Think happy thoughts. on At Home

Selina Skies

October 05, 2020 4:16 AM

Staff BBQ by Selina Skies

Selina surveyed the wide suburban lawn. A tressle table stood at one end, almost groaning under the weight of various skewers, chops, sauasages and burgers, and plenty of side dishes to go with. Two grills stood, their coals already glowing at a perfect temperature. A neat little dissipating charm encapsulated each grill so that the smoke could rise enough to flavour the food but not get into the eyes of those cooking. The second, smaller grill also had a repelling charm that would prevent anyone putting meat on that one because Ema was being fussy about her standards, even though she fully admitted that it wasn't that easy to maintain them when she was travelling.

At the bottom end of the lawn were a little row of structures with the approximate dimensions of beach huts but the general appearance of pretty little chalets. On the inside, they were all considerably larger, each boasting a comfortable en suite guest bedroom. Selina wasn't totally sure who would want to stay over, but if the answer was 'everyone' then there wasn't going to be room, even accounting for the fact that many of her staff came conveniently paired. She had wanted to get any setting up done before the party began, so she could relax and enjoy it, and not have to do any complex magic after a glass or two of wine. People didn't have to stay but she wanted everyone to have the option - whilst magical travel allowed for any distance to be covered in minimal time, it didn't offer many options that went well with a belly full of food, or having a few drinks. The latter was something she hoped was alright to have around, given some of her guests, but a party without alcohol would probably have drawn more attention and comments, and made her seem like a cheap host to those who didn't know. She had made sure there were nice adult-looking juices and even a few alcohol free beers amongst the selection.

It had been a long year, and a tough one, but it had also had some high points. She thought about decorating Zeus' room, and planning Isis' baby shower, and even sitting eating popcorn and sharing a laugh with Killian. It felt like they were growing together as a staff/family, and she had wanted to send the year out on a high, whatever else it had contained. The staff were all invited, and families were welcome but not mandatory, giving those with small children the choice of having a night off, if they could find sitters.

She had said something about helping themselves and grilling whatever they wanted, but now John was throwing things on, and pushing them at people when they were ready, whilst Ema was throwing far too much chilli onto the eggplant skewers she was grilling, so she guessed they would be having a mixed system at best.

Subthreads:

Think happy thoughts. by Killian Row with Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds, Ema Skies

Totally Not Awkward. Nope. Not Katey. by Katey Willow with Selina Skies

13 Selina Skies Staff BBQ 26 1 5

Killian Row

October 05, 2020 8:52 PM

Think happy thoughts. by Killian Row

Since Killian had started his employment at Sonora, life had really taken one turn after another. Most of those turns were positive, but some were distinctly less so, and he had a hard time sometimes sorting them one from the next, especially when they were all so intrinsically linked to either work or family. What was the alternative? Where was one supposed to go when neither work nor home was a proper respite? Of course, home hadn't always meant Ireland with his parents, and he generally wouldn't have spent much time there if not for Bonabelle. As it was, he still didn't spend all his time there. But he also didn't quite feel like bachelor-surfing his way across the globe either, whether that looked like a bar crawl or a hockey team. He wanted some degree of stability, without all the things that were currently the most stable in his life.

He'd turned his RSVP to Selina's invitation over again and again in his head, not sure whether he wanted to go and see some of the faces that came to mind first when he thought of Sonora, and not see some of the other ones. Jean-Loup would not be there. But some of the other staff presumably would be and he wasn't sure how to feel about that. But then, Selina would be there, and her husband, and Mary and Tabitha, and Gray. And, if he wasn't being an anxious potato about things, he might also be inclined to be excited about Katey and Marsh being there as well. But he was mostly being an anxious potato.

The party was a lot more of Killian's sort of thing when he got there, which made him both feel relaxed and old. When had backyard barbeques become his thing? People brought families which was good but also hurt a bit because that was exactly the sort of thing that Killian was trying to avoid. Still, it meant there were unfamiliar faces, which was also nice. There was also unfamiliar food and unfamiliar sceneries and it was a good way to get lost in the distraction of it all without the full blown unfamiliarity of a new scene with new people.

He mingled a bit and eventually found himself near the food, which was great because he'd been sipping on a soda and was dying for something more substantial. He surveyed the options with a sense that he could probably eat all of it and shouldn't. Some part of him committed against his will to eating a vegetable and being sad about it, but he hoped it would be a delicious vegetable at least.

22 Killian Row Think happy thoughts. 1450 0 5

Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds

October 05, 2020 10:36 PM

Eat up, drink up by Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds

CW - mild peer pressuring to drink

His father's staff barbecue wasn't exactly the most thrilling social highlight of the year, and had Charlie had something better to do, or been hung over from doing something better the previous evening, he would for sure have passed. He suspected that his father hadn't really expected a 'yes' when he had extended the invitation, but they'd known Selina and John long enough that the kids all knew them and each other, and that his parents considered it polite to make sure Charlie and Henny knew that the invite existed.

It wasn't the worst way to spend an idle afternoon. He knew from experience that Selina and John cooked good, and Ema would be back for the holidays and she could be a laugh. Plus, Selina seemed to have made a habit of hiring young and pretty people lately. And sure, he could find good food and fun people in his own sphere, but why turn down a presented opportunity? Even if said pretty people did all seem to be pairing off with each other, and/or hitting on his father's work colleagues wasn't the best plan. Still, it would be fun to mix with some fresh faces.

Although here came someone who was not that in multiple ways, in the form of one stubbled and familiar visage.

"We meet again" he greeted Killian, taking a swig of his beer. His eyes moved somewhat questioningly over Killian's own drink choice but he didn't push it for now. "Tell me does two social interactions in what... two, two and a bit years put me ahead of Tarquin in terms of getting to know you?" he grinned.

"How are things going? You don't seem to have anything to eat or a proper drink, which I would say means you're doing this all wrong. These are good," he gestured with the skewer he was biting into. "Think there's some more about to be done. Don't eat anything Ema gives you unless you want your head blown off," he advised, gesturing to the small barbecue where a witch stood sprinkling spices from various small bowls onto the assorted vegetables. She bore a distinct resemblance to Selina in terms of facial features, especially the nose, but deviated quite sharply from her mother in almost every other way. Least of these was that her hair was a mousy brown instead of Selina's bright blonde, at least the top of it was, whilst the underneath was streaked liberally with pink and purple. A small gem gleamed in the side of her nose, and she was wearing elephant pants and a loose fitting crop top. At Charlie's remark, the words 'spice wuss' came back to them.

