[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

[choosetruth]

Blame them? No. [She tilts her head, mouth curving slightly down beneath her sunglasses. She doesn't blame people for preferring distraction, precisely. That would mean blaming the entire world, and even she doesn't have that in her. The world's a terrible place, especially where she's from. She's experienced it for herself enough that she can totally understand the need for distraction. She just doesn't know if she's capable of letting it happen for herself.]

But it does make my job harder.

[nonscriptum]

[There are a number of psychology textbooks that could be written on whatever Nate has, but a near-constant need for distraction is a large part of what makes him who he is, and what makes him so good at what he does. Part-reflexes, part-intuition, part-whatever you want to call it, his brain is a roiling source of activity that connects patterns quickly and efficiently.

(Often to the frustration of friends, since Nate isn't exactly skilled at the part where he's supposed to share his barreling train of thought with the rest of the class.)

He raises an eyebrow at her, because he's not a Big Party person, but he's also come here of his own volition and imagines most other guests have as well.]

Is your job being a professional buzzkill?

[choosetruth]

[She raises an eyebrow from behind her sunglasses.]

I'm a Factual News blogger. So yes, essentially.

[Her tone is entirely dry, almost amused. She knows she's no fun. She's comfortable with that role. Her brother's the fun one. It works for them.]

[nonscriptum]

Factual News blogger,

[Nate repeats, because none of those words should go together in a sentence, and especially not in that order.]

Are you also auditioning to be a Blues brother?

[choosetruth]

[She raises an eyebrow behind her sunglasses.] No. What the fuck is a Blues brother?

[nonscriptum]

...are you serious?

[It should be stated that Nathan Drake is not an enormous consumer of media. He never had steady access to a television, watched a decent number of older American films dubbed over in Spanish in theaters south of the border, and has a deeply profound knowledge of soap operas and paramilitary propaganda. Some (many) classics have escaped him.

His older brother had found a weather-beaten copy of Jake and Elroy's musical adventure in a thrift shop and stolen it immediately, which led to Nate's subsequent viewing and much fraternal enjoyment.]

They're- it's a movie, they- it's these two guys, they play blues music and wear sunglasses all the time.

[choosetruth]

Ah. I don't watch many pre-Rising movies. [At least, she's guessing it's pre-Rising. Movies people are surprised she hasn't seen usually are.]

And no, I'm not auditioning. I have Retinal Kellis-Amberlee. The sunglasses help.