(no subject)

[markofthewise]

Who: Anyone who wants to come!
What: Autumn (Equinox) Celebration
When: Today, at 9PM to Midnight (and maybe even after)
Where: Around the Rec Center
Summary: Brigade party! There's food! There's lights! There's music! There's fireworks!
Rating: A for Abacus

There were lights! Autumn-appropriate decorations! There were tables of food (though very little of it is vegetarian friendly)! There was even a stage for music and entertainment! Still waiting was the fireworks to take place at midnight, but otherwise things were set up to more or less respectable Brigade standards. Maybe Haruhi hadn't done it herself, but it was done well enough, thanks to the efforts of being coordinated by Mikage.

The stage was left open for anyone to perform that wanted to. The karaoke machine had been dragged outside for people to sing along to, regardless of talent, or otherwise just to play music when no one was on stage. Naturally inside the Rec Center itself is a variety of pool tables, foosball, air hockey, and a TV with some video games. Just enough to keep things a little fun. If only there was a pool.

Comments

[halftheduet.livejournal.com]

[Well away from the stage, a thin man in a ragged black coat has a borrowed violin and is using it to fiddle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yknWUhpJfDI).

The music from the stage might be ill-practised, but it's music nonetheless, and that's a comfort. So is the food, strange as it all seems to him, and the large groups of people. Many people, much conversation, and the chance to slip about nigh unseen and listen, engage where he saw it appropriate.

Yes, it was this sort of environment in which Stephen Maturin-- for reasons completely different than those of the man he'd come with-- was quite at home in this party.]

[generalflirt]

[Okay so he was/is here to hit on girls and eat hot dogs but... well, the fiddling catches his ear during a lull in the other music. He wanders over, following the sound. And well, once he's within sight of who's doing it. He settles in to listen with a curious expression on his face]

[halftheduet.livejournal.com]

[He catches sight of his audience and smiles faintly before switching tunes. Something just a bit faster with a bit more bounce.

He's no violinist, but fiddling? He can manage. Quite well. He'd be a poor excuse for an Irishman if he couldn't.]

[generalflirt]

[Somehow... this is making him think of Celty. It almost makes him nostalgic, actually, and in the process of listening to the fiddling and the energy this fellow is now putting into it, he begins to tap his foot. Heh heh. Okay, so this might be pretty good actually.

...Bite of his hot dog]

[halftheduet.livejournal.com]

[It's the slightest of reactions, but Stephen notices it. Then again, he's taught himself to notice almost everything that goes on around him.

So he glances over at the man again and might have inclined his head a bit. A show of acknowledgement while he continues to play. After a few moments more, he stills the bow, allowing his fingers a short reprieve from pressing on the strings.]

[generalflirt]

[At which point the boy here - who has now taken to a sort of sill dance where he obviously would move more but doesn't want to look silly doing it solo - takes this moment to pull himself into a eat near the older gent and clap. Yes, clap. That's how he rolls]

[halftheduet.livejournal.com]

[Stephen chuckles slightly and bows his head briefly before waving off the sound with a gesture.]

Glad there are a few around here who can appreciate a fiddle.

[He offers his hand.]

Maturin.

[generalflirt]

[Okay, and shake. He's gotten more used to doing that]

Masaomi. Good work, man.

[halftheduet.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[It's a common question, one that comes easily.]

Do you play?

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[this...this is something she'd been missing for months, now. At first, there's just the joy of recognizing both the musical style and the musician. She'd definitely have to ask him about it, later. But soon, the music alone is what captures her attention.

Never mind that no one else is dancing. It was music that was live and real and honest and that was plenty. The reel won't go on long before she'll be up and spinning, light on her feet if not moving with any particular style in mind, and all too ready to snag any passersby that show even a passing interest in doing more than watch.]

[halftheduet.livejournal.com]

[Catching sight of a moving form is all that it takes. He doesn't yet recognize her, more intent on his playing than anything else.

It's an imperfect art, one he's been away from for quite some time. While he never shied from being Irish-- or part, at least-- he has not gone out of his way to highlight his connection with the country like this. Not in a long while. His 'cello has been his main comfort recently, particularly with Aubrey playing the lovely violin.

But tonight and in this place... he is more than happy to enjoy himself.

