🎃 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

[uprightness]

[ it's a new territory, not only the dance itself but this proximity between them. It makes him just nearly stumble on his feet but thankfully, not quite. he clears his throat. ]

We could try for one.

[ a gathering. ]

It doesn't necessary has to be this big.

[mucked]

And what? Host it ourselves?

[ -- at first, she sounds downright incredulous. but as they sway and turn in their steps, she begins to warm to the idea. ] You and I. Well. There's an idea.

[ after all, it's just about the only way to be certain she won't complain about the music. ]

[uprightness]

One way to make sure it's not crowded-

[ it stands to reason, after all. a measure of control over an occasional gathering can only be maintained if one organizes it. ]

[mucked]

Invite the Starstruck. The others from -- [ she can't quite say home. the time discrepancy is a little odd. ] The Avengers. Our Rip Van Winkles might be awake by then.

[ though she's not convinced either tony or bucky would make good guests. ]

[uprightness]

I was almost tempted to draw whiskers on his face last time I've been there.

[ he checks on bucky from time to time, makes sure all is stable, even when he's asleep. he doesn't like this one bit but at least they can still keep an eye on him. his thoughts flow in the same direction her own do, it seems that Christmas is his deadline. there are things to be fixed, to be amended before than. ]

Hank, Raven, Kara, Winn, Kitty.

[ except for the avengers, that seems to be his list. ]

[mucked]

[ they are cheek-to-cheek, and dancing without proscribed steps but instead letting the music dictate their movements. her conversation is hushed, and light. just for the pair of them. ]

Provided Winn doesn't take it as a personal affront against his party-planning, [ because she might have cast some light aspersions against the concept of a winn-planned christmas party down the line.

whoops. ]

[uprightness]

Why would he think that?

[ he smiles, an odd thing for her to say, after all. but then, he sighs, angles his head, his next words are spoken, low and amused against her ear. ]

Peg - why would he think that?

[mucked]

[ it's damned tough to be tactful about all this with his words skating the edge of her ear. peggy smiles, realizes it's tasteless to smile, and does everything in her power to stop. ]

Christmas came up in our conversation. He asked me what I'd want to see served at his holiday party and I -- [ pragmatic realist that she is ] -- I may have explained to him I wouldn't necessarily preference his party over others. It was all very fine and honest at the time.

[ here's the kicker: ] Only it looks a little hinky if we now go and hold our own. [ not to say they shouldn't. she's very tempted by the thought of doing something as a couple. ]

[uprightness]

Winn likes you quite a lot.

[ something which never fails to make him glad. his friends, well, save for tony, don't take to teasing either of them about this. it allows them to keep this simple intimacy between them even though by now, surely everyone knows. it doesn't feel as if they do, a little blessing for two people who have spent far too much time in the spotlight before. ]

He won't think much of it.

[mucked]

You're certain of that? He seems so -- easily rattled.

[ it's a judicious description. peggy actively avoids ascribing the words weak and willed to the young man, although she does meet his eagerness to please others with a fair heap of discomfort. winn is almost too nice; deep down, she worries that a personality like that is easily manipulated. easily harnessed.

not that she suspects he would crumble willingly to a bad influence, but she can too readily see how a bad influence masquerading as a good one could comfortably manage his more glaring insecurities. ]

[uprightness]

By you? I was too, at first. Probably never met anyone like you before, I don't really blame him.

[ he smiles against her cheek. Winn reminds him a little bit of himself before erskine, the little guy, the one who can't really find his place in a world much bigger than himself. he is quick to assure him, quicker to protect - he lacks steve's confidence and it's that confidence he's very keen on creating and instilling and straightening. ]

[mucked]

Oh, spare me. [ they sway together, and it's all very sweet and tender. but peggy's voice brooks as little argument as she can manage. ] When I met you, you still had plenty of backbone to spare. You might have been clumsy -- but you were never cowed.

[ and that backbone caught her eye long before anything else did. she'd felt a kinship, there, when she saw him do what the other larger stronger recruits couldn't. ]

[uprightness]

Peg, I called you a dame.

[ dryly. ]

I think as long as he didn't do that, he's still doing pretty ok for himself.

[mucked]

[ oh, hell. he's going to make her spell it out, isn't he? peggy sighs and draws back just far enough so she can look hims squarely in his eyes -- or as squarely as she can manage, now that he's considerably taller than her. even with the heels. ]

-- I took especial notice of you long before that particular conversational misstep, you realize.

[uprightness]

[ there is something there, evident in his features; something softens at once. it's surprise, she evidently caught him unprepared. ]

I didn't.

