and the bass keeps runnin runnin

[250mhzwabl]

Who: Anyone who heard the announcement, caught a flier in the plaza, of heard by word of mouth. Everyone's welcome!
What: A rave! Well, "rave." Luceti makes everything a little different.
When: June 21st, nightfall to early morning
Where: the beach near Adele's house
Summary: It's the first day of summer! This calls for bonfires, naturally, but why not spice it up with loud music, flashing lights, drinks, dancing, and a conspicuous lack of curfew?
Rating: PG to PG-13, please move anything steamier to appointments or Adele will take the hose to you



Getting all the firewood, food, and drink out to the beach had been, honestly, the hardest part of preparation. Whatever else one might say about running things on magic, it certainly did cut down on the trouble of constructing edifices and machines to run the entertainment side of a party. As it stands, the setup is labour-intensive but otherwise minimal, and there's not much to do by sunset. Escape the house before Max and Zevran, the culture-displaced madmen, can put any more eyeliner on him. Arrive at the beach. Light the bonfires. Make sure the bonfire-cooking-compliant food is set out. Put up a table loaded with bottles, cups, ice, and permanent markers. Thank the resident doctor and quartermaster once more. Plug in the stereo system.

The speakers and light show have been with him since he left his house, in the form of the resident god of mischief, and they confer over sheets of paper with track names and times written on them for a little while just before the start. That's the last of it, and by the time the sky above the mountains is beginning to darken into twilight, the first thumping, trilling strains of dance music begin to echo out across the sand.

It's the shortest night of the year. Best make every second last.

[OOC: Feel free to post your character for mingling, since this entire event is very free-form anyway. For everyone's enjoyment there is a drinks table, food, several bonfires, the ocean (lifeguards not on duty, splash drunkenly at your own risk), and of course a dancing area with lights and music. Music will probably be primarily EDM with a heavy bass line, but occasionally wander into the territories of electro-swing and the like to give even less modern partygoers a chance to show off. The light show as well will stray out of the typical at times, with the expected abstract wheeling and flashing lights giving way to more complicated illusions. Don't be surprised to find yourself and your fellows occasionally dancing in a forest glen or a Rivendell look-alike for a few minutes at a time. Loki is working the tech booth, after all.

The party will go as long as people stay and are enjoying themselves, so have fun and tag around!]

Comments

[rather_be_surfing]

Hey. Hey guys? Dude over here, trying to have a nice peaceful nighttime surfing session. Kinda hard to do when the water is vibrating...

Aw hell.

Eventually, likely following in on Adele's heels, Derek will join the party. He's wearing a tank, some jeans and not much else. If there's beer, he'll go for that. He'll even dance a bit. And he's pretty relaxed and okay with life at the moment. Feel free to sit and drink with him, drag him onto the 'dance floor', or even join him for a little surfing; he has a spare board around. Somewhere.

If Adele's got him though, you might have a little trouble getting his attention at that point.

[widows_kiss]

"Hey, stranger."

She finds him midway through the night, her hair tousled and a bottle of beer in one hand, but she's grinning and enjoying herself, although a little amused to see him out here.

"Long time no see." Granted, that was all her fault. Two consecutive missions were hell on her social life.

[rather_be_surfing]

Derek will smile, really smile, when he greets her, and will even give her a warm side hug.

"Hey, lady. Looking good. Where've you been lately?"

Yes, this is Derek actually being relaxed and open. Weird, huh?

[widows_kiss]

Weird, maybe. But she likes it. It';s a nice change from the last time they had a long talk. Even if she is a little surprised by the hug, but she goes with it, returning it with the arm not dedicated to balancing her bottle.

"Around and about. Hopped out on a few missions to score some extra points, but I'm back for a while. What about you? Enjoying the party?"

[rather_be_surfing]

"Yeah, actually, I am. Kinda put a damper on my plans for surfing, but it's good. Kinda reminds me of when I was a kid."

He glances around the dancers, trying to see if there were any other Avengers around. Sadly, he's not met Bucky yet, so no recognition there.

"So did you come alone? Or did someone come with?"

[widows_kiss]

She glances at him, then the ocean, then up at the moon. "You were going to surf in the middle of the night?"

At his question, she stands up on tiptoes for a moment to peer through the mass of bodies before pointing him out. "With someone. Bucky Barnes. Steve's roommate, they're old friends." ....Actually. "Have you met Steve yet?" She had no idea if he knew any of her fellow teammates.

"What about you?"

[rather_be_surfing]

"Sure was. Sometimes that's the best time to go." he grins a little, not looking unlike some mischievous school boy.

He'll look over at where Natasha is indicating until he's relatively sure he knows which guy she's pointing out, and nods.


"Never met Bucky, but I talked with Steve at the cultural fair. Seems like a nice guy. As for me," and there's that easy smile again, "See that lovely blonde lady over there?" His own pointing leads to Adele, who is likely currently dancing with other folks and having fun. "She talked me into it."

[widows_kiss]

She laughs at his expression, hands propped on her hips. "I'll have to take your word on that one. Surfing's not something I've ever tried. By moonlight or otherwise."

