[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

[cursebreaking]

I got that impression. Most people don't have many nice things to say about this place.

[ Not that she's terribly surprised, given the circumstances of their being here. Everyone here has been dragged away from their real lives. ]

I don't really dance, but a friend convinced me to come. The champagne was a strong selling point.

[mucked]

I'm more of a whiskey girl, myself.

[ she'll down some bubbly if she must. but -- generally speaking -- she'd rather a tumbler than a flute. and she could say a great deal more about dancing, usually, but it seems she's danced more tonight than she has in years. funny, that. ]

But both are here in abundance. [ still! something about the way she'd spoken about 'getting impressions' causes peggy to make a quick little guess: ] Are you new?

[cursebreaking]

Champagne's not my favorite, but at the moment, I'm not all that picky.

[ It's been that kind of a month. Usually, Emma would much rather spring for beer, but it's not exactly venue appropriate tonight. She grimaces slightly, nodding-- although she's not sure how 'new' she qualifies as anymore. ]

Coming up on a month. Still trying to sort out what's real and what's just...

[ There's really no word for it other than 'crazy,' is there? ]

Let's just say it's been hard to adjust.

[mucked]

I remember my first month.

[ peg would say it still qualifies. god, for her it took a good two or three before she started feel even a hint of steadiness. and all of it hard won. ]

Not my finest. Not that the ones that followed are much better -- at the risk of sounding too much like a fatalist.

[cursebreaking]

No, I appreciate the realistic approach.

[Part of what had frustrated her so much on that first day was people's insistence that she believe everything they were telling her, right then and there.]

So many people seem jaded about this place, like they can't even conceive that someone would have trouble believing it anymore. That's bad enough, but it's even worse when you're panicked and looking for your kid.

[mucked]

We certainly are that. [ jaded. ] But I can speak from experience that I still encounter at least one thing every couple of days that just sounds absolutely barmy. To me.

[ mind you, a lot of that has to do with the difference in decades between herself and most others...

either way, her attention snaps onto that last detail. ] I'm sorry. It's -- dreadful, I'm sure, to be separated from family.

[cursebreaking]

Can't say that surprises me. This place is insane.

[Emma can't imagine ever getting to a point where she stops questioning this place. That said, she absolutely appreciates the chance to talk to someone else who seems to have their head on straight.

Her expression softens, though only a little.]

It's... rough. He's all I've got. People keep telling me not to worry about him, but it's not that easy.

[mucked]

I can't promise you anything about whether time marches on while we're stuck here -- myself, I haven't experienced a return home only to then return here. But, [ she resists glancing across the crowd to pick out a particular person, ] people I trust have had it happen to them. They assure me we aren't missed while we're here.

[ for better or worse. although peggy's delivery isn't exactly done in a comforting tone. more...matter-of-fact. ]

[cursebreaking]

[At the very least, Emma can appreciate matter-of-fact. She's always liked that better than sugar-coating or coddling. Even if the subject at hand is still something she can't quite wrap her head around, and frankly doesn't particularly want to, Peggy is managing to speak her language.]

You seem to have taken a more practical approach to this than most people.

[She likes that. She shifts, turning just enough to offer her hand.]

Emma Swan.

[mucked]

I aim to live a practical life, Ms. Swan.

[ but now it's time for introductions, is it? and peggy thinks she might never grow accustomed to this part. sure, she's given her name hundreds of thousands of times back home. been introduced, been met, been all sorts of things. real and fake names alike.

but wonderland is tricky. in wonderland, sometimes, she comes across people who know her but who she doesn't know in turn. and although she knows better than to believe just anyone will be in that position (and it is indeed unlikely that this woman will be one of them) there's always a little wince when this part of the conversation takes place. ]

Peggy Carter. [ she presses a firm handshake into emma's palm. ]

[cursebreaking]

[Emma's handshake is both firm and confident, and she approves of the fact that Peggy's is similarly strong and self-assured. You can tell a lot about a person by their handshake, and Peggy has already made a solid first impression.]

Nice to meet you.

[Peggy's concerns are unfounded; the name doesn't seem to register with Emma in the least, and the introduction itself goes smoothly, brief as it is. Emma releases her hand a moment later, her smile hitching just a bit wider.]

There's a lot to be said for practicality. There's so much about this place that seems impossible, but you seem to have kept your head on straight all the same. That's admirable.

[mucked]

I had the benefit of a decent orientation.

