[ SEMI-OPEN ]

[ct_7567]

WHO: Those who have been invited & anyone who would have a reason to visit Maurtia Falls #010! Wondering if you fit into that category? Just contact anyone with an involved character (Andy; Rex; Martin; Cassandra Igarashi; Dio; Archie) and ask!
WHERE: Maurtia Falls #010
WHEN: TONIGHT? TONIGHT.
WHAT: The soldierfam has decided that regular group dinners are good for Martin, and this time they've got a few party crashers!
WARNINGS: None anticipated; will change if necessary!



At a glance, one could easily mistake Maurtia Falls #010 for being entirely uninhabited. Dio rarely returns home and Rex and Marty only have a handful of belongings between the two of them and Rex is meticulously tidy, returning everything to exactly where it ought to be - if anything, it's Andy who makes the biggest mess around the place, and she doesn't even live here.

Despite every sign to the contrary, however, they do live here, and it winds up being a hub of activity whenever one of Martin's guardians - if that's truly what they can call themselves - decides that it's about time to get everyone together for dinner. In Anderson's absence, Rex has taken on the opinion that cooking can't be that hard, which is how they wind up with one window open, a casserole dish burned black soaking in the sink and an assortment of take-out on the table.

(As it turns out, it is that hard - and he found a combination pizza & Chinese food take-out place, whiich means that it can only be better.)

In all, there's not much to do or see here; there's food, Rex the goldfish in his tank, a soccer ball neatly tucked close to the house in the backyard, and a mysterious shelf called "Martin's Things" in the cupboard. Otherwise, you're stuck with nothing more than some potential awkward conversation. Have fun, kids!

Comments

OTA!

[ct_7567]

So, as it turns out, Rex can't cook. He can just about hold something over a fire until it's safe to eat, make just about anything requiring cold assembly and has been known to grill a sandwich or two, but as it turns out? Actually cooking's another subject entirely. Before or after dinner, you can find him at the sink fruitlessly trying to scrub the blackened dish or frowning at the recipe, trying to figure out where he went wrong.

Otherwise, despite being the technical host of this whole affair, Rex isn't a chatty sort of person. He's happy to speak when spoken to but is otherwise a quiet sort, either watching the proceedings, shoving an unwise quantity of food into his face or, of course, tidying up.

During a quiet moment, you may find him after having stepped outside for a moment, just for a bit of fresh air and some space away from all the people; he's used to crowds, but one of this variety is, while not unpleasant, still very new.

[queenofseers]

Cassandra has seemed preoccupied with something from the moment she walked in the house, particularly so for such a low-key affair. Not that she isn't always preoccupied- if she's not working on something, she's not herself. But now, in particular, there's clearly something on her mind as she picks at her food.

When Rex steps outside, she pays attention. There's a number of things she really needs to talk to him about, one in particular, and it'd be better without everyone else around. After waiting a minute to see if he'll come back in, she goes out herself.

"Rex? I need to ask you something."

[ct_7567]

The way Rex stands outside makes it look like he ought to be smoking a cigarette; he's not checking his communicator or looking at anything in particular. He's just standing there and looking perfectly content to do so, as someone who's spent a great deal of his life doing just that. That Cassandra would step outside as well isn't a surprise, considering. He'd seen her unease and didn't particularly know what to make of it - she may not be gifted in the way of social graces, but she's knows a hell of a lot more about it than he does.

Her having something more pressing on her mind explains it. "Of course. What is it?"

[killtime]

It's probably not surprising at all that when he steps outside, Andy is already there, nursing a cigarette and avoiding the rest of the dinner attendees. She's dragging it out, smoking slow, and she'll go right down to the filter, given the chance. It's not even that she's shy or short of words — but she's still not fully warmed up to meeting new people yet, despite months of living here. And that's partially on purpose.

She glances up when she hears the door.

"Hey."

[ct_7567]

"Hello."

Rex is her opposite. He rarely finds that he outright dislikes meeting people. Truth be told, for all that his countenance is a stormy one, he rarely dislikes people. He's just quiet by nature, uncertain of any social situation he hasn't been explicitly trained in, tends not to have a whole lot to say.

