open post ● we're about to get up and burn this floor

[boomvox]

Who: Everyone.
What: The Grand Re-Opening of the Gravity Falls Station.
Where: Babylon.
When: Veerdi to Sukkardi.
Notes: Party post!!! Go nuts y'all.
Warnings: Probable alcohol (and drug?) use. Flag stuff in subject titles if it needs a warning and I'll edit it up in here.

It's clear from the first moment anyone even gets on the Skyrail tonight that the Stratosphere Entertainment Group's pricey investment is going to pay off - every rail car is crowded with people decked out and excited for the event. To natives of Baedal, the idea of a holiday is days off work, maybe some camping - escape is alien, a little frightening, and completely thrilling. Even when the Gravity Falls station had hosted other venues, it was nothing so ambitious as to capture the imaginations of the city as a whole. And to immigrants to the city who no longer have the luxury of even simple trips out of town - well, it's priceless. A bittersweet but suddenly vital excursion.

Doors open just as the sun begins to set, the light reflecting off the water of the ocean illuminating the great floating platform as if the entire sky was on fire, before slipping into deep purple then black, the ceiling of their experience dotted with brilliant stars. Staff members wrangling the hazards of the first night are anxious but excited, kind and helpful even if they end up frazzled by the overwhelming turnout. There is security, all sporting neon purple shirts with lion logos, but even by their own admission, they're only there to breakup fights - and even they're smiling all night, too.

Comments

[egodefence]

Gaius makes a half-turn to look back at the rest of the building behind them, a sharp smile writing across sharp features. "Probably only by accident," he says, attention back to her. "No, no, I think I'd require some sort of cheat sheet to keep up with everyone important-- ooh, careful." A hand hovers out like he might steer her an inch or so away from the platform's edge, as if just noticing the suddenness of the drop, her blind nearness to it.

"Bit open out here, isn't it."

[yeouiju]

Dancing is happening. Sunny laughs at this comment, happy to be flattered as well as taking it without a lick of seriousness, before-- well-- dancing. He basically moves like someone who doesn't go clubbing that much, on the 'thoughtless confidence' end of the spectrum than paralysed uncertainty.

"How did your show go?" he asks over the music, in that slightly-yelling tone people adopt in these scenarios. "It looked good from where I was!"

[asklepios]

“It looks that way, no?” she says, laughing, letting him direct her a little away from the edge - an interesting set of compromises, moving as his hand does and in the right direction, untouched. And still unconcerned, actually, like her ostensible safety is some kind of amiably-made concession. There are wards, it's perfectly safe-- would she still be there, though, if there weren't. (Yes; if no one were watching.) “But the navigation here is not so difficult, once you find your footing.”

She means socially, more, but she's nimble either way.

[egodefence]

Its perfect safety doesn't negate the sense of vertigo that comes with it, which some people might enjoy -- Gaius is hardwired to enjoy nothing that hedges into the negative end of the scale. He smiles small at her as she indulges him in that, and his hands disappear into his jacket pockets, casual.

"It's a bit like starting from the bottom again, though. I might just have to settle for getting by well enough than have to do it all again. But I heard the view was amazing."

[asklepios]

A little risk is rewarding- but Benevenuta is inclined to be indulgent of other people, to a point. It plays into the persona that she wears like a comfortable coat, and in Baedal where there are so many more little loose threads in her identity to tug free and see what's underneath, well. She aims to have a little more to support what she's inviting them to look at than what she isn't.

“Worth price of admission? I enjoy to getting the jewelry out without also my hat in my hand, besides,” because while it's not as though she doesn't fairly regularly get to put on a nice dress and a pair of heels, she tends to be making appearances on the philanthropic circuit, gently reminding the more generous of Baedal's deeper pockets of some of the places their marks might go to best use.

[gwynn]

Megan suddenly pops up in Ilde's line of vision, hanging upside down from the air. Her wing is out of the cast, she can fly on it as long as she takes it easy - no extended trips, nothing in high winds. This is fine, though, just a few minutes at the time to stretch them a bit.

She's holding a drink upside down (right side up in context to everything else), dress pinched between her thighs to keep her from just flashing everyone here. "Hi!" she says, tipsy, alcohol on her breath.

