(mingle) PLEASE ACCEPT THESE ROASTED BIRDS

[vestigemods]

PLEASE ACCEPT THESE ROASTED BIRDS

NOVEMBER 27TH

► TRYPTOPHAN MAY BE A MYTH, BUT WE'VE GOT YOU COVERED

On the morning of the 27th, every claimed phone in the containment zone once again emits that terrible sound for the third time in as many days. This time, however, it comes with what amounts to a GPS navigation map set to guide each person to a location near the center of the available section of town. With it, a message:

In light of the last 48 hours, a Thanksgiving feast will be provided at the marked location at 4 PM. No tricks. Just alcohol and food.

And they mean it, too. It's one of the few things the Technicians will offer with no actual chance of death - unless you choke on your food or murder someone over their jukebox music choices, and honestly, that's on you.

The navigation leads you to a building labeled 'THE BAR' (creative, right?), which those who've spent any real time in town might notice looks... a little less run-down than it used to? But the real change is inside - which many of you will discover at precisely 4 PM, when the plywood covering the door falls away to the sidewalk, revealing an unlocked wooden door.

It's truly a shame that no one yet bothered to break inside in the past couple of months, because only they could truly appreciate how much The Bar has changed. Though still quite dimly lit, it now looks more like a well-worn alcoholic haunt than a desolate broken-down waste of perfectly good booze - and speaking of booze, the shelves are lined with it. The bartop itself, meanwhile, is covered with an array of food, the rich aroma of which welcomes new arrivals in the moment they enter the door. The spread is quite diverse, with cooked turkeys and various Thanksgiving side dishes, some traditional and some a bit more offbeat, and a number of non-alcoholic drinks can be found refrigerated behind the counter.

As for the ambiance, it's festive but not overwhelmingly so. The Bar seems to have bought into whatever Foodland is selling, with a few recognizable decorative items scattered here and there to make it look appropriately fall-themed. A faintly-glowing jukebox sings out from one end of the room, cycling through various classics from the 60's, 70's, and 80's (it particularly seems to like Elvis, the Beach Boys, and Motown hits). A peek through the offered albums, however, will find a variety of other options on tap - Christmas music, heavy metal, banjo-laden hoedown music, who knows what you might discover (and force everyone to listen to) at one wrong press of a button!

All in all, the atmosphere is... weirdly uplifting, considering the month and the recent days' visitors. There's a distinct chance that there's a teensy-weensy artificial mood-enhancer in the food - but it's not much! Just a little! The Technicians are just trying to help. It's not nearly potent enough that anyone starts acting unlike themselves. Just... maybe the tiniest bit less weighed down for a couple of hours, y'know? It wears off naturally after five or ten minutes of fresh air, and it's generally mild enough that you likely don't even think twice about your good mood. The festive environment put a little distance between you and the chaos the visitors wrought, at least for an evening.

► MOD NOTES

• This is a catch-all log for top-levels pertaining to November's Please Accept These Roasted Birds event, taking place on the IC date of November 27th (the day after Thanksgiving). Go ahead and utilize vestigenet for any event-related network posts you'd like to make.
  
• The original event briefing can be found on the November Bulletin, but most of the concrete info is here on this log.
  
• A note that not only does the mood enhancer enhance mood, but it also dulls the event after-effects briefly while characters are at the feast. They're still present, but not nearly as intense/potent as they are outside of the bar.
  
• As of this mingle, the bar, #9 in the 'town' section/map, is now an active location within the game and can be revisited at any time. Alcohol remains stocked and the jukebox continues to play. It'll be added to the Locations page when I have a minute.
  
• Any questions can be directed to this top-level or, for a quicker response, to Trace on discord/plurk.

Comments

[lethechained]

It's good to see you again.

[ And she might be surreptitiously studying him for any outward sign of injury or mental distress, but she plays it off well enough. Her head tilts as she wonders what it is she was right about, but answers his questions without delay just the same. ]

I've been alright, for the most part. I did stay inside like they told us to, but... [ A little softer, ] I think maybe I was unlucky.

[ 'Cause there's no help for it when one of those creepy bird guys comes to visit anyway. More importantly, ]

What about you? Were you able to stay safe...?

[toosmall]

Huh? Oh no, did it come inside your home?

[He moves to sit on the barstool now, facing her.]

Did it hurt you?

[His head tips to the side a little, trying to look her over, much like she has him. Honestly he doesn't even know what they were, he'd huddled under his bed with some blankets during that mess.

Thankfully nothing got close enough to his place to mess with him.]

