[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

[beardman]

[Caleb looks up from his drink when he hears her speak, and he offers her a smile. All those buttons indeed... And how many just for show?! He's a much more practical guy than all that, so it's not really his style.

Peggy's dress, on the other hand - Very stylish, and he tries very hard not to appear as if he's paying any attention to the keyhole in the center of it. Women's fashion surely has improved since his time.]

Am I right in assuming they're not like this anymore? [He gestures at his waistcoat, and the aforementioned buttons.]

[mucked]

Not generally, no.

[ she answers with a hedging in her voice. it's not as though ceremonial uniforms don't exist, of course! there's the king's guard, and any manner of court dress -- but even they don't quite hold a candle to what caleb'd wearing. no, what he's got on makes her think fondly of the little tin soldiers her brother used to keep like toys. but they'd been from the napoleonic war: french and english.

her smile warms a little. ]

But trust an army to find a way to make just about any uniform impractical. [ she huffs. ] Mine had a skirt and all.

[beardman]

[Part of him immediately wants to say 'of course a lady's uniform would have a skirt', but he hesitates - At the same time, if they're going to let a lady into the army and expect her to do soldierly things, then perhaps trousers aren't too much to ask for? He considers this for a moment.

There was a time he'd believed, as most men of his time did, in the division between men's work and women's work, which had gotten him scolded at least once by Anna - And in hindsight, he'd deserved it. She risked just as much as they did, and her sharp mind and bravery was instrumental to the Ring's successes thus far. Hadn't she figured things out when none of them could? Hadn't she risked her life, lost her home and reputation and her love for them and their cause?

Shouldn't a woman who'd done that be given the same regard as a man who had?

Standing here in front of Peggy, Caleb suddenly misses his childhood friend and fellow spy quite a lot.]

...Is it common to have women in the army in your time?

[mucked]

I wouldn't call it common. No.

[ she hedges her way around the answer -- truth is, that alone would be enough to betray her in certain circles. but peggy's gotten a little looser with the truth ever since she's met people from the future who know her by her name. ]

But it happens. We didn't often take to the field. Not all of us, at least.

[ but if she hides her experience and her skill now then she does her fellow residents a disservice. after all, it's too often the events in this mansion throw them into violent and dangerous circumstances. it's only fair they understand that they can depend on her in a pinch. ]

I, however, saw action.

[beardman]

[Caleb looks impressed. He's not nearly as well-read on the subject as Ben is, but he's heard that combat in the future is a far different beast from what he knows.]

Then there's something we've got in common. Mind, it wasn't my primary job, but...

[mucked]

[ oh, now, you can't say something like that and not expect at least a little bit of nosiness. peggy's head tilts. ]

It raises the question: what was your primary job?

[beardman]

You've met Ben, right? Major Tallmadge. [He looks and gestures around the room.] He's around here somewhere, dressed same as me.

[mucked]

The Major and I have met, yes.

[ and although she never said it to his face, she knows his name from history -- of course, the books he'd had on his desk about the culper ring had certainly jogged her memory in the process. ]

Does that make the pair of you colleagues, then?

[ and only by the grace of historical knowledge does she begin to suspect she might be in the company of another spy. ]

[beardman]

[Caleb smiles at that. Colleagues.]

Aye, you could say that. I'm officially assigned to him for special detail.

[mucked]

Special detail.

[ a snort. peggy drops a bit of the pretense. ]

That's a euphemism if I ever did hear one. [ and not the saucy kind. more like the tradecraft kind. ]

[beardman]

[That earns her a laugh.]

It's very much a 'whatever needs done' sort of position.

[mucked]

[ huh. she considers her whiskey -- and then considers him. and in a refreshing bid at earnestness, if only because it's become easier since arriving here and learning about her future fate: ]

I do believe that's a position I've held once or twice before.

[beardman]

Have you? [It's interesting, but not especially surprising - She doesn't seem like a 'front lines' sort of lady, but she carries herself like someone who knows what they're about.]

[mucked]

Indeed. [ and, alright, here's the kicker. ] While liaising with an American outfit.

[ -- she's at least made no secret of her affection for new york city. but perhaps this fleshes out her preferences just a little. it's hard not to work alongside those lads and not develop some sort of tenderness for them. ]

[beardman]

Oh! [That's right! She had said she liked New York, hadn't she? He can't help but give her a little grin at that.]

I hope they left a good impression, then.

[mucked]

Better than good, I'd say. [ the 107th might be american in name -- but it's true enough that the commandos themselves are a bit more ragtag. still! most of them were american at one time or another, and she counts them among her dearest friends.

once upon a time her only friends. ]

Not least of all because they always knew where to find the better bourbon.

[beardman]

[Caleb's usually occupying that spot in his regiment, the 'good booze finder', so it make him laugh just a little.]

I'm so proud!

[mucked]

You absolutely should be.

[ no nation is perfect, mind, and peggy has a great deal to complain about -- but there is a kind of magic to the world back home. a stink of opportunity on every doorstep, not yet crushed by the likes of roxxon's ceo or bloody vernon masters. ]

[beardman]

It's good to see we're still taking care of what matters after all this time.

[It's still strange to think of their home, the land they're fighting for, growing to become a large and powerful nation... And stranger still to think of a friendly alliance with the very nation they're rebelling against at home. He's read a bit about the future of America in his time in Wonderland, and it's... Honestly very reassuring to know their work won't be in vain.]

[mucked]

Although I must add that I have found myself rather soundly cautioned against learning too much about the future.

[ it's a cheeky statement -- suggestive, perhaps, that she isn't one to listen to that kind of caution. ]

You see I might be ahead of you -- but most of them, [ she tilts her head toward the crowd, ] are also ahead of me.