Her gaze follows where he indicates, taking in the blond before giving him a sly smile. "Well. Good for you. You need talked into more things, obviously. And yes, Steve's a very nice guy. Easy to like. Bucky's... well. 'Nice' isn't usually the first word that comes to mind, but I like that, too."

[rather_be_surfing]

"You should. It's a whole different thing at night. And you have the balance for it."

He grins just a little.

"For certain things, 'nice' is a little over rated, anyway."

[widows_kiss]

"Is that all it takes? Balance?"

She returns his grin with an amused look, lips twitching faintly. "Sometimes more than a little."

[rather_be_surfing]

"Balance and timing. But yeah. I guess sea legs might help a little too."

He chuckles quietly.

"Very true."

[widows_kiss]

"Ahh, an acquired skill I'm a little rusty at," she chuckles, crossing her arms and eyeing him a moment.

"So. Is she the reason you're in a better mood since the last time we talked?" The question's asked lightly, her manner still teasing, not wanting him to feel like he has to answer, but that she's noted the change.

[rather_be_surfing]

"Well, there's plenty of ocean to practice on."

He'll eyeball her back while she eyeballs him, eyebrow raised and a slight grin on his face.

"Might be."

Yes.

It's both something for him to actually focus on and personally care about, and it was also an answer to a question he and Adele had both been avoiding until now. The relief of both being solved took a lot off of him.

[widows_kiss]

"I suppose there is." She flicks a glance in that direction again. "This is actually only the second time I've been out here. I should swing by more often."

His grin gets a warm one in return. "How evasive of you. But I'm glad."

[250mhzwabl]

Much as he loves the dancing, socializing, and general frenetic energy, every now and then a drink by the fire is called for. Jack wanders up to flop on the sand and have a beer of his own, and finds his flop-destination decided entirely by the familiar face lit by the flames.

"Hello again." He settles to the sand in a sweaty, boneless, cheery tumble, drink remaining un-spilled through some combination of luck and practise. "Come to make sure the sound isn't breaking anything you just built?"

[rather_be_surfing]

"Hey man," he'll salute Jack with an easy raise of his own bottle, "More like I didn't want to drown in the tidal waves you're causing over here."

His own grin is easy and relaxed.

"Got some good tunes going. Not my usual fair, but the beat's good. How'd you get all the equipment?"

[250mhzwabl]

Derek just gets a raised eyebrow. Swimming after sundown? Well, it probably seems like nothing after fighting vampires.

He looks back at the light show and source of the noise, nodding his head at it in illustration. "That? The iPod I arrived with. When you have two or three important possessions in the world the Malnosso seem to do a good job at reuniting you with them. The stereo I attach it to was a Christmas gift, also from our dear captors. And the sound amplification and light show are being handed via godlike magical powers." He has a sip of his drink, humming. "Which I suppose is sort of cheating, but he's having more fun with it than any subwoofer I ever met."

[rather_be_surfing]

It's awesome, dude. You should try it sometime.

Derek smiles.

"If it ain't broke don't fix it, I guess. I'm surprised Loki agreed. doesn't seem to be something he'd do."

Then again, Derek doesn't know that much about the god other than they eventually get on each other's nerves if they don't watch what they say to each other. Oil and water and all that.

[250mhzwabl]

"Why not? He likes dancing and music. Likes things to keep him from getting bored, you know - a little unpredictable." Jack gives an expressive shrug, turning back to Derek and the fire with a grin of his own. Luceti makes one think about the nature of things, including pagan deities, especially when deities make up a percentage of one's social circle. "Sort of a godly thing to do, isn't it? Show off your flashiest powers, generally have a good time with not a lot of work."

[rather_be_surfing]

"Yeah, I guess so. Only god I was ever familiar with past studying in school was the one that comes with mass, so..." he shrugs, "And he's been absent from the showy things for a while now."

[250mhzwabl]

"That's all right. I'm not that fond of fires and floods anyway." He has another drink, then sighs contentedly, settling back on an elbow and not caring how much the sand sticks to him. It's a great night to be awake through, and that everyone seems to be finding their own way of enjoying it is even better. "Are you more of a nocturnal sort generally, then? Or just for swimming?"

[rather_be_surfing]

"Actually more of a dusk and dawn sort of guy," Derek leans back himself, looking just as comfortable, "But I do actually like the night life, unwanted company not withstanding. And the daytime."

Yeah, this guy probably doesn't sleep a lot. Too much to get into.

[250mhzwabl]

"So . . . you nap, is what you're telling me."

It's half teasing and half honest curiosity, the line between the two ambiguous as Jack is hiding the better part of his smile in his cup.

[rather_be_surfing]

He chuckles. Excellent job of reading between the lines, Jack.

"Yeah, for the most part. I try the real thing every few months or so when I'm on break."

[250mhzwabl]

"On break from . . . what, hobbies?" Jack doesn't know of more than one vampire in the village, and that one is almost criminally non-threatening. As for the construction business, it ends up being fairly obvious when buildings go up. "Or have you managed to find something here approximating actual employment?