Baby you're a firework [4th of July Gathering]

[jeongbro]

From Candlewood, Henry could hear the party going on northeast of town, the thud of distance bass and the pop of fireworks and the shrill of cars put to the test. And how shit was that?

He texted Blue, first. A soft, subtle inquiry, a joke of an invitation, but a broad one. One for all of them. He remembered Ronan's arm in that cast, and him saying it was from Kavinsky, and Henry had no duty to them, but it would be good to keep all of them away from the mess that was going on at that party outside of town. None of them had to come, of course. They were all their own people, adults--and a ghost who was as good as one, in Henry's eyes--and they were each allowed their own decisions.

So Henry texted Any plans for the 4th Wendybird? And then he followed it up, even before she could answer, I think my place could use some Virginian charms.

He had no decorations. Fourth of July over the past two years had become a thing tainted by Joseph Kavinsky. But he could, easily, go down a couple blocks and buy more two-liter bottles of Pipsy and lemon-lime soda than he could possibly need, and some liquor and mixers, and chips and dip. If he didn't use it all up, he'd bring it to Panoptes. And that seemed like a good enough way to ignore that Joseph Kavinsky was trying to blow himself up, to him.


[Running as a gathering]

Comments

[iwasmore]

"It doesn't have to be like a real band. Just for fun, like a garage band. Except none of us have a garage." Noah's expression turns far-off as he realizes he never thought about where exactly they could practice. Maybe just the main room at Hywel, after all it wasn't like there were any neighbors they could bother.

"We'll figure it out," Noah says abruptly, smiling. "I can't even play the drums."

[jeongbro]

Henry stopped short, and then he laughed. This was all so silly. No garage, no musical talents, and Noah was still so adamant and insistent that this be a thing. How perfectly ridiculous. It was like something Cheng2 or Ryang might have concocted on too little sleep.

"Perhaps, once everyone learns to play their instruments, we can come back to this subject," Henry said with a grave nod. "Come, help me pick music to start the evening off. I found a music streaming sight. I want a good atmosphere--as good as it can get with Lynch trying to bore holes into my skull, at least."

[iwasmore]

Noah's smile falters a little at the thought that it's silly. He knows it's not the most realistic plan he could have come up with, but it's hard to be in Darrow and not want to do something. It's hard to be as alive as he can get and not want to do everything.

But he nods at Henry's practical suggestion, because he's right, it's kind of a stretch. "Sure, this is an easy one, he likes EDM," Noah says. He almost mentions the Murder Squash song, but he can't imagine it being found here. "Does the site have anything like that?"

[jeongbro]

Henry smiled bright enough to fill the dimming of Noah's smile. He'd stepped--or thought--too far, a thing that he could not control with his noisy head. So he linked his arm with Noah's casually, because Noah seemed to like casual, friendly touch almost as much as Henry did, and he pulled him gently toward his laptop, which was sitting on the breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the living room.

"It does indeed," Henry said merrily. "And I happen to like EDM as well--though that covers a lot of music. I am much more drum and bass; our Mr. Lynch strikes me as more trap and hardstyle. But he might surprise me yet with some good taste."

Henry pulled up the website, ignoring a brief flash of try now, pay later that quickly disappeared as the website registered a program he had to bypass it. He started the music with a song heavy in bass and featuring a female vocal track, then set it to shuffle.