12/25 fake timeline xmas party

[citta]

[ On Christmas day, all the Persona users have been invited over to the Black Cat Clubhouse to get together and celebrate the fact that we all miraculously made it to see Christmas, somehow. The kotatsu has been brought over from next door so that there are two sitting in the middle of the living room with enough space to comfortably fit a dozen people, more if squashed together, and the rest of the house is toasty warm from all the cooking and baking that was done over the hours prior. Set on the dining room table in buffet style is an assortment of traditional Christmas food (according to Google), such as fried chicken, potato salad, fancy wagashi, and strawberry shortcake Christmas cake, along with traditional actual dinner items for people who want actual food, like sushi, sukiyaki, grilled fish, curry on rice, and croquettes.

There's a karaoke machine set in the living room alongside a projector for movies, if anybody even knows what a VCR player is to be able to connect the two and show movies, and the snow is falling pretty heavily over the afternoon and evening for those who want to go out and play. Have snowball fights! Or build snowmen and igloos! Or destroy said snowmen and igloos with snowballs! For anybody being too disruptive, or is antisocial and trying to hide, you're liable to be hit by a Wolvaan spell that turns you into a cute dog so people can swarm you for hugs and pets instead. The culprit is a happy little golden retriever trotting around the house that goes by the name of Ala. Please pet her too.

If there's alcohol or mistletoe at this party, somebody else is going to have to step up and take responsibility.

Make your own toplevels, exchange gifts, eat all the food, spend the next 24 hours in a food coma... We're here for a fake timeline good time. Ichi and Card promised a free bonus as a Christmas gift to you all, so please comment to the toplevel below to claim your bonus! As a reminder, new players can also comment to the ema toplevel from the first event post to claim one free wish! Happy Holidays from Ichi and Card to you ♥ ]

Comments

i.

[infiltrationtools]

[Hey Rei, are you taking suggestions...]

[Actually though, he finds her trying to hang them on the second attempt, the one with the wolf, and watches her eat shit. Mistletoe is the exact last thing he wants in this house, but Rei's trying so hard and hurting herself because of it... she could obviously use someone taller.]

Need a hand?

[Akira offers his assistance, but doesn't sound happy about it.]

[flowerclips]

[ Yes. Please go fight someone under the mistletoe or else Rei will be very upset. ]

[ Anyway, Rei sits on the floor, wincing at the pain while Zhn comes on over to apologize, nuzzling her side and trying to get her to stand up. Ananke does the same while the bunnies just hop around. With their help, Rei gets up and oh, look, it's Akira. ]

Umm, it's okay! If you're busy.

[ Since Akira doesn't sound... happy... ]

[infiltrationtools]

[Hey, Jiro, come over here--]

I'm not busy.

[Granted he hasn't been around the party very much, but that's for a different reason. This is important to Rei, so he feels like he should help her. He holds out a hand for the mistletoe.]

[flowerclips]

[ What if we just hang up mistletoes all over Akira's dungeon and whenever Jiro walks underneath it, he gets punched. ]

Okay... thank you.

[ She still feels a bit bad for bothering him, but she'll hold out the mistletoe for Akira while Zhn stares at him... ]

[infiltrationtools]

[You don't need mistletoe to be qualified for getting punched in Akira's dungeon.]

[Either way he starts to hang up the festive favour in approximately the spot that Rei was lying in when he found her -- and while he's tying it, he notices Zhn watching.]

...What?

[Does this dog have a problem with him?]

[flowerclips]

[ But then it wouldn't be a romantic punch :( ]

[ Zhn still continues to stare. He doesn't move at all while Rei notices that this seems kind of awkward... ]

Oh, um, that's Zhn. He's part of Ananke now so he won't hurt you.

[infiltrationtools]

Does he want something from me?

[Why Akira is so bothered by the opinions of a cognitive dog remains unclear.]

