Thornton & Coombs Dinner Party (Closed)

[jamesthorn]

The table is set with the family's finest china. The candles lit, and doors are open at Thornton Estate this evening. While the estate has seen countless elegant affairs throughout its long history, there's never been one quite like this one. Tonight, the Coombs are coming for dinner as William Thornton's personally invited guests. Despite the recipe for drama, there's still a dinner to be thrown and William has spared no expense for his son's newest girlfriend, Amelie. Fine wine, gourmet breads and cheeses, fruits, and appetizers are laid out in gorgeous displays by the caterer. To be certain that no nosy members of the press learn of tonight's momentary truce, the invitations were hand delivered and the family's private staff are serving.

Promptly, at eight o'clock dinner will be served, but in the meantime, there's plenty of time for mingling...and drama.

OOC: I've always used this particular property for Thornton Estate even though I believe it's more traditionally furnished than the one pictured. However, if you want an idea of the layout, there are plenty of photos and even a movie on the link above, lmao.

William is played by Pierce Brosnan. Obviously he's American in the game. If you wanna talk to William one on one, Rachel and I both have control of that old fart.

Comments

[aoife_coombs]

"She's my twin sister. Supporting her comes as natural to me as breathing." Or changing the weather by simply thinking hard enough. Aoife copied his smile. She was sure this man didn't need to be reminded of that.

"Only ever in superficial ways, sir. We move in different paths, definitely in recent years. Maybe that's why I'm here, to sate my own curiosity as well."

[summersong]

"Well," Alodia says brightly, arching an eyebrow at Amelie's boyfriend and returning the toast, "what more can one ask for, really?" She's not nearly stupid enough to get so much as tipsy on enemy territory, but it won't hurt to let the Thorntons think she'll be drinking more freely than she is. Thank god the champagne's good.

[summersong]

Alodia had half expected Aoife to find an excuse to bow out of this, and she honestly wouldn't have blamed her if she had. The sight of her cousin walking through the door, perfectly coordinated with Amelie, brings a genuine smile to her lips, and she takes a quick sip of champagne, using the glass to hide her face until she can force the real smile down and replace it with a fake one. It's a very good fake smile, but if someone sees her real one, they might realize that the one she's wearing now isn't, and that simply wouldn't do at all.

"So," she murmurs, slipping up beside Aoife, "on a scale of one to Violet, how badly do you think this is going to end?"

[davin]

"Alodia, what a lovely name. It suits ya." He shakes her hand and feels a small spark, magic meeting magic, and ignores it as he lets it go. He'll need to ask his grandmother about this, about how his magic seems so responsive to the magic of others. He's always been able to get a sense for other powerful people, but it started getting stronger after his attack, and even more so after his trip to Ireland with Brigid. The shrine is incredibly powerful and it had accepted Davin, approved of him. That has to mean something.

"I'm not holdin' anythin' against anyone," he assures her, smiling softly and plucking a mini quiche from a tray. "I'm just hopin' for a nice evenin' for all involved."

[davin]

"Comfortin'," Davin says with a laugh. Just seeing a familiar, friendly face is enough to relax him a little and he nods, reaching for another glass of champagne. "I'll be fine. I'm just gettin' used t'all this."

He lifts his glass and gestures around the room before taking a sip. "I'm makin' your brother take me out for chili dogs an' milkshakes t'make up for this. I've had dentist appointments less stressful than this first date."

For all he teases, there's fondness in his voice as he speaks of James and his cheeks go a little pink. This is all so unexpected, it's a bit of a whirlwind, but he thinks it will be worth it.

[summersong]

"Well, thank you kindly," she says, sweet as anything. If Davin's working an angle, he's hiding it incredibly well, but if he's not, well, he's the only one in the room. Alodia's honestly not sure which is more likely here.

"Don't worry," she adds, taking a sip of champagne, "I promise not to set anyone on fire for the duration of the evening."

