riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: SAMPREMI

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introductory mingle: SAMPREMI

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Sampremi Celebration
when: March 8th - March 15th
where: In several different locations in the downtown area of the Inhabited City.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

sampremi celebration

In the days leading up to March 8th, new residents may notice advertising around the city, everywhere from digital screens to paper flyers pasted on blank walls, featuring the name of the spring holiday in celebration of new beginnings, new love, and lust: Sampremi. The advertising mentions that there will be street festivals set up at various locations throughout the week and lists where the market will be set up on each day.

street market

The main draw of the holiday is a roaming street market that features special treats and street food that can only be found during Sampremi, a bustling bargain market with any kind of goods you can think of, and fair games that allow a person to win a prize for that special someone.

i. street food

One of the major draws of the festival is the special street food that can only be obtained this time of year. Almost everything you can buy at the Sampremi Festival is meant to be shared - whether it's one piece of meat on two sticks or desserts baked with a narrow part in the middle for convenient tearing, everything is built in twos. The stalls sell everything from cups of soup, sandwiches, roasted or fried meat, deep-fried vegetables and cakes, dumplings, donuts, bagels, turnovers, and anything else you can think of.

Many of the savory dishes are based on the meat of a particular fowl native to the moon Riverview is situated on that has a taste and texture halfway between chicken and duck, cooked to be spicy (ranging from very mild to throat-burning). Many of the desserts are based around a fruit native to the moon that is spherical, red-orange, and has a light sweet taste that is similar to a combination of mango, pineapple, and strawberry. Both ingredients are considered to be aphrodisiacs. Of course, the foods aren't actually aphrodisiacs and any effect is purely placebo.

ii. fair games

The festival features an entire row of fair games ranging from very high-tech games featuring virtual reality and neon holograms to extremely old-fashioned games with darts and balloons or balls and glasses. The games all have prizes in various shapes and sizes, with the standard stuffed animals, but also with goods and special items donated by any business in the city; ranging from tiny prizes to huge and expensive ones.

Due to the nature of the holiday, many of the stalls are set up to cater to winning a prize for your partner, and due to the nature of the Quarantine, a lot of them involve aiming or other aspects of pretending to fight.

iii. shopping

Originally, the part of the street festival that involved an actual market, with stalls and booths set up with goods, was aimed primarily at romantic trinkets like flowers or jewelry, gifts intended to be purchased for a loved one. As time has gone by, however, this aspect of the market has increased, with many businesses participating, though the emphasis is still on small businesses and anything relating to local culture rather than booths for any of the larger more corporate businesses.

There is still plenty of jewelry to be found, for sure, mostly handmade and artisan, but the scope of the Market has widened immeasurably. The Sampremi Market is an excellent place to find specialty foods, clothing, jewelry, art, or other goods that were originally native to cultures on other planets in this reality, or other realities altogether. Many residents in the city use the market to share their unique cultural goods and traditional dress with others.

iv. adult

In a side alley of the Sampremi Market on any day, one can find an area roped off with a red silken cord, attended by members of the Perimeter Guard in casual dress who will ID anyone entering to make sure they are 18+. Once characters are permitted entry, they will find all of the adult offerings that the market has to offer.

Since Sampremi is, historically, a celebration of lust and physical love, the adult offerings are all set up to cater to two or more people of any sex or gender configuration. One can find an adult or sexualized version of almost anything that's featured in the main market, from fair games to adult goods to street food laced with actual aphrodisiacs (there are always warnings for food spiked in this way to avoid accidental consumption).

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to set up headers for a communal floor, or threads open to roommates for the purpose of getting to know each other. Or if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set at the Sampremi Festival, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit (left to right): Theo Prins, andreasrocha @ tumblr, hrormir @ deviantart, nkabuto @ deviantart

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Depends on what the festival is, doesn't it? In the case of a fertility festival, yeah, this is festive.

[Sam just snorts at him, shaking his head.]

