Let's partyyyyyyy! [open]

[livingdeadgirl]

Who: EVERYONE.
What: A meet-and-greet party for everybody in Anchor!
When: early October
Where: the VR room lobby
Warnings: none yet
Format: go wild!

[ The day before, a wild network post appears, from the username @aa : ]

hi everyone!
i just wanted to let you all know
the meet and greet party previously discussed in this space
will be held tomorrow afternoon!

it will take place in the vr room lobby
and of course everyone is invited
refreshments and games will be provided
but if you would like a little extra challenge
please feel free to bring something to share!

attendance is mandatory!
(lol just kidding)
seriously though i do hope to see all of you there ;)

[ She's also posted handwritten signs to that effect in the mess hall and several of the staircases. Just in case! ]

---

The day of, a party appears in the VR Room lobby area, as promised!

Though it's not brightly lit, the lights there are are brightly colored, creating a chilled-out evening atmosphere like you'd find at a club. Plush chairs and couches are interspersed throughout the room, and there's been a solid attempt to clean the place up, or at least do something about all the dust.

A shortage of conventional party supplies has forced Ami and Cho to get creative, so the tables and parts of the wall are decorated with paper flowers, and the buffet table is presided over by a number of ... weird, pink, glitter-covered, vaguely animal-shaped sculptures made out of spare plastic pipes and stuff. With googly eyes. If nothing else they're a conversation piece.

FOOD: The main offering is barbecue! There's a pretty wide assortment of meats, all of which Cho has certified safe for human consumption, and also certified delicious. Chips, dried fruit, and a few different desserts are available, including homemade chocolate chip cookies that Ami made herself (wich Cho's help). All the trays are helpfully labeled, including allergy information.

Any and all potluck submissions are welcome as well! Just set it down over here and make a little card of your own.

DRINKS: Sadly, the coffee machine is still out of order. But there is a cooler stocked with ice and a few different choices of juice and soda. Alcoholic selections are limited to two types of pre-mixed drinks, which are intentionally weak on the alcohol, but at least they're not tequila sunrises. If guests want anything stronger, they'll need to bring it themselves.

ENTERTAINMENT: In fiddling with the controls, Ami got the overhead speakers to play some music, but couldn't figure out how to modify the playlist, so it's just one song on loop. Maybe if she keeps the volume kind of low, no one will notice. No live music is scheduled, but if anyone wants to bring a guitar and jam for a while, they will be more than welcome to.

And most of the arcade games are online! Anyone for Fruit Ninja? Air hockey? Dance Dance Retribution? Virtual Billiards? Or perhaps you'd like to try out a full-simulation game in the VR Rooms proper? Now's as good a time as any!

Oh, and don't forget to enter the raffle! The winner will be chosen randomly and announced a few hours into the party.

Comments

Peter Parker | OTA

[itsnotaonesie]

[Honestly, Peter almost hadn't come to this party thing. Not because he doesn't like parties or doesn't want to hang out with people, but because he's always busy and sort of paranoid about all the weird, horrible bullshit that's been happening lately. Kind of hard to focus on having fun when nothing is ever okay, y'know.

Someone (or maybe multiple someones) has been able to convince him to at least pop in for a little while, and naturally most of his attention is on the food because food is amazing and he's piled kind of a ton of it on his plate. Maybe he hasn't been eating enough lately, he's been pretty distracted. In an attempt to distract himself from being distracted by all the horrible distractions, he's making maybe not the best choices and knocking back some of those alcoholic bevs. His aunt's not here and neither are the COPS and you're not the boss of him etc.

And that's about as exciting as Peter's going to be for this thing. He's mostly sitting around with food and booze, finally making himself relax at least for a little while. Though there is a very good chance that he'll get so annoyed by this one goddamn song playing on loop that he'll drop what he's doing and try to fix the fucking music.]

[abheirrant]

[Finally spotting someone he knows, Carlisle manages to work up the gumption to meander over for a word before Peter spots him. Better that than for the lad to see him lingering along a wall again, much like their first meeting, and think that maybe he has either a penchant for walls, or fears of open spaces and social events. It's both, in truth.

