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

Entry tags:

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

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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Are you... are you talking to him or yourself there? Genji just watches him a moment. If there's one thing he knew how to deal with it was drunk people. (He used to frequently be one himself, in his youth.)

Well, what harm could it do? Famous last words. It'd be better if he wasn't drunk out in the streets anyway. ] Well, I appreciate the thought. If you'd like to stay for a while you're more than welcome.

[ ...does he even have any food yet? Just cyborg problems. There's at least some glasses for tap water. ] There isn't much here yet but please make yourself at home.

_{[ Karamatsu stands there aimlessly, waving his arms back and forth as some idle movement, half lidded eyes looking around Genji's housing. There wasn't much here, just like his housing now. There used to be a bunch of mirrors, blue decor, self portraits. You know, all the things that he cared a lot about.
He feels his lip wibble slightly, but he can't let Genji know he's this weak.

He turns to Genji, eying his new friend up and down rather obviously. He doesn't look very cuddly, but.. ]}

_{[ He couldn't explain other than the fact he needs comfort right now. So, he brightens up the best he can and slinks over to Genji, taking him gingerly by the hand and beginning to drag him across the apartment. ]}

Ha-ha... make myself at home.. at home, there's a lot of people. At home, we all share a bed--
_{[ wait, what.. ]}

[ Uh? ] Uh?

[ He just sort of... let's this happen. For now anyway. Sleeping would probably be the best thing for Karamatsu to do anyway, he can always just slink away once he's asleep... ] Is that so? You have... a big family then?

_{[ UH, INDEED. ]}
Ah yes.. my family.. there's six of us.. _{[ hiccup— ]} we're sextuplets! I'm the second oldest, blah, blaaaahh— oi.
_{[ Oh, looks like we're in the bed now? Genji' you can leave at any time. ]}

We sleep next to each other, but.. none of us have ever really found a woman, ah. We haven't.. partaken in the scandalous affair that takes place on beds with other people.. you know what I mean.. the s word..
_{[ UUUUUHH. ]}

I'm talking about snuggling.
_{[ oh god, he's drunk and cuddly.. ]}

How fun is it, ehh? To cuddle somebody?

It's— [ There is a very long deliberate pause where Genji contemplates his life choices. ] —fun, sure. [ And he thought having one older brother could be a handful.

He just kind of... let's this happen. Sure, it's strange, but Karamatsu is probably the most harmless human being he's ever come across. If he needs to attempt to snuggle against his harsh metal body then he can just go for it until he sobers up. ]

Are all of your brothers here with you...?

_{[ bitch you don't even know— Karamatsu is the biggest handful. You could have done the world a favor and just let him die in the fire. Why did you do this.
Karamatsu is harmless; the guy cries when he accidentally steps on an ant, so there's really nothing he could possibly do, especially right now with his present state of mind and mood.

He exhales deeply then just.. collapses against Genji's cold, unfeeling cyborg chest with a slight clunk. He's going to regret picking this person for his cuddlemate. ]}

May I, then..?
_{[ Karamatsu, you're already there— and how are you remembering to ask first when you're drunk and upset like this? ]}

Ahhhhhhh, there are two— one of them hates me the most, I think.
_{[ oh no.. OH NO, REAL FEELINGS. RED ALERT. ]}

[ Look, Genji used to be part of an international organization that saved people it's a habit that's hard to break.

He winces when Karamatsu hits his chest, reaching up to pat him on the shoulder in a mild attempt at a 'there, there' gesture. ] Of course...

[ Genji gives an actually thoughtful pause at that. Drinking does tend to get one to talk about these things... he can't say he doesn't relate in some way. ] I understand what it's like to not get along with a brother.

[ Which is a bit of an understatement, but hey. ]

Haaa...
Do you know what it's like, then, when one of them doesn't like you? Imagine that.. times five..
_{[ He sounds.. really sad saying all of this. It's pitiful. His family ignores him and picks on him and that's made him feel insecure about his relationship with them. He moves forward to wrap his arms tightly around Genji's body, burrowing into him as much as he could. ]}

O-oh, but it is quite alright, heh— _{[ it's not ]} —because the more your heart is sharpened, the more beautiful and radiant it becomes, like a diamond.

[ Well. Leave it to drunk people to make things very real. He can't help but feel sorry for him, a twinge of sympathy going through him. Genji really does understand that, even though he's dealt with what happened between him and his brother at this point. ] Everyone's situation is different, Karamatsu-kun, but I do know how it feels.

[ He finds himself leaving his hand on his back, rubbing a circle there. ] You aren't wrong. We all have to let the things that happen to us make us stronger.

