Gathering of friends

[survivesitall]

It had taken a lot to convince Clayton this was a good idea. He didn't like having people around his home he didn't need to, and liked crowds even less. But Elena had insisted, some of the people invited as close to Pack as they'd have here, and others hopefully trusted friends. He'd even coughed up a name or two when she pushed, something that made her happy. She found she had a lot of leverage since she'd agreed to start trying for children, even if that was something that scared her no matter how much Jeremy had told them of their future.

The setup was simple enough. They'd opened up the doors to the barn and set tables around in front of it. Clay had set up a spit with a deer, and it was likely better if no one asked how they'd caught it. There was a regular grill sizzling with sausages and for whatever people brought, and a bowls of salads for anyone who wanted them. Elena wsn't sure of how much others ate, but she knew she and Clay could pack away enough for three humans. There were pies inside the house for later, once they'd all eaten their fill of everything else.

There might have been a chill on the air, but that just made the day more special to Elena. There were only a few more weekends they could do this before it got too cold for most.

Comments

[rulesofthewild]

Malia had, admittedly, waffled on going. But she does want to be friends with these people. She wants to feel safe around them, and the best way to do that would be to learn how to be around them, right? So, in the end, she decides to go.

And as soon as she does, she's glad she has, because she can smell deer. Her favorite food in the whole wide world, and it's here. Her eyes flash blue and stay that way as she follows the scent to the spit. She has to forcibly stop herself from just grabbing a hank and running.

"This smells amazing," she declares as soon as she sees one of the Danverses. She looks happier than probably anyone in Darrow had seen her (except for, maybe, Coraline or America, whom Malia has been spending the most time with).

[not_crazy]

Jennifer had been pretty pleased to be invited to a co-worker's party. Honestly, she'd been making more of an attempt lately to try to...settle? Maybe? Or something, she didn't know, but she definitely was trying to get used to the idea she was going to be here a while, maybe alone, and that was okay.

Because there were people here she could make friends with. That she'd already made friends with. So she went, and she wandered about a bit, looking to mingle and see what was available. It was hard to

"That's certainly going to be fresh," she commented mostly to herself (and perhaps a little more loudly than she meant to), as she peered at it. She'd never really done the whole...hunting thing, being a born and raised Boston girl, but hey, she was willing to give it a try.

[notaretriever]

Luke is surprised to be invited to a party and for awhile he considers not going, not because he has anything against Elena or even the idea of a party, but he's been busy lately trying to get the store set up and he's never been much of one for parties anyway. Harvest Moon had been different because it had been all wolves and heading into a bar now and then for a few drinks with his pack had been easy.

But he's here. He's here and he's a little nervous, but he has to try. This is what he's promised himself when he'd purchased the store. Luke has a tendency to become insular sometimes and one of the conditions he'd set himself with the store was that he'd get out at least once a month.

This is his first attempt. And he's nervous, but he offers a smile to someone who comes near, although he keeps his hands shoved nervously in his pockets.

[survivesitall]

Elena is excited that Malia came, unsure if the girl would. Her sleeves are rolled up past her elbows as she tends the spits, the plaid shirt and jeans she's wearing comfortable before anthing else. "It does, doesn't it? Honestly, waiting for it to cook is the hardest part."

If she were a wolf right now, she wouldn't care. But as a human she still likes her food to be cooked through. "Clay got it."

[survivesitall]

"That's definitely one way of putting it," she says with a soft smile, happy to see Jennifer. There were quite a few people at the paper, but most of them were from Darrow - or at least thought they were. The history of the town intrigues Elena, but she's not on a research bent today. It does mean that she's unlikely to invite any of the others, keeping her guard up when they're around.

"Clay grew up hunting," Elena adds, knowing that it's the truth, at least in a way.

[survivesitall]

"Can I get you a beer?" Elena looks at him with hope in her eyes, her smile warm and friendly. She's dressed casually, a plaid shirt and jeans that Clay always teased her was some sort of Canadian tuxedo. It usually earned him a punch, when he wasn't fast enough to get out of her way. "Or we have coke and juice if you don't drink."

[rulesofthewild]

"Can I have some?" she asks eagerly, looking up at Elena. Her eyes flash blue again out of hunger. She forces it down. "Sorry, sorry, I just— it's been a long time since I've had deer." It always feels like a long time between meals when it comes to deer.

[notaretriever]

It's been a long time since Luke has had a beer. Even at the bar he wouldn't drink, needing to be the one who stayed sober in case things started to go wrong, in case there needed to be mediation, which there often was. So when Elena offers, he mouth quirks into a smile and he nods.

"That would be nice," he says. "This is... it's nice. The food smells incredible."

[not_crazy]

Jennifer smiled when she realized Elena had wandered over. And then she was glad she didn't mind her gawking, which, you know. It was just new, that's all.

"You know, I don't think I've ever had deer before," she admitted. "Or gone hunting. But I have gone fishing, so that's at least something. Also -- hi, how are you? Thanks for inviting me."

[survivesitall]

There are little things that give away Mylia's lack of control, and others that make her think of Clayton. Elena doesn't mind either of them, when it comes down to it, and why should she? She's married to a man who's sometimes more wolf than human, and she loves him entirely after a ten-year rocky start. "Give it another twenty minutes and it'll be ready. C'mon, lets get you a drink."

