16003/The 52nd Annual Broom Corn Festival!

The 52nd Annual Broom Corn Festival!
Date of Scene:	03 October 2023
Location:	Arcola, Illinois
Synopsis:	The Festival is Enjoyed. By Everyone on Pain of Death.
Cast of Characters:	Wade Wilson, Melissa Gold, Cole Cash, Harley Quinn, Jennifer Stavros

---

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Friday, at the 52nd Annual Broom Corn Festival in Arcola Illinois, and the festivities got off with a bang. First off at...
    11AM there was the Pompeyo Family Dog Show Performance that lit up the stage as the four trained poodles showed their stuff! There was much cuteness to be had as the doggos leapt and pranced and performed acrobatic routines to warm the heart.
    1:00 PM, the Grand Marshall Reception was held in Arcola Center to which we bestowed the honor of handing the Grand Marshall's baton to our one and only Wade Wilson who returns to his adopted home town and foster family. He accepted the baton graciously with only a few regal commands and declarations for this year's festival, including but not limited to, 'Everybody get crunk tonight, bitches!'
    4:00 PM and the Broom Sweeping Contest begins!
    4:07 PM, Team Wilson eliminated from competition for illegal full contact interference.
    4:30 PM The Beer Pavilion opens...
    "And that is where we're at, all set? We'll wait til Harls gets back from lunch or something before anything exciting happens. For now. Beer me, Birdy." Wade snaps his fingers in Melissa's direction, seated at that picnic table as the pseudo Oktober-Fest beer maidens circulate upon the pavilion.

Melissa Gold has posed:
"I am not the beer girl," Melissa said for what was not going to be the first time today. She just had that gut feeling. Because Wade. And Harley. And hell, the rest of their team.

Since they were still somewhat in the air on their futures, they had opted for a road trip to the actual Broom Corn Festival, at the behest of Wade. It had given them a chance to go somewhere that no one would expect them to be because who wanted to go to Arcola, Illinois? Like, on purpose? Other than Wade.

She did raise a hand and catch the attention of one of the many girls that were there for that purpose. All were in the 'traditional' garb that was required of serving girls at Octoberfests around the United States. Who knew if they were traditional or just one of those things Americans liked and thus did in the name of Germany without having an actual clue. Steins were ordered for the whole table and a variety of flavors since they had all of them. Like All. It was kind of terrifying.

"Eat, Drink, Be merry. For tomorrow we may die." Somehow she didn't think that was the right quote. It still got the point across.

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Skullface grumbled as he took the beer stein in hand, shaking his head as his crimson eyes glowed with infernal fire. He sighed deeply, voice reverberating through his modulated mask. "This is not my idea of a vacation spot." He growls and looks around grimacing, "Barely a soul worth damning here."
    Vlad scowled and his bat wings flapped a little as well, shaking his head. "And nobody seems to care I'm all freaky looking. It's nice... but also disconcerting... my identity is built up on being an outcast, man."
    "Oh shit, wait." Wade points at the two of them, "I need to slam my mug down dramatically." Then Wade seems to scowl, scarred face twisting up as he hoisted his mask up enough to sip his beer stein, then he _very_ dramatically brings the mug slamming down, sloshing beer all over the paper covered table.
    "WHAT?!" He points a the two other members of the squad, "This place is heaven on earth. And by Odin's teat, Skullo, you harm even one person here I will kill you. And not in the friendly way we're used to. I'm talking for realsies, like a Dan Slott plotline. DEAD. And then ignored."

Cole Cash has posed:
Take a couple of days off from the shop, reconnect with the team. It'll be easy peasy. Noone told Cole that there would be beer maidens and liederhosen would be involved.

So here they are out in the middle of Cornhole Nowhere, Cole dressed in the a pair of jeans, long sleeved shirt with a red flannel design, hiking boots, and a pair of sunglasses. With Melissa calling over the heavy beer steins, filled with their golden goodness, he instead opts for the bottle of water.

"Sorry, I'm late." he offers to the others. "Had a shipment come in before I got a chance to lock up." With that, he lifts up his bottle in a toast to the rest of the squad.

"GenieBe das Leben standig! Du bist langer tot als lebendig!" And then the English translation, "Constantly enjoy life. You are longer dead than you will ever be alive."

With Skullo and Vlad speaking up, Cole cuts his eyes in their direction, but it seems Wade has the situation well enough in hand. Even if his manner of doing so... well, try not to think too hard on that.