[ Drunken philosophy with a cyborg 101, apparently. ]

_{[ Hold the phone. Karamatsu is accustomed to feeling the need to cry on people, but when he's sober, he tries to conceal it and act tough. Here, though, there are no filters, and all he can imagine in the back of his head is Genji rejecting him— because that's how his life seems to always go. Instead, though, he feels that bit of comfort on his back, and even inhales a slight gasp from surprise. ]}

A-ah.. does it end.. though? I mean, are you ever strong enough..? And it ends? I wonder..
_{[ He trails off, but he wonders if Genji hadn't rescued him from the fire, what could have happened, if anyone would have noticed or cared. After all, "if you can't make something of yourself, you might as well kill yourself."

He has enough decency to not bring up his current thoughts, though. Ah, good ole drunken thoughts. ]}

[ Ah, there it is. If there was one thing he'd learned from his Master it was that patience always lead to the real root of the problem. It seems like these issues with his family really get to him... poor guy. He feels a little ashamed for being so exasperated a few moments before.

Genji keeps rubbing a little circle on his back. His voice is softer when he speaks again, no longer mildly befuddled. ] You will be, of that I am certain. [ He pauses a moment. ] There was a time in my life where everything hurt, Karamatsu-kun. My body, my mind and my heart— but it doesn't now.

[ A gentle pat. ] I believe that one day, it will be the same for you.

_{[ His body quakes from suppressing a hiccup. He didn't have a very rough life, mostly because he wasn't very experienced with life, but one thing that seemed to happen countless times is rejection, or harsh words, and after so much of that, repeatedly over and over, no matter how much he tried to ignore it and be strong, it hurt.

Especially when the cause was from people he cared about the most.

He just looks at Genji with a dazed look, comfortable where he despite areas on Genji's body being rough and metal on certain parts of him. Somewhere in his inebriated mind, he knows that the robotics of Genji's body is connected to his words right now, but he's a little too conceited to inquire about it right now.

Instead, he fixates back on his problem. ]}

.. You believe in me?

[ It's a shame Genji hadn't put on a shirt or something to make the harshness of his body a little less so. Alas, he didn't know he'd be comforting someone that night.

Genji's hand seems very big in comparison to Karamatsu's back. ] Of course I do. If there's one thing I have learned, it's that people are much stronger than they give themselves credit for.

_{[ He says it so easily— something Karamatsu is certain he hasn't ever really heard spoken so seriously. He really hates getting emotional in front of people, so he sucks in his breath, ignoring the sensation of hot tears filling his eyes. ]}

Oh, I see. Such wise advice.. you should give me more that I may share with other people..
Such as: how do you get people to acknowledge how strong they are?
_{[ YOU KNOW. NOT FOR HIM OR ANYTHING. NOT AT ALL. ]}

[ Genji won't tell anyone if you cry, Karamatsu, it's okay. He shifts so he's leaning on his free arm, chin on his palm, and looking down at him a bit. ] That's the hard part. Sometimes you just need to support them and have patience.

[ A pause. ] And patience with yourself is just as important. Nothing changes overnight.

_{[ what the fuck is Genji anyway.
Karamatsu can only stare through glassy eyes that are barely open, dark irises tracing over Genji's face— his face, it tells a story in and of itself. It's people like this that Karamatsu keeps on a pedestal. It's people like this— they have done things... life changing things and made some kind of impact in the world.

It's something Karamatsu wanted more than anything else: to rescue people, inspire people— to do what he can to make himself a better person and not some useless sack of organs that wasted oxygen. Genji was a hero, Reaper was a hero, and even Sombra.. she was a hero. It's people like this that made him evaluate his life even more.. but what could he do? He didn't have any special powers, or strength, or even the emotional composure to be anything. That's why he as so delusional— it made him ignore everything he wasn't.

Anyway, emotion bubbles up inside of him, quaking upward into his lips before he can bare it no longer. ]}

Genji-kuuuuun!
_{[ oh no, thse are arms around Genji's neck, yep. And if he's not expecting it, maybe they'll topple over from Karamatsu flinging himself onto his friend-mentor-savior-thing. ]}

[ He's a man that's held together with metal and wires that's Been Through Some Shit, for sure.

And it's funny that Karamatsu thinks that because there's something about normalcy that Genji finds he respects. Genji, who was given a sword by the time he could walk and expected to be a warrior... he was never given any other chance. It's a path he's accepted and carved out for himself now, on his own terms, but he doesn't think less of people who cannot fight. They're just as important, after all.

