station72 | PARTY PARTY PARTY

Entry tags:

PARTY PARTY PARTY

CHARACTERS: Everyone!
WHERE: The streets of Concordia
WHEN: Dusk til just before dawn on DAY 040
SUMMARY: IT'S A PARADE
WARNINGS: Add them to your top levels as necessary etc etc

As from the calendar:

Confetti! It's a parade! The annual Arista Parade, to be precise. Nominally a part of Aristana, the celebration of the ribbons of life, it's a holiday who's origins are nearly forgotten. Nowadays it's a big, raucous celebration pretty dedicated much entirely to drinking and partying. Almost all those in attendance will be wearing ribbons tied around their hair, their wrists, off of their belts and the edges of their sleeves. Pull one off, and you will be rewarded with a kiss - on the cheek, usually. The parade itself showcases a number of performers, costumes, and moving art pieces. It's route covers a number of the main streets of town (which will be closed, sorry traffic), and it lasts from dusk till nearly dawn on DAY :040. Have fun, if it's your kind of scene.

From the mods:

No notable NPCs are present at the parade - at least not in any official capacity. However if anyone wants to interact with a Concordian native, feel free to make up/interact with any randos you feel like!

Feel free to use this log for all of your parade day activities!

*moving art piece not included, original characters do not steal

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[ Paladin - wait, like Bunkers and Badasses? No, that's a game, she means something more specific, more like. Paladins in the game were like... Holy Knights?

Chosen for it. Well, maybe that is what she means. Angel blinks, watching her, and at least the drink makes the words easy. ]

Like it was calling you? Like you couldn't get it out of your head no matter what you tried and nothing would be right until... until you found it, or be part of it, or... whatever?

[ joined. she thinks, pressing her lips together taste the drink still on them. ]

Sort of...

[ She pauses so she can take another drink, mulling over her own thoughts. It's hard to put it into words. She's going to try, though. Especially since they're actually having a "bonding moment". ]

Not at first, but once I found the Lion, it was - it felt right. Like it was meant to happen. I was supposed to be its paladin. So, yeah, I guess. And now I'm here, stuck on the other side of the universe...

[ She listens - both to what Pidge says, and what hums across the mental link. Letting it inform what words don't always quite capture so easily. ]

Well - [ she pauses, thinks of the sirens, so many planets in six galaxies worth of people, and she suspects as many vaults hidden in the earth, especially from what Jack had madly blathered after Elpis, as he poured the chemicals into her body.

All sirens were prone to wandering. This need to travel and move and find something they had no words for was written into them. ] - think of it this way. You found it before, didn't you? [ A glance about her and she switches. These people weren't up to space travel yet. ] ( We've already been to two planets so far, I suspect there will be hundreds of others, afterwards. If you found your lion before... )

[ Pidge's first instinct is to pull back from the link, but she's feeling surprisingly relaxed, so instead she just sort of lets it bet. It's not terrible. Not like this. She can catch some emotion, glimpses snatches of half-remembered memories that aren't really hers.

That's still weird. ]

Well - yeah. But I knew where to start looking.

[ Pidge is, unfortunately, a natural worrier. ]

What happens if I never find it again? Or any of my friends? What if I spend the rest of my life just trying to figure out how to get back to them?

[ She falls silent, watching her: and it's a hard thing to feel it might never be again.

She comes a bit closer in an offer of comfort, and with it, her hand brushes against the other girls. Quiet. Light. She is always gentle, always soft. Especially like this. ]

You might not have your old friends, but you have us to help you. We're all here for each other now. No matter what. If your Lion is part of you, then I think we'll all want you to be whole.

