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

[ganymed]

[ THIS SHOULDN'T SURPRISE HIM SO MUCH BUT IT DOES...

SO many questions pop into his head but instead he just asks: ]

You flirted that much?

[ Because he drank so much so maybe it's a correlation to how much Michel flirted?! Has he been a huge flirty man this whole time and he hasn't noticed?! They'd only spoken a couple of times, anything is possible, right?? ]

[userunfriendly]

[ Is this assumption because he's French, Ganymede...

Winter is silent a while longer, just staring at his glass as he swirls it, very possibly thinking about downing the rest. "That much"? It's a laugh, considering. ]

Rethinking your impression of me? [ Completely deadpan, as ever. But he does drink again and tilt his head at Ganymede. ] ...Really, never?

[ganymed]

[ hon hon baguette mon ami ]

Rethinking...? [ His brows furrow, and then he just says: ] I'm still saying that the picture I sent from before applies. That hasn't changed.

[ It seemed important to point out Michel can't escape the dark knight bat memes. He will blame the well animated pixelated alcohol. Anyway, he will cross his arms at the questioning. ]

Yes, never. What, does it sound so unbelievable?

[userunfriendly]

[ Ganymede is exactly the kind of stubborn to insist he hasn't changed his mind no matter what. Winter arches one eyebrow slowly to see if he can provoke even a hint of shame or flustering about that... probably not. ]

...Not really, no. Either you were never interested, or others always made the first move.

[ Entirely possible whether Ganymede looks anything like his avatar or not. ]

[ganymed]

[ He sees the singular eyebrow raising and throws him a look that reads, 'what???' though he doesn't actually vocalize it? ]

That's right, either of the two.

[ Anyway, he is satisfied at the results, and probably opening himself up to teasing at his own expense, but that's hilarious, so he is still curious, so he has to ask: ]

How did you do it, anyway? Did you just tell people, 'your face is pretty, how about we go out' or something like that?

[userunfriendly]

[ Stubborn and shameless in his stubbornness, like a cat. There's that resemblance to Thanatos... ]

Me? [ ... ] Pretending interest in hobbies I didn't care about. Letting her play with my hair. Giving flowers or little presents. "I just thought this would suit you."

[ All of this with the most deadpan delivery imaginable before he drinks more. Why not? Who else is going to get him with any NHIE. Teasing Ganymede is the last refuge here. ]

Looking to learn now? Or were you hoping for a demonstration?

[ganymed]

[ Those...sound like reasonable things. Letting someone play with your hair is considered flirting, though? That's interesting.

And then there's that tease kdmfjg. He folds his arms loudly (more like silently, but it is loudly in Ganymede's head and that is what matters) at the other man after setting down his drink. ]

Maybe I was thinking of literally neither one of those options!

[userunfriendly]

[ Ganymede needs a soundboard so he can fold his arms loudly. Really emphasize how done he is with all of this.

Michel snorts and raises an eyebrow even more pointedly. Ganymede flusters easily, doesn't he? What a good thing Michel is an island of serenity himself. ]

Then? What were you thinking of?

[ganymed]

[ A serene island compared to Ganymede's expressiveness right 'bout now, which looks varying layers of 'done', shifting to one of his minor ones:

Donerio Ver. 1 ]

You know what? Answering that question feels like a trap.

[userunfriendly]

[ That expression is being noted for future scientific study. Maybe Ganymede should consider buffing his HP so he wouldn't be so done all the time. ]

A guilty conscience speaking.

[ How could it be a trap when Ganymede set himself up for that? Michel had almost nothing to do with it. ]

[ganymed]

[ KEEP IT UP AND HE'LL STUDY MICHEL'S FACE ]

Guilty of what, exactly?!

[ He blames Michel for at least...50% of it. Yeah, sounds about right. Or maybe 75%. That sounds better!! ]

[userunfriendly]

You could confess. Or I could assume the worst.

[ "The worst." Whatever the "worst" interpretation of asking Michel how to flirt is. ]

1/2

[ganymed]

The worst? Like I care!

[ Real mature response from Ganymede right 'bout now. ]

2/2

[ganymed]

So, what is it going to be, anyway? Since I assume you'll say what it is...

