2025-08-28 - Beachside Fireworks

It's entering a long weekend but also some downtime for the trio of intrepid staffers. Someone else has been tasked with bringing the blanket. Jack's showing up with a box of donuts from over by the Mountain. "You know," he begins in that tone like he's going to correct some people, even if he's not, "There is a certain satisfaction to knowing people in food service well enough they pox you up the good things because they can't have overstock. I'm eyeing the fruity pebble looking one but I am willing to open trade agreements if there's a walnut topping involved."

he sets the box down and finds a place to get comfortable. "Love these things. Like the sky is your drive in. How we are doing tonight?"

Diana lounged, propped on her elbows, situated between the boys. She brought a black and white checkered blanket from her apartment, as well as two bottles of wine, one of which they were passing between the three of them. "Dibs on cookies and ceam," she says, leaving the fruity pebbles one to Jack unless Jaime wanted to wrestle for it.

She turns her gaze toward Jack, her hair natural and curly after a dip in the water. She's wearing a black bikini top and a pair of cut-off shorts. A button-down she'd stolen from one of their closets hung off her shoulders. "Hmmm, how are we doing? Mostly good... tired... I can't believe that summer is almost over," she says, looking back out at the glittering water reflecting the sherbert colored hues of the sunset.

There must be some special labor day fireworks going on for the employees at the beach because there's no way to see the fireworks at the park from here. They're also facing the wrong direction. So while the show might not be quite as spectacular, it's a little more private without any tourists.

"I'll take whatever's left," Jaime says, because he is absolutely not picky about donuts and will probably eat whatever might be left in the box. He's sprawled out on the blanket with one arm tucked beneath his head and the other resting on his stomach, eyes closed. He'll open them when the fireworks start, but he's been working hard manual labor all week and right now he's just enjoying not having to pick anything up or put anything down. He's got on a pair of faded jeans, a plain white t-shirt, and an old pair of running shoes.

"Good, now that the week's over and I don't have to go back on site til Tuesday," he says to Jack with a chuckle.

Jack grins to Jaime, "This is good! They're doing a feature show this weekend so I've Monday to worry about but mostly, a small break." Reaching over Jack takes his donut and rolls onto his back to snack on that and prop his scarecrow legs in a sprawl.

"Weird question, either of you ever get into doing the tiny golfing? With the windmills and castles and things? I heard they have a place on the mainland. Caught a coworker talking about that and thought wow, we have not done that since we were short. I was thinking that could be fun."

Di glances over at Jaime, looking comfortable. "Good, I look forward to stealing all of your free time until then," she'd missed him. She at least gets to see Jack at work most days, which at least appeases some of this clinginess that'd settled into her as of late.

"I think there is a cherry one in there for you, Jaime," she tells him. She knew he liked cherry pie; hopefully, the donut was as good. "It's a seasonal flavor."

"Mini golf?" Diana asks with a laugh. "Really, Jack? Tiny golfing?" She takes a sip from the wine bottle and passes it to the scarecrow. "I'm pretty good at mini golf. We have a bunch of different places that do it in Vegas."

Jaime chuckles and says, "Mini golf?" pretty much at the same time as Diana and then nods, "Yeah. I've played mini golf before. Used to do it a lot in the summers when I was a kid." Mostly because it was pretty cheap entertainment and there was ice cream adjacent.

He reaches over into the box and grabs the cherry-filled donut when Diana points it out. Can't go wrong with cherry. He takes a bite out of it and gets powdered sugar pretty much everywhere. It's fine. It's a beach. He'll dust it off into the sand later.

Jack chuckles and murmurs a "Soosh." Taking a bite of the donut the hand gestures a yes that thing. "Thankfully he finishes his bite (trying not to laugh) and finally replies, "Yes the mini golf. I saw the pictures on her phone and was thinking it looks a cool place to walk around. Pretty garden fake grass. I have some doubts about the tiny castle being a seat of government because Michigan is not a Monarchy." and not because it's playhouse sized.

"Vegas mini golf? They take sports bets on that too? You have me terribly curious about your gold history now."

