2019-12-02 - Kelly Family Turkey Day

Roxy was surprised and delighted to receive an invitation to the Kelly House for the holiday. Being Finnish, she had very little awareness of American Thanksgiving, so she read up on it, on the internet. She's discovered that it's either a celebration of thanks for a three-day feast between Native Americans and Pilgrims in 1621, or a terrible thing involving the oppression of those Native Americans and a fight to the death for Christmas presents in the wee hours after the feast.

She learned the general customs of the holiday, and has shown up at the Kelly House with a pumpkin pie and can of whipped cream. This seems to be both a traditional dessert of the holiday, and a good gift from a guest to the host. When she removes her wool coat, beneath is a pretty little peachy-orange vintage dress with scalloped edges, with a gold plaid belt and matching headband, and gold flats. She's also wearing simple pearl earrings and a short single pearl strand necklace. (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/784189353848585986/)

She moves to set the pie and whipped cream on the table, and looks around for the anyone she knows. Joseph is certainly here somewhere.

Kass shows up at some point. Just sort of.. appearing and dropping off a massive glass punchbowl filled with a cranberry-orange sauce, chunks of both fruits seen clearly in the thick, dark red gel. She tugs surreptitiously at her sleeves to make sure they cover her all the way to her hands and turns up the collar on her coat to make sure she can hide as much of the airbrushed paintjob on her limbs as possible. Someone has to work later tonight but wanted to put in an appearance! Her messenger bag everpresent, enterprising young Kelly's might sneak a peek to find a feathered prop of some kind hidden inside. She keeps her head down and hair hiding her face. After the ad campaign that Antonio ran for the Thanksgiving event for Platinum, she's been seeing entirely too much recognition.

Shuffling along, she sneaks a bite of stuffing here, a scrap of casserole there, then quickly makes her way out towards the main rooms... and almost immediately tripping over some of the Kelly cousins loitering. Crimson-faced, she offers hurried apologies and tries to flee to a 'safer' room. If one can be found!

Ohhhh, that is a lot of people. Alexander freezes when he realizes just how many people, and that most of them probably don't have a great opinion of him. He has a plastic container with store-bought cookies piled high held in his hands, and his shoulders are hunched as he tries to make his way through the press without touching anybody so he can drop the cookies off on the table. He blinks at recognizing 'Echo' there, and offers her a brief and uncomfortable smile. He freezes for a moment, torn between awkwardly trying to make conversation, and awkwardly fleeing.

No matter what he ends up picking, it's probably going to be awkward. Weirdly, he's better dressed than he was at the club; a button down shirt and slacks that make him look like he was going to church. They're bland, but at least they're not hideous. It's actually probably over-dressed, for once, so...well. At least he's consistently badly integrated into the social situation.

Jaime is seated on the back steps with Jess on his knee while she cheers on her cousins with the football and he drinks a beer. He occasionally chats with a cousin or uncle or whoever happens on by, and keeps an eye on the five year old, occasionally letting her go run around the yard a bit until she eventually comes back and climbs into his lap again. He's in his usual jeans and work boots, a long-sleeved dark green sweater, and a white t-shirt beneath.

Currently, Jess regales him with a story she learned about the Mayflower, which he listens to, occasionally asking questions and letting her give him the answers, as she teaches him all about it. He seems relaxed, content, and in a pretty good mood. Nothing's on fire or has exploded yet.

Sparrow does not arrive empty-handed. She couldn't. Corey wouldn't let her. Besides, promises were made. She carries a big red cloth bag filled with plastic bags and containers. There's almost certainly at least one pie in there. Apple, rather than pumpkin. There are all sorts of treats and trimmings, a tasting menu from the chef-in-training over at the Jones house. And the redhead who had almost no hand in preparing any of it gets to be the one to deliver it. She's dressed in a deep red v-neck sweater over a crisp white dress shirt with the top two buttons undone and the cuffs folded up over the sweater's sleeves, paired with jeans and well-worn boots. There might legitimately be a screwdriver peeking out of a rear pocket. Taking a wide path around the deep fryer out front and smiling toward the family she doesn't know, she makes toward the kitchen. And ... stops. Yeah, she recognizes that dinette set. "Uh." She shouldn't be staring at the table. "Anyone wanna take this?" Cuz she doesn't wanna go further, thanks.

"Alexander Clayton!" Roxy greets with a sweet smile. "I did not know you would be here. Happy American Thanksgiving! Are you friends with Joseph and his brother too?" Her bright blue eyes light up with recognizing another person amid the flock of Kelly family. "And you brought cookies! How nice of you." Smile smile.

"I wasn't sure I would be here, either," Alexander admits. But he stays. Awkward conversation it is! He offers a brief smile to her. "I don't, I don't know if I'd go that far." He slithers away from a couple of Kelly cousins, and ends up closer to Roxy. He's totally not hiding behind her. Mostly because she's smaller than he is. "I don't bake. But that," a nod at the pumpkin pie she put down, "that looks nice." Another long and awkward pause, before he adds, "Happy Thanksgiving." When Sparrow appears, then stops, he gives her a curious look at the small distance between where she is, and the table. Finally, tentatively, he moves in that direction, offering to take the big bundle with a wordless extension of his hands. "I don't know you," he points out to her.

Finding her way out of the house proper, Kass scoots around the house until she finds herself in the backyard. She just sort of mills around and watches the menfolk tossing the football around before noticing a Jess coming back in from a bout in the yard. Smiling, she sidles along the porch until she can offer a wave and smile towards the girl, then towards Jaime. "Hey. Um.. I heard about the dinner. I brought some cranberry sauce stuff. Mom's recipe so it should be pretty good. Hey Jess. You're looking awesome today. How's it going?" She doesn't invite herself to sit with them, just offers a greeting and goes back to watching the ball tossing.

Thanksgiving wasn't something Nicole ever truly got to do in her life. Not really. But, here she is at the Kelly house, amongst complete chaos. But it is a GOOD chaos. A smile is plastered on her face as she meets family and friends of the Kelly's, some she knew as a child, most she did not. She's in bare feet at present, wearing a boho style, floral maxi dress in shades reminiscent of fall and the holiday. long blonde hair is worn loose, waves flowing freely. Anyone who knows her can likely tell she is a bit nervous as she makes chatter with whomever she comes across.

For the festivities, Joey had told her to bring something. She didn't bring it, she baked it here; an orange bundt cake, golden brown and glistening with a sweet glaze.

She seems overjoyed to see Sparrow arrive, rushing over to give her friend a hug and hand off the bag of things to one of the cousins she had talked to earlier about social media. "Thank you," she says to them before turning Sparrow around and whisking her away. She has no idea about what made the red head uncomfortable, but could tell she was. "Happy Thanksgiving," she says, hugging her again before she spots Alexander and Roxy talking nearby. She waves at them and mentions, "I think Jaime is out back and uh... Joey is around, somewhere. Hi! Happy Thanksgiving!"

"I don't know you either," Sparrow starts before she even looks at Alexander, a bit of effort required to turn her attention away from the dinette which has all of its legs again. Who gave it its legs back!? She turns a bright smile toward Alexander as she hands off the bag of Corey-made treats. "Sparrow Jones. Spare troublemaker on the odd occasion that the Kellys run out." They never do. "And, uh. Drummer in Jaime's genuinely amazing, totally kick-ass--" Squeak! There's a hug. She leans right into the affection from Nicole, reciprocating without hesitation. "--band." Her attention turns to the blonde as she presses a kiss to her cheek. "Fancy meeting you here, gorgeous." As if it weren't entirely expected.

"The pie is from the Safeway," Roxy admits to Alexander with a bit of a shy blush. "I have no kitchen in the motel room, and I would not know how to bake a pie even if I did. I have never even eaten pumpkin pie before, but the internet said it is traditional for this holiday, and a good gift for the host." She watches him move to help Sparrow as if that has raised him in her esteem. He gets a 'nice person' check mark in her mental rolodex.

She folds her hands in front of her, her feet placed like a ballerina in fourth position. She glances around, a little lost, much as she is whenever she isn't performing. Nicole's greeting seems to pull her out of that a little, and she waves to the hairdresser, another person she knows! "Hello, Nicole!"

Joey steps up from the basement bringing another square card table to put in the front room. He pauses looking up arching an eyebrow. Oh lawdy both of the only two people that call him 'Joseph' are under one roof. Brace for impact, Joe. He lifts a hand to those arriving. "Be there in a sec." He finishes setting up the table and says to one "If that's food Sparrow you can give that to me. No it won't be safe." Hey he's honest.

A hand slides around Nicole to scoot by and he leans- nope that's Alexander. He leans and gives Roxy a half hug, "If you need to put your coat somewhere Nicole can help you out with that." He does take the pie though and Corey's savory offerings and side nods to Alexander, "Can set stuff down over here. " He calls out "Heeeeey Jaim? We startin that turkey?" Turning and pointing things out he pauses and tries to figure out where things moved to eventually cumming up, "Lunchy-dinner things are in the kitchen, desserts in the dining room. I'd do introductions but you'll figure it out." There's a prize to the person that can remember the most names b the end of the night. "

"Alexander Clayton," is helpfully supplied, and Alexander nods approvingly as she gives both names, although his eyebrows go up a bit at her designation of 'spare troublemaker'. "Jones..." he looks down at the heavy bundle of treats as he takes it where Joey directs, with a grateful look at the man - although whether that's for the directions or just for existing in this sea of people, it's hard to tell. "Do you have a brother who's a culinary student? Delivers custom made meals to people?" A glance back to Sparrow as he asks those questions, curiously. He almost certainly doesn't mean to sound like it's an impromptu interrogation...but it sort of does. Then he sees Nicole, and smiles briefly at her. It's a weird and nervous sort of smile, but doesn't seem ill-meant. He retreats back towards Roxy, and blinks at her. "I think it'll be nice. The pie."