[survivesitall]

"Where I'm from deer was served in fancy restaurants and called venison." Of course, it was like that in any big city. Humbler foods repackaged and overpriced for a fussy clientele most of whom would blanch if they saw an animal on a spit. "Most people in the city didn't think of meat as coming from a farm, never mind hunting."

"I'm glad you came," Elena says sincerely. She misses this, she misses her pack and having people she knows around all the time. It's not the same but it is the best she'll get here. "It's good to have people out here."

[survivesitall]

"What can I say, I miss home. We always has people in and out of the house." Pack though, not just anyone. It was an important distinction, but the people Elena had invited were all people who were becoming freinds. The steps were small, but one day maybe she'd have that here too. "Come on. You can take your pick from what's in the cooler."

[not_crazy]

"Yep, venison," she confirmed. Saw it on menus, stuck with things she knew. She liked routine sometimes, especially after her life sort of went nuts. "You're probably right, though I promise all I'm seeing is the deer right now, not the fancy name they give it."

Hard not to see anything but the fact it was a deer. Pulling her gaze away to look at Elena, she smiled.

"Not a lot of visitors yet?" she guessed. "I'm still living in that little apartment I got when I first showed up here."

[notaretriever]

"Very different than what I'm used to," Luke admits, following Elena toward the cooler. "When I was in New York it was just the three of us." Jocelyn and Clary would often some into the store unannounced, or even Simon now and then, but for the most part it had been just the three of them. Jocelyn never would have allowed anyone to just walk in and out of their lives, mostly out of fear that Valentine would one day find them all and Luke could never blame her for that.

[cleverness]

The early days of Hermione's pregnancy came with a loss of appetite, and a high sensitivity to the smells of food. She found that her level of energy held steady for the most part, allowing her to engage in the same social mores that she had since arriving in Darrow, but sometimes she had to duck away from grilling or any other active food preparation, staying off to the side to avoid the strongest smells.

Still, she was glad for the opportunity to mingle with good friends, and politely ate her salad as she glanced around Elena's home, which was happy and inviting, and certainly carried the intimacy one would expect to find for a family.

[survivesitall]

"It'll be carved up later. Think of it like... A Thanksgiving turkey." Those looked as much like the bird as this looked like a deer, at least in her mind. "You'll never remember."

"We're mostly the sorts that stick to ourselves," Elena says, even though today shows another thing entirely. "We had a big family, but a close family. I miss that."

[survivesitall]

"Our Pack, we used to be bigger." She says the word to him, but still says it softly, aware of the people that are gathered here. But he knows what she is, it's something that was often obvious to others who were the same.

She pulls out a Spritz for herself, waving her hand at the drinks on ice for him. "Here it's just the two of us. It's too small."

[survivesitall]

Elena catches Hermione near the back door to the house, two bottles of Spritz in her hands. "Here," she says, holding one out to her friend. She's not drinking today for her own reasons, but she's noticed her friend doing the same.

If there's something different about her scent that makes Elena think things have changed that's another thing entirely, and something that's up to Hermione to tell her. Never mind the complicated conversation in which she explained she was a werewolf which still had to happen. "Cheers."

[notaretriever]

"When I had a pack it was... it was large," Luke says with a laugh, selecting a drink for himself. "In Idris my pack was several hundred, but the number fluctuated. Manhattan was smaller, around seventy."

But he never would have let them run in and out of his life.

"I liked my privacy, though. In Manhattan it was only my friend Jocelyn and her daughter who would come by. They weren't like me."

[rulesofthewild]

She nods eagerly. Anything to make the time pass faster. "What do you have for drinks?" she asks. She can't get drunk, but she can always have soda or something, enjoy the flavor. "Do you have any snacks?" She sniffs, trying to track something down, but all she can smell is the roasting deer.

[survivesitall]

"Our Pack was neer large, but it was bigger than this." A dozen, once, before the ones who had died - been killed. It's not the sort of thing to discuss on a day like today though, so she moves past it. "Here, it's just the two of us. I guess there's a point where you want to reach out and find more people you can trust and include in your lives."

[survivesitall]

"Sure," Elena says laughing, leading Malia away from the spit and closer to the house. There's a cooler filled with beer and soda there, and a table with chips and nuts and dips and all the other things that people generally put out at an event like this. "Help yourself. It's all for sharing."

She grabs a soda for herself, popping the top and leaning against the trestle table. "How'd your hunt for roomates go?"

[rulesofthewild]

"Better than I thought it would," she admits. "I found two, which'll make it way easier to afford than if only one person answered the ad." She looks pleased, maybe a little proud. "It's this guy named Zuko, and this girl named Dany."

[survivesitall]

"Good. You're not far, you know." Elena says it as if it's the first time she's thought of it, though she's considered it before. "Any time you want to come here you can."

[rulesofthewild]

There's a part of Malia that she hasn't realized has been starving for friendship since coming to Darrow. Yes, she's had Coraline, and she's spent time with Stiles and America, and run into Elena more than a few times. But it isn't like Beacon Hills, where she'd spent maybe a quarter of her time alone, ever. Here, it's more like she spends less than half of her time with people, and she doesn't know if that's because she's chosen that, or if it's just happened that way. But there's something about the way Elena says it — not for the first time, and no real difference in tone — that really hits Malia, right in the stomach.

And abruptly, she turns and hugs her, tightly.