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

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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

And now, she is juggling, his cigarettes, his lighter and a drink... the one she might suspect he's insisting she take, just so she doesn't retrieve the one that Klaus had poured for her. Why fucking this.

He's just, he's trying and somehow this has gone from her being mad to finding a way not to upset him or hurt his feelings, Kate letting out a soft sigh as she manages to deposit some of her cargo on the bar.

Pulling in a deep breath, she turns back to face him, running through what she'd like to say in her head before trying to give it voice.

"Okay. Let's... say I dance with you." This shouldn't be so complicated. "Why? It's not because you want to dance with me or you would have asked me already. You'd be doing it to try and make me happy, Richie and that's not what I want. That's not real. It's not always about the person it's about the moment and you can't... plan that, do you... understand?"

He seems to go over all of this in his head, at the very least not seeming to be particularly offended by it anymore.

That doesn't mean he gets it, but he can sort of follow along at least. Seriously, though. Girls.

"You're trying to tell me that doing things to make people happy only works if you do it before they ask." He looks...a little unimpressed by that, honestly. "You do realize I'm not a literal mind reader, right? I have to trade blood with you for that."

Relief washes over her, the worry and tension starting to flow out of her as she exhales, a small, almost grateful smile starting to touch her lips when... Richie just keeps going.

Her mouth falls open, eyes narrowing infinitesimally and she cocks her head to one side, frozen in place before the literal groan can be allowed to pass her lips. He was just, so close and then...

"Yeah..." Pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's... You know it's really more about..." Why is this happening?! "The effort?" Though she's fairly sure that's not going to help him understand.

"You don't have to read my mind, Richie. You just... You know what?" The cheer she forces into her voice, a little too bright. "It's, so not even about that. I don't want you to try and make me happy. I just, you should do whatever... you... want."

He's putting forth effort, okay. There is plenty of effort to go around at the moment. Not to mention, the last time he tried to do something like what she's suggesting, he had it shoved back into his face in a moment of horrible rejection.

It's fine.

"Right."

He doesn't look like he believes that at all, but considering the impasse they've reached, he's just gonna...go with it.

"Well, right now, I want to drink this," he says as he lifts up what he poured and knocks it back so that he can set it aside. "And I want to finish my cigarette. We can just pretend this never happened or something, I guess."

God, Richie. She's not asking for a diamond tennis bracelet here. She just doesn't want your pity dances. (I know).

"Okay." This was about as close to a win as she was going to get on this and Kate was going to take it. Of course, this still left her here, half miserable and wishing she could just retreat to the room but she was trying to change the way she was looking at tonight. She was not Kate in the pretty dress but the one who had to find a way to survive in this place, especially now that Richie had half outed himself.

"You, might as well finish mine too." Sliding her untouched drink across the bar. Her gaze does briefly touch on the flute of champagne but she'd just managed to find some sort of peace between them. She didn't want this to turn into an argument about how she liked Klaus' drink better than his.

"I probably shouldn't drink." Adding that on, lest he start thinking the above.

"I don't need it either."

He's not the biggest drinker, not like his brother. He enjoyed it, sure, but substance abuse wasn't really his thing.

"Just walk around with it. You don't have to actually drink it. No one's gonna push anything on you if you're already taken care of, plus it'll make you look like you're not just here to watch people," he explains as he slides it back.

It takes everything she has not to roll her eyes and again argue that Klaus hadn't been trying to push anything on her, the flute of champagne - that she would much rather be drinking, taunting her out of the corner of her eye. They'd only just found a level of peace however and she wasn't in the mood for another round of I'm right and you're wrong... especially when Kate knows she's in the right.

"I don't think you really need to worry about people coming anywhere near me for the rest of the night." I mean, really? Other people had to have caught that little display and between that and Richie's hovering? She'll just stand here and hold the drink and try her best not to look bored, or envious of those who look like they're having fun.

He manages a smirk as he shakes his head.

"I think you might be surprised."

People were strange. Sometimes, the idea of a threat looming made something more desirable. He wasn't about to let his guard down, but he might be less quick to step in now.

Maybe.

~~So what you're saying is that when Seth gets here too, everyone's going to want a piece of Kate~~

Kate for her part, remains unconvinced but will slip into an almost, sullen silence as she watches the elegant sway of bodies, the swirls of color as dancers spin around the room, the pleasant, almost musical spill of conversation that she realizes, she'll never really be a part of. That was a life meant for another girl, one she was still struggling to say goodbye to.

[Nice depressing thought to finish on.]

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

Richie, why

Because...

Oh dear

I can't

I just. Yes.

Sigh.

Richie, pls

8D

/fin?