This might be the most fun fic I've ever written. It's pretty long for a oneshot, but it felt weird to make it be separate chapters…
"Naomi! You came!" Maria exclaimed from halfway across the room as the door opened.
…And now everyone was staring at her - wonderful. She gave a small wave. Naomi had intended to spend New Year's with Alyssa, but her daughter had fallen asleep already, so she'd called Little Guy to watch her and figured why not.
Maria bounded over and surprised Naomi with a hug.
"I take it you've been drinking," she commented. Maria's giggle was confirmation.
"You thirsty?"
"…I'm fine, but thanks." She certainly hoped the others were more sober than Maria. (Little did she know, Maria was a lot less drunk than she assumed. Tipsy was still an undeniably accurate word, though.)
Esha came over and pried Maria off Naomi, then offered to take her coat. "I'm glad you could make it."
"Alyssa fell asleep, so I asked a friend to stay with her." Alyssa was an unexpectedly heavy sleeper. She was also a definite "early to bed, early to rise" type, and tended not to feel well if she didn't get enough sleep. Thus, Naomi had decided it better to let her rest.
"Now that everyone is here, we should do something fun!" Maria said suddenly, drawing everyone's attention right back there, just when they had begun resuming their previous activities. "Like… a game, or karaoke!"
"I… think we might regret karaoke," Hank commented.
"Oh, come on! I bet you're not that bad!" She went over to him, grinning. "If I can do it, so can you!"
Well, that sure made it sound tempting. "How about we save our eardrums?" Gabe quipped.
Erhard cleared his throat before quietly asking Tomoe, "What exactly is karaoke?"
Unfortunately for him, Maria was within earshot. "Now we have to!"
"…I think I need to be a whole lot more drunk to do that," Gabe replied.
"Fine… damn spoil sport. Later, then! –How about a game for now?"
"I have a feeling we're gonna have to catch up to you before any of us want to do the things you're going to suggest."
"Rude! You don't even know what I'm going to suggest!"
"Alright, then try me."
She huffed, but then had to admit, "…Actually, I have no idea."
He facepalmed. "Okayyy. On that note, let's save that for later."
"Come on, it's already ten o'clock! We only have a couple of hours to do everything!"
"Wait, I've got an idea." Gabe looked around at the others.
"Why do I have a feeling this is still going to be a bad idea?" Esha commented under her breath to Naomi, who said nothing but thought that the feeling was likely accurate.
"Never Have I Ever. Anyone who doesn't want to drink can do the holding up your hand thing."
"HELL YEAH!" Unsurprisingly, Maria was totally for it.
At the same time, Esha said again, "Why do I have a really bad feeling about this?" Practically mother to the other doctors, she wasn't so sure she wanted to hear about some odd, kinky exploits. Sure, it didn't have to be that way… but she was pretty certain it wouldn't take long. Especially considering Maria… who she was considering banning from playing it with shots. –Actually, that gave her an idea. She stepped forward. "I think we should all use our hands. Drink, too, if you want, but that way no one's taking more than ten shots."
Sensible, Gabe acknowledged. …Though the only one who tended to be oblivious to or just plain ignore their alcohol tolerance at parties to the point of actual drunkenness was Maria. "Alright." He brought the things over to the table as everyone sat down around it – Esha, Naomi, Maria, Tomoe, Erhard, Gabe, Hank, Darnell, and Emma.
"Could someone explain the rules?" Naomi requested.
Since he was the one to suggest it, Gabe took it upon himself. "So, everyone holds up both hands. Someone says something they haven't done. If you've done it, you put down one finger. And take a shot if you want. If no one's done it, though, the person who said it has to put down a finger. Whoever's the last one with fingers up wins."
Erhard felt ridiculous as he, along with everyone else, put his hands up. Naomi found the whole point of the game a bit ridiculous – it was clearly just an excuse to get drunk. She supposed this must be exponentially more entertaining for a giggly drunk like Maria. Meanwhile, neither she nor Esha intended to drink. As the Chief, Esha felt an obligation to watch over everyone.
"I'll start," Gabe said. "Never have I ever eaten more than a pint of ice cream in one sitting."
Esha was the only one to put a finger down. A few people's looks were questioning, and she simply shrugged.
Hank tried to think of something interesting. "Never have I ever sang in front of people." From the looks of earlier, that might get a lot of people.
