2020-04-17 - You Got Served: 'Bring It On' Edition

"Mmm, the purple ones are best, but the yellow tastes like banana." Lyric says to whoever wants to listen, because she enjoys them. A lot. They were free too, which may in fact make them taste a whole lot better. Wearing whatever skimpy thing she had, since this was a dance club! Just imagine something black and sexy, cut to there, skirt of it a little too short, maybe showing entirely too much skin. Her only saving grace are the striped leggings she has on beneath like always. On her feet are a pair of low top Converse because heels aren't a thing for Lyric.

Sometimes you need a night out on the town, even if that town is Gray Harbor. Cristobal strolls into the Club with his fingers interlaced into Sparrow's. "So how much do you think I have to slip the DJ to play some Salsa music?" He's grinning like a Cheshire cat but his eyes are showing a different story. Something's bugging him, beyond his bruised and battered face that's well on its way to healing, but maybe an evening of dancing, sweaty bodies and free drinks will fix that.

Jay spins a little bit on the stool he's sitting on next to Lyric. In his hand, one of the yellow ones. He waves one of the yellow vials and then tosses it back, swallowing with a smile. "I like bananas." He's in a pair of slick black-and-gold sneakers, dark red pants and a yellow dress shirt, untucked with the sleeves rolled up. He has a pair of sunglasses but he's not goof enough to have them ON, just tucked into the neck of his shirt. "You still owe me a surprise!" he tells Lyric with a grin.

Kip had come by the Nazario apartment as Nova and Rekani were getting ready for the night. Per usual Nova was taken too long which in their household led to arguing in loud Spanish. Nova of course bet that she would smoke Rekani's ass even with two of the women in the car when he complained about the weight difference the two drift vehicles had to endure. She was as the older sibling correct. The Nissan 350z with it's custom galaxy paint-job and lower horse power sequels in ahead and parks. Nova herself sports a rainbow tie-dye tank dress with exposed midriff. She steps out in five in chrome heels and opens the door for Kip like all ladies Nova drives anywhere deserve. Noticing the free drinks back at it again as the two enter she bounces with excitement, snatching a pink one up the moment it crosses her path. "Awww shit Mami I matched my dress to that oil spill from last time, this is fate!"

Nicole is out to have fun tonight; not just have fun, but let loose. Arriving on Joey's arm wearing a slinky, silk slip dress in a silver to black ombre. Very thin black straps glide over her shoulders then cross about midway down her mostly bare back before meeting the fabric again at the curve of her lower back. Black platform shoes in black satin adorn her feet, but other than her free-flowing, long summer blonde tumbling locks, she wears no other accessories.

She practically bounces on the balls of her feet as they walk deeper into the club. It's not often they are able to get a night out on the town together like this. "We need drinks... drinks help the dancing, right?" she asks Joey, smiling up at him.

Listen, Firefly is still the best (read: only) real dance club IN Gray Harbor so despite the battle bot thing a month or so back, Kip still frequents the place. Tonight she's tagged along with Rekani and Nova (riding shotgun with Nova this time. It felt good to be a winner!) . The weather is nicer which means more people, which means Kip is very grateful for her black and glitter-gold outfit. But when she noticed those neon colored drinks floating around? Kip almost turned around and walked out. ALMOST. Not nearly as excited as Nova was about seeing them again. But then...they were still free and...well, what kind of investigator was she if she didn't test things to gather more information? A bad one. Exactly. So she's grabbed up a yellow shot in the spirit of matching outfits. "To matching outfits!" She knocks it back and flashes a grin to Nova. "And to winning!"

Having overheard Lyric- "You're right! It is bananas!"

It was so close behind Nova arriving, Rekani was basically walking in with her and Kip, but anyone in the parking lot had seen the latino's sleek black E60 skid into a spot not far behind his sister. Thankfully, it didn't affect his mood, quite used to coming in second place to his sister. It was clubbing night! Dressed in some dark khakis and a flower-print shirt, the bigger boy was basically already making dance like steps as they were clearing the door, getting the feel for some good music, and... probably having pre-gamed at least a little. The slight waft of vapor from his nose as he talks makes it obvious it probably wasn't with booze. "Aww shit, they runnin, free drinks ag-..." Even as he's reaching to snag some of the shots, the smile dies on his lips, looking to the two women he was with, "Ya'll, I got deja-vu for some reason..." Maybe he was a little more toasted than he needed to be.

Who was Rekani kidding, peer pressure was a hell of a drug. One shot goes down the hatch without further consideration.

Sparrow rolls her eyes at Cris, ending with a smirk angled his direction when that full rotation's done. "Like the DJ's not gonna play Despacito or whatever if you ask." The bleach blond still has her jacket on, all black with silver stars of various sizes embroidered onto it, but her white crop top with a red Q and heart on the left side marking her the Queen of Hearts peeks out past the open front, midriff showing above her short red skater skirt. Her well-worn black Docs have red laces in tonight, which match the bright color on her lips. Spying Nicole not too far off she calls, "Sexy pants!" even if she's in a dress tonight, then blows a kiss that direction.

Joey is not, turns out, wearing the tiny leather pants. Fir one they are made to fit Nicole. It'd never happen. Reasonably he informs, "She's gotta be talking to you." Head up nods to Cris and Sparrow and he bothers to lift his hand for the effort. Turns out either Felix, Byron, or Nicole sat Joey down and told him he has to actually dress like a damn business owner when he goes out or some shit and that jeans and t-shirts ain't gonna cut it on a formal night. Ah well. Maybe he wasn't willing to do that to Nicole when she made an effort but he's back int that dark devil red suit from back on Halloween again. no horns. Showing. "You're serious?" Go out there? Right. "I'm not throwing you though unless the floor becomes lava." Given that it's Gray Harbor? eh 15% chance that it will.

