2020-01-13 - WinterFest - Day 1

Park is, somehow, one of the instigators of this little shindig. Should she be nervous? Worried it will go okay? If she should be, no one has told her. The Korean-American wide eyed and excited as she goes from one stall to another to be dazzled and amazed by the how creative this little town can be. Since she will be performing later, she is dressed in boots, tights, short skirt, and t-shirt, albeit under a large jacket at the moment. On her head is a Pickachu shaped beanie. At the moment she is stopped at the 'Doll Face' stall and chatting with Griselda. "So, like, you get your face 3-D printed and stuck on the doll? That's so cool.

"Oh, no, dear" replies the wizened old woman swaddled under layers of blankets. "Hand sculpted. It has to have that special touch."

It's not exactly a pagan festival like Goodbye Oak Moon or the Solstice celebration, but it is a chance to plug some merch and get in a live performance! Plus to chow down on american van cuisine and obtain her very own voodoo doll of herself. What is NOT to love!?

Cameron Cambridge wanders through the mean streets of the tiny tent city, dark brown eyes roaming everything. Her gig isn't for a little while yet, so there's still time to get whiskers painted on her face and pretend she's the most badass of the KISS quartet. The brown leather jacket she wears keeps her warm, but she's added some leggings under her vinyl skirt because fawk it be cold tonight. The rest of her concert ensemble is hidden beneath her outer layer, a pair of unlaced, low-heeled combat boots on her feet as she tromples through the pathways.

"I'm telling you, Nessie, we're gonna find something special here. Something worth making the trip for. Something... as Mads would say, 'dope'."

The brunette slings an arm over the tattooed blonde's shoulder with a grin, leaning in close and pointing as they walk. Her finger directs her drumming bandmate Vanessa to the doll-making tent. "See? What'd I tell ya?"

Just then, she spies the very familiar face of a coworker. "Meeeeeeeeeeeeee!" The shrill warcry erupts from Cameron as she grins bigly, holding her arms up and out wide, approaching the Cabaret DJ with a hip-rolling sway in her gait to enfold her in a pair of long, gangly arms in a hug of greeting, a smooch to the cheek before pulling back. "Mee, this is Nessa. She's our drummer! Also the bitchin' walking work of art this side of the Rockies."

Itzhak is busy on stage, fussing with equipment and tuning and re-turning his mandolin and his electric violin. He has an electric violin? Yes he does, and here it is, an instrument that sorta looks like a postmodern interpretation of a violin. The body is less a body and more a couple curvy swoops with strings. Fuss fuss fuss FUSS until he's temporarily not-exactly-satisfied and he hops off stage, striding over towards Park and now Cameron. Amped the hell up, he's tense and jittery.

Abby has no merch, yet. She's clearly here to consume the sights and sounds and tastes and stuff. She's even got a small satchel strapped on and hanging off her hip, for booty, as she wanders into the park from the general direction of the hospital right yonder. She wanders in, and meanders towards the stalls selling stuff for a first, cursory reconnaissance mission, distributing smiles to all the vendors, watching the ones selling services at work.

She's in a knit cap, with pompom, dark blue, and a plaid red and green and black flannel jacket, faux-fur lined. Then there's jeans and warm, comfy, lightly furred hiking boots. It's all very comfortable and sensible, for sensible activities, like gawking at the stage.

Sparrow might be in camouflage. She's damned near impossisble to pick out in this wintry weather, all dressed in back from top to bottom with only a couple interruptions: the burgundy laces on her scuffed boots, the burgundy and yellow striped Gryffindor scarf, the dark red lipstick, the flash of neon red hair peeking out from beneath her black knit cap. Otherwise, it's black boots, black jeans, black coat, black gloves. Black eyeliner, obviously. Maybe the fact that she arrives with not just one but two attractive men might render her more identifiable. Both of her arms are wrapped around one of Garrett's who's got a Jaime on his other side, one of the night's bands arriving all at once. Already rosy-cheeked, she asks, "I wonder if they've got fried oreos. Keep an eye out for fried oreos, okay? Ooh! And mulled wine. Fried oreos and mulled wine together."

Scott is near the stage, reading something from a notebook he's carrying with him. He's humming a bit to himself as well, before he looks around. Pausing as he sees Itzhak jumping off the stage, he pockets the notebook, and moves over in the same direction. "Hey," he offers, after a few moments of pause.

Garrett gives Sparrow a faintly amused smile. "Fried oreos and mulled wine. Noted," he says, glancing about. He's clearly from a colder part of the country than the locals, as his 'cold weather' clothes are.... a canvas coat covered in pockets over an electric blue hoodie, coupled with faded black jeans and a pair of hiking boots. The arm not clutched by a Sparrow taps a slightly nervous rhythm against his thigh. "So, we have any idea when we're doing our thing?" he asks, looking from Jaime to Sparrow back to Jaime.

"Fried Oreos," Jaime repeats, "Got it." He's already scanning the food and drink options as they approach. The guitarist strolls alongside Garrett and Sparrow, dressed in a pair of work boots, faded jeans, and a thick, warm coat of a deep green. He's got a green and white scarf around his neck and his hands in his pockets to keep them warm as they stroll along. Beneath the jacket is a warm flannel in dark blues and greens over a white long-sleeved t-shirt. He is going for layers in the chill winter air, but his cheeks are a ruddy red from the chill. "Mulled wine sounds good, too. Or mulled cider." He shakes his head at Garrett and says, "I suppose whenever someone tells me to put down whatever I'm eating." He flashes him a grin.

Alison wanders around the park, a churro in each hand, bought from one of the food trucks. Surely one of them is selling churros. Let's just go with it, okay?

She's wearing her usual outfit, t-shirt and jeans, with a big boofy jacket for the weather. It's the boofiest. Ali looks from one booth to another, occasionally taking a munch from one of the two churros.

Vanessa -- Nessie -- looks pretty bored as she walks alongside Cameron. "Dolls?" She says with an unimpressed roll of her eyes. "Maybe we can make a voodoo doll and keep Madison awake with a pinprick every time she sits down," the blonde teases, folding her arms when Cameron spots a friend. She offers a small, fingerless-gloved wave, arms still half-folded: partially from laziness, and partially because it's cold out.

Itzhak thwaps Scott on the back as he comes over. "Ya ready for this shit?" He's hyped up! "Parkeleh!" he calls to Mee, and nods to Cameron and Vanessa, neither of whom he knows. "How's by ya. Ready to rock?"

"Cammmmmmmm!!" is squealed in reply before Park is all for the hugs. "So glad you could come. Hey, Nessa!" Regardless of arm crossing, Vanessa is getting a hug from Park. "You're a drummer? Awesome sauce." A grin as she pulls away to look them both over. "Madison here yet? When did you want to play? No order... Itzhak!" The man's arrival gets him a hug in greeting from his bandmate. "Cam, Nessa, this is Itzhak. He's our new singer and lead electric violin. Not that we also have an acoustic violin." A beat. "Not that we have more than one violin player, but he's totally lead electric violin."

"Everything okay with the sound?" Parks asks Itzhak before another bandmate arrives. "Scott! Do you know everyone? Obviously you know Itzhak and me but have you met Cam and Nessa? Oh, you probably saw Cam on stage at the club. She's so good."

If Abby gets too close in her wanderings, she will get hugged to. It is the way of Park's world. "Hey, glad you could come along. You look awesome. I'm Mee...or Park. Either one." So many people!

And there's a person she knows - Garrett! It will take her a moment to recognise Sparrow but she's on her way over. "'Lowered Expectations' in da house! So glad you could make it. Is that you Sparrow?" She can't miss the red hair at this range. Hugs all round! "Alison!" That abrupt yell for another person nearby before she gets back to the trio. "You can play when you like. Have a look around. Just let me know when you want to kick ass."

"Anything mulled," Sparrow agrees with Jaime. "Though we'll need, uh... I dunno. Churros or something to go with cider." Cuz pairings are important. Cinnamon with apple. Chocolate with wine. Somebody lives with a chef. One arm pulls away from Garrett to point right over thattaway. Food truck. Churros! "Pretty sure we're gonna need to find Park or Lyric. Dunno if you know either of 'em. Park is like... ambulatory adorableness and Lyric's pretty and pale as--OH!" She hears their name, an arm shot up to wave at Park. "Hey!" When she catches Park's attention turning toward Alison, hers follows, a big old smile turned her direction. "Hey, cutie!" Though her attention lingers on the redhead for a moment, she looks back to the organizer and tells her with feigned seriousness, "I always want to kick ass. I am an asskicker by nature." She brings up a knit-gloved fist like she's ready to fight. For all of a second. Then those hands go back to Garrett's arm. Past Park, she spots one other familiar face, a wide smile offered to Itzhak as well.

"Maddie and the others are over behind the stage. She's going haywire making sure everything is ready." Cameron explains with a little smile for the DJ. "Never really seen her this worked up about a performance. Probably the five cups of expresso she had to 'warm up'."

Cameron nudges the tattooed blonde next to her lightly, tilting her chin towards the dolls on display. "C'mon. How freaked out would Maddie be if we brought home one with her face and just kind of, like... tilted our head and looke at it every now and then like we were listening. Then we could glare at Real Mads like Doll Mads told us something bad about her." Cam bobs her eyebrows wildly at Vanessa. "Tell me you wouldn't lurv that."

The sudden arrival of Itzhak has the dark-haired dancer looking in the male's direction, her eyes flitting over him for a moment. The pointed chin tilts up and back thuggishly in recognition of the nod given to them. "Sup."

After the name is spoken, the dancer does a double-take. "Itzhak?" It's a pretty uncommon name, and the familiarity is easy to place once a memory jogs loose. "Izzy's Itzy?" Then come more introdcutions. Cameron lifts her chin towards Scott. "Sup. I was probably the one taking my clothes off. One of the ones."

A sudden flash of red hair catches the peripheral of Cameron's sight, causing her head to swivel on her slender, swan-like neck in another direction. Immediately, she grins and lifts a hand up in the air in a wave, the other cupping against the side of her mouth. "Alison! ALISON!" Just in case she somehow missed Park calling for her. "HEEEEEEEEY!" The brunette waves the churro-sporting redhead towards them energeticly. "You made it! You so better be wearing your Amulet t-shirt under that... why is your jacket so... boofy?"

"Hey," Jaime says to Park in greeting when she approaches the group of them and suddenly hugs are occurring. He grins good-naturedly and gives her a hug, "Nice to meet you." He glances to the others when she asks about when they want to kick ass. Sparrow's answer seems to satisfy his own and he says "Yeah, whenever is good. Just let us know when you're ready for us."

Itzhak offers over inked knuckles for Cameron and Nessa to dap in turn. He's so involved in the performance he's about to give that he hardly realized the name 'Cameron' is known to him, and his eyebrows pop up in surprise when she recognizes his name. "Yeah! You're THAT Cameron? Hey, it's great to meet ya finally." Then he totally looks her over, gray hazel eyes sliding down her and all the way back up. "You takin' care of our girl?" he asks her with a troublesome smirk.

"I suspect cider isn't going to be that hard to find," Garrett muses once churros are spotted. "Yeah, I've met l--" He stops, because, speak of the devil, Park is approaching; she gets a return hug from Garrett. Well, half of one, what with the other arm being claimed by Sparrow and all. "Looks like this is all turning out brilliant, good on you," he congratulates the organizer with a bright smile.

Scott grunts momentarily at that thwap on the back. "All ready," he replies with a grin. "How about you? Everything's all ready?" He grins at Park as well, before offering smiles to Cameron and Nessa. "It's a pleasure to meet you two," he offers, before Cameron's words makes him study her for a few seconds longer. "I'm sure I would have remembered that," he offers, a bit lightly.

Abby does look very interested in the ongoing activities. Look, people setting up stuff, and doing stuff, it's all very interesting. Okay, it's not so interesting that her attention doesn't start to wander towards the stalls selling food, but it's still interesting. So she's likely to come close enough to get a hug from Park. It catches her by surprise, blinking. She responds to the praise with a tilt of her head, but she does return the hug. She's pretty good at that, very comfy and warmly padded hugs, with the fluffy jacket and all.

"Oh, um, thank you? Oh. I'm Abby. Nice to meet you too! You'll be on the... show?" It takes her a second to come to this conclusion, obviously having no idea what's actually going on, but she beams a positive, encouraging smile. "I'm sure you'll do great!" She doesn't even know what band is playing, but she's sure it'll be amazing, she's very convincing like that.

Ali turns with a small bit of confusion on her face at hearing her name shouted by a familiar voice, making her turn while chewing away at one of her churros, at which point she grins and walks towards people she knows. Park and Sparrow both get a wave from a churro filled hand as she makes her way over, but Cameron's calling for her garners a last moment redirection, her red hair bouncing in the cold air as she swerves towards the singer. "Hi Cam~ No, I haven't been able to get the stain out of it yet." A shrug. "Boofy jacket feels comfy in the winter."

The ginger woman peers around at all the familiar faces. "This is kinda feeling like a repeat of last night. Too bad you couldn't make it, Cam." Munchmunchmunch on a churro, getting cinnamon sugar all over her jacket. Alison gives Vanessa a quick look up and down as she walks with Cameron, then shoots her a grin. "I'm not sure Mads needs any help staying awake. She's like an energy drink on two legs. Hi! I'm Alison."

Vanessa allows herself to be hugged, but not without a glance-around to ensure that not too many people are seeing it. "Hey. Yep, I get paid to do a machine's job. Suck it, Skynet." She replies, amused by her own remark. As Itzhak approaches, she does not dap. A fistbump is spared, though. "Hey." She repeats in the same tone as with Park, like she's basically a recording. "Nice tats," She adds, before turning her attention swiftly to the doll tent. By the time Alison notices her, it's too late. Vanessa is lost in thought about dolls. A Madison-doll does sound pretty rad...

Griselda smiles sweetly as Cameron and Vanessa discuss a doll for this 'Madison' person. "Do you have a photo of them? I can sculpt it up for collection later this evening. You will all be amazed, I promise."

