11489/Pride After Party!

Pride After Party!
Date of Scene:	26 June 2022
Location:	Danny the Street
Synopsis:	A party after NYC's Pride Parade! Things are a bit crazy, numbers are exchanged (and not exchanged), only Gabby is a clone. Probably.
Cast of Characters:	Jonathan Sims, Gabby Kinney, Cael Becker, Cassandra Cain, Jan de Wit, Billy Kaplan, Rien D'Arqueness, Tommy Shepherd, Robbie Reyes, America Chavez, Patience Alperen, Lydia Dietrich

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Jonathan Sims has posed:
    The Justice League Dark is comprised of several people who fit into the LGBT+ community, and all of the rest surely count as allies, or why would they be there? So the group gets together to go to the New York City Pride Parade in Manhattan, leaving them all covered in rainbow gear and glitter. Not the Terry sort of glitter, though--the Daily Planet report is surely in Metropolis for Pride. Just your everyday normal glitter. Which is still, y'know. Everywhere.

    Jon's been subdued lately, but came out for Pride in a sky-blue skirt and a shirt that has an 'Archaeopterace' on it, a cartoon dinosaur bearing ace flag colors. By the end of the parade he's got a rainbow flag and a non-binary flag stuck into the bun he's pulled his hair (dyed back to its natural black) up into, and wears a button that declares 'he/they,' and is generally decked out like he just decided to buy one thing from every street vendor they passed hawking Pride gear. Which... is pretty much exactly what he did. He's become somewhat upbeat as the group goes looking for somewhere to party now that the parade is done and the sun is heading for the horizon.

    As people walk, the street changes subtly. Wherever everyone /was/ heading, they're all shortly going to find themselves on the same street, a rather... unique street. But it's kind of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment when the corner is turned and suddenly they're in an unusual place. Don't worry. We'll get there.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney had gone all out for Pride. It was her first one and after having recently learned Logan was bi (not that she wanted to think about his sex life much) she felt the urge to represent a bit. A bi-pride colored bikini top is worn above a rainbow colored tutu, and a pair of kicky little slip on canvas sneakers with hearts and rainbows adorning them. Givent his was more skin than she usually showed off she decorated her shoulders and chest with some temporary tattoos in hearts and stars as well. Even her hair is decorated with a bandana tied up showing off the full LGBTQ spectrum flag colors to keep the length of her hair out of her face.

She'd gone with Logan, and Rien and Robbie, and dragged Tommy along as well. While they probably did make a stop over to the JLD contingent there were so many things to see, do, and just experience. They were all over the place. Now she skips along having rejoined the majority of the group, every few steps flashing the fact that she was wearing a bikini bottom under her tutu, as well. A skimpy one. It was June okay it was hot.

"I need some snacks and music and dancing at this point!" She declares as she does a little twirl for no particular reason.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Other than the shirt Cael wears (in rainbow colored text, and reading 'I like my whiskey straight but my can go either way), it seems she's done her best to avoid being personally bedecked with flags, and rainbows, and the like - though the observant may note that she's dyed the underside of her blonde hair back to the rainbow hues they'd first sported months ago. Bear, on the other hand, has ace pins and stickers stuck to his vest, and a rainbow flat sticking out of a pocket if his 'service dog' vest. His collar and lead have been swapped for one in ace flag white/black/purply hues - with a big rainbow ribbon stuck to it. She's currently eyeing the glitter in the dog's fur with a critical gaze.
    It's going to be a nightmare getting all that out.
    "That was... a lot of people," she remarks in an aside to Jon, her free hand shoved deep into the pocket of her pants.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
A human is hanging upside-down from a metal stairwell on the path the group has to take. Just high enough for her female head to be easily punched (if one were so mean) she looks at the horde as it passes by.

Black clothing on this hot a day has to suck, but someone's hung a sign on her which is -not- upside-down, to please the crowd. It says 'decorate this' which is just an invitation to a crowd such as this one.

The young lady looks as if she's in no real trouble. She's just hanging upside-down and watching the passers-by, but at this point she's not exactly advertising any group or role. Perhaps that's her group or role, right there?

Either way, she gives little waves as folks wander past.

Jan de Wit has posed:
In Jan's line of work, he has friends among many, if not all, of the communities. Eschewing his normal suit and tie look, he's wearing a comfortable pair of slacks, along with a T-shirt emblazoned with "Love Is Love" in rainbow cursive. Always one to enjoy a celebration, he made the most of the day - dancing, partying and supporting people he loved.

The older gentleman was at ease with the festivities, greeting people in a friendly fashion.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
Billy Kaplan had gone to Pride with friends, but as these things go, at one point they all got separated. It happens, someone spots a cute someone they want to talk to, or the drumming circle sounds awesome, or the vendors and things for sale are too distracting. The result is that Billy is all by himself, but he makes up in appearance what he lacks in possee: liberally glittered, he is also wearing some body-paint along his arms to re-create the Pride flag. He has a rainbow-hued tank top that has 'Ask Me About My Themysciran Agenda' across the chest, and a pair of blue shorts that might be shorter than what he usually wears- but what the hell? It's Pride. He glances up and notices someone hanging upside-down from a stairwell and returns her wave, and gives her a grin. "Seeing things from a new perspective?" he calls out.

The 'Decorate This' sign has him pause for a second. "I've got, er, stickers!" he says, holding up a set of pride flag stickers, offering them as a potential decoration.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien does nothing by halves. Nothing. So when she agrees to attend Pride, there is going to be something big involved! In this case, everyone is getting some Pride magic! Robbie's hair has been magicked into Pride colors, Gabby's been given a magicked cape in Pride colors that actually leaves trails of Pride colors in it's wake when she runs. Logan's claws get colored for Bi-Pride. So does Tommy's hair! Rien herself is low-key in a tanktop and cutoff shorts, but has a Pride Ally flag that's been following her all day despite not being attached to anything. And occasionally as they wander, there's randowm bursts of different Pride color combinations that soar up into the air like fireworks... minus the explosions of actual fireworks!

