The Estate, Sidra, Glacia, Friday (Fandom Time)

[glacial_queen]

It was a beautiful day in early fall, the kind of day where warm sunshine poured over the land like honey, saved from being overly warm by a refreshing breeze. The leaves had started to turn colors on the edges and the air smelled green as the crops in the fields readied themselves for harvest. Glacian winters were long and bitterly cold, the summers short and generally humid, and the springs chilly and damp, but their autumns were damn near perfect.

Karla and Warren had recently had a birthday, at least according to the island's calendar, which was a good enough reason to celebrate. Nommy, who had been kind of colicky and sickly when he'd been born seemed to be growing out of both traits and now, at two months, was old enough to start meeting the family his parents had met and made at Fandom. And over in Ebon Rih, Lucivar's wife, Marian, had just given birth to a healthy son, Daemonar, leaving Lucivar both pole-axed and proud. Three reasons made for a party, right?

Sending out quick, handwavy invites over phone calls and social media, Karla and Ermengarde set up a casual tea in one of the gardens in the back of the Estate, giving the children plenty of room to run around and explore while the adults had space to relax and enjoy the good weather and better company.

[Open! Blow the dust off your alumni and have them come visit! If you think you got an invite, you certainly did. Many thanks to future_sandworm who made sure this happened! SP forever.]

Comments

[furnaceface]

Lord, it was strange to be back here. It had been a while, and Jono was still a little twitchy about setting foot in Glacia, if only for fear that somebody would recognize him as the General and he'd have to put that hat on and play the role.

At least on the estate itself, he didn't have to be much of anything but himself. And he could go around with his wrappings off because if anybody did make a big deal of it, there would be hell to pay.

... Besides, there were babies to meet. Meet, and possibly attempt to smuggle out for ice cream.

Or just smuggle out in general, but he figured he wouldn't get terribly far with that one, no.

It was weird to be back here, all the same. Sort of like an odd, temporary homecoming. He was putting forth a good effort to not look as awkward as he felt, looking around the estate to see what had changed since he'd left last.

[OOC: Oh god, the biggest SP clause ever tonight because of course Dad wanted to run a murder mystery party on Friday the 13th.]

[sharp_as_knives]

You didn't have to be telepathic to interpret that look - you just had to know Jono.

"We're leaving with precisely the number of children we came with," Hannibal said firmly.

Which, for the record, was none, in case Jono had forgotten.

[glacial_queen]

He'd be in more danger of that up north, really. There were a few incredulous whispers among the newer servants, but the older ones quickly put a stop to that nonsense. Even if Lord Jono hadn't hated it so, it was unprofessional and not at all how servants of the estate were expected to comport themselves.

Not that Jono had a chance to do more than acknowledge the whispers in the first place. There was a small blonde flinging herself at him and, for once, it wasn't Karla. "Unca Jommo!" Kayla gleed. "You is at my house today!"

[future_sandworm]

"Hello. I believe you know my mother." A very blue-eyed girl approached Jono, looking up at him with a quite serious expression.

"But I won't tell you who she is, because that would be too easy, and not fun at all."

Her mother had told her stories about Fandom and its inhabitants, and Hania assumed that there were very few people who were literally on fire. If she was mistaken, it might very well be interesting anyway.

[icecoldfrost]

If a single one of these children tried to climb into her lap and got their sticky fingers on her nice white linen suit, Emma was going to find a contraceptives company to invest in. Heavily.

Some things never changed: Emma Frost's inability to cope with small children was one of them.

"I was promised honey-pears," she warned, toe-ing off her heels under the table as she reached for her teacup. "You better deliver, Glacia."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Emma." Hannibal greeted her with a little bow. "It's good to see you. And I should thank you for your recommendation of jewelers."

[glacial_queen]

Like Emma wasn't investing in contraceptives already, please.

"I ate them all," Karla said, lying through her teeth. "They were all there on a platter with the note For Emma Frost on it and I decided you wouldn't mind if I had just one. And they were so good I couldn't help myself, and soon enough, they were all gone, just like that. Have a bran muffin instead. There are plenty of those left."

