(no subject)

[maskormods]

WHO: Everyone!
WHERE: De Chima
WHEN: Feb. 16
WHAT: This month's swear-in!
WARNINGS: Possibly some violence



A spiraling new skyscraper has just completed construction in De Chima and, to celebrate, the owners and several of the businesses renting space in the modern wonder have elected to host this month’s swear-in on the top couple floors. These floors can be reached be elevator, slowly strolling up the winding ramp that circles from the bottom to the roof or, if you can, fly or leap or use whatever other superpowers you have to get to the top or to reach one of the many open balconies and gardens available along the sides of the tower.



Though it’s a few days late, the theme of the gathering is still an unsurprising one for this time of the year: love. And, really, after the past couple of months who doesn’t need that in their lives? There are several activities available to celebrate the many stages of romance, all available in different subsections on the top couple floors. On the second floor from the top is where you enter and houses the business end of the swear-in, what you typically find at these gatherings. A lovely ballroom decorated to the nines in red, white, blue (and pinks) with an open buffet of finger foods, drinks, and various information pamphlets about local businesses, the government, and job opportunities for new imPorts.


Branching off the main ballroom are gorgeous balconies looking over the city, as well as a few indoor/outdoor gardens. These gardens range in themes from tropic jungle, to evergreen paradise, to desert oasis. They are all only about 600 square feet each, but they are a nice break from the socializing and whatnot of the main gathering. There are also special drinks provided by the Color Me Cupid company making their way around, both in alcoholic and virgin varieties. They have no clever names, sadly, but rather are labeled after the bright, almost glowing colors each is. A few sips just leads to a fizzy feeling on the lips, but have at least half of the drink and you’ll feel a few effects for the next twenty minutes or so:

Pink Drink: Sentimentality. You’ll feel a fondness for people, places, events, or even a nice piece of furniture. Cozy on up with this soft puppy love or platonic general desire to be near that person/item of interest.

Blue Drink: Melancholy. Alas, love isn’t all butterflies and sunshine. But this isn’t just being in a bad mood, wanting to go home. No, this is artistic, bohemian angst. The kind of mellow drama the poetic soul feeds on. Drape yourself over a table and opine on your lost loves, or stare tragically at the stars, sighing loudly until someone finally asks you to reveal your dark, mysterious past. Follow your tortured heart in getting that attention you suddenly need, just make sure to make a show of your inner turmoil.

Red Drink: Passion. Whether its for a person, a sports team, or a favorite hobby, you suddenly feel the need to share your enthusiasm with the world. Talk for an hour about a baseball game, or shout your love from a roof top. Or challenge someone to a duel over the hand of your loved one- or a balcony you really wanted to stand on. How ever passion works for you.

Green Drink: Jealousy. It’s an ugly part of love, but hard to escape. Depending on the person, this could induce feelings of neediness for attention from people you care about, to paranoia that others are out to steal what is yours.


Scattered throughout the main floor, a couple of the balconies, and along the twin ramps spiraling up to the top floor are two person tables, set for enjoying those finger foods and drinks. Also on each table is a stack of brightly colored note cards. These are important because, you see, the Loose Lips communication service is showing off one of their newest innovations in dating technology: Speed Honesty. When two people sit at a table, a small force field is suddenly erected around them. It won’t suffocate you or anything easy like that, no. It will simply stay in place, keeping you two at the table, until you pick up a note card and, worst of all, each of you must answer the question on the card. The speaker hidden in the table will evaluate your tone of voice, as well. No sarcastic answers accepted and, unless you’re a skilled liar, dishonest ones won’t do the trick either. The table’s AI needs to believe both parties have sincerely answered the question picked, then the force field will lower. Then you can either run or, if you wait more than ten seconds without moving, the forcefield will reactivate and you have to do it all again. This will happen every time two people sit at any of the tables, and sometimes an unwitting third standing too close may be trapped and must answer as well. Good luck, guys.

[[Questions for the cards can be found here or here, or you can OOCLy make them up for fun.]]


The top floor of the building is owned by the With Your Best Shot company and, trying to keep with the theme of the night, they have opened the (bullet proof) glass enclosed training areas on the roof of the building for duels. Hand to hand, with (dulled) swords, (paint ball) pistols, it’s all open for use so long as you declare your grievance against the person you are about to duel and declare what the winner will gain. These can be anything from traditional romantic items- the hand of the maiden fair- to silly things, like who gets the last soda in the fridge back at the apartment after this. Seconds are encouraged, but not required. There are viewing spaces for people to enjoy both the fights and the amazing view of the city below.

Enjoy the evening, imPorts. This month's swear-in appears to be going well until, later in the evening, the shadows seem to grow darker. Attendees might assume there's been a change of lighting to facilitate a romantic mood until hundreds of Heartless emerge from the darkest corners, intent on attacking imPorts and capturing as many hearts as possible.

Quite a few of the unwelcome guests are of the Shadow variety, stronger in swarms than they are individually, but still dangerous. The more fearsome Neoshadows are also in attendance, as are more colorfulvarieties -- some of which may have been people imPorts knew, before their own hearts were claimed.

Whoever they were and wherever the Heartless came from, attendees have three options: fight, run or hide. Whatever they do, they'll want to guard their hearts closely, or they may find themselves becoming the enemy.

[[OOC: Please ask any questions here!

Comments

[silvallyant]

The startled yelp in turn startles his Umbreon, the small black pokemon making a confused bree as he looks up at the girl. Gladion himself lets out a quiet sigh. Some people just seem to be more jumpy it seems.

"It wouldn't do any good to just stay home, not when I... when I should see who else is here." He shrugs, pushing any annoyances aside. After all, he should at least try to enjoy himself if he could, and maybe make friends and prove Guzma wrong about not being able to make any.

As much as he wanted to stay home, the swear-in was something he had a nagging curiosity about, and at least he ran into a familiar face. "These things seem so... extravagant, but mother held parties like this back home." Bad idea, bringing his mother up when he had some pent-up frustrations about her.

[codeoracle]

"Sorry." She whispers to Umbreon, noticing the way her yelp startled it. She still had some nerves to work out, it seems.

"To be honest, when I first came here I didn't really go out much either." It's said with a small, friendly smile. Make connections, was a piece of advice she had been given back then. Best to try and relate, right?

"I never really went to anything like this back home, the closest I came was trying to go out for one of the summer festivals. It rained..."

[silvallyant]

Umbreon gives a forgiving, happy expression as he inches closer, offering to let Futaba pet him as a sign of forgiveness.

"You sound like you've been here for quite a while. If I may ask, how long?" His curiosity getting to him, but if Futaba has been here in this world for a while, she could possibly be of some help around.

[codeoracle]

"I've been here about three years." It's said so casually, with a level of ease as she reaches to pet Umbreon.

"It sounds like a long time when I put it that way, but it doesn't feel that long at all."

[silvallyant]

"It does sound like a long time, but back home I was..." He pauses, because now that he thinks about it, two years with Team Skull didn't feel all that long but that definitely was quite some time spent with them. Especially since he joined them when he was thirteen.

"I was with Guzma's group, Team Skull, for two years before coming here. It didn't seem like long, but it was." He looks down at Umbreon happily accepting being petted. "He likes you, but he likes anyone that gives him attention."

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[codeoracle]

"That's how you know him? Huh..." Honestly, she wouldn't pin him to be the type to work for Guzma's crew, but she supposed she didn't know him that well. Still, her comment is one of curiousity, not judgment.

"He's like Caroline--my cat. She'll love you for food and pets." And that just keeps her content by giving Umbreon the attention he craves.