LATE SUMMER FAIR (NSFW DESSERTS)

[spoofer]

Characters: Ensemble cast, any/all characters of Xistentia!
Summary: The slow transition from summer leads to a fair, complete with whacky treats and activities from other holidays and festivals from around the Multiverse.
Date(s): August 26-September 2
Warnings/Notes: None, please mark your subject headers with content.

Late Summer Fair

I play my part and you play your game

Welcome to Xistentia's first fair, F.A.T.E.S.' excuse to mingle. The setup appears overnight on the edge of town, a nonsensical mash of themes and places from the multiverse. Haunted house and circus tent, facepainting, ferris wheel and carousel, game stands that seem to self-operate, dozens of empty shopfronts, self-regenerating popcorn stands. Pretty soon, however, the people start to come, bringing their own goods and wares. The population of Xistentia is 333, which is more than enough people to fill a fair.

As far as fair food goes, there are penis-shaped waffles^[NSFW] in various flavors, two-sticked popsicles for sharing with a partner, turkey legs, fried dough, cookies as big as your head, fried fish, fried lizards, glutinous fruits, and lembas.

And let's not forget, there is an abundance of alcohol everywhere. Beer, wine, you name it.

But of course, let's not forget the games. Many of them are low-key and prizes vary from the ability to change your daemon's color to any other natural hue, to free food, horrible writing pens, and stuffed animals. Games vary from whack-a-mole to bobbing for apples. Everything is free to eat, drink, and play, barring some excuses for barter with some of your friendly neighborhood natives.

Some games, however, are less casual if not necessarily more costly. The contests of finesse and strength come with special prizes from F.A.T.E.S. and...

THE WINNERS ARE

Note that the "prizes" do not stack. Runner-up winners will not get multiple of the same type of prize, and those who experience a critical failure won't suffer particularly severe consequences. If your character receives a dream or a "unique item," you will receive a reply to your comment on the mod announcement with more information.

Contests of Finesse

DARTS
First Place	Vanyel Greyjoy	The ability to "say just the right thing" once this week
Still Good	Era, Alec, Nico, Vex, Rosie, Aymeric, Jace, Amanda, Zeke, Kavinsky, Janus	Emotional intuition boost
Yikes	Magnus, Barclay	Daemons totally lose filter and start saying the most awkward shit
RING TOSS
First Place	Jace Wayland and Magnus Lightwood-Bane	The ability to "say just the right thing" once this week
Still Good	Era, Alec, Nico, Vex, Rosie, Vanyel, Rafaello, Amanda, Zeke, Barclay, and Janus	Emotional intuition boost
Yikes	Aymeric and Kavinsky	Daemons totally lose filter and start saying the most awkward shit
ARCHERY
First Place	Alec Lightwood-Bane	The ability to "say just the right thing" once this week
Still Good	Nico, Vex, Aymeric, Zeke, Magnus, Kavinsky, and Janus	Unique items
Yikes	Rosie and Barclay	Uncooperative powers (very minor, non-dangerous incidents) and accurate memory of silly dreams
SPARRING
First Place	Kavinsky	The ability to "say just the right thing" once this week
Still Good	Era, Nico, Vex, Rosie, Aymeric, Rafaello, Zeke, Barclay and Janus	Emotional intuition boost
Yikes	Alec, Vanyel, Jace, and Magnus	Daemons totally lose filter and start saying the most awkward shit

Contests of Strength

ARM WRESTLING
First Place	Ezekiel	Precognitive dream later that night
Still Good	Era, Alec, Nico, Rosie, Aymeric, Vanyel, Rafaello, Magnus, Kavinsky and Janus	Unique items
Yikes	Vex and Jace	Uncooperative powers (very minor, non-dangerous incidents) and accurate memory of silly dreams
HIGH STRIKE
First Place	Era	Precognitive dream later that night
Still Good	Alec, Nico, Vex, Jace, Zeke, Magnus, Kavinsky and Janus	Unique items
Yikes	Rosie and Aymeric	Uncooperative powers (very minor, non-dangerous incidents) and accurate memory of silly dreams

See also detailed dice roll information for: darts, ring toss, arm wrestling, high strike, and archery.

