(Untitled)

[liketofu]

Who: Everyone!
What: Thanksgiving + New Feather party.
When: Evening of the 20th.
Where: School cafeteria, nicely done up.
Summary: There's food. And there's also board games, are you game for some Snakes and Ladders?
Rating: Let's put this all over the board. Strange stuff can happen, man.

Comments

[picobartender]

Even pint-sized, Ginia is still just as helpful as her usual adult self. There's been a day of cooking and helping Rise with all the Thanksgiving familiars - Turkey! Ham! Cranberry sauce! Mashed potatoes and gravy! Cornbread! - and then extra cookies and other recipes here and there. There's a smorgasbord of delicious food-y goodness awaiting everyone and Ginia's glad to have been able to help out.

Still, she's a little sad. Her family isn't here and even if she's made lots of new friends and met all sorts of people, she misses them, and she misses home. But as her mother always said, a bright smile can chase away the clouds, so Ginia will be smiling and trying to keep her spirits up as she hovers around the food table, making sure everyone is getting plenty of food and enjoying themselves. And as she hovers, remaining close by will be her loyal dog, Odin. Maybe a Thanksgiving party isn't the best place for a dog, but he stays by her, watching anyone who gets too close with his one eye. And maybe, just maybe, begging for the occasional scrap of food.

[liketofu]

With supervision, Rise proves to be a pretty decent cook (without, it'd be a volcano-in-your-mouth experience, and not the good kind) and so, she's probably a little more tired at the moment than she'll let on. Her speciality's entertaining, not cooking.

Still, she'll wear her normal smile as she flits about the cafeteria, talking, socialising. It isn't till she finally retreats back to the wall near the food tables that she finally has a chance to wind down- and that's exactly when she sees Ginia.

"You doing okay there?" she asks.

[picobartender]

Ginia perks up a little when she hears her name, turning to look over at Rise and smile at her. There's a great big enthusiastic nod as she takes her notepad and a pencil out of her pocket.

There's so many people! Everyone looks like they're having so much fun too.

[liketofu]

She has to squint a bit to see what Ginia's written, but when she does, she smiles. "Right? That's the best part about parties."

Or at least, that's how the parties have been in this place. She's attended a lot of wrapup parties but they were usually big ones with all the cast and crew and Luceti's ones have always been tinier, cosier.

"Are they like this for Thanksgiving too?"

[picobartender]

Ginia rocks a little on her heels as she thinks back at home, then nods firmly.

Yes! Back home, we have the bar open and everyone is free to come by and there's always lots of food and people and it's so fun! Dad says everyone is invited because no one should be lonely on Thanksgiving.

[liketofu]

"Mmm, I see. Back home, we only had stuff for friends and family...we'd never really opened things up to strangers before."

Well, her parents hadn't been the sociable kind in the first place, as she'd learnt. Rise leans forward just a bit to snatch a tomato from the salad with her fingertips. No point letting something so pretty go to waste.

[picobartender]

Dad believes strangers begin as friends just waiting to be met. So if you're good to people and get to know them, they'll be good to you too and you can become friends.

Oh, the warm optimism of youth, how it keeps the world going around and happy.

[liketofu]

"That's--"

--somewhat naive, would be Rise's take, but that's because she's dealt with enough people who've wanted to take advantage of her to be cynical enough of them. Then again, that's not quite something you say in polite society at a party, is it?

"--really nice of him. Do you think the same too, Ginia?"

[picobartender]

I do! I know there's a lot of bad people in the world too, but if you never give someone a chance, you can't tell what kind of person they might be.

She pauses in thought, remembering a lot of the hunters that came through the bar. They were rough and sometimes rude, but many of them were just lonely and needed someone who would listen and not judge.

Sometimes people get lonely and just need someone to talk to.

[liketofu]

"Finding someone who just listens can be hard," she admits. So many people tend to just say they listen but to find someone who actually cared...well. She scuffs her shoe against the wall a little as she speaks.

[picobartender]

It can be, so that's why my dad tries really hard. He says he knows what it's like not having anyone to count on, so he wants to be someone people can count on to be there. And when I'm older, I'm going to be just like him.

[liketofu]

"He'll be glad to hear that, I'm sure," she replies, but this is more shaky ground that she's venturing into. She doesn't know much about Ginia's history and not having her journal here to make a quick lookup on things (not that that would be very subtle either makes it a little shakier than well- an earthquake. But if anything, she recalls how Ginia had turned away in mid-writing of that one entry a few weeks ago...

...you know what, sometimes the easiest way to deal with things when you didn't have to deal with them is...not to.

"Either way, I gotta thank you for helping out, Ginia. I dunno how things might've turned out without you!"

The food would've probably been too spicy, for starters.

[picobartender]

Ginia smiles, puffing up slightly with pride.

You're welcome! It was nice seeing all the people help out with the food. And all the people that brought food too, it all looks so good! This is a very nice party.

There's a small pause before she looks down, scuffing the toe of one shoe into the ground.

I wish my family could see it.

[liketofu]

She pauses slightly at that last bit. "...how about if we take pictures then?"

[lostinmyway]

Odin, you've found a sucker. Grune will stuff you until you're round.

She first notices the puppy eye he's giving her in the middle of getting some turkey. And so of course, she shares. But, hmm, he still seems a little hungry after that. She should give him some more. And some more. And maybe a little more....

Ginia might want to step in sometime soon if she wants her dog not to explode by the day's end.

[picobartender]

And thus Grune makes another friend. Odin happily takes a piece of turkey and gulps it down, quickly realizing all it takes is a friendly dog smile and a wag of his tail to get another piece. And another. And another. And another...

When Ginia realizes Odin is getting the feeding of a lifetime, she flails a bit. It's okay for him to have a bit of food and he deserves the spoiling, but he'll get sick! There might be a bit of flailing as she comes over and smiles up at Grune, giving a small tug on Odin's collar.