happy new year! (party edition)

[unrequite]

WHO: Anyone who saw Midnight's network post about Seventh Hell's grand opening!
WHAT: Happy New Year! We survived! (At what cost!?)
WHERE: Seventh Hell
WHEN: New Year's Eve, starting at 6 pm.
WARNINGS: Alcohol! Maybe more, please mind individual thread warnings!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

SEVENTH HELL WELCOMES YOU!

It's been a rough half a year. Kidnappings, atmospheric horror, murder (technically), aesthetics, disappearances, reappearances, and the creeping sensation that you aren't alone...

Hey, at least there's drinks.

When you descend the stairs to the underground club, there's music playing, the lights are low, but boy, are there a lot of them. The bartender welcomes you in. Order something, make yourself comfortable! The booths along the mirrored walls, lined with chandeliers and discoballs, are decorated with a sprinkle of shining confetti and host a variety of simple party snacks. (In fact, if your character arrived with some food to share, a bartender will guide you to the tables to help you set it up. They'll get you a drink for your trouble. How thoughtful of them!)

Grab a snack and a drink! It's no planetarium, but there's a variety of party activities to engage in. (Or make up your own! Seriously, this is a pretty casual affair.)

Every guest will receive one ticket for a raffle. There will be three winners, and each winner can choose one out of 3 prizes:

1) One date with one participating host club staff member. (If your character is a current host club staff member who would volunteer for a blind date, please PM me so I can add their name to the list.) Current list of participants: Midnight, Don Quixote, Astarion, Armand
2) One specialty drink named in the winner's honor.
3) One 12 in x 12 in square on one of the mirrors of the Host Club to leave a permanent mark! The winner will be invited back at any time to take paint markers, paint, permanent markers, etc, to leave a short message, work of art, or anything that can fit in a square foot of mirror space in a discreet, aesthetically pleasing area of the host club. (Kaveh chooses where.)

Winners may choose prizes previously chosen by other winners. Winners may forfeit for others to have a chance at a prize, but may not give away their prize to someone else specifically. In the case that one chooses the third prize but lacks the requisite skill or confidence to create a permanent fixture, one can outsource the space to a willing artist or writer within reason.

!

OOC: RAFFLE DETAILS

I will be rolling the results of this raffle on January 2nd, before the start of Alba's player plot! Don't worry about keeping up with the results, I'll PM winners individually. The only requirement for entry is to participate in one thread on this post! If your character would forfeit their prize, please let me know via PM so I can remove their name from the pool! EDIT: All prizes have been claimed! Congratulations to Hob, Yi Sang, and Altria! 🎉

MAIN SEATING (PARTY GAMES)

The back booths of the establishment, along with the standard decorations, have been supplied with small cards. The rules of two different party games are written on each:

NEVER HAVE I EVER

A getting to know you game! For groups of 5 or fewer players, begin with 5 points. For any more than that, it is suggested to start with 10. The goal of the game is to be the last person with points remaining.
1) Everyone in the game starts with five points each. Keep track of your points with your fingers!
2) The first player describes a short scenario that they have never experienced.
3) The other players must put a finger down if they have experienced said scenario. If they, too, have never experienced the scenario, their points remain unaffected.
4) Move onto the next player and repeat steps 2 through 4. The last person with points remaining wins!
5) BONUS: Drinks may be substituted for points. Simply take a drink when you have experienced the scenario! (Please drink responsibly!)

KING'S GAME

This game requires straws, chopsticks or a deck of cards. Please ask a bartender for supplies!
1) For the amount of players in the game, arrange the same amount of straws or chopsticks. For the card version, please use one suit.
2) Assign one chopstick/straw as the "king". For the card version, use one King of your chosen suit. The rest of the cards, chopsticks, or straws should be numbered from 2 to 10 (or however players choose to play.)
3) All players choose a game marker at random. Do not show the other players your number.
4) The King must first reveal themselves. For that round, they must issue a dare to up to two numbered participants. (e.g. Numbers 2 and 5 must end their sentences with "meow" for the next two rounds. The King can choose themselves as one of the participants.)
5) Shuffle the game markers, choose a new King, and repeat!
6) For a challenge, add points for completed dares and drawing the King! The first player to 10 points wins the game. For this mode, it is suggested to add a punishment of a drink for anyone who refuses their dares.

(Please drink responsibly! For the sake of tonight's festivities, we ask that all time based dares end before midnight.)

!

OOC: THREAD SUGGESTIONS

For the purpose of these prompts, feel free to handwave other participants, or to use these prompts as jumping off points for any specific threads you want! For example, one might like to use the King's Game to get into a scenario where one's character has to hold hands with another character for a few minutes for a dare. Please be creative!

