expiationlogs | (OPEN MINGLE) Ain't no party like an Aldrip party

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(OPEN MINGLE) Ain't no party like an Aldrip party

Who: The Chosen
Where: Aldrip inn
What: Open mingle log (with mod approval)!
Warnings: Nothing major anticipated, other than light (underaged) drinking and comic mischief, but PM me if any warn-worthy things happen and I can update this space.

Feel free to use this log as a completely open mingle for all characters new and old! There will be a few prompts below the cut, but you're free mess around with them or come up with your own ideas for toplevels, and tag around as you please.

Nestled in the heart of the quaint town of Aldrip, the inn, formally known as The Inn, has housed the Chosen of Expiation since their initial arrival. In spite of the occasional influx of new Chosen, they've dedicatedly provided rooms, food and drink, and basic amenities without buckling—even during the food shortages and other issues that have plagued the town. Of course, the Chosen have been no slouches themselves, repaying the hospitality with mercenary work, hunting and fishing, cooking, completing odd jobs, and much more to help bolster the economy. Even those, er, less magnanimous sorts have benefitted from this give-and-take, although there are those that prefer their living space to be a bit more solitary (or perhaps cave-ier) that might not have noticed as much.

In the days to follow, most won't be able to recount exactly how The Party started. The true story is that one particular new arrival, after having spent a day or two scouting the area out and, deciding it's chill enough, opted to do what he does best: be a public menace. What is known is that rounds of drinks start getting ordered and handed out, and soon platters of cheese, fresh bread, and other victuals make the rounds as well, appearing on tables that quickly begin filling with people. Somehow, someway, local musicians are pulled in to play and given a striking, energetic setlist to set the tone. The word gets out—party at the inn!

And boom: just like that, it's a party, and everyone's invited.

Early on, the offerings are relatively meager. The inn's food stores aren't completely bottomless after the shortages, to say the least, and there are a sight more Chosen (and local residents who also join in on the fun) than there is free food to toss at them. The drinks range from milk, water and juice to scuzzy, pisswater beer, which is a bit more plentiful. As the tavern portion of the inn fills with people, the music relatively ambient so that you can still hear the people at the table next to you talking, others bring their own food and drink, adding to the options on offer.

Others bring things like cards to play with, or dice and coins to gamble with, and set up spaces at tables toward the back. There's even an amateur fortune teller, heavy emphasis on amateur. Maybe you've got some party games of your own in mind, or you're a natural-born performer and want to hit the stage. Maybe you'd rather just grab a pint and lurk in the corner doing some people-watching. Or maybe you're just hungry and want to stuff a bunch of cheese in your pockets for later. Either way, there's something here for everyone.

As evening wears on, the peaceful inn party blossoms into a proper block bash. Even if you're not the partygoing sort, it'd be a little difficult to ignore the sheer ruckus going on downstairs while you attempt to read quietly in your room. The music, chatter and laughter carries on down the street, attracting even more people. By this point, it seems as if the food and drinks have multiplied, thanks mostly in part to others showing up with their own offerings, Chosen and local alike. It's getting rowdy in a few places—the music's louder and livelier, people are dancing and singing, and the gambling/party games' stakes seem to just keep climbing higher and higher. It's a good time all around. If you're not the quiet, loner type, anyway.

Thinking of sitting this one out? Think again: somebody starts going around to all the rooms and knocking on the doors, calling out to come join the fun. By the time you get to the door, though, whoever's up here disturbing the peace is gone, but maybe you can track them down by their voice at some point and wring their neck later.

In addition to the escalating merriment, all this imbibing also has the added benefit of loosening a few lips. Now's your chance to pick up the latest Aldrip gossip! You might even hear tell of a few pesky monsters that need slaying, so if you want to jump on that bounty before anyone else gets to it, you better act quickly. (But maybe don't run out into the woods in the middle of the night to fight monsters while inebriated... or do, nobody's stopping you.)

Late into the night, the festivities are still going, and they're... messy. Fortunately the drinks and provisions seem to have run to the bottom of the barrel, so those that've been partying hard for hours are getting cut off whether they like it or not. The band's getting tired, the tempo of the music fluctuating. Some people might like to go to bed sometime soon, so maybe now it's time for the voices of reason to tell those still dancing on top of the tables to get down. And why is there a chicken in here? ...And oh no, somebody tell those guys to take that swordfight outside!! Yeeaaahh, maybe it's about time to shut this production down.

Or maybe not. Let the good times roll until the sun comes up! That's up to you.

