[NYE Party] happy new year and lots of fun

[nascensibility]

Who: EVERYONE, but especially you!
Where: Wonderland Ballroom
When: New Year's Eve
Rating: PG - PG13 (will change if applicable)
Summary: New Year's Eve Party
The Story:

[ Previously in the month all residents received an invitation to a formal event: a black tie affair to ring in the New Year. The ballroom and adjacent areas are decked out for the party starting at eight o'clock sharp, meticulously planned and executed, glittering décor to match the no doubt glittering attire as music pours into the halls from the dance floor.

Bars flank each side, service for all manner of alcohol unless a minor requests something, and the primary setting stage features an enormous clock for the countdown. ]




[ Where will you be when the clock strikes midnight? ]

Comments

[endingpoint]

Water's for losers.

[ She actually laughs at that, as if she just made an amazing joke. ]

I just want things colored like...brown.

[mucked]

[ hauling your drunk arse to the bar, now, jane. ]

Water. One pint. [ one small gesture against a raging typhoon of drunkenness. but peggy chooses this hill to die on. ] And then you can go back to having all the brown you like.

[ -- that's not a promise. not exactly. ]

[endingpoint]

[ Jane actually pouts, then takes the water and lets out a breath, chugging it and making a face before leaning over and grabbing whatever bottle her hand happens to wrap around. Pulling it up, she shouts in success because it's whiskey, perfect! ]

Drank your water, time for this.

[mucked]

[ one pint down, god knows how many more left to go as the night progresses. it becomes abundantly clear to peggy that she won't be able to just whirl in and out of jane's evening -- a certain amount of surveillance might be required. and that's alright, she'd damned well signed up for the responsibility the moment she invited jane to stay in her room, but honestly...

after jane has her glug, peggy reaches to take the bottle -- but only so she can take a drink of her own. ]

If you later get sick all over my room, Jane, then I expect you to scrub every inch of it clean.

[endingpoint]

Don't throw up. I won't. It's fine, I'm fine.

[ She takes the bottle back and drinks for ten straight second before letting out a breath and putting the bottle down heavily. ]

Dance? We can dance, go...come on, come with me, forget about Kurt.

[mucked]

I'm afraid I'd only -- [ step on your toes. but there's something to be said for how jane relinquishes the bottle, and something else to be said for how peggy can't exactly argue that she doesn't dance with earlier in the evening she absolutely did dance. with one person, at least.

peggy sighs. long suffering but affectionate and she has to admit that dragging a friend out onto the dance floor like this reminds her a great deal of her school days. of young women sneaking flasks onto campus. of camaraderie that tastes sweeter and safer than the kind forged at war. ]

Oh, to hell with it. [ she nods toward the floor as something lively and swinging starts to play. ] We can dance.

[ and pry jane away from her misery for a moment or three. ] But there's no getting sick on me either, alright? I'm rather fond of this frock.

[endingpoint]

I won't throw up! No being sick. Your frock is frocky, I like it. You're beautiful. Beauty. So pretty.

[ She's dancing her heart out because she really doesn't want to think about anything. Just how pretty Peggy is and not at all about her lying husband. ]

[mucked]

You keep saying that.

[ no being sick, indeed. ]

And yet I'm not entirely convinced I believe you.

[ thing is, peggy knows the proper steps to a great many of these jazz standards. she knows the swing and jaunt required to make sense of their bold, escalating tunes. but it's a bit like herding cats, isn't it? because jane is dancing on impulse rather than instruction -- and, eventually, she hauls peggy into that thoughtless whirlwind alongside her.

all the while peggy's making certain not to tread on jane's rather impressive dress. ]

And you're only saying that because you're sauced. Everyone's bloody Helen of Troy when you've got as much booze in your belly as you've got right now.

[endingpoint]

[ The only reaction Jane has to that is to laugh. At what? Who knows. ]

But you are. You're....you...are a beautiful friend. And when the song is over I want more whiskey. The great kind.

[mucked]

[ -- and it's that word that gets to her, in the end. friend. adjectives be damned. peggy might not know exactly how to help jane, but it's true enough that she cares a lot for the other woman. this friendship, out of all the scant few she's formed, has perhaps sneaked up on her most stealthily. at least with the others, there had been a bit of writing on the wall.

at least with rip hunter, for example, she could nearly taste the impending importance.

but here's jane: strong, reserved, marked by ill-use and tragedy. and somewhere along the line she'd stopped being merely a point of interest and more like a vital node. so! ]

Luckily for you, whiskey's in my house. [ a point jane doesn't need to be reminded of, surely, but it fills a gap where sentiment might otherwise tumble out. ] And I've had the occasion to be introduced to some rather fine ones. Recently.

[ she curls an arm around jane's bare shoulders and sways off-beat to the latter half of the song. ]

[endingpoint]

Does that mean we have to leave? I don't wanna leave. Because dancing and...dancing and drinking. No thinking about you know. Things. Other things.

