strangetrip | [GP] Réveillon & New Year's Eve & Check-In

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[GP] Réveillon & New Year's Eve & Check-In

Emma had said, during Winter's Crest, that she missed a tradition from home called réveillon. She seemed also to miss her cousin, as Lillith missed hers. Since she wished both to learn to cook and to be of comfort to her friend, it had been decided they would make a réveillon dinner for New Year's Eve.

Yet when Emma began to lay out the courses -- oyster soup and potato & leek soup, salad, a gumbo, venison roast, cheeses, and creme brulee, plus several hors d'ouevres not yet decided -- Lillith quailed at the size of the undertaking. Surely she would wish someone to assist who could contribute more than roasted rabbit, wheat or potato flour dumplings, and koláč.

Since Sunny likewise missed her family and would certainly wish a distraction, when she entered the cafe where they were planning, the other two seized upon her almost at once. Sunny could hardly resist their dual entreaty, even had she wished to, and Lillith thought she seemed even more ready for company than previously. Of course Sunny had offerings of her own: jolloff rice, peppered chicken, and fried plantain.

Between they three, the planning and the cooking were very nearly merry, and Lillith kept them liberally supplied with champagne (her personal favorite), too. By late afternoon of the eve of the new year, they had begun lining tables with dishes, and enlisted the help of other friends to make the evening event widely known.

Of course, in addition to the réveillon feast that took over the steakhouse, alcohol flowed freely, lights sparkled brightly, the nightclub had music for dancing. And at some point the Inn or Caroline or Regina hung mistletoe from several of the primary entrances and exits so that unless one wished to or was unaware of the tradition, no one (not even any new arrivals) need greet the new year unkissed.

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Her eyes widened a bit. "That's - That's amazing. I'd love to see how that works. Is it, like, is it a new substance you've created entirely?" She was trying to picture what he was saying, but couldn't quite picture it. The closest thing she got to was something that looked like silly putty.

"Chemistry is one of my favourite classes, actually. I, uh, well I sort of was hoping to get into molecular biology in Harvard when I, you know, graduate. If I graduate now, I guess. We could be stuck here forever..."

She was also the treasurer of the science club, but she never really shared that with other people.

"A whole new substance. It took a lot of experimenting before I got it right. And once I got it right, I kept trying to improve it. It took a lot of trial-and-error."

Peter's not used to other people his age really taking an interest in his hobbies. Sure, Ned was really into LEGOs and scifi movies, but he was more interested in computers and coding than he was straight science.

But before long, the conversation segues into school and classes, and Peter feels a jolt of excitement race through him.

"Really?" The excitement is apparent in Peter's voice. "I was thinking Columbia or Cornell so I wouldn't have to live far from my Aunt May."

Now he was living about as far away from Aunt May he's sure he could manage, and even now, Peter's still not sure how he feels about it.

It seems like Liz has her own thoughts on being here.

"Yeah, I know," Peter says. "I'm trying my best to keep up, but... right now, I really don't know what I'm going to do with my life. Right now, or when I get back. I kind of have a lot going on there that's pretty weird for my Earth, but pretty normal here."

She thought the fact that Peter was able to make an entirely new substance was remarkable. The fact that he was willing to show her, too, was amazing. Despite the fact a lot of adults were walking around with drinks and discussing perhaps more adult things, this conversation made her feel relaxed and even normal. It was almost like she was back home again.

"Really?" She mirrored his earlier surprise with her own. "Me, uh, too, actually. I mean, maybe not all the weird here but - but some of it that's normal here is definitely, um, weird back home. Makes things like school hard to concentrate sometimes." Even though she tried her hardest.

Peter can relate. And it's really weird how much he can relate to Liz. If the two of them had met back in Queens, she'd probably be friends with him and Ned. Especially if she liked LEGOs.

"What kind of weirdness were you dealing with back home?" There was such a varied array of weirdness here that it was difficult for Peter to have even the faintest clue what kind of weirdness she was coping with away from here.

"Oh, um." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear that had escaped again. It was weird to talk about it and her expression probably looked like someone who was used to keeping secrets. "Well, like I said, I'm from Roswell, right?" Even though she was stuck in a pocket dimension, she still felt the need to protect her friends. On top of that, it still felt weird to say out loud as many people wouldn't believe her. "I, um. I know them. The, uh, Roswell aliens..."

"Wait, for real?"

Aliens aren't exactly foreign to Peter at this point. Thor was technically and alien, and the Chitauri tried to conquer Earth a few years back, but when he was much younger, the stereotypical Roswell aliens were exactly what Peter imagined when he thought of aliens.

"Do they really look like they say they do? Big black eyes, green skin?"

"No, actually. They, they look like you and me, actually. They, um. Their pods didn't open until, um, a while back, so they're teenagers now. It's why. Well, why I think the government has a hard time...finding them." She hadn't noticed, but her voice was gotten lower as she talked about all of this, like she was worried about someone overhearing.

"Huh," Peter says. He looks up at the ceiling for a second, blinking, as he considers this. Maybe they were Agardians, like Thor. That would explain the whole looking like humans thing. Then again, there was a good chance that they weren't. There were plenty of people who lived on an Earth that was entirely Avenger-free.

Peter has picked up on the whole whispering thing, so he lowers his voice, too. "Why did they end up coming to Earth?"

"Oh!... There was a war. And they, the, um, the royalty there that ran the planet? They were killed so people who supported them, they sent their, well, their essence I guess? More than just their DNA - I don't really know - but, anyways. Um, so they crashed." It was nice to talk to someone about this who felt like Maria or Alex.

"More than their DNA?" Peter's eyes narrow a little at this, as he tries to mentally evaluate the facts. War. Royal aliens (sort of like Thor?), death, essence (?) arrival on earth?