[ Pdige starts slightly when she feels Angel's hand brush against hers and she blushes. Just slightly. She glances away with a shrug, but her hand stays where it is, although she starts drumming her fingers against her leg. Is it just her or is it getting warmer? ]

Well, yeah - I understand that. I don't - none of you are a problem. Except for Mara. And maybe that Kylo guy. But it's still weird, because it's like I've been told to switch schools, except instead of schools it's a team that's supposed to-

[ She pauses. Right, public. She continues in her stream of consciousness rambling by way of the mental link. ]

( You know. Supposed to save the universe. And oh, by the way, we put a thing in your head. So it's just... unnerving and weird and I'm not used to having people talking in my head or being able to hear what other people are thinking and it's just really overwhelming and I'm worried I'm never going to see my actual family again. )

[ She has to pause to "take a breath". ]

[ It is a lot, that much she has to admit.

So she gives the only thing she can, a wash of calm through her mind. Ease, comfort, not forcing, not dragging her down the way she does when she needs Petre or Aoba easy around her: but to how she spoke to Shiro or Bellamy. Soft, no sharp edges, all giving and the hopeful feeling of soft falling rain the first time she had stepped off the ship on Avera.

There is a possibility and she feels it every day she wakes up with a free body and a free mind. ]

( I'm sorry about your family. I hope you do. )

[ she presses there a moment, and she doesn't share much of life, of what the hive meant, what good is it? Those first days had been awful. The life before it was a tragedy to her father's cruelty and madness. Of being powerful, being superhuman, didn't save you. That sometimes life was unforgiving, and then you died. Who in their right mind would discuss it, tell others?

The only consolation was in seconds like this. Where maybe that understanding could help someone else. ]

( My... abilities make the mental link easier for me than others, I know. But it also came at the price that before I arrived here, I had spent my life locked in a room, with no human contact except the scientists that experimented on me by my... father's orders. It got worse after I was drugged. When I arrived, I couldn't stand people touching me. I wanted to throw up all the time from the withdrawal. Ahsoka... Ahsoka had to carry me because I couldn't walk.

I still have days like that. I forget how to move my arms and legs. I forget that people are real, and I'm not just dreaming. Someone touches me and I jump a foot. Sometimes it's too much and I even miss the awful collar my father put on me because I feel like my body isn't mine and I can't control it. I am never sure it'll ever really feel like it is mine.

And I know I'm not the only one, even if I can only, in the end, speak for myself. Maybe not those circumstance specifically, but how hard this can all be. We all were someone else, before we came here. I know how it can be to not feel like a victim. Like you don't have any choice. I never had any, and to start with, I just laid there. I was so ready to die that this was - impossible, in so many little ways. Someone was forcing me to keep breathing, and I thought my lungs were going to fall out of my chest in sheer protest.

But for all of that... I wouldn't trade this. Because what being here, being part of this... means to me at least, is possibility. I have choices here, that I couldn't have otherwise, that I might never have known before. I have people that will listen to me, that will consider what I have to say. That if I asked for help, would give it just as gladly as I would give it to them.

So I guess, what I mean is? This is something you can use, Pidge, it's not something that's just happening to you. You are happening to it, too. You can do anything you want to with it. You're not its victim, you are a person living your own life and you're not helpless. You're strong, and you can survive this and do much more than that. )

[ Bites her thoughts off there, and - doesn't want to preach. She might not understand home or homesickness. What does she have to miss? Less than nothing. But she knows powerlessness, that prickling feeling of having to watch and just accept and feel like there was nothing to do but self destruct.

Then, Cathaway had taken the control collar off, and the light rushed back in. ]

[ To any outside observer, it might just look like Pidge has a had a bit too much to drink (which is probably true) as her gaze goes a bit distant. She's focused inward, listening to the rambling thoughts that come her way from Angel. It's a bit overwhelming, but Pidge can feel the sincerity that rolls off of her. There's just so much positivity and calm and it... helps. She doesn't know why. She's not sure if it's because they're sharing emotions and thoughts or because the whole story is actually sort of helpful in putting it all in perspective.

It helps that Pidge is feeling more than a little sympathetic once she hears what Angel's life was like before she arrived in the Nest. It reminds her a bit of what happened to Shiro. Except, you know, it was done by Angel's family. She tentatively and carefully opens the link in reply, sending a pulse of sympathy down the their mutual connection.

