Teenagers Scare the Living Shit Out Of Me etc. etc.

[dyingtohealyou]

[Characters passing by the bulletin board may notice a new message tacked to it!]

Drinking party at the bar at 8pm. Under 21 only. Adults will be persecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Fun and games included, party hats optional. Don’t be late!

[Sure enough, there’s a gathering of teens (and maybe some not-so-teens?) to be found in the bar! While the posting mentions this is a teen only event, adults are in fact allowed as long as they are cool. OOCLY please be aware there are going to be teens drinking alcohol and possibly smoking! Also additionally, please let the teens/players have fun; again, adults are allowed but only if they’re cool enough to play along without snitching them out!

All party game top levels are going to be made under Ahito’s account but please assume ICly that Akira instigated/explained them! Once the game toplevels are up you can also post your own toplevels to mingle freely if you like IDK IT’S A PARTY HAVE FUN]

Comments

[troublereduction]

[ Hmmm, he actually has to think on this a little, because Day doesn't often have to, well, explain what goes on in his own head. He's only really done it with Ginger and Yamato and maybe, if you squint, Solomon (and we don't talk about him). ]

Duty, for one. Even if this ain't my jurisdiction, it's kinda hard to look at a place where fate has seemingly gone so off-track that the solution was "summon two dozen people from other worlds" and say it ain't my problem, yeah? I wanna protect everyone's right to serenity, or at least their chance of findin' it. Both the people of the world and everyone in the manor.

And...

[ Hm. This honesty effect sure is inconvenient because while he's comfortable with his honest answer, he doesn't know how other people will take it, but he still has to say it anyway. ]

I guess the other thing is love, 'cause I love a lot of people here and I want 'em to be happy. Whatever that ends up lookin' like for 'em. [ Which sounds a lot like what he said earlier, but he means this on a personal level, not as an agent of destiny. He says "love" easily, in a way where one can tell the word is doing a lot of work, trying to encompass how he feels for various people in various ways. ]

[leewards]

Hmm. [So that justifies being quite... suspicious, he supposes. Because that's Day for him.

Or perhaps because Ithaqua is predisposed to think badly of people until they prove him wrong.

He opens his mouth to ask another question, then remembers the rules of the game, and shakes his head. He'll keep his thoughts to himself for now.]

Go on then, request something of me.

[troublereduction]

Pay someone a sincere compliment?

[ Day, unfortunately, is not one for mean dares unless the mood strikes. ]

[leewards]

Really? Not even a piercing question? Very well.

[Ithaqua sighs, but gets out of his seat to wander off.]

[troublereduction]

[ With a slight lilt: ] I can always do that next ♪

[ But oh, excellent choice. That's why Day's clapping from where he's sitting. ]

[leewards]

[Ithaqua eventually comes back after a chat.]

Don't threaten me with a good time. I've not gotten flustered with any of the questions so far. [Is he completely immune to being bullied? We shall see.]

[troublereduction]

You seem kinda unflappable in that regard, not gonna lie. You wanted to ask me somethin'?

[ He saw Ithaqua almost ask him earlier, before they remembered they're still playing a game. ]

[leewards]

Mm. [He crosses his legs and laces his fingers together on his belly.]

You said you want people to be happy, and yet you never mentioned a single way of making that happen. Quite vague, I think, but also makes me think that you'd coddle many to the point of taking on their worries for them, or worse, their duties as wizards. Am I wrong?

[troublereduction]

[ This gets him thinking because he's never viewed any of his relationships with anyone in the manor to involve any kind of coddling.

...Okay, fussing over Phil aside, because it's amazing how this grown-ass man can forget to eat and sleep this poorly. Does that count as coddling??? ]

Is sharin' in their worries the same as takin' 'em on? [ Or, is being willing to listen to them the same as coddling them? ] Though, I can't take on their wizardly duties even if I wanted to.

[leewards]

How far will you take helping, I suppose that is what is important. [But he nods anyway, since he did get a response. He's not interested in prying.

He just wanted to know if this man was suspicious enough for Ithaqua to keep an eye on him. Given his responses... He's still strange, but not worth assassinating.]

