OUR HOUSE

[saltwaterlungs]

CHARACTERS: Phil, Dimitri, Darcy, Ruby, the Venom Symbiote, and you!
DATE: June
LOCATION: The farmhouse on 499 Winter's Avenue
SITUATION: Home-making and housewarming
WARNINGS: Usual warnings for all characters involved but otherwise n/a

I'll light the fire, you place the flowers in the vase (Closed to phil/dimitri/ruby/venom)

Moving out of the Oak and Iron has been on Darcy’s mind- well. Virtually since she got to Pumpkin Hollow. But with Phil back and all, they started making plans for it in earnest. A combination of saving up and mysterious brass from some old dude fairy (??? she isn’t asking too many questions) means that they have the means. All they have to do is do it.

The week prior to the housewarming is spent working in and around the construction of a couple of new rooms, subdivided up from the old floor plan. Paint, wallpaper, fresh fabric to reupholster some of the furniture, a lot of cleaning. Plus there’s the logistics of moving all their stuff, which is significantly harder without cars and on an island that’s bigger than one ship. Darcy doesn’t even have that much shit, it just all stacks up somehow.

She spends her time mostly between generally assisting the move, setting up the kitchen, and putting her room together once they’ve finished building it. Darcy can be found doing any of those three things.

Rest your head for just five minutes, everything is done (Open)

It’s not going to be the shindig to end all shindigs, but once the dust has settled and everyone’s recovered from moving everything around, friends and family will get a call inviting them over. All the windows are open for the mild Summer night air, the curtains drift a little in the breeze, and the song of crickets can be heard from anywhere in the house. The lights inside the house are warm and cheery, and seem to beckon you in, the shadows around them seeming… darker, somehow.

There’s lemonade with some Phil-made ice cubes in it, and Darcy hasn’t moved from the kitchen in service of making canapes to feed anyone who shows up. Cold cuts on bread, sandwiches with cucumbers left over from the carnival, small fish cakes. It’s a good way to break the kitchen in. When the food has been made, Darcy sets up out the front on the porch, curled up with some lemonade on one of the chairs, looking out into the night and making some small greeting to anyone who approaches.

Life used to be so hard, now everything is easy cause of you

[wildcard!]

Comments

[goodweather]

"Hiya, Angel," Phil chirps, picking out the wallflower. Not to pull a wallflower off of the wall, but to make sure everybody gets a piece of his hospitality. He's the host. Everyone ought to leave with some kind of satisfaction.

"I'm so glad you could come. How've you been doing lately?"

[graveling]

Angel thinks for a second before answering. "Busy. Nervous. Not bad, but kind of scared."

Oh, was this meant to be small talk with a partial dismissive answer going on? Sorry, Phil, you get actual emotions.

[goodweather]

If anyone thinks Phil Connors will not generally take the opportunity jump feet first into bluntly honest and intimate conversations, they've got another thing coming.

Anyway, that doesn't read to him as an immediate please go away, so he sidles up alongside.

"Mmm, yeah? Anything been bugging you in particular, or just a general sourceless malaise?"

[graveling]

"Degas is going on sabbatical in July. He hasn't decided when he's coming back to work, but, um. I'm going to be priesting properly with no training wheels. I mean, there's Father Mulcahy, but he's not going to help me with goddess things, just. General priest things."

Angel's clearly not confident he can do all of this on his lonesome, but he's gonna fucking try. Also, he's going to gesture vaguely at the presents he brought, offering them over to one of his hosts properly.

[goodweather]

"Mmmh," he hums sympathetically. "Nothing to do but go forward and see how you do. I think that mostly it's scary 'cause we don't know, and we're afraid of failing people with something so important, but then at least you know where you gotta get better. You should've heard my tapes back when I first started doing broadcasting. I was terrible."

Even if his delivery was okay, boy was he not that charismatic. Still a fresh-faced grad student who thought he was much funnier than he had any right to be.

"But listen," he says, as he takes hold of one of the gifts, still distracted. "You're his apprentice. He picked you, and he's been teaching you. You're already better at this than the rest of us. Keep that in mind, yeah?"

[graveling]

"I'm not sure that's actually true. At least, well. Maybe. It depends on what 'this' we're talking about."

He wibbles a hand a little.

"What's a priest for?"

[goodweather]

"Leading the religious rites, spiritual intermediary, community aid and guide, advice and counsel... it varies depending on the faith, but those are the general posts, I think."

[graveling]

"See, I've got the rites and spiritual intermediary parts down. But who would want advice, guidance or counsel from me?" He makes it sound like it's a silly idea at the core.

[goodweather]

His head cocks.

"You're in a leadership position. That means you know something. Whether you think you deserve it or not, or if you're the right person or not, someone is gonna come to you for those things. And when they do, what's gonna happen? What do you think they'll ask? What do you think you'll say?"

[graveling]

"I don't know. I never had anyone to ask any of my questions, and real people are going to have different ones than I did."

Shhhh, don't notice that distinction, it doesn't actually mean anything.