(mingle) It must be party time

[forethinking]

Who: Ren Amamiya, Wanda Maximoff, you!
When: 12th of September
Where: Good Harbor Beach
Summary: Here's the barbecue log! Eating, playing games, having a bonfire and sleep-over on the beach!
Warnings: Alcohol? Ghost stories?



ɪ. ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇ

Congratulations, you've made it to the Good Harbor Beach September barbecue! With the weather cooling, but still pleasant enough, it's a pleasure to have a hangout involving ADI's residents and those who live at Bonnie's. There are still so many people who don't know one another, and many to strengthen bonds with, so the hours your dearest Wanda and Ren spend cooking and flipping and seasoning are nothing but rewarding! Seeing people enjoying themselves is great and it's motivating for them to keep doing these encounters every now and then.

On the menu, we have:
- Burgers;
- Steaks with jacked potato sides;
- Ribs;
- Zucchini-and-Pecorino fritters;
- Several different salads, including ovcharska;
- Aubergine kebabs with charred onion salsa;
- Salmon yakitori;
- Takoyaki;
- Cupcakes
- Apples and honey;
- Cherry dumplings;
- Sarmale filled with rice;
- Bundevara (pumpkin pie);


For drinks, there's a selection of alcohol, as well as coffee, water, tea, and a variety of sodas. Take in the nice view, jump on the ocean, sink your toes in the sand and enjoy yourselves. There aren't any usable tables, but there are several blankets on the floor for your perusal.

ɪɪ. ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴀʀᴛʏ

With bellies full, now it's when the real fun begins. There are a few decks of cards being passed around, as well as one of their single tables now organized to a beer-pong competition. Individually, games such as Never Have I Ever, as well as Truth or Dare can be seen, and those who wish to use their skills for entertaining are more than welcome to do so.

A little bonding here, a little drunken chatting there, this is your time to shine!

ɪɪɪ. ᴀ ʙᴏɴꜰɪʀᴇ

With those who have a curfew to worry about in mind, a bonfire is lit, and a few tents are set around the beach (may have to be shared). If anyone's got a nice story, now it's the time to share it, or perhaps if anyone can play an instrument, it's about time to break it out of its case. The night will be lively until the early hours of the morning, and of course, mindful of those who couldn't stay up this late.

The next morning, everyone will be properly thanked for their attendance and tupperwares will be distributed with leftovers for those who'd like to take some food home, the beach will be cleaned impeccably and everyone will go their own way, hopefully with smiles and a new sense of unity and connection from the amazing night they've just experienced.

ɪᴠ. ᴀ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ᴏᴏᴄ ɴᴏᴛᴇ

(Please put in your top-level subject line or prompt line whether it's okay to threadjack! Just to keep things more dynamic, we encourage it!)

Comments

Andrew Jaeger | Original Character | OTA and threadjacking!

[bloodalwaystells]

Welcome

Under the circumstances, Jaeger is about as relaxed as he gets. He's dressed for the event in jeans and a button-down shirt that reveals just a bit of delicately scarred arms, sunglasses in place and a beer casually held in one hand. He's still stone-sober and will be for the rest of the cookout, but he's doing his best to circulate, with a half-smile at familiar faces and a small nod at those he hasn't met yet. He's still the new guy, in spite of the events of the circus, and still getting used to being surrounded by so many people- all very different sorts of people.

So he's watchful, and filing away the little details of everything from behind his shades, but he's polite enough and happy to help with things in regards to the setup of the tables and food. For a little bit here and there, he forgets to be quite so watchful, lets himself be just a normal guy at a company event. He even takes off his boots at some point, the better to wade into the ocean a short ways and feel the sand under his toes.

The Bonfire

Jaeger will take a seat around the fire when people start to settle for the evening, though he listens more than he talks. He is by all indications a reserved man, but seems to be having a good enough time by the way he smiles at a particularly daring question or a lucky turn of cards.

Eventually, he'll retire to a tent for a few hours of sleep, thought sharing might be an interesting proposition. Jaeger isn't a small man by any means, and he's a light and twitchy sleeper even with a couple of beers in him...

((OOC: Feel free to try and drag Jaeger into just about anything! He needs to open up more and make some friends, so please forgive the terrible workaholic))

[henchgal]

Seeing Jaeger, Meredith approaches with a plate containing four or five slices of apple and a small puddle of honey.

"How's your head?" There's sincere concern under the polite humor enforced by social conventions in a space like this, as she offers her plate to share with him.

[bloodalwaystells]

Meredith is one of those who gets a small smile, and Jaeger rubs the side of his head as if only just noticing the bruise there.

