[OPEN] Fortress of Meropide Mingle Log (August Edition)

[whiteshroud]

WHO: Residents and Visitors to the Fortress
WHERE: Fortress of Meropide
WHEN: August
WHAT: Mingle Log!
WARNINGS: Nothing so far but we'll see.



Fortress of Meropide Mingle

It's the hottest month of the year, as August rolls in. But fortunately, thanks to Meropide being at the bottom of the ocean- the fortress is possibly the coolest place in the city to be, with the surrounding water temperatures never really getting above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. If you want to stay out of the heat, hanging out in the fortress is a great place to do it.

As for new upgrade, a number of new businesses have rolled into the fortress! A Russian Restaurant, a knock-off pushie store, and the Wildkat Cafe have all opened the doors in the new "Promenade Wing"- a section of the fortress with windows that's dedicated to various businesses. In addition, in the main area of the Fortress, there is a roped off area with buckets upon buckets of lego pieces for people to work with. There's a sign that's been quickly written to encourage people to wear shoes in this area.

For the love of god, wear shoes in the lego area.

[OOC: catch-all mingle for the Fortress of Meropide! Feel free to make your own top levels, or tag around other folks! If you want info on what can be found in the fortress, have an info page!]

Comments

Jun Nightroad | Tokyo Xanadu | OTA

[whiteshroud]

I. Cafeteria
[This month, Jun is staying close to the fortress a lot of the time. It's not too unusual to see him hanging around the place, but it's been more than usual. If he's asked about it, he'll answer that it's just too hot outside- or that he still feels tired from last month. Whether those reasons are true... who knows.

But it does mean he's around for mealtime. During the lunch hours, he'll grab one of the lottery meals, and goes sit down at his usual table. It proves to be his lucky day, as he manages to get a Katsu Sando, which makes him light up... before he eyes the meat with some concern, inspecting it closely]

Wait, is it chicken or pork....?

[Fortunately for him, it's chicken, but it's a dangerous lottery to play when the other option will make him ill]

I. Greenhouse Serenitea Pot
[During the working hours, it's pretty normal to find Jun in the greenhouse area. Summer is a busy time of year for gardeners, and growing the garden in a magical teapot doesn't get in the way of that.

Today, he's working with a flower bed of Sundelions that he's been working on since June. Many of the lily looking flowers have bloom, emitting a golden glow as they do so. Jun's got gloves on as he's working with them, carefully snipping off a few flowers to put into a basket while inspecting the others as he talks to himself- concentrating]

Seems they adapted fine to this new environment.... though it's clear they need as much sunlight as possible. Should have enough of a sample to send for testing... but I definitely need to get some bees for this place. I wonder if Earth bees would work, or should I collect some from Hyrule....?

III. Wildcard
[Got another prompt for me? Hit me up!}

Cafeteria

[doublethumbsup]

[Hermes has kept kind of a low profile lately - trying to sort your brain out from some nasty things will do that. But! They haven't forgotten what they told Varian a few months back.]

[And thankfully, they have their Doorways to help when they spot Jun in the cafeteria.]

[It takes about fifteen minutes. Much faster than it would have otherwise. The door to the cafeteria slowly opens - and Hermes tries as best they can to make it creak, or otherwise make noise. They really don't want to sneak up on the guy. They peer around the door, pink box in hand.]

Heeeeeeey dude! Long time no see!

[whiteshroud]

[Meanwhile Jun has had a busy enough time that he doesn't fully remember the ways Varian terrified Hermes about him. He does turn to look when he hears the sound of a door creek. When Jun sees that it's Hermes, he'll smile at them]

Hey, Hermes! It has been awhile. How've you been?

I

[droptheious]

[Varian spends most of his working hours down in his forge on the factory floor. He knows he'll be returning to university for a new semester soon, so he wants to get the most out of his work in the fortress before he has to split his time a little more carefully.

But one thing he always wants to make sure he spends time on is his partner. So once he decides to take a break from his own work, he heads to Jun's gardens inside the Serenitea Pot. He has a little tupperware box of homemade cookies, and a warm flask of tea. He smiles fondly to himself at first, watching Jun as he works, before stepping a little closer. ]

Hmmmmm, I guess that depends on if regular Earth bees would happily pollinate the uh- non-Earth flowers or not. Only one way to find out, at least.

[ He leans in to press a little kiss on his partner's cheek. ]

Hey, you. How's it going?

[whiteshroud]

[It's always a nice surprise when Varian comes to visit him in his garden. He'll look over at his partner with a warm and loving smile, clearly happy to see him]

Mm, it's definitely worth testing. There's jars of bees at the goodwill right? I'll have to grab a couple next time.

