[[closed post: jormanen end denam danne näskelle*]]

[ravkanwitch]

There's something about Dark that reminds Nina of Fjerda – maybe it's the cold and the scarcity. She remembers working long shifts at the cannery in Elling when she was trying to maintain her cover. Everything in that town was worn down and washed out. Even the crystal whiteness of the Ice Court is a bit bland in her memory. While she loves the country of Fjerda itself, somehow (maybe it's Djerholm syndrome; that's a linguistics joke), it all makes her slightly glum. And that's when the brightly colored magazines in the library grabbed her attention. What better time to hold a "slumber party" than now, when the end to Dark is around the corner, but the prospect of winter is still lingering?

Her room has been set up for the party ever since the early afternoon. She pushed her furniture against the walls and moved all of her "stuff" out of the way. With the help of Dionysus and the aftermath of their pinball bet, she set up a spread of juice boxes, grapes, and some really strange but quite tasty Japanese grape gummies. He also provided the jelly for some almond butter and jelly squares that Luo Binghe helped to make – after she promised him that she would spend some quality time with him after the slumber party, of course.

She wasn't exactly sure how to decorate... Festive? Girly? Spooky? A little bit of everything? She hung up a few brightly colored streamers as well as some black streamers and then found all of the spare cushions and blankets in the empty rooms on her level of the mansion. The cushions are laid out on the ground for everyone to sit or lay on along with plenty of blankets on top. She did read that spooky stories are typical at a slumber party, so she's scattered a few decorative bones around the room for a spooky vibe... And then the final touch: she found three strings of fairy lights hidden away in a dusty closet and strung them around the ceiling of the room where they're sparkling away right now. Thankfully, there's been no restriction on that whole "electricity" thing. And then... the wait for the guests to arrive.

[[Let's try this slumber party post this way... For each stage of the evening, I'll post a top level Nina comment. Feel free to respond to whatever strikes your fancy and then interact with everyone else as needed! Hopefully we'll end up with multiple short threads!]]

*Be welcome and wait out the storm, in Fjerdan

Comments

[ravkanwitch]

Fortunately, Nina did finally learn this in the library at some point! She nods. "Oh, I love it! A mili-helen. I'll have to use that."

[tallyyoungblood]

Tally smiles, pleased that Nina thinks Zane's term is bubbly. "Are the snacks vegetarian?"

[ravkanwitch]

"Oh! I didn't realize that you were a vegetarian. I should've asked. But all of them are!"

[tallyyoungblood]

"It's totally fine. I wouldn't think to ask anyone, either. No one eats meat back in my city. I was in for a total shock when we had that feast!"

[ravkanwitch]

"What's your favorite food?" Nina tilts her head, curious. "I think you had just arrived when we had the feast, so Laertes and Sagramore hadn't asked you."

[tallyyoungblood]

"I really like chocolate muffins," Tally says, thinking of the way the ones in New Pretty Town were marbled with melted chocolate in just the right way.

[ravkanwitch]

Nina's eyes widen slightly. "Me too! I love sweets of any kind."

[tallyyoungblood]

"I wish I could take you to New Pretty Town. The food is totally bubbly, even if living there isn't perfect. Sweets on demand whenever you want."

[ravkanwitch]

"Sounds incredible! If we ever get to leave this place and travel... I'd love to go."

[tallyyoungblood]

Tally frowns, Nina's ugliness suddenly jumping out at her. Of course, she wouldn't get any muffins if she wasn't a pretty. Unless Tally stole some for her, or something. This is the first time Tally's thought about what all her friends would really be like back home, and it's kind of a bummer.

"Uh, yeah, totally. I'd like to go to your home, too, if it wasn't too... war-y?"

[ravkanwitch]

Nina laughs a little. She wonders how Tally would fit in back in her world, though for some reason she envisions her in Ketterdam rather than Ravka; she would be a perfect distraction in one of Kaz's schemes. "Only sometimes war-y. For a while, I was too busy getting revenge on dirty, scumbag merchants to worry about the war."

[tallyyoungblood]

"Merchants! So you do the whole capitalism thing, too... wow. But revenge is totally bubbly."