Birthday Party

[peripheries]

Who: Paul Atreides and all his CR
What: Throwing everyone’s favorite Duke a surprise birthday party
When: Forwarded dated to April 1st
Where: Bone House in Gaze

Content Warnings: Drinking, underage drinking, drugs (both fictional and not), drawings of space worms, skeletons, will add further warnings if necessary



When you arrive at the house in Gaze, (affectionately known as Bone House), a skeleton will open the door and offer to take your coat if you have one. No need to take your shoes off or anything!

The large house has been decorated with black streamers and confetti. In the entryway and hung on the railing to the second floor that overlooks the entrance to the great room are large banners that say “HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL” (though one looks like it used to say “Jaune” but was just painted over? Whatever).

In the Living Room, there is a large board and various colored markers for people to write messages to the birthday boy. There is also a table full of bottled water and various couches, chairs, and beanbags to collapse into if the party gets to be too much and one needs a quiet place to rest or a place to chill if you’ve imbibed too much… well, whatever you had.

It is also where all the food and drinks are.

There’s an extremely large charcuterie board with the usual meats, cheeses, and olives as well as an extremely eccentric collection of snacks ranging from individual sized Cheez-it bags, to humungous bags of Doritos and salty chips, as well as nearly every kind of Oreo one can imagine.

There are also various cakes, all angel food. Some are misshapen, some have an attempt at being frosted with whipped cream and fruit, one even says “Happy Birthday Ka-” before that was hastily covered with a bunch of strawberries jammed really close together.

At the island, a skeleton is playing bartender. Surprisingly, it can seem to take and understand individual orders, but there’s always a constant flow of tequila shots being made and sent out to the great hall to be served by another skeleton.

And, no, of course it’s not going to check your age to see if you’re legal. It’s a skeleton. Why would it care?

The Great Hall is the center of activity and where everyone is encouraged to mingle and have fun. There is a skeleton on the grand piano in the corner gleefully playing piano covers of the hits from the Shrek Soundtrack with the occasional cover of “DaRude’s Sandstorm” when it has another one to help out.

In another corner, on huge piece of paper that spans nearly 6ft wide and 8ft tall is drawing of an Arrakis sandworm and it’s giant maw. The game is Pin the Tooth on the Sandworm and it’s… very easy… because the worm maw is most of the board. Even if the skeleton spins you as you’re blindfolded, it’s pretty hard to lose. If you manage to do it, which is likely, the skeleton running the game will award you a tequila shot! If you lose, the skeletons will award you a tequila shot (but it’s rail).

(It’s a drinking game, isn’t the point to drink?)

There’s also a table that has many candelabras on it, numbering up to seventeen. They’re still lit and burning even though there is a sign that says “make a wish!” even though it almost looks like a shrine for the dead.

…It’s maybe clear that the concept of “birthday candles” was greatly misunderstood.

There is also a skeleton dealing out small doses of “Spice”, a psychoactive drug straight outta the Duneverse. However, you must check in with this Skeleton to get a dose. There will be no “permanently melting your brain with ancestral memories” at this party!

Teacher’s/God’s/Jod’s/The Emperor Undying’s study, adjacent to the main hall, is closed and locked. Though, the lock is fairly easy to break if someone really wanted to get in. There’s not even skeletons guarding.

That said, many things are warded with eerie runes of blood and bone.

So, fuck around and find out.

The upstairs is generally off limits. Party goers can climb up the stairs, and it’s encouraged if they want to look over the Great Room from above, but all of the bedrooms are carefully guarded by more skeletons who will SCREAM VERY LOUDLY if you try to enter and will become hostile if done by force.

Of course, this won’t happen if you are with someone who lives in the house.

Enjoy the party! Mingle away!

((ooc: if you have any questions or anything, please hit me up at worldtype)) or via PM.))

Birthday Board | At the Party | The Morning After | IC Party Games | Spice Dealer

Comments

[swellter]

[ It's a valid fear, one he would understand as his time in Trench has stretched to half a year. He's seen people come and go, but he's never personally lost anyone from his world until Midoriya scuttled himself away, unwilling to accept his help. With Bakugou and Uraraka here, his world has grown by two. Suddenly, he finds himself a little more unsettled now that he has more people to lose. ]

She's well liked. [ He confirms. You don't want to know why... ]

I'm a Paleblood, so it seems to have kickstarted that part of my blood-magic. Shortly after receiving them, I got my first vision when you and Bakugou arrived during our mission to retrieve Midoriya.

[ Have another bombshell casually dropped in like an add-on accessory. ]

I don't think it works if you take them off unless you're a Paleblood. [ As it stands he doesn't need them anymore to generate visions of the future, but he's grown used to it and it's easier to leave them in than to take them out. ]

[floatsaway]

[It's certainly a very terrifying thing, especially for Ochako and Bakugou, who have been to another world before Trench as well. Because they know well that if they get spirited away...it could be to yet another new world, without the friends they found after so long. The illusion of returning home now is just that - an illusion.]

Wha--it happened during that?! Are you okay, Todoorki-kun?! That must've been really shocking... [It'd explain why he was a bit quiet, and looked kind of pale. Honestly, Ochako just thought it was due to...everything they went through with the rescue. That entire ordeal was harrowing, tiring, and emotionally draining. Add all that to her blood ailment, and Ochako was just...completely wrung out after it.]

