Champagne Shenanigans [IC]

[Dr Archeville]

Archeville hovered about two feet up next to Fulcrum, high enough so they could put their arms around each others shoulders without her having to stoop or kneel down. He'd been gazing up at the displays they had worked on, but for the last few seconds his gaze had fallen to a sight he found far more marvelous. "You really did excellent work there, liebchen."

He reached up with one hand to gently caress her cheek and pull them closer for a kiss, but her sudden troubled look and scan of the crowd put him on alert. "What is it? Do you sense something?" He fumbled about in his pockets, looking for his Electromagnetic Screwdriver and realizing he wasn't wearing his usual labcoat, so his pockets weren't in the usual places.

Dagnabbit, do villains have no sense of decency? Can we not have one party without them interrupting? They would not like it if heroes crashed their birthday parties or weddings!

[Dariusprime]

Fulcrum turned and gave Viktor a reassuring smile. Followed by a kiss on the cheek. "No, no, everything is fine. It's just..."

She trailed off again, looking around at the gathered. These weren't her people, and she knew it. They knew it too. Something about this place, this spectacle, that bothered her. Oh, in reality she knew what the problem was, quite simply, but didn't want to really admit it. Working up the mental courage, she gazed into Viktor's eyes.

"Ever wonder if the human species is going to survive?" she whispered, alluding to her new, more morose, mood. Looking up at the fireworks, she continued, "Sometimes I wonder..."

[Dr Archeville]

Ohh, she is in a melancholy mood! Oh, I know a way to cheer her up!

Archeville hovered in front of her, laying both hands across her shoulders and gazing deeply into her eyes. He held her there a moment, not saying a word, allowing -- or so he hoped -- his steadfast presence to calm her. When at last he spoke, it was with a warm smile. "Oh, liebchen.... In about five billion years, our Sun will expand out into a red giant, engulfing Mercury and Venus and possibly the Earth, and pushing all the other planets into wider orbits. And even if Earth was not engulfed, and its orbit was merely knocked wider, it would likely still be close enough for the oceans to evaporate and the planet reduced to a desert."

He chuckled, and brushed away an errant lock of hair from her face, "of course, by then humanity will have gone out to other planets and colonized other worlds, and established relations with all sorts of interesting extraterrestrial species and cultures."

"Short term, though, yes, I am sure we will survive. Whether or not 'Metahumanity' is a new evolutionary step for us, if Homo sapiens go the way of the Neanderthal, if everyone has powers and there are no 'baseline humans' anymore... well, that is something I am very eager to find out. There are many ways it could go, owing to biological as well as cultural factors, and some ways are more likely than others..." He smiled at her again, and caressed her cheek, "but I am confident that, in some way, in some form, sapient life native to Earth will persist for many, many millennia to come. Especially as long as there are people like us to help shepherd us."

Not 'shepherd it'. Not 'shepherd them'. 'Shepherd us.'

[JackgarPrime]

Now was as good a time as any to wrap this up. The big crescendo of fireworks was beginning, and his special colored-fuel was almost out. Might as well make his move! Quickly, he seems to drop out of the sky, bringing himself closer to ground level. SOme of the bystanders blink in surprise as he's suddenly gone, but they don't have to wonder long where he went. In a flash, Victory begins to fly in circles around the property, getting just close enough to the guests that they can feel the wind and see the sparkles right on front of them, in all their colors. But he's careful not to get so close he burns anything. With each lap, he goes higher and higher, engulfing the mansion and immediate property in light. Before long, he had created a entire "shell" of colors surrounding the party, making it just large enough to not interfere with the fireworks themselves.

As he nears the top, he leaves one small hole uncovered, so the moon can shine in still. And once the fuel is just about gone, he does a final circle around the last explosion of the evening, giving it a lovely frame of color, with him in the middle of the explosion proper!

[Heritage]

Estelle whooped in delight at Victory's impressive finale and vigorously applauded.

"Brilliant, just brilliant! Very well done indeed!"

Then she turned to her current companion and smiled.

"So Corbin, should we go and ask Felix if he can provide us with a little dance music? I'm in a much better mood already!"

She offered her arm once again.

I really should to be doing this with a somewhat older man. Oh well, no harm done, I suppose.

[KnightDisciple]

Corbin gave enthusiastic applause as well. It really had been an awesome show.

"That really was great!"

He turned to Estelle and smiled, offering his arm again.

"I think that sounds splendid. My folks look like they're itching to dance as well. I'll introduce once we're on the floor."

He then followed the beautiful chemist to speak to the host of the party.

[Dariusprime]

Fulcrum smiled, a bit lopsidedly, but smiled nonetheless. The answer was pure Archeville, as far as she was concerned, and didn't fully address the question. Still his optimism was contagious, and she chose to focus on that aspect. No need to become too melancholy during such a beautiful evening and party. Still something gnawed at her that she just couldn't quite place, but for now that went into the back of her mind.

