nexus_crossings | 1st Annual Halloween Block Party!

Perhaps it's the leaves of fiery golds and oranges drifting on the breeze, or the sight of various hard squash being mangled into festive ornaments, or even still the bowls of candy left out simply everywhere in the Nexus that signifies the import of today. Regardless of when you take heed, Halloween has come to the Nexus.

Neat little handmade signs and fliers of all kinds lead to a particularly festive sectioned off block with the Crossroads Cafe at the center. The brick building has more than its fair share of decorations hung from every available windowsill and door. Hanging skeletons, jolly Jack-O-Lanterns, orange and black streamers cascading down and blowing to and fro in the crisp breeze.

The doors are propped open just waiting to beckon you inside. What are you waiting for?

((See the OOC post if you have any questions! Backtagging and threadhopping are fine. Come on in and have a blast :D ))

Coats and Costumes
The Cafe
Bonfire
Dance Floor
Haunted House
Side Halls and Storage

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Not as if he cares all that much about what cat lady thinks about his showing or not showing up in a Halloween costume. In fact, he's only paying attention enough not to come off as completely rude. His mission to finish carving this pumpkin is an important one to him.

"It's been a while since I've had the chance to carve one." Then he adds almost absently, "my daughter likes butterflies."

"Daughter?" The unexpected confession earns a raised eyebrow that passes before he can look up at her. A smile tugs at her lips at it, though. Despite her rather blunt and outspoken behavior, Amelia has a soft spot for younger people that most might not expect. "You didn't bring her with you tonight?"

The doctor's eye muscles seem to flinch at the mention of bringing Joanna here. He'd love to. Although, he'd also worry about virtually everything, so perhaps it would be a little less fun than he momentarily pictured.

He's not had the chance to have a single Halloween with her yet ... and she was growing up so very fast.

"I wish I could have." He says. "Her mother and I are divorced and she lives with her."

That's... not an answer she expected. Amelia frowns softly, feeling rather horrible for bringing up something that's obviously quite painful. She knows first hand how much it hurts to be separated from family, though not in the same way he's feeling it now.

"I'm sorry to hear that," she offers sympathetically. "I hope you're able to spend time with her again soon. Being away from family is hard when you care for them as much as you care for your daughter."

It's all she can think to offer, knowing the kind of position Bones is in. Being separated by distance from loved ones is one of the hardest things a person can go through and Amelia can only imagine how much worse it must be when someone is actively preventing you from seeing someone.

It's not a comfortable subject for the Doctor, but he's not the type to censor himself. Around strangers or ... well, ever. The truth of the matter is that - though it bothers him to be away from Joanna as much as he is - she still manages to light up his life.

By video messages which he can marvel at how much she's developed in such a short time. It's one thing to read about children maturing in from a PADD and it's quite another to see it in front of your eyes.

"Soon." He says with a faint nod, "... but never soon enough."

Bones gets back to his carving for a moment or two. Tough to say if he feels the need to concentrate on carving or if he's feeling reflective.

"What about you? Any family to speak of."

It's a good thing he's staying focused on the pumpkin in front of him, because there's no hiding that pained look on her face. Dreams, no matter how much time passes, it still hurts like hell to think of her family, tucked away on a world that no one has access to anymore.

"I do," she manages after a moment. "They're... fine, I'm sure. Haven't seen them for a while, though."

'A while' that keeps growing with each passing day.

"But they're strong. They don't need me hovering over them every day like I used to." Her words have a forced clip at the end of each of them, but her tone is surprisingly nonchalant. She still can't be casual about leaving them behind, but she's getting better about lying about not being able to see them ever again.

Still, she doesn't want to talk about her family, so she moves to change the subject quickly. "Going to take the pumpkin back with you when you're done? Decorate your home with it?" She's trying to tease him a bit, but her smirk is a little insincere.

"Probably going to leave it behind actually."

He doesn't really have a place to put it and sending images of it to Joanna doesn't require it to be on the ship. It's not as if there's much in the way of free space he has to put it anyway.

"I don's have much in the way of places to put it." His dark eyes wander over to Amelia's to look into hers directly. He thought he noticed some tones of sarcasm from her, but it wasn't as overt as he's used to.

"Oh? I'd have thought a medical officer would have larger quarters on his ship, seeing as he's the most important member of the crew. Keeping everyone healthy is an important job, after all."

It's not sarcasm like he might expect, but teasing. Her smirk becomes more genuine as she gestures to his pumpkin and then crosses her arms in front of her chest.

"Or maybe your captain would like it better, if he has more space in his room? A handmade gift can go a long way in earning favor with someone you have to live with for long periods of time without reprieve." And if his captain is anything like Jim Kirk, she has a feeling anything to keep the captain busy for a while would be good.

He gets the sense of glibness, but Leonard seems unphased. In a ship where Uhura and Scotty are prominent members of the crew, there's no shortage of backtalk in his life. And let's be fair - even if you don't know the doctor well - he seems like the type who dishes out more sarcasm than he takes.

"As it turns out, in our organization they don't want any one person to think they're more valuable than anyone else. All the cabins are the same size." He says with a faint, but detectable tone of sarcasm. "I do get to lord over a rather spacious medbay, though."

The truth is Bones isn't all that invested in the fate of the pumpkin. Once he makes his video and takes a few stills for Jo, it could get smashed for all he cares. "I think I leave it behind to help with the ambiance around here and to make everyone jealous of my dexterity. Maybe next year some will try to one up me."

1st Annual Halloween Block Party!

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