riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: DRAGOSTA

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introductory mingle: DRAGOSTA

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Dragosta celebration
when: The month of September.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

dragosta

In the days leading up to September 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: Dragosta. This holiday is in celebration of romantic love, and seen as a time of the year for Quarantine residents to try to find someone special to cuddle up with in preparation for the cold winter months. Romantic love is highly valued in Riverview Quarantine, as it can foster an incredible sense of wellness and belonging, and is often the cornerstone of found families as well as biological ones. While there are no official city-sponsored parties, there are various holiday traditions and a paid day off on September 8th so anyone who wants to indulge in them with their loved one can do so.

a celebration of romantic love

Rather than anything structured and organized by the city, Dragosta is a celebration usually left up to the citizens of the city to organize for themselves - there are a few traditions that many businesses (obviously) capitalize on, mainly the tradition of special date nights with small gifts exchanged for people who've already matched up or want to. There are also various singles dances intended to help people without partners find someone to share the special holiday with, and a tradition among the various magic users in the city of preparing soul mate potions and spells intended to help people find the person they're meant to be with.

i. soulmates

Almost as soon as it hits midnight on August 31st, booths and street corner vendors are popping up all around the city offering various magical potions and spells in little rows of bottles. The number of types are overwhelming, with a different concoction available for every type of magic that exists across thousands of different worlds. But the purpose of every single bottle and its contents is exactly the same: to help you find love. Specifically, these are the traditional magics that promise to give anyone who uses them the ability to find or identify their soulmate.

These little bits of magic can have various effects on the person using them (reminiscent of the soulmate trope in fiction), depending on the type of magic and the person who prepared them, and the options are almost endless. There are a few comfortable standbys, though, that pop up pretty much every year:

● Rainbow Potion: Tiny bottles of a soft rainbow-colored potion that affects the vision. Once drunk, the potion will remove the partaker's ability to see in color until the first time they meet their soulmate after ingestion, then all the colors will come flooding back.
● Time Spell: Purchasing a time spell will get you a little vial of liquid with a tiny hourglass inside. Pouring out the liquid and turning the tiny hourglass will result in the appearance of a timer counting down on the partaker's skin somewhere - like a moving tattoo, it will count down the days, hours, minutes, and even seconds until the person will meet their soulmate for the first time after the spell is initiated.
● Red Thread: Some residents might've heard of the legend of the red thread of fate, a red thread that is tied between the ankles or little fingers of two people destined to fall in love. Tiny jars with a delicate red thread attached to a note (the contents of which are unreadable) are sold to invoke this legend. Once opened, the user should tie the red thread around their smallest finger on the left side and a red thread only that person and their soulmate can see will appear, tying them together. It may stretch or tangle, but will never break.
● Ink Potion: Small vials of a mysterious black liquid are one of the more common offerings - this liquid, once carefully spread on a portion of the partaker's skin, will result in a tattoo-like marking in a particular shape, that matches the marking that magically appeared on their soulmate!

While these are the most common types, there are almost infinite numbers of other types of potions, spells, and magics intended to help people find their soulmates, of varying type and quality.

A Few OOC Guidelines:
● Soulmate potions/spells can be used multiple times with different partners, and the effect can last as long (or as briefly) as you want it to.
● Since there is a wide variation of different types of potions/spells, they can vary in effectiveness. Feel free to use this prompt for either serious shipping or silly pairings for comedic effect.
● There is no compulsion involved in this prompt. The potions/spells will only show the character who their supposed soulmate is, not compel them to fall in love with the other character.
● Because there is no compulsion or alteration of behavior involved, and all effects are temporary and mildly annoying at most, characters ARE allowed to use them on other characters without asking. If your character wouldn't take one of the potions/spells, one of their friends can definitely spike their drink with a potion or use a spell on their behalf. Also, only one party has to use the potion/spell in order for it to work, both parties do not have to partake, though it is up to player discretion how heavily affected the person who did not partake is.
● A long list of trope ideas and variations can be found here. I've only included specific potions/spells for the most common ones I've seen, but please go as wild as you'd like with the types of potions and effects they have, so long as everyone involved is on the same page.
● Mod questions and plotting regarding this prompt can be found here.

ii. singles dances

All around the city, various businesses are hosting and sponsoring singles dances. These dances are an ancient tradition of Dragosta, originating from the reality of a very early group of displaced arrivals. Observed since the founding of Riverview Quarantine, the events have grown and changed with the times, still serving the interests of the modern citizen. The dances will be advertised throughout the city and range in quality, size, and tone, but they will always have the same objective and methodology: to match people up based on chemistry on the dance floor.