"You always know how to make a girl feel better, Viktor," she said, her tone suggesting she was trying to convince herself, "Sorry to interrupt the fireworks." That being said, her attention turned back to the fireworks.

Luckily, Victory came streaking by with the exciting climax to his quite spectacular feats of acrobatic daring-do. The multi-colored lights shown on her face, and she smiled peacefully.

[Supercape]

Felix once again blew his horn and followed it up with a silver bell.

"Ladies and Gents, rapscallions and rouges! the evening is drawing to a close, but you will be delighted to hear that Mr. Sleaze McRock will be giving us a good old fashioned rock n roll performance indoors, by the pool, for all who wish to dance the night away. And yes, it will be under the stars, for it has a glass ceiling!"

"The drinks are free! the music is loud! the dancing will be... well... the dancing will be dancing. But all are welcome! let your hair down, forget your woes, and paint a smile on your face!"

[JackgarPrime]

With his set over, Victory lands back at the area where the fireworks crew was, where he was met with a chorus of applause. Laughing, he shakes his head, patting the closest worker on the shoulder.

"No no, just giving you guys an extra hand, is all. It was fun!"

As he speaks, he points to the person who was manning one of the controls proper.

"Cut one of the explosions a little close, though! Now then...where's my suit? I'm gonna go head over to the pool."

[Heritage]

"I think that sounds splendid. My folks look like they're itching to dance as well. I'll introduce once we're on the floor."

Estelle nodded. "Excellent! I'm looking forward to meeting them!"

She was looking forward to embarrsing Corbin by complimenting on how well the raised him. However, they were almost to the host when he made an announcement.

"Ladies and Gents, rapscallions and rouges! the evening is drawing to a close, but you will be delighted to hear that Mr. Sleaze McRock will be giving us a good old fashioned rock n roll performance indoors, by the pool, for all who wish to dance the night away. And yes, it will be under the stars, for it has a glass ceiling!"

"The drinks are free! the music is loud! the dancing will be... well... the dancing will be dancing. But all are welcome! let your hair down, forget your woes, and paint a smile on your face!"

The blonde heroine frowned and chewed her lip morosely. "How wonderful, a kink in our perfect plan. Well maybe we can at least salvage our dance." She headed for the temporary stage. "Come on, let's see if I can charm McSleazy into playing something he didn't actually write." :roll:

Adjusting her dress to best effect, she approached the notorious party animal and musical lowlife with her most dazzling smile.

"Good evening, Mr. McSleaze! I'm a huge fan, but I was wondering if you could start us off tonight with a little G'n'R, specifially 'Sweet Child o' Mine'?"

[Supercape]

GM

"The names Sleaze, lady. Sleaze McRock", sad Sleaze, in a sleazy manner.

Mindy and Cindy squealed and clapped there hands excitedly.

"As in... not McSleaze Rock" he winked. "And yes, shure I knows that song... hit it boys!"

His band pumped out a gritty but tuneful version of said song, perhaps somewhat more placid than he would have normally done given his audience. But it went down a riot nonetheless. A cheer went up, some drinks went down (along with some hair), and some normally respectable individuals started to grab a partner and cavort to the music.

[Dr Archeville]

Archeville joined in the enthusiastic applause for Victory's performance. "Excellent work, Lieutenant, simply excellent!"

And I helped! And so did Mona!

When Sleaze McRock started up, Archeville appeared slightly pained by the torturous (though not as torturous as expected) tones. "If that is what passes for popular music nowadays," he said to Mona, raising his voice to be heard above the din, "I can almost sympathize with Maestro..."

He is toned down, but still! Blech!

"There are a few allies here I would like to introduce you to," he continued, squeezing her hand, "though it appears one," he nodded towards Gossamer, "is already engaged. I believe Miss Americana and Joan Collier are still inside, though. As are those wealthy science-donating, art-appreciating senators and congressmen!"

Networking! It is fun and profitable! And I am certain we can find some patrons for her artwork! It is great stuff!

[JackgarPrime]

Victory gets himself dressed back up again, and heads once more towards the rest of the party. But as he does, he gets mobbed by all manner of people who were watching his show. He has to be careful, as he snakes his way through them, giving "Hello", "Thank you", "Just glad to put on a good show" and all that to the various people, wanting to get somewhere where he can speak with one of the other notable folks here.

Fortunately, with the music starting, many of the people who would be mobbing him even more are brought towards the stage, so he doesn't get jumped on too much after the first group.