Communicating like this is still really strange to her. ]

( That all sounds... really bad. I know that's kind of an understatement, but I don't know what else I can say about it. Being drugged and experimented on sounds horrible, but when it's your own family doing it, that just adds a whole new level of misery. No escape or anything. Right? Um. Sorry. )

[ Pidge's thoughts are a complicated jumble, rolling from topic to topic and thought to thought without much of a pause or a break in between. ]

( I - yeah. I guess that makes me feel a little better about this. I'm glad that you - that you're finding a way to be yourself and to have freedom and that you don't have to be experimented on anymore, but... I don't know. My brother and my father are both locked up somewhere and being used as slaves or worse and every minute I spend here I feel like I'm getting farther and farther away from them. Like I have a time limit and that this is - it's just - dragging me back. )

[ Her shoulders slump a little. Underneath all the prickly anger and frustration, there's desperation and sadness and worry. ]

( So even if I can use this, what's the point in getting stronger if I can never actually save them? )

( It was a life, and I can say that when I decided I didn't want it anymore, I got to decided it for myself. But I made my peace with it a long time ago. Don't feel bad for me. )

[ She watches, careful, the hum of alcohol in her veins, but something else too. There's so much to worry about, she thinks, the lives that they all had - good and bad. With good parents and bad. With people you cared about and people that you didn't.

She leans down to her - not much, not like either of them are very tall. The point of this parade, the ridiculous game of it all, but there's a softness and too much sincerity when she presses her lips to Pidge's cheek. A flutter of her eyelashes, the sweet sticky smell of alcohol and whatever else was mixed in the drink.

The aftertaste of smoke from the lions as they roared out licks of fire. ]

( Because if they're anything like you, they'll be looking for you too. If there's one thing I've seen a lot of, is that people will fight, they will fight for the things they believe in, that they care about, to the bitter end. Trust them, and trust yourself. Never give up, Pidge. )

[ Strange as this might be to observe, their apparent silence, then the way she shifts in, down, entirely wordless. But it's the most natural thing in the world, as far as Angel was concerned, it was. ]

[ Pidge is feeling pleasantly warm, funnily enough. Almost like she's floating a little bit. It's a strange feeling, one she's not familiar with, and she isn't sure why it's happening. She's trying not to think about it too hard - she's having a pretty heavy conversation after all - and trying to form a response when she feels Angel's lips press against her cheek. She blinks and turns her head to stare at Angel, cheeks slowly starting to turn a bright red.

She's not sure why.

Well, that's not true, she knows why, but it's hard to put it into words. She reaches up a hand in a slow gesture (everything feels like it's moving a bit slower than usual) and she rubs at her cheek. ]

( I - yeah. They're a lot like me, but - I mean. Thanks. I think. )

[ She's a bit flustered. And words are getting hard. ]

( I'm not going to give up anytime soon. It's not what I do. It's not who I am. I just... sorta wish that I knew what it was going to take to get them back. )

[ For some reason she's staring at Angel's lips and she suddenly feels awkward and Pidge's attention goes right back to the parade (or the tail-end of it, anyway), cheeks still red.

This tradition is stupid. ]

[ She straightens up again, the ribbons fluttering about her, and she lifts her hand absently to start fiddling with an aqua green one, working it free in small tugging gestures as Pidge talks, giving her some space where - she's been pink in the face more than once since she came here. Being part of a hive mind certainly made working out the embarrassing aspects of living together twice as difficult. ]

( Never forget that, I've seen a lot of things, more than most people - no matter how impossible it seems, things happen. )

[ Six women, six women, one for each galaxy so far known, and four of them so far had ended up on Pandora.

The ribbon comes free, and she holds it up, dangling it in front of Pidge between two light inked fingers. ]

... and I believe this is yours now? [ A teasing, light giggle, as if to curve the heaviness of what they were discussing, at least internally. ]

[ There are way too many thoughts in Pidge's head right now and she can't keep all of them locked up when she's sharing a mental link with someone. There's a bit of embarrassment, a bit of mild panic, some confusion. A rush of warm feelings when she remembers the way the kiss felt and then a stubborn tamping down of that.

