riverviewlogs | [closed] a little party never killed nobody

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[closed] a little party never killed nobody

who: The IPRE + friends
what: A dinner party!
when: Novemeber 18
where: Chez IPRE
warnings: some mild drug use (alcohol + marijuana)

Party time, motherfuckers.

After sending out invitations, the IPRE (mostly Taako, because he's the most extra of the group) spends a significant amount of the week preparing for the party, making sure they have all the food, decorations, and wine necessary to put on a good evening. The whole point of this is to be a distraction from a shitty month, and to get everyone together, since they have a range of friends who haven't all met each other. They've been talking about doing something like this for months, so it's nice to finally pull it all together.

Upon arrival (and despite Taako and Lup's involvement) the decorations are minimal. Couches have been transmuted from their regular fabric to rich velvets, there's a little glitz and feathers here and there, but they didn't want to go too hard on the theme. It was just a way to have a little fun with the evening. The bar cart, on the other hand, is definitely in line with Speakeasy, featuring a lot of gin and whiskey based drinks, though anyone with a preference for wine or beer won't be disappointed.

The start of the evening is dedicated to introductions and mingling, probably helped by the alcohol, though there's also cheese and antipasto plates set out, just in case anyone was worried about not being fed at something hosted by two chefs.

As a way to break the ice, and to get people talking and having fun before the evening really kicks off, the brick wall of the small living room has been set aside as the designated backdrop for a 'photo booth', which mostly consists of a few instant cameras, including one that takes what are essentially magical gifs, so long as the button is held down for 5 seconds. There are a few props that match the theme of the evening - fur stoles, feather headbands, felt hats, long strings of pearls - to make the photos a little more fun.

Once everyone is seated in the dining room, it's time for dinner. The food brought out for the main meal is warm and rich without being too heavy, slow cooked meats and roasted vegetables can be mixed with salads and lighter sides to avoid anyone slipping into a food coma before dessert has even begun. Everything is set in the middle of the table, for people to serve themselves, so they can pick and choose what they want to try. Lup has made at least one incredibly spicy dish, so be careful.

While there's no rush to leave the table, eventually plates are cleared away (by magic, so none of the hosts have to stop chatting) and everyone is ushered into the larger of their living rooms, where the small coffee table has been replaced by a seemingly floating table that's large enough to accommodate all the desserts. There are various pies (pecan, pumpkin, cherry), apple & maple cake, chocolate tarts, brownies and trifle. There aren't quite as many options as there were on the dinner table, but it's near a thing, especially when the section of the table devoted to cream, ice cream and sauces is taken into consideration.

Dessert is an extended affair, pies will stay warm and ice cream will stay frozen for as long as they remain on the table, so people can return and try more even as the rest of the night presses on. And although the food is, really, the main attraction of any kind of event that Taako is involved with, that doesn't mean there aren't things to do other than eating.

Once the dining room table has been cleared, (plastic) champagne glasses are laid out in what might be a familiar formation to anyone who went to college, especially when a ping pong ball is added to the mix. It's beer pong! Except it's actually prosecco pong, because this is a classy joint, not some frat. Or at least, that's the excuse.

There are a few other things to do, mostly in the more generic range of party games, including a deck of Cards Against Humanity that Taako discovered a couple weeks ago and had been delighted by. He's definitely going to wrangle people into a game of Never Have I Ever, maybe Truth Or Dare, and anything else he can think of that requires drinking alcohol and saying stupid shit. What better way is there to get to know people?

As things wind down, the backdoors open up into the courtyard, where a fire is set up, cushions and blankets placed outside for people to curl up with. The fixings for s'mores are available for anyone who somehow still has room to eat more food, and there's mulled cider just in case the fire isn't enough to keep people warm. It's a nice way to wrap up the evening.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Cisco is visibly and unabashedly delighted by this turn of events. All traces of annoyance or darkness are swept away and he just grins. H'd guessed right, after all. ]

Do I get to ask who?

[ Which isn't the same as asking, technically. Just asking if he can ask. ]

I suppose you can, since it is not a secret.

[ But he huffs all the same. ]

Most know him as Captain America.

Oh!

[ There's clear recognition in Cisco's face - he had honestly been expecting some variation on 'fuck off' rather than an answer, and certainly not a name he had heard before. Still, he masters his surprise quickly enough, grinning from ear to ear. ]

I've heard a lotta good things. Never actually met him, though.

[ Loki doesn't know what to make of that smile. He takes another sip of his drink to hide his expression. Neither Steve or Loki have advertised their current status, but it's not a secret either. Steve prefers his privacy. He is the opposite, never been keen on hiding too much of himself away, like a secret shame.

