Harry and Alice - Shinobi's party

[om_malice]

Harry and Alice meet up at Shinobi's party, but no they're not on a date, pffft, what makes you say that.


Harry, dressed slightly-too-up as usual, had arrived with Peter. After laughing his ass off with him and Shinobi over a certain small primate--and a martini and a half--Harry wandered away. Well, not wandered. Wandering made it seem as if he didn't have specific intent... and he did.

And there she was. Alice had emerged from--wherever it was she'd been when he'd gotten there. Harry smiled at her across the room, and then made directly for her. He'd never played coy about what he wanted before; he certainly wasn't going to start tonight.

Alice had in fact been on the balcony, chatting with Lydia and nursing a gin and tonic. She'd been here early, so Shinobi could dress her up as he pleased, her not-a-birthday-gift to him, and she had to admit, she had been right to trust him that much. She loved the outfit he'd dug out of his closet for her, and had had tailored to fit her measurements. Clearly period inspired, and yet definitely modern, especially with these boots. The cut of the pants was perfect, and she kept her shirt collar open, which somehow helped give the outfit a feminine twist, along with the hasty-looking chignon pulling most, but not quite all of her hair back. She was sure she wouldn't keep the jacket on for the whole evening, but she liked the outfit as a whole too much to get rid of it just yet.

But now she needed a refill on her drink, and she was on her way to get just that when she spotted Harry coming her way. Harry, in yet another impeccable suit, although a smile had twitched up her lips before she even noticed the suit in question. Before he could reach her, she raised her empty glass and tilted her head in the direction of the bar, so they would meet there.

Harry inclined his chin in confirmation and did as she intended, meeting her at the bar. He didn't have a drink in hand currently, anyhow, and that was a damn shame. He eyed her openly, appreciatively, smiling as he approached. "My god, Alice, are you trying to kill me?"

"Right back atcha," Alice assured him, with feeling - and a wide smile. That suit. "But no, I'm not," she added, as she grabbed the gin. "Shinobi is. What are you drinking?" she asked, given his lack of a glass. Apparently, explaining the Shinobi comment could wait until drinks were sorted out.

"Gin martini. What about you?" Harry grinned, genuinely enough to show his dimples, even, and leaned one elbow on the bar and propped up his head with that hand. "So, what, Shinobi's new plan is to take out Oscorp by killing me with hotness? God, I knew he was good, but that's Evil Genius level shit."

"He didn't want gifts, he loves dressing me up, I saw an opportunity and everybody wins," Alice replied with a smile, grabbing a second glass, and the vermouth. "Apart from you, if you're dying. I have no idea about the right doses, I should let you fix yours," she added, pouring a healthy measure of gin into her own glass. "Gin and tonic, by the way," she finally answered his question, reaching for the tonic.

Harry came around the bar and slid a bowl of cut limes toward her. Then he started throwing together his own drink, which was more gin with the tiniest splash of vermouth imaginable. Then it'd be shaken on ice, strained, poured, and garnished with three olives. Nothing in the world quite like a gin soaked olive, as far as Harry was concerned. Little things; god, how he appreciated them, these days.

As he worked, he carried on with the conversation: "There I go, thinking everything's about me again. Trust fund baby problems.

"Do you play dress-up a lot?" This was genuine curiosity, because dress up with Alice and Shinobi...

Well, all right, Harry would rather play dress-down--better yet, dress-off with them. But dress-up wouldn't be bad, either.

"It might become a recurring thing," Alice admitted with a quick grin at him, putting the tonic back down and dropping a lime in her glass. She was watching him with the shaker, not even really trying to take notes on how to do a proper gin martini, but simply enjoying the show. "I'm blaming my sudden desire to raid his closet on your love affair with vests, though. I guess it is all about you," she finished with a smirk, idly moving the stirrer round her glass.