Kissing Booth

And what would a fair be, without a kissing booth?

Just like the rest of the fair, the odd thing is that there is of course no payment required.

Instead, a large and lovely lantern hangs behind the booth. It seems to glow a little brighter every time a kiss is transacted. It's hard to know exactly what this means, but considering that emotional intimacy lights the streets of the city, one might guess that F.A.T.E.S. is saving up this particular energy for something special.

But until then, it's a good excuse to make out.

Comments

[astralera]

"It is not that people believe there is anything wrong with it, but that most seem to view it as a private affair. People embrace and hold hands in public frequently, but intimate kisses are kept between themselves."

Once she's done speaking Era backtracks to what else Rose had said and promptly fights back the flush in her face. Given the context she imagines the other woman isn't referring to chaste kisses on the cheek. "I am... Not one for kissing."

Wyatt Lawson | OC | OTA

[bratpack]

A. Games

[ Wyatt has always loved fairs like this. Inevitably, he thinks of them as a human thing - the exact kind of place he'd been forbidden to attend while he was part of his first pack, and the kind of place he'd run to as soon as he was able. He loves it; the music, the colours, the prizes. Of course, he has a distinct advantage when it comes to prizes; tests of strength and speed are easy when you're a werewolf going up against humans.

Today is no different. Hunterd, his wolf daemon, trips along beside him at shoulder height, with an assortment of cuddly toys attached to him. Wyatt is wearing one of those hats with a cup on either side, and straws going to his mouth. That's one of the handier prizes. He stops by the apple bobbing, regarding it with interest. Normally, apples don't appeal to him. Make a game out of it, and he's down. He slides up beside the other contestants, his hat bubbling while he drinks beer from the straws. ]

Okay, I'm down. Who's going for this thing, it ain't any fun without competition.

B. Food

[ Then there's the food. When he's bored of the games, the food gives Wyatt an excuse to stick around. His beer had has been refilled several times, but now sits lopsided on Hunterd's head while Wyatt focuses on his penis pastry. There's an oversized burger in his other hand, and he appears to be switching between bites of them due to having the appetite of your average teenage werewolf. Which is more or less the appetite of your average teenage boy, in triplicate. ]

This stuff is so good. You want some? [ He says, holding the burger out to his reluctant daemon. ]

Daemons have no need to eat.

If you say so, man. You're missing out. Hey! [ That's directed to you, oh innocent passer-by. ] Did you try the dick on a stick? They got vanilla cream inside, it's fucking amazing.

[ He will make himself ill on fair food, or he will die trying, everyone. ]

C. Kissing Booth

[ A little while later, it appears that Wyatt's good mood is suffering. It's possible that he's just been here too long. Maybe the sight of Jaden making out with Rosie had something to do with it. It definitely hadn't helped, since he'd passed by them and developed a knot in his stomach that hadn't been there before.

Whatever. The best way to get over a downer at a fair is to throw yourself into it. Maybe Jaden and Rosie have the right idea after all, and besides, Wyatt's eye had already been caught by the kissing booth today. So it is that he takes his turn in it, crashing into the chair and crossing his ankles on top of the booth. Hunterd, still wearing the beer hat and still holding his collection of prizes from earlier, stretches out on the grass beside him. Wyatt puts his hands behind his head and relaxes.

Come one, come all. The kisses are more or less free. ]

D. Create Your Own!

[ Prompt Wyatt! I'm halfbloodly if you want to plot something specific. ]

[deathkid]

[ okay, that smile is pretty killer and nico feels his cheeks heat up a bit. still, he's smirking, licking his lips having found the kiss hot too. he only hopes will won't mind if he asks for another. ]

You're welcome. [ the smirk grows, despite his blush. ] If you have time later, stop by again and I'll give you another.

c; l a u g h s

[hasitsthorns]

[ Today has been, in a word, awful. She lost every competition, got into a fight with Vanyel, and while making out with Jaden was awesome- Apparently, Wyatt's not the only one who had seen the two locking lips. So she's going to end up doing damage control for both her boyfriends eventually but she'd been too frazzled to try and deal with it then.

