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

[morethan084]

I think we all would.

[An amused smile tugs at her lips as he asks what an iPhone is.]

I mean, there’s an app for that, but no. It’s an iPhone.

[His question reminds her of Sousa and her smile falters a little.]

It’s—

A multi-use device.

[That seemed like a good explanation? It was more than just a phone.]

What year are you from?

[callada]

1511.

[He pauses, then decides to add:]

Not Earth. That probably makes a difference too.

[Calendar must be different, culture certainly is. That thing sure doesn't look like any phone he'd recognize.]

[morethan084]

A little.

[Daisy says casually, because really, she's time traveled so many times at this point it's almost normal to her.]

Is everyone where you're from as tall as you are?

[callada]

No, but there are plenty taller. Where I'm from there's more variation. Lots about your height, but I know lots who're twelve, fifteen feet tall. I know there's a few who're said to reach twenty feet.

[He shrugs as he looks around at the room. Earth must just top out a lot lower for some reason.]

Actually, I was taller. Took a couple weeks to really get used to that when I got here. This place knocked a good half a foot off my height for whatever reason.

[It's because as it is, his head just about brushes the ceilings in most of the rooms. He's glad not to have to crouch everywhere, but come on, who really wants to be shorter than they're supposed to be?]

[morethan084]

Wow. Your poor necks.

[Because, really, it sounds like they've got to be either constantly looking down or up.]

Are you serious? They can just--

[Daisy blinks, taken aback before she realizes that's not totally surprising.]

Actually, I can believe they'd do something like that. They did something to me too.

[callada]

Yeah?

[His voice shifts; less casual, more sympathetic. Concerned. He takes a second to search his pockets for his lighter and cigarettes, then looks over with a frown.]

I think you're the first I've heard about who was affected somehow, other than me. What'd they do?

[He slides out a cigarette, then tips the pack toward her in case she wants one.]

[morethan084]

[Daisy smiles politely but shakes her head when he offers her a cigarette.]

They made me two feet shorter.

[Okay, it’s a lame joke. Sue her.]

No, they uh—

Messed with my powers. I can’t do nearly as much damage.

[callada]

[Her joke catches him off-guard for a second, and he manages to singe his hand on his lighter. Ow. But he shakes it off and chuckles. No harm done.

The actual change reverses the laugh right into a frown. He sucks at the cigarette, then shakes his head as he exhales the smoke.]

That's some shit. Sorry to hear that. ... What kind of powers?

[morethan084]

You okay?

[Daisy winces when his hand touches the flame.]

I can control the vibrations in everything. Create earthquakes, break doors, among other things.

[Much deadlier things.]

[callada]

Sure, fine.

[She'll eventually see much worse, he knows it. He's admitted as much to a couple of people here and the rest will catch on eventually every time he falls or slams his elbow into a wall or - yeah. Tall and clumsy, all one package.]

Vibrations, huh? That's cool. That's like a better version of what I do. Ever messed with sound?

[Hell, he'll demonstrate. With a snap of his fingers, the party around them falls dead silent. It's clear they can all hear each other still, out there where they're chatting over pizza and beer, but none of it makes its way through to the two of them.

Let him have one cool thing, all right? Let him show off, just this once. It's nothing compared to what others here can do. No earthquake, that's for damn sure.]

[morethan084]

I mean, there's vibrations in everything. Including sound.

[Surprised when he explains that he also has a power on top of being insanely tall, she's about to ask what he can do when he snaps his fingers and it's suddenly dead silent in the room.

Oh no. Is she deaf?]

Wha-?

[Okay, so she can still talk. She looks up at him, clearly impressed. Laughing, Daisy is in awe as she looks around to see that they're none the wiser.]

That has to come in so handy when people are annoying you.

[callada]

I sleep very well.

[Combat applications are limited, though, but he makes do. After a moment he snaps his fingers again, dropping the barrier and letting the sound from outside their immediate surroundings flood back in.]

I can calm the vibrations in sound waves. Drop them to nothing. That's about it.

[morethan084]

So, basically, you're a remote control.

[A smile spread across her face at her own lame joke.]

[callada]

A what now?

[Yeah, he can tell it's a joke based on that face she's making, but it's well over his head.]

That an Earth thing?

[morethan084]

[Daisy presses her lips together to keep from laughing. She didn't think that she'd have to explain what a remote was.]

