1st Annual Halloween Block Party!

[iam_senpai]

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

Comments

[chiron_survivor]

"Sounds like you're a good friend," she says with a smile. "To go along with her costume choice."

"Not exactly..." Adia takes a seat next to Steve. It's a bit of an explanation -- one she's used to giving in the Nexus -- and she doesn't want to be looming over him the whole time. "Humans originally came from a planet called Kobol. There was some sort of cataclysmic event, and everyone who could evacuate. There were twelve tribes that settled on twelve planets, but the Sacred Scrolls mention a thirteenth tribe that left before everyone else and settled on a planet called Earth... we were looking for it, for a while."

[juststeverogers]

"Most of the time we see eye to eye. And when we don't I get a box to stand on." Steve jokes easily with the shrug of one bony shoulder.

He stops joking when she takes a seat to explain. It's so surreal to hear an origin of life that didn't come out of the bible or Miss Siri's helpful searches about Mister Charles Darwin and the Origin of Species. One of the great things about his List has been catching up on all the science that he's missed out on since jumping ship from 1941.

But this.

This is a whole other thing. Steve nods along with what Adia is saying, keeping quiet until she's finished.

"No luck, huh. It's...it's not perfect. But it's..well. It'll probably always be home t'me."

[chiron_survivor]

Adia laughs softly at his joke. "Hopefully she'll let you choose the costumes next year. Then you can at least dress as someone you're familiar with."

There are surprisingly strange parallels between the stories in Steve's bible and the history of Adia's universe (overlaid with a healthy dose of Greek mythology), but she is not familiar enough with Christianity to point out the similarities. She also keeps a List, mostly of Earth places that she wants to look up on a Nexus computer. Maybe someday she and Steve can exchange notes!

"Well, there's not a lot of hard evidence that it exists," she explains. "We gave up searching over a year ago, and... now we're not really in a position to." She rubs her arm self-consciously, feeling awkward discussing such things at what is supposed to be a festive occasion. "What's your Earth like? Do you still live there?"

[juststeverogers]

"...It's gone."

Steve looks down at his near empty cup of water, his voice quiet enough that it could almost be covered up by the faint beat of the music reverberating through the quiet hallway.

"I..I mean, if it's still there, I can't get back. I've been stuck here since I arrived last year."

[chiron_survivor]

"Oh... I'm sorry." She feels bad for asking, not wanting to bring up what is obviously a sad topic for Steve. Not that she can't relate. Quite the opposite, in fact. "I can't go back home, either. It's, uh... there was a war."

"But maybe you'll be able to go back someday?" She tries to sound optimistic. "Portals appear and disappear all the time here."

[juststeverogers]

"...I'm sorry to hear that. About your world, I mean."

Steve decides not to mention the whole great war with Germany and Japan going on. Nazis and the like. It would just be trying to show her up, and that's not how tragedy works. He finishes off the water and takes a breath.

"Yeah. I haven't given up." He wouldn't know how to try, really. "I still ask around and keep my ear out."

[chiron_survivor]

It's the same reason Adia kept her explanation brief. Losing one's home is devastating, no matter the circumstances. "Thanks... it's why we were looking for Earth, despite it being a myth. If there are any other humans out there, we need to find them."

How funny, that they're both looking for their respective Earths. "If I hear anything, I'll let you know. Somehow I don't think your Earth and my Earth are the same, but I already promised at least one person a tour if we do find it, so you're more than welcome to visit, too."

[juststeverogers]

"Yeah? I'd be happy to go."

Steve manages a smile and gives Adia a nod of his head. He's pretty sure their Earths aren't the same either, but it never hurts to have someone else on the lookout for his home. Obviously he'll do the same.

"I'd have to get you period appropriate clothes, but you'd be welcome to see my home too if I can find it."

[chiron_survivor]

"What sorts of clothes do they wear, where you're from?" She returns the smile, grateful for the offer, even if it's only hypothetical at this point. "Everyone I've met in the Nexus either dresses in the style I'm used to, or they look like they're from ancient times."

[juststeverogers]

"Dresses, mostly. Oh, but uhm, some of the gals working in the factories cut their hair short and wear pants now, but they don't tend to off the clock still. It's..."

Steve purses his lips and sighs.

"Folks don't tend to treat women the same as men, when I'm from."

[chiron_survivor]

Adia listens thoughtfully. "They don't always treat women the same as men where I'm from, either," she says with a wry smile. "But I think I know what you mean. It used to be like that on my world, but not for a long time now. I don't mind wearing a dress, though." She absently brushes at the skirt of the one she has on. "I don't get many opportunities, these days."

[juststeverogers]

"Even in the future? That just isn't right."

Steve saw firsthand how hard it was to make a living as a woman watching his mother try to raise him after his father passed. She was a damn fine nurse and a damn fine woman. Hardest worker he ever knew.

"...Sorry." It makes him mad to think about, but he doesn't know what all he could do to change it. He's not from her world and can't get back to his own. At least here she has freedom.

[chiron_survivor]

"It's okay," Adia says quickly, surprised by how much Steve cares. She used to get mad about it, too, at the sexism and misogyny she still has to deal with on occasion, but nowadays her energy is focused mainly on staying alive and safe.

"I think it takes time to undo that kind of thinking. We have a lot of women in our military, and we've had a female president." Who got there because she was the Secretary of Education and the actual president and the rest of his cabinet were slaughtered by Cylons, but whatever. "And plenty of women in all other professions. It's a lot better than it used to be."