[OP-F24] Valentines Tournament Arc Round 2 - Observer Thread

[Hirru 0]

Freyd had seemed to make the right move, and the story was small, but nothing that he wouldn't like to hear.  It was fun to hear that such interactions were possible, even in the middle of an odd quest.  Though, it would seem that this Vigilon was much more of a trouble maker than he originally thought.  Falling out of the sky is one thing, but having issues with others over some other discretion is a recipe for disaster.  Hirru would know, he has known quite a few of them in his time on the floating castle.  Though, he wouldn't mind hunting with the boy.  Misadventures brew up quite a bit of trouble, and trouble always leads to good stories and loot; both of which were his forte.

"Well, that seems like it was quite the ordeal to go through.  Not so much the quest, but the individual himself.  Though, I wouldn't mind tagging along in one of his mind benders.  Sounds like good practice for my healing."

Hirru bid goodbye to the Whisper, as it seemed that his guild mates were here, and Hirru would like to be with friends that were more familiar to his own ordeals, as well.  Baldur was quick to come to his side and thank him for catching a few of today's dishes.

"Glad to help out, Baldur.  I honestly don't know what else I could have done to help."

Hirru would say before getting into some of the food that was set out.  Most of this was probably done by Snow, as she was the only one that wouldn't burn all the food, and knew not to put swords on the fryer.  He was thankful of her ingenuity, as a few of these dishes were quite good, especially in appearance and taste.  He would have to talk to her properly, one of these days.

A sudden shriek would ring in Hirru's head, but it wasn't his mind playing tricks again.  Some blonde headed woman had yelled out about something of a movie star?  What the heck is a movie, and how would that really matter?  Hirru didn't understand the importance and the need to be that loud.  He just took a bite out of a piece of fish and let it be.

[Morningstar 0]

Astralin's view on sunsets was similar to Morningstar's. She couldn't quite illustrate her ideas with words, but Star understood. The girl's scream took him by surprise. It wasn't embarrassment that he felt, but he did slightly regret bringing up his history. The cat was out of the bag now.

The girls reminisced about the time they met joyfully. Stars began popping up as the sun dipped lower. The colours of the sunset were starting to fade. Short but sweet. A temporary beauty.

"To answer your question," Morningstar cleared his throat, "I was an actor. It was a long time ago."

It wasn't until then that he'd realized how infrequently he talked about his life as an actor. It didn't come up much anymore. In a way, time had done him a favor. He wasn't stopped in the streets anymore; the most he'd get was the occasional odd look from a stranger. He'd even stopped reflecting on it after a while as if his new life had overshadowed his past. Shades of green and orange littered the trees and bushes that sprawled out around the garden. Lights flickered on as the sky darkened, illuminating the water. He turned his attention from the scenery back to the girls, giving them a wistful look.

"If you've got any preconceived theories of what actors are like, fifty percent of them are probably true," he joked.

@Astralin @Astreya

[Astreya 0]

Astreya had to physically stop herself from facepalming at Astralin's scream of surprise.  This marked the second time she had mentioned something that had been taken way too far and caused some problems for a particular individual.  Interestingly enough, both of them were based around holidays as well.  Last time it had been telling Nari about the body language showed by Koga and Kasumi at the Christmas Party.

This time it was about Morningstar's history.  It had been rather thoughtless and careless of her to mention it- how would she have reacted to something similar being spoken of her?  Something that was about her history that she might not care to relive or remember.  Unfortunately for Morningstar, she had a very good eye for faces- it sort of came with the territory of reading people's expressions and such things- you innately tended to memorize how they looked in general, even if it was something in passing.

There was a not-quite-awkward silence that followed the three as they'd gotten their food and moved out to the gardens to watch the sunset, and Astreya merely looked on, trying her damnedest not to mentally berate herself for it.  She reasoned that her opponent in the arena hadn't been particularly plussed about speaking about his past or the fact that he'd been in movies.  In fact, he had almost encouraged it, offering up a few movies here and there in response- she had assumed he was fine with it.

