[open/mingle] a light in the darkness

[orphne]

Who: any and everyone!
Where: astralin's farmhouse
What: mingle log for post-blackout!
Warnings: y'all tell me, please be good and don't break the house :(

If she hadn't been at the party, Kotone wouldn't have even known about the extent of the blackout. Sure, it's inconvenient, considering a lot of the lights are electric, and the fridge is, of course, powered by electricity as well, but the farmhouse she'd taken over from Astralin is an older and more traditional building. The main heat sources are the fireplaces strategically placed throughout the building -- a large one in the living space, a smaller one in the kitchen along with a wood-burning stove, and another large central one upstairs to help heat the bedrooms -- and the geothermal hot springs on the land. With the cold weather and snow on the ground, it's easy to take the food from the fridge and leave it outside in a locked box away from wild animals, but aside from the inconvenience of resorting to the candles and lanterns that were stockpiled in the basement, the farmhouse itself survives relatively unscathed!

Therefore, not long after the blast, Kotone sends a video message over the (charm) network inviting anyone who wants to take shelter from the cold, or even just cook some food, to come to Astralin's farmhouse on the edge of town for as long as they want or need.

She won't even make anyone help out on the farm. Probably!

1. Rural Snapshot
Power might go out, but life on the farm doesn't stop for something like that! The old wood stoves in the barn need to be cleaned up and made ready for use to keep the animals warm, and the animals still need to be taken care of. Goats, sheep, cows, chickens (a particularly big and brave one has the tiniest leather collar and a tag that says her name is "Scramble," and her friends Benedict and Sunny aren't far behind. They are Not For Eating (though their eggs are!))

Kotone won't make anyone help her with the farm chores of cleaning the barn, feeding the animals, or generally keeping things up and running, but she definitely won't turn down the help, either, giving pointers so the new folk don't completely muck it up (sometimes literally).

With the snow and general chill, there's not much to do with the crops themselves. Everyone is safe from the fields for now!

2. Potluck and BYOB (chef's recommendation: hot cocoa)
The farmhouse is not the inn -- Kotone has some food prepped and stored, with preserves from the fall harvest one of the key features, but it's not meant to feed the whole town. Thus, Kotone's going to request that anyone coming to stay at the farmhouse bring either raw ingredients or something they've made to share with any other hapless souls. Feel free to use the kitchen to cook, or get some help from someone else with cooking!

The wood-burning stove in the kitchen is perfect for heating up cocoa or wine, and there's room to get close with someone in front of any of the fireplaces. Like, it's encouraged to get close. It's a big farmhouse, but not that big. Make a friend! Share some warmth! The couches are cozy and comfortable, and if someone dozes off, well, Kotone won't be the one waking anyone up.

If someone would prefer to sleep in a bed, there are some bedrooms upstairs! One is, of course, sharing the room with plants. They're benign, normal plants, from potted flowers to hanging vines, but they are everywhere. Kotone herself doesn't have much of a green thumb other than keeping the plants watered and in view of sunlight, but the plants themselves seem to be flourishing throughout the farmhouse either way. It's almost as if someone (Astralin) had used magic to keep them growing strong and healthy, even indoors.

Oh, and speaking of sharing, again, the farmhouse isn't the inn. Expect to be sharing a space with someone else. Maybe a few people! Cozy up and make a new friend. It's better than freezing to death, right?

3. Hot Springs Episode
There are natural hot springs on the farmland that have been developed to mimic a Japanese onsen in places. The air might be cold and dark, but there are candles and lanterns around the springs to light it, and the water is nice and warm, perfect for those chill nights.

There are rules posted -- namely, clean yourself before going to soak -- and while there are separate bathing spaces for genders, Kotone doesn't really care too much about mixed bathing as long as everyone is respectful about it. Others may not be so casual about it, though, so one has to venture across at their own risk!

[ooc: This is a mingle! Feel free to use these prompts as inspiration or make your own. The only request I have is not to completely destroy the farmhouse or harm the animals -- anything else, go wild!]

Comments

[memori3s]

[ It's a good thing that Manjiro doesn't pull because Minato needs a second to get rid of the towel. He uses his free hand to loosen it and set it on the edge of the water.

He submerges himself in the water up to his neck. The hot chocolate was nice, but yeah. This is way better for getting warm. ]

...maybe the farmhouse was built here because of the hot springs.

[ He's mainly speaking to himself. ]

[invinciblemikey]

(for a moment, only the big eyes are above surface, lightless and hollow and perhaps just a tad creepy, almost doll-like. he's enjoying the embrace of the water, pinkish golden strands floating around him before he decides to float for a moment.)

I don't really know, it was already here when I got here. Shit just pops here, though. You seen a huge ass dojo on your way here? That's my actual home from... Home.

[memori3s]

I don't think so...

[ Minato Arisato: the boy who'll walk right past suspicious coffins at midnight, puddles of blood, and now giant dojos. He's not fazed by Manjiro's hollow gaze, only because he's too busy staring off in the distance trying to remember if he saw the dojo. ]

Why don't you live in the inn...?

