callipygos | holiday party post

holiday party post

Aphrodite's New York loft is done up to the nines.

The first good look as one enters is of twinkling Manhattan through the big windows, lights bright against a dark winter sky. The windows take up most of two walls; the rest of the space is largely empty, the star of the show a glowingly polished hardwood floor perfect for dancing.

There's a cluster of low-slung couches and chairs at one end of the room, velvet and leather and very inviting. They're situated by the fireplace, which lends them a cozy glow-- though it isn't cold anywhere in here, despite the windows.

Aphrodite is very proud of a few things about tonight:

1) The music, which spans a decent range of time periods and tempos, and will be playing for most of the evening.
2) The decorations, understated but quite lovely: softly glowing lights, silver and gold ribbons wound around columns and draped from the ceiling ... the occasional strategically placed bit of mistletoe.
3) Her dress.

And yes, darlings, there is a very well stocked bar and counter full of snacks.

That's what happens when you enlist the Three Graces to help you plan your shindigs.

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Asami takes a sip of her drink, wondering how far the line of polite curiosity runs in this situation.

(Had she run into trouble for crossing this line when she was younger? Yes.)

Instead, she replies, "I come from one of the biggest cities in my world, and it's still not really like this."

Mike just had the line of polite curiosity lengthened, now it goes all the way up.

No, the narration isn't really sure what that means either.

He peels his eyes away from the window, and fixes her with an interested smile.

"Oh yeah? Where're you from Ms..."
He leaves it open because, well they haven't been introduced.

She looks back, and smiles.

"Oh, I'm Asami."

"It's very nice to meet you, Asami," he says as he raises his can of cola in salute. "I'm Mike. And this here's a city so nice they named it twice: New York, New York."

"It's nice to meet you, too."

And... it's a name that she doesn't recognize at all, but she still offers in return, "The place I'm from is called Republic City."

"No fooling? Republic City? Well how do you like that. Of all the parties thrown by all of the goddesses of love in all the random New Yorks in the multi-verse, what are the chances I'd run into someone from Republic City here."

There's a beat where his smile just sort of goes into a holding pattern, and then falls ever so slightly.

"...this would be the point where Bar would slip me some knowledge about the place I know absolutely nothing about so as to help me more effectively flirt with the pretty lady. Only, Bar isn't here..."

"It's all right." She nods out to the skyline. "The only thing I know about - New York, New York? - is that it looks like this."

Also, you know, that apparently a love goddess has an apartment there and this guy was 'hatched' there and there is something called the "Midtown Pet Emporium," but.

"Well for starters, natives just call it The City."

Her mouth quirks.

"We do that in Republic City, too."

(She's even willing to bet that's common in any big city.)

"No better way to tell the tourists from the townies, am I right? Well, when they're not staring wide-eyed at tall things and stopping the flow of foot traffic to take pictures."

Unlike his brother, Mike loves tourists.

With a small shrug, "I'm a little sad that I don't have a camera."

With a view like this, it's hard to blame them.

"Usually I have one on me as well, but," he pats down his tuxedo coat. "I appear to be short on pockets today. I'm sure there's a camera around here somewhere though."

Mike cranes his neck as he looks about the room.

Asami watches him.

Probably because she has no idea what he's looking for, as she's never seen a camera small enough to fit in someone's pocket.

"I'm thinking...that if we went hunting for one, we could probably find a camera in either the kitchen or the bedroom."

"It's - the camera we're hunting for, right?"

She's still picturing a pretty bulky box and big flash lamp.

"Sure! Unless you'd rather snoop around her apartment for something else."

"I think the camera will be enough."

Then again, she's also not suggesting that they just ask if one's around.

"To adventure?" he asks extending an elbow in her direction.

Her expression doesn't change, but there's just a beat of hesitancy.

(It's not nerves - she just hasn't quite stopped thinking about the last person from the Bar who flirted with her.)

But then, her smile widens slightly, and she takes his arm. "All right."

It's weird. The momentary pause, the widening of her smile. It reminds him of April during the first few months they lived with her. When he and his brothers were comfortable to talk to, but strange to actually touch.

"I was just thinking, you remind me a lot of a woman I know from home. I'd say here, but I have no idea if this here is actually, home."

"I don't think you remind me of anyone from home," she replies, sounding only a little apologetic.

"But it seems like my world is pretty different from most others'"

Mike laughs.

"My brothers would say yours is the luckiest of all possible worlds. To not have someone like me in it, I mean.

But aside from a criminal lack of awesome," he says standing up just a little bit straighter. "What do you think makes your world so different?"

Not having siblings, Asami's not entirely sure how to read Mike's first comment.

But she answers easily enough, "Well we don't have - New York. Or any other place anyone else has told me about. And the only people who have heard of any place from my world are others from it."

Or people who have talked to others from it.

"Not having a New York certainly does put your universe of origin in a league of its own. It takes all kinds to make a multi-verse."

He pauses mid-step as something occurs to him.

"Yours isn't the world without shellfish, is it?"

"... no, we have shellfish."

Maybe not the exact same kinds of shellfish, but.

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