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Yeah, same here.

[It's so strange. She'd thought she was special, unique and different. The only one who'd had that experience, the only one who could understand. She'd asked Dazai once if he'd thought that was wrong of her, to be able to change her face, change her "true self" whenever she wanted.

She glances up at him and gives him another smile, reaching to gently pat his knee at that look of his. Maybe it was the same for him, maybe it wasn't. But either way, it's nice not to be alone, she decides.]

Theo was my... he called himself my attendant. He called me his "honored guest." [Her voice reflects a little of her amusement at that, tinged with a nostalgic bittersweetness.] He was my friend, though. Igor did all of the fusions, but Theo cared about me.

[The laugh that leaves him is sharp, because it's sudden and breaks its way out of him in the same way it breaks through his brief melancholic brooding, and he lays his hand over hers.]

Mine started out as a pair of vicious twins who liked to smack me with police batons and kick me into the Velvet Room. Justine and Caroline. They later merged into Lavenza. ...that part's kind of a long story.

[She can't help but laugh a little herself, more in disbelief than any real amusement. Theo would never. If a pair of twins with police batons had tried to kick her in, she probably just wouldn't go at all. Or try to walk in before they could hit her, one of the two.]

Theo could tell me the exact temperature of anything around us. He was really proud of that.

[She misses him, plain and simple. She knows she'll never see him again -- her contract with him is over, he'd intimated as much during their last meeting together in her room, but... she can still miss him. A little huff of a sigh escapes through her nose as her fingertips lightly tighten against his knee.]

Was it hard...? Being a leader?

[His mouth forms a little "o" at the mention of Theo's thermostat abilities, but it's the question that makes him curl inward just slightly. His hand drops from his hair, but he folds his knee a little closer to himself, rubbing his thumb over the back of Kotone's knuckles.]

[Was it hard? Was it hard? He almost wants to laugh at it. He was sixteen, discarded by his parents and thrown into a city he'd only ever heard of but never seen, lost and thrown into a parallel world his first day of school. Scolded for being late, never once bothering to try and explain that he and Ryuji could have died. He made friends he wouldn't trade for the world, but they saw him as this infallible pillar of strength and ability that he felt so disconnected from sometimes he laid awake at night staring at the ceiling trying to figure out how he'd gotten here. The plan for the interrogation room had been cumulative, and he'd agreed, but...]

[He closes his eyes and sees empty syringes, over-shined shoes under too-pressed slacks, felt the bruising all over again. He flinches, opening his eyes to clear the sight, and draws in a startled gasp of breath, squeezing her hand. His voice is very small.]

Every day.

[She can't begin to guess what he's been through, but she watches his face quietly and without judgement, searching for any of those minute shifts that might indicate what he's thinking about; what he's going through. She can recognize the way he curls in as something defensive, recognize the way he closes his eyes as being lost in a memory. It hurts her hand a little when he squeezes it, but she doesn't make a sound or do anything other than apply equal pressure to his knee in something she hopes is stabilizing.

His voice is so soft and so small that her heart twists painfully in her chest. She isn't sure if it's sobering or heartening to know that whatever he's been through, it was probably just as difficult as what she'd gone through. Beneath his confidence which she's almost certain must be, at least in part, bravado, he's just a boy.]

Hey. [Her voice is soft, matching his in volume if not in tone. She wiggles her fingers a little, trying to turn her hand over to interlace their fingers, give him something better to hold onto. Contrary to the way he's curled in on himself, her posture is open, her ankles tucked in close to her body and free hand resting in her lap; her expression is as soft as her voice as her eyes flit across his face.] You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. But I'm here to listen if you do.

[It's reflexive, then, the way he sits more upright and flashes a smile, shaking his head.] Oh-- nah, it. It's fine. I mean, I appreciate it.

[His free hand goes to the back of his neck, but the one attached to Kotone's curls their fingers together in a way that suggests it was Not Fine, but she probably got it. Maybe? He didn't know if he wanted to hope she understood-- it's hard being a kid and no one understands. He rubs at the base of his neck, fidgeting with his hair, and laughs softly.] Wow, my hair's getting kinda long. Um-- it. Talking about any of why it's hard for me to be a leader while still-kinda-drunk is a really bad idea, but. Rain check, maybe. [He will not rain check. She will have to drag it out of him, honestly.]

[Yeah bud, she gets it. This time, she's the one rubbing her thumb along the backs of his knuckles, even as her smile turns a little wry. It's something she'd say if Shinji asked if something were wrong, honestly.]