Gotta have an open mind about these things, man.

I... suppose so.

[Steve doesn't sound disapproving or annoyed by the situation, but there is hesitance that he normally wouldn't display as he looks around. It's something he just doesn't see, even with all the modern things he's experienced since waking up again. The world is different. He's watched it change, in fact, but this? This is still strange. He looks around them silently, eyes wide, just taking everything in without speaking, because he just doesn't know what to say.]

[Sam eyes him a moment. He's not quite the same, but there are similarities, and he goes with his gut instinct.]

Hey, listen, I know they didn't have all of this stuff back in your day, so if you need anything explained, feel free to ask, man.

[He tries hard to keep a straight face for all of five seconds, but breaks out into a shit-eating grin.]

[The response earns Sam exactly the response he's probably expecting: Steve straightens up, shoulders back as he defends his bruised pride with a faint flush of color showing his embarrassment. He does manage to keep it in check, though. After dealing with the other heroes he knows, the joke has become well-worn. It still manages to ruffle him when they are surrounded by toys and aphrodisiacs on all sides, though.]

I know my way around. Thanks anyway.

So what you're saying is that I can't teach an old dog any new tricks?

[There's a slow smile on Sam's face, one that hints at trouble. It's not one he normally lets slip around Steve - any Steve - but he's had a couple drinks, and walking around this place puts him in a particular sort of mood. So, yeah, maybe he's inclined to flirt a bit.]

[Steve, despite his more serious and generally stoic attitude, definitely catches Sam's joke. His eyebrows raise and his mouth seems to twitch, subtly, just barely tugging at his blank mask.]

Well, you can certainly try. I hear that some old dogs can be pretty hard to handle. But you look like you could take a challenge.

A challenge? I can handle just about anything you can throw at me, old dog.

[There might be just a little boasting involved; Sam knows full well that his limits are nowhere near Steve's. But he feels like pushing a little, testing the waters.]

Anything I can throw at you, huh?

[Considering what he is known for throwing, Steve has to smirk at that. He isn't planning on turning on his new friend, and he doesn't have the shield, but the obvious connection still strikes him as funny.]

Well, I guess we can see about that.

[Sam rolls his eyes at the smirk. Do you mind, Steve? He's trying to flirt here.]

It's a figure of speech, I don't want you to literally throw anything at me.

Oh, is that it? You should have said so.

[Steve looks at Sam with his head tilted back and eyes wide like he didn't know that was what Sam meant. There is, however, just the slightest hint of a smirk behind his innocent look.]

[Uh-huh. Yeah, he knows that look. And while the shield is the most obvious thing to throw, Sam's pretty sure Steve could just as easily chuck a car at him.]

But, hey, if you're into a different sort of pitching, I'm up for catching.

[...although that's probably an innuendo that'll go over Steve's head.]

Baseball?

[This time, Steve does smirk. His quiet answer doesn't hide the way he's teasing Sam, playing innocent because he can.]

Sure, but we'd need the right equipment to play a game.

Oh, I think we got all the equipment we need right here.

[He's totally unsubtle in the way he lets his gaze slide down to Steve's crotch and linger for a long moment. If Steve's going to play innocent, then Sam's just going to get dirtier.]

[Steve's eyes follow the line of Sam's gaze downward, and for the first time he actually can't play ignorant. He does his best, keeping a composed face as he looks back at Sam's.]

Well, they tell us to always be prepared for anything.

I think you stole that from the Boy Scouts, Steve.

[Sam takes a step forward, placing a hand on Steve's arm, and raises an eyebrow. No matter how blatant he is, he's also not going to force Steve into doing anything he doesn't want to do. In the end, it's his choice.]

Might have. I've picked up some things over the years. Not sure where they all came from.

[Steve looks back curiously, but without commitment. He's aware that Sam is an attractive man, but he's also very distant, less inclined to initiate anything that isn't a fight, and even with Sam the rift between Steve and embracing sexual connection is there. It's hard to come out of the soldier's shell.]

