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

[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.

[alittlehinky]

Cricket hasn't fully registered Caspar's laser-focused fashion sense as of yet, although even he, humble backwoods boy that he is, hasn't missed that the man dresses well. He smiles warmly at them both and his ears turn pink at the dual compliments.

"Well, I wasn't sure how dressy was too dressy, but I never had an occasion to wear a suit before, so I thought what the hell?" He laughs at himself a little. "I guess the salesman steered me right, then."

He looks surprised to have a gift brought to him, and cradles the box against his chest like it's a precious jewel before he even opens it. "Geez, you didn't have to do that..."

He sits down to open it; his tread over toward the nearest chair is a little slower than usual because he's not wearing his leg braces, but he seems fine otherwise, and he lights up like a Christmas tree when he opens the box. "Is it from your beach??"

[chiron_survivor]

"A party is the perfect occasion to wear a suit," Caspar replies seriously. It's a far sight better than the tradition of wearing ugly sweaters. As if people need a reason to dress worse than they already do. Ugh. "If you're ever waffling between dressing up or dressing down, always dress up."

Cricket's reaction to the present makes Adia beam with delight. Even Caspar smiles a little. Guess their beach really did make an impact on him. "It is," she says, moving to sit down next to him. "We have a glass-blower in town, so I gathered up some sand and shells. You're still welcome to visit anytime, of course, but I thought you might like to keep a bit of the beach with you, too."

Caspar finds another chair to pull to Adia's empty side. He hands her back her cup of eggnog and she shows it to Cricket. "You made this, right? It's really good. I love it with the chocolate."

[alittlehinky]

Well, okay then! Cricket listens to Caspar like he's preaching the gospel, nodding seriously. "A'ight. Didn't have no occasions except funerals back home. I'd rather be at a party any time."

"I love it!" He's thrilled, look at that face, he's like a puppy. "I'd have never thought of something like this as a gift. I mean, I have gifts, but they ain't this clever." He strokes the surface of the glass and makes a mental note to ask Pretty Bird not to knock it over. He hasn't broken anything important yet, mostly just rearranged things, but he does like a little trouble.

He nods at the question. "Sure did. The liquor's just my best lightning with a little coffee to make it blend with the chocolate. And then I added the rest of the ingredients in th' kitchen."

[chiron_survivor]

"It depends on the party for me," A smirk tugs at the corner of Caspar's mouth. "This one's all right."

Especially with Cricket showing that much appreciation. "It was Adia's idea," he says, giving her full credit. She blushes at the combined praise, hands fussing with her half-full cup like she doesn't know what to do with it.

"I, um... I had given someone a little collection from my beach last year, but then someone gave me a snowglobe, so I thought it might be fun to combine the two... Pretty Bird? You have a pet bird now?" Someone has not been in the loop. "Does he like shiny things? I could get him his own shells to play with."

The mention of coffee has Caspar intrigued. "You don't happen to have any of the moonshine before you added it into the eggnog, do you?" He likes Cricket's moonshine, but could do without the heavy creamy drink it's in.

[alittlehinky]

"Now, that's harsh, sir," Cricket tells Caspar with a teasing grin. "Ain't no good day for a funeral."

"Pretty bird is, uh..." He glances around to make sure he's not overheard. "It's Loki. The younger-lookin' one we all thought was dead. None of us are clear on what happened yet, but he's back. Only he's stuck in the shape of a bird and his memory ain't quite right yet. The other Loki says give him time to come back to himself."

"...reckon he does like shiny things, though. He knocks the pens off my desk and rolls 'em under the bed where I can't find 'em."

Still cradling the sandglobe against his chest, he nods to Caspar and gets up. "Plain or apple? I got a couple jars in the kitchen, and oh--" He pauses uncertainly, because he has presents for them, too, and now he's not sure which to get first.

[chiron_survivor]

Caspar can think of a couple people who'd consider his funeral a great day, but he keeps the morbid thought to himself, as much as it secretly amuses him.

