BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY

[goosemods]

BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY

Upon stepping into the Grotto, the first thing you might notice is that the once-crumbling building's been repaired. The roof has been remade with branches, and that one collapsed wall has been rebuilt with rough stones. The next thing you might notice is the heavy fog spreading over the grass, which can be traced back to two black cauldrons, one on either side of the stairs up to the stone house, which keep magically generating fog. Crimson red streamers have been strung through the still-green tree branches, and something about the way they've been charmed to shine in the fading light reminds you of dripping blood. After the sun's fully set, small matching lights appear in the trees: luminous blinking eyes, in red and purple and yellow and blue, that seem to watch you from above.

When the party's well underway, [Character A] sees a tall dark figure standing just beyond the treeline. When Victoria Powers goes to investigate, they realize it's just a hooded and black-robed dummy hanging from a tree branch. Goddammit, Micah.

By the bonfire, you'll find drinks: the ice chests have been Transfigured to resemble small black coffins, and are filled with smoking dry ice. Alcohol is widely available to anyone who wants it, and some thoughtful students also made sure there was plenty of water and soda. Nearby is a table covered with a blue silk tablecloth, behind which Micah St. Clair will periodically offer a game to any passersby: Mystery Shots, in which you shake a magic 8-ball and you'll get a different drink depending on your answer. (The shot can be very tasty, or very bad.) At 7:30 PM, a movie screening of The Blair Witch Project starts, projected onto a white sheet hanging from the trees.

RULES

• If this is your first time at a Grotto party, welcome! Although the Grotto is forbidden in the school rules, you can assume your characters a) have heard about the party and b) make it past any adults who are walking the trails. Just be casual!


• There are two routes to the Grotto: in the woods near Bear Trail, and in the woods near Ribbonfin campsite.


• The party starts at 6:30 PM, and runs until 10 PM. The prefects are strictly enforcing curfew, and will start breaking things up at 9:30 PM.

If you signed your character up for either Spin The Bottle or Seven Minutes In Heaven, find their partners below:

Corrigan Bailey STB #1: Jeffy STB #2: Nisha 7MiH: Ariadne	Phineas Bones STB #1: Susana STB #2: Ennis 7MiH: Lachlan	Cameron Carney STB #1: Heathcliff STB #2: Charlotte 7MiH: Hazel	Jaime Castillo STB #1: Calvin STB #2: Todd 7MiH: Sofia
Avery Davenport STB #1: Yancey STB #2: Heathcliff 7MiH: Spencer	Sofia Delgado STB #1: Riley STB #2: Jade 7MiH: Jaime	Dinah Dixon STB #1: Quentin STB #2: Paris	Calvin Evercreech STB #1: Jaime STB #2: Lachlan 7MiH: Micah
Ariadne Flint STB #1: Webster STB #2: Jefferson 7MiH: Corrigan	Carolina Foster-Hayes STB #1: Concordia STB #2: Violet	Adeline Foster-Hayes STB #1: Heathcliff STB #2: Yancey 7MiH: Iliya	Lachlan Galbraith STB #1: Casey STB #2: Calvin 7MiH: Phineas
Ennis Harper STB #1: Hazel STB #2: Phineas 7MiH: Casey	London Holloway STB #1: Nisha STB #2: Micah	Paris Holloway STB #1: Cole STB #2: Dinah 7MiH: Concordia	Hazel Keating STB #1: Ennis STB #2: Spencer 7MiH: Cameron
Jefferson Key STB #1: Corrigan STB #2: Ariadne 7MiH: Essie	Concordia Knight STB #1: Carolina STB #2: Natalie 7MiH: Paris	Webster Knox STB #1: Ariadne STB #2: Susana 7MiH: Isabelle	Iliya Krum STB #1: Antonia STB #2: Spencer 7MiH: Addy
Heathcliff Lacey STB #1: Cameron STB #2: Addy STB #3: Avery 7MiH: Fern	Nisha Lewis STB #1: London STB #2: Corrigan 7MiH: Todd	Violet McGonagall STB #1: Tuesday STB #2: Carolina 7MiH: Quentin	Charlotte Meer STB #1: Isabelle STB #2: Cameron 7MiH: Antonia
Yancey Montgomery STB #1: Avery STB #2: Addy	Estella Morales-Tran 7MiH: Jeffy	Cole Moss STB #1: Paris STB #2: Paige 7MiH: Natalie	Fern Mufferaw STB #1: Paige STB #2: Casey 7MiH: Heathcliff
Tuesday North STB #1: Violet STB #2: Marie	Jade Otterwell STB #1: Victoria STB #2: Sofia 7MiH: Riley	Antonia Papadakis STB #1: Iliya STB #2: Riley 7MiH: Charlotte	Marie Patterson STB #1: Todd STB #2: Tuesday
Casey Patterson STB #1: Lachlan STB #2: Fern 7MiH: Ennis	Victoria Powers STB #1: Jade STB #2: Micah	Natalie Prince STB #1: Spencer STB #2: Concordia 7MiH: Cole	Paige Ripley STB #1: Fern STB #2: Cole
Isabelle Sargent STB #1: Charlotte STB #2: Quentin 7MiH: Webster	Todd Skynner STB #1: Marie STB #2: Jaime 7MiH #1: Nisha 7MiH #2: Susana	Micah St. Clair STB #1: London STB #2: Victoria 7MiH: Calvin	Riley Stamper STB #1: Sofia STB #2: Antonia 7MiH: Jade
Spencer Sweet STB #1: Natalie STB #2: Iliya STB #2: Hazel 7MiH: Avery	Susana Velasquez STB #1: Phineas STB #2: Webster 7MiH: Todd	Quentin Youngblood STB #1: Dinah STB #2: Isabelle 7MiH: Violet

