[F11 - OP] Christmas Chaos (aka Come Eat All Of Koga's Food)

[Lessa 1]

꧁༺Lessa༻꧂   Lessa, The Violet Guardian Level: 31 Paragon Level: 39 HP: 820/820 EN: 114/114 Stats: Damage: 23 Mitigation: 122 Battle Healing: 41 H.M.: 8 HLY: 8 THRNS: 72 LD: 3 Equipped Gear: Weapon: Arcael's Might (T4 THSS - DMG DMG DMG HLY) Armor: Empress Armor (T4 HA - HM HM THNS THNS) Misc: Purple Hair Ribbon (T2 TRINKET - LD3) Skills: Straight Sword R5 Heavy Armor R5 Battle Healing R5 Energist Fighting Spirit Charge Active Mods: Impetus Emergency Recovery Addons: Iron Skin Ferocity Stamina Active Extra Skills: Parry Housing Buffs: Well Rested: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 20% (rounded down) Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts. Col Stash: +5% bonus col from monster kills and treasure chests Advanced Training: +10% Exp to a thread. Limit one use per month [1/1] Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll Guild Hall Buffs: Helping Hand: Lowest-leveled guild member receives +10 bonus Exp at the end of the thread. At least half of the thread's participants must be guild members. Limit one use per month, per character. [1/1]

With an ironclad grip on the porcelain platter, Lessa followed the sidewalk west. Her blue eyes never left her precious deviled eggs, nestled in their individual spots. The egg mix, perfectly concocted with mayo, mustard, honey mustard, and pickle juice, sat atop expertly cooked egg whites. They were, in a word, eggcellent. And the only thing Lessa could actually cook.

As such, she was hell bent on making it to Koga’s without ruining them. Considering her cooking curse, it made sense for her to drop them before they could be eaten. She wouldn’t let that happen. 

With her gaze on her tray, she nearly plowed into a fellow blonde waiting at Koga’s door. “Oh hey,” she greeted, flashing an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going.” By way of explanation, she lifted her plate of deviled eggs. Then, finally taking in the other woman for the first time, her smile bloomed into a grin. “I love your Santa getup!” In her oversized red sweater and black leggings, Lessa wasn’t quite so festive. But she hadn’t really been in the all-out-Santa-outfit mood. She’d hardly been in the party mood. But Koga was her friend, and she felt she owed it to him to at least show up.

”Here,” Lessa said gently, balancing her tray in one hand and reaching for the doorknob with the other. “I can hear music, and Koga may not hear us through the craziness. Let’s just go in.” Turning the handle, she swung the door open, and let the party atmosphere crash over her.

[Koga 0]

'So far, so good,' Koga thought as more guests slowly made their way into his home, each quickly finding someone to mingle with. NIGHT, graciously, had already taken the most nervous looking of the bunch under her wing. Hmm, maybe NIGHT had a big sister or motherly instinct to her after all.

"Oh, hey its frying pan boy. Good to see you!"

...frying pan boy?

FRYING PAN BOY!?

Well, at least she actually recognized him this time...

Koga wheeled around to face the usual suspect. "Blue!" he almost shouted at the woman, but not before witnessing a blue slime devour the entire table of food that Koga and others had contributed to. Honestly, Koga was a little surprised that the slime had not devoured the table itself.

"M-my apple pie..."

Before Koga could say or do anything, however, NIGHT had already stepped in. "And kindly," Koga added, "make an effort to make some of these not blueberry flavored?"

[Oji 0]

The longer that he stood around, Oji realized that there were a few more people than he was expecting. He did his best to avoid the younger ones and the drama that always entailed with them, and he knew better than to get into those kind of situations anymore. He kept his distance and only picked at a few of the snacks, but took a nice large glass of the fruity-flavored drink. He pulled out a bottle that he kept close to his heart- a well-made sake -and poured a generous amount into the drink. He took a sip and smiled as the flavors meshed well with one another.

