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[sicklysweet]

Who: Everyone!
Where: Guild Name's @ home.
When: Vague Approximation of Halloween
What: pardi pardi pardi
Warnings: General party warnings for things like alcohol consumption, but anything specific is up to y'all heathens.





Not many people have entered Guild Name’s @ home before today, which is perhaps understandable given the demeanor of its owner. The few who have will find the @ home entirely redecorated - if you could even say it was decorated in the first place, with how utilitarian everything was before. Maybe Owen’s taken a leaf out of Telophoroi’s book, or he’s really into halloween. Or both. Either way, Sweets Grunty has done a lot of work to essentially redecorate the entire @ home.

The main hall is where most of the action is, with tables set up filled with snacks and drinks. Most of the snacks are small finger foods, and it does seem to heavily lean towards sweeter options, but all of them have a general spooky flair. There are candy apples, cupcakes, finger sandwiches, hand pies, nothing too outrageous. There’s a selection of wine, ciders (both alcoholic and alcohol-free), as well as harder spirits, liqueurs, and juices if people want to craft something stiffer, and coffee and teas for people who want a different sort of buzz. There’s music playing over speakers, but a piano also sits in the hall. You’ll probably want to get permission before you try to play it, though.

There are chairs and tables for people who would rather sit and eat, as well as an open space to serve as a rudimentary dance floor for people who would rather move, but it’s clear the plans for this party were simply “people can do whatever they want”. There’s even tubs of water with apples if people want to go bobbing, and other random party games for people to fuck around with. The world is your oyster, and Owen doesn’t care what people do (which is why PVP is enabled within Guild Name).

The only other rooms that can be entered without asking Owen about it are a bathroom which hasn’t escaped the halloween decorations, and the kitchen which seems to be where Sweets Grunty can be found keeping itself busy.

Comments

[trollophoroi]

My room is simply stunning. I do have to finish clipping some of the lights into the walls to get the exact effect I desire but...

[ Owen, run. You've met the dreaded MMO Housing Addict. Ah, but he trails off there a moment, still gazing into the room with the piano. ]

Hien certainly hands out a lot of items to people who ask, doesn't he?

[sicklysweet]

[What a dweeb... Can't relate, at all. Owen's apartment back home is barely any better than the dorm.]

I didn't ask. He just decided to put a piano after I asked if anyone could play.

[Owen tilts his head, walking over to the piano and sitting down.]

I don't make it a habit to ask people for things if I can just get them myself, so I wouldn't know about his handouts.

[trollophoroi]

[ And Fandaniel follows along after, stopping beside the piano and settling a hand on it. It certainly looks like a nice piano, although he couldn't claim to know much of them himself. ]

And when people do not ask, he still does it. He has a very soft, in certain ways.

[sicklysweet]

Mm, I suppose. Perhaps that’s why Matoba fancies him.

[Or. Whatever is going on between the two of them. Owen doesn’t know and he doesn’t want to know the details.]

Is there something wrong with him having a soft, squishy center?

[trollophoroi]

Matoba? Wait, is that why he dragged him off in the middle of the dinner party...?

[ Wow, just wow, of all the choices! Hien picked Matoba? Really? ]

Mm, no, nothing wrong with it, per se, but he does choose very strange ways to show it.

[sicklysweet]

Are you just now putting the pieces together?

[Honestly, they’re not subtle.]

Perhaps… have you been a victim of his strange kindness?

[trollophoroi]

I daresay I have had no other encounters with 0koto and Hien at the same time besides the dinner. [ Though he sounds like he finds it hilarious! Or, well, he did, but thinking more seriously, that amusement trails off. ] Yes, he...

[ Hmm, why had he gone to him for help again? That book, but? ]

I was left extremely distraught by a book I received as part of a gear set. You might recall that, although perhaps not. It came up on the forum once but not in any distinct fashion. I brought it to him to look at and... He did his best, to help. To calm me down. In fact, he did manage that part, at least.

[sicklysweet]

Mm, my memory is a bit foggy.

[Is it, really… Well, it’s a believable enough lie, if it’s not the truth.]

