you and me in the moonlight

[crosslaced]

Who: You!
What: A year end party MINGLELOG to help everyone recover from the Shit we’ve been through.
When: Forwarddated to Nov 24
Where: Enso E4, close to the ST Temple
Warnings: Mark as necessary, but none expected.

As the end of November draws near…… it’s time for that player plot the mods hinted at in their latest announcement.

Laurent’s Witch Labyrinth! -no, actually, it’s just a party.

[preparation]

All day on the 24th people are hard at work setting up on the golden beaches of Enso. The Storyteller’s Temple can be seen from the site and vice versa; it’s just a short walk away. There’s quite a bit to be done, so every extra pair of hands are welcome!

[the party]

As evening falls, a series of torches light up the party site for the lost; most prominent are the three large campfires spaced out across the beach, offering a variety of gathering spots for those who don’t like the loud partying going on at the other one.

There’s more than enough food to go around. An entire Cariborn is being dug up from the sandy soil way up the beach, having been roasted in the ground. There’s a wide variety spread out on tables… of handwaved origin… maybe they’re the ones left around from 4/20?? It’s probably fine. Herb- baked vegetables, fresh fruits, meat of various types, pizza!! and yes, Muffet’s Magic Blackberry Alcohol abound.

We’ve also got party favors. Amongst them, it seems like..... owo are these sparklers?

Come hang out! It’s a well-deserved break.

[activities]

The children (and adults so-inclined) have some cute party games to have fun with. There’s a simple little ringtoss area set up, with rings that aren’t even proper circles (listen, Laurent tried) and wooden stakes in the ground to be ringed.

Across the wide stretch of sand there's a lot that can be done- want to build some sandcastles? Pick some shells? Fight some crabs? The beach is dotted with doodles in the sand, inviting you to join in.

The biggest attraction is perhaps the petting zoo- well, it’s a cluster of animals just hanging out, but you get the idea. Located far up on the beach and away from the danger of the waves, the petting zoo has three whole Chocobos, two whole Tigerlilies (one of which is clearly guarding the Chocobos), and one whole horse. Sometimes two horses, but the grey wandering one is wearing a plaque that says “I BITE. PET ME CAREFULLY.”

[storyteller?]

Yes, ST-chan is invited! I’m leaving it to them to top-level or tag out at their leisure. Keep an eye out for the bunny god, they’re Coming.

Comments

beau | ota

[lesbeau]

[Honestly, this is the kind of thing she's pretty goddamn down for. The good thing about this place being small is that there's basically no security, and that means she can saunter in and look like she owns the place with basically no effort. She's dressed in more casualwear for this event, her typical blue overcoat showing off a semi-familiar tank top and a pair of jeans that weren't ripped at the knee when she got them but sure are now. She doesn't even know it's a style, but she's rolling with it. At Molly's behest, she has a flower tucked into the bun in her hair, though she's already forgotten it's existence and it's liable to fall out by the end of the night. And just to top it all off, she's got her staff over her shoulders, because you absolutely never knew when you're going to need it. Ya just don't.

That said, she can be found near the ring toss absolutely throwing those things much too hard and being forced to retrieve them from the ocean. Occasionally, she'll also be found near the campfire with a cup of alcohol in hand. But the real attraction here is the food, also known as Beau Has Never Had A Pizza Before. Meaning at first she's just staring at it, trying to puzzle how to consume this thing or what it's even made out of, before she takes a piece and rolls the entire thing up like it's some sort of pinwheel before holding it in both hands and ripping off a section with her teeth.

She looks very starry eyed about the entire experience, though. Maybe stop her from taking an entire pie.]

ring toss

[barberian]

(At some point Yasha comes to join in with the ring toss and, upon identifying Beau's problem, goes to stand out with her feet in the water so she can easily retrieve the rings and frisbee them back to her. This does mean that she's getting her new jeans wet but she doesn't seem to care. Using the rings as frisbees seems to work a lot better than trying to toss them on the wooden stakes provided. Yasha finds them strangely weighed, and they move oddly in the air.)

