ArchivedLogs:The Dance

The Dance
Dramatis Personae Kris, Ryan, Jackson, Anole, Hive, Sebastian, Peter, Rasa, Shelby, Shane, Holly, Stanton, Lucas Martin, Megan, Kitty, Desirée
In Absentia	2013-05-31 Xavier DANCE
Location <XS> Great Hall
The largest room at Xavier's, the Great Hall is designed to hold all of the mansion's residents and then some. Built for the mansion's bigger functions, it serves as the school's dining halls on ordinary days, and ballroom when needed. On school days, long trestle tables stretch across the hall, high-backed chairs with plush cushions offering seating for the students. Today the Great Hall has been transformed. Gone are its usual lengthy tables for serving meals. Instead, round tables ring two sides of the room; their white tablecloths are accented in ribbons of black and blue. Along one side the tables stand empty, just a place to rest and chat in between dancing; along the adjacent side, they are heavy-laden with snacks, as well as bowls of punch and iced tea and lemonade, water and chilled sodas. The DJ's booth stands in back, taking requests so long as they are not TOO risque. The dancefloor commanding most of the center of the room gleams in polished wood underfoot. Above, the large chandelier that normally hangs forgotten during the busy school days shines in its full glittering splendor; smaller fluted lamps hang dotted in satellite-orbit around the rest of the ceiling. Where many high school dances might have decorated with streamers, Xavier's has decorated with /light/, spiraling ribbons of it that drift down in muted-soft glow from the chandelier to wreath the moulding and glimmer more subtly down the walls. For those paying attention, the accenting ribbons of light are not /steady/ in their patterns; sometimes just a gentle spiral, sometimes a tracery of vinework with leaves and flowers, someimes a web of delicate filigree that glitters against the walls. SCHOOL DANCE TIME! Sure to be oceans of fun for all involved, except perhaps the chaperones. Probably there are many who are too shy or TOO COOL for school dances and under normal circumstances Shane would not hesitate to assure everyone he is THE COOLEST. But not, it seems, Too Cool for school dances. Because he is strolling in -- fashionably kind of /late/ of course -- with his /entourage/ of dates. One might assume he'd lost track of how many he has, except he clearly did not because every single one of them has been given a corsage or boutonniere as appropriate -- neat elegant white orchids accented with pale fluted blue agapanthus. Shane himself is in white, a crisp elegant suit with peak lapels, his dress shirt beneath black, and if he has any clue that it is maybe /odd/ to bring a stable of PEEPS (including his brother and brother's date and brother's... date's... date) as /his/ date to the dance WELL. It doesn't show in his toothybright smile. "Holy shit," is what he says, looking at the walls, "this place /glows/." Shelby is a pale shadow of Shane's coolness example. Only two dates! Sure, one of them is technically a grown-up, but even that can't compete against the sheer numbers fielded by his cool majesty over there. She lingers near the entrance, a tall(ish) drink of water in her tiger-striped shimmery ballerina dance and stiletto booties, hair once more in ringlets, make-up again taking a page from the world of punk. In her hands? Two small plastic containers holding two boutonnieres, one for each young man who'd decided they felt like squiring her around this evening--each will be given a sunset orange mini-calla lily, secured with lily grass and a golden ribbon. She may or may not be fidgeting a little, as she squints up towards the light-streaked ceiling. "Like fucking Hogwarts," Shelby agrees. "Th'heck they manage that?" Peter asks, stashed away amidst Shane's /date entourage/. Clad in a white button shirt -- short-sleeve! -- with a black clip-on tie, dress slacks, a belt, and -- two-toed socks -- Peter's boutonniere pinned just above his left breast. He looks -- well, like a /student/. Very prim and proper. Or maybe like someone who is preparing to go to work in an office cubicle; maybe one where they pin up multiple Dilbert comics. If it weren't for the gleaming dark metallic blue skin, he'd probably look more like an office nerd than, well. Whatever he is /here/. Peter's /peering/ at the decorations hanging from the wall. He might also be