OPEN :: A golden bird was singing

[baedalites]

Who: Everyone!
What: St Kelley's evening
Where: The Apache and surrounding environs.
When: Veerdi evening.
Notes:
(1) The topic threads are just suggestions; if you've got somewhere else that your characters simply must be, make your own thread.
(2) All mementos will appear overnight in some part of your character's apartment.
(3) Dance!

St Kelley's is one of the more sedate occasions in Baedal, at least as holidays go. It passes more or less unnoticed by the majority of the population as many of them feel it doesn't concern them. It's not their holiday; it's for the others. Those with severed ties and broken hearts. The temple and church preach that it's a time for reflection or for glorifying the generosity of the gods. It's one of the few days on which no one looks askance at first generation Citizens mourning their missing loved ones publicly.

As night rolls around and floating lanterns are set to sea, the Apache in Mog Hill prepares to accept guests from the newer cohorts. It's something that happens every year, making it a practical tradition. The alcohol will be cheaper for first timers, and the music will be kept at a reasonable level.

Comments

[wontturntofoam]

Since his eviction from the Inn, Shrieky's living situation has taken a brief dip into the unfortunate, before veering off into the unexpectedly wonderful. A chance encounter with a charming young woman whose face and neck were bejewelled with scales, led to him being invited to join a close knit Xenian squatters commune occupying one of the abandoned houses in Badside.

In all, five or six of the first generation Xenians from the squat have come out for St. Kelley's, but over the course of the holiday they've drifted away. Some alone, and others in pairs, to contemplate their old homes and the memento's they've received.

Shrieky is sitting at the table they'd initially settled down at, alone now, and a little drunk. There's still a fairly good measure of beer left in the last pitcher they'd bought, and he's beginning to understand why people force themselves to like the stuff.

[charismatic]

If Will were to sit down and survey his own behavior since arriving in Baedal, he would probably conclude that he's become something of a busybody. He's not doing that right now, though, and probably never will, so he just pauses next to the table, peering down at the lone occupant and the not-very-empty pitcher of beer. That's never a good combination.

He plops himself down uninvited, folding his elbows onto the table and looking over at Shrieky. “Today is not a good day to be drinking alone,” he says.

[wontturntofoam]

Why ever not?

The question floats through Shrieky's mind, but he decides against asking it. He's getting a little tired of looking like someone who doesn't know anything about anything. Instead, he blurts out indignantly, "I'm not drinking alone!" Except that... he sort of is, isn't he? Shrieky amends: "I was not drinking alone, when this jug was initially purchased. I don't think I have any money, so I couldn't have been, and legally, this probably doesn't even count as being mine."

He frowns, staring at the pitcher with some new misgivings, before redirecting his gaze towards Will, "You should probably have some of it though. To prevent me from drinking alone."

[charismatic]

Will shrugs, taking the explanation in stride. That's better than buying a whole pitcher for himself, even though none of it is actually any of Will's business. “I'll go grab a glass,” he says, though, and disappears for a moment. He comes back with a clean glass and fills it halfway. He's had a couple already, and he wants to be companionable, not drunk.

“Well,” he says, tipping his glass toward the other guy before he takes a sip. “Since we're officially not drinking alone, I should introduce myself. I'm Will.”

[wontturntofoam]

For some reason, Shrieky hadn't actually been expecting will to come back, and when the other man does, he's visibly pleased about it. He tips his own glass in response to Will doing so, and nods at the introduction.

"I'm very pleased to meet you, Will! Did you send one of the little boats out?" He feels that he smoothly dodged the name question there, Will probably didn't even notice.

[charismatic]

“I did,” Will says, and he only feels a little silly about it. He's only a tiny bit sentimental, personally, and there were a lot of people out there with him. It's a weird situation. Gotta take what comfort you can. “How about you, Mr. No-Name?”

[wontturntofoam]

"Have you received something in return?" When Will calls him on his failure to give a name, Shrieky has the decency to look at least a little uncomfortable about it. Apparently he's not as adept at dodging that conversation point as he'd thought, "I did also, and it's Mermaid. Which I realize isn't actually a name, so much as it is a species identifier, but none the less... that's what I am."