As the day winds down, the group has been here and there and everywhere, with promises to meet back up with Jon and the JLD once Logan's had enough and is ready to head off. And so it is that as they wander in search of an after-party, the small cadre of mutants (and Robbie!) meld back into the larger JLD crowd. It's like Mardi Gras, but with less toplessness, more colors, and so, SO much glitter!

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    As it turns out, Tommy's never been to Pride. When he was younger he had a bad habit of always ending up in juvie during the summer, cuz every kid's restless during the break from school and restless + speedster is a bad combo. Then there was that extended period where he was being experimented on anddddd the less said about that, the better.

    Because he's out here today to have fun. Gabby's fun, and their friendship is uncomplicated in a way Tommy's never really had before. They eat food, flirt, go on adventures, sometimes do vaguely illegal things that his parole officer wouldn't be happy about, it's chill.

    Today is not chill. Today is hot, and Tommy's thankful for his decision to go sleeveless in a colorblock pink-purple-blue tank top and a pair of khaki shorts that are probably one wash away from falling apart.

    Because money. Unlike Jon who has bought things from every street vendor, Tommy's made a point of collecting ALLLLL the free swag.

    Except his hat. He takes hats very seriously, and he made a trip down to Bmore just so he could score one of the Orioles Pride hats for the occasion. Which he's wearing backwards now, so the tuft of his magic-dyed hair can poke out from it.

    His rainbow sunglasses, though? Free swag. His collection of beaded necklaces and wristbands? Free swag. The reusable tote he's carrying? Free swag (and it's filled with MORE free swag, too).

    In fact, as he appears at Gabby's side after disappearing for the upteenth time (to score more free swag) his bag is full to bursting, and he's got his arms full of... bags of chips?

    "I think one of the floats was owned by PepsiCo or something," he says as he starts pushing Lays, Doritos, and Sunchips on Gabby and anyone who makes the mistake of being nearby. "Fuck yeah rainbow capitalism," he deadpans. Then, "Pander to me, baby."

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Robbie's given his normally dark curls a fresh buzz along the sides and back, in order to make the Pride colours stand out more clearly. He's also painted his nails in alternating blue, yellow and pink, and someone's doused him liberally in glitter. The young man's concession to colour ends there, though; he's donned a black muscle tank that shows off his profuse ink and a pair of well-defined guns, shredded black skinny jeans and combat boots, along with a pair of cheap sunglasses.

Tommy and his snacks are waved off when offered, though he does pause to check out a booth selling Mexican-themed Pride gear. "What do you think?" he asks Rien, holding up a rainbow bikini top.. not unlike the one Gabby's sporting.

America Chavez has posed:
    America Chavez is gay. Second gneration gay, at that. She is loud, proud, and does little to hide the fact that she has two moms and has had a number of girlfriends in the past. Today the star-spangled transdimensional young woman is all about the rainbows. Her jacket, usually just red, white, and blue has added 8 colors to its motif encompasing the inclusivity Pride flag in it's makeup. Her shirt has a myriad of stars in the ROYGBIV pattern of colors to match. Her hotpants--because it's hot--are black--because it goes with everything--and show off a number of signatures from friends and allies in rainbow pen against the bronzed Latina's skin. Her own hightops are also rainbow themed and have rainbow laces to boot. Her hair is pulled back with another inclusivity Pride flag bandana to keep the mass of dark curls from her face which is also done with a pair of rainbows painted across her cheeks under the heavy eyeshadow and mascara she wore for this occasion and contrasting with the deep violet lipstick she's covered her full lips with.

    She's flying, because of course she is, and carrying an oversized Rainbow flag in one hand, letting the banner of her people flap for all to see above the crowd and displaying her own association with the gathering with unabashed visibility.

    Her patrol--if one could call the path she's been traveling--takes her near the gathering of people on the streets and she waves to one (or more) of the people she knows well. "Billy!" she calls. "Looking good, hon!" She gives the young man a wink and moves closer to him, hoving in place beside his shoulder. "Love the shirt, by the way."

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen was new to the JLD team but everyone she'd met had been more than welcoming and supportive of her as she began to try and integrate into the group. Generally more reserved and quiet about her personal life, at least so far, she had gladly accepted to go along for the parade and celebration.

Still a little reserved of personality, she did show up to support everyone, she did not come bedecked head to toe in supportive accesories like so many are doing. What she did choose to wear for the day - A pale pink crop top that ends just above her pierced belly button (Which has a little rainbow shamrock charm dangle). The top proclaims in rainbow letters, "I Can't Think Straight". Shredded denim jeans, the thighs and knees all but gone and rendered to frayed tatters. On her feet she wears simple canvas sneakers. Her hair has been pulled back under a bandana dyed to the bi-flag colors.

As the parade progressed she ended up with a full rainbow flag on a wooden stick that she then slipped through the knotted bandana. Hardly worried about how it looks, she does seem to be enjoing herself, dancing along with all the music. She fell in with the group as the party began to head elsewhere after the parade ended.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "It /is/ a lot of people," Jon says brightly to Cael, watching various people meeting and greeting with a smile. "But I think that's rather the point. We're here, we're queer, get used to it, etcetera."

    He blinks rapidly as he winds up with an armload of Lays and Doritos and Sunchips. "Ahh... thanks for the crisps?" He blinks at Tommy and then brightens. "Oh, Gabby! Rien, Robbie! Hey, I figured we'd find you, I was just thinking we could go to--"

    They stop as they actually look around and notice where they are. No street in New York that they're aware of. Jonathan Sims has walked all the streets of Manhattan in the past year, /and/ has a perfect memory. And yet, they do now know this street.

