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

[summersong]

Satan must be making snow angels in Hell, because Alodia Coombs is standing at the front door of Thornton Estate of her own free will and with no intentions of being anything but charming and polite. Not bitchy-polite, either, the sort of snide remarks disguised as pleasant conversation at which she's always excelled, but actually, genuinely polite. She's here for Amelie, and though her cousin may have atrocious taste in men, Alodia still loves her, so she'll make nice with the Thorntons whilst Amelie plays 'meet the parents'.

Vogue doesn't exactly make a guide for what to wear to a 'family gathering' at which one must make a good impression on people one is traditionally expected to hate, but Alodia's very good at making do. She's in a red dress from her mother's latest collection and her favorite sky-high heels, the ones she hasn't had cause to wear since she moved up here - plus a silver necklace, carefully concealed beneath her dress's high neckline and stuffed with every protection charm in the paranoid witch's arsenal and a few more she made up herself for good measure. She may be playing nice, but that doesn't mean she's going to be stupid.

"Oh, I am far too sober for this," she mutters, then pastes on a polite smile as the door opens.

[under_the_radar]

"I can help with that." Daniel said, handing Alodia a glass of champagne and toasting her with his own. "I can't promise that tonight will be any fun at all but I can promise there will be alcohol and lots of it."

[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.

[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."

[summersong]

"Precisely," Alodia says, smiling. "I will be forever grateful to whoever it was that decided wine was the appropriate drink for formal events." She shakes his hand, and for a moment, doesn't even bother to hide her assessing look. He's dating her cousin, she's allowed to judge him openly. "It's nice to finally meet you properly, Daniel. I've heard so much about you." Not entirely true, but that's hardly the point.

[under_the_radar]

Daniel looked at her for a minute and then shook his head. "No you haven't. You've probably gotten my summary description so you can avoid me but I'd wager that's about it." He said with a grin.

[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.

[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 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."

[summersong]

Huh. He's better at this than she'd been expecting. The pause is a little too pointed, but it's not a half-bad attempt - and one she has to leave unchallenged. It's galling, and for a minute, Alodia regrets her decision to be properly polite this evening.

Be the bigger person, Al, you can do this.

"It certainly shows," she says, injecting as much genuine appreciation into her voice as possible. If she's lucky, he'll realize she caught the slight and is choosing to ignore it; if not, he'll probably assume she's a little dim and it flew right over her head. She can work with either outcome. "I think it's wonderful that you're so happy for the two of them."

[jamesthorn]

James definitely catches the strain in her voice to be polite to him when she clearly wouldn't do the same otherwise if circumstances were different. He wonders if her loyalties to Amelie are the same as his own to Daniel. If they are, it's easy to understand her willingness to go along with this ridiculous charade of a dinner party.

"I've always made it a point to encourage my brother, Daniel's happiness. No matter what his areas of interest happen to be at the moment," he says not exactly willing to give his vote of approval. He couldn't call himself happy for the two of them.