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♫
[Stefan is settled in a cell, sans daylight ring, to wait it out until he decides he wants to be a vampire that has a civil conversation. Lindsay has been in Mystic Falls long enough to know that if he were to mysteriously disappear, people would notice, and Lindsay isn’t looking to be noticed just yet.
That cat may already be out of the bag, given she just abducted a well-known vampire, but she’s still trying to fly under everyone’s radar. Stumbling across him, covered in blood, on one of the backroads is a gift, in her mind. It gives her a plausible human reason to arrest him, and if anyone questions how she got him in the cruiser, well. That would give her room to question why they thought it would be an issue. And true, maybe it would lead to the grand reveal of a Slayer among them in due time, but she doesn’t really think it matters at this point.
Mystic Falls was a detour, really. A pit stop of problems that seemed to need a Slayer. She met a guy named Matt who seemed to want to warn her away – that in the end it would cause her more problems than it would solutions. But then Matt turns up dead in the trunk of his car, and Lindsay finds herself unable to resist the urge to investigate.
There isn’t much left of the Mystic Falls police force. The so-called “Founder’s Council” is especially gone. No one is protecting the people from this weird brand of vampires, and while she can acknowledge that they’re not the soulless demons that Lindsay is accustomed to, something isn’t right here. And she’s bound and determined to figure out what.
As she moves up the stairs, back towards her desk, she stops short when she sees that Damon Salvatore is sitting in her desk chair. There’s a high chance that he’s gone rifling through her desk. That he may have tried to break into her locked drawer and see all the files she and Beck have been putting together on the different vampires in town. Or maybe he isn’t on to her yet, and is just looking for his brother.
Either way, Lindsay keeps her eyes on him as she tries to play it cool.]
Not sure if you’ve spent a lot of time in police stations, but visitors are usually supposed to sit on the other side of the desk.
[Stefan is settled in a cell, sans daylight ring, to wait it out until he decides he wants to be a vampire that has a civil conversation. Lindsay has been in Mystic Falls long enough to know that if he were to mysteriously disappear, people would notice, and Lindsay isn’t looking to be noticed just yet.
That cat may already be out of the bag, given she just abducted a well-known vampire, but she’s still trying to fly under everyone’s radar. Stumbling across him, covered in blood, on one of the backroads is a gift, in her mind. It gives her a plausible human reason to arrest him, and if anyone questions how she got him in the cruiser, well. That would give her room to question why they thought it would be an issue. And true, maybe it would lead to the grand reveal of a Slayer among them in due time, but she doesn’t really think it matters at this point.
Mystic Falls was a detour, really. A pit stop of problems that seemed to need a Slayer. She met a guy named Matt who seemed to want to warn her away – that in the end it would cause her more problems than it would solutions. But then Matt turns up dead in the trunk of his car, and Lindsay finds herself unable to resist the urge to investigate.
There isn’t much left of the Mystic Falls police force. The so-called “Founder’s Council” is especially gone. No one is protecting the people from this weird brand of vampires, and while she can acknowledge that they’re not the soulless demons that Lindsay is accustomed to, something isn’t right here. And she’s bound and determined to figure out what.
As she moves up the stairs, back towards her desk, she stops short when she sees that Damon Salvatore is sitting in her desk chair. There’s a high chance that he’s gone rifling through her desk. That he may have tried to break into her locked drawer and see all the files she and Beck have been putting together on the different vampires in town. Or maybe he isn’t on to her yet, and is just looking for his brother.
Either way, Lindsay keeps her eyes on him as she tries to play it cool.]
Not sure if you’ve spent a lot of time in police stations, but visitors are usually supposed to sit on the other side of the desk.
[Audrey doesn’t know how to talk about any of this but given her awareness of the problems at hand, she probably shouldn’t skimp on the details.]
I have two more. They landed in Boston, and they’re mine, for lack of better phrasing. Duke Crocker and Nathan Wuornos, both human.
[Let’s not explain the Troubles right now, they’re human in all the ways that count.]
They’re also more akin to the Salvatores than the resurrected folks. They’re from another universe.
[Is it too much to ask that you all not dig too much into how she knows that? Because she’s trying to get herself to Boston as quickly as possible and does not have time to explain the past thirty years she’s been pretending to be other people just yet.]
I have two more. They landed in Boston, and they’re mine, for lack of better phrasing. Duke Crocker and Nathan Wuornos, both human.
[Let’s not explain the Troubles right now, they’re human in all the ways that count.]
They’re also more akin to the Salvatores than the resurrected folks. They’re from another universe.
