Welcome To The Tea Party.

[Alvin Park]

Alvin had been rather smitten with Ava Blackthorn for well over ten years now. Honestly, “smitten” was putting it lightly. He had been obsessed…convinced he was in love with the woman. And hell, he was still convinced.

But today he was a little sad.

It was Ava’s birthday. He had gotten up early and spent his entire morning baking her a cake from scratch and decorating the whole thing by hand. He was proud of his work and he just wanted Ava to know that he cared…that she was celebrated.

But upon giving it to her…he had noticed the flashy jewelry and roses on her desk…the card on the flowers noting it had been from Ricardo Vanderhyde. And Ava…hadn’t exactly seemed thrilled about his cake. He had left there wondering if Ava was seeing Ricky.

And that kind of sucked.

Keeping his happy face plastered until he reached his destination, Al waved at people and smiled and laughed all the way to Kit and Alice’s office. Once there, he closed the door behind him and flopped down into a chair. Alice was alone and she watched his face drop…immediately knowing what was wrong.

Alvin…baby…that woman couldn’t care less about you…why do you bother?

Al hardly had a moment to even think of a response before the door opened and his other best friend rolled in.

”Hey Kit,” he muttered.

Alice stood and sighed, crossing to Al and kissing his cheek before muttering something about a meeting and turning to Kit.

Can you handle this? Love you!

And with that the blonde slipped out, leaving Kit and Alvin alone…Alvin still looking like a lost little puppy dog.

[Kit Carson]

If anyone was going to say anything about Alvin Park and his obsession with Ava Blackthorn, then they'd likely have to say something about Kit Carson and her infatuation with Alvin Park. Kit naturally felt a connection, friendly of course, when they were in their first year, and by fourth year she realized that...that connection might be something more. While they were friends, good friends! And Kit would never be upset about being "Just friends" with Alvin, it hurt her to see how he pined after someone like Ava who didn't give him the time of day. Alice, of course, argued the same for her, but at least she could consider Alvin her friend. Alvin couldn't say as much about Ava.

Kit didn't think too much on it these days (or tried not to). Things were crazy at the Ministry with the capture of Vadellia Allman and while they were just Hit Wizards, there was a lot to do. Alice was on the Darling case, and Kit was finishing up the Monier case. Jeff wasn't slated for the kiss but he was looking to spend quite some time in Azkaban for it...Kit just needed to send one more owl off to Saffron...and that takes us to the current point in time, slipping into the office she shared with Alice to find not just Alice, but...Alvin Park, too. She stood a little frozen in her tracks as she looked at him, and then back to Alice.

"Hey Kit."

And that was enough to unfreeze her feet, the brunette slipping into the office to finish scribbling the parchment to Saffron. "Hey, Alvin," she said, softly, already reading the room and the absolute mope that he walked in with. Kit knew it was Ava's birthday - she had a great memory for dates, and given that they were in school together, that was one that she, unfortunately, committed to memory. Alice placed a kiss to Alvin's cheek and Kit watched out of the side of her gaze as the blonde decide to, ahem, torture her with alone time with Alvin when he was in his sad boi hours thanks to someone who very much did not deserve to have him. She turned to protest, but Alice was already out of the room. Great.

"What's up?" while it was previously noted that Kit knew it was Ava's birthday, she wasn't sure if it had anything to do with that, despite...well, knowing it most definitely did. She pulled up a chair so she was facing him. Without a second thought, she sent off another request after scribbling a few things down on a piece of parchment for a cup of Alvin's favorite drink (does he drink coffee? tea? Kit knows but Ella is not aware). It would arrive in a few minutes, but for now, Kit was focusing on him, internally panicking because it wasn't often she left herself in a position to be alone with him.

[Alvin Park]

Alvin watched Alice go...he would loved to have had this time with both of his friends...but he knew how busy they both were. He was just thankful that either of them had time for his little sad boy moment. Kit moved to sit in front of him and he watched as he jotted down a request for a cup of earl grey tea with two sugars and a splash of cream. He smiled softly. It was quite cute how well the trio knew each other.

