You've seen the flyer. Or maybe you haven't. Whatever your reasons may be, you've decided to log onto ViViD today at around 6 PM. At first, all seems normal as the game loads, and you prepare to start on what should be an average adventure. Maybe you'll do a little fighting, or some exploring, or even a little platforming. Either way, there shouldn't be anything unusual about this.
Right?
You couldn't have been more wrong. The moment you log in, something goes strange. The game glitches around you, whatever world that started to load seizing up and freezing with static, warping with strange colors. And then a different setting loads smoothly like nothing ever happened. The first thing you notice is that it's sprawling and beautiful, if not a little ostentatious. Should your curiosity draw you from the courtyard you've arrived in through the great double doors, you'll arrive in...
... a ballroom. Welcome to prom. |
PHASE I [ 6 00 ] There are tables scattered around the periphery of the room, and a DJ, somewhat out of place in this beautiful setting, is stationed at the back, spinning out tunes to help you get settled into the start of the night. On the scattered tables are... punch bowls? They look tantalizing, and they come in quite a rainbow of colors. Should you be brave enough to take a sip, you'll find interesting things will happen. Drink the red punch, and you'll end up in rococo fashion. Drink the pale champagne-colored punch, and you'll find yourself sporting elegant regency attire. How about that cool blue punch? You'll step right into the roaring 20's. What about that dayglo orange punch over there? How about some far out 80's, man? That futuristic purple punch will suit you up in Tron style. And then there's one last punch bowl on a lonely table in the corner. No one can quite identify that color. Is that ... brown? Brave this punch bowl and you'll be, uh ... richly rewarded with modern-day fashions. Will you step up and test these refreshments, for science? Or will you be the first onto the dance floor, or to make an insane request of the DJ?
Last but not least, certain Cerealians who glitch into the level may find they have a specific corsage attached that they cannot remove! If they stick around long enough, they'll find one other lucky soul with a matching corsage. This is your ViViD assigned date! No one is going to force you two to dance... but you might find that the longer you put off dancing, the tighter that corsage gets around your wrist, or the more it begins to prick your chest, depending on its location. Might want to rethink your position...
Dates: - Shijima Kurookano & Himeko Inaba
- Trucy Wright & Enomoto "Ene" Takane
- Adelina & Rock Lee
- Byakuya Togami & Lailah
- Archer & Touka Kirishima
- Sakuya Le Bel Shirogane & Maya Fey
- Leon Kuwata & Alisha Diphda
PHASE II [ 730 ] So you're here. Whether out of curiosity or you've resigned yourself to the strange festivities, you're in. Maybe you've been wallflowering it up for a while, even with the cool kickin music playing. Whatever the case may be, the DJ announces themselves (DJ Slim Shaydee, not to be confused with that knock off from Earth). You're welcomed in an enthusiastic manner. Also hey, if you're near a table, see those cute placards? Yeah the ones in the center pieces mixed in with the bowl of candy and flowers. You'll notice they have a neatly typed out list— DJ Slim Shaydee says whoever fulfills the criteria on the list will be crowned Prom Royalty. Who doesn't want that???
- Successfully complete a slow dance
- Do the cha cha slide OR do the electric slide without messing up the turn
- Make out in the rose garden out back
- Have a dramatic fight with a close friend and storm out (you may come back after)
- Comfort a crying friend in the bathroom
- If you're a minor, accidentally get drunk
- Successfully spike every punch bowl within a 20 minute time limit
- Confess romantic feelings to the object of your affections
To truly kick it off or maybe give those ambitious types a head start, DJ Slim is gonna play you (yes all of you) a group dance! Hope you know the moves to the Cha Cha Slide. If not, don't worry, the song will tell you every step.
Oh and one more thing — anyone who fulfills an item on the list will get a confetti surprise. What does this mean? It means a golden, multi-faceted little ball will spontaneously appear over your head out of nowhere soon after you fulfill a condition, hovering for a moment before it explodes into a shower of confetti. Enjoy!
PHASE III [ 900 ] Whew. All these fast paced songs sure have you tired out, right? Maybe take a sip from the many punch bowls around the room if you haven't tested them out yet. Or try your hand at fulfilling another portion of that list from earlier—by spiking the punch. Better work fast though, the bowls themselves refresh fairly quickly once they sense contamination. See how many you can get in one go! Or if you're not a dirty prankster, see how many people you can catch spiking those dang bowls.
While you're doing that, the DJ seems to want to wind down the energy in the room. That means, you guessed it: time for that coveted slow dance. As the first chords of the song play, the doors to the garden veranda and hedge maze open. How romantic.
