i need a knack for keepin' out of trouble:

[capemods]

WHO: ImPorts in Venezuela
WHERE: Mérida, Venezuela
WHEN: October 15th 2012 - October 18th 2012
WARNINGS: Strong language is likely. Potential violence.
SUMMARY: President Pisani throws a festival for imPorts one and all! While this is a catchall log for the first four days and set wholly in Merida, you are not limited to those parameters. If you want to pursue your own logs too, feel free!
FORMAT: Whatever you'd like.


It was a beautiful city, green and lush. Morning mist locked fingers with older stone and quiet brick. Much of the populace lulled in the valley between two solid growths of mountains, cushioned in an ancient palm and electrified by the lively pulse of the crisp, rain-courted air. The temperature is brisk, chilly, but that shouldn't discourage you from enjoying the lakes and rivers breathing through the land. The city itself is equally crisp and its usually pristine avenues are ablaze with color; banners and posters and warm hellos. There was warmth everywhere, in homes and faces and hands.

Welcome to Mérida, Hero.

Comments

OCTOBER 16TH

[capemods]

What, you haven't slept a wink? Been partying all night into the morning? Well that's how it's done! Kick your cares away and grab a dancing partner!

If you're still awake come noon, there's a parade starting in the plaza. Might be a good chance to catch up with anyone you've missed so far.

open!

[acrossyourpath]

[ Felicia doesn't spend too much time in the room, because partying Hardy is one of the things she does best. In fact, she's probably not going to be getting any sleep at all. Too much fun dancing and, after all, this is all in their honor. Might as well make the most of it. ]

[gevurah]

[ Kate actually managed to get a couple of hours of sleep. She looks like she could use an additional few hours but she doesn't feel it; caffeine and adrenaline coursing through her and throughout the day. She's curious about this whole event, after all.

She easily makes out Felicia by her hair in the crowd. After a moment's hesitation (memories of the police station, the conversation that followed still fresh in the back of her mind), she steps forward to greet her. ]

I shouldn't be surprised to see you here.

[enigmaestro]

[And he's there behind her a moment in between, leaning over to whisper as if it he hadn't been keeping tabs all evening. As if he hadn't sneaked up upon her.]

Hello. I'm bored.

open!

[currentcy]

[ Electro's awake at noon, having crashed at 1 or 2 AM the previous night. As usual he's wearing his costume, although he has a leather jacket over it. He's sitting on a curb, enjoying a small mountain of food (and a little bit of booze) while he waits for the parade to start. ]

open, late evening; threadjacks inevitable

[waiting]

[ Who's in the mood for dancing? Not Rick Bradbury, certainly. He's dressed down from his usual bodyguard attire tonight, since a suit isn't really the appropriate kind of attire to be hitting the streets in if he isn't on the job. He's currently nursing a beer at a table that's been set up in the street, accommodating the spillover from the bar behind it.

He doesn't appear to have any company at the moment, but he certainly seems to be waiting for someone. ]

[out_of_time]

[The parade is noisy and boisterous enough to make for perfect cover. Even for someone who needs to avoid people as much as Jack does, sometimes crowds can be concealment. This makes it a good opportunity to take a risk and approach someone. In this case, emerging from the shadows of the alley behind the bar and stealing up to Rick's table.]

Rick Bradbury?

[Now Jack just hopes Rick doesn't try to tackle him. At least if he makes a fuss, he has half a dozen escape routes already planned...]

[show_my_cannons]

[Getting out of the city had been... well. It was a good idea. He would have really preferred another method of transportation, but -- even the damn plane was a good distraction. He didn't want to think about the missing people.]

[So... now he just sort of roamed. Marched the streets. He too still wore the black clothing -- the bodyguard outfit. At least it was a color he was comfortable in. But the sight of a familiar human makes him pause. Long enough to give an awkward sort of wave.]

... Sir.

open

[gevurah]

[ Wherever there is dancing, Kate is without any doubt going to be there and right in the middle of the crowd, too. She looks like she's having a great time letting herself go, like she's truly in her element. Nothing else in that moment matters, only the music, the hearty laughter, bodies swaying, and keeping up to never miss her rhythm with her own feet. If she catches sight of someone familiar she might stop and wander over, otherwise she's fully immersed herself in the group and their energy. ]

[governorkang]

[Kang's walking by when he notices a woman that looks vaguely familiar dancing in the crowd. He stops to get a closer look, unsure of where he's seen her before (maybe it's just the red hair reminding him of Huzzad), and when the breeze shifts slightly, he remembers. That's the little girl he almost shoved in the alley.

