[ A Holiday Wish ] The New Year's Eve Ball (main room)

[Zoobey]

Gear received a swift blow to the head that really shouldn't have hurt as much as it did as the assailant went down. He moved forward to help someone refill their drink, more than happily stepping over Gear to do so. Thankfully he had just polished his shoes - twice - so there were no visible footprints. And also because he had no life and nothing to do other than clean, cook, work during special occasions, make up names for Zymyn, and harass his son (and singular adopted daughter, depending on what time of the season it was and Velda's mood), he had more than enough time to have arrived at the venue 10 hours early to carefully inspect each and every inch of the floor and make sure that it was indeed spotless even though it was really none of his business, and it was hard to tell someone so obsessi- diligent anything other than a resigned compliance.

Random Artist

 

[Seussi]

Mya's thoughtful look shifted away as her lips curled up into a mischievous smile, her eyes wrinkling at their edges, a sure sign of her age to go with the grey streaks in her hair, even if her body was still in excellent shape. "Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I heard her and her friends all giggling about some boy named Jared. Ring any bells?" Her eyes widened up at him innocently, and it was hard to hold back the laughter she could feel threatening to spill free. She had known what his reaction would be to all of this, and yet still she had said it all, just for a bit of amusement, all to get a rise out of him.

Ah, how things never changed.

Her heels loaned her a bit of height, but still she had to crane upward just to press a soft kiss to her forever fiances cheek. "I'm only teasing you, Lucas." She settled back down, sliding her arms around his tighter and leaning her head against his shoulder.

"It was Christopher they were giggling over."

ramenli

sorry I'm so slow adglsgsa work + renovating now ugh

 

[ramenli]

Taani listened to his explanation, trying not to focus on the other strange words, until she felt her cheeks flaming red, sure that she had misunderstood him. She heard him ask her to take a walk with him, but there was no way that she could go anywhere with such a...such a scoundrel. If there was a low, manly chuckle in the back of her mind she ignored it, but if she had actually listened, and if Charles was feeling nice, he easily could have cleared up the confusion.

Her voice dropped to a hiss, but a fairly loud one. "You were referring to me as, as...female undergarments?" Taani stumbled over her words a bit, struggling not to go off on him in Hindi. Of course she had been warned that there were all sorts of men in the world, but she had not expected one to be so brazen in public!

chirigami

I need to sleep and realized I had tags! So uh...enjoy a short tag rofl?

 

[ramenli]

Drawing in a deep breath, and puffing out his chest in the process, Lucas got ready to unleash his fury. Then he just scowled instead. "I don't know of any youngin' like that, but ya better point him out ta me so I can give him a good talkin' to, man ta man."

By talking to, he meant scarin' the pants off the kid. Ain't no 10 year old going to date his little darlin', even if it was just holdin' hands and gigglin'.

The kiss settled him a bit, the words moreso. He rolled his eyes, but they were fond, and he was starting to think more and more that maybe, since the kids were already being looked after, that they should leave the party for somewhere more private. At least for a while.

All of those thoughts went flying out the window when she revealed the real secret. But this time he just looked down at her, squinting more than narrowing his eyes. "I don't know if I can trust ya anymore woman." The effect was partially ruined when he bent his head and brushed a kiss over one of the graying streaks of her hair.

Seussi

OMG you are the worst :'( THE. WORST. I can't believe you have a life.

ilu Seu *A*

 

[medigel]

Safe. Hah. Even with the island's current prosperity, Jack didn't believe anyone was safe. Something would come eventually. The lull in the horsemen's activities didn't soothe his paranoia; if anything, it just made it more active. Under the facade, after all, Jack was a mess of constant thoughts. For instance, he wondered if Finn's joke was actually a joke, or if he had begun to catch on about Lucky somehow; he wondered if Lucky's little toe towards the boundary earlier was the last of it for tonight; and he wondered if there was enough alcohol at the party to make him stop caring.

Naturally, his sneaking suspicions, the most negative of them, said the answer to all was no.

Jack followed Peyton's eyes towards what looked like a pair of rather nice shoes missing their owner--shame, those looked good. He didn't raise a question, instead turning back to Finn. "Higgs--?" Jack frowned in thought for a moment, sifting past the Chemistry and back to Biology. s**t, what were those called again? "Braxton Hicks," he said after a moment, his frown remaining.

"Tell her to watch those, just in case." If he remembered his studies correctly (and pregnancy was one of the few things he cared about as far as women went), it was natural for those contractions to occur more and more frequently around Fini's time, but . . . "Have fun yourself," Jack replied with a sympathetic look as Finn left--at least he'd get to avoid the pregnant monster for a little longer.

Catching Peyton's eye daggers, he swirled his still half-full glass of champagne to break her vision before downing it in seconds. "Ah, let it go, Pey, he's harmless." Although half of him had wished she'd gone with that impulse anyway; clearly one mess wasn't enough. Jack was scanning for a waiter to fix his empty glass problem when he was assaulted with pink--followed by a familiar face attached to it.

