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A shower. Oh hell yes, a shower. A little post-hangover cleansing of one's self, and a metaphorical sloughing off of the previous day to meet the new one with a fresh attitude and fresh perspective. There was something about cascading hot water and a coarse, exfoliating (yet absorbent) washcloth that unmade minor annoyances and prepared one for the coming day.

It was also useful for removing enchilada sauce from one's self.

When the water's thermal output reached a level two notches below excruciating, Casear kicked off his bunny slippers and divested himself of his smiley boxers. Now it was just him, his extensive tattoo collection, and that blessed bastion of cleansing relief: The Shower. Caesar had already set the remainder of his Patrón bottle upon the counter and rested his machete on the tank of his toilet. He had seen Psycho, many times in his youth. While the Spanish translation left much to be desired, it was regardless one of Hitchcock's better productions. Some random cabrón with a mami fetish wasn't going to catch him with soap in his eyes, oh fuck no. Especially with what he'd heard of this town. Looking back, it was a great place to set up a branch office of M.S.S., but a less than ideal spot for a semi-vacation.

The elder Mexican looked himself over in the mirror, the image mildly unclear due to accumulating condensation from the shower's steam. His skin told a story. Some several stories, point of fact; some adventure, some horror. Tragedy and comedy were mixed in there too, in smaller amounts, though decidedly more of the former than the latter. Every tattoo and scar had a few words attributed to it, and there were plenty of each. His skin also told the story of age - many tales piled upon each other over decades, more than six of them. His skin was wrinkled and stretched in places. Not overly, but enough to indicate that the man had seen many hard years.

Beneath his skin, his physique told the same stories. But it was not the physique of an old man. Not by far.

Caesar set a foot inside the nigh-scalding shower, making a noise that was either a growl of annoyance or a sound of immediate relaxation. The expression of positive and negative emotional states lead with crossed signals and mixed takes from second parties. Even his more mid-coital pursuits left his partners awash with feelings of awe, fear, and considerable confusion in addition to the usual gratitude associated with accumulated experience in the pursuit. "Okay shower, let's do this." he mumbled, stepping fully into the shower and tending to his personal hygiene.

"Hmm, fresas y jojoba." he exclaimed with mild amusement, selecting a hair conditioner for the day. He never used to give a rat's ass about bouncy, lustrous hair before, and likely still wouldn't were it not for his daughter's influence. And his daughter's friend. The concept of trying to put up a better social image, now that he was the head of a growing professional enterprise, made sense. And let's face it, his own nature wasn't overtly sophisticated, nor was it genteel. For instance, what the hair care product called "Jojoba", he referred to colloquially as "Goat Nut". It fit.

"...heh, jojoba. Heh heh..."

Refreshed and sadly much more sober, Caesar toweled off and got into his more casual garb. Lots of dark colors, boots, biker vest, a different pair of smiley boxers, and a couple of sharp implements. One always finds daily use for sharp things. A pistol he wore out of habit; American law was always a little fuzzy about thing like that, especially in California. But he possessed the proper legal and corporate permits for such a thing, and besides, the last time this street held a block party something tragic occurred. He had meant to ask about that.

Packing or not, tragedy or not, Caesar had a Block Party for which to get ready.

His native Monterrey didn't have block parties. Well, they did and they didn't, you see. They had massive family gatherings for things like weddings, quinceaneras, holidays, and the like. The extended families tended to live very close to one another, often taking up a block or three of space in the city. As best as Caesar could tell, this was kind of like a Block Party. Except no one really knew anybody else unless they made an effort to. And fistfights might break out. And obnoxious music was a constant.

Come to think of it, a Block Party sounded exactly like a Familia Gonzalez gathering. This meant he would have to bring a covered dish. Crap.

Caesar rummaged through his kitchen for ingredients. Maybe if he could throw something together on the quick, it would be covered over by the informality of the social function. So first step: See what he had. In any respectable amounts, Caesar's larder yielded him a metric fuckton of flour tortillas, a couple bottles of chocolate syrup, some fresh chiles, a gallon of coffee ice cream, vegetable oil, some dulce de leche, a bit of raw sugar, and some leftover duck.

The first thing he did was hide the duck deeper in his fridge. That shit was good. He was keeping it.

The second thing he did was get some oil going in a deep pot and set out the ice cream to soften. Rolling the tortillas into cylinders and securing them with toothpicks, Caesar fried up a multitude of them until they bubbled and held shape, like little edible paper towel tubes. He wasn't 100% as to where he was going with this, but it was a good, basic start.

Caesar poured a tiny amount of oil into a saute pan and put it on medium heat. With one of his favorite stabbin' knives, he bisected the chiles and scraped the seeds out, then diced them small. They made a considerable sizzling sound the moment they hit the pan, settling down to a white noise murmur as heat broke down cell walls and lightly caramelized the capsicum bearing vegetables. He was no chef, certainly. But he had to prepare most of his own meals. Eventually, he learned not to screw basic things up.

Some sugar went into the pan with the diced chiles, immediately breaking down into brownish liquid and desiccating the peppers. After a moment Caesar was satisfied that they had candied just enough, and deglazed with the last half ounce of his Patrón. Well, the last half ounce in that bottle of Patrón, at any rate. When the liquid bubbled mostly away, the culinarily anxious Latino Grande poured in a smallish can of Dulce de Leche and an entire bottle of chocolate syrup, hitting it with a few quick side-to-side motions with a whisk. So, it's a chile/chocolate/milk pudding sauce. Yeah, let's go with that.

Now softened, the coffee ice cream spooned fairly well into the fried tortilla cylinders. Caesar found a couple of aluminum roasting pans they would fit into, more or less, and spread a thin layer of the sweet and spicy sauce over the bottom of them. The ice cream fried tortillas stacked (almost) neatly in rows on top of that, and the lion's share of the sauce was spooned atop them. They needed to go back into the freezer for a few minutes, just to make sure that the ice cream stayed good and solid before moving them out into the open air.

Packing the last tortilla roll into the second pan met with some difficulty, evidenced by the flaky shell fracturing and splitting in half. One too many, it seemed, and it looked ugly in comparison to the other portions, fitting neatly in the pans. No sense in it going to waste, Caesar was motivated to sample his improvised handiwork.

His face lit up, eyes widening with heretofore unexpressed emotion, at least for a while. "Dios efucking mio," he slowly exhaled, "M'hija's going to love this. Cookie might, too." This was actually something. Maybe he could pass it off as a local dish from back home, for the naysayers who would be surprised to find their mouths on fire after expecting something purely sweet and processed. Maybe he would sip from a tall, cool glass of Fuck'em and hide this in Alicia and Lorna's place for the three of them to sample at their leisure with a bottle of fine Mezcal after darkness fell proper that evening.

Twenty minutes later, the pans came out of the freezer, and Caesar came out of his apartment en route to Alicia's abode a few meters away. He noted the guy at the smoker/grill, the guy that'd been there all day and was there still, manning the meat searing apparatus like a Redneck Beefeater. He didn't know the guys name, but perhaps he could find some use for him. He shouted across the way to him, "Órale, Smoker-Boy!" as he readied the other half of the broken confection he sampled earlier for a slow and easy toss, "Eat my food!"

It sailed gently through the air, wrapped tightly in waxed paper. Not bothering to stick around for feedback, nor even to see if the poor fellow had caught it, Caesar continued his short journey to the only people he actually cared about on this street. Mostly to test out the word he'd come up with for his dish, he called out in his gruff, accented voice, "M'hija, Cookie! The EnGelatos are ready! EnchGelato? Engelata? Eh."

EnGelatos would have to suffice for the meantime. Party to prepare for, you see.

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As Danica ran off Lawson let out a quick breath from his lips. Today was certainly turning out to be an interesting day. Between the people getting ready for the block party, a half naked Mexican running through the streets in bunny slippers, and a land lord muttering about exploding doors he was half worried just what else would happen tonight. This wasn't the small town he grew up in that was for sure. A little place back east, deep in the south, where everyone knew everyone else. He had been here a bit and still only knew a handful of those that lived in the same building as he did. Glancing around as the DJ set up for the evening it amazed him how people could live in such close quarters and not know a thing about one another; not even their names.

Maybe it was the Southern Gent in him that made it seem off; born and raised knowing everyone in the county. Maybe it was the Marine in him; you were brothers in arms, you knew their life stories and they knew yours. Here it was different. You could go your whole life here it seemed and no one ever truly know who you were. Years ago that might have bothered him but now that he was starting over it brought an odd sense of solace. Especially now with what he had managed to get himself into with his new job. If his younger self could see him now it would probably be very disappointed.

As Cam and his lovely bride came over Lawson grinned as he laid down the basting brush and shook the man's hand. "Thank ya, I promise it tastes as good as it smells. Throwin' in some grilled Georgia peaches into the sauce, gives it just the sweetest taste," he said before looking over towards Lyndsey; tipping his stetson to her. "Well aren't you as pretty as a June Bug Mrs. White. Cam, you better keep a hold of this one."

Adjusting his hat he picked up his tongs and flipped over the various pieces of meat that were slow cooking on the smoker before closing it back up and adjusting the stack. He chuckled at Cam's words as he took a sip from his Budweiser. "Yeah well with what I have seen of this crew I doubt things will be calm. You missed the knife wielding smilie faced boxers moment while you were upstairs," he said as he thumbed his beer bottle a bit.

Hearing the older man's voice he looked over; his hand coming up out of reflex to catch the frozen concoction tossed at him. He looked at it oddly for a moment and then shrugged a bit. He wasn't about to turn down food; man had lived off rations for months at a time. Anything not dried and marked MRE was Ambrosia as far as he was concerned. "Yes sir," he said respectfully before taking a bite.

He seemed okay at first, the "Enchalado?" tasted like one of those Chacotaco's. Wasn't bad and was cool. Then it hit, the burn of the chili's and Patron. Quickly placing the mouth of his beer to his lips he downed the remaining three-quarters of the thing in a single swallow. "Holy hell fire, that's got kick!" he said laughing in surprise as he tossed his empty bottle into the trash can and reached for another. Popping the top he pocketed the cap and looked back over at the couple. "Fire and damn brimstone hid in ice cream." Shrugging he took another bite, he wasn't one to waste food.