He doesn't look anything like a child anymore, twice as tall, and with larger wings and curling horns. He's still very much recognizable, though.]

[amiga]

[Helena isn't about to hit the dance floor without someone familiar dragging her along. The last time she and Kate had gone dancing had been fun, but that had been the exception, not the rule. Then again, the music is fantastic, and it's hard to stay uptight around all these people obviously having a good time. But Helena doesn't move from the sidelines. Instead she politely claps and smiles to cheer Kate and the other dancers on.]

open.

[culver]

[Nill had, in fact, been up late into the night. She had never been to this sort of festival before (the festival in Belgium she'd attended with Kate seemed so much more relaxed than this one!) and had wanted to get the full experience. Sadly, that had meant not falling into bed until 4 AM, which had probably been a mistake since she'd woken up early the next morning.

But there was still so much to see, and so after throwing on the first pair of jeans and top she touched, she headed back into the city to find a place to sit down and hopefully have a cup of tea. Luckily, there seem to be cafes everywhere. Hopefully, she'll get there before the parade starts.]

Re: open.

[aliveandticking]

[ aradia is a bit bushed herself; rather than the shenanigans she usually gets up to with the rest of her irresponsible teenage friends, this festival is 100% her cup of brewed leaves. She was up until three exploring the stalls and alleyways looking for exotic artifacts and adventure, and had been too wired to sleep much after that.

Hoping to try some kind of local food, she'd wandered down the streets aimlessly, not knowing what she was hungry for, until she spotted Nill. She came over and waved with a grin that turned into a yawn ]

Whew! I guess I'm still kind of asleep. Do you mind if I sit with you?

Open

[liverletdie]

Throughout the day, Mr. Stark was happy to play it with the locals, putting his internal translation protocols to the test, speaking in mostly decent (if a little formal) Spanish with the local businessmen, sampling the cuisine, shopping.

Well, he might have also been admiring the scenery. People watching, at least.

But he was also out looking for any signs of...well, anything. Ever the watching eye, he was not just watching for anyone interesting, but what else was he watching for? Well, a guess could be made either way. But he kept it behind a wide smile and a pair of rather fashionable aviators.

Open

[comesback]

Jack, too, is happy to wander around and shop, possibly flirt -- make some friends and do a bit of people watching himself. It's been quite a while since he's traveled, and he intends to enjoy it absolutely as much as he can.

But he notices Tony while people watching, gives him a small nod and a vaguely flirtatious smile. (Yes, he's tried before and been shot down, but old habits die hard. Especially when you're Jack Harkness.)

"Well, fancy meeting you here."

para because i can!!!

[incywincyhero]

[The Spider-Haus kids are occupied, which leaves Peter free to do the tourist thing on his own for the afternoon. He's wandered around the Plaza Bolivar, gotten another visitor to take photos of him next to a dinosaur statue in the Museum of Science and Technology, and now he's strolling aimlessly while munching on an arepa rumbera when he almost bumps into Tony.]

Oh, hey, how's it going?

[hacktivist]

Ghost didn't need to have come on the trip to be present in the ways that mattered to him; he kept an eye from the satellites overhead as he dipped his fingers into a computer terminal in the City, oceans away, inhaling data. Exhaling 'crypted letters through gateway servers, data strings, sending an orphaned message into the ether, modest and motherless, to seek adoption in Mérida.

Letters assembled heartbeat by heartbeat.

T S -

H A V I N G
F U N
?

- G

Reassuring in his way, a connection to $home base. An ...observer. A man like Stark did not need a guardian. A single thread tracing back to his bastion in open invitation.

open

[professorstarchilde]

[She doesn't even know why she came. She doesn't buy any of this and hasn't slept a wink with worrying about when the other shoe's going to drop. Will it be a bomb? A gas? Guns? No one does this kind of thing without repercussions. Not in her experience.

