Home for the Holidays

[sweetcandygirl]

Over the weekend, Harley was busy decorating her Nexus apartment, stylizing everything in soft whites and a few bright splashes of reds.

In the middle of the apartment, where her aerial silks normally hang from the cathedral ceilings, and several pinwheel decorations. And soft Christmas music is playing on the stereos, filling the open areas of her apartment.

The smells of several delicious foods waft from the kitchen. Everything is made with a vegetarian-friendly flare, that is still respectful to the season itself. And to supplement the fact there may not be any meat on the menu -- there is a large keg of ale on a countertop nearby. There is also plenty of wine, cocktails, and eggnog available.

Harley has invited a few people over to her apartment for a small pre-Christmas party. Mostly, those who already live or stay in her apartment.

[No posting order. Mingle around. Thread jump. All is good]

Comments

The Hostess with the Most

[sweetcandygirl]

Harley is dressed for the season for the pre-Christmas party too.

She is wearing a festive Christmas dress, and has her hairstyle decorated for the season too.

[chiron_survivor]

Adia and Caspar arrive right on time, neither of them in the mood to be fashionably late. Adia is wearing a dress that is not as festive as Harley's, but still an appropriate green for the season. Caspar is in his charcoal suit, with an evergreen tie to match Adia's dress. He's also holding a shopping bag full of wrapped presents, presumably for Harley and her other guests.

The hostess is greeted with a warm hug from Adia and a small, but sincere smile from Caspar. "Merry Christmas," she says to her friend. She pulls out a present wrapped in Harley's colors and offers it to her. "Here, before I forget. You can open it now if you want."

Adia hopes that she opens it now. The best part of giving a present is the look on the face of the person who receives it. Inside the box is a set of pajamas and a rather unique necklace.

[sweetcandygirl]

"Merry Christmas to you both!" Adia gets a warm hug in return. And Caspar just gets a playful nod of her head. She respects his no-hug boundaries by now.

"Ohhhh..." Of course she is going to open it now. Her face lights up.

"These are awesome! How kind of you both!"

[coldsong]

Loki is one of those fashionably late kind of assholes. He was quite possibly Extra before Extra was cool, and so when he does make his entrance, he's dressed to the nines. He was seriously considering an elaborate Halloween costume and didn't get around to it, so he's making up for it now. Possibly he's watched a few productions of A Christmas Carol lately, because he's wearing men's Regency costume. The shirt is black silk, the cravat a dull gold satin, and the waistcoat is black-and-gold brocade. Overtop is a green velvet tailcoat with accents that are too well coordinated with the color of the cravat to be accidental. The breeches are a little bit too snug to be authentic, and anyone who thinks that wasn't intentional doesn't know Loki very well, but between that and the black stockings and shoes, he looks like he's just about all legs.

As a finishing touch, he's wearing his twin-horned helmet, and he's tied a sprig of mistletoe to the left horn with a twist of red ribbon. He stalks right over to Harley first thing, bows, and offers her a small bouquet, three white roses bundled neatly with sprigs of holly and evergreen. "Happy Holidays, dearest."

[sweetcandygirl]

"Awwww... these are lovely Princess." She sniffs at the white roses. And places a sprig of holly into her hair with a grin.

"Are you looking for lots of kisses tonight?" She teases him, stepping close to him. So close that her lips ghost over his lips.

[brother_alone]

The last time Josh crashed on Harley's couch he wasn't really in a state to remember it, but he's pretty sure there weren't so many people living here as there are now. These kinds of things have never been something he's good at so his smile is a bit awkward when he knocks at her door.

There's no one here to appreciate his holiday traditions so he's left the tequila at home and brought a bottle of champagne for his part of the dinner and donned a Christmas? sweater in the hopes of better fitting in. It'll be a good ice breaker for all the standing in the corner drinking he's about to be doing.

[sweetcandygirl]

"Josh!" Of course Harley will welcome him into the apartment with a bright smile. She is glad that he came.

"That is a great sweater." She leads him inside to the side living room.

[brother_alone]

"How's my favorite criminal doing?" Perhaps not the best opener, and possibly a social faux pas right out of the gate but that's honestly pretty standard for Joshua Washington. The harder he tries the more awkward and inappropriate his comments seem to become. At least Harley's pretty likely to know he doesn't mean anything by it.

They share a kind of solidarity that only some of the other Nightmare pairs have, after all.

