Semi-open: May 05

[knightscode]

Who: Lancelot and friends!
What: It's a birthday party! With both regular people and supernatural types. What could go wrong?
When: May 05
Where: Lancelot's flat & garden, Richmond!
Warnings: Gratuitous doggy! Probably a punch up later. Possibly some drunk kissing.



Lancelot's garden is not exactly an acre-large tented paradise.

He's not made of money.

It's big enough to just about fit the people invited across the patio and grass, with Lily variously herding them and rolling around, and he's flitting between them and the kitchen and living room and generally doing his best to butterfly around all of them making sure they're happy. The garden is relatively tidy, as tidy and well kept as a garden that suffers an enthusiastic dog can be. The hedges are neatly trimmed, the tree in one corner healthy and big enough to throw a little shade, and the one flowerbed border seems to mostly have some roses that are yet to fully bloom.

For those who he's only known since the incident last year he's given them a warning: not everyone who will be there is aware of the supernatural side of things, so try not to blurt it to people you don't know.

Despite it being his own birthday Lancelot is, of course, playing host. There's a table set up outside with finger food, salads, drinks and all sorts -- and food strategically inside for those who can't be out in the sun too. He appears to still be checking on more in the oven every so often too, but Lancelot does like to cook -- and he seems quite focused on making sure everyone has something they could eat.

Some of the drinks are alcoholic. The punch isn't that strong, but he has a few other drinks along the side for people who want them and some bottles of beer in an ice bucket. If someone decides to do a little mixing of course then it might wind up stronger.

His sound system is playing the soothing strains of Dire Straits through the place and all in all, for now at least things are going smoothly. So long as nobody says the wrong thing to the wrong person, it will probably be a nice evening. With the mixture of factions present alongside those who have no idea what a faction is, of course... that may be difficult.


[ OOC: Feel free to mingle away on the post with others here! ]

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[knightscode]

He leans around the corner and squints a moment, dropping a hand to Lily to hold her steady before stepping past and glancing around Faolan toward the garden.

"Here," he decides finally, "we can sit on the steps, if you don't mind a little sun."

That, and if he doesn't mind being low enough that he may have to fend off Lily -- who thinks that plate smells very interesting indeed, Faolan!

[reticence]

Faolan shakes his head. "Not all that much, no. Just remind me to move out of it eventually, before I start to burn," he says, with a slightly sheepish smile, before moving to sit where the other man had directed them. Where there is a little room to sit, at least. And yes, he will keep the plate away from the dog -- sorry, Lily, not all food is for you.

"This alright?" he asks, shifting the plate in his lap so the other man can reach it as well. "I promise not to keep you for too long. Just for a bite to eat. Your back will be thanking me later, though. Old man," he adds, with the hint of a wink, to show that he's only playing. It is Lancelot's birthday after all, it's almost expected.

[knightscode]

Old man? Lancelot lofts and eyebrow at that as he drops to sit down beside Faolan and swipes a sausage roll.

"This old man's back can handle more than yours. Besides which, for all you know this gift of mine means at one hundred and three years old I will still be this handsome."

Now there's a thought for you, Faolan. Who knows, after all, what the other side-effects might be. It's hard to be sure until he's aged a great deal, of course.

[reticence]

There's a thought indeed. Faolan turns to regard the other man carefully, watching him take a bite out of the sausage roll and thinking about it for a long moment. Lancelot has been fae-touched, there really is no way of knowing how that might affect him in the long-term. Maybe he will age differently.

"Like a fine wine," he comments aloud, the drink he's already had perhaps loosening his tongue a little. He quirks something of a smile at the other man. "Or perhaps not at all, I suppose. You outshine the lot of us as it is." Faolan knows how he looks, on the days that he has gotten little sleep, when there is something on his mind and he is pale and tired and ten years older than he may be with a good meal and a few decent nights' rest.

He reaches to pick at a bit of food on the plate. "Another man might be jealous."

[knightscode]

"Jealous?" Lancelot echoes, "is my life so appealing? Or would you have all the benefits, none of the drawbacks."

He lofts an eyebrow curiously, reaching out to draw Lily close to his side as her snout begins to get suspiciously close to Faolan's plate.

"I'm not so sure it's as remarkable as you think. Perhaps it only seems so because I have people like yourself to help me through."

