Gabriel Holden (angeloffire) wrote in dalton_ooc, @ 2012-11-22 19:35:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! plotting |
A Holden Family Thanksgiving
Just as a heads up for everyone who had a character show up to the Holden residence for Thanksgiving...
Faculty and students are all invited. Arthur's been doing this for fifty years now, so he has a lot of repeat guests, and they've come to be a little Thanksgiving family of their own. Principal Bennett was probably there, along with janitors and lunch ladies, faculty with no nearby families, and a lot of students, because what boarding school teenage boy turns down a free feast?
While Arthur ruled in the kitchen, Gabriel was the floor director, finding people seats, making sure everyone had drinks, and transporting food to the very big table (Arthur's house layout includes a dining room/family room great room that was full of tables and mismatched chairs, yet everyone managed to be seated together). Gabriel, being his usual anal self, tried to seat people so their heads were roughly on an even level--taller people got lower chairs and vice versa. Riley got one of the actual dining room chairs, because he's special. Gabe was actually the most relaxed anyone there had probably seen him, because he does rather enjoy this tradition. He was still quiet and tense, but he seemed more like a shy human than a frozen robot.
Guests didn't have to bring anything, but they were invited to bring a drink or veggie/cheese/meat tray, or anything like that if they felt compelled to. Arthur provided all the main and side dishes, but he never turned down anyone's gift of food. Bennett provided the pies--apparently a tradition for him.
There was a short prayer before the meal began, a non-denominational thanksgiving, and people were invited to share what they were thankful for. Then dinner began, and it was delicious.
About thirty minutes into the meal, there was a knock on the door and Arthur excused himself to answer the door. It was a woman, but the guests didn't hear what he said to her--he pulled her into a private room. Anyone with sharp ears probably heard him chewing her out, not yelling, but clearly not happy, but individual words couldn't really be made out. She left shortly thereafter. Gabriel seemed to recognize her voice, looked a bit startled, but said nothing about it.
Arthur returned to the table, apologized for the interruption, and continued as if nothing had happened. Gabriel seemed distressed and more closed in on himself for the remainder of the meal.
After dinner and dessert and much loosening of belts, people lingered to chat, to help clean up, to watch a game, etc. Arthur didn't let anyone leave without a portion of the leftovers, even if all he could foist on them was a roll.
So... that's what happened from my end! Arthur and Gabe were there, obviously, and Archie was too, offering rides to students who needed them (though the house is just a five minute walk from campus, and the weather was nice). He was delighted to be at his first American Thanksgiving.