PHASE IV [ 1000 ] It's the end of the night, and maybe you've been trying your best to satisfy all those win conditions. Or maybe you haven't! Either way, it's clear from the mood in the air that the time is drawing near for the announcement of the Prom Royalty. The DJ brings the lights low, and spotlights hit his stand. He brings a mic to his mouth, and announces grimly that there will be no Prom Royalty. Apparently, no one satisfied enough of the win conditions! How can that be? Surely someone tried! Well, whatever happened, the DJ isn't happy, and the lights in the room will come back up. The DJ will mess with some of the equipment at his station, and all across the room, small panels will open up near the ceiling. Pouring out will come ... balloons? And not just any balloons - they're water balloons, and not only are they somehow floating, they're coming straight for you. How are they flying? We just don't know. If they come in contact with you, they'll frizz your perfect prom hair. Worse, if you apply even the mildest force to them, they'll immediately pop and drench you in freezing cold water, leaving you drenched.
The ballroom quickly fills with these angry little balloons, threatening to flood the room completely if too many of them pop. Will you flee and save yourself? Try to save your friends? Try to reason with the DJ and stop the balloon menace? No matter what you do, you'd better work fast. The floor is already getting dangerously wet...
BONUS [ hour ??? ] Remember that garden maze? From a certain point of the evening on, prom guests have been free to wander through as they please. They're beautiful, a rose maze by day that looks even more breathtaking at night with fairy lights glittering and winking in between all the flowers and leaves. Maybe you wandered out there to get away from the craziness in the party. Perhaps you want to be a true wallflower. But should you explore this maze with another at your side, you'll find it a pleasant enough trip, and if you manage to make it all the way to the center of the maze, you'll discover a secluded little gazebo that seems like it was placed there just for you.
Go in alone, though, and the maze seems like a completely different place. The fairy lights will be dimmer, less pleasant. You'll hear a rustling too loud to just be the wind. What was that sound? Turn around, and nothing is there. Too late you'll realize that the maze itself is alive, and has been watching you this entire time. It doesn't like lone wanderers. Better run fast or find a way to get out of the plant's clutches before you really become veggie.
However, if you get caught, you'll be trapped by the sentient vines that shoot out from the walls and bound to the side of the maze until another lone explorer finds you. At this point the vines will reach out and snap up that unlucky soul, too, wrapping you both up in a not-so-tender embrace. You'll both be stuck there until you can do whatever it is the maze wants that will convince it to set you free. What is that? Well, it does seem to be fond of lovers... and public displays of affection.
|
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cannonades) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
estoria2016-01-04 07:52 pm
no subject
[He's defensive at the reaction, geez Togami, but he also notices that something's abruptly different about Togami's posture and body language. Did something happen? Maybe he's not reacting to Leon's proximity after all . . .
Speaking of which, he also notices that said proximity is. More. That he didn't expect Togami to do. Leon jerks his head up, and he means to use the momentum to carry himself backwards again and look up at Togami's face . . . but that second part of the gesture is blocked, suddenly, by the death grip of the vines. His face turns up, but he can't lean back like he'd intended, and suddenly there he is with way too little personal space, and with Togami's face way too close.
He automatically yanks at his hand again, but the vines are tighter.
Well, shit.]
I, fuck, t-they're grabbing onto me, this ain't—you too?!
[Him too, right? That has to be the reason he's suddenly so close. Leon's cheeks heat, but he absolutely refuses to acknowledge that happening. Refuses!]
no subject
...But, wait a minute. Togami suddenly looks like he's gotten an idea. Unfortunately, what he murmurs maybe isn't an idea that Leon would find favorable. ]
That list of tasks...
no subject
[He hears the comment, but at first it sounds like a complete non sequitur. He barely even parses it as words at first, because it's not what he expected to hear; he was expecting something like are the vines tightening their hold on you? or this is annoying or even get out of my face, Kuwata! For a moment, the mention of the tasks might as well be something like "do you like ketchup on your burgers"?
Then he catches up.
Right. The tasks. The garden had been on the list of tasks. The garden where you were supposed to go and—]
Hell no!
[That's such a fucking stupid thought and yet the second he figures out what Togami was getting at, he's sure that's exactly what's going on here. It's too convenient! Of course this is the kind of stupid-ass thing CERES would do to force people to play along!