Harley Quinn has posed:
"Fuck yea, I love this town."

That's Harley. And where did she come from?! What's true is that she is pulling a seat to join the rest of the gang, her hyenas taking a sit and licking their chops as the clownette brings the chair closer to them. "Real shame the Pompeyo's didn't wanna play ball with Bud and Lou ..." she looks at the hyenas with a small shake of her head, then back at them. "Real shame ..." whatever is Harley talking about?!

"So, what we eatin'?" She looks around. But wait, wasn't Harley having lunch just a bit ago? Yet her attention goes to Skullface and Vlad as they complain, "Woah, you two complaining again? What's new?" she rolls her eyes once, then twice when Wade gets to be all dramatic, "You can't just swipe left aftah killin' them, Wade. That's just cold and let me tell ya that.....--"

Pause as Cole wanders in. She lowers her sunglasses briefly. "Holy shit, the Griftah himself! Now this deserves a beer..." she looks around, "Wheah are our beers Mel!?" clearly Melissa is the designated beer girl today!

Melissa Gold has posed:
"I am not the beer girl."

And that is the moment more steins are delivered. Even if people haven't finished their first steins. Melissa knew to keep them coming with this group. Especially Wade. He didn't seem to ever feel the effects anyway so why did he bother? "Cole, meet the team. Team, this is Cole. He might be helping our squad out from time to time. New addition though he's been with the Squad--capital S--for a long time now. Probably as long as Harley or longer?" she looked between the two since she didn't know the answer.

As for threats between teammates? She didn't even seem phased. Hearing it so often, Mel was used to it. And no one had acted on any of the threats thus far so she was hoping they were only words.

"Harley, Wade, Pistolero or whatever the fuck he is this week, Vlad, Skullface, and Peter. There are others but they get distracted easily by shiny things so no telling where they got off to. Might still be grumpy about our disqualification."

Wade Wilson has posed:
    As Cole strolls on in, Wade takes it with the ease of manner he takes most things, even perking up at the token touch of German. He lifts his voice. "Grieftah. Wait wait..."
    One hand comes up, "Isn't that a Specials song?" He tilts his head to the side and starts humming in a rapid up-tempo way, "De-de-de, Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think... de-de-da-de...hmmmHmmhmmHmm..."
    Then he shakes his head, "No hold on," He drops back into his seat, pulling out his cellphone from his secondary left lower breast tertiary pocket pouch. He promptly googles the Specials.
    Vlad and Skullface looking reasonably chastened, though the flicker of hellfire in the latter's eyes grows stronger. When Harls rolls on up as well her words for Melissa draw from Deadpool a light reinforcement toward her sentiment. "Yeah, jeez. I've got a dead soldier over here, beer me, lady. And for food?" His head lifts slightly, "I dunno, sausage, corn, brats? The corn chowder was great last year, Edna Travers, but she passed this year. Rest her soul."
    A beat as he continues to swipe on the phone, "Also, Harls, no hurt doggos."
    But then the new batch of beers come around and he slides his phone out of the way to grab his newest stein with both hands. "So I think I know Cole. But I could be wrong." He points at the other man, one white eyelet of his mask scrunching up, "We did the thing, against the bad peoples?"

Cole Cash has posed:
"Hey, Harl, how's tricks?" Cole greets Harley as she recognizes him. "No offense, y'all ain't worth me breaking my promise to Zealot over." A small smirk touches the corner of his mouth as he takes a seat with the rest of the group as Melissa handles introductions.

"I was with Waller back in the Team 7 days," he explains, even though he's sure everyone knows the story. "So count me among the first that Waller screwed over in her rush to the top." To Wade, there's a pause, even with his psychic shields full up, he can feel the so many conflicting thoughts from the Merc with a Mouth, even without a translator it's a dumpster fire of conflicting thoughts and no, it's not fine. "We did the thing with the Nazis and DEO agents, Supergirl was there." he prompts Wade gently.

Then he turns to Melissa. "Waller cut off the cards yet? If not, pretty safe bet she's blowing off steam because of whatever happened."

Then he adds, "The Grifters were a band. And also a Movie. Named after neither."

