[ 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

[cardcaptured]

[GORO...... HIS SAVIOR....

He'll gladly accept the help to set it down on one of the nearest tables, though he does let out an aggreived sigh at his words.]

It's not. [Said flatly, and matter of fact.] People always assume they know what's best for you, even when you tell them otherwise.

[... granted, a lot of times it's their experience that's talking, and in the end, they're right! But in certain instances, like this and the whole thing with his sword... it just got annoying.]

Are you sure, though? It's a lot, and we already had so much of it back in Respatrum... I wouldn't blame you if you were sick of it by now. [XIAOLANG CERTAINLY IS, ANYWAY...]

[twostringsonebow]

[Well... Yes, he absolutely understands that, Goro's sympathetic enough to not point out about experience and years and whatnot, and... he's that way towards people his own age so he can't. Say anything really.]

It's fine, really, what else are comrades for if not for helping to conquer such a challenge? I, ah, will just have to watch myself and work the calories off appropriately. But don't worry about that.

[... As long as Sena doesn't find out he's Safe.]

Would you like to attack it from the sides or the top?

[cardcaptured]

[SENA NEEDS TO LET PEOPLE LIVE A LITTLE, GODDAMN-- but Xiaolang can't help but flush, just a bit, at the mention of comradeship. It was such a foreign concept to him, given he'd never strayed too far out of his little bubble before, so to know that there were people willing to help him out, just by the nature of their shared experiences together...]

W-Well, as long as you don't mind it. But you can stop whenever you think it's too much. It's a lot, even for two people.

[He scurries off to grab some spoons for them, and returns just to catch his question as he hands him one.]

Um... [He scrutinizes this beast of a sundae, determining the best plan of action.] Sides, I think. There's less weird looking flavors near the middle, anyway.

[And he lifts his spoon, observing which bit to poke into first--]

Why would they put popcorn in this?

[twostringsonebow]

[They share that surprise, honestly, Goro's consistently amazed that the people who share his memories -- though most of them bad -- would consider him a comrade, even if he's not sure for how long that'll remain. At least the Persona group as a whole accepts him.]

Salt and sweet is often paired together, but I'm concerned that the popcorn'll end up soggy because of the ice cream... In theory, it's a good idea.

[... But in practice, it's kind of disgusting? Goro's staring an entire piece of chocolate bar they just decided to stick in here, then moves to squinting at something near unidentifiable.]

Ah... Is that part of a flower..? Isn't that dangerous? Some blossoms are actually poisonous to humans, which is why they're usually simple decorations over actual parts of a meal. I think it's lavender..?

[cardcaptured]

[BIG MOOD, GORO-- especially given most of the memories he's had so far that involved Sakura had him acting like a huge jerk to her, so he's dreading the day she finally remembers those and realizing his past self was pretty awful!! But the two of them will reach their respective bridges at some point. Right now is focusing on.... this monstrosity.

He frowns at the little bits of flowers that Goro points out, scraping at it with his spoon to pick it out, along with the ice cream embedded in it.]

Some of them, but not all of them. There's a lot of dishes where I'm from that use chrysanthemum and lotus, and even osmanthus in them. It just depends on whether it's been certified to use in food. I don't think I've ever seen lavender used in a dish before, but...

[And he pokes the spoon experimentally in his mouth, to taste it-- he wasn't usually one to try odd flavors, but thinking of the edible flowers back home made him curious-- and he looks a little surprised by the result.]

... ah. This one isn't that bad? It's kind of... honey flavored. [It's an odd combo, but not in a bad way?]

[twostringsonebow]

Honey flavored...

[He'll try it too, blinking in surprise at the taste before looking at it Seriously. Hm.]

I may have to ask for that separately in the future. It's not that bad at all. Though I wonder if the toppings go in further, or if there's unusual flavors of ice cream inside instead? Something like... well, wasabi and squid ink isn't particularly strange to me, but it's not the first thing people think of when they order ice cream.

[cardcaptured]

[Xiaolang takes another small spoonful of the honey-lavender ice cream, taking a bit more time to appreciate it's flavor. It was sweet, but not overly so, and the lavender left a nice floral note to the rest of it. Maybe trying new flavors wasn't necessarily a bad thing? But one good one out of the bunch didn't mean they were ALL good...]

No, they seemed to have piled on the scoops before they went and put all of... this on top of it. [And here he nudges at some bits of cereal, along with some odd bubble-like things surrounding it. His nose wrinkles at the thought of such an ice cream, however.]

I did see a pizza flavored ice cream and a sushi one before I ordered, so I wouldn't be surprised if that was a flavor they had. All of this seems sort of normal so far...

[And then something catches his eye, and he squints.]

... is that a potato chip?