one night of magic rush

[blyat]

WHO: Cain, Prompto, Hideki Maeda, and you!
WHERE: The popular Asylum club.
WHEN: Night of October 26.
WHAT: Cain and Prompto's joint birthdays!
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Beyond drinking/smoking, general wild party behavior, and fake friendship, there shouldn't be much. Will update as needed.


[Set deep in the downtown of New Amsterdam's entertainment district is Asylum, arguably the most popular club in the city. The exterior is cool steel beams and tasteful futuristic architecture with a long line down the corridor, suited bouncers posed at the entrance all armed with a virtual guest list. Its interior is fashioned with bright, colorful lighting dynamic to the music of the infamous DJ Semicolon, high ceilings and acoustic sounds to lend that feeling of a constant full-body hum. Any partygoers on the guest list for this event will be funneled toward the VIP section. They will have received an invitation a few days prior via their Cooltalk profiles. Jason is specifically blacklisted, sorry buddy.

DANCE YOUR HEART OUT. Nearly impossible to book without deep pockets or wide-reaching connections, Semicolon is at the top of their game mixing popular contemporary hits with Whitney Houston's classics. From song to song, Semicolon provides a unique and talented contrast of the slow to the energetic, so no matter your dancing style, you'll find something to move you on the dance floor.

DROWN YOUR... LIVER. Courtesy of the party's host, Hideki Maeda, the VIP section's private bar will provide an ever-flowing river of your favorite expensive high-proof alcohol. Pick your poison.

CHILL OUT. Tired on your feet from too much dancing, or just need a break from the packed atmosphere? There are plenty of comfortable areas where you can relax and take it easy until you're ready to get back out there. The lights around this area cycle through different colors in reflection of Semicolon's performance set, so a slower song might lend toward romantic shades of red while a faster-paced song is brighter blue.

SMOKE, EAT & MINGLE. Asylum will be serving real, fresh meat at this party, so enjoy that luxury while it lasts. There is also an outdoor area with a beautiful view over the city itself if you want to take your vape pen out there for a smoke, just get some air, or see who's around for a chat.]

Comments

cain | ota

[blyat]

001: spin me right round

[It's not his choice of celebration. Cain had planned to stay home, cook a meal with Abel, keep to himself, maybe nurse his own bottle of whiskey — hadn't planned even to tell anyone this date's particular significance. So social media has betrayed him, to Hideki Maeda of all people, with the clout and influence and monetary capability to pull off the utter opposite: a big flashy party with his name plastered across the invitations. And he has to go, because it's part of the plan. A plan since wildly grown out of its original scope.

He's since come to peace with it, deciding instead to enjoy the free high-quality booze and food. Cain is difficult to miss in a tight gold shirt bright and shining under the lights, his usual black earring replaced with one of the same metallic color. As soon as he's a few drinks in — enough to feel looser with the relaxation of alcohol, caught in the music, thoroughly distracted — Cain's out on the dance floor.

If he sees someone he knows, he won't hesitate to pull them in with one gloved hand. Enjoy being spun in an almost graceful circle, then released, then reeled back in. Unlike Hideki, he can actually dance. Yet it's a half-mocking grace for the slow Whitney Houston song thrumming over the floor. Not really to his taste, but whatever.

For anyone he doesn't immediately recognize, Cain will still sidle on up,] Friend of Prompto's, or what?

002: i want your meat

[As someone who's experienced little of the culinary world at large, Cain's had no problem adjusting to the dietary demands of New Amsterdam. That doesn't mean he's ignorant of what's being offered at the open bar. Perched at one of the stools, there's a plate of meat hors d'oeuvre in front of him. And yes, he's eating straight off it, glass of whiskey to the side.]

Want some?

[With one of the biodegradable plastic toothpicks, Cain raises a piece of well-cooked meat wrapped in some sort of salted garlic bread.]

How much do you think this whole fuckin' plate cost? 'Bout as much as my kidneys on the black market?