Eventually, she mentally repeats. For right now, she doesn't want to think about that. Obviously, ignoring all these problems and facing them later is the sensible thing to do. Totally. Anyway. She spots Wyatt manning the kissing booth and immediately gravitates over. She's got an impressively friendly smile on - especially for someone who spent a better of the afternoon crying - and, hey. She's always thought Wyatt was cute too. What's the harm, right?

Maybe more make-outs can still save this terrible no good day. ]

Hey, dude, [ she greets, leaning onto the kissing booth counter and looking at him over his feet. ] Happen to have a kiss saved for little ol' me?

[smileslie]

[It's times like this that Mandy is actually quite glad that she hasn't had the means to get out of her mind on anything but cheap beer for most of the last decade as it significantly increases the likelihood she'll remember this. Hindsight being what it is, she didn't realize she'd regret the fact she doesn't remember most the names or faces she kissed in her twenties. She doesn't regret that there were so many, most of the time. But moments like these ought to be remembered, even if they're never repeated.

So even though you really can't see terribly much when you're that close, she does keep her eyes open when Rose's lips first touch hers. And god, it's wonderful. This is what she and Brian had believed in, what she at least still did--making this something that wouldn't be remarkable for the fact they were both women but that it was lovely.

She lets out a soft involuntary sigh as she leans into the kiss, only pulling away when her lungs remind her that their ability to stay like this has been greatly diminished by literal decades of tobacco smoke. But she remains close, a small but so very genuine smile on her lips without even thinking of it]

You know, if this were a more traditional sort of kissing booth, I might be wondering which of us should be taking payment for this.

[ex_stony881]

It must be easier when it's not your first time, so to speak. When the place you're originally from (and he does quietly note her choice of words there) has already adapted you to the idea of the multiverse, of simply stepping away from one world and into the next.

Kaz had though that going from a country life to the city had been like coming to a new world. Had felt the difference when he'd visited places outside of Ketterdam. Yet none of that had prepared him. They are all beached, here, shipwrecked, and even though he'd made a choice tocome it still seems like it was no choice at all.

"Could have been worse," he echoes, curiously. Then glances around, at the fair; well, optimism's hardly his strong suit, but: "Yes, I suppose that's true. People seem to be having fun here." People. Who aren't him. Despite the abundance of prizes. Kaz doesn't look like he's ever had a day of fun in his life.

[poenitudo]

[ Jaden, in sort of a surprising turn of events, decided he would not participate in any of the fair events. The idea of losing to anyone he's come in contact since arriving to Xistentia didn't sit well in his stomach, and he wasn't sure he could take it without showing the worst parts of himself. So he left it, instead wandering the fair as inconspicuously as he could, drinking too much alcohol and eating too much sugar.

He doesn't attempt to walk away, when Rosie calls out to him. He actually - there are parts of him that enjoy the push and pull he has with her, the way she teases and challenges him. It makes him want to show just how good he could be.

Of course, there's everything else that surrounds her, but a bit of flirting and teasing is harmless, right? ]

Depends on your definition of 'a good time'. I'm mildly drunk and it's nice out, so. That must count for something. You? Having a good time?

[hasitsthorns]

[ No. ]

Totally! This is actually a lot like stuff that happened in the world I was in before, so. It's kind of nice. Familiar.

[ Rose wouldn't say that she has had trouble adjusting to Xistentia, but it's certainly different in a handful of ways that she's not sure how to feel about yet. Yet, she doesn't want to think too much about Eudio right now. Or anyone from it, her boyfriends included. That seems a little harsh, maybe, but-

Hm. Before her mood takes any noticeable dip, her smile turns into something a little more mischievous. She gives a playful rise of her eyebrows. ]

You hit the kissing booth yet?

[hasitsthorns]

Rose only wishes her journey from world to world had been so simple as stepping away. What an idea, just being able to waltz from one place to the next without a care. It's never quite that easy, in any number of ways. But he's not wrong. She's certainly a bit more well-equipped to be flung around the multiverse than most.