[Is it too much to ask that you all not dig too much into how she knows that? Because she’s trying to get herself to Boston as quickly as possible and does not have time to explain the past thirty years she’s been pretending to be other people just yet.]
♫
[Isaac may have arrived at the airport way too early for either of the flights they’re supposed to be picking up for. He and Bonnie are parked in the cell phone lot, and he’s trying to swallow down all the nerves that are part of what’s coming. He knows he hasn’t been the easiest guy to live with since these resurrections started happening, when they started having names attached to the returned. He’s withdrawn, some, not intentionally, just not really knowing how to articulate.
He's mentioned Erica before, in one of those moments where he winds up saying too much of his sordid history at once and then apologizing for it. He still doesn’t know how much is too much to say. He knows Bonnie well enough at this point to know that they both have their baggage, but it’s hard to dig up things he feels he’s moved on from.
And now Erica is here, and it’s her, and she’s texting him, asking questions about his life and he doesn’t always know what to tell her. How to not feel guilty that he’s done all of the things that she used to talk about and she never got to.
His fingers drum briefly against the steering wheel, before swallowing hard.]
I know I’ve been weird lately. I’m sorry.
[Isaac may have arrived at the airport way too early for either of the flights they’re supposed to be picking up for. He and Bonnie are parked in the cell phone lot, and he’s trying to swallow down all the nerves that are part of what’s coming. He knows he hasn’t been the easiest guy to live with since these resurrections started happening, when they started having names attached to the returned. He’s withdrawn, some, not intentionally, just not really knowing how to articulate.
He's mentioned Erica before, in one of those moments where he winds up saying too much of his sordid history at once and then apologizing for it. He still doesn’t know how much is too much to say. He knows Bonnie well enough at this point to know that they both have their baggage, but it’s hard to dig up things he feels he’s moved on from.
And now Erica is here, and it’s her, and she’s texting him, asking questions about his life and he doesn’t always know what to tell her. How to not feel guilty that he’s done all of the things that she used to talk about and she never got to.
His fingers drum briefly against the steering wheel, before swallowing hard.]
I know I’ve been weird lately. I’m sorry.
♫
[They make it through security without any trouble thanks to the vampires and the siren among them, and it’s even smoother once they land. Stiles and Cora rent a car large enough to load their group into and as they navigate their way out of the airport and onto the highway towards Mystic Falls.
Cora sends a glance back over her shoulder, looking up from her text thread with Isaac with regards to where everyone is sleeping.]
According to Isaac, Jenna is going to Damon’s house—Elena is waiting to meet her there—Liz is going to Caroline’s house that she gave me the address for—
[“Caroline also said I could use one of her guest rooms,” Serena speaks up from the back. “But I also need to coordinate with Alexander and Jackson at the wolf house.”
Cora nods.]
Okay, so maybe we drop Jenna off first, then Liz and Serena can drop off her stuff there, and then head to the house?
[They make it through security without any trouble thanks to the vampires and the siren among them, and it’s even smoother once they land. Stiles and Cora rent a car large enough to load their group into and as they navigate their way out of the airport and onto the highway towards Mystic Falls.
Cora sends a glance back over her shoulder, looking up from her text thread with Isaac with regards to where everyone is sleeping.]
According to Isaac, Jenna is going to Damon’s house—Elena is waiting to meet her there—Liz is going to Caroline’s house that she gave me the address for—
[“Caroline also said I could use one of her guest rooms,” Serena speaks up from the back. “But I also need to coordinate with Alexander and Jackson at the wolf house.”
Cora nods.]
Okay, so maybe we drop Jenna off first, then Liz and Serena can drop off her stuff there, and then head to the house?
Edited 2026-01-02 15:39 (UTC)
♫
[Sam has been trying to stay out of things with Dean and the Braedans. It’s nothing personal, he of course wants to get to know his nephew and try to smooth out the rifts he caused, but he also knows that those rifts are considerable, and it didn’t feel right to force himself into an already delicate situation again. So he’s been giving them their space, and while he knows that the Braedans agreed to come for the Christmas party, and he wasn’t planning to hide or anything, but he was going to just try and make himself as unobtrusive as possible.
Which is funny, considering he is a moose.
That said, he had just come to the B&B to makes sure that Mary and Bobby got settled okay, and then ran into Cordelia on his way out, and naturally she wanted to ask him a number of pointed questions about both Allison and Elena, and that he is doing his best to artfully dodge when the Braedans’ car pulls up in the parking lot and there’s no way for Sam to quickly escape in a way that doesn’t look like he’s fleeing.]