All singles or polyamorous pairings/groups looking to add additional members will sign in at the dance of their choice, and attach nametags or stickers to their clothing - pink, blue, or purple to indicate their preferences in partner (female, male, or any), and a "P" or "D" for "poly" or "duo" to indicate their preference for a polyamorous match-up or only one partner. Once they've indicated these preferences, they head out onto the dance floor, where they can either seek out someone they're interested in or wait for someone to come to them. As the dance goes on, and one person approaches another (or a group or pair), the person (or people) approached can either accept or reject the advances, and after finding someone with chemistry, the happy couple (or triad, etc.) can leave the floor together.

Every person who attends and participates will receive vouchers for free dinners and discounts or gift cards for various places in the city to have a nice dinner and get a present for a new paramour, or two or three...!

iii. date nights

This one is pretty simple: restaurants, clubs, hotels, movie theatres, and anything else in the city that might even vaguely be construed as a date location will be offering romantic date night packages, discounts, and other promotions to the lovebirds of the city. There are a few highly-anticipated special events that crop up every year, though.

One of the most popular are the movies in the park, hosted on almost every night of the month, these are romantic comedies and other good date movies from dozens of realities featuring romantic stories in a multitude of different configurations. Lovers are encouraged to bring a picnic blanket and settle on the grass for a nice relaxed show, or tickets can be bought for special experiences such as the mini-deck, with romantic table settings, wine, and catering with a waiter, or the cuddlebug, where a comfortable couch is set up with popcorn and blankets for the lucky lovebirds to curl up on together. The variations are endless!

Another popular option is a retro-futuristic drive-in experience, where any type of vehicle can be driven up to a temporary drive-in diner for a meal, and then pull up to a temporary outdoor theatre. Once parked, the lovebirds can "park" - that is, cuddle and neck in the car to their hearts' content, probably instead of actually watching the movie.

For this prompt, any type of date night discount is cool to assume, or make a mingle top-level with a special event of your own imagining and earn bonus activity points!

iv. kiss and tell

Something a little different is happening during Dragosta this year - one of the magic researchers at Gramarye, who was recently married and only just returned from her honeymoon, got hit with a confusion spell by accident. A little muddled and love-drunk, she acted on her intense desire to make everyone in the city feel just as happy as her, and shared the love by whipping up a potent spell to do so. As a result, residents will see bright little glowing 'fairy lights' floating around the city throughout the entire month of September. What do the fairy lights do, though?

Two or more characters walking under one of these glowing, floating lights will get stuck for one hour, trapped inside an invisible enclosure with an approximate three foot radius. The only options are to either wait out the hour, or to kiss! Characters will know they're meant to kiss, because part of the magic spell is the sudden and intense knowledge that they should kiss in order to break free. There is no compulsion to kiss, just the knowledge that that's how to get free. What the characters won't immediately know is that any kind of kiss will work - a hand, forehead, cheek, or butterfly kiss will work just as well as a kiss on the mouth, but that will require some experimentation to find out.

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up the mod-posted prompt to create a Communal Housing floor mingle. Or, if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during Dragosta, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: Anya Goo; image ii & iv: unknown; image iii: Raphael Grimm

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[ Gladio makes an annoyed half-growl at the stubborn handle, but the solution is clear. He doesn't know how, but the understanding comes to him as if he's known it all his life. Somewhere, in the wide wild multiverse gathered here, some beings out there were doing the magical equivalent of a child making two dolls kiss.

Gladio turns to Genji and leans his weight on one arm against the door. ]

Guess it can't be helped.

[ If Genji thinks that means he's settling in to wait it out, he's got another thing coming. He's not going to just hang around a balcony for an hour when he has shit to do. Gladio is all too aware of the negligible space they're crowded into, thanks to the fairie light, and he's hoping that there's a way they can satisfy whatever likely-giggling entity is out there enough to take a hike. ]

Alright. [ Gladio sees his reflection in Genji's visor and sighs. ] Pucker up, old man.

[ Genji doesn't really have any concept of magic, so this whole situation is pretty vexing to him. He wants to think of it as some hard light construct because that's familiar, tell Hana to try to find the source generator and destroy it. But that's demonstrably not the case and Genji—

He startles a little, only barely visibly by the slight uptick of his shoulders. ] I—

[ Hell. He doesn't want to be stuck out here either. And he hears a faint rumbling in the distance, like it could be rain...