[lethechained]

[ The girl sucks a tiny breath, straightening as Vivi turns to face her. She's quick to shake her head, hoping to dispel any worries she might have created; her arms lift from her sides slightly, as if to prove there's nothing - physically - wrong with her that she might be hiding. ]

No, it never came in the door. But... when it was close by, I started to feel very strange.

[ Her brow wrinkles slightly, yet with such a cheerful atmosphere around them it's hard to really fret over the recollection to any significant degree. The event seems farther away now than it did before she arrived at the party. ]

Sick, almost, just-- not in any way I'd ever been before.

[toosmall]

[Whatever those things were, Vivi is just glad they're apparently gone. Or taken care of.]

Oh...

[Part of him wants to ask what she means, but it just doesn't feel important to get into the details of that scary stuff. Not when they have all this really nice food and stuff! What's a little monster nonsense when it's so nice inside here with everyone?]

Mm, at least you're okay now and there's so much really tasty looking food to eat. If my friend Quina were here they would probably gobble this all up on their own!

[Quina was... well. Quina. A very eccentric Qu who much like any of their kind just wanted to eat all the delicious foods and things.]

[lethechained]

[ Despite the fact that she's been rather preoccupied with what happened since it, well, happened, her expression eases quickly enough as Vivi directs the conversation toward the food. ]

Yes, I suppose you're right. [ Her voice is soft enough not to provide much of an interruption, and she perks curiously at the mention of this friend of his. Yet another name she knows she hasn't heard, then, but she finds that doesn't bother her much, either. Holding most of a laugh down in her chest, she tilts her head curiously. ]

Really? All of it? [ With an amused shake of her head, ] I'm not sure the others would be very happy about that. [ Although she says it with clear humor, of course. ] But it does look good. Do you have any recommendations for what I should try...?

[ Since he'd seemed to be studying it so closely before she walked up, and all. ]

[toosmall]

[Vivi laughs a little, agreeing with Namine.]

I'd be unhappy too, my tummy is really hungry.

[Time to stand back up, a bit wobbly as he's standing on a barstool, but gotta take risks for the yum yums.]

Ummm... the pies look really good! I don't know what kind, but I bet all of it is yummy. The mashed potatoes too...

[Vivi looks down as his stomach rumbles loudly.]

I'm gonna try one!

[Come on Namine, join him in awkwardly reaching over things and piling food up on a plate.]

[lethechained]

[ She curls a hand briefly against her mouth to hold down her little breath of a laugh. ]

I'm sorry - I didn't realize I was keeping you from helping your tummy.

[ There's no real weight behind the apology this time. (Not that she did mean to distract him from eating, but at the moment it doesn't feel like a big deal even to her.) Turning to regard the food, she hums her understanding at his description. ]

Pies... usually have fruit in them, don't they? [ Which is quite appealing to her-- ] But those are for dessert.

[ Or at least that sounds like a rule Sora's mother probably had to enforce at one point or another. Naminé does take the cue to pick up a plate, however, and begin carefully selecting a few things to stock it with. Only, that doesn't seem to hold her attention very well, since more often then not she's busy giving Vivi concerned sidelong glances, debating with herself whether or not to acknowledge the fact that he looks about one wrong move from getting a face full of mashed potatoes instead of a bellyful. Presently her worrywart nature gets the better of her, and, ]

Maybe-- I should help you? It must be awfully hard to reach anything like that...!

[toosmall]

Some do! Um, I think there are meat pies too-

[And he almost tips over, thankfully catching himself and shifting his weight so the stool does not topple over. Holding his plate carefully and standing still for a second he sighs, relieved he didn't fall.]

That sounds like a good idea.

[He's already got quite a bit on his plate for such a little guy, but look. It all looks so good! He just wants to try a little of everything.]

If you could get some of the potatoes and the mixed vegetables I'd really appreciate it. Th-Thanks, Namine!

[lethechained]

Ah, that's true. I wasn't thinking about--

[ The girl startles as he begins to tip, nearly dropping her own plate in her haste to raise a hand in case he needs steadying. Her palm hovers uncertainly near Vivi as she watches him steady himself, and only once he's been perfectly still a moment does she finally let her arm lower away, exhaling her held breath. ]

Careful, [ she murmurs late, more to finally let it out than because he needs to hear it now, when the danger has already been proven. Looking relieved, she nods immediately to confirm the arrangement. ]

Of course.

[ Delicately setting her own plate aside, she busies herself reaching for the provided utensils to procure the food in question, gets a bit gathered onto the spoon, then turns back to look at his platter. There's not a lot of room, but-- ]

Here.

[ She'll just. Have to try really hard not to drip potatoes anywhere else while she's figuring out where to put them on his plate. ]

[toosmall]

[Thankfully Thanksgiving food tastes good whether it's all neatly sectioned off or mixed up in a slop, let's be real here. Not that Vivi knows that, but he's also not picky either.