Crap.
[“Crap?” Cordy frowns. “What’s crap? Who’s that?”]
Uh, that’s Ben. Well, one of them is Ben. Dean’s son.
[“Dean’s WHAT?!”]
[Sam has been trying to stay out of things with Dean and the Braedans. It’s nothing personal, he of course wants to get to know his nephew and try to smooth out the rifts he caused, but he also knows that those rifts are considerable, and it didn’t feel right to force himself into an already delicate situation again. So he’s been giving them their space, and while he knows that the Braedans agreed to come for the Christmas party, and he wasn’t planning to hide or anything, but he was going to just try and make himself as unobtrusive as possible.
Which is funny, considering he is a moose.
That said, he had just come to the B&B to makes sure that Mary and Bobby got settled okay, and then ran into Cordelia on his way out, and naturally she wanted to ask him a number of pointed questions about both Allison and Elena, and that he is doing his best to artfully dodge when the Braedans’ car pulls up in the parking lot and there’s no way for Sam to quickly escape in a way that doesn’t look like he’s fleeing.]
Crap.
[“Crap?” Cordy frowns. “What’s crap? Who’s that?”]
Uh, that’s Ben. Well, one of them is Ben. Dean’s son.
[“Dean’s WHAT?!”]
Edited 2026-01-02 15:39 (UTC)
♫
[Elena leans back against the Impala as they wait in the parking lot of the hospital for Damon, Stephanie and Gray to arrive. She’s aware of how impersonal it feels, but she wants to get the DNA test part of it out of the way, and once they get over that awkward hump they can move on to actually getting to know each other. She’s also been waiting here for potentially too long, on the off chance that they might get here earlier than expected, so she finds herself talking to fill the space abut the other news she’s gotten over the past few days.]
So her name is Isobel and … I honestly can’t tell you what to expect with her because I’ve never really been given the chance to know her. Not really.
[A pause.]
Not beyond the fact that she seems to just slam into my life like a wrecking ball whenever she can.
[Elena leans back against the Impala as they wait in the parking lot of the hospital for Damon, Stephanie and Gray to arrive. She’s aware of how impersonal it feels, but she wants to get the DNA test part of it out of the way, and once they get over that awkward hump they can move on to actually getting to know each other. She’s also been waiting here for potentially too long, on the off chance that they might get here earlier than expected, so she finds herself talking to fill the space abut the other news she’s gotten over the past few days.]
So her name is Isobel and … I honestly can’t tell you what to expect with her because I’ve never really been given the chance to know her. Not really.
[A pause.]
Not beyond the fact that she seems to just slam into my life like a wrecking ball whenever she can.
♫
[So there was texting, once everyone was given phones and numbers were exchanged. It’s hard to believe all of them have swung back to this side of living again, but Miranda has a hard time not feeling grateful for it. Elena’s been trying, and so have her friends, but she’s also been reaching for her people. For Liz, the woman she’s been friends with her whole life, and finding them not there hurts.
But they’re there now, and Miranda is doing her best. She had a long drive from Lawrence to wrap her mind around everything that’s happened in the last few days, but she’s managing. Her daughter is okay. Her friends are alive. Maybe something finally seems to be going right.
After dropping off their things at Elena’s apartment, as well as the very heavy box that she was clearly instructed not to look in at all, Miranda and Grayson clean up and climb back into the car before heading over to the Forbes house. It’s still just as she remembers it, at least on the outside, and slowly, they make way up onto the porch, knocking lightly at the door as she tries not to feel like this is too heavy.
This should be a joyful thing, even if she has so many questions.
She listens for the footsteps on the other side of the door, and when it opens she can’t help the tears that spring to her eyes.]
Liz.
[So there was texting, once everyone was given phones and numbers were exchanged. It’s hard to believe all of them have swung back to this side of living again, but Miranda has a hard time not feeling grateful for it. Elena’s been trying, and so have her friends, but she’s also been reaching for her people. For Liz, the woman she’s been friends with her whole life, and finding them not there hurts.
But they’re there now, and Miranda is doing her best. She had a long drive from Lawrence to wrap her mind around everything that’s happened in the last few days, but she’s managing. Her daughter is okay. Her friends are alive. Maybe something finally seems to be going right.
After dropping off their things at Elena’s apartment, as well as the very heavy box that she was clearly instructed not to look in at all, Miranda and Grayson clean up and climb back into the car before heading over to the Forbes house. It’s still just as she remembers it, at least on the outside, and slowly, they make way up onto the porch, knocking lightly at the door as she tries not to feel like this is too heavy.
