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

[alegalsuperhero]

"Well, I have to carry books around all the time, I'm working a full time job and going to law school," Rachel shoots back.

As to being able to go back, that's an important bit of information. She isn't ready quite yet. With everything all out of sorts because of Mike, she wants some time to just clear her head.

"I think I want to enjoy the party for a little while before I go back. It's been a while since I've just had time to relax."

Re: Martha Jones - OTA

[sawny]

"Aye, well, I'll have a debt, then. Not such a good idea to carry a debt into a new year," Jamie says, grinning a bit. He's very superstitious, in his way, and he doesna want to be in debt to anyone, even a lovely lady.

"So I'll be needing to get the next round after, Martha, just to ease my conscience."

[tooktheblack]

"I'm the lesser of the two of us," Jon drawls, giving her a bit of a smile. Chiana sort of made it impossible not to like her and he was comforted by that if only because it made his side of the conversation much easier.

"Could I get you a drink?"

[designerebel]

Cinna can barely make out the first word, but the second is unmistakable. Cinna asks Grey to spell out the first word three more times before he finally gets it. Thankfully, Grey is accustomed to his needing the harder, more unfamiliar words given to him several times. Grey has always been patient with him, just as Cinna has always been patient with Grey.

"Yakaterina Bridge, I'm guessing is a place the train passed by... at the new year." He knows the train treks go around the world. But how amazing is it that the train might have been timed to go around its tracks in a years time each and every year? That is something he hadn't previously known.

"Well today you get to celebrate its traditions with me." He gently squeezes Grey's hand in his. They've lost so much, so many dear friends, but there is still this, the two of them, together. "This makes me very happy."

[silenttrainbaby]

With his free hand, Grey reaches up to touch Cinna's cheek, just briefly. He likes to think he knows all the expressions there, even if that's not true, at least not yet.

The idea of traditions, though, is that they will be done again and again and that he and Cinna will be together to do that. That is, in Grey's mind, an entirely good thing.

There is music playing and that is a tradition that Grey knows from their time in Teleios. He may not be any good at it, but he likes swaying with his body against Cinna's and he nods toward the dance floor. Yes? They can dance together - that can be a tradition, right?

[theprodigaldoctor]

"I mean, the robes offer easy access, but this is nice too," Chase jokes, his eyes flickering over Ben and grinning as he wraps his arms around him and holds onto him nice and securely tighter than before. "Do they celebrate New Years where you're from?" he wonders, drawing in for a kiss before letting go.

[armedagainstlove]

"I doubt Treville ever had someone so cunning and clever to help take him apart," Athos remarks, and if their old Captain did have someone like that on the side, they had never found out because he had remained a paragon of privacy. "I believe that you might be able to distract me away from all beverages," he concedes. "Shall we try?"

[only_hope]

"No, not really. I suppose some planets might," Obi-Wan opined, trying to decide if he recalled one in particular. "They actually don't celebrate much of anything on Tatooine, so I haven't celebrated anything in a long while."

He thought, long ago, that there were a few festivals here and there on planets he'd visited with Qui-Gon but nothing to mark the new year. This seemed to be a uniquely Earth custom.

[aspecialkindofwoman]

"Mmm, I don't know," she hums, a coy smile playing over her lips, turning to take in the festivities. "I think I might like to dance." After all, the odds of her getting invited to another ball wherever she is beyond the doors is ... well, at least relatively slim. Not entirely impossible.

[theprodigaldoctor]

"Usually, this is a night for people to get obscenely drunk, hurt themselves, and do things that usually take a lot of alcohol to build up the courage to do," he explains, threading his fingers with Ben's to take him to the table of food and drinks. "I'm planning on enjoying it here, then working back home to make some good cash taking objects out of ambitious people."

Re: Martha Jones - OTA

[trulyoracular]

"I've already taken a surprisingly copious amount of drugs," he says, sounding very serious when he's talking about illegal substances. "So maybe we should stick to vodka. I mean, I could totally go for water from the asgardian planes, but I don't think they stock that behind the bar," he jokes, even if he has been craving it lately. Or Baldr is, between trips.

