[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

[poppycock]

[ offending nate only seems to result in klaus' moderate amusement; he's interested to see they share the same derision. (he certainly posed the notion to see the reaction and/or be a dick.) archeologist is a step up. ] Well that's a relief, considering there's so few "modern trendsetters" with genuine understanding of old ways. [ and now the derision is p obvious :') ]

[nonscriptum]

Well, it's not like we're lacking in practical application. From what I hear there's a few people here from other time periods.

[The thought alone makes the history nerd in him salivate, because Nate hasn't met anyone from older eras yet that aren't the resident librarian, and he knows they have to be around here somewhere. {Were he a more sociable person it might be easier to locate them, but Nathan Drake is, sadly, inept at casual human interaction.)]

[poppycock]

[ so is klaus, not being much of a people person himself, but this short interaction seems to be going all right.

his new acquaintance has a valid point; it would be ever more conscientious to consider all the other variables. ] And other cultures, worlds, abilities, species. [ he smiles at the word "species" considering, well.

the list goes on, is his main point. ] It's difficult to know what or who you're talking to. [ like right now, for instance. klaus looks out at the crowd, takes a taste of his drink: bourbon, neat. ]

[nonscriptum]

More so when you don't have all this weird crap at home.

[He gestures around them in such a way that suggests that "crap" here means "magic," or something along those lines that covers all of the mysterious vagueries and inexplicable events that happen every other goddamn week.

Oddly enough, he's still bored.]

You got people from your world here?

[poppycock]

[ klaus has plenty of this so-called "weird crap" at home, minus the events and the inanity of wonderland itself of course, and yet he too is still bored. perhaps such ennui is expected with over a thousand years under his belt, or perhaps klaus grows listless when his enemies would rather hide behind a mirror and conduct puppet shows instead of more tangible assaults.

either way... ]

I do. My sisters, friends, [ that may be a stretch ] acquaintances. Makes this "weird crap" more bearable [ he sobers then ] or more difficult, considering. [ he doesn't particularly take comfort knowing his loved ones suffer with him, boredom or no. this is dangerous. ] And you?

[nonscriptum]

[Makes the crap more bearable. He wouldn't know. Nate's got one person from his world and from what he remembers, their parting had been anything but amicable. Rafe Adler seems to largely keep to himself and maybe that's for the better, since Nate is destined to fuck up his relationships sooner or later.

It's really only a matter of time.]

Ah, no. [He corrects himself.] I mean, one guy, but we're not exactly friends. More like ex-coworkers who had creative differences.

[Which is a diplomatic way of saying that Nate was wracked with guilt and grief over his late brother at the time, incapable of concentrating on the very job that led to his sibling's demise, and Rafe was increasingly, violently frustrated with the lack of project progress and Nate's declining emotional health.]

He's from seven years in my future, it's...

[Unable to find the right adjective, Nate just trails off and grimaces at him.]

[poppycock]

Complicated? [ klaus offers the elucidation himself; his gaze, which was before turned somewhat inward, is now turned with mild perception towards nate. the man certainly is diplomatic in his explanation but why to such an extent is hard to say. he can't imagine something in the likes of an office tiff resulting in such a grimace.

then again his life is hardly of the mundane, if that's what this is. not to mention he knows intimately about the trouble of timelines; camille comes to mind. ] I've found most time discrepancies only result in such.

[nonscriptum]

That's a nice word for it.

[In the same way that being thrown off a mountain by an exploding train with a bullet in your side could be described as a "mildly uncomfortable fall" in Nate's book.

Klaus speaks with an experience that reminds Nate a little too much of his older brother's dodgy responses whenever asked about suddenly-extinguished flames, or women he never called back. Nate had to learn that from someone...]

...lemme guess. Girl problems?

[poppycock]

[ the blind guess could not have more suitably made its mark, though klaus' current experiences (here and at home) with "girl problems" are hardly limited to failed or botched romantic pursuits.

klaus grimaces but there is humor in the winced smile. ] Ah, if only I could count the complicated women in my life. [ there's camille, yes. there's caroline here, as well. his sisters, his daughter, the mother of his child; even elena and bonnie now, in their own ways. ]

[nonscriptum]

[Nate was in the middle of his own private soap opera back home, what with the betrayal that ended in three months of Turkish prison, the serious-but-not-entirely-serious girlfriend, the investigative reporter ex who showed up in the middle of a war zone to sniff out the same maniac trying to shoot Nate in the head...

To quote a wise philosopher, it's a hard-knock life.]

That many, huh?

[Must be a charming guy. Or an entitled one. The jury's still out for the time being.]

[poppycock]

[ he doesn't see how he couldn't be both; he is charming and entitled, but he's hardly been lucky for either. his fortunes and tragedies and fate has been of his own devising, and his own blame.

it is a hard-knock life. ] Enough, [ he says vaguely, and turns his easygoing smile to nate. ] Do you also speak from experience?

[nonscriptum]

[At least he's well on his way to solving the issues in question. The first step of fixing your problems is admitting that you have them, and so on...

Nate hasn't quite reached that stage, but he's had less time to do so.]

Uh, yeah. More or less. Back home, but not here.

[Although he would give anything to see Chloe here, to see Elena.]