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xp_logsX-Force gathers around a holiday bonfire to mark another year working together.
The bonfire was crackling in the firepit set up on the beach, tall flames licking into the night sky as various members of the team came and went. There was a bar and an open grill with drinks and snacks just a short walk back towards their rooms, and an unobtrusive staff member at the far edge of the fire's glow - one of the few requirements the location had been firm on in the interest of fire safety - and there was plenty of seating, with blankets for anyone feeling particularly rustic.
The surf was gentle, and between the sounds of the water and the snaps of the fire the music from the main part of the resort could be heard, faint strains of old jazz and more modern dance standards bleeding into the air.
Darcy was in an unusual position for her, especially in public. A modified Bisexual Sit No. 9 with her legs over the back of a chair and head pointing at the floor, curls dangling into the sand without care. Her eyes were closed against the brightness and warmth of the fire as she vibed, letting her mind filter out the conversations around her until they were mostly white noise, blending into the background of music and nature around them.
Jubilee had spent most of the day allowing people to admire her in various states of teeny tiny bikini and had now paired it with a sun wrap as her only acquiesce to the sun having gone down and the wind having grown slightly less warm.
She sat down beside Darcy’s chair and gestured to her curls.
“Do you mind if I play?”
Darcy cracked an eye open giving Jubilee an upside-down smile. "Sure, lemme rotate so I don't pass out though." The best thing getting field ready had done for her was core strength, she decided, sliding her legs to the side and down until she was sprawled sideways across the chair instead. Her head moved just enough to rest on the edge of the cushion, but when she finished wiggling her hair was still mostly hanging down the front of the chair. "Feel free to play, lemme know if I need to move around again."
“Score!” Jubilee said, moving closer so she didn’t have to stretch out as she started to run fingernails that had been freshly applied yesterday through Darcy’s hair. She didn’t have the combs or fasteners to make any style permanent but that wasn’t really the point. “So, enjoying the holiday?”
"Mhm, way better that last year. Five stars, glowing review." Darcy couldn't quite lean in to the fingers running through her hair without falling, but she relaxed even deeper into the chair as Jubilee kept up her work. "Leaving pretty early tomorrow to get home in time to freshen up and join the Kimuras, but it was a nice mini-vacation. You?"
“I’ll be sticking around for awhile,” Jubilee responded, working at some small knots she’d found in Darcy’s hair. Normally she wouldn’t stare into a fire, given how badly it ruined your night vision but given the event, and those around her she felt it wasn’t a criminal offense to let her guard down just a small amount. “It’s been nice to be relaxed for a change.”
"And that's my cue," a voice from behind her said, before a kiss was pressed onto her crown and two new bodies settled in to join the hypnotic call of an open fire. Felicia smiled, gesturing up at her companion as she leaned against him. "Ta da, it's the source of the majority of your recent stress, feel free to abuse him I know I have."
"I think this is too public a place for abusing me the way you have," North said drily, offering Jubilation and Darcy a nod in greeting as he dropped an arm around Felicia's shoulders. "But I do owe you both apologies and thanks, Jubilation."
“That depends entirely on how well you can avoid sand,” Jubilee noted with a wide grin as she started a small plait from the crown of Darcy’s head. “Besides, thanking me is like, thinking you owe me for caring about you, and that’s just crap. You’d have been right there if it had been me, both of you, even if Fi would pretend it never happened.”
"Don't call me out like that, you're embarrassing me in front of my friends," Felicia whined, her teeth flashing white in the flickering light. "Darcy, you heard none of that. Mostly the part where I have emotions, but also the sand bit because why and stop."
"I heard nothing after North thanked Jubes," Darcy replied with a wink at Felicia. "It's nice to see you awake and upright again, dude. Good thing for you too, I was starting to contemplate reading my German practice at your bedside so your companions could have a long rest. Truly the stuff of nightmares, not recovery."
"It would have made for a diversion from their choice of reading materials," North said.
