2019-11-24 - Quadruple Triple Twist

Sparrow, hostess for today's festivities, is keeping it casual, as is only fitting for the occasion, dressed in jean shorts and a tee shirt--yellow with a rainbow and the words SUPER DUPER on the front--despite the chilly weather outside. Her pastel striped socks with pink toes and heels will surely help keep her warm. As people arrive, she ushers them in and directs them back toward the kitchen for snacks and drinks, promising the games will get started soon.

For his part, just about done in the kitchen after making lots of one-hand-accessible cold snacks, Corey washes his hands and meanders on through to greet people. He's in black jeans and a bright blue t-shirt with 'I PLAY BLUE' on it in darker blue print, with a blue meeple in the same hue below it. Apparently, he has shirts for more than just cooking-related humour. Angling over to Sparrow he grins her way. "Super excited for this. Gonna kiiiiill some folks at Roll and Battle Sheep."

Late, maybe, but Ash does eventually scurry over next door, and she's not dressed like a sick pokemon this time. Instead she's in real clothes. Jeans, and a shirt from work, which might explain her lateness? "Hey!"

Roaming around the house, in addition to the two familiar Joneses, is a younger Jones with black hair and a warm smile in jeans and a grey Hawkins Middle School hoodie with a couple white stripes between elbows and wrists. That'd be Zelie, who rolls her eyes at Corey's declaration and tells him, "You wish. You know I'll own you at Roll. Always do!" way too cheerfully. When the first unfamiliar guests start to arrive, she waves and keeps close to her siblings, awaiting introductions.

Nicole arrives, knocking on the door before entering, even if Sparrow did tell her to just 'come on in' when she got there. Poking her head in, she calls out, "Hello? I'm here!" She steps in then, wearing a deep purple and dark teal ombre broom skirt with a dark teal cable knit sweater to match. The neckline is wide, hanging off one shoulder once she removes her leather jacket, revealing her usual tank worn underneath, this time, a dark purple. She's not much of a game player by habit, but has come to join the fun! Hearing everyone towards the kitchen, she walks that way, greeting Sparrow with a hug and waving at Corey. "Hey! So, you do know you will likely have to teach me whatever we play, right?" Looking at the snacks and drinks she asks, and what amazing goodies do we have today? Oh! I loved those peanut butter chocolate chip cookies you made." Spotting Ash there then, she waves to her as well. "Hiya!"

"Corey is a wonderful teacher," Sparrow chirps, relieving herself of those responsibilities as she ushers people in. "Dovey and I are just here to kick ass, so." She shrugs, smiling so sweet and innocent. Until she remembers, "Right. So. This is Dovey. She is perfect," of her little sister who folds her fingers together under her chin to pose that perfection as she smiles to their guests. "Dovey, this is Ash and Nicole. Amazing people, both of 'em, if not quite so perfect as you." And, with that! It's off to the table. "Pretty sure we've got a grudge match already declared, so..." Time to bust out Roll for the Galaxy!

Helping set up the game, passing out cardboard mats and shields and such, Corey does a quick talk-through of the rules. While he does so, it's highly likely that Sparrow or Zelie will be sorting the dice out by colour and maybe even stacking them, but hey. That done, he takes his starting dice into his dice-cup and grins around. "Ready to get owned, ladies?" he enquires brightly.

"Hello." Ash greets both Nicole, and Zelie. Although as soon as Corey is within reach and not busy walking and talking through games, he gets ambushed for a hug and a kiss of greeting. But then she finds herself a drink, then a seat, and moves to get this going, "I've no idea how to play this game, just so you know..."

Listening closely to the rules as everyone gets settled at the table, snacks and drink of some kind sitting beside her because there's an unwritten rle she needs both whenever she is here. Lifting her hand, she waves to Zellie when her name is mentioned. "Nice to meet you finally, perfect sister." She smiles, but even though Corey explains the rules very well, that smile turns into the look of utter confusion. "That's pretty much what will happen, yes." She laughs, taking whatever items are dealt towards her.

Sparrow rushes off to get a couple drinks once the game is all set up: a very lightly poured margarita in a red solo cup for Zelie and a can of whatever sour she's into this week for herself. When she settles in and starts picking her tiles, she croons, "Well, red is my color," and tells the others, "Don't worry. Dovey's gonna win," like it's a sure thing. "It'll all be a trainwreck, and then we'll move onto something the rest of us might stand a chance at."