There's a knock on the front door. Three short raps, to be precise. And no self-respecting cop is going to go barging into a house like Kelly's without someone explicitly opening the door for him, so the ballcap'd and leather jacket'd form of de la Vega, slouch-shouldered on the front step, simply waits patiently to be let in.

Jess is looking awesome. She's got on her "Thanksgiving Dress" which is a dark blue corduroy number over a white turtle neck, some white tights that are already covered with bits of leaf and twig from running around in the yard, and black shoes. Her hair is a bit wild, and her cheeks are red from running around but she seems in high spirits. She smiles and waves to Kass when she comes out. "You fixed Jaime's truck! It doesn't sound sick anymore," the five year old observes.

Jaime grins a little bit and says, "Yep, she did. It sounds real good now." Then he grins at Kass and says, "Oh, I gotta get some of that. I like the cranberry orange stuff." He glances down at Jess and says, "Want to go steal some food while no one is looking?" he asks her. She nods emphatically and he gets up, slinging her onto one hip, an arm around her as she loops hers around his neck and says, "Come on. Let's find something to sneak out of there." With that, he heads toward where the others have gathered. "Sparrow! Nicole! You made it!" Then he studies Alexander for a moment before saying.. "Clayton, right?"

Then there's JOey, and Jaime shrugs his shoulders, "I wasn't in charge of the turkey." He's on kid duty.

And door duty, which he answers, to let Ruiz in.

"Joseph!" Roxy declares in a happy tone as Joey appears. She returns his half hug with a bright smile. "Thank you for inviting me. It was very kind of you. You have a lovely home." She read that was etiquette too. She gives Alexander another warm smile at his comment about the pie. "Thank you. I hope it is."

Sparrow points at the bag Alexander's carrying when he asks about her might-be-brother. "That's the one. He packed up a little bit of most things because making decisions is hard." Turning a very serious look to Roxy, she tells her, "Pumpkin pie is amazing. Even storebought. You are an angel." Catching Joey's arrival, she shrugs up high and tells him, "Sorry, handsome. Clever guy over here--" She points to Alexander. "--got to it first. Gonna have to fight him for it, pretty sure. And I think the table might win." She points to the tamed beast right there holding up all the food and gives Joey a wide-eyed WTF sorta look. She's about to maybe even ask, but then there's a Jaime calling her name and thankfully no one has to hear her ask about--well, who knows how that mess would've come out. "Heya, gorgeous. Corey insisted that I share. By which I mean that I needed a few minutes away from mom. But only a few." Which means she won't be staying too long.

Kass grins at Jess and gives a nod, "Yeah, that was me. Glad you approve." She shifts a touch and looks to Jaime, chuckling and giving a bob of her head, "Yeah, was always my favorite part of Thanksgiving... covering slices of turkey with it, rolling it up, and eating it like a weird burrito. There's a bunch, so help yourself." Then he's getting called to the front and she gives a brief nod to the pair before glancing back at the house. Debating if the crawling sensation on the back of her neck when there's a crowd is worth it. She draws in a deep breath and lets it out, then heads in through the back door to wind her way around towards where the others have gathered. Roxy and Nicole are there, so she at least knows a few faces now, offering a quick smile towards them both.

"Hey Rox.. Hi Nicole. How's it going?" She lifts a hand towards them, then tries to find a patch of wall that she can hold up.

Ruiz looks up as the door swings open, and is greeted by Joey. Or a guy he thinks is Joey, anyway. He starts to say something to him, but something about the guy doesn't seem quite right, and he furrows his brows as he shoulders his way inside. Dark eyes linger on Jaime for a good long while, like he's trying to sort out what the fuck seems off today about his frie- enemy. Then he spots Alexander, and Roxy, and tenders a wan smile their way. As for what he brought? Wait for it.

Pumpkin pie.

"I like him," Alexander tells Sparrow, with a nod. "He's a nice kid. How's he doing?" When Jaime comes in, he freezes under the study, shoulders hunched defensively. His nod is curt. "Alexander Clayton. I was invited," he adds, even more defensively, like someone's going to accuse him of crashing. He stares with frank interest at Kass, and offers Jess a quick, but warmer, smile - although there's something wary about it in a way that isn't the same wariness he's been directing at everyone else. He slides back towards Roxy, who seems about as lost as he is, but when he gets there, another familiar figure is making its way inside. And his smile is relieved and brilliant. "Javier."

"Oh yes, of course. Can I take your coats?" Nicole says, to those recently arrived, smiling at Joey as he tries to create organization in the chaos. Taking whatever coats are handed to her, she carts them off to one of the bedrooms to neatly lay them upon the bed within. She stays there a moment or two, just for a bit of downtime before returning to the other room. When she does, the smile is there again, especially when she sees Jaime brought Jess in. "Hey!" she says, holding up her left tattooed hand. "High five?" Jess obliges with an excited, "flower power!" before she runs off again. Looking up then, she smiles at Ruiz. "Can I take your coat?"

Roxy gives Sparrow a grateful smile. "I look forward to trying it then," she notes. She returns Kass' greeting with a wave. "Hello, Kass!" Someone else from the Cabaret being here makes her relax a fraction. As she hands Nicole her coat with a quiet thank you, she catches the door being opened out of the corner of her eye, and turns that way, to spot Ruiz.

The police Captain's wan smile is returned with one of the stripper's impossibly bright ones. Like a beacon of nervous optimism in this hellish town. She waves towards him, loitering near the dining table like it is a raft in a sea of strangers, where the few faces she recognizes have gathered. She and Alexander seem to have formed an 'awkward people's committee' right there. "Javier!" she greets as well.

Her delayed entry is partially due to a sudden phone call from New Orleans, which keeps her outside for longer than necessary and leaving Alexander to fend for himself for just a few minutes as she speaks with her father, this time, in the shadows of the awning outside of the residence. But it seems it's just got finished, Isabella putting away her phone and tucking it in the pocket of her long skirt. She spots Ruiz by the door when she is about to cross the threshold, reaching out with a hand to rest gently on his shoulder in greeting, if he permits, and busses the air next to his cheek. "Happy Thanksgiving, Javier," she tells him with a smile, green eyes finding Joey and Jaime Kelly immediately to pass on her greetings to the hosts. "Happy Thanksgiving, Joey, Jaime."

"Wonderful," Sparrow informs Alexander of her brother with undue emphasis, as if there might be a reason for that better-than-good state. Squinting one eye, she studies the man for a moment before asking, "Hospital..?" as she picks through old memories. The nearby declaration of 'flower power!' earns a giggle that gets cut short as someone bumps into the table and startles the redhead for no damned good reason. And she edges a little further from the food and the dinette. Just in case. She's just gonna be a neon wallflower for a moment. Don't mind her. Everything's fine.

Jaime grins and gives Sparrow a one-armed hug. Jess gives her a little wave, "Hi Sparrow! You have a pretty name."

Jaime grins at Alexander and says, "Everybody's invited. Let us know if we can get you anything, man. Make yourself at home." Jess smiles brightly at Alexander and waves to him. "Hi! Happy Thanksgiving!"

When Ruiz just kind of looks at him, he grins a little curiously and says, "Come on in," not sure who the guy is, or why he's getting that look, but come on. Kellys are used to getting that look.

He grins as Jess gives Niocle a high five then squirms out of his arms, forgetting about the food to run back toward the movie room where she plops on the couch with her cousins. "Hey," he says into the room, "Don't go anywhere without coming to find me." Jess nods, and Jaime turns back to the guests, now that he is child free for the moment. Just in time to see Isabella, "Happy Thanksgiving!"

"Thank you, Jess!" comes with a wave from Sparrow. "I like yours too!" In an aside to one of the adults, she wonders, "Got anything to drink?" That might mitigate irrational concerns about dinette sets?

Flinching under Alexander's direct stare, Kass tugs nervously at her sleeves again and instead turns a brief, even relieved, grin towards Roxy. She flicks a glance around, then looks back towards Nicole and quickly shakes her head at the offer of taking her coat, even tugging it a bit tighter around her, once more flipping the collar up high. Being conspicuous as fuck even int he midst of a house fully of Kelly's. She flicks a glance back towards Alexander, then over to Sparrow, bobbing her head quickly and offering a fleeting smile, "Hi. Kass. Um. Kass Hughes. I fixed Jaime's truck."

Joey pauses and just eyes Alexander when Sparrow tells him he's got to fight him. There's a dead silence and Joey just shakes his head, "Nah, we're 1 -and-1." Arching an eyebrow to his brother and watching Jess tear through there to get a cookie he nods, "I'll take care of it then." Looking to Slexander and back to Jaime he gestures vaguely thatway "He lives like four down other side of the street. Knows B actually." Attention picks up to the door. Who knocks? OH! Yeah there we go. He walks into the hall to grab his coat. On his way back he snags a piece of ham hanging off the edge of the plate and grabs his beer and +1. Looking to Nicole he murmurs a "Thank you. I'm a go start that turkey. If I blow up, Ricky doesn't get to drive my car." Walking through he greets Ruiz handing him a Corona unopened with a faint grin, "Glad you could make it. You're just in time man." Foe him to slide his coat on and go deep fry a turkey. At least it's not a turducken.

