GP - dreaming of a black christmas

[lcrpg_npc]

The repurposed railway arches that housed Beagle's bar and restaurant were decked in shades of black: black christmas trees glittering with sparkly and satiny black ornaments, black wreaths with perfectly tied bows, black garlands draping along the walls and bar, ribbons edging the long banquet benches in the restaurant dining room. A gentle snow seemed to fall from the ceiling, a specially designed lighting effect much more pleasant than the cold and wet that would've accompanied real snow. Christmas music played over hidden speakers, setting the mood without interfering with conversation.

The Kraken Black Christmas feast was a different spin on the holiday than you'd find most places, and yet, a christmas feast all the same. All the flavors of the season were there, both in the bar's specialty cocktails and in the feast itself, served banquet-style to those fortunate enough to get tickets - mulled wine, egg nog, roasts and stuffing and puddings, and so much more. Yet the food and drinks all shared the same theme as the decor, shades of black augmented with squid ink, charcoal, or black sesame seeds.

Guests had been encouraged to continue the theme with black festive attire, but it wasn't required, and spots of color could be found here and there along the table or mingling in the bar. There was one thing everyone could agree on, though. No matter how black the theme, the mood was anything but dark.

Comments

[offthebeatenpath]

Kendall often received tickets to various events from clients (such as the owner of the Beagle restaurant), and when they couldn't attend, they passed them on to artists who might appreciate a night out, free food, etc. At least that's what they'd told Em when giving her two tickets to the Black Christmas feast.

The idea behind the night sounded like something Sabine would've loved, while Em was more interested in the preparation of the food itself. More importantly, it was free food and drinks, compliments of Kendall's client. Neither she nor Jag were going to turn that down.

Em rarely wore black, associating the color with her cousin who dressed to make an impression, while Em preferred to blend into the background. But tonight, when most everyone would be wearing black, she'd found a long-sleeved shift dress Ollie had convinced her didn't look too bad on her.

She nibbled on a black macaron, waiting for them to begin seating for the meal and trying not to think about swiping a bottle of bubbly at the end of the night. The memory brought with it a shy smile with a hint of sadness to her eyes. Then she felt someone's eyes on her, they'd noticed. If she was lucky, they wouldn't ask.

[jageskro]

"What's got you smiling like that?" Jag asked with a brief, curious frown, as he held a (black) cocktail out to her.

[offthebeatenpath]

Her hand brushed his, lingering a little as she took the glass. Em shook her head at the question, but her expression warmed and brightened just having him close, driving memories into the background. "Long story. Short version is ideas of trouble we probably won't be getting up to tonight."

[jageskro]

"Now I feel like we're missing out," Jag remarked with a small smile. "Unless it's the not fun kind of trouble."

[offthebeatenpath]

Rather than get into what kind of trouble she'd been remembering, Em looked up at him through her lashes and smiled. "I'm sure we'll find our own kind of trouble."

[jageskro]

Fuck, she was just so beautiful when she looked at him like that. Jag had raised his hand to brush his thumb over her cheek before he'd thought anything of it. "That a promise?"

[offthebeatenpath]

"I don't know," hint of drawl to tease, and she felt like she couldn't stop smiling. Not when he looked at her like that.

"Do we really want to tempt fate that way?" Promising trouble felt like asking for the not fun kind to find them.

[jageskro]

"It's a bit late, innit?" Jag replied, watching her happily.

[offthebeatenpath]

What will be, is. But Em wasn't going to dwell on what not fun kinds of trouble they could find. Not tonight.

"You may be right," her smile shifting to something more impish. "I think I've already found trouble."

[akatawitch]

Sunny was already grinning mischievously as she sidled up to Em. "So who's that you came in with?"

[offthebeatenpath]

Heat and color bloomed over Em's face, and she bit her lip shyly as her gaze quickly found Jag across the room instead of turning to Sunny first. "Jag. He's... one of my roommates." She had a feeling she didn't need to spell out he was much more than that.

[akatawitch]

Em showed a blush almost as easily as Sunny herself did, and really, it said just about everything that Em herself wasn't saying.

Sunny squealed.

[offthebeatenpath]

That just made Em blush more, and she quickly shushed Sunny. "It's new... and complicated," she explained. "He went through a kind of crazy break-up a little while ago... and his ex is here tonight, and... It's complicated."

[akatawitch]

"Well, that's a mess," Sunny had to agree. "But you guys are... you're okay? He makes you happy?"

[offthebeatenpath]

"Yeah, he does," Em said softly, her eyes going to Jag again like she couldn't not look at him, and she probably had some ridiculous smile on her face, she was just sure of it. "He's my best friend, and I never... we never expected anything more, but it's good."

Her head bobbed from one side to the other. "When he's not being an idiot, anyway." Or she wasn't.

[akatawitch]

It was nice to see Em so happy, that girl-neck-deep-in-a-crush kind of stupid-happy. "With men, is there ever such a thing?"

[offthebeatenpath]

"Surprisingly, yes," Em decided after considering a moment. With Jag, those times usually involved touch and bare skin. His fear he'd hurt her or wasn't good enough didn't seem as strong then. "Sometimes. I keep telling myself it'll get easier once things are less complicated."

[cold_blueeyes]

If Bobby noticed her expression, he didn't ask. "Hey, fancy seeing you here," he said with a bright smile, his outfit more casual than many of the ones here tonight, just black jeans and a black tee emblazoned with a white and teal snowflake. "How have you been?"

[offthebeatenpath]

Em brightened immediately when she saw Bobby. "Hey! When did you get back?" She didn't think it had been that long since Bobby's last email, and he hadn't said anything about leaving Boston.

[cold_blueeyes]

"Couple of weeks ago. Sorry, I would have texted or called or something, but, uh...I've just kind of been settling in again, you know? Working out some stuff. It's good to be back, though, and I'm glad I ran into you." He flashed her a grin, clearly genuinely happy to see her again.

[offthebeatenpath]

Em had had her own stuff to work out the past few weeks, and that didn't include a trans-Atlantic move, especially a move to the city where an ex lived. "We would've gotten around to the news eventually," she told him, no blame at all for him not having told her before. "I'm glad we too. I wasn't sure I'd ever see you again... since John lives in London."

[cold_blueeyes]

"No, yeah, that makes sense." Bobby rubbed the back of his neck, his grin going a little sheepish as he added, "But, uh...we're back together, so." Not that he was ashamed or guilty or anything. He was absolutely thrilled to be back with John, even though they had a lot of stuff to work on still. He just...had a feeling Em would be less than impressed by the news.

[offthebeatenpath]

Silence for a moment as that news sunk in. Her mind wired to find parallels and patterns, Em thought of Fin returning to Willy, and contrasted the complications of Jag still loving Val but not being able to make things work. "We all see differently when we're in love," she settled on saying. "I... I hope things work out for the best, for both of you."

[cold_blueeyes]

Of course, that hesitation, that beat of silence made Bobby feel like he had to explain or justify or...or something. "I mean, our relationship, it's not perfect, and I'm not gonna pretend it is. We have a lot of stuff we need to work out, but he's willing to work on it, and so am I." He smiled a little and added, "I'm even gonna drag him to some of my therapy sessions, get a professional involved."

[offthebeatenpath]

"I mean it, I really do hope things work out." Em wasn't sure what she hoped that working out looked like, but it wasn't her life.

"And I'm glad you're not just... I don't know, falling back into what you were before while ignoring all the stuff." It would be easier, if they had a Dani, to knock some sense into the both of them, literally and figuratively as needed. "Is your therapist... um, do they know... what you are?"