TWAT club meeting mingle

[laserguy]

Who: Scott Summers and members of TWAT (Teenagers With Abilities and Talents) Club. Or any teenager that just stops by really.
Where: Roof of the club building
What: Teenagers with abilities or maybe no real abilities hanging out on the rooftop and eating food. Talking. Doing club stuff.
Warnings: Probably none.


[Maybe you're already part of TWAT club and read the message that Scott sent out to everyone, basically stating that they're having a meeting this Saturday to just hang out and meet new members. Or you saw one of the flyers around town that mentioned about having a meeting. Either way, the meeting is held at the rooftop of the club building, so just come. No food or anything required. He's a good leader like that, yeah. Definitely.]

before the meeting;
[Why did you come early, god.

Well, anyone that is one of those people that like to come early to events, Scott's putting you to work. Maybe it's just helping getting the food out on the tables, or bringing up chairs or tables up to the rooftop. Either way, work needs to be done and setup is still in progress, so pair up with other TWAT members or whatever to get things ready. Thanks, Scott appreciates it. Probably.

Also, if you have your own food or brought a game of some sort, that's cool. He definitely isn't going to say no. Go set that up.]

just hanging out;
[Once the meeting starts and Scott gives some basic speech and welcoming new people to TWAT Club (in which he wasn't nervous at all shut up), people are more than welcome to just eat the pretty decent spread laid out in the tables. Stuff like chips, pizza, rice balls, ramen, probably some mixture of American and Japanese food because he's him and his girlfriend is Kotone, so yeah. There's also a little sign or note in front of the tables that states 'provided by cooking club, so join us. ✨'

Since this is a place filled with teenagers and abilities... Scott probably has encouraged people to show off their powers a little. JUST DON'T BLOW SOMETHING UP it's okay, he's talking about himself too. Of course, he's not forcing anyone to show off their powers and everything, but he sort of hopes people are feeling more comfortable to do so. That is the purpose of his club and everything.

There's also a random cornhole game set up. Don't ask.]

after club;
[Feel like being a nice person and help clean up? Nice. Scott isn't forcing anyone to stay after to do so, but he appreciates the help. It's mostly just taking tables down and clearing out the trash. Anyone that stays can probably take home some of the leftovers. So, that's a nice bonus.

Maybe you just want to sit on the ground and enjoy the evening a little. He's not judging.]

[ooc: TWAT mingle log! Please feel free to post your own top levels and tag each other. :> If your character would bring food or set something up, go right ahead. The more the better, right? Also your character doesn't need to be part of TWAT to join, Scott will just sort of let any teenager in. 'Teenager' being anyone that doesn't look too much like an oldie--]

Comments

[izanagis]

[Yu unfolds a bit at this point, putting his hands on the floor just a little bit behind him, leaning back to look outward and upward. The club building's resemblance to similar places back home should be expected, but it still feels...sort of uncanny, in a way. Especially when paired with the city around them.

Minato's smile encourages his own, coupled with a soft huff of laugh.]

It's always the ass, isn't it.

[#JustTeenBoyHumor, I guess.

A pause. He takes a moment just to feel the solidity of the roof under his hands, the nostalgic feeling of sitting here like this. Did Gekkoukan have a building like this...? He doesn't remember seeing it when they visited the school, but Kotone coordinated this place, so...it had to come from somewhere, right?

Rather than asking, though, he leans over until he can gently nudge Minato with his shoulder.]

I think talking to someone you know should count for something too, though.

[memori3s]

Yeah. Maybe he'll get more creative someday.

[ #JustTeenBoyHumor indeed. Sorry Scott...

Minato blinks as Yu nudges him with his shoulder. The physical contact is grounding, a reminder that there's a here and now. It's strange. There's no SEES, no Dark Hour, no impending Fall. There's no need to deepen his relationships with others for improving his ability to fuse Personas.

Here, he sits with Yu simply out of a desire for connection. Even if he'd already learned the importance of doing so, putting it into practice still feels a little unnatural, a little awkward sometimes.

