Gathering: Halloween Gala

[concierge]

A large, decorative sign situated prominantly in the lobby reads:

The Nexus Hotel
proudly presents its
ANNUAL HALLOWEEN GALA

Formal Reception
Nexus Dining Hall
6 PM - Midnight

Monster Mixer
Nexus Basement
8 PM - 2 AM

Masquerade attire recommended for all guests

Most of the chairs have been removed from the Dining Hall to allow for ballroom-style dancing to the orchestra set up on the far end of the room. A polished cherry wood open bar is aligned along one wall. The adjacent Bistro is open for the duration of the formal reception, serving gourmet hors d'oeuvres.

Downstairs, the basement's largest storeroom has been converted into a spooky nightclub, complete with DJ, dance floor and cocktails.

Comments

[rangerbecket]

Raleigh hasn't celebrated Halloween in so long that he doesn't even remember what that's like but when he ducked out of the hotel through one of the doors to go costume shopping, a lot of people kept saying he looked like someone named Jax on some tv show he'd never heard of. He looked at a few magazines, agreed there was a little resemblance, and picked a leather jacket, a tight black t-shirt and his regular jeans.

He's also got a bandanna to cover his hair, since the Jax guy's was longer, and wishes he'd thought to grow out his beard. He doesn't know if the people at the hotel will recognize it but it's definitely a costume and it's better than coming in his Jaeger bodysuit, right?

[miss_vas_normandy]

The time Tali had spent aboard the Normandy had been extensive, but certainly not enough for her to know every human tradition. This celebration, if it could be called that, was news to her. She didn't really put on a costume since walking around in a decidedly human body already felt like wearing one.

There were upsides to it, being able to touch the world around her with ungloved fingers, much less sickness, and no longer having to worry about sticking to a highly specific diet, but Tali was discovering she was still a picky eater. It was just by choice now rather than a necessity of genetics.

"Excuse me," she said quietly and politely, pointing to something on the buffet table. "Do you know what that is? I mean, what it's made out of?"

[rangerbecket]

"Pretty sure it's sushi. Made out of fish?" Raleigh hasn't eaten fish in ages since kaiju have pretty much destroyed any fishing industry and the waters are poisoned with all the nuclear weapons.

"It's good, if you want to give it a shot. I wouldn't vouch for it if it wasn't."

[miss_vas_normandy]

"Hmmm..." Though she was still frowning dubiously, Tali picked up a dish and decided she could at least try it. She had some vague memories of something similar being served on the Citadel. She couldn't eat it then, of course, but she remembered the colorfulness, and that it seemed a popular place to eat among humans and batarians.

Picking up a fork, she nudged the sushi rolls around, poked at the thin slices of something pink and the bead of green paste. "I'm not used to being able to eat whatever I like," she explained. "Ah, my name is Tali. Tali'Zorah."

[rangerbecket]

"Do you have rationing where you live too?" Raleigh asks, thinking that's a weird thing to say unless you've just had to go without. "And I'm Raleigh, Raleigh Becket. Good to meet you, Tali."

He offers a hand, just in case she wants to shake it. Raleigh has learned every culture isn't the same and he doesn't know Tali's - hopefully this isn't an offensive thing to do.

[miss_vas_normandy]

"No--well, yes," Tali amended quickly. "I don't remember ever starving living in the Flotilla, but we are always careful to conserve our resources. It's more that I couldn't physically tolerate the foods that most other species ate. They had no nutritional value for my species, and would have probably made me very sick."

She's spent enough time among humans that she's familiar with handshakes, she's just not used to touching people without gloves on. It still throws her a little, and she's always worried she'll hold on too long or let go too quickly, but not returning the gesture seems rude. "It's nice to meet you. Are you human? I mean, you look human, but everyone I've met so far looks human, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are--it's not rude to ask, is it?"

[rangerbecket]

"100% human," he promises, grinning at her. "So I'm guessing you're not? You look human to me."

Raleigh doesn't know a lot about alien species other than kaiju and she definitely isn't that.

[miss_vas_normandy]

"Quarian," Tali explained, then backtracked again. "Well, no, I mean, here I seem to be completely human. Which is very odd and is taking some getting used to. But I'm a quarian." She smiled sheepishly. "You probably don't know what that is, most humans here don't. That's also taken some getting used to, and some explaining. It's easier to just say that your species considers me an alien and leave it at that."

[rangerbecket]

"I think I'd like to hear it," Raleigh says. He is honestly intrigued by the idea of a friendly alien species because the kaiju are anything but.

"I mean, if you want."

[miss_vas_normandy]

"I don't mind," Tali replied after a brief, thoughtful pause. "I've just never really had to explain my people's situation in full to someone before. In my...time? Or world? I don't really know which one is the more appropriate to use. My people were driven from their homeworld by a race of machines that we had created. Since then we've lived nomadically, aboard a fleet of spaceships. It's not the easiest life, but so far we've managed to survive. Usually I would have to wear an environmental suit or I would run the risk of getting an infection just from breathing unfiltered air. This is the first time in my life I've ever been able to live outside of the suit."