His cheeks were hot before, but now they're burning. He can't even allow himself to think about the possibility. Nope. He's blocking it from his mind, actively.]
no subject
But a competitive opportunist doesn't strictly have to be forced in order to see the potential here. ] This is a convenient opportunity. I hadn't been certain of how to go about fulfilling that one, but at least this will make it so this isn't a complete waste of our time. It will even fulfill the criteria for you, too... You should be grateful.
[ He would try to physically trap Leon in some way, if he had the freedom of his limbs to do so. He'll just have to count on the vines doing the job for him. Apparently, he's not seeking consent before he leans in, kissing Leon square on the lips. ]
no subject
He doesn't have time to actually ask it, but it's about all he has time to think before that's happening and his brain short-circuits for a moment. He's not sure how to take what Togami had just said, and not let him reply to. A convenient opportunity?! Is this not CERES dicking them around and forcing them into this incredibly awkward situation that he really really never wanted!
Here's the truth: after the whole library incident, he's thought about it, like, once. A couple, no more than five times. It would be stretching it to call it a fantasy. Does it count as a fantasy if you don't actually get off to it? No! Of course not! Case closed! And he hadn't even meant to think about it most of those times! It was one of those thoughts that popped into his head, like jumping off a bridge when you're walking across one, screaming obscenities in the library, or deliberately leaving That Drawer open when he has company just to see what happens. Not things he would actually do; they turn his stomach a little to think about. (Okay, the library thing might be funny, but . . . )
They're just there. Thoughts in his head. Just like this, except for how now it's actually happening in real life, and Leon's frozen in stasis between oh hhhheeeell no and if it's happening anyway, might as well make it good—
Jesus, why would he even think a thing like that?! Togami's a dude! It's been a long time since Leon kissed anyone, but not that long! And yeah, so that whole library thing had been . . . awkward, or something, but feeling awkward sometimes about it at night didn't mean he . . .
This sucks. He can't enjoy this like this. (Isn't it better not to enjoy this?!)
All of that feels like it takes at least ten minutes, but it's actually only two seconds before Leon pulls back enough to break the kiss, ugh—
—and automatically goes to move his right hand to wipe his mouth, and while he can't do that, he can move his hand. Just a little. The vines have loosened enough that he can just budge.
Well, shit: it actually was working, wasn't it? And now that he's already gone and locked lips with a guy, even if it wasn't like he wanted to or anything, and didn't immediately throw up or something from guy-on-guy mouth-to-mouth, isn't it worth it to get the fuck out of here and go home . . . ?
Okay. He takes a breath—all of that only took another second, geez—and leans in again, closing the distance himself this time, to kiss back and get this over with.
Please.]
no subject
For now he has to focus on the task at hand: making out. "Making out" is some slang term that definitely has to do with kissing. He is very sure about that much. But the specific definition of it was... what, again...? It's not just any kind of kiss, is it? (How many kinds of kisses are there, even?) This is all suddenly important to know in a way it never has been previously in his life. Well, from completing tasks before, he knows that when they actually "succeed" there will be a signal of their victory. So it has to at least be more than just this. Maybe he can just keep experimenting. ]
Hmm.
[ He hums thoughtfully into the kiss, almost clinical, parting his lips further. He could pull away to ask, but that would probably involve too much talking for his liking. Leon would probably make fun of him for not knowing idiotic commoner slang and he'd have to spend way too much time defending this action that he doesn't even really want to do either!
It could be worse though. At least there's no mind-numbing music this time. ]
no subject
This "making out," which hasn't really gotten to that point yet—he knows it will, they have to, but he's shoving any conscious thoughts of it out of his brain for now—reminds him of playing Too Hot, except they literally can't touch one another, rather than just having to resist the urge. Sure, they're close, enough that Leon can feel heat from Togami's body on his own chest, but he can't reach out and do anything stupid with his hands . . . and it's kind of comforting that he can't. There's no obvious reminder of who this is, if he closes his eyes, which he is definitely doing. It's lips on his, in a vacuum, no hands or thighs or bodies really involved at all. There's a kind of purity to the art of just kissing, in circumstances like this, devoid of any other sensory satisfaction . . .
He can handle this. If Togami shuts up. The noise twists Leon's stomach a little.
And since he's being invited—or at least that's how he reads Togami opening his mouth under his lips—Leon takes a deep breath and lets himself go for the inevitable. He leans in a little harder, briefly sucking at Togami's lower lip before slipping his tongue between them and kissing him more firmly, more open-mouthed.
Just a kiss! The purity of the kiss! No hands, no need to think about who's on the other end!]
no subject
[ Sorry, dude. It's not like Togami is necessarily trying to make noise. But these things require a reaction. A tongue in his mouth is definitely... remarkable. If he didn't make some kind of vaguely offended noise, Leon might think he was actually okay with someone's slimy organ in his mouth!!!