[he smiles at that kiss on his cheek, turning his head to give Varian a kiss on the cheek as well]

Better now that you're here. [Yes time to flirt] Haha, it's going well! I'm happy to see the Sundelions did well while I was away. Aren't they beautiful?

Maxima Priscus | FFXIV | OTA

[moderni]

[!]

[As always, one of the places Maxima can be found is at a table by the bulletin board, working on paperwork and holding office hours for the Aides du Meropide adventurers' guild. Unlike a few months ago, he's working on a laptop instead of a handwritten ledger, sifting through sheets of paper and entering their contents into an actual digital spreadsheet program.

Also unlike a few months ago, there is a visible bite mark on the side of his neck; it looks like he's tried to position his usual leather choker to cover it, but it's too present to hide entirely. Anyway, he's here to approach for work, sign-ups, or just to bother him while he does the books.]

[Promenade wing]

[Usually Maxima still takes his meals in the cafeteria area, but it is very nice - if a bit surprising - that more options have been opening up recently. He's studying the current offerings of the Russian restaurant on the menu outside, and while his usual bland smile makes his expressions a little hard to read...the way his tail is lightly wagging behind him definitely helps with that.]

Have you tried it before? The rasstegai is particularly good, since the fish is always fresh here.

[Main Hall]

[He was only looking around out of curiosity at the sheer volume of building toys that have suddenly arrived.]

Is this another of Ghilley's impulse purchases?

[Not that he minds. In fact, it's a pretty interesting idea, and someone could construct a sizable sculpture with this many little pieces. He can easily envision how much space they'd take up when pieced together into a larger structure, how high it could get before it needed additional support...

A few hours later, he's sitting in front of a half-built structure, pulling up example blueprints on his phone. He seems to have found the gears and axels kit.]

[Wildcard!]

[Any other prompts you can think of! He's energetic this month, so he'll be taking some security patrols, and at various points you can probably catch him in the gym or the library.]

((ooc: Aides du Meropide sign-ups are found here, and if you want ideas for jobs your character might have been doing, we have a job board randomizer here!))

Main Hall

[whiteshroud]

[Jun had some downtime, so he's sitting amongst the lego piles idly trying to build something. It's still in the early stages, so it's not clear what it's meant to be. He's most likely trying to decide himself what he wants to build]

Mm, I think so. They were here this morning. Did you want to join?

[moderni]

[He tilts his head and looks at the blocks, already assessing and sorting the shapes and volumes.]

...You know, I may as well. I was only going to the library for something new to read.

[This might be more interesting. He settles down cross-legged on the floor, as he typically does when he's settling in to do activities with people, folding his long limbs to take up less space and be at least somewhat less towering. Settled, he clears the space immediately in front of him on the floor, and starts deftly organizing the nearest blocks by size and shape.]

Did you have a project in mind?

!

[majeste]

[ sometimes Furina likes to bring people snacks, gently make sure that those living within the confines of Meropide are making sure to take care of themselves. a habit she has found herself leaning into more after the harrowing Jumanji experience they all had.

it's exactly what she is doing when she spies Maxima by the bulletin board, head deep in paperwork. ]

My dearest Maxmia! [ Furina strolls up to the table beaming, her shimmering crab companion floating up alongside her balancing a plate of cupcakes upon it's head. ] Hard at work as always I see.

[moderni]

Miss Furina.

[He smiles warmly at her, and at her companion, as they approach.]

You know I'm happy to do it. If anything, managing a group that has sufficient resources to go around is...comforting, in its way.

Promenade wing

[droptheious]

[Well, that wagging tail is a dead giveaway for how Maxima is feeling right now- and it pulls a fond smile to Varian's face. Good. Maxima does so much for all of them, he deserves a little happiness. He glances over at the restaurant, shaking his head. ]

I have not- I haven't ever tried this cuisine before- now I've gotta admit you've made me curious. What's in a rasstegai?

[moderni]

It's a type of savory pastry, a hand pie, made with yeast dough and the filling left exposed at the top. It's meant to be made with fish, although of course many different options have appeared where fish are harder to come by. But there's no shortage of fresh seafood here.

[He shakes his head a little, eyes back on the menu.]

...I really never expected to have such things close to hand. All of this is surprisingly close to traditional cuisine from my homeland.

Hermes | Stray Gods | ota

[doublethumbsup]

GENERAL
[Hermes... is a little hard to find in the Fortress. Not because they're anti-social! Well, they aren't, really. They were sorting out a lot of mess in their head for a while. And then? They wanted to start earning their keep again.]

