new year's eve with the ravenclaws

[reidinggg]

Reid loved New Year's Eve. The countdown, the silly party accessories, the excuse to get completely smashed and kiss random strangers at midnight, all for the sake of waking up to a supposed fresh start the next day. While he never really needed much of an excuse to go out, it was always nice to have a reason for getting all his girls together to

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[chase_em]

Jonah wasn't sure how he'd been convinced to follow Skylar to Danse Macabre but he was pretty sure the hysterical sobbing helped with his decision. He didn't want to leave her after what happened back at Lavender's- he was still raging that no one stepped in to do anything about it until he did.

Still, he felt a bit uncomfortable in the club, seeing how he was certainly not dressed for the event nor did he want to chance running into any of his teammates.

But when he spotted Ella, he couldn't help but grin, making his way toward her.

"Hey, stranger-"

[dearest_ella]

Ella had obviously spotted Jonah when he had unexpectedly walked in, conspicuous as he was with a crying Skylar in tow. She'd been too distracted by the sight of the wreck that was her friend to do much more than spare him a quick double take at first, but now that Reid seemingly had the situation under the control, she allowed her glance to slide back towards the man and his stupid dimples and stupidly unbuttoned shirt and sleek jacket. Between this and the last look (or lack thereof) she'd seen him sporting, she wasn't sure which she found more distracting-

"Hey yourself," she grinned back, fiddling with the drink in her hands. She threw a nod towards the back of the room at the two huddled figures, her eyebrows knitting together with questioning concern. "What's all this about?"

[chase_em]

He realized, then, that no matter what she was wearing (or wasn't wearing), he was still always a little wordless when he saw her. That sudden burst of confidence came from the drink in his hand, the dark and stormy he had been sipping on since bringing Skylar.

But still, he was more than glad to see her.

"Oh-" he frowned, tossing a glance back at Reid and Skylar. "You know- it was a bit of a mess, really. She and Harry- well, they got into an argument? I think? It looked more one-sided than anything else-"

[dearest_ella]

"Oh dear-" Whatever Harry had done to get Skylar into such a state, she certainly didn't envy him now that Reid had been brought in for damage control. She shook her head, a sad quirk of a smile pulling at her lips. "That boy can't seem to keep himself out of trouble. Thanks for bringing her back here, then-"

She turned back to Jonah, nodding at the drink in his hands. "Staying for a few, are you?"

[chase_em]

"Wot, of course-" he said, turning back again to glance at Skylar, somewhat happy to find that she wasn't crying anymore- though he wasn't sure whatever state she was in was an improvement. "Skylar- she's like family to me-"

At her question, he glanced down at the drink.

"I don't think I'm allowed to leave," he shrugged. "At least it's not tequila-" he added with a grin.

[dearest_ella]

Ella laughed, dipping her head to sip at her drink, thankful to be able to pass off the flush creeping up her cheeks as a byproduct of the round(s) of shots Ava had already coerced (granted, not much persuasion was needed) them into.

"The night's still young, Linney," she teased with a raised eyebrow. "It's hours still until midnight."

[chase_em]

He couldn't help but watch her, the way she laughed into her glass. He figured, if he was going to leave his original plans, he certainly didn't mind being here. He laughed, his brows furrowing as he glanced down at his watch.

"Then I suppose I've got some catching up to do-" he said, taking a rather large gulp from his drink. "Perhaps another little game between us is in order-"

It was New Year's Eve and they'd already, well- if Jonah couldn't get his act together now..

[dearest_ella]

"Now that's the spirit," she cheered, nudging him towards the bar (ignoring with practiced ease the sight of her sister leaning across the counter, shamelessly flirting with the bartender that was practically feeding her shots straight from the bottle).

Kissing strangers at midnight had always been more of Ava's game than her own - while she was certainly guilty of playing on both extremes of the spectrum when it came to work vs. well, not work, she got her kicks out of drunkenly giggling in the corner as she took in everyone else's antics more so than making a show it herself. But, well, Jonah was hardly a stranger now, was he-

She knocked the rest of her extra-spiked whiskey sour back, sliding the empty glass back across the counter. "You pick the poison this time, then-"

[chase_em]

His drink was nearing the bottom of the glass, anyway, so he didn't mind the nudge toward the bar - especially if Ella was accompanying him. He wasn't sure what had gotten into him- first going up to Harry, now edging toward the bar with Ella, visions of night together popping back up into his head.

But it was the new year, wasn't it? New resolutions and all that?

"Giving me all the hard decisions, are you?" he asked, before leaning himself against the bar, gesturing toward the bartender. "A round of rum shots- if you could-"

[dearest_ella]

"Oy, last time I made the call you didn't seem too happy about it," she pointed out, poking a finger at his shoulder (oh dear, she was at that stage of intoxication already, apparently).

Rum. Yeah, she could do rum. Nevermind that last time she'd gone for rum shots had had her scrambling home with her shoes in her hands, half of her outfit missing, two Frenchmen howling down at her from the balcony of the apartment she had just stumbled out of-

Whatever. Totally fine. Rum.

[chase_em]

He figured Ella should at least be glad she managed to go home with all of her things that night, as he was still sitting on bobby pins on a nightly basis since their, well, sleepover. Not like he minded all that much, of course, like he had admitted that next day. They made him laugh.

"Thanks," he said, nodding to the barkeep. "You might want to keep this coming," he added as he pushed enough money toward him.

"You ready to do this all over again, Montgomery?" he asked her, hitching an eyebrow as he handed her the shot glass.

[dearest_ella]

"As far as I'm concerned, I won that last round. So if you're ready for another defeat then you're on." She clinked her glass against his and threw back the shot, her face screwing up a bit more than she had intended it to as the burn of the liquor slid down her throat.

Stupid rum...

She shook her head, a shiver running through her as she huffed a breath out against the sting and taste of the liquor.

No, definitely not her favorite-

[chase_em]

He clinked his glass against hers and took the shot down, blinking his eyes shut as the liquor hit his throat. To him, rum was far more tolerable than tequila. Smoother too.

Even if it did still taste terrible.

"Considering the end result, I think we both won that one-" he said, coughing just slightly.

[dearest_ella]

While Ella was guilty of the occasional cringe, shudder, or shiver when it came to pounding back shots, she most certainly did not cough. It was a bit of a point of pride - part-time party animal that she was, she still had yet to meet a shot she didn't like (she was, after all, an all-business, straight-to-the-point bureaucrat type - mixed drinks were moreso just something to hold on to while she sat back and watched rather than an actual instrument in any kind of drink-until-you-whatshappening evening).

"Hm," she hummed casually, sliding her glass back across the bar for a refill, throwing a very brief, fluttering glance up at Jonah. "No, quite certain I still won-"

[chase_em]

The bartender whipped out the bottle, filling them both back to the top, eyeing the pair with some sort of knowing nod. Jonah just gave him a weird look before glancing back at Ella, balking slightly.

"You think?" he said, raising his eyebrows. "Because I seem to remember carrying you out of that Witch Weekly party-"

[dearest_ella]

While Ella's instincts immeditiately shot towards instant denial, she couldn't quite deny the minor roadblocks her memory still found itself stumbling across with reguards to that night. The tequila contest was clear eough, as was the increasingly blurry/enticing lure of Jonah in his stupid suit-

But then it was all tugging at clothing and lips and hands and she really should not be dwelling on those recolections considering the public setting and present company-

"...Well, even if carrying happened- especially if, even- well, clearly I won."