so pile your boots up in the corner -- hang your jacket from the door

[herotypical]

Who: anyone invited to house seven's thanksgivingstravaganza -- as well as anyone walking by who might be curious about all the brouhaha.
What: giving thanks!
When: forward dated to november 24th due to predicted holiday hiatuses!
Where: house seven!
Summary: friends, food, fondness. family. festivities.
Rating: g for goin' up.

House Seven was decked out in soft oranges and browns. Gentle reds and yellows. The table was shoved up against a wall and dish upon dish of delicious Thanksgiving dinner-bits adorned it. Plates to one side, a pile of cutlery. Feel free to line up and pile your arms high with roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, carrots and green beans, cranberry sauce, sinful gravy. Stuffing. Steamed broccoli. The amount of food would almost be laughable had the guest list not been so long. Chatter abounded.

It was, by all accounts, a fairly casual gathering. No ceremony (Buffy, by this point, was all ceremony'd out after some fiercely dedicated meal-prepping) to stand on and no customs to keep. Just food and friendship. The only thing customary about Buffy Summers would be her delighted, enchanted grin throughout the evening. Very little pleased her more than a social event that was going well.

Mix! Mingle! Make merry!

(ooc; threadjack into oblivion and don't forget to add your character to the entry tags! have fun! note that this is forward-dated. i'll be tagging around myself later this evening. )

Comments

[folklorist]

He will startle at that tap almost dropping his plate of cookies. Oh dear.

"Oh! Ginia! Happy Thanksgiving to you as well! It's really rather wonderful, ah, all this I mean." He motions to the house in its entirety.

"Are you having a good time?"

[shadedsunlight]

Ack! Unintentional startling! Ginia offers a sheepish and apologetic smile.

/Sorry about that, didn't mean to scare you. And I am. This is all really nice. How about you?/

[folklorist]

"Oh no! It's fine, Ginia. Wasn't expecting that is all." A smile crosses his face at that.

"I'm glad. It's always a bit...hard to celebrate something like this away from home. At least it was for me. But I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. And I am as well. It's all very nice." Helios gives a nod before holding out his plate.

"Cookie? I did just bake them before I decided to stop by."

[shadedsunlight]

/Buffy did a great job with all of this./ There's a general wave of her hand around at the house, all festive and friendly and nice. /It's a bit like home.

And don't mind if I do. Thank you!/ And one turkey-shaped cookie will be taken.

[folklorist]

"It certainly does strike a bit of memory doesn't it? But it's all rather homey, she did a wonderful job. Odd to say but...we did use to celebrate our own type of Thanksgiving, despite not being from America ourselves." He'll smile as she takes one.

"Tell me how they turned out."

[shadedsunlight]

/Really? How did you celebrate?/

Ginia bites into the cookie - head first, much more humane that way - and smiles and nods her approval. Sweet and delicious, perfect.

/Have I mentioned how much I love your cooking?/

[folklorist]

"O-Oh well we still had turkey just, um, Romanian dishes usually. It was quite nice. I suppose my parents picked up a bit of the American tradition when they used to visit the states." Helios shrugs smiling.

"Nothing as fanciful as this." He'll blink and then laugh as he watches Ginia. "I-I'm glad you like them! I was worried they were a bit too...sweet. You know me and sugar and all." Yes Helios your sweet tooth knows no bounds.

[shadedsunlight]

/It does sound nice. I think the most important part of the holiday is really spending time with those you love. Believe me, I've had some good pizza Thanksgivings before./

Ginia gives a small wave of her hand, happily munching down the rest of the cookie and even reaching for another one. From one sweet tooth to another, they're wonderfully delicious.

[folklorist]

"That's very true. That can be said of almost any holiday. The people you spend it with and the company you keep make all the difference." A smile.

"I see you approve then." Just a good humored chuckle from him.

[shadedsunlight]

/I do approve. You should probably take the plate away from me before I finish them all./ Though even with that signed, Ginia reaches for another cookie.

[folklorist]

Helios laughs and goes to put them down on the table after she takes one more. Okay, there, cookies saved. "There's plenty, so, need to worry about that! But I'll keep in mind your enthusiasm perhaps I can make some more tomorrow or...mm Christmas." Look at him thinking about Christmas already.

[shadedsunlight]

Much better. Now someone else has a chance at the cookies and she has to make a greater effort to snag them.

/Easy there, let's finish off one holiday before we start the next one. But Christmas... and your birthday. The 15th, was it? And there's still that dinner to welcome you two back, I'm still determined to see that through./

[folklorist]

Oh Ginia you make Helios laugh there is just a derpy smile on his face.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I do get a bit into the holiday spirit this time of the year!" It's said with a laugh before he clears his throat.

"Oh...y-you don't have to-to do anything for my birthday, really." Ah yes the dinner, the dinner he still feels rather guilty about. He nods.

"D-Dinner yes. Um, w-well it depends on what happens. You know Luceti." Luceti indeed. "It seems to have a bit of a mission in ruining our dinner plans." He says as jokingly as possible because really? It's almost a joke not a very good one but one nonetheless.

