open | happy (earth) new year, everyone!

[genice]

WHO: Any and all!
WHERE: 2nd residential floor lounge
WHEN: OOCly 12/31; today.
WHAT: Victor's ICly claimed the day as being the 31st, and subsequently celebrating the "New Year" with anyone who comes by! After sending out a post on the network inviting any of the new arrivals via anomalies to attend, people are welcome to come enjoy a probably very random seeming New Years celebration.
WARNINGS: There is food and alcohol here, beware!

The lounges are interesting spaces, and Victor didn't hesitate to roll up his sleeves and rearrange furniture in this section of the middle floor lounge. A cheery wave to anyone wandering through earlier on the 31st (by his calendar, he's quite cheerful in acknowledging how arbitrary that really is) while he goes about arranging things to his satisfaction, before he jets off again to finish preparing his olivie salad.

It's nowhere near fancy, but he's shown up again with a big, borrowed bowl from his work, containing the closest approximation of olivie salad he'd been able to manage working with the supplies he found on board. There's a tablecloth tossed over the table he's appropriated for holding the foodstuffs, along with simple plates, utensils, cups and bubbling wines (three, okay, that's toeing the line of careful financial management). He's even figured out how to get music playing, though it's hard to say if there's any unifying theme to what plays.

Perhaps the most ridiculous part of any of this is how he's constructed a small cone cap for the brown, fuzzy creature that had been delivered to his bunk last week. That it's a shaved ice cone inverted with the words "Happy New Year" written on it amuses him. The unidentified creature simply coos and purrs and wears the cone hat, not moving off the smaller table it's been set on.

"Happy New Year!" he says to just about anyone walking by, tipping his (oh so classy) cup their way with a smile. Welcome to the party. Bring something to contribute to the table? Very welcome to the party!

[ ooc: please tag in with your own top levels and enjoy a relaxed, informal celebration of the new year (per Victor)! ]

Comments

[genice]

( 1 )

( There are ways and ways to strike up a conversation. One of Victor's for the evening appears to be offering over a plate and fork to anyone he sees with empty hands, flashing them a smile and a seemingly unrelated question. )

What's the best thing that's happened to you in the last year?

( 2 )

Kon, the here-to-forth unidentified tribble, needs to be moved when Victor wants to claim the table its been resting on. He picks up the brown, fuzzy creature, turning around and handing it off with a smile to the person nearest.

"Will you hold Kon? I need to move the table and I didn't want him rolling away. Or her. Them?"

He laughs, far too much good cheer as he goes to heft the small table up and walk it over toward the refreshments end of the food table.

( wildcard )

( hit me up with a blank comment asking for a wildcard and i'll spin us something now; or hit me up with your own wildcard! )

[canadese]

[ 1. by the snack table ]

[Ax did not bring food with him, because he has no money and also has no idea what is an appropriate thing to bring to a seemingly arbitrary commemoration of a planet's revolution around its star, in the middle of deep space in a universe where that planet may not necessarily exist.

It's probably better this way. He would have eaten it on the way over.

As the moment he is near one of the donated salads. He's not getting a plate for himself. In fact, he's... ignoring utensils entirely and is picking out and eating leaves of lettuce by hand, apparently completely oblivious to anyone or anything nearby. Gross.]

[ 2. after midnight ]

[By some miracle, he lasted the night without ingesting any alcohol. It's probably the only reason he's lasted this long. Also, Marco has been shoving glasses of water into his hand all night.

Well, the ball has dropped, the champagne has been opened, there was confetti and the works. Ax is just as baffled as he was when he first arrived. And he finally managed to get his hands on something alcoholic. As the party continues around him, he ends up standing in the middle of the floor, staring at his glass of champagne nonplussed, confetti still in hair as he mutters.]

I don't understand the purpose of any of this.

[ 3. this is my united states of ]

[whatever]

[ouzel]

[ food glorious food* ]

[ Cassian has brought food. Empanadas, to be precise, in a couple of variations so they might be familiar to just about everyone. There's a plate full of ones that have a little hand-drawn sign with a [ 🥕 ] and another with a sign that says [ 🍖 ].

There is also cheesecake with bright reddish swirls in it. The little sign here is [ 🥛 🍓 ].

He's trying to cover all the bases, and he's not sure how many people read Galactic Basic around here.

Cassian sets up the plates on table and then...stands around a bit awkwardly, at least for the first few minutes. Once a couple of people have tried them, he'll move on.

*feel free to use the food as a plot device for your own threads! ]

[ wildcard ]

[ Cassian knows very little about New Year's so he's just...milling around, talking to canonmates and smiling gently at everyone else. Ask him a question! Shove a drink in his hand! He probably needs it. ]

2

[ouzel]

I think it's supposed to be a rebirth celebration.

[ Says Cassian, from where he'd managed to walk up on Ax. ]

Do the Andalites do that sort of thing? Also, did you eat anything other than salad?