    The street itself? It's less skyscrapers than brownstones, through the high-rises of Manhattan can be seen a little ways off still. Most of the shops along the street appear to be military surplus or gun shops, but all the signage is pink and frilly, and there's bright bows and streamers hanging from every building. The street is decked out for Pride in a dizzying array of rainbows, most of it lacy bunting. There's a large banner hanging across the middle of the street that proclaims "Bona to vada!" in glitter rainbow cursive lettering.

    "...Where /are/ we?" Jon says, looking suddenly bewildered.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney doesn't seem to really be surprised when Tommy vanishes only to reapear with yet-more-swag. She had already grabbed some as well and had at least one tote slung over her shoulder and tucked beneath that rainbow cape that Rien had hooked her up with. "Sweet yes I'm starving," she gushes while taking a bag of Fritos. Because Fritos are godly.

Hearing Robbie call out to Rien she looks over only to roll her eyes with amusement at the similar bikini top. "You'll look great in it Robbie!" She assures with a laugh only to dart further away so she doesn't get any potential retaliation from that remark. It brings her a bit further onto the unfamiliar street around the same time as Jon points out that this is a very unfamiliar place.

"Hey Jon! ...Huh. Dunno," she has to agree when he points out they weren't anywhere she knew. Letting her gaze sweep around taking in the new sights. "Hey we've got chips," she offers to Jan as she tucks one of the bags toward him (she might have smuggled a few extra off of Tommy). Another sweep of her gaze brings her attention to the bat-Cass.

"Oh hey there's Cass!" Though it might make more sense to pay attention to what was going on she bounds off to greet her upside down friend. "Hey, glad you came! Just hanging out?" A grin comes at her obvious pun before she glances toward Tommy who was proffering stickers to Cass.

And she pauses to stare with jaw falling open. "Uh. Wow that's crazy. You look just like my friend," she blurts out first thing only to lift her head and call out, "Hey Tommy!"

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Chips, Jon. They're chips here," Cael remarks with dry amusement - lifting her hand out of her pocket to waggle it at Rien, Robbie, Gabby, and the unfamiliar Tommy, before she shoves it right back into her pocket. At Jon's puzzlement, she turns to study the street - and stares for a few moments, before giving a shrug. "I don't. Never been on this street. But look - as long as we find somewhere that pours their whiskey straight - you know I'm happy." She gives Jon a brief smirk, then nods the group further down the street as she starts walking again, Bear obligingly close at her side.

America Chavez has posed:
    America drops to the ground and looks at the street. She's not familiar with it being in New York either, but that doesn't mean she doesn't know it. "Oh!" she says with a bright grin. "Danny! I haven't seen you in ages!" she says to the sentient street.

    One of the street signs changes from it's display of "Road Work Ahead" to "Welcome Back Ms. America!" seemingly of it's own accord. A number of the traffic lights flash in a flciering pattern of enthused response.

    She looks to Jon. "Dr. Sims! Hi! This is Danny the Street. He's an old friend and the only sentient street that can insert himself into reality at will that I've come across in the Multiverse."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
Still offering Cassandra the very colorful stickers, Billy blinks, "America! Hey!" he grins as the superwoman touches down by his side, "Thanks! I thought about coming in costume, but I decided on this instead!" he grins, and then looks utterly puzzled at America's statement. "Sentient street?" he glances at this 'Doctor Sims' that she knows-

And then there's someone talking to him, "I look like who?" He glances around for this 'Tommy' she is calling for.

He's going to come back to the 'Sentient Street' thing in a minute. Right now he's getting a little overloaded.

Jan de Wit has posed:
Chips! Jan grins over to Gabby as the snack is offered. "Thank you, it'd be a good idea to get some calories that aren't all sugars." He beams, taking a bag of the Sun chips. A nod of thanks, as he looks over to the others that Gabby had been gathered with. "Quite the party today, right?"

People dangling from signs, all sorts of colors, music - everything.

It's a good day.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Given the situation, Cass doesn't answer anyone's words verbally. She hangs, and both people who've spoken to her get a smile and possibly an upside-down hug. Which, most likely, would be two big things. Awkward as hell, and leave her black outfit absolutely covered in glitter.

She stays hanging in her spot, kind of a dangling billboard of sorts, and when she's had her moment with Billy she is now sporting a few stickers. One's even on her face.

They don't seem to have a theme though. Since she doesn't talk, she doesn't choose which ones are appropriate. She isn't looking particularly at anyone's butts, so there's no way to use that as an indicator. She kisses Gabby on the cheek, and doesn't stare down her cleavage. But she also doesn't go out of her way to grope up Tommy.

A reminder that not all sexualities are so easy to pin down? Yes, but she doesn't know how to say it out loud.

Thus, as folks wander by she picks up more tags. Which one is right almost depends on the viewer. But she did like seeing Gabby again, from the huge smile on her face.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia had to wait until sundown before she could go and join Pride, which means that she missed the parade itself. This is the first Pride march that she missed since... God, forever, and she feels a fleeting pang of regret.

    She's dressed for the event though. She's wearing a sheer billowy dress that's a kind of muted rainbow colors shimmering throughout it's threads. It's subtle but it's there.

    She comes flying in, but finds herself on a street that seems a little bit out of place but feels like... home. She lands gently and searches around for people that she recognizes and finds Jon.

    "Jon!" she calls out hurrying towards him. "Happy Pride!"

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    You get chips! And you get chips! And you get chips! Everybody gets chips!!!

    "I already stashed a whole crate for later. Take 'em for all they've got, right?" Tommy says to Jon, and then with a quick shrug he's disappeared again, only a hair-ruffling breeze to announce his departure.

    Which puts him next to Gabby and Jan. Also, inexplicably, with more chips. "Gonna be good on lunches for weeeeeeks," he crows, clearly pleased with himself. He's ended up with a bunch of sequin stars stuck to his face like freckles in the meantime, which must have happened in the last five or so seconds. And as Gabby moves off to greet another friend, Tommy offloads this next armful of free snacks, or at least attempts to as he wanders to and fro across the street. Which, well, shouldn't be too hard.