RULES

1. Teen peer pressure (and player sadism) aside, no one is obligated to do anything they don't want to. Characters doing Seven Minutes In Heaven can spend the time just talking or staring awkwardly at each other, and characters playing Spin The Bottle can opt out of a kiss (although people will probably boo).


2. If characters get up to anything more racy than PG-13, please fade to black on that! This includes sexually explicit conversations. Many people track IC/OOC posts, so please have consideration for your fellow players. Talking about sex is fine (and part of the flavour of a teen game), but there's no need to get into detailed descriptions of anatomy or sex acts.


3. If you'd like to say two characters were partners in STB or 7MIH in addition to what's been rolled, go ahead! Obviously, get the permission of all involved characters first.

» Before the Party: It's the first party after a long summer, so throw on your best clothes, prep your hair and makeup, and get ready to sneak out of your cabins. Be careful not to get caught by any teachers or MACUSA agents! Going into the forest isn't against the rules, but the Grotto is still a forbidden area.

» Around the Fire: The large bonfire is warm and romantic. Pull up a log and grab a blanket, make some s'mores, or dance to the party music. There's beer and soda in the coffin-shaped ice chests, along with bins for empty bottles and cans. Don't litter. This isn't your home. (One of the chests is filled with ICEE slush pouches in either blue or red. First dibs go to juniors, sorry!)

» Movie Screening: Not too far from the fire, a white sheet has been hung up between the trees, and blankets and pillows have strewn around the grass. Starting at 7:30 PM, there will be a screening of The Blair Witch Project. Bags of popcorn are also served.

» Truth or Shot: Around the bonfire, there's a circle of students serving up shots and asking personal questions. The rules are simple: tell the truth, or take a shot. Post your characters to this comment with their name in the header, and other characters will ask you uncomfortable questions.

» Mystery Shots: Micah's got a table set up with a short black curtain he can hide behind and mix drinks. His proposed game: ask a question, shake the Magic 8-Ball on the table and see what says. Depending on your result, he's got a different horror-themed shot for you to down!

» Inside the Building: This may be where the kissing games are taking place, but there's still some room to just snuggle and chat. It's warmer than outside, at least!

» Kissing Games:

• Spin The Bottle: Everyone sits in a circle and takes turns spinning the bottle to find their partner. Anyone who squeezes in (or happens to be accidentally standing behind a gap in the circle) gets a shot at a kiss. People can leave and enter the game at any time. Participants will be encouraged by their drunken classmates to kiss on the mouth.