[future_sandworm]

It had been a while since Leto handwavily due to him not being around last visited Karla. Not that he felt he needed an excuse, but three reasons definitely called for a party.

He had brought Hania with him, and the girl looked around with curiosity. This place was certainly different from home.

[glacial_queen]

It was lush and green, at least right now, when it wasn't covered with snow. And there were several small streams and even a pond where Karla had gotten into a lot of trouble as a small girl. So, yes, 'different' was a way to describe it.

"Leto!" Karla's grin was almost incandescent when she spotted him. He and Kennedy were two of the invitees that she hadn't been sure she'd see today. "Handsome as ever, no surprise there. But is this lovely girl Hania? Already? Hell's fire and Mother Night, Leto, I refuse to believe she's this old already!" Karla held out her hands to the young girl in welcome. "Hello, darling," she greeted. "Did your father tell you about me?"

[bitten_notshy]

Jack hadn't been in Glacia in years, it felt like -- but if a new baby wasn't a good enough reason to make the trek, what was? Especially when a certain weekend when teenagers from the future came to visit suggested this particular baby might be a rather intimate companion of his own hypothetical future daughter.

He put on a crisp collared shirt and a pair of khakis and sat at one of the tables, and tried to remind himself not to eat too many little lemon cakes.

[future_sandworm]

"It's been a long time," Leto greeted Jack, happy to see him. "Do you visit Karla often?"

Hania had quickly disappeared to seek out the company of the other children, so he had no blue eyed girl in tow.

[icecoldfrost]

"I can hear you," Emma reminded cheerfully, and leaned over to steal one of the lemon cakes he did have. "So I suppose I shall have to help you resist temptation."

Emma, telepathy was not an excuse to steal other people's food.

[glacial_queen]

Possibly more than one. It had been hard to tell.

"Jack!" Karla said, holding out her hands for his. She was going to tug him in for a kiss the moment he took them, just see if she didn't. "Kiss kiss; how are you, darling?"

Another lemon cake floated over to land on his plate. "A decoy for when Emma steals one," she said in a stage-whisper.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal was pleased to be visiting Karla, and had a nice little package of herbs and spices for Ermengarde to play with, along with tactile toys for distracting the children.

He was enjoying both the autumn weather and the chance to not be overdressed for the setting.

[future_sandworm]

Leto found himself standing next to a man he didn't recognize, but from whose style of dress he judged not to be from Karla's world.

"Are you visiting to?" he asked, smiling. "Clearly Karla has friends I haven't met."

Which wasn't surprising, really.

[future_sandworm]

Hania saw no reason to stay close to her father when visiting a strange and exciting world. Perhaps one of the children here would be up for playing a game? Or even the adults, unless they were boring.

She wandered around the tables, reaching for something to nibble on when she could.

[glacial_queen]

Kayla was uncharacteristically quiet when she looked up at Hania, tiny wings fluttering behind her. She was used to much bigger children, like her big brother and sister, but this one was somewhere between her and Val's size and them.

"Hi," she said softly, waving with one hand. "'M Kaywa. Welcome to a party."

She'd been extensively coached.

[brat_inslayage]

Kennedy was always up for a break from herding baby Slayers, didn't-want-to-be-Slayers, and the occasional Slayer-wannabe.

Actually, that was a bit inaccurate. It sometimes took a lot of effort to get her to take a break from it, but whenever she was finally convinced? Yeah, she was totally into the idea.

She was absolutely going to be eating about as much as she thought she could get away with, because Slayer metabolism.

[[so many errands. so much sp.]]

[icecoldfrost]

"I'm afraid I've left your New York branch unattended," Emma confessed glibly as she came over to Kennedy. "Well, no, that's a lie, Candy is at the house, but I put the Fear of Emma into the girls and told them you and I were having a Meeting today."

"So hopefully my house will still be standing when I get back."

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

this may actually be Leda's first trip to Glacia

One of the nice things about having friends who were also dignitaries was that one could get away with a trip by calling it a state visit.