"What do you mean essence? Were their essences uploaded into new clone bodies?" he asks. He reads a lot of science fiction. "Do their bodies even look the same as the ones they had?"

"I.. don't think so. I mean, I don't know what they looked like before. I don't think they know. They were, um. So their pods woke them up as kids and then they sort of wandered and were found by people. Two of them, they're brother and sister. They were found by people who adopted them and then the other, um. Well, he was taken in by someone not as nice. But they, I guess they have their memories somewhere in their minds, I guess. They.. they didn't realize they were who they are until recently. Before they just knew they were, well, aliens." So many unanswered questions, even now.

"That's... weird," Peter admits. "Though I guess it's not really any weirder than the stuff that happens on my Earth." Well, if they're not from the same Earth to begin with. But Peter hasn't met anyone else from the same Earth as him yet, so he's just assuming she isn't.

But, he might as well ask. Maybe eventually he'll meet someone who is.

"You don't happen to have the Avengers on your Earth, do you?"

That seemed to be the easiest way to determine if they were working with the same Earth here. Everyone knew the Avengers.

"Avengers?" She paused, trying to pull any information she could from the name, then shook her head with an apologetic look. "No.. I don't think so, but. Well, I'm from the year 2000 so were they, like, around in 2000?"

It sounded so weird to be talking about her time like it was either the past or the future, but it was kind of a necessity here in the Inn it seemed.

Already, Peter is doing the mental tabulations. "Iron Man became a thing in, uh, 2010, I think. That was the year I went to the Stark Expo, and Iron Man rescued me from a Hammer drone."

He remembers that particular moment in great detail, but dates were a little fuzzier.

"But it definitely would have happened after 2000." That much, Peter could speak authoritatively about.

Still, that makes things even weirder than her name being Liz or her surname being the same as his.

"So, that probably... technically... would make you 17 years older than me back home."

Liz's cheeks brushed with red as she blushed and looked down for a moment at the awkward realization. He was the first one she had met who was clearly so far ahead from her. She lifted up her gaze a little, still looking rather sheepish. "I, um. I guess that might be true. That. That's, um, weird, huh?"

"I mean... I guess so." Peter's willing to give her that -- it's plenty weird.

"But it's not like we're there now. We're here. And right now, we're still teenagers. And I'm okay with that."

He attempts a smile, but it comes out as awkward as he feels. So Peter does what he usually does when he's faced with an awkward situation:

Changes the subject.

"Yeah, uh, so, the Avengers are actually this team of superheroes back where I come from. One of them saved my life when I was still a kid."

He nervously runs a hand through his hair.

"They're actually pretty cool. Iron Man -- the one who saved me? I actually ended up meeting him about a year ago. I guess we're kinda friends. I'd show you a picture of him, but I don't carry my cell phone on me anymore because I can't really get any calls or texts anymore."

Liz didn't even have a cellphone that could house phones, but she didn't mention that. It felt too weird and it also was a little embarrassing. "Wow! That sounds, that sounds really amazing. And he saved your life? Are you - Well, I guess you're okay now. But that's, you know, intense."

"Yeah, it was," Peter agrees. "But, uh--" He rubs the back of his neck. "I was a kid, so I didn't really realize how much danger I was in at the time."

Not that he doesn't occasionally have that problem now.

"So, uh..." Peter had felt him drawn into some level of comfort around Liz and already, with those two syllables, he can feel himself being pulled out. He swallows, then attempts to continue.

"You know, it was good meeting you tonight. And I, uh, I think it'd be really great if we could maybe meet up again sometime and maybe study?"

His voice goes up slightly in pitch at the end of that sentence and Peter hopes he doesn't sound half as awkward as he feels.

"Oh, um. I'd like that, actually." Liz ducked her head just a little, then nodded. "It'd be nice to actually have someone to study with. It's, been a while. Plus you said you'd show me that stuff you created. I'd really like to see it." She had a feeling Peter was probably was smarter than her, but that would be great to have someone her age to challenge her.

"Uh, yeah. Well, it's a date."

Peter immediately stiffens as he realizes his choice of word.

"I mean, not really a date-date, just a, just uh, plans." He swallows. "For the future."

There's a brief, awkward silence, and then:

"I'm in the Morning Star Room, over on the third floor. It's, uh, room 215. If you want, you can drop by whenever you want."

Another smile emerged as she ducked her head briefly again. When she looked back up she had to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. There was a pause on her end too before she nodded. "Alright. I. I'm in 189, if you, um, want to do the same thing. I don't have any text books with me. I kind of showed up when i t was the middle of the night for me."

Edited 2018-01-16 16:07 (UTC)

"I've got books," Peter blurts out. "I mean, I had my backpack on me when I ended up here. So if you want, we can look over those. I mean, if you're studying the same thing as me, anyway."

"At this point I'm not really being picky. Plus I'd love to find out what you're learning in New York." Her smile remained. She knew it was a little silly, but she was curious to find out if schooling was different in somewhere that seemed far more interesting that a little town in New Mexico.

"Yeah," Peter says nodding. "Definitely."

He'd almost forgotten that he was trying to go back up to his room to get changed out of this suit. Maybe it was weird of him to excuse himself from a new year's party before the actual New Year just over a stiff collar and an oddly-fitting suit.

"Uh, so," Peter says. He steps backwards and very nearly plows into someone behind him; he almost loses his balance, but somehow manages to recover. "I guess I'll see you around."

Liz nodded to him. "Yeah, I'll see you around. It was nice meeting you." Liz felt a lot better, somehow, for having met someone her age here, not that Kitty and the others weren't nice of course.

Re: At the Party

st_arkintern - 2018-01-18 15:14 (UTC) - Expand

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