What's up?

Alvin sighed and leaned his head back a moment. It was all the same...it was always the same. He'd do sweet little things for Ava...but very rarely did she ever seem to really care. There was that one time when she had not only accepted the lunch he had made her...but actually invited him to eat with her. That had been nice. But most moments were today. Where she was rather dismissive of his affection.

"I spent hours making her a cake for her birthday," he mumbled, lowering his head so that he could look at Kit again. "I don't think she'll even touch it."

He shrugged and watched his friend, just about the time his drink showed up and he chuckled softly.

"Thank you," he sighed gratefully before taking a sip of it.

He tilted his head slightly and smiled.

"Your hair looks remarkable today...did you do something different with it?"

Sad or not...Alvin always took a keen interest in the lives of his best mates.

[Kit Carson]

It really was all the same. Alvin was a very happy person, and it was one of the things Kit loved about him. About every single time he wasn't his usual happy, bubbly self was due to Ava. Either she didn't appreciate something he did for her, or turned her back on him for one reason or another. How he didn't see that she was the l uninterested was beyond Kit…and Alice, too. It really hurt her heart to see him like this, and even more so that he let it happen time and time again.

Alvin proceeded to tell her that he had made Ava a cake. And Kit didn't have to hear him say it to know that the gesture went unappreciated…it was Ava. And about this time his tea showed up, and Kit reached out to pat his knee. ”You deserve to be treated much better. I wish she could see that,” she reacted her hand and let out a small sigh, folding her hands in her lap. ”Plus, she's seriously missing out. Your cakes are amazing,” she told him with a smile.

“Your hair looks remarkable today…”

Kit furrowed her brow and absentmindedly played with her long brown plait. She wasn't sure how different it was given she hadn't really done anything special with it.

“Did you do something different with it?”

Kit waggled the braid at him before dropping it. ”It's out of my face today,” she offered him a smile. Such a good man Alvin was…of only people could see what she saw.

[Alvin Park]

Part of Alvin knew. Part of him understood that Ava would never ever be his. But a bigger part of him was ignoring it. And the biggest part of him had no idea that he was practically doing to Kit what Ava was doing to him. To an extent, at least. Alvin genuinely had no idea that Kit had feelings for him.

Had he known...maybe it would be different. Perhaps he clung to Ava so hard because he knew her. It had just always been this way. And while there was a pain to it...there was also a comfort in the familiarity.

Kit reached out and placed a hand on his knee and Alvin watched his best friend closely. Her words graced his ears and as she pulled back and joked about how good his cakes were, Alvin couldn't help but finally crack a smile and laugh. He was no Nico or Luke...and he was certainly no Georgia. But he held his own and he knew that cake sitting on Ava's desk would be delicious if she actually decided to try it.

But right now, he was focusing on Kit and whatever she had done differently.

It's out of my face today.

Alvin nodded, his smile playing on his lips.

"It looks really good, Kitten. Seriously."

[Kit Carson]

Kit wasn't entirely sure what it was about Alvin. He made her laugh, and he'd always been there for her in ways that other people just weren't. Both him and Alice. But he had every opportunity to not be friends with her, especially after that year or so during school when they both could have just easily given up on her. But they didn't. Kit didn't base her attraction to Al on the fact that he'd been there for her in one of her darkest moments in life...there were a plethora of other reasons...but even with them being friends for years didn't make being one on one with him any easier.

At least, though, she was able to make him smile this time. Ava really brought out the sad boy personality in Alvin and he didn't deserve that. He deserved to smile.

But Alvin didn't seem keen on talking about Ava anymore - instead, he'd focused in on her hair, which, really wasn't that different than usual. But he noticed. It made her heart sink in her chest knowing that he just noticed because he's observant, and not because he was interested in her like he was with Ava, as per usual when you noticed things about someone like that.

