Ring In The New (Sienna)

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

It hadn't been long before something she said resulted in him closing himself off a bit, but for the life of her she couldn't determine what. Then again, at that point the only thing she could do was hope that the party was enough to get him to enjoy the night and not want to return home to the shadows. Sienna had started off strong and she tried to keep her spirits high, considering the night hadn't even started yet and the redhead still had time to turn it around.

After all, she was an optimist by nature.

"It'll be fine. Everyone is really nice, which is kind of why I chose this place," Sienna started as she locked the car, taking the initial steps towards the house with Milan close by. "Nobody's going to shove a drink in your hand and everybody's pretty conscious of boundaries." The other party, well, let's just say she might have been so hammered she might have done something stupid in the end. There was only so long you could pretend to drink, and even then, being the designated driver would have been terrifying.

The walk to the house was quick and when they arrived, Sienna made a quick and effortless ring of the doorbell before leaning and gently bumping her shoulder against his. "You know, thanks for coming. I really appreciate it."

Because she would have gone alone otherwise, and frankly, being with someone was always more fun than attending it alone, even if the person she was attending with did not believe it'd be that great of a night. They would see, though. Most definitely. And that's when the doors opened, the main host, Sienna's friend Lacey standing at the door with a light smile on her face.

"Sienna! You brought a friend!" The woman moved back, allowing the two entrance to the home.

"I took up your offer on bringing good company," The redhead nodded before introducing the two, "Lacey, this is Milan. Milan, Lacey. She's the host of the whole fiasco going on tonight."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Milan." Because in Lacey's mind, it truly was. Sienna hadn't brought a man to a party ever since she had known the redhead, and frankly, she never thought she'd see the day where that would happen. Little did Lacey know that Sienna's intentions were frankly innocent, and as far as she was concerned, it was between two friends.

Lacey lead them both after the introductions to the main area, and the two dropped off their coats (and keys), they were brought to the main Family room, music and conversation opening the grounds for a good night.

[Deleted]

It sounded like the kind of party Milan wouldn’t mind attending. At his current age, getting excessively drunk and overly flirtatious didn’t sound appealing nor attractive. The fact that he had never really ventured into the party scene quite probably contributed to the slight relief he felt when Sienna pointed out it wouldn’t be a too wild one. In turn, a suggestion was made to the redhead. “If you wish to drink, I have no problem with driving back to Pilot Ridge. If you trust me with your car, that is.” Being the responsible driver was a label he wore with pride.

Hands were tucked in the pockets of his pants once they halted in front of the door and eyes lingered on the wooden surface until the young woman nudged her shoulder against his. “No problem,” he breathed out in reply. A more negative ‘do not thank me yet’ had been on the tip of his tongue, but he managed to swallow it back and to let Sienna cherish the moment. “Thanks for making me.” The latter being added with a lighthearted tone and a miniscule smirk.

At that point the door opened and Milan tried to put on a more serious expression again. Either way, with the pleasantries taking place, the recruiter offered Lacey a hand. “The pleasure is all mine,” he answered as politely as ever. With that, the contact was broken and his coat was shrugged off. Instinct made him hold onto Sienna’s as she shed hers, handing both to Lacey who soon enough took care of it.

Upon stepping into the family room, blue optics scanned the surroundings. The place wasn’t too crowded yet, so it made him comfortable to tag behind Sienna without losing an eye on her – which might be impossible to begin with given her beauty. Being in a relationship (or whatever it was), didn’t change the fact that he was allowed to look, right?

With Lacey practically leading them to the other side of the room, Milan gave whoever looked over a friendly nod in greeting. Only when they seemed to have reached someone else he should be introduced to, did he turn his full focus on said person. Another shake of the hand.

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

"Anytime," Sienna offered back with a similar tone, though he really didn't have to deal with her and he knew it. In the end he did it for more than a reason to just make her happy, and even if that were the case, she would try and ensure his sacrifice was not in vain. "As for the designated driver, I might take you up on that offer. I'm not too heavy of a drinker, but it'd be nice to have some reassurrance.

