Bishop Holiday Bash! (Open to Bishops and friends)

[Deleted]

Takes place on Dec 25.
[Post your entrance(or non-entrance for Bishops already present) to the party here.
Then you can make off-shoot threads for less crowded interactions
or continue on in this one.
Click here for house layout.]

Christmas at the Bishop residence was alway an event to look forward to. There was food, games, joy and laughter, a Christmas Tree set up in the center family room, stretching up to the second floor with a star placed at the pinnacle of the giant factory made spruce. Decorating had been a family event, the whole crowd of the family putting up the ornaments of green, red, and gold one at a time. Over the course of December, wrapped gifts with ribbon and bows slowly accumulated underneath. Come Christmas morning, they had eagerly torn their gifts from their packagings to be met with Ooos and Ahhhs and a multitude of thank yous. Tissue and boxes, scraps of paper with santa claus and snowflakes printed on them, were all collected afterwards and tossed away between the garbage bin and the recycling.

Almost immediately afterwards, preparations for a grandiose Christmas dinner, finally began. Some helped in the kitchen, while others scattered across the house, meeting guests who came to call, or hiding out in their rooms, or engaging in one of the many activities that were set up to keep family and friends occupied until the big meal began. In the den there was a selection of video game consoles and games to be enjoyed. There were board games set up in the dining room, coolers with a variety of beverages out on the back porch, and a stream of people coming in and out of the kitchen. There was some cheesy music in the background cycling softly through holiday playlist on someone's ipod, though whether anyone could hear it above the sound of idle chatter was anyone's guess.

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Zachary Bishop had arrived at the house early, and by early, I mean before noon. He'd long since left his own gifts for his siblings under the tree and felt no need to rush to receive his own, especially when there was sleep to be had and avoiding to be done. He felt no need to dress up in flashy holiday sweaters or even a shirt and tie, and therefore was in his usual attire, holy jeans and a t-shirt under a blue zip up hoodie. If someone pushed him to do it, he might change, but for the moment he was comfortable. He slipped through the kitchen, snatching a piece of food from one of the dishes not quite fully prepared, then out to the back to grab a beer. He snapped off the cap, tossing it into the bottle-cap bucket, and went back inside, crossing through the family room at a pace that clearly wanted to find a corner somewhere to be alone.

He looked up to the front door, opened just a crack as though an invitation for just anyone to come inside. Zach sighed and collapsed on the couch just in front of the tree. He was certain more people were going to show up any minute.

[Jonathan & Jacob Bishop]

It was Christmas and the twins were on hyper, sugar fueled, spirit overload. They'd spent most of the morning running around the house, jumping on siblings, and generally freaking out over everything. They'd been wearing matching pj's for the morning, a childhood tradition they were both hesitant to outgrown, but now they'd changed into something more company appropriate. Though it was still laid back, the button up shirts made them look a little more their age than fuzzy animal print pj's.

They had just finished changing and ran down the stairs to see Zach sitting on the couch. "Spiderman!" "Spiderman!" they both yelled, taking the last few steps at a flying leap. John flopped himself down on the couch, half in Zach's lap as Jake dove under the tree for their brother's present.

"Open it!" "Open it!" they said, as Jake thrust the package under Zach's nose. It was a tradition of the twins to give their siblings handmade presents. When they'd been younger the presents consisted mostly of duct tape, cardboard boxes, and imagination. Now that they were older though the presents were getting a tad better. So they were really hoping Zach would enjoy the hard work they'd put into his handmade cactus.

[Lany Bishop]

Lany had been busy in the kitchen with her mother and a few others. She didn’t mind cooking, though she couldn’t say she was any good at it – all she did was follow some instructions, pop it in an oven or whatever, then take it out. She’d made a pot of mashed potatoes so far (which had been the easy part) and had left the big stuff to the others. Mrs. Bishop was very experienced, anyway. It was a stressful time, but she knew that it was important to her parents…and Lany had to agree that there wasn’t quite anything to match some quality family time.

