[Davison/OPEN] A party...

[backslash]

Sebastien knelt by Ana's raised foot, taking a good look at her ankle. Didn't seem too bad, all things considered - some bruising, a little puffy. "Oh don't worry," he said, glancing up at Ana through his bangs. "You'll be back to work on the farm in no time."

He stood and pulled a chair over so that he wasn't standing over her or kneeling by her leg like some kind of creep. "I promise I won't try to perform surgery on you unless it's absolutely necessary. And come on, you haven't ruined things for anyone. They're all too busy stealing Will's food."

Sebastien crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair. "And, I mean, it's not like I mind checking you out."

Ooh, boy.

"Wait, wait, shit. That came out wrong-"

Breathe. Breathe, you idiot.

He did, sucking in a large breath through his mouth and holding it a moment before slowly breathing out again. "Just, you know. If you're hurt or something, I'm happy to help out."

Time to change the subject. "So this party is like a social experiment. Well, no troublemakers have shown up, so I think things will probably go as smoothly as they can."

Sebastien rubbed the back of his neck, willing the heat still lingering in his cheeks to fade. Maybe Erik was onto something when he insisted that Sebastien get more of a tan.

"I don't expect you to tell me what the surprise is, but I'm going to at least suggest that you make sure it's not something you can hurt yourself doing. Or else get me a first-aid kit."

[Bikriki*]

Will, such a flattering charmer... Nearly embarrasing to hear that.

Lisa continued nagging on her florentine, as if she was some kind of rodent. She found it hilarious to accompany that scene with perpetual "nom" sounds. Indeed, incredibly amusing how it also resulted in half of the florentine falling to the floor in tiny wet crumbles.

"Oh... you're working? I haven't heard that before, where are you working? When do you work? I need to know this so that I can stalk you~ Out of love or so-" Oh goodness, she just had an idea. Sebastien and Anastasia were alone now after Anastasia was hurt, could this mean that... "S.S. Anastien just set out into the vast sea. I mean, I've been fine myself. Thank you!"

[SansaSaver]

After finishing his florentine, Will briefly glanced back at the tin. He had to will himself not to eat another, delicious as they were. It'd be no good to eat them all now - some more people might arrive, and what would he do then? For the moment he had to make do with talking to Lisa and Lucia - not that that was a bad thing; they were both lovely girls - and surveying Ana's living room.

He'd been to Ana's house a few times in the past, but not enough that he could call himself familiar with it. It was a pretty place, with lovely decor and quaint furniture, and Will had certainly never dreaded coming here. He'd ofttimes wondered in the past what living in an actual house would be like, as opposed to the cluster of apartment rooms he and his family lived in. Still, he knew it was nothing to scoff at, and it'd been rather fun; with the teahouse beneath him he'd never lacked for opportunities to socialise. It wasn't as if he lived off socialising, like some of his friends, but it was nice to know that conversations were never far away.

Like this one right now, which he knew he should contribute to.

Lucia was working now? Well, that was interesting. She was such a calm and polite girl, so she was no doubt being rather successful with it.

"Oh, congrats on your job, Lucia! I bet it's heaps of fun."

He smirked at Lisa's comment regarding Sebastien and Ana - or "S.S Anastien" as she'd called them. Ana'd always been quite the 'shipper, and Will couldn't help but realise that they'd scarce had a full conversation where potential pairings wasn't the core subject. He made a mental note to change that at some point.

"Mmm. I'd go and offer them something myself, but I'm afraid I might interrupt their oh-so romantic interlude. And... you're welcome! I'm so glad you like them. I'll make sure to tell my mom."

[Pippi]

Both Will and Lisa seemed interested in where Lucia was currently working, more so than she herself was. Perhaps the two of them could work in her place and give her the money. Lucia smiled slightly at the thought. Lisa in particular seemed interested, and from anybody else, the use of the word ‘stalk’ might have been disturbing, but Lucia knew well enough her friend wasn’t exactly being serious.