Saying hello and introducing oneself to another person can be a simple task. It's what comes afterwards that's challenging, maintaining that connection instead of allowing it to slip through one's fingers like sand.

There's a distant look in his eyes as he considers all of this, though Minato quickly recovers and leans a bit against Yu in return, tacitly asking whether the other is comfortable with that physical contact. ]

I guess so.

[ It should count for something, given that he doesn't actually know that much about Yu. ]

...maybe you could count. I don't think we really know much about each other.

[ Knowing the other is a Wildcard is insightful, but other than that? Minato can't say he really knows anything about Yu. ]

[izanagis]

[Narrator: he never got more creative.

Yu isn't the type to shy away from physical contact; that much shows in the moment, as he doesn't shy away from it, remaining shoulder-to-shoulder as Minato leans in. It's kind of nice, in a way, but it reminds him that he doesn't actually know as much about Minato as he sort of thinks he does. Just because you share a power doesn't mean you know about them.]

That's true, actually. We could change that.

[How far they've come. At least, in Yu's case -- he's such a far cry from the reticent boy who kept people at arm's length that he may as well be a different person. This is a bond that serves no practical purpose, not in the way they've served in the past. The Fool arcana is something he's already intimately well acquainted with.

And yet...he finds he still wants to.]

Take turns asking questions, maybe? Like...what clubs did you do?, as an example.

[memori3s]

[ Yu doesn't shift away. Minato takes it as the other teen accepting the contact. He settles against Yu, humming thoughtfully. They can play a little game of of 20 Questions. Why not. ]

There were a few.

[ Minato lifts a hand, fingers curled into a fist. He straightens his index finger before speaking again. ]

I think kendo club was one of the first ones I joined. ...I thought it might help with practicing sword skills I'd need for Tartarus.

[ Next is his thumb, and after that his middle finger. ]

Art club... sewing club...

[ Minato pauses, glancing over his shoulder at Yu with a puzzled expression. ]

...Student Council wasn't really a club, but it felt like one sometimes.

[ Man. Now that he's thinking about it, he really was running around like a headless chicken during after-school hours. ]

[izanagis]

Kendo? I'm kind of jealous. Yasogami didn't offer it.

[A little smile; if he's serious about that, it's not in an ill-intended way at all. It really would have been nice, though -- he only had the Midnight Channel to help him with sword skills. Student Council, too, though...come to think of it, he never got involved with that, did he? They didn't actually know any upperclassmen.]

It sounds like you kept yourself pretty busy.

[The look he gives here is somewhat knowing -- maybe it's just the way of people like them to try to do everything they could. He doesn't ask why, even though the question is on his mind. He knows the answer for himself, at least.]

[memori3s]

[ No kendo club? That comes as a bit of a surprise to Minato. On the other hand, given that Inaba was a small town, maybe there just wouldn't be enough students to form that club.

Minato glances down at his lap. It does sound like quite a bit when he lists it all out. ]

...it's just -- other students asked me to join. I didn't see any reason to say no.

[ Perhaps if Yu were speaking with Kotone, his line of thinking may be correct. She seems the sort to Minato, the kind of person with a zest for life, intent on trying out every opportunity offered to them. Minato, on the other hand, seemed to find himself getting pulled along like a dried leaf on the surface of a meandering stream. ]

A lot of them were connected to my Social Links, so... maybe I didn't really have a choice.

[ Mingle or die, apparently. ]

[izanagis]

[Yu makes a small, thoughtful sound. Minato seems the type to drift along like that, to go along with things just because there doesn't seem to be a reason not to. Yu might have been a little like that, too, if things had been different. He had gone to Inaba knowing there would be a time limit, knowing that he had to do all the things he needed --wanted?-- to do within the year...at first, he had gone along with things out of obligation. It's just...

Things became more than that.]

"Didn't have a choice?" [He tilts his head. That does sound more like obligation.] Did you not like them?

[memori3s]

No, that's not it.

