The Party Scene

Participants:

colette_icon.gif delilah_icon.gif doyle_icon.gif elaine_icon.gif magnes_icon.gif

quinn_icon.gif sable_icon.gif tasha_icon.gif toby_icon.gif ygraine_icon.gif

Also Featuring:

hailey_icon.gif lance_icon.gif mala_icon.gif

Scene Title The Party Scene
Synopsis The residents of Gun Hill, as well as a few friends, congregate on teh rooftop with the aim of throwing a party on the 4th of July.
Date July 4, 2010

Gun Hill: Rooftop


It’s amazing what can be pulled together with almost no real and proper planning at all. Quinn had spent almost two weeks now bandying about this idea of a rooftop party to everyone she could get a thought form it on – and it was wonderfully received.

And then, in a true monument to laziness, she had proceeded to do nothing to bring it to fruition. Oops! The result had been a hectic last couple of days, when she wasn’t distracted by work and life spent doing everything she could in an effort to get done in time. In her eyes, it was somewhat of a small miracle that now, in the late evening of the fourth of July, that the whole thing had seemingly come together. Her DJ equipment was all set up, already playing “More Than A Feeling” by Boston, rooftop cleaned up and more chairs and even a small table if folks wished to sit around brought up. Perhaps the only real sore point of the whole thing was the lacking in food – Quinn had managed to pick up a big platter from Chick-Fil-A, but her inability to cook left few other options besides chips, nuts, and pretzels. Hopefully, someone would remember to bring something and remedy this dire situation. Beverages, however, had been covered quite well, with a nice array of beer and soda. She, of course, hadn’t been alone in getting all of it ready, but her own sense of pride remains.

Behind her turntable and console, Quinn stands with her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed as she surveys the rooftop with a nod. Dressed in her corset and skirt work attire – more or less her DJing uniform, it seems to have become – she smiles. Already, folks were beginning to arrive, Quinn offering a wave and a greeting to each one. If everything stayed as good as she felt now, then it was going to be a wonderful night. She was jazzed, and ready to go, and she could only help everyone else would end up enjoying themselves as much as she hoped.

Having stopped off at Panucci's about twenty minutes ago, Magnes arrives at the party wearing a blue Bizzaro symbol t-shirt, black jeans, and black sneakers, carrying a stack of ten pizzas. He flew up to the roof instead of making the treck all the way up the stairs, and starts looking for a place to sit them. "Pizza!"

To say that Elaine was excited about the party would be an understatement. Really, she'd been looking forward to it, complete with cake and all. The first one had already been devoured earlier in the day, but as Elaine heads up to the roof, she sneaks her cake in on the food table: poundcake covered with whipped cream with blueberries making up the stars and lines of chopped up strawberries making the stripes. A glorified strawberry shortcake, but a festive one, at that! Glancing around a bit, she's more than happy to offer Quinn a quick wave before she looks around to see who all is showing up.

There have been some words from Eric Doyle about the beer, and it has been made very clear that anyone who gets drunk to any level he deems unacceptable will be given a forcible 'time out' until they sober up. The party on the rooftop will, of course, lure most of the kids up there, and he doesn't want them endangered or exposed to slobbering drunk people.

Of course, that's probably not a huge danger, but he's very protective of the children that used to be at the Lighthouse.

"So there's gonna be fireworks?" That's an excited whisper from Paul as he comes up onto the roof along with several of the other kids, and, of course, Doyle himself; Mala riding up on his shoulders, giggling happily as she does so. The dogs were left downstairs, at least for the time being, although undoubtedly Hailey will try and smuggle one up here at some point.

"There should be, kiddo," Eric chuckles heartily, "If nothing else we can see some from all around the city from up here."

The door to the roof opens, and Tasha is carrying a platter of cookies and leading a stranger into the fold. The petite teen leads Toby onto the roof and smiles. "So, yeah, this is kinda our first party, and you're just in time for it. It can be a little housewarming party for you, except we didn't know it when we starting talking about it. That doesn't mean we can't kill two birds with one stone!" she says cheerfully.

She shouts to the rest, "Hey guys! Our new landlord is here, come say hi!" She glances to Doyle and grins. "You don't have to be the only grown up anymore, 'Jason.'"

Where there's a party, there's inevitably Tobias Benton-Ward. Even though he's only just stepped off a plane from California, even though he's been travelling for eight hours, even though he, by all rights, should be bushed, the cheerful man strolls up the staircase and onto the roof after Tasha in a festive silk collared shirt printed with the American flag and a pair of nice khaki pants. On his heels is an equally festive Corgi, with a red-and-white striped doggy t-shirt on his back, nosing around curiously.

Some may know him, many may not. He's been around before, but he's mostly been ferrying people out of the country so his presence has been spotty. Either way, he's just arrived, and the enthusiastic man rubs his hands together as he crests the stairs. "Excellent! Thank you so much, Tasha; you've been such a dear." Turning to those gathered, he offers a sunny, toothy smile and a rather flourished bow. "He-llo, everyone! Tobias Benton-Ward at your service, though I rather prefer 'Toby.' How's everyone's Fourth been?"

Magnes is lucky that his friends like to bake; too little food to too much, and now the baked goods seem ready to roll in. Unlike the denizens of Gun Hill this afternoon, Delilah hardly goes to any of these sorts of parties without her dog. Samson is as good a companion as any to such things- and he gets along well enough with everything, regardless of how tiny or hairy. When Delilah finally makes it up to the roof a bit after the first crowd, she is looking just a little winded; the heat is not so bad- it is the trekking around with half a baby that has gotten to her as of late. She puts on a happy face when she pops open the door, at least. One hand is carrying what looks like a pie bag- there are a couple inside, strawberry and rasperry- and the other is loosely wound in the loop of leather attached to the monstrous dog that pokes his head around the corner of the door, nose sniffing heartily. There is someone new.

"The British are coming! Am I the only one that finds this funny?" Delilah's hair is pulled back, and her ponytail flicks as she looks back over her shoulder to see if anyone is following her. Her clothes are mostly white- with splashes of paint-like color on her skirt, and her long shirt happily exclaiming 'Go <3 Your Own City'.