OOC - able to write for Ema as she is also mine

13 Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds Eat up, drink up 252 0 5

Killian Row

October 06, 2020 10:43 PM

Does "chin up" come next? by Killian Row

It only took a glance for Killian to remember Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds - alum, former Teppnpaw, Tarquin's son, willing to work with youth to apply their skills in practical ways, works in fashion and photography - from their brief encounter when Charlie visited Sonora. He already had a smile ready in case anyone approached, but it came out easier and more natural when he found it was someone he actually was up for talking to. "Getting to know me? Nah. I find that the best way to get to know your father is to talk incessantly about myself. It's a good subject if I do say so myself," he added with a playful smirk that showed exactly how little he really bought that and actually how much he maybe bought that. "But I think I may know you better than I know him." He met Charlie's grin - one which was very nice - with one of his own. It was nice talking to someone who was easy to look at too and dear Merlin he was lonely. If a pleasant guy coming up to him at his boss' barbeque made him feel like he had game, he really needed to do some life revaluation.

"It's an alright drink," Killian said with a shrug, always a little conscientious of his alcohol consumption. But also . . . "I wouldn't mind something a little more fun though," he admitted. His mind almost strayed to a bottle of liquor in a certain professor's office, but quickly came back to the current conversation, where he glanced at the drink in Charlie's hand. Beer was not going to be his choice; so far, he was mostly disappointed in American beer, although he wasn't sure Budlight was exactly representative of the nation's offerings. "Food first," he decided, eyeing the skewer.

He smiled at Ema's addition to the conversation, recognizing the young lady from her photos in her parents' house and Selina's own comments about her. "I have a low tolerance. For vegetables I mean. But also for spicy food. Not to say everything has to be meat. Give me a good baked potato or a mild curry and I'm set." He raised a hand to stop any objections. "Potatoes are not really vegetables because they're delicious. So it doesn't count," he said.

He smiled a little, wondering what Charlie could possibly want to talk to him about. A horrifying thought crossed his mind that he'd gone into this thinking Charlie just wanted to chat but actually he wanted to talk about Sonora. Perhaps careers were a safer topic? "What are you doing now?" Killian asked lightly, sipping his soda. "For work I mean."

22 Killian Row Does "chin up" come next? 1450 0 5

Ema Skies

October 07, 2020 7:25 AM

Nope, potatoes by Ema Skies

Ema's eyes met the new-comer's and she wondered what he knew about her - and whether he was wondering the same thing. She suspected what he’d heard wasn't terribly flattering if it had been through mom's eyes, although he was possibly young and fun enough to realise that her travelling the world wasn’t the disaster her mom made it out to be. And mom had gradually come around to the idea of Ema... being Ema, and she didn't think she got as bad a rap sheet as she had in her teenage years, but she still wasn't sensible Krissy with her sensible pension-plan job and her picket-fence-wrapped family. For her part, she knew of all the staff, more or less, and a lot of the boring inconsequential details to go with each name. Most of the juicy stuff mom kept under wraps anyway, but when it needed to come up it did so namelessly. So, she knew there was a Katey who was fresh out of school, and a Lawrence who’d travelled a bit too, and a Nathan who was… old and stuff, etc etc. She also knew there was one having a nervous breakdown, and had read between the lines of some of the soft-drink comments mom had made in preparation for the party, and that one of them had been over to get her dad’s help with a family matter. But it was like one of those Einstein puzzles, only probably not really worth working out. They were all probably a bunch of perfectly pleasant disasters because that’s what humans were, and it wasn’t like she was likely to see them beyond the odd social event here and there.

This one, at least, appeared to be kind of funny, even if he was slandering all vegetables. He was probably having some kind of crisis because anyone who looked and acted that normal was definitely hiding something, but it was none of her business.

“I don’t think anyone was arguing that they were,” she raised her eyebrows as he defended potatoes against being a vegetable. “Aren’t they a carb? Anyway, message received - bland white boy food coming up,” she nodded. “Accio potatoes,” she cast at the table, causing a dish of neat slices to come sailing over. A large bowl also gave a dramatic lurch but stopped short of falling off the table. “Guess there’s potato salad too,” she observed.

She brushed the slices with oil, chucking them on the grill, and seasoning just the end two with one of the spices from the bowls next to her.

“You’re Irish?” she observed cautiously. Ireland and Northern Ireland were different, and not a subtlety she was good at telling apart, though she was getting better at not mixing either up with Scottish. She was pretty sure that ‘Irish’ as an accent descriptor was generally allowable for both though. “And, from what I understand, living up to a stereotype right now,” she added, nodding at the potatoes on the grill.

13 Ema Skies Nope, potatoes 0 Ema Skies 0 5

Killian Row

October 07, 2020 6:08 PM

Spud up? I don't have anything for that. by Killian Row

Killian was sincerely shocked and his face showed it when Ema said that potatoes aren't vegetables. "I was joking," he said, agape. "Are they really not vegetables? Damn. I guess this sort of solidifies that vegetables are disappointing, but it also is such a blow to the whole category if carbs don't count. Carbs are flavor, right?" His playful tone returned towards the end of his response, his eyes shining with humor despite the fact that he was still thoroughly shook. All his life, he considered potatoes the one acceptable vegetable, and then it was all taken away from him in a moment. He laughed aloud at her promise of bland white-boy food, although he felt a bit bad that she was making it. "I can do that if you want," he said, gesturing at the bland potatoes that looked delicious. "Or eat potato salad. I didn't mean you had to make me food. Sorry about that."

He nodded, agreeing to the question about his heritage. "Mostly. My dad is Scottish but my mom is Irish and I grew up in Ireland. And it's a darn good stereotype if I do say so myself." He came very close to pointing out another stereotype, but decided that telling his boss' daughter - or his colleague's son - he might be lucky was just not an envelope he should push. At least, not until he was sure either or both of them wanted him to.