"Perfect." He spoke quietly, and saw a orange-haired man come by (@Jomei) and grab his own cup of the liquid. He drank quietly next to him, and they both watched the drama unfold. He didn't say anything, but when he saw the man look at his drink, almost looking a little upset, he held up his bottle of Sake. "You want a quick little swig of it? I didn't want to bring it out with the chance of kids around." a chuckle could be heard after he spoke, uncorking the bottle. "Even though it might not have the same effect, the flavor is pretty spot on."

[Jomei 0]

Jomei turned his head towards the man who stood near him, a gentleman who seemed to have quite a few years over Jomei wearing a Santa Claus getup that may have been made for someone a bit smaller than him. Jomei wasn't one to judge though, tis the season for such shenanigans. He held up a green, glass bottle, the liquid sloshing inside as he moved it towards the ginger. Jomei peered at the visible label, the kanji printed on it quickly translated to English as his eyes focused on it... though one did not really need the translation to recognize a bottle of sake. 

Looking back at the man, he cocked an eyebrow, "What makes you so certain I'm of age to drink, and not one of the kids?" He let a short moment pass before he let out a pretty pathetic sigh, "Sorry, that was a stupid joke." he held the glass in the direction of the bottle, "I'll take some, sure." Jomei watched as his cup filled back up, this time the clear alcohol mixing into the fruit juice. "Thanks." Raising the glass to his lips, he takes a small sip of the mixed drink.. it had been awhile since he had sake, though usually it could put him right on his ass if he wasn't careful. At least he didn't have to worry about that now. The bitter, yet fruity drink traveled down his throat, filling him with a welcome warmth. "That definitely helps.. Hey, weren't you on Floor Twenty-Six not that long ago? During that random tower quest? I thought you seemed familiar.."

Turning his attention for a moment to the door as another guest arrived, Jomei's face lit up slightly as it was a face he was awfully familiar with. Jomei smiled in Lessa's direction for a moment, both as a quick greeting if she saw it, while also happy to see she was here. After a moment, he turned back to Oji to continue the conversation... though he may or may not have drowned out a bit of the beginning of their conversation without meaning to. He tried to play it off, just jumping back in and listening to the man. "Oh I'm sorry, I'm Jomei by the way. Would be rude of me to share a man's drink without him knowing my name."

@Oji @Lessa

[Blueberry 0]

It seemed not everyone was a fan of her work. The pink-haired player turned as a sudden head-splitting voice filled the air. Turning, Blue simply frowned as the girl spoke. What was she angry about? Blue had simply upgraded the previous palette, the food made by NPC's were simply a joke. "I... I br-" The girl tried to get her words through, but the newcomer was unrelenting. "Monopoly? This isn't about money." The girl replied plainly. The girl didn't hear it though as she quickly began to storm off. 

The sudden outburst gathered a lot of attention and brought many individuals over. The first was a girl who's face seemed familiar to her, although she couldn't quite put anything to the face. Unlike frying pan boy, this girl didn't remind her of any qualities that stuck out. Although, the girl seen the light as she popped one of Blue's pastries in her mouth. "That's why I brought th-" 

"I'm sure your gifts are very well appreciated, but on behalf of the other guests, I would refrain from performing that again."

The voice was calm and collected but just as cold. A dark tracksuit covered the woman's body with arms folder over one another. Taking a step back away from the girl, Blue would hide her first impression of the woman. The demeanor reminded her a bit of Freyd. The same unfriendly aura almost radiated off of her. Was she another of the 'unfriendables'? No, Blue would at least give it a shot. She wouldn't deem this woman a hopeless cause just yet. 

"I'm sure you'd be disappointed too if your hard work and effort went unrecognized, wouldn't it?"

Thinking inward, the pink-haired player began to ponder the situation. Were people actually upset that she had improved the food? Maybe they cared less about the food itself and more about the effort put into making it? What a bunch of weirdos. She hadn't shared many sweets in the real world so this was something she hadn't encountered before. "You.... You might be right. People would be upset if their work went unappreciated." It was a baffling thought to her but it sorta made sense when she took food out of the equation. 

