C&C HOLIDAY JAMJAR ICE HOTEL HELL: PARTY

[bluffing-ruffle.livejournal.com]

WHO: AHAHAHAHA. Just... just tag yourselves in.
WHERE: The Gorsewick Hotel
WHEN: December 19th. 5PM-7PM for setup, 7PM onward for dinner.
WARNINGS: Let's just cover for your basics unless something more specific comes up.
SUMMARY: Miles Edgeworth and Remus Lupin are hosting the second comm-wide holiday party and have rented out the dining hall in the Gorsewick for the night. Everyone comes in for food, warmth, and (relatively... hopefully...) civil company. Whether or not they can leave is another story.
FORMAT: IF IT FEELS GOOD, DO IT! Long prose, action brackets, rapidfire dialogue, present tense, past tense--whatever floats your narrative boat!



The Gorsewick is not all that large a hotel, although it would very much like to grow up to be one someday, a mere five stories tall and having only a small parking garage to its name. The owner is clearly an optimistic sort of fellow, building a place like this in the City despite the risk the existence of imPorts poses to it and the hits the tourism industry has taken from their antics; bigger places than this have been smashed to pieces by enormous grey lizards with bad cases of heartburn.

Sadly, it just isn't paying off. At a time when people should be on vacation, packing his rooms to the max, the Gorsewick is... really, really empty. The groups renting out the dining hall are pretty much the only things keeping it afloat this month.

Still, appearances must be upheld, and although it is mildly understaffed, it is currently no less well-cared for. The handful of people on duty that night are friendly and the place is clean as a whistle--no bugs, no rats, no dust, nothing like that. He may be running a sinking ship, but the owner is damned determined to keep it a tidy one on the way down.

Come on in.

Comments

[dragony]

While not exactly part of the setup committee proper, Ruka was still one of the earliest arrivals (as was to be expected, daughter of the hosts and whatnot). She kept out of the way of the caterers and cooks and this-or-that bit of decorating, instead drifting from room to room to watch the proceedings.

If nothing else, it meant she could usually be counted on to redirect the inevitable questions of "hey, have you seen so-and-so?" from the staff, but being an extra set of eyes or hands wasn't out of the question.

[natureinblood]

Spotting the familiar green hair, Remus excuses himself from assisting Sirius and James to approach her.

"Would you like to help with the decorations?"

[dragony]

"Sure." It's an easy answer, and though cheerful, not terribly enthusiastic. All things considered, it's probably the best that can be expected from her today, but she unfolds her hands from behind her back expectantly.

[natureinblood]

Remus doesn't mind so much that she isn't very enthusiastic, motioning her back into the main room.

"I know magic could be used, but I thought you might like a break from telling people where to go."

[dragony]

"It's okay," she says as she follows, in the 'I mean this honestly' way and not the 'it's really not okay at all and how dare you believe me' way. "I don't mind it."

It's a pattern she's noticed with him, and their relationship; Ruka, who rarely ever lets herself fully depend on anyone (who isn't Rua), has the tendency to mask and buffer the wants and opinions that matter. It only makes sense that the people closest to her would compensate her held back reactions by drawing her out.

The real trouble is trying to hook into the right place.

[natureinblood]

Remus just smiles. Though it would take a great deal of prodding from someone to get him to admit it, part of the reason he did try and draw Ruka out was because he recognized the same behaviors that he had shown while in school. Even if the attempt didn't work, he had still put in the effort to make it simply because he had wanted to.

They were similar behaviors Miles still showed too, something that wasn't lost at all on him.

"It's appreciated. I know Miles and I can't be everywhere and you're as much of a host as we are," he says, pausing to think. "Have you had a chance to talk to your friends?"

[dragony]

There's a moment where she wants to ask what friends?; between last Christmas and this, she's lost a great deal of the people she cares about most. Most importantly among them her twin brother, Rua.

But it's a party, and it hasn't even started yet, so Ruka holds that back and simply shakes her head. "No, not yet. It'll be easier when more people arrive, I think."

[purmoncul.livejournal.com]

Someone comes running by in a wine-red suit, and pulls up short when he sees RUka. The person is too short to be Edgeworth, though, and is smiling with far too much mischief.

It's Sirius, and he's dressed exactly like Miles. Right down to silvering his hair, and even has one of the man's jabots on.

"Hey Ruka! What do you think, is it on straight?"

It is uncanny, the resemblance.

[dragony]

There's a long, long moment where Ruka does not react, instead just. Staring. Blankly. And then she just sighs, one gloved hand against her brow as she shakes her head. She is, unsurprisingly, reminded of Rua, even if now it had been nearly two years since that time at the Fortune Cup.

Sirius probably has the same level of acting skills, to boot.

She drops the hand, looking up again seriously. "Not quite. Here, let me—" Ruka holds up her hand, but since he's, well, even though he's shorter than Edgeworth he's still way too tall for her to fix the jabot from here.

[purmoncul.livejournal.com]

Sirius obligingly gets down on one knee and leans forward so that she can adjust his borrowed ruffles.

He was hoping she'd laugh. Or at least smile. Not smacking him around would have to do.

[dragony]

As she adjusts the ruffles, it's by some miracle of physics-defying character design that Sirius doesn't get smacked in the face with her pigtails.

"He's been in a rough mood lately," she says in a voice only loud enough for Sirius to catch, "and it'll get worse before it gets better, I think. So please don't be cruel about it, alright?"

[purmoncul.livejournal.com]

He might snuffle at one. Just because it's right there.

"I have hugged him and he has patted me. I think we can get through this. But I'll tell you what," he reaches into a pocket and pulls out a hard peppermint. "If I'm going too far, give a blow on this, and I'll drop whatever I'm doing."

As he talks, the candy shifts, turning into a whistle (http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h7/tsukechick/RPG/Christmas%202010/dogwhistle.jpg).

[dragony]

There's one last accordion finger pinch in the jabot to get the ruffles to settle right before Ruka withdraws, satisfied. It's only then that she takes the whistle, turning it over in gloved fingers. (In the nearly three months Sirius has known her, he'll have only seen her bare-handed once.) Satisfied, she clasps it firmly in hand with a nod, then looks up to give Sirius another visual appraisal. She actually smiles this time.

"Much better."