O'Brien, Leah?, Open
As promised, O'Brien was there. He didn't mind parties, but he was usually the guy sitting off to the side, just watching. He figured the least he could do would be to take pictures to document the evening for Miss Rockette and her brother.
He'd agreed to it before he knew Leah was going to actually take him up on his offer to go with him to the party-- but maybe it was better this way. He wouldn't really be in her way the whole night, and maybe she wouldn't feel like he was smothering her. Even if he really did want to just throw the camera to the wind and focus solely on Miss Machete.
But he did promise not to kiss her at midnight. Especially if it would get him another busted nose and a black eye. He still looked beat up from the Christmas party. Though, his eye was certainly looking much better. She didn't have to worry about him going back on his word.
Regardless, O'Brien was on his way to getting 100% better. He'd even gotten his stitches out-- and for the record, it didn't hurt too bad. His shoulder and his side were still sore, in general, but he was making progress. He didn't need any more injuries.
He was currently standing over near the cookies--where else would he be? But he was busy fidgeting with the fancyass camera that Thing 2 had provided for him to take pictures of Thing 1's party with. Like he'd said, he certainly wasn't a photographer. He just enjoyed taking snapshots with his phone. Using a real camera was actual work.
He was still trying to figure out how to get the damn thing to change resolution, etc. And yes, he was a little bit early to arrive, but only because he wanted to be able to find Thing 1 and Thing 2 so he could ask them what they had in mind as far as photos went. He was already dressed and ready to 'party', himself, though. And by 'party', he meant having a couple of beers and lots of cookies, and hopefully talking to Leah, at least a little bit.
He didn't want to not believe her word that she was coming-- but could she blame him for being slightly doubtful? After all, she did say that she didn't even want to be his friend. And she was pretty pissed at him for kissing her under mistletoe, and he wouldn't have blamed her if she stood him up. Just to get back at him. But he really hoped she didn't.
And also as promised, he had left the bow tie back with his things. He went with a more casual look for the evening, despite the fact that he was pretty sure New Year's Eve was the holiday you were supposed to dress up fancy and all formal for. Didn't matter. He wasn't going to let Leah or anyone else make fun of his bow tie again. She could find something else to make fun of. Like the color blue or something.