monthly mingle: THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHT

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: monthly mingle: the festival of light
when: The month of January.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

festival of light

In the days leading up to January 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: The Festival of Light. This holiday is in celebration of the end of the Quarantine's short-lived winter and serves to welcome the new year. The traditions associated with The Festival of Light involve fireworks every weekend of the month, a days-long formal ball that with an open invitation to everyone in the city, and lighting magical candles and incense with loved ones and new friends alike.

a celebration of the end of winter and the new year

As the Capitol World stops blocking the path between the sun and its moon, the snow melts and the rains of early spring begin to fall and the residents of the Quarantine gather together to celebrate the new year. New beginnings are honored as the sky is lit with fireworks to banish the cold and dark of winter, and residents share the light and warmth of the new year with each other by sharing candles and incense with fellow residents. These traditions are steeped in magic, like many other things in Riverview, and have certain magical emotional effects on participants. Additionally, over the weekend of January 5th - 8th, the Government will be hosting a formal ball to welcome the New Year, which is open to all residents and offers food, drink, dancing, and other activities, as well as places to stay the night and relax or 'relax' with friends.

i. fireworks

One of the main traditions of the Festival of Light is to brighten the sky to welcome the new year, and as always, the Government of Riverview and various other city entities including businesses and various organizations and clubs, have gone all out to light up the sky. Each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of the month of January, residents can gather outside on the beaches or park, or indoors at various observation lounges set up on city rooftops for the occasion, to watch elaborate, beautiful fireworks displays.

Outdoor observation is facilitated by use of rented forced-air umbrellas that make viewing the fireworks without having to squint into the rain or peer out from under a traditional umbrellas easy. Curl up with a friend or lover under an umbrella to watch the fireworks displays. Temporary indoor observation lounges have also been set up on most of the rooftops of buildings in the city, if the outdoors isn't your thing. The lounges can range from simple transparent-roofed spaces with rustic benches and hot cocoa to elaborate, fancy bars or restaurants with food service, music, and dancing. Some of the lounges may even have themes, whether they're 18+ adult or just quirky. Let your imagination run wild - if you can think of it, someone in the city's probably set one up.

ii. lighting up

Throughout the city, residents will find booths and special sections in their favorite stores set up with stands displaying magical incense and candles in a wide variety of colors. These are traditional trappings of the Festival of Light, the original and ancient tradition that's built up into the modern celebration as residents know it. Most prolific are the candles - ranging from tiny tea lights to large pillar candles, they are inscribed with the word 'glow' in a variety of different alien languages, including some that residents might recognize. The incense comes in small variety of dusky, earthen colors, each with a different scent and effect, all clearly labeled.

Candles are meant to be lit with one or more other people, and when this tradition is observed properly with a candle inscribed 'glow' - the wick lit by two or more people at the same time, and held together between them for a minimum of 30 seconds - every participant will feel and see certain magical effects. As the candle is held between the participants, they will start to see each other's skin glow, seemingly lit from inside, and as the glow increases, all participants will start to feel an emotional lightness. Stress and despair will slowly dissipate, giving the participants a temporary feeling of absolute contentment, warm and happy. The effects last from 5 minutes to a full 24 hours, depending on the number of people who participate and the length of time the candle is held between participants (more participants or longer timespans will increase the length of the effect), and effects are cumulative - lighting a large number of candles with different people will cause the effect to draw out for longer.

Incense is something usually lit in private, at home or a small gathering at a friend's house, and in recent years as the celebration has become a bit more modernized and commercialized, at the Glow Ball. There are a few varieties of incense with different psychological effects, all of which are pleasant and take strongest effect when the incense is lit with one or more other people, and enjoyed long enough for the whole stick to burn down. Orange and yellow incense will increase feelings of affection and openness, sienna red incense will do the same but also induce arousal; blue-grey incense will make it easier to share and ease grief and sadness, while grey-purple will lull participants into an easy sleep with pleasant dreams.

iii. glow ball

Every year during the Festival of Light, the Government of Riverview hosts a formal ball called the Glow Ball on the first weekend of the month - this year, it spans from nightfall on Friday January 5th until dawn on Monday January 8th. The ball is a relatively new custom, but has quickly skyrocketed to one of the most anticipated events of many residents' year. Similar to the castle-themed maze during Hygge, the Glow Ball is hosted inside a beautiful golden palace erected in the City Center that is much larger on the inside than it appears to be on the outside. While there is no specific theme to the ball, many residents take it as an opportunity to really glow in a wide variety of ways, all up to each person's imagination.

