deercountry | closedish to cool guys having chill day

Entry tags:

closedish to cool guys having chill day

Who: a bunch of funky friends invited by Viktor and Palamedes*
What: Having a Party in a field with Fireworks
When: the second week-ish in May
Where: (the field outside of) Pal and Viktor's bunker in Gaze

Content Warnings: alcohol and teens drinking it, irresponsible use of explosives, see threads for anything else that comes up

*If you have friendly CR with Palamedes please feel free to handwave that he mentioned this happening, also if your character has CR with a Pal Friend (a pal^2) who would invite them along, he's broadly allowing this. It's not a formal affair in the slightest lmaooo

--

afternoon/evening.

Earlier in the morning on the day of The Fireworks Field Party (tm), Palamedes makes sure to send a quick location ping to anyone who's never been to the Sixth bunker (also tm) before, because it is, indeed, just in a field somewhere in Gaze. The treeline is comfortably distant from the door to said bunker, which is the only real indication anything is out here besides a few "big rocks" that he names, in his message, as landmarks.

As an afterthought, he has set up a little trail of mason jars containing glowing mushrooms to lead the way to The Field, helpfully. The Field is what it sounds like: a dang field, just slightly ominous in the Gaze fashion, although besides the usual somebody's-watching feeling, it's grassy and spacious for kitschy lawn games. Among the things Palamedes has provided (upon recommendation of a shopkeeper, so like, do not perceive his choices, they were made for him) include:

1. Just a load of blankets, big cozy ones dutifully spread out for chilling on, on the ground.

2. Throwing game Crossbones, definitely chosen because of the bones (they are wooden sticks), and just kind of left sitting there waiting because your host does not know how to play physical games.

3. beanbag horseshoes because it rocks

4. Just, like, a specific blanket that has pencils and blank paper sitting on it... This is a free station, no one will question what art happens here.

Harrow has also provided bone chairs for alternate seating, which are precisely what they sound like.

Eventually, the field will also feature a snack table, which is a community effort, and a booze table, which is slightly supervised in the way that your esteemed host(s) will not permit booze and cherry bombs at the same time.

And, because it's an open field in Trench, there is also a table where emergency incense is waiting. Wandering too far from the space immediately around the bunker (which, it's a big space, you'd have to go far) will eventually lead you to blood wards on the ground, on the trunks of a few trees, etc. Don't touch these. Don't be gross.

the fucken fireworks.

It's fireworks. Once it's dark, there are even more glowing mushroom jars and homemade alchemy glowsticks from Waver to be passed around, somehow, and at least some of the little beanbags glow in the dark, ooh!! Viktor has provided cherry bombs to be used with at least a little caution, for god's sake. There are also some slightly larger fireworks in much shorter supply, from a shop, that will be closely guarded until someone with pyrotechnics talent convinces Palamedes they deserve one. Godspeed.

Broadly: this is a fireworks party (tm) for individual wee ones you can throw around on your own, with only a brief smattering of the big ones that light up the whole sky above the field. It's a chill time for cool buds, fire safety is encouraged, so is vibing on the blankets and enjoying a nice evening.

At various times, local dope musician Anna Amarande will be providing some light musical entertainment, for vibes.

the bunker i guess.

The party is not in here, but for reference:
-it's locked via numpad and neither of these stickbug nerds are giving out the code but they'll open the door if asked... you don't have to leave the place to go to the bathroom lmf
-it's a bunker. it's one room and a bathroom in the back. it's full of disorganized nerd stuff and an oversized moon orb and pal's mean omen, rocky the cool rat (harpy eagle), who will aggressively flap at anyone with sticky fingers until they leave
-the code is 69420 so if you're super funny like gideon you COULD guess it

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ She's also just been in such high spirits since they got here, and since he surprised her with that flower crown, that he isn't surprised. Also, she likes talking about her world and her family a lot and he can recognize that as someone who's homesick or lonely, so he'll never do anything to discourage her talking about it.