Who is this strange young woman, surrounded by the wholesome but somewhat acrid scent that must have suffused the air at Woodstock in '69? A small creature, to be sure, but hard to recognize behind silver-rimmed Lennon's with purple lenses. With that paisley tunic, it's clear that her ensemble is something of a statement, some weird throwback to a more idealistic time. Her pants… now here's the giveaway. Made of soft hemp fabric, but still, as always, cargo pants with big pockets. And the shoes are just the same, the same old sneakers Sable bums about in.

But the manner of her bumming is something new, apparently occasioning a total revamp of her wardrobe. She walks with a careless roll that matches her careless grin, wide and white as always but not nearly as aggressive as usual. She just seems… happy to see people. She flicks her finger in easy-going points in greeting as she eases up from the fire stairs and joins the gathering crowd.

Doyle and the kids - point, "Giant 'n' dwarves. Right the frig on." Tasha - point, "Hey, babe." Toby - point, "Awesome duds. In the fuckin' spirit. 'm Sable. Nice t' meetcha bossman." Elaine - point, wink, "Happy fourth, darlin'." Magnes - double point, shuffle, low five. "What it is, my man. Pizza? Hell yes, hell yes." Quinn she walks up to, leaning across the console, "Yer a fuckin' wonder. A rare jewel. Thanks f'r throwin' this."

She makes an about face, leaning back before pushing off, propelling herself towards Delilah. She brings herself to a halt, and tips down her glasses, revealing yellow eyes just a little bloodshot. "Well, are y' a redcoat 'r redhead, hon? Tonight's no night f'r the first, but the second's more th'n welcome." She leans in to kiss Dee on the cheek. "Lovely t' see y'." Then she glances down at Samson and gives a short bark in greeting. Oookay.

The arrival of another guest having been announced by the rumble of a powerful bike's engine, coming to a halt outside the building, there is a short pause while the rider makes her way up the flights of stairs to the roof.

Making concessions to the heat, Ygraine has not only ditched the heavy biker's gear she would normally wear while riding her motorcycle, but has even adopted vaguely Summery attire. It's all-black, but denim cut-offs, a bandana, and a sleeveless top provide a great deal more opportunity for cooling off than her usual attire. The Gothic element is still present, however, thanks to the fishnets and the calf-high jungle boots.

The Briton comes to a halt in the doorway, peering rather quizzically at the array of people already present, before shunting her wrap-around shades up atop the bandana covering her hair. It's red, white and blue - but is quite a different Union flag to those usually seen in the city. Further, she's wearing a badge, pinned to her top, saying "Happy Philippine-American Friendship Day!" In her hands, however, she carries a couple of cake tins, and once she's identified a suitable place to aim to deposit them, she starts towards it.

There's a bit of a giggle at Sable's outfit, but Elaine is more than happy to be comfortable with the oddness of their party. That's part of the joy of their strange group of compatriots. Ooh, and there's a dog party, too. Huzzah for pets. And kids. Elaine couldn't be happier. She offers a wave to Dee. "You're looking good.." She peers towards the bag she carries. "Please tell me those are something delicious. I can go put 'em on the table, if you'd like?"

"Alright, alright," Eric laughs as Mala drums against his bald pate, bending down slightly and awkwardly to heft her off his shoulders and set her down on the ground, "Why don't you all go check out the— "

The kids are gone as they descend upon Magnes, his pizza, and the Chik-fil-a platter like a swarm of starving locusts bent on stripping the roof to its bones.

"— food." A pause, and he chuckles heartily as he straightens, lifting one hand to wave his greetings to Sable's welcome and the others on the roof before Tasha's words hit him and he turns to look with a furrowed brow in the direction of the entrance where she comes out and Tobias makes his appearance. A frown furrows his lips and brow both for a moment, and then he tries to force an uneasy, uncertain sort of smile to his expression as he steps along forward towards the man to offer his hand, "…landlord? I'm, uh. I'm Jason. Interim super until Lynette comes back?"

“Christ, I wasn’t really expecting anyone to bring food,” Quinn remarks with her hands on her hips, a wide smile as she watches each new person arrive, each new food item placed with the rest. “I mean, holy crap!” A loud laugh, which turns a bit nervous when she remembers that the kids are joining for the party too. She’d have to watch it, though at least she got amusement out of knowing she’s not the only one. As the song from the speakers fades, and “I’m Not Your Toy” by La Roux kick in, Quinn finally emerges properly out from behind them.

“Well, Paul, I’m hoping there’ll be some sort of fireworks, maybe. Depends on somethin’,” She remarks as he passes, reaching out to ruffle his hair. It’s Sable who claims her attention next, an amused smile on her face. “You’re kiddin’, right? This is as much for me as it is you all,” she remarks with a wink. “My pleasure. I love this kinda thing.”

When Doyle moves forward to introduce himself to Toby, Tasha slides forward, slipping an arm around Doyle's waist and facing Toby. She smiles and waves at Sable's greeting, glancing around at the other's present, but keeping by the two superintendents for now. "Toby's a friend of Lynette's from California," she tells Eric, weighing the word 'friend' a bit, to let him know that he is apparently Ferry. "I think he knows Eileen and Hana and those guys, too."

She holds the plate up. "Cookie?" There's snickerdoodles and chocolate chips. Tasha's patriotism is shown in her shoes, which are Converse as usual but red-white-and-blue stripes and stars. The rest of her is no more festive than usual — denim cut-offs and a navy-blue tank top, her short hair in two pigtails.

Magnes smiles at the kids as he lays the boxes of pizza out, then opens the lid of one and looks down at them. "Alright, let's see if you kids have been learning anything from our lessons!" he announces, pointing to the cheese pizza. "Whoever tells me how many slices of pizza is one fourth of the whole pizza, gets the first slice!

First thing's first: Toby extends a hand to Doyle and gives it a somewhat soft shake. "Pleasure to meet you, Jason! I'm here to help! I heard that Lynette's missing; any word?" He grins, however, at Sable and offers a salute. "Your threads have personality, my dear! Love it! Oh, goodness, if I had had time and notice, I would have prepared some things. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I make a mean deviled egg."

