smartass_captain | A Very Nexus Reception

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A Very Nexus Reception

To all the friends of the happy grooms, PINpoint messages have already been sent weeks ago inviting them to expect quite the street party arranged in the commons of the Nexus. Guests have been invited to bring an appetite--both for food and for a social adventure. Nirnish weddings are public affairs, after all. While the ceremony has had to be somewhat sequestered for the sake of keeping the existence of Other Worlds a secret, neither Felix nor Jim would want to leave out their interdimensional friends entirely. Having a reception party arranged in the Nexus became the natural plan of action.

Overnight large sections of the Commons are transformed via diligent craftsmanship and quite a lot of magic from those who’ve volunteered. Lanterns representing the Divines are hung along every lamp post, bringing at least the idea of warmth even if the flames are too small to heat their surroundings alone. Bardic tunes carry in the air as readily as the scent of food and drink. Past banners of red and black, blue and white the people gather.

For both grooms this is nearly a continuation of the day before. They’ve had the chance to sleep off the nerves of their ceremony. Today is entirely for celebration--uninhibited celebration at that. No more minding what is said and isn’t. No more pretending to be anything other than who they are. Jim’s traded out his Nirnish finery for a suit and tie, garments he’s much more familiar with. Felix is staying with his native clothing; though he may have dressed down a little from his wedding clothes, the conjurer’s dressed in fitted breeches and his best fur-trimmed coat and boots, the soft hide dyed blue to match his tunic. By their side sits the conjurer’s spectral wolf familiar, ears pricked at the gathering.

As the guests find their ways over it will be easy to spot their friends amidst all the decor along with many other avenues with which to enjoy themselves….

Greetings
Food and Drink
Music and Dancing
Bonfire Entertainment
Party Games

((Links to all relevent wedding Prose can be found Here!))

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Busting a princess out of jail. That's a hell of a story in and of itself but if there's one thing Jim's learned in the years he's known the pilot it's that Han Solo only offers up details on his terms. If he's dismissed the idea of filling Jim in already there's not a whole lot of point to pry about the affair.

"Sounds like a pretty risky job." Jim comments instead, smiling over his drink to see Han watching Leia leave with what honestly looks like quite a bit of appreciation. 'Acting like' she's the boss of him, indeed.

"Well, the party can keep her company for a bit. Give you a bit of room to breathe." Whether Han wants it or not is another matter entirely. The plausible deniability is there though. "Is she gonna freak out if she meets a mage? There's more than a few of them in attendance."

Tarana nods on seeing her again, and points to one side of the field. "A squire will take your name first, then find a free spot and Turnstone will be around with her Ghost. A practice target has been set up there-" she points to the marked out lanes for trial runs, with a quintain set up in the centre, "and they'll need to time a practice run before they make adjustments for your first match."

She considers Harley's armor and rubs her chin. Stylish it surely is, but a Titan's first point of interest is always the weak points. Defence is Tarana Parvin's specialty, and she'll not risk civilian injuries for a game. "You'll have to get a left-side pauldron and gauntlet from her; a chestpiece and helm as well. Make sure it fits well- loose armor is next to useless."

The Hunter who's been going round surveying mounts and armor leans on a safety rail, watching as the squire takes Isidor's details. Her glassy blue Ghost flits around her, murmuring quietly, but the Guardian's visor is fixed firmly on this new contestant.

"Nice ride," she calls up. "How fast is she?"

Jim's going to get a smirk when his husband catches that look. Felix does enjoy feeling appreciated, and he's very adept at reading Jim's thoughts- at least, when they're written so plainly on his face.

Hold that one for later, love.

He gives Delia his best charming smile as she takes the glass, pushing aside a moment of mental dissonance. Green skin and a fearless attitude makes his mind go straight to Orc, but no Orcish woman ever looked like Delia. He's immediately certain his aunt would like her.