For all that the professors and staff at Sonora could come off as stodgy old bastards - even if they weren't really old - they did make beautiful children. Or, he supposed in Charlie's case, adopted beautiful children. They made him into a beautiful adult, so it counted just the same, if a little less biologically. And hey, who was to say there was no biology there? Also, why the heck was he thinking about this right now??? Focus, Fish Eggs.

"Is this where you grew up?" he asked, gesturing at the house.

22 Killian Row Spud up? I don't have anything for that. 1450 0 5

Ema Skies

October 07, 2020 9:23 PM

That works by Ema Skies

Boom, ten points to Ema's accent identification skills. She was gonna give herself a pass on 'maybe a hint of Scottish in there somewhere.' It was a cute accent, though she wasn't sure if he was the kind of person who needed to hear that about themselves or not. She made a point of not stoking Charlie's ego if she could help it, pretty sure he already thought enough of himself. He also very much wasn't her type, and she thought it did him good to be well aware that he wasn't everyone's. Right now, there were more important things to discuss anyway.

"Carbs are more like flavour vehicles," Ema answered, perfectly willing to take this ridiculous discussion absolutely seriously, "Like, no one wants to just eat pasta sauce, but pasta without it would also be fairly dull. I guess potatoes are the exception carb, in that you can just eat fries without much more than salt and pepper on, but a baked potato wouldn't great without a topping. And I guess this theory does fall down when you get to things like Nutella, which I absolutely would eat straight out the jar, but it is better on bread or toast.

"It's okay," she assured Killian when he stated he hadn't meant to make her cook for him. Between having host status and having already been on the grill, she was assuming it was a natural progression of things for her to chuck some potatoes on for him, and had been willing to assume it wasn't some passive assumption based on misogyny. Still, it was nice to have that confirmed. "I'll probably have some of these too, and you can take a turn later if you want," she suggested.

"Yeah," she nodded, regarding the house, "You probably wouldn't guess it seeing the work side of her but mom's super home birdy. She settled where her family is, and she isn't going anywhere like...ever. It would stress Uncle Leo if they moved, and then that'd stress mom, and they would probably end up setting up the house to be as identical as possible, so what would be the point?

"By the way, you got a name or do I just call you Potato Guy?" she asked, figuring she should show some interest in return, but finding she already knew where he had grown up but not this more basic detail.

13 Ema Skies That works 0 Ema Skies 0 5

Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds

October 07, 2020 9:41 PM

Are you sure you wouldn't rather have something else? by Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds

"Same as before, fashion photography," Charlie answered, when Killian asked what he was doing (and specified work - though he guessed the hint had been in the fact that it was a 'what' not a 'who' question). "It's still a lot of fun," he grinned, leaning into the ambiguity of what that could mean.

"I take it you're still at Sonora if you're here? Still guiding and counselling?" he confirmed. "Anything new there?"

He had actually had a really interesting couple of projects recently, but he'd already talked them over with Ema and it seemed rude to make her listen again, plus the conversation quickly turned to the more immediately relevant topic of food. Specifically carbohydrates, which no one here but him seemed to regard as a problem. He allowed himself to mentally undress Killian and tell himself it counted as work, wondering whether he hit the gym regularly enough to make up for all those potatoes. Not that Charlie had anything against different body types, it was just fun to wonder.

"Ooh, be right back," he informed them, as there was a shout from the main barbecue that a new batch of skewers was ready. He reappeared with one in each hand, and held one out to Killian.

"I assume I can tempt you?" he stated with a grin.

13 Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds Are you sure you wouldn't rather have something else? 252 0 5

Killian Row

October 07, 2020 10:31 PM

I'm open to being convinced. by Killian Row

Killian nodded, filing this information about Charlie's career under the mental flag for his name. He seemed to be getting at something that Killian wasn't sure he was brave enough to assume was being got at, although he couldn't help wondering how much of Charlie's work involved doing any of his own modeling. "Oof, guiding and counseling as separate things is what I try to avoid I think," he laughed, a little more sincerely uncomfortable than he would have liked. "I think I've got a few students convinced I can see the future. Always something new," he added. "But that's never new." He wasn't sure that his job was actually interesting enough to go into detail about, especially when the first 'new' thing that came to mind was that he'd just gotten approval to order a new bulletin board for the classroom he used.

He smiled, liking the idea of flavor vehicles when Ema spoke. He had a mental picture of a tiny potato shaped like a car but wasn't sure whether Ema knew enough about the muggle world to mean it that way. Still, it was a great mental image. He might even get himself to eat some broccoli if he could say they were tires. "Nutella is the most versatile of all vegetables," he agreed playfully. "I have a recipe for the best Nutella cookies you've ever had in your life. I made some for the staff once but sort of maybe ate most of them," he admitted sheepishly.

Ema was going to let him cook! That felt like a big task to hand over to someone who had invariably denied the edibility of an entire food group. Plus, she seemed like she had a system. It spoke to her hospitality though, and he nodded. "I might need supervision," he pointed out, only half intending it to come out the way it did.

The idea that Selina wasn't attached to the idea of home or that she wasn't sentimental seemed impossible to Killian, who had watched her cry over the children in her work House. It made the utmost sense that a woman who had committed so much of her life to the same school would have committed herself to the same place. She was one for routine and organization and that's why she was good at what she did. "My parents are in the same house I grew up in too," he said affectionately because his parents were bloody adorable, even if they were also a bit annoying sometimes.

"Definitely Potato Guy," he grinned, thinking that Jean-Loup would have enjoyed that. Potato Guy Fish Eggs was a mouthful but it would make a pretty fun ID card. "My name's Killian," he added more seriously.

Charlie returned and Killian raised an eyebrow, taking in first the offer of food and then the man's face. Keeping eye contact, Killian accepted a skewer. "Yes," he said with a wry smile, not-so-subtly giving him a once-over with before returning his gaze again. "I think you probably could." He glanced at Ema, not sure whether it was strictly appropriate to be so shameless with two people at the same time in front of each other when they were also both the children of his colleagues and also he didn't know whether they were into that sort of thing . . . but also he didn't care that much; he was pretty sure he was reading at least Charlie correctly. "You're both tempting," he added, gesturing only vaguely at the potatoes before raising an eyebrow at Ema and then Charlie, almost in a challenge.