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Riley instantly lit up when Cecily said yes, though she had a feeling she wasn't into the whole sex and kissing thing she was still glad that Cecily had actually taken up on her offer for that. "Don't worry its just two friend going out for dinner nothing what you are thinking of." Riley said with a soft smile as she took another big bite out of her sandwich and sighed softly as she enjoyed the meal, she reached for her soda and took a sip of it she looked out towards the window and thought for a moment thinking about going to buy some other snacks for the block party for tonight then looked over towards Cecily. "I was thinking of trying that sushi place maybe? I mean its totally up to you with where ever you'd like to go." Riley said softly.

Riley then started to finish eating the rest of her muffin and balled up the wrapper before tossing it straight into the trashcan that was over in the kitchen. "Hmm, was thinking maybe going out and get some snacks and drinks for the party as well since Lawson is using that smoker of his making food for us. Did you want to come with me, or hangout here for awhile?" Riley asked she was really excited to actually finally get to know her neighbors now, and take a break from writing music for once.

Riley then stood up and stretched slightly and yawned loudly as she made her way over towards the window and opened it she could hear the music still. Riley looked down at the street below as some of her neighbors she could see some of them talking and then closed the window and turned around to grab her purse and smiled at Cecily. "I'll be at my car if you decide to come down." Riley said as she grabbed her keys as well and then headed out of their apartment.

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Lorna stepped out of the shower after having dyed her hair and she looked in the mirror, wiping the steam away with the palm of her hand. She realised that her hair still being wet would mean she wouldn't get the full effect just yet but it still looked better than it had just a half hour previously. Grabbing her towel, she wrapped herself up and tucked it in under her arm. She then loaded her hair up into a towel turban and opened the door to the living room. "Well that shower was needed. Leash, you're up."

"Oh you better not have used all the hot water," Alicia said as she stood up from her slouched position on the couch and headed back to her room to get a change of clothing and to take a shower. Only a few minutes had passed before a yelp came out from behind the closed doors. "MOTHER FUCKER THIS IS COLD!!!!" she screamed. Lorna snorted with laughter as she listened to Alicia's discomfort. She didn't mean to use up all the hot water but it served Alicia right for all the times she used up all the hot water.

Wandering into her room she grabbed her outfit but opted to change the knee high boots for combat boots and decided to not wear the jacket, gloves or cap. It was too warm out for that. She started to dry off her hair and brushed it out only to hear a voice calling out from the doorway to the flat. "Oi, anyone home?" She wasn't sure if Alicia was in the shower yet so she popped her head out of her room, her pistol in hand behind the frame of the door just in case. "Who the fuck is asking?"

Going as quickly as she could Alicia worked to get the cheese, sauce, and rest of the dish off her body and the wood splinters out of her shoulders before jumping out and throwing a towel around her. Freaking cold showers... She wasn't a guy, she didn't need to cool off. Well maybe her temper did but a cold shower only aggravated her more than really helping the situation. Slipping on her clothing she towel dried her hair before tossing it into the hamper, along with her previous outfit, which was still covered in dinner. Sitting down on the edge of her bed she began to lace up her boots when she heard the commotion coming from outside her bedroom door. Pulling out her dagger she reverse held it in her hand and slowly opened her door, peeking out to see what was going on.

A gruff and tired voice answered Lorna's question. "It's the landlord. Here about an exploding door and a dirty carpet?" Lorna saw the man who he looked to be in his mid-50's, balding with a grease stained, grey t-shirt half tucked into a pair of too loose jeans that were barely being held up by a worn out belt. Lorna kept her gun hand behind the frame of her doorway but moved the rest of her body into view, her free hand resting on her left hip while her slightly damp hair hung loosely around her shoulders. It definitely looked better blonde than it had when it was all manners The Walking Dead extra-esque.

"Yeah? Where's your ID? I've never met my landlord before so excuse me for not takin' you at your word. Especially after our door just exploded." Her gun hand rested as if leaning against the frame of the door but out of sight of the 'landlord'. Alicia looked towards Lorna from the other end of the apartment complex and nodded towards her roommate slightly as she brought her knife up and began to step over to the man from behind.

The man looked around the room, his mouth slightly agape as he saw the mess that was inside. Alicia sliding to one side out of his line of sight as he checked everything out. It looked like a bloody massacre at first glance but then he noticed the bits of cheese and tortilla that were strewn around. "Uh... nah. But I got an angry call from Mister Gonzalez telling me that ya needed a carpet cleaning and new door delivered. I've got the new door but this..." Alicia smirked and lowered the dagger quickly as she sheathed it at her back and hid it underneath her light over jacket. He grunted and shook his head before getting to work on the door. Stepping out of the way she wandered over to Lorna with her hand over her mouth to stifle the chuckling.

Narrowing her eyes, Lorna disarmed her pistol and stuck it down the back of her pants, covering it over with her vest top before she made her move around the room to clean the mess that had been created. "I think Papi made us a little jumpy today," she joked as she pried the baking dish out of the sheet rocked wall and began to get things cleaned up.

Lorna crossed her arms and grinned at Alicia. "Yeah, must have. Can't remember the last time I felt the need t'draw in my own home. God damn luchador makin' me jitter like a god darn critter." Her eyes rolled as she tried to loosen the resting bitch face that she generally wore. If they were going to be heading out to the party, she would need to try not look like she was going to murder someone at the first given opportunity. Especially considering the history that this place had.

Moving around the room and helping her roommate, Lorna began to wipe down the easily cleaned surfaces and then sighed when she looked at the couch. "Yo, Leash. Reckon we might need t'replace the couch? Bit of a mess, no?" Lorna touched the sauce soaked fabric and stuck her tongue out in a disgusted fashion. "Might be a bad idea, or at least see about getting the damn thing cleaned," Alicia answered as she shoved the remains of what was in the pan into the garbage and then shoved it into the dishwasher.

"I knew your cookin' was bad but never thought it'd kill, Leash." A wink and a chuckle later, Lorna ducked behind the sofa again to defend against the oncoming attack. Alicia stopped what she was doing, drying her hands off on a dishtowel as she stepped over to the rest of the food she had prepared for the block party. "Don't push it G.I. Barbie, I have several more pans that I have no problem chucking at you," Alicia said with a smirk.

Peering out from behind the sofa, Lorna fell onto her backside laughing at Alicia's threat. "Alright alright, you have a point. We should head out. I'll grab the beers and a tray of cookin'." Jumping up, Lorna ran into the kitchen and ducked into the fridge. A few clinks later and she held a crate of beers under her arm against her hip. She grabbed a tray of Alicia's cooking with the other and walked back into the sitting room.

"You just don't want me messing up that bottle job before cowboy sees you," Alicia chuckled as she picked up the rest of the food and followed Lorna towards the door. “Just ‘cause I want a shot on the rodeo doesn’t mean I care what he thinks!” She chuckled and rolled her eyes before glaring down at the landlord.

"Oi landlord man whatever your name is, make sure to shut that door when you're done." She scowled at him without even trying to and he scowled back before getting back to screwing the hinges of the door into the frame that (surprisingly) wasn't destroyed along with the door. "And don't forget to sort out the broken locks!" A grumble sounded as he worked.

Leaning down she looked the landlord in the eye, any humor she had flying out the window as she did. "Clean the fucking couch while you're at it or next thing you will have to fix will be at Papi's," she said coldly before she walked out the door. It took everything in her not to burst out laughing as she watched the fear set in. Oh papi kept things interesting.

Lorna made her way outside and seen everyone setting up and getting their things in order. She noticed the hottie, DJ, making something in a smoker! “Oh sugar, honey, iced tea. Leash, I might be gettin’ rolled home tonight. I’m home again!” Alicia busted out laughing as she carried the trays of various Mexican dishes over to an open table and put them down quickly before she dropped them. Finding the table that Alicia had acquired, Lorna dumped the crate of beers and a tray of Alicia’s cooking before running over to the smoker. She gave a wave and a smile to Lyndsay as she walked by and grinned at Cam before turning her full attention to the smoker.

She breathed in the smell of the South and grinned at DJ as she tucked her hair behind her ears. “Man, I could fuckin’ kiss you. Smells like my old pops cookin’. Man it’s makin’ me miss home.” Turning her head Alicia glanced over at Lorna as she stood behind DJ and started doing the ride the donkey dance behind him before giving the girl two thumbs up and heading over to Caesar. She wanted to get out of dodge city before the showdown at the O.Fuck Me Coral. Lorna’s eyes widened as she saw Alicia and she had to stop herself from bursting into a fit of laughter. That girl was going to get a kicking later on.

”Papi, what the hell is that?” she asked pointing to what was in the pan he had. Her head tilting to the side a bit as she looked down at the frozen concoction. What exactly the man had made she had no idea, she hadn’t planned on him bringing anything; why she wanted his ass over there to help with the taquitos. Well not help so much, but put them in the oven and take them out and claim that he made them.

Lorna glanced up as Caesar called over to her but she didn’t leave her spot. She wanted some of this smoked, barbecue meaty goodness and some of the food he was cooking too. “I’ll get some in a mo, El Jefe! Gonna be gettin’ me some smokey goodness first!” She grinned over to her newly adopted little family before turning her attention back to the food.

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Of course he’d been bustling around enough that he had hoped he might’ve alerted his dearest roomie he was out and about, but he always forgot how light-footed he was and chances were she hadn’t heard him at all, what with her energetic choice in music and all. Not that there was anything to complain about, he just found it loud, and usually the case of her not hearing his goings on. He sat packaging the last of them up when he watched her come in rather enthusiastically, eyes closed and headbanging to one of her songs. He smirked, realising she hadn’t noticed him before getting a good eyeful of her barely covered body, blushing slightly, looking away before he saw anything worse.

Before he knew it she was gone and he was left pondering what that word meant. He looked about and sighed, having only just seen her without make-up for the first time was pretty much of a shock for him, usually he expected at least one layer before she emerged from her bedroom, not that he was one to be seen roaming around freely like this. Special events called for special circumstances, and of course he came upon this….reveal. He sat waiting for her to come back and when she did, a blushing smirk was on his face awaiting her. “You seem shocked,” He observed, tilting his head with a sly look on his face. “Surprise, I’m not on my computer but you’re prancing around like I don’t exist”

Lana crinkled her nose up and shut one eye, looking at him with her head resting on her shoulder. She was pretty damn embarrassed as it was, his comments just made it even worse. Her face flushed. “Well, yeah actually… Was expecting you to be doing your thang in your room. Although, I’m usually out and about at this time too so really… I’m probably intruding on your time…” She rose a hand up and scratched behind her exposed ear as she considered the blush on Lyle’s face. She couldn’t help but grin.

