DECEMBER EVENT PART ONE: ALL IS CALM

[sailmods]

early morning on the 23rd, Friday makes an announcement over the speaker system, cheerfully asking everyone who signed up for the excursion to gather in the atrium. when they arrive, they will find Friday, very seasonally dressed, who takes them down to the tender, which it appears she will be “driving” this time. during this particular trip, none of them lose consciousness, nor suffer any sort of physical aftereffects. however, it does feel like the trip takes about five hours of just. sitting in the tender in utter silence, with little light and still air. so maybe stop being little babies about the anesthesia???

when Friday opens the tender door for them, they find themselves stepping out into the lobby of a hotel - though, if they turn around, they’ll find there was no door at all, and any passengers they see after that will appear as if they are appearing out of the ether.

there is a clone Friday manning the front desk, and though, like the others, she isn’t much for conversation, she is very snappily dressed! she helpfully hands out keys to everyone who approaches her; they aren’t numbered, and are actually entirely physically indistinguishable from each other, but they seem to open up whatever room you want easily enough, and don’t seem to work for any others. weird. the dressers and closets in the rooms also contain suitably sized winter clothing, enough to last the few days they’ll spend there, and then some. weird.

once they’ve situated themselves, they’ll find that what lies before them is a realm much larger than others they’ve encountered; the land extends for miles in any direction, including upwards, though you’re more likely to hit a cliff before the hard barrier. there’s about a foot and a half of snow on the ground, and it continues to fall steadily. the forests lack all signs of life, but the foliage is rather attractive, as long as you don’t examine it too closely; coniferous trees are just easier.

all of the amenities are seemingly staffed by ghosts, though they give off even less of a presence than the ones aboard the ship do. there is also an industrial kitchen attached to one of the dining areas, though the meals served don’t seem to come from it, and it has a distinctly different feel than everything else around it, as if added in slapdash at the very last second.

there is one last oddity, however. every night, at about 2AM, the entire reality goes mute. voices don’t sound. snow doesn’t crunch under footsteps. even the winds are quiet. the effect ends at about 6AM. it’s probably fine.

happy holidays.

Comments

party!

[neverleave]

Natsuno arrived a little early to help set up the skeleton conga line. Pal is in charge of creating them, but Natsuno picked up a few outfits to dress them up. Most of it is hideously mismatched, but at least all skulls have party hats. They're hidden from sight until the birthday girl is ready.

He's wearing the red hat he got from Rita, the one with cat ears on it. Surely that's festive enough, right? His present is a neatly wrapped, thin square - an origami book for children, with simple projects and colorful pictures. Resting on the book is a paper crane, with For Fio's wish written meticulously on its wing. Something to bring her a little closer to her 1000 cranes goal.

There's colorful paper in case other people also want to contribute. Natsuno may or may not stare at them until they do.

[decohere]

Ava takes a small break from setting up flopping into a seat with a worn out sigh. She's feeling good about how it's all coming together, but she's pacing her energy levels to make sure she's still functional by the time the party is going.

She takes a few pieces of colored paper to fold some cranes, has practice from when she attempted her own wish... her fingers keep slipping through the folds, but she remains patient. Giggling as she watches the dancing skeletons get prepared.

[neverleave]

Natsuno notices the way her fingers glitch, now realizing it's a sickness and not just a weird side effect. Ava looks pleased, though.

He turns around when she giggles, holding up two shirts from the Tommy Bahama, and asks in a dead serious expression:

"Which one for this?"

He inclines his head toward a skeleton. One shirt has flamingos, the other sunflowers. They're both awful.

[decohere]

The flowers might more match the floral theme that Ava tried to go for, but... "The flamingos, absolutely."

And then, "Maybe we can get Skuldu-" and cuts herself off. Right. Most people aren't overly pleased with him currently. Ava ducks her head and goes back to carefully folding.

[neverleave]

Ah yes, that guy. Natsuno's expression flattens.

"You can ask him to do whatever." Natsuno sure as hell isn't going to address him. After a pause during which he hands the construct the flamingo shirt, he clarifies:

"I'm not going to make a scene or anything. I know he's important to Fio."

[decohere]

"And Fio is the most important thing to him. Whatever other doubts you have about him..." She messes up a fold, tries to smooth it back out and try again.

[neverleave]

Fio gets to go to school with other kids her age, and Ava and Peter watch over her. Yes, Natsuno believes as much, the one grace he's still willing to extend.

"I know. He won't do anything that may harm her."

Not intentialy, at least. There are a thousand ways this can go wrong, and intentions will mean nothing when it does. But there's no need to point it out now.

"You can start a new crane if this one's no good. There's plenty of paper."

[decohere]

"Just because something is a little bent doesn't mean it's no good..." Ava tries to defend the crane with a crooked wing when it doesn't straighten out after her efforts.

"I made a bunch of these myself, with the pages of Battle Royale. But it wasn't enough," she sighs. "But Fio's wish is far more important than any I could make."

[neverleave]

"If you still have those cranes, you can give them to Fio. It's not like there are strict rules about it. Did she tell you what she wants to wish for?"