22 Killian Row I'm open to being convinced. 1450 0 5

Ema Skies

October 07, 2020 11:42 PM

I'm not sure where I stand on that by Ema Skies

"Quality control is important," Ema agreed, when Killian confessed to eating half the cookies he had made. "You never know when the middle cookie of a batch might have gone rogue." She wondered whether it was reading too much into that to infer that he was the kind of person who just couldn't help himself when there was something tempting in his path. She certainly liked cookies, but it didn't mean she lacked any sort of self-control. But equally it might just have been a joke.

"I'll keep an eye on you," she assured him, when he admitted that he might not have the cooking skills to deal with the situation, "A lot of people are scared of tofu the first time they encounter it, but it doesn't bite," she smiled, an action which had a definite echo of Selina in the way she did it.

"Why, what did Ian do?" she asked when he told her his name, "Sorry, you've probably heard that one before," she grimaced, "But I don't think I've actually met a Killian before." She doubted he had met an Emarette either, seeing as she was pretty sure that her mother had made that up, but she was not about to admit to that being her full name. Of course, if he had been in the house at all, he probably would have had the chance to see it on her birth announcement, along with all the delightful documentation of her ugly phase.

And then Charlie was back, being about as subtle as a neon foghorn, as was his usual style and she watched Killian eyeing him up in a way that lent weight to the cookie theory. Though Killian was bouncing some of that back in her direction too. Which she could easily play back up to in return, it wasn't like she didn't know how to flirt. A lot of the time she didn't know how to not flirt, actually... And someone who appreciated potatoes and cheesy jokes was already easier to want to flirt with than a lot of other people. Though she still wasn't sure how much Killian in particular was a person she wanted to flirt with, versus just enjoying the idea of flirting with someone.

"Greedy," she told him, though she said it playfully, arching her eyebrows, and looking carefully to see what he made of that. Except she thought that maybe she already knew the answer to that, and that this was not a game she should be playing.

"These are ready," she added, back to her normal tone, sliding the potatoes onto a plate, feeling slightly more comfortable. "You can add your own salt and pepper to taste," she added, gesturing to the herbs and spices next to her. "I also put cumin on the last two, in case you feel trying an actual flavour. If you get scared, just think of them like super chunky potato chips. Or... you'd call them 'crisps?'" she confirmed.

13 Ema Skies I'm not sure where I stand on that 0 Ema Skies 0 5

Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds

October 08, 2020 8:25 PM

Feel free to stand aside by Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds

Charlie nodded politely, trying not to assume that Killian’s job was akin to having each one of your leg hairs individually pulled out with tweezers, possibly whilst repeatedly hitting your head against a desk. It didn’t seem very polite to assume that, and hopefully Killian liked his job - there were, after all, different strokes for different folks. He wondered where Killian liked his...

Charlie didn’t balk as Killian pointedly eyed him up. It wasn’t like he hadn’t done the exact same thing to him earlier, or like he didn’t love attention. It was a love of attention that had first led him to consider guys. In school, realising he was into girls had been surprising and somewhat all consuming. He definitely still preferred them, but mostly he just liked pretty people and having fun with them, and why cut his opportunities in half?

Killian pretty firmly nailed his colours to the mast at that point. Though Charlie wasn’t sure whether he was aiming for either or both. He knew from experience that Ema was not interested in him that way, so he wasn’t quite sure that Killian was going to be able to have his cake and eat it. True to form, Ema was also dipping a toe in the water but didn’t seem totally to know how to handle the idea.

“And outside of work, does Sonora have a booming social scene?” he asked. “Or do they let you out once in a while? I can’t imagine being cooped up for months on end,” he stated, drawing out the words, and letting his eyes lazily rove over Killian again - after all, this time, he would catch him looking. “Though I guess it depends who you’re cooped up with…” he raised his eyebrows, and shifted his gaze to take in the company around the garden. Killian certainly wasn’t behaving like he was attached, though that didn’t preclude some occasional extra curriculars. His eyes came back to the guidance counselor with a smirk.

13 Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds Feel free to stand aside 252 0 5

Killian Row

October 08, 2020 9:30 PM

You can pick a different place to stand, you don't have to go away. You, sir, can stand right there. by Killian Row

So Ema was funny. This made some degree of sense, as Selina was funny too, but he suspected Ema wouldn't see that they were similar in that way. Also, he really preferred not to think of them as similar in that way. "Once or twice," he said about his name, smiling a little at her acknowledgment of the fact. He'd heard that too, but it did help. After all, people thought they were being reasonably clever and it wasn't their fault that they were just the thousandth person to think of the same joke. It was their first time, after all, and Ema had thought of it pretty fast.

He bowed his head in mock abashment when she called him greedy. "Only when someone offers," he promised because flirting was only fun if consent was involved. He accepted the potatoes with a more playful smile and dug into the first fluffy flavor vehicle - smothered in butter of course - with a happy expression, turning to look at Charlie again as he began speaking.

It had been a long time since anyone looked at him like that and standing there eating a potato like an absolute squish was not the time he expected it. It wasn't unwelcome though. He'd been spending his summer working out in quantities that would probably make Jean-Loup proud. It was a way to make him feel close to his friend now that they were apart, and it turned out the younger man was right: it was a pretty good distraction. He was pretty sure he still mostly had the body of a potato but he was a hot potato and it felt good to have someone else look at him like they thought so too.

He wanted to say that he was cooped up alone, but that mostly sounded like he passed his time by himself and that wasn't a great line so he reconsidered. His eyes, however, remained fixed on Charlie. He was not going to look around and see who may or may not be in attendance today. He was not going to look. Ideally, he wasn't even going to think. "They let me out if I've been good," he promised. It sort of suggested he wasn't let out that much but actually he was a very responsible staff member and could leave pretty regularly. "I'm mostly cooped up with just my work, so I have to find something fun to do. Or . . . well, maybe not something." He raised an eyebrow, wishing he could match Charlie's devil-may-care suaveness. His own brand of flirting was mostly playful and he felt a bit goofy in this case. Still, it would be rude to just come out and ask if there were any good hotels nearby, so he stuck with only vaguely subtle comments instead.