[ haha no thinking about Kurt. Keep her from thinking about her collapsing life, please. ]

[mucked]

[ her chin dips. peggy smiles -- mostly because it's an almost endearing worry. to be offered what one wants, only to turn around and fret that getting it might lose her something else.

she shakes her head. ]

No, Jane, it doesn't mean we have to leave. [ although she's beginning to wonder whether she shouldn't try that ruse sooner rather than later. ] I'm convinced the bar has the good stuff stocked.

-- Do you trust me to do the ordering?

[endingpoint]

[ Bringing her hands to Peggy's shoulders, Jane looks at her so seriously, as if this is a life or death question. ]

I trust you. With. Everything.

[mucked]

[ jane's drunk. tossed. there's no reason to listen too carefully to what she says when it comes to lines like this one -- although peggy does believe she's gone some distance in earning her trust, she doesn't for a moment mistake jane's words for whole and unqualified gospel.

still, it's nice to hear. they still sway almost heedlessly to the good music cascading over the room, but in a moment peg will concede and follow her to the bar. ]

I'm glad to hear it. [ light, almost casual -- as though she's biting back on sentiment. peggy has always had an easier time being vulnerable with other women. somehow, she's talked herself into thinking there's less to lose. ] We all need someone like that in our lives. I'm just relieved you haven't made too much fuss over the lack of hospitality. My room isn't the coziest, I know...

[ after all, there's more than one reason she rather prefers spending some nights elsewhere. ]

But you're welcome to stay as long as you need to.

[endingpoint]

[ It's definitely a true statement, drunk as Jane is. She can't trust Kurt, but Peggy's never lied to her. ]

Your room, it's perfect. Fine. It's...

[ Oh yeah, there's something she's been meaning to mention. ]

My painting. You did the...you hung it up. It's hanging. I'm very very glad you liked it.

[mucked]

[ oh, christ, well. in that case -- peggy smiles. they turn again, lazy and out-of-step with the music, and then she drops her palms on jane's shoulders to better look her in the eye. ]

Of course I hung it up. [ warm and honest. ] It was far too lovely to leave gathering dust in a drawer.

[endingpoint]

[ Did you need a drunk person crying, Peggy? Because congratulations, now Jane is tearful. ]

You have no idea how much that means to me. I really wanted you to like it that much. Thank you.

[mucked]

[ she dashes the pad of her thumb across jane's cheek -- dragging away a tear. she's about three seconds away from saying your mascara will run, my dear jane, but ultimately decides against it. ]

It's a pity so few will see it. [ she tries to laugh, tries to lighten the moment. ] Or perhaps I need to make a point of inviting more people over simply to show it off.

[endingpoint]

More people. In your bedroom. That would be fun.

[ TRUST HER, PEGGY. ]

[mucked]

[ and when she laughs, now, it's for jane's sake -- she tries not to react too brashly to the suggestion. ]

Fun isn't exactly the word I'd use. [ she doesn't even like giving out the room number. ] If people want to see me, they're more then welcome of inviting me 'round to theirs instead.

[endingpoint]

[ Lucky for Peggy, Jane moves on quickly. ]

I think at midnight, someone's s'posed to kiss for good luck. But I don't have anyone, so it makes sense? It makes sense. Everything's terrible.

[ Drunk people don't make any sense, but there it is. ]

[mucked]

Good luck is overrated.

[ alright, alright, let's order another round of drinks -- properly slosh this evening. do it right. ]

You don't need to kiss someone at midnight just out of some -- some superstition for the upcoming year. Life doesn't really work like that.

[endingpoint]

Can't make it worse.

[ Jane is at the literal bottom of the barrel, here. She's the worst off she's ever been. She'll take that drink, gladly. ]

I mean I guess you just never know? Who is it that's gonna betray you. Even by accident. Still bad. It's still bad, even when it was 'for a good reason.'

[ She does, messily, do the air quotes, too. ]

[mucked]

I can think of several ways in which grabbing someone to kiss at midnight might indeed make it worse.

[ -- she won't sugarcoat it. peggy's optimistic enough that someday, eventually, jane is going to miss her husband. and no amount of drunken release should come in the way of that.

so they clink glasses and fall onto a pair of bar stools together. ]

There's a reason why people in this line of work don't trust easily. [ she allows -- lumping her and jane together with a natural inclination that surprises even herself. must be the drink. ] Day in day out we see the after-effects of being burnt. No matter the intentions.

[endingpoint]

[ Jane sits with her head propped up by her left hand, looking at Peggy and drinking with the right. ]

We promised. He promised. No secrets. Nothing between us. And I told him, right way. I was doing kidnap an' ransom cases while I was gone. Gave him the money, even and he asked me if there were any other secrets he needed to know about. He was keepin' a secret the whole time!. Whole time, Peggy. He knew. He knew when he found me in Nepal, he knew when he gave my wedding ring back. He knew when we slept together again. Whole time while I started falling apart, he knew.