"It is an absolute crime that no one has buried mussels or potatoes to bake under this fire." Marie-Ange had two thermoses sticking out of the absurdly large beach bag she had been carrying around the entire trip, and a pair of bottles in her hands. "Cocoa and coffee, but I want to do a toast, yes? It has been too much of a year." She tapped the bottle with her free hand. "Amanda is getting proper glasses, I am not doing this in red solo cups."
"Apparently they don't make the right sound when you clink them together," came Amanda's voice as she entered the ring of firelight. The flames glinted off the stemless wine glasses she carried, five or six in each hand by virtue of sticking her fingers into them. "Don't worry, I washed my hands," she continued as she went around offering her burden for people to take a glass.
Gabriel raised an eyebrow as he took a glass, adding, under his breath: "Where were your hands that we even need to worry about this?"
It had, in fact, been too much of a year, but that was not a point he really wanted to engage on. The point of vacation was to set those troubles aside, in as much as that was possible when you were on a trip with people who'd been so involved in much of the chaos. He did not so much as nod in thanks to Amanda, instead swirling the glass around as he contemplated whether he liked alcohol enough for her finger-wine.
Amanda's face clouded briefly before she pasted on a smile again, moving to Doug and repressing a sigh. So much for silly banter.
The brief exchange didn't go unnoticed by the local empath, but she was a bit busy lying on the sand, head propped up on Doug's thigh, kindle in hand. She looked over the device long enough to look between Amanda, then Gabe, and took a drink before returning to her book. Not her circus, not her monkeys. No one appreciated when people asked too many questions, especially about private feelings.
Doug patted Topaz' hair idly with his left hand. Platonic cuddle buddies, he was down for it. And the empath was already his therapy and noodle buddy, so adding using the other one as a pillow was just another buddy role into the mix. And besides which, Doug was sure just about everyone he was close to knew how much of a snuggle junkie he was. And he was close enough to lean over to Darcy's chair and hold her hand with his nanite one while Jubilee continued with her braiding. This was nice, even with the snark from Gabe.
Amanda handing him a glass gave him the dilemma of which hand to disengage for it. Darcy's fingers were entwined with his, so he left off patting Topaz to accept it in his left hand. "Ta," he told Amanda, trying to convey a depth of reassurance into the single syllable.
"Room for more at the fire?" Wanda asked, stepping carefully over and around people. She settled in before the fire, looking amused at the slight pile of bodies intertwined. Real life was waiting around the corner but she sincerely hoped that everyone here would be able to carry these memories with them as they met it. "What, no wine for me?" she teased Amanda before producing a very intricate flask, the front of the silver bottle catching the light from the fire. "I was going to share this but..."
"-but I brought the rest of the bottle. You just wanted to show off your flask." Kevin said wryly, following Wanda in from the same direction. He had two liquor bottles in one of the resort ice buckets and a stack of glasses. He waited for Wanda to collect her wine before settling in, putting the glasses and bucket down and pouring himself a generous measure of amber liquid.
Relieved of the job of providing glassware by Kevin's appearance, Amanda flopped down on the beach blanket Marie-Ange had pulled out of her tote bag and spread out. "That bag of yours is a bloody TARDIS," she joked, dropping a kiss on her girlfriend's shoulder before folding herself into a comfortable position.
Artie climbed to his feet and took the glasses and bottles from Kevin, pouring and handing them out around the fire before sitting again, a little apart and watching the way the firelight and shadows flickered across the people around him. He wasn't content, precisely, but he was quiet and calm and relaxed.
Natasha had snagged one of the last glasses from Amanda and settled back down into her spot next to the fire, blanket draped around her shoulders for a layer of protection against the breeze starting to pick up. She nodded her thanks to Artie for the wine glass because that seemed a bit more suited for the occasion and everything that had happened this year. It had been a lot, like most years, but at least they all had each other.
Marie-Ange waited until she was sure everyone had a glass of something. "I worked on this, do not make fun later. This year has been as rough as any of our years are. We persist and we keep burning down the monster factories and keeping ourselves and each other from going too far into darkness. We survived. For all of you to be here again this year is a miracle." She glanced quickly around the team, at North, at Gabe, at Darcy. "Please toast to yourselves, and the people who keep you steady." Her free hand squeezed Amanda's fingers. "And to persistence. We keep coming back."
