HOMECOMING DANCE 2019!!

[peckishmods]

homecoming dance

what's up?

It’s raining tonight, which would make an outdoor dance inconvenient if this weren’t a school for wizards. The Central Green is the site of tonight’s Homecoming Dance, and Student Council and Homecoming Committee made extra sure everything above was watertight. Any loitering students are kicked out of the area by mid-morning today so dance setup can begin. While decorative malfunctions and diva meltdowns from freshmen slightly complicate things, it all comes together in the end and things are ready to go with plenty of time left before the dance is set to start.

Cardboard walls painted with magical sci fi murals ⁠— animated scenes of aliens, robots, giant radioactive ants and other cosmic horrors ⁠— have been stuck up at all park entrances, filtering students in through Central Classrooms. Overhead, rain drops splatter against magic shielding. The cloudy sky is supplemented by black cloth canopies painted with glittering galaxies. CDs and other swag bag goodies float in the air just beneath, made to look like planets and comets against a starry sky. Throughout the Green there are robots and aliens crafted from cardboard and covered in googly eyes. The existing flagstone patios have been expanded with temporary wooden platforms for attendees to dance and mingle without getting their shoes dirty.

visuals!

volunteer slots!

An extremely brave little Muscheron asks Armani for a dance. You'll probably have to hold them in the palm of your hand, Armani.

In honor of the newest interstellar visitor, Mr. Hobgood is dressed as a comet tonight. It's a great look but the tail is quite cumbersome, and [CHARACTER B] trips over it on the dance floor.

Willow Quackenbush discovers the pod people pods are big enough to climb into and crawls inside one intent on spooking any canoodling couples. Their plan goes awry though when they get stuck and need to be rescued by Lionel Lovelace.

how this works!

⬥ The dance starts at 7PM and goes until 10PM.

⬥ There's an RNG game — test your shooting skills and accuracy in a Men in Black style shooting gallery. We will roll up to three times.

⬥ Here is a playlist to dance and get abducted to for your listening pleasure.

locations!

⬦ BEFORE THE DANCE: The Central Green has been blocked off since this morning, and the first attendees aren’t allowed in until 7PM. What did you get up to before the dance? Were you helping to set up or perfecting your costume make up? Student Council and Homecoming Committee members definitely had a bit of a panic this afternoon trying to make sure everything was water tight. This is a great spot for dorm or house/year prep threads. Tell us what you were doing!


⬦ ENTRANCE: CRASHING STARSHIP: With the Central Green blocked off for the dance tonight, the only convenient way to get in is through Central Classrooms. The lobby of Peckenpaugh’s main academic building has been transformed. Students enter into a narrow starship hallway, gunmetal gray and lines with pipes and knobs, blinking buttons and flashing lights. Upon closer inspection, the whole thing is crafted from cardboard, CDs and office supplies painted or charmed to look like spaceship parts. Streams of foggy mist shoot from the pipes intermittently. Periodically, the walls shudder and a series of pre-recorded sound clips play: clanging sounds, explosions, faint screams, animalistic roaring, and every two minutes a freshman voice fills the narrow path to announce: “DECOMPRESSION IMMINENT. PLEASE PROCEED TO EVACUATION PODS.” There are three ways to go: left or right take you to the restrooms, straight leads you out into the Central Green and the dance proper. Right at the sliding door entrance, there are bins of bubble guns that look like ray guns.

⬦ RNG GAME: ALIEN SHOOTING GALLERY: Veer down the left hall once you enter central classrooms and the starship hall will lead you straight to one of the first floor club rooms, which has been made into a dark room shooting gallery made up to look like a harried city street in the midst of an alien invasion. Toy laser guns will track your score as you fight off Alien Overlord Doug Bobson and his minions (and try to avoid hitting civilians!).

⬦ DANCE FLOOR: ABDUCTION CENTRAL: Looking to dance? A large low wooden patio has been set up, painted green with crop circle-like patterns across the width of it. Fog spills out over the floor and an eclectic selection of danceable tunes thrum from all around. The dance floor is bathed in green lights, bordered by street signs warning of UFO ACTIVITY, E.T. CROSSING and ABDUCTION ZONEs. Overhead, little UFOs made from frisbees fly around. Some of them have tiny toy cows made from stress balls floating beneath them as though being abducted. All of them shine beams of light down on dancers.

⬦ SNACK BAR: ALIEN GARDEN: One side of the large flagstone patio near the Central Classrooms entrance has been made up to look like an elaborate alien garden complete with a bubbling stream of green punch that gathers into a basin on the table’s far side. Nab extraterrestrial themed sweets and finger foods from bowls and plates made to look like strange plants, flowers, rocks and hatched alien eggs. Opposite the snack bar there are a few sleek metal tables seating two to four easily.