Although that story causes him to blink for a moment, stringing that together. So, they were...? Oh. He blinks for a moment, then give a sheepish sort of laugh himself, hands folding in his lap with a bit of a fidget. ]

There are songs? [ He's politely intrigued; folk songs aren't something he's heard a lot, although he knows their importance. Being raised by a romantic of a man who was a traveling pierrot, he'd been told plenty of tales of bards and bardic tradition, origins of entertainers and their importance, and always found the idea rather charming. But, oh, she meant to--?

He sits up a little straighter, surprised. ]

I wouldn't want to put you on the spot if you wouldn't want to...? [ fidget? ]

[sansa misses her family and winterfell a lot, but she doesn't actually care very much for the rest of her world. she tells allen about dragons and the targaryens to be helpful, and anything else is an attempt to convince her friends, and herself, that it isn't quite the backwater she believes it to be. and--perhaps if she paints a clear enough picture, no one will ask how she spent her time as alayne stone.

plus, it's not polite to pry. she's very curious about other people's lives, and hopes if she offers up some innocuous sentiment they will feel comfortable doing the same.

but none of that matters right now. it's a wonderful day, and they don't have anything important to do. she grins widely.]

Oh, I don't mind. But you'll have to tell me how you learned to juggle like that.

[ How ironic when he is not entirely dissimilar, being a very private person who masquerades with an easier story he feels won't upset people as much, and who doesn't like to pry but very much tries to understand people and where they're coming from.

But, a story for a story? He blinks, and then gives an incredulous sort of laugh, head cocking to the side as he regards her. ]

Miss Alayne... [ It's such a quietly mirthful, genuinely amused tone that maybe might be just a little teasing. Congratulations, that's legitimately raised his spirits. Very sneaky, Sansa. ] Are you bribing me?

[sansa laughs, a little surprised!!]

Oh, I'm sure I wouldn't have to resort to song to do that. But if you do need new clothes, or bloodstone for the sanctuary, I should be glad to make them.

[to prove this, she launches into a song that no one ever bothered to write down or adapt for the show, telling the story of florian and jonquil. sansa has a pretty singing voice, and it is a pretty song.]

Edited 2022-05-12 17:10 (UTC)

[ A jest, a jest! He is a performer, after all. And it's such an easy, good-natured sort of atmosphere to get caught up in. Like... being a proper teenager for once.

He smiles when she starts singing, not in any teasing or cheeky manner, and just listens. She does have a nice voice, certainly better than his, so he thinks, the few times he's sung. And he's warmed to just sit and enjoy it, the fireworks, the warm spring night, the sounds of good company enjoying themselves in the background, knowing he's surrounded by so many of his friends, and a savvy girl who's as nice as much as she's also sometimes a little intimidating singing to him about a jester who was also a knight and a hero. He... really likes that a lot, actually, that story in principle. Even if it is a love ballad and he's not so unaware or dense as to not be a little sheepish about being serenaded one, though most old great tales usually revolve around that. Jonquil with flowers in her hair...

He doesn't blush though, because he honestly just enjoys the entire moment too much and is just warmed. Content. It's nice... this is just all so very nice. ]

You sing really well. [ Gently stated like obvious truth, pale moonlight-grey eyes bright and with a quiet sort of comfortable smile, his hands folded in his lap ]

Am I to take it that I'm the fool who is also a dragonknight now? [ a jest ]

Thank you.

[sansa beams up at him, warmly, and then she laughs.]

Oh, no, the Dragonknight's much better. He joined the Kingsguard to protect Queen Nerys, because he loved her so much, and he defended her when her horrible husband Aegon the Unworthy accused her of infidelity just so he could disinherit their son, Daeron the Good.

[it occurs to her that she wanted to be queen nerys so badly that she almost married aegon the unworthy, without even realizing it. that's...actually pretty funny.]

