Arlovasquez‌:

quinnxarchibald‌:

Quinn startled for a second as Ben changed the subject. He looked up at the brunet, eyes widening slightly. “Yeah, yeah I heard about that.” He replied. He’d wanted to reach out to his former friend, wanted to make sure that Ben was okay but he hadn’t. Not out of malice but because he had no idea what to say. He wanted to talk about it but even now it seemed that the other male didn’t want to. “Yeah, the 80s definitely seemed a lot simpler. They had their problems though. I guess there have to be trade offs.” Quinn said before adding softly “How are you doing? After everything?”

It was hard with Quinn. He wanted to tell Quinn every single problem that he was having. It felt natural to do that, and yet he knew he couldn’t. He didn’t have that part in Quinn’s life anymore thanks to his own mistakes. It was hard to not have anyone to talk to. “I’m glad we’re just not still having a big hair trend. That seemed horrible,” He said with a sigh of relief. With Quinn’s question, he immediately opened his mouth up but stopped himself from saying anything. They weren’t best friends, they were estranged best friends. He couldn’t tell her anything, could he? Not when he hadn’t even apologized yet. “I’m fine. Things are a bit tense with King but I guess that happens when you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He shrugged, trying not to make a big deal of it.

taterodriguez‌:

“Actually, I haven’t.”  Tate admitted and gave a shake of their head as a chuckle passed through their lips.  They heard stories about SantaCon, but could never bring their self to attend knowing full well that there was more excitement in the Upper East Side.  “I think people were just surprised to see you’ve finally made a reappearance,” Tate said casually.  “Honestly, I never thought I’d see you again when you disappeared.  –  Kind of makes me wonder what was so important that made you come home,” Tate gave a shrug of their shoulders and they figured it was safe to assume it had something to do with Quinn.  “You’ll have to call in advance, but I’ll do my best.”

The only reason Tate remembered who Ben was, was due to the turmoil it caused Quinn.  It was hard for Tate to bother remembering people that clearly wanted nothing to do with the Upper East Side.  “Bishop’s sister, right.  The disappearing Kirbey.”  Tate didn’t have a face to the name but vaguely remembered another Kirbey being around.  “Shots sound great, it’s the only thing that is going to get me through this night.”

He really had just disappeared. It wasn’t like he was planning on leaving, it just all happened so fast. “It’s fun but I’m not sure it beats Oktoberfest,” He pointed out. Nothing could beat being in Munich during Oktoberfest.“Honestly, same here. But you know what they say. You always find your way back home.” He was only here to finally let go of the guilt he had been carrying around. 

“Yes, both I and the disappearing Kirbey have returned,” Ben confirmed. He wondered why they needed shots to get through the night but knew it was none of his business. If only he didn’t leave, he probably would’ve known Tate pretty well because of Quinn. “Vodka keeps me humble,” He hated the taste but would down it anyways. “And I don’t trust people who like raspberry flavored vodka. That shit tastes like medicine.”

arlovasquez‌:

“I mean I’m sure someone could smell it on me, but because it’s Europe, no one really cared,” he said with a smirk. “I think he did have a beard later on in life. Well, there’s a self portrait oh him with a long white beard and I assume that’s what he actually looked like at the time? But yeah, there’s a theory that the Mona Lisa is actually just da Vinci in a dress. Maybe that’s why it’s so famous? Cause I honestly don’t know either.” 

“Yeah, they also smoke like chimneys over there. No one can probably smell anything.” Being European was its own culture for sure, especially being French. “I always think of that movie with the Looney Tunes because of that painting. At least I think that was a movie, I’m pretty sure I was a little out of it the first time I watched it.” He figured Arlo would know what he was insinuating. “Did they even have mirrors back then? How was he able to know what he looked like?”

buffy-seymour‌:

Buffy didn’t check the weather before leaving for the party, but judging by the all-encompassing white outside the window and the severe weather alert currently overtaking her phone, she should have. With a sigh she turned from the window and crossed her arms. This was not a hiccup she planned for. There wasn’t even any dry shampoo in the small bag she brought for essentials (make up wipes, powder, blush, mascara, lipstick). Looking over at her companion, Buffy chuckled. “I wasn’t dreaming of a white Christmas party. Were you?”

He sipped on his Gin Fizz, as he watched Buffy turn towards him. Either way, he would’ve been here tonight. It wasn’t like he really minded staying here anyways. He was enjoying himself at O and Chessie’s place in general. Well, when he wasn’t moping around and dreaming about Europe. “Not really, I wouldn’t have minded a green Christmas,” He said with a shrug. “The City seems to recover pretty quickly even after the most horrible blizzards. Soon it’ll look like it didn’t even snow.”

wrenabernathy‌:

Wren Abernathy had not been raised to discuss problems in public. Actually, he had not been raised to discuss problems, period. Many families tried to keep up appearances for the outside, but in the Abernathy family it went well beyond that, to the point where it had been nearly impossible for Wren to even talk to Chessie since she’d moved in with him. Of course, he checked up on her, made sure she ate and spent his evenings sitting in front of her bedroom door. But if he was being honest with himself, he’d been avoiding talking about what had happened as much as she had been avoiding him.

So, when Ben asked about her, all he did was dip his head and then look back up with what he hoped was an encouraging smile. “She’s okay,” he said, his intonation falling flat indicating Wren’s response was anything but an invitation to discuss Chessie. “How are you?” he asked, hoping that would be enough to change the subject. He liked Ben well enough, but he hadn’t exactly sought out the most clandestine table in the entire place to still have to talk about what had happened.