"What the hell?" The first time it was to himself; the second time it was called out for his classmate's benefit--his and . . . Ian's by the looks of it. "Shy, that time I called you Barbie? That was a joke, not a challenge," he added with a dry look.

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xkurotomato

xtsamdere

xBeejoux

xSeussi

 

[medigel]

She was about to puff her cheeks and go back to her favorite saying of Dad doesn't always have to know everything when the presentation of envelopes distracted her. B-Bonus?

She scanned her instructions with growing delight. Nothing diverted a teen mind faster than the idea of rewards. And nothing drove Lina's mind into happy, dizzying swirls faster than singing--well, aside from kissing Gale. But what to sing? Title after title, snippet after snippet, and lyric after lyric ran amok in her head, each vying for that special spot. Lina was only vaguely aware that her date had received a nice note, so caught up was she in making this very important decision. Disney? Too obvious, oh, she hated being too obvious! Carols? It did say "holiday cheer", but singing about Christmas on New Years was a little like keeping up the Christmas tree into February as far as she was concerned . . . Hmmm. She was probably overthinking this.

Definitely overthinking this.

So Lina went with her third option, the most common source of her material when it wasn't Disney-centric: Glee. And by God, she wasn't going to stop singing and grinning away unless forced. In fact, she attempted to get her date dancing like this was perfectly choreographed from the start, even though it was clear she was taking the lead whether Gale stumbled or kept up. Even Justin wasn't safe as she tried to pull him in too--for backup dancing purposes, of course.

It wasn't her fault she believed people could naturally break out into song in real life. High School Musical had ruined her.

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kurotomato

Marushii

Zoobey

 

[mare]

“Thanks, never could tie them properly. All loops and knots and confusing crap.”

Ian’s had fingers found his tie, straightening it and Shiloh chuckled, beaming up at him.

“A drink sounds nice, though I think they are in a different…”

Unlike his nickname, and Ian, shyness wasn’t a particular quality that Shiloh possessed, and as Ian dropped his hand, Shiloh picked it up without thinking as he trailed off. He was looking around for the right direction to drag poor Ian in when a familiarly scrutinizing voice reached his ears, and Shiloh whipped his head around with a laugh, shooting Jack a hand sign he was sure to understand.

“What, does this mean you don’t want to be my Ken?” he called back, completely distracted from fetching drinks and doing his best impression of pretending to be hurt. “I’m crushed.”

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kurotomato

Ol-j-man

 

[chirigami]

And in an instant, Milo's smile fell and his hands shot up again in defense and waved a little. "Aaa, no no." The brunet began, trying not to get flustered over how things were so not going well at the moment. It wasn't a first, confusing people with Pidgin and language but it had been a while so he was hanging onto the cool air he usually presented himself with.

< Wow, you're doing so well. It's a wonder you managed to attract the hearts of so many ghouls... > His partner drawled on, bored like but seeming to finally voice an spiteful opinion. Milo could almost see the eye roll he was being given. He gave her a very mental shut up! in several languages.

His lovely companion seemed really pissed though, "nah, brah is like brother an' stuff, what you call a good friend." Yes, explain it in simple terms. "Slang, you know?" His voice pitched a bit at the end with uncertainty and an awkward smile tugged on his lips, his brows creased in hope that this solved the issue. And she wouldn't walk away. It was very tempting to lay a hand on her shoulder, but something was telling him that would probably be dangerous. Yes, let us not lose a limb, Milo Hale.

ramenli

sink, Milo ~ sink ~

 

[Bittiface]

Otto nodded faintly, feeling a little silly about this whole situation. He'd have to kick Jack in the shins for this. Maybe. Just a little. "I understand." He murmured, slinking back and into the crowd. All he wanted now was to hide under a rock for another nineteen years.

Nio Love

kurotomato

 

[kuropeco]

"A different..." Ian prompted Shiloh to finish, but whatever words he'd been going to say were somewhat garbled in the back of his throat the second that he felt warm fingers wrap around his own. Shiloh had taken his hand - he had taken his hand, even if it was just to tug him in a different direction, the fact remained that Shiloh had just reached out and taken his hand.

Like it was no big deal. Like it was just a small and simple thing to reach out and touch someone's fingers, thread yours through theirs. A warmth spread up through Ian's palm outwards, up his wrist until his entire arm was tingling pleasantly from the sensation.

He tried to act casual, which was helped by a certain other hunter's arrival. Jack was given a roll of Ian's eyes and a middle finger thrown in his direction, though it was good natured.

"And hello to you too," Ian said, grinning at Jack - and trying very hard to be casual about the whole hand-holding thing, as though this were just an everyday occurrence. Peyton was given a smile, Ian tilting his head. "You two come here together?"

ol-j-man

tsamdere

beejoux

 

[Kyrieko]

Seussi

Text to Finn: Somewhere by the entrance. Don't take too long.