Apparently she'd made an ass out of herself.

Eventually, as the sun faded into the darkness and the stars began to shine, Morningstar spoke up again, and she nodded toward him.  "Yeah...I think, like, all of us are kind of in that boat, y'know?  Used to be someone, or something," she mused, giving a gentle smile out at to where the sunset had vanished.  She reached out, setting a hand on Astralin's shoulder, turning her gaze more directly to Morningstar.  "Like...sorry.  I didn't realize Astra would like...freak out," she spoke, giving a small grin toward the blonde girl.

"You must've, like, not watched as many movies as I did, huh?" she asked, the grin widening as she tried to add into Morningstar's joke to lighten the mood a little bit again.

[Morningstar 0]

"It's okay," Morningstar laughed. "Believe it or not, her reaction wasn't the worst I've seen. Don't be too hard on yourself."

One of the first people he'd met in Aincrad had been a huge fan. Not of him, of course, but of his dad. She'd stalked Star for three days hoping for the chance to meet the great Keith Star but to her dismay, Morningstar entered the game alone. When he told her, she looked like she was about to cry. Astralin wasn't the worst reaction he'd seen. At most, she was in the top ten.

"Besides, a few people were bound to know. You two seem alright. Maybe not trustworthy, but alright." he jested slyly. 

And next came the sleepover. It reminded him of the single slumber party he'd gone to as a kid. They'd slept inside cardboard boxes and eaten ridiculous amounts of ice cream cake, as kids do. What did adults do at sleepovers? Hell, what did any normal person do at a sleepover?

Gossip it is, he thought.

"So," he leaned back, "let's pretend one of you was to win the tournament. Who's your date?"

@Astreya @Astralin

[Astralin 0]

Morningstar answered the question that Astralin had asked Astreya, saying that he used to be an actor, that it was a long time ago. He also noted that about fifty percent of theories involving what actors were really like were probably true. "Like how reputation tends to carry weight, or that an actor's life is never all roses?" Astralin guessed. Astreya added that everyone used to be someone, or something.

Astralin, however, couldn't really relate. Her smile began to fade. "Well, I guess you could say that kind of depends... Me, I was just a girl who couldn't really find her place. Simple part time job, same friends I've always had since childhood, but not many more others...I was basically just another pretty face in the eyes of the public. Otherwise, I didn't have much of what they expected." Astralin revealed, her eyes looking to the ground. "My real name doesn't make it that much easier...not that I hate it, I'm actually really attached to it..." She added.

At least the arrival of the stars in the sky was somewhat uplifting.

Astreya put her hand on Astralin's shoulder, and apologized over not knowing Astralin would react, while giving Astralin a small grin. Astralin shyly grinned back, despite the awkward expression on her face. "Yeeeah, sorryyy...." She added, the tips of her index fingers poking each other as she did so. Morningstar laughed, saying that it was okay, that Astralin's reaction wasn't nearly the worst he'd seen. His next words were that people were bound to know the truth regardless. He also remarked that Astralin and Astreya seemed alright, not trustworthy but alright. "That's fair," Astralin remarked. "We barely know each other anyway..."

Then came Morningstar's latest question: theoretically, who would each of the girls pick as a date if they'd won? Astralin...needed to think up a proper response to this. It was likely to be a simple answer followed by all the reasons why...the truth was, Astralin didn't think she had very many options...at all. "I....um....I..." She uttered out, struggling to keep her thoughts together after about three quarters of a minute. "I uh...don't know." She admitted. "For starters, I hardly know any of the guys here. I knew only like, two, and one of them's taken, the other I knew is probably not available emotionally?" She added with a chuckle. "And just in case you're thinking, 'wouldn't you have been thinking about this since signing up for the Tournament?', well..." She continued. "...I kinda had tunnel vision when reading the flyerrr...." She said with an awkward, somewhat suppressed grin. "I saw an opportunity to hone my skills and meet new people, so I signed up without reading the fine print on the prize details..."

