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

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Anyone who's fighting with anyone," says Gu Xiang immediately. "Or anyone who's sleeping with anyone. Or both."

"Oh, easy," says Gideon. "I'm fighting with everyone, and all of the men here are sleeping with all of the other men here."

"I know you're not fighting with everyone."

"No, but the latter part is true," Nina says, innocently.

"Why is there so much homosexual intrigue??" Georgia says, leaning back on her hands. "Not to doubt him, but why does Baby Jesus want me to make friends with a load of old men pining after each other and dithering worse than my mate Ellen?"

Gu Xiang's never heard of Baby Jesus, so she assumes he's no one important. "Sometimes that's just your fate," she says with a long-suffering sigh. "You're just trying to be a good servant; you carry your master's pack, do his laundry, take care of the horses, cook his dinner--and somehow all you get for your trouble is a firsthand tour of every flower house from here to Mirror Lake! If I have to hear about a blacksmith's pretty shoulder blades one more time--"

Gideon laughs. "Shoulder blades? Seems like an odd feature to fixate on." She's noticed Harrow's, of course, but that's because Harrow is a thousand shoulder blades in a habit. She's got shoulder blades where other people have internal organs. And, alright, if Tally's in a low-backed dress...nevermind. "Is it a fetish thing?"

An eyeroll. "It's a fetish thing."

"Speaking of fetishes," Nina leans in slightly, voice pitching quieter. "I've heard some slightly disturbing rumors about the pool table." She shudders delicately. It doesn't actually bother her all that much as long as it's between two consenting adults, but -- the drama!

Her eyes widen. "Wait, you're joking. Isn't that... who would... Why?¹

¹She does not know how hard she's leaning on the irony lever here. Don't tell her.

"The pool table?" Erlack, Georgia has been in the same room as it, which is basically the same thing as exposing her to elderly porn. It is just as bad as when Mutti and Vati kiss in front of her. How the government has not yet intervened and forcibly emancipated her, Georgia will never understand. "Well, I know something. Erm, this bloke I met is in a relationship with someone called S and it's going badly."

Tally also isn't sure why all the ugly men here are so interested in each other, but she's learned enough not to say that. Still, her face mirrors Georgia's disgust. She can see that Gideon has appeal despite not being pretty, but it's asking too much for her to think the random old men are remotely appealing.

"S? Sagramore? Shen Yuan? Not... SecUnit-la?"

"Statistically, it's probably Sagramore," Gideon chimes in. "He's, like, the body of the sex spider. Him and Laertes."

Nina is taking a sip of her juice box and almost chokes on it. "The sex what?"

"... Spider?!"

"That had better not be a fetish."

Gideon grins and tosses a grape up and catches it in her mouth. "It's definitely a fetish," she says, "but I don't mean it that way. It's just, you know. All the little legs." She wiggles her fingers, then tosses another grape at Georgia. "Why was this mysterious bloke telling you about his lurid sex woes?"

The grape bounces off her hair and rolls sadly away. Georgia ignores it. "Blowed if I know. He gave me some really ace advice about boys though, he's sort of an expert I think. Erm, he said S is mates with L, but he doesn't like it. And something about how Italians make up a load of rubbish."

The subject of spider fetishes is not one Georgia feels the need to weigh in on at this time.

Edited 2024-04-18 02:01 (UTC)

It's honestly totally weird to hear about pretty-aged adults fighting like uglies.

"This guy is prejudiced against a different group based on nationality?" Tally asks, eyes wide. "So totally Rusty!"

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

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