{ 𝕒 } boomerang generation

[theminotaur]

WHO: Residents of Casa Ludgate-Graham & invited guests!
WHERE: Casa Ludgate-Graham
WHEN: Afternoon to evening of Saturday, Aug 8
WHAT: Abigail's 19th (???) Birthday Party!
WARNINGS: Um, Baltimore tbh?

-

While technically Abigail is unsure of how old she is -- there are too many missing months between Baltimore and Heropa and more between Heropa and Heropa -- nineteen is close enough and probably makes up for those missing months. Maybe.

But like Jeff said, it's foolproof.

She huffs and puffs about no party, but then Will made that face and she begrudgingly gave in so long as it was just a cook out and there were no streamers or balloons. Which is why the backyard is decked out with fairy lights and Chinese lanterns and a piñata in the shape of a llama, which she is not complaining about, and another in the shape of a bumblebee, which she vaguely protests because bees are good!

Cheeseburgers and hot dogs and chicken and other assorted barbecued meats are on the grill, there are bowls of macaroni salad, potato salad, pasta salad, regular salad, and a truly ridiculous amount of grilled veggies on the table out back. There are coolers full of soda and probably beer, tbh. The other alcohol is inside so the youths won't get it, presumably. At least that's what they're going with. Somewhere in the kitchen is a cake with candles.

Also there are dogs. And raccoons, both adult and funsize. And an impossibly fluffy cat who thinks she's a raccoon by now. But that seems to be the norm at the Ludgate-Graham home.


{ ooc: party post style, y'all. make a top level, tag around, be merry. make shit up on the menu. go cray. }

Comments

abigail ✃ open

[theminotaur]

So obviously Abigail is at her own birthday party, even if it's not a typical birthday party. She incredibly at ease in her own backyard and with her little family, which is one of the few times she is completely at ease, when the smiles come without effort and laughter is a thing that happens.

Barefoot and in a white sundress with a pale pink sweater, she looks the picture of a Midwestern teenager and not any of the bad things she's ever been called, chasing one of the dogs around the backyard because he stole her phone. YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THUMBS, WHO ARE YOU GOING TO TEXT??

Aside from that, she is a good hostess and makes sure the veggies are always well stocked, even if she has to head back into the kitchen to make more, and keeps the ice in the coolers stocked. She's easily grabbed for conversation though and if there is a cat stalking your hot dog, the best bet is to call Abigail to rid yourself of the feline stalker. Ziggy is easily distracted by treats.

Fat ass.

Basically, whatever.

[shuckit]

[ if there's anything that'll get thomas out of his cheeseburger shaped bed of angst and moping, it's the promise of so, so much food.

the past few days, he's been mostly incommunicado, busy either sleeping, or obsessively going through the network, or tossing his phone across the room and bugging grey instead, or texting teresa about junk food, or attempting to sleep, and occasionally leaving the house to go to work at loki's club. adjusting back to """""normal life""""" this round of returns from home has been harder. maybe something about it being over now. maybe something about the sneaking fear that it isn't. mostly just wondering how the world(s) can keep turning when so many aren't part of it anymore.

but then there's abigail, and there's lanterns and lights and arguments about bees, and the whole house smells like amazing food, and there's dogs bouncing around everywhere, and april is probably hating on someone or something, and there's just so much life. there's grey, there's teresa, there's most of the people still dear to him, that he's so afraid of losing, all here smiling and laughing.

so, thomas will be hanging out in various places - in the backyard, playing with the dogs. probably wrestling some of the bigger dogs. eating way more food than it looks like he can even fit in him. playing around with grey with a big grin on his lips. sitting quiet and contentedly with teresa, possibly with fingers snuck into hers. possibly also in the kitchen, digging for that other alcohol that the youths aren't supposed to get into, after having mad a face at the 'beer'. look, after having moonshine made by teenagers, most things just taste like really gross koolaid. maybe he's already gotten his pilfered adult drinks and is sitting around with some of it in a really dorky looking sippy cup or something.

whatever, he'll be around, looking more energetic than he's been since getting here. so, come say hi ]

ota!

[munies]

[ for a lack of better words, Teresa's seriously glad to be here, but for the most part she's just derping around. really, just derping. in a cool way! ..no, okay, it's not that cool. she's trying her best not to be an awkward turtle here, and it's not that she's shy, this is just- kinda really new to her. still. this is different than a swear-in, this is a small party that she was actually invited to. by someone she met here. a friend! it's personal. it's a big deal. but she's still sort of hanging on the outskirts of things, more just people-watching than people-interacting. and yes, she realizes she could just stick with Thomas the whole time and that would be a pretty easy way to get her to loosen up and chill out and maybe just talk to people, but, since when does Teresa take the easy way out? she'll seek him out eventually.

