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

[theprodigaldoctor]

Chase gives Ben an amused look, leaning back against a table as he licks his lower lip and tries not to look too interested. "Really?" he coaxes, giving a nod of his head to encourage, "I might be amenable to hearing what you have in mind."

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

He grins at her. "Of course I want to think. It would be bad if I chose the wrong thing." He's not going to need a week or anything quite that grand, just a few minutes or so. Or, maybe he just wants to draw this out a bit, make her wonder what it is he'll come up with.

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

His eyebrow goes up when she declares she's not a lightweight. We'll see.

Then he full on laughs when she says she could match him toe-to-toe. "I fucking doubt it," he says. He's had practice. Rachel has not. "This isn't one of those times when enthusiasm is just as important as skill."

Re: Martha Jones - OTA

[legendthatwas]

Of course, germ theory hadn't existed yet--Martha decides to blame this momentary startlement on the booze. "Yeah, germs. Alcohol stops them from breeding, and heat kills them," she explains. "Though there are different kinds of germs, and...this is probably a conversation best had sober, it's all going to seem like a load of rubbish to you."

Half-shouted across a crowded bar, too.

[nebaritralk]

"A little wary and paranoid's a good thing to be," Chiana confirmed with a smirk, "but Ghost likes me." More to the point, she would have nothing to gain from poisoning his drink, and hoped she never would, but she thought the point about the direwolf was a better one to make.

[nebaritralk]

"Only if there are any wrong things," Chiana answers, still smirking, fingers sliding along his waistband. "Only if bad's not a thing we wanna be."

[only_hope]

"I think we ought to go out into the garden," Obi-Wan said, grinning wide enough to show a dimple. "And I think we ought to see just how quiet you can manage to be. Do you think you can manage it, Rob?"

[alegalsuperhero]

"I wouldn't be a Zane if I just threw in the towel," Rachel admits."So I have to show some bluster or otherwise you'd think I got my brain transplanted or something. But, I think, just this once, that I can concede this one."

[tooktheblack]

"Ghost does like you, which is rare in and of itself. It's why I trust you," Jon confessed. "I would not be inclined to normally, I do not trust very many people, but I have found that Ghost has more of a sense for these things than I ever have or will. I trust his opinion and I am glad he has found you as a friend, Chiana."

Re: Martha Jones - OTA

[sawny]

"Ye stay in the hotel most of the time, do ye? We could have some tea and chat about it, teach me what ye know? I'd like to learn it," Jamie confirms. It's the first time he's been excited about something in a while and it feels good to have a drive and a desire to make a difference in the world."

[theprodigaldoctor]

"You always do have the best ideas," he promises, darting in to steal a slow kiss right on top of that dimple, easing back and giving Ben a fond look as he reaches out for his hand, tangling their fingers together. "I uh, I really like you." He thinks that in a little while, he could be saying 'I really love you' with ease, but they're not there. Not just yet.

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

"Oh, there are definitely 'wrong' things to choose in this situation," he answers without giving examples. Examples would ruin the mystery. His eyes dip down to follow the path of her fingers momentarily. "Oh, we'll be bad," he confirms.

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

He's still chuckling at her. "Feel free to prove me wrong, but I'll warn you now, you'll still have to walk on your own back to your room. I am not carrying your ass."

[nebaritralk]

Huh. That was an even better point to make than Chiana had thought, apparently. But the end of Jon's words put a genuine smile on her lips; her affection for the direwolf was very real. "He's too wonderful for anything else."

[nebaritralk]

"Words, words, words," Chiana remarks, dark eyes glinting as she angles another smile up at him. "Find me when you want to do something about them, Harvey." She pulls her hands back as she speaks, and steps back out of his space, turning to go.

Anticipation is fun.

Re: Martha Jones - OTA

[legendthatwas]

"Here's my room number," Martha says, and tries not to feel like this is sort of the equivalent of giving someone your phone number. "Because that'd be brilliant. Tea and some biscuits and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, it's a game plan."

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

She starts to go and his hand moves, sliding down her arm to catch her wrist. He turns his chin over his shoulder. "You know words can be just as sexy as actions, right?" he asks her, wicked grin bending the corners of his mouth upward.

[nebaritralk]

"I'm going to require proof," Chiana shoots back, definitely a challenge she's hoping he's going to want to meet.

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

He gives her a look. "You don't believe me?" he asks. Though now he might be a bit more intrigued than he was before. "Are you familiar with 'dirty talk'?" Because this will determine which direction he might need to take to prove his point. There are all different manners of 'sexy words'.

[only_hope]

"I had gathered you more than tolerated me," Obi-Wan teased back in kind. He squeezed Chase's hand to let him know that he meant quite a bit more than his words implied and wondered how, exactly, he would broach that particular subject. It seemed something insurmountable, admitting feelings.

"How long has that been going on?"

[tooktheblack]

"They say, in Westeros, that there are those who can actually see with the direwolf's eyes," Jon explained. "They're skinchangers. Wargs. Is there anything like that where you come from, Chiana?"

[theprodigaldoctor]

"Well, I mean, before I only sort of liked you," he deadpans, tugging Ben along with him as they walk. "And now I really like you," he says, hoping the emphasis can be heard. "I'd say that ever since you visited me back in Jersey, things have been getting a little more serious, for me. What about you?"

[only_hope]

"Since then, at the least," Obi-Wan agreed. "Perhaps earlier. Sometimes the time runs together. Do you know what it's like? To have met a person you mesh with so well that it feels like you've known them much longer than you actually have?"

[theprodigaldoctor]

"Not really," he admits freely, seeing as even with Cameron when he'd married her, it hadn't been a right away thing. It had been hard and he'd pushed and pushed, and eventually she'd relented. he should have seen that as one of the first warning signs. "I mean, not until this. It's felt easier than a lot of my past anythings."

[only_hope]

"I think, if it's something meant to happen, it comes easier than most things. I have always felt that strife in relationships is because something is going against the will of the Force itself. It makes no sense to push against the flow that way," Obi-Wan said. He watched Chase carefully, eyes trained on his.

"It doesn't feel that way with you."