[charismatic]

Will tilts his head. That's the first time he's come across that, even here. “Well, do you want a name?” he says. It seems like a logical question.

[wontturntofoam]

"I don't really mind. If people call me mermaid then I know that I'm being addressed, it just makes introductions somewhat awkward."

Truth be told, he's still a little leery about being given names by humans, a lifetime of being called things like 'Shrieky' and 'Eel-boy' have put paid to that. Besides, he has a name. It just happens to be private.

[gwynn]

After a while, a face pops up in Shrieky's line of vision -- upside down, pink hair dangling floorwards. Megan likes to make room for other people by not occupying the floor, evidently; she's hovering in the air, not giving a single flying fuck whether that makes her sweater ride up. (She's got something under it, jeez, it's fine.)

"Hi!" ... She does this a lot, yes.

[wontturntofoam]

Pink hair! Dragonfly! Shrieky stands up instantly, then wobbles slightly, and puts his hands on the table for support, grinning widely, "You! Dragonfly Girl! Hello!"

Had they exchanged names last time they'd met? He can't be certain, but he feels as though he managed to dodge that particular social bullet, so Dragonfly girl it is!

"I didn't know that your wings were functional! Although I suppose it would make no sense to have purely cosmetic wings..."

[gwynn]

Megan laughs -- 'Dragonfly Girl' is a new one on her, but it's certainly less awkward than some of the other mutant names she's heard other people go by, so why not? She's not picky. "'Course they are! I can't even imagine how annoying they'd be if they didn't even work, gosh." She kicks her legs at someone until they move out of the way so she can touch down on the ground, righting herself awkwardly. "Whatcha doin'? Did you send out a little boaty thingy?"

[wontturntofoam]

"I did! There wasn't really anything specific that I wanted, you understand, but I like to participate in the culture of this place!" He reaches up to his neck, and fumbles with a piece of cord strung around it, tugging the end of it up out of his tee shirt, he reveals that it's holding a rather expensive looking ring around his neck, "This was what returned for me, though. Did you send one out as well?"

[gwynn]

"Oh, that's so pretty! Dang, you got something good. I saw someone who got like... a hat. Not even a good hat, it was like, a Yankees cap. The Yankees!" That's not going to mean anything to Shrieky and she knows it, but she hopes that means he will instantly take her side there. Megan would never steer him wrong, after all. "Yeah, I got something of my mum's, which I think is the gods taking a big shit on me, but it's like, whatever, you know?" Like whatever indeed.

[wontturntofoam]

Megan appears to have figured out exactly how Shrieky makes decisions, because the moment she derisively mentions the Yankees, he's pulling an unimpressed face. The terrible, terrible Yankees. "I would imagine that it would be one thing to receive a warm, or attractive hat, but that sounds like a terrible thing to be delivered."

He goes to take a sip of his beer, before deciding that really, he should probably share, and pushes his glass across the table to Megan, "Would you like this? I can fill up an empty one for myself, because I know who was drinking from them, but it seems like it would be impolite to offer someone else's glass to you." And going to the bar for a clean one is obviously out of the question. Shrieky grabs the abandoned glass of one of the Xenians he'd arrived with, and reaches for the pitcher.

"You got something of your mothers, though? Isn't that a good thing? Did you not like her?"

[gwynn]

Excellent, that didn't take any effort at all. What other correct opinions can she instill in Shrieky before someone confuses him with their evil and wrong thoughts? The possibilities are endless! "Yeah! It sucks to be that jerk, I guess." What... they're not a jerk just because they're a Yankees fan, calm down, girl.

But she laughs at his logic when it comes to beer glasses -- "I promise you I've drank out of weirder things than some stranger's glass," she says. She'll take it, though, there is no reality in which Megan will turn down offered alcohol. "Not exactly worried about cooties. Cheers."

On the subject of her necklace, she frowns, smooths her expression out immediately and plasters that sunny smile back on her face. "Mum's a bitch," Megan says, as cheerfully as she'd say anything else. "My family's all fucked up. I was hoping for something from one of my buds, or something, but oh, well."

