If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks...

[coldsong]

It's customary to have a Wake after the subject thereof dies. Even Loki knows that. But this is a special occasion. Ego-death is coming to his alternate, and the idea of letting him go off to perish alone, uncertain he will even be mourned, is too dark a proposition even for a flawed and callous person to contemplate.

That, and this Loki has been in a melancholy mood since speaking to the spirit of Frigga. He anticipates a dark choice of his own, sooner or later, and where the fates will send him after that, he can't know. Maybe oblivion, although even at that rate there may be worse places.

What's important right now is that no one dies unremembered. And honestly, any excuse for mischief a party. The first text rolls out to Harley, an innocent enough invitation to join them for milkshakes. Cricket is next, because it occurs to him that Cricket has plenty of liquor, which is good for a reckless celebration.

Things snowball from there.

As long as they don't destroy too much property, they'll call the night a success.

Comments

Milkshakes

[coldsong]

At the start of the evening, there are two Lokis at the corner table of the Cafe. Pretty much anyone who joins them is inevitably going to be asked whether he or she can tie a cherry stem into a knot with his or her tongue.

[websnextdoor]

Who let this child in?

Probably the owner since this is an all ages establishment and Peter Parker has a habit of getting himself into places he shouldn't be. But this seems nice enough. A quiet place to do his homework and hang ou--both of his friends named Loki are here. Well what do you know?

That's not intimidating or anything. He waves when they catch sight of him. Can he join...?

[lovesuwithknives]

You know, Azwel wasn't even thinking of showing up here, mainly because he had no idea there was going to be any kind of a party happening at any time. But here he is, because there's a very strange confluence of interdimensional energy here and he can smell it.

And the reason becomes patently obvious once he notices there are two of the same being in close proximity to one another. Spacetime ripples around them like sound waves in a tray of water, spilling excess energy into the surroundings. It's enough to make one giddy. Or maybe just Azwel, as he's made himself all-too-sensitive to such things over the years.

Excuse him, he's just going to sidle up to these folks.

"I couldn't help but notice," he says. "I've never seen two of the same being in the same place before! This Nexus truly is a wonder, is it not?"

He seems so... delighted.

[outpostcook]

Kinner's still not too sure what's going on with the Lokis, but he's not opposed to a night out on the town. So a small, scar-faced man in polar clothing shuffles in, carrying some popcorn shrimp if anybody wants them. Besides, he's in the mood to try out milkshakes. As a cook, he feels obliged to sample a variety of foods.

"Evening, Loki," he says, "and Loki. I brought shrimp, if anyone wants some."

He's here to make sure the cafe doesn't burn to the ground

[icebearforpresident]

Ice Bear works at the cafe and normally he's all for people having fun. But there's something wild about the Loki duo, something that keeps the ursine on his guard. Katsuya has already been informed as well.

He's only here to deliver milkshakes and cherries to the table, then calmly walk away. Getting him to stick around might be easier said than done...

[chiron_survivor]

Adia arrives at the café, and she's not alone. There is a man with her, dark-haired and tight-lipped, wearing a nice suit. When he steps in and sees both Lokis at the corner table, he looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "There's more than one of him?"

"...oh. I guess so?"

"I don't like this," the man says flatly, but Adia shakes her head.

"He asked me to come here. We can stay for a little bit..."

The man sighs, but lets himself be led over. "If he starts asking me to solve puzzles, we're leaving."

[nomoreroom]

It's been.... a while. Since Alastor's had a milkshake. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Hell wasn't terrifically big on them. A bit too pure an image to enjoy, perhaps?

Whatever the case may be, this little party's door is soon darkened enough, Alastor no doubt having picked up on it being a thing through the grape vine and just decided to invite himself.

Because really, who's going to tell him to go away?

Of course the first person he's going to head straight for is Loki, why wouldn't he? He'd so far been one of the more... interesting people he'd met here. Again, wasn't every day someone could play by the demons unspoken rules, he found that pretty intriguing.

"Well hey there, stranger! Heard you had a bit of a shindig goin' on here, thought I'd stop by to visit! This seat taken?" If it was, it's his now anyway, hi.

