tampered | She'd try anything once

She'd try anything once

When; Dec 3
Rating; Probably R
Characters; Chekov, Lucy, Korra, Li
Summary; A friendly game of never have I never
Log;

It's just a small sort of party, but Lucy doesn't have people over that often so she's excited. She spent most of the day cooking food that's appropriate for drinking like hot wings, chex mix, chips and dip, celery and carrot sticks with ranch, pigs in blankets and red velvet cake for dessert.

She straightened the house in a whirlwind, put the rabbit in his cage and picked some good music. she cleaned the stripper pole too, because that was always a fun party activity. The bar was open and she'd set clean shot glasses out. By the time the first person arrived, Lucy was ready, dressed in a pair of snug jeans and a v-neck tee shirt. She's barefoot and she's left her hair down in loose, bouncy curls around her shoulders.

She throws the door open with a big smile, steps back and invites the first arrival in. Bryant, the Newfoundland is in his normal 'we have company' spot under the table (he'll come out later when he's comfortable with everyone) and Masha, the brainwashed-by-a-time-lord, ginger cat is watching everything from the back of the couch.

"Come on in!"

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[ This marks the most outgoing Hei's been in -- it's disquieting to voice the actual number of years. He's not the sort to socialize. 'Li' because he's painfully shy. Hei because he's coldly misanthropic. Even in the City -- especially in the City -- he can barely bring himself to talk to his neighbors. He's perfectly in his element in war-zones. Anything else, he has no tolerance for. ]

[ But it pays to be friendly, now and then. Lucy's been here a few years. He could get interesting information from her. Self-benefit, in the end, is the root of all 'Li's sweetness. He's already familiarized himself with her apartment's perimeters -- old habit. When she opens her door, his mask is in full play. Timid gaze and self-effacing slouch. And, mirable visu, he's combed his hair and tucked his shirt in. ]

Ah! Hello, Miss Lucy. [ Blushing, he holds up a wrapped dish. Cheese and pine nut pie. Mmm. ] I, um, brought a little something along.

[It's finally cold enough that Korra had to replace the jacket she left behind in the shed, and she's getting tired enough of laundry that picking up a few more shirts & pants wouldn't hurt either. And so she and Chekov had gone shopping. It was surprisingly fun. They both picked up some goofy t-shirts and gag gifts just for laughs. She'd been disappointed when he said he had to go to a party, until he invited her to come along.

Korra's excited. The only party she's ever been to had been an extremely formal event, and a ruse for Tarrlok to trick her into joining his task force. The idea of hanging out with people around her age and just having fun is a novelty.

She and Chekov are giggling madly as they knock on Lucy's door. Why? Well, it might have something to do with Korra's shirt (currently hidden under her new jacket) and the stylish mustache sunglasses they're both sporting.]

[ooc: I figure Li and Lucy can chat as long as y'all want, and whenever that thread wraps up you can hop over here? Chekov stuff done with Veda's permission.]

[Secret: Chekov loves shopping. Or, more accurately, Chekov loves buying things for people and is not at all opposed to having others pick clothes out for him. When he shops alone, he just buys what's there (and it's not always pretty). Tonight, however, he looks slightly more respectable (mustache glasses aside, but those are fairly classy) in this ensemble. He has accessorized himself with a bottle of vodka--Stoli, as that is a brand that exists in his time and is decent.

He is trying very hard to maintain his composure, but simply looking over at Korra is enough to make him laugh.]

[Unfortunately, Lucy's information probably isn't as interesting as he believes it will be.]

Li! Hi. Come on in and thank you. [She takes the pie from him, taking a deep breath of it as she does.] This smells delicious.

[When Lucy opens the door she busts out laughing.]

Very suave. If I'd know we were going in for fancy dress I would have dressed more appropriately.

[She leans in to hug Korra, if Korra will allow it and does a little air kiss.] You look so cute. I'm really glad you could come.

[And she is. It's been a while since she's had a party here. She turns to Chekov with a fond look, giving him a once over and approving. Before the night is over, she'll be stealing the hat at least temporarily.]

Very nice. [And he gets a hug and a kiss to the cheek as well.]

Well come on in, both of you.

[ He'll take what he can get. The range of 'interesting' differs according to the time spent somewhere. ] It's no problem at all. Thanks for having me over. [ With a gracious little smile, he slips inside. In a state of placid contentment, 'Li' seems to observe nothing. Unlike Hei, who is on full observation-mode every moment. His point of focus is always the windows, the apartment's layout and its inhabitants (roommates, pets etc). ] This is a nice place you've got.