[shadedsunlight]

/Nothing wrong with that, it's a good spirit to get into. It gets so fun and festive./

There's a grin and a dismissive wave of her hand. Sorry, but she's definitely doing something for his birthday, especially now that her birthday is on the table.

But dinner, oh dinner, and the Malnosso finding ways to delay their dinners. /I think we need to stop planning dinners for the following week and pick a date on the following month. But there, how about next week? New month, and we'll all have recovered from a turkey coma by then./

[folklorist]

He frowns. He knows that dismissive wave. "R-Really Ginia you don't have to do anything for me. Th-the dinner will be more than enough."

Really he's not too concerned about celebrating his birthday even though last year was a bit...dampened what with Giles leaving. He's almost a bit fearful something like that will happen again. He snaps back to the current conversation.

"Next week sounds delightful. If, um, Giles doesn't mind. H-Have you seen him? Ah, no, what am I saying you probably have." A sheepish laugh, "a silly question to ask."

[shadedsunlight]

She may furiously protest any celebrations relating to her own birthday, but letting a friend's birthday go uncelebrated? Preposterous. /That would be cheating. This dinner is for the you of you being back and fine. There will be something else for your birthday./

She smiles and laughs quietly, panning the room for him. /Yes, I spoke to him earlier. I don't quite see him right now, maybe he's in the kitchen./

[folklorist]

"B-but that's...that's so much work. A-And I'm sure it'd be easier to just have one..." Helios frowns and then sighs.

"I-I'm not going to talk you out of it though am I?" He shouldn't bother but, well Helios never thinks himself much in terms of getting a birthday party or dinner. He will divert his attention to the rest of the room now though.

"I-I'll just have to g-go look for him then. I-I wasn't planning on staying very long, really. J-Just checking up on the, um, house and ah to thank Buffy." He didn't really mean to stay long at least.

[shadedsunlight]

/For a friend? Completely worth it. Besides, I love cooking. Nothing big, I promise. Close friends, quiet setting, lots of good food? And I'm afraid not. You deserve having a good birthday. I think Giles would agree with me on this./

Ginia watches him, arms crossing over her chest for a moment as she studies him. The two really had so much in common. No wonder they were such good friends.

/Check the walls and corners. And this isn't my party, but I hope you stay a bit. It's Thanksgiving./

[folklorist]

Helios slouches a little. All good points and coupled with the fact that he didn't really celebrate his birthday all that much back home as it was...

But having Ginia of all people...making him something after everything he did? It seemed wrong somehow or maybe it was just him and his crippling self deprecating nature.

"H-He probably w-would. But, but it's really quite alright. I-I don't want you to overwork yourself or anything like that." Helios is just rubbing the back of his neck as he says that, looking down at the floor as well.

[shadedsunlight]

There are actions of the past that have been forgiven (though not forgotten) and sometimes it's best staying in the present. If kind things can't be done for good friends, then what's left?

Ginia leans forward and gently waves her hand in front of Helios' face to get his attention before she begins signing again.

/Please, I would hardly be overworking myself. I enjoy it, it's quite relaxing, and you're a good friend. This is all a very good and worthy cause, believe me.

Besides, it's your birthday. It's not a spend alone and what kind of friends would we be if we didn't do something for it?/

[folklorist]

Helios gives a defeated smile. There's really not much to say to that. He still doesn't think Ginia should have to worry about it, really.

"If-if you insist. I-I would be delighted in any case. Maybe not even a party or-or anything like that." Bare minimum is good enough for Helios when it comes to thing pertaining to himself. Always the bare minimum.

"Anything you decide will be fine and probably amazing as well."

[shadedsunlight]

/Nice quiet dinner with your best friends sound good?/ Because she knows better than to make it any big sort of affair. No, just something nice and low-key, but a reminder of how much all his friends care about him.

[folklorist]

"Y-Yes that, um, that sounds lovely actually." Nothing too big even if Helios himself has hosted many a large party before. He looks genuinely happy at the prospect probably more than he's letting on even. Still he'll motion to one of the tables housing some of the food.

"Have you eaten anything yet? It all looks rather delicious. I'm at a lost as to where to start..." and really he's not sure if he should. Those pies look amazing though.

[shadedsunlight]

/I ate earlier. You have to try some of the turkey. Wild turkey, Jack shot it apparently. Wild turkey in Luceti, who would have thought? And the pumpkin, definitely have some of the pumpkin pie./ This may not be her Thanksgiving party, but darn it, she will make sure everyone is fed. This is delicious food meant to be devoured and enjoyed.

[folklorist]

"He-he did, did he?" Ah Jack right, pirate...shooting turkeys interesting. But Helios has seen and heard worse. "I didn't know we had turkeys here actually." Huh the more you know. Still Helios will look around a bit tentatively as he eyes the food on the tables.

"Ah m-maybe later." Or maybe not at all. It's times when your inadequacy and low perceived sense of intruding in on things that makes social situations somewhat difficult.