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[ The Pink Elephant, NYC, NY ] [ 10:25 pm ]

While Paige hadn't been bartending here for real long, she'd been at it long enough to tell when someone had been prefunking before the real party began. It was astoundingly obvious that this was the case with the woman that she'd been watching half the night, but soon enough all rational thought felt pretty ******** impossible because hello, boobs --

The bottle hit the bartop with a loud noise, the purple liquid within shimmering to life -- Paige wasn't a big drinker, but she'd always been fascinated by the s**t. Perhaps this would be a night of many firsts. Then again, maybe she was just feeling the effect of the old year wrapping up with the new one rearing at the gate. Didn't matter, ******** it.

"It's on the house."

Paige poured one shot for the woman and another for herself before tucking the bottle back where it belonged. Only then did she lift her shotglass as she waited for the brunette to do the same.

"Happy ******** class="quote">

[ Guvernment Nightclub - Toronto, Ontario ] [11:50pm]

Ripley was, without a doubt, completely out of his comfort zone. Of course, his comfort zone was a good seventy-five kilometres away in the middle of no where, in a dark house within a small city that was quiet and peaceful. Everything that this place wasn't; here was loud, scent-filled and crowded, and even worse he couldn't tell if the vibrations in his chest was from the pounding music or his own nerves.

His friends - the few that he had - suggested a road trip to Toronto for the new year, to do something different for once, as opposed to the same house parties they had the last few years. Plus, they argued, he needed a little fun. He needed to relax, and 'act his age again', as if the fire had aged him a good few decades. He had only agreed because they had teased him about it, and he kept his reservations to himself and played along. If things got bad, he imagined he could always duck out and give some excuse or another - their hotel wasn't too far from here, either.

It was that card he was pulling now. It was close to midnight, and they had been there for what felt like hours. The drinks he had hadn't done anything to soothe his nerves at the sheer volume of the crowd. Claustrophobia was setting in, and he needed to get out. The rather nice looking red head he was dancing with got no more than a pat and a drowned out good bye before he turned and forgot about her entirely in his haste to get outside.

Fresh air, that was all he needed. Just some of the chill city air, and he'd be fine. He could go back inside and pretend he was okay to those he clung to as friends. He made his way outside, following a pair that wanted to get one last smoke in before the countdown began, and he was almost surprised to find that the negative fourteen air felt like a cool breeze to his too-warm skin.

The smokers went one way and he went another, sinking down to sit on the curb, bowing his head between his knees and threading gloved hands through his slicked back hair, the natural brown of his roots sported a few strands of stress-induced white, but both colours faded into a rather bright pink that lasted until the tips; the result of a charity tier before the fire took so much from him. He sat there, with his hands tangled up in his hair, and simply breathed in the chilly air, waiting for the moment the warmth would fade, and he could go back inside.

[ Boston, Massachusetts - Ragnarok Online ] [ 11:49 PM ]

// Tonite would b the night 2 do it. Everyone out celebrating? // Came the response back from "RavenWingGryph".

Wouldn't that be an interesting way to start out a new year? He shook his head after a moment, brushing fingers back through his hair as he tried to chase the idea away with it.

It was probably a bad idea, though, all things considered. He was certain enough that he would just wind up disappointing someone who didn't already know him anyways.

// It's getting close 2 midnight here. //

[ Boston, Massachusetts - Ragnarok Online ] [ 11:56 PM ]

// Friends wanted me 2 go out 2nite. Told them I had plans. Much pouting. //

He paused himself for a second before sending another message through just after one of his friends came back to the hotel room to insist he join them across the street, at least for the last few minutes of the year.

// Being kidnapped. Hit me up on IM? Same sn as here. Four minutes to midnight... //

[ Boston, Massachusetts - Ragnarok Online ] [ 11:49 PM ]

The next message came through instant messenger. The screen name here was ‘Laughing Bat’ – probably everything else he’d wanted was too close to an existing name.

<< Operation – rescue Raven?>> it offered.

[ Swiss Air Flight 22 - 11.48km Above Atlantic Ocean][ 5:41 a.m.]



The woman sitting next to her made a grand show of putting in her earplugs an hour and a half ago. Since then, Dr. Kercher had opened the folder, straightened the papers, and closed the folder seventy-eight more times, raising the total to two hundred and seventeen repetitions of the same series of motions. Three separate flight attendants had put forth admirable efforts to soothe the neurotic behavior by offering a drink menu, which she politely declined each time, failing to grasp the hints they were subtly providing.

It wouldn't have helped, anyway - this had to be perfect, straight and crisp and flawless, and she had to be certain that it remained as perfect as she originally intended it to be, which was perfect, straight and crisp and flawless--

This could be nothing else, lest it open more options for failure. This was the penultimate sampling of evidence to prove herself, the greatest of reassurances that she was important, and successful, and something to be proud of this time. That she was a capable and functional adult, who could make real and valid contributions to alter the course of humanity for the better.

That she could do this, and had done this, and was as human as the rest of them.

[ Guvernment Nightclub - Toronto, Ontario ] [11:50pm]

Bodies everywhere. Hot bodies in too tight clothes, exposed glistening with sweat and spray on glitter. Drunk bodies dancing, jumping, hair swinging to the music, flashes of teeth in bright smiles. The beat reverberated through the floor and walls, and through the chests of the clubs occupants, and if Finn's heart had stopped right then and there he surely would have been kept alive by the music alone, stronger, he was sure, then any defibrillator.

He had found himself in Toronto on a whim. He and a few of his bachelor coworkers who had nothing better to do on New Years Eve, and who had wanted a change of scenery (even though every night club looked the same to him). A different city, a different night life, a different crowd, and no attachments. He could grind, grab and grope his way through the sea of dancers and nobody seemed to care. Beautiful men and beautiful women, a smorgasbord of candidates for a no-regrets no-strings-attached one-night stand. Maybe he could even convince two or three to join him back at his hotel room. The sky was the limit. Inhibitions and shame both were discarded at the door.

But at exactly ten minutes to midnight, despite all of his fun, Finn found himself needing a cigarette. He wasn't quite aware of the time, of how close they were to ringing in the New Year. All he knew was that he was craving a hit of nicotine, and that craving overruled all else.

Near the door there was a loud argument between him and a security guard over the drink he was trying to take outside with him. Eventually, Finn downed it and shoved the plastic cup at the much larger mans chest, who told him to have a pleasant evening as he staggered his way out the door, removing himself from intense heat only to step into a shocking cold. <******** me!" He shouted with a laugh, stumbling a few steps away from the doors and to the curb, coming to an abrupt halt at the curb as he fished around for his cigarettes, eyes roaming around to the other outdoor dwellers, spotting smokers to the side, and two couples who were obviously hammered and waiting for a cab, one girl giggling raucously before leaning into her partner, lips moving against his ear as she whispered to him.

Smart. Getting away before midnight. Beating the worst of the crowds who would be flooding the streets in just a few short hours as the night clubs closed their doors.

Finn finally managed to withdraw a cigarette, and turned as if to join the other smokers, a ready grin already on his face, when he basically stepped on somebody else whom he hadn't noticed at all.

"s**t. <********>." He dropped his cigarette as he careened to the side in an effort to avoid further trampling of whoever he'd trod upon. And then he laughed, a hand going up to rub against hair that had been recently buzzed off due to a lost bet. "What the ******** man. Where did you come from?"