searching for Ivan and Rasa, even as he follows Shane along. Like a pilgrim in an unholy land. "It's nice and cool in here, at least," Peter adds. Before glancing at Shelby. And: "Ohyeah I didn't mention to you. Sebastian? Hermione." Like this comment should /totally/ explain itself. Rasa an Ivan are just arriving! Rasa is dressed in the same blue pleated dress ze wore the day before, but today, ze has gone all out in adornment. Hir skin is a lovely green color with leaf prints all over it, those leaf prints are highlighted with gold outlines, drawing in the gold rim on the toes of hir ocean blue shoes. Hair? Midnight blue, eyes the color of ivy. Ze has forsaken hir clutch and wrap, donning small blue gloves so ze can dance with people with ease. Ze is holding Ivan's hand and scanning the groups, looking for people ze knows. Bastian is /bright/, dressed up in a sleeveless minidress that shimmers in rainbow checking, silver bracelet at his wrist, strappy black-and-silver sandals that add a few inches to his still-diminutive height. His eyeshadow is rainbow, too, one colour neatly blended into the next. He looks kind of /timid/ as he enters with Shane's entourage, smoothing his dress into place and flicking eyes warily around the room, but the sight of Shelby puts a quick smile on his face. "Hi! -- Me? /Oh/. Right." He glances up and around at the walls, eyes widening in appreciation. "-- They did it with my pa." Who is here, somewhere. Chaperoning. And decorating. Hive is nominally the grown-up, it seems. Even if he has paired his /dress/ -- a black thing with a halter and accenting done in metallic chain -- with black converse sneakers. Also eyeliner. He lacks in any timidity, just a kind of saunter more suited to jeans and t-shirts than cocktail dress. "Man, they don't fuck around with the pretty here, do they?" He's not, it might be noted, looking at the walls; he's looking at Shelby. "That's the nerd girl?" It's a cardinal sin to admit to only a passing familiarity with Harry Potter in this crowd, but Shelby does not shy away from committing it. "You're better than any nerd girl," she goes on to say, prying open the lid to produce his flowers. Fortunately his dress has a strappy thing for the pinning process, and she is careful with the pin, though does get a scraped knuckle from his skin. This is sucked at until Rasa is spotted, prompting a wolf whistle--the first of many, no doubt!--before she turns to perform the same pinning function for Hive. /He/ is blinked at before she /grins/ at his attire. << Oh my god, you wore the dress. /Hot/. You wearin' panties? >> She says, aloud, "You should've seen Valentine's Day. Glitter fucking /everywhere/." Ivan is decidedly less than /impressively/ dressed, in a blue collar shirt, clip-on tie, dress slacks. It doesn't /look/ like he's brought any of his tiny friends with him, and he's made a dapper attempt to unmess his hair up a little- the curls allowed only for a modicum of success. He's -- wide eyed, as usual in crowds. Holding onto Rasa's hand like ze's guiding him through the room, which is probably a good thing considering he is looking at hir pretty much-- the whole time. Like he just somehow unexpectedly caught a FISH. And it's. Just the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. "IVAN! Rasa! Ivan!" Peter is nearing them both, breaking off from the Shane Train to greet them as they come in. "Hey! Hey. Ohman your dress um, looks. /Really/ nice, Rasa," Peter comments, having said nothing about it the night of the art show. Probably because he was too huffy at having to go see /arts/. His eyes sling toward the dance-floor as he approaches. A /slyyyyyyyy/ look entering Peter's eyes before he turns back to Ivan and Rasa. "I heard. Last time you were at a dance, Ivan. You did a thing. For Rasa. With spiders." He makes a nudge-nudge gesture with his elbow, like. C'MON TELL US ABOUT THAT THING. "Peter, did you want to dance with Ivan? Is that your way of asking?" Rasa grins brightly as Peter comes over, nodding hir head gratefully to the compliment and turns around to show off the dress... and hir tail! Ze can have hir tail at school. Hir cheeks pinken one leaf at a time, turning a few of them red like autumn. "You look very dapper yourself. How's Shane doing, juggling all the dates? Should I... check in? I don't know how that works." Bastian ducks his head kind of apologetically for the knucklescraping, though