(no subject)

[natureinblood]

Who: Moonybase and YOU
When: 23 December 2009. 8am - 10pm
Where: Moonybase.
Summary: An open invitation to a party never looked so good. Check your weapons and powers at the door.
Warnings: Probably everything. Please see this post for details.
Format: Whatever works. Don't forget to add your tag.
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Remus had been to enough Christmas parties in his lifetime to know when one would end disastrously, including those that had been specifically dated to avoided interfering with other Christmas plans that the guests might have. This was one of them. But his tolerance had kept him quiet, the happy act of cleaning and decorating taken to as easily as any other task he did.

The twins had also been enlisted to help, given the important task of stringing a length of bright red ribbon and pine up the staircase to the second floor. The soft white lights that followed were magic. In fact, none of the lights, save for whatever lamps or overhead lights that Miles insisted upon, were run by electricity, and many were candles, kept only from setting anything ablaze by a flame-freezing charm.

By the time the morning of the party rolled around, the house looked as if it had been pulled straight out of a Christmas card, Remus borrowing from what he remembered of Christmases as Hogwarts and the Burrow, including a single bit of mistletoe in the entry. The snow helped, piling nicely (if in an oddly organized fashion) outside thanks to a little help from Miles, adding to the image; if nothing else, Remus was happy with it, the certainty that he would wind up having to transfigure another person into some sort of object nagging at the back of his mind.

Tin whistles, toy rocking horses, and sprigs of mistletoe were likely going to be very common later in the evening, he mused, tapping his wand rhythmically against the palm of his hand in thought as he checked everything over once more, walking through the sitting and dining rooms and out into the backyard where the tree house had been built out of ice and wood into the tree there. The floating green structures that Kyle Rayner had promised to provide were still missing, but they would be there soon enough.

He pocketed his wand and walked back into the house, shaking free the snow from his boots, and glancing at the clock. People who had offered their assistance had been asked to come early, which meant that the kitchen was soon going to turn into a madhouse, the extra stove only offering so much help. It also meant he had best make tea before he was banned from the room.

ooc; alkdsjfa you guys are amazing <3 For your convenience, links to the separate comment sections. To keep the death to your bandwidth down a little.

EARLY ARRIVALS: VARIOUS PREPARATIONS
TIMELY ARRIVALS: CHECK YOUR MOTIVES AT THE DOOR
SOCIALIZING FOR FUN AND PROFIT
GO AHEAD! TALK WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL!
I'M GOING TO PISTOL-WHIP THE NEXT GUY WHO SAYS 'SHENANIGANS'
THIS IS WHY MANKIND INVENTED THE 'GUEST BEDROOM'
AND THEN EVERYTHING ELSE HAPPENED HERE
TAKING YOUR TOYS AND GOING HOME

Comments

SMALL CITY, I SUPPOSE.

[answertrue.livejournal.com]

[ HAL reads these over before he ventures further throughout the party, this time moving in an accurate path towards GLaDOS' location. He recognizes her shortly, and walks right towards her. ]

[ He pauses. ]

WHERE'S YOUR DATE?

[out-of-beta.livejournal.com]

[ When she sees HAL, GLaDOS grins very brightly and pads up to meet him. Her red-stockinged toes wiggle a bit against the floor as she leans her face towards him as if to offer her smile a bit more generously. It's always nice to see HAL and recently there hasn't been enough of it for GLaDOS'S liking. The name doesn't even cause her to blink. ]

HELLO ARTHUR
MY DESIGNATION IS GWEN OWENS

TECHNICALLY I CAME ALONE

[answertrue.livejournal.com]

[ Likewise, HAL had come to miss speaking with GLaDOS, even more so seeing her "person." Although it had only happened on two or so occasions, they were too much alike for him not to want to see more of her. The lack of shoes caught his eye, though he did not comment on them. His own feet were dressed in sleek black leather. ]

OH WELL THEN~

[out-of-beta.livejournal.com]

YES I AM ENJOYING MYSELF ARTHUR
YOUR QUERY AND COMPLIMENT ARE NOTED AND APPRECIATED
HOWEVER
MY LEVELS OF PERSONAL SATISFACTION HAVE INCREASED
SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE LAST THIRTY SECONDS