This should be a joyful thing, even if she has so many questions.
She listens for the footsteps on the other side of the door, and when it opens she can’t help the tears that spring to her eyes.]
Liz.
party | stefan, enzo, bonnie, grayson, liv + special guest stars
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somanyadjectives
2026-01-02 06:08 am (UTC)(link)
♫
[Stefan has been keeping to himself since people started arriving. Buffy likely has questions about why he’s being so reclusive, but he’s been delicately dodging them by helping Carol with setting up at the Lockwood house and doing the best to provide whatever help he can. What it comes down to, however, is that he promised Carol a certain number of pans of lasagna to supplement the already ordered food, which means he needs to take over his brother’s kitchen.
He tries to pick an unobtrusive time, but there’s no denying the smell of good Italian food when the time comes, so people are bound to come investigating. He also knows that there’s a conversation that likely needs to happen—that he should just man up and apologize because this is absolutely a situation that requires it. But that doesn’t mean he knows where to start. There aren’t a lot of instances where he’s had the opportunity to apologize for killing someone.
That said, his head is bent over the pans, layering sauce and cheese and noodles when he hears the semi-familiar footsteps, and he looks up with a heavy sigh. Time to pay the piper.]
Enzo.
[Stefan has been keeping to himself since people started arriving. Buffy likely has questions about why he’s being so reclusive, but he’s been delicately dodging them by helping Carol with setting up at the Lockwood house and doing the best to provide whatever help he can. What it comes down to, however, is that he promised Carol a certain number of pans of lasagna to supplement the already ordered food, which means he needs to take over his brother’s kitchen.
He tries to pick an unobtrusive time, but there’s no denying the smell of good Italian food when the time comes, so people are bound to come investigating. He also knows that there’s a conversation that likely needs to happen—that he should just man up and apologize because this is absolutely a situation that requires it. But that doesn’t mean he knows where to start. There aren’t a lot of instances where he’s had the opportunity to apologize for killing someone.
That said, his head is bent over the pans, layering sauce and cheese and noodles when he hears the semi-familiar footsteps, and he looks up with a heavy sigh. Time to pay the piper.]
Enzo.
♫
[Carol has enlisted the number of able bodied young people living in her house to make sure that everything is arranged appropriately for the party. Almost everything is loaded inside and ready to go, save for some of the alcohol order. Jo had volunteered herself to go and get the rest of it in, given that slinging bottles of booze is something she still has the muscle memory for.
She’s just managed to load the case of beer into her arms turning towards the driveway to shift the balance, and proceeds to jump out of her skin when two people who weren’t there five minutes earlier appear in front of her. One, at least, she does recognize.]
Jesus, Cas!
[“Hello, Jo.” Cas says with a small smile. "Do you need help?”]
No, I got it.
[She shifts the box so that she gets a good grip, before looking over at the young man she doesn’t recognize.]
Let me guess—you must be Jack.
[Carol has enlisted the number of able bodied young people living in her house to make sure that everything is arranged appropriately for the party. Almost everything is loaded inside and ready to go, save for some of the alcohol order. Jo had volunteered herself to go and get the rest of it in, given that slinging bottles of booze is something she still has the muscle memory for.
She’s just managed to load the case of beer into her arms turning towards the driveway to shift the balance, and proceeds to jump out of her skin when two people who weren’t there five minutes earlier appear in front of her. One, at least, she does recognize.]
Jesus, Cas!
[“Hello, Jo.” Cas says with a small smile. "Do you need help?”]
No, I got it.
[She shifts the box so that she gets a good grip, before looking over at the young man she doesn’t recognize.]
Let me guess—you must be Jack.
Edited 2026-01-02 06:10 (UTC)
♫
[Jo loves a good party as much as the next girl, but the amount of new faces around is a bit overwhelming at times. She likes Matt, and she likes getting to know Matt’s people, as well as Sam and Dean’s new people, but even she needs to take a break, and finds herself retreating back towards the kitchens, where she knows there’s a back staircase no one can see.
She isn’t, however, surprised when she finds someone’s beat her to the punch, and she raises an eyebrow with a smirk.]
Room for one more in that hiding spot?
[Jo loves a good party as much as the next girl, but the amount of new faces around is a bit overwhelming at times. She likes Matt, and she likes getting to know Matt’s people, as well as Sam and Dean’s new people, but even she needs to take a break, and finds herself retreating back towards the kitchens, where she knows there’s a back staircase no one can see.
She isn’t, however, surprised when she finds someone’s beat her to the punch, and she raises an eyebrow with a smirk.]
