This crew depends on me...

[chaos_magnet]

As long as we're living and breathing, there's more we can do. We just have to be strong enough. captain . earther ACTION TEXT HANDWAVE

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NETWORK \\ UN: CERVANTES

[chaos_magnet]

text (with attached picture) un: Lugosi

[cleptes]

[ Attached to the text message is a selfie of Bela in the night club, her smiling face illuminated by the neon lights. She is also holding a couple of glowsticks.]

Hi.

I dislike rave music as much as the next person, but I'll make an exception if you come down here and show me off some of those twenty-fourth century dance moves.

Oh, and there's a dress code apparently. I'm sure you'll get away with a tank top and some shorts.

Hope to see you soon.

[chaos_magnet]

Thanks for the warning, because losing my clothes was jarring enough the first time.

Give me a minute and I'll meet you at the bar?

[cleptes]

You're welcome. I know you'd give me an advanced warning too.

Alright. I'll see you shortly and have a drink waiting.

→ acton ; 'Hypa, hypa, you're pretty and I like ya / Move your body, girl, all night long'

[chaos_magnet]

[ James boldy (and somewhat nervously) shows up topless, hoping that the club will provide something to accompanying the obnoxiously tiny swim trunks. Though he was prepared for feeling like a fool, what they hand him isn't all that bad, it's just that the whole outfit (the demons said the shirt remains open or he can go without), looking down at himself, still triggers asshat syndrome. Or tooly douchbag, maybe.

There's a prolonged sigh before Holden weaves through neon and nudity and the like to locate Bela. The picture didn't quite do her justice, because the level of hotness elevates at seeing her in the flesh. A lot more flesh than their previous encounters. He's starting to think that this night may not go the way in which he was envisioning when first reading the text message. ]

[cleptes]

[ Bela doesn't know what he is going to turn up when he arrives, but she wouldn't be surprised if the demons decided to have a little fun with him. It took a lot of charm on her part to convince the demons to let her get away with some clothing.

She is leaning against a table, two tall glasses of some bright blue liquid placed in front of her - Bela doesn't know what's in them, but the pink straws make it fun.

When she sees him standing in front of her, Bela smiles widely and takes a long moment to appreciate what he was wearing - or not wearing, in this case. He looks damn good and it absolutely increases her attraction to him. ]

Hi. It's nice to see you again.

[chaos_magnet]

[ The drinks are ignored in the moment, his gaze too distracted by the way Bela's glow sticks highlight her figure, and he rubs at his chin with a smile wide enough to display teeth. James uses the excuse of excessive noise brought about by the music, the patrons, as he leans in a bit to be heard. Only, there's a breath wherein he doesn't know what the fuck to say, and a nervous laugh precedes -- ] I don't know if this is what I had in mind when I extended that invitation, but it'll do.

[ As he retreats, the blue and pink colors catch Jim's eye and he nods at the drinks. ]

Did they give those to you or did you buy them?

[ He has very little doubt that they aren't drugged if they were just freely given. ]

[cleptes]

[ The club wasn't the ideal place for quiet conversation, but the thumping music and the thrum of the crowd is a distraction, drowning out any kind of negative thoughts that could stray into her mind. Even more distracting is the company, and she leans in when he does to hear him. If anything, it's an excuse to get closer. ]

I thought we could use a bit of fun first. We don't have to stay all night, and I still want to take you up on the invitation to go to your room.

[ Her smile turns playful as she reaches for her drink, nodding at his question. ]

I bought them. Exchanged for cleaning up a couple of hallways. Nothing I can't handle. [ She could give up some of her time. ] I think the staff here must like me, because they could have had me doing something a little more risque instead.

[chaos_magnet]

[ Distractions are a damn welcome thing since coming back. ]

What's not to like?

[ James shifts slightly to grab his own in turn, raising it high enough to goofily look through the blue hue at Bela. He winks and lowers it to a more comfortable, albeit normal, position. ]

If it puts you more at ease, though, the night club portion seems to give more leeway than the sex club. For future reference. My only interactions have been for coffee related things or alcohol, though.

text | un:sicparvismagna; backdated to after A Hellishly Infernal Summer

[duderaider]

Hey, you busy?

[chaos_magnet]

Nothing that can't be set aside. What's going on?

[duderaider]

I need to get out of my [head. he needs to get out of his own head] room for awhile. You wanna go grab a drink or something?

[chaos_magnet]

Sure. Drinks at an establishment or grab-and-go somewhere else? I think we have bourbon and maybe beer?

[duderaider]

Uh.

How good are you at, like, running, jumping, climbing trees?

[possibly literally, as he has this sudden need to be as far away from the hotel as possible. his first thoughts are either finding a nice, quiet cliffside in Cabeswater or, perhaps a little closer and a little less dangerously, climbing up onto the roof of the theatre]

[chaos_magnet]

I'm great in zero-g?

[ Lame joke is lame, but it's also not a joke, because it's true, just, uh, yeah. ]

I'll let you know if I can't do any hardcore parkour, how's that work?

[duderaider]

Worse comes to worst, I can probably help you out.

You know where the theater is? Or what's left of it, anyway.

[it still won't be an easy climb, but it'll be better than, say, a cliff face]

[chaos_magnet]

1/2   Yeah. I can be there in less than ten minutes.

2/2   Am I bringing the bourbon?

text: un: sicparvismagna; backdated to just after Elena's arrival

[duderaider]

Hey, so uh. You got a minute?

I've got someone I want you to meet.

[chaos_magnet]

Oh yeah? Color me curious and available in twenty minutes. Where should I meet you?

[duderaider]

Hotel bar, maybe? Twenty minutes?

[and yeah, he realizes that James already specified twenty minutes, but he's a little anxious that Elena is here, period, for all that this is literally hell, and a little nervous about introducing them, beyond. he has no reason to think he and Elena won't get along, but he sure hopes they get along]

⇉ action;

[chaos_magnet]

See you then.

---

[ He's curious, to say the least, comfortably leaning against the bar top with arms loosely folded and no drink in sight; James is being both polite and unsure which type of drink this encounter may or may not call for. ]

[duderaider]

[Nathan, meanwhile, give the same cryptic message to his wife, albeit in person, tapping her on the shoulder as he moves past her and where ever she's sitting on his way to the door]

Hey, c'mmon. There's someone I want you to meet.

[he's absolutely not going to tell her that James has become kind of a stand-in for Sam, for all that Elena probably doesn't like Sam much, at this point, all things considered]

[howmuchtrouble]

[Yes, that is probably for the best. It's not that she doesn't like Sam - she doesn't know Sam - but she doesn't like the choices Nate makes as a result. That being said, she turns and easily follows him, falling in step at his side.]

A friend, I take it? Or an important person I should probably know and make a good impression on?

[duderaider]

[to be fair, at this point in his life, Nate doesn't like the choices Nate makes as a result of Sam. Sam lied to him, then got him killed. if he ever shows up here, he'll probably punch him just as soon as he'll hug him, their story just as unresolved as his and Elena's, at this point]

[but anyway]

Yes? You get that those things aren't mutually exclusive, right?

[James is a friend. James is important to him and he hopes that he and Elena hit it off]

[howmuchtrouble]

No, they're not. But there's a difference between someone who has control of our fates and could make our lives here easier versus a friend that you want me to make a good impression on.

[There's a difference between Casual Elena and Formal Journalist Elena.]