Mm, I think i'm still figuring out the different blood types... I know if you have a certain kind, you can sometimes get a new qui--eh, sorry...a new power, I guess. I haven't found anything different with mine, yet. I still just have Zero Gravity - my quirk - as far as I know. [She pauses, looking first at her hands, then at Todoroki with a bit of concern.] It didn't hurt at all, did it? The vision...um. I-I mean, having a new qui--power. You're okay, right?

[When Izuku's new quirk manifested, it went wild, so...she's just worried.]

[swellter]

[ He won't go into the gritty details of having his omen tackle him to the ground to snap him out of it or how frightened he was after the fact, aware of visions but never having experienced them. Uraraka can probably piece together why he was late to their orchestrated attack. They were supposed to hit Midoriya together, catch him off guard, but he hadn't been in place, and Midoriya had broken free and was on the run before he finally found his footing and made his presence known. ]

I've seen others have visions before. I know what to expect, but knowing something is different from experiencing it.

[ He kept referring to them as quirks for the first few months. He understands where you're coming from. As for the concern, it's been a while since he's been on the other side of this. His expression changes faintly, kinder. ]

I'm okay. The second one was easier than the first. [ And his third will be easier still. ] You don't have to worry about me.

How are you and Bakugou taking to Trench?

[floatsaway]

[She is certainly putting the pieces together as she thinks back, yes - the slight delay in his actions, how he would hesitate, or even looked fatigued or slightly off from the start - but until now, she assumed it was the same blood sickness as herself and the other boys. Ochako never would have thought Todoroki's blood was different, or that he'd develop another quirk on top of his existing one. That sort of thing just never seemed possible...even in Nippon and stuff - magic existed there, but it seems primarily to flow through the existing yokai and locals there. No one else really changed?]

I can only imagine...

[She still looks a little concerned, worrying her lip between her teeth, and wringing her hands together. Ochako just cares a lot, okay? She hasn't seen her other friends in months, so she's far more protective of them now.]

Mm, it's harder than Nippo--oh! Actually, Todoroki-kun...did Bakugou-kun already tell you this isn't the first world we've been to?

[swellter]

He mentioned it.

[ But as usual, he gave no details, so he's completely out of the loop there. ]

How was it?

[floatsaway]

Much easier than this.

[Ochako gives a wry smile and motions for them to go and find a place to sit and talk a little better.]

It was called Nippon, and before you ask...yeah, it was technically just Japan, but less modernized. It was kinda like stepping back in time, where things were just getting built... Like, steam power, and um...magic was a thing, too!! And yokai and ayakashi were actually real! There were good and bad ones, it...it's weird to say I actually kind of miss it a little.

[Ochako rubs the back of her neck.] Other than one time, it wasn't nearly as scary as this place. And we were given a monthly stipend to use on food, and housing was provided for free. It was actually kind of nice...e-even if there weren't any Heroes, and...f-finding a job was a little hard.

[swellter]

[ Catching on, he leads the way out of the crowded room, making way for them through the heavily trafficked area to a more secluded spot away from most revelers. ]

Would you like to sit?

[ He asks, unsure if she'd rather stand instead. When she starts up, he immediately opens his mouth to ask exactly that only to close it again when she explains it a little more. He watches her closely as she gets into a rhythm, looking a lot more animated when she gets into the magic. He'll question the yokai and ayakashi part - yeah, that's a little much there - and ask a little more about the 'magic' and if it's like the blood magic here. He looks rather interested in that comparison. Though, a little surprised to hear she misses it. Would he miss Trench? He's not sure. ]

You were given a stipend? [ A crease of his brow. ] There was a monetary system there? [ Well, look at that. Ochako and Bakugou living it up with such modern concepts, NOT having to sell their blood! Okay, the free rent he can relate to. He did arrive early on and got a rather nice place he spent half a year fixing up. ]

You were together. That must have made it a little easier.

[floatsaway]

[Ochako nods, taking the offered seat and motioning for her friend to do the same if he wanted. It's quite a lot to talk about, and Ochako is glossing over a big part of her experiences in that new world - the homesickness, the fear of never seeing her family again, that shitty curse Bakugou got put through, the loss of her sense of purpose without there being any need for Heroes as defined by their societal norms - but she keeps the conversation light to fill Todoroki in. It's good to just talk to him, really, she never got much of a chance to back in Musutafu, and Ochako always valued him a friend just as much as anyone else.]

Mm, yeah, there was. Like I said, it was like a less modernized version of Japan...so everyone used yen. And if we agreed to help with some experiments and stuff, we got a monthly amount to use on food. Just food. Me n' Bakugou-kun had to work and do stuff to get money to buy tools and clothes and stuff for where we were staying.

[Nothing was really furnished other than some futons, blankets, and pillows and the absolute basics. A sitting table, cushions, a small TV...and that was really it. Anything else they had to get themselves.]

I--...yeah. Yeah, if Bakugou-kun wasn't there, I, um...I-I don't think I'd be able to handle it. We helped each other out a lot. [Her smile is fond, gentle, and Ochako sighs a bit. It was stormy, but being in Nippon together definitely made her and Bakugou feel like way better friends now. She appreciates that much.] I bet it was the same for you, too...having Deku-kun with you, ne? No one wants to really be alone.