Gathering Post - Christmas Eve Party

[londoncallingmods]

Merry Christmas!

You are invited to celebrate the season with Finlay Flynn and Willy Silver.

 

When: Christmas Eve (5pm – Midnight)

Where: Making the Modern World - The Science Museum

RSVP: By Email (SBMNGR@ldnmgmt893.co.uk) Before 19/12

 

Upon entry you'll be given a ticket for one free drink. All drinks after that are 5 each. There will also be a free buffet in the dining area.

 

Dress code: Casual, but tidy please!

 

Raffle: Come wearing a festive sweater and you will automatically be entered into a raffle to win a 65 inch TV.

 

Donate: Bring three tins of canned food to be donated to the local food bank, and receive an extra drink ticket.

Look forward to: A live DJ, live music, an appearance by Santa, gift bags with deluxe swag, and the company of old and new friends!

 

(OTA! Happy holidays! If you know Fin, Willy, Phouka, or Winter, feel free to assume they gave you an invite. If not, you can say your pup got an invite through a friend of a friend, someone who knows someone, ect. It IS invite over (no gate crashing pups please, Fin's a giver and would want everyone to feel included), but the pups hosting the party are pretty active and I believe they know almost everyone in the game. And the people they don't know surely know people who do. Even if you only met them once, you got an invite somehow! This gathering post is open all week, and beyond!)

Comments

[prince_of_nymphs]

It was perfect. The music, the venue, the company... It was brilliant, and Fin got a real thrill watching his work friends, actors, writers and the like, brushing elbows with all the friends he'd made outside of work. It was like seeing both sides of his life finally come together, and it felt wonderful.

He spent plenty of time at the buffet, sampling a bit of everything. Then on the dance floor, dancing with anyone who asked, before heading to the bar and enjoying a few drinks.

He was smiling and full of joy, and as the evening went on he only grew merrier.

(Find Fin anywhere at the party!)

[anamusebouche]

This was peculiar. Very peculiar. It was a party and there were many scents mixing together; food, and drink perfumes and other bodily scents. Hannibal was used to the overload it caused his nostrils and he was adept to distinguish between the origins of scents even now.

So, what was it about Finlay? It was strange, almost as if he simply didn't smell.

He approached the young man and smiled politely. "Hello Finlay. Merry Christmas, of course and thank you for the invitation."

[offthebeatenpath]

Fin was a friend of Jag's, Em knew. According to Winter, he was dead, and 'Fae Willy's lover', but he was obviously no ghost, who were the dead Em was used to. She didn't make an effort to find the either of the evening's hosts, but when she found herself standing next to one, she didn't feel right not saying something.

"You're Fin, right?" she asked, not quite meeting his eyes. "It's a lovely evening. Thank you, for... all of it."

[jageskro]

"Fin, hi," Jag walked over to him, smiling happily. "Cheers for the invite." He'd lost Val to some friends of his for now, and that was all right. Even more all right since he'd just stumbled across Fin.

[akatawitch]

Sunny had had a couple of drinks and was in a really good mood by the time she approached Fin, which was probably why she felt and didn't second-guess the urge to kiss his cheek. "It's good to see you doing so well."

[sunsongs]

Coby had only met Fin once, although he'd liked the guy a lot, and enjoyed talking with him. So he'd been kind of surprised getting an invite, but that hadn't stopped him from coming, or from wearing a funny sweater.

"This is some party, dude," Coby said, grinning, when he got to the bar the same time as Fin.

OTA

[whispersoflove]

Anael had seen it as a sign of God, when that afternoon, Julie had asked him if he wanted to accompany her to a party hosted by some friends of hers, and the names on the invitation were Fin and Willy's. It seemed that it was time to meet the fae at last, and find out whether he was the sort an angel such as Anael might get along with.

Julie apparently found it hilarious to have him wear an ugly Christmas cardigan decorated with angels, and insisted it would enter him directly into a raffle, and Anael did not have the heart to turn her down, for all that she knew very well that he had no use for worldly goods. Her face lit up when she saw him in the cardigan, and that was all he needed.

And so here he was, watching her mingle with some friends of hers as he sipped on a glass of red wine, oblivious to the rest of the world for a moment, focused as he was on the joyful love of his friend.

[london_spy]

Danny hadn't really been sure he wanted to come to a party where everyone was likely to be a stranger- But Hex had been insistent, and so Danny had agreed.

The food was lovely, the music not bad, but Danny struggled to feel at ease when some people were giving him curious or judgemental looks. The public were forgetting him, but he wasn't completely forgotten yet.

So when he spotted Hani, he couldn't help but make his way over, wanting the company of a familiar face.

"Didn't expect to run into you here," he said softly.

Re: OTA

[harrowgate]

"Darling," Felix spoke up from Anael's elbow, dangling an egg-nog martini in one hand, "I think someone has maliciously mis-informed you about Christmas custom."