"Still waiting for Lyric to show" Park muses about her own band - 'Augmented Reality', "But Cam's band are all here. Are you all here? We can get one of you up there soon if you like. Oh, and totally try out the Scottish Cuisine van, 'Fried McFriedface'. They will fry anything you give them. Like, anything. The guy who owns it, Mohammad McDonald, is really nice too. Give me a poke and I'll announce you if you want to go first. Otherwise, I'll get Cameron up. If Lyric doesn't show in the next couple of hours, we can go up without her. We have a new singer and lead electric violin!"

"Aww, thanks, Garrett. I'm so glad it's working out. Circus is here tomorrow! Hey, you'll get to hear me play tonight!" Then Cyclone Park is off to cause havoc elsewhere. A grin as she nears Abby again. "I /am/ the show" she deadpans before losing herself to a gigglefit. "Sorry, I was trying to be confident but that sounded like, sooooo, egotisitcal. I'm not the show. Gray Harbor is the show!"

Abitha had quietly set up a little table under a tent, because supporting local events was something responsible business owners sometimes did. 'Control Pad Gaming presents: Machinaetions' her little sign read, a display of carefully handpainted, refurbished retro systems. They all worked, some restored to their original functionality, some actually upgraded to contain the Classic version hardwares. She was also advertising taking custom orders and commisions. She sat behind her table, bundled up in wooly winter wear complete with earmuffs with space invaders woven on them, with an electric blanket wrapped around her legs, playing Pokemon Sword on her 3DS.

James ambles on in to the festival- on his own tonight, and therefore probably stoned out of his gourd, which is probably the only reason James would come back here so soon after the Yule Cat Incident. Hey, any place that has a festival in it has to, by law, have some good munchies, so he's gonna go ahead and get himself some of those, thank you sir, and may I have another. He wanders in along the booths on the north arm first. He sees the art place. "Neat." He passes by Fat Tony's. "Huh." He comes to a complete and sudden stop in front of the booth with the dolls with your face on them. Dolls. With your face. Freakin' dolls. With. Your. Face. "... NOPE.", he nopes, noping right away from that booth. He's seen enough horror movies to know how that turns out, and in this town he's not taking that chance. In his rush to get away, he comes right upon the bong stall. And again he stops, but this time in delight. "My man!" Time for some shopping, bitches.

Fry anything? Oh yeah. Sparrow is all about that. So say her wide eyes and that look she casts between her bandmates. "I didn't bring any oreos. He probably has oreos. I'mma--" No, wait. There was an offer to let them open, wasn't there? The redhead flicks a look between her bandmates, black brows arched high. "I'm down if you are. Leaves the whoooooole night for cider."

Sparrow adds to Park, "How long a set?"

"Yeah, let's go ahead and play first, then we can spend the night drinking and eating random fried things," Jaime grins broadly, glancing over at Garrett to see if he's game as well.

Non-inked knuckles tap lightly against inked ones as Cameron returns Itzhak's dap like a professional in the Limp-Wristed Daplympics. "That Cameron makes it sound bad. But... yeah, probably. My reputation has been known to go in advance of my person. Nice to put a face to the name, though!" The dancer spreads her hands as she's given the once-over, tilting her head and rolling her eyes upwards to show she's got nothing to hide. "I try to. But she's not one that likes to be taken care of. It's more like spiraling each other into trouble."

Cam turns toward Vanessa with a mild frown. "I think he's seen naked pictures of me, and it's like... I wonder if I should be worried that it doesn't even phase me anymore the number of people that've seen my clothes off." Lips quirk to the side, she looks down at the ground. "Goodbye innocence. You were great, but now you're gone."

A hand is waved at Scott, as if warding off his words. "Oh, no. No, I doubt it. I'm not exactly the best dancer there. Just the flattest."

As Alison joins them, Cameron leans in to give the redhead a peck on the lips, wrapping long, lean arms around her and as much of the boofiest jacket on Earth as she can manage to give her a squeeze. "Speaking of flatness! You been having parties without me, babes? Come by the loft and tell me all about it!" She pulls back, head jerking between Alison and Vanessa. "Oh, right. Um, Ali, Nessie. Nessie, Ali. Ali is the best, the favorite, and the only groupie of Amulet!"

"Though not wearing official Amulet merch does dock a few points off her grade..." Cam's dark eyes study Alison critically. "Luckily for us, we got some merch selling on the other side and I can snag you one just before the show so you can represent like a boss!"

Cameron's rectangular wallet is fetched out of the inner lining pocket of her jacket, snapping open the little clasp and pulling out a procession of five photos of Madison Holloway in increasingly-bizarre poses from one of those little picture booths. She steps to Griselda with a return smile at the woman, holding out the pictures. "In the flesh! ...Of the photo. This is gonna be so great, you guys!"

The brunette grabs Vanessa's wrist, tugging her along as she shoots a grin at Park. "Yaaaas! We'll totally go after these guys! I don't want to be playing too much later when it's ball-smashingly cold. And it gives Ali time to get changed."

Park shrugs at Sparrow before getting too far. "Thirty to forty minutes?"

"....I could be persuaded to open. I mean, our name practically screams opening act, yeah?" Garrett grins between his bandmates, his seemingly confident reply betrayed by the slightly faster tapping of his free hand against his thigh. "Fried and alcoholic things definitely seem like a proper motivator," he adds with a laugh, then a look at Sparrow. "I'm gonna need this back to get our stuff ready," he points out, giving by is arm a little tug away from her grip.

"Hey, thanks," Itzhak says seriously to Vanessa, smiling with a hitch of one corner of his mouth. "I think they ain't too shabby." Then he flashes a grin at Cameron. "Ain't that the truth." Dat the truth; this New York Jewish accent of his could strip paint. And he's a lead singer? Sparrow gets an upnod, a glance to the guys she's got with her, and the grin he gives her is like they share a secret. Alison he spots in the crowd too, and his eyebrows go up. Then he's drifting after Cyclone Park, sparkly-nailed hands in his pockets.

"Nope," Jaime says to Garrett. "You're totally doing this hard mode. One armed. All night. You can play the bass one-armed right? I'm sure Sparrow can play the drums one-armed." He's grinning from ear to ear, amused as hell, and clearly not serious. "Come on, let's get up there and do this thing. We can warm up the stage for everyone and then get drunk and cheer them on." He begins to head in that direction, back to where they'd left their instruments.

Vanessa is distracted from the doll tent briefly by all of Cameron's talking. She turns her eyes towards the ground where Cameron is looking, acknowledging the brunette's loss of innocence -- fleeting though it may have been. "Goodbye, innocence..." She echoes, before being introduced to Alison. "...Hello, Ali."

Abby breaks into a wider smile, letting slip a small laugh in Park's direction. "No, no, confidence is good! That's the spirit! I guess you can be too confident, but since I'm not in the band, that sounded just fine..." She shakes a fist, like, go get 'em in Park's direction, but melts back as the band starts to, apparently, talk shop. Which she's curious about, but can't quite follow. Her wandering gaze catches Cameron, and after a couple of seconds there's a spark of recognition, a small friendly smile and a wave.

Not wanting to interrupt, she does pull back, hands going into her warm flannel jacket, tugging it forward and about herself as she looks to the rest of the stalls she hasn't visited yet.

Sparrow feigns innocence (almost certainly intentionally) poorly as she shrugs to Itzhak at that look he turns her way. "He can totally play bass one handed," she replies deadpan dry to Jaime, just a hint of a grin teasing at her lips as she flat out lies, "I've seen him do it." The cheesy brow-waggle at the end offers fairly clear suggestion of what he might've been doing with that other hand. If she weren't bullshitting. Leaning in, she presses a firm kiss to the bassist's cheek before surrendering his arm to him and starting toward... well, the way they came. Look, they've got equipment to haul up. They thought they'd be going on later! That exclamation from Cameron doesn't quite stop her short, but it does pull her attention back thattaway, eyes going wide as she finally recognizes that person. "Love your, uh. Vlog!" she calls back before, yes, fine, okay, going to lug up her kit.

Vanessa's ignoring of Alison, or at least what seems to be that, makes the redhead frown a bit, but then shrug, taking another bite of one of her churros. The squeeze of her jacket from Cameron gets a grin back on her face, though. "Little bit. Hanging out around town, you know? It's weird, I like, actually recognize people around here and stuff now."

The mild beratement over not wearing the band's shirt gets a slight glare. "Hey, the stain's your fault, woman. Might have to get a replacement. yeah." And then she's dragged along to find just that. She complains about the cold - it's not so much the exhibitionism she's wary of at this point, not like she ever really was, but the coooold sucks.

When she's actually acknowledged by Vanessa, she does actually smile at the band member. "Hi. Hold this up for a moment, would you?" She'll hold up her boofy jacket for Vanessa to hold, and then, tucking close to it, she'll quickly swap out of the generic t-shirt she was wearing, a lacy black bralette visible for just a moment before Alison pulls on the replacement shirt bearing the name of The Amulet, taking her jacket back in a hurry, sliding her arms into the sleeves. "Fffffffff that was a mistake, cooooold."

Vanessa watches Alison's jacket fall onto the ground with a distasteful scoff. She has better places to be, apparently, like wherever Cameron is pulling her.

"I can do a great many things one-handed," Garrett says lightly. Pause. "Not sure playing bass is one of them, though," he admits, grinning as he, too, heads back towards their gear, bouncing just a bit with nervous energy, singing under his breath, and generally drifting further towards 'psyched up'.

Griselda takes the Madison photographs and studies them for a moment before nodding slowly. "Come back in a few hours and it will be done." An 'Artist Sculpting' sign placed on her table before she takes a wax-like substance from an old box and starts to mould.

Sunny Day grins widely at James and his interest in a custom bong. "I can make them look like anything you want...in a non-copyright infringing manner" she explains. "Guaranteed to last longer than brain cells!" She's a user too, only teasing.

Park has spotted Abitha so there is a hug coming. Doubly so when she sees that the craftswoman is a fellow Pokemon enthusiast. "What you do is soooo awesome" she states solemnly. "Bringing back the cultural highlights of our society, Making sure the SNES is appreciated for generations to come. I would take my hat off to you but it's too cold." She is being completely serious too. And then she realises a band is going up on stage. "Excuse me!"

Taking the stage, she offers a wave and a smile to the gathering crowd. "Thank you all so much for coming. When Lyric and I had the idea for this festival, we knew that there was a lot of talent in this town, but we're amazed by exactly how much! To see the response by everyone to share their gifts and for people to eagerly accept them, it's wonderful. For a while we weren't sure that we'd have the money for everything that we needed but, thankfully, Byron Thorne has showered us with gold to help pay for everything. I was never sure what a golden shower was before but now, thanks to Byron, I do. If you need a golden shower, why not ask Byron. He's totally nice."

"Anyway, first up tonight on the performance stage is an awesome local band called 'Lowered Expectations'. I was in the band for about a day but they went in an amazing new direction that you will soon now get to see and hear. Speaking of ears, how many ears does Captain Kirk have? Three. The right ear, the left ear, and the final frontier." She waits for the silence to stop before gesturing behind her. "Give a big hand for 'Lowered Expectations'. They'll start any moment. Grab seats near the heaters."

Scott has snuck out that notebook of his again for a few moments, glancing through it before he looks up to the stage as he sees Park head up there. Grinning as he listens, although thereæs a brief grimace to the part about Captain Kirk and the ears. He applauds as he looks to the stage.

"Ohmygosh, thank you!" Cameron grins all too widely as she gives Sparrow a little wave while the woman walks away. "Winter break's over, new eps are coming up!" After the redheaded drummer is gone, the brunette drops her arm back to her side, blowing out a heavy breath. "Huh. I knew someone out there watched Hidden Content. She must be the one." The dancer turns back to the Amulet drummer and the groupie.

"What my uncharacterisctly non-hyper-verbal friend here means is... 'Hey, Ali! Nice to meet you! I'm Vanessa and I like to maintain an aura of cool, aloof mystery so people will think I'm a tragically soulful and deep artiste.' You just gotta translate it from the Vanessa-speak."

Cameron slides an arm around Vanessa's shoulders, giving her a little squeeze as she 'helpfully' translates the blonde greeting the blonde gave to the redhead. She pointedly raises an imperious, chocolate eyebrow towards Alison, however. "My fault? It was at least fifty percent your fault! Look, we can argue over who spilled what on where, or we can just get you changed out."

And by 'get you changed out', Cameron apparently means she's going to stand idly by while Alison gets Vanessa to help her, reaching inside of her jacket to produce a slim, silver cigarette case. It's popped open to reveal a zippo lighter and a neat little row of joints. One of them is plucked out and placed between her lips. A flick of her wrist flips the zippo open, and a classy snap of her fingers ignites the striker, producing a flame. She cups a hand around her mouth to shield it while she lights up.

Once Alison has donned her t-shirt with the depressingly-sparse list of like five already-passed tour dates on the back like a good little billboard, Cameron passes her the weed. She then repeats the process, but hands the next one to Vanessa after taking a long pull on it herself.

"Three girls, two joints. They should make a movie about that." Chimes the brunette as she tucks her cigarette case away, before reaching for Alison's wrist to spin her about a bit. "Give us a twirl, babes! Looking fab!" She looks at Vanessa. Then at the ground. Her smile falls.

With a scowl, Cam rescues Sir Boofy from the dirt and picks it back up, handing it to the redhead while pinning the blonde with her eyes. "Can you reach deep down and find your chill for my friend?" With a sigh, she tosses her head towards where Park announces the opening band. "Let's just go watch some music, yeah? See if they're better than us."

Itzhak blinks as Alison just strips her shirt off in front of God and everybody, and looks away (not before flicking his eyes over her real quicklike.) Then he starts laughing somewhere around Park enthusing about Byron's golden showers. By the time she's on to the Captain Kirk joke, he's red in the face, sparkly-nailed hand over his eyes, cracking the hell up. "Oh, Parkeleh," he mutters, part to himself, and part to Scott. When Park announces Lowered Expectations, he whistles loud and sharp and obnoxious.