He'll watch eagerly as Namine kindly helps, offering up a "thank you" when she takes his plate.]

Do you wanna go eat at one of the little tables?

[Vivi will helpfully point over at a couple tables not far away. It would probably be easier than trying to eat at the bar which was starting to get a little crowded.]

[lethechained]

[ The girl offers a brief, gentle smile at his gratitude, although she can't spare the attention long; she's quite attentive about her present task. With a bit of effort she manages to keep everything on the plate from combining into a slurry, and hands it back to him with (relatively) good separation of foodstuffs. ]

Here. I hope that's enough...!

[ With a glance in the direction he's indicating, ]

Yes - that seems like a good idea. You can go ahead of me, if you'd like. I'll catch up in a moment.

[ Since she, you know, didn't really get very much on her own plate before helping him with his. ]

[toosmall]

[Vivi gratefully takes the plate that she's helped him with and smiles, noted by the happy little arches his eyes make on his face.]

I'll save you a seat, Namine!

[Not that it's THAT full in here, but he does as he said. Sat at one of the tables, he makes sure there's a spot for her across the table from him. There's definitely too much for him to eat all at once on his plate, but he just wants to try a bit of everything! It all looked so good! He could take it back to his place surely if he didn't finish.

When she does eventually make her way over Vivi is sampling the mixed veggies and chewing happily. After swallow he waves at her.]

This stuff is really yummy. I don't think I've had a big meal like this since um... gosh I think it was with Regent Cid in Lindblum. That feels like so long ago now.

[lethechained]

[ Her own features brighten as she recognizes the expression on his face - or in his eyes, rather. ]

Okay...!

[ It doesn't take her a terribly long time to make her way over to the table he's chosen. When she arrives, it's immediately obvious that despite her curiosity about the new kinds of food, she's somewhat more restrained than he is and actually has a little extra room left on her plate. (That is, she knows her limits; she's never been a big eater.) ]

Is it? [ As she's listening to the rest of his words she tries a bite or two herself, pleasant surprise on her face at the taste. The yumminess cannot be disputed, it seems. A bit shyly, ] I don't think I've ever had a meal this big. Was it a special occasion when you were in Lindblum...?

[toosmall]

[Vivi will definitely regret trying to eat all this food eventually, but for now he's happily chewing away and taking bites of everything. So many fun and tasty flavors!

He's happy to see his friend seems to be enjoying the food as well. Good food and good people are two wonderful things.]

Oh well- [Excuse him as he swallows down some food, talking with your mouth full is rude.] We had to get to Lindblum to talk to Regent Cid about Dagger's mom and the bad stuff she was doing, but we went there more than once.

[lethechained]

[ He'll have her sympathy when his decisions catch up with him - although at the present moment, Naminé doesn't presume to suggest she knows his capacity for eating better than he does, no matter her misgivings. As long as he's having fun, then-- it's his business.

But she's about as pleased to see him having a nice time as he is to see her doing the same. She munches quietly as he explains, only to tilt her head by the end. A bit quicker than he was to clear her mouth before she responds, ]

So you were there for important business. [ Well, would that be reason enough for a feast...? ] Did all of you eat like this every time you visited?

[toosmall]

[This is why Namine is a good friend. Respectful sympathies. Vivi dos have to laugh a little when she asks about his eating habits when it came to Lindblum.]

Hehe, nu uh, but sometimes with all the traveling we did it was hard to eat a lot. So it was always nice when Regent Cid let us eat in the castle. Though Zidane always said the food at the pub was better.

[Before it was destroyed... but that's another matter for another time.]

[lethechained]

[ She certainly does her best to both look after the people around her and to leave them room to make their own decisions without her input. It's the least she can do, really, and she smiles briefly at his laugh. ]

Mm...! It does seem to be pretty tough to get a good meal when you're on the road. [ Anyhow, that clarifies some things. ] I guess it makes sense that they'd eat this well in a castle pretty often.

[ Must be nice. Castle Oblivion wasn't exactly the feasting time of place. Presently, though, Naminé seems a bit bemused. ]

Actually... I've been wondering, did they have anything like that in Lindblum?

[ Turning, she indicates the turkey. She was giving it a funny look earlier, too, so something's probably been bugging her about that part of the meal. ]

[toosmall]

Traveling is hard, but you see so many new things.

[Vivi blinks at her asking about the turkey and if that was something he'd seen before in Lindblum.]

Mhm, it looks like some kind of roast bird. I don't know what kind though... but it tastes yummy!

