MINGLE | The "Everyone's Tired and Hungry" Post-Mission Pizza Party

[groupiedrifter]

CHARACTERS: Everyone! A free-for-all general chill-out time, thrown haphazardly together by a mad scientist.
LOCATION: The Mess Hall
DATE: Sometime after the mission. Y'all know.
CONTENT: The Orb Crew tries to relax for a hot goddamn minute.
WARNINGS: Likely drinking or drunkenness, the usual party antics. Very mildly image heavy, NSFW for naughty threads, properly marked.

It seems the party has been properly set up for you all! But of course, there's an exuberant amount of 'Newton*' flair added to it, and people can find all sorts of random things — markers for drawing on the pizza boxes (which he distinctly requested, super important) cover the tables, and it's clear by the one designed like a Pikachu and a dinosaur that he's already began scribbling on them. He's also made... board games literally comprised of pizza boxes as well, including Chess and Connect Four, which is lovingly set up side-by-side on a table and done with intent to annoy.

They've got one deck of cards for games, no chips; you'll have to just make some of your own out of pizza box cardboard. The most grand of all creation appears to be a normal-sized Skeeball table, made of flimsy material, with oranges for balls. It may or may not last the night, but it sure works for now!

There's a very strong bottle of liquor from their last mission open for everyone, and, well, it will get you drunk quite fast if you're not careful. But it's also a Bring Your Own Beer situation; hope you guys asked Viv for some to plan for the party!

Lastly, there's classic bar rock playing from an iPhone rigged to a speaker that looks very very cobbled together, from loose bits and bobs from the lab's many boxes. If you go fiddle with that phone's playlist, you may be able to find a small collection of songs that aren't rock, but are likely from the 90's or early 2000's.

And yes, there is a couch with a sign on it, designated specifically for people who wish to nap. If they'd like. Don't be rude, let people lay down when they're sleepy. (Maybe Newton just put that there for him, honestly.) There are 50 pizzas total, which is practically a whole-ass pizza per person, so enjoy! (And thanks, Viv!)

Feel free to bring your own flair to the party, if you'd like.

These are just a few things for a m b i e n c e.

(*If you mention him, he will appear like a terrible omen.)

Comments

[soups]

I suppose so. ❰ at the mention of being judged. while she's somewhat adjusted to blending in with the crowd, old habits and worries die hard. at worst, any of the men they're familiar with from home may raise a brow (wei wuxian being the exception, she's sure), but more and more...she wonders how much stock she should take in that — especially when their stations are much more even in some ways, away from the clans.

they'll all have to adjust, and who is to say she is doing so too fast? and that the others won't also eventually have to? ❱ There's something freeing about being able to lack concern for manners. It allows one to breathe much more easily.

❰ jiang yanli suddenly wishes she had more of that fire liquor. ❱ Though you're always so self-assured, Wen-gongzi. It's an enviable quality.

[silverneedles]

[ Self-assured. That makes her pause and tuck her hands away, beneath the layers of robes she has, hiding— she doesn't know what, or why, even. They've seen each other in some of the worst situations; Wen Qing remembers the distress of all three when Wen Ning brought them to Yiling, and the stress and worry of harboring fugitives had not been easy.

Untucking her hand, she reaches for the glass of wine she'd brought, taking another sip. ] It is mostly an act. I learned young, and it has been useful.

[ Saying it aloud is almost freeing. At least, she doesn't feel like as much of a fraud. She grins at Jiang Yanli. ] Please, no titles. There is no need for them here.

[soups]

❰ she's sure that while she herself is drinking, jiang yanli must look like a curious squirrel, sipping slowly and with eyes wide with curiosity. wen qing takes a sip of something, and it's elegant. maybe it is all an act, but she sure is good at it. ❱

I think neither of us are a stranger to putting on different faces. ❰ it's basically a skillset one must obtain when dealing with the hierarchy of the clans — and especially if you're a woman in that world. the ones who aren't lucky enough to be afforded the place to speak up and openly offend when necessary.

there are times when she especially wishes she had more sway, was more capable of speaking up and getting things done. it especially comes to mind looking at wen qing, who she has often wondered if they're in the same position. to wake up in the spaceship, knowing exactly how and when you die.

wistful, incapable of focusing too much on any one topic thanks to the buzzing alcohol working its way into the innermost parts of her brain, jiang yanli tucks her legs up into her robes. they're left flatter, draping down the couch like curtains. ❱ It feels strange to not address you respectfully...what shall I call you? A-Qing?

