nyc ♔ all moonlight returned today

[romanticidal]

♬ shining star - jump5

WHO || Rafael, Isabella, Burt, Kat, Gar, Mark, Luthir, Buffy, Spike, Finnick, Violet, Elena, Archer, Des [closed]
WHAT || Burt invites everyone to celebrate their victory at the trial at the opening of his new nightclub in NYC
WHERE || New York City, NY
WHEN || Saturday, March 15th [forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam

It's over. After months of being sidelined by the trial of their friend Rafael, the Knights are finally free to return to England and see what headway the Dragon's Claws have made on discovering the location of the Talisman they seek.

But not everyone is so free to return. The consequence of getting Burt's assistance in disentangling Finnick from his contract and super-stardom was an ironclad agreement that allows Burt to sink his claws fully into Rafael's career. Considering that Burt knows their secret identity, non-disclosure agreement or not, the executive's renowned moral gray-itude doesn't exactly make it seem like a great plan to back out on the compromise.

They've at least been able to put off their goodbyes for a few days since the end of the trial, as Burt invited all of them to New York City for the opening of his brand new nightclub. Some of them flew out, while Archer and Des presumably drove their matching El Caminos cross-country in the days between. But now they've all met again in the Big Apple, for a celebration - and farewell of sorts.

Comments

[slay]

[ effectively distracted from the actual plot by kat's reaction, buffy turns her head to search out the source of her shock, and the joyous, girlish grin melts away as she watches isabella pull rafael in for a passionate kiss (spot 31). her stomach drops, but she can't pull her eyes away, even as the color drains out of her.

she's not elena. she's not going to assert herself and cause a scene or drag isabella away by her hair. instead, it creeps inside of her and gnaws at her already prevalent self-doubt. hearing him say those words had seemed surreal, and now the reason begins to sink in: it felt too good to be true because it was. any blind hope she'd had of actually standing a chance with him is whittled away by the sight, and bile rises up into her throat until she has no choice but to force herself to look away or throw up in the middle of burt's new nightclub.

the music is suddenly deafening, pounding against her ears and through her chest, and the crowd of sweating bodies becomes stifling, suffocating her. dizzied by how suddenly overwhelmed she is, she can't force her eyes to focus on kat as she looks back.

it takes her a minute to steel herself for an answer. don't think about rafael and isabella. don't. the anguish grips her but she forces it back, shutting her eyes briefly to center herself. gar and finnick were talking about something important - keijen. keijen and nadia were here, laying a trap for all of them.

she opens her eyes and fixes her gaze on gar, nodding. ]

If Keijen wants a fight, I say we give him one. Let's grab Des and Spike and get going. [ she's only prioritizing tanks because the others deserve a fun night of letting loose. elena's clearly enjoying herself, and there's no reason to keep that from continuing. ] If we know it's a trap, they can't very well spring it on us. [ the distraction, at this point, is welcome: she'd very much like something to hit. she wants to bury herself in the job that she had chosen over any chance of being with rafael. isabella and rafael would go back to chicago together and forget buffy had ever entered their lives. and buffy would go back to doing what she does best. ]

1/2

[romanticidal]

[ as kat slams a hand on the table and whoops: "Hell yeah!", gar follows buffy's gaze, and casts a troubled look at finnick like ukw i don't think buffy really has her thinking-straight cap on right now maybe...

meanwhile, across the room rafael wrenches himself away from isabella, gripping her by the arms as they appear to argue for a moment. he's still shaking his head, wide-eyed, but then she peels away and stalks out of the crowd towards the door. rafael tries to push after her, but ends up tunneled out by the crowd to the side where their booth is. he shouts over the crowd after her. ]

Bella! Bella, come back!

[shootfirst]

[ meanwhile kat snorts watching this, poking her straw in her drink as she leans waaaay over and says, a little too loud: ] Can somebody say too soon? [ she jerks an elbow into finnick's side with a raucous laugh ] I mean, am I right? [ oh my god when did we all start talking like archer. ]

[65]

[meanwhile, adam sandler's somebody kill me please is montaging in finnick's head. WHAT IS THIS FRESH HELL. time to herd the cats ... (Diplomacy 29)] Or we could wait until the majority of the team sobers up before making any rash decisions.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des's listen check of NINE means he did not hear jack or shit before coming up to the table.] Christ. Is everyone in heat?

[Said the guy making out with Brad Pitt five minutes ago. He did get a 21 wis check to assume Raf was not as into it as Isabella was, so at least he's not on Team Rafael Is a Slut... unfortunately it also means he assumes that Buffy... realizes this too.]