His mis-matched eyes glittered with humor (and the alcohol he'd already had) when he added in a lower voice, "And I thought your lot had invented it."

[hardertohide]

Dutch had got an invite from Hex, and of course she'd made it over. She'd come in wearing an ugly Christmas sweater of her own, meaning the sort with skulls on it. But not twenty minutes after her arrival, it was already tied around her waist, leaving her in a see-through khaki long-sleeved top (which of course meant that she was wearing a bra for once, a simple black thing that worked well with it) over her skinny black jeans. This was casual but tidy, in her book.

And Emma didn't seem to be around yet, which left her able to look around. She was loving the hell out of this venue. This was right up her alley, and she was grinning as she studied the Apollo 10 command module from up close, peering through one of its windows, a glass of champagne in one hand.

[offthebeatenpath]

"Sorry I'm late," Em said, grinning as she came up beside Dutch. "Nice sweater. Very festive."

[jadedjade]

Jade had been invited by the little pixie and of course he had come along. His Christmas sweater was one that one of his girls had knitted for him. It was black and white and simply said 'Ho, ho, ho' in large bold letters. It was an in-joke for anyone who knew Jade's profession.

"Hey, sweet. Merry Christmas," he said cheerfully to his friend.

[quartermaster_q]

Q had also received an invite from Hex- And had then taken it upon himself to skim the guest list to see who else would be attending.

When he spotted Dutch's name, he'd smiled to himself and made a point of picking up something special.

Dressed in a holiday jumper that had earned him a confused look from Bond, he made his way over to Dutch and held out a neatly wrapped gift in offering.

"Merry Christmas," he said simply.

[jageskro]

The dress code said tidy, so Jag had done his best to find a pair of dark jeans that weren't ripped, and a decent jumper without any pot holes in it. He'd come up with a dark blue woolen hoodie, and figured it would have to do the trick.

Val had gone to get them glasses, and he reckoned he must have been waylaid by running into someone, because it had been a short while now. So Jag, in the meantime, decided to make the most of the free buffet.

Free food. He was always all over that, and he'd just grabbed a seat to start eating, trusting Val to find him when he wanted to.

[sunsongs]

The party reminded Coby of some of the ones he'd gone to back in LA, either as a guest or as part of the musical entertainment, and one thing he'd picked up real quick - you always took advantage of the free buffet. His plate was loaded down as he looked for a place to sit.

"You mind?" he asked, gesturing toward an empty seat with the hand holding his beer.

[winter_wisp]

Winter loved parties. He loved the food, loved the music, loved an excuse to dance... He'd been all over tonight, giddy and cheerful in the outfit he'd chosen for the evening.

At the moment he was lingering at the table full of sweets and cakes, overwhelmed by choice and struggling to pick what he wanted to eat first.

"Is Christmas cake good?" he asked the person next to him. "It smells like booze- But does it taste sweet? How do you bake Christmas into a cake?"

[phouka]

"I have no idea, my sweet. Perhaps we should try it and find out," said the Phouka, stepping fully into view. "It does smell quite good. Shall we?"

[offthebeatenpath]

Em had been surprised to get an invitation to the party, but assumed the Fin and Willy had to be the ones Winter had told her about. So the first two things she wanted to do on arrival were dropping off a small white paper bag decorated with a pixie and snowflakes, where Winter could eventually find it, and the homemade marshmallows inside, some peppermint and others cinnamon flavored, and finding Dutch since it had been easier to meet at the museum than work out who picked up whom to arrive together.

She'd been uncertain what to wear - casual but tidy left a lot of room for interpretation - but eventually decided on a seasonally appropriate green top, with black jeans and wide belt, and once there, she decided it fit in well enough with the other guests not to draw attention to her. The museum was a great location for a party like this, and while Dutch went to get them drinks, Em studied a set of glass bubbles that caught her eye.

[sunsongs]

Máire and her girlfriend had invited Coby to celebrate Christmas with them, but he hadn't wanted to butt in, and the invite to Fin's party had given him a good reason to say no thanks. A friend from home had even sent him the perfect ugly Christmas sweater to wear, complete with surfers and palm trees.

A beer in hand, he mingled, not really expecting to find many familiar faces, but that just meant more people to meet, right?

[whispersoflove]

Anael was leaning back against a pillar in the room when Coby walked by him, and he smiled, and stepped forward to catch his hand. "I should've known I'd find you here."

[akatawitch]

Christmas Eve and again Sunny wasn't with her family. But at least this year she had somewhere to be and wasn't awkwardly lurking outside of a church for Midnight Mass. Mama had left a message on her phone, asking if she would be going tonight. Sunny hadn't called her back yet.

