Gathering: Summer Party

[concierge]

Outside of the Nexus Hotel, waiters and hotel staff had begun to set up the umbrellas and the tables in the middle of the day. Soon, it became clear that something was happening in the shadow of the Nexus. White tablecloths were draped on the tables and drinks and food were brought out with the help of several waiters and servers, staffing tables with hot and cold foods beside bartending stations. Summery drinks in bright, neon colors are laid out one by one and soon, the afternoon light casts a radiant look on the scene.

Music plays faintly in the background and a note at the front desk invites all the Nexus guests to head outside and join in on the summer party, which promises to continue going as long as there are people to stay and continue keeping the warm atmosphere rolling.

On the lawn, social games had been set out -- lawn bowling, croquet, and tables were set up with chairs for anyone who didn't quite have the will or the spirit to get into such games. Soon, a small number of people had begun to mill around, but as with all parties, there's always room for more.

Comments

[divinestsense]

"I don't think anyone here cares whether you're of age, mate," said Sirius, having sidled silently up on James' other side. Without so much as a 'by your leave,' he grabbed hold of James' glass and lifted it to his lips, only to immediately pull a face and shove it back at his friend.

"Oh, that's bloody terrible. You're a menace to good whiskey, Prongs."

[votecrowley]

"Well, that's a healthy outlook, more or less," Crowley mused. "I do believe life ends up being one load of excrement after another lobbed at the fan, anyway. If your girlfriend a relatively normal creature, or does she have an interesting bloodline like you?"

[malachai]

Nick tried to imagine Mel's response to being called relatively normal and the grin spread in spite of himself. "Relatively normal and completely human."

Granted that hadn't been true for the last year before she arrived on the island, but that was Mel's story to tell, not his. And sure as hell not to the demon in front of him.

"How about you? Hell surviving without you?"

[shes_biochem]

"I suppose that would be the gentleman-like thing to do," Simmons concedes with a flash of a smile on her face, thinking that Sam truly is a wonderful example of a human being. Then again, she'd also thought the same of Ward before he'd turned into a Hydra killing machine. "Are you enjoying it? The party, I mean?"

[legendthatwas]

"You'd probably be tougher than you think," said Martha. She cocked her head in consideration, slurped a little with lips pursed around the straw in her glass. "I take it you'd definitely want to come back here, then, if you did?"

[malachai]

"I'd want to, yes, but that want would be shelved if I turn into what I'm meant to be," Nick said, with only a trace of regret. "If that's what it would take to keep everyone here safe, then I would do everything I could to stay away, even if it meant leaving behind those I care about."

Especially then, he vowed to himself.

[legendthatwas]

"By that you mean a demon," Martha asked, or maybe it was less asking and more a statement. "I...it's rubbish that you can't really go home, Nick, that that's the choice you'd have to make even if you did. I know, life's not fair, but that seems a pretty raw deal."

She turned, smiled at him, softly--not pity, just concern.

[weighted_reality]

"So you've always been imprisoned by such civility," Arthur teases. "I suppose then, there's no croquet or bocce to be had with you?"

[seeorseem]

"Unless you aim to give me flashbacks to a darker time," is his dry jest, bringing Arthur to the bar where he finally breathes easy. "Perfect," he announces with happy joy. "Somewhere I feel comfortable. I believe gin is called for, on occasions like these."

[aliencentaur]

Ax, of course, was stationed by the food. He never meant to be a pig, as the humans said, but not having his own mouth made it impossible in this morph. So, he was stuffing a lot in, as usual.

(Ooc he is morphed human...I'll have to get a pic, thought I had one)

[east_texas_stu]

This would be a decent chance to see more of who was around here, Stu had decided. He was a little less quiet now than before the plague, but he was still more a listener by nature. He could say one thing, this place had a very mixed lot. Some were decent people...or otherwise... others gave him a bad feeling, one he didn't like much.

[votecrowley]

"Relatively," Crowley repeated, but did not say much more than that. Normal girlfriends were boring, after all. So he assumed. Most of his lovers usually tried to kill him at some point, which certainly counted as 'not boring' in most circles.

"Oh, Hell is chugging along on its merry way." Despite how hard he'd worked to win it back, well... it had lost its spark. For the most part he was content to let the demons run amok for the time being. "Fire, sulphur, the whole nine yards."