[So they're kicking delivery jobs into high gear. They'll be able to be spotted popping in and out of doors in the Fortress. A door opens, one that absolutely was a broom closet a second ago, and out pops Hermes.]

[Hopefully they don't run smack into anyone.]


LIBRARY
[The other reason they're a bit scarce is... Hermes is studying. They have a pile of books, and a pack of energy drinks. How long have they been there, exactly? They've lost track of time.]

[What are they reading?]

[... Oh no. They're reading Greek Mythology.]

[And from the look on their face, they have run into Some Stories.]


LEGOS
Oh my god. This. Rules.

[That's all the warning anyone in the area gets before Hermes descends. They plunk themselves down near a bucket, their expression pure, unbridled glee. Clearly, they have chosen the best time ever to come back out of hiding.]

Okay, okay. Castle! We're gonna build a castle!

LEGOS

[droptheious]

[Out of all of the things Varian has experienced in this new century- he has to admit Legos are a pretty damn good one. They scratch a particular itch in his engineer brain. He really wishes he had something like this growing up- he might have given his father far fewer headaches if he was working with things less dangerous. Alas.

He chuckles, wandering over to where Hermes is clearly super excited about all of this. ]

Ha ha, okay- a castle it is. What are we thinking of here? Towers? A moat? The one where I come from was on the top of an island.

[doublethumbsup]

[Varian starts talking, giving them options and a mental image of a fantasy castle and Hermes' brain shorts out. Not in the usual way. In the oh my god there are options way.]

[They're quiet for a minute, letting those options play out in their head. And then their clueless expression turns into a grin.]

Dude.

All of the above.

Cordelia "Lia" Brooks | Original | OTA

[blossominghopes]

Kitchen
[Lia in the kitchen is not an uncommon sight. What is a bit different from usual are the different pitchers lined up on the counter (are some of those new?). Also on the counter: lemons (why are there so many), sugar, measuring cups, jars of what look like different (homemade?) fruit syrups, ginger, and culinary lavender.]

I should probably label those pitchers when I'm done...

WildKat
[Honestly, the thought of restaurants opening up inside the Fortress hadn't occurred to Lia, but now that a couple have, her curiosity's gotten the better of her.

Though, now that she's actually in WildKat, she can't help but be a little incredulous.]

Bouillabaisse? Really?

[At this rate, she may just have to try it...]

Training
[Lia usually takes her training to isolated areas of the Fortress-- as far as she's concerned, it's the easiest way to make it less likely she'll bother anyone or be bothered by anyone as she does this.

("Less likely" does not mean "impossible", however.)

Today in particular finds her training with two weapons (not at the same time). If someone comes across her, they might see her practicing with a bi-flag colored rapier. It gives off the feeling of her going off what her muscle memory can tell her, initially.

Alternatively, she's practicing with a Soul Device-- a bow, curiously enough. This one is... clearly a little more of a struggle.]

... Trickier than it looks...

Wildcard
[For anything else you can think of! Lia's keeping herself busy this month one way or another, but she's trying to not overwork herself.]

Wriothesley | Genshin Impact | ota.

[loupmorque]

.1// --> Duke's Shift || OTA

[ it's the duke's turn to do dinner today. which means the kitchen is a myriad of smells, most of them barbecue. there's the recognisable scent of barbecue sauce and charred meat--smoke of course, but fortunately the ventilation is working as intended in the kitchen today so noone's getting smoked out.

But this also means if you're lucky enough to be coming down to dinner today, your mystery meal has a much higher chance of being the Duke's own barbecue ribs, as he's making what looks to be enough for everyone to eat for the evening.

Maybe if you poke into the kitchen you can score some without having to play RNG.
If you don't comment on the fact that the fact that wriothesley's apron is way too small for a man with a shoulder-to-hip ratio like that, and is unfortunately colored in the red white and blue of a french flag.
Someone (ghilley) thought it was funny. ]

.2// --> Mystery Murder || Open to Meropide Residents

[ anyone visiting the Duke's office today will find the man with a particular boardgame out on his desk. there's noone he's currently playing with--but there are a few pages of notes set out around the table about the game itself, names of different roles and things about 'a murder'.
Anyone looking really closely will also notice that half the pages are written not in the Duke's curvy, careful handwriting, but also someone elses' writing.

If you ask about it, the Duke will offer a sheepish look. ]

I haven't really been someone who goes to parties often. I'm a bit of a wallflower, truth be told. But the few times I was made to go along with Ser Neuvillette, the rich folk he often kept company with would play a party game kind of like this game. [ he gestures at the Clue board. ]

Those games were some of the few party games I had a lot of fun with, so. Lia and I have been working on doing it with a few residents down here in Meropide.