003: come on baby, take it easy

[There comes a point where everything, the lights and alcohol and loud music and Hideki's attention, all of it finally drives him onto the balcony for fresher air. He goes out alone without anticipating interception. Avoiding it, maybe. For as wild as he likes to party, the fact that this is all about him... and it's coming from someone he hardly knows, someone he's meant to manipulate for the purpose of (valuable, greater-good) information, it gets to be enough.

Any other partygoers will find Cain here, jacketed arms hooked over the railing, pen perched between his lips. He inhales thin streams of vaporous nicotine and breathes the opaque clouds out over the city.]

004: wildcard

[This is his birthday party, he's around, find him anywhere! I'm also at magisterium if you want to chat something out.]

002

[998]

[oh, that's right, it's cain's nameday too. jon feels a bit bad that he didn't bring him a present. or even his own waffles. jon eyes the meat rolls suspiciously, but takes it.]

What is it?

[he holds it up to eye level, trying to determine the animal that went into it. he shrugs, and takes a bite. the garlic is strong. it's hard for jon to determine the nuances of the meat over it, but he does enjoy the flavor combination.]

It's good.

[he grins at cain.]

Happy nameday. Let me buy your next drink.

[he doesn't even know if cain likes lemon curd....and it's on all the waffles.....why didn't he get some plain???]

[blyat]

[Lemon curd waffles... that's a choice.]

Nameday? What the fuck is that?

[Cain sprawls against the bar, the picture of a contented cat, whiskey glass perched in the fingertips of one hand.]

Hey, y'know, the drinks are free. But that's sweet of you. Trying to pick me up?

[Sorry, he's just being an asshole. He knows better than to think Jon's looking for a hookup.]

[998]

[jon raises his eyebrows.]

The day you got your name. This--

[he lifts his arm, gestures broadly at the festivities.]

You give people presents. Get them drinks. Every year. On their nameday.

[jon ignores flirtation when he doesn't know how to respond to it, which is most times.]

003

[revlon]

[ She's an infrequent presence on social media as a woman who predates the rise and prevalence of it. But she receives the invitation all the same and while this is a shindig she'd fully avoid under different circumstances, she knows the birthday celebrants; and Cain, in particular, is someone with whom she shares a more storied history. So she does pass by — not for long, keeping to the fringes of the thrumming and wild party as she scans the writhing crowd for one of the men of the hour. (She knows what he's wearing from his tagged photos on Cooltalk. Shouldn't be difficult to spot.)

In the distance, surrounded by admirers, she notices the infamous Maeda boy. If she's curious, she doesn't let it get the better of her despite coming by straight from work. This isn't a business venture tonight, despite being a fascinating glimpse into how the other half lives. So she pushes on towards the balcony, intercepting a glass of whiskey along the way.

The music gives way to the white noise of a city down below, muffled bass thumping through it all. It's been cooler in the evenings lately, but the air feels crisper this high up. Peggy comes up alongside Cain without much preamble and leans her elbows on the railing, gaze out towards the skyline rather than to the young man at her side, and glass to her red lips. ]

I was wondering where you'd gone, [ she says at length, after a sip. It's the best she's had in New Amsterdam. Must be expensive. She shoots a smile at him, subdued but sincere. ] I'd feel terrible for losing you twice in a party like that.

[ Their first meeting at the Insomniac's Ball, barely a few months ago. Strange how long ago that feels now. ]

[blyat]

[He's heard the footsteps of the approach from behind, but he doesn't turn fully, even as black eyes tilt to watch Peggy arrive at his elbow. He doesn't know it's her until he sees that familiar profile, of course — swept artfully into a neat hairstyle, and even her outfits dictates a level of sophistication decidedly beyond the majority of the attendees at this particular party. At once, the tension in Cain's shoulders bleeds out and he eases in his hunch against the railing to turn his body half toward her.]

