capeandcowllogs | (no subject)

(no subject)

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ From what little Alex knows of GLaDOS, he can understand why this makes sense. The heroes always do seem quick to judge and if you're the type to sign your work, it's only logical to have a second identity to keep them from getting too unbearable. ]

I'm not surprised. Gwen, in public, then. I only have the one name to remember, so that should be simple for you.

[ GLaDOS's narrow slightly, considering something before speaking. ]

YOU HAVE RECEIVED AN UNOFFICIAL
SECONDARY DESIGNATION: JACK
WHY

[ Alex's nose wrinkles in the strange mix of amusement and annoyance which really only Nigel-related things can ellicit from him. ]

Oh, that. Do you know what a nickname is?

[ GLaDOS's eyes lose focus for a moment as she concentrates on the communicator pressed up against the side of her leg. With it, she is able to access the Network and submit a search query. ]

NICKNAME: NOUN
A FAMILIAR OR HUMOROUS NAME
GIVEN TO A PERSON OR THING
INSTEAD OF OR AS WELL AS
THE REAL NAME

[ She blinks and then refocuses her eyes on him. ]

THAT ANSWERS THE QUERY OF WHAT
NOT WHY

Edited 2009-12-23 15:49 (UTC)

[ He's about to object to the categorization of "Jack" as either humourous or familiar when he decides better of it and shuts his mouth. As always, it's complicated to explain to someone who does not know Nigel particularly well. ]

Nigel gave it to me. It can mean "knave" or "rogue," which is the sense he uses it in. I suppose he thinks it's funny.

[ Another quick scan, a passing moment of distance in her eyes and then GLaDOS cranes her head towards Alex, her expression curious though her mouth smiles in its odd way. ]

IS THAT WHAT YOU ARE ALEX FORBES
A QUOTE UNQUOTE 'KNAVE'

[ Alex gives a lazy shrug of his shoulders, noncommittal. ]

No. I think that's why it's supposed to be funny. Humour created by juxtaposing something with something that it isn't.

[ Her eyebrows lift, eyes moving again to map the motion. ]

THEN HOW WOULD YOU SELF-DEFINE

[ He smiles, finding this question sort of funny in a way. ]

I try to avoid self-definitions. They're rarely accurate and always limiting.

[ Odd. Another smile. GLaDOS is not able to properly map the causes and effects to Alex's behavior patterns, but she still finds earning such reactions satisfying. ]

MOST SENTIENT BEINGS REQUIRE SELF-DEFINITION
IN ORDER TO DERIVE FUNCTION OR PURPOSE

[ Alex ticks his chin up slightly. His hands stay in his pockets, but he moves them around so that his thumbs can hook over the outside. ]

Yes, but as we've established, most spend most of their time being idiots.

[ GLaDOS laughs, only not really. It's an odd sound like exhalation or a shortness of breath -- white noise, only amplified for a brief moment. ]

YOU ARE NOT A NICE PERSON ALEX FORBES

[ It seems like a compliment. ]

[ This is clearly an unexpected statement, and the way Alex's eyes widen for a moment makes it obvious that he's surprised by it. ]

Most people aren't nice. They're just better at denying that and burying it under layers of bullshit and appearances of niceness. I don't bother.

[ Alex's surprise is then echoed in GLaDOS's face. She finds his conclusion equally unexpected, but after a moment's consideration, realizes that there is a very strong likelihood that she agrees with it. Either way: ]

NEITHER DO I
MOST HUMANS DO NOT HAVE THE WILLINGNESS
OR THE CAPABILITIES
TO COMPREHEND AND PROCESS THINGS THE WAY THAT YOU DO
CONGRATULATIONS

[ Alex is generally not used to receiving compliments. There are not a lot of people who seem inclined to pay them, which he's always taken as yet another sign of the general blindness of humanity. As such, he's not really very practiced in receiving them. So he looks confused for a few minutes before he says: ]

Thank you. I tend to agree. Though I try to keep something of a low profile about that, like you do about your real identity.

