#dec 79

“No, it was more like --” James contorted his face in impression.

“You’re early,” was Dawn’s greeting as she pulled her front door open.

“I got this.” Percy said simply, putting down on the table between them what may possibly be the most expensive bottle of whiskey any of them had ever drank. Had he nicked it from his dad’s collection? Definitely. Did he care? Not in the slightest.

Pandora sat on the front steps to Number Four. She did not want to go inside — wasn’t Sturgis at home? She did not want to go inside because her cheeks were sticky with tears.

Crying was supposed to be cathartic, wasn’t it? That’s all. She could have a little cry and then move along. It didn’t need to be an ordeal. But perhaps some small part of her wanted to be caught — squeezed in relief at it, in fact — because she had not chosen anywhere more private to have her cry. And so she was not entirely mortified when footsteps approached. She scrubbed at her cheeks as she glanced up, saying — without being asked — “I’m fine.”

Gawain knocked on the door to Mary’s. He wasn’t sure what reassurance he could give Clem — but it was important, he thought, to tell her he was on her side, that he would help her reason with their father. 

If that was what she wanted. If it worked. Still, in the days since the argument Gawain’s disappointment had become a little disbelieving. Surely John could be cajoled into seeing what a mistake he was making. Surely.

“This is really important. My nose is all itchy and my hands are full, so I’m going to need you to—” Andromeda gestured, awkwardly, at her face, startling the baby awake. God, she’d take a numbing potion over anaesthetic any day.

It was interesting to note just how different the party was this year, and yet everyone was acting the exact same. A different venue, the missing host, all for the most awful of reasons. That wasn’t lost on Frank. But still, he made his way through the party with a presence. It was an important night, to mingle with those in the department he might not get to otherwise. It was with a quiet voice, his head tilted in towards Alice, that Frank said, “Emerson is a lot quieter tonight than usual.”

“Have you ever been to the Hog’s Head?”