nysalogs | i saw lon cheney walking with the queen

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i saw lon cheney walking with the queen

Who: open to all!
What: The Aqours Spooky Get Yohane Magical Powers Halloween Extravaganza...which is a super extra way of saying a Halloween party. It's a Halloween party, y'all.
When: early October
Where: a local restaurant in Olympia
Warning(s): none!

The Halloween party is in the back room of a local, family style restaurant. What used to be a banquet hall is decorated with fake cobwebs, crepe paper, and garlands of pumpkins, ghosts, and cats. A lot of the decorations are hand-made, courtesy of Yoshiko and You. There's an open space in the middle for dancing and mingling, some food tables along one side of the room, and some games and entertainment on the other side. There's a table with various hats, animal ears, and crowns for people who didn't bring a costume. Most of them are made out of cardboard. There's a very beat-up boombox in the corner, obviously borrowed from somebody, playing the El Nysa version of hokey Halloween songs like "The Monster Mash" and "Flying Purple People Eater."

The food is fairly standard Halloween fair. There's a large bowl full of candy, as well as some pumpkin flavored breads and muffins. There's a large punch bowl of something that's green, but is really your bog-standard lime sherbet/lemon-lime soda combination. The oddest thing on the table is some jet black takoyaki, labeled "Tears of a Fallen Angel." The label does not tell you that these things are spicy as hell and flavored solely with Tabasco. There's enough space on the table to fit more food, should your character decide to contribute something that isn't 'way too much sugar' or 'something that will melt your tongue off.'

The Halloween games are simple enough. There's a 'pin the tail on the donkey' though you're pinning a broomstick to a witch. There's a large tub for bobbing for apples. There's also a table dedicated to touch and feel mystery boxes: you reach in blindly to touch what's inside. The labels say things like 'eyeballs' (they're really peeled grapes), 'worms' (they're really cold, cooked spaghetti), and 'hearts' (it's a peeled tomato). The party's going past the closing time of the restaurant, so enjoy some slightly spooky nonsense!

( ooc: feel free to make a starter and tag around! Even if your character didn't reply to Yoshiko's post, it's possible that they heard about the party from somewhere else or just came in from the street: Yoshiko isn't turning away anybody. )

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He's my best friend, actually... [So, you know. It just also means he knows how much Ren likes to screw with people, and that it has previously included throwing random and not necessarily cookable objects into cooking pots on the stove.] It's just fun to mess around with serious people no matter who they happen to be, right?

[After that, though, he places a hand to his chest in a somewhat delicate and dramatic motion.] But I'm hurt at the implication that I'm not a person of impeccable character regardless of that.

Well, the less serious people are always so into it, so it's fun in a different way, but not necessarily as fun as earning those charming, terrified faces.

[Not that Caleb or Fjord ever look terrified, but same difference. Agitation with shenanigans is about the same. Meanwhile, he's just going to pick up one of the brain cupcakes.]

No, no.. You're just full of shit, like the rest of us. This is clearly a holiday dedicated to those of us who embrace bullshit.

Exactly. Terrified faces are the most charming faces they can make~ [It's always nice to have someone who understands the best aspects of grumpy people, which is making them be things that aren't grumpy. Regardless of whether that happens to be a good or bad thing for them.

He lets out a rather exaggeratedly petulant huff at Molly's follow-up, though, even if he still looks somewhat amused.] That's such a crass way of putting it, though...I just know how to wear the right face for the situation at hand...I'm sure that sounds better for you too, right?

You can put a pretty frock on it, but it's still bullshit, Ren. [Molly attempts to bite into the cupcake without licking the frosting off this time, and has regrets. That's a good way to get frosting on your nose if you're not careful. He pauses to lick his upper lip, though some of it still lingers.]

Crass it might be, but I'm comfortable with that. I come from a long line of crass people. It's part of being a carnie. We don't wear masks- we just don't tell the truth. People generally know precisely what they're getting when they come to us and they enjoy every second of it.

[Ren's mouth twitches up a little more as if he's stifling a laugh, and he curls a hand against it to disguise it some. Granted, the icing still on Molly's upper lip is contributing a lot to how hard he's having to try to disguise that amusement.]

And that seems to suit you fine, but not everyone wears it so openly, you know? I only like to show my hand when it benefits me to do it. [As fitting any good player of games of skill and chance. He tilts his free hand to exaggerate the point.] It's true, it's a little fun to play with people who know me enough to expect it...but it'd be such a waste to extend that privilege to just anyone, right? I want to make sure they're interesting first...

[It's getting kind of hard to not get distracted by that stray icing at this point, though, and he points towards Molly's upper lip, finger only inches away.] Do you want me to get that for you, by the way?