Previous partying seemed to have thrown herself for a bit of a loop but after much rehydration, coffee, and even a bit of a rest Hera tries to get her head back on straight. Pity that it took longer than she would like but by now she bundles herself in a red coat and makes her way in to the crowd. https://411mania.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Jaime-Ray-Newman-640x370.jpg It takes her a while to smile like she normally does, in fact, a bit of doubt shrouds her face but she wanders on in. There's much to be seen here and somewhere there is motivation to try to go out and enjoy it. Fortunately she is pulled toward the various artists setup. When she sees the sculptures and things of the like she can't help but go over and investigate. The coat continues to keep her warm and the trinkets and things start to warm her within. Finally, a smile forms and she tries to strike up a conversation with those near the mini statues. Having art as the center of the chat, she easily slides into the conversation at ease.

"I bet," Jaime says to Garrett with a grin and then he goes to get his guitar, hopping up on stage and giving it a little bit of a sound check before he settles in, waiting for the others to be ready to begin their set. While they're getting themselves situated he says into the mike, "Thanks, Park! To be fair, I never actually got to hear Park play, which is unfortunate, but tonight we're going to fix that. While we get set up here, everybody show your support for all our local food vendors. Grab something fried. Grab something salty or sweet. Grab some booze, because we sound better the more you drink." He flashes a grin at the crowd.

James beams at Sunny. "Ah shit, really? Anything? Dang. Ok. OK. OK. What about, like, a unicorn? But like a badass unicorn, standing on its hind legs, its front legs crossed because they're actually buff arms, and it's looking out imperiously, right? Like it should be standing on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a barren landscape as its nightmare army of hobgoblins marches below. He'd be the Sparklelord, the twisted unicorn king of the Radical Lands.", he blarfs forth excitedly, then catches himself. He catches himself a solid three seconds after he'd already stopped, however, so it doesn't help him. "... I mean. Unicorn bong, yeah?"

Alison peers around after warming up a little bit, back in her boofy jacket after being handed it by Cam. After Park goes on stage to do the announcement for the first band, her eyes drift over to Itzhak who'd been following her around. Turning back towards Cameron and Vanessa as the joint's held out, "Mm, hold that thought for a minute. I'll be right back."

Ali runs across the park towards Itzhak, her red hair bobbing around in the few moments before the band starts, her feet slowing once she gets close, "Hey dude. I've gotta ask you about a few things later on when you've got some time, but I wanted to tell you that your outfit at the thing you put on at the Twofer was super cool! Got a little busy though, so uh, didn't get a chance to then."

The mechanic's current outfit gets a quick once over, decent enough outfit, but the sparkly tie he's got on gets a grin from Alison. She reaches up towards it and gives it a slight lift off of his chest. "This, I like too." His painted nails catch her eyes too, especially as they go to her face over the man's huge schnoz. "..nails look pretty good, too? Hey, uh, dunno if you're into women at all, but maybe we should hang out some time? If you want." Her cheeks turn a slight shade of red closer to a cherry tomato than anything else.

It takes Lowered Expectations several minutes to get all their gear lugged over to the stage--big thanks to the volunteers who make it go quicker--and set up. Unfortunately, it means they miss the re-shirting of the redhead. Tragedy! Sparrow's shed her gloves, hat and coat by the time she's gotting her drums together, revealing a white tee shirt with the word SURE! in bold blocky letters across the chest worn over a rainbow-striped long sleeve shirt. Layers. Just in case it gets hot up here. "Grab some booze for us!" the drummer calls from the back, craning over her kit to reach her own microphone. She's just doing a mic test, right? "Totally just bring it on up!" Nope. Genuine invitation. Cuz accepting drinks you didn't see poured from strangers you've never met is totally safe, right? Sure! On the bright side, she's got drum assembly down to a science. Her bass drum has a spattering of stickers, some of which might even be visible from a distance, including a small rainbow at the bottom, off-center, next to a MLP Pinky Pie, both unobtrusive, and a very large pink circle with red lettering reading FEAR IS A LIAR. Once it's all together, she sets to some semi-rhythmic banging, a bit of testing to make sure everything sounds right and is spaced just the way she likes it before she nods to the guys to let them know she's good to go.

Itzhak stretches a long damn arm up to hand Sparrow a cup of beer. The lady asks, she shall receive. He blinks again at Ali as she comes jogging up. "Uh, hey, thanks!" he says, maaayybe turning a little red again. Yeah. Busy. Ali was sure busy. "What's up?"

Garrett is slowest getting his gear up because while he may not have as many pieces as, say, the drummer, bass amps are /heavy/, and seeing as his rig is almost as tall as him when all is said and done.... but done it is, and the Lowered Expectations bassist sets about tuning up before hitting a foot switch that brings the bass to life in the form of a few deep, muted, thumps, some random harmonics, then a nod at his fellow band members. "They're both right. We sound better when you've been drinking. We sound better when we've been drinking. Booze makes bands better," he tells the audience sagely, a little 'ready when you are' glance given to Jaime and Sparrow in turn.

Alison shakes her head and touches Itzhak on his jacketed arm, but only for the briefest of moments. "Not here, nothing urgent. Catch you later, okay?" Then she's jogging back across the park towards Cameron and Vanessa, boofy jacket and all, despite the little bit of dirt on it now. Probably goes well with the cinnamon sugar from before.

"So about that joint."

"You're my favorite," Sparrow croons to Itzhak in precisely the same flirtatious tone she'd turned toward Maggi the other night when she'd been delivered a random shot. Red lips pucker in a blown kiss. Then another. First for him, then for Alison. Then her mouth is busy with the beer. A bit of lubrication before the performance. This is what drum-side stools are form. Beer tables. She sets it down as she settles back in, giving one drumstick a restless twirl. Thump thump goes the impatient bass drum. Whenever you're ready, frontman!

Hera heaves a very very heavy sigh as she can't help but remark at the drinking comment. "Last thing I need to do is be drinking tonight, that's the last thing." She rubs her temples a bit and then takes her hand and moves it back to her side. Then, she lets the same smile she normally wears fall back upon her lips. "Thank you." she tells one of the sculptors and, curious it seems, she slowly heads in the direction where the band is. She's likely still on the outskirts of the audience but hey, live music, gotta love it.

While the band sets up, Abby wanders over to the stalls, fingers toying with her satchel as she leans into the stalls and browses assorted stuff, lips pressed tight as a pensive expression sets in, unsure what exactly she's looking for. Eventually, she finds something! It's a meat pie, and Abby looks rather more content once she's got it and takes the first bite. The next few steps are more relaxed, inner warmth adding to the fuzzy flannel with the faux-fur. Spotting the stall with the vintage games, she starts to head that way, raising a hand to offer a friendly wave across the grounds at Abitha. Then there's Hera, out of the corner of her eye, and Abby takes a detour, heading over for a peek at the statues but, more than that, a curious, mildly concerned question. "How are you feeling today? You look a lot more vertical."

Park rushes from the stage to join the hyped up audience. Did Alison just try to pick up Itzhak? Alison can be a groupie for all the bands! Already swaying to the music that hasn't started yet, Park is bouncing around the area hugging everyone she can to thank them coming out. Even Hera...and Abby again. "You should listen to this band. All the bands! They're awesome!"

Sunny Day listens to James' awfully specific request with an understanding shared by all those who have been stoned. "I know exactly what you want, man" she nods sagely. "Give me your deets and I'll give you a quote over the weekend. Sound cool?"

Many of the sculptors know of Hera's association with the gallery and are all eager to get on her good side. Though there may be a limit to how many ashtrays she has thrust in front of her for appraisal. At least there are some more refined and interesting works in the tent.

Without further ado, Jaime gives a nod to his bandmates and they immediately jump into their first song. Sinister Kid by the Black Keys is their opening number, and one they're very comfortable with. It allows everyone to get into the swing of things, and loosen up in front of the crowd. Jaime's voice is clear, low and smooth, and he draws out the lyrics just a little bit more than in the original, nodding his head along with the rhythm as he plays. They move from one song into the next, interspersing an original or two in between the covers as they get going. He seems completely relaxed on stage, at home once the playing starts.

Gabriel is here! Just in time! Admittedly, the Park is right outside of the Police and Fire Department, but Gabriel manages to clock out just in time to hustle out to where the band is kicking off its set. He even managed to change before he came out, so he is in a leather jacket and jeans and his henley.

"Woo!" he manages to call out, because it seems like a thing to say, as he finds a place in the crowd.

"Sounds super cool!", James exclaims with absolutely zero self-consciousness because FUCK YEAH SPARKLELORD BONG. "Here, want my email? Phone? Twitter? Goodreads page?" He bounces in place a few times, and sets about providing his info as soon as he's given a way to do so.

Hera doesn't mind being a bit of a hugger if the situation is right. When Park offers a hug Hera returns it, the smile becomming more genuine by now. She does see Abitha's booth out of the corner of her eye and mutters, "I really need to talk to her." But, Abitha is likely pretty busy at the moment. Fortunately there's so much 'goings on' that she does drop off a few business cards as she 'talks pottery shop' among the crafters. Then Abby catches her attention and she heaves a sigh of relief. "Oh goodness." she says as she offers the woman a hug, "Angelic Abby. I made a horrible fool of myself last night, didn't I? I thought I could hold my alcohol better and, I'm still not sure how exactly I got home? Things went blank really bad. I, I don't know. Do you think stress could have something to do with it? I guess I should go see a doctor but, I feel ashamed, I really do. The first time I went to a LGBT event and, I doubt I made the best impression." Blame the vodka, why not?

"Uh... kay." Cameron pulls the joint she'd offered to Alison back to herself, sliding it between her wide lips and pressing them together around it as she inhales. A moment later and it's held between two of her slender fingers as she exhales steadily, watching Alison play with Itzhak's tie. "Look at her, trying to score some D! I wonder if things aren't going well with Evie..."

With one arm wrapped around herself, hand tucked into her armpit, the other holding up her weed with a bent elbow, Cameron meanders towards the stage with Vanessa, glancing at the woman. "So is it redheads you don't like, or are you just in a prickly patch kind of mood today? Ali's a very close friend of mine and Maddie's. Just... try, okay?"

Unwinding an arm from around herself, Cam hooks her index finger into the waistband of Vanessa's clothes and gives her a little tug. "For me? I gave you weeeeeeeeed~" Because bribery never fails.

While the band soundchecks, Alison comes bounding back, the dancer taking a last, long drag before she holds out the joint in the redhead's statement to her. "Kept it warm for you!" It's also one-third smoked by now, but what is weed for, if not for sharing? Cam lifts her chin in Itzhak's direction, bobbing her eyebrows at the short ginger. "You trying to add to your harem there? You've become popular over the Fall! I guess you took my advice about settling all business to heart."

"Good for you, autumn child, good for you. Now it's winter, though. It's a time of introspection and looking back on your previous year." The cam-vlogging stripper reaches to her chest, toying with the crystal that hangs under her shirt. "You should save any new business for spring. The universe doesn't like it when things happen out of season."

As the band's opening comes out, Cameron slowly begins to sway along with the crowd, her eyes lidded and slightly dreamy as the intoxicants of the downer she just smoked begin to lull her senses. She catches sight of Park as she woman is once more mingling with the crowd, spreading germs and happiness with all of her embracing of all people and life in general. There's a subdued smile and a finger-waggle given toward the DJ when she nears close enough, but the woman is bouncing around a little too much to pin down without chasing after her.

And Cam if feeling far too mellow for that.

It only takes a song for Garrett to decide the hoodie is too warm for being on stage, and it gets tossed so he's in a clingy black t-shirt instead. After the first song he's clearly more relaxed, smiling at his band mates, at the audience, at everything while he provides rhythm along with Sparrow, supplying backing vocals as needed, and generally enjoying himself.

Itzhak blushes and glares at both Cameron and Park, the JERKS. "No! I don't--we don't--I hardly know her!" He blushes really impressively, too, turning the shade of a ripe tomato.

"Oh, I'll listen to all the bands!" Abby promises to Park, attention shifting towards the stage as things start to happen over there.

The music's still just starting, and she's not quite front and center in the crowd, so it's possible to talk to Hera still, at least for a while. She laughs, returning the hug, and gives Hera a reassuring pat on the back. There, there. "We got there in my car! Don't worry, you didn't puke in it or anything," she adds that last bit with a little teasing sharpness to her grin. "No, you just - I don't know, had you eaten anything? Stress probably didn't help. I don't think you drank that much, but going to the doctor might be a good idea, just to run some tests and see if everything's doing okay." Then, in a lower voice, "Oh, I'm pretty sure no one even noticed. Everyone was paying attention to the dance floor. Really!" She winks, then looks back to the stage.

Sinister Kid gives way to What's Yours Is Mine which flows seamlessly into a couple original pieces that maintain that same sorta blues-rock vibe Lowered Expectations has going. In the back, Sparrow performs with more energy and enthusiasm than some of the songs are really due, she never really mastering the art of understatement.

Though she sings backup vocals on several of their tracks, the drummer really gets her moment to shine when they let her sing a song. Sure, she might be in the back, but the neon redhead commands attention, especially as she's challenging the audience at large, "If you've got the balls to meet me in the alley, when I hit, I hit hard!" or confessing that she's, "Looking for some handsome destruction." Every time the chorus comes in, she bangs on those drums with ferocity as she builds from the, "Do you really wanna come for me?" to the, "If you do then do it right!" Jaime gets in a good solo before all their instruments go silent for a few measures as hands go up to lead the crowd in clapping as the song ends with Sparrow belting, "You know I ain't got all night!" all red-cheeked and ecstatic.

Hera continues to look relieved as she chats with Abby. "I'm so relieved, I really am. I went in one way and don't remember going out the other. It says a lot for this town that I already have people looking out for me. I just have to make sure I don't cause a nusance. Is the food stuff around here good? Likely wouldn't hurt if I got something." Her eyes go over to the band and she says, "They are good, there's power in those lyrics. Maybe I should get back into my writing." Then she looks over at the tables with the trinkets and pottery and things, "Naw, probably not yet."

Carrying the largest possible sized insulated cup of something hot, Harper strolls through the chilly evening, wearing jeans, a grey hoodie, a navy-hued peacoat, and leather boots. The music pulls her by some invisible thread of come-hither-tude. She stops near Hera and Abby and watches the performers, clearly enjoying their exuberant performances. A sip of hot beverage. She tucks the cup into the crook of her arm and claps now and again.