22 Killian Row You can pick a different place to stand, you don't have to go away. You, sir, can stand right there. 1450 0 5

Ema Skies

October 09, 2020 6:34 AM

Like a third wheel? Fun by Ema Skies

Killian would take what he was offered, would he? Well, in Ema’s opinion she was offering something. She was offering food, and fun company, and terrible jokes. And she watched yet again as that was quickly passed over for someone dangling meat in the other person’s face. As a bar for wanting intimacy, being offered it was- in Ema’s eyes, it was a fairly low standard. And it was complicated to try to work out how fair that was. On the one hand, she didn’t want to slut shame anyway, and hey, what Killian did in his free time was his prerogative. He was a stranger she knew nothing more about than his name and where he came from.

But that was precisely her problem. Why was everyone so willing to act that was enough information for her to make a choice about whether to go to bed with him? Why was she suddenly the third wheel in this interaction for not wanting to jump his bones in the middle of her parents’ lawn? Why did she have to feel like the weird one here, when she was pretty sure this shouldn’t be normal?

And then the cycle went back to the fact that categorising anyone as normal/not normal versus just different wasn’t acceptable or fair, and round and round they went... She tried to remind herself that neither of them – not even Charlie, so far on this particular occasion – had said or done anything to imply that her lack of willingness was wrong or weird. It wasn’t fair to project every negative or micro-aggressive remark she’d had made about her onto Killian. Just because he had something in common with a lot of people who thought that way didn’t mean he would. How would she know what he was like? She’d known him five minutes.

The trouble was, until he’d opened his mouth, it had been easy enough to project the hope onto him that he wasn’t like the rest of them.

She supposed the logical thing to do would be cut her losses and leave them to it. Why make bids for the attention of someone who had just proven that they weren’t the kind of person whose attention she wanted? Except, she had managed to surmise that her particular brand was not so much that she didn’t want the attention as its end results. It was a fun game to play, but when other people said that the thrill was in the chase they didn’t seem to mean it quite the way she did. They meant it whetted the appetite. She literally meant it was more fun, and that she was perfectly happy to just keep chasing. Was it perfectly human and normal to want to be wanted even if you didn’t actually…want? She liked being looked at like she was sweet and sexy and funny. She liked the idea of sitting in Killian’s lap and feeding him potatoes and running her hands through his hair. And also making him take a damn turn at cooking them, because for someone who hadn’t wanted to make her cook for him, he currently seemed more interested in mentally undressing Charlie than showing any appreciation.

“So, do you get out a lot or do you occupy yourself with being bad?” she challenged playfully.

“And how did you two cross paths before?” she asked. And it was a few different questions. It was partly the incurably nosy side of her, wondering if they’d already Crossed Paths before. It was a bid at not being totally left out of their attention, even though she wasn’t quite sure what she’d do if she got it. And it was a last ditch attempt at letting Killian be something a little closer to what she wanted – that maybe he was looking at Charlie like this right now because it was picking up where things had left off, rather than because he just moved that fast with everyone. And maybe he’d at least got as far as exchanging surnames last time.

13 Ema Skies Like a third wheel? Fun 0 Ema Skies 0 5

Killian Row

October 09, 2020 7:55 AM

Big wheels are my favorite flavor vehicle. by Killian Row

Killian turned his head to Ema when she put him in a corner of having to make explicit what he'd been trying to leave implicit. It was a game that he was pretty sure he was going to lose, but it was still a fun game and he didn't mind. He did blush a little though as his bluff was called. "Both?" he suggested hopefully. "Mostly I get let out a lot. The worst thing I get in trouble for is that my office is always a mess. My other mischievousness goes mostly undetected," he promised. "I leave only a trail of flour and the smell of sourdough in my wake. These are fantastic by the way," he added as he brought the topic mildly back to cooking. "I've never had potatoes on the grill before."

He nodded at her question about having met Charlie before and wondered at the look on her face. Maybe he was projecting because he missed his friend, but she reminded him of Jean-Loup. She reminded him of someone who had a lot to say and wasn't sure yet whether the world wanted to hear it, and maybe someone who looked at him like he had more to offer than a good smile. Also, there was no denying that Jean-Loup had seemed well aware of his good smile, but he'd tried not to notice. There was no reason not to notice both sides of the way Ema looked at him, but still... He was probably projecting.

"We met when he came to Sonora to work with Selina a few years ago," he explained. He didn't like the idea of emphasizing that Selina was her mother, as much for her sake as his own, so the deputy headmistress' name seemed like a safer bet. "When are you gonna come visit?" he asked with a grin as he finished his potato and set the plate down.

With one more interested glance at Charlie, Killian switched sides of the barbeque to stand beside Ema. "Alright, now you said something about cooking a tofu?"

22 Killian Row Big wheels are my favorite flavor vehicle. 1450 0 5

Ema Skies

October 09, 2020 8:30 AM

Approach with a decisive mind by Ema Skies

“Sounds like you’re bad to the bone,” Ema laughed, trying not to be too enamoured with the idea of a bread floured Killian sitting in a messy office. He was still a bread floured, messy human who clearly wanted to sleep with Charlie. People just had this horrible habit of not being all bad or all good. You couldn’t easily spot the villains by their twirly moustaches. They were this complex mix of things like baking and having a nice job which helped people and… well, clearly wanting to sleep with Charlie. “You bake?” she added, “I used to but I don’t have an oven any more. And bread was one thing I never got the hang of.

“You’re welcome,” she smiled, as he showed appreciation, “Did you try the ones with actual flavours yet?” she added with a grin.

“Oh, yeah. I think you wrote to me about that,” she stated to Charlie, “Is this as in the ‘you’re lucky you’re an ocean away cos your mom is roping in real adults’ letter?” she asked. “Not that I probably would have counted,” she added.

“When you want the kids to get the inspiring ‘screw the corporate rat race’ speech just let me know,” she replied, eyeing his button up, and wondering how much that was a personality trait as much as a wardrobe choice. Judging by how he and Charlie were still looking at each other, not so much when it came to his personal life. But professionally… Well, she thought she was a good role model, because she couldn’t imagine jumping through all the ridiculous hoops of corporate work life and was definitely down for inspiring others to rebel, but she wasn’t sure she was the perfect example for a guidance counselor’s portfolio.