“Well, um...” Lucia twisted a strand of hair between her fingers as she decided which of Lisa’s questions to answer first. “I am working as a waitress, at a small cafe... Actually, it is just down the road from school, I think. I mostly work on evenings, so now you know when to, um, find me. It is a little tiring, and some customers can get a little... rude. But it is not that bad, now I have the hang of it.”

Lucia coughed slightly as she finished speaking, realising for the first time how dry and sore her throat felt. She needed a drink, sooner rather than later. Anastasia had mentioned something about food, but not where it was. Lucia wondered whether Lisa or Will knew, but they were currently talking about... something. Lucia didn’t understand what Lisa meant by the ‘S.S. Anastien’ at all, but as soon as Will mentioned a ‘romantic interlude’, the penny dropped.

“Oh!” Lucia said, out of a mixture of surprise and realisation. “Are... are you certain they are... together? I was going to ask Anastasia where the drinks are, but, um...”

Lucia trailed off, looking down at the floor.

[Lord_Shadow]

"Oh but darling it will truly be an experience. And one I promise none of you have ever or will ever see again. Insert mischevious laugh here." She chuckled at the last bit. Being around Sebastien was fun, and somehow made her more theatric. Well, more than usual. Maybe to try and ease him out of his shell? But he wasn't a turtle, nor a ninja or mutant. Eh, one of four ain't bad.

"And no need to worry about me. Not like I plan to lose an arm or something. Wink wink." Dropping hints made no sense at this point because she wasn't even sure if it was all set up yet anyway. Bribing Ames to help would make it easier to do, especially with her little props, but she couldn't slip away to check due to foot complications. She hoped her sister pulled through.

She smiled at Sebastien. Good guy, nice smile. Seemed like a great friend. "You know, if I weren't already seeing someone I might have gone out with a guy like you. Another time, another life maybe." She just looked at him, kinda staring but not really. Then she looked away and blushed a bit.

No Ana, you have a boyfriend. Can't be doing this now.

Yeah, like for not even a week. Keep your options open. Besides, you don't believe in monopolies on love.

Do you have an open relationship? Would you be okay seeing him with another girl?

"Maybe? I dunno. Too quick for that thought. I gotta go check on my robe Shut up."

She stood up and immediately put her bad foot down hard. She yipped in pain and stumbled forward. Oh, the ground sure does look hard today.

[backslash]

Is she... talking to herself? Sebastien wasn't surprised, exactly, that Ana might be talking to herself, but he was bit put off. Was he that bad of a conversation partner? Actually... yeah, he probably was.

Without warning, Ana jumped up, and Sebastien cringed when she landed on her injured foot. He stood too, grabbing Ana's shoulder to hold her steady.

"You're going to need crutches if you keep that up." He said flatly. "Look, I'm pretty sure you don't want me following you around all night, so here's the deal. You can walk at a reasonable pace, and try not to put any more strain on your ankle than is absolutely necessary. Got it?"

He didn't release her shoulder just yet. Giving her time to adjust to standing again. Yeah.

"Just don't... like, do anything too excessive, okay? I'm sure whatever you've got planned is going to be great. You don't have to risk serious bodily injury for it."

[Bikriki*]

"Oh, yeah... Send your mom my regards. I'll kidnap her next week or something."

Lisa licked one of her finger tips in a more or less clandestine manner before scanning the room for a specific object of interest. There had to be drinks somewhere, or at least a comfortable chair. Well, there was the latter, but it did not appeal to Lisa's sense of beauty. Besides, giving in to the temptation of sitting down somewhere might look a bit rude...

So instead she leaned in to Lucia.

"Well, to be honest, I don't think they are a couple...

yet."

Then she jumped away from Lucia and clapped her hands together.

"But! We do need something to drunk. I mean drink. Onto the kitchen!

...someone else lead the way. I'm new here!"

[SansaSaver]

"I'm sure she'll appreciate the compliment," Will said in reply to Lisa. He meant that, really. She always loved receiving praise for her baking.

Will heard a sharp yelp come from Ana and Sebastien's corner and looked up in concern - they both seemed okay though, so Will didn't put too much mind to it. Besides, it wasn't as if he could help much anyway.