Rugby, meanwhile, putters around and sniffs all over. New scents! Everywhere! He putters right up to Sable, tailless butt wriggling a bit in excitement before he sneezes a bit, then he scampers fearlessly over to Samson to identify this other four-legged guest.

"Come now, do I look like a redcoat?" Delilah answers, pecking Sable on the temple before the smaller girl shifts away. She just smiles dumbly when Sable barks at Samson. Samson is in a similar place- he looks up at Sable, confused, ears tilting hither and tither. Say what? "Pie. Yeah-" Delilah sidles away from Sable, taking a hazardous guess that she may well be high as a kite. The pies are taken over to Elaine. "Please? I gotta have a sit. Been feeling like he's trying to take a walk too. On my bladder. Thank god I took a pee on the way up."

If Elaine is going to volunteer to take the pies, she best be ready to.

Meanwhile, loyal Samson at her side is suddenly hot-trotting in surprise at the shoe-shaped dog at his ankles. Oh! Oy. Who's this? Canine sniffing ensues, surely. Delilah gives the decorated corgi a glance, grinning. "Oh, aren't you just darling? Be nice, Samson."

The black-clad woman with the British bandana lingers at the table for a few moments. From the first tin, she carefully lifts out a chocolate sponge. From the second emerges a rather civilised fruit loaf. The tins are then carefully closed up, before Ygraine once again runs her gaze over those on the roof. Her attention briefly lingers in a couple of places. Then she shakes her head as if to clear it, tucks her cake-tins under her arm, and heads for the door to the stairs.

Sable looks pleased as punch to have given, she presumes, Samson something to think about. A canine profundity he can pour over until- huhpiewhat?! Sable darts in an ungainly, curved intercept course, popping up next to Elaine, maintaining vision confirmation of suspected baked treats. There's one bag. And Elaine's already offered to carry it. "Naw, naw, pleeease, lemme," she says, extending an avid hand, "I'll see it safe t' the distant table, swear t' God." Shameless, considering her bad track record when it comes to theft in general and pastry theft in particular.

Doyle's grip is rather firm in contrast, his brows furrowing all the more at the man's enthusiastic manner and selective enunciation, looking generally less than pleased although that forced smile hasn't quite left his face. "No word," he admits, his hand falling back to his side as he gives the man another once-over, "I'm not sure we really need more help, I mean, we're getting along here just fine…" He takes a cookie as he speaks, bringing a snickerdoodle up to his lips to munch on, tiny crumbs getting in his beard.

The children, meanwhile, have been stymied by mathematics! "Oh, c'mon, this is easy," Bray opins with a roll of his eyes at the younger kids, though his solution is drowned out by a few of the others as they shout their suggestions. "Math is dumb," Lance muttered before slipping off to raid the chicken.

As for Hailey - well, her stomach's gone entirely out of the picture, because there's a new animal on the loose on the roof! She grins delightedly at the sight of Rugby, the animal empath breaking from the food to make a bee-line for the dog, "Hey there, boy! Hey, um, is it okay if I pet him?"

Quinn tries to get Ygraine’s attention, but she disappears too fast. Quirking her lips, Quinn turns back to the rest of the crowd, a hand run through her hair. “Toby!” She shouts to the new building attendant. Everyone else, she knew in some fashion or another, but this guy was totally new, and clearly someone she’d be seeing again. As she approaches, a hand is extended, a smile on her face. “Quinn! You hostess, pleasure t’ meet you!” The accent marks her obviously as Irish, her head tilted as she waits for a response.

"Oh no you don't, Sable." Elaine insists. "I've already seen what happens when I put a baked good in your hands. I'm guarding these things with my life!" The bag is happily carried towards the food table, where she takes care to work her way around Magnes' tutoring session and the pizzas, out of the way where she can slowly take the pies out of the bag to make sure they're set out carefully. "Dee's freaking amazing," Elaine comments, even if it's mostly to herself, as she pulls the baked goods out of the bag and lays them out.

"Absolutely, my dear. Rugby loves pats." Toby smiles at Hailey, before returning his attention to Doyle. "Oh, I'm sure you're doing wonderfully, but I'm always eager to lend a helping hand—" Pausing as Quinn catches his ever-flighty attention, the effusive man beams and shakes her hand as well. "It is a pleasure, Quinn! This party is wonderful! How's your fourth been, if I may ask?"

Rugby wriggles and sniffs at Samson, until there's a new girl coming towards him. Nose thrust out towards her, he sniffs madly, and hops a bit to try and lick her face. New person! New person! Friendly person!

We occasionally experience callings. Divine commandments we are compelled to obey, lest we betray that which is more in us that ourselves. Sable feels this way about pie right now. She must, nay, she will be the first to fall upon them. She holds in tight parallel with Elaine, the purely incidental bearer of sacred pie. She watches each transplanted goody with deadly serious attention. Who knows which pie this inner drive commands her to eat first? She can't break this spell. Though Elaine apparently can. Her comment gets through the monomania, and Sable shakes her head, as if emerging from a dream. "Huh? Oh, yeah, don't I fuckin' know it," she grins, hands lifting, fingers wiggling, "Behold our nation's bounty!"

The gray-muzzled old dog clawing his way up the stairs and onto the roof doesn't belong to Tobias Ward, slow and pondrous in his movements, the former bomb sniffing dog — Jupiter — is an envoy of another person bound for the roof. No leash dangles loose around his thickly furred neck, just a dappling brown and black as he noses around on the concrete, then lifts his snout up to sniff at the air, attention shifting around with each loud noise or movement, one ear pivoting to focus on noises from his right side, another angled ahead.

A few moments after Jupiter's arrival on the roof, his owner is a late arrival to the party. Colette Nichols doesn't look like she's dressed for a summertime party, however. Black denim pants look too hot to wear in this sweltering heat and bright sun, the dark denim jacket she has draped over one bare arm is just as uncomfortably thick.

Paused at the bulkhead leading to the stairwell, the wind blowing across the rooftop tugs at Colette's short, dark hair, causes her black tanktop to flutter around loosely. Snapping her fingers twice, she catches Jupiter's attention and brings the dog padding over to sit at her heels. Crouching, Colette ruffles one hand through Jupiter's scruff at his neck, leaning in to press a kiss to the top of the old dog's head. She whispers something to him, then gently headbutts the old block-headed canine, turning her attention up and thorugh the crowd, hesitant to actually step in to the fray, for all it looks like she's not planning on staying.

