HAPPY Awards (Main Thread, All Guests)

[~ ADMIN]

Anna emerged from the powder room with Natalie having calmed down somewhat; she felt dignified enough now to continue the evening, hopefully without any more mishaps. She'd make a point to stand on Will's foot later. As they made her approach, she could feel eyes on her, but ignored them, looking to see that their group had expanded to now include Katy and Penn. "The unicycle police?" she said with a curious eyebrow before looking to see what they were talking about; there wasn't really a man on a unicycle was there? That would be a first.

As the ladies departed, Will looked at Ben, wondering what on Earth was going on there, he'd have to ask Natalie when they got back. The conversation had taken an odd turn with the arrival of Katy and Penn and talk of unicycles. He was relieved when Natalie returned, giving her a smile even though he knew he was in trouble for what he'd said earlier. Anna was sure to have her revenge.

"If all remaining guests could please make their way into the hall, the food is about to be served."

[Natalie Blake]

Natalie was relieved that Anna had been able to collect herself as quickly as she had. Now that the tough bit was over, she just had to make sure that Anna didn't murder Will or anything. Maybe bringing a stick to this thing would have been a good idea after all. Shaking her head at the sheer stupidity of the mental image that caused, she came to a stop next to Will in time to hear Katy and Penn--oh, they were there now--start up something about unicycles.

"Are you going to try and con that man out of his unicycle?" Natalie asked her friend, an eyebrow arched. She hadn't seen a man riding a unicycle, but Katy tended to be more observant than most people gave her credit for, so maybe there was one hanging around somewhere. "Well, I certainly won't stop you from trying, but how on earth are you going to ride it in a dress?"

Practically from the moment Natalie had pulled Anna away, Ben had been trying to think up excuses as to why Anna might have stumbled. He'd been fairly sure that it had been because of him, but he didn't want to get his hopes up. Get my hopes up? Since when is this a good thing? He shook his head and got back to running through possibilities: high-heels, lack of food, anything that seemed remotely plausible.

When the two women returned, his eyes were on Annabelle. She rejoined the group casually, but seemed to be avoiding his gaze--that or she simply hadn't noticed. And it wasn't polite to stare. He tore his eyes away from her and cast them towards the ground, feeling rather foolish. As if tactical didn't have enough to worry about, without throwing this into the mix. Not that "this" was necessarily anything but Ben's imagination running away with him, which it had a tendency to do.

Natalie returned Will's smile after a moment, slipping her arm through his. She was fairly sure he hadn't been offering it out to her, but she didn't really care. It just seemed like it was something she should do. A few minutes later there was an announcement that the food was ready, and that any guests that hadn't already seated themselves at their tables should do so.

"Shall we head in, then?" she asked their general group, though speaking more to Will than anyone else. Idly she wondered where Ben would sit. Maybe she should drag him with her to their table, to save Anna the trouble of having to sit with both him and Oliver, when the said science officer arrived.

[somerandomhippie2]

((Apologies for the short posts, my muse missed the plane home.))

Oliver rushed in, panting slightly. Turns out the invitation had said 7, not 7.30, so he had been running around, trying to grab a taxi. Not the easiest on a Friday night. Spotting the Venia crew, he headed over.

"Hello!" he called, catching up. "Have I missed anything?" He hoped not, that would throw him entirely out of the loop.

Penn chuckled. He knew Dee from med shifts, she was a nice person. "He seems to be leaving for the food, you might have to put your sirens on." He glanced around. Still no Kiri. Damn. Alone again.

Katy laughed at Dee's comment. "Maybe I should get myself transferred to the Unicycle Department," she joked. If they had a Unicycle Department. She wouldn't be surprised if they did. "I don't think we've met before," she commented, holding out a hand. "I'm Katherine Tyler."

"Nat, if I can ride a bike in a skirt, I can ride a unicycle in a skirt," she pointed out. "And heading in sounds like a wonderful idea. Aww, left the sirens at home." The last comment was directed to Dee and Penn, who were still behind her. She meandered in the grand hall, looking around for their table. After spotting hers, she let out a gasp, then a grin.

