taterodriguez:
Tate sipped at their vodka soda, crossing their legs as they allowed their self to get comfortable in their current location, knowing full well it would take a lot to pry Tate from the kitchen. It was quiet, it was away from the typical crowd that swarmed Upper East Side parties, and there was free alcohol. As Ben Vanderbilt came into their view, it had been like seeing a ghost. It took a lot out of Tate to offer pleasantries but they had been unsure if Ben had been fully aware of Tate’s knowledge on his situation with Quinn.
“Honestly, never thought I’d see your face again after you left.” Tate tried to remain civil, because it was clear he didn’t have bad intentions. “You’re staying here with O? Why? I didn’t know you guys were that close,” Tate gave a raise of their brow. O hadn’t mentioned that Ben Vanderbilt had been staying in their home. “Honestly,” Tate chuckled before admitting. “Hiding. I came for the free booze and to see O because I feel like I haven’t seen her in ages.” Tate sipped their vodka soda again. “I mean, it’s a free world. I’m not one to stop you.”
He was a runner. If something wasn’t going his way, he’d leave. If he was on the verge of getting in major trouble, he’d board the next flight to Europe. It just who he was. “Yeah, well, I had to come. Not because I wanted to,” He wanted to make sure that was clear, “But because I had to. I guess I just have some unfinished business. How about you? What have you been up to?” He asked in an effort to make small talk.
Ben then nodded at them, “You’re not wrong, we really aren’t close. My wife’s pretty close to her so she’s letting us stay here for a bit. This place is pretty nice compared to where I’ve been living these past few years,” He admitted. “O’s not in here if that narrows down your rooms to find her in,” There was a bit of joking in his voice. “This is the part where you’re supposed to tell me, of course, you wouldn’t mind. But, uh, I get it.”
arlovasquez:
chessieabernathy:
The shot was exactly how he’d described – Chessie took it without missing a beat, and with how drunk she was already, the burning in the back of her through didn’t bother her too much. She couldn’t help but laugh at his reasoning, nodding as he spoke. Before she had a chance to respond, he was leaning in closer, and the topic had taken a much more interesting turn. Even while drunk, Chessie knew exactly what he was referring to – And while it may be a concerning realization in the morning, she couldn’t stop the excitement that found her. “I brought plenty to share,” her tone makes her sound like a child who snuck in candy, a smile at her lips. “Lets go to your room –” she suggested, beginning her way there, even though she wasn’t sure which way to go. “I don’t want to risk getting caught again.”
“Follow me, then,” Arlo said to Chessie, turning to lead the way to a nearby hallway. “My room is back here so it’s away from prying eyes and nosy individuals.”
There was a familiar knot in his stomach starting to form - it was his anxiety beginning to take root but Arlo shook his head a little bit. There was nothing wrong with trying something just once; it’s not like he’ll get hooked on it after one time, or anything.
“Here we are,” he said, once they reached the door. “It’s a bit of a mess so… forgive me,” he chuckled. Grabbing the doorknob, he opened his room to Chessie.
@benvanderbilt
Ben had entered the bedroom for some quietness, there was only so much social activity he could take. He wasn’t used to these events again yet, which is why he wandered off in the first place. Not to mention that he was a little drunk. At first, he missed the bed and sat on the floor as he looked around. And then he got up once again and attempted to sit on the bed, in which he was successful. He swirled his bottle around as he looked at it.
His attention then turned towards the door as he saw it open. He was a bit delayed as he looked at both Arlo and Chessie, it took a moment to register that they had walked in. “You two aren’t gonna hook up right? Cause I don’t feel like moving right now.” He admitted as he looked at the pair. “Or are you guys here for some beer?”
seboriley:
Sebastian decides to roll his eyes in lieu of dignifying the accent comment with a response. He has more pressing matters to deal with than perfecting his fake accent that is an awkward mish-mash of the loose-lipped slur of Rupert Grint’s accent and the prim, articulated poshness of Emma Watson’s. Not that prioritizing has ever been Sebastian’s strong suit. “I’ll stop complaining so much when you give me less to complain about, how ‘bout that?” Sebastian retorts just after a little scoff jumps up his throat. “Got ‘em,” Seb cheers, snagging a bag of lemons and limes from the bottom drawer of the fridge. “Find me a knife?”
“For the record, no one’s making you talk to me.” Ben was over pleasing everyone around him. He did that when he was under the Vanderbilt rule, which caused him to virtually live a double life. He didn’t care about pleasing Sebastian or giving him things to complain about. He started digging through Arlo’s kitchen, hopefully, he wouldn’t mind. Finally, Ben hit the jackpot and handed the knife over to Sebastian. He didn’t trust himself to open a bag at this state. “Are you going to have a lime too or just let the tequila burn your mouth?”
buffy-seymour:
“Unfortunately you’re SOL there. Unless you decide to fly somewhere else. I don’t think Florida or LA are getting a white Christmas this year.” Not that the thought had crossed her mind. Snow didn’t bother her… as long as she was home and it wasn’t keeping her trapped.