There were quite a few individuals here who were strictly Lacey or Rob's friends, but then there were also a few people who Sienna recognized, who came up and gave their own waves to the girl and the man beside her. It was amusing to note the few people who stared more than usual at Milan (primarily the single women), but it was never for too long.

Sienna followed Lacey relatively closely, knowing full well who the next person in line to make her presence known. Rob was the lovely husband of Lacey, of which Sienna had probably crushed on once or twice in her time in school. They both majored in English Literature during college, but the redhead had always been content with just being his friend.

But there was no denying Lacey was a lucky girl, grabbing him when she did.

"Rob, hey!" Sienna grinned, giving the man a quick hug before his attention was turned to Milan. It didn't take long before a smug smile was tugging at the corner of his lips. "So you going to introduce me to your friend, Si?"

"Don't even give me a chance, why don't you," Sienna shot back, "But this is Milan, He's a friend of mine who was kind enough to join me tonight. Milan, this is Rob, a friend of mine from college."

"How goes it, man?" Because while Rob was great and all, he was never a man of too many words, and he certainly never had been a guy who bombarded people with crazy introductions on the first day.

[Deleted]

Rob. Alright. Milan memorized the face while the redhead interacted with him. Once the timing seemed right, he offered out his hand. It didn’t need to be said that lighthearted conversation with strangers was not a daily occurrence for the man. He was so used to the way more professional approach, and it probably shone through in his avoidance of going along with the very loose pleasantries. “Great, thanks. You?” He shook the hand and then withdrew his own, safely tucking it into the pocket of his pants again.

Eyes now drifted between the pair. While they had encouraged Sienna to bring someone with her, he still wished to express his gratitude. “Thank you for the indirect invitation.” And then some awkwardness settled down on him. Milan was not too certain what else to say or to bring up, simply because most his conversations revolved around abilities. This, of course, was not the place nor time to even venture in that direction.

If this was a familiar place and he knew how it worked around there, he would have offered to grab both of them a drink. Right now, it fell out of his comfort zone. “You have a nice house.” Because, hey, anything was better than discussing the weather? Inwardly, however, the man grumbled at himself. Perhaps great first impressions weren’t his thing, unless it involved work.

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

Rob as the man that he was, could appreciate the more professional approach to an introduction when warranted. However, he could most definitely tell that Milan was more than uncomfortable with the situation at hand. He had to wonder, then, how Sienna managed to wrangle him to the party, but then again Sienna had always been a fiery girl, always getting what she wanted someway or another with the power of persuasion. After all, Rob had fallen for it a few times around in their friendship, so why would he think Sienna wouldn't try it on others? Cheeky as she was, Sienna was always using her 'superpower' for good rather than evil, which was usually why he never commented on it in the first place.

"Pretty great, but then again the night's just started. Could get better soon enough," He offered once again, Sienna glancing over at Milan to see how he was handling the entire situation. Somewhat well, she deemed, though there was little time to waste so his mind remained in the mindset that he would like to stay.

Rob continued briefly, "Took a lot of long hours and hard work to get, but I finally nabbed it," until Sienna so graciously interrupted the entire 'male bonding' scene before them. Lacey had already left to attend to other guests, and Sienna had been eager to sit down with Milan to loosen him up a bit if she possibly could. "Yeah, but I think before the bromance continues, I'd like to steal Milan away for myself. You think that's okay?" The redhead turned to both Milan and Rob then, looking for approval in their gazes.

"She's demanding, that one," Rob offered one last time, a lighthearted tap being placed against Milan's arm, "But you two have fun, I need to find my lady. Drinks are in the kitchen," He pointed momentarily, "And 'party food' as Lacey likes to call it, is on the island."

Sienna honestly could not care any less about whatever Rob had to say about her, because frankly, she was well aware that he was simply joking. "Go find your wife," Sienna laughed, turning her attention back to Milan as the other man left.

