[Davison/OPEN] A party...

[Lord_Shadow]

((The illustrious radiance that is Anastasia Arcadia graces the stage yet again! AnArchy Round 3 Begin!))

Finally time. Planning and shit took long enough, organization even longer. But the shindig was going down tonight. The most awesome night in a long time was going to happen tonight and Ana was totally stoked. Like, for real. Put her over a spit roast and baste with honey glaze cause she was... okay that quickly got wierd.

She had invited everyone she knew, and of course many people she didn't know all that well. The date was far enough away from the invitation period that she felt it was cool for everyone to clear their calendar. Of course, she thought it was also close enough that no one would blow it off for point of waiting too long.

And of course, the first people to show up where the one's helping to set it all up. Real reliable, them folk. And this time she really needed it. A few run ins with some people had seen her breakdown mentally or emotionally or somesuch or other. Geez, that was a lot to hold in and repress. It felt good to air that all out though. But a few of thos people who had witnessed those events might not show up because of that.

She didn't blame them.

"Right, that goes there. This goes here. This..." Best not to dwell on where this might go. She chucked it into a corner. It would become important later, if at all. Probably not.

She noticed that her lifesaving helpers were a little more relaxed than last time, despite some new faces. Gotten used to her already had they? Ohhh. She gave a cat like grin, the idea already forming in her head.

"Now now darlings, no time to rest. The rest of the guests and partygoers will be arriving soon. Tut tut, let's finish things right and hop to it." The fakest and most exaggerated british accent she could manage spoke those words. Good fun, the accent. Wait... wasn't there an actual brit in attendance tonight.

Crap... well she could apologize later.

Right now, get everything ready for her big surprise. Everyone would love it. Hopefully. Maybe she ought to hide the stones from outside.

Eh, whatever.

Things progressed quickly and soon they were done. If anyone arrived early, aside from the helpers of course, she didn't hear it. Quiet as a cat they must've been, those ninja attendees. Cat ninjas. Hrmm, better than turles? Up for debate. Same with Cat Samurai. Pizza cats. Pizza.

Oh shit, she did forget something. Uh, well a quick order should take care of that.

Time to whip out the old shoutbox. Get it? Wait, you're thinking that and not saying it. Of course no one gets it. Man, you really need to work on your awareness. Maybe see a doctor or something.

Or a shrink. Damn conflicting voices in her head.

[backslash]

((Sebastien Bellamy continued from Pimples))

"...And this is Sebastien getting ready for his first date!"

Sebastien grabbed one of the pillows off of his bed and flung it in Erik's general direction. "It's not a date. It's a get-together. Other people are going to be there, and - are you filming this!?"

Erik backed away laughing, camcorder in hand. "It's a momentous occasion!"

"Oh for- I'm just going to a party!" Sebastien smoothed down the front of his shirt, needing something to do with his hands so he wouldn't throw something else at Erik.

"A party that a girl invited you to."

"Does it matter who invited me? You're always bugging me to get out and do things, and now I am."

"And I barely know her." Sebastien added.

"Fifty years from now, I'll be showing this video to your grandkids."

Sebastien gave in and threw another pillow. "Get out!" Erik complied, still laughing.

"She had business cards!" Sebastien called out a minute later. "I might need business cards someday!"

His older brother's laughter followed him all the way out to the car.

---

Of course, now that he was sitting outside, he really had no idea what to do with himself.

Am I early? Is that okay? How early is too early? Or maybe I had the wrong time and it already ended...

Sebastien sighed and slid out of the car, taking care to lock the door behind him. Sitting out here wasn't going to reveal any of life's mysteries to him.

He made a concentrated effort to move with purpose. Shuffling around like an awkward nerd wouldn't do him any favors either.

The building was open. Sebastien shuffled inside - So much for moving with purpose - and looked around.

Not very many people around.

"Um... hello?"

[Bikriki*]

[Lisa Toner, continued from Gimme a L!]

There were a few things in life Lisa couldn't say no to. Presents, for example. Be it clothes, food, or dead rodents. And getting invited to a party was also pretty cool. Especially when it's a person like Anastasia. She was a fun girl. Like, Lisa was amazed by how much she enjoyed being around Anastasia. Lisa thought there was something about it being some kind of philosophy, but really... Lisa was not some navelgazing bookworm, so she cared little.

