houseofcards_rp | It's Swing Time~

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It's Swing Time~

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Elisha's motivation for organizing - or, honestly, delegating the organization of - a semi-formal dance party. Lucinda had suggested a ball, with stars in her eyes. She probably had already picked out ballgowns and themes in her head when Elisha had nixed the thing and - in a moment of desperation, with the memory of the swing-themed Fox wedding still in his head - suggest a Spring Swing, instead.

Everyone had run with it, and Elisha was pleased to say it had come out well. He was even more pleased to say that he didn't have to wear a suit, even if he stepped out into the lantern-lit gardens in everything but the tie. He paused near the raised dais provided for dancing and gave the small band the signal to start up the music before he attempted to fade back in the crowd. Not that that ever worked.

"Let the games begin," he murmured to no one in particular as he picked up a glass of champagne off a tray.

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"Ten minutes?" She said as she sat neatly and crossed her legs at the knee. "Maybe he was lurking and waiting for me to leave so he could spring it on you."

She slanted him an amused look. "Are you happy about it, other than the shock?" She imagined he would be; it was, after all, what Ethan had always wanted.

"I wouldn't put it past him, the sadist."

Ethan propped his chin on one hand, leaning on the table. "I'm...well, it's hard to say, really. One part of me keeps thinking I'll wake up and all of this's been a nightmare. Another part keeps insisting it's part of some huge cosmic joke and that I'm being set up to fail, spectacularly. And the last part...well, is damned well jumping up and down screaming in glee about it all."

"I think being King or Queen requires a touch of sadism. Silas informed me by telling me we needed to prepare a press release announcing the new Ace of Diamonds." She had very nearly hit the King with something for that one, but she was only really armed with knives and muffins at the time, and neither one of them seemed like a particularly good idea.

"Well, I'm sure you know how much work it'll be. Though, at least there's no crises to manage at the moment? That's always fun." The freak blizzard that had knocked out the power had happened right after Avery had become Ace. "Of course," she added in a much lower voice, "I don't imagine Julien was pleased."

"And I'm looking so much forward to all of it, too." He scoffed a touch and tossed back the rest of his drink, putting the empty tumbler back down on the table.

Ethan's expression sobered at the mention of Julien--he could just feel the bullseye resting right between his shoulder blades. "He hasn't made an issue of it," Ethan told her in answer. "But then, he's been more or less avoiding most people anyway. I almost wish he'd come up and punch me in the mouth so it would just be over with."

"I can't blame him, I suppose." She'd done some avoiding when she'd fallen from Jack, after all, and she'd only had that post for a few months. Still, Julien wasn't exactly the most cheerful topic of conversation, and Avery smiled as she flipped her ponytail over her shoulder.

"So, I requested three days off," she said, "and Säde changed it to seven. Are we still on for Firenze?" Possibly she'd have to amuse herself for at least some of the time; a week could be a very long time in the Deck, after all.

"She gave you an entire week? Wow, impressive." Granted, such generosity was probably along the lines of the unspoken dislike between the Diamond Queen and Ace, but whatever the reason, approved was approved.

"As far as I know. I've got a bit of business to see to while we're there, but nothing major. Since things are relatively quiet right now, Clive couldn't object too much. And when we get back, it's nose to grindstone time, or so I was obliquely led to believe."

Ethan snorted. "One last hurrah, hm?"

"She must have thought I needed it." Or it was what you got when you partook in driving a man to suicide. No, scratch that; Cadogan wasn't going on vacation. Admittedly, Cadogan probably didn't actually know what a vacation was. "Which I do, so she's not wrong."

Her eyes twinkle. "From my experience of semi-dating more than one Spade, the established protocol is just to inform Clive or Katya that you're going off-Deck." She pulls a serious face. "You'll be back when you're back. Have I got it right?" She asked, beaming at him again before she shrugged.

"Better get it in now," she added. "Even when the Deck's not going crazy, it seems like there's always something else to do."

