August 15th; It's a Spooky Party!

[strangelic]

Who: Castiel and YOU. ALL OF YOU.
What: It's a party! It was going to be a fun game of Twister party, but now it's a spoopy party. This is a massive mingle, so please feel free to write your own starters! And feel free to jump on the party game headers as well, or include them in your starters too!
Where: The bar!
When: August 15th
Warnings: ALL THE WARNINGS. No, I lie. Alcohol, truth or dare, people falling on each other, scary stories maybe and snogging in a closet. And talking about feelings. Please add your own warnings to your comment thread headers and I will add them to the list!


Whether or not the lights were off, Castiel was determined to go ahead with his plan to cheer up the residents of Hadriel, and get them interacting with each other. He'd made his plans a week in advance, and when it came right down to it, the idea of whether or not he would allow Fear to get in the way of having fun was practically moot. Of course he wouldn't. It was far simpler to be oblivious, far easier to overcome fear - at least his own, if not the god - with amusement, and companionship.

It threw a bit of a monkey wrench into his plans, and was, it had to be said, particularly devastating for his personal party trick in particular. How would his "pull my finger" joke work now? But he was determined to soldier on, and that meant that the bar was taken over by an eager angel, complete with food that had been collected from the orchard, and around the town, a pack of cards, a bag full of pebbles, a bunch of sticks with tiny carvings on them, and as much paint as he had left over from his aborted attempt to redecorate the Winchester apartment.

Not much of a party, but that was what guests were for. And party games. And alcohol, obviously--that was why it was being held at a bar.

So maybe they'd have to bring their own light, and perhaps people might take advantage of the spooky mood and audience to tell some of those stories that Fear wanted people to share, or to play horrid tricks on each other...but so long as things didn't turn into a remake of Cabin in the Woods, Evil Dead, or House on Haunted Hill, they were probably fine. Actually, scratch that, so long as it didn't turn into any horror movie ever, they were probably fine.

But then, with Twister, Truth or Dare and Poker (any of which you can add "strip" in front of and they will be infinitely more fun) as available gaming options, perhaps it was a horror movie already.

Comments

[funnybird]

I think I need a minute to ketchup to that last one.

[ How does a skeleton drink anything?? Crow doesn't know?? ]

[knifecollecting]

[Oh, Dean.]

Speaking of cash flow, are we playing for anything?

[skelebro]

[Magic, most likely. It is a mystery.]

Didn't mention this last time, I don't think - but you're a pretty good audience. Ended up givin' me a real workout.

[prespangled]

[That's a good question, at least in his current state. Steve looks at her bottle before pushing his own away.]

I'm not much for bars anyway. We should've gotten a malt shop instead. [Steve looks at her.] Are you having fun?

[prespangled]

Thanks. That's real nice of you.

[Steve looks pleasantly surprised when she offers to share. And he will definitely be "kicked" - the tequila will likely be his last drink of the night. Or his last drink for awhile after tomorrow's hangover.]

Seems like a bad thing to happen in a place with such a nice name. [Aren't havens supposed to be safe.] My best friend's missing his arm. He has a metal one in its place though.

[wipedclean]

[It's absolutely keeping Steve from drinking that too.

He frowns a little, then rolls his eyes.]

Dare.

[wipedclean]

[His face falls a little, and he looks down at his hands, leans against the wall.]

His body will contain him. Eventually.

[And he'll have to kill him when that happens. He's found a way around the orders to be here, be with Steve, protect him and help him and keep him safe, but as soon as the serum takes effect... he won't know if he can hold himself back any more.

He shakes his head a little.]

I'm not... good. For him.

[But he can't stay away. Gravitational pull indeed. He looks back at her, studies her in the darkness.]

I won't stop you. [He's not mine to keep.] But if you hurt him, I will kill you. [And I will make it painful.]

[prespangled]

"They're beautiful." Steve turns one of the stars over in his hand, marveling at how it's made. He only puts it down again to open the box that she places in front of him. Steve had looked for some of the paint, only to find that most of it was gone or dried up. But here are bottles of it, painstakingly collected.

Steve looks up in surprise - that she found this much, that she thought to save it, that she' giving it to him.

"Thank you." The words aren't enough. Steve feels a sudden heat in his throat, a tightness in his chest. He sighs heavily to relax it. "I hope you didn't go to too much trouble."

[fulminants]

[ The secret to a scary story is to blend your own experiences with it -- and not to overdo that shit. Clearly, Johnny's in his element, and there's everything pleasing about drawing Jack's attention, keeping him intrigued. He feels a strange sense of pride about knowing that Jack wants to hear more instead of dismissing it, but he carefully stores it away to continue. ]

She just stared at me. Didn't blink, just stared in with those black eyes. There was blood all the way down her shirt. Ever had a creepy mannequin just stare full on at you? That's what it feels like.

[ Johnny grimaces. ] I couldn't move, couldn't do anything but look back. She spat out whatever it was that was in her mouth; it was just a mess of feathers that stopped moving by then.

Then she turned her whole body around, too, and pressed her white, ghost-mask face all up against the glass. She didn't look like anything I've ever seen, just this terrifying expressionless, smooth mannequin face.

Then she smiled, and her mouth is this weird, gaping black hole. No teeth, no tongue. You know how your eyes would crinkle when you usually do? Her eyes didn't even change shape when she smiled. It was just black, and staring.

Jack, it was seriously fucked up.

[benumbing]

Was it fur or feathers in her mouth?

