Playing House

Who: Bryce, Emily, Delaney, and Spencer
Where: Table Number 1!
When: 8:15pm

( Bryce, Emily, Delaney, and Spencer oh my! )

Who: Damon, Mattie, Michael and Hannah
When: 8:20 p.m.
Where: Table 5, the ballroom

Damon was having a completely delightful day. He'd made inroads with the lovely Mattie the day before, he'd spent the morning watching porn and some of the afternoon watching what went on in the sitting room, and then he'd spent some time experiencing just about every sex toy he'd packed along. Oh, yes, he was a happy camper right about now. There was a smug smile on his face that wouldn't quit as he showered and got ready for the evening ahead.

He wasn't the suit and tie sort of guy, but he had a couple of nice outfits, because Damon liked to be prepared for any eventuality. He took the time to dry his hair rather than letting it go every which way, put on deodorant and subtle aftershave and dressed in his preferred evening look of black on black: knife-creased slacks and a dress shirt with pinstripes for a subtly textured look. Socks and polished shoes and he was good to go. After he'd spent about twenty minutes watching the party from on camera, he made his way down to the ballroom.

Once he was inside the doorway and started looking around, he noticed the placecards on the tables. Now, that was interesting. He put a pleasant half-smile on his face and went in search of his table. After a casual glance at the placecards, he had to work not to beam like he'd just hit the jackpot. Which in a way he had. Shy, mousy little Mattie, Hannah the strident blind chick, and Michael, about whom he knew very little. Well, that was all right. He'd find out soon enough. Oh scientists, from whom all blessings flow. Thank you.

Damon seated himself for the moment, waiting for someone else from his table to join.

Who: Trix, Lily and Mick
Where: the ballroom
When: Eight o'clock

Mick had been looking forward to this, he really had. The pizza night had been fun, and he was sure this dinner would be, too. And he really couldn't wait to see what kinds of food they would serve. Just out of curiosity, of course. And he also hoped that there would be enough for seconds, because heading straight to the kitchen after the dinner would definitely look weird. He had done his best to dress up, donning a loose white shirt with a grey jacket and black jeans. For him that was as fancy as it could get and he felt a little like he was playing dress up.

When he entered the room he made a beeline for the food table, waving at people he recognized as he went along, and then he marveled at the options for a while before pouring himself a glass of water. The wine was awfully tempting but he could resist. At his table he read over the names, none he was familiar with yet, and sat down, looking forward to meeting new people.

Who: Avery, Jessica, Madison and Miles
Where: the ballroom
When: just after eight

The last thing Avery wanted to do was go to the dinner that was being held in the ballroom tonight. There was the problem of food that he hadn't seen prepared, and the unpleasantness of having to be in a large group of people. He'd spent the day changing his mind about whether or not he was going to go. Why couldn't he just stay in his room or maybe hide out in the library, where he didn't have to make conversation? Sadly, he knew why. If he didn't attend, he might be struck with those random cold spells again. He didn't know how and he might never know, but he was convinced that those had somehow been controlled by the scientists. It was too convenient that he'd felt normal the very second he'd been around another person, and then when he'd been alone again, he'd been freezing cold once more.

Reluctantly, he got dressed in slacks, loafers and a green button-down shirt, the most formal outfit he had with him, and after brushing his teeth and combing his hair, he left his room to go downstairs. Lingering by the door, Avery saw that there were a few other people in the room. He'd hate to be the first one there. He went inside, about to sit down at an unobtrusive table in the corner when he realized there were place cards at each seat. Blushing at his near-gaffe, he crept along from table to table until he found his name. Before he sat down, he glanced at the other names of the people assigned to sit here. He'd met both Miles and Jessica and had liked them fine, so he felt at least marginally better as he took his seat.

The food actually smelled terrific, and he thought that maybe it'd be okay to eat. Probably a chef had prepared it, and someone like that would be more likely to be clean with their hands and the utensils they used than a random housemate. Avery decided he'd wait for others to get here, because he'd feel strange sitting at the table eating alone. Plus, there were ladies at his table, and he'd been taught that gentlemen should never start eating until after the ladies had.

Who: Audrey, Ethan, and Lina
When: Shortly after 8
Where: the ballroom

The amount of girlish flailing and tee-heeing over the scientist-thrown party had been annoying, but something Lina could easily ignore. She wasn't about to dress up for the event -- really, dressing up wasn't a thing Lina did... ever -- but she did put on something that was at least slightly nicer than her usual jeans and a hoodie. Most people would have passed it off as club-wear, and they were more or less right. Leather pants, a draped black halter top, her usual boots and she was out the door. Make-up was not something Lina did, either.

When she walked into the ballroom, Lina was glad she had overlooked her earlier considerations of skipping the thing all together. The food smelled amazing, and Lina was not shy about helping herself to damn near a little bit of everything. When her plates were piled high, she grabbed a beer and headed to the nearest empty table. Only to see delicate little name cards set on every plate. Lina groaned internally and rolled her eyes, but went about finding the table the scientists had assigned her to anyway. If her dining companions annoyed her, she'd just move. Luckily she recognized one name -- Ethan, she'd met him and he had not yet proven himself to be an idiot -- and Audrey. She didn't know Audrey, but thought it was possible she was one of the people from upstairs. Neither Ethan or Audrey were there yet, so she sat down and with an internal 'ah, what the hell,' dug straight into her food. "Oh, Jesus tapdancing Christ. There's an orgy in my mouth." Okay. For food like this she could quite possibly put up with a great deal of annoyance. If she had to.

