OPEN; THE NEIGHBORS CLUB WELCOMING PARTY

[mishaps]

Who: Anyone interested in attending the party announced a few days ago. Hosts of the party include Kodaka (mishaps), Sena (meatshields), & Yozora (playerkills). This also includes those who signed up for the speed friend making activity and other club members! Anyone who is even slightly interested in the club may post in the log (but please, only those who signed up for speed friending event participate in it!)
What: The Neighbors Club is having a welcoming party/practice party! Hooray for activities and welcoming back Kodaka to the club. Please ignore my fail of typing the event as speed dating as it is speed "friending" my bad!
When: A few days after it the initial party announcement post.
Where: The Neighbors Club Room located in Sigyn.
Rating: PG-13 AFAIK!


[Kodaka had left most of the event planning to Yozora and Sena as it was actually something that kept them busy. Kodaka knows when those two are idle and bored, bad things happen and they just end up fighting. He's actually surprised how much Yozora has taken this party thing seriously... and he's still shocked that it's technically meant for him. He's had birthdays with family members and school members, sure, but nothing like this; he's never had friends throw a party for him. He assumes Yozora throws the party for practice mostly, though.

He places a tray of onigiri (with various stuffings such as salmon, chicken, and picked vegetables.) down on a table next to a bowl of punch. There are cups and plates also on the table. He hasn't made this much food since he was back at home, and he actually doesn't mind. It's something for him to do, and without school and Kobato around, it feels like chunk of his life is missing.

He looks at his bracelet and realizes people should start coming in soon.]

Comments

[giver]

If you make enough of these, you can make an entire rose.

Paper is better, but it's still... fun. [ there is something on the heaviness of fun that says he isn't quite sure if he's having fun, but he shrugs it off and begins to make more of the smaller pieces to fit them together

he works quickly and quietly, but he does subtly look up every once in a while, not to scare her off, but to see if she's still there ]

[silentmode]

[ Seamlessly, she returns to his side, closer than she was before. Her fingers rest at the table, splaying and closing together in tension, before she begins to assist him once more. This time, her movements are far quicker and in synchronization. ]

[giver]

I presume you came here to make friends. [ he begins tying the finished ones together, letting her do the rest of the pieces ] It's not that hard.

This whole thing is silly, but they're not bad people here. [ he'd kill them in a second if he had to, of course, but there is something softer in his voice regarding them ] I hope you made good friends.

[silentmode]

[ While performing the finishing touches, Chane listens idly to his words. She's not sure if she made any good friends, and she's far more certain that she'll remain withdrawn as much as possible after. There's nothing in her eyes that says she's sad about this, at all. It's something that's pretty normalized for her.

Her hand slips to type at her device again, before she displays its message. Her own eyes are immediately on the makeshift bouquet-project, wondering what other talents he had. ]

I'm not sure of that. But I saw some nice flowers.

[giver]

[ when he briefly looks up, he does have that small twitched smile at that, and stays quiet for another moment as he finishes up bundling together the bouquet. it's more or less resembling flowers, though perhaps not as crisp or precise. but he doesn't have any complaints, and professes them to her with a slight half-mock bow, obviously entertained. ]

This might be more flowers than friends you have, but there are more friends you should have than flowers here.

[silentmode]

[ She takes a step back to watch the presentation fully, but is hit with mild surprise when he presents the entire thing to her. His words sort of crash against her chest in a weird way and she's not sure what to make of them or the feelings they invoke, but she does take the flowers after the bow, intentionally hiding her face with them as she attempts to neutralize her expression and regain composure. Which ...she does after a few seconds, and so she peeks out at him over the bouquet. ]

[giver]

I could introduce you to more people, if that's what you want. If you don't have a boyfriend, I know a few people who... well, they aren't good enough for you, but they're nice enough. Simple. [ he is just cleaning up the rest but clearly eyeing the table with food on it he's still hungry... ]

Are you hungry? The food isn't great, but it's not terrible.

[silentmode]

... [ She looks very confused at the boyfriend remark, but ends up shaking her head in a polite decline of his offer regarding that. She figures he doesn't care to hear about the whys and hows of her relationship status, and moves on to his next question with a nod.

