes slightly pale. He has been gone a long time he knows this but…damn. He slightly shrinks in his chair and looks embrassed and looks into his cup. When Slutty Santa begins his "reindeer games" Harrison looks over in his direction in time to see his wink. He smirks softly and then remembers Melissa and her news. He sighs and takes a drink of his eggnog. He softly says, "Sorry Mel. If I had known I would have come bad sooner."
Kendall wrinkles his nose when Melissa mentions Ling being dead. Yeah, he was trying to forget that. He thinks she was finally starting to like him and all. Raquelle is smirked at, but Kendall makes no move to sit on his lap. Yeah, no.
Melissa shakes her head. "You couldn't have known. Go on, sit on Santa's lap and cheer up a bit," she says, nudging him towards Raquelle before she looks curiously at Cardinal. "Which part of that was news to you?"
"Oooooh, Smoochie Poo Salon Minion…you come tell Santa if you've been naughty or nice before the night is up and your boss might actually give you a raise and let you deal with the /other/ cash drawer…" Raquelle sing-songs in Kendall's direction before tilting his head back and adjusting his Santa Hat, being patient and also watching people curiously.
While normally being a wallflower at a party wouldn't be Anna's kind of thing… right now she's not sure of it being a bad thing. Melissa's gaze is answered with a friendly, albeit forced smile. "Sorry for the last time I was here." She says, tone calm and pleasant. "You were right, things could get worse." And without clarifying, the teen heads on her way to find herself a diet coke.
"I didn't know about Ling. What— no," Cardinal gives his head a tight shake to halt his questioning, "It's a party. Not the time to ask." He pulls back and away, wandering off in the direction of the buffet, cradling the cup of irish coffee in his hands.
Griffin tilts his head toward Gael, a small smirk on his face. "Not really, but…well, what can you do?" A shrug rolls over the man's shoulders, Then, he turns his gaze toward Nadira, raising a hand and gesturing for her to join him. "But I'm doing as well as I can." A shrug. The man leans back against the doorway, running a hand through his hair.
"Told you," Melissa says to Anna, without sounding even remotely pleased. "You start anything tonight though, and your ass is out of here. I don't know who invited you, but I won't have this party wrecked." Which is when she nods her agreement to Cardinal. "You know where to find me. Well, mostly. Some of the time. And you should go grab something from under the tree."
Kendall blinks belatedly upon noticing Anna when she speaks up, and he watches her go off, and then Melissa's talking to her. "What'd you do?" he asks his coworker, bewildered. Dang, Mels has all this hostility towards teenage girls.
Harrison looks at Cardinal. It is time for a party. Harisson decides to mourn his loss later as he stands up and begins to walk towards Santa. He walks up to Santa and says, "Hey Santa. Mind if I have a seat. I don't want to get my Dad's sweater dirty so…" Harrison makes an attempt to shock Santa as he pulls of his sweater to reveal his bare chest and very well defined abs. He moves to sit down and says, "I have been a naughty boy. What am I gonna get for Christmas this year?"
Rising to her feet, Ygraine accompanies Cardinal over to the buffet - though she now bears an envelope in one hand. "Nice to meet you. I think I've heard your name somewhere", she informs the man - before her face lights up as she spots the woman whose name is on the envelope. It gets waved cheerily at Quinn.
"What I did?" Anna drawls to Ken, trying not to sound sarcastic, "Besides the part where I currently live in an abandoned building due to having lost a home? Besides the fact that I almost got myself used as a suicide bomber by Humanis First? Besides the fact…" And then she interrupts herself, "No, this is a party. If you want to talk about it, let's do that some other time…"
"What you also did was ignore my question about who invited you, then immediately began a scene," Melissa says darkly towards Anna. "One more comment like that, and I will personally throw you out and get a restraining order." And now it's time for something stronger than spiked eggnog. Because she can't quite prevent herself from lashing out with a wee bit of pain towards the teenager. Oops? Must get control. Party!
"Oh….lord, Santa baby…been an awful good boy, thank /you/…" Raquelle blinks slowly as he just studies Harrison thoughtfully and then pats his lap. "Oh ho ho ho…" He glances towards Melissa and the others over there, narrowing his eyes and then - "HO!" When Harrison actually sits down. He clears his throat and tilts his head back a bit so he can look at Harrison. "Certainly not coal…what do /want/ for Christmas then…" And yes, Santa isn't shy about asking Stevie for the a candy cane. "Need a candy cane and the first present from the bag honey…"
Snagging a second milkshake, Nadira heads over towards Griffin and offers him the drink. "It is not your usual, but… I think it is a good alternative." She looks towards Gael, offering him a polite smile. She's not sure who he is, so.. she's being polite!
"Ah…" Kendall replies faintly, detects a hint of DANGER in the atmosphere, and makes his escape. He goes to hide behind the big chair now, thanks. Actually, that's where he's supposed to be, because Steve the Elf can't pick things up himself. So slipping on his invisibility ring, Kendall places himself where Stevie is, and grabs the required items. Steve hands the items to Raquelle, as taciturn as ever.
Harrison reaches over and takes the candy cane as he opens it he leans back and begins to suck on it slowly. This is a big change since those who know him last as the "nice" kid. Harrison seems a bit more comfortable with who he is now. He wraps his arm around 'Santa's' beck and leans back to expose the full length of his abs for the man.
