🌸 sunshine, she's here, you can take a break

[mistsplitter]

WHO: Everyone!! :D
WHAT: A get-to-know-you-together!
WHEN: end of August
WHERE: shinrin-yoku, Sunwaning
WARNINGS: None for now!


[ The past week, Ayaka and Aether made an announcement on the network, inviting everyone interested to make friends and meet new people to the shinrin-yoku teahouse the following weekend. Well, this is it! The time has come! ]

Welcome
🌸 shinrin-yoku seems like a simple tea house upon entering, with a large wooden sliding door that's already opened for guests to enter.

Ayaka will be the one to personally greet her guests, offering three possible areas for seating– the traditional Inazuman set up, the space for where you can let your legs down and not kneel while seated, or outside in the gardens. Familiar faces may be abound, and guests may like to walk around and see the interior, perhaps even say hello to the manager who is walking around and sniffing people here and there.

For future endeavours, Ayaka informs guests that they may use the shinrin-yoku for business gatherings and meetings. Members of Ayato's committee are more than welcome to use the shinrin-yoku, and may even become a place for exchanging information and the like. The tea house promises to be a safe place to all.

And for this particular gathering, Ayaka is not only serving tea, but also sake. It never hurts to make things more fun!


Konpeito, Truth, or Dare
🌸 All guests, upon entering, will be given a small clear glass container. They will also be presented with a giant bowl containing konpeito. They must take at least one, and as many as they could possibly want, and put it inside their own container. They are told not to eat any for now, but no one's really stopping them from doing so!

At some point during the occasion, a game is announced. Everyone is told to check their konpeito and count how many they have! Now, they must pick a partner and play a couple of rounds of truth or dare with them. Every time they get a turn, whether they pick truth or dare, they can eat a piece of candy! Or eat three or five at the same time Once they've had five rounds, though, then they have to choose another partner and start over until they've finished their konpeito bowls.

There is an added rule to the konpeitos, but not necessarily required to be followed! A white konpeito must have a truth or dare related to family, green for a "favourite", yellow for love or sex, orange for childhood or childlike-ness, and pink for "hate".

Ringo (Ayaka's Eevee) and Taroumaru will be watching people and make sure they aren't cheating! Though sometimes, they may not be looking, and can even be bribed with snacks. Participants who can finish their konpeito in an hour (which we'll conveniently handwave) will receive a box of sakura mochi to take home.


Introduction Bingo
🌸 Guests are given bingo cards to fill up at some point during the afternoon! Pens are also provided, or if they have their own, then that's cool!

Participants may put someone's name twice on any of the squares, but more than that, and it won't count. The objective is to get a blackout by filling out names of people who fit the description! How one does this is completely up to them. They could even slip it into their conversations during the truth or dare games, or just randomly walk up to people and ask them things.


Two Twists and a Lie
🌸 A card is given to participants for them to write two truths and one lie on it, then they have to pin or stick it to the back of their clothing. When someone wants to play, they must first challenge you to a game of janken. If you win, you get to turn the game around and guess which is the lie on their card. If they win, then they're entitled to one guess! If they get it wrong, you have to play janken again.

So, what happens when the person gets it right? The person can now make a rule that the other person has to follow. Whether it means they have to call you "Master", end all their sentences with "yes, please", or some other rule that you can think of! And in case you can't think of anything, there's a box nearby with cute props that you can make the loser wear: cat ears, a cat tail, bunny ears, a bunny tail, a raccoon kigurumi, and some goofy glasses.


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( OOC: Feel free to play around with the prompts. Get creative! )

Comments

[at_heart]

Same thing that'd happen if you refused a dare right here, I guess? Depends on the game. When there's alcohol involved, you take a penalty drink.

I guess you'll owe me a free truth?

But I've got faith in you.

[dreamsofwings]

[ A free truth. What a way to put it, as if Eren isn't just half-truths that he barely gives away all the time.

But maybe that's the point; Yuri's had his number from early on. The threat of "having" to tell the truth is worse than just eating a bunch of things until he finds his favourite, after all.

The issue isn't doing it. It's having preferences after years of being a non-person. ]

One month. All right. I'll do it.

[ Maybe he'll even have an answer! ]

Your draw.

