Addie showed up with the BFF Squad (Michi and Misery), likely dragging Ro along too. Half of her time was spent equally between pounding jungle juice and watching Michi make heart eyes at Yas while the other half was spent lounging in the pool. At one point she snuck away to scribble three names on a piece of paper before tossing it into the fire pit.

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On top of making heat eyes at Yas, she'd also be bugging the DJ and bringing her drinks too. When she wasn't flirting with Yas, Michi would be putting Misery on her shoulders in the middle of the pool and challenging anyone to a game of chicken.

Duci arrived armed with a small arsenal of colorful water balloons and three gift baskets of boozy, chocolatey, and spa-y gifts a token of thanks for the hostesses (all of which were strangely floating around behind her until she either handed them over to their intended giftees, or threw them). In between possibly touring the place with King (holy crap is that a closet full of sneakers?!), sharing champagne with Peaches, flitting around to say her hellos and surreptitiously bomb attendees at random with her stash, she burned a solitary word before finally taking off her white dress and sandals to float lazily in the pool with a jungle juice for company.

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The two blue haired ladies, in matching polka dot bathing suits, were right at home at the pool party. Jewell and Sapphire drank a lot; ogled men; participated in several chicken fights, during which they totally cheated using their affinity for water magic; and basked in the sun both on the pool floats (they fought over the alligator one) and poolside.

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Thorn came bearing a gift in the form of really old, really strong, really tasty elven booze and a quartet of chased silver goblets. http://www.bryandouglas.co.uk/silverware/goblets/b0489/b0489a.jpg

After offering the gifts to Terry and Peaches, she smiled brightly and wandered off for the pool and, after a couple of personal, internal pep-talks, the food. Sooner or later she could be found stretched out on a towel in the grass, enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin, the scents of green and growing things, and the sounds of merrymaking.

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Charlie Darling arrived in the company of one Ray Kowalski wherein she presented Peaches and King (after having to ask who they were!) with host presents in the form of paper lanterns and artsy ceramic shot glasses. Afterwards, she indulged in an unholy amount of jello shots and ate half a cheeseburger before dancing (with Ray and whoever else would!) to some of the beats Yas played with crowd mingling next on the agenda.

This was followed by an ample amount of time stretched out on a chaise poolside to bask in the sun with a pair of heart-shaped Lolita sunglasses to protect her eyes. To cool off, she spent plenty of time in the pool itself, too, happy to join Jewel and Sapphire in a game or two of chicken upon the shoulders of her date if they were amenable.

Before leaving that evening, merrily drunk, she approached the fire pit to participate in the ritual once it was explained to her ("by someone"), scribbling down this or that before squeezing her eyes shut in concentration like making a wish on a star. Whatever ghosts haunted her, she let them burn until there was nothing left - not even ashes.

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Serah arrived like she was going to the beach! Hey pool party and water balloons" She was gunna get wet so why not"!

While moving through the crowd to find Peaches and King-King, she made sure to sneak behind her sister who seemed to be enjoying shoving people into the pool. And she'd be promptly shoved in while she wasn't paying attention! She made sure to push her by the small of her back and dart away so that she wasn't pulled in with her!

Cackling she moved on and once she found Peaches and King-King she'd give them the beautiful bouquet of flowers and some rather nice bottle of goodness. She may of stuck around a little too long to talk their ear off about how awesome the place was. Seriously she could live there! Eventually she'd let them go to mingle with their guests.

Those she knew were waved to cheerfully but it was when she saw Charlie and what she was doing that peaked her curiosity. Ray was given an extra cheeky smile because, well, she was stealing some of Charlie's time to talk about some things, including what she was doing with the papers.

It was a nice idea to burn away regrets and worries. So a few papers were taken up to be written upon and burned. Only half a dozen or so!

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Yas was super psyched to act as the honorary DJ for Peaches and Terry's Pool Party. She knew this was literally going to be the hottest event of the summer, and it wasn't even summer yet!

Yas decided to wear a white-hot, ruffled, one-shoulder, one piece swimsuit to stand out on her bright blue skin. To add to the heat, she went with a red and orange sarong with a bandana design. Going full on red mode, she picked a pair of red hot, cage-inspired, high laced, stiletto sandals and a chunky red and gold necklace to pump up the look. Realizing she needed something to compliment her white swimwear, she threw on a white pearl gold ring.

She would be looking forward to the free food and drinks, as well as Michi's advances.

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Peaches" getting new digs a stones throw away from the Lost Pub naturally meant that James was going to show up and even with maybe a cousin or two in tow. A party to let out all the stress of the pending grand opening the following Monday would be good. The mingling with all the beautiful women of RhyDin in their swim suits wouldn't hurt either.

