hugtopia_logs | ♥ December Event Log

♥ December Event Log

December (Ranir) Event Log
The city of Havenwell is recovering very well thanks to your efforts, offworlders. The hole in the wall is sealed up and, while maybe not looking like new, it certainly looks sturdy and safe. The city itself has removed much of the rubble from the battles you fought, and the people are back to their regularly scheduled lives. They're eternally grateful that you continue to put in the time to rebuild this final bastion of civilization and are pleased to see that you enjoyed their festivals so far. As the weather of Ranir turns colder and the nights longer, some may even see snow dust the cobblestone and paved streets in the morning. The time of Rawna has come and with it...

❥ PROMPT I: At Least It's Not a Sweater

a pair of hands holding each other with a red ribbon tied around their wrists

Normally when a new season belonging to a god rolls around, the temple priests gear up and start with temple festivities. Seeing how this is Rawna's month, however, nothing much of the sort seems to be happening. In fact, it's almost as if Rawna's priests don't even care that their god's season has started. Rawna is, after all, chiefly the god of Apathy, so is it all that surprising?

What might be surprising is the sight of Ainea's priests in pairs out around the city in their stead. Each pair carries with them a single bright silver sash and they alternatively stand in broad daylight or hide in the shadows of the buildings. Walk by on your own and you'll be left alone, but when the priests spot two people walking even remotely near each other, they spring into action.

The two robotic priests zip around you and another person with surprising speed, tying the sash off around you - either around your wrists, your waists, your legs, whatever it takes to tie you to another person. With a triumphant buzz of excitement, they declare "Happy Ranir! Kindness comes in many forms!" and depart to find a new pair of ~~victims~~ patrons. As they leave, one of the pair calls out an additional clue for you: "Be kind to unwind!"

Good luck, everyone, you're now stuck with this other person. You can either wait until the sash naturally falls off in a few hours, or you can take the direction of the priests and be kind to the other person to encourage the magical knot to come undone. Each compliment, word of encouragement, or other act of kindness directed at your new partner seems to loosen the sash a little each time, so get to winning the Niceness War.

Oh, and in case you were thinking of blasting, teleporting, or cutting your way out? No amount of magic or physical force seems capable of cutting or removing the sash. Hopefully you went to the bathroom before they got you.

❥ PROMPT II: A Delicious Delight

After a long hard day of dodging Ainea's priests or just slogging through the colder weather around the city, what could be better than imbibing a seasonally festive drink? Well, the scientists in charge of Experiment 73 certainly think so! They've added a limited edition drink selection to all of the replicators and have some delightfully festive booths spread about the city staffed by a few robots wearing Rawna's colors in their sashes and hats. There are five drinks in total to choose from and you should certainly try them! They're only here until the end of the month and then the scientists say they'll be gone! The best things in life are fleeting, aren't they? The best things in life are also surprises, so when you take a sip of these exquisitely delicious (honest! For once they're good) beverages, prepare yourself for a little trick with your treat.

Ginger and Honey Tea: A hot, thoroughly warming drink with the bite of ginger and the sweetness of honey. Drink this and you'll be shored up against the cold, but also feel compelled to tell or blurt out the truth. Whether you're asked a question or trying to tell a little white lie, you find you can't say anything but the truth. This effect lasts for up to an hour after drinking the tea.
Strawberry Shortcake Smoothie: A cold sweet treat of vanilla smoothie topped with sweet strawberry pieces and whipped cream. At the bottom, you'll find a layer of sweet sponge cake cut up into pieces. Drink this with its own special thick straw and enjoy the taste of cake; and the effect of a personal miniature snow cloud that appears over your head. The cloud dusts you and your immediate area within a foot of you with beautiful multicolored snow - and that snow leaves splotches of color behind that last for up to an hour after drinking the smoothie.
Hot Cinnamon Apple Cider: A deliciously steamy beverage that tastes of apple and cinnamon and comes with a cinnamon stick stirrer for effect. This beverage smells as delicious as it tastes and the aroma wafts around the area more strongly than the others. Drink this penultimate holiday drink and you'll find yourself heating up so much that you'll want to stay cold by giving your heat away via holding someone else. You'll want to be everyone's personal heater for up to an hour after drinking the cider.
Gingerbread Latte: A nice piping hot latte with the hint of gingerbread threaded through the coffee, topped with whipped cream and dusted with gingerbread spice. Served in a tall red cup that seems to transfer the heat uncannily well through its thin walls, sip this and you'll find yourself painlessly sprouting an animal's appendage at random. You can have one functioning or non-functioning, cosmetic animal appendage like a cat's ears, a dog's tail, a duck's beak or whatever else you can think of for up to an hour after drinking the latte. They can replace your original body part (e.g. your ears become cat ears) or grow superfluously (e.g. you have regular ears AND cat ears). You can move the appendages or talk with them as if they are your own, but they don't confer any special magical powers with them. So you can fly with those griffin wings, sure, but you're going to need to put the effort into it.
Hot Mulled Wine (alcoholic): This one isn't for children - and in fact, under 18 people might find it hard (but not impossible, be industrious, little ones!) to get their hands on this drink. Red wine is heated with spices and citrus fruit over low heat for several hours - or it would if it wasn't all synthetically created. The effect is the same though, a delicious adult beverage that's a nice way to spend an evening with someone special. And you'll want them to be someone special because drinking the hot wine makes you inclined to get a little steamy with people. Kisses, both chaste and passionate, seem to alleviate the urge which you'll be under for up to an hour after drinking the wine.

