Planning with the Party Crashers

Burrowgatory was a sprawling, bustling cityscape that seemed to grow every year. Shops and houses sprang up almost overnight, but as the city expanded ever outward, there were buildings that fell by the wayside. Abandoned out of necessity, or just because the owners found a newer, cushier place to go, the empty buildings still stood, gradually crumbling and becoming a home to nothing more than imps and dust.

“See?” Jet called back to Jackal once he’d levered himself in through a broken window and waited for her to do the same. “I told you this place was cool.”

Well. Imps, dust, and ne’er-do-wells.

Jackal handed the six-pack of beer she’d been carrying to Jet through the window before following his lead, hopping nimbly over the sill and landing on her feet inside. He used this window regularly, so the broken glass of the pane had long since been cleared away. You only needed to make that mistake once before keeping a vigilant lookout for glass in the future.

After dusting herself off, Jackal took a look around and let out a low whistle as she took in the timber beams and the dust hanging in the air, the low afternoon light making it glimmer. “Damn, this place is nice. What was it?”

“It used to be some kind of agricultural building, like decades ago,” Jet said. “A barn for mammoos, or milkweed storage, I dunno.” He hefted the beer and started walking deeper into the building. It was just an empty shell now, but there were spots of discoloration on the floor where bins or barrels or maybe some sort of machinery had once stood. A pile of cinderblocks sat forgotten on one end, perfect for makeshift seats and tables. Jet headed for those, plopping himself down on one and setting the beer on another.

“Wild,” Jackal said as she joined him. “This whole area’s totally urban now.” She grabbed one of the beer bottles out of the pack and popped the lid off on the edge of the cinderblock with an expert flick of her wrist.

“Right?” Jet followed her lead, flipping the bottle cap like a coin and flicking it over to clatter next to the one Jackal had left. “You’d think someone would have turned it into, I dunno, a warehouse. Or boutique apartments, or something. I don’t know who owns it, and I guess they forgot all about it.”

“Heh. It’s not really trespassing then, if nobody’s going to catch you, is it? I’m gonna have to reevaluate your street cred.” Jackal grinned at him as they clinked bottles.

“Hey, there’s a ‘No Trespassing’ sign out front, so it’s still trespassing. Stop trying to forgive my crimes, I’ve worked hard on committing those.”

Jackal laughed at the same time that she went to take a swing of the beer and had to turn away coughing. “Ugh, asshole. Look what you made me do.” She was still laughing even as she sputtered, though.

“That’s what you get for doubting my street cred,” Jet said loftily, gulping down a few mouthfuls of his own drink. She punched him in the arm, sending beer sloshing out and onto his face, and making him cough. “Hey!”

“Serves you right.” She gave him a sharp-toothed grin and downed a good half of what was left in her bottle in one go.

Jet wiped his face with the sleeve of his sweater, mostly uncaring that it was going to leave the fabric smelling of beer. It wasn’t the first time he’d used one of his sweaters to mop up a spilled drink, and it wouldn’t be the last. Still, he took care to angle himself away from Jackal more when he took another drink, just to be safe.

Jackal finished her own drink in short order, setting it down and grabbing another, which she popped open just like the first one. “This place is actually huge, though. You ever had a party in here? I bet you could fit a ton of people.”

“You could probably fit a whole DJ setup, but I don’t know where you’d hook it up,” Jet observed, glancing around. “I’ve never tried it, but yeah, I’ve thought about it. Feels like it’s guaranteed to get shut down for a noise complaint, though. And, you know. The trespassing, which is totally real and legit.”

“That’s quitter talk. I didn’t take you for the kind of guy who was afraid of getting a little loud,” Jackal teased.

“I didn’t say I was against it,” Jet retorted. “Just, you know, everyone should be told at the door to be prepared to bail when the cops show up.”

“That’s an unspoken rule at any good party. If you’re not ready to run from the cops, you’re not ready to have a good time.” Jackal said, gulping down more of her beer with a snort.

“Alright, I get it, you’re hardcore,” Jet drawled, and quickly dodged when Jackal aimed another semi-playful swing at him. “Fine, you know what? I’m down. Get me a guest list, and I’ll get a party together that’ll blow your fucking mind.”

“Pfft, no way. Your party, you make the guest list.”

“Fine, but don’t come bitching at me if people you don’t like show up.”

“I love it when people I don’t like show up to parties,” Jackal insisted, her grin turning borderline feral. “It gives me a reason to throw down when they start something.”

“Heh. Okay, I can respect that.” Should he respect it? That was another thing, but “should” was an oft-ignored qualifier for Jet. “Could” and “wanted to” were usually good enough. Jackal was easier to get on with than a lot of people assumed - and easier to get on with than most of those people making assumptions, too. Jet could tell they were on the same wavelength, so he respected her. Simple as that.

“Forget the guest list.” Jackal waved one hoof dismissively. “What I wanna vet is the music.”

“What, you don’t trust my taste in music?”

“Everyone thinks they’re a DJ, man. The less qualified you are, the more you believe it. I’ve heard enough bad party playlists that made me want to rip my hair out, I’m not taking chances.”

“I can’t believe you want me to do all the legwork of throwing a party, then let you decide the music.” Jet could, in fact, fully believe that. He tipped his bottle back to drain the rest of the beer and then discarded it with Jackal’s empty bottle before grabbing another.

Jackal shrugged. “Prove me wrong.”

Jet rolled his eyes. “No, no, let’s have your superior party playlist. I’ll make sure to ask everyone for their feedback.”

She grinned at him again. “Fine, if you want to have an attitude about it, you can make one too, and everyone can decide which one is better. How about that?”

“You’re so on.”

They clinked their bottles together to seal the deal, then resumed wasting away the afternoon in their hidden corner of Burrowgatory.