but for now! she's just trying to figure this scene out. this very normal, very low-pressure scene. and maybe hang out with whichever dog finds her first. dogs are nice. if only introducing herself to new people at a party was as easy as introducing herself to new puppydogs at a party. she'd be introducing herself to everybody! but for now she'll just hang here with one of the dogs. yeahman. total cool kid over here, look out. ]

mary | open

[sizetwelve]

[ Regardless of her ongoing concerns, there has to be time made for Abigail's party. Even if Mary had seen her on her birthday, this is the true celebration, sanctioned by the existence of a gaggle of youths and then a surprising number of grown adults. If there's any awkwardness to be had because of this, it isn't on Mary's end. She knows enough people that she'll have to seek everyone out once, young or old, and offer to help the party's hosts at least twice (she knows her way around, after all).

By definition of 'cookout', there will be food barbecued, but forgive her if she brought something already made beforehand: a strawberry rhubarb pie with brown sugar and cinnamon crumb topping. After dropping that off with the other food, she's thrilled to follow Abigail's example in losing her shoes. Mary sports jeans and a bright red blouse, but little else to accessorize in the way of jewelry save gold post earrings, as she isn't very worried about putting on the strongest of fronts while here.

She is rather comfortable in this homestead, though not so much that some part of her isn't on edge (no part that should be visible to any passerby, save perhaps one very observant resident at this house). Anything can go wrong at any time, but with so many efficient adults here, it ought to be smooth sailing for everybody except those pinatas.

When not sitting down next to people to greet them, she'll be keeping her foodstuffs to the potato salad and grilled veggies while eyeballing said pinatas. They make them sturdier than they use to, don't they? It will be a treat to see how many beatdowns they'll take. ]

[infomodder]

[Will has taken on the role of Dad with great zest. Want something off the grill? No problem, he'll put it wherever he's told to (eating hot dogs without the bun is a legitimate way to eat hot dogs). Have a request? He has ears, make it heard. The line on his apron is totally just a joke, all requests will be answered without additional dog hair. Or raccoon hair. Cat hair...hamster hair...people hair...nothing here is people. At all.

Other than being a purveyor of all things grilled, Will is on duty for literally everything needed. Low on drinks? He'll fetch them. No ice? Let him fix that. Toilet stopped working? Thanks for telling him, he'll keep that secret safe and see what he can do. Dog ate off the plate someone put down without thinking? Can't fix that sort of stupid but he'll wait until they're not around to give the formerly scolded dog a high five. He's completely unconcerned with anyone underage drinking the strong stuff, he won't make a single comment about how much anyone eats, and even though he's going about doing ten different things at any given time...Will still has an ability to hone in on where Abigail is. In the midst of many other voices and noise from nature and the outside, Will's connected to her enough that he can pick her out of the crowd, and keeping his eyes off her for longer than ten minutes at a time is really just not in his playbook today.]

[acclimatized]

[ john is here of course. abigail has become an important person in his wife's life and, by proxy, his too. mary put her culinary skills to good use and made a strawberry rhubarb pie for the party; john has a simple pink envelope safely tucked away in his jacket until he can personally hand it over to the birthday girl. they both agreed this is the best choice in gift, although other people may disagree with them.

when he isn't conversing with other guests, he's crouched down fussing the dogs and slipping them some food when the chef isn't looking. though somehow, he doubts will would mind all that much. ]

ota.

[cupio]

[ She only knows like two people at this party. But that doesn't bother her at all. There's so many animals for her to play with and food to have and she's having a pretty good time regardless of the fact that she's pretty much a stranger.

( Abigail invited her, so she's not crashing at least. )

She'll either be getting more food, or exploring the garden, or playing with a billion puppies delighted and amused. ]

Grey | OTA

[kinesia]

[ Grey is probably the only one at this party who isn't trying to get into the alcohol. He leaves that for everyone else, and contents himself with Will's barbecue food and enjoying a house full of people.

Actually, this house is getting to the stage where it's almost always full of people, even without others being invited over. Grey loves that. Thanks to his first couple of days here, he has a persistent fear of an empty house. He never likes to hear it silent. Waking up to the sound of water running, footsteps moving, people talking or calling to each other, animals scrabbling around the place - that's what makes this feel like home.

Speaking of the animals, Grey is looking after an energetic raccoon that spends its time either dancing across his shoulders, or scrabbling through his hair. He doesn't seem to mind either way, and happily shares his food with it. By nature he is quiet - not only because he doesn't speak, but because he makes so little noise when he moves - but everything about his body language is relaxed.

There is also literal language on his body. Most people here will know him well enough that the tattoos covering his arms and chest will be familiar. When he does stop to talk to people, fresh words appear on his undecorated skin. He seems happy enough to spend the afternoon like that. When the food is done, he'll settle beside some of the rosebushes with the raccoon in his lap. This is a good day. ]