But that's enough of an answer for me.

Though I shall let you ask something of me, now.

[troublereduction]

For what it's worth, I don't think I can really force helpin' onto other people. [ This is the first time anyone here has asked him this sort of question, which Day finds curious.

But, hmmm...]

How do you find life in the manor?

[leewards]

I've learned the value of simply having others live and go about their business around me, even if the lot of you are not even remotely similar to me. [And for once, Ithaqua is a little uncomfortable with the truth charm... But he'll keep going, it's not enough for the truth charm, apparently.] The forest is silent, which is its own peace, but perhaps... a little too quiet, as I think back.

[He's not saying this just because he does have someone to share his bed with. He understands the value of noise and signs of life now, because it's much easier to tell if there's something wrong simply by the way the sounds around him change. It affords him peace of mind.]

Someone can come by my room at any time for a chat, for tea and snacks, or for other reasons. I've Urianger to turn to for closer companionship. There is always something to do, whether that's a mission requiring the touch of a wizard, or simply here at the manor, and no day is ever the same.

[He sits back and crosses his legs, tapping his fingers against the wood frame of the chair.]

I could live here permanently, if I were not needed so desperately in my home world. [And that's the issue, isn't it? The problem he's been mulling over since the battle against the chimera and the Northern witches.]

[troublereduction]

[ Day really needs to learn that asking questions during truth or dare is like playing with fire. He sure wasn't expecting what he thought was an innocuous question to result in this answer.

But he straightens up still because any sincere expression of emotion deserves to be taken seriously. Ithaqua can probably tell that despite Day's laid-back demeanour, he snaps to focus almost instantly like a switch being flipped.

What Ithaqua describes he thinks applies to at least a few other people he knows here, or even himself, in a sense: when your world was much smaller before, and now it's a little bigger and fuller instead. ]

You mean to say if you go back, you'll be alone?

[leewards]

Yes. [What other answer is needed?]

[troublereduction]

What are you needed for back home?

[ A part of him would rather know before he says something potentially careless. But he also realises it's perhaps prying of him, so he also offers: ]

...I know this is might be cuttin' it a little close, so if you want an out, you can ask me somethin' instead.

[leewards]

[Ithaqua drums his fingers harder on the wood, enough that his blunt nails have begun clacking on it. Then he raises a hand and stands to temporarily leave the bar.

He won't be responding to the question, but he's fighting the truth charm at the moment.]

[troublereduction]

[ Well, he's not terribly surprised by it at least, and he gets it. He'll just wait here and look at his drink, contemplating if he wants to take another shot. ]

[divineth]

[Urianger didn't catch the entire conversation that led up to this, but he does see Ithaqua leaving suddenly and that raises some alarm bells.

He rises to his feet to follow.]

Ithaqua?

[Dearest are you okay...]

[leewards]

[Ithaqua gives a big sigh when he's out in the hallway, placing his hands on his waist. Then he looks up at Urianger.]

I was given an uncomfortable question to answer. [He's... fine?

No, of course not. He wants to lie, but not to Urianger, and the struggle is obvious in the twist of his mouth.]

[divineth]

[Oh, Itha... Urianger takes his hand as a sign of comfort.]

Then thou made the correct choice to extricate thyself from the matter.

[He doesn't actually pry into what the question could have been. If it was uncomfortable for Ithaqua to hear, why should he have to repeat it?]

Hast thou had enough of the gathering?

[leewards]

I believe so. You should stay, if you're enjoying yourself.

[Though... he won't say no to company, and it's evident in the way he grips Urianger's hand. As if he's trying to hold on for dear life.]

I shall tell you what transpired later.

[divineth]

[He feels that intensity, and it only serves to sway him further into departing as well.]

...Nay, I shall accompany thee. If thou art troubled, I would be remiss to leave thee alone.

[Ithaqua can still wait to tell him the full story. Maybe they can sit down with a nice book for a bit first.]

[leewards]

[Ithaqua feels more relief than he can ever convey with either words or actions.]

Let's ascend to your room, it's closer.