Harley Quinn has posed:
"What ya mean hurt doggos? They were pursuing Bud and Lou all bloody mornin' long! Those things are vicious I tell ya..." Harley shakes her head to herself before patting Bud (or is it Lou?) on the head, "Was good exercise, wasn't it buddy, eh? Eh? Now go on, go find some hyena damsels to have fun with.." the two hyenas yelp and then run off to ..., go find some fun? Who knows what kind of fun the corn festival in the middle-of-nowhere Illinois holds.

Melissa speaks those first words and Harley looks properly aghast. AGHAST. Not the beer girl?! It's then followed by a teasing wink. "Just jostlin' ya chain. I will handle this. I just want one of those outfits. They sorta favor my rack ya know?" yes, most likely everyone knows considering how she likes those tight white t-shirts a lot of times, "I will make suwah to get you an outfit too, Mel. But don't worry, you can wear it in private to a special person instead!" wink wink nudge nudge. "Which speakin' of, we still need to go ovah your kinks. Best way to know team members that I know of!"

She takes one of the beers and gurgles it down her maw, "Yeaaaa, we go waaaay back. We are sorta the originals, the first to be fucked over by Waller. And let me tell ya she really likes bein' on top. Sheeeesh." roll of her eyes as she gets up to her feet.

"Anyway, gonna find me one of those outfits. Oi, server girl!" she meanders off.

Jennifer Stavros has posed:
Is it any wonder that the phrase, 'Shit out of luck' keeps reverberating in her head. She catches Melissa's eye when a guy with a comb over and a size 52 waist pats her on the behind. But he misses, Jennifer is nothing if not fast on her feet, and with a tray loaded with oversize beer steins balanced in one hand.

She'd never admit it but finds the short skirt and laced blouse kind of fun in a frowzy kind of way. Besides, being in Corn Country gives her an insight into Wade's particular take on the world. A big nu-uh from this Jersey girl.

Melissa Gold has posed:
Melissa watches as Harley is gone and Jennifer joins them, already having found her own outfit. Which has Mel shaking her head a bit then facepalming. "Not a word, Wade." Because she just feels like that might be necessary as she is the only female present who does not seem interested in being the beer girl. Or at least dressing like one. "It's not happening. You can't pay me enough."

If Maury Povich had been nearby, one might hear And That Was a Lie since there was always a price for people. Mel wasn't an exception since a costume was just a costume. She used to wrestle in less. Not that she was sharing /that/ tidbit with the entire time though a couple of members had learned her secret a while back. And were sworn to secrecy. If their sanity kept them in line.

Wade Wilson has posed:
    "Ah ok, so like, the Thing That Happened, open parentheses Tee-Emm close parentheses. Why we're here." Deadpool nods sagely, solemnly. "A deep and troubled tale, it would require much effort in the retelling. Truly there is no way to relate exactly what happened, and clearly it was a matter which troubled us all. Equal contributions of blame are to go around..."
    Which was when Vlad perked his pointed bat-ears and spoke up to simply say around the lip of his beer stein, "Wade fucked up."
    Which was when the Finger of Accusing came out as Wade pointed now at him. "Hey! She had a Lasso of Truth, man! A Lasso. Of Truth!"
    Vlad shrugs.
    When Harls wanders off though that's enough to draw his attention out of things as he calls out, "Bring me one too?"
    Flopping back into his seat he takes another drink of his beer while simultaneously claiming another from Jennifer's tray as she moseys on up.
    He returns his attention toward Grifter and adds, "Basically we ran this op, smash an grab and we got interrupted by circumstances we could not FORESEE." This last word is aimed back at Vlad who hath earned his ire this day.

Cole Cash has posed:
"...I guess that explains why Waller sent you to let me know to get my ass back to the Squad, Melissa." Cole comments thoughtfully. "But seeing as there's no black site helicopters already scoping our collective asses, my confidence is that she's gonna just cool off and as long as we don't fuck around, we won't find out."

And with the talk of Harley going off to get a dress, and Jennifer arriving in one to set out the beers, Cole offers a thin smile. "You should find some liederhosen for Wade." he suggests casually. "The Squad goes Bavarian Bohemian." A dry quip as he works on his water. He's not volunteering himself, perfectly happy to let the 'team lead' get all the attention.

Harley Quinn has posed:
What happens backstage in Arcola stays in Arcola yet what's true is that a bit later Harley pops back out dressed in that traditional manner that only Oktoberfest girls can pull off, generous chest view and swaying hips along with a tray full of beers. "Refill!" she announces. And as promised she brings other goodies. A costume for Wade, and another for Melissa, "I am gonna have you both on those before the day is ovah!" she promises.

