tushanshu_logs | Light 'em up

Light 'em up

Characters: EVERYBODY
Date: sundown on November 29th to sunrise on November 30th
Location: A plaza in Earth
Situation: The population of Keeliai could use a little warmth. So Chekov set stuff on fire and invited everyone over.
Warnings/Rating: None, but please put something in your comment header if necessary.

On Wednesday, everyone received the following audio message (and text attachments in English and Russian) from (1) Pavel Chekov in their inboxes:

“Hello. I would like to invite you to a bonfire in Earth sector on Friday at sundown. Please feel free to bring friends.”

A plaza in Earth sector is buzzing with activity-- most of it from one young man. He spends the day lugging folding tables and pushing wheelbarrows of supplies into the plaza. As the day wears on, several entrepreneurial kedan set up stands. By sundown, the plaza is lit up with three large, roaring bonfires. Most of the ice and snow has melted away, leaving a few patches here and there in the furthest corners of the plaza. One patch a bit away from the fires is completely devoid of snow and ice-- it's a sort of dance floor or performance area. Some music is playing out of one of the upper windows of the buildings overlooking the plaza. It's varies from quick and frenzied to slow and soothing. Of course, anyone is welcome to claim the floor to perform a magic show or do a little singing of their own.

There's a hodgepodge of various folding tables set with the essentials: raw vegetables, the closest equivalent of marshmallows Chekov could find (next to the chocolate and graham cracker substitutes), and sausages. There are skewers and tongs lying around should anyone need them. He also brought a few jugs of water, which are refilled periodically. It's not much, but it's the best he could do with a limited budget and not a lot of time. The kedan have taken the opportunity to sell what Chekov couldn't bring-- hot beverages and food, blankets, scarves and gloves, and several other simple wares.

It's not a grand setup, but there are roaring bonfires, food, and good company.

(Posting this slightly early because of Thanksgiving chaos. Let me know if you have any questions)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"That's all right," Jack smiled before tipping her a wink. "You looked pretty comfortable, I didn't want to disturb you two."

He flicks out one hand idly, the wind clearly some snow off the seat next to him. The level of radiated warmth here was less than half of what it was in the nearest rows of seating around the fire.

"We never did do that bonfire on the beach... this is a good substitute though."

It was impossible to miss the way her eyes sparkled at the mentioning of her and Dick. For the first time in a long while, she was genuinely happy, and it showed.

"Just don't tell him that. He might start to think I like him or something." She joked, with a playful wink. Reclining a bit further into her seat, she looked up to the sky, closing her eyes as she stretched her arms up over her head. Her limbs were still a bit stiff from sitting still for so long. "This is true. What about you? Here with anybody tonight?"

Not necessarily as a date; she knew the boy had a lot of friends on the Turtle. He was just like that.

"Spoilers: I'm pretty sure he knows," Jack said softly, glancing over at her. She was practically glowing happiness the way the bonfires were casting warmth; he was unsurprised to discover it felt about the same.

"No, I just dropped by."

"Well, that's no fun. Half the Turtle's here. You need to at least roast one marshmallow before you leave tonight."

Her tone heavily implied this was now a Rule because she said it was, and no, he wasn't getting out of it.

"There's going to need to be a lot longer sticks for me to be able to roast anything," Jack chuckled, pushing his free hand into the pocket of his hoodie.

It was so cute how he sometimes forgets she can literally do magic.

"How close do you think you can manage?"

"Guess we'll find out," is his reply, standing from his seat and offering her a hand.

She overdramatizes daintly reaching for his hand, pulling herself to a stand with his help, and almost curtesys before thinking better of it.

"Why thank you, kind sir"

A wry smile at the foppish reply but he's hardly one to talk, not when he so frequently pulls the same on her. They wind their way through the crowd towards the nearest stack of burning logs and the nearby tables where assorted roastable food was waiting.

"Pavel really went all out for this, didn't he?"

Their hands remain clasped for a few extra minutes as they weave their way around, though it's less out of affection (on her end, at least) and moreso because she didn't want to lose him before they reached their unknown destination.

...okay, so maybe a little affection.

"No kidding. They must really love beach parties where he's from. I've never seen one so extravagant before."

"He's from Russia," Jack laughed, flexing his fingers in her grasp. "I doubt beaches were really what he had forefront in his mind."

"Sorry. Not all of us are close and personal friends with a Russian Spirit."

"If you say things like that I'm going to have to assume you're jealous," is the sly retort as Jack reaches for a small bowl of marshmallows.

"Oh, I am. What I wouldn't give for an all-access pass to Santa's workshop. Talk about magic."

"I wish you two could meet one day," he said, jabbing the marshmallow onto the end of a stick and passing it to Zatanna so he could do the same for his own. "Tooth and Sandy too," he added, since she had already met Bunny.

"Thanks." She said as he handed her the stick, taking a seat on a nearby rock. They were still a ways back from the flames--unsurprisingly--so she gauged the distance before waving a hand over the edge of her stick, then his. "There." Both tips glowed a pale blue for a fleeting moment, before fading. "Soon as you sit down, they'll extend to reach the fire. Try not to poke anyone accidentally."

On purpose was another story.

She settled in a little further, shivering slightly from a combination of lack of cover (or body heat) and Jack's presence. It was such a contrast from her earlier state.

"I'd love to meet them all. Assuming they make it here someday."

"Clever magic," he said, sitting and watching the stick extend as she said it would. It made it harder to gauge how close the marshmallow was getting to the flames but it was a good trade off.

"Hey," he said, noting her shiver; if there was anything he'd notice, it was that. "We can move closer to the fire, if you want. It's all right with me."

Eh. Considering how many marshmallows she'd already burned to a crisp that night, what were two more? It was the act of roasting them that was half the fun.

"I'm fine. I'd rather my fingers go a little numb than risk you melting on me. Fresh out of buckets to carry you back to the treehouse in."

"Better than a greenhouse," Jack quipped, referencing the Frosty scene among the poinsettias. He was fine with making it seem only about the heat, not wanting to dredge up the phantom sting of burning embers on his face.

"But I mean it... I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"And I don't want you to be uncomfortable. We seem to be at an impasse here."

Her mind was far from burning embers and greenhouses, too caught up in the moment. She tried to tug him to her side to get him to stop arguing.

"You realize there's no way for you to win this argument, so sit down and let's see who can go the longest without setting their snack on fire. I can warm up after."

A wry chuckle and he nodded, letting the subject drop and leaning for a moment into the hug. "All right."

He turned his attention back to the marshmallow which was just beginning to crisp around the nearest edge to the fire. He let it linger another ten seconds, then pulled it back to him.

"Ow, ow, ow," he said playfully, picking at the sides gingerly with his fingers and resisting the urge to blow on it lest he freeze it.

"Oh, don't be such a wuss," she laughed openly before leaning forward and blowing on the marshmallow for him (she had a hunch he was wary of accidentally freezing it). "Better?"

"Thank you," he said, grinning. "Careful, yours is about to go up in smoke."

While she dealt with hers, he stacked some grahams and chocolate.

"Hmm? Oh, no, not again..."

Grinning, she retracted her own stick. Sure enough, it was smoking. But not burned. Not yet. She blew on it a few times to put it out, before taking a bite right there on the stick.

Big mistake; she covered her mouth almost immediately, inhaling sharply to collect cool air into her now burning mouth.

"...c'oss e'uff." She managed to get out in between bouts of laughter.

"Close enough," Jack echoed with a laugh, nibbling at his cautiously and then taking a bite when he found it had cooled enough.

"Mmm..."

Light 'em up

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)