Anyway, there she was. She arrived by foot that time, because the car was already used by someone else. Which made her feel a tiny bit exhausted. Not much, but it was notable. However, Lisa wouldn't let that be in the way of her amusement. Of course not. If there was a chance to be the largest ham around, it had to be taken.

"Good morning, everybody!"

Well, morning was a bit incorrect, but who should care. Hm... actually, it is quiter than she anticipated as she stormed through the door. She came early, as it seems. Fine with her too. Oh, she knew that guy.

"Hey Sebasitien. Where's Anastasia?"

[Pippi]

((Lucia del Pirlo continued from Involuntary Planetary Motion))

Lucia could not exactly be labelled as a member of the party crowd. That, like so many things in her life, was more Giuseppe’s sort of thing. She had been to her fair share of parties, sure, but she’d never been particularly big on them either. Maybe it stemmed from being naturally quieter and more polite, or something.

It was that same politeness, however, that had caused Lucia to be standing rather apprehensively outside the building Anastasia had directed her to. She appreciated the invitation; it had been very gracious, especially given that the two weren’t the closest of friends. But that was also precisely where Lucia’s apprehension was coming from. She hoped there were people she knew well there. She wasn’t sure who Anastasia had invited, and although Lucia didn’t find making friends difficult, being in an unfamiliar place surrounded by unfamiliar people was still rather intimidating.

She had come at the correct time, right? Lucia quickly fumbled around in her tiny bag for her phone, checking and double checking the time was right. Lucia didn’t know what she’d have done if she’d arrived hours late, or worse, hours early. Or even worse, if she was at the wrong place, which, of course, there was only one way of checking; actually going inside.

Taking a breath to compose herself, Lucia made her way inside, a lot calmer and quieter than Lisa had done. There weren’t many people about, which didn’t exactly help Lucia’s apprehension. Lisa was just a few feet away, though, which was good; the two were pretty good friends, and just one friendly face was enough to quash Lucia’s nerves for the moment. Sebastien was also there, although Lucia didn’t know him as well as Lisa; he seemed rather sarcastic, but a decent sort aside from that. Lucia walked towards the pair, giving them a small wave and a smile.

“Hello Lisa! And Sebastien as well!” Lucia paused, looking around at her surroundings.

“We, um... we are at the correct place, yes?”

[Lord_Shadow]

Voices coming from the entrance hall. Anastasia finished chatting up with Pizza Guy Antonio and wished him the best. Good guy, even if a bit pushy for her to go get a boyfriend. But hey, he was practically her uncle at this point, having been there for the family when they moved. And all that from a frienship between the two men's fathers. Regardless, Tony would no longer be teasing her about her love life anymore. Not once he got to meet Shawn.

A thought crossed her head. It's still new, and really spur of the moment. Maybe it won't work out. ... Fuck that noise, she'd make it work.

She walked over to the balcony overlooking the entrance. Well, less a balcony and more a kinda high stage. Not high enough to be too high to jump down from though, which is what she did after stuffing her phone back into one of her jacket pockets.

"Yo. 'Sup d00dz?" She said as she brushed off her sleeve, pretending not to notice the slight sting from the landing. Not too bad, but definitely not a completely fine one, it was. "You be talking about moi?" She inflected the last word high and brought a hand to her chest. Jacket all zipped up made that a lot easier. But her dress did show from below the jacket's cut off point. It was the best and only one she owned. Never had a reason to wear it, except for that one time on her parent's anniversarry. But somehow, she felt she should wear it today.

Maybe she should have worn heels too. Ehhhh.

"Nice to see you guys. Doc, Beautiful, Princess. You guys mind nicknames? Because if you do then I can just call you by your names. No issue."

She grinned, and rubbed the back of her head. "So, you guys know the ground rules? Good. Party's getting started, more people will come. We got snacks if you got the need to feed but the food food is coming a little later due to a slight slipping of mind on my part. Gomen." She clapped her hands together, made a v shape with her body leaning her torso forward and her legs leaning back a bit, and winked misheviously.

She hoped someone would ask about the rules. She was pretty sure none of them had been to this kind of thing before. And she always enjoyed explaining.

[backslash]

Sebastien wasn't standing around for very long before others began to make their way in, which was fine by him. He hated not having anything to do.

"Pretty sure it's been evening for awhile." He said a bit dryly in response to Lisa's greeting. He knew her only somewhat, from the drama club kids, but she seemed spacey as usual.