The explanation of Pretty Bird leaves Adia rather wide-eyed in surprise. She hadn't really had a chance to meet the younger Loki at his party, and he's already died and come back as a bird? Well... he is a god. It's not unheard of. "I'll find the shiniest shells I can, right after the party, and bring them here tomorrow, Cricket. I promise."

"Does he remember you?" Caspar asks, a bit of sympathy in his voice. He's also surprised by the news of Loki's transformation, but he hasn't forgotten Cricket's crush. That's kind of terrible timing, isn't it? Or maybe not, if bird-Loki is living in Cricket's room.

Adia can't guess to the reason behind Cricket's pause, but wanting to help, she stands up as well. "I can get the moonshine," she offers. "I've been in Harley's kitchen plenty, I'll be able to find it."

[alittlehinky]

"Thank you," he tells Adia happily, and looks no less happy when he answers Caspar. "Yessir. He came right up and trusted me in the Plaza, so I know I must've seemed familiar. Keeps callin' me 'Pretty Cricket', and he's real sweet to me, except for laughing when he knocks stuff over. The longer he's here, the more his memory comes back."

"The other Loki thinks he'll be himself again in time. Just gotta be patient."

It's definitely weird timing. But maybe it's some kind of fate. Maybe Cricket needed to be something for Loki to come back to.

"O-oh," he nods at Adia. "Thank you! It's in the upper right cabinet by the sink."

Thus freed, he can go to his room and retrieve the two little gift bags he has for them, and put the sandglobe carefully on the floor by his bed for safekeeping. He brings them back out and puts one beside each of them. There's a jar of apple moonshine in each, an a few pieces of clear toy candy, and he's made a little carved wooden ornament for each of them. Adia's is a dolphin, strung on a silver ribbon with a blue glass bead beneath. Caspar's is a butterfly.

[chiron_survivor]

That's an incredibly sweet story, and Adia lets out a soft sigh of relief at how everything seems to be working out. "I'm glad he found you," she says to Cricket, reaching out to pat his arm. She means in the Plaza, but the larger implication holds true.

Meanwhile, it is amazing how hard Caspar is working to not look emotional, but dammit, that got him right in the feels! He finishes off his glass of wine and purposefully does not look over at Adia when she gets up or it will be game over for this suddenly sentimental Cylon.

It doesn't take long for Adia to find the moonshine. She brings Caspar back the jar of apple before settling down next to him, just in time for gifts. Adia digs through her bag, delighted by the candy, although the dolphin ornament leaves her briefly speechless. She holds it up, letting it hang freely from her finger. "Oh, Cricket, this is lovely. Did you make this?"

Caspar's also holding up his ornament, although he looks more confused than anything. The dolphin, he understands, but... "Why a butterfly?"

[alittlehinky]

Wow, that's a better reaction to his work than he was expecting. He's not a great talent at woodcarving, really, but simple animal shapes are doable, as long as he's patient and sands carefully. He nods to Adia. "Sure did. Everyone whittled during the winter where I grew up. Gotta have something to do at night, and on bad days."

To Caspar he smiles, a little uncertainly. "'Cause of Psyche," he says. "Remember how we talked about that story, at the other party?"

[chiron_survivor]

"That's a nice way to pass the time, I should recommend it to people." She wiggles her fingers. "I've been keeping busy with knitting, personally. I always wanted to learn, but I never had the time. Or anyone to knit for."

Cricket's answer gets a slow blink in return. Then, perhaps already primed by the bird-Loki story, Caspar's expression softens considerably, his gaze dropping. "Yeah... I remember." He shifts his grip on the butterfly, holding it more delicately, as if afraid he'll break it. It's a symbol of the soul, after all. "It's nice. Thanks."

"Oh, Eros and Psyche. I always liked that story." Adia smiles at Cricket, then turns her attention to Caspar and his subdued body language. With a gentle, playful nudge, she gets him to look up again. "Makes me glad we didn't have to deal with Aphrodite on top of everything else."

Caspar chuckles a little, even if his eyes remain pensive. "Yeah. Lucky us."