entrancelogs | [NYE Party] happy new year and lots of fun

Entry tags:

[NYE Party] happy new year and lots of fun

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? ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Tony Stark.

[ she doesn't go so far as to explain their connection. it's moot, really. the fact that tony is the son of one of her few actual friends -- the fact that tony calls her his aunt despite how they don't share blood in common. her connection to the man doesn't mean anything -- what matters is that she knows tony's a good asset to have in a bad situation.

there are other she could name, but she keeps this list brief. ]

[ while he would gladly listen to her talk if she needs to, it's not essential information for him, nor does he expect it. it's not like they know each other, after all.

there's a very clear tension between them of all the things that go unsaid. he knows he's not the only one who has his suspicions. what's worse - there are too many people around here who can confirm her suspicions.

he nods at the name, filing it away for later. ]

So, who else? [ she did seem to indicate there was a multitude of people. ]

Miss Johnson.

[ -- there are current shield agents in attendance, but peggy wants to keep her particular reliance on someone like fitz far deeper under wraps. but daisy! daisy makes an excellent case study.

without pointing, she indicates where the young woman stands. ]

Accomplished. And, as an added bonus, considerably more friendly than Mister Stark.

Always an important qualification when considering a life saver.

[ he grins, even as his eyes gravitate towards the next person on her list. he knows better than to judge by appearance. superpowers? training? how good? he has so much to learn, still, about the people of wonderland. ]

She one of the - you know - enhanced? [ there's a way to find out about her empty-hand capabilities; aggravate the woman who has been underestimated for her gender by insinuating another needs powers in order to kick ass. it's a dirty tactic to get her saying a little bit more, but sometimes resorting to them seems the easier route. if he starts questioning her too closely about other people, he has a feeling he'll be instructed to go talk to them.

and he doesn't know how they'll react to being recommended. he knows how he'd react, and it wouldn't be productive. ]

You will have to ask her about that, Mister Queen.

[ and that's just the thing, isn't it? peg has gone out of her way to give names whose owners (she suspects) won't mind the slim bit of publicity given to them. unlike others -- because there's no hope in hell she's volunteering natasha romanoff's name.

(with an unfortunate pang, however, she realizes that if steve was still in the mansion his would have been the first on her lips.)

either way, it's not her place to start blabbing about inhumans. her non-answer is more of a yes than a no, but it helps to keep her own ego in check. there's a considerable chip on her shoulder about this whole enhanced/baseline argument, but it's so wrapped up in an old love that she can't bring herself to rise to oliver's bait. ]

[ it's the very reaction he hoped to avoid, but it still teaches him something - about agent carter. as does the fact that she allows him to question her freely without throwing back any questions in return.

it's very convenient, but also suspicious. yes, she could be assuming all she'll get will be half truths and blatant lies, like the motorcycle story. she could just not be interested. or she could know more than she's letting on. ]

Fair enough. [ he takes another small sip of his wine, and looks out at the crowd. ] Would you say we have about a full house here? [ the mansion is huge, and it makes him wonder. why are so many rooms kept empty?

what's the next stage? ]

[ she may not be an easy creature to get along with, but peggy has a soft spot for being useful. and, right now, giving another (newer) resident some decent intel about how to stay safe and alive within the mansion is exactly the speed of useful she's prepared to be -- no matter what other secrets he might be harbouring.

because in the end, even her secrets aren't worth someone else's well being. ]

Oh, I doubt it. [ she tips her glass. ] Not everyone likes a party. Although this one is rather well-attended, from what I can tell.

[ she hums a moment. ]

But there was another about a week ago, wasn't there? Perhaps some of us are partied out.

[ but she didn't attend that one. ]

[ on that, they're in full agreement. well, maybe not full, he will definitely choose his secret over the well being of bad guys but then again he's not particularly concerned with their well being to begin with.

he's more their chief threat. ]

That one had a lot more cases of identical twins.

[ he did attend. he didn't mingle so well, mostly observed, listened, looked out for trouble. much as he does now, except he's being a touch more social.

familiar faces do help with that. ]

So I keep hearing. I didn't go.

[ but, now that she thinks about it, perhaps her mirror had. now isn't that a dreadful thought. distracting enough, certainly, to make her bury her attention for a moment in her scotch. ]

[ he's not sure whether to be glad or beat himself up for not approaching her when he noticed her face in the crowd, then. surely, meeting her mirror would have been pretty informative. but he was busy pretending to be a drunk jerk, and it seemed like other people had it covered. ]

Maybe that's what had your face-twin so upset. [ there isn't a lot of information he can repay her with for all the questions she's answered, but he's got that much. ]

[ -- her composure goes stiff. she doesn't make an effort to hide her spark of interest when she stares. and stares openly. because this is actually the first report she's ever heard of her mirror. peg's seen neither hide nor hair of her, and no one else has mentioned her in her company.

she doesn't know what to expect. ]

You saw her. [ peggy sets aside her drink, now, and gives oliver her full and undivided attention. ] Did the two of you talk?