The bonfire was crackling in the firepit set up on the beach, tall flames licking into the night sky as various members of the team came and went. There was a bar and an open grill with drinks and snacks just a short walk back towards their rooms, and an unobtrusive staff member at the far edge of the fire's glow - one of the few requirements the location had been firm on in the interest of fire safety - and there was plenty of seating, with blankets for anyone feeling particularly rustic.
The surf was gentle, and between the sounds of the water and the snaps of the fire the music from the main part of the resort could be heard, faint strains of old jazz and more modern dance standards bleeding into the air.
Darcy was in an unusual position for her, especially in public. A modified Bisexual Sit No. 9 with her legs over the back of a chair and head pointing at the floor, curls dangling into the sand without care. Her eyes were closed against the brightness and warmth of the fire as she vibed, letting her mind filter out the conversations around her until they were mostly white noise, blending into the background of music and nature around them.
Jubilee had spent most of the day allowing people to admire her in various states of teeny tiny bikini and had now paired it with a sun wrap as her only acquiesce to the sun having gone down and the wind having grown slightly less warm.
She sat down beside Darcy’s chair and gestured to her curls.
“Do you mind if I play?”
Darcy cracked an eye open giving Jubilee an upside-down smile. "Sure, lemme rotate so I don't pass out though." The best thing getting field ready had done for her was core strength, she decided, sliding her legs to the side and down until she was sprawled sideways across the chair instead. Her head moved just enough to rest on the edge of the cushion, but when she finished wiggling her hair was still mostly hanging down the front of the chair. "Feel free to play, lemme know if I need to move around again."
“Score!” Jubilee said, moving closer so she didn’t have to stretch out as she started to run fingernails that had been freshly applied yesterday through Darcy’s hair. She didn’t have the combs or fasteners to make any style permanent but that wasn’t really the point. “So, enjoying the holiday?”
"Mhm, way better that last year. Five stars, glowing review." Darcy couldn't quite lean in to the fingers running through her hair without falling, but she relaxed even deeper into the chair as Jubilee kept up her work. "Leaving pretty early tomorrow to get home in time to freshen up and join the Kimuras, but it was a nice mini-vacation. You?"
“I’ll be sticking around for awhile,” Jubilee responded, working at some small knots she’d found in Darcy’s hair. Normally she wouldn’t stare into a fire, given how badly it ruined your night vision but given the event, and those around her she felt it wasn’t a criminal offense to let her guard down just a small amount. “It’s been nice to be relaxed for a change.”
"And that's my cue," a voice from behind her said, before a kiss was pressed onto her crown and two new bodies settled in to join the hypnotic call of an open fire. Felicia smiled, gesturing up at her companion as she leaned against him. "Ta da, it's the source of the majority of your recent stress, feel free to abuse him I know I have."
"I think this is too public a place for abusing me the way you have," North said drily, offering Jubilation and Darcy a nod in greeting as he dropped an arm around Felicia's shoulders. "But I do owe you both apologies and thanks, Jubilation."
“That depends entirely on how well you can avoid sand,” Jubilee noted with a wide grin as she started a small plait from the crown of Darcy’s head. “Besides, thanking me is like, thinking you owe me for caring about you, and that’s just crap. You’d have been right there if it had been me, both of you, even if Fi would pretend it never happened.”
"Don't call me out like that, you're embarrassing me in front of my friends," Felicia whined, her teeth flashing white in the flickering light. "Darcy, you heard none of that. Mostly the part where I have emotions, but also the sand bit because why and stop."
"I heard nothing after North thanked Jubes," Darcy replied with a wink at Felicia. "It's nice to see you awake and upright again, dude. Good thing for you too, I was starting to contemplate reading my German practice at your bedside so your companions could have a long rest. Truly the stuff of nightmares, not recovery."
"It would have made for a diversion from their choice of reading materials," North said.
"It is an absolute crime that no one has buried mussels or potatoes to bake under this fire." Marie-Ange had two thermoses sticking out of the absurdly large beach bag she had been carrying around the entire trip, and a pair of bottles in her hands. "Cocoa and coffee, but I want to do a toast, yes? It has been too much of a year." She tapped the bottle with her free hand. "Amanda is getting proper glasses, I am not doing this in red solo cups."
