deercountry | the grand opening of the raccoon room

Entry tags:

the grand opening of the raccoon room

Who: YOU AND YOUR BEST BUDS
What: The Grand Opening of the Raccoon Room
When: October 31st
Where: The Raccoon Room in Cellar Door

Content Warnings: N/A for now

Welcome to the Raccoon Room! Code

You find a green door on a townhouse nestled in the middle of a long, cute cobblestoned street. There's a raccoon logo emblazoned on the door. When you enter, you're greeted by sumptuous green velvet drapery, a marble statue of a familiar looking guy with devil horns on his head, and surly ticket taker (Mako, rather unhappily wearing a Victorian style vampire outfit, including vampire fangs) who will make sure that you're paying your fair share for your ticket. That's either a nice rock, a nice shell, or a beautiful feather. If you don't have anything that's worth the right amount, he'll ask for more, or give you drink tickets if you over paid. Does Mako know what makes a feather beautiful? Who knows. It's all subjective here.

You enter the venue through heavy velvet curtains. The light is dim, there are tables scattered everywhere with plush chairs and flickering candles. It's a large room, but it feels intimate. You find a seat, get a drink, or take a look around.

At 8:00pm sharp, the show begins, with Wu, dressed in his grown, flowering top hat, made by Fern, and an impeccable green tuxedo with tails, a gold cape and fake vampire teeth, takes the mic.

"Welcome, welcome to the Raccoon Room! I'm so, so, so glad that you're all here. Things are dreary and dangerous outside, but in here, sit back, relax, and enjoy yourselves."

And with that, he waves the first performer on.

Throughout the night, you'll see Scorpia and Zari Tarazi sing, Fritter (Wu's raccoon omen) and Pabu the fire ferret perform tricks, and the headliner, Ryan Akagi of Chicken Choice Judy, rock out. Wu comes up between the sets and vamps, makes jokes, and applauds the performers, adding plugs to come talk to him if you want to perform.

Over at the bar, Mako's moved on from taking tickets to making drinks. You can order any old beer, wine, or cocktail, or the Jade Dragon, a speciality absinthe cocktail Mako created for the Raccoon Room.

Feel free to top level, make your own night of it! Your esteemed host will be a bit preoccupied, but this space is for Sleepers to come, enjoy themselves, and mingle.

If your character wants to perform, let Wu know.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, the little guy never does.

[ Bitterness practically drips from those small, muttered words. Mako glances up at the stage where Wu is greeting people, all smiles and energy, and his expression softens slightly. ]

That's partially why Wu made this place. You know that? He was never the little guy, but he has this thing about fairness now that he knows what an unfair place the world is. The Raccoon Room's supposed to be for everyone. He didn't even want to charge for tickets at first.

[ Mako changed his tune on that. ]

Earnest callowness...

[Lysithea murmurs in repetition, obscuring a smile by lifting her mug.]

That's why the two of you are in business together, of course.

[And why they were so well-suited, though she doesn't bother to voice that thought aloud.]

We did that odd ceremony together last month. The bit with the flowers and the burial. I imagine this life suits him more than his previous existence ever did. [She follows Mako's gaze.] I admit I'm having more trouble leaving my burdens behind. ...My flower actually wilted.

But I like... that people can be so satisfied here.

Because I keep his earnest feet on the ground?

[ It's a perfect description of Wu, really. She says it again and Mako looks over at him again, caught for a second in the way he's gesturing, all arms and excitement. He's going to crash hard tomorrow. Mako will probably have to lead the clean-up effort, but that's fine. He'll just ply Wu with brunch and tea and probably rope Raleigh into helping.

After a moment he looks back at Lysithea, his smile falling slightly. ]

...mine's not doing so great, either. The flower.

No?

[Lysithea smiles ruefully.]

We really are too much alike sometimes, aren't we? That's why Wu is good for me. ...And that's why I like to talk to you, because a mirror is occasionally helpful for self-reflection.

What's wrong with yours?

I... just keep feeling guilty about the problems I can't resolve that I'm leaving behind.

This is why feelings are pointless. It makes sense that you're feeling guilty, but it isn't your problem anymore. Thinking it doesn't make it... feel less bad, right?

[ Mako says, only half-believing that anymore. The words ring hollow without the conviction and anger that once filled them. Mako huffs and yanks a bottle down from the shelf behind him. The alcohol collection is a bit sparse right now, and tonight is probably going to wipe out most of their reserves. Oh well.