he does his best to stay still. He follows it up with a peck to Shelby's cheek, kind of shy to match his kind of timid smile. "Wow. Everyone looks -- you all look really great." He's still fidgeting a little with the hem of his dress -- at least until Hive walks in in /his/ dress. His fidgeting stops, eyes widening for a moment. He looks over Hive, startled, and a moment later his smile returns -- wider, brighter, easier. "Woah. I didn't -- you -- /hi/." His posture straightens, and his self-conscious fidgeting stops. "We don't need to check in I mean we're still -- wait, did you mean check in with /Shane/ I'm confused. Does he have -- do you have a date /roster/?" Anole is a little bit later. /His/ clothes have been generously furnished for him by his date's /father/ and so he arrives attired in kind of glitzy Jackson style, a faint /sheen/ to the grey-black of his suit. His bowtie is green. His spiky carapace has been /polished/. He hangs back near the door, looking into the room with HUGE-wide eyes. "... oh my god," he says to himself, "You guys /do/ go to Hogwarts." Peter turns violet. "Nnnnno, I'm --" A flicking glance to Ivan. A sheepish grin, back to Rasa. He watches hir spin, along with the flick of that tail, his grin widening. Peter reaches to scratch the back of his head, shrugging at the question about Shane. "I think... I think he's /probably/ in his element, actually. He's kind of -- you know, for a guy who likes to spend most of his time underwater? He can be /really/ social, sometimes." Peter's eyes drift back over to Shane, still wearing that sheepish grin. Like he can't DECIDE if this is a good thing or a bad thing. And then... Peter startles, snapping his head around, eyes going /wide/ and -- reaching, perhaps with surprising /force/, to try and snag both Ivan and Rasa's wrists. Careful with the latter, so as not to touch bare skin! "OHMYGOD both of you /listen/ you must. Meet this person." And then Peter is attempting to /drag/ both Ivan and Rasa with him. Toward, Anole. It takes Peter's greeting to snap Ivan out of his stupor, and his attention rubberbands upward. Hn? Oh. A quick look around later, eyes darting here and there, especially maybe on just how many... dresses there are in the room. His head angles ever so slightly to one side, before he--... just focuses on Rasa again. Sidling slightly closer. Story? What story? HKK-- wrist grabbed. He's dragged forward with renewed alertness, muscles tense as he stumbles along with Peter. Rasa's wrist/ hand appendange is grabbed! Ze is pulled with an Ivan over to the new kid - well, the unintroduced individual by the door, with green skin. Ze laughs a little as ze is pulled and glances back at Ivan to make sure he is okay. Then, oh, then there is an Anole in a schnazzy suit. Ze shifts hir weight from one foot to another to slow and come to a stop, waiting for Peter to release hir hand so ze can extend it to Anole properly. "Hello!" Shane does seem in his element. Cheerful-bouncy; he's already flitting away to get /drinks/ for -- well, whoever, he returns with a couple cups of lemonade to hand them to his DATES. He recruits Taylor to /help/ him with this effort because he really doesn't have enough /limbs/ to get drinks for /all/ his dates. "There's /still/ glitter lurking around the edges of the room, it's probably why they went with just the light show this time, uh. Easier cleanup, that shit /never/ comes out. -- and no I don't have a roster I just." He frowns. "... should I have had a ros -- OH MY GOD ANOLE." /Zip/! Shane is darting off to greet the lizardboy with a /hug/, tight and squeezy before releasing him to allow /handshake/. "Holy /shit/ you look good. Anole, you have to meet -- uh. /Everybody/." This is a common sentiment it seems. Some girls take, like, extra long to get ready. Kris can be one of these people. She's got a pink, sheathy dress that shows off her legs, a modest pair of flats, a little gold anklet, and some sort of shawl over her shoulders. She is also carrying some sort of box that rustles gently when she walks. So when she steps forward to seek out Shane, she has to approach him with said box, and quickly manages to pull something out... A white rose boutinniere. Then she has another one for Peter. Several really,"I didn't really know how the custom works... so I got a box full. Who's your friend?" She indicates Anole. Yes. VERY common sentiment. Because