It's A Party! [Semi-Closed]

[mincingminuet]

WHO: Penelope, Freya, Minako, and Lucy + Friends
WHERE: Their house!
WHEN: 6/22
WHAT: A Housewarming and Graduation Party, with a splash of 4th of July. Pen's done with school and some of her closest friends are moving in. Any of their college aged CR is invited!
WARNINGS: Language and Drinking, nothing too serious.


It's been a while and there's been a lot of intervening circumstances, but it is time once again for a party. This time with different causes, not to distract but to relax, have some food and enjoy starting a new chapter in their lives. Pen's got housemates again, and the place is decorated for both graduation and the 4th of July since it seems silly to have another party and ignore that most American of holidays.

I. Afternoon


It starts in the mid afternoon and soon Pen's backyard is filled with the smells of grilled meats and roasting vegetables. A table is set up with condiments and buns for the, burgers, hotdogs, chicken, tofu, all that good stuff plus chips and chili to go with it. Coolers of beer and liquor, wine coolers, tea, soda, lemonade, and some bizarre Japanese sodas as is tradition.

Tables are up for Beer Pong, and Pen has opened up the new shed to show off the five or six retro arcade cabinets she's set up in there. Gifts from her sponsor for videos that she's repurposed. Get your drink on, or go lose some time playing Boulevard Brawler 2, Deadly Anger, and Queen of Fighters '98.


II. Dusk


Night's approach brings with it cooler times and more mellow tunes, as well as moving inside. No sense in being out in Mosquito Country. Pen's little monsters like Tons and White Hare happily run around, collecting trash and then bringing people drinks on request, though those drinks may be slightly off if they were mixed ones because what do you expect from a tiny monster...

Food and games are the order of the day, though Truth or Dare seems to be the perennial favorite. Have a drink and join the circle, or don't and go play Super Crash Brothers and Dario Party, it's all good!


III. Night


It's getting on in the evening, but Pen has one last little surprise for everyone set up. With Vera's help, she's got a small fireworks display set up, though thankfully nothing too dangerous.

This is the time to take a moment, relax, pull someone special aside and have a moment. Nobody is looking, and even if they were, nobody'll judge. Everyone needs a little peace sometimes, to enjoy the simple things. Appreciating them is the key to any successful life, before the turbulence of change hits once again...


OOC: If your character has CR with Minako, Penelope, Freya, or Lucy feel free to assume they were invited!

Comments

Truth or Dare

[mincingminuet]

[Top Level and Tag around!]

Pen

[mincingminuet]

[heiroglyphs]

[No sense in not diving straight in. Vera plops down next to Pen with a drink and a sly grin.]

Truth or dare, Pen?

[mincingminuet]

Right, okay. Truth.

[Easy peasy.]

Vera

[heiroglyphs]

Felicia

[maidhem]

[mincingminuet]

Truth or dare, nerd!

Yin

[longwei2go]

[mincingminuet]

I

[Penelope is of course all over everyone and everything at this little get together. She flits around greeting people at the door, or at the gate to the back yard, or at the grill, and really expect this little dynamo to hit you up at some point to say hello. She's followed along by a small white rabbit creature who seems to be hanging on to her shoe most of the time, too.

The astute may notice she's got a different one of those Japanese sodas in hand at all times, and the unlucky...well...]

Hey, try this! It's pretty good.


Dusk

[Being a host continues, but she's also got to cool off and relax some, coming down from her soda-fueled rush with a bottle of water in hand. That means something more sedate, like plunking down next to you on the couch.]

Having a good time?


III

[It's been more than a year now, and Pen's head is filled with all sorts of complicated, conflicting emotions. Not bad ones, but the kind that make a girl think. A whole year in a committed relationship, a whole year of dealing with random spurts of violence and terror, a whole year of surviving those spurts, and a whole year filled with changes. Two people from another life suddenly in hers, three people sharing her home, and the first full year without Vaan since she could remember.

It was a little overwhelming, but laying out here in the grass and watching the fireworks her little monsters were setting off...well, it was nice. Nice enough to distract her if someone came up to say hi.]

[longwei2go]

Yo, Pen. [ Yin figured with all the ruckus it was a lot easier to just go straight around to the back gate instead of trying the front door. if it wasn't open to begin with, how she actually got it open is probably left a mystery. no one can say that even without her arm she wasn't stubborn and creative.

she raised her arm and in her clutches was the handle of a 12 pack of rather generic beer. it had a blue ribbon tied around it and a small card taped to the top that just read "Grats on the Stuff". the plastic bag tied around her wrist, however, showed the top of a bottle of something else entirely. Yin thrust both in the other woman's direction and grinned. ] Brought you guys something.

[mincingminuet]

[It is definitely not the worst choice, coming around where the actual party to begin with. The gate was open for just that very reason!

Pen grinned at the surprise beer and hopped off the deck to take the drinks.]

I'll put it on ice. Unless it's the kind that isn't? Thanks, dude.

[longwei2go]

That shit? Who knows. Beer is beer. [ she chuckled. now that her fingers were free, she could lower the bag to the ground and, once loose, pluck the bottle out from hiding. ]

But this is supposed to be chilled. According to the bottle anyway. I don't know this stuff. [ preamble aside, Yin offered up the cloudy bottle of premium sake. medium shelf at least, and still a little cool but not enough for what the label claims is optimal drinking temperature. the card on this one says "Welcome to Debt". ]

[heiroglyphs]

[Pen, she's sure your weird soda tastes interesting but there is something far more important hopping up behind you.

The heiress immediately crouches down, offering the bunny the back of her hand.]

Oh my god, who is this little sweetheart?