"Thanks it was...not a gift. I bought it, but I had help picking it out." And if his gaze lingers on the masks for a moment too long, no one will really know why. It's fine. "I see you heard through the grapevine that Adia got me a new PINpoint. I'm glad t'be here. Thanks...for all of this."

[alittlehinky]

Cricket is already there, since he lives there, and he is also somewhat the standing-in-a-corner-drinking type. He feels like it's important for him to reach out though, since he's sort of a tertiary assistant host, so when the stranger comes in, he smiles and waves shyly.

"Hey. I'm Cricket. Merry Christmas, or...whatever, if you don't celebrate it." He offers a sheepish handshake.

[brother_alone]

Now this, Josh is pretty sure this is a new face. Harley did always seem to have a way of making friends, especially with dudes. Another of her lost causes maybe? Like Josh. Or maybe something more. Impossible to tell at a glance.

He can do introductions though, so his smile is much more confident than Josh feels when he steps forward to accept the handshake.

"Nice t'meetcha, bro. I'm Joshua. Josh, I mean. S'what all my friends call me so. "

[chiron_survivor]

Adia waves to Josh from her spot by the counter where she is pouring herself some eggnog. She still has that look of concern on her face that simply won't leave whenever she thinks about her friend, but at least it isn't full-on worry. He hasn't fallen off the face of the Nexus since she saw him last, which makes her feel better about how he's doing.

Caspar, who already has his glass of wine in hand, walks over. "Hey," he says. He gives the sweater a bemused look. "That's an interesting choice you've made. I'm suddenly grateful this isn't a dry party."

He takes a sip of wine, but there's something a little forced in his smirk. He's concerned about Josh, too, enough that the snark does not flow as freely as the alcohol.

[brother_alone]

Oh hell. Adia and Caspar are here too?

Josh feels a lump forming in his throat. He tugs at the collar of his sweater and tries to swallow around it before he forces a much more confident smile than he feels for two of his best friends around here in the Nexus. It's a party right? So the last thing he wants to do is worry Adia more. If she worries then Caspar will get antsy and then they'll want answers and--

Calm down, Josh. Green eyes avoid meeting Caspar's for the moment as Josh barks out a laugh that's a bit too boisterous for Caspar's comment but An Effort Was Made. He's doing fine. Good, even. It's a party. All he has to do is not get so drunk he hits on someone he shouldn't. (Easier said than done given his track record).

"I had help picking it out. Ice Bear was pretty insistent that I get a Christmas sweater t'wear for these kindsa things."

[alittlehinky]

Cricket isn't sure how fancy an occasion this is, and therein lies a problem. He has money for the first time in his life, and while he's never been as wildly prone to fast cars and slick suits as Jack was, he thought...well, hell, no one's stopping him, and it's respectful to dress up nicely for an occasion, and maybe someone (*cough* Loki *cough*) will like it.

As a result, he's turned up maybe a little bit extra, in a suit, a nice sweater, and even a goddamn bow tie. He looks a little ill at ease in it, like he's not entirely sure how move in it, but he does clean up pretty well.

He has also, assuming Harley allowed it, provided the eggnog for the party in three different options: normal, chocolate, and strawberry.

[sweetcandygirl]

"My my my… look who cleans up good." Harley grins, and she straightens his bow tie a little. "Looking good tonight, Cricket."

[chiron_survivor]

"Hi, Cricket." Adia smiles brightly at her friend, handing off her cup of chocolate eggnog to Caspar so she can offer him a hug. "You look so nice! I'm glad I decided to dress up a little." Her green dress is certainly something she does not normally wear to her trips to the Nexus.

Caspar, now holding a glass of wine and the eggnog, looks over Cricket's outfit. "Well done," he says approvingly, perhaps a bit surprised as well. The Cylon is dressed in a charcoal suit with an evergreen tie, because he is always Extra. "Not everyone can pull off a bow tie."

"Oh, before I forget, we have a present for you." With her hands still free, she gets it herself from the shopping bag at her feet. It's a nicely wrapped square box with a bright red ribbon on top. Inside is a sandy twist on the typical snowglobe. "Happy holidays." She'd wish him a merry Christmas, but she doesn't want to assume.

[pirateangelbaby]

Thor was around modern Midgard for a Christmas party or two with the Avengers, and Stark assured him that patterned festive sweaters are always the way to go, so he's found one he likes after a great deal of searching. He has, however, foregone the traditional red-and-white Santa Claus hat (far too itchy and uncomfortable) in favor of something a little more familiar.