Cris gives a low rumble of laughter as he leans over and kisses Sparrow's temple, disentangling his hand from hers if only to snag a couple of those free drinks that are making the rotation and passes one over. The call of 'sexy pants' draws his attention to who Sparrow is greeting and his glass raises in a silent toast to the pair. "C'mon, I should say hello." He says quietly to the sexy eclecto punk rock girl with him as he steers her in that direction. He's in low slung jeans and dark grey cowboy boots, a black dress shirt that he's rolled up to the elbows showing a bit of ink on his inner forearm. Nothing fancy. Nothing he can't dance in. "Hey Joey. When's the next bake sale?"

The purple one is finished before Lyric takes up another yellow one and lifts it towards Kip with a grin and a silent toast. The music was great, the crowd was plentiful and the conversation? Totally bananas. "Me too." So she takes a drink and does a double take. "This one is pineapple-y." Jay's outfit is admired, because it's off the wall like she is. "A surprise," she muses, a lopsided grin as she finishes off the lemon thing and gets a neon orange one. "I really like pineapples even better!"

Nova was not one who was usually into cheer-leading, but she is into drinking. Kip gets an approving look involving an eyebrow raise as Nova sees her in the light of the club. Loud enough for Rekani to hear she calls out something along the lines of Rekani not deserving Kip, but the club is loud enough she could have plausible deniability. "I swear these things are hand squeezed juice mixed with like children's tears or some shit, fucking delicious." Overhearing lyric and also giving her an up and down look she nods. "I want to try to put three in a cup and down them together just to see what happens. Sounds Bueno? No?" Nova's hips are already swaying to music out of habit.

Jay shrugs and smiles at Lyric. "Uh huh." He grins wider and picks up a green one, lifting it up and squinting at it. "Are these things getting brighter or is it just me?" He shrugs and tosses it back, swallowing and setting the vial aside. He glances off to spot people coming in, though frankly, he's rare enough in the social scene that he can't claim knowing many people. Her tilts his head at the music, spotting the bridesmaid brigade over there, and giving Lyric a faux 'yeesh' look.

Better fashionably late than never.
A dark humanoid sharp occupies the door when it's thrusted open. It's a fair lick better than the music that assaulted the senses from the Twofer, so the mass moves in, ducking under the doorjamb and stepping inside. A stoic expression paints Everett's lips and persists when a free drink is offered right from the door. The giant eyes the offerer and deemed innocent enough takes it from them with a shrug. A mouthed thanks and without examining, or questioning, it any further, he tilts his head back and owns the drink returning the empty container to the tray while making a face.

"Not deja vu, if it's happened before." Kip counters Rekani's words. At least, she's pretty positive that whole thing happened. I mean, her pants got ruined right?? She had to compare...and that was her justification to herself. Not at all that the shots tasted ridiculously good.

Being as short as Kip is, it only takes two or three before she's feeling looser. Letting the music flow through her. She isn't sure of the entirety of Nova's words to Rekani but she laughs anyway, picking out a few words here and there that she's become more familiar with by hanging out with the siblings. "Don't tell Ari...but they're better than vodka." Kip admits. "We should definitely mix them! Bartender! Empty glass is needed!" She flags down the bartender and gets three empty glasses because OBVIOUSLY all three of them are going to be trying this.

"And then we dance!"

"Want some of those skittles drinks or whatever they are?" Nicole asks to Joey right before she hears Sparrow's voice. She laughs and lifts her hand in a wave to the blonde and her companion, Cristobal. She laughs more when Joey points out that it must be her that Sparrow is referring to. "What? You look hot in that suit." She emphasizes her point by landing a gentle smack to his ass. "But yes, I am serious. You have to like, I dunno, at least stand there and let me dance around you. Come on... drinks and dancing! It's fun!"

Aidan's currently on the dance floor, dancing with a random girl in a black dress and unreasonable heels. That is, she's in the dress and heels; he's in a lightweight red coat that hits just below the knees and has all the edges from collar to cuffs to hem trimmed with fluffy red marabou, over a sparkly-gauzy white tank top that was probably designed with a female wearer in mind and might technically belong to Baylee, silver jeans, and beat-up black Docs with, today, silver laces. He has a pair of goggles crushing down some of his curls at present, and does not have a tiara, though as he passes the probably-bride-to-be he gives her a brighter grin and small upnod to indicate it, along with a cheerful, "Nice!" Someone hands him a green drink; he gives it about half a second's glance, then downs it. Appley!

Raised glasses mean downed drinks. Sparrow doesn't hesitate to drink when Cris does, which certainly makes it look like she might be toasting to Nicole's ass. Or Joey's. Valid either way, really. With fingers untangled, her hand snags his arm instead, snaking up his bicep to keep her nice and close. Which leaves her other hand free to snag another shot with a murmur of passing gratitude for the server helping to keep everybody so very well lubricated tonight. There's a very good chance that glass is already empty by the time they pull up next to the pair. She untangles just enough to lean in and give Nicole a kiss on the cheek, a brow waggle cast to Joey as she draws back and gives that red suit a look over. "Love the color." Obviously. "Do a round with us?" And then dancing. After another drink.

An empty shot glass set down, a full shot glass picked up, Rekani makes his way along behind his two lady companions, though his eyes had dropped to the floor to watch his step. This of course leads to them slowly ascending again, watching Kip's legs as she walked. Nova's voice snaps him out of it, and as his eyes flick between his sister and the Russian, there was a look like he may be close to agreeing with her. Motion, or maybe weird social observance, catches his attention, and he follows Kip's previous attention toward Lyric with his eyes. There's a cock of his head and a squint, then recognition playing across his face, settling into a baked smile and a wave to his co-worker. He returns to present conversation.