"Y'all gonna lose," Zelie croons as she starts getting her engine set up, smiling broadly. It's rather similar to Sparrow's smile, really, the family resemblance easy to catch. But she does keep the trash talk to a minimum, busying herself with sipping her very tequila-light margarita. She's definitely not of legal drinking age yet.

Leaning over to smooch Ash, not really caring that his little sister is here, Corey grins as people settle and the game begins. That grin turns to a frown as he sees what he's rolled. "Seriously?" There's some grumbling, and the game ensues.

"What's this mean?" Ash is not stupid, by most counts, but the dice and the cards. Well, she's possibly not as bright as she thinks she is. The look that she gives is bafflement. Pure and simple.

"Like this?" Nicole asks with a shrug. Poor Corey is trying to help her get the idea of the game, but he might as well be speaking Greek. Seems her poor brain is not grasping it at all. Looking to Sparrow she says, "I'm gonna need more booze. Maybe if I am drunk it will make sense?"

"Booze definitely helps," Sparrow confirms for Nicole and lifts her beer. Zelie, clever creature that she is, just holds her cup and admits to nothing. Sip sip sip.

Sparrow stares, wide-eyed, at Zelie as she loads at least eight dice into her cup... while the redhead manages, uh, one. "Holy..." Ahem. Looks like the littlest Jones wasn't playing around when she said she was gonna win.

Frowning in thought, Corey offers advice to those that want it, then focuses on finding some good planets and settling them, which adds dice to his cup. Slowly, things are improving, if his expression is anything to go by!

Ash's just looking more confused, but she seems willing to fling things around as appropriate, murmuring quiet questions to Corey and Sparrow now and again. That littlest Jones sibling is getting looks. Because, seriously, if she loses to a kid she might have to get very drunk.

Nicole moves things places, all guess work, until someone who actually knows the game shakes their head to tell her no, that doesn't work. She then tries something else, pretty much just going rogue. After taking a turn, she lifts her cup and drinks a fair amount of it in one go. "Please tell me there is a lot of margarita to be had?"

Sparrow takes her third or fourth turn in a row running on a single die as she looks around at the others. "This is fine," she mumbles to herself, though the furrow of her brow suggests that, no, this is not fine. Maybe if she sells some alien technology..? "So a lot of margarita to be had..." Zelie sips contentedly. "You guys alright?"

Sparrow starts eyeing other people's tableaus, particularly her siblings'. Sure, Zelie's got more tiles out, but it looks like Corey might rack up more points. This might be a close game...

Zelie, after gasping at Corey's megaturn in which his produce/consume threatens to steal the victory from his little sister, spends her next turn scheming long and hard to try and steal the win back. HRM!

Is Corey grinning? Yes, yes he is. Is he smug? Why yes, yes he's also smug. Though having only two dice in the round after has cramped his smugness slightly. And the fact that Zelie has control of end game currently..

Zelie squeaks as she jumps up once all the points are tallied! And then regains her composure and croons a happy, "Told ya," to her big brother before leaning down to press a kiss to his head then trotting off to go get herself a victory cupcake while the next game is set up. Sparrow giggles wildly, so proud of her little sister. "How's about something for the rest of us this time?" Like maybe Battle Sheep.

Ash ughs faintly, pushing the tiles away from her before she slouches back into her seat, reaching for the drink before she sighs, "Never playing this game again." Sore loser? Maybe. Or her brain just seriously hurts from it all.

Flipping Zelie the bird - with love of course - Corey grins at the littlest Jones as she saunters off to get a drink. He leans over to plant a kiss on Ash before packing Roll away and getting out.. yes, Battle Sheep. Complex game of strategy and tactics! Or not. Or just cute sheep and being an asshole to other players.

"You're good," Nicole says to Zellie when the game is over. She gets up to get herself another Margarita, saying over her shoulder towards Ash. "I think I somehow know less how to play the game now than when I started." She chuckles then asks as she pours the drink, "so what is next?"

Zelie calls for, "Love Letter!" deciding, "Winner gets to pick, and I wanna deliver letters to princesses." Sparrow shrugs at Corey and swaps out games. Because what Dovey wants, Dovey gets. At least by big sister's measure. Her phone chirps out a notification, though, and she gets distracted, staring at the device for a couple seconds before swiping out a reply.