This one's a little better, huh? Not drugged, not wearing those shitty clinic scrubs like we walked out of a botched surgery. Just to start. [A fond smile worms its way across his own lips, lowering the vape pen, the temperature gauge on the front of the device dulling from blue to red to green as it cools.] Didn't really think you'd show up here, though.

[Better company than the insipid, blank-faced, social media obsessed Cooltalk followers filling out most of the crowd.]

What's the special occasion?

[Ha. A bad joke. It may be his birthday, but he's still not thrilled about the fanfare.]

[revlon]

[ She shrugs gently, lips still pressed together in that quiet curve as she twitches her glass of whiskey towards him between thumb and forefinger. ]

This. [ She lets it hang in the air, almost teasing. Then relents with a tip of her head. ] And you, of course.

[ They both know this isn't her type of party, that she could have bypassed it entirely with a polite decline via text and a promise of dinner or drinks a few days later. Quiet, private. But judging by the shift in his posture in the seconds they've been together, Peggy suspects this isn't quite Cain's cup of tea either. Maybe a part of her knew even before this, guessed that he wouldn't mind the company of someone who stands apart from this crowd.

Maybe, maybe, maybe. Her life revolves around keeping people guessing about what she does and doesn't know. ]

Happy birthday. [ Their paths haven't crossed as often since New Tokyo by virtue of the different lives they lead. And they haven't touched on much about what happened on the train (in the dreams). Doesn't mean she doesn't think about it or doesn't wonder how he is since then. ] Another year. How does it feel?

[ Her roundabout way of asking, How are you? ]

001

[girlcorrupted]

[ Angel's been offered some form of alcohol since her arrival, placed between her thumb and forefinger before she could politely refuse- not that the waiter would have heard her over this music. Actually, it's surprising she manages to hear anything herself, as a man wearing...well that sure is a shirt...approaches and speaks to her. ]

No, I hardly know him. I was invited by a...a friend.

[ Able is her friend right?? She hopes so. It's a nice thing to consider, and not something she's gotten to consider often. She twirls the stem of her glass between her fingers, brings it up to take a sip but aborts when she smells the alcohol penetrating the sweetness of the mixer. Gross, not used to it. ]

Nice....shirt?

[ She's not great at this. ]

[blyat]

Oh, you like it?

[Cain is all charm, leaning to be heard over the loud thrall of music. Any awkwardness or timidity in her responses is easily smoothed over. He flattens a hand over his own chest, then tugs on the hem of the shirt, the already-tight fabric pulling taut across his pecs. Yes, flaunting like a peacock.

A quick step, and Cain steers them over to the fringes of the dance floor where he retrieves his own glass of alcohol. Never bereft for too long. He also gets the sense he won't be coaxing her into a dance soon. Perhaps it's a misjudgment, though.]

So who invited you if it wasn't him?

[girlcorrupted]

It...certainly makes a statement.

[ A good or bad statement? That's up for Cain to decide. Angel lets herself be steered, though she puts purposeful space between them, untrusting. ]

A friend of the other host, Able. Do you know him?

[ Sure, in her spare time between her new job and trying to arrange for a place to live Angel has been doing what she considers her due-diligence and researching all the other displaced- their social media presence, what Morning Star has in their files- learning and absorbing as much as she can...however, that data is incomplete, and she hasn't gotten to Cain's information yet.

tl;dr she has no idea who shes talking toooooo ]

002

[verselet]

[V is reminiscent of a feline on the prowl, never staying in one place overlong, weaving through the bodies on the dance floor, passing by the DJ booth, flitting over to the balcony, and eventually wandering near the bar. Keeping to himself, observant more than participatory, though the way he pauses when offered a sample from a… full plate of hors d’oeuvres is enough to give him pause.

He had been told, after all, that meat was something of a rarity in this place. A fact that’s highlighted further by the kidney comment.]

Depends on the state of your kidneys.

[—he offers back, though raising a hand in polite declination. Still, this interruption is enough for V to completely halt his meandering path through the party, opting to sit on the stool next to Cain. He only recognizes him through what he’s seen in passing while here; the other birthday boy, apparently, with attentions doled out on him on occasion and accordingly. It was a celebration for them specifically, after all.]

