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The Knickerbocker Hotel.
The place is a New York City legend. A turn of the century, glamorous luxury hotel serving up pretentiousness to rival Kaleb Miller's abilities. Which is probably how Jay found the place. Or maybe it was the fact that if one were to sit on the set up for the New Years Ball and festivities, one could easily spit a sunflower shelling and hit the hotel. 150 feet away from the festivities and (in)famous for parties with Gatsby-esque levels of glitz, glam and false accents. That is, until it closed in the 20s. It's the Newsweek building, now, and mostly office space after a massive conversion, mostly occupied by Newsweek Magazine—who is currently having a rather rambunctious holiday party two stories down; the sounds of which eminate upward because, well, honestly, much of the building remains empty or in a bizarre state of flux, not sure if they're offices, studio space, or storage for broadway.
In the middle of New York. Who the hell would guess?
But it is the perfect space for a private venue party; a soaring historical building kissed up against New Years festivities, forgotten. Lost. Above all else, it's private enough for a bored socialite to acquire use of for a night and not raise any eyebrows. Like a small cove behind glass and stone, until time remembers that it exists again.
The space that Jay was able to help negotiate for is on the higher floors, sandwiched between Newsweek, several floors below them, vacant storage for broadway, and above them a couple studio spaces being rented on the sly to artists with very weathly, uh, investors. Facing the New Years festivities from 14 stories up.
It was just an enormous, bare studio like space the first time Jay and Kaleb walked into it, but with much impatient hand-flapping, good-natured patience and work, it's been put together into a 'suitable enough' space.
Jay'd call it still pretty damn froofy, but it's a marriage of bare construction and creature comforts. Couches, rugs, tables and so on were all borrowed and bartered for from the broadway storage spaces below and artists above them. parted with thanks to southern charm backed up by New York money. And fudge. Jay's made a lot of fudge and peanut brittle to shmooze the masses. Never wanna hear the word 'chocolate' ever again.
Eclectic-fancy. Modern pieces on Bohemian rugs next to a couple tables with cast off hotel table-cloths. There is still a 'bare and borrowed' feeling to things, all found in the details, no matter how festive.
Food provided for grazing and drinks in like fashion. You can fetch your own shit, Kaleb, because there is no service here. Jay toted everything up himself between running throughout town to gather and prepare anything and everything which had to remain cooled or cooked beforehand. It's been a … process. But hard work's reward is, well, what it is. A private nitch carved out in a historic, nearly invisible-forgotten building in the middle of New York, furnished with a myriad of city-scavenged pieces to make it feel more inviting and a number of borrowed floor-lamps and candles to try to make up for the absense of any actual lighting aside from the massive office-building windows and old-hotel balcony which dominates the entire outer wall. The important part: it has a perfect view, and nobody is going to bother them.
Jay hasn't exactly been forthcoming with the results or what to expect, aside from occasionally throwing out two or three word-choices with no context at Kaleb, then vanishing again to make it happen. They were all just told to dress for 'New Years Fancy', and given an address. Floor 14.
Kaleb broke out that slick purple suit. It was one of those things so nice even their mother couldn't find fault with it if she was on a tear. This would be party #3 for him to make an appearance at, and the others just long enough that no one could put it on them that they were snubbed. They were of course but they couldn't say that. Echo was so petty habitually about these things. Last stop though he waited for the elevator to ding and actually paused grinning a bit looking around. "Great gobs guys. This is really far out." He had a bottle in hand grabbed from the party downstairs because he told them he was taking it and when he wanted something he was not told no easily. "See, Max, there's a salvage to all this. Now we can finally make up for the terror on Rockefeller Plaza and finally do what New York does best."
Kellan's suit is black with a white shirt and a thin tie. He dressed for the occasion, and at least not in a prep-school looking uniform. His shoes are even polished, and he's wearing cufflinks. Cufflinks, people. It would be hard to tell him from Kaleb if his hair wasn't kept a bit longer, and Kaleb wasn't wearing that purple suit. Because really, Kellan doesn't have that sort of style. When he walks in and sees what's been set up, his eyes grow wide in surprise and he grins, "Wow… this is really cool." He looks over at Jay and says, "Damn, man. This is amazing."
