i saw lon cheney walking with the queen

[hellzone]

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. )

Comments

[shikomizue]

[Is that a veiled desire to understand? Takasugi had taken a step towards bar, but he delays. Turns back to Law with a sidelong glance, a bit warmer than the situation calls for.

This unexpected honesty is a bit endearing.

Maybe he'll gamble, and echo it just a bit.] If I told you what I'm after, you wouldn't find it any easier to trust me.

[There's nothing to toy with, not the rim of an empty glass nor the mouthpiece of his pipe. All Takasugi has is the hilt of his sword, and his hand finds it, thumb brushing over the end.]

[kikoku]

[Subconsciously, yes. Turns out most people aren't that bad once you get to know them. He's not consciously aware that he does this. The point is, Law's actually not a very good liar. He's just gotten this far because a lot of the people he's dealt with are idiots.

In any case, there's a weird look on his face that's equal parts rising suspicion and triumph that he was right not to trust this shady guy!! Still, being right isn't enough. He needs to know exactly what it is he should be concerned about.]

I don't suppose you'll enlighten me, given that you've still yet to tell me your name?
[He doesn't let a lot of info slip, this one. There's a pause between him speaking, and fixing his head back onto his neck. As much as the aesthetic was important to him, it felt like the conversation was getting a bit too serious for him not to be ready to draw his own sword, what with Takasugi's hand on his, for whatever reason.]

[shikomizue]

[The moment Law's neck connects with his jaw, Takasugi's hand falls to his side, and his gaze drifts. As if becoming a whole human made the man immediately uninteresting; he's looking to the bar now, skimming the back wall for something worth splitting.

He won't splurge unless it's a severed head he's buying for; this guy can reach into his pockets if he wants to keep talking.]

Buy me a drink, and we'll see. [It's not much of a proposition, made as he slips past Law - shoulders brushing - to slide into a seat at the bar.

Takasugi's never been shy about sharing his destructive inclination - he's simply shrewd. He's got enough enemies.]

[kikoku]

[Law may not be a master of social interaction, but he definitely gets a vague feeling of a loss of interest for a second there. He certainly can't parse why, though. Maybe he'll figure it out later.

He does follow after, joining Takasugi at the bar, but if the man thinks he's going to get a free drink out of this, he's got another thing coming.]
You're a fool if you think I care enough to pay for the possibility of hearing your reasons.

[He will order himself a drink though. A rye whiskey on the rocks. Sure, he'd like to know. More information makes it easier to plan for. But it's not necessary when he can always just assume the worst.]
It makes me wonder if the Natha regret who they were able to save, though, between you and me.

[shikomizue]

[It was worth a try.

His reasons will stay tucked away with Law's coin, at least for now. Takasugi orders a drink for himself, a rice liquor that goes by a different name in Olympia than it did back home. The content is milky, sweet, alcohol a sharp aftertaste.

Good for sipping.

Easy to swallow before he chuckles, that little observation speaks volumes. Mostly, because Law has put himself in the same category as this suspicious guy. (And not for the first time.)] I hope they do.

If you can even consider what they did saving. [Honest, even in its cynicism.] Are you glad you're here?

[kikoku]

[Law may not actually be on the same level as Takasugi, but society puts him there as a notorious pirate with a huge bounty. Certainly, as far as general temperaments, he's not got a lot of appeal there either.

As for the question, though, he has to think long and hard. Is he glad he's here specifically? Not especially. But in a broader sense, the alternative to being here is being dead.]

... I'm really not sure. [A sip of his drink.] I suppose I'm trying to be.

[Trying to not wish for death, is what he more specifically means. Which, actually, it dawns on him to ask;]
Are you not? If they hadn't saved you, the alternative is being dead.

[shikomizue]

[Law's answer is demonstrably honest; there's hesitation, there's uncertainty. Those aren't things a man who considers himself in some ways Takasugi's peer would make up. They're creatures of pride, always blowing their plumage out larger than it is.

More frequently lost than they admit.

Takasugi sighs, and raises his hand for another helping of the liquor before him. His isn't gone - he'll offer the new set to his companion.] Is it?

I'm not eager to buy their story.

And I'm not going to thank some haughty Amanto- [Aliens.] -for their interference.

Framing it as charity makes no difference. [There's honesty here too, because Takasugi has no reason to lie, and no capacity to hide his hatred for creatures of the stars.]

[kikoku]

[The term is strange, but Law could make a few guesses from context. Overall, it sounds rude so he's just going to let it pass and not worry about it. Long story short, Takasugi clearly dislikes and distrusts the Natha even more than Law does. That's... maybe not good to know, but it's something to know, at least.]

What do you plan to do on this planet then, if you're not interested in helping them?
[He's not sure if he's actually ever seen Takasugi doing anything constructive, really.

He doesn't touch the drink, not because he doesn't want it, but because he doesn't realize it's being offered.]

[shikomizue]

[Time flows differently to Takasugi. It ebbs in and out of his awareness. Days pass in a single night, and the full moon comes again and again. Which is a poetic way of saying he drinks a lot and smokes opium regularly.

He's not one for being constructive.

Destruction is Takasugi's bushido. He'll shatter anything in front of him, all while he watches the foundations of the world rot.

Though he intends to deliver the final blow himself.] I'm not going to stay here. I don't care how long it takes, I'm going back to Edo.

If there's a storm out there, I'll take care of it. [As if it's a chore.]

[kikoku]

[That sure is a bold statement. Law doesn't look particularly impressed, though.]

And how are you going to do that? The Natha claim the storm's not something even they with their advanced technology can deal with.
[Again, assuming there is one. Which he's frankly just as dubious of as Takasugi. It seems like a convenient excuse.]

[shikomizue]

They couldn't handle a dragon, either.

[Not that Takasugi was out there slaying it, but he had confidence that some of his companions could have taken care of the thing themselves. The Natha only intervened on behalf of their ego - of their power over the planet - so far as he's concerned.]

Are you planning on helping them? [Circles back to the original question, as his fingers curl over the brim of his glass.]