[rhinemaid]

“Megan!” --as though it was going to be anybody else accosting her from midair, pink-haired and upside down. “You look really good, hello!” It feels like it's been forever since she saw her - she remembers that Megan had gone, but...here she is, evidently, maybe she missed her coming back? She must have.

It's kind of nice. A nice surprise, for once.

“i didn't even know you were-- you look really good.”

[egodefence]

"Well, it's lovely," Gaius says, without actually indicating the horizon itself, his neat eyebrows cinching slightly as he peers a look downwards, indicating instead the floor beneath their feet. "I'd be a liar if I said the, er, the general appeal of a gigantic inexplicably floating platform didn't garner some interest too, but I don't suppose there's much explanation beyond 'magic'."

It's something he's going to have to get used to.

"Not on-duty, then?"

[asklepios]

With a brief smile for 'it's probably magic' - she should be accustomed to the inexplicable, due to being that herself, but then she's always grown up with the firm belief that she knows exactly what her purpose in the world is - she says, “Not tonight, no, although perhaps later I will multitask.”

She is nothing if not an opportunist, after all, and cheerfully unrepentant for as much.

“Do you find much else to interest you here, this evening?”

[egodefence]

"Well--"

There's a moment when something snags his attention, freezes his stare passed her, an ungainly gap in conversation before he blinks and snaps his focus back to where it's meant to be. (These are tics that those who find themselves in quasi-regular conversations with him will just-- have to get used to.)

A slight adjustment to his glasses as if to recentre himself, remembering the question. "Just getting out, I think, you know. I haven't really done much... that isn't work or idling about since I got here. People're friendly enough."

[asklepios]

Benevenuta watches him for that moment, with- not quite concern. Awareness, maybe; it's one of those things she's still deciding whether or not she needs to worry about, and she'd like to get to know him a little better before she starts making decisions like that. Careful- thorough.

“I was lucky to have a friend or two here already, myself- the first thing I did when I arrived, I pawned some jewelry and got myself a drink.”

[egodefence]

"I wandered around until someone gave me a lighter."

On the subject of having a friend or two here, there's a pause from Gaius. Sharon Valerii is not a friend regardless of what reality they happen to be in at the time, but she is a familiar entity. Who would he have here if he could? It'd be a toss up between his personal assistant, and his robot girlfriend. Which is depressing.

"Can't say I was so fortunate, myself. New friends will have to do."

[asklepios]

“Well, our cohort is like to stick together,” she says, with another little salute via cocktail glass - she's branched further out than that, as have most, but the bond between cohort members that the city encourages does seem prone to stick, in more cases than not. And, well, Gaius doesn't quite seem like so much the social butterfly; it might be easier for him to start from a stepladder, as it were. “And we are all friendlier after a drink or two.”

[thedominatrix]

It is probably telling that while Irene's first thought upon catching sight of Benevenuta is deeply and purely appreciative, her second thought is we'll look good together. These things are important; being eye-catching is important. She enjoys the subtle and fairly deceitful contrast which their outfits imply; dark and light.

For a moment, she does wonder being so visibly linked will become a problem now that Vanessza Bernàt is a name which is getting tossed around more and more frequently in philanthropic circles. The not so philanthropic circles, Irene can manage- criminals are easy, old hat, her sort of people in the first place. Dealing in politics has always been more complicated than dealing in crime.

But being circumspect is tedious and it's a party. Irene draws close, the train of her dress untouched by dust, literally magically- it took her a while to get used to the possibilities which Baedal offers. She doesn't try to measure the pros and cons anymore, of course. It only ever kept her up at night.

"I could probably talk you down," she announces with every shade of seriousness and no sincerity, looking out at the sea and then at Benevenuta and it is a beautiful view, isn't it, "if it's necessary. I think I'm very persuasive."

[deservesadaisy]

Ivan had been outside smoking a cigarette - he's here mainly because he is not past wanting to keep Ilde mainly in his sight, and she wanted to come - and he's far enough back that he doesn't have to move at the abrupt landing. He certainly notices, though. Thor is a hard person to miss.

He also remembers him from the Network as running afoul of Daniil's distaste for rising abruptly or early.

So when he passes, Ivan offers a mild, "You do make an entrance, don't you."

Some people say hello, Ivan.