"Also .., don't blame the Lasso of Truth for your lack of self love and yoh need to punish yourself." She tells Wade. "I already told ya my couch is available foh when you wanna talk." there. BAM! Serious talk right in the middle of the festival. So much for having a nice vacation. She does grin though.

"So Cole, who's this Zealot you weah talkin about? Imaginary friend like the ones I got?"

Jennifer Stavros has posed:
After skipping out of the way of Mr. Comb-over with a playful flounce of her overly short skirt, Jennifer waggles a finger at the offender, "Now, now, now." The woman next to him with a triple chin gives her a death stare that would make Vlad proud. Somehow, a little black disc rolls to Comb-over's feet, unseen by anyone else in the celebratory crowd. Jennifer smiles and never looks back.

Scowling at Wade who nearly tipped her tray grabbing a beer, she caught Vlad's expression, a sneer on a sneer, and Cash's comment. After a glance around the tent, she agrees and poses another beer on the table, "Looks like we're home-free.

"Liederhosen on Wade would cause a stampede, Cole." She narrows her eyes, pretending to consider the proposition, "Yeah, no. We've had enough attention already after the last fuck up."

Melissa Gold has posed:
Mel just nodded a bit as Wade explained things about their situation. It was sort of colorful, as stories from him tended to be, but it was a good enough explanation. Lasso of Truth would give an idea of the unexpected they had run into. Wasn't like there were a lot of people out there with one of those!

Mel blinked as the outfit was tossed her way and quickly set it aside. Right next to Peter. "I'm sure this is for you." Then she grabbed her stein with both hands and sipped, letting the conversation swirl around her for the moment instead of participating.

Though Peter lifted the outfit in front of his DadBod and shook his head. "Not my size." Did he sound disappointed? She was imagining that, she was sure. And he put it back next to Melissa for safekeeping.

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Wade gives Harley a thumbs up as he grabs that outfit and manages to 'wink' one of those eyelets toward Melissa. "I'll save this for later tonight. Dress up time for all of us, it's becoming a tradition."
    That said, Deadpool sets the clothes onto the seat next to him and replies to Jen's comment about being home free. "Honestly my dear fellows. I do like this place." He takes another sip of his beer and leeeans back in his seat, taking a deep breath and then pulling his mask back down into place. He streeetches his arms out. "The heartland, Norman Rockwell, good food, nice people. And I'm not saying this to set it up for a possible heel turn or some sort of dark tragedy to occur. I legitimately like it here. And they like me here!"
    He spreads his hands wide, "So if any of you fuckos messes with it, seriously. Not naming any names. Pistolero. Vlad. Skullface." He shakes his head, draws in a breath. Then exhales softly. "I mean, I can't even. Like my retribution would be, like... tracking down, and the killing. So much killing. Like a six issue mini-series worth of killing."

Cole Cash has posed:
It really is fault for bringing up her name, but the slip of the tongue has gotten full on grabbed by Harley. He draws in his breath, and explains for the group.

"So I met Amanda Waller back in '93." he starts, "When I got put on the Team-7 group. Want to know about that, ask her. Served with her until '99, when we found out that she and the upper brass were experimenting on us with super soldier formulas, alien DNA, the usual shit. That's when it was discovered that project Gen-13 which was supposed to be seeing what the children of Team-7 would be after they were born, to see if there is a second incarnation of the Team. We all went our seperate ways. I went to work for the CIA."

"Few years in, decided I was done. Left the keys and the bodies behind and retired myself. You never really do retire -- and without the meds and drugs that the government was feeding me, my powers started going out of control. It was on one of those benders I came across her." Pulling out his phone, he swipes and pulls up a picture of a white-haired alien beauty badass, though she's in civilian clothes.

"We spent the next seven years together. She helped me get over my dependency on drugs and alcohol, and nursed me back to health and stability. Guess she decided after I was full on my feet, that she was done with the relationship and moved on. And that's the story."

"Yeah, I'm not doing dress up time." he deadpans towards Deadpool. "And this isn't going to be like F-Troop where you say 'You want to wear a dress, I say no, you say sure you do, you say no, we argue and five minutes and a jumpcut later, I'm in a dress.'."