Room for one more in that hiding spot?
♫
[Tyler is entering this debate already in progress.
“It’s not like I can even get drunk,” Erica retorts as Isaac pours himself and Bonnie another glass of wine, but doesn’t seem to be inclined to be as generous to her. Not because he thinks that she’ll get in trouble, necessarily, but more because he doesn’t think she actually wants it, and it’s more of a coping mechanism.]
But you still want it.
[“Yes.” Erica gives him a defiant stare. “I want to try it. See what the big deal is.”
Isaac glances up when he sees Tyler entering and he smirks.]
I don’t know. Is Mystic Falls the kind of place that endorses underage drinking?
[Tyler is entering this debate already in progress.
“It’s not like I can even get drunk,” Erica retorts as Isaac pours himself and Bonnie another glass of wine, but doesn’t seem to be inclined to be as generous to her. Not because he thinks that she’ll get in trouble, necessarily, but more because he doesn’t think she actually wants it, and it’s more of a coping mechanism.]
But you still want it.
[“Yes.” Erica gives him a defiant stare. “I want to try it. See what the big deal is.”
Isaac glances up when he sees Tyler entering and he smirks.]
I don’t know. Is Mystic Falls the kind of place that endorses underage drinking?
♫
[Cordy loves a good party and has been flitting throughout the rooms of the Lockwood manor, checking on or catching up with friends, meeting new people, asking probing questions of certain girlfriends—mostly Elena. She hasn’t managed to track down Allison yet, but her boyfriend isn’t hard to find, so she figures if she looks for a tall moose wearing flannel, she’ll find her.
Imagine her surprise when she wanders through and finds the moose he’s looking for, side by side with her own boyfriend, deep in conversation, exactly where she left them hours ago. She glances down at her watch and sighs.]
You do know you weirdos can’t just spend the whole party hiding in a corner.
[She says this with love.]
[Cordy loves a good party and has been flitting throughout the rooms of the Lockwood manor, checking on or catching up with friends, meeting new people, asking probing questions of certain girlfriends—mostly Elena. She hasn’t managed to track down Allison yet, but her boyfriend isn’t hard to find, so she figures if she looks for a tall moose wearing flannel, she’ll find her.
Imagine her surprise when she wanders through and finds the moose he’s looking for, side by side with her own boyfriend, deep in conversation, exactly where she left them hours ago. She glances down at her watch and sighs.]
You do know you weirdos can’t just spend the whole party hiding in a corner.
[She says this with love.]
♫
[Dawn is now cast-free, but that doesn’t mean her leg isn’t having some growing pains. Halfway through the party she feels the need to get off her feet, but the challenge in turn is making sure she has an appropriate conversation partner. As she wanders, she finds Matt and Tyler chatting in a quiet corner, and while she doesn’t want to intrude—if she had just gotten her best friend back from the dead, she would want to have some quiet time—but the room does look like it has a very comfortable couch.]
You boys mind if I chill on that couch for a bit?
[She’ll even let you ask her all kinds of questions in return, if that’s considered fair trade. She’s been sleeping here, but she hasn’t really gotten the chance to get to know Jeremy’s friends much yet. She’s sure that they probably have questions for her.]
[Dawn is now cast-free, but that doesn’t mean her leg isn’t having some growing pains. Halfway through the party she feels the need to get off her feet, but the challenge in turn is making sure she has an appropriate conversation partner. As she wanders, she finds Matt and Tyler chatting in a quiet corner, and while she doesn’t want to intrude—if she had just gotten her best friend back from the dead, she would want to have some quiet time—but the room does look like it has a very comfortable couch.]
You boys mind if I chill on that couch for a bit?
[She’ll even let you ask her all kinds of questions in return, if that’s considered fair trade. She’s been sleeping here, but she hasn’t really gotten the chance to get to know Jeremy’s friends much yet. She’s sure that they probably have questions for her.]
♫
Okay.
[Dawn settles with her plate of Stefan’s lasagna and a fresh bottle for the table, before looking around at the people who have known each other much longer than she has, save Buffy. She knows she’s the swing for this particular girl gang chat, but she’s more than happy to tag in for Caroline, who has never been anything but sweet to her.]
Has Stefan always been able to cook like this, or is this a past twenty years development? Because this is both technically perfect and absolutely delicious and I may be a little jealous of my sister if she gets to eat this all the time.
Okay.
[Dawn settles with her plate of Stefan’s lasagna and a fresh bottle for the table, before looking around at the people who have known each other much longer than she has, save Buffy. She knows she’s the swing for this particular girl gang chat, but she’s more than happy to tag in for Caroline, who has never been anything but sweet to her.]