Is she supposed to like being kissed on the cheek that much? Is that normal? Is she weird? She's probably weird. She's always weird.

Breath. In, out. This is fine.

She's fine.

Pidge takes a deep breath and another drink from her cup. Just to help her cope and keep herself occupied. ]

( Well, yeah. Me being here is all kinds of impossible, but here I am. So I don't discount that. Then again, it's probably not statistically impossible, just statistically unlikely- )

[ Pidge pauses and then reaches out to take the ribbon, almost automatically. That blush is back. ]

Uh. Thanks? I think? What do I do with it now?

[ Angel laughs and - well, fair enough. ] Here, swap for a second - and I'll tie it on for you?

[ She offers an exchange back, her drink for the ribbon so could fasten it to her comfortably. Might tight enough so Pidge didn't have to worry about someone else stealing a kiss when she was - very pink, she notices idly. ]

[ "Pink" is one way of putting it. Her experience with romance and physical affection beyond more family-like stuff is entirely academic. She clears her throat and quickly trades the ribbon back, watching as Angel ties the ribbon on to her. ]

I wonder how this ribbon thing got started. Who thinks of that? What's it supposed to represent?

[ There's a drunken haze to her movement that makes them a little slower, a little more meticulous. Gently humming as she wraps it around her wrist, ligning it up carefully, her little fingers bracing against Pidge's arm as she begins to tie the ribbon into a bow. ]

Maybe it's - uhm, those stories I heard from earth, about how Knights would ask for a ladies favour, which us, uh a scrap of material, isn't it? I think, anyway, in tournaments they'd ask for it before they fought for good luck? Maybe it's like that.

[ She brings the loops around and feeds one under the other to tie them together. ] I guess that makes you my knight in shining armour, huh?

[ "Drunken haze" is a pretty good description. Pidge is feeling a bit woozy from the alcohol, but still in a good spot. At least until later tonight. For some reason, she feels acutely aware of Angel's fingers against her skin and she starts trying to recite the digits of "pi" in her head to distract herself. It mostly works, but she runs out of steam around the twentieth digit.

Booze and memory don't mix. Especially when someone is calling Pidge a knight in shining armor. ]

Well, uh, I guess? I mean, I'm a paladin, which is basically a knight, but my armor isn't that shiny. It's more white and green and it's actually pretty matte, because you don't want it to give your position away - oh, it does have lights. I guess. Those... are shining?

[ She'd like to say that this knowledge comes from an actual knowledge of a far off planet's history.

But real talk, it's from a goddamn tabletop game, Bunkers and Badasses. ]

I think those definitely count as shining. I don't see why it wouldn't. Being white and green definitely help. [ Bright and clean, the sun that falls on the Highlands. Before the threshers rip up whoever comes past anyway. ] Paladins are holy, aren't they? Holy fighters that serve a King or Queen to help them keep the peace in the Kingdom.

[ Her eyes crinkle up at the edges with her smile. ] Paladin Pidge and her noble Lion.

[ She ties the ribbon off at least, taking her drink back. ] So, are you going to come rescue me from a dragon?

[ Tabletop games are a viable mode of learning. Maybe. Pidge isn't really thinking about table-top games, though. She's trying to keep herself focused on what Angel is saying and not on how she sort of wishes that Angel would leave her hand on her arm, because that's definitely not something she's ever going to talk about or tell Angel. hen again, she's 100% sure that Angel can read her mind right now (although unlike most nervous teenagers, she's probably more right than she is wrong).

Think about robots or something, Pidge. Lions. Voltron.

Lance? OK, that sort of works.