You're throwing too hard, (she points out, retrieving Beau's fourth splashy attempt. She's going to walk it back to her this time, and place it directly into her waiting hand.) Less power, if you can manage that.

[lesbeau]

[She's not getting frustrated by missing, it's more like she's missing the point of this game. Beau would agree with Yasha on that point- they fly way better with some real toss put into em. And isn't it a toss game?

Also, look at them in denim. Gay.]

I know what I'm doing! These should be further out. It's no challenge with these underhand flops.

[She looks around, trying to think of what to do.]

Maybe I should toss 'em from a tree.

[barberian]

(Matchy matchy, though Yasha's denim does not have holes (yet).)

... Hang on.

(She has an idea. She leaves the rings with Beau and pulls the stake out of the ground, completely ignoring the immediate protest of one of the organisers nearby, stepping out across the beach with it, along the shore. She goes quite far, then stops, looking back, judging the distance... and then she goes a bit further.

Finally, she stops, and hefts the stake high in the air over her head. Then she shouts:)

Go!

[lesbeau]

[The fact she's willingly getting it wet already proves she doesn't know much about denim, frankly, but that's for another day. Right now, Beau's smirk grows across her face as Yasha gets a very very good idea and falls quickly and comfortably into her monk stance. As soon as Yasha yells, Beau moves, popping from her lowered stance up into the air to toss three rings in quick succession.

They go soaring towards their target, the first two hitting expertly right onto the peg. The third... hits Yasha in the face. Sorry girl, that was two over 20 scores and a 3. Beau immediately makes a face, halfway between a cringe and a laugh.]

You good?

[barberian]

(Yasha moves the peg a little in the air toward the throws, which works really well for the first two, but the third toss is too low. It nails her right in the face, but she tanks it remarkably well, only taking a little step backwards in response.

Her nose is bleeding. She doesn't seem to notice, she just gives Beau a sarcastic thumbs up.)

Fine! You still throw too hard.

[lesbeau]

[At the affirmation Yasha is okay, Beau laughs fully, shifting her weight between her feet in an excited motion. She's revved the fuck up now! Let's fucking go!!!]

No I don't! That's the speed! There's one speed!!

[Use it or lose it, Yasha. And speaking of use it, she keeps yelling.]

Come on! Send 'em back!!!

[barberian]

(The way Beau jumps, light on her feet is making her laugh, soft and snickery behind her fist. Yasha should have known this was going to happen. Trust Beau to turn the whole thing into a contest.)

Okay. Are you ready?

(Mollymauk does not call her the muscle for nothing; she yeets one to Beau with all of her might.) Catch!

[lesbeau]

[Beau's face breaks into something manic and she doesn't even wait for the ring to hit her- she charges forward towards it, leaping into the air to catch. And with an over 20 dex check she absolutely leaps for the damn thing, swiping it out of the air with a spin before landing on her feet and punching the ground. She hops back up immediately, yelling triumphantly to the sky.]

Fuck yes! Go again! You've still got rings! Let's fukin' go!!

ringtoss

[catpiper]

[Did Beau ask for a designated ring girl? No? Well, too bad.

The problems being a) she can't swim and b) she's terrified of the ocean and a helpful attitude does nothing to solve these issues. So while Beau is throwing the rings Ren will eventually loot out of range, she's going to be in the knee deep water with a stick, trying push them back to shore.

She manages to usher one back towards her, nabbing it when it gets within arm's reach.]

Here, here! You can throw this one again.

[lesbeau]

[Look, this is helpful! Now Beau doesn't even need to run over there and get 'em. She can just keep tossing and Ren brings them back. Mostly. The waves will bring them in anyway. She doesn't know how the ocean works but that's probably how the ocean works.

Beau yells back to her when she gets one, waving her hand.]

Toss it back!

[catpiper]

[Unlike the last time, when rocks were her weapon of choice, she doesn't have any qualms about winding up and tossing the rings towards Beau, pretending like they're all baseballs she needs to get past her bacon hoarding friend. They get Some Distance, but she's still gonna have to walk to collect them for the next round of ring tossing.]

Throw more! I'll catch them! I won't lose!