It's been some time since Stephanie had done something fun. She'd gone painting at the gallery once but for the most part retreated after her harrowing experience the previous week. She's ready to just take a nice walk around the Park and check out the events of Winterfest. She's earring a grey winter coat, over a grey hoodie and blue jeans and a pair of Doc Martens.

Park bounces along to the music, even singing along when she can. "Was there a party last night?" she asks Hera and Abby. "Dang, I missed a party. Try the Scottish cuisine van. Did you know that all Scottish food is based on a dare? Oooh! I better get closer to the stage since we'll be going on soon. Have a great night and hopefully you don't get sick again tonight." New person! Harper gets a hug. "Welcome! Glad you could come!"

Park heads back to the assemblage of bands yet to go on, hugging a Stephanie on the way. "They're so good" she grins about the band when she reaches Cameron and Company again. "We can go on next, Cam. Your band is known, I mean, you have t-shirts with tour dates on them, so tonight you can be the 'headliner'." There are air quotes since, as far as Park is concerned, all are equal.

Sunny Day is happy to take all forms of communications James is happy to hand over. Even check out his library card if he has one. "I'll get back to you soon."

Scott smiles. "They're quite good," he offers to those nearby. He keeps quiet for now, simply listening to the music and otherwise being quiet.

Harper half turns into an arm sliding around her. A stranger's arm. Her brows tip upward and then she instinctively returns the hug from the blonde who seems to be an organizer and a greeter. "Hi. You're in charge? This is just lovely." Harper steps back and drinks some spiked hot chocolate from her cup. "What one thing should I enjoy besides the great music?" There's a Scottish 'cuisine' van? Is that like military intelligence? Or giant shrimp?

Hera can't help but grin as she watches Park's enthusaism. With someone who appears that happy, how can anyone get in a dull mood? Her eyes go back to more people watching as her 'hugger' of a woman continues to greet people. She tries to tell Park, "Thank you" but she assumes that Park may be too busy to notice. "I think my heritage is Scottish, I still need to sort out some of my family roots. Would you like to try out some of the food Abby? I'll buy. Business has been good with all of the students and all. I guess I shouldn't say I'm stressed, I really am happy." Speaking of classes and things, she waves toward Stephanie. That's another familiar face. Then when Harper bounces by she offers her a nod and a wave in greeting, "Good evening Miss." she says, assuming that Harper can hear her. She's not that close to the band but hopefully there's some way for her to still chit chat. Even if she can't be heard, it's typical for parties like this to yammer on and on, whether the conversation could actually be heard or not.

Stephanie smiles at the hug from Park, then she walks around and says hello to Hera along the way. "Hey," she greets Hera with a smile and a hug.

As they transition from one song to the next, it's time for another cover, Queens of the Stone Age this time, more bluesy-rock goodness in the form of Make It Wit Chu, Garrett offering playful winks any time he makes eye contact with anyone throughout the song, taking his duties on backup vocals through the chorus Very Seriously, obviously.

"That's never stopped anyone before." Cameron says with a laugh, lifting her face up and tossing her hair back as she shoots Itzhak an almost-sympathetic smile. "A little weed, a little booze, and a little public undressing has a way of breaking the ice, right? I'm just saying..." Her smile fades some, but not completely, her expression a bit more somber. "...new affairs should wait until Spring."

While Vanessa wanders off, taking one of her joints with her, to find Madison and the other band members and make sure everything is ready, Cameron slides an arm around Alison's waist to lean on the redhead while Sparrow belts out her energetic vocals. Her zippo makes another appearance, being held up, because cameraphone lights are for pussies without lighters.

As Park reapproaches, Cameron nudges her with a shoulder in greeting, reaching for the joint between Alison's lips and plucking it out of the redhead's mouth. She turns then, offering it to the exuberant DJ with a nod. "Well, sure. I suppose we can go last. It'll be that much colder, but... I know it'll make Mads and Nessie happy to 'close'. Make them feel like real rockstars."

Whether Park takes her puff-puff or not, the dancer takes the joint back and slides it between her own lips to inhale deeply again, eyes half-closing as she does so, only to open again as she huffs a serious smoke ring up into the air. "I kind of don't want to follow them now, though. Their drummer is seriously hot. Ours is, too. But ours doesn't sing like a badass!"

She looks down and to the side at Park after a moment of realizing the woman is going up next with her band, raising her eyebrows. "Oh. I guess... Um, do you need help setting up backstage, then?"

Harper pivots on one booted foot to catch Hera's greeting beneath the clamor of the fun music. "Hi!" she returns brightly. "It's Harper. And you are?" The librarian isn't shy about introductions. She moves a little with the music, brown eyes sparkling with the energy of it all. Or maybe she's simply trying to keep warm.

When she arrives at Addington Park, the first thing Katy notices is the skating rink. It seems to have a nice share of people using it. She had told Jonathan she would meet him at the rink, having an errand to run. So she is currently at the side of the rink, waiting for him, with her skates and newly acquired helmet in hand, in a warm long jacket and wedge boots. She was sitting at a nearby bench, putting her skates on.

Oh, wait. "Oh, wait," Abby says, and actually holds up one hand in front of herself. She'd been holding a meat pie all this time, just down at her side, in spite of the big bite already taken from it. And she takes another bite now. Her dancing is not terribly expressive at the moment, in her bundled up state, but she sways and chews to the beat. "These are pretty good..." She confirms with a nod, which blends with the musical head bobbing she's got going on. "There was a party last night! It was... really interesting!" She calls out after Park, just to rub it in, then decides not to say any more, for now. She's got food to eat, eyes darting back over to Hera. "And you weren't a nuisance. I was heading out anyway... it wasn't really my scene."

"Fuck yeah Sparklelord.", James says, giving double fingerguns at Sunny, and then heads off to find what he originally came here for: munchies. The siren call of fried food awaits.

Hera offers a hug to Stephanie in turn and the more 'calm' Abby is about the previous night the more calm that she is. "Oh wow, meat pies. There was a place in Louisiana that would well, let's just say those meat pies were extremely addictive. Never spent that much time there though, but the food, very good." She shrugs and says, "I hope Kim got situated ok too." But Scottish food, that does seem to tempt her, "I might have to get something to eat." But, there's time for an introduction and she extends her hand to Harper, "Hera, I own the new gallery downtown. Vivid Dreams." she says, "Nice to meet you."

Katy also introduces herself to Harper. "Stephanie. I think I might have seen you around in high school, Harper?" She shrugs, holding out a hand for handshake. When Hera mentions meat pies, she says, "I could use some food. Are we all headed that way?"

Lowered Expectations finishes out their set with Crying Lightning (https://youtu.be/dtj6dDARgfQ), Jaime leaning into the mic as he sings, walking up to the front of the stage and swaying a bit along with the tune. He grins over his shoulder at Garrett and Sparrow, clearning into performing together on a live stage in front of an audience. When the song finishes, he lifts an arm and says, "Thanks, everyone, for coming out. We're Lowered Expecations. And thanks, Park and Lyric, for giving us a chance to perform at your gig." With that, he takes a couple of steps back and pauses to give both Garrett and Sparrow a high five before helping them to clear off stage.

Stephanie introduces herself to Harper. "Stephanie. I think I might have seen you around in high school, Harper?" She shrugs, holding out a hand for handshake. When Hera mentions meat pies, she says, "I could use some food. Are we all headed that way?"

Having taken some time to get home and find his things, Jonathan arrives at the park, heading over to the skating rink. He's wearing a white hockey jersey of the with Detroit Red Wings, with the number 47 and the name WALLGREN at the back. He also has a white helmet with the same name and number, as well as a pair of skates with him. "Hey," he offers as he sees Katy, grinning widely at her. "Time for some fun, then?"

Cradling her insulated mug between her body and the crook of her elbow, Harper extends her hand to Hera with a smile, glancing to the other folks she's juggling conversations with and back to her once again. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Hera. Are you also an artist, or simply the gallery owner? I've been waiting for one of those art crawl events to happen in Gray Harbor. Maybe I won't have to wait so long now. It's the kind of town that really should have an interesting art scene. At least I think so." Meat pies? Harper flickers a glance over to the one being eaten, then scans the nearby vendors for said Scottish fare. "I think I'll stick with something sweet." Jaime's singing drags her gaze stage-ward. Then she's clapping enthusiastically and adding a few 'woos' in for good measure. Stephanie's introducing herself and Harper's attention snaps back to the closer women. "Stephanie? No. Really? You look terrific." Harper leans in to almost kiss the woman's cheek. Mwah. "It's nice to see you again. What have you been ..." She stops short, not wanting to interrupt the group's journey in search of foodstuffs. "Have fun!"

Set completed, Garrett makes a greatly exaggerated bow and echoes Jaime's sentiments. "You've all been brilliant!" he informs the crowd before starting to get his gear out of the way for whoever is next on stage, grinning ear to ear.

Hey guess who else was thinking meat pies? James! ... Womp-womp. Anyway, the little stoned ginger beardo has just made it to the front of the line and is placing his order. "... so, like, are the pies themselves made of meat, or-? Oh. Ah. Uh-huh. I see. Well, ok, guess I'll have one anyway, but you should think about my idea. Meat pies. Think about it." His pie purchased and in hand, he steps off to the side to now track down the beers.

Katy has her skates on but she doesn't stand as Jonathan approaches. "Could you check to see if I've tied my skates right?" she asks, then she holds out a helmet to show up. "I picked one up earlier, I figured better safe than sorry." It's a simple white one, but it is meant to do its job and she figured he would appreciate her taking the precaution as a novice skater.

Hera grins at Harper's remark, "Oh I'm an artist myself, but I majored in business in college. With hard work and a love for creativity, I really hope to bring new life to the art scene. You should come by. We had a really amazing painting class the other night and I already have some featured artists. Dylan and Leon are among them. I'm always looking for new talent to showcase. Come by, the wine is complimentary." But yeah, it's time for food, "Anyone want some meat pies? Abby has a good idea."

Stephanie smiles at Abby, who she's seen around on a professional basis a lot in her time as a paramedic. "Hey Abby, it's nice to see you when it's not a work related thing." She follows the small group towards meat pies.

Sparrow downs the rest of her beer after lifting the cup to the crowd with a loud hoot. Her drumsticks taptap together before she flips them into her back pocket to set to clearing up for the next band. Man, the drummer's work always takes longer. Which, really, is probably for the best. This girl's still got energy to burn by the time she's got everything packed up, coat and scarf left behind. She's too heated, still raring to go as she makes her way back out into the crowd, excited and aimless.

Park politely declines the offer of the weed for now. "I have to have a clear mind to play" she nods solemnly. "Musicians don't get wasted before going on stage." Oh dear, such an innocent. A nod to Cameron as the first band goes through the set. "Yeah, better get the pre-gig ritual done..." Too late!

Park bounces back onto the stage as 'Lowered Expectations' finish up and start dragging their gear away. "It's not our gig" she giggles, "It's Gray Harbor's gig! Will you be back tomorrow night?" She seems happy to have conversations using the mic on stage. "And you were brilliant" she smiles to Garrett and the others.

Back to the audience and she gives them a wave. "Weren't they great. Another round of applause for 'Lowered Expectations'. Next up will be the band I'm in, 'Augmented Reality'." She takes off her big jacket to reveal her belly exposing t-shirt with 'Pika. Pika' written on it. She will leave her Pikachu beanie on to fight off the cold. "The other members of the band are Ico on drums, Scott on keyboards, Lyric on vocals and guitar, and Itzhak on vocals and lead electric violin!" A beat. "Oh, I play bass and some keyboards. And sing sometimes. Hey, how does Darth Vader like his toast? On the dark side." She will giggle even if no one else will. Stepping off to her position on stage, she will let Itzhak lead the way.

The owner of 'Ale and Hearty' eyes off the crowd approaching with a warm smile and then a smirk at James' comments. "Do you know what the traditional recipe for Shepherd's Pie is?" he asks brightly, "First, peel two shepherds." He laughs uproariously at this. "Didn't KFC make a burger where the 'bread' was chicken breasts? You should sue them.

Gabriel lets out a loud wolf whistle when Sparrow finishes up her work on stage and comes down into the crowd. "Sparrow!" he calls out, trying to be heard above the din. "You were awesome!" Another loud wolf whistle. Even if she doesn't see him and just thinks he's another fan, well. It's at least something.

Abby shrugs, barely keeping up with the conversation, half her attention on stage, one remaining quarter on the meat pie, leaving only one quarter of her total attention span to follow along. "Hmm." She does wave a hand at Harper and Stephanie as the two come by and chat with Hera, giving Stephanie a friendly smile of recognition. "Hey, mmmhm, Stephanie!" Munch. As they wander off to fetch meaty pies, Abby is left behind trying to clap for the show. It's not easy to clap and handle food at the same time, but she does her best, and even whistles, before finally tagging along towards the food stall. Coming across James, he also gets a friendly, "Hello!" Only slightly muted by food.

Itzhak bounds on stage ahead of Park, Scott, and the rest of the band. He's wearing black-on-black: slim black trousers, a fitted black waistcoat, and a black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and buttoned. His tattooed sleeve of pomegranates and olives on his left arm is thus shown off, plus the bizarre, fractal, fernlike scar seared white into his right forearm. Prison knuckle ink reads STAY on one hand, DOWN on the other. He's accessorized with a sparkly silver tie and sparkly, holographic-glitter silver nail polish.

The mandolin cradled to his chest, he grabs the mic, grinning out at the crowd, the crow's-feet at the corners of his eyes crinkling. "Hey! Let's hear it for Lowered Expectations!" And he whistles for the previous band, applauding them. "We're Augmented Reality and we're gonna play some music for ya." Duh, Itzhak. He hasn't yet been accused of being a charismatic front man. With a nose like that, who needs charisma?

He flicks a glance towards the rest of the band, cuing them to follow his lead. It's quick, before he's striking the strings of his mandolin. You ever wanted to hear a rock mandolin? Today's your lucky day! Then he's leaning into the mic, eyebrows tilting up, singing in his rough-sweet rock and roll voice. He's good. Bang-on key, emotive, raspy and full of character, his voice is the tip of the band's spear.

