defenderofdesmoines | MHA #2 | Friday Evening and probably onwards

MHA #2 | Friday Evening and probably onwards - the SECOND ANNUAL Christmas Rager!!

You know, they'd really outdone themselves. It had hardly seemed possible, and yet, here it was: an even tackier Christmas party, somehow.

There were plastic, glowing snowmen in every corner of the apartment, along with small Christmas trees pre-strung with lights and tinsel but accompanied by little boxes of ornaments so guests could decorate themselves, should they so choose. There was an arts and crafts corner set up in the guest room, just below a yarn wall of time-travel craziness. There was music playing for the moment, but a karaoke machine set up for later, after drinking. There was a table of presents, with little, 'FOR ANYONE, LOVE SANTA' tags attached. There was a small platter of cookies in the kitchen with nearby icing and sprinkles for guests to decorate as they choose, because let's just mash all the Christmas party themes into one, okay? Let's just do it.

And there was alcohol. There was so, so much alcohol. There were several kegs (filled, of course, with Christmas ale), Annie's extremely alcoholic wassail, and every extremely moddable mixer and liquor under the sun. And, most importantly -- like, so important that they literally had a spotlight -- there was a table of Summer's jello shots.

As if that were not enough, there was snow falling indoors, thanks to a certain neighbor with an affinity for red, and a drone circling the party with a big, unmistakable sprig of mistletoe suspended from it. The Drone Mistle. Because Christmas puns.

[it's all up! open to ALL adults, and students are welcome to try to crash if they'd like!]

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Ugly Christmas sweaters? Margo didn’t own any, and she sure as fuck wasn’t buying one for the occasion. No, she turned up in a perfectly cute sweater that reached just low enough down her legs that it could almost be mistaken for a dress. And since it was that long, did she really need to wear more than thick black tights underneath? Nah.

The sweater sparkled a little. Definitely magic.

Edited 2021-12-03 17:48 (UTC)

"Adorable," Annie informed Margo in absolute delight as she gestured to the sweater with her glitter cannon. "I love a Christmassy pun."

Obviously, given her own outfit (even if that had been Diego's doing.)

"Anyway, welcome, Margo! Make yourself at home -- Summer made so many shots I lost count of the varieties, and there's wassail, and I think we're doing games and stuff later."

Also please think her party was cool, Obvious Cool Person. Annie was trying not to exude that vibe, but it probably still came across a little.

“This party is giving me flashbacks to my first year at Brakebills,” Margo said, smiling bright as she let her eyes roam over all the super-tacky decorations. “I kinda love it.”

"Neither me nor Summer did the college thing, so I'm glad we're imitating it well," Annie admitted with a shy smile (and a guess at what a Brakebills was.) "Last year I even got talked into doing a keg stand."

Time would tell whether history would repeat itself. (God, probably not. But maybe.)

“Well, we gotta one-up that one, obviously,” Margo teased, with a soft snort and a tug of a sweater sleeve back up her arm. “Maybe get a couple people to do one at once, or hm, maybe do body shots . . . ”

"Body shots." Okay, so that was an interesting idea -- and if Annie didn't participate now, it was certainly something to put in Diego's ear, at least. "I have lemons cut up -- you need those for body shots, right?"

She'd seen movies!

“Limes, technically, ’cause it’s usually tequila,” Margo said, grinning, and she leaned in just a touch. “You put a slice in your partner’s mouth, you put some salt on their skin, you pour a lil’ tequila in their belly button . . . It’s a fun time for everybody.”

"Is it a fun time at a party?" Annie had to ask, just as conspiratorial but also blushing just a hair. "Because that doesn't sound like, um. Like a group activity?"

Spoken like a woman who'd never been to an orgy, psh.

“Are you kidding me?” Margo threw her an amused ‘did you really just say that?’ look. Somehow the eye patch made it more potent, don’t ask her how it did. “It’s way more fun in a group, ’cause then everyone’s egging each other on and getting plastered while they’re at it.”

Re: Arrive & Mingle | 12/3

defenderofdesmoines - 2021-12-03 20:46 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Arrive & Mingle | 12/3

not_a_goddamn_princess - 2021-12-03 20:49 (UTC) - Expand

"You should have let me add fringe," Eliot teased. "Mine has been quite the hit."

Eliot's sweater vest would probably require ritual burning later, it was so awful.

“Fuck, El, I can barely look at you,” Margo said. While looking at him, and laughing so fucking hard, holy shit, El.

Eliot laughed in return, reaching out to take her hand and give her a little spin.

He was maybe already a shot or two in, yes.

"You need to see Summer's spread. I have never seen anyone go so hard for jello."

“I spotted it earlier,” Margo said, twirling about gracefully, laughing all the way. “Fuck. Me and the host were trying to figure out if we could use those for body shots.”

Or Margo had been trying to enable Annie into doing any kind of body shots, whichever.

"I'm not sure you could," Eliot mused, "but I would love to see you two try."

“It’d be a fucking mess, but it’s worth a shot,” Margo said, smirking. “I bet she’d blush.”

“Annie? Absolutely. She’s got that clean cut cheerleader vibe to her.”

“It’s adorable,” Margo said, patting his arm, ’cause it was there.

Re: Arrive & Mingle | 12/3

existencemisspent - 2021-12-03 21:45 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Arrive & Mingle | 12/3

not_a_goddamn_princess - 2021-12-03 21:50 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Arrive & Mingle | 12/3

existencemisspent - 2021-12-03 22:00 (UTC) - Expand

"Margo." Jon nodded politely to her. "Hi. I, um. I hope you've been doing well."

Margo held up a finger in his face. “You are not letting Eliot do anything stupid,” she said, ignoring the whole question.

"W-what?" Jon swallowed his startled question quickly, hopefully before it took hold. "I-I didn't know he was doing anything!" Which wasn't even a lie, because the vague offer from the other day didn't come to mind immediately in the middle of a drunken holiday rager. "Is he..." He looked around. "Let me know if...if I should do something?"

“He wants to figure out a way he can feed you without fucking his head up again,” Margo said, eye narrowed. “Seems to be afraid you’re gonna go berserk on the rest of us if he doesn’t.”

"Oh." Jon swallowed. "Yes, he, um. I was going to ask you if he didn't. I don't...don't really know enough about your magic to know if it'd work, or...or if it's a good idea." He gave a half sigh, half laugh and rubbed his eyes. "So I'm guessing it's, um, really not." He should have realised that; it was stupid to get his hopes up.

He'd just hold off on answering the rest of it right now.

“We don’t know, and I’m sorry, but I’m not gonna risk Eliot’s brain for your sad sack ass,” Margo told him.

Though, ugh, now that they were face to face, she felt kinda bad for him again. Go away, stupid nerdfeels.

"No." Jon nodded. "You're absolutely right. The way he talked about it, I thought...well, never mind." He sighed. "I won't risk anybody else, especially not for a...a temporary fix."

Even Eliot had to run out of stories eventually, and then he'd be right back where he was.

“Good,” Margo said, nodding. “’Cause I have a mace now, and I’m gonna trade it in for a spiky axe, and I’m not afraid to use them.”

There was less vehemence in her voice now than . . . well, she was thinking. Was what she was.

Re: Arrive & Mingle | 12/3

intheeyeofthebeholding - 2021-12-04 21:33 (UTC) - Expand

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