"It's fine. Like I said, a thick skull helps." The smile turns rueful, reminded as he is of the whole situation. Now, in retrospect, it seems so starkly strange and out of character that he can barely get his head around it. Distant, dreamlike, and yet all too real because he can still remember the thrill of it.

He's trying not to remember the thrill of it. He accepts the offer of a slice of apple, dipping the corner into the honey before biting into it appreciatively.

"Nice to be doing something that's not menacing for a change, isn't it?"

[henchgal]

"It really is. The only way we're all going to make it here is together, so having time to just socialize is important."

She dips an apple as well, raising it as if in toast. "L'shana tovah. The Jewish new year just passed, and this is a traditional symbol of a sweet new year. We eat our symbols a lot."

[bloodalwaystells]

Jaeger nods, because he absolutely can't argue with that. Thrown together by grim circumstance, but it's not the first time in his life that it's been like that.

Trust will come, in time. Maybe not all of them, or even most, but Jaeger is determined to make something of this.

Jaeger toasts her with the remaining half of his apple, more polite than to double-dip. "Honey is a very traditional symbol," he agrees with that small, quiet smile. "It's a good one. Wealth, prosperity, healing, divinity. Good things in general."

He catches himself with a small laugh. "Which I'm sure you knew, obviously. Sometimes, I get caught up in the details of things."

[henchgal]

"Healing as a property probably came up because it does actually have an antibacterial nature. And prosperity--Biblical references to Zion as a land of milk and honey."

She nods a bit. "I feel a little like I'm doing homework. This is a party, Jaeger."

[bloodalwaystells]

"It also never spoils. They've found honey in King Tut's tomb, three thousand years old and still edible."

He laughs quietly, because yes, he is an enormous geek. And he knows it, but trivia is handy at times, right? And at least he's not talking about work.

"I probably need a little practice at the whole 'being social' thing." He gestures with his beer at the general festivities, the people eating and chatting and playing games. It feels like an alien world to him, to be relaxed and in the open without fear of something awful happening. "It's been a while and I tend to be rather focused. But I promise I'm working on it."

[henchgal]

"That's okay, I'm easy mode for the social thing, especially today. I don't have high expectations of you to entertain me or anything."

She smiles slightly.

"Did they actually eat the tomb-honey? Is that stealing from the king?"

[bloodalwaystells]

"I tend to think I'm far more entertaining than I actually am, so that's probably for the best. But you're good company, so I'm glad to give it my best." Just a peek of charm there, the slightly self-deprecating humor that actually is part of Jaeger's personality.

"You know, I'm not sure if anyone actually tried it? I suppose it depends on if you believe in the curse of the tomb or not." Jaeger himself is a bit skeptical, but it's not impossible. "But everything made its way to museums so I don't expect they're too concerned about what the King thinks about it."

He pauses for a moment, sips his beer thoughtfully, then says, "You know, Boston has a great fine arts museum and a science museum, if you ever want to take a day trip sometime."

[henchgal]

Meredith's eyes light up like a Furby that's just been freed from its packaging.

"Probably two day trips, or a trip for two days, I don't think I'd plan to get through a museum in a single day. I know it's possible, but for one I've never seen before? It'd be best to give myself all the time possible. Would we take a bus out to Boston or rent a car?"

[bloodalwaystells]

Oh, Furby eyes. It's been a while since Jaeger's gotten that reaction from someone, and he's going to quietly revel in it. Maybe not as hopeless as he thought!

"It might take a bit of negotiation, but it's not a long trip by either car or bus, and Boston does have a reasonably good public transit system. A lot of good hotels and restaurants as well." Something to keep in mind for a special treat, especially once they're more established.

Not that he's offering a hotel stay with Meredith with any sort of ulterior motives. Just practicality.

"But I have a feeling if we're going to be around here for a while, then we'll have enough chance to see everything, eventually. And it can't all be work, we need to take at least a little time for ourselves. Mental health."

[henchgal]

"What's mental health, can you eat it?" It's an old joke among her peer group. When you work to live, sometimes you forget to--or don't feel you can--take time for yourself. Bosses need everything right now, everything is urgent, it's all crunch.

But the fact that ADI offers counseling is a sign of hope. "It definitely sounds like a good time, though. I've been to Boston before--a school trip, in high school. But I bet it's at least a little different, here."

[bloodalwaystells]

He chuckles a bit at that. "I know the feeling. But if this is going to be a new start, then I'm hoping to do some things better this time around."

Like not pissing off a blood cult and going on the run, but that's a tale for another time. So far, he's starting small and going back to basics, doing his best to make use of his past experience to make a better 'now'.