Lucia del Pirlo - there was a face he didn't see often. Sebastien returned her slight wave. Lucia didn't strike him as the partying sort, but then he probably didn't seem like it either. It was possible she'd just gone along with Ana's invitation as he had, he supposed.

Speaking of Ana, she chose that moment to make herself known by dropping from the ceiling. Or the balcony, whatever. Sebastien couldn't help jumping a bit as she landed. Doesn't she know she can break bones doing that? What's she going to do if she breaks her foot right at the start of her own party?

"I see you've added 'ninja' to your list of occupations." He said by way of greeting her, the corner of his mouth lifting in a smirk. "Better watch your step, or you could take some pretty serious fall damage."

Haha. Don't make jokes, you giant nerd.

"Doc, huh? I guess I'd better get used to people calling me that, since it's going to be happening for the rest of my life." Sebastien went to shove his hands into his hoodie pockets, only to be reminded he wasn't wearing it. Damn.

Ana mentioned rules. Did parties normally have rules? Just don't fight and things like that, right?

God damn, he had no social skills at all.

[Bikriki*]

Oh, awesome. All the good kids were coming. Lisa's abruptly changed focus from Sebastien to Lucia. Lisa liked Lucia a bit more than other people. She wasn't exactly sure why, but everything just seemed so gorgeous when it was about Lucia. Maybe it were her talents, or the way she walked. If Lisa had a secret lesbian crush, it would probably be Lucia. Or a younger Heid Klum. Would be a tough choice.

Before Lisa could do a bit more than just greet Lucia back, a wild Anastasia appeared. Did she just drop from above? Holy shit, she could have hurt herself. Then again, the way she handled the landing was pretty cool. Seal of approval then.

"Oh, I'm "beautyful"? Awesome. Although princess is still a coo- ground rules? What kind of wild teenage party has rules? We need to be stereotypical and crash everything in this house! Oh, that is actually also somewhat of a rule...

anyway, ground rules?"

[SansaSaver]

((Will Brackenrig continued from Party Preparations))

Waving goodbye as his father drove off, Will rushed up to Ana's porch as quickly as he dared - he didn't want to risk getting a stitch, but the lights from within the party venue showed that he was already running a little late. It wouldn't do to delay much longer. Not that his lateness was much of a surprise - the traffic in town often fluctuated in the evening, and he and his dad had been unfortunate enough to get caught in a rather pesky traffic jam. It hadn't all been a waste, though; they'd come up with a few new tea blends to try out at some point.

The tin his mother'd plied him with tucked firmly under his arm, Will loosened his loafers and stepped inside, greeted by the presence of Ana and a few of his fellow partygoers (and friends); Lucia, Sebastien, and Lisa. He was a tad surprised at Lucia's presence - she didn't seem much the partying type, but the others were more expected.

Ana and the other guests were talking as he entered, so he elected to not make his presence known until their interactions were complete. He didn't want to add rudeness on top of tardiness. It wasn't often that he was late for things, and didn't really know how to react when it happened. It seemed better to take the safe route.

Once the quartet had finished conversing, Will coughed gently and smiled, holding up the tin of baking. "Hey Ana! Thanks for inviting me. And Seb! It's good to see you again, man. Lucia, Lisa - I hope you're well. So sorry for being late - there was a bit of a traffic jam. Mum shoved this baking at me when we left though - a few florentines and the like from the shop - so I hope it makes up for it."

[Pippi]

Before any of the people gathered around her could answer Lucia’s question, it was answered by the figure dropping from what appeared to be the ceiling. Lucia had to take a step backwards out of shock as the person landed, although thankfully, she wasn’t the only one; Sebastien had also jumped.

Lucia could clearly see now that the figure was Anastasia herself. She couldn’t help wondering whether this sort of thing was a regular occurrence with her, all this leaping about from place to place. From what Lucia knew of Anastasia, it seemed very likely. After dusting herself off, the girl assigned nicknames to the company gathered around her, dubbing Lucia ‘Princess’. Lucia felt a slight heat in her cheeks; she’d never really been given a nickname before, certainly not one as complementary as ‘Princess’. Well, she hoped it was complementary. It seemed complementary, that was for certain.

Anastasia then went on to mention something about ‘ground rules’, assuming everyone had heard of them, which, of course, Lucia hadn’t. Sebastien seemed equally versed in these rules, speaking only about his own nickname. Lisa, on the other hand, did ask about them, in her usual, endearingly unique manner of doing so. Before Lucia could enquire further, however, another person showed up; Wilson, although he preferred the name Will. More good news. Lucia was pretty good friends with Will, and they both shared a love of horror media. Lucia smiled brightly at him.

