Guys' Night [OPEN]

[seafloor]

WHO: Dudes, dude. Bring all your dudely Outsiders, bro.
WHAT: Man I sure wish I could tell you Cracking a cold one open with the boys
WHERE: The Onsen
WHEN: 4/11
WARNINGS: Alcohol, nudity, dad jokes... This'll be updated accordingly

[ A few days after the girls have had their fun (cause girls just wanna have fun), another blanket text sweeps over the Outsiders' inboxes. This time, it's from Kaito: and he is proposing a very original idea that all the guys should come by the hot springs in a few days' time. Gossip and bathing are optional, but an empty stomach is mandatory.

Several pictures of newly purchased smokers, grills, and even a fucking pizza oven can be seen at various points throughout the message. There are also mountains of stacked beer and soda cases. Kaito's apparently going to be cooking enough to feed the whole base, or so he purports.

Where did he get all the money for this? Whatever, it's free!

He also adds in no uncertain terms that if any girls try to show up and sneak a snack, he will send them home with a stern warning and a bottle of water.

If you take him up on the invitation, welcome! It's a spring cookout and Pitmaster Kaito Nagano is going to be serving up enough barbeque to temporarily turn the onsen area into a Texan territory within Japan. Seriously, there's gonna be a metric fuckton of food and booze, and the hot springs will be right there when you're ready to get hot and hungover.

There are absolutely no plans after food. Feel free to stick around and socialize, but you will not be publicly shamed for just yoinking a plate and dip setting. Probably.

Aside from the barbeque, there are some horseshoes and cornhole boards set up (google it, it's safe, this is not a bit it's just a funny name for an american game) for dudes to try their hand-eye coordination at after having one too many drinks.

If you're feeling particularly brave, Kaito's got an ice box full of artificial fish (all the meat's artificial, let's be real) that you can try to attract a feral cat with. Good luck. ]

(( ooc: hello yes i didn't want The Boys™ to feel left out so feel free to make top levels and just get some general cookout social time in with your boyos. make it as friendly or awkward or awkwardly friendly as possible. go nuts. get naked. cause a ruckus. [ insert toxic masculinity here ] ilu ♥ ))

Comments

[newphew]

It's a game? [ hunter clearly has no idea what bananas are and just threw out the word. ]

Oh, so it is a training exercise after all.... I see. [ puffing up a bit! ] Well then, I'll test my accuracy and dexterity.

[ unfortunately i do have to say he succeeds ]

[immortalpoet]

Bananas are a fruit...

[And....oh! There he goes.]

[He nods, a little pleasantly surprised.]

Oh, see. There you go. You have some skills, it seems.

[newphew]

[ giving verg a perplexed look at his explanation of "bananas", even as he puffs up a little in pride at being told he has skills. yeah! he threw horse slippers good!! ]

Yes, I can see the merit in this now. Honing your dexterity.... A test of your reflexes....

[ (zenos voice) ]

[immortalpoet]

[PLEASE NO HUNTER NO BLOODTHIRST FOR YOU!!!]

That it is. Though this is a simple one mostly for young children.

[A pause.]

Did you not play games like there where you come from?

[newphew]

[ oh. he deflates a bit at hearing it's for kids..... not as impressive anymore ]

I don't have time for games. I trained.

[ his whole life, apparently??? ]

[immortalpoet]

[Sorry, kid.]

Trained...? [Hm.] Trained for what, exactly?

[newphew]

To be---- [ hm, hesitation ] a soldier.

[immortalpoet]

A soldier.

[Something...hardens in his expression.]

Why at this age?

[newphew]

[ hunter's doing that thing where he gets kind of avoidant, so he's just picking up more horseshoes to throw and not looking at vergilius. hmmm ]

I've been one for as long as I can remember. [ ha ha!! yikes!! ]

Anyway-- what's this other game? [ he gestures towards cornholes ] Is it also for children?

[immortalpoet]

[The lights in his eyes flicker - he's certainly displeased by it, obviously trying not to say something, here.]

