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

[tearmeanewone]

[Wow, this man has longer hair than she does. That's kind of fascinating, now that she notices it. But it also looked like he had... barnacles or some sort of glinting rock on his skin. Strange, but she shouldn't stare. There were all sorts of non-human people wandering around, this person could be one of them.]

'The underground party scene'? Why would a party have to be a secret? [At least she didn't ask why people held parties below the ground...?]

[voidseeing]

The GHQ doesn't approve of them-- they claim they're a vector for spreading the Apocalypse Virus as well as a cover for selling drugs. The latter is sometimes true; the former is just another one of their lies.

They just want to remind the people of who is in control.

[It's clear from the tone of his voice that he has no love for this GHQ, whatever it is.]

[tearmeanewone]

[She would ask what the GHQ was, but that tone of voice tells her that it's not something to discuss with a stranger. That tone of voice sounds almost like the tone Booker used to use when Elizabeth was asking too many questions.]

It doesn't seem too dangerous. And I haven't seen any opium or anything like that here.

[voidseeing]

[And Gai's back to smiling again, as if he'd never brought up the subject at all. Not that he wouldn't have answered questions if she'd asked any, but this is a party, not a politics discussion.]

No, I'd be surprised if anything like that showed up at this rave. The Malnosso aren't exactly generous when it comes to supplying us with non-medical drugs.

[tearmeanewone]

[Well that's... a rather sudden smile. But it is a party, and so Elizabeth just smiles back. No unpleasant topics here, not in the middle of the dancefloor.]

That's probably a good thing, really. I don't think anybody here needs to have their mind altered any more than it already is.

[voidseeing]

The music seems to be doing a good enough job of that.

[He looks around at the other partygoers, all seeming to be having a great time. Even he can't deny that the atmosphere is catching.]

[tearmeanewone]

It is a little infectious. When Jack first played me some of this music I thought it was just noise! [Elizabeth laughs as she looks around at the other partiers too. She falls back into bouncing around as the beat picks up a little.]

I'm Elizabeth! Nice to meet you!

[voidseeing]

I'm Gai-- it's nice to meet you too.

[While he doesn't resume dancing again just yet, he watches as she does, hands in his pockets.]

It isn't the sort of music I usually listen to either. I prefer my songs to have a melody, even if it means they aren't as easy to dance to.

[tearmeanewone]

I know! I like something with a piano in it, and words! God Only Knows, and Shiny Happy People. Everybody Wants to Rule the World!

And I think you can dance to anything. Dancing is just the expression of what music makes you feel, right? [She smiles, eying Gai's stance.] I guess this doesn't make you feel much of anything, does it?

[voidseeing]

Words that have meaning and convey a message. That's what songs are for, and why people were given voices to sing them.

[His smile widens just slightly in response to her question.]

I never said this music didn't make me feel anything. It's good for getting your heart pumping-- sometimes that's all you need for a good time.

[tearmeanewone]

Mm... that's true. [For a moment, Elizabeth is back in that basement in Finkton. Booker playing that guitar, her singing. Unbroken circles...]

[She pulls herself back and away from all that with a blink and a smile.] Are you having a good time? You're just standing there with your hands in your pockets!

[voidseeing]

[A shake of his head sends his ponytail whipping back and forth behind him.]

No, unfortunately not yet. There's something this rave is still missing.

[tearmeanewone]

Oh? [Elizabeth stops dancing--clearly this is a teaching moment.] What's missing?

[voidseeing]

You dancing with me.

[Hey, why not? She's cute, it's a party, and the night is young. He came here to have fun, after all, and that's what he plans on doing.]

[tearmeanewone]

[And that is not a cheesy pick-up line in 1912, so Elizabeth thinks it's a rather clever way of asking her to dance.]

Why didn't you say so sooner? [Elizabeth laughs and holds out her hands for Gai to take.]

[voidseeing]

[Wow. That was such a terrible pick-up line that he's almost surprised that it worked, but then again, Elizabeth does seem to be a bit on the sheltered side.

The fact that her idea of "dancing" includes offering her hands to him just sort of cements that impression, but he'll take them anyway and let her take the lead, curious to see what she has in mind.]

You seemed to be having more than enough fun by yourself.