❥ PROMPT III: Winter (VR) Wonderland

a wooden lodge at night, blanketed in snow

There isn't quite enough snow on the ground to allow it in reality, but in the VR Cafes anything is possible. This month, the VR Cafes are decorated with snowflakes in odd patterns and designs - holograms, naturally - that spin and change shape and color in a timed routine. Plug into the games and you'll find a new selection among the usual offerings: Winter Wonderland.

There are two modes to Winter Wonderland and each are fun in their own ways.

Snow Fight! Head out into the powdery snow where fantastic snow forts await and battle it out with snowballs to claim the most territory or just see who can hit the other side the most. You can choose Team Battle, Solo 1vs1, or Battle Royale. All magic, skills, and cunning are at your disposal. While the snow might not be falling outside, it's definitely going to be raining down on you here, so bundle up and have some fun. You earned it!

Ski Lodge But maybe you don't want to go flinging snow down someone's shirt and would rather cuddle up on a couch in front of a big warm fire, huh? Sure, we understand that. Welcome to the Ski Lodge, a cozy getaway up in the mountains where you can relax with a hot chocolate (or cider, or glass of wine even) and curl up on the couches and experience a lazy afternoon in thick fluffy sweaters. It's even better with a friend, they say, so why not create this private little getaway for the two (or three or four, we're not judging) of you? For people wanting a romantic lean, you can always slip out the back (and out of your clothes if you prefer) into the private jacuzzi on the wooden deck, too.

For people who want to have some fun tearing it up on the mountain-side though, we suggest trying Ski-venture! A year-round game that lets you ski or snowboard your way down the mountain.

❥ PROMPT IV: A Mysterious Gift [REGAIN EVENT]

Toward the end of the month starting from the 20th and on, some people may find themselves drawn to Rawna's temple late at night, when most of the priests are offline or elsewhere. The only native creatures you can see here are the fledgling rainbow dragons which watch you from their various perches all around the sanctum. As you approach the temple's altar, you realize someone else has been drawn here as well. In the quiet, dim lighting, the barest of candles still burning and the watchful eyes of the dragons, you feel compelled to unburden yourself to the other person. Tell your tale of woe or sorrow, relieve yourself of a secret you've kept hidden for too long, and listen to your companion as well. They say a burden shared is a burden halved after all.

Once you've both shared something, a pair of dragonlings crawl up into the altar's clawed hands. They wind around each other until an iridescent light shines from their scales. The light is blinding and you must look away as it reaches its pinnacle and releases a burst of rainbow light. When you look back, the dragonlings are slithering away and in their places are two objects - one familiar to you and one to your partner - so long as both of you have shared. It seems your tithe has been rewarded with something from home.

OOC: These items from home must be approved by a mod. They cannot exceed the Medium Item regain limit. It cannot be a power or other ability. It cannot be something your character did not own or have knowledge of in their canon or their CRAU. Please post your regain request in the Regain Request thread before threading out the receipt of the item.

This event will run from December 6th to December 31st. Click on each prompt's title to see the text. You are welcome to use this log, or create entries of your own! If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A while back, Shinji had given his word to Kaito that, should he ever want to drop by unplanned, he would at least give the other a heads up about it. This is something he had managed to uphold any time they hadn't already had some kind of agreement for the day - previously discussed cooking lessons or the like being the big exception.