So a dancer... A dancer makes him chuckle a bit and change the tune, giving it even more pep.]

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[Geordie had always said the audience kept him honest. There was no denying whether you'd sparked something with your music or whether you'd plugged their ears when they danced or cheered or dropped a coin or simply walked the other way.

It was art in making and motion and Jilly was happy to play her part, a slight bit of a thing moving without a care. If she was thought ridiculous...well...

There was beauty in having the privilege of being ridiculous, too.]

[halftheduet.livejournal.com]

[He watched, glancing between his bow, fingers, and her. It became, Stephen thought with a smile, equal parts her dancing to the music and him playing to her dancing.

This was what he liked about taking up the fiddle. Or when Jack suggested improvising. Or those late nights when Jack played alone. There was no sheet before him, no plotted course of notes. The ear and the hand worked together, almost entirely bypassing the mind.

There was an intensity to his gaze as he played, but it was unguarded. A rare look for the physician.]

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[she smiled when she met his gaze, but there was no call for attention. She didn't dance to be watched or to avoid being seen. She danced because it felt right to do so. An improvised dance for an improvised reel.]

/cutting in. lol geddit.

[straightatem.livejournal.com]

[Jack had sat down soon after Stephen began to play, eating and trying not to tap his foot or bob his head along with it. But then he logicked that since Stephen was playing, he wouldn't / couldn't care that Jack would tap his foot a little.

Or a lot.

Watching Jilly dance, of course, did not help at all. And soon he was thumping his foot away with the music until he decided to stand up and approach the small dancing girl.

With a huge grin the captain bowed over graciously, purposefully comical, and held a hand out.]

May I have this dance?

/bows to you

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[Her smile widens with a laugh as she pauses her giddy whirl to face him as he bows. And, since it only seems right to do so, he gets an exaggerated curtsey, made even more ridiculous sans skirts, in return.

Eyes crinkled at the corners, she takes the offered hand] You certainly may!

the derp is everywhere

[straightatem.livejournal.com]

[Oh he couldn't look more pleased at that very moment. It's completely genuine, nothing ulterior or advancing about it. He just wanted to dance.]

Thank you, little lady!

[If Jack was the sort to give nicknames at first introductions, that would be what he chose for Jilly just then. It wasn't meant to tease but rather as the spur of the moment endearment it sounded like.

And when the 'little lady' took his hand he happily (and quite unconsciously) led her in wide sweeping circles to the fiddle. He laughed all the while.]

[straightatem.livejournal.com]

[Here's Jack toddling back toward Stephen with a plate full of food. Mostly meat. There's hardly anything that resembles something green on his plate. Manly carnivore that he is.

Though the look on his face says he is very distracted from the food and entirely focused on Stephen playing the violin he'd found! Shock and awe of the happiest variety!]

Stephen, my dear! I didn't know you had a knack for it!

[halftheduet.livejournal.com]

Only a knack for fiddling, brother. [He chuckles, changing the tune just slightly.] The violin proper is not my strength, not in the slightest.

[straightatem.livejournal.com]

Tosh, you play it naturally!

[He sits in a chair close to his friend and starts chowing down. He managed somehow to keep watching Stephen play as avidly as he would any accomplished soloist.

His right foot begins to tap. A steady thump - thump - thump.]

[halftheduet.livejournal.com]

[Stephen laughed a bit.]

You flatter me, my love.

I would be a poor excuse for an Irishman [and still the fiddle continues] if I could not manage at least this.

[straightatem.livejournal.com]

[Jack just laughs, cheeks full, and swallows. He continues to laugh, his cheeks turning that very English red.]

I suppose you might!

Though, oh, we should try to find another. [See that, Stephen? that is the face of an idea.]

[halftheduet.livejournal.com]

Should we now?

[He smiles nonetheless, fingers flying over the strings as he slides the bow, his attention perfectly divided between the two tasks at hand.]

[straightatem.livejournal.com]

There are so many tunes, joy, that require two violins! Many of which I have longed to play. [He smirks.]

I'm afraid I may take advantage of this discovery, Stephen. Please don't hold it against me.

[halftheduet.livejournal.com]

My dear, you will find me a very poor second violin, I fear.