[ Minato's quick to clear up that misunderstanding. In fact, he liked all of them quite a bit. He liked all of them so much that he'd shouldered every single one of their troubles. And he'd treasured every one, recalling their voices as he stared death in the eye.

Minato Arisato doesn't think he's ever hated or disliked a single person.

A small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. ]

...no, I liked them.

[ He'd loved every one of them, in one shape or form. ]

I don't think I would have discovered that without external encouragement though.

[ It's only after he'd fallen into each person's orbit where he realized each person was their very own planet. He'd observed them, content -- satellite wordlessly mapping out everything wondrous about them. ]

[izanagis]

[The softness of that expression is striking, memorable; Yu commits it to his impression of Minato as a whole, another puzzle piece falling into place. At the same time, he can't help mirroring the expression, a bit. Did he feel any differently? He thinks back to how hard, how desperately hard, he tried to keep them all out. At arm's length. Was it Nanako's innocent smile that had done him in? Yosuke's arm around his shoulder? That first moment when his team uttered the word together?

...

It doesn't matter, in the end. The result is the same.]

I think I know what you mean, [he says at last, soft, thoughtful.] ... It took me a while to understand what my bonds meant to me.

[My friends are my strength. He never would have realized that, if not for the power they both have.]

[memori3s]

[ It took Minato awhile to understand too. Yu gets it. Minato gets it. The fact that he doesn't need to elaborate when it comes to Yu is nice. ]

Yeah. It's something you don't realize until you see you really needed it.

[ Friendship is easily overlooked sometimes. It's not particularly noteworthy until a person reaches their lowest point and needs a hand to grab onto them, to pull them through whatever trials they had to face.

Minato gently nudges Yu's shoulder with his own. ]

Your turn.

[ It's only fair that they have an equal exchange of information. Surely someone like Yu found himself in his own share of school clubs? ]

[izanagis]

[Yu nods, his expression soft.] I thought I was better off without it, before.

[Before the contract with Igor. Before Izanami awakened his power. Before Inaba changed everything. He's grateful for it, in the end. He had never really faced how lonely he was, but the contrasting before and after is so stark, he can't help but realize it. It may have been easier, but the difference now is incredible.

Now...he couldn't possibly say he was better off.]

Basketball and drama, [he says easily, that same fondness still in his smile.] Strength and Sun. ... I sort of wish I'd been able to do Student Council, though. It sounds fun.

["""Fun???""" Nerd.]

[memori3s]

[ Minato doesn't think he had any hints about Yu being in drama club, but basketball club? Yeah, he could probably do pretty well there with that height of his. And while Minato doesn't have the faintest idea on which specific people Yu met, he thinks he has a decent idea based on the Arcanas alone. ]

I don't know if I'd call it "fun"...

[ Minato glances down at his feet with a thoughtful expression. ]

...I'm not really sure I contributed much. I guess I was just there in case Kirijo-senpai needed help with something.

[ He'd never had a formal role assigned to him after all, acting more like an auxiliary member to the group. On the other hand, who knows what kinds of trouble Odagiri would have landed in without him.

He glances at Yu now, canting his head a bit at the other. ]

You were a second year, right? Maybe whenever you get home you can try joining Student Council.

[izanagis]

That's alright, too.

[Sometimes just being there is enough...right? It has to be. He wonders if Minato has had similar experiences in that regard -- sitting in the quiet with someone while they open themselves up like a puzzle box. Waiting for them to be ready to share.

... It's not just other people that open up, though. Not anymore. A small smile tugs at his expression when Minato offers that encouragement. He never would have considered it, before, not with his parents' work and the resulting transience of his own life. The fact that he's more willing, now, to take on things like that, even if there's no guarantee they'll last...it speaks to the impact that Inaba has had on him -- and Aldrip, too, probably.]

Maybe I will.

[He really means that.

Laughter and commotion erupts on the other side of the roof; looking at it, he's being waved over by some of the other people in the club. Friends. Teammates, in a sense. He tips his head in Minato's direction for a moment.]

I'd better go. [But,] ...it was really good talking to you, Minato.