Something unexpected happens one day in Ranir, though. A day where there weren't any plans laid out, and a little too early on in the evening for the standard emergency sleepover text to go out. Something that has him already outside Kai's door before he can even think to send a text his way, and now that he's here, clutching a decently sized box, he can't help but think... what if he's not here? Just going in. Would not be great.

One quick shuffle to dig his communicator out of his pocket later, a message is sent off to Kai's,

are you in right now?

uh huh

Well. He was technically at home, anyway. Maybe not in, though.

were u comin over?

If you're not in, then what are you up to, Kaito?? But the message is enough to soothe his concerns, and at the risk of looking just completely ridiculous, he sends another couple off in return.

yes

I'm outside

Standing in front of the door and texting instead of, maybe, coming inside? Knocking? Something?? Weirdo.

There was an audible "What" from... somewhere. Up? That's weird.

oh

That's all. That was the whole text. What did it mean. What had that phantom voice been. Why was it speaking again, calling out a "Hey"?

Solving some of these mysteries only created more: it had been Kaito, lifting a casual hand in greeting from the roof.

What Kai is up to: achieving ups.

It's Shinji's turn for a "What" as he turns his attention upwards to find Kai perched up on the roof of all places? How very unexpected.

With equal parts surprise and awe, "How did you get up there?" Forgive him for not returning that wave, his hands are pretty full at the moment. But, with that in mind, "I want to show you something...!"

He just wanted to be tall.

Kai shot a wolfish grin down at the other boy. "Recklessly." And that was all anybody needed to know about that. That very mysterious box in Shinji's hands was a lot more interesting, especially if Shinji had made it all the way to Kai's doorstep before he said anything. "I wanna see. Go ahead inside, I'll be right down."

Relatable: it has been a very long time since Shinji has Gotten to be Tall. He might not miss the circumstances for it, exactly, but the high vantage point... was kind of cool. As long as Kai has a handle on being up there, then that... is also kind of cool.

"Got it...!" Now that he's got the go-ahead, you don't have to tell him twice! It's chilly out! His communicator is pocketed once more so that he can open up that front door and step inside. Shoes off, he moves his way in to the kitchen to wait.

he fucking fell-- Naw, he's fine, folks.

It took a few minutes, since he had mysteriously been possessed by the notion that maybe he should be careful when someone was waiting on him, but here! Kai was! Making his way into the kitchen with his cold-rudded hands and his cold-rudded noise and a spark of curiosity in his eyes. They danced between Shinji and the mystery box, finally settling just on Shinji.

"Is it like a mystery box or somethin'?"

NoooOOO-- oh okay we're good

When Kai makes his entrance into the kitchen, Shinji gives him a brief look-over, as if to check and see that he was okay, that he had in fact had a handle on the roof-top adventure, before moving on to what he'd brought with him.

"Something like that, I guess?"

He's already opened it up to check what was inside when it was delivered to him, though closed it once more for safe transportation to Kai's place. He holds it out toward other other boy, his tone taking a more serious turn. "Take a look."

Huh. Suddenly we were pretty serious. Kai's brows raised a bit and he nodded. Sure, yeah, he'd wanted to see what was in there. It wasn't bouncing around or anything in Shinji's hands, so he figured he could rule out... what, a box of puppies or whatever?

Kai glanced up at him again with another questioning look, but then he was just flipping those flaps open to take a gander inside.

"... Oh!"

And, would you look at that? Inside this box we have: whole, real veggies, a little bit of fresh looking meat, a small handful of other ingredients... is that an apple? Absolutely incredible, truly a treasure worth protecting.

"It's everything to make curry." Something worth being pretty serious about, considering the sorts of ingredients that have been available to them up until now. There doesn't appear to be a whole lot of everything in this package, probably enough for one decently sized serving, but what good would this treasure be if he kept it to himself? "Do you want to try making it with me?"

It'd be good for delicious leftovers, Shinji, you mad man.

Still, the idea was apparently a good one if you went by the way Kai's eyes seemed to light up with the suggestion. "Really? Hell yeah."

He's gonna have plenty to turn in to leftovers by the time the packages finish arriving! He doesn't know that yet but still! He wants! To share!!

And 'hell yeah' appears to be the proper response here, if the way that serious edge is cut off to give way to a more lighthearted mood is any indication. "Yeah?" As if Kai was going to say no or something?? "If you're not busy, we can get started right away, then...!"