    Everybody loves free stuff!

    Eventually though he's in the same general vicinity as his friend-slash-date(?) and he digs around in his bag. "Someone gave me a sheet of stickers," which explains the face, yeah, "Hold on."

    He totally misses the whole thing about someone looking like him, as evidenced by how he totally passes Billy by, oblivious, to stick some stickers on Cass's sign.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "...streets can't be sentient. They're- streets." Cael has accepted a lot of things lately. A lot of very strange things. Magic is real. Angels are real. Vampires are real. Gods are real. Fucking werejackals are real. A sentient street?
    She has to draw the line somewhere.
    "A street is a street!" she insists - before abruptly making her way further down said street declaring, "I'm going to find somewhere that serves drinks! Who's with me?"

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen offered a curious smile up at Cassandra where she's, well, playing bat? That felt comfortable to be themselves - even hanging upside down - was a wonderful experience.

She walks along with the group, just taking in the sights and feelings of revelry. She glances down to her hands as she hears somethingg crinkling. When did she get a bag of chips? It was odd but hardly troubling. Plus snacks.

Her gaze shifts to the group again when discussion move to talk of sentient streets. She laughs quietly at Cael's insistence that streets are streets. It leads her to glance around the street, pondering. It did seem an odd thing that a street could, well, thingk for itself. But then there is a new cause to fall in with, "I could use a drink. I'm in!" she grins.

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Robbie's still pondering the bikini top. Probably not for himself, though who knows. He fingers it briefly, then decides instead to go with a black hoodie with the pansexual flag colours on the inside of the hood.

While Rien's busy flitting about, he decides to see where Gabby and her date have gotten to.. and becomes aware that the street's changed. What the fuck? He dips off to the side to light up a smoke and crowd-watch while he waits for the others.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
In spite of her surprise Gabby is QUITE happy to lean in and give an awkward upside down hug to Cass, and receive the cheek kiss. Even though Cass' couldn't always understand what was spoken it was pretty easy to read her body language as 'happy to see Cass'. Because she was. It had been awhile.

"Good to see you!" She gushes again only to step back so more stickers can be doled out by Tommy. Once he's finished she reaches up to press a finger against his chin to gently turn his head toward Billy so he could see why she'd called him over.

"This one," she explains to Billy as to whom she meant he looked like. "Other than the hair, I mean." The pair are left to consider things while she looks past toward America who clearly knows Sims. "Hi! I'm Gabby," she greets with a little wave that was so not necessary given how close they were.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "...A sentient street?"

    After a moment, Jon shrugs. Sure, why not? "Cael," he says, "don't be rude to our host. Nice to meet you, Danny." If he tilts his head /just/ right, can he see Danny's aura? Maybe. Maybe not. He doesn't indicate one way or the other, but he doesn't seem to be distrusting America. "Ahh... can you suggest somewhere to have a drink? Soda for the under-21s, I guess. Unless you're not /technically/ in New York?" He raises a brow.

    "Hey, Lydia," Jon says to the vampire with a faint smile. "We seem to have wandered off the beaten path a bit.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"Huh!" Billy's eyes go wide as Gabby turns Tommy's face towards him. It's uncanny. "They do say that everybody has a doppelganger," he muses, his eyes fixating on every line of Tommy's face, his eyes. "In folk belief, meeting your doppelganger is a sign of bad luck that's about to happen..." he looks around, "But I don't know what folk knowledge says about meeting your Doppelganger in the middle of Pride while on... a sentient street." Yeah We'll come back to that in a bit.

Then he laughs, "I'm sure it's just fine! I'm Billy. You must be Tommy." No, he's not a wizard, he heard Gabby shouting it.

But yes, he is a wizard.

America Chavez has posed:
    America is beaming at the meeting of Billy and Tommy. Does she know them both? Absolutely. Do they know each other? Absolutely not. That's going to be... interesting. She moves forward and stands next to Billy. "Hiya Tommy. Nice to see you again. The hat is abolsute dope."

    Gabby and the rest of the entourage get a smile, as well. I don't think I've met -all- of you. I'm Ms. America. America Chavez. Multiuniversal hero and gay icon." She's definitely a bit full of herself, but she wears the pride and confidence with an air of it just -working- for her.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
The crowd has begun to pass Cassandra's location, and her sign (and her body!) is much more decorated than it had been before. She seems, in the overall sense, happier having had that moment. But there's still no tag on her that she claims as her own.

Silence, and when she finds a bag of chips placed by her location, Cass grins and waves enthusiastically at the folks leaving for parts 21 and over, her hand coming dangerously close to clipping concrete over her head.

Then as she has a moment to herself, the place where she's most comfortable, she sighs. Because for all that she loves those people, there's something golden in the world when you're alone, and there's nobody talking to you anymore.

So she leans her back backward against the street, pats it with one hand as if to say 'just you and me now, buddy', and closes her eyes. According to the sticker on her right boob, she now identifies as an attack helicopter, and she seems...cool...with that.

Da vadanya, amigas.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Have you ever seen the first Jurassic Park movie? Well, you should, because it's a classic. Anyway the important bit here is that right now Tommy is doing a spectacular impression or Laura Dern in That One Scene, mouth agape as he takes off his sunglasses. It's made even better by Gabby having just done the whole head-turning thing right beforehand.

    "Yo what the fuck," Tommy says, though all of the air has come straight out of his lungs so it's basically a wheeze. Then, because his brain has completely disconnected from his body while he tries to process this, he forces at least five bags of chips into Gabby's hands, and then he steps past her to circle around Billy like... well, sort of like how Chris Pratt handles the raptors in the lackluster sequel to Jurassic Park, Jurassic World.

    Yeah I said it, fight me.