[powerof_water]

"You're welcome," Adam said, blushing a little out of pride that she had liked his gift. It was one he had only ever given to one other person in his life and that had been more because Cassie honestly needed it than something like this.

"I guess we could get it set into a necklace or something, right? Then it would be easier to keep up with."

[royalunderachiever]

"I want to know about every single brick of architecture," Adrian said expansively. "And I want you to play the tour guide every step of the way. The only thing I've ever seen in Rome was a bar and I don't think that really counts as a trip to Italy."

It had been a nice layover for him, sure, but he much rather would be exploring Ancient Rome with Sydney than exploring a bottle of Italian wine.

[prongsdefiant]

"I never said it was good," James retorted, taking his glass back and swallowing deep just to prove a point. It was terrible, but he was not about to admit that to Sirius. He grinned a little and drew his fingertip along the edge of the glass.

"I guess we could always tip the lot of it into Snape's drink. Have you seen him around?"

[on_your_right]

Sam nods. "Oh, yeah. It's been a while since I had a chance to go do something fun and relaxing. Being friends with Captain America cuts into your leisure time." Sam isn't exactly an Avenger, or anything, but the past few weeks have required an awful lot of his time and dedication to the cause.

He gets another drink for Simmons and another beer for himself, handing hers off with a little flourish. "Here you go, drink number six."

[malachai]

"I'm always a demon. But if I came back, I'm afraid the demon would be in control and that would be all kinds of not good for any human, especially humans close to me." He leaned over and gave her hand a little squeeze. "I've been handling so many raw deals, I should be a sushi chef." He smiled a little. "I can cope with it."

[malachai]

"Don't forget the screaming and pleading for mercy," Nick commented with a wry twist to his lips, "just doesn't seem like a hell realm without it."

How had he ever come to this point, calmly discussing hell realms with another demon like they were talking about visiting the Bahamas? He didn't know, but it was yet another reason he was happy to still be in this freaked out hotel.

[nebaritralk]

If there's a type of people Chiana's used to handling, it's drunks. They're so much easier to read than even regular folks, and that means that she is particularly fond of them. So when the human stumbles into her, she steadies him readily (she's stronger than she looks, by human standards), and gives him a quick smile. "I don't see what all the fuss is about," she tells him, with a nod to his almost empty glass. "The blue stuff's much better." She had in fact been on her way to get herself another glass.

[nebaritralk]

"Yeah?" Chiana asks as she gets herself another glass of that bright blue stuff. She doesn't know what they call it, but it tastes a little like cold raslak and she'll take what she can get, here. "Hell where you're from?" She's never heard of it, but he looks like a human, so that's not exactly surprising.

[vampire_shield]

"As long as I remember to put it in my pocket when I hunt," Bella said, and made a mental note to do just that. "I can just see it snagging on a branch or something in the middle of that forest and I'd hate to lose it, especially that way."

[sage_alchemist]

Sydney smiled and raised on her toes to kiss his cheek. She knew he'd be bored, though he'd pretend not to be, and he'd probably distract her more than a few times with his hands and lips, especially if she went on about aqueducts for too long. But he'd try, and he'd listen.

As if she needed more reasons to love him.

[whattingawhat]

She grinned. In contrast, her smile did reach her eyes. "I'll take that."

She took a deep breath. Angel was still pretending to be a vampire. "A couple. Bella and one of the vampires from home are here. He's good though so no staking necessary."

Her eyes narrowed a little. "I'm guessing you've met more than that? Gonna give me the 411?"

[shes_biochem]

"My thanks, sir," Simmons replies cheerfully, with an edge of teasing in it. She's still a bit tipsy, really, from everything but the world is swimming in such a nice way that she isn't sure she can be upset about it. "I met him," she says, stars in her eyes. "He's very dreamy, exactly what I expected. I felt a flare of patriotism and I'm the furthest thing you can get from being an American."

[legendthatwas]

"More like 'superdemon', then, maybe?" said Martha with a small wink and a wry crook of her lips. She squeezed Nick's hand back and cocked her head a little. "You can, but you shouldn't. It's rubbish--though can I also confess you've made me want sushi?"