OPEN💗 LATE VALENTINE'S DAY PARTY

[peoplewatch]

WHO: Newbies, oldbies, everyone is welcome!
WHAT: A Late Valentine’s Party mingle, since Valentines’ Day was over Kaiju month…
WHERE: “MANTRA”, an underground, alternative club in Neo Toyko
WHEN: March 10th
WARNINGS: Romance and shippy things, alcohol, hookah, suggestive things. Anything NSFW is to be appropriately labelled.

Around the 10th of March, Outsiders will receive a message in their ocular inbox from Kabru, the Outsider also known as @ rasgulla. The message reads:

“To my dearest friends and teammates,

If we haven’t met before, call me Kabru. When not on missions as an Outsider, I work as a freelance event planner for various businesses and private organizations within Neo Tokyo.

Valentines’ Day is a popular holiday in Japan that was sadly interrupted last month by the kaiju. My current client is holding a belated Valentines’ Day event and they would really like the Outsiders to come. There will be plenty of food and things to do. Even if you're not looking for a romantic time, I'd encourage you to come!

Please wear something comfortable. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Yours sincerely,

Kabru.”



A location pin comes attached with the invitation. It looks like Kabru’s become more adept at technology over the months.

Follow the location pin and you’ll find yourself in front of ‘Mantra’ in metro Tokyo, an underground, alternative club making waves for its uniqueness in the club scene. Outsiders will all be allowed in without much fuss. The owner of the club is a gentle woman who kindly requests that all guests take their shoes off and leave them at the side. There is a lingering scent of incense and the people hanging out in the club look remarkably calm as they relax; cuddling and enjoying each other’s company. What kind of Valentine’s day party is this? A New Age, alternative kind, apparently. The owner of the club wants to be promoting togetherness in a completely different way.

Thankfully, finger foods and alcohol appear to be abundant, even if Kabru would really like you to be mingling with the people! There is a bar with free flowing wines and spirits, and a table with hors d'oeuvres and small desserts as accompaniment. These can include sushi rolls, small sandwiches, crab cake bites, small skewers, chocolates, little cakes and tarts. Food aside, there is live music playing and guests are highly encouraged to dance.

Naturally, couples are also coupling up, but anything too raunchy is of course cordoned off to a private room. Also, ignore the people smoking electronic hookah at the side…

What can you do besides eat and drink?

1. DANCING 💗

The DJ mostly plays trance and synth pop music in the background but he’s happy to take requests. On the dancefloor,there’s always a group of tipsy guests dancing their hearts out, some dancing alone and others dancing as a couple. There’s no right or wrong way to dance and most people will not cast judgement. Give it a try? Better hurry, before some of the overeager guests try to drag you in.

2. CUDDLE PILE 💗
Numerous cushions are set out around the venue for guests to lounge in and cuddle. It’s highly encouraged, in fact! Especially after a vigorous dance session. There are people lying together in larger groups, and couples choosing to spend their time lounging and enjoying each other’s company. Finding it difficult to relax? The owner might give you a whiff of her special perfume that’s guaranteed to put you in a state of complete calm. It might even make you more open about lying together with someone else.

3. SPEED DATING 💗

There’s a speed dating round going on in one side of the club. Guests are numbered and paired up randomly, then given a short amount of time to get to know each other on a speedy little date. Don’t know what to say? A list of questions will flow in through the oculars to give you a prompt. (Please refer to here and here for some examples or make up your own!)

4. MAKE SWEET TREATS 💗

In the spirit of Valentines’ Day, the owner of the club is hosting a quick desserts-making workshop at the event. Guests will be provided with ingredients and taught to make chocolate or cupcakes, and they will get the chance to decorate it however they like. It’s highly encouraged to make something to give to your sweetheart or the person you admire. Do you really want to be the person eating their own chocolate on Valentines’ Day?

5. PARTY GAMES 💗

What’s a party without party games? Throughout the night, people will be getting drunk and playing local drinking games such as the King’s Game. Eventually, other games from the West get introduced by other people. These games include Truth or Dare, Spin the Bottle and 7 Minutes in Heaven.

6. TAKE SOMEONE HOME 💗

If it looks like you're having a pretty good time with someone else, a helpful robot will approach you and provide you both with a key to a private room. Some of these private rooms are normal and some are themed, similar to a love hotel. There's no need to actually do anything raunchy of course. You could just cuddle up and enjoy the warmth of the digital fireplace! Everything one might need for a nice time together (condoms, lubricant etc) will be readily available.

As the event planner, Kabru will be buzzing around and making sure everything runs smoothly, but he can be stopped for questions or concerns (pls be nice to him he has anxiety). Characters can sit out of anything they want, but drunk and overeager guests might decide to drag them in.

[ OOC: I put this up so everyone can enjoy a chill mingle after the chaos of last month! And also because we didn’t get the opportunity to have do much for Valentines’ Day given the timing. Naturally, please label any NSFW, add your content warnings appropriately, and state your boundaries and preferences in terms of shipping/gen/being tagged by younger/older characters. ]

Comments

[immortalpoet]

...I don't really have any strong opinions. I suppose I'm annoyed by all this. Then again, I'm a Fixer. Such is the life.