    "Uh, yeah, you have my face," is all Tommy manages to say. Well aside for a few muttered swear words.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Jon, I have accepted many things. Many ridiculous, unbelievable things. My sister was a ghost. I went into the afterlife - twice. I //hit an angel with a chair.// I am friends with a vampire, and I turn into a monster on the full moon - but STREETS are STREETS." Cael is drawing her line in the sand and she's leaving it right there-
    "Oh, look, a bar!" She pulls open the door to said bar then declares, "Hey, WonderTwins! Stop gaping, and come get a drink." She peers at them. "...a fucking Shirley Temple or whatever."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Wait. A sentient street?" Lydia says, blinking around. A pride banner within her field of vision changes to say, <Yes! I'm Danny! Pleased to meet you!> Lydia blinks at the banner with a soft, "hunh."

    She turns to Jon and Cael and gives a kind of helpless little shrug. "I mean. Who are we to judge? More power to him." <Them> a no parking signpost corrects. "Them."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"And you've got my face!" Billy says. He doesn't mutter a curse word- not that his mother is against them, she just simply... discourages it. "But not my hair, unless that's dyed," he observes, "Which if it is, it's a rad job! Otherwise..." he glances at the people looking at him, and then back at Tommy, "This is a little freaky... non standing-on-a-living-street kinda freaky level, but pretty freaky. So..." he glances at the shops. "Hi, Danny?"

When a sign flashes him a welcome and addresses him by name, he glances back to Tommy. And then to Cael. He could use something to drink, aright. "Are you all in the same group?" he asks, and glances at America with a look of utter bafflement.

He went out to Pride and somehow ended up in Freaky Friday.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney finds herself burdened with glorious chips. A bit too many so she's forced to sweep her cape around dramatically and use it like a kangaroo pouch to hold the bags far easier. "Yeah it's crazy," she has to agree only to glance toward America. A side-step is taken toward her as she asks quietly, "You seem like you expected this to happen." She had greeted them both like she knew them, after all! Either way she's looking amused over it.

She does speak up when Billy asks if they're together giving a nod. "Yeah, pretty much! Come hang out with us. I guess we're getting drinks..." she looks after Jon calling out, "Yes I'm underage but we all know it isn't gonna work on me!" And letting out a defeated sigh. "The one downside to a healing factor. Fuuuck me."

She recovers quickly though giving Tommy a pat on the shoulder. "Who knows, maybe you were seperated at birth! Or you could be a clone," she reasons looking between the pair to make it difficult to tell which one she means. "One of my sisters is albino and we're all clones, so it could happen."

Leaning in she gives Tommy's cheek a quick peck of a kiss. "Gonna go catch up with them. I'm liking the idea of air conditioning right now. Find me if you need me." Which he could of course. One of the bags of chips is foisted into Billy's hands as she heads off.

"Nice meeting you all!"

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen makes her way along until the bar is found. She moves up to it and asks hopefully, "Guinness? Or whatever you have is fine." She wasn't going to be picky. And yet somehow a red solo cup is slid over, the familiar golden-tan foamy head atop it. She smiles, "Oh, bless you!" And coming from her? It at least had more meaning behind it even if the bar tender would never know. She pays for the drink and moves away to take a slow contented sip before pausing to lick the foam from her lips.

She smiled and let out a slow, relaxed sigh. As she watched all of the others and their revelry, she was very glad that she chose to come along.

America Chavez has posed:
    America looks like she's about to cry. But the smile says it's all happy tears. "No" she answers Billy I'm here because the organizer asked me to come. The rest of them... I know only in passing." She looks at Dr. Sims and points to him. "You should talk to him though, I think he'll be able to help you out with a few things... just a hunch. Come on."

    And with that she's leading the young wizard after Jon and Cael and the rest into the bar proper. "Always a peach, Danny" she says to the Street as she goes. One of the signs changes into the words <It's a party. I like to party.> It draws a laugh from the Multidimensional hero.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia catches sight of Gabby from across the street and she raises her hand and waves excitedly at her. "Gabby! Hey! We're getting drinks! Want to bring your friends and come with?" She has no idea if Gabby and her friends are underage or not but, really? It doesn't matter. She won't tell if you don't tell.

    She hurries after Jon and says, "I love Pride. It's always good to know that you're not alone in the world with your problems." She gets an idea and starts giggling, "Do you think they have Vampire pride somewhere? Or Avatar pride?"

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Everything about the whole sentient street has kinda flown over Tommy's head, thus far. It's not that he has a poor attention span (but okay sometimes he does), it's just that he's pretty inexperienced when it comes to weird encounters, believe it or not.

    "No, uh, my natural hair color is... well it's white. Part of my mutation, I think. Seems to run in speedsters with the X-Gene." He points at his brows, which are definitely there, if pale. And then he looks after Gabby as she departs, leaving Tommy standing there, still thrown for a loop. "I, uh, we're not-" but then he just gives up.

    All he can do right now is wordlessly follow after the group. Eventually he'll start noticing the signs trying to get his attention. Right now though he's just sort of in a daze.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Avatar Pride could bloody well shove it," Jon grumbles, and then shakes that off. It's supposed to be a happy time! A good day. He turns to the others showing up, Billy and Tommy particularly, and smiles.

    "We're... well, part of the Justice League Dark. I think we lost some." They turn in a circle, noting some people didn't /quite/ make it to Danny the Street. Alas. "Anyhow, you're welcome to come with us. I'm Jonathan Sims, the Archivist, but 'Jon' is fine."

