(Untitled)

[makes_it_rain]

It is New Years'. Maes doesn't know that. It is a day for new beginnings. He doesn't know that, either.

What he does know is that some time has passed since he'd last been down, though he's not certain how much. And that he has a cup of coffee, and a seat at the bar with a good view of the door and as much of the room as one really can have a good

Comments

[dragon_tamer_po]

A hand descends to rest on the table, and promptly begins to drum its fingers.

"Imagining people naked didn't help one bit, Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes. I have yet to win a game of any variety since we talked last spring."

Sally is trying to sound irritated, but she's not making a very good show of it.

"It's been a while. How are you doing?" Last time she saw him, Sally remembers Hughes as being rather distraught. Of course, considering he'd just been killed, that made sense.

[makes_it_rain]

A low chuckle escapes Maes' throat. "Pity. Possibly there's a particular knack to it." The cards still, and he follows the hand up to look the woman attached to it in the eye. He smiles slightly, the expression honest enough - there is still a shadow behind his eyes, but it is, at least, not quite so raw.

One may not be able to precisely get over one's death, but living is an option. As little sense as that makes.

"I'm - all right. And yourself?"

[dragon_tamer_po]

"Tired. Right now, anyway; people don't realise how much energy it takes to party hearty. I'm glad that you seem to be doing better, though. You settling in all right?"

Getting, being the operative word in relation to Hughes' improvement. Dying really isn't something that anyone would be able to get over, but when one has a place in Milliways, it makes more sense to continue on with things rather than obsess over one's severed mortal ties.

"As for games, I guess I just lack the knack. Unlike you, it would seem." She eyes the deck of cards. "Were it not for the fact that I know you're good at slight of hand, I would be convinced that you had tampered with them."

[makes_it_rain]

"As much as it's possible to settle, in a place like this. I think I saw a fish walk past the last time I was through." Even in memory, he looks momentarily bemused by that. And then he shakes his head. "It's taking time - it will take time - but I'm adapting."

He looks down at the cards and laughs. "I don't need to - though if you're looking for a lesson in stacking a deck, I suppose I could be convinced to give one." Green-gold eyes dart upwards, speculative. "Do you actually play the hand you're dealt, doctor?"

[dragon_tamer_po]

"Fish, cats, cars... We've got 'em all. I'm still lost a lot of the time. Adapting is about all anyone can do; I think getting used to it is just a wishful fantasy."

She meets Hughes' gaze. "I rarely play the hand I'm dealt when I'm away from the card table. It's easier and generally more beneficial not to - especially if you can do it without altering any of the fundamental facts and elements. But if you ask me to literally have an ace up my sleeve, or hidden anywhere else, I'd be more likely to fumble it or give myself a massive papercut than actually play it successfully."

[makes_it_rain]

Maes inclines his head slightly. Touche. When he looks up, however, there is a glint of mirth in his eyes. "Well, I could teach you that trick. But it will only help as long as you aren't playing strip poker - most hold out spots don't stand up well against that."

He has, at times, a remarkable memory. Also, he can be a brat.

"You said you'd been partying - what's the occasion?"

[dragon_tamer_po]

"Hey, you never know," Sally says with a grin. "If you can pull it off well enough, you may never have to give up those hold out spots. Let everyone else end up naked, I say."

Fortunately, Maes being a brat is more endearing than, say, a contrary five-year old being a brat. There's a definite difference there.

"As for the party, it's the beginning of the new year out in my humble little corner of the solar system. Everyone has New Year's parties. We eat, drink way too much, dance like idiots and then cluster around the television watching huge crowds of people who have gathered to watch famous people... uh... count down from ten and drop a big shiny ball."

She facepalms. "Yeah, I know it sounds stupid. It's a societal thing. Kind of like letting off the tension of the old year so we can clean the slate for the new."

[makes_it_rain]

"That," Maes replies after a moment of thought, "is a remarkably good philosophy. And with so many applications."

He considers, trying, perhaps, to picture the dropping of said ball. "No, it makes sense - marking an occasion as a new beginning with a celebration. But why a ball?"

The ball, you see, is the difficult part.

[dragon_tamer_po]

"You know," Sally replies, "I'm not sure. The ball is the big one that everyone watches, but a bunch of other places drop different stuff. I know a couple cities drop pickles, one place has a ball that rises instead of falls, and more than a few drop fish."

She shakes her head. "I'm not sure where the whole concept of dropping something came from. It's just one of those traditions by now. It goes back a long, long time, but it's something we've held on to. People look forward to it, because it's routine and yet always new and different at the same time."

That being said, Sally pauses to reflect on things for a moment. "If I had to guess, what with the roots of the entire thing being lost, I'd think that it's to symbolize the year coming full circle, and beginning around again. Except a sphere is going to fall a lot easier than a circular paper cutout."

[makes_it_rain]

"Fish?" Maes eyes her warily for a moment or two, as though trying to determine whether or not she's having him on. Oddly enough, the pickles are accepted without question.

"It's strange, the sort of thing that becomes tradition. I suppose we'll never be able to predict which ceremonies will hold over and which will just fade back into obscurity." A moment's thought, and he suggests, "The circle could always be something heavier than paper."