Though truth was, she'd almost not come to this party, either. Granted, dress code standards were really low when you were basically invited to wear your ugly Christmas sweater, but all the same. She didn't feel right being that casual about it. She needed something simple, sexy, but elegant enough that she didn't feel like a child. And with a little help from Felix and a dip into white and black, colors she usually shunned, she figured she'd managed. It didn't hurt that her legs looked miles long, either.

When you couldn't be proper, be exotic.

She'd undone her braids and gone with an Afro, which was like a halo of hair when light hit it. She'd told Winter she'd let him see, and it seemed like the right occasion for it.

Naturally she couldn't resist free food and she had a drink or two, but the real draw was the dancing. Sunny couldn't get enough of dancing, even when it was a bunch of white people awkwardly two-stepping. She came alive. And, from time to time, she found someone who could actually do ballroom, and that was fun.

[winter_wisp]

Winter had spotted the cloud of hair before he'd seen Miss Sunny, and he'd been watching it curiously as it moved about the party. Eventually he'd inched closer, weaving between people so he could see it up close- then looked started when he realized who it was attached to.

"Your hair has escaped its bonds. It is free now. Wild like a lion. ...Or a very aggressive sheep," he whispered seriously.

[london_spy]

Hex had invited him, and though he'd been unsure about coming, he'd forced himself to venture out and be social- Once he'd convinced Scotty to come too.

The older man had been at his side most of the night, but when he'd spotted someone he knew, 'an old friend', he'd nudged Danny off to go make friends of his own. Like a mother pushing her chick right out the nest, Scotty had been firm, chasing Danny off with a nudge.

Awkwardly, Danny lingered near the bar, nursing his free drink and watching the crowd.

(OTA, but be warned that Danny is a walking spoiler, so don't tag if you don't want to be spoiled & don't read his threads. <3)

[0_0_7]

Perhaps it was in bad taste to mix business and pleasure but Bond always grabbed an opportunity when it presented itself. He'd spent a good portion of a day with M discussing the Danny Holt situation and at the end of it he knew his mission.

And then, as fate would have it, there was Mr. Holt himself. This might just be easier than he'd imagined.

"Martini," he said. "Shaken, not stirred." Then he turned a friendly smile on Danny. "Merry Christmas."

[just_hex]

Hex had a festive sweater that wasn't really Christmas, more just winter-y in his opinion. He'd come and said hello to quite a few faces he knew and spotted Stanley, asking him if he'd given the job thing a think in regards to Danny. Stanley politely but firmly told him 'no business at a Christmas party' and then said he'd call him Boxing Day.

So he circled the room saying hello. Some people knew him from his YouTube, some knew his calendar. He had a taste of fame but it was nothing like some of the actor-types Fin was friends with who had come. Hex was just a bit star struck by a few of them.

He stayed away from the bar, though. It was happy, it was festive, and it would be too easy to get a spiked nog or some wine or a bottle of vodka and then he'd be down the tubes. So he went everywhere but over there...where he wanted to be most of all.

[harrowgate]

Felix had gotten a bit side-tracked on his way back to the bar, empty-handed and very interested in trying another of those festive cocktails. People in crowds moved in absolutely incomprehensible patterns, however, and Felix found himself on the opposite side of the room just attempting to maneuver around them. He'd just reached another impassible clump of humanity, and turned aside with a brief sigh, when he nearly bumped in to a be-sweatered solid brick of a fellow he didn't recognize.

Or did he? Felix took a half-step back and blinked, tilting his head as he took in the man's face. "Pardon me," the wizard said, polite, but more familiar than a perfect stranger might have been. "Have... have we met?"

[anamusebouche]

Hannibal was here because the hosts were interesting people to know. He knew Fin, and understood there was an unhealthy influence Willy Silver had on him. It was interesting to him to see them interact - without having to invite them both over for dinner.

The dress code was ignored - as was the raffle. He had no intention of showing up at any party in 'casual' wear, let alone a 'festive' sweater. Instead he wore a three piece black suit with a fine red checkered stripe, underneath he wore a red shirt and a black and red embroiled tie.

He also had no intention to bring any type of canned food. But in the Christmas spirit, he did bring three Tupperware boxes, filled with a Christmas stew he had prepared for occasion. Delicious, and it would taste even better in the morning.

He was looking where to drop the boxes when he saw a familiar face; and smiled politely with a nod.

[akatawitch]

With her white skin and white dress and pale blonde Afro, Sunny could not help but make a splash in such a crowd. But still she could not pull off the simple, casual cool of the man who came in wearing a three piece suit and yet somehow looked more relaxed than most of the ugly sweater bunch.

He was no Leopard, but he had something of the presence of one.

"I agonized for days over what would be too much or too little for this," she said, the faint admiration of her tone turning her words into a compliment, "I can see you didn't have the same dilemma."