[lesbeau]

[Beau is, as promised, very good at catching. Or well, she would be if they got anywhere near her range. She doesn't seem to mind though, jogging forward to grab them off the sand, and immediately taking a defensive position. She digs her back foot into the sand, legs spread, hands kept carefully by her face.]

Get ready!

[And then she starts rapid-fire winging them like frisbees. Beau, please, that's a kid, stop doing this.]

[catpiper]

[This is a kid on a mission and she will not lose. Beau takes her stance and her own body tenses, lowering against the water to prepare for whatever direction she's going to need to propel.

And nyoom she does, with the intensity of an Olympic player trying for a gold medal. She somehow doesn't trip over herself lurching this way and that, attempting to pick as many rings as she can out of the air. A few catch on her fingertips, others are quickly plucked from the water and a few are lost to the ocean current, but she's too busy splashing around the shoreline to go for those lost souls.

Then she abruptly pitches the rings back, with way more force than before. Like this has somehow turned into a game of dodgeball in the last 20 seconds. The rules have changed and whatever game this is, Ren's gonna win.]

[lesbeau]

[Yes! Fuck yes! This is so much better than throwing rings onto pegs, they're properly IN it now. Beau laughs as the rings start coming back, digging in her heels and seeing them coming at her. Now this feels familiar; the sensation of plucking an arrow out of thin air, punching down rocks and catching staffs coming her way. In a second, she's concentrated and focused, nabbing ring after ring out of the air, hitting some with the flat of her palm to get them to stop when her hands are full.]

Back!

[Which is the only warning Ren gets until Beau is whinging them all back, sometimes more than one at a time. What game were they playing again? Who knows. Beau doesn't.]

[catpiper]

[Ren's eyes are transfixed on Beau's movements as she grabs every single ring out of the air. She's out of her league. Ren's in T-ball and this girl is major league material. She's just about to throw her hands in the air and cheer, when-

Back!

Rings through her ears. That gives her all of no seconds to abruptly change this game of whatever it was to what it's gonna be now. All her ghost dodging skills are coming in handy in this sudden game of dodgeball-she's able to swerve and duck and maneuver around the shallow water. As each one nyooms into the ocean-y sunset, she starts calling out-]

Ten points! Five points! Two points!

[The ones that hit her, specifically, get a whopping-]

Twenty points!

[Because they don't hurt? It's like snowballs, but harder. Beau's.......winning??? Maybe??? Keep smacking her.]

[lesbeau]

[It's ultimate ring frisbee feat. pelting a child. But they're both enjoying it so what's the harm? She's fine. It's fine.

She's out of rings fairly quickly with the speed she's going, but Ren is keeping some sort of score, so as soon as she's out she's bouncing back and forth between her feet, trying to tally up the scores she yelled and utterly failing.]

So how many points was that! Come on! Do I win?

[SHE WANTS TO WIN]

PIZZA

[yallstupid]

[You know, it's in-fucking-credible how many people here haven't experienced a good piece of pizza. Or a pizza at all. How that is possible is beyond Guzma's comprehension, but here he is, enjoying his own slice folding it partially in half before taking a bite, and stares at this broad-shouldered lady waltz up in here. He'd be pretty impressed if she didn't just burrito her pizza slice. Yikes, lady....yikes.

He hangs his mouth open, mid-bite, and stares at her like she's committed some sort of great food crime...before setting down his slice and reaching for his drink.]

GOOD

[lesbeau]

[Listen buddy, not everyone has experienced a pizza before. Italians don't exist everywhere and neither does like, ovens, so sometimes things happen. And as far as she's concerned, this seems like the fastest way to get it into her mouth AND eat it with one hand, even if she's beginning to realize it's difficult to get through like 4 layers of rolled crust like this. It looked a lot more plausible in her head, okay.

She rips off another hunk, squeezing it in a way that makes sauce squish out onto her fingers. Beau licks it off before staring directly at Guzma, uncompromising.]

What're you lookin' at, punk?

[This is either gonna go great or very, very bad.]