He has his drink clasped in both hands as he heads in Peter's direction, trying to look as though he's capable of enjoying it. As for Peter himself, the kid looks as though he's maybe had a few too many drinks for one man, but as someone who used to get drunk to avoid dealing with the weight of his own paranoia, Carlisle isn't in a position to judge. He gives a slight bow in greeting.]

Peter. How is the food?

[That's not a polite question to start a conversation. He really wants to know.]

[itsnotaonesie]

[Oh he has for sure had a few too many drinks. This is probably the first time since... probably before his time in Hadriel that he's felt even close to completely relaxed. Honestly he looks like he could just stretch out on this couch he's sitting on and take a nap. In the middle of a party? You bet your ass. But he won't because now it's time for chatting.]

Dude, this is like, the best barbecue I think I've had in like, a year. Like a whole year. How's it goin', man?

[He scoots over to make room for Carlisle in case he wants to grab a seat.]

[abheirrant]

[Peter scoots over, and Carlisle, after a moment's hesitation, does take the offered seat, casting his eyes upon the rest of the party-goers as he takes a deep breath, as though trying to taste the barbecue from smell alone. His drink sweats against his gloves as he turns the glass in his fingers, using it more as a distraction for his nervous habits than an actual drink.]

It goes, I suppose. I am adjusting, thanks to your encouragement. I did mean to contact you and apologize for being... out of sorts when we met. It had been a long day.

[Longer when one doesn't sleep.]

[itsnotaonesie]

Oh, buddy, don't even worry about it. Everyone's pretty out of it when they first get here, especially if we had something crazy going on like right before it. It's like really jarring, I totally get it.

[He's known for rambling, but he's maybe going just a bit harder with it right now. It's 100% the booze, don't mind him.]

I'm glad I could help, though! Like I wish I could have helped more, but-- I mean, I guess there's only so much we can do, y'know?

[abheirrant]

[Finding out that you've been dead and are likely responsible for the ruin of your entire hometown and more does qualify as 'something crazy going on like right before his arrival,' yes.]

You did more than you know. Being able to use the communicator allowed me to get in touch with others, and that has been a welcome distraction.

[itsnotaonesie]

[Is it crazy that Peter can kind of relate?? Aside from the undead zombie part anyway.]

Oh good, dude. I'm glad. There are a lot of pretty cool people around here, who have you gotten in touch with so far?

[livingdeadgirl]

[ It's a good thing you did show up, Peter, Ami would have kicked your ass if you didn't! Although... she does notice that cocktail in his hand! You know, the cocktails she only reluctantly let Cho provide, because originally she wasn't going to have alcohol at this party at all!! So kicking his ass is not entirely off the table, that's all I'm sayin'.

Okay, benefit of the doubt. Peter's a good dude and a good friend. Maybe he just didn't realize there was alcohol in it. Yeah, that's probably it.

She comes over and waves to catch his eye. ]

Hi, Peter! Happy birthday!

[itsnotaonesie]

[Also he has four other empty cocktail glasses on the table next to him THAT'S A THING.

He waves back but immediately looks confused like what even]

Dude, I don't even know when my birthday is anymore. I'm not even sure what year it is. Nice party, though. Real chill.

[livingdeadgirl]

[ Yeeeeah oh boy. Cho promised she'd make the alcohol pretty weak, but... that's too many cocktail glasses. ]

Oh, my bad. I just assumed it was your 21st birthday! You know, on account of all these.

[ She picks up one of the empty glasses and closes one eye to peer into it. Yup that sure is empty! Wow! How could that have happened? ]

[itsnotaonesie]

[ooooooh OOOOH she's being a smartass, now he gets it. Peter 100% approves, even if he is on the receiving end of this smartassery.

He looks her dead in the eye while slugging back the rest of his current glass NOW WHAT.]

I don't know what you're talking about.

[livingdeadgirl]

[ Ami drops her shoulders and her grin. Seriously? Is this what we're doing now? ]

Peter!!

[ Yeah, he's definitely known it was booze the whole time. Without warning, she lunges, trying to grab the glass out of his hand. It would appear she's momentarily forgotten he is 1) way stronger than her, and 2) a very sticky boy. ]

[itsnotaonesie]

[Right like he's not even holding the glass, he is 100% just sticking to it at this point and not even really moving whole she tries to take it from him.]

Now, technically, there are no drinking laws in space. Or any laws.

