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

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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

That's right, I did. [ He says it with an air of finality as he nods once, eyebrows knit together. Don't you get all smart with him, lady. He's a smart and prepared man and he took precautions and made sure to ask all the questions he had to. (And yet there's still a stranger on his bed but never mind that. It's not really his fault.) ]

Well, it's... uh. Nice? Nice. To meet you. [ More or less nice. Would be nicer in different circumstances. Also she's saying her name and while he'll pronounce it correctly, he's definitely thinking of a completely different spelling. ]

Is that easy? Finding a place outside of communal housing? [ He glances at her, then quickly looks away again. ] Could you just— could you put some clothes on? Please. Or just, I don't know. Cover yourself.

How through of you. [ Still, she doesn't seem too keen on moving, kind of slouched back against the wall, long legs arranged in a haphazard manner that was comfortable for the moment. She's a lanky thing, sometimes positions that didn't look at all like they could be comfortable were best in a certain situation. Either way, this whole episode seems to be amusing (for Re-L only) - and she's definitely keen to give him a bit more a ribbing before she moves on and hopefully finds her way back to her own apartment. ]

Is it actually, though? [ Even she would've preferred a different set of situations for this meeting, if she's honest. ]

It's easy when you want the hell out of sharing space with other people. [ That's to say that she's controlling as hell about her space and it had propelled her to find her own as soon as she knew a budget area to look in. And possibly stretch a little, knowing her and hr champagne tastes. ]

Why is it that everyone here is so concerned about showing skin? I thought I came from perhaps the most conservative place a person could know and yet I've never seen anyone in Romdeau react the way about a body as I have people in this place. [ Sure, it wasn't the best way for other people to see a fellow citizen, but it wasn't that bad. ]

[ He can tell by now she's just poking her own bit of fun at him, but he can't help give her just the sort of reaction she's likely hoping for, huffing and frowning like he is. Still, he's not about to leave either, so instead he turns around and presses his back to the side of the bed, legs and arms both crossed. ]

Funny thing to say, when you apparently found your way back in here somehow. [ He points out, this time not glancing over to her. ] And you'll have to excuse me if, coming from 1918, I'm not that accustomed to the sight of a woman who's a stranger to me in her underclothes. In my bed, no less. I've got nothing against bodies, it's just... not proper. That's all.

Apparently. But I think this place will think of more embarrassing situations to end up in yet, for all of us, before it's done. [ She's seen some shit, Steve. You'll see within a few months, it's a bit like constant chaos with all of these festivals and parties going on with dubious materials being passed about like alien candy. If she weren't the type to typically be incredibly careful she might've landed herself in much worse situations than harassing him in his bedroom right now.

Still, she gets a round about idea with the words 'proper' and 'underclothes' to make a good enough next question : ]

I'm not saying you have to be used to it - just that some would take a moment to appreciate nice things. [ Because, yes, she knows she's aesthetically pleasing. It was kind of a thing for fellow citizens to be. And, well, she's found a few nice things since being here too. ]

I would also say you'd benefit, here, to get used to things not being so archaic.

Great. All things to look forward to.

[ He kids, of course. He definitely doesn't look forward to any other opportunity this place creates that will embarrass the hell out of him. But he will certainly be very careful about what he eats, drinks, touches and even smells from this point onwards. ]

Nice? What's so nice? I mean, I'm not saying— I'm not looking— [ He's babbling, good God. Why must he have things like this happen to him. ] Look, that's not the point! I'm not appreciating anything. Nor do I want to.

Well, might as well warn you since you seem so easily flustered. [ It's a truth at least, so far as she can tell. It's kind of endearing in an odd way, someone who seems to be so damn intent on not looking and 'embarrassing' her or something to that effect. Not that she's used to staring, either, but .. any little difference is something to appreciate as a new reaction. And, well, she's not really the type to be shy at all.

In fact the way he reacts to her egoism actually may get a little bit of a rare laugh out of her. The attempt to catch himself afterward is even better, but he won't even realized the rarity of even that low chuckle and crinkle at the corner of her eyes. It melts away into neutrality quickly enough, maybe a play of the light in the end - ]

Such a good boy. Someone must be proud of you somewhere. [ It's not her, though.. fine, she'll take a little pity on him, locating what appears to be an over sized t-shirt (actually a tshirt dress) and sliding it over her head. A more casual wardrobe had its perks, didn't it? ]

Better, now?

[ He wants to protest, to say that he does not get that easily flustered, but she'd never believe him. All evidence points to the contrary, and... well, the evidence is not wrong. At least in this place, it doesn't take much to make Steve fluster.

It's not a situation he's wholly unfamiliar with, though. Her ease and nonchalance about how little she's wearing brings a memory to the surface, a memory he's been trying not to think about. Diana would be the same, he realizes. She wouldn't care about nudity, she wouldn't be hindered by the same notions of propriety that have Steve flustering and fumbling right now— that had him flustering and fumbling a few times during his time with Diana, too.

