-- lips like candy cane;

[MIKA KATALEYA AVERY]

intoxicate me now,

for what purpose was she to be there, if not elsewhere? to get away from the horrors of her unsettling thoughts, or to crowd herself in such an atmosphere, but in a much deeper and so evasive company that she would lose herself in the midst of it all?

"another, please," she hushed rather softly, too softly, that she suddenly became aware that, she was amounting to seven glasses of mulled mead already. this could only mean one thing: the party was a success. the three broomsticks brimmed with floating pumpkin heads and fireflies, as the place was dimmed to emphasize the character of the celebration. cobwebs littered the ceiling, the railings on the stairs, and underneath tables; voodoo heads placed on the center of tables had smoke spiraling from their gaping mouths, eyes glowing violet and white and black. an hour prior, the place had been packed, full of energy and buzz, many of whom showed in costumes that the muggles wore during the very same occasion. most of who came were from the ministry, mainly because this was among the few places that had been voted to be the selected place to celebrate Halloween; and since it was the first weekend for hogsmeade visitations, she had made her appearance to meet her father and brother, thankful that her mother was nowhere near to spoil the mood.

it was lucky too, that she knew most of the workers, as her father had been called to another place to make himself present, and as he was so, took her brother with him. not the ideal happening that she'd hoped for, yet nevertheless a much convenient timing, as she had begun her routine of continuing the streak of drinks that would spill into her taste buds and slide down her throat. mulled mead perhaps, was not as strong as firewhisky, but the drink suited her classy red dress look, and was the most elegant drink to be carrying around once her socialite nerves had acted up and poured blazing fire within her system, keeping her on her toes at all times.

now, however, she was beat from the constant standing and walking, from being implored to notice one person and converse with another. not at all, was this sudden reaction from the mere idea that she was getting annoyed and wanted to be rid of their unintelligent presence-- it came from the annoyance of being asked to dance and unfortunately being obligated to acquiesce when the opportune moment presented itself. the grace of being whisked off her feet was not too bad, but certainly could do for much improvement.

"mika, dear." she closed her eyes at the immediate tone of the voice, inhaling rather deeply as she bit down her tongue. how could she have forgotten? madame rosmerta was the only element in this place she regarded with the highest dislike, and she owned this place. automatically, her head began to rack for ideas as to how she could escape this inevitable drawl of irrelevant lecture. or to, perhaps, shoo her away. "don't you suppose you've had one too many already?" the shrill in her voice reverberated through mika's chest, causing her to turn and look at the dull woman with an innocent smile plastered on her face. how she was able to hold her temper with this woman, she never could understand, but the smile was without a purpose-- she'd just thought of an excuse not to breathe the same air this woman was breathing for another second.

it was lucky that her father always reserved for a room, during occasions such as these.

"i suppose you're not in wanting to join me, then, rosmerta?" she clipped in a rather decadently mocking tone, raising an eyebrow as she did so. simultaneously grabbing her drink, she fashioned herself to a rather prideful walk, without even so much as glancing back to the owner. no more than five steps had she taken when she suddenly looked down to dust her the long of her dress, meaning to be only brief, but suddenly, bumping into an unknown, causing for her drink to spill outward on the person, while she stumbled forward a little as she lost her balance on he five-inch heels. "merlin," she cursed under her breath, rather subdued by the affect of the alcohol running through her bloodstreams. it was lucky that she'd caught the arms of her bumpee/saviour, though completely unaware of the distance she'd closed. "ahh, how clumsy of me," she absent-mindedly commented, biting her lip as she raised her head and saw the doused part on the front of the person. summoning her innocent, apologetic look, she looked up, only to find her expression turning into sweet surprise.

"must you be the one i had to spill my drink on?" were the words that immediately blurted out of her mouth, a little unaware of the slyness in her tone. without another word, her brows furrowed as she looked down to her heels, feeling sorry for her feet.

"i must say, it's more of a shock than anything else, to see you about and mingling, alan." her eyes locked on his, a coy smile playing on her lips. "i'd offer a drink, but it looks like you've already had some."

thanks sophia of caution.

[ALAN OSCAR CALTHORPE]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,10,true][atrb=style, width: 440px; background-image:url(http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j342/Rockiesaurus/black.png), bTable] 777 Words. Tagged for Miss Avery. I'm not really happy with this post but here it is anyway. Alan's a little more sober then I was thinking but we'll see how that goes. The outcome will still be the same, OUTFIT COMING SOON ! dancing in the fire Parties had never been the sort of thing that Alan relished. It was easy enough to consider them completely and totally boring, among other things. Though there were more then a few times where he had to humour others by making an appearance. Family events, work related things, it was all on the same level of general boredom for the wizard. But there was an annoying idea that it was improper otherwise not to make some sort of effort to appear. And that was without a doubt what it was. A general attempt and one that was mind numbing at that but there did seem to be a saving grace of there being worth while fire whiskey on tap. Yes, that did make the event a little more bearable as he sparingly mingled with various co-workers and their family members. Perhaps there was a certain bonus to having a career such as his own, however, as it seemed all too often the population were very much so keen on pretending that his job, though very important, was one that did not exist. In a way it was a little on the offensive side knowing that what he did was nothing less then a thankless job but it did have several bonuses when it came to getting away from conversations he was less then interested in. That, however, failed to make the event anymore pleasing. Alan Calthorpe had never been or ever was going to be a social person. There again, work was the only thing keeping him there in the first place. For a few hours he would pretend that he actually gave a damn as to what his co-workers and that sort did and come Monday morning he would once again become that sort of person that people did their best to avoid any day of the week. Indeed, that had to be down to the fact of his profession and even more so to the fact that he liked his job. Really liked it. Which was perhaps a good thing when it came to having something that a person did week after week, month after month until most of their good years were spent but it seemed more so unnerving because his job was unpleasant. Avoided at all costs and someone might even consider it unenjoyable but then again most of the population was not Alan. He wasn't right or pleasant by most of the population's standards. It was far too easy for him to walk from an interrogation with the same look he had going in; a rather disturbing smile. Even more then once it had reached his ears that others found his methods for getting answers to be rather questionable but the wizard always argued he got the results. But that was simply Alan. Though his family's social status did well to keep things on an even keel for him in more ways then one. The wizard polished off the rest of his latest glass of fire whiskey, doing a good enough job people watching when someone thudded into him, spilling their drink's contents on to him and he caught in witch out of simple reflex. At least the person in question just so happened to be a sight for sore eyes, even though his brother told him time and time again that he shouldn't have even been looking in the first place. "Miss Avery." Alan replied, pleasantly surprised. There was always something about the young girl that he very much so liked and perhaps it was all for the wrong reasons. It was hard to know and to tell but her arrival was one of the more welcomed things of the whole evening. Her intoxicated state merely made the wizard's mind wander to more then a few things that shouldn't have even been there in the first place. At least that had always been what he had been told. Even into his mid-thirties of which he currently stood it seemed that his family and others still felt a certain right in telling him what was right and wrong, as if he was some sort of child. Though perhaps that was not unwarranted. There was something about Alan Calthorpe that had never been quite right. The wizard pulled a handkerchief out of the breast pocket of his jacket and dabbed anyway the liquid that the spilled drink had provided. "Yes. I do have a drink though it seems that it has become empty." He spoke, tucking the handkerchief away once more. "Though, I'm quite sure I could be persuaded to have another." The wizard smiled. Some how, the party seemed suddenly interesting.

BY GABE IS A FWEAK AT CAUTION !