[dr_spencer_reid]

Spencer had been a bit surprised when he received an invite to the party, but with nothing else to do- Or better opportunity to wear the sweater his mother had sent him- Spencer had sent his RSVP.

Now he lingered by the food, watching Hex from across the way and trying to build up the nerve to go and say hello. A small part of him wished he'd had the nerve to call ahead and ask if they could come together, but Hex had been distant lately, and Spencer just hadn't been bold enough to make that move- Especially when he was still unsure about what he wanted from the other man.

Awkward and out of place, he nibbled on a gingerbread man while the rest of the party burst into life all around him.

[just_hex]

Hex had seen Spencer, had caught him glancing his way more than once, and had finally shook off everyone else and had made his way over. No sneaking, no hiding, he walked right up to Spencer and kissed him sweetly on the lips.

"Mistletoe," he said with a cheeky smile.

Of course there was none.

[harrowgate]

Naturally Felix would attend, given such a thoughtful invitation from Messires Flynn and Silver, and given the opportunity to poke about the Science Museum to his heart's content. He and Shannon provided a box of tinned food, but declined to participate in the festive sweater tradition. Instead, Felix dressed neatly, but almost conservatively for him, in blue velvet trousers, silver patterned shirt, and charcoal tuxedo jacket. Pops of blue and violet in his tie and pocket square did not, perhaps, fit precisely the colors of the season, but the redheaded wizard knew better than to wear red and green together with his complexion.

After a few drinks, Felix's tie had been slightly loosened and his jacket comfortably unbuttoned, and he strolled the edges of the open space, searching for the perfect moment when the DJ played something he could manage to dance to, and someone actually accepted his offer to dance.

[anamusebouche]

Hannibal appreciated anyone who made an effort to look good and he definitely appreciated anyone not wearing a hideous sweater. So, later in the evening, even though Felix' tie had been loosened, Hannibal still met the young man with a pleasant smile.

And it was a genuine pleasant smile, even though he knew of his affair with Alcuin in detail. It was genuine, yes, but it could turn into snapping Felix' neck in half a second if he ever learned Alcuin was hurt by the man.

"Felix, Merry Christmas," he greeted. "Glad to see you had no interest to enter the sweater competition either."

[willysilver]

Willy was quite pleased to be host to this. Most of it had been done through mortal channels but some things simply couldn't be arranged on such short notice so an army of Fae had been called in to pull it all together. No one would notice a magical hand in it all, though.

Willy circulated with a white Russian in his hand, happily sipping it for the cream. He'd dressed well, had even brightened up his usual black wardrobe with some white. He made the rounds, saying hello to Fin's friends as well as people he had thought to invite. Willy conspired with The Phouka a moment about the dispersal of gifts and the old dog was to make his way round the party and tuck as many hundred pound notes into as many pockets as he could. Not everyone here needed it, but some would feel quite lucky and that was the sort of thing Willy could enjoy. Making Christmas luck happen.

The Phouka went off on his assigned mission and Willy went back to watching the party, smiling and even singing carols from time to time. It was a lovely party.

[akatawitch]

Sunny had spent most of her night dancing, but when time and proximity had allowed it, she had watched. Trying to make sense of what her senses, both natural and otherwise, were registering.

She couldn't forget the feeling of a Sidhe lord who had tried to toy with her name, but she also wasn't sure to do with his... new look. Willy had always been lovely, but not in a way that appealed to her, until now. Fin or no Fin, though, that was not a trap she planned on being sucked into.

No matter what color his eyes are, she found herself thinking, they will always be green.

It was a fabulous Afro, though.

[show_me_something]

Victoria and Ivan were leaving the next day for Virgin Gorda, revisiting the site where they'd met and first fallen in love. Most of the time they spent together - not involving work type activities - was spent in warm and sunny climes, which made going out together here in London all the more special, she decided. If the new head of Six had a problem with a former double 0 being escorted to a party by one of the, now defunct, KGB's stars, she was more than willing to explain the Cold War was over in a very double 0 way.

She wouldn't have dreamt of wearing one of those sweaters people seemed to enjoy inflicting on each other these days, but she'd left her usual monochrome looks behind for a top and skirt in shades of red and burgundy, with a moss-green cashmere cardigan. The color in her cheeks when she stepped off the dance floor wasn't from exertion, but the joy of dancing with Ivan and the sweet talk and devotion she'd hardly admit to enjoying as much as she did. He'd be completely incorrigible if she encouraged him even once. She watched him as he went to the bar to get them drinks, and laughed softly at herself. To think 004 had had a reputation as an ice queen throughout her career.

[0_0_7]

Bond had left his champagne behind when he'd seen the former agent leave Victoria's side. That was when he walked up and lightly laid his hand on the small of her back.

"I think this is the happiest I've ever seen you, Victoria," he said warmly. "Love suits you."