It looked as though Will had been elected as leader for the small sub-group (or at least, drink-finder) for the moment. He hesitated for a few seconds; although Ana was a friend, he couldn't help but feel it'd be rude to just barge into her kitchen - this wasn't Aidan's place, where he felt just as home as at the teahouse. But Ana was a pretty lax girl, despite her seemingly never-ending flow of energy, so it'd probably be okay.

Will eyed the entranceway to the kitchen, before glancing at his reflection in a conveniently located mirror. At home he could afford to be a bit of a slob when it came to appearance, but with friends he wanted to look as presentable as possible. He rubbed a hand over his head, swatting away a few stray hairs, and smoothed over his jacket once more. He should probably take it off at some point to avoid possible sweat stains, but that could wait until later; to do so now would be rude, and he'd already spent a few seconds checking his appearance.

"Follow me!" He said, flashing Lucia and Lisa a grin before taking a few steps towards the nearby kitchen. It was a nice little area, if not a little bare, though it had all of the basic appliances. Will fetched a trio of glasses from a cupboard and set them onto the countertop, before making his way over the snacks. There were a few dishes of food set out by the far wall - standard party fare like chips, dip, and the like - as well as a few cans and bottles of soda.

"I guess we just help ourselves," Will said, pouring himself a glass of Pepsi (having passed over the bottle of "SOTF drink"* - he'd had it before and found it too bland for his tastes), and rested against the kitchen's island. Not wanting the rest of the appetisers to go to waste, he delicately picked up a slice of pineapple and took a small bite from it, chewing gently.

"This is pretty nice place, huh?"

*Credit to Lord_Shadow for the awesomely lame pun.

[Pippi]

Lucia glanced in the direction of Anastasia and Sebastien, a slight look of concern on her face. So... they weren’t together, after all, then? Something clicked in Lucia’s mind, and she remembered Lisa’s habit of pairing people up romantically. Lucia didn’t really know enough about Sebastien and Anastasia and how they interacted to agree with Lisa and Will. To her, it has just seemed as though Sebastien was being thoughtful and helping Anastastia, but...

Lucia briefly considered quickly going to check on the two, but she also didn’t want to miss where Will was going in case she got lost inside this new, unfamiliar house. It was unlikely but still. Better safe than sorry.

The kitchen was much closer than Lucia had expected. There wasn’t much time for her to have a good look at the interior of the building, the design and the decorations, but it seemed simple yet pleasant. The same could be said of the kitchen; slightly bare, but welcoming. Not that Lucia was here to admire Anastasia’s decor, but she just couldn’t help notice these sorts of things.

Trying not to appear over-eager, Lucia poured herself a cup of lemonade and took a sip, grateful for something to deal with her sore throat. She held it in both hands, staring a little awkwardly towards the floor.

“It is, yes.” Lucia said, in response to Will. “It is rather pleasant. I am also glad that you two are here.“ At this, Lucia looked up, smiling. “I was... I was a little scared before coming here...”

Lucia went back to looking at the floor, before taking another sip.

“I hope Anastasia is alright. It would be terrible for something to happen at her own party.”

Lucia anxiously looked towards the kitchen door, hoping Ana would start bounding about like she usually did.

[Fenrir]

((Shawn Thornton, making his long awaited (by me at least) appearance, continued from ... You Can't Choose Your Family))

How to arrive, how to knock, what to say to Anastasia when she opened the door, what to say if it wasn’t Anastasia who answered, what to do if this wasn’t the right place. All important questions – at least in his mind right now they were – all things to consider as he stood there, outside the building the business card directions had brought him to, waiting to make his dramatic – hopefully – entrance into Anastasia Arcadia’s party.

Confidence. Confidence. It was all about confidence.

So be confident damn it! Shawn Thornton; magician, serial dater, expert socialiser and all round ‘cool guy’ did not get nervous like this. So why are you still standing out here on the doorstep when you should be inside with the rest of the party?

Well, the part of the party which had turned up already. He was a little bit earlier than he had intended after all.