Astralin was starting to ramble at this point. "When I was on my way here, a new sort-of-friend of mine, Yona, joined me for the boat ride to the isle, and wow, what were the chances that we'd both forgotten to read the prize details...although the realization of it kind of...scared her? Something about it being a battlefield, 'conquer or be conquered', 'dominate or be dominated', I really don't know what she was worried about, and it couldn't have done her much better that she lost in the first round...her reaction to that loss was the last thing I expected, though...."

Astralin got her mind back to the moment. "Well, enough about Yona and I not noticing we were competing with a date on the line...so, as of the moment, who would you pick, Morningstar?"

@Astreya @Morningstar

[Morningstar 0]

The way Astralin spoke of her past was surprisingly similar to his own. His busy life never truly felt like his own. He never felt like he had a place. The difference, he supposed, was his family's fame he'd been born into. She mentioned her real name, but he didn't ask what she meant.

Like Morningstar, Astralin didn't know anyone at the tournament—any of the guys, at least. It was relieving to know that he wasn't the only one without a clue who he would choose if he were to win.

"I'm in the same boat. I met a few people today, including you two, but I dunno. It's hard to pick, you know? Especially between strangers," he shrugged. "If I do win, and I don't know that I can, I'd probably end up picking at random. Or maybe Baldur. He seems interesting," Star chuckled, his fingers playing with the pendant hanging from his neck.

He hadn't taken the two girls next to him out of the equation either. He still wanted to gauge their personalities and honestly, their interest. Astreya was playful and tended to flirt harmlessly, while Astralin seemed more abstract and evidently acted before she thought. The only opinion he'd made so far was that he enjoyed their company. Even though he'd dueled Astreya, he was still a stranger to them. Yet they didn't hesitate to join him for dinner.

"What about you, Astreya?"

@Astreya @Astralin

[Lessa 1]

The short walk back to the party left her exhausted. The actual journey itself wasn’t the culprit, of course - she wasn’t that out of shape. But the few moments alone allowed her to finally decompress. Two fights, two victories, with the second a perfect performance. Or maybe it might have, had Alkor not been her partner. Nothing between them was perfect, as demonstrated by their exchange during and after the duel. He’d emptied her out, and filled her back up again, rubbed her raw, and still somehow left her feeling better about everything. Good and bad, black and white, he was so damn complicated while remaining so stupidly simple. Contradictions abound, but it worked for him. And it worked for them. It would have to, if she decided he was worth the effort. He is. He always will be.

But that fact didn’t soothe her tired body, or bridle her galloping mind. The emotional tapdance had thrown open the floodgate to feelings and memories Lessa had preferred to keep buried. Sure, they wouldn’t stay that way forever, but she’d wanted a little more time. Hoped for it. Prayed for it. And recalling the many coping mechanisms she had learned, she threw them all away, and went with her gut.

Literally.

Time to eat these feelings.

A woman on a mission, she strode purposefully toward the buffet table. A splatter of congratulations came her way, which she met with a simple thank you or wave. But those blue eyes never left the food. Only once she had carefully constructed a mountain of food - primarily sweets - did she finally drift back toward two familiar faces. 

“Gentlemen,” she stated by way of greeting, the word muffled by the cookie in her mouth.

@Jomei @Baldur
 

[Astreya 0]

Astreya had been considering the question a bit.  Who would she date if she was given the opportunity to?  Despite her time here, she hadn't made a really strong connection with a lot of people.  Astralin was someone she'd met several times and each time she found herself liking the girl more and more, and Nari was another, although Nari had something going on under the hood that Astreya hadn't quite yet figured out.  She needed more time to talk with her to figure out just what that was.

The question about movies, and then Astreya's off-handed commentary afterward seemed to strike a little more into Astralin's core, the woman beginning to think a little bit about where she came from.  She had offered up some thoughts and insights on where she'd come from and what she'd done in her early life, and from there it seemed like she was kind of a 'no one' when it came to it, back in the real world, and that was something that made Astreya's heart hurt, and a sympathetic smile was shared to the blonde.

