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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He doesn't quite go so far as to pinch the bridge of his nose at her response, but it's close.

"First, you're not me." That's about passing the Bar for three states on the first try. "Second, who the hell carries books around all the time? Though, you could end up with some incredible biceps that way. Third, who says you're stuck here? You could go through a door and end up right back where you were in the next ten minutes." Or, so the theory goes. He doesn't get to leave that often.

"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."

"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?

"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."

"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?"

"I doubt that you are as unfeeling as you say but I'm happy to drop it. Right now? Not really sure. Studying is only going to take me so far," Rachel admits. "And it seems like a waste to have a vacation from responsibility and use it to be responsible. I think I need to take some down time and just enjoy getting a moment to sleep in and relax before going back to the grind."

A slow blink. "You're just going to sleep and do nothing?" He shakes his head. "I'm bored already. And you sound like Louis." He finishes his drink. "You need to have a little adventure."

"Well, depends on how long I'm here," Rachel counters. "If it's a day, then yes, I'm going to sleep. If it's a week or a month, well. I'm going to have to re-evaluate. What do you do here all the time anyway?"

She doesn't acknowledge being compared to Louis. It'll be a cold day in hell when she shares major personality traits with him.

His mouth quirks up in a wicked grin. How telling that look is, that's still up for debate.

"Some days I battle dinosaurs. Some days I explore with a ship captain. And sometimes I go to prom." That had been weird. It probably would've been more fun had he not been half incapacitated with a 'super' power that was dismally not-super and gave him a raging migraine.

"Dinosaurs? Are you sure you haven't just been doing drugs?" There is only a little judgment in Rachel's voice. Mostly it's just a little wistful because she can't be irresponsible that way.

It's been a long time since she's been anything but responsible.

"I'm not currently. But I could be later." If he chooses to do so. If she says just the right thing, he might talk her into doing them with him. He's sure he's got some weed around somewhere. There's definitely alcohol. And who knows what else they could dig up just asking around.

Rachel snorts a little. "Of course you can. So, is it just us that knows about this place? No Mike, no Donna..." She lowers her voice, not wanting to draw attention to herself and get into a whole world of trouble.

"No Jessica?"

He's Harvey Specter, he can do whatever he wants.

He shakes his head and glances around for a place to set his empty glass. "No, just us. Though," he pauses, "I'll admit to being a little out of the loop. I only came back a couple days ago. But, if they are here, I haven't seen them."

"I guess that means there's a chance I can have a little fun without getting fired," Rachel says, laughing lightly. "Because I worked so hard to get them to bend the rules and let me work there as an attorney without a Harvard degree, I don't want to blow it by smoking weed in front of my boss."

He could mention that her boyfriend doesn't have a Harvard degree and he still works there, but he doesn't feel the need to rub that in.

"So now you do want to get high with me?" he asks. Though, technically, she had never said one way or the other.

Rachel shrugs a little. "Are you offering? Because if you're offering, I'm accepting."

It takes the edge off being stressed about work and school and if Harvey isn't going to hold it against her, she's going to partake.

Now he's not sure if he's confused or intrigued by her question.

But he smirks ever so slightly and asks, "Does this mean the rumors are true?" Which rumors he is speaking of could be any number of things. Or entirely non-existant. He may never tell.

"The rumors that Rachel Zane is a complete stick in the mud are true," Rachel says, laughing a little. "Given it's taking me this long to accept an invitation to do drugs illegal in my home jurisdiction. I don't know. I think it might blow off some steam and you're not exactly someone who is going to take advantage of me. You have a weird sort of honor when it comes to what's wrong and right. I've always been a little confused and fascinated by that."

One eyebrow creeps up his brow. "'Weird sort of honor'?" he asks. He's vaguely amused by this statement. And maybe by it coming from Rachel.

"Well, on the face, you're a womanizer," Rachel says, gesturing with her wine glass while she speaks. "But yet, you'd do anything for someone you cared about. You take care of Mike, and Donna, and any other person you truly care about even though you act like you don't care about anything but money. See what I mean? It doesn't all fit together. It doesn't make sense. I like figuring out the things that don't make sense. I guess that's why I want to be a lawyer so badly."

He frowns at her. "That is a very cheap way of interpreting my social life," he says. "Who says I care about money?" Yes, he did skip over all of the other parts of what she said. That was deliberate.

"I said that you act that way," Rachel clarifies. "Deep down, I think it's a front to hide the fact that you have a big heart."

Rachel has seen that in action more than once. "Just look at how you treat Mike. He's like a brother to you - if you only cared about money, you wouldn't care about Mike."

"I have no heart. The Grinch has me beat," he comments. It's all bullshit and he knows that she knows it, but that front she was talking about, it's still there.

"And yet you aren't green," Rachel says, laughing a little and hiding it behind her hand. "Come on. You promised me something else that's green and I've yet to see it."

Granted, Rachel doesn't think Harvey's the type to do that right out in public but, when in Rome...

"No, I'm not," he says. Then he gives her a curious expression. "I don't believe I promised anything. I might have mentioned that it was a possibility."

And she's right, he wouldn't smoke weed in the midst of a crowd. That's a little too blasé even for him.

"But, if you'd like to walk with me to the garden..." he leads, starting in that direction with a brief stop at the bar for a refill on his drink.

Gathering: New Year's Eve Gala

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