The dragons were all gone by that time, though. Aemon was called the Dragonknight because it was his sigil. I think the only dragonrider to earn his knighthood was poor Ser Addam, who mounted Seasmoke in the Dance. [she doesn't know if the other dragonseeds counted.] But house Velaryon's sigil...

[she peers off into the distance, for a moment, trying to recall it, and then looks back at allen.]

Was a seahorse, I think. And you're much better at juggling than any fool I've ever seen in the Seven Kingdoms.

Edited 2022-05-12 18:29 (UTC)

[ He's beginning to think she very much enjoys these stories of knights and romance, she's always so ready with them, and it gets a good-natured sort of chuckle from him. He takes the compliment in stride as well and smiles at that. It was a story for a story, right? ]

It's because my foster father was a traveling performer, you know. A pierrot. [ He speaks with a conversational, but lightly warm sort of tone. Like someone telling a practiced but fond story. ]

We'd go from town to town and perform for people when I was very little. I learned most things like that from him, and my training later on. [ Juggling was good for learning how to use his once-useless left hand.

He also technically grew up in the circus before that, but... he didn't really learn how to be a performer from that. It instilled a bitter kind of hatred in him instead that took a lot to unwind. ]

Edited 2022-05-12 18:40 (UTC)

[sansa might say she used to love those stories, but spending time with someone she considers a true knight is starting to remind her of what she liked about them in the first place.

she still loves aemon the dragonknight.]

I think I saw performers like that, once. [...at joffrey's wedding, before the dreadful 'proper' entertainment. but that's not a story that should be told out in the open right now.]

You were much better.

[there hadn't been any sparklers, for one thing. she smiles up at him again, enjoying the feel of the sunlight on her face.]

You could do good trade performing in Cellar Door. It's only a few hours a night, and you could do it any nights you like.

[she tilts her head a little, considering.]

One thing I like about this place is that we have time to do what we love, and not only our duty.

Edited 2022-05-12 20:17 (UTC)

[ -- knock him over with a feather.

She really could, not for the compliment or the (very good) suggestion that he pick up performing again in Cellar Door. And it really is a good one; if it hadn't been both for his missing memories for so long and his own consuming need with trying to help those suffering beasthood by fighting then he might have thought of that sooner himself even. But no, it's not because of that. It's because of that so very simple, so very obvious sort of statement that has him looking at her in something akin to amazement.

"One thing I like about this place is that we have time to do what we love, and not only our duty." ]

...you think so?

[sansa naturally assumes he's responding to the suggestion, and replies accordingly (though she flushes, a little, with the way he's looking at her....)]

Yes, you'd do very well at the clubs where they sit at little tables and watch the performers go around, but I'm sure you could think of something for the stage, too, especially when your legs heal.

[she grins.]

Of course I could make you costumes.

Edited 2022-05-12 21:53 (UTC)

[ Words can't express how much that makes him relax, tension slowly bleeding off his shoulders as that sinks in. It isn't even like she's saying anything he wouldn't have told someone else, but putting it so succinctly and making him actually consider it for himself...

He smiles gently; grateful. ]

...I'd have to rely on you to design me something good. [ It's good-natured and he says it like he's joking with her, though... he is also somewhat serious. He... did have a costume, his foster father's, and he had adopted it as his own for quite some time in his more recent memories of his life from before, but...

... somehow, now, it feels right for him to have his own. Even if he isn't sure what that should look like. ]

It'd be nice to be able to make people smile again.

[she laughs!]

I wouldn't let you go out in something bad!

[she imagines darkly glittering robes, deceptively sleek, and smiles more gently.]

People do smile when you help them. I've seen it.

[sometimes they were astonished to see him return without the butterflies, like he'd managed a very good trick...]

[ Ehe~ ♪ No, of course not. He trusts her. And ha, she already has a good handle on his sense of taste then. Robes always were his favorite, too. More comfortable.