[Shuffled around, made to do tasks, but...his eyes grow a little brighter.]

No, on second thought. I understated myself. There is too much left behind. I do not care for LILITH and its desires.

[followyourstar]

[A slow nod]

I want to go home too. It feels a little weird to say given the, uh, comparisons between here and there, but... "Too much left behind" really is the best way to put it.

[immortalpoet]

You still have yet to carve your Aspect, Dante.

[whatever the fuck THAT means]

This shouldn't be something we should be steeped in forever. Limbus Company requires its manager and its guide.

[followyourstar]

[whatever the fuck that means indeed...]

I'm... trying not to imagine how things must be going without us right now. Oh, though I guess it might not be too bad? We all came from different times and I remember everyone being around when everything was happening.

[Assuming they all aren't from different Mirror Worlds on top of all that.]

Not that I'm using that as an excuse...

[immortalpoet]

And you shouldn't. The Sinners may have their Identities. But there is only one you, Dante.

[...]

And Limbus Company needs you.

[followyourstar]

[...Right. The company.]

It'd probably be difficult to find someone else with a clock like mine on short notice, wouldn't it? I'll take good care of it.

...It needs you too, though. Limbus Company does, I mean.

[immortalpoet]

Mm. Well, I guess you all would be chickens running around with your heads cut off without me...

[Heh.]

[followyourstar]

[A solemn nod.]

We'd never know when to get off the bus.

[And they can't count all the times things might have gotten out of control without him. Or how the lot of them might have died. But they're not sure how to put that into words]

[immortalpoet]

You'd just keep going around in circles...

[No more rest stops. Just Going.]

At one point...you'll have to learn how to rely without me. I won't be a guide forever.

[followyourstar]

[The thought makes something inside them twist. It's a feeling not unlike whenever they would nearly lose a Sinner, but different too in its own way.

He's right. They know he's right. Someday they'll need to walk on their own or their paths will diverge or, should the worst come to past, something might happen that can't be undone. Still...]

It won't be the same without you.

[immortalpoet]

...

[He closes his eyes. It might have been easy to do in the beginning, but to think about it now, Dante looking for his guidance...]

[...]

Don't miss this old guide, Dante. I hardly want to hold you back.

[followyourstar]

I wouldn't say you're holding me back from anything.

[If anything, they would assume it was the other way around.]

But I think I get it. It's something around the same lines as to why you're not allowed to interfere. Right?

[immortalpoet]

...Perhaps.

[Perhaps, perhaps.]

Attachment will not...get us very far. That's how it works. We must play our roles, for the better of everyone.

[He sounds a little dull saying it, though, like it's more something he's reciting rather than something he believes.]

[followyourstar]

[Their roles. Guide and Manager. They stare down at the table and fold their hands, thumbs tapping a rhythm to the clock only they can hear right now.]

The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh? Even when we hit a detour, a detour's all it is.

[Even though it seems Vergilius enjoys that fact about as much as they do.]

[immortalpoet]

[...]

I miss that ticking.

[He says, a little under his breath - but it seems to be a quiet admission, coming and going ever quick. He seems to want to move on quick from it, voice picking up.]

That's all it is, yes. And imagine. Limbus Company won't even pay us for the time off. Can you imagine that?

[followyourstar]

[They look up again at his admission, surprise writ plain on a face unused to having expressions.

And then he barrels on as if he hadn't even said anything at all, leaving them to wonder if they'd even heard what they thought they heard in the first place.

They make a sound like a soft exhale, the corners of their lips quirking upward]

I'd say it's a good thing LILITH pays, but something tells me the exchange rate of KRYPTOS to Ahn isn't very good.

[immortalpoet]

...

[He stares at them for a moment. A smile.]

[He couldn't see that before, with a clock's head.]

Oh, certainly not. We go home and we would just have enough for a chicken skewer. Or two.

[followyourstar]

[It disappears during the silence as they wonder if their joke didn't land.

But he plays along, and they take that as an indication to keep going.]

Two if we pooled our money together, yeah. But you'd get my portion in that case. Doesn't seem fair of me to keep it to myself, all things considered.

[immortalpoet]

Why not? You seem to have a mouth now. Might as well use it for something outside of useless talk.

[A beat.]

But I guess it's not really a mouth. Is it? Just a disguise.

[followyourstar]

[Their eyes widen a fraction at the first set of statements. They shift in their seat and look away at the second.]

Y-Yeah. Just something I came up with. I wasn't even going to make it look like anything at first--just use the default settings, you know? But it didn't... look right.

[They're not sure why they're saying all this. The words just started pouring out them the moment they went to reply.]

[immortalpoet]

Mm.

[One day Dante will get their head back. One day.]

Well, it looks fine. You shouldn't waste energy worrying.

[followyourstar]

Oh, um! No, I'm... okay with this. I mean, I agree it looks fine. It's based on what I already have so... Even if it's not the same... It... Uh... I'm... not worrying?

[Where did all this nervous energy come from all of a sudden?!]

[immortalpoet]

You're stammering.

[Just pointing that out.]

[followyourstar]

R-Right! I am. But I'm not worrying!

[That's two entirely different things.]

[immortalpoet]

So why are you doing that? You're acting like a girl who's getting all worked up before meeting a crush.