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

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

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.

---

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ If therapy were a thing in Fodlan, this would be one of those psychological exercises in seeing an amorphous picture and telling the first solid image they could make out; Byleth clearly saw a heart, but Shez?

Shez stares at the fingers, then at Byleth, then back at the fingers, and finally looks up again with the narrowest squint he's ever fixed anyone with. ]

What are you talking about? That doesn't look like a heart at all!

[ It's a finger snap, Byleth, wtf?! ]

Yes, it does.

[Said with 100% confidence like he's declaring the grass is green. Sothis even agreed with him!]

We can ask other people and see what they say. Hmm...

[Already searching for a victim to harass. Stop him, Shez!]

[ Too bad, Sothis isn't the boss of him and he's not playing this game! ]

Yeah, uhh, how about we leave that aside for now-- [ They have fingerhearts at home, Byleth! ] -- and get a move on the fun stuff? You can't come to a teahouse and not try the tea, and they've got plenty of treats to go with it.

[ Phone tucked away, he's going to... gently nudge Byleth to keep walking... in the opposite direction of whatever inadvertent victim he'd been eying, yes.. ]

Y'know, I've even learned how to prepare the tea myself before you came. Want me to make you a cup?

[If there's one surefire way to distract Byleth, it's by offering food, so he docilely lets Shez nudge him along.]

If you're offering. Admittedly, I've only recently come to appreciate tea... apparently I'd been making it wrong for a long while.

[He used to just boil leaves... thistle leaves - and the flower too - actually, and not even bother draining it afterwards. The tea had still been okay but, it was less tea and more like soup, than anything.]

[ Good boy! Going to be leading him to the area with tables and chairs then, since it's the kind of seating they're used to. ]

Yeah? Some Fodlan nobles can get really picky about their tea, but to guys like us, all that matters is that it warms up our stomachs and hopefully tastes decent...

[ Of course, he's thinking in terms of proper tea preparation and etiquette, not that Byleth essentially concocts leaf soup instead, but... well. The regular mercenary way isn't much better. ]

Speaking of, the kind I'm making tastes a bit bitter. You're okay with that, right?

[He obediently ambled after Shez to the seating area, unhitching his sword from its belt to prop it up against the side of the table. It was probably bad manners to have your weapon to obviously with you in a tea shop but... well, this was Byleth.]

Yes. I like all flavours of food and drinks.

[Bitter? Good. Sweet? Good. Bitter and sweet? A complimentary clash of flavours that he found fascinating.]

Make whichever kind you prefer, I'll enjoy it all the same.

[ Yeah, being impolite is probably the least of their concerns regarding carrying a sword to a tea house that is currently hosting an experience meant to bring people together. Moreover, it's Byleth's closed-off aura paired with a blade that makes him all the more threatening a presence to anyone who doesn't know him well...

But! They've already managed to drag the forest cryptid back to civilization, right? One step at a time! ]

All right, just give me a second!

[ He just needs to go pick up the matcha powder and all the utensils he'll be using, but he starts working on it as soon as he returns. ]

I was told this tea is called matcha-- [ Said as he pours a whole scoop into Byleth's cup, then adds some hot water. ] --and it's a bit weird because it's powdered, see? But the color is so pretty I'd almost rather look at it rather than drink it...

[ Incidentally, didn't he think matcha reminded him of Byleth...? ]

[Byleth hawkishly observed the entire process, taking in everything about it: the look, the smell, the method of brewing. It seemed considerably easier than handling leaves, which he still bungled from time to time: some leaves required longer or shorter brewing time than others, and apparently some leaves couldn't be used for tea at all! Something about it being too poisonous, but Byleth hadn't yet encountered issues boiling whatever plants he came across, toxic or otherwise, so chalked it up to people having weaker stomachs than others.]

Is it some kind of bark that's grounded down? Medicinal, maybe...

[He was mostly musing aloud, rubbing his bottom lip with his thumb in a thoughtful gesture. Did that make it similar to cinnamon? He was lucky enough to come across a whole bag of the stuff in his last supply run - much like with other foodstuffs that only nobles got to enjoy, it had been cheap and easy to procure, and Byleth, having heard tales of how delicious cinnamon was, scoffed the whole bag.