2

[yokunaru]

[Once the party had picked up, Yuuri had naturally begun to gravitate toward the slightly more open pockets of the room, avoiding the larger groups of people. Somehow, he ends up in the middle, just to Ax's side. There's a flute of champagne in his hand--he's not sure who even handed that to him, to be honest--that he's staring at with mistrust when he hears Ax's offhand comment.]

Any of what?

[It's a little unusual for him to jump in like this, but Yuuri supposes his curiosity wins out for the moment.]

[yokunaru]

[When Yuuri spots Cassian, there's a sort of awkwardness in the way he's standing by the table that Yuuri thinks he recognizes in himself sometimes. Though he's been trying to stay out of the way and unobtrusive since more people started arriving, he decides it couldn't hurt to socialize around a bit. He's going to be on this ship with these people for an indefinite amount of time, after all.

Yuuri holds out a plate, a few utensils already resting there ready for use, and offers it to Cassian when he pauses beside him.]

Help yourself. The food's meant to be eaten.

[ouzel]

[ Cassian's lip quirks and he scans the room before taking the plate uncertainly. ]

Thanks. [ He thinks. ] I ate some while I was cooking, though.

[ It just felt rude to turn the guy down. ]

[yokunaru]

Oh, you made something? [Yuuri perks up with interest, though there's a hint of sheepishness in his expression, too.]

I considered cooking for the party, but... [He gives a helpless sort of gesture with one hand.] Ah. I've been trying to get used to being here.

1

[juniberries]

[She's here to socialize and get to know fellow crewmembers unceremoniously brought here by anomalies, and she knows a party when she sees one, as haphazardly put together as this one is.

But what she doesn't quite know is the holiday being celebrated, although Altea probably had similar concepts of celebrating a new year. PROBLEM IS.

It's been over 10,000 years of sleep and not even a year of being awake so when she's given a plate by a stranger (much to the joy of the fat yellow mouse sitting on her shoulder), Allura stares at the stranger owlishly before awkwardly smiling at him.]

I'm...not sure?

[finethanks]

1.

[One thing Eichi would love to be able to do is participate in events like this normally, like any highschooler would. His body has been pushed more and more lately, even from just standing around, but today he's actually feeling pretty decent. So long as he doesn't push himself too hard, he should be able to enjoy something like this!]

Ah, what a lively party this is...! It really is like we're all drawn together to celebrate something we share, in this way. Fufu, it's so pleasant that I could sing. ♪

[So he's around, looking amazed at different types of food and drinks and greeting everyone he can.]

2.

[But Eichi has also brought his own fun to the party! Since he knows others from his school would do something similar by bringing in something fun to do, he's decided to create his own fukuwarai templates and stands with a few blindfolds in hand, waving people over.]

Would you like to play a game? Let me blindfold you and we'll have a fun time~.

[This is how to introduce fun games... Anyway! It's nothing like fortune telling or tops or boardgames, but hopefully this will be the most fun.]

3. then this chick comes up to me and she's all like, "hey aren't you that dude?"

[brightline]

[Of course, the minute Marco stopped looking at Ax, he managed to get into the champagne. Maybe he got distracted for half an hour or so when the clock struck 12 and he had a couple glasses of champagne himself, but it really should not have been long enough for Ax to go through enough glasses himself to end up stumbling around in search of more 'fizzy fermented grape juice.'

Then again, this is Ax they're talking about.

Marco's a little unsteady on his feet himself, but he heads over to his friend, sighing deeply, and slides in beside him, one arm under Ax's arms, looking up at him with a brow raised.]

I'm starting to think you might need an intervention, Ax-man.

[ouzel]

The empanadas and the cheesecake. [ Cassian gestures at the food. ]

That's okay. It's different. [ To say the least. ]

[yokunaru]

I'll have to try them. [He smiles slightly, making note of the plates Cassian pointed out.]

Um, I was wondering... how long have you been here? [He's almost afraid to ask, remembering that the anomalies have apparently been going on for ages before he even arrived.]

[brightline]

[i. food]

[It's kind of surprising how much bank you can make as a kids' magician when you have the ability to change into whatever animal you want. The kiddies want to pet a cheetah or ride a horse or get tossed around by a gorilla? Totally cool, plus no one on this ship has heard his usual jokes, and all the moms think he's adorable, especially when he winks and flirts, so the tips are out of this world.

Which means he has enough money to bring some decent stuff to the party - none of it is homemade, and it's pretty standard teenage boy party food like pizzas and soda and a big tray of cinnamon buns that he managed to find (kind of an in joke), but it's plentiful and filling.

Marco's setting up the stuff he brought, opening boxes and making sure things are warm, tucking his hair behind his ear as he grins at whoever comes up beside him.]

Nice party, huh?

[ii. countdown]

[Marco has a glass of champagne and a grin on his face as he joins in the final countdown, surprisingly relieved to be surrounded by some humans who actually get the New Years Eve thing. The change in calendar is still a little jarring, but hey, it means that his 20th birthday is a couple months closer, and he'll take it..

When the ball drops and it's officially the new year, Marco yells along with everyone else and turns to look around him, dark eyes bright, looking for someone to proposition for a New Year's kiss.]