Mismatched eyes find Tasha with Doyle and an unfamiliar man, eliciting a raise of one black brow as she watches the three together, Tasha seeming to be the focul point of her attention as she waves a hand to beckon the brunette over after making eye contact.

“You’re looking at it,” Quinn replies with a grin, arms wrapped around her midsection. “I kinda failed at getting any of this together ahead of time. Most’a my day went to this.” She shrugs, a beams. “It looks quite good, though, don’t you think? I’m so glad everyone seems t’ be having fun already! Behind her, the speaks fade to a new song once again, this time to “I Got Time” be Letters to Cleo. “So, you’re the new attendant, then? I never met the lady before you, unfortunately.”

If Dee catches what Elaine says, she lets it sink in rather than produce a confirmation. Instead, her attention is on Hailey and Rugby, and Samson's reactions. He really loves Hailey- and does not seem terribly to mind the new dog, however potato shaped. She makes do with finding a chair to plop into nearby, just needing the moment of non-pressure above all else. Delilah just about melts into the seat, looking for all the world like a tossed ragdoll. Ah! Finally.

The door opening, not too far behind them, does catch Tasha's attention, since she's on the lookout for Colette and watching the door as it is. She smiles and murmurs "Excuse me," to the others, heading quickly in the wrong direction for a moment to set down the tray of cookies, smiling at those she passes and reaching to ruffle Hailey's hair before turning back to the other end of the roof.

One hand moving to stroke Jupiter's fur, the other moves to Colette's waist and Tasha kisses her cheek in greeting. "What's up? You're not leaving me here are you?" she whispers, making a sad pouty face at the other, her eyes a little worried as she peers into Colette's mismatched gaze. "I'll go with you." The offer is given before knowing where it is that Colette's planning on going.

Magnes starts handing out slices, making sure Bray gets one first anyway. "Don't eat too fast!" They might choke. "And Hailey, this month's Batgirl should be here soon!" he calls over when she goes to play with the dog.
Preceded by the clomping of sturdy boots on stairs Ygraine reappears at the stairwell door, mildly out of breath (and now empty-handed) as she comes to a halt and peers around once more. Colette, she double-takes at - and takes a step towards her before registering the sotto voce conversation between Tasha and Miss Nichols. An awkward dither, then changes angle and starts towards the food table.

"Well— " The conversation's cut off by the party's hostess, then, and Doyle takes the opportunity to withdraw a half-step back, his forced smile fading a little and one hand raising to rub against the back of his head in a little gesture of frustration. The hand drops then, and he turns - just missing Colette's appearance in the stairwell - to stalk along over in the direction of the coolers to find a beer for himself, his head shaking slowly.

Hailey - always happy to find a friendly animal - drops down to kneel on the roof to throw her arms around Rugby as he hops up (nearly picking him up in the process, giggling as she's licked, "Hi yourself! Oh! Hi Samson!" She tries to wave around Rugby. It is not very successful. She will cheer about Batgirl later - there are dogs right now!

Elaine's content to grab a plate of food—a little of everything, really, and nibble while watching those around her. She glances towards the DJ booth for a moment, waiting until she catches Quinn's gaze and gives her the thumbs up of approval before her gaze shifts to the current most interesting thing on the roof, at least to her. Hailey and the dogs. It was just too cute. Elaine actually giggles for a moment, reaching to munch on a pretzel.

"It looks wonderful! Especially for a last-minute shindig. You should be proud!" Toby beams right back, hands resting on his hips. "Yes, indeedy! You haven't met Lynette? Oh she's a sweetheart. We go back a long time. She's new in New York, and I was planning on sticking around a while — I travel a lot, you know? I'm an actor! — so I figured I'd come give her a hand, but she's out on vacation! So I figure, I'll help Jason out over there until she returns and see what she needs me to do. You know how these things go." Whatever these things may be, he's certainly cheerful about how they go.

Squirming into Hailey's arms, Rugby licklicklicklicks at her face. Nice person! New person! Lots of hugs! Oh and then there's a new dog! Squirming some more, the Corgi tries to get his little stubby legs back on the ground to go check out Jupiter. Dogs! Everywhere! New smells! Everywhere!! FOOD! EVERYWHERE!! It's just so exciting!!
Samson is smart enough to know not to pull hard, so sometimes he replaces tugging with a throaty 'buurrrrrl' sounding noise. It's rather bear-like, lips pursed and tail whacking around at the air. Delilah picks her chin up to look, having nearly forgotten about Hailey in her moment of relief. "Oh, right." The redhead leans over to unhook the lead from Samson's harness. The Molosser immediately galumphs over to Hailey, fully expecting similar bouts of love for himself.

"Oy, who wants t'gimme a drink?" Delilah makes no shame for herself in announcing this to the bustle around the table and foodstuffs. She just sat down!

"Sorry," is offered a little hushed from Colette to Tasha, her attention shifting over to Ygraine with a puzzled look. For the barest of moments Colette has to wonder how she missed Ygraine down on the stairs, but that is just par for course with their ships passing in the night ways. Looking over to Jupiter, Colette's brows crease and she rakes fingers through his fur before looking back up to Tasha.

"I got called by Andy," Colette quietly offers, for obvious reasons once Rourke's name comes up. "McRae picked up some hardware to evacuate the water from the basement of the Brick House. He asked me to round up everyone I could but— " Colette's attention shifts over to the roof, her breath drawing in slowly before being exhaled. "I was calling to see if Else wanted to come by, but Andy's got her helping out there. I don't want to break up the party though and drag half the people here off, so I'm going to head down to the Sweat Lodge and help load up Andy's truck before going to play water-sucker or— whatever."

Standing up straight, Colette glances towards the staiirwell, then back to Tasha. "I was actually hoping you could watch Jupiter. Tamara and Missy aren't around, and I don't want to just leave him all by himself." Stikk brushing the top of Jupiter's head with her fingertips, Colette furrows her brows, looking down to the old dog, then back up to Tasha. "He knows you better'n anyone else."

