Witch Weekly Annual Holiday Party (Thursday 12/19)

[daphne_x]

The Holidays were a cheerful and festive time. In fact, this season was Daphne Greengrass's favorite time of a year. Everyone seemed to be in a better mood around bright lights, wrapped presents, and the jingle bells. It was about the only time that she preferred to see snow on the ground rather than feel the sand between her toes

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[reidinggg]

The sudden change in proximity Reid spotted from the corner of his eye had him flicking his gaze back up to Sebastian-

That...was very close. That was definitely very close. That was a very large, very attractive man, standing very close, and bloody fucking Merlin in heaven, what even was that that his stomach was doing right now. Reid wasn't sure how that uncomfortable feeling was translating across to his face, but he assumed it had to look like something between terror and shameless desire.

He was aware that the man next to (above?) him has spoken - he'd noticed his lips moving. But between the entrancing brightness of the eyes boring down on him and the all-too-distracting proximity, it took a second for the words, let alone their actual sense or meaning, to register.

"I- erm- yeah," he muttered rather nonsensically-

Come on, Chambers. Get it together, man.

He cleared his throat, tried again. "Erm, yeah. Admittedly, probably not the subtlest choice. But, y'know. It's a party. Saw a bloke in a highlighter yellow number earlier." He shrugged, attempting nonchalance. "In comparison, I'm not much to stare at."

[daleysebastian]

A slow grin touched Sebastian's lips - small as it was, it was still there. This wasn't the first time he'd gotten that reaction - not even the first time he'd attempted to elicit the flustered response.

But it was he first time he found it so damn charming.

Chuckling, Sebastian moved back a tiny inch, enough to look Reid over again - pretending it wasn't a basically predatory glance. "Florescent colors might not be your thing, but you're definitely something to stare at. Just saying."

[reidinggg]

If he hadn't already known better than to have Sebastian pegged as someone who casually handed out compliments, Reid would have thought that he had actually just been properly hit on just then.

...Then again, he hadn't had him pegged as someone who was capable of smiling in a crowded party environment, either. And yet, there it was.

He'd (thankfully) already had enough to drink to avoid blushing, resorting instead to a combined version of his usual tactics when faced with a kind word spoken outside of the typical 'at the club for a reason you know what i want i know what you want' exchange - laughter and disbelief.

He muffled a burst of incredulous laughter into the last bit of his drink, motioned to the bartender for a refill of his own (he'd desperately need it if he was going to keep looking back at this one). "Right. And I suppose you were expecting to go unnoticed? All-" he gestured in Sebastian's general direction, eyes flicking down then up in what he hoped was an at least relatively subtle manner, "-suit and face and everything."

Perhaps his argument had deteriorated a bit, but the point was still valid...

[daleysebastian]

Oh this. This was fun. It wasn't all that often that Sebastian could get someone so flustered so quickly - and usually those were women who were marks and Sebastian had very little interest in beyond information.

Sebastian huffed a laugh and raised an eyebrow. The muffled laughter was actually cute and Sebastian might give compliments away, but he never thought anyone was cute for any reason.

"My face and everything," he repeated, incredulous and entertained. "Pro-tip, going unnoticed is about blending. I usually do that really well. Even with the face."

[reidinggg]

Reid gladly reached for his fresh drink, waisting no time before knocking back half of it. He was having entirely too hard of a time handling this conversation in a way that wasn't either completely blatant or embarrassing. Whatever advice he had to give about blending in, he was doing anything but as far as he was concerned, and he had a hard time imagining him being able to pass unnoticed anywhere else-

"Short of wearing an oversized cape and a paper bag, I really can't see just how much blending you'd be able to do," he declared rather brazenly, turning slightly to lean an elbow against the bar.

He quirked an eyebrow, the buzz of alcohol finally reaching a point where he found himself able to meet Sebastian's gaze straight on without feeling to very urgent need to look away for fear of bursting into flames or otherwise giving in to some entirely impolite urge. "What even is it that you do? Or, have been doing since- well, since being presumed dead and all." Classic drunk!Reid. All tact and subtleness.

[daleysebastian]

Had Sebastian been the type to blush, maybe he would have. No one had ever actually said anything like that to him - questioned him or doubted him - in a way that was ... flattering.

Sebastian leaned against the bar, taking up his own drink but swirling it more than actually drinking it. He looked vaguely amused, though his shoulders went stiff when Reid mentioned Sebastian's reason for being gone for so long - as round about as it may have been. It was still less direct than Daphne and Cecilia - and Jemma - so Sebastian didn't turn to stalk off in the opposite direction, though it was a close thing for a moment.

"Would you let me get away with I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you?"

[reidinggg]

Reid blinked back at him for a moment, mulling over the idea of the stereotypically humorous faux-threat (getting momentarily sidetracked by the distracting glint of his eye, which Reid was starting to think were a shade that didn't actually exist in nature

"D'y'know," he said finally, giving him yet another quick once over, "coming from you, I might actually believe it." His eyes blatantly settled on his upper arm again. Yes, quickly easily, he was certain this man could crush him like a twig if he so chose. "Doesn't mean I'll actually drop it, though-"

[daleysebastian]

"Are you always that persistent?" Sebastian asked, almost off-handedly. But he was fairly sure he knew the answer to that. It was part of what made Reid interesting. He might be louder than Sebastian, but he was still a bit of a riddle.