"It looks really good, Kitten. Seriously."

The pet name. He had to use the pet name, didn't he? Kit swallowed as she looked at him, feeling a tinge of heat cross her cheeks. "I...er, thanks," she said, brushing some non-existent hair from her face to behind her ear. "Maybe I'll do it more often." she added, trying to sound casual but also, if he liked it, then it was a good reason to do it. She just wished he'd quit with the pet name - it didn't do anything good for her aching heart.

"How are things going with the school? I know there was some upset regarding the safety of the students..." she didn't know the whole story, but there was something about Davies being able to get on school grounds or something of the like. She didn't feel like talking about work right now, but she didn't want to focus on the fact that Al had complimented her and called her Kitten in one sentence. She wasn't going to be able to function for the rest of the day. "At least there's some distraction there, yeah?"

[Alvin Park]

Alvin, for the first time in his years of knowing Kit Carson, noticed the ting of pink that flushed her face at his complement. He felt a wave of confusion. Why was she blushing? He complemented her all the time and never got a reaction like that. Or perhaps he just hadn't noticed...but that possibility wasn't particularly crossing his mind in the moment. He pushed the confusion aside though and offered his friend a happy grin as she thanked him.

"Oh, don't do it on my account," he urged. "You always look great...don't wear your hair a certain way just because I happen to like it."

Alvin was quite fond of Kit and Alice. They were his best friends. He would do anything for them.

So when Kit asked about the school...Alvin just sighed.

"We identified the breech Davies and Lia used to get on school grounds and patched it. There very well may be other areas...but with Lia in custody and the only werewolf we know Davies was hunting out and graduated...we don't see it as much of a threat. We still check in...but there's no need for us to live there at this point."

Al had enjoyed the Hogwarts assignment...he'd gotten to be close to his brothers. But he also enjoyed having a life outside of work too. Speaking of...

"Hey, I head Lex Caius is gonna shut down the Den to host the Christmas party this year...you going?"

[Kit Carson]

”Your opinion means a lot,” she said simply, shrugging one of her shoulders. ”It always has,” she added before turning the conversation over to the school, taking an interest in Alvin’s work. The less he was likely to notice the tinge of color on her cheeks the better, Kit completely unaware that he actually had seen it. The last thing she needed was him realizing…well…anything.

”That’s good. I’m glad things are seeming to calm down a little. Well. Aside from the uptick in vampires lately. But that likely isn’t anything to do with Allman or Davies,” she said absentmindedly, pursing her lips in thought.

“Hey, I heard Lex Caius is gonna shut down the Den to host the Christmas party this year…you going?”

To be honest, Kit hadn’t even thought about it. Usually the three of them would go, but now that Alice and Cody had gotten a little snugglier as of late, he’d probably be tagging along. Kit was wildly happy for her friend, but he did monopolize a lot of her time. And…Kit wasn’t about to just ask Alvin to hang out. She’d already been friendzoned…she didn’t need that being intensified by hanging out one on one. ”Well, I hadn’t really thought about it. Alice will probably bring Cody,” she looked down at her hands for a moment. ”I don’t think I have anything to wear anyway,” she joked, knowing there was plenty of time to find something or go shopping. ”Are you? I haven’t been to the Den in ages.”

[Alvin Park]

Your opinion means a lot.

Alvin grinned, ignoring the weird feeling in the pit of his stomach as they sat there together. Just because he was having troubles with Ava didn't mean he needed to attach his confused emotions to his longest friend. She didn't need that baggage. Besides...Alvin had no idea how Kit felt. If he did...maybe it would have changed something...but maybe not. Who really knew?

She talked a bit about things calming down and Alvin nodded in agreement. It would be nice to have a quiet Christmas for once...but...

Kit mentioned the rise in vampire spawns before he could and he breathed out with a laugh. Yeah...that was an issue. Thankfully not one of his...but an issue none the less.