"Moms taught me never to show up empty handed to a party, so I thought naturally I'd bring you ladies some beer." Grinning to both Peaches and Terry as he was introduced to the latter. Showing up with a couple of cases fresh from the Lost Pubs Brewery as his gift with a wink tacked on, "And an open tab for you two on Monday night if you come out to the Pubs opening. Thanks for having us!?

Quick to circulate through the crowd with a drink always in hand, he introduced himself to those he didn't know, flirted with any woman who looked old enough and single, and offered to help out Yas at the turn tables in case she wanted to dance with the blue hair chick who looked ready to kill him because he was too close to the DJ.

But before the night was through, he was sure to play at least one joke on his older cousin, Luke. It would totally be worth the anticipated payback.

Farian arrived ready to party. When she discovered Peaches was one of the hostesses, Farian squeaked with joy and delivered her house warming gift: Four Himalayan Salt Tequila glasses and a bottle of tequila.

Friendly and outgoing, Farian was sure to meet and greet as many people as possible.

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Terry would get a high five for being on the same team.

Cianan'd use his umbrella to shield himself for as long as it lasted! As soon as the battle was done, he'd turn on Terry attempting to dump her, but she is a popular target!

Salome would get a water balloon or two thrown in her direction, just because.

Antonia would definitely be getting dumped into the water.

For house warming, Cianan would gift Peaches and King a few bottles of Vodka for them both, with an extra sized jar of olives for Peaches, and a 24 pack of beer for King, after everyone was done dumping her in the pool.

Lucy and Fin arrived together, the redhead carrying a fashionable beach bag and towels, and Fin carrying their housewarming gifts for Peaches and Terry—-a bottle of chilled Veuve Cliquot champagne and a neglect-proof planter of mixed succulents.

As soon as they had exchanged their warm greetings and enthusiasm for the beautiful new house (with Lucy pointing out its proximity to her own summer home up on the cliffs of Seaside), Lucy staked a claim on a lounge by the pool next to Charlie's, setting herself up a home-base for the remainder of the party where she could stretch out, chat with Charlie, listen to Yas' music selection, and keep refilling her glass from her own smuggled bottle of champagne (jungle juice has so much sugar!). Lucy didn't eat any of the food herself, but she did pick veggies off of Fin's plate when he came to share her lounge with his plate loaded with food.

At some point, Lucy joined those in the pool to float alongside Duci, Sapphire, and Jewell, providing an occasionally catty commentary about the goings on at the party from behind her sunglasses, and regularly asking "Who's that?"

As the afternoon wore on, she also tried to coax Thorn to come take up the empty lounge chair beside her, or turn hers around to face the lawn so she could chat with her beautiful blonde friend (while reapplying sun screen for the fifth time).

When it seemed like the water balloon fight was about to commence, Lucy would declare her lounge a war-free zone, where she was prepared to defend herself with a pool noodle if necessary.

Reginald, her usual ghostly companion, was not with her at any point in the day.

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TEAM RED! TEAM RED! TEAM RED!

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Antonia is comin' to this pool party prepared. First, a gift basket for the hostesses boasting RhyDin's finest selection of jerky, olives, peppers, chips, dry-rub, and overall nonsense.

Secondly, her secret weapon. Antonia has armed herself with a cooler of frozen water balloons. These will be reserved for her nearest and dearest, meaning Salome, Serah, and Ketch will more than likely get an ice ball to the butt. With the rest of them, she's hoping to inflict some serious brain damage on Cianan. Especially after he dumps her in the water! The Drow and Team Blue are goin' down!

Outside of the water balloon fight Antonia might splash around in the pool, but only after being coated in a couple layers of sunscreen. Mostly she'll be lounging under a large umbrella and drinking everything.

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Eden was SUPER EXCITED to go to Peaches and Terry's pool party! As a gift for their new house she brought a potted fern (which she maybe sorta kinda might have dug out of the Southern Glen).

She spent a lot of time over by the grill guy, trying to get an explanation on the difference between a hot dog and a bratwurst, while eating her body weight in sausages.

And THEN she was totally ready for the water balloon fight, TEAM BLUE, and was prepared with her special Water Balloon Bomber Belt' which she filled with water balloons to cut down on the time she spent having to re-arm!

Just before slipping and falling face-first into the pool, she could be seen running across the deck in her pineapple flip-flops and shouting, "I'VE GOT YOUR BACK, GREN!"