"Now who's the flatterer?" Harry winked as he poured in a dash of vermouth, then set to the noisy task of shaking up his drink a few times. Then, as he poured, "Will you ask him to dress you for the ballet, or will you be doing that yourself? I mean, assuming you'd rather not break my heart by breaking the date..." He grinned.

"Nah, I think that one's gonna have to be all me," Alice replied with a very, very happy smile at the thought. She wanted to wow Harry with her outfit the way he never failed to wow her. And, of course, she wanted to do it herself. It was a tall order, but she already had a few ideas, and she would go shopping this week.

Harry smiled as he set down the shaker. "Been looking forward to it since DC," he said, perfectly genuine in spite of the hint of impishness in his expression. "Didn't think I could look forward to it more, but you do have that effect." Then he laughed at his own ridiculous lines--even if he meant them, with Alice, every single time.

Alice was pleased with the line, all the same, and smiling with it as she tipped her glass against his, now that it was ready. "Well, if it makes you feel better - so do you." She was way past hiding that kind of thing from him, and then some.

"I'm genuinely gratified to hear it," he admitted, clinking glasses once more, then sipping. "Dinner again, too? Anywhere you've been wanting to go?"

"Surprise me," she said with a hopeful smile. "Just, not the Club?" She'd been there, done that, and liked it on occasion, but it was just too ridiculous, and she didn't want dinner with Harry to feel any kind of ridiculous. Not just now, anyway.

Harry chuckled into his glass. "If you ask me, spending too much time at the Hellfire Club makes some of its creepiness seep into you. And you can never get it out, once it's in. So no problem there.

"But why?" he asked, all curiosity.

"We'd end up spending the meal making fun of everything there, and I'd rather wherever we end up eating isn't the main focus?" Alice offered with a half smile. She was pretty sure that would be what happened, yes. And she wouldn't mind that at some other point - God knew their senses of humor matched - but she'd been looking forward to this evening for far too long.

And far too much, ugh, but what could she do about that but make the most of it when it happened.

"Good point," Harry allowed, raising his glass to her. "I'd much prefer I was your main focus. You, of course, are generally mine. Even in a crowded room, as it turns out."

Yeah, okay, he was smirking again. He couldn't stop himself with the lines at all ever, apparently.

He apparently couldn't, and Alice apparently kept on loving it, given the way she smiled at him at that. "You never stop, do you," she stated, amused and perhaps even approving. "You ever turn off that charm, I'm gonna feel so terrible, Harry." Because, yeah, she was getting used to it, and then some.

"I can't turn it off, sadly," Harry leaned against the bar with one hip, sipping casually at his martini. "Well, unless I feel like someone needs a good set-down. Or I find them super boring. But obviously neither of those could ever apply to you, or I wouldn't have been shamelessly chasing after you for months."

"The day I trip from that pedestal you're clearly putting me on..." Alice stated, tilting her head with a smile. That would not be a fun day.

"It's well cushioned beneath, I assure you." Harry chuckled. "Only for show, as a goddess ought to be. I'm too goddamn cynical for anything else. You fall down into the pillows and I'll join you there."

Alice couldn't help but laugh at his comeback; it was too perfect not to. "And now you're almost making me wanna trip." Not exactly almost, but she didn't need to let him know that much. Not yet, or perhaps not here, not now.

"I would never be so ungallant as to wish it on you," Harry murmured, with a smirk that said perfectly well he wouldn't mind in the least.

"Right," Alice mock-acknowledged. "Of course. You're a true gentleman." Exactly what she would love in a guy. Absolutely.

"Aren't I just?" Harry chuckled. "So, if the singing isn't too horrible, will you dance with me once we finish these off?"

"I'll even dance with you if the singing is," Alice replied with a smirk, and took another sip of her drink. "Though I might have to lose the jacket for it. It's a shame, but it's way too warm."

"As smart as the jacket is, you'll never hear me complain about you shedding clothing," Harry commented, practically sing-song.