"Your secret is safe with us. For a price. That is how kompromat works, no?" he tries to imitate a Russian accent with the Russian word, but the overlap of his slight Latino and no idea what he was really saying gives it little weight. Well shit, super shots? He was in. The shot he was carrying and two more he can snag are dumped into his glass in some sort of mad science, and he is picking up the tumbler to toast. "Salud!"

"Brighter or better?" Lyric questions Jay as she tips back the orange one and seems to be enjoying it a whole lot. All the colors. "I think they are getting better. The more I drink.. the more I drink.. the more I drink." Of course she has to clarify. "That's a song." Everything is a song. Looking down towards what he is looking at she laughs. "Hey at least she gets another night of freedom before being bound to one person for life." It's hard to miss Everett's entry, she lifts a hand, waving at him, grinning when he finds one of the drinks and downs it too. "Everyone seems to be liking these ones." Looking out over the masses, she spots a few other familiar faces, but Rekani manages to get her attention a moment and she lifts one of the drinks, a bright, vivid red one. "HI!" she calls out across to him.

Nova has the attention span of a child at the boardwalk, needing to be refocused at a rather consistent rate. Her gaze flits from Kip, well Kip's legs, to Lyric, to Rekani, and...oh hey they were going to the bar! After being handed a cup, hastened by pressing her chest against the bars surface, she mixes a pink/yellow/orange. "¡Arriba! ¡Abajo! ¡Al centro! .... y pa'dentro!" The result that she chugs down is akin to a mai-tai mixed with nerds and a drop of sunshine. She passes the empty cup to Rekani to see what combination he can come up with and cheers for Kip. Intermittently she is distracted by the gorgeous red coat she spots on the dance floor, calling out too loudly in the wearers direction. "What do you think I have to do to get that off him and on to me?" Nova asks her compatriots.

The Russian may or may not have given a little wiggle of her hips, feeling Rekani's eyes on her.Kip's shot? Has blue, red, and purple which results in just an even darker purple color. "Da, I'll have to find some evidence on you now, chico!" Kip giggled. "Za schast'ye!" She downs her shot which somehow tastes even better all together and nearly slams the glass on the table.

She laughs, snaking an arm around Rekani and grinning to Nova. "Let's go dance over and ask him for it! If he says no? We'll take it anyway!" Obviously that's the best course of action.

"Six of one. Half a dozen of the other." Jay shrugs at Lyric and grins again. "Hey, she chose that. That's her mistake to make!" He glances when she says hi to someone, turning back to catch one of the lemon drinks. He tosses it back, shaking his head and rolling his shoulders back as he shifts restlessly on his stool.

And then--cheerleaders. "Holy, shit." When the pom-pom brigade arrives en masse, Jay blinks, and as he starts to get herded, he glances over at Lyric with a shrug. "You comin'?" If the girls give her a choice, that is.

Music thumping, eyes dilating, limbs flailing.
The club is a sea of bodies.

Pausing to get his bearings where he was assaulted with free libations, Everett combs fingers through his long dark hair, sending the ebony cascade over his shoulders. His head uplifts, focusing on the platinum blonde that waved in his direction. Now all he has to do is make it there in one piece. Usually, easier done than said when he menaces with his presence. But with a few under them, it isn't called liquid courage for nothing.

And then there's cheerleaders. "Hello~." murmurs Everett to himself, the right side of his mouth uplifting with a pleased smirk at the distraction.

Joey side glances to his date; one eyebrow arching on the boxer. "There's other options for dancing?" Smart ass. Always apparently. There's a shadow of a grinn to Cris and a Sparrow. Noted. "Cris, that's a good fucking question. We might have a new backer for brownies." His head wobbles as if considering his words, He greets Sparrow, "Sup, beautiful? Yeah I'm in for shots." He sees the cheerleaders though. His hand finds Nicole's waist to try to keep her away from the one but- yup, there's more. "What is this? Fucking high school flashback night?" And then Nicole is piffed with a pompom. His eyes squint and he calmly looks at her, "Baby, you need me to hold your hoop earrings you lemme know."

"Oh yes! I'm going to dance." Lyric loved music, dancing, fun. You know, whatever. On her feet, she finishes off the halogen white colored drink that seemed to act almost like a flashlight until she swallows it all down. She's several in now, a whole variety of colors and when Jay gets to his feet, she nods towards the floor, "Be there in a few minutes." Watching Everett get sidetracked by the cheer squad, she laughs, replaces the vial and brings one out on the floor with her. Another bright white one. Hey, it lights her way and it tasted sort of like coconut! Already dancing before she even gets out there, she could have fun anywhere, anytime.

Well, now Rekani was holding some sort of swirling pink and green facsimile of an Echo Cooler... and an empty glass. He looks confused at his sister, then rolls his eyes in an exaggerated manner, sliding his eyes away, though... that coat was absolute fire. He does spot the geriatric clubber, and just has to yell, "Aww fuck, go grandpa!" He's got time to register the arm and start to slip his behind Kip when... shit goes pom shaped.

Drink forgotten, Rekani absolutely starts to remember why free drinks were a bad thing in this club and jesus christ get your feet away from me, Stacy! The arm around Kip becomes a little more guard and guide away from possible assault. He's herded onto the dancefloor in a most offended way. "That's it! Changed my mind! Don't wanna DJ this club, ever!" Hopefully Rozencrantz will have a job at his shop... whenever he fixed his fucking lifts.

"Good, because I love me some fucking brownies." Cris' smirk turns a little bit wry. There's no comment as to how Sparrow is knocking them back, but he does start passing out drinks to the four of them when Joey says he's down, assuming Nicole is too. "I didn't know it was a theme night." It sounds part complaint as all pompoms make their appearance and people start doing routines in unison. "Guess we should drink to them all being of age." Because otherwise they wouldn't be in a club, right? Right.