Cael Becker has posed:
    Once inside the bar, the bartender doesn't even need to ask Cael's order - he delivers her a glass of whiskey, straight, earning a broad smile from the woman. "Gee, how'd you know?" she asks, handing over her card. "Can I get a cup of water, as well?" She takes a sip of her whiskey - then unfolds a collapsable water bowl. The glass of water is dumped into it, and then offered to Bear, who begins to lap it up greedily.
    "Lydia! Hey. When Jon comes in here, you need to ask him to see the photos of Nimue," she remarks - without given any further context to the suggestion.
    It's ridiculous how many photos Jon already has on his phone.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"You're a mutant too? No way! I blast lightning. And... some other stuff." No need to tell Tommy he's a wizard yet, that has nothing to do with his mutation, right? When Jon introduces himself, he grins, "I'm Billy, Billy Kaplan... did you say the /Justice League/ Dark?" Eyes like saucers again. "Wow..."

Of course they've lost people. You always lose people at Pride. So many shiny things.

Right now Billy's shiny thing is the boy who /looks/ like him and is also a mutant, and the Justice League Dark. A glance at Gabby, and he pulls at an ear in a nervous tick, "Clones? Oh, haha, no, I'm sure I'd know if I were a clone..." he glances at Tommy, wondering. Then he looks at Jon "... Let's... let's all get something to drink. Non-alcoholic. With fruity stuff. I'd love it if you told me about the JLD!"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Nimue?" Lydia asks, as a Manhattan is slid her way. She nods her head in thanks and pulls out her card from her purse for the bar to hold onto for her tab. "Did you all get another dog?" she asks with mock admonishment.

    "Love what you do with your hair," she tells Cael. "It must have cost a small fortune. One day I might dye my hair but.." she shakes her curly mane with a hand, "I don't think trying to dye /this/ mess will be easy."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Nimue is my /cat/," Jon says as he leads the others into the bar. "And she's /lovely/ and sweet and lets no one give her shit and I love her more than anything else in the universe, including my daughter. Who /also/ loves her more than anything else in the universe, so she's okay with that." He grins. This is surely something he and 'budding avatar of a feline goddess' daughter have bonded over.

    "And yes, 'Justice League' is part of the name for a reason! We're sort of an offshoot, although it's more Donna Troy that comes by to check on us than Wonder Woman or Superman. Batman shows up from time to time." A pause. "Actually, we saw him sing karaoke. That was... disconcerting."

    He's got his phone out, with photos of the cat ready, a gorgeous black-and-red tortoiseshell Maine Coon basking in the sun or sniffing at Jon's many (many, many) houseplants or playing with the dogs.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    "Really? That's sick. I can blow stuff up too!" Trust the potential for explosions to bring any teenager right out of a funk. Though he does look nervous at the mention of clones.

    It's not the first time him potentially being a clone has been brought up, not after his run-in with the Brotherhood and a certain older, very similar looking speedster. Should he tell Billy about it? Tommy should probably mention that. Maybe not in this crowd, though.

    Especially not after the mention of some sort of Justice League team, whose members are apparently present. Tommy doesn't get the significance of the Dark moniker but it doesn't really matter; he's not a hero, he's (at best) a kid with a record and a deep-seated dislike of authority. His shoulders hunch up as he visibly folds in on himself, arms tucked around his midsection.

    It's only the possibility of drinks, even non-alcoholic, that keeps him moving.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Oh my God," Lydia says with a squeal of excitement. "Let me see!" She gets handed the phone and starts flipping through the photos. "She /is/ a lovely cat and I can see why you've devoted your life to her. She's very regal."

    She looks up and sees that Jon is being trailed by a set of twins and America. "Oh! Who are your friends?" She walks up to Tommy and Billy and extends a pale hand to them. "I'm Lydia. Also a member of the Justice League Dark."

Cael Becker has posed:
    One photo shows Bear and Nimue curled up together in the sun asleep - on Bear's massive dog bed. "That one's my favorite," Cael remarks simply, before taking another sip of whiskey.
    "We've only had her a few days, but Jon is just //besotted.// Which is a word I never thought I'd use but- well. It's how it is."
    As for her hair - Cael grins brightly as she adds, "Well, it isn't cheap. But- I don't know. It's something I used to do when I was younger. When- I was still Shelley. But back then I used to do it myself, with koolaid. It's nice having enough money to do it properly."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"Besotted is a very good word!" Billy pipes up, "So is Bumfuzzle. It's one of those words that make you sound old-timey fancy while also kinda silly." He grins, having caught the tail end of Cael's reply as Jon and America led them over. "You've got cool hair," he adds to Cael. He is unusually peppy. Probably because he has stumbled upon a riddle in Tommy, and he always enjoys figuring riddles out. "'Snice to meet you, I'm Billy. I'm not a member of anything! And this is Tommy over here," He gestures to the white-haired lookalike, "And we're on the way of getting fruity drinks!"

America Chavez has posed:
    America enters the bar and gets herself a Shirley Temple with extra cherries. She watches as Billy locks in on the JLD and smiles. Protective action, successful. The future of Utopia Parallel is on track. She leans up against the bar and mutters. "It's good when a plan comes together" to herself while sipping the sparkling drink.

    Danny answers with a nearby drink menu. <Always playing the long game, America?> they ask. She nods to the menu and keeps her eyes on Billy. "When it comes to him?" she says a smile on her dark lips, "It never stops."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon very deliberately reaches over to ruffle Cael's hair. "I'm also besotted with you, you know, Becker. Always will be." So there.

    He eyes the bar, and says, "Fruity drinks all 'round please. Put alcohol in mine, but I'll leave 'alcohol or not' up to the others." He's nobody's chaperone tonight, and gods know he was sneaking alcohol at younger ages that it's legal to drink even in England.

    "So! Tommy and Billy are... brothers?" He quirks a brow at them both, not missing Tommy's curling in on himself. "And mutants? Well, the Justice League Dark... we specifically fight supernatural threats. We were leading the whole business with the angelic invasion back in January. Right now we're focused on building the team and securing our new base and all of that sort of thing."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Thanks, I'm pretty fond of i- HEY!" Cael's reply to Billy is interrupted by her boyfriend messing up her hair - and she's forced to smooth it back out, the blonde mostly concealing the rainbow hues underneath. "I'm stealth LGBT, thank you very much. Geeze," she mutters - though she flashes the man a brief smile, and twines her arm up with his. "I'm not besotted with you, you know. ...but I suppose I like you well enough. Hrm?"
    Looking to Billy and Tommy she adds, "Not all of us can use magic, by the way. Which- well. Took a while for some people to convince me was... fine. I'm a bit stubborn, though."