[ Frankly Manjiro can live wherever the hell he wants, but Minato finds himself wondering whether there's a specific reason for living at the dojo. ]

[invinciblemikey]

(floating is a little weird, half his body is warm, half of it is suffering from the cold, so after he has his fun with the temperature difference, he finds a spot to rest against and sit.)

I grew up there, all my shit is in there, just as I last seen it. There's the dojo part, and upstairs and to the back there's the living quarters. Why would I not live there?

[memori3s]

[ Manjiro did say things were always popping up in Aldrip, but a whole dojo with all of the items within it materializing with the building? That's definitely a little odd. ]

Oh. ...I guess that's better than the inn then.

[ Growing up in one place -- it's an unfamiliar concept to Minato, shuffled from place to place and person to person as a child. ]

[invinciblemikey]

You gon stay there? People been getting houses and there are people who live here too. Kototan does, at least.

(as far as he knows, either way...)

[memori3s]

Yeah, for now. I don't mind being there.

[ He doesn't see any reason to leave the inn at this time. It's... cozy in its own way, and only getting a little room kind of reminds him of the dorms. ]

The people there are nice.

[ It doesn't mean he has to stay there forever though, so it's good to know there are other options out there. ]

[invinciblemikey]

(he probably wouldn't have minded it either if it weren't for the fact his home provides him with... literally everything. sorrows included, with a late brother's room off limits, and a room belong to his sister, whom he isn't sure is alive.

nobody knows anything. things can be good or bad simultaneously, after all.)

A lot of people here are. Most of them.

[memori3s]

[ "Most of them," says Manjiro, and Minato thinks Manjiro would count among them. ]

Does that make it different then? ...compared to where you came from?

[ Maybe he's prying, but what else are you supposed to do while chilling in a hot spring with someone who'd been a stranger to you until half an hour ago? ]

[invinciblemikey]

I'm a gang leader, dude. Nice is not really what I'm looking at most of the time.

(he wears his uniform quite often, even though he's alone. he's proud of it with every cell of his being, so there's no shyness in the admission. he prefers strong over nice, good over polite.)

[memori3s]

[ Minato, then, would make the worst gang member ever. ]

Right.

[ A pause. ]

Do you have a gang here too...?

[ Or is this a case of gang-less leader? ]

[invinciblemikey]

I had one person from it here, but he's gone. It's just me.

(which, again, it's fine.)

[memori3s]

Oh.

[ So it goes, he supposes. Minato sinks a little deeper into the warm water, now up to his chin. There's a thoughtful expression on his face, pensive, as opposed to troubled. ]

Can you be a gang leader without a gang...?

[ It's a genuine question, maybe a version of one he's been considering too. After having role after role placed in his hands, for the first time there aren't any other paths he's been told to take. ]

[invinciblemikey]

If my people come, I'm still their President. It's a matter of principle. People have vowed me their lives, I can't take that for granted.

(he's not offended, though. it makes sense to ask.

manjiro has always operated like that. he'll take everything - their sorrows, pains, burdens. none of that goes away if they're not here to share it.)

[memori3s]

[ Ah. So that's the sort of person that Manjiro is. ]

...I see.

[ It's a good response, fitting for a leader. That sort of resolve and charisma is the exact sort that inspires others to rally around an individual. ]

You worked hard for them then.

[invinciblemikey]

Since I was eleven. It wouldn't be fair, you know.

(yes, some of us had a colorful childhood.)

[memori3s]

[ What. The only reaction Manjiro gets to that revelation though is a single blink. ]

...yeah. That's true.

[ It's what's expected if people are relying on you. ]

...how old are you now?

[invinciblemikey]

Sixteen.

(he doesn't expect any reaction, truth be told this is actually better than any grand surprise or any big outburst.)

[memori3s]

[ Which means Mikey has five more years of experience than himself. ]

I was in charge of some people too, but only for a year.

[ He falls silent for a moment, pensive. ]

I guess that makes you my senpai.

[invinciblemikey]

(gears turning, and turning, and turning, he's full on confused math lady.gif right now...)

I thought Kototan was in charge of you lot.

[memori3s]

[ Good thing Minato's an expert at giving this explanation by now. ]

She was. But not for me.

[ Um... where to start... ]

I think there were two different versions of our world, one where Kotone was in charge and one where I was. Some things are the same for us, but... some things ended up pretty different.

[ Like, she had a whole social link with Koromaru and he didn't. How is that even fair... ]

...I don't think Kotone existed in my world, and I don't think I existed in Kotone's world.

[invinciblemikey]

(it all sounds really strange. if he knew his own life is surrounded by time-travelling, the one reason he is alive and breathing, it'd be less weird, but as is, he is processing, and what comes out of him is...)

... So you're Kototan, dude version?

[memori3s]

[ Good enough, honestly. ]

I guess so.

[ It's a noncommittal answer, but even he's not quite sure how to explain it either. ]

[invinciblemikey]

You two are really different. It's making me wonder how I'd be if I were a chick.

(his hands go to his titties, but, no, they're just toned titties.)

[memori3s]

[ Minato doesn't comment on what Manjiro's up to and remains unfazed. ]

How?

[ He means how he's different from Kotone, not how Manjiro would be if he were a chick... ]