formerfratboy | [for Karen: NYE]

[for Karen: NYE]

Even with the island turned into some sort of Victorian wonderland, the island residents couldn't be deterred from having their traditional New Year's Eve party. Tradition meant a lot, after all, especially in a place where things were so often unpredictable. After the year they'd all had -- the disappearances, the magic, the murderous toys -- something normal was highly welcome.

And for Nick, the party was always a welcome milestone in his life, too. For he and Karen, so many years ago now, this was where it had all started. After much thought and nervous waffling back and forth, he intended to make this year's party the most memorable of all of them.

Dressed in the best Victorian finery he'd managed to find -- it had been all three piece suits and top hats and cravats for him, with the way the clothes had shifted to match their new environment -- Nick wound his way through the different tables at the party, picking up two glasses of champagne, and then heading back to Karen's side.

"The countdown's going to be here before we know it," he said, handing her the glass.

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Though she'd gone with more comfortable things during the day and had a few occasions to dress up from time to time, Karen still wasn't over how crazy the corsets were. She'd made it only an hour into the party before she regretted it, and had to loosen the ties as much as she dared for some relief. It helped with all the food and drink she was eating, at least, and she was determined to enjoy her New Year's Eve in a city she'd only ever dreamed of visiting, even if it was the wrong century entirely.

At least she looked great.

She gave Nick a grin and thanked him for the champagne, already feeling a little buzzed from the few drinks she'd had and flushed with excitement for another year. It was a milestone for them, not only an anniversary, but proof that time had gone by and she still had Nick, when it seemed like everyone important disappeared one by one.

"I can't believe the year's already done," she said after taking a sip, and she reached over to straighten out a part in his shirt, which was mostly just an excuse to feel Nick up. Because why not?

Nick reached up with his free hand, covering Karen's hand on his chest with his own. "I know," he said, squeezing her hand just the tiniest bit. "It always goes by so fast." He managed to ignore the passage of time most days; it was really only whenever he found himself talking to someone new that he remembered just how long he'd been on the island. "I mean, just yesterday, I feel like Utica was a puppy chewing on all my stuff."

"To be fair, she hasn't changed that much," Karen says with a chuckle. She's tempted to lean in for a kiss, but that would defeat the purpose of the countdown, and it takes more of an effort to lean in close to Nick with the ruffles of her dress in the way.

"Yeah," Nick said, "now she's just much bigger." It was easy to pick up a wriggly little puppy when she was misbehaving. That wasn't quite so easy anymore.

"It's sure been a hell of a year, though," he said, before taking a long sip of his champagne. It wasn't all bad, but it wasn't all good, either. It wasn't every year that saw them get attacked in their own homes by evil toys. "At least the place has made up for it by giving you that dress," Nick added with a bit of sly grin. He couldn't help it, she did look beautiful.

"I know," Karen said, glancing down at herself. Even with a month of Victorian fashion behind her, she was still pleasantly surprised at the actual cleavage the corsets gave her. It almost made up for not being able to breathe for a while. "I feel like a giant puffer fish or something, but I like it."

"Sexiest giant puffer fish I've ever seen," Nick said, grinning broadly. He let one hand rest at her waist, fingers settling easily at the even more pronounced curve of her waist, courtesy the corset.

"And also, hopefully less poisonous," he added after some thought. "Those things can kill you, I think." He wasn't sure where he learned that from. Probably Grissom, who had always been a fountain of useless trivia.

"I'll take that as the compliment it is," Karen said modestly, "and I promise I'm not poisonous at all." She tiptoed, glad to get off her heels for a few moments as she leaned up to kiss him. Sure, it wasn't midnight yet, but she figured she was allowed.

"That's what you say now," he said. He wouldn't put it past the island to remember this moment, and then turn Karen into a legitimate actual pufferfish at some point in the future. "I'll take your word for it."

"How much longer do you think, until the countdown?" he asked, looking around but unwilling to go very far to see how much time was left. Not that he was going to run off, or allow himself to get sidetracked -- tonight was far too important for that nonsense -- but because the place was just so crowded, he worried that he'd get stuck in the crowd, and the last thing he wanted was to have to start throwing elbows in fancy dress just to get back to Karen in time.

"Soon," Karen said, arms still around Nick's waist as she looked up at him. He'd been acting a little antsy all night, and she still hadn't been able to put a finger on why that was. She peeked around his shoulder to get a glimpse at the clock, and was grinning when she looked back. "Another minute or two. Happy anniversary."

"Happy anniversary," he said, offering her a soft smile. It was becoming increasingly difficult to wait until the exact moment he'd planned for; he just wanted to reach into his pocket and drop to one knee and do it,

"I think we've done alright, this year," he said, settling comfortably into his embrace with Karen. He could honestly say that he had everything he wanted. Sure there were other things that he wished for -- for his friends from home to come back, for the traumatic losses of good friends to stop -- but really, if no one else ever showed up, he knew he'd be okay. He'd come to the island from the worst experience of his life and look where he was now. Nick sure didn't have anything to complain about.