“You, uh, didn’t see too much… did you?” She held his gaze, waiting to see if he had noticed anything, mostly her scars. She was pretty unwilling to let people see those without copious amounts of alcohol being in their system and even then they were generally too preoccupied with other things to notice anything of consequence. Her fingers drummed on the side of her glass of water as she took another sip.

He gave her an effortless shrug as he shook his head in derision, kinda smiling to himself a bit, not a big grin but not a mean hearted grin either. Usually he'd be worrying about something at this time, but due to the date all he had was his Russian room mate getting scared about him seeing her naked. “I think I saw enough,” he said a bit vaguely and turned to look out of the window.

“If I were you I'd get some work on those scars, never know when someone might question you” he said before changing his tone completely “You're coming to the gathering of this block right? I'd prefer to not have to face the force of the louder ones alone” he looked away from her and grabbed his cookies “This is appropriate right?”

At the mention of her scars, Lana tensed up and she had to stop herself from scowling. Her face looked practically blank as she looked to Kyle, his voice saying words that she wasn’t entirely listening to. If someone did question her, she’d soon tell them where to go. As it stood, Lyle was not questioning her so she relaxed some and took another mouthful of water before setting the glass down on the counter, the scowl still clear on her face as she glowered at him for another moment longer.

When Lyle began talking about his baking, Lana looked at the cookies and pouted her lips a little as she considered them. No point in souring the mood of the party before it had even begun. She decided to brush off what he had said for now. So long as he didn't bother her about her scars again. “Hmmm… Maaaybe. I’d need to taste test them to be sure.” She giggled and held a hand out and wiggled her eyebrows at him. “Just one? Pleeease?” She then clasped her hands together and put on her best puppy dog eyes and held her pout in place. She really wanted a cookie.

He rolled his eyes and let a low chuckle escape his lips as he observed her again, looking at that pouty routine, one he had hardly ever seen before. He grumbled something inaudible and handed her one he hadn't packed up. “Fine but you better not waste it” In truth he wanted her opinion and watched her for a bit.

Leaning forward and taking the cookie from him, Lana took a bite and mulled it around her mouth a bit. Her head lightly nodded and she raised an eyebrow as she swallowed. “Not bad, not bad. Blagodarya.” She gave him a wink before grabbing her glass of water with the other hand and wandering off to her room, eating the rest of the cookie.

He hid his blush at her appreciation of his baking and smirked a little, he was almost confident enough to give some bold cocky statement but he decided against it in case she started making fun of him. He nodded happy at her response and muttered to himself. “Blagodarya?”

She wandered into her room and began to get dressed in her chosen outfit for the block party. She could get ready pretty quickly when she had to and considering the sound of the music beating outside she knew things were about to kick off soon. When she was done getting herself sorted, her make-up done fully and her hair straightened out, Lana walked back into the sitting room of their apartment and looked for Lyle again. “You wanna go down to the party together? I plan on bringing vodka instead of food, I feel that I have more to contribute in that regard…” A grin played on her face as she swung a bottle of vodka in each hand.

He turned to watch her come out and gave her a mocking clap, smirking again. “And like that she's gone and a new one takes her place” he grinned and eyed the vodka “Of course, fighting the stereotype I see. Of course, not like I want to be seen as that lonely guy at the party again!” He smirked and whispered sinisterly “You don't wanna be alone today y’know”

She bowed and flourished her hands comically as she listened to his sarcastic clapping. Sticking her tongue out and blowing a big wet raspberry at Lyle, she sauntered into the kitchen and raised her eyebrow at him. “I’m a walking, talking stereotype, love. It’s what I do.” Lana narrowed her eyes until she remembered what he was referring to with his ‘being alone’ statement. “Ooooh riiiight, the murder. How could I forget?” She rolled her eyes and continued smiling as she plopped the bottles down on the kitchen counter while she fixed her gloves on her arms properly.

“What exactly happened with it all anyway? Did they ever catch the person that done did the deed?” She drummed her fingers on the countertop and eyed the packed up cookies with a glint in her eyes. She’d be pocketing some of those later this evening for sure.

He took off his glasses dramatically with a slight flick of his wrist, before cleaning them on his burgundy sweater. He out on a slightly scary face to try and freak her out, which he knew was probably impossible without blood or anything and his face was not one that could be feared even if he had some horrible disfigurement. He noticed her eyes on the cookies and sighed a little.

Her eyes snapped away from the cookies and she looked to Lyle again. Well that would just make it more challenging to get a hold of some later. A smug little smile beamed on her face while she listened to Lyle answer her question.

“Kinda hard to know where to start…” He put a finger to his chin as he glanced around. “Only a few of us still live here, well everyone who was around on that day. She was shot, people think suicide but knowing this place...murder” he put on a little smile. “We should've been over it earlier, but eh people don't realise how many people day every day here but I think it's more...any one of us could've done it” he sighed and looked around, peering out the window again.

Lana pursed her lips and shifted her head from one shoulder to the other, rolling her muscles out while she pondered what he had said. It was a little disconcerting to think about a fellow neighbour being responsible for the murder of a young girl and she looked to Lyle with questioning eyes. “So you knew her then… That means that you could’ve done it! Did you do it, Lyle? Did you take the life of someone you once knew?” She stepped closer to him, each sentence took her closer and closer until she was directly in front of him. He would be able to feel her breath on his face as she looked up to him. Lana quickly smiled and gave him a wink before laughing, sashaying her tiny little butt back over to her vodka.

He took a double take and kinda wasn't sure what to do when she accused him, but it was suddenly evident she was joking. He breathed deep and smirked. “Yeah sure just look at me, truly the mantle of a ruthless killer” he said with a chuckle before watching her wink and suddenly blushing again. He wished she did that less often.

She grabbed the bottles and began to shift towards the front door of the flat. “C’mon killer, let’s head on out before the party gets started without us! We can talk more about this while we chow down and get blitzed!” She turned on her heel and did a little two step out of the front door. Her voice could be heard calling back into the flat to Lyle. “Don’t forget to lock up or I’ll know you’re out to get me killed!” Lana really had no problems joking about death. That much was clear.

He took a heavy breath as he grabbed the bags of cookies, hoping to god she didn't get too hammered on alcohol tonight, let alone worry about his own temptation by alcohol. “Fine! Wait up!” He hurried after her, locking the door as she had joked and following her out the door “I swear you probably worry downstairs”

Lana just heard him and she laughed loudly. “Well that’s their problem, not mine!” She danced her way down all of the stairs and practically kicked the front door to the building open before dancing down the steps that lead onto the street. “Good afternoon neighbours! Are we ready to party hardy?”

She could smell the smoker and saw the yummy men standing by it, cooking. She recognised them both from around but didn’t know either of them. She found an empty table and placed her bottles of vodka on it and then grabbed the packs of red solo cups that she’d stuffed down the back of her top and began to lay them all out. That’s when she realised she’d forgotten the mixer. Fuck.

He groaned as he followed behind her as quick as he could, taking a few careful steps, too scared of falling down the stairs and dropping the cookies than he was of being seen entering the party unaccompanied. He pushed the door open and glanced around. He could see the two guys had been setting things up and that DJ had rolled in

He leaned against the wall of the building and observed the goings on before heading over to put his cookies on a table, heading back to leaning against the wall and glancing down at his phone. He really should’ve brought some manga with him.

Bolting back up the stairs and leaving her two (very expensive and rare) bottles of vodka on the table outside unattended, Lana burst into her apartment again and grabbed four large bottles of lemonade, orangeade and cola before setting them outside her apartment door. Locking her bedroom up (as she had forgotten to do it earlier), she locked the apartment again and grabbed the bottles before jogging back down to the tables outside.

She gave waves and smiles and hello, how do you do's to everyone in the courtyard that she passed. She noticed that the dysfunctional family from the sub-levels were outside now and she smirked as she set her bottles out and grabbed the cups, opening them out and leaving them ready for people to grab as they liked.

---

Cecily Ashworth
Classic Building 3C --> Outside
Interacting with @Nallore

---

Cecily watched, her hands tingling, as Riley light up at her acceptance of the offer. For a moment, she couldn't help but wonder how many of Riley's fans would have killed to have this chance--and here she was, taking it. Breathing steadily to soothe her nerves, Cecily grinned in turn.

"Don't worry its just two friend going out for dinner nothing what you are thinking of. I was thinking of trying that sushi place maybe? I mean its totally up to you with where ever you'd like to go.

A bit of sadness trickled throughout her, though she couldn't be sure as to why. However, she didn't have time to investigate the complexities of her emotions--she was too busy cringing in disgust at one key word. Sushi. She hated seafood, but she didn't want to cause anything with her roommate.

Especially not on the anniversary of that girl's suicide, Cecily thought to herself, already expecting to receive a call from the station that she would be needed to attend to the death of one of her neighbors that night. Or maybe it'll be me--or no one at all...

Still, she didn't think she'd be able to pretend to like sushi for anyone. It'd be better to be honest about it. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I really hate seafood..." Cecily chuckled nervously, pulling on her hair. "Do you like Thai food? We could try to get Thai or something... Or maybe just decide whatever sounds good tomorrow, that works too."

Riley finished her breakfast, tossing the garbage away. Cecily couldn't help but make a mental note of the various bits of evidence that could be gleaned from it -- oh, the joys of serology. She shook her head slightly, trying to focus on the prospect of the Block Party, rather than the nuisances of forensics.

"Hmm, was thinking maybe going out and get some snacks and drinks for the party as well since Lawson is using that smoker of his making food for us. Did you want to come with me, or hangout here for awhile?" Riley offered.

Cecily grinned slightly, looking at her roommate and seeing the immense excitement written all over her face. While parties weren't really her scene, she knew that it was about time that she got out and learned about her new neighbors. It'd be a good way to make friends -- and much better than being shut up in the apartment all night.

"Yeah! I'd love to go!" Cecily exclaimed. "I suppose you'd rather take your car than the death trap, huh?"