The palace is magically-augmented to be lavish, comfortable, and fully-stocked at all times, and features a banquet hall with ample and frequently-replenished food, a bar and lounge area for attendees to get a drink and sit for a while, a beautiful grand ballroom as well as several smaller ballrooms with different styles of music, a swimming pool with hot tubs, a garden, and smaller private vestibules that feature a pillow lounge, incense selection, and a small bedroom where residents can rest or enjoy each others' company in private.

NOTE: New characters are welcome to join in with the party, even if they haven't had time to prepare. Any new arrivals who come to the party in the clothing they arrived in will be whisked up by a fussy light golem or attendant who will fit them with a nice set of clothing for the evening so they can enjoy the festivities.

dinner and dancing

The banquet hall is ringed with tables that offer a buffet food catered to the time of day - breakfast in the morning, light food in the afternoon, lavish dinners in the evening, and desserts, coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, and snacks available all night. With ample seating at group tables, residents can share a meal with friends new and old. The bar and lounge has several large free bars staffed by glowing, ethereal light golems that never tire and never get an order wrong, and offers seating at tables and in cozy dimly-lit booths. Riverview's drinking age is 14 years old.

The grand ballroom is themed golden this year, with the walls tiled in gold and featuring a dance floor of white marble veined with gold. The grand ballroom has classical, traditional dance music playing for those who want a classy formal dance. There are four wing ballrooms that feature different genres of music for residents who enjoy alternate types of dancing, with the genres consistently rotating - whether you like punk, country, rock, pop, or any other type of music from any planet or country, it's likely to be playing in a wing ballroom at some point. Schedules are posted outside of each door and there are four genres per wing ballroom per day.

swimming and gardens

Another feature of the Glow Ball is the beautiful swimming pool - warm enough to be comfortable but cool enough to be refreshing, the outdoor pool has both flower petals and the season's glow candles floating on it, a champagne service offered by light golems, and tables to sit and enjoy a drink and conversation while drying off. There are also small hot tubs ringing the swimming pool where residents can soak away the aches and pains of the day. The pool offers change rooms where speaking a magical incantation (helpfully posted on the door) will change the occupant's formal clothing into an equivalent swimsuit, and will change it back (and dry the occupant) after the dip has been taken.

The gardens are also available for any attendees who want to get a bit of fresh air. With beautiful flower-lined winding paths under a perpetually starry sky and ample candles hanging from the trees and edging the paths for visibility, the gardens are a scenic and relaxing place to take some time away from the light and get some air.

privacy

For residents who want a little private time or want to spend more than just an evening at the ball, there are small private vestibules scattered throughout the palace. Featuring a lounge area with pillows and lap tables for eating, and a comfortable queen-size bed, each room also has a vanity whose drawers hold both suitable pajamas for sleeping in and (in 18+ rooms only) supplies for intimacy ranging from massage oils to packaged toys. And most importantly, each room is fully stocked with a selection of the season's incenses for use in private.

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up the mod-posted prompt to create a Communal Housing floor mingle. Or, if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during the Festival of Light, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: Jakub Grygier; image ii: Shutterstock; image iii & iv: credit unknown

navigation

Comments

finn | ota

[bythehand]

i. glow ball: ballroom.

[ Finn is pretty easily taken with how ornate everything is once he arrives. When the theme of your life has been in line with "metallic, anonymous, and combat-oriented" until about two months ago, you don't get a lot of... this. He's gotten used to some of the ins and outs of daily living, meeting people, that sort of thing, but this is a big step up from winter festivals and intimate gatherings.