He blinks at that observation though. They did? No, he does know that, it's why he enjoys being able to help people with corruption more than fighting beasts in order to purify them, but... she noticed that, and that makes him blink. Before he smiles lightly, so delicately and bittersweet, and lets his gaze drop to his hands.

People smile, huh? ]

...I think I like it best when we can help ease people's minds even a little and remind them there are still good things possible in the world. Something unasked for. Even if it's just by helping fetch them some medicine, or just sitting and listening for a while. Sure, it helps ease their corruption, it's for the good of everyone, but... even if it wasn't, that's something I like to see.

[ It's his everyday routine, after all. No official organization he's allied with and existing somewhere between Night Walker and Hunter, though the latter he clashes terribly with morally. Just... meeting people on the street. Making connections. Checking in on them regularly. Doing little things for them, admittedly usually in exchange for goods and surviving, but primarily out of just wanting to help. Sitting and talking with a stranger who he notices dark corruptive energy clinging to, because of his left eye. Nothing official; nothing fancy. Easing corruption by easing people's minds, one connection at a time. ...At least until he encounters Amaterasu very soon, that is. ]

Even little things like that can really add up and make a difference. At least, that's what I believe.

...so I'm really glad to hear that.

[sansa watches him speak with soft eyes and a smile. What he says are things she's come to unconsciously believe--the kindness of the people here, when she first arrived, nearly brought her to tears. little favors have led to big opportunities, and simple gestures to strong alliances. perhaps it was there all along--she thinks of a dried rose on her dresser, a kind word on a mountaintop, lemoncakes waiting for her at tea. she'd been taught to look after people, her own mother and father showed her that much. she nods her head gracefully.]

Yes, I've noticed little things can turn people away from corruption. In my world, corruption isn't something you can see or smell, but I think--something very similar can turn the heart of anyone, if they're not careful. I suppose I learned to look for it before I ever came here. And I think, too, that kindness can keep it from taking hold.

[she remembers the empty, bone-white halls of the eyrie, and how she thought they could drive her mad, over the years. lysa had been someone her mother had thought worth turning to, once. perhaps she had turned to a beast like anyone would if they were left here, alone and unloved.]

It can be such a little thing, but it can do so much good, in this or any world--I don't know why anyone bothers to be cruel. They always end up hurting themselves, in the end.

[and then she turns away, slightly, gazing off into the trees. she lowers her voice a little.]

But--you're right. It's not only about corruption for me, either. It's my duty. It's the only thing I can do, here, to honor the people I've lost. I can be the person that they wanted me to be.

[I can be a Stark of Winterfell. it's something she'll have to explain to him later, when they can't be overheard. she turns back to look at him, smiling.]

Edited 2022-05-13 07:57 (UTC)

[ -- something important just happened. Her speech is moving on its own, but he's also adept enough to read between the lines to know that there's more to it than just the words she's pledging to herself. That smile when she turns back to look at him confirms that, seeming so strong and certain of herself, and he couldn't be gladder for it.

Brightened, he leans back a little and regards her. Head cocked to the side with such a warm and gentle sort of smile, happy, as he folds his peaceably in his lap. ]

Alayne... [ Sansa--

You're very strong, you know that? A lady like your own wolf. ]

I think anyone would be very proud to hear you say that.

[o-oh. sansa beams at him, eyes soft.]

Allen. You're wonderful.

[she leans forward to briefly clutch his knee, as it's the nearest bit of him in reach.]

The truest knight I know.

[then she sits back, her grin wide and teasing. the tyrell boys do have him beat in one area.]

Even if you can't joust. Did you ever learn how to joust?

[she suspects not.]

[ The truest knight-- well he doesn't stammer like he might have before, but he still flushes, just with a laugh that's as bright as it is sheepish. In his happier years he was a child raised on fairytales after all, and the legend of King Arthur and his knights was something he was a little smitten with. Ideals, you know. The pinnacle of British gentlemanliness but with dragons and swords. Even the angry ragamuffin he used to be thought that was really cool._{"Wonderful", though...}

Even if she does immediately tease him like that. ]

I could joust! [ Well. ] Probably.