Isabella's air kiss is returned with an actual one, laid right on her cheek by the cranky Mexican with the redundant pumpkin pie. His smile inches a fraction wider as he pulls back, and a murmured, "Happy Thanksgiving," is offered in return before he goes to clap Alexander on the shoulder and even put his arm briefly around Roxy. If she permits. He's done this dance before, even if he's awkward as hell about it. "Uh." Can Nicole take his coat? "Sure." Which would mean removing it. Which he does after a moment's hesitation. The leather jacket is pretty battered, and underneath it he's wearing a dark tee shirt and jeans; the former does nothing to hide the plethora of tattoos scrawled down both arms right up to the first knuckle. "Can I leave this somewhere?" he asks nobody in particular, holding up the pie. And then Joey's handing him a corona, and he gives him a good slap across the back in greeting.

Alexander coughs, and gives Sparrow a sheepish look. "Uh. Yes. He delivered a sandwich to me at the hospital. I've been to your house," he adds, because that's not a creepy segue at all. He doesn't seem to realize it, and he's waving back at Jess as she squirms out of Jaime's arms. And then there's an Isabella, and he beckons her over to the Awkward People's section. He glances at Roxy. "Isabella Reede," he introduces, abruptly, but with a hopeful air to it, like friendship will magically happen if the two just exchange their names.

Joey gives him that look, and Alexander freezes in place, going even more wary and poised for flight or fight in an instant. He meets the look with a blank one of his own, relaxing only when Joey moves on. "Byron," he mutters, under his breath. "B is a letter, not a name."

Grinning crookedly towards Joey as he walks out with that comment, Nicole asks, "do I get to?" She smiles and says to Ruiz and offers, "I can take the pie for you." Coat in one hand, pie in the other, she drifts off first to the dessert table, and then to the temporary Coat Room. She'll be back, eventually.

Roxy permits the arm and gives Ruiz a warm smile. "Happy Thanksgiving, Javier. I'm not sure I entirely understand the holiday, but it seems nice to have people gather for a meal like this." She looks to Isabella as Alexander introduces her, and nods her head to the other woman. "I'm Roxy Kivela. It is nice to meet you. Your hair is so pretty." And she is so bad at social interactions. At Alexander's seeming dislike of nicknames she clears her throat. "Or Roxanne if you must."

"If you blow up, I win by default!" Sparrow calls to Joey as he heads of toward turkey prep, though it's Nicole she looks at, black brows arched high in challenge, lips quirked in a faint grin. Returning her attention to Alexander, she tells him, "C--" Potentially just to be contrary. "--loves feeding people. Come by any time, probably gonna find food. Cept..." She gives a little hand-wobble. "Sundays are probably best." That same hand then waves to the newcomers, all the people she doesn't quite know. Then, drawing a deep breath, she ventures into the kitchen, toward booze of her own.

"Oh, good, you brought more, I love pumpkin pie," Isabella teases Ruiz with a grin that hints at the presence of the dancing devil in her, winking at the captain before she follows him to where Alexander beckons. Lips press warmly against the side of the investigator's face. "Hey, handsome," she murmurs, before flashing a grin to Roxy when she's introduced. "I saw you at the gazebo in Halloween," she says, extending a hand for a warm handshake. "Thanks for everything, that night. And thanks!" She has left her hair in the black barrettes she wore in her visit at the Claytons, though the careful twist it has been pulled in is somewhat askew, for some reason. "Your...well, everything is so pretty." There's a shameless grin, her arm curling around Alexander's back. "Kivela is...European? Whereabouts?"

Jaime hangs back a little bit, keeping his eye on the kids, particularly the littler ones, making sure that none of them get into too much trouble, which is a challenge given that they're running all over the house and back and forth between the back deck and the yard. He seems to do a mental head-count every so often. Still all accounted for. His beer is lifted and he takes a swig from it, just listening to the conversations going on around him. "Don't die," he shouts at Joey as Joey heads out to attend to the bird. Yeah, he's not responsible for that one; he's an adult.

Who doesn't love pumpkin pie? Besides crazy people, that is. "Gracias," murmurs Ruiz to Nicole, as she relinquishes both jacket and dessert from him. Leaving him with a bottle of beer, and a cohort of awkwardness. "It's right in the name," he tells Roxy, popping the cap off his beer with a thumb, and managing to catch it before it hits the floor. "Reminding ourselves what we've got to be thankful for." His smile is brief, but does seem sincere, and he adjusts his cap as his gaze lingers on a few unfamiliar faces milling about. Which is most of them.

Roxy blushes again at the compliments from Isabella. She shakes the woman's hand in return. "Nordic actually. I was born in Finland," she explains. "My mother was American though." Or so says her shiny new paperwork, so that little tidbit might come as a surprise to Ruiz at least.

"Oh that part I gather is what it has become. But I cannot discern if it is about a feast in 1621 between the indigenous peoples and English invaders, or some sort of deranged shopping for Christmas bargains come midnight," she murmurs to Ruiz, wide-eyed at some of the Black Friday videos she stumbled on.

Sparrow catches that note from Ruiz about the meaning of the holiday as she wanders back with beer in hand and wonders, "Are we gonna do that? We should do that," to whoever might be listening. Pointing to Roxy, she notes, "We're already on Part A of that and Part B starts way too soon." She ventures toward the dinette--so brave!--to snag a dinner roll then finds herself a place to plunk down for a moment.

Shifting away from her wall spot, Kass sidles back over towards where Jaime is peeking on the kids and offering, "Um.. if they want a good activity.. I have some.. sidewalk chalk. Could offer to corral some of them out front to draw for a bit. If some of them seem to be getting restless?" Yep, probably the same bucket she 'acquired' from a certain vibrantly haired skater guy. She shrugs lightly, "Might help let some of them let out energy til its time to eat..."

Alexander throws an exasperated look to Sparrow. "You're doing that on purpose," he accuses, somewhere between indignant and amused. "And yeah. I get that about him. I'm glad he's doing, uh, wonderful." He puts that emphasis on it, and makes it a question with a lifted brow. And then there's a kiss, and he turns to return it, briefly, showing no hesitation to have Isabella's arm around his back. His attention doesn't linger, though - too many new people, and his twitching gaze is constantly moving from one conversation to the next. He does grin, for some reason, at Jaime telling Joey to not die. "Frying the turkey? I've seen some impressive fireballs. On YouTube. Not in person."

Joey will take the slap o teh back glancing to Ruiz and then Nicole and Sparrow and back to Nicole, "I promise to no blow up and not make you lose." Back to Sparrow, "There's orange Jello in there with marshmallow thingies. No fighting in it." There's a pause looking to Roxy confused and then thubs to Ruiz, "What he said. It's a good question though. It's a day where we sit here and go yeah, well, there's a lot of bad stuff going on but this is at least going right. And then we say grace, and like thank you for the food, and pray to god that Notre Dame doesn't win against U of M and lose me forty bucks and kinda hand out and eat food. Then we're all up way too late and tactical shopping starts at like 5 am."

"Yeah, sure," Jaime says to Kass with a grin when she offers to take some of the kids out to the drive with the sidewalk chalk to draw. "That sounds good. The ones that are running around who aren't out in the back or watching movies. You could ask them." He nods a little bit, more than happy to share some of the kid-corralling duties.

"Maybe a little bit," Sparrow confesses to Alexander with a conspiratorial wink. "But it is what I call him. Which is supernice of me given that he still calls me Mena." As if that were so terrible a thing. Look at that pout! It's not particularly convincing. "How about with it?" she calls back to Joey, opting not to inform him of the color change for the exhibition just yet. No, that's Nicole's job.

On youtube. Sure. Ruiz gives Alexander a dubious look when he claims he hasn't seen any turkey fireballs in person, and takes a lazy lean against the back of the couch. Beer's not his alcohol of choice, but he's hardly going to turn it down if it's offered, and it does go down a little easier than tequila. He washes another mouthful of it down and murmurs, "Lo que dijo," while gesturing to Joey with his bottle. To Sparrow, somewhat abruptly, he offers his hand. "Don't think we've met, by the way. Javier."

Nodding, Kass flashes a grin and starts collecting up kids to take outside for sidewalk chalk!! Because who doesn't love a chalkdust-covered kid at the Thanksgiving dinner table?? Heathens, that's who. Getting up a group of about 5-6, Kass leads the troop out to the front, edging them a healthy distance away from the deep fryer before pulling her bucket of sidewalk chalk from her messenger bag like a rabbit from a hat, grinning and popping the lid off so kids can make a mad grab for the chalks and get to decorating that front sidewalk! She keeps a weather eye on the younguns and steps in now and then to halt a fight over a color or to keep a curious one from getting too close to Joey and the turkey. But he's totally going to have an audience for the dunk.

Nicole comes back out just in time to hear Alexander talk about fireballs. "None are allowed at this house today, please, and thank you." She smiles then looks to Isabella. "Oh hey! When did you come in? Happy Thanksgiving!" She's looking around for Sparrow next, her dress swirling around her legs as she does. "No jello fights today!" she calls out to her friend. "Did you get your drink?" She makes a round of the room, checking to see if anyone is in need of anything, having somehow slipped into hostess duty. One has to wonder what a certain 36 year old woman in the kitchen thinks about that. Or well, maybe just Nicole wonders.