For now, Diana's donut goes untouched, instead just listening to the hum of conversation between Jack and Jaime. "So you've never played mini golf before, not once?" She asks, somewhat astonished.

"No real sports betting.... but themes. There is one called Monster Mini Golf that all glows. There is a Twilght Zone themed one too... most are themed to various IP and get updated with new themes frequently."

"You know they have mini golf in Canada, right Jack?" Jaime asks with a somewhat raised eyebrow. A surprising number of them in a very small area in Quebec City, at that. He takes another bite of his donut and then opens up the cooler that he brought along and grabs a cider out of it. Cracking it open on the built-in bottle opener, he takes a swig.

"Most of the ones I played were like adventure golf, or pirate themed," Jaime opines, of his own mini golfing forays.

Jack turns his head and says, "Yes but I didn't call it that." He alleviates Diana's concern with, "No I have. I think we called it drunk ball when I was in high school. The rules changed every three holes. Like you can only stand on one foot, then you have to hit with your off hand. Stupid little shit. Was a good time." He's got fond memories of that one.

"Monster golf sounds cool. Twilight zone golf makes it sound like it's hard to aim at anything properly."

"Canada is such a very odd place," Diana says at the conclusion of Jack's explanation of the closest thing they had to mini golf.

Di moves onto her back, pulling Jack down with her, so all three of them lie, looking at the sky as it turns an inky shade of blue. "What time do the fireworks start?" She asks, and does what Diana does, waving a hand and causing the illusion of a massive explosion of glittering colors to rain down just for them. They didn't need to wait for Spellbound to see fireworks if they didn't want to.

"Soon," Jaime says, as to when the fireworks start. There's some music playing on the beach and it quiets a little in preparation for the show to begin. And then Diana is making her own fireworks and there's a murmur from some people further up the beach as they seem to think that's the actual show starting. Jaime just laughs and takes another swig from his bottle of cider. "Or now.. so impatient," he teases lightly.

"It's dark all the time and snows three hundred and seventy days out of the year. A total conundrum." Jack assures her. As Diana makes the fireworks pop off Jack reaches up to poke the illusion with his finger getting a few fruity pebbles to land on his chest from the donut int he other hand. He pauses and eats those and goes back to sticking his fingers in the illusion like one might water.

"Hey if she is going to complain and make, also, the solutions I'm good with this. I wish more people in prgramming would catch on to that. That'd be so super."

"I'm just giving the people what they want," she says, encouraged by the murmurs of conversation on the beach. She'd forgotten that they weren't completely alone. Ever the show off, she sets off a second burst, this one glittering gold. She smiles as Jack's fingers disrupt the illusion from their vantage point.

Jaime just chuckles and says, "Fair point," on the topic of being fine with complaining as long as one also provides a solution. He finishes off the remainder of his donut and then sits up a bit to dust himself off onto the sand before flopping back onto the blanket to watch the illusory fireworks pre-show before the actual fireworks. They're very convincing. Convincing enough that people applaud for them, even.

"Oh that's- they tingle when I touch them. Like carbonation. Fizzy." Jack forever sticking his fingers and beak where he was not asked to, but finding something fascinating about it. "Jaime, you ever been to Vegas? What was the most interesting place you visited? Now I'm curious since you are all mini golf experts and globe travelers." he picks another bit of his donut off but offers it to Diana. He did commandeer the pebbles without asking, but still willing to share here.

The sweet sound of applause causes the brunette to grin, sending off a dozen more flares, before ultimately stopping. That was enough of a pre-show, and she didn't work for free.

"I hope the most interesting place you've visited is better than Vegas," she comments, glancing between the two, accepting the offered piece of donut from Jack, and kissing his cheek to say thank you before popping it into her mouth.

"We should all go on a trip... get out of Spellbound for a while, see if we still like each other when we aren't under a dome of magic and illusion."

"You know you've only ever seen me do magic the one time in that one world," Jaime laughs. "I'm pretty sure that a trip outside the park isn't going to change anything about me or how I feel about anything. But I'm not against one. Where do you want to go?" He glances over at Diana and raises both brows. It's true. Aside from the one time he turned into a bird, he hasn't really done much of any magic in front of either of them.