"The pleasure is mine," he replies, lifting his glass to her rather than take the risk of bowing. "I've been looking forward to meeting the famous Captain Battista." He grins. "Everyone in Starfleet is so prim and well-behaved, Jim keeps trying to tell me the rest of the galaxy is more fun. Is he telling the truth?"

Hard to tell if it's Delia's warming up to Felix immediately or the smirk the mage shot him but the captain is aglow with beaming smiles to see the two of them introduced. So many of his friendships get complicated where Felix is concerned (and for good reason), it's refreshing to see one of his friends unequivocally happy to see Felix with no extra baggage hanging over the affair.

But he can't help but to make a disgruntled sort of Definitely Not Whine at the teasing. He's offended that's what he is. Definitely not affecting a petulant little brother maneuver. Him? Never. Perish the thought.

"Are you saying I'd lie to you? What's Delia going to think. Besides, having seen everyone at the tavern with you the other night and here now, you'd think you'd realize that even in Starfleet folks know how to have fun."

While there's obvious muscle beneath Delia's curves, she's certainly not an Orc. She doesn't have the teeth for it, for one. "The famous Captain Battista, you say? I do hope you've heard flattering things about little old me," There's a playfully flirtatious tone to her words, and she's grinning as well. There's another one of those flashy smiles to go with it.

As long as her friends are happy, it matters little how. She takes a sip of the drink, making a soft, pleased sound as she does. "And the pleasure is mine as well, on that note." She cuts a glance to Jim, "And I've known a few fun Starfleet types in my day, depends on when and where, of course."

Her tone is teasing and fond, and she's still grinning, eye alight with mischief.

Felix has to chuckle at Jim's insistent enthusiasm. The man is endlessly supportive when it comes to kids and Felix's magic alike. Put the two together and it makes him endearingly delighted. Determined, too, but Felix tends to overlook that.

"Well, I can hardly turn down some help." He eyes his husband sidelong for a moment, amused, before he turns to Danny. "I'm planning to show off some of the conjuration spells I've been working on. Modifications and extensions of the standard summonings, mostly, but ones I've never heard of anyone performing. I have you to thank for some of the ideas, actually. But I'll admit, I doubt I have your artistic flair when it comes to presenting them..."

He's gaping. He's allowed to do that for a few moments, surely, staring at these older reflections of men he knows so well. But he doesn't doubt. It makes too much sense, and Spock is quite right- this isn't his first time on this ride. That last remark of Spock's actually makes him snort softly.

"Impossible, indeed. It's an honor to meet you, sirs," he says then, eyes dropping, darting from one to the other as he reminds himself not to stare. Even if he wants to, especially at thisThe familiar's leaning forward, sniffing curiously at the seated men. "Jim- my Jim has spoken of you, yes. Always with the greatest of respect. I just never realized you were here in the Nexus..."

His gaze shifts to Tiber, purring away on Jim's lap, then to the older man himself. "But that does explain why his cat adores you."

Well, Runa, you're making Felix wonder why he hasn't gotten to know you sooner. He's giving the lady a conspiratorial grin already, even while Jim insists none of that is necessary. (But wouldn't it be fun?)

His smirk cracks in a hurry when recreational jumping-off-of-things comes up. "I grew up on a mountain, learning not to fall off the edge was lesson number one! You're just lucky you have good aim."

Felix shakes his head, deciding he'd better distract Jim before this idea goes any further. "We shouldn't keep you from enjoying the party, really. Will we be seeing you two on the dance floor?"

Harrowheart lifts a finger, ready to swiftly protest. He opens his mouth and... Very quickly realizes he hasn't got an argument! He can't lie to Runa. He would, but he's pretty sure she'd know better. Ladies always do.

"I!... Will be more sober when I come back with my armor." He nods once, which makes it a fact.

He keeps that finger up, but now it's to ask her to wait a minute. Wait juuuust a minute as he turns around, grabs the nearest unguarded glass of bourbon, knocks it back, and quickly disappears into the crowd. He'll be back with his armor! One hopes...