Genji puts his hands on his hips. ] That's your line? At least let me wash my dentures first.

Edited 2017-09-05 19:14 (UTC)

[ Gladio is the type of man who enjoys banter, teases, even wrestles his friends on the floor long after they've tapped out just because it's funny. It's not out of cruelty, but usually the result of an endless war of pranking that had been long forgotten who was the one who started it. So when Genji's shoulders start at that one syllable, Gladio can't help but grin. ]

Sure, take your time.

[ He's also getting a little closer, leaning into his personal space, playing a game of gay chicken. And yes, still teasing him. ]

Wait, this isn't gonna be bad for your heart, is it? You need to sit down for this --

[ Big, fat drops of rain splash down on his arm and cheek and he instinctively flinches to wipe it off. ]

-- The hell?

[ Now it's his turn to recognize it. That cooler gust of air that tells him of a storm front coming in. A big one. ]

Seriously?!

[ Genji can handle plenty of teasing, so he doesn't need to worry about that. He stays still as Gladio gets closer; he's comfortable enough with himself at this point that 'gay chicken' doesn't even phase him.

His poor heart, on the other hand, is another story. Because it still drives Genji a little crazy that Gladio doesn't remember what happened and it feels almost cruel now for this to even occur. Well, it's not like he's the one who caused the faerie light to get them stuck here...

His HUD alerts him to the oncoming rain, winds and pressure change and he sighs. There's already a water droplet on the green v of light there. ] Unless you want to get soaked to the bone, we should be quick about this I suppose.

[ ...maybe he can just smooch his face plate? That'd honestly be so much easier. ]

Fine, let's get this show on the road then.

[ And look, he can catch a glimpse of his own (slightly warped) reflection in his visor. His smile broadens as he holds his masked face with both hands. ]

Why hello, beautiful.

[ Yes, he's smooth talking his reflection for laughs, then plants a noisy kiss onto it, hamming it up for the fairie lights who appear dead set on getting people to kiss at any moment. He pulls back with a pop and a smudge left on Genji's visor and...

Nothing happens. Gladio's smile fades and the rain continues to soak through everything, plastering his hair to his skin and his clothes to his body. He can feel his body heat being snatched quickly away. He shivers, his breath misting the air. ]

What gives?

[ Genji could not possibly roll his eyes any more. ] Hilarious. [ He wasn't a walking mirror, for crying out loud.

But he makes a face from behind it when he smooches it, the smudge going over into his line of sight. Ew. ] I'm fully expecting you to clean this off later.

[ But when the lights don't vanish and they still appear to be stuck on a balcony that's soon to be drenched he frowns. ] I guess my helmet doesn't count. [ He was hoping this wouldn't be the case but... with a sigh, he undoes the lock on his helmet and peels it off. ] Let's try it again, I suppose? Before hypothermia sets in.

After a hot shower.

[ Gladio stresses the words, suppressing the urge to have his teeth chatter as his core temperature starts to drop. He's not dressed for a sudden downpour as the seasons shift toward cooler air. This sucks.

The chill gives Gladio more of a sense of urgency that chases away the joviality he previously had, taking the fairie light and whatever other weirdness in quarantine in stride. This is hardly the most sinister of bizarre events but perhaps one of the most ill-timed. As such, Gladio crowds up on Genji with a bit too much haste, eager to put this behind them so he can get inside where it's drier and warmer.

He aims for spot on his cheek as Genji lowers the face-plate, perhaps should have waited until his attention wasn't occupied with it's removal removal. ]

[ He snorts. ] Far enough—

[ Genji's moving to react to him suddenly being very close, taking in breath to continue speaking. He holds his helmet in one hand and drops it just as he turns his head to—

End up brushing his lips right against Gladio's.

He ends up making a weird little shocked sound in the back of his throat, but finds himself rooted in place like all of his joints just suddenly locked up. ]

[ There's time enough for Gladio to flinch back at the initial brush. Not enough to avert the touch of their lips, but certainly enough to divert course... laugh it off with a playful shove at his shoulder and put it behind them. But that doesn't happen. Maybe it's the fairie lights to blame, maybe it's some lingering memory that wasn't necessarily his so much as that older, weary soldier who wanted to chase away the darkness with a distraction. Maybe it's something else - a sudden fit of adventurousness or some attraction he'd not come to grips with yet.

