[OPEN, MINGLE] 'cause not all who wander are lookin' for the exit

[pocketspa]

Who: Taako, Lup, perhaps you-- invited or not?
What: Taako's been trying to think of a good way to have a party now that ice hell is over, and the disappearance of his sister's husband and his brother in law sounds like as good a time as any to start denying bad feelings and cheering up his goddamn twin.
Where: Around Horny House, aka Imported House 5-1
When: April 11th
Warnings: Alcohol, food, some stupidity most likely.

The night of the 10th, anyone who's friends Taako or Lup-- especially if you're friends with Lup-- will get a text from Taako. It reads:

hey
come over tomorrow at noon
i took down a totally massive animal and im having a barbecue
also bring a gift for lup
dont tell her dont ask questions dont care what it is just do it
your prize is a significant amount of roasted whateverthefuck that i have tested to be sure it will not kill you
also if you dont show up im going to come get you so see ya then

And sure enough, the next day, behind horny house is a large pit filled with rocks and... something or other spit roasted over it. Whatever it is happens to be very, very big, but you can probably see the smoke before you see the animal. Most of the tables in the house have been dragged out onto the lawn around it, covered in mismatched cups, containers of water and plates of fruit, and something lovingly labelled 'SPACE JUICE (CONTAINS ALCOHOL)' that is being served in a large punch bowl. It's bright blue and smells like lighter fluid, so it's pretty unlikely you needed to be warned that there's alcohol in it. One table simply has a sign that says 'PUT GIFTS HERE', which is pretty self explanatory. There also seems to be music coming from discernibly Somewhere, though it's completely unclear as to where-- seeing as the guy running it is magic, it might actually just be coming from the sun. None of that is especially important right now. What is important is this:

Everyone here is legally required to go care about Lup, or Taako's going to punch you in the head. And not even with magic- just with his little fists. So do it, punk.

OOC: This is a MINGLE LOG- please put up toplevels and tag around! While Taako had people he invited, it's pretty damn easy to see this going down, and if you play by the rules and say nice things to his very sad sister he won't kick you out. Have fun!!!

Comments

[restinglichface]

[Another day or so and his comment would have been met with anger.

But right now in this present, Lup's more sad than anything, her limbs feeling heavy, her thoughts all sluggish. She's just not in the mood to snap back at Leo, even if the comment makes her insides twist violently, the elf's hands just curling into tight fists at her side, lips pressing down harder into a more firm line.

She just wants to be left alone, not dragging out into this dumb party.]

Your guess is as good as mine, my dude.

[stealyoursoul]

Your brother told me to come find you.

[He could see why. For an extrovert like Taako, seeing Lup down in the dumps must have been a downright tragedy.]

Why so sad?

[There's just a little bit of that magical power he has behind the question, the one that pushes people to answer honestly. It's always turned on, but when he's curious like this, it tends to hike up on the power scale a little bit more. He's still unaware that the elf twins are immune to it.]

[restinglichface]

I'll bet he did.

[Immune of his powers or not, Leo's still going to get an answer. Because Lup doesn't care enough to hide her pain, to pretend that she's just fine. She hurts, more than she can ever remember feeling, so there's no filter there. She's too tired for it.]

My hubby took a one-way vacay back home. [Her skinny shoulders shrug, expression distant.] Shit happens.

[stealyoursoul]

Ouch. I've never lost a spouse-- [Hell, he'd never even kissed anyone until he had come to Hadriel.] --but my sister died right before I came here. So we can be sad together if you'd like.

[Better to mope around in misery then attempt to cheer someone up who was clearly still hurting.]

[restinglichface]

He's not lost.

[She doesn't mean to hiss, to snap back before the man can even finish his answer, but Lup feels so defensive right now. Like she has to defend her own husband's disappearance, that he never left her on purpose, that she knows without a doubt that he's waiting back home for her return.

But just as quickly as she snaps, she's frowning, ears flattening down to her shoulders, brows pinched.]

I didn't... It's... That really sucks. [Death is so different now for Lup, but she understands how difficult that must be. It sounds awful.] Yeah, we can get trashed and mope about it together.

[stealyoursoul]

[Leo takes Lup's anger in stride. Loss hits everyone differently, so if she wants to get mad, he'll let her get mad.]

Sounds like-- [There's a small twitch, like he was going to say something else, but then switches his answer. There's that inability to lie coming into play.] --that will be horrible. But I can watch you get drunk at least and we can wonder why life completely sucks together.

[restinglichface]

[She's grateful for it, even if getting into a fight might feel so damn satisfying right now, she really doesn't want to alienate herself from the few friends she still has here.]

You not up for getting crossfaded with me? I mean, that's chill, not gonna peer pressure you or whatevs, just checkin'.

[Cause she will bring all of the booze and weed out if he wants to really get fucked up with her.]

[stealyoursoul]

[He shakes his head no.]

Would if I could, but that stuff doesn't affect me.

[The curse of being a Sunai: he was immune to just about anything, but that included alcohol and drugs. There was many a time he would have preferred to get shitfaced and forget after missions that were harder then others.]