A Side Room at The Bronze, Sunnydale, Friday Evening

[wwiii]

It was entirely possible that Warren didn't actually know the meaning of the word 'overkill.' At least, not when it came to organizing parties. And especially not when it came to organizing parties that people would be travelling across the multiverse to attend. He'd sprung for the rental of one of the side rooms at The Bronze, of course, and in doing so he might have gone just slightly carried away, paying to have the place decked out in garlands and icicle lights and, yes, mistletoe. Christmas carols were playing as people arrived, though thankfully they would be interspersed with less seasonal music throughout the night, and there was a spread of food that included not only sugar cookies and egg nog, but also the typical potato chips and veggie platters.

And, yeah, a fruitcake. Warren wasn't certain how the fruitcake had wound up on the table, but he wasn't really going to be terribly surprised if the thing stayed there the entire night, either.

Poor fruitcake.

[For those people who got invitations to the party, and up early for timezones and the like!]

Comments

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[life_inshadow]

"You get to plan all the parties from now on," Tara said, going over to offer Warren a hug. "Thank you."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wwiii]

Warren was going to take that hug, and cling for a moment.

Long week.

"I think I can handle being on the party planning committee," he murmured, offering Tara a smile as he eased back. "Next up, New Years? Or do you think they'll do something on the island for that?"

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[life_inshadow]

"I haven't heard anything?" Tara said thoughtfully, squeezing him before she let go too. "But .... maybe. We could do something the day after, though?"

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wwiii]

"That might be an idea," Warren mused. "The day after means we won't have to worry about crazy frat boys running around, drunk."

Because they'd all be hung over! It was a brilliant plan!

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[life_inshadow]

Tara chuckled. "How did you keep Asher from figuring out where we'd be and crashing this, anyhow?" she wondered. "He has ... that kind of timing."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wwiii]

"I told him that I was going to a Christmas party with a bunch of my high school friends," Warren replied with a shrug of his shoulders and a grin. "Apparently all it takes to get him to turn his nose up at something is to mention high school. He said he'd find some bar somewhere to spend his evening at. All power to him, if it keeps him out of our hair."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[life_inshadow]

"I would say," Tara decided, "this is definitely better than whatever hole he found. So, now we know the magic trick."

She glanced him over, still smiling a bit. "How have you been, anyhow? I've been buried in finals lately."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wwiii]

"I've been..." Well, so much for Warren's slightly hell-bent smile. "Angry, actually. I might've slipped a few bribes to be able to postpone some of my finals, and write other ones off-campus this week."

Because there had been important mulch-making to do.

"I spent most of my week in Kaeleer, blowing off steam so I wouldn't throttle my girlfriend for being a reckless idiot."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[life_inshadow]

Well, that explained why Karla hadn't made an appearance yet. Tara bit her lip and brushed that pragmatic thought to the side.

"It's ... good you could do that," she tried. "But it sucks that you had to. Is -- what did she do this time? And is she okay?"

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wwiii]

"Pretty sure she's okay," Warren sighed, running a hand through his hair and frowning a little more deeply. "She ran off to help someone whose kingdom had just spiralled into war. And then Momoko had to shrink her to drag her back before she could wear herself out again."

Warren wasn't certain which aspect of that had him more angry. War itself was hell, and knowing she'd run off and he had no idea where she was or how to get there had driven him nuts. Add to that the fact that phones didn't seem to work well in Faerie, or whatever the place was called, and he'd spent the better chunk of a week freaking out, not knowing if his girlfriend was dead.

And then she went and pulled the same damn stunt that had gotten her banned from Haven for a year, suspended from her promotion as a Black Widow, and denied the right to step up as Queen of her own people until she learned how to take care of herself.

Warren had been tempted to take her by the shoulders and shake her until her teeth rattled.

"She just left me one of her 'hey, I'm going off to probably get myself brutally injured but I'll totally be fine, tee-hee, kisses,' voicemails that she leaves right before she comes back with horror stories about, like, meat trees. And because of where she went, I couldn't get a call through to make sure she was okay."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[life_inshadow]

....

It took Tara several moment to figure out how to respond to that. To get past the uncharitable again?, the dismay Karla never seemed to learn, the reflection that at least she kept ending up in trouble because she so much wanted to help and that was far from a bad thing.

And there was that casual mention of Momoko shrinking her, and -- what, Momoko did magic now?

She sighed. "You -- sound really hurt," she said. "It's hard, isn't it? To be the one at home worrying."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wwiii]

"She promised me she wouldn't do that to me again, Tara," Warren murmured, frowning down at the floor. "She promised. And I know how hard it is to not leap up and fly into something horrible when it happens to people we care about... I can't be angry about that. But it's... not easy to come to grips with the fact that I get to look forward to feeling that way on a regular basis for the rest of my life. And she doesn't seem to grasp that it's only a matter of time before she doesn't come back. She thinks the whole world is being unfair for worrying, or... or something. And apparently that she's invincible. I don't even know."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[life_inshadow]

"Neither do I," Tara said, frowning hard. "Right now, talking to you I think you're totally right and she's being ... more than a little inconsiderate. B-but if I talked to her, I'd probably come away thinking she did the only thing she could do, and -- it's confusing. She could at least do more to let you know what was going on than leaving a voice mail."

That much seemed safe to say without stepping into a fight that wasn't hers, right?

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wwiii]

Warren nodded a little, frowning down toward the floor.

"Like I said... I know why she did it. It isn't like there's anyone in this room right now who hasn't run off to do the same thing, you know? But she pushes herself beyond that point, even once things are under control again. Momoko wouldn't have brought her to me if they absolutely needed her, you know?"

He sighed, and then shook his head, attempting to smile again.

"Sorry," he murmured. "This is supposed to be a party, and here I am, complaining."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[life_inshadow]

"It's what's on your mind," Tara said, shaking her head. "And -- if I ever date anybody again and we have issues, I might make you listen to me about it."

She sighed, tapping her fingers against her face. "I -- just don't want to see her get hurt."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wwiii]

"Neither do I," Warren replied, sighing softly. "That's why I'm so upset, you know? It's not just that she runs into danger, it's that she's got... like... practically no sense of self-preservation whatsoever."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[life_inshadow]

"What does she say?" Tara asked. "I mean, when you tell her how you feel. I -- I think she has her opinion of herself tied up in helping other people ... maybe more than most of us?"

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wwiii]

"Nobody understands her, nobody's being fair. She'll flat-out cover it up if she gets hurt, not because she thinks she's worrying people, but she knows she'll get in trouble for being reckless."

Warren sighed, and contemplated maybe grabbing a cup of the spiked eggnog and sulking over it.

"She runs herself into the ground, Tara. She doesn't take breaks, doesn't even stop to eat unless someone physically drags her away. It's... not just a matter of helping people, it just gets to the point where it's self-destructive. When she comes back from something stick-thin, and I'm afraid I'll break her if I touch her... that's a problem, and she doesn't seem to want to accept that."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[life_inshadow]

"She can't do that," Tara said. "She's got a life, and a territory, and you, and if she throws it away on some fight that won't matter in six months -- I'd be really angry at her."

She glanced over sympathetically. "If you want to do an intervention, I will be right there with you."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wwiii]

"You would be, and I'm pretty sure about half the population of Kaeleer would get in on it, too," Warren replied, offering Tara a thankful little smile. "The intervention bit... it's been a work in progress."