[semi-open] such a cozy room, the windows are illuminated

[causational]

who: Eddie Thawne, Cisco Ramon; Rey, Yuri Plisetsky, other guests
what: Eddie and Cisco host a Harvest Festival (Thanksgiving) dinner
when: November 17th
where: Eddie and Cisco's apartment
warnings: none likely, check subject lines

It's been a long day of cleaning the apartment, prepping food and decor, and cooking. So much cooking. The apartment smells like turkey and potatoes and bacon and pie and dozens of other amazing smells. The table is set with enough plates and napkins and silverware for everyone invited and a couple of friends each, and there's a festive pumpkin-and-fall-leaf themed centerpiece that Eddie's particularly fond of. In the background, soft music is playing and the whole atmosphere is warm and cozy.

Eddie himself is dressed in a waistcoat and button-up shirt with a tie, his face a little flushed from spending time over the hot stove and the oven, but he's energetic, upbeat and ready to help Cisco greet guests at the door as they arrive.

Once dinner is set out, it consists of a beautifully roasted turkey, brussels sprouts cooked with bacon, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberry jelly, candied yams, warm bread rolls, and whatever other turkey dinner trimming might come to mind. There's coffee and hot chocolate, juice, and wine available for whoever wants to drink it. Best of all, there's pumpkin and apple pie ready for dessert.

Giving thanks out loud is optional, but making new friends definitely isn't.

[OOC: Feel free to throw up a starter for your character or for a certain area or part of the night!]

Comments

ota come at me

[bythehand]

[ This party is not at all in Finn's usual wheelhouse. The whole warm, welcoming, open atmosphere, dinner-party premise in general. Stormtroopers have celebrations from time to time, but they're pretty contained. Nothing officially sanctioned, nothing elaborate. Usually just sitting around talking when time allowed.

The place is nice, though, and at the end of the day Finn absolutely wants to meet Rey's friends. If they're people she likes, they can't be half-bad. He's not unhappy to get the opportunity so soon. Friendliness and conversation, he's pretty sure he can do. Whether or not he winds up arguing about something remains to be seen. Plus he finally got done stitching up the back of his jacket, so he can look like a person wearing an outfit and not like an off-duty stagehand.

Finn's probably actively looking to keep in visual range of Poe and/or Rey at any given time, but he still makes his rounds and introductions as they crop up, since that's sort of why he's here in the first place. It's not too spaced-out or crowded or anything, so there's less to keep track of, and they can handle themselves anyway. So that's less to worry about even if he does lose visual.

He also spends a lot of time standing with his hands neatly folded behind his back, leaning down to investigate the festive centerpiece (seasonal decorations are wild) or scoping out stuff he happens to see hanging on walls or sitting on shelves in general.

He's, uhh. He's not much of a relaxer in practice right now. It's a work in progress.

(I'm also 100% available to write up individual closed starters for people, just shoot me a PM or something and I'll be happy to oblige!) ]

[volitaunt]

[ Finn's staring at the centerpiece like he either thinks it's going to attack someone or kiss him when Poe circles around to see how he's is doing. Poe approaches in Finn's periphery, making sure the man can spot him before he reaches Finn's side and claps him lightly on the shoulder. ]

Nice jacket.

[ This has to be weird for the guy. It's even a little weird for Poe, but that's only because it's been so long since he's gone to something like this that wasn't a mishmash potluck in a mess hall. It reminds him of his dad, their house overcrowded with neighbors, the smell of cooking meat and the sweetness of fruit stews perfuming the air. A very different set of dishes from the ones arrayed across the table. ]

How you doing? You don't have to stay any longer than you want to.

[bythehand]

[ Who is he to wave off a compliment to this, his one of a kind jacket? No one, that's who, and it earns Poe a quick sidelong grin as Finn straightens up.

You don't have to stay has a nice ring to it; sort of settles his proverbial feathers. He knew that before he even agreed to come, of course. He wanted to come, same as he knows he doesn't want to leave before Rey is ready, and sticking to that decision is his choice, too. He knows this.

But it's still good to hear. Like a nudge he can use to recenter. ]

I'm good. It's a nice place. I'm- I am good. [ It doesn't have the conviction he's looking for. It's not false enough to be a lie, either. Just... middle of the road. An adjustment.

