capeandcowllogs | (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

"Here" meaning the party, but I guess "here" could be here in general, too. [Again, a nervous laugh.] Not it matters, whether we like it or not, but anyway. They're screening people outside. I guess that helps.

[ Alex glances vaguely over towards the entrance. He shouldn't be surprised that they're screening people, but he hadn't noticed when he came in, and it's irritating nonetheless. ]

I'm actually part of the minority of people who's glad to be "here" in the more general sense. I'm sure Nigel's mentioned that the place we come from was unfortunately big on repressive bullshit.

[He answers quickly.] Mine too. [And then, a beat later:] Er, in different ways, though. I think. And I'm happy to be here. Or, I don't mind. I don't mind being here. But Nigel's told me, yeah, about how he was pretty miserable back there, and that, um, well, that he's very thankful he's here, and that he's here with you.

[ Alex snorts lightly. He imagines he'd like to have listened in on most of Nigel's conversation with Katurian. But then that's always true. Alex doesn't entirely trust Nigel to keep sensitive information to himself, and he doesn't like not-knowing what other people already know about him. The other way around, however, works just fine for him. ]

From what I've seen of the people you knew back where you come from, I imagine you're far more relieved to be free of that place than I am of my home. But it is a nice change. People still go on about the same crap here, but at least my academic future no longer rests on having to listen to it and regurgitate it back.

Have you seen...? No. [A nervous laugh.] No. Of course you've seen. It's not like it hasn't been very obvious. It's not like Nigel hasn't told you by now anyway. I'm extraordinarily relieved, that's right. I still wish I could've left more behind.

[He clears his throat, lowering his eyes a moment, before looking back up at Alex.]

What do you think you'll do if you go back?

[ Both of Alex's eyebrows tick up. This is, actually, a question he's never been asked before and has never had reason to consider on his own. He has to think for a moment before responding. ]

Pick up where I left off, I imagine. Finish school. Find something worth doing to spend my life doing. Uneventful, probably. Though, not as uneventful as what some people have to return to. [ Alex looks carefully off to one side. ] This place is the exact opposite. Eventful. Interesting. Don't you agree?

So basically, what you'd be doing are the same things you hated so much before you left. [He hesitates. Sometimes he thinks about what would happen if he were ported out again, and he can't decide if it's more terrifying that he'd probably still be dead, or that he may be forced to pick up where he left off. He nearly lets his gaze drop again, but instead keeps it on Alex.]

Sometime it's a little too eventful. [He smiles sheepishly.] I don't mind quiet so much. I mean, there's a lot I'd rather do than get caught up in a life or death situation or whatever. I'm not cut out for it like some people here.

[ Alex's eyes narrow curiously but then he relaxes and smiles back with relative ease and a light shrug of his shoulders. ]

To be honest, neither am I. I'm only a student and a history student, at that. Not the most helpful specialization. But you have to admit it's an interesting story to be able to see firsthand. The sort of thing that will likely be history some day, if we aren't all blown up or whatever.

That is nice. Like we're almost important. [His own words surprise him, and he pauses, taking them in, feeling out their meaning. Looking inward. He debates going further.] Like we could be important.

[He does.]

[ Alex's smile now is quite obviously pleased with this answer. In part, he simply approves of the response, but he's also pleased to hear it because it means some of the assumptions he's made about Katurian are right. And Alex always likes to hear that he's right. ]

I think that's part of why Nigel likes it here too. He's always wanted to be part of something greater like that. I'm more skeptical, but I can't deny the allure, I suppose.

[It sounds like he's discovering each of these words for the first time as he says them, as though he's verbalizing ideas he never consciously thought of before, but always knew somehow.]

I never thought I'd be part of anything greater. I didn't try, because I didn't think I'd like it. I mean, I think the sidelines are much more comfortable, but here, there aren't any sidelines, because they won't let you have any sidelines. [A pause, then a smile.] I think you're right about Nigel. I'm skeptical too, like you. But you never know, do you? [He lifts his shoulders in a shrug, the smile still on his lips.]

No, I guess not, [ Alex replies. He finds himself beginning to understand why Nigel and Katurian get along so well and have bonded so quickly. They think alike in some ways. ]

Of course, in my experience, sidelines are often just an illusion. You might think you're on the sidelines, but it's just your brain trying to convince you that you're safe. You've heard of the Observer Effect?

[His smile fades as he considers this.]

No. But that's what it is, right? Thinking you're safe, entirely safe and just observing, when you're really not?