You have friends in high places. [Able to afford so much luxury… meat, is his meaning.]

[blyat]

[Recognition settles immediately, if only because he's had to acquaint himself with Prompto's Cooltalk profile intimately for the purposes of what he's termed work. That's all he can do to better handle this mess of a situation with Hideki. He never meant to become buddies with the rich spawn of Maeda wealth and prosperity, but here it is now.

If Cain's not incorrect, he's come across this particular man's unique disposition a few times in images. Prompto's new roommate, was it? What was the name?]

Yeah, guess I do. Willing to spoil me and shit. [He hates it, but that's not the game tonight. Cain plasters on a sly smirk.] Did Sunshine invite you?

[verselet]

[Images that Prompto had snapped of him with little to zero warning, no doubt. But at this point, V probably remains oblivious to the growing popularity of that particular Cooltalk account, and therefore recognition isn't something he particularly expects from... well, anyone.

Not that Cain has made it clear that he does. V allows his cane to rest across his lap, balanced evenly, leaning his elbows into the counter that stretches across from them.]

'Sunshine'. [Now that's a fitting descriptor if he's ever heard one.] If you mean I was dragged here with little to no choice, then yes. I was 'invited'.

[Maybe Cain can hear the scare quotes an otherwise plain-toned delivery.]

i do what i want

[wiccant]

( he's--more than a little tipsy, but billy's having fun with it; laughing, taking selfies here and there, dancing up a storm and having an all around good time like one should be at a birthday party, right? sometimes it's fine to let go a little, especially when it's a party among friends.

cain's shirt is near impossible to miss, but billy doesn't go after him on the dance floor. he waits until cain's done, until he spots him walking away from the crowd to come up behind him and place a hand onto his shoulder to get his attention, smile still playing at his lips. )

Hey. Happy birthday.

[blyat]

[At the tap to his shoulder, Cain is quick to whirl around still high and buoyant on the adrenaline. It isn't the first time Billy's seen him like this: a little sweaty, windswept with energy, decently intoxicated, a natural in bright lights and thrumming bass. And the first thing he does upon recognizing Billy is impulsive. Arms sweep him up in a crushing hug, powerful enough to pull Billy up on his toes with a broad grin.

What can he say? Billy makes him feel like the hugging type. Plus, it's his birthday, and even he hates that a rich brat is throwing him a party in a display of disgusting wealth, he's drunk enough to look past it at the moment.]

Hey yourself! [Loud to be heard over the music, Cain mercifully releases him, although the smug and cheeky grin remains fixed on his lips.] Where's my birthday present?

[wiccant]

( cain's arms grab hold and billy carefully balances his weight on the tips of his toes, laughs but wraps his arms around cain's shoulders in return. he's definitely not against hugs, even if they're both a little sweaty. he's released, giving billy room to move back a step. flatten out the red and black(long sleeves) striped sweater he's wearing before his attention refocuses in on cain and his grin. )

I didn't want to lose it, so I left it someplace a little quieter. ( seems like a dumb place for someone to wander in just to steal gifts, right? let's hope no one decided to take off with cain's. ) The lounge! Walk with me? I'll grab it for you.

guess what i also do what i want

[laozu]

[ the balcony is easy enough to reach, unseen and stealthy - his retained skills involve advanced agility and strength, after all. which means coming up behind cain, hands sliding around the sides of his face to cover his eyes ( the burst of bond between them a bright mess of jovial mischief and a little bit of feel-good grudge ) and says: ] Guess who!

[ they're not friends; he knows the risks of touching someone like this, especially cain - who strikes him as prickly and mistrustful in the way that his navigator companion is not. but, if something like "prickly" was enough to stop him, he wouldn't be himself. ]

smacks wrist

[blyat]

[It's not the most favorable reaction. Wei Wuxian is fortunate he doesn't fumble his vape pen right over the ledge, and instead jolts into action, elbow jabbing backward as soon as that black curtain is pulled over his eyes.]

