Gathering Post

[londoncallingmods]

The best thing about London was that there was always something to do, no matter what your interests were. This weekend there was a jazz festival in Bloomsbury, an ale festival that would take you through a drunken train tour of the city, an African culture festival near Covent Garden, and several movie screenings, parties, and other pockets of fun.

Tourists were flooding in from all over, and many Londoners were slipping off to, or coming back from, their latest trips to Barcelona, Paris, or Ibiza. The weather was warm, and it had been fairly dry and sunny lately- Really, it was the perfect place to be right now. ...At least that's what anyone who wasn't heading off to some tropical wonderland would tell you at least.

As day faded into evening, bars came alive and shop windows lit up, inviting in tourists and locals alike. The city buzzed well into the night, calming only briefly in the morning, before bursting back into life again.

(Have your pup be anywhere in the city you like. This GP is intended to take place over the course of Sat and Sun, but will be open all week long! Remember to add your pup's tag after you tag in!)

Comments

[jageskro]

Jag stroked his hand over Val's back when he straightened up enough to drink, easily keeping the contact going. He was a very tactile bloke, alright? "And I'm looking forward to that," he promised him with a half smile. "But I'm enjoying this, too." Being curled up with Val wasn't exactly a hardship. "I only wish you didn't feel miserable."

[hollow_moon]

"You've improved my mood and wellness tenfold, simply by being here," Val assured him with a soft smile.

[jageskro]

That soft smile made the one on Val's lips stretch. "Then my job here is done," he answered, playing, his hand settling easily on Val's shoulder.

[hollow_moon]

"You know I'm having another party in a few weeks- Perhaps this time you'd like to come as a guest, rather than a performer," Val suggested.

[jageskro]

"What kind of party?" Jag asked, rather than answer straight away.

[hollow_moon]

"It's a charity dinner I'm hosting, since my mother's unable this year. People donate art and antiques, others bid on them, all the money goes to charity. There's an auction, then dinner and dancing..." Val said.

[jageskro]

Jag couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of him in a room with so many stuffy rich people. He was picturing tables with white tablecloths, expensive champagne in expensive flutes, dishes with names in French and stuffy old people in dinner jackets and evening gowns. "It don't really sound like my kind of party," he pointed out. He didn't even own a dinner jacket, and he had no intention of ever wearing one.

[hollow_moon]

"Oh, but I'd have so much more fun if you came with me," Val pouted. "They can get so drab and stuffy, it would be nice to have someone about who wasn't blathering on about the stock market or whatever they're all fussing about this week. Please, Jag, at least promise to consider it."

[jageskro]

"But then I'd have to deal with their blathering on about all that shite," Jag pointed out, thumb stroking circles against Val's skin. "And can you picture me in a dinner jacket?"

[hollow_moon]

"I can, actually. I think you'd look quite dashing," Val replied, grinning wolfishly. "I imagine you'd look terribly sexy. ...And you'll get to see me in my finest- Is that not even a bit tempting?"

[jageskro]

"I'd rather see you out of your finest any day, mate," Jag replied with a small smirk, and brushed another kiss on Val's temple. He didn't have a dinner jacket and had no intention of buying one, so that was that to any talk about what he would look like in one. "Why are you even holding that dinner? If it's going to be so dull."

[hollow_moon]

"Because the money goes to a cause I care very deeply about," Val admitted, going a bit quiet for a moment. "It supports a charity my mother founded for children who have disabilities or illnesses that have led to depression. It's not exactly printed on the pamphlet, but I think she always hoped it might help children who were, well... Like me, I suppose. Different. ...Scared."

He sat up a bit, staring into his teacup. "She used to host them herself, but her calendar is so full, and she's getting older... Last year I offered to take over for her. To make it my event instead."

Putting his cup down, he sighed. "The people who turn up, I don't think they much care where their money is going, but I do. I like feeling as though I'm finally putting something good back out into the world. I've been so lucky, Jag- Had I landed on any other doorstep, I might not have made it this far. I certainly wouldn't have lived such a charmed life... It feels good to give back, and to watch my peers, and the peers of my parents, throw their money at something that matters."

[jageskro]

Jag listened in silence, then sat up, and gently cupped Val's face to kiss him, soft and deep. "You're bloody amazing, Val," he told him honestly.

[hollow_moon]

"I'm not," Val assured him, sounding almost firm before he returned the kiss and then shook his head. "I'm just trying to make up for all the years I wasted being a selfish prat, that's all."

[jageskro]

"I'm still stuck being a selfish prat, I'll call you amazing if I want," Jag replied with a self-depreciating smile, then kissed Val again, more briefly this time. "Have you got entertainment planned? I'd come and do my thing again." He'd feel more comfortable by far doing that than actually being one of the guests, especially when he had no money to give.

[hollow_moon]

"While I'd adore that, personally, it might be a bit too much excitement for this crowd," Val smiled. "It's alright, I didn't expect you'd want to come. I'm just the ever hopeful sort, and there's no harm in asking," he chucked quietly, offering a warm smile as he spoke.

[jageskro]

Jag hummed softly in answer, then leaned in for another kiss, gently cradling the side of Val's face. When he couldn't find the words to say something, he found that actions did just as good a job.

[hollow_moon]

Val leaned into the touch, closing his eyes for just a moment as he let himself enjoy the contact.

"It is very nice to not be alone the day after," he confessed. "It gets a bit lonely, if I'm honest."

[jageskro]

"You've got my number," Jag stated quietly, a future offer.

[hollow_moon]

"A privilege that I'm grateful for, and that I promise not to abuse," Val grinned.

[jageskro]

That grin drew Jag's smirk back out, and he nipped at Val's bottom lip. "Well, you can abuse it a little."

[hollow_moon]

Laughing, Val chased jag's lips with his own, kissing him again and then making a little sound of pain as his back made a popping noise and his shoulders tensed. The smile became a wince of pain, and he crumpled back against the soft leather seat as he rode the pain out.

"Bloody back," he huffed, his voice low and slightly gravely as he tried to get comfortable again.

[jageskro]

"I'm sorry," Jag told him, stroking a comforting hand on his thigh. "Anything I can do?"

[hollow_moon]

"You could be a saint and see if my heating pad is in that ottoman over there. The top lifts right off," Val replied, looking grateful already.

[jageskro]

"'Course," Jag easily agreed. He gently disentangled himself and pushed himself up to go and investigate. "That it?" he asked, holding up something that looked to him like it might be a heating pad. He'd never had to use one before, so how would he know.