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Saila and Hex arrived at the party in Baby, a pristine condition midnight blue 1965 Cadillac Coupe deVille convertible. So named because it was the man's pride and joy, it had classic maroon suede interior and a matching leather steering wheel.

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The muse had never been to a pool party before, so Hex agreed to take her. She had no idea what to expect, and the crash course she got from him based on his past experiences was" educational to say the least. The first order of business was to locate their hostesses, introducing her 'date" to both Peaches and Terry (the word 'date" drew a snicker and a whispered off-color comment from Hex) with a huge grin of thanks for the invitation.

The concept of a "housewarming" confused her. The only experience she had with a house getting warmed was when her ex torched theirs, so she was left wondering why they would invite everybody over to set fire to their brand new digs" But she'd learned that you were supposed to bring gifts, so she presented the pair with a drawing she had done of the beach outside Casa del Brujo in the hopes that they would like it.

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Next it was time to check out the party. The kiddie-pool fountain of beer was a fantastic idea, and that's where they congregated first. While Hex checked out Rhydin's many beautiful bikini-clad vixens, Saila caught up with her "brother" James, whom she hadn't seen since the last Date Auction when she bought him for Serah. They chatted about the "bro-date", and she learned all about the upcoming Grand Opening of his new pub. She promised to stop by, and giggled like a fiend when he surprised his cousin Luke.

The music supplied by Yasmin had a killer beat to it, and Saila spied Charlie and Raychicago over by the DJ booth dancing. The purple haired girl grinned at her favorite dance partner, who signaled her over with a come-hither crook of her fingers and a nigh irresistible smile. Saila left Hex to his beer with a light kiss to his cheek and strolled over to share a song with Charlie Darling.

When their number was up, Saila found Hex staring openly, that particular smirk on his face. With an answering grin and a tip of her head, she coaxed the big guy over, sharing her next dance with him. There may or may not have been some making out during that dance, a complete absence of space between them.

If there were other folks who wanted to dance after that, the girl was happy to break away and oblige. Otherwise she likely danced with Charlie again, or Hex, or both.

At some point in the afternoon, Saila snags Charlie and Serah to plot their water balloon fight strategy. Anyone else from the Red Team was welcome to join in their scheming. Unfortunately she'd ended up on the opposite team from her beloved Jackie — who had taught her what a water balloon fight even was in the first place, and helped her pick out her bathing suit and cover up, no less! — but the girls could be heard cackling gleefully as they doused each other with water.

The purple haired muse was super glad to be on the same team as Antonia when she discovered that the other woman had frozen water balloons as ammunition—she's still a big old pansy about anything cold. Saila's not super clear on the rules of water balloon fighting despite her practicing, so it's possible there was some friendly fire among her teammates, too, but that was probably an innocent mistake (sorry Serah!)

Hex hadn't signed up for the fight so he watched from the sidelines. Judging by his laughter they must have been very entertaining.

The fight over, it was time for lounging in the pool. She makes a comment to Hex about how they keep ending up in the water together, and after several failed attempts at climbing up on the pink flamingo float (much to her date's amusement), Saila gave up and climbed on his back instead. This is where Charlie and Ray challenge them to a game of chicken, and once Saila learns what in the world that even means, she's all for it and climbing up on Hex's shoulders.

There's a comical height differential between the two teams—Hex and Saila have a full foot on Charlie and Ray — but it turns out not to be an advantage. Saila doesn't really know what she's doing and Charlie fights dirty, and in the end the girl in black and her tattooed greaser are unbalanced, Saila unseated.

When Saila topples into the water and leaves them the victors, Charlie throws both arms up in the air with a triumphant cry, doing half a victory dance on Ray's shoulders. The ungodly amount of jello shots are to blame, however, when she spreads her arms out wide to either side and sings to the sky, "We are the champions, my friends, and we'll keep on fighting till the end! We are the champions! We are the champions! No time for losers, 'cause we are the champions of the world!? 'World' is drawn out theatrically before the Queen song ends with another double fist pump of hands straight up to the sky. Ray vetoes all ideas of an encore by dunking his singing girlfriend afterwards.

Saila is laughing so hard that her stomach hurts and she can't breathe, so clearly she hasn't minded losing.

As day fades into night, there are more beers and then jello shots, which remind Saila of Mardi Gras. They're just as wiggly now as they were then and the girl is guaranteed to have a massive headache, but she's having too much fun to complain as she tucks herself underneath one of Hex's arms, leaning against him. They're introduced to more people and either celebrate or commiserate with Team Red, depending, and all around it's an excellent day.

And definitely, definitely not a date.

Written in collaboration with Hex and Charlie, and with Ray's permission!