She was pretty sure she hadn’t imagined the looks between him and Charlie, but maybe she’d imagined that she was being squeezed out. Although now she was being ruled back in, she had to wonder in what sense… But for now, it seemed to be Killian coming to barbecue next to her, being silly and fun, and within touching distance but in a way that was a lot less… ‘Intense’ she supposed was one word for the way he and Charlie had been looking at each other, even if the first one that had sprung to mind was ‘intimidating.’ And volunteering to get to grips with tofu.

“It’s the one that looks like soggy cardboard. And probably tastes like soggy cardboard. Covered in chilli,” Charlie chimed in, dancing out of the way as Ema swatted at him.

“This is a type of tofu,” she said, gesturing to the uniform brown blocks on the barbecue, which sizzled and crisped, giving off a hint of honey. “There’s zillions of different ones – I have counted,” she nodded seriously, “But it’s hard to get most of them here. Most people who don’t say they don’t like tofu have only had it badly cooked by people who don’t know what to do with it. After all, how could anyone discount basically an entire category of food?” she teased, given that he had already done that. “It doesn’t bite but it can smell fear, so approach it with a decisive mindset,” she advised.

13 Ema Skies Approach with a decisive mind 0 Ema Skies 0 5

Killian Row

October 09, 2020 8:58 AM

I'm not good at that in my personal life. by Killian Row

"Bread took me a lot of trial and error," he said, remembering many of his more charcoal briquette type iterations. "Worth it when you get there," he promised with a grin. "What do you like to bake? Or what did you?"

Killian was surprised to hear that Charlie had written to Ema about him but perhaps she only meant that he'd written about visiting the school again. He frowned at the idea that she wouldn't be wanted. "Are you kidding? That would be great. A lot of these kids have massive family pressure to make it big in some corporate ladder that doesn't care a lick about them, or else some family business or line that only values them for their role in a hierarchy not who they are or how they fill it." He stopped himself then, not wanting to say too much. Felipe De Matteo, Jessica Hayles, most of the Mordues, several of the Brockerts.... These kids could be more than what they thought and he was a firm believer that lofty parental expectations only limited, never encouraged, lofty success. "Sorry," he mumbled, taking another sip and finishing his soda. "I just want better for them."

As their attention all three turned to tofu, Killian smirked a little at Charlie's comment. He got the increasing impression that these two had maybe grown up together, and if Selina's comments about how long she'd known Tarquin were true, then that was pretty likely. Tofu did look a bit like soggy cardboard though.

"They'd probably have to have made the decision recently upon finding out that one of their favorite foods didn't actually count as part of that food group," he said, matching Ema's level of playful seriousness when she suggested that tofu shouldn't be written off. "Merlin, I don't want it to smell me," he grimaced as he eyed a piece of the flabby brick with some curiosity. "Definitely kill it with fire."

22 Killian Row I'm not good at that in my personal life. 1450 0 5

Katey Willow

October 09, 2020 11:23 AM

Totally Not Awkward. Nope. Not Katey. by Katey Willow

Despite being technically considered an adult for a good handful of years now, Katey found herself still rather intimidated by the idea of an adult party. She was actually quite excited for Selina’s barbeque, but she felt so young compared to some of her coworkers. She wasn’t the youngest, of course, and she did have to remind herself that she was at the very least old enough to possess a medical license and doctorate. Although this, she pointed out, playing devil’s advocate against herself in the twelfth flip-flop of mental conversation, this didn’t really attest to her adult-ness, since she had earned those qualifications much younger than most. Did that attribute to her maturity, though? Not really, she decided. It was inarguable that she was a bit of a prodigy, even in her most insecure moments. Katey knew that she was intelligent. She was just, like, a super-smart baby, with all the life skills and abilities that such a title suggested.

In any case, she couldn’t just not go, although she absolutely agonized over what to wear. It occurred to her that it was entirely likely most of her coworkers had never seen her sans medical attire, as she often forgot to leave her white coat behind, so her outfit now became almost like a first impression. Katey was fond of dresses, but she thought maybe that was too predictable, so in the end, she settled on light pink jean shorts stretching nearly to the knee, a pale yellow t-shirt, white sandals, and large white sunglasses. Casual but fun, right? Right?

Upon arrival, she intentionally and immediately sought out their hostess. For one thing, it occupied her from having to talk to Killian, about whom she had been having far too many thoughts and emotions all year. And for another, Katey was, as previously discussed, an awkward baby who wanted to make sure to be polite and convey her gratitude for the invitation. It wasn’t too huge a crowd, so she located Selina with some relative ease, and approached her with a nervous grin. “Hi, Selina,” she smiled, trying not to sound too eager. Except eager was, like, also kind of her thing. Man, she needed to get some people skills. “Thank you so much for the invitation. Is there anything I can do to help?”

12 Katey Willow Totally Not Awkward. Nope. Not Katey. 1505 0 5

Ema Skies

October 09, 2020 9:14 PM

Me neither by Ema Skies

“Or just find someone else who’s good at it and let them do it for you,” Ema suggested with a smile, when Killian suggested she keep on with bread. She hoped that didn't sound too... like it could sound very married and settled, but it could also mean 'hey let's go found a queer baking commune in the woods.' “I made cakes and cookies mostly. I generally stuck to the basics. I can’t be doing with cakes that like… require some elaborate mixing method and then may come out like rubber if you don’t talk to them sweetly enough. It’s much more interesting experimenting with flavours. Choux pastry is fun though. It’s such freaking weird stuff - that’s what eclairs and profiteroles are made from, which are excellent things to have in your life. Unless you follow some rubbish trendy diet that denies you all pleasure,” she added to Charlie, “What’s illegal this week?”

Ema’s eyes lit up as Killian talked about work - or rather about how she would be valuable, and about how much he wanted good things for the kids. Sure, what he was saying were things she knew her mom believed too - she worried about the kids who were being railroaded by their families, and who never even got a chance to be kids, but that didn’t mean that she approved of the fact that Ema, in her eyes, had never stopped being one. The steadier and more sensible Ema’s jobs abroad had gotten, the more she felt mom had relented. Maybe it really was more about safety or about not seeing her these days but… eh. She couldn’t imagine mom wanting her to encourage others to follow in her footsteps. Still, she was relatively disinclined to bring her mother/Killian’s employer into the current interaction. She sort of more wanted to hug him or squish his nose or tell him he was adorable.