This no-meat thing is going to take some getting used to, but thank the Norns there's ale. Thor pours himself a generous portion and gets to mingling, fully at ease with the small, comfortable gathering.

[sweetcandygirl]

Harley has a kind enough heart that when her other roommates want meat, she found a way to respect their wishes. But for this party -- since she was the one preparing everything -- it just never occurred to her to prepare a meat dish.

"Thor!" Harley bounces over to him with a smile. "You made it!"

[chiron_survivor]

Adia smiles brightly at Thor when he arrives at the drink counter. She's topping off her chocolate eggnog, which she has discovered she really likes, much better than regular eggnog, which she found tolerable, but not her first drink choice.

"Hi, Thor." She takes it as a good sign that he's here; he must be getting along with his brother. "Happy... um, Yule, right? Oh --" She gestures to the man next to her who does not seem to be pro-eggnog, as he is currently nursing a glass of wine. "This is my boyfriend, Caspar. Caspar, this is Thor, the God of Thunder."

She doesn't even fidget when she makes the introductions! Either she's gotten more comfortable around Thor, or the eggnog is starting to kick in.

[coldsong]

"Right. I'm going to need to know where you got that hat immediately," Loki greets Thor breezily. They've apparently chosen contradictory styles tonight. Thor is dressed like he's attending a casual booze-up, whereas Loki looks like he's cosplaying 'Ooh, Mister Darcy!'.

"Oh, did you knit it yourself? Forget my first question; I choose to believe you knitted it yourself."

Loki puts a hand on Thor's shoulder, thumping his back fraternally. Let the friendly harassment begin!

[alittlehinky]

At some point early in the evening, Cricket appears before Thor with a sturdy-looking man in plainer clothing in tow behind him. He's not actively dragging Forrest around, but he has a hand on his arm and he looks like a kid introducing a big brother or favorite weird uncle to his friends.

"Happy Holiday, sir," he greets Thor happily. "This's Forrest Bondurant, from my world. Forrest, this is Thor."

[brother_alone]

Now this is a cozily dressed casual motherfucker Josh can talk to without feeling hyper intimidated if one ignores the missing eye. Man's built like a meat truck even moreso than the jock in his old circle of friends but that doesn't seem to put Joshua off any. His own sweater has blades on it too and he's got a beanie on to keep his curly dark hair in check. They're matching!

The Canadian lifts his own very full glass of drink toward Thor when he hits the living room to mingle by way of a greeting.

"That's a hell of a nice hat, bro."

[middle_son]

Cricket asked him to come to a party.

Forrest doesn't do parties.

Despite his gruff and stoic manner, he is deeply pleased to see Cricket whole and thriving though, and there is no way he could disappoint him in this. He shows up in clothes that aren't much different from his usual to the casual observer, but they're all new enough to not have needed any mending, and he's found a sweater that looks respectable. The hat is a little rough around the edges, because he only has one and there's nothing to be done about that, but he does take it off as soon as he steps inside.

There's also a large basket over his arm, full and heavy enough that he's finding it uncomfortable to carry. He looks completely bewildered and uneasy to be here at all.

[sweetcandygirl]

There is a stranger in her apartment. Well only one thing to do... welcome him like he is family.

"Welcome!" Harley bounces over, a bright warming smile on her face.

"Did you bring something for us?" Her eyes are wide-eyed at the large basket.

[alittlehinky]

"Forrest!" No one overhearing Cricket's exuberant greeting is likely to miss how happy he is to see the man here. He hastens to meet him at the door, but because he's without his leg-braces, he's slower and his tread is more uneven than usual. He looks pretty spiffy in his new suit, though. Jack would approve.

There's the wind up...and the hug! "Thank you for comin', I wanted you to meet Harley an' them..."

[brother_alone]

At some point after the obligatory introductions and leading around are done, when Forrest's free to get a drink and get away from the center of all the talking, laughing, and warm bodies he might find Joshua when he looks for a quiet corner to call his own for the evening.

He's holed himself up near a window that's cracked ever so slightly to let in some of the chill air so he can cool off. The Christmas sweater thing is nice and all but he's sweltering inside with this many people in it. Course, that could be because he's had a bit to drink too. The Canadian raises his glass toward Forrest in a greeting and takes half a step to the side so there's space for the man to lean against the wall but doesn't say anything at first.

This is supposed to be a reprieve from socializing after all.