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

"Don't books come all digital now?" Though, he is aware of the legal profession's - and law school's - stick-in-the-mud attitude toward changing anything.

He doesn't give much of a facial reaction when he says, "Something big happened right before you got here." It's not a question, but a statement. Why wouldn't she want to go back unless there was a reason to stay away?

[only_hope]

Obi-Wan laughed, a short, sharp sound, and squeezed Chase's hand. "What is the worst thing you've ever retrieved from someone's body cavity, then? I can imagine that's a thankless pursuit in your profession."

Obi-Wan had limited experience with Chase's line of work but he knew enough to know that humans, for the most part, weren't interested in self-preservation.

[alegalsuperhero]

"Some do. I like having them in my hand." Rachel pauses at his statement, however. The last thing she wants to do is tell Harvey all about how things went sour with Mike. It's something that she hasn't had a chance to wrap her own head around, much less explain it to someone else.

"Yeah, it's...it's personal stuff. With Mike. That's all."

Re: Martha Jones - OTA

[legendthatwas]

Martha considers this, then nods, smiling a little more. "All right, that's fair play," she agrees. "What are you having, Jamie? So that we can get ourselves right before the clock strikes."

Re: Martha Jones - OTA

[legendthatwas]

The amount probably wouldn't shock Martha, as she's known Olaf long enough, though she admits she might end up being surprised. And, him being the god-avatar-being he is, she at least doesn't have to warn him not to mix much for fear of a fatal OD. "I can go for vodka," she says. "Stirred, not shaken, of course, with lemon peel."

Olives do not belong in a martini, in her mind. Bloody mary, sure, and other savoury drinks she's totally not able to think of at the moment. But not a martini.

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

"You're a masochist," he says. Carrying books just because? Of course, this is coming from the guy who 'jerked off' the whole time he was at Harvard and still graduated near the top of his class.

He frowns. "I'd ask what it's about, but I don't really care," he says flatly. He sips his drink. Then, "So what are you going to do with your new-found downtime?"

Re: Martha Jones - OTA

[sawny]

"A whiskey, neat," he says. It's a simple drink but in a lot of ways, Jamie Fraser is a simple man. While he likes wines and champagnes, a good whiskey aged in an oak barrel is still the best.

[praiseandglory]

"I haven't seen her tonight," Porthos replies with a frown, looking around just in case Phryne has since made it to a party. It's not like her to miss one. "She's out and about most of the time." Which is to say, Porthos rarely has a clue where she's gone off to, and it's the way Phryne Fisher likes it. They've got a nice arrangement, such as it is, and Porthos would be a fool to try and change it.

[averygoodshot]

Well, hrm.

Hopefully, she comes. Porthos, after all, deserves good things.

Aramis clasps his shoulder. "Tomorrow, we shall adventure."

[nebaritralk]

"You should," she answered with a nod. That sort of initiative should always be encouraged. "Something fun."

[notthewoman]

She hardly knew what motivated her curiosities sometimes, but when someone piqued her interest she rarely stopped to question it. This fellow smiled easily and seemed warmed up by the idea of being charmed, and so she pressed forward.

"I am," She said, smirking a bit as she leaned in and gently nudged his arm with hers. "I suppose I could always stand an upgrade, though. As long as it doesn't end in my being ran through with that sword of yours, I mean. What did you have in mind?"

[praiseandglory]

"But what of you, and women?" Porthos asks, tilting his head. "Getting back in the saddle would do you good."

And might just stop him from bloody well joining a monastery. One could only hope, and Aramis did love women.

[praiseandglory]

"Nothing involving that sword, then," Porthos assured her with another charming smile. "All fun should start with another drink, don't you think?" He offered her his arm, the one opposite where his sword hung, to take her towards the bar. While his mind was most definitely affected by his ample alcohol consumption, he still walked in a straight line, which ought to be noted.

[averygoodshot]

"I have been ... well," And here, Aramis adopts that faux-wistful quality he uses at times. "Considering it. Alas, there has yet be someone who has caught my eye quite in that way, Porthos."

Which does not mean, of course, that he's not looking. Oh, he's looking.