[rationalizes]

[ with her crit failed will save gar is so overcome by everything that she is just utterly grateful for finnick's rational brain over there and is gonna leap on that shit. though first she says: ] I most certainly am not. [ just b/c clearly des wants to know that. ] But Finnick is right. I'm not certain it's a good idea to-- leap into anything and leave half of them behind in this state.

[nothingsodivine]

Leap into what? [His expression twists into a grimace.] Y'know, some of us may have made plans tonight, so how 'bout we don't bring the chaos home...

[graveflowers]

[ so fifteen minutes late and carrying starbucks (no, literally, that coffee machine was very starbucks-y), vi shows back up at the table with four coffees stolen from the break room and suddenly there are too many people. w/e she shoves a coffee at kat, and gently passes the other two to finnick and gar -- notably the only one that is made how the recipient likes it is finnick's because she spends enough time with him to actually know how he takes his coffee.

which leaves the last one in the middle of the table. go for it, drunks, see what happens. her arms cross in front of her, and she leans against the edge of the booth next to finnick. they're gonna need a bigger booth. ] Regardless of your plans, this is a team vote. As in the whole team. All of us.

[ how many times do you think they'll have to say it in one form or another? ]

[nothingsodivine]

Team vote on what?

[/casually hijacks this thread, because Des failed his listen check and has to have his hand held through everything.]

[65]

Keijen Blade is in town and requesting to see us. If your plans aren't too pressing. [he's giving des a look like ARE YOUR PLANS TO KEEP MAKING OUT WITH BRAD PITT??????]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des's expression goes grim, suddenly.] Well, I'm going.

[HE'S NOT PART OF THE TEAM. IF THE TEAM VOTES IT DOWN, HE'LL GO ANYWAY.

HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT.]

[graveflowers]

Go for it. [ look who was expecting that bullshit. des is only part of the team when he wants to be. ] The rest of us are going to get sober -- [ LOOKING AT U, KAT ] -- and actually talk about the logistics and pros and cons of running on to his home turf with absolutely no preparation and a blood alcohol level that could mow down a small rhinoceros.

[romanticidal]

[ at this point rafael comes over, running a hand through the back of his curly hair, looking like completely and utterly shell shocked, but also a little worried. ] I-- [ and then he looks like he doesn't know what the hell he was about to say and shakes his head and looks back over his shoulder in the direction of the door, not having heard of their conversation ] I think I must go hunt down Isabella. She--

[slay]

Uh. Hey. Speaking as a sober one who's been sober since we got here, I'm not all that interested in a team vote on how any of us do our jobs. All waiting around for everyone to arrive home in Soberville is gonna do for us is give Keijen more time to make his trap more trappy. [ in short: since when are there team votes on individual actions and since when does someone who is not gar hold them. buffy isn't really bothering to bite back the snippy going on here, all things considered, which leads to her half-turning towards rafael to give a nod. ] Go. [ and excuse him. she's not getting into it. she's 100% not getting into it. ] And if any of the rest of us would like to go storm the castle to deal with Keijen Blade, choke down some water and let's motor.

[romanticidal]

[ well, that stops him in his tracks, isabella momentarily forgotten. ] Keijen?

[ he spins back towards the group, stepping closer and looking between them all insistently. ] Something happened with Keijen?

[ but his focus shifts again almost instantly, expression somewhat disoriented as the song changes, and his head snaps up. the look on his face changes from the shocked aftermath of suddenly!makeouts to a much deeper level of confusion, as if, for a second, he doesn't know where he is.

♬ borrowed heaven - the corrs ]

... That song...

[ as gar prepares to start trying to wrangle the conversation away from being a debate, rafael shakes his head violently, staring upward. ] I know this song.

[ it takes a wisdom check of 12+ to recognize the voice that starts filling the air. it might have been almost a year, but those who have heard eterna jade sing seldom forget it.

All beauty all fade away, borrowed
All moonlight, return today, borrowed

rafael's eyes go wide, recognition of more than just who it is registering. ] I wrote those words.

[ the lights and colors in the club seem to change, less garish and more beautiful shades of blue and green.

All sunrise all shooting stars, borrowed
All earth bound bare feet in day
you know we're standing on

Borrowed borrowed heaven
Borrowed borrowed heaven

rafael's eyes snap back down to the ground, brows furrowed together. then he looks up sharply at the others, desperately trying to convey the gravity of something. ]

Eterna never recorded this song.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des sucks in a breath as he recognizes the voice and he grits his teeth, but manages not to lose his cool.]

It's that fucking Doppelganger or something. It's just a trick.