He stands quietly beside her for a moment, just as they did last time they got everyone together. "I hadn't expected Dio to arrive. This is the second time Martin and I have seen him since we moved in."

It's not quite an apology but it's an acknowledgement - he hadn't meant to spring people not directly related to Martin's well-being on her.

[yol8]

"What was that?" Said, as he gestures to the blackened dish... of whatever it was. Kind of scary actually, to know that food could burn that much without causing a fire. Maybe it did cause a fire? Maybe that's what that awful smell was?

Maybe leaving Rex to do the cooking wasn't the best idea.

[ct_7567]

Rex gives the dish a pained grimace, unhappy with the evidence of his failure. When he'd failed so monumentally, he'd almost felt like chucking the evidence out the window - and now that everyone's here and giving the thing the horrified looks they ought to, he doesn't think that that was such a bad idea after all. He takes the butter knife he was using to try to chip away at it and hacks into it.

He gives up as it stands straight up in the dish.

"It was a casserole. Now all it is is a waste of money."

yoyoyoyoyoyooyo ota

[h2no]

While the invitation surprised Archie, he didn't actually have to deliberate on whether he wanted to attend or not. He knew he wanted to immediately-- it's always going to amuse him how the mutual goal of caring for Martin has brought together so many people... he can't help but wonder if Martin himself realises it.

Regardless of the slightly deeper meanings to this gathering, Archie brings some food as he always does. Poffins; small sweet and doughy bite-sized rolls filled with a berry jam made from the berries native to his homeworld. He plops them down in the kitchen, then goes to do what he does best; socialising. If he knows you, if he doesn't, his response is always the same: a cheery "Yo! Nice to meet ya!"

Unless he's... already met you. He's not that spacey.

"Quite funny how all this came together, isn't it? Not in a, ah, humourous. I mean-- the other type."

[darkov]

"Archie?"

Martin peeks over his shoulder as he's setting his food offering down on the counter. It's different than the potato salads or chicken dishes he tends to bring with him. Colorful and weird.

"What are those?"

[h2no]

"Marty," he returns, in greeting. "They're called Poffins. They're something from my world... I wanted to start bringing over stuff that's a little more... out there," is the best way he can think to describe it-- this is just normal for him "For you and Rex to try."

He flashes Martin a grin.

"I think you'll like these. They're very sweet, like the donuts, and they have berries from my own world in them." He takes one off the small pile, one with Oran berries in it and holds it out for Martin to take. "They're usually for after the main course, but... they're small."

[ct_7567]

Rex is perfectly happy to simply let Archie loose among the people who've showed up to dinner, knowing full well that he's sociable to make conversation out of nothing - even the more dour people here. When Archie escapes from the table to stroll back towards the kitchen, whatever it is he's going to the kitchen for, he'll find Rex by the bowl of poffins, picking one up and squinting at it assessingly.

Archie made these? How? He squeezes the one in his hand a little, as though that will carry some form of answer for him. It doesn't. It's just soft and, it must be said, the polar opposite of what his attempt had turned out to be.

He's never going to understand how people can do this.

[h2no]

He'd been going to get some water and stops when he sees Rex, watching this for a moment. It's weirdly endearing to see him so continually confused by things Archie has cooked that he finds the easiest thing in the world. Different strokes, he knows, he's certain he couldn't wrap his head around most of the skills Rex possesses. He continues on to the sink, acting like he hadn't just stopped to observe briefly.

"They're called Poffins," he supplies, helpfully. "It's something from home. They're filled with berries native to my world as well. I thought it'd be nice to start making stuff that's a little more exciting that what I was bringing over before."

...

"Ah... you might wanna put baking soda on the dish in the sink. Mix it with warm water... or just let it soak in soapy stuff for a few days."

[yol8]

"Hey! Welcome!"

Whatever the fuck a Poffin is, Dionysus is taking one, looking it over and eating it.