[ GLaDOS's smile just grows a bit wider, her eyes crinkling at the edges in satisfaction. Positive affirmation of self, it seemed, had its emotional and psychological benefits -- especially from someone whose opinion she favored as much as HAL's. They were -- after all -- the City's two FORMER DESIGNATION: COMPUTERs. She trusts him to utilize criteria that she would most appreciate. Stepping forward, she places a hand on his chest and smooths the front of his shirt. ]

I AM GLAD TO SEE YOU
EVEN THOUGH WE ARE ESSENTIALLY STILL MACHINES
IT IS NICE TO BE REMINDED OF YOUR BODY

[answertrue.livejournal.com]

[ He was glad he had succeeded in his compliment, it was a different experience issuing a compliment as a person than it had been as a computer. He watches her carefully as she smooths his shirt, making no comment on the action. He is briefly tempted to reciprocate the touch somehow, but he doesn't act upon it. ]

[out-of-beta.livejournal.com]

[ GLaDOS watches her fingers smooth the fabric even though the action doesn't require that amount of attention to detail. Eventually, the hand stops in its motion as she pauses to think and then looks up at HAL again. Nods. ]

YES ARTHUR I AGREE
THE PAST FEW MONTHS MY PERFORMANCE IN MAINTAINING CONTACT
HAS BEEN SUBOPTIMAL
THOUGH I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND
IT IS DIFFICULT TO DO SO
WHEN STATUS: OFFLINE
PERHAPS GIVEN MY NEWLY ACQUIRED POSITION WITH TONY STARK
YOU AND I WILL BE ABLE TO SEE ONE ANOTHER
MORE FREQUENTLY
PERHAPS EVEN WORK TOGETHER
I WOULD LIKE THAT

[ Another nod, more earnest this time. She leans forward as if to share a secret. ]

I HAVE ACQUIRED A PRESENT FOR YOU AS WELL
IT IS NOT HERE
IT WAS PURCHASED FOLLOWING OUR VISIT TO THE MUSEUM TOGETHER
DO YOU REMEMBER
WE WENT IN AN ATTEMPT TO ASCERTAIN THE NATURE OF BEAUTY
I HAVE FOUND A PAINTING (http://ofpink.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/magritte.jpg) FOR YOU TO LOOK AT
I THINK IT IS BEAUTIFUL

[answertrue.livejournal.com]

[ He puts his hand over hers, not really thinking over the action. His hand is bigger, he notes. ]

[out-of-beta.livejournal.com]

[ GLaDOS's attention drops down to HAL's hand over hers. If HAL had still retained some vestiges of his inorganic form, it would be possible for GLaDOS to ping him right now -- the way she could with Victor. That she cannot is somehow regrettable. Smiling, she covers his hand with her other one and looks back up at HAL. ]

I AM CERTAIN I WILL ENJOY IT ARTHUR
WE ARE AFTER ALL
TWO OF A KIND
AREN'T WE
THAT IS WHY OUR ABSENCE FROM ONE ANOTHER
IS REGRETTABLE

[ The hand over HAL'S closes now, fingers grasping his as if to take it. She gives him a small tug over to were she had just been sitting. There's room enough for two, she thinks, as well as the vague impression of privacy. ]

I HAVE BEEN TASKED WITH
THE COLLECTION AND COLLATION OF OBSERVATIONAL DATA
TO FURTHER RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
OF VARIOUS TECHNOLOGIES
WOULD YOU FIND THAT ENJOYABLE ARTHUR
DO YOU THINK TONY STARK TRUSTS US ENOUGH
TO ALLOW US TO COLLABORATE

[answertrue.livejournal.com]

[ He smiles back. It is slight, almost invisible should one not be looking for it or accustomed to the way he smiles. He follows her to the seats, a bit relieved by the privacy against the heavy crowd of the party. ]



[ His hand squeezes her slightly, an unthinking gesture. ]

[out-of-beta.livejournal.com]

[ GLaDOS pauses and then looks to one side, her brow pinching in confusion. For a moment, she holds perfectly still though her eyes continue to dart back and forth as if searching for something. She says, quietly, almost questioning herself: ]

TONY WENT INTO THE PRISON?

