Open | The Epicurians Present: The 1st of September Beach Bash!

[bleatingedge]

Who ► Leo & Anyone that wishes to join!
What ► BEACH PARTY!!
When ► September 1st
Where ► Δ Haggard Traveler's Reprieve
Content Warnings ► People will be drunk. Will add to if needed

[The time has come... for fun! Δ Haggard Traveler's Reprieve has been decorated with all the niceties that a beach party requires - docks for fishing, large umbrellas to hide from the sun, several tables with sets of chairs for sitting and conversing, and the most obvious addition: a massive roaring bonfire with a big cooking mesh over the top of it for barbecue cookin'!

Leo's wearing a fishing hat and aviators alongside his trademark loincloth-and-nothing-else getup for maximum dissonance. From his position on the other side of the bonfire, he waves a hand at those arriving.]

Welcome to the Beach Bash! Snacks and drinks are on the tables, bottles of sunscreen and crafting tables are under the umbrellas, and complementary fishing gear are at the docks for your convenience. Have fun, friends~

[Emperor Grunty is also here, should you wish to annoy him! He's currently laying in the sand with a reflector. What? Grunties need their sun too!]

Comments

[userunfriendly]

[ Please don't mind the manstanding pose, he's just thinking hard about this epiphany. Also checking his friend list to see if someone is around for some insistent DMing. No? ]

Yes. An epiphany. I realize I need to file a bug report.

[ The "bug report" is going to be him picking up Hani by their little shoulders and shaking gently. What words of wisdom can he offer to redress this wrong... ]

At your age, you may still grow. You shouldn't trouble yourself about it.

[aphonik]

[ Look at this guy...just 🧍‍♂️ right there where everyone can see...

Dosei is...particularly unimpressed with that explanation, if the disgust on his face says anything about it. ]

'Urge to manhandle randos' is a bug?

[ He's not buying it!! There's been weird shit going on, but he draws a limit on that one. It's OK to admit you're a freak, Michel.

That last comment, though...his face blanks out. ]

I'm 18 years old, asshole.

[userunfriendly]

[ Teenagers are like cats: nothing impresses them. Michel distinctly remembers being one, once. Although perhaps it's best to avoid that comparison. ]

Don't give them any more ideas. I don't see why you would put that past the effects in this game. ...And stop phrasing it like that! Was it not just a hug?!

[ What in god's name was Hani doing. He needs a word or twenty with them.

The defensive comment about age warrants at best a small shrug. He really doesn't see how that invalidates what he said... but it's true that his own height hasn't really changed since 16. ]

[aphonik]

[ The most apt comparison...perhaps more ornery than most cats, even. 80% salt, 20% person. ]

Considering the shit they have in dungeons around here, they don't need me to.

[ Like, not even a joke.

The latter suggestion earns a viscerally disgusted grimace, like Michel had just suggested he drink swampwater or something equally vile and unappealing. ]

Fucking gross. If you had hugged me, I'd have just bit you.

[ Maybe it was lucky the manhandling was at arm's length...?? Either way, he wouldn't have been pleased about either. Touch is touch. He's not a fan. ]

[userunfriendly]

The plausibility is entirely why not to...

[ Michel watches that expression with relatively well-contained wry amusement. Look: he would have made just such a face about hugging, too — and essentially had, when Hani accosted him — but it's illuminating to see it from the outside.

He likes Hani. But this is still fair: ]

If it ever happens, I hope you simply knock me out. [ But biting is fine too, honestly. ]

[aphonik]

Report your weird-ass touchy bug issues, Mister Manhandler, and maybe they'll just take the idea from that, instead.

[ You set yourself up for this, Michel. You are doing this to yourself. You could sacrifice the twink and save yourself the blame, but your heart is too big.

Luckily, Dosei does not notice Michel's amusement. Unfortunately, it won't stop him from being a little bitch regardless. ]

You don't have to ask. I'd have done it anyway. [ But- ] But just knocking out would be too nice. I don't believe in that shit.

[userunfriendly]

[ He could sacrifice Hani still. And in all likelihood, they would be much more equipped to deal with teenage shenanigans than he is.

Was he this directionlessly aggressive at eighteen? Probably at least a little, if he's remembering honestly. The relentless manhandling accusations still gets Michel to twitch one eyebrow. ]

We were already in agreement. Do you always feel the need to pick every fight you can? [ Not asked as if he's affronted, just factual curiosity. ] Take whatever measures would relieve your feelings, then.

[ Maybe Hani would get his avatar PKed, but it's not as if there are real consequences. ]

[aphonik]

[ That's the trauma, babe. No better clearly healthy coping mechanism than unbridled aggression at everything that moves.

Clearly.

Dosei just quirks an eyebrow, in comparison to Michel's twitching at his new and very permanent title. ]

Yeah? [ In a very 'duh' manner. ] I don't enjoy being fake friendly like some people. No point in acting like something I'm not.

[ Being a spiteful little bastard is his whole thing. ]

Not like I needed your permission, but thanks.

[userunfriendly]

[ The fact that Michel is certain he's said something very similar at least once in Fragment only makes this more painful to witness as an outsider. This is more painful than knowing what Hani did with his body. ]

Neither do I. And if you can't see the distinction, I see no point explaining.

[ So he won't! He turns to leave, but pauses for one more backward glance. ]

If it's of any interest to you... acting so defensively will seldom make you appear any stronger.

[ Ramiel can do with that what he will. Probably nothing, because that's eighteen for you. ]