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

[itsnotaonesie]

Listen he's just so pleased with his neat girlfriend and also he's maybe a little tipsy, bursting into giggles is a real possibility right now.

"I haven't tried the games yet, but I know air hockey can be pretty fun. Super easy, too, wanna try that one?"

[writtendestiny]

"Sure." And she smiles and takes Peter by the hand, very certain that at some point during their game one of the disks is going to go flying off the table (and equally sure that it won't be her fault).

"I've seen other people playing it, it doesn't look hard."

[itsnotaonesie]

He's either going to be unfairly good at air hockey, or he's going to accidentally shoot every single puck off the table and through a wall. Probably the latter.

"Nah, it's not hard at all." Once they reach the table, he grabs her one of the little... whacker-doos? What are those called? He's not looking it up. "All you have to do is try to get the puck through the slot on my side of the table. You whack it around with this thing. I try to get it in yours and, y'know, it's just back and forth like that."

[writtendestiny]

She nods. It's a game she's already grasped the basics of, and her hand-eye coordination is definitely better than Peter's at this point in time. If he was sober, she wouldn't have a chance... but maybe she can actually score once or twice when he's so unbalanced he can barely walk in a straight line.

It should be fun, either way.

"Okay, you start."

[itsnotaonesie]

Everybody's hand-eye coordination is better than Peter's right now, it's kind of sad.

The first time he tries to whack the puck, he misses it completely and almost stumbles into the table. After taking a quick look around to make sure nobody but Poison saw that, he tries again, this time gently bumping the puck to her side of the table.

[writtendestiny]

It's okay, she likes him anyway.

And she does laugh when he stumbles, then presses one fingertip to her lips to quiet herself down. Nobody saw that except her (and maybe a few other people), and she's happy to indulge him in that.

Gently does it, and in the interest of making sure he doesn't fall into the table again, she hits the puck lightly back towards him.

[itsnotaonesie]

O good. He likes her too.

She presses her finger to her lips and Peter winks like 'oh yeah, nobody will ever know our secret where I fumbled like a loser'.

It's okay, Peter has his footing now. He manages to hit the puck back to her, a little harder this time, but nothing too crazy.

[writtendestiny]

Such a dork, but Poison isn't at all confused about just why she likes him. Let's say she has a type, and Peter entirely ticks all of the boxes.

She smiles brightly when he knocks the puck back, and hits it back towards him a little harder, aiming for the goal on his side of the table.

[itsnotaonesie]

So she's into super smart nerds that still make stupid stupid choices that can also lift trucks.

He is concentrating super hard on blocking his goal, and he manages to succeed! But in doing so he's whacked to puck into the side of the table and it's just zig zagging back and forth over to her side all wacky like and he's a bit off balance. Bam she has an opening.

[writtendestiny]

... So it's a very esoteric "type".

She takes the chance that he gives her, leaning into the table and smacking the puck in a straight line towards the goal at the other side. Poison makes a little sound of triumph as the plastic disk clicks into the goal, and she bounces lightly on her heels.

The light display above the table changes.

1 - 0

[itsnotaonesie]

He totally whiffs it, missing the puck completely when he tries to block his goal. He gives her the biggest grin when she scores, "Nice! You're a natural at this!"

It also helps that Peter can't stand up straight for more than five seconds, probably. He grabs the puck and puts it back on the table, giving it a gentle whack towards her.

[writtendestiny]

"You don't need to go easy on me," she tells him, a small challenge in her smile. She taps the puck back his way, deliberately harder than he hit it towards her.

"Unless this is the best you can do."

[itsnotaonesie]

"I mean, right now I see like, two of you."

He's joking, but this probably is the best he can do right now. He does, however, whack that puck back, straight down the middle.

[writtendestiny]

She has the feeling he might not be quite as drunk as he's making out... and that he's definitely not hitting the puck as hard as he could. But hey, it wouldn't be fun if he was slamming the thing across the table every time.

Poison tries to hit the puck aside but misses, groaning as it clicks into the goal in front of her.

"I should have been able to hit that."

[itsnotaonesie]

He is playing with her a little bit, he's not actually seeing double-Poison. He's also holding back a lot when it comes to smacking the puck around. If he wasn't he could break it or the table or accidentally hit Poison with it or put it through a wall, all kinds of shit. He's just too strong, man, that's why he never played sports in school.

He does a little victory wiggle, but he's not gonna be That Guy and get all braggy. She'd still scored first, after all, "you're doing great! I mean, this is just your first time playing. For a beginner, you're totally nailing it."

[writtendestiny]

"It isn't difficult." If you have decent aim and good reflexes, she can't see how you can fail to be good at this game, and Poison's aim has been honed over her life through various means.

"But I think you're holding back on me, Peter. You don't need to go easy just because I'm a girl."

Poison does not, even for a moment, think that he's only going easy on her because she's a girl. Mostly, she just wants to make him laugh.

[itsnotaonesie]

And laugh he does, right before rolling his eyes. Oooh you.

"I'm holding back because I don't wanna break this table. Honestly, I'm holding back like 95% of the time around here." Otherwise, this space station would probably be in really bad shape right now.

[writtendestiny]

"That's probably for the best," she hums thoughtfully, placing another puck on the table and knocking it towards him. The music in the room loops back into the intro for the same track that's been playing since she walked in, but she barely notices.

"You know, I really could have used someone like you around in the Phaerie realms."

[itsnotaonesie]

He nods, whacking the puck back towards her. At this point Peter's so focused on Poison and the game that he really isn't paying attention to the music either, or anyone else for that matter.

"Someone like me like, with weird powers? Or just in general?"

[writtendestiny]

"Someone like you," she tells him, knocking the puck back. She makes it an easy shot, rather than interrupting the flow of the conversation.

"The powers would have helped, though. Especially in the Spider Realm."

[itsnotaonesie]

And Peter responds in kind, bumping the puck back in her direction gently while they chat.

"Hold up, you have an entire realm of just spiders? I-- okay, creepy. And let me guess, it's full of like giant, horrible killer spiders?

[writtendestiny]

"There may be a few that are... larger than average."

She does grin a little at that, tapping the puck back and leaning against the edge of the table.

"Lady Asinastra is shaped like a human. Mostly."

[itsnotaonesie]

"See, now--" He pauses, taps the puck back to her, "now I'm just picturing a regular lady with a big spider butt and now I'm super glad I didn't get a creepy spider butt."

He glances over his shoulder at his normal human butt. Just guh spiders are weird, man.

[writtendestiny]

"Not exactly. It's the eyes."

But-- Peter, did you really just look at your own rear to check that it wasn't suddenly a spider butt? Poison has to laugh.

"She'd probably like you."

[itsnotaonesie]

"Eyes, like, were her eyes brown too, or is there something weird and spidery about my eyes that I"m just not aware of?"

He sure did and now he's off on a weird spider tangent. Soooorrryyyy.

"Now, do you mean she'd like me the way you like me or are we talking in more of a black widow sort of way?"