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[just_cant_lose]

 
Someone gave Jim a box of fireworks the other day. And Jim has been working very hard recently - or at least, has been spending a lot of time doing legwork, which is a pain in the arse. Fireworks might not be the most grown-up way to let off steam, but he needs to not be thinking in Czech and Polish for a while.

So anyway, he disappeared with his box and played with it a bit, and then he came back down in the middle of the night and had a close look at some of the tables and chairs around the place. And noooooow....now he is sprawled on a couch with headphones on, coding computer software with one hand and quite obviously not about to make your table or chair fizz up into the rafters before exploding. Nor is he picking random empty chairs and making them crackle and pop. That would be incongruous.



[OOC: We lie, that's exactly what he's doing. Feel free to be startled by a random exploding piece of furniture, or be sitting on it/eating off it when it goes up. :D]

Comments

[manythorned]

Rose is seated at a table with her own box,trying to figure out what it's for. She knows what's inside, but why would a stranger randomly give her a box of fireworks? And money, which she's most concerned about. She stuffs it into her pocket and goes back to thinking about the box.

[just_cant_lose]

Jim does not do anything amateur like check to see if her table or chair has a firework underneath it, because he remembers perfectly well where he put them. Nor does he immediately set off the rocket that is under her chair.

He just sets off a small Catherine Wheel that's attached to the leg of the next table over, instead.

[manythorned]

She jumps about eight feet into the air when it goes off, spinning fire and popping little fireworks around it. Surprise fireworks are a bad idea around her and it isn't Rose who finally gets her wits about her.

Thorn is mad.

[just_cant_lose]

Jim, again, doesn't do anything amateur like laugh. Nor does he pretend not to notice anything, because that would also be obvious. He startles even despite the headphones he's wearing, and glances in the direction of the commotion. When he sees it's just another firework - where are all these coming from, anyway? - he goes back to his computer.

Though he does toss a 'hi' in Rose's - Thorn's? - direction when he notices she's there.

[manythorned]

Thorn glares at him in return. Then she moves to check her table and rips the firework out from under the chair. Clearly there are more out there, but who knows how many and where.

She approaches Jim. "Just so you know, some asshole's fitted the place out with fireworks. You might want to be careful." It's almost if she thinks he knows all of this already.

[just_cant_lose]

Jim glances up again, and lifts a headphone off one of his ears.

'Pardon?'

[manythorned]

She smiles a little.

"Never mind. It's not important."

[just_cant_lose]

'Okay then. Hi, Thorn.'

Jim is Very Polite, and switches his music off. Puccini today.

'How's it going?'

[manythorned]

"Hey, loser." She sits on the foot of the couch, completely uninvited.

"You missed the skating date." Or rather, it just never happened. "She was a little upset."

[just_cant_lose]

He can cope with uninvited sitters. He smirks, and shakes his head.

'I didn't miss it at all. I was here after Christmas, but she got angry and stormed off on me at New Year. Because of you, I might add.'

[starrydome]

An elegant elf lord gets seated at a table with a nice cup of tea and a small plate with wafer thin cookies.

Decadent.

He lifts the cup and blows on it.
Ah. Tea.

[just_cant_lose]

ELEGANT. MWHAHAHA.

Jim thanks every lucky star outside the window Elrond has sat at a table with a firework underneath it. It would have been even better if it was his chair, but he'll take it.

He waits. Across the room, a chair zooms into the air and breaks into pieces on a rafter. Jim makes sure to look at it, because noise like that would draw anyone's eye.

And theeeeeen...a noise a little closer to home. A fizz, and a tiny pop. And just as Elrond sets his cup back down and withdraws his hand...half the table tips to one side as a screaming rocket sparks into fire - and then the whole things rises into the air, careens wildly in a jig in front of Elrond's face...then zooms away about ten feet, and explodes.

[starrydome]

Elrond's attention is drawn toward the levitating chair and he isn't looking as he puts the cup down.

And then his table breaks apart and there is fire in front of his face.

He throws himself backwards and rolls over his left shoulder, as his chair flies through the air and hits the floor hard, landing in a crouch.

His pulse is racing.

There's a distinct smell hanging in the air. He knows it well. It's not just hobbits that Mithrandir has delighted with fireworks over the years.

His eyes scan the room.

[just_cant_lose]

There are various faces of surprise, because this is hardly a subtle prank. Jim is still making sure to pay attention to what's going on, because nothing would be more obvious than pretending nothing is happening. Maybe he looks a little cool, but that's surely because he's lying on a sofa with headphones on, and therefore not on anything that's about to blow up.

[starrydome]

Elrond narrows his eyes at him.

[just_cant_lose]

Jim looks away from the latest explosion, and back at his screen. All of this is very distracting! He's here to work.

[starrydome]

Elrond is not convinced.
At all.

He gets up and retrieves his chair.

[just_cant_lose]

Jim doesn't need to glance to see whether there's another rigged piece nearby. He knows there's a chair two tables over with another rocket under it. He's just praying Elrond wants to sit down with another cup of tea to try and relax again.

[starrydome]

Elrond rights the chair and goes to fetch another cup of tea.

He sits down and takes a sip.

Calm. Collected.
Listening.

[cutting_edgex23]

How fast can a woman with supernatural reflexes light all the distributed fireworks ablaze and drop them in Jim's lap?

X is willing to find out!

And does.

"You dropped these. All over the bar."

[just_cant_lose]

Oh, shit!

Jim only takes a fraction of a second to appraise the situation. Then he abandons his computer and vault over the back of the sofa, taking cover as the ominous fizzing turns into far louder explosions.

He's laughing as he crouches, hands over his ears. Could've been worse! And...worth it. :D

[cutting_edgex23]

X will ask Bar to put the couch's replacement cost, as well as the need to clean scorch-marks off the floor and ceiling, on Jim's tab.

All other firework damage is also going to be appended to that amount.

"You are very trying," X says, deadpan.

And then she's gone.

[just_cant_lose]

Wilford gave $5000 to every kid. He assumed it was going to be taken for this. Still worth it.

'Oh,' he says quietly, not doubting she'll hear him even as she walks away. 'You have no idea.'

[cutting_edgex23]

She throws one last firework back at him.

Just because.

[just_cant_lose]

Time for him to leave! He's cackling as he runs, leaving the air to be filled with sparks and fire as he hotfoots it up the stairs.

So worth it.