"Sorry about all the small talk, but at least you know they are okay with you being here?"

[Deleted]

Milan’s mind had been mulling on what to say next, and he drew a blank. So if Sienna’s eyes still lingered on him the second she interrupted the conversation, it was doubtful the gratitude could have gone by unnoticed. That expression, however, faded just as quickly as it appeared, making place for a soft laughter. Rob seemed like a great guy, someone the recruiter could get along with, but even then he would never use the label ‘bromance’. It kind of sounded weird, but the amount of sarcasm that the redhead applied make him interpret it with a pinch of salt.

With an appreciative nod, he watched Rob take off and felt himself relax the second he was out of sight. The chuckle that Sienna received that same second helped. “They seem like a nice couple, yes. I am not sure there was enough bonding to speak of a bromance, but I would say they haven’t made me feel abundant.” With a smirk tugging at one corner of his lips, blue optics drifted over to the kitchen area Rob had referring to just moments before.

“I’ll get us something to drink. A glass of wine?” Now that this information and informal permission had been granted, Milan could fall back to his usual self. Getting drinks for his company fell under that. Sienna was allowed to tag along if she pleased; he wasn’t too sure what kind of girl she was yet. Some would rather get what they wanted themselves, while others were more than acceptant for a guy to get it.

When he moved and she seemed fine with that, a more comfortable feeling took over. This was something he was good at. And, even if he were to end up being the designated driver, he could also start with some wine and then drink non-alcoholic drinks later (if he were to stick around of course).

With both glasses in hand, he soon enough detected Sienna again and moved over. “One glass of wine for the lady,” he mused.

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

It didn't take much to see the relief clearly written on the Irish man's features, and frankly, she found it a bit amusing that he reacted in such a way. It was always so interesting to see how others could differ in one situation from another. Originally so suave and charming in their first encounter, he seemed more awkward in another. She almost had to wonder if there was a reason behind it.

"I didn't really mean Bromance, but it's always fun to exaggerate a little bit, especially when both parties know it." There was no harm done, and as it stood she doubted it would get even remotely close to such a relationship. It was most definitely a one time interaction, Sienna was sure.

But as they walked, Milan was kind enough to offer to get her a drink, something that seemed a lot more in character for the man beside her and so she allowed him to do it himself, curious to see how he would handle it. Clearly he knew what he was doing, because the motion was effortless - she could even see the difference in how he was walking.

She stood there idly, waving at those who offered her their attention for a moment waiting for Milan to return. Normally she would be up and about, talking with everyone, but considering what she observed moments before, the redhead decided it would be best to remain at his side until he relaxed a bit. "Why thank you, kind sir." Sienna offered, relieving the Irish man of drink duty and held it up to initiate a quick toast, "To a new year, yeah?"

[Deleted]

Milan was slowly starting to learn when not to take Sienna serious. Often he couldn’t help but to react anyway, even when it was not needed. Upon receiving the clarification, however, the man managed to keep himself from dragging the topic out some more. The fact that he could now fully relax and get back into his ‘groove’ was definitely helpful. Once more accustomed to the surroundings, he would be fine.

A second after the woman help up her glass, the recruiter mirrored the action, carefully tapping his glass against hers. “To a new year,” he repeated. In his opinion, the last twelve months had been amazing (except for the last couple of weeks). Therefore he wouldn’t mind it too much if the upcoming year would be a copy.

“So, any New Years resolutions? Or perhaps goals you want to reach?” When people had those, it often helped him gain some insight in what kind of persons they were. Being here and seeing how many friends Rob and Lacey had, also made the recruiter realize that his social circle was practically non-existent. Another friend was more than welcome.

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

In her own way, Sienna was learning the basic things that made Milan tick in social situations just by this single interaction. Introvert, most definitely. Charming, yes. Not shy, but uncomfortable about being in these sorts of situations.