Vic isn't Kellan's twin (thankfully!) but has dressed very similar to him. He got his suit tailored, and it shows. His curls are combed back, tamed with pomade. "This looks great," he says. Sure, he'll probably be sneaking out leftovers to the homeless, but for now he's letting himself live the high life. Jay gets a broad smile. "You know how to pamper us," he says. "Thank you, man. It's super cool."
Maximus looks very nice, in his usual mandarin style suit, but no matter what he does, how trimmed up the goatee is, or how nice his genetically engineered body fits into it, he doesn't look damn near as good as Kaleb in his purple suit, and that can be read on his face. A lack of arrogance, and the presence of pride in someone else. And a little bit of 'dayum'. There's also a pleased, relaxed aura about him when encountering the candle-lit floor that is all of theirs. Awesome! "I /agree/." Says the older man with clear praise.
When they all begin to arrive, Jay is outside on the balcony, leaning forward on the turn-of-the-century stone-carved railing. There are chairs out there as well, none matching and one for each butt, as well as three bronze and aged floor lanterns, standing around the three foot height with flickering candles in them. The lights of New York make them rather unnecessary, but Jay thought they looked slick as all get out and borrowed them from an artist upstairs.
There is no 'ding' of the elevator on this floor, but Jay hears voices none the less through the open door to the balcony and turns around to meet everyone from the far end of the space. Quiet, he waits with a modest incline to his head, but he appears pleased. Content with how it turned out. His default smile curves up on one side when Kellan compliments the work and Vic doubles up on it, though most of his attention falls on Kaleb as the most difficult one to please. Getting his stamp of approval and Max's in short order seems to seal the deal. "Glad y'all like it." Attention drifting back to Vic, he cants his head slightly, eyes flashing downwards. "Ah try. Y'all've put up with me a while now. Ah ain't got much, but Ah can /do/ plenty." Hands wrest up from his pockets, gesturing around mildly, like dropping a gift down. "Especially with Kale's backin'. Time t'show some appreciation." A light smile turned back.
Jay…Jay can clean up, but he'd need some damn supervision to come out looking as polished as Kaleb might deem necessary in most situations. His hair may have been lightly pomaded and combed into place, but it's been wind-whipped since and scatters charmingly, retaining that earthy, elemental appeal that seems so natural to him. Without hiding behind his loose shirts, sweaters and comfortably worn jeans, it's far easier to tell that he is actually related to his 'paint-the-denim-on-me' older brother and shares a semblance of his frame. Jay's jacket's tossed over a chair already, but the cut of a more properly fitted dress-shirt and slacks emphasizes the bredth of his chest and shoulders to the taper of his waist. No purples. He promised Kaleb, regardless of Vitale's insisting. Navy suit, white shirt, subtly patterned richer blue tie. The darker colors making the brighter natural red-white-green rather emphatic.
"C'mon in, guys. Make yerself at home. It's ours fer tonight." Squinting at the bottle Kaleb comes with, with an angle of a smile. "Y'didn't have to bring anythin', Kale."
Kaleb was actually in a good mood: the smile being actually genuine on floor 14 onlike the prior three stops. "Heh, yeah but I wanted to because they didn't want me to." He didn't pass opportunity to thumb his nose at his peerage. "Jay, ya look sharp. Guys, welcome to a holidy done correctly." He grinned over to Kellan and Vic shaking his head. "Ya knwo, Uhhhh last year was… terrible. But there were some things in there I'd like to keep." He stopped sounding almost sentimental before casually adding, "I mean outside of you guys most of it can burn in a fire, but, ya know." He looked around at the art loft that he really did aprove of. He was down with expensive rebel chic. The view though was fantastic. A sigh of regret filled his chest. "I don't think we can keep the building sadly. You can see the whole plaza from here."
Kellan wanders over to Vic and bumps shoulders with him, giving him a little grin. "You clean up nice, Mr. Delano." He can't help the grin growing a bit after that. Then he turns back to the others and seconds Kaleb's sentiments. "There was a lot that went on this year, but some really good things came out of it." He looks over ati Vic for a moment and says, "I've never been happier to have my apartment so thoroughly invaded and taken over." He makes his way over to the balcony to look out over the plaza.
Vic grins and bumps shoulders back. "Jay, you're a joy," he says. "It's not like putting up with you at all. You make me smile all the time." To Kellan, he says, "Why, thank you. You do, too." He trails along with Kellan, casting the food a glance but not going for it just yet. "I was born last year," he says. "I met the love of my life and got to experience so many things. There have been rough patches, but it's been good, too. I got to meet all of you. I think sometimes about how life could've been a scary place if I hadn't met Kellan here."
