Chapter Sixty Six – New Year's Eve

In the end Olivia couldn't find any better idea for New Year's Eve and accepted the fact that she would be going with Ben to the bar. When they'd initially left her apartment she'd been fine. The closer they got to their destination however the tenser Olivia became. She seemed to be oblivious to the fact, but Ben noticed. He'd watched it slowly get worse. When they were only a few blocks away he'd had enough.

"Relax, Liv."

"I am relaxed."

"You're about as relaxed as Suvi is human," he replied and then paused to think for a second before correcting himself. "Maybe that's not the best analogy."

Olivia smiled in return, and at least that didn't look tense and strained. Ben rubbed at her back.

"Really. Relax. The closer we get the tenser you're getting."

"Sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry. You don't need to be worried either. They already know you're coming, and we'll be in our own party room so to speak. It'll be fine, though I do have to warn you that you might be mobbed by people wanted to see him. For a good reason though. I mentioned that he was pretty darn cute."

Olivia couldn't help feeling slightly apprehensive about the idea of people being eager for their arrival. The only people who'd been eager to meet Suvi in public were the kids at Mercy. At the moment being met with people who wanted to see Suvi sounded better than being hated before they arrived, but one never knew. Hopefully that would still be the case after they'd been there a little while. It was possible she could be completely overwhelmed by the attention too. She had no idea what Ben had actually told them. They could be showing this level of interest in hopes of making her feel comfortable. Of course they weren't even there yet and she was already feeling about as far from comfortable as was possible.

"Get out of your head, Olivia." He told her before pulling open the door to the bar and ushering her inside.

They'd arrived later than most would (Ben hoped their late arrival would increase the odds of making it past midnight if things went bad) and were greeted with a rush of noise and voices. Suvi immediately stepped closer to Olivia, and Ben could see her hesitate for a moment. Before he could consider saying anything she started forward again like there hadn't been a single break in her step. Ben grinned happily and led the way to the back room. Most of the crowd was too engrossed in partying to notice them. Ben honestly thought some of them looked a little too drunk for so early in the evening. Oh well. If they got too bad they'd likely be thrown out, and if not at least they'd be separated.

Ben's name rang out over the general din of the bar, drawing his attention. He spotted his coworker standing in the doorway of a side room and waving him over. Olivia had spotted the waving too but she'd waited to move that way until Ben had. Once they'd walked over Ben immediately started making introductions. There weren't all that many people, five of Ben's coworkers and their guests, but it was enough to make Olivia's head spin with names. It didn't help that many of the guests were flooding her with questions about Suvi. Thankfully Ben had been right about her receiving excitement rather than hostility.

"Let's go get some drinks," Ben told her once he'd managed to extricate himself and her from the group.

Olivia followed him eagerly. She needed some breathing room even if it only lasted a little while. Most of the group dispersed to their own discussions and drinking as well. Two of them followed Ben and Olivia to the bar, though Olivia noticed they both had drinks in their hands already.

"What would you like, Liv?"

Olivia was focused on their new shadows and didn't hear Ben. He turned to touch her arm and draw her attention when he spotted them.

"Hey, hey," Ben said enthusiastically as he reached out to clap the man's hand.

The man returned Ben's grip with a smile that mirrored Ben's own. They obviously knew each other well. The woman with him turned to Olivia and offered her a small reassuring smile.

"There were a lot of names thrown around before. If it had been me I wouldn't have remembered them. I'm Kara. That's my husband, Ted. He works pretty close to Ben."

"Yup, and I've seen you at the office before," Ted added. "He managed to convince you to stay with him, huh?"

Olivia relaxed and managed to smile. A normal conversation she could handle without trouble, even if it was about her relationship with Ben.

"Yes, though sometimes I do wonder how he pulled it off."

Her eyes flickered toward Ben, glittering brightly. He beamed in response and couldn't help wrapping his arm around her and tugging her closer to him. Surprisingly Olivia let it happen.

"Because I'm freaking awesome."

"Oh yeah. Awesomely insane," Olivia replied in amusement with a roll of her eyes.

"He does have a pretty big rubber band ball in his bottom drawer," Ted admitted. "Which he enjoys throwing at me whenever he has down time and wanders by."

Kara turned narrow eyes on Ben.

"Ever hit his coffee mug?"

Ben coughed and looked away, trying to act innocent. Even Ted looked away, though there was a trace of a smile he couldn't manage to hide. Both Kara and Olivia noticed.

"You're the reason my paperwork was all coffee stained, aren't you?!" Kara demanded of Ben.

"Technically it was an accident," Ben corrected.

"And you did leave your paperwork in my bag," Ted added.

