[SE] We gon' light it up like it's dynamite

Koa

Now I just want to play on my panpipes
I just want to drink me some wine

"Remind me again why I agreed to do this?" Koa hisses from under his low-hanging hood, casting a furtive glance down from the ledge where they've set up their makeshift perch. Below them sprawls a scenic vision indeed: Flora's grandiose estate lit by enough torches to banish all but the darkest shadows; the distant beach it sits upon riddled with merry party-goers; and beyond that the black sea glitters like a diamond in the hushed night. Something out of a postcard, really, or perhaps a fever dream. The sort of place Koa might have dreamed of living, once upon a time.

Ah, nope. Koa shakes that thought out of his head because there isn't a point. Clutching the fringes of his dark poncho, Koa pulls the cloak tighter around himself as though the velvety, antennaed costume might allow him to further blend into the dark. It's an effect that would work better were the band of his abdomen not peeking out from below it: wearing the costume in summertime had proven rather stifling, and as a result Koa had long since stripped away his shirt. The result is an inadvertently strip-club-coded Mothman, which might be quite the sexy sight if that's your sort of thing.

Ducking back into the cover of foliage, the Dragoon throws a glance at Mel. "You're sure there's no torches by the clothesline?" he asks a little anxiously, licking at his lips. What had seemed like a great plot when he'd been a little drunker (sneak up behind Flora's house while disguised as Mothman!Ludo, steal his cousin's underwear, blow them up spectacularly) now feels like a questionable idea at best.

Maybe what he needs is more alcohol. He's pretty sure- ah, yep, there's the flask.

As soon as you're born you start dyin'
So you might as well have a good time

I've done nothing wrong
Except for all the atrocities

“Because it’s fucking hilarious? Pretty sure the fireworks were my addition.” Melita preened, pulling her own mothman veil over her features, taking another sip of the mai tai in her hand, before placing it down along the polished floor. Much more attuned, adept, and unbothered with it came to chaos, the bedlam stoking in her veins merely held the potential for hijinks. And whatever else was unleashed. Koa, however, seemed to be stifled by his moral code - a shame.

Folding down her antennae, mostly so it refrained from sticking out of the brush they occupied, her eyes flickered back and forth from the perch, to the landing, and beyond. “You really worry too much, y’know. Gotta lighten up. Can't take you anywhere.” What was the worst that could happen? Kai found out they were blowing up his underwear? Who gave a fuck? Snorting at the thought, and trying with great difficulty not to laugh at Koa’s strip-club-Mothman embellishments, her head tilted, the grin wicked and vicious. “Is this some petty payback shit?” Because if so, she was all for it. Truth be told, she would’ve been anyway, but it was amusing to have some foundational vengeance at the ready.

Besides, if worst came to worst, the Honeybee would absolutely go invisible and abandon his ass.

Yawning at his anxiety, she rolled her eyes. “Do you see any?” The answer was no, obviously. Tapping at her pockets to ensure the fireworks were still there, she began moving out under the cover of darkness and indulgences. “Let’s go.”

the honeybee

Besides that
I'm innocent

Koa

Now I just want to play on my panpipes
I just want to drink me some wine

Hard not to worry too much when your entire life just collapsed into the sea, but Koa doesn't argue Melita's point, responding only with a Geralt-esque "Hrmm." Better to take another sip of his drink - a dark and stormy made with authentic (read: strong) Torchline rum - and let the liquor do its lubricating, giving him courage to make very dumb mistakes.

The stuff does what it says on the bottle, burning down his throat and sending a welcome buzz rolling in his head. "It's not not payback," Koa drawls back playfully as he leans he leans forward out of the bushes, his poncho rising up dangerously to expose a plumber's crack. "Kai and I used to pull this kind of shit on each other all the time when we were younger. But shit's been so weird lately and I dunno. Just thought maybe this would help." Stealing underwear. Blowing them up with fireworks.

It's a brilliant plan, let's be real.

The Dragoon follows Melita's lead, antennaed hood pulled low over his face as he sneaks out from behind the bush. From shadow to shadow they creep like dramatic little Ludos, their moth rags fluttering around them, Koa's midriff occasionally making an unsolicited appearance. "Speaking of Kai, I heard you took him sailing?" Koa murmurs low as they pause behind a pillar, raising an eyebrow toward the Honeybee. "And rescued him?" Which doesn't really feel like Mel's brand, but okay.

As soon as you're born you start dyin'
So you might as well have a good time

I've done nothing wrong
Except for all the atrocities

Given how many times Melita’s life had been uprooted, altered, changed, and demolished, she still knew there was no sense in dwelling on things she couldn’t rearrange. There was no stopping the inevitable rally of Stormbreak’s impending crash – and they’d done all they could to ensure people’s safety and evacuation. So she rolled her eyes in the dark at his grunt, ignoring the sentiments behind it; her fun certainly wasn’t going to be spoiled.