"Never?!" Maria asked. "Like, never?!"
"Never."
Everyone except Erhard had to put down a finger.
"You guys!" she exclaimed, looking at both Hank and Erhard. "This is why we have to do karaoke after this."
Darnell was next. "Never have I ever slept through my alarm."
"SERIOUSLY?!" Not that he was able to get everyone out, but he had never slept through his alarm?! Also, the game was gonna go pretty fast at this rate…
Emma hesitated, getting into the strategy of the game and trying to think of something most people had done that she hadn't. Well, it probably wouldn't apply to everyone, but… "Never have I ever owned a pet."
Esha, Hank, and Darnell were out one at that. Maria made a mental note to ask Hank and Darnell about that later, as it piqued her curiosity.
Esha was relieved that it had stayed tame so far. Meanwhile, she was nearly halfway to out, though. "Never have I ever stayed up all night, other than when I was a student."
Needless to say, Maria drank to that one. As did Erhard, Gabe, Emma, and, minus the alcohol, Naomi.
"Explains why you can always wake up to your alarm," Maria said, looking at Darnell.
Expectant gazes soon turned to Naomi. Her turn, huh? Hm… "Never did I ever have someone drive me to school, including school buses." She was pretty sure that would get almost everyone.
"How'd you get to school, then?" Gabe asked. Was she homeschooled?
"I walked."
"Even when you were in kindergarten?!" Maria interjected.
"The kids from my neighborhood all walked together." Much more common in Japan than America, she knew – which was exactly why it was effective. She was willing to bet Tomoe had been chauffeured, too.
Just as Naomi had suspected, everyone put down a finger, a couple of people still seeming a bit surprised. She couldn't help the beginnings of a smug smile tugging at her lips.
Maria was next. Aka, the moment everyone just knew things were going to take a turn for the dirty – though with Tomoe next, perhaps that would counteract it. "Never have I ever… hired a prostitute!"
Gabe noticed her stare. "Why are you looking at me?!" When she simply crossed her arms, as if waiting, he added, "I have never hired a prostitute!"
A small voice caught everyone's attention. "Do male prostitutes count?"
Everyone gaped at Emma, who blushed, put a finger down, and took a shot. Maria started cracking up.
Tomoe thought briefly. If they were going in that direction… Well, it wouldn't be hard for her to think of things she hadn't done. The question was to think of things that others had done. "Never have I ever watched pornography."
Everyone except Erhard put a finger down.
Erhard was even less experienced than Tomoe, but he decided to make it a bit entertaining – which would be surprising to everyone, if they were aware it was intentional. "Never have I ever had sex in a closet."
"Who has sex in a clo-" Maria stopped abruptly, bursting into laughter. "CHIEF!?"
Esha cleared her throat, cheeks a bit pink. "I was young once too, you know."
"Never have I ever had sex on a table," Gabe said, saving Esha the embarrassment of more questions… for now, at least. Sober Maria might feel awkward enough about it to refrain from asking more, but he suspected drunk Maria would be happy to question her about who with, why the hell in a closet, and so on. And he really didn't want to hear about Esha's sex life, actually.
But they went around, things becoming increasingly dirty. To everyone's surprise, Emma ended up the first one out – and definitely, no one was more surprised than Darnell at that. Erhard was the winner, which didn't particularly surprise anyone, although no one commented on it.
"Okay, is everybody drunk? Come on, it's karaoke time!" Maria declared.
"How about something different?" Gabe once again tried to defer it.
"It'll be fun! What, are you a terrible singer or something?"
He didn't answer.
"Okay! Karaoke, and Gabe's up first!" She started setting it up. Unsurprisingly, she was the one who got the equipment and whatnot…
"Me?! It was your idea!"
"I wanna see why you keep refusing! Or are you too chicken?" She selected a song. "Come on, sing it!"
"Wha-?! Why did you choose the song if I'm the one singing it?!"
She gave him a shove and handed him the microphone. He looked at the song, which was displaying the title.
"You're making me sing THIS?!"
The microphone screeched, and most covered their ears. "Do you mind?!" Esha asked over the sound.
"You don't see what she's making me-" The lyrics appeared with a countdown, and he sighed in resignation. At first, he pretty much just spoke it, self-conscious. "Oh, her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like they're not shining…"
"C'mon, sing!" Maria scolded, ignoring the way Emma was snickering as she recognized the song.
