maskormenacelogs | Winter Gala

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Winter Gala

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: Jeopardy
WHEN: Saturday, December 21 from 5:00 p.m. onward into the early morning hours of Sunday, December 22.
WHAT: The Winter Gala Fundraiser for Jeopardy Relief Efforts
WARNINGS: Please include any necessary warnings in your TLs.
NOTES: This post will serve as a catch-all for logs for the entire event (though you’re also welcome to post things elsewhere, of course).

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Well, mostly. In the wake of a near-apocalyptic event, the city of Jeopardy is in need. What started out as an idea to advertise Rikki Chadwick's burgeoning business, after a little more planning and nabbing some ideas from Kenzi's post, she and Rupert have reconfigured and rebranded their idea to focus less on her and more on the relief effort.

Characters will enter the venue after giving a small donation at the door and they will be greeted by a large room lit in blues, soft pinks, and purples. From the ceilings hang snowflakes made of glass. The centerpieces are also made of glass. Come to think of it, nearly all the decorations are made of glass. Except, that is, the mistletoe hanging from several of the rafters and archways. A buffet-style dinner will be served from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., at which point, the buffet tables and seating tables will be cleared away to make room for the makeshift stage for the DJ and a gigantic dance floor.

Drinks will be flowing, music will be playing, and people will be bidding on silent auctions to win everything from one of the centerpieces to a date with their favorite imPort and everything in between. So, eat, drink, and be merry until you can't stay awake any longer. Why not? It's all for a good cause, after all.

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The asymmetrical jacket happened to be one of Poe's favourites, so he certainly wasn't complaining when it found its way back into 622's closet.

"I'll show you," He said with a bit of a smug smirk, grabbing the man's hand and pulling him further into the hall, glancing around until he saw what he was looking for. Finally he dragged 622 under and archway and pointed up.

"It's a plant. Mistletoe. For their Life Day- well, Christmas - holiday? - whatever you want to call it - they put them up around parties. And the rule is, if you're under it with someone, you have to kiss them."

Huh. "That wasn't what I was picturing at all." Which is probably a good thing, really. He hadn't noticed it in amongst all the garlands and the wreaths and the other red and green plants all over the place.

His eyebrows raise just a little at the description. Well then, that made his next move pretty obvious. He leaned in to kiss Poe without a moment's hesitation. It was in public, it wasn't strictly proper, but he'd kept to local customs in general here.

And he might like this one, if he were being honest about it.

Poe grinned as soon as he realised what 622 was doing, slipping a hand around the man's neck and leaning in to take that kiss quite happily. He may have taken it a little far, for a public space, but hey. Who could blame him.

When he pulled back he was grinning again, running his lip between his teeth.

"Well you caught on to that faster than I thought you would," He teased him warmly.

Stars, Poe made it easier to do that than it should be. It was easy to forget there were other people around when he looked like that.

But after a moment, he remembered. "I know how to kiss you," he replied, cheeks darkening a little. "I'm not sure what's right for other people, though." And Poe had implied that mistletoe was grounds for this to happen with anyone.

"Wellll, depends on the person, I guess," Poe agreed, amused. Ah, that blush was rare. He couldn't help but enjoy it.

"It's all about what you're comfortable with, right? So, obviously that kind of kiss is something you're comfortable with when it comes to me, but that might be different for other people. It's fine giving people a kiss on the cheek, too, if that's all you want to do."

He was beginning to realize: he had quite a lot of experience kissing Poe, but he had no idea how to go about it with other people.

It might not end up being a meaningful distinction when all was said and done, but there were a lot of things that came naturally to Poe that he didn't instinctively get. This was probably one of them, given everything else he'd seen.

He was silent for a long moment. "Could I watch you do it a few times?"

Whatever direction Poe thought this conversation was going to take, that certainly wasn't it. He blinked dumbly a couple of times at 622 before he felt a slight heat rise to his own cheeks.

"Uh - yeah? I mean, sure, of course. Uh - you sure you want to do that?"

Case in point: Maybe he shouldn't have said that. "Is there a problem?"

"No!" He hastily amended. "No, not at all, I just--"

Great, he was really putting his foot in it now. He cleared his throat and glanced at the rest of the party.