[jamesthorn]

"You and me?" James gestures at his brother. "Yeah, we're fucked." But, it would've been nice to have Demetri and June here. No matter what's happened over the years, the four of them stuck together. They looked after each other, and that is the most important thing to James, in the end. "Even though I don't necessarily----" He trails off without saying anything else. Maybe Amelie will grow on him. That's what tonight is about anyway.

"I am proud of you Daniel. You've always made your own way. No matter what Father says."

[jamesthorn]

Alodia is hard to miss, dressed elegantly in a red dress and black heels, and she certainly fits into the classy atmosphere of the dinner party with her classic style and flair. James ends up beside her at the wine bar, and he asks the server to pour them two glasses. He offers it to her with a nod and polite smile.

This may be the first conversation he's ever had with Alodia Coombs, but tonight all he can really be is polite. "Thanks for coming," James says in greeting.

[davin]

It's said as a joke but Davin still frowns a little, reaching up to slide his fingers through the hair at James' temple, squeezing the back of his neck. "Well, we'll get through it, an' then we can go t'my place an' I'll make ya some of my hot chocolate. That fixes everything."

He laughs a little and lets go of him, turning to grab two of the things that are basically pigs in a blanket with a fancier name and hands one over to James on a napkin. "Try one of these. They're tasty."

[davin]

This is it. This is what Davin was worried about. William Thorton: the boss battle.

It's a good thing Davin works well under pressure, and the way William practically barks at his son makes Davin care a little less about how the man thinks of him. He raises an eyebrow when he says he doesn't know his name, because he doesn't quite buy that someone who was so meticulous about the details of this party didn't know every single person on the guest list. But hey, Davin is used to rich guys and their power plays. It's nothing new to him, not in Siren Cove.

"Well, he was quite busy with gettin' this party together. I think he did a lovely job, aye? Ya must be proud." He gives William a charming smile and holds his hand out to give him a firm shake. "Davin Kavanagh. Thank you for havin' me."

[summersong]

Alodia accepts the offered glass with a smile exactly as polite as James Thornton's and not even a degree more. She's never actually spoken to him before - he and Moira were friendly a while back, but she'd stayed well clear of that entire fiasco - but she doesn't trust the man a whit. He seems far too much like his father's son, and any resemblance to William Thornton, as far as she's concerned, is to be considered nothing less than an unforgivable character flaw.

"Thank you for the invitation," she says evenly. "This is all quite lovely."

[jamesthorn]

James takes the food gratefully. Between following his father like a hawk and trying to play host, he hasn't eaten enough. "They should be. The chef came highly recommended," he says, smiling, as he eats the appetizer Davin gave him then wipes his fingers with the napkin.

"So, are you already asking me out on another date? Or would that count as the same date, different venue?" He chuckles a little. "But that would be nice."

[jamesthorn]

James senses the stand-offish greeting that Alodia gives him, and he simply smiles a little taking a sip of his wine. The truth is, their families do have things in common. Rich beyond reason. Always in the spotlight. Histories that spanned back the town's founding. Still, they may never see eye to eye.

He glances around when she comments on the party. "Good. We wanted only the best for Daniel," he says, pausing a moment. "And Amelie."

[davin]

Davin barks out a laugh and then he sobers up a little, not entirely sure she's joking. It is the second reference to setting things on fire he's heard tonight, after all.

"That's very generous of ya," he tells her, saluting her with his glass before taking a sip. "I haven't seen ya around town before. How d'ya spend your days?"

[aoife_coombs]

"Alodia." She cuts the exclamation point off that sentence, because genuine enthusiasm plus passing a certain volume are both things someone doesn't do in a situation like this one. "Nice to see you, and as usual dressed up to your very high standards."

Aoife hides her eyes rolling behind the re-aligning of her bangs. "Depending on where the Thornton family thinks they need to take it. I am only here to support my foolish sister. And show that we don't fear anything humans can throw at us."

[davin]

"It'd be more of a continuation of the first date," Davin says with a fond smile, popping the bite into his mouth and chewing quickly, wiping his fingers on a napkin and swallowing. "I feel like we'll both be in need of some relaxin'."