Hey wait, sudden pom-poms? Aidan wants pom-poms! And another of those drinks, which turns out to be a hot pink ones and meets with entire approval, downed before he ducks down to snag a couple of the pom-poms that have ended up on the ground within his general reach and not actually under anyone's feet as yet. He comes up with one in each hand, lifting them above his head triumphantly with a bright cheer. It's possible that wasn't his second drink. Although it's also possible it was.

Either way he shakes them to the rhythm, looking not at all bothered by any of this for the first few moments before the number and similarity of cheerleaders in the vicinity starts to sink in. That's odd enough to get a little pause, mostly in the form of tilted head and furrowed brow as he takes a better look around again, probably to see what's going on, but maybe to see if it looks like everyone else sees this. And to wave a pom-pom at a couple people he actually recognizes. The grin breaks out again as he spots Nova, who seems to have been herded in his general direction. Not that he recognizes her, but, "Oh, hey, awesome dress!"

When the pompom confetti starts to fall from the ceiling, Nicole at first cheers, but when they turn into actual pompoms and one belts her upside the head her demeanor changes drastically. "What the fuck?" She reaches up to rub her head, frowning, before nodding to Joey's support. "Thank you babe, but like... I'll get over it. Come on! Let's dance!" She puts her hands on her hips and nods once, firmly. "Ready? Okay!" She pumps one fist up into the air then lowers it slowly, looking around confused for a moment before she joins in with the cheerleaders dancing along.

"Yooooo, did Gray Harbor just get whiter?" Nova asks distractedly, dodging a pom pom as she is led to the dance floor. She has to be led because who knows what she may do if not properly marshaled somewhere. Momentarily she looks at her brother's outrage, and then at the cup that had not been downed. She is much less concerned for the time being that the world is weird, it's always weird. As she is being led to the floor she waggles a long acrylic to Rekani and looks at the drink like 'You better finish that'.

Arriving on the crowded floor she finds herself near the red coat and is reminded of it's magnificence, the wearer isn't half bad either. "Gracious Azucar, I'll take it off and trade if you want!" She gives a playful wink and her grasp on Kip loosens. It is possible that Nova's hips have not stopped moving to the music the entire time they glided over here.

"Me too!" Sparrow chirps on the subject of liking brownies. Sure, maybe the guys are talking in some sorta weird baked goods code, but who cares? The pretty drinks really help with the whole not caring thing. Mostly. There's a little bit of pouting when her drink spills a bit when she presses in against Cris to avoid a flying pompom which looked like it might maybe hit her before clocking right into Nicole. It's short-lived pouting, given how her, "What the fuck," comes out half-giggled. Shot downed, glass surrendered, she wonders, "Is that muscle memory? Were you a cheerleader?" of Nicole. Her eyes are still wide when she looks up at Cris--who she's wiggling against whether she realizes it or not, body shifting to the beat with a desire to dance as yet otherwise unresolved--and tells him, "This reminds me of this weird rave I went to in Idaho a few years back. Nothing but cheerleaders and jocks and a whole lotta molly."

It took Kip a few extra moments to register the cheerleaders, pressing closer to Rekani as the bar was suddenly FILLED WITH CHEERLEADERs. And yet, they're being herded along with the rest of the masses. She muttered a string of Russian swears before, "At least it isn't robots?" While she doesn't vocalize it - Kip wholeheartedly agrees with Rekani never working here. "They all look...like we're in the middle of a sci-fi horror movie." She watches Nova go off towards Aiden, then sees Nicole starting to join the cheerleaders. Finally, she looks back up to Rekani. "This is only going to end poorly, yes?" So, they might as well dance? The alcohol is still flowing through her and her body is aching to bust out those mediocre dance moves of hers!

She bobs her head and taps her feet to the beat. "They're so bendy." Is also marveled at in regards to the cheerleaders.

There's a long appraisal look at the cheerleader redhead. And then the one next to her. And the one on the other side of the first. Everett squints an eye. Right before his pleased smirk drops. "Ooh. Damnit," A soft hiccup, jerks the gorilla's body while he turns around back to where he saw the porcelain skin arm rise and... his head jerks around, his expression shifting from disappointment to confusion. Where'd she go?

"Where'd she go?" From brain to mouth without passing Go, without collecting two-hundred dollars. There, on the dance floor, the shock of white hair. Follow that.

Jay glances over at Nova and bursts out laughing. "I think it did." He glances back at the cheerleaders as they, Nicole and Joey fall insto step together for the cheers. "Oh, damn. This is some synchronized shit." Still, Jay's not one to back down from any sort of movement-based activity and if it's rhythmic, well--that's what he learned the Tootsie Roll for.

Know what? Shit don't matter anymore. Rekani takes his triple-shot with relative ease and just chucks the glass off in a random upward arching direction. Hopefully it doesn't hit one of his human co-dreamers. Hopefully. "I mean, they look close enough." he remarks to Kip, loosening his hold on her waist, but staying near as his eyes start to watch the dance moves, his vibe harshed like way too much, man. "About as well as last time, I guess." He tries to like... pick out dance moves or shit. Michael Jackson style dance lines were hot and all, but this was way out of his comfort zone.

Lyric is out on the floor now and dancing because the music is fun. That last flashlight of a drink had been downed and the tube thing was somewhere. Where was it? It disappeared! Doesn't matter, the cheerleaders were showing people up! Getting right into it, she shakes her stuff, hip moving, arm swaying, foot dancing, head banging music. To Taylor Swift. Oh well, she's into it at least!