But he is none of those things to Steve, so it is easy to bear. ]

It was not his good that attracted me.

What was it, then?

[ Cisco seems genuinely curious; he really doesn't know a whole lot about Captain America, aside from the fact that at least some version of him is friends with a few people Cisco knows - Tony, Sam, Peggy - and that they all seem to look up to him. ]

Was it a one time thing or are you two together?

[ Loki debates on what he should say. For him, it was oddly clear-cut even if feelings for Loki were messy, complicated matters. He doesn't trust easily and he's very used to being let down. He'll never be fully rid of his insecurities and the uncomfortable sensation he carries with him, the sign of an impostor, a fake among real people. ]

I am a difficult person. So is he. But we made a choice to work as one.

[ He pauses because Loki rarely expresses sentiment, but Steve deserves that, even in a third-party conversation. ]

We are together.

That's actually really romantic.

[ He'd been expecting an answer that was either flippant - a comment about looks, or a joke about some circumstance or another - or perhaps something a bit cliche. Loki's answer just seems very honest, and real. It kind of throws him for a loop. ]

Were you two together before you came here?

[ There's a dry chuckle. ]

No. Such a thing would not be possible.

[ Even if they hail from different yet similar universes, no one would have deigned to trust Loki so intimately. Would bother getting that close. ]

[ Cisco, meanwhile, just assumes it's the latter explanation. It's a common enough story, in this place, considering how many and varied people's home universes were. So he just nods a little and says: ]

Different universes. Got it.

[ A part of him wants to ask if they've had a talk about if either of them wants to return home, and what they'll do then, but he's aware that would be crossing way over the line, and probably not fun light party talk, either. So he allows his curiosity to go unsatisfied for the time being. ]

[ It's still up for discussion. Loki can't ask Steve to come with him, especially when the possibility of death has escalated. He has his people to look to. His brother to protect. Suddenly, his hands are full with things he is afraid of losing. ]

I believe it is my turn. Though this would be easier if I knew anything about Earth.

Can't be all that different than Asgard, can it?

[ As soon as Cisco says that, he seems to reconsider, laughing softly and admitting: ]

Okay, maybe it can. Seriously, though - you're dating a guy from Earth and still don't know anything about it?

[ Loki probably knows more than he realizes, Cisco figures. ]

[ Loki pauses, mulling over it. ]

I have seen some of your media and obviously met a fair many humans. But they were, I assume, not the norm.

[ Cisco really doesn't want to think what Loki must believe about Earth, if he's mainly learned about it through movies. Cisco loves movies! But real life is a lot more laundry and a lot less car chases. ]

And what makes you think I would be?

[ Considering the people he knows from Earth, it is a mix of ideas. ]

Are you saying you don't do normal things?

I'm saying... I do normal things and also some not-normal things, too.

[ A great deal of his life had been fairly normal, before the particle accelerator explosion. Since then... less so. ]

I mean, I work with superheroes, we already established that. That's pretty damn not normal.

What is normal then?

[ He has a vague idea, but he's curious to know. ]

My brother Dante.

[ Cisco knows that joke's not going to be informative or funny to Loki, but it amuses him to make it. After all, he'd always been the weird one, had always heard from any number of people that he ought to be more like his brother. ]

Uhhh, getting a job you hate but put up with, watching sports, dating people, liking the same stuff everybody else likes, getting married, having kids or whatever. Not having secret identities, or traveling between dimensions, or fighting psychic gorillas, or acting or looking or feeling too different from anybody else.

[ His lips twitch, which shows Loki does, in fact, get the joke. ]

It seems rather tedious.

[ That comment makes Cisco grin broadly. Somebody who understands! How lovely. ]

I always thought so.

[ He's never quite fallen prey to the temptation of thinking of himself as better than self-proclaimed normal people - but Cisco knows that that kind of life is just not for him. He'd go crazy, doing the same things day in day out, never wondering and questioning and inventing. ]

Just ask me what you'd ask anybody, from Earth or Asgard or wherever. There's bound to be some overlap.

Hmm.

[ Loki considers this. ]

Never have I done anything foolish while drunk.

[ For a moment or two, Cisco is motionless, just staring. Then he bursts out laughing, loud and genuine. He actually sets his drink down because he's worried about spilling it. It's a moment or two before he can get his composure back, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes and shaking his head before taking a very decided gulp of his drink.

A response is probably unnecessary after that, but he says: ]

So many things.

[ There's some self-mockery in there, entirely (Cisco thinks) earned. He had made some truly idiotic decisions while drunk. Some of them funny, some of them a bit less so. ]

[ He blinks. Loki hadn't expected such a strong reaction. ]

I suppose that is normal for humans and Asgardians.

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[closed] a little party never killed nobody

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