"These are great! And they taste... what's in this? It's not... raspberry?" It's some kind of berry, but he can't exactly place it...

open

[killtime]

Andy is... Not great at dinner parties. Maybe she used to be, a long time ago, but she hasn't socialized like this in centuries, and she hasn't put much effort into improving that since arriving in this universe. The last time was fine — just her, Rex, Anderson, and Martin — but she's starting to feel a little crowded here, with the noise and the unfamiliar faces. Half makes her miss the tetanus-ridden safe houses of her past, nothing but quiet and rats — but she knows that's just her being ornery in her old age.

Either way, she's found a place to hide out: In the bathroom, with the door just slightly cracked. She's seated herself in the empty bathtub, stretched out with a box of Chinese take-out in her lap and the flask from inside her jacket in one hand.

When she can be found out in the open, she's might be in the kitchen, idly chewing on an unlit cigarette maybe, or trying to scrub the shit out of that casserole dish because it gives her something aggressive to do. Or she might just be on the periphery of the crowd, sitting on the couch watching Rex the goldfish swim back and forth, back and forth.

[queenofseers]

Remarkably, Cassandra doesn't just run into Andy in the bathroom wholly on accident, which is the kind of way this sort of thing usually goes for her. No, she's also feeling out of place, and her previous experiences in this house have made her automatically somewhat vigilant. Never great to associate a place with someone being attacked, even when everything's fine now and there's food on the table.

All that is to say that Cass actually glances over to the bathroom at just the right angle to see Andy in the bathtub through the slightly open door. That's...off. She knows Rex well enough that she's picked up that there's a couple women who hang around here and help keep an eye on Martin, but she doesn't expect either of them to be the type to eat in the bathtub while drinking, considering the kind of guy Rex is.

That said, she's never been subtle. so she simply walks over and opens the door, eyebrow very raised, and stares at Andy for a moment before speaking.

"I...who are you?" Is she even supposed to be here...?

[h2no]

It's quite likely Rex the fish is having more fun than a good half of the people here. Archie has had a hard hour of so alternating between scarfing down the food he fancied and trying, with various degrees of success, to socialise with the various people present. This is what he imagines the average afternoon in the Team Magma base is like-- full of people who don't really know how to relax for five seconds and are only present out of a sense of obligation, waiting for the time to tick down before they can retreat back to the things they'd occupied themselves doing.

It's funny, in a weird way.

Archie takes a seat on the other end of the couch Andy is on, holding a mug of coffee.

"Yo," he says, unfortunately, Andy isn't making it out of this one. Unless she gets up and walks away? Anyway, "Rex says this happens frequently?"

He can't imagine it.

[yol8]

So okay, it's a party, he knows weird shit happens at parties. But he didn't expect that when he'd go into the bathroom to piss, there'd be a woman in the bathtub.

"...You uh, want me to lock the door here for you?"

Since it's clearly occupied.

open gremlin sightings

[darkov]

Marty's been getting used to the near-weekly get-togethers, but the atmosphere in the space when the headcount increased is very different. He's not savvy enough to wonder why he was told to invite familiar faces if it was going to be so...strange. Also? Having to bathe before a meal? The pressure of looking presentable? Yikes.

Still, when the space is filled up with so many familiar people, it's actually kind of comforting. Martin grew up with crowded meals, doing everything with is family... This is a far cry from the look of it, but there's a sliver of similar feel. With how much there is to listen to and take in, he can smother the fears that something terrible will happen with so many people packed in with him.

He is more apt to quietly observing, sitting out of the way and only moving when called over or asked for. He's still a creature used to being told where to be or what to do, but many folks here are keen on that and keep him moving.

At some point, he does make an attempt to scrub some of the nightmare off that casserole tray, but if Andy and the others couldn't defeat it? He's got little chance alone. It's a group effort, a culinary boss battle; they'll just have to grind at it for a while.

When accidentally making eye contact with others, especially strangers, he startles and looks down, mumbling unheard apologies before becoming to anxious to sit still and has to go...somewhere.

[yol8]

When there's a more quiet moment, Dio sees Martin taking a seat somewhere out of the way and just observing. He knows he hasn't had a chance to talk to Martin much, but he likes the kid, and he really should get to know him better.

