theresalwayshope | meet the (grand)parents...

Allison felt a little like she was going insane.

She started out just planning to invite Aramis and Porthos over to meet Jason. Dinner and drinks, nothing big. Then she realized she didn't just feel obligated to invite Athos, she wanted to. So, if she did that, she obviously had to invite D'artagnan, and she really wanted to meet Constance...and she'd promised Grey a chance to help her bake a cake, so if she did something more than dinner, she could let him come over at some point...

The small family dinner became a small dinner party, and with a few more additions morphed into an impromptu potluck for the whole building...or anyone that wanted to show up. She told the family about it privately, asking Porthos and Aramis to make sure the others at least stopped by (with a subtle warning that Jason would be there), told everyone else she knew in the city, and for the rest of the building she posted a couple of handmade fliers: one in the elevator, and another in the laundry room announcing that, with either a main course or appetizer offering, an invitation to the holiday celebration taking place in apartment #39...dressy casual to formalwear welcome, bring your favorite Christmas CD as a bonus.

And, of course, she told Jason...and told him her family would be there.

By the night of the party, Allison was ready...she just felt a little like she was going insane.

She kept her outfit cute, but simple, and took care of dessert by baking some cupcakes, gingerbread cookies, and a two layer chocolate cake which she invited Grey over to help her bake. With a little careful scheduling, she also managed to contribute to the food on hand with her second ever attempt at beef bourguignon: rich, hearty, and sort of impressive under the right circumstances. By party time, she had her front door standing open, some Trans Siberian Orchestra carols playing on her stereo, and while she didn't yet have a tree, she'd gotten some cute plastic holly garland to hang around the apartment, and for fun had ringed her whole living room ceiling in multicolor Christmas lights for good measure.

The party was good to go. The place smelled good, the food came out okay with more to come...the evening was good to go.

And when Jason showed up, her family would show up...and they'd all meet each other...

While she waited for her guests, loved ones, and boyfriend to start arriving, Allison puttered around in her kitchen, swore to herself she was not hiding, and tried to pretend that she wasn't having visions of someone either drawing a sword or a knife by the end of the evening.

Tonight had to be perfect.

(HOLIDAY GATHERING POST! Treat it thusly. :P Front door's open, come and go as you please, anyone in the Bramford Building is welcome, and if you know Allison even remotely she told you about the party. Gather at will, and leave a call for Allison in your subject line if you want to play with her directly! Open eternally, will probably be linked near the end of the month. :D)

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Everyone at the party, plus her roommate and probably everyone in High Gate Terrace, will be glad Alex didn't try to cook. But she does know how to handle a knife, and with all the rich foods of the holidays, it's always good having something simple and light, right? Which is how she ends up contributing a veggie tray to this party she would not have missed for anything short of... well, short of the types of emergencies that are more normal than normal is for her.

Allison having a party is reason enough, but Jason meeting the family? The sword-wielding, larger than life family? She's running later than she planned, thanks to a client meeting that ran long, and taking the time to stop back by the apartment to grab the veggies and change into something more party-ish on her way. Once she's there, she grabs a bottle of water and begins to mingle, keeping a discreet eye on the room and everyone in it as she does; her training's too engrained for anything else.

Allison caught sight of Alex the moment she walked into the room. Finishing up with helping a guest serve up some food, she finally wove her way over to greet Alex with a hug, then hooked her arm through hers to steer her towards the food table.

"Okay, so one? I'm requiring you to try my cooking." she offered cheerfully, then kept her smile plastered stiffly to her face. "And two...am I crazy for being terrified every time one of my uncles drifts just a little too close to Jason? Or for being armed in my own home 'cause...introducing the boyfriend to the family reasons?"

"One," Alex answers, letting herself be steered for the moment, "If it's half as good as your muffins, you're on. But you're picking a day in the next week to go run it off with me. Work's getting busy with the holidays, so it'll probably have to be early one morning." The slightly evil way that sounds even to Alex reminds her of too many early mornings training with Nikita, both before and after Alex went into Division.