[toooldforlosing]

Raylan is here, and he's forgotten why he thought coming was a good idea. No, that's not fair - he came because he's paranoid, and he thinks that this many people gathered in one place is a temptation for all sorts of people. It's not his jurisdiction, he's not on duty, he doesn't know almost anyone here... and yet.

In truth, though, nothing seems to be going wrong, and Raylan feels desperately out of place. He's wearing a black button-down shirt and dark jeans, and he left his hat at home ("home"), which almost counts as being in disguise. As it seems no disasters are forthcoming, he's somehow managed to acquire an entire bottle of bourbon, and found a bench that's tucked out of the way in what passes for quiet. He can probably be prevailed upon to share, though, if asked politely.

He thinks it's probably deeply wrong that he'd prefer it if something went down.

[andyoullmissit]

Clarice is sitting on the edge of the pool, idly wishing she'd acquired a swimsuit at some point in her stay in Baedal. The water looks inviting, but she's not wearing much under her light belted dress. Instead, she's just removed her ankle boots to trail her bare feet in the water.

She doesn't (quite) startle when the man breaks the water - she's sitting near enough to the ladder that it's to be expected.

"I imagine it's hard to get much exercise when people keep falling in," she observes to him, amused, in a light way that may or may not invite more conversation.

She came to the party to be with people. She might as well actually talk to some of them.

[meanwhileback]

"Darling," she exclaims, not so much because she's excited, but more to be heard over the music. She leans forward on her stool (because to stand up would put her at a devastating loss of height that would make this awkward) and makes with a single air-kiss of greeting.

"Good to see you, can I get you something?" She gestures at the seat next to hers. She's buying, because she's Slightly Loaded now, apparently, and Wolfgang was a big part in getting her there, and because it's just nice to do, she supposes. She doesn't make a habit of it, anyway.

[asklepios]

Benevenuta is laughing, as she turns to meet Irene - there isn't a pause for recognition, not here, not when they are more than familiar with each other by now. With as much of each other as either of them are inclined to share with anyone, anyway; she chooses not to let herself worry about how much that is and is not, because she doesn't have to right now and because she enjoys it.

It is worth thinking about, the levels on which their names are becoming linked; lately, though, it's not the politicians most likely to get her into trouble.

“I was wondering what happens,” she says, tilting her head, confiding; there's a bright glint in her eyes that hints at some kind of recklessness she must so rarely give any part of herself to. “They say it is perfectly safe, it is there are wards, but I wonder...what happens, exactly.” If she jumps.

[berserkergang]

Thor's version of tentative is-- probably akin to a lion exploring an enclosure for the first time. There is hesitation without actual fear, indecision over true uncertainty, and so his attention is easy to snag, coming to a halt when he hears a voice direct enough to be for him.

An entrance? Thor looks up at the sky whence he came, then back at Ivan.

"I mean not to cause alarm -- this place appeared to beckon me as I flew by."

[deservesadaisy]

"I wasn't alarmed." Ivan wouldn't dream of speaking for others. "It's just unusual, even here. The flying. The shouting over the Network is fairly usual, actually, to one degree or another."

[berserkergang]

Oh.

There was that also.

Thor turns his attention better to Ivan, dimly rueful in that dimly amused way he might consider his own moment of murderous rage. As you do. "So I am given to understand. It was a moment of great anger, but that anger has been tamed since. That I would be heard by more than those just beyond the door was not my intention either."

[deservesadaisy]

Ivan let her have her fun, but he generally circled back to her. Not only was he inclined to have her in sight because of safety, but for the less fraught reason that he simply enjoyed watching her. "Aren't you a vision?" he says, coming to join her, and silently offering to take her shoes for the time being. He's had a drink, but isn't carrying one currently.

[deservesadaisy]

"Yes, I gathered. Daniil's a friend of mine, he always gets shirty when his beauty sleep is interrupted." Ivan shrugs, 'what can you do?' fashion.

"Are you finding the party worth stopping for, so far?"

[rhinemaid]

She holds them up for him to take, resting her free hand on his waist and rising up onto her toes to kiss him hello- which would be easier if she were still wearing her shoes, actually, but she'd taken them off to navigate poolside, and she's in a good mood, and she doesn't mind that he's obnoxiously tall or that he's incredibly reluctant to let her wander too far from him lately.

“I am,” she says, insouciantly lacking in modesty, “and I like it here.” In case he'd failed to notice that, somehow.