May 2022 IC Mingle

[jigokumods]

MAIN NAVIGATION

1. WELCOMING COMMITTEE

The influx of fresh Lost Souls means the factions need to have a little welcoming party for them. The leaders realize things have been chaotic in the city. So some recreational activities are in order. All Lost Souls will receive a message from their respective faction leaders with orders to go have some fun.

The Shuten Clan are given an advance on their first paycheck and told to go to the Celestial Phoenix Casino. A big sign on the half boarded up door proudly proclaims UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT. What happened to the old management? It doesn't matter and stop asking questions! The important part is that all games and machines are half-price and there are special prizes available in exchange for your chips and tokens. Games range from the traditional Western style (poker, roulette, slots) to Japanese favorites (cee-lo, koi koi, cho-han).

As for prizes, they have a selection of designer goods, including some particularly nice bracelets, necklaces, and watches!

The Tamamo Clan are given a considerable number of drink vouchers for Crimson Moon Karaoke, where they can sing their hearts out and while absolutely smashed. Private rooms are cheap to rent and they even offer a special discount for groups of two or more. The karaoke machines have any songs you could possibly want, which is a little suspicious, but don't question it! Just get drunk and have fun. By all means, extend your time as you wish and drink up to get in the proper mood. This is an important bonding opportunity.

Oh yeah, as an important note: the rooms are soundproof. You can get as loud as you like, be it with singing or... something else. Don’t do anything Tenko-hime wouldn’t do!

Members of The Sutoku Alliance are given tickets to Fiance of the Funeral Procession at the Pluto Theatre and Cafe. The tickets include free food at the cafe, including beer. Sure, the star may not be a Sutoku member but that doesn't matter too much: getting butts into seats at Sutoku-owned theaters is what’s important. The Daitengu rented the theater out for the day, so there is plenty of time to mill around both before and after the show.

Make a day, or night, of it!

A funeral-based romantic comedy melodrama as the viewing fare is probably a tasteless joke on the Daitengu's part. But hey, y'all aren't still mad that they crashed their own funeral and then took off laughing, right?

Right?

The Department of the Enma members are told that they're going to be doing a team-building exercise. What exactly does that mean? That's right, it's community cleanup time! You get to clean up cans and trash in the street! You get the honor of using a department-issued bike with an attached cart to wheel around the city and pick up trash! How exciting! Teamwork is encouraged, of course. Teams that collect enough garbage will get one (1) voucher for mini-golf.

Please be aware of the local homeless population as you work, they won’t be happy to see you. They normally collect the cans in the mornings as a meager source of income that you’ll be dipping into. They're probably just not happy with Enma officials in general though. Sorry!

2. IT'S RAINING, IT'S POURING...

By the time you're done with your faction-sponsored fun, the sky has decided to open up. Hope you brought your umbrella! The rain is bad enough that walking home might not be an option right now. So take refuge in one of the many nearby nightlife spots.

Not in your faction's home territory? Doesn't matter! Make some friends outside your group or maybe get into a fight and cause some trouble. There's always the third option of ignoring everyone and drinking yourself silly instead! The rain has to let up eventually… right?

Hopefully you aren't caught near one of the cursed Haniwa figures that have been popping up around town. Their aura really dampens the mood and may even start to cause some dramatic and frightening hallucinations if you and your rain-stranded friends stay near them for too long. But remember! Do not break the figurine. Just try to move it somewhere else? And hopefully not get drenched in the process.

Welcome to the IC mingle!

• If you have any questions about the mingle content, please ask them here!
• If you have questions about the game itself, please check out the premise, FAQ, and rules pages.
• For Rewards, threads in the Mingle log count for One (1) point!

Comments

kate galloway × original × tamamao

[bratherine]

CW: underage drinking

— karaoke? no! drinking? yes!

( Of all the fucking places... Well. If other people want to embarrass themselves singing, that's fine. Kate has no intention of doing it, and so she slips into a larger room which holds a bunch of Tamamao members, letting the ruckus and colour of the night wash over her.

Whoever's singing? You're shit. But at least people are so busy laughing and swaying that the noise keeps her mind clear and nobody seems to notice her.

And not enough people are noticing their drinks, either. So, whenever anyone looks particularly distracted, their drink may just disappear. End up in the hand of a young woman who downs most things easily. The beers? Gone. The spirits? Gone.

The sugary cocktail she snatches up without really thinking about it, however? )

Ugh, the fuck is this?

( And this, Katherine, is why you don't steal people's drinks. )

— raindrops on kittens and whiskers on roses.

