Upon a Starry Night

[mythmaker]

Who: Azusa Miura and the Heroes of Light
When: December 31st to January 1st
Where: Tark Varentain
What: Dear Heroes of Light, I have arranged a party for you. Yours truly, Azusa.
Warnings/Notes: None

'Twere the days before New Year’s, when all through the land,
None were busier than Azusa, planning her party so grand;
Snowy decorations everywhere, her tree stood by the chimney with care,
In hopes that the Heroes of Light might, for a while, forget their worries there.

In the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, Azusa is still mum on exactly where in Tark Varentain the party she promised them would be held. It’s not until the morning of that an address finally reaches everyone’s iMog slates. When they follow it, they don’t find an inn or a party center—they find a noble’s manse overlooking the snowy wilderness on one side and the fine city on the other. As Azusa welcome characters inside, she’s quick to explain.

“It used to be the summer home of a businessman I met once in Sen Riqeaux. He’d love to return someday, but he’s letting me use it. Isn’t that lovely?”

With a swish of her evening cape, she leads everyone inside. The entire house is lovely, modern despite its location. It’s clear that a lot of money went into developing the place. From the large dining room to the spacious fire place, there’s more than enough room to spread out and mingle. There’s a game room as well, with ornate chess boards and billiards and more.

Between the dining room and the chimney, there’s a large white tree. Azusa instructs everyone to leave their gifts for the secret santa there, and provides them with tags for them to label their gifts with. From there, she shows everyone the kitchen and the food she’s made. There’s a lot of holiday in the catering her Moogle provided. Cookies, hot cocoas and coffees, roasted and baked meats, fudge, fresh salads, fruit, festive alcohol, ciders. If it’s been at a Christmas dinner in Japan, America, or at a Starlight dinner in Vaikuntha, there’s probably at least a little of it to be found.

Later in the evening, Azusa reveals one of the activities is a scavenger hunt. She provides a list of five items that can be found in town and promises the first team of three to bring all five back will win a reward. The five items are:
-a selfie with a smiling citizen of Tark Varentein
-a picture of a snowman you made yourself (must be as tall as a person and have a face, she clarifies)
-a bullet from the gunslinger’s guild or a throwing weapon from the ninja guild
-picture of Starlight decorations that haven’t been put away
-an icicle (better be careful bringing it back!)

As the evening goes on, there will be some games she initiates. Everyone can gather in the living room for some 'never have I ever'. Once it becomes 11PM, she’ll start passing out paper so everyone can write down their new year’s resolution. If they decide to go off and think about it on their own, they should be careful. There’s still mistletoe and mistlefoe hanging about. It might be your character’s last chance to enjoy them.

You might notice some familiar faces at the party as well. Claire is seated by the bar, enjoying some snacks and looking exhausted. Kupoto accidentally eats some spicy jalapeno poppers and eventually starts to mess around as he drinks more. Biggs and Wedge can be spotted moving from room to room, sitting in a windowsill here or beneath the stairs there, encouraging other guests to mingle and make good use of the space. They’re talking about some space-y topics, too, sometimes stars but also sometimes wars. Jessie can be found sitting somewhere not crowded and playing games on her iMog. She's not interested in the holiday music coming from the various speakers.

As it nears midnight, her voice rings out. “Everyone, please come to the deck for a special surprise while we welcome the New Year together~.” She will hunt you down and drag you there if she has to. There’s a good reason for it. Why did Azusa pick Tark Varentein? Why did she pick somewhere high and cold, where you have to use your coat and hold a thermos of hot beverage. The answer will be revealed shortly...

And when morning comes, there’s breakfast as well. Whether people slept on couches, stayed up all night, or used some of the rooms available, it’s time to greet the morning together. Snow still falls lightly outside when light peeks in through the many, many windows of the estate. After a few more hours, Wendy and some Moogle acquaintances start to clean up, letting everyone go home, hopefully in good spirits, ready for the year to follow.

Comments

[timecrash]

Serge clears his throat. "I never got hurt, anyway." And his face is now on fire. "Mom threatened to ground me until I was thirty if I did it again, though."

