Light 'em up

[starcharter]

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)

Comments

[wintershepherd]

Terrible as the joke is, it still gets a smile out of Jack. "Good to see your sense of humour isn't frozen," he teased, lowering his hand as his friend approached.

"It's all right," he assured Victor. "Just don't want to get too close. Fire and I aren't friends."

[alpha_squad_leader]

"Not yet but it might get there if it gets any colder, Victor replied, tugging the scarf he's wearing a bit.

"If you say so," he was still a little worried. "It's a shame. I've been telling him how great a guy you are but he just won't listen," Victor joked, trying to distract himself from the cold. "Couldn't stay away from a party?"

[wintershepherd]

"I'd offer to come over and thaw it out but somehow I think that'd be counterproductive," Jack laughed.

Seeing the worry on his friend's face, Jack took another step towards the bonfire as though to show Victor that he was all right. Certainly not as close to it as Vic had been, but enough that the mutant should still be comfortably warm.

"Are you kidding? This is the hottest thing around tonight," he joked, dropping one of his infamously terrible puns.

[alpha_squad_leader]

"Maybe. But if you don't see me in the next three days, come by my place and make sure I haven't become a lizard-cicle," Victor laughed too.

Victor stepped a little closer to Jack as well, satisfied with the neutral zone between bonfire and snow.

It may have been a terrible pun but Victor still laughed, smiling at his friend's joke. "Well, I'm glad you came by. Wouldn't be the same without a cool guy like you," he replied, trying a pun of his own.

[wintershepherd]

They could trade awful puns all night if no one stopped them and the worst thing was, Jack wouldn't even care.

"You tried some of the stuff over there for roasting?" he asked, nodding at the tables.

[alpha_squad_leader]

Victor looked towards the tables and shook his head. "No, not yet. I just grabbed the marshmallow on my way over to the fires," he replied. "What over there looks good?"

[wintershepherd]

"There are these little spiced bread ball things," Jack said happily. "I know what you're thinking, wouldn't they just be toast but they're really good."

[alpha_squad_leader]

"Toast is good," Victor chuckled. "Since you're giving them such glowing reviews, I've got to try one now."

[wintershepherd]

Jack quickly locates the small bread balls, gathering a small bowl of them so they can go back over to the fire and keep Victor from getting too chilly. He's gotten the longest stick he can find for himself, to give himself a little extra space between he and the fire.

"Okay, we're all set."

[alpha_squad_leader]

Victor followed after Jack, eating his marshmallow along the way. He glanced at the food, some of it stuff he hadn't seen before. Heading back towards the fire with his friend, Victor smiles.

"Great," he said, offering a smile. "I'm guessing you've been enjoying the weather we've been getting lately."

[wintershepherd]

Jack made two sticks like kebobs and handed one to Victor. "Roast them just like a marshmallow," he advised. "And yeah, I have been."

The last part was added a touch sheepishly, as though apologizing for Victor's own aversion to the cold.

[alpha_squad_leader]

"Thanks," Victor chimed, settling into a nice spot by the fire to start roasting the kebob. He smiled at Jack though. "I thought so. Have you been frosting the windows? I haven't been going out much so I haven't gotten a chance to see any of your handiwork this year," he wanted to see some of Jack's art.

[wintershepherd]

"I haven't really done much yet," Jack shook his head. "Been working on getting the welcoming committee a new place to work from," he added. "But I'll be back to my usual haunts before too long."

[alpha_squad_leader]

"I'll keep an eye on the windows then," Victor replied. "Need a hand with anything down at the new place? Anything need repair or anything built?"

[wintershepherd]

"Not that I can think of at the moment," Jack said thoughtfully. "But we're still laying everything out. I might have something for you later."

[alpha_squad_leader]

Vic nodded. "It's a good thing you're setting up. It'll help a lot," he said, feeling that someone should tell Jack that.