Envy's Birthday Party, New York, Tuesday FT

[whenshewasnice]

It was February 15th once more. Envy Adams was twenty-five years old today. So of course, there was a party.

A pretty huge party, in fact. Gideon didn't do things in half-measures, in particular not when said party was also a part of a larger marketing effort. Making sure Envy was as cool as she could be. So far, it seemed to be working: for the past couple of weeks, Gideon had had his phone ringing constantly with calls from people trying to score invites to this event. Only few had succeeded. It was a selective kind of party, even if the crowd was pretty big. Trustworthy journalists, a few select socialites with the right kind of street cred, and of course rock stars from all across the scale from worldwide renown to the hippest and coolest of the new crop. And maybe a couple of actual personal friends in the middle of it. But not too many.

Waiters wound their way through the expensively-dressed crowd carrying trays of champagne and appetizers. At one end of the packed room, there was a small stage, and above it, a fancy banner proclaiming HAPPY BIRTHDAY ENVY on it.

Pretty different from a birthday with bowling and homemade cake.

[ooc: NFB, but open for anyone who thinks they may have been invited! Smol OCD up.]

Comments

Mingle [Envy's BD]

[whenshewasnice]

And partake of the food. All of it is fancy and expensive.

Envy will probably find you sooner or later.

Re: Mingle [Envy's BD]

[lockestheway]

Had this party taken place just a few months prior, Peter - and his two bodyguards - wouldn't have bothered to show up. But that was then and this was now, and so he arrived just on the right side of fashionably late, dressed in a suit that befitted the Hegemon of Earth.

Complete with the at-a-diplomatic-function smile. He had no illusions about this party.

Re: Mingle [Envy's BD]

[whenshewasnice]

"Your face looks fake, Wiggin."

It did not. But 'hello' was for boring people, and Envy – with a drink in hand and wearing an eye-catching dress was not boring.

Re: Mingle [Envy's BD]

[lockestheway]

"My face looks more competently fake than that of half the guests at this party," Peter said, "Excluding the ones that are already coked out of their minds, of course."

He nodded at her. "I like the dress," he said. "It's classy."

Re: Mingle [Envy's BD]

[whenshewasnice]

"Thank you," she said, sparing a glance down. "Gideon found it." There was a whole big thing about him dressing her that she wasn't going to get into here. "And twenty-five seems like a time to look elegant."

Re: Mingle [Envy's BD]

[lockestheway]

"I'd say I'm sure you'd look elegant at any time and age," Peter said, "But you know that already and it's hardly the point."

He nodded at the people behind her. "Is everything going as you'd hoped?"

Re: Mingle [Envy's BD]

[pursuedthestars]

Jim was on a fairly tight schedule but he'd gotten at least a few hours of leave time to slip out of Starfleet and go to a birthday party. He didn't make a big fuss when he arrived and he quickly grabbed a drink before mingling with a few people he didn't recognize.

Re: Mingle [Envy's BD]

[whenshewasnice]

Not making a fuss didn't mean Envy didn't spot him pretty soon after. She hadn't been sure he'd show up – it had been a long time since she'd seen him last.

Took a while before she made her way over. Had to mingle along the way, you see. Couldn't just rush over. But eventually, she was there. Dress and all. A little older and even blonder than before.

"Hey, Jim."

Re: Mingle [Envy's BD]

[pursuedthestars]

"Hello," Jim greeted, face softening into a smile as she approached. "You look...well, you look great but I bet you already know that. Happy birthday. Heard you're pretty old now."

Re: Mingle [Envy's BD]

[whenshewasnice]

"Twenty-five," she replied. "A quarter of a century." Guess you could say she was an adult, now. As if she hadn't been since forever. "And what are you, Jim? Like twelve?"

She was purely teasing. A little smirk on her face and everything.

Re: Mingle [Envy's BD]

[pursuedthestars]

"Thirteen," he corrected with a shake of his head. "That whole year makes me a teenager so don't you forget it again. It's important."

Re: Mingle [Envy's BD]

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"All the booze's free, right?" Cade called to her, mouth full of appetizers.

He was classy that way. Aren't you glad you invited him?

Re: Mingle [Envy's BD]

[whenshewasnice]

In Envy's defense, she hadn't thought he'd actually show up.

"Yes," she said, as she came over. "But please don't overindulge, because I will lie and tell everyone you're a stranger who wasn't invited as security escorts you out."

Re: Mingle [Envy's BD]

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Harsh," Cade said, grinning. "I'll have to use it sometime myself. Happy birthday."

Re: Mingle [Envy's BD]

[whenshewasnice]

"Thank you." Look at that, he even got a little smile. "How've you been, Cade?"

Re: Mingle [Envy's BD]

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Pretty good," Cade said. "I've got a few regular customers now. Starting your own business is a lot harder than I thought. You?"

Small Acoustic Set [Envy's BD]

[whenshewasnice]

Well, the stage wasn't there just for no reason.

[Show coming up later!]

Talk to Gideon [Envy's BD]

[bigbadproducer.livejournal.com]

When he wasn't by Envy's side (often shuffling her in the direction of the People To Talk To), he was mingling while looking pleased with himself.

Sorry, he couldn't shake the smug air. Because he didn't want to.

Re: Talk to Gideon [Envy's BD]

[lockestheway]

Peter wasn't going up to talk to him... yet.

He was just observing closely, as soon as he'd noticed Gideon, trying to smoke out what his deal was.

While still pleasantly mingling with some randoms himself, of course.

Re: Talk to Gideon [Envy's BD]

[bigbadproducer.livejournal.com]

Most of what Gideon was giving off was just that he was a professional at this kind of thing. He didn't stick around too long with any given group of people, but he gave everyone just enough attention to make them feel good about having been acknowledged (if they ranked somewhere lower than him on the social scale) or to give them a good impression of him (if they ranked higher). For the most part, anyway. He couldn't really shake the smugness inherent in him, but people didn't seem to mind that.

Occasionally, he'd glance over to where Envy was. To check how she was doing.

Re: Talk to Gideon [Envy's BD]

[lockestheway]

After yet another pass, Peter decided, at last, to approach him. Drink (nonalcoholic) in hand and all, he swept past Gideon. "And who do we have here?" he said easily. "You're... Gideon Graves, right?"

Re: Talk to Gideon [Envy's BD]

[bigbadproducer.livejournal.com]

"Guilty as charged," Gideon replied smoothly, tone somewhere between charming and cheerfully smug, as he turned towards the newcomer. And took a look at him, then cocked his head. "Afraid I don't know who you are. Which must mean you're one of Envy's."

There were only a handful, after all.

"Welcome!"

Re: Talk to Gideon [Envy's BD]

[lockestheway]

Peter stuck out his hand, his bodyguards hanging back, the way he'd instructed them to. "Correct," he said. "Peter Wiggin. Hegemon of an entirely different Earth, and her former boss."

Presents! [Envy's BD]

[whenshewasnice]

Naturally, there was a small table off to one side, where guests could leave birthday presents if they'd brought any.

Envy and Gideon were expecting to see a lot of business cards and promotional swag on it by the end of the evening.

OOC [Envy's BD]

[whenshewasnice]

IDK if any of this OCD was necessary but I've been sick for a week, I do what I want. WHEN WILL MY HEALTH RETURN FROM THE WAR.