[shinra_dog]

Laziness, greasy food... Jumping off buildings. Yeah, Reno was drinking. Those were some pretty tame options, though, especially considering Ninja's parkour abilities.

He stared at Papyrus, confused. "Are science tests common?" Sure, he'd taken some basic aptitude tests before and science was included, but it was more a general sort of assessment. He hadn't exactly needed specifically scientific training for what his job had been.

[einspine]

"THEY ARE IF YOU'RE TRAINING TO BECOME A BRILLIANT SCIENTIST! WHICH I DID. HENCE, THE NECESSITY FOR TESTS!"

You don't make pocket dimensions without learning the basics. Or teleporters. Or robots. Or de-lazifying guns. It takes rigorous study!

[mech_and_mutt]

This was starting to slow down, and Red was getting thirsty. Time to get things rolling again; besides, even if he took a swig at the greasy food question- (how did Papyrus live??)- it wasn't like his had alcohol in it.

"I've never shaved."

[shinra_dog]

"Oh, of course!" Frickin' dog. Still, it was pretty funny. Reno took another drink, fully expecting to see everyone else do the same -- except maybe Papyrus.

"Never have I ever... worn women's underwear."

Too bad Cloud wasn't here.

[bladeofconquest]

And here comes another drink of the champagne. "Well...obviously." She admits. Bit obvious, really. But now it's her turn again.

"Never have I ever..." Never has she ever what? Why is it suddenly so hard to think of things she's never-

An image of Felicia attempting to do the dishes and then they fall from her hands as she yells in a panic.

"-Dropped the plates and broke them!" The intensity by which she says this causes a small giggle, which causes her to look momentarily flustered before she recovers.

[einspine]

Papyrus opens his mouth. Shuts it. Looks away. Drinks.

"IT'S THAT MANGY MUTT! I WAS TRYING TO PREPARE AN EXCELLENT FEAST, WHEN IT CAME BOUNDING IN AND STOLE MY PASTA FORK!!!"

Goodness, this human drink is strange, though. His head's in a haze. Still, he snickers as he points dramatically at the others.

"BUT NOW YOU'LL ALL JOIN ME IN THE WORLD OF HYDRATION, FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS... HAVE NEVER HAD HAIR!!!"

He's laughing wildly. Perfect!

[mech_and_mutt]

"--Wait, does fur count as hair?"

[einspine]

"YES! BODY HAIR, BUT HAIR ALL THE SAME!!!"

He's... finding this way funnier than he really should. Nyeh heh!!!

[topgun_textiles]

Women's underwear. As the girls drank, others shrug and have a good time, Kanji took his soda and quietly turned away to have his drink.

He'd never broken a plate, but. BUT.

"C'mon, Papyrus! That's cheating!" Hair? Really?

[mech_and_mutt]

"No kiddin'." Sigh. That makes two drinks, then. One for his clumsiness as a kid and one for his... hair.

But he still didn't see what was so funny.

[pishirogane]

She's been drinking on the occasion, but she hadn't shaved before...

... okay, Naoto glowers somewhat towards Reno at the 'women's underwear', but takes a sip nonetheless.

And then it's back to not drinking at the plates and sipping at the mention of hair. Huh, that probably shouldn't be allowed, but she supposed people were trying their best to get people drinking or drunk.

[shinra_dog]

Reno sputtered and coughed at the mention of dropping plates. That was... He knew she meant dishes, surely, but it was a knee-jerk reaction to the word choice.

As he decided whether he should drink or not (he'd never dropped any dishes), he noticed Kanji's surreptitious sip. And Naoto's glower. Women's panties? No way... Reno's eyebrows rose but then he smiled. Good for the kid. He wouldn't out him.

He raised his glass to Naoto in a toast, assuming she knew.

[einspine]

"BUT IS IT CHEATING IF IT'S TRUE?! I CAN'T HELP IT IF I COULD NEVER GROW LUSCIOUS LOCKS!!!"

But. But!!! Did Kanji drink for that other question? He'd ask, but that seems very personal. And what did it matter? Mettaton had worn dresses before! He'd even gone through a magical girl transformation. Nothing to be ashamed of!

