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

[matt_murdock]

"You know what, ice is for rubes, thank you," Matt says with a fully unguarded laugh. "You have no idea how much shit I've gotten about how I ruin good liquor by adding water to it."

The drink he easily accepts, and the fact that he can see it coming really doesn't have much bearing in the moment—Martha's thoughtful, clearly, in addition to knowing the proper way to drink a glass of scotch. If he were keeping score, she'd definitely be at the top of the leader board, and they've barely gotten started.

"Is it wrong to be relieved that you're actually from London and not some random planet that happens to have the same sort of accent?" he asks, and takes a small sip.

[legendthatwas]

Grinning slyly, Martha chuckles in response to Matt's laugh--it's a little infectious--and strokes her fingertip along the rim of her glass before she lifts it towards her mouth. "I was told," she says, "it's the clever thing to do. Opens up the liquor, there's science to it but if we're being honest tonight, chemistry wasn't my best subject."

She inhales over the top of the drink, then sips, swallows, slowly. "Having been in a bunch of random planets where they do end up sounding extraordinarily ordinarily English...I really can't blame you," she agrees. "It's disconcerting as hell. You can't stop yourself from assuming they know what you mean when actually their frame of reference is entirely different."

Actually, now that she thinks about it...was it just the TARDIS' translation that made them sound English? Probably not the best time to get philosophical, chatting with a hot bloke.