If I tried.

[ this is debatable ]

[she laughs!]

I think you have to train the horses.

[sansa looks around the field a bit.]

We might have a proper a tourney here, if Wanda puts up one of her barriers.

[she sighs.]

It's a stupid dream. Nobody knows how to joust here, and I certainly can't teach them. I only wish the karate tourney were more exciting, with colors and favors and a queen of love and beauty...

[it's taken so much time away from her genjutsu lessons and personal sewing!!! but sansa wouldn't dream of not supporting sasuke.]

[ Ah, she is a romantic. He keeps his thoughts to himself.

Still, he does wonder if there's something he could do to help in that regard. It isn't really the sort of thing he knows anything about, though...

He blinks slightly at that, however. ] Karate tournament?

[ He... he glossed past that post on the network. It just seemed like a bunch of tryhards who liked fighting ~~_Johnny~~ and his eyes glazed over. Forgive him Sansa, Sasuke wasn't even there. ]

[sansa laughs. she doesn't even know what karate is, except that it seems to be like taijutsu. she doesn't understand why they have names for different kinds of brawling. it's not unlike the names of the months, to her.]

It's all dueling and brawling. I have to be there, because Lord Sasuke is my sworn sword and teacher, and Lord Cobra Kai made him participate. It all seems very dull. No one can even use their powers, or any interesting ninjutsu techniques. You could come keep me and Lady company, if you have some time to waste at the end of the month.

[eight days!! why!!! she's doing a really great job of selling it...]

Edited 2022-05-16 18:46 (UTC)

[ Allen actually does know of karate and other forms of eastern combat, and in fact trained in a mix of styles under the almost-deadly tutelage of a very terrifying little Chinese guardian deity who could kick his ass -- and just about anyone's. Fou was a scary lady, and he picked up a lot from her... just because it was that or get his head chopped off. And he had only had one arm at the time and none of his powers. But fighting tournaments?

He comes from a world embroiled in a holy war and has known fighting and dying against seemingly endless hordes of weaponized dead and grieving souls almost every day of his life since he was 10. Fighting isn't something done for... sport. The idea sits badly in his mouth, even if he'd brighten to the prospect of learning more. Training is good, sparring is good -- treating it like a game or sport is not. At least, it's the opinion he has now. ]

I suppose they have to make sure no one gets badly hurt. [ It's a neutral and polite response; he doesn't use his abilities against people without powers for similar reasons. But he also agrees with her; whole thing doesn't sound like his cup of tea...

Still! he tilts his head, lifting his chin as he offers her a smile. ] I don't mind. I'd like to keep you both company.

[sansa laughs, bright and happy.]

Are you sure? It's every other day for a week.

[how wonderful, though, to spend all that time together. it almost makes the whole thing worth it. she beams at him.]

I must try and bake something very special, then. For the students.

[ He sputters lightly. ]

That long?! [ What kind of tournament is this! Aren't they supposed to be one-day things! (Hint: he's never been to any kind of tournament. What kind of shounen series do you think he comes from? Not a regular one.)

Haah... he just shakes his head slightly with a faint laugh though, scratching at his cheek. Relenting. ] That's fine. I can find the time. [ He can't exactly go galavanting around as much as he otherwise normally would, after all... although he does pretty much compensate and do most everything anyway.

And, well -- his eyes brighten at the other prospect. ] Especially if you're going to bake something?

[ For him too, not just the students...? ]

[sansa laughs again and beams. of course it's for him.]

I'll make your favorite kind of cake, as a reward. What is it?

[ oh!!!! ]

All of them! ♥ [ He says it so very merrily and seriously. Are you really surprised, Sansa?

But he relents, feeling like that's probably unfair and doesn't really help her at all. ]

But I particularly like anything with fruit.

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