"I head De Luca had a meeting with Kingsley the other day to try to work together to figure it out...it's really cool that the coven is interested in stopping the spread of their own kind."

Alvin...was not going to let an outfit stop Kit from partying with her friends for the holidays. They all worked so hard...they deserved a break and a chance to drink on the Ministry's dime. Alvin grinned and leaned in to nudge Kit playfully.

"I don't have anything to wear either...but we're going shopping. No way we're letting our closets stop us from getting drunk on Shacklebolt's credit card."

[Kit Carson]

”De Luca always has been the helpful sort,” Kit noted, thankful that they were trying to not be a part of the problem by avoiding it. Sometimes that was way worse. And thankfully, they didn’t dwell on that conversation too long before Alvin brought up the christmas party…of which Kit wasn’t sure she’d be attending.

“I don’t have anything to wear either…”

Kit rolled her eyes playfully when he mentioned shopping, and a small, fluttery laugh when he mentioned getting drunk on Shacklebolt’s card. ”I don’t know how drunk I’ll be getting but I probably could use a night out with friends,” she said with a small shrug. ”Cody’s been monopolizing all of Alice’s free time so I’ve just been spending too much time here.”

[Alvin Park]

The way Kit rolled her eyes and laughed made Alvin smile. It was nice to know that even though he couldn’t make Ava smile, he could still make his best friend smile.

Cody’s been monopolizing Alice’s time.

Ah yes. Allie Cat’s own quidditch star. He grinned and raised a brow.

”Is he coming to the party?”

Al grinned mischievously. It might be fun to plot with Kit to make a drinking game out of the lovebirds.

[Kit Carson]

Kit loved Cody. There was no one else she would want taking care of her best friend. The issue was, and it was a selfish one, was that it was always Kit, Alice, and Alvin against the world. Cody joked about Kit and Alice being his two girlfriends, but Kit felt bad even though he was joking. Kit was notoriously a little dependent on Alice.

“Is he coming to the party?”

”I wouldn't expect him to miss it. Gotta be arm candy for his two girlfriends after all,” she joked, tossing Al a wink. He would likely be pining after Ava if she were there, and Kit would be at her lonesome…as per usual as of late. She didn't make a point to note that it bothered her. ”I think I'm going to need a new couch to crash on soon though,” she offered with a shrug.

[Alvin Park]

Al's grin grew a bit as Kit joked about Cody bringing his two girlfriends. It had always been the running joke...ever since Alice had started dating Cody. That...or random strangers assuming that Alice and Cody were a couple and that Kit and Al were too.

I think I'm going to need a new couch to crash on soon though.

Alvin tilted his head and shrugged.

"You know we always have a place for you to rest your head if you ever need it."

He smiled and nodded at his friend. That much was certain. His parents really liked both Kit and Alice.

[Kit Carson]

Yes, or her and Al...the couple that existed but would never exist. Kit was trying to come to terms with it. Did it frustrate her to no end that he chased someone that barely even knew he existed? Of course. But Kit really was a good friend, honestly. She liked to be there for Alvin in times like these. If he would choose anyone else, literally anyone else, they likely wouldn't be having these moments. Kit wasn't even talking about herself.

Alvin's comment about having a place to drop was really sweet. The Parks were good people - Kit absolutely adored Mae. Given that she didn't have a mum of her own, she'd always been kind of jealous, but not in the shady way, of how close and loving their family was. Her gran was good, too, but ever since Kit got her letter...she hardly talked to her. She supposed she always had a place to stay at her gran's, too, but gran Elizabeth wasn't exactly the most welcoming of her magical powers. The love was there...but the skepticism was stronger. It was kind of sad.

"Thank you," she said, nodding once and offering him a small smile. "It makes me sound like a crazy party animal honestly," she laughed, shaking her head. She... really wasn't, although, events of late made it seem that she just might be.