"Considering we went from two beach bums to council members, I'd say yeah," Karen said with a soft laugh. There were things she always wished for -- friends not to leave, not to have Spongebob try to kill them -- but in the end, she had Nick and she still had Sam and all her friends. Life was a little more dramatic on Tabula Rasa, but it was still a good life. "We did good."

"Being a beach bum involved so much less paperwork, though," Nick said, almost sounding a bit wistful. He welcomed the additional responsibility, but sometimes he missed sleeping in and not having to fill things out in triplicate.

"Here's to an even better next year, then." Nick glanced back over his shoulder as he heard the crowd of party-goers get noisier.

It was almost time.

"The best," Karen agreed, though she knew by now that the next year would bring just as much pain as it would joy. Just like her life would have been like back in Scranton, minus the fantastical elements.

"We're not going to miss it," she said, squeezing him a little as his gaze wandered around again.

Nick laughed nervously. He'd managed the whole night without letting it slip, or saying anything stupid, or running off and re-evaluating how this whole being-a-responsible-adult thing was working out. But now that they were only moments away from the new year, he was starting to get nervous.

"Oh, I know we won't," he said, offering up a smile. "It'll be pretty hard to miss, anyway. I just ... want to celebrate the moment. Properly." It sounded like a pretty stupid excuse for being preoccupied, but there you have it.

"We will," Karen reassured. They hadn't missed a New Year's Eve in four years, and she wasn't about to break their anniversary tradition now. "Promise. It'll be the most amazing New Year's kiss ever.'

Behind them, Nick distantly heard someone shout "Thirty seconds!" The crowd of party-goers quieted a bit, everyone counting down off of somehow synchronized watches. Nick wasn't even sure what he had done with his wristwatch once the battery finally died. This was the one time of year that anyone cared what time it actually was.

"I'll hold you to that," Nick said with a grin. At the heart of everything, he was a guy who loved tradition, which was why he'd planned for this exact moment to do something that he'd been thinking about for a long, long time.

"Ten! Nine! Eight!" The crowd counted down in the background, and a slow, comfortable smile spread across Nick's face. Everything about this felt right, even if he was nervous as hell.

"Happy New Year, Karen," he said, leaning in to kiss her just as the crowd hit the end of their countdown. Nick let himself take some time in kissing her, slow and deep, before he pulled away, just enough to speak. "I really did mean it, about making this year better than the last, about making it count." He untangled himself from their embrace, letting his hands slide down to catch Karen's in his.

And then, slowly and with grace, he took a slight step back, and sank down to one knee, gazing up happily at his girlfriend. His soon-to-be fiance, if he'd been reading the past several years correctly.

Karen stared.

Still flushed from the kiss and the excitement of the new year, she almost didn't understand what Nick was doing, but when it hit-- when she realized he was proposing, she couldn't speak for a few moments.

With Nick being such an old school tradition kind of guy, it made perfect, absolute sense that he'd choose now and just after the kiss to ask her to marry him. And there wasn't even a question about what her answer would be, because when it came down it, he'd always been there since the first day they met.

Karen nodded, letting out a small laugh in surprise and joy before leaning over to kiss him briefly, tradition be damned from that point.

He was doing this. He was actually doing this.

Nick smiled, pleased that he'd apparently managed to surprise her, but in the best possible way. So far, so good.

In the time leading up to this moment, he'd wavered on whether or not he should have some speech, some big dramatic spilling-over of feelings, but ultimately decided against it, in favor of sheer simplicity.

"Karen," he said lowly - loud enough to be heard over the sounds of the party, but not so loud as to attract more attention than he already had, "every day I spend with you reminds me just how lucky I am to have you in my life. I love you so much, and I want you by my side, for as long as we're here together, in this place."

He dropped his hands from his grasp around hers, and fished in the pocket of his suit coat, producing a small wooden box. Opening it up, it revealed a delicate wooden ring, inlaid with iridescent shells. It had taken him forever to make, and involved a lot of trial and error.

Nick looked up at Karen, holding the ring out to her. "Karen Filippelli, will you marry me?"

Karen had a fleeting moment to wonder how and when he'd managed to get rings without her noticing, but it flew out the window when it struck her that Nick was asking her to marry him.

The only thing she could do was nod and be glad that she wasn't going to cry and ruin all her makeup. "Yes. Of course, Nick, yes."

Nick exhaled, letting go of the breath that he wasn't even aware that he'd been holding.

"Great," he said simply, not able to stop himself from grinning. There was so much he wanted to say, he was having feelings right then, but instead, he just hauled himself back to his feet and threw his arms around Karen, pulling her close for a hug.

He very barely resisted the urge to twirl her around.

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