Time, time time, see what's become of me
While I looked around for my possibilities
I was so hard to please--
Don't look around
The leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter!

Harper curves an amiable smile at Hera and her nutshell story. "Business and art. You combine all the brains." Listening, Harper laughs. "I think I have about a nickel's worth of artistic ability, but if you do the wine-and-sip events, I wouldn't be harming anyone. Sounds fun. When's the next one?" Dylan and Leon. Harper needs to branch out and meet the local talent. First names only must mean they're famous, right? "When's the next class?" She steps back as the group prepares to head meat-ward. "Enjoy! Nice to meet you, Hera. And nice to see you again, Stephanie. Come to the library sometime. It's really quite a pleasant place." What, Harper? Plugging the public library?"

James also laughs at this joke, because he's stoned enough to find it hilarious. "Right? I'ma go find a lawyer.", he tells the owner of 'Ale and Hearty', a moment after realizing he could also buy beer there, which he does. And then there's Abbygreetings, and he blinks. "Oh! Hey! Nice seeing ya around! Y'having, like, fun?"

nd there's the magic words, right? As Park bounces onto the stage, he moves over to find his place at the keyboards, smiling as he looks out onto the crowd, grinning as he focuses on doing his part in playing with the rest of the band. Looking quite like he's enjoying himself.

Fan? Sparrow has fans? She's got at least one, and that one fan calling out to her gets her attention. Very directly. The redhead bounds over to Gabriel and practically pounces the older man, arms flung around him as she plants a big old kiss square on his lips. Is this the appreciation all her fans get?

Abby gets a happy wave as Stephanie heads off to retrieve food and when Harper begins to talk about the library, she admits, "My hours at work don't always allow me to get to the library but I try to get some reading into my schedule. It's hard to fit things in sometimes." She acquires a meat pie for herself with a relaxed smile.

Gabriel throws his arms around Sparrow and spins her around, keeping her lifted off the ground when she goes to pounce him. His hug is tight and his kiss is enthusiastic, apparently not minding the pounce. (It seems that they know each other.) "You were kick ass up there," he praises her when he must come up for air (or she does). "Congrats, Sparrow. Awesome job all around."

Hera offers a business card to Harper if the opportunity arises. "Oh definitely. There are some good I could get lost in, seriously. It is so good to know we have a library here." Best not to assume as much. But she's hungry, so she goes to the meat pie stand and gets some meat pies. Then she returns close to Abby and the chatty group, assuming those she chatted with are still there. Extra food with her, she offers a meatpie to Stephanie and Abby. If James is nearby she offers him a meat pie as well.

As Jaime announces the end of the Lowered Expectations set, Cameron lifts both hands overhead, holding the joint in her lips to clap with vigor and aplomb. She can't exactly yell, not without losing her cigaweed, but she can at least show her appreciation by slapping her meat paws together! It's better than the hipster snapping she does at poetry slams, right?

"We don't?" Cameron's confusion at the mention of musicians not getting high and/or sloshed before going on stage is revealed via the way her neck swans backwards and she looks askance at the DJ. Yet the brunette is already nodding at the mention of rituals. Wiccans never don't do their rituals.

Too late, apparently! Which is really just bad karma.

Cameron fires off another round of applause as Park takes the mic and asks for such for Lowered Expectations. The dad jokes cause applause to cease, however. It's almost so bad it's funny. Almost.

"Woo, Augmented Reality!" Cameron hoots, glancing to one side... then the other. No blonde. No redhead. She turns a small circle, a frown slowly growing on her lips as she realizes she's been ABANDONED by all her friends! "Fuck, man. Party foul. Bitches took my weed and bounced."

"Good, helmet is good," Jonathan replies to Katy, nodding a bit as he sits down so he can help making sure her skates are laced tightly. "Good?" he offers to her. Once he's sure the skates are properly secured, he starts putting on his own skates, with the pace of someone who's done that thousands of times before.

Itzak's call out of the departing act draws some clapping and cheering from Harper and her insulated mug. Well, the mug doesn't so much cheer. But it holds hot chocolate cheerfully. The man in black with the silver tie and the mandolin drags at Harper's attention. "Wow," she murmurs to no one in particular. Rock mandolin! At some point Abby mentions making time for reading and Harper side-glances with a delighted smile. "You go with your reading self, girl." She takes Hera's business card. "Thanks." She tucks the card carefully in her pocket with patpat. "Bye, Hera and Stephanie, and you, cute person." Abby.

"Did you know there was an LGBT party last night and I completely missed it?" complains Jessica as she arrives at Harper's side. "I don't think I'll ever meet anyone at this rate." The reporter is here professionally...sort of. She is making a note on the activities every now and then while cradling a hot mug of hot chocolate. "Winter certainly showed up for WinterFest."

Sparrow's nose bumps against Gabriel's when the kiss breaks and her feet find the ground again. "Course I was," she croons, all low-lidded and happy. He gets another quick peck before she slips free and turns her attention toward the stage, eyes going a little wide when she takes in the full band, including at least one face she hadn't expected. Even before the song starts, she's cheering, excited at the prospect. And when it does start? Yeah, the cheering stops. Because she's too busy bouncing around in some approximation of dancing, red hair flopping about wildly as she sings along, her voice barely heard from down here against the amplification of the instruments on the stage.

Katy grins at Jonathan as she gets him to adjust her skates, and she watches him put his own skates on, skilled based on a lifetime's experience. She looks at him, waiting to stand. "You look great, sweetheart," she says, seeing him in his jersey, a flirtatious smile on his face. And it's almost like she's thrown back in time to the first time she'd seen him wear his jersey, and she remembered feeling a sense of pride, that he'd made it after all that time chasing his dreams.

Hera hears the LGBT party and says, "I didn't miss it, seems I made a total fool of myself there. But" she takes a deep breath and then says, "Thanks to fabalous friends, I made it home." If she hears Jessica close enough, she offers a wave before going to eat a meat pie.

Harper wheels around at Jessica's familiar voice. That insulated mug of spiked hot chocolate nearly gets away from her, but she catches it and then flings her free arm around Jessica. "You came! Hi! You look dressed up. And I mean on the inside." Harper winks at her dear friend and kisses her cheek. "How in the world did you miss an event like that? What do I have to do? Pick you up and drag you kicking and screaming away from your keyboard to get you to such occasions ?" Because she will. She offers her mug. "Want some special hot chocolate?"

Stephanie having taken the offered meat pie, thanks Hera before starting to eat. "God I'm starving. I haven't eaten since lunch." She smiles at Hera. "You might want to keep from overdoing it next time. I've had to take many a call for alcohol poisoning."

"Just - try not to get stuck in an elevator! At the library. That's not fun. Well, it can be a little fun..." Abby muses with a smile over at Harper. "But it's really nice, other than that! Which I'm sure never happens to anyone else." She holds up the meatpie in progress to keep Hera from offering a new one, winking. Then she looks to Harper again, letting a slip a laugh and only a hint of a little flustered pause. "Oh. I'm Abby!" And she holds up a hand to wave after the other woman.

"These are good," she says to James, in between two bites. "Sure am! I was just planning on buying some cute handmade things, but... I didn't realize it was going to be so full of - stuff and music. How are you?"

Her attention's drawn back to the stage again as the music resumes with the next band, though she's a little further. Her eyes stay that way even as she reaches out to pat Hera's shoulder lightly. "You were fine. Oh, I got her home safe," she adds for Stephanie's benefit.

Gabriel laughs at Sparrow's non-modesty, but it's an affectionate laugh. When she turns and shouts at the stage, he adds in a cheer behind her. But then the music starts and she dances, and Gabriel leans forward to whisper into her ear, before going back to dancing behind her, soaking in the music. He doesn't have the raw energy that she does. But he does have her energy to feed off of.

Jonathan smiles, "Thank you." He takes a few moments to put on his helmet, smiling a bit as he does. "Ready for some skating?" he asks, words kept rather light for now.

Once he's off the stage and back in the crowd, Jaime ambles on over to an open spot where he can watch Augmented Reality get up and do their thing. When the song begins, he sings along, and lets out a loud whistle of appreciation for the other band.

Katy takes Jonathan's hand as she says, "Ready when you are." She grabs onto his arm as soon as she's upright, a little wobbly, and allows herself to be led onto the ice.

"It's good to know you had people looking out for you, Hera," Stephanie says with a smile as she enjoys the music and the company. She cheers for the music acts and tries to have a good time.

Toward Abby, Harper twinkles a smile. "I promise the incredibly slow library elevator is the perfect place to get stuck. For a variety of reasons. Let me know next time you visit and I'll pull some strings just for you." Harper finally learns Abby's name. "Abby! I'm delighted to know you. Let's compare books or get stuck somewhere together sometime. Have fun with the meat pies." Harper nudges Jessica with her shoulder. "This guy is really good," she murmurs, pointing up to Itzak on the stage.

"Stoned.", James replies matter-of-factly at Abby, before taking a big bite of his meat pie and washing it down with a swig of beer. "And working on drunk.", he adds, before giving her a big grin, clearly in a good mood. "I'm having a custom bong made too. This is so much better than the last time I came here." He's not too high to notice she's already in a group, most of whom he either doesn't know or knows only peripherally, and takes a step back. "Oh, hey, don't let me keep you from your friends, yeah? Enjoy all the, like, stuff. This is pretty sweet."

Hera nods at Abby, as if to note that she understand enough meat pies may be enough. After offering one to Stefphanie she just says, "Yeah" the subject still a tense one for her, and she's a little ashamed of how things turned out but hunger overrides regret. With the tummy rubling, she takes a bite.

"Yes please" Jessica nods about the 'special' hot chocolate. "I was working last night" is all she can offer apologetically about missing out on a possible coming out party. The wave from Hera is returned, along with a smile, "I'm sure you weren't that bad." Then a roll of her eyes for her best friend as she turns away from the gallery owner. "I could have met that" she whispers to Harper. "She's gorgeous." Then a curious look at Abby. "I think she was in that dream I was telling you about." Her attention turns to the stage. "Yeah...he's good. And very sparkly."

Itzhak's mandolin is bright and ringing; he plays chords and fingerpicks and it gives the whole song a bluegrass-via-Heart vibe while he sings in that unique voice. Damn if the band doesn't make it work, too. When they wrap up 'Hazy Shade of Winter,' he wipes his curly black forelock away from his eyes and nods to Park, surrendering the mic to her and trading the mandolin for his violin.

Jessica's whisper turns Harper's attention past the journalist's shoulder after Hera. "You still could. Want me to introduce you? I just met her. Her name is Hera. She was lovely." Then she frowns a little. "Is it like a spidey-sense or something? Because I absolutely can't tell." She shoves her spiked hot chocolate at Jessica and takes her regular-and-boring one in return. "Drink up and go introduce yourself." Her gaze slowly, inevitably turns back to the stage performance. The familiar song ends and she whoops and applauds enthusiastically.

Jonathan smiles, as he leads the way onto the ice. "Remember, the key is to glide, not walk," he offers to Katy, smiling as he steps further out there, gliding forward, slowly but gently.

"I know!" Sparrow calls back in answer to Gabriel's whisper all too casually. She sticks with it for a few more bars, seeing the song to its conclusion as she hollers her appreciation for the cover, before patting his hip to let him know, "I'mma get a drink!" and just... starting off. Without actually making it to her intended destination. She's spotted Jaime! "Holy fuck, right?" Does she need to talk so loud? Or swear? No. Her ability to moderate herself might be compromised at the moment. "I forgot how good that feels. Do you wanna beer? I'mma get a beer. Or cider. I could totally go on the prowl for cider. Whatever you want, sexy. You totally deserve it. Did you know they had a violinist? A cute violinist? Should see him blush. Highly recommend. Fuck, I'm hungry."

Scott smiles as they reach the end of the song, grinning as he looks to Itzhak and Park, offering them both a thumb up. Then it's all getting ready for the next song.

Park happily plays along to their song, even funking it up when appropriate - which may not be often. Her smile wide as she gets to live her childhood dream a little bit. When the song is done, she gives Itzhak a nod of thanks before stepping up to the mic. "I'm gonna sing one of my own songs so I apologise in advance" she giggles. "I hope you like it. It's called 'Fake News'. Don't worry, it's not political." It starts off with a romantic piano courtesy of Scott as she sings, "I said we'd be together all our life,/So much love and so little strife,/Our bliss would last forever,/Believing that was not clever." Then the power pop kicks in.

(Chorus) "It was fake news, fake news,/I'm the type that always lies,/And you're such a gullible guy."

"You look cute when you watch the box,/Believing everything you hear on Fox,/I can't believe you're so na�ve,/So now it's time for me to leave."

"It was fake news, fake news,/Try to hold back that tear,/There ain't no sympathy here."

It ends with a cacophony of angry playing. "Think of me as your Trump,/And you have just been dumped." Park bows at the conclusion of the song. "Thanks." Best let Itzhak take over again.

Sparrow wonders, "Is the word mandolinist? That sounds wrong. Mandoleer?" And that makes her giggle.

"Maybe not the elevator!" Abby suggests, voice rising after Harper for a moment. She hides behind what's left of her pie, with the tiniest of puzzled creases on her brow. No time to dwell, anyway.

She gives James a look. It's not disappointed, it's just processing this information, and maybe a little amused as it registers. Still, it wouldn't do to shirk her healthcare professional duties. "Well, just remember to get high responsibly!" There, that's a cheery piece of advice, accompanied by a wink and another bite of pie.

Then she turns towards the stage and just watches, swaying and bobbing subtly to the beat.

Gabriel follows on off after Sparrow when she makes off -- wherever it is she is going or not going, as the case may be -- tossing his head to Jaime when they arrive with him. "Hey, man. Good work up there. Guitar and signing. I can't do either, so all the more impressed." But he lets he and Sparrow talk, glancing over to the group on stage.