"All the way from there? What brings you to Gray Harbor?" Isabella asks Roxy conversationally, though she peers at Ruiz and Alexander. "Am I the only one who really wants to see this turkey fireball thing in action because-- " And Nicole's saying no! There is a very clear look of disappointment on her features, though judging by her prevailing air of good humor, she's not very serious about it. "Hey, Nicole! I still need to visit you at the salon, happy thanksgiving! I came with this guy." She bumps her hip against Alexander's. And following Ruiz's introduction to the amazing head of bright red hair he's talking to (Sparrow), she smiles and lifts her hand in a wave. "Hi, I'm Isabella."

Alexander eyes Sparrow's wink warily for a long moment, then softens and offers her a smile back. "Well. There are worse nicknames, and retaliating against a slight is an acceptable escalation." Which as far as he'll go in the acceptance of nicknames. Ruiz's look in his direction gets a shrug. "What? They're funny videos if no one's face gets burned off." And then he's bumped in the hip, and blinks over at Isabella. "Not in person. There's only so much fire a holiday should have, and 4th of July took the year's allotment." His voice goes a little dry. "Which is good, because otherwise I'm pretty sure this town would burn down by New Years.

Sparrow gives her beer little waggle in Nicole's direction as she teases, "I didn't need the practice anyway." And she fires off another wink, this one a bit more flirtatious than the last. Which leaves her grin skewed a bit thattaway as she turns her focus to Ruiz and that offered hand, promptly accepted. "Philomena," isn't what anyone else has called her here, but why not. "We haven't met, but I know exactly where I've seen you before." And it looks like she's not telling. One little waggle of her dark brows, and her gaze shifts to Isabella. "Phil," she offers. Why not? "Sparrow, for short. Unfortunately a member of Team Fireball Free Since 2018. Joey still owes me."

Uh oh, Roxy hadn't quite come up with just that reasoning, and she needs to think fast. She looks to Ruiz with one of those 'help me' expressions before she looks back to Isabella. "Ballet. I was a dancer and my mother brought me back here for better opportunities. They did not happen, sadly." She's not sure if that sounds reasonable or not, and she looks like she's ready to bolt at any second.

She manages to take a breath and excuses herself, "I'll be back, I need something to drink." She heads off to to hunt down where the drinks are being kept, out on the back porch, and she finds herself some juice which is probably meant for the kids but they can share, right? She wends through the crowds with timid movements, trying not to jostle anyone.

Sparrow clarifies, "So he's not allowed to die." Not like she's expecting him to save his fireballs for her or anything. That'd be weird. To Roxy, she notes, "Gray Harbor's richer for your talents," having seen her perform at least once. The debut, even.

"Philomena," is repeated with some hesitation. Like Ruiz didn't figure her for one of those. Sparrow's hand is given a quick shake regardless, and she may or may not notice quite the assortment of ink on the backs of his knuckles. A brow goes up when she claims to have seen him before, and he eases back into his lean against the couch to drink his beer and contemplate that little riddle. Then Roxy's looking a bit flustered and slipping off, and he watches after her carefully. Creepy, or protective? A guy that looks like him, it's hard to say.

"Sparrow?" Isabella does not share Alexander's hangup for nicknames, and her grin broadens there, the look of her delighted and approving. "Awesome. It's alright, though, I can forgive being fireball free. I'm sure you'll come around to this side eventually." All teasing and absolutely non-serious. Her attention returns to Roxy again, listening attentively, though when she reveals that she's a ballerina, her expression clears up - no wonder she's so photogenic. Before she could comment on it, though, she is excusing herself, and she watches the other woman as she leaves, expression overtly curious.

Alexander picks up on the very specific air of 'being asked questions that someone doesn't want to answer' with a lot more acuity and alertness than pretty much any other social situations. His gaze comes back to Roxy, and he follows her retreat with a very curious sort of frown. Like something's being written in a mental notebook - and it probably has a lot of question marks. He gives Ruiz a quick, sidelong look, watching the man watch the woman. Then huffs out a sort of exasperated breath, and returns his attention to Sparrow and Isabella. His eyes narrow. "You have too many not-real names," he tells her, solemnly.

Rather than showing up in any variety of luxury vehicles, his or rentals, Byron arrives to the party in Lilith's white Acura RDX. They just came from serving hot meals to the less fortunate and families with children, among other things, but the former, at least, has his him in high enough spirits. He'd changed into a deep lavender dress shirt with a black waist coat thrown over it, complete with black slacks and tie, a nicely polished pair of oxfords. The suit jacket is hung neatly in the backseat of the SUV.

"Looks like all of Elm street showed up to this shindig." Byron comments to Lilith, before leaning in close to give her a kiss before exiting the vehicle. Many of the guests probably didn't come in cars, so Lilith's isn't parked terribly far from the Kelly house. Opening up the back of the vehicle, he calls out, "Hey, Kellys. Come out and give me a hand. Brought something for you!" What's revealed is a beautiful kegger just waiting to be hauled out of said vehicle and into the party.

Joey stops. full stop. He looks to Ruiz and tilts his head. "Your first name ain't Cap? I'm feelin lied to here." And that said he heads into the garage first. He walks around the few folks there hanging out and comes back with heavy duty gardening gloves , and a hockey mask. It's armed he wades into the back yard to maybe not... blow up a turkey. He stops, pausing, and points with one be-oven mitted hand like a muppet, "Right now? But Jaime was just about to inhert all my stuff."

Roxy stays out on the porch, watching the football game being played curiously, because it's not what she knows as football. She watches Joey come out back dressed like a hockey player about to do bloody battle with a turkey and some molten oil and blinks, leaning her hip against the railing and settling there for a bit to more fully construct her background lie in case there are further questions.

"I'll help with the keg," Jaime says, since Kass has taken about a third of his kid-watching duties, and Jess is firmly ensconced with the cousins watching Willy Wonka. He heads out to help Byron get the gift out of the car. "Heya," he greets Thorne, and Lilith as he makes his way out there, giving them both a wave in greeting. "Happy Thanksgiving!"

"Philomena Sparrow Jones," she clarifies for the crowd, though it's Alexander she focuses on most, like he is due some explanation in particular. Her free hand comes up to cross... well, the center of her chest. Who actually crosses their heart? It's as solemn a promise as she can offer. "You--" Again, very particularly Alexander, marked with a tilt of her head his way and some emphasis in her tone. "--should ask my brother about his name sometime." She punctuates the thought with an easy smile which grows when she looks to Isabella. "After the jello wrestling. Once I've won fair and square, he can blow himself up however he likes." She peeks around to see if there's a Nicole to taunt further, but her nemesis seems to have wandered off to help out some more. Ah well. She'll have to save the trashtalking for later. As she takes another pull from her beer, she angles a look to Ruiz to see if there's any lingering curiosity, if he might still be picking at that little puzzle.

Kass herds a couple of the kids away from drawing too close to the Acura and offers a brief smile towards the new arrivals. "Hi. I'm Kass." Then she's going to settle a dispute over the bright green chalk between two of the kids, solving the matter by breaking it in half and handing each of them a piece. Turning back towards the kids, she shifts to go help a little girl draw a huge blue bird that.. seems to be curb-stomping an.. octopus?

Alexander relaxes at the clarification. "I see." A frown at the idea that Corey has more unreal names, but he makes a note. "I will. Next time I see him." And that's Sparrow's fault, so he knows who to blame, later. Then there's a sort of mental screech to a stop. "...wait. Jello wrestling? Involving Joseph Kelly? What."

She's still watching Roxy to where she's disappeared to, before Philomena Sparrow Jones clarifies for everyone what her full name actually is. There's an appreciative laugh, Isabella's mirth reaching her eyes as she regards Sparrow. "So what kind of jello? Sugar free, or is it pudding? Are the two of you taking bets on it?" Because if this is a thing, she definitely wants to watch, and possibly put money on it. There's a hopeful glance around the party area in an effort to glimpse whether there's a kiddie pool full of the stuff nearby.

Ruiz finally pushes off the couch, murmurs an excuse me to those nearby, and shoulders his way through the milling guests, in the direction of the porch. And Roxy.

Sparrow's lips part to start to answer as soon as Alexander asks, but no sound comes out. She casts a look around the Kelly residence juuuuust in case and then flashes a bright smile to Isabella. "Sugar free. Red and green. And there will almost certainly be betting. And a silent auction. Charity event we're running at the gym in a couple of weeks." With a flicker of a look to Alexander, she explains, "Joey will not be wrestling. Nicole and I will. To decide, once and for all, which of Double Trouble--" She might mean the Kelly twins? "--is hottest." Nevermind that they're identical. Yeah, now's a good time to take a long swig of that beer she's been working on.

Roxy cradles the bottle of apple juice in one hand, the other on a porch post as she watches the strange American holiday rituals in the backyard. She senses Ruiz before she hears his approach, the white wolf is hard to miss in the Glimmer static that invades her awareness. She still isn't very good at turning it off, or having it turn on, on command.

"I was not anticipating questions from strangers about myself," she murmurs when he's close enough to hear the quiet words. "I should have considered that before I came here. I am an idiot."