She looks at her device, and starts attempting to type at it. The bouquet she's holding is easy enough to balance between her arm and her chest, but she's doing it as light as possible so it doesn't crumble. She just looks like...some waitress trying to balance shit, idek, not very graceful. ]

I am hungry, but you have done enough for me. I don't understand you.

[giver]

[ his brows do furrow at the last sentence, because he thought he was being very simple. he had offered to help her meet friends and possibly a boyfriend, and she refused, and that was fine. but maybe... he scoffed a little at himself, suddenly, because finally, he was on the same page as her. of course she didn't understand. he was being confusing, but now, he could straighten up the confusion. it was amazing how they understood each other so well. ]

I'm hungry, [ he explains patiently ] so I want food. There's food over there. If you were hungry, too, I would have brought you something. Possibly a salmon one, since those are the best. [ he reaches over, slowly, so she can see his movements, to touch her elbow and nudge her towards the table because that is his goal

food. ]

[silentmode]

[ She's a lot less tense this touch around, and blinks at his hand a couple of times as if it's some strange, exotic creature before looking over to the food table. And she begins taking a few steps towards the table, holding the flowers against her body as if they were the most precious jewels on earth. ]

[giver]

I'm sure one of those club members convinced you to come, unfortunately, [ he continues on absently as he stops to gather a plate for them

he only takes up one plate, but he piles up enough food for the both of them ] but they at least provide provisions. I came because I was interested in that. And for someone who likes his friends too much to actually call them friends.

[silentmode]

... [ Her eyes search his eyes for a moment, as her lips part into a small, confused "o". Her brows furrow in a moment of confusion, before she glances over to the plate, instead.

So that word must be meaningless to him for some reason...? Is that what he's insinuating? Or perhaps it's too conventional for him...

Her mind rummages quickly as she peeks over his shoulder at the food he's collecting. And she does notice that it's only one plate, now. Not two, like she had thought upon first sight. ]

[giver]

[ he has little interest in explaining the loser that is kodaka and his friendless state to her, but he does quirk a smile when their eyes meet, an instinctive reassurance, as he piles more than humanly possible on the plate ] It's confusing to me, too.

I like the chicken more than the vegetables, since the vegetables taste wilted, but if you like the latter more, then you should take some. [ he balances the plate between them easily as he already takes a bite into a chicken one kanba stop eating ]

[silentmode]

[ Her lips close as her eyes soften, and she gives a noncommittal shrug, signifying that she doesn't mind that it's confusing. Half of her emotions don't make sense to her, anyway.

And it's at this moment that she realizes communication with this guy is... pretty easy. She's definitely not used to that, outside of with a couple of choice people, and so she has to keep herself from drifting off with that thought and analyzing it too much.

Besides, chicken. Chane goes for that, instead. ]

[giver]

[ he balances the plate between them so she can take as much as she likes, elbow on his knee as he leans against the table. he does nod with slight approval at the chicken, and tests out the salmon gingerly, obviously slightly affronted at the amateur food-making ]

There's more people here than I expected. They should have at least given us topics... The weather, maybe, or the poor choice in food. Most people love to talk about themselves, but for those of us who don't, it's unfortunate... [ he nudges more of the food closer to her side of the plate ] It's comfortable to talk with you, though.

[silentmode]

[ she takes a tiny, clean piece off of the chicken as she listens, and she realizes with his words that he hasn't talked much about himself at all. They don't even know each others names, and she doesn't feel very bothered by this at all.

The last words cause her to give an apprehensive look elsewhere, away from their source, as she gently settles the bouquet to rest between her hip and arm. Observing the others in the room for a moment, Chane feels quite distant from all of them. Most were kind in their own ways to her, and she appreciated it, but she didn't really feel accepted into their worlds. She nudges a bit of the food back to the middle of the plate, going back to watching him. ]

[giver]

[ he stops eating (for once) when he picks up something else about her silence than normal, and he tilts his head, studying her and meeting her eyes directly as he goes over the possibilities.

he tilts his head towards where she had been looking for a clue, still half-frowning in thought. there is little that stops kanba from consuming everything, but there is always that. ]

They're not dangerous. [ said almost conversationally; he assumes she's being wary, given her last responses to his approaches ] I haven't seen anybody who's carrying a gun. Most of them are just... strange. That's all.