"I just got back into town. I hope I can reconnect with old friends. I wish to get a good job…maybe singing or modeling this time…I hated Starfucks." He sucks the cane in and pulls it out and looks over in Melissa's direction and leans in towards Santa. Harrison's lips touching his ear as he whispers something to the man.
The door opens, a chilly wind accompanying a black, red, and white blur before it closes once more, and Daphne stands, cheeks flushed from speeding around in the cold. Giving a cheery wave, she swiftly takes the black coat off; beneath she too is actually dressed up — a bright red sweater dress atop black tights and black boots, a black belt cinching her small waist. The combination, complete with a red santa hat, makes her look just a little like one of Santa's elves.
A pile of presents are brought and dumped on the table — tags reading Melissa, Man-Child, Raquelle among them.
"Miss me?" she announces, moving toward Melissa for a hug.
"I'm sorry." Anna mumbles to Melissa, and with that coke being placed down, barely touched, she heads for the exit, "I shouldn't have come. While it might not be obvious if you aren't watching Anna's face, a few years are dripping down. "I just… needed something to distract myself. Think of better things…" By the looks on her face, 'better things' haven't been happening a lot to her of late.
It takes Quinn a moment to notice both Melissa and Ygraie's waves a she looks over the crowd, but once she does, waves are enthusiastically given in return. And one over to Nadira, too, if the other woman can even see her! It's been too long since the two of them hung out, and clearly this was going to need to be rectified. "NAsiiiiiii!" she yells, even as she's walking off towards Ygraine first. She grimaces upon seeing Cardinal next to her, but that doesn't deter her. Instead, arms are thrown around her girlfriend from the side. "Attack huuug~" she proudly proclaims, squeezing. She atually seems a bit- too energetic?
And that is all it takes for Melissa to forget her anger. She lets out a squeal and flings her arms around Daphne for a tight hug. "Damn right I did! Where have you been? You've missed tons! And someone get this woman a drink!" She looks around for Kendall, but alas, invisible boy is no where to be found. "Dammit, where did that boy go?"
She glances at Anna, arching a brow. "You don't need to apologize, you just need to stop being such a downer at a Christmas party."
"Quinn." A faint smile touches Cardinal's lips at the look in his direction before he finishes moving off, leaving the two girls to their own greeting; declining to take a present from the pile, for the moment, he pauses as there's a colourful blur that cuts through the room past him. He exhales a snort of humor, bringing his mug up in a casual salute, "Hey, Daphne."
Raquelle rests his chin on Harrison's shoulder for a moment before he's being whispered to and he's taking this time to listen carefully, breath deeply and laugh softly as the young man gets his candy cane and his small gift. The gift is wrapped dark purple and black wrapping, tied with a pink bow. "Ahhh, Santa thinks…you are a good young man, gah…look at them abs I just want to lick 'em. BAD Santa, BAD. Here…" He hands the gift over. "Meeery Christmas, Santa will see what he can do, and stop by the Salon and the guy there will help with your other wishes and if you put your shirt back on, Santa'll uh, well he'll do what Santa does when little boys are selfish." He winks and grins. "OKAY, who's next!?"
"Please don't do anything that you wouldn't do around your daughters." Steve the Elf reminds Raquelle. "There are minors here." well, Kendall and Anna…
Only vaguely aware of Cardinal's departure, Ygraine nods to him before hastily refocusing upon the Irishwoman. "Meli left you a present", she murmurs, gesturing with the envelope, as her other arm slides around Quinn's corseted waist, pulling her close enough to receive a kiss. "Your skirt is far too long for this party, you know", the Briton adds teasingly, before she cocks her head. "Should I grab us a couple of drinks, find a seat, and you tell me how your day's been? I can let you open your present and do the rounds first, if you like…."
A hand is extended to Nadira as Gael is introduced to her— properly this time, not just That Woman Behind The Bar. "Pleased to meet you both." Well, Griffin could be in a lot worse shape, considering. Hasn't lost anyone close to him lately. (He has, actually, but Gael remains unaware.)
"If you'll excuse me, then? I should circulate." Another glance around - the newly arrived peroxide blonde is impossible to miss - and then there's Anna over there, who sounds like she's been in the same sort of shape as he has. What's her story, then?
As he grins, he looks down at Santa and whispers something again before he walks away. Harrison made the slutty Santa's night. He chuckles softly as he pulls his ugly Christmas sweater back on before moving to the table and sits down. He runs a hand through his hair as he looks down at the gift. He begins to open it slowly.
Griffin takes the drink from Nadira, peering over it thoughtfully for a moment, before slurping at it. At the same time, his eyes close briefly, and…of those milkshake things promptly floats over, right into Melissa's hand. A small wave is offered to Gael, as the lanky man apparently really enjoys the milkshake. Once that floating milkshake is in Mel's hands, Griffin opens his eyes once more, offering a faint smirk over to Melissa.
"This milkshake is…okay." He blinks a few times down at it. "I'm not used to sweet alcohol."
"Just remember to breathe, honey," Melissa calls out to Raquelle, grinning at him. Harrison gets an amused look as he saunters away from Santa, then she's looking back to Daphne. "Kendall's around here somewhere. And of course Raquelle. Not sure who else you know, but…Have fun anyway!"