[theweakhavepurpose]

[Oh shit, it's the cops!]

You uh.. okay there?

[He will just slide into the stool next to Peter and look concerned because this is very out of character for their friendly neighborhood spider. Is this his bad influence at work? Is he contagious?]

[itsnotaonesie]

[SHIT IT'S THE COPS

Peter almost tries to move his ADULT BEVERAGE out of Pratt's line of sight, but it's already too late man, THE JIG IS UP.]

Oh, yeah, uh. Yeah, I'm okay. Just, um... tryin' to relax, y'know?

[theweakhavepurpose]

[Caught red handed you criminal!]

Do you know how to relax?

[And if so can you teach him?]

Have you ever gotten drunk before? Because I'm not sure where you live to carry you back to your room if you pass out.

[itsnotaonesie]

[YOU CAN'T ARREST SPIDER-MAN

He shrugs an awkward Peter shrug. This is how adults relax, right? He's pretty much an adult, he's PRACTICING.]

I'm not drinking that much, I'm just...

[Awkward, nonsensical hand gestures go here. What is he doing? He doesn't know, he's not working on a project right now so he's feeling a bit lost. Is that bad? That's probably bad.]

[theweakhavepurpose]

[OH YES HE CAN.]

Uh-huh. Yeah I know that feel.

[Pratt is drinking water because he has a hunch if he even touches alcohol he will drink himself into oblivion and never wake back up. Which is tempting some days, but he's resisting.]

Shit here kinda sucks huh?

[itsnotaonesie]

[TRY IT SUCKER

Peter doesn't like to complain, but between the booze and the exhaustion and Pratt actually being the person he's known the longest here and thus being one of the people he trusts the most, yeaaah Peter's going to let himself vent a little.]

Yeah, it... it sucks. It's like, every time I turn around, there's another emergency. There's another crisis. There's someone pissing someone else off and I feel like if I don't step in to fix all of it, everything's going to fall apart. There's zombies outside, the robots keep glitching the hell out, there was that thing with the security system just shooting at people and now my armor's busted again and I don't know how to fix it. Then that Loki guy rolls in and-- and he's actually been pretty cool? But then he's tellin' me stuff that happens back home and I just-- I don't--

[He is a frustrated boy. He stops rambling and just rubs at his face with a groan. Life is too much right now, man.]

[lallipop]

[Perhaps Peter's spider sense will pick up on being stared at. Because that's what's happening. A very measured and intense gaze leveled at the back of Peter's head. It will not be diverted for anything.

Peter is standing in between Lalli and the cookies, you see. Cookies are what Lalli came for and by god he will leave with plenty of them, because the rest of the party is only serving to make him miserable.

He's waiting, Peter. You gonna move or what.]

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter does indeed sense that something is a little weird, and turns around only to find some new guy staring at him. It's a biiiiiiiiit creepy, but that's fine. Whatev. Peter stares back for a couple seconds before moving to the side a few steps.]

You uh, you okay there, bud?

[lallipop]

[Lalli's response is to... stare at Peter some more.

It's what he does.

Then he deliberately reaches around Peter to where the cookies are. You know, the cookies that he's blocking. It means definitely intruding on Peter's space, but, well, some things are more important.

Please excuse this very rude guy who apparently can't use his words.]

[itsnotaonesie]

[That is fine, Peter just lets this happen since his spider-sense isn't screaming at him about DANGER or anything. Suuure is weird though, bro. Just a little weird.]

Oh, you just-- you're just after the cookies, huh? That's fine, that's cool. Just uh, knock yourself out there, I guess.

[awkWARD]

[lallipop]

[Thanks, Peter, he will. Not that he needed your permission!!

He's must still be aware that what he did is kind of rude, though, because even while he doesn't actually apologize, after he grabs a couple (or more) he curls in on himself in a self-conscious kind of way.]

What?

[They're not Peter's cookies, why does Lalli have to be nice at him about them.]

[itsnotaonesie]

[It was incredibly rude. Peter isn't actually all that offended by it, but he sure is going to turn this into a chat just because he's in the mood to be a little bit annoying now, but in a friendly getting-to-know-you sort of way.]

Nothing, nothing, you're good. Just don't think I've seen you around before, are you new here?