Harley Quinn has posed:
Look atcha, being an ambassador to alien species!" Harley taps Cole's shoulder a couple of times approvingly, "Maybe she was one o' those with the 'I can fix him' kinda mentality, mmm?" this after Cole reveals Zealot moved on after seven years. And then it's back to downing a few beers. Two! Because she's a beer girl and beer girls get perks besides perky dresses. Double beers! That's what you're missin', Mel!

"And oh look, it's Jenny! What are ya doin' copyin' my style?!" She is still grinning, "Looking hot, girl!"

A finger is pointed at Melissa, "That's for you. Not Peter."

Jennifer Stavros has posed:
"Ja wohl, Harley," flipping her blonde hair back and posing with her tray hefted in the air. Jennifer gives the table an elaborate eye roll at Wade's threat, "He has knobby knees. It won't work. Who would need guns to kill the crowd? Like I said, one look at his chicken legs and half the place would swoon while the others trampled each other to get out."

Across the tent the Beer Girl supervisor is giving her, 'Get back to work, or hit the high road' stares which she ignores, being stuck in Cole's story. Any story involving Waller rivets her, plus the added bonus of a sad romance It's like trying to look away from a 7-car pile up with a semi on the freeway.

"Can't wait to see you in a dress, Cole." She pats her waist and simpers Beer Maiden style. "You'll get all the tips. Guaranteed. Come on, Mel. Be a sport."

Wade Wilson has posed:
    "See you say that now, Cole." Wade offers as he leans forward over his beer, lifting the lower flap of his mask back up so he can take a nice sipping slurp. "For you this'll be normal, like time progresses. For me I'm already hearing that laugh track and I'm already there after the jumpcut. It's hilarious. Harley's there too."
    Which might well be true, from a certain point of view if one could see those thoughts in the mercenary's mind.
    "Poor Pete, sometimes I wonder if he's like really real real. Or if we're just all suffering from some form of cognitive after-effect from all of the weird experiments we've been around. So he's like our Tyler Durden or something."
    After that Wade spends the next three minutes just _staring_ at Peter.

Melissa Gold has posed:
Which of course has Peter feeling nervous as he starts to fidget. Then finds the bottom of his stein very interesting as he tries NOT to look back at Wade though he can feel the man staring at him. Thus more fidgeting but still keeping his eyes down.

"You're fine, Peter. And we'll get you a dress if you want one."

Then she looks at Harley and then Jennifer. "No. Not just no. Hell no."

The information from Cole at least is able to distract from the crazy that is most of this particular squad. Or at least a large enough percentage to be palpable. "Sounds like a good friend." Since she's guessing that friend zone is what he ended up in. Maybe he meant they were friends and not romantic? It was possible, she supposed. Not something Melissa understood fully but it happened! Not that it sounded like it but maybe.

"What was the promise to her though? You can't drink? Or did I miss something in the story?"

Cole Cash has posed:
"I can just say that you'll be waiting a long time after a word from your sponsor, Wade." Cole clicks his tongue idly as he finishes his water and orders another one. A glance to Jennifer and he looks her over then shakes his head. "You set the bar too damn high, I don't have the dump for that truck." Melissa does, but he's not going to throw her under the bus. She's a good buffer to keep him clear.

"Awww, thanks Harley." he offers to her with a hint of amusement. "If I was a fix him up, clearly she left the job half-finished." A wink at Harley as he cracks open a fresh bottle of water. Cole drains that one back. "So, we're drinking, but I don't see food. Where's the corn that this place is famous for? Or better yet, a turkey leg."

With Melissa making a suggestion, Cole laughs. "Oh, Mel, we were way more than friends. But that's not here or there and it's in the past. But yeah, she sobered me up and got me off the drugs, the street type. I promised I'd hold my soberity in return."

Jennifer Stavros has posed:
"Fried turkey leg, dogs and fresh corn fritters. Next pass, I'll bring you all food," Jennifer promises.

Across the sea of purple broomcorn T-shirts she is still getting the squint eye from the beer concession manager which she steadfastly ignores.

"Yeah the fritters look the best."

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Wade keeps that steady eyeballing in play as he glares at Peter, which does indeed likely cause the poor fellow to look a bit out of sorts as he consumes his beer. There's a slight flicker of motion as from his secondary hip sheath next to primary right hip pouch, Wade produces a rather thin knife. First his left eyelet scrunches shut, then the right. Then all of a sudden...
    /STAB!/
    The knife is embedded in his own arm and he nods. "Ok, ok. I think I've narrowed it down. He's not my hallucination. Might be one of your guyses." And as he says that he takes another slurping sip of his beer.