Who: Rupert, Camber, Chris and Daphne
When: Ten minutes past eight
Where: The ball room!

Rupert had taken one Valium before getting dressed, and one after. And he was still a bit shaky. These social gatherings made him nervous; in fact, if the whole affair didn't sound a little bit mandatory, Rupert wouldn't even go. He had thought about not going, but then thought better of that, seeing as the whole reason he was here was to socialize and learn to survive events like this with his dignity intact.

He had dressed in a formal black suit and white button-down shirt, and then he had tried a tie, a bowtie, and nothing at the collar. Thinking anything else might be a bit much, Rupert had gone without anything at the collar, and even unbuttoned it. He felt slightly naked, but at least he looked relaxed...Right?

Arriving at the ballroom precisely at 8pm, Rupert heard the bells chime and then the doors open, and then he decided to hang around and not actually walk into the ballroom before anyone else was there. In fact, he stood a good ten minutes nearby before he made his way inside, and even then there were very few people already there, none of which he knew. As he looked around, Rupert found a table-assignment sheet, which meant he wasn't going to be able to just sit alone in a corner and pretend he didn't exist. As he looked at where his name was, he swallowed hard. He had been assigned to sit with Daphne, the gorgeous and freckled avid reader; Chris, the confident mocker and Camber, who seemed to have been causing a fuss in the journals. Rupert made his way over to his table, and sat there alone for a little while. "Brilliant. I-I am l-l-like the o-ov-o-overeager b-b-ball date." He rolled his eyes. Forgetting he had taken two already, he took another Valium, chasing it down with a glass of water.

Who: Girls girls girls!
When: 11:30ish
Where: First floor sitting room

Daphne really couldn't have been happier with the day's events. The slumber party had been a random idea to attempt to get to know a few of the girls better, and endear herself to a chunk of people. The fact that issues with Camber had arisen from it was really just the cherry on top. If there was any way at all for Daphne to work things to make everyone hate Camber and pity Daphne as the sweet-hearted victim? That... that was just Christmas. Only here a day and already things were just falling in her lap.

Emily had helped her set up as promised, and Daphne was of a mind to bring Emily under her wing. The girl struck Daphne as being kind-hearted, but altogether naive and easily manipulated. Daphne was pretty sure she could make the girl think they were best friends forever without even breaking a sweat. After introductions went around, Daphne had insisted on those who brought extra breaking out their dresses and seeing what looks they could create. Daphne had just urged an expensive Alexander McQueen silk-chiffon minidress on an extremely uncomfortable-looking Lark, who kept trying to insist it was far too nice and she'd never feel right. Daphne waved off her objections and shooed her to the corner to try it on. "Hush, hush. It's part of the fun, dear! You don't have to wear it tomorrow if you don't want to." She'd never be able to pull it off the way Daphne could, anyway. "Ladies, what would you all say to a game of truth or dare? Liven things up a bit between trying things on."

Who: Daphne, Audrey, and any other ExBers that want to join in the fun!
When: 7 and on
Where: Daphne’s room

While Jai was setting up in the billiard room, Daphne was preparing for a little party of her own. A viewing party, of course. Not that there was a lot that could be done in the way of preparations, but she made sure her room was presentable and brought in some extra pillows from the supply of linens in case people wanted them. A few hours earlier she had made a request on her computer for party refreshments, and upon checking the dumbwaiter at 6:45 she was delighted to find that the scientists had complied. A case of beer, a pizza, and a massive bowl of popcorn. Daphne grinned from ear to ear and blew a kiss in the general direction of where she thought a camera might be. This almost made up for finding out that her top picks for the bet – Chris and Jamal – both had the personalities of feral cats with feline aids. Oh well, she’d find someone else. Or maybe there was a girl down there dumb enough to sleep with one of them. Assholes or not, they were pretty assholes.

Once the treats were set out on top of her dresser, she propped her bedroom door open with a pillow, and plunked down in front of her computer to see what was going on downstairs.

Who: Everyone and anyone! Mini-threads + spinoff scenes welcome.
Where: Billiard room
When: 7 and on

If one didn’t peer out the windows into the vast white nothing, it was entirely possible to feel like you were in an actual bar. Jai felt quite comfortable in the billiard room, actually. It looked, felt, and even smelled like a bar he’d frequented back home.

He’d showed up a little early, setting out snacks and familiarizing himself with the inventory behind the bar. Okay, technically he wasn’t supposed to mix alcohol with his meds, but he’d found that a beer here and there didn’t upset his system too badly. He was still proudly Irish, after all. He’d set himself a low limit, and could happily make drinks for other people and still have fun. He’d never been one of those guys who had to get drunk to enjoy himself, anyway.

By the time seven o’clock crept up, the room was prepared for a party. Granted, if the entire house turned up he knew they wouldn’t all fit, but he didn’t think that was a problem they were going to have to face. If they did, they’d just take things elsewhere. While he waited for people to begin trickling in, he got himself a beer and headed over to the jukebox. He’d always wanted one of these things in his place.

Who: Audrey and OPEN to EX B
Where: 4th floor common area
When: Approximately 9:00 am
What: Acclimating

( Thank you, and have a nice year. You are now free to explore. Please, make yourself at home. )