As for the not payback aspects, her nose wrinkled, giving away the entanglement of amusement in the chaos of barbed relationships amongst family. It was always more entertaining when it wasn’t your own relatives. “Ohhh, is it about Flora and all that?” she whispered back – blunt as ever, making a handwaving gesture. “I didn’t even know they were together until the other day.” Then again, that could be due to her own lack of observation skills, or simply being amidst lines drawn elsewhere much more frequently. Humming a little under her breath, and giving it a minute moment of thought, she shrugged.“Couldn’t hurt, right?” came on a menacing little grin and another wink, before she was inching closer to the clothesline.

As for her altruism, if they weren’t trying to glide and hide their way in the dark, she would’ve laughed. “I mean, he helped me out with some stuff.” Like general relationship advice she probably should’ve been able to discern on her own, but the Honeybee was hard-headed, stubborn, and a bit dim when it came to self-reflection. “So I didn’t leave him out in the ocean. Why? Surprised?” Leaving that invitation open, she skipped and sprang on long limbs and strides over to the hanging laundry, gazing upward at the fabric collected there. More than once the party nearby lit up portions so she could discern some of the briefs’ fabric and patterns, and she had to smother another impulsive giggle. “Sorry, are these demigod days of the week?”

the honeybee

Besides that
I'm innocent

Koa

Now I just want to play on my panpipes
I just want to drink me some wine

Melita comes right out swinging, her hammer-fisted way of handling any issue glancing off the head of the nail in Koa's thoughts. Not quite a hit, but not far, either. "Kinda?" he answers, shrugging with a twist of his lips as he tries to sort through the hazy warmth of his lubricated thoughts. "I t's not like I expected them to get together, and it kinda threw me for a while, but I'm cool with it now. Like, it's weird that my cousin is fucking my ex, but other than that if they're happy I'm happy, y'know?" He nods as though this is punctuation, buttoning up that thought. "But even before that things were kinda funky. Like, he's been trying so hard to be all srs Kaisel, Kid Cadet and it's just like, loosen up, man. We used to get into so much bullshit and I miss that," he sighs.

Mel skips on ahead of him leaving Koa stumbling to catch up, his velveteen poncho snatching up stray leaves to add to the ensemble. He stops beside her, momentarily stunned as he takes in the bounty that they've found. Kaisel's underwear hangs like a string of prayer flags, each pair of briefs dancing gaily in the summer breeze. And from each one a familiar face smiles beatifically: Hadama, Ronin, Sunjata, Remi, Hotaru and--

"Frey's cock and balls, it's you!" And so declaring Koa's arm snaps out, snatching up the Melita-faced underwear to better admire the FRIDAY emblazoned on its ass.

As soon as you're born you start dyin'
So you might as well have a good time

I've done nothing wrong
Except for all the atrocities

Melita, for her part, did listen, though the restlessness was beginning to consume at her pulse – the need to do spontaneous shitfuckery compelling over every other sense. She also remained entirely grateful that she wasn’t caught in these dramatic flares – really, she just watched from afar (including her uncle’s contributions to the latest lost engagement). “Maybe when things settle between you guys it can be back to normal, or whatever?” What that meant, she couldn’t quite say; given Stormbreak falling, the relationship Olympics, and other catastrophes in the making, it’d ultimately be up to them on deciding where they stood, where things changed, or grew back together.

But then there were other motions – and she laughed, quietly at first, as her gaze swept from the Hadama, Ronin, Sunjata, Remi, Ru lines (no Noah seemed strange, but maybe he wasn’t partial to the Vi demi), even the Raeling…until Koa made her take notice of well, her own fucking face on one of the undergarments. “Oh hell no,” she uttered on a fiendish, panicked gasp, peeling it away in horror, uncertain whether to be pleased that she was on Friday or disgusted. “We’re doing everyone a favor by getting rid of these.” Did Flora just let him flounce around the house with her dads’ features on his balls and ass? Her mother’s?

She began to dramatically grab the rest down from the clothesline, placing them in her bag while Koa grabbed the rest. “I cannot wait to blow this up. Why are they selling these?”

the honeybee

Besides that
I'm innocent

Koa

Now I just want to play on my panpipes
I just want to drink me some wine

"I'm sure it will be," Koa agrees with a confidence he doesn't fully feel but must believe in, because 'normal' stopped existing years ago and now it's just a matter of keeping some semblance of balance as the world teeters and spins. But to stop moving is to fall off the wire, so he has to continue pushing confidently on, eyes fixed on an abstract horizon as he tries to ignore the gusts and gales that buffet his every step.

