[location: John Everton's House] [OPEN TO ALL!] BLOCK PARTY!!!

[aesthetic_mojo]

The time had come. Charlotte left John in charge of setting up the bar, giving him only the one request that he have a decent selection of beer, and did the work of dialing up the food. She knew she was going way over board. For all she knew no one might show up, even though she'd gotten a bit of a response to her invite. How could people

Comments

[thirtyish minutes after sunset]

[diedwithit]

Cian arrives like he said he would, and - probably as expected - fashionably late. He's brought a bottle of wine with him to add to the general selection, not that he figures such a gesture is necessary in a place that gives you anything, wearing jeans and an untucked white shirt, sleeves rolled up. He looks fairly at ease, but also watchful.

[thirtyish minutes after sunset]

[aesthetic_mojo]

Charlotte had found a quiet corner out of range of the cats so she could catch her breath for a while. All the new people were overwhelming them, making them return to her and John often. She'd just returned to the bar to get herself a fresh drink when Cian walked up. She greeted him with a broad smile. "Why do I feel like I just won a bet?"

[diedwithit]

Cian smirks, bringing up the wine bottle. "I don't recall placing a wager, but here."

He senses something from her, or at least the area. Curious.

[aesthetic_mojo]

Charlotte took the bottle from him and looked over the label carefully. Not bad at all. "It was unspoken, which meant if I lost, I wouldn't have to pay up. Best kind." She let him over to the drinks table so she could open the wine. "Can I feed you?"

If she had any idea what she'd just said, she probably would have dropped the wine and fled, but she'd been enjoying the evening so much, she barely noticed the slightly cold feeling of him.

[diedwithit]

"Ah. Sneaky, that."

Cian follows her to the table, vaguely amused by her choice of words. His eyes move briefly to her neck where she'd been bitten, but then back to the table fit to feed an army.

"I could use a bite to eat, I think."

[aesthetic_mojo]

That brought her up short, but just for an instant. The evening had been going too well for him to mean anything by it. "Help yourself, please. Half of it will end up back in the recyclers, which is a shame because apparently my food imagination is pretty good."

[diedwithit]

And thankfully he didn't mean anything by it; while once he might've thought Charlotte a treat, he's beyond that now. He's had his fill for the evening, anyway, so there's no trouble in eyeing the actual food. It looks... well, very inviting.

"My compliments to your imagination."

[aesthetic_mojo]

She bowed slightly as she offered him a glass of the wine. "I do try. There's been so little else to do, I spend time testing the limits of the technology." It had kept her busy for an entire day, trying to see if she could get the machine to fail. That was a bet she'd lost.

[diedwithit]

Cian accepted the glass - yes, that feeling was certainly from her, he decided - and raised it in a toast-like manner. "Sláinte. I've had a good run with the things myself. Seems they'll do anything short of living things."

[aesthetic_mojo]

Charlotte poured herself a glass and took a sip before shaking her head. "That's not strictly true. I've gotten a few plants out of it." She shrugged. "They work better for some of the recipes I use, so I gave it a try. I can get them, but they aren't large. I thought I'd start up a little garden."

She chuckled. "Of course, then I have to explain to John why I want to grow belladonna."

[diedwithit]

He took a sip of his wine, listening, unable to stop himself from thinking about his mother's garden back in Clare and the fight with Hoyt that had ensued about it. You can't miss him, he had to tell himself.

Cian raised his eyebrows. "Why do you want to grow belladonna? Perhaps I should be second-thinking the food," he joked.

[aesthetic_mojo]

Charlotte chuckled, keeping just the tiniest bit of danger in the sound just for fun. "Where is the fun in poisoning new guests? You have to know them a while to enjoy their painful and inevitable death." She let that sink in for a moment, then shook her head. "Belladonna works well in certain medicinal and spiritual concoctions." Which was a fancy way of saying it made great flying cream, of course.

[diedwithit]

"Ah," he said, half grinnng over the rim of his glass.

[lapsedsaint]

Sometimes John was possessed with an amazing sense of timing. This was one of those times. "Nothing you'll be using on me, I hope." He was trying to be polite about it, but the idea really did make him a little uneasy.

He gave Cian a smile. This was a party. There was time for other stuff later.

[diedwithit]

Ah, timing. Cian eyed him for a moment before giving him a small smile and nod in return. "Evening."

[aesthetic_mojo]

Charlotte snaked her arm around John's waist, smiling reassuringly at him. "I promise, darling, nothing for you. Not without telling you, at least." That would cancel out any comfort the smile might have given.

She turned back to Cian. "I will admit to adding a bit of fresh rosemary to some of the dishes, though. Nothing too scandalous."