[ OPEN/MINGLE ] BRRR IT'S COLD IN HERE

[crudest]

WHO: Baren Kaiyou & you! or you and whoever!! it's Mingle Time
WHERE: Rando Ice Cream Shop & Magatus!
WHEN: throughout march! time is a mystery.
WHAT: ICE CREAM PARTY - but also please meet the world's most beautiful moose, Boose. everyone's welcome to the ice cream party in Part A and specifically anyone on the group 1-4 mission list would've gotten an invite to free ice cream if your chara needs more incentive to come!
WARNINGS: SHOULD BE NONE??

A : I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM

[ We all scream for ice cream! It's one of those neatly aesthetic ice cream parlors that normally has a line out the door in the middle of the shopping district. yet depending on the time of day, the chalk-sign might say in a neatly curling cursive: free ice cream on Zee Carlisle!

... that second part's not true, of course. But who ever said that Baren's honest?

Additionally if anyone had gone on a mission over the month to one of the four regions - they'll get a special text invite to free ice cream. :') good job, y'all.

i ) That said, the first part is! There is definitely free ice cream being offered out to anyone on the Retrospec app. What flavor's caught your eye? Pecan Cherry Pie? Wildberry Mango Chocolate Delight? ... there's normal flavors too, but you really should adventure out a little bit, don't you think? At least don't freak out if you find a surprise gummy worm inside.

... or do. Baren miiiight be recording it.

ii ) The owners are feeling generous - or at least Baren is. Enjoy an extra scoop or - five? Did you get more ice cream that you asked for? Tanuki-san is sitting around, eyeing your mountain there. Wanna share? Careful and don't let it fall or else we're looking at a food fight situation on our hands...!

iii + chuuya ) Now if anyone's looking for Baren himself when he's not sticking gummy worms into the ice cream trays or otherwise fucking around, he's probably more toward the back of the shop. He's not alone. ]

If you try to feed me, I'm going to lock you in the freezer.

[ - is a wonderful thing to say to his boyfriend (doublesmall) who's sitting on his lap because what's a PDA? A topping? This is fine.

(ooc: tagging order for this prompt if you want to suffer through that would be you -> Chuuya -> Baren!) ]

B : STANDS FOR BOOOOOOOOOOOSE

[ The bus ride to Magatus is 7 hours long. Rather than using the usual bus - there might be dried blood on those seats? - Baren has booked a party bus. Yeah, there's probably a disco ball and a stripper pole. He doesn't intend on using it, he just thought it was funny to have.

i ) Did you even know what you were signing up for when you climbed on? Baren has picked one of the seats in the back - yawning as he looks almost ready to set in for a nap. Yet when he makes eye contact with you, there's a raise of a brow and - ]

Can I help you?

[ ii ) Welcome to Baren's Winter Wonderland Tour! If you've chosen to follow him on this journey for... some reason - this is where he's led you. If you didn't bring enough jackets for warmth, don't worry about it - he's tossing a designer coat to you without even hesitating. ]

Don't think you get to keep that, okay?

[ The price tag is probably more than some people make in a year.

Regardless this is when they'll be joined by a lumbering presence - a big, giant, beautiful moose. Charging through the snow.

It's worth noting that this moose has beautiful, colorful flowers woven into his antlers. They don't look like they're about to wilt any time soon.

... don't question it?

He probably won't run into you. He'll probably stop.

Otherwise Magatus is free to explore! ]

[ ooc: a catch-all throughout the month! feel free to create your own top-levels if you want for the ice cream party/magatus exploration though! i'm running this as free as i can. ]

Comments

A

[invocate]

[Li-Na gives the Zee sign a dubious look. While she does not doubt the new Retrospec liaison would give people ice cream, as she knew he had given some to Leon and Xiaolang's group the previous month, she rather doubted he would do that for everyone.

That, and Baren had sent an invite about this.

Still. She is not about to pass up free ice cream.

When her turn finally comes at the counter, she scans the contents of the freezer case and her eyes light up.]

Double scoop, please. S'mores and chocolate espresso!

[Three things she loves. S'mores, chocolate, and coffee.]

[cardcaptured]

[Meanwhile, if Li-Na looks to her left, or is heading towards the toppings bar herself, she's probably going to spot one (1) familiar cousin, looking increasingly distressed, as the worker behind the counter piles more and more treats onto his ice cream bowl (which looks alarming packed with scoops??)]

--and how about mochi? Do you like mochi?

M... Mochi is fine, but there's really a lot on there already, so I--!

Nonsense! You're a growing boy, you need the food! Now, some maple syrup would do nicely...

[Please send help]

[invocate]

[Li-Na can't help but notice the growing bowl of ice cream in front of her cousin. Oh dear. She looks down at her double scoop, then at his rapidly increasing mountain....]

Do you want to trade, Xiaolang?

[cardcaptured]

[He starts a little when he hears her voice, and he turns around, surprised at both her presence and her offer. Right, she was part of the exploration groups too, wasn't she? It was nice to see family here, though...

He shakes his head in response, though, finally wrestling the bowl of monstrosity scoops away from the counter.]

No, you should enjoy what you have. At least you got flavors you liked... [Unlike..... whatever the hell they stuck into what they gave him. He's not even sure if half of these are edible??? Although, since he's not going to be able to eat it all himself...]

But I wouldn't... really mind if you wanted to try some of it. [aka PLEASE EAT SOME OF THIS FOR HIM]

[invocate]

Haha, then I will try some.

