Gathering: New Year's Eve Gala

[concierge]

The annual Nexus New Year's Eve gala began at 8 in the evening. Too grand to be contained by the lobby or dining hall, the gardens at the front of the hotel were employed, with long strings of white lights forming a twinkling canopy from the front doors all the way to the hedge maze. The weather was temperate and calm, and the night perfectly clear.

Drinks were served at various bars set up throughout the gardens and lobby, with champagne cocktails being the specialty of the night. Wheeling through the crowd was a bartender with golden cart providing warm drinks on the go: Tom and Jerrys, rum punch, negus, and Irish coffee.

Crisply-dressed wait staff wove through the collected guests with an abundance of hors d'oeuvres for all different tastes. The Bistro remained open with a limited selection of items for those who were wanting something more substantial.

Above the front doors was hung a large, gold-rimmed clock counting down the last hours, minutes, and seconds of the current year.

Comments

[aspecialkindofwoman]

"I do not remember hearing you complain," she tells him, her smile small and wry as she holds the plate again, offering him a fork. "Shall we indulge?"

[alegalsuperhero]

"I guess that means there's a chance I can have a little fun without getting fired," Rachel says, laughing lightly. "Because I worked so hard to get them to bend the rules and let me work there as an attorney without a Harvard degree, I don't want to blow it by smoking weed in front of my boss."

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

He could mention that her boyfriend doesn't have a Harvard degree and he still works there, but he doesn't feel the need to rub that in.

"So now you do want to get high with me?" he asks. Though, technically, she had never said one way or the other.

[nebaritralk]

"Not that forced, then," Chiana remarks, and knocks back the rest of her drink.

[nebaritralk]

"Warmth is good," Chiana agrees, leaning sideways against the counter as their drinks are being fixed. "Heat's even better." Especially given the way Peacekeepers reacted to it.

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

He offers a bit of a shrug. "I suppose that depends on your definition of 'forced'," he says.

"What have you been up to while I've been away?" he asks her. He's only been back for a few days; he doesn't yet know what he might've missed. Exciting things, boring things. He wasn't even sure he was coming back here after he left, but, the universe is an evil bitch apparently and decided to drag him back here. Admittedly, he can't say that he minds all that much, in the grand scheme of things.

[theprodigaldoctor]

"I've heard about it," Chase notes wryly and in an even deadpan. He glances towards the clock to see what time it is and whether he's going to get to do it right now. "Still got a bit of time, though," he points out. "What do you think we should do until then?" he suggests, drawing them towards a few glasses of champagne.

[armedagainstlove]

"I think you know that I'm prone to indulgence," Athos replies wryly, given his predilection for alcohol and how it's shaped his life in the last few years. He takes the fork and cuts a piece of it, offering it out to her, first.

[aspecialkindofwoman]

Still, Anne smiles, keeping her eyes on his face as she leans in, taking the bite from the fork, letting the tines slide from her mouth slowly. The cake is ridiculously sweet by their standards. Perhaps that is why she enjoys it. Her eyes narrow in pleasure as she chews and swallows.

Then she will fork him up a piece, offering it as he did for her.

[nebaritralk]

"Oh, the usual," she told him with a smile, upper body swaying in that particular way of hers again. "Going through Doors, seeing what mischief I can cause..." She grins, and holds up her empty glass. "I need a top up." Which means turning to head for the bar, and hoping he'll come with - she enjoys his company.

Re: Martha Jones - OTA

[legendthatwas]

Martha hesitates, picking up the new drink rather than replying right away. "I want some of it," she says, looking down into the clear liquid, shimmering with the lights of the room. "I guess I want a job where I can take annual leave, go travel, and not feel like it's quite going to cause the end of the world."

[armedagainstlove]

Athos leans forward to take the bite of cake, enjoying it and trying to savour it so he doesn't simply waste the experience. He licks his lips and lets out a pleased hum, taking the fork to do the same to her, standing just a touch closer than before.

[aspecialkindofwoman]

There's the slightest touch of color to Anne's cheek as she feels him come closer, and takes the bite, her head back, chin up so that he can see the fine column of her neck, bisected, yes, by the choker. But this is, in her way, her offering up to him what she has: herself.

Re: Martha Jones - OTA

[sawny]

"Well, that'll be depending on how personal the question is," Jamie says, grinning at her. "But ye can ask, if ye like. I promise to try and give ye an answer if I can." He's always been an honest sort and unless it's something intimate, he's not the kind to keep himself hidden away. It's something he doesn't share with scheming MacKenzie side of his family.

"What would ye like to know?"

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

He watches her, admiring those odd movements that are subtle reminders that she's not human in the 'from Earth' sense, but humanoid. And he knows how close to human she was. He remembers.

"Doors?" he asks. "Are you part of the good Captain's expedition unit?" And he might grin a little wickedly at her mention of causing mischief.

He does, indeed, walk with her toward the bar. He's all but finished his own drink.

[nebaritralk]

"I don't much like authority," Chiana answers with a crooked grin. Much as she much likes the captain. She trusts he'll tell her if he ever finds a Door to the Unchartered Territories.

Well. If he makes it back.

"Rather go look for trouble on my own," she adds, and turns to the bartender to ask for a peppery ginger cider. She didn't know it before tonight, and she likes it. Heavy on the spices.

[themadgirl]

"Only a little," Annie answered. "My mother sewed, but I..." She cleared her throat and smiled. "It didn't really turn out that way for me. But I know a man who makes some of the most incredible clothes. You should meet him, he showed up here not too long ago. His name is Cinna."

Re: Martha Jones - OTA

[trulyoracular]

"Well, speaking as someone who's done both, I can definitely recommend it." The trouble with Olaf is that he's done both at once, which leads to a heavy amount of resentment from the family (probably well-deserved, but he doesn't like to fixate on that). "You just need to get a job that doesn't care if you leave."

Re: Martha Jones - OTA

[legendthatwas]

Martha tries to phrase the query as tactfully and with as little shock value as possible. Not everyone is as...chill about shifting in time and space as the people she knows, even if they've done it. "Are you from a different time? To the one that we're in here, I mean."

She gestures slightly around the room with her nearly empty glass.

Re: Martha Jones - OTA

[legendthatwas]

"Hey, I want them to at least miss me," Martha points out. She's worked the occasional temporary job where she wasn't missed, and it doesn't really make for good morale. "One where I can leave and come back, more like. So that's why I'm still just a plain old doctor, not a fancy xenobiologist or summat."

[alegalsuperhero]

Rachel shrugs a little. "Are you offering? Because if you're offering, I'm accepting."

It takes the edge off being stressed about work and school and if Harvey isn't going to hold it against her, she's going to partake.

[tooktheblack]

Jon laughed a bit and colored, slightly awkward at this point.

"What kind of heat? I'm not entirely certain that we're talking about temperature."

[only_hope]

"We might need to practice. I'm not of a mind to be embarrassed in front of everyone because I don't know how to engage in an old earth tradition," Obi-Wan said, sliding his arm around Chase to pull him close.

[havecourageandbekind]

"Oh, I would adore that," Cinderella says. Her entire face lights up at the mere prospect of being able to learn from someone potentially more talented than she is.

"Would he even be interested in talking to me about such a thing?"

Re: Martha Jones - OTA

[sawny]

"Aye, that's the way of it. I gathered that everyone mostly knew, the way I am. I'm from the year of our lord, 1746," Jamie says.

"Which, I gather, is a long time before you. My Claire's a time traveller."