taxonomites | [location: John Everton's House] [OPEN TO ALL!] BLOCK PARTY!!!

The time had come. Charlotte left John in charge of setting up the bar, giving him only the one request that he have a decent selection of beer, and did the work of dialing up the food. She knew she was going way over board. For all she knew no one might show up, even though she'd gotten a bit of a response to her invite. How could people resist, though. Food, drink, Dean's music, kittens? Okay, and an ex-vampire, but that wasn't his fault.

Pushing that thought away, she continued laying out the food and the carefully crafted warding spells that would protect it from the kittens. They had been given run of most of the patio, but not the yard, and not the food area. That meant they'd still be popping in and out of people's laps, but at least they wouldn't do it to plates.

When everything was ready, Charlotte ran up to change into skinny jeans, a crisp white button down and a ridiculously shiny pair of cowboy boots. Not unlike Dawn, not that she knew it, Charlotte was having too much fun with the fashion options the replicators afforded. Properly armored for the event, she headed back to the patio to wait for their first guests.

OOC: This is an open event, folks, anyone should feel free to tag in, even if they just discover the party. Start a new thread with a label if you want or just tag in on another thread. Feel free to hop around, too. IT'S A PARTY, PEOPLE! Also, this will go on as long as people are interested, so backtag all ya like. We know people will be in and out all weekend. Have fun, drink all the booze.

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By the time she noticed Billy, Charlotte thought for sure everyone had been greeted by either her or John. She watched the slender man for a moment before sidling up beside him. Leaning against the wall, she crossed one ankle over the other and sighed deeply. "You know, that's really very good beer, but if you don't like it, we could find you something else. Wine, cocktail, Kool-aid?"

She glanced over at him for a moment, then looked away, grinning.

He doesn't even notice Charlotte until she speaks up, and when she does, he jumps about three feet in the air. Definitely hadn't been expecting that one. He flushes slightly, embarrassed that he's so skittish, and then looks down into his beer.

"Uh, yeah. No, I like beer, just--" He stops, and then the Kool-aid part registers. "Hey, I'm not five. Sheesh."

But it's mostly just one of his lame protests. He's nervous as hell, considering a, he's at a party full of do-gooders, and two, he's talking to a pretty girl.

If only Billy knew just how many supernatural types, including Charlie really, were at that party, he'd have been stunned. And maybe a little comforted. Once his heart was beating correctly anyway. Charlotte had meant to break the ice, not terrify the poor guy. That didn't keep her from laughing a bit, though. "Right, sorry. It's just I hate to see someone not enjoying their drink."

She put her hand out, hoping the second try would be less traumatic. "Charlotte Blaine, party inflicter."

She means well, of course, Billy's just jumpy. She laughs and his expression shifts slightly, uncomfortably. Embarrassing. "No, I like it," Billy replies almost defensively, taking another sip and avoiding the face-making this time.

Billy takes the offered hand hesitantly, and the corners of his mouth twitch into something of a smile.

"Billy, new... uh, new to wherever here is, I guess."

Charlotte had done better in the day at making people feel comfortable. Time to take a deep breath and start again. She gave him her softest, least threatening smile, and nodded. Then it sank in that he had to be really, really new. "It's an adjustment, getting used to life in Taxon. Kind of like living every minute waiting for the other shoe to drop."

And then it did and you ended up with holes in your neck.

The soft smile helps a lot, and Billy relaxes slightly, smiling a little back. See, a bit of niceness goes a long way, in his case. "Yeah, it's... it's pretty different here. I haven't really had the chance to look around yet."

Her smile took on a slight note of relief when he relaxed. "If we'd chosen to come here for a vacation, I might think it was a nice place. Soothing, comfortable." She shrugged. "As it is, I'm jonesing for the sound of a taxi cab."

Billy scratches the back of his neck, and sets the beer bottle he'd been holding on a table nearby. He's not really drinking it, anyway. "I'm hoping I get to go home, actually, I've got... things to do."

Don't they all? She knew Billy wasn't that young, but something about that hope made him seem so much younger. She sighed. "We all hope that, I think." She added the caveat because for all she knew, some people would rather be in the sterile, creepy city. "So far no one has figured out a way to do that."

Yes, but Billy's things he has to do are more important. Or so he thinks. And he's on that train of thought as he answers, almost absent-minded.

"That's what I heard. Maybe I can build something. Wonder if my lab's here, I could..."

She tapped the device on her wrist with her beer bottle. "Have you looked on here for your little red dot? If there's a place that belongs to you, you'll find it where the red dot it." She sighed. "People have houses like this or even whole hospitals. Me? I had kittens."

"There's a red dot?" Billy blinks. He'd gone through the tablet extensively, had even tried to take it apart (and failed, since it's a bit indestructible) but he hadn't seen the red dot. "Oh. I, uh. Didn't see it."

And now he'll be looking through his tablet. If he brought his lab with him, he'd be all set.

Now she felt badly. "If you have a place or thing, there will be a dot. Mine was for the kittens, so it was always with me. Kind of confusing. John's was for the house." She shrugged. "Some people might not have them."

Billy's found the red dot on his tablet, and he looks hopeful about it. But he's not going to go look for it right now, since someone is actually talking to him. He looks up at her and smiles a little, scratching the back of his head.

"I have one. But uh, I'll go look for it later. I wouldn't want to leave such a... fantastic party."

There might have been a touch of sarcasm there, but Charlotte let it go. She was pleased with how things were going, but it was a simple party. The only entertainment was Dean's music and talking to each other. "I hope it leads you to what you want. It helps having something familiar around."

Maybe a little bit of sarcasm, but only because Billy sucks at being polite. He'll be backtracking because Charlotte's been nice to him, which is definitely a change from half the other people he's met.

"Yeah, me too." Is his brilliant response. He's fumbling for something else, so he can keep her interested. "Uh, so. What do you do for a living?"

Ah, but that's a very good question as Charlotte missed her work and would love to talk about it. "I'm an arts and antiquities appraiser." She grinned. "I go to rich people's houses and look at their bric a brac and tell them they spent too much money." That wasn't all of it, but truth told, that was the biggest part.

"People get paid for that?" And Billy sounds surprised, vaguely affronted. Except he realizes that's probably not the best thing to say, so he'll continue on with a quick nervous smile and: "Uh-- do you get to tell a lot of them that?"

She grinned "Some people get paid a fair bit to do it, if we know enough about the bric a brac. And if we work hard enough." She sighed softly, missing the feel of something really old. "People collect the most amazing things."

[location: John Everton's House] [OPEN TO ALL!] BLOCK PARTY!!!

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