Finn glances around. ]

Starting to wonder if this Quarantine ever takes a break from celebrating once in a while.

[ Big festivals that carry through the streets for days, well-planned dinner parties-- where's the radio silence holiday, honestly. ]

[volitaunt]

[ Oh, Finn. There's something heartbreaking about that self-assurance. Poe gives Finn a one-armed hug, leaning close enough to say, ] Just give the word, bud, and we'll clear out.

[ Then he lets go. Maybe it would be rude, but Poe can make apologies to their hosts. He's fine with that. Finn and Rey take priority. ]

Sort of makes sense, though. All these people, all these different worlds. I bet between them, there are holidays for every day of the year.

[bythehand]

[ Honestly, sometimes he doesn't even know what to do with Poe. He's like a concentrated whirlwind of trust and easy affection, or comfort, which Finn has even less of an idea of how to handle in the spur of the moment.

Finn's used to being the one doing the looking out, to the fullest extent he's allowed-- it was an easy position to land in because nobody else really tried to do it. It's not really the case anymore.

Sometimes gratitude and affection bloom in his chest, fierce and cautious, and he doesn't have any words to put to them, so he just lets the moments sit to add up, hoping he'll eventually find something that he can put them into. ]

When you say it like that, it's hard for me to keep arguing that they should consolidate more.

[volitaunt]

[ Poe was raised by Kes Dameron, who is perhaps the embodiment of the forces of Light in the universe. (Also a snark-fueled dork, so that's where that comes from.) He can't help being supportive and welcoming any more than he can help breathing. ]

We'll find a holiday somewhere in there that we can all celebrate without feeling out of place.

[bythehand]

[ He's too powerful and must be stopped.

Finn's proverbial jury is staying out on finding a holiday they might all be able to get into without it getting weird. He's not against hoping. Hoping doesn't hurt. ]

So that makes the plan "feel out of place together in the meantime."

[ Could be the use of "we" is meant purely as a show of solidarity. Finn wouldn't know just-capable from genuinely-comfortable out of Poe in this context. It's nice either way, though, he'll take it. It's what the kids these days call real unit cohesion. ]

I'd criticize it if I thought there was a better one out there, Poe.

[ clearly as his friend it is very important to know that. ]

[volitaunt]

[ Poe chuckles. ] Of course you would. It's part of your charm.

[ Yes Finn he finds your fussing charming. ] Pretty sure "feel out of place together" is the only way any of us make our way through the galaxy.

[bythehand]

[ Poe thinks he has charm. Bless his heart. ]

Well, as long as we're not an exception.

[ If you get enough people willing to feel out of place together, they turn into people who are all in place together, right? When they actually get a choice in being out of place together, anyway, not when they get abducted by some random portal that's supposedly unable to be controlled. But Finn has a lid on that salt for the time being. Since they're at a party and all.

He turns his head to track Rey down really quick. She's exactly as fine as she was last time, and if she wasn't she'd undoubtedly be destroying somebody for trying to change that status. So that checks out. ]

I can see why she likes them.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco's not exactly a wizard at body language, but it seems pretty clear that Finn is a little nervous or uneasy. He wanders around the room a bit, looking at bookshelves and the stuff on the walls. Almost all of it is Eddie's, and thus pretty classy and tasteful and all that. Cisco's own room upstairs is a little bit more of a nerd den; down here it looks more like something out of a catalogue. There are signs, though, that Cisco lives here as well. For example, almost all of the DVDs that Finn is currently looking at are his.

It's as good an opportunity as any to start a conversation, so Cisco sidles up to Finn, holding a small glass of white wine that he has more to occupy his hands than to actually drink. ]

Rey says movies aren't really a big thing in her world. Is that, like, just Jakku, or is it everywhere?

[bythehand]

[ Don't worry, Cisco. Finn can't figure one way or the other on who owns what out here. Some of it is weird, some of it is nice, and some of it is just conveniently located for him to investigate while he gets his bearings. Like a very casual and normal person.