Cecily threw her things together into her bag, slinging it over her shoulder once more. Hurrying after Riley, she locked up the apartment, barely hesitating as she pondered whether or not to bring her pistol. No one was really ever safe in Justice. But she left it behind, scolding herself for being -- as always -- as pessimist.

"I can pay for the food and drinks, since we're using your car," Cecily offered. She climbed down the numerous apartment stairs, far more awake than when she had ascended them that morning. She noticed the little details, and when she and Riley emerged, she couldn't help but be taken a bit aback with everything happening outside. The smoker was going, the DJ setting up, music lightly playing, the sun softly shining, and numerous things of expensive vodka being set out on little tables.

Cecily made a mental note to not get vodka at the store with Riley. It seemed they had plenty. She couldn't help but notice that almost everyone seemed to be outside already, milling around and exchanging food. It was almost overwhelming, in a way, to see all of her neighbors in one spot.

It was also, in her opinion, a miracle that no bodies had dropped yet. This was Justice, after all.

Mali looked over the two thugs as she approached them, wiping away sweat from her brow. They were both a bit taller than her, but not more than a couple inches. Where they differed was the amount of meat on them. They were both young, mid-to-late teens and hadn't really filled out. And anything that would have been there was notably absent. They were gaunt with dead, baggy eyes and sunken faces. Their hair were long and shaggy, probably uncleaned in months, and their clothes were mismatched and worn out. The taller one had a gold watch and the other wore gold chains, both pieces of jewelry only stuck out like a sore thumb, looking gaudy and accentuating how dirty and poor the two of them were. If you took away the gold, made them a bit paler and gave them a bit of good make up work, they could pass for the walking dead. If that were the case, sorry kid, but you're on your one. But they were just a couple of meth addicts that were strung out and probably looking to score some cash by mugging people who could fight back.

The two thugs stood by the wall, kicking at their victim ruthlessly as he lay down on the floor, dirtying up their shoes that were almost certainly too expensive for their ilk. The recipient of the beating was curled up in a fetal position by the brick wall, covered in dirt, grime and blood. Most days in most parts of the city, they would be able to get away with it. After all, who cared about stopping a beating when they occurred constantly?

Well today was their unlucky day, because despite her common sense saying to just walk away, her conscience seemed deadset on having her play the hero. Some options on how to handle the situation flashed through her mind: try to talk them out of kicking someone while they're down for no reason by appealing to their better nature, provide a distraction so the kid can maybe get to his senses and run away, ignore that pesky voice telling you to help the kid out and just walk away. All of these solutions were very doable, at least partially reasonable and posed minimal danger to herself.

Nah, she thought to herself as her feet picked up speed, going from the slow walk at the beginning of the alleyway, rapidly accelerating until Mali had become a human bullet train. The two thugs turned around when they heard the incoming footsteps, but were too slow on the uptake as people often are when they get jumped. Mali rammed into the thug with the gold chain digging her shoulder into his ribcage, knocking him onto the hard concrete of the alleyway spewing obscenities.

"Crazy bitch!" his friend yelled, balling up his fists and throwing to wide punches at her. Mali raised her hands up in time to block the attacks, sending sharp signals of pain through her forearms, leaving a dull tingling sensation through her forelimbs. Through the gaps in her arms, she noticed that Watch was standing with his legs wide. Bad move. Mali's right legs exploded in forward movement swinging up in the atomic bomb of kicks: the front kick aimed at the groin. The reaction on Watch's face seemed to play out in slow motion, something you'd see on America's Funniest Home Videos during a montage of golfing accidents submitted to national television. His whol body seemed to collapse inward with the groin at the center, both hands dropping to hold onto the injured goods as the knees buckled down and inward. His face went from an expression of rage, emptiness and desperation to one of pain, his features flattening and stretching out horizontally.

As a result of this, he was entirely open for Mali's next assault. She stepped in closer to the meth-head and slugged him in the gut with her left hand and following it with a right to the jaw, which was conveniently at her chest level after folding in from the previous attack. Watch went down like a log, his face bouncing off the asphalt like a properly inflated basketball. Mali turned around to find Chain back on his feet and charging her, fist held back, as if holding it in a ready position would power your punch up like in a videogame. As he stepped towards her, Mali pulled up her left foot and stomped in on his knee, stopping him in his tracks and bending the joint backward with a sickening *POP.* Ouch.

"Fuck you, you fucking orangutan!" he screamed as he tried to assume a stable footing. Mali was slightly impressed that Chain even knew what an orangutan was, let alone being able to use it as one of the less common ape metaphors used against her. In this moment of distraction, he threw a punch that got her right in the face, disorienting the world for a bit. A throb began in her right cheek, but a touch showed that there was no blood. Seemed like the punch was all arm. Chain tried to go in for another attack, but Mali stepped to the side, avoiding the attack. She reached into her left pocket as Watch turned to face her again, only to be greeted with and eyeful of sand.

"Agh, fucking cunt bitch!" Chain profaned, reaching up to his red, watery eyes. Mali took the opportunity to cordially invite him to join his friend Watch on the ground. She closed the distance and kneed him right in the crotch and headbutted him to the ground. However, that last hit also caused her to lose balance. Note to self: don't headbutt people. It looks cool but hurts like a bitch.

The bodybuilder purveyed her handiwork: two thugs lying on the ground unconscious and her mostly unscathed. On Watch, she noticed something she had missed during the fight: a tattoo of the Male astrological sign on the back of his neck. Well that's a fucking dumb thing to put on yourself. A throb of pain in her face brought her mind away from the tattoo and back to her. Mali touched her cheek again. If this shit bruises, she might have to find Chain again and knee him in the balls again. Fucking asshole. Mali turned back to the kid on the ground, no longer in a laying fetal position, but sitting on the ground looking up at her with wide, wild eyes.

"Hey kid, are you alright?"

Jezebel Wintergerald

---

When Jezebel was younger, she’d bought clothes from charity shops, and come up with fancy stories behind all the odd little features they’d accumulated before reaching her. What could the ‘M’ carved into her new bracelet mean? She wasn’t sure, but she did know that it made it that much more obvious that it wasn’t hers. Hopefully she wouldn’t run into a Melinda.M.Morgan out hunting for her missing jewelry
.
It shouldn’t be too much of a problem; folks tended to keep to themselves in Justice. Look at someone the wrong way and you might end up shot, or at the very least with your teeth smashed in.

Jezzie caught a cab from the Diamond, and set off to the Block Party. The cabbie was a dark-skinned man who stank of cheap fags, and made no attempt to start a conversation, which suited Jezebel just fine. She paid him without tipping, because she wasn’t a fucking chump, and set off in the direction of barbeque smoke. The young woman grabbed a bottle of Captain Morgan from a corner store on her way over, and had a thoroughly engrossing conversation with a pimple-faced cashier, which went something like;

“Going anywhere nice?”

“I’m here to buy booze, not make friends. Scan the bloody bottle, so I can fuck off and get on with my day.”

Jezabel rocked up at the green not much later, said booze clutched loosely in one sweaty hand. The southern heat was an acquired taste, in the same way that the bubonic plague was a slight annoyance.

“Fuck this bloody yank weather...” She grumbled beneath her breath.

---

---

Don't take this the wrong way, but I really hate seafood... Do you like Thai food? We could try to get Thai or something... Or maybe just decide whatever sounds good tomorrow, that works too." Riley looked over her shoulder as she made it out of the front door to their apartment, she didn't mind thai food at all seafood was just a random suggestion that she had come up anyway. "Thai sounds great to me! I really don't mind where we go besides your paying for our date you get to pick where we go and eat, i'll eat just about anything honestly." Riley said with a soft smile as she walked up to their cars and leaned up against her black mustang.

Riley thought about taking her car, or taking Cecily she knew that the girl had been up earlier that morning at her job. "Since you probably have been up longer then me I don't mind driving my car up to the store.. And i'm totally just kidding about the death trap by the way." Riley said with a soft laugh as she unlocked her car and opened up the passenger side door for her friend. "Pretty ladies first." Riley said with a playful wink offering her friend to get in first.

"I can pay for the food and drinks, since we're using your car." Riley walked over and got into the driver seat and turned to look at her roommate. "Lets instead just split the cost, like I will get the drinks and you get the food, or the other way around?" Riley suggested as she ran a hand through her hair looking at the cute girl next to her.

---

---

---

The life of the party is the beat that comes from the music and the voices of the people attending. Those of you that have arrived are seeing many of your neighbors now. Some you may know others you may not. Boston Heights is the name of the three buildings which your main characters reside but a block party is not only for those that live in a particular set of buildings but all those around. The are people from down the street some and around the corner. The promise of music, free food and free booze is a strong enticer for those in a city which has little to be happy about these days.

Other than your main characters actions and mingling there are a few other things going down other than the sun which promises to set soon. Some of you might be welcoming to the night air when it finally arrives; the heat off the tarmac and the buildings keeping it there is not the most pleasant. But it is still some time yet before the sun says goodbye and the moon makes its evening appearance. The shadows are growing long and the light is still bright; if you look to the north the suns light can be almost blinding as it wedges itself through the buildings and seems to paint lines or yellow, orange, and red along the street where you are.