It's a bit of a bittersweet memory, and his empty gaze is fixed on the floor when Re-L speaks again, snapping him out of his thoughts. ]

It's... yes. Actually, it is. [ He manages a faint smile before looking away again, though for different reasons now. ] Thank you.

[ A good decision, lest he give her more to chuckle over. In a way she's being giving, putting on something as he's asked her to several times, but sitting here this way is obviously not conducive to having a little bit of conversation. Which.. she may as well have if she's going to be up at this kind of ungodly hour in some random place. Her legs cross, taking up considerably less bed than she previously might've, tucking her ankles beneath her knees.

There's no way she's getting back to sleep by the time she gets back to her apartment, by now, may as well accept her fate as a night owl.

She's not so blind as to miss that something's gone on or changed with him, though, head tipping slightly to the side, owlishly, eyes narrowing as he looks away again.

Re-L is much too curious and forward for her own good, as per usual - ]

What changed, just now? [ Just because she's emotionally constipated doesn't mean she doesn't spot these things out. ]

What? [ He raises a brow at her, curious and confused both. ] Nothing. Don't know what you mean.

[ He does, in fact, know what she means. For all he's good at putting on a façade and acting out a role, sometimes it's not so easy for him to mask his own emotions, stop them from bubbling to the surface. He learned quickly that anything involving Diana makes him far more vulnerable than he'd care to admit. Years of being a good spy didn't do him any good at all, the moment she stepped onto that ballroom in that blue dress.

And it does him no good now, when his mind is flooded with memories and thoughts of her. He feels as though he's struggling against a wild tide, trying to build a dam that's been shattered to pieces. ]

Should I settle for the couch, then? If you're going to make my bed your own for the night.

You know if you're going to try and toss me off like that, you're going to lose every time. [ She almost wants to crane a foot out and poke him with her toe for that, but refrains. She's tortured the man's life enough by appearing in his bed and daring to be half naked when she did so, after all. Plus.. if he's here in the Quarantine she'd definitely run in to him again, so no need to go full hog right then and there. Curiosity, though, will keep her where she is, still giving him that expectant look as if she knows him enough to demand answers like that. ]

I may not technically be an Inspector, here, but it would take someone dense not to have seen that. [ But then he brings up the couch and an irritated grumble rolls up her throat before she can stop it. ]

And now you're changing the subject. Or, well, attempting to.

[ Steve isn't particularly offended by her pushing him to talk, but his reaction is instinctive nonetheless. He doesn't appreciate anyone who tries to make him talk when he doesn't want to, and his knee-jerk reaction to rebuff is all the stronger when he barely knows the person. ]

Look, I don't care if I look like your friend. I'm not him, so stop that. You don't know me, and I'm not going to talk to you about anything I don't want to, so you may as well stop trying to pry it out of me.

[ Jaw clenching and relaxing as he clears the surge of emotion from his mind, he gets to his feet, making his way to the couch and lying down there, pulling the blanket draped over the back to partly cover himself. ]

Touchy. [ Re-L doesn't seem particularly moved by his snipe, though, but if he's not going to talk this is going to get boring, fast, and she has her own comfortable bed to get back to. Granted, she's used to people who practically play dead instead of showing any kind of emotion, so being prying and getting some back lash for it is definitely something new. ]

Well, if you're not going to talk... [ Sure he's just settled in to the couch, but she had somewhere to be. She moves to stand and looks around, her shoes missing before she spots them, ironically closer to the little couch area, one standing where she'd slipped it off and the other tipped over. ] There they are.

.. Have your bed. I'm not particularly interested in yours when I have my own waiting for me.

[ He realizes mere seconds later how harsh he was. He's not used to people asking things like that and prying out of the blue, granted, but it's not something he's usually so sensitive about. It might be the particular topic, the memories that caused that shift in him that had him feeling more guarded, or maybe just the fact that she kicked him out of his own bed, but... still, it's no excuse. ]

I'm sorry. [ He mutters, and it's quiet enough that, were they in a place a little more crowded, she might not even hear him. ] It's just... complicated. I'm not comfortable talking about it right now.

[ Someday, maybe, only with certain people. But not now, not yet. ]

Oh, don't worry. I don't have feelings enough for you to hurt them. [ Really, she's tougher than that, these days. He isn't quite Daedalus completely replacing her with a perfect clone, or even anything close. Steve's a stranger at any rate, and Re-L isn't very likely to take to heart anything he has to say for the moment.

At least she's not yanking his chain some more, but then again.. he doesn't know her enough to know just how truthful she's being at the moment. ]

[ Steve glances at her, though he's quiet all the while. Seems like an odd thing to say, but then, he doesn't know her nearly enough to pry. Much less so after he snapped at her for trying to stick her nose in his own business.

Either way, she's leaving, and whatever tone their first meeting might end in, he's glad for that, and eager to regain the privacy and comfort of his own bedroom. So he lets her get ready in silence, eyes fixed on the ceiling. ] Good night, then.

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

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