[hometown]

It's only when Eren asks the question that Reiner bothers to glance at his konpeito. Pink? What a note to start on, indeed. He's grateful that Eren doesn't go straight for the jugular—metaphorically speaking. That could've kicked this game off in an ugly way.

And they like it better when they're not pissed off at each other, don't they? As much of a struggle as it is sometimes, Reiner thinks it's worth it.

"Lately? Anything cold." Reiner doesn't think he needs to explain why. He still despises that unnatural cold they had to endure, freezing from the inside out. But that's not a precise answer, so he elaborates.

"I can't stand sleet. You know, that crap that isn't quite rain or snow? It pelts your face with tiny specks of ice and stings like hell. I used to hate training in that."

He flexes his free hand, remembering trying to uncurl it from his rifle, his skin bright red and so tender that it may as well have been one big blister.

"I don't like freezing rain, either. Everything looks pretty when it's coated in ice, but then you have to try and walk on it."

Shaking his head, he pops the candy in his mouth, making a contented noise as the sugar hits his tongue.

[at_heart]

[ Maybe he just wants you to find a favorite food.

Draws a candy out of his container! It is also Green. ]

Truth.

rng is CLOWNING ME

[dreamsofwings]

Eren gets more than he expects from that answer. He kind of guessed it would be cold because of the recent stuff, but…then there's all of that.

"Sleet is pretty bullshit. You're right."

They hadn't had as much of that where they were on the island, but it happened sometimes. The blizzard was worse in Eren's mind, but that's largely circumstance. Zipping around doing ODM drills in bullshit freezing rain, though…yeah, he remembers that. Gross.

"Good answer."

He picks up a candy and holds it out.

Shit, pink for him too? Well he's not going to pick some dumb thing like dare. What would that even entail? (He doesn't understand this game very well, it's fine.)

"…Truth."

[mayoninofukucho]

[He snorts. That reminds him of the many side-eyes the Shinsengumi got from shogunate officials and civilians alike when it was first formed, being made up of simple country bumpkin swordsmen, most of which weren't even born into samurai families.]

Their loss. I take it they kicked you out for pointing out their rotten underbelly?

rng demanding that they fight LMAO

[hometown]

Truthfully, Reiner is surprised there weren't more injuries during those days when they had to use ODM gear in freezing rain. Wasn't that just asking for disaster? He vaguely remembers something about 'soldiers needing to be prepared under any circumstances,' but he can't remember who said it. (Hell, it might've been him, spouting it off to reassure Connie or someone.)

His eyebrows rise as Eren, too, picks a pink candy.

"What are the chances?" he comments. Then he hums, thinking for a moment before he settles on something.

"All right. Out of all the new foods you've tried here, what's your least favorite?"

He doubts there's any food that Eren outright hates. But "least favorite" is close enough.

[at_heart]

Keeping my mouth shut and my head down didn't turn out to be one of my talents. Who could've guessed.

[mayoninofukucho]

[Damn it, Yuri is so sassy... if he and authority-minded Hijikata were workmates or otherwise had to spend a lot of time together every day, it'd grate on him. But luckily they aren't, so he can take it in stride! (Besides it's not like his workmates back home don't grate on him - that handcuff incident was only one of many.)]

Yeah, I didn't think you would. Well, I figure things worked out for the best, what with Flynn cleaning up the knights and you starting your guild.

[They seem pretty successful and happy in their respective job! Yuri even opened a new chapter of the guild here on Ellipsa, so he's clearly better suited to the guild master role than to a knight's duty.]

[at_heart]

[ The Most Sass ]

Heh, it's not really mine. I'm just a member. Did help Karol found it, though.

[ will Yuri ever own up to having saved the world if he can't use it to make some other point, signs point to no ]

[waroftheworlds]

[ Okay, but in their defense, Hijikata probably would cheat again given the opportunity... ]

Alright! Sounds easy enough. [ She folds her arms to resemble little wings and-- well, not chirps, because that's the wrong verb here, but exclaims: ] Quack!

[ Nailed it. ]

[mayoninofukucho]

[Hijikata makes a mildly disbelieving face. For being "just a member" Yuri certainly has a lot of passion for his guild! Flynn confirmed that, too... not that it was really needed.]

How's the local branch been going, anyway?

