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

[Koga 0]

Thankfully, Koga missed the rag flying across the room and landing squarely on Gaius' face, although that was most certainly the least concerning thing that had happened tonight. What Koga could not miss, on the other hand, was the towering figure of @Gaius slamming his hand onto Koga's back, forcing the smaller man to stumbled forward a step, almost colliding with @Kasumi in the process.

Koga chuckled sheepishly as he heard Gaius' words, an uncomfortable warmth suddenly rising in his ears. "Heh, yeah," the man affirmed with a small nod. He knew exactly what Gaius was trying to do. But he sure as hell did not know what to do with what Gaius was doing. He was trying to roll with it, but...just how did one do that? "I was, uh...just kinda hopin' you'd see the notice and drop by is all."

"Do you have something warm for him to drink?" Koga overheard the newcomer say to NIGHT. Thank god, something else to address. @kali

"@NIGHT, there's some milk in the fridge, could warm it up for the little guy if you'd like." For that, at least Koga was prepared for. Bacon actually seemed to like warm milk quite a bit, so Koga had gotten into the habit of stocking some lately.

Turning back to Kasumi and Gaius he tried to think of...well, anything to say. "So, you two know each other?" That seemed like a safe bet. Turn the subject a different direction.

[NIGHT 0]

Oh. So she hadn't been hallucinating yet, despite being brought to wits end. There actually was a cat -- to whom her attentiveness peaked towards. NIGHT almost melted upon sight of it, tension in corners of her face released as her body worked to close the door behind the new entrant. Most likely someone not here for the party, she soon realized; the familiar, if it could be called one, was more important.

(And adorable!!! mewww~)

The woman kept a squeal in as its tiny paws were held up by the stranger. Almost bursting with energy. Then the question of responsibility was fired her way, and Koga was at the very least prepared for such a scenario. NIGHT brushed aside the thought of feeding milk to a cat, reminding herself of Cardinal's leniency, before nodding to her friend as an acknowledgement of his help. Then, to the stranger, she gestured towards the kitchen. "This way, then."

There was a trope known at large parties like these. Where, if one didn't know anyone present, the easiest thing they could do was seek out the pet of the household and keep them company until it was time to leave. NIGHT thought back on this briefly as she lead the stranger through crowds of players, wondering if the tiny kitten would be agitated by the noise. Was she being forced into such a situation?

--Not that she minded. It was a cat, after all.

"Don't mind the slime from before."

Finally away from the crux of chaos, the woman was better capable of speech. And though the first noise her throat had wanted to make was a meow for the feline's attention, she hadn't forgotten about manners completely, not yet. Though, duty overtook the woman as though it was instinct.

"I'm NIGHT, by the way. I figured I should've mentioned that sooner, but... --also, I didn't catch your name."

As the player spoke, she went through a test of memory, grabbing the carton out of the fridge and its contents poured into a small saucepan Koga had stashed away. Set upon the stove, flame at low heat, NIGHT finally whirled around.

Doe eyes paid the cat careful attention. Tenderness remained when she shifted her subject to the player before her, curiosity and concern mixing behind cool hues. "Is he yours? Or did he get into trouble of some kind?"

[Kasumi 0]

A bit of a hesitant stare at Gaius, she'd already had to punch him once. She'd hope that if he got out of line again, that maybe Koga would stand up for her and kick him out. "Gaius." keeping him at arms length as Koga was shoved a bit too close. Her eyes get locked to the guy, turning a little flush from an exchanged glance that felt a little awkward. "It's not like that, I met him through the guild is all." Trying to immediately discourage any misinterpretation. If anything, he's an idiot. A strange taste of irritation in the girl's tone. But deep down she wanted to believe what the dragoon was saying, because what reason would he have to lie.

That and she kinda wanted to believe it, even if it was a lie.

"Here." The girl murmurs, struggling with an ever reddening complexion atop of a sweater that was looking like a cherry on top of a white frosted cupcake. A slender box that looked as though it could house a pencil or necklace. "I wanted it to be something practical and..." words fall away as she hesitates. Wrapped in a simple bit of red ribbon, a brown package. Inside were a pair of thin black glass chopsticks, capped with some reddish gold metal at the ends.

"You didn't really have to get me anything, though, I..." Someone turns up the heat and the pot begins to boil, the lobster getting fried. "just wanted to see you." Again with the mouse talk.