Anna is trying not to be a downer, she honestly is. And well, it's probably visible, "Happy Christmas, everyone." She says with as much cheer as she can manage. Though, that's not an awful lot of cheer. As she heads back to her coke, she takes a few more sips, idly looking around. Deciding that talking isn't the best of ideas right now, she keeps her mouth shut for now.
"California," Daphne replies as to where she's been. "And half tempted to turn around and run back, fuck it's cold. Last winter I said I'd never complain again about the cold, but what the hell, I spent most of the storm with a fever, right? I can complain still." She grins and waves to those who've greeted her, arches a brow at the elf, and snorts at Raquelle.
"Anyway, not sure how long we're in town, but here for a bit," she says brightly. With a nod toward Anna, she glances at Melissa. "Who's the sad panda?"
"You know Steve, if you weren't so precious I'd probably tell you to bite me." Raquelle Clause winks. "Don't worry honey, I'm not going to do anything that could get me arrested." He tilts his head back at the second whisper however and he discreetly moves a hand to adjust the crotch of his pants, blowing a kiss after Harrison and then laughing softly to himself, pouting a bit toward Melissa and then adjusting himself to see who's next, pointing curiously towards Anna. "Stevie…why are there sad people at my Debut? And better yet, why is my lap empty…I wonder…"
"All right, all right." Steve grumbles. "I get it." then the little elf heads towards Anna and waves his hands at her, trying to shoo her towards SantaRaq. "Let's have bright smiles now, it's almost Christmas." this apparently doesn't apply to Steve the Elf.
"Cold? Hey, you'n me still gotta go on our trip, remember?" Melissa says with a grin to the speedster. "And I have no idea. She was in here for the memorial and got…unpleasant. I guess someone invited her though, so if she behaves, I won't kick her out." She watches the elf, then nods. "I'm sure Raquelle will cheer her up. If anyone can, it's him. Oh, you want a shock? Check this." She motions to Junie, still bumping into ankles, babbling happily and waving half-eaten, slobbery cooking in the air. "She's mine now."
"A present? What?" Quinn looks rather surprised, a bit fo a frown actually on her face. "I didn't get her anythin' yet. I guess I'll have t' go see her…" She turns her attention back out to the crowd, head tilted. "Yeah, I guess I should get on that, then. gotta see Nadira too! An' I guess say hi t' Cardinal an' a few of ther other people here I know…" The way she wrinkles her noes might say that she's not really feeling up to walking around and talking to people, or it might say that she needs to sneeze. Depends on how you look at it. Another quick kiss is stolen, the Irishwoman disengaging from her companion. "Get me some whiskey. If they say they don't have it, make Nadira get it. I know they're lying." She smiles wide. "I'll join you in a few!"
The last of the irish coffee's finished off, and Cardinal sets it down to the surface of one table; claiming the chair beside it, he sprawls back in the seat, stretching his legs out under the table. The tail of his santa hat lands on the front of his shirt, and he lifts a hand up to flick it out of his way.
Harrison opens the package and smiles at the set of scents. He sets it aside and takes out a few envolpes and places them under the tree. They are marked Melissa and Kendall. He looks down at the ones marked Ash, Peter, Ling, and Rupert and sighs sliding them into his pocket. He walks back to his table and sits down to watch the party continue.
"Strange, isn't it? It is the first time you taste it." Nadira looks around the room for a moment, sliding her free arm around Griffin's waist. "Things seem to be going alright tonight, I think. It's rather nice to have things just sort of be… people we know. It's kind of nice to have a gathering like this. I'm not so used to it."
There is mistletoe over Cardinal's seat. He hasn't noticed it.
When pushed to go sit in 'Santa's' lap, Anna decided to go ahead with it and head his way, the teen headed to plop down in Raquelle's lap. "Hey Santa." She offers with a forced smile. She doesn't mention good or naughty, not because she doesn't want to, but because she honestly has no idea whether she'd qualify for either. "Merry Christmas?"
"Hey, baby," Daphne says, frowning as she glances at the pile of presents. "I kinda forgot her, but I'll go steal her something from Baby Dior or something, I promise. Did you like, legally adopt her?" she asks, moving toward the food table and grabbing something to nosh on. She's a little twitchier than even normal for her, eyes darting around to take in the unfamiliar faces. Her booted feet shift from time to time in a blur, as if standing still this long in New York City is a very arduous task — because for her, it is.
"I'm working on it," Melissa says, nodding to Daphne. "And damn girl. Go wander the room. Meet and greet and run between convos," she says, noticing the twitchiness. "And no rush on getting anything for Junie. I sorta went nuts on the shopping spree. Had no idea what to get for a baby. They still freak me out," she admits.
And then…Someone has fallen for the mistletoe trap! She holds up a finger to Daphne. "Be right back." Then she wanders over to Cardinal (sorry boys, no swooping or birdlike motions here), puts her hands on his cheeks and gives him a kiss. It's short, it's loud and there's a distinct lack of tongue. Just a playful kiss. The gutterbrains will have to get to kissing if they want more! Then she grins, points upward, and says, "Mistletoe."