( That first hit of cold night air after too many drinks is always disorienting. She didn't think she was that drunk until she stepped outside, inhaling petrichor and chill, and suddenly her head is spinning a million miles a minute.

Fuck.

It's fine though. Probably. She's navigated herself home in states like this before, and maybe the rain battering down on her skull will help clear the worst of it out. Never mind the fact that she's barely arrived here and doesn't know the layout of the city nearly well enough. It'll be f i n e.

Yeah, that lasts for about two turns. Kate pushes her hair back out of her face, grimacing at the pounding in her skull as she leans against a wall and tries to get her bearings. She can't be that far from the karaoke place, right? So if she just doubles back—

Uh. Shit. Did she go left or right? )

Fuckin'—

( At least there's a can littering the streets (do better, Enma), perfectly poised for Kate to kick her frustrations out on. It bounces a good distance away, clattering into the road as she stumbles off balance.

She fucking hates drinking. Why does she do it again?

(Oh. Right.) )

— wildcard.

( Wanna do smth else? Hit me! exits / exits#8071 for all your talking needs. )

karaoke

[hellborne]

[ you know what? jack isn't even going to fight when their drink is snatched right under their nose. in fact, they're somewhat amused by it, as they observe the stranger's reaction with a trained expression.

while it's hilarious, the most they do is give a low hum. ]

That, which you are holding, would be my drink.

[bratherine]

( y'know what? This guy can have this back. God that's disgustingly sweet. )

Order something better.

( She needs a beer to wash the taste of that out of her mouth. )

[hellborne]

I would advise you the same thing.

[ they'll just take their drink back, taking a sip from it with what might just be a smirk. maybe not. haha. ]

Or perhaps I'd advise you to stay away from other's drinks? Or have you gone through all your vouchers?

[bratherine]

( She hasn't even touched her vouchers yet. Why bother when there are plenty of people to take drinks from? )

No. ( She's tipsy enough from the pilfered drinks that she doesn't think twice about waving her unused vouchers at this person. See? She's been clever enough to save her vouchers.

And it's definitely not because she isn't sure how strict this place is on IDs or anything. )

[hellborne]

[ well, they're not really moved one way or another when the vouchers are waved. they glance at her and the general state of her curiously, before speaking up. ]

Just a warning, but you'll feel like you're in hell in the morning.

[ yes, pun intended. ]

[bratherine]

( That gets them a withering glance, both at the pun and the entirely unnecessary advice. She knows what a hangover feels like, thanks. )

Wonder what that's like.

( There is oh so much sarcasm dripping off those words. )

[hellborne]

Not nearly as bad as having your soul ripped in half, I'm sure.

[ they'll take the sarcasm in stride, still not wanting to leave. even with the stolen drink and her attitude, jack can't help but feel uneasy about leaving a girl that looks so young on her own. ]

Any chance of stopping soon or will that be when you pass out?

[bratherine]

What's it to you?

( She's not so bad off that she's going to pass out here, damn. And the concern of a stranger only seems to make her bristle more. Why should she trust this guy anyway, beyond the fact they apparently share a faction? )

kareoke

[ryototsukai]

Eh? It's a Midori Sour!

[ Musashi didn't even question that her kohai was probably too young to be drinking. She was drinking when she was Kate's age, so who cared, right? Right. Anyways. ]

You've never had one before?

[bratherine]

( Kate is still... not entirely sure what the rules are here. Not that she's going to admit that. Hell would seem like the kind of place that wouldn't enforce any sort of age restrictions on things, but then they also have yakuza style organisations, so. )

... Too much vodka. ( She's had cocktails before, and they've all been equally shit for various reasons. Thing is, this would probably taste good if the paint stripper burn of vodka didn't seem to hit the back of her throat so hard. Fuck, she hates that spirit. ) They got it in tequila?

[ryototsukai]

I'm not sure that'd work...

[ Not that she really knew tequilla very well. ]

Wouldn't that make it too sweet? Midori's already really sweet...

[ Was her kohai going to educate Musashi on cocktails?! ]

[bratherine]

( Hm. Maybe she's already had too many drinks because that's sounding like an idea to her. )

...Could try making it.

( Maybe if you adjust the amount of citrus to bring out more of the sour part? This idea is gonna have to percolate when she's more sober. )

[ryototsukai]

You know, there's this guy in the clan who is like, an expert bartender. I don't know him that well, but I bet he could make it work.

[ Shylock looked like the kind of person who could make any cocktail, no matter how hairbrained, work ].