"Well, most people." A bit dangerous, maybe? To poke at him that way? She does it anyway, obviously, smile growing just a fraction at the tease. The reckless part of her probably trying to see how much she can get away with, test the boundaries now that their temperaments have evened out. Flirting is off the table (for today, anyway) but that doesn't mean any kind of banter is.

He doesn't know her well enough yet to applaud her self-restraint. Because now's also about the part where she'd make a suggestive 'I can help you have fun' comment but. Look at her, being good. Everyone would be proud. Instead, she goes with, "If fairs aren't really your speed, what is?"

[hasitsthorns]

"I still think that's malarkey," she can't help but come back with. Her new age hippie self is all about freedoms of expression and love. "Why would you ever want to hide the fact that you're in love?"

What an absolute hypocrite. She didn't always used to think this way, honestly, but... Ever since she saw the light of love and being loved in return, well. It changed her tune rather fast.

"You've never kissed anyone before?" It's not mocking, not judgmental. Just curious.

[hasitsthorns]

[ That's a sentiment they likely share. For as much as it had hurt to say good-bye in some cases, Rose wouldn't want to forget any of her former partners no matter brief their time. She thinks of Caleb Holt - the boyfriend that got away - at least once a day, if not more. She thinks not having him affixed in her memories would be even worse. Just a face, a good time, and nothing else to attach it to. That sounds so empty. So Rose would be glad too that Mandy is able to remember more.

For her part, the blond relishes the kiss as she does all others. It's such a wonderful, intimate moment. Kisses were a luxury she ever imagined herself having the privilege of having so readily just a little over a year ago. Gender doesn't matter. It never has, though- She's also a new age hippie from 2018 where gay marriage is legal and anyone can love whoever the Hell they want. That's not to say there isn't discrimination, but. She couldn't imagine a world where kissing whoever you wanted wasn't allowed, wasn't encouraged.

It's beautiful while it lasts. At the comment, she can't help but huff a laugh. ] That's a good question, [ she can't help but add. ] Kind of glad it's not a traditional one though. I don't think I'd be able to afford how many times I want to kiss you.

[ Nailed it. ]

[astralera]

"You do not need to be kissing to show that you're in love," Era says simply. She has seen the love in people's eyes as they walk with their bonded, or the tender way they hold hands. Casual touches made to seem intimate merely because of the clear emotion behind them. In a world where violence is so commonplace it is something Era enjoys seeing, if only to remind her of what she fights for.

"Not in memory, no."

kissing booth!!

[upside]

( shepard raises an eyebrow -- she's not exactly known for her restraint, from the asari dancers in chora's den, to aria herself on omega. she can appreciate a beautiful woman like rosie any day, and is happy to, taking a step in closer to the booth. she smiles in greeting, and her eyes remain firmly Up Here. )

Skills, huh? ( a hand leans on the booth beside her, flirting thrusters are a gogo!! ) Color me interested.

food.

[upside]

( wow. healthy young guy, she guesses. there is something very entrancing about watching someone eat an oversized, cream filled, pastry dick -- but shepard keeps her gaze polite, shaking her head lightly at him. )

I think that's all yours, tiger.

( what a funny kid. shepard smiles, pointing a finger at his other hand. )

I will ask you where you got that burger, though. Look great.

fair games.

[upside]

( shepard is also pretty good at games -- but nico's pretty cute when he's smiling, and as an onlooker to his game among a crowd of people, shepard finds herself steadily entertained. on the next game, she steps forward, grabbing the next set of darts. )

How about a game? You seem like a worthy competitor.

( she waggles her eyebrows, joking. )

[deathkid]

[ raising his brows at the woman, nico gives her a quick look over. someone new, maybe. or maybe someone that's been around and he's never met. either way, he's up to the challenge, and gives a nod. ]

Ladies first.

[ he picks up a set of darts and hands them to her, allowing her to go first. ]

kissing booth

[deathkid]

[ after nico's shift at the booth ends, he makes his way around the fair again. after winning a few prizes and trying a bit of food, he grabs himself another waffle dick and heads back to the kissing booth, curious to see who's there now. when he sees it's wyatt, an idea pops in his head and he draws closer still. enough to gently push at the feet atop the counter and lean over. ]

Trade you a waffle penis for a kiss?

