ArchivedLogs:Just Dance

Just Dance
Dramatis Personae Anole, Jack, Kaylynn
In Absentia	2015-08-02 "You're not a squirrel."
Location <NYC> Tompkins Square Park - East Village
Small but popular, this tree-lined park is a perfect centerpiece to the eclectic neighborhood it resides in. Home to a number of playgrounds and courts from handball to basketball, it also houses a dog park and chess tables, providing excellent space for people watching -- especially during its frequent and often eccentric festivals, from Wigstock to its yearly Allen Ginsberg tribute Howl festival. Clear and sunny and none too hot, the weather has lured quite a crowd into the park today. There's a concert going on -- certainly the fact that it is /free/ is another bonus -- and the lively jazz music has attracted a crowd of swing dancing in the center of the square. Through the twirling and dancing there's perhaps little notice of a sudden rapidfire flash of thwipping through the crowd. Snap! Zip. Swoosh. Perched up on a tree overlooking the dancers is -- well, not much. Among the music and flashing colourful clothes and merriment, Anole doesn't attract much attention -- the slim lizardboy blends in with the leaves and bark, faded in to the colours of the tree he is nestled in against. His long sticky tongue snaps out from his perch, flicking out to snag a wallet from where one dancer has left their bag nearby while they dance, yoinking it back up to himself high up in his tree and tucking it into his backpack. Score. While dancing isn't a draw for Jack, the invisible teen has come to investigate this free concert. In worn jeans and a hoodie, Jack's staying on the edge of things. Hoodie up and head down, he's not looking like a lot either. Idly bobbing a bit to the music since it is a catchy tune, Jack's unseen eyes scan the area. A flash of movement catches his attention and Jack glances up toward where he thought it came from. Letting out a thoughtful little noise, the invisible teen glances around before starting to make his way over towards that tree for further investigation. Among that crowd of dancers is one Kaylynn who is doing her best rock step and twirling about in a patterned coral sundress. Her hair falls in dark brown curls down her back and might just create some interesting tan lines if she'll stay in the sun long enough. A final roll out ends with Kaylynn curtsying to her partner, offering a friendly smile, and then beginning to weave through the crowd. She steps along on the balls of her feet, gliding through the people and throwing in some spins and footwork as she does. In the end, the chocolatier ends up emerging from the crowd not too far from where the tree is and begins heading in that direction. It may not be too hot outside, but after that much moving around a bit of shade would help! There's another long-ping-thwip, another flash, another package zipped up into the tree. Anole's backpack is growing fatter with his day's haul -- though as Jack comes nearer there's a (very) (very) (very) quiet sigh, a zipper pulled shut, a rustle of leaves. A shift of green-brown movement against the tree branches, a blink of huge-wide green-brown eyes as one small lizardkid skitters head-first down the trunk. "-- I didn't know you liked jazz." Still camoflauged against the tree, Anole's voice comes from about ten feet up the trunk. Unaware of approaching chocolatiers, Jack siles to himself when he sees that thwip repeated. He's got a feeling he knows what the source of that is now. And when he gets close enough that all the skittering happens and someone speaks to him, his guess is confirmed. Looking up a moment, Jack shrugs and then moves to lean against the tree. "I didn't either. Some of it has sounded pretty good though," he replies quietly. "I just heard there was a free concert and decided to come see what it was all about," he says. "You a fan or just here for other reasons?" he asks, no judgement in his voice. He's trying to not look as strange as someone talking to a tree might. Kaylynn lifts an eyebrow at the sound of a thwip and though there's a curious glance around she doesn't seem to notice things disappearing. The chocolatier uses one hand to lift the hair from the back of her neck and the other to fan herself a bit as she moves towards the tree. It's not until she's just inches away from the shade that she notices Jack...talking to the tree? There's a tilt of her head as she looks up at the leaves looking for a squirrel maybe. "Hello!" She seems to be speaking to Jack, and possibly the nonexistent squirrel that she believes is there. In any case, her southern lilt is accompanied by a soft smile and a wave. "Free concert," Anole answers, his lopsidedly muscular arm lifting in a shrug. "Passes the time. Not a lot to do in summer when you're broke." He skitters down further, scurrying down and around to take a seat on a lower branch of the tree, leaning against the trunk and legs dangling down towards the ground. His colouration shifts, now; the parts of him still in contact with the tree stay brown, though his legs and feet shift back to their natural green scaled colour where they swing down off the branch. He tips his spikey head down to squint towards Kaylynn, uncertain and a little wary. "... friend of yours?" His fingers curl tighter against the branch, arm bracing. Most of him bracing, really. "I know the feeling," Jack murmurs. "Just free stuff and hanging out with friends," he adds. He watches the change in coloration with a quiet bit of envy, thinking about his invisibility but eventually shaking it off. Kaylynn's sudden appearance has Jack tensing too and the glances from Anole to the woman. "Uhh...not really. I think we've met a time or two...?" Kaylynn's gaze finally falls upon Anole and the first words that come out of her mouth are, "You're not a squirrel." Quite an important observation. Moments later there's a smile for the color changing one and she lifts a hand to wave up at him, "The name's Kaylynn, nice to meet you." Her accented voice carries up to the tree and to Jack as well, to whom she nods at his