Beach BBQ [Open]

[asharpertongue]

Levi's idea for a beach party had been a good one. After the past few weeks they both needed to blow off a little steam and Lara had taken to the idea like the proverbial siren to water, inviting all her employees and friends. Levi had put the word out at the police station and among his closer friends so between them a decent crowd was forming.

The tables lining the beach were piled high with food and drink, a DJ was already in full swing and people were drifting over to the large bonfire for warmth as the chill started to cut through the summer evening. A few of the Heart of Gold employees had brought their kids along for the festivities and a friend of Lara's was performing little glamours and tricks to keep them entertained. Large clusters of huge pillows were dotted about the beach just a little way from Levi's house and lanterns and firelight bathed the whole area in a warm glow.

Maybe Lara had taken it a little far but she liked to treat her friends and everyone could use a little R&R.

OOC: Levi and Lara's friends have been officially invited, but everyone else feel free to wander in at your leisure~.

Comments

[asharpertongue]

Lara cocks her head at him. "I think you'd be great parents. Maybe you should think about it."

[just_another]

He gives a snort of laughter, though the idea -- and Lara's vote of confidence -- both make him squirm a little with pleasure. "It's a little soon to be considering these things," he says in a teasing tone. "Unless you want me to start asking the same of you and Levi."

[asharpertongue]

"Don't! I've just gotten used to the idea of a steady boyfriend after years of serial one night stands." She grinned. "I need encouragement!"

[just_another]

Joel laughs and nudges Lara gently with his elbow and although she's always been one of the few people he's been less uncomfortable around, he's found it so much easier in recent weeks to reach out physically. That's Spencer's doing, he knows it is, but he's glad for it.

"You two... it makes sense. You make sense. It maybe should have surprised me when Levi said you were dating, but it didn't. Is that encouraging?"

[asharpertongue]

Lara smiled and nudged him back. "We do? What makes you say that?"

[just_another]

"You're both very... intuitive," he says, though he's not sure if that's quite the word he's looking for. "And I think... I don't know. Sometimes people just seem to fit." He's not sure he can explain it; half the time he can't explain why he and Spencer fit just well, he only knows they do.

[asharpertongue]

"Like you two." Lara said. "I wouldn't have put you together but thinking about it now...you're really perfect together."

[just_another]

Joel laughs softly, pleased by that, and he nods his agreement. He never would have imagined himself with Spencer either, though of course, he hadn't known him very well at all and he has only himself to blame for that. "Life can be... very surprising when you let it," he says, looking down at the sand between his feet. "I haven't let it in a very long time."

[asharpertongue]

Lara nodded. She'd been the opposite of Joel in many ways, outgoing and finding company wherever she wanted it, but in reality that life was just as lonely. "Strange feeling when you do, huh?"

[just_another]

"Very strange," he agrees with a huff of laughter. "Sometimes I wake up and... and he's there and... it's been... I was going to say it's been a long time since I've woken up with anyone, but I've never had that. And it feels like the strangest thing in the world and also exactly how things should be."

[asharpertongue]

"It's so weird, isn't it?" Lara agreed. "It was always me leaving, or the other person leaving. I never woke up with anyone. Now I do and it's like I've been missing this whole other side of it." She eyed him. "Little scary though, occasionally."

[just_another]

"A little," he says, rushing up to push his hand though his hair. "Or a lot." He'd been terrified that first night after the lighthouse, convinced Spencer wouldn't want anything to do with him, but he'd had to try. The alternative, never knowing, being alone when he'd had the chance at something good, the very thought had made him feel ill.

"The waking up part is pretty nice, isn't it?" he asks with a grin. "Surprisingly so."

[asharpertongue]

"It is. It's weirder for me, I think. My siren instincts are all over the place." Lara confided.

[just_another]

Joel looks at Lara again, interested, his eyebrows raised. "Really?" he asks, wondering what she means exactly. He hasn't had a premonition since the night Spencer was taken by Mark, but beyond that, he hasn't really considered what being a witch might mean in the context of a relationship. "How so?"