open | happy (earth) new year, everyone!

[genice]

WHO: Any and all!
WHERE: 2nd residential floor lounge
WHEN: OOCly 12/31; today.
WHAT: Victor's ICly claimed the day as being the 31st, and subsequently celebrating the "New Year" with anyone who comes by! After sending out a post on the network inviting any of the new arrivals via anomalies to attend, people are welcome to come enjoy a probably very random seeming New Years celebration.
WARNINGS: There is food and alcohol here, beware!

The lounges are interesting spaces, and Victor didn't hesitate to roll up his sleeves and rearrange furniture in this section of the middle floor lounge. A cheery wave to anyone wandering through earlier on the 31st (by his calendar, he's quite cheerful in acknowledging how arbitrary that really is) while he goes about arranging things to his satisfaction, before he jets off again to finish preparing his olivie salad.

It's nowhere near fancy, but he's shown up again with a big, borrowed bowl from his work, containing the closest approximation of olivie salad he'd been able to manage working with the supplies he found on board. There's a tablecloth tossed over the table he's appropriated for holding the foodstuffs, along with simple plates, utensils, cups and bubbling wines (three, okay, that's toeing the line of careful financial management). He's even figured out how to get music playing, though it's hard to say if there's any unifying theme to what plays.

Perhaps the most ridiculous part of any of this is how he's constructed a small cone cap for the brown, fuzzy creature that had been delivered to his bunk last week. That it's a shaved ice cone inverted with the words "Happy New Year" written on it amuses him. The unidentified creature simply coos and purrs and wears the cone hat, not moving off the smaller table it's been set on.

"Happy New Year!" he says to just about anyone walking by, tipping his (oh so classy) cup their way with a smile. Welcome to the party. Bring something to contribute to the table? Very welcome to the party!

[ ooc: please tag in with your own top levels and enjoy a relaxed, informal celebration of the new year (per Victor)! ]

Comments

[genice]

( He meets her awkward smile with the practiced ease of the one he usually wears for public events. That is: one meant to help set others at ease, if smiles really did such things. Victor keeps his body posture relaxed, straightening and adjusting the cuff of his sleeve with thoughtless grace.

Frankly, with recent events, the idea of thinking positive has become more attractive than ever. It didn't exclude being realistic, but cheer was easier to pull on with Yuuri having shown up in the last two days. )

Ah, here I am being rude... Being put on the spot makes it harder to come up with an answer even when you're prepared.

( He flicks his eyes to her shoulder rider, gently quirking his eyebrows up. )

How about introductions? I'm Victor Nikiforov. Happy New Year!

( Sure, he holds out his hand after that, let's shake and all, but the way he grins and winks shows he's poking fun at himself even as he's announcing who he is and why, ostensibly, he's here. )

[juniberries]

Oh, it certainly wasn't rude, I'm just not familiar with what holidays and customs are observed on the Eluvio.

[And yes, being put on the spot does make answering a challenge, but there's also the fact that even if she did have time to think it over it would be difficult to say the best thing to have happened to her in the past year because

Again.

10,000 years of sleep. Intergalactic war. Complete destruction of her planet and race of people. Dead father.........

However, introductions she can certainly do, and while she's still thrown off-guard by this man's mannerisms, she manages a smile that's less awkward, balancing the plate and...strange utensil in one hand, while shaking his offered hand in the other.

She's not going to try to figure out why he winked at her, however.]

Princess Allura of Altea. [Not that she's expecting him to know of Altea but it's habit. She draws her hand back, holding the plate proper in her hands, and the yellow mouse is beginning its descent from her shoulder towards the plate.] Have you really been on this ship for a whole year?

[genice]

( It's okay, Allura. Being an itinerant bachelor for so long and having a flirtatious interface with the world has made winking second nature. He does, however, offer a bow of his head to follow up on the handshake, a literal nod to the rank she's revealing, regardless of the unfamiliarity of Altea. What's alien is alien. (Not less valid.) )

A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Royal Highness. Unless there's another way you'd prefer to be addressed?

( He'll leave that to her to inform him, defaulting to what feels like greater politeness out of no particular desire to offend. There's enough each of them has found themselves bereft of in arriving her as abruptly as they do; he can respect a title, if not much else behind it.

Her question ends up provoking him into a laugh, lifting a hand as he gives a firm shake of his head in negation. )

No, no, not on the Eluvio. I'm not even sure what the Eluvio chooses to celebrate. The Captain sponsored a winter holiday about a week ago. It went up almost overnight, then was taken back down again within a day cycle on-board.

( He chuckles, as if this is amusing. In a way it is. He's never seen snow be so compliant before, but it glosses over the light show and the strange force-field mistletoe, for good reason. )

It's the year end based on my calendar from home. I'm from Earth, originally, or one version of the planet. ( He pauses for a half beat; the truth of people being from more than one Earth is one he still finds mildly distressing on some level. ) I've been keeping track by that, making today the thirty-first of December. Tomorrow is the first of January, starting off a new year. I've personally only been on board for oh...

( He taps on his lips with one gloved finger, doing the brief mental math. )

Twenty days or so?

[juniberries]

[To be fair, she may have spent a bit too long in the presence of a kid like Lance to automatically feel wary whenever someone winks at her now but...luckily Victor seems like a pleasant person.

She idly hands her mouse a small fingerful of food as she continued talking, shaking her head slightly but not dismissively.]

Princess Allura is perfectly fine, or even Allura. Whichever feels most comfortable. Your Royal Highness is a bit...much.

[There's a wry smile. She does appreciate the respect, even the paladins and Coran usually refer to her as 'Princess,' but in situations like these she's not about to throw her title around either.

Especially since the situation here is far different from the mission she has back in her sector of the galaxy.]

I'd say it's a shame that I missed it, but considering the circumstance we were brought here... [aka: I'd rather not be here At All because there are more important matters to attend to.

Her train of thought is interrupted by the mention of Earth, and the fact that he's been here for twenty days.]

If you've only been here twenty days, there's at least hope of returning back where we're all from.

i'm SO SORRY I LOST THIS TAG

[genice]

( Oh, equally fair to presume he's a flirt; he comes across as one, in a light way, pretty much at all initial contact. It's a matter less about interest and more about putting people at ease, relaxing them by being relaxed himself.

The mouse earns another flicker of his attention; still, he focuses on what she's saying, smile turning into something thoughtful and relaxed. )

Allura it is, then. Princess Allura should we ever find ourselves in appropriate company.

( Said with a light laugh, though he means it. There are times where even titles to places that are unfathomable hold a certain value. Presentation and perception count for more than people might want to credit.

It's just not in his particular mindset to worry about it right now. )

I've been here twenty days. Talk to enough of the crew, and you'll find people who've been here twenty years or more, according to them. Not everyone; some people come on board simply because they elect to, but others have arrived like we did, a long time ago.

( He shrugs, an artless, graceful motion, as if asking forgiveness for that blunt reality with a more serious expression slipping across his features. )

I don't advise against hope, but I do advise being practical while holding on to hope.