Gren stood before the door to Terry and Peaches" house with his eyes shut, practicing a mantra intended to calm his mind for the impending party.

"Remember, the female form is God's creation. There is nothing to be nervous about. We're all adults here. I have a girlfriend, so just remind yourself of that. No pressure. Everything will be perfectly fine. I am a winner, I am a winner, I am a winner . . . "

Gren was dressed in one of those sporty male one piece swimsuits as if he was surfing waves (which he wasn't). He figured they'd get enough potted plants for housewarming gifts (He remembered Eden's affinity for ferns) so he brought a jug of gourmet maple syrup. Real maple syrup was getting expensive! He quickly found Peaches and went over to her.

"Hey Peaches! Lovely place! Thanks for inviting me, you know uhwuhbuhbuhbuhbuh . . ." It was then Gren noticed the frilly swimsuit Peaches was wearing, and with an effort he tore himself away, still stammering. "Buhbuhbuhbuh . . . Hamburger." He quickly made his way to the grill and focused on the meat crackling there for a while until his self-confidence returned.

Soon the Team Red / Team Blue grudge match reared its ugly head, as while Gren was polishing off a bratwurst, some one nailed him with an ice filled balloon.

"AAAHH!! Who threw that' Oh, so *THAT"S* how it is!" He grabbed an armful of water balloons. "There may come a day when Team Blue runs out of watery bombs, but it is NOT THIS DAY!" Quoting his hero, Viggo Mortensen, he flung several balloons in retaliation. Seeing him taking on the Red Army by himself, Eden must have wanted to help, but as she went skidding into the pool, he realized he was alone, and out of ammunition. Surrounded, he could only duck his head and cover it with his forearms, as a veritable deluge rained down upon his head.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

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Ketch moseyed in on the heels of Eden, eyeing the twitching fern fronds dubiously until it dawned on him that the plant was some sort of gift. An assessment of the grounds revealed other gift-like items, making him the asshole that showed up without. After a brief internal debate, he scowled and backtracked out of the party, returning fifteen minutes later with a sculpted cement ornament shaped as a lion's head. For those with a keen eye for the area's real estate, it might be noted that a half mile down the street at another estate with a For Sale sign stuck in the manicured lawn, one of the stucco gate posts was missing its ornamental top.

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A t-shirt and pair of jeans were thrown over his shoulder and he wore swim trunks sized such that they might have either been pilfered from a lost and found bin along the way or from the house of the hostesses themselves. Who knows" He settled near Lucy, Charlie, Ray, Fin, Thorn, and crew for awhile, but made sure to make his way to Peaches and King"the former being more familiar to him (damn blondes). He was interested in the house, whether they'd moved into it turnkey or if it'd been renovated, and if either of them offered a tour, he'd definitely take it with a keen eye turned towards the architecture and style in this part of town.

After catching wind of the impending opening of James's bar, he made sure to get a sense of where it was located so he could stop in soon.

He scoped a good many of the women appreciatively, though subtly"or so he thought"because gods know there's nothing like RhyDin women. If he got shoved in the pool, he was likely to try to hook an ankle on the way and take the offender down with him.

Once he'd gotten a few hefty servings of Jungle Juice in him, he joined in on some of the pool action, offering his services as base support for any chicken fighting and probably volunteering Duci for a round or three, suspecting they'd be a vicious combo. It had absolutely nothing to do with Duci being a long-legged bombshell.

The ice ball assault via Antonia earned a well-considered and completely inappropriate retaliation some time later, to which he assessed her response to be simultaneously disgusted and proud.

At one point, he stole Fin's duck float and tried to coax Salome onto it with him, declaring that her applicant status to a club he'd forgotten the purpose of?in spite of his status as "President?'required her to serve as rudder and oars.

During the water balloon fight, he showed no mercy, tried to nail each opponent on the other team at least once and was more than willing to collaborate with fellow team members in any shenanigans that might result in soaking opposing team members.

Lyra's late arrival was noted, his study made from a distance as he settled in the company of a few beers near Lucy's war-free zone to tune into Yas's music selections.

(Thanks to Antonia for that discussion-turned-snippet of play briefly recapped herein.)

Dove arrived in black"feathers, that is. He arrived on the wing, dressed in his corvid finery, and stole neatly into the party without so much as offering a gift or a hello.

Instead, he squawked.

Birds like him"carrion eaters, urban foragers"were opportunistic, so his presence was easily dismissed as a consequence of human laughter and delicious food smells. He quickly made a nuisance of himself, though, thieving bites of food directly from people's plates if they wouldn't surrender a bite as part of the "crow tax." He got into people's cups, too, stealing fruit and sips of liquor. After a while, he abandoned the individual portions and went directly for the punch bowl, eating the fruit out of it and being repeatedly shooed away until someone finally covered it and thwarted his plan to make a feathered fool out of himself.

