fandomtownies | April Fools' Dance, An Abandoned Warehouse, Friday Night

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April Fools' Dance, An Abandoned Warehouse, Friday Night

The first arrivals to the warehouse would have found nothing - until the lights went on, dropping many shades of glitter down onto the floor. The glitter would stick around all night, almost-but-not-quite clashing with the colorful decor, though it did not seem to incite any boykissy.

Even if one of the janitors definitely took a shot at using it as an excuse.

There was a karaoke booth set up in the corner, and the rest of the party environment looked chaotic and incredibly merry. Reds, blues, and yellows had been thrown together like a crazy man had attacked the place with some paint.

Welcome to your April Fools' Dance, children, adults, and alumni.

[[ ~~wait for the~~ ocd up, have at! Arrival | Food and Drink | Shadowy Corners | Karaoke | Dance Floor | Bathrooms | OOC ]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Dinah facepalmed over her shoulder, giggling in her ear, then pulled back, one arm still around Karla's shoulders, and said, "Top of a train headed for the Jersey Shore." A wicked grin. "And I'm glad the Island is making you eat and sleep again, but I'm sorry you needed it."

La la la, see? No big deal!

"I did not!" Karla protested. "I hadn't done anything to deserve it! I think Fandom was just being a brat this time."

Then she paused to make sure that was true. What had she done before getting turned into a kitty? Anything specific?

"You even saw me right before that! For Parents' Weekend!"

Ha! Totally justified!

"Oh, that explains it," Dinah said, half-teasing. "Those three could turn anyone into a kitty from sheer relief." She grinned and tweaked at Karla's hair. "Julian is so much fun to tease, honestly. Where do they grow those stick-in-the-muds, the swamp?"

"We don't even have swamps in Glacia," Karla grumped. "But we do have a lot of forests filled with hardwood trees. Maybe that's where he got it. All I know is that if that stick gets any higher, he won't be able to nod his Darkness-bedamned head."

Although, speaking of Glacia...Karla gave Dinah a speculative look. "So, hypothetically, on a scale of one to ten, about how mad would you be if I told you I'd been to Glacia this past week?"

Dinah now had the image of Julian as some demon marionette, and that was just disturbing. And funny.

And then there was more facepalming. "Uh. Well... that would depend on what you were doing there? I mean, visiting Jaenelle, hey, zero to one. Visiting somewhere in Glacia doing dangerous things without a lot of back-up-- seven to eight?" Tempered by how badly Karla always wanted to be back there. "Did you take Kaelas?" Two points less if she had!

"...Noooo," Karla admitted. "But I took Ben!"

That had to get her back a point, especially if she didn't point out she hadn't really been given a choice in the matter. "I went for a few days; three there, a day-and-a-half here. And I didn't go anywhere near Sidra or any major cities, just little tiny villages in the back end of nowhere!"

"Okay, that's... a point and a half down," Dinah conceded, then grimaced. "So. A five. Which, you know, is always about me worrying you're doing too much. Not doubting your judgment." Except about doing too much. Even though she was trying hard to trust Karla to think things through these days. "And yay for taking Ben. What were you doing? Same as last time, drumming up support?"

"Sort of?" Karla hedged. "Yes and no? I was offering the Queen's Gift to several small villages, both Blood and landen. It's a ritual all Queens are supposed to do, every year, to help ensure good crops. This year, I was doing it as myself, both to help and, well, to let the people know that I was there, alive, and helping out those who needed it most. Letting word spread. I call it gorilla-Queening. Like the fighters in the jungle."

Dinah grinned at that phrasing, then sobered. "Not a bad strategy, for a lot of reasons." She frowned slightly. "But would you be able to catch a Wind to get out of there fast? And is word of this going to get back to the Evil Uncle?" Please, let it not get back to him *any* time soon.

"That's one of the things I made sure of when I was choosing villages," Karla said with a nod. "They had to be close to a Wind and intersect with a dark Wind close by if the Wind itself were lighter. There's only one other witch in Glacia besides me that can ride a Sapphire Wind, and she's a crotchety old lady."

