chestnuts roasting over an open fire...

[feintofhart]

Who: YOU!!!
Where: Claude's Apothecary (also known as: his house)
What: Claude and Ethlyn decide to host a Christmas party -- they may not be familiar with Christmas, but when in Rome! There will be drinking, dancing, and much revelry, and it's open underneath the guise of a combo grand opening, meaning that it's free for all and sundry to attend!
Warnings: Probably some underage drinking Claude will make no effort to curb, but that's about it.





Welcome, one and all to the Apothecary's grand opening celebration -- which just so happens to coincide with winter festivities! Despite the fact that neither Claude nor Ethlyn have any familiarity with Christmas whatsoever, they've decided to put together a party anyway, and what a party it is! At the front of the room, Claude and Root have put together an assortment of festive outfits for people to wear: all manner of ridiculous Christmas sweaters from Root, and from Claude, an assortment of reindeer horns and Santa hats if you choose to get as decked out as he is.

Inside, all breakables and valuables have been safely tucked away and have been replaced by all manner of decorations: glittering lights, bristly boughs, a Christmas tree and, of course, an assortment of mistletoe hanging over everyone's heads, ready to ensnare an unlikely couple or two in a requisite smooch. The entire place is, in fact, absolutely covered in festive greenery, courtesy of Kurama -- a little overkill, maybe, but they can't help themselves. Even if you duck past the mistletoe, it may have a way of finding you anyway; Kurama has a mischievous streak, and the ability to grow unlimited amounts of mistletoe to dog your steps.

Every surface seems absolutely covered in anything you might want from a feast, from unctious meats still dripping in their own fats to enormous platters of roasted vegetables and freshly prepared rolls and flatbreads to trays filled with biscuits and pies glittering with sugar. Also available for everyone's consumption - and Claude's not checking IDs as long as the kids aren't being too foolhardy - is a seemingly endless supply of libations, from steaming jugs of mulled wine to mugs filled with buttered rum to an open container of punch ready for the spiking. In the background are a few local musicians that Claude hired to play for them, though the stage is set for any tipsy guests to try their hand at entertaining the crowd.

On a table at the back are wrapped presents that are ready for the taking for anyone who wins at an assortment of games - with anything inside ranging from the Apothecary's own wares of teas and tinctures to pantry items from local vendors to a cute cuddly stuffed animal or two - if you choose to partake. Games of Questions and Commands (essentially Truth or Dare), Flapdragon (a game in which you must drain your glass to see what prize you win at the bottom) to card and board games are available for people to compete at. Everyone loves a good parlor game. Or, for those with a bolder constitution, Snapdragon is available outside, in which people set shallow dishes of brandy and dried fruits out, set it aflame, and ask people to go bobbing for the fruit at deadly risk of losing their lashes and brows. Spectating the whole scene is Claude's wyvern, who guests are welcome to go out and greet anytime they like.

Finally, for those more retiring in nature, and exclusively Claude's closest friends: he will allow some into his private quarters to have a little rest from all the fuss and noise. It's a good place for quiet conversation if you can hack it, or even to nap off the worst of the booze. For anyone else who wants some peace and quiet, you'll have to settle for the employee break room, a modestly undecorated place with a supply of caffeinated beverages and flat surfaces to rest upon.

Feel free to make up your own prompts and just use this as a fun holiday space for gift exchanges and drunken festivities! Happy holidays, Expiation!

Comments

[feintofhart]

[ The thing about Claude is that he's a charmer. He always has been, always will be -- he's quick with a wink or a suggestive raise of the brow, coy and teasing in a way that has made everyone around him assume that he's taking home women on the regular. He capitalizes on it even in the store, flirting incorrigibly with the ladies (and occasionally the men, though that's a more frightful prospect for someone of Claude's era), and even back home, he had a reputation of seducing his enemies out of their intel.

It is, however, a check that Claude has never actually cashed, and being confronted with that has him looking a little taken aback. ]

Kurama, that cad! You know, I've been going around dodging the mistletoe. Perks of being the business owner. [ He raises a brow at her, lip curled. ] Won't your girlfriend be jealous?

[computation]

Not even a little, [ she says with confident self-assurance.

They've never had a discussion about having an open relationship, but they've never really needed to. Root and Shaw are drawn to one another for many reasons, but a major, compelling one is how little they fit into conventional society. They don't ask each other for permission for anything, and they know where they stand with one another, unshakable. What they have together can't be threatened by anything or anyone else. Not even the Machine.