@Kingfisher Shadows can provide some comfort but do you really want to venture into them? Even with the frivolity of the party there are still other things happening. A couple of kids are off to the west in the edge of the alleyway across the street from the main Boston Heights buildings. Seems a drug deal is going down but those of you wise to such things know something is amiss. This is Jez's home turf. One does not simply start dealing in underworld items on someone elses turf. Jez, how will you handle this once you are dropped off from the cab? You probably can't wait to get away from the driver, he is talking a mile a minute about nothing and refuses to shut the hell up. By the time you get to the party you might be on your last nerve and these punks; if you chose to see them, will be getting on it. Time to make a choice; keep it quiet and ignore it to keep things calm at the party or to keep others from being drawn in, go ahead and make a ruckus and damn the consequences, or C - try to start a transaction and take it deeper into the alleyway so you can handle this without other witnesses; hopefully. (PM me for details)

@Nallore @Morose Ack, the block party has the road closed down; you aren't getting anywhere in your car. Even if you could get out you won't be getting back in until after everything is over. Better walk. Unless you have a two seater bicycle somewhere. We know what is south - construction, diners, and such. West is the alleyway. North is the park. Now there is a little place you could pick up a few things; a little family run bodega that is one block north and two east. Wouldn't take long for you to get there on foot and would keep you out of the main crowds. (Joint pm me when you pick a direction for details)

@Dragoknighte Mali did her good deed for the day, it will probably count as the only good deed done in the city all day. The two punks are not going to be causing an issue for the rest of the day and the kid you saved is slowly looking around; kind of shocked that his beating suddenly ceased. His glasses are broken and his face bloodied but he looks relieved as he finally looks up at you. If he wasn't afraid that you were going to kick his ass as well he might actually hug you. Slowly he stands up, very slowly. Holding his ribs with one hand and other trying to adjust his cracked lens glasses to sit properly on his busted nose. "Holy shoot fudge," he exclaims as he looks at the damage Mali did to the pair. Did he really just say shoot fudge? One of the guys stir a bit, he might actually wake up soon and this seems to drive the fear right back into the kid. He pulls out a little card from his pocket and shoves it in your hand. "You need anything, call," is all he says before he darts out of the alleyway and runs off into the crowd on the street. He isn't staying around for a round two if it happens. The card is basic enough, just a number on the back of it and a few words on the front - Relic; for your emergency needs. Emergency? What could that kid help with when it comes to an emergency? Seems odd but this is Justice, pocket the card and get to the party. It's getting late.

@Scallop @POOHEAD189 @Sigil @DizzyIsabella @Charnobylisk @Xtreme - The food and drink tables are filling up fast. Lawson is returning waves and hello's from you all that he hasn't already and starting to load up trays of food from the smoker. Lawson smiles over to Lorna and hands her over a rib dripping in sauce. "I promise it tastes as good as it smells. Nothin' like Carolina BBQ. Other places say they got the secret but nothin' quite tickles my fancy like this does. Sweetness of the south and a bit of kick to it. Could expect none less from the great state that produces our finest Marines; Hoorah!" he said with a quiet chuckle before going back and piling up more and toting it over to the table by the smoker.

Some reporters are still hanging around at the edge of the barricades. It seems they are prepping for the late night news, a follow up for the city to see that things are going great instead of horrible like they were months ago. On the edge of the barricade are others that are just observing. The whole thing could feel like you are in the middle of a petting zoo if you paid too much attention to it; but let them look. That is how things go down around here. You are either a instigator, a victim, or one of the many drones that just watch and see nothing. Well you see plenty but opening your mouth can be a death sentence. Really want to risk that when you have food to eat, drinks to down, and your groove to get on.

---

---

Continued contact with the roasting pan (possible irony here) was making Caesar's hands uncomfortably cold. Having been in the freezer and containing frozen custardy delights, it was quite clearly communicating to the venerable Mexican its desire to lower his core body temperature, possibly as an act of revenge for being smothered with chocolatey pepper topping. It seemed like an excellent idea at the time. Point of fact, it still seemed like an excellent idea. Maybe if it went over well at the block party, he'd invest a bit of fluid capital into development. Possibly produce a workable product for ice cream trucks or bodegas. But these were thoughts for another time. Right at this moment, Caesar was being interrogated by his only legitimate daughter.

”Papi, what the hell is that?”

"Hey there, M'hija." he began in an uncharacteristically relaxed, almost pleasant voice. "The landlord was happy to take care of the carpet for you. Used the time to contribute to the fiesta. I call them "Engelatos". Try one?"

Caesar opened the corner of the foil covering the container to allow Alicia access to the sweet and spicy contents therein. "Talk to me about taquitos, M'hija. What do you need?" Though his attention was focused on his daughter, Caesar glanced over to Lorna, motioning to offer her an Engelato.

“I’ll get some in a mo, El Jefe! Gonna be gettin’ me some smokey goodness first!”

The older man smirked just a little. He seemed to be in unusually high spirits today. That is to say, he wasn't angry, sulking, and/or intoxicated while sharpening a long blade of some kind while writing down a list of names in a pocket notebook labelled "Lista de Asesinato". Maybe this Vacation thing was a good idea. Regarding Lorna's postponing of his culinary haphazardry in favor of Smoker-Boy's fabulous meat products, he leaned in a little closer to Alicia, intoning, "Smokey Goodness, eh? Wonder what she means by that."

Ice cream and a joke all in one day. He must be in high spirits, indeed.

His high spirits were blunted somewhat by the presence of the media along the edges of the gathering. Yeah, someone died the last time a big party went down. Now here stood the various representatives of the news; print, television, or other. They'd likely be hanging around into the darker hours of the evening, interviewing people, poking around the neighborhood, and such. Given Caesar's experience with reporters, he wouldn't at all be surprised if at least one hangs around to see if something else horrible occurs, or worse yet - tries to stir up their own trouble for a story.

Maybe it was his own pessimism, but this setting had the potential for something unpleasant. Forcing himself to lighten up (or at least outwardly appear so), he smiled and looked to his Alicia, querying, "There a place to put these before we get to it?"

The subtle shift in his posture, unrecognizable by most, hinted that he was at least halfway back on the clock.

Tank had been riding around town most of the day after getting food. It had tasted more like Italian than Greek anyway, though still not bad. New chef, if he remembered correctly. He recalled hearing the old chef had been found after dragging the bay. It's what happens. The wind whipping around him, he had his radio on and volume up, though he only got a clear listen to the music as he skidded to a stop before the blockade. "Oh yeah..." he breathed, noticing the onlookers, reporters, and other cockroaches.

Tank shrugged, and realized he had no place to park his bike. He'd need to find one of the ground patios owned by someone else. Tank would have to go ask, but he wasn't about to leave his bike here for the masses. "Better get to work." he said to himself. The vagabond revved the engine once, and then again, and then a third time. The onlookers turned back around one by one, until he had their full attention. He grinned, and revved the bike up one last time, the wheel scraping along the concrete, before shooting toward the crowd.

A woman screamed, and people leaped out of the way. Deftly adjusting his center of gravity with his hips, he sent the bike's front wheel up on the air, letting the bottom hit a curb, giving it that small bit of extra air to clear the barricades. He hit the ground within the party, skidding audibly again, stopping right before he wrecked into one of the tables.

With a confident agility, he slipped off his bike, and wheeled it around the table area. Toothpick in his mouth, a casual air to himself, and another song popping up on his bike's radio, he looked around for anyone that he recognized who lived on one of the sub level patios. He stopped right before Alicia and Caesar. Tank turned the radio down, still making it audible (he liked the song). He tongued his toothpick, the sun giving his brown hair and eyes a bronze, almost golden look. "Pardon the disturbance, I was wondering if there was anyplace for me to put my bike for the party."

@Sigil@Charnobylisk@Lady Amalthea

---

---

Cecily nodded at Riley's suggestion, her hand on the car door before glancing around. She grimaced -- there was no way they'd be able to leave before the party ended. While she already hated traffic and other cars, this would prove to be a nightmare situation. The press and curious onlookers had created a makeshift barricade, one more effective than any riot police.

"Erm... We might want to consider walking, Rye," Cecily suggested, laughing nervously. "I think there's a place not too far away...And if we get into any trouble, you can do the thing where you sing super high and it knocks everyone out, right?"

Cecily grinned cheekily, her tongue poking out slightly. She loved spending time with her roommate, but she also couldn't help the random, slightly paranoid comments. But who was to blame her? They lived in Justice, after all.

As Riley got into her car she took a moment to look over her shoulder Cecily was right they wouldnt be able to get out of here by car. "Yep you are right, and I dont think mowing through people would look good either." Riley said jokingly as she got up and closed the car door, she ran a hand through her hair and sighed slightly.

"Yeah I could totally go Black Canary on some of the people who try and attack us." Riley said with a soft laugh liking her own little comic book reference she then adjusted her purse over her shoulder and took out her phone trying to find the closest store. "Hmm, the closest place would be the The Ramirez Haha Hacienda Bodega. And thats not that far a few blocks away from here."

Cecily's face lit up. "You even look a bit like her! You know, you could totally cosplay her to Comic Con, it'd look really good and.... Sorry. Right. Party food." She blushed slightly, and tugged a bit on her hair. "The... That name is impossibly long...Who thought that was a good idea?! But I think that should work-- hopefully they aren't sold out."

Rolling her wrists a bit and letting them pop, Cecily glanced over at the blaring party, watching as mobs of people flooded into the streets. She desperately hoped that a lot of people had brought some sort of food -- she doubted Riley and herself would be able to get enough to feed all of those people.

"Which way is it?" Cecily inquired.

Riley blushed slightly and smiled at Cecily rubbing the back of her neck slightly. "You think? Maybe we should do that together sometime? I've never had the time to actually try any of that before." Riley said, Cecily was definatly cute and one of the few people who didnt pounce on her to sign anything for them.

"I don't know maybe some really weird person decided to make that name? Anyway it's one block north from here and two blocks east." Riley answered as she headed along the sidewalk walking past some of the guests that were going to the block party. She looked over her shoulder at Cecily and smiled she was curious about why she chose her job.

"So why did you chose working as a forensic technician?" Riley finally asked setting her hands into her pockets.

Cecily tried not to get too excited. Or better put, she tried not to flail around like an extremely excited but oxygen deprived fish. She loved going to conventions, but they tended to be a bore without someone to go with.

She chuckled a bit, glad that Riley appeared to have a sense of direction. Without the aid of the compass application on the iPhone, she wouldn't have had a clue which directions were east, west, north, or south. She was utterly clueless, with the only helpful fact ever coming to mind was that the word "NEWS" came from North, East, West, and South. It hardly helped her find her way.

"Oh, I wanted to prepare for the day I eventually kill someone," Cecily answered, giggling a bit. "I figured if I had access to all of the evidence, it'd be easier to get away with it, you know?"

She couldn't help but grin more, watching her roommate's expression. However, she also wanted to be honest about it--most people recoiled in fear when she explained her job to them. They always wanted their murders to be solved, but they never seemed to care for the actual task of solving them.

"I guess it's really two things, though... My parents are lawyers, so I always got the idea of preserving justice, helping people, stuff like that...But also, I think it's super interesting. I love chemistry and such, but beyond forensics, the only other job oppurtunity is making new types of mascara...It'd be weird to make mascara and not know how to use it, still."

