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

[fireballed.livejournal.com]

Hey, it's not her fault she has to keep up that magic capacity, okay. Besides, you could've just not responded when she showed up. It's your own fault.

But she holds that plate closer to herself. "Well, not off my plate! Go get your own, I'm just saying you should try it!"

[livesarock]

His reply comes in the form of a sigh shortly after sipping at the increasingly-lukewarm coffee. "Right, right..."

Any food he could hope to get the rest of the night was no doubt going to be acquired at least twelve yards away from her, he knew, but at the moment he didn't have the stomach to get up and risk accidental mingling. It always seemed to happen to him in the most uncomfortable ways possible, after all.

Even so, that didn't keep him from scanning the ebb and flow of bodies around them for familiar sights. "I don't see the sorceress from last time. Zatanna."

[fireballed.livejournal.com]

"Wuell--" she swallowed the oversized bite she'd taken off the chicken in her hand. "Maybe she didn't feel like coming. There's a lot of people here, I wouldn't doubt some people wouldn't want to come." Zelgadis' attendance was mandatory whether he was one of those who wanted to be absent or not. Lina declared it so.

"But she's really missing out."

[livesarock]

Some people like ME, he thought dryly, his sideways glance pretty much an open indicator to his thoughts. Not that it mattered - not with food in the mix.

"Half the people here are going to be missing out, too, if you keep that pace up."

[fireballed.livejournal.com]

"Hey, you know I have to try new foods any place we go. Gourry and Amelia would agree if they were here." She glances back at him knowingly. Come on, you so know they would.

"And I don't know why, but it's harder for me to cast spells around here. Any ideas?" She figured he'd know something, having been here so much longer.

[livesarock]

"Same reason my chimera state altered upon arrival," he replied, shrugging. "It's that machine messing things up. Other people've complained about their powers altering in ways, too."

[fireballed.livejournal.com]

"" She looks momentarily thoughtful at her plates. And then in a flash, the moment is gone and she's devouring again. That was it. As far as she's concerned, that machine was going down next chance she got. She wondered how many people she could get to help; the thought process was fairly obvious on her face. Food could only be a slight distraction, but not when there was such an obvious goal in mind.

[livesarock]

For a small, hopeful second, Zelgadis thought he saw them heading down the path to downright useful discussion. Chicken-fried steak seemed to dash that from the angle he was at, and he nearly missed that Lina's-got-something-in-mind look on her face by attending his drink. Nearly, but not quite.

He didn't need to waste time asking if that's what she was thinking. "What do you have in mind?"

[fireballed.livejournal.com]

Finally, finally, she came to a stop in her meal and leaned back, arms crossed.

"If other people are having problems with their powers being messed with, I can't be the only one who doesn't like it. There has to be enough of us for a strong enough attack." She thought back for a moment to any useful conversations she'd had: everyone had told her when she first got here that attacking the machine was pointless. Like no one'd told her that before.

[diesarock]

Useful conversation and thoughts thereon were at least temporarily interrupted an approaching challenger — or, rather, a soft voice slipping into the pause.

"Um... hi," greeted Terra, a little nervously. The last time she'd seen Lina, after all, had ended when Terra had quite unceremoniously abducted Zelgadis from his own apartment without forewarning. Now seemed as good a time as any to apologize.

"... didn't think I'd see you here."

... If she could work up the nerve to do so. Let it not be said that Terra was masterfully social.

[livesarock]

Zelgadis nearly missed the greeting entirely from his standpoint, catching Lina's gaze and turning his head to follow it to find Terra there. His last swallow of coffee went down poorly, making his stomach knot a caffeinated stomach knot.

"...Hi."

[fireballed.livejournal.com]

Lina was busy inspecting the girl over. Right, the girl who'd barged into Zelgadis' apartment before. She seemed nice enough and Lina couldn't tell there was any ill-will there.

"Why wouldn't we be here? Do you see all this food?" It's said with such emphasis as if to say 'Why else would we be here'.

[diesarock]

If she didn't before, she saw now. It was hard to miss just how much food there was in front of Lina (or, it was now that it had been pointed out), and Terra could feel the way her jaw dropped and eyebrows bent in confusion. What, had they just parked chairs next to one of the catering tables?

Moments passed through several blinks before she could offer a weak "Uh, yeah..."

[livesarock]

Oh, hell.

It was difficult enough to find normal footing around Terra, but adding the culinary carnage on display as Lina's fine work wasn't going to improve things. Or...maybe they would – his bulk eating was rather sparing in comparison. But regardless of that potentially saving grace or not, Zel's face was starting to heat up, and it certainly wasn't the cruddy coffee's fault.

His intelligent contribution to the conversation came by way of an awkward clearing of the throat, eying Lina's mess with a wince.

[fireballed.livejournal.com]

Zelgadis, you are not being helpful. What what, what are you doing.

Lina could see what was going on. Right, her eating habits were still unique as far as other people went. Whatever, she wasn't letting that bother her.

"So, Terra, right? How'd you get to meet Zel?" She is working you into this conversation, Zelgadis, and you will like it.

[diesarock]

The window for apology was rapidly being boarded shut, if it had ever been open in the first place, and Terra still hadn't the nerve to actually say anything about it. It was easier to just go with whichever way Lina wanted to direct the conversation.

"He talked to me when I first arrived. Over the network," she said with a shrug. It was hardly a story. "After that was... just chance."

Absurdly frequent chance, but...

[livesarock]

Zelgadis' wince evolved into a slow, suspicious stare at Lina, scanning for motive. Like hell she'd care about this or that in his life unless it was somehow advantageous to her (and, for whatever reason he couldn't fathom besides her evil streak, embarrassing him was rather advantageous).

"Yeah..." His reply was just as slow, replying that goading look she had begun to give him with a don't cause trouble glare of his own.

[ofthedream.livejournal.com]

Ysera just happened to be passing by on her way to the buffet tables to get some more of the tuna steak when she caught the tail end of Lina's statement. Pausing, she turned to regard Lina, the mountain of plates, and Zelgadis before stepping closer.

"Forgive my intrusion, but did I hear correctly? You are a mage?" Despite addressing Lina directly, and facing her as if seeing her clearly, Ysera's eyes were closed. As if that wasn't odd enough, the green haired woman had horns and long, pointed elven ears poking out on either side of her party-cracker, flowered derby hat.