Karla said that last with remarkable fondness.

"But it's not going to be something that Hobart can ignore, not once word reaches him. I was everywhere around Glacia."

Dinah grinned at that, then frowned a little. "And you didn't get too tired? I mean, I know Ben would keep a good eye on you and all, but--" She bit her lip, then studied Karla. "Well, you look like you're okay." Soooo, Karla's good sense had won out over her enthusiasm. Yay?

Karla caught Dinah's concern and shook her head a little. "I didn't do much actual Craft, other than riding the Winds," she said. "Most of the time involved walking through crops and listening to villagers tell me their woes. The Queen's Gift is kind of passive."

If you counted bleeding into a bucket passive.

"It just requires a little bit of a ritual, some blood--" around a cupful. Ish. Sorta. "--and a bit of walking."

"Blood. And walking. So. Drip drip, drip drip?" Dinah gave her a hopeful look. "And it helps the crops." Having just talked to Arthur about the jerk bandits trying to steal crops from people who didn't have enough, she knew how important that could be. The other side of the situation reasserted itself, and she let out a slow breath. "So. Not risky right now. Risky in the long run. But necessary."

"Blood mixed with water," Karla explained. "If I just tried to drip over the crops, I would have ended up collapsing before we were halfway through the first field. Blood and water, poured over the first and last crop in a row. The harvests are healthier, stronger, bigger. People can pay their tithes and feed their children. It's a good thing. It's part of why we became Blood. Six villages: three Blood, three landen." She grinned. "And the chance to spit in Hobart's eye. Can't blame me there."

Something about that logic bothered Dinah just a little, but she couldn't put her finger on it... maybe it was the punch. Meh. She'd think of it later, hopefully.

"No, really can't," Dinah admitted. "And that sounds pretty safe." She shoulders un-hunched, and she gave Karla a rueful look. "Nicely done, then. Are you going to do that again, or just this once?"

"I'm going to do it again," Karla said with a nod. "Next month, once I recover from losing the blood."

See? Playing it totally safe, here!

"There's actually an easier and more effective way to do it, just releasing the power directly into the land, but I have to make a spectacle of it, at least for now."

"Okay," Dinah said, nodding slowly. "Is it stupid to hope you check in with Raven before you go too? Just in case?" Secondary exit strategy, yay!

"...She was off with Rinoa at the time, fighting off some evil Sorceress who was possessing Rinoa and trying to fold up time in her purse!"

Say that a little more defensively, Karla.

...Not that it would make that explanation any more sensical.

"There was a purse?" Not the point. No. "Okaaaay. Got it. Back-up not available." She pointed at Karla. "Next time, you'll have it besides just Ben, right? Even if it's, I dunno, Lucivar?"

"Lucivar won't work," Karla said immediately. "I need to make sure that they see I'm standing on my own, not propped up by anyone stronger than me. Not Lucivar, not Uncle Saetan, not even Jaenelle. I need them to see me."

Of course, that didn't mean Dinah didn't have a valid point. "Though Kaelas is probably a good idea..."

"Kaelas is a wonderful idea," Dinah confirmed with enthusiasm. "Although I'm sure Lucivar can lurk. He's more subtle than you give him credit for. If, you know, you give him time for it." She sighed. "Okay. Would it be pushy to want to know before you go on these trips?" Was it? Maybe? "Just... so I know?"

"It's not pushy," Karla said with a fond smile. "You probably would have gotten a call, maybe even an invite but..."

She blushed and mumbled something. "Mbbelstmfn"

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the clog-dancing and helicopters circling," Dinah said, putting a hand to her ear. "I would've gotten a call, buuuuut?"

"Maybe I lost my phone," Karla said, barely any louder. "When I was a kitty. Under my bureau. Long enough for it to die completely."

Karla had found the stupid this...this morning.

Sigh.

Dinah snickered, all seriousness leached out of her by that silliness, and hugged Karla. "Okay, you know what? Tech difficulties are always a great excuse. You dork."

April Fools' Dance, An Abandoned Warehouse, Friday Night

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