"It's a lot better when you can take your time, and pick what exhibits you want to do the most," he assures her. High school and college were a long time ago for him, but he remembers enough to know that it's not peak experience. He's not that old, but closer to 40 than not, and it's brought with it a certain amount of calm perspective.

"And we can find out what's showing online ahead of time, to plan for the day and make sure we get to see what we most want to."

[henchgal]

"No funhouses or Yayoi Kusama installations involving mirrors, that's the one rule." But that's as much tease as everything, and an attempt to show she's aware of some culture. Hopefully Kusama's work is a thing in his home 'verse too, so the joke translates.

[bloodalwaystells]

Jaeger's smile is somewhat ghastly: Kusama's work is indeed a thing in his world, and the idea of not only mirrors but infinity mirrors is a terrifying one to him.

"I second that. I've never been fond of mirrors, and the Funhouse did not make that any better." he taps his chin. If he didn't have to shave, he probably wouldn't have one in his apartment at all, if he's honest.

"But I'm sure we can find things of interest. There's a planetarium and a domed OMNI theater at the Museum of Science, along with the regular exhibits. So definitely something that might be worth making a weekend of."

[bossyboiler]

Kate drops down to sit near to him. "I've got marshmallows," Kate announces. Her voice light and indicative that she's past the tipsy part and well on her way to being drunk. It feels nice. She feels nice. Isn't this nice? "And sticks." Sticks that are actually thin metal skewers that they can use to roast them.

"Have you ever had a roasted marshmallow before. That's a funny word. Marshmallow. Marshmallow. Marsh. Mallow. Marshes aren't nice but marshmallows are. Have you ever met anything nice from a marsh?"

[bloodalwaystells]

"Marshmallows are actually from marshes. The elusive wild Marsh Mallow," he says idly, shooting her a brief smile. He's still stone sober, having only nursed the beers he's drunk so far tonight, but he has relaxed a bit into the overall cheeriness of the event.

A bit pensive, perhaps, but certainly nothing that can't be disturbed by a little company. And marshmallows. And the bit of urge to tease her a bit, while she's so clearly feeling good. "But this is much better than hunting your own. Swamps are messy." He's about as fastidious as your average house cat when it comes to such things, short of absolute necessity. "So I absolutely agree with you there."

[bossyboiler]

"They do?" Somewhere, deep inside her brain, she knows that factoid. However, it's gone they way of knowing that there are eldritch monstrosities lurking, that she's already had too much to drink, and that she's going to regret this entire evening in the morning. It doesn't matter in the current now so Kate has pushed it out of her head.

"They are messy," she agrees. "Not to mention hot, humid and there are way too many bugs." Plus, snakes. Kate suppresses a shudder as she skewers a marshmallow. She then offers the bag and a skewer to Andrew. Regardless of whether or not he takes one, Kate is going to stick her marshmallow into the fire. She leaves it in long enough for the top surface to barely bubble and get charred before pulling it out.

"Are you having a good time?"

[bloodalwaystells]

Jaeger does indeed take a marshmallow and a skewer, stabbing the metal through the treat and holding it a safe distance from the fire. No charred marshmallows here, just a nice toasty level of done-ness. He's done this before, it's just strange to remember.

"I am," he says after a moment, and it's actually a little surprising to hear himself say it. But he is, some deep conversations aside. "It feels strange doing something so 'normal', but I'm enjoying it. Getting to know people outside of work, when we can let our guards down a little bit."

Not all the way, of course. Never all the way. But seeing those around him as more than just faceless co-workers...he thinks that's good for him. Healthy. Especially since most of them are in the same circumstances of being plunged into this new world without warning.

"If you do nothing but work, it gets into your head and makes you strange. That was me, for a long time. I'm trying to be better about it."

[bossyboiler]

She blows off her roasted marshmallow to cool it down a bit. "It is really normal," Kate agrees. "I mean, we could be any group of people out here having a good time but we're not normal people." Kate sighs a little and then her mind immediately flits over to a different subject. "I think the next time I make cupcakes I'm going to make a roasted marshmallow frosting with a chocolate cupcake. Does that sound good to you?"

Kate then plucks the still warm marshmallow and plucks it in her mouth.

"You sound like me, anything to keep myself busy so that I don't have to think about what's really bothering me." She shrugs her shoulders, "But then when you find out your entire way of doing things is a lie, what else are you supposed to do?" Her lips have been loosened by the liquor.

[bloodalwaystells]

"That sounds very good, actually. You like to bake?" He dips his head with his next admission. "I'll generally take strawberry over chocolate, but I think that would be quite popular."

He probes his own marshmallow gently to test it for done-ness, pulling back quickly when it proves to be hot. Well, that was the intent of putting it in the fire.