Lilith bats her mascara-thickened lashes out of distraction where she sits letting Byron drive her car, though his words bring her around, and the kiss finishes the job of getting her attention, lips slanting with slight smile as she leans to nab it with catch before getting out of the SUV, "Seems so. Time to be a hero, babydoll." She's clearly talking about the keg that the man gets out and announces, because anyone that brings a keg onto a lawn on Elm is a big damn hero on principle, even if it's piss beer. This isn't piss beer, though, it's a good middle ground lager to suit everyone that likes piss or premium by a meeting in the middle. Either way, it's a lot of beer to add to the whole festivity throughout the evening and overnight, as these Kelly things tend to go.

She changed while Byron went to... run an errand, probably pick up the keg, right? She didn't ask, she's been kind of distracted ever since serving charity lunch, or really the night before, maybe. But when she's walking across the old lot up to the Kelly house with Byron, she's pushed that aside to saunter up ahead as the men come out to meet and help with the keg, "Sweet hell, got a load of folk, don't you, boys? Means people know you still know how to do things up right."

Though she's less casual, more dressy with dark red sweater cling of mini skirt and ivory blouse under her long open charcoal sweater cardigan with antique jewelry she borrowed from the shop to dress it up and compliment her handsome male company, besides... she has on calf-high heeled boot shitkickers that dare one of the old Elm crew to say something about it.

I can make it wor-.. er, better! I meant better! >.> <.<

And this is why Alexander is the PI; he gets all the important questions out there. Joey answers none of them. He's got combat with a turkey to do. He steps off the back porch looking to Roxy, "You're not an idiot. You're... about to see something awesome." He's in a decent mood. at least. He gets the turkey on the chain and hooks the bird up to a pulley. Jacket on and sipped up, and only then. does he wade into poultry battle to tempt physics (poorly) and figure out how he wants to attempt this. Needless to say no one's within 25' of this mess.

Alexander blinks at Sparrow several times. "I see." He really doesn't, and that bafflement is written all over his face. "I. Well. Good luck?" A glance at Isabella to make sure that this is the appropriate thing to say in this situation. Then he watches Ruiz follow Roxy out to the back porch, and that plus the chance to see Joey explode a turkey is almost enough to draw him in that direction. At least, as Byron and Lilith come in, most of his attention is pointed that way, although he does glance back at them. "Thorne. Miss Winslow. Hello."

As Joey gets ready to do battle with the turkey, Kass herds the kids and starts to usher them back inside to start getting washed up so there aren't too many side-eyes from parents about their currently multi-colored children. The bathrooms are briefly overtaken by a herd of children to soap and scrub and clean hands and faces and in one case.. hair. Kass oversees it all then gets them all settled back in with promises of food soon. Hiking her bag up onto her shoulder a little higher as the bucket gets put away safely, she edges back out onto the porch. Ruiz is given a berth, instead she looks to Roxy and smiles faintly, "I have to get to work.. could you let the twins know I'm sorry and I'll swing by in a day or two to pick up the cranberry sauce bowl?"

The cop takes up a lean beside Roxy, against the porch's railing. It's a bit chilly out here to be in a tee shirt, and the hair on his forearms stands up slightly as he shivers. And drinks his beer. "You're not an idiot." He flicks his eyes up to the dancer. "But I do advise glossing over details until you've got your story straight." He nods to her. "You all right?"

"Hey, Jaime. Ordered this baby a week ago in anticipation for today. Just got it delivered and now I'm delivering it into your good hands." Byron says with an easy smile as he hops into the back of the SUV to help push the thing out with Jaime and possibly another helping hand or two. Seeing Joey's absence out here, he's gotta ask, "What's Joey up to? Probably something of import, right?" Hah! If they all only knew what Joseph Kelly was up to right now.

He didn't have to come inside to see just how much of a full house this was. There were still some goons hanging out outside and from what he can see in passing is that there were several folks out in the backyard too-- including Kelly.... He's catching the first glimpse of Turkey Combat! "Something of real importance, Kelly." He murmurs, but he can't help but be amused. He then looks to Jaime, "Not you," He then directs their attention to the backyard. Who he is surprised to see is both Alexander /and/ Isabella here, a brow lifts, but he offers both one of his winning smiles, "Alexander Clayton, Isabella. Happy Thanksgiving to you both."

Roxy puts on a smile for Kass. "Of course. It was good to see you, tell everyone at the club Happy Thanksgiving for me?" She watches the redhead waitress go before she looks back at Ruiz and gives him a nod. "I will be all right. Just seeing such a large and happy family coming together, and bringing friends in as well. It's so not what I experienced. I feel I was cheated. I am angry about that. But it was nice to be invited. It is nice to be making some friends. So it will get better." That spark of optimism she seems to cling so tightly to is still there, despite the hand life has dealt her.

Lilith is getting in to get a scope of the current gathering and comes up where Alexander is watching to reach and touch Isabella on the arm, but does a bit of a skitter when she notices she's veering a little too close to where there's a Kelly and turkey and hot oil and... yeah, we're just going to give that a wide berth just in case there's some old hood engineering going on. Not that she's CLOSE but, old neighborhood reflexes happen. After tilting her head to watch and make sure nothing explodes (or morbidly kind of hope it does, this is Lilith afterall), she says her hellos, "Hello you two. No fights or fires where they aren't supposed to be yet? I'll be sad if I missed the first breakout, but I think that happens after the keg, to be fair."

"It's for charity?" Sparrow offers to Alexander as if that might help clarify something. Nevermind that she already mentioned that. When his attention strays toward the door, so too does hers, a bottle lifted toward the kinda sorta briefly familiar Lilith in greeting. Right about the same time that her phone issues a muffled chime from a pocket. Fishing it out, her focus goes to her phone for the moment, texting back a reply.

The good luck gets a winning smile and an encouraging look towards Alexander, before her green eyes gravitate away to see the impeccably dressed duo of Byron and Lilith heading in their direction. Surprise flits over her expression, before the winning smile angled their way is returned with a bright and blazing grin. Her arm unwinds from Alexander, so she can take a step forward. "Byron Thorne. What part of the world did you conquer today?" she teases, though she turns around at the touch on her arm. She leans over towards Lilith, to press her lips against the air next to her cheek. "Lil. Happy thanksgiving to the both of you. Have you all met...?" She gestures between the newcomers to Philomena Sparrow Jones, eyes lighting back up with mischief. "Sparrow was just telling us about wrestling Nicole in jello to determine which Kelly's the hottest. For charity."

"Happy Thanksgiving back to you both," Alexander says, his smile brief but warm to Byron and Lilith. There's a chuckle at Lilith's contribution. "Um, not yet. I don't want to even try to make odds on that," a nod towards the turkey, "ending in disaster, though." A glance over to Sparrow. "Oh. Well. Charity is nice." His expression turns thoughtful. "How are you defining 'hot', though? It seems like there would be more accurate ways to answer that particular question."

Joey yells from the drive where there's at least 20' clearance to a structure, "Well if this goes bad, Iz? It'll be me. The hard way." Hockey mask on. Though it's plastic technically so what's that really saying. the lid comes off and at first there's not much. and slowly, on the end of an aluminum pool hook (Because Alton Brown hates a unitasker in the driveway) there is a turkey hanging like a gallows prisoner; important bits inside. "Child check." There's a small nudge that gets the straggler, though a teenager pushed back. Someone nearby pulling him back to not be stupid maybe Ah well. The descent is getting, yup, a chant of DUNK! DUNK! DUNK! because his group will encourage anything. And it's good... it's good... and what's the big deal? OH yeah that's a 6' flame as the vapor and the oil ignite! There's some finegling to get the pool hook out of the was there. Well... if you lost anything in the back yard NOW is the time to look for it because that is bright!

Ruiz looks up from his beer when Roxy addresses him again. He grunts some sort of acquiescence to her, tips the bottle back for a drink, then speaks after he's swallowed, "I think you'll find you're not the only one who's angry. Or the only one who feels cheated. And I think it will." Get better. He attempts a smile, touches her arm, and then turns his gaze back toward the house proper. "Got any plans for Christmas?"

"Truth," Sparrow confirms on the tail-end of Isabella's explanation before she looks up from her phone, muttering a quiet note of, "Family," as to why she's letting that gadget distract her from otherwise engaging conversation. "I have been informed by both parties that they are genetically temperature equivalent," she informs Alexander. "If we also consider their attractiveness from that genetic standpoint, well. The question becomes an entirely subjective one. And while we could take a poll, it'd be a little difficult to take a poll for charity." Beat. "And it started as a joke, but no one seems to know when to tell me no, so..." She goes to drink, but finds her bottle empty. Damn.

Roxy watches the possible turkeymageddon going on and shields her eyes at the burst of flamey light, and blurts out, "Perkele!" which is the Finnish equivalent of 'Shit' or 'fuck'. She blinks at Ruiz, spots bursting in her vision from looking right at the miniature sun in the driveway. "This holiday is insanity," she whispers to him.

His question about Christmas has her shaking her head. "No plans. I might work that night, so others can spend it with their families, maybe," she says with a small frown, still blinking in the after images of the turkey dipping.

See, Byron will watch the shit out of these crazy antics. Nevermind that he wears a suit and tie on most days. Taking a few steps to the door leading to the back porch, just so that he can take a better look, his steps pause when this jello wrestling is mentioned, his brow arching curiously. "To determine which Kelly is the hottest? And the Kelly's aren't battling it out?" He sort of grins when he says this, "Still, it sounds entertaining and it is for a good cause." He pauses to consider, "Which charity are the Kelly's supporting this time?" This look is given to Sparrow. She, like many other residents in town, probably already know of Byron Thorne. The rags to riches story that they like to gossip about. "Byron Thorne." He introduces himself anyway, before turning to Winslow, "And this is my girl, Lilith." Though Elm street probably knows about the Winslows.