Katy remembers to glide and it seems to be working out okay but she immediately says, "You better not let me go, Jonathan. I swear." And when she finally gets to gliding comfortably, she relaxes though she does not loosen her grip on Jonathan's hand. "Oh man, as much as I was awful at skating, I loved seeing you skate, I remember how happy you were that I was willing to learn. I might have made you regret that." She smiles. "Dance Evolution is reopening so it looks like there's a place in the area we can take those lessons. So I guess it's your turn to learn something out of your comfort zone."

James winks back at Abby cheerfully. "No worries, boss. Not driving or anything, got my magic coat to keep me warm, and this place has got good vibes so far. S'all good." He lifts his beer to her in a salute, before wandering off to check another stall. Oh, maybe Abitha's stall, he likes the vidya games.

Itzhak plays his violin, swaying, grinning while Park sings her one-of-a-kind song and he and Scott back her up. When she's done, he reclaims the mic because really, the less Park has that thing, the better. "That's Park Mee on the bass and vocals, Scott on the keyboard, and I'm Itzhak." He jerks a thumb at himself, the violin and bow tucked under his arm. "You been great, thanks!" That's a wrap for their set!

Jonathan smiles, "I'm not letting go, don''t worry." He grins, starting to skate backwards in front of her, but not letting go. As he hears the part about his turn to learn something out of his comfort zone, he smiles. "I will be looking forward to that."

Hera yawns a little, the events from the previous week making her a little tired it may seem. The meat pie is finished though and she goes over to offer Abby and Stephanie a hug. "Thank you Abby, thank you a thousand times." But then she starts to make her way over to Harper again, "It was nice meeting you. I'll definitely come by the library at some point and, if you like, bring your friend." Assuming her friend is still beside her. "I should get ready to head home though, it was a heck of a night."

Stephanie gives Hera a hug in return. "Take care of yourself," she says casually.

Jessica glances over at Hera with Harper's words before a firm shake of her head for her friend. "She's with people. It would be rude for me to interrupt." Yep, that's the only reason. Down the hatch with the special hot chocolate. "No, there's no spider-sensem, she just said she was at the LGBT party. And..." And now Hera is standing right there. Jessica smile a little dumbly - oh how she will regret that over the next few weeks. "Hi, you're Lovely...umm...I mean, I'm Jessica. Always find me at the library. Be safe home." Blushing is hidden behind the mug.

Harper claps and cheers for the ecclectic musical cohort finishing up on stage. "Way to do the thing!" She and Jessica continue the sort of conversation only long-time friends can pull off, low-voiced and multi-directional. Harper trades Jessica's hot chocolate back for her far superior, spiked version and takes a long drink. "I can't feel my toes when I'm with you, Jess." Hera approaches and Harper leans around Jessica to smile warmly at the woman. "Hera, come meet my best friend from, like, the past fourteen years. Hera? This is Jessica. Jessica? Hera. Hera uses both her left brain and her right brain to make a living. And I think that is a wonder. Hera, Jessica works at the paper. Her journalistic chops are hella-fabulous. You must know one another's names. And now you do. Speak!" Harper makes demands. It might be that she's had quite a bit of that hot chocolate. Or it could be that she's a feather-weight. It works either way.

Hera listens to Harper do the introduction and her eyes go wide, but in a good way, "You work for the paper? Wow. I could really use your help then. Do you write reviews? Do you, help people setup ads or do anything like that? I've been meaning to talk to someone about marketing ideas too, we should talk." She hands a card to Jessica and says, "I need to go for now. My dog needs to be walked before it gets too late. Seriously, that's the reason I need to go, but come by ok?"

It’s an outdoor venue, and someone’s taught the gorilla how to use a zippo. With a half-burnt cigarette dangling from thin lips, Everett takes his time browsing the U shaped event starting from one side sometimes more than a head higher than the other participants do. The thumbs of his paws tuck neatly into his dark denim while his hands dangle the right near the chain that leads to his back pocket and the other near his sheathe.

"It's a shame they didn't have this sort of thing when we were kids. Would have been real fun," Katy comments with a smile as they go around the rink. "Oh man I can barely go forward, how do you even do that?" she asked, partly in awe, but mostly just confused. She chuckles and adds, "I'm thinking we should work on dismantling the bed in the guest bedroom at some point this week. Oh and go furniture shopping too. Maybe grab a couple of desktop computers, upgrade my laptop. The whole nine yards. I can write it off as a business expense and it'll be good. Been saving up for for a while so I can at least have my old desktop setup functional." She starts spouting off plans as they circle the rink.

"I'll help with anything you want" Jessica replies to Hera, recovering a little composure, before handing over a business card of her own. "I'll come and see you about it. Definitely. Nice to meet you, Hera."

"Yeah," Jaime says to Sparrow with a grin when she comes over, "I really do want a beer, or a cider, or a churro and a cider. Come on, let's find some." He turns then to head over toward the he food trucks. "That was great. It was good to be on stage with you guys. It's more fun with a whole band than just myself." He grins as they near the food truck then glances back over his shoulder, "No, I didn't know that, but he does sound damn good. I've met him before, though, with Joey. Wasn't aware he was a blusher, though." That makes him chuckle a little for some reason.

Hera raises a brow at the statement, as if a bit confused by Jessica's remark but she just says, "Wow, people really are nice in this town. Until then." she takes the card and offers a smile at Harper, "Nice to meet you as well. I'll definitely be by the library more often."

"Gabe." Sparrow points him out to Jaime. Just in case it wasn't entirely obvious whose introduction she was offering. She follows the guitarist with a decided spring in her step as she babbles. "Lives two doors down. Very good with his hands." If there's subtext there, it's subtle. More subtle than she can manage most days. But maybe that's just cuz she's wired right now and everything's coming out at the same rapidfire clip. "Jaime. Second hottest Kelly twin and our very own musical genius." Her smile for her bandmate skews warm, appreciative. She knows how lucky she got. Whatever else she might have to say--and there definitely was more coming, lips already parted--it'll have to wait as her attention returns to the stage as Augmented Reality's performance comes to its end. Hands placed around her mouth, she amplifies her hooting, her cry of, "YEEEEAH!" for the other band, several enthusiastic seconds simply spent cheering.

When she pauses to catch her breath, it's a very deep breath, appreciative of the foooood nearby. Man, she needs some of that. "Damn good," isn't about the food, though. It's agreement with Jaime's assessment. And then it clicks. "Mechanic. Right. Heh." She doesn't elaborate on whatever she found amusing. Instead, she makes for the meatpies. What was that about fried oreos? Who cares. Meatpies.

Park would have happily played the rest of the night but their set is over and that means it is time for the most experienced of the bands. She takes the mic to introduce them. "Thank you, everyone. You've been awesome. Don't forget that WinterFest is also on tomorrow and the circus will be here! Miracle Circus, if it's a good show, it's a miracle. Next up we have 'Amulet' performing. And then some local dancers. Oh, and word just in. There's been an explosion at a cheese factory in Paris and all that's left is de Brie." A beat. "There hasn't really been an explosion, that was a joke. Party on!!" A fistbump before she is bouncing down off the stage."

After Park's announcement it takes a few minutes for anything to happen as the intermission drags on a bit. Then...

The lights around the stage dim as shadowy figures drag their equipment forward from where it was hidden behind curtains and under tarps. A few people not in the band assist them as a drum kit is set up, a stunning blonde covered in tattoos settling in behind it, banging on as Vanessa gives it a proper sound test.

Madison Holloway is decked out in mostly-purple, clothed from neck to toe in tight leathers and velvet, hair and makeup all perfectly gothy and winged out. She positions herself on the left side of the stage and begins to pluck out the strings of her guitar, giving it a final tune.

The bassist is not a named PC and therefore isn't worth mentioning.

Cameron saunters her way to center stage, having ditched her full-length jacket for a black, open-faced half-jacket that doesn't even reach the bottom of her ribs, black and studded with metal as it is. Her hair has been done into two low, thick braids that hang forward of her shoulders. The open jacket reveals the bikini top she wears beneath it, while the vinyl skirt reaches to the middle of her thighs, her earlier leggings removed to reveal the fishnet stockings beneath them.

She is undoubtedly cold AF.

The lights come on, four of them turning to highlight the singer as she stands before the microphone with a small, slick little smile, flicking her eyes out across the crowd like they're a handsome stranger at the other end of the bar. "Gray Harbor, thank you so fucking much for having us. We are Amulet. Makes some noise for Winterfest '19!" Cameron raises one hand in a signal for the noise to be made. "And let's hear it for Augmented Reality and Lowered Expectations. Those motherfuckers played their hearts out for us!" Her hand is raised again in the universal signal of 'someone on stage just said something, so scream'.

"We've got some old stand-bys for you tonight, and some new material. I hope you all like it." Cameron takes the microphone off of the stand and walks away from it a few feet to her right. "Wicca has always held a special place in my heart, and after tonight, I hope it'll take root in yours, too. Our first song is Call My Name With Whips and Chains."

The first song begins, and the dancer leans forward, crooning into the mic, cradling it in her hands like a lover. The song starts off slow, but soon picks up by the first chorus into the Wiccan indie pop-rock that Amulet is known for. ...As much as they are known, anyway.

Cameron doesn't so much sway as she slithers, her hips and shoulders moving in such a way through her music as to suggest that her spine is mostly made of a soft, rubbery material. She leans backwards at seemingly-impossible angles at times, or leans against the drums, rolling her hips in circles before dipping to the floor and back again. At once point she puts her experience at the Cabaret to practice as she oozes to her knees and crawls across the stage, the music and lyrics full of eldritch, theatrical melancholy, with plenty of fog being spilled from machines and orange and purple lights flicking beams across the stage.

While the sound is polished and seems to be on point tonight, the raw undertones are primal and pagan in every note.

Jaime glances over in Gabriel's direction as Sparrow introduces him and he grins, giving the guy a nod of greeting. "Heya," he says in greeting. "Were you at movie night?" he asks Gabriel, seeming to think he recalls seeing him somewhere, but not entirely sure if he has it right or not. "Either way, nice to meet you.. again if that's the case." He gives a good-natured grin and then allows Sparrow to lead them toward the food, so much food, so many choices, and meat pies. "Okay, I definitely need a meat pie.. and some booze." He does stop to turn and applaud loudly for the other band though as their performance comes to a close, giving a hoot and a whistle of his own.

Glancing up from the arts and crafts section of the tents, Everett takes a look towards the stage while taking the cigarette from his mouth and giving it a few absentminded flicks to clear ash. Pausing perhaps late gift getting, his expression doesn’t afford much in the way of a change except for a slow and pained roll of his eyes. Green eyes that remain on the stage for a few more minutes for the next act, and then, after a glance, returns both cancer stick to his lips and attention back down to browse simple necklaces.

"Your honor was being defended in that jello thing, right?" asks Gabriel of Jaime, when they are introduced. "Nice to meet you, man." He, too, gets the upnod of greeting as he follows after the food with them. "And nah, not movie night. But I've been around. So maybe then." He allows that much.

Park cheers on her friend and co-worker at the strip club as Cameron gets all slinky on stage. Hopefully, there won't be any ignorant folk complaining to the council that the festival is supporting Satanism. It's Wicca! The Korean-American getting into the dancing mood, wandering the area to encourage others...which means along the way that Gabriel will get a hug. Everyone must be hugged! And that includes Everett too. "You were awesome, Sparrow" she giggles. "Have you seen Amulet play before? All moody and restless. So sexy."

Jessica is still reeling from her conversation with Hera and it is up to Harper to give her a poke back into life. "Sorry...miles away." She looks around for Abbyt, the woman from her dream, but it seems she is gone too. "Harpo, let's go celebrate a possible possibility." The two BFFs head off.

"Shit." Sparrow's eyes go wide at the question that Jaime turns toward Gabe. It earns her a pointed look from the older lady in line ahead of her, but she doesn't notice. "We need another movie night. Bad. One where nobody's got snot leaking out of all of their orifices this time maybe." Movie night during Veil Flu Season was not the best idea. She spends a few seconds lost in thought as she considers... what? Movies? Invitees? How to protect her home from infection just in case zombies come over again? Who knows. She doesn't get far anyway, interrupted by Park's approach. "And holy shit!" Take that lady-in-line! "So were you! Loved that cover." Seriously. "And the fuck off song?" She looks impressed. With a look flickered toward the stage and a hoot in that direction, she nods. "First time live, but." You don't live in Gray Harbor your whole life without hearing Amulet at least once, right? When it's their turn in line, she literally hops up to the window to order her meatpie. And beer! Oh, they have beer! After the "Thanks!" to the vendor, she looks back to Park. "I didn't know you had a mandoleer!"

Cameron, halfway into the set and sweaty, approaches front center stage again, breathing a little heavy, perspiration glimmering on her skin despite the chill from the lights, the dancing, and the adrenaline. She settles the mic back into place on the stand, still cradling it close to herself.

"We have a brand-new song for you tonight. I finished writing it just in time to play it for my good friend Mee Park, or Park Mee, when she invited us here." Cameron grins, laughing a little. "She actually inspired this one. Her and my favorite fucking bartender in the universe, who sadly isn't here to hear it tonight. But music waits for no woman, no matter how hot she is, or how beautiful her soul."

"This song is called Love's Hole."

From the first guitar rift, it's apparent that this song is meant to get the blood flowing and the crowd jumping. With lyrics such as:

You'll drop dead
Before she's through
Your mind blown
When she's wrapped around you

...it's very clear what this song is about. Cameron slides across the stage on her knees, coming to a stop in front of Madison as she undulates her body, leaning back so far the top of her head touches the ground as she pumps her hips and torso into the air. The Amulet singer rolls onto her stomach, rising up onto her fours and pushing back and up, slowly unraveling herself to her feet as the song goes on.

Her hips sashay as she stalks across the stage, moving behind the drummer and running a hand along her shoulders, down her collarbone, over her torso as she drapes herself across Vanessa whilst singing. The unperturbed blonde never even misses a beat as Cameron's hands slide across her, before exiting from behind the drum set on the other side.

The songs that follow are all much the same, sensual, deviant, raw, and visceral. Themes of sacrifice, death, and sex are common, and all of them are high energy, thumping affairs that will make those near the front of the stage who forgot to bring earplugs regret their decision greatly.