His attempt to calm you didn’t involve an unnecessary amount of violence, did it?

[It’s a poor joke, but Owen is curious.]

You’ve got some conflicted feelings about him. You don’t know if you buy he’s the monster he tries to be, but you don’t know that you like him, either.

[He says it like it must be a fact - and he’d be very surprised if he’s wrong.]

[trollophoroi]

[ Look at this deceiving deceiver trying to deceive over here, wow. ]

No. I... do not recall him ever becoming violent with me, outside of the tournament ring. He was strangely thoughtful. Do not consider me that naive, however. I know he is a monster, in part, but only because he was never allowed to be anything else... or so I would think.

I. Do not know how I feel, precisely. We fought. Or more like, I attacked him, some weeks or... so ago? [ It's cloudy now. Hmm. ] He angered me and I hurt him terribly, but then I found myself in such an odd mood recently.

[ Admittedly, he's still in that odd mood. He's having a lot of feelings this week and it's terrible. ]

I asked for his forgiveness, we hugged. He gave me a peculiar book as a gift.

[sicklysweet]

[There's a lot to unpack there, not that Owen looks surprised. He's seen Fandaniel's odd mood for himself, but it does answer a few questions he's had.]

So you're why he was all bandaged up...

[Because the last time he saw Hien he looked like absolute trash in a bad costume.]

This peculiar book isn't related to the book he had helped you with before, is it?

[Is Hien just passing out trauma books now? That doesn't exactly seem out of character, but he hasn't gotten any so... The mystery continues.]

But I think that Hien is someone who is too lazy to change how people perceive them when it comes to his "monstrous" nature. He cares far more than he lets on and is more sentimental than one might think, remembering pointless things for... for a very long time.

[There's something nagging in the back of Owen's mind about that, but he's not quite sure what it is... A memory, perhaps, of Hien? But he only just met him a few months ago...]

A dangerous combination for someone with a temper like his, but he makes his weaknesses obvious. We all have, in a way, and we've shown more of ourselves than we might have liked to. He's no exception, you're no exception, I'm no exception. We've all had our very selves cracked open and put on display for everyone around us to see into our very cores.

[trollophoroi]

Oh, no. T'was a book about a... sheep? One that was cloned. A miracle of science. I do not understand why he gave such a book to me but I admit, I liked it.

[ Still, very peculiar. Clones? Weird, just so weird. ]

Though... yes. I did that to his head. [ And there he sighs, still in that odd mood even if he's avoiding attempting to hold Owen's hand or anything like that. It's a struggle, a very real one. ] I wish I hadn't. I do not think the core of him is a terrible beast.

[ Since they're speaking of being cracked open and put on display. ]

I wonder if this mood is that, then. Myself, cracked open to my very core. When did I become so sentimental? So wistful? I would think it to be something in the air instead.

[sicklysweet]

That's... strange, though I could see you liking it.

[Because even Owen can't ignore Fandaniel's radiating Big Nerd Energy, and he's said he's more of a science man himself. Miracles of science seem right up his alley, even if he has no idea why Hien would give it to him.

But on to the topic of odd moods...]

For what it's worth, he doesn't hate you for it.

[Hien doesn't value himself enough for that.]

But... perhaps there's a reason for it. The mood and what it's made you do. Nothing in this world is predictable, and there's likely something that can impact your emotions, same as the winds carry words. But... sentimentality isn't the worst thing. Neither is wanting.

[Owen feels more sentimental than he should, even, though unlike Fandaniel he doesn't feel it in a way that means he yearns for affection. He ends up fearing it instead, a gnawing anxiety in his gut telling him that this will just end in heartache when Fandaniel discards him.

It's stupid. He's stupid, but it's just a theoretical conversation. It's fine. The worst is still to come, so he won't leave just yet.]

Even if this odd mood is from forces beyond you, it's still from the truth. You can't create something from nothing, so is it worth wondering why you feel the way you do when you can just accept it for what it is?

[trollophoroi]

It might be kinder if he did hate me for it...

[ Because now he can't feel anything other than mournful about the whole situation. What a terrible feeling this is, but it passes, a snort of amusement coming from him as Owen claims he should just accept "it" for what it is. Some truth, is there? ]

Oh? Do you mean you want me to pick up from last time and ask for your hand in marriage?

