Valentine Pizza Party

[InvertedMonkey]

She nods at Alex, "Same author." Then she glances at Tessa and her brows come together a little in a small frown. Not very subtle. Fresh from the Hedge? It's not like they're in a Freehold joint right now, just a random pizza place. First Kyle, now this. Someone needs to teach these Freeholders some tradecraft. Preferably someone other than Ramona herself.

Then she notices Ava's pen jotting things down. That's... a positive feeling. That someone else values her opinion enough to go looking for something because she recommended it, or at least liked it. She smiles, waiting for a gap in the movement of the pen, then adding, "The Blue Place is the start of a trilogy that's Griffith's best work. If anything, give that a shot." And Ramona applauds herself for giving such a moderate endorsement. Frankly, she could gush over that trilogy for hours. It spoke to her, very personally. Not just the content, but the way it was written. Full of sensation, descriptions of taste and feel and thought, symbolism and metaphor. Sometimes like a chain of consciousness, but more elegant, more relatable, than just a string of words. Then there was the content... She'd grinned and she'd cried.

She smiles in thanks as the others start returning with appetizers and drinks. God, some of this stuff, fried or filled with cheese or covered with sauce... smells and looks really good. She looks down at her meager plate of salad, and with determination, pierces some roughage with her fork and raises it to her lips. She chews with intention, grinding up the greens efficiently, as though her focus on the healthy appetizer will somehow alleviate her desire for all the high-caloric goodness everyone else is indulging in.

[RebornSeas]

Alex polished off his mozzarella sticks quickly, giving a very satisfied sigh, then noticed that there was a certain amount of staring at Tessa. Or disapproving? He'd assumed the jab in his side had been an accident, but maybe not, so he went back over what she'd said - and blinked a owlishly when his brain caught the word it hadn't earlier.

Though he dropped that aside after another moment - none of them could rewind time and stop her from saying that, so no point fretting too much - and made not of Ramona's second recommendation. "The Blue Place. Griffith. I'll look that up sometime." He quickly flashed her a grin. then shifted his focus to Ava as she returned with beverages of carbonation and Caffeine.

He was very pleased to find out the this pizza joint sold energy drinks along with the usual coke products, and quickly took his, popping it open and sipping from it - though wincing as he did. "Shit, this stuff always hurts my teeth." He took another gulp, because he knew he wasn't going to find coffee here and making do was the least he could do.

"Hey Ava, you mentioned you liked Poetry... Have you ever read stuff by Christina Rossetti?"

[Morgan Bellanar]

"Y-y-ye are welcome, heh." Morgan's face turned sour and she stuck her tongue out at the sight of the energy drinks, "I d-d-don't like the taste of those. Ano-and tried five and I nada-not feel any mmmore energy." Horrible taste and false advertising, why would you drink it? Morgan would stick with water for now.

The subject was sticking with reading it seems, though she did notice Ava passing a note to Tessa. She nodded in approval to her fellow Autumn's actions. Hopefully warning her about not using "shop talk" about "club business" in public places. Well, they certainly could brush it off as discussing fiction series and actually get away with it. Wasn't there a story she'd read once titled Others? Actually it was several.

She started when Tessa brought her out of her thoughts, "Huh? Oh-heh-heh, y-y-yer welcomes. Happy to do sssso." She smiled at her fellow climber. Turning back to the rest of the group then sighs as her shoulders sag, "Zzzorry, Imma not m-much on new b-books. Mmmostly older author-series, heh. Sssometimes scary doods cause-kinda-funny-to-me. J-j-just not Benchley. Eh-heh-heh t-t-t-too many teeth." She shuddered at the thought, actually making the table shake a little. Morgan could giggle reading Stephen King or Thomas Ligotti, but give her a book where a sharp toothed monster ate people and it terrified the raccoon.

Oh shit! What if they decide to talk about those kind of books now?! Grab napkins and stuff them in my ears? Or do the people thing and ask for a change of topics.

[Daniel Leto]

Daniel munched somberly on the pizza and appetizers, semi-lost-in-thought. He thanked Ava when she returned with a coke. The conversation lulled a little as everyone started to chow down and it gave him more of a chance to recover and push thoughts of his Durance to the back of his mind where they belonged. He didn’t like thinking about those days and more importantly didn’t like thinking about how he was still trying to do what he had done back then by helping people work through their sorrows. He compartmentalized those details as far apart as possible and ignored the mental dissonance to the greatest extent he could. His smile returned to normal at the irony of Alex mentioning Rossetti. As usual, a touch of melancholy was still hidden behind the expression.

“She’s right,” Daniel agreed with Tessa “To Morgan’s really good ideas.” He raised a soda cup in a toast. Hopefully it would dispel any awkwardness he might have caused by his reaction earlier. Plus, Morgan needed all the praise she could get.

Coming up on a month in a few days.

[InvertedMonkey]

"Morgan," she agrees, lifting up her soda, and tapping glasses with anyone that might be interested in that kind of thing. This... is a strange group. Strange, but good. They'd sorta shed their common purpose when they'd walked out of the Blue Note. (Given that their common purpose was walking out of the Blue Note.) Now they're just a bunch of people, most of whom don't really know each other. It's not like they could talk about Freehold matters, something they all had in common. It feels sorta first-date-ish. Ramona has never been very good at dating. But suck it up, you promised yourself you'd try, and you're trying. See? You're out right now, meeting people, making new connections, taking a risk at being more of a part of this Freehold. Good for you. Keep at it.

She glances at Tessa as she gobbles down those wings. She misses out on the embarrassment, she might have attacked such an appetizer just as eagerly as the Beast. Had she ordered it. Instead, she skewers a few more leaves of salad and wolfs them down. While Morgan, Ava, and Alex continue to discuss literature, she tries to start a side-conversation with Tessa, and Daniel should he choose to join in, "That's something that's cool about food," she starts, "How much good food has come out of people given the scraps, the crummy parts that nobody else wanted, and being forced to live off that and trying to make it tasty. Like wings. Or ribs. A lot of barbecue, really. Somebody gets the leftovers, the parts with a lot of bone and just a little meat, or all tough and chewy, and nobody wants it." She stabs her fork into her salad again, with energy, "So you've gotta get clever about it, find a way to make it tender, cook it long and slow. Shower it in sugar and spice, mix and match and mix and match. Until it tastes so good that it's not garbage food anymore. It's a treat." She smirks, and takes another bite of those god damn leafy greens. Screw them for being good for her.

"I've been wondering if there's a good barbecue place in town. Any chance you know one?"

[RebornSeas]

Alex happily raised his energy drink, parroting these others at the table, "To Morgan!" The toast was followed by Jim taking a swig and, again, wincing. [Color/]"I'll be honest, Morgan, I can barely stand it myself. Coffee is my preferred method of caffeination. Though I'll settle for the strongest source, if coffee isn't an option."[/Color]

He turned to Ava and gave her a nod. "Yeah, I was actually wondering because Kayla Bashe used one of Rossetti' s poems as inspiration for another of her stories, but I haven't read any of Rossetti' s works yet."

[Morgan Bellanar]

Morgan stopped eating her pizza slice, putting the remaining half onto her plate as she blushed sufficiently that to those that could see her mein, she resembled a red panda more then a raccoon. The Twilit Page still did not think herself worthy of praise, but she was grateful none the less. And more tongue tied then usual: "Umuh. Meh-heh-heh, I-I, uh...t-thank you. Was-happy-to-help-we-all-friends-good-yay."

If everyone is okay with it, I will close the thread up on the 11th then.