"Yeah," Jaime says to Gabriel with a chuckle, "Something like that." Though he nods when Gabriel says he wasn't at movie night. Frankly, he couldn't remember. There were a lot of people in the house that night. He chuckles a little and says, "Yeah, a movie night where it's not a giant plague house could be alright." He grins over at Park as she appears in their direction. "Heya, nice set. Great to get to hear you play."

Gabriel is perhaps a little surprised when Park goes and hugs him like that, but he winds his arms around her, hugging back and pecking her cheek. "Great to hear you," he echoes Jaime with a grin, taking a step back and letting her mingle. "And yeah. Another movie night would be great. I'll actually come to this one," he adds, flashing Jaime a grin.

It’s a sad state of affairs when an ape like Everett has to be included with everyone. But Park’s tried this particular trick before, and this time he’s not caught unaware. One hand on his wallet, the other held out for his space, the thug gives a cautionary tale including a long parables; “Ah, ah ah. Ah. No touchie,” he offers the little Asian and holds the defensive pose until it looks like she might have moved on to less suspecting victims from which to leach hugs and returns to window-shopping with a smug half-smirk. He told her. No way she’d try that again.

"Sure, yeah," Sparrow agrees of movie night. "I'll talk with C about it next time we're communicating in something more than fridge magnets." For a moment, her energy seems to dip, the lost time with the people she lives with, including her twin, getting her down. But then her order's up, and all that good cheer comes rushing right on back, entirely bright-eyed as she chirps more gratitude at the vendor and collects her handpie and booze. Life's good!

Everett turned down a hug? The big gallumph. Though Park will respect his wishes, no matter how evil they are. Besides, there is a song about Love's Hole being played and gigglefits is back. "Oh my gosh! How cool is that!" A smile for Sparrow. "Glad you liked my song. I have heaps of them but some are pretty political. I just get so angry sometimes" she apologetically shrugs in that wide-eyed, innocent, couldn't-hurt-a-fly way. "Movie nights are cool!" Park is quickly back to dancing around and cheering Amulet on.

Amulet ends their set with a couple of slow, crooning tunes, the melodies soft and haunting. The energy that was ramped up to eleven now is brought down to a solid five or six, as the melancholic tunes wash out over the crowd.

Cameron's ophidian swaying hasn't stopped, but it is less raw sexaul appeal and more sensuous now, almost leisurely in the way she keeps one hand on the microphone stand, sliding down low and then back up again, her other hand keeping the mic held close to her lips as she spins a slow circle to dance with the guitarist during her solo.

The last notes fade away into the air, and Cameron turns back to the crowd. "That's it for us, Gray Harbor! Give it up for Winterfest '19! Give it up for all the bands out here tonight! And give it up for the Mistress of My Heart... Motherfuckin' MEEEEEEEEE! Get your gorgeous self up on stage, babes, and tell these beautiful people another joke!"

"Quick and shameless plug, our merch is on one of the tables in the back. Autographs are free, t-shirts ten dollars, CDs are five. All Amulet merch can be bought at the Momento Mori year-round. I fucking love you, Gray Harbor. Good night!"

Cameron shoves the mic stand over as she turns and walks away, grabbing Madison by the wrist and dragging her off stage as well before she can enact her plan to light their instruments on fire as part of her Grand Finale.

Soon enough, Cameron reappears, lighting up another joint, once more covered up by her jacket and leggings to ward off the chill as she squeezes through the crowd, here and there smiling and thanking the people who tell her they did great, as she makes her way to said merch table she plugged just a few minutes ago.

Jaime tips a hat that he isn't wearing in Gabriel's direction when he says he'll come to the next movie night. He gets himself a meat pie as well and some booze, digging into the pie with enthusiasm and a sigh of contentment. "Damn, that's good," he groans happily. "We still need to find the oreos after this." He turns for a moment to listen to the band playing while he eats, watching them up on stage. When they finish, he sets his meatpie on a ledge just long enough to applaud before he grabs it back up again, taking another bite.

Someone wants Park to tell some jokes? She's on her way! Reaching the stage, she gives Cameron a hug and a smooch to each cheek before letting the singer greet her fans. "Weren't they awesome!" Amulet even have a stage show with lights and everything. One day, Park, one day. The formal bands are done for tonight, so the stage is open to anyone who wants to play. Or tell jokes. Though I have been asked that no one fart into the microphone. It's not hygienic and it's not funny." Park is straining not to burst out laughing. What is funny is, how do you tell the difference between a frog and a horny toad? A frog says 'ribbit, ribbit', a horny toad says 'rub it, rub it'." A grin after that one before she waves. "Party on, Gray Harbor." Then off the stage she goes.

Oh no! Hands full! Can't clap! Sparrow at least has the good sense to wash her food down with a swig of beer before she shouts her appreciation for Amulet's performance back toward the stage, her voice just one of many making up the well-earned roar. When it comes time to agree about the, "Oreos!" though? She's already taken another bite, talking with her mouth full. With an elbow stuck out to nudge Jaime, she finds a place for them to plop down near one of the heaters, sinking contentedly into the chair and actually stopping for a few minutes to just eat, drink and enjoy the energy of the festival.

It takes James a while to arrive at Abitha's booth, because he keeps getting distracted by shinies. By the time he arrives he's also accumulated a few more foodstuff from various booths. "OK. This... is pretty cool.", he murmurs, looking over the wares for sale.

There’s polite applause when the songs end from big hands and then his attention returns to arts and crafts, tucking thumbs back into pockets while he browses. See, Everett’s mistake was paying attention to the microphone when Park got to it. Moreover, the pure filth that comes from it. With another roll of the eyes so hard, it moves his head, he murmurs, “Oh, fuck no.” A wave of dismissal towards the stage while he’s already turning away finds the walking brick wall fleeing for what little remains of his sanity.

Alison wolfwhistles and claps for Amulet and the band at the end of each song, but also when the set's done. "Wooooooo!" She runs over and gives Cameron a hug after sneaking behind the merch table. Which she can probably get away with? Probably. I mean, she's wearing the t-shirt.

And then Mee gets back on stage, and she starts telling terrible jokes. Oh no. Well, at least it's not Baby Shark.

Jaime is lead over to a place to sit and seems more than content to plop down near the heater to focus on eating his meat pie. Walking and eating generally leads to crashing into things, and he'd rather not tip anyone over while trying to eat his food. He settles down next to Sparrow and gives her a little nudge with his shoulder, grinning. "This was definitely a good idea. Great night all around." He takes another swig from his drink.

A few hours later and with many of the crowd and stallholders having headed home, though not all, Park is on the stage playing keyboards to herself. Working on new songs with a kickass P.A. that is so loud around her - why waste the opportunity? An elderly cleaner stops to listen every now and then before resuming the sweeping...why is he sweeping grass?

Rhys has Been Here The Whole Time, guys. Well, okay, maybe not quite the whole time, but there for the bands, to give them some good cheering and applause and the occasional whistle. Also to wander up to Sparrow at some point after Lowered Expectations' set and make the obvious joke to her, 'cause someone's gotta do it and that's a bullet he's willing to take. There's a Wire reference worked in there so at least there's a touch of art to it. Well, craft. Something like that.

For a while after the bands finish, he's been seemingly missing, but now he's back! And has a churro, which he's munching on as he eyes a couple various booths before ending up near the stage to watch... well, first the dude sweeping grass, for a few seconds, but then Park playing for a minute or two. "So you don't think Kirk's got four ears when he's on the ship, huh?" is how he greets her then.

"What's the fourth ear?" Park asks, lower lip pushed out in thought. "And hello. You were at one of the karaoke nights, right? Have you been enjoying the festival? Ooh...churro. Are they still open? Did you try the Scottish food?" She has a tendancy to bounce around a little in conversation.

"I'm pretty sure when he's on board he's also got his chief engine ear," Rhys replies, and grins before taking a small bite of the churro. A couple chews, and he does an exemplary job of talking with his mouth partly full without displaying anything untoward, "They didn't look like they were closing up yet, and I had some ale and a meat pie, that's pretty Scottish, right? I think I've been at all the karaoke nights, but yeah, we met at one. And yeah, the festival's been pretty great. You all had good sets up here. Is it going how you hoped?"

Park bursts out laughing at the engineer idea. "Oh my gosh, you're right. Though maybe since his front ear was a final one, maybe that doesn't count?" She's still laughing though. "There's a Scottish van that fries anything you want. So, like, they would fry candy bars or biscuits or pies. But those meat pies are pretty nice as they are." A smile that Rhys is enjoying himself. "If everyone is enjoying themselves and everyone can see the incredible art and craft of their town, then it's going as I hoped. It's been a lot of work but definitely worth it. You enjoyed the music too? Awesome. I was just tinkering with a new song called 'The KJ Girls'. Have you bought anything? Other than the food."

Rhys looks pleased at the laughter, making a casual 'you see?' sort of gesture with the churro when he's declared right. "Well, that just all depends on the order, doesn't it? And the Captain can give any order he likes." He glances off toward the food options again, a bit thoughtful. "Anything, huh? Yeah, I guess that's more Scottish. Ale and meat pies the Welsh, Irish, and English could claim too, but frying things man was not meant to batter seems pretty on-brand. I wonder what a deep-fried pop-tart's like? Or pizza. What do you think they'd do if you asked them to fry you some whiskey?" Another bite of the churro, and he muses, "Probably not an effective way to dispose of a corpse, but it'd make an interesting update of Sweeny Todd. No inedible purchases yet, but maybe tomorrow. Is everyone playing again? And what kind of girls are KJ? Kind of assuming we're not talking danger hands here. Or blackjack."

"I think they would just drink the whiskey and give you a whole pile of batter in return. They'd be insulted at the use of their national drink" Park grins as she gestures to Rhys to join her on stage. "They definitely do deep-fried pizza. That's on the board." Her brow furrows at talk of body disposal. "Ewwww. Where did that come from?" she giggles. "KJ means Kardashian Jenner. I think the chorus will go like this. 'Everybody loves you. Useless as you are. Everyone adores you. They set a low bar.'" It is a jaunty tune.

"Scotch is not the only whiskey," Rhys intones as though it were deep wisdom, "Anyway, you don't think they'd be up for a challenge?" He holds the remainder of the churro in his mouth and brushes his hand off lightly on his jeans before climbing up to accept the invitation, from where he is rather than going around to the stairs. It's a reasonably athletic motion, which is probably good if he's going to wander around eating churros and meat pies and possibly random fried things all day. Reclaiming the churro with his hand, he saunters over to chat from a more comfortable range. "You could freeze it on a stick like a popsicle, batter it well, deep fry that, maybe..." He might actually consider these logistics a bit. "But if you tell me they'll deep fry anything, I'm gonna start thinking about anythings. And things like bicycles and Rubik's cubes didn't go anywhere interesting."

He breaks off the far end of the churro while she's singing, and offers it to her when she's done. "You really like current events for your lyrical inspirations, don't you. I like it -- catchy tune."

"I think that whatever they fry actually has to fit into a fryer" Park points out. "No sticking bicycles in there. Rubiks cube...maybe. I think they'll be happy to take your money to fry it. Up to you if you try to eat it. Why not just have the popsicle? I like popsicles." She drags over a chair for Rhys to sit on before shrugging to his comment about current events. "It's a silly world that makes me angry sometimes. Though, you know, people our age need a voice, you know? An expression of how they feel. Sometimes that is the majesty of love. Sometimes it is how women are being treated. I have another song called 'Put Out or Shut Out' which is about how women have to act to be noticed, though it is from the point of view of someone who wants to behave like that because they crave the attention until it is too late to be respected anymore." A little giggle. "I wish I could write more happy love songs. What kind of music do you like?"

"Could fry it in parts," Rhys says, "but like I said... those didn't go anywhere interesting. I might try making whiskey popsicles when the weather warms up again, though. Probably not deep-fried, I don't have a fryer."

He accepts the chair, and holds on to the churro bit if she's not inclined to take it. It will get eaten last, if it's not by her. "Thanks. Shouldn't she still get respected, though? I mean, maybe I'm understanding wrong, but it sounds like you're saying she can't get respected either way, being ignored isn't respect. So she might as well go the way she gets attention, then. But the bigger problem sounds like the respect." A shrug, and a bite of the churro-middle. "I'm eclectic, I like some of just about everything. i know, that sounds like a cop-out. Just lacking inspiration on the happy love songs, or?"

Rhys and Park are in the performance stage, the latter working on songs at this late (or is it really early) hour where most people have headed home. She plucks the offered churro from his hands to finish it off for him - such sacrifices she makes. "I'm pretty lightweight when it comes to drinking. I can get drunk on light beer fumes." She considers his comments on her lyrics. "Hmm, I'm not sure she was ever about respect, more about the fame. That's what happens now. People need to be known on social media, not respected. You wouldn't troll if you wanted to be respected. You wouldn't show off your boobies if you wanted to be respected. You do that to just be known." A shrug about her lack of inspiration. "I like to think I'm a happy person all the time but not in love I guess."

Late, early, it's all relative.

Giada strolls through the relativity with her hands in her pockets, cord running up from the back pocket of her jeans into her ears beneath her beanie, and there's a pair of welding goggles up on her brow. What few stalls still open don't really draw her attention, skipping past them as people finish getting their stalls closed for the night. Small frozen puddles are hoped over, one in particular, she lands on the otherside and kicks an empty cup with a coca-cola label down the thoroughfare. There's only one place with in 'real' life though and fate draws her there, swinging around the railing into the preformance area with a yawn into the back of her palm.

"Sad but cost-effective," Rhys declares the lightweightness, with a grin, and finishes off what's left of the churro. He's apparently a night owl, since he seems perfectly awake right now. "Why shouldn't she still be respected if she showed off her boobs, though?" He'll meet on terminology about halfway here. "Maybe they're really nice and she likes 'em. If someone takes pictures of me without a shirt on, how much less am I gonna be respected, and what's it got to do with anything else I can do? I'm just sayin', why is it okay if she's gonna be disrespected for that, and does it even really matter, if no one respected her before anyway? Not disagreeing it's a crappy way to treat a whole gender, but if I can be ignored, which is pretty disrespectful, or seen and disrespected anyway, I can see going for seen. Like, if I can pick rich and reviled or poor and reviled, I'm picking rich." He shrugs, attention briefly caught by someone else walking through who is a) not sweeping grass and b) cuter than the guy sweeping grass, and flashes a smile in Giada's direction as the woman approaches, before looking back to Park. "Can't write about something you're not feeling?" It sounds curious, not accusing. "There's probably enough love songs to do us for a few generations anyway, I guess."