After she’d finished peeling cashews, she dumped them in a bowl and added a sprinkling of chocolate, an appetizer of sorts. It was hard to smell all that good food cooking without a little something to nibble on. Standing up, she dropped down to the floor, skirt flouncing, and made for the living room.

Among the others she found Zachary and the twins. They were as loud as ever – even more so – and she was afraid they’d break something soon.

Lany stopped before them. “Don’t be so pushy,” she reprimanded, frowning at them. Their recklessness and her quiet nature were often at odds. Setting the bowl in front of them, she cast a harried, small smile at Zach. “Tell them to open presents after dinner! They’ll listen to you.”

[Kailin Bishop]

Kailin was not necessarily late for the party, but she was up after the twins, which wasn't something of a normal occurrence. Christmas morning was an exciting, and stressful, time for all of the Bishop's. With the party going to begin soon, Kailin stood up and prepared herself for the day.

Coming down the stairs, her newly knitted santa hat fitted neatly on her head, she heard the twins pestering one of their many siblings about opening a gift. Upon reaching the tree, she saw it was Zach who held a present under his nose. Lany was standing there reprimanding them. Wearing a bemused grin, she entered the scene.

Kailin quickly stepped over to Jake and snatched the present away. "Lany's right," The blonde said, noting that none of her other blonde siblings were around as of yet. "Presents are after dinner. Or have you forgotten?"

She took the hat off of her head and placed it on Jake's head. "But if you're really eager to get a gift, here. You can consider that a gift until you get your real one later."

[Aurora Bishop]

Aurora Bishop was a flustered, bumbling fool as she scurried around the house trying to get everything set up and perfect. Usually she was neurotic when it came to parties, but this was a whole new level of psycho. She was FREAKING out. It was probably a good thing that their mother was prepping most of the kitchen stuff because she'd been up the night before making sure all of the decorations were perfectly set up and clean and tidy. Everything had to be perfect because Aurora had invited a boy over.

It was bad enough that she had a bajillion siblings that were probably going to attack the guy. For her house to be a mess, she simply couldn't bear it. Why she had to freak out so much was beyond her, but it was all going to be okay. Her siblings could behave themselves, right? And they wouldn't attack the guy before meeting him, she was sure. After all, he was just a friend...yeah. Friend. Gosh she was going to have an aneurism.

Scurrying into the main room, she noticed her siblings sitting on the couch and she stopped in front of them with a crazed look in her eyes and a glass of wine in her hand (her third). "Okay, okay, okay! You guys haaaaave to be on best behavior today. Like I swear if you get too crazy, I'm sending you to sleep early. Not that you guys are the ones I'm most worried about, but still!" The frantic way she spoke was normal, but the fact that she was threatening the 'good' ones of the house, wasn't. If anything, it was Claudia that she'd have to worry about.

"Kay thanks, bye!" She flew through the house and went upstairs to get ready!

[Katy Bishop]

Well merde, if you'll excuse Katy's French. Christmas day, festive and happy, all about spreading love and good grace etcetera etcetera, and she had a hangover. It was her own fault, really, one too many drinks on Christmas Eve. Heck, she didn't even like shandy and wine and the like, she just kinda got in the moment. Being with her friends didn't help; they were a bad influence. She was just counting her lucky stars none of her family had seen her last night. She shuddered slightly, took a couple of aspirin (and an anti-depressant just in case) and went downstairs.

Passing the group huddled around Zach, Katy went into the Kitchen. She was wearing the clothes that she bought herself the other day (the day she had met Niko, incidentally. She had washed them since then), and thought the festivity of it might magically clear her headache.
It didn't.
So Katy kept in the Kitchen. Mom was there, preparing for the big event. Katy knew how hard it was to organise such a day and how much work her parents put into it do she decided to help her mother.