[reticence]

Faolan glances up at the other man, the corner of his mouth quirking up at him in turn. He does not point out that he had said another man would be jealous, and yet he is not himself. Well, perhaps of Lancelot's strengths, his speed, but his good looks? Faolan has more viewed them with admiration than jealousy, especially in recent days.

"People like myself?" he repeats, raising a wry eyebrow at the other man and refraining from making a comment to put himself down, a joke about how having him around makes it easier to look good to others perhaps. He may be digging, but not at the expense of himself. Not tonight at least.

[knightscode]

"You have been a good friend to me, Faolan, good friends always make things easier. Even if they sometimes make things a little more interesting than necessary at the same time."

Like needing help in awkward break-ins, or with severed heads, or standing unexpectedly for election. Lancelot shrugs, picks up his drink to take another sip. Faolan should know he's a good friend already, surely. At least, he hopes he does.

[reticence]

Faolan ducks his head slightly at that. Being told he is a good friend -- well, that is a positive thing at least. Though having it pointed out that he makes things more interesting than necessary in the same breath certainly puts a dampener on whatever high hopes he might have been creating for himself at the first comment. And he doesn't really know what to think of it, because the truth of the matter is that he knows that he's been mostly just trouble for the other man. Even if he has done his best.

"More interesting than necessary," he repeats. "A polite way of saying that sometimes, I am more trouble than I am worth. No," he says, holding up a hand before there can be any protest. "Don't deny it. I know that it's true." He knows his own life, after all. He's the one living it.

[knightscode]

Lancelot frowns at that, tilts his head slightly.

"Do you?" he prompts, "because that is not what I said. I said more interesting than necessary. Which is true, sometimes you make life a little more interesting than I would strictly prefer. That is not at all the same as saying you are more trouble than you are worth, Faolan, because you are worth a great deal to me as a friend. A little excitement doesn't cancel that all out."

[reticence]

Faolan keeps his eyes firmly on the plate in his lap for a long moment after Lancelot's gentle reprimand. It is good at least to know such things. Good to have them pointed out to him. Faolan will always be harder on himself than mostly anyone else. Certainly harder than any friend would be, especially Lancelot.

"You don't regret it, then?" he asks, cautiously glancing up at the other man at last. "How 'interesting' things seem to get, around me? I wish I could promise you better, but." He knows himself. And he tries not to make promises he knows he cannot keep.

[knightscode]

Lancelot's face does something complicated, screwing up incredulously at the question while somehow remaining both amused and sad about it.

"Faolan," he chides, "have I ever given you the impression I regret our friendship? Why on earth would you be here if I did? This may surprise you, but I don't go about inviting people I dislike into my home -- let alone letting them sleep in it."

[reticence]

Faolan holds back the comment that it seems as though Lancelot has invited every person he has met in the last year or spoken to besides to this party so that's hardly a good comparison as far as anything is concerned. But he's right, he is invited to stay over all the time, whenever he would like, and Lancelot cooks for him, lets him sleep on his futon. Which is more than he can say he's done for Lancelot. Certainly not the allowing him to stay with him and cooking for him part at least.

"I'm sorry," he says, after a moment. "I didn't mean to. I mean, of course. I suppose I'd never thought about it that way." He shrugs slightly. "It's much easier to recognize the trouble I've caused than anything else after all. And far easier to list specifics as far as that is concerned." The wolf chase. The monkey's paw. The head in the box. The burglar. The tea. He could go on...

[knightscode]

Well that isn't true anyway. None of the standing Night Council members are their rivals are here, nor Abigail, nor (that Lancelot is aware) any fae.

"I can do without a list of specifics," he assures Faolan, and swipes another bit of food from the plate. "Now, eat some food and try to look like you're enjoying yourself. This is a birthday party after all."

[reticence]

Faolan ducks his head for a moment, though he nods in response to the other man's words. It is his birthday party, on his birthday for that matter.

"I'm sorry," he says again, reaching for a sausage roll himself and taking a quiet, contemplative bite, before glancing up at the other man. "I haven't even wished you well. Some friend I am. Today is your real birthday after all, isn't it?" He quirks a flicker of a smile at the other man, shaking his head in turn. "I bet you even made your own cake for yourself, haven't you?"

[knightscode]

He wrinkles his nose at that, shakes his head.

"For once, no. I bought some from a patisserie. Even I know you should not bake your own birthday cake."

Lancelot nudges Faolan a little, flickers a wry smile.