The thing is, Finn likes people, objectively: he always has. His chances to meet new people he might like, until recently, have just mostly had an air of waiting for someone to start shooting at them after the first two minutes. It's not bad or anything. More of an adjustment.

Finn turns to look at Cisco, eyebrows raising. ]

If I had to guess? It's everywhere.

[ Look, he's putting his most realistic foot forward on that one. His tone isn't dismissive, though. More like slightly resigned-- there's something new and weird on this moon every day. ]

But the real answer probably depends on exactly what a movie is.

[ Finn feels like he's heard the word in passing a few times since he got to the Quarantine. There hasn't been a lot of interest overlap or incentive to find out what people are talking about when they say it. Could be slang for something. ]

[franciscoramon]

Good point. It's a form of entertainment, so... a fictional story that gets acted out by professionals, and someone takes a video recording of them, and edits it and adds music and graphics and a lot of stuff, and then you... watch it.

[ How is he managing to make movies sound so boring?! This is a disaster. He laughs at his own lack of ability to explain and shakes his head. ]

You know, I'm just gonna have to bring you and Poe to a movie sometime. Rey was confused about 'em too at first, but then we went to see one and she got it. It's the kinda thing that is easier to show somebody than to describe.

[ Okay, that wasn't too bad of a save, but he's still feeling a bit awkward, so he asks: ]

So, um, where are you from? Not the same planet as Rey, right?

[ That's a harmless getting-to-know you question, right? Something that'll put Finn a little more at his ease? ]

[bythehand]

We've got holodramas. Vids. You don't find those circulating everywhere.

[ Junkyard central least of all. That actually sounded a little more familiar than he was expecting, which is a pleasant surprise. Cisco's offer is a pleasant surprise, too. Maybe not that he's the kind of person who'd make it, considering what Finn's heard from Rey about him, and the fact they they all got invited here to start with. Just that it got made so easily. Reminds him of Poe.

Of course, immediately following is the point where it occurs to Finn that he never thought about a cover story for himself. Or about if he needs one here, where the First Order has about as much recognition and presence as a single Stormtrooper in an army.

When people here ask where you're from, they usually want a broader picture. They want to know how it's different from what they know, and that's fine, because Finn's interested in knowing the same thing. But a friend of Rey's would know something about that already-- he didn't think. He should always think. ]

Right. Definitely not. I'm--

[ At least he has the satisfaction of confirming he is absolutely not from Jakku. Basically his face takes a minor, perilous journey while he fails to come up with a quick lie, beyond that. Even if he does pick a planet at random, it's sort of a toss-up if that winds up falling through within the week.

Finn clears his throat. ]

I'm not really from anywhere. Technically. I don't know.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco nods; Rey had mentioned vids, at least, and he knows the concept wasn't entirely foreign to her, once she had actually seen a film. But it sounds like they aren't a big part of Finn's life, either. Or maybe he's just shy? It's hard to tell sometimes.

But before Cisco can follow up on that, he becomes distracted by Finn's rather unexpected reaction to his (he thought, innocuous) question. Normally, that's not one people hesitate on. One of his favorite past times in this place is to ask people about their home worlds, to hear all kinds of stories about far off places. Some of them were sad - a lot of people here were displaced before they ever ended up in the quarantine. He's met folks from planets that were destroyed, civilizations that crumbled, from tribes and families forced to flee. But Cisco's never someone who just said they weren't really from anywhere. ]

Okay. Sure thing. Sounds complicated.

[ That's the best way Cisco can think of to gently encourage Finn to share more - it's an invitation to explain, but not a demand. He realizes that Finn is a guest in his home, might feel obligated to answer direct questions, and this might not be a story he's up for sharing. Cisco really doesn't want to bring the mood of the party down, or pry into someone else's personal business. ]

[bythehand]

[ It's an open-ended reply. Room to drop it if he wants. He likes that. Finn lets out a breath that almost crosses over into being a huff of laughter, mouth pulling into a quick-- but genuine-- grin. ]

That's a good word for it. But it got me somewhere worth winding up.

[ If he lays it out, he only really sees two options. Either Cisco knows about the First Order already, or he doesn't know about them yet and Finn has to explain, even briefly, what it means. Either way, Cisco has to spend the rest of this dinner knowing what it means in this particular situation, what it means about who he has standing around in his house. Call him crazy, but he feels like that wouldn't be a great lead-in.