* * *

It's about an hour later when Harrowheart returns. He cuts through the crowd that makes way for him and the wheelbarrow he's pushing. And in it? A stack of dark blue plate armor. It clatters and rattles with every little bump he hits.

"Runa!" he calls as he rolls on up to her. "You ready to be the second best-dressed person here tonight? I'd say best, but I saw what Isidor came in tonight, and I ain't sure we can compete with that."

He parks his wheelbarrow next to her and gestures to the scattered armor pieces. "I'll help you get in it. I'll even take a picture of you, if you really want."

Han hadn't exactly gone out of his way to inform her of the finer details of this place or it's population, so Leia was largely unsure of what the Enterprise was and almost completely blind to Starfleet. She knew pilots liked to have their own ships and so she'd made that an avenue of conversation, it opened other doors.

"I can sympathize with paperwork, it takes up far more of my time than I'd like." She nodded as he continued, her smile growing as he spoke with such clear enthusiasm.

"Your manners are fine, it's good to see such passion for what you do, it means the job is more like a life choice than work." But she supposed she could offer up some conversation of her own. "I am currently traveling with Captain Solo, I don't know if you know him or not. I wish we had pilots and navigators like yourself, good shipmen are hard to find, so we have Solo."

"Great! Practice will be a good idea.... since I have never done this before. It looks like fun." Harley tilts her head to get a better idea of the marked out lanes.

"Pauldron. Gauntlet. Chestpiece. Helm. Wow... thanks for covering me!"

Yay! He's helping! When Felix looks at him Jim's grin is wide, only getting wider when Danny looks his way too. Look at this working out with only minimal prodding from Jim's end. He's of the opinion that it will do Felix some good to have to teach someone else. That Felix will of course put Danny's safety and well-being in mind above everything else.

Look, Jim doesn't actually have a very good understanding of what kind of magic Felix specializes in, and even less of an idea what Danny does and is choosing to believe the absolute best of both of them. Clearly this cannot go wrong now or ever.

Probably not now. It Is a party after all.

"There y'go. Felix hasn't told me what he's planning no matter how much I asked. Said it was s'possed to be a surprise. You can be sure I'm gonna be there to see it."

Let's be honest here: Even ignoring her previous few winters here, Dia'ndria Starfall has never been too terribly fond of the cold. As the evening cools and darkens, the exiled Sith eventually winds her way towards it.

Attracted largely for the simplest reasons: It's warm.

Socializing is, perhaps, best considered a side-benefit to this.

She's also acquired a cloak, to help preserve the heat a bit, since the nice, dressy, but not terribly expensive, dress she's wearing isn't exactly the best for colder weather.

You can make the Space Pirate a Space Privateer, but at her heart, she's still going to be the seedy little green skinned pirate she's always been. Sure, some of the rougher edges have been smoothed out, she can play the part of the diplomat (which some might argue uses the skills of a tradeswoman in having to sell one's words instead of one's items or skills), but Delia Battista is many things. Captain, technically a General.

But she's drawn towards the seedier games like a moth to a flame. In particular, as it turns out and should come as no real surprise, Delia is most excellent at card games. As the Orion woman can bluff with the best of them.

Aside from the magic clinging to him, Felix probably doesn't seem unusual for a human. His accent differs from Jim's, and his clothes lean more to soft hide and fur than synthetic fabrics, but then they are from different worlds. There's a thoughtful look in his eyes as he clasps Rondo's arm, and not only because he can pick up that he's dealing with another mage. But his smile is easy, his magic quite idle aside from the mental tether linking him to his familiar. Guiding it is trivial at this point, as natural as balancing the glass in his hand.

"Aha. You're the one Jim's been corresponding with, aren't you? The pleasure is mine." He hasn't seen much of said correspondence himself, but Jim did talk about it a while ago, before wedding plans distracted them. Nothing in his posture suggests that Jim relayed the whole conversation about magic and history in Rondo's world. If he looks puzzled for a second, he's just trying to imagine why they wouldn't have some sort of battlemages. Curious!