Kisses at least make things better, and Ash smiles at Corey for the kiss before she takes another swallow of her drink before she sets the glass down, "Love letters? Princesses?" She sits up straighter at this, "Okay, now this sounds like it might be just right up my alley."

Grinning sidelong at Ash, Corey deals out a card each and puts the deck in the middle so they can start. "Alright, Zelie. But this time you are going down," he promises his little sister.

Nicole returns to the table and sips from her cup. "Ugh, love." Her eyes are rolled, heavily, but she grins anyway and asks, "so, how do we play?"

Sparrow might be defending her honor when, as the game gets started--"Just do what it says on the cards and try to be the last one standing with the highest value. Closest to the princess."--she takes Zelie out with her Bishop to help Corey win... only to have Corey turn on her. GASP! "The thanks I get..." She goes back to her phone for a moment.

Grinning to himself, Corey challenges Ash, "C'mon babe, compare cards." They do, and his 5 is lower! So he's out, and he grumbles good-naturedly, sitting back to sip from his drink and watch the rest of the round play out.

Ash smiles and blows a kiss towards Corey when she knocks him out of the round, then she turns her attention back to the rest of the game, picking and moving cards on her turn.

Sparrow watches the showdown between Ash and Nicole as the Joneses are all outed early. And then the Princess comes out! "Ooh! First round to Ash!" But there are already three points on the board, none of which are hers. Hrm. Time to redeal and focus.

Eyeing Sparrow she curls her lips in a lopsided grin. "Trailer Park James Bond?" she asks, referring to the phone that is getting attention at the moment. "Oh, okay... I think I might actually understand this game." She plays a bit, doing rather well, it seems, at first.

A touch of color comes to Sparrow's cheeks as she shakes her head, not quite able to quash the smile which forms even as she tries to focus on the game. "He's busy today." Zelie, meanwhile, stares wide-eyed at her sister then looks to Nicole and asks, "Trailer Park James Bond? Dish."

Setting his drink down as the new game starts, Corey faux-glares at Sparrow as she gets him out on the second turn, then grins. "Is that your ME on the phone there, Phil?" he teases as she blushes a bit.

"Old guy. Not bad looking." Ash is a helpful sort, and willing to feed little sisters the scoop. She glances up at Corey, then Sparrow, then back to her cards beofre she reaches for her drink.

Nicole picks a card from the pile and wrinkles her nose. "Awww.. shit." Looking to Corey she says, "ME is Trailer Park James Bond." Then to Zellie she says, "the man twice her age and financial bracket she is canoodling with." She winks at Sparrow playfully, smiling.

Sparrow's blush only brightens as Corey asks the same question in a different way and Ash and Nicole both fill in details. "It's not him," she repeats again, quietly. All while Zelie looks scandalized. "How have you not told me about him, Mena!? I am crushed. Wounded! Dead!" Look at that pout she wields at her big sister! "I need a picture. Need. This is not debateable. You know the rules." She plays her card and then goes back to staring at her flustered big sister ... who sinks lower into her chair.

"You want me to take a picture of everyone she brings back to the house, Zelie Dove?" Corey offers, to placate the younger sister and tease the older one at the same time. This is prime Middle Sibling territory. "Just promise not to show mom and dad, right? Dad would probably make Phil a quilt with all their faces on or something."

"A quilt?" Ash looks up, momentarily distracted by the prospect, then she shakes her head just a moment before she looks back down, "More and more I'm thankful my brother is back in Seattle."

"Yes!" squeaks Zelie in response to Corey's offer. "Both of them together. Like prom photos. Maximum awkward, okay?" The dark-haired Jones girl then looks to Ash and tells her, "Dad'll make a quilt for you, too. With Cooooorey's face on it if you'd like."

Sparrow outs herself by trying to pick off Ash and just... yep. This is a good time to go get some snacks, "Anyone need anything?" Zelie opens her mouth, but is cut off as the redhead qualifies the offer. "Other than pictures which they probably won't be getting."

"I'd totally take a quilt with a picture of Corey on it, but I don't think..." Ash pauses, then glances at the youngest sibling, and whatever she was about to say she just bites right back, and instead plays a card. "I'll take another drink!"

Grinning brightly at Zelie's squeal, Corey then murmurs, "Nice going, babe," to Ash as she wins a second love token, dealing out cards for the next round. "Looks like you've picked this one up!"