Joey can't not agree with Sparrow here "Yeah that's... I can't tell if they used to be that rude or not." And now Nicole's cheering. One eyebrow goes up and he asks Cris, "The drinking start already?" Dear lord these people. He murmurs to Sparrow, "Shit you just described highschool for me." He doesn't get into how he remembers is. HHe watches Nicole curiously and then the people around. Nothing seems too much an issue really. Eh. "Look, I was a runnign back. This ain't new and that highkick's gotta get a lot better to make a dent here." He follows Nicole over there but only a couple steps, "I thought we was doin shots first?"

There were two life lessons to be learned here. The first was free stuff tasted good even when it spews out of corporal form. The second, Nova's ass shaking is destructive. "Making bitches melt!" Nova calls out, wiping a smidgen of bubblegum goo off her shoulder with a finger and licking it off her finger. She had worn tie-dye for a reason! Not because she expected exploding people, she just liked the dress. Seeing her red coated compatriot with pom poms, she beckons him closer to dance with her. After-all, she no longer had to worry about being rude to the what's her face in a black dress because she was...somewhere else? Nova drops low and pops back up smoothly, waiting to see if he would join her.

"Never!" Is Nicole's shouted answer to Sparrow as she high steps in towards that line of cheerleaders. Her killer heels are kicked off to the side. Dancing in them is one thing, but this? This requires a more solid footing. When 'Shake it Off' starts to play, she slips right into some routine that seems imprinted somewhere in her mind. She continues the high stepping, adding stiff arm movements as if she is holding her own set of (probably in her imagination) silver and black pompoms. With certain phrases, her gestures match the lyrics, at other times, the rest of her body does; like when the line goes "shake it off, shake it off, shake it off." At this, she jumps in a 180 and sticks out her rear, shaking it with added spirit hands. "This is cheertastic! Come on guys, give me an S! Gimme an H! Gimme an A! Gimme a... um.. K! Gimme an E! What's that spell? Shake! Shake it off!" Then to Joey, sure you don't want to throw me?" She winks, then eyes the nearest cheerleader. "Shake it off, cheer bitch!"

Unknownst to him, Everett's actions fall directly into the Cheer Squad's be-pom'ed hands. He snatches two drinks from a nearby free tray while heading into the dance floor and moves like one expects a biker-goth ape would: shifting from side to side, there's a bob of his head while his shoulders sway side to side, taking two turns each before moving to the next shoulder.

For a goth, he's practically flailing.

The red drink in his right hand is downed, the container haphazardly lopped underhandedly to his left. It's not his problem anymore, but he needs that hand free. Especially when he begins to loom up behind Lyric to slip that empty hand around her waist, followed with the florescent green receptacle in his other hand to join his first. His rhythm takes after Lyric's.

"Well, this definitely isn't Salsa music. But you know what? I can get down with it." I mean, sure, Cris was never a real big T-Swift fan but there's something about Shake It Off that's really getting him into the groove tonight. "I bet you didn't know I had an inner white girl, did you?" He half-laughs half-shouts to Sparrow over the noise of the Club.

"...Do Cheerleaders actually do this?" Kip wonders. Clearly she has never seen any of the Bring it On franchise where they do, indeed, do this. Minus the bubblegum explosions obviously. She admires Nova's dancing a few extra moments - she had to take some notes - but then she snaps back to reality. Which was another dance battle apparently! She released Rekani if only to move more in front of him, starting to properly dance as she eyed the cheerleaders.

Well shit, here we go. Rekani claps his hands, then rubs them together with a self-deprecating looong stare towards the ceiling, cause of all the things he was about to be caught doing, it was being down with Swifty. Face it, it was a heavy bass single-double combination typical of sport cheer music. That shit was prevalent and the easiest thing to put along-side a simple step-touch, back and forth. He throws in some good hip movement and arm sway, giving the moves motion. It wasn't spectacular, but it ain't none of that Carlton shit. Those trash steps were Fortnite-tired.

"Liar!" Sparrow accuses Nicole good-naturedly. There is way too much competent kicking happening over there for cheerleading to have never been a thing, right? She giggles something about how this is all so weird that's too quiet to carry about the crowd, but what does she care? She's got an attractive man dancing with her to some of her favorite pop nonsense and a real damned fine buzz. Life is good. Leaning in toward Cristobal, she laugh-shouts back, "I should introduce you to the biggest Taytay fan I know!" Not that she doesn't qualify herself, the way her arms go up in the air, her hands shaking in a familiar motion. She starts to step like they do in the video, prancing in a circle just in time to catch that pink explosion. Right in the face. And hip. And all over the floor under foot. There's no wobbling, no warning. One second, she's upright, and then next, she's flat on her ass with legs all awkwardly askew and that short skirt of hers all out of place. Thank goodness she's wearing a rather modest pair of red undies. With adorable little white hearts on them. And now a lot of sticky pink goo. Ew.

Aidan glances at Nova's dress again like he might actually be considering her offer, before deciding, "I'm pretty sure I'd get arrested if I tried!" Considering he's almost a foot taller than the dancer and it's not exactly a maxi-dress, he may not be wrong. The dancing offer, though, he'll take that! Maybe unwisely, considering her moves seem to have just exploded a cheerleader, but maybe it's better to be on her good side then, right? Right. Plus, he's getting into this.

Was Aidan a cheerleader in high school? Well, he definitely is now. Maybe it's The Spirit of the Thing, but he seems to be a decidedly better dancer in this genre, which is to say, Suddenly Cheer Routines. Starting to synchronize with people he's never even met, not entirely matching up with Nova's dropping and popping but shakin' those pom-poms like he means it. He calls back to Nicole when she calls out the spelling, but it's still not enough pep to intimidate That Peppy Bitch Over There. Maybe once he warms up? Maybe when he isn't looking a little confused by the cheer explosion, and then slightly resigned. Oh. Well. Once they start they're gonna go on, so... we got Spirit, yes we do!