[They have all sorts of weird strange bird monsters where he's from. As long as they're not eating roast Chocobo he's fine.]

[lethechained]

It is pretty exciting.

[ Her half-wistful agreement comes just before she remembers herself and amends almost guiltily, ]

Not that I've travelled very much. But I know a few people who have done it a lot...!

[ And she was along for the ride in a secondhand kind of way, even if it might not count as having gone anywhere herself.

The bird, though - Naminé frowns a little more deeply. ]

That's what I thought, too. [ Oh, boy. Well, even if Vivi's eating it, maybe she'll just. Nudge her piece of meat to the side a bit, remarking quietly, ] I hope it's not a duck...

[ Donald would be quite upset, surely. ]

[toosmall]

Did you see any neat things where you went?

[Vivi looks at a fork bite of turkey and then over at Namine and her plate. Aww, did she have duck friends? Maybe they were the ducks Jiang had told him about at the lake.]

I think ducks would be a lot smaller... but there's a lot of other stuff to eat, so that's good.

[lethechained]

Well... most of the places that I've been haven't been very interesting.

[ Or maybe that just had more to do with the fact that she was always pretty much trapped in them and unable to fully enjoy what they had to offer. ]

But I've heard about a lot of much better things. Like... castles, and ships with pirates, and great big trees with branches so large that you can slide down them for a long way. There's even a world full of ghosts and monsters. [ Although the two of them are sort of in a place like that last one right now, so she amends to, ] Nice ghosts and monsters.

[ Truthfully, Vivi's assessment does give Naminé some comfort, but she still murmurs hesitantly, ]

I've met one much bigger than that. But maybe... there are different kinds of ducks?

[ Does. Does that alleviate the moral complications of eating one? ]

[toosmall]

That's okay, before I met my friends, I only really knew my grandpa's home and the town close by. All the exciting stuff happened later.

[A lot of exciting stuff, but also a lot of pain and suffering. Loss. Still, through it all he'd learned a lot. About the world and people. Himself.]

Oooh, nice ghosts and monsters. Hmm I think if there's different types of monsters and people, different types of ducks make sense too!

[lethechained]

[ Chewing quietly, Naminé attempts to sort this new information into her mental timeline. That's one of the few possibilities that actually seems to fit into the life of the Vivi she knows, but just barely. Now that she's a bit more aware of the timeline situation, she spends less effort trying to make sense of it all in the context of Twilight Town. She could ask about that other town, see if it's the same one - but somehow what she finds herself inquiring instead is, ]

Was it just the two of you? You and your grandpa?

[ Perhaps she's only projecting, but there's a certain loneliness in the sound of that. Letting the thought go more easily than she usually would, she smiles warmly at that other matter. ]

I guess it does make sense, doesn't it. Like - how not all dogs can talk.

[ ... Which would imply that they usually can, wouldn't it? ]

[toosmall]

[Poor Namine, trying to figure out how Vivi fits in with Kingdom Hearts. A never ending battle.]

Mhm, just us, um until he stopped moving.

[The tasty food doesn't let him dwell sadly on that, after a beat he'll have a bite of potatoes and swallow that down.]

I've never met a dog who could talk like us, but we have all sorts of people back home. Humans and then people with animal parts like Zidane has a long monkey tail!

[Vivi chuckles.]

And Freya is a Burmecian, they're um, they look like people sized rats? Or rats that look like people? I think that one's right... oh and there's bird and dog like people and then we met these funny little trolls once too. They spoke kinda funny, but the weren't afraid of me!

[lethechained]

[ Her mental struggle is real, truly. Fortunately by now she's learned enough to know that she knows-- well, nothing, honestly, about how all this pulling people from other worlds business works. At this point, she's had to come to terms with it enough not to stress out about it. She'll feel that same obligation to make sure Vivi stays out of trouble regardless of when or where he's from, so perhaps it's all moot anyhow.

And, you know, the food helps. Even with that, though, her brow scrunches immediately at his description. Lifting her eyes, Naminé stares across the table at him for a moment, trying to gauge from his expression whether or not he realizes the implications of what he's just said. This is very difficult, not least because he doesn't really have recognizable facial features. ]

I'm sorry, [ she says, because she doesn't quite know what else to say. The sentiment's there, at least.

Still attempting to digest this, Naminé listens as attentively as her munching allows. Perking a little at his description, ]

Oh - you've met people like that, too? [ Would it be weird if she asked if he knew their names? It'd make sense if he'd bumped into Donald and Goofy-- only that last bit catches her attention enough to stop her from attempting to figure out how to work that other question into the conversation. ]

... Afraid? [ Her head tilts, just a little. ] Are people usually afraid of you?