Raiders Renewed - MO - No Boys Allowed

[Aidan]

Aloe stuck her tongue out playfully at Yuki. "Gren laughed. See? I'm hilarious. And I second downtime with friends. We don't even have to go to school - this is as close to a vacation as we're likely to get for a while, so we might as well enjoy it."


"Mm... Aloe's right," Hope mused. "Enjoying our downtime while we have it ought to be the order of the day. And I agree with you, Grenadine. It is easier to fight when the sides are more clearly delineated. When what's 'good' and 'evil' are more identifiable.

She paused for a moment before asking, "Does anyone have experience with roleplaying games?"

[Kyt]

Yuki's tail lashed. "Monsters just do not fight about what they are. The only difference is when people think they're helping others, despite causing pain and chaos." She shook her head with a frown. "But yes, we're here to not think about all of that and have fun."

She blinked, turning to give a curious look to Hope. It was a pretty safe bet that Yuki wouldn't be familiar with anything, so she waited to see if any of the others knew what it was.

[Uberwulf X]

Welp, Metzli wouldn't be able to weigh in on that conversation that almost happened. She didn't even want to play the "getting the last word" game, so instead turned her thoughts to the other games mentioned.

"Well, I've yanked Damien's arm to play a few games with me before, but that was a long time ago," she said with a barely detectable hint of sadness. "I'd like to think I'm pretty good at picking up the rules to them though, y'know? Roll dice, figure out the result, note the 4th wall timer and goal we're working for, buy up all the property, tap the mana, reveal the trap card, reveal you're actually the villain." She grinned widely. "And win, because there are no friends when it comes to these games."

Another aquatic portal opened up on the balcony, and Hrist stepped out with a tray of finger sandwiches. Rather than balance the large dish and risk dropping anything, she simply stared at those inside, waiting. She was wearing a black tee shirt that went to her knees that obscured whatever shorts she was wearing/, pink bow holding her hair up as usual.

[Kokinyu]

Gren smiled some, but it was an unsteady thing. Half apologetic, half beleaguered. Where they found themselves in their lives was... A strange place. All of this felt strange after weeks of conflict.

She was acutely aware that for many it was -more- than just a few weeks. Hope's question caught her attention- a strange term for a game, she thought. As Metzli went on, she took notice of Hrist and wordlessly gave her a smile and a nod.

Asynchronously communication. She shook her head a little, taking a second to filter Metzli's word salad. "Role... Playing- like playerss to a sstage? An acting game...?"

[Resonance]

Eden saw Hrist waiting for help and hopped up to open the door for her and help carry anything inside. Once they were both in she said, “I have heard about them, never had a chance to play. They sound like fun.”

Mei nodded with the others who were unfamiliar. “Are they those games that you pretend you’re a magical character or something?”


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[Aidan]

Hope looked to Metzli, and her eyes seemed to glaze over as the other girl rattled off terminology she wasn't familiar with.

"...Hm. That sounds a bit more... complex... than what I've read about." She held up the large hardcover book she had been reading - The Adventurer's Guide to Animal World. "I've been trying to figure out something to do that might be fun. To keep our minds on... other things. I read that this was supposedly a good one, so I thought I'd read it and see if anyone was interested in trying it."

"Not exactly the roleplaying I'm familiar with," Aloe observed before standing to help Eden and Hrist. "Where on Mobius did you get all this, Hrist?"

[Kyt]

Yuki greeted Hrist in their pidgin, amused at Aloe trying to make sense of her resources. Turning back to Hope, she frowned in puzzlement, ears canting along with her head. "Ok, now I'm more confused. That book," She motioned towards it, actually trying to process it now. "Is about a game? I like reading, but how much research can there be on a game?"

[Uberwulf X]

Hrist stopped narrowing her eyes at Gren, who pointedly didn't come and help her, to smile at Eden and Aloe's assistance. A greeting to Yuki was returned as they placed the tray down wherever made sense to put it-- a table if it wasn't full of other people's snacks.

"Jenet-okaa put in the order for me. 'S'where the drink comes from too-- tried to get her to let me roll a keg here for safekeeping but she said she wasn't gonna be an obvious accessory to obvious underage drinking like that, if one of you couldn't hold y'drink."

They were already arranging something, so Hrist stretched arms above her head as she listened in, picking up on what the others were arranging.

"I caught that," was all she said with no context. Metzli gave Hrist a wave, but her focus was mainly on the book. "Oh, I've never tried one of those, but I've always been a little interested, y'know? I heard someone was going to make a game like that based on the Rocket Punch world, but that was before everything went caca. What's the point of the game, are we gonna be animals?"