Whatever the cause, the response is a light press of lips that doesn't move. It lingers even when the rain comes down in sheets, soaking them through. A dull roll of thunder as Gladio pulls back half an inch, watching Genji's scarred face. ]

... [ Even with the rush of the storm drowning everything else out, he swears he can hear their breathing and his brain just stops. ]

[ He almost drops his helmet as a wave of warmth rushes through him at that gentle press. Genji's done all he can to deny the attraction he still felt, simmering deep in his stomach, from those hazy memories of a night that meant nothing to him. Well, nothing to the person he used to be. He'd done his best to forget it these past couple months, almost doing so, but this...

Genji stares up back him, studying his face. The heat of their breath is the only warmth to be found, although he doesn't take much notice of the cold. He's silent a moment before he finds himself leaning in again to cover his lips. What was he doing! ]

[ Gladio's eyes track Genji as he closes that negligible distance between them and he could pull back, obviously but he doesn't. He remains still, letting Genji kiss him full on the lips before he melds his mouth more firmly against his, tilting his head to an angle as he returns it with renewed force.

He leans in, his body craving warmth as the rain continues to steal his, his hip hitting the helmet as he moves, prompting him to raise a hand and grip the edge of it close to Genji's hand. He slowly pulls it from his hand and lets it fall to the floor. Every unpleasantly cold drop of water that hits his body and crawls into his clothes is felt with a distant awareness, but his focus is instead on Genji, fascinated by the sudden plot twist.

Huh, interesting. ]

[ This was a really bad idea, as far as he was concerned. It wasn't even fair because he was apparently the only one who remembers, and this was dangerously close to taking advantage—

It's nice, though. The way he leans in and the rough, warm touched of his lips. But this is as far as it can go, as far as Genji wants it to go. And they're going to be drenched from the rain soon enough as it is.

Genji puts a hand up to Gladio's chest when they start to part, gently pushing him away. His breath is hoarse and his upper lip has a pinker hue than it's typical ashy tone. He swallows again. ] I think— We should head inside. Before you catch cold.

[ Gladio is a hair away from letting that hand roam, but it gets only as far as skimming through the riverlets of water snaking down the cybernetic arm and mere inches from grasping his waist when the hand pushes against his chest, snapping him out of it.

The light is gone, and with it the barrier that held them in place. Gladio blinks through the moisture that collects on his lashes and gives his head a shake to loosen water from his hair. ]

Huh?

[ Right, they're just. That did the trick, then. Obviously. ]

...Yeah, it's -

[ Suddenly aware of how he's been crowding Genji against the door to the apartment, he pulls back and takes a few more steps than necessary to withdraw from his personal space. He scrubs through his hair and palms the moisture from his face, but it's no use. He gestures to the door. ]

Mind if I track water into the place or should I just wait until we get some towels out?

[ As if everything is fine, normal, like any other day ending in y. ]

[ Even though in his heart and mind he knows it's the right thing to do, Genji still feels like a bit of an ass. He thought he'd had better self control than this... he needed to meditate. For a while. A very long while.

He just hopes nothing was tarnished between them. Boundaries are important.

Genji picks up his helmet and shakes out some water as Gladio takes a few steps away. ] Why don't you stay in the kitchen and I'll go get some? [ There was less water soaking into him anyway.

With that he slides into the apartment and wipes his feet on the mat right inside. Genji takes a deep breath before he heads to the linen closet. ]

[ Gladio nods and enters the kitchen, dripping and... hell, he's freezing. Obviously he can't stay in sopping wet clothes, so it's while Genji goes off to fetch a dry towel that he peels off his sodden clothes, wringing them out in the sink. And, because he's not living alone, he calls out over his shoulder in warning: ]

Slightly more naked than usual, fair warning.

[ Hang on, is Hana even here? Well, at least Genji won't come back to see him dressed down to some very wet trunks and nothing else without a heads up. But as casual as he forces his tone, he understands there's an uncomfortable silence that settled between the lines they say to one another. Awkward, but... not unpleasant. Gladio just wonders if maybe this is going to make it awkward in a more permanent sense. ]

...Glad I wasn't wearing my boots.

[ Genji calms himself as he grabs some towels, taking a deep breath from the bottom of his lungs and exhaling it through his mouth. It's fine. It was just a means to an end, after all. Nothing has changed, for good or bad.

He hears the 'warning' and can't help a little laugh as he heads back. In this apartment it seemed clothing was starting to be an 'optional' sort of thing, wasn't it? (Well, he did walk around in armor most of the time so he really couldn't complain.)