[upside]

Ah! A gentleman.

( she sounds impressed, although amusement lingers in jovial teasing. accepting the darts, she clucks her tongue like a real Hot Shot, aiming, and ... bam! bullseye. she's gotta get one good shot it, alright.

gesturing, )

Floor's yours.

[healingdork]

[Will laughs good-naturedly as he leans in.] I don't think that's how kissing booths are supposed to work.

Will Solace

[healingdork]

[Will hasn't had much opportunities to go to fairs before so he is all about this when it shows up. He goes around playing every single game he sees at least once and leaves nothing unexplored.

Maybe you catch him in front of the haunted house, holding his hand out to you with a grin while nodding towards the entrance.] Should we brave it...?

[Or maybe you get put in the same gondola as him on the ferris wheel - he'll give you a warm smile but keep quiet and just watch the view as things go by with a thoughtful expression.

Or maybe you might catch him at the high striker game. He's not the most muscular person but he hefts the mallet and gives it a swing as hard as he can, launching the puck up to hit the bell with a clear dinging sound. Archery and hauling people around in medical situations have made Will Solace stronger than he looks. He'll accept a prize with a laugh and turn to you to offer it.] Would you like it?

[And finally, Will signed up for the kissing booth because he doesn't mind kissing people, so you can find him there, willing to kiss anyone of any gender. He's got his usual friendly, welcoming smile on his face if you pass by, as if to say 'don't be shy now, I don't bite.']

b.

[salveo]

"You alright there, buddy?" Zeke asked at what he presumed to be one of his friends, but he'd been wrong before so he didn't want to say a name. He stood beside him and gazed down, eyes undisguised and gold as opposed to the brown color he used around humans.

The thing that made him believe this might not be Nen was the cane- not to say that it couldn't be one of his friend's new relics, but that combined with the way he had stared at the kiss made him wonder. Better safe than sorry again, he supposed.

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

[salveo]

[ Naturally, Zeke was going to be drawn to a handsome blonde at the kissing booth. Despite the fact that he had other domestic situations on his mind, there was nothing wrong with a little harmless snack.

So, after waiting patiently in line, because of course there was a line for that cutie, he stepped up to grin down at the cheerful looking fellow. He set down his ticket for payment. ]

If I give you more tickets does that mean I get a longer kiss?

[ He teased goodnaturedly. ]

[healingdork]

Will's eyes lit up when Zeke approached. Big muscley guys... Yeah, he definitely liked looking at those types. And having one kiss him? Even better. "Sure, why not?" he said teased right back. "I'm down."

B!

[tangleofgarlands]

[By some miracle, the more Arthur talks to Mandy, the easier it gets to see her as just another person. By the time the fair rolls around, he's relaxed enough around her to smile back when she calls to him, and even walk over--though part of him is still screaming at him for daring--and kiss her cheek.]

Hi. You can keep the earrings, if you like--they suit you.

[He hasn't quite gotten a handle on the giddy smile that tends to break out with any hint of positive attention, but at least she seems to understand that much; sometimes, he thinks neither of them got enough of it growing up, and maybe that's why they're instinctively reaching for each other.

But today is about fun, so he tries not to think about it too much. She deserves it, more than just about anyone he can think of.]

How's it been so far? Kiss anyone worth noting?

[smileslie]

[Mandy chuckles herself, the sound small and breathy as she licks her lips both to draw in more of the other woman's taste and in what is a relatively subtle hint of her]

Oh, you are quite something. [and it's not a sort of lie in the cheap way it would have been years ago, if she'd seen the girl among the throngs after a show. They were all something but--well, none of them stood out. Now, someone who talks to her like this and looks at her that way without knowing her past is nothing short of marvelous]

I don't see any harm in holding up the line. We are doing our civic duty, after all. And if I'm understanding things correctly, we'd probably be doing the same in another venue as well to a lesser degree.