"Apparently they don't make the right sound when you clink them together," came Amanda's voice as she entered the ring of firelight. The flames glinted off the stemless wine glasses she carried, five or six in each hand by virtue of sticking her fingers into them. "Don't worry, I washed my hands," she continued as she went around offering her burden for people to take a glass.
Gabriel raised an eyebrow as he took a glass, adding, under his breath: "Where were your hands that we even need to worry about this?"
It had, in fact, been too much of a year, but that was not a point he really wanted to engage on. The point of vacation was to set those troubles aside, in as much as that was possible when you were on a trip with people who'd been so involved in much of the chaos. He did not so much as nod in thanks to Amanda, instead swirling the glass around as he contemplated whether he liked alcohol enough for her finger-wine.
Amanda's face clouded briefly before she pasted on a smile again, moving to Doug and repressing a sigh. So much for silly banter.
The brief exchange didn't go unnoticed by the local empath, but she was a bit busy lying on the sand, head propped up on Doug's thigh, kindle in hand. She looked over the device long enough to look between Amanda, then Gabe, and took a drink before returning to her book. Not her circus, not her monkeys. No one appreciated when people asked too many questions, especially about private feelings.
Doug patted Topaz' hair idly with his left hand. Platonic cuddle buddies, he was down for it. And the empath was already his therapy and noodle buddy, so adding using the other one as a pillow was just another buddy role into the mix. And besides which, Doug was sure just about everyone he was close to knew how much of a snuggle junkie he was. And he was close enough to lean over to Darcy's chair and hold her hand with his nanite one while Jubilee continued with her braiding. This was nice, even with the snark from Gabe.
Amanda handing him a glass gave him the dilemma of which hand to disengage for it. Darcy's fingers were entwined with his, so he left off patting Topaz to accept it in his left hand. "Ta," he told Amanda, trying to convey a depth of reassurance into the single syllable.
"Room for more at the fire?" Wanda asked, stepping carefully over and around people. She settled in before the fire, looking amused at the slight pile of bodies intertwined. Real life was waiting around the corner but she sincerely hoped that everyone here would be able to carry these memories with them as they met it. "What, no wine for me?" she teased Amanda before producing a very intricate flask, the front of the silver bottle catching the light from the fire. "I was going to share this but..."
"-but I brought the rest of the bottle. You just wanted to show off your flask." Kevin said wryly, following Wanda in from the same direction. He had two liquor bottles in one of the resort ice buckets and a stack of glasses. He waited for Wanda to collect her wine before settling in, putting the glasses and bucket down and pouring himself a generous measure of amber liquid.
Relieved of the job of providing glassware by Kevin's appearance, Amanda flopped down on the beach blanket Marie-Ange had pulled out of her tote bag and spread out. "That bag of yours is a bloody TARDIS," she joked, dropping a kiss on her girlfriend's shoulder before folding herself into a comfortable position.
Artie climbed to his feet and took the glasses and bottles from Kevin, pouring and handing them out around the fire before sitting again, a little apart and watching the way the firelight and shadows flickered across the people around him. He wasn't content, precisely, but he was quiet and calm and relaxed.
Natasha had snagged one of the last glasses from Amanda and settled back down into her spot next to the fire, blanket draped around her shoulders for a layer of protection against the breeze starting to pick up. She nodded her thanks to Artie for the wine glass because that seemed a bit more suited for the occasion and everything that had happened this year. It had been a lot, like most years, but at least they all had each other.
Marie-Ange waited until she was sure everyone had a glass of something. "I worked on this, do not make fun later. This year has been as rough as any of our years are. We persist and we keep burning down the monster factories and keeping ourselves and each other from going too far into darkness. We survived. For all of you to be here again this year is a miracle." She glanced quickly around the team, at North, at Gabe, at Darcy. "Please toast to yourselves, and the people who keep you steady." Her free hand squeezed Amanda's fingers. "And to persistence. We keep coming back."