Taking her new card in hand, Zelie then alls after Sparrow, "How come you're dating someone old anyway? Wouldn't he be like, dad's age?" Oh, from the mouth of babes.

Nicole follows the hands played and the conversation, perhaps grateful she has no siblings or parents. "Maybe a pillowcase. Can play smoochy smoochy when they aren't around."

"If I want to smoochy smoochy Corey I just get out the ladder and break into his room." Ash replies cheerfully for Nicole, but she also isn't rejecting the idea of a pillowcase either. The question about Dad's age almost gets a response, but she bites that one back too. Young ears. Then she's out, and she leans back, nudging Corey with her foot, "You have to win for me." That is how this works!

"Sure thing babe," Corey says confidently as it gets down to just him and Nicole - and then seconds later, Nicole gets him out. He sticks his tongue out at the hairdresser and turns his gaze back to Ash. "...next round."

Sparrow works on mixing a drink for Ash and collecting some of Corey's homemade snacks to bring back to the table. And trying not to blush so damned much. Why is she blushing this much? GAH! Stop it face! "He's younger than dad," she calls back without specifying by how much. Cuz, really, it's not much at all. "And he's gorgeous. And smart. And romantic. And just..." She delivers Ash's drink, setting a cupcake down beside it, the rest of the treats dropped off nearby. She doesn't finish the thought as she sits down again, just taking up her cards. And then noting to Zelie, "Aren't they cute?" with a finger pointed to Corey and Ash.

Nicole chuckles and says to Corey. "That was an easy win for me, really." They start the next round then and she takes her turns as Sparrow tells her sister all about Trailer Park James Bond, aka, ME, aka, Yule. When she is finished and tries to turn the attention to Ash and Corey she says, "and just... she's twitterpated." At that, she plays a card, calling out Sparrow as the Princess with a wink. Looking up at Corey and Ash though, she nods. "I have to agree though. You two are cute."

"And old," Zelie tells Sparrow again, not really paying attention and getting herself out accidently. "Is he like your sugar daddy or something?" she prompts, watching the game. She does grin a bit at her sister's other comment though. "Super cute. Are they gonna get married?" Because she's so innocent. Or so teasing.

Meanwhile Corey ponders his cards, sticking his tongue out at Sparrow when she tries to deflect attention to him and Ash - which works - and making absolutely no comment about marriage.

"I already bought the dress, and we're going to have five kids." Ash replies without even batting an eyelash at Zelie and her teasing, because she can't possibly be innocent. "You'll be the flower girl?" She wonders, reaching for her fresh drink before flashing Sparrow a smile.

Sparrow holds up a hand to Zelie, finger and thumb just barely not touching. "You should see the bottle of scotch he got me. And we're going to a charity gala in a couple weeks." Maybe a little bit of a sugar daddy.

"Yes!" Zelie squees, distracted by Ash for a moment, giggling riotously at the prospect of five new Joneses. "I'mma be the best Auntie Z! Spoil 'em silly." But since Ash already has a dress picked out, she looks to Sparrow and says, "And you are gonna let me pick out your dress, right?" Not help, but pick. "Twitterpation, it is known, leads to poor dress-buying decisions." Here, the young Jones looks to Nicole for support. Even as their plays leave the blonde out.

Nicole is knocked out fairly early in that round, Zellie taking it. A new hand is dealt and she hmms, looking at her card. Looking up at Zellie, her lips twist and she looks to Sparrow. "I mean.... Maybe she already has?"

After another bit of play, Corey drops the princess and grins. "Thank you, Phil. You gave me Zelie's princess," he remarks, then asides to Ash, "I won for you, babe. Do I get a prize?" Even as he says that he's rising from the table to fetch another drink. "There will be no wedding, no dresses. If I ever do get married, it'll be an elopement in Vegas. Preferably with a service done by a Cher impersonator."

"Of course you get a prize. But I can't give it to you yet." Ash replies with a smile for Corey, then a pointed look towards the youngest of the Jones siblings. Then she reaches for her cupcake, leaning towards Zelie to whisper, "Don't listen to him, he just wants it to be a surprise."

"I haven't," Sparrow says of the dress, "though I did bookmark a couple of the ones were looked at the other night. Can't decide between the backless tartan, the low-cut black with the tartan cinch or shimmery blue-green mermaid." As an aside to her sister, she promises, "I'll show you later," cuz there's a very good chance Zelie's staying over tonight. "Aaaand we'll start planning post-wedding shenanigans in Vegas." Cuz there's no way Corey's eloping without his sisters! Even if that's entirely the purpose of elopement. But she's gathering up cards, getting ready to move onto the next.