Kai grinned as Shinji opened up and some of that excitement came peeking through. That was endearing as heck!

"Yeah! What could be more important than curry time?" Kai asked, amused. Nothing. Nothing was more important than curry time.

"Just tell me what to do!"

Even the barest grasp of normalcy, in this case food that hasn't been squeezed out of a replicator, is worth getting at least a little excited about, even for someone like Shinji. Giving Kai culinary pointers had been enjoyable enough on its own, but getting to work with real ingredients like this feels so much more... practical. Even if it's something that might just be the more rare occurrence at this point. It's. Fine. Don't think about it for too long and it's fine.

"If you can rinse off the vegetables to start with, I'll try and find everything else we'll need." The right pots, pans, knives, all of that good stuff.

"Got it," Kai said, moving to take the box from Shinji's hands. Don't let him question the instruction, rinsing your produce was a good habit to get in to! Fake or otherwise! Very important life lessons.

Besides, getting to rinse them all kind of made this feel like more of the real deal. Pulling the veg and apple out of the box, Kai busied himself at the sink. "Where'd you get your hands on this anyway?"

Time to search out all the right equipment for this particular meal endavor! But that's an easy enough thing to do while making light conversation.

"It was just delivered to me?" Very mysterious for sure, "The robot that brought it said they found it in the temple, and they were sure it was meant for me."

Kai turned that apple in his hands after shaking off some of the water, giving it a brief squint to see if it would tell him the secrets of its origin. A sniff test just revealed that it smelled like the best apple Kai had ever smelled in his life, which probably just meant he hadn't smelled an apple in a long time, which probably meant this was pretty real. Probably. Huh. He set it aside.

"That's kinda weird," he said. Such a mystery. "Have you been in a curry mood or somethin'?"

To be fair, who wasn't always in a curry mood?

"I don't... think so? Not in particular, anyway."

It is weird, but there's only so much weirdness he's willing to dwell on in the face of a delicious meal made with real ingredients. "I might have been." Do the robots know better than he does?? Okay, no, definitely not going to dwell on that for too long. Just gonna set out everything he's found on the counter.

Kai wasn't really suspecting the robots. If the robots had fresh food to dole out, why not... dole it out? That would have bee extra suspicious.

"Huh. Ha, maybe Rawna's saying thank you for trying to give his kids some snacks." Like a fruit basket! But with meat and curry roux.

"You probably would have gotten something like this first, if that's the case."

He wouldn't have even thought of the snack handouts if it weren't for Kai, after all! But, he's a little less interested in figuring out the 'why's of this right now, since it all seems like harmless, potentially delicious food - he'd rather just make the meal, and possibly ruminate on the reasoning later. If he thought about it for long enough, it would be really silly to be suspicious of the robots, anyway.

"The meat needs to be cooked first, and the vegetables will be next after that, so they'll all need to be cut up."

Kai just shrugged. Little did he suspect that he might have already gotten his divine babysitting tip after quietly lamenting to a baby dargon about the state of his roots. Oh how his ever golden locks sparkle now, with nary a drop of bleach to be seen. So soft.

"Got it," he said, content to focus on Tasty Food Time. So they were gonna need a cutting board and stuff. "Its like cubes, right? Everything in cubes?"

So soft, so golden, perfect for pats and pets.

Cutting board and knife are prime and ready to be used, thanks to Shinji's efforts! "Cubes works. The vegetables don't need to be too precise as long as they're all about the same size."

"Cool, cool."

He's gonna grab that meat. He's gonna chop that meat like a teenage boy that doesn't chop a lot of meat would chop meat: messily. These cubes............ are big. Let him just. Cut those in half.

This whole process

takes

a while.

But hey maybe everything else is ready on Shinji's end? "Should I bring the meat over?"

Taking a while is fine, that gives Shinji enough time to finish setting up pretty much anything else that can be set up right away. And then after that, he waits. And watches. He won't interrupt Kai's sincere efforts if he doesn't ask for that help, and he's patient enough to not rush him.

So

he waits

until the meat chopping is done.

Good job, Kai. You did it. "Yeah, I can start cooking that, if you want to do the vegetables next."

That, uh, took a little while, though, so maybe he shouldn't get the meat started, like, right away if he wants to keep the timing of everything nice and tight.

KICKS YOUR DOOR IN [wildcard curry time]

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