Has Stefan always been able to cook like this, or is this a past twenty years development? Because this is both technically perfect and absolutely delicious and I may be a little jealous of my sister if she gets to eat this all the time.
Edited 2026-02-19 01:25 (UTC)
♫
[Ben had a lot of preconceived notions about what this party would be, and none of them have fit what this party actually was. He’s not used to a Dean who has people. The Dean he knew, way back when, came to them because he had nowhere else to go. But it seems like whatever Dean has been through in the intervening years, he has a good crew of people around him now.
It really only solidifies the conversation he knows they need to have. Part of him wishes that this didn’t have to be at Christmas, but he also knows it can’t wait. He also hopes that if he does this right—jury’s out on if he’ll nail that—it won’t go as badly as he thinks it will.
He wait until Dean steps out of the house for some air and he follows, holding the same beer that he’s been nursing all night and closes the door behind him. He takes a deep breath of the cool night air before speaking up.]
Hey. Got a sec?
[Ben had a lot of preconceived notions about what this party would be, and none of them have fit what this party actually was. He’s not used to a Dean who has people. The Dean he knew, way back when, came to them because he had nowhere else to go. But it seems like whatever Dean has been through in the intervening years, he has a good crew of people around him now.
It really only solidifies the conversation he knows they need to have. Part of him wishes that this didn’t have to be at Christmas, but he also knows it can’t wait. He also hopes that if he does this right—jury’s out on if he’ll nail that—it won’t go as badly as he thinks it will.
He wait until Dean steps out of the house for some air and he follows, holding the same beer that he’s been nursing all night and closes the door behind him. He takes a deep breath of the cool night air before speaking up.]
Hey. Got a sec?
ford family (bradan, niall, callahan, bairre jr., bairre sr., catroina, quinn) | london
morethanfaith
2026-01-02 06:17 am (UTC)(link)
♫
[The downside of having three children is that their disparate activities do not always communicate with each other, especially around the holidays. Rehearsals, recitals, performances, all pile in one after the other, and when you’re a single parent it makes it very difficult to split yourself in three. That’s usually when you tag in family to help.
Tonight’s particular conflict of interest is Ciara’s holiday ballet recital and Maeve’s winter spectacular. It isn’t that the events overlapped exactly, Bairre could comfortably attend and watch both, but after said recital, there are pictures, costume returns, and all other things that had nothing to do with his child’s performance and more to do with ways for the ballet studio to stress out parents. As a result, Bradan stayed behind with Ciara as she took pictures, helped wrestle a glitter-covered girl out of her glitter-covered costume, and hustles her into a car as they head over to the secondary school to see Maeve in the role of “sheep” in the winter nativity.
He doesn’t think Maeve is actually invested in the theater and mostly joined for a friend, but it’s good to see her stretch beyond her usual athletic pursuits.
Bradan and Ciara make it in just as the lights are going down, which means that they aren’t going to make it to where Bairre and the rest of their family have settled, about midway through the auditorium. They’re at the point where Bradan intends to just grab the two nearest available seats and catch up with his brother later.
Ciara tugs on his jacket to get his attention. “There are two seats next to Mr. McNally.”]
Sold.
[Bradan nods, before heading directly to those seats. Ciara slides in first, taking the seat and leaning in to the man next to them.
“Hi, Mr. McNally.”
As Bradan turns to look to see exactly who Mr. McNally is, his brain briefly stutters as it’s the last person he expects.]
Niall?
[The downside of having three children is that their disparate activities do not always communicate with each other, especially around the holidays. Rehearsals, recitals, performances, all pile in one after the other, and when you’re a single parent it makes it very difficult to split yourself in three. That’s usually when you tag in family to help.
Tonight’s particular conflict of interest is Ciara’s holiday ballet recital and Maeve’s winter spectacular. It isn’t that the events overlapped exactly, Bairre could comfortably attend and watch both, but after said recital, there are pictures, costume returns, and all other things that had nothing to do with his child’s performance and more to do with ways for the ballet studio to stress out parents. As a result, Bradan stayed behind with Ciara as she took pictures, helped wrestle a glitter-covered girl out of her glitter-covered costume, and hustles her into a car as they head over to the secondary school to see Maeve in the role of “sheep” in the winter nativity.
He doesn’t think Maeve is actually invested in the theater and mostly joined for a friend, but it’s good to see her stretch beyond her usual athletic pursuits.