Melissa Gold has posed:
"Sweet baby Jesus," came the mutter from Melissa as a hint more of a southern drawl escaped her lips at the surprise of Wade stabbing himself in the arm right there for all the world to see. It was gone when she spoke again a moment later. "He's not a hallucination! He's been with the team for months now, Wade." She looks around and is shocked to find no one in the area seems to have seen what they were just witness to. Or if they did, they didn't care.

Which was kinda creepy if that was the case.

She brushed her hair back from her face and reached into the pocket of her jeans with the other hand. A scrunchie was pulled back and a moment later her hair was back in a ponytail. "Ribs. All the ribs. If they have ribs. Tell me they have ribs." The pretty please eyes turned on Jennifer. Then something hits her as she looks from Jenn to the manager and back. "Why the hell are you working anyway? Just wanted to make some extra money? Or bored?"

She said the b-word. In Illinois. At a broomcorn festival. Hopefully Wade doesn't try to stab her next.

Cole Cash has posed:
When Wade stabs /himself/, Cole literally brings his hand up to rub his face. He wants to say something. He then realizes, that yes, Melissa is in charge of the team. He's an advisor, a helper -- but this is Melissa's ball of crazy to work with.

"At least we're not having steak and lobster?" he asks Melissa casually, glancing to see where Jennifer went off to. Sooner they get food, sooner Wade can speed up healing himself.

Jennifer Stavros has posed:
"Duuude," Jennifer sloshes beer when she drops the serving tray on the table and throws the towel from over her arm down to sop up the slow pool of blood spreading from under Wade's wound.

"He's been here all along." A kid at the next table is staring open-mouthed in admiration at Wade. Jennifer moves to block his line of sight, giving him a rear view of her short purple skirt which is almost as satisfying as watching a weird guy in a mask stab himself.

"Get some glasses for those eyelets, Wade."

To Melissa, "Undercover, Missy."

With a glare for Wade's benefit, "The way things have been going a little extra change never hurts. I mean, Waller is tight." She picks up the empty tray and takes a step away from the table, then looks back over her shoulder, "Ribs, it is and don't forget the Corn Hole Tournament is coming up after the polka band."

Wade Wilson has posed:
    With the dagger still vibrating from its place stuck in apparently... one of the bones in Wade's arm, he nods solemnly as he looks toward Melissa, "Well we know that _now_," He emphaizes that last word with an extending of his head forward and a slight shaking of it. "But before there was always that shadow of a doubt."
    Peter, however, remains aghast and just sort of gives one of those smiles of a person who is just trying to fake it until he makes it. Which requires a lot more beer.
    Though Wade's attention slips to the side, "Wow that really stings." He offers somewhat sotto voce.
    When Jennifer comments on the itinerary of the Festival, Wade casually comments. "Hey!" He pulls that knife out of his arm with a faint /crunch/ and motions at her with it. "Boombox is not a polka band. They're some sort of... technoish crap with intrusive sampled lyrics." As if what she had said was so egregiously horrible.
    Then he adds, "The polka band is tomorrow."

Melissa Gold has posed:
"Great. Just great." Mel is not apparently a fan of Boombox nor polka from the sounds of that. "Polka or techno." That confirms it. "Kill me now."

Then she thinks of who she is with. "That's just a phrase. I don't mean it literally." She's eyeing-- well, most of the team. From Skullface to Pistolero, to Wade, to Vlad. Because really, any of them might take her at her words.

She grabs her stein and suddenly seems to have opted for Serious Drinking (tm). Because she doesn't stop until it is drained then she pulls over the still full second stein that was next to Peter. Who seems very pale and intent on his own drink.

"Peter, if you need to throw up, you better walk away from this table," she warned him. Because that was just a yard too far on top of everything else going on.

The words from Cash had her giving a slight grin though it was difficult to do. "Probably would've been cheaper than this bar tab will be."

Cole Cash has posed:
"Wade, I bet you could do very well in the cornhole tournament." Cole suggests helpfully. "I'd even put money on it, since I'm not participating." That would be cheating, considering his skill set.