[The vibes are Bad, though.]

Hrm.

[And wow, change of topic.]

I...think that one's for all ages.

[newphew]

[ vergilius is right!!! but hunter is not yet at the point where he can handle being told that. so his instincts are pretty spot-on. that and hunter appears to be ignoring the bad vibes to focus on playing games ]

[ examining it!! ]

You just need to throw this squishy bag in there, right? We should play.

[immortalpoet]

Yes. Let's do it.

[Surprisingly...just going along with it.]

Best out of...five?

[newphew]

[ not that vergillius is a softie or anything.... ]

Yes! I'll show you my skills.

[ approve of him, vergilius.... he's good at throwing stuff ]

[immortalpoet]

[No, of course not. He's a hardass.]

Sure.

[Cornhole away, kid...]

You ever play games like this? Outside of...your duties.

[newphew]

[ only the hardest of asses ]

I did play flyer derby once.

[ throwing a sack!! yay it goes in the hole. be impressed!! ]

It's a game where you have to use flying skills to capture your opponent's flags. And there's face paint.

[ this is the happiest hunter has ever looked, talking about flyer derby ]

[immortalpoet]

Flying skills?

[Raising an eyebrow...trying to imagine Hunter with wings...]

[Oh, there it goes. He nods at that.]

How do you fly?

[Good show, but he's also tossing his in the hole. Evenly matched it seems...]

[newphew]

[ so vergilius might recall the little red cardinal, flapjack! hunter brings him out from inside his outfit, and flapjack turns into staff form! ]

Like this!

[ and eager to show off to vergilius, he gets on the staff like it's a witch's broom, doing a few loop-de-loops in the air to dunk another sack in the hole. that's not how the game goes, hunter!! ]

[immortalpoet]

...Oh.

[This is what the kids are into these days? Birds as staffs?]

[But regardless, he blinks, a little surprised at the transformation and the subsequent flight, before he gives his appraisal. An approving nod.]

So it's a sort of tool, then? Your...bird.

[newphew]

[ hunter puffs up a bit at the approval. yay!! approval!! ]

Palisman. He's magic, so he can transform between staff and bird. [ flapjack transforms back, chirps a hello to vergilius, fluttering nearby ]

His name is Flapjack.

[immortalpoet]

Flapjack.

[Still doesn't really get it, but...well. That's a bird now.]

Does everyone have these birds where you come from?

[newphew]

They're not all birds. [ flapjack comes back over to hunter's shoulder, where hunter gives him some ruffles ] But a lot of witches have palismen. Most carve them themselves from palistrom wood.

But Flapjack.... just kind of found me. [ flapjack's got a scar down his eye, so he's probably been through some shit (tm) too ] Palistrom wood is getting really rare, too.

[immortalpoet]

[From wood...witches? Huh. So what was he saying before? Fly derby at witch camp? This is all a bit confusing, he thinks.]

You don't look like a witch.

[And raising his hand slowly...]

Can I...see Flapjack?

[newphew]

I'm...

[ whatever hunter was about to say, he stops himself from saying it, looking away. the grin slips off his face, replaced by a cagey expression instead. mysterious ]

[ it's brief, though, since as soon as vergilius mentions flapjack, his face lightens up a little instead. flapjack chirps in a friendly fashion at vergilius, flying over to land on his hand. he feels like a regular bird, even though vergilius saw him in staff form before ]

Flapjack's magic. You could use him, too, in staff form.

[immortalpoet]

[....Huh.]

[But he won't point it out for now - he's never been the type to force people into answers, really - and instead blinks as the bird alights on his hand. For all intents and purposes, Flapjack really is....a bird.]

I could? But I don't have magic.

[newphew]

You don't need your own magic to use him. He just has to let you use him.

[ flapjack chirps!!! normally, hunter would not be so blase about telling someone else this and potentially letting another person handle him, but vergilius is allowed. he has permission ]

[ he also has flapjack's permission, because flapjack can tell he is a big softie ]