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

ii!

[pulledpunches]

[ He'd already been tired, and the climb up to floor 15 was a long one, exhaustion settling in his bones more and more with each floor. He would have been embarrassed to be practically nodding off after a while were he not so damn tired- this was his floor, right? It had to be, he'd gone up so many floors.

This confidence meant the only thing he initially found out of place when woke up, still groggy, was that he'd apparently managed to wrap himself like a burrito in his blankets instead of getting in bed like a normal person. A moment later, though, as he sat up running a hand over his face, he'd realize that there was... a stranger on the floor by the bed?

He frowns in confusion- he managed to get in the same bed as his were he on the correct floor, so he doesn't immediately realize his mistake. After a moment's hesitation, he kneels to lightly shake the mans shoulder. ]

Hey... are you alright? [ Maybe they'd gotten disoriented? Why else would they be here? (Oh, Akihiko.) ]

OH NO what a cute tag

[tenthousandmiles]

[Ah, they're awake. And ... asking if he's alright? Oh dear. He opens his eye and shifts, so he's leaning up against the wall, peering at the boy carefully.]

Mm, I should be asking you that question, I think.

[Seeing as you're in his room and evidently haven't figured that out, yet. Which...is actually legitimately concerning, honestly.]

Do you know where you are?

AHH thank you!! gotta do my best for ginko haha

[pulledpunches]

[ The little wrinkle between his brows only deepens at the initial reply. Akihiko wasn't the one sleeping on the ground? He started to reply but paused at the question. ]

Yes? You were next to my bed..

[ There was a laugh in his voice, until his gaze swept over the room as if to prove a point... and none of the personal items in the room were familiar... oh, yikes. This was probably one of the most embarrassing situations he's gotten into, feeling his face heat up. ]

Oh boy. Oh, wow, sorry. How did I- I'm really sorry. [ He'd rather make a getaway and maybe never talk to the stranger again, but he should at least apologize. He can go dig his own grave right after. ]

dhsjfksng well i hope my ginko doesn't disappoint hehe

[tenthousandmiles]

[Ginko looks a little amused at Akihiko's dawning realization and embarrassment, but he's quick to shake his head.]

It's alright.

[Really, it's not a big deal to him--but then, few things are. You don't live the kind of life he has and get possessive over where you sleep. It's the "how did I--" part that he's concerned about, honestly.]

What do you remember of last night?

he's perfect!

[pulledpunches]

Ah- I'd not been drinking, or anything!

[ He obviously misunderstood the point of the question, raising his hands as if to ward off any assumptions. ]

I'd just been at the end of doing errands, and I guess I'd been tired enough I got off on the wrong stop for getting up to my room without realizing it.

[ He laughs, scratching his cheek sheepishly. ] I think the wildest I got was getting a hot cider? Anyway, sorry again. [ Letting out a breath, he pushes himself back up to start to make his escape, feeling his explanation was sound. ]

<33 thank you!

[tenthousandmiles]

Relax, I'm not angry.

[And true to his word, Ginko looks and sounds perfectly calm. He's also not making any move to stop Akihiko from leaving, but he doesn't look in any particular hurry to be rid of the company, either.]

...Did the cider happen to have that "flavor additive" that's been talked about, recently?

[It's a guess, really. He doesn't have anything but a hunch based on his prior suspicions about the additive. Maybe this kid really did just get overtired and end up in the wrong room by mistake. That would be the preferable outcome, for Ginko, but he wants to check, just in case.]

[pulledpunches]

[ There's some relief, at least, that his unintentional host isn't at all shaken up and that Akihiko took enough initial alarm for the both of them. He pauses at the question. ]

Yeah, actually.

[ Akihiko was never one to miss out on a new experience. With that curiosity, though, he can't help but pipe up again. ] Why do you ask?

[tenthousandmiles]

[Hmmm. Well, that certainly isn't proof, but it sure does line up with his suspicions pretty neatly, doesn't it.]

Curiosity, I suppose.

[Well, it's not untrue.]

About when did you have it, do you remember?

[pulledpunches]

[ Well that's not a loaded vague reply that does nothing to settle the unformed questions starting to rear up at the odd line of conversation; he hadn't been going to make any excuses for his own blunder, but it appears his host is on to something. Maybe. A frown at Ginko's own question, but he's obviously more interested in learning more than making a break for it now. ]

Hmm, I stopped at a kiosk maybe around 8 or 9 as I was heading home? I was kind of late getting back, so I would have been a little tired anyway.

[ His tone clearly lets on he didn't think he would have been quite that tired. ]

Er, I think I may have left the cup in your fridge, so I can grab that on my way out. [ Not usually one to waste things, Akihiko will probably be dumping that now that he knows. ]

[tenthousandmiles]

Fridge?

[what's a fridge .... u mean u don't preserve ur perishables with salt or smoking or by putting it in an underground cellar....anyway. He shakes his head, waving off the question to address properly later.]

If it was during the day, I could be more sure of a connection, but...it's possible that the additive could have interacted with your exhaustion, somehow.

[But is that too simple a solution? How could that explain the oddly individualized effects of the additive on individuals...?]

Do you feel alright now?

[pulledpunches]

[ Now feeling awkward with being the one standing in the middle of the room as the man lounges on his own floor, he folds his legs under him to sit as well, putting them on the same level. He politely takes the dismissal of the man's question- he's already met a few people who'd not known what a cell phone was, and while fridges seem like more of a... staple, who's he to judge?

He scratches at the back of his head at the question. ]

Hmm. Yeah, I think so. Could it have been the steam, maybe? Are you worried about the additive itself? [ He supposes that makes sense, thinking of the pollen that had caused memory loss just last month. He distantly finds himself wishing he could be more helpful with his own break-in. ]

[tenthousandmiles]

[He scoots over slightly to give Akihiko room when he chooses to sit down himself, though he makes no remark on it--choosing instead to focus on the matter at hand.]

A bit, yeah.

[Despite his earlier vagueness, it's an honest answer. He's been worried about the additive ever since he first heard about it.]

I've had a suspicion for awhile, really. The sort of properties that have been claimed wouldn't be possible through normal means, in my world.

[but he can't LOOK INTO IT because none of the shopkeepers will tell him!! anything!!! #rude tbh]

[pulledpunches]

[ Hm. He wonders what that implies for the details about Ginko's world, but doesn't immediately press. Instead, he hums in thought. ]

We didn't either.. we had color changing stuff but that was just a chemical balance thing.

[ Plus, about a billion different restrictive diets (and also the FDA?) would have demanded a much more in depth explanation than seems to be required, here. He guesses though, they get away with it because he'd just assumed this place was more advanced than back home. ]

If there was a way to check, we could just.. buy more of the food as samples. [ Sure, it bolsters the sale of potentially conspicuous goods, but if it helps in the end..? ]