Another voice, Frying Pan boi's. Flashing him a smile, he would continue by lamenting his pie. "Apple? Blueberry is so much better." Upon his request she would frown. "I make dessert because I like too. If I changed the flavor I wouldn't like doing it anymore. Gonna have to me a little more... convincing than that Frying Pan Boi!" A giggle would follow her words. 

The blue slime suddenly bounded off the floor and onto her shoulder. Giving it a glance, she would begin telling the surrounding people, I'm surprised he listened to me in the first place. It was probably because I was telling him to eat and normally I have to tell him not to. All I know is that I fed him some cookies on Floor One and ever since he's just been following me around. I don't know how but he hasn't left yet. I found a page in my stuff about him and I can't read his name either." 

Opening her inventory, she would flick through items and information until she found the weird name. Spinning it so that it displayed the name would be readable by those around her.

<<Fraz-Urb'luu>>

Closing it, she would smile. "I call him Frazberry!" 

[Astralin 0]

Astralin waited patiently, and she turned around to see another player almost running her over! This player seemed to be a fellow blonde at the same height as Astralin. There may have been a difference in the exact hair coloring, but a definite difference was eye color. The player was holding a tray of deviled eggs, and was wearing an oversized sweater, paired with black leggings. She apologized for almost crashing into Astralin, then grinned and complimented Astralin's festive apparel. "Aww, thank you! You look great, too!" Astralin said with a bright smile, adding in a compliment of her own. Being nice to good people was something she loved doing.

@Lessa

The fellow blonde opened the door, saying they should just go in. Well, maybe this time around...Astralin normally wasn't one to just barge into a place uninvited(unless it was hostile territory like a dungeon, which this was not), but maybe in this case, it was forgivable?

 

 

Astralin entered to see both a party, and what might have been the aftermath of some drama. She would walk over to the dessert table, and assess the "damage".

There was literally nothing but blueberry desserts. Hm, who could have possibly made these...? Astralin tried one of the blueberry desserts and remembered the time in that tavern back on floor one, when a certain player was trying to practice baking... Astralin looked around and spotted the player, who she recognized. ...she didn't remember catching the pink haired player's name, though...

...So if that's the case, exactly what happened? Had Yona called for help from more than one player? Whatever the case, as good as the blueberry desserts were, a good variety was always best. So Astralin accessed her inventory to pull out and set down the festive sweets that Vigilon's friend had made. Three dozen festive sugar cookies, two dozen festively decorated cupcakes, the cupcakes themselves varying from a sweet and simple vanilla to a rich, decadent chocolate, several batches of chocolate covered pretzels, in milk, dark, and white chocolate varieties, topped off with green and red sprinkles. Along with that, she set down a festively decorated cake along with two pies, one being a cherry pie, the other being an apple pie. Can't argue with the classics, one might guess.

...As Astralin looked through her inventory to make sure nothing was missing, she took note of the quantity of the extra desserts Vigilon's friend had made specifically for her. ...there were more than Astralin could have alone, and she couldn't just keep these wonderful visual/confectionery experiences to herself...she was a woman of morals, so she decided to share a few. In addition to the other desserts she'd set down on the table, she added in one dozen star-shaped cookies that had the appearance of being golden, despite the fact that they were just sugar cookies with royal icing. She also set down some white chocolates that were shaped like crescent moons, with star-shaped sprinkles, sky blue in color, inside. To top those two extras off, she set down a Galaxy Mirror cake.

Astralin backed up a bit and took a screenshot of the dessert table's new layout. The Blueberry Goodies that were there before Astralin's arrival, the Festive Desserts that Astralin had brought, not to mention the Stellar Sweets that Astralin decided to share some of...yeah, it was a great layout, all coming together!

...Of course, she had no clue that the Blueberry Goodies were why she got called over by Yona.

