[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]

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.

[mucked]

[ peggy carter would love to give kurt the benefit of the doubt. even after what's happened, she would love to imagine that the two of them can find their steadiness once more. it sounds as though they've been through a hell of a lot together. but the more she hears, the more she can't help but get her back up on jane's behalf.

the more her opinion of the man sours as she imagines the pain and the betrayal pursuant to something like this: being castigated for your own dishonesty even as the man you love lies by omission.

hell! maybe peggy's had a bit too much because it rushes out all at once: ] What an utter knob.

[endingpoint]

[ For some reason, the use of the word 'knob' is absolutely hilarious. What starts as a giggle turns into laughter so hard that Jane has a hard time breathing. It's probably pent-up everything in combination with the booze, but the tears of laughter soon arrive. When she can finally, a good ten minutes later, breathe again, she wipes at her eyes. ]

A knob. Oh my God, he is. He IS a knob.

[mucked]

I mean it! [ darling, no one's arguing with you. and yet she leans forward and smacks the bar counter all the same -- as though delivering a death blow. ] He isn't just a knob, Jane. He's the knobbiest of knobs.

[ a deep breath, filling her lungs to the burning point, and then peggy seems to lose the plot a little. there's just as much fire in belly as when she'd started.

but: ] It's good to hear you laughing.

[ one step forward; two steps back. ]

[endingpoint]

[ Jane sighs with the smile still on her face, letting go of one more giggle. ]

Thanks for making me laugh. Felt really good. I cry too much.

[mucked]

[ gently -- affectionately -- she reaches out and fusses with one of jane's curls. the moment is over almost as soon as it begins. a tight smile and a shake of her head. ]

Perhaps so. But it's nearly another year, yes? [ peggy nods. ] So you might as well get the tears out before it starts.

[endingpoint]

What if they don't stop? What if it never stops?

[ Because right now it feels like it won't ever stop hurting. ]