Everett joins her and Lyric grins at him. There was a cheerleader dancing across from her and she goes all dance battle on her. Arms moving, she sways her hips as she does a complete spin and gets her whole body into it. When the cheerleader melts away, she gives Everett a look with a grin. "You're up!"

"Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. I shake it off, I shake it off." Wait, Cris knows the lyrics? And he's not just mouthing them, he's singing them at the top of his lungs while he puts way too much hip action into dancing around with Sparrow like they did in fact take Molly before walking in here. "I'm lightening on my feet..." But clearly his dance partner is NOT, as Sparrow goes down in a big ole sticky messy. Sorry, but that shit's funny. He's laughing as he tries to help her up. "Dancer down!"

Even as cheerleaders start exploding and melting into goo, Jay keeps dancing. There's a thing in Gray Harbor where you stop really asking 'what the fuck' and you just decide to roll with whatever fucks you're given in the moment, and it seems Jay has reached that point in his life. Good for him. He steps up to the one with the 'tude that got Sparrow all in a slip-and-slide and he crosses his arms over his chest alllll the way, tilting a little to the side. "Oh, honey."

Jay drops to one hand and one foot, the other one kicking out, and then he twists and drops, spinning on his back and spinning onto his head, until he touches the floor with both hands and pops up, landing on his feet with a smooth step and a smoother smile.

Just in time for the cheerleader to explode in his face and cover him in pink goo. "... rude."

It takes a couple of seconds for Sparrow to catch up with this sudden shift in perspective, for the pain and shock to give way to giggling. She swats at Cristobal's hands, shooing away his help, laughing too hard herself--and still a bit winded, from the sound of it--to attempt verticality again. She licks at some of the way-too-pink goop that's dripped onto her lips without thinking, eyes brightening as she murmurs an, "Mm!" that no one else probably hears. Liquified cheerleader's kinda tasty! Strawberry! Which would totally creep her out if she were sober, but she lost that fight a few neon shots ago. Not that she was fighting all that hard. Or at all. Kinda like how she's not fighting gravity right now. Yet. It's gotta be dangerous sprawling here. Give her just a moment. She's enjoying this obliviousness.

Kip knows she's not a great dancer, but that's never stopped her before. Rekani's moves have this gooleader already melting so she tries to step it up some to maybe finish her off. Unfortunately, the gooleader seems unaffected. On the plus side- Kip isn't totally covered in goo yet so her outfit isn't completely ruined again...yet. She doesn't get discouraged though, continuing to bust a move. As it were.

Nova does her best not to laugh at...whatever it was Aidan was doing...Instead she takes steps closer to him, moving easily in her chrome heels. Her hands reach out to his pom ridden ones, trying to get him to step out from the cheer pack. "They are all going to do that Papi, best not to stand too close, unless you are in to it." Nova looks the taller man up and down. "You might look better than me in this dress, just saying." Nova's footwork is salsa, but her mid body movements keep her about the same distance from him. She shakes her straightened middle part hair behind her shoulders to give them some air.

She would kill for another of those weird shots at the moment, feeling thirsty after the bubble goo. She is then distracted by some dude killing it with glow sticks on the floor. "Go ahead!" She calls out to him cheering.

Tag teaming in when Lyric tells him he's in, he doesn't give it much. She's already melting, ew. Pulling from Lyric, Everett lets his leather jacket slide down to his elbows, baring his broad chest and pecs beneath his tight green tee-shirt. In time with the beat, he flexes his pecs: left, then right. Together, then separate.

Turning around, the ape puts his leather jacket back on so he can slap his butt cheek with his bare hand and point pistol-gun at her. The drink in his hand is downed. The empty container flung over his shoulder to where he doesn't care. Pistol-gun finger is pulled before he returns his attention back to Lyric. Now that his hands are free, they slip behind his head, gathering his long hair. Gratuitous hip trusts follow.

First bitches be trippin, now they be exploding. Joey watches Sparrow to make sure she's not dissolving into a vat of glitter or anything. He takes out his phone, snaps a pic of the combustive spirited chaos and kicks that off to a certain someone. This is a Tomorrow Rhys problem, not a tonight Joey problem. Message reads: You might want to review some shit with your asst mgr bruh.

Now is Joey digging the beat? Meh, not really his jam. Is Nicole having a good time? Yes, and he's competitive af so yeah. Why not. What no one really gets let in on lightly is that Joeys' somehow in all of this time on parole, classically trained. Oh yeah that whole amateur night thing. He grabs Nicole by the waist and pops her in the air and tries to ignore the combustion cheer squad. If it must be angry agro dance hour so be it.

We got spirit, yes we do! We got spirit, how 'bout you? Lyric is feeling her own brand of happy after having so many drinks. She's giggly, watching cheerleaders melt and explode all over. Pink? Just another color to add to her black dress. Looks prettier and much more colorful that way! When Everett.. does what he does, she laughs, dancing along with him, but her eyes flit over to Jay too, totally getting it going on the dance floor. Boy can dance! She hip bumps him while he's dancing then does the same to Everett, in it for the fun.

Clearly Cheerleaders exploding into pink sticky goo is the norm for dance off's because Cris seems entirely nonplussed about the fact that Sparrow is happy to wallow down there while others around him pop. "Suit yourself, because..." He gets distracted by some bouncing, and his attention swivels in that direction. "Get a load of those sweater puppies!" If he were a cartoon dog, his eyes would be popping out of his head with an AWOOOGA! noise. He's about to go slack jawed, but thankfully is saved from that disgrace only by another. A high kick to his chin. Even as he's reeling back, he's fine. Totally fine. That didn't hurt! Hey, where are those drinks?