• Seven Minutes in Heaven: "Heaven" is a narrow, closet-sized room adjacent to the main party, and is dark except for some cracks of light from the doorway. There's now a proper wooden door on the closet, and people will magically lock it behind you for 7 minutes. You can use your wand to get more light, but really, you two should be making out.

» By The Woods: The prefects won't be letting anyone wander in, but why would you want to anyway? Still, the treeline is a good place to go if you want a quiet moment away from the party.

» After the Party: Between 9:30 PM and 10:00 PM, prefects will be clearing the party and guiding everyone home.

» OOC - Questions, comments & concerns!

Comments

Ariadne + Corrigan

[novelling]

Ariadne was maybe not prepared, mentally or emotionally, for the combination of being drunk and watching Jade kiss girls, even if it was just for a party game. She's trying to ignore just how uncomfortable in her own skin she feels as she follows Corrigan into the closet in the Grotto building.

She doesn't know Corrigan well; she's heard from her school friends that she was on a television show as a child, but Ari herself has definitely never owned a television. Her impressions of Corrigan beyond that are few and far between; she's noticed her downing huge amounts of food at breakfast before, and she saw her impressive display at Quidditch tryouts last week, but that's it.

As the door is locked behind them, Ariadne mills in the small space. Usually, when she's found herself in this position (and why does she keep playing, exactly?) she presses herself up against the far wall and crosses her arms over her chest, and she never speaks first. But in the past, she's been here with her friends - and she doesn't know Corrigan at all, and she's just the tiniest bit curious to see what the girl will do if left unprompted.

Ariadne + Corrigan

[byebyebirdies]

Only a nervous talker when talking with a nervous talker (and she's not nervous, that would be ridiculous, shut up), Corrigan's grateful that she doesn't feel the impulse to start yammering on. She deduces from the silence that she seems to be in a Cool-Off with the Amazon. Dammit, why's everybody had a growth spurt except her???

A quick glance around the closet—redecorated, nice!—and she lifts herself up onto the box that Cameron Carney, Resident Giant, keeps around for kissing similarly-statured girls. Thank God for tall flirts. Her dangling legs don't make her feel any taller, or cooler, or like the more experienced person she's pretending to be — but at least she doesn't need to look up at the junior so much anymore.

Corrigan, determined not to be the first one to speak, shoots Arachnid a look intended to be one part challenging, one part indifferent, and all parts confident. She's never been a very good actress.

Ariadne + Corrigan

[novelling]

So, nothing.

That's fine. That's what Ariadne usually does. But she'd been... vaguely hoping that her random match-up might be a little more proactive about things.

Usually that would be the end of things - she's spent seven minutes in complete silence before - but she's a little too tipsy to properly calculate the consequences of... not standing in silence for seven minutes. After just a few seconds of silence, she takes a few shuffling steps closer to Corrigan, bracing her weight against the box for a moment before leaning in, affording the other girl plenty of time to move away or say something.

Ariadne + Corrigan

[byebyebirdies]

Yes, that's... a girl. And a face. And lips. Getting closer. Corrigan knows that it would be tragically uncool to move away, but she freezes because What is she SUPPOSED to do????

Luckily, her partner has that part figured out. Unluckily, the younger girl's a block of semi-petrified wood waiting to be kissed that doesn't provide anything fun in return; only lips. This tragic display of lameness immediately becomes a sore spot for Corrigan when they part, one she plans to correct. Somehow. She just needs to...

Her expression drops the posturing as it angles into calculating territory and she narrows her eyes for a fraction of a second before she places her forearms over Ariadne's shoulders, a dozen bracelets clinking and jingling. She leans in to try again.

Ariadne + Corrigan

[novelling]

That was... not a receptive reaction. Ariadne pulls back almost immediately, not so inebriated that she can't tell when someone doesn't want to be kissing her. She's had plenty of boys kiss her, and been that stiff and stilted in response. Most boys don't notice, or maybe they just don't mind, but...

She has a half-apology brewing on her tongue as soon as she pulls away, but she can't quite string a coherent sentence together (she's think about I'm very sorry, but let's agree to never speak of this again, shall we?). But Corrigan puts her arm around her shoulders before she has the chance to make a clean getaway.