⬦ THE SURLY STUMP: CLASSIFIED UFO CRASH SITE: The Surly Stump has been given a wide enclosure tonight to protect it from rambunctious teens, the space is made up to look like a cordoned off government investigation site. It gives the Muscheron a bit of a platform to observe the festivities, and they’ve gotten in on it, firing off occasional clouds of colorful pollen and spores. Not far off, most of a large UFO crash landing site has been built from paper mache and repurposed balloon letter frames. It’s great for a photo op, or just fooling around on.

⬦ THE PARK: ALIEN HATCHERY: If you're looking for a secluded spot, a short wander off the path will bring you through dense fog to a clearing filled with rows and rows of lightly glowing alien eggs and the occasional person-sized pod person pod. A few benches dot this eerily beautiful spot. A great place to give your date the creeps.

⬦ END OF THE NIGHT: The dance wraps up around 10PM and students can head back to their dorms for the night. After tear down of the dance, Ms. Gunzenhauser invites any interested Student Council or Homecoming Committee members to get a late night snack at Dez's, her treat.

⬦ OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

Comments

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & Open++

[teratophilia]

Armani spends some time joyfully dancing and twirling with the little Muscheron held cupped in his hands and is very happy to dance with anyone else who asks!

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & Open++

[quodpotted]

"Armani, you don't gotta dance by yours—" Wyatt stops and tilts his head. "Is that... a Muscheron?"

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & Lil Muscheron & Wyatt

[teratophilia]

Armani turns toward Wyatt, still swaying to the music, and flattens out his palms to better reveal his tiny dance partner. "Wanna dance with us?"

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & Lil Muscheron & Wyatt

[quodpotted]

Wyatt scrunches up his nose. It is cute. "I'm not sure I know how without squishing nobody. Maybe I'll leave you two to it and grab the next dance."

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & Lil Muscheron & Wyatt

[teratophilia]

"Ahh-- wait!" Armani holds the Muscheron close to his chest as he roots around in a hidden pocket for his portable instant camera. He offers it to Wyatt. "Could you take our picture together? Please? Just a few?" They need something to remember this night fondly.

Re: DANCE FLOOR: Armani & Lil Muscheron & Wyatt

[quodpotted]

Wyatt laughs, but takes the camera. "I'll do my best. I'm no photographer, though, you know?" He manages to puzzle through getting the camera turned on, though, which is a good start. "Aight, say 'cheese'," he says, then snaps at least a dozen pictures, turning the camera vertical and horizontal, hoping that at least one of the pictures turns out decent.

Re: DANCE FLOOR: Armani & Lil Muscheron & Wyatt

[teratophilia]

"You'll do fine!" he reassures him. Especially when capturing someone as photogenic as Armani!! Instead of saying cheese, he strikes several different model-esque poses with the Lil Muscheron each time the camera clicks. Oh yeah! Work that Musch!!

At the end, he hands a few of the little polaroids to the Musceron and one to Wyatt as keepsakes. Because Wyatt definitely wants a picture of these two. "That was fungis!"

Re: DANCE FLOOR: Armani & Lil Muscheron & Wyatt

[quodpotted]

Wyatt is halfway to grinning when Armani's pun makes him groan. "Tell you what, give this back to me tomorrow, okay?" he says, passing his polaroid back to Armani. "No pockets," he explains, pointing down to his tiny gold shorts with a shrug.

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & Lil Muscheron & Wyatt

[teratophilia]

With the excitement over the Muscheron, Armani hadn't paid any attention to what Wyatt was wearing. Or, rather, wasn't wearing.

Rendered speechless, he can only gawk at Wyatt Webberley's tiny gold shorts as his face grows hot and his hands begin to sweat. He does not take or even acknowledge the polaroid Wyatt is trying to give back to him.

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & his DATE-date

[notpoison]

Laszlo hesitates to interrupt, but eventually he must. He's keenly aware of the eyes that might be (but probably aren't) him, analyzing the veracity of this date with Armani. There's a lull in the music, and Laszlo clears his throat, right behind Armani's shoulder.

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & his DATE-date

[teratophilia]

This time, Armani is just dancing with himself. He glances over his shoulder and then spins around with unnecessary flourish to face Laszlo. "Oh, there you are!" he gushes and then reaches to take both his hands into his own as he continues swaying to the music. (Is anyone watching?? Do they see how desirable they both are??)

"I've been waiting all night to dance with you!"

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & his DATE-date

[notpoison]

Laszlo keeps his head down, but Armani can still see his face, thanks to angles and closeness. He's focused, but not unpleasantly. It's the sort of expression he wears when things need to be just so. Perfection or nothing. Luckily, he can be formal, and he can be proper.