[mincingminuet]

[Look it's a joke okay?]

Oh! Right. You haven't met him.

[White Hare chuffs happily...]

This is White Hare. He's a bit like the tomato, since he can't talk.

[heiroglyphs]

Oh, don't say that.

[She leans in a little closer.]

You're nothing like a tomato, are you, my widdle fluffy man?

Dusk

[physix]

Of course! I haven't had this much fun in such a long time.

[ She smiles brightly and waves. ]

Thank you for inviting me over, Pen. Everyone's really nice. I hope you enjoyed yourself too.

[ Akane thinks that Penelope's been having a good day for the most part. ]

[mincingminuet]

[Pen absolutely has. Grinning, Pen flops down next to Akane.]

Of course. I like having new people to these things. It makes them that much more fun.

[Meaning: new truth or dare targets.]

You digging the food and all?

[longwei2go]

I.) this is more or less the wildcard option
[ Yin was pretty eager to accept this invitation, even if the reason for the partying wasn't her Jam. one can only go so long living in a city without most of its citizens actually existing on the same physical plane as you (or whatever) before craving interacting with an actual crowd.

dressed in torn jeans and a yellow shirt with the sleeves also ripped off, Yin can be found indulging in all manner of food and drink. she seems to be taking it relatively easy on the booze for the earlier part of the night, since she planned on the party lasting a good long while.

besides all that, her main goal right now is making sure no one is trying to be shy or play at being a wallflower. there's nowhere to hide from Yin when she's on the prowl to drag people back to the party. if you try to sneak away or find a corner to scurry into, she will find you, and she will absolutely call you out for it. ]


II.) videogames are ableist
[ —except when they are not. having only one hand and not wanting to drop mad cash on consoles means there's not a lot of games Yin can actually play. it's a welcome chance when visiting someone who has the systems with motion controls as an option to be able to sit down and have some fun the same as anyone else. rarer still would one imagine Yin playing something as child-like and colorful as these titles but, well, it's not like Darker Souls or Immoral Kombat are made with her sort in mind.

expect to be challenged to a sports game or two, or one of the friendship destroying game modes available if you manage to sit down in front of the TV with one of your hands free. ] What d'ya say we make this ... interesting?

[ oh that sure is a dangerous gleam in her eyes. ]


III.) it's all fun & games 'til someone loses an arm [WARNING: discussions of exactly that]
[ everything was going so well for her tonight. free food, free drink, free entertainment, and plenty of people to chat up, hit on, or take a jab at. what's not to love?

fireworks. it had to be fucking fireworks. the fault didn't lie with anyone in particular for this. even Yin, herself, has never had troubles of this sort prior to tonight. but thanks to her brain being switched back on to things she had recovered since the last time she was on the app, the sight and sound of red and yellow and white flashing in the sky with the sound of crackling and the explosions... something inside her brain finally snapped.

if one follows the trail of spilled booze off to the side of the yard, one can find a huddled mass of gold and yellow. it's Yin, lurched over and trying desperately not to throw up. panting and heaving, she's trying to get her vape out from her pocket only to fumble and have it bounce off her leg and roll your way.

with a wild, desperate look in her eyes, she gives up and covers her mouth with her hand to muffle the heaving. ]


((OOC: last prompt is available to first tagger only, but people can react to it later after she's recovered or on her way home from the party if you want! just let me know which you'd prefer.))

II

[heiroglyphs]

Do I even want to know what you mean by that?

[She looks down at the controller, then back up at the taller girl.]

[longwei2go]

Oh, I think you know. Put a little something on the line depending on who wins.

III

[belligerentwarrior]

[It's amazing how sobering the realization something's wrong can be. Freya kneels to grab the wayward object and offers it. There's a lot of things that could be happening, but that look of panic immediately sets something in her on edge.]

What's wrong? [She asks calmly.]

[longwei2go]

[ sober is one thing Yin really wished she was right now. maybe that would have kept her from absolutely losing her shit. it's hard to say. some days are worse than others but this is the worst it's ever been in public.

it takes her a moment to unclench long enough to notice someone else was close to her. ]

D-damn it.

[ that's more or less for herself. being noticed is always the most awkward part. the stress? she's learned to try and let it roll off of her. but the shame... that's hardest to let go. ]

Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. [ that isn't even what was asked. ]

[long_live_the_queen]

I. Local cryptid sighting

[Lucy had been invited out here several times before. This time seemed no different. Just now Lucy had a room she could legitimately go and lock herself in if she wanted to.

She didn't, not this time. Besides, her cat was in there. Fang didn't seem to appreciate loud noises so much, and in a new house besides.

So Lucy was out and about quite often, looking speculatively into the beer coolers (she'd be all of twenty soon), flicking balloons at people (very deliberately), and taking up entirely too much space on the benches (what are you going to do about it, huh).]

III. Generic Introspective Pestering Prompt

[Night fell, and Lucy still hadn't retreated to her room. She was standing quietly on the edge of the patio, watching the fireworks with a distant, wistful expression. It wasn't the most well-lit place to stand, but she wasn't too far away from the door. A turn of the head, and there'd be something pink in the periphery.]

I

[longwei2go]

[ what's Yin going to do about it? stand right square in front of her and stare her down with that typical cocky expression of hers. she's got an unopened bottle of one of the weird sodas in her hand because it sounded "extreme". ]

This seat taken? [ making no indication of speaking about the spaces to the side of her at all. ]

[long_live_the_queen]

[Lucy considers Yin for a moment.]

Yes.

[And she swings her legs up, lying down and stretching out on the bench with her head pillowed on folded arms.

Next move, Yin.]