melodiesoflife | Event || The New Year

Event || The New Year

Characters: Anyone!
Where: The Enterprise.
When: The Night from December 31st to January 1st.
Summary: A Ball aboard the Enterprise, for well-dressed (mostly) Heroes of Light and their friends who want to dance and (especially) eat for free.
Warning: Nothing.

While the passing from a year to another isn't as big of an event as the Starlight Celebration, it is no reason to pass up an ocasion to celebrate and have fun. There are fireworks in all major cities and various activities to enjoy. Noticeably, there are gatherings of people in Aqures Ixen and Trano Golsaucia in particular, if only to conclude what is one of the most celebrated week in the year, and wish to each other the best possible year to come-- Though most people are worried about what's to come soon. After all, the end might be nigh with the Calamity about to take over the planet...

To celebrate this, the Heroes of Light have all been invited to stay aboard the Enterprise for a particularly prestigious and animated Ball. Indeed, the Enterprise will from Aqures Ixen and go all the way to Mysidia at midnight-- This way, New Year is going to last even longer than normal thanks to the magic of timezones.

There are tables with foods for everyone to eat and of course, music for people to dance together if they so wish. There is also a consequent number of chairs lined up, for all those who refuse to dance or are too awkward to do so.

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Billy made himself comfortable in one of those chairs with a plate of food and a glass of punch. He wasn't a party-goer, generally, but he'd been here for a few months now, and he was starting to accept that he wasn't going home anytime soon. He may as well get to know people.

And at least this party wasn't happening in his house, where he'd have to clean up after everyone.

He tapped one leather cowboy boot in time with the music. He'd dressed up for the event, with brown slacks, a blue vest, and green shirt and bowtie. His handguns hung in the new holster Minato had given him for Christmas.

This partying wasn't so bad, really. There was no drunken revelry, and everyone was having a good time. Billy felt himself smile as he watched the Heroes dancing on the floor before him.

Kobato was not sure what to do at this kind of party, it was certainly new at least. All the fancy dancing among other things was pretty impressive to the young girl who had never seen anything in her life. Even her fancy dress had been strange to her to the point she had needed help getting ready. But she had managed and even managed to get a fancy hat to suit it.

However even with everything, Kobato found herself sitting at the side and simply watching the others with a tiny smile.

"Don't you think everyone is having a good time?"

Billy nodded. "Seems like it." Nothing had gone wrong, at least. And they were up in the air, safe from outside interference, so they were not likely to be interrupted by anything terrible.

"It's nice, getting a break from the world-saving." Even if Billy would've preferred a quiet get-together rather than a big, fancy dance party, it was a welcome distraction from the reality of the rekindling Calamity.

"It is, though... I don't think I've done much world saving myself." Kobato said looking down slightly. Sure she helps out every now and again but she didn't think that she was really helping in saving the world enough, like many of the others who do way more than she ever could.

"I will try and do more myself in the new year though."

Billy shrugged. "We all need to step up if we want to save this world," he said frankly. It was not a single person who was going to stop the Calamity. It was going to be everyone working together.

... it would've be easier with giant mechanical Gears, though. But Billy digressed.

"...so don't feel bad. It's on everyone, not just you."

"I know, but when you feel like you aren't doing as much as other people... I just cannot help it." She paused briefly thinking about it, maybe she should consider maybe taking on a new job or something. But yet she never seen any job that she was fond of that didn't look like it could hurt people. The ones she had were okay.

"Though I guess finishing what jobs I do have will help more... maybe."

He shrugged again. "Do what you think is best. What jobs do you have?"

He could tell some people's primary job by their costumes, but that didn't tell him everything. Maybe knowing what Kobato was trying to master would help him understand her dilemma.

"I usually keep to White Mage and Summoner for the most part. But I do have Illusionist and Bard as well as some others... I would need to ask Ursa-chan."

She had mastered most of her jobs as there wasn't that many she enjoyed. The ones she did have were all a good clue as to the type of person she was or wanted to be for the most part.

Billy nodded. Kobato was the type of person who wanted to help others, not hurt anyone. They shared one job class, white mage, in common, but for very different reasons.

"It sounds like you have the jobs you need. Supporting your team the best you can is more important that having extra jobs you can't use."

She nodded. She felt like what he said is right. It was more important. That she should keep the jobs she had, the ones she deemed more useful than ones that involved fighting.

She was a healer, not a fighter. "What about you. What kinds of jobs do you have?"

Would Billy ever stop ranting about the people he lived with, we just don't know.

What was evident, however, was that the boy never seemed to give himself a rest either, coming fully equipped to a party meant to be a lighthearted celebration. Though the guns could technically be considered a part of the outfit, the cadet had gotten to know Billy well enough to suspect him of being stubbornly cautious. Well, it wasn't by any means a bad thing.

"I thought your role was that of a healer, and here you seem like you're on a lookout for criminals, Billy." Having worked in the Law Enforcement for quite a while now, he might have unintentionally grown to associate the cowboy look with just that, considering who was in charge. "Are you sure you're not interested in entering our ranks?"

To be honest, the cadet wasn't exactly in a position to tease, donning a white uniform so much alike the military clothes he'd once worn back at home, himself, though he'd made the extra effort to look somewhat presentable. Allowing himself a small smile, he then took the empty seat next to his housemate.