Bradan and Ciara make it in just as the lights are going down, which means that they aren’t going to make it to where Bairre and the rest of their family have settled, about midway through the auditorium. They’re at the point where Bradan intends to just grab the two nearest available seats and catch up with his brother later.
Ciara tugs on his jacket to get his attention. “There are two seats next to Mr. McNally.”]
Sold.
[Bradan nods, before heading directly to those seats. Ciara slides in first, taking the seat and leaning in to the man next to them.
“Hi, Mr. McNally.”
As Bradan turns to look to see exactly who Mr. McNally is, his brain briefly stutters as it’s the last person he expects.]
Niall?
sterling bosch holiday party (sara, neal, doc, rebekah) | new york city
tornadoinheels
2026-01-02 06:19 am (UTC)(link)
♫
[The Sterling Bosch Holiday party is in full swing by the time Neal and Sara make their appearance, which is intentionally so. The more sloshed the upper executives are, the less they look at her sideways for the convicted forger she has as a partner. But Neal’s charm combined with an open bar has a way of wearing them down, just enough.
It’s also been a long week. Conversations about the next stage of Sara’s career have been building up over the last few weeks and while it won’t be an immediate change—the job still isn’t guaranteed to be hers—it’s looking more and more likely, and she wants to make sure all her ducks are in a row. She hasn’t even talked to Neal really about leaving New York yet but given the way her boss is talking, she knows it’s a conversation that needs to happen soon. It’s a conversation she needs to have with Doc too.
After winding through the room and saying their hellos, they eventually settle at a table with Doc and Rebekah. When Neal escorts Rebekah off to the bar to get them all refills, Sara turns to her friend and sighs.]
Have you heard any of the rumors? About the new New Orleans office?
[The Sterling Bosch Holiday party is in full swing by the time Neal and Sara make their appearance, which is intentionally so. The more sloshed the upper executives are, the less they look at her sideways for the convicted forger she has as a partner. But Neal’s charm combined with an open bar has a way of wearing them down, just enough.
It’s also been a long week. Conversations about the next stage of Sara’s career have been building up over the last few weeks and while it won’t be an immediate change—the job still isn’t guaranteed to be hers—it’s looking more and more likely, and she wants to make sure all her ducks are in a row. She hasn’t even talked to Neal really about leaving New York yet but given the way her boss is talking, she knows it’s a conversation that needs to happen soon. It’s a conversation she needs to have with Doc too.
After winding through the room and saying their hellos, they eventually settle at a table with Doc and Rebekah. When Neal escorts Rebekah off to the bar to get them all refills, Sara turns to her friend and sighs.]
Have you heard any of the rumors? About the new New Orleans office?
♫
[Xavier Dolls is a grown man and he will not be wearing a Christmas onesie, no matter how much shit Alice Earp is going to give him. Wynonna and Waverly have both warned him, but he just can’t bring himself to do it, no matter how hard he tries.
(He did not try very hard.)
As he prepares to go, he pops on a Santa hat and grabs the handful of presents he got for the Earps, and as he opens his door, he blinks in surprise to see Adal standing there, before raising an eyebrow in return.]
Did I forget something?
[Xavier Dolls is a grown man and he will not be wearing a Christmas onesie, no matter how much shit Alice Earp is going to give him. Wynonna and Waverly have both warned him, but he just can’t bring himself to do it, no matter how hard he tries.
(He did not try very hard.)
As he prepares to go, he pops on a Santa hat and grabs the handful of presents he got for the Earps, and as he opens his door, he blinks in surprise to see Adal standing there, before raising an eyebrow in return.]
Did I forget something?
♫
[Abernathy doesn’t leave headquarters much for non-work reasons. The Underground is his life’s work and always has been, and it demands a large amount of his focus. But he’s not unmoveable, not some rock that doesn’t want the things a normal human wants. And there’s only so much flirting a man can take from a beautiful woman before he decides to do something about it.
(He just doesn’t want his son to know about it. He doesn’t want anyone to know about it. Not because he’s ashamed, but because he’s private and it’s not their goddamn business. It’s not like he and Rowena are getting married. They’re just having dinner. On Christmas.)
He’s also no slouch. His son did not just magically appear out of thin air. He slips away to his second home, a quiet apartment that’s nice enough for Rowena’s tastes. He spends his afternoon preparing the meal, and has just finished letting the wine breathe when he feels the familiar tingle of her magic raising the hairs on the back of his neck, and he smiles.]
You’re just in time. Dinner’s almost ready.