"Is my Bird okay?" Nicole asks a split second before Joey is grabbing her by the waist and hoisting her up into the air. Despite her concern for her friend, she strikes a pretty convincing pose while he holds her aloft. "Yeah! Who's got your back? We've got your back! Go team!" She seems not to notice, or care, what she may be flashing in that short dress of hers. When the cheerleader splits into two halves before Joey melts her completely, Nicole raises her arms up high, angled slightly. "SHe gave us a V for Victory!"

Having to literally shake off some of that weird pink goo from his hands, it almost looks like Rekani is going along with the song, as it's intended! He had an idea, stepping forward, getting in rhythm with Kip and reaching to put his hands on her hips, leaning his face in to ask, "Do you trust me?" He'd wait for confirmation, point to another set of cheerleaders he was sure was doing a toss, "Keep rigid, I'll catch you." He would then immediately bust out his shine, and though it looked like he grabbed, lifted, and actually tossed Kip into the air, it seemed like something else was doing a bit more work than his arms. He tries to give the motion a little spin, but that would depend on Kip, and of course, he'd have his arms out to catch her again as she falls back towards the floor.

Aidan winces a little when Sparrow goes down, and more so when Cristobal gets a high-kick to the chin, 'cause ow. ...he's kinda right about the sweater puppies, though, damn. Very bouncy. Not enough to keep his attention from Jay breakin' out the righteous moves, though, or Andre with his glowsticks, both of which cheer him right back up, even if the explosion of Jay's opponent has him nodding to Nova's advice as she takes his hands and moving... maybe out of range of cheerleader goo? Maybe. At least if he has cause to find out it's strawberry that might be a bright side.

There's still a lot of Off to get Shaken, though, and Aidan's gonna do it through the magic of POM-POMS! Sadly he is somewhat better at close-up boardwalk magic, but whatcha gonna do? And if he can't defeat the proper challengers himself, well, he's damn well gonna cheer for the home team instead, even if he doesn't know most of their names and it results in things like "Fighting us will spell your doom, taste the Rainbow and go boom!" But hey, it scans and rhymes and he's got conviction, even if he can't beat out some spirit fingers on his own.

Kip gives Rekani a dubious look. This history of that question since the beginning of time was always followed by something ridiculous. "Yes, I trust you." She relents and then yelps as she is tossed up in to the air. She can fell the pulse of Rekani's use of his abilities. At least she doesn't fall! She just tries to relax and helps to follow through with the spinning motion. It's all over in a matter of seconds but it feels like an eternity.

To Kips credit? When she lands back in Rekani's arms she's totally striking a pose in the direction of the cheerleader rival like this was all planned. Hooray for improvising!

Oh this one was one of those that tried too hard to shout over the music. Really, super annoyingly loud! Lyric realizes the only way out of it was to defeat her with dancing! At least that seemed to be the way others were melting them. Lyric tries to get Everett into step with her, but that busty babe was there too, so she thrusts out her own chest and flaunts it back while moving to the music, sharp almost cheerleader-like moves. Stepping nearer the cheerleader she tries to dominate the floor and get her to back up and off, ending her set with a double middle-finger to the girl, knowing she owned it.

Gasp Nova shakes her hips and something does in fact not deteriorate. This is both relieving and irksome, not following tonight's pattern. What was routine anyway? Boring that's what! To defeat dull, you must in fact shake your booty harder. Aidan steps forward and then his hands are occupied with spirit fingers...ahh well, she would get a real dance with him later. Moving her hands to her thighs she sticks her butt out and begins to twerk. The next blonde thing that comes near her is getting a face full of Nazario family legacy also known as Latina ass. She eyes Aidan's coat again. "I really hope that doesn't get ruined! It's super sexy!"

Then she gets some more goo on her...maybe she can twerk it off?

Lured by the promise of tits, Sparrow pushes herself upright to get a good look. Just in time to catch that kick to Cris' chin that sends him reeling. Sure, the compassionate thing to do would be to check and make sure he's alright. Instead, she's climbing up to her feet, all sticky and strawberry-bubblegum flavored, to square off against Tits McGee and vanquish that bitch. Even if, yeah, alright, those knockers are magnificent. Even a great rack doesn't make up for that party foul. Which would maybe be more effective if she had anything more than just a phenomenal sense of rhythm currently compromised by was that even booze going for her right now. She does not. Who even let her on the squad? UGH! All the angry flailing in the world is not gonna win this for her team. But those biceps? She nods firmly to Everett when the top-heavy horror goes down. And then she turns to look for Cris. The rest of the routine--what is wrong with her brain?--can wait.

Jay hip-chckes Lyric right back and winks at her, looking for his next target. When he watches Sparrow crash and burn against the one with the rack, he steps up again--only this time, he, too, is so distracted. Man, that's a good ra--and down he goes, slipping and tripping over himself. "Those things aren't fair, man!"

It takes a real accident to avoid falling into the trap of those bazingas that have befallen, what, three or four people already? But after his pecs already finished off the last cheer-contender into a puddle the Thug turns his attention back down to Lyric. From his vantage point, he's given the show. It's just want he needs to be rendered, if temporarily immune, turning around and seeing sweater meat falling champions.

He's got this. An amused sneer spreads to his lips. And he knows just the moves to break her. Along with his big finish, curling his bicep and having it stretch the leather of his jacket. Once the goon defeats a second opponent, he returns to Lyric, fixing her a sultry stare.