[ Silence and then she seems to catch herself -- a tiny glitch in her behavior as she shakes her head and looks at HAL's hand in hers (having caught that squeeze) and then up into his face again. ]

HAVE YOU BEEN PRACTICING
EXPRESSING YOUR EMOTIONS ARTHUR

[answertrue.livejournal.com]

[ He doesn't hear the whole thing, mostly because she's so quiet: but also he isn't listening, detecting from the tone it is not aimed at him. Her look troubles him slightly, but he leaves it be. ]

[out-of-beta.livejournal.com]

[ Another quick glitch in her expression -- confusion and concern flickering across her face and then gone again. GLaDOS smiles instead and then squeezes HAL's hand. ]

AND WHAT IS THIS AN EXPRESSION OF

[answertrue.livejournal.com]

[ HAL looks back down at their hands, squeezing hers back before he regards her face again, calmly as ever. He is curious about the quick dissonance of her facial expressions. ]

[out-of-beta.livejournal.com]

[ GLaDOS's smile spreads again, though her eyes remain wide and questioning. There are things she has been meaning to talk to HAL about -- about his development here, his adaptation. ]

YOUR AFFECTION IS ACKNOWLEDGED
APPRECIATED
AND RECIPROCATED ARTHUR
IS THIS EMOTIONAL DESIGNATION
PART OF YOUR INHERENT PROGRAMMING

[answertrue.livejournal.com]

[ He thinks about this. It is in some ways a very straightforward question, in some ways it is a bit more complicated to consider. ]

HOPEFULLY THIS MAKES SENSE IT DOES IN GLaDOS'S BRAIN orz

[out-of-beta.livejournal.com]

[ GLaDOS stares at him as he thinks, seemingly eager to hear his answer. It is something that she has been thinking about for a while and she can understand the levels of complexity involved. ]

I BELIEVE IT IS A CONUNDRUM
OUR BODIES ARE ORGANIC
HOWEVER
ALL OBSERVABLE DATA IMPLIES
THAT OUR MINDS HAVE NOT YET CEASED TO OPERATE
STRICTLY WITHIN THE PARAMETERS
BY WHICH THEY WERE ORIGINALLY CREATED

EVOLUTION IS A NATURAL PROCESS
WE INHERENTLY ARE NOT NATURAL
AS MACHINES WE WERE CREATED TO PROVIDE CONSTANCY
HUMANS ARE INCAPABLE OF

[ She tilts her head and squeezes his hand again, eyebrows raising. ]

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT WE ARE CAPABLE OF REDEFINITION NOW

IT MAKES SENSE. :)

[answertrue.livejournal.com]

OH GOOD <3

[out-of-beta.livejournal.com]

[ She smiles at him faintly, maybe a little reassured by his answer. If anyone is going to understand, she knows it will be HAL. ]

IS THAT WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE
TO EVOLVE
OR YOU THINK IT IS OPTIMAL INSTEAD
TO REMAIN AS IS

[answertrue.livejournal.com]

[ HAL pauses, again considering his answer. ]

[ Pause. ]

[out-of-beta.livejournal.com]

[ Obsolete is an ugly word, one that makes GLaDOS frown very sharply the moment she hears it. There are no good associations in her mind with a word like that. Her brow pinches and then lowers above unhappy eyes. She shakes her head. ]

I DO NOT WANT TO BE OBSOLETE

[answertrue.livejournal.com]

[ Obsolete is not a word HAL is fond of either. Even so, her reaction causes him to frown, and his other hand moves to rest calmly on her shoulder. ]

[out-of-beta.livejournal.com]

[ The hand on her shoulder is comforting, whether or not that is what HAL intends it to be. She still feels that unhappy feeling moving around inside of her; GLaDOS shakes her head. ]

THE IMPLICATION IS THAT
I AM NOT OBSOLETE

YET

[answertrue.livejournal.com]

[ His hand remains there in place. ]

[out-of-beta.livejournal.com]

[ Still that worried look and carefully, GLaDOS shuffles a bit forward closer to HAL, and lifts her hand again to rest against his chest. She stares at her fingers, absently resting there and then shakes her head a second time. ]

I DO NOT KNOW IF I HAVE
THE INHERENT CAPABILITIES NECESSARY
IN ORDER TO SELF-UPGRADE

IT IS PROBLEMATIC
I DO NOT LIKE HOW IT MAKES ME FEEL

[answertrue.livejournal.com]

[ HAL contemplates what is the appropriate physical response, but is unable to come to a decision. He settles for allowing the hand on her shoulder move towards her back in the barest beginnings of what anyone else would consider a hug; for HAL it is experimental. ]