Hey--!

[Prickly may be an understatement. Whether or not Cain catches him with the jab, the skin contact is enough to communicate his own brief flash of emotion: fatigue intermixed with inebriated relaxation, spiking quickly into surprise when touched.]

Don't sneak up on me.

[laozu]

[ JUST DESSERTS - for both of them. in his eyes, this is revenge for the way cain has muddled his thoughts since they last spoke - causing him undeserved strife between himself and his two countrymen. he takes the elbow all the same, a whuff escaping him as he tips back, back, nearly toppling over entirely from the railing. it's a precarious position, but damn if it doesn't prove his core strength is good.

he comes off the railing after that, hands laced behind his back as he fishes around for the code that contains his gift for cain as well. antics aside, he's come for a reason. ]

You look exhausted, mister Cain.

[ and no wonder, having to pal around with that INTERESTING individual manning the bar inside ]

I just thought you might like a little burst of energy, after a night like yours. Congratulations and happy birthday to you, I've brought you a gift!

closed to abel

[blyat]

[The first threads of daylight are beginning to stream in the windows, pale and thin, when Cain's boots arrive at the door from a long night out. His exhaustion's mounted clear and high in his mind through the course of events -- wild party and all its encounters new and old, several drinks, endless dancing, the constant company of Hideki Maeda. In the end arriving at the Maeda household for an overdue attempt at proper recon. So much exposure to the young heir of the Maeda name has left Cain's nerves raw and tired, not that maintaining banter is ever difficult. It's the entire routine: lying, pretending he cares about social media attention, the perfect angle in a picture, getting so blitzed the world becomes a slur of unfeeling detail.

Cain's a cold sober by the time he gets back, somewhere in that murky gray area of not-yet-hungover exhaustion. As soon as he steps inside, he begins to shed shoes and clothing, pulling the new jacket from Billy off and draping it over a chair on a path to the shower. A temperature scalding enough to bring color into his cheeks and even darken tanned skin with a flush of warmth. Rinsing all the grime and grit of the day off, Cain finally begins to relax with each meditative inhale of steam.

Naked and still-damp when he stumbles into the bedroom -- after a brief, warring consideration of the couch in favor of not waking Abel up -- Cain feels for the edge of the bed and eases down onto it. He'd missed Abel. Hardly saw him more than a handful of moments at the party, swept out by Hideki too soon after. But it's his birthday now, properly, according to the date. And he wants to spend it right here. Finding the shape of Abel's cocooned body in the bedsheets, he automatically forms himself against it with a low hum.]

[adsero]

[Abel isn't asleep.]

[He hasn't slept at all, as far as he can remember, having spent the last hour of the party asking everyone where Cain had gone and then, after hearing he'd left with Prompto and Hideki, making the long walk home. Alone. He didn't have the credits for a cab, he didn't have the thought to ask someone still there for a ride, and he honestly didn't want to make it easy for himself. Because he's angry, and he's upset that he's angry. So he punishes himself and walks. It's scary and he hates it, but serves him right doesn't it?]

[His own clothes are on the floor, he didn't shower, didn't even brush his teeth before curling up in the fetal position in bed and wishing he could just erase the day from his memory. Every ugly thought, every lick of jealousy that came to taunt him, every whisper that this was Cain's territory and he'd never belong in it, that Cain didn't even care if he was there. 'Look at that spoiled, rich boy giving him everything, that's you if you'd made different choices. And now he's just as chained to him as he was to you. He looks like he's having fun though, doesn't he?']

[And then he'd left. Without Abel. So it was either so much fun that he'd forgotten about him, or he was still 'working'. The latter, the more likely option, doesn't make him feel better and it's the most frustrating part. He can't even be angry with Cain, he just has to accept it's out of both of their control. And that's kept him up for two hours, gnawing at the inside of his skull, pressing him about how selfish and silly he is. And the panic just spikes when he feels the mattress dip as Cain settles in.]