[Deleted]

Of course it had to be the twins who were romping around and clambering down the stairs like a couple of monkeys. Zach shot them a glare at the sound of that name he just couldn't shake despite having told them many times to not call him that. "JJ! What are you--?" And suddenly one was in his lap. Well, practically. And a present was being shoved in his face.

Zach hesitantly started to take it in both hands, his mouth agape when Lany came out. He was about to answer her when Kailin snatched the gift from Jake. He sighed. Pushy sisters, yup. "But…what if I wanted to?" he looked to them with playfully boyish pleading eyes. He sighed, turning to JJ. "We'll open them later, ok? There's plenty of time."

No sooner had he said that had Aurora emerged from the kitchen and bumbled out her stream of panic like a mental patient then quickly retreated again upstairs. Behold, my sister people. He didn't dare say it though. "…She's right though," he agreed with Aurora, looking more specifically at JJ. "I got, um…some people coming over too." Zach chucked nervously. "Don't…don't want to scare them away," he said softly, though with a smile as he looked down at his knees.

[Savvy Bishop]

Savvy loved Christmas. Besides just the delicious deliciousness of Christmas brunch (omnom cinnamon buns, hot cocoa, all the good stuff), it also meant the annual Christmas party. And, eternally optimistic as she was (at the moment, anyway), Savvy had decided that this year she would be having her first kiss. Which meant serious planning. And if anyone did anything to ruin her plans, they wouldn't survive the night.

Which was why she pointedly did not tell anyone of her plans except - grudgingly - Claudia. And that was only for advice purposes. Advice she was pretty sure was going to pay off, because she was buzzing with pubescent glee over Nao's attendance to the party tonight.

However, her plans did remove her from the family goings-on in the afternoon, since she was so focused on looking her best. Long shower, exfoliants, hair conditioning, styling, moisturizing, makeup, and all the fixings had her feeling like a model - or, as she saw it, a character out of Gossip Girl.

The dress she'd have to be careful about (especially around JJ), but she had had the presence of mind to not wear heels. That seemed like a disaster waiting to happen.

Finally ready for the big reveal, Savvy skipped down the stairs, face slightly haughty, posture stiff and proper, passing Aura on her way down. But her attention wasn't drawn to her neurotic oldest sister, it was far more drawn to the figure of her second oldest brother on the couch.

In a split second, her face brightened, posture relaxed, and she had to stop herself from running over to him and jump-hug-attacking. In the back of her head, she hoped she didn't look too prissy, all dolled up, directly in opposition to how she dressed when she visited him (when she always wore one of his old sweatshirts and never a skirt). She smiled, though, despite the little nervous thoughts, because Zach wasn't really the type to judge. That was one of the main reasons she loved him so much.

She did bounce over to the couch, though, and squeezed in beside him, throwing her arms around his neck and trying not to ruin her makeup as she pressed her face into his shoulder in a tight hug. "Merry Christmas, Zach."

[Jonathan & Jacob Bishop]

With their present still shoved under Zach's nose, the twins turned as Lany walked into the living room. "But, but..." "...it's Christmas. And Christmas needs presents all day long," they protested.

Still when they backed off a little when Kailin arrived plopping a Santa hat on Jake's head and stealing the present. "Fine,fine" "Fine, fine" they conceded, wearing identical fake pouts on their faces. And really who could blame them for a little over-excitement. Between the holiday spirit and the sugar in all the cookies they'd managed to sneak out of kitchen so far, it was surprising they weren't doing cartwheels on the roof by now.

"Don't I get a hat too?" John added, giving his sister his best puppy dog eyes.

The twins exchanged grins at Aurora's little speech. They were used to her threats (and poor follow up of those threats) by now. Still they also had a friend they were hoping was stopping by and wouldn't be scared off immediately. So chances were they would't act too crazy. Still they weren't making any promises.

"Promise?" Jake asked Zach, as claiming a spot on the couch. "When the stupid sister's leave you'll open it, right?" Jake added, dropping his voice a bit in hopes the so-called stupid sisters wouldn't hear.