He enters back into the kitchen area and... really? Did he have to be so damn attractive all the time? Terrible. Genji mentally grumbles as he heads over and offers a big, fluffy towel to his friend with a smile. ] Small favors, I suppose. Would you like some coffee or tea to warm up?

[ See, nothing awkward. It's all fine. Genji takes his own towel and starts to wipe off his shoulders. He taps at one of his ports and there's a quick little poof as some rainwater is expelled from it. ]

[ Gladio is relieved when he shows up, immediately leaving the wet clothes in the sink for now as he reaches for the towel. ]

Yeah, either is perfect.

[ He has half a mind to inquire if that's all there is on the menu of body warmth options, but decides the hand on his chest from before they came back inside sent a clear enough message. And seeing as Genji has returned to that same calm he knows him for, he busies himself with toweling off.

Just in time to get hit with a puff of water. ]

Hey!

[ Gladio fires off a quick glare.

Then twists up his towel to snap it at him. Obviously it won't do much if it hits anywhere metal, but it does break the ice into something back to horsing around. ]

[ Genji can't help a little snort at that; it wasn't intentional but it was still quite funny. ] Apologies, but I think you'll live.

[ He readies himself as he twists the towel, reaching out with a slight after image of green light to grab it as he flicks it at him. Cybernetic reflexes and all, very handy. Genji just raises a rough brow in response. ] Really now? This is hardly a locker room.

[ With that, he tosses the towel up and over his face and goes to start the coffee maker. (And not think about the long scar on Gladio's chest, nope.) ]

[ Woah. Gladio stares back, wide-eyed and starting forward in amazement as Genji moves faster than his eyes can really register, leaving behind an after-image not unlike how Noctis can with his Warp ability. Of course, the towel falling over his face hides it and muffles his response. ]

...Says the walking shower head.

[ Gladio's retort has lost whatever steam it would have had as he stares after Genji, then just starts scrubbing his wet hair with the towel. ]

What was that just now, anyway? Cyber stuff?

[ He catches that brief look of amazement and inwardly preens a little. Yup, still got it. But then his comment causes a very confused, mildly astonished look to pass over his face. ] Shower head? That's a new one.

[ He's not offended however, just smirks a little and snickers to himself as he goes to start the coffee. (And remembers to not put three scoops too many into it, like last time. He forgets that everyone else doesn't have a dulled sense of taste sometime.)

He hums in agreement. ] It is. Since my muscles aren't organic and don't get strained, I'm able to react faster than normal. [ Scoop, scoop. ] My old commander had me do drills deflecting shotgun blasts.

[ Is that the first time he's mentioned Reyes around Gladio...? It's a bit easier to talk about the man since their emotional conversation. ]

[ Shower fit better than sprinkler system. Gladio just continues to dry his hair as he talks. He reaches into the sink to grab his damp clothes and brings it over to the hamper for washing when he gathers up the rest of his laundry. ]

Are we talking slugs or...?

[ If he's saying scattershot, that's insane. Returning to the kitchen, Gladio lets the towel settle around his neck, gripping the ends of the towel with his hands. ]

Wait hold up - you can't just go scooping the coffee like that.

[ He stares at Genji, disbelieving. ]

You gotta huff it.

[ Genji shrugs a shoulder. ] Slugs, scattershot, either or. It wasn't an issue. [ ...humble brag? Maybe.

He then looks at Gladio with a truly perplexed expression on his face. ] ...huff it? [ Is this some new hip thing The Youth does? ]

What, don't have a sense of smell?

[ That's bullshit, he's seen your face. It's scarred but surely he still can smell. Granted, that lower half of his mouth probably meant replacing his tongue but here's for hoping he can still make use of some of his senses. Gladio takes a hand off one end of the towel and places it on the back of Genji's neck.

He lifts the container of coffee grounds and sniffs it. Deeply. Lifts his head up and sighs. ]

Ungh... [ Only true caffeine addicts understand the ecstasy of huffing coffee grounds. It smells like a sensory orgasm for your nose or something. ]

Oh. [ He isn't... really sure what he thought Gladio meant there. For a second he thought the other man was literally going to snort the grounds. (Look, he got up to some wild things when he was younger. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing he'd ever seen.) ] Of course I do—

[ Oh. That was certainly... a thing. And it did nothing to stop Genji trying to not remember that night in a hotel. So he clears his throat... loudly. ] I am more of a tea drinker myself.

[ Have a nudge with a pointy elbow, why are you so close!! ]

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introductory mingle: DRAGOSTA

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#blessed

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