[ it dawns on him that they've never really had the chance to discuss these things. this moment, suddenly, feels too important, too intimate, perhaps, for such a crowded room. ]

[mucked]

[ oh. peggy had always taken it for granted, perhaps. she'd felt something sharp and impressive in that first moment, when steve dove on that dummy grenade -- narrowly beating her to the same action. she'd felt akin to him in that moment. she'd felt similar. time had only reinforced it.

given his surprise, she presses her advantage -- explaining in a low whisper: ] Do you think Erskine and Phillips were the only ones weighing in on Project Rebirth and its candidates? Observing them?

[ that clipboard wasn't merely for show. ]

[uprightness]

No ma'am.

[ he breathes, at once. maybe he should have guessed, or perhaps he never dared to. So much about Peggy is wonderfully familiar and so much else is still a mystery. in those days, before their, well, attempt at a conversation, she was all mystery, entirely too beautiful and wonderfully fierce.

she's exactly the same here and now, too, suddenly. he smiles - suddenly, almost shy in her presence. how did this happen? ]

Not at all.

[mucked]

Even then, I would have gladly -- danced. With you.

[ does his stature, and his strength, and his fleshed-out features make her a little weak in the knees? absolutely. there is no denying it -- not never, not since the moment she met him outside the vita-ray chamber. but the funny mathematics of attraction had started well before that re-introduction. despite his clumsy conversation, he'd still managed to say all the right things. he talked of right partners, of never running away, and of taking from life all which it was reluctant to give him. ]

And Erskine wasn't the only one in your corner, when it came to the final selection.

[uprightness]

That last part I never had any doubt about.

[ erskine's faith had meant the world and still does. his words ring true to steve, especially as of late, not a perfect soldier but a good man, he once said and steve tries to live by those words as much as he can. peggy's faith is different in the sense of what she risked in its name. he doesn't forget that plane ride, doesn't forget her career being on the line. everything she told him, he held onto as well. some of it she won't know of ( all we can do is our best, she said, he doesn't forget ) but most of it is always present between them. ]

thank you, for that. I never told you.

[mucked]

You never had to. [ dancing with him, however informally, has been lovely. but maybe it's time to draw the pair of them back from the floor. peggy slides her hand down his arm and grabs his wrist -- coaxing him back from the crowd. ] Every fight you fought and everything right you championed was your way of proving Erskine and myself correct.

[ he's a highlight of both their careers. peggy's certain of it. ] He would have been so bloody proud of you.

[uprightness]

[ she leads, he follows, holds onto her hand as they start to maintain a certain distance from where half of the fleet is still dancing. ]

I know you two risked a lot.

[ and he had tried, still does to do right by both of them. he smiles a bit, entwines their fingers. ]

You know, I still think - I always thought it should have been you.

[ what an odd confession but one he always carried with him. times were different, oppression was high but it they weren't, if it were up to steve rogers, it would only have been her. a moment later, he smiles, shrugs. ]

the colors would really fit you.

[mucked]

[ what a beautiful night. peggy makes her peace with the music, and savors even the tail-end of their dance. and when they stroll together to the hall's edge, she's tempted to tease him with the possibility of a story: the night she rescued erskine from a hydra fortress. but all the strength and certainty drains out of her when steve speaks. ]

Me? [ -- oh, bloody hell. her footsteps pause, and she swings 'round to face him. the funny thing is, she's never considered the possibility. peggy had never been brought in under any impression that she might benefit from the program in any way but professionally. indeed, she would have considered herself quite ill-suited to the job.

it's not true, she wants to argue. you've seen my temper; i'd be as bad as hodge. ]

They'd never have me as their Captain America. After all, I'll always be -- [ a woman. ] British. Absolutely far too British for them.

[ she quirks it into a joke, and smiles. ]

[uprightness]

I would.

[ and maybe he's been doing this for enough years to count as a vote in alla this. he thinks back to thor, to the concept of being worthy. some odd outer force seemed to be in play there. here, it was always about people, about finding someone who was - what? brave? good at heart? willing to sacrifice? willing to protect everyone, to show compassion to others?

he looks at her and smiles. ]

It never shouldn't have been about that - [ not about a citizenship nor about gender ] maybe it was for them. but that's what they got wrong.

[mucked]

Oh, hell, Steve.

[ she takes a sobering intake of breath. and glances at the ceiling and its decorations. peggy touches the back of her knuckles against the tight line of her lips. emotion like this is a body of water, with flow and strength and nature on its side. she feels it well up inside of her, and bites back on how raw her love feels.

no, not love. she loves him, certainly, but in this moment what she feels is faith. the sharp realization that steve is in that small percentage of people from home who truly believe in her.

she needs another drink. ]

Let's -- let's be grateful they didn't have any reason to resort to me. I wouldn't have been half so patient with the top brass as you were.

[uprightness]

Nah, you wouldn't have been.

[ he'd give her that. ]

and the performances wouldn't have happened either.

[ which, is perhaps a positive side to the whole thing. the poor bastard who would have tried to rope her into the whole thing - he snorts. she wouldn't have needed the shield to put those people in their proper place. ]