Santa Claus is coming to town

[afallenstar]

Who: Secret Santa participants, but also EVERYONE!
Where: Town Hall
When: Evening of day 24
What: Present giving! The Secret Santa reveal, and anyone who wants to have a christmas party is welcome to join too!
Notess: Party style thread guys, so go nuts. No order, everything is chaos, tag to your hearts content, feel free to break off into separate threads, and no spiking the punch! Also I think she's sort of mentioned it to a bunch of people but want to do me some lovely favours and handwave the actual name drawing? I will backtag if people want but it seems a little pointless to thread that out.


There's another message on the network that morning from Anna, just audio again. It's about as garbled as her first one regarding the Secret Santa idea, but for anyone who is listening closely enough they'll make out a few details. Namely this evening, town hall, and bring your presents before she shuts it off.

She's spent the rest of the day trying to do what she can to make the place look nicer. She's hardly got Christmas decorations on tap, but she's done what she can with what she has all the same. There's paper snow flakes up around the place, some of the food from her house placed in bowls to make it more party-appropriate, and it's no fir but she has relocated a small tree from the edge of the woods and placed it in the hall. Barely decorated, not even the right kind of tree, it's the best she can do with the resources she's been given.

Now all there is to do is wait for people to come.

Comments

[tooghoulforschool]

He drops his hand. Guy's got balls when you push the right buttons. It's interesting. Pretty damn entertaining. Still nothing like Party. Ghoul's tempted to see how far the similarities do go, though.

"Got yerself a girlfriend already? I'm impressed." He preens at the sweetheart comment, the malice just dripping right off him. "That's me. A real sweetheart. Sweet enough for a little sugar?"

[gleans]

Galen laughs once, sharply, and takes a step back from Ghoul. "Yeah, right. Is this fun for you, douchebag?"

[tooghoulforschool]

Fun? "Hell yeah, it is." Ghoul steps forward, pulling a crumpled napkin out of his back pocket. He's not going for intimidating, he's just playing up the obnoxious until he hits Galen's boiling point. He wants to see what he'll do. Ghoul smooths out the napkin and holds it above their heads. That sure is mistletoe drawn on there.

"It's a holiday tradition, babe. I hear it's bad luck if you don't."

[gleans]

Babe. Galen flinches, scowling, and glances up at the stupid napkin before shoving at Ghoul's shoulders and turning on his heel to leave. He needs to go outside.

"Fuck off. Stay away from me."

[tooghoulforschool]

Woah. Okay, a shove. Still, he walked away. That's about all the information Ghoul needs on that subject. He considers just letting him go... but it's sort of Christmas. He got what he wanted and he should probably make it right because he and the guys have just been hassling this poor kid since he got here, apparently. It's not his fault he was cursed with that ugly mug.

After another moment's hesitation, he scrubs a hand over his face, ditches the napkin, and he follows Galen out.

"Hey. I'm sorry, man. Okay? I'm sorry. This shit ain't easy to deal with."

[gleans]

Galen doesn't look back, just keeps walking out of the town hall. This isn't fair. He's been saddled with Jesse's fucking psycho twin, with no idea when - or if - he'll ever see the real Jesse again. Not only that, but the similarities are enough that even the apology behind him makes his stomach roll unpleasantly. Don't get upset, Galen.

"I told you to leave me the fuck alone," he says tightly, yanking the door open. "It's not my fault you can't fucking cope."

[tooghoulforschool]

"Yeah, and I didn't listen and here we are." He's still following, grabbing the door and holding it open so Galen has no choice but to stop and turn around or keep going and keep getting tailed. Ghoul's fine with either option. He's not letting him go while he's like this.

"You're right. It's not your fault. Hence the apology. I'm sorry."

[gleans]

Once they're outside, Galen finally stops, whips around to face Ghoul. He looks troubled, angry, tired -- and keeps his distance. He doesn't want to talk to him, doesn't want to look at him, but the fucker just isn't going away.

