Costume Party in Honor of Lex Luthor's Birthday [OPEN]

[defenestration]

As stated on the invitation, Adrian is throwing a costume party to celebrate Lex's twenty-fifth birthday at the Luthor-Veidt Building in Brock Marsh. Everyone is welcome, whether they know Lex or not. There's plenty of food and free alcohol (mostly wine, fancy beer, and champagne), music and a space for dancing, and room to mingle and make new friends. Some simple and classy decorations, purple of course, have been put up on the first and second floors to create a festive atmosphere.

(A note to those who might try to take the opportunity to go snooping: security is insanely tight. The elevators will not go beyond the first and second floors without a special code, and there's an elevator operator who is very obviously there to make sure you don't try anything funny. The stairwells are likewise under guard and the private areas of the first floor are locked and under camera surveillance.)



[ooc: Please wait until a few threads are set up before tagging! Party time! Everyone is welcome!

Note: I've turned off notifs so if you need my attention in a specific spot, please PM or plurk me.]

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[captaincocksure]

James T. Kirk, Captain and Commanding Officer of the USS Enterprise, the Federation's flagship, arrives with all the confident bearing and assured smiling that one expects from a man of his rank and accomplishments. He may be young, but he's a man that wears authority and responsibility well.

Too bad it's not showing quite so much, at the moment.

Dr. McCoy, please do remember your captain apologized ahead of time.

For the captain has arrived wearing the back end of a pantomime horse costume. Just the back end, the suspenders strapped over his shoulders. There's no front end, no accompanying other half. Just him. Dressed like the back end of a horse.

Let the trolling begin.

[aviophobia]

Trailing after him like a cranky shadow is one Dr. Leonard McCoy, CMO of the USS Enterprise, dressed in a sport coat, slacks, and a shirt with a simple black half-mask strapped over his face. He is, as he will snappishly inform anyone who asks, dressed as a lack of effort.

And he is accompanied, quite literally, by a horse's ass.

Thank God the city of Baedal has a good stock of very nice flasks.

[captaincocksure]

Jim turns to say something to Bones and realizes he's not there. Oh, Christ, please tell him his CMO didn't just run off and leave him there. He turns, and grins, when he discovers this is not the case.

It doesn't occur to him that maybe Bones is trying not to be seen with him, so he waits for his friend to catch up, clapping him on the shoulder. "This is going to be great. Just you wait."

[aviophobia]

"You're dressed as a horse's ass!" This really seems to be the only thing to say in this situation, along with some really spectacular gesticulating that might be closer to 'flailing.' "How in God's name is this going to be 'great?'"

[captaincocksure]

"I've actually thought this through," Jim counters, maddeningly calm in the face of McCoy's annoyance. "It makes me more approachable. Poor guy, only half a costume, right? And I'm wearing the half that makes it possible for me to talk to people."

He steps closer, glancing around to make sure they aren't overheard. "Look. I need to start making connections around here. Hellsing's great and all but I need to network outside of it, too. Connections lead to information and help, and information and help is what's going to hopefully get us the hell out of here. If I have to be a horse's ass for a night to help that along, so be it."

[aviophobia]

McCoy has known Jim for a while now, but the kid surprises even him sometimes. He's a crafty son of a bitch when he wants to be, and he's got a lot going on under that mop of wheat-colored curls.

"Do what you have to, then," he replies, then narrows his eyes. "I'm not gonna be the asshole who left you without a front half, am I?"

[captaincocksure]

"No, no," Jim protests, holding up his hands. "I'm not gonna do that to you. I'll tell people that much. Anybody tries to give you a hard time or make you the asshole, you send them to me, I'll set them straight."

He grins. "I'm not even expecting you to hang out with me all night. Go, Bones. Go meet people and try to have some fun. Don't just sit in a corner scowling and drinking?"

[aviophobia]

That is, in fact, precisely what McCoy intends to do. "And what's wrong with sitting in a corner? Someone's gotta keep it in place, you know, damn things go all over the place without proper guidance."

[captaincocksure]

Jim resists the urge to throw up his hands. At least, he tells himself, Bones isn't sitting in a corner alone in his room. He still might manage to meet some people.

"All right, all right." He points at Bones. "Don't go getting sloppy drunk. Don't make me have to carry you home, you'd never live that down. Hauled home by a horse's ass."

[aviophobia]

McCoy holds up his hands. "Give me some credit. I'd never let myself get put in a situation where I have to get hauled home by a horse's ass - " An eyebrow quirks. " - not when he's announcing it to the world, anyway."

