2020.01.11: Party Hard

Party Hard
Ain't no party like a Technomancer party 'cause a Technomancer party don't stop (thanks to Time magick).
IC Date	January 11, 2020
IC Time	11 AM-???
Players	Joel
Location	Nexus Courtyard
Prp/Tp	N/A
Spheres	Mage/Sorcerer/Traditions
Theme Song	Andrew W.K.: Party Hard

Sceneset:

The somewhat strange surroundings of the courtyard have not been transformed through Joel's solitary work before anyone else has arrived, but there has been an effort to make them look like something approaching a party. At the table and patio set, numerous six-packs of Guinness have been stacked on the chairs, and bags of chips (Cheetos, Fritos, Doritos, and Lay's) sit at the chairs. A single pack of gas station sushi bears a legend: "For the unwary traveler."

The space has been temporarily warded from scrying or other magickal interference from outside, and its lack of findability by magickal means temporarily boosted to prevent any mundane observation as well. A set of high-quality, small stereo speakers has been placed by several of the pergola supports, playing a variety of loud hard rock and rap, with the occasional tongue in cheek pick (anything from Daft Punk's "Technologic" to the themesong to "The Greatest American Hero") occasionally thrown in to the curated playlist.

Khol will arrive a couple of minutes early, He has two large crock pots on hand and as he enters he carries them over still warm, as a pitchin on the party. He even has two labels, one is "Vegan" and the other is "Meaty" chili. to add to the snacks table. "I thought I would pitch a little in.. I rather love cooking, to be honest." he admits to whoever might be paying attention.

Joel isn't around to greet Khol or thank him for the food, although anyone who's met the man before can tell perfectly well from the lackadaisical choice of food and the very purposeful choice of music that he has been present, setting up things. He hasn't done anything to decorate. He just doesn't do that sort of thing. There's a figure pacing beond one of the archways, speaking on the phone, trenchcoat blowing in the light breeze. He's not the best host, it would seem, or he's distracted by something.

Out from the direction of the desert, a figure approaches the courtyard. Hefting a backpack, and wearing..well. Baggy cargopants, and a hoodie that keeps most features concealed aside a serious assortment of black, thin long braids hanging almost to the floor out of that hood, clearly that figure's appearance is not a suprise considering who is the invitee. Right? Right? Xiu is grumbling under her breath as she finally steps into the courtyard, slanted eyes peering out from under said hood as she peers around, though it's not quite clear just why she's doing so. Her sneakers carry her silently into the area as she unshoulders the backpack, just letting it dangle from an arm.

Merek makes a way into the Nexus with his white black attire on, settling in to look about while he finds a place, not talking a lot while he scratches at his beard in thought as well.

Branton comes along, carrying a small crate of liquor bottles. Two that look like they might have been bought somewhere and four others with hand written labels. Peach, Maple, strawberry, and Rocky Road.

BOOM! Some loud metal song emanating from the small speakers causes Joel to look up from his quiet conversation, having otherwise been about to ignore all and sundry. He stares for a long moment at something he sees, and then hurriedly finishes up his phone conversation. Shoving his phone carelessly into his trenchcoat, he grins with a good amount of energy at the guests. "Right, cool. Odd assortment of folks showing up, but chips and -- hi. What is that, stew or chili or something?" He nods at Khol's crockpots, adding casually, "And who are you?"

Eloise is here already. She comes in from outside carrying a large basket of strawberries. She sets it down in the middle of wherever and has a seat to sit quietly.

Khol gives a smile and wave to Eloise seeing her, the others each get nods. When Joel approaches him he smiles "Im Khol.. Akashic seat of Mind." he motions to the Chili "Vegan and meaty chili, for anyone that wants it. " he looks at the gathering people and offers "Quite a gathering coming together here.. You are the host?"

