lets dance to joy division

The year is 2018, and Skye is happy. Its nice that the most she has to worry about tonight is the party getting busted, or Caroline starting something. She had spent a while getting ready, parties usually required an outfit that wasn't too casual for everyday where, but also not too fancy so that people thought you were trying to hard. She ended up settling on a crop top and jean shorts.The life of a teenage girl was certainly a difficult one.

Delilah's house was right down the street from hers. All the houses on their blocks looked like something out of an old black and white movie. Most of them were fairly knew, lovingly built by those who inhabited them. Her house was her grandmother's dream house. Large foyer, marbled floors, large windows overlooking the garden, it was perfect. So was Delilah's house, it looked almost ethereal. Skye was waiting by the white iron fence, leaning against it while texting some of the people that were going to be at the party. She slid the phone in her back pocket once she saw the front door open.

"Bear!" She almost squealed as the large Bernese mountain dog came bounding out, "I remember when you got him. He was so cute as a puppy."  Skye makes note of Delilah's casual clothes, but doesn't say anything. She should wear what she's most comfortable in, even if it isn't Skye's idea of a party outfit.

"You ready to go?" She asks. The sun is already setting on the horizon, and far into the valley Skye is sure people have already begun carting the beer into the rickety structure made by the second cohort for the last war games.

The two of them start to walk down the winding hill that led into the valley beyond. "You don't have to dance if you don't want to. This is probably going to be more of a chilled out party. Like, beer pong, chatting, stuff like that. It'll be fun." Skye flashes Delilah a smile that she hopes is reassuring.

By the time they get to the fields of mars, the sun has already set and the loud music is starting to make the sheet metal on the fortress creak. They're probably going to be fine, the second cohort is pretty good at building fortresses, and they haven't had a fortress collapse in years. Skye can see people making their way over to the party from the barracks, and she hopes that everyone from her cohort was quiet enough not to wake her co-centurion. The last thing she needs is Carter showing up, then she would have to find a way to sneak out before he notices, and then be forced to help put on a very long skit on why drinking is bad. Knowing Carter she'd probably have to do some embarrassing rap while everyone thinks she's a hypocrite. Long story short, she does not want Carter to find out about this party.

Normally Skye would just disperse into the party, saying hello to everyone and trying to find her friends, but she remembers that her grandmother told her to make sure Delilah had fun. "So, do you want a drink?" She asks.

Skye goes off to go get drinks for the two of them, in the process starting and ending a conversation with the guy operating the keg. She returns to Delilah's side, handing her one of the drinks. Skye hears her comment, but pretends to be more invested with taking a long sip of her drink. She's starting to remember why the two of them grew apart. It wasn't like she wanted to, its just that they're so different. They had been thick as thieves when they were little, as most friendships with neighborhood kids go. Then suddenly she was in the legion with so many new people, and she's friendly and likes socializing. Delilah isn't like that. Now they're here, older and much more different.

Skye sees one of her friends across the room. Richard is another one of the kids from the neighborhood. Like Skye with age he became more popular, and here he was. He wasn't as wild as some of her other friends, and Richard knew Delilah, so he knew that she's out of her element. Its a safe choice. "C'mon," She says, taking Delilah's hand and leading her over to Richard.

"Skye!" Richard says as he sees her, though after a pause he seems to notice Delilah being towed behind, "And Delilah, wow, never thought I'd see that coming."

"Yeah I brought her along to show her how teenagers are supposed to act," Skye says with a laugh.

"How are things with you Delilah?" Richard asks.

"Oh you know," Richard says, "SATs, training, I'm thinking about going to Brown." He goes on about balancing studying and the legion, and Skye is grateful she still has another year or so before she has to start thinking about college. She might even try to stick around and run for praetor. Regardless, all of that was something that she didn't have to think about now, even if Richard seemed so intent on talking about it.

Suddenly whoever was in charge of the music decided that hearing other people talk was unnecessary. The volume got louder and louder, until Skye could feel the baseline shaking the ground. "Oh my god." She says, and turns to Delilah and Richard, "I'll be right back." She tries to use as many facial expressions and hand signals to let the other two know what she's saying, but eventually just gives up and gives them a quick wave.

It takes her a couple minutes to get through the crowd of people, and she almost loses her hearing in the process. She wasn't sure what the supposed dj thought they were doing, but they were either going to give everyone in the area tinnitus or alert Carter and probably the praetors to their location. Neither of those situations seemed like a good idea. So, when she found the very sketchy sound setup, she forcibly turned the whole thing down to a normal level. It was hard to tell if people were thanking her for it, mainly because she still had some ringing in her ears. Her job as a centurion was never over.