[bratherine]

Aye?

( She seems interested now. )

What's his name?

( Though it might be better to ask him when she's not arguing over whether he should allow phones into his bar or not. )

[ryototsukai]

Sherlock. [ No. ]

Shyguy. [ Worse. ]

OH! Shylock, that was it! Right, Shylock!

[bratherine]

( Well, she got there in the end. )

Haven't met him. ( Yet. She reclines back in the chair and lets her hair tumble across the back of the cushion, staring at the ceiling for a moment. )

How many people're in this thing? You know?

( the Tamamao clan, that is. This karaoke place is pretty heaving by the looks of it, but Kate hasn't begun to figure out a number. )

rain

[paperpusher]

[Natori did not prepare for rain (why should he check the weather report in hell? really now...), so he decides to run to a conbini and get an umbrella rather than wait out the rain at the karaoke bar and suffer more drunken ayakashi belting folk songs. At least he has a hideous bucket hat for the duration of the trip (his bizarre glasses are much less functional). He's hurrying down the sidewalk, one hand holding his hat against his head, when he sees a figure stumbling out of the corner of his eye. At least Kate didn't get too far from the bar.]

Woah, hey there. [He reaches out a hand to steady her; there's what looks like a solid black tattoo of a lizard on his palm, though Kate might be able to tell it's actually a youkai in and of itself, separate from his own innate spiritual power.] --You alright?

[bratherine]

( Weirdly, not the first time this month that the weather reports were essential to Kate's life here. But she didn't check it either, and she isn't quite expecting to wander into a guy with a faint wash of colour — this place has turned her powers way down, and every moment she confronts it anew, she's grateful — and a... lizard? Is that a fucking lizard in his hand? )

... Been worse.

( That's true. Her balance is a little off and her head is woozy, but she's not throwing up. Small victories. ) Where you going?

( And she's still together enough to pull the questions towards him before anything else. )

[paperpusher]

["Been worse" is not actually a satisfying answer to that question, but Natori supposes that considering they're in a rainstorm in hell, it truly could be a lot worse. He frowns at her for a moment before accepting that he's not going to be able to scold her into a more complete answer. She seems young; no sense in wasting energy on the things that don't matter instead of doing something about it.]

Convenience store. Come on, I'll get you an umbrella. [He gestures further down the street to the unnaturally-bright storefront in the gloom. As he does, the lizard on his hand moves, scurrying down his wrist and underneath the sleeve of his jacket with a quiet slithering noise still audible over the rain. It stays flat against his skin like a shadow, with no visible bulge under his clothing to show where it went.]

[bratherine]

( Unsatisfying answers are something that you'll have to get used to when talking to her, unfortunately. And while the offer to get her an umbrella is a nice one, the alcohol in her system brings up a twitch of paranoia with it. )

Why? What d'you want?

( And just what is that lizard thing? But that question can come once she stops narrowing her eyes at this guy suspiciously. )

[paperpusher]

Right now I want to get out of the rain, [he says bluntly, pointedly adjusting the brim of his hideous hat.] And I don't want to find out that someone got hit by a taxi when I was gone.

[Again, "been worse" does not actually mean "doing fine"!!]

[bratherine]

( Well, doing fine has been way out of reach for a while now. So there's that. Been worse is as good as it gets.

But she does exhale and shrug at his point. Fine. Whatever. )

Weren't gonna get hit by one. ( She grumbles, but she's walking in the direction of the store regardless. )

[paperpusher]

I believe you! [he says cheerfully like an absolute liar as he sets off towards the convenience store. He doesn't look back or force any conversation until they reach the store, at which point he pauses briefly under the small overhang to take his hat off and shake his hair out.]

Sorry, one sec. [He's more apologizing for any stray drops of water as he wrings out his hat, then jams it on over his hair again.] I don't want to drip all over the floor, but I should keep the hat on.

[...he should keep the hat on because his face is on the poster for the stupid movie the Sutokus were stuck watching. With his half-assed disguise back in place (and with no explanation at all for Kate), he steps in front of the doors to let them slide open in front of them.] Let's see, umbrellas, umbrellas...

[bratherine]

( Okay then. It's probably a good job she's just looking to get this over with and, more honestly, still squinting at the spot on him where the lizard shaped whatever exists.

They get about halfway into the shop when the sight of it becomes too strange to not comment on, the alcohol in her system loosening her tongue enough that she doesn't think about the information this reveals about herself in the process. )

What's with the lizard?