[flowerclips]

[ Rei looks over at Zhn. He looks at her. She looks back at Akira. ]

No, he says that he doesn't want anything, but is he bothering you?

[ Zhn looks at Akira once more. ]

[infiltrationtools]

...He's not bothering me.

I just wanted to know if he had a problem with me.

[Anyway, the mistletoe has been hung, so Akira looks away from the dog.]

Is there anything else you need hung?

[flowerclips]

Umm, I was going to hang more mistletoes...

[ She feels a little sheepish telling Akira that... ]

[infiltrationtools]

...

[He doesn't want Rei to get hurt again, but...]

You're not going to be enforcing the kissing or anything, are you?

[flowerclips]

I won't if people don't want to!

[ ... ]

But it'll be nice if people did kiss...

[infiltrationtools]

[Akira looks around. His body language changes, more closed off than before, and Rei may get the feeling he is doing this to avoid eye contact with her.]

...Maybe someone else will.

[The last thing he needs is for everyone to realize how comedically quickly his cool-guy attitude falls apart when romance is involved, and he's exposed for the awkward inexperienced teenager he is.]

[flowerclips]

[ ... ]

... is there anyone you like, Akira? It doesn't have to be someone in Hirajiro.

[infiltrationtools]

[Somewhere, Sandalphon is staring at him meaningfully. Akira says nothing for a little while, and his gaze remains fixed on some point on the wall.]

...I don't have good luck with things like that.

[His voice is different, less hardened. It's not a yes... but it's not a no. More like an acknowledgement, first and foremost, that nothing will come out of it.]

[flowerclips]

[ Let's have this meaningful talk, Akira. Rei didn't come to talk to Joker because she literally would have contributed to nothing because she really sucks at talking with Shadows so this is the best we're going to get. ]

Why is that?

[ They don't have to like him back. ]

[infiltrationtools]

[Thank god that no one else is here yet, so it's just Rei and Akira in this part of the house. He lowers his voice.]

'Cause I'm real good at getting crushes on... people who won't feel the same. So I never tell them, even if I like them.

[Straight boys. Sometimes small town straight boys who won't take a confession well. Sometimes city straight boys who constantly talk about hot maids or video game waifus.]

[flowerclips]

Oh, I see...

[ She could understand that feeling, though probably not to his degree. It's definitely hard with small town straight boys. Souji knows all about that. ]

But how do you know that they won't like you back? Is it for sure?

[infiltrationtools]

Some of them, yeah. You figure out how guys feel about that stuff pretty easily.

[Mostly the ones from back home. After the rumour mill found out about how Akira felt, everything went straight to shit.]

I thought it'd be better in Tokyo, but in the end... I never worked up the courage to tell him.

[But he still kept the Moon Persona 'til the end, an angel who takes the prayers of the people and carries them to God.]

[flowerclips]

[ Akira has good tastes. We must defend Yuuki Mishima at all costs. ]

Maybe I can help you, to work on that courage, so when you return back home, you could confess.

[infiltrationtools]

[I'm so glad that you understand.]

...I don't know about that.

[Akira sounds uneasy about even saying this much, to be honest.]

What would you even... do?

[flowerclips]

[ I only know a few things about P5 but the one thing that I completely believe in is that Yuuki Mishima is a good boy and I will die for him. ]

Do you mean what I can do to help or what you should do in order to confess?

[infiltrationtools]

To help.

[To Akira, it just seems like something he needs to work on himself... which, admittedly, he's probably never going to do. In this realm of his life he will remain a pining coward forever, because it's better than being honest and looking like an idiot and getting himself more hurt.]

[flowerclips]

Um, you can practise confessing with me!

[ She can pretend to be Akira's crush and do some roleplay. Roleplay within a roleplay. ]

[infiltrationtools]

I...

[fear.jpg]

I can't do that!

[You can't just tell him to pretend you're his crush whose face he hasn't seen in almost a year!!! Akira's voice is a little bit louder, perhaps from alarm, and he's very faintly flushed.]