Let's Have a Party!

[runs_on_batteries]

Who: Everyone!
What: Throwing a party
Where: Gym carriage
When: Early Evening- early morning, Apple 28

It was three days after the incident with the train and right at two weeks since they'd been allowed to get off this train and roam a new world. Sure somewhere in there, they'd had a brief reprieve involving a new platform and mess of newcomers, but that had hardly counted as a break from the train. So, the point was, they needed a chance to blow off some steam. What better way than organize a party and roll out the last of his ale to share?

He'd recruited Sarai and Maglor to play their harps and/ or sing for music; Ignis, Ash and Evie to make hors d'oeuvres, Dread and Peter to bring in some chairs; and rigged a lamp and some cloth to make a disco ball-like display in the room (which he made Peter to promise not to touch).

Now he just had to get the guests on the dance floor... to harp music? He misses 'regular' music. Sigh.

Comments

[afterburner]

Manabu is probably not expecting a hand to clap on his shoulder. (Luckily, she's gentle about it!) In an entirely too-sweet voice, Renee asks, "Do you like parties?"

She doesn't bother to answer, but continues. "We can invite all our friends, and have soda and pie!" A beat, her face falling. "I hope no bad people come!"

But that makes her snicker. "Too bad I'm already here! Come on, want to go check out the food table?"

[siriusly]

He was not expecting it! That's why he startles a little, having to hold his drink with both hands to keep it from spilling. And while Manabu does make an attempt to open his mouth and answer, he gets no chance to before she's going on. That's probably for the best; he didn't have a good answer off-the-cuff.

He stares at her like she'd spoken alien gibberish.

No bad people? What's she mean about that? Everyone here ought to know everyone who can come -- they're stuck on a train. Maybe she's drunk already.

"Uh, sure?" His eyes wince. His party-fu is just the worst and it shows.

[afterburner]

"Sorry, sorry, that's a line from a song I like about parties. I'm not drunk, I promise." Because that particular expression is unmistakable. Not that she can blame the guy, really. "I don't drink alcohol, actually."

Because Renee would be the first one to say that her getting drunk is a Bad Idea, with capitals. Probably all caps, really, but...

Still, she leads the way over to the buffet spread out. "Oooh, deviled eggs. Not a surprise with how many eggs we've had...oh look, pigs in a blanket! I love those." Yeah the mini smokies are some of her favorite, but she's trying not to be a hog, here, even if Renee can't quite reach 'ladylike'. She cradles a plate in the arm with the sling, and starts to load it up. Because hey, it's a party.

"Here's a plate. See anything you'd recommend? I'll try anything once!"

[siriusly]

Like a bewildered and lost child, Manabu finds himself led along to an array of food that looks...too fancy for this train. Such is the magic of the chef behind it all, but Manabu's not actually seen this sort of thing made in action.

One blink later and there's a plate in his hand. He stares at it dumbly before her gesturing and grazing draws his attention.

"Er, thanks, I..." I didn't actually expect to stick around? That's a weird thing to think, given the closed quarters. Parties are always the last thing on his mind, though. "I don't recognize some of this, though? Unless all of that over there is egg..."

It's possible. He'd been on meal duty for the span of their trip and most of the recipe cards called for lots of eggs. With all the space in the drop floors, one would think there's just a clutch of chickens down there!

[afterburner]

Really, it's probably too fancy an array of food for Renee, too--but she's a teenager, and at some point, food is food and she's going to eat, dang it.

"Parties like this sometimes kinda supersede actual dinners. I can't exactly cook--I'm better at prep and clean, and so I'd rather have something now than go hungry 'til breakfast, you know?" She shrugged. That sort of thing had happened at the Institute, before. Which had meant either sneaking stuff from party food, or sneaking out to go to Burger Knight or something. "I don't recognize a lot of it either, though yeah, those are deviled eggs over there--those are pretty good, actually." Proving her words by going to grab a few and put them on her own plate, wedged into her cast so it's got a flat surface.

"So I've seen you around, but we didn't actually meet yet. I'm Renee Corbin. I'd offer you a hand, but mine are full." Especially since she'd just grabbed a glass of tea with a few berries floating in it.