For once, his curiosity doesn't outweigh his tension in an all-new situation. He almost can't take it in fast enough.

Finn doesn't feel inclined to dance, personally. He's still more than making his way around, though, decked out in the appropriate attire that Taako was kind enough to wrangle him into (sans bowtie). If he's uncomfortable in it, he at least does a good enough job of standing still and not pulling at his clothes to pass muster.

Catch him around being near constantly impressed with decorations. People-watching from off to the side with what can only be described as reverence. Learning what a cocktail fork is and immediately looking a lot less impressed, maybe. He's around. ]

glow ball: gardens.

[ There's no point going to an elaborate formal event if you don't eventually wander out into the gardens, right? Finn doesn't know this unspoken rule. He just intuitively figured it out on his own. Good job, him.

It's quieter out here. No less beautiful, no less painstakingly and deliberately put together. Just quieter. He guesses that was the idea. Sort of a reprieve. It's effective. As great as it is to see the party in motion, eventually the motion gets to a person.

So Finn spends plenty of time out here, too, idly wandering. Every now and again he finds a bench and hangs there for a while, grateful for a pocket of quiet that isn't too quiet. ]

fireworks.

[ This is the part that winds up catching him off-guard, at least for the first two weeks. Finn hears a distant popping, somewhere, a string of sounds both familiar and not quite right. Everything around him sharpens. Doesn't really improve from there.

The thing is, he's been in sand again since Jakku. He's held and fired weapons, he's found himself in fights. Before he even got to the Quarantine. But the sounds, the background flashing, the distant swell of people wordlessly shouting (cheering, he tells himself)-- it sets him on edge. He thinks about it in spite of himself. Maybe because he didn't think to anticipate a second shoe dropping right at this moment.

Finn's good at pushing through this kind of thing, and he does, at least enough to duck out to somewhere with more privacy or room to breathe. It was sort of half the point of training at all. Shove that stuff aside and function like you mean it.

But there are a few points, in the middle of the ballroom or maybe weaving his way through one of the small crowds gathered to observe the show, where he'll hear a telltale whistle or an unexpectedly bright flash will go off. Where Finn will reach out to the side, unthinking, and catch someone's hand or wrist while he waits--

There's a consistent lack of needing to run and a very consistent lack of people dying around him, so like. That's working in his favor as far as the waiting goes. Nothing to wait for.

If he's grabbed a stranger or someone he doesn't know all that well, he'll drop that limb like a hot coal immediately. ]

Sorry. [ he doesn't even have an excuse at hand what... the fuck does he do. ] My mistake.

gardens

[scholiast]

(Lucretia is out in the gardens too, nursing a glass of champagne and watching the sky. It's an old comfort, keeping an eye on the stars. Makes her feel safe.

Unfortunately, the gardens are a little too uneven and her heels too finicky to keep her gaze affixed upwards as she walks. Glancing ahead, she spots Finn hanging about one of the benches and changes her course to meet with him, lifting her free hand to greet him as she approaches.)

Hello Finn. (He looks a little contemplative. Her expression softens.) Taking a break?

[bythehand]

[ One of the real benefits to running into people out here and not in the ballroom (or maybe more like people running into him, since he's just sitting right now) is how much easier it is to hear them when they say something. It's almost weird not having to ask "sorry, what" when she says hello. In a good way.

Finn glances up to her, offers a quick smile and a belated little wave of his own. ]

Hey. Yeah. Heard it was nice out here anyway, so I wanted to see it. [ And so far, so "what's not to like?" ] You taking a break, too?

[scholiast]

Yes. Crowds aren't... really my thing.

(She can really only handle six people at once. Lucretia smiles shortly at the thought.)

As magnificent as it is in there, I think it's much nicer out here. Room for thought, y'know?

(She reaches out to give his jacket a little tug at the elbow, hoping this isn't too casual a gesture for somebody she has only met a few times.) This is very nice.

[bythehand]

Sure. Nice to get the extra breathing room.