I didn't think it was just an Earth thing, but it's a device you use to turn some electronics on or off, or to control the volume.

[callada]

Ahh. We don't really have those. Electronics, that is.

[Well, all right, they do to some degree, but they're usually government property or incredibly basic. Or stolen government property. None of this remote control stuff.]

A lot of you come from places where electronics and robots and all that seem so common from what I keep hearing, though. More even than this place, if you set aside the whole ship in space part.

[morethan084]

That sounds--

[Daisy pauses, thinking of the right words to use.]

Like a nightmare.

[An amused smile spreads across her lips. She's on a roll tonight.]

Being in space? Not really new for me, personally. First time I've had a full blown pizza party in space though. So there's that...

[callada]

But not your first pizza party, I take it. I like this better than a pizza party at sea. The waves tend to spill the beer.

[Beer is not exactly limited to pizza parties either, to be fair, but it's the only part of the average pizza dinner he goes for.]

The electronics thing, though, I get it. I have to admit, I don't think I knew what I was missing. You can just... turn on lights! Or send messages to people's heads without having to remember where you last put your transponder snail.

[morethan084]

[Daisy laughs at his excitement over light switches. If that blew his mind, then wait until he heard about cellphones.]

That ones new for me too—

[Hold up.]

Transponder snails? What? Like, actual snails?

[callada]

Well, yeah.

[And his is still in his pocket out of habit, and perhaps the hope that some day he'll get a call. He pulls out a hand-sized yellow snail with what clearly looks like an antique telephone receiver and rotary dial attached to the shell and lets it sit there in his palm. It blinks its large red eyes, then retracts its eye stalks, but otherwise doesn't really do much.]

I haven't gotten a call since I got here but I guess it can't join the network we're all on. Must not be something it can pick up.

[morethan084]

[Daisy doesn't do a great job of hiding her disgust. She's been to a lot of planets, but there are just some things that are still odd to her.]

Do you have to, you know, feed it--?

[She can't look at it too long and instead cranes her head to look up at him again instead.]

[callada]

Sometimes.

[Bothered by transponder snails? That's a new one on him, but maybe they're just so normal in his world that he never thought about it. With a shrug, he stuffs it back into his pocket where it came from, grinning with amusement.]

I've never met anyone who actually almost recoiled from a transponder snail. D'you have the earpiece things at home instead? Or... phones?

[She did mention that i-phone (or was it eye-phone?) earlier but that was just playing music, so it's hard to say if that's related or not to the type of phone that Ed told him about.]

[morethan084]

Where I’m from, most people see them as pests. Uh, no offense.

[Or that big.]

Well, we can’t communicate via each other’s minds when we use them. But we do have them. Usually people use them when they’re on the field or undercover.

We also have phones like this one.

[Nothing with eyes.]

I’m guessing transponder snails don’t play music or play games?

[callada]

[So that is a phone for calls of some sort and not just a music player. Learn something new every day out here. Usually multiple things.

It's interesting, worthy of an eyebrow-raise, when she mentions undercover work so casually. He'd definitely noticed the utility of the thing, especially the mind-to-mind function enabling anyone to be silent in conversation anytime they like. Okay, maybe that's also a bit of a bummer though, since it makes his skillset a tiny bit less unique, but he's never been under the illusion that he's particularly special.]

Not usually. I know they're working on breeding some to display images, though. Even moving images, which - from what I've seen here, that's a lot less exciting to all of you than it is to everyone back home. I guess if you wanted to broadcast a band playing, all you'd have to do is hook a snail up with a better receiver, and then have it call whoever you want to play music at.

[But, you know, no recordings. It's a snail, they don't exactly have much memory going on there. He nods to the phone.]

Doesn't it just feel a little... cold, though? A box like that can't really do emotions or voices right, can it? At least with how this place is set up we can see faces if we want.

[Yes, that's right, the implication is that calls over snail-tech somehow display emotions beyond just the tone of the voice on the other end. Ever seen a snail grin with delight, or roar with anger? There's a new and enjoyable set of mental images for her.]

[morethan084]

How do they--? You know what? I actually don't want to know.

[How they're bred. The image in her head is gross enough.]

I mean, you can talk on the phone?

[She's not sure she really gets what he means by that. If you're texting, then obviously, you're just typing everything out. Tones are harder to get sometimes if you're just texting.

The devices this place gives us don't have it, but, we have a thing called Facetime back home. You can use it to see each other and chat that way.