"I'm like, so totally offended that you don't trust me," the girl spoke in response to Morningstar's joke, and she beamed a smile toward him, just to show that she was, in fact, kidding.

That was mostly just stalling for time to think of an appropriate answer that wouldn't be too off-putting, and thankfully, Astralin came in after that to offer up her own thoughts on the matter.  Of course, during it she'd revealed she hadn't actually realized what the endgame prize was and Astreya couldn't help but to give a small laugh of bemusement at her friend's aloofness in that manner, which started to turn into a little bit of a ramble, and Astreya just watched with that same little bit of amusement at the answer, before shaking her head, laughing a bit more to herself.

She turned the question back around to Morningstar and he gave a similar non-answer.  She couldn't help but to find amusement in that.  Everyone was trying to avoid answering the question.  Like they might be found out in some sort of trap if they did so.  "So like," she began, as the ball was returned back to her, "I like meeting new people, y'know?  So like, it'd be someone I haven't met before.  Or like at least not very well.  There's a few people here, but I'll like, wear the big girl pants and actually like, commit to a choice, unlike you two," she spoke with a teasing little grin.  "There's a guy here named Alkor and he seems like he's totally rough around the edges.  I don't like, have any romantic interest or like, whatever, but...I'm just kinda like, curious about who he is, y'know?" she murmured.

"But then like, dating a movie star, former or not, would like, be totally cool.  I could totally brag about it when we get out of here," she grinned, winking at Star.

[Morningstar 0]

Alkor...

Morningstar tried putting a face to the name but found that he was drawing a blank. Had he been the one fighting the blonde girl? He couldn't remember.

"Fine, if you want me to put on my big girl pants, my answer is Jomei," he smirked, using the only name he could remember from previous conversations. "But you can't ask why."

"I get it though," he looked back towards the dojo. "There are a lot of interesting people here. It'd be a lie if I said I wasn't curious about a few of them."

That being said, he felt no urge to confront or talk to them. He was content where he was, for the time being anyway. The garden grew colder in the evening air. He'd finished the last of his dinner and concluded that it was the best he'd had in weeks. Astreya's next comment took him by surprise.

"Oh yeah?" he chuckled, folding his arms over his chest. "Nobody would believe you," he grinned back, "but if you're so keen on it, I'll keep that in mind for when I win."

[Astralin 0]

Astreya's expression seemed to show some sympathy to Astralin in response to her speaking about her past. She also laughed a bit when Astralin revealed that she and Yona came with tunnel vision that resulted in a bit of a...surprising realization upon reaching the island...yeah, Astralin kinda deserved to hear this laugh for being so reckless.

Astreya would explain that she liked meeting new people, then make a remark about commitment, before she gave her answer as to who she would have chosen if she was to have won, and it sounded like she would have chosen Alkor as to try getting to know him better, but she also liked the idea of dating a movie star. ...It was also apparent that Astreya liked to tease.

"For the record, I always thought tights went better with dresses anyway." Astralin responded to Astreya's "big girl pants" remark. "Besides, choices like these...require some level of commitment, and committing to a choice...takes time...even if it's just for me." She added. Then came the response to the movie star thing. "I mean...sure, it might seem cool and brag-worthy, on the surface. ...But what about their thoughts on the situation? What if they wanted their love life to remain in their private life? How well do you think you can handle baggage of being in relationship with a celebrity? You'd have to be really committed to stay in such a relationship, wouldn't you?" She asked, adding a bit of realism to the subject...but to avoid being labeled as pessimistic, she'd top it off with a pro instead of a con. "But at least if you succeed, you've got someone special in your life, right?"