"You mean that even your money can't buy this building? My my. That sounds like a challenge." Max answers in a whispery-husky voice as he parts from the man's side to give the room a slow wandering perusal. He folds his hands behind his back and gives everyone the up and down look, then steps out into the cold to look across at their view. "What happened last year?" He asks curiously. Or, better to forget it, perhaps?" He comes back inside and blocks out the chill again, so much as possible. "Kellan…you are dating a one year old. What a devil you are." he teases and smiles at the twin of that hotty in the purple.
Slipping a hand back into his pocket casually, Jay pushes a hand down his tie with the alien awareness of something odd around his neck and seems modestly amused over the compliment. "Thanks. Y'all look like you could cut glass." That is to say, damn sharp. A vague sketch of a smile lifted a hair higher for Vic when he's called a joy, though he retains the washed-out distance he's held onto for the season. There's still the effort of appreciation while he murmurs, "Thanks, Vic."
The red-head pivots half way when Kaleb looks out to the view. Wings fwip softly behind him, struck with some light puff of feeling while he looks out in that direction. "Don't know. This buildin' is really weird. Apparently Newsweek is movin' out in the next couple months. Most their operation is already moved, but somethin' about leases an' contracts. They were just waitin' fer the new year. The rest of the tenants are real eclectic an' kinda use it fer forgotten storage. Folks have forgotten about this place. It's weird, ain't it?" Jay takes on a thoughtful air as he steps back out onto the balcony after Kellan and looks over at the barren balconies beside them. "A whole buildin' in the middle of the city. What folks can forget even when they walk past it every day. Like it was invisible." He blinks and looks back at Kaleb, coming back to the present. "Not sayin' you should. It's just a weird buildin' with a weird history. S'why we were able t'get in here at all."
No recounting over the year from the non-native New Yorker while he listens to the others comment on the turning of the year, there's a glance in Max's direction when he steps outside briefly. "Ah think they mean the whole year rollin' up t'now." Looking out over the balcony's rail. "You folks don't got new years Ah take it?"
The partygoers below are in full swing. From 14 stories up, one can still hear the festivities loud and clear.
((For reference, this is the modern view from the Knickerbocker/Newsweek building. Use your imagination to 60's-ify it. https://i.imgur.com/GHzjpyP.png ))
Kaleb couldn't pass up the opportunity to poke a LITTLE fun at Vic good naturedly, "Yeah, all within the span of a week!" You can push your brother off the balcony, Kellan. Jay will catch him. he did soften teh jab by throwing his brother the honest compliment, "Yeaaaah I come to that conclusion about Kell at the beginning of every week." He turned from Kell and Vic to Jay handing him the bottle, "Very nice Echo-ism." He answered though< "You remember that whole people expierementing on mutants thing? Yeha. I think that and more we could have done without. Your home being assailed. Jay going through rough times losin a roommate and bein on his own in teh city. Kellan dealing with taking a deep breathand just /being// Kellan- and you know I'm fucking damn well proud of you for it. And Vic ran out of bacon twice. Very harrowing." He looked to Jay's question and back to Max letting his hand rest on his back for a moment nodding to the gathered, "Tell em about going down to China Town."
The faint smile was encouraging and he offered to the"On the postive end? I… learned how to have friends. And I figured out what's actually important to me.
Kellan grins as Vic comes over toward the view with him and then wraps an arm around his waist when Vic starts to talk about what has happened to him in the last year, a little smile hovering around his lips. He then glances over to Max and chuckles, shoulders shaking a little bit. "Listen, his body is 19 and his soul is infinite, the fact that the two came together only a year ago is a whole other thing!" But he says it good-naturedly. He then smiles over to Jay and says, "I'm glad you came to stay with us, man. You've been nothing but a great roommate, and we're glad to have you." He then nods a little about the building. "You never quite know what's out there til you look for it." Then he smirks over at Kaleb, "And we've been together since, so clearly we're doing something right."
Vic gives Max a sidelong glance, and he says, "Let's not discuss cradle-robbing." The words are delivrered good-naturedly, typical of Vic. He wraps his hands around Kellan's and turns his head to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for bringing me into the light," he murmurs to the good twin (sorry, Kaleb, but let's review the data). "I think we can safely say that the household wouldn't be the same without all of us, and it's a good household."