[captaincocksure]

"I'm just referring to the costume. But you know that's a detail that would get lost in the retelling," Jim replies, wry. "It'd forever be the tale of how the erstwhile Dr. McCoy got hauled home one drunken night by some horse's ass, let that be a lesson to you, children."

[aviophobia]

McCoy lets out a bark of laughter. "If I'm trying to miss the 'getting hauled home by a horse's ass' train, that one departed a long time ago. First week at Starfleet Academy, if I recall correctly, which I probably don't, because I was really shit-faced."

[captaincocksure]

Jim rolls his eyes, feigning hurt feelings. "I see how it is. I make sure you get back home okay and this is the thanks I get. Fine." Cue one overly-dramatic sigh. "And for the record, you were totally shit-faced."

[aviophobia]

"Hey, I didn't say I wasn't grateful for the horse's ass carrying me home," McCoy pointed out, "just that that's a train that's been outta the station for years now."

[captaincocksure]

Jim squinted at his friend for a long moment, thinking.

"...That was back home," he said, pointing at McCoy. "That hasn't happened in this city yet. So the legend could still be born. I'm just saying."

[aviophobia]

McCoy held his hands up in mock surrender. "Noted, noted. I won't get too shit-faced tonight."

[captaincocksure]

Jim laughed. "You could always get someone else to take you home. Find someone trustworthy."

He paused. And then that smile stretched into the grin that suggested nothing but trouble. "Or someone cute. If you find someone cute, get them to take you home. Just leave me some sort of sign on the door so I don't ruin a tender moment."

[patricide]

Lex takes one look at the costume and laughs. It's not a large show of amusement, no expression Lex chooses to show ever is, but it's genuine.

He approaches the horse's back end and addresses the stranger. "You're making me wish we decided to do a costume contest."

[captaincocksure]

Jim turns to face the man addressing him, his bright smile taking on a pleased, humble cast. "You're very kind. I'm sure this would be much more impressive with the other half, though."

He extends a hand for a handshake. "Jim Kirk."

[patricide]

"Impressive maybe, but I think what you've got going is far more effective. If nothing else it's easier to talk to people this way." Also, you know, be a proper horse's ass, but that goes without saying.

He takes the offered hand and shakes it firmly. "Lex Luthor. Is your other half coming later?"

[captaincocksure]

That's the point, really, though Jim won't admit to being so calculating. A remarkable and sort of cute costume, the suggestion that he was abandoned in his efforts, and a costume that doesn't cover his face, all of these add up to making him very approachable. And maybe also let people underestimate him just a little.

"Mr. Luthor. It's a pleasure to meet you. Happy birthday." Jim spreads his hands, with a small sigh. "That's the rub--there is no other half. I had the costume and then I realized I'd have no help. I figured, why let it go to waste? And better I wear the half, like you say, that makes it easier for me to talk to people, than to try to wander around with the head on."

[defenestration]

Adrian actually does a mild double-take when he catches sight of the costume, but then immediately presses his lips together in an amused half-smile. This is definitely a new face, but obviously one attached to a bold personality, and that makes him someone Adrian needs to meet.

"If I were a psychologist, I would have a field day analyzing all the fascinating choices in costumes appearing here tonight." He offers his hand. "Adrian Veidt."

[captaincocksure]

"I shudder to think what that kind of analysis would say about me," Jim replies good-naturedly as he shakes Adrian's hand. "Jim Kirk. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Veidt."

And, because he always pays close attention to things on the network: "Thank you for your generosity, in being willing to invite the cohort here tonight. My colleague, Dr. McCoy, and I are pretty new to the city and we appreciate being included, and having the opportunity to meet people."

[defenestration]

"I suspect you're less concerned about that then you say you are." A man dresses like a horse's ass for a party is not a man who's actively trying to avoid being called a horse's ass.

Adrian appreciates the thanks, and he smiles accordingly, nodding his head slightly in acknowledgment. "It's been my pleasure, Mr. Kirk. I hadn't yet taken the opportunity to get out in public as much as I should myself, so I'm just as pleased that so many people have been gracious enough to attend. I hope you and your friend are enjoying yourselves?"

[captaincocksure]

Jim spreads his hands, shrugging, and neither confirming nor denying Adrian's observation. "Just Jim is fine," he offers, "unless you're more comfortable being formal." He's a ship's captain; he gets that sometimes people prefer to stand on ceremony.

"It's a great turnout. I'm glad to see it; I think the cohort could stand to get to know each other better. And I am very much enjoying myself, thanks for asking. Dr. McCoy, I'm sure, has found some quiet place to unwind and enjoy himself, too."

Meaning the good doctor's probably found a cushy chair in a quieter part of the party where he can sit and nurse a glass of bourbon. Jim's the more social of the pair of Starfleet officers.