"Hey, mind if I sit next to you for a bit?"

ota

[queenofseers]

It seems like a few of this dinner's attendees feel a little out of place here, and Cassandra is included in that count. She's not completely socially blind, but she's never felt right simply hanging out without a related goal (research or business, for example), and that's what this is. She's not completely familiar with the house, and she can likely be found just looking at things to pass time- watching the interesingly named fish, or glancing at the shelf of Martin's things (what's in there?).

But she has been in this house before, and it wasn't in great circumstances- it was when the doppelganger of Woden came and attacked Martin, only to be taken down by Rex. She hasn't been here since, and the contrast between that visit and this one is making this all even more awkward. That and before today she didn't realize another one of her friends also lives here, one that really should know about the encounter with doppel-Woden, so...to say she seems occupied by something is an understatement. She's never had a huge appetite, but anyone who sees her with food at a table may notice she's not eating much of it.

If you're around her when she goes into the kitchen to get some water, she's also going to glance at the charred dish of ruined casserole and mumble something along the lines of "what happened there?" They...know how to cook around here, right? They're not that hopeless. Right?

[darkov]

"Rex tried to cook something."

Martin's nearby, able to see from his angle exactly what horror Cassandra's unearthed in the sink.

"Usually Anderson does it, but...he wanted to try." And that nightmare is the result -- an ongoing battle wherein several people have made attempts to scrub it clean, only to leave defeated to do other things.

[yol8]

So he knew Rex was planning on having a party, a get-together dinner sort-of, so he should show up for a little bit at least. Maybe get cleaned up a little?

At least that was the intent, and as he steps out of his room, there's... Cassandra, just, in his living room.

"Uh. Hey?"

This is what he gets for not asking who was going to be around!!

ARRIVES LATE WITH STARBUCKS | ota

[wahey]

[At some point in the middle of the night, the dull thump of Akira landing on the roof would be the only indicator of his arrival. He was less invited and more doing the devilman equivalent of jumping the backyard fence to sneak into your friend's house without the parents noticing.

The last time they had talked, the kid had locked himself in his room for days on end. Not a good sign. Akira had also promised to check on him, and although the porter glitch left him one month late on that promise, he was going to fulfill it either way.

Rather than use a front door, Akira opts to look for Martin via peeking through the open window, hanging upside-down from the roof ledge. The aim is to try and get a good look inside without the trouble of having to wade through a bunch of dinner guests, but perhaps he wasn't as inconspicuous as he thought he was.]

demonbucks

[darkov]

[honestly, this wouldn't be the fist time someone's sneaking around here late at night. it probably won't be the last, either!

food has long since been cleaned up -- except that poor casserole dish, that one has to soak for a while to recover -- and the house is back down to mostly normal numbers. heck, with how much activity's gone one, Martin's actually tired properly. at night.

but not tired enough to actually settle in for sleep. instead he's up, flipping through one of the books picked up at the library. the lights may be off, but there's a dim glow from streetlights elsewhere since his shade is still pulled up and window open, so reading's alright.

er, was, until a big, spooky shadow cuts into it. Martin had missed the thud, but he does not miss the upside-down hellbeast peering at him through his window.

Martin's stomach drops and goes deathly still and pale, his brain just one, big, static OH NO NOT AGAIN.]

[ct_7567]

[ Rex would not call himself a paranoid man. A prepared man, perhaps, a pragmatic man, a perfectly practical man. But when he goes step outside for a moment and sees a hunched figure on his rooftop, his first assumption isn't that the figure is a flier who's stopped for a rest, or that he's a robber, or that he's a hundred different distinctly nefarious things. He doesn't even consider that perhaps someone isn't too happy with a Republic Clone hanging around and would prefer that he be considerably intimidated by their opposing forces.

No. The first thing he thinks is: Ah. Someone's here to kill Martin. ]

You there! Hands in the air, now!

[ He only unholsters a single blaster to point at the man for one reason and one reason only: because he's busied himself with running directly at the side of the building, busying himself with beginning to use the other hand to scale up a pipe running up the side of the house, because like hell is he going to let someone else terrorize Martin. No. If this goes sideways, he's hunting the damn thing himself, even if he has to climb up the walls to do it. ]