"Are ya asking me honey or are you telling me?" Raquelle drawls when the young woman sits on his lap, he sighs softly and shakes his head tugging a purple bandana from his inner pocket and offering it to her. "Just in case you start crying, you look sadder than a drag queen who's too big to tuck." He adjusts the girl on his lap so they can both be comfortable and tilts his head to the side. "Lets try it again, 'Merry Christmas'. Now you try honey, you're just too pretty to be mopin' about like a lovestruck puppy who's just got back from the vet after bein' fixed now. Take a deep breath and shout it for everybody to hear…ready, one…two…three…: MERRY CHRISTMAS HOOKERS!" He gestures vaguely with his free hand before reaching towards Steve for the gift and piece of candy. "Your turn."
Steve the Elf clears his throat again, but seems to have given up, because he doesn't say anything. Instead, he just silently grabs a present and a candy cane, putting them into Raquelle's hands.
"Hey-" Cardinal's about to say something to Melissa as she approaches, then blinks as his face is clasped by both hands and he's kissed. Another blink, and then a snort of good humor as she points up to the mistletoe. "My bad," he exhales a low chuckle, moving to scoot the chair back and safely out of the way, "Should've been looking up…"
Busying herself with gathering up food and booze, Ygraine is briefly distracted by the sight of Melissa startling Cardinal… then, shaking her head, she moves to stake out a spare seat, awaiting the return of Quinn to share in her purloined goodies.
"I'm not a hooker…" Anna mumbles towards Raq, and judging by her defensive tone of voice, apparently some people have been doubting that of late. Then, more loudly, and with her best attempt to be cheerful, the teen says, "Merry Christmas, Santa." It's still not the most convincing christmas cheer of the world, but she's trying.
Harrison laughs out loud at Melissa's antics as he moves to get himself some more eggnog. He moves to the corner and sits leaning back slightly in his chair to watch the party unfold.
"Thank ya Stevie honey." Raquelle thanks his elf, handing over the nicely wrapped gift and the candy cane to the young woman in her lap. "…no, you're not a hooker, you're wishing all the other hookers Merry Christmas. Just like when Tila Tequila posts videos with her legs up in the air and spread wide, she's not saying /she/ is a hooker she's jus-okay bad example but c'mon hon, gimme a smile." He pouts. "If not I'm going to start crying and then mah eyeliner will start running and I'll look like a /trashy/ hooker and everytime I say ho ho ho a sleight will pull up and I'll get mugged by the elves I had to let go for not meetin' their quotas…" He flashes a smile. "C'mon now, gimme a smile and tell me what you want for Christmas, think happy thoughts."
Grinning, Melissa glances over to Raquelle. "Merry Christmas Slutty Santa!" she calls back before laughing as Cardinal scoots back. "Hey, at least I didn't maul you. It was innocent!"
Judging by Steve's expression, Raquelle might end up being mugged after all.
Quinn's first destination is Melissa, though she pauses when she sees her boss bend over to kiss Cardinal, a bit taken aback. It seems she's missed the mistletoe too. "Meeeeeeeel," is shouted afterwards, a somewhta too wide smile on her face as she approaches. "What's this I heard about presents~ Also, hi." Priorities, afterall. A bit of a wave is given over to Richard, and this time, Quinn smiles a bit more. "Long time, no see, Richard. I hope you're well?" Even if the way they met wasn't the most - comfortable, at least at the moment, Quinn's being a good guest and employee.
"Yeah," Cardinal exhales a wry bark of laughter, "Because that would be a nightmare, wouldn't it?" Once he's safely out've range of the mistletoe, he relaxes back in the chair, one elbow hooking over the back of the seat. He shrugs one shoulder at Quinn's inquiry, admitting, "Not so much, but that's about par for the course. You doin' alright?"
Chewing on a breadstick, Daphne snorts at Melissa's decree to mingle — theoretically they're all safe, right, all friends of Melissa's. But then Melissa knows a lot of dangerous people, more dangerous people than Daphne usually hangs out with.
And she's a criminal.
She moves closer to "Santa" to bend and give him a kiss on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, pimp," she tells him. "You give ho, ho, ho a new meaning." She winks at Anna. "Cheer up, mighty mite."
The pixyish speedster stands straight once more, dark eyes darting to the door again before Junko babbles at her from her walker. "Oh hey, baby," she says, bending down and handing the baby the rest of the bread stick to gnaw on.
Slowly, a smile starts to form on Anna's face. Though what she's asking for Christmas … likely isn't what Raquelle was expecting. "How about a place to live that has some basic facilities?" She asks, her tone serious despite the girl's smile. "That's all I really want… anything else would be gravy."
Quinn gets a grin from Melissa. "Yeah, you've got one under the tree with your name on it. Grab it and open it whenever you want." She looks back to Cardinal, shrugging. "For me. I'm swearing off men. I mean you're cute and all, but something bad would happen, so…Chaste kisses it is. Sorry."
Daphne makes a friend for life when sharing food with the little girl. She gives the speedster a toothless grin, waving the breadstick around triumphantly before gnawing on it happy. Nomnomnom.
Griffin peers quietly at the milkshake. "It's okay." He shrugs, and turns, lifting his eyes to the party with a faint hint of a frown on his face. "It's nice that people are getting together for the holidays." He's trying, at the very least, to be chipper. No need to be a downer to everyone else. He offers a faint smirk over toward Cardinal and Melissa for a moment, before he lifts his eyes toward the ceiling, raising a hand as if to shield his eyes from the ceiling lights.