words. "Mhm, just a time or two." There's a glance out to the crowd and then back to the other two, "Having fun? The music's great!" "Yeah... hanging out with friends." Though Anole doesn't sound entirely too sure on this point, his agreement here kind of noncommital. His eyes widen just slightly at Kaylynn's observation, grip staying tight against the tree branch. "N... no. I'm... not a squirrel." His gaze stays warily on Kaylynn, and he pulls his legs back up onto the branch, brows pulling in very slightly. "Band's pretty good," he agrees cautiously. "They were in Washington Square yesterday." Jack glances up at his former roommate for a moment, that noncommital tone getting a faint hum. "Definitely not a squirrel," Jack agrees. "Nice meeting you again then," the invisible teen offers. He nods in agreement about the band though. "I'm liking the music more than I thought I would," he admits. "They were? Doing another free concert there too?" "That's probably good, squirrels are hit or miss...some of them are pure evil." Kaylynn is probably joking. Probably. There's a smile on her face at least. "Y'all aren't ones for dancing?" She dips her head towards Jack as she replies next, "Pleasure to meet you again too. And do you think they'll be doing anymore free concerts besides yesterday and today? They're really good." And though she's not twirling about or whatnot, the woman's tapping her foot along to the beat. "I love dancing," Anole answers simply, shrugging once again. He doesn't tap along with the beat, though, nor does he look back towards the square of twirling colourful dancers. "Love squirrels, too." The bulbous tip of his sticky tongue flicks briefly across his lips. Yum. "Not sure about more concerts. Probably some other weekend. There's a lot of -- free. Summer. Stuff. If you pay attention." "I can't dance," Jack replies with a laugh. "End up tripping all over my own feet," he admits. "Yeah, concerts, places giving out free water, street fairs...just have to look for the stuff. I thought I heard something about a free outdoor movie night too," he shrugs. "I'm just surprised to see a band play more than one free show in a row." "Then why don't you?" Dance that is. And as for Jack, "At least you're stepping on your own feet and not someone else's. But hey, get you and your dancing partner a pair of steel toed boots and let loose. Who cares if you're good or bad!" There's a broad grin for him before she's looking out across the crowd. "I really need to expand my use of Google then...a movie night would be fun. And it'd be nice to actually know about the street fairs so I could make time for them." Kaylynn lets out a soft chuckle before shrugging, "I guess buzzfeed can only give me so much information." Anole just /blinks/ at Kaylynn at this question. Once, then twice. His large clawed fingers tap a few times at the branch of the tree, and then he shakes his head slowly, forehead creasing deeply together. "Think /they/ get paid," he answers Jack finally. "Like, the /city/ pays them. It's a -- parks thing. If you look on the -- city's. Website. You can find this kind of stuff. They have all the park -- um. Events. I don't know where the movie nights are, though. Is it good movies?" Jack gives Kaylynn at look at her question too. Shaking his head, he listens to the other teen and hums. "Didn't think to check the city site," he murmurs, making a mental note. "I'm not sure. I just saw a couple flyers in the subway on my way out here. I think it said they'd be comedies so maybe they'll be some good ones." Kaylynn looks at both boys and frowns, "What? Worried about the crowd? Good kick in the shins would do them good." Yes because that always works. Kaylynn shrugs a bit then and slips her hands into the pockets of her sundress, "I'll look it up on website then, comedies are always promising! Maybe they'll show Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure or something. Now /that/ I would definitely go to." It seems like the Texan doesn't ever really stop talking! Or smiling for that matter. Anole's Look just continues. His hairless brow lifts. "That's a good way to get dead," he answers, mildly. Veeery mildly. A small -- very small, very brief -- smile crosses his face after this, though. "It's been a while since I went to a movie. Maybe check that out. Could be fun." "Very dead," Jack agrees. "Or tossed in jail," the invisible teen mutters. "Hopefully it'll be a nice cool night for it," he remarks after a moment. "Never seen Bill and Ted's tohugh." "True, but it'd still do them good. Maybe something more subtle." Kaylynn glances to the crowd and shakes her head. There's a slight twitch of her lips before she's turning to Jack and her jaw drops slightly. "You haven't? You /have/ to see it, definitely have to. The second one is crap but the first one is /amazing/!" Anole lifts his enormous spikey-muscular arm in another shrug. "It's a little hard to do subtle," he says, a touch sheepish. "If I tried dancing it'd mostly just be screaming and throwing things and calling the cops." He buckles the sternum and waist straps on his backpack, twisting around to start climbing -- headfirst again -- down the trunk of the tree to hop down to the ground. "Speaking of which, concert's gonna be ending before too long. I should get out of here before the crowd starts to break up." "I'll stick to letting other people dance," Jack remarks. "People can be assholes," he mutters, shooting the crowd a slight look. He shakes it off though, an amused smirk on his unseen face. "Second person that told me that," he says. Shoulders lift and fall with a shrug and Jack glances towards the street. "I should start heading out too." "Little bastards, tch. One day I'll see y'all somewhere without screaming crowds and perhaps there shall be dancing them." Kaylynn grins before tipping an make-believe hat in their direction. "Seriously though, watch the movie. And have a good day!" A hand lifts to wave at the two before her gaze is back on the dancers. Maybe she'll just skirt around to the band, see if they've got any posters for an upcoming show posted!