By the time he got to the chorus, his face had become just a little red, but he finally actually was singing. "When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change. 'Cause you're amazing just the way you are…"
"DAMN! Gabe, who knew you could sing?!"
He chose to ignore her. Might as well finish the song now that he had started it, yeah? But yes… his embarrassment came not from being a terrible singer, but rather because he was good at it. He'd been in a choir as a kid, and while of course his range had changed completely, the technique wasn't lost. But for some reason, being a good singer seemed more embarrassing to him than being a bad singer…
When the song finished, Maria actually applauded a bit. He wasn't sure whether to be complimented or offended at how shocked she seemed to be at his being able to sing…
"Two can play at that game," he said as he stepped away from the microphone.
"Joke's on you – I already picked my song!" Maria said, smirking. She had anticipated that revenge.
"Then someone else sing that song and you sing this one!"
She briefly considered it, and suddenly, it sounded like a challenge to her. And Maria Torres never refused a challenge. "Fine. Uhhh, HANK! You sing it!"
"Me-?! I really…" Before he could finish his protest, he was being pushed toward the mic.
"Don't tell me-" Darnell started as the intro to the song started.
When the lyrics started to appear, Hank looked at Maria. "Y-You're making me sing this?!"
"Just go with it! It's probably a million times better than what Gabe's gonna make me sing!"
Hank seriously couldn't believe he was doing this. He was not anywhere near drunk enough for this. But he would pretend to be for an excuse. "I stay out too late!" He sang out, lowering the pitch. It was absolutely off-key, but better than the painful noise that would have been emitted had he attempted to go into falsetto. "Got nothing in my brain! At least, that's what people say-ay-ay…"
"Wha… Maria, you were wanting to sing that?!" Gabe asked, gaping at her.
"What's wrong with Taylor Swift?!" she demanded, blushing.
Never mind the fact that Hank apparently knew it well enough that he seemed to at least know how it was supposed to go, even if his voice… didn't quite emulate it right. That could be explained by hearing it incessantly on the radio, though. He just shook his head as they listened to Hank sing,
"'Cause the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, and the players gonna play, play, play, play, play. Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake… I shake it off!"
Hank's dancing was actually pretty damn good, more eliciting laughter from Maria and some embarrassment from Gabe as he watched. Darnell pretended not to notice the way Emma stared. (…He was potentially starting to regret seeing her drunk…)
"You're up next, Maria," Gabe said, gesturing toward the mic.
His grin made her feel more than a little wary, but in an excited sort of way – she couldn't wait to prove that she could roll with whatever he was going to make her sing. "Friday"? "Baby"? Bring it the hell on! Even she was taken by surprise when the lyrics came up, however. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" she asked, cheeks scarlet. "I don't- I… FINE! I'm getting revenge on you after this!" …What she could make him sing that would be more embarrassing than this, however, she had no idea. Meanwhile, everybody else was in the dark, but Maria tried to begin.
"My anac…" She devolved into embarrassed laughter. "I HATE YOU GABE!"
"Not up to the challenge?"
"Screw you! I can do it just fine… Even though it makes no damn sense!"
Gabe raised an eyebrow, challenging her. Oh, he knew she would try to one-up him… but he wasn't so sure he thought that possible. Either way, Maria was never living this one down.
Suddenly, with enough volume to make the microphone screech, Maria burst out:
"MY ANACONDA DON'T WANT NONE UNLESS YOU GOT BUNS, HUN!"
Gabe cracked up. Esha facepalmed, and Erhard looked uncomfortable.
It quickly became apparent – to everyone's relief, all things considered – that Maria couldn't dance. At all. Or at least, not when she was drunk. As to her singing abilities… well, they weren't downright painful, at least? "Oh my gosh, look at her butt! Oh my gosh, look at her butt! Oh my gosh, look at her butt!" She had managed to put aside her embarrassment after the first verse or so and was instead trying not to laugh. Thus, when the song was finished, it was her turn to grin smugly at Gabe, albeit while trying to ignore the embarrassment that threatened to set in as she went to join the others.
Tomoe decided to go next, if nothing else than to change the mood. Considering their earlier game, she was half afraid it was going to turn into people trying to make each other sing the weirdest (and probably dirtiest, why did she have a feeling) things they could come up with.