[ Finn's pretty easy about this gesture, considering he's met her on good terms a couple of times and she's never tried to murder him. Personal space has never been one of his big needs. And frankly, after getting thoroughly wrangled into this getup, it's not especially invasive anyway. ]

Is it? Someone picked it out for me. It's kind of hard to tell if he's serious when he says something nice, though, so. I wasn't sure what my odds were.

[ Taako's pretty okay, but like. Weird. And Poe was there, but Poe thinks a lot of things are nice at a base level. He's not against how he looks in it, but he's never had much of a gauge for dressing up. ]

fireworks

[trashvalkyrie]

[Val is used to fireworks. Fireworks are everywhere on Sakaar. Fireworks are more common than clean water on that Godsforsaken planet. But she gets why it would make someone jumpy. Hell, they used to make her jumpy, thinking they were the wrong kind of explosion. So she's not...surprised exactly, when someone grabs her wrist when one goes off.

She is, however, surprised to see that she recognizes the person doing the grabbing. Val grins, lifting her chin toward Finn.]

If you wanted to hold my hand, all you had to do was ask.

[bythehand]

[ It takes Finn a few seconds to properly place her. He prides himself on being pretty good with names and faces, partly just on principle, but this is not one of his proudest or best moments. More of a generally-frazzled moment, letting himself get stuck half here and half not.

He gets there, though. She made a pretty unforgettable first impression, after all.

What she's offering, Finn thinks, is an easy out. No need to get too deep or explain everything, no awkward too-serious silences. He doesn't get a lot of easy way out offers, when he thinks about it. Normally he ends up having to get into a whole Thing right out of the gate. Not to mention something a little more here and now to think about, while he tries to get his heart to settle back into a normal rhythm. So if nothing else, deliberate or not, he appreciates this.

Finn huffs, equal parts amused and grateful, and puts up his best effort to grin back. ]

Not the first time I've heard something like that. Starting to think I've got a habit.

[ Belatedly, he realizes he's still got her by the wrist and relinquishes his grip. ]

[trashvalkyrie]

[It's okay; she understands taking a second to place her. When you're a severe alcoholic, you get used to battling through the haze in your brain to match a name to a face. These days, she has a little more clarity, thankfully, a little less reason to drink herself into oblivion. Her body just hasn't quite caught up with that information just yet.

He grins, and Val lets out a chuckle.]

Not the worst habit to have, if you ask me. It's better than a pick-up line.

[She raises her glass in a salute once her wrist is free again.]

Finn, right?

[bythehand]

[ Who knew that beneath the surface, Finn was more romantic than a pick-up line all along. The power was always within him. ]

That's me. Hopefully you're still Val? I'd like to think it's hard to mistake some first impressions.

i

[talentedscavenger]

[They hadn't all arrived together to this ball thing, and honestly Rey wished they had. She felt more comfortable being around Finn and Poe in situations like this rather than arriving on her own and then trying to find a way to discreetly hide. Was she afraid? No. Was she nervous and self conscious about how she looked? Yes.

Besides, the heels were a pain in the arse and a bit difficult to walk in. If she could make it through the night without tripping, it would be a miracle.

When she does spot Finn, it's chatting with other people and the clothes he's wearing do make him look handsome--not that he wasn't before, but the colors to the suit...they fit him perfectly. Deciding to come out from hiding, she carefully approached him, making sure to gather her dress in her hands to prevent her from tripping on it.]

Hey! Glad to see you're here. [Hopefully he'd recognize her with her voice alone and not....stare at her different she looked.]

[bythehand]

[ He likes to think he'd know Rey anywhere. The angles of her face, the tension she carries in her shoulders, obviously her voice.

Seeing her like this is kind of a trip. Finn looks her way when she speaks to him, generally glad to see Rey as a default state and also just a little relieved to have someone genuinely familiar back in orbit. Everyone's nice enough so far, really. Finn sort of has his own preference in who he'd like to stand around talking about the weird finger foods with.

Finn does not pull off a "no staring whatsoever" maneuver at this moment in time. He gets in about three long seconds of it, actually, eyebrows raised and feeling a complicated mix of emotions he doesn't bother trying to analyze. Not surprise, exactly, just. Something soft.