[Gaius 0]

Koga moves much more than the dragoon thought he would, but then again, he'd nailed him while the dude wasn't paying attention. "He's just being modest, honestly, I couldn't get him to shut up about yah." Folding his arms and nodding, as if pretending to recount the affair entirely wrong. "Yeah, we're guild members, some of the time, which isn't that often. Lately we just kinda ass blast through everything, so goings been kinda 'quick'. Last was a dragon or something, I forget. Anyway, since you finally showed up, maybe he can show you around." Wingman mode achieved, as he caught the look on her face, and it appeared she'd completely forgotten he was speaking. Shooting a glance toward Koga and wiggling his eyebrows after walking past her.

"As fun as this was, ya'll are fucking crazy." Spoken to the room. From him, that was saying a lot. Cat, giant slimes, people eating things off the floor. Everyone seemed super hostile and quiet. It was a regular madhouse, and hell, it looked like his rowdy days had finally come to an end. Debating on getting the hell out of here, but he didn't really have anywhere else to crash at the moment. So he'd linger for a bit, moving back to the table and collecting up Simmone's playing cards. Finding a seat on the sofa and just oozing out in a sprawl.

He sighs and stares up at the ceiling.

[Astreya 0]

The weight of the world- a planet of her own making- rested upon Astreya's shoulders.  She was tired- she wanted to get some time to relax and have some with people and enjoy things but man.  If this party hadn't just drained her of all of that in a hurry.  She took a slow breath, before felt the light pat on her head and blinked, looking down at Nari.  "Huh?" she asked quizzically in response to the girl's words.  

Dammit.  Dammit. 

She'd let the weight of it rest too heavily on her shoulders, and now she had tipped her hand to someone that she just met.  "I'm like, totally fine- I was just trying to like, help you out a bit, let you breathe a little, y'know?" she spoke, beaming a smile at the shorter woman even as Iris released her, taking a slight step backward.  "Well the Blackjack kinda, like, looks like it fell apart," she spoke, nodding to where Gaius was excusing himself from the conversation to go over toward Koga and the others.  "But like, I still need to talk to everyone, you're right!" she cheered.

The woman bounced a little in place, her own excitement starting to push through a bit as she looked around toward those who were here, noting the new person and...NIGHT?  Iris was pretty sure that was the woman's name, from what Koga had said, heading toward the kitchen.  

"But maybe first, we should like, go check on Astralin?  She looks a little...upset," she spoke, glancing toward the blonde girl that had been chatting arguing with Gaius, even as she began to move.  She saw Kasumi start to wear a more genuine expression as her face lit up bright red, even as the aforementioned chef decided that he was going to take a break.  She waved at him as he moved past, sitting down- he looked as exhausted as Astreya felt.

"Astralinnnn!" she called as she hopped over toward the blonde.  "Are you, like, okay?" she asked, cocking her head to the side a little, stuffing down all of her own issues as far deep as they would go.

[Koga 0]

"Oh, I didn't know you two were in a guild together," Koga remarked with a hint of surprise as he looked between the two players. To be honest, the fact that they were in guilds at all shouldn't have surprised Koga, most people were, but what a small world. Although, the barest hint of annoyance in Kasumi's voice suggested that the two might not get along very well, or at least, that she did not entirely like the other man.

Of course, a part of Koga could understand that irritation in the moment as @Gaius decided to double down on his bluff, once again sending Koga straight into the pits of uncertainty and nervousness. "Uh, thanks Gaius. I'll see ya around," he bade the man farewell...even though it seemed he would still be confined within the same four walls as they.

Turning back to Kasumi, Koga closed his eyes and shook his head for a moment, an indication of confusion, bewilderment, pent up frustration, and admittedly, a small measure of gratitude. A curious man that was indeed.

"Sorry about...all of this," Koga said with a nervous chuckle as he looked back at the commotion behind him. "Truth be told I was woefully unpre-"

"Here."

Koga paused as @Kasumi thrust a small box in his direction.

"I wanted it to be something practical and..."

Koga took the box and began to carefully unwrap it, tugging on the bow's end, unfolding the paper, as if he were afraid to mar the beauty of the plain paper, like it was something sacred. 

"You didn't really have to get me anything, though, I...just wanted to see you."

Opening the box, Koga couldn't help but smile as the gleaming chopsticks were unveiled, polished to a shine. His fingers brushed across their length, the smooth glass cool to his touch. "Thank you," he said, expressing his gratitude to the girl with a soft smile and an admiring gaze as his eyes locked onto hers. "I'll treasure them," he promised, carefully covering the box.

"Oh, but, of course I had to get you something!" Koga then said suddenly, the nervous returning in full force, mixed with some measure of excitement. "Gimme one sec, I'll be right back! Don't move!" he said before suddenly darting upstairs.