[rangerbecket]

"Damn," Raleigh says softly. He couldn't imagine being unable to even breathe the air without getting sick and imagines that's got to be hard on someone. And here she can, so that's freedom in a way she's never had, isn't it?

"You must love it here, then. Eat whatever you want, breathe the air. I guess you can't touch people either?"

[miss_vas_normandy]

"Not with bare skin, no," Tali replied, hoping she wasn't blushing as she finally gave in and picked up a sushi roll to take a bite. It wasn't the easiest task, since the entire thing seemed as though it wanted to fall apart. It was still tasty, and fairly mild. "The closest we come to contact is linking our suit environments. We get sick, but we adapt. It's a gesture of trust. Being here like this, well, it's liberating in a way, but I also feel exposed. Like I might as well be naked, even though I know that's stupid."

[rangerbecket]

"I guess it makes sense, since your species is so different," Raleigh says, mulling it over.

"I don't know how I would feel if I was walking around my equivalent of naked. Probably a little off balance, to be honest."

[not_lost]

"Good look," Fiona said as she stepped up beside Raleigh. The cocktail in her hand didn't exactly fit with her 80s workout gear, but this was a party, and that required a drink.

"Holy shit," she added almost immediately, smiling mouth open in surprise. "You look like that guy from TV." She probably never would have made the connection without the outfit; her television watching was usually limited to random movies the kids put on or episodes of Deadliest Catch.

[rangerbecket]

"That's what I've been told," Raleigh says, grinning a little when he sees that it's Fiona. He likes her and she's a hell of a good bartender. It's always nice when your alcohol comes from a good looking girl.

"You think it works? We never had any money or time for Halloween."

[not_lost]

"Oh, it definitely works," Fiona insisted, slowly nodding for emphasis as she gave him an appraising once-over. "And you don't need to tell me about not having money or time for Halloween," she added and motioned to herself with a knowing arch of her eyebrows.

[rangerbecket]

"This place is like a party all the time, considering," Raleigh says, giving her a little smile.

"So, what are you? Hot, yeah, but is it a specific character of anything?"

[not_lost]

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Fiona replied on a laugh, and glanced down at her ensemble. "I guess you wouldn't know Flashdance, being from way in the future. It was a big movie in the Eighties. To be honest, I haven't seen it since I was a kid, but it was cheap and easy to make," she admitted, and then smiled as she added, "and hot, obviously."

[rangerbecket]

"Eighties? Yeah, maybe my grandparents." Pentecost was born in the eighties but as far as remembering them, they'd have to go back even further.

"Future's not so great, though. I'm more interested in this slice of time where attractive women wear very little."

[not_lost]

"Oh, I'm sure you are," Fiona said, smiling. "But don't get your hopes too high, this was just workout clothes. Women in the Eighties didn't go walking around in public like this."

[rangerbecket]

"Damn. Ruining my dreams, Fiona," Raleigh says. Still, he's flashing her a big smile and not that disappointed because right now he's got a gorgeous woman in front of him wearing workout clothes and that's never a bad thing.

"Have you figured out how to travel back and forth yet?"

[not_lost]

"Back home? Oh yeah," Fiona replied with an emphatic nod. "Trust me, if I couldn't I would not be standing here having a casual drink, no matter how hot you are. You'd probably find me having a total meltdown, weeping in a dark corner somewhere. Or destroying the lobby like one of those giant lizards of yours." She smiled. "Maybe a little of both."

[rangerbecket]

"You'd be at least a category four kaiju," Raleigh says, utterly sincere. "Nobody fucks with those. Well, nobody fucks with any kaiju other than us idiots stupid enough to get into jaegers but you know what I mean. Serious business, stay away."

He's not the best at flirting, especially not with someone as pretty as Fiona. Yancy had always been better at that.

[not_lost]

Fiona ducked her head with a quiet little laugh, tucking her hair behind one ear. The impulse to flirt came naturally to her, but real flirting—The preemptive kind that didn't include the safety of the bar between them—that felt a little weird. Not to mention that she wasn't sure she should have made a joke out of those giant lizards.

"Yeah, well. What can I say? My family depends on me," she replied, and looked back up to Raleigh. "But obviously everything is okay with the getting back and forth, so no need to stay away, right? Unless you just really want to hop into a giant robot, we've all got our kinks."

[rangerbecket]

"Yeah not so much. I like it better here for the most part," Raleigh says. Knowing he can go back and forth makes him feel a hell of a lot less guilty about taking that option.

"Have you managed to be able to bring anyone from home back through with you? I tried but I can't."