 

 

With her additions made, it was time to enjoy the party. Among the players present, she recognized two players. Astreya, and Koga. Since Koga was apparently the Host, she decided to talk to him first. "Hey, Koga!" She said as she approached while waving over to him. "It's been a while, how have you been?" She asked.

@Koga

[NIGHT 0]

Insane.

It wasn't as though she cared for the familiar; rather, it brought her a hint of relief that this other player had understood the intent behind her words. When the player got distracted almost immediately by Koga's appearance and revealed her stubbornness for the issue, NIGHT had almost wanted to wring her friend by the neck. Mind you, in the most friendliest of manners, regarding talking to someone with, somehow, the aptitude of a child.

(Fair enough. It wasn't as though teenagers trapped in the game could grow up with their parents tutelage... though she expected better from the general public.)

The familiar -- BlazBlue with an F () was just as animated as a ball of slime could be. And, though it had a calmer hue than the darkness and teeth that consumed Venom the Second on the fight against Shadow, NIGHT still wasn't convinced it wasn't a menace.

Would be rude to mention it, however. If she rolled her eyes, it was in deciding she wouldn't be bothered giving them the time of day now that the host of the party was present for this hubbub. The woman's grip upon Koga's shoulder as she turned to offer her services elsewhere was proof of that.

But her luck was much, much worse than she'd remembered.

Never mind that she spotted Lessa from the corner of her eye. No, that wasn't the blonde she was concerned with. Rather, in some bout of irony, there the familiar image was of someone, someone she was certain hadn't left her post back home yet. Locks over her shoulder and trailing behind it. Sparks to her side, because here came the additional dessert entrée, and NIGHT forgot to contemplate if any of the dishes would go empty tonight, spread too large for even a banquet hall for the gods.

No.

She was silent when the mirror cake was present. As though more guilt needed to be piled on her plate even further. A deep breath turned into a momentary gulp, turned into a flinch once she heard the shutter, quiet beneath the noise go off.

Her hand was still on Koga's shoulder.

"Hey, Koga! It's been a while, how have you been?"

And she felt her grip tighten. Balled all her distress into a smile that would rival a knife.

"Koga," NIGHT mentioned calmly, though the twitch in her fingers on his shirt would give away her demeanor, and so too would the sudden intent to leave the situation present. "Can I talk to you outside when you have a moment?"

[Koga 0]

Koga wanted to facepalm as Blueberry tried to explain that she only ever made blueberry flavored confections. Putting aside the fact that she was blatantly wrong about blueberry being the better pie flavor, being referred to as only 'Frying Pan Boi' was getting tiring. "You know that's not my name, right..." Koga asked. It was rhetorical. Koga was 99.999% sure that Blue thought his name was actually Frying Pan Boi.

Then a different, but also equally familiar voice, greeted him. This time actually using his name as opposed to a really bad (and slightly insulting) nickname. "Oh, hey Astralin," Koga replied with a smile, "Yeah, long time no s-" Koga then felt a hand on his shoulder, squeezing with enough force to give the man pause. Koga looked over his shoulder right at NIGHT as she spoke. "Eh, y-yeah. Uhm, sorry Astralin, I'll be right back." Koga said excusing himself to what felt like his certain demise.

Koga guided NIGHT out to the small backyard, leaving behind the growing raucousness inside the home for the cool night air and artificially starlit sky. As he closed the sliding glass door behind him, he put his hands in his pockets and turned to fact NIGHT. "What's up?" he asked, trying to hide his concern and the fact he felt very threatened at the moment.

[Astreya 0]

Astreya had mainly come over to the desserts table to try and work out some sort of way to try and keep things from falling apart.  She had just gotten to the party and already there had been all sorts of things happening at once, and she couldn't help but to feel a little bit afraid that there was just going to be a huge meltdown at this party.  She had been to a large number of parties over the years where things had fallen through when one person had an issue with another, and that had left things in a rather...terrible sort of way.  