Maybe a lot of one.

Tracking Reid's eyes - mostly because Sebastian could admit he liked how often Reid was looking and the expression in his eyes when he did - Sebastian lifted his drink to take a sip. If it made his muscles flex under his suit jacket, well, bonus.

"I'm a private investigator."

[reidinggg]

"Generally, yeah," Reid simply shrugged - there was no point in denying it, he was indeed about as pushy as they got once he'd gotten something in his head-

-was he doing that flexing thing on purpose? Clearly he had to be doing that on purpose. Reid pressed his lips together into a fine line, grabbed at the glass in his hands a bit more force. Short of sitting on his hands to keep them in check, this would have to do.

He yet again had to take a moment to blink blankly back at Sebastian as his brain took in this new piece of information and the stupidly attractive way in which it was delivered.

"...You're totally aware of how dark and sexy that sounds, aren't you."

[daleysebastian]

While Sebastian wasn't the type for beaming smiles, he could work a smirk like no body's business. Especially when he was entertained, and Reid was beyond entertaining.

It's like he could practically see Reid's brain start to short circuit. On anyone less attractive - part of which was due to how expressive Reid's face was, he couldn't hide much apparently and Sebastian found he liked that - Sebastian would have been rolling his eyes.

"I've been told that a time or two," he shrugged. "Though I'm not sure dark and sexy are two things that were meant to go together."

[reidinggg]

"I beg to differ," Reid replied instinctively, not bothering to blush or blink blankly until the words had already escaped him. At which point he did a decent bit of the former, the color creeping suddenly up his cheeks.

So yes, he definitely had a type. Bordering on fetish. Whatever. Not the point.

He cleared his throat and cleaned off the last of his drink, keeping the empty glass nearby for the sake of having something to keep his hands busy still-

"So what's a PI even doing running around for the likes of Jemma and her fancy political clients?"

[daleysebastian]

"I thought you might." Had he been a different type of man, Sebastian would have winked. He liked to have some sort of restraint - and wasn't kitschy - so he managed to settled for another measured sip of his drink.

Sebastian's smirk morphed into something closer to a sly grin. "Diplomats employ PIs a lot more often than you'd think. That's not exactly new territory for me. Jemma's just extremely persuasive."

[reidinggg]

"She is that, yeah," Reid had to agree, eyeing the man who was currently a testament to that woman's persuasion skills - not that he'd really needed much convincing, but she had somehow still managed to go from being complimented on her dress to passing him off to her sexy grump of a new associate before he'd even been able to realize what was actually happening.

He tapped his fingers against the bar as silence crept over the conversation despite his previous best efforts. Clearly he knew that Sebastian couldn't be counted on the fill the void (he seemed to be comfortable enough with, maybe even glad for, a lack of conversation), and he had just made the mistake of looking up just as the man's smile turned tauntingly sly. Consequently, he was now rather stuck, mildly entranced and struggling to string a sensible enough thought together worth saying out loud.

But nevermind the flush warming his cheeks, at this point he had accepted that he actually was perfectly fine with just sitting here and, well, staring.

[daleysebastian]

Sebastian could have let it go, let this entire interaction die there. It was no secret that he wasn't a brilliant conversationalist. When things got boring or Sebastian ran out of meaningless small talk, he generally just walked away. Half the time, he didn't even bother to make polite goodbye comments.

Finishing off his drink, he set it down on the bar and leaned one elbow against the edge. For some reason - that had a lot to do with the lines on Reid's body in that fucking red suit - Sebastian found himself at least wanting to try.

"So what is that you do, then? I don't know how we keep talking about me." Especially since Sebastian categorically hated the topic of himself.

[reidinggg]

"That's because you're emphatically more interesting," he replied with a sheepish grin, releasing the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"I'm just... a glorified secretary. If you want to know about all the paperwork that went into arranging an open bar for this evening, I'm your guy." He tipped his empty glass in a mock sort of toast, shrugging slightly. Granted, it wasn't the most impressive job title, but it was a job, and one he'd already managed to keep longer than his past two positions combined - at least when his smart mouth got the best of him around Daphne or Ava, it was met with, at worst, rolled eyes and raised eyebrows rather than a pink slip.

[daleysebastian]

"I say three sentences in a conversation. I'm not that interesting." Why Sebastian chose to argue that point was a complete mystery. He should be playing up that he's fascinating, not trying to convince Reid otherwise.

Then Sebastian made the connection with where Reid must be a secretary. Definitely more interesting than Reid was letting on. "Don't sell yourself short," Sebastian told him, nudging the toes of his ridiculously shiny shoes against Reid's foot. "You survive in an environment where Daphne is allowed to reign. That's impressive."