here comes Peter, still dragging a semi-laughing Rasa and a very alert, very tense Ivan over to meet Anole, right after Shane gives him that hug. Poor Anole. He is rapidly becoming surrounded by many new people! "GUYS," Peter announces, as he arrives in front of the lizard-boy. "This? Is Anole." SHOVE. Here, Anole. Have a Rasa and an Ivan. "We met him in mutant fight camp he was our roomie also I think he sometimes lives in the sewers. He's kinda awesome. Also, a little lizardy. Anole? This is Rasa and Ivan. Ivan's my roommate, Rasa's Ivan's date-person. Ivan talks to bugs. Rasa -- uh, Rasa. Rasa... speaks /Farsi/," Peter finishes, sounding /quite/ proud of himself. << -- had to, >> Hive says to Shelby, << without tucking you have no /idea/ what this fucking thing /shows/. >> His mental voice is a harsh sandpaper-rasp, though not nearly so painful as its usual. It sounds faintly amused. He is patient for the flower-pinning, and follows it up with a -- chaste! -- kiss to the cheek. Before drifting a little bit away to claim a /drink/ from Taylor -- then looking to Anole. "Kind of like Hogwarts," he agrees, looking over the lizardkid thoughtfully. "Murdercamp. Apparently the best place to make friends. Who knew." "/You/ look amazing too, y'know." This is from Shelby to Bastian, accompanied with a look that rakes him crown to toes. "That's the happiest, sexiest dress. It's perfect." She will accept /all/ of the cheek-pecks, thank you! And when they're given, they're returned with more daring pecks to the corner of mouths for both Bastian and Hive--because it's important someone give the chaperones something to do, right? << That your way of telling me you have a huge--? >> Thankfully, she doesn't get to finish that question, distracted by the fuss and crowd forming around Anole. She tucks a hand in the crook of Bastian's elbow and tips up on her toes to get a better look. "Jesus, I wish you guys would stop calling it that," she grouses. Five latecomers! Five latecomers stylishly dressed! At the big doors to the great hall, five stylishly dressed latecomers arrive, and the kid in front-- Stanton, the guy who almost electrocuted a good quarter of the student body and a bunch of teachers-- stops short and puts his arms up at his sides, in front of the others. He just sort of stares for a second, and then he says just loud enough to be heard over the DJ, "I am *never dancing to this*. El Exigente does not approve." He glances over his shoulder, back at the other four, and then makes a break for the corridor behind them. Bastian quirks a small smile at this. "I think he's a /lot/ lizardy. Shelby, um. Do you dance?" He sounds /hopeful/. But /also/ steals a drink while he's waiting for answer, and curls his fingers in a wave at Anole. He offers the lemonade to Shelby. "It's kind of a snappy name though. I guess we could call it like. GLADIATOR or something. No. Oh my gosh. /Mortal Kombat/." "H-hello." Ivan comes to a stop somewhere behind Peter, peering toward Anole with eyes wide, before continuing in a heavy Russian accent, "... You /are/ very lizardy." He offers an ill-timed smile out of politeness more than anything else, and it lingers a little awkwardly on his face as he stands perfectly still. No one's told this kid not to stare at people when he was little, clearly, and Anole's getting the brunt of it. Amongst the five latecomers is one of the more elusive new kids. Holly is in a /dress/, a pretty dress no less, and were this the movies, she'd of ditched her glasses and gained 3 bust sizes for the shy girl putting on a dress. But it's not the movies, and while Holly is all prettied up and girly with her hair loose around her shoulders rather than in a ponytail, she has gotten to the doorway and stopped dead with her eyes wide. Deer in headlights times a thousand, and she's downright pale at all the people, and the music and the prospect of Going In There. Amongst those latecomers is one of the other new students to the school, Lucas. As he enters in, he blinks and stops as well, furrowing his eyebrows a little. He's kind of to Stanton's left, but flanking him, as it were... so his arm stops further advance... Reaching up, he dusts the lapel on his sports jacket off, and he adjusts his tie, clearing his throat... He crinkles his nose, and glances toward Stanton, shrugging a little bit. "It could be worse, couldn't it?" he asks lightly, before... blinking, and