“That’s sweet,” she settled for instead, still smiling at him, “Okay, I’ll come incite rebellion in exchange for bread lessons. Deal?” she asked, holding out her glass of sparkling apple juice to cheers with him.

“That is the general plan,” she agreed, when he mentioned killing the tofu with fire, “Also I already smothered in marinade, which will slow it down, and help make it into a flavour vehicle.”

13 Ema Skies Me neither 0 Ema Skies 0 5

Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds

October 09, 2020 10:54 PM

I know what I want by Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds

Charlie watched at Killian stepped behind the barbecue and started playing happy families with Ema. His comments to Charlie definitely implied that he was up for a good time but that was probably going to be later (it would be a bit rude to just run off in the middle of the barbecue), and he wasn’t sure whether he was just trying to be friendly to Ema too, or still trying to get friendly with Ema too. He guessed that, if Killian wanted to get in Ema’s pants, he was probably going the right way about it. He personally had given up when he had realised that it was a long, convoluted process. He wondered if Killian was still trying to flirt with a short term agenda in mind, and whether he should warn him that wasn’t on the cards, because Charlie was pretty sure Ema was now giving Killian that look like she was imagining he had ‘husband material’ written all over him, which Charlie was pretty sure was not what Killian was looking for right now. Or maybe Killian was just literally hungry and well as wink-wink ‘hungry.’

“If my diets made me sad, I wouldn’t do them,” he countered Ema. “There’s plenty of keto cake recipes out there,” he assured her. “And plenty of other ways of finding pleasure,” he added with an eyebrow quirk at Killian, because honestly if Ema set up shots that easy for him, what else was he going to do with them?

“Pretty sure tofu’s not off the menu either – go on then, convince me,” he stated, helping himself to one of the pieces Ema indicated was ready. It was crispy, and not actually soggy, even if the inside was kinda... spongy? But not in a bad way. It was also, as she had said, smothered in some kind of smoky, sticky sauce which helped everything. “Okay,” he admitted, washing it down with a swig of beer, “I’ll give Ema this. She cooks good,” he stated with just enough emphasis on both ‘she’ and ‘cooks’ to suggest that, whilst she had that, someone else here did something else better…

13 Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds I know what I want 252 0 5

Killian Row

October 09, 2020 11:59 PM

But will you act on it? by Killian Row

Killian gave a playful bow. "One loaf of sourdough, coming right up," he grinned. His eyes widened with surprise as she went on to talk about basically how badass she was in the kitchen. "Those aren't basics," he said, trying to mask a little of the admiration in his voice so he didn't sound quite so much like a puppy. "Merlin, woman, you've got to teach me your ways."

He laughed at Charlie's comments about diets. "You sound like a friend of mine," he said with a fond smile, although the rest of his comment was something Killian was pretty glad Jean-Loup had never suggested. "Other ways? I'd be interested in learning about those," he replied with a thick air of innocence, only a shine in his eyes giving away the scheme.

Talking about work didn't seem to push Ema away and he smiled at her offer to come oblige him and his classroom. "They'd love you," he promised, thinking of the number of students who'd shown up with similar hair schemes to the one Ema currently wore and just how many had been very direct about their social justice work so far. Sure, it maybe wasn't the same cup of tea that Ema drank from - he didn't know her well enough to be sure - but it was a similar enough one that he thought she would definitely inspire more than a few students. Plus she thought he was sweet which was pretty great because he thought he was sort of . . . not very sweet. He liked to be and he tried to be, but he always seemed to be more confronted with his own shortcomings than anything else. He grinned. "Deal." Of course, his soda was out so he merely held up his hand as if he were holding a glass and bumped it into hers before pretending to shoot back whatever was inside.

He watched as Charlie took a bite first of tofu and then, when the verdict was positive, wove his own arm around to grab a piece, smiling a little at Ema as he made his way around her. Charlie, however, was catching his eye in a different way. "You really do," he told Ema when he'd taken a bite of tofu. He went to follow up his own snack with a drink but was reminded yet again that his own was empty. "Where did you say I could get a 'proper' drink?" he asked Charlie, with a small smirk. He really wanted to talk to Ema. She was lovely. But he also really wanted to do other things with Charlie that didn't just mean getting his own beer out of the deal.

22 Killian Row But will you act on it? 1450 0 5

Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds

October 10, 2020 12:42 AM

You don't know me very well, do you? by Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds

“Over here,” Charlie nodded with a smile, as Killian gave him a perfectly valid excuse to pull him away from the land of tofu and vegetables and towards more adult fun. Admittedly the drinks were mostly out within easy reach, kept nice and fresh with cooling charms, so going to get one didn’t necessarily offer a huge increase in privacy. But then, Charlie didn’t exactly need much in the way of either privacy or provocation to take the lead he was being given. The question here was more or less ‘Do you want to ditch Ema for a bit and go and have some fun?’ which would have been a rude question to ask in front of her, so getting themselves neatly away from her was already step one accomplished.

A hand on Killian’s elbow, he steered him over to the drinks table, keeping a little closer than was strictly necessary. It was getting a drink. It was a simple task of which Killian was no doubt entirely capable of conducting independently. But Charlie was getting the impression he might like company nonetheless. He reached for another beer himself, his hip “accidentally” bumping against Killian’s as he did so.

“And what are you in the mood for?” he asked, his voice soft because Killian was close enough that he didn’t really need to speak any louder.

13 Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds You don't know me very well, do you? 252 0 5

Killian Row

October 10, 2020 12:55 AM

Not yet. by Killian Row

Killian's lingering doubts about whether he was reading the situation right faded rapidly at the feeling of Charlie's touch on his elbow and the closeness with which he accompanied him to the drinks. His doubts about exactly what he wanted out of this conversation also disappeared and he resisted the urge to grab Charlie's arm instead, Disapparating them both on the spot. When it was his hips that were suddenly close to him, it wasn't his arm that he wanted to hold on to.

Charlie's low voice made the hair on the back of Killian's neck stand up in a very, very good way and he smiled softly. He'd looked down at the drinks but glanced back up at Charlie from under his dark eyelashes before giving him a more full look.