"OH I GOT ONE!" Maria said suddenly, quickly going up and selecting a song to come after Tomoe's. "Get ready for it, Gabe!"
"I just went! Someone else should go- uhh, Esha!"
"I refuse," Esha said immediately. "I'm not getting dragged into you two's prank war." Aka, she had had enough embarrassment after the whole 'sex in a closet' thing and wasn't going to subject herself to something Maria found comparable to "Anaconda."
Tomoe's song was beginning, so everybody quieted.
Maria's immediate thought was, spoil sport, as the song was calm and pretty. It would be a beautiful song, she was sure, but she would much rather see Tomoe sing something funny. Why should she be left out of the fun, right? Considering Hank had had to sing "Shake It Off"… "Okay! Tomoe sings the next song too!"
"What?! Maria…!" She already had a bad feeling about this. "That would be two songs in a row… I'm certain that's against the way of honor!" She was a little too tipsy to figure out how exactly that was.
"It's totally honorable if I'm asking you to! Anyway, you'll be saving Gabe; isn't that honorable?" Oh, yeah, the song was soooo honorable, she thought with amusement as she glanced at the title again.
"…" She would consider it during this song, she decided. Maria did raise valid points… as much as she hated to admit it. Oh! The lyrics to this song were about to start. "のびた人陰を舗道に並べ…"
Maria just barely refrained from interrupting. She wanted to interject and point out that she was pretty sure none of them except her and Naomi could understand a word of it and she was hella curious now, but damn… Tomoe's voice really was beautiful. It sort of caught her off-guard, and she found herself actually silently listening. (Wow, that was a first for the night.)
"二人の胸にそっと思い出描くよ…これからもキミと…ずっと～" When the song finished, she smiled a bit shyly as Maria started to applaud again. "O-Okay… It's not the way of honor to refuse a challenge. I'll sing it!" Neither was it the way of honor to give up. …For the first time in her life, she was about to seriously regret following the way of honor in this situation… When the song title appeared, her face got so scarlet the color went up to her ears. "Ma-Maria!"
Better you than me, Gabe secretly thought. Whatever it was, he was quite relieved not to be the one to sing it.
Maria just shrugged, trying not to laugh. "Well, you can always make Gabe do it. It was my revenge against him, after all."
"But… That wouldn't be the way of honor…" As if this song was in any way honorable. "I know I may be young," she started to sing, "But I've got feelings too. And I need to do what I feel like doing. So let me go, and just listen."
"You were going to make me sing that?!" Gabe asked.
Maria didn't feel particularly bad for making Tomoe sing it, though. Every single one of them had embarrassed themselves… Wait. Except Naomi, Erhard, and Darnell. Damn, that was actually a lot. She decided to think of ways to rope them into singing something embarrassing.
Tomoe's face was still red, but she sang to the best of her ability anyway. "I'm a… slave for you. I cannot hold it; I cannot control it…" Needless to say, she was quite relieved when the song had ended.
"Hey, Erhard! I just thought of a great song for you!"
"Oh no," he said. "I- I think I'll pass…"
"Fine, then… Darnell or Naomi."
"Why us?!" Darnell asked.
"So you don't get left out of the fun!"
Naomi just knew she was going to regret this. She didn't even have the excuse of alcohol. "…I'll give it a shot. On one condition: you're banned from choosing songs for people after this."
Hm… was it worth it? Yep, totally worth it. She cast a look to Gabe as if asking him to take that over for her before agreeing, "Fine. Let's do this thing!"
Naomi went up to the microphone. She had missed the title, but seeing the lyrics, she frowned and looked at Maria. "What kind of ridiculous song is this?" But suddenly, she remembered. It was something she had had the misfortune of hearing on the radio… A lot. "I can't believe I'm about to do this," she mumbled. "7 AM, waking up in the morning, gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs, gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal…" Seriously, a five year old could write better lyrics, she thought. And she was oh-so looking forward to the rap part…
Everyone watched her sing, somewhere between amusement and confusion. It went without saying that this would have been completely and totally impossible to picture until now. Gabe still couldn't believe he was seeing this.