"Hey! We're not the scary ones!" ""Hey! We're not the scary ones!" How dare Spiderman call them scary. Everyone knew Claudia was the one who chased people off, even if the twins would never admit it.

The brothers made room for their only younger sister on the couch beside Zach, raising an eyebrow each at her dress. Not that they were much to notice fashion but it wasn't often they saw Savvy looking so...grown up and pretty. "So little sis,""You been good all year?

[Savvy Bishop]

Savvy narrowed her eyes and screwed up her face in a mock suspicious look that couldn't help but twist into a mischievous smile at JJ. She couldn't help it; as annoying as they could occasionally be, she still loved them just as much as (and generally enjoyed them more than) most of her other siblings. And Zach's appearance had her in a cheery mood.

"Good enough." She grinned, shrugging. "Better than you," she teased, kicking her legs back and forth, losing a bit of the mature composure she'd had moments ago.

[Claudia Bishop]

Christmas. A time for family and friends, where the gifts are plentiful and the wine pours freely. Such joy and merriment were all the more obvious in a household filled with no one over thirty. What started off as a painfully early morning unwrapping presents and preparing to look as a delicious as a Christmas ham unsurprisingly evolved into typical Bishop chaos, not that that was a bad thing.

Claudia, being the fabulous sister that she was, had splurged quite a lot of money on her dearly beloved siblings, even going as far as wrapping the gifts as well. Although the holiday cheer was bleeding through her veins, it also helped that there was already two glasses of champagne in her. Whilst it wasn't the best move as a 'responsible' elder sibling, the adopted Bishop found comfort in the cold wet bubbles. It helped distract her from the gross feeling in her gut.

She was alone this Christmas.

All her other siblings had invited friends and potential lovers over for the night and the brunette biker could not help but be a little jealous. Even Savvy was bringing someone over! Although it should've depressed her it only spurred the young woman to make the night as fun as she could by herself.

Whilst everyone was spread throughout the house, the Queen Bee had opted to take a momentary break from all the pomp and fuss. Changing several times in the hopes of finding the best Christmas outfit she eventually settled for a scarlet dress and heels, simple and sexy.

Strutting past her bathroom, which Savvy had spent an hour using, the tipsy Bishop found herself face to face with none other than Aurora.

"Woah, slow down dude." Claudia smirked, seeing the panic in her siblings eyes. "What's got your panties in a bunch?" She snorted, already knowing the answer to her question. "Oh wait...are you even wearing panties? Is he into that stuff?" It was mean jab, but it was Christmas.

A time for family.

[Malachai Roen]

Kai was terribly uncertain about this, and it was an unfamiliar feeling for the normally confident college student. His last interaction with Zach had been awkward and a little tense - which, honestly, was probably to be suspected after a very drunk hookup between two near-strangers. However, he'd ended up getting invited to the Bishop celebration anyway, which, really, made him feel pleasantly warm - he would have spent Christmas Eve working and the next day alone if he hadn't bumped into Zach. His sister was off with some friends doing something, which was fine with him; their relationship wasn't the most balanced anyway. And he didn't have time to fly home, since he was working the day after tomorrow - not enough time for a decent visit.

He'd found out about Zach's many siblings - all eleven of them - and, wanting to make a good impression, the rich boy had brought along a small gift for each of them, as well as their parents. Fifty dollars ought to be enough for each family member, right? Of course, Zach himself was getting double that, plus a new pack of socks - Kai vaguely remembered the man asking for them during their drunken night.

Each gift was tucked in individual envelopes under the Kai's arm as he knocked on the door, amazed by the size of the house - then again, he supposed, that many people needed a lot of room. He thanked whoever opened it and made his way to the living room, feeling like he stuck out like a sore thumb amidst all the strangers. He wasn't sure who was a Bishop and who was a guest, so he kept the envelopes close until he found Zach on the couch in the living room.