"Oh, look up there, Nadi. It's mistletoe." He points up at mistletoe that is floating down from above, then grins to Nadira, leaning closer to her.
"Mwah! Oh you know you /love/ it!" Raquelle grins and weeks at Daphne, tilting his head to the side so she has the best access to his cheek. "Merry Christmas baby." Then he tilts his head to the side at Anna, worrying his bottom lip for a moment before hmming softly. "…go to Cambria's Salon and Dayspa and ask for Raquelle Cambria's contact information honey, he'll try to do what he can to get you somewhere to stay at least for Christmas, okay? Now stop being glum, Santa'll make sure you'll have at least a hotel room for the next few weeks." He flashes a grin. "Now you be a good girl okay?" He looks to Steve and arches an eyebrow. "…who's next Stevie Wonder?"
More or less ignoring Melissa's standing request, Gael continues to keep to himself, working his way slowly through his drink and setting it aside. He shoots Steve a sidelong glance - no wonder the poor elf's patience is strained - then returns his attention to the Santa stand-in. And his latest supplicant. "I could go for some basic facilities myself these days," he murmurs, loudly enough for them to hear.
With a more genuine smile now, Anna nods and gets up. "Thank you, Santa." And then she meanders around the establishment again, eventually coming to a halt under a piece of mistletoe. Not that she noticed that, mind. As she stands there, she takes a sip out of her diet coke.
"You put that there on purpose, Griffin," Nadira points out, considering that the mistletoe is floating. Either way, she leans in and kisses him lightly, color in her cheeks. Her gaze goes over towards Gael, watching him for a moment before she looks towards Griffin. "Friend of yours?"
"Could be better," Quinn admits to Cardinal with a bit of a shrug. "Been a hard last month an' a half, but I'm sure you know that." Not that she knows about Engame or anything, she just sort of assumes. "Hopes it picks up, though. At least we're all here for the holidays, right?"
With that, attention turns back to Melissa. "Oooh, I'll have t' go look!" And then she pauses, and she can't help but form an impish smile, eyes narrowed at Melissa. "Giving up men, then? Should I be buying you at the next date auction, Melissa? Boss an' employee, scandelous~" She adopts a sing songy voice for the last part, clearly teasing.
Steve the Elf opens his mouth to say something, but apparently Gael is volunteering. "Well, go on, sit on his lap, gotta do it properly." Steve tells Gael, pushing him towards Raquelle. "He might pout if you don't."
Melissa smiles at Griffin and Nadira, then looks around. Raquelle and Daphne. Awesome. And Quinn! Mel has to laugh and nods. "You do! And nah, giving up women too. We're insane, you know? Batshit. Plus if you get a girlfriend then you gotta worry about bitchiness for fourteen days out of the month instead of seven. But yes, go look! It's envelope shaped."
Spotting Gael mostly keeping to himself, and she arches a brow. Right up until he makes his way to Santa. "If I only had a camera," she murmurs. "Sit on his lap! Go for it!" she calls out to the former Company agent.
Daphne's brows twitch into a fleeting frown at the wishes being thrown around; in some ways, while she belongs nowhere, she can belong anywhere, so it's not something she can totally relate to. Still, it shows just how dire the situation in New York is, and has her glancing at the door again.
Card's route to the alcohol is noticed so Daphne heads that way too — it wouldn't be polite to run without at least more mingling. Toddlers don't count. She heads that way, nodding to him. "Pour me one, too, will ya?" she asks.
Gael looks to Steve. Looks to Raquelle. Looks to Melissa. Looks back to Steve. Okay, guys? Not only no, but hell no. Leaning down, he grabs Steve's wrist and gives him a shove toward Santa's lap instead, plotting a beeline toward his original corner. Spoilsport.
When Gael grabs Steve's wrist, he disappears into smoke, and the smoke moves behind him and reforms into what seems to be the Abominable Snowman, who crosses his arms and stares down at Gael. He's taller than the ceiling, which just mysteriously moved up about four feet. "Not playing by the rules, are we?" Steve rumbles, voice loud enough for vibrations.
Lips twitch when Steven changes, then Melissa grins and heads over towards Gael. There's no escape from a determined goth. Honest. They have to be stubborn to keep up the gothiness. "You know, at parties you're supposed to wander around and chat, not hide in a corner," she says, grinning and leaning on the nearest available surface to him.
"Sure thing," Cardinal allows with a sidelong look to Daphne as he approaches the bar, a faint smile tugging up to his lips as he admits, "Probably not staying much longer, but I can spare a few moments to pour a lady a drink - especially one that did me a favor last month." Another glass is plucked up with gloved fingers, set down beside his mug, and he asks, "What's your poison, beautiful?"
