winter gala

[bossymarmalade]

Zee has her hair half done up in curlers as she’s instructing a few staff members on where she’d like some of the last few decorative pieces placed around the ballroom, “No no no, I’d really prefer you to try and space out the snowmen, I don’t want it to feel like they trying to band together to form an army or anything…creepy. And why does that tree still not have lights on it??”

Tim spent the last few hours pacing his room at Wayne Manor in a somewhat successful attempt to calm his nerves and convince himself attending to Gala is in his best interest. With his suede black shoes, black three-piece suit, crimson shirt and Bruce’s Hermès Faubourg tie, he looks ready to dazzle the crowd with his appearance. Sadly he still doesn’t feel that way when he joins Zee and the chaos that her preparation is. He steps closer, watching people scurry to the tree while blaming each other for Zee’s possible wrath. “Am I this early or are you this behind on schedule?” he asks with a quick glance at her hair.

Zee her mouth is set with a frown as she thinks things would’ve already been done her way had she allowed herself more time to prepare for party and less time spent pouring over her mother’s diaries. She couldn’t expect her staff to to everything for her. At Tim’s sudden arrival she has to check a nearby clock just to be sure, it felt like the group had been rearranging already placed items for hours now, “No you’re early. But we are still behind. Ridiculous. I feel like Ollie got all these decorations and told whoever was working that way to set things up they way they wanted. It looked like a monkey decorated the place when I got here.”

Tim looks around as Zee explains the cause of her delay. Understandable, he thinks with a small amused smile as he envisions Ollie dumping piles and piles of decorations only to forget about them himself. “In that case you’re doing a good job. It does look like you could use another pair of hands,” Tim offers already undoing the buttons on his jacket and rolling up the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows. He has done his fair share of party-planning regarding W.E. galas and foundations, after all.

"Oh no no no, c’mon you’re supposed to be a guest. You don’t have to help Tim really it’s fine," but as Tim takes off his jacket an rolls his sleeves, Zee just sighs letting him do what he wants, "You and Bruce have very similar manners, you know. Which is to say you politely do what you want."

"I offered my help, Zee. It’s fine." Tim swings his jacket over a chair and re-arranges the ornaments on a nearby table. The comparison to Bruce causes him to look at her over his shoulders, eyes curiously narrowing at her. "Politely do what I want? That’s better than what I usually get, which is people telling me I have control issues," he responds as he moves on to another table, folding napkins and swapping a white candle with a blue one from a third table to create the exact same decoration composition on each. Satisfied, he steps back and observes, hands on his hips. "Besides that, yes, I do think we have similar manners. Does that bother you?" he asks looking at her and then around the room once more for another task.

Zee shakes her head, as she watches him work- obviously he’d be familiar with how a gala should be presented. She has to admit that his centerpiece design is even better than she one she’d been thinking on, “It doesn’t bother me, no. It’s just funny seeing similar mannerisms in someone else. I’m surprised I’m just picking up on it now. Yeah, maybe you and Bruce have control issues, but whatever. I knew him when we were younger so I’m used to his ways. Or at least as used to Bruce as he’ll allow. So I’m used to them for you too I guess.”

( let it metaphorically snow )

pomp and circumstance

[bossymarmalade]

After some eating, much drinking and a little bit of slow dancing, Kyle whisks Zee back into her little room in the back, kissing her face yet still taking care not to mess up her lipstick.

Zee slides back on the small couch tucked way in the little room and pulls Kyle down with her as she keeps her lips close to his “How many drinks have you had?” she teases him, running a hand throw his still slicked back hair.

Kyle tugs his tie, loosening it as he lowers himself onto the couch, over Zee’s arching, inviting body. “Mmmm about twelve. No….seven. Somewhere around there….” He unbuttons his collar, ducking down to press fevered lips on her shoulder, her collarbone, deep into her cleavage. “You’ve been driving me crazy all evening, you know that?”

Zee laughs, “You are so drunk, I mean I knew you said you were going to get smashed…I didn’t realize it was a contest.” she continues to pull her fingers through his hair, her hand pulsing as he kisses her cleavage, “Stay there…I like it when you’re there.” She kicks off her glittery pumps, and curls her legs up onto the couch beneath Kyle, “Have you been staring at me from across the room? Trying to strip me out of this dress in your head?”

"I am not," Kyle laughs against her breasts, still bound tightly in her dress enough to make them swell over with every breath that Zee takes. He looks up at her, eyes warm and bright. "Unless you are too in which case I’m totally busted. I was…mm…" When Zee moves her legs up, Kyle instinctively cups under her knee, pulling her legs up as he slides the dress up her thigh. "…mmm god yeah. I was thinking of a quickie in the coatroom, or maybe bending you over the railing on the mezzanine, but." Kyle grins. "Then I remembered this room. Chill room."

( the watering holes of the well-to-do )

closure

[bossymarmalade]

Kyle isn’t expecting the Watchtower to be decorated, but there is some designated hallways for general secular holiday fesitivities and others for specific winter celebrations. He’s particularly intrigued by the ‘Winter Wonderland’ one, where everything is covered in sparkly shiny snow and there is a magnificent tree right at the end, covered in icicles and bows. Kyle wanders over to admire it, only noticing the other, smaller person in the hallway when he starts walking around the tree. “Oh! Tim! Happy merry holidays and all that.” Kyle pauses, then blinks. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you up, uh, here.”