It had been a very interesting experience. The cinnamon had tasted nice, but even he had to space out eating the entire bag since the powder had dried his mouth out too much. In the end he watered it down in some 'tea' or started sprinkling it over everything. In fact, he still had some in his satchel.

Wordlessly, he took the small bag of cinnamon out of his pocket - though, of course, it just looked like a mystery baggie full of unknown powder.]

We should try it with this.

Well, I dunno all the details, but it might be? You'd probably have better luck asking Aether-- [ He motions with his head towards the guy. ] --that's the guy who taught me. I'd never seen anything like it before...

[ Or taste it, but one thing at a time. For now, he focuses on finishing up the task: boiled water in, he begins to whisk the contents until tiny bubbles break the liquid's surface. There, pretty sure that's how he's meant to do this.

Still, he eyes Byleth's mystery baggie with some curiosity and... some amount of dread. The guy's general appreciation for food can be as weird as he is, but: ]

I guess it's okay to make our own rules, but you should probably have a taste of it without adding anything else first. Besides, what is that, anyway...?

Cinnamon.

[Remarkably safe and normal, for someone like Byleth who routinely ate things that would kill a normal man.]

In Fódlan, it's a very rare and expensive substance. Here, it's... almost criminally cheap. I bought 1kg of cinnamon at an affordable price, and it's lasted me a long while. I put it on almost everything now.

Oooh, yeah I've had some of that before... Kinda insane to think about how stuff that's so expensive back home can go for cheap around these parts, huh?

[ Like cinnamon, and stuffed toys... Makes them far more affordable as gifts to brighten up a friend's day, too, so he'll keep that in mind. ]

It'll probably pair with the tea pretty well, but first-- [ He nudges the cup over to Byleth, the matcha hot and ready for consumption! ] --give it a go like this!

I suppose I should try it before garnishing it with other ingredients.

[Then he'd know what to contrast and complement it with for other meals! He picked up the drink and blew at it gently before taking a large swig, seemingly immune to potentially scalding his tongue. His heat tolerance was insane. Hot tea had nothing on him.

And it was... oh, he really liked this! His swig very quickly turned into a chug and... ah, he drank all of it in one go...]

Ah... [A contented sigh as he set down his now empty cup. He nodded slowly.] Good.

[ Shez can only watch with not-so-mild surprise as Byleth downs the tea in (nearly) one fell swoop, his eyebrows arched. Did... did he not burn his tongue with that...? Or-- ]

That's... it? You didn't even feel the punch?

[ What is this guy, anyway?! ]

And you chugged it all down, too... [ SIGH. ] Didn't you want to try it with cinnamon?

[ He says, as he's already preparing another cup. Which... was probably meant for him, but it's fine, just some more Byleth Facts he needs to keep in mind for these outings... ]

...

[Byleth looked at Shez's disappointed expression and down at his empty cup, before looking back up at him again.]

...did I drink it wrong?

[Punch? Oh, was it meant to be drank slowly to have the flavour fully taken out? Byleth thought it had tasted fine gulping it down, but maybe it had to be savoured?]

There's no wrong way to drink it, no, but the flavor was so distinct to me yet you just downed the whole thing like you'd been drinking it your whole life...

[ Come to think of it, more than just the color, it was that flavor that really had reminded him of Byleth: unassuming at first sight, until it sneaks up on you and catches the senses off guard. You know, The Punch. Maybe he's the only one who sees it... ]

Well. Guess that means you like it. [ Not that he thinks he's ever seen Byleth not enjoy anything edible, but it still earns an amused (if defeated) huff out of him. ] Just try not to chug this next cup before you add that cinnamon, okay?

[ Just a bit longer and... there we go, the bubbles! Nudging that one over to Byleth, and to further reinforce his point, the mystery baggie next. ]

[Byleth nodded, resolving to sip this cup slowly so he can experience this 'punch', and reached out to accept the cup and the mystery baggie. His fingers brushed against Shez's when he reached for the cinnamon baggie, however, and he automatically pulled his hand back - mostly in surprise.]

Oh, sorry.

[How odd. His pulse did a strange, skipping thing at the contact. Was that the 'punch' of the matcha...? A little delayed, wasn't it?]

[ Shez barely has the time to register the contact, because the apology follows as quickly as Byleth's withdrawn hand and that's... odd? Even by that guy's standards, that is. ]

There's nothing so offensive about bumping hands with me, is there?