[Jack couldn't resist. But the smile on his lips isn't mocking, it's the smile of someone who's enjoying himself.]

Maybe she just liked what she saw. [Stroking his ego a little bit, as if he needed it. But he does seem a little genuinely unsettled by his own story. Memory?]

How did you get away from her?

[fulminants]

Both! Like -- I thought it was a furry mess, but then there were these little baby feathers, you know?

[ HE'S GOING TO SINK WITH THIS SHIP, JACK. Johnny leans forward, closer, frowning thoughtfully. Jack's obviously enjoying himself, and Johnny thrives on his attention -- he's just good at hiding that. ]

See, that's the thing. I didn't get away from anything. I wanted to take her on, maybe do something, but I was paralysed. Couldn't even call for help if I wanted. She stared at me for a long, long time, before she just slowly turned and stalked away.

[ He pauses. ] I still don't know what the hell that was.

[fulminants]

[ He laughs -- look, everyone likes a beautiful girl with a sense of humor. He notices the flicker in her eyes, wonders if she's human, but that really doesn't matter as long as she's not actively trying to kill him.

His body temperature burns hotter than others, and he leans forward. ] Hang out with me, and you'll get more decent drinks. Name's Johnny. Johnny Storm. What's yours?

L Lawliet | OPEN

[hearthebell]

[Going out in public is usually an imposition and always a risk. That being said, now that he's in a place where no one actually knows his name except for a select few he feels he can either trust or control, it seems worth it to go somewhere with opportunities to observe and draw a bead on the kinds of people the gods have chosen to bring to Hadriel.

He doesn't drink alcohol or make much of an overt effort to truly mingle. He's more of a skulker, hanging around the sidelines, more likely to listen to someone else's interaction than participate in his own. He doesn't look terribly approachable or friendly, but he does look hungry, haggard and perpetually on-edge. He is here because he feels like it's a practical way to spend his time, after all, and not to have fun.

It's doubtful that he even knows what having fun is, which is a touch ironic for someone who presents so childishly in spite of being in his 20s.

He's probably eavesdropping on you right now and looking absorbed enough in your conversation to be memorizing it. He doesn't seem to have the social awareness to be particularly subtle about it, staring directly at you. Do you continue to flirt, joke, or play your drinking game with your partner? Do you invite him to join in, or to piss off? The choice is yours, but without action he is likely to continue hanging around like a pale, uninvited ghost.]

[dedikated]

( she nods at that. it's not untrue. )

I'll keep an eye out. ( there's not that many people here anyway. )

[liketeenspirit]

[Ichigo gives the skeleton a dead-eyed stare. Bullshit. You totally meant to do that. And you meant to make that shitty pun.]

Please, like you were planning to do anything else with that mask on.

...

...is it a mask?

[If it is, it's much more articulate than a mask ought to be, and....how do the eyes even work?]

[skelebro]

Hey, thanks. Means a lot.

[He's being mostly sincere, though it might be hard to tell since his smiling façade doesn't drop for a heartbeat.]

[skelebro]

Why do people keep askin' me that?

[He cocks his skull to one side in obvious amusement.]

I mean, I'm just curious here. You're like the third, fourth person to jump to that straightaway, and it's not like I'm complainin'. Hey, you've probably never seen a monster like me before. I just gotta know - is that common where you guys come from? People runnin' around in masks?

[benumbing]

[Ah. Both, of course. Jack nods slowly, but his attention doesn't dwindle as Johnny continues.]

I think I might have an idea. [He shifts forward, beckoning Johnny even closer. Jack's voice is low and dramatic right against Johnny's ear.] It was your sister.

[He laughs as he leans back again and reaches for the nearest bottle. He can't set a drink on fire for them, but he can pour.]

That wasn't bad.

[liketeenspirit]

[Sans, you have no idea how common it is.

Ichigo's seen monsters in masks, he's seen monsters with human faces, and he's seen plenty of humans with crazy powers, but he's never seen something act this human while looking this...skeletal.

And it is a skeleton. The head tilt to the side gave Ichigo a good look at those cervical vertebrae.]

Oh my god, that's your face.

[skelebro]

Wow, rude.

[Sans chuckles, unoffended. He's done this dance enough times to let this kinda thing roll right off him. Can't take it personally. Human reactions all tend to be along the same lines.]

Sans the skeleton. Pleased to meet'cha.

[prespangled]

Ok. I dare you to tell me the truth about what happened to you.

[Guess what the 'truth' option would've been.]

[wipedclean]

[He's startled, and he takes a step back, then sits down on the stool next to Steve.]

Which part?

[prespangled]

After you left Brooklyn.

[Because that's Steve's last memory of him, all sharp uniform and sharp salutes.]

Before you got here.

[Everything in-between.]

[wipedclean]

[He frowns, stares down at his hands, resting in his lap. He squeezes them into fists and then lets them relax, takes a deep breath.]

I don't remember.

[Wait, that's not true. He shakes his head.]

I don't... remember all of it. Or in order. It's all... bits and pieces in my head. Scrambled.

[liketeenspirit]

You're a skeleton?

As in, a skeleton that used to be inside a human, or something else that just looks like a human skeleton?

[Ichigo's seen more than his share of monsters. He's seen shit loads creepier than this guy. This little skeleton man in a hoodie is less creepy than a fair few of the ghosts Ichigo's seen. On top of that, weird people with weird qualities he's never seen before get pulled into Hadriel. Therefore, now that the initial kneejerk what the fuck has worn off, Ichigo's more curious than anything else. How do skeletons even work?]