"Thank you, Jennifer." That to Stravos as she returns and is assisting with the towel and the food and drinks. He reaches into his wallet, pulls out a twenty and sets it on the table near her. "To keep the man off your back." he murmurs.

He attention swivels to Melissa and the others. "Don't eff this up, kids. I will pull this fair over." he says dryly, not to Melissa, but to the rest of the squad. "Like Melissa said. If you need to get up and walk away, do it. Play a game. Try to earn some understuffed knock off Pokemon." It's clear he does not want them showing up on Waller's radar right now.

Jennifer Stavros has posed:
Jennifer unloads beer steins like a beer festival fraulein on her way back to the table. She places a heaping platter of ribs in front of Melissa.

"There ya go," she exclaims proudly. Then, puts a platter of fritters, dogs and two enormous turkey legs in the middle of the table. "Have at it. That twenty, thanks to Cole, went a long way to some great Broomcorn Festival food."

Turning to Wade, "So what's the gig? I mean, I got dressed up and everything so it had better be good."

Wade Wilson has posed:
    A glare is aimed in Jennifer's direction idly as she fusses with his arm wound that's already mostly closed, though the blood is still a thing. "By the bye, things would be _far_ less boring right now if SOMEBODY had not gotten us eliminated from the Broom Sweeping contest." Which is when he casually spins the knife on the tabletop so that it spins around-and around-and around...
    And ends up pointing at Vlad. Who blinks, "Hey!"
    But then Wade adjusts it to point at Melissa with a slight tap of one finger.
    "Not naming any names. But we could all be up to our asses in prize money and Illinois booty. Just sayin'."
    Though when Cole gives him such words of support in regards to his success in the Corn Hole competition, the Merc with the Mouth gives a nod, "Why thank you, my good Griftah."
    Though it's Jen's words as she sidles up with the turkey legs, one of which he claims by virtue of speedy hand grabbies motion, that spurs him to answer with some admonition. "There's no gig. Seriously, no gig. We're laying low. No gigs to be done here. Not even freebies. Unless it's like a Michael Knight rolling into town, A-Team meets a young couple in danger, Airwolf saving the day from corporate marauders sort of thing."
    He looks around the table then takes a bit of the turkey leg just so he can then ask with a mouthful of it, "Right?!"

Melissa Gold has posed:
Melissa was already halfway through a rib when this exchange happened. And she came to the realization that Jennifer actually thought this was a working gig. It certainly explained the outfit. And tolerating the glares from the manager over the servers.

She winced slightly as Wade explained this was not a gig. "Tahiti was too expensive. So we came here instead while they decide out fate. Had Waller even met with the Princess yet?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Though now she was keeping her eyes on Jennifer should bad luck be in all their futures.

Cole Cash has posed:
Jennifer thought there was a mission? Cole casts a look over at the young woman, his eyes wide. "You look great, Jennifer. But yeah, no mission I knew of either. Melissa just wanted us to connect as a group again and keep in touch while Waller is doing her thing."

"But really, Jennifer, you're rocking that outfit." Just like Melissa, he knows that bad luck may be in the future as he reaches over to grab a rib off Melissa's plate to gnosh on. To Wade, he asks, "How'd you get eliminated from the broom contest?"

Jennifer Stavros has posed:
Mouth turned down in a look that would curdle anyone's blood but Wade's, Jennifer unties the strings of her frilly apron and throws it at Wade's head. Woe betide the person who gets her riled.

"Fine. Just fiiiine. That bitch at the concession stand can take her steins and stack them where the sun don't shine. I'll be right back."

"Be careful,I'm NOT just another pretty face." Cole benefits from the same glare she graced Wade with before she makes a beeline across the tent.

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Face covered in apron, Wade lightly lifts up its hem so he can keep chewing on the turkey drumstick. Then he comments idly, voice slightly muffled under the fabric. "Boy."
    A pause as he chew chew chews. "She sure is mad at you guys."

Melissa Gold has posed:
And in response to Cole's question about the sweeping competition? "They touched me first. Instincts kicked in."

And with that, she was on her feet, a rib in hand, following Jennifer in the hopes they wouldn't end up banned from the festival.

Cole Cash has posed:
Standing up from where he was sitting, Cole cleans his hands. "I'm going to go start the van. I have a feeling we're going to be needing it..."

And then Melissa rises as well to follow Jennifer. And he adds, "Very soon."