singillatim | Hot Potato (party log)

Hot Potato (party log)

Who: Chloe Frazer & any and all party people!!
What: Harvest Celebrations/Halloween Party/Ruby’s Birthday/Rat Marriage/Big Communal Cooking Party so Chloe doesn't burn down her house
When: October 12
Where: At Chloe’s house on Greene Street

Content Warnings: Food descriptions, probably.
Other Notes: Feel free to make this a mingle and reply to other characters!

Chloe had wondered whether to go through with the harvest party once Lalo had disappeared, but as they say, the show must go on. There's still a lot worth celebrating, and people need something hopeful after the mess last month. Luckily her house had made it through everything all right.

The poster had said to wear a costume, so she's hoping to see a lot of those, and she’d recruited some people to help her put together the menu exactly to Lalo’s specifications, so unfortunately no one is safe from British Potatoes. There are even candles for the birthday cake.

Chloe herself is dressed as a sexy lumberjack, with one of Lalo’s old flannels tied in a knot under her breasts and denim cutoffs made from the jeans Kostya had gotten blood on (shh). She's got a fire roaring, because otherwise she’d freeze.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Chloe can be found flitting about the party in her sexy lumberjack costume, now the sole host. She's greeting guests, serving food (if you want to hear bragging about vegetables she's got you covered) and complimenting costumes.

She's doing GREAT, she's not even sad! It's as if nothing has changed at all.]

[Casper gives his hostess a warm smile and a one-armed hug, dressed in his flannel and cowboy hat, before offering up the (mostly full) bottle of wine he'd brought.] I don't think we've seen each other since you helped fill me in just after my arrival, and I apologize for that. It's a bad habit, concentrating on work instead of people.

But my name is Casper Darling, just to reintroduce myself. I wanted to thank you for throwing this together. I've needed something like this, if I'm honest.

Ah, yes. The erstwhile mycologist, right? [You’re kind of hard to forget, doc.] Looks like we match a bit, great minds think alike!

[Chloe reaches for the bottle.] Oh, lovely. It's nice to have something other than the pine stuff once in a while.

That would be me, yes. [The smile he gives is a little sheepish, and he rubs at his ear self consciously. But Chloe had been so helpful during his odd arrival here, and he really can't be mad at being accused of mycology. Even if it wasn't his main field of study.]

We do though, don't we? I hadn't really considered flannel as an option before moving here, I'm more of a wooly sweater guy myself. But having both on hand felt like a good decision, given the weather. Though I'm not quite so daring to style it like you have. Maybe in my wilder grad school days.

I like a good leather jacket, but that's not really a costume for me. [She had worn one in the Himalayas because she's crazy.]

When else can you dress like this, especially here? You've got to grab your fun when you can get it.

Well, not everyone needs to see that much of me. [He laughs, a little self conscious; he keeps fit, of course, but he's also nearly sixty. Not nearly as comfortable with himself as he used to be.]

You're right, tough. I've worn sweater vests and bow ties for the past thirty years of my life. Why not branch out a little?

[Chloe laughs too. She’ll be forty next year, to many people the expiration date for women, and she’ll probably still be doing all of this.]

Yeah, Doc, live a little.

I did switch to just a cardigan! Well. Sometimes, on warmer days. Layering seems to be the correct choice, in this weather. But I stopped wearing my bow tie ages ago, which I think is a sign of growth.

A sign of growth, or your fingers are too cold to tie it consistently?

[ Of course Billy is going to look for Chloe.

Sure, he knows that what she and Lalo had wasn't supposed to be that deep, but you never know. He's fully aware that it's not like Chloe is entirely unfeeling - and certainly not as much as she'd like to pretend to be at times - and he's also well aware to claim that something isn't serious while it actually is that serious. Not that he necessarily assumes this was like that for Chloe too, but..

.. well. He cares about her. Enough to at least want to make sure.

So during a rare moment where she isn't talking to people or helping out around the party, Billy approaches her. His expression is harder to read than usually with that pretty intricate skull painting on his face, but there's some concern in his eyes, if Chloe tries to find it. ]

Do you have a moment?

Huh? Oh, yeah.

[Billy’s her friend, this party is (partly) for him, and he looks concerned.]

Everything okay?

[ He gives her a little nod. This isn't about him, after all. ]

I only wanted to make sure you were alright. [ It feels a little ridiculous to say, especially when there's a big chance that Chloe may just be totally fine, but-- he does want to have asked. ] With Mr. Eduardo having disappeared so suddenly.

