🎃 HALLOWEEN MINGLE 🎃

[benames]

You are cordially invited to Cisco and Winn's Not-Too-Terrifying Halloween Costume Party!

Who: everyone ( yes, you too!)
Broadcast: N/A
Action: aboard the Iskaulit!
When: current



[ on the night of the 28th, the lecture hall will open its gates though it'll look remarkably different. Winn and Cisco would have decorated the corridors leading to it with Jack-o'-lanterns made from the pumpkins gathered at the little patch on the planet. The hall itself will be similarly decorated, along with other traditional scary Halloween decorations made from paper and fabric ( don't ruin the little paper spiders, they took hours to make! ). There will be music from various times of Earth-1 and Earth-3, so don't be surprised to find Lady Gaga playing alongside the Spice Girls! Feel free to make requests or otherwise, just show your skills on the dance floor!

There will be a bar run by Nami offering free sodas, though you'll have to pay for your own alcohol ( remember, don't drink and fly! ). Alongside the bar, characters will find a few tables offering candy from Earth-1 won by Cisco at the game room with a little sign reading TAKE ONE, LEAVE SOME FOR OTHERS and quite a lot of space chips and protein dips as well as various candy from all over the different planets ( cleverly hoarded by Winn! ) and a large selection of pumpkin pies and pumpkin treats. Characters will also find a line leading to Cisco's trusty ice cream machine, though it'll only offer peanut butter flavored sorbet.

At the corner of the hall there will be a karaoke machine with a little sign-up sheet. Characters could sign up solo or in groups and list the song they'd like to sing. Keep in mind though, the entire hall will be able to hear your rendition of Sexy and I Know it!

Adventure-seeking characters will be able to follow signs reading HAUNTED HOUSE and reach a large hall that was turned into a maze by large cardboard blocks painted black or covered by dark fabrics. Making it out of the maze won't be too hard and the maze itself won't be too frightening but will be mildly startling. It'll include some nifty engineered animatronics of witches, scarecrows, scary clowns and skeletons as well as holograms of ghosts! The song featured in the invitation will also be heard here, on repeat. It's a good break from the dancing and for some private conversations and moments.

Remember, costume are mandatory! you don't want to be caught by tonight's pumpkin kings, do you? ]

Comments

[outstandingbalance]

Conversation took a turn, didn't it?

[mucked]

My apologies -- although I suppose it is an appropriate day for being maudlin, isn't it?

[outstandingbalance]

Or creepy. Still... It's less fun when it's not pretend.

[mucked]

Then we should try to be more fun. [ a lop-sided smile. ] What do you suggest?

[outstandingbalance]

You don't have to on my account. But the problems will still be there tomorrow if we take an evening for ourselves.

[mucked]

[ the problems will still be there a month from now, peggy decides, but that's only the mild apathy making her feel that way -- it's difficult, to have been here for over a year and see so little change in the larger picture. ]

Then maybe, [ she puffs her cheeks and admits ideological defeat, ] you ought to teach me a few of those modern dance moves -- so I can start figuring out how to take the evening for myself. As you put it.

[outstandingbalance]

Bold. [Natasha smiles at that, an honest smile.] If you're up to that, how can I say no?

[mucked]

I don't know what it's like in the future, Natasha, but when I'm from? The truly demure rarely make it far. Man or woman.

[ her career was forged in a time that called for boldness from all quarters. ] Mind you, I rather doubt the philosophy was often applied to dancing.

[outstandingbalance]

Oh, that always applies to dancing.

[Natasha says, suddenly playful and sharp.]

In fact, this kind of dancing, being bold is probably more important thank knowing the steps.

oh jeez sorry i didn't realize it was an accident!

[mucked]

[ playful and sharp is perfectly welcome. peggy finishes her drink. ]

That's what worries me, [ she 'admits' -- though only so far as it seems like a very superficial sort of admission. ] Government employee like me, [ she laughs, ] I don't do so well without steps to follow.

[ she jokes. in truth, she's fairly keen for this lesson. ]

no it's fine! sorry i crossed some wires there

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha's smile doesn't falter.]

Somehow, I think you're better at improving than you give yourself credit for.

[Natasha finishes whatever she's drinking and sets it aside.]

C'mon. We'll start with something easy.

[mucked]

[ peggy laughs, and abandons ginger rogers's oversized hat. ]

Alright, [ she slaps her hands together and gives them a mock-eager rub. ] What counts as easy?

[outstandingbalance]

[Are you sure you want to know, Peggy? Even if not, Natasha is heading for the floor.]

Nothing formal. Just a little improvising.

[mucked]

[ -- at the very least, she makes for a good student. peggy waves her way through the initial crowd. and she has a lion's share of whiskey in her belly to help her feel inoculated against whatever public display is bound to follow. ]

Improvising? I can do improvising.

[outstandingbalance]

[The next song comes on and Natasha half shrugs and nods, an unspoken decision that this will do.]

That's really all that is to it.

[mucked]

[ well! it's hard to fault a classic bass line. and improvisation, it seems, starts in the shoulders: a sort of rolling shimmy that pins its rhythm to the bass. and when the trumpets burst into the song, peggy is caught by pleasant surprise. ]

I suppose -- [ she hedges her judgment ] -- it's not all bad.

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha had the feeling this song would go over well. It's catchy and accessible, while still being modern. Plus, it's an easy enough number to dance to.

Not exactly the ballet, but Natasha picks up the beat naturally, mirroring Peggy's shoulder moves with confidence.]

Not all bad, huh?

[mucked]

-- Careful. Echo me too much and you'll start sounding like a grandmother as well.

[outstandingbalance]

No danger of that.

[mucked]

[ a snort. ] I didn't think it would be possible, myself, and yet here I am -- the old lady shaking her fist against the music of the youth.

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha steps in a little closer, half turning so she's looking over her shoulder at Peggy and doing another shimmy of her own.]

You're not actually that old.

[mucked]

You're right -- [ pardon her a moment while she turns, fluidly, on the ball of a foot. a pin in her wig threatens to let go, but peggy barely notices. she's enjoying herself. ] I'm not. But the chronological distance plays tricks on the mind, at times.

[outstandingbalance]

Might be easier if you actually were that old, you mean? You'd have lived through it all.

[mucked]

Something like that. [ she concedes. ] It'd be a lot less jarring.

[outstandingbalance]

It just means you have more catching up to do.