[Electra]

After a short recess from the party, Miss A was back and ready for action, performing the tasks that she'd been brought along for in the first place. With a perfectly beautiful smile on her perfectly beautiful face, she stood close to yet another potential ArcheTech investor, an older man who seemed very pleased to have the undivided attention of such a lovely companion. She nodded along with whatever he was saying, and if she was bored or annoyed or would rather be home, there was no trace of it anywhere in her bearing. She did catch sight of the Doctor and his companion, giving Archeville a tiny nod as he drew nearer.

[Heritage]

"The names Sleaze, lady. Sleaze McRock", sad Sleaze, in a sleazy manner.

Mindy and Cindy squealed and clapped there hands excitedly.

"As in... not McSleaze Rock" he winked. "And yes, shure I knows that song... hit it boys!"

Internally, Estelle chastised herself for getting the singer's name wrong, not so much because she was concerned about offending him (his response confirmed her feeling that his was not an acquainance she needed to make), but it was a failure of etiquette, the careful social dance she usually performed flawlessly. The twinge was the same a baseball player might feel if he swung at a poor pitch, and like any good batter she finally shrugged internally and moved on to the next pitch.

At least he's playing the song well enough.

Taking Corbin by the hand, she lead him out onto the dance floor, pausing to slip out of her twelve hundred dollar pair of pumps and place them under the raised platform via hair tendril. On her face was an eager smile, like a student sneaking off to play hooky.

"C'mon, Corbin, this will be fun!"

Hefting up the hem of her dress with both hands, she began to energetically dance to the music, spinning, hopping and shaking her booty; she held back a little to avoid getting too sexy for her underaged partner, and merely focused on having a good time.

[KnightDisciple]

Corbin doesn't exactly recognize the music. And when Estelle started "getting her groove on", he felt really awkward. Sure, he liked lots of music (though McRock's work wasn't totally to his taste tonight). But dancing to it? He was mostly good at the more formal, slow dances, and a bit of line dancing (consequence of growing up in the Midwest). He forced a smile on his face.

"Fun. Yeah. Totally."

He kept a bit of distance between himself and Estelle, starting and stopping some random set of dance moves, before finally settling on a rather lame set of moves that mostly involved shuffling a bit on his feet and swaying back and forth. It almost stood out just for its horrible blandness.

Then again, Estelle probably drew all the attention to herself, so maybe it balanced out.

'These high-society parties are a mixed bag for sure.'

[Dariusprime]

Mona looked to have lost her interest in socializing, judging from the sour expression on her face. Oh, yes, her applause for Victory was quite earnest. He really brought home the bacon, so to speak, and capped off the spectacle in amazing fashion. No, her reservations were directed toward Viktor's suggestion.

Having not turned toward him as she spoke, she did so finally with a neutral look. "If you insist, Viktor. It's a great opportunity...," she said somewhat unenthusiastically. "Lead the way. Better make a good show of it at least."

Always make a good first expression.

As they headed inside, she did smile again, somewhat, and motioned toward the noise engine trying to sing, "No, sweetie, no. I wouldn't call it popular in a typical sense, and yes, I can sympathize with him too."

[Dr Archeville]

Archeville paused not long after getting past the threshold of the doorway.

Oh no! Mona is upset! She must have something really troubling on her mind!

He looked up at her, and reached up to brush an errant hair away from her face. "Little point in meeting people if your heart is not in it, liebchen. You seem troubled; we can go if you like. We can talk over wine and backrubs." He flashed an 'everything is going to be okay' smile her way. "And do not worry about me, I am fine with leaving now. Miss Americana is perfectly capable of securing funding and political favors for ArcheTech."

Oh, maybe I should not mention her?! Could Mona be.... jealous of her? Surely not, she knows my heart is hers and hers alone!

[Heritage]

"Fun. Yeah. Totally."

At first Gossamer was having such a good time that she was relatively unaware of Corbin's unhappy state of being; it was the first time she'd really cut loose since her break-up with Moira, and only belatedly did she realize how selfish she was being, and what a spectacle she was making of herself. She could only imagine the coldly disapproving glare her mother would give her if she was present. Stopping to catch her breath, she shook her head in disappointment with herself.

"I'm so sorry, Corbin; clearly this is not the pleasant diversion you were hoping for, and I apologize. I foolishly let my opinion of Mr. Sleazy infect my choice of song, thinking he and his band incapable of a slow dance number, which in fact they may well be. But if you give me a chance, I think we can end on a better note, perhaps despite our host's intentions."

She smiled a crooked smile, then excused herself as she sought out Felix, a winning smile on her face.

"Ah, there you are! Truly a magnificent evening; I must congratulate you. However-" And here she adopted a somewhat pained expression. "Sleaze McRock to play us out? I think this might have been a mild misstep, but I must admit I have my biases; I've always been a classic metal fan, and these kids today..."