"I think we all could use a week or three in Hawaii, on the beach," he answered dryly, nodding thanks to the server for the refill. "Somewhere sunny, full of tourists and reeking of ambiance, not to mention great white sharks."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "'Semi-dating'? That's a new one. But yeah, more or less." At least, that's what most of the higher Cards did, from his understanding. But then, if a Spade said it was "serious business", then it damned well was. "Yeah, tell me about it. I've been going through Julien's filing cabinet for the past two days, playing catch-up. I might just pull a cot in there and bring Kee'lah from the house, until I at least get everything read."

"The great white sharks would be a nice change from the human ones," Avery said with a laugh before she tipped her head at him.

"It seems like as good a description as any," she added, "for sleeping with and occasionally going out to dinner with a gentleman as commitment-phobic as I am." She said it flippantly; except for Davin, her last relationship that was really a relationship had been with Lucas Addison in her early twenties. Other than that...well, a lot of friends with benefits. "Is it a disaster?" She asked. "Säde's was religiously organized, but of course she took most of her files with her when she became Queen. Most of my early days were spent getting rid of the high gloss minimalist decor."

Ethan shook his head. "No, actually. All of his files and notes are quite meticulously organized, cross-referenced and relatively easy to read." A beat. "Provided one speaks 'Julien'. Somehow I don't see myself toddling down the hall to ask him about a translation."

He took another swallow of potent amber. "There's just so much of it, God. I swear, the man was paranoid about everyone and their grandmother. I swear he saw scores of assassins hiding in his sock drawer. Probably still does."

"That's rather more what I would have expected out of him." She didn't care, particularly, for the former Ace of Spades; he made it difficult for most people to care for him. But he always struck her as the type to work clean. "You should just develop your own code, really. I was lucky; just moved all my own files into my office and continue ruling over my little fiefdom of public relations.

She waved a waiter closer and picked up a glass of wine. "Well, it makes sense, when you think about it," she said. "He was Athena's man, and I grew up with her, Ethan. She was always one with plots and plans. If you work with that long enough..." You start to see them everywhere.

He did well to repress his shudder at the mention of Athena. Not that he'd been afraid of her or disliked her overly, but the woman was just...snaky, in his view. Prone to making the worst choices ever, too.

"Athena..." he finally said, glass hovering at his lips, "...she was something, that's for damned sure." Although he'd never ever forgive that bitch for the hell she'd put David through. Granted, it was a two-way street, that entire debacle, but regardless. He knocked back the rest of the tumbler.

Back to work talk; it was safer, really. "I probably will, once I get the gist of 'how things are done'. Handling David's files last year gave me the basics, but now that I can get in depth with things...it'll be a chore, but a necessary one."

Well, she was a snake. It was what she was, and Avery had actually been really fond of her. They weren't at all in disagreement over Athena's life choices, though.

"She and David were poison for each other," Avery said. "I think it was clear to everyone but them." Probably to them, too, honestly.

"It won't take you that long," she said as she sipped the rest of her wine and set aside the glass, still a quarter full. "I can't imagine that Julien's information system is nearly as intricate as David's was."

Ethan slid down in his chair, almost descending into broodiness at the mention of his father and his...wife. "...he loved her, I do know that." He had to admit that, at least. Because David had. Ethan's brow furrowed. "I just--sometimes, I wish--" he cut himself off then, shaking his head. "Nah, never mind."

He toyed with his empty glass, not bothering to sit up any straighter, and indeed dropped his head back against the chair back when she mentioned David's filing system. "Oh, my God," he groaned in memory. "All handwritten, illegibly, at that. Shit going back years... I almost had a heart attack when I opened the top drawer."

"Hadyn said that Jordan has all his non-confidential stuff now," Avery said with a grin, "and that it alternately makes him twitch and want to just go ahead and end it all to get rid of the pain." Poor Jordan, really, and for more than just that.

He just didn't seem very happy, all in all.

She eyed Ethan for a moment, and then stood up.

"Come on," she said. "You owe me a dance before you slide all the way onto the floor."

He smirked in unholy commiseration. "Yeah, I know. I heard him bitching in the library all the way down in my office off the armory. It was glorious. I know Jordan has patience rivaling the Almighty, but trying to slog through David's terrible handwriting is just...cruel and unusual."

Ethan blinked up at her when she rose from her chair, adopting a pout and something resembling a whine. "Do I have to?" He held out a hand anyway; never let it be said he'd refuse a lady her wish. ...most of the time.