[ he wouldn't expect any other response; who wouldn't be curious about their living opposite? it would be suspicious not to take an interest.

sadly, there isn't much he can offer her here. he shakes his head. ]

Didn't get around to it, I just saw her across the room.

[ god, she's got a million questions -- none of which are likely to find their answer in oliver queen. for once, she believes his words wholesale. there is a little nod, a moment where it looks as though she might curse in frustration, and then peggy settles on what might be the sole line on inquiry he could help her with: ]

'Upset' can mean all sorts of things. [ her chin lifts. ] Angry? Disappointed? Dissatisfied with the canapes?

Sad.

[ it's an emotion he's extremely good at identifying, it's one he carries around all day long, relentlessly. he could identify it from across the room, the roof, and through most acts. ]

She was crying. Other people were with her.

[ he figured she'd prefer them, that they were more familiar. he found it odd, she didn't seem the sort to come to a party and cry in public, but he just filed it away for the moment.

there was too much to keep track of. ]

[ ...on the very few occasions she's fallen to tears in wonderland, none of them have been in public. certainly never so public that a stranger would see so from across the room. peggy's mouth falls into a tight and disappointed line. maybe it's wrong and uncharitable, but she feels rather unimpressed with her mirror. is she so milquetoast that she would crack and break down in a crowd?

but it's not a good idea to pit herself against a reflection. she knows that. she knows it from the other mirrors she's met. ]

Other people or other mirrors. [ it's not a question -- rather, an observation. she doesn't expect him to have known the difference. but now she has to wonder what damage might have been done by the woman who would look so similar to her but act so differently. ] God knows how many of each were in attendance that night.

[ to be fair, he's a very observant stranger who chose to pay attention to one of the only faces he could attach a name to. ]

We really should come up with a secret handshake or something. [ the suggestion itself is in jest, but not the idea. it's dangerous. they need a way to differentiate. ]

-- It's not the worst idea I've heard.

[ peggy answers with a sigh. after all, it's not as though she hasn't already been quizzed on this kind of thing before. rip had tried to make his own inquiry casual the day he'd thought she might be her mirror instead. ]

A passcode, a question, an anything. Really.

It'd have to be something they wouldn't think of.

[ so neither of them can come up with their own code, it'll be too easily broken, since they don't actually know what they have in common with their mirrors. ]

And we'd have to be sure we're not them when we come up with it - [ which is a whole other headache. after all, what's to guarantee he's not talking to her mirror right now? ] seems pretty circular.

There's the rub.

[ with the actual mirrors scattered across the mansion, it's hard to say where and when their doppelgangers might be looking through and eavesdropping. even secrets she might have considered safe between the two of them -- scant and few though they are -- can't be trusted. ]

Although it is worth considering that what happened this month is a bit of an outlier. Usually, our mirrors can't cross over without first flinging our real selves onto the other side. The two aren't meant to coexist in one world at once.

[ that's new information, and it's as concerning as it is helpful.

it demonstrates how little he actually knows.

he has so many questions. he picks one to start with. ]

-- what happens when we coexist?

Nothing, apparently. [ after all! nothing had seemed to have happened while the mirrors crossed over this time-- ] Only that it appears to be against their Queen's wishes and rules.

[ a quirk of her mouth. ]

It's a new bit of mystery. Worth following up, I think.

[ is it, or is it just a time waster to keep them busy with? they have no way of knowing so following it up - if there is even a way to do that - it is. ]

The flinging to another reality is worth a follow up explanation too, while we're at it -

[ he can ask 10,000 questions - but instead of hearing 9999 'we don't know's, he'd rather just hear what they do know. ]

I'm afraid I won't be much help. [ she cuts through the care of his interrogation and reveals the problem at its heart. ] I've never been to the other side.

Do you know how it happens?

[ knowing what to watch for seems like pretty critical information, other than not lingering around mirrors he's got nothing, and he's not even sure if that'll help any.

it's magic. physical proximity can be irrelevant. ]

I believe the mechanism is tripped by the mirror him- or herself first crossing over. Once they take that action, we are left at their mercy.

[ it's not a pretty answer. none of them will be. and -- to that end: ]

If you want to talk more about the intricacies of Wonderland physics, Mister Queen, then perhaps we should consider a brief change of venue.

[ nothing dramatic. but perhaps a hallway or a tea room instead. there are so many bodies milling around -- and so many trumpet blasts in the music. ]

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