He laughs and squeezes James' arm, giving him a flirty smile. "I'm thinkin' Netflix an' cocoa on my couch sounds like a great way t'end the evenin', don't you?"

[ameliecoombs]

She can practically see his face straining as he talks to her, and she has to hold back a giggle. Amelie isn't Violet, no matter how many traits they may or may not share, and she's never really understood this whole feud thing the way Aoife does. She likes Daniel a lot, she knows Daniel likes his brother, and therefore she summises he can't be all that bad. Still, he looks like he almost doesn't want to touch her.

She smiles brightly and shakes his hand anyway. "Amelie," she says, like he doesn't already know. "And that was your father, I presume. Lovely house."

She knows it sounds stupid and formal but she's been raised at these kind of events, and the words come almost as if Violet is pulling the puppet strings behind her mouth.

[ameliecoombs]

She relaxes into his touch, not realising how tense she was until she lets it out. She's been waiting with bated breath for Aoife to slap someone or James to arrest someone or William to do god knows what, but so far everything seems to be running relatively smoothly. Maybe this won't be so bad.

"Thanks. You look good, too. Everything here looks amazing, I'd tell James he did a good job myself if I didn't think he'd run away from me."

[ameliecoombs]

She felt almost ridiculously shy approaching Aoife, which is something she's never felt before and never thought she ever would. She doesn't know where they stand. Last time they'd talked, they'd fought, but Aoife is here anyway, and that has to mean something. It's unlike her sister to sit through something she obviously hates unless she has a good reason to.

"Aoife," she starts, noting happily that they've matched, as usual, without having to talk about it. Aoife knows that this is half a battle, though where for Amelie it's a defiant stand against William, she's pretty sure for Aoife it's everyone. "You came." She doesn't know what else to say, but at least she's said something.

[aoife_coombs]

"Amelie. Is that a new outfit, or something you simply didn't have the right event for, before now?"

If Aoife remembered correctly, her sister never had a serious enough relationship to be invited over to meet the man's family. Not that this was the case with Daniel Thornton, of course. This night was only William Thornton's fault, and his sons lacking the upbringing to tell him that this wasn't a good idea.

"I was officially invited, instead of -" No need to underline that fact. If Amelie thought she could do this alone, Aoife wasn't going to change her mind.

[under_the_radar]

"I think tonight is supposed to be for exactly that purpose. We've got him trapped." Daniel said. He was relaxing now that she was here and nothing had exploded. Maybe they'd survive this evening. He let her go and moved round to stand next to her, watching people mingle. "Was it a chore to get Aoife here? She doesn't look happy."

[under_the_radar]

The compliment threw Daniel and he blinked at his brother. They weren't often this way with eachother so it took a minute to catch up.

"Thanks, big brother." He smiled and looked over at Amelie. "And I'd really be grateful if you could try with her. She means a lot to me." He said earnestly. "A lot, James. More than anyone has."

[under_the_radar]

"God what I wouldn't give for a chilli dog." Daniel said, groaning emphatically. "And yeah. That's about the level of dates you can expect from my brother." He said with a smile. "Too many years eating like a cop."

He watched Davin for a minute and then took a breath. "So can we take the mild threat about being good to my brother as read or would you like to do that whole posturing and machismo thing?"

[under_the_radar]

The accent threw William a little but he rallied and focused more intently. He'd been expecting some foppish idiot, or maybe some rich kid looking to use his son. Davin seemed like neither of those things.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr Kavanagh." William said, grudgingly taking the young mans proffered hand. "And yes. When I instruct my children in the correct way to perform a task, the lessons tend to stay learned." The texture of Davins hands gave him a little more information. They were rough, workers hands. Somewhat like the gardeners when William shook the mans hand when he gave out the annual bonus cheques. Trade, then, not blue collar.

He sniffed. "Did you meet my son in your line of work or his?"

[under_the_radar]

He laughed and nodded. "My thoughts exactly. Family matters always require booze in my opinion. Only real way to survive is to blame it all on the drink." He took a sip and then smiled. "You must be Alodia. I don't think we've met formally." He held out his hand. "Daniel Thornton; dating your cousin."