But this is about Claude, and Root shoots him a wicked smile, twining a lock of frizzled hair around her forefinger coyly. ]

I'll settle for a kiss on the cheek, but I'll be disappointed. I went to all this effort.

[feintofhart]

I don't think I've ever met anyone with as much gall as you do. First, you barge in demanding a job! Then, you have me assault your double! And now this?

[ He ensnares her hand in his, an action arguably more tender, more intimate than a simple kiss, and bends down in a show of gentlemanly flair as his lips tickle her knuckles. He's getting some of his composure back, but it's not difficult to see the way his blush runs over his cheeks all the way up into his ears. He truly, truly was taken aback.

Then he leans in, breath hot against her cheek, voice canted low. ]

I fear my reputation is misleading. Your audacity is irresistible and I may look the other way when you steal from my shelves, but even you won't steal my first kiss. I'm a romantic, you know.

[ He does give her a warm kiss on the cheek before he pulls away, still holding her hand if she has not reclaimed it yet, green eyes filled with mirth, as though to say: I haven't even had my first kiss yet! Isn't that strange? Isn't that funny?

She won't tell. Or, well, if she does, that's none of Claude's business. It is not so salacious a thing. ]

[computation]

[ Seeing him blush and learning he's a romantic who's saving his first kiss absolutely delights her. It's much better than getting an actual kiss. Root loves finding these hidden depths to people, and finding them in people she actually likes is something she cherishes.

Plus, saying her audacity is irresistible might be the nicest thing anyone's ever said to her. It says some interesting things about Claude to boot. ]

You are a sweet talker, [ she says in open admiration. Game recognizes game and she respects it immensely. Root lifts his hand in hers and kisses his knuckles right back before relinquishing her hold. It leaves a little smudge of lipstick on his fingers, which was exactly her intent. She has to get her own in and pull off her ploy even if she relents on the terms of the execution. ]

You're really saving your first kiss? Do you have anybody in mind? [ She's intensely curious. What's Claude's type? Is he interested in anyone already? What's he hoping to get out of a relationship?

She adds cheekily, ] Someone with a lot of gall, I hope.

[feintofhart]

[ Claude laughs again, though he has to give into the urge to cover half of his face with one hand, feeling far more flustered about the whole thing than he wants to. He was hoping that Root would switch to teasing him for his inexperience instead, which he could feasibly respond to with the same sort of lofty cheekiness he always does; having her show an earnest interest when Claude himself has never voiced this inclination aloud is somehow even more embarrassing. ]

Gods, when you put it like that...

[ Claude's the one who said it in the first place. But saving his first kiss just sounds so juvenile. As much as he's trying to play it off, he's clearly embarrassed. It's probably what he deserves. He's usually the one pestering people the way Root is now, and about their love lives to boot. He's nosy; he's just not used to others being nosy right back at him. ]

No, I don't have anybody in mind, though it would have to be someone willing and able to keep up with me, if that answers that, [ he says, a breath of a laugh on his voice. ] A couple people back home, perhaps, but none here.

[ It's slim pickings for a guy like Claude. He feels comfortable around precious few, and the ones within his age range he does feel that comfort with are already steadfastly and happily taken. ]

[computation]

[ Root is worldly and cynical in the extreme, but that just makes her more appreciative when she finds something that breaks that mold. She knows now that it exists, that it's possible; and when she finds it, she wants to protect it, insulate it from the almost inevitable erosion caused by reality. If Claude wants to save his first kiss, who's she to mind? It's unexpected and very sweet. His outright embarrassment is so charming. ]

I know what you mean. [ About needing someone willing and able to keep up with him. Her gaze softens. ] I never thought I'd find that until I found Shaw.

Tell me about them -- the people back home? [ It's the obvious next question, and Root isn't about to hold back on prying. ]

[feintofhart]

[ Claude laughs lightly, still flustered and taken aback -- never before has anyone had the nerve to ask him about his crushes. It feels strangely infantile when compared with the fact that Root and Shaw apparently aren't just rattling their bedchambers or having a bit of fun. He hadn't pegged Root as a romantic, but evidently there's more to her and Shaw than he could glean just observing them from across the room. ]

You and Shaw are that serious? [ He says, surprise and warmth alike bleeding into his face. ] Fine, I'll tell you mine, but I'd like to hear about you two later. I didn't realize there was room in your heart for another.

