[RL Stein Family Christmas]

[demondoctor]

[OOC: This log is backdated to Christmas Eve, and open to those involved, obviously~ So far as I know, that includes Stein, William Birkin, Marie, Sherry Birkin, Henry, and Giriko. If I've missed anyone, please feel free to tag in. I'll run it a bit like an event, with different areas, so people can be in smaller conversations and it doesn't get

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Elsewhere

[demondoctor]

Outside the moon shines down as usual on a brightly-decorated and much-altered laboratory.

Inside the house, if one ventures outside of the decorated areas, darkened hallways and concrete predominate. The main doors to the rest of the laboratories are locked up tight, but it might not be proof to a determined intruder. Assuming said intruder can get out from under Stein and Marie's watchful eyes.

[seechainsaw]

Giriko landed in the front yard and looked up with a frown at the decorated building. He had popped over to get Henry and then brought him with him to the house.

The smart part of his mind told him this had to be some kind of trap and he looked around alertly for any signs of ambush. The angry part of his mind wanted to stride right into the middle of the city, right up to that school he could see at the top of the hill in the distance, and start demolishing things.

The rest of him was just hoping to have a good meal and find out what the hell was going on.

[wearecowboys]

Henry stared up at the building, then back over at Giriko. Of course he was wary, it was enemy territory after all, but he was determined to keep things from going awry. He didn't come here to fight with anyone, and he didn't want either of them getting injured, but if anything happened...well, he'd try his best to deal with it.

With a sigh, he reached over to tap Giriko's elbow as he headed towards the entrance. "Shall we?"

[seechainsaw]

Giriko nodded and moved with Henry, striding slightly ahead as he reached to knock on the door.

The door opened with an ominous creak as they stepped up the stairs, forcing Giriko back a step again. Ahead was a long, dark hallway, lit only by a few twinkling lights.

He paused, frowning, and called out. "Hello?"

[wearecowboys]

An automatically opening door? Well, that certainly wasn't strange at all. At least, Henry didn't seem to think so as he stepped in, just passing the doorframe.

"Should we just walk in, or are you suspecting they'll spring sort of trap on us?" His question held a hint of humour in it, as if making fun of Giriko for being so cautious.

[demondoctor]

Giriko shot Henry an irritated look, though he was a little nervous of just that.

Then he heard the sounds of footsteps coming towards them, echoing as the heels clicked in each measured step. A misshapen silhouette moved towards them, only resolving into the shape of a man - still misshapen when he got close enough.

Stein looked them over with a serious expression, then offered his hand with a smile. "Nice to meet you. You must be Giriko and Henry."

[wearecowboys]

Henry being closest reached out to take the hand, shaking it firmly once before letting go. He tried not to show how fascinated he was with the screw stuck through the man's head, but did properly assess him as he stepped back.

"And you are?"

[seechainsaw]

Giriko shook Stein's hand, too, a little bit flat-footed at the completely normal greeting. Even though Stein looked too sober for a party, he at least was being nice, which Giriko hadn't expected.

He tried to keep the glare off his face, struggled just to look calm when there was a part of him that bubbled with desire to just rip the man's face off. He wound up just looking a bit sullen.

"I'm Dr. Franken Stein, of course," Stein said, giving Henry another smile. "Why don't you both come in?"

"Is Birkin here?" Giriko blurted out, not even sure why he was asking. That guy had been the one who invited him, so if he wasn't here, something was weird.

But Stein just raised an eyebrow at him. "He lives here."

[wearecowboys]

Henry gave Giriko a subtle look that said 'well, obviously' and nodded at the invitation. With the way he was looking at the good doctor (if that's what he really was), it looked as if he was going to explode from the anticipation. Might as well find Birkin as quickly as possible and get this shit over with.

"Well, that's great," he said, giving Stein a nod. "Then we'll just see him inside."

[demondoctor]

Stein nodded. As he had expected, Giriko didn't look happy at all, though this Henry fellow didn't seem too bad so far. Impossible to say from such a short meeting, but Stein really had to wonder what hold Giriko had on the man.

As he stepped back to invite them in, his eyes fell on a flash of silver at Henry's wrists. Was that...chainsaw chain?

His eyes widened a fraction, then narrowed, and then he beamed. "Right this way."

Giriko glanced at Henry, not noticing the doctor's realization, then shrugged and followed Stein as the man began to lead them deeper into the laboratory. "I knew he lived here," he muttered. "You guys got all married up in Canada or somethin', I thought."

[wearecowboys]

If Henry had noticed Stein's realization, he didn't show it and followed along quietly, just listening to the conversation. There wasn't much he knew about Birkin or Stein, so it surprised him to learn that they were married. But all he offered to the conversation was a small grin, then looked around curiously at his surroundings.

[getsmorelost]

Marie had been less than impressed when she'd heard about who was coming to visit - but still, she supposed they were guests, and when she'd spoken to that Henry on the community, he hadn't seemed so bad.

She showed up carefully carrying a tray with a tea set on it (incidentally, the set she got Stein for Christmas.) Steam rose invitingly from the cups. "I brought tea for you all," she said, maybe a little unnecessarily. "Merry Christmas." She didn't even bother looking at Giriko as she said it.

[demondoctor]

Stein led them into his living room and nodded to Marie, offering her a smile as she appeared with tea. He had half-considered showing up at the door with Marie in his hand, but he figured that probably would have gotten things off to a really bad footing. At least this way when something happened, it would be Giriko's fault.

"We're not actually married, you know," he told Giriko with a slight roll of his eyes. "But we have been together for a while." He paused, then sat down on the sofa, gesturing towards Marie. "Marie Mjolnir, meet Giriko and his...guest, Henry." He wasn't sure what to call Henry at all.

Giriko rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said to the comment about marriage, then slouched into the sofa on the opposite side. He looked Marie up and down, checking her out without much subtlety, then grinned. "Hey." It wasn't quite a leer. "So you're the one Stein was swingin' around when you guys got your asses kicked by Justin?"

[wearecowboys]

Oh. Of course they weren't married. Yeah, Birkin would've probably mentioned something like that if that were true. When Marie showed up, he replied with a polite 'Merry Christmas' and as they were seated and introduced, he merely nodded in greeting. They technically had met each other, after all.

He had his hands folded in his lap as he sat there quietly, not really interested in making conversation. Even as Giriko checked out Marie and started chatting her up about what seemed like a sensitive subject, he merely watched with mild interest. The tea seemed like a good distraction and he helped himself to a cup.

[getsmorelost]

After she'd seet down the tray, Marie took a seat as far from Giriko as she could possibly manage. She'd have preferred to chat with Henry or something, anything to help her ignore that jerk sat over there but when he spoke to her, she couldn't help throwing a glare at him.

"He ran away," she snapped back, not quite able to believe she was talking to one of Justin's allies here of all places. She resisted the urge to say anything more to him, or maybe just to punch him instead, and took a cup of tea herself. "Is he going to be here long?" she added more quietly to Stein. If he carried on like that, then Giriko could be responsible for whatever damage followed.

[seechainsaw]

Giriko laughed softly and lounged a bit deeper into the sofa, picking up a cup of tea and eyeing it doubtfully for a moment before taking a sip. He wasn't really a tea sort of guy. Weren't you supposed to get sherry at least for Christmas? He could really go for some egg nog, even.

Stein shrugged. "I guess he's got to stay for dinner, at least, since he's here," he said in an undertone in response. It was one thing that Giriko was a horrible person who had committed terrible crimes. But he wasn't even charming.