However, in the comfort of a familiar presence, the man seemed to open up quite bit, to which Sienna was incredibly grateful for. And with a toast in session, her attention was entirely on him, mulling over the question offered. Did she have a New Years resolution that wasn't any different from her last few years? From what she could tell, that wasn't the case, "Not really," She finally responded, "I just want to keep doing what I am doing. The rest of it will come because of that, I think."

Like becoming a certified teacher, specifically. The hard work and dedication to anything she was working on almost guarantees it without Sienna being cocky about it. Her father used to tell her that you could do anything you wanted with the right motivations and hard work. After all, he had seen it happen first hand.

"How about you?"

[Deleted]

Milan usually didn’t participate when it came to New Years relations. His yearly tradition consisted of letting a wishing balloon go with his family during Christmas. So when Sienna retorted the question, he shook his head. “No. I’m rather happy with every aspect of my life right now.” He had already cut back on working to focus on more important things – like Ella. At the same time, however, the recruiter began to wonder if that was enough.

“Then again, maybe validate people in my life more. Or to expand my social circle. I guess that are things I could work on.” With a weak chuckle, he gazed around the room. “I can count my friends on one hand.” It was not something he was proud of to announce, but Milan felt that it could explain where those possible resolutions were coming from. Having more fun in general could probably help him achieve those as well though.

He always did his best to keep up a professional impression, which in turn kept him from exploring new things. Looking at Sienna again, shoulders rose in a small shrug. He didn’t want to stir empathy. In reality, the man was pretty pleased with how things were.

“I guess today is a good first step.” Acknowledging that was a good start, right? It even relaxed him some more, to the extent that he dared to bring up a less typical topic, given blue eyes had spotted the tattoo on her collar bone not too long ago. It kind of intrigued him some, even though he would never get one himself.

"Does it have a meaning?" His question completely random and quite possibly confusing as well until a hand drifted to his own collar bone to wordlessly indicate what he was asking about.

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

To hear that he was happy was something that the Redhead found to be a bit encouraging considering how she found him not two hours earlier, locked up in his office working as though he were a slave to it. It was new years eve, for god's sake! It was a night to have a good time and look forward to the new year that was ahead.

But as he went on, she felt as though it was a valid resolution, but even she could say the same - the good friends you had you could count on a single hand, the ones you could truly trust, probably two fingers. But in terms of 'friends' Sienna had plenty, but maybe that was because of her seemingly extroverted nature. "But is that really a bad thing? People only need a few people in their lives that they can trust wholeheartedly." Because to Sienna, that was the complete and honest truth.

For a moment, Sienna struggled to understand what he meant by 'does it have a meaning' until he indicated with his hand to his collar bone, making her realize he was referring to her tattoo. Frankly, it was towards a book reference that she seemed to love more than anything in the world, but the reality was that there was a meaning. "It reminds me that fear doesn't and never will own me unless I let it," She said quietly, her own hand drifting to her exposed collarbone.

"I've always been taught to pursue anything I wanted and not to let anything stop me," It reminded her of lectures from her father, always bringing up his heritage and how he had been held back to often because of it. No matter where you come from, chiquita, you can do anything you want to, you just have to work for it. Maybe he could appreciate that aspect, considering he was a seemingly hard working man. Sienna, truth be told, respected him greatly for that, but sometimes you had to know when to just take a step back and enjoy life. It was a fine line, work and play, living in the now or in the future. But she had found a nice balance, she felt. But that wasn't what he asked, was it?

"And it's a book reference, so that's cool."

[Deleted]

In general, Milan was happy. That didn’t have to mean that his level of happiness reached 100% at the moment, but it was relatively close. Knowing that Ella was in New York with James was the main reason for him not being carefree – and little did he know that he had every right to let that influence his normal attitude. Trusting the woman with his life would soon enough backfire.