[ He has to ask. The irony in this question, though. . . ]

1/2

[userunfriendly]

[ Michel's pessimistic nature has no problem coming up with an abundance of "worsts," actually. Ganymede wanting to mock him for his past idiocy. Ganymede noting what it looks like when Michel shows interest in people, to recognize the absurdity firsthand if it ever happened again. The inherent comedy of it all.

He takes another sip of his drink and swallows the bitter words with it. ]

2/2

[userunfriendly]

[ And then he lets the silence hang a few seconds longer just to see how long Ganymede can keep up the "hedgehog detecting a piece of apple in the vicinity" face. Uncanny resemblance.

Waiting, waiting... ]

...I think you don't know how to recognize when someone is flirting with you, and you're too embarrassed to admit it.

[ganymed]

[ Ok, be dramatic about having the horrid past mistake of naming a cat Uglysparkles and him calling you out about it. It's totally fine, Sir Winter Frost Bat Knight III. ]

I know when people are flirting with me! They say stuff like 'you look pretty' and 'you're cute' or things like that.

[ He looks like he's going to cross his arms but they've been like that for the past who knows how many minutes so he shifts to a sassy hand on hip pose instead. ]

[userunfriendly]

[ There's nothing Winter can't be dramatic about, thanks for respecting the hustle! ]

Hard enough to miss, if they're that overt...

[ It lacks a little polish? Finesse? Charm? But what does he know. ]

[ganymed]

[ hecking crying

SO MUCH RESPECT FOR HIS HUSTLE even if Ganymede is ... probably going to use that as ammunition for awhile. But he nods and then adds: ]

...You've probably had some of those comments your way too.

[ You know, given the fact he answered in an affirmative response to the NHIE statement. ]

[userunfriendly]

[ The DPS war (of mockery) continues...

That gets a blink as Michel tries to parse Ganymede's meaning. Is that... praise for his avatar? Although thinking back, it's not completely wrong. ]

...It's been at least a decade since anyone's tried to call me 'cute.'

[ Thanks for the solid 8+ inches of height, growth spurt. ]

[ganymed]

[ General VC: War. War never changes.

Anyway, jokes aside, Ganymede is watching those gears turning in that stoic man's head, wondering what he's thinking, until he answers. ]

Well, I don't look at you and think that would fit with you. Someone would say you're more... [ Handsome? Yeah the descriptor would go well. It is a stretch for traditional definitions other than appearance, but he'd argue it can be applied to Michel's voice too. ] Anyway, I don't doubt you still probably got some other ones, if you were flirting at someone.

Or if you were popular in school?

[ Actual logic, he thinks. ]

[userunfriendly]

[ Michel tilts his head slightly when Ganymede trails off. Waiting, waiting...

...He really is going to leave it completely ambiguous what he'd call Winter instead of "cute," isn't he. Winter is oblivious to another casualty of the Sakurai voice casting. ]

Objectively speaking... I was neither popular nor unpopular. I had selling points beside my appearance, though it did provoke some comment.

[ He'd never said his flirting was particularly successful, either, but he sees no need to disillusion Ganymede on that point. Any strange assumptions he's made aren't Michel's fault. ]

[ganymed]

[ Ganymede isn't exactly sure what to expect with Michel's history, other than having been surprised that flirting was a thing.

For all he knows, he can be the type to dress up as a mascot for a sports team or the son of a country leader.

...

Let's scale back the imagination, he said he was literally none of those things. But it is kind of funny to picture. ]

I'd say you don't seem like the type to be humble, but then I remember how you responded when the topic of chess came up....

[userunfriendly]

[ Is Ganymede saying he seems conceited?? Winter enters stoic gears-turning-in-head mode yet again as he stares at him.

He takes another drink. And then he reaches over and bops Ganymede lightly on the top of the head with a closed fist for 0 damage.

Lumina Cloth might be a PVP zone but he's careful, alright. ]

[ganymed]

[ ...That's an absolutely hilarious reaction.

He's actually not, but... ]

What was that for??

[ He jumps up to see if he can one finger tap his nose back in retaliation.

What do you mean this is childish? Absolutely not. ]