Thankfully, before she'd really had a chance to intervene fully, she had chosen to snack on one of hte blueberry pastries that had been provided and she'd found it to be delicious- and told the offerer such.  It had been at that point that another dark-garbed woman had approached, along with the party host to lecture the girl.  Astreya didn't really think they needed to go that far.  She guessed that maybe some people didn't particularly like blueberry?  That might be the only reason that someone might not appreciate what she'd put out, but honestly the food here was now way better than it had been before.  At least of the food she'd brought- she didn't get a chance to sample any of the things before the slime had eaten them.

"Okay, but guys.  This blueberry stuff is really good," Astreya spoke up, mostly to back up Blueberry given the fact that so far everyone seemed to be intent on shutting her down.  She supposed there was a certain sense of understanding in that- the whole situation wasn't really socially acceptable.  "Like, I can totally get where you're coming from," Astreya spoke, appealing to both NIGHT and Koga (although the girl that had originally thrown the fit wasn't around for Astreya to talk to,) "but like, just try some?" she asked, popping another tart into her mouth with a grin.

Of course, it was at that point too where the name for the slime made itself known and Astreya arched an eyebrow.  "Yeah I think Frazberry is about right," she agreed with a small nod.  However, as things seemed to settle down a litle, a pair of blondes made their way into the room carrying more food, with one of them carrying more sweets, causing Astreya to bounce a little in place in her excitement.  "More desserts!" she cheered.  She was very much the embodiment of the 'holy shit two cakes' energy as she reached over, snagging one of the things that Astralin had set down as well, munching on it excitedly.  "These are good too!  Maybe I should've taken up cooking," she mused to herself.

That reminded her that she had been talking to someone about professions- that being Jomei.  She saw him off to the side with another fellow, looking to be enjoying his punch.  The dark-haired girl gave a little grin as she looked on, not at all ashamed or embarrassed to be moving up to talk to people, even as she saw that Melodie was lingering around on her own- she made a mental note to make sure that the girl was doing all right before too long had passed.  But there was so much going on- it was just like the parties she had way back when she had still been in the 'real world.'  

Just as Melodie had suspected, Astreya was rather the social butterfly, and all the same, she didn't want there to be anyone who felt too left out, and while some people seemed to recognize all of these various people, the woman in the darker attire had taken the host off, and the blonde woman remained behind.  Astreya blinked, squinting a little before she realized that she recognized this woman.  "Heyyyyy, you're Astra...lin, right?" she asked, peering at the woman for a moment longer.  "Yeah, yeah!  We did that one quest for that blacksmith guy, remember?" she offered with a small grin.  "That was awhile ago!" she added with a sudden thought.  

She peered around, curious to see who else she knew from her previous quests.  Blueberry of course, from the mission with Freyd and Ivory for the Hoya.  But after the second pass, she didn't see anyone else, (aside from Mel of course) that she knew.  She needed to meet all these people... maybe some of them knew Freyd or Raidou too?

[NIGHT 0]

Strange that it had turned dark so quickly. But remaining indoors could ruin one's knowledge on the passage of time. It was only when the door was shut behind Koga that NIGHT turned around, feet on over-grown grass, distress coming through.

"You know her?!"

She'd been soft about her outburst despite the fact that they were already speaking in private. A hand wrapped around her head, by the temples, and NIGHT gestured to the person-who-looked-like-someone-but-wasn't-really-them. "You're on a first name basis with them?! Koga." The player breathed, attempting to hide her emotions from showing through in her body language -- no doubt she might've still been visible through the glass doors. And she tried not to stare into the room too hard, either, lest the party-goers noticed her judgements showing through.

"Koga, I get how this party is open to the public. But not once in a million years did I consider this single individual to show up at your house. Or consider the fact that you already know them."

There was another pause between her speech. Agitation in her footwork, NIGHT shifting her weight between one foot to the other. Folded arms. A deep breath, a long sigh, and a simmered, pained look to her friend.

"Koga. Who? Is she? Astralin, right? What... do you know about her?"