Rhys has a pie. This is good evidence that he's very recently been in the vicinity of his grandmother, though the fact that he's headed this way from the side of the Kelly house that his grandparents' house is on is also suggestive. If he were coming from his own place, the pie would probably be in some sort of 'definitely bought this' box instead of a let's-say-vintage pie plate. It looks like some sort of custard tart, as illuminated by the sudden big ol' fireball along the driveway. Rhys stops, tilting his head to regard the gout of flame, and when it isn't accompanied by screams of pain and distress within the first half-second or so, inquires of the world at large, "Am I late or exactly on time?"

"That's always a-- " There's fire, and shenanigans, and her name being called. Isabella whips her head around and her eyes rounding wide when she sees those flames leap up once Joey's got the hockey mask, and there's a FWOOSH of brightness. "Unfair advantage, Joey Kelly!" she exclaims, gamely. "Which means my money's officially on you!" Look. Only fools fight fair.

Catching the introductions among Byron, Lilith and Sparrow, there's an endeared face on her when Byron introduces the other brunette as 'his girl'. ...just nobody tell her she's wearing that face.

Wow. That is a LOT of fire. Alexander stares at it, blinking. He twitches a little when Isabella shouts from right next to him. But it does bring his attention back to the most immediate conversation around him. He smiles at Sparrow. "Actually, while attraction is subjective, you can develop a general comparative ranking using a large enough sample size. So, if you were to create photos of both of them, perhaps in various outfits, and sell them, then compare the sales totals, it would give you a general idea of which one has more overall appeal." His brow furrows. "But video would be better. Body language and vocal qualities are also part of attractiveness, so for a truly accurate assessment, it would have to take those into account..." he's starting to look enthusiastic about this idea, which is way more complicated and way less fun than jello wrestling.

"Mhm, sold her some neat trays, she has pretty fabulous vintage tastes. And a pretty cool brother." Lilith tells Isabella with a flash of smile at Sparrow after a murmured 'happy Thanksgiving' of courtesy with return between the other brunette and Alexander. She then laughs aloud at the jello wrestling comment and points at Joey in the mask before deciding, "Depends on accessories, honestly, because when Jaime has a gun, he's one up, when Joey is--" Okay, being Joey, it comes with fire and flame and brightness like punctuation of exactly what she means. Instead of jumping at the fire, though, she just kind of stands and watches it when Byron comes up with a charmed (expectant) expression before letting out a rowdy wolf whistle that doesn't match her outfit as it is today compared to yesteryears. Whistle still loud as hell, though!

Shifting her weight between booted heels, she slips her arm around behind Byron's back with the intro and smiles with a lopsided kind of starry-eyed fondness there for an undisguised beat before she's back to amiably dry and casual as par, "Anyway, like I was saying, Joey's hotter when he has flaming turkey, see. All about accessories. But I'm also all about watching a round of jello wrestling and betting on a slippery horse, so... battle sounds fun, charity or no charity."

Then with a tiny tilt of her head, she wonders of Byron with a look over her shoulder to see if the keg's hooked up, "Want a beer, babe?"

It's hard not to peek out the window when the flames go up. Sparrow's gotta make sure she hasn't won by default, after all. "Corey would have so many feelings about this..." she mutters to herself. Blinkblink. But there's conversation to be had, introductions to be made. "Angels of Hope," she offers to Byron with a bright smile that offers no clear indication as to whether she's heard of him or not. Kids these days. "Joey's pick." With a warm smile toward the more familiar of the pair, she croons, "His girl Lilith," in greeting. Then tells her, "Use them all the time. And Howard has more friends now." That gets a vaguely haunted look. And no further explanation.

But then it's back to Alexander, fully focused on that in depth exploration of the idea. "I like the way you think," she tells him, smile skewing sideways. "Shame we've already got the event advertised and jello ordered, but I know who to contact next time someone lets me run with a ridiculous idea." She studies him for a moment, weighing a couple paths at a crossroads before asking, "Are you maybe say, mm, thirty-eightish? Roughly?"

Roxy gives Ruiz a small smile and she sets a hand on his arm briefly at whatever they were discussing, then she heads back inside to make herself useful helping Nicole and other Kelly family members in the kitchen preparing the side dishes.

"Agree, with both the flaming turkey comment and battle being fun," Isabella remarks, before turning her attention to Alexander's logical and thoughtful breakdown of possible sampling scenarios which makes her dark brows climb higher and higher up her hairline. It is not disapproving - if anything, she's even grinning. There's no surprise in her features and what ought to be exasperation over the investigator's unique way of putting a point earns him that flash of unadulterated pride, instead. An enthusiastic nod to Sparrow. "There's a diamond under that hood," she tells her; his mind is as always an incredible machine.

Byron has no real opinion on Joey vs Jaime Kelly: Who is hotter? He will be there for the show, the betting, though he's undecided as of yet. He's known Nicole for a very long time. Sparrow was an unknown entity. So if anything, he's sizing the young woman up, taking in information on her, visually.

With Rhys' entrance, he knows the guy enough from the Firefly Club. "You're both really. And early. This baby will run all night." Though Byron, himself, does't expect to say that long. Look, he's already checking his Rolex.

To Lilith's question, he nods, giving her this warm smile, "Sure. The good stuff." Even if the good stuff just means a cup poured from the keg he brought over.

Alexander beams a smile at Sparrow at the idea that she likes the way he thinks. "Forty in January," he says, with a shrug. "So you're close," he adds, with approval for her eye. "Is there a reason?" A dubious glance in Lilith's direction. "Subjectivity kicks in - I don't think a flaming turkey makes a man generally more attractive. Although I suppose I'm willing to hear the argument," he muses. Because it's unfair to make a judgment without hearing all the evidence. Seeing Byron call over to Rhys, he looks in that direction, too, and gives the man a thoughtful, and not unfriendly, sort of nod.

"It's less about the actual flaming turkey itself and more of the fact that he can skillfully wield a dangerous elemental force to create one, and being able to wrestle such a one into submission is intensely sexy," Isabella says casually, though she's clearly suppressing a smile. And with that, she excuses herself as she pivots to head over to where some of the food is, and maybe get a slice of that pumpkin pie that Ruiz brought.

Sparrow's eyes narrow faintly as Alexander shares his age, potentially making some mental adjustments. That she might not know what to do with entirely, if that faint scrunch of her nose means anything. "Did you happen to know a Yule Duchannes maybe, ya know--" Her lips press thin before pushing up into an odd smile. "--Twenty years ago? Ish?" Asks the twenty-one-year-old. Her smile looks a little less awkward and uncertain when she turns it to Isabella to tell her, "Seems good company to keep." But then there's that finely made argument in favor of Joey's sexiness, and it just has her shaking her head. With disappointment. "His sexiness is to be decided in the ring," she reminds, knowing full damned well that the premise is wholly ridiculous.

There's a beat where Lilith looks at Sparrow there with that tick of haunted expression after mentioning lamp company and her eyes narrow just a touch with notation or sympathy because she... might know a thing or two about cursed or haunted items firsthand, considering. But whatever she's thinking, wondering, or suspecting, she doesn't say. Instead, the brunette flashes a smile up at Byron, rubs a hand at his lower back, then goes a-fetching beers with a little murmured 'excuse me' to Rhys and the others nearby with sidling through to get at the keg.

When there, she drinks one down pretty quick before refilling, loitering in some old familiar hood company of ladies ambushing her to ask her if she's Lily Winslow all grown up and she affirms she is with a tiny bit of neighborhood smalltalk and hearing who is pregnant and so on before escaping to come back with her refilled beer and Byron's to pass over with a murmured, "Jeeez, I've dodged Miss Billie Jean gossip in the grocery store like three times, who knew I'd run into her just trying to reach the keg. Be glad you're a man, your smalltalk sucks a little less when you're cornered."

Joey is living Lilith's bad reference. Leather jacket, fists in oven mitts overhead, and a hockey mask on yelling, "HOOOOO!!!" Someone is declaring victory over the elements here. .. and then carefully putting a lid on it with a couple tries to contain it as the flames themselves die down. It looks like an embodied insurance hazard, but it smells rather unbeatable. His sleeve does catch fire and how that happens to leather is anyone's guess, but he's got the oven mitts on and pats it out mindful to suffocate the flame rather than spatter it more. Okay! Okay that is actually (miraculously) somehow handled. Mask is pulled up and the oven mitts come off as he strides over. "Well... that went better than last year." He pauses, "We still talkin about Jello for the shelter?"

When close to Byron, Lilith leans to murmur with warning whisper to him, as well, in confidence, lips pressing afterwards.

"Yeah," Alexander says, after a moment. "I knew Yule. We went to high school together." He frowns. "In the same building, at least. I can't say we were close." His head ducks a little, smiling a twisted little smile to himself at that admission. "Um. He's taken a position as a Medical Examiner now, I think. Why are you asking?" His eyes follow Isabella heading over to sample pie, watching her with a protective sort of fondness. "Still talking about Jello for your honor, Kelly. Or your dignity. One of the two."