He had left early, intending to walk to the party since his parents had claimed the car for their night out and had been heading in completely the wrong direction for Shawn to get a lift from them. So, he had left early, ignored his sisters parting jabs, and walked the whole way at a reasonable yet leisurely pace so as to not tire himself out and not arrive too early. Apparently that last part had backfired as it seemed that not very many people had arrived before him; looking around he could see that there were not that many cars on the street, there was no obnoxiously loud noises coming from inside and none of the windows or fixtures had been broken yet.

Shawn took a deep calming breath and turned back to the door before him; no point in prevaricating any longer than he had. He made one last cursory check of the contents of his pocket to make sure he had everything; phone, keys, pen and some paper (you never knew), breath mints (he was nothing if not hopeful) and, of course, a deck of playing cards. The same ones he had when he had met Anastasia as it went.

He reached up and knocked firmly on the door, making sure he was heard in case they were deep in the house or there was music to drown the sound out. Then, all he could do was wait.

[Lord_Shadow]

"Yeah, I think I can manage that. Sorry for making you do this Sebastien." Anastasia said with a little more seriousness than her usual demeanor allowed. "You're a good friend you know. Looking out for others. I—"

No, don't do this. You're not even sure what this even is at the moment.

She looked toward the kitchen, were the others had gone. She looked at Sebastien again and smiled.

"Let's go join the others shall we? I'll check on my things later."

Before she could begin moving toward the small group raiding the snacks, she heard a knock on the door. Strange, the delivery guys usually rung the doorbell. She chuckled apologetically, and left Sebastien's steadying arm.

Where did that thought come from? Nevermind, ignore it for now. Bring it up in like three months when you're in a rut or something.

She slowly, well not too slowly (a reasonable pace, like Seb said), made her way to the door. She opened it and everything else bugging her mind faded away. In place came the warm buzz that followed being around Shawn Thornton. Her boyfriend now, right? It didn't feel real. Still felt like a dream. A really good dream. Emphasis changes the meaning of everything.

She smiled coyly. "My sorceror finally shows, and I don't have my hat and broomstick. I guess this dress will have to do." She removed her jacket, a big deal since unless she was forced to she never took that camo jacket off. But off it came and went on the coat rack. And there she stood with her stunning, beautiful, red dress. Just the right combination of modesty and enticement. Really augmented her presence. Worth the insanely boring shopping 'experience' mom put her through. Dresses weren't usually her thing. But this was a special occasion.

"Do you like it? It doesn't make me look bad right?" She fake laughed. "Or does it make me look bad?" She added with another coyish grin. Emphasis really does change the meaning of everything. Everything.

[backslash]

"I told you, I don't mind." Sebastien kept a hand on Ana's shoulder as they made their way back to the rest of the party-goers. "Frankly, I'd rather keep you all in one piece."

Ana told him he was a good friend. That was... nice. Nicer than it might have been coming from someone else, at any rate.

He was about to agree on heading to the kitchen when there was a knock on the door, and Ana broke away to answer it. Sebastien stayed where he was, intending to wait until she let whoever it was in. It was dumb, but he almost felt like the moment he let Ana out of his sight, she was going to get hurt again. Then again, he didn't trust most of his friends to be able to go a few hours without getting at least a papercut or something. Reckless bunch, the lot of them.

At the door was some guy that Sebastien was pretty sure he'd seen at least once around school, but a name wasn't coming to mind. Ana called him a sorcerer and giggled and-

Oh.

Well.

Sebastien stood there like an idiot for another minute or so before getting a grip on himself. Right, whatever. It makes sense she'd invite some special guy to her party. Of course it does.

He was saved from his deer-in-headlights moment by the buzzing of his insulin pump, of all things. He needed a snack. No wonder he was feeling so sluggish and warm.

He should have just headed for the kitchen and left things alone.

Instead, he walked over to the pair at the door. "Hey Ana, I'm going to go ahead and grab a drink or something with the others." He lightly touched her shoulder again, mostly to get her attention. Mostly.

He glanced coolly at the new guy - nothing aggressive, more or less his normal expression. Just enough to say "I'm not exactly thrilled by your presence." To be fair, it was a look that most people received upon meeting Sebastien.