"And two, you do realize I had more than one reason for coming tonight, right? In case anyone needs backup. And if you have a problem with me being armed in your home, well... too bad. You know too many people who are always carrying."

Allison pretended to look scandalized, but it lasted all of five seconds before she melted into a smile. "Please, my friend, Derek, has me out of the house most mornings before the sun."

"As for being armed," she continued as they reached the food table, reaching for a plate to serve Alex some stew, "I have no problem with anything concealed. It's when being armed turns into a pissing contest that I get antsy." Glancing up at Alex, she shrugged with a smile. "And even if I had a problem with it, you'd be exempt anyway. Any friend of Jason's is."

And while she would have loved to chalk it up to plain old sappiness...it was really a simpler matter of trusting anyone that Jason did with a deadly weapon, because in that area he had damn good judgment.

"That threat works much better on my roommate." It's mostly talk; Billy might think she's nuts for as hard as she works to stay in shape, but he's good-natured about it.

"And don't worry. Pissing contests aren't my style. I don't need to compensate for anything." Alex winks. What kind of girl-talk would it be without gross generalizations about guys?

"Hey, Alex." Kenzi smiles, lifting her hand and giving her fingers a little wriggle in greeting once the girl turned her attention over to her. She is still a bit wary considering the couple run-ins they'd had but Kenzi wants to make sure things are cool considering she seems to be the trigger for something that upsets the other woman. Or at least her face is.

At some level it will probably never not be a little weird, seeing someone with Irina's face, even though Alex knows now it's not Irina. At least until Darrow or Amanda's meddling decides to screw with her even more and Irina shows up, or Alex hallucinates her or something. Still, none of that's on Kenzi, and Alex knows she and Allison are close, and Alex has plenty of experience hiding behind friendly masks.

"Kenzi. Hi," she says, smiling back.

Okay, so the woman wasn't freaking out on her. That was a good sign.

"How are you doing?" She asked politely though she really was curious. She wanted to make sure things were at least going better for Alex than the last time she had seen her. "All ready for the whole Christmas shebang?"

"Staying busy." Between work and work, and keeping an eye on the people she doesn't want to lose, Alex does everything she can to stay busy. Less time for the nightmares and other things she's ignoring that way.

"I'm not sure how ready I am. Christmas has never been a big deal for me. And I'm kind of wondering what kind of weird this place is going to throw at us." She was only on the island for one Christmas, but it had always had surprises in store, and as crazy as Darrow gets, Alex wants to prepare for it to do the same.

"How about you?"

"Don't have much to prepare for." She only needed to buy presents for a handful of people. "But I think I'm pretty much ready which is probably a first. The whole being prepared ahead of time must come from the guy I've been seeing." She nodded, glancing around.

"But I've been wondering about what kind of crazy the city is going to throw at us too. I'm thinking a crazy Santa Clause or elves?" She shrugged a bit, taking another swig of her beer.

"You never know." Which is part of the problem if you ask Alex, no matter how used to the unexpected she gets.

But she follows Kenzi's gaze, and her eyebrow lifts in a question when she sees where it's landed. "Guy you're seeing, huh?"

"Yeah." Kenzi turns slightly to scan over the crowd once more before finally pointing at Bruce Banner. "That one right there. Bruce."

Yes, they are a little mismatched and Kenzi is aware of the fact though she looks proud too.

"We've met." Alex says it simply, although inside there's a jumble of emotions to go with the memory.

"Not long after I ran into you that first time." It should be enough to tip Kenzi off, if she's not completely obtuse - and she shouldn't be, if she's friends with Allison and seeing that Bruce guy - to the circumstances of that meeting and why it's not something she's likely to forget.

"I can't say I know him at all, but he seems all right."

meet the (grand)parents...

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