Dancing All Night

[mindofathief]

Who: Everyone
What: A slumber party at the Observatory so the Heroes can experience something nice for once.
Where: Old Observatory
When: Night of May 12th - Morning of May 13th
Warnings: If your character comes, there's a huge change they'll catch the sickness from someone else who's infected but doesn't show the symptoms. Duster will have many regrets in the future.

[All those that had been invited to the Observatory tonight would see all the windows on the bottom floors lit up before sundown. Duster and Zelda had spent most of today setting up bedding and rearranging the furniture in preparation, and then Duster had to run back home to change into his new suit.

There were multiple rooms with lights set up. One has a corner turned into a makeshift stage where musicians could perform. Two had tables of food. Several rooms were left alone for partygoers to have private moments (Tamekichi suggested that). There was also a box of beer bottles as a sad attempt at a bar, with an empty bottle marking the area where party games were to be played, Spin the Bottle included (all that was Tamekichi's suggestion, too).

Duster greets the arrivals at the door with a soft smile, wearing a periwinkle suit, a white dress shirt, a red shit, and black dress shoes.]

Welcome to Club Ixen! It's time we had some fun.

Comments

Food Tables

[mindofathief]

[Stews, snacks, and nonalcoholic drinks are provided by the hosts and guests.]

[21stcenturyguy]

[Santa is torn between showing up late, which is what cool guys do, and getting in early to prevent other people from fucking up on the snacks. His compromise is arriving on time, which is late for someone who's supposed to be helping. He's got several boxes with various finger foods- little sandwiches, chips and dip, and a pot filled with meatballs, with wooden skewers beside to eat them with. ]

[If asked, he'll claim he bought the stuff from a store, but that's kind of a lie. He doesn't trust preassembled stuff to be as good as what he'd make, so he handmade most of this. Shhhh.]

Not bad. [This is Santa patting himself on the back.]

[rialynn]

[True to her word, Rialynn arrives with a platter of fat, fried sausages, and her 'famous' pot noodles. Well. Her father liked them, anyway. It's been a while since she's been able to cook in a real kitchen.]

[To those more familiar with German cuisine, they'd more likely identify the offerings as bratwurst and spaetzel. But there's no 'Germany' in her world, just a very similar counterpart.]

[She sets down the plate and pot, then rolls her shoulders with a sigh of relief. Rialynn's just glad she didn't spill them on the way here. Once her dish is in place, she picks up a plate, eager to try what others have cooked. What better way to get to know one another than with good food and conversation? This brings her to where Santa is setting up his own offerings.]

Wow, you brought a lot! It looks great.

[After a moment of indecision, she decides to just get a little of everything so she can try it all.]

[21stcenturyguy]

Yeah. [For a moment, Santa leaves it at that, just acknowledging his awesomeness. Then, he turns to see what Rialynn brought, and smirks.]

You know, I was kinda worried this was gonna end up being a sausage-fest. [He doesn't clarify what he means by that. Sorry, Rialynn. Santa will probably be responsible for the horse gaining a good five pounds before the end of the night.]

[rialynn]

Why, did a lot of people sign up to bring sausage?

[She turns to look at him as she puts a second meatball on her plate. Her question is innocent enough. But then she sees his devilish grin in that icon. There's a period of awkward silence, and Rialynn's face slowly grows pink.]

Oh. Uh. Heh! Ha ha! Uh...no...I think there will be at least a few women. Separate sleeping quarters and. And all that.

[Yeah.]

Anyway. I'm Rialynn. Nice to meet you?

[21stcenturyguy]

I just wasn't sure how much sausage we were expecting for this event.

[Still smirking, he reaches over and spears a bratwurst to put on his little party plate. Nothin' wrong with a little meat, but it's nice to balance it out with other things, you know?]

Yeah, it's always nice to meet me. I'm Santa. [Awww, she blushes, and worries over her virtue. That's adorable. And fun.]

[rialynn]

[If it wasn't clear before where Akane got her knack for innuendos, it should be blatantly obvious now. And wow this guy is confident. He could give Oliver a run for his gold, that's for sure.]

Great! So...

[They need to talk about something that doesn't involve sausages or euphemisms.]

...What brings you out tonight? Are you friends with Duster?

[21stcenturyguy]

[Friends? With Duster? Nuh-uh, nope, what a loser. Santa doesn't have time for friends when he's got his Schrodinger's sister to take care of. Not that it's Rialynn's business, or anyone's, really. Santa's posture has gone momentarily rigid, defensive, but he catches himself and relaxes it.]

I'm sort of his band manager. I'm scouting out the talent here, I guess. [It's more of an idle hobby than an actual job, and Santa doesn't know all that much about music, but he knows 'cool' and he knows 'rock stars = money'. It's a way to kill time.]

[rialynn]

Band manager?

[Rialynn raises her eyebrows. She's never heard of such a term before.]

So, that means you find him places to perform and negotiate the prices? Or do you find him other people to play with?

[21stcenturyguy]

Yeah, stuff like that. I dunno if he wants to play with other people or not. He was part of a band in his last world.