watching his roommate turn to leave. He blinks once... twice. Then looks toward one of the other group members - blinking. "Well," he comments softly. "Uhm..." He gestures after Stanton, kind of helplessly. "Shall we...?" When he turns to see Holly, though, and her deer in headlights look at the prospect of what's in front of them... he blinks, and lightly takes her by the arm and shoulder and just kind of... yoinks her. Not hard or anything. But he does begin to steer her out lightly. Pixie is in a dress, too! All gussied up and prettied up, with little accents of glitter and Claire's jewelry. She hugs Holly briefly as the other teen comes to a halt, but moves up beside Stanton. "Well, do we dust 'im and you take over, or do we ditch for the movies now that curfew's been lifted?" "Um -- oh gosh. Oh, um -- hi." Anole's eyes are still wide. He returns Shane's hug eagerly, but then shrinks back behind the sharkboy to /peer/ at all the staring people. Especially Ivan. The staring makes him shrink a little more. "/Hi/," he manages again, with a small smile. "Are, um. Are you /all/ Shane's dates?" He is, too! Identified by the white-and-blue boutonniere pinned into his suit. "I haven't been to a schoolthing in a while. This is -- your school is /way/ prettier than my old one was." "I think that's the twins' dad," pipes up one willowy-slender girl just wandering in fron outside to skirt around behind Holly, flit over and peck Shane on the cheek. "The pretty, I mean." Desiree's dress is simple, sleeveless ombre, pink deepening down to grey. "/Hi/. You look dashing. Everyone looks dashing." Her eyes maybe linger on Peter a moment here, with the slightest upward curl of her smile. She doesn't wait for introductions: "Desi," is her cheerful greeting to everyone who hasn't met her yet. Her arm stays slung around Shane's waist for a quick squeeze. Kitty perennially fails at makeup, and fortunately for her, she hasn't tried. Dress, check. Hair ... ponytail. Glitter ... well, she's got the necklace she always does. Skirt is not falling through her leg; this may be a plus or a minus depending on the observer. "Threats and promises," she teases Megan, doing the dateless lurking to the side of the group. Youngest chaperone ever? Kris will even lean over to give Shane Kris-hugs. Then, she steers around a moment later when she sees Megan, showing her off a sort of corsage of orchid and blue agapanthus. "Megan, you look amazing!" And then she turns to look at Holly, eyes twinkling,"And Holly, you came! I'm so glad! Oh my god, you all looks so pretty! Oh, I'm so envious. Your date is hot too!" She says the last bit with a lowered voice. "Yes. I speak Farsi," Rasa acknowledges, a mystified glance tossed in Peter's direction, followed by a smile. "It doesn't always look this pretty, but it's still kind of pretty." Ze glances around. "I.. .uh. Well! I am here at the dance with Shane, but officially Ivan's date. He's my person. He's shy. Please don't let the staring bother you." Ze turns and smiles at Desi when she comes in, waiving a little. Ze glances at the door and spies pixie wings and straightens up. "Shane. Before you leave tonight, you should meet Megan. I think you'll like her." Ze reaches back blindly, trying to find Ivan's hand once more. Hir tail waves at Anole as ze starts to back up and give him space. "... well I mean, we could do eith--" Megan starts, but then realises that Stanton has run off. She blinks in confusion, turns left, turns right, then catches sight of her date as he turns a corner. "... I think the answer is 'movies', if we can catch my date." She grabs Kitty and Holly by the hand--Holly's going to have to get Lucas, herself!--then turns to run after Stanton. "No Bananas!" she yells after him. Because sometimes, it's good to distract with crippling inside jokes. "Oh," Peter mentions, perhaps to Ivan, perhaps to Rasa, perhaps to /everyone/ as people retreat to give Anole more room: "He's really shy. Anole, I mean. But he's totally awesome. Plus if he had a shell on his back instead of his skull, he'd be a teenage mutant ninja turtle." Peter /beams/ at having made this connection. Because, CAMO. Counts as ninjitsu. Doesn't it? But then Peter sees Desi and, /AUGH/, violet. "Ohhey," he says, suddenly oh-so-casual about it. Flicking his eyes to the mass of people entering. OhGod, so many /people/. "Uh, meet the girl who just took the fuck off?" Shane glances after Megan as he gives Desiree a squeeze in return. "Pfft. Some other time I guess!" He slips away to offer Kris a quick smile. "-- Do you want to dance? Nobody's /dancing/." Well, OK, lots of people are dancing. But nobody's dancing iwth /him/. "Anole, s'ok, /most/ people here are cool. Grab a drink. Have a dance! -- Mortal Kombat works," he adds to Bastian with a /fierce/ smile. "Oh, /gorgeous!