Morningstar would give his own thoughts on the matter, and Astralin would have a thing or two to say in response. "Jomei? Is that the um...wild guess here, is that the ginger currently talking with Baldur and the Blonde woman who beat Yona?" She asked. "Um...I mean...I won't stop you, just...proceed with caution? I can't speak for everyone in terms of dealing with gingers, obviously, but I dated one once, and uh, it didn't go as well as I'd hoped..." She added, starting to trail off as she did. "Maybe it would have lasted longer or ended more peacefully, if it wasn't for that Becca girl..." She muttered, a slight scowl on her face. She then quickly switched her expression to intrigue as she continued to listen to Morningstar's words. "Yeah, I can understand. I really wanna get to know more people while I still can. If anything, I could find friends I can count on, especially when the going gets tough, or even when I just need someone to hang out with." She added.

When Morningstar made his remark to Astreya's words on potentially dating him, Astralin raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" She responded with a smirk. "One way to find out for sure, but you'll be in for a rough battle, I've beaten two of this Dojo's top students in this tournament, I won't fall very easily." She added. "In other words, we'll see about that."

@Astreya @Morningstar

[Jomei 0]

It was soon realized that, sometimes trying to strike up conversation with the host of an event was not always the best option so early on. Though he knew Baldur would be open to conversation, probably wanting it since he had been playing announcer and host for the entire day, including now, but he could only imagine how busy he was. Being one of his first moments of respite during the day, while not judging fights or being a silent observer, about half of the guests took this time to walk up to Baldur to greet him, or simply thank him for throwing this event. Jomei had to admit, he felt a bit guilty pulling Baldur away from that moment of relaxation.

Jomei offered a friendly smile to Astreya as she had waved to him after greeting Baldur herself, his eyes following her as she walked off for a moment before turning and continuing his conversation with Baldur. Despite feeling that twinge of guilt for interrupting a possible quiet moment for Baldur, he could tell that their host enjoyed speaking with the ginger, so that did enough to wipe his self-reproach. 

Mid way through their conversation, with Jomei trying to pry into Baldur's mind to find out the gaijin samurai's own bias as to who he thought could take the win, a familiar head of blonde hair made herself known to the two, holding a plate that looked just as packed as Jomei's.. just a sweeter variety while his more savory. Gently tugging on the thigh of his hakama with his free hand, he offered a small, playful curtsey in response, "Mi'lady. I was just asking Baldur who he thought was going to take the win tomorrow. How'd things with Alkor go?" 

@Baldur
@Lessa

[Baldur 0]

Baldur smiled as Jomei complimented his choice of events and the success it seemed to be having at distracting everyone from their current predicament. He was glad that everyone seemed to be having fun, and that the tournament was a success.

"Thanks, honestly it was a bit of a whim. But what I realized most was that we needed to be reminded that we're all people, stuck in this situation together. No a remember what we're fighting for, I think most people remember that every day, but we need to remember we're all people. I had hoped that by hosting this event, and the tournament, and giving everyone a chance to exist together as people, and not as soldiers, that we would form meaningful bonds, and at the same time, give everyone a chance to relax and refresh their spirits."

He chuckled, however, when the ginger asked who he thought would win the fight. He was about to say something deflecting, he was the judge and couldn't be seen impartial after all, even if he was pulling for Lessa to win.

However, at that moment, said blonde walked right up, cookie in her mouth, and addressed them as anything but what they were.

"Gentlemen." She said, trying to look classy while eating her cookie.

The smile that split Baldur's face was genuine and heartfelt, as it often was around Lessa.

"Good work on the fighting today, and that kimono is beautiful as well. You really do have it all." He gave her a playful wink, "If you don't win this yourself, I think you'll have to bat away a suitor with a 12 foot pole." Baldur shared a conspiratorial grin with Jomei.

@Lessa @Jomei

[Astreya 0]

At Star's response of putting on his big girl pants, Astreya couldn't help but to snort with laughter in response, the idea, but as he brought up Jomei, Astreya's eyes widened slightly in response, quite literally about to ask why before he'd cut off that avenue.  "Okay, but, you can't pick Jomei.  He's like, a totally a really nice guy, but I'm pretty sure that like..." she began, when flashes of the Christmas Party where Nari had all-but shouted (okay, she had shouted it) that Koga and Kasumi had some mutual attraction, and while she liked Morningstar so far, she didn't know how much she could trust him to keep a secret.  Beyond that, Astralin had just done a bit of a shout of her own.  "...that there's a good reason you can't.  You can't ask why either," she immediately added, thankful for Astralin coming into the conversation at that point for Astreya to have an out and something else to discuss.