"I see…the entire year. Both the worst and best, I suppose." Max drifts closer to Kaleb when Vic takes his shot. "Oh me? Yes. I managed quite the feat. Thank you for the compliment." Then casually, he winks at the man. "It is a good household. It could…have another member or two, if necessary though. Always room for one more." It seems a kind way of saying Jay can get a date if he wants to. Not that its his place to give permission.
"Well, Ah live with an Echo, so Ah guess he mighta rubbed off on me," Jay retorts conversationally to Kaleb as he takes the bottle, immediately peeling the foil off it to open it up, there's a quick flash of green eyes at the man in the purple suit while he runs down a few items. Jay's lips press together thinly, then relax again as his attention drops back to the bottle. Slipping back inside to grab a corkscrew, Jay looks up once again while Kellan directs words at him. A small smile curved in gratitude, Jay nods, letting his out-of-line hair scatter in previously combed, neat slices of sections against his cheeks. "Thanks," he murmurs lightly and strolls inside while the others get comfortable. Still listening from inside where the small food and drink station sits. Glasses need to happen. "Always room fer one more? /Where/?" Jay pipes up in a good-natured tone as he tugs the cork free and starts pouring, oblivious to Max's insinuation. "Ah vote fer not frayin' any more of Kale's nerves with another move."
Kaleb paused looking to Vic, "Yeaaaaah I don't think Kellan or I can throw stones at that one now." (There was never a question, Vic. That's how Kaleb introduces Kellan to people too). He welcomed max back with a shake of his head in approval. Time to load up a plate with something he actually wanted to eat after grazing most of the evening. At the insinuation of his nerves he actually laughed, "Yeah my poor things have had a hell of a beating this year." He sat and upnodded for Max to actually get in on the plate. "Well technically I own an apartment building, ironicly jus tnot ours. Maximus, tell them about the Lunar New Year thing."
Kellan grins over at Vic and leans in to return the kiss to his cheek, giving his hands a warm squeeze. Then he turns his attention back to the room as a whole and says, "Yeah, so, here's to us, and this past year, and getting through the rough patches, and appreciating the good things that've come out of it." He doesn't even have a glass yet to toast with, and then realizes it, and says, "Umn, you know.. once we alll have drinks.. we can drink to that, maybe." He laughs then, a little sheepishly. "Lunar New Year Thing?"
Vic smiles at Kellan with his proverbial heart in his eyes. It's pretty nauseating to behold. "To another year of us together," he murmurs. Then he looks around, a little sheepish, and adds, "We might have to buy a proper house if we're going to grow a bigger family. It'll be better than stacking us up." He tilts his head as he asks Max, "Did you have anyone in mind?"
"Oh? The Lunar New Year? Well…I suppose it is. But yes, I am not used to this particular date being the natural one for New Year. In Attilan, we are /aware/ of the Gregorian calendar, of course, but we do not use its dates, but instead, that of the Tibetan system. According to that…ah…it will be sometime in your February that it will become the New Year. Specifically…the 39th year of the 16th Rab-Byung. Incidentally the year of the wood-snake, for whatever that is worth. I know what is in those stars, so, I do not believe in astrology." Maximus forms an odd little smile. When he speaks the Tibetan words, his voice does change, its clearly a language he has known most of his life. "To…another year of us together, indeed. And no, I would not presume to set Jay up with a date. I do not know what sort of man or woman tickles him." Amusement sparks in his eyes.
Jay fades back, into the background as much as a man with big fucking wings possibly can do so. Pulling the cork while Kaleb goes to help himself at whatever he helped decide on for foodone of the many rapid-fire word choices Jay had been throwing at him suddenly for the past couple weeksJay sets the bottle down and unbuttons his cuffs, rolling them up his forearms and pushed them to his elbows before pouring. Hard to take the country out of the man.
"How the heck do you own an apartment building?" Jay asks the question at the forefront of his mind while passing glasses out. He's the only person currently not falling over their partner, so it makes sense that the fifth wheel would serve. It's second nature to him anyway. Gotta be a good host. Listening to Max's explanation on the calendar his people use. Wild guess on his part, but when it's proven true, he seems to pay attention to the answer, attention darting back and forth while he brings glasses around.