"It's Friday, Friday… Gotta get down on Friday~… Gettin' down on Friday…"
When the song was finally finished, she put the microphone. She was about to suggest that, actually, they had perhaps had enough of karaoke for the night when she was suddenly hit by a hug that Maria practically launched at her. Apparently Maria was a clingy drunk? Though Naomi hadn't seen her doing this to anyone else…
"That was fantastic!" Maria said, grinning with amusement. Though, Naomi wasn't a bad singer. Looking up at Naomi, she paused, then suddenly pulled away. "Wait, what time is it?!"
Esha looked at her watch. "About 11:30."
Meanwhile, Maria took out her cell phone and set an alarm for 11:55. "We can't forget about midnight kisses!"
"…What?" …Who exactly did Maria think was going to be kissing who? (Okay, Esha had a pretty good idea of who Maria was wanting to kiss. And Darnell… though maybe not anymore. Never Have I Ever sure threw him for a loop.)
"Anyway! Guys! I have a great idea!"
…Why did everybody suspect this was going to bring more ridiculousness. Oh well… whatever it was, it would certainly be entertaining.
She went over to her coat and retrieved a box. "Dun dun dun dunnnn…" She held it up: Cards against Humanity.
"I can't see this ending well," Gabe commented, though with amusement.
"Cards against Humanity never… slash always… ends well."
Well. That sure made it tempting – especially to those of them who had no idea what it was.
"My vote's for it," Gabe said. "Unless you guys'd rather sing more karaoke."
"Then let's do it," Erhard said, no idea what he was getting himself into but afraid of getting roped into some bizarre song.
"Um… could someone explain the game to me?" Tomoe asked.
Esha decided to take on that role. "Here, let's take out the cards…"
They set up the game and passed out white cards to everyone.
"Every round, we put down one of the black cards. Then everyone except the judge puts down a white card from their hand and takes a new white card. The judge decides which card was the best, and that person gets a point. Whoever has the most points at the end – by 11:55, I guess – is the winner. Any questions?"
No one raised any, so Gabe volunteered, "I'll be judge first." He flipped over a black card. "I drink to forget blank."
Maria looked at her cards. "Hell yeah! Got my favorite!"
No one dared ask what that was.
Meanwhile, Tomoe had a completely different reaction: after looking at them, she dropped her cards on the floor. "Wh-what…?!"
Maria started to laugh. "It's an interesting game, huh?"
Tomoe picked up her cards, everyone looking away. If she had to pick new cards, who knew – they could be even more risqué than whatever she currently held. "I… was not expecting that."
Maria put a card down. Eventually, everyone, even Tomoe, followed suit.
"Okay, we got everyone?" Gabe asked. "Alright, let's see…" He flipped over the white cards. "I drink to forget… Lady Gaga. …Concealing a boner. …My relationship status."
"Damn!" Maria interrupted. Who had played that?!
"…Harry Potter erotica. –I would too. …Necrophilia. –Definitely. …Golden showers. …Getting drunk on mouth wash. …A defective condom?! Oh, that's terrible!" He laughed. "Who's responsible for that? You win."
Darnell sheepishly raised his hand.
Tomoe frowned. "It's terrible, so it wins?"
"That's the point of the game. Being awful human beings," Gabe told her. Tomoe's frown deepened, although it definitely did make her cards make more sense…
"I'll judge next!" Maria decided. She flipped over a black card. "Blank. That's how I want to die."
Esha put a card down suspiciously quickly. Hank and Darnell followed suit. When everyone had put a card in, she started to read them off.
"Being on fire. That's how I want to die. …Doin' it in the butt. …Autocanniablism. …Viagra. …A bleached asshole. …Another goddamn vampire movie. …Nipple blades?! …Man meat. Damn, you guys are good!" She mulled it over. "I'm… gonna have to go with nipple blades." She looked around for the winner.
Tomoe blushed. "…That was mine."
She cracked up, lightly slapping her shoulder. "See, you're a natural!"
…Whether this was something she desired to be a natural at, she really wasn't so sure. "I can judge next," she decided. "Blank? There's an app for that."
Tomoe was a bit alarmed at how quickly everybody had decided on their cards… Why did she have a feeling that meant they were terrible? The glimmer of amusement she saw in everyone's eyes did nothing to convince her otherwise, that was for sure…
"My collection of…" She stopped, blushing, then cleared her throat. What happened in this room stayed in this room. She hoped so, at least. "My collection of high-tech sex toys? There's an app for that. Pac-Man-" She hesitated again, but then pushed on. "Pac-Man uncontrollably guzzling cum? There's an app for that. …German dungeon porn… My vagina?! …My humps. …Half-assed foreplay. …Pictures of boobs. …The Rapture." Wow. Those were all terrible. Everybody's expectant looks were making her feel a bit shy, but she eventually held up the "my vagina" card.