"Yeah," he says, "I've been to Vegas. As for the most interesting? I dunno. This is probably the most interesting place I've ever been. If you mean other than here? Maybe some of the caverns I've toured. The one with the little river that ran through it that you could go on a boat ride through was pretty cool."

"That ONE time!" Jack holds up his finger to emphasize the singularity of Jaime's magical showmanship. "Think of it as being very memorable?" He grins, and maybe preens a little bit at the smooch before working on another bite of his donut.

"I'm up for a trip. There's always the question of if it would be a people trip or a nature trip?" He entertains as the pre-show music starts, "I could go for either. I always wanted to go to New Orleans, but I never really traveled the US except the upper bit. I have not actually been to Vegas."

"Shhh," she hushes, rolling over to bury her face into the crook of Jaime's neck, as he does what Jaime does and sets the record straight. "You can do magic for me whenever you want. You still haven't shown me your other tricks... really, that's on you," she kisses his cheek then rolls back onto her back.

"New Orleans could be fun," Diana echoes. "I also want to meet Jaime's mother.... which sounds clingier than it's meant to... she just sounds like a very interesting lady."

Jaime smiles a little in amusement as Diana buries her face in his neck, reaching up to run his fingers through her hair and plant a kiss on her forehead before leaning back to look up at the sky as the music begins and the first little salvo of fireworks light up the sky over the beach. "All I'm saying is that it's hardly magic and illusion between the three of us," he murmurs. "But sure, let's go somewhere. New Orleans is fine with me. We can find some little B&B and go on cheesy ghost tours, dance at a jazz club, eat excellent food, and wander Bourbon Street." As for his mother? He watches the lights in the sky and says, "Let's see where this goes. Maybe I'll take both of you to meet her."

Jack looks over to Jaime with an open excitement, "Ghost tours where I can hear about it but they don't follow me around with ever detail of their life story? I want to move to this place." There's a chuckle and some truth to that, but also adds to the positive, "The music is incredible. Is on my bucket list to just go experience live."

He does not push the mom issue but says, "Don't worry, moms like me." As he keeps telling Diana. "I don't think there's anything wrong in being interesting. I think that's not clingy, that's interest." he laughs, "Now saying I want your mother to contact me before she calls you? This is a bit much outside of very narrow circumstances."

As the fireworks start, each of them ends up with one of Diana's hands laced with their own. That constant need for touch and cuddles going nowhere anytime soon.

"Aww, Jaime, you really do like us," she teases. "Eat beignets," she adds to the list of items on the itinerary. She laughs at Jack's excitement to interact with more ghosts. "I would have thought you had your fill of the undead by now," she says, turning her head to look over at him. She rolls her eyes at his insistence that moms like him. "That is yet to be proven."

Diana laughs at his clarification. 'I only mean that Jaime's mother is very unique, and I've been curious since we met... also still curious about this fictional twin he has. I've never seen him. That's all I'm saying."

"Well, I can't promise that," Jaime says. "Ghosts really aren't my purview. I just have the one, after all. And she doesn't follow me around. She likes her house and she likes her things the way that she likes them." He chuckles a little at Jack and says, "I'm sure she'll like both of you."

He gives Dianas hand a little squeeze and lifts it to his lips, kissing the back of it before lowering it again.

"So, when do we want to plan this trip?"

"I have," Jack assures Diana, "but outside of the park they're not my problem which is the beauty of this plan. Inside the park they're on me like a man in a cape in a kindergarten. They just congregate and start talking. A lot." He stretches out and hooks one leg under hers, and bends an arm under his head to watch the light show.

"October's gonna be busy but could carve out a short time? I like the leaves up here. So when it starts getting cold but nto Christmas show time. That's damn good money. So between october and november?"

"Are there any here now?" She can't help but ask, then gets distracted by a burst of color in the sky. The three of them are quickly just melting into a pile of limbs, cuddling on the beach. It's cozy, she's happy.

"That could work," she says. "I'll be spending time in Vegas early November," she wrinkles her nose. "Mama has committed me two several shows, mostly corporate functions," she grumbles. Those are the worst kinds of gigs.