Three seconds is plenty of time. ]

-- yeah. You, too. [ And now that his brain is catching back up with itself, his face splits into a very genuine grin. ] Should've guessed you'd end up in green.

[talentedscavenger]

[Rey was expecting an instant reply, or maybe a hug of sorts. They would be able to recognize one another from any direction. When they were reunited they nearly bawled over people to run to each other to hug and hold each other. But when Rey grabbed Finn's attention he simply started at her...

For a moment, she thought he didn't think it was her. That maybe he forgot what she looked like and how he could forget about her. The fear and concern shows in her eyes as those seconds stretch out for what feels like years and not seconds.

Finally he says something.]

Thanks.. [She murmurs softly, shoving her nervousness and self doubt in the back of her mind.] Could've gone with blue, but a friend thought this looked better. The color...well, green is my favorite. [Life..and so much of it on Takodana.] Have you seen Poe?

[bythehand]

[ When you're so not used to this that three seconds of staring becomes three seconds of terror. The real hard life tbh.

Rey is definitely not comfortable. Not in the same way as he is, he thinks, wordlessly reaching over to offer his hand if she wants or needs to take it.

For all that he's not used to it, for all that he's never experienced something like this before, he's still finding it easier to navigate than that first dinner party with Cisco. In part because one nicely-dressed person in this crowd is all but anonymous-- not cycling around five or six other people that they're meant to get to know. No self-imposed sense of obligation. In part because of how easy it is to just stand back and watch everything happen.

Rey found beauty and awe in the life on Takodana, in the water and the lush green forests. Finn appreciates what nature brings, but he ran simulations for almost every type of terrain out there. He knows how to run through a humid jungle same as he can run through a debris-littered war zone.

But this-- all of it weird and colorful and completely unnecessary and extravagant, countless people milling around smiling and laughing and all looking different, all having so much-- he can't help but find beauty and awe in this. In this ballroom, in these people. Through a life with the First Order's colorless efficiency, he never once imagined this. ]

I know he's here. Sort of lost track of him. There are a lot of rooms. And he knows a lot of people.

[ Finn doesn't want to be some kind of... tagalong while Poe makes the rounds to his other friends. They've got their phones. They've got their emergency signal. It makes it a little easier to have had Rey and Poe both out of sight here. ]

fireworks

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco doesn't notices Finn amidst the crowd, with his head craned back to look at the fireworks. He is smiling wide, laughing with delight at one of the ones that sends off little whirling clusters of sparks that make a particularly loud whistling whine. To him, there is no fear in all of it, only joy. But then there is a hand reaching out and gripping his upper arm, hard, and not letting go.

So of course he looks over, expecting he's about to get mugged or something like that, only it's... Finn? Finn, not even looking at him, but up at the sky. Just in that brief slice of light from the fireworks, Cisco can tell he's terrified. It's written all over his face. And so Cisco immediately worries as well, reaching out for him, asking: ]

Hey, Finn, dude, what is it? What's wrong?

[bythehand]

[ Shoutout to Cisco for having to put up with being on the other end of Finn's most certified of fear grips.

For a long moment, Finn stays stock-still and silent, eyes on the sky. For a long moment, he waits, not even knowing exactly what it is he's sure is going to happen or how realistic it is that it would happen right now: all he knows about it is that it's not good. The air starts to smell stale, recycled, like it's being pulled in through a helmet filter--

He's holding someone. Too tightly, he thinks without it really connecting, too tight as if he's about to drag them off.

Someone is reaching back.

Motion returns to Finn all at once, shallow breaths and nervous energy. It's almost worse to put the flashing into his peripheral vision but he does it, turns his head, and when he makes out Cisco's face, the tightness of his own grip finally does register to him. Guilt is very swift to follow. ]

Sorry. I'm not-

[ Not trying to hurt you? Didn't pull enough together to plan much out past the apology. Finn forces his uncooperative fingers to relinquish their death grip. He doesn't get as far as pulling away entirely before he's double-taking at another whistle, another flare of light. ]

I was heading in, I just. Sorry.