[Chloe’s a little surprised he's addressing it so directly.]

Yeah. It was kind of abrupt, but in my experience the leaving always is.

At least it wasn't... You know. [The Darkwalker.]

That is true.

[ At least when they disappear - and they don't find their corpse later on, considering that has happened with some people who no one could find around the village before - you can imagine that maybe they went home. Or somewhere else. When someone is taken by the Darkwalker, it's pretty clear things didn't end well for them. ]

It is just.. [ .. Billy's tone trails off for a moment. He looks a little awkward, like he isn't really used to this, but then presses on. ] I was not sure if anyone else would ask you.

[ Not that he thinks he's Chloe's only friend. Maybe Chloe's only friend she isn't also having sex with, though. ]

And I did not imagine you to be the type to bring up how you were feeling unless asked.

[ Sometimes you need a BFF to have your back!! ]

[It is definitely still a bit of a shock to be cared for in this way, especially by someone who doesn't want more from her than she's willing to give.

Chloe swallows hard, blinking.] Thanks. It sucks, but I'm going to be okay.

[ He nods. Billy's reaction seems a little withdrawn still, but it doesn't have as much to do with shyness right now than it has more to do with him wanting to be a little discreet for Chloe's sake. (And if there's anything he's learned how to be through his work, it's being discreet.) ]

I can stay here with you for a while, if you would like. [ Not that he doesn't thinbk Chloe has enough other people to hang out with at the party - but maybe it's easier to be around someone who knows, so she doens't have to hide anything. ] I am certain Cornelius is already speaking enough to everyone else at the party that they can miss their host for a few minutes.

[Chloe sniffs again but does laugh a little at the assessment.]

Yeah, seems like he missed his calling. That’d be nice. Thanks.

[Billy really is one of the only ones here who gets it. Maybe just him and Raylan.]

With everything going on I didn't even get to tell you the shit we got up to a few months back.

The.. 'shit'?

[ It's repeating terms like these that truly make Billy sound Victorian. He sounds like an elderly person as he echoes it back to her, like he's pronouncing some foreign word.

Still, he seems more than willing to hear her out about this, ushering the two of them over to a table to sit down together as they speak. ]

Is this more of your wild gossip, Miss Frazer? [ Look at this guy, pretending like his eyes don't light up whenever they're gossiping together. ]

[That does make Chloe smile a little. Don't pretend you don't care about gossip, mister!]

Do I have another kind?

[ He shrugs. It's a tad nonchalantly - very jokingly, by Billy standards. Definitely more loose than he is with most people. ]

Perhaps you could disappoint me for the first time. [ It's always possible!

Though not very likely. Indeed, Chloe's gossip is usually exceptionally good. ]

What did you do?

Edited 2024-12-01 20:42 (UTC)

I don't think you went to the poker game back in the summer. Lalo and I went, though. I noticed him and another guy making eyes at each other over the game, so I invited them both back 'round to my place after it was over.

[ There's a little shake of his head when she mentions the poker game. Indeed, he wasn't there. As if Billy ever voluntarily goes to a social gathering without getting dragged there.. ]

.. both of them?

[ Give him a moment to process. ]

Were you attempting to set them up together? [ Lalo did seem kind of shy about the whole homosexuality thing, so Billy could at least kind of see why Chloe might take the lead. ]

[It's too bad, really. Chloe thinks Billy would probably be great at poker, considering his role on the ship and having always had to hide his feelings and opinions. He probably could have cleaned up.]

A bit, I guess. They were both so nervous about it that I figured it would never go anywhere on its own, right? They didn't leave me out, though.

[ . . . . .

It's almost as if you can hear the Jeopardy music playing in the background while Billy seems to be trying to figure out how that sort of thing might work. He's not stupid enough for it to take him too long, but he does need a visible moment.

It's part of being Victorian, really. ]

So you are saying you got quite some attention. [ He finally concludes, seeming to have figured out enough to at least arrive at that idea. ] I can't imagine you minded that very much.

[ It's said a little dryly, because.. Chloe, girl, he knows what you're like. It's not really annoyed, since he doesn't mind, but it sure is a typical Chloe thing. ]

You're right, I didn't mind it at all, but I've got to admit I was walking a little bow-legged the next day. Probably good that no one attacked us.

Chloe Frazer | Uncharted

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