"Of course she'll like us. I'm gorgeous and Jack is charming. What's not to like?"

"Whenever's fine with me," Jaime says, as far as the timing goes. "I just need to know when to put in the PTO request." His work is less seasonal here. And there's a lot of inside work that will need to be done during the colder months to keep him busy. This is a long, long project that isn't going to be done any time soon.

He chuckles at Diana just a little bit and then lets his attention drift fully toward the lights as the fireworks go off above them. He tucks one arm behind his head and leaves his other hand in Diana's, comfortable on the sand with the pair of them. "I don't know as I'd want to see that many ghosts and have them able to talk to me all the time. Mom is one thing -- she's family." It's different.

Jack considers and looks around and vaguely points toward the water. "Not ghosts, something in the water I think messing with the glowy fishes, but no ghosts right now that are chasing me down and telling me what to do with my hair." Looking over to both Diana and Jaime again he says "I don't know if taking life advice from a dead person over or under qualifies them for this job."

There's a pause, a look to Jaime, and and a look back to Diana, "Soooo what I'm hearing is Jaime and I will be taking a trip to Vegas in November and will be very shocked to find you there?" His eyes are alight with ideas and excitement already. Looking to Jaime he runs the math on that and says "Well tell her we said hi. Also that's correct, it's like posting your personal number to your socials. They just find you, man."

"What to do with your hair?" Di asks, eyes shifting over to Jack. "What's wrong with your hair?"

She shifts a bit at the idea that the boys would join her in Vegas. "I can think of a dozen reasons why you don't want to go," she says, a laugh in her tone, but there was an edge too.

She then looks back toward Jaime. "I wouldn't want to see ghosts either. I'm already picky enough with who I spend my time with. The idea of not being able to shut my door and unwanted visitors out sounds exhausting. Your mom is the best ghost," she decides. "So she's exempt but the rest?" No.

Jaime arches both brows and glances over at Jack, studying his hair for a moment to see if it's judgment worthy. It's always a little wild, but then that's just Jack. He shrugs his shoulders. "No accounting for taste," is his commentary on that.

He glances over toward Diana and notices her discomfort when Jack mentions the two of them going to Vegas. Glancing from her to Jack and back again, he asks, "Reasons why we don't want to go? Or reasons why you'd rather we didn't go?"

Jack replies unto Jamie for the point of solidarity, "Mercei. See this I appreciate the validation." It's a bit wild in that Bob Dylan meets James Dean vibe depending on the day and if he's working; usually Dylan wins. "Nothing but everything if you ask a couple of the grans who have come through and decided 'this'" he gestures to all of himself, "is not put together."

Jack warms a laugh poking a wiggling finger at Diane's side, "But I can think of three dozen reasons to go." He points to Jaime. He's asking all teh good questions today.

She giggles as Jack needles her exactly where she's ticklish. "Rude," she laughs, slapping his finger away.

It's not an easy question for the illusionist to answer, so she doesn't rush it, trying to figure out how to put into words the complicated feelings she feels when it comes to home and her family, and the family that she's chosen. "I just don't want things to get spoiled by other people's opinions," she admits, knowing they both know what she's talking about. "I like this. I like us. I can't think of a time in my life that I've ever felt more content than right now. I feel like a shadow of myself when I go there, like a monkey in a jack-in-the-box, being wound up by others."

"We won't go if you don't want us to," Jaime tells her with some confidence, fully speaking for Jack without his permission and knowing that he's doing it, but he has a feeling that Jack wouldn't likely push it either. "But.. I think it could be fun. And.. I don't give a flying fuck what other people's opinions are." This he says with the same easy confidence. "But.. what I do care about, is what makes you comfortable or uncomfortable. And if it would make you uncomfortable, then I'm fine with doing a New Orleans only trip and just scheduling it before.. or after."

Jack looks over to Jaime with a gasp, and a pause int eh tickling, and ends in a dramatic sigh but also does not disagree. He adds casually, "Never said we'd hang out with you. You too famous for us. What if we want to go in the big ball with the cute face or ride the roller coaster or eat a turkey leg." He tries not to laugh and only marginally manages, "Because we have nothing like that here." Nope, no joust just across the water at all.