He took to stealing personal effects then. Rings and other pieces of jewelry, hair ties, sunglasses, and more, they went missing one by one. He even stole a ring from Peaches herself, making off with it while she was in the pool playing a game of chicken.

Full up on alcoholic fruit bits and a successful day of thievery, he found himself a perch upon the edge of the pagoda to eyeball all of the frolicking, scantily-clad people. Watching them slosh around and laugh and flirt was almost enough to make him regret showing up as a raven. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad to be human-shaped, half-naked, and lying on one of those floating lizards in the pool.

It would've, however, been a lot harder to steal things as a man, so he quickly abandoned the idea of leaving and returning in his human skin, and set his drowsy mind to hatching another heist.

The glittering of the sunlight off the pool and off sweat-slick bodies had a mesmerizing effect on him"or maybe that was the Everclear in the Jungle Juice'so he was still sitting upon the pagoda when Farian arrived and greeted Peaches and Terry. He tracked her progress through the crowd and when she finally found a lounge chair to rest in, he hopped from his perch and glided down to the pool's edge, where he quickly snatched another of Peaches' rings. He speed-walked it across the concrete until he found the safety of the shadows beneath Farian's chair, and there he tucked the ring away into the nebulous darkness beneath his wing, vanishing it as quickly and completely as if he had dropped it into a coat pocket.

Then the real fun began.

He had seen shiny things upon Farian's person. Strands of beads, runes, and candy hung in clusters about her neck, and Dove wanted them.

He left the safety of the shadows and strutted to the end of her lounge chair, where he proceeded to squawk and "beg" for food, even climbing up onto the chair with her, until she got up and went to get some. When she returned and cast off some sirloin and pineapple to appease him, he ate her offerings " and then proceeded to sass her in that strange, lipless, wooden voice he possessed in this form.

After she got over her surprise, she dismissed him, but Dove wasn't so easily waved away. He harassed her while she ate, biting her fingers and stealing from her glass until she finally took her food, drink, and person away.

He followed her to the pool's edge, not wanting her to leave him'she'd even asked him why! And he'd told her the truth: he wanted to bother her, not someone else.

He was too rude for her, though, and she let him know it. "I don't want you bothering me. Go away."

Well, he couldn't let that stand, now could he" He did let her think he was abiding by her wishes, though. He strutted away, apparently leaving her to her boy-watching, and when her back was turned, he crept upon her again and used his beak to untie the strings holding her bikini top in place. Once the strings were loose, but still holding in position, he returned to her side and waited for her to notice him.

From there, it was a comedy of errors: Farian splashed water at him and he dive-bombed her, snatching her bikini top and a strand of beads off her chest. He had her red-faced and chasing him, trying to snatch him out of the air with one hand while the other was used to cover her assets. And Dove, he laughed. Ha ha, ha ha. Broken and wooden, like Pinocchio laughing. Ha ha, ha ha.

Too embarrassed (and angry) to keep up the chase, Farian stopped long enough to remove her sarong and tie it around her chest. Dove wolf-whistled at her from a nearby tree limb, but she ignored him and went to say goodbye to Peaches and Terry instead of trying to retrieve her top.

Dove watched her go, feeling a little bad that he'd managed to run her off (but not bad enough to truly regret what he'd done), then carefully folded up his prizes with his beak and one foot, tucking them both into the shadow beneath his wing, where they disappeared, only to be revealed again when he desired.

He stayed a while longer, continuing to thieve food and drink from the other partygoers, and finally took wing, wobbly and unstable in the evening sky, when the water balloon fight started up. He flew away from the city, seeking out the comforts of forest and shadow, ready to pore over his prizes.

(Many thanks to Farian for playing this out so I could adapt it for the post, and to Peaches for giving me permission to steal from her.)

Bllllooop!

Like a siren of the depths, but much, much more stylish, Jackie popped up from under the water. She poked and prodded Fin, watching him float.

It dawned on her that he probably couldn't draw air out of the water, and pushed the man to the side of the pool. Then with a surprisingly powerful shove, heaved Fin out to the deck, sunny side up.

Jackie was too well bred to take photographs....that were not intended for future blackmail. Humming, she cheerfully made sure that Fin's Walk of Shame would be memorable, and provided the man with a swingy swim skirt, black with cherries, and a pair of zorries.

Then she pushed him to his side and propped him up on an inflatable before skipping off into the night.