She paused for a moment, continuing to follow her roommate down the street. "What about you? Why a rockstar? I mean, besides the fame and fortune and all that jazz."

Riley tried her best not to try and looked slightly disturbed by Cecily's first answer maybe she was just joking around, but she truly didn't think that she would actually want to kill someone though the job did seem pretty interesting to her, but she didnt have the brain power to learn all that kind of stuff.

"Of course to get all the girls that I want I mean who wanted and being a rocker you get all the chicks." Riley said with a laugh and then shook her head. "Nah seriously I honestly always had a passion for music, the first instrument I played was the piano. Then I picked up the guitar when I was around ten and taught myself, the more I listened to music the more I really loved it and wanted to make a career out of it." Riley smiled as they walked out of the block party and then headed north.

"Anyway after I finished high school I was on my own doing odd jobs then a producer approached me, and I was signed onto a label. You should come with me on tour or something, it would be a lot of fun."

Cecily nodded, recalling her one vague attempt at an instrument. In the fourth grade, everyone had to play the recorder in music class. When it was her turn to play, all was going well -- until she sneezed and refused to let go, causing her to play a note several octaves higher. It had been the peak of her music career -- as well as the end.

"That's a really cool story. Also, super lucky!" Cecily gushed. "Most people don't get to be rockstars...Though, I suppose none of them are as talented as yourself."

She winked, panicking slightly at the suggestion of going on a tour. From all of the films and movies she'd watched, going on a trip with another person was supposed to mean something. Once again, in the time of uncertainty, she asked herself What would Tony Stark do?

"That sounds like it'd be fun," Cecily smiled. "I've actually never been to a real concert before--it'd be neat to go to one, especially since I know the lead."

"Thanks, I honestly just do it to make me feel happy and see others happy with my music." Riley smiled and then grinned. "I can always hook up a cute lady like yourself with some VIP tickets to a free concert. And trust me going on tour is so much fun, going to places you'd never thought of going before, meeting new people as well."

Riley lightly started to play with her hair looking at her. "So what else do you like doing aside from looking and finding out what killed who? Aside from reading comics that is."

Cecily blushed. Cute? She never considered herself to be. Being cute was reserved for models and singers, for actresses and celebrities--never a term that was applied to her. If she had only suspected Riley was flirting before, she was now very much aware of it.

"Oh, thanks! You don't have to, but that would be cool. And yeah, that sounds really awesome. Must be so much fun, getting to leave and travel whenever you want to!" Cecily commented, jamming her hand on the crosswalk button, as they neared the edge of the sidewalk. Most people in Justice tended to ignore them, but Cecily was a bit of a stickler for the rules. She would have felt guilty otherwise if she just rushed across without even attempting to follow the law.

"Hmm... I enjoy signing petitions for hedgehogs to be legal in California...And definitely seeing plays! Absurdist plays are my favorite, like Waiting for Godot. Everything is just so ridiculous, and nothing makes any sense... It's kind of beautiful, the way meaning is derived from meaninglessness."

Riley could see Cecily blush which made her all the more adorable and cuter then she was before but decided to not say it. "I really don't mind, besides i'd like to talk to someone else other then my bandmates and would rather hang out with someone like yourself." Riley said as she leaned herself up against the stop light post as Cecily pressed the crosswalk button she loved flirting with Cecily though and seeing the girl blush always made her smile.

She wasnt that interested in walking across a busy street and then getting herself run over by a driver or something like that. "Sounds like an interesting cause why are they illegle anyway?" Riley asked.

Riley remembered seeing a few plays back in her old high school days, at one point Riley did think about going into the acting career but she altimately thought that music was her true passion and she would never give that up till the day that she died. "Maybe we could go and see one sometime?"

"I think it's something about them being 'invasive species' supposedly but... Honestly, I'd sacrifice a flower or a tree for a hedgehog. They're just so cute! And of course, you could name it after John Watson in Sherlock..." Cecily laughed, trying to force herself to stop blushing if possible. The white walk signal appeared across the street, but cars continued to rush through for a good two minutes before the pair could cross. Cecily rolled her eyes a bit as a gigantic semi rushed bemi rushed past them, and finally, the coast appeared to be clear.

"Yeah, we could definitely go see one!" Cecily said eagerly, already across the street. She glanced over, and could see the rather... peculiar store. Despite the name suggesting that it was going to be rather Mexican, everything in the decor and clientelle made it look like a small little Asian joint. Tilting her head slightly at the peculiarity, she couldn't help but wonder what the inside would be like. Opening the door, she held it open for her roommate, beckoning for her to go inside first.

"They are pretty cute i'd buy one but I dont know if our apartment would allow any pets sadly." Riley smiled and waited patiently till they could move across the street and quickly followed behind Cecily just as a large semi passed them. Once they were across Riley looked over her shoulder seeing the cars moving once more and Riley quickly caught up with her roommate.

A few seconds later they were finally at the store. "Thank you my lovely princess." Riley smiled as she took a step inside and looked around the store seeing quiet a lot of things were more from Asia rather then from Mexico. "Well I was expecting it to be more of a mexican spainish like place." Riley said as she looked towards Cecily.

Cecily nodded, looking at the counter tops. A fine layer of dust was there, disturbed by fingerprints. "This place is an investigator's paradise--look at these! Perfectly preserved!" She crouched down, ignoring the slightly glaring gazes from the cashier. Squinting down at the latent prints, Cecily nodded, beaming with pride. "Looping prints--most common type of fingerprint, I believe. Beyond that, I've got nothing."

She giggled a bit, realizing how much of a dork she looked like. Admonishing herself for getting off task, she wandered over to what looked to be a makeshift liquor area. The picture on the bottle made absolutely no sense to her--and neither did the Japanese characters covering it. The only thing she was able to recognize were some fireworks in the corner, right next to what looked nauseatingly like a 24/7 sushi bar. Hopefully that's fresh, at least... She wished, hoping that the poor souls who would eat it wouldn't get sick.

But then again, it might have been her fish-hating tendencies talking.

"This looks like it might be alcohol?" Cecily questioned, grabbing an oddly purple colored bottle.

Riley quietly followed behind Cecily as she headed towards the counter seeing the thin layer of dust that had collected on the counter top and smiled softly. "I'm sure if you had the time you would investigate this place further Bones." Riley said with a laugh as she gently patted Cecily on the shoulder as she explored the store a bit. She would ocasionally look over at the cashier who would just simply stare at them getting the feeling that he wanted them to just buy what they needed and leave.

Riley couldnt understand or read anything in japanese or whatever language this place actually was. Riley then spotted the same fireworks that Cecily saw. "I dont think anyone is bringing fireworks to the block party, think we should get some while we are here?" Riley asked as she headed over to her friend showing her a purple colored bottle.

"Maybe? I don't know honestly, maybe we should just buy some fireworks I can't read anything here, unless you took some language classes" Riley asked.

Cecily shook her head. "Je parle français... Mais j'aime bien le japonais!" She picked up the package of fireworks Riley was looking at, turning it over hopelessly in attempt to find some sort of price label. The only thing she could find was a picture of a happy girl with fire and a panda--it continued to make no sense to her. Despite loving comic books, she never managed to pick up Japanese from the few manga she had read. As far as she was aware, the purple bottle was filled with poison.

No, stop thinking about work! she berated herself. "I suppose this stuff will do--and after all, aren't all good parties supposed to go out with a bang? The fireworks will certainly help with that!"

Reaching into her wallet, Cecily grabbed a few crumpled dollar bills. Hopefully, it would be enough to cover either the alcohol or the fireworks--she had no idea how much either of the items cost. If she needed to, she could always use the credit card.

"Want to just split the bill then? I have no idea how much these things cost... Hopefully this isn't Japanese for your first born child..." Cecily commented idly.

"I'm not that fluent in French I just remember what we went over back in high school." Riley said with a soft smile, she watched Cecily taking the box of fireworks as Riley reached in to take out her card seeing as Cecily took out a few crumbled bills. "Sounds good to me." Riley said as she lightly patted Cecily on the shoulder as she headed over and grabbed a few more fireworks.

Riley then approached the front desk and handed the asian man the items that she wanted to purchase and handed him her card watching the man swipe it, then he bagged the fireworks into a plastic bag. "I guess this wasnt a whole bust we got some fireworks, i'm sure the neighbors would like."

"Hopefully none of them are suffering from PTSD..." Cecily joked dryly, paying for the remaining fireworks and the alcohol next. Or at least, she really did hope it was alcohol.

Grabbing the bag of her supplies, Cecily glanced around the store one last time, committing its every oddity to memory.

"Let's head back, then? Wouldn't want to miss out on whatever is going on... Wait, what is going on?" Cecily laughed. "Is it just like a glorified potluck?"

"Nah i'm sure none of the guests are gonna suffer with that." Riley smiled as Cecily paid for the remainder of the fireworks as well as the bottle that they had just bought, she wondered if they should at least sample it before giving it to the guests.

"The sooner we head back the better and the quicker we can have some fun." Riley said as she reached for the bottle that Cecily had bought and looked at her for a moment. "Maybe one of us should sample it first before giving it off at the party so that its safe?" Riley asked.

"I'm a terrible light weight, but you know, testing for poison is in my job description.... So I'm game to give it a try." Cecily chuckled, walking out of the bizarre little store.

She glanced at the bottle again, swishing its contents around. It couldn't be too dangerous, no? After all, it was for sale in a store...People generally didn't sell gigantic bottles of rat poison in mysterious purple bottles.

Carefully opening up the bottle, Cecily gave it a very quick taste. "I have no bloody idea what it tastes like...It's...Here, you try it!"

She laughed, handing the bottle over to her roommate. Her lips were stained a delicate shade of blue. Perhaps it was blueberry wine or something of the sort? Riley smiled slightly as she took the bottle as well and took a sip of it as well before closing the bottle up and setting it into the bag. "t tasts alright.

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Danica had slipped back through the alleyway and continued; she wouldn't consider what she was doing right then part of her run. A slight jog maybe but she was just moving from place to place; getting a feel for the street below her feet and looking up at the places she could plot out as her path above her. Where she could climb, where she could jump. For her it was important to know which places were best before she attempted anything. Climbing the city to her as climbing in the mountains. You had to take everything into consideration, plan out your course, and have plenty of back up. Something could go wrong at anytime and you needed multiple escape plans.

