all_inclusive | Gathering: New Year's Eve Gala

Gathering: New Year's Eve Gala

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.

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Obi-Wan normally dressed in robes and tunics but he had learned over the past year or so just how to dress in the normally-accepted fashion in the Nexus and chose to tonight. He has on a suit with a bright blue shirt, open at the collar, but no tie. It wasn't something he felt looked right on him and he wasn't about to ask Chase to help him tie it and embarrass himself in the process.

Seeing Chase, he took a drink and sidled up behind him, arm slipping around his waist and catching his hip lightly. "You look wonderful, you know."

He's used to being one of the most attractive people in the room, but Chase is still getting used to the excited little frisson that comes when he sees Ben. He slides his fingers up that blue shirt, idly tweaking the lapel of the shirt. "I put on a sport coat," he says wryly. "That's my version of dress-up when it isn't hospital mandated."

"That shirt makes your eyes look incredible."

"I thought I ought to try, for once, instead of just wearing robes and looking like I don't belong," Obi-Wan said warmly, giving Chase a broad smile. "I take it that I was successful in my particular endeavor?"

Judging from the way Chase was looking at him, Obi-Wan thought he was very, very successful.

"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.

"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.

"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."

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.

"Once, there was the beginnings of a pogo stick," he says, cringing as he remembers the amount of lube it'd taken and how he definitely hadn't wanted to have a particular kind of sex for a very, very long time after that. "I don't do that as much now. That was back when I had to work the ER. Nowadays, I'm back with House, doing consulting on more medical mystery stuff. So, only stuff up the arse about five percent of the time."

"Well, there's something to be said for the lesser frequency," Obi-Wan deadpanned. "I can think of a few things I would like to have in my arse but none of them are what I would consider foreign objects."

A strange conversation, to be certain, but he had a certain air of comfort with Chase by now. "You like it better, then? With House?"

He pauses, a little, not sure he'd intended to have this conversation tonight. "I guess?" he manages. "I mean, sure, I do." Except, for the last three years' running, he's been telling himself that he ought to leave and go do something else. And when House was in prison, what had he done? He'd gone surfing.

"It's challenging work, it's good to work for someone that smart," he says. "No, it's good," he insists, convincing himself one more time.

"You don't sound entirely certain," Obi-Wan said, slightly arching a brow. "Not only do I know you, I'm a Jedi. It's not that easy to lie to me. What is it really like, working for House? Is it what you want to do for the rest of your career or do you have other aspirations?"

He lets out a scoff, given that he's always been a touch of a crap liar and unable to really lie. "I don't know," he confesses. "I like what I do and I know that I should probably move on and do something else, but working for House is comfortable and he's always got new things for me to learn. It's just not so great when I compare myself to other people."

"If it satisfies you, there's nothing wrong with that," Obi-Wan said, slightly softer in tone. "I would rather you be happy than ambitious. Ambition and pride have destroyed many a man and I'm not looking to see that happen again."

He nudged him lightly. "That got maudlin, didn't it?"

"New year is for reflecting and being maudlin, sometimes, I think," Chase admits, giving Ben an appreciative half-smile, still not sure what he's going to do, but knowing that he'll be thinking about it. "I don't know. I guess I'll come back around to it eventually. It's not like I have a bad thing going. I've got work, I've got this place. I've got you."

"You do have me," Obi-Wan said firmly, sliding his arm around Chase and pulling him close. "So, I have heard that on earth, there's this tradition of kissing someone at the start of the New Year. Do you know anything about that?"

This, at least, was a lot more playful than before and Obi-Wan hoped to take his mind off other, more pressing things.

"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.

"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.

"Oh, well, if it's embarrassment you're worried about..." he trails off, though, intent on leaning in for a kiss with Ben that he doesn't rush. He's still getting used to kissing the same person and the lack of surprise that comes with it, but it's really not half bad. In fact, it's something he could definitely get used to in the long run.

Not that he's sure how to bring that part up.

Kissing the same person on a regular basis was something Obi-Wan hadn't had terribly much experience with himself. He had never been one for attachment, aside from the Jedi morals forbidding it, and he had always preferred to keep people at arms' length. Then, at least, it didn't hurt so badly when you inevitably lost them.

But Chase was different and Obi-Wan wasn't entirely certain how to broach the subject with him. Instead, he focused on the kiss itself, hand working its way into his hair.

Chase sort of melted forward the minute he let his brain stop working. He'd done a lot of this after the stabbing, but now he feels like he's coming back to rights again. And if he adds in the fact that he's starting to think more seriously about becoming his own man and leaving House, it feels like this really might be the start of a momentous year. He parts from Ben, hand on his chest.

"Hey," he murmurs, realizing he hasn't asked, "How are you? How are things back in your world?"

"My future apprentice is a toddler," Obi-Wan said, chuckling a little. "And I live in a hut in the desert and talk to no one. It's not exactly very momentous or exciting but I suppose it means I don't feel guilty about coming to see you as often as I do."

He kept a close enough eye on Luke to ensure his safety, of course, but he didn't want to interfere with his childhood or upbringing.

"How come you don't leave the desert?" he asks curiously, his eyes narrowing slightly. He understands there's a duty, but he doesn't entirely get why he doesn't just pick up the kid and head to another planet where it's not so dry and as awful as it sounds. "And I could swing by yours," he says. "Just leave me a map," he jokes.

"I don't want to be found. Darts Vader is a very skilled Sith. He could find me if he cared to look - the advantage of Tatooine is that he doesn't care to look there due to bad memories. I don't dare make myself memorable," Obi-Wan explained.

"It could end badly for all involved."

"So why not here?" he suggests instead, because he's not sure why they're not doing that when it's so safe here. "Does the kid, can he get here?" he says, trying not to feel too wary about the whole thing. "Are you safe?" he asks bluntly, feeling like that's the bigger concern right now.

"I don't see a need to remove Luke from a stable, loving family," Obi-Wan said quietly. "I suspect part of the reason my apprentice turned on me was because of having lost his mother at such an early age. Currently, Luke is safe, and hidden, and given a luxury that his father never had. As to my safety? Anakin hates Tatooine. Why would he suspect I'm there? I'm not exactly famed for my love of the desert either."

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