At first he lets Armani pull him, swaying, and then carefully places one of Armani's hands on his shoulder, not letting go of the other. "I didn't mean to make you wait," he murmurs.

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & his DATE-date

[teratophilia]

So gallant! Armani places his hand just so and eagerly surrenders his lead to follow Laszlo's instead.

"You're more than worth it," he responds softly, doing his best to sell this image of tender affection by tucking a lock of hair behind Laszlo's ear before returning his hand to his shoulder. "I've been having fun with everyone, but I'm glad it's just the two of us now."

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & his DATE-date

[notpoison]

Laszlo's incapable of being smooth. He holds very still as Armani touches his hair, careful not to interrupt him. "Should I kiss you at some point?" he asks, breaking character for a moment. There's no one listening in, and Laszlo doesn't mind the privacy. Quite the opposite, actually.

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & his DATE-date

[teratophilia]

Armani lowers his gaze for a moment, considering the offer. It's not that he's opposed, and part of him is curious to see what it'd be like, but all his reasons to say yes are selfish. It's too much to ask of Laszlo when it's not necessary for the ruse.

He shakes his head, looking back up to him. "Ahh, no, you don't have to. But thank you. You're already doing so much for me already." He pats his cheek affectionately. "Oh- um..." Even more quietly, "Was the hair thing okay?"

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & his DATE-date

[notpoison]

Laszlo nods without hesitation. He's smiling, and it's not hard to do, not like it sometimes is. "Yes," he confirms, "you would have done that anyway. Or you could have. If you wanted to. I didn't mind."

It reminds him of his mother. He remembers being very young as she tried to control his curls. And now he remembers this summer and she's doing the same thing, but with less success. He would wait, still and emotionless, as she sits nearby and tries to make sense of all the tangles. There's no way to win, but Laszlo doesn't dislike the attempts. He doesn't miss the potions that straightened every knot and curl, and doesn't mind the extra attention.

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & his DATE-date

[teratophilia]

Now that's an expression he loves to see! The anxious little knit in his brow relaxes and he smiles brightly in return.

"I would have done that anyway, you're right," he says with a laugh, gently plucking at another curl and stretching it before letting it spring back into place. Armani's always been the physically affectionate friend and Laszlo's been on the receiving end of his preening and petting countless times.

"But it feels different when-- uh... the intent is different? I feel a little nervous? But not the bad kind of nervous, you know? It's fun. I think, at least." There's that little knit in his brow again-- it didn't take long. Uncertainty. He doesn't usually think twice about sharing his thoughts and feelings with Laszlo, but now that it's about Laszlo...

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & his DATE-date

[notpoison]

Laszlo tilts his head as he listens. He doesn't quite connect with it, but he doesn't really connect with most things and people. But for some of them, he tries. He thinks he can understand what Armani's trying to tell him, and so he nods.

"It's fine," he says slowly, but he already knows it's insufficient. Laszlo exhales in a little huff as he recites several different responses in his head. "You're— you're perfect."

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & his DATE-date

[teratophilia]

Armani gives an airy little laugh and leans into Laszlo, resting his head against his shoulder. Laszlo's probably just saying that to be nice (or to get back into character) but it's just the sort of praise he'd want to hear from a DATE-date so he gobbles it up. It doesn't take much to impress him.

"I could say the same." It comes out as sort of a purr. Like he wants to sound sultry, but can't fully commit. Something to workshop later in the mirror before the next big party. "Hold me closer for the rest of this song? And then we can steal away to the Hatchery?"

It's not really stealing away if he wants everyone to see and assume they're about to do some mega makeouts by the romantic glow of alien eggs. But. Y'know.

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & his DATE-date

[notpoison]

Laszlo's not sure what Armani was doing with his voice, but it makes Laszlo smile a little, confused and amused. It doesn't stop him from taking directions, though. Laszlo wraps his arms around Armani's waist and pulls him in a little more. He feels particularly tall right now.

"Like this?" he looks down at Armani expectantly.

DANCE FLOOR: Armani & his DATE-date

[teratophilia]

"Perfect, yes, just like that! And then I'll--" He lifts his head to look back up at him, arms reaching to loop around his neck. "Do this?" There's an anxious flutter in his stomach and he lowers his gaze, suddenly shy now that he's got what he wanted.

Nothing they've done would score above a G rating but Armani's still hot in the face and a little bit sweaty, like he's gotten away with something positively indecent. If this was a real DATE-date, he doesn't know if he could make it this far. But this is Laszlo. And Laszlo is Safe. And this is good practice for the real thing!

"Is this okay?"