Zelie tilts in toward Ash and promises, "You got me, babe," with a cheesy wink. Yep, full Jones charm with this one too.

"I think she means wedding dress, Sparrow Love. Unless... your charity event is a ruse and you are really eloping after a week or two?" Nicole raises her brow suspiciously. When the next game is brought out, another Card game, she actually gasps. "I know this one!"

"No elopements," Sparrow promises very firmly of herself and her might-be sugar-daddy. And then proclaims, "Fuck!" as she has to take a whole long row that had been fine mere seconds ago. At least she spills back into her seat giggling.

"Well, someone definitely knows how to play this," Corey notes as he settles back in with another beer, glancing Nicole's way as she's still on 66 points. He's amused, sipping from his beer and reaching out to snag a sandwich from the tray of snacks. Om nom. "No marriage, then," he tells his twin.

"She meant that she isn't eloping." Ash points out as she loses, by gaining cards. It's all very backwards, but it gets a laugh from her as the next time around comes up.

Sparrow taps her finger to her nose in agreement with Ash. "I'm bringing this one--" She points to Nicole. "--to your Cher-fest, and we're gonna run some poker tables."

Nicole smiles and winks at Corey. "I said I knew this one." And she does, keeping up with the pace of it rather well, until she finishes a row. "Dammit..." She looks to the score. "Okay, good. Still okay..." Then. "What, Me? I don't know POker."

"Blackjack?" Sparrow ventures. Maybe that's closer to what they're playing now, cuz clearly Nicole knows how to play some cards. "I mean, we can just do cocktails and slots all night, gorgeous." Which earns a pout from Zelie who would not be old enough to join in these festivities. And who is NOT doing well. "Guuuuuuys," she whines. "You're all so meeeean."

Nicole nods at Sparrow. "Better at blackjack.... even better at cocktails and slots! I call that. Let's do that." Looking to Ash and Corey she asks, "so when are you taking us all to Vegas so you can elope?" Grinning at Zellie she says, "says the girl who wiped the table in whatever that first game was." Then to Sparrow. "Ugh! You are beating me now!"

Corey turns an exasperated eye on Ash. "Babe! Did you have to take that row?" he asks of his apparent future-elopement partner, the move having ended up with him getting some serious points from the top set. Then he scowls at his new set of cards, taking a long drink from his beer before picking one to go.

Better to scowl at the cards rather than the elopement planning. Sparrow can't help but giggle at her twin, though it's a warm smile cast across the table in his direction. She waggles her brows at Nicole, a rather playful game-face adopted.

Zelie informs Nicole, "I had to beat Corey. He deserved it. He crushed me lat time we played, and he had it coming. The rest of you were just innocent bystanders in an ongoing space war."

Ash shakes her head at Corey, "I'm sorry!" She's not that sorry, honestly. There is a rather apologetic shrug that isn't apologetic.

"Shiiiit..." Nicole just pouts and shoots a look at Sparrow.

Sparrow bats her lashes innocently and asks, "What?" before taking a sip of her beer...... and flashing an apologtically look to Zelie as the youngest Jones lets out an, "UGH!" upon taking a whole row. So close to losing, poor Zelie Dove.

Frowning at his cards, Corey sighs. "This one is gonna be expensive," he mutters, after rolling his eyes at Ash's not-apology. "Sorry, not sorry?" he teases lightly.

Nicole looks at her cards, looks at the rows, looks at the cards, then says, "Shiiiiiiiiit."

Nicole adds. "God damn quadruple triple twist with a spin Shit!"

Sparrow almost spits her beer onto her cards at Nicole's exceptionally inventive invective. She manages to swallow, but her laugh erupts, first, as a cough before spilling into giggles and ending with a clearing of her throat. "Think we'll need a rematch sometime," she poses to the 6 Nimmt expert who she's currently outpacing, as if she has any kinda control over this chaos.

Ash shrugs faintly at Corey, then promptly does horribly at the game. She then moves to press a kiss to Corey's cheek, whispering something to him before she wanders towards the kitchen.

"I gotta pee!" Nicole rises up after playing and running off towards the bathroom. "I want a rematch!" She calls out towards Sparrow.