[OPEN] We'll Take A Cup of Kindness Yet

[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:

[The morning of December 31st, all residents will receive a handwritten invitation slipped under their door.]



You are cordially invited to attend a party
celebrating the New Year

Wonderland Ballroom
8 pm - 1 am

Semi-Formal Attire
Buffet & Bar
No RSVP Required

All Ages Welcome

For inquiries, contact E. O'Connell

[Punctuality in planning is important: the ballroom itself will only be ready for guests at exactly 8 o'clock, bedecked in glittering golds and the red-green of Christmas' vestiges, still clinging to the old year. Dining tables surround a central dance floor, bars and buffets dot the edges of the room and both holly and mistletoe are expressed liberally through the interior.

Mingle, dance, eat and be merry! The New Year will come in at midnight - the band will play and the drinks will flow for long after.]

Comments

[blackbirdsing]

I hear you, and no problem. I'm familiar with people who would rather sit through a four hour lecture than be at a party.

[ Her brother being one of those people. She's proud of him for coming, doing it for Jane. At the compliment, Sarah smiles and can't help but arch an eyebrow. ]

Why thank you for noticing. It takes a lot of effort to think up something pretty and pull it out of the closet.

[ Easily a facetious sounding joke, but in this case it really had been hard to imagine what she wanted. ]

[nonscriptum]

[Nate might not have patience for the lecture - he'd rather be scaling a mountain without climbing gear just for the thrill of it, but that's not something you should tell the physical therapist who deals with your mountain-related injuries.]

I'll take your word for it.

[He lifts his empty wine glass, eyeing it a little forlornly.]

As you can see, I am wearing the...finest...utilitarian couture.

[blackbirdsing]

Oh yeah, super styling. I mean, honestly, you're probably the most comfortable one here, outfit wise.

[ She sees him looking at his glass sadly and decides to be a Good Person, handing over her glass that's still full. ]

I feel like you need this more than I do.

[nonscriptum]

[Nate almost takes a physical step back from the glass, because as much as he'd like to be totally hammered right now, his mild sobriety would do everyone more good than harm.]

Oh no, no, no, trust me. You don't wanna see me drunk.

[And in a supremely subtle way of changing the subject while simultaneously sizing up the edges of a very large, very volatile playing field, Nate sets his empty glass on the tray of a passing server and raises his eyebrows at her.]

So where's your date?

[blackbirdsing]

[ When he declines, Sarah shrugs and takes a sip from the glass and then smiles, gesturing over toward said date. ]

Ray's voluntarily talking to my brother which is amazing, considering my brother mostly grunts his replies to any boyfriend I've ever had.

[ She says that with a fond smirk, though it seems like Kurt's coming around now that he's invited Ray over for a family dinner. ]

[nonscriptum]

Must be an older brother thing.

[Nate says as though he knows from experience, although in his case he distinctly remembers Sam Drake shoving his unsociable baby brother at women in seedy bars from Buenos Aires to Guadalajara. It was an effort in every sense of the word, and one in which Sam reveled after foisting a few drinks off on those with lesser tolerances for cane alcohol.

He glances over at the distant conversation in question, squinting after a moment.]

...isn't that the guy who's showed up on the network with his shirt off?

[blackbirdsing]

[ Sarah looks at Ray for a second before looking back at Nate with a nod. ]

Yep. Yeah, that's my boyfriend.

[ She sound proud, if anything. ]

The reason I'm trying hard to do something resembling exercise now.

[nonscriptum]

It's overrated.

[Exercise. It keeps you healthy, but honestly, at what cost? Nate grimaces at the thought, but that's because he exercises without meaning to - he can't go five minutes without wanting to scale the nearest edifice for a better view.]

You got any other patients besides me?