It wasn't so much about being armed or not. Billy would've felt naked without at least his handguns on his person. He would have sooner arrived at this event barefoot or shirtless than he'd have come sans guns. He crossed his arms and raised a silver eyebrow at Ace.

"Any good healer knows that prevention of an injury is better than any 'cure' spell. No harm in being prepared to protect people." This might have been rooted in paranoia that stemmed from a deadly attack that had happened in his childhood home, where he'd felt most safe, but paranoia didn't mean it wasn't true.

"Besides," he added, with a ~~slightly evil~~ smirk. "If I was in law enforcement, Sparks Nevada would be my boss. No thanks."

Ace knew better than to be offended at Billy's posture, briefly leaning back against his chair to retrieve a deck of cards from his pocket. The gesture was nothing but symbolic, considering that there was little use for them without the Gambler being equipped, but he'd made it something of a habit to always carry his old weapon by his side, anyway.

"No, in fact that is a fair point. I did not mean to criticize you." While the cadet spoke with solemnity in his voice, the mention of the familiar figure managed to break his composure a bit. Absentmindedly twirling one of the cards between his fingers, he responded with a smirk of his own.

"... I didn't know you two had some kind of history. I find his stance on the means of transportation rather odd, myself."

Billy snorted. "I mean, I don't really know him or anything..." Sparks just rubbed him the wrong way, and though Billy would never admit it, they were too alike to ever get along well.

"But yeah, I'd rather work at the hospital with Yuna and the others."

He gave Ace's cards a pointed look. "Are we playing something, or do you just shuffle for no reason?"

Or anything. For some reason, the cadet found it difficult to mask his amusement at the response, but he still tried his best, settling for an acknowledging nod.

So swept up in his attempt to respond in an appropriate manner, he hadn't really been prepared to hear the question that followed. To be honest, his absent-minded habits had long since accompanied him, and it was a wonder nobody had ever seemed to have minded... up until now.

The blond's eyes widened slightly. "... It's more like a force of habit, I guess. Still, I wouldn't mind if you're up for it." While genuinely meant it, the boy's knowledge of the deck was a thing to consider, since most of them he could easily recognize without as much as giving them a glance.

Billy gave Ace an uncertain look. Did he think Billy didn't know how to play cards? That he didn't know how to have fun? As a matter of fact, he played cards with his kids back at the orphanage ~~just not anything that resembled gambling because the Ethos church was strict about that sort of thing~~.

"What are we playing? Rummy, War, Speed? I don't know poker and I am not playing 52 Card Pick-up." He had almost banned cards in the house when the kids had first gotten wind of that particular game.

Somebody might have been slightly overthinking things. Not only it had never been his intention to leave a similar impression, it wasn't as if Ace would dare to make such claims, considering....

"Any will do, if you'd be so kind to explain the rules, first." Even in his general obliviousness to things, it quickly dawned on him how strange it must have sounded, and sheepishly, he added. "... You see, I've never had the opportunity to play with anyone here before."

Sure, he'd tried his hand at the Triple Triad, but that was different. There was only one name that rang a bell among the ones Billy had listed, and the cadet wholeheartedly agreed poker was a rather poor fit, given the circumstances.

Ace was treated to one of Billy's patented world-weary sighs.

"Alright... War is the easiest. We'll start there." He turned in his chair and folded his legs up, sitting crosslegged.

"Deal out the cards into two piles. We flip a card one at a time, and the higher card wins. If we have the same card, we have to 'war'. I'll explain when we get there. Ace is high," he told his companion with a smirk.

~~War is never easy, Billy, don't you know that.~~

Since his roommate clearly meant business, Ace decided to pull one of the empty chairs closer for a more convenient way to place one's cards; a neutral zone, so to speak. He listened to Billy's explanation with patience, though the last sentence would just earn the other boy an incredulous look. Really?

But then, he would just snicker to himself, refusing to comment on it further. "Sounds pretty close to how Ultima is played out." Giving the deck a quick shuffle and dividing it in two (he didn't have to check if the numbers matched, he never did), he placed one half next to Billy, while keeping his own on the other side of the chair. "Picking the same value forces each player to place another card face down, while the 'war', as you called it, resumes with their next pick, except the winner takes it all."

The cadet looked at Billy expectantly, waiting to be either corrected or receive a confirmation. Quite frankly, it wasn't exactly rocket science, so the chances of this simple game existing across various universes were actually pretty high.

Billy nodded. "One card, or three, if you want to raise the stakes."

He flipped a card over and waited for Ace to play his. "Why do you carry them around if you don't play?" He'd never seen Ace building houses out of them, and as far as Billy knew, those were the only two uses for a deck.

The way he said it, made Ace wonder if his housemate wasn't by any chance more competitive of a soul than he had thought.

He would let the boy have the first round, setting down - or rather tossing his card so that it flips over right before touching the surface, revealing a lower rank. Resting beneath his fingertips was a King, though, so he was rather confident, even with the completely randomized procedure.

The boy lifted his eyes to glance at Billy. "Fighting. Cards are my primary weapon, and they have been since I can remember. Unfortunately, they do not seem to hold the same power they did back home."

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Event || The New Year

Billy | Open

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I imagine he knows them under different names, but I'm too tired to come up with anything witty...

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making stuff up, go

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