[silentmode]

... [ Her chewing slows and her line of visions falls once again on the crowd. She understands that he's trying to put her at ease, and gives him an appreciative look. She feels compelled to repay him -- his manner of kindness is a strange one. Unprovoked, without any declarations of intent or sentimentality. She sets the bouquet down for a moment, pulling away from the plate and reaches rests her knee on the table. She reaches up at the holster on her thigh, taking a small dagger out. ]

[giver]

[ he doesn't slow his chewing as he watches the dagger, or seem startled at all. but he does look, for some reason, sad. ]

I can't account for smaller weapons. That's harder to see at first glance. [ he seems to have decided something, and he shoves the rest of his rice ball in his mouth. looking at the crowd, anywhere but her or himself, he lifts up his jacket to show the butt of a gun barely sticking out from his belt. ]

I should ask you why you have that. It'd be nice if you said self-protection, and not because you're an assassin. But I don't want lies.

[silentmode]

[ When she glances at his gun, she's entirely unfazed -- why wouldn't someone be armed at a place like this? And as he speaks, she begins to hold the dagger out to him, since it was meant to be a gift for his kindness. The look on her face -- though it's an almost perpetual poker face usually, looks dejected once he's finished speaking, and she quickly drops her hand back to her side, clutching at the dagger. She had been...well, a terrorist. An assassin. Currently, she was a temporary bodyguard, but held on to such weaponry for self-defense. If he didn't want anything to do with her because of who she was, she felt it was his right.

She begins gathering the bouquet again, matching him in his...ability to not look someone in the eye. ]

[giver]

[ he remains quiet because it upset him more than he understood, because he hadn't been kind to her out of need. he didn't flirt with her like most girls he met, didn't try to use her like all the other people he knew. he would have certainly sacrificed her for his sister, but there was no need to use her or lie to her. now, something ugly stirred inside him, the pressing knowledge that he knew she could fight and possibly fight well, and he was the leader of a terrorist organization who could use that power. no, needed that power, because he needed to save his sister and he would discard people like trash and plant bombs under their cars without a second thought.

but he hadn't met her to use her, and it was ugly to see the only person so far in the godforsaken city who he'd shown, for a second, parts of himself that weren't manipulated, created, fictional, not the joking schoolboy and not the cold murderer running the city, but the parts of himself that were good, was someone he would need to use.

he calms himself, though, and touches her elbow again in a sign of apology, and keeps his voice calm. ] Sorry, I didn't mean to overreact. May I see your dagger?

[silentmode]

[ Upon contact, she retracts her arm, eyes holding a more serious light to them. Her body language, however, remains mostly unguarded, as she nods with a neutral look in acceptance of his apology. Since her entire body was armed beneath the fabric covering her, she felt no lack of security in holding it out once again. However, she's turning over his reaction in her head, trying to make sense of it, so her look is cogitative and absorbed. ]

[giver]

[ his guard is down, for a moment, as he examines the dagger. it would be easy to kill him in the distracted state. he turns it over his hands, and runs his finger along the hilt in a way that says he knows daggers, at least. not so much to be an expert, too much to be an amateur. ]

It's very nice. You have good taste. Which brings to question why you're here in the first place. [ a half-smile as he twists the dagger in his hand ] With power like this, you don't need friends.

[silentmode]

[ She leans against the table, lightly, crossing one foot in front of the other as she stares. His remark almost makes her sad -- though she's not sure why, or for whom. It's a distant, barely accessible feeling, and she shakes her head in polite disagreement, before casting her glance down at the dagger in his hands. She does hope he keeps it -- and wonders if she can offer her protection. She wondered if he truly believed what he just said. ]

[giver]

[ he pauses for a moment, creasing his brow slightly at her disagreement. he never had true friends, and he never felt himself wanting for them. then again, he corrects himself, he always had his sister. that was all he ever needed.

as he weighs the dagger carefully in each hand, he tries to find the right way to ask his question without scaring her off. finally, he gives in to the most direct way, though he asks very carefully: ] Are you here because you're lonely?