If you say so. Just remember that I'm not part of your team, so you don't have to... you know.

[She bounces their joined hands together against his knee, hoping he gets it. He doesn't have to put on a brave face for her, because it isn't like she's expecting him to see her through a difficult situation. Maybe it hadn't felt like that for him, but then again, maybe it did.]

Is anyone from your team here? I'll keep an eye out for them.

[Kotone one of these days you're going to be presented with a very distraught teenage boy who can no longer keep a brave meme face with all the shit he's put up with, and what then. He just chuckles again, nodding as he self-consciously rubs at the back of his neck some more. It's not that he doesn't want to confide in anyone, certainly not that he doesn't trust, that he thinks no one will care. It's that he's walked them backward into Hell so many times with a confident flick of his tailcoat that he doesn't know what it would do to them to see him less than perfect. He can't do it to them.]

[Maybe it's why Akechi and Sumire are so important to him. He can unpack that another day. Speaking of them, though--]

Goro Akechi-- grouchy old man in an eighteen year old's body, kinda..., mousy-brown hair and red eyes, and Sumire Yoshizawa, a tiny angel with red hair and red eyes who can and will beat anyone in a dance-off. They're both-- [His expression twists, and he curls his knees a little closer to himself, suddenly overwhelmed with fondness.] They're so important to me.

Edited 2023-04-26 22:04 (UTC)

[Ah, the need to be the infallible leader, solver of all problems. She watches his face, that little awkward gesture, and decides: yeah. It must have been tough.

So the easier topic will probably be a welcome relief instead of trying to push about what being a leader had been like. Her eyebrows quirk, a little suspicion that she'd had falling neatly into place. Ah, of course Akechi had known so much about Jung and coached it in such language. She files that information away, nodding and smiling.]

We've met. She introduced herself to me as Violet -- I guess that's one of the code names you talked about, right? She shared some of the food she cooked with me. And I've hung out with Akechi-san a couple of times. I helped him make some beef stew, and I brought him lunch a couple days ago.

[He moves his hand, settling it atop his other knee and drumming his fingers over the fabric of his jeans.]

Oh-- yeah. She's Violet, I'm Joker. Akechi's Crow. [His face wrinkles up with a grin.] You got him to cook? He sucks at it, I'm surprised he let you. Sumire..., she can be a little shy, at first, I hope she won't mind I gave you her name.

She said she preferred Violet. There's some kind of history there, huh?

[It's starting to hurt her shoulder to keep their joined hands on his knee, so she shifts, not letting go of his hand, but letting it fall to her lap instead where it's more comfortable.]

I won't ask you to tell me what it is, don't worry. If she wants to, she can tell me herself.

[But Akechi... eh. He can handle it. Her nose wrinkles a little with her mischievous giggle.]

His attempt burned black. I was able to walk him through my process and had him help me chop the vegetables. He was pretty good at that part, at least! He's been here about as long as I have, so I consider him one of my friends.

[That feeling almost certainly isn't mutual, but she has a sense that it would take a lot for him to see someone as a friend. She'll keep chipping away at that barrier of his until he lets her in.]

[He startles a little when she shifts, realizing that it must be a weird angle and giving her an apologetic grimace. He shakes his head, just briefly, but it's a sharp enough gesture that his curls bounce.] No, definitely-- it's her story to tell. She's been through a lot, I really admire her energy.

[And then he-- tries. To not laugh, but he snorts and then barks, dissolving into brief peals of boyish laughter directed at his knees.] Ohh..., oh, Kotone, bless your patience. He's good with knives, definitely. [He leans sideways a little, bumping into her shoulder.] ...thank you, for being around him. He's fucking awful about letting people befriend him.

Mmhm.

[Something to be aware of, but not something to even hint that she knows anything about to Violet herself. It's about trust.

His laughter is infectious, and she laughs a little herself at the use of her first name. Oh, is that the basis they're on, now?] I've noticed, but don't worry. Someday, he'll figure out that those cold glares of his won't work on me.

[She forms her face into a rather good impression of one of Akechi's dead-eyed stares, the one that screams you're such a waste of time, leave me alone -- and then breaks it with an even louder laugh.]

[He forgets to not just leap directly into Friendly with-- she's not a Thief, but she's an honorary one. Zenkichi was the only one he never called by his first name, and that's because the man is in his forties and could be his father. His laughter peters off into chuckling, only to break back out into honest laughter when she mimics one of Akechi's glares.]