...Interested in joining?

.3// --> Pankration || Closed to Knuckles / open to spectators

[ he's been working hard on showing a certain Echidna the difference between fighting to the death and fighting for sport. It's... hard to untrain someone of their instincts, especially when they're an alien who doesn't really understand the concept of 'fighting for fun' vs. 'fighting to win'. But Wriothesley feels like he's made good progress with the kid recently.

With the addition of being a little more used to his Kaisou-based magic--and being sure one really fucking hard punch from the Echidna wouldn't kill him or break every rib he has--he feels confident when he gives the guy a pat on the back as he gestures up to the arena that's above the training area. ]

So.
Not like I'm someone who can tell you how to eat crackers when it comes to your skills with your fists, but. How do you feel about having a real spar today?

You know--the fight-to-win kind, but with pulling your punches to keep it sportsman-like as I've been teaching you?

3

[ampersand_me]

Knuckles had been working hard over the past several months to learn this... boxing thing that Wriothesley spoke of. After all, while he deeply respected the man, he also realized that the difference between their strength was immense. Which put a considerable damper on the idea of having even a friendly spar. Or at least, it would normally, and that was where boxing came into play.

The idea of holding back wasn't entirely foreign to the echidna. But doing so within the context of a fight, with all manner of rules and such to boot, that had been a fair bit more difficult to grasp. And to learn. But Knuckles was nothing if not stubborn, and his desire to face Wriothesley in a 'fight' had spurred him to put his best effort towards doing exactly that.

Needless to say, once the brief surprise and confusion at the Duke's suggestion had given way to understanding what that suggestion meant, Knuckles' expression was nothing short of eager.

"You mean, a boxing match as you have spoken to me of?"

[loupmorque]

"That's right. This arena down here--it's meant as a fighting arena for sportsmanlike matches. Where we don't aim to destroy our opponents, but merely knock them out with skill and well-placed punches.

Some boxing matches are a manner of who knocks their opponent out first--but when fighting with someone who's clearly stronger than you--" he gestures to Knuckles, who can punch literal spaceships out of orbit thanks. "You instead adopt a point system. Where hitting your opponent in the right place or breaking through their defences are counted as a 'point'. First to reach ten points win."

He reaches his arms out, pointing to several places on himself. Chest, sides, stomach. "Any hits here counts as a point." He points to his legs, arms and shoulders. "These are not worth any points, and you can use any of them to 'defend' strikes from your opponent's strikes." He then points to his face.

"Any hits here are worth two points--because it's the hardest place to hit on your opponent. You'll always be defending it, so it's worth more at the risk of being a difficult target.

Any questions?"

2. Murder Mystery - and open to others

[whiteshroud]

[Jun, a regular visitor of the Duke's office, will be there and politely listening to the explanation. His expression is fully neutral ... and so is his tone as Wriothesley finishes and he speaks up - as if he's asking a perfectly normal question ]

Sounds interesting. But I don't have to be the body again, do I?

[loupmorque]

[ in this moment, wriothesley is glad he isn't currently drinking from his teacup, else he might have choked on it.
you can SEE how he mentally grinds to a halt, and slowly looks up at the other with a somewhat pained look.

it's followed by a smile that's definitely at least partially forced. ]

--Haha, no. No.

You do not have to be the--Jun that is such a dark joke.

[ help. ]

murder mystery

[actnormal]

[Caleb, who had a package of tea for the duke and noticed the papers, pauses.]

Can I be the dead guy?

Re: murder mystery

[loupmorque]

[ oh, the grin on wriothesley's face as the other offers. Unlike jun, there wasn't recent trauma related to caleb being a dead body (and hopefully there never will be,) so the Duke looks amused as all hell. ]

You're totally fine with staying on the ground and pretending to be dead for what might be an hour or two?
I'll make sure to have Dukeboo sneak you drinks and snacks in between investigations in other rooms.

Mystery Murder

[droptheious]

[ Varian's still got some pretty solid trauma over board games after The Jumanji Incident, so he grimaces as soon as he sees one set out on the Duke's table. As Wirothesley explains the game, he remains a little tense and unsure.]

So... you look for a murderer? Hmmmm, I dunno. I think I'm still on a board game hiatus for at least another month.

[loupmorque]

If you don't feel comfortable with it, I entirely understand. I expected Jun to sit out as well; I know things still feel... fresh, after that whole incident.

Though part of me just wanted to, I don't know. Have a good experience to overlap the horrible one.

It's sort of less like a board game and more like a social deduction game. Like an escape room, but instead of trying to escape, you're trying to find clues to who did the deed.

We already have a volunteer for the victim too.