[ Awkward Doofus to a T, Li hovers in the background as Chekov and Korra arrive. Dumbfounded, he can only stare at the mustaches. Why would anyone wear that? Never mind. Half the fashion trends go over his head anyway. In a detached aspect, it feels almost like spectating. All these nice, well-adjusted kids. And him. He feels like he's in a sci fi movie. One that is, in many ways, extremely predictable. But you can't stop watching. ]

[ He sketches a shy little wave at Chekov and Korra. Hey, guyssss. ]

[Korra's surprise at suddenly being hugged makes a great cover for her shock at seeing Li. What is he doing here?! Does he seriously know all of her friends? ~~Not like she has many.~~]

Thanks for letting me come.

[Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Maybe she could invent an emergency... No. Chekov is her friend -- her real, honest, genuine friend -- and Lucy is his friend and Korra refuses to run scared. She faced down the man who threatened to destroy her ~~and lost~~; she can totally handle the man who simply refuses to make any sense.

She slides her jacket off, revealing the mustache t-shirt, and pulls a third pair of the mustache sunglasses out of a bag. She holds it out to Lucy with a smile.]

We bought a pair for you, if you want.

[Chekov returns the hug with three kisses to Lucy's cheeks. It's a Russian thing. Li gets a far more enthusiastic wave in acknowledgment.]

Lucy, this is Korra. Korra, this is Lucy and Li. Li, this is Korra and you have met Lucy already. [He has no idea who knows who, so a rapidfire introduction is clearly the thing to do.]

[to Lucy, referencing the mustache sunglasses] Take these and you can be fancy dress, too.

Thanks. It was Harry's, but I've done some redecorating since then. [It is a pretty sweet flat. Two stories, big rooms, lots of natural light.] Can I get you something to drink? I've got wine, bourbon, scotch. I can make a mixed drink.

Do I want? To quote Daddy, and a saying Momma always hated, does a bear shit in the woods? [She takes the sunglasses delightedly and puts them on, posing with a peace sign and duck lips for a moment before she moves, laughing.] You guys are awesome. Thank you so much. Okay, there's food if everyone is hungry. I've got cokes, iced tea, wine and lots of booze.

[She leads everyone further into the flat. The food is all arranged on the island with paper plates to one side.] Help yourself to the food and if you'll give me drink orders, I'll get those.

[ Great. He eyes Korra as if from a great distance. He'd already planned not to stay long. This solidifies the decision. No amount of info is worth the cheddar-thick awkwardness the evening promises. But his demeanor remains pleasant, amiable. When Lucy directs them to the island, he falls into step beside Chekov. ] That's a really interesting shirt, Pavel. [ All 'Li' has are crummy T-shirts and buttondowns 8( The look he gives Korra over Chekov's head makes it seem like he might say something -- You look nice, maybe, but it doesn't make it out of his mouth. There's a very faint smile on his lips, however. ] Oh! [ Solicitous, he focuses on Lucy. ] Would you like any help with fixing drinks? [ He can make a mean Sangria or a Barbie shot. For the lulz. ]

[ He assumes an air of polite curiosity. ] Harry? [ It is a nice flat. Hei's own apartment doesn't have this homeyness, partly because he's never there, partly because he doesn't see it as an authentic home anyway. ] Oh! [ If he were to break character, he'd go straight for a scotch on the rocks. But 'Li' is a lightweight. Best keep it PG-rated. ] Please don't go to any trouble. Just juice or something is fine.

[Nope. There's no sting when he doesn't talk to her, or stomach-churning confusion when he looks at her with a not-quite-smile. Nothing at all.]

Uh, iced tea please? [No way is she getting drunk again with Li around.

Speaking of which... she leaves him and Chekov and makes a beeline for the food. Chekov doesn't look suspicious of the other guy, so she figures it's safe enough to leave them alone. Ish.]

[That means 'yes,' doesn't it, Lucy?] They suit you very well, and I brought my own drink. [Yes. The whole bottle.]

[While Korra goes off to inspect the food, he hangs back with Li. He feels like he has forgotten something important about Li--or to tell Li, or something that involves him--but it escapes him.] Thank you. It depicts the Lorenz attractor.

[That is definitely a yes. We'll get you acclimated to Southernisms yet. She turns to Li with a smile and shakes her head.] Just get yourself a plate. I've got this. [She pours apple juice for Li, iced tea for Korra and a very large fishbowl glass of wine for herself.

She smirks at Chekov and grabs a rocks glass for him, passing it over.] So you're staying over tonight. [It's not that she thinks you're a lightweight so much as she thinks that's a lot of vodka.]