Xiu sets her backpack down in a corner and opens it up whilst crouching down. As she hears others appear, her head turns and she looks in the direction of the entrance - and a light smile appears on her face as she spots Merek. Her clothes are somewhat..dusty. Somebody took the long way around, but she does not bother to brush them off just yet. "Hey." With that oh so formal greeting, she pulls out several packs from her backpack. Paper wraps that at least joel might know. A couple of glass bottles of water. Just as she stands, Branton and Eloise arrive, and Xiu eyes them with interest as she carries the items to the chairs that Joel prepared with the snack and Guinness assortments. "Greetings!" she calls out, and after setting down her stuff stretches and finally - finally - patpats and brushes her hands to get rid of some of that desert dust. Away from the chairs, because really. Just in time for Joel. "Oi." He gets his terse greeting, and her peeeering at him. As Khol introduces himself, her eyebrows subtly raise and she lightly grins.

"Yeah. Joel Sherman. Virtual Adept, and apparently the only game in town, from what I hear." He raises his eyebrows, making a point there, and then adds, "Thanks for the chili, man. And for the different varieties. And -- booze, Branton? Great. Good. At least nobody has to try the sushi, unless they've got big brass ones." He shoves his hands into his pockets. "So I'm still the only Technomancer to show, huh? I should've put up a screen with tumbleweeds blowing past." His lips thin a little though, a brief second of displeasure. "Makes the announcement a little easier anyway, because nobody's gonna dick around about it." A breath, and he smiles at Xiu. "Oi. Thanks. I know..." He gestures his hand at her clothing, leaving the implication of 'that took a lot of effort' clear if unstated.

Branton sets up his liqour bottles near the ice cream toppings "Well I figured my latest distilling experiments would go with just about whatever. I did bring Whiskey and Ouzo for those not feeling particularly experimental."

Khol smiles a little and nods at that, "I am glad to do it.. I cook all the time, and providing somethin for a gatherin is.. well polite." he seems at ease. His eyes move around the gathering people "Seems you got a good turnout really."

Ross arrives at around that point, waving to the others and eyeing Branton. "Yeah, Ouzo's pretty reliably 'go find an open field to fall asleep in', from what I hear."

With all items placed down with the other snacks, and her backpack safely far away in the corner, Xiu seems to somewhat relax. Somewhat. As the girl stands there she fidgets a bit here and there, tugs on her hoodie in a couple of places, but she finally seems to make the effort of pulling that hood back - revealing, well, her face. And letting that maes off braids spill around more freely, her hands moving to make them spread around more evenly. "He demanded I come." Xiu remarks to Khol and then eyes joel. "I think he just wants to see me suffer." Just what she means by that statement is left up for grabs, though she subtly smirks at him, eyes narrowed. At the moment as she seemingly decides to clear one of the chairs, carefully setting down the guiness and snacks next to it, clearly marking this as hers. Ross' arrival has her lift her head again and she peers over at the man, simply greeting him with a wave and a long glance.

Merek walks up to Xiu and offers a hug, while he shifts his attention to folk with a nod in thought, then finds a place to settle in while he smiles at people.

"Yeah, I just wish there were more of, well, me, you know?" Joel shrugs, his gaze taking in Eloise and Merek. Both get a vague nod, but since they both seem to want to keep their peace, he doesn't launch his whirlwind-energy social self at either of them. "I'll try whatever you want, Branton. You pick. Surprise me." As he did with Khol, the erstwhile party host turns towards Ross, sizing him up. "Hey, man. We haven't met. Got a handle and a club?" He looks sidelong towards Xiu, raising a brow. "You like it. Admit it. Maybe not the clothes, but the chips. And the people, in limited doses." He moves to unwrap one of her paper packages, investigating its contents idly as he keeps studying the unfamiliar face.

Branton nods and grins at Ross "It really does get the job done. That's true." And he starts fixing Joel a little drink. It looks like clear liquid with one of Eloise's strawberries floating in after being dipped in chocolate syrup from the ice cream toppings. Offering it to Joel "Half a shot of rocky road, a shot of strawberry, and one of the best strawberries grown within a hundred miles. If not anywhere at all."

A pair of little grackle birds flutter into the court yard zigging and zaging. One is pure white the other pitch black. The White one lands on a branch is is having nothing to do with all the people as she looks down and gives the angry grackle stink eye. The black one lands on Xius head and makes a chirping sound for a few moments like she is talking.