[Abernathy doesn’t leave headquarters much for non-work reasons. The Underground is his life’s work and always has been, and it demands a large amount of his focus. But he’s not unmoveable, not some rock that doesn’t want the things a normal human wants. And there’s only so much flirting a man can take from a beautiful woman before he decides to do something about it.
(He just doesn’t want his son to know about it. He doesn’t want anyone to know about it. Not because he’s ashamed, but because he’s private and it’s not their goddamn business. It’s not like he and Rowena are getting married. They’re just having dinner. On Christmas.)
He’s also no slouch. His son did not just magically appear out of thin air. He slips away to his second home, a quiet apartment that’s nice enough for Rowena’s tastes. He spends his afternoon preparing the meal, and has just finished letting the wine breathe when he feels the familiar tingle of her magic raising the hairs on the back of his neck, and he smiles.]
You’re just in time. Dinner’s almost ready.
aquarium shenanigans (audrey, duke, nathan, jaqueline & sierra) | boston
tearhiseyesout
2026-01-02 06:22 am (UTC)(link)
♫
[Audrey is spending a quiet Christmas at home in DC, watching holiday movies on TV and trying not to think about the time she got stuck in a Christmas snow globe. Because that way lies madness and loneliness. Still, the thoughts slip to mind, Duke in a Santa suit, Nathan being Nathan.
She misses them. Far more than she cares to admit. It’s been decades for her now, but she still feels the ache of waiting for people who know her. Is it pathetic that her heart may still belong to Nathan, even after all this time?
Maybe Sweets is right, and she really should engage a little more in therapy.
The eleven o’clock news comes on and she’s about to turn off the TV and head to bed, when a news story catches her eye.
“—A Christmas surprise at the Boston Aquarium today as two intruders seem to have broken in and gone for a swim with the dolphins—”
Two faces flash across the screen. Two faces she hasn’t seen in a very long time. The cops are dragging them off, dripping wet and Duke says her name, right into the camera, asking for Audrey Parker.
”Crap,” she murmurs, before grabbing her stuff and trying to figure out how fast she can get to Boston.
Meanwhile, in Baltimore, curled up in bed with her wife, Jaqueline shoots forward as she stares at the news.]
Did he say Audrey Parker?
[Audrey is spending a quiet Christmas at home in DC, watching holiday movies on TV and trying not to think about the time she got stuck in a Christmas snow globe. Because that way lies madness and loneliness. Still, the thoughts slip to mind, Duke in a Santa suit, Nathan being Nathan.
She misses them. Far more than she cares to admit. It’s been decades for her now, but she still feels the ache of waiting for people who know her. Is it pathetic that her heart may still belong to Nathan, even after all this time?
Maybe Sweets is right, and she really should engage a little more in therapy.
The eleven o’clock news comes on and she’s about to turn off the TV and head to bed, when a news story catches her eye.
“—A Christmas surprise at the Boston Aquarium today as two intruders seem to have broken in and gone for a swim with the dolphins—”
Two faces flash across the screen. Two faces she hasn’t seen in a very long time. The cops are dragging them off, dripping wet and Duke says her name, right into the camera, asking for Audrey Parker.
”Crap,” she murmurs, before grabbing her stuff and trying to figure out how fast she can get to Boston.
Meanwhile, in Baltimore, curled up in bed with her wife, Jaqueline shoots forward as she stares at the news.]
Did he say Audrey Parker?
♫
[Aiden steps back from the tree and the pile of wrapped presents sitting underneath and frowns. Erroll isn’t awake yet, and Josh is working on breakfast and they want to make sure they have everything ready for a perfect first Christmas with him. It doesn’t help that Erroll has only been here for a few days and they’re still finding their rhythm, that transition between guys who visited sometimes and parents.
They may be resorting to bribery already.
He stares at the colorful packages—not all of them are from Josh and Aiden, some are from Aunt Cami—but still, knowing that Davina is also likely to bring an impressive stack of presents:]
Are we potentially setting a dangerous precedent with Christmas gifts?
[Aiden steps back from the tree and the pile of wrapped presents sitting underneath and frowns. Erroll isn’t awake yet, and Josh is working on breakfast and they want to make sure they have everything ready for a perfect first Christmas with him. It doesn’t help that Erroll has only been here for a few days and they’re still finding their rhythm, that transition between guys who visited sometimes and parents.
They may be resorting to bribery already.
He stares at the colorful packages—not all of them are from Josh and Aiden, some are from Aunt Cami—but still, knowing that Davina is also likely to bring an impressive stack of presents:]
Are we potentially setting a dangerous precedent with Christmas gifts?
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