"Well, it certainly can be, when there's a war on. Ironically enough I'd say it's the safest career I've yet tried. Certainly better than adventuring. Mind you, it's been almost nothing but training: that might account for it." He chuckles, not heeding Rondo's distraction by the familiar. Any elf who knows magic has surely seen that kind of thing before.

Felix, on the other hand, is listening carefully as Rondo explains the lantern tradition, nodding here and there. Traditions and rituals get his rapt attention, most of all those with a spiritual connection. "What an excellent custom! We have a wedding tradition of the couple lighting a hearth together but I... expect it's not-"

Um. Sorry for your nerves, Rondo, but the human's about to trail off with a sudden twitch. And then a hard shiver, the man shaking his head as if to clear something away. Oh, no. Get back here, you. He looks down into his glass for a second, a little flushed. What on earth is Jim doing- oh thank Mara there he is, the familiar nudging him closer with gentle butts to the back of his legs.

"Moon sugar," Adia repeats curiously. That's an awfully innocuous name for something that Felix is reminded of in reference to cocaine, but that's the way it goes for a lot of illicit substances, isn't it? "I think you might be right that you're better off with your elixirs, Felix, the side effects of too much caffeine aren't all that pleasant. Although you don't just drink coffee for the caffeine."

"If i did, I'd settle for black tea," Caspar adds. "We have plenty of that on Atlantis."

But anyway. There are other people who want to congratulate the happy couple, and as Jim points out, there is plenty to do at their reception. "We will, Jim. Felix. Thanks again for letting us celebrate with you." She gives Jim a hug, and offers one to Felix, and even Caspar seems amenable to a handshake or two. "I'll look for Norn since you think we'll get along." It's always nice to meet someone new. Even Caspar looks interested, although that might be from the possibility, however teasing, of being feared. Old habits die hard for a Cylon.

"I can't imagine anyone speaking unflatteringly of you, my lady. The roguish space captain with a wicked sense of fun and a charming smile?" He winks at Jim. "I for one rather like that sort."

Delia's grin draws a smirk in turn. "Yes, well, the trouble with some Starfleet types is they won't let themselves have fun, you know. They need a kind soul to prize them away from their work with a firm hand, let's say. Any recommendations about how to do that? I had an idea I'd learn to play dom jot very badly so they'd feel compelled to come fix it."

Edited 2020-01-03 18:49 (UTC)

"A good look sometimes requires sacrifices," Amelia teases. She's suffered for the sake of other people's (mostly Alex's) art at times, but the end result is usually worth it. A little discomfort for looking better than your best is a small price to pay.

At the question of her choosing to stay in Asvera, the rogue diverts her gaze from Adia's PINpoint and shakes her head. This is something she's thought about a great deal in the past. To start again on a real world and to make her way from there would be so much better than the act she lives out in the Nexus. It would mean the chance to build a full life again, one that could involve the Nexus without revolving around it. But her thoughts on the matter always end the same.

"I..." She exhales a short sigh and shakes her head once more before looking back up at her friends with a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "It's not my place to ask. It's someone else's home. I am a welcome guest there, and I don't need to be something more to be satisfied with the amount of time I spend there."

It's almost true. Amelia would give a lot to live in a place like Asvera for the rest of her life. Thor is making a home for himself and his people, though, and if she steps in to disrupt that by changing the balance? She'd never forgive herself.

It's best, as it always is, to let go of a dream that might someday come back to hurt her or the people she cares about most. There are other, better ways to spend her energy.

"Someone always has to keep watch, but there's nothing wrong with being the person who rests from time to time." Amelia's simply never been one to allow herself the chance to be one of those people. Perhaps someday, she will, but the circumstances will have to be right for it.