[franciscoramon]

[ At first, Finn's distraction doesn't make sense. The immediate conclusion that Cisco's mind had leapt to, understandably, was a present crisis. Kylo Ren, on a bloody rampage. Other members of the First Order, invading through the portal. A monster that broke in through the wall and is headed their way.

But Finn doesn't speak, or seem to recognize Cisco; he doesn't look over his shoulder for some pursuer, but continues staring into the sky, tensed, as if the source of the trouble was there. It isn't until the second whistle, and Finn's flinch and the way his fingers tighten reflexively, that it clicks for Cisco. But when it does, it makes sense, immediately and completely. Fireworks. Finn came from a world where he was part of a Resistance, in a war. Not that hard to put two and two together, to understand the source and meaning of his terror.

Which didn't solve anything, of course. But at least, if Cisco is right, he knows what to do. So he lets Finn keep holding his arm (though it's stinging, now - that boy sure has a grip). ]

It's all good, man. Let's get outta here.

[ Cisco wraps an arm around Finn's back and steers him, carefully but decisively, away from the crowd, and towards the nearest building. Cisco barely glances up long enough to see a neon 'OPEN' sign and a window banner declaring it a book shop, before he's opening the door and pulling Finn inside, just as another boom from the fireworks sounds loudly enough that Cisco can feel it in his ribcage.

The sound of the fireworks is quieter indoors, but still audible, along with the gasps and scattered applause from the crowd. The shop is empty, even of its owner, who had probably gone out to watch the fireworks with everybody else. Cisco navigates them towards a small bench, sitting down and bringing Finn along with him. His heart is in his throat, but he says, as calmly as he can: ]

You're not in danger.

[bythehand]

[ Now see, this is the explicit confirmation that he was right and Cisco Ramon is a life-saver. Not that there was a point where Finn thought to doubt that assessment once he'd made it. Or that he's. Especially thinking about it at the moment. What matters is it's the truth.

The fact is, trying to get through the streets and somewhere out of the way turned into a series of stuttering starts and stops very quickly. One thing taking him by surprise and leaving him scattered, another sound or remembered thought or accidental push from the crowd coming along behind it before he could pull himself together and think, because he's supposed to be better than this-- he's done more freezing than he has walking, or he'd have been inside well before now.

It's easier with help. Which is what he's been trying to tell Rey and Poe about a hell of a lot of things lately. Cisco keeps them moving, and having someone with him who expects him to be moving gives him the incentive to actually manage it. Having someone with him goes a long way when that particularly loud firework cuts his breath short towards the end, just by knowing that someone is right there. He's not great at "alone".

It's better inside. Not a perfect cut-off. But better. Enough that he does let Cisco have his arm back. You're not in danger, he latches onto. Puts on loop in his thoughts with a desperate hope that it can flood out the image of the villagers on Jakku, the image of Slip.

Finn thinks he's about as far past the ability to put up any pretense of "well I'm fine and calm now thanks a lot" as a person can get. So he just goes ahead and leans forward to put his elbows on his knees, to press the heels of his palms into his eyes for a second, like it'll be enough to put a hard end to the tremor he can feel in his fingers. Tries to ball up as much of this... whatever it is as he can and push it down, until he can think around it, because he doesn't know what else he's supposed to do. ]

-- right. Yeah. [ Is where he starts, slightly delayed, on realizing he failed to reply right away. Does he think he completely believes it? No. Impulsively, right after that: ]

This doesn't happen to me. I don't-- this doesn't happen, this never happens.

[ Or like not in a crowded street, at least. ]

party time

[evasives]

[the jacket is oddly fitting for finn, once cassian sees him in it. there's a stiffness to his posture that cassian takes to be some level of discomfort in the attire, but it's the kind of stiffness that comes with uncertainty. if finn is an ex-stormtrooper, there's no way he's ever attended something like this or worn anything so nice. not even in the heart of coruscant did cassian ever see troopers at the opulent displays of power that were imperial balls.]