[siriusly]

"Aa, that--that's fine." His mouth pulls in a weak, half-smile, still processing all the food talk that she'd started with. He's glad she tacked a name at the end of that; it'd be weird to know so much detail about her eating interests and not have a name...

"I'm Manabu Yuuki. It's...it's nice to meet you, Renee. Sorry for not introducing myself sooner." He's got a bad habit of just sticking his nose into work before going through and meeting everyone properly.

[afterburner]

"It's okay, I'm not that great at being social either. Raised by wolves, you know." A pause, and a beat. "That's a joke, I wasn't really." As if her actual sense of hygiene didn't show that.

"You the kind of guy who throws himself into work and barely takes a breath?" she asked, then. Renee arched a brow at him and gave Manabu something of a half-smile. "All work and no play makes Manabu something something?"

[siriusly]

Hoo boy. She sure does go a mile a minute, doesn't she? And not even really, but Manabu's reaction times are somewhat delayed by still taking in her and the rest of all this stuff. It's easier to adapt when it's life-threatening...not just a party for funsies.

He blinks back at her, eyebrows raised.

"I mean...there's not really that much work around here to begin with, is there?" Not without encroaching on other people's chores, at least. And most of it's boring as hell work, to boot! So it isn't even rewarding...

Yet compared to a party? Somehow more his element.

[afterburner]

It's probably because she's bored, really. Tossing a ping-pong ball at a wall only gives so much mental stimulation. Getting out when the train stops will likely do her a world of good. It certainly can't hurt!

"I know, that's why I'm wondering!" Renee gave a short laugh at that, and gestures at him with her tea. "You seem kinda jittery. Or is it the type of jittery where it's 'how I talk to girls'? Really we're kinda just like other people. And really, talking was all I wanted. I know I come off a little like a troll, but I'm just poorly socialized--and that, I really am."

As if Manabu couldn't tell that just by talking to her! "Mostly I don't mean any harm by it, though."

[siriusly]

Buh?

He blinks a few times at her at mention of any possible girl-issue, not sure how to take that. Offended? Amused? Indignant? Maybe just awkward, because that's pretty much how he feels in the moment!

"I...I wasn't think of you as a girl?" he replies, confused. Right away, he colors, eyes widening. "That is--not like that! I wasn't even thinking on those terms, I mean!" Jeez!

"I-I'm not jittery!" he added, bristling through his embarrassment.

[afterburner]

Not jittery? Riiight, when he looks like, given enough time, he might just vibrate his way out of here. "You're as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs," she informs him.

And since she was sort of trolling him, she lets some of the other awkward comments slide, since really, Renee sort of goaded him into it.

"Okay, so what do you do?" She'll even let him include work. She's magnanimous like that.

Renee, you really don't expect to make friends this way, do you? Don't answer that.

[siriusly]

That comparison... He's sure he ought to be offended!

"I'm...an officer of the SDF's Sirius Platoon," he replies, standing a little straighter, looking a little sterner. This is impressive, right? He's making an effort. Because there are no rocking chairs in this room. "It's the force that protects the Galaxy Railways."

He hesitates, then adds, "This...this train isn't part of that, I don't think. There'd be a conductor, for sure."

[afterburner]

"Yeah, I don't think there's one of those. I punched the cab and...welp." Waving the cast around pointedly. Yep. "Pretty sure I would've annoyed them when I did that."

The bang had been impressive, at least, even if nothing else about it was.

"Yeah, that sounds like it might be important. So why are you stuck here with the rest of the asylum? And its chief inmate?" By which Renee means herself.

[siriusly]

Oh. His eyebrows raise again. That's why she's in a sling? He's kind of impressed. Honestly, if anyone were to wind up busting a limb trying to get into the engine, he'd have figured it'd be himself...

"I wish I knew," he admits, scratching at his cheek. "That way, I'd know the best way to help everyone out. As it stands, though...who or whatever's running this trip seems pleased to just...wait until we get cabin fever, then dump us on some planet to do odd jobs. It's really strange. Why the secrecy at all? I bet most of us used to work like this wouldn't mind volunteering, but grabbing up kids and teens and stuff seems..."

Shady.

[afterburner]

...He's got a rather uncomfortable point, there, and Renee makes a face at that. She really can't help it. Especially since Manabu is right.