[ She nods, knowingly and then leans her face closer to hers to drop her singsong voice down to a light whisper. ]

DON'T WORRY ALEX FORBES
I AM GOOD AT KEEPING SECRETS
IF YOU WOULD LIKE
I CAN ASSIST IN KEEPING YOURS

[ Smiling again she holds out her hand between them. Her blue eyes glance down at his pocket where she knows his communicator is. ]

[ Alex's instinct is to step back and re-establish some more personal space, but he doesn't. Instead, he follows her gaze down toward where he's placed his communicator back into his pocket. It's not hard to decode her meaning. ]

You aren't going to put something on there that let's you see everything I write, are you?

[ GLaDOS grins and makes her laugh-like noise again. ]

IF I WANTED TO SEE EVERYTHING YOU WRITE
I WOULD HAVE ALREADY DONE IT BY NOW
AND WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION

Edited 2009-12-23 18:00 (UTC)

[ Alex presses his lips together, as always a little perturbed to find that he doesn't have the upper hand in a given situation. But right now, when she's offering to help, it doesn't seem as offensive as it would usually be in another situation. ]

All right. You have a point, I guess. [ He digs around for his communicator and holds it, just poised to pull it out of his pocket. ] Do you need to actually see it?

I ALWAYS HAVE A POINT
IT IS PART OF MY PROGRAMMING TO STRIVE FOR OPTIMAL EFFICIENCY
IN ALL THINGS

[ She looks down to where his hand is in his pocket and then shakes her head. ]

ONLY PHYSICAL CONTACT IS REQUIRED

[ He pulls the communicator the rest of the way out and holds it out to her. His grip is tight enough that it should be clear he's not offering it for her to take, but she can touch now. ]

Have you ever tried inefficiency? Just to see what it's like.

AS A MACHINE I WAS UNABLE
TO GO AGAINST MY PRIMARY PROTOCOLS
LEAVE IT TO HUMANITY TO DEVISE A WAY
TO CREATE SENTIENCE
ONLY TO THEN INSTALL IT INTO MACHINES
HARDWIRED TO PREVENT THE COMPLETE APPLICATION OF FREE WILL

[ GLaDOS turns and looks around, just to make sure that no one in the immediate vacinity is paying attention to them. With one hand she reaches down and covers the top of Alex's communicator with the flat of her arm, her fingers curling over his. Her attention slides sideways as if she's considering something and a small spark -- like a static charge -- snaps at where GLaDOS's thumb presses into the side of Alex's. Her lips move silently for a moment before she looks up at him sharply, like she's just been jogged out of a daydream, before letting go. ]

YOUR HANDHELD COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE
IS NOW ENCRYPTION STATUS: UNHACKABLE

[ Alex watches her curiously as she works. Now that he knows what his own new ability is, he finds himself more curious about those of others, now that he no longer has the same immediate stab of jealousy to deal with. When she's done, he pulls it back and turns it over. It looks the same, but he knows, given what he's seen of her on the community before now, that she knows what she's talking about. ]

Thank you. It's not that I really have much to hide, particularly, in what I say over this thing. But I prefer my privacy to be actual privacy when I choose to make use of it.

[ She watches him silently for a moment. ]

PRIVACY DOES NOT EXIST ON THE NETWORK
FOR THE GENERAL POPULACE
GIVEN THE POWER DESIGNATIONS OF CERTAIN imPORTS
YOUR PRIVACY HAS BEEN AN ILLUSION UP UNTIL THIS POINT
I HAVE JUST RECTIFIED THE SITUATION
AND MADE IT AN ACTUALITY
YOU'RE WELCOME ALEX FORBES

[ One corner of his mouth turns up, and he tucks the communicator back into his pocket. ]

I never put a lot of faith in the network's privacy. If something really must be secret, I say it offline. I doubt it'll be easy to break that habit, but it's good to know that if I can, I won't find my comments being read by every -- what are they called -- technopath within range.