[bladeofconquest]

Papyrus talking about his luscious locks causes Corrin to laugh suddenly. The image enters her mind of Papyrus standing tall, golden locks waving in the breeze...like...

like Arthur and suddenly she can't help but laugh at the image.

It takes a few moments for her laughter to end.

"Oh, I may have to switch to juice soon." She says after a moment.

And then she giggles again.

[topgun_textiles]

"It's an unspoken rule, dude. Ya can't pick stuff that's obvious for everybody."

Something had Naoto grumpy. That didn't sit well, but he wasn't sure what was getting the goat. He could swear the drink layout was okay, nobody getting in deep shit or anything, or... maybe she wasn't having any fun.

He may or may not have had a little bit before sticking to soda for his own good. Maybe that's why he was relaxed enough to give the detective a little nudge against the hat with his forehead.

"Why don't you start one? Make people sweat a bit."

[pishirogane]

At the nudge, she glances up at Kanji, but then looked around the room. Something appropriate that wouldn't just make everyone drink in the same manner as Papyrus' 'I never'...

"... Never have I ever kissed someone with romantic intent."

There, that one seems fair enough.

[mech_and_mutt]

Ugh. He wished he could puff out his chest and take a drink at that one. He'd just try and spend these precious few moments trying to figure out why Naoto was wearing woman's underwear.

Must've been a sizing thing.

[einspine]

Papyrus doesn't even hesitate this time. Even if these beverages are... very much a doozy. "WELL. SHE KISSED ME, BUT!!! I KISSED BACK AS BEST AS I COULD BECAUSE MY FEELINGS WERE VERY TRUE!!! AND STILL ARE. MADDIE IS VERY MUCH WORTH ALL THE SMOOCHES!"

He narrows his eye sockets. "ALTHOUGH I... THINK I MAY NEED TO SWITCH DRINKS. I'M BEGINNING TO FEEL VERY SILLY." Nyeh heh... How odd. "BUT I'VE NEVER... BEEN ARRESTED?" He came close, but. Smoke bombs fix everything!

[bladeofconquest]

Corrin smiles fondly to herself.

She drinks this one gladly.

"Okay, juice now." She says.

She idly toys with a silver ring on her finger after she puts her drink down.

[waningsigns]

[Frisk has mostly just been sitting back and watching with amusement, taking sips of their grape juice when appropriate. They consider drinking for the kiss thing, but it doesn't really count if they were joking. They're like ten or something, they don't do actual romance. As for being arrested...]

"...Does it count if the person wasn't technically in the guard yet...?"

[topgun_textiles]

Kanji could agree with the 'never'. He was too chickenshit, really. For now. He'll just have to hang on to that 'for now', but he couldn't help but give a glance to his companion, then focus on the contents of his glass.

...Until Papyrus spoke up.

"FUCK! ...Okay, like, just one drink right? Most of the cops in my hometown are dicks!"

[einspine]

Oh. Kanji had been arrested? Wowie. He didn't see that coming! Well... well!

He raises a finger. "I'M GOING TO SAY JUST ONE DRINK!! YOU ARE A GREAT AND GLORIOUS PERSON, KANJI!!! NO NEED TO FEEL ASHAMED BY THE WRONGDOINGS OF A CORRUPT SYSTEM!" As for Frisk, he pauses. "ALSO I'D SAY IT WOULDN'T TECHNICALLY COUNT IF THE PERSON DIDN'T HAVE AUTHORITY."

[bladeofconquest]

Another question, another drink. But of juice this time.

"I mean, being taken prisoner by the enemy is...kind of the same thing, right? Well, not enemy, I just didn't realize I was a princess when it happened. I mean, I knew I was a princess, I just didn't realize I was their princess too, so at the time it seemed...you know what, it counts." She nods confidently. "It's a judgment call, I made it."

[waningsigns]

[Frisk nods, seeing the logic in Papyrus's words. Even if those words might come very slightly at the expense of his alternate self.]

"Your cops can't be that bad, 'least they just arrested you 'stead of throwing energy spears."