"You know, I'm suddenly not so thirsty," he said, grabbing one of the gross beers at random so they didn't look like they'd lost their way in crossing to the drinks. "Well, I am. But maybe not for this?" he suggested, raising an eyebrow.

He glanced up at the house, trying to decide whether it was worth being a totally inappropriate guest or not. Considering that the owner had the power to fire him, he decided probably not. Returning his gaze to Charlie's, he used his freehand to brush something (nothing) off Charlie's shoulder, letting his fingers maybe linger there longer than would have been necessary to remove any lint anyway. The goal as long as they were in this yard was some semblance of subtly, as he didn't necessarily want the gossip mill at work to be churning with rumors of what the guidance counselor and the librarian's son had gotten up to over the summer. Still, he was interested to see what they could get up to. "Any ideas?" he asked in a low, almost hungry tone. "If you wanted to . . . ah, slip away for a moment . . . I make good company."

22 Killian Row Not yet. 1450 0 5

Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds

October 10, 2020 1:14 AM

You're about to by Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds

It wasn’t like Charlie had never just pushed the person he was hitting on up against the nearest convenient surface and started making out with them in the middle of a party. As Killian pointedly touched him and told him that he wanted him, he was pretty much at the point of wanting to do just that. However, he was normally at parties where that was slightly more acceptable, and which weren’t filled with his parents (well, okay, he usually hooked up with someone at any given wedding he went to, otherwise what was the point?) and other people’s stuffy coworkers. Given the amount of freelancing and after parties involved in his line of work, the line between work and social was fairly blurry for him, but he assumed Sonora staff were a bit more uptight and also bored enough to gossip or have a problem with this, so maybe - for once in his life - subtlety was required. Or at least, the closest he could manage to get to it. He was pretty sure that he and Killian were going to be gone a suspiciously long time, and that almost everyone would know what they were up to, but that was really not his problem, and he was gonna draw the line at just not making out in front of them and call it good enough.

“I’m told I make for fairly bossy company, so I hope you like that,” he stated, chancing a hand on Killian’s hip and trusting the cover of the drinks table or other people being preoccupied, as well as really not caring that much.

“If you want to head inside to ‘use the bathroom,’ I can follow you in five minutes, and either show you where the guest bedroom is or floo you back to my place for a bit. Oh, full disclosure, I have a girlfriend but we’re open and she’s out. I assume that’s fine?” he checked.

13 Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds You're about to 252 0 5

Killian Row

October 10, 2020 11:49 AM

Finally! by Killian Row

Killian wasn't sure that he could necessarily say he 'liked' bossy company, but he was happy to find out. He hadn't been with a lot of people he'd call bossy, but he also hadn't had a whole lot of casual flings born in the moment. Usually there was a mutual friend or a date or something to start them off a little more gracefully, and if it was a casual thing born in the moment, Killian usually found that they were both eager enough not to notice if one of them was being bossy. He supposed that this case probably fell into the latter, but he was definitely the one being told what to do more than doing the telling, and he didn't find that he minded. In all honesty, it made the most logistical sense, and the sooner they could get to the good part, the better to him. Even the five minutes it would take Charlie to follow him seemed like an excessively long time, although he would be glad for the chance actually use the bathroom and probably get some gum or something. Charlie's hand was on his hip, though, and he thought that if that was the start of bossy, then he probably would like it very much.

"Your place," he responded immediately, figuring there was a better shot at protection there and also it just seemed more polite than using the guest bedroom. He nodded at Charlie's disclaimer, surprised at the flare of jealousy that popped up in his stomach. He wanted a relationship with some degree of openness - not that he necessarily wanted openness the way Charlie seemed to have it, but he wanted a person and maybe more than one person if that was what felt right and he wanted some love and comfort and right now he just really wanted to get to know Charlie better. "Yes, so long as everyone's fine with everything," he said, emphasizing it enough to make it clear that it was important without making it sound like he didn't believe Charlie when he said it already.

With one last soppy look, Killian turned and strode away towards the house. He was glad that he didn't have to pass Ema to get there. In the back of his mind, he was excited to get to come back and talk to her more afterwards - he wasn't quite ready to abandon the party altogether - but he had others things on his mind at that particular moment and made his way towards them with as casual a stroll as he could manage. Which was pretty casual; it wasn't like he was seventeen about to go on his first adventure. On the inside, though, he let the feeling of anticipation build in his stomach. In many ways, the chase was the fun part. If he hadn't been so sincerely eager for what waited at the end of the chase, he might even say the chase was even the best part.

22 Killian Row Finally! 1450 0 5

Selina Skies

October 21, 2020 4:45 AM

I think you're doing just fine by Selina Skies

Selina enjoyed playing hostess. It was something you could put effort into, and take pride in doing well, and the end result was a group of happy, well-fed people who appreciated what you had done. That was a nice combination of feelings. Like much of her life, it was a juggling act - she needed to make sure the whole party ran smoothly and thus couldn't completely clock off and socialise, but also had to make sure each guest felt seen and appreciated and talked to.

Katey was currently making that easy by coming over to talk to her. She was a sweet thing, and the roughness of that year had fallen to an unfair degree on her young shoulders. Perhaps Selina had not checked in with her as much as she should have, though she had had Doctor Greene to defer to, who was qualified in deciding whether or not Katey was falling to pieces. It was a responsibility Selina had been glad to be relieved of, and one which she wanted to put to the back of her mind right now, though she probably ought to keep an eye on Katey in the new year.

"Hello," she smiled, "It's nice to see you," she replied, as Katey thanked her for the invite and asked if there was anything she could do to help out (sweet, polite girl). "Well, we probably made far too much, so you can help by eating some of it up," Selina suggested, nodding to a plate next to her on the table where some of the already cooked meat could be collected along with buns, accessories and sides as desired. Katey could easily help herself without moving out of conversation range. "It's kind of you to offer," Selina stated, offering an approving smile for those nice manners, "but just enjoy yourself," she assured her.

"That's a lovely outfit," she added, approving of Katey's summery choices. She herself was wearing crisp white linen trousers and a sleeveless blue blouse. Summer clothes were so much nicer than all the things you had to bundle up in during winter.

13 Selina Skies I think you're doing just fine 26 0 5