"Well like it's not saying that you're in like, a total, full relationship if you win.  It's just like, one date, y'know?  Just to get to know someone.  You're not like, dating or anything," the girl spoke, giving her friend a slight grin.  But as Astralin went into the more realistic parts of dating a celebrity, she nodded.  "Oh well, yeah, like, totally.  I super agree with you," she agreed, nodding along with the girl.  "But like, I could still say I went on a date with one," she spoke, before sticking her tongue out at Star.  "Whether they believe me or not."

Astralin went onto then discuss a very real part of her own love life and Astreya couldn't help but to give a sympathetic smile toward having someone stolen from her, patting Astralin on the shoulder in gentle comfort, before conversation turned back around to the upcoming fight between them.  "Well as much as, like, I wanna see if Star picks me, Astralin's totally got my cheer squad," she spoke, beaming at the blonde girl.

[NIGHT 0]

thread summary.

[notes]

@Freyd @Nari-Lanreth @Astreya @Calrex @Snow
please remember to add your stats into the first post in the future.

[total]

ALKOR | t7 | post count: 3
+ 8785xp | (6275 * 7 * 0.2)
+ 1317col | (xp * 0.15)

ASTRALIN | t4 | post count: 7
+ 10040xp | (6275 * 4 * 0.4)

ASTREYA | t5 | post count: 8
+ 12550xp | (6275 * 5 * 0.4)

BALDUR | t9 | post count: 6
+ 22590xp | (6275 * 9 * 0.4)
+ 5388col | (xp * 0.15) + 2000

CALREX | t10 | post count: 1

ERUDA | t9 | post count: 4
+ 11295xp | (6275 * 9 * 0.2)
+ 1694col | (xp * 0.15)

FREYD | t15 | post count: 10
+ 56475xp | (6275 * 15 * 0.6)
+ 8471col | (xp * 0.15)

HIRRU | t9 | post count: 5
+ 11295xp | (6275 * 9 * 0.2)
+ 1694col | (xp * 0.15)
+ T4 Perfect Weapon UnID [203747a]
+ T4 Perfect Weapon UnID [203747b]
+ T4 Rare Weapon UnID [203747c]
* why were you fishing? askjdjsgf

JOMEI | t9 | post count: 7
+ 22590xp | (6275 * 9 * 0.4)
+ 3388col | (xp * 0.15)

KOGA | t8 | post count: 8
+ 20080xp | (6275 * 8 * 0.4)
+ 3012col | (xp * 0.15)

LESSA | t8 | post count: 3
+ 10040xp | (6275 * 8 * 0.2)
+ 1506col | (xp * 0.15)

MORNINGSTAR | t2 | post count: 8
+ 5020xp | (6275 * 2 * 0.4)

NARI | t4 | post count: 11
+ 15060xp | (6275 * 4 * 0.6)

NIGHT | t12 | post count: 5
+ 15060xp | (6275 * 12 * 0.2)
+ 2259col | (xp * 0.15)

OJI | t2 | post count: 5
+ 2510xp | (6275 * 2 * 0.2)

RAIDOU | t13 | post count: 6
+ 32630xp | (6275 * 13 * 0.4)
+ 4894col | (xp * 0.15)

SNOW | t3 | post count: 3
+ 3765xp | (6275 * 3 * 0.2)

XENA | t2 | post count: 12
+ 10040xp | (6275 * 2 * 0.8)

ZAJCICA | t7 | post count: 1

Spoiler

[thread progression]

37678 words | 1255 sections | 6275 base
page count: 5 | max rewards: 5 * 3 = 15 posts.