“Hello Will! Uh... sorry to go back to an earlier point, Anastasia...” Lucia turned to look at her host. “Thank you for the, um, nickname, but I must go back to Lisa’s point... I am also unsure of these ‘ground rules’.”

[Lord_Shadow]

And before she could elaborate, Will showed up. Sharply dressed as usual. Dug the look, real snazzy. He apologized for being late. But was he really/ Was anyone even late to this? All kinda early. Hmm. Late earliness was not a thing was it? Whatever.

"Oh, no problem. It's cool. There's no 'late' when it comes to this type of thing." She grinned. "And I do apologize, Lisa, Lucia. I thought everyone was already clear on the rules. Ahem" she exaggerated clearing her throat. "They are as follows. Rule Number One: You do not talk about this party. Rule Number Two: You do not talk about the party. Rule Number Three: Ignore rules one and two cause there ain't any. Seriously, go nuts. I call this 'Anastasia Arcadia's Auspicious Amelioration Affair of Autonomy and Awesomeness'. Or aaaaaaay for short. To elaborte: no action, topic, or thought is taboo here. I only ask that everyone enjoy themselves responsibly. If you know your limits, then stick to 'em. If not, experiment at your own risk."

Hrmm, right. These guys were new to this sort of thing. Maybe she should have left the explanation lie at rule 3. But eh, Sebastien already knew her philosophical worldview, and maybe the others would be so open as to try a sip of the— Whoops, bad comparison. Uhh, have a slice of the cake. Or pie, if that was their thing. Come to think of it, pie was kinda her thing if she waas being honest.

"So umm, I know the freedom and all can be a little intimidating at first but I really would just like everyone to do what makes them happy. Just try not to go overboard, k?" She smiled and twirled around to head into the back. She felt a sharp sting in her ankle. A lot sharper than the fall.

She stopped in place and tried not to show her reaction to the pain. "Is it just me or is it painfully, er, dreadfully cold in here. Better go and turn up the heat. If it ain't hotter than hellfire already then that needs to be fixed. Brb." She sorta limped dragged her way off. Best to let the guests mingle while she took care of her ankle.

Wouldn't be one of her parties if something like this didn't happen. Dammit, why did she have such poor impulse control?

[backslash]

So the rules were that there were no rules. Yep, sounded like Ana. Sebastien wasn't sure what the first two rules were all about, but they were probably some old reference that he didn't get.

He appreciated Ana's willingness to let everyone handle themselves, but from what he'd heard and experienced before, a party with no limits at all tended to go downhill quickly. True, no one who was here yet seemed the type to trash the place, but he didn't know who was going to show up later. Hopefully no troublemakers.

Ana spun around before babbling something about pain and the heat and yep, she'd gone and hurt her ankle after all. She limped away, apparently intending to leave them to themselves for a bit.

Sebastien sighed and followed her. "Hey."

He tried to get a good look at Ana's ankle without getting too close, but it wasn't really necessary. If she was already limping it would probably be bruised or swollen pretty soon, and she was going to be on her feet all night.

"You should put some ice on that. Sit down."

[Bikriki*]

More people arrived, yes! The calm and relatively mild-mannered Will Bracken...bracken...brackensomething (rug?). Nice fellow, Lisa liked to see him, though she'll never manage to correctly remember his surname. Well, nevermind. Anastasia was about to answer her question.

The first part sounded odd, was probably a reference. To some imageboard or shit if Lisa recalled correctly. Whatever, the true grit was apparently that there were no rules at all. Which was awesome. But would probably only result in utter destruction. Which was awesome. Anastasia dragged off because apparently she did her ankle but Lisa figured she'd be fine. Girl seemed as if she had experience with that sort of stuff.

Only then did her brain register that Will brought florentines with him.

"Oh, florentines? I love them! And you can't believe how much I need some food now. I mean, wow, I had to walk so much. Uh, anyway. Where are my manners? May I get some, pwetty please?"

[SansaSaver]

Will smiled as Ana dismissed his lateness before launching into an explanation of the party rules - or lack, thereof - something he'd no doubt missed out by his tardy arrival. But Ana seemed okay with it, as did the others, so there was no reason to worry.

