[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

[circlejerked]

_{[Oh, it's you, Nathaniel. Who gave you permission to stand there? You're in the way.]}

I was doing you a favor, an incredibly selfless favor out of the goodness of my heart, but suit yourself!

_{[Also, twice as drunk? That's just rude. Anders poses his hand on his hip with a smile and magnanimous air of someone dispensing a valuable service to those lesser in need. Some people just don't appreciate a good thing when it's handed to them. Their loss.]}

Lucky for you, we're in a place outside of time where traditions don't matter as much.

[noble_son]

Traditions? You're going to have to run this one by me.

[He sips his drink. It's half gone and very green - something that Hawke had given him earlier and that he had taken quite a liking to despite its colour.

The rogue takes a quick look at Anders - a brief up-down sweep of his eyes - and smirks faintly.]

You haven't looked as if you've been enjoying this as much as I'd normally expect you to.

[circlejerked]

New Year's. You should really try to leave your den and talk to people more often, I highly recommend it. You pick up a thing or two about the holidays most of our fellow cellmates practice.

<sub>[Anders smoothly carries on with barely a break for breath. He's an expert at taking reality and bending it into the shape he wants it to be, and that's what he does now, answering his fellow Warden with a toss of his head like Nathaniel is, as ever, mistaken. A lamb that's wandered off the track, forcing Anders to play the part of the shepherd guiding him back in the right direction.

He's fine. It's Nathaniel who's seeing what he wants to see. Obviously.]</sub>

If I were enjoying it any more I'd fat on food and wine and need to be carried out.

_{[Punctuated by a dismissive laugh at the implication he's being less than festive. You're right, it's difficult to talk to Anders about these things. Some might say impossible.]}

[noble_son]

I find my conversations with people tend to hold more substance. [Nathaniel replies smartly, with a careful sip of his drink and a look shot at the mage that says very plainly he does not believe a word coming out of the other man's mouth.

Part of his work, his life, is being observant.. and he is. Very observant.]

You must think I'm blind and stupid, mage... but if you're going to insist on your personal fantasy, I shan't be the one to force it.

[Sip.]

But you should tell your face that you're having a good time. I don't think it's entirely got the message.

[circlejerked]

More substance like what? The best creams to use on frown lines?

<sub>[Nathaniel not that observant, or he'd notice Anders is too busy playing his own game to want to play Nathaniel's. Anders isn't in the mood for anything of substance--which is why he carries on being a glib shithead with the same impregnable smile like the other hadn't said anything. You said it, not me, that smile says. "Blind" and "stupid" aren't the exact descriptors he would've used, but sure, close enough.

The wine glass in his other hand goes up in a mock salute.]</sub>

I'll take that to mean an invitation for us both to get twice as drunk. Thank the Maker for free drinks.

_{[An extra big smile for you, Nathaniel. Satisfied now, or should he hold it another couple of seconds for it to sink in?]}

[noble_son]

[Nathaniel holds still a moment, then shakes his head.]

You can stop. Maker, you look like you're going to break something.

[And people said it looked difficult when he smiled. The rogue considers his drink - or, glass, the liquid mostly gone by now - then looks over to the bar. It hadn't exactly been an invitation, but the mage has a point about the free drinks.]

Hm. Very well. Twice as drunk it is. [He lifts his glass.] Cheers.

[circlejerked]

<sub>[The teasing is brushed off with another casual flick of a hand. A faked good mood, a genuine good mood--it's all the same, when you get down to it. Pin on a smile like a badge, exude charm and drop jokes at the right moments, and very few can tell the difference. Sometimes not even Anders.

Sometimes there isn't a difference, and that's the sad thing.]</sub>

It's called a smile, Nathaniel. I realize this might be a confusing experience for you seeing as how you may not have had many directed at you before.

<sub>[Lip service only. As quick as he is to to insist if anyone in the world looks like their face is about to crack to pieces, it's Nathaniel, it's not true. It's good to see his fellow Warden somewhat loose and relaxed.

Although Anders' glass is still mostly full, he follows along. He certainly won't talk Nathaniel out of letting his hair down.]</sub>

To parties with open invitations! And being in full control of our faculties again. Cheers.

[noble_son]

Sometimes, I do wonder what you honestly think of me, mage.

[This said with his lips at the rim of the glass, half murmured into his drink before he sips it. He will tell himself that he doesn't really care about Anders' opinion of him, but the fact of the matter is that the mage has managed to work himself into the position of someone that Nathaniel wouldn't hesitate to call 'friend', and as such... his opinion has become important.

Not that he's ever going to say it outright.