Tim wishes he didn’t venture the Wathtower with his cowl down. It is a mini-mission, sort to say, in an attempt to stop hiding from everyone and see them as his friends instead of mere allies. Kyle’s presence puts his will to flee to the test. He stays, hands balling nervously as he nods at the man. “Happy holidays,” he replies shortly. “Needed time to cool down.” His explanation provides no details on his odd behaviour towards Kyle in the penthouse, but avoiding the man is no longer possible if he wishes to return.

Kyle watches Tim carefully, keeping his distance. He hasn’t forgotten Tim’s panic attacks in the Wayne Penthouse, and he hasn’t forgotten that he’d somehow been the cause of them. It’s not that Kyle isn’t used to dealing with people under a lot of trauma - he was in the GLC, after all, trauma is daily life - but he certainly isn’t used to dealing with Batpeople. As biased as it may be, ‘Batpeople’ seem in a whole delicate, separate realm of their own. So Kyle gives Tim a brief smile and nod, and even takes a few steps back, away from the kid. “Ohhhh. Well, I hope everything’s going well for you,” he says neutrally.

Tim counts the steps and fights guilt with relief. “Everything will take time. One step at a time,” he replies just as neutrally. The tree has become as interesting as a Monet painting, Tim shuffling closer to inspect the material of the icicles, even poking one just because he needs a distraction. “I take it everything is well with you and Zee?”

( the end of this chapter )

let me tie you up with kite string

[bossymarmalade]

Ollie sidles up to Zee at one of the side displays, a cascade of iced peacock feathers that stands about twice as tall as they are. “Hey,” he murmurs, jostling his hip against hers as he lifts his champagne glass to his mouth. “We threw some party.”

Zee rubs a hand against his back, “Hi,” she looks up to the iced peacock, swirling her own glass of champagne in her hand, “Yeah it was something…you have a good time with Kate?”

Ollie hisses slightly when Zee’s hand moves against his back, shifting out of her touch. He finishes his champagne and gestures at the peacock with the glass. “Look at this,” he says, unsteadily. “Lookit this! Lookit this whole fucking place. We built a fucking winter /palace/, just like you wanted. Just like we envisioned. This thing’s been fucking brilliant from start to finish, everyone’s beautiful, everything’s amazing.” He points his champagne flute at Zee. “And yet. You look like somebody ran over your rabbits.”

Zee draws her hand back, running her fingers across the rim of her glass, “We did…we made this place look beautiful and the food was fantastic, it’s a dream come true for our mini personal kingdom,” she purses her lips, “But everyone is not beautiful, Ollie. And c’mon I’d be bawling if my rabbits were run over. I’m not crying.”

Ollie leans forward, wrapping his fingers around Zee’s chin so he can tilt her face back and forth. “You’re not?” he says, lifting his own chin as he inspects her. “Well, you look like /something’s/ happened, anyhow.” He moves his thumb along the line of her jaw. “We oughtta be over the moon. But neither of us is. That’s what I’m saying.”

( i'll show you the scabs on my knees )

mushroom

[bossymarmalade]

Kyle spent half of the rest of the gala brooding in the room in the back, then finally getting mostly dressed up again and looking for Zee out among the other people. When the gala is cleared out and Zee’s no where to be seen, he sends her a text and then sluggishly heads back to New York City. It’s pretty late; but he hopes Mar’i is home. And awake.

Mari is wearing her totally awesome roommate sweater but seems to have forgotten pants as she and Miss Meow cuddle on the couch with a massive bottle of champagne. In front of her, the television plays the episode of Friends where Ross screeches ‘PIVOT! PIVOT!’

Kyle is still sorta buzzed when he gets home, enough to be self-centered and needy. So he shuffles around till he finds Mar’i, not really caring whether or not she is asleep because, he’s gonna wake her up. “Mar’iiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeee​eeeeeeee,” he wheedles, voice echoing in the hallway. He flops onto the couch face first next to Mar’i, still in his tux. Or, well, partial tux. Mostly just the shirt and pants; the tie and cummerbund have been long lost. “Frggmhhtthsdlsewugh,” he says into the cushion. Miss Meow stares at him and this hisses.

Mari isn’t quite asleep, but still jumps when Kyle whines down the hallway. “NEEEEEEEEHHHHH—” Mar’i replies in sleepy Korean, before she cranes herself to the side, watching him enter the living room and proceed towards the communal couch, burying himself into the cushions. It takes her a second to register his clothes and position, before she repeats: “Neh? Did you have one too many highballs?”

Kyle remains in place until Miss Meow decants from the couch, tail high as she walks out of the living room. Kyle worm-wiggles himself up to prop himself up on his elbows, looking up at Mar’i. “Aww Mar’i. Were you asleep? Awwww…” he sounds all sympathetic, like he wasn’t the one who woke her up. He smiles, shifting his weight so he can pat Mar’i’s thigh. “Lookat you, look how cute you are. You shoulda gone to the gala, man! You woulda - ” Kyle stops short and blinks, his eyes flashing momentarily bright green. “Wait. What? ‘I’m away’? ‘I’m away’???! Wha- what the - what the hell is that supposed to mean??”

( no anchovies please )