player-suggested mini-event: A STRANGER'S BED

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Player-Suggested Mini-Event
when: August 26th - August 31st
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

a stranger's bed

As a lead in to September, Riverview's ♥ Month of Romance, this is a completely optional mingle that will cause affected characters to end up in each other's beds. There are various options for both established and new CR. While it's easiest for characters still living in Communal Housing, anyone who has moved to their own homes can be affected and end up finding their way to Communal Housing, or within their own housing.

Residents of the Quarantine may notice that various businesses selling food and drink - cafés, diners, bakeries, restaurants, and other such establishments - are heavily advertising a new flavor that's supposed to be the biggest thing since pumpkin spice. A flavor additive that's said to subtly change the flavor of whatever the diner is eating or drinking to optimize the dish, drink, dessert, or any other food item it is added to for each person's individual taste, it's been selling like wildfire and is the latest trend.

After the cause of the rash of amnesia was revealed to be plant-related, sellers are keeping the origin of the secret ingredient very close to their chests, since it is a derivative of a recently-discovered plant dubbed chameleonis. Depending on the method of ingestion, this additive can have a variety of unexpected side effects, but only once the person who has ingested it becomes sleepy. Methods of ingestion include:

● Ingestion: Beverage: When ingested as a flavor shot to drinks ranging from sodas to coffee to alcoholic beverages, it can cause a desire for closeness to a particular other person. Affected characters end up crawling into bed with that specific other character when they become sleepy.

● Ingestion: Food: When ingested as a flavoring added to a baked good or other meal, it can cause an intense desire for body heat when the character becomes drowsy. It won't matter to an affected character who is providing the body heat, so long as it's someone, and they will end up sleepily crawling into someone else's bed for warmth.

● Inhalation: When inhaled ether from a steaming hot beverage or soup, or as an essential oil or aroma from a bakery, it can cause disorientation when a character becomes sleepy. Affected characters either aren't sure which bed is theirs and simply crawl into the closest one, occupied or not, or become convinced that another character's bed is their own.

Feel free to post up a top-level for your own character either affected and invading a random bed or unaffected but open to having their bed invaded by affected characters, or tag around to other people's top-levels.

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Comments

[ragnarsson]

[One word. Alright. Magic he gets, but it still doesn't tell him much. Then three more words, each sounding like they were coming from somewhere beyond the abyss of sleep that Spike was currently in. He shakes his head again.]

You're not coming in here. I'm not letting your sharp teeth anywhere near my daughter.

[Ivar may have been young and driven by anger, but he loved his daughter more than anything. Spike would get near Winter over his dead body.]

[idolpire]

Wha'if I promise not to nibble the niblet? C'mon, mate. I'm tiiiiiiired. What if I burn up on your porch?

[It was whined out, Spike squirming on the ground as he peered up at Ivar.]

[ragnarsson]

That's not a very convincing reason. And I'm tempted to let you burn up anyway.

[Spike will have to work harder than that to get Ivar to let him in the house. Ivar's unmoved by whining. He's a youngest child and was spoiled rotten his whole life, he's done his fair share of it.]

[idolpire]

Tell you what; you let me in and we can take a nap together. Then the niblet's safe, rest is had by all, and everyone's happy.

[Best idea, obviously.]

[ragnarsson]

[There's a very long sigh from Ivar that ranges almost into a groan. Are all vampires this difficult or was he just lucky?]

...You're not leaving this porch until you're let in, aren't you?

[He's not saying yes and he's not saying no. But he is still pretty damn tired and heading back to bed sounds like a fantastic idea, present company included or not.]

[idolpire]

[Spike was a special kind of stubborn and he had no problem debasing himself to get what he wanted.]

I could leave. As ash. Then you'd never get to have any fun in your life. C'mon, Viking boy.

[ragnarsson]

[Ivar's weakening. But he's not giving in without making himself understood. He pulls out his axe, and quick as a flash, he's got it positioned right at Spike's throat.]

Let me make one thing perfectly clear, Spike. You go anywhere near my daughter and I'll see you don't leave this house with your head attached to your body.

[Spike claims he's already dead? Well, Ivar's going to put that to the test. Most things die when you chop off their heads. Then he turns around and wheels back inside the house, leaving the door open.]

Come on in.

[idolpire]

[Spike would definitely join the permanently deceased if Ivar lopped his head off, but he had no intention of putting that to the test. Not that he had any real notion of why he wanted so badly to get sleep in this house with this particular person, but that need was dragging at him and it had him agreeing easily.]

I swear on my cold, dead black heart that I won't harm a hair on the little one's head.

[The invitation given, Spike's butt was suddenly not pressed against an invisible barrier, and he rolled over the threshold into the house.]

[ragnarsson]

[Ivar went go check on the little niblet, as Spike had called her. Winter was still slumbering peacefully in her crib. He watched her there for a moment, tenderness in his gaze. He runs a finger lightly over her soft cheek.

Then he wheels himself back into the bedroom right next door. He's not sure if Spike was serious about sleeping with him or not, but either way, he's going to get in rest while he can.]