"Yeah, see? I could have been aiming to soak Ted's paperwork and never even knew yours was in there."

"Ben…" Olivia sighed in frustration and rubbed at her forehead.

"It's alright, Olivia," Kara soothed. "I know him well enough to realize he's joking."

Ben grinned at Olivia, his eyebrows raised in a "See? Nothing to worry about" way. She really shouldn't have been all that surprised. It wasn't unusual for him.

"You're such a kid," she huffed.

"Oh come on, Liv. Didn't you have some form of amusement at work during your down time?"

"No. You don't really have down time at the precinct. When you need a break you get up to grab a cup of coffee. If you even have a chance to grab one."

During the few times they weren't swamped with cases everyone took the opportunity to try and catch up on paperwork. Either that or down time lead to John rambling on about one ridiculous government problem or another. That hardly counted as a hobby. Hobbies were supposed to be fun, and she definitely wouldn't file conspiracy theories and complaints in the "fun" category even if they could provide brief amusement every so often.

"Precinct?"

All four of them turned to look at the new addition to their conversation. Olivia didn't remember who he was but she didn't think he worked with Ben's company. In fact, she was pretty sure he was a cop. It wasn't hard to pick out one of her own, and not many outside of the law enforcement community would pick up on and understand the word precinct. Most people just considered it a police station. His eyes kept shifting over Olivia and Suvi, and it was making Ben a little uneasy. He rested his hand on Olivia's shoulder in a subtle sign of support and threat. If this guy was going to have a problem with Olivia then he'd have to deal with Ben too.

"You were a detective?"

Olivia's eyes widened slightly in surprise, and she nodded.

"How did you know that?" Ben demanded.

The threat was even clearer now, and Olivia reached up to rest her hand on his to calm him down. His protectiveness was somewhat adorable and completely unnecessary. She didn't feel remotely threatened or even worried over the situation yet.

"A good guess. My buddy's precinct had a collection a while back for an injured detective. It was for a service dog. You sounded like a cop and with him," he waved at Suvi, "I thought it was possible."

Olivia smiled softly and rubbed Suvi's head. He happily pressed against her in return.

"That would be me," Olivia confirmed.

She was really hoping that would be the end of the conversation. For once she actually got her wish. The other cop changed the subject, at least enough for her to feel comfortable.

"Good to know there's another cop here. Sometimes you need someone to talk to that isn't in real estate at these things."

"Hey!" Ben said indignantly, making Olivia laugh.

"Well, I'll be here," Olivia told him with a smile as she held out her hand to him. "Olivia Benson."

"Jon Tastler. I'm sure I'll be back before midnight, but right now I better head back to my wife before she kills me."

He turned and vanished back into the small crowd. When Olivia turned back around and spotted Ben's face she smiled and gently patted his chest.

"Relax, Ben. I don't get tired of talking to you."

"You better not. If you did I might have to actually try to be weird to draw you attention back."

He leaned in to kiss her, and again she actually let him.

"Wouldn't want that to happen," she teased once they'd separated.

"No we wouldn't," Ted added. "It would probably scare me."

"And here I hoped he would behave at work."

"He does with clients. It's only those of us that know him well that realize what he's really like."

"Gee, thanks," Ben told them both. "Now can we please go enjoy the party instead of standing here discussing my apparent second personality?"

O . o . O . o . O

Even at two or three in the morning the streets of New York City were rarely empty, though today they were far more crowded than usual for the hour. Of course at 2am many people were still out at the bars celebrating the new year. Ben and Olivia, however, had been more than willing to end the evening out at a semi-decent hour. Her arm tucked around Ben's, they headed toward her apartment.

"You had a good time tonight."

Ben hadn't said it as a question but a statement. He knew she'd enjoyed herself. There had been a smile plastered on her face the entire evening, and she'd engaged in comfortable conversation too. She'd been acting like herself, which showed clearly that she was relaxed.

"Yeah, I did."

"Maybe someone's New Year's resolution should be to trust me more, huh? Let me help you step out of your box a little."

Olivia snorted and leaned against him a bit.

"Maybe…"

Ben dropped the arm she was holding and slid it around her back. Instead of just resting his hand on her hip he slid his fingers under her coat and sweater so he could gently caress her skin. Olivia shivered. The cause was more than just the winter air that now had access to her bare skin.

He leaned over and whispered softly into her ear, "It is an evening to celebrate you know."

"There's still a long way to my apartment. Please try to restrain yourself."

"I think I can manage until then." He pulled her tighter against him and kissed her neck. "If we walk quickly."

"Patience will make it better later."

Not that Olivia was against walking quickly. In fact, she thought it was a rather good idea. She wanted to enjoy the evening just as much as he did. It was bound to be good even without extra patience.