(Has he yet considered there are decent people who wouldn't immediately be suspicious of him on learning that? Nope, not really.)

Finn doesn't get to make a lot of clean-slate first impressions.

He turns his head to clock the room again- tracks where Poe is mid-conversation with one of the other guests, where Rey has strayed off towards the outer fringes with that crease she gets in her forehead sometimes. ]

How long have you known her? I don't think she's told me that.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco smiles, soft and with something like understanding in it. He doesn't know anything about Finn or his circumstances, apart from he helped Rey to escape her miserable life on Jakku. But in his own life, he knows what it is like to be more attached to a chosen home, and a chosen family, rather than the place he'd been raised, and his blood relatives. Maybe it's not an exact equivalent, who knows. But... ]

Where you choose to be and who you choose to be with is about a billion times more important than where you started out.

[ He really believes that, too. Cisco lapses into silence while Finn checks out the room - it seems like a nervous move, to Cisco, but he can't be quite certain. Besides, it would be understandable if Finn were nervous. Cisco will just have to try to pleasantly distract him from that. ]

'Bout two months, now?

[ Has it really been that long? It visibly surprises Cisco, too, when he thinks for a moment and answers Finn. There are reasons for that, though. Between Eobard Thawne's ghost stalking him everywhere he went, and all the shared memories in visions and nightmares that he had been particularly susceptible to due to his powers, much of October had been a haze for him. It had been difficult to realize just how much time had been passing.

Luckily, though, all that's behind them, and Cisco's starting to finally feel normal again. ]

I saw her in the park and just... walked over to make sure she was doing alright, and we got to talking.

[bythehand]

[ Relaxing doesn't come naturally to Finn, even somewhere seemingly genuinely beyond the First Order's reach.

It's easy not to want to be this moon. It's easy to remember being upset when the orientation support said he must have felt out of place, and all the urgent fear that came from waking up in a new place without anyone that mattered. It's easy to be aware of a city filled with strange people and clothes and food and technology that he had no choice in entering and no choice to leave again right away-- to be wary, rather, to wonder when the other shoe has to drop on anything good about it.

What's easier in this moment is to watch Cisco while he talks. To hear the sincerity bleeding into everything he says. And it's a short recounting of a relatively quiet first meeting, but it says a lot. That Cisco saw someone who looked like she might not be alright, and he couldn't leave her there alone. That he could see enough of the good things about Rey to keep getting to know her. Longer than Finn's had to get to know her, which is weird to keep remembering.

Finn likes Cisco, though. Easy as that. It isn't an active decision he makes to commit himself to-- more like the passive realization of a pre-established fact, a lead he'll be able to follow without too much effort. Cisco is likable. ]

I'm glad. That you met. Rey handles herself alone better than anyone I know, but... it doesn't mean she should have to.

[ She deserves more than that. Finn hesitates for half a second, then: ]

When I met her, she hit me with a stick.

[talentedscavenger]

[The center piece was interesting to look at, and though Rey was fine with being on the sidelines or staying close to the walls, she was concerned for Finn. He didn't look at ease with the entire thing. Maybe he was shy about meeting new people? Or maybe he was like her and didn't think so much food could be prepared and laid out for all of them to eat.

Regardless, she found herself moving over to him, letting her hand brush against his. He could take her hand if he wanted. A way to provide comfort in an unfamiliar place.]

You okay?

[bythehand]

[ That little unspoken offer is appreciated. Rey's good at those, even if she doesn't always realize she is. ]

Yeah. I'm fine. Just-- getting a handle on the setup. [ Finn closes the gap between their hands and squeezes once, like a punctuation. ] How about you?

[ She's been more on the outer edges of things than in the mix, which is a very Rey thing to do. If this is out of his wheelhouse, it has to be completely out of hers, too. But there's almost an extra edge to her discomfort, if he's not imagining things. And part of trying to keep in a close range of his friends is being able to touch base once in a while. ]

[talentedscavenger]

[Rey accepts his hand, taking a step closer to offer more comfort and squeezes his hand back. If either them wants to, they could simply let go and just remain in his each other's company. It's better to stick together, right?]