Lysithea was honest, though, so Mako can match it. His mouth works for a moment, silent while he sorts through words. ]

Guess I just miss home more than I thought I would.

Oh, don't posture. We all know the things we ought to feel and do, but knowing never quite bridges the gap towards the doing, somehow.

[Lysithea responds quite without malice. As somebody who cogitated regularly on the workings of her mind, she is perfectly willing to admit that she is being irrational. The trouble was, one couldn't rationalize oneself out of being irrational.]

If I had to take a step back... I think feeling guilty is the most proximate I can get now to those problems. If I let it go, then -- they'll be gone.

[She allows a lengthy pause as she stares dimly at some point on the ceiling.]

...What are you missing, Mako?

Like, when you stop feeling guilty, you're really letting go?

[ That's an interesting way to think about it. Maybe that's why Mako's been fixating so hard on recreating dishes he remembers from home: maybe they're just threads to grasp, and he thinks if he weaves enough of them together home won't be a distant memory. ]

Does it ever get tiring, being that self-aware?

[ Question, what question. He'll just answer with one of his own. ]

You're avoiding an answer.

[Lysithea purses her lips.]

And what kind of question is that supposed to be? I can't tell if you're complimenting or disparaging me. If I spend a lot of time thinking about my situation, it's because Deerington taught me that if I don't deal with the mental morass of my feelings immediately, they'll manifest as... risen corpses or memory demons or fake houses or something.

[ Mako raises his hands in something like surrender, grimacing at his own words. Why do things always come out wrong? He thought he'd have grown out of that by now. ]

It's a compliment! Thinking like that is a good thing. You just. Think about it a lot. Which is fine. And good. It's... good.

Hrm.

[Lysithea frowns and takes another sip of sweet chocolate.]

...It's probably unhealthy to overthink. But I can't help it.

Don't you ask your self the same kinds of questions, too? Don't we have discussions like this often enough?

[ Stop turning his words back on him, Lysithea. Mako huffs quietly and pushes the glass he was filling towards its requester. ]

All the time. I... spend a lot of time in my own head. Can't not. Everyone has an opinion about you, you know? Whether you want them to or not. You have to know how you're being seen if you're going to get by.

Oh --

[Lysithea is surprised, somehow. Certainly they had spoken before of the constant need to maintain appearances. Of the need to be strong(er than anyone else), to claim what others denied them, to never betray weakness or hesitation.

But she had been speaking of something quite different and this was how her words had been reflected in Mako's mind. Perhaps this weighed more heavily on him than she knew.]

I would say... that I don't give a penny for what others think about me. But that's not really true.

It's only the image I like to maintain.

Still... it has struck me, in the past, that perhaps nobody thinks about me as much as I think about me.

...you're probably right. Everybody's selfish, right?

[ He sucks in a breath, leaning on the shining surface of the bar with a small frown tugging at his mouth. ]

It's... I don't know why. Maybe everybody thinks like this and we're all stuck in our own heads trying to make a good impression.

I would wager that might be the case.

[She shakes her head gently.]

When I first came to Deerington, do you know what I thought? 'How annoying that nobody here has figured this out yet. I'll deal with this.' So really, you know... I'm not as self-aware as you think I am.

I spent so much time worrying about being perceived as weak or young or ineffective I really developed the wrong image of myself altogether. It would have been much healthier if I had spent half that time reflecting on what I actually wanted for myself.

Are you in your own head still? Here?

Yeah. All the time. Less... around you. And Wu.

[ Mako risks a smile, a tentative thing that falls a few moments after he puts it there. ]

I don't know, though. You helped me figure out what was going on as much as anybody could. Don't know what I think about the fact that we were pretty much right, but... I only figured that out because of what you told me, so. Maybe you did deal with it as much as anyone could.

Hrm.

[Lysithea lifts the chocolate to her lips and downs the rest of it in one smooth gulp before responding. The wholly undetectable alcohol is perhaps emboldening her. And Lysithea is already very bold.]

Listen to me for one minute, Mako.

Everybody likes you. [She forestalls any complaints with a wave of her hand.] You observe that I am perceptive in regards to human nature. I needed to be - I was a battlefield strategist, you understand. Lives depended on my ability to assess skills, personalities, and synergy.

So believe me when I say that you are near-universally appreciated in Trench.

I am not universally liked. I am brisk and often impatient and sometimes offend. I'm fine with that, by the way. But I should imagine that if you asked the Sleepers to provide a list of people they most respect, you would be surprised to find how often your name appears. It is not normal, by the way, for dozens of people to immediately leap at an offer for training. They wouldn't go for it if it was somebody else.