"Angels of Hope," Sparrow reminds Joey as he mentions the shelter, a stern look shot his way, dark brows lofted until they damned near disappear beneath her neon red bangs. "Your idea, handsome. I ran with it." And she's not changing the posters now, damnit. When she looks back to Alexander, she explains, "Your name came up in conversation the other day. Talking old classmates. Said he was hoping to cross paths with you." With a little shrug that suggests she doesn't know any more than that, she adds "Can see why. Analytical mind like that." But her phone is chirping again, stealing her attention. This one might not be family given the snorted laughter. And the lack of prompt response. "And it's your hotness, Joey Lee. There is neither dignity nor honor in this!"

Rhys gives those on the porch a quick, bright grin, and Byron gets some too in the door there, along with an upnod that, from the glance past, is probably also shared to Alexander. "Good point," he says, "Entirely unstuck in time. All the best parties are, right?" Instead of sliding past Byron, he looks about to redirect himself in the general direction of the driveway fireball like an entirely sane person. Pie and all. But then, alas, the blaze is handled, so he heads on in. Everyone gets at least quick greetings in passing on the way to set down the pie, some more than others; good chance he knows most people present at least in passing. "We're talking about Jello fight club? I feel like we need a few exhibition bouts before we get into the real meat of that combat. Otherwise how will we really know it's Kelly hotness winning things and not just pure Jello-wrestling talent?"

She does like pumpkin pie, if not just because it's got cinnamon in it; always a fan, and with some cream, it's not too sweet. So after a dollop and cutting herself a very thin slice of what Ruiz had brought, Isabella wanders back over with a paper plate, napkin and a plastic fork, striking up a quick conversation with the others gathered there, laughter floating free in the cold air and firelit surroundings. But it isn't long until she's gravitating back to her group, taking an appreciative whiff in the air because turkey is frying and she doesn't even remember the last time she's had some. The tines of the utensil sink into the pie, nibbling on it absently as she listens to the conversations, curious eyes falling on Rhys - another unfamiliar face, as he talks about exhibition bouts.

"I like the way he thinks, too," she declares, decisively, pointing her fork at Rhys and grinning broadly.

"Howard?" Byron asks curiously, trying to remember if he knows anyone by that name, though he'll assume it's Sparrow's brother when Lilith mentions her having one, before turning to allow his gaze to trail behind her as she makes her way through the crowded room to the keg. In fact, many of the other faces are taken in, finding quite a bit of them to be familiar from childhood, the neighborhood or the town as a whole. People know people here. The crowd, itself, looked safe.

"Angels of Hope? Ah, the foundation that assists those fighting against cancer and their families," Fighting against gives it a slightly positive spin, "Very good cause. I've supported them in the past." Then Rhys comes into to join the conversation, "That we are. Jello Fight Club." That's brings out an amused smile to his lips. Just as Lilith returns, he graciously accepts the beer and her kiss, before his eyes flicker towards the keg, taking notice of someone there. "I was thinking of calling it a night soon, but if you insist on putting me through that torment." He teases.

At Joey's return, he says between sips of beer, "That was a mouthwatering performance, Chef. So when are you carving the turkey?"

"A tournament bracket would be a more robust method of testing," Alexander puts in, with an approving nod in Rhys' direction. A smile is flashed to Isabella as she rejoins the group, before he makes a thoughtful noise at Sparrow. "I've had coffee with him once, since he came back. I should...reach out, I guess." A little wary, there, although it doesn't seem directed specifically at Yule. He shrugs, either way, then leans in to kiss Isabella on the cheek. "I need to step away for a bit. But," a look back towards Joey, "thanks. For the invitation. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone." And then he's wandering away for a bit, pulling out his phone.

"Sounds like someone's volunteering," Sparrow singsongs to Rhys as he proposes exhibitions. She looks him up and down and smiles brightly at, "Squirrel Girl. Still cute without the tail." Brows arch at that fork-point from Isabella toward Rhys. She looks impressed, as if this were high praise. Sure, she doesn't know much of anything about Isabella, but already her taste in interesting thinkers is well-proven. "What we're in need of--" Her gaze swings around to all and sundry, whoever might be listening, before refocusing on Rhys. "--are people to donate goods, services or time for the silent auction. Your clever self, if you'd like. Doing whatever it is you like to do." With a press of her hand to her chest, she poses, "I, for instance, could offer up an evening of loquacious bullshit for the discerning listener."

Bringing her attention back around to Byron, she explains, "Howard the Duck. He has a bendable lamp fixture for a head. And keeps interesting company." As lamps do. To Alexander, she gives a wobble of a hand. "Or he will. I'm not trying to help with any missed connections. Just connecting my own mental dots. Glad to meet you." With another glance down at her phone, she considers that maybe she, too, she head out soon as well... but not just yet. Mom can wait a teensy bit longer.

Joey reasons, "Well being I don't have the one it's gotta be the other." Looking to Sparrow his brow furrows, "Why, they claim I owe em money or something?" Looking to Byron Joey gives him a nod. "Yeah. That's them. Also we're taking a door donation for funds or supplied for the women's shelter too." His eyes drift back to the patio at the woman older than him, younger than Alexander giving him the head tilt. He narrows his eyes at her thoughtfully for a moment and looks back to Byron and Lil ways, "Not long. I know you're doing a tour tonight. The ham and other stuff is done and in the kitchen." Alexander is stepping off for a moment and joey lifts his beer silently to him and takes a drink. Notably Roxy is looked in on. Nicole's keeping her busy inside and that's probably a good thing. Something less weird and slightly less flamable in average things. "Yeah Rhys, we're working on businesses for that. I gotta talk to Antonio too. Figured out a way to spin it in his favor, but I ain't gonna talk business when we can talk turkey."

Lilith nods once at Byron with a very silent version of 'necessary' and just drinks faster with her beer and a perk of smile when he mentions wanting to call it a night soon, ensuring her beer level will be down in short order to accomodate whatever she's putting on him without too much dally. Then she waves to Alexander taking off before finally getting a hole at Joey for a hugging meet up in brief, "Way to not burn it all down, but still give it a kick the right way, killer. Thanks for the open house."

Then, with meander back to Byron with another pointed drink of her beer to show the level of it for teasing play of her own (clearly there's some inside joke going on), she looks at Rhys after, "Hi. I'm Lilith. I don't think we've met. I own the pawn here in town."

Rhys grins at Isabella's fork point, giving her a small, pie-laden bow, and if he had a fork, he'd probably point it at Alexander in turn. As it is, he has to settle for his free hand. "Exactly!" he agrees, adding, "Happy Thanksgiving," as the man excuses himself, and continues on the way to the food table. "Jessica Jones," he replies to Sparrow brightly, "Nice duet last night, you and Luke." The pie's set down among the rest, and he gives it a thoughtful look. "My jello wrestling prowess won't help much with settling the question at hand, but Mr. Clayton's right, a tournament bracket would definitely be more robust. On the other hand, I might be more effective dispensing loquacious bullshit. For the less discerning listener, obviously; can't risk them doing something silly over losing out on yours. Goods, services, or time, huh? I'll give it some thought."

He moves to get himself one of those beers, grinning at Joey on the way. "Still got any turkey around here to talk? Hit me up on the business part later, though. We'll see what we can see." Once he has his drink, he finds a suitable spot to lean for a moment or two, and take a sip. Lilith gets a smile. "Not recently," he replies. "Rhys Evans. I remember you from high school, but you wouldn't. You were a senior when I was a lowly freshman." She also may have spotted him at the Firefly once or twice; he manages the place, as of the last couple-few months.

Business is more of Byron's interest or, at the very least, investing in profitable causes. Charity, however, was a good vehicle to use to further put out one's name, especially as a good citizen within the community. So he'll listen to what is said, already considering what sort of service or otherwise, he would be willing to donate for this silent auction. To Joey, however, seeing as his childhood friend is being quite the charitable one, he asks, "So when Kelly's Gym turn into a rec center for the children of broken homes?" It's a light joke, but he can see it being used for such. Though boxing is a violent sport!

He then returns to Sparrow, "Ah." Wait, he may have heard about something to do with the Howard the Duck lamp, but he may not have been paying too much attention. "I don't know, I might wait for turkey. Never had it cooked that way before." With Alexander's leaving, there's only the briefest glance given him, before he returns to company. "Now, I've got to wonder what plans you have for the Platinum Cabaret." He's always looking out for money-making deals, alright!

The peck on her cheek is accepted by a smile and a turn of her face so Alexander would get as much room to do it as possible, before Isabella watches him wander off to poke at his phone, affection and curiosity stitched on every line of her. But she turns her attention back to the gathering, dismantling her thin slice of pie piece by piece - a systematic, efficient destruction until there's nothing left of it. She eats like a horse, most days, whenever she actually remembers to eat, and there's still somehow room in her to consume even more after the spread in the Clayton house.

"A tournament bracket would make for more interesting odds, also, and that's always exciting to me. But only as a reference, I'm definitely a more Never Tell Me The Odds type of girl," she tells Rhys with a quick and blazing grin, falling quiet when introductions are made between Lilith and the other man. "Ah, it would explain why I can't quite place your face if you grew up here, I left town when I was a junior - just a year below Byron, Lilith and co. I'm Isabella. Nice to meet you." With Byron wheeling and dealing nearby, she angles a look in his and Joey's direction, unable to help the smile that curls up.