[Koga 0]

Koga was a little taken aback at the force with which NIGHT spoke. "Uh, yeah, I know her?" the man replied, probably more confused now than concerned. "Technically, I'm on a username basis with her...but same thing, sure. Introductions and all." Koga took NIGHT by the elbow and guided her away from the backdoor, and towards the Slime Farm, where a copse of trees mercifully shrouded them in enough darkness that it would make them difficult to make out from the house. "NIGHT. Breathe," he reminded his friend, allowing her a moment before answering. "I met her around this time last year, helped her with a quest. I don't really know much else about her. Just that she likes to use martial arts and...a weird..spellbook, that's not a spellbook..." Koga shook his head, getting himself back on track. "What is this about?" he asked trying to figure out why NIGHT was so worked up over Astralin. "Is this 'cause she looks like, well, you know."

[Oji 0]

Oji's smile widened as the man jested, asking if he was truly old enough. Oji gave a light chuckle, patting the man on the shoulder. "A fool watches a man's face to try and tell how old he is, a wise man looks at how a man carries himself." He jests. He pours in some sake to the mans drink-a generous amount- and put it back into his pocket. He took a sip as the man thanked him, and he just gave a light nod in response, watching events unfold as the starter of the party was taken out by a young lady. Either they were doing something not rated high enough for this section of the site, or they were having a fight.

The auburn-haired gentleman then asked if he was on floor 26, and his eyes brightened up "Oh, you mean the uh, the rebellion yes? I was there, just kinda followed along for most of it. I did get a nice painting though, I plan on having it hung in my shop when I eventually buy it." He smirked. "And if anyone asked I bought it off an NPC." the young man then introduced himself as Jomei. A nice little name, rolled of the tongue quite nicely. He held out a hand towards the man politely

"Oji, a pleasure to meet you in a different situation, where my life's not on the line." He laughed. "Albeit in this world that's a rare occurrence."

@Jomei

[Blueberry 0]

"You know that's not my name, right..." The pink-haired player simply shrugged in response. "I don't really recall you ever telling me your name~!" She would tease the man. "Add me to your friends list, it'll be easier that way. I know too many names to keep track of the new ones." It was true, Blue had made a habit of making too many friends, it was hard to stay up to date with all of them. She enjoyed positive reaction too. That was why her phone in the real world had been stuffed full of contacts. Now in Aincrad, she hadn't been keeping a lot of friends in her list. Why? She kept forgetting what name to add. A lot of the usernames were all spelled weird. Few people had simple usernames to add.

The girl beside her began defending her food but Blue would reply in a manner unlike her usual bubbly voice. "No no, I understand. I shouldn't have assumed anything." This world of Aincrad was different than her hometown. Everyone acted so much differently. Normally, the amount of energy she brought in was enough to liven up the room. In Aincrad, it just got her funny looks. Her normal attitude that everyone had loved before just wasn't enough anymore. If she wanted to make more friends here she would have to adapt her social style. The "Life of the Party" just didn't work here. 

The aroma of pies and cakes caught her nose. Was everyone just bringing sweets? It wasn't that she had a problem with it but there was nothing else for anyone to eat. Only she herself that she she knew of lived solely on a diet of sweets. "Did you make them yourself?" She would ask @Astralin calmly.

[Yona 0]

"That's what they all say..." Yona said in response to the pink haired saboteur's claim of this not being about money or business, in which Yona believed it was the latter, before having stormed off to the corner.

@Blueberry

 

Yona knew a thing or two about how business worked. Constant competition. If you were lucky enough to avoid getting crushed by another, you'd either remain moderate for all the time, or become the one who crushes another. Based on her brother's claims, Yona's father had crushed one or two potential competitors, but that might have been biased by the two's shared hatred for said father.

 

Yona just wanted to have a good time. Really, she did.

Monkey wrenches like this, however, tend to ruin the mood...as well as first impressions when it comes to reputation with people one doesn't know. She remained in the corner for a bit longer, hoping to calm down. Sooner than expected, Astralin showed up to the party, and Yona noticed a number of things.

