paradisalogs | Alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities

Who: Felix Harrowgate and anyone
What: A new years party
When: January 1st
Where: Chimera headquarters
Rating: Pg-13 for heavy drinking, at least

The central hall of Chimera headquarters is today taken up with a pair of tables, one covered with all matter of foods from finger sandwiches and deviled eggs, to salted nuts and chocolate-covered fruits, while the other is littered with nearly every beverage one might think of - tea, coffee, milk, punch, and fruit juices. It wasn't quite the expected spread for a new year's party, but that was because the castle had done them the favor of making any liquid carry the effects of the usual party beverages. A small table near the door, however, had at some point in the day appeared, carrying liquors and champagne for those who actually preferred their alcohol to taste as such. The ghosts stood sentry to keep whatever it was the attendees wanted flowing.

Most of that is likely forgotten near the end of the day, and the arrangement of comfortable chairs in the adjoining office begin to look far more comfortable a place to sit once the room starts to spin a little. Getting air on the balcony is an option, of course, but take care not to fall off of it.

((OOC:Feel free to set your tag at any time during the evening (though really, you know we're all here for the drunk shenanigans). Please see the link above for info on the layout of the area.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's been awhile since they've spoken last, but Howl is perpetually friendly, and this evening seems the perfect time to catch up, as well as serving as a reminder that he ought to spend a little less time cooped up with his own personal project. Glass in hand, he leans idly against the wall.

"The party seems to be off to a good start, don't you think?"

It really had, but Vanyel had had his hands full with his lover. It was odd, fitting back into that sort of life, but he was enjoying it and aching for every moment of it when he could get it. So many years of being alone, and to have him again was a joy beyond compare.

He looked over when Howl spoke and smiled brightly, brushing a stray strand of silver hair back into place. "Howl! And yes, it really is. I'm pleased with the turnout. It's not often we all get together like this, which is a shame? Which one are you drinking?" He nodded at his glass.

"We should do it more often," he agreed. "Although the castle isn't always so obliging." It would probably have been far harder to acquire quite the same level of refreshments on any other date.

"That one," he replied, pointing to a tall green bottle nearly the same shade of green as his own eyes. Which might have been why, in a fit of vanity, he'd picked it.

"Ah, yes, I know what you mean," he nodded. They could all be trapped in another world or fighting for their lives. It made revelry a bit difficult at times, did it not?

He turned to the bottle and he reached out, considering it before popping the top and pouring himself some into his empty glass. He put it back and held it up to Howl, smiling brightly.

"Here's to a new year!" he declared. "And many more gatherings of our friends!"

Howl grinned and held up his own glass in toast. "More gatherings and less trouble," he agreed. And while he also hoped there would be no further reduction in their numbers, he did not say so aloud, as it seemed akin to wishing they be deprived of their respective homes longer than they already had.

He nodded his head and took a deep swig of his drink in acknowledgement of their toast, looking around the room. "Ah, I was going to introduce you to Tylendel. Have you met him yet?" he asked the blonde mage, blue eyes looking back at him for a moment before flickering around again, more curious than worried.

"I don't think I have," he replied, though he also wasn't the best at keeping track of people, especially here in the castle where so many seemed to come and go endlessly. "A friend of yours, I take it?"

He flushed, but it was the happy kind, not embarrassed.

"My Bonded," he corrected, the same way one corrects when you've confused their fiancee for their wife. "Soul mate is a close word I've found to explain it. He is a Herald, like me."

Without a Companion, but he had been buried in his Whites, and Vanyel would never not think of him as a Herald.

Howl nodded at the explanation. "I haven't any idea what that means, but I'm glad you're happy." And he clearly was, if the look on his face was any indication.

"It... I am glad he is here. I have missed his presence," he said softly, the flush no less bright, though the way he said it made it seem like distance had not been the only factor in their separation. Yet he offered nothing on the subject beyond that. It was not something he would relate with a loose tongue. It was not his to tell, not the whole of it, and Tylendel suffered enough guilt as it was.

"I will take it as proof that for all the castle robs from us, it occasionally gives back as well." Not to him, apparently, but he was well aware that he hadn't suffered half as much as he might have, either.

"Yes, I suppose that is true. I certainly cannot complain for his presence," he said with a dreamy smile. "At times, it makes me think coming here was the best thing that has happened to me in a long time."

That caused him to laugh. "In that case, life must have either been horrifyingly dismal, or you've had far too much to drink."

"Maybe a bit of both?" he mused on that. "I mean, I had only just managed to stop an international fiasco before I came here and stopped the murder of a child-king and nearly died - again." He shrugged. "By comparison, being here with my Bonded again, I prefer it. Or it could be the drink. I don't drink a lot, did you know?"

"So it's a vacation of sorts," he replied. After all of that, he supposed it might be welcome, despite all the castle got up to. "I could have guessed it," he laughed. "It shows."

He flushed, but laughed around it and nodded his head.

"I suppose it would. There's just no time for it back home, and always being on alert. I just never got into the habit."

"Well, then. You have a good excuse to indulge tonight." And Howl wouldn't rib him too hard about being something of a cheap date.

Alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities

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