"…" Raquelle-Clause watches all the physical interaction and then smoke and the snowman. "I think I saw this before but I was so high on ecstasy at the time…" He worries his bottom lip, taking a deep breath before tilting his head back and chuckling softly. There's something that happens when he chooses a note, holds the note and…continues to hold that note. Because that's what he does upon hitting the first note of: "Chesssssssssssssstnuuuuuuuuuuuuts…" And goodness gracious does he hold that note, sliding up in volume with vocal control and almost sounding like an alarm of some kind just…an in tune alarm. "…roasting on an open fire…" He starts song with a quirk of an eyebrow. "Jack Frost nipping at your nose…"
After finishing her coke. Anna decides to attempt something decidedly naughty. She heads her way to the booze, and hoping that nobody is watching, attempts to get herself a glass of the nearest thing she can find. Which happens to be vodka, and as she knows jack shit about the stuff, she fills her coke glass with the booze, if nobody stops her before she gets the chance.
Griffin grins faintly. "So what if I did?" He offers a shrug, planting a small kiss on Nadira's lips. "I can try to stay in the holiday spirit." A small shrug, and he pulls the woman close. A glance is offered to Gael, then Griffin shrugs, turning his eyes back toward Nadira. "No clue. Says he and I used to know the same people, and I lived in Chicago."
"If it's wet and alcoholic it'll do but how about some JD?" Daphne says, nodding to one of the bottles. She glances over her shoulder at the hubub and shakes her head with a laugh. "Last time it was a big dragon," she murmurs, before her expression grows more somber, glancing up at Cardinal with sad dark eyes. "Wish it went better. Didn't get enough of them, I guess," she muses, glancing at the door again before Anna suddenly pours herself a drink of vodka.
Her hand snaps out with a blur, reaching around the glass and tugging it away. "Far be it for me to be the voice of lawfulness, but you look a bit young for that, and you're a bit too mopey for it, even if you weren't a halfpint. Nothing's worse than a depressed drunk, kiddo."
See, this is what happens when the Evolved get in a mood. It's annoying, is what it is. Fortunately, Gael has seen a hundred times worse— and decides that okay, maybe this is a battle he doesn't need to pick, after all. "Fine, play the yeti card," he says, shaking his head and heading back over to accept his turn in the hot seat, so to speak. Might as well get this over with.
Along the way, he spots Anna heading for the bar— and keeps his mouth shut about it. She'll learn quickly enough.
A gloved hand wraps about the glass of a bottle of Jack, and Cardinal hefts it into hand — turning it over to read the label, he declares in a faux-snooty waiter voice, "A good year, a good year." He snorts a chuckle at his own bad joke, if it even counts as a joke, and unscrews the cap to fill one glass and then a splash into his own mug before setting it back down. "We did… the best we could," he says quietly, "You saved a lot've lives that day, though. The original predictions were… a lot worse."
Then there's underaged drinking going on, and he looks over amusedly.
Oooh boy, this should be good. Melissa grins and finds a nice vantage point to watch Gael and Santa. For now, luckily, she's ignorant of more serious things being discussed. Then, on a whim, as she glances around the room, perhaps at the guys in the room (minus Kendall), she looks up to the nearest sprig of mistletoe, plucks it from its perch, and sticks it in her hat. Just because.
"Yeah, we are totally bitches,' Quinn agrees with a smirk, before holding up an envelope with ehr name. "Oh. so just this?" She doesn't sound disappointed, just unsure. "Ygraine handed it to me when I got here. If it's lottery tickets, though, I'm only using what I win to buy you something!" Because knowing Quinn's luck, she'll 0 out on lottery tickets. With a grin, the envelope is pried open, Quinne ager tos ee what's inside.
"Ho ho ho…Merry - or not so Merry Christmas." Raquelle-Clause pats his lap, waiting for Gael to settle down before just staring at the man expectedly. "Well?" He waits. "What do you want for the holidays, go ahead and whisper it to me honey…you're a cute one anyways, it would be a pleasure." He chuckles softly.
When Gael goes to sit in Raquelle's lap, Steve the Yeti shrinks back to Steve the Elf, and the ceiling returns to normal. "That's right." Steve replies, still not cracking a smile but sounding a little smug.
"Christmas spirit is good," Nadira agrees, but she's laughing a bit at Gael having to sit on the Fabulous Santa's lap. She folds her arms over her chest, observing. She's amused, at least.
As Daphne is snatching the glass, an invisible hand is promptly yanking the bottle of vodka away from Anna. After kissing Nadira on the forehead, Griffin turns, slipping over to Anna with a frown on his face. "Young lady, I'm going to have to ask that you avoid the alcohol. We do not condone underaged drinking at Tartarus. If I see you doing this again, I will have to ask you to leave." His voice is gentle, but definitely carries a firm tone. A thankful glance is cast toward Daphne.
"That's good to know," Daphne says to Cardinal. "It was bad enough as it was — I can't imagine it any worse." She clinks her glass against his and arches a brow. "To a better year? I'll settle for one where I don't get evo flu, don't get bombed, don't get thrown into nineteen forty fucking five… Am I missing anything?" The alcohol is tossed back and swallowed with a wrinkle of her nose as it burns its way down.
"I guess." Anna responds, though whether it's to Griffin or Daphne is unclear… maybe to both. Instead of the Vodka, the teen goes for another glass of diet coke instead. And she heads back to wander about the place, not staying quite in one place for any long period… perhaps if someone'd engage her into conversation.