It was never really a question. Sable loads her plate with a very generous slice of strawberry pie, and then snags a soda from the cooler for good measure, tucking the can under her arm as she wastes no time in the systematic demolition of her food. Fork moves with motions that manage to both be unnecessarily forceful and swift, yet deadly efficient and speedily transporting pastry into waiting craw.

Only when she's half way through does she slow down, snagging a napkin and daubing at the corners of her mouth with weird daintiness before sidling over to where Delilah sits. She snags a chair with her foot and pulls it over, slumping down in the seat with a mild 'oof' Pie, napkin and fork in one hand, the other plucks the can from its spot and cracks the top open, holding it out to Dee. "Yer ladyships beverage…"

"Are you sure? I can come help load stuff," Tasha says, glancing over her shoulder at the party, brows furrowing a little. "I mean, I can watch Jupe, totally, sure. The fireworks will probably freak him out a little. Maybe better to go to the apartment so he doesn't launch off a roof or something. Is he usually afraid of them?" Most dogs are, she thinks, but she never had one, so she isn't too sure.

She reaches for the leash and curls it around her fingers. "Is roto-rootering the traditional 4th of July activity?" Tasha teases, glancing back at the rest of the party and up at Colette a little sadly. It may not be much of a holiday, but it's still their "first" so to speak. "Say hi to Andy and the others for me."

"Can I help?" The question's asked quietly around a piece of chicken in Lance's hand as he peeks around the corner to look earnestly between Colette and Tasha. How did he get there and sneak up on them and listen to what they were saying?

Because Lance is totally a ninja.

“I’ve heard good things!” Quinn replies with a smile and a quick nod. “I look forward t’ meeting her, whenever she gets back.” Quinn, not being privy to the problems of the Ferry and Lynette’s disappearance. “Hopefully, that’ll be sometime soon…” And quickly, her attention is diverted, first by Elaine and her thumbs up – and he several dogs in her direction, all of which Quinn just knows are craving for her attention, and oh man does she want to give it.

But it’s Ygraine, reemerging onto the roof taht grabs her attention next, and she takes a sudden pivot in her direction, a smile and a wave. “Long time, no see!” she shouts with a smile.

Ygraine's head comes up in response to the call, shoulders relaxing a touch as she musters a smile. Her own course diverts, taking her towards Quinn and Toby rather than the food. "Love the outfit. Wherever did you find it?", the Briton asks the corseted woman, tone and expression dead-pan. The unfamiliar man, she offers a polite nod.
"I'll be sure to knight you someday." Delilah takes the cold drink greatefully, first running the cold aluminum over her forehead, then taking a few sips. "I knew you'd stuff yourself face-first in the strawberry. I got them fresh, too, how is it?" She looks concerned at nothing a moment, sitting herself up straight. "Sitting never used to be this hard."

"I'll be sure to point her your way, of course, when she returns," Toby smiles at Quinn. And Ygraine gets a friendly nod and a smile, and a hand flourished towards her in a shake. "Good afternoon, miss! How do you do? My name's Toby. You are…?"
"Lance," is a sharp response Colette gives, eyes narrowed to slits and brows furrowed. Sucking in a long and sharp breath, Colette's tense posture eases and the teen looks down to Jupiter who lazily looks back to Lance, ears perking forward and brows going up as if to say gimme chicken in a manner that almost makes it look like he's smiling.

Looking askance to Tasha, Colette's brows furrow and when her focus settles back on Lance she seems more assessing than before. "If you wanna help, you can watch Jupiter. He's really easy-going, you just need to make sure he doesn't wander out of the building, his eyesight isn't what it used'ta be." Then, after a glance to his hand, "Don't feed him anything either, he's already eaten."

Jupiter eyes Colette, ear ear folding back and a whine sliding out as he licks his lips in such an expressive manner that it almost seems like he understands what she said.

"Jupiter isn't afraid of anything," Colette finally answers Tasha, laughing awkwardly as she does. "That's why he's gotta' be watched so closely, otherwise he'll just trot out into the street or— who knows. He slept through fireworks last year," or at least that how it looked to Colette.

"If you wanna come along, I mean— I thought you'd wanna party more'n be knee deep in dirty water all night…" Sheepishly smiling, Colette scrubs one hand at the back of her neck, then looks back around the crowd, her attention settling on Tasha again after a fleeting glance over to Magnes. "You'll have t'ride on the back of my bike, I've got a helmet that you can use," because it's the one Colette should use but doesn't.

"Y' never had a freakin' hitchhiker in yer tummy b'fore," Sable says, with a canted smile, "Here's t' new experiences, eh?" She reaches over to brush her hand against Delilah's cheek. "Frickin' fantastic, hon. Thanks." She takes another bite, reminded of said pie, then reaches into one of her pockets, digging around. She extracts a small box of silver cardboard, "Whoops…" she says, sliding it back in, "That ain't it, yet. Um…" she digs into the second pocket reaching around herself and tugging out a CD jewel case. "Here it is. Y'know how folks things Mozart is like, good f'r kids 'r whatever? This is f'r the little 'n', somethin' even better th'n Mozart. Help him grow up t' be a genius and somethin' more than a square."

"Hey DJ!" Sable sits up a bit, calling out to Quinn, "I got a request. Last track. Head's up!" She aims, ready to toss Quinn the CD once she notices the call.

Lance blinks at Colette innocently as she hisses out his name, taking another bite of chicken. He's just about to hand it over to Jupiter when that warning's given, and he quickly brings it back up to take another bite of it. Chew chew.

"I can watch Jupiter," he allows reluctantly, then. Obviously he'd rather come help like an adult! It's just that he isn't one. Another bite of chicken, and he asks blandly, "Are you two gonna kiss now?"

Hailey finally sets the corgi down and reaches out to Samson with a giggle to hug him around the neck. She's in dog lover heaven over there.

"This is Toby, Ygraine!" For some reason, Quinn repeats the name just give. Maybe she's caught up in the evening. "He's the new head a' the building, at least until Lynette gets back." Quinn nods excitedly, and then turns around to look back over the roof, and hand reaching up and scratching Ygraine's arm. "Can I get y' anything, food or drink wise? I'm gettin' something m'self."

