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

[250mhzwabl]

[The lift of Adele's hand to kiss the knuckles has nothing to do with drink; it's just Jack, dance-buzzed and happy to see another of his friends enjoying themselves and probably having lived with Zevran for too long by this point.]

You look much too nice for the rest of us scoundrels.

[fleurdesel]

I look just as nice as I ought to, Jack-

[She blinks a bit- the shirt is one thing but when did Jack get an earring? That she certainly doesn't remember.]

-if that is a statement upon your orientation I think, perhaps, it is in the wrong ear.

[250mhzwabl]

[Jack looks curious for a second, until he realizes what Adele is talking about, then laughs slightly and shakes his head, straightening again. He gestures her away from the worst of the noise to speak, leaning close to be heard.]

Statement upon relationship status, actually. Eugene has an identical one, and they come courtesy of . . . ah. [His few seconds of scanning the crowd are rewarded by the sight of Zevran dancing, and he points him out.] Zevran. The tattooed blonde gentleman walking on his hands, over there.

[fleurdesel]

...You are...dating?

[One did not get jewelry for dating but she knows Jack and Eugene are together and finds it quite sweet- but adding that- oh. Zevran. The elf Sabriel speaks of from time to time.]

...he certainly seems like a character.

[250mhzwabl]

Oh, it's one of those couples' activities Eugene and I get up to, you know. Listening to music. Going on drafts. Jointly committing ourselves to men from other worlds.

[Jack grins with equal amounts of sheepishness and pride, face flooding with heat, hooking his thumbs into his pockets and rocking idly. It wasn't something either of them had been looking for, before arriving here or after they'd found themselves in a new place, but it made all of them happy.]

We've been seeing him since December and we just . . . [He smiles haplessly, itching at his temple.] It works. And he's a good man, even if he'd argue the hell out of it, and- yeah, sorry. I'm rambling.

[fleurdesel]

Ramble away. I know well the desire to share how proud you are of the one you care for with those you know.

[She reaches over to pat Jack's shoulder, looking back at the strange, twisting elf. She doesn't know him, but if he treats Jack and Eugene well? That is fine by her.]

He hasn't been unkind, has he?

[250mhzwabl]

Unkind? [Jack grins at Adele incredulously, scoffing off the question as much as he can. Which is to say, not entirely. It's not a question he wants to look like he's dodging the answer to.]

No - God, no. He does his best for us, and . . . well, all right, he doesn't always know what he's doing, honestly. [There's a tinge of the rueful and sardonic in his expression, but that fondness is still there when he looks at the man, and his shoulders relax when he spots Eugene as well, a moment later.] But he wants to learn. And there's no claiming his heart isn't in it.

[fleurdesel]

So I do not need to drag him out behind the house and give him a very stern talking to?

[For Jack and Eugene, sweet as they were, she would without question or batting an eye. Relationships where misunderstandings grew could tear at a person and leave them rotten afterward. Adele considers herself a prime example of this.]

So long as you two are happy, I am happy for you.

[250mhzwabl]

Ah . . . thanks. [Tinged with uncertainty as it is, the sentiment is wholly genuine. It just catches Jack off-guard, that matter-of-fact protectiveness, enough that there's something subtly younger in his smile when it shifts back to her. There's something different in that casual, dutiful protectiveness from someone older and in a position of authority, and it's nice, but more than a little unfamiliar as well.] We are happy, though. And we manage plenty of stern talking among ourselves when the situation calls for it. And- hah, God. I think we need to change the topic.

[He breaks into something that's practically a giggle, rubbing at his face.]

I'm already tipsy and now you have me feeling like someone's teenage daughter.

[fleurdesel]

You are most welcome, Jack.

[She's an older sister at heart, having someone to look out for and dote over is somewhat ingrained into her very bones. Without Gambit in the village to fill that role it falls to whoever seems to have most need for that sort of sentiment and gesture. Not that Jack and Eugene seem to need it but- habit. It is a hard thing to break.]

Perhaps to even the playing field you might attempt equally stern and critical judging of the one I keep in my intimate company?

[It is not a relationship. It isn't. They are friends that have sex now and then, that's it.]

[250mhzwabl]

[Thank goodness, Adele is indeed merciful. Jack collects himself enough to arch an eyebrow at her, and if he's a bit pink, he just hopes it's impossible to really tell in the flashing multicoloured lights.]

The one you-? Wait. Derek?

[He hopes it's Derek, at least. He has no idea of who else could be enjoying Adele's affections, and it's not really the sort of thing he comes right out and asks. If it becomes fantastically obvious or arises in conversation, that's fine, but otherwise it seems a bit rude.]

[fleurdesel]

Mhmm.

[More of a murmur than an outright agreement, but with how her eyes dart out across the writhing mass of bodies to find him in all his current shirtless glory and linger with a familiar appreciation, it's fair to say it's more than a little oblivious.]

[250mhzwabl]

[Derek is, in all honesty, a perfectly deserving subject of such attentions at the moment. Jack considers himself a more than adequate judge of such things, and an at least passable judge when it comes to interpreting looks like the one Adele is directing his way. He glances between the two, then snorts softly, shaking his head.]

. . . yeah, no. You're not exactly looking at him in a way that suggests that sort of thing is necessary.

[fleurdesel]

The look you offered yours was equally attentive and enthralled, yet I asked all the same.

[Teasing, light and easy and it feels good to be able to do so without worrying over causing offense. Such potential seems to just slide off Jack's back with a wink and a laugh and she does find herself all the more fond of him for it.]

[250mhzwabl]

Because I-! That- ngh-

[Jack cuts off with a small, aggrieved noise and a hand dragged across his face, finding himself yet again bested by and at the mercy of twisting logic and self-satisfied humour. He doesn't make himself any less easy of a target, either, voice rising a few pitches in protest.]

Now that's just not fair. How am I the negligent friend here?

[fleurdesel]

I don't know Jack, you simply are. It must be some manner of talent on your behalf.

[She leans over and nudges him with her elbow, grinning.]

If it makes you feel any better at all, there is no true reason for you to be concerned or anything for you to ask after.

[250mhzwabl]

Are you sure?

[Jack glances back at Derek, a glance that lingers well into danger of becoming a stare, and wonders distractedly if it's the vampire-hunting or the construction that has been so very good to him.]

I'd be happy to ask after things. Like when he's usually on the beach.

[fleurdesel]

You have two of your own, dear. That is my eye candy.

[The nudge becomes a lean, warm and companionable and easy.]

Mmm...evenings when he comes to cook dinner- and mornings after he's finished making breakfast.