open | party like you're 35;

[secondthoughts]

Who ☀ Hector & "everyone"
What ☀ It's Hector's birthday!
When ☀ August 5
Where ☀ Lumina Cloth. Surprise!
Content Warnings ☀ drunk people, will add as needed

[ Arrive at Mac Anu, where the welcome party was held, to find it...empty? A quick look on the forums shows a little edit to Hector's post:

We're popping Lumina Cloth's cherry! See you there :-)

So that's where he is.

In the center of the brightly illuminated nighttime city, Hector's set himself up for his little get together. But since he doesn't have any tables or plates or anything fancy like that, all the alcohol and food he bought from various vendors are just...strewn around the floor. The food is probably still good to eat, though. It's fine. Take what strikes your fancy!

Hector's wearing his outfit again. He lounges on the steps of that funky spinny thing in the center of town, and anyone who gets close enough to hear him will hear music coming from his mic. Give him a break. He's doing his best.

When enough people have gathered, he might actually get up and drag everyone into a drinking game.

So enjoy—eat, drink, mingle, and smack your friends! PvP is enabled here, after all :) ]

Comments

[tablescraps]

( Doesn't seem to mind! )

It's one of the main attractions. I'll investigate the PvP arenas next. I only bet 1gp, though.

( And he won! ... A party hat. Proportional to the amount he bet, apparently. )

If you like these clothes, ( maid outfit, Hector's current whore skin, etc, ) I saw another outfit available to win in the casinos: a Playboy bunny suit. You can win it from slots.

[secondthoughts]

[ Once he's done tugging at the maid dress, Hector starts poking at the party hat. Yo...this is sick. He wants one.

Mithrun talks to him, and Hector leans back. He puts his hands on his hips, the inner hems of his jacket spreading to reveal more of his torso. Are you looking, Mithrun? Have you seen his tits? ]

A Playboy bunny suit? [ One, he's kind of not surprised knowing that's a prize. Two, is this going to be a legal issue? ] Seriously? They really like the weird outfits in this game, huh?

[tablescraps]

( They're so blinding............. )

Another player was talking to me about this, about how the game would probably become a virtual reality sex simulator, among other things. It doesn't seem unlikely.

[secondthoughts]

[ Hello. Mithrun? Mithrun???????

Hector doesn't know exactly what to say at first. He opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. It's pretty rare for him to be left speechless like this, so congrats. ]

What, because of the outfits? Because of how realistic all of this?

[ All while staring at his tits, too...

Now he's thinking. What'll it feel like if he stuck something up his virtual ass? Hmm, hmm. ]

[tablescraps]

( and who put his tits in front of his face?? hmmm???? )

The latter. I think it's just a general assumption.

( Good news for when you get your vibrating wand, )

The game's experience of pain and death is very realistic. ( And how it feels for the wind to run through your hair; the feeling of gravel beneath your heel... ) It probably has realistic sensors for certain other things.

( Like pleasure, )

[secondthoughts]

[ im innocent

Hector stays thinking for a few moments after Mithrun speaks, feeling the awfully real sensations over him—the slight nighttime breeze on his exposed tits skin, the faint smell of stone and metal, how firmly his feet feel planted on the stone path...

Hold on a second. ]

Wait, I remember you asking me about death when you were smashed. [ His attention snaps back to Mithrun. ] You managed to get yourself killed already? And you say it's realistic?

[tablescraps]

Not long after I spoke to you and the alcohol wore off, I ran into a user who wanted to do an Area Exploration with me. Their intent was to get the monsters to kill me.

When you die here, you fall unconscious for around twenty minutes. A weighing sense of cold mortality weighs on you as you awaken. You feel emptier than you did before.

It fades with time. But the unconsciousness that is sleep and the absence of consciousness that is this simulated death are not the same.

[secondthoughts]

Jesus Christ, Mithrun.

[ Literally what the fuck? What the fuck?? He doesn't want or care to know what it's like to day??? This was a YES OR NO question, not an essay prompt??????? ]

So yes. And probably yes.

[ He runs both of hands down his face. It's so distressing knowing this kid went out there and got himself killed. It's just a video game, sure, but. But still?

He takes a step forward and plants both hands firmly on both of Mithrun's shoulders, staring him square in the eyes. ]

Mithrun. Please promise me you'll be more careful.

[tablescraps]

( Oh. The gesture and the intensity of the gaze surprises him. It surprises him enough that Mithrun's reply is not as blasé as usual: )

... I'll try. I haven't died since.

( rip when he meets hien, )

You have a lot of empathy.

[secondthoughts]

[ He's holding Mithrun to that. The confirmation causes Hector to squeeze his shoulders briefly before stepping back...

...And folding his arms over his chest. Someone, a very long time ago, commented on the same thing, but in so many words. ]

Yeah, well, I care a lot. [ He says this quickly, almost under his breath in a mutter. It's not very masculine of him to admit this, but who cares. Not this twink, probably. ]

I don't like seeing people hurt.

[tablescraps]

( Huh. This is interesting to Mithrun, if only because he's never particularly had that impulse - even when he had his head intact. )

... It's better to have people like you around. ( Objectively. If there were only uncaring people in this world, it would be much more inconvenient to deal with. ) But they tend to get hurt in the process of caring.

( And that's why there aren't so many around. He doesn't say it like a warning, or even chastising him. It's just an observation: you'll come out a little more unscathed if you put yourself first. )

[secondthoughts]

I know.

[ Hector's response comes quickly, his tone curt; his head snaps away, as though shutting down any further commentary about his newly-revealed bleeding heart.

After a beat, he looks back to Mithrun, stern look on his face. ]

But don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Worry about yourself. Or... [ His frown deepens. ] ...why the developers decided to put in realistic sensations of death in this game.