Despite his mother’s efforts to always tell Ben it wasn’t polite to be nosy, it never worked. He was always looking at drama from afar and never really trying to get into it himself. The latter was inevitable with a last name like Vanderbilt as well as having a knack for vices. It wasn’t his fault, it was in his blood. At least that’s what he told himself. 

“Good, glad to hear that,” He caught on that this was something Wren wasn’t particularly open about talking about, which was fine. He just liked hearing that she was okay. “I’m fine. I couldn’t be better.” He lied, not wanting to delve into any more details. Ben was a private person, he was taught to swallow his problems and put on a happy face when he was growing up. That was one of the few things that carried over into adulthood for him. “How are you?” He asked, returning the gesture. “Did you have a better New Year’s than the rest of us?”

chessieabernathy‌:

“Quinn didn’t hit you so hard you forgot why everyone stayed over last night, right?“ She pointed out the obvious, nodding to the snow piled up on the terrace. Chessie paused for a moment, before grumbling as she sat her mug on the counter with a dramatic thud. “Fine,” Her resolve didn’t last long.The desire to smoke easily outweighed the desire to stay inside. “I’ll go put on pants,” she grumbled as she walked away, leaving him to return to her room and change. It only took a moment – Swapping her robe for a pair of sweats and an old Yale sweatshirt, pack of cigarettes and lighter in hand. Holding them up for him to see, Chessie gave him a smirk. “Happy now?”

Was that anyone that didn’t hear about that? “I know why everyone had to stay over, I remember most of the night,” He knew there were some fuzzy moments but for the most part, he remembered the big details like getting punched in the face. Ben poured himself a cup of coffee as he waited for her to come back out, changed appropriately for the weather. He took a sip before she returned and then greeted her with a nod. “As happy as I’ll ever be,” He teased, before heading towards the door. It was a lot colder than he expected but he figured he’d warm up soon as soon as his cigarette was lit. “So did anything eventful happen last night? Besides Quinn taking a sucker punch at me?” It wasn’t an Upper East Side party without shit happening. 

bishopkirbcy‌:

Glancing to Ben’s hand, Bishop moved to close the distance between, leaning in and said to him, “Go on and hit me.” Lingering a moment longer he pulled back and then just laughed. “Calm the fuck down, Shakespeare. No one here wants to hear your soliloquies. They’re of poor quality and pedantic. I’d say it was a lecture, what you just did, but you have to actually have some merit to do those, and you have none. Your hypocrisy makes me actually laugh, like dude.” Bishop followed up with a chuckle, shaking his head. Ben was doing a lot right now. The way that he shook the other man up was entertaining to him. “To clarify, I’m not talking shit on your relationship, I’m talking shit on you. You fundamentally irritate me.”

He moved back quickly. He couldn’t hit Bishop. He knew King would not be happy. Not only that, but he was a lot taller than Ben. The odds wouldn’t be in Ben’s favor. “I don’t look anything like Shakespeare. You’d know that if you paid attention in English.” For now, he’d only try to hurt his ego. “Yes, Bishop, trying to be nice to you makes me irritating. Because that makes total sense.” He replied sarcastically. “Do you do this to everyone? What’s the harm in trying to be fucking nice to you? Why is that a problem? I don’t see you crawling with friends around here.” He announced as he looked around. 

chessieabernathy‌:

“You’ll be lucky if we can get the terrace door open in the morning,” A certain bitterness found Chessie’s tone, eyes rolling as she recalled their current situation. The mention of wandering without pants on brought a loud bark of laughter. “Haven’t you read any of those Gossip Girl blasts? If I started wandering around pantsless tonight, I don’t think anyone would be surprised.” What was meant to be a joke, brought on an eye roll. Not because of him, but the thought of what Gossip Girl would be posting about tonight. Thank god she decided not to keep her phone on her. Chessie shrugged at the mention of the bartender. “I gave him my exes number,” She comments with a snicker, “Some poor idiot in California’s gonna be woken up to a booty call,” Chessie can’t help but laugh at her own words, “Don’t worry, B. I’m sure caveman isn’t his type.”

“Someone has to do it, you have to take one for the team,” Ben knew about the blasts, he even found himself the subject of two so far, “I don’t pay attention to those unless I see my name,” He said with a shrug, “But if you’re going pantless I get to go pantless too so choose wisely.” He threatened, “He’s never gonna bartend another party after he finds out you lied to him,” He snickered, “I just let my hair and beard do whatever,” He admitted to the brunette, “If it looks like a caveman then so be it. It’s better than putting all this hair up in a man bun. Don’t be jealous.”

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.” 

monty-santos‌:

“I never made it down to Greece, but I’ve heard that it’s amazing,” Monty nodded with a smile, “But it’s really not surprising if you look at how big all of Europe was, not to mention we probably were in very different places if we did happen to be around the same area,” he pointed out with a shrug, “But that’s good, King’s pretty great. Did you two travel together after that?”

“It’s one of my favorite places in the world. The ocean’s so damn blue there, especially compared to the crappy Hudson. But you can’t flush toilet paper cause their piping system is too old. That was something that was hard to remember when I was drunk,” Ben disclosed to the other man. “You could’ve been the third wheel if you wanted,” He proposed, “Pretty much, yeah. She somehow was able to put up with me for that long.” He let a slight chuckle out but it was true. Ben was honestly a mess when he ran into her.