He offered a slightly nervous smile upon seeing him. There was a young girl wrapped around his neck - presumably a little sister? - and several other people he thought were probably siblings gathered around. "Hey, Zach," he greeted as he came near, standing for a moment before he lowered his tall, broad form onto the edge of the couch. "This is sure, uh, a busy place." He smiled at Savvy and the twins, who were closest. "I have, um, gifts for all of you guys," he said, holding out the envelopes to Zach. "But... I don't know who's a sibling and who's not," he laughed. The envelope for Zach was attached to a badly-wrapped, squishy package. "That one's for you, though."

[Deleted]

Naozumi was familiar with large families as he had one himself. Not quite so many younger siblings(and not a single older) but collective with several little brothers and sister in addition to his cousins and aunts and uncles, Naozumi still thought he was pretty close.

Or maybe he just thought he was.

The tiny boy had arrived just behind a rather tall, and amazingly, beautifully chiseled man that nearly made him swoon. Though he supposed being noticed by him was too much to hope for. He rushed forward when the door had opened to catch it before it closed again, cradling a small package in his hands that held a tag for his friend Savvy. He flustered to the person at the door, unsure if he was at the right place(this was the 4th house he'd been to) and stepped inside.

There were…definitely a lot of people here. Were they all family?

With no idea what else to do, Naozumi continued to follow the tall man into the center room where he saw the christmas tree…and exactly the person he was looking for seated on the couch with her arms around who he presumed was her older brother. She was…quite pretty. Very pretty actually. Enough to make Nao feel a little self-conscious about his own clothing, which were fine, actually, but not nearly as fancy as the dress she was wearing. He poked his head out from behind the tall man, staring at Savvy with a slightly open mouth, trying to find the words to speak. His hiding place, however, moved away to join them and Naozumi was left stranded, visible to the whole cluster of people who were collecting in that room. "…..Hi," he said simply, holding up the small box.

[Savvy Bishop]

As the tall (insanely good looking) man entered the house, Savvy was at first delighted - then her eyes narrowed suspiciously as he approached Zach. She didn't like people stealing his attention away.

But then she grudgingly had to accept that maybe this guy was okay, cause he'd brought her a present.

Savvy was very easily bought.

She didn't have time to voice her opinions on the matter, however, because she soon caught sight of Nao entering on the taller man's heels. She blushed a little, and her well-glossed (over-glossed for kissing, she may soon learn) lips curved into a tentative pleased smile as he stared at her open-mouthed, feeling that she must've stunned him into silence with her beauty. So talking to Claud might've paid off, after all!

Excitedly, Savvy hopped up onto her feet, already planning on dragging Nao off to the somewhat-secluded breakfast nook where she'd very purposefully hung a sprig of mistletoe just for this occasion. She took the gift from Nao with one hand, practically brushing off the sentiment, and grabbed his hand with the other, tugging him toward the tree where she'd stuffed his gift behind a large box addressed to their parents. She wasn't so ambitious as to think she'd be able to accurately wrap a squishy Pocky-box-shaped pillow.

Putting his gift to her on the pile, rather dismissively, she pulled her gift for him from it's hiding place and thrust it toward him (still holding one of his hands), not even offering any words along with it, eager as she was to head straight for the mistletoe, already stepping in that direction, about to pull Nao with her as she grinned, "C'mon."

[Jade Parrish]

It was time for Jade to make her appearance. She'd gotten a casual invite from Zachary one day when she was furiously editing an issue for the newspaper which meant she'd surrounded herself with caffeine and chocolate covered pretzels to munch on while she'd worked. She'd been hesitant at first. They were an incredibly huge family and with Jade it was just her mother and father, who she didn't speak much to anymore anyway. They were always involved with the church and when Jade did speak to them over the phone every once in a while, she just felt dread and guilt about her younger sister.

But she'd come anyway and she'd dressed for the event. There were already a lot of people around and she guessed that most of them were Bishops and so she made her way through the house, spotting a familiar face and a mop of black hair. "Zachary," she greeted him.