...Well, technically he is okay. And actually it's not as bad as he would have expected. And, actually, it makes him feel—okay, he's not some middle schooler. Saying it makes him feel funny or weird would be a level of willful ignorance he doesn't want to partake in. Of course this is a sexual act; that much was clear from the outset. Maybe he just thought that he was above carnal pleasure, or at least that he had a choice in the matter. If he did have a choice, he wouldn't let himself enjoy anything in such an awkward situation. Right...?
But overthinking it would probably just make it worse. Faltering now would be a sign of weakness. He can at least choose to ignore whether or not he's enjoying himself, so he does, touching his tongue to Leon's without any further reservations. ]
no subject
It's so unfair! It's unfair the way that Togami's tongue touching his makes his spine feel. He knows it's been waaaay too long since he had sex—and it's not like he's got his hands all over some dude right now. Just his mouth. They had to do it. It's not his fault! So no one can give him any shit for this! In fact, they don't have to know!
He bites back on any noises himself, even though having someone's slimy organ in his mouth does feel good to Leon. It always has, because he's not a weirdo like Togami. To say he appreciates sex is an understatement. To say he appreciates sexual acts with men is, well, just don't. Don't say that. He's sure not going to, ever, to anyone!
Leon shifts his body juuuust a bit closer against Togami's, just to test the hold of the vines, which are in fact beginning to give. His range of motion is gradually expanding. If it weren't, he could just pull back now and be done with all this, but . . . it's working. So he has no choice but to keep going—he sucks Togami's tongue into his mouth, then lets it go and nips and tugs at his lip, casting aside as much of his overthinking as he can manage and just letting himself fall into one of his favorite of all activities. He can't control whether to like it or not, only how much of an awkward asshole to be about it later—but it's not later yet. They aren't free yet.]
no subject
It's around now that he makes the connection between their activities and their freedom, himself. He sucks in a sharp breath in surprise, which comes off a lot differently in context, with his mouth pressed against Leon's. ]
no subject
His back arches sharply, he answers the gasp with one of his own, and his hand shoots up to grab Togami by the back of the neck and hold him in the kiss—
—Wait. Since when was he able to move his hand that much?! Oh. Ohhhhh!]
no subject
[ Yeah, his silence is officially broken again. He mumbles unintelligibly—he wants to question Leon's range of movement, but he isn't pulling away... for... some reason. No, there are very valid reasons! Togami at least isn't entirely free yet, and they haven't even fulfilled the task for the prom royalty—
Oh, wait, no. There's the confetti for that right now, falling on top of them. It's just startling enough for him to pull away from the kiss even if he wasn't intending to. Although, since he was expecting it, he doesn't comment on it, or on anything else, temporarily losing everything he had to say. His gaze is directed firmly upwards towards the source of the confetti while he regains his bearings. ]
no subject
[Actually, this is the first of the prompts on the list that Leon has even bothered to fulfill himself, and he had no idea the confetti thing was . . . a thing. He's startled by the sound, the fluttering paper, and Togami's reaction, and he jerks away himself with a gasp. Then he just . . . stares up dumbly at the confetti drifting down onto their faces. The surreal factor here just dialed up to eleven.
At least this gives him a moment to catch his breath, which he's embarrassingly short of right now. His chest rises and falls noticeably under the loosening hold of the vines.]
. . . What the, fuck, is this a joke—?!
[His voice is also thicker and huskier than he wishes it sounded right now. Goddammit.]
no subject
Unfortunately though, his voice is also less controlled and with less force behind it than he anticipated, when he speaks. ] The entire competition is something of a joke, but at least we succeeded in it.
[ Now they just need to succeed in the vines, too. He starts trying to wrench his limbs free, acting like he can just drop down and walk away after all that—but unfortunately, despite having a good range of motion, he's still stuck in places. A wrist here, an ankle there, a scratchy thorn persistently caught in the back of his suit jacket over there. The moment he realizes he can't be free that easily is very obvious, with the grunt of frustration he makes. ]
no subject
[He's not yet willing to admit that he is too. He just hasn't tried hard enough yet, dammit! But no—a few sharp tugs on his still-trapped left arm is enough to tell that he's not going to walk away from this any more easily than Togami is. Well, fuck.
He groans and slackens in the grip of the vines, bringing his one free arm up to rub at his own hair. It takes him a few beats to speak.]
. . . One more.
[He sounds both awkwardly nervous and flat-out defeated.]
no subject
—Another kiss?