[he doesn't know if he buys that theory, but he's not willing to entertain another.]

[65]

Buffy's not interested in acting as a team, what a surprise. [CLOCK THAT ATTITUDE FINNICK. he's not even drunk, really (fort save 24 for people who missed that private plurk), maybe just being drunk all the time has helped him put it in the book. holding his coffee in his hands, he glances over at vi like "do u think nadia had something to do with this??"]

[graveflowers]

[ vi recognizes the voice (wis 14) and it makes her heart seize up, but she shrugs at finnick's look, completely understanding what he's asking. (wis nat 20) she doesn't really think nadia had anything to do with it. ] She's probably pissed we're fighting again. [ "she" being jade. if the woman can make it rain when she's upset, vi isn't going to imagine that reminding them of her legacy and what they're supposed to be fighting for is out of the question, especially in a club bearing her name. it doesn't hurt that vi can feel something, some... presence around them, incredibly strong. ] It's not the doppelgänger. This is... something, I dunno. Godly.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des's stomach does flip-flops but he shakes it off, trying to ignore the ache of hearing Jade's voice.]

Doesn't matter. Fact is you're all damned either way as far as Blade's concerned. If you don't go, he and his buddies might just attack the hotel tonight.

He don't strike me as the "no" type. [he looks directly at Vi when he says it. gurl has he let up on YOU any??]

[romanticidal]

[ the voice swells louder, the beat of the music seeming to fill every inch of the air, to press inside them.

All heartache all rivers cried, borrowed
Don't stay out too late tonight, borrowed
I love you don't want to die, borrowed
You taste like paradise, I know I'm breathing in

Borrowed borrowed heaven
Borrowed borrowed heaven

vi's words cause rafael to turn in place, whipping his gaze around the room in bewilderment and wonder. a spot check of 15+ catches the images that are suddenly playing in rapid succession on the various screens and monitors embedded in the walls:

scenes of them. any of them who had spent private moments of any kind with jade, shared kind words, a laugh, a smile, violet holding her hand as they sit with closed eyes on the couch together, jade and des grinning at one another on top of a ferris wheel, rafael sitting beside her as she strums a guitar and laughs when she messes up, every day scenes of life that flit faster and faster in a dizzying spin as the air continues to compress with that strange sensation that they might begin to realize is a presence, more than anything. ]

[graveflowers]

Fuck you. [ yep, that pointed look was not fucking called for. ] Do you think I don't know that? Why the hell do you think I don't want to see him? I see him every single night, Desmond. Every single night for the last 257 nights, yeah, I kept count. For two hundred and fifty seven nights, I have watched Jade die, over and over, I get to relive every single moment, feel the blood on my hands and the oppressive helplessness because I can't do anything to stop it. And every single night, there is he and his jackass friend are, taunting me with the power to change it, the power to stop it from happening again. You are the one that told me to stay away from him, you hypocritical piece of shit! But you change your tune thirty times a day so why am I even surprised anymore? No, I don't want to see him, sorry, but if I do, how am I going to stop myself from saying yes? [ she throws a hand out toward the screen. ] Just like Jade did.

[luthir]

[ luthir has been casting a distracted weary gaze around the room, trying to figure out what this all means... but this sure draws his attention. ]

Vi is not going anywhere near him. That's her right.

[nothingsodivine]

And I wasn't asking her to.

[he looks sick- vi's words and the song and the images are getting to him.] But when the rest of you are through drawing straws over who's going, I'll be outside.

[he can't keep pretending she's not there every time he looks up. he needs to leave.]

[slay]

No one is asking you to go. [ des can flounce. buffy will remain behind to discuss, and pointedly ignore finnick's remark lest she deck him because she's been holding that back since he broke myri's heart. ] But you don't get to sit around and bark orders and tell the rest of us that we can't do something, either. If we go now, maybe we can do something to stop what he's doing to you. Sitting around here isn't getting us anywhere on this case, and I'm done doing it. [ buffy crit failed her spot check so she has no fucking idea what's happening and is just stuck on ... arguing. ]

[romanticidal]

[ with a nat 20 spot check, no shit, rafael stops his wild looking around abruptly, staring up at the private room burt has for them.

anyone who follows his gaze or makes a spot check of 15+ will notice what he does: the one-way windows upstairs are emitting light. not the false, bright lights of the club, not anything artificial in any way.

a wis check of 18+ can nail it.

it's moonlight.

the revelation of which strikes rafael, at least, like a ton of bricks, and he takes a few steps from the table, as if pulled by magnets. ]

... Eterna.