He drains the rest of his glass with a swiftness that would put most hardened drinkers to shame - and barely coughs - before he makes a small gesture towards the bar.]

Come on, Anders. Let's see if we can find the strongest drink they have.

[circlejerked]

<sub>[The mystery will stay alive. In typical Anders fashion, he doesn't seem in a hurry to enlighten Nathaniel one way or the other, settling against the bar with an elbow resting on the edge.

Well, we can't let the Howes have all the fun, can we! He joins in on draining his glass--more slowly than the last one before it. He's starting to feel the warm tingle of alcohol in his blood now and if he gets too hasty with his drinks, he might very well need to be carried out of here.]</sub>

I'm game. I've been here over a year now, I think I deserve it.

[noble_son]

[Typical Anders, and there does come a point where Nathaniel realises he just has to let whatever is happening take its natural course. If the man in front of him could turn into the person who had blown up a chantry for the sake of ideals, there is clearly a lot more going on in his mind than he ever says.

But, of course.. Justice will have had something to do with it...]

An entire year? [Well, then. It's already been some months for Nathaniel, but a year still feels like a long way off.] You must have some interesting stories, for that amount of time.

[He quickly has another drink in his hand - something strong and golden-coloured. If he's going to get drunk, he's going to do it properly.]

[circlejerked]

One whole wonderfully zany year.

_{[Echoed with a noticeable flatness. Not even Anders thinks he'd be very believable if he'd tried to sound joyful about Wonderland holding the lot of them here like kept pets. The Wardens had known his feelings about the restrictive nature of the Circle--running away from that was how he'd come to meet them in the first place.]}

No doubt you'd have just as many. _{[Once empty, Anders pushes his glass aside. A request for an exceptionally strong drink nets him something called Death in the Afternoon, which says enough, really. He cocks his head at it.]} Well, this looks like it could be a formidable contender. If I die tonight, it was in the service of scientific exploration.

[noble_son]

[He could try, but it would be one thing that he would never be able to convince Nathaniel of. Even the briefest of acquaintances with Anders could tell anyone that he hated being penned in, and while this might be a very pretty cage, it was still a cage.

In a way, Nathaniel supposes that he's used to it. Nobility can be a very pretty cage, too.]

I do have a way of getting myself into interesting situations. [Nathaniel concedes with a nod, tilting his glass so the ice clinks against the side. He casts a glance over at Anders' choice and smirks slightly.]

I'll ensure that they put that on your grave. 'Anders. Died for science'.

[circlejerked]

You say that, but you're still better at shirking them than getting into them, if you ask me. You had one chance to ring in the new year Earth-style! Now you'll have to wait a whole 'nother year to scratch that off your bucket list.

<sub>[With that obligatory reprimand (said laughingly, because honestly it would've been more surprising if Nathaniel had let him within five feet of him), Anders slides his drink a little closer and sips experimentally.

Champagne and absinthe, phew. Talk about a potent combination.]</sub>

You think "lived a little dangerously and died a lot drunk" is too many letters?

[noble_son]

[Nathaniel snorts softly to the 'reprimand', shaking his head.]

If I'm still here in another year, I'll kiss you then, [He says, his low and grave voice making it very difficult to tell if he's joking or not. The quiet smile he hides behind his glass would suggest nothing one way or the other, either.

Then, he considers Anders' epitaph suggestion - seriously considers it, if the incredibly thoughtful expression on his face is anything to go by.]

I don't know. Maybe if you found the right script style.

[circlejerked]

<sub>[A joke! Such rare wonders they're witnessing tonight.

He doesn't for an instant buy that Nathaniel intends for his remark to be taken to heart, and the area around his eyes crinkles with his smile. This is what he wants--effortless banter, insubstantial chatter, the kind of thing that can fill time in a night and be forgotten about in the morning when other things refuse to be forgotten so easily.]</sub>

Is that a promise or motivation to get out of here faster? I can't tell which to be more worried about.

_{[Script? Size of the letters? Hm, why stop there? Anders thinks designing his tombstone might be just the job for Barry Allen and his text abbreviations.]}

Maybe acronyms. _{[It's an inside joke he doesn't expect anyone else besides the cupcake-demolishing speedster to get, though. Another sip, another grimace.]} So, enjoying the party?

[noble_son]

[He leaves the first part of what Anders says alone, because it's really down to how the mage wants to take it and he wasn't sure as soon as the words left his mouth that he should have said it at all.

Anticipating still being here in a years time isn't something he's terribly keen on doing.]

Acronyms might do it, but they'll only mean something to people who know you. [Sip.] I suppose that's fine, though...

[When prompted, he glances around the room and hums, examining the party for a moment.] It's more pleasant than the ones my father used to host.