[ Just to clarify. The problem with being half-free is that now he's managed to move a decent distance away from Leon—not too far, but not really making out distance—and now he'd have to go to a little effort to get back up close to him again. He really doesn't want to do so without making absolutely sure that's what they're planning.
But he sways forward a little anyway, since he's pretty sure it is. ]
no subject
[He'd been managing to kill off his fluster, but having to address it blatantly like that brings some of it back. No! This is happening for important getting the fuck out of here purposes; that's all that matters! And he's done it once now. He can handle doing it again. He hadn't even been sure it'd work the first time, right? This time he knows what he's doing and why!
So he tries to fight down his reaction, shifting closer himself, juuuust about making out distance. This is nothing but a task. They've almost finished it, even!]
no subject
He'd rather just do it than spend time talking about it, although he'd deny that it had anything to do with him being awkward or embarrassed. So he just presses their lips together again, unceremoniously. ]
no subject
Well, fine. Leon kisses back.
It is easier this time; he has more freedom of movement, and also, some of the tension has broken after their brief conversation there. And it's not new anymore. So when he kisses back . . . he actually kisses back, just letting it happen this time. If they didn't get free before, they're not going to get free this time by gently pecking each other's lips or something, right?
He's not thinking about it anymore. Doing that hasn't been going well for him tonight.
His hand drags up behind Togami's neck to hold him there, and he kisses back intently, skipping right ahead to where they left off: with his tongue in Togami's mouth and his teeth grazing his lips.]
no subject
[ He shouldn't really be surprised—after all, he can and did follow the same train of logic Leon did, about the intensity of the kiss—but he still didn't expect Leon being this... "resigned" right off the bat this time. He's a beat delayed in kissing back. ]
no subject
Leon backs off for a second, with a short concerned sound rumbling in his throat, but he doesn't actually pull away.
He really does not want to care about whether Togami is enjoying himself right now. (But if he's doing this anyway, shouldn't he be impressive and skilled and cool!? He can't leave anyone thinking he's a bad kisser!)]
no subject
He does take it as impetus to kiss back more thoroughly, though, gripping onto Leon's shirt to make sure he stays in range. Surely both of them want to get this over with sooner rather than later, so there's no point in holding back. That hesitation was just a fluke! ]
no subject
The mood has changed this time; it's pretty noticeable. He'd been caught up in it before, and now he's not. They are doing this to get the fuck out of here, with no complicated feelings of pleasure involved. Good. That's for the better, right? It really is exactly what Leon had convinced himself it was!
How annoying.
No one actually likes kissing without any pleasure involved in it. Leon is being reminded of that fact at this very moment. As much as the first kiss had freaked him out, and he still doesn't exactly feel good about it, at least he didn't feel bored and kind of inferior as a lover doing it . . .
So he stops, deliberately, just for a moment, and then begins kissing back again—slower this time, more shallowly, focusing back on making this a good kiss rather than a kiss that's over. He can acknowledge his own motives later, or maybe not. Not sounds good. Don't start with your tongue already down the guy's throat, man, work up to that, play with his lips first, bite just a little—]
no subject
The safest compromise in this situation is to play along, but make sure to establish himself as an equal contender. Of course this option involves bluffing and strategizing very quickly on the fly. But he likes to think that he's up to the challenge.
(Was that what this was about? Well, that's what it's about now. Leon is clearly throwing down the gauntlet here! What else explains the change of approach?)
He parts his lips, receptive as he considers how he can move next. Leon's current move has limited the use of his mouth, but he has a free hand now. He loosens his grip on Leon's shirt, flattening his hand to smooth it down instead, rubbing over Leon's shoulder. If nothing else, this is a deliberate enough action to serve as his acceptance of the challenge. (You know, the challenge that definitely exists.) ]
no subject
Leon's of course unaware of all of this strategizing. The entire point of this is not to overthink it so much! Overthinking it is what's freaking him out! Any hidden message in the hand on his shoulder isn't heard, but . . . it does feel nice. It feels like acceptance of the situation, at least, which is kind of what's going on anyway; it's just the deep politicking of kissing that's lost on Leon, a guy who just likes to kiss.
(Even a guy, apparently, but that's the part he's not thinking about right now!)
He eases up a little on his own grabbing onto Togami's jacket, wrapping his arms more loosely around him. Things aren't so tense this time—at least, not yet. Casual kissing, for a good cause, or something like that. Leon takes the invitation to touch their tongues, but he isn't exactly aggressive about it—what kind of challenge is that?]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)