[He shrugs like it doesn't make a difference to him either way, even though he can overhear Duster with another musician, taking about potential bandmates. The bassist doesn't actually seem to need his input, like, at all. Santa doesn't know what he's really doing here.]

What about you? What's a girl like you doin' in a place like this? [The best defense in social interact is a good offense.]

[sesenta]

[Guess who totally bought preassembled stuff because she doesn't have very much cooking experience? Hint: it's someone's happy little sister who just walked in with a pink box from the bakery.]

I brought cinnamon rolls!

[They're cute, sweet, and smell heavenly. This she sets down on the table before her gaze strays to what Santa made. Hey, that's not fair, he's going to show her up with all of his awesome culinary skills!]

You brought the meatballs? I don't stand a chance...

[Akane, it's not a contest.]

[21stcenturyguy]

[Akane, it's totally a contest, and Aoi is in it to win it. Not that he'll admit any of that.]

It's no big deal. I just figured this lame party will suck less if we have something decent to eat. [He scratches his hair and shrugs in the same lazy motion.]

Besides, I figured other, less talented and beautiful people who don't know how to cook would bring sweets, so I had to have something filling.

[Your Santa loves you more than his own life, Akane, but that still doesn't exempt you from big brother teasing.]

[sesenta]

[GASP. Less talented and beautiful?! Akane's little hands ball into fists at her sides.]

Ooh, you're so mean! Maybe I'd know how to cook if you'd let me do it once in a while!

[So stop taking such good care of her???? She isn't sure where she's going with this. Akane looks at her box of cinnamon rolls and sighs.]

Actually, I do need to learn how to make more than sandwiches and cold cereal.

[21stcenturyguy]

Hey, I ain't stopping ya. [Except for those times when he's literally thrown the smoldering remains of her cooking attempts in the trash...or confiscated the sugar so she'd stop overloading...or otherwise physically intervened so they would have real food for dinner instead of a hot mess. Other than that, complete freedom to learn is what Akane has had.]

Now that you're not... [He waves a hand to convey 'sort of dead until we create a paradox to allow you to exist again'] you can come over when I'm cooking and I'll teach you.

[Because let's be real, he's actually powerless against Akane's pout. It's a problem.]

[sesenta]

[It must be a law of nature that if your name is Akane, you must be a wretched cook. If she's really that bad, then it's no wonder he didn't let her in the kitchen. How many hot messes would they have been able to afford on their limited budget?]

[Either way, her face brightens at the offer.]

Would you? That sounds fun! Then I can meet your roommates too!

[The pout has been banished.]

[21stcenturyguy]

[There might have been some slight exaggeration. Aoi never claimed that he wasn't a dramatic person.]

I guess. They're kinda weird. Might be better if we try to do it when they're out of the house.

[Because moments when he and Akane could just be together without worrying about Nonary Games or the world ending were rare, and he was reluctant to share them. It was one of the ways that Akane was a better person than he was. She wasn't a miser with her feelings, and she didn't try to protect happy moments by hiding them away from everyone else.]

[sesenta]

[But she also gassed her childhood friend and tossed him into a game with a callous killer, getting him murdered in a few different timelines. So she wasn't exactly a saint either, Aoi.]

You're sure? I wouldn't mind meeting them. But if that's what you prefer, okay! I'm in House B-08, come get me whenever you need to.

[unyieldingspirit]

It smells better than not bad.

[K'pandolu sets down a platter of cookies, and reaches out to snag one of the meatballs. She wasn't in the mood to make meat tonight, so she's glad someone did.]

And tastes better, too! Is it your own recipe?

[21stcenturyguy]

[Santa preens a little at K'Pandolu's praise, but he's not going to acknowledge his efforts. That would imply he cared. Which, nope, definitely not.]

It's nothin' special. I bought 'em that way. There's plenty, so have more if you like 'em.

[unyieldingspirit]

[she tilts her head for a moment, but- if he says so.]

You've good taste to have chosen them, then. I hope you can pass my compliments on to whoever did make them, then.

[and she doesn't mind if she does!]

[21stcenturyguy]

Uh, sure. Will do. [He's secretly pleased. Just not, you know, conveying the sentiment.]

[He loads up his plate with a variety of snacks. It's a party, right?]

So, you play music, or are you just here to hang out?

[unyieldingspirit]

[well, at least the person behind the meatballs knows! or will know, from her perspective.

It is indeed a party! More than enough for two loaded plates, at any rate.

She shakes her head after a moment, taking another meatball.]

I came to be with people. I don't have much experiences with instruments, you see…

[21stcenturyguy]

Me neither. But I didn't have anything better to do, so I figured 'why not?' Here's hoping the guys who play aren't bad. [He raises his punch cup in salute.]

[unyieldingspirit]

[she chuckles good-naturedly, making her own salute back.]

If they are, I suppose we'll simply have to make suggestions, hm?

Re: Food Tables

[unalive_them]

BOOM, BABY!

[And here's Deadpool kicking open the door, carrying a bunch of... pancakes.]

I worked all day on these! They're still good! Who says you can't have breakfast for dinner? If I find out, I'll feed them breakfast!