❰ simply saying it, the strangeness of it makes her laugh. ❱

[silverneedles]

[ a skill-set indeed, one it feels necessary to navigate the world with, to make it possible to navigate the world, especially as women. It would have been easier had she been born a boy, but then her fate would have been different, raised to war. As it was, she had barely managed to keep Wen Ning off from her uncle's army.

Watching Jiang Yanli's robes settle over the couch, flowing and graceful, she missed home suddenly, with something fierce inside her chest. Even the streets of Lanling, despite being a beggar on the streets there. It had been something familiar, with the possibility of finding her family. She has to look away for a moment, and when she looks back at Jiang Yanli, it's with a careful, measured look, her eyes slightly watery.

It's the alcohol. That makes her put her glass down, laughing as Jiang Yanli says her name. ] That— [ She shakes her head, even though it's correct. It feels almost too intimate. ] Wen Qing, no titles necessary, Jiang-guniang.

[soups]

Now, be reasonable. ❰ jiang yanli laughs genuinely, baffled at this conversation's occurrence. prior to coming aboard this fantastical spaceship, she had never had such an off the cuff conversation with wen qing before. she was such an accomplished and skilled practitioner of medicine back home, and had some station among the wen clan, but she had intimidated jiang yanli more than some clan leaders.

and she certainly doesn't blame that only on a skill-set of setting up facades. now, all of that seems so far away, as the woman sips wine in front of her — expression still hard to read, but also somehow softer. ❱ It seems unfair to ask me to be so casual while you continue to refer to me with titles.

[silverneedles]

[ Status she did have, and for all that Wen Qing didn't agree with her uncle's methods and certainly attempted to distance her and Wen Ning from his actions as much as possible, she'd been proud to be part of the court.

It's different now. Before, by the time Wen Qing had been sent off to Cloud Recesses, it had been a fine line she walked, navigating his insanity and her need to keep her brother safe. And of course, status on the ship is a vastly different thing. It still seems foreign to her. She doesn't have to worry about being recognized here, or wonder what survival means. ] Very well, Jiang Yanli.

[soups]

❰ part of it is embarrassment, part of it is the surreality of it all, but jiang yanli hides an obvious giggle behind the sleeve of her robe. she hasn't really had many casual relationships in her life — not that that's what this is, really, but the number of people who don't use titles with her is very small.

her head feels light and she feigns adjusting her bangs to momentarily hold her head for clarity. perhaps fireball is a bit stronger than she initially perceived. ❱

The wine is to your taste? I hadn't tasted any of it — perhaps it's uncouth of me, but I'm regretting the decision to avoid another drink. ❰ she's finally happy with her hair rearrangement, and relaxes more into the couch again, reverting back to being comfortable. ❱ Not enough to leave your company, of course.

[silverneedles]

[ The giggle makes her smile, although it's fast and fleeting, still unsure about expressing such obvious emotions in public like this and still unused to the idea that she's safe. That they're all safe.

At Jiang Yanli's words, Wen Qing holds up her bottle of wine. ] If you do not wish to leave, perhaps you can try this. [ She looks around, seeking another glass. ] Although, you would have to sip from the bottle, as I have been doing. It is rather uncouth.

[soups]

❰ hmm. this would normally be something rude, something disorderly, a practice committed only by street drunkards or noblemen who have long forsaken manners — and wei wuxian; she's endeared to him enough not to immediately put him in that latter category.

but they are in space. and they've already been drinking. and they're surrounded by people committing more faux pas than they'd ever known existed. ❱

Perhaps I'll think of it like this: if it is only you and I here, and we both decide to be unmannerly, then that shall be no one's business but our own.