[ A Perfect Storm®. This is, Hei decides, the best description for this evening. From the corner of his eye, he watches Korra avoid him with all the intense force of a skittish teenager. His face stays perfectly neutral: butter-wouldn't-melt. At Checkov's answer, he raises his eyebrows. ] Um...a Lorenz what? [ Unlike Korra, Pavel isn't acting strangely. A sign that the mind-wipe is still effective. In a warped way, it's like being back home. He's most at ease with an element of headgames and risks. ]

[ Obediently, he lets Lucy pour him some juice with a Thank You. Begins piling food on his plate, with all the enthusiasm of a kid in a candy-store. It may as well be his first meal of the day. ]

[ It's his fifth. But the boy can eat. ]

[Avoiding him, maybe, but not ignoring him. She's watching him from the corner of her own eye, in case...

In case what? He's not going to do anything to Chekov; he's trying to keep his cranky violent jerk-ness a secret. Face it, Korra, you just --

Her discreet glancing becomes an outright gape as Li piles up his plate.]

That's a lot of food.

[He takes the glass from Lucy with a grin.] Would it be acceptable if I did? [Stay the night, that is.] Although I have no intention of drinking all of this. I would share.

[Wholly oblivious to any tension between Li and Korra, he cheerfully tries to explain his shirt (which he thought was very funny) to the former.]

Actually, it is a plot of a solution to the Lorenz attractor, which is itself a set of chaotic solutions to the Lorenz system, which is nothing more than a mathematical model for atmospheric convection. See? Strange, yet attractive.

[As Li goes to fill his plate--and boy, does he fill it--Chekov stage-whispers to Korra.] I believe he's preparing for a famine.

[And she's distracted by the knock on the door.] That must be Pavel and Korra. Just a sec and I'll get the juice.

[Li's appetite really is impressive. Lucy is glad she made a lot of food. The last thing she'd want was for someone to go hungry at her place.]

It's okay. If we run out of food, I've got more in the fridge.

[She looks up to Chekov with a bit of a grin. She'd say something much more risque and flirty if it was just them. She doesn't want Li or Korra to feel alienated.] Yup. We'll have a slumber party. Puppy pile in the bed.

[She understood absolutely nothing Pavel just said about the Lorenz attractor which means she doesn't get his shirt other than it looks good.]

We can eat around the coffee table.

[She tosses some big pillows in the floor and of course there's the couch and an arm chair to scoot up to the table as well then goes back to the island to make her own plate.]

[ Relax, Korra. With the suspicion you're telegraphing, this may as well be a scene from Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Still, Li remains wholly benign, offering Chekov a beaming murmur of, ] Ah! I remember now. Lorenz. The Butterfly Effect guy. I read a few articles about him. [ With the mystery of Hell's Gate in Hei's world, chaos theorists were all in the rage. ] Strange Attractors. It fits. [ Okay. Okay. Time to dumb yourself down. ] That's, um, a lot of vodka, by the way. [ Will you share? He hopes you'll share. ]

[ ...ALSO HE TOTALLY HEARD YOUR STAGE-WHISPER, PAVEL. He pauses with the hot-wings halfway to his mouth, glancing from him to Korra to Lucy. ] S-Sorry. Did I overdo it? I'm trying to pace myself. [ He'd eat everything on the table and demand seconds, jsyk. He turns to Lucy with a bright smile. ] The pigs in a blanket are delicious, by the way. [ And in danger of disappearing. Someone usher the boy away from the table. STAT. ]

[It's not so much suspicion as general tension. His Li persona always got under her skin, even before she knew it was a lie.

The food thing legit boggles her, though. There's no way THAT can be an act, but the image of the more stoic Li she knows with that much food is surreal.]

You're even worse than Master Sokka.

[It's comes out without thought. She had only met the man once, when she was a very small child, after the White Lotus had discovered her, but she has a few vague memories, one of which includes several giant dishes of meat. She also has Master Katara's stories.]

[For a brief moment, Chekov thinks that Li might be up for a conversation on Lorenz. That is crushed, but he shrugs and smiles anyway.] I cannot drink this whole bottle and hope to function tomorrow. I didn't think you drank...?

[Chekov follows Lucy to grab some food, trying not to think about her and beds in any kind of combination. He will not do anything like randomly kissing Lucy while his friends are here; that would be impolite. He does, however, nudge her playfully before giving Li a gentle push in the direction of the coffee table.]

Li, I was joking. Lucy is a very good cook and just as generous.

[Somehow managing to carry a full plate, a glass, and the vodka bottle, Chekov takes a seat on a pillow.]

[to Korra] Someone from your home?

Is that the same guy that did the whole step on a butterfly thing? [Intelligence, not one of Lucy's best qualities.]

Was Master Sokka a black hole of a teenage boy? [Because this makes sense to Lucy. Li certainly seems to fit the description anyway.

Lucy nudges back, sticking her tongue out at Chekov. She is not going to avoid thinking about Chekov and beds. In fact, she's going to linger over that train of thought for a moment before going back to the conversation at large.]

Thank you [Said a bit absently about the cooking slash generous compliment as she sits down on one of the cushions ont he floor.]

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