I'M SO EXCITED

[yallstupid]

[DON'T YOU FUCKING TELL ME FLATBREAD WITH CONDIMENTS AND BRICK OVENS DON'T EXIST IN WILDEMOUNT. Though from the looks of it, Beau doesn't seem to look with her eyes and every other person n the immediate space eating pizza the correct way. It's a fucking flat piece of bread with a goddamn point at one end. You use your goddamn brain, honey. Have you never eaten a pie before? You start at the part with the point.

And Guzma would have been happy to point this out, but the surly woman had to go and open her mouth. Beyond the rim of his glass, Guzma quirks a brow at her and sets the glass down calmly, wincing at just how much of a goddamn slob she's being. That's...that's revolting, and coming from a thug with no table manners? Saying something, probably. He smiles, picks the slice back up and takes a bite the right way, speaking through mouthfuls.]

Hm? Oh...just a messy toddler playing with 'er food. [He takes another bite, slower this time, to accentuate he knows precisely how to eat this thing the correct way and not sully his clothes like a preschooler.]

ME TOO

[lesbeau]

[YEAH BUT YOU CAN ROLL THIS SO ITS DIFFERENT, ALSO ITS PROBABLY LIKE BRUCHETTA. Also look me in the eyes and tell me Beau has ever eaten a pie correctly in her life, I fucking dare you.

Anyway, the point here is she's gonna sneer back, cocking out a hip and still keeping a grip on her slice.]

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were the food cops that told me how I was allowed to eat when we live in the jungle. My bad, sure, sure.

[She does take a smaller bite, but its still pointedly through this rolled thing. She's a solid halfway through, she can't really stop now.]

It's just food, dude.

[yallstupid]

Not telling you how to do nothing, sweetheart, just giving some, uh...gentle advice, yeah?

[Please, honey, you're scaring no one. He's got resting bitch face since he was practically a toddler, and though he doesn't have the martial arts experience you do, Guzma is built like a brick wall of muscle, and has been in scraps probably way more than you. Not only that, but he has two unique critters that can flank him pretty well. He's not going to be intimidated by no one.]

But if you're okay with a thousand eyes on you, lookin' at'cha like y'all sprouted a second head, then by all means. [He shrugs, lazily, taking another bite of his own pizza - the right way, just to stick it to her - and talks through his mouthful.] And I'm guessing being covered in pizza sauce ain't no bother neither, yeah? I mean, there's a laundromat at every corner in this here jungle island, and clothes just fall from the trees, don'cha know!

[lesbeau]

[She'll scare everyone! She'll fight you! She'll fight your mom! She'll fight your friggin' lizard horse thing over there alright you just see her try.]

Oh, man, I'm so sorry. You know, you're totally right.

[She actually looks sympathetic for a second there, putting on an emotional face show to go with her words of a pressing southern belle style accent.]

I didn't know my mom had showed up and told me not to get food on my pretty skirts! Why, if I keep actin' like this, I'll never get a man.

[And then in protest she just shoves the entire rest of the pizza slice in her mouth. It's too big a piece for her to chew properly, but by god, she packs it in there.

I'm sorry she's like this. At the very least, she does grab a leaf off the table that some people were using as plates to wipe excess sauce off her hands. So she's not... a total animal. Maybe. Perhaps.]

[yallstupid]

[Beau, you're clearly seeing things if you see Golisopod from inside his Pokeball - and especially if you think he looks anything like a lizard. ...But you never did have a good Intelligence Score (I think), so. ‾\_(ツ)_/‾

Guzma laughs, a quiet chuckle that shakes his shoulders, then raises his glass to her with a nod and a crooked smile before pounding the whole thing and exhaling with a slight burp. He clears his throat and shakes his head, making an equally "sympathetic" face right back at her.]

Aw, snookums...the flies will still love you, don't worry.

[lesbeau]

[Look! Fight her! Fight her right here!

She looks at him with a sneer, especially after that burp display. Yeah, you think she doesn't see that, ya filthy animal.]

Oh, so you're gonna rag on me and then down a whole drink, sure, okay. Sorry that the bar for women is far off in the imagination of men and dudes can just do whatever, but y'know. Say what you want, kid.

[Why are they doing this.]