"I hope you realize we're totally ending the night in the hot tub," Alice pointed out with a grin. Obviously. Not any earlier than that, though, not when she was enjoying the hell out of her outfit. Getting rid of it entirely would wait until the party was winding down. "Unless you've got anything better to do," she added, the light in her eyes making it very clear that she was playing.

"As if there was any such thing." Harry's gaze traveled down Alice's body, then back up again. And he smirked.

Alice laughed at that. "Like I said." Her grin was bright, and shone all the way to her eyes. "Gentleman."

* * *

Later in the evening, Alice witnesses the slap, and has to come and ask what that was about.


Face still stinging faintly from that smack, Harry turned towards the bar to get himself another well-deserved drink. Perhaps not quite as well-deserved as the slap had been, he could admit, but still.

Alice leaned on the counter beside him, her glass still too full to be here for a refill and her eyes straying to the red mark on the side of his face. "Sooo. You know I've gotta ask."

Harry chuckled silently as he started throwing together another martini. "You will not be surprised to find out that I deserved it, I'm guessing?"

"Well," Alice allowed, smirking slightly, "I'd have been disappointed if you hadn't."

Harry licked his lips and leaned in so he could tell Alice the story--which he was well aware would not shock her in the least. He left his shaker full of ice, but didn't pour the gin or vermouth yet, finding it much more interesting to turn his full attention to whispering in Alice's ear over the music... her hair smelled amazing. "It was a few months ago, when I first came home. I went out just for the hell of it, since I was so happy to be back in New York.

"I didn't think she'd mind if I bailed when she was done with me, honestly. People hardly ever do, you know. But I didn't bother to ask, either." The slight smile was evident in his voice, and he couldn't resist running his fingers along the back of Alice's upper arm lightly. Grateful that she'd lost the jacket somewhere, probably on the dance floor.

Honestly, it was a little difficult not to get distracted, despite wanting to know the story. His proximity was one thing, but the brush of his fingers on her skin... Alice was very glad to have rolled up the sleeves of her shirt - and this was why it was kind of a good thing she hadn't given in yet, wasn't it. She doubted that such a simple touch would feel this good if it wasn't for the anticipation that had been building up for a few months now.

But it also felt a little too good, and she moved her arm out from under his hand, replacing it with her own to lace their fingers loosely together. If he understood why she did that - the way the featherlight touch had been affecting her - so be it. She didn't specifically want to hide it from him.

She looked up into his eyes and gave him a small smile, something that was more like an amused twist of her lips. "And here I was hoping for something truly outrageous."

He only smirked at her rearranging of his fingers, stopping them with hers, and slipped his farther down, into the small spaces between hers. Laced a little more tightly, though he didn't grip them, otherwise. "I hate disappointing you; will you let me invent something else, then?"

And here she thought she was giving herself a break; trust him not to let her. The shift of his fingers triggered a burst of warmth in her lungs, and she could only hope it wouldn't reach her face. Her wider, truer smile was as much about that as about his offer, of course, and she couldn't help but brush her thumb along the top of his. "Please."

Harry's smirk only grew. "Well. I thought they were triplets," he lied glibly. "And the problem with pleasing three women at once is that you've got to remember to devote equal attention to them--especially if they're sisters--even if one of them happens to take your fancy more than the others." He pulled their hands upward and air-kissed her thumb, in case his point wasn't clear. Obviously, she took his fancy more than anyone else. And he didn't mind if they all knew it. "Sadly, the one with the purple eyes wasn't the favorite. While I'm sorry she feels like she didn't get hers, I'm not sure that it's my fault if she was so unenthusiastic that I assumed she was bored and focused on her sisters instead.

"But I should've asked, I now realize, and so deserved the slap, don't you think?" His smirk was of epic proportions, by then.

Alice was laughing by the end of that completely fake explanation. "Oh my god, you're terrible," she congratulated him mirthfully. "Sadly, slapping you won't do a thing to give her back that - hour? - of her life. Poor Purple-Eyes. It doesn't really explain why they were all glaring at you, but I'll take it."