[ if you can call stumbling, injured, out of a man's closet and demanding answers while he pointed his gun at you 'decent' -- but it all worked out in the long run, and mister hunter's introduction had been thorough. detailed. that, and then meeting people from her own world, well...it allowed her at least a measure of stability going forward. ]

That's not to say I don't feel like I'm losing my head on more than one occasion. Although that is a rather unfortunate idiom -- given where we are.

[cursebreaking]

[Emma lets out a brief, humorless laugh along with a grim smile-- unfortunate idiom. No kidding.]

Well, it doesn't show. I hope I can pull off convincing people I'm even half as well put-together as you are in a few months.

[It's the closest she's come to admitting that yes, she actually may be here a good while longer that she's come so far.]

If this place really is 'Wonderland,' though, I feel like I'm being sold a little short. Haven't been invited to tea by any rabbits, and I haven't been asked to play a single round of croquet.

[mucked]

[ her turn for a grim smile. peggy had hit the ground 'put-together,' perhaps. but part of tradecraft is presenting one face while inwardly panicking over every little detail that might get you made. it's funny, really, how much of an overlap there's been between spywork and simply existing here in the mansion.

she accepts the compliment with a nod of her head and: ]

Well. It's a little late for tea, I hate croquet, and I'm no rabbit -- but I can invite you for a drink. [ one finger, tilted in the direction of the bar. ] If you're allowing yourself to have any, tonight, that is.

[ she can understand why someone wouldn't. especially if they're new. ]

[cursebreaking]

That's an offer I'm absolutely willing to take.

[She'd been wary of drinking anything this place offered to her early on, but now? Well, it's honestly hard to imagine how she might have made it this far without drinking, at this point.]

I've been pacing myself so far, but I'd say I'm due for another.

[mucked]

[ her smile is polite -- and only that. no offense meant, of course, but peggy hoards her better nature for once she's gotten to know a person. it doesn't stop her from enjoying a drink, of course.

so she takes a step toward the bar. ]

What's your poison, Ms. Swan?

[cursebreaking]

Normally, I'm a beer kind of girl, but all of this definitely calls for something stronger.

[She grimaces just a little as she makes a vague gesture towards the ballroom at large-- the party is nice, but it doesn't do much to help take her mind off the supposed reality of Wonderland.]

Whiskey seems like the way to go.

[mucked]

You're in luck.

[ she leans on the bar and lifts two fingers before pointing out a particular bottle -- one she doesn't know from home, exactly, but from other drinking adventures enjoyed here within the mansion's confines. ]

Because I absolutely am a whiskey kind of girl. [ she twists while they wait on their drinks, watching emma with a note of care. ] But your preference goes noted.

[cursebreaking]

I take it that means I can trust you to pick out the good stuff.

[Her smile becomes more genuine; she already likes how no-nonsense Peggy seems to be, and the fact that she, also, seems to think that a stiff drink is exactly what this evening needs only earns her more points. Emma has never considered herself to be a heavy drinker, but indulging has definitely made dealing with this place a lot easier.]

You seem like a woman with good taste.

[mucked]

[ truth be told, she's not all that choosy about her whiskey blends. but it's new year's eve, isn't it? it's worth ordering something special -- even if it's not the first special drink she's ordered tonight.

and when the glasses arrive peggy picks up hers and waits for emma to do the same. ] Alright -- [ she raises the drink ] -- a toast to good taste.

Peggy, you are a class act.

[cursebreaking]

[Emma wastes little time in following suit, lifting her own glass in turn as her smile hitches upwards on one side.]

To good taste, and new acquaintances.

[Given how hard it is for Emma to actually use the word 'friend,' she won't throw that one out there so soon-- but she knows that considering the current situation, it might actually do her some good to start putting down roots and make at least a few connections.]

And whatever opportunities the new year brings?

[That's the sort of thing people usually toast to, right?]

[mucked]

[ if peggy feels the detachment inherent to emma's choice of words -- acquaintances -- then she makes no mention nor indication. after all, she's a bit of a distant soul herself. peggy would rather label people as connections, as associates, as resources. friendship doesn't come easily or lightly and maybe it's better for the both of them if the word, if the very prospect, doesn't even touch their conversation.

but opportunities! that, at least, is a concept to which she's warming. there are a few she's already managed to seize. so: ]

I hear nothing wrong with that. To all of the above, Ms. Swan, [ and the two drink together, finish their glasses shortly after, and return to the party. whatever else it might be, it's certainly an intriguing connection. if their paths cross again, peggy will most certainly go out of her way to have more words. ]