A few moments would pass before a loud clatter could be heard through the ceiling followed by a shout and the sounds of running. Moments later, Koga would descend back down the stairs, looking slightly more disheveled than he had when he had gone up, cupping something in the palm of his hands, concealing it from the world.

As the man stopped in front of Kasumi again, he took a deep breath before thrusting his hands out toward her, and uncovering what was hidden within. A tiny boar, a red and green ribbon carefully tied around it's neck into a little bowtie stared up at Kasumi with curious eyes. Koga's eyes darted away, suddenly finding the floors of his home to be very interesting as he spoke. "His name is, uhm...It's Bacon..." 

Bacon:

Spoiler

jk, here's Bacon (the boar)

Spoiler

 

 

[Pollux 0]

NIGHT? ...The English word NIGHT?

The man only spoke once, before he turned and his attention was taken up by someone else, so Kali's decided that she's misheard. Aincrad has no lack of diversity in languages, so a word can be pronounced one way but be written and mean another. She follows closely behind 'NIGHT,' and appearing to look about the colorful gathering in mild curiosity, she instead puzzles over this: if you were living in a house with another person, would you or would you not forget about the things within it?

The kitchen is just as much of a relief as closing the front door had been. Small, warm, and cozy, her fluffy friend's valiant efforts to escape its fate of becoming a cat burrito for the next half hour instantly weaken, and when Kali peers at it from above the blanket, she's treated to the adorable sight of its tiny pink nose twitching as it eyes the plates laid out on the kitchen counters. 

"I'm NIGHT, by the way."

(Oh. It really is NIGHT.)

"I figured I should've mentioned that sooner, but... --also, I didn't catch your name."

It's a pretty word. A thousand pretty imageries for a pretty girl, but it's vague in its abundance -- more a general idea than a unique identifier. However, it would be the peak of hypocrisy for Yue Hua to internally question another's naming choices, not to mention, as a stranger in her own house, so she settles for a gentle prod. 

"Ch'ang Yue Hua." Her expression doesn't change, but her voice takes on a friendly tone. "Or Kali. Just call me Kali. No big deal -- the burden normally falls on the one asking the favor."

When NIGHT turns away from the stove, it's to the cat now peering hopefully up at her. Kali doesn't quite notice this, but when she feels its head move toward her hand, she resumes her favorite gesture of rubbing its chin. "Mm. I forgot this little guy's name, but he was in a missing pet poster and I spent the better part of the day tracking him down. He ran away from home and I suppose he liked the rebellious act too much, because after rejecting all the offered cat food, I only caught him when he decided to steal my dinner." A troublesome chase, but the fact that she didn't come out of it with fresh scratches made it all too easy to look back on it with mild amusement. "He looks so sweet now though, doesn't he? Want to pet him? I've been holding onto him all this time -- promise he doesn't bite."

[Astralin 0]

Well, everything had suddenly gone downhill from here. First, the card dealer had a bit of a reaction to Astralin's reaction, followed by his explanation of what came to his mind with the term. "Ohhhhh, ok, sorry..."

But before Astralin could try to mend the conversation, the dealer abruptly dropped the subject and moved on, leaving Astralin sitting there, disgruntled over this little misunderstanding having shut down potential conversation.

Astralin began to think about what she should do or say next, then came another player....with a lil' kittyyyyyy! Astralin's eyes widened as both her hands came over her mouth at the sight of the little serotonin source, but before she could offer to help, the situation was already under control. The dealer would take the cards, address the players in the area as crazy, and plop down on the couch like a drunk. Astralin slowly slunk down in the chair she was sitting at, looking down towards the ground, her arms crossed.

Astreya came by, and asked if Astralin was alright. "Nope..." Came the blonde's answer. In times like these, it was best to tell the truth, unless it was for something that would induce complete and utter chaos worse than what she'd already seen. "Just when I'm about to fix a mistake mid-conversation, the chance slips away as I get cut off..." Astralin noted. "And I'm not crazy, I'm just...different..." She added, her eyes looking over to the sprawled player on the couch in a half-scowl. Why were people always so quick to judge her for the worse? Would the man's response have been worse if Astralin's real name were to have slipped out? "Hmmm... Everyone seems to be busy now, and everything's kind of dying down...I'm out of options, what do we do now?" Astralin asked, looking at Astreya with an expression that pleaded for some kind of hope in this scenario.

@Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Thread Closure!

 

All 3200 Col goes to Koga for throwing this superfun party \o/
@NIGHT@Koga@Gaius@Jomei@Hirru@Astralin@Kasumi@Lessa@Blueberry@Jevi@Nari-Lanreth@Oji@Yona@Melodie le Breton@kali@Mina@Lishuu