[idolpire]

[Spike had gotten up, blanket and pillow clutched to himself as he wobbled a little unsteadily in Ivar's home. He half-followed him until he realized he was going into a room with a baby in it, standing outside as he yawned and rubbed at his eyes. As he heard the squeak of the wheels coming back out, he waited until Ivar picked the room with, oh, blessed be, a bed, and he came in.

He looked around at the windows.]

Mind if I double check the curtains? Kind of a pisser if you woke up on fire.

[ragnarsson]

I dunno. Sounds like it might be fun to watch.

[Ivar's definition of fun and everyone else's might differ slightly. He slides out of the wheelchair and onto the bed in one fluid movement. Looks like Spike is serious about sleeping with him, so he moves over to give him some room. Damn him for being out-stubborned by a vampire.]

[idolpire]

[There was a drawn out groan of absolute pleasure as Spike flopped on the bed beside Ivar, still wearing his coat, boots, and clutching the blanket to him.]

Less fun to wake up next to. We're incredibly flammable.

[ragnarsson]

[Ivar lifted his head to observe the vampire next to him.]

Take your shoes off or I'm going to test that theory of vampire flammability. I don't want grime all over the sheets.

[Vikings, despite living in an era before modern plumbing, were a particularly clean lot. Then he laid his head back down, noting that Spike didn't seem to radiate heat like anyone else would. Well, he was dead, so it made sense.]

[idolpire]

[There was a grumble, because that meant more movement, but Spike toed at his boots until they thudded onto the ground, moving to wriggle a little closer to Ivar. Warmth. God, he missed it sometimes. That feeling of a warm body next to his. Or just of being warm. He didn't drape an arm over the Viking, but he didn't keep any space between them, either.]

[ragnarsson]

[Ivar let out a long breath, relaxing into the mattress even as Spike curled up close. He'd been raised with four brothers, sharing space with them while sleeping had been an inevitability. As of late, he'd been sleeping with Letha, but she was...he didn't want that to be his last thought as he drifted off to sleep. Instead, he wondered what had possessed the vampire to seek him out, of all the people in Riverview. He'd ask him when they woke back up.]

[idolpire]

[Spike slept the sleep of the undead, better for having a warm body to curl up with this time. When Ivar woke up, Spike was cuddling up with him, including that arm tucked over him.]

[ragnarsson]

Get off of me, you undead draugr.

[Those were Ivar's first words upon waking back up and finding Spike all but spooning him. He was fine with sharing a bed, but cuddling up close was something else entirely.]

[idolpire]

You ge'orrf.

[Mumbled as he moved to bury his head under whatever he could find to bury it under.]

[ragnarsson]

I'm not the one clinging to me like a kid with a stuffed animal.

[Ivar, being a mature and well-adjusted teenager, yanked the pillow Spike was currently burying himself under off his head. Then he smacked him with it for good measure.]

[idolpire]

[What came out of Spike's mouth was probably best not heard properly, as it had something to do with stuffing and Ivar and animals. But the pillow fwap has him raising his head, face transformed into something less human and with more fangs as he snarled.]

You always this much of a prick when people are trying to sleep?

[Never mind that Ivar had let him in his home and he had no reason to be there...]

[ragnarsson]

[Perhaps Ivar should have been more intimidated by the display of snarling fangs. But he'd never been one to fear much even when it would have been healthy. He just rolled his eyes and worked a kink out of his neck. Tch. Ungrateful bastard. He should have let him fry on the porch.]

Haven't you figured it out yet? I'm like this all the time.

[Blame it on a combination of anger issues, an inferiority complex, and having constant pain in his legs. It made for a teenager with a chip on his shoulder who had an attitude and a half.]

[idolpire]

Yeah, sorted that one out early enough.

[He moved to pat down his jacket, then pause, looking over at Ivar.]

You know, I don't rightly know how the hell I got here. Or even that you lived here. Don't suppose you've got a clue on that, do you?

[ragnarsson]

[Ivar sat up, feeling around under his own pillow for the knife he kept there. He tended to feel naked without at least one weapon on him. He shrugged at the question.]

Weird shit happens in this city all the time.

[Like turning into an alternate version of himself, getting kidnapped by a giant bird, and forgetting the names of everyone he'd ever known. Ivar has learned to just go with things.]

[idolpire]

Yeah, been picking up on that.

[His face melted back to human, watching Ivar move as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a half-empty pack of smokes. He drew one out, holding the pack up to Ivar.]

Want one?

[Hey, if the guy was going to offer him a bed and a body for a nap, he could share a smoke.]

[ragnarsson]

Guess it must be amusing a very strange god somewhere to have you turn up on my doorstep like a very large and whiny puppy.

[Ivar cocks his head curiously regarding the small white sticks.]

What is it?

[Viking culture didn't have a lot of smoking in it, more hallucinogenic drugs than anything else. They really loved their mushrooms. Even if they had pipes for smoking, the look of modern day cigarettes didn't come about until the 1800s.]