[His understanding is that Brave Vesperia Ellipsa matches people across guilds for quests and other tasks, but also does all sorts of odd jobs... there should be no shortage of those, and besides there are always the permanent quests.]

[mayoninofukucho]

[He would and he will. That duck imitation, though... cute! He cracks a smile.]

Well done! I reckon it's your turn to give me a dare now.

[He gave you the most milquetoast dare, Natsuno, so you go easy on him too!]

[waroftheworlds]

Yeah! [ So there's a square for Purple!

As for what she collects? Well, ] I've got every episode of UFO Mysteries on tape! [ A beat. ] - Well, actually, I only have one of them with me, but I'm sure the rest are still sitting in my room back home!

Have you heard of it?

[ natsuno, no one except keitaro's heard of it, and that's because you've forced him to watch the tape no less than 20 times. accept it already. ]

[waroftheworlds]

Hmm... [ Sorry Yuri, did you ask if she wanted to stop? ] What about dancing?

[waroftheworlds]

Okay, let's see... [ There's so many options! But in the spirit of acting and being goofy: ] In that case, I'm gonna dare you to act like a robot! Quack!

[tsumtsuki]

[ Yes and no! He's been wearing a ring on his finger from Kazunari since Avalon, but it's not an engagement ring. More like a promise ring, very literally made to hold their magic and serve as a reminder after returning home that their love was real.

As for what Hijikata's thinking... ]

That's right. There were a couple during my school days, but more recently, my troupe won some act-offs against a rivaling company.

[ Which was really big for him, evident in how proud he sounds even mentioning it. ]

[tsumtsuki]

Let's start with truth. [ Though he is curious what kind of dares Yuri would pull out... ] Ask me anything you'd like.

[tsumtsuki]

[ Yellow, huh? He'll go ahead and use that color for guidance when considering what to ask. ]

What was your last date like?

[ That... hopefully is a safe question??? ]

[hometown]

[ That brings an immediate smile to Reiner's lips, proof enough that it was a safe question. ]

It was really nice. We walked around Blossomcrown—you know, the district with all the cherry blossoms? We ordered a bunch of different foods and split them so we could each try everything. He gave me cookies that he baked himself.

[ At some point, Reiner's eyes have warmed, his voice softening. He doesn't seem to realize it, just repeating: ]

It was really nice.

[mayoninofukucho]

Alright.

[He starts moving in place with janky, choppy motions, keeping his arms and hands at stiff angles as he imitates a robotic voice.]

I am Hi-ji-ka-ta. I am here to help you re-mem-ber the traf-fic rules. Re-mem-ber to al-ways stop at a red light!

[Apparently he's a traffic robot, specifically...]

[mistsplitter]

Then... let's continue with the game, so you'll find a definitive answer to that question.

[mayoninofukucho]

[Well, that - both the promise and now the engagement - is certainly is worth some congratulations! Hijikata may be out of the loop, but when he ran into Kazunari back at the art festival, he cheerfully introduced himself as Tsumugi's boyfriend, and later proudly showed him off on the 'Hot or Not' meme... and Tsumugi himself always seems serenely content. Hijikata is certain that they're happy together.

He doesn't miss out on the pride in Tsumugi's voice regarding his troupe's contest victory either.]

I didn't know theatre troupes had rivalries like schools or sports teams, but it only makes sense, hm? Congratulations on coming out on top!

cw child soldiers

[hometown]

[ Thankfully, Reiner recalls enough of their network conversation to understand why a question about childhood might prove difficult. Although, it does raise a few questions on his end. Do people from Purple's world materialize as fully-formed adults or something?

He puts his curiosity aside to focus on answering the question. ]

For me, it was training. That encompassed many things: running, shooting, studying, hand-to-hand drills—just to name a few. I was set on becoming a Warrior from an early age; I had to work hard to achieve that.

[hometown]

Oh, that's a good one. All right, I'll be back.

[ He heads off. Soon enough, he returns with a cup of tencha, described as the "purest form of green tea, free of stems, veins, and stalks."

Reiner raises his cup to Evangeline, then takes a sip. A slight wince crosses his face. Without a word, he downs the rest as quickly as possible, treating it more like a shot of alcohol than something to be savored. ]