"The guy with a unicycle is at our table!" she crowed, flying over to a spot beside him. "Hi, I'm Katherine Tyler," she introduced, as soon as she sat down. "I love your unicycle!"

[~ ADMIN]

By the time Anna had figured out what everyone was going on about, the unicycle man was already gone. Weird. Maybe he'd been wheeling around inside or something. It was also a strange coincidence considering she and Ollie had been talking about unicycles the other day. Very weird.

She couldn't help herself; quickly she looked at Ben to see if she could guage anything from his expression, only to catch his eye then look away again quickly. She felt like she was back in High School or something, this was ridiculous. She hadn't even managed to read anything into his expression either as she'd looked away too quickly. She didn't want to pursue anything on a false hope. He hadn't actually come out and said anything directly to her so far, and all they'd done is flirted. It didn't mean anything, right?

That was when Anna noticed that Ollie had turned up, "hey!" For a moment there she'd thought he wasn't going to show and it would be just Ben she had to contend with, "nothing much. Just a guy on a unicycle." She wasn't exactly going to come out and say that she'd got woozy at the sight of Ben and had to be dragged off to the ladies room to save her from herself, that would be awkward.

Thankfully, a woman announced that they should make their way into the hall and she gladly followed the others, wondering where she was supposed to sit.

Will looked across at Natalie as she linked her arm with his, smiling. Now he felt like he was in a movie or something, soon the band would start playing and they would walk into the ball room looking around in awe, Beauty and the Beast style. Only, he looked nothing like the beast, and she was too good for beauty. "Definitely," he nodded, keeping his distance from Anna now so that he didn't irk her further.

Finding their seats was easy enough, and Will pulled out Natalie's chair for her, "here darling," he said with a smile that was dangerously close to a smirk. The gesture was genuine, it was the darling that made him smirk. Waiters were now carrying large dishes of food around the room, placing one of each on each table so that they had plently to choose from, and several bottles of wine on each table.

[kiri]

Kiri was early. Awkwardly early. So early the staff in the hall shot her curious looks as they went about setting up the tables for dinner. She shuffled around near the entrance for five minutes or so before giving up and hiding in the restroom.

She'd spent a good two hours angsting over what to wear. Her gut reaction was to cheat, like she usually did, and wear a shirt, vest, and pants rather than anything resembling a skirt. The invitation had said formal dress required, but Kiri loathed dresses with a passion, so was inclined to push the rules. Then she'd remembered the box. It had come with the supply shuttle a week after she'd arrived on board the Venia, sent from her single best friend in the universe. Laurie Ann was her roommate, partner-in-crime, better half, and fashion advisor. The note that came with the box said that if she didn't wear what was inside the very first chance that came up, Laurie Ann would, well... get her appropriate revenge.

Inside the box was a dress. Silver with black polka-dots, with bands of black lace. Sleeveless and shoulder-less, with a knee-length skirt. The material was silky and flowed beautifully, while still holding a flattering shape. It was unquestionably beautiful, and Kiri shuddered to think how much it had cost - not that Laurie Ann had to worry about silly things like money with her trust fund at her beck and call.

Considering this would be such a public function, and as a member of the crew of the famous Venia she would likely have no choice but to get her picture taken, she resigned herself to wearing the dress. If Laurie Ann saw a picture of her at a function like this wearing anything but the dress, she'd never hear the end of it.

So there she was. Hiding in the bathroom in a dress that cost more than her entire wardrobe, hair and makeup done as carefully as she knew how. After a while, she heard noise begin to build, the clamor of voices and footsteps indicating the rest of the guests were starting to arrive. She delayed as long as she could, but figured she had better find the rest of the Venia crew before things really got started.

The hall was easy enough to find, as was the group of Venia crew members gathered off to one side. She tried to be inconspicuous, but the moment she spotted Penn her heart gave an odd little lurch. He looked... amazing. She suddenly felt awkward and exposed in her dress, but forced herself to slip up to stand next to him, favoring him with a shaky grin. "I really, really hate things like this."

Kiri's Outfit