#periculumstarter

Cass flicked through the records, giving a sigh as he searched through the new collections that had been brought in over the school term. His head bopped along to his own music as he seached, but was abruptly interrupted by someone tapping his shoulder. Cass blinked, pulling his headphones off and turning his head, fingers still resting over the records so he didn’t lose his place. “Sorry? Didn’t catch that, what did you say?”

Piper mouthed a sorry to the person standing in front of her, hastily wrapping up her phone call before hanging up and pocketing her cell. “Sorry…” she reiterated aloud with an apologetic smile, “…I’m playing Errand Girl for the radio station today—though I guess that’s kind of what I do every day! Fancy bumping into you here, though…how are you?”

It was about time the outside world caught up with his house. It had been Christmas since November in Isaac’s house. A few days after Halloween he’d awoke to find the house decked from head to toe in holiday decorations, as per usual everything was colour coordinated (white with silver and gold, this year) and before he’d even woken up they’d had someone else come in and meticulously place everything. It was bizarre, something he’d missed while at the castle, like being slingshot straight back into his childhood. Not that Isaac disliked Christmas, he was fond of all the food and decorations were pretty, also all the hideous jumpers making an appearance- which were, without a doubt, one of his favourite things about the season. Not to mention that December came with a day which was well and truly all about him so that was a fairly nice thing too. Isaac had spent the entire morning trying cake samples that had been flown over from Paris, there was something rather pleasant about lounging in his mother’s studio while he ate bites of cake and she scribbled down his thoughts and sent the order off for the cake to be ready for his birthday. Stepping back out into London, after all that sweetness he needed something bitter, and headed to the nearest coffee shop to set his taste-buds back in order. Cakes and coffee for breakfast- a fairly perfect way to start the day. It could get better though. Spying a familiar face browsing the festive shop-fronts, Isaac stepped up beside them and mused aloud, “Please tell me you’re in the market for that hideous ensemble over there, 3D knitted baubles may not be practical but perhaps you can pull it off?”

It was New Years Eve and Tyler was... working. It wasn’t his day to work and technically he had volunteered to take on the extra shift but it was something of a choice he had to make rather than one he wanted to- much like Christmas. This wasn’t how he pictured the night being. There was just no other choice, he knew Jeremy was dealing with a lot and when he all but vanished- save his vague texts about being ok and not needing to be found- Tyler realised fairly quickly that requesting his company tonight was just not going to happen. He had saved himself the actual rejection by simply not asking, deciding it was easier to deal with things this way instead, by just busying himself as a distraction from what had been a rather awful end to the year. In true Spectrum fashion, Tyler had arrived at work and been immediately made up, rainbow glitter stripes across both cheeks and little red hearts painted carefully on his lips, hair twisted up in a messy bun with tiny star clips holding it together. Whoever said you had to look better to feel better was a rotten liar. Still, Tyler was nothing if not dedicated to what he did, and the bar was busy tonight with the New Year soon to be rung in. He collected the payment from another customer with a flash of a smile at his tips, secured the money away and then shifted along to greet the next patron, “What can I get you?”

“Why is this drink so pretty? It just... The swirls and the... The smoke at the top? It’s so pink.” Xi wept into her drink after admiring it, then looked up as the multiple empty cocktail glasses floated back to the bar. She looked up at the person sitting opposite her in the booth. “I will never be as pretty as this drink.”

“Gah! Yes! No? What? What was that about?”