Though Leda's semi-fancy dress didn't quite have that regal feel when she was wearing a long black duster.

"Okay, who do I give the noisy toys and who do I give the chocolate to?"

[glacial_queen]

Karla's eyebrows shot straight up to her hairline. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" she teased, coming over for a hug. "I do believe someone's let a stranger into the garden. I know I've never seen you here before."

[lovemykilt]

Priestly was definitely down with dodging away from the end of semester exams (what made him think going back to school was a good idea, again?) and the ever-increasing wedding craziness in the Clocktower in New Gotham.

Plus, you know, the invitation said Glacia was nice right now. There were only so many times on the Glacian calendar that weren't completely hellish for Priestlys.

So he was here, wearing a red panda for a hat (Stevesie needed a nice day out), and using every opportunity to make faces at the tiny children when they happened to make eye contact.

[glacial_queen]

"See?" Karla said, nudging Priestly with her shoulder. "I told you Glacia had nice weather!"

From time to time. Occasionally.

"Kiss kiss, darling, how are you? And how goes wedding planning? How much have you been roped into doing?"

[likethegun]

Sam and his mun couldn't remember the last time he'd been to Glacia, but it was nice to get away from the island, especially when everything was being weird with the moving and all. He was a little wary of the kids, only because he had so little experience with them, so he was keeping a safe distance for the moment.

[glacial_queen]

"Oh Saaaaaam," Karla said, holding up Nommy. "You know, as my Fandom big brother, that means you're the uncle to my children, right? Which means you should hold him."

Such a troll.

[trigons_child]

Raven didn't have to travel far for the party, of course, since she lived there, of course, and she was eager to see old friends.

She had Karina with her, as Raven had made her guardianship a permanent thing, as well as a few other children she'd invited.

[glacial_queen]

"Here you go," Karla said, handing Karina a platter of cookies. "Share with the other kids, all right?" She winked. "And if you claim a few more for yourself, I won't tell."

[heromaniac]

Momoko had been excited at the idea of seeing everyone all at once - almost like a family reunion! - and altered all their portals for the weekend to include the trip to the party.

"Ahh! Such nice weather today," Momoko said softly, grinning up at the sky as she walked across the lawn to join her friends. She was totally going flying later!

[glacial_queen]

And Warren would happily join her! Though they'd have to stay low to the ground at first to accommodate Kayla, who wouldn't be able to bear the idea of her Daddy going flying without her. A trip around the estate while he held Kayla and then he could give her back to her mother and he and Momoko could go flying properly.

"Priestly keeps calling it some kind of miracle or something," Karla groused, coming over to give Momoko a hug and kiss on the cheek. "Brat! We have lovely weather!"

Some days.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

A frazzled-looking Dinah walked through the kitchen on her way in, which meant she had a honey pear in hand as she entered the room. "I need the snack, and I need baby cuddles!"

[future_sandworm]

Here was someone Leto hadn't seen in a while either. "Hello Dinah," he greeted her. "It looks like you've found half of that."

[weldedtomyspine]

It'd been a while since Jaime had gotten away, but he'd had a three-day weekend for once. He'd been tempted to stay home and sleep for the whole thing, but then Momoko had asked him if he wanted to go to Karla's party in that tone that said that he could say 'no', and she wouldn't complain, but she'd give him sad eyes for a week.

Besides, Karla had mostly stopped kicking him in the shins, so it'd probably even be fun.

So here he was!

[glacial_queen]

Jaime had mostly stopped needing to be kicked in the shins, though if he didn't get a move on in the jewelry purchasing department, she might start back up again.

"Kiss kiss, Jaime!" Karla said, wandering over with a baby in one arm and a plate of snacks in the other. "Hold this for a second, will you? I need to get properly situated here."

Guess which one he was going to end up holding.

[heromaniac]

... a little later, Blossom made an appearance. Luckily her costume wasn't completely insane this time, because she was busy chasing after any willing kids and swooping them up for small flights and aerial acrobatics when she caught them.