Characters: Frankie, Julian, Papa and Mama Prideaux and party guests
Setting: Evening, Prideaux manor, in the run up to Christmas
Content: NSFW, probably swearing.
Summary: Papa Prideaux is holding his annual Christmas party for affluent families and Frankie finds them even more tedious than ever.


Another year and another party. For as long as Frankie could remember, her father had hosted a grand Christmas Soiree at their house in the lead up to Christmas. The parties tended to be devoid of any festive cheer and were ruthlessly attended by wealthy, affluent families as a way to network and build 'useful connections' for their businesses. The party grew worse and worse annualy, as now she was older her mother couldn't usher her off to bed at a reasonable time. Now she had to make conversation with these incredibly boring people, sing her father's praises and generally be the sweet, compliant girl they assumed her to be. Every year her mother begged her not to make a scene, pleading with her two children that one night of torture was better than a Christmas day full of tense silences and sulking from their father. Frankie grudingly agreed, as Augustus was insufferable most of the time, when he was in a bad mood with them he became almost unmanagable. So she had made an effort, getting dressed in her best frock and mingling with the party guests.

It was after a particularly despairing conversation with a tubby Frenchman (with a terrible comb-over), lecturing Frankie about when she was planning to settle down and birth a son for her father's mighty empire that she decided to excuse herself, slinking into the crowd and off to the sidelines, fuming slightly. She discreetly dug around in a drawer to her left, where she had stashed some cigarettes earlier for this kind of emergency. Planting one between her lips she lit it and took a drag, feeling instantly better, but not ready to join the throng of people again yet. Instead she surveyed her foyer with complete uninterest, not even realising that her brother had joined her.

"What have I told you about smoking" he chided her, own cigarette dangling lazily from his lips. He looked just about as harrassed as Frankie, concealing his face behind her until a plump, merangue dressed girl had walked out of the room, assumedly looking for him. "That girl tried to unzip my trousers whilst I was sat opposite her. I was only eating a fucking canope" he explained, straightening up with a sigh. It was the first time Frankie had seen Julian today. When you lived in a house this vast, it was quite managable to go a couple of days without bumping into your sibling, unless you were actively looking for them. Side-eyeing him, Frankie smirked plainly.

"Julian, that's an interesting outfit, you really can't tell you're the singer in a band" she joked, staring at his hat and waistcoat combination with a raised eyebrow. "Did you bring the rest of the cast of '500 Days Of Summer' with you, or did you come alone?" Teasing Jules was always a lot of fun, he put a lot of effort into his outfit choices so it tended to be a particularly tender spot to jab him in. Looking slightly hurt, Julian gave his sister a look of distain and didn't dignify her with an answer. A lady resembling Cruella De Ville waltzed past them, grabbing both their attention. She must have been at least sixty, but was head to toe in Leopard fur. "Please can this be over soon" Frankie prayed to the ceiling as her brother gave her shoulder a squeeze of support.

"It could be worse, at least there is free wine" Julian offered, his smile coaxing a grin out of his little sister. For all their bickering, the two of them always managed to make these situations more bareable for each other and generally got along well. A beep from Frankie's phone interrupted their bonding moment as she checked it. A text message from Gray. Trying not to draw attention to it (it was no secret that Julian and Gray didn't get along. The broken ribs Gray recieved when Julian found out about their week of dating was proof enough) Frankie opened the message and blew her cover by laughing out loud. "What's so funny?" Julian asked, his attention now on the phone.

"Nothing, just one of those chain mail things" she said innocently, snapping her phone shut and concentrating on her cigarette intently.

"Bullshit, you hate chain mail" Julian accused, frowing. "It was from him wasn't it? Why does he keep texting you? Didn't I make myself clear? No one dates my sister if they're a slimey fucking pig fucker."

Frankie looked up at Julian dangerously and jabbed a finger in his chest. "Okay, one, I am not dating Gregorie and two, you have no say over who I can and cannot date, you big lumbering idiot!" Whilst waving her hands around to make her point, Julian made a grab for her phone, holding it out of Frankie's tiny reach and opening the message. By now Frankie was loudly cursing her brother and his height, drawing the attention of a few guests in the process.

tell julian his band r homo

Just as he read it, Frankie jumped up and knocked the phone out of Julian's hand. It clattered onto the floor loudly, the screen smashing on the cold marble. Frankie looked down at the fragments and back up at Julian, who was starting to turn an interesting shade of red. They stared at each other for a moment, before both started shouting at once. By now it seemed the entire party was watching the squabble, some women shaking their heads, a man in a tuxedo running off to find Augustus. Both had slipped into their native tongue, hollering in French and making wild guestures. It was only when Augustus stormed over, grabbing Frankie tightly by the arm and Julian by his collar did they fall silent. He looked so angry, the vein in his temple was practically popping out. He pulled his children close to him and whispered.

"How dare you embarrass me in front of my friends. I don't know what I did to deserve such monstorous children." His grip on Frankie tightened, her thin arm throbbing painfully as she tried to tug it away. "Especially you, Francois. You are supposed to be a lady and you should know your place!" The 'know your place' echoed around the foyer, which was deathly silent. Tears welling in her eyes, more out of frustration than sadness, Frankie managed to twist out of his grasp, gathering her phone up and shaking.

"I'm leaving" she spat at her father, stubbing her cigarette out on the sidetable. "I cannot stand to be in this phoney house any longer, with a bunch of boring assholes!" Her outburst drew gasps and muttered protests from the crowd of guests. "I think if I spend any more time around you people I'm going to shoot my brains out. If you don't mind," by now she was by the heavy front door, swinging it open and stepping out into the dark. "I'm going to go take some drugs and have wild sex. Merry Christmas!" With that Frankie slammed the door shut, her last view inside of her father's morified face proving very satisfactory. For a minute, she felt liberated. Then she felt cold. It was Winter after all, and a cocktail dress was not suitable Winter attire. Once again her dramatics had got the better of her, and she felt slightly foolish for getting so angry. But what is done is done, she decided, and looked down at her phone. Automatically she started scrolling for Tatum's number, before images of Tatum actually enjoying her family Christmas swam in her head. She didn't need the burden of Frankie when she had to deal with her at school for the rest of the year, and Frankie found herself punching in the number of Gray instead. They could be miserable together, at least.

Holding the phone up to her ear, it rang several times before he answered. "Gray? Do you have a spare bed I can use tonight?"

Tags: !complete, francios prideaux