That's fair. And it's clearly working for you. [He's also not nearly as good a liar as Ren and he's dressing that fact up in an equally pretty frock. He lies by volume, not by quality, and he knows it. After a point rapid-fire bullshit becomes such a norm, that people just accept it and sort out what they want.

Molly blinks, so distracted by his preaching about the noble and most ancient house of being full of crap that he hadn't quite noticed. He lifts his hand to swipe his thumb over it, notices Ren's outstretched hand, and decides... No, that's better.] By all means. That frosting sneaks up on you.

[In that moment, Ren's manner transfigures back to his airheadedly innocent one, as seemingly genuine as ever. He does a good job of that part, even if he likes to exaggerate things a bit.] I'm glad you think so~

[It is nice, honestly. He's used to people who know enough about him to know this habit of his instinctively fearing or mistrusting him even if they're also friends with him.

At Molly's response to his offer, Ren doesn't hesitate to extend his hand that little bit further and rub his thumb along Molly's upper lip, firm enough to wipe away the sugary residue but still quite gentle and delicate.] I've seen people take a little bit of the cake off the bottom and put it on the top to make it a bit like an icing sandwich, but that's not quite as fun, I think...

[He withdraws his thumb once he's gotten all of the icing, and then...brings it back to his own mouth so he can lick it off, seemingly still preoccupied with icing sandwiches.]

That seems like way too much work. I'll stick to the frosting first. [His grin stretches almost Cheshire-like as Ren pulls his hand away and licks the frosting. Gods, people around here are so delightful. This doesn't happen with strangers in Exandria unless you pay for it. It barely happens with people you know.]

Oh, by the way, Nott and I were trying to spike one of the punch bowls. I adore Yohane, but a dry party is not a party.

[Noting that look on Molly's face as his attention returns to not being elsewhere, Ren drags out the last bit that little bit longer before smiling slightly as he finally lets his hand drop back to his side.]

I guess someone as young as her might have had trouble getting hold of alcohol...though I don't really know if they have any big rules about that here. I might have to avoid it myself, though. I'm not sure a little party like this needs me minus my best self control.

[There's a slight wink at that. Ren's never gotten drunk drunk, honestly, he's gotten to the lightheaded brink of tipsy at most. It's in part because he likes to keep some handle on his control over his emotions.]

She... may have overdone it her first time, poor thing. No one taught her quality not quantity, until you're used to it or don't care if you throw up. I've just been navigating anyone I don't think can handle it away from that bowl, just in case.

[He raises an eyebrow at Ren, curious to the point of morbid fascination as his imagination conjures up possible ideas of what a person like Ren is like drunk. Molly knows he's an affectionate, harmless drunk unless he gets in the mood to play pranks. Ren clearly is not.] I think I'd like to see that... But in a controlled environment, of course.

[Ren gives a sympathetic, sharp breath inward at that, just enough to express that he understands how unpleasant that had likely been for her.] That's thoughtful of you. She seems a little like the type that's not the easiest to talk out of things, but I feel like a lot of people end up learning that particular lesson the hard way...

[He's never much been interested in the hard lesson on that himself, but his smile does widen into something almost disconcertingly wide at that remark from Molly. It could almost be described as predatory, though it maintains a certain elegance about it nonetheless.]

Very controlled, preferably...I'm careful about who I show myself to that candidly. [It's why he hadn't even been drunk the first time they'd met, in a packed bar with a variety of fascinating cocktails to try. He doesn't quite wink this time, but his eyes narrow, upturned reminiscent of laughter without him actually having to do so.] Doesn't that make you lucky~? Or it might one day.

[Molly can only nod in a kind of pained way. He's been walking a very thin line between encouraging Yoshiko and not enabling her, and it is extremely difficult. She has the makings of a circus kid, but none of the parts that make her tough.

But the longer Ren goes on, the further Yoshiko gets from his mind even though she's likely quite literally ten feet away right now. Molly's interested in the next high or excitement and the promise of something like that delights him.

But... that more restrained sign of Ren baffles him. He can't get his head around it.]

Tell me something... What's the point of that? You've said that before, and I don't know if I fully understand it. Who are you trying to impress?

[Ren cocks his head at the question, his expression blankly confused at the notion he's trying to impress anybody. It's genuine - there's a variety of reasons for it, but that's not one of them.] Impress...? I never really had to work to impress anybody in my world, so it's never been that...

[He taps his chin thoughtfully, as if deciding how to explain. There's part of it that he's definitely keeping to himself for now; as much as he likes Molly, Ren's extremely cagey about giving specifics on what he's done in the past. So he can't exactly say that he restrains himself because he knows exactly the kind of person he can be if he lets the wrong side of him out too far, and it's not the kind of person that's any fun for anybody involved.