[ That he needs to apologize for it, or take it back with such a start, for that matter... it's a bit upsetting. Sure, Byleth still has plenty of reservations about touch, especially around strangers, but considering the level of, uh, physicality often involved when they're alone together, this shouldn't be such a problem, right?

(Honestly, had it not been for that reaction, Shez might've thought of it as... nice.)

When he nudges the cup across the table again, he lets his closed fist rest atop the surface, close enough to Byleth's that their knuckles still brush together with every gentle sway of movement. ]

Go on. You don't wanna wait too long.

[ The tea will get cold, is what he means. ]

[Oh no, he caused offense without meaning to.

He hesitated, unsure if he should explain he'd been surprised, or if it would be awkward to try and explain when Shez had already moved the conversation along. As he dithered over this moral quandary, he didn't take the cup and simply stared at Shez, his brow furrowing from his intense thinking.

He should probably say something. Byleth understood how it felt, to have people flinching away - it wasn't pleasant, though Shez was usually socially intuitive, and that remark may've been one of his usual flippant brush offs of what could've been an awkward moment. Byleth saying something may reverse what Shez intended and make everything awkward again.

Maybe he's overthinking this (he was definitely overthinking this).

So after a very awkward pause where Byleth just stared at Shez, he finally blurted, with absolutely no context and forgetting that Shez wasn't directly linked into the chaos that was his inner monologue:] It made my hand tingle.

[ Oh, he knows that stare-- the gesture itself, though not always its meaning. Byleth is trying to convey something to him, the line between his brows a clear sign of focus and effort, and though Shez can't say exactly what's coming, it's probably going to be the result of some convoluted overthinking.

Usually what he gets is more than a single disconnected sentence, though. ]

Tingle...?

[ Okay, he can't hide his confusion at that, his head tilted to one side. Was it the tea, harmless as it had been, or the... equally harmless brush of fingers? He doubts Byleth would flinch at every person he's ever bumped shoulders with on his hurried way out, or rubbed arms with over an eager meal at a table packed tight, and though he knows the guy well enough by now to understand he can only handle their physical intimacy because he prepares for it, this touch still feels so insignificant in comparison that it shouldn't give him tingles no matter how unexpected it was.

It may be worth investigating, so Shez lifts up his index finger in a 'hold that thought' sort of motion, though it doubles as a warning. Next, he places that hand back down on the table, balls it into a loose fist, and brushes against Byleth's with his knuckles and the back of his fingers, just a few tentative times. ]

How's that...?

...!

[You know how in Ghibli films, a character will have a full body shudder like this

? That was Byleth when Shez brushed their knuckles together. Even his hair fluffed out a little...]

.............tingles.

[He actually flexed his hand a little, giving it a small frown like he was incredibly puzzled by the whole thing. Don't tell him a repeat of the Tea Incident was happening? He squinted suspiciously at the matcha...]

[ ... did. Did his hair puff out a little? Nah, that can't be right.

Optical illusions aside, though, what is clear to Shez is that the guy did have another Reaction to the touch, and that's even before getting express confirmation. ]

Hey, easy now-- [ In a reflex to try and calm him down, Shez cups the back of Byleth's hand with his palm, gives it the lightest of squeezes. Grounding him. ] It's fine. It's just... tingles.

[ Not... that he really gets what this means, but that's what he's working on. Maybe Byleth was just so ticklish that even his hands were affected? But that has never been a problem before... ]

Does it feel... unpleasant?

[ The tingles, he means-- which he doesn't think his hand over Byleth's will cause, anyway. This is a much more solid sort of contact, after all, not light brushes in repeated motions. ]

[Okay. Okay. Okay. If the gentle finger brushes and knuckle touches had Byleth feeling tingly and shivery, having Shez's hand fully settle over his with a gentle squeeze had his stomach doing some very incredibly yet concerning gymnastics up and down his chest cavity.

He was actually mute for ten solid seconds, opening his mouth and then closing it, unable to really answer the question Shez put forth. Was it unpleasant? No... no, it wasn't, but his instinctive response was just so disarming and oddly novel that he wasn't sure he liked it either. Had the tea been spiked after all? Was this a side effect of the matcha? The 'punch' Shez had wanted him to feel...

...hm.]