That was good, oh no! He would be so mad.

I'll have to try it on him sometime.

[She giggles a little more, bouncing his hand a little on her thigh. It's-- weird, knowing there was a whole other group out there, a group with powers like her own, a guy who was able to change his Persona at will and had been a guest of the Velvet Room. She'll have to tell Shinjiro about all of this. After the party, of course -- she wants him to have the chance to have fun before he starts thinking about all of this kind of stuff.]

Thanks for trusting me. [She bounces his hand again, smile turning a little impish.] People probably think we're doing something totally different up here, you know.

You're lucky he has more respect for women than most people I know, or he might bite you. He might bite you anyway, hard to say.

[His grin is easy, and a little crooked, and he nods-- up until she suggests people think they're doing something else. His face abruptly sears pink, and he zeroes in to stare at his kneecaps.] ...likely, yeah. Not to say I'm not interested, you're real pretty, but. Definitely Not The Time. [He swerves so erratically between Suave and Absolute Buffoon.]

He can try.

[Woe to him if he does try. It's not that she can't take care of herself, but she's pretty sure there'd be a line of people who'd want to have words with him for something like that.

She laughs aloud at his flush and lets go of his hand to stretch her arms over her head.]

Thanks for the compliment. I'll keep that in mind.

[She tosses a wink at him, just because seeing him blush is funny.]

[Akira's true weakness is cute girls. He reclaims his hand and clasps both of them together behind his head at the base of his neck, wheezing softly and folding forward until his forehead is against his knees.]

Well, if we leave fast enough at least we'll only have to deny a quickie?

Let people talk. I don't care about stuff like that.

[She pushes herself to her feet, bouncing a little on her toes to wake her legs back up after sitting still for so long. They're presumably the same age, but somehow, she feels like his upperclassman -- and giggles as she ruffles his hair before he can stand up.]

Don't tell anyone else about my Personas, okay? I just... don't want to have to explain it to anyone who doesn't already know.

[They'd have so many questions, and she doesn't want to have to sit through someone interrogating her, even if it's just out of curiosity. Ugh, how exhausting.]

Edited 2023-04-26 23:41 (UTC)

[He laughs softly, not-quite flinching at the hair ruffle. His hair looks absolutely no different-- but he reaches up to un-ruffle it anyway as he goes to stand up. He'd forgotten how small she was, so it leads to him offering her an easy smile as he moves to slide his hands into his pockets.]

Your secret's safe with me. I probably shouldn't have told you about Sumire and Akechi, honestly-- Akechi, at least, is probably gonna be pissed I said anything. [A beat.] ...but he's kind of always pissed, so that's fine.

[Giving her a careful once over, he takes two steps forward, directly into her personal space, and cranes himself over her, similarly to how he did on the dance floor.] ...so, hey.

Thanks. I won't tell them.

[That's on Akira to tell them, if he wants. She has no reason to bring it up unless they do, first. A grin again at the assessment of Akechi -- yeah, he's right -- but then she blinks when he's back in her personal space, glancing up at him without losing her smile.]

Hey. Looking for another dance?

[A slow smile spreads across his face, and he dips his head just further enough to put his lips between her eyebrows.] Nah. I think I'd fall over and be super unable to get back up.

[Her eyes cross a little when he kisses her forehead, and -- finally, for the first time tonight, she properly blushes, pink heat rising to her cheeks as she blinks at him and smiles. Oh, he really is smooth, isn't he?]

Trying to steal my heart, Mister Phantom Thief? [she teases, eyes sparkling with the sudden rush of emotion from someone kissing her forehead. Impulsively, she plants a hand in the center of his chest and pushes herself up on her toes, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek.]

Well, if you're feeling up to another dance later, you know where I'll be.

[His whole posture pinches like the outer corners of his eyes with the way he grins. He loops one arm carefully around her waist when she stands on her toes, tipping his head to the side to bump their noses together before letting her go.] Maybe I am.

[A nod, and he looks over at the door.] I might be partied out, I feel like I could drop dead right about now.

Hm~m. Too bad. I was gonna ask if you wanted to give them something to talk about before you died.

[She's mostly joking, her own way of getting back at his brazen response to stealing her heart; she steps back and clasps her hands behind her back as she grins up at him. It's getting late, and she's getting tired herself, but-- there are still people to talk to downstairs, and she wants to walk home with Shinji, assuming he hasn't already left.]

Drink some water before you go to sleep, okay?

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