The mention of a date is the clue-by-four he needed to understand the insinuation earlier. Feathers slowly rise, fluffing up against his back to enlarge his profile momentarily before they shake out in a loud whisper and slick back down. Turning to grab Vic's glass and hand it off to him, Jay's eyes flick down, his faint smile concretely in place. "Ah'm not lucky in love." His tone very carefully cultivated to sound even. Green flicks up to Max for a touch, then moves away carefully to go grab another glass for him.
Jay's heart roars above and screams below as it aches!! No, wait, that's an actual roar from something very large, what…once they get a look, appears to be a crystaline Ice Dragon, not far from the famous ball drop in Times Square. The screams, are, of course, people fleeing in terror. 1964 isn't going out quietly, apparently!
Kaleb added to Jay, "last year. Shit, took me how long? Speaking of which I got a date on when Verinica's marrying- Jesus Christ!" Wait she's becoming a nun now? No- noooo that was a lot of sonic emissions from outside and it was enough to make the sonic flinch and bunch fingers around Max's sleeve. He looked to teh groupsa nd then the window holding a hand up to at least push the sound waves off the glass so they weren't in danger from that. If they got crashed into that was another story. "We're- That's… what is happening?!" His eyes settled on teh glass once his ears stopped ringing.
Kellan leans against Vic and says, "A proper house would have to be outside of the city. There just aren't really proper houses anywhere nearby." But then he listens to Max as he explains the Lunar Year with some interest. "Wood snake. Hm. What does that mean? I mean, if it is the year of the duck, they year will be uh, bouyant and water resistant? Year of the snake will be.. uh.. slithery and dangerous to the year of the rat?" There's a glance over to Jay, and Kellan separates from Vic with a little squeeze of his hand to go over and help with the glasses and the pouring so Jay doesn't have to do it on his own. It's as he's gathering up a glass or two that there's that roaring and he blinks, turning around to try to figure out where it came from.
Vic offers up the glass, and he smiles at Jay, tilting his head. "Someone's going to find you, and they'll be a perfect fit. I refuse to believe anyone else," he says quietly. To Max, he says, "We should have another party for your New Year." Then he hears the scream and he turns to look out at Times Square. "Is that a dragon?" He looks back at the others. "Should we do something?" The first thing he does, out of instinct, is seek out the twins, Jay, and Max. Just making sure they're okay and noting where they are in case things go south. Then he's pressing his nose up against the window. "Where did it come from?"
Maximus looks sharply at Kaleb when he feels his sleeve gripped so hard. He hears the sound as well, forgetting for a moment that he made a person sad in the first place. "Definitely another party." He stays close to the sonic, casting a concerned look at him, then to the windows. "I cannot fly…and I am out of reach of the crowd. Perhaps it is…ah…" Max struggles to find some sort of logical explanation that will let them just stay in their awesome floor, with its warmth, booze, food and candles. "Magic?" Then to Kaleb, "You ok?"
You know what? Jay was praying for a distraction as he fixed Kaleb with an enduring smile while his friend tries to be optimistic for him. Dipping his head away as Vic tries to add his optimism in as well and Jay mutely shakes his head and flicks a vague smile in Kellan's direction when he comes to help with glasses. Nobody can ever say that prayers don't get answered because an enormous, shrieking dragon swooping down on the ball hanging in the night sky directly out their window is the best distraction.
I'll take it. Before Max tries suggesting to set him up with—you know, I can only imagine what his suggestions would entail.
The scream reverberates through the building, rattling glass and blowing out several of the unprotected candles throughout their get-away, leaving them in a darker space all of the sudden. Instinctually, Jay's wings crack outward in a loud whisper of friction; the long, predatorial scream of something much bigger than him shaking him to the center of his bones, every hair and feather on end as wide green eyes flash toward the windows and he freezes in place. Helpful.
Kaleb looked to Vic. He was pissed. Kale held up two fingers and wiggled them. his words were strained, and it was only really 3 months with controlling things ona larger scele. This was still a toll. "You want to know whose doing this was? Two syllables for you." Low-key? "Jersey" Oh Kaleb Kaleb Kaleb. He took a deep breath letting his anger at the other side of thtat tunnel that would no collapse (no matter how frequent it appeared on his letters/demands to Santa distract him from the discomfort. The glass was protected but the reverb from wverywhere was happening and he could only front one space at a time. His eyes fluttered a bit when the roar came and snuffed candled. Taking a deep breath he murmured, "I'm… I'm alright. Is the year of the snake here yet because this year of the dragon bunk has got to stop."