Fio didn't want to tell him and he didn't push. But he did encourage her to ask people she trusts to contribute.

[decohere]

She shakes her head, she has no idea the specifics of the wish. She just knows that whatever it is must be important to Fio, and therefore clearly a higher priority. She starts on another crane, trying to make this one nicer.

"I don't have them. Maybe the Captain does. Maybe he got rid of them."

[neverleave]

Ah, the captain. Another topic he won't discuss today because it'll ruin the mood.

"...maybe making new ones is for the best. On second thought, it'd be pretty morbid to give Fio cranes made out of that book."

[decohere]

She knows, and she won't push it. Just stares more intently at the few cranes she's produced. A few closer to the goal.

"I read it a few times. Trying to understand what I did wrong. If there was some sort of lesson in it." In the end tearing it apart and trying to create something new and hopeful out of it was all she could do. Even if the Captain dismissed it as just an art project.

[sabigoe]

[ Even though there have been a few setbacks, the 1000 cranes project hasn't been forgotten. She's been working on it on and off. There have been a few things stressing her out lately, but at least she's able to smile today.

...Natsuno's going to be able to hear Fio approaching from behind, as she's unable to hide her excited footsteps. Though he'll probably be able to hear her no matter what. ]

Meowtsuno!

[ She's always called him "Yuuyu", but she can't help blurt the other name out since learning of it. It's hard not to, when she sees the pair of cat ears. Wow, whoever did she hear that name from! ]

[neverleave]

[The light, skipping steps are unmistakable. Natsuno turns to bid her happy birthday, but she speaks up first and -

Meowtsuno?

He's too stoic for his jaw to drop, but his brain short circuits for a moment. Where did she - ]

I - huh?

[semi-here]

[myagic]

[When Rita hears Meowtsuno, she looks over in recognition.

Meets Natsuno's eyes.

And quickly glances away.

Oops. Totally not guilty, look at her just taking a sip of her drink.]

[neverleave]

[DAMMIT RITA he can't even get mad because Fio's party isn't the place. He'll just stare at Rita and blush.]

[myagic]

[The feeling of being watched has her glance over again and--oh, nope, just quickly going back to taking another long drink; nevermind the slight blush on her cheeks as she thinks about how embarrassing this'll be to explain!!

Maybe she should've told Fio to keep it a secret, but well...if he doesn't mind her calling him Yuuyu, surely Meowtsuno is acceptable too!]

[sabigoe]

Um...

[ Oh, he seems confused. Her arms hang down to her sides, swaying them lightly. Maybe he doesn't understand the name. She will give him an explanation, like he really needs it. ]

Meowtsuno... because you're Catsuno. Do you get it? Because you're like a kitty.

[ Nodding, in a wise manner. ]

[neverleave]

[Yes, thanks for the detailed explanation, Fio. There's going to be words with Rita later.]

How am I -

[Like a kitty, he wants to say, then remembers he's wearing a cat-eared hat and he doesn't actually want to her Fio repeat whatever Rita said. He's already feels like steam will come out of his ears any minute now.]

My first name is Natsuno. Natsuno Yuuki.

[sabigoe]

[ A pause. She's learned something new, which is his real name. Will she properly say Natsuno? ...Probably not. But her face blooms into an even more delighted smile. ]

...I get it! Catsuno's such a great nickname!

[neverleave]

...credit to Rita. You can keep using "Yuuyu", if you want.

[He doesn't know which is worse. Still, this party isn't about him and his bruised teen ego. Determined to change the subject from Catsuno, Natsuno hands Fio his paper crane, cupped in both hands.]

Happy birthday, Blondie.

[sabigoe]

I'm- [ A thoughtful hum, swaying her arms. ] ...gonna use both!

[ If he's going to keep calling her "Blondie", then she's going to keep using the first nickname that she gave him. Still, she's going to alternate between the names every now and then. Seeing him with cat ears just seemed very appropriate to call him something cat-related.

She takes the paper crane in her hands, careful not to cause any unnecessary creases or bends to the edges. It's from Natsuno, so she wants to keep it perfect! ]

...Is this one for my wish?

[neverleave]

[He nods.] And brought paper for everyone else, so I bet you'll have a few more after the party ends.

[Ava already made a couple when they were setting things up.]

In the meantime you can try blowing out the birthday cake candles in one breath. That's another way to make a wish.

[sabigoe]

You did? [ A happy gasp. ] I keep getting closer and closer to my goal.

[ The full thousand is still a ways off, honestly. She's in a good mood though, trying not to think how far off it is. Her project suddenly feels more special, even with just a few cranes contributed from others. ]

If I wish for the same thing after blowing out my candles, maybe that'll make my wish even stronger!

[neverleave]

Make sure to keep it secret, though.

[As usual, a part of him feels guilty about telling her silly stories, but it's going to be a while before she gets to 1000 crane. A birthday party, a sweet story, they're all ways to protect her as best as they can.]

Wanna try pinning the tail on the donkey in the meantime?