"Oh, they were just torn between loyalty to their sister and affection for me and my mad skills," Harry said with one of his self-deprecating chuckles. And another squeeze of her hand as he let it go to continue with his drink.

* * *

Towards the end of the party, they finally lay claim to the hot tub and have the kind of serious, heartfelt conversation only being wonderfully buzzed and exhausted can bring about.


When Harry had caught Alice's eyes across a much-less-crowded room, her nod towards the empty hot tub had not gone unappreciated. While she made directly for it, however, he'd ducked into a convenient rest room to peel off his suit and shirt, checking quickly but thoroughly for any hints of sickness on his skin. It had been fine when he'd gotten up this morning, just a tiny patch at his elbow that could be passed off as dry skin, but 20 hours was plenty of time for this bitch of a mutation to screw him over. He also felt good, but, frankly, he was drunk. So who fucking knew.

When he made his way to her, wearing boyshort style boxer-briefs and zero else--hey, he might be thin, but it was in that waify model way that involved abs and biceps and meant he could wear anything--she was already in the hot tub. Blessedly alone.

And he was pretending that not just peeling his clothes off right there and then, considering the way the crowd had dissipated and/or passed out already, wasn't the least bit weird at all.

Alice had been surprised, and perplexed, when Harry hadn't joined her at the hot tub. But, well, his loss if he did have something better to do after all - never mind the slash of hurt across her chest. She'd stripped down to her underwear anyway, and sunk into the blessedly hot water out on the balcony, the sky beginning to lighten slightly. Most people had either gone home or passed out, but there were a few still hanging around, drinking and chatting mostly quietly among themselves.

It was that perfect moment when a party was nearing its end, you'd had a blast, and you weren't puking in the bathroom - in fact, you were pleasantly drunk and could just relax into the moment. Like hell she'd let Harry Osborn harsh on her buzz.

She only noticed she'd closed her eyes when the noise of someone joining her, disturbing the water, had her open them again, and - okay, damn him for looking so good. She raised her eyebrows, lips slightly twisted into something not quite like a smirk. "What, did you lock your suit away for fear I'd steal it?" Let's face it, it was tempting.

But Harry had, of course, prepared an excuse for his tardiness. It would've been weird of him to disappear to strip anyhow--let alone when most people were asleep or fading fast. "Worried that damn marmoset--or whatever it is--would make a nest out of it." He smirked as he sunk down to his chest in the water, eyeing her openly all the while.

"Right," Alice agreed, amused. "The marmoset." Totally a good reason to miss her stripping out of her clothes. Whatever; she'd stay amused, rather than any other way too emotional reaction. What was it with her, anyway. She focused on the warmth seeping into her muscles, and knocked her knee gently against his, under the water. "So. Cersei totally hit on me earlier. It was really weird."

For once, Harry wasn't sure if his excuse had been accepted or not, but he let it go. His entire life had been acting as if everything he did was the thing to do. It had served him thus far and he wasn't about to change it now. Instead, he grimaced at the Cersei thing. "She was baiting me about it earlier. Trying to see if I'd tell her to stay the fuck away from you or not, I'm pretty sure."

"Yeaaaah," Alice agreed, completely unsurprised and rendered very mellow by the amount of alcohol she'd been drinking. She might not be completely hammered, she was still way drunk. The nice sort. The nice, warm, fuzzy sort. "Let me guess. 'No comment'?" It made a lot more sense, Cersei hitting on her for Harry reasons, rather than just Cersei hitting on her.

"Narrowly," he admitted, looking slightly surprised, himself. "I wanted to tell her I'd end her if she laid a hand on you, but for one, there's no point letting her know she can get to me through you any more than she already suspects, and for another I wasn't sure you'd appreciate it."