So she finds a nice cafe along the parade route and starts mainlining caffeine like there's no tomorrow. She's using her powers to hide her hound marks and to anyone paying attention, she looks like just a red-headed gal having an afternoon coffee. Waiting for hell to break loose.]

[elongates]

[ There Reed is (miraculously not staying in the hotel and gluing himself to his desk), taking a chair at the cafe to remain at least slightly out of the street and ordering a pricier coffee off the menu for politeness rather than physiologically impossible subsistence.

It doesn't take much effort for him to see the figures at the corner of his eye―it only takes him a little stretch and turn of his vision to really glance at the woman at the table. Then, it's in a fraction of a passing second that he realizes who exactly it is, despite those missing markings. ]

Oh, wow. You're that Rachel woman.

OPEN

[hellionated]

[ Parades and partying are definitely on Julian's agenda for today. He's lost in the crowd, and and watching the procession. He's slept for about two hours at most since this thing started, but it's worth it.

Even if Venezuela does remind him of Sofia.

Honestly? That's what he's thinking about when he sees people dancing, threading through the streets. That's what he thinks of when he eats the food here, or talks to the people. Anyone who can speak English speaks it with a stronger version of her accent. For all he knows, it's not exactly the same, but his ear is unpracticed enough that it sounds like it to him. He misses her worse now than he has for weeks.

So mostly he's throwing himself into all of this, drinking whatever he can get his hands on and going to every event on the menu. He isn't sorry he came, but he's determined to keep his mind away from the thing it most wants to think about here. This crowd, which is driving him crazy, and the headache-inducing noise it's generating, is a hell of a good start. ]

[wisecracked]

[Kenzi's been working on her flying since she figured it out and while her landings are still abysmal it beats the crowd in the street. While in the air she spots Julian and quickly moves to land. Of course she ends up nearly crashing, luckily her shield flares up to protect her from any damage. Also luckily she's mastered the whole drop and roll thing.

Once she gets her bearings she jumps up and apologizes to anyone she knocked over before rushing out into the crowd to track down Julian. On the ground it's actually harder for her to find him and she ends up running headlong into him.

She looks up with a laugh, ready to apologize.] Oh! Found you.

[She doesn't look like she's had much sleep herself. She looks like she's running on more caffeine than any human being should be allowed to consume.]

[futurebatwoman]

[ She hasn't been going to every event, and she hasn't been drinking all that much because she is technically here as part of the City Hall envoy, even if it's not all that official a capacity, but she has been checking out both of them to a certain extent.

And today she spots a familiar face, someone she hasn't seen in a while, and threads her way through the crowd after him. ]

Julian! Hey, Julian!

[professorlionface]

[Hank isn't really an easy guy to lose in a crowd, but him picking people out of it is another matter entirely. Still, enough of a big deal is being made about any of them that you can usually spot one if the throng doesn't overwhelm you with their own attentions, so he doesn't miss Julian when he passes by. It just takes some polite maneuvering to reach him.]

Enjoying yourself, Mr. Keller?

[paints_lanterns]

[Rapunzel's a bit lost in the crowd, her green eyes wide as she stares around at all the people. It was different from the City, more alive, more...well. Crowded. And it was all a bit intimidating too! But she was not going to let that scare her away, because this was only the second country she had ever been to, and she had every intention of seeing as much of it as she could.]

[Because of all the people, her hair is short, and she's dressed in a purple skirt and pink blouse, and as much as she absolutely hated them...sneakers. After being warned about how many diseases she could get not wearing shoes in a country like this, she'd given in. At least until they got home.]

[When she pushed past two people and almost bumped into Julian, she took a quick step back before giving him a big smile, a cross between 'happy to see him' and 'oh thank god someone she knows.']

Julian! Hello!

open!

[soulbonder]

[Astral hasn't seen many parades. In fact, he's only ever seen two: one in Heartland City and another in the City. Unfortunately, the City one didn't exactly leave a positive impression. He almost didn't want to stick around for this one. But Yuma was busy, and he didn't want Astral around.

Of course, Astral knew the reason, so he doesn't mind. Yuma wanted to explore this place on his own, as it had some significance to his father and his family. Giving a person space is simply part of being a good friend.

Watching the parade, he floats idly above the crowd.]