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

[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..."

[middle_son]

Forrest can't really return the hug, since he's got a basket on one arm and his hat in the other, but he does give Cricket a light thump on the back with the hand that's holding his hat.

It's not a bad suit! It's less formal and flashy than anything Jack would go for, and the sweater softens it, so that meets Forrest's approval. "You cleaned up."

[alittlehinky]

"Yessir!" He all but chirps at him. "Even learned to tie a bow tie."

He could have gotten something more overtly Christmas-y, but he wanted a suit he could wear more than once a year, if the occasion called for it. He's more practical than Jack that way.

"Y'wanna hang up your hat and coat?"

[middle_son]

Cricket is more practical than Jack in many, many ways.

Forrest lets Harley deprive him of the basket, and tries not to look bothered that she apparently carries it with ease, even if it makes him wonder just how bad off he really is. At least that frees him up to accept Cricket's suggestion with a nod. He doesn't want to walk around carrying his hat if he's going to have to stay. "Aight. This's where you live, now?" Already he's glancing around, curious.

[alittlehinky]

Cricket nods. "I got my own room and all. And I built a shed in the back for my stills, only I think I'm gonna have to expand come next year. And I help in her greenhouse. Harley has a real nice greenhouse and it has automated lights and watering systems and all."

He wasn't often this talkative back in Franklin.

[middle_son]

Forrest is always happy to let other people talk, but he's also more at ease conversationally with Cricket than he is with strangers. "Sounds real fancy. You growin' stuff to brew, in there, or you got some other sources?" Of course he's interested in Cricket's moonshine operation, on a purely professional basis.

[alittlehinky]

"Her plants are kinda...they react to people talking to 'em. I mean, they don't talk back, but they move and kinda look at you, except they don't have eyes. Kinda scared me at first, but I'm used to 'em now. They're mostly friendly."

Welcome to the Nexus, Forrest. We have sapient plants here, and then some.

"There was a lady she was courtin' a while back that gave them to her, I think? She calls her Red when she talks about her, and it sounds like she had some kinda plant magic. There are a lot of different things that go on in the Nexus that wouldn't happen the same back home."

[middle_son]

Forrest's eyebrows rise, and he's quiet for a moment as if absorbing all this. Nobody ever hurries Forrest, and he likes to take his time. The Nexus has been throwing a lot at him. That a lady was courting another lady doesn't phase him at all, at least, but plant magic is almost as weird as robots.

"Hmn. Mostly friendly? S'this greenhouse dangerous?"

[alittlehinky]

"I reckon it'd be dangerous if someone busted in that didn't belong there," he says. "Some of 'em have thorns and they're poisonous. But they like me, and Harley says they're not mean or anything. Ain't had any trouble with the Pokemon sleeping in there--"

Oh. Hah, oops, Pokemon is probably going to be another curveball thrown at Forrest. "They're kinda like pets, Pokemon," he explains. "Real smart. Mine just looks like a little dog."

[middle_son]

He blinks, and gives a slow nod. At least Forrest tends to be pretty good at keeping his feet under him even when the ground is unstable, metaphorically speaking. The Nexus is far more unstable ground than he's ever encountered before, though.

"Sounds dangerous. Didn't know you had a pet. Glad t'hear you're settlin' in real well, though."

[alittlehinky]

He smiles at Forrest and nods, then limps over to the door of one of the bedrooms and whistles. The creature that emerges looks like a Yorkie with an oversized head, but the nose is red and when Cricket picks her up, Forrest can see the blue pawpads. She's also wearing a blue striped doggy sweater.

"This is her. I named her Willie, after Willie Carter Sharpe?" He brings the creature over, and she yawns, tail wagging a little.

"Willie, this is Forrest. He's a good friend of mine."

[middle_son]

“‘S a good name.” He worries, for just a moment, that it may turn out to talk. Still, it’s a dog, and he’s going to treat it like a dog, because he knows how dogs work. Forrest offers his hand to sniff, and if the dog has weird coloring, that seems irrelevant as long as it is basically a dog.

[alittlehinky]

Aside from their own names, most Pokemon don't seem to say anything. That's just fine as far as Cricket's concerned. Magpie-Loki backtalk is all he needs in that department. Actually, in Willie's instance, she mostly just yips, although if you listen hard enough it might sound like she's saying 'Lil!'

And now, Forrest is getting his fingers sniffed and licked, because, yeah, she's basically a smart dog.

[middle_son]

Forrest likes dogs all right, so he lets her slobber on him a little, then gives her a good scratching behind the ears. The Bondurants don’t have a dog now, but they had more animals and a proper farm, when they were kids.

“Good dog. Why’s she wearin’ a sweater?”