Besides, now they're discussing paladins, isn't that great? ]

Uh, I don't know about holy, but we do have a princess. Did have a princess. But she could handle herself pretty well, so she was actually pretty hands on when it came to-

[ She's sure that her ears are about to just burn themselves off of her head. Especially when Angel asks Pidge if there's going to be rescuing from dragons involved. Look, she's read terrible young adult fantasy. ]

Uh - I - If you need help, sure. I couldn't just leave you, but it would also depend on the dragon and what we had on hand to fight it. Because if it's a really large dragon, I don't think my bayard would be enough. But I'd definitely do my best. I mean, I've never fought an actual dragon before, but I've fought things that are like dragons in that they're large and threatening-

[ She decides that now is a good time to take another swig of her drink. She can't talk if she's drinking. ]

[ Mercifully, probably to Pidge, it's all just somewhat of a jumble to follow quickly, a trickling warmth that she doesn't mind at all, it's nice, it's always nice to be close to people as far as Angel is concern and - wait.

Whose that guy? ]

I've sort of met a Baroness, and she was very hands on as well. Definitely could handle herself. [ Oh, Aurelia, stop setting orphans on fire because you think it sounds funny??

There's a prickly amusement in her eyes as Pidge hurriedly drinks, but otherwise apart from that, she does a marvellous job of acting like this all normal. ( Probably, it's normal for the hive. ) ] I'm glad you wouldn't leave me. [ Alright, so she teases a little. ] Of course. Well, see, you're already experienced. Between your lion and everything you can do, I'm sure you'll have me out of that tower in no time. [ Oh, Angel, you're sick, you do know that, don't you? That this fantasy cuts close, she doesn't breath out a word of, in mind or action. Why should she let it bother her, she insists to herself, when Pidge is so hastily downing her drink. ] It'll just be a detour for you, I'm sure, you'll have it sorted so quickly.

["That guy" is like the furthest thing from attractive Pidge can think of right now, which isn't that fair to him, but she's a bit drunk and she can't seem to get her head on entirely straight. That's mostly the alcohol, but some of it is the... flirting? Pidge thinks it's flirting, but she's also fourteen and she's never done this before, so she's probably panicking over nothing. She finishes her gulp of her drink and shifts from one foot to the other, trying to think of how to respond. ]

Well, I'd probably end up leveling the tower. Kinda. I mean... particle cannons and stuff.

[ She stammers and tries to correct herself. That came out wrong. ]

I wouldn't do that while you were in it! But I guess we are supposed to rescue people. And you're part of the... uh, crew. And you're... a friend. I think. I mean, we haven't known each other that long, but I'd like to think we're friends, at least for right now.

[ There's that word, isn't it, friend. The one thing sometimes offered more freely that she deserves to be given, after what she's done to many of those 'friends' and the thing she cared about more than anything. The moment after betraying them that when she reached out to speak to them, there was just empty crackling silence or a vile spew of language at her that she more than deserved, she knew.

But more than a kiss on a cheek, or teasing, it makes her heart beat wildly in her chest, so loud and clear and bright. The one thing she wanted, so much, the one thing that made dying worth it, - being with them. ]

I'd like that, a lot, if you want to be my friend.

I - yeah! I think that'd be good!

[ There's a trace of relief in her voice for reasons she doesn't quite understand, but she's glad that it's going over well. She's felt... not exactly alone, but isolated. That's partly her fault; she's been in her room, trying and trying to figure out this world through the brute force of her computer. She hasn't made time to make friends with the rest of the Nest.

This is a good step. ]

I mean, we're in this together, right?

[ She nods a nervous smile playing there - and she'd said that many times before too, so many people. I'm here for you, I'll be with you, I'm watching over you. The words had started to lose meaning, how she promised and promised and promised, and it meant nothing in the end.

It's not until this place that she got to have it in return. Got to say it and mean it. ]

Yeah, yeah we are, we can look for your parents together, too.

My dad and my brother, actually.

[ Katie corrects her. It's not meant to be rude. It's just not something she's specified yet. ]

My mom is back on Earth, so... she's probably safe enough. But I bet she's worried sick about me.

[ Pidge pauses. She feels a bit guilty for leaving her mom all alone, but this was something she had to do. Finding them was important. ]

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PARTY PARTY PARTY

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