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

[sleepyhollowed]

Oof. That was pretty direct.

But not untrue, and Kieran can't protest against that.

"Nah, not really."

It feels weird, unsettling, saying that aloud. Acknowledging it with someone else instead of just in his own head.

"You said Cole had it the same way?"

[killedwithlove]

"Mm." Cole nods slightly. "Yes. There was not much kindness in his life. His mother was kind. When she could be. Before she died. No one else was ever kind to him. That was why I was with him when he died."

[sleepyhollowed]

Yeah, Kieran can sadly relate. Granted, his father had been kind to him, as well, before both of his parents died, but any other signs of generosity or compassion had been few and far between since then. To hear that someone had been just as bad off—perhaps even worse off—sends a deep pang through his heart.

“Did he, uh, did he call out to you? Or didja just know?”

He’s still not entirely sure how Cole, for lack of a better word, ‘works’, but no matter the answer to that, Kieran knows for certain that Cole’s powers are nothing short of beneficial. At least to people like him.

[killedwithlove]

"He wanted someone there. He wanted it more than he ever wanted anything. And I heard, so I came." That simple.

[sleepyhollowed]

Simple. Right.

Kieran can’t really find anything to respond with, tongue-tied by the sheer admiration for such a basic but life-changing gesture given to the human Cole at the end of his life.

“Did you ever have anyone do the same thing fer you? Who do you go to when yer feelin’, I dunno, down, I guess?”

[killedwithlove]

"I find someone to help." Cole isn't a person, a mortal, if he's getting down, it's because he's not helping enough and once he does that, it's better. "I'm Compassion, that's what I should be doing. Helping when it hurts."

[sleepyhollowed]

Kieran’s brow furrows. To him, a mortal, a human, a living breathing individual who’s used to messy emotions getting in the way of every action, no matter how well-intended, the idea of not having some sort of support network boggles the mind.

Cole is admirable, yes, but also a thoroughly confusing feller.

“W-Well, uh, I dunno how much it’s worth, but, uh, you can also talk to me if you ever want to! Or if you can’t find someone to help.”

[killedwithlove]

"... thank you." Cole reaches out to softly touch Kieran's hand. "That you care like that, that means a lot. Helps me."

[sleepyhollowed]

Although not unused to friendly physical contact, it's still a gesture that gives Kieran pause. The kind of pause that's brought about by a genuine warmth spreading through his chest with every beat of his pockmarked heart. He smiles.

"Yer very welcome! That's what friends are for, right?"

And with that, he gives Cole a happy clap on the shoulder with his other hand.

[killedwithlove]

Cole looks at where he was clapped on the shoulder and then up to Keiran, smiling after a moment. Still that tiny smile, but a smile. "I don't know, but I think so."