Food. It sounded both divine and nauseating at the same time. The past couple days had been really rough and every possible part of her body that could ache felt like someone was drilling into her with a hammer. Her head, surprisingly, didn't hurt as bad. Ohgod but remaining on her feet right now?! Not. Going. To happen.

Finn was probably drunk. The idiot.

Sighing, Fini shifted herself to push off the wall and avoid knocking into people, planning on finding her own table and chairs. She winced in pain, hand falling to her stomach as yet another kick (or was that a contraction?) assaulted her. Maybe she should have just said ******** it and stayed home. By herself. On New Year's... Okay no. She stayed at home too much. This was a good excuse to get out and mingle! Maybe. She could do without the pain. Oh and look, there was Ripley. Not Finn. SIGH.

"Let me guess," Fini offered Ripley and Abbi a faint smile (that may have been more like a shark's grin). "He sent you to 'tame the beast', right?" She just rolled her eyes, trying not to wince in front of them, and appear the lovely - pregnant - lady she was. "And thank you for the compliment, Ripley. You're looking quite dashing yourself." Which was about all she could get out before suddenly she had an Abbi all over her. And okay, that really did make her smile. Totally a girl thing. Abbi was always a fresh reminder that some people were excited for this baby.

"Happy New Year, Abbi!" She managed to give the teen a hug, soft smile forming as Abbi rubbed her stomach. That fell rather quickly as Ripley suggested a picture. What was wrong with you, Ripples, she was huge! A brief death glare flashed across her face at her brother-in-law, but she smiled prettily enough with Abbi!

"Oh fantastic idea! Let me take a picture of the both of you." And then maybe she could go sit down?

Enoh Love

Aye Avast

 

[Kyrieko]

Trust them! Ha ha! Now that was hilarious Cody. And then he may or may not have added in an obnoxiously loud and very obvious wolf whistle for his nephew, who was macking on some chick. Totally his father's son.

Lex glanced at Otto as Cody whispered to him and suddenly very much liked you, Maebe keep making out with Otto! He inched a step (or three) away from Becca, just to be safe. "Good point, man." He murmured back to Cody, opting to just give his nephew a double thumbs up for encouragement.

To Becca, Lex just gave the pitiful puppy look. "I didn't do nothin'!" He said dramatically, catching Cody in a head lock while he was at it. "Was all this one, obviously." A pause. "As was his failed lessons in sneaking." COUGH.

And then he really was coughing out a laugh because of that wonderful image that flashed across his mind. Good times indeed- wait, what?! "Me?!" Lex gave a gasp of horror. "How could I ever find someone as charming as you, Becca dear?"

Nyxtsuki Moon

OnionGrump

 

[Nio Love]

Maebe continued to watch Otto go, the smug little face disappearing the moment he'd turned away and couldn't see her. Her expression darkened into something much fouler, but she didn't say a word for at least a few long, heavy seconds. Alistaire needed to know that she was in no rush to hear what he had to say.

And she wasn't. But for all the wrong reasons.

Finally, she turned to look at him, her face etched with flawless apathy. Her lips pursed in such a manner that it looked just right, because she'd practiced it. Her expressions - at least the ones she planned - always looked flattering on her face, even if they were unhappy ones. She made sure of it, through hours of looking in the mirror and testing out exactly what an emotion was supposed to look like. Sadness was a mask. Happiness was definitely a mask. She had an arsenal of perfectly trained masks, all of which were intended to still look good on her.

But Alistaire had seen every, single, one. She had nothing left to surprise him with, anymore.

She had to wonder if putting on a show was even worth it with him. He knew her too well. He was too deep under her skin. And he hadn't even been trying - it just happened.

Her mask cracked - something in her expression looked just a little too lost. She hadn't practiced lost. She'd never expected to need it.

"So? Talk."

kurotomato

 

[Rejam]

Taym's path back into the milling crowd took him through the dining room as a matter of course. He was feeling, after his little conversation with Clerise, both self-destructive and vicious. He had a nebulous idea that he might go and smile a shark-toothed grin at Mimsy in a fit of pique, but was luckily thwarted--he was instantly relieved--by the fact that she was abundantly occupied by the task of gazing dreamy-eyed at Robert.

Suicide-by-Jabberwock thus averted, he put his hands into his pockets and relaxed his businesslike stride into an easy, jackal-esque saunter back to the main room, pausing here and there to exchange a couple of words with someone before politely pulling away, plunging back into comfortably detached semi-anonymity, looking for unoccupied female hands that might be at home on his arm.

He was distracted in his easygoing hunt by Peyton's flame-colored hair, and when he saw that she was on Jack's arm the grin he'd been saving for Mimsy resurfaced of its own accord.

He made an attempt to catch her eye. She looked miserable. It pleased him, and he wanted her to acknowledge that it pleased him. "Bored?" he mouthed, distracted by plucking a champagne glass off a passing tray.

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Ol-j-man

/jaws theme

Beejoux

/jaws theme intensifies