And then— Yup. With a whump that's probably heard by the poor neighbors down below, he's toppled over. Genji oofs and stares up at the ceiling as he processes the fact he now has a drunk, sad young man piled on his chest. ] Um.

[ He pats him on the back. ] You'll be okay, Karamatsu-kun. [ Whatever little serious moment they had is definitely over now. ]

_{[ And that's okay, because Karamatsu is snuggled against the cold, uncomfortable body of some guy who is half metal that he has only really met once. This is fine. He pulls his face off of Genji's chest, though he does rub his nose into him, probably dragging some snot with his movements, then looks up at Genji, propping his chin in one of his hands. ]}

A-ah.. you're right, we're having s.. s..
_{[ dramatic pause— ]}
—snuggling time, it is a lot of fun. I could do this all night, you know. It makes me feel happy.. I wonder if I did it every night it would make me happier.

_{[ !!! ]}

A-a-a, I mean! Not as if I am not happy enough as it is, you know. I have a good life.. a big family! And brothers, they love me.. I think.
_{[ wait, didn't he just say— ]}

Genji-kuuun, what about your family?

[ Stranger things have happened, surely. He turns his head to look at him when he props his head on his chest... he's not heavy at least. ] Well, I'm glad it makes you happy.

[ Genji stares back up at the ceiling for a moment. ] But being happy doesn't necessarily mean you're never sad, at least I don't think. It doesn't make you weak.

[ He laughs a little under his breath at the question. He might as well talk about himself for a moment, since he seems to want to divert the subject off himself. ] I have an older brother by three years, named Hanzo. He's very serious and far too hard on himself.

_{[ That's a strange concept to him. Karamatsu always thought sadness was a symbol of weakness, and so, he's always weak, but he conceals it!
Having just one brother seems to foreign— he's accustomed to splitting every meal or treat with one of his brothers, or sharing clothes (not like any of them really like his clothes), and never being alone no matter where you go.

Believe it or not, Karamatsu has a serious side that is also far too hard on himself, but no direction on how to improve himself. ]}

Ooh, I see.. that must be how he becomes strong, haa?
_{[ and then comes out without much thought: ]}

Does he love you like a brother? Oh, you know, that familial kind of love where you know you two can be unbeatable, where you know he will never leave your side, where you can go to him with any problem and as your big brother, he will give you guidance! Is that how it is?

_{[ Cause that's how Karamatsu wishes it would be for him. ]}

Edited 2017-09-11 15:04 (UTC)

[ Oh, if only you knew Karamatsu.

Genji looks at him and he can't help a faintly nostalgic look crossing his face. ] My brother— [ He calls him anija, if Karamatsu notices it. ] —is very strong but very troubled. I've had to be there for him, actually.

[ Genji closes his eyes. ] We were close when we were younger, but something happened and I didn't see him for a decade. I missed him a lot, more than I thought I ever would. [ For a variety of reasons. ]

_{[ Well, he's a bit too drunk to remember any of this information, but it looks like he's paying attention (and about to fall asleep any second) as he watches Genji speak with tired eyes.
He reaches over and puts his hands on Genji's face without much warning. What a .. tactile person he is, isn't he? ]}

Ah.. he probably missed you a lot too. You're good, I— _{[ hic ]}— I know, I knooow, that you're a good soul! Oi, you seem like the best, most radiant brother! You are good, Genji-kun.

_{[ and his hands drop, shoulders scrunching up as he burrows his face into Genji.
And then mutters something incoherent. This is your life, Genji. ]}

Edited 2017-09-13 04:04 (UTC)

[ He opens his eyes when Karamatsu touches his face and just sort of stares at him for a beat. Genji doesn't like to be touched without warning usually but he can't be annoyed about this situation. He almost wants to laugh, but that would be quite rude.

Once he's buried in his chest, Genji pats him on the head gently. ] You are very kind, Karamatsu-kun. I am sure you are a good brother as well... family can be difficult.

_{[ He tries.. so hard to be kind and be a good brother, but he never sees any results. He never sees himself being liked as much as he wants to be; he never receives any validation and acceptance from his family— so he has a hard time believing that. ]}

I.. think.. _{[ hic ]} aah, I think it's because there are so many in my family.. my adoration isn't enough for them.. maybe I can't care them enough for them to notice.. ah..
_{[ and just like that: ]}

Oh well. I will just keep trying!
_{[ moving onward, again: ]}

This is a good time, Genji-kun. Aaah, I feel closer to you now! I feel our souls keeping each other warm! Even if you are cold on the outside, your heart is very warm. ♡

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

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