Kellan goes over to the window and stares out at it as the dragon does in fact appear and start flying around. There's people running down below, there's shouting, and on a nearby rooftop there's — glowing. He just kind of stares at everything going on with a mixture of fascination and bewilderment. "On the one hand… I think yeah, maybe we should do something… on the other, I haven't the foggiest idea what. This is a little outside of my area of expertise." And he really does look utterly at a loss as he can only watch the tableau unfold. There are still glasses in his hands but damn if he remembers them.
Interestingly, right past their window, falls a fucking person! That's right! Some idiot goes falling down right past the window with what looks like daggers drawn. And…glowing! Meanwhile the dragon Swoops towards the bright ball and clamps onto it, pawing at it, playing with it like a cat. While they watch, some ninja in a normal suit just leaps onto the dragon's tail. The crowd is doing its best. Definitely the dragon likes the shiny thing. The daggery person also is able to fly in some manner because that glowing figure also manages to land on the dragon, on its back. There must be a few heroes in town…not from Jersey, of course.
"Oh my gosh!" Vic says as someone glowing falls past their window. He reflexively puts his arms around Kellan in a protective human shield manner. "Maybe we should call the police? No, the police have to know by now. And what are they going to do? We should move away from the window." Except he totally stays where he is, watching what's going on. He slowly relaxes when it's clear no glowing people or dragons are immediately crashing through the place, and he lets go of Kellan. Then he laughs a little. "New York, yeah?" His brow furrows as he looks at Kaleb. "They got dragons in Jersey?"
"Yes, its the home of many dragons." Maximus says with a serious straight face. "This one looks a little too fancy for Jersey, though. Was that a person? You know…the Tibetan New Year…we do not have dragon problems." He holds up a hand, as if to suggest that its the entire holiday's fault that it has a dragon problem.
Bless his heart, Jay takes a surprised round of being frozensorry, sorry, wrong gamebut he does remain stuck there for a lengthy moment before he can move again. Rushing forward, he shuts the door out to the balcony to attempt to buffer /some/ of the noise. Pale hands splayed against the doorframe, the musician looks back to Kaleb first, brows knitted together with concern and wings still hovering larger than life behind him as a crimson feathered backdrop. "Ah can get V, if ya need him, Kale." Eyes lid at him, then swim toward Vic. "Ah think a dragon's sorta out of Jersey's price-range. Unless that's what's been layin' under Trenton t'make it smell sorta funky."
Turning back to the glass inset to the door he was still needlessly holding shut, Jay frowns and shakes his head mutely. Feathers shiver from pinion to tip all across him and joints make minute flexing and retracting motions. Like a bird when it begs, or is debating about making unwise decisions with itself.
The glowing person falls past them and Jay's wings twitch again. Without much thought involved in the decision, he throws the door open and runs out onto the balcony in a rush, smacking his wings on the doorframe with a painful sounding crack as he runs outside. It looks like he's going to vault right over the railing and dive down with his wings half-cocked behind him, however, Jay stops suddenly with one foot up on the carved railing, watching something below while he balances, held poised and tense for a long moment. The guy must be okay or…something, because Icarus pulls his foot back down with a shiny reflection of the battle off his shoe and backs away from the railing. Okay. Okay. He's not going out. Promise.
Kaleb muttered absently to Vic, "Nah, Devils though… Jay is that… is that your ex-roommate?!" Seeing most of the problem is leading towards the far end of the event and not towards their building Kaleb let up on teh barrier for a moment and lowered his hand. Drily he assured Max, "Traditionally thi sis not a thing for us. ever." He sighed and looked to Kellan. Reaching to give Max's hand a squeeze as if to promise he's really really okay he walked over by Kelland and tilted his head. "I guess we take notes, because I am noooot ruining this suit like that time in Mutant Town with the werewolves." He really missed those slacks.
Kellan didn't see the falling figure anywhere close enough to figure out who it was. He's too busy reaching out to grab at Jay as Jay is going through out onto the balcony and nearly throwing himself off the.. oh right, he has wings. Kellan looks momentarily sheepish at his own ''rescue'' attempt, and then lets out a little bit of a cough, when Jay doesn't jump either. Down below, there's quite the battle going on between multiple glowing things, a large icy dragon, and — is that a telephone pole? "This is the wildest New Years Eve I've ever seen," he admits with a kind of baffled expression on his face. "I mean we could call the cops but.. yeah I'm kind of hoping the Avengers show up for this one."