Why was he being honest with her? Well, because he couldn't think of a good reason not to be, and Harry didn't especially enjoy lying. It always complicated things. Anyhow, Alice deserved to know who said what about her, and why.

Well, Alice hadn't quite expected that, although maybe she should have? The violence of the sentiment, at least, took her by surprise, and she took a few seconds to wrap her mind around that - and how it made her feel. "I wouldn't," she confirmed, very belatedly by then, and if the heat of the water hadn't been seeping all the way to her bones, making it inconceivable to move right then, she might have slid over to him and kissed him for, well, all of this. Instead, she just leaned her knee against his and gave him a small, genuine smile.

He pushed at her knee with his before letting it rest. "I'm guessing you can tell what she is, but just to be clear: she's a pit viper. I can't judge her; god knows I haven't been cultivating her as a friend, just as an ally. But I'm not sure Cersei Lannister knows how to have friends.

"Me, I have, you know. One or two." He usual self-deprecating smile was in full force.

Again, that was a lot more truth than Alice expected, or was really ready to deal with at this time of night, with this much alcohol in her system. Still, she took a little while to think his words over, before she answered, "Where do I fall?" Just because she was a way to get through to him, apparently, didn't mean she was a friend. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but she had to ask, since he was being this bluntly honest about stuff right then.

Cersei didn't even matter now.

"I told her I was interested in what your powers could do for me, in my attempt to get control of Oscorp sooner rather than later." Harry turned to look her in the eye, his bright and serious. This conversation was probably stupid, but he was too drunk and tired to care, especially; there was nothing she could or would take from it that might destroy him or anyone he cared for. A list onto which she'd apparently made her way without him realizing. Nothing panic-worthy, but clearly enough to prove a liability with cutthroat bitches. "This may sound unbelievable, considering, well, me, but it was the first time I had the thought."

Alice held his gaze easily, her own betraying her curiosity and her processing what he was saying. "It does sound a little unbelievable," she eventually settled on, unsure whether she did believe him or not. She wanted to, no doubt there. God, when had she grown to care that much for him? She swallowed, and looked away for a few seconds - there was too much she didn't want to say, here and now. She met his gaze again, smiling slightly and resisting the urge to slide over to him and kiss him. That would have said just about anything that needed to be said. "But, well. Cersei should hit on me more often, if it gets you to talk like that every time."

He watched her openly, wondering if she was trying to believe him or trying not to believe him. It didn't matter, of course--only time would tell her the truth of it, if nothing fucked up between then and now. He didn't hope for anything, but for once, he didn't hope for nothing, either. He'd wait and see how it played out.

Friends didn't have to be liabilities, after all. And even if they were, as it turned out, Harry liked having a few. When the world ended, he'd have them. And Cersei Lannister would have, well. Her idiot brother. Not the smart one, which was a glaring fault in her plan, as far as he was concerned.

He smiled. "What can I say, I'm at my best under pressure."

Alice's small smile brightened into a grin. "I really should be taking notes." She punctuated the playful statement by splashing some water over at him, lazily, with the one hand. She was, thankfully, not drunk enough that she would not remember this conversation. Or rather, she'd better remember it.

Harry laughed at the splash--in the laziest way possible--and didn't bother wiping his face. It just dripped off his hair and nose undisturbed. "Don't tell. I have a reputation to uphold. That whole 'getting slapped in public' thing, and all..."

"Right," Alice agreed with a chuckle, and sank a little deeper into the water, lips quirked into a small smile as she closed her eyes. God, this was perfect - and in perfect company. "Trust fund hipster bad boy."

"So bad," Harry agreed, laughing silently again. "So, about that ballet date..."

Comments

[om_triptych]

The other two of Lu are now seriously wishing they'd slapped him too. :D

Great log, guys!

[om_kobalos]

Harry: *gets slapped by a girl*
Harry: *thinks it's okay to use said event to try and get into another girl's pants*

I can't do anything with him, Lu. I just can't.

<3