[she reaches over and grabs an extra cup from the top of the counter]

Hmmm, I think I see a couple seats over there.

[she points a little ways down the other counter, where two tall stools are free]

[cardcaptured]

[LI-NA YOU'RE THE BEST COUSIN... but his eyes travel to where she indicates, and he nods once he sees it.]

Alright. Let's get there before someone else does.

[He starts to head over, keeping the ice cream mountain balanced in his hands, debating on grabbing some spoons before getting to their seats. Prrrrobably not the best idea with his hands full? So maybe that could wait for now--]

Did your group get back alright from the forest?

[I mean, obviously, if they're here, but he doesn't know how, exactly, they got over there.]

[invocate]

[don't worry Xiaolang, Li-Na has the same thought and snags a couple spoons with the hand holding the extra cup]

Yes, once we were finished Zee sent us horses and chocobos again. Though this time some of them had carts. Thank goodness.

[Even though she hadn't ridden one on the way out, she hadn't been keen to try it on the way back either.

Li-Na plops down on one of the stools... sets her ice cream on the counter... and then gives the stool a spin.]

[cardcaptured]

[Xiaolang's not too far behind her, carefully setting his own ice cream disaster onto the counter as he continues their train of conversation:]

They had you ride out over there? I guess that's not as bad as walking in the sort of heat Respatrum had, but that sounds like it wasn't very--

[... Li-Na what are you doing on the stool]

... um. Comfortable.

What are you doing?

[Don't mind this child, having silly fun is a foreign concept to him]

[invocate]

[Honestly, riding Souji's dragon was about as comfortable as riding a horse or chocobo would have been, but at least she hadn't needed to steer the dragon.]

Ehhhhh? You had to walk all the way there?

[How did Group 2 end up with such a terrible existence?]

And I am spinning. You should try it.

[Live a little, Xiaolang. Get in touch with your inner child.]

[cardcaptured]

... No thanks.

[JUST. STRAIGHT UP REFUSAL. And to further prove his point, he sits up straighter on his stool, keeping his feet and arms anchored down onto it. No point making himself feel sick right before he had to eat.]

But yeah, we did. An hour through the subway tunnels, no less, but at least there weren't any strange vines or rodents of unusual size to deal with on the way. [... did he just make a Princess Bride reference? Yes he did.] Most of us were dressed for February too, so we weren't really in good shape by the time we got there.

[THANKS ZEE FOR NOT WARNING THEM OF THAT BEFOREHAND.... although, all things considered, they got free ice cream and cool gems, and they weren't stuck in the snow, so... it could have been much worse.]

[invocate]

[Someday, she will get Xiaolang to have fun, unabashed childish fun. Someday.]

Oh no, that would have been really hot! I probably would have melted halfway there.

[she digs a spoon into her ice cream and licks off a bite]

I think we all would have benefited from a little more information on where we were all going. And how long we were going to be gone.

[nudges the empty ice cream cup toward Xiaolang, fill 'er up~]

[cardcaptured]

[GODSPEED, LI-NA, AND GOOD LUCK. although she can always throw him into one of those orange flowers in Bosuma and let the pollen do the rest

He blinks at the cup for a second, until-- oh, right, probably should be splitting this, shouldn't he? He hefts a good portion of the ice cream mass into her empty cup, making sure to get some of the extra toppings in there, before pushing it back her way again.]

I've heard one or two of us passed out on the way over, actually. [And he starts scraping off a bit of one of the more innocuous looking scoops in the bowl, eyeing it for a moment on his spoon.]

But I agree. I don't think I would have went if I knew I was missing a whole month of school. [He pops the spoon with the mysterious flavor in his mouth, and whether the cringe was because of the ice cream or something else that came to mind was anyone's guess.]

Or I would have packed more summer clothing when we first set off, at least.

[invocate]

[ngl the idea is tempting]

I actually brought some homework the second half of the month... but I did not get much of it done. I have so much to catch-up on.

[she sighs... then shakes her head and gives a little shrug]

But I have done that before, so I will manage somehow.

[she spoons some of her portion of Xiaolang's ice cream into her mouth.... hmmmm mint chocolate chip and... bubblegum?]

I would have brought more food. And some shampoo.

[cardcaptured]

[He sets his spoon elsewhere on his dish-- really, why was there cayenne pepper in his ice cream, that was supposed to be chocolate-- but the look he gives her is somewhat incredulous.]

You didn't have proper food or bathing facilities there? [Because, really-- he was in hell, but at least hell had inns and hotels and marketplaces, at least] I thought all the places they sent us to were in some form of civilization.

[Something else she says registers with him, though, and his incredulous look turns into something more concerned.]

... and just what do you mean by 'you've done that before'?

[invocate]

Ah... well, the people in the village had been kidnapped, so their homes were... empty. And the second site we stayed at was even deeper in the woods where the satyrs live. There was a stream there, and in the village we could use a large tub, we just had to haul the water. Lucky we had a water mage.

[bless Elliot, BLESS ELLIOT]

But Zee sent us some things partway through the month, and I made sure to bring plenty with me the second half.

[Please appreciate what a struggle with was for a girl who loves scented bath products. She pauses a moment before answering his second question though, savoring a bite of ice cream.]

After my parents died, I fell behind in school. The school I was sent to... the other children were... mean. The teachers ignored me. I was almost two full levels behind when my brother took me back to Hong Kong.