Totally Normal Garden Party and not an escape meeting

[hotpaprika]

[It's Friday afternoon, and the party is almost ready. Jonathan, with the help of others, have arranged a quaint table setting in the garden, adorned with various flower arrangements. The spread of food seems quite impressive if not... somewhat strange with some of the offerings. Floyd brought takoyaki (careful, some of them have hot sauce in them!), Jason brought donuts, Hadoka brought some scrambled eggs, although not enough to feed all 25 citizens, Brett brought finger sandwiches, Joy brought some fancy flatbread, Mille brought fancy little cakes and pastries, The Undertaker brought some bone shaped biscuits, and Adamon brought some mushroom risotto. For drinks, Jonathan brought over several pitchers of lemonade, enough for everyone at the party and then some.

Nandor also brought ice cubes and Misfire brought one (1) lemon.

If anyone is hesitant about coming, Jonathan will gently find them and tell them that the party "really means a lot to him", with added details about the true nature of the party if they are still resistant. There were really only two people he was keeping this a secret from.

Just before five o'clock hits, Jonathan finds himself looking increasingly nervous. Anxiously tapping the table, looking around for anything suspicious, and taking a quick swig from his flask that he got from the pool to calm his nerves. For those who think that this is just a garden party, this might not exactly look like the most normal behavior ever.

It's a few minutes past five and, once Jonathan does one last look around to make sure everyone is here, he gently taps his glass of lemonade with a spoon and stands up, clearing his throat.]

Thank you all for coming to the party! I have told this to a few of us, but I was not entirely honest when I wrote the invitation. While, yes, part of my motivation is to grow more familiar with the rest of the citizens here, my true purpose is much more vital. I organized this meeting so we can discuss how to escape from this prison the Mayor has placed us in, and I intend to do so before any casualties occur.

I do not want to burden everyone with the details of my life, but I had been held captive before, and I know the horrors of letting my captor know of my escape plans, and that is why I had to be secretive about this. I do not want our opportunities for escape to close because we let it slip that we're trying to leave, and I ask everyone to be similarly secretive about this.

But, on the bright side, we have the numbers I didn't have back at the Castle, and I am confident with our combined efforts we can overthrow the Mayor and get back to our homes before too long!

[And with that, Jonathan sits back down in order to begin the meeting in earnest!]

[ PLANS INFORMATION BACKSTORIES GENERAL CHATTER ]

Comments

[withagun]

[ More withdrawn, definitely not looking at home at this "party," Hodaka just holds his sweet little kitten, who keeps trying to paw at other people if they get home. ]

No thank you.

[specialyellthing]

Aw, come on-- you gotta at least introduce Rain!

[withagun]

[ He frowns for a moment...but Rain mews and that frown dries up into a small, small smile. ]

...Okay. This is Rain. [ Ame. Translated for your convenience. ] He's from home. He- ...Oh. [ Well heck he guesses this is something he should share. ] He...came out of the vending machine, but he seems unharmed. I...guess it's magic?

[timegazer]

--From the machine, you say?

[That...actually startles Adaman a bit, and boy, he does not like that?]

Thank Almighty Sinnoh he did not come to harm, but I cannot fathom containing a creature in such a thing for so long. He must have been awfully lonesome in there...

If I may, how long have you had him for? He's quite the precious creature.

[withagun]

[ Ah, well- if Adaman's really from...where he says he's from, and he has no reason to doubt that, of course he's nervous. He has his own... Pets feels wrong. ]

Ah, um... Well, he just crawled outta it yesterday... B-but back home, before that it was...maybe a month and a half?

[ Rain nuzzles into Hodaka's elbow. Little guy is small enough that he can do that pretty easily. The bell around his collar jingles. ]

[timegazer]

A month and a half...and he's still so young! You've done well in taking care of him from the looks of it, Hodaka!

[No wonder he's such a teeny bean; about the size of a baby Eevee. Still, Adaman's expression is bright.]

[hotpaprika]

[Jonathan would immediately die for Rain.]

Oh they're precious. Do you mind if I pet him?

[withagun]

[ A little cautiously, Hodaka shifts so Jonathan has better access to Rain, who just...reaches out a paw, again. ]

Just be careful. He's really young.

[hotpaprika]

[Jonathan gently holds out his hand and touches Rain's paw.

And he starts tearing up.]

He's so precious.

[inaclearing]

Yeah, uh...I had a dog come out of there, if anyone here owns a dog?

[asymptotes]

A... dog? What kind of dog?

[inaclearing]

I'm not sure - he's sort of greyish-blue, white belly. I was going to bring him here, but he fell asleep in my room and I figured I'd just leave him to it.

[buriedstar]

Morishima Hodaka, right? If you're not going to give the basics, you could at least tell everyone that you're some sort of criminal.

[ Seo Dawon pauses and looks out to whoever's near. ]

He was handcuffed at the start of this. [ Actually he should check on that—] Did you get that fixed?

[withagun]

[ Ah. Well. He should've known that'd come back to bite him. ]

I- I am not, I- that's none of your business!!

[ It's exactly what he shouted at Seo Dawon before. This time it's a little more panicked. ]

[inaclearing]

Just because someone ends up in handcuffs doesn't mean they've done anything really wrong.

[brett strangewoods says acab!]

[kninja]

[Nodding emphatically!]

[withagun]

[ Oh. He wasn't. expecting anyone to...actually defend him...

Time to focus really intently on his cat instead of either Brett or Obi!! ]

[pairtner]

Indeed. It happens often.

[Aiba has to acknowledge that, yeah]

[buriedstar]

Oh, I know that legality and morality really have nothing to do with each other.

[ ...he might just be teasing him tbh, given his amused expression. ]

[buriedstar]

We're in the same scenario together, aren't we? A PVP one too, and normally killing another User is against the law...

[withagun]

[ He pales. ]

You think... [ And then there's that glare again. ] Never. I never... I'd never...!

[buriedstar]

It doesn't matter what I think, but what everyone thinks. At least, that's how the rules read to me. Unless you think otherwise?

[ He's honestly way too calm for all of this, an easy smile on his lips despite Hodaka's bristling. ]

[inaclearing]

That - seems like a leap.

[Also why are you talking like this is a video game]

[buriedstar]

[ Sometimes the world becomes an MMO, it's wild. ]

Probably. [ A beat. ] I'm not actually being serious.

[kninja]

Hey, hey, hey, okay, that's probably enough teasing, don't you think? Rules are we don't have to share anything we don't wanna.