"Shiiiiiiit if I cared about other people's opinions I'd not have a job. We know who we are." He offers Jaime a knucklebump over Diana between. "We adorable. Take that world."

"You would stalk me wearing a pair of glasses and a mustache," she accuses Jack. "I have no faith at all that you'd stick to your own itinerary," she laughs as Jack reaches over her, and rolls her eyes despite agreeing that they are adorable, annoyingly so, both of them individually and even worse together.

"I want you to meet my family. I care about you both deeply, it's just... are we there yet? I mean, Jaime doesn't want to bring us to meet his mother yet," she points out. "And your mother sounds a lot less scary than my mother, even with yours being a ghost." Which said a lot about Diana's mother.

Jaime chuckles as Jack outlines their own separate itinerary while Diana is off being famous without them. "Okay wait, I may need to renegotiate this deal based on turey legs and roller coasters.." Not that they don't have both right here in the park, but Jaime is a simple man and sometimes that's all it takes. "Oh, and Cirque du Soleil. They have like fifteen of those out there, right? I'm sure we could keep busy."

He does, in fact, return the fist-bump in kind, bumping knuckles with Jack before he grins at Diana and says, "We're there when you say we're there, and we're not when you say we're not. I wasn't necessarily saying we needed to meet your mom, either. We're perfectly capable of existing in Vegas and waiting for you to be free to go out to dinner with us or something."

Jack says in all earnestness, "You know we have to go see all of em. We can make that happen. I heard Mystère is very good and the Michael Jackson one ...One I might have to insist on." Looking to Diana he says "We will text you. Wish you were there already." He does mean this. Pulling up his phone he starts scrolling things in that area. "Ooh they have a Voodoo Donut! Jaime we have to try this out."

Jack points to Jaime, see that seems to be what he's on about. Separate agenda. "See, like being on standby in case you need a kidnapping."

Diana turns to Jack. "Jaime doesn't like carnival food. Especially not corn dogs," she tells him.

"The Michael Jackson one is just, so so," she says as she looks back up at a cascading bloom of neon color in the sky. She takes a moment, watching a few bursts while they plan. "If you are ok with skipping meeting my parents, then I'd really like for you to be there," she decides. "If I have to work on my days off, I want my nights to be with you... But we will do it my way. I'll handle all of the tickets and all the reservations."

"Donuts are not carnival food. And I like turkey legs. And funnel cake, which are just donuts with bad aim. Popcorn. Hot Dogs. Slushies. I just don't like corn dogs," Jaime says as he watches the colors exploding overhead as they pop pop pop in time with the music playing in the background.

Then he glances over toward Diana and for a moment it looks like he might say something, but then apparently thinks better of it and just looks back up toward the fireworks, watching as the show continues on. Sparkles of gold fill the sky followed by several red bursts. "Sounds like a plan," is what he decides on.

"Donuts with bad aim!" Jack's hand covers his face for a moment of silent laughter enjoying that for a moment. "Corn dogs are suspicious. Like you are a pancake or a lunch? I do not now what this is about. If you do this with a pork sausage, the pancake and bacon maybe. That's just breakfast on a stick made efficient. The hot dog is weird to me. Why you snuggling up with my pancake?"

The grin holds though because what this all means is Jack was right and this was a good idea. "Jaime, if you have not been read in on the care and feeding responsibilities this also means we have to do a scavenger hunt and bring her back something when we go shopping." Not if, but when. "Sounds like a plan. Jaim' you are good for spicy food right? They got some options."

She looks back over at Jaime, feeling the wheels of his mind turning just as he looks back up at the fireworks again. She gives his hand a little squeeze.

"Corn dogs are an example of why maybe we shouldn't have free will," Diana opines.

She then looks over at Jack. "Are you talking about my care and feeding instructions?" She asks, and then laughs outright. Had Jack been slipping things into her kitchen? "I thought you were more concerned with me stealing your clothes than feeding me. I feel like I'm usually feeding you."