Gael doesn't so much settle as vaguely lean against, still almost-standing. It's the height thing, really! Not in the mood to comment on his actual life issues more than he already has, he launches into a stream of first-class bullshit instead. "What do I want? I want a little red convertible with fuzzy dice, and a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, and I want to drive down to Atlantic City and break the bank. And I want everyone else here to get a pony. I want her to get two," he adds, pointing toward Anna, "so her friends can borrow one on weekends."
"I'm not even going to get started on my year," Cardinal admits, clinking his mug to her glass, "It'd be bragging. Only the opposite. Is there a term for trying to one-up someone's bad year? Bragging doesn't seem like the proper word…" A sip of the drink, his eyes closing as it burns down, "You get that vacation out've the city you mentioned?"
Raquelle-Clause only says one thing. "…how the fuck am I supposed to fit a convertible and like 13+ ponies in my sleigh?"
"I don't want a pony. Someone else can have mine," Melissa calls to Gael, grinning and finding herself a chair to plop down on, as ladylike as possible since she is wearing a dress. And she can't dislodge the mistletoe! Then she's laughing and shaking her head. "God Raquelle. You make an awesome Santa."
As Gael starts talking, there appears a little model car, a red convertible, of course, right on his lap, a pair of fuzzy dice right next to him. Then there's a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader calendar, and everyone suddenly has a My Little Pony next to them. And then there's a piggy bank with 'Atlantic City' written on it, a hammer next to it. Then when Melissa says her piece, the pony next to her ambles over to Anna. There, she now has two.
And a bottle of rum turns invisible behind the counter. Hey look! The rum's gone!
Gael shakes his head. "Same way you fit your five-hundred-pound lard ass up and down a chimney? Your problem, not mine." He's just about to stand up when he spots the latest illusionary gimmick, rolling his eyes and moving to pocket the piggy bank. Clearly he hasn't had enough to drink yet.
A brow arches and Mel looks right towards Steve. "I want a pile of money, a dart board that has the face of the person I dislike the most on it, a hot guy with no issues or brain, and a a full time nanny. Gimme, motherfucker!"
Melissa gets a pile of monopoly money, a dart board with someone's face on it that only Melissa knows, a small model of the scarecrow from Wizard of Oz that is on fire, and then a small TV.
"Oh bitch no you didn't…" Raquelle gives Gael a look. "Just because /you/ aren't getting laid for Christmas doesn't give you the right to act like a /diva/ up in here. This is so not your party. I'm not getting you a car, you're gettin' a tricycle, a box of a condoms, a six pack of cheap beer and a Russian mail order bride dressed up like sailor moon while you take a drive to Plano, Texas. You can hang the dice from her tits or get real creative as you go, I don't care. Merry Christmas Baby and a happy new year, please get off my lap before I ask Rudolph to mount your rude yet attractive ass…" A pause. "…Uh, Merry Christmas, Much Love, Peace to Earth and good will to…OFF the LAP please, I'm attracted to assholes."
With a frown, Griffin watches Anna as she wanders off, shaking his head. He promptly takes up guard duty at the bar, crossing his arms as he perches in a barstool. Sadly, he misses the invisible rum. He glances back toward Nadira, smiling faintly. Sorry for wandering off!
"Kendall, you crackwhore, you're driving me nuts," Daphne calls out when suddenly an MLP appears next to her. She shakes her head and rubs her head. "I'm too freakin' sober for that shit," she tells Cardinal, reaching over the bar to pour the vodka down the sink.
To Cardinal, she smirks. "You can one-up with bad shit, I think. And yeah, those were just the highlights, but color me not-surprised that you've managed to get into more shenanigans than I have. Possibly. It's hard to trump Nazis, though… but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."
"Heeeeey. The scarecrow? Really? I can do better than a scarecrow!" Melissa says, nose wrinkling. Then she's calling out to Daphne, "Drink more! And no more talking about shenanigans. I mean, lookit what happened to Kendall. Beat that!" A pause, then she wrinkles her nose and stands, making her way to the bar. "Now I need more to drink," she says, going straight to the tequila. She pauses with the bottle in hand and glances to Nadira. "If I get trashed, you can take Junie tonight, right?" she asks, smiling brightly to her favorite bartender.
After finishing up her coke, Anna subtly makes her way to the exit again, not really stopping to say goodbye to anyone. The person she had hoped to see, she hadn't found. Ah well, life goes on.
There's a warm smile from Nadira that seems to say 'no worries' in Griffin's direction, and the Egyptian woman wanders towards the bar as she decides to head over and fix herself another drink. "Did you want something a bit harder, Griffin?" She asks, looking through the alcohol.
"I am not a crackwhore." Kendall retorts, appearing next to Daphne. And, uh, incidentally, holding the bottle of rum. Ehehehe, right. He hides it behind himself, pressing his hand against it and a silvery substance coats it and turns it invisible. Yay obscure TV show reference. "Well, uh, I've got to get going. Come on, Steve." he calls over. Obediently, the elf goes towards the door, and Kendall follows, also carrying his presents. The other illusions will last until people stop believing they're there, though.
Gael is all too happy to jump up to his feet again, especially when Santa starts running his mouth about his preferences. Especially since there's mistletoe running around. Picking up his now empty glass, he frowns into it— but a lot of others seem to be hitting the bar ahead of him, so he sits down next to Melissa and waits. "This is all your fault, you know," he murmurs.