"So make sure you save room for some, it's good. I'll make sure to cut you a big piece."

[reticence]

He makes a note that Lancelot had hand made a cake to celebrate Faolan's own birthday, while Lancelot is getting something from a patisserie for his own. He'll have to take note. Maybe he can bring something along those lines himself next time. At least then Lancelot won't have to have paid for his own cake.

Faolan flickers a slight smile at the other man in return. "Good," he says, taking another bite of the sausage roll. "I'm glad that you've drawn the line somewhere at least."

[knightscode]

"I wouldn't have enough time to bake enough cake for everyone here as well as cooking. Not until I learn to clone myself. Besides which, I suspect they make nicer looking cakes than I do."

He grins a little, takes another bite of the food he's nursing and shifts his grip on Lily.

"There's a reason I didn't go into cooking as a career."

[reticence]

Faolan shakes his head in response to that. "Your cooking is fine," he responds, pointedly taking another bite of his food. "More than fine. I'd be over every night if I didn't think it would be a bit of a stretch of your hospitality." Not that he isn't over a lot of the time regardless. At least he tries not to make it too often.

"Anyway, you're better suited to what you do," he continues. "In the police, and the Guardians. Excitement or no, don't tell me you don't enjoy it. This way you can have both, yeah? It makes sense."

[knightscode]

"I do," Lancelot admits. "I wanted to make a difference, to protect people. This is the best way I have to do it. I could never have been... a lawyer, a judge, anything fancy. I'm not clever enough. I don't have the money or business mind to do anything on some enormous scale. This, though? This I can do. Use the law the way it should be used. To protect those who need it and make life difficult for people who abuse their privileges. That and, of course, use my spare time to feed everyone."

He smiles a little wider as he jerks an eyebrow at Faolan, who clearly is not objecting to the feeding, and ruffles Lily a little more as she leans into him.

[reticence]

Faolan smiles slightly in response to that. No, he doesn't mind. Though of course it does raise the fact that he's invited other people over today as well, and he'll probably be wanting to get back to making sure they're all properly fed sooner rather than later as well. Faolan tries to soak in all the attention that he can before he knows he'll lose it.

"You're more than you give yourself credit," he says, cocking his head at the other man slightly, a part of him wishing that he could be Lily, leaning against him and demanding his attentions. "Cleverer than you think, a better cook. You could do anything you put your mind to. Don't sell yourself short. You're certainly a better Guardian than I could ever hope to be myself."

[knightscode]

He quirks an eyebrow at that wryly, shifting his hand to scritch behind Lily's war as she mashes her face into his leg.

(With her eyes still on Faolan's plate. She's still watching it. She still has hope.)

"I didn't finish school," Lancelot points out wryly, "I think there's a fair few things I'm not qualified to do."

[reticence]

Faolan raises his eyebrows, trying to remember whether he had known that or not. He doesn't think he had. Although he supposes it's fair. Lancelot doesn't know how far he's gone in his schooling either for that matter. (And he's not about to say just now either, all things considered.)

"And yet you've made it this far despite that," he says, making a face at the other man in turn. He figures the school thing has something to do with the fae kidnapping as a child, but he's not about to get into that. Not about to have Lancelot explain that, especially not on his birthday of all days.

[knightscode]

"Police training has very low entry qualifications, so long as you do the training they give you."

He wrinkles his nose a little, shrugs.

"That I think was the reason I was allowed in as a Guardian in turn. I wouldn't call it that impressive. There are far better trained people around. I suppose I'm just glad I'm allowed to join them."

Even if he's still a little bit of a mess sometimes, floating things when he didn't intend to and apparently making himself a target for fae who like to play pranks.

[reticence]

Faolan had really been attempting to pay the other man a compliment, and so he frowns slightly in the face of the other man's nonchalant way of brushing it off. He did sell himself short. He was doing so even now, by crediting other people as betters.

"Those people are not you. They have not had your life, nor will they. You should celebrate your accomplishments, for that is what they are."

And figuring he has said enough, he looks down at the plate in front of him, before holding it out towards the other man in turn. "And you should take more of this before I eat it all. We are meant to be sharing, are we not?"

[knightscode]

Lancelot shrugs fractionally, reaches out to snag a few cheese biscuits off the plate.

"You always look like you could do with feeding."

So he wouldn't mind if Faolan ate it all, and also that's a good topic change from being chided about being down on himself.