Maybe he left his hand on Ana's shoulder a bit too long. At any rate, he was starting to feel hot by the time he pulled away and headed to the kitchen.

"You guys find any food? I need to re-fuel." Sebastien said by way of greeting the others in the kitchen.

[Bikriki*]

She had to restrain herself quite a lot, but Lisa managed to not hug Lucia due to the sudden adorableness. It would have made too much of a mess. Well, there'd be time. Later. After they all had a drink. Oh, Ana was the topic. Would be too terrible for her to injure herself, yes, but...

"Nah, I think Ana's fine," Lisa said as she drank from her cup.

Correction: she chugged it, but nonetheless, she was glad to have something to drink. Lisa refilled the cup as she heard the knocks on the door. A new guest arrived, great! Lisa turned her head towards where the door would be. Not necessarily because this allowed her to see the new guest, but because it helped her to eavesdrop.

Oh, so it was Shawn, who wa- wait, what the hell was Ana saying? And why did she talk so oddly? It almost seemed as if... oh.

Lisa was stunned for a while until Sebastien entered the kitchen and asked for food.

"MY SHIP!

Oh, and I think you can raid the fridge."

[SansaSaver]

Will thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't been drinking when Lisa shouted, his Pepsi cup seated securely on the bench and well away from his blazer, nullifying any potential spillage as his friend loudly and suddenly bemoaned the loss of her "ship". Instead, he'd been in the process of selecting another piece of fruit, picking up a plump strawberry from the platter. He forewent biting into it in exchange for giving Lisa a sympathetic look, sighing wistfully as he checked the entranceway in as subtle a manner as he could muster. Sebastien was a nice guy, and Will did think that he and Ana looked sweet together. Still, some 'ships weren't meant to be, he supposed.

The newcomer was Shawn Thornton, a nice enough guy - even if he was a bit of a notorious flirt -  and although Will wouldn't label him as a best-friend or anything like that, he had no reason to dislike him. He offered Shawn a slight wave and a "Hey Shawn! It's good to see you," before chewing pensively upon his strawberry. He supposed Ana and Shawn would make a good couple, even though he much preferred S.S. Anastien to S.S. Shana.

Having finished his fruit, Will chose to eschew eating something else in favouring of turning on his heel and bringing his attention back to his fellow kitchen-buddies. He considered offering a word of comfort to Sebastien, but opted not to once he considered how embarrassing it might be for the other boy. So he settled for simply giving him a perky smile and waving towards the spread before them.

"The food's really good, Seb. I'm sure you'll like it."

[Pippi]

Lucia nodded at Lisa’s insistence that Anastasia would be alright, but there was still a worried look on her face as she took another sip of lemonade, still hoping that the girl would bound into the kitchen in the next few seconds to take her fears away.

There was a knock at the door and a sudden buzz of conversation from outside the kitchen. Even by craning her neck to look round the doorframe, Lucia couldn’t get a glimpse of the newcomer, so settled for taking a slice of pineapple from the same platter as Will. A few seconds later, and Sebastien entered the kitchen, and Lucia greeted him with a small wave, and attempted to ask him about Anastasia.

“Se-“

Lucia was cut off by Lisa’s shouting, jumping at the sudden outburst, a small wave of lemonade spilling from her cup and onto the floor. Hastily mumbling apologies, Lucia grabbed a handful of paper towels, and knelt down to try and clean up the spillage.

From her position on the floor, Lucia took another glance in the direction of the front door to see whether she could now work out who the newcomer, and if she was correct, Anastasia’s boyfriend, was. As soon as she saw the boy, her face fell. And everything had been going so well until now. Lucia’s relationship with Shawn was... conflicted, to say the least. Shortly after she’d arrived in America, days or weeks, she couldn’t remember precisely, he’d approached her and asked her out. Still not adept at the English language, the whole situation had been confusing and intimidating for Lucia, and no matter what, Shawn’s presence just left a bad taste in her mouth.

Lucia hastily stood up, suddenly feeling as nervous as she had before arriving. She tried to resume her question to Sebastien, but all the while, she was glancing back at the front door.

“Um... Sebastien? Anastasia... she is alright, yes?”