Anyway...

[She leans back and shakes her head.]

That's not to say you can't still worry about it. Heaven knows I'll never overcome my own insecurities. But you should at least know.

[ She is right to forestall that complaint because Mako is about to protest hard. He lets himself be silenced, bites down on kind of an exaggeration, don't you think, wondering at the words themselves.

Near-universally appreciated?

It's such an echo of what Ange has been saying that for a second Mako just kind of stops short, staring at Lysithea like she's speaking another language entirely, because that's—

That's Bolin's thing, being loved like that. Bolin is the entertainer, the funny one, the one people seek out. Mako is...

He can't complete the sentence, even in his own head.

It would have been easy, once. He knew his role, he knew what was needed of him and he made sure to be as good at it as he possibly could be, because Bolin was depending on him to keep them both alive. Mako slipped into that role like an actor, building up tougher and tougher armor until nobody who looked at him would think anything but "better not mess with that kid."

A battlefield strategist. Lysithea is remarkably sharp. It's why Mako trusts her opinions in the first place: she sees the world with a sort of clarity that others strive for years to try and learn.

Maybe, if he were feeling anchored and stronger in this new version of himself, this soft molted skin that has come from under the shell, he could agree.

But Mako shifts uncomfortably, feeling rather like Lysithea has seen past his clothes and his skin to the shape of his bones, and not really liking it. He hunches his shoulders like a ward, shrinking into the ridiculous cape Wu made him wear. ]

It's not an insecurity if it's just the way the world works. People appreciate me because I make sure everyone's eating, because if I don't it was pretty likely we all would've starved. You give people something valuable, they appreciate you. That's... what people do.

You're a strategist. You should know that.

And how, exactly, does that diminish the fact that they do appreciate you?

[Lysithea looks suitably unconvinced.]

Does everyone need to come to know you on an intimate basis and decide that your personality is suitably pleasing? Surely that is both impossible and unreasonable. Does it not matter that you have shown the leadership necessary to keep people safe? That you have the foresight and the planning to see the dangers ahead? That you have compassion and care for those around you, even when most of them are strangers?

What I know... is that people will rally around those they trust.

Our team in the presence of the Professor took on tasks far beyond what mere students ought to face. Without... we scattered to the four winds in less than a day.

People need a focal point. Someone with a set of skills difficult to define, but obvious when observed. In the war academy, we called it 'Authority,' though perhaps it was a poor moniker. It was possible to train, but... there are those who are naturally talented and those who are not.

[Lysithea had it, to a certain extent. It was why she was effective at bossing people around. But there were different ways to yield authority. Claude was charismatic, Dimitri was the consummate knight, Hubert terrified his battalions...

Mako, she realizes for the first time, has a knack for leadership somewhat like the Professor.]

You can't—

[ Be comparing me to someone that important, Mako almost says, but she is, so it's a pointless thing to say.

Why is he so uncomfortable with the idea, anyway? Doesn't he want to be respected? Hasn't he wanted that his whole life: to finally be the kind of person who matters, who people listen to? To be able to actually help? What's wrong with that? Just that it's new?

He has to think about it more, but he can't just keep telling Lysithea she's wrong, not when she's clearly thought about this. He ducks his head, letting out a slow breath that makes his nostrils flare. ]

I didn't think about it like that, I guess. It's... I'm not used to thinking about myself that way.

I know.

That's why I'm saying it now.

[Lysithea smiles pleasantly, her cheeks slightly rosy as she leans in.]

The absolute worst thing in the world... is a chocolate chip that turns out to be a raisin. The second worst thing in the world is not living up to potential. Not because you didn't try - but because you never knew it was there in the first place.

[...is she slightly tipsy]

Well...

Think about it some more, Mako. I'll stop bothering you. ...After a bit more hot cocoa, perhaps.

[that wasn't hot cocoa]

You're not bothering me.

[ An automatic but true response, but Mako does offer Lysithea a sort of weak smile as he reaches for her glass to top it up. ]

Just... giving me a lot to think about. Let us know what you think about the show.

I'm sure it will be stellar.

[says Lysithea, who has never described anything as stellar in the past apart from possibly the ancient spell tome with the heavily guarded inscription of Hades. She beams at Mako as she is handed more alcoholic chocolate.

The rest of the night proceeds very nicely from there.]

((I think we're good here, thanks for the thread!!))

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the grand opening of the raccoon room

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