"I was raised in an environment where I was expected to go to work for...the company right away, as soon as I was able. It was an atmosphere that encouraged devotion." He tugs his marshmallow off the skewer after a moment of letting it cool, and chews on it thoughtfully. "And then...yes, exactly like you said. You start thinking about the things that don't quite fit, that aren't right, and you try and work harder. As if that will make it all make sense, make it okay."

he gives her a thin, weary smile. He's very much sober, but her openness has struck a few chords in him, and having someone understand...well, that goes a long way. Plus, she brought him marshmallows. It seems the least he can do, to repay her with a little openness.

"Are you feeling that way here, or is that more in your past?"

[bossyboiler]

"Do not let most people hear you say that you prefer chocolate. Some people take it as a personal insult if you disparage chocolate and I say this as someone who likes chocolate." Her favorite flavor is actually strawberry. Kate nods her head as she sticks another marshmallow onto her skewer. "I do. It keeps me busy and I'm good at it." Kate really believes that she's better than just good at it. It's a point of pride for her.

Kate listens as she roasts her marshmallow, this time she lets it get a bit more charred out on the outside before pulling it out of the fire and blowing it off to cool it. "Family business, huh?" She could not relate to that specifically but she can relate to wanting to show devotion by being good at my job.

"I was really good at my job. I was an Adjudicator which is a fancy way of saying that I got to pick out a few career options for people and made sure that they stuck to it." She shakes her head. "But then I found someone special. I've never seen his power before but he could tell things about people by holding their personal items. He was so special that he was..." Kate pauses. After this confessional, she is going to find some more alcohol to drink. It's funny that she can feel the effects of alcohol here. It's not funny in a laugh-out-loud way, however.

"He was forced into government service and most traces of him were scrubbed from the system and you know what happened to me? I got a promotion for it. How fucked up is that?"

[bloodalwaystells]

He chuckles quietly at her warning, taking it in stride. He knows very well the stigma to be born there as a non-chocolate-loving person, but he's survived this long.

"It's a good kind of thing to have," he muses, reaching for another marshmallow himself. It's a picnic, and he can afford to indulge a bit. Plus, it gives him something to do with his hands while they talk, an idle sort of thing that can be done in those small pauses between conversation. "It's been a while since I've thought about hobbies, really. I mean, things to do just because I enjoy them. I suppose part of that was, yes, the 'family business'. It took a lot of time and energy and it was always on my mind, even when I wasn't specifically working."

Something else he needs to give some thought to. They're only allowed to work so many hours for ADI in a week, and that means spare time. The idea is almost boggling to Jaeger.

He turns his marshmallow over the flames, still keeping it only lightly browned, as he listens to her. It might be a different place, a different world, but notes of it still ring familiar, and he nods in sympathy.

"It sounds pretty fucked up," he agrees solemnly. "But...it sounds like we have a few things in common, in the places where we worked and what went on there. All the secrets. The rewards for things that don't always sit well."

It makes him want something stronger to drink, too, because this is dredging into some rough memories, the vast wasteland of dubious morality that was working for a big, shady Organization.

[bossyboiler]

"You should find something, if only to keep you a little more sane for longer." If she keeps herself busy then she doesn't have to think. Kate doesn't have to think about the desire she still feels within herself to create fear. She doesn't have to feel guilt about what she has done, both on her world and this one. Instead, she can focus on her task at hand. "What do you want to do?"

Kate nods her head because it is fucked up. "I think it's starting to drive me a little mad. It's not a blessing to be here but at least I.. Ha. That's a lie. I was about to tell you a lie. I was about to say that I don't have to single out another person here, to ruin their life, but I've already done that here. At the very least they'll have nightmares." She laughs a little. "I really am a shit person."

[bloodalwaystells]

"I should. It's so strange having my own time again. They limit the number of hours here you can actually work, so finding other things? I think that would be good. I like swimming and working out, but that's its own kind of work, I think." He's not sure exactly where to start, but he figures he'll get there. Exploring the town has been helpful, but that won't work forever. Eventually, he'll have to find something productive, and that will be interesting to say the least.

He cocks his head, pausing for a long few seconds at her confession. Giving it the thought it deserves, because that's a big admission.

"I'm still trying to make sense of the compulsions," he admits. If she's a terrible person, she's in good company, at least. "I don't think we're completely innocent of the impulses that our...Patrons bring out in us, but I think it's easy to be led astray from what we would normally do in a situation. Learning to restrain those urges...I think it's something that will take a bit of time to learn, especially for those of us who are very connected to our powers."

The least he can do, even if it's not completely comforting.

"I think it's something we're all struggling with, right now. And probably will continue to."