Limited The Annual Slate Christmas Party

[Slate]

Almost everyone had arrived already. The party was in full swing, with various higher and mid-level Slate members. The ones who Obsidian trusted. The ones who he put in places of power. The ones who he helped rise from ashes in some cases. The ones who devoted their whole soul to the cause. The ones he wouldn’t be able to run such a big organization without. Amethyst and Smokey Quartz were there from Bismarck. He had Granet from the NYC sect. And their traveling healer, Pearl, was also there.

Of course, the entire Pack was also present. Onyx was off somewhere talking to her former teammates. Rhody and Hematite were with Smokey, who had helped train both of them. Sulphur was sitting with Aquamarine, quietly debriefing her latest espionage mission. And even Lapis was hanging out with Celestite, not even attempting to get the unusual-looking woman to sleep with her. Among other Slate members, even Lapis could drop pretenses. Everyone was safe here, in this space, in the Diamond where they had decorated for the holidays. Everyone was safe.

Obsidian was making rounds. He was checking in with every single member personally. He was dressed a bit more down, in a nice pair of slacks and a cozy sweater, his button-down collar poking out of the knit article. The dress code was “somewhere between casual and formal.” And that ranged from Lapis’s cocktail dress to Hematite’s Christmas sweater and relaxed jeans. “Whatever you feel comfortable in” was really what it meant.

He wasn’t too sure he had explained that properly to Todd, but he’d see when the man showed.

Because Obsidian had invited Todd. It was the first time in the entire time he’d been throwing the party that he invited someone who wasn’t actually a real member of Slate. He’d already decided how it would be easiest to introduce him to everyone. He just hoped he wouldn’t be too mad at him. It was a bit of a leap, but maybe it would work in Obsidian’s favor to convince Todd to join the Pack.

Either way, Obsidian guessed he’d be finding out.

Some members were still arriving, so he wasn’t sure who all Todd would really be meeting. But the invite to the party was fairly open to location directors, their assistants, and any promising members they felt like bringing. Sometimes Obsidian met members who he had never met before at this party. Sometimes those members went on to become more important in the organization. That had been how he’d met Garnet as well, after all.

She was a problem for another day, though.​

Spoiler

Hi everyone, and I hope you had a good holiday! I invite everyone to join, just DM me first. You may make a Slate member of any degree you prefer as a one-time or possibly recurring character! This thread is meant to be fun and give everyone an opportunity to kind of join in on a Christmas-themed party thread if they like. You can come and go as you please! Feel free to interrupt whenever and to drop in for as many or as few posts as you'd like. Feel free to bother any of the Pack members, or anyone else as they show up! I just ask that you message me your character, their position and location in the organization, their time with Slate, and what their powerset will be in case they demonstrate or become a recurring character later! Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah.

 

[Ban Bean]

Christmas was the only time Onyx could be fucked to wear a dress. Mostly because it was a hassle to adjust to a thigh holster, rather than her preferred ankle holster. And it meant leaving her pets in her room for the time being.

Even in a knit turtleneck dress, even at a party, Onyx was working.

She disliked large crowds and parties in general. Not everyone knew sign language too, so it was easy to make polite small talk to those she could, and liked too, and have a nice drink or a bit of food, and then sneak away to check the perimeter whenever she felt like things were getting a little too cozy.

After Onyx's last perimeter check, and a stern look at Priya- her old teammate Peridot- to behave, she grabbed a wine glass and stood in the corner, observing the gathering, eyeing for threats. She found all the familiar faces- Obsidian. Rhodey. Hematite. Sulpher. And all the others, including Pearl who she made a point to avoid. She didn't hate the sweet woman, but...she had no desire to be around her. Especially after being healed after her initiation

And despite the people and music, there was an emptiness without Jasper there.

 

[Wendigo]

Todd, apparently, had a very different definition of “casual but nice” than the rest of Slate.

It wasn’t something he noticed when he pulled up. Sure, the cars were all nicer than his old Malibu, but he suspected they all had better jobs than “small business mechanic”. Work Christmas parties at the shop usually consisted of “wear the only thing you have that isn’t grease-stained,” “bring beer,” and “we’ll probably just hang out and talk about our own cars instead of the people paying us to work on theirs.” Though, sometimes there was bitching about the regular customers, or stories about old jobs. Todd hadn’t had the pleasure of talking about Ethan’s Jaguar at all this year, but it had been on his mind since the night with Kenton. They’d never gotten around to that test ride, and he hadn’t wanted to ask.

Things had been better between him and Slate. He was pretty sure that it had something to do with almost everyone in the Pack knowing about him; some tensions had been cleared up, and he was slowly getting comfortable in his own skin around all of them. There wasn’t anything to hide anymore, just like with Sam. He couldn’t remember the last time he wasn’t lying to everyone around him. He tried not to think about how it’d become second nature, as he got out of the car.

Bringing beer had crossed his mind, but he’d abruptly realized that he was going to a Christmas party at a bar, so that wasn’t on the table. He’d ultimately decided to try to ask Sam for help making something. She cooked and she baked. His only hesitation had been asking her for help making something for the Slate Christmas party after everything she’d been through with them, especially since she’d just found out everything else. Or she’d known and just hadn’t said anything. But now she knew, and so he was comfortable asking. Even if he hadn’t seemed comfortable. And she’d said yes, but insisted he help her. They’d spent all day yesterday in the kitchen together, and the tin of lebkuchen cookies on the seat next to him was the result. He could still smell traces of her cinnamon in them. It was soothing to him, especially with the growing unease as he got out and locked the Malibu.

He’d been given the impression this thing was a small shindig, and he’d expected maybe ten people besides the core Pack. But there were too many cars for that, even without carpooling. The street was a muddle of scents and there was a lot of sound from the bar for a day when it was supposed to be closed. He straightened his new Rise Radiant t-shirt, a gift from Sam that actually fit him beautifully well. His jeans, for once, had the dark new color of something nobody had ever used before. It was a nice change from the faded work jeans he could usually find at thrift stores. He still wore the same old boots, though, and the same old hat and coat. He didn’t necessarily need them, especially with Pittsburgh snow, but it was comfortable.

And way more casual than what anyone else inside the bar was wearing.

There were a solid thirty or forty people packed into the Diamond, at least twice as many as he’d expected. Everyone was wearing nicer sweaters or comfortable dresses, and he was suddenly aware of the band t-shirt and beat-up work boots and new single steel piercing through his left earlobe, something he’d started to pick back up after his talk with Sammy.

He had to wonder why Ethan had invited him.

Todd kept the cookie tin under his arm (way too few for this many people, they should’ve made a few dozen more) as he shrugged out of his coat and scanned the room for anyone he actually recognized. His slouch was back, like he didn’t necessarily want to draw more attention than he actually needed to. He was honestly hoping someone might swoop in and save him explanations, even as he smiled politely at anyone staring and headed towards the bar.