A Charity Gala to End Whatever Important Thing

[ngm_miscellaneous]

New York City high society had been absolutely buzzing over this April's charity gala by a certain Mr. Tony Stark. It was seen as exclusive, or as exclusive as his 200 person guest list could be. Some invitations were a given, like Tony's daughter Alexa, whereas others came from what the party planners figured as the right people to make the party memorable or talked about.

The charity event was for the charitable arm of Stark Inc., Stark International. Despite being for charity, it was also seen as a good way for businesses to be seen and network.

The event was held at the Hudson in the Library and Private Park space. It would comfortably fit the people into its 2,600 Square Feet.

Comments

[frostfurlady]

"Aye, but it's terribly nice to meet thee, Stephanie."

[hellfire_empath]

"Oh, I apologize. I assumed that the two of you may have met at...school." Like she was openly going to say Xavier's? Please. "Or something. You look beautiful, though, Danielle." She then smiled brightly and stepped up to greet Alexander, not saying a word quite yet. She'd never really had to introduce a special man friend to her friends before.

How did one go about doing that?

[call_me_phobos]

Alexander stepped up to the group and smiled at everyone.

"Good evening, everyone. I hope everyone's enjoying the party. It certainly became a lot more fun."

"Mr. da Silva, good to see you again. Danielle, it's all so good to see you, too." he said.

He leaned over to whisper to Brooke. "Roxanne and her...boyfriend are here, smiling at each other like no one else exists. They look really happy so don't go near them unless you need a huge dose of happy waves." he said.

[pyroprincess]

"A pleasure to meet you as well." Stephanie replied politely, though her interest was more with Alexander. She carefully watched Brooke and Alexander, hoping to see what was going on between them.

She looked over to Brooke, visibly expecting an introduction, curious to see how her friend would handle that.

[frostfurlady]

"Why thanks, Brooke. You look ver' lovely too."

Another smile and nod for Alexander. "And you!" Danielle says cheerfully. "I didn' realize there would be so many people here! Granny goes to these parties sometimes, but she didn't usually tend to make us come."

[hellfire_empath]

Mr. da Silva, good to see you again?!

Danielle, it's all so good to see you, too?!

And you?!

What the hell was going on here? How did Alexander even...Breathe.

Brooke stood up a little bit straighter and gently reached up to adjust one of her sparkling earrings, gathering herself. She smiled graciously and said, "I see that some of you have already made acquaintances. Stephanie, this is Alexander Aaron, my..." Oh god, what word could she use to describe him? Date? Boyfriend? Suitor? Paramour? Special man friend? "...the man I've told you so much about." She grimaced inwardly. "Alexander, this is Stephanie Shaw, my best friend. You already know her boyfriend, Marcelo." Somehow.

But how?

She was too busy thinking about that to worry about Roxie and Joe for the moment.

[vesper_verde]

Marcelo gave a nod of greeting to Alexander. "Mr. Aaron. How is starting your business going?"

That was a better question to ask than the confusing warning he had overheard with his augmented hearing. He had been trying to see if anyone here had been talking about something exciting, like futebol. He kept his facial expression pleasantly bland instead of confused.

He turned slightly toward Danielle. "Not a lot of these parties have nice gardens so well occupied. Though this is around a usual number of guests for one of these affairs."

[call_me_phobos]

"Things are going well. Right after Brooke and I got back from Paris, things really picked up and I'm hiring and picking up several new accounts. But I thought tonight would be a good time to get out and see how things were going in the city." Alexander said to Marcelo.

"Miss Shaw, it's very nice to meet you. Brooke has spoken very, very highly of you." he said.

She looked like she might be interesting to dress but nothing more. His Muse took priority, after all.

[frostfurlady]

And it happens again, the surge of Brooke's confusion bleeds over. Danielle presses her hand to her temple as she tries to get her own shields in order again.

She'd heard something about boyfriends and waves of happiness being whispered, even though that was none of her business. Maybe she should go over there...

[pyroprincess]

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Aaron." Stephanie gave him her best winning smile. "I've had the pleasure of seeing, and wearing some of your work in the past. It's an honour to finally meet you." And if the stress fell slightly upon the "finally", well, that was just a funny thing about language.

She'd press Brooke later about what adjectives and modifiers she used, linguistically, to describe him. They seemed to have a spark between them, but it didn't seem ... intimate. At least yet.

[hellfire_empath]

Nothing naked had gone on yet.

Brooke hadn't even attempted to kiss the man, though she had strongly considered that option when they were in Paris.

She just...didn't know how to kiss.

Meanwhile, Brooke was all too aware of the waves of pleasure that rolled off of both Stephanie and Marcelo.

She glanced at Danielle, and a short look of guilt flashed over her face. She realized then that her emotions were probably wreaking havoc on her roommate. "Danielle, are you alright?"

[vesper_verde]

Marcelo had a vague feeling there were lots of things going on here he did not quite understand. He stopped himself from asking if Danielle needed fresh air as they were already in the garden. His gut started to tell him this was veering into Stephanie territory.

So, he glanced around and jumped ever so slightly at seeing Ghost Girl No. 2. He thought discretion would be the better part of not staring at a ghost blonde.

"Did you need something to drink, Danielle? I was heading in to replace," he waved his mostly empty glass, "this with something from the bar. I could pick you up a water? Or you could come with and help me keep an ear out for anyone talking futebol."

[frostfurlady]

"I'm all right, thank you," she assures Brooke with a smile as she keeps trying to adjust her shields. "But... some water would be nice, and ...football? Down with the Huns!" This perfectly normal Glasgow Celtic Fan sentiment has a very...Viking vehemence behind it.