[courtofmurk]

Not everyone in the Cafe is supposed to be there. Certain people might be less welcome owing to their behavior the last time they got in. Well, make that the last few times.

There's a flash of black beneath the tables, a whirr of wings up to the back of an empty seat nearby. A small dark head peers over a Loki's shoulder at their table. They have a lot of small, red, glossy foods. The Knave of Rooks doesn't have to know what cherries are to decide he wants them.

Anyway, the featherless wizards are busy... pulling faces? How peculiar yet convenient. He can wait until they seem distracted. Then he dives for the edge of the table, claws digging in and wings a-flapping. He snatches as many of the shiny tidbits from the plate as he can stuff in his beak, all set to take off with them. It's daylight twilight robbery!

Liquor

[coldsong]

If asked later, Loki will blame this on Cricket. Which is completely unjust, because he had already made the suggestion to get drunk long before the little moonshiner showed up with his mason jars.

What does it take to get a god intoxicated? Probably faery wine, or something even more frighteningly strong. They'll find out.

Re: Liquor

[smartass_captain]

The second Felix heard there was a party being thrown by the gods of Mischief themselves Jim Kirk knew any plans they might have had for the evening (and let's be honest probably the next day) were tossed out the window.

Not wanting to be an ungracious guest, the captain makes sure to bring a couple bottles of some far off alien liqueur to contribute to the shindig. Always a decent contribution to any social gathering aside from an AA meeting.

[pirateangelbaby]

It took approximately a dozen text messages of increasing annoyance to finally prompt Thor to seek out the senders, just for the sake of making it stop. How Loki even got access to Thor's PINpoint to alter the ringtone, he has no idea, but if he hears Party Rock Anthem one more time he's liable to smite something. No song should ever be this catchy.

Oh good, they're both here, too. This can only go well.

Thor is going to need a good deal more alcohol in him if he's going to be attending a party hosted by not one, but two tricksters. Besides, maybe if he drinks enough, he can forget how the song goes before he ends up humming it for the next week. (Too late.)

[sweetcandygirl]

Did someone say liquor. Harley has supported Cricket with his moonshine business... and will totally support drinking his product.

She honestly is going to enjoy this... seeing who gets drunk first.

Bottoms up!

[lovesuwithknives]

Far be it from Azwel to be the sober one at a party... that he kind of crashed. Still, this is clearly just what he needed.

Good job he's one of those happy drunks, laughing at everything. You see, he loves everyone. No, I mean, he loves everyone even when sober. It's just now, he's much more apt to say so.

[outpostcook]

Kinner's a fan of Cricket's moonshine, so he finds a jar and digs in. He'll probably regret this in the morning, but he already ate as a precaution. Kinner knows it's harder to get drunk on a full stomach, so here's to the best.

He pours out a cup of moonshine. Bottoms up.

[fiveofnone]

Okay, so.

Caspar is not looking to get intoxicated, or be at this party any longer than necessary. But, it has been a while since he's had a decent glass of alcohol. The stuff that gets passed off as liquor on Atlantis is barely tolerable. Especially Seth's apple brandy.

He'll just take a gander at the selection while he waits for Adia to be done with whatever conversation he already excused himself from. Maybe he'll find something he recognizes.

Karaoke/Dancing

[coldsong]

Loki has only sung karaoke once before, although he's been a spectator a number of times since. It's bound to be way more interesting after having a little to drink.

[sweetcandygirl]

And over here, Harley is the first one to hit the dance floor. There is nothing better than just dancing to the music.

She doesn't have a dance party right now... but she doesn't care.

[alittlehinky]

When the karaoke starts to heat up, an argument ensues. It's not serious, neither Cricket nor Loki are upset with one another, but the former is scowly and stubborn and the latter is needling him gleefully.

"Hell, no, I ain't singin' Wrecking Ball, and there's nothing you can say to make me."

"Well, there aren't going to be any on the list from your time period any more than there will be arias from Asgardian opera. You have to choose something."

"Says who?"

"I think it would make my alternate happy." There's a lilt in his voice that Cricket does not appreciate.