And where is Cris? Facing off with some Tumble Happy Harlot, "Oh no you di'n't." You ever see a surly latino man suddenly break out in a snapping Z-shaped gesture? Well now you have. It doesn't even surprise him when she goes all goo-volcano, like he totally meant for that to happen. "Yeah, bitch. That's what I thought." Even as he's wiping his hand down his face to try to clear off some of the pink glop.

Joey assures Nicole, though not lightly, "Birb is okay. Cris? This... is working. Blow up their fragile egos man." Nicole gets a toss in the air and a catch being pulled to the other side when the one daft bint splits down the middle like she's being unzipped by reality. Reaching over one hand falls to Nicole's waist and the other starts to spin spin spin her like a top. He knows better than to fight them for space. Monsters or no he ain't layin hands on no chica cause then he's still an asshole and the cops have a fucking field day.

Nicole is tossed into the air and caught, pulled into Joey's side. After her V for victory, she sneaks a quick kiss to Joey's cheek before he begins spinning her right round, round round. "Oh my god! I am going to like, get so dizzy!" This is one chica Joey's allowed to put hands on without the cops being called.

It was kinda obvious, wasn't it? As the two in front of them lose shape, he gets it. Teamwork... "Teamwork..." first the realization, then the word popping out of his mouth. Rekani's grip on Kip is swung from under her legs, supporting her body so she can regain her feet as he calls across the music and havoc, "Nova! Teamwork! Remember last time? Do you remember this video?" Cause he did. It was Beyoncé FFS. It was relatively simple shoulder and head motions, then some simple steps. In fact, he was already starting to do it himself to try and jog his sister's memory. "Can you do that thing again?"

"Thanks!" Aidan replies brightly to Nova. "I hope not too, I really like this one! And that--" he balks slightly at saying 'cheerleader goo' and settles for, "that probably doesn't come out of feathers easy." He's not relinquishing those pom-poms, but he IS leaning over slightly above Nova's head to shake them in time with her twerking, like another, higher, frillier and rather less sexy ass. Consider it emphasis. This probably does not count as a real dance, no. But later, probably! When he isn't also making up random cheers for the more effective dancers among them . Rekani calling in their general direction gets his attention, and even if it isn't at him, there's a weird compulsion right now to join in routines, so he does. Even if that one wasn't meant for pom-poms. Everything's better with pom-poms, right?

Nova stops twerking at Rekani's words, stunned by the accusation that she would not in fact remember every single step to this song. It was Beyoncé FFS. "Do you?" She asks, standing up straight and looking appalled at...whatever half job he was doing. Nova rolls her eyes and then notices how good Aidan seemed with his routine steps. Sparrow, Aidan, Rekani, and Kip would feel a tingle in the base of their skulls like someone politely knocking before Nova would burst into their thoughts with what is essentially and instructional video for how to be a badass backup dancer for the Queen Bee's jam.

Does Nova know how to dance...? Rekani should be ashamed. She didn't ask him if he knew how to eat a taco, a comment he would hear through the mental connection.

This is not really Kips type of music. It is good dancing music - it has an okay beat but it's not what she listens to on a daily basis. Therefore - has zero idea about the choreography happening with this song. Then it's Nova to the rescue! A small little shudder as she is linked up with the others and mentally shown this instructional video. With the help of it she is able to at least get some decent movements down. Hopefully it's enough!

Sparrow isn't built for this. Sure, she loves dancing! But, like, in that flaily white girl kinda way that's more enthusiasm than coordination. Even when Nova zaps useful instructions into her head, she doesn't hit her marks, doesn't play nice with others. It's a trainwreck. Let's hope nobody's following her lead.

Oh... Well, thankfully with the way the Veil... did whatever it did, Nova probably couldn't tell Rekani was mentally admitting she was right. He cleans his steps up even more, dancing for all he's got. Thankfully, a portion of Run the World's choreography was shuffling, something he could nail at least ok. Part of him wondered if he could just pull a light fixture down on this cheerleader bitch's head... but... yeah, no.

Lyric and he have been working well with a one-two punch. Everett gives Lyric a nod of his head towards MegaCheerADon, then leans back. He raises a foot up, his hands rise. Kid and Play never had it so good. If only it wasn't so dated. It might have even been good and marginally effectual.

They've done better. But then, nobody seems to be having much success against the UltraSquad's mascot. "Aw, fuck."

This is apparently Aidan's cheerleadin' jam (not to be confused with cheerleadin' goo, which is apparently strawberry flavoured), 'cause he's got this one down flat, enough to throw in bits that aren't actually part of the proper routine, but somehow manage to look like they should be, and meld with the rest of the team. It might even help make any mistakes others make look a bit more intentional! The pom-poms help. ...the pom-poms really help, frankly. All that warming up(?) finally pays off, in a burst of actually sharp and well-timed enthusiasm he will almost certainly never manage to replicate again in his entire life! Also he might kind of regret working in that high kick tomorrow? But tonight, it's all good.

Lyric does love dancing, but the stakes were pretty high. Falling? Who wanted to do that? Dancing with Everett though, trying to team up against them was more fun anyway. Following his lead, she manages not to succeed in beating the cheerleader, but actually, for the moment she doesn't seem to mind!

As everything returns to normal, the the pep seems to die off, Rekani slowly stops dancing. Right there, in the middle of the floor, his face falling to a look devoid of emotion, care, or recognition, his hand goes to his shirt hem. He lifts it, revealing his oh so stylish fanny pack, (guys, seriously, they're coming back.) Unzipping it and reaching inside, a bag of salt and vinegar chips that absolutely had no way to be fit within the confines of its container is pulled into view.

Still seemingly emotionless, and with an incredibly loud sound of crinkling and ripping, Rekani tears the bag open, and proceeds to the nearest couch to flop into it and begin to eat. Oh yeah, and he orders a drink. Mojito. Make it a double.