[iii. wildcard]

[Marco will be around for the whole night shoving water at Ax so he doesn't drink alcohol, mingling, telling jokes, or doing whatever else. Feel free to toss me a starter or request a wildcard scenario!]

[ouzel]

Only thirteen solar days. [ Which isn't terribly long, really. Cassian indicates Victor across the room with a nod of his head. ] He's been here a little longer, I think.

There don't seem to be people who were brought on board via the anomaly still here other than those of us who have shown up the last twenty solar days or so.

[yokunaru]

He's been here around nineteen days now. [Yuuri says, glancing toward Viktor himself. Then, he frowns.]

There aren't...? [The video they'd played at orientation had made it sound like there were a lot more people in the same situation.] What happened to the others?

whoops look at me misspelling names

[ouzel]

They said that they left, or died. No one here talks about where they're from, it's as if they've been here the whole time.

[ Cassian shrugs, and takes a thoughtful bite of his food. ]

no you're fine! I've seen it both ways

[yokunaru]

They left? [The explanation doesn't help. If anything, Yuuri feels himself getting even more confused.]

But... I thought that wasn't possible. Isn't that what they've been telling us?

2

[remainingtwin]

Uh.

[Mio freezes, eyes wide at the sudden, uh, offer?? Who says something like that out of the blue? She glances around as if to see if he's asking someone else, or maybe if there's someone else who heard it, before fixing him with a skeptical look.]

You might want to sound a little less suspicious next time you ask something like that.

[realists]

[ 001 - FOOD TABLE ]

[ it's definitely not life day. nor carnival week on coruscant or high day or empire day which her parents only reluctantly celebrated. loitering around the food table like a fish out of water -- so much food, so little to be reconstituted! -- she puts a slice of cassian's cheesecake on her plate and will spend the entire evening with that one thing.

when she steps up to refill her water, however, she will ask: ] What is New Year's exactly?

[ 002 - COUCHES ]

[ it's probably only about twenty minutes into this party, but jyn's decided she is well and truly over-socialised and tucks herself away on a far couch by a bookshelf. it's far more plush and comfortable that she is used, but so is this party. she's not a party person, she can barely remember the last time she attended a party.

maybe when she was four?

so she finds a quiet area to be uncomfortable and paw through the bookshelves to maybe find something enjoyable. ]

[ 003 - WILDCARD ]

[ you do you! jyn will be "mingling", drinking alcohol she has no idea what do with that is also like way below the alcohol content in space, lounging on the couch, or idk googling shit on her communicator. make something up, i'll roll with it. ]

[canadese]

I have sampled some of everything brought to this gathering.

[It's amazing that his face is free of detritus, actually. (Read: Marco was here.)]

While my people place great importance on ritual, it is usually for the purpose of meditation and self-discipline. This... celebration of a mundane spacetime phenomenon is pointless.

[canadese]

[Ax startles visibly at Yuuri's approach. He'll never get used to how limited human range of vision is. He has to quickly drink some from his glass to keep it from spilling, so it takes a few moments for him to regain his composure and process that he has never actually seen Yuuri before.

This wouldn't normally be significant, but on a ship with this limited a population, every new face means a new arrival. (Perhaps he ought to start camping outside the orientation hall just to keep track of them all.]

In my culture we do not have this tradition. Its purpose seems arbitrary.

[yokunaru]

Oh, you mean the New Year's celebrations?

[Yuuri brushes a piece of confetti from his shirt almost absently.] I can't much about the party, except that it's for friends and family to spend time together.

The countdown, though... [He pauses, contemplative.] It's to greet the coming year, I think. A new year means a clean slate for many people back home.

2!

[yokunaru]

[Unfortunately for Marco, the person right next to him just happens to be Yuuri. Yuuri, who's bemusedly brushing confetti off of him and most likely doesn't share Marco's interest in having a New Year's Kiss.

As if sensing Marco's gaze when it passes over him, Yuuri looks up with surprise.]

Um. Yes? [Then his lips purse slightly as he automatically jumps to a conclusion without even letting Marco get a word in yet.] Oh. There's still confetti in my hair, isn't there?

[genice]

( He meets her awkward smile with the practiced ease of the one he usually wears for public events. That is: one meant to help set others at ease, if smiles really did such things. Victor keeps his body posture relaxed, straightening and adjusting the cuff of his sleeve with thoughtless grace.

Frankly, with recent events, the idea of thinking positive has become more attractive than ever. It didn't exclude being realistic, but cheer was easier to pull on with Yuuri having shown up in the last two days. )

Ah, here I am being rude... Being put on the spot makes it harder to come up with an answer even when you're prepared.

( He flicks his eyes to her shoulder rider, gently quirking his eyebrows up. )

How about introductions? I'm Victor Nikiforov. Happy New Year!

( Sure, he holds out his hand after that, let's shake and all, but the way he grins and winks shows he's poking fun at himself even as he's announcing who he is and why, ostensibly, he's here. )