[ He really doubts it! ]

:slowy:

[sicklysweet]

For you or for him?

[Ah. He should have seen it coming, truthfully, because that conversation wasn’t so long ago, but Owen still goes embarrassingly pink.]

And you know that I’m not talking about marriage. Are you even old enough to be thinking about marriage, anyways? It’s a big commitment you know.

[trollophoroi]

For the both of us...

[ Although, is that even true? Hien would not care one way or another if yet one more person hated him and, really, did he have it in him to hate in return? No. Fandaniel would have been met with indifference instead, of that he is sure.

Ah, but it's time for funnier topics. Watching Owen go pink like that is delightful, leaving Fandaniel to smirk as he leans over against the piano. ]

Am I old enough? Why... actually, I do not recall my age, strange though that is, but I would rather think that I am. Don't tell me that you find me too immature for the very thought.

[sicklysweet]

[Why can’t Owen get away with being embarrassed!! Let him live.]

That’s not what I mean! I don’t think you’re immature, but you have a lot of life still to go… Are you sure you’d want to get married to someone like me when you surely would find someone better.

[trollophoroi]

[ It's cute, okay??? ]

I rather think that depends on your idea of "better", although I get the distinct feeling you will claim that everyone is. You know, I did ask Hector. He also panicked and essentially fled from me.

[sicklysweet]

[Hector is definitely a better choice than Owen, and that thought just proves Fandaniel right, so instead of voicing that Owen just sulks.]

Well, it's a very startling question. Most people wouldn't be prepared for it, and some people react to emotions in very interesting ways. Maybe if you asked again, he wouldn't run.

[trollophoroi]

Or he would run even further the next time.

[ There's no telling. Regardless, he isn't allowing Owen to forcibly cross himself off the list of people he's... he's what, exactly? Talk about a confusing time. ]

In any case, I think I will keep my desire for marriage to myself for now. I was very upset afterward... but now I realize, I think I just don't know how else to manage affection.

[ ...for very specific people. He sure didn't go around confessing to everyone else who ran afoul of lovey-dovey Fandaniel. ]

[sicklysweet]

Persistence is an attractive quality to some.

[Or this isn't a romcom where you can just keep harassing someone and get what you want...

For a moment, Owen feels incredibly, shockingly guilty with the knowledge Fandaniel was upset. He's able to rationalize that as just whatever it is fucking with their emotions right now, though, so he can be normal about things.]

You're not used to having people you care for, are you? Well. That's not necessarily a surprise, but it seems like something you'll need to learn if you don't want to embarrass yourself again.

[trollophoroi]

You're right. It is something I'll need to learn.

[ So excuse him while he gathers up his maid outfit's froofy skirts and moves to slide onto the piano bench right alongside Owen. There's room for two on this, right? Otherwise, personal space is about to become a rare commodity. ]

Tell me, then. How should I react to you caring about me?

[sicklysweet]

[There’s space for two, but barely. Owen doesn’t complain for once, resting his hands on the keys as he thinks.]

…I don’t know. There’s not many people I’ve cared for, before, so you should at least recognize what an honor it is.

[He has his hands on the keys but he can’t bring himself to play anything at the moment.]

This is as new for me as it is for you, in some ways. Most people find me unbearable company, which may be a bit from design.

[trollophoroi]

Oh, I knew that.

[ Owen made it fairly obvious. He did his best to drive him away at times and yet! ]

So does that make it lucky or a great misfortune that I enjoy how unbearable you try to be? I find it rather cute, the way you hurl insults.

[sicklysweet]

[Calling the way he insults people cute means that he can’t call Fandaniel an idiot, which means he has to change tactics…]

You get off to strange things, don’t you?

[trollophoroi]

A bit hypocritical of you to say, isn't it? Considering how much you enjoyed using the head administrator's room the way we did.

[ In a weirdly empty room, a plush toy dog turned away into the corner, risking being discovered by Hien himself. Is that any stranger than thinking Owen's rudeness is adorable? ]