MINGLE — NYE & Winn's Birthday PARTY!

[passingthrough]

Who: Everyone!
Broadcast: Broadcast — Earlier than now for planning
Action: Hotel Corona — Winn's birthday / NYE party!
When: Action — Dec. 31 / New Year's Eve

[Broadcast (open to everyone but Winn)]
At the risk for earning a reputation as a party planner, I have a thing for everyone to attend again. Don't worry, lots of other people are helping pull it together. It's going to be on New Year's Eve, but the real event is the countdown to Winn's birthday which is also on the first. It's going to be in a club we rented out for this in the red shift district. Starts around seven-ish. Ends when you pass out?

It's kind of a surprise maybe? At least the part where it's for his birthday. And if you don't know Winn but you still want to come that's fine too. You can trade a gift for Winn for a free drink at the bar. Otherwise, bring some money. Cake's on us though.

[Birthday/New Year's Party]
[The space is well decorated and so glittered you can probably tell Wrath was part of the team putting this together. Lots of Winn's friends came out to help whether it was getting decorations up, managing food, music, or chipping in to buy out the space and a drink for anyone bringing a gift. Not to mention drinks for the birthday boy all night.

There's a table for presents and another one with a spread of openly available food though the bar has appetizers you can buy too. There's a big cake at one end because of course there is and some punch that didn't start the night spiked at least. There's space for dancing and a karaoke machine set up on a small raised platform for those who want to try their hand at entertainment.

The night really kicks off when Winn walks in and instead of a balloon drop there's a fluffy blue stuffed bear drop. Feel free to take one of those home. There are a lot.

When midnight comes closer some people will file out to one of the observation areas to get a good view of the nebula for the big countdown. Bring your own person to kiss!

Comments

[uprightness]

[ it's an intimate little moment, for all its simplicity. a slight pull, his hand held against her ( he can just about tell the fabric's texture, a rich sort of softness ) and a soft press of lips. he tucks a curl behind her ear. ]

'not so bad' is one way of putting it.

[ if one is fond of understatements, that is. ]

[mucked]

It's only a dress, [ she explains. ] Believe me, I've worn ones more -- dramatic than this.

[ not the most helpful claim. not while they're drinking and there's just enough distraction in the space around them that they've found their own little bubble of personal space by the bar. ]

[uprightness]

dramatic.

[ he echoes with a bit of a scoff. not helpful, indeed but he suddenly remembers a marketplace on one of the planets they have visited and a golden haired woman who spoke like one of Hollywood's star. ]

Was it really you or was it Angie?

[mucked]

[ a crinkle of her nose. entertained, this time, and not scornful. ]

Ah -- she didn't have a name, I don't think. But 'she' was blonde and 'she' borrowed her flatmate's silver gown to go and steal something back from a high-level fence. [ peggy pauses a moment. ordinarily, she wouldn't be this blunt with steve. at least not when it came to matters of subterfuge and the lengths she'd happily go to for a mission. but she's buzzing and the room houses such inviting warmth. ]

Didn't really need a name. The point, really, was that no one was going to bother asking.

[ that much charm? and that much cleavage? she got all the way to the boss's office without needing to so much as think of a false name. ]

[uprightness]

[ he can imagine that rather easily - he barely recognized her as a blonde and the accent threw him off even more. It was as if she had changed into an entirely different person. It's this talent, he assumes, that allowed her to hide in plain sight. ]

What did she steal?

[mucked]

A bomb.

[ it wasn't quite meant to be a bomb. but it was -- and that was harrowing as all get out. the rest of the night had played out tragically, but she'll side-step that truth so long as they're sitting so close and chatting so warmly. ]

Nitramene. I thought I was only stealing back the formula used to make it -- but it had already been weaponized.

[uprightness]

[ it's a good thing he isn't sipping his drink at that moment, choking on distilled alcohol can't be a pleasant experience. ]

Heavy explosives?

[ torn between being surprised and awe-struck, clearly. ]

How did you sneak it out?

[mucked]

In my handbag. [ so matter-of-fact. peggy hitches her attention on his surprise, and tries to further clarify: ] The nitramene itself is highly volatile. You wouldn't need much to cause a ruckus.

[uprightness]

And you've - carried it out in your purse?

[ there's no judgment, if anything he's entirely engrossed in how this adventure had taken place. ]

That's -

[ 'insane' would be the word most people would use but he goes with, ]

Amazing.