Sparrow cocks her hips to the side in a gesture very far removed from whatever curtsey or bow it's meant to stand in for. "Why, thank you!" is for Rhys. "Was good to have someone up there bringing the classics, too." She looks between Rhys and Isabella, a tiny grin playing on her lips. "Guess we've got some work cut out for us for our next event. Wanted to keep this one silly and succinct. But if we're gonna garner such strategic and discering interest, guess we're gonna have to step up our game." That gets a little look to Joey as if there will be Discussions later. There shouldn't be. This should be a one time thing. Right? Her phone chirps again just as her mouth opens to say something more, and this time... yeah. "I should go. Family's starting to wonder why this little delivery's taking so long. Been a genuine pleasure meeting you all. And if you wanna get involved? Let Joey or Nicole know? They've got my number." There's a pause and a note to Rhys, "You should snag it. So we can be unnecessarily loquacious at one another sometime." It might even sound flirtatious if she weren't already looking around for hug-targets. Like Joey, then Nicole, then off to wherever Jaime wandered off to.

Joey snugs Lilith pulling her off her heels. "Uhhhh like 15 years ago? Jack, my uncle, started that one to keep 'at risk' kids like me an shit busy with a skill to keep em out of trouble." He pauses admitting to Byron given the math on his won life, "Ain't perfect or a guarantee, but there's a program. " Oh snap! Well it's a partial answer at least. He snickers with a wry grin, "I sleep there. That count?" When Byron's question about the Cabaret comes up there's a glance to Nicole and Roxy back in the kitchen chatting away with now the 36 year old woman Byron and Lil have met before. Joey simply answers, "He's creative. And I'm sure you can figure out some ideas." And then there's the sound of someone divetackling a ball that almost hits the turkey fryer before that ball makes a course correction in mid-air because it's Gray-fucking-Harbor. With a sigh Joey puts the oven mitts back on. I'm gonna go rescue Thanksgiving before they use the food to set the lot on fire. Did that once this year. I met my quota."

"Oh. Oh, alright, that's why you look familiar, I imagine. Name, face, got it now." Lilith says to Rhys after a bit of a sticking grin once she's been yanked up into the Joey bear hug before he goes to save Thanksgiving. Then she's back to make the intro, explaining with a tiny shake of her head to company after a bit of a side-eye at Byron and Isabella before gesturing their way, "They can attest I'm better to meet and talk to now than I was at seventeen anyway, so nice fully meeting or re-meeting you all the same."

Then she drains her beer before telling Byron, "I'm going to make you a plate that's heaped enough for me to pick at like a moocher. And probably set up a hair appointment with Nicole. But you're still on beer duty, Miss Billie Jean's eyeing you." Then, to make sure he gets a good encounter with the ladies right in the way of the keg, she pats Byron right on the ass before going to do that plate and social thing.

Rhys laughs. "I'm a definitely-tell-me-the-odds type of guy," he replies to Isabella, grinning back, "Only way to know how much to bet." He's probably also eaten, but there's still some considering looks toward the food. It looks good. And aren't you supposed to eat enough to nearly explode today? "Left town as a junior... I think that qualifies as overachieving, most of us don't manage that for another year at least." And then, clearly, they all end up coming back. But we won't go into that.

Sparrow's note to him gets an inclination of his head, and it probably would've gotten a much more loquacious reply if she weren't already grabbing those hugs and fleeing. "Nice to meet you too," he instead says to Isabella, and to Lilith, "and remeet you. In fairness I'm pretty sure most of us are better to meet and talk to these days than we were at seventeen anyway, unless you really wanna know what happened at Olivia's party last weekend and whether or not Mr. Sanders is probably giving a pop quiz tomorrow."

Having grown up with Joey, especially around those formative teen years, Byron knows all about the program. While, he wouldn't consider himself an at-risk child, that's probably how he got to meet with the Kellys for the most part. Can't say that that kind of program is anything you see in those 80's movies-- but then again, it probably still fits the bill. "That's how we met." He says with a cheeky grin. And how his life had changed since meeting Joey Kelly. "Oh, I've always got ideas in mind for new endeavors. You know me." He then says about this business regarding the Cabaret.

When Lilith tells him that she's going to make a plate for him to mooch off of, he's a guy who likes his food, so there's a wrinkle of his brow, "Or you could make your own plate." It's said with wry humor, but the pat on the ass, surprises him, but is enough to appease him for now. Looks like he's about finished off his first cup of beer and will need to be confronted by Miss Billie Jeans in order to get it refilled.

When he overhears Rhys and Isabella talking, the mention of her leaving school in her Junior year, has his giving her this quiet, sympathetic look. He won't say anything about it, allowing her to explain things away if she wishes. However, when Rhys brings up the name Olivia, Byron's freezes briefly, his tall frame stiffening. It's not the same Olivia, he knows. His Olivia was closer to Alexander's age.

"Highschool, our younger years. That was an interesting time. Sometimes best forgotten, but it did help mold us into the individuals we are today."

Mention of overachieving her Junior year has Isabella pausing, but only briefly - that radiant smile returns, banishing the shadows the remembrance of it has cast, as it usually does. Finishing her pie, the effort to ignore the dark, yawning space where another used to live is there. "I'd tell you that this is a terrible impasse in which we would never overcome, Rhys, but I think I like you enough to overlook this odds thing. As for overachieving?" She winks at Byron, catching the quiet, sympathetic look angled her way. "You can ask this guy just how much of one I was the entire time we were at school together."

Her hand reaches out to touch Byron's forearm, squeezing once. "Anyway, I better go check on Alexander. It was nice meeting you, Rhys. B, I'll be back for some of the turkey, I just have to make sure a certain someone hasn't fallen in a text black hole." She wiggles her fingers to both men, before she turns to start striding with booted feet towards the dark-haired figure across the way, still playing with his phone.

There's a very subtle flicker of Rhys's gaze that seems to catch Byron's sympathetic look and Isabella's tiny pause, but if he does interpret this as a sign of a faux pas, he does a damn good job of pretending not to and letting it just slide on by. He definitely notices that brief freezing on Byron's part, and there's an equally brief, faintly curious look, but he doesn't ask, instead sipping the beer again. "Do you? Huh. What're the odds of that?" he muses, giving Isabella another grin, "Glad to hear it, though. Nice meeting you too. You should try the pie I brought when you get the turkey, help me tell my grandma people know a good amber pudding when they eat one." A small pause. "Not that anyone ever has any others to compare it to, but, y'know." Isabella's one of the few around here who might, though; it's a Welsh dish, so a bit more common across the pond.

He lifts his beer to her in a farewell, and gives Byron's remark a moment of consideration. "You're not wrong. 'course, then you've gotta wonder, what's now molding us into for tomorrow?" A small tilt of the head, as though he might be able to work out what it's doing to Byron, and then a smaller grin, and a shrug. "But we can probably all be thankful we're not in high school anymore."

Byron's head lowers, this widening grin tugs on his lips when Isabella mentions that he's her point of reference to just how competitive she is. "We've been in hot competition with each other throughout our teen years." He's not afraid to say in Isabella's company, "She's a wild one, Isabella. When she knows she's falling behind, she's like an animal, clawing her way back up." But he will say, "Not that she always came out on top." His chin lifts, the smile more prominent, "We've both got on each other's nerves, yet both remained friends. Even til this day after being apart for so long."

The mention of pie piques Thorne's attention, "Amber pudding pie? Can't say that I've even heard about that before, but I might tell Lilith to save room for dessert, just so we can have a slice of it." He then directs Rhys' attention to the large keg of beer in the middle of the room, "I brought that."

There's this curious look now, on Byron's face, when Rhys tells him about what's molding them for tomorrow. It's here that his eyes look the other man over, almost as if he's in search of something. Usually this doesn't take long, but his dark gaze lingers for a longer than usual moment before he slowly nods, followed by another of his smiles, "You know Gray Harbor. The town has a reputation for crazy." Holding up his empty cup now, he informs Rhys, "I'll tell Lilith about the pie, before taking up her cup and getting us both refills." His eyes cast out towards the keg, where the gossiping women around his age are. And by the looks of it, be prepared to put on the charm even in trying company." A look is shot back at Rhys, "I'm sure we'll see each other around."

It's hard not to mirror that sort of smile, and Rhys does. "Good to have, friends like that. Keep you on your toes. And it's a Welsh thing, amber pudding. It's," hmm, "like a citrus custard pie, I guess. Only better than that sounds." The grin again, and he takes a drink of his beer as Byron gestures to the keg. "Good choice. Everyone loves the guy with the beer."

The grin shifts when he's studied -- doesn't fully fade away, but the expression's a little more quizzical, and there's a touch of studying in return as it goes on. When Byron finally speaks again, it gets a low laugh. "Kinda deserved. I was barely back before I wandered into the park and there was some prank-gone-wrong going on with exploding pumpkins and firebombs and some guy on a horse. I almost forgot how much more crap that like goes on here than anywhere else I've been, when I was away." He shakes his head, follows the look toward the keg and those around it, then looks back to the taller man and lifts the glass. "Well, cheers. Good luck, and remember, if things go really badly you can always kick it over and roll it at people like Donkey Kong."

There's this moment of pause, when Byron's told about the pumpkin patch weirdness and 'some guy on a horse'. "Sounds intense. In fact, I heard a similar story from my of my childhood buddies. James Hecker. Maybe you know him." He'll disclose that much about the situation before he leaves, but what Rhys adds in later, brings out this humored smile "The night's still young. Anything can happen." His eyes drift over to where Joey disappeared to, "And I have a feeling that if things did go that much sideways, the Kelly's won't mind. Enjoy the rest of your evening." Pause, "And thanks for the pie." With those parting words, he goes to find Lilith in the crowd of Elm Streeters.