"…I'm the one who played that," Hank said.
"You?!" Gabe asked, laughing.
"I'll judge the next round," Esha decided. "How am I maintaining my relationship status?" …She said to a room of single people, as another single person. Even so, no one seemed to have any trouble choosing cards… "How am I maintaining my relationship status?" she repeated once all the cards were out. "…Edible underpants. …Crystal meth. …Anal beads. …Tentacle porn. …Incest. …An icepick lobotomy?! …Porn stars. …Cockfights." Most of these were pretty bad, but since she had to choose… "Incest."
Keeping her expression calm as ever, Naomi replied, "That was my card. …I can judge the next round." No one objected, of course, so she chose a card. "A romantic, candlelit dinner would be incomplete without…" She could already picture some of the 'interesting' responses this one might get…
Everyone put down their cards, Maria hesitating for the first time of the night.
"Alright. A romantic, candlelit dinner would be incomplete without… A windmill full of corpses?!" Well that had been an… interesting start to the round… "…My genitals. …Pixilated bukakke. …Licking things to claim them as your own. …The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. …Goats eating cans. …Not reciprocating oral sex. …Jerking off into a pool of children's tears?" She looked up and quipped, "Remind me never to go on a date with any of you." A fraction of a smile appeared, however, as proof that she was just teasing. After consideration, she said, "…Clearly, a romantic, candlelit dinner isn't complete without a windmill full of corpses."
Damn, she said that with such a straight face! Maria was impressed.
"…That was mine…" Tomoe admitted, embarrassed. That was definitely the most terrible card she'd drawn…
"Damn, who would've thought Tomoe would be in the lead?" Maria asked, grinning. "The rest of us are gonna have to catch up!"
Before anyone could speak, however, a melody started to play. "So it's gonna be forever, or it's gonna go down in flames. You can tell me when it's over if the high was worth the pain. Got a long list of ex-lovers; they'll tell you I'm insane! But I've got a blank space, baby, and I'll write your name."
Taking note that it was 11:55, Gabe looked at Maria. "That's your ringtone?!"
"Shut up!" she replied, face red as she went to her alarm. "Anyway… You guys, c'mere! We've gotta watch for when it turns to midnight!"
"On your phone? Isn't that a bit small…?" Gabe asked.
"Your dic-"
"Maria, please don't go there," Esha deadpanned, knowing exactly where she had been going with that reply. With both parties varying degrees of tipsy, she couldn't see any good coming from that…
Everyone gathered around, although no one was quite as excited as Maria. (Admittedly, Maria was pretty excited.)
No one counted down out loud, but once it was 11:59, some were closely watching the second hand as it ticked. Then… Midnight!
Without stopping to let herself second-guess it, Maria kissed Naomi. At the same time, Emma kissed Erhard – much to Darnell's shock and dismay, and Erhard's total confusion. Gabe looked at Hank, said, "What the hell," and kissed him – probably making Hank the most surprised of all of them. Esha looked at Tomoe as if to ask if this was seriously happening.
It wasn't long until all the kisses had broken. Some still couldn't believe what had just happened.
"Sorry," Emma said, smiling sheepishly at Erhard. "I just wanted to try that."
"W-With me?!"
Esha put a hand on Darnell's shoulder. "I think we're all a bit surprised, here…" Consoling him a bit, knowing he had had feelings for Emma for a long time.
Gabe rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, don't think too much into that," he said to Hank. "Alcohol and all that."
Hank had no response to that.
Meanwhile, Maria's face had gained a bit of a red tinge again. "…I've… kinda wanted to do that for a while now," she admitted to Naomi.
"…I may not be opposed to that happening again sometime."
When the brief conversations had ended, Esha spoke. "Well, this year's party was… quite interesting." Then she grinned and pulled everyone into a hug. "Nah, it was great!"
Clean-up and logistical matters came next – considering most of them weren't able to drive at the moment – and the party came to an end. Maria couldn't wait to see what would happen next year…