['Don't touch me, please, please don't touch me, not when I feel like this--!!']

[Abel shudders when he feels Cain's legs entwine with his, and he has to make a choice-- does he jerk away to prevent the link, or stay still and pretend he's asleep? If he moves, Cain would know something was wrong. But no one falls asleep and feels this kind of emotional upheaval, and even if someone did, not Abel. His nightmares were rare, he slept like the dead usually. There's no good way out here. So he doesn't move.]

[He stays unnaturally stiff as his chest starts to glow and everything unravels. The jealousy, the frustration, the disappointment, the anger, the feeling of inadequacy-- it's the worst emotional cocktail Abel has felt since he learned the truth about Project Thebes, it almost hurts him to share it. He shouldn't have done this, he should have moved. When he opens his mouth to tell Cain to just go to sleep, that he's just tired and raw from the party, that he'll be fine after he rests-- nothing comes out but a sad, pained noise that he immediately chokes off.]

[This was a scrape on his knee hours ago, how did it turn into this massive festering wound?]

03

[windowsills]

[ Alex probably should have known better. Should have known that a birthday party for extroverted someones like Cain and Prompto would mean wild and outlandish and not a quiet sit down party with cake and playful reminiscent stories about their persons and hobbies and interests. And what little (but also alarmingly a lot) Alex knows of him, this scene probably fits his personality a lot better.

Alex shows up in a black dress with lace around the edges and her standard high heels and well, she instantly feels under dressed when she finally finds one of the birthday boys in the loud little number he’s wearing. ]

Hello, Cain. I’m sorry to bother you.

[ She had watched him tear up the dance floor for a while, before following him out to the balcony. She’s oblivious to the fact that this is the opposite of how he would like to spend his day, he looks content and in his zone, she doesn’t want to disrupt that. After all, birthdays are an obvious cause for celebration, even if this isn’t her scene.

Under her arm she has a small present, neatly wrapped in plastic electric blue film. It’s a small square shape, heavier than one would expect. Alex offers it to him. ]

Happy Birthday. Another year older. Congratulations.

[blyat]

[Ignorant to how she may feel underdressed -- to him, Alex is gorgeous as always in that dress sleek and black to match her hair -- he's immediately faced toward her, cityscape view forgotten. A broad grin spreads across his mouth. Far more sincere than the show he'd put on for the crowd back in the club.]

Gonna have to try really hard to bother me, Alex.

[He's a little tamer than he was inside, at least, fatigue beginning to curl alongside a pleasant glow of inebriation. It's when she hands him the box that his eyes go wide and surprised. Caught off-guard.]

... Uh, what's... [Heavy in his hand, he begins to peel off the film.] What is it?

listen,

[mercurio]

Dude.

[despite the fact that this is a party for both cain and prompto, the blond has been so taken by everything in this club that he's barely really had time to sit down or collect himself momentarily. finding cain was something he had been intent on doing, but found it hard to do so.]

[it's only now that, by chance, he's managed to run into the to-be birthday boy, a light punch on his arm and a stupid grin at the tight shirt, the lights streaking it a wild amount of colors but letting the gold shine through regardless.]

I got you something! [atop the music, the only way prompto's going to be heard is by leaning in and shouting a bit. he helps make his point by pushing forward a small box, containing these. that's all the box is, however. no wrapping whatsoever.] I saw them and thought you'd be cool enough to wear 'em!

[blyat]

[As soon as Prompto intercepts him, Cain peels himself away from the crowd so they have some privacy away from the loud thunder of music. His brows raise in surprise as the box is pushed toward him, but it's not too shocking. This is Prompto, after all.]

Hey, why the hell is the other birthday boy giving me something?

[But he's beaming as he takes the box with the sunglasses set inside. Cain's own voice is raised over their surroundings, head bent close to Prompto's ear.]

Fuck, these are awesome! Where'd you find 'em?