A New Year (OPEN)

[Kimberly Jones]

Kimberly sighed as she placed the last streamer into place, her hands brushing through her hair calmly as she looked up at the decorations. She had never been one to decorate, but when the party announced she had decided that she'd take it upon herself to at least try to make it enjoyable for the rest of the Prefects. She stepped back and admired her work, the nearly invisible wire making most of the decorations appear to float. Sure she hated decorating, but it didn't mean that she couldn't do a decent job, plus it gave her a reason to play around with different kinds of wire and see what she liked, though the one wound into her bracelet was still the better choice in her opinion.

The young bounty hunter turned on her heels and walked over to one of the couches, taking a swift seat and picking up the wine glass she had been sipping from for the majority of the evening. She looked at the red liquid and then back to the punch bowl that had been set up. At least it looked like punch so no one would accuse her of having a glass of wine. She leaned back, holding the glass in the palm of her hand and glancing around at her handy-work. It wasn't really the best job but it would work. She smiled a bit as she checked the time, enjoying the peace before the storm. That was the real reason why she decided to take up the job by herself, so she could get a bit of peacefulness before things got noisy.

She watched the clock tick by in the silence, patiently waiting for the time to come, enjoying her glass while she could. Would things be hectic? Probably, were they ever not? She had just finished the glass when she heard the door creak open, her eyes flashing over to it, instantly on edge out of habit before the Prefects came streaming in. She simply smiled at them, hoping that the place wasn't wrecked within the next few hours, she didn't need to clean up too much of a mess.

Well, here we go. It's time to welcome myself to a very, very loud night. A quiet New Years woulda been nice for a change.

[Felicia Blackwood]

She sat on her bed with her eyes closed and her demeanour looking calm. She seemed to be absorbed in thought, or at least, that is what one would assume. She was actually practicing a relaxation technique, courtesy of her mother, Donna, before heading out to the New Year’s Party the prefects were having. She was not particularly thrilled to be attending; after all, being social was not something she particularly enjoyed, but someone had to be a supervisor, and she had the vague notion that there would be quite a bit of drinking that night. It was not like the last time, though. No, she had been assigned then, like she was the head of a project or something akin to that. It was more against her own free will than anything. This time, though, it was not on as grand a scale as last time. Only a small group of people were supposed to come. There would probably be some crashers, she could be almost sure of it, but as long as they were not breaking any rules or doing any harm, she would give them a glare and send them on their way. She was tired of dealing with annoyance after annoyance, and she was honestly starting to just not care anymore. Rules needed to be followed, yes, but she was not going to get outraged anymore. She figured that someone else would do said job for her and let her deal out the punishments.

An obnoxious beeping sound replaced the sweeping music in her ears and she groaned internally. Off to another social event, she mused to herself, standing slowly from her perch on her bed and cracking her neck. She rolled her shoulders as well, and, when she felt properly stretched out, she turned the alarm off and pushed the now-silent object that had been spewing the horrid noise aside. As she headed toward the door, she swiped her copy of Slaughterhouse Five from her nightstand. If she was not going to be talking to anyone, the least she could do was entertain herself by reading. Besides, it would give her great opportunities to look more like a b**** if she glared over top of the book at someone. The only thing that could have made it better was eating an apple, but she did not care too much for those fruits. She let out a small chuckle before flicking off the lights and shutting the door behind her as she left. She locked the door and made her way through the halls, to the lounge, where the party was going to be located.

The silver-haired young lady entered the lounge, noting that she was most likely early, since no one else was there. Well, except for one person. It seemed that Miss Jones had been volunteered to do the decorating for the event. The young woman had to admit, the decorations did look rather nice, even though they were simple. Honestly, she preferred it that way. Flashy was not exactly her style, and it did not seem to be Kimberly’s taste either, except when it came to her powers. Of course, that was because her powers were of the electrical variety, but such a thought was neither here nor there for the ruby-eyed young lady. She paused for a few moments, leaning against the door frame and waiting for Miss Jones to sit before entering. She brushed a silvery lock of hair from her face and headed to a nearby wall, nodding in greeting to Kimberly. The least she could do was acknowledge the other young woman in a polite fashion. She too seemed like she was not in the mood to be bothered, though she did not seem as sour as Felicia herself.

“Good evening, Miss Jones. You’ve done a decent job with the place. You may relax, if you so desire. I’ll keep an eye on things around here; it’s been quite a year, and those who have been in it for the long haul deserve some respite.”

With that said, Felicia opened her book and began reading, occasionally glancing up over the snow-white pages to watch as more prefects streamed in and began making noise. The din that filled the room was nothing compared to the din of the dance, but she still found it mildly annoying. At least this time, it’s tolerable, she thought to herself, trying to bury herself in Vonnegut’s biting prose while still monitoring the room for any signs of disturbance or conflict.

[Kimberly Jones]

Kimberly blinked a few times as one of the commanders walked in ahead of everyone else, probably planning to try to keep things not insane. Whether or not the pink haired girl would be successful would be seen as the night went by, but Kimberly planned to at least dispel any fights that threatened to break out. She wracked her mind for a moment, trying to remember the girl's name for a moment before recalling it, giving a nod to her fellow Prefect as she started to speak, her voice giving off a bit of a sour feel compared to what she had expected. Kimberly couldn't help but smile inwardly at the fact, the girl obviously didn't like the fact that they were doing this.

The red haired girl simply sat back a little further in her seat, swirling the remaining liquid around in the cup before speaking. "Good evening Blackwood. Sorry if I sound a bit....curt here, but I will act if I need to. I'd rather not let this little get together fall apart due to some pointless squabble." She took another sip of the drink in hand, looking down at the liquid. She blinked absentmindedly at it as she heard a few more prefects enter, glancing up for a moment before glancing over at Felecia. She glanced at the book, raising an eyebrow at it. She hadn't really seen many people read Slaughterhouse-Five, much less expected another Prefect to even know the book. The story was a sad one in her own opinion, outlining the facts of war that she had learned all too well in her own travels in Mexico.

Before she knew what was happening she spoke up, her mouth working faster than her own mind. "War's a horrible thing ya know. That book....kinda highlights what people who have seen it have to go through, save for the alien abductions of course." She blinked at her own words, shaking her head a bit. "Heh, I probably sound like an old war vet right now," she closed her eyes leaning back again, taking another sip from her cup. "Don't mind me, I'm just blabbering now."