At Sable's calling, her gaze settles on her, an eyebrow quirked. "I already had a last song in mind. What's this?"

Tasha's worried expression lifts and she smiles, reaching to ruffle Lance's hair as she beams at Colette. "You know I'd rather be in dirty water if it's with you," she says, but only after reaching down to cover Lance's ears with both hands. He doesn't need to hear the mushy stuff — not because she's trying to hide it, but because he will taunt the two with it. Of course, with his power, it probably doesn't do any good.

"Did you meet Toby? That's the new guy, Lynette's friend. Doyle looks a little glum to not be the sole mature adult male around here, but I think he might still have a monopoly on the testosterone…" That is also said while Lance's ears are still covered. For all the good it may do. "He seems nice, if… energetic. Cute dog, too." She lets go of Lance's ears and ruffles his hair once more. "Ready when you are."

"Last track on the CD, not 'f the evenin' 'r nothin'. Don't you dare stop th' music, lest my spirit be lost!" Sable says, tipping down her glasses again to give Quinn an 'all business' look. She ain't messin' around. "Ready, hon?" And the CD is sent, spinning, through the air towards Quinn.

"Ygraine FitzRoy", is provided, as Toby's hand is accepted and firmly shaken - the name that of one of the Ferry's couriers, though the accent is anything but local. "I hope that you enjoy your time here."

To Quinn, Ygraine offers a smile - then steps forward and reaches out to snatch the CD case from the air. She's seen Quinn's coordination in action before. "I'd been heading that way myself. Might as well sample the other offerings while I'm here. It seems that you have a commission to deal with, however." The case is presented to the DJ. "Shall I fetch you something, instead?"
"I think she meant play the last one, dear." Delilah calls after Quinn to correct it at the same time, glancing back down to Sable again, grinning. "I've gotten in the habit of playing more music. I haven't tried putting headphones down there yet, dunno if that actually works. I know they make weird contraptions for it too, but that's just creepy. He seems to like reggae, oddly enough. Can feel him dancing or something. Hah. Haven't tried much yet though, I am sure he'll be well-rounded."

Samson loves to be loved! He runs his palm-sized tongue over Hailey's face repeatedly. Om nom nom.
Squinting at Lance, Colette takes a deep breath and lifts up a hand to pinch at the bridge of her nose, then exhales a sigh with a sulk of her shoulders. "Just— please…" as her hand lowers, Colette's eyes settle squarely on the dark-haired young boy. "Make sure Jupiter doesn't get into any food and he'll be really easy to handle. He's super nice, and all you gotta do is snap your fingers twice, real quick, and he'll come to you. His hearing is a lot better than his eyesight."

Which of course would make Jupiter an easy victim for Lance's stealth, were it not for his still keen sense of smell from his former occupation.

Crouching down, Colette runs fingers thorugh the fur at either side of Jupiter's neck, then leans in and kisses the top of his nose. "You be good, okay?" Dark brows rise in that request, both Jupiter's and Colette's in perfect timing. Cracking a smile and snorting out a laugh, Colette slides her arms around the dog with an affectionate squeeze, then stands back up, brushing reddish fur off of her tanktop.

Looking past Tasha to the man she'd indicates as Toby, there's a short nod of Colette's head, a face now to add to a name. "Neil mentioned him when I was at the Station earlier," her eyes drift from Toby to Tasha. "I'll have to do introductions later. If you wanna' come, I'm headed out now." However Colette isn't leaving without passing on a little message.

With a furrow of her brows and a motion of one of her fingers tracing in the air at the side of her hip, Colette begins to write a cursive message in light. Not anywhere near her, of course, but at Quinn's turntables. The glowing missive shines a warm goldenrod color against the dark plastic deck.

Quinn, party hard. Work calls. Say 'Hi' to everyone for me. — Lette

Tilting her head to the side as she stops writing the message, Colette jerks her head in a nod towards the rooftop stairwell in suggestion to Tasha. "Last chance to avoid hard labor," Colette teases.

"Quit trying to talk me out of it, or I'll think you're trying to get rid of me," Tasha murmurs teasingly with a smirk as she begins to head for the stairwell. "Besides, I wanna say hi to the guys, and you can make it up to me by making fireworks just for me later." Whether through use of Colette's ability or her other skills may not be clear. Maybe she means both.

"But really, I want to help, and I'm not that useful with the other stuff, so if I can do this, you know… yay?" With that Tasha opens the door to the stairwell and begins to descend.

"Ygraine? What a beautiful name," Toby beams. "Oh, I enjoy my time wherever I am, no worries about that! Ah, but please excuse me—I need to use the little boy's room. Pleasure to meet you!" With a bow and a nod, the man trots off to the stairs and down, in search of a restroom. Rugby, however, is busy being excited with all the new faces and smells and is happily scooting around nose-first as he checks everyone out.

As the CD case comes spinning at, Quinn lets out an “eep!” and awkward tries to grab it – it’s a good thing Ygraine got it, she would have just straight missed it, rewarded with CD case into her nose. A terrible fate indeed, and glad it’s avoided. “I, uh- If you could get me some pizza and a Guinness, I’d be more than grateful.” She nods, smiling up at Ygraine. “Really appreciate it!” CD tken in hand she makes her way over to the turntable, fingers of her free hand waggling – and eyes narrow when she reaches.

“You suck!” She suddenly shouts, looking over in Colette direction with her tongue stuck out, even as the CD is slipped inside of the player.

Elaine is lingering dangerously close to the pie. That's because she's trying very hard not to let anyone see she's sneaking a piece from each. She can't help it… Delilah is good at baking, and really, when it come to good food, she loves to partake. So, she'll remain by the pie, people watching. That and there's a slice of pizza she managed to snag, but desserts have to come first. They always come first. After all, if the world were suddenly to end, who would want to have had just eaten their vegetables?

As Lance's head is muffled by hands, he grimaces with a little wrinkling of his nose. "Alright. I'll ask my sister if I can't figure out what he needs," he admits reluctantly, snapping his fingers twice as he moves to step back and away, beckoning the dog, "C'mon Jupiter. Let's go get you some pizza, boy."