Alison was here. Emphasis on was. Sometime after the bands had finished, she'd wandered off, heading who knows where. Maybe home for a while? But she came back. The first thing she does upon returning is head over to the churro stand - or at least, where the churro stand.. was? Or still is. It's just closed, now. And a churro stand with no churros is no churro stand at all. Unless they have elephant ears.

With a slightly exaggerated (or at least what one would hope to be exaggerated) growl at the denied pastry, Alison spins back around, starting off to head back to her car, when she spies Giada jumping over frozen puddles. The redhead strolls over through the freshly seeped grass, calling 'Gigi!' when she gets reasonably close, a grin on her face. "The churro stand closed, and.." Which is when she spies Rhys finishing off his. Dammit. Yes, she'd had two churros earlier, but her dessert stomach always has room for more churros. "..how long ago did you get that?"

She gives a wave to Park as well. "Hiii Park~"

Park listens to Rhys, looking progressively more frustrated with each word. Not with him, more about her own ability to communicate. "I should just play the song." She feels she can exaplain clearer through the lyrics. Though not quite now since there are other people around. "As a great man once said, 'You'd think the world had enough of silly love songs, I look around me and I see it isn't so.'" A beat before she adds, "Oh no."

"Hey, Alison! Have you been here all along?" Park grins to the redhead before there is a new person to meet. She waves excitedly to Giada. "Hi! I'm Mee. Or Park if you prefer. I hope you're having a good time." She gestures to the man next to her. "This is Rhys. And that's...oh...you already know Alison. She's cool to know."

''Gigi!''

Giada glances up, brow furrowy, at what she thinks was her name being called. She spins in a circle with her head ducking, pulling her earphones out in the same motion and whirling on Alison coming up. A grin cracks her face wide open, "Alipoo. Sup, bitch?" Nothing about churros, she was listening to Hobo Johnson and he was not singing about them, so...

"Oh, hey cool, other people. Hello other people!" By the size of her pupils, she is not now, or for the last few hours, expressly sober. The vape pen she whips out of her jacket pocket certainly isn't helping. She hits it while climbing over folding chairs, walking in the seat portion rather than going around because she prepares her laziness like a deep dish pizza.

Vapor curls out from the corners of her mouth, dropping down into a seat and promptly putting her gross sludgy mud boots on the back of a chair a few down from Park, "Sup, I'm Gigi..." Hipping her pen again, then tucking it in her pocket with her hip hiking up a little. Once it's away she leans over to over a wooly gloved hand to each, "Why are we writing more songs about love? Do we need that?"

"You should play the song," Rhys agrees easily, and he probably doesn't really have a problem with whether there are other people around for it. Not his show! He reaches over to shake Gigi's hand when it's offered, and doesn't reconfirm his name, since Park gave it. Instead, he solemnly informs her, "Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs."

Alison gets a somewhat sympathetic look, though it's spoilt a bit when after answering, "Dunno, maybe five, ten minutes ago?" he glances at his hand and breaks into a grin, turning it over as he looks back to her, "If you're really jonesing, I think there's still some cinnamon sugar on my hand, but we'd probably be forced to check you into rehab immediately if it's come to that." The hand remains (presumably) jokingly offered, though.

Alison shakes her head at Park! "Nah, I took off for a while after Cameron's band finished, my sleep schedule is all wonky with work right now. Couldn't sleep any more." She shrugs. "I was hoping for more churros, but no bueno." Her Spanish accent is nonexistent, and the pale woman does not even try.

Grinning at Giada, she presses in close and gives the woman a quick smooch on the cheek. "Hi, lady." But then she starts climbing around the chairs, and.. hmm.

The redhead groans at Rhys's statement of the churro stand's recent demise. "Uggggh." She peers at Rhys's hand for a moment, as if almost considering it, but then looks up to meet the man's eyes. "Pah! And here I thought the whole 'being charming' thing was just for your day job. ..night job? Is working at a nightclub a night job or a.." She kinda trails off, chewing on her thumbnail, peering around the park to see if anything else food related is still open. Doesn't look great at this hour.

"What he said" Park replies about love songs, pointing to Rhys rather than the other male nearby - the guy sweeping the grass. "Nice to meet you, Gigi." Shaking hands? Unless there is a violent refusal, Giada will be getting a hug. "You're not going to lick his hand, are you?" Park asks Alison with a little concern but, thankfully, it doesn't come to that. "I am going to find you some churro" she announces to the redhead. "I have some pull around here" she adds proudly before her voice drops to a whisper they can all here. "I don't actually but I'll see what I can do." A big hug for Alison and then one for Rhys. "I'll play the song tomorrow in our set if you're around. You know, it's probably more about how you feel you have to put out to belong to society, whether you want to or not. I guess it's in the title." Jumping down off the stage she waves at the group. "See you soon!"

"Hugs are nice." Giada says as she's assaulted, but lacks any kind of refusal. It's not the warmest embrace under the sun, but whatever she returns it! Then watches Park's go with a raised brow and a half smirk, shameless tramp that she is. "So.." Flopping back into her seat and returning legs crossed upon the back of another. "Lick it, lick it!" Alison refuses and Gigi dramatically drops her thumbs down with an equally dramatic frown. Eyeing Rhys with her head canting to the side, "Do they though? I feel like you could replace love with 'S.T.D.s' and you'd basically be telling the same story... I've had ''quite'' enough of love, thanks.. and love songs only give people false expectations of what love is.." Holding up one finger, "It's all about compromising to satisfy someone elses self interest and hoping the care enough about having you around to compromise some of theirs... or you do ''all'' the compromising. Or they do... but fucking someone is compromising.. and that shit always get left out of the song."

"It's a calling," Rhys replies, the earnest tone undercut by the light in his eyes. Whether he's referring to working at the nightclub or being charming is left as an exercise for the reader. ...and her opinion of his charm, presumably. Park gets a hug of farewell, and an assurance that, "I figured I'd come by," before she goes.

"You've got friends in high places," he remarks to Alison as Park heads out on the churro hunt; he does a good job of continuing to look like whether the other redhead follows Park's or Gigi's advice is entirely up to her, but doesn't look disappointed that she's decided discretion is the better part of churro-lust. "And if they didn't want to, I'm pretty sure they'd stop doing it. Love songs are apparently an unsaturatable market." He considers her argument for a moment, though, head tilted. "All You Need Is STDs? How Deep is Your STD? Greatest STD of All? I really don't think they'e got the same ring to 'em." A beat. "Tainted STD, though, maybe. I could see that one being a hit. Pretty sure 'I've had quite enough of love' is a whole 'nother thread the world's got infinite room for, though, so maybe it's all self-sustaining."

Alison smirks a little at Rhys's response, then squeezes Park close in a goodbye hug. "See you later, Mee." Eyeing the woman as she leaves, "Somehow I don't think she's gonna be able to open the churro stand by herself, but that one's always full of surprises." A shrug. "They should be open during the day, at least."

The 'suggestion' to lick the man's hand has the redhead giving a Look to Giada. "It's the man's hand, not a frog, Gigi."

Next, she climbs up onto the stage, grabbing the mic stand, no actual mic present as someone responsible for such things would have surely put it away by now rather than leaving it open to be stolen overnight. "I dunno, love's alright. I think it's more following what society expects of love that gets people fucked up, if that makes any sense." Another shrug, her red hair catching slightly in the breeze. "There's a lot of garbage love songs, like, Taylor Swift, shit like that.. just bought and sold like burgers from McDicks. They're not all bad, though? Depends on why you wrote the song, I think.. can be because you're in love, falling out of love, or just ABOUT love.."

Ali swings the micless mic stand a little closer, and start singing softly (but not especially loudly):

Cause you are the ocean
And I'm good at drownin'
You should be lookin' out
The mornin' will follow
And I won't remember
You should be lookin' out
It feels like I've been here, I've been here forever
You should be lookin' out
You should be lookin' out..

She trails off after a bit more.

"That's probably why I don't write music." Gigi holds her hands out in a helpless shrug, "That and I have no lyrical talent ... I'm pragmatic like that." She sniffs a bit and rubs at her nose, then rubs her hands together to warm them up against the biting cold. Her fingers drape down inside her leather jackets lapel, running along the zipper as Ali pops up on stage, a little grin playing on her face. Green eyes... well mostly black, her pupils are really really wide.. rove over her as she swings the mic stand around, "Sure, I'm not denying there are some, /some/, good love songs, but it kind of gets buried beneath trash after a while. For every 'Sour Times' there's a thousand bullshit, rehashed, nonsense, spoon fed fuckery painting it as a walk through lillies holding hands.. I guess it comes down to singing about something you feel instead of singing about something that sells?"

She's no musician, she said that already.

It turns out, however, Alison kind of is.

Gigi tilts her head a little more, then slips her fingers in the corners of her mouth and whistles. "If it weren't fucking freezing, I'd definitely throw my bra on stage."

"Sturgeon's law," Rhys says with a light shrug, "90% of everything is crap. So. you know, we're all in it for the other 10%. Except for those times we like the crap, too. Lots of people liking a thing doesn't necessarily mean it falls into either category." That bit's a little thoughtful. "Not sure it can boil down to why you wrote it or how much you cared, because man there's a lot of unredeemably bad poetry out there written by sixteen-year-olds who really, really, really felt that shit at the time. I hear. Definitely wouldn't know firsthand." Half a grin. "But plenty of people feel things that sell. Pretty sure a lot of it sells because it's what other people feel, too. In a way they understand. And cliches don't make you work."

He's not a musician either, but he does like music. Alison's singing, he shuts up for, and Giada's remark on it gets a laugh. "Me too. But it's way too cold to sacrifice my lingerie tonight. Raincheck."

Alison smirks at Giada and sticks out her tongue at the woman. "I'd rather take it off you myself instead." She hops down from the stage and grabs a chair reasonably, but not immediately beside Giada, sitting on it sideways. "Can I bum a hit?" She reaches out towards her and makes the wiggly grabby hand sort of motion with her fingers.

"Naw, if we actually like it, then it's not crap. At least in my book." A shrug. "Everyone's favorite thing's crap to someone out there." The line about Rhys's lingerie gets a smirk instead. "Probably helps keep the ol' bait and tackle in place too, huh."

"Anytime, anywhere, except here.. because it's fucking freezing." Gigi says unto Alison, smirking and leaning over to pull her vape pen out of her front pocket to hand out towards the redhead. She kind of side eyes Rhys in her new, awkward, position, "I guess, but that's putting a whole lot of thought into validating cliche. I'm not saying love doesn't exist, I'm not even really saying I don't want to be in love, I'm human and easily swayed by the concept of constant adoring companionship, but listening to .. fucking... Tswift or god damn anyone, I don't know, I'm tripping balls I can't use words.."

She keeps spinning, boots off the back of the chair, back against the seat reasonably seperating her from Alison, and her head upon the other womans leg. Just as she's getting comfortable, right at that very moment of maximum comfortability, her phone starts ringing. Actually it plays a song; ''I hate everything about you'' by Ugly Kid joe.

With a groan she pulls it from her back pocket and thumbs the screen, "What the fuck do you want, mom? ... Okay, well stop being a stupid ass and leave...?" Rolling her eyes, "Whatever, I'll be there in a little bit, just get Bugs clothes together ... Fuck you're a dumb bitch." She thumbs the phone off and sits up abruptly with a groan, "I've got to go."

Another groan as she pulls herself off the seats and leans in to side hug Ali, "Hold onto the pen Aliroo, I might need to sleep on your couch today if that's alright? That or for you to come bail me out of jail .. fifty-fifty chance right now. But I'll definitely get you breakfast!" Wiggling her hand. "Rhys, I dig the way you dig love songs. Try not to freeze your balls off." Wiggle pointing between them as she jump/crawls over chairs to not need anyone to stand up for her to leave, she starts for the quickest route out of the park - the woods. So she must know where she's going.

"Never said not making you work was the hallmark of art," Rhys says, a touch dryly, "Cliches are cliches for a reason, though, y'know? They shortcut meaning in a way people get." He glances skyward, with a dismissive, "Eh. I need to be drunker or higher to keep going on this one right now. There's a whole argument about whether some things are closer to objectively good or crap, but I really am way too sober for that to be fun right now."

Giada gets a flicker of side-eye herself as she has that conversation, but the remark about his feeling for love songs gets a grin again, and a slight shake of the head. "Well, you don't want 'em wandering off just anywhere," he says mostly to Alison, "That's just asking for trouble. Later, Gigi, nice meeting you."

Alison frowns at Gia as she listens to the conversation. It's a little rude, but there's not a whole lot else going on. And it doesn't sound like it's too great of a conversation going down. "My castle is your castle, babe." Yes, because that's the phrase. "..you need a hand with him?" She takes the vape, not giving it a hit just yet, staring back at Giada. "I can give you a ride.. no? Alright. Lemmie know if you need anything." The rejection of the offer of assistance has the redhead sagging in her seat. "Dammit.." She sticks the other woman's vape into the pocket of her exceedingly boofy jacket.

Rhys watches the sagging -- and the lack of use of the vape despite request! -- and glances after the departing woman briefly before looking back to Alison. "Bail or couch-claiming with 100% chance of breakfast is a pretty decent forecast, though," he says, "and I'm pretty sure I caught an 'anytime, anywhere' to cash in there. Plus, tomorrow: churros." He stifles a yawn, looking almost surprised about it, and gets to his feet, stretching. "And I guess if I intend to come eat them, I should probably go grab a nap. Good seeing you again." He sounds pretty sincere about that, before the grin emerges again. "Have fun storming the castle." And then he's hopping down off the edge of the stage to head out... not toward the woods. He knows where he's going too, but it's not there.