He winced slightly as Ana limped off, with Sebastien trotting after in her wake, instructing her to put a ice pack on her ankle. Will ofttimes envied the other boy's skill with medicine; he had fashion design and tea brewing under his belt, but Will wouldn't label himself too skilled in either of those areas. And neither were anywhere near as practical as medicine, too. But that didn't matter, really. It was pointless getting jealous or the like, especially when there were other things like Ana's injury to worry about. Will didn't know what could've caused it, but he hoped that it wasn't anything too serious. It was her party after all, and he didn't want her to miss out on all of the fun they were going to have. Still, Sebastien was there to fix her up if anythjng went wrong.

Will gently placed the tin of baking on a nearby table and smoothed out the hem of his jacket as Lisa asked about the florentines. She was a sweet girl, and pretty cute too. Will made a mental note to hang out with her a bit more as he pried the tin's lid off, his mother's strength both protecting the biscuits and making it borderline-impossible to get into them. After a brief few seconds of struggling, which left his hands red and sore, Will was able to remove the lid, setting it to the side before offering the biscuits to the two girls standing by him.

"Sure, Lisa! Take as many as you'd like. You too, Lucia. You both look lovely tonight, by the way."

Will smiled and took a florentine for himself, sighing in relief as he bit into the disk of fruit and nuts and chocolate. His mother mightn't have been able to help him with his maths homework when he was little or give him adequate social advice, but there was no denying her culinary skills.

"So, what've you guys been up to lately?"

[Pippi]

So it turned out that, after all that, the only rule was that there were no rules at all. Lucia couldn’t help but think it would have been easier to just say that rather than add the first two rules, but again, that just seemed to be the way Anastasia worked. She was sure she would adapt to it in time, and Lucia couldn’t really get annoyed at someone whose entire aim was to make other people happy.

As Anastasia turned to go and deal with the so-called ‘cold’, though, Lucia noticed something off about her. She, personally, wasn’t feeling particularly cold, and she noticed the way Anastasia was limping. She had to have hurt herself more in that jump than she’d let on. Lucia felt terrible for her; for that to happen at your own party was awful luck. She made to follow Anastasia, but stopped when she realised Sebastien had it covered. She would only be able to provide words of sympathy, after all, and Anastasia would probably prefer people not to draw attention to it.

Instead, Lucia focused her attention on Lisa and Will, the latter of whom had just opened his tin of Florentines. Lucia had been to Florence once, and the little mix of chocolate and dried fruit always reminded her of that. She smiled and blushed slightly at Will’s compliment, before taking one of the Florentines from the tin.

“Thank you very much, Will.” Lucia said, before taking a bite out of the Florentine. God, she hadn’t had one of these for ages. She’d almost forgotten how much she liked them. She swallowed her mouthful, before responding to Will’s question.

“I have just been doing the usual; painting and photography. Not that the usual is bad when it is something I truly enjoy, of course. Oh, um, and I have been working, which is less enjoyable. But, um, my art supplies do not pay for themselves, after all.” Lucia smiled at Will and Lisa, before she finished off her Florentine.

[Lord_Shadow]

"Well this is embarassing. Back in the cofee shop I walked into a door and now I've gone and hurt my ankle. Oh I do hope I shan't be sold to the factory and made into glue. That would be ever so dreadful." She played off her injury like it was nothing. And she wanted it to be nothing. So she followed Sebastien's advice. She got ice and a chair, sat down and took the pressure of it by raising her foot in the air a bit.

"Not getting ideas of practing surgical methods right now are you Seb? Siiiigh. It figures. This kind of stuff always happens to me. Somehow or another I end up hurting myself and ruining everyone's fun. Physically, mentally, emotionally. Injury just follows me." She smiled softly, staring off into space. "Maybe I should have told him that? We rrally didn't get to know each other that well really. But tonight will certainly set the trend for the spectacle."

She mused to herself without really thinking of what she was saying. It took her a moment to remember Sebastien was there with her. "Oh, almost forgot but you don't still happen to recall our conversation back then do you? Because I got to thinking about some of the points you brought up. Never considered myself an intellectual, more of an experiential person. So, tonight is also kind of an experiment to see how my little utopia thing works in the real world. I hope it all goes well. I've got a bit of a surprise coming up later." She smiled and laughed. Boy was it going to be good.

She wasn't really letting Sebastien speak. Maybe he would give her his thoughts if she actually let him speak. Time to shut up now.