"Yeah, I mean...I might not have jumped at the chance to sign on with the Psycho Circus, but I mean, if we're helping people and stuff? It's not like that isn't why I'm learning to control my powers where I was anyway, you know?" Because it was. Or had been.

She'd also been learning to not to be seen as a menace to society, but that was neither here nor there. It wasn't as if Renee had chosen to be a mutant, but genetics had made that choice for her.

"But like...the really little kids? Under fifteen? That's not cool. Not at all. I'd like to give them a piece of my mind." At the very least.

[siriusly]

"Yeah, you made that clear enough," he says, nodding at her arm with a crooked bit of a smile. It ends with a sigh as he shoves his hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall behind him.

"If worse comes to worst...we'll beat the wall down next time we've landed somewhere with a safe environment. Just in case."

At least, that's what he'd like. Whether or not the rest of the train would agree...

[afterburner]

"I don't know if we can. I mean...Tony's tech did nothing and I mean. As it goes, I'm not a wuss. I can't exactly describe it..."

Well. She could, Renee was just really wary about doing so... "If this was a regular train I could probably pick it up and carry it for a bit." Not bragging, not at all. Actually, Renee sounds more than a little embarrassed, because you're not supposed to talk about how you're a mutant freak.

"Though if we could figure a way to crack the defenses there? Count me in."

[siriusly]

"You--wait, huh?"

His eyebrows shoot back up.

"Wait, you..." He squints, then frowns. "Is that...are you, uh. Trolling? Again?"

[afterburner]

Now she looks confused. "Okay, where am I supposed to be trolling?" Because nope, considering the expression on her face? Not this time!

"I'm a mutant, where I come from, that means I get weird powers at puberty. Strong enough to lift a train? That's one of them."

Renee'd mention the spider kids, but she just doesn't know if they're keeping their powers on the down low, and she's not inclined to out them if they are.

[siriusly]

"Oh--"

He looks a bit blank-faced at first, processing that. Then a lightbulb goes off.

"Oh! So, like--yeah. That makes sense. There were people like that back in the other world I was stuck in! I remember now. Sorry, I just...well, it doesn't really..." How does one talk with a foot being shoved in their mouth? He sheepishly rubs the back of his head. "I just didn't expect that, at first-glance."

[afterburner]

"It's okay, I can see where it can be kind of off-putting. You don't expect it." Renee knows enough about talking with your foot shoved in your mouth to not give Manabu a rough time when it happens to him.

"That and yeah, I don't look weird. Not like Pixie or Artie or Leech, back home." Pixie was still cute, but she still had pink hair and faerie wings. Artie was bald with huge eyes, and Leech was green. She just glowed red in spots whenever she used her powers--unless she was taking off like a rocket.

"So you've actually encountered people with powers before?"

[siriusly]

"I ah, I actually had some for a time, too," he admits, his shoulders shrugging. "It looks like it was...exclusive to that world, because, thankfully, no one's actually gone and punched me in the face yet!"

[afterburner]

What. "You had a power that made people punch you in the face?" And here Renee thought that only one or two people she'd heard of had had that...and that was more because said individuals were freakin' annoyances.

Manabu was far from an annoyance.

"That must have been weird, I mean, I'm prickly and I've never wanted to punch you in the face once, nope." She shakes her head at that. "Weird and sucky." She leaned forward a little.

"Doesn't look like your nose took any permanent damage though." Reaching out and...boop.

[siriusly]

Manabu offers a wincing smile at her incredulous reaction, wondering if maybe he should've just been more vague. Honestly, he could've just said I got powers, too and left it at that, instead of sharing how incredibly uncool it was.

That's what he was wondering in hindsight when suddenly--

"Geh-!!"

Finger! In his face! The topic of face-punching is enough to have him recoil, but there's not much space to recoil, so he bonks the back of his head on the wall and slinks sideways, face red and shoulders drawn up.

"Je-jeez! Sorry, uh-! Yeah, no, no more powers for me! Just a...a normal human guy now."

[afterburner]

"Aww, I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to scare you like that!" But Renee's used to having most of her silly gestures backfire, so really, this wasn't any surprise.

"I'm sorry about that. I promise I won't hurt you." She actually looks a little bothered by that, but shakes her head. "Can't say I'm not a little jealous. Sometimes powers are more trouble than they're worth, if you're asking me."

Renee sighed just a little bit at that.