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

[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."

[not_lost]

"Just my youngest brother," Fiona replied. "He's two. I tried with my best friend and my sister, but it didn't work, and eventually people just start thinking you're nuts, trying to pull them through random doors. I talked to the front desk people, I guess only getting little kids through is common, which I think is weird, but at least I can avoid leaving him alone."

[rangerbecket]

Raleigh tries to imagine what it might be like to have Yancy back for half a second before it's too painful to contemplate. He thinks he was better off when he had no hope at all.

"Good, it's not just me then. Do you bring the little guy often? Or just the couple times as an experiment?"

[not_lost]

"Not that often, because I work," Fiona replied with a shake of her head. "Mostly it's because I'm paranoid. Every time I go back home, no time has passed at all, but if there isn't somebody else there to watch him, I don't know. My big sister instinct just won't let me leave him like that."

Raleigh's interest in her family seemed genuine, which was… well, not weird, really, but inconvenient. The acknowledgment that Fiona's life existed beyond their mutual attraction was nice, maybe too nice, and set off an alarm in her brain. Things were easier when kept simple, and she may have appreciated the gesture a little too much.

"Hey," she abruptly continued, and flicked a glance toward the door. "You wanna get out of here?"

[rangerbecket]

"What? Sure, yeah, absolutely," Raleigh says. He's a little surprised she's making the overture, if only because he's never been good with women and especially not lately. Besides, there hasn't been time with the end of the world to contemplate anything.

"Lead the way."