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

[scowlish]

The woman with the scars on her face is interesting because of how different she looks from most of the people he's met here. She reminds him a bit of the woman captain that had been on Lalli's expedition to the Silent World, mostly because of the athleticism of her body and the way she holds herself, like she would come out on top in a fight and knows it. She's interesting, and that's why she keeps catching his attention.

Once he starts playing kantele though, he loses track of her, and anyone else he'd been looking at, letting himself get a bit lost in the music and allowing himself some room to relax, just a little. Still quite tipsy, he settles in and plays for a while, not particularly paying attention to whether or not people are listening or enjoying it for the first while, and then allowing himself to feel a bit happy about it when he notices a few people enjoying the sound of it. Along with the vodka, it's reason enough to keep playing for a while, until he's tired and thinking of a snack and more to drink.

Putting the kantele aside, he's about to get up and look for a snack when the woman from earlier approaches him to ask about the music. One brow raising, he looks up at her face. There's not much expression there, and her voice doesn't have much emotion to it. In a way, it reminds him a bit of how Lalli is sometimes, and he makes a soft 'hm' in his throat.

"Traditional songs from Finland." he answers, after a moment, "That's where I come from. I don't know any other kinds of songs, but if you have a request, I can try to learn it."

[circumitus]

His offer surprises her, though she doesn't show it. Rey just shakes her head, scratching the back of her neck in thought.

"No need. Thought it sounded familiar. Knew some Finns when in Russia, long time ago."

The memories of Safronov have always been more vague than the other memories programmed into her head, but Rey still recalls snippets of campfires with soldiers under a fiery night sky. Songs heard on the horizon, far from where she traveled, keeping her distance. Snatches of conversation -- as well as the echoes of screams and gunfire.

She frowns to herself, remembering her situation before coming here. They were just a few hours from Finland then as well, if the sky prison's shuttle hadn't crashed before they made it out of syntho territory. Rey should have been more careful flying that thing. Sure, it might not have helped her situation here, but still.

"Pretty cold fucking place," Rey absentmindedly adds, her eyes darting away for the moment to the rest of the room.

[scowlish]

Onni's brows raise a little when she says she'd known some Finns when she was in Russia. He's vaguely aware of Russia and where it is in relation to Finland, but it hadn't ever been particularly important information, given how relatively far away it was with the Silent World between the cleared area in Finland and what was likely the ruins of Russian cities.

"Ah. I haven't met anyone who was very familiar with Finland so far. It's nice to meet someone who does."

The woman frowns to herself, and Onni wonders what she's thinking about - something from home is most likely, and so there's no use speculating, though he's curious about what else she might know or think about Finland. Mostly, he's curious because he's homesick, he misses being there, in the forest, even the forest of the Silent World.

"It is cold. Even though it wasn't winter yet when I left, it was hard to keep warm. Did you ever go to Finland?"

[circumitus]

Considering the types of people she's met in this place so far, Rey can't imagine there are many people from this guy's corner of the world. Then again, the same could be said for just about everyone here from what she's seen. Whether they're from the ass end of the globe or a whole different reality entirely, they're all aliens here.

Wow, now that's a thought. Rey's an alien.

"Was trying to get there, actually," she responds with a strained mouth that resembles something of an awkward smile, but not quite. "We lost the aircraft partway... Had to take shelter in Arkhangelsk. Or, what was left of that city, anyway."

Only just about a thousand kilometers away from her intended destination. Even if she did somehow make it back to her own world, even if she did survive impalement (and worst case scenario, she did), what was she going to do after that? Walk the rest of the way?

[scowlish]

To be honest, Onni hasn't really thought of himself that way yet, as an alien. Of course, the concept of aliens is a little beyond the science or pop culture (such as it is) of the Known World. If he were to think of that particular word it would probably only be in relation to foreigners, people from other countries. That is certainly what he feels like he is here - foreign, out of his element, in the wrong place. The only thing that's making him feel much less awkward and out of place, frankly, is playing the kantele and having a few drinks.

"You were flying in a plane?" he asks, his brows raising, almost immediately interested, "When you say you lost it, do you mean you crashed it? I've only ever seen crashed planes before."

Frankly, her situation would sound like certain death to someone like Onni, and not just because he tends to paranoia and catastrophizing. Without access to most vehicles and without provisions or camping gear or anything else, the trip from far east would be nearly impossible. Most people attempting it would end up starving or being killed in the Silent World by trolls or beasts, possibly giants, unless they were extremely skilled and experienced in that kind of survival.

"That sounds like a grim situation. I'm not familiar with that city specifically, but from the name it's east of Finland, isn't it? Not Karelian."