defenderofdesmoines | MHA #2 | Friday Evening and probably onwards

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

It was a Christmas miracle: an even tackier, way-too-early ugly sweater party.

With way, way too much alcohol, and a kinda ridiculous number of activities.

There were, of course, the ubiquitous plastic snowmen haunting (almost) every corner of the apartment, and one out on each of the Smokers' Balconies for good measure. There were strings of lights lining the ceiling, as well as tracing the edges of each window. There were cookies to decorate (and eat, because you definitely should eat, and there were moddable snacks aplenty as well.) While there was, of course, Christmas music playing, those with keen eyes (or at least, enough wherewithal to look around an apartment before you started potentially drinking heavily in it) might spot a karaoke machine that would come out later. One particularly tinsel-y corner had an abundance of Santa hats and reindeer antlers and wearable strings of lights to wear while taking photos, and in the guest room -- of course -- there was a much-fabled craft table, where you could make an ornament that didn't have to be in an immature shape, but definitely could be.

There was also, hovering slowly through the party, a drone with mistletoe dangling from it. A Mistle Drone, one might call it, even.

And, because this was the Christmas Rager, there was alcohol. There was so, so, so much alcohol. The kegs of Christmas ale had once been reordered, there was a Make Your Own hot chocolate and coffee bar, and while Annie would never argue that Summer's shot table wasn't the star of every party...this year was a little different. Mostly because of how they'd decided to serve Annie's punch: in a freestanding bathtub, just slightly off-center from the room.

Welcome to the third annual Christmas Rager. Hope you wore a sweater, because the hostesses both have glitter cannons in case you didn't show up festive enough!

[~~please hold for way too many threads~~ and we're off! open to literally every single adult on the island -- students are welcome to attempt to crash, but they'll be busted.]

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Clint wasn't a big party person, but he had a sweater thanks to Kitty, so it seemed like a shame to not do something to wear it at least once a year. He was going to draw the line at any hats or antlers though. Until he had a few drinks in him, at least.

"Oh my goodness, Clint, your kitty's hat is three-dimensional," Annie noted in admiration. "Beautiful, I love it, you may pass unglittered."

"I was hoping it'd meet with your approval," he said, laughing. "Thanks for hosting all this again. It seems like an undertaking, but I feel like this place might be just as decorated even if you weren't having us all over."

"I would probably be courting divorce if I tried to go this hard full-time," Annie replied lightly, giggling. "And of course! It's like, the highlight of my year, hosting this whole thing. Summer really does most of the work, honestly."

"I hope whatever Summer brought isn't too potent, I'd like to home on my own two feet. And make sure we don't all leave a mess for you to clean up," Clint said. "How is married life treating you?"

"You know, pretty much the same as live-in-boyfriend life was treating me," Annie admitted with a smile. "And really -- pro tip? Summer's stuff is probably fine. Avoid the bathtub, if you're worried."

Probably solid advice for life in general, there.

"Any and all cats on sweaters," said Summer, who had a hard decision to make when she picked weird pink santa over a cat with laser eyes tonight, "are immediately approved. Hi, Clint. How it going?"

"I'm doing all right. I would have preferred a sweater with dogs on it, which is a sentence that shouldn't be coming out of my mouth at all," he said. "Since you're here, are there jello creations I need to make sure to check out?"

Steven spotted Clint and gave him a wave in greeting. "Hello! How are you?"

Clint waved back with a grin. "Hey. I'm doing all right for not having had any drinks yet. How have you been?"

"Doing well," Steven said. "Is your family looking forward to the holidays?"

Did the stressed look that went across Clint's face answer that question?

"I think Kitty and I are looking forward to Christmas actually happening," he said. "Our daughter's gotten to the age where she has endless questions about everything, and she's thiiis close to tripping us into messing up the whole Santa thing, so we'll see how it goes. Are you going to stick around here or do you have somewhere else to go?" Pointing to the tinsel on the ceiling, he added, "This stuff just keeps going, so you might want to go elsewhere for a bit if you can."

"Staying on island," Steven said. "Speaking of, don't know if Kitty mentioned it but my beau and I are having a small party on 19th December for Hanukkah. Nothing as elaborate as this, of course. Mainly food and good company. But you're as welcome to join as she is."

"She did mention it. I wasn't sure if it was okay that my Hanukkah knowledge is all through her." Clint laughed softly. "Maybe we'll get lucky and every oven will have latkes in it or something."

Re: Arrive & Mingle | 12/2/22

hasaknightjob - 2022-12-03 04:31 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Arrive & Mingle | 12/2/22

so_hawkward - 2022-12-03 04:59 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Arrive & Mingle | 12/2/22

hasaknightjob - 2022-12-03 05:11 (UTC) - Expand

Steve had no room to talk, zero. ZERO--he was wearing an Iron Man sweater--put he was still pointing and snickering.

The jerk.

"At least my sweater fits!" Clint yelled over. Did Steve look bad? Of course not, but that wasn't the point.

"You're just jealous!"

"That doesn't make you less of a jerk!" So much maturity here, really.

Steve burst out laughing. "Sure."

"Okay, that's cute," Tony said laughing. Because he was, of course, matching Steve in a Captain America sweater.

"My wife is very funny," Clint said, in a tone that suggested he did not, in fact, think Kitty was particularly funny in this regard. "How have you guys been holding up?"

"Much better," Tony said with a deep breath. "Thank you for letting him crash with you. It's not often I'm somehow more emotionally aware in a relationship and no, I didn't like it."

"I'm just happy we could help in the end, and that everything worked out. Plus, it was kind of entertaining to watch Cap try to fit comfortably on our couch." Mean Clint, so mean. "Hopefully you won't have to pay attention to your emotions again for a while?"

"Work in progress for both of us," Tony replied, lifting his beer in a little salute. "I'll owe you and Kitty a drink for helping us out. Or car. Do you need a car?"

You answered too slow, Clint, you now have a car that was Hawkeye purple.

"Yeah, I definitely need a better way to get around the island," Clint said, rolling his eyes. "You don't need to thank us, that's what friends do."

Aaand now he wished he'd just said yes to a car.

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