It was one of the things about her that had kept her alive and going over the years. She thought back to the years before, how many times a cliff could have been the end of her if she hadn't taken ever precaution out there and then some. How one time when she had leapt before thinking had nearly been the end of her. She doubted another loss could be handled in the little circle she called family. The sun wasn't setting just yet and until the long shadows of the city began to stretch over it would be safe enough, though thinking on it now she already regretted not bringing something to defend herself with.

There were unkindly sorts already starting to crawl out of the woodwork like cockroaches but she had been lucky enough to live in the city for a time now and had spotted some of these before. She didn't carry really anything of value and even her phone was too outdated to really get anyone's attention. She just wasn't worth the effort for a basic mugging and the degenerates that were after flesh instead of currency wouldn't be out until after dark. Even if Justice was anything but a little hamlet and crime ran rampant, some things still took place in the shadows and right now there just weren't enough shadows. Hopefully she would make it back to the block party before there were. She needed to pick up the pace.

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Alicia looked over the tray of food her father had brought and smirked at Lawson's reaction to them before she shrugged and picked one up, taking a large bite out it. She stood there for a minute and smiled slightly, they weren't bad. Granted she was not reacting to the heat in them the way the cowboy was. She was used to her fathers cooking and her own; which usually meant drowning something in peppers if you had nothing else around. Her mouth was pretty much set to take on a nuke at this point in her life. "Aye, not bad Papi."

Giving her dad a thumbs up as she finished chewing the rest of the ice cream concoction before it melted all over her hands. When he mentioned the landlord she rolled her eyes a bit. "Oh yeah, so happy. We weren't expecting him so quick papi. He nearly got a round to the head and a knife to the back from Cookie and me when he came waltzing in as we were getting cleaned up," she said with a cheshire grin playing on her lips. She doubted her father would be surprised, he had taught her to keep weapons close and to use them without regret or hesitation since she was small. Hell, the man might even be proud that his two girls were ready to take someone down even in the middle of getting dolled up; well as dolled up as they tended to get.

"Right, they are pretty much ready. We just gotta stick them in the oven for a little bit. Didn't figure you would have a dish to bring, so I went ahead and covered for you. Looks like that was a waste of time," she said as she elbowed him slightly in the side.

Alicia bent over and picked up two beer, popping the caps on each of them and tossing the caps into the trash over my Lawson's smoker before holding one out to her Papi and taking a sip from the other. At his word about "Smokey goodness" she ended up spitting her beer out to her side and was just glad it hadn't landed on anyone as she looked back over to her father wide eyed. Had the man really just cracked a joke? She just stood there in shock for a moment, trying to keep the snorting laughter to a minimal as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and shoved the bottle she had retrieved for him into his hand.

"Holy fuck Papi! No mames!" she chuckled as she shook her head. The man was an oddity to say the least but she loved him. Letting out a long breath she pointed over to an open table. "Yeah, drop them off over there Papi, then we can go get the rest out of the mine and Cookies place."

Looking over as Tank came up with his bike she nodded slightly. "Aye, down here," she said as she wandered over to the steps that led down to her and Cookies little front patio. They really didn't use it and kept it clear so she figured she could play nice for now and let him park it there. She knew Caesar would have his front area full with his own right then. It was a block party, time to be all neighborly and such. "Just stash it down there. Should be fine for the party.

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Lorna grinned to Lawson as she took the dripping ribs and was just about to dive into the sticky, meaty goodness when he mentioned that he was a Marine. “Semper Fi!” She laughed and then began to get tore into the meat, the sauce slathered all over her face and fingers as she got stuck right in, enjoying every single bite of it.

It was a hell of a day and Lana fully planned to enjoy it. So far no one was interested in her vodka, but that was okay. She knew for a fact they’d be begging for it later in the evening when things really kicked off, the day was still young after all. Although that didn’t stop Lana from necking a few shots of vodka. She absolutely loved the stuff but she’d be needing to line her stomach more before drinking another drop of it.

Wandering over to the tables laden with good food, Lana eyed some of the Carolina BBQ that Lawson had been dishing up. She loved BBQ but she’d never tried Carolina style. “Hey! Mind if I grab some of this? Thaaaanks!” She didn’t even wait for an answer before she began chowing down. Sauce was smeared across her face as she smiled happily at the chef. “Holy mother of God. Teach me your ways, master! Oh Lord I think my tongue just had an orgasm…”

Lorna had been in the middle of munching on the ribs that Lawson had given her just moments before and she looked up to the peculiar little woman and raised an eyebrow before she looked to Lawson and back again. She didn’t get a chance to say anything before Lana was off again. Lana shimmied her way over to stand by Lyle as she nudged him lightly with her elbow. “You not going to mingle with your fellow neighbours, eh? C’mon it’s a party!”

Lorna chuckled and shook her head before licking her fingers clean then using her fingertips to wipe the sauce from around her mouth before she continued talking to Lawson. “Clearly she liked the grub as much as I did. Still can’t believe you’re a Marine too! Lord man, where ya been hidin’? Could have done with ya as a drinkin’ buddy long before now!” A wide grin spread across her face as she began to dig into some more of her home state cooking.

Just as things were lulling into an energetic peace, Lorna noticed the media circus that was still forming on the edges of the Block Party and she grumbled to herself. Lana on the other hand did her best to hide her face from the cameras and kept her back to them more than not. She wasn’t best pleased that they were here but she didn’t want to kick up a fuss otherwise it’d be pretty obvious.

That’s when the engine could be heard and Lorna and Lana both turned on their spots and looked to the source of it. Lana rolled her eyes but grinned at the spectacle and Lorna just gave a stern, bored look at the driver. It was one of their neighbours, neither of the women knew him but they had seen his face around. Lana was sure that he lived in her building, Lorna had no idea where she knew him from. Just that she’d seen his face before. She wasn’t best pleased at his entrance and opted to bite her tongue to save causing a needless disagreement when so many cameras were around the area. Last thing Boston Heights needed was another headline story.

Lana decided to climb up onto the brick wall that held the iron wrought fencing at the front of her building and gave out a shrill whistle to the driver of the motorcycle. “Yo, hot rod! Next time take the scenic route! People are partyin’ here. Or are you some king of the street that you’re too important to pay attention to road block signs? Have some manners, bro.” She jumped down from the wall and folded her arms across her chest as she stood at the foot of the stairs, with a judgemental look on her face.

Lorna decided that this young woman was rather amusing and she fully agreed with her sentiment but she liked her idea of keeping quiet better right now. That was until Alicia said he could keep his ride in their front patio. She felt her jaw tensing and she put her latest bit of meat on a plate beside the smoker. She turned to Lawson with an apologetic but forced smile on her face. “Apologies, I’ll be right back for more meat. Mind keepin’ an eye on my slab for a sec? Thank you.” She strode over to Alicia and placed a firm hand on her shoulder and raised an eyebrow at her roomie.

“What’s got you so kumbaya?” She glowered over to the latest entrant to the party and scowled harder at him whenever his eyes glanced over her way. She then decided that since she was here, she’d grab one of El Jefe’s latest creations. She grabbed some of the sticky, melting goodness and, keeping the growl on her face, bit into the concoction. Safe to say her growl didn’t last too long as she began to devour the dessert dish. She managed a few words out between mouthfuls. “Ayy… El Jefe… good god… BRAIN FREEZE!”

Lana glanced over to the southern woman that was calling out and snorted with laughter at the sight. Lorna begun jumping up and down on the spot, hands holding her head, before she ran over to the smoker and grabbed the hot meat that she’d left behind. She practically swallowed it whole before she leaned on top of the table, palms down, head down and panting. “Oh God I thought I was gonna die… I’ll take heartburn over brain freeze any day.”

---

Mali watched the kid get up to his feet and fiddle around with his clothes and glasses. She almost felt like she should at least call an ambulance for him or something. Or give him a bandage or something to protect his face from infection. Most of those feelings of sympathy melted away when he opened his mouth and uttered the words "Holy Shoot Fudge" without an ounce of irony or self awareness. From the sound of it, he might have deserved that beating just a bit. A shred of shame and guilt pricked her soul for thinking something that mean. Maybe she should try to say something to make the kid feel less scared? No, nope, he's already running.

Mali looked over the card. Relic, huh? Maybe he should have called them out for help. Still, it wouldn't hurt to keep it around, even if just as a piece of memorabilia. Well, she still needed to finish her jog, which had gone on way too long and get to the party. She left the alleyway and pulled out her headphones. She popped them back into her ears as she accelerated back to a quick, but manageable run.

"Well fuck me." She remarked upon returning to the apartment buildings to find the place swarming with people, media and obstructions. Not that saying it aloud did much. The music and crowd were loud enough to mostly drown out her speech even speaking at a decent volume. She grabbed the nearest one with one hand and leaped over it to get into the thick of the crowd. She recognized a couple of the faces as people she had passed or spotted from her window, but most were totally unfamiliar, probably moochers who just showed up for free food and drink. Well, she wasn't going to be able to really get ready for the party proper (something that she was reconsidering given the berth of cameras) until she made it back to the apartment, so she pushed through the crowd, being polite to most, not so much to those giving her any sass. Having fun and partying could come after eating and washing off the sweat and grime of the city.

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Caesar accepted the frosty barley pop from his daughter and took a long pull from it. A lot of people considered themselves too sophisticated to slurp beer from a can; in truth the older man himself preferred his suds from a bottle or from the tap. But free beer was a wonderous gift that should never be questioned nor scoffed at, regardless of the container in which it is presented. Truly, a gift of alcohol can cement familial bonds and make strangers into fast friends. Or start a knife fight. Even money with La Familia Gonzalez.

And speaking of La Familia Gonzalez, he was having just a bit of a bonding moment with Alicia, especially considering his unexpected addition to the Block Party Buffet. All the same, he did want to help out with the culinary endeavors representing the visiting soldiery of the basement apartments. Or in simpler terms, it was coming very close to Taquito Time.

"Right, they are pretty much ready. We just gotta stick them in the oven for a little bit. Didn't figure you would have a dish to bring, so I went ahead and covered for you. Looks like that was a waste of time,"

"Nah, M'hija. Never a waste of time. Let me drop this off in some ice and I'll get right on it, ok?"

