[closed] a little party never killed nobody

[spellslots]

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.

Comments

[evasives]

[what about getting burned alive do they fix that?????]

[he seems a little skeptical, but he thinks that's reasonable. not even bacta, as almost magical as it was, could prevent scarring if the wound was bad enough, or not treated soon enough.]

We have a gel called bacta, it heals quite quickly. But it does not always prevent scars.

You are telling me you sustained a bad burn and now there is nothing?

[spellslots]

[Depends how much body is left, Taako could]

Yup! This was only a couple weeks ago, so I'd still probably be dealing with it.

[evasives]

[there's a bit of a pause, not terribly noticeable, but -]

What about older injuries?

[spellslots]

[Pause or not, Taako wonders whether it's curiosity or purposeful, that question.]

Depends on the injury and the skill of the alchemist. There's also like, other kinds of magic that can work on older injuries.

[evasives]

[why would it be purposeful it's clearly pure curiosity!!!]

Something like a broken bone. What other kinds of magic?

[spellslots]

Well, you've got a whole bunch of healing magic from world's like mine, but there's a lotta worlds that pretty much converge here. There's magic here that should be impossible.

[Taako's magic has rules, restrictions, and then there are people like Loki who seem to have unlimited power]

[evasives]

[it hadn't really occurred to him to just...ask. see if there was someone out there who might be able to ease up some of the soreness in his back. it's too much like being vulnerable when he can pretend he's 100% fine. dealing with it seemed a small price to pay for living after scarif.]

Yes, I have been getting that impression. Your kind of magic alone can apparently raise the dead. Lots of things are supposed to be impossible.

[spellslots]

It's kinda cool, kinda terrifying.

[There's a lot of things out there that could severely fuck him up, and that's not fun knowledge to have.

But, more importantly, because Taako is kind of dumb sometimes but he isn't stupid.]

You want me to have a little dig at Gramayre, see if there's that kinda magic?

[To save Cassian having to do it.]

[evasives]

[he usually likes to dig into things himself, but cassian does know the value of having contacts!]

You would probably know better how to ask. [he's the one with magic experience here.] Maybe next time you are there. It's nothing immediate.

[spellslots]

Won't be too long. Lucretia and Loki both work there, I probably spend way too much time there for someone not actually fucking employed by them.

[So it's not really going out of his way or anything.]

[evasives]

[there's a pause.]

Thank you. [he should probably explain why, but he doesn't really want to?? also taako is more of a no questions asked guy anyway.]

I am surprised you don't want to work there.

[spellslots]

Oh, nah, I don't work with anyone but Lup.

[It's an answer that comes quickly, and it's probably not a huge surprise, since Taako generally values his independence, though there's more to it than that.

He doesn't trust like that, not since Sazed, even if magic is different than cooking.]

[evasives]

[that... makes sense. it's not like cassian would want to work anywhere without jyn at this point, even if he's not her twin. nor does he want to be. at all. ew. wait why is that ew????]

You seem better suited to follow your own interests than anything structured anyway.

👀

[spellslots]

Oh, for sure, it's not like I can't do the structure thing but not long term, it gets real boring. The IPRE was the closest I got and that was a hundred year journey across a fuckload of different planets, so I dunno if it counts.

[Davenport tried to keep a decent control on them for the first several cycles but eventually he gave up on order.]

don't give him that look

[evasives]

What, no data analysis for a century instead?

[stability sounds fake anyway.]

I don't think planet hopping counts either, no.

👀👀👀

[spellslots]

I would straight up die, like just - I'd wither away. They'd have to put it on my gravestone, here likes Taako, he fucking died cause his life was too boring.

[He's a big drama queen.]

n o

[evasives]

What, again? I thought you reached your death limit already.

[twenty deaths for permanence???]

y e s

[spellslots]

Pretty sure I've got at least one more left in me, I gotta die for keeps eventually.

[This doesn't worry him. Death won't be the end for him, he's fairly certain of that.

He's not dating Death for nothing.]

literally nothing 2 see here

[evasives]

[there is a stunted silence for longer than usual with cassian. sometimes talking about death trips him up, even when he's trying not to let it!!]

Maybe you will be surprised anyway.

that's what they all say

[spellslots]

[His expression softens a little with that pause.]

Well, my sister is a horrifying spectre of undeath, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised by anything.

it's the truth tho

[evasives]

[he'll get back to that look and the whole surprise thing in a second, but -]

Your sister is a what?

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/001/279/386/6aa.jpg

[spellslots]

[Taako holds up a finger in a gesture to wait, then calls out to Lup:]

Lulu can you drop the vessel for a sec?

[Lup, who's sitting on the couch chatting to someone, makes a face at Taako but does as requested. Her body flops backwards, empty, as a red robed figure floats out of it; it's kind of hard to really make out much, under the robe, but there are hints of bones and fire amidst the blackness.

She dabs, then slides back into her body and returns to her conversation.

Taako smiles at Cassian.]

Horrifying spectre of undeath. She's what's called a lich, normally they're real fucking bad news but Lup and Barry kept their shit together so they're not evil.

it's true but he shouldn't say it.jpg

[evasives]

[honestly. what the fuck. cassian is very used to all manner of weird shit from taako by this point but this one's bizarre enough to earn a slight face of wtf.]

Is that what happens when someone is resurrected? [he doesn't want to get into the fact that evidently his sister is dead which, hashtag relatable, but it's a party, not a death commiseration.]

why would you say something so controversial yet so brave

[spellslots]

Oh, nah, she's a special case? We uh... there was this one world where all of us but Lucretia died in the first couple days and it was pretty fucking terrible.

[It's not his place to talk about Lucretia's year alone, but... it was bad. It was very bad.]

Someone had to get the ship off the plane, for us to resurrect, so Lup and Barry turned themselves into liches, they separated their souls from their bodies. Even if they died, they could still work the ship.

i say idk a lot but i be knowin

[evasives]

[he takes it all in with relative stride but it's all so... odd and almost crazy to imagine a place where death is not permanent. where there's a choice like that even available. taako might sound careless about it, but it makes him wonder too if he really is that blase.]

Your universe is very lenient with death.