What are you aiming for, Falcon?

[And then there's that. He has to wonder, not knowing a whole lot about the man, what he sees in Steve. Maybe there's just some emotional carryover that Sam has for the other Steve Rogers. He might just be looking for the other Steve in him, and he isn't sure Sam will like what he finds. There's no avoiding that this is a proposition, but Steve thinks it might just be a mistake. Something coming from the atmosphere of the moment.]

[There's no doubt that the atmosphere is contributing to it, but there's also a certain curiosity there. Not because he wants to know how they're similar, but because he wants to know how they're different. He slides his hand up Steve's arm, resting warm and gentle on his bicep. And then, since he hasn't pushed him away yet, Sam cups his cheek, leans up and brushes a chaste kiss against his lips.]

Sam.

[Though using his code name is deliberate, he's sure. Puts an emotional distance between them. And he's noticed that for some reason, their counterparts seem to use their code names more often. It's not something Sam's used to; his identity's never been a secret. He doesn't have anything to hide.]

[There's always a bit of distance between Steve and the others. Even when he doesn't mean it, there's a certain wall between the first Captain America and other heroes. Steve recognizes it, but he doesn't quite know how to handle it. The use of code names is just a natural formality, one that keeps things professional because they are all used to acting like the hero when they are addressed that way.

Steve is surprised by the kiss. It's not something the other Avengers from his world would do. Whether they find him attractive or not, they give him too much room to consider trying that. The mantle keeps him apart from them even if Bucky has the shield. The confusion is so strong that Steve doesn't hide it, eyes wide and the confidence for once leaving his expression.]

Sam?

[It's not the name that catches him.]

I'm not- [That Steve? He doesn't know if there is anything between the two of them, and it seems too much like presuming for him to finish that thought. He doesn't know enough about Sam to make any judgments about what he might do under normal circumstances, and in the end he's left with more questions.]

You sure this is really a good idea?

[Sam's used to a more informal structure - not sloppy, Steve would never let them be sloppy, but they've all lived together when off-duty, trained together. It's part of their cohesion as a team. (Was part of their cohesion.) And as far as Sam's concerned, Steve, any Steve, is just another man. That's how he's always treated the one back home, and that's how he's going to treat this one.]

I'm in a different damn dimension. [Sam laughs, but doesn't pull back. His hand slips to the back of Steve's neck, thumb stroking the skin there.] At a fertility festival on a moon. I'm not sure about anything, but I know how to do this. If you're interested, that is. If not...[He shrugs.] No hard feelings.

No hard feelings.

[Steve echoes Sam's statement, but it seems more like a question. Like Steve is figuring out what he thinks about it. He still doesn't pull back, and he doesn't answer right away either. It's not as if a kiss from a new friend puts him off. He just doesn't like to make these decisions lightly--maybe because he can get overwhelmed and end up doing that all too often.

But the invitation is genuine and that makes a difference. Steve leans in, kissing Sam with a deliberate restraint, pulling back just as it seems like he might push for more.]

I'm sure you know how to do a lot more than you're taking credit for right now. Give me some time to think about it. I'm still not sure what I'm doing here. This... I'd hate to start something and not be able to follow through.

[Sam lets Steve take the lead with the kiss; one of his hands settles in the small of his back, and the other cups his cheek, but he doesn't try to push for more, and he lets him pull away, as much as he might want more.]

All right. [He just shrugs casually; like he said, he's not going to hold his decision against him.] Want a drink? I think we could both use the chance to get to know each other.

[Which is the sort of thing normal people do before they proposition other people, Sam.]

It might be best to do some introductions, yeah.

[Steve smirks a little at the irony of that. It isn't lost on him, and even though he doesn't mind a kiss from Sam, he did basically just start getting to know the man. His first thought, even in the middle of the red lantern alley, isn't intimacy.]

Let's get a drink.

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introductory mingle: SAMPREMI

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