The place Alicia had pointed out was a lovely spread of tabletop pot luck. Toward one end, he found an open cooler with an array of frozen blue gel packs. Caesar shoved aside a soda or two and nestled his Engelatos into the open spot. A glance upward revealed the owners of the cooler, looking at him quizzically. He softened his face somewhat, trying not to appear as a man who would impose and/or intimidate to acquire minor conveniences. While he might have failed his attempt to appear normal, he did receive a permissive nod from one of his previously unmet neighbors.

In return, he nodded back and unwrapped one of his frosty yet searing delights and presented it, as one might give over a firearm to a trusted compatriot. The intense dessert gifting completed, he returned to his M'hija without bothering to see the horrifyingly unexpected results of the uninitiated consuming his spicy sweetness.

"Let's get to those taquitos, then." He began walking back to Alicia's apartment, attempting to tow her along. "Hey, when we're done in the oven, how about you and Cookie introduce me around a little, eh? I meet new people, sometimes things happen."

"Hey, did you actually tell that guy he could park his bike in your patio?"

He'd spotted Alicia walking up, but up close he realized how much of a looker this girl was. His mind whirled like a computer scanning files. He remembered seeing her and her...father? This man probably was, if not some May-December romance going on, but he doubted that. From the word 'papi' he was certain his earlier assessment was on the nose. Either way, she was one to watch. Tank gave a casual smile to Alicia. "'preciate it." he said.

As if on cue, he turned just in time to see a girl now standing right onto of the fence next to the courtyard. “Yo, hot rod! Next time take the scenic route! People are partyin’ here. Or are you some king of the street that you’re too important to pay attention to road block signs? Have some manners, bro.” she called to him, then jumped down and gave him a hard stare. He did nothing but play around with the toothpick in his mouth for a moment, before he smiled as if she was being just precious at the moment. "What kinda party would it be without some danger?" he said, then pointed at the crowd now filtering back to the roadblock like tossed water inevitably flowing back. "Besides, showing manners to them wasn't really my goal. You guys weren't really my target. Sorry 'bout that." Tank sounded much too calm and nonchalant to be any kind of actual remorseful.

Then the other girl walked over. Blonde, rougher looking. “What’s got you so kumbaya?” she asked the good latina. She then glared at him every chance she got it seemed. He decided just to stare at her dead on for a moment, before taking the toothpick out of his mouth with his free hand. "Maybe because I ain't done anything wrong yet." he said, flicking the toothpick off onto the side of the courtyard. "Believe me, if I wanted to fuck shit up. I would." He gave another nod and grin to the nice one. "Thanks again." Tank then strolled over and set his bike on her patio, hearing her father's voice. "Hey, did you actually tell that guy he could park his bike in your patio?" He turned his bike's radio off as he continued to make his way and whistled. Seems he's already made an impression on a few people. Who'da thought one little bike trick would make him so popular? A bit of movement to the side had his eyes immediately scanning. That girl was extremely muscled, he noted.

He set his bike down and took the keys, slipping them in his pocket and making his way back towards the table where the others just were. He slipped his little toothpick box out of his sleeve like a card trick and set it down for anyone to grab one if they wanted. "Hey if y'all need help with anything I'm cool for it. 'least I can do."

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The block party is finally fully underway as the sun begins to set in the west. This time of the year though, the setting of the sun takes time. It isn't the quick set of winter, it is the long drawn out fall of summer. The hues of war break out over the city and as the shadows elongate over spaces between the towering buildings above the sirens can be heard off in the distance. The nightly song of Justice has begun but for you it is being drowned out by the Dj and her mix of various tunes; both old and new.

Maybe it is serendipitous that the most recent song on her play list is a reworking of R.E.M's Losing My Religion. Something about the lyrics, consider this, the slip that brought me to my knees, failed. What if all these fantasies come flailing around. Now I've said too much, are eerie in this setting as the melancholy tune is revved up by the base drumming; causing the bodies of many of the block parties guest to sway back and forth. Guy sipping their beers while girls are in a huddle letting the dance move them. The night has not even yet to begin. Perhaps you wonder how many have lost their religion, their hope, their faith, on these city streets. Did you?

The lighting provided by the Dj's set up seems to be worthless right now. Even though the sun is setting the light cutting down the main street in front of Boston Heights is nearly blinding if you were to look directly at it. Hopefully it will set fully soon, hopefully it won't. The darkness of Justice is never a safe place and it has been proven time and time again that a crowd provides no safety. Safety in numbers is a myth. What safety can be found when all eyes are peeled and yet everyone is blind? None. Mores the pity.

But hey, what do you care? The party is jumping. The food is being dished out. The drinks are poured. People are talking amongst themselves and mingling with others. It is time to get to know your neighbors. The news crews are still posted at the barricades, though they look bored. What, a party without a problem isn't worth your time? Doesn't the city deserve a night off on at least one street from the chaos? Don't you already have enough to report on? Apparently they are always looking for one more thing to twist and weave into what they wish it to be.

Standing at the northern barricade is someone who seems to be tired of being pestered by the news crews. If you lived in the apartments six months ago when the girl committed suicide you would have been forced to speak with him. Det. Roy Gregory is there, looking out over the crowd; repeating his standard "No comment" to the press as if he is a broken record. He was there after she was pronounced dead, head of the investigation until it was deemed a suicide. He spoke to everyone in the building, asking if anyone noted anything off with the young girl that evening at that nights block party. Not surprisingly, no one came forward to say anything. Everything was fine.

"I said no comment, are you fucking deaf?" Det. Gregory barked finally, losing his cool a bit after being asked yet another question. Jumping over the barrier, he pushed through the crowds and made his way over to the nearest table that had a drink. Picking up a shot glass he tossed it back quickly. Swallowing hard as the liquid burned the back of his throat. "Damn parasites," he muttered under his breath.

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"Well aren't you as pretty as a June Bug Mrs. White. Cam, you better keep a hold of this one." Lawson spoke in his smooth southern drawl, Lyndsey would love that, she girl does love her a cowboy.
”I fully intend to my friend” Cameron grinned as he placed his arm around his best girls slim waist. His eyes turned to reporters that were arriving at the Block Party outskirts and quickly shied his face away, turning back to his wife. ”I hate cameras, why are there always cameras?” Cam wasn’t a shy guy, he was always pretty easy to talk to but damn did he hate having his face recorded. Not a fan for sure. He glanced around as more and more of the other apartment tenants began to pour out into the communal courtyard. He sincerely hoped that they would all have a great night that night, they definitely deserved it. The issue of the press being around them added extra pressure to the evening’s proceedings. ”You know we have to and be social right?” Cam smiled brushing his fingertips down Lyndsey’s arm. He was trying to lighten the mood and probably failing.

Lyndsay grinned at the cowboy. "Hush now, you'll make me blush" Her eyes lit up as Cam pulled her in a little closer, her hip leaning in towards his, snuggling herself into his side. She relaxed a little as he held her close, again using him as a bit of a safety blanket. She noticed him tense a little as he noticed the cameras beginning to loom, a frown curled over her features a little, and she stepped around him slightly to block him from the cameras, her back now to them. "You're ok." Her voice was gentle, the kind of tone she always used to calm him a little. "Anyway, why would they be looking at you when they can look at my butt now?" A grin spread over her face, a kiss pressing against his furrowed brow. Her own eyes wandered the slightly growing party as he spoke about being social. "Excuse me, we are being social! We're keeping Mr Lawson company while he grills. He'd be lonely and sad without us, don't you agree?"

As a little Uptown Funk began to ring its beat across the Boston Heights, Cameron took the opportunity to make a show of himself and his wife. Pulling her away from the cowboy and the cooker, he twirled her in his arms and danced with her to Mark Ronson’s funky summer beat. If the camera’s were going to be watching them, might as well give them a show. As more and more people began to arrive, Cameron offered each a courteous nod and wave, though he continued to try and keep his focus on Lyndsay and the way she moved, damn his girl was fine. What will be will be and what will be on this eve would be the White’s having a great time.

Lyndsay danced her way through the song with Cam, grinning and letting him lead her through the dance. It was odd to dance infront of others, the last time she could remember dancing so publicly was at their wedding, but it was a nice change to the Sunday morning underwear dancing that occurred each week in private. She had to admit that even though it wasn't her first choice of music, the song was catchy, and had a nice beat to it, a beat she could move her hips to. Once she'd had her fill of dancing, a little out of breath, with a pretty pink flush in her cheeks, she led Cam off the dance floor and pressed a quick kiss to his lips, before reaching to hand him a plate. Her stomach was beginning to growl, and the smell of homey BBQ was calling her name.

She was helping herself to some of the spread, when she listened to the conversation around them. She recognised a few of them, they lived in the same building as her and Cam, but apart from the odd smile and hello, she hadn't really interacted with them much. "My Cameron was a marine too, you'll all have to swap stories" She chuckled slightly as she took a bite of a peice of chicken, smiling at the woman who'd made the comment, Lorna she thought her name was.

Watching the scene with the odd, spicy concoction unfold infront of her, she reached for the tub herself, holding it up to her nose. It wrinkled, and she pulled away from it. "Now that, that smells like it could blind you if you got some in your eye" She placed it back down onto the table, slowly, and wiped her hand on a napkin. "The trick with brainfreeze is to push your tongue really hard up into the roof of your mouth, works everytime."

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Riley had made it with her roommate Cecily she had set the fireworks that she had bought near where the refreshments were at, she looked around the area it was definitely her kind of scene where she was happiest. Riley had lost Cecily for a few minutes as she looked around the crowd she went and got herself a few drinks in her as she drank some of the alcohol that was at the party. She listened to the music play that the DJ had brought with her, though it wasn't her kind of music she started to think about just getting onto the stage then again she wanted to take a break and just enjoy the people and get to know her neighbors more. As Riley danced around with some of the other neighbors Riley decided that she needed to take a break.

As Riley found a more quiet spot she spotted Cecily once more and quietly approached from behind her roommate and jumped out at her. "Hey Cee Cee!" Riley said with a smile as she leaned herself up against the wall and laughed softly as she held a beer in her hand and took a sip out of it. Riley looked around the are as she played around with her hair for a few second then turned back to look at her friend and smiled towards her. "Are you enjoying the party?" Riley asked as she took a sip of her beer and looked down at the glass bottle of it and offered it to her.