Astralin brought more desserts than expected, so Yona could only wonder what was going on on the other end...but on this end, it was enough for successful damage control.

Astralin knew the host.

Astralin's presence seemed to make someone uncomfortable...enough for her to drag the host away for what may have been a private chat. Who knows what it was all about...though Yona had a wild guess for that.

Yona exhaled, and left the corner to rejoin the party. She hesitantly tried one of the blueberry sweets...but...yeah, as much of a Sweet Tooth as Yona was, she was just too salty about what went down to receive anything positive from eating it. Well, at least she tried.

With a sigh, she left the dessert table alone for a bit, because she was likely to eat a ridiculous amount if she stuck around. Now that she had calmed down(kinda), hopefully she'd be able to continue enjoying the party...and hopefully Astralin wouldn't spill the beans about the damage control.

[Astralin 0]

Koga greeted Astralin, only to get gripped on the shoulder and pulled aside by the artisan who made Astralin's Amulet. Something was off, based on the subtle actions, such as the movement in her fingers.

Astralin, however, had no idea what this was about, but she could only guess it was serious if the artisan was trying to stay calm, even though she didn't seem to be...

Well, Astralin could continue socializing with other players while waiting, right? Well, turns out there was no need to search, someone came to her. A familiar face seemed to recognize her. "Heeeey, Astreya! It's been a while, how are you?" Astralin asked. "I've been making progress on my stats, how's your build coming along?"  

@Astreya

Once Astralin would have an answer from Astreya, the pink haired baker approached Astralin asked her if she'd made what she brought. "Nope, the friend of a friend did." Astralin began. "Basically, a new friend of mine, who goes by the name Vigilon, has a best friend who has cooking as his profession of choice. He even runs a place over in the main settlement of this floor, if I recall correctly. I think the place was called...The Carefree Magpie?" She recalled. "Anyway, you both make great stuff, keep up the good work!" She encouraged.

@Blueberry

Edited January 13, 2022 by Astralin

[Jomei 0]

"And if anyone asked I bought it off an NPC." 

That was the first thing he heard when he snapped back to reality and into the conversation with the man. Jomei offered a friendly chuckle as he turned his head to face him again. For a short moment, he pondered on how he spaced the first part of the conversation.. what distracted him so? 

Jomei took the man's hand in a firm handshake, who referred to himself as Oji. He cocked an eyebrow, "Oji, like uncle? Interesting name." he said with a nod. After releasing the handshake, Jomei took another sip of the drink, along with an extra sip. "A pleasure nonetheless.. just because our lives are on the line doesn't mean we can't find joy in it." His fingers tapped on the side of his glass for a moment, "Anyone here at this party you know? Or did you come here a stranger as well?" 

@Oji

Edited January 12, 2022 by Jomei

[NIGHT 0]

"It is," NIGHT responded, lips almost unmoving as her sights turned towards the dirt. "But the crystal above..."

"And DAY... she made a promise to me..."

Her grip tightened, fingers wrapped around thumb. Despondent. Light returned to her eyes once the woman turned to look towards Koga. "I know it's not her. Still, though. They say that there's only a handful of people in the world that look exactly like you, and yet..."

Could she really be that unfortunate? The odds were stacked against it, though it wouldn't be true randomness unless someone had struck the gavel multiple times in a row. The player found her breathing strangled, trying to slow. "I saw her at the star festival once," NIGHT admitted. Skin felt rough fabric, nails upon the cloth of her tracksuit. "At the magpies..."

Silence fell upon her. Only broken after a moment of hesitation. "I'd rather not be near her," the woman decided, starting back towards the party again. "But that's just preference rather than fact. ...If things get too wild though, I might bail."

"Not that I think they would, though."

She stopped in her steps and shook her head. If Koga hadn't moved, she'd beckon him over. "C'mon, that's enough mulling around. You're still the guests after all, and they're probably looking for you."