"It's the kind of thing that upsets some people, I guess. That's all. Watching their boyfriend kiss other people, I mean." This was embarrassing as hell, but there was no point dancing around it. If he wasn't direct, 622 just wouldn't understand what he meant at all. "As long as you're fine with it, I'm fine with it, I just - ah - wanted to make sure."

Really? He vaguely remembered something about that--either from the books he'd flipped through when trying to find a relationship guide, or something Poe had said. It still sounded just as alien now as it did then.

So he nodded without hesitation. "I am sure."

Poe watched him for another moment, his lips parted in a silent question, as if trying to decide whether or not that was true. After a few seconds, however, he seemed to decide it was, even if his cheeks were still tinted a little red.

"Well- alright then. Long as you're sure, it's good by me. I'll, ah, do my best to demonstrate well."

Cool. That didn't come off awkward at all, Poe. Not even a little.

He wasn't sure what was going through Poe's head right now. He usually didn't know, or at least that was how it felt. He always needed to ask.

So he would. "If it's not what you want, then we can always ignore the tradition," he said quietly. "It's just Earth native stuff. They'll get over it."

"No! No, I'm--" He couldn't help it, laughing a bit self deprecatingly.

"Trust me. I want it. It's my favourite tradition on this whole damn planet. It's a great tradition, right? When else do you get to give that kind of affection to the people you care about in public?"

Sure, 'that kind of affection' was probably more than one usually sought from their friends, but, well, no one had ever claimed that Poe wasn't a bit of a disaster that way.

Okay. That had been awkward, but they got there in the end.

He kissed Poe again. "Then it's fine by me. You're good to go."

He hadn't been expecting the kiss so he only half caught it, but by the time 622 pulled back, Poe had a very fond, lopsided smile on his lips.

"Aye aye, sir," he replied, a teasing tilt to his voice. "Though, I might point out that technically we're still under the mistletoe, so--"

That last kiss had been cute and quick, but look. Sometimes a guy just needed a proper one.

He'd just started to pull away. But now he was caught off-guard this time, wobbling slightly where he stood and putting an arm around Poe to steady himself and reciprocate the attention.

Mistletoe was dangerous stuff, apparently. They could be here all night.

A few hours later, Poe’s mood was far more tempered. Mistletoe was dangerous stuff, though not for the reasons he’d assumed, and it turned out holiday traditions didn’t somehow erase consequences for actions. Who knew. So eventually he found 622 again and offered him a small, quiet smile and a kiss to the temple.

“Hey, enjoying the evening?”

He put an arm around Poe, setting down a plate on a nearby table. "The food's nice." That was a pretty high complement in his world.

He'd been catching glimpses of how Poe was doing, but after a while he'd been drawn away by people he knew. Time to check in. "Status?

He gave 622 a slightly sheepish look.

"Uh, pretty sure my status is 'idiot' as is surprisingly usual," he joked wryly. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

He reached over to pluck something off 622's plate and pop it into his mouth. Tasty. "Thinking of tapping out early, though."

"I know that feeling. Both of them, rather." He was the one who'd had to ask about the kissing plants, after all. And now he was just... starting to feel a little like his brain was getting cooked by this place. The kind of tired that made your eyes feel hot.

"If you want to head out now, I won't complain." ...He rarely ever did, but that was just details.

"Maybe at least to get a breath of fresh air," he admitted lowly. "Though I promised people a ride home, so I shouldn't completely disappear."

He looked off to the balcony before nodding his head towards him. "Come on. Let's step out a minute."

"Alright." He started walking slow, his arm still around Poe's waist. "A moment alone could do us good."

...He hadn't meant for it to come out like that.

If anything, it just managed to make him feel more guilty, which was a feat, tonight.

“Yeah,” he replied, a little quiet, and let 622 walk him out. It wasn’t until they were in the fresh air that Poe peeled off his arm and went up to the railing, leaning on it with both hands and kicking a non-existent stone off the edge.

He takes in a deep breath, letting it out in a sigh. "I still don't think I've got the hang of these parties."

After a moment, he follows Poe over to the railing. "Anything I can do?"

The guilt weighed down his shoulders, and his eyes, leaning his weight on the rail and looking off over the edge.

"... Just how much of that did you actually see?" He finally asks. It's not an answer to 622's question, but... His guilt needs to know.

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