His chuckle held a somewhat bitter undertone at Sienna’s remark. “When do you know if someone can be trusted wholeheartedly though?” The recruiter usually wasn’t a downer, but for some reason he couldn’t stop that question from being asked out loud. It didn’t have to be sad that an apologetic chuckle and expression followed within that same second. “I just mean… isn’t it risky to rely on just a few people?” Of course it was also a risk to allow more into his life, but at least then he would have some to fall back on once his ‘main friends’ ended up not being what he expected nor hoped.

The tattoo kind of seemed to blend in with a topic at hand. A small amount of fear had a grip on Milan, no matter how hard he was trying to fight for what he – and mainly his heart – wanted. Nevertheless, Sienna’s explanation drew a genuine smile on the man’s lips. “You must have received a wise education from your parents,” he decided. While Milan wanted to assume it must have been her father who taught her this, he had learnt his lesson when it came to making assumptions. “What book though? Not that I am too much of a reader, but…” A soft chuckle filled the moment of silence between the question and her answer.

“Any other tattoos that you have? Or piercings even?” A smirk appeared on his face. “I actually wouldn’t have given that to you… I mean, to see you as the kind of person to get a tattoo.” He didn’t mean that in a bad way – he just sucked at explaining. Sienna was more than likely to ask if his words came across wrong though.

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

Sienna was enjoying the conversation fully, but there were some concerns under the surface of her own smile that began to influence exactly what she was noticing in Milan's words. She was no expert, nor did she have a power to prove it, but the inkling feeling that the redhead noticed in her gut was that the question he had just asked had more of an underlying meaning, especially considering the statement she made prior was not something to laugh about. Curious to an extent, Sienna did want to know whether or not her gut was correct, but she understood full well that it wasn't her place to ask, and therefore she let it go for the sake of avoiding a bad reaction or even an uncomfortable conversation at the party.

Another sip of wine was taken as he continued, her words bringing an unexpected light to his features. It was a miracle if she ever knew of one - she wasn't even expecting anything but a polite nod or even menial conversation at most. Sienna had brought Milan here almost against his will, but it was for a good cause. In that moment, she found herself smiling too. Maybe it might not have been the party itself, but the redhead felt good in getting him to at least leave his desk and somewhat enjoy it. "I did. I did everything I could to make sure I had a good ride to college, and he supported me through a lot of it." Sienna left out the fact that he wasn't accepting of her major in Music Education, and so she had to change to a major in English Literature. Really, the stability of a music career was little to none, so the girl understood, but it still hurt. "It's called Divergent."

The teasing implications that his smirk conveyed shocked the redhead, most definitely, "I may be shooting to be an English teacher, but teenager Sienna definitely was bad ass enough for tattoos." Sienna said, her tone light "But yeah, I only have this one. No piercings except for my ears."

[Deleted]

It was a good thing to hear that Sienna's family had supported her throughout her college years. Milan hoped it was still the case at this moment in time. As for the tattoo, the book title did ring a bell. He wasn't one to watch a lot of television though, let alone head to the movies. In addition, the recruiter didn't have a lot of time to read either - except when it came to files about recruitements. "Sounds familiar," was the man's honest reaction. "But it doesn't ring too much of a bell." Sipping his drink again, eyes briefly drifted around. The fact that people didn't seem to be eyeing him as much as before anymore made him feel more comfortale.

"Does that mean that grownup Sienna is not bad ass anymore? Do you regret the tattoo?" Milan still had the grin on his face, but the teasing was a somewhat limited now. He genuinely wondered if there was another meaning behind it, other than the teasing tone they both seemed to apply. "I quite honestly am no fan of needles. Just the thought of getting a tattoo..." Shaking his head, a lighthearted chuckle broke past his lips. It might have been a random thing to say, but at the same time it was a bit of information that most of those who he knew might not be aware of. "That probably makes me sound rather pathetic..." He paused for a split second. "At least I'm not afraid of the dark, huh?" Being a shadow traveller and all that.

"Do you have any fears? I mean, working around people with powers while not having one... I can't imagine that being easy since you never attended a school with them, let alone got a real chance to adjust to that world." Might as well get to know her better, right?