[mucked]

Where else would you suggest I stash something the size of a luxury perfume bottle? [ and in an evening gown no less? peggy smiles, and waves her hand as though inviting him to eye her dress and decide for himself how tricky such a task must have been. she isn't being combative; not really. more likely, she's looking for ways to put him on the back foot.

peggy almost smiles. ] Had to rush the thing back to the flat and come up with a way to render it inert. Good thing, too, because I later had the opportunity to see just how much damage the compound could do.

[uprightness]

[ it's a mistake but steve eyes her dress anyway, hums in something that's part attraction and part agreement. He almost misses the following sentence, preoccupied as he is. ]

You defused it? Just like that?

[mucked]

There was a little more to it than just like that -- [ an easy scoff. that night, in reality, had been difficult. the op itself had gone almost too smoothly. but returning to the flat? finding colleen? peggy shakes her head but maintains her better cheer.

steve doesn't need to know. ] Molecular nitromene is best neutralized with sodium hydrogen acetate. It took a bit of at-home alchemy, but I managed. [ just in time.

actually -- ] It's the funniest thing. Nitramene emits Vita radiation.

[uprightness]

With -

[ sodium what, now? This would all make perfect sense to Tony, he assumes. Steve, on the other hand, almost implores her to speak English. ]

Vita rays? Really?

[mucked]

[ she nods. vita rays. really. ]

I had to pull the old Project Rebirth files from the archives. The SSR still had a few of Erskine's hardware in storage -- most importantly, a vita ray detector.

[uprightness]

[ the name makes him smile; it's been a long while since he heard it. every now and then, his thought still stray to the man, the first one who believed in him. it's nice, to think some of his equipment is still kept safe. ]

A detector? for the bomb?

[mucked]

More like -- a detector for its residual radiation. Say, if you wanted to identify someone who had simply been handling Nitramene.

[ she reaches once more for her drink, as though just remembering it existed. ] Or a truck that had been transporting it.

[uprightness]

It must have gone nuts around you if you had to defuse the damn thing.

[ if he's engrossed in the tale it's because he doesn't usually get this, the little peeks into her professional life. the files haven't told him that much and either way, it's much more engaging when it comes from her. ]

[mucked]

Luckily, it doesn't soak deep. [ normally, she wouldn't enjoy telling the story. but it's different when it's steve -- these are adventures she wished she could have shared with him while they were happening. ] A brisk shower and a change of clothing does wonders. Even if you've been in proximity to a Nitramene blast.

[ which (one might surmise) she eventually was. ]

[uprightness]

How many of those bombs were there?

[ honestly, the things that keep happening in the world. he'd still take this over loki's dramatics but still. and to think he was once innocent enough to think people would be fed up with wreckage and destruction after the war. ]

[mucked]

Enough to fill the back of a milk truck. [ not the most precise measurement, maybe, but it's a faithful one. peggy tips her glass against her lips and takes a drink -- by now, she's had enough that the accompanying burn is downright pleasant. expected. it barely causes a ripple in her expression. ]

[uprightness]

that's one hell of a blast.

[ to say the least. I've lived a life, she told him once and her long life, he thinks, is a proof of her skill. Honestly, sneaking chemical bombs in handbags and defusing them at home - he's not sure whether to call it entirely reckless or masterfully skillful. ]

After alla that, aren't you bored by all of this?

[ he gestures around them. by comparison, despite many unexpected turns, the life the fleet offers is somewhat more peaceful. ]

[mucked]

Bored? [ a low whistle. she certainly used to get bored. but it's different, now. she's got memories to make (regardless of whether she'll lose them in the end) -- and tonight will be one of them. ] Not exactly. The Fleet offers a different kind of diversion. That's all.

[ and as diversions go, he's quite compelling. all shoulders and boyish smile. peggy gives his elbow a squeeze. ]

[uprightness]

I'd say that again.

[ it's a whole other sort of adventure, the long conversation and the dancing and her hand on his elbow. it's no less exciting and filled with adrenaline than battles. in a way, it's a peace treaty between the man who wanted stability and went into the ice and the man who emerged. it's not home but in many ways, it is exactly that. ]

You know, this is actually my first New Year's party.

[mucked]

Bollocks. [ she gave her head a quick shake, displacing a curl. ] You're telling tales -- how can you have lived in New York City and never gone to see the ball drop?

[ she know she's not lying. sees it, really, behind his eyes. but she makes a show of her disbelief all the same. ]

[uprightness]

It was always too crowded and too cold.

[ and never a wise choice for someone with the laundry list of sicknesses he used to have. Not to mention that the ball drop and New Year's kisses were things to do on a date and he had a severe lack of those, too. ]

Bucky would go and tell me all about it two days later when he sobered up.