Hopefully, Hailey will keep him from returning Jupiter double the size he was dropped off.

Eric, meanwhile, has finished up on a bit of pizza himself and is settled in at the side of the party, mostly keeping an eye on the kids. He's brooding, from the looks of it, his lips pursed in a frown as he licks some bits of pizza sauce from his fingertips.

"Y' listen t' Reggae?" Sable says, sounding infinitely entertained by the idea. She's squinting at Delilah right now - she's imagining the redhead as a dredhead. The resulting mental image induces a flurry of wheezy giggles, which she suppresses with a light tap to her chest. "Hooo…" she says, "Somethin' I never quite caught ont'. I think 'I Shot The Sheriff', I think Clapton, not Marley, y'know?"

As the requested song starts to play, Sable is instantly transported, unable to help herself as the lyrics begin and she pipes up in time, the woman's voice, however husky, rising to the octave above Hendrix's. "If you can just get your mind together - Then come on across to me - We'll hold hands and then we'll watch the sunrise - From the bottom of the sea…"

When she collects herself a little, Sable lifts a grateful thumbs-up high above her, for Quinn to see. Her eyes over to Delilah again. "Follow yer mother's intuition, hon. Don't let no so-called expert friggin' get in th' way. Contraptions 'r no good if their no good t' you."

Ygraine responds to Toby's bow with one of her own - the motion looking practiced and elegant, rather than an impromptu improvisation. Quinn, however, receives an arched brow. "Guinness and pizza? Good God, woman. Do you have any tastebuds at all?" Still, she heads off - laughing - to fulfill the order. Elaine receives a smile of greeting while she's at the table, but it's only a brief visit, as she's soon delivering the meal-in-a-pint-glass and slab of cheese-adorned carbohydrate to the party's DJ.

Turning to look over her shoulder with a crooked smile, Colette lifts both of her brows and smiles as she lingers in the doorway. One brow kicks up higher than the other as she lifts up one hand and— her hand is blurred out. Everyone knows what it means, but the visual distortion on her part is a tongue-in-cheek censoring for the wee ones.

The cheery wave she gives afterward is much less smirkingly delivered as she turns her back on the gathering, catching the basement door before it closes with the toe of her boot, nudging it open and stepping down into the stairwell while Jupiter watches her departure with a quirk of his head to the side, both ears perked forward. He's used to Colette having to leave him on his own from time to time, but the old dog knows what most people here do — no matter where Colette goes, she always comes back.

Eventually.

"Just don't wanna look like a cyborg." Delilah smiles and sinks back, sipping at her drink and soaking in the music. "I bet he'll love classic rock too. Thanks to all you guys. I listen to simple reggae- there's a guy named Matisyahu, he's great. Heeb reggae." She stumbles over his name, but it comes out as it comes out. Dee keeps an eye on Sable as she starts going along with the music, allowing herself a few moments of looking elsewhere at the others. Most notably, she stares a little at Doyle- giving him some indescribable look from across the short span of roof. What's up with Broody McBroodface?

When the food and drink are delivered to her, Quinn gives a look of confusion to Ygraine, head tilted. “I… I take it you never went to a college party? Even community college had ‘em, you know.” She sticks her tongue out at Ygraine, a warm smile as she takes a bit of her pizza. “Thanks a whole bunch. Now go mingle!”

"My first degree, I spent most of my free time on a bike", Ygraine says somewhat defensively. "And I'm afraid I never got hooked on Guinness at all… but, ummmm." A slightly forlorn look is cast out over the gathering, dominated as it is by strangers. "I should leave you alone and let you work your magic, yeah."

"'nless he gets sick 'f the music 'f his mother 'n' all her old fogey friends," Sable suggests, "'n' runs off in a whole different direction," she grins, "Mebbe he'll just listen t' Mozart." The rest of the pie is quickly attended to, dispatched in short order, and the empty plate slid under her chair, out of sight out of… um… what were were talking about again?

Ygraine receives real notice for the first time, thanks to Sable's somewhat truncated attention span. She lifts a hand, giving Ygraine the point she was owed but never received. "Howdy!" she calls out, then turns her hand, finger curling in a 'come hither'. "A sec, hon?"

“Well, you don’t have to!” Quinn replies with a laugh, shrugging. “I just figured you might wanna talk t’ Elaine or so-“ When Sable calls Ygraine ever, Quinn’s head tilts, eyeing both of them carefully. Another bite of pizza, and she sets on a record to spin after the next digital song finishes. A gulp of Guinness, and she smiles wide – it’s time to go talk t’ someone, and her feet are directing her to Elaine.

Sable tips down her glasses, which is a new little affection she's just loving the hell out of, and gives Ygraine a 'straight talking' look that is sadly somewhat tarnished by her slight squint and the mild bloodshot in her eyes. The paisley can't help much either. "We cool? Like, we cool, I know we settled on that. But like… more specifically, we cool? Wires, like… y'know… any better?" Ah yes, impromptu code. The bonus being that it's potentially incomprehensible even to its intended audience.

There's a long sip from Elaine's drink when she spots Quinn headed in her direction. "You've done a lot of good here. I'm impressed." She can't help but smile. "This is definitely a lot of fun. Did you want some pie? I promise I won't eat it all before you get to it. I was, uh, just guarding some for you." She grins sheepishly, glancing over towards Sable and Ygraine. "How's it going on your end of things… enjoying being the hostess?"

Ygraine does indeed look utterly lost for a few moments, staring blankly at Sable. Then she manages to put together pieces - possibly even in the right arrangement. Realisation dawns, flickers, and finally appears to settle in place. "I… maybe", she says cautiously. "Still got a few to check."

Delilah just stares over at Sable, her free hand moving to shift her skirt elastic and her shirt down over it. As a bonus to his motion of trying to not feel too bloated, the redhead makes a vaguely 'hrk' noise, only to let out a very untimely burp. "Jeez. Excuse me. Maybe fizzy things aren't great for this." She eyes her soda can but drinks more anyway.