[Kokinyu]

Grenadine's glance shifted back and forth between those talking until finally she caught Hrist's look. It kind of... clicked as her ears went flat and her tail began to squeeze her leg again. It wasn't easy to see when the reptile was flushed, but the body language was there.

Grenadine stood as the others fractured into discussions of a game versus the world as it was- and now is- giving her just enough cover to approach the table where Hrist stood. Once beside the rat, she spoke up loud enough for her tall ears to pick up, "Désolé. Distrait... Plus de fractales. J'y travaille." And sighed. She reached for a finger sandwich, turned, and in her wake her tail brushed up just barely against Hrist's hip as sign of apology. "Thanksss for the refresshmentss... But you know, if you wanted ssstronger proof beveragess, we only need ssugar. In theory."

[Resonance]

“Well, I’m good to play. I think it’ll be fun.” Mei smiled softly with a nod at Hope. “I am surprised there’s not more to it than that book though.”

Eden likewise smiled at her sister, “tell us what we should do.”


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[Aidan]

Grenadine had Aloe's immediate attention. "Tell me more. How much sugar we talking?"

Hope shifted her position, drawing her legs in and swinging up into a sitting posture beside Yuki. Resting the book on her lap, she opened it and idly flipped through the pages. "I'm still developing an understanding of the rules, but... yes, you play as Mobian-like species, with different traits, and can play as different classes with unique abilities. The world is quite different to ours, but it seems like it'd be a fun way to experience an adventure without the high stakes involved."

She thought back to the experience with the Black Book. That had been a similar experience to the one described by the roleplaying book, but Ko's soul had been on the line. That was something she did not want to risk again.

[Kyt]

Yuki rolled her eyes at Aloe. "We have done some silly things, but using Grenadine to alchemically quick ferment alcohol, seriously?"

With an amused shake of her head, she focused back on Hope. "I'm still not sure exactly what you mean, but it sounds interesting enough." While she still stayed on the arm of the chair, she shifted to put her hand against the back of it behind Hope, leaning into the girl to look more closely at the book.

[Uberwulf X]

Halfway through her apology, Hrist started patting Gren on the head, and any hint that she was gonna stop speaking because she was being pet was met with Hrist lifting her eyes and leaning in, body language suggesting that she wanted Gren to finish what she was saying. Not that Hrist held the apology as essential; petting would have proceeded without it. "Il t'a pas besoin de s'excuser." Hrist leaned her head on Gren's shoulder briefly, before moving to the conversation at hand while getting her own finger sandwiches to snack on.

"Y'serious?" She tilted her head, looking between Gren and Aloe. "Wouldn't fruit be better, or is shelf sugar fine 'nuff?" Then to Yuki, "Why not? Gren ever retire, she'n make a hell of a liquor baroness."

"Heck, I'm down," Metzli said after a couple seconds of thought. The pause wasn't for wondering about if she wanted to play, but rather remembering that somewhere in an alternate universe, she could exist a dar knight, a mech pilot, a stadium fighter, a fitness influencer...

Metzli's smile grew. "Yeah, I'm done with high stakes for as long as I can get away with that, y'know?"

[Kokinyu]

"I- Baroness...?" Her ears flicked before she glanced to the ceiling, considering. Hrist's words and attention were a balm- more stimuli, more things to focus on- pleasant things to focus on.

While half distracted by the talk of rules and game world, she proceeded with the math and theory. Finally, between Hrist and Aloe- and with a wary glance to Yuki's chiding- she folded her hands and spoke. Quietly.

"Rum iss one ssssimple brew made from unprocessed sugar. Then there issa sugar wine.. mead, too. If done correctly, sugar can be converted into ethanol at a yield of fifty five percent by weight. Ideally. Though without the tanninss and flavonoidss, you would wind up with a product bereft of any real character or body. For an application like ssspiked punch, you'd create ssomething ssmooth and sweet that the Captain would certainly disapprove of."

Her ears then folded back, as if mentally resetting. Her focus turned toward Hope as she spoke a little more clearly. "...all of the mysticism with none of the rissk. Essscapissm for mossst... But it ssounds like a safe place to actually enjoy the kindss of thingss we find in our line of work."

[Resonance]

Mei nodded as Hope explained. She could defintely use some escapism. "What's the world like we'll be exploreing?"

Eden decided she wanted another doughnut, and raised a curious eyebrow at Gren's explanation of alcohols. Could be fun, though she wasn't very interested in getting drunk.