[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

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[hearts_of_gold]

Inara stared at the walls of her shuttle for a good long time before she decided, finally, all right.

There was no avoiding it. She had been living like a hermit for weeks, months really. And one of the only times she'd ventured out she'd nearly been killed. It wasn't a phenomenally confidence-stirring fact.

Still. There were people out there, a greater society, and she was at heart a social creature. It was difficult watching other people network and participate while she endlessly made herself tea and prayed.

Only shénshèng de gāowán did it have to be at John Everton's house? She rubbed her neck reflexively. He'd apologized in a very halfhearted way with no assurances that it wouldn't happen again, the entire becoming a monster of legend...thing. And nearly killing her. Was she insane to contemplate walking directly into his home? She already felt so stupid for it happening in the first place

[fudgingkillyou]

And over to your right, Inara, is a one Dean Winchester, who is very glad to be seeing you not... bleeding to death. He's got a beer in hand and is leaning against the wall, people-watching for now. When he spots Inara coming in, looking plenty nervous, it's vaguely confusing for Dean, considering he doesn't exactly know what John did.

But hey, that's not going to stop him from coming over to Inara and flashing her a grin, offering her a beer. No use in being shy.

"Hey. Good to see you."

[lapsedsaint]

Dean was there so maybe Inara wouldn't try to kill him or anything. For now he would just make a greeting and slip away. Maybe later they would talk.

"Miss Serra. Thank you for coming. Charlie's around somewhere." He offered her a beer as a peace offering, before clapping Dean on the shoulder.

"Now, if you'll both excuse me." He dipped his head before fading back into the party.

[hearts_of_gold]

"Hey..." Inara said to Dean with a brightening smile. He'd saved her life after all, and now here he was bearing gifts of beer, something she appreciated despite her supposed refined tastes...

And then there was John. To her credit she didn't stop smiling, even if it went a bit frozen and her body language stiffened. "Hello," she said with polite neutrality, but waved off his beer since she already had the one Dean had given her in hand as an excuse.

She didn't really start breathing again until he walked away again and she looked back to Dean with a slightly sheepish smile. "It's good to see you too. You know...I'm sorry that I didn't get the chance to thank you properly for saving me. I was considering a fruit basket but it seemed just a bit underwhelming given the circumstances."

[fudgingkillyou]

Dean glances at John, giving him a grin as he comes through. Oblivious. But he did notice how tense Inara was as John walked by, which is weird. Dean doesn't ask for now, just continues the conversation at hand.

"No problem. It's part of my job description," Dean shrugs it off, sipping his beer. "Tell you what. Have fun at this party tonight, drink a few bottles, go crazy, and I'll consider it a proper thanks, alright?"

[hearts_of_gold]

Inara couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head slightly. "Companions don't go crazy. I can certainly attempt to mingle and relax a bit, though."

Relaxation sounded very good right now. For all her meditation and incense and focus she had been a giant knot of worry and tension since the attack. "I still reserve the right to send you a fruit basket, though. When you least expect it."

[fudgingkillyou]

"You could be the exception to the rule," Dean suggests, grinning. He's joking, really. He's happy that she's not traumatized by the attack, honestly, and he's glad that he got to do his job, no matter how bloody it had gotten.

"Alright, alright, I surrender. I'll be on the look out for rogue fruit baskets." Dean snorts.

[hearts_of_gold]

"I can be remarkably sneaky, even when laden with fruit," she said with a wide grin, fiddling with the cap on her beer until it more or less came loose and then finally off and took a drink. And it was decent beer, even, whoever thought or summoned or created it up out of the hatches had good taste.

She also knew how to keep a drink in hand for quite some time to pace her drinking and not get intoxicated while still being sociable.

"At any rate, I won't make you mind me all night. Thank you again, though, for everything," she said with a brief, earnest squeeze of his arm. And really she did already owe him several times over, whether he accepted it or not, only the most major incident was saving her life.

[fudgingkillyou]

"So what, you're a fruit ninja?" Dean asks, chuckling. His own beer is half empty, and it's probably something like the third one he's had so far. He's only just starting to feel a bit of a buzz, though. Pacing himself isn't exactly what Dean's good at, honestly.

He'll give her a warm grin, though, when she thanks him. "If you get lonely, don't hesitate to call me over." He nudges her, and then heads off for the crowd, glancing over his shoulder to wave.

[aesthetic_mojo]

Seeing Dean actually walk away from a pretty woman, Charlotte had to wonder what her secret was. He was a sweet guy, but a little hard sell sometimes. Then she realized just who that pretty woman was and she headed over immediately. She had only spoken to Inara once, but she'd liked her.

Flashing her best, bright hostess smile, Charlotte walked up to Inara. "Welcome to the party. How have you been?"

Oh, yes, watch Charlotte put her foot rather firmly in her mouth. Such a shame when there was such good food around.

[hearts_of_gold]

Inara blinked for a while, completely at a loss for how to answer. "I've...been better," she admitted finally, and then cleared her throat.

She honestly had no idea how to react to Charlie. She hadn't seen the other woman on the network after John's vampiric rampage, hadn't seen her mention it. Did she know about it, even?

"How...have you been?" She asked carefully, frowning slightly.

[aesthetic_mojo]

There was enough hesitation in Inara's response that Charlotte took a mental step back. She thought through what she'd said, then Inara's words, then the time since she'd seen Inara and....just shuddered. "Honestly? Up and down." She unconsciously touched her throat where the bite marks were almost completely healed. "More up now, but it takes work."

[hearts_of_gold]

At Charlotte's touch to her own throat Inara's hand wandered to hers as well. She was attacked too, then? Well...that would only make sense. Perhaps the first person to be, or the last, or everything in between. But she'd survived? She suddenly had dozens of questions.

"Did you...did he..." she started and then sighed. Few of them were appropriate to a nice party and a lovely night, and Inara was nothing if not painstakingly drilled in social niceties. Obviously things were all right between them now though, weren't they? Or else she wouldn't be here.

Unless she was his mind-slave or thrall or something...vampires could do that, couldn't they?

...now she was just getting silly.

[aesthetic_mojo]

Charlotte took a few steps to Inara's side, pulling her subtly away from the rest of the party. She was impressed that Inara had come. That showed real strength. "He did. Asher did. That's what he was called." She exhaled slowly. "I knew he had to have hurt others, but I haven't talked to any of them. I'm sorry I didn't get word out fast enough, but I-"

She shrugged. She'd been unconscious for a long while, then Ianto had been looking out for her.

[hearts_of_gold]

"How many others?" She asked with a frown. None of her other friends had been attacked that she knew of, but it only stood to reason that there were more out there.

And then she couldn't quite help her eyes moving to Charlotte's neck with a frown. "And since then he hasn't...you know...?"

She didn't quite realize how tightly she was holding her beer, but her knuckles were going just a touch white.

[aesthetic_mojo]

Of the two questions, Charlotte was enormously glad that the one she could answer was the second. She hadn't liked to ask around much about the first. She knew John would take whatever came from that, but she hated that she'd been so out of it that she couldn't stop him. That she'd fought like hell and been sexually assaulted in the process didn't figure into her calculations at all.

She exhaled slowly, picking her words. "I don't know how many, people haven't come rushing forward to punch him in the nose. I do know that since he woke up at Buffy's, he's been the man I know. A good man, gentle, and honorable to a fault." Yes, he was a soldier of a sort, too, but that wasn't how he was with her.