“It wouldn’t have been snowing in Greece,” He pointed out, “But I guess that’s what we get for being in New York in December,” Ben hated being able to see his breath outside and having to wear gloves. “How long do you think we’re going to be stuck here for?”
chessieabernathy:
Chessie knows he’s trying to keep this casual, trying his best to push past the tension between them and have a semi-normal conversation. You could see it from a mile away. “The truth will set you free,” she comments easily, taking another puff of her cigarette. She’s unsure how to reply to him – Ben makes it sound like something mundane happened, as if he forgot King’s birthday or was late to dinner. There was no way for her to respond to his comment properly, she decided. There was no way to string together a sentence that was anything short of her telling him King was justified. “It’s not any different for how you are normally,” she finds herself tease, hoping to keep up the light and airy conversation, rather than get into the gritty details he surely wants to ask about. At the mention of O, Chessie purses her lips into a thin line for a moment, biting the inside of her cheek. “We’ve spoken,” she opens with, “It’s been… complicated. With work.”
"That’s why I’ve never been a fan of the truth,” He joked. Was it bad or good that they could be joking together? Especially after what had happened. The big elephant in the room, or rather the air, in this case, was still there. He wanted to ask her more but knew it wasn’t his place to do so. He didn’t know her like that. “And that’s why I don’t work.” He acknowledged, “It seems too stressful.” The truth was, Ben didn’t have any skills anyways. “Do you think I’d make a good model? I know Paris pretty well.” He had no idea what being a model consisted of but he was trying to keep their conversation as light as she was. “You know if you ever need to get out of the house or whatever, you’re always welcome to give me a call. I’m usually not busy. And it’ll be a nice break for me too. O’s also pissed at me.”
wrenabernathy:
Wren knew the appropriate response was to say he’d prefer beer, but he didn’t. And, when he was feeling fine he could easily just agree with what he should like best and leave it at that, but when he was stressed he slid into type A personality overdrive and he followed his daily schedule even tighter than usual. “I’d have to go with the milk, actually,” he said, but then gave an apologetic smile to the other - letting him know non-verbally that he wasn’t trying to be a buzzkill on purpose. “Anyway, uhm - Chessie told me you’ve been holed up here for the past few weeks. How’s that going? Did she and Ophelia drive you crazy yet?”
What was with no one around here liking beer? He just figured that he was extremely cultured compared to the rest of them. “You’d voluntarily drink milk? Only nutcases do that,” He added. “Are they supposed to be driving me crazy? I’ve tried to not be too much of an intrusion on them since this is their place.” Ben tried to be as respectful as he could in their penthouse. He felt like an intrusion less now but O still scared him a bit. He was getting along with Chessie pretty well. “I’m just thankful for a bed and some coffee in the morning. Your sister’s a pretty good house host.”
kingkirbey:
Forcing herself to show up at a party hosted by someone she barely knew had somehow become recurring theme in her life and truthfully, King was over it. It reminded her too much of how she used to be, when she’d show up somewhere no matter if she’d been invited or not and immediately capture the attention of the entire room. She’d secretly loved it then, but now, it all felt foreign to her — especially on a holiday like this. To King, New Year’s was sort of a meaningless holiday that people used as an excuse to get drunk and make stupid decisions. In her eyes, everyone created their own fate, and it shouldn’t take a clock striking midnight for someone to decide they want to be a better or worse person. “Not to be that girl,” King took a sip of her champagne and leaned in to the person next to her as if she was telling a secret, “But I really don’t get the hype of New Year’s Eve. It’s not like you wake up the next day and suddenly everything’s changed just because the year did.”
Listening to King, Ben couldn’t help but smile. She was right, this was just another day. Change could happen at any point in a person’s life. “What if you wake up and I’ve turned into a werewolf because it’s 2019?” He joked as he looked at his wife. “I’m not sure everyone else here feels the same way, though. Some people probably still think New Year’s resolutions actually work.” If someone wanted to make a resolution, they could do it any time of the year if they were actually motivated to do so. “The bright side is that if we want to leave early, we can since we’re not at O’s.”
monty-santos:
“Well it depends if you’re planning on paying for me, because if you aren’t there’s no way that I can afford it,” Monty chuckled, despite the fact that he was completely serious about it. “When I was in France I was working a lot with building houses for the homeless, pretty similar to habitat for humanity. And then since I’ve gotten back here I’ve been working with one of the local homeless shelters.”
Ben wasn’t generous with his money or time by any means. He used to be pretty careless with his money, he still was. But now he made sure that exclusively applied to him. “Maybe you have to start getting paid for all your work,” Ben knew that he wouldn’t be okay with not getting paid or just volunteering. That wasn’t his forte at all. “Do you know if you’re going to go back?” Most of the time, he ignored homeless people on the streets. It was an unspoken rule for New Yorkers to just ignore them. It didn’t mean it was right by any means but that’s what he was always taught to do. “Is there enough space for all of them when it’s snowing like this?” It was an ignorant question for sure, but Ben had no idea.
What is your favorite holiday memory?
“My father ruined the myth of Santa Clause for me when I was six and he asked why I still believed in that man. So that Christmas, my mom must’ve told him to make it up to me and I got a Rolex because he thought that was appropriate. I was able to sell that when I was abroad and let me tell you, definitely worth it. Thanks dad.”
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