/" Kitty admires (Kris or corsage or both). She starts to put a hand out to Kris, but her other hand is suddenly snagged by a pixie. "-- we made it this far, it's a start!" she laughs to Kris, and then scrambles less than elegantly to follow Megan before anything unfortunate can happen to her shoulder. Kris waves after Megan and Kitty,"By Kitty! You look adorable!" And then she turns to Shane, and nods,"I don't actually know how... but I'll definitely give it a try." She offers a hand to Shane in a sort of limp-wristed manner after setting her box down. "I'll try to fake it though until I figure it out. You're very handsome today Shane." She turns to look over her shoulder at Anole,"Everyone here is very nice. We're happy to have you here. Really." Holly is captured by Lucas on one side, and Megan on the other. She turns wide and generally freaked out eyes in Kris' direction and there's a flicker of something approaching a smile before she is (probably wisely and sensibly) removed from the location of the current complete social freak out. Dance 1, Holly 0. "Hey Anole!" From Shelby, this will perhaps be a less intimidating greeting given that she's not even looking at the lizard boy! She's checking out the little group who have made an entrance--and exit. Her eyebrows go up and her grin goes lopsided. "What do you think, stagefright or they're heading out to the treehouse to smoke up and make out?" she muses as she accepts the cup of lemonade. "...huh? Oh! Yeah, I'm totally up for dancing." "Thank you," it's hard to tell /who/ Anole is saying this to, there are so many people talking! But he creepcreepcreeps further into the room, his smile slowly warming at the deluge of greetings. Hugs. Lemonade? "I'm also here with Shane," he tells Rasa shyly. "And it's okay. I'm, um, I'm really used to staring. -- oh my /god/ I want to be a ninja turtle." But his eyes don't really light /up/ until he looks over towards the music. They get huge and wide as dinner plates. "Oh. My. GOD. Is your -- is that -- Is your DJ really -- oh my /god/ is he a /mutant/?" Desiree has apparently not paid attention to the DJ until now. But when Anole mentions it she looks over and /her/ eyes go wide too. She bounces on her neat pink sandals, clapping her hands together abruptly with what is /definitely/ a squeal. "Ohmygodohmygodohmy/god/ are you /serious/ -- wait he's not is he?" Wide eyes. She reaches out a hand to GRAB Peter by the wrist when he says hey. "We," she informs him, "are dancing." "Oh him? Pffsh," Peter says to Anole, /totally/ pulling a Shelby here, "oh yeah we know him, he's, cool I /GUESS/, he went to Georgia with us--" And then Desiree is /squealing/ and Peter's eyes are a bit wider, the whole Too-Cool-For-School act starting to chip and crumble. It comes /completely/ crashing down when she reaches out to grab Peter by his wrist. He produces a squeak, going from violet to /deep/ indigo. "...we -- are?" This doesn't sound like a complaint! But it also sounds a bit shocked. Bastian smiles wide-bright when Shelby says she is up for dancing. He squeezes her hand, starting to tug towards the dance floor; Anole and Desiree's reactions to their ROCKSTAR DJ, though, earn a quick laugh. "Oh! Oh, yeah. He's pretty cool, isn't he? I don't think he's -- I mean, he's just friendly." He glances after the fleeing NewPeople uncertainly. "I -- think they're too cool for us," is what he decides in the end, kind of self-consciously looking down at his shoes again. But only for a moment before he amends more cheerfully: "-- Or think they are, anyway!" "Their loss!" Shane chirrups, "you know how much people fucking pay to see Ryan and we're getting a private show. He's friends with my dad," he tooootally doesn't at all just shamelessly name-drop to Anole, "he hangs out at my house all the time." He reaches out to gently /prod/ Peter along with Desiree. "It's a dance," he tells him brightly. "You can dance." He gives Kris his arm to take when she offers her hand. "It's okay, I'm totally shit at