"Someone should have taught him the art of computers." Except, well. She was also friends with Meghana. She'd heard a bit about that one too.

Her grin is impish. "Just one, Ethan. Every other girl in this party has shown off her panties, and I'm starting to feel left out."

He snorted a laugh as he hauled himself up out of the chair, taking her hand and planting upon it a kiss as they moseyed over to the dance floor. "Because it just isn't a party if the Ace of Diamonds doesn't flash the entire crowd, right?"

Thankfully, the band's next number wasn't freakishly fast and hyper, so Ethan had a chance to untangle his feet and relax back into the style. Didn't take him long, though; most of the moves were tailored to the lady, anyway.

"Absolutely not." Especially since Säde wasn't around to frown at her for it; she might as well have some fun.

She hadn't done much swing dancing, but the few people she'd hit the floor with before Ethan had gotten her into practice - and Avery was naturally graceful in any case - so it didn't take long for her yellow skirt to be swirling around her bare legs.

"I've got to give the gossip mill something to work with, you know." Even if that something was just emerald green silk panties.

"Mm, true," he mused as he swung her into a another spiraling twirl. "It's been unusually light lately, I've noticed." That, or no one was bothering to tell him anything. He didn't really care either way.

Granted, the last time he'd been to a semi-formal event like this was before he'd returned Home, and then he'd been unable to really enjoy it, as he was "working", so to speak. Now, not having any agenda other than enjoying the evening was...nice.

"Either everyone's behaving themselves," he added, pulling Avery back in close, "or they're storing shit up to rain all over everyone's parade."

"Maybe everyone's waiting for the other shoe to drop." Though after this year, they were probably on their fifth or sixth shoe, at least. "After all, the tower popped up, the ocean showed up, and...nothing."

It could be just growing pains - that was a theory one of the scientists in the Diamonds had tossed up - but it seemed a little anticlimactic.

Her hand rested on his shoulder and she looked up at him with raised brows. "Maybe we'll be lucky and the rain will fall while we're in Italy."

He snorted lightly. "Probably." The new "additions to Deck lands were a bit...odd, but then the place had never been considered stable. Ethan was sure the surveyors were on medication for massive migraines year-round, poor sods.

Thankfully, the music changed, allowing the new Ace to concentrate on both not stepping on Avery's toes and actually using full sentences. "Ahha, yeah. This I can dance to, carina." Arm around her waist, Ethan shuffled them across the floor with the rest of the couples.

"What, and come back to a repeat of the Great Flood? Or maybe a plague of locusts; that'd at least be interesting." His brows quirked. "If economically disastrous, but still." He sent her out for a slow twirl, saying, "It might storm a time or two there, too. 'tis the season for it, but it's gorgeous, out over the lake."

Edited 2013-05-13 20:30 (UTC)

This made conversation just a little easier, she had to admit - as much fun as the faster songs were. "Or all of the plagues of Egypt, all at once." She paused. "I think I'd opt to go back to Italy."

Her dress flared out gently before Ethan brought her back in. "I like storms," she said, "we don't get enough on Deck. The weather tends towards clear." With just enough snow to make winter pretty.

"Oh, God, can you imagine? Rivers of blood, darkness eternal, frogs, boils, hail...yeah, I say we just never come home, if so.

"But yeah, me too. Some of the blizzards in Russia were...fun, I have to say. And I really like London's perpetual fog, for some reason. But watching the thunderheads roll in up in the mountains..." he shook his head in recalled wonder, "...there's nothing else like it in the world, carina."

"They probably wouldn't even miss us if we didn't. Or at least wouldn't have the time to go looking."

She smiled a little as Ethan spoke, dancing lightly. "You miss Italy a lot, don't you?" She asked. "I don't remember any place other than here, and I went all around Europe when I was off-Deck." Never in one place for long, though there'd been some fun in Rome.

It's Swing Time~

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.....can you tell I'm tired? gawd.

THAT looks more like Ethan.

ffffff, right? I mean, Ivona's pretty and all. but...awkward, much?

She's just not really Avery's type. XD

she really isn't.

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...i am having all the problems ever. :(

It is Monday like whoa.

It really is. /shakes fist at it

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