And if she's going to kiss her again...? Ariadne inclines her head slightly so their noses don't bump together as they kiss.

Ariadne + Corrigan

[byebyebirdies]

It's not so much the 'kissing a girl' thing that made Corrigan hesitate as it was the 'kissing at all' thing — not that she'd ever admit to it. BUT! Having initiated the kiss makes it smoother to ease into, and she repeats the VERY important mantra in her head: 'Just like you see on TV.' Hell, she'd even kissed ON TV! ... Fly High was a wholesome show, so not OFTEN, but a couple of times!! Then again, there were bright lights and a dozen people studying her every move, whereas now she's in a closet with no lights and a dozen people LISTENING to their every move. Every kiss until the Grotto parties had been theatrical, clinical.

It's hard for Corrigan not to overthink it, but it's easier to drown out the thoughts as she tries to gently (read: hesitantly) pull the other girl closer.

Ariadne + Corrigan

[novelling]

It only takes the slightest bit of encouragement for Ari to forget her own inhibitions; she's kissed boys plenty and pecked a few girls on the lips during party games, but she's never actually kissed a girl before. Not - like this, with nobody watching, without the little voice in the back of her head reminding her of what people will think. Corrigan's own fumbling and inexperience only embolden her - she's never liked feeling like a fool, and it helps that she finds herself not worrying about whether or not this girl will judge her.

But she does forget to breathe, just for a few seconds, and she has to break away and put her other hand on the box Corrigan's sitting on to brace her weight, leaving them in very close quarters even if they aren't kissing anymore. Her heart is pounding uncomfortably in her chest and she thinks her hands might be shaking if she didn't have them on the box.

"You're beautiful," she says before she can think better of it, because she's been thinking it since she first sized Corrigan up when the bottle landed on her outside. Even buzzed and high on adrenaline, though, she regrets it almost immediately, and swallows so hard she's afraid she'll choke on her tongue.

Ariadne + Corrigan

[byebyebirdies]

The "Yeah," flat and unappreciative, may not be the response she expects... not that Corrigan has any idea what Ariadne does expect. She's received unsolicited comments on her looks since she was seven, and whether it came through the mail (carefully curated by adults in her life) or from directors, photographers, costume departments, or makeup artists — the phrase has long since lost its appeal to Corrigan. There's no romantic lustre attached to it in her mind, and she doesn't think of herself as vain. It's simply more of a fact than a confession to take note of.

That doesn't mean she's bored, though. She's invigorated, herself, spurred on by the fact that her Seven Minutes make-out pal LOST. HER. BREATH. She's pretty sure she's some kind of kissing savant??? This is VERY good news and much more exciting than what Ariadne just said, which she brushes aside! Like this piece of Ariadne's hair! (Which isn't so much brushed aside as held onto! Whatever!!!)

She was starting to like the kissing part of things, which is hand-in-hand (FIGURATIVELY) with the being-close-to-the-other-person thing. The other girl smells nice, it's probably her perfume. Corrigan makes mental note to consider telling this fact to Archie, it seems like something he would find 'Interesting.' "So?" If one could shrug using only their tone, she just did. "So are you." And that's true, too, but once again stated factually, separate from beating hearts and feet in mouth (FIGURATIVELY).

Ariadne + Corrigan

[novelling]

Ari feels like her entire heart is all lumped up in her throat, and at Corrigan's tepid response her fingers curl into fists against the box. She's pretty sure she's given herself a splinter, but she also doesn't care, because she wants to die or disappear.

But Corrigan's still got her hands in her hair, and she doesn't seem to have minded, and they're stuck in here for another... however long they have left. No more talking, she thinks. Apparently she's not any good at it, and that's not what they're here for anyway.

She should've been more put-off by the exchange than she was, but as she loosens her fingers she lifts one of her hands to Corrigan's shoulder to pull her into a better position before she kisses her again.

Ariadne + Corrigan

[byebyebirdies]

Now confident in her Obvious Skill (she shouldn't be, she isn't very impressive), Corrigan leans in and slides her hand back into Ariadne's hair instead of just holding onto it like a weirdo, because that seems like something she's supposed to do. As she reciprocates the kiss it occurs to her that she's DEFINITELY killing it.