karaoke party!

[irresponsibly]

Who: Lucia and you!
What: Karaoke Party Time
When: Fall 20
Where: Cozy Kitchen
Warnings: n/a for now

[ On Fall 15th, a notice goes up on the noticeboard advertising a karaoke party at Cozy Kitchen on Fall 20th. It may be easy to miss with all of the pirate chaos, but Lucia will put a sign at the front of the restaurant to remind her fellow farmers of the event.

When Fall 20th rolls around, the smell of Lucia's food can be smelled from outside in town square. One may also catch another redhead bringing alcohol from his winery into the restaurant, or people from the other neighboring bar moving equipment into Cozy Kitchen. When everything's said and done, the restaurant is left with a nice evening setup. It's a small-ish space but there is plenty of food and alcohol for people to indulge in, as well as non-alcoholic drinks like tea and water. The karaoke machine is set up, and there are board games from the store that people can play while they're here.

People are free to sing, open mic style, as many times as they'd like. At some point during the party, however, Lucia will make it a point to play some slower songs on the machine and cite that it's been a while since the dance in Spring. Now might be a good chance to get one last dance in with someone before Winter hits! Finally, party games will be inevitable, so go ahead and participate or run your own. ]

Comments

[framestory]

[ Otegine is right to be scared, especially if he's seen the other dares that he's given others already. He writes on his notepad as usual: ]

How are you feeling?

1/2

[passthrough]

[He wants to give a safe answer and deflect. But Steinbeck has already dropped his kappa figurine, so when he opens his mouth, what he wants is not what comes out.]

...I feel too much right now.

I'm embarrassed and angry at myself. I'm angry at the goddess. I'm scared. I'm ashamed. I feel I shouldn't be here tonight, but I don't want to be alone.

2/2

[passthrough]

[He starts for a second, before slapping a hand over his mouth.

Why... did he just say that?]

[framestory]

[ Whatever Ellis is thinking of doesn't really come out, because he knows none of that would comfort Otegine. Instead, he gets up, leaves, and comes back with grape juice in a cup to offer it to Otegine. He sits back down next to him. ]

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be around people.

[passthrough]

[He's gone a nice vibrant shade of pink when Ellis comes back, face buried in his hands.]

I know. But this isn't a space I deserve right now.

[Urgh, no, that.... okay, whatever. His eyes trail to the glass, and he politely puts a hand up with a shake of his head.]

Oh, uh... no alcohol, sorry. I already made enough mistakes, yesterday, I'm not going to set myself up to make more by drinking today.

[...UGH. There's a choke under his breath.]

W-what the hell is wrong with me...

[framestory]

[ Ellis thinks what Otegine is saying is all pretty normal to say, so he's not weirded out by it. He only writes on his notepad to show him: ]

It's grape juice. I can get you water instead if you don't want grape juice either.

[passthrough]

Ah.

No, no, that's fine. Thanks, Ellis.

[Grape juice is pretty sweet for him, but he'll still sip at it nonetheless.]

Uh. Sorry, I didn't mean to make that so awkward. Did you want to take a turn?

[framestory]

[ Ellis shakes his head no at the first statement and nods on the turn. He holds up one finger for truth. ]

[passthrough]

[Hm. Thinking of a question...

...]

What's something you're most grateful to have learned about, while the goddess has been keeping us here?

[framestory]

[ Oh, this one is easy. He's not sure about being grateful about it, but he thinks this is a rather important thing to have learned during his stay here. ]

Not all real people are bad.

[passthrough]

Was it hard to think otherwise, before?

[He doesn't have a whole lot of context, but if Ellis's author was the only real person he'd ever actually "met", then he could easily guess why Ellis might assume all humans are trash.]

[framestory]

[ Ellis nods without hesitation. ]

People wanted me dead and gone all the time, but for various reasons, so I think that sort of thinking is understandable. I'm definitely no saint either.

[passthrough]

[Oh yep, that'd do it. Poor guy.]

Maybe, maybe not. But I guess it must be kind of different to look at when you have more control over it.

Does it ever feel wrong to you? Having to make decisions like that, I mean, on whether things that happened are good or bad.

[framestory]

What do you mean? Making decisions for what, exactly?

[ Something that he has more control over? Ellis finds it hard to imagine things he had control over at all back then. ]

[passthrough]

Sorry, sorry. Ah, how do I put it...

I don't know how else to explain it, but... being able to choose is kind of a weird thing to get used to. Not everybody gets the chance to look at their feelings and decide what to do about them.

[Mainly, things that didn't have to feel at all at one point or another... or, perhaps, in Ellis' case... if he came from a story, did his story require him to feel in ways he didn't have freedom over?]

Do you feel okay, making choices like that about people?

[framestory]

[ Ellis thinks about this for a moment, his pen tapping on the notepad a little before writing out his thoughts. ]

My actions might have been dictated by my maker, but my maker isn't here, so everything I do here is of my own choice. It feels refreshing, to have this sort of freedom. As far as my maker making decisions for me, it just felt natural to me, so I never thought about it.

I can't picture myself doing that to anyone though.

[passthrough]

Then don't. [Great thing about freedom: you can do whatever you'd like, including not doing anything at all! Not that he's ever found it easy to get used to in his own scenario, but that didn't change that the freedom still existed.]

I'm glad you've got a chance at freedom here, Ellis. I hope it's brought you a little happiness.

[framestory]

[ He wouldn't say freedom has given him happiness, but... well. ]

What about you?

[passthrough]

Mn?

For... which part?

[All of it?]

[framestory]

Does freedom make you happy, or are you still left unsure on what you want to do?

[ All of it could be nice too. ]

[passthrough]

I don't know.

[It's an answer that surprises him yet again (thanks Steinbeck!) and he's hesitant to keep going...

But he supposes, if he says anything intensely foolish... at least Ellis isn't the worst person here that could hear it.]

I'm not used to being able to do anything by myself. It's never been my purpose. Not having a master to have a use for me just makes me feel more lost than happy.

But I like that I don't have as much to be scared about here, being free.

[framestory]

Being free is great. I would never leave myself in someone else's hands if I can help it. It's different for us, because we're not people, but I'm sure you'll find something that can fill the emptiness of someone not ordering you around.

[ Because freedom is what Ellis is all about. Freedom to do crazy things, freedom to do the weirdest stuff he can creatively think of, and anything else. ]

[passthrough]

I always thought that was what made humanity the most admirable thing. They get to create an awful lot with their freedom, both good and bad. It's why I still like watching people here, even if I don't always feel like I can be a part of them. People like them are what made people like us exist in the first place, you know?

...

[He doesn't know how much he likes whatever it is that's making him feel this candid. His glass shuffles in his hands against the table, lips thinning a bit.]

I guess it's your turn to ask me something again, right?