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

[averygoodshot]

"I would be doing you a disservice if I did not acknowledge your beauty," he tells her, standing upright. "Though I hardly doubt you are 'simple.' Let me introduce myself, if I may. I am Aramis, late of the King's Musketeers, in Paris."

[havecourageandbekind]

Paris is a place that Cinderella has heard of but she's never been to. She speaks French, of course, having learned from books and her dear father but she's never actually been to the country proper. She's never really been outside of her little village, truth be told, this place notwithstanding.

"Oh, Paris! You must tell me what it is like. I've only read about it in books."

[averygoodshot]

"I would be happy to. Perhaps as we partake in some of the food here? It looks quite good," he says, offering his arm.

[havecourageandbekind]

Cinderella takes his arm and nods. "I don't think I've ever seen this much food in one place before. It's extraordinary, the sheer variety of it all. I think there's things here I've never tasted."

It makes her seem simple, she's sure, but Cinderella cannot help but be awed by the spread before them.

[averygoodshot]

Far from simple, she can be assured. "I am used to seeing it for the aristocracy, not for everyone," Aramis admits. "They would at little morsels and leave so much of it to waste. We don't want to be like them, would we?" he asks, inviting her to be irreverent if she so desires.

[havecourageandbekind]

"I could hardly stand to waste food," Cinderella says, appalled at the very thought. "I used to have to cook and serve for my stepmother and stepsisters. I barely got anything but scraps. Wasting food just seems...wrong, somehow. Instead, I want to taste everything but in a modest amount."

[averygoodshot]

"Then that is what we shall do," Aramis says, walking with her to the laden tables and taking a plate. "What shall we take advantage of first?"

[havecourageandbekind]

"These little cakes," Cinderella says, pointing to an elaborate tray of petit fours in all sorts of sparkling colors. She's never seen such finery and to think she could eat one of those little cakes, pretty as it is, sort of makes her feel like a princess.

"It's terrible to eat dessert first, I know, but I'm willing to break that rule for once."

[averygoodshot]

"I think we shall break a good many rules tonight," Aramis says, giving her a warmer smile, perhaps even close to the idea of The Stare. Don't mind him, Cinderella. It's really second nature more than anything else.

He does, though, reach for a few of those small cakes, his gloves having been tucked into one of his belts.

[havecourageandbekind]

Cinderella laughs. "Well, not too many I hope. I aim to be well-behaved in most endeavors. It's what a proper lady does."

It's been a long time since she's been referred to as a lady but she remembers well what her mother taught her as a girl. Be exceedingly kind, have courage and always be polite. It has carried her these many years.

[averygoodshot]

Those are very good traits in a lady. Aramis smiles as she refers to herself thusly. "I will try not to be too distracting, then." Something again he can be accused of.

[havecourageandbekind]

"Well, a little distraction is usually allowed. It is a ball, after all," Cinderella says. She has a pretty new dress, as well, and wants very much to enjoy this night. "But not too much, mind. You have to allow me to keep my manners. Manners are a lady's armor, you know."

[averygoodshot]

"I wouldn't dream of taking anything from you, madamoiselle." Aramis is a man of honor if nothing else.

"Though I will ask that I have a dance later in the evening?"

[havecourageandbekind]

"Oh, yes, I hope so! I hope more than one," Cinderella says. "I spent a long while making this gown and I certainly want to get good use of it, if I can." She thinks dancing the night away with a few gallant gentlemen might just be one of the most magical evenings of her whole life.

[averygoodshot]

"You made this gown," Aramis notes, standing back. "Quite good needlework." Says one who has been known to take up the needle and thread time and again. "Best to make the most of the night, then."