Gathering: Kisses at Midnight

[concierge]

With the party still in full swing, the approach to midnight comes on fairly quickly. While some of the partygoers have left and some of the drink and food service had begun to die off, the waiters quietly and quickly cleaning things off stay in the background to allow for the continuing revelry to go on. Outside, the brisk weather is something to bear, but at midnight, fireworks are being drawn up to go off in the sky amidst the stars and to make the Nexus Hotel glow with gleaming colors of every sort. And of course, with the countdown comes the tradition of a kiss at midnight for good luck in the new year.

As the clock begins to wind its way down, shouts are heard throughout the party, giving notice that there's only so much time to roam through the hotel and find something for that kiss. "Five minutes to go," calls out one of the hosts from their spot at the front of the room, giving fair warning. With that, he continues on his way to mingle through the party, leaving the guests to do what they will.

Comments

[thelostprince]

And there she was again, taking everything entirely too seriously, misreading what he was saying, finding insult when there was fondness. At least that was something familiar in all of this, something that made sense. He smiled, faintly, even apologetically. "You're right. That was not my purpose at all," he said, not bothering to tell her that he had been teasing her. "Your silence has never appealed to me."

He had meant to simply kiss her on the cheek, with that usual shadow of mischief, and then all of this had happened. Perhaps that was just payback for all the trouble he had caused himself, all through simple, delicate actions. But he didn't prefer to think that way. He would just as soon believe that his past had simply gotten the better of him.

He leaned in, but this time instead of a kiss he went further as if to tell her a secret, angling his face so that his lips were almost brushing her ear. "What are you thinking of, Sif?" he asked, softly. He didn't honestly think she would tell him, but there was no harm in asking - and in taking advantage of their closeness, either.