dancing myself," he freely admits. "The point is just have fun. -- Hey, /we/ could go to the treehouse to smoke up and make out. /After/, though." "Could go to the treehouse for what?" Jackson has been off across the room. Chaperoning! In a chaperonelike fashion. He asks Shane this question TOTALLY INNOCENTLY, really. He is in black slacks and white dress shirt, but his vest /glitters/, shimmery-rainbow set against its black. His hair is glittering, too, faintly iridescent in a way hair should really not manage. "Y'all all look totally -- wow. Kinda outshining everything, here." ROCKSTAR DJ Ryan in the house, at his booth towards the back of the hall. The indie-rocker strikes a typical pose, head-banging to the music blaring in his ear, blasted from the large headphone hanging from his neck, one muff off so he can sense the crowd. As the current song reaches its ending chorus he begins the seamless, fading transition, clicking the mouse plugged into his laptop for the next selection before he begins to give a manual push to the record disk on one of the turntables to either side of him. "For studying," Hive tells Jackson dryyyyyly. He kind of detaches himself from the gaggle of teenagers, drifting over to Jax's side. And hooking an arm through Jax's -- maybe he's asking HIM to dance? Oh, no. Just dragging. Away from kids. Towards the DJ booth. "YO. Ryan. Can I request something in a flavor of -- I dunno, /stoned/?" What, it's supposed to be /song/ requests not empathic ones? OH WELL. Shelby chimes in with, "I totally played a show with him." What, they expected her not to join the name parade? Then she is being tugged and quickens her pace to keep up. A glance is sent back towards Hive, a thought going with it: << Don't think this means you're off the hook for some dancings later, I want an answer to that question! >> Telepathy. /So/ handy in chaos like this. Provided it isn't drowned out by everyone else's thoughts! "TURN IT UP!" she hollers at the DJ booth. Kris teases Peter,"Go on! Dance with her! She's cute! Have some fun! Get her some punch though, afterwards. It's chivalrous." She takes Shane's arm, and goes tugging in the direction of the dancefloor. "That sounds lovely. Is it anything like Kava? I have never smok-" Then Jackson is right there, and she is complimenting Shane to his pa,"Your son is a very good date. Very thoughtful." Hips begin to wiggle. That's how people dance, right? "I'm so in," Desiree calls back over her shoulder, "if there's treehousing later." Chaperone, what chaperone? /She/ doesn't go here they can't detention her. Yeeeet. She curls her fingers through Peter's, her smile bright. "Yes! We are. C'mon I love this -- song." Or maybe this DJ? She definitely gives Ryan a /look/. It is a very fangirl look. But then she is looking back to Peter, whisking him off along with Shelbastian and Krishane to the DANCEFLOOR. Anole hangs back, curling his arms around his chest. He sidles over to pick up a lemonade from Taylor -- less shy, perhaps, for the students who look as freakish as he does. "... stoned? How can the music -- um." He frowns uncertainly. "Ohmyg--okay," Peter says, a little meekly, still coloured a deep violet. Kris' encouragement only seems to intensify that blushing; once he's out on the dance floor with Desiree, he's squeezing her hand slightly before confessing, PERHAPS a bit loudly: "Uh I, uh, I don't actually know how to -- I mean." He fumbles a bit. "--I was gonna, learn, but -- there were -- giant ants." This may sound a /bit/ pathetic. He follows it with a murmur: "Ohyeah I have chitin now." Just in case. She didn't notice. "/I've/ never had kava," Shane muses thoughtfully. "But /yeah/ you should totally try -- it's /good/. Relaxing, you know? Great when shit's stressful." Though he /does/ actually dart an uncertain glance to Jackson before his continuing: "Yeah, um, I mean, OK, maybe not smoke /up/," (probably smoke up) "but we can definitely hang out somewhere /quieter/ after this." Do his eyes drift back to Peter with this mention of Somewhere Quieter? MAYBE. Given Kris's height and his complete /lack/ of height, dancing position might be kind of awkward! He does not seem to care, one hand at her waist and the other holding hers. Boppin' around. Wiggle. Hipsway. It's /totally/ how people dance. Wiggledancing is totally dancing! Bastian tucks a hand against Shelby's waist. Maybe more /sway/ than wiggle. Not a whole