But that's why we have things like this, the laughable moments of sneaking around and finding his cousin's ridiculous underwear. Still admiring Melita's likeness, he chuckles fondly as she gathers up the rest of the offending briefs. "He's always had questionable taste, but this is pretty out there." He hooks the waistband on his finger, spinning it lazily like a flag. "When he was little it was animals, and then for a while dragons, and then when he was fifteen he went through this insane phase where--"

But whatever his cousin's phase may have been is swallowed as Koa grows abruptly quiet and still. "Shit, did you hear that?" he hisses to Melita, ducking down as soft voices float out from the distant house. Suddenly the Dragoon is very aware that he's sneaking drunkenly through the Queen of Torchline's backyard, and profoundly disinterested in knowing what sort of security measures she has in place. "C'mon, let's go." Turning swiftly, he moves to head back to the jungle, up toward their overlooking hilltop where the fireworks they've prepped wait to be lit.

As soon as you're born you start dyin'
So you might as well have a good time

I've done nothing wrong
Except for all the atrocities

Still making faces, she shook her head, uncertain if she actually wanted to know anymore of the details. It’d be hard enough to see Kaisel anytime soon and not blurt out unending accusations over the state of his underwear – but she wouldn’t want to give up the game so quickly. The rustling nearby was enough to make her go very still though – and again, half-tempted to alleviate one problem and completely disappear with the goods. “Yeah, let’s beat it,” she hissed in return, clutching the bag around her shoulder and vaulting off the backyard fringes. If any light came on or caught them in the act, they’d look like some insect Team Rocket goons, antennas and appendages waving around as they made their great escape.

To the better part of the show.

Once along the top of the hill, Melita could take more care in their efforts. Huffing a breath, she crouched, searching the long grass for where they’d placed the fireworks. “Gotcha,” she singsonged with a little hum, beginning to put everything in place; fingers nimble and quick around the explosives (after all, she was quite used to them). “Don’t take off any fingers,” she warned as she handed over another round of them to the Dragoon.

the honeybee

Besides that
I'm innocent

Koa

Now I just want to play on my panpipes
I just want to drink me some wine

Their great escape is made with as much stealth as possible when one is dressed as a herald-slash-moth, Koa's already ragged poncho collecting stray twigs and brambles, his antennae bobbing merrily upon his hooded head. By the time they crest the hill he's breathless and disheveled, his cheeks flushed and his eyes gleaming with excitement from the flight.

Koa takes a moment to catch his breath as Mel hunts for the fireworks. Hands on his knees, he surveys their vantage point: a prominence overlooking the beach, partygoers far below scurrying along like the merriest of ants. A perfect place from whence to put on a show, he thinks, grin affixed upon his face as he turns back to Melita. "Don't worry, Zombee, I know my way around a firework," Koa laughs, accepting the bundle of rockets into his arms. He walks a few paces off before crouching into the grass, his expression growing thoughtful and serious as he arranges the things in order of which he first wants to light. A pair of underwear is affixed to the biggest, but the Melita one he keeps separate, an idea having struck.

"Hey, whadya say we fire this one off an arrow at the end?" He holds up the briefs emblazoned with her face, eyebrows wiggling. "Y'know, so he knows who's responsible? We can even light them on fire first."

As soon as you're born you start dyin'
So you might as well have a good time

I've done nothing wrong
Except for all the atrocities

Melita snorted in disbelief at the firework comment; she’d believe it when she saw it, but otherwise kept herself occupied by ensuring the underwear were arranged upon each; imagining the impending display with growing amusement. The mischievous grin was rapidly replaced by something Cheshire and menacing, humming a little sea shanty tune under her breath as she continued tying them off. It’d be a wondrous thing to behold, little pieces of garment lit up in the skies and falling below with none the wiser.

Though his comment caused her brow to furrow, looking upwards as she readied a match. “Depends I guess. Did you want him to know?” She’d figured part of the rendering was to leave Kaisel amidst the unknown – confused, perplexed, bewildered by the state of the clothing once upon the line, only to be strewn about along the land. Could’ve been anyone, anything; maybe the blame would ripple, estrange relationships, cause quarrels, chaos, bedlam.

So in no time at all, the display unfurled with the touch of fire; pockets and rockets of color exploding into the sky, vivid, bright, and brilliant. If anyone were to look closely at the descending particles, they'd see various shapes and hues of the garments; maybe even parts of the fabric or demigod names, titles, and figures. An aesthetic of the wild to accompany the ridiculous, falling to the ground in remnants and nuances. All along, her grin was wide and Cheshire, whooping and whistling into the night until all of it was gone.

[FIN]

the honeybee

Besides that
I'm innocent