"Oh, don't worry Joel..." Xiu says, looking over at the trenchcoated one as she lifts an arm and pulls the sleeve of the hoodie back a bit. The skin is red, irritated. "I mean the clothes. The rest is absolutely nice, no worries. I'll be the first to crack open one of those Guiness" She tugs the sleeve back down and exhales as she actually grabs one of the cans, just to spot Merek approaching her. She lightly grins and returns his hug there for a moment. "Hey hey. Nice to see you too." she murmurs before she straightens, and well...indeed cracks open that first Guiness. She sniffs at it for a moment before she takes a sip and licks her lips. "So, nobody 'round are technomancers right now except you, Jo-" Pause. Bird on her head. Xiu's eyes slowly flick upward as she holds still. "...oi."

"I am one, just not in the conventional sense," Merek mentions then to Xiu's words to Joel, while he offers a nod also to the woman in thought while he smiles. He then finds a place to settle in tirdly.

Khol smiles a bit to Xui "I am not a technomancer. no. " he seems at ease, just watching more than anything else right now.

Joel reaches for Branton's offered drink, slugging it, teeth baring for a second at the liquor. But it goes down pretty smoothly, and he takes another healthy sip. "Jesus. This isn't bad. Pretty sweet, but not bad. Tastes like candy." He sobers, though, when he sees Xiu's arm, his eyes widening. "Oh. Oh, fuck," he remarks quietly, without heat, concern instead clear in his voice. "You okay? I was gonna say something else to everyone, now there's a pretty good quorum, but I don't wanna... I mean, nobody's gonna care if..." He falls silent, concern limning his voice. Merek's words earn a quick look, but he seems to be waiting on Ross' words and Xiu's reassurance.

"I don't think you're anything in the conventional sense, are you?" the other recent arrival asks Merek. "Ross, hey. And does anyone happen to have a universal translator handy? I don't speak Goodfeather."

"Oh, I'd be suprised at an Akashic technomancer.." Xiu says as she slooowly and carefully walks towards Kohl, while ever so often peering up at the bird on her head. "Sorry. I think a certain friend just landed on my head. Joel, you happen to have birdseed?" she wonders, before her eyes flick towards the clearly half-panicing adept. "Calm down man, treat your guests." she remarks with a subtle smirk and a nod Finally she holds out her hand to Khol, now that she's finally there. "Tong Xiu ("Shioo"), bani Verbena, bani Lifeweavers. Priestess of the Earth Mother and Dark Flower of Lilith." she gives the akashic her full cobbled together title with a smile. "Ready to munch cheetos and hack the Gibson?"

Khol chuckles to Xiu "I do know of one. He lives in Miami.. but he is a rather odd bird." he accepts her hand, shaking it firmly. "I am Khol Cooper, Seat of Mind, and Akashic. " he doesnt seem to go in for the long titles, "It is a pleasure to meet you." he looks to the birds and smiles a little "If I knew that alternative forms were in vogue.. I would have brought some seeds and such."

Branton nods at Joel's review of his liquers and sets about making himself a sunday. When a translator is asked for "I can speak with animals but I don't think that is one. Actual birds don't just do that."

"I'm gonna assume you're not one of me and mine then, Ross," Joel replies, although his gaze flicks towards Eloise for confirmation of that, head tilting a little. "So. My announcement. Seeing as I'm apparently the only one hanging around at the moment, 'cause Kibo knows what happened to the rest of 'em and I'm told they don't hang around long for a variety of reasons... I'm taking over the seat for the Virtual Adepts. Shouldn't be a big deal, as there's, well, me, and nobody else I've met and I'm told nobody else hanging around, but if it is a big deal, you know where to find me and talk about it. Count on me at the council meetings, when and where." Joel is a little tense, clearly bracing himself for some sort of negative reaction for a second or two, before he rebounds, smiling quite brightly. "Now that's out of the way, who brought some cool shit to share?" He reaches out to nudge the sushi towards Xiu, a bit pointedly. "Try some," he suggests, as he bites into the jerky.