Marshal's Homecoming Poker Night + House Party Who:Allen Bellamy + open invite What:Gettin' turnt pre-Carnivale Low-stakes poker night + low-class house party When: Monday, June 27 | Evening into late night Where: Inside Bellamy's apartment for the card game + outdoors in the building's courtyard for music, warm bottles of cheap beer, dancing CW: Homophobia. Please make sure to label your sub-threads with content warnings if they need them.
Even though Allen had to stay off his feet, his cabin fever wouldn't let him stay down for much longer. Instead of trying to get out to see his friends, why not invite them to see him? He didn't have much to offer, but that was hardly anything to worry about; as long as you didn't set expectations high, folks would always appreciate a beer and a few hands of poker.
So Allen put the word out through Maura, Henri, Allwyn, Mel, Courtenay, and Fred: he was coming home, and he wanted to have folks over to celebrate. It was an open invitation: his friends should bring their friends, and hey, if folks just heard the music and wanted to wander in to dance or drink or see if they could beat the Marshal in a hand of poker, well, they'd be welcome, too. Everybody should try to bring a chair for themselves and drinks or food to share. It wasn't like he was made of money, after all.
The poker table was set up inside, with enough cheap swill on hand to fuel a dedicated, large group of players. Nobody was actually guaranteed a chair, as he only owned three, but Allen had borrowed a beat-up, stained table from a friendly neighbor that ought to at least let everyone have room to play their hand. He still didn't have much furniture, but newspaper clippings of his own glory days as a pugilist in Belailles were tacked to a wall in the kitchen without frames. In the center of the clippings, he'd hung a flashy prize belt from the year long past when he'd gone all the way to the top in the city's boxing championship.
Allen had struck a deal with his apartment neighbors: he'd confine the noise and music to the courtyard outside. He'd borrowed a gramophone from another neighbor and pieced together a hodgepodge of music to spin. It wasn't much, but what made a party? Just a good host, some good guests, and a good time.