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

Arrive/Mingle!

[wwiii]

Come in out of the... well... not snow, it's California. Come in out of the outside and say hello to people you probably haven't seen in a while. Or people that you see all the time, if you're still a student. Or people that you don't know at all!

Or just mingle. That's good, too.

Food!

[wwiii]

There's a lot of it! And it is delicious! And moddable!

... And there's a fruitcake.

But the rest is delicious and moddable!

Music! Dancing!

[wwiii]

Because maybe you want to get up and boogie to 'Silent Night.' Nobody's judging.

Much.

Party Games!

[wwiii]

Not that Warren had actually organized anything. He'd gone overkill on food and decorations, but his week had been spent making wood mulch in Kaeleer.

But there is a pool table, if anyone wants to play pool. Or there are the usual party games, if anyone wants to get a round of Spin the Bottle or I Never going.

OOC!

[wwiii]

It occurred to me as I woke up this morning that I have no idea what sort of OCD people put into Christmas parties.

I think we're all mostly just lucky that Warren didn't pay someone to dress up as Santa for the night.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[life_inshadow]

Tara knew it had been a smart decision to leave the party planning to Warren. The room was much prettier than she would have managed, and it left her free for things like finals and finding the perfect holiday dress.

She took a glass of ginger ale and stood near the door, ready to welcome the guests as they arrived.

Re: OOC!

[life_inshadow]

You are my very favorite. Thanks for posting.

*tacklehugs*

Re: OOC!

[wwiii]

*Squishes* It was no trouble at all!

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Okay, a party that seemed unlikely to be disrupted by the noise of crying infant that had been so prominent in the Hyperion lately? Wesley was so there. Even if Cordy kept sending him texts that made it clear how annoyed she was by it.

He took a cookie or two and found himself a nice corner to hang out in, feeling confident that he was going to have a better time tonight than the last time he'd been to the Bronze.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wwiii]

Warren was keeping mostly to himself this evening, smiling and nodding at people that he knew as they walked by. This week had been tiring, in that way that being angry for a few days on end tended to be, and he was still a little worried that some remnants of a mostly soothed temper would show up and be taken out on the guests.

... Still, it was nice to see old friends again.


[All kinds of SP through the day, as I'm at work! But I had to tag Warren in here. Honestly.]

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[harpy-daughter.livejournal.com]

Surreal was....going to stand against this wall. And glower at people who looked at her too long when she wasn't glaring at her punch.

She'd come because Tara asked, but in retrospect she wondered what the hell she was doing.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie would claim she didn't know what she was even doing here. But she knew. It was a distraction, more than anything. She was still stalling on something she knew she was going to have to do soon.

She was here, albeit not any more mingly than usual.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[brat_inslayage]

Well, they'd been planning to be back Stateside for the holidays anyway, and by some amazing coincidence Willow's parents were actually home for once, so Willow had gone ahead to spend a few days with them (since this was a thing that happened rarely). She'd let Kennedy off the hook for most of that, saying that she was totally fine with Kennedy coming to this party, so... Kennedy was here. The here-ness was probably going to, in some oblique poking-at-insecurities way, lead to an argument down the road. Worrying about that would mean she was thinking that far ahead, and ahahaha. No. Anyway, occasional fights were a thing they had, and she tended to take them in stride.

Plus, friends she hadn't seen in a long time.

So here she was, sporting a summer-in-December tan, hanging out at the Bronze and looking around with a wry sort of smile. So this was what the place looked like when there were actually people in town, huh?

[[so much sp likely until later.]]

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[brat_inslayage]

"You," Kennedy announced, pointing a finger at him as she approached, "arranged this whole thing, didn't you? 'cause I gotta say, I like your style."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wwiii]

"A lot of it was kind of last minute," Warren offered, along with a wry smile at Kennedy and a shrug of his shoulders. "Busy couple of weeks, between finals and... Well..."

Between finals and having an insane girlfriend.

"I think people are really just lucky I didn't hire a Santa, or something."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[brat_inslayage]

Oooh, could they get together and tell "last time I was at the Bronze" stories?

"Long time, no see," Kennedy said, sidling up to sling an arm around his shoulders. "How's L.A. treating you?"

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[brat_inslayage]

Kennedy shook her head in exaggerated sadness. "Personally? I'm sad you didn't." Though it was probably for the best. She figured they'd probably have ended up with a demon Santa to deal with, because she had not heard one single story about holidays in Sunnydale that had ended normally. "But I'll let you slide on it in favor of celebrating how we made it through an entire semester of college, so go us."

She paused.

"Don't think I've forgotten I owe you for that last little surprise, by the way."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wwiii]

"What, should I be expecting another gift basket?" Warren was smirking a bit as he asked that, yes. "This one delivered in a sleigh drawn by eight tiny reindeer, perhaps?"

Considering the nature of their gift basket war, it was completely a legitimate concern!

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Well, if Kennedy's involved the time she first flirted with Willow over cocktails, she might get to see Wesley spaz a bit, so... yes.

"We've got a screaming infant in the hotel and Cordelia just handwavily celebrated her birthday by becoming part-demon," Wesley reported. "Business as usual. How's Brazil?"

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[brat_inslayage]

Question, yes. Concern? What was there to be concerned about?

(Don't answer that.)

"Only eight?" Kennedy drawled. "Now I'm really disappointed you think I operate on that small a scale."

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[brat_inslayage]

No, that had been the first time she was at the Bronze. Which had been memorable, just not the same kind of memorable as ending up in an alleyway brawl with Hellmouth-influenced cops.

"Brazil is good. Great, even," Kennedy replied with a sympathetic grimace. (As things that had happened to Cordy in her frame of reference went, that was... comparatively good. And she was so not talking about that because wtffffffffffff Joss.) "We're home to do the holiday thing, though. I totally expect eventfulness."

...remember the last time she'd been in Sunnydale around Christmas? Yeah.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wwiii]

"I'm not certain what I'd do with more than eight," Warren pointed out. "Santa operates with maybe nine, max, and that's only when he decides he needs headlights in order to do the job, and if eight's good enough for him any other night..."

Yeah, he didn't know where he was going with this, either.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[brat_inslayage]

"Pssht." Kennedy waved a hand. "Good enough for him, maybe. Not for me. I demand a parade of tiny reindeer for this operation."

...great, now she was wondering if Fandom would cooperate and provide tiny reindeer for something like this. Look where this gift basket war was leading them.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Well, just as long as the recounting of that story didn't involve details about how hot Faith was while brawling. In that case, he'd rather hear about Willow.

"From what I've heard, there should be quite a bit of Willow reminding Xander to use inclusive holiday language while Buffy cooks," Wesley mused. "Is that about right?"

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[brat_inslayage]

She was, but Kennedy had been a little busy at the time, thank you.

"Having witnessed that once, yes," she told him. "I'm actually not sure if they're just messing with me about the Thanksgiving incident, though. Like, what, was that just to see if I'd start hoping every holiday dinner was gonna end up with a fight?"

Oh, come on, Kennedy, like anyone could blame them.