It's. New. [Oh, there we go, he can talk again.] I'm not sure. I think it's the matcha.

The matcha...?

[ But it was perfectly fine when he tried it earlier? Did he make it wrong...? In any case, his free hand reaches for the second cup he had prepared, still left intact since Byleth's inexplicable meltdown, and takes a careful but generous swig. The 'punch' still hits his palate just fine, perhaps with a little less intensity now that he's used to the taste, but even after waiting a whole minute or two to check for any weird side effects, he still feels just the same as he did before. ]

Seems pretty normal to me? I'm not getting any tingles, at least...

[ Not tingles, no, and certainly not from the matcha, but he does feel a different kind of punch nailing him right in the gut at the realization his other hand has kept holding on to Byleth's all along, with occasional, idle strokes of his thumb as he waited for the results of his more adventurous teatime experiences. He had genuinely been trying to offer comfort, but the fluster of self-awareness slowly but surely makes itself known across his face.

(It felt nice, though. So much so that he immediately misses the contact when he finally pulls his hand back.) ]

Uhh, let's see... You sure you've never felt anything like it before?

...I'm certain.

[Byleth's tone was distracted, and his expression even moreso as he lifted his hand and flexed it consideringly. He could still feel the phantom weight of Shez's hand there, a warmth that lingered and tingled right to the very tips of his fingers. He pressed his forefinger and thumb together, rubbing them slightly as he marveled over such an odd reaction to something so... mundane.

He couldn't help but recall their time together after taking the aphro-tea. It wasn't the same as that. The tingling and heat had been primal and lust-driven, while this was just... something? He didn't really have a frame of reference. It certainly wasn't like when Jeralt clapped him on the shoulder and gripped it. That was a different kind of warmth. Not unpleasant, but it made goosebumps prickle his skin all the same.

If not the matcha, then what...? Was this how friends felt, once they achieved a level of comfort in each other's company? It made sense... he had witnessed close friends in the Kingdom Army practically hang all over each other. If the contact wasn't pleasant, then they wouldn't actively seek it out. Yes... that was probably...

Belatedly, he realised he'd lapsed into a solemn quiet, staring at his hand, and quickly dropped it back onto the table.]

I think I know what it is. [The more he turned it over in his head, the more confident he was of his eventual conclusion. This was obviously:] It's a sign of our growing bond. I've grown comfortable around you...

[Wait for it.]

...as a friend.

[ Shez can't say why, but that lingering silence was... unsettling, somewhat. And when Byleth finally breaks it, the feeling intensifies, a knot tightening up in his gut, heart speeding up at the solemn notice of "knowing what it is" and "their growing bond" and then...

... then it's gone at the drop of Byleth's conclusion, a deflating sort of weight settling in instead. ]

Comfortable as a friend, huh...

[ Well, maybe it's his turn to mull this over, and several questions instantly come to mind. Was Byleth not comfortable with him before? An alarming thought, considering all they've done and gone through together. Has Shez ever felt tingles around close friends? He may not be in the habit of brushing fingers with anyone, and even though touching is something of a necessity in this place, he can't say he particularly recalls anything of the sort happening when he's held hands with Edelgard; the contact just felt warm and comforting, restorative both in magical energy and as a reminder that they've got each other's back.

He doesn't think he's ever missed it, though. Doesn't think that, as much as he could casually offer to hold it again for simple comfort, he's ever wanted to just reach for it quite as badly as he does now. And he's definitely never been this scared to. ]

... I guess maybe that's how it works for you, then.

[ Because, yes, Byleth is weird, different from anyone else he knows, and that's the only reason Shez doesn't want to say that's not right, but as far as he's concerned? That isn't it. If they're so comfortable with each other, then why does he fear even running the idea by his friend again? He's put himself out there for casual (high-five) touches before and been turned down and, sure, it had been a bummer, but the prospect of failure had never made him want to quit before he'd even given it a try...

Odd. Suddenly he's reminded of their first time facing each other in combat. It's just one merc, he kept telling himself, yet it did nothing to alleviate the enormous sense of dread in his heart. That had been his first mistake, to think of him as just any other mercenary. Is this where he's going wrong now? If the Ashen Demon has never been just a merc, then maybe-- ]

Would you... like to give it another try?

[ ... maybe Byleth isn't just a friend? ]

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