[he likes the glow ball better, even though 'not the empire' is a very easy bar to hit.]

[he moves over towards finn, but not in a sneaky way. he even lifts his arm in a slight wave to draw attention to himself and make finn aware he's approaching, before joining him in the Loitering Position against the wall. his own suit is far more subdued, but it's the way finn is looking around at... everything that catches cassian's attention more than any clothes. he's fascinated by it, which isn't a surprise either.]

This - [he gestures vaguely out at the people getting their groove on and their buffet on around them] I have actually done before.

[bythehand]

[ look at cassian going out of his way to make sure finn sees him coming. that's really considerate. cassian's such a no-unnecessary-attention type.

this loitering party is definitely the place to be. ]

Oh, yeah? [ he's not saying Do Tell but like. Do Tell. ] Guess they can't catch someone out of their wheelhouse every time, huh?

[evasives]

[trying to creep up and startle finn just seems like a bad idea, okay?? maybe the way was unnecessary, or maybe he just wanted to, who's to say huh??????]

To be fair, I cannot say I have ever really attended one for... fun. [fun and cassian do not overlap very often.]

[it is very strange how quickly he admits and just starts bringing this up to finn though.] A party is a good place to get information.

[bythehand]

[ it's ok cassian finn likes you too. thank you for not startling him. ]

Sure. Yeah. I wasn't on track to go into Intelligence or anything, but-

[ A vague gesture towards... the party as a whole basically. Finn may not know how to people as a verb, but he's pretty smart and he sure as hell knows anonymity. Put on a nice suit and a good game face in this place, you're about as standout as any singular stormtrooper on a base. Probably.

Everyone relaxing, having a good time, socializing.

Fit right in. ]

I think I know what you mean. [ He glances Cassian's way. ] Having any fun doing it for fun?

fireworks

[worldsaway]

[Despite the fact that explosions cast against a starry sky stirs up some bad memories, Thor remains placid through the display. He watches for a long moment, but he's about ready to turn away when someone catches his hand.

His instant reflex is to squeeze the hand, just before it slips from his grasp. He turns with a warm smile, expecting a friend or relative to be behind him. When he fails to see anyone but the man who broke a plate on his face, his smile momentarily drops and his brows furrow in confusion.]

Interesting mistake. [Thor retorts, but he extends his hand again, just in case.] You don't look like you're enjoying yourself.

[bythehand]

[ He's starting to think he'll never actually see this man when he's in a good place, generally. Finn is still on edge, his thoughts a little scattershot-- it's hard to pull them back together from things he didn't think to anticipate-- but he can't bring himself to be irritated.

It's just another thing that's happening right now, and his metaphorical dance card is full as far as dealing with things goes. He's not a fan of this caliber of vulnerability, yet the fact remains that he's already unintentionally gone and made himself vulnerable.

He didn't have to put his hand back out like that. On some level, Finn genuinely appreciates the gesture. ]

No kidding. [ Venom content: 0%. Finn tries to hold himself very still instead of twitching the next time something big goes off, with only moderate success. ] I was trying to get through, I'm not-- I don't think I'm good. With these.

[ VAGUE, JERKY SKYWARD GESTURE?? He's never had to consider if he would be good with fireworks before. This is arguably the dumbest way to find out that he's apparently not. ]

[worldsaway]

[Thor lets his hand drop without a word. No disappointment, no judgement.]

Not a fan of the noise? [Thor cocks his head to the side, then beckons for Finn to follow.] Maybe there's somewhere quiet inside. Surely not everyone wants to listen to explosions.

[bythehand]

[ What's up with this city always being full of decent, non-judgmental people? How is a person supposed to feel vague shame and fear in peace? Finn's shoulders relax a little, the way most any degree of relaxation tends to happen to him: in spite of himself.

So he nods once. Moves to follow. ]

If you don't mind.

[ Look. Every once in a while, even he can't look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially not if there's a hot new "be anywhere but out here" angle on it. And he's always done better as part of a unit than alone. He can apologize for the inconvenience later. ]