"I started last year dead," Cardinal muses as he looks into the mug in his hand, "And it took me a couple months to form myself a new body… things kind've went roller-roastery from around there. No Nazis, admittedly. Well, no current Nazis, I think there were a few ex Nazis…" The sudden appearance of the illusionist gets a brow arched upwards, and he shakes his head. "Kids," he says, wry, to Daphne.
Melissa glances at Gael, her head tilting. "What's my fault? That you're at a party?" she asks, sounding confused. She gives another look to Nadira, shooting her a hopeful look and refraining from the tequila for the moment. Must be responsible!
Raquelle waggles his fingers after Gael before closing his eyes for a moment and concentrating best he can. When he realizes his little helper is leaving he just waves after Kendall as well, smiling wistfully to himself and then just relaxing in his chair, licking his lips and people watching as he carefully unwraps a candy cane.
"You might win that one, then," Daphne agrees to Cardinal, reaching for the bottle to pour another shot for herself. "2010 can go screw itself, for all I care."
She turns to look around, eyes finding Melissa. "Are my requisite 30 minutes up? I've got itchy feet," she calls out, knowing Melissa knows her too well to be offended. Much.
"Some Glenlevit would be pleasant," comes Griffin's thoughtful response, the man leaning back in his stool as he gazes over the party. Then, after a moment, he gestures Nadira to come over to him once more, quietly reaching into his coat…
Gael shakes his head. "Not all parties have one of those," he replies, gesturing vaguely in the direction of Santa and his jaded little helper. "At least the rest of the crowd isn't so bad," mostly because he doesn't know who to blame the hallucinations on.
Melissa does indeed know Daphne too well, and she just shoots the speedster a grin. "Go on, shoo. I just better see you again sometime soonish!" she says, making go away motions. She looks back to Gael, follows his gaze towards Raquelle, and she shrugs. "Raquelle's a sweetie. Just a very fabulous sweetie. Besides, plenty of chicks around if you wanna sit in their laps. Or, well, okay, there's a couple of 'em."
"Glenlevit it is," Nadira murmurs, pouring the drink and handing it towards him as she refills her glass with the milkshake and then moves from behind the bar to head over next to Griffin again.
"Hear hear," Cardinal salutes to Daphne's toast, "Hear fucking hear."
A swallow's taken, and he leans back, admitting in rueful tones as Daphne gets permission to depart, "Think I'll take off too. I'm just going to bring the party down if I hang out for too long, I suspect."
Not that Gael is looking - and if he were, it'd probably work better the other way round, anyway - but he takes a look around anyway. "Well, let's see. One's leaving, one's taken, one's underage. One's you. The list whittles down pretty quick, you know?" Quinn and Ygraine merely get a vague shrug of his shoulders: he hasn't had a chance to get any real sort of read on either of them, yet.
"Happy Holidays," Daphne says to the room, nodding to Melissa. "I'll come see you soon." She tosses back the last of her drink, nodding to Cardinal and then heading toward the door. To her credit, she does manage to walk, rather than speed away. Coat is once more donned, hat straightened, before she opens the door to disappear into the chilly night.
Okay, that makes Melissa look a touch offended. "You know, I'd totally take that the wrong way if I wasn't swearing off men," she points out wryly to Gael. "What's wrong with me?" She gives Daphne a surprised look when there's walking. It's almost shocked. But she doesn't say anything aloud. No reason to draw attention to it.
"See you around, Daphne…" The last of Cardinal's drink goes down the hatch, and he thumps the mug down. Then he simply… melts away, colour and light fading from him as he bleeds away into living shadow, twisting down the side of the bar and vanishing into the ambient shadows and corners of the room. Gone. He never liked making a big to-do when he left somewhere.
"It's not you, it's us. I'm not in any position to help support a family, for one thing" - Gael's eyes flick over toward Junko for a moment - "and it would just go downhill from there. Anyway, who said I was looking?" He wasn't, really, until she prodded him into it.
"Whoa…Hold on, step back, wait a minute," Melissa says, leaning back. "I was talking about Santa lap sitting or mistletoe or something. Not till death do us part."
Gael sighs, leaning back. "Old habits, sorry," he replies, rattling around the ice left in his glass. At least it's helping stretch out the last of the booze. "I remember being the mistletoe type, once, but that was a long time ago. And I haven't been looking for either type, really."
Mel's bottle is lifted in a sort of toast before she gulps down a few swallows. "I was looking. But after two horribly failed attempts, I decided to stop. Doesn't work, hurts when it doesn't work. The mistletoe was mostly for other people, and a joke for me."
"Mmm." Gael lifts his glass, draining what little is left in it. He'll bother to go get a refill at some point or other. "I had something - for years, enough to start taking it for granted - but I missed my chance to make good on it. So that's the reason for the wet blanket act."
"I envy you, even if you missed your chance," Melissa says, sounding like she means it. "I've just had friends with benefits. Which is nice, for what it is. Got greedy, but…" She trials off and shrugs. "It's all too much of a fucking hassle. So I'll stick with friends and fill my time with work."
Gael doesn't weigh in on that point. Hasn't made up his own mind on it, really— and there are more immediate things to worry about, or will be once the party's done and past, anyway. "I know the feeling," he says, simply, and gets up to head back to the bar.