"Jay!" Vic, like Kellan, reaches for Jay as Jay makes to fly off. He may have no feathers of his own, but Vic clucks about like a mother hen whose chicks are scattering. "Come on, now. There we go. We'll come up with a plan of attack, okay? The dragon's got a little glowing guy on him now, so that's… that's a factor." He relaxes when Jay doesn't jump after all. Kellan's words get a grin from him despite himself. "That would be so groovy if the Avengers showed up. Captain America's my favorite." Of course he is.
Maximus is juuuuust abot to try to latch onto Jay to prevent him from leaping. No way is Jay going to go and stress Kaleb out on his watch! However, its not necessary, so he's generally quiet. There's a lot not necessary, because suddenly the lights all around down there start dimming, and ANOTHER figure starts glowing. As the quintet watches from their premium seats on this floor of this abandoned building, another quintet of heroes brings the dragon down. Then…the ball sort of collapses down the pole, and all the timed fireworks start going off, and confetti cannons explode. Max reaches out for Kaleb's hand.
Kaleb was utterly used to seeing Jay throw himself off their balcony. That's how he gets them Joey's Pizza at 3:28 in the am when they can't sleep. He was with his brother. What could they possib- are they riding the pole all the way down? What was… man They couldn't even have New years. It was when his shoulders slumped and jsut acepted that all the holidays were never going to be the same when there was a hand in his. He stretched his fingers and looped them through Max's. Alright they were all very different but survivable? It was quiet but he had to give Jay props. "Birb, I didn't know you got us a show too. It was… kinda epic." When teh dragon seemed to stop moving and the lights all went back to normal he said, "Well I think now we know we can urvive being surprised. It might yet be a good start to the year. Maybe."
Well, that was something else. Kellan can't help but applaud when the heroes down below manage to vanquish the dragon. There's a little wince as the ball kind of collapses, but hey fireworks! He reaches for Vic and turns around and gives him a sound New Year's kiss as the timed confetti cannons and fireworks go off in the distance. He then says, "So! Food?" to Vic with a broad grin, and drags him off to partake of all the delicious things that Jay has prepared. "I'm totally enjoying this place while we've got it. If you just look at the fireworks and not the uh.. disaster at the bottom, it's still a great view!" Optimistic Kellan is optimistic.
Jay gives two roommates a short panic attack before he stops himself with a couple of grabby hands back there as well. His eyes are locked on to one of the glowy things like a hawk, a worried frown touching his brows and lips parted for a wordless moment. Glancing backward again to the four other souls, Jay swallows hard and his mouth presses closed as he comes back inside, somewhat sheepishly, looking apologetic but alert as he steals a glance outside. And turns his back to it all headed toward the table with the food and drink. His wings are still, compressed tight to his back. Eventually, he responds back to Kaleb and the rest, his tone dulled. "Yeah. One-a the glowy ones. Everyone got a glass? Cause this is about as good as yer gonna yet fer a new year Ah think."
The dragon falls as Jay takes a drink, glancing backward to look toward the first of the fireworks as they explode and scatter light over the skyline. Front row seats, though not exactly as was planned. Glancing down, Jay fingers a streamer horn. Sticking it in his mouth, Jay blows and the streamer uncurls, but makes no noise, then curls back up. Yeah. He's tampered all the 'noise' mechanisms in the noise makers, in deference to his friend. Taking it back out and holding it like a cigarette between his fingers, Jay shrugs. "New York's a fuckin' mess, Kaleb. Was bound to happen. Happy New Year, guys." Pressing a false smile at his friend, Jay turns back to the food to pick up bits. Reliable, not-kissing, not exploding food. Mmmmm.
Vic kisses Kellan, and he smiles, pressig his forehead to his boyfriend's. "Happy New Year," he murmurs. "I love you." The sap is strong in this one. He then draws away so he can put a blower in his mouth (phrasing) and makes a fair share of noise. "To the new year!" But food. Food has been mentioned. He makes his way with Kellan to the spread and starts to fix himself a plate heaped high. "This year's going to be better than any other year before."