She clucked her tongue and shook her head, sending ripples through her impressive mane.

"That being said, if we could get in one last slow dance, I would really appreciate it; there's a very sweet young man who owes me a dance, and I'd hate to disappoint him. I was thinking 'Bella Notte' might be nice; it's slow, sweet and fairly innocent, and nearly every band can play it, it's from Lady and the Tramp. What do you say, Felix?"

[Dariusprime]

Mona's jaw set in that way Viktor had come to know. As for whether the accompanying falter of her smile came from the mention of the beautiful heroine or not was hard to pinpoint. The expression looked deliberately inscrutable.

Shaking her head, she squeezed Viktor's hand, "No, no. I insist. I don't want to be a spoil sport. Plus the last thing I need to do is stew in my own juices. The back rubs can wait."

Leaning him further inside, she scanned the room and leaned into him, "How many of these people do you know?"

[Supercape]

"That being said, if we could get in one last slow dance, I would really appreciate it; there's a very sweet young man who owes me a dance, and I'd hate to disappoint him. I was thinking 'Bella Notte' might be nice; it's slow, sweet and fairly innocent, and nearly every band can play it, it's from Lady and the Tramp. What do you say, Felix?"

"Hey, no problem" replied Felix "I am sure Mr McRock can oblige!" He gave a nod to the rocker who nodded back as he wailed out a rock version of Tutti Frutti which had the older party-goers roaring approval.

"And a Slow dance sounds most enticing. I may have to take you back on your unspoken offer!" he winked.

Felix went over to scrawl something on a piece of paper and showed it to the band, who nodded their approval.

Sleaze drawled into the microphone, whilst supping a beer "and heres one for all the luuuuuuuuuuvers here tonight....hit it boys!"

Mindy and Cindy started looking around for a dance partner as the slow song hit the air. Mindy decided to head towards Doctor Archeville, and Cindy towards Corbin...

[KnightDisciple]

Corbin smiled awkwardly at Estelle's words.

"Hey, you deserve to have fun dancing, too. It's just been one of those nights, you know? But if you can get us something a bit slower, that'd be good."

He watched with mild interest as Estelle navigated her way to Felix, engaging in some sort of negotiation. It gave him time to look around at the crowd. Still a lot of interesting people milling around. Especially that lady that made him look like a shortstop. Her boyfriend seemed happy enough, though.

He rolled his eyes at Sleaze's drawl, but sighed in relief as a slow song started to play.

'Now this, I can dance to!'

He looked back towards Estelle...and saw Tramp #2...er, that is, Cindy, heading towards him!

'Escape and evade until I reach the objective!'

With that, he deftly started to try and outpace Cindy, looping wide on a direct course to meet up with Estelle, one eye staying on the determined bimbo. He barely restrained a shudder. At least Estelle would keep her hands in the right places. Honestly, some of these girls just gave him the creeps.

[Aoiroo]

Between the buffet, the fireworks and the restroom Etain only just found herself moving towards the music once more where the guy from earlier seemed to be butchering several popular songs. Skimming the crowd for a few seconds she found a few familiar faces until she found Corbin's head peeking over everyone elses. It was around that time she also spotted one of the girls with too much make up making her way towards him. Picking up her dress she doubled the lengh of her stride so that she was able to meet Corbin just before the other girl reached him. She did so with an almost serene grace as she said quickly,

"Corbin, it seems I have found you once again."

She turned to the the girl and gave her a toothy smile,

"Is there something you need miss?"

[Dr Archeville]

Such a trooper!

"I know of about half of them," he replied, "though most only by reputation. I have actually met and talked face-to-face with... oh, about one-third of them, and that was mostly when I was getting ArcheTech up off the ground. Or Archestern up and running; I still have to file weekly reports with the UN to keep them happy."

Red tape! Slows so much down! But, I do see the need for crossing all t's and dotting all i's.

When Mindy approached, Archeville's jaw clenched, and he shook his head at her.

Do not want!

He quickly turned back to Mona, "there is one couple here I know we should meet. She is on the Senate appropriations committee, and I would like to bend her ear towards some government research projects in the works. Her husband is an avid fan of the arts, having made donations to many galleries."

He glanced back at the 'musician's' performance, and winced.

[Dariusprime]

Mona's face lit up at the sheer number of people he knew. Really one-third was a good number, and more surprising, the number of high-profile people that showed up for this shindig. "That's really impressive, Viktor."

A stern but otherwise friendly look steered Mindy toward easier targets.

"Weekly reports. Whatever could be that important? I'd be more worried about things from another planet before Archestern. Not like your space lasers on board. Or do you?" she said, giving him a teasingly skeptical look.

As for the senator and husband, she simply patted his arm, "Lead the way, lover boy."