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Dutifully, when Billy namedrops him, Tommy lifts a hand to wave. He looks... puzzled, still, and not just by his supposed twin.

    "Not brothers. There's no way that wouldn't have come up, not with how much my mom used how traumatic my birth was for her when we argued," he says. There's another piece for your puzzle, Billy. Tommy, meanwhile, is going to sit down and try not to think about this for a while.

    Which means pounding down alcoholic drinks, if the bar is going to give him those. Wait, where's the bartender? This earns another audible "What the fuck," from Tommy as he's provided something with a mini umbrella and a ring of pineapple on the rim and, sniff sniff, yep that's rum or something in there. Tommy guzzles it down.

    Bad choice, because it's a frozen drink. Immediate brain freeze, and Tommy lays his forehead down on the bar and groans. The alcohol hits his system a second or two later, all at once, and then he groans again, weaker.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia waves a hand through the starfield that constantly surrounds her, little motes of ectoplasm floating lazily about. "I'm a mutant too. Currently engaged to Mystique, and our wedding is only a few weeks away." She sounds oddly flat about that. Not as excited as she should be. "It's a pleasure to meet you all, though."

    "Hunh," she says, looking between Billy and Tommy. "I could have sworn you were twins. You look exactly alike. Well, except for the hair." She gives Tommy an extra look. "You wouldn't happen to be related to Pietro Maximov, wouldn't you?"

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"Not brothers," Billy says, at the exact same time as Tommy, and in almost the exact tone of voice. Taken aback he is silent for a few seconds and simply gets his drink- a Shirley Temple, because it is a bad idea for young mutants who throw sparks around to drink.

All the talk of magic here and there does prompt him to add, "Actually... I can ... do magic," a little timidly. "Mostly self-taught!"

Then, realizing how that might have sounded to Cael, he quickly focuses on what Lydia is saying, "Oh, wow, you're engaged to Mysti..." he trails off and tits his head at the question Lydia asks Tommy, and then his eyes are riveted on Tommy.

He is also realizing that maybe, just maybe, he should have that 'mom, was I actually adopted?' talk that some kids have with their parents. Maybe.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon rolls his eyes at Cael. "Yes, yes, sure, you like me 'well enough.' Okay." He seems fairly sanguine about the teasing. Lydia gets a concerned glance.

    He opens his mouth at 'not brothers.' Closes it. The family dynamics of strangers are /not/ his to pry into, even if he's /terribly/ curious. Instead, he just says, "Self-taught magic, hmm? I know how that goes. Well..." A pause. "I /had/ a mentor, but he turned out to be an evil bastard that wanted to possess me and end the world. So, not so great. But it turns out what he taught me was all quite real."

    He eyes Billy for a moment, eyes narrowing briefly, then blinks and shakes his head. "Anyhow, umm, we can certainly help people learn magic in the JLD."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "He's not a problem anymore." Looking to Billy and Tommy she adds in helpful explination, "He was the sort of asshole who thought child sacrifice was a good idea. You know? The sort of problem that... needs to be handled." For everyone's sake. She takes another sip of her whiskey, then leaning in towards Jon she relents with a quiet, "Love you, Mariposa."
    She shifts her attention to Lydia next - brow furrowing slightly, but she makes no comment.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    The worst part of being speedster is the metabolism. And the best part of being a speedster is the metabolism. Because Tommy sits back up no more than fifteen seconds later, fresh faced and apparently fully recovered from both brain freeze and drunkeness (yeah, he's a lightweight).

    What follows is a protracted internal debate about whether or not to freak out about the sentient street-slash-bar that is providing drinks. Thankfully, with the speed his thoughts race at, it actually only takes the space of a heartbeat for anyone watching. Tommy sticks his hand up in the air and says "Another!"

    The next drink has a paper umbrella too, yes, but instead of pineapple it's toasted coconut on the rim. And the process repeats.

    As does the internal debate, this time about Billy talking about magic. This time around Tommy doesn't embrace it in the way he does Danny (not that he knows the street's name) but he decides the easiest thing to do is just kind of ignore it. And the talk about possessions. And child sacrifice. Oh god. It's not like *he* can do magic, anyway. Unless you mean like, sleight of hand?

    Which technically he can't do either, but Tommy just fakes it. Not like most observers can tell the difference.

    "Nah, Pietro said he definitely didn't bang my mom. Also he was, like, ten or eleven when I was born?" He shrugs at Lydia. "Lorna thinks I'm related to them still, but that's crazy. I'm just a nobody."

    To Tommy, the pause that follows is lengthy, which only makes his stuttered, "Oh, uh, congrats. On the. Marriage," even more awkward. Big delay there.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia's eyes flick to Tommy as he falls down, gets up and recovers at breakneck speed. "You're a speedster?" she asks. "I mean.... you /have/ to admit that it's quite the coincidence. But," she says with a shrug. "Stranger things have happened. You never know in this world."

    She gives Tommy an excited grin that doesn't quite touch her eyes. "Thank you! It's going to be a huge event."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"Oh... Oh?" Billy perks up at Jon, and seems to consider something. "I mean, a mentor would be really cool! Provided, you know, no possession and ruling the world. I wouldn't want to rule the world." He glances around and chuckles, "If you can rule the world with magic, why not just make your own world, right?"

...

A glance at Tommy, and he says, "Hey, so... like, this is weird, but I'm pretty sure there's got to be some logical explanation to the fact we look alike. Maybe we're related somehow? I've heard distant cousins can suddenly look alike and stuff." He gives Tommy a smile, trying to be comforting.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon leans over to give Cael a kiss on the top of her head. "Love you too."