[Astreya 0]

"Pshaw.  I just think people are being a little too uptight about this whole thing," the woman murmured, which was true.  Sure- Blueberry's little pet had been the one who had eaten up the treats that had been put out, but the majority of them had belonged to Astreya and Koga... and neither of them seemed particularly put-out about the fact that it had happened.  Granted Koga was way too busy playing host and being yanked all over the place to really have time to be upset, Astreya supposed, but all the same, she didn't really want to curb her words.  "Although I guess, like, in another setting if there was someone who, like, totally did get ticked off your guy ate their snacks..." she pondered, tilting her head from left to right as she considered that for a moment.

She still felt like Blueberry was rather unjustly being fussed at over something that was (ultimately) not that big of a deal, but she also realized it wasn't really her place to fuss at the fussers.  That was a lot of fussing over it when really, dropping it was probably the easiest way to handle it.  "Anyway, your desserts are like, awesome, so take that as a totally rockin' compliment," Astreya spoke, giving Blueberry a small grin.

In return from Astralin's greeting, Astreya couldn't help but to be excited to see someone that she'd met on her very first quest- she was so unsure of herself back then, but over time she'd definitely gotten more confident.  Still, seeing the blonde woman had given her a momentary set of pause, like pulling her back to when she'd still been just a little level one character.  "It's, like, totally harder to make a for-sure decision on how I want to end things up," the girl responded, shaking her head.  "I think I'm going to keep going down the, like, path for tanking on the front lines though.  I just need to get there first to, like, see how it is."

She gestured toward herself as she continued.  "I'm up to Level 21, so like, I'm pretty close to reaching the top, but I heard you can still keep going or something?" she asked, not really wanting to talk 'work' too much while she was here.  "But like, I'll see what it's like when I'm there."

At Astralin's words toward Blueberry though, the brunette's grin widened.  "Right? They're so good!  Hang on, I need to try some of the stuff you brought," she spoke, making a mental note of the place mentioned.  "Tell Vigilon he mighta just helped his friend out," Astreya called as she took a bite, before looking over at where Melodie was.  "Mel!  C'mere you gotta try this!"

@Blueberry @Astralin @Melodie le Breton

[Koga 0]

The crystal above? NIGHT's half finished sentences and vague allusions, it seemed like they were more for herself than for him. And even if they were meant to hold some meaning to her friend, he wasn't able to make heads or tails of any of it.

"I won't be offended if you take off," Koga said, not that the woman needed his assent to begin with, party etiquette aside. The man watched her start to walk off back towards the house, hands in his pockets and not any closer to understanding what was going on in NIGHT's head. He sighed when she turned back to look at him. "I take it that even if I asked, you wouldn't explain anything you just told me, huh?" Koga said, hanging his head out of resignation before starting towards the house as well. "Alright, let's go," he'd say as he passed her, before holding it open for her and entering back into the unusual liveliness himself. A sudden wash of exhaustion hit the man and he sighed again. Yeah, he was not built for this kinda stuff.

[Melodie le Breton 0]

  Melodie felt distinctly out of her comfort zone at the party. A large part of her wanted her to move, to say something, to just start talking to someone, whilst another considered only leaving and escaping the awkwardness. Yet the thought of spending Christmas alone held her back, so she naturally found herself gravitating towards a corner, where she might observe the festivities. Astreya, the only person she really knew at the party appeared to be in her element in the social setting. Mel envied her confidence greatly. 

Almost as if the thought had attracted her friend's attention, Astreya called out to her in order to try the food. "Oh okay." Melodie said nervously, quickly making her way over. She hovered uncertainly, near Astreya as she reached out to have some of the dessert. It was good, very tasty though not her preferred flavour, but still good. Though given her awkwardness in social situations, she managed a friendly smile at the other party goers, taking a step closer towards Astreya more for reassurance that her friend was still there and not about to abandon her in a crowd of unfamiliar people.