“What do you think?” Quinn replies with a wide grin and a laugh. “It’s great. I’m glad most everyone’s havin’ a good time and all. At least, it seems like it.” A pause, and she blinks, tilting her head. “Well, it’s nice until it comes to me t’ clean up. That’s going to suck.” She grin, bumping gently into Elaine, laughing. “I can’t believe you brought cake. Did you really make that, or did Magnes? Musta taken all day.”

Sable looks… satisfied with Ygraine's reply. She gives the other woman a firm nod. "That's cool 'nough for me. I dig." The glasses slide back into place, and she leans back, showing Ygraine her a pair of her own reflections in the lenses. Her grin is wide, happy as a clam. "You'd be a fuh- er- a real angel if y' snagged my CD back f'r me… Pretty please?"

Ygraine's brows lift, then she musters a chuckle. "I'm not sure I dare to meddle with the set-up myself. That might be taking my life in my hands. I'll ask her to return it to you."

A nod to Delilah, then another to Sable, then Ygraine moves over to join Quinn and Elaine, lightly touching the former on the arm. "Sable'd like her CD back", she quietly informs the DJ, as she sets about helping herself to her first sample of the food on offer. "I figured I'd best not press any buttons…."

Sable's eyes cut right over to Delilah, then slowly back to Ygraine, then quickly back to Lilah again. "Yer fellow countryman," she says, as a sort of 'fun fact', volume at the low end of conversational "Went t' college in yer hometown," she winks at Dee for whatever reason, "That was f'r her first degree."

Elaine shakes her head a little. "Quinn.. I'll let you in on a little secret…" She leans in, stage whispering. "You buy a pound cake, you slice it up and lay it out in the pan, cover it with whipped cream, blueberries, and strawberries and it takes ten minutes." Then there's a broader grin. "And that is how you look like Martha Stewart while still managing to have to do anything else but cook. Besides, Magnes is the cook. He'd have probably made a real one." She looks up as Ygraine makes her way over, and she gives a nod and a friendly smile towards the Briton. "I'm glad you ended up coming… it's good to see you here."

"The hell was that?" Delilah asks of Sable, not entirely invested in knowing the answer- but it seems like a good enough question! She listens at the tidbit, however, looking after Ygraine when she wanders to get the disc back. "Oh. Interesting. I wonder if they have popsicles downstairs. I'll have to look later. What's on the pizza?" Li has gone from music to food in the matter of a few seconds, pushing herself up and bobbing over to where the tables are set up.

"I'm going to need a bigger plate."

Quinn blinkblinks, looking back towards her DJ equipment. “Pssh. It’s not that bad. Just don’t break anything.” A brief stare at Ygraine, and then a grin forms. “Alright. I’ll be back in a moment, then.” A wave to Elaine, and she spins around. A quick hop to the player, and the CD is retrieved and slipped into it’s case.

“Sable!” Quinn yells, approaching her and Delilah. She doesn’t dare throw it, like how it was delivered to her. She know she’d just end up tossing it right over the edge. “I believe this is yours?” She smirks as she hands it out, a nod to Delilah. “Nice t’ see you again, Delilah. Glad you could make it.”

"Nothin' 't all, thank Christ," Sable says, letting her eyes slide shut as she sinks into the summer evening heat. As Quinn approaches, though, one of her eyes crack open, her lips quirked in that weird way people's do when they are examining something to close with one eye. She reaches for the disc but, lacking depth perception, misses at first. She growls, grudgingly opens both eyes, and considers it with a moment's thought. "Thanks, hon," she says, then shakes her head, "But it ain't mine anymore. 's hers," she nods at Delilah, "But!" she lifts a finger, "I'll deliver it, care of." And so she does take the disc back, in the end.

"I try not to miss parties- hey, you-" Distracting her from discs and Quinns is Samson, having come up to the very edge of the table to stare intently at the layout from over the side. He is more than tall enough to grab something. But he just peers, out of wonder and fear, as per his big brown eyes flickering up to look at Dee. There is a staredown at this point.

Ygraine offers Elaine a warmly a grateful smile, ducking her head to the younger woman. "Thank you", she murmurs softly. "Though I recognise precious few people here, I admit. And I think I'll retreat out of the sun for a while, once I've grabbed a few goodies."

Sorting a few items, chosen half at random, onto her plate, Ygraine fires another smile at Elaine then heads for the stairs, finger-waving to Quinn en route.

Quinn gives a wave in return to Ygraine, though her attention is on Delilah and Samson, an eyebrow raised. “Do you have staring contests with your dog often?” Quinn teases, looking amused. “Or is it just because it’s a party?”

Moving back around the table, Elaine polishes off her plate and makes sure to find whatever trash can or bag is floating around so she can put it away—gotta keep it clean. She proceeds to move over towards Delilah, offering her a smile. "You are going to make one hell of a mother, and any kid of yours is going to end up quite fat and happy from your baked goods." She states, by way of a compliment.

Sable blinks through her glasses as she stows the CD again. She'll pass it off later. Right now… right now what was going on? Skirted, pretty women with long hair, hovering around baked goods outside on the Fourth of July. She gazes at them with a moment of simple non-comprehension.

"Jesus…" Sable mutters, and scratches her head, "What movie did I fuckin' stumble int'? Whose fuckin' life is this I wandered int'?"

"I hope not." Samson lowers his head after another few seconds, looking ashamed. Delilah gives in and finds him a piece of chicken, handing it down. Dog wins after all. She grins at Elaine. "Well, the fat kid part- I'm bad with bullies, I'd probably pop'em in the noses." She scratches her neck a little, unsure about any of what she just said. Instead of dwell, she makes to get a couple slices of pizza first.

"Sable, y'alright there?" Elaine asks, peering towards Sable to make sure that she's not completely lost her mind.

Sable would like to explain herself. It's a simple expression of surprise. This doesn't feel like it's rightly her life. Aren't things supposed to be… worse? Or even just not awesome? But she doesn't really have confidence in her ability to express this thought, so she just grins.

"Not alright, hon. I'm better."

“Good.” Quinn remarks, reaching over and ruffling Sable’s head. Eyes move back across the roof. Things have died down a bit, but between the kids and pets, and the people who had merely taken a break, Quinn was more than satisfied, hands on her hips as she looks between the three other women.

“There’s still plenty of party to go.”


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