[tearmeanewone]

[Sheltered? Perhaps a few months ago, yes. Then Elizabeth was shown horrific things, did some of them, and had a mess of things done to her. Was she blocking it all out? Right now she was. Now she was back at Battleship Bay, twirling around in the middle of a crowd, feeling as free as she ever would. Probably. It wasn't exactly the same feeling, but it was as close as she expected to get. And she wasn't going to let everything crowd into her evening and depress her.]

[She shrugs.] I've danced by myself enough in my life! Or are you trying to tell me you're going to suck the fun out of this? [Elizabeth grins and starts bouncing to the beat again. She's really, really unsure about how to partner-dance with this sort of music, so she's going back to how she was dancing before--only she's holding Gai's hands.]

[voidseeing]

[Gai understands that feeling all too well, not that he knows what's going through her mind at the moment. Being thrown out into the world to fend for oneself amidst all of its cruelty is something that one never gets over, not really. They simply learn to adapt and survive as best they can, whatever that takes. It's not something he prefers to dwell on either; it's just the way the world works.]

I wasn't planning on being the one doing any sucking tonight, unless you really want me to. I was thinking more along the lines of having fun, not ruining it.

[... yeah, she really doesn't know how to dance, but that's okay. He's 99% sure that if he tried to initiate what passes for dancing in his era that she'd freak out, punch him, or both.]

[tearmeanewone]

[And the only thing that registers with Elizabeth from that comment is that it's a strange way to construct the sentence. But she was the one who brought 'sucking' into the conversation, to be fair.]

No, I'd rather have fun too. But that doesn't include standing around with my hands in my pockets! [She flails around a little more, then shakes her head with a laugh.] I really don't know what I'm doing! Do you know how two people dance to this sort of music?

[voidseeing]

[And she didn't get the reference at all, just as he thought, which means that teaching her any sort of modern dancing is DEFINITELY out.

... which also means that of course she just has to ask about it. MURPHY'S LAW.]

Look around for inspiration. There isn't any one right way to do it-- just do what feels good. Dance however you want.

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth looks a little at a loss, but tries to be positive. She follows Gai's advice and stops bouncing around to look at what other people are doing.]

[...Dear God, what are those two doing. Elizabeth's shoulders go absolutely rigid as she spots two people, woman bent backwards at nearly a 90 degree angle with her partner leaning over her, kissing. Or, really, it looks like he's trying to consume her face while holding her up.]

[This party is getting weird. And that is not dancing.]

[voidseeing]

[Yeah, see, this is why he didn't offer to give lessons. He sees that look of horror on Elizabeth's face as she eyes that couple making out-- it's fairly tame in his eyes, but from the look in hers, she's never seen that level of intimate behavior before.

A part of him wonders just how the person who invited her to this described what goes on at one.]

Of course, dancing isn't the only thing that goes on at a rave.

[tearmeanewone]

[Loud music and flashing lights, mostly. Nothing about kissing or drugs or anything like that.]

Wow... [Elizabeth quickly looks away and back to Gai. Great, she looks bizarre now, doesn't she? And she'd been doing so well acting like a normal person... Sort of.]

The closest I've seen anyone dance is... [She lets go of one of Gai's hands and puts it on his shoulder, then steps in. There's still a good eight inches of space between them.] ...about here.

[voidseeing]

[Gai can't hide the amused expression on his face, though he isn't going to tease her about this. She reminds him of Inori in more than one way-- her general lack of knowledge about the world and her curiosity, but at the same time, she's got a spunk that Inori doesn't. Inori was truly a blank slate; Elizabeth is anything but.

When she moves to reposition them, he raises an eyebrow, fighting off the urge to make another joke.]

I won't say no to dancing like that as long as you don't mind it looking somewhat out of place.

[tearmeanewone]

[That's exactly what she minds, though--looking out of place and strange. Even if they were in a place where everyone had a different home and different customs and ways of doing things, the more she experiences and sees the more frustrated she's becoming. It's almost as if she'll never know exactly how to act around other people and she'll always be guessing and trying to be just... normal.]

No, you're right. [Elizabeth lets go and steps back, tucking her hair behind her ear.] It looks out of place... I guess I'm the one sucking the fun out of this, I can't even dance with you right.