They really are. The rogue's lips press into a thin line and then she shrugs as well. "Perhaps they need contests like this because they're not taught to dance well enough, or they're not taught the right dances. I've heard some say they had never been taught a single dance until they arrived in the Nexus." A strange thought, given its normality in the society Amelia grew up in. She shrugs again as she looks up at Thor. "Maybe they simply didn't get the right kind of education, so they try to prove themselves better through subjective contests with rigged scoring systems."

...that's how she'd do it, anyway.

Amelia takes one look at the gryphon and grimaces. Yes, a beast like that would scared a great number of lesser ones.

"Then let me help now, before your horses are too spooked to participate in the contest." She smiles at Celann and his squire, then hops over the barrier gracefully, her skirts and cloak rustling quietly in a shimmer of fabric as she lands and makes her way over in a single, fluid motion. Immediately her attention shifts to the horses, whom she approaches with soft words and her hands extended palm up.

"It's all right," she murmurs to the horses, smiling as she slows her approach. She knows she'll need to go slow with them if she's to gain their trust. Something to offer them would help as well, but she didn't think to grab any fruit from the tables before coming over to see what the fuss was all about. "I have no intention of hurting you. I'll take care of you, I promise."

Blaze strides along beside her, not waiting until they're halfway to wave and yell "Hey! Turnstone, over here!"

The woman they're approaching is masked and hooded, but there's definite surprise in her body language when she turns. Her gear is patterned light blue and pale green, her cloak a shimmering matrix of translucent blue-white material. She lifts a hand in bemused greeting, attention on the woman Blaze is showing her way. Her Ghost flits over to peek with a whisper of antigravs.

"Dia, this is Ime Turnstone, one of our Hunters. Turnstone, this is Dia'ndria Starfall. She's a friend of mine. She's gonna ride in the joust, but she'll need to borrow some armor."

"Sure." The Hunter nods to Dia, more reserved than her noisy colleague but not unfriendly. "You have a ride of your own?"

That gets a smirk out of Caspar in agreement. "At least I now know Adia's limits for sitting still," he notes, bringing out a small blush in his wife. When it comes to elaborate braids, it's not Caspar's skill that is the limiting factor.

As Amelia thinks over Caspar's question, she puts away her PINpoint, a sympathetic expression on her face. Though her situation was not the same, she knows what it's like to long for a place to call home and yet put the needs of others before her own. Still, it breaks her heart a little to see Amelia reject the possibility when she has no doubt that Thor would be happy to have her. Maybe she can put a word into the god's ear?

Ooh, that's definitely meddling, which she doesn't like doing, but she wants Amelia to be happy, and Asvera definitely makes her happy. Not just happy, but at peace. She worries her lower lip a little and files the thought away for later.

It's Caspar who finally speaks after a laconic shrug of his shoulders. "Suit yourself. Now that I think about it, Thor's world has the Avengers in it, so that place is bound to be as crazy as the Nexus." Superheroes, aliens, and magic? No thanks. And the one robot on the team died, so they don't even have that going for them anymore.

It's a little strangely like home in a few senses of the word. Masked, hooded individuals were common among the Sith, usually to hide scars, or in her former Master's case, it acted as a life support system. So she's not too taken aback by Turnstone's appearance.

"Ah, no. I do have one, but I didn't bring it here as I didn't think I'd need it." Because bringing her speeder to the party didn't really make much sense when it was within walking distance and didn't require carrying things.

"But truthfully I'd be more comfortable using a speeder than one of the beasts." As she's never, y'know. Seen a garden variety horse before, let alone ridden anything similar. "As that's what I've got the most experience with piloting."

"You're going to do summonings in the middle of a crowd of people??" Danny gives a low whistle. He takes it all back, that's exactly the kind of thing that would happen at a Morganian party. Presumably Felix isn't planning to unleash the subjects of said summonings on his party guests, though.

"That is ballsy, mate. I am so in." His genuine enthusiasm for this project might actually be a red flag. "Wait, how do you mean you have me to thank for some of the ideas?"

This is getting better and better. The social awkwardness he walked in with has flown out the window.

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A Very Nexus Reception

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