"...Fine. Gimme the list. Still not doin' Wrecking Ball."

[commentatertots]

[Come on Eddie, don't be such a wuss.

It was silly, true. Likely dumb, but the people doing this karaoke looked to be having fun! He and Eddie deserved to have fun too! Eddie had perked up a bit after some food and some drinks but surely he'd enjoy this too!

Well he'd better because Venom is just casually walking them over to the selection screen, before he's extending from his host's shoulder to talk to him properly.]

You got a favorite?

[pirateangelbaby]

Thor has refused to sing karaoke before, but that was clearly because he wasn't anywhere near tipsy enough to think it was a good idea. And because it was a targeted attempt to make him embarrassed in public, but never mind that part.

Now it's only a peripheral attempt to make him embarrassed in public, which is much better.

The god of thunder has had enough of Loki's mysterious bottles to put a slight wobble in his step as he goes to poke at the song list and see if there's anything he even recognizes.

Fireworks

[coldsong]

Technically, fire is within Loki's providence. Between the two of them, the results are very bright, eye-catching, and spectacular, and probably breathtakingly dangerous.

[rekindledtitan]

Bright, spectacular and dangerous is practically Blaze's unofficial motto. She's officially checking out the aerial explosions out of duty, but it's obvious the only threat here is the fire hazard and, well. Clearly her duty as a Guardian demands she stick around and keep an eye on that, right? Ghost agrees!

The armored robot nudges her way gently among the first spectators with a friendly nod to anyone who looks her way. She plants herself as close as she can get without missing too much of the view, head craned back to take in the lights shimmering and dancing above, every burst of color reflecting on her white plating. Her tiny Ghost floats above her shoulder, his single blue optic just as transfixed by the spectacle. All things fiery are of great interest to them lately, but it's an enjoyable show regardless of that. At a particularly brilliant (and noisy) sequence she lets out a delighted whoop and applauds with enthusiastic appreciation.

And Last...

[coldsong]

If you stuck around after the semi-impromptu fireworks show, your reward is a drunken cuddle pile. There's probably a wealth of blackmail material to be had.

[magpiemythos]

He was exhausted. No real surprise, his twin had thrown one hell of a party. Loki was still incredibly drunk, which meant he was a bit more open with affection than he might normally be. The closest person who was warm and not about to push him away would get arms looped around them as the trickster just dragged himself in closer for a proper cling, hindered by the fact that he was half-wrapped in one of Harley's aerial silks still.

Song reference

[coldsong]

I Will Follow You Into the Dark

[hybriddino]

The Indoraptor was drawn by the scent of food. Not meat-food, but where he smells food there's people. So the dinosaur comes to the place, sure that he'll draw attention to himself but not caring. Both Lokis are his friends, and the powerful black dinosaur wants to look after his friends more than he wants to eat.

Hello. He scribbles on his whiteboard. Can dinosaurs drink?

[coldsong]

He is greeted by a cheerful trill from Loki, who is a little too drunk to speak proper velociraptor, but remembers the noises, at least.

"Can they? Absolutely," he says in English, then. "Should they? I honestly could not say, but trying is the best way to find out, I imagine. Go slow."

What on earth will they do with a drunk dinosaur? Well, they'll cross that bridge if/when they come to it.

[rekindledtitan]

"That's kinda how I looked at it. But we've lost a lot, on our Earth. I guess it's hard to parse through the fragments for what's real and what isn't, when you haven't seen it for yourself. People leave behind stories and records of all kinds of things that aren't real. Animals, people- continents, even."

Okay, poking isn't helpful, but she does think it's a cool trick. Useful, she'd say. These small moments of wonder are part of what makes the Nexus so dear to her. Plus, people here have some fun ideas. "Tiny little bugs puffing fire? That'd be cute."

"At my size, I don't think I agree," Ghost is obliged to point out, but she just chuckles.

"The Venusian kind are much bigger." She holds her hands up to demonstrate, about half a foot apart. "Eight legs - they're not real insects, of course. Guess you'd call it convergent evolution. No fire-breathing either. I'm not sure even real dragons breathe fire, come to think of it."