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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Curnen grinned bright at that question. "All the time."

"I really don't sing much either," Peter admitted, though that mostly had to do with him not having a particularly great voice than it did anything else (though he was a veritable rock star in the shower).

"I do play an instrument in band, though. Do you play any instruments?"

"Some guitar. But I don't hold a candle to my sister on that one." Curnen scanned the room until she saw the person she was looking for. "Coby plays and sings, too."

"Coby?" Still dancing in his awkward way, Peter glances over his shoulder, trying to spot this mysterious Coby, who he hasn't met before, and wouldn't be able to identify among the many people in the room. "Is that a friend of yours?"

Peter really needs to get out more.

"Yeah-huh. He plays in the bar some nights," Curnen clarified. "I've sung with him a few times, but my fingering ain't up to playing for people on the regular."

"There's no real better time to learn than now, right?" Peter asks. "I mean, it's not like there's a lot going on right now until the next portal opens."

Then, totally unprompted, Peter admits: "I really miss school. Sometimes I get lucky and find a textbook in the store, but attending classes is totally different than self-study."

"Workin' on it," she assured him.

At that admission, though, Curnen had to just smile. "I barely made it through high school, so I ain't sure I get that." Not because she struggled exactly, but she hadn't particularly cared outside of making her family happy. And anyway, she found plenty to do, even if the days were slow.

Peter presses his lips together at his answer. He doesn't want to pry because he knows there's a lot of reasons why someone might not do well in school. Family problems. Not liking it. Other responsibilities. And sometimes, people can be a little particular about who they want to talk about that with.

"Yeah, I was trying really hard to get a scholarship so my Aunt May wouldn't have to worry about trying to put me through college," he says. "I mean, she really wants me to go and I don't want her to have to figure out how to make that work when I get accepted."

Maybe it's a weird question, but Peter asks it anyway:

"What was it like when you were in high school?"

"Most of us weren't thinking about college, that's for sure." There were many reasons for that. Primarily it just wasn't seen as necessary for their way of life. But deeper, more subtle, and possibly more important, Tufa just didn't leave the valley. It was home. It was where they belonged. A few of them did go get higher degrees, but it was definitely rare.

"What did you end up doing after high school?" Peter asks. There was awhile there where he thought he'd skip the whole college thing and immediately jump into being an Avenger. But he ended up changing his mind.

"Got married," popped out before Curnen could stop it.

"What do you want to do?"

"Did you -- did you have someone you wanted to get married to?"

Peter swallows audibly. Getting married is something he wants to do eventually, too, but there's not anyone who's really on that radar. And he thinks there probably won't be anyone on that radar for some time now. The only girl who's really gone on a date with him before was Liz, and that had been a complete disaster. Chances are, any chance he had at romance would be completely blown out by his obligations as the de facto friendly neighborhood superhero.

"Uh, well... I'm not really sure. I mean, I thought maybe something with biophysics or biochemistry, but I don't really know anymore." Peter's not entirely sure if any of the Avengers other than Mr. Stark even have degrees.

"The hell is biophysics?" Biochemistry she could imagine. Chemistry and biology seemed related enough. Biology and physics, though? That din't make any sense.

"Yeah, well, uh..." How does Peter explain this. "You basically use physics to study biology. Most of the time it's stuff like studying DNA and RNA and protein synthesis through physical manipulation of molecules."

He presses his lips together pensively. He hopes that makes sense.

"I know most of those words," Curnen admitted with a laugh, "but not a clue what you just said." And before he could get worked up about it and try to find another way to explain it, she added, "Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, uh..." Peter rubs the side of his nose. "It's pretty complicated."

They're still the only people dancing, and Peter's starting to feel a little better about the whole thing. Sure, it probably would be more comfortable to dance at someplace where it was expected, like at Homecoming (though Peter never even had the chance there), but he's feeling surprisingly at ease. More at ease than he felt when Curnen first approached him, sitting stiffly at a table with a tie that was probably cutting off his circulation.

"I gotta -- I gotta hit the bathroom," he says apologetically. "Is it okay if we meet up again some other time?"

Curnen smiled. "Sure. Thanks for the dance." She gave Peter another peck on the cheek, soft, almost sisterly. Old as she was, she still didn't get much opportunity to actually be older than someone else. "You do just fine when you get your mind on something else."

"Yeah?" Peter says, looking at Curnen hopefully.

And then she kisses him on the cheek. Peter blushes, but tries his best to recover, but it's to no avail.

"Uh," he starts, rubbing the back of his neck. "Maybe sometime... you can help me with that. I mean," he quickly says, trying to clarify before she gets the wrong idea. "Not the cheek kissing. The getting better at noy freaking out over things all the time thing."

Oh, precious baby boy. "I dunno what exactly I can do about that," Curnen admitted with a shrug. "But we can try."

Peter solemnly nods his agreement. "Yeah," he says. "We can at least try."

Besides, there was plenty of time to learn plenty of things. Especially from the people here.

"I'll see you around, Miss Overbay." He's sure he will; no one could miss someone else in the hotel for long.

And with that said, Peter makes a beeline for the bathroom. He really shouldn't have drunk all that punch.

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

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