It's not that she hates her mother or that she doesn't think of her sometimes, but it's easier for her in terms of her mental health to have that clear divide -- her versus her mother. It hurts less that way, thinking about the things she said about Megan's mutation. How she failed to protect her.

[wontturntofoam]

Shrieky scoots in towards the table a little more closely, his expression pulling down into an earnest little frown, "I'm sorry to hear that. It was always my understanding that the relationship between a mother and her children was more significant than any other."

He fills his new glass with beer, frowning ponderously, "When I would see mothers and their offspring together, they seemed very... active in the guarding of their children. I was always really quite jealous of them."

Almost all that Shrieky has seen of mothers has involved monitoring their children's proximity to the moat, so he might be speaking from a point of bias here.

[fish]

"Heyyy, it's the mermaid-man." Heads up, Shrieky, this slightly pinkish-cheeked little guy has appeared out of nowhere to raise his hand at you. It is a most efficient combination of greetings and a request for a high five. "What's up?"

[wontturntofoam]

"Yes! And it is Fish!" The bringer of blankets and towels! Shrieky looks so so pleased to be accosted in this way. He raises his own hand in a perfect mirror of Fish's, and for a moment, it's almost as if he's planning on delivering the requested high five...

...Then the reality that he doesn't know what a high five is brings that lofty dream crashing back down to earth, and his hand remains stationary, defiantly leaving Fish hanging.

"Nothing is up, really! I came with some people, but they appear to have dispersed. What is up with you?"

[fish]

This isn't the first time Fish has encountered such a phenomenon as lack of high five awareness, and so he shall roll with it. Observe: "Nothin much, dude. Hang on, keep your hand right there..." Aaand slap. Not too hard, though, in case it's somehow insulting.

"Yay, awesome."

[wontturntofoam]

Shrieky looks slightly baffled by the high five, quickly looking at his hand, in case there'd been some kind of insect on it which Fish had decided to kill by violently crushing it between their hands. No. No insect that he could see.

"What was that?" He glances at Fish, "It seemed like... some kind of transitional greeting, between waving and shaking hands?"

He liked it. Somehow, despite not having the vocabulary to express it, he can recognize that the things Fish does are just cooler than the things done by anyone else he interacts with.

[fish]

"It's a high five. Can I sit?" He's sitting, regardless, asking was just a courtesy. "It's just a thing people do where I'm from... I guess it's for celebrating a little victory, usually. Or to express mutual awesomeness. And since we're both awesome," he gestures with both hands here, palms up, indicating the obvious conclusion. Therefore, hand slaps.

[wontturntofoam]

"Yes! Sit! Here, have some of this..." Shrieky pushes the mostly filled pitcher of beer towards Fish, whether he's expected to pour himself some, or just drink directly from the pitcher goes unstated.

"And I accept our mutual inspiration of awe as good cause for this gesture!" He slumped cheerily against the table, because yes, he likes being called awesome, "So, are you having a good festival?"

[fish]

"Oh hey, thanks." He's not going to drink right out of the pitcher, so he needs a cup. Is there a cup? Aha—someone left theirs sitting empty on the table behind him, so he leans over to steal it, dumping the tiny left-over bit of brown whatever onto the floor between the tables. Fish cares not about cooties, apparently. "It's been pretty good, I guess... I mean, the boat part is depressing, but it's good to see people around anyway. You?"

[wontturntofoam]

"I thought the boat part was nice. I liked all of the tiny fires." Shrieky may be biased about this by a small but growing interest in fire, but he can't help but feel that if people had occasionally floated tiny lights into his moat then perhaps he would have hated them all a little less. Sure it's possible he would have taken the opportunity to lure people to their deaths, but since he'd gotten around to that eventually anyway, it doesn't seem like too substantial a risk for them to have taken.

It occurs to him that it's possible Fish finds the whole 'lost loved ones' thing to be the depressing part, however, so he gives a careful little wave of his hand, "I think probably those who find it very sad, must be those people who have been the most loved, in their lives." He smiles, a lazy, reassuring smile, "Not for me though, I think every part of these proceedings has been very enjoyable."