"They are all squiggly, like someone tried to make them round and then just made a mess instead," Jaime points out. Though when Jack waxes philosophical on the nature of the corn dog, he just shakes his head. "It's not even a pancake. Pancakes are good. The cornmeal fried grossness around a corn dog is just soggy cornbread laden with oil. I'd rather just get a pancake and wrap it around some breakfast sausage."

He gives Diana's hand a little squeeze in return before he says, "I didn't get a manual. I've just been winging it. It's worked out alright thus far." He will apparently take his chances.

"The ones I keep making up, Diana? yes." It seems between Jack and Jaime there's someone to dramatically complicate things and one of them to simplify; all bases covered. "You're a natural at this. Is just fun to find the things though. She tell you what happened last time she went to Vegas?" There's a little grin but smartly his hand moves to cover his midsection.

"Diana, yes. This is all part of the plan." Reasonably he adds, "I mean there's that, and you are, but there's a method to this so everyone gets what they want and no one is terribly put out. We just enjoy the pageantry of it a bit, but to no detriment."

"I am going to fix the corndog," she decides. "I don't know how. But I know I can come up with something better than what it is, and it will be delicious.

Jack gets a smack to his chest when he threatens to spread lies about what happened last time she went to Vegas.

"You make me sound more like a pet than a woman," she tells Jack, turning her head to look at him. "I sometimes wonder what you actually think of me under all that hair. Do you think of Jaime as a pet too? Does he get a manual? Will I get a copy?"

Jaime looks over toward Diana skeptically when she says that she is going to fix the corn dog. "Why? Just let it be bad and broken and don't eat it." He grimaces a little bit. The idea of trying to make a corn dog better is far less appealing than just leaving it alone.

He snickers just a little when Jack gets a smack in the chest for whatever tales he might have to tell about her last trip to Vegas.

Both brows rise a little when Diana says that Jack thinks of her as a pet. "Pets are way less demanding and don't insist on everything being thei... oh.. wait.." He then flashes a grin. "Nevermind!" He's probably going to get smacked next.

Jack looks a bit wounded by the comment and takes a minute to divert and deflect it. That smack was earned fairly at least. The lights blossom overhead in dazzling colours of purple and magenta with a bit of gold falling off. "Jaime and I are birds. That's a cheating question. This is being inclusive and thinking of you too but if you are not enjoying the fine art of cheese tactics. Is fine. This can be accommodated."

"Science," she tells Jaime. "Curiosity. I'll feed it to Jack. You don't have to be involved. This is the beauty of me having two of you," she says fully expecting Jack to support and possibly even contribute overcomplicated ideas to her experiment.

Jaime does indeed receive a smack next. "I take it all back. There is no beauty in any of this and I regret all of my choices."

"If I were to change into an animal, it'd be a cat so that I could hunt you," she tells Jack. "I wouldn't hunt Jaime. Plot twist of all plot twists, he's the good one."

Jaime reaches over past Diana for a moment, and lightly brushes Jack's elbow with one hand. It's just a brief touch, but he tries to catch his gaze for just a moment. Then he's flopping back on his back, watching the last of the flashes of light over their heads. As the music fades and the air fills with the smoke and haze of post-firework explosions, he glances over at the two of them and says, "Come on.. both of you.. we're all going back to Diana's place." He leans over then and kisses her forehead, and reaches over to give Jack's shoulder a squeeze, then he's peeling himself up to his feet.

Jack just watches the fireworks overhead not really being onboard with the experiment he already declined, or a number of other things that seem to take on escalation. He stops and watches the sky letting the conversation and the end of the show play out. There's an eyebrow as Jaime's hand reaches over to nudge his elbow. There's an exhale and then a nod animating to Jamie's suggestion. "Yeah. Can't stay on the ground forever. Not twenty anymore." And with that he's climbing to his feet too taking the now empty box to the bin.

"If we must," she sighs, closing her eyes as Jaime's lips brush against her forehead, then reluctantly peels herself up from her place on the sand. She gathers up the blanket and snags the half-drunk bottle of wine.

She chuckles a little at Jack's comment. "Speak for yourself," she grins. Once Jack is up, she leans up onto her toes to brush a kiss against his cheek. He hadn't gotten one earlier. "I won't make you eat the improved corn dog. I'll abandon this experiment... at least until you both forget."