I feel like I should've brought something, or done something to help. If I had known Eddie went through this much trouble, I would've suggested a drink or meeting elsewhere.

[But they are here...and they should stay for a little bit. They shouldn't let the food go to waste.]

Have you done this before? Been to a party or seen this much food?

[bythehand]

[ In his experience, yes. Much better to stick together. ]

Doesn't seem like he minds. We could still figure something out, if you want.

[ Finn hasn't circled around to talk to him yet. Still, he's done some watching. Eddie seems plenty nice, and happy to be able to do something like this for everyone they invited. He's got a good energy. Both of Rey's friends do. That's good.

Finn shakes his head. ]

Plenty of plates in the mess hall, but... nothing like this. [ He sort of pulls a face. ] It's not bad.

[ And it's not, really. His tone finishes the statement for him well enough: it's just weird to have it happening around them. ]

[talentedscavenger]

Maybe...I don't know. [She wanted to get something to say thank you to Eddie for cooking so much food. A 'thank you' in person didn't seem like enough, but Cisco said it would be. It was something that was weighing on her mind.

There's a slow nod of her head, this wasn't bad. However, it was way out of her comfort zone. One thing to eat with a small group of people in a crowded area. Another to be at a party and knowing how much work the host went through in preparing the food...]

Just..never thought it would happen to us? To be part of something like this?

these two deserve nice things and make me sad sometimes 2k17

[bythehand]

[ The fact that she gets it, while maybe not surprising considering what he knows about her, is a huge relief to have on his side right now. Knowing that Rey's here and she's never been in a situation like this one before, either, that she probably feels like they didn't do anything to- deserve it, even though it's not about deserving anything in the first place.

It makes Finn feel a little less... alone.

It makes him feel less like not meshing into this party very well is one more thing marking him as different, as not fitting into any particular place. He feels more like maybe these are things he can start to adapt to, if he decides he likes them enough to try, or if Rey decides she likes it enough to try.

He feels like he'd like it if he and Rey could do something like that without hangups or getting shot at. ]

That's about right. It's a big leap from trying not to get eaten by a Rathtar.

Hopefully dec will be a better month for them.

[talentedscavenger]

[In situations like this, it makes it easier to know they had each other. Both of them were out of their element in this--so to speak. Neither of them had experienced a party where there wasn't the threat of death or danger hanging over them. People who cared about. People who didn't have other ulterior motives.

But then comes the notion that they need to be deserving of such a thing. It's something that's ingrained in them. They don't get anything for free, nothing is given without offering in return.

Both of them are different, but they're learning...and trying to do more than they would've done otherwise. A faint smile comes across her lips from the memory dancing across her mind and the hollow feeling of losing Han.]

More like a leap into hyperspace. [Wasn't that how they managed to kill the last Rathtar? It was clinging to the Falcon and then they left and it either died when they made the jump, or fell off.]

If you want to leave...we can. [If Finn felt uncomfortable enough, she would leave with him. She wouldn't leave him alone.]

[bythehand]

[ If Finn makes Rey smile, even a little, he's honor bound to smile back. He doesn't make the rules.

Not that smiling at Rey is especially hard.

It's weird to keep hearing that offer. Not in a bad way, not-- it isn't some huge shock that Rey would offer, because Finn knows that even when she's at her hardest there's softness under the surface. Lightness. Well-guarded, maybe, but there. Different as they are in showing it, Rey and Poe both wear their kindness like a second skin.

And Finn knows this, same as he logically more than knows that they do have the option to leave. He knows. They had the option not to come at all. If staying were worse than not, than getting to meet people Rey trusts and speaks fondly of, he'd probably have found the door soon enough.

But it means a lot to have people who go out of their way to tell him he has a choice, even when he already knows he does. Just having it out there makes being here less daunting. It's... warm. Warm as Rey's hand in his. ]

I think I'm good. As long as you are. [ If Rey said the word he'd climb out an inconspicuous window with her without question lbr.

Meeting friends of friends is a whole thing and he isn't up on his practice, but: ]

They seem like good people.