"Oh, good, that fixes everything," he says snidely, voice rising. "Look, just because I look like your crackhead friend doesn't mean I want any-fucking-thing to do with you! I'm not your freak show, I'm not your joke, okay, I --"

His voice cracks on 'joke', and it's like hitting a pothole; when he's back up, he's out of steam, and his expression breaks. Galen just closes his eyes, presses his fingers to them. Fuck. Fuck, good job, genius. All at once, he misses home.

[tooghoulforschool]

"I know." He says it quietly when Galen finishes. That crackhead friend comment digs right under his skin, but he keeps his cool. He deserves these words. The guy's standing up for himself, a punching bag no longer, and Ghoul has to respect that.

He's also... concerned. This isn't Party Poison. Not even close. He seems a little more fragile. A little closer to the edge. And Ghoul nearly pushed him right off a while ago.

He steps forward, slow and deliberate. Mostly just slow. Very slow. Both hands are up in a non-threatening gesture. "Hey. Hey, come on. You're not a joke. You're Galen Howard, right? Different person. I get it. We all do. Different person. Come here. Calm down." He's not sure why he's reaching out. He just is. Probably because if P. was back wherever he came from and freaking out this bad, he'd want someone to do the same for him.

[gleans]

He should leave. He shouldn't be listening to his voice or letting him close. But it's cold, and he's still getting a hold on himself, so he doesn't move at all, just in case he loses his grip and embarrasses himself further. Maybe it was better when the guy was being an asshole, because listening to him try to be comforting just makes him feel worse, more isolated.

"Don't touch me," he mutters, squaring his jaw, not quite looking Ghoul in the eye. "Don't."

[tooghoulforschool]

Welp. Spurned for the third time in one night. He's really losing his touch. Goddamn. He pulls his hands back, one settling with a thumb hooked into his pocket and the other reaching back to run a hand though his hair.

"Okay, no touching. Got it." He sighs, unsure of what else to do. "...You maybe want me to grab your friend? Just don't think-- you shouldn't have to deal with this shit alone, man." He's got the killjoys. He's got almost everything he needs. Galen's apparently missing a piece and he's missing it in the worst way.

[gleans]

Galen snorts bitterly and glances up at Ghoul, crossing and uncrossing his arms until he settles for putting his hands in his coat pockets. "What makes you care all of a sudden? It's fine. I'll be fine. Just go back inside."

[tooghoulforschool]

He's not answering that. No way no how. But he's gotta check, he can't just leave. "You sure? You really fuckin' sure?" He should just leave. He wants to just leave, but there's this nagging feeling...

If that's a conscience growing, he's gonna catch it and shoot it in the face.

[gleans]

"Just --" Speaking of nagging feelings, this is bugging him. It's one thing to have an alternate-universe version of yourself; he finds that easier to believe, but...

Galen swallows, shifts his weight, looking over Ghoul. "Just tell me that if you do have a normal -- a real name, that it isn't Jesse." He's probably better off not knowing, but there it is.

[tooghoulforschool]

Real names. What's so real about a name you don't pick yourself? And there are reasons they don't use those names. Important reasons. Suspicions are back up to high. What if this whole thing was some convoluted plot to get their names. They already have their faces on every fucking camera. Names, too? He's not giving that up to anyone.

But he can at least-- It's fuckin' Christmas. And this guy just--

Ghoul dips his head down and crosses his arms over his chest. He sighs. "It's not. It's not Jesse. That's not me."

[gleans]

Some of the anxiety leaves Galen's body as he sighs in relief - he'd wanted to think he'd know if it was him, and unless Ghoul is lying, Galen had been right - and sort of deflates. He isn't angry anymore; he just feels shitty and tired.

"Okay, good," he says quietly. "I'm just -- I need a walk. And a smoke." From his one remaining cigarette. Ugh. "Tell Kenzi I'll be back in a bit, if she asks."

[tooghoulforschool]

Ghoul nods. He knows that feeling. This entire situation is such bullshit. He can feel the frustration build and turns to head back inside. "Yeah. I'll tell her."

He's not gonna tell him to be careful. No matter how breakable he looks. It's not his problem. Not his concern. And he is sick to hell of feeling like it is. It's not.