As such, he decides on one of his other reasons to explain it, one he thinks might help Molly understand better.] If people think you're harmless, it makes things a lot easier...people treat people they think are a threat or just suspicious a lot differently than they do someone who seems like they're not completely there or too kind to take advantage of them, right? And to make that work, I have to be pretty careful about who knows what I'm really like. Does that make more sense?

Actually... It really does. [It's not how Molly, himself, does things, but he also looks like he's a threat. No matter what he does, he has to wear that on his face, so he uses it to pick out the assholes in the room. Maybe if he had the option, he'd try to be underestimated too.]

I've never had the luxury of being able to control what image I present to people no matter what I do, so I tend to just say fuck it and wear who I really am right out there, and people can see that or they can't. [He gestures to himself grandly.] This is all for me, because generally, people aren't looking past the horns.

[Ren brightens briefly at the fact that he got Molly to understand it better, but it fades off a little at Molly's description of his own situation. He'd known from their first conversation that Molly obviously had some issues in his own world about people seeing him a certain way, but the idea that it's most people...

Ren lets out a huff, almost offended except that it's not on his own behalf so much as Molly's.] That's pretty presumptuous of them...I think your horns are eye-catching, but that's because they're cool and beautiful...

[It's somewhat distracted in tone, but genuine enough, and Ren's fingers reach out to trace across the surface of one horn before his hand drops into a one-armed shrug.] I think you're fun and nice, so if people want to be rude about how good you look, that's their loss.

[Ren "literal human avatar of a group embodying the 'some things can only be done in darkness' philosophy" Suzugamori is perhaps not the most ideal person to be getting opinions on your demonic appearance from, but hey, it means he's extremely used to judging by content of character and not appearance when it comes to the dark and demonic-looking.]

They remind people of the Hells, and what scares them, and that makes them stupid and ignorant. [He isn't even irked by it- if anything, he's amused at how small-minded people can be, because while it can get very ugly very fast if people want to cast blame on a person, for the most part it's just subtle racism. And he'll do with that what he feels like, because they deserve it.]

But thank you. The ones who think like you do are precisely the kind of people I actually want to be around, and it saves me so much time in skipping pretense. [His grin goes very smug.] It's useful in its own way, too. I can cut right to the heart of a person with one look.

If that sort of thing scares them, then they must be pretty boring anyway... [Ren, for his part, tends to be particularly fond of anything that looks like it was spawned from the depths of any kind of hell. Molly does have a bit of a point about being able to tell the kind of person someone is so quickly, though, and he curls a hand against his mouth in amusement.]

Oh, I guess that's one advantage...the strangest thing that I can't hide is something not a lot of people pay attention to anyway... [With his other hand, he holds his pinky up to the top of one of his cheekbones and pulls down his eyelid slightly, just enough to accentuate his slit, cat-like pupil. Even with a lot of the people from his world looking abnormal compared to humans from others, Ren's eyes were odd even in his own world.] But if I act weirdly enough to people, they show their true colours a bit more too. People don't like it when you don't act predictably...

[Ren knows it very well, because he had no friends pretty much until he was a teenager because of it. Now he uses it to his advantage, but he won't say it didn't colour his behaviour now more than a little.]

They really don't. It's a damn shame. [He tsks lightly, almost pitying. Really, he does pity people who can't or won't step outside the box and be a little more outgoing and daring and willing to take risks. Life's too short for that shit.

He picks up another cupcake and hands it over to Ren, lightly tapping his half eaten one against it in a little toast.] Here's to being weird folks.

Edited 2018-10-30 23:24 (UTC)

[Ren's mouth tweaks into a smile that's trying very hard not to look too amused at that gesture, but failing. It's kind of cute, honestly, and he takes the cupcake and holds it up in a makeshift toast as well.]

I'll toast to that~ [And then he takes a bite of the cupcake...managing to get at least half of the icing content of that one bite all over his upper lip. Considering he definitely has more cupcake experience than Molly, there is a considerably greater than zero chance that it's intentional.]

[Molly can take a cue like a boss. Without missing a beat, he reaches up and rakes the pad of one finger across Ren's lip, careful not to scratch with his pointed fingernails and licks the frosting off in kind. And then gives him a little pat on the face.]

I'm starting to see why the cupcakes are so popular. [He gives a little wink and delightedly flounces off to try something new.]

[Ren tilts his head up a little to make it easier for Molly, possibly poking his tongue out a bit against the finger. Honestly, he'd be entirely okay with being scratched, but he takes the pat on the face with good grace, leaning into it in a somewhat catlike manner.

As Molly heads off, Ren waves a hand airily.] Make sure you try all the sweets while you have the chance~

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