[ He's teasing her a little, but there's a thread of truth to his words. Principled people are rarely able to sustain partners that can keep up with them, or accept having to play second fiddle to the more important mission they have in life. Claude would know; it's a matter he's meditated on about himself for some time now, having come to the conclusion that while he's allowed his dalliances, it's fairer for everyone involved for him to wind up in an arranged political marriage. He hums. ]

The two I had my eye on back in the day... I went to a school for little lordling brats, present company included. [ He shoots her a flash of a smile. ] I was the head of one of three houses at the Officers Academy we attended and he the head of another. He was terribly principled and stuck in his ways and proper. To this day, I haven't met anyone else who was quite as fun to fluster. By the end of the year, I daresay he started to enjoy his daily tormenting. [ He pauses reflectively. ] Not too bad to look at in the Sauna, either.

[ It had felt like a gift to Claude personally to discover the existence of the Sauna. It seemed a scandalous thing in the middle of a Monastery but, in the midst of the bitterly cold winter months, it had served as a welcome salve to Claude's chapped skin... and something of an awakening for a teenaged boy who was suddenly faced with a whole lot of skin. ]

The other is my absolutely shameless right-hand man. She'll take pains to never have to lift a finger, which has made her the most impressive delegator the country has ever known. She seems very delicate and dainty, about yea high - [ he holds his hand at around roughly five feet ] - up until you see her flying across the battlefield with an axe as big as she is. I can barely lift it.

[ He's hit with a pang of longing. It's no great romantic longing - for all that he's considered the two of them, it had always been a passing fancy overshadowed by his genuine fondness for them - but longing nonetheless. Thinking about Dimitri fills him with nostalgia for better, easier days. But Hilda's his best friend, even if he's not hers. She had been so reliable in backing him up and cheering him on, of seeing past all of his bullshit and setting him to task. He's so focused on his goals that he rarely thinks about the people he misses, and some combination of the drink and the question make him feel unaccountably maudlin for a moment. This place would be a much happier place with her company whispering something catty into his ear from time to time. ]

Their strength's the only thing they have in common.

[computation]

Of course it is. You wouldn't be interested in anyone weak.

[ Root means that as an incredibly high compliment. She has strong suppressed feelings about people who prey on others, certain limits she herself had never crossed even as a hired killer, and it speaks well of Claude that the only people he's interested in are ones that could stand up to him.

She could say plenty of things about her and Shaw and how she makes room for her alongside her devotion to the Machine -- as Claude suspects, it's not a simple or trivial matter for Root -- but her instinct is always to pry more out of others rather than give anything away herself. It's funny, too, but she doesn't see reminiscing about people lost as wasted time. Sometimes remembering someone is all you have. And romance isn't the end all, be all of human connection; if she believed that, she'd never be head over heels for someone like Shaw, who doesn't fit anyone's conventional definition of romance. ]

Whoever gets your first kiss will be lucky. [ Root winks saucily. ] But not as lucky as whoever gets your second.

[ Don't put too much emphasis on the first one, she means; it doesn't matter nearly as much as who you choose to spend time on. ]

[feintofhart]

[ He laughs, though his flush reaches the tips of his ears. It is a strange thing, coming to a place like this where people will kiss and canoodle and discuss private things in public without a trace of shame. It's an attitude that Claude agrees with, in fact, and would appreciate if it made its way to his own home country. Approving of such things and being comfortable with them are two separate matters, however, and he still has not found himself accustomed to it. ]

I'm a quick learner, [ he says cheekily. ] I have no doubt that I'll get better with time.

[ He shrugs. ] In all earnestness, I'm likely to wind up in a political marriage. That rarely stops anyone from doing what they please in their own time, though, and hopefully whoever she is will be strong in wits, if nothing else. [ He glances at Root, amused. ] Does it not reflect poorly on me to seek out strength? It's quite frowned upon in Fodlan.

[ It's quite unlike what anyone in Fodlan idealizes. They're all about the dashing knight and the damsel in distress, the likes of Ferdinand and Lorenz seeming to simply beam with delight whenever a lady so much sprains an ankle around them, tut-tutting at all of the brutish ladies that surround them. It's never made sense to Claude, but he is after all his father's son. ]