THE STAGE (PERFORMANCES)

Eddie Munson (thefreak) will be headlining, with Midnight as backup whenever he can wiggle free from his bartending duties. In between sets, anyone is free to pick up an instrument and a microphone and try their hand at ringing in the new year with a bit of song.

THE BACK ROOMS (NO, NOT LIKE THAT)

There are currently three rooms available for formal guest activities! The rest of the rooms are locked and will require permission for entry. (They're all empty!)

THE GREENHOUSE (featured host: Fearne)

You were... You were underground just a second ago, right? Pull up a seat, settle in, and enjoy being surrounded by plants, a mildly hydrated atmosphere, and light, friendly conversation between fellow guests. There are no activities here, but it does seem like people are free to start up their own round of party games in this somewhat quieter environment... It would be a nice place for a game where one might want to be heard over all that music. (Suggested games: Word Association, 2 Truths and a Lie, 20 Questions.)

THE COFFEE SHOP (featured host: Chesed)

For anyone who needs caffeination to start their new year right. Featuring nondescript coffee shop music, a mildly chill vibe, and comfortable seating, come grab an espresso and pretend you have some important project to deliver by some very specific deadline next year. For this occasion, board games and cards are available for those who want a little more involved with their gaming experience for the new year. (Suggested games: Poker, Uno, Jenga.)

THE PET STATION

Congrats, you printed yourself a dog! Or a cat! Or something! For the purposes of showing off one's pet and getting them some proper socialization, for one night only, there is a pet area monitored closely by one of the club's staff members where one can drop off their furry friend. Get that pet socialized! Get yourself socialized! Please, make a friend before the year ends. It's good for you.

code

[ ooc: If any part of this post is in error, PLEASE do let me know! I made this in like two days in between work and I barely know left from right. Also, host club members especially are encouraged to PM me with any details or updates about this event they'd like for me to add. Thank you, and please enjoy your IRL new year! ]

Comments

[vampires_pawn]

[ Astarion just laughs, triumphant in his victory. ]

Oh, don't blame Midnight, [ he teases. ] Honestly, even if he had kept his mouth shut, I'm quite sure I would've been able to guess about your sleeping habits. You have that air about you.

[ By which he means, the air of an incorrigible overachiever and busybody. Astarion can't fault the man too much for it; he'd made this little venue a reality and Astarion is hoping it will serve him well. But it is fun to watch him squirm. ]

On the contrary, I've stayed up plenty of nights, [ Astarion counters. ] I just didn't spend them studying.

[ Okay, so maybe that's just a connotation of the phrase "pulled an all-nighter," but in Astarion's defense, this is his first time ever having the term explained to him. (Plus, he'd wanted to win.) Still, for a moment, he considers just how truthful his answer may have been. He knows he'd been a magistrate before he died; surely such a role required a significant amount of study. Perhaps even enough to stay up all night, once or twice...? His expression grows contemplative for a moment—and then he shrugs. ]

Not that I can remember, anyway. [ He waves a hand as if brushing aside his own musing. ] Really, maybe you'd all have had better luck if you'd asked after something more memorable. "Never have I ever seen a beholder," for example, or "Never have I ever set someone on fire." You know, something fun.

[ He's kidding. Probably. ]

[fussiest]

[ kaveh looks. the way he looks at astarion projects the image of someone who is very much squirming for his life. but there's something wide-eyed in kaveh's countenance as he holds up a hand. ]

Wait- wait, wait, wait. There's a lot to unpack here. [ kaveh's brows shoot up and lose themselves in the line of his golden hair. ] First, what do you mean I have that air about me? It's not that morose of an air, is it? I've been working on it! Second, that is egregious wordsmithing vis a vis the whole all-nighter thing, and you know it! It seems to me that you're very much a Haravatat by heart. Third, have you set anyone on fire? Why? With what kind of fire? And lastly -

What do you mean you don't remember? All-nighters are terribly memorable, in the way of a stressor beyond comprehension because nobody in their right mind would want to stay up all night chasing after work or whatever it is you were chasing after. [ ... ] Alright, I suppose I can think of one reason, and if it's that one, please don't tell me. I don't want to know.

[ because kaveh likes astarion well enough, but he isn't sure, he thinks, that he wants to know the man's sex life. that seems more like a midnight thing. ]

[vampires_pawn]

[ That's a lot of questions. Astarion raises his hands in a placating gesture, or perhaps like he's trying to physically hold back the deluge. ]

Now, now, darling, one at a time; you're not so much unpacking as you are upending