    He eyes Lydia again, and files that away. He's going to need to talk to her, isn't he? Yep. He is. But having filed that away, he says to Tommy, "Nobody's a nobody. Everyone is somebody. And I don't mean that in a, ahh, pandering 'you can be anything you want!' kind of sense. I mean... everyone matters. Everyone has power." He gestures about with his fruity drink, which he's nursing. "The /point/ of Pride is that the marginalized, the 'powerless,' come out and show that we exist. That we have power. That we will not be ignored. The first Pride was a riot, after all. It was people saying 'no, you know what? Fuck you, we just want to dance, and we're done taking your shit.'"

    He blinks at Billy. "...Make your own world? That's... hmmm. Very possible, I suppose. But it'd be fraught with... well. I can say from experience that the creator of a world having the wrong motivations can... mess it up. See also: the one we live in."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "We are not talking about //him,// we're having fun." Oh, it's okay to talk about Elias, but not Michael?
    ...apparently.
    "And I feel confident in saying that official JLD policy is opposed to world domination - by ourselves, or any other power. I mean, if people vote for a unified world government? Then great. Otherwise? Such individuals can fuck right off." She lifts her glass to emphasize her point, then takes another drink.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Danny the Street continues to provide tasty beverages, and thus Tommy continues to go through repeating cycles of 30 seconds SHWASTED, 1-2 seconds massively hungover, and then back to sober. It's during one of these aforementioned drunk periods that Lydia replies to him, and Tommy's eyebrows draw together.

    "I'm so sorry," he says, and then like 5 seconds later he's totally put together again and realizes that was not the thing to say. "Uh. I mean. That's great?"

    Yeah, even stone-cold sober Tommy can't pretend that a giant wedding sounds like anything fun to him. He's better about pretending to take what Jon says to heart, nodding at the appropriate places, but he's still no actor. The way he plays along suggests he's heard it all before.

    Back to drinking, though, and Tommy turns around on the stool he's claimed as his own to stare at Billy. "Why would anyone want to rule the world? This place sucks." Idly he swirls the straw around in his drink, and the skin over the bridge of his nose crinkles as he makes a face.

    Talk. About his family? "I... sure, I guess. Where are you from?" There's something red in the drink he has now and he struggles to get the maraschino cherries out of the bottom until his body has processed all the alcohol from his system. "I grew up in Springfield, but my mom and dad both lived down nere Pennsylvania... I, uh, I think my mom's from Philly?" A few seconds later, he shakes his head. "...Maybe Pittsburgh?" He sounds very uncertain.

    

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia grins and raises her Manhattan (which so far she's only taken a couple sips of). "Here's to saying 'Fuck you!' to world domination!"

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"Oh, mostly N'york, but the Kaplans are all over. I think I even got a couple of great-aunts in Pittsburgh! Who knows. Hey, I can ask if anyone in the faimily has the Anderson Cooper hair thing going on," Billy says with a little too much cheerfulness, "Just you watch, we'll end up being cousins or something. But it would kind of be even cooler and weirder if we weren't, in the 'isn't the world a strange place?' kind of way?"

He raises his Shirley Temple to the toast, " Eff world domination!" Glub glub glub. He glances from Lydia, who seems to be very... something about the wedding, to Cael, to Jon. "So... how would I go about... you know. Getting instruction? Do I show up at a magic castle and throw an amulet into the moat to be gained assistance? Or do I fill a form?"

"I'm pretty new to this stuff."

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael lets out an amused snort. "More the former than the later. We uh... kinda do have a magic castle. But amulets and moats are not applicable." She seems content to let Jon tell the rest, holding out her whiskey for a refill - and taking another sip once it is. She keeps one arm around Jon, leaning into their presence comfortably.
    They seem to be having a good day, and enjoying Pride. Which she'll take.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Something about how Billy puts 'throw an amulet into the moat' sends Jon into a fit of giggles. "No, no," he says, waving a hand. "While we do have a magic castle... no amulets nor moats. Really, I could probably teach you if you need the help. Here, umm..." He starts digging out his wallet (his skirt has pockets!) and pulling out a business card.

    "I am against world domination," he adds. "As evidenced by fighting against that which we are evidently not talking about." He rolls his eyes at Cael, holding the business card out to Billy.

    The sign behind the bar morphs to say <No world domination! Dancing is better!> And then there are bright lights and dance music, not that anyone is obligated to dance. But, you know, if they want to.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
    Dancing? He looks up with a grimace as the lights start to flash. That's the sign for Tommy to leave. Which he does, at speed, enough that the resulting gust of wind will mess up hairdos and whip clothes around.

    Unfortunately, he leaves absolutely no sign of himself behind. Which means it'll be hard to track him down for further questioning about his and Billy's potential relation to one another. Whoops.

    Cut to about 4 hours later, in a room on Asteroid M:

    Tommy sits bolt upright from a dead sleep, having just realized they didn't exchange phone numbers. "Oh, FU--"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Alright," Lydia says, grinning at Cael and Jon. "I'm going to go outside and dance. Maybe I'll find a cute girl to dance with." She considers her Manhattan for a bit before draining it, leaving the empty glass on the bar, and heads outside.

Cael Becker has posed:
    As the music starts to play, Cael knocks back her drink, and then rises from her stool to pull at Jon's hands. "Com'on," she urges them. Please?" Her feet are already moving in time with the song, and she wears an enticing smile on her features. "What's the point of putting on a skirt if I don't get twirl you around a little?"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Business card handed out, drink quaffed, Jon smiles at Cael. "Yes, well. You may have noticed that I've been rather feeling more like dancing, of late." He smiles and gets up to join Cael.

    They'll let her twirl them around, while whoever else has wandered onto Danny the Street dances too. A good time will, hopefully, be had by all.