lot of /finesse/ to it. "You guys should maybe make your sneaky plans a little, um, sneakier," he suggests, "I'm pretty sure like /every/ teacher here heard you. -- Y'know, my pa could teach you all. How do dance." Not like he can talk because. Wiggledancing. Shimmy shimmy flaily twist. Yes, she probably doesn't look very impressive. "If you got me a pair of bamboo sticks and a beat to go with it... I would totally show you how to tinikling. But it doesn't realy go well at this kind of dance, though. Thank you for dancing with me!" Kris doesn't SEEM worried all that much about being caught. She's been 'clean' for a while anyway. Still, she squeezes a Shane-hand in gratitude. "You dance good and you don't make it awkward." It totally looks awkward. She doesn't really know what good dancing is, so she's mostly just using her opinion at this point. Let's try a shimmy, shall we? Then she's eyeballing Shelby,"Sebastian, where is your father's date? Why are we not seeing him 'cut a rug' right now?" Shelby can dance! Shelby can dance like there's no tomorrow. The problem with Shelby-dancing is that it's best suited for clubs. Not...situations where a young man's hand is on your waist and he's wiggling at you. Undeterred, she lays her arms across his shoulders and begins rocking her knees forward, one at a time in tune with the music. Shoulders and hips work in concert. Mrow. Tiger! "We should swing, I bet Kris could totally pick up a few swing moves pretty quick," she suggests. "Someone tell Ryan to play some swing music!" Ryan gives a wink to anyone who catches his eye, or, if you're already known to him, a wide-bright smile. Per his /first/ request, the song that hits the airwaves next is mellower, its effects, even more so lulling and /playful/ with the senses. Indeed, there's a faint empathic /thrum/ to what follows and if you let it grip you, you /do/ almost feel ... well, stoned. "His date's around here somewhere!" Shane answers, "I saw him and oh my /god/ he looks pretty tonight. Well, OK, he always looks pretty. I don't -- uh." He frowns suddenly. "-- Don't know how well he can dance," he admits uncertainly. "But I bet it's good he does everything good." He joins in Kris's shimmytwistflailing. Maybe more twist and less flail as the music takes effect. "/Swing/ oh man!" This suddenly sounds like the best idea ever, and he squeezes Kris's hand. "Can you swing, we're totally going to swing." Or Shane is, anyway, with or without Kris! ... with or without swing music. Also probably less energetically than swing should really be. A familiar sensation for Kris, if an old one. It's sort of obvious, perhaps, WHY she used to get dosed before a fight. All that jerky flaily motion practically disappears, replaced with fluidity. It's like watching all the anxiety and self-consciousness flow out of her. And that makes her game. "I bet he does. I have never done swing, before... But I will certainly try to learn... Oh, I want to swing! Shelby, teach me to swing." Now she's less enthusiastic teenager, more stoned girl wanting to dance at the party. She certainly surrendered to the vibe quickly! "They want swing music." Where they=Shelby, anyway. Hive, in his black and silver-chain-dress, leans up against Ryan's DJ table, ignoring SMILES in favour of plunking his head down on it. "Damn, you're good." "He hears that from a lot of people," Jackson says with a laugh. Bright-laugh, bright-smile. Maybe a little too much so. "You're totally going to have to queue up a couple songs so /I/ can steal you for a dance, honey-honey." Not that he seems to need a partner, he is dancing /already/. By himself! By himself means he is totally free to dance more like it is a nightclub. Until he realizes: "-- /Wait/, Ryan, did you /really/ --" "/Yes/, I really did." Because Ryan is a REBEL with a reputation to uphold. More than that: providing an empathic high to all of these teenagers is sure to win him over some new fans. So the FEELGOOD music continues, with variation on the /exact/ mood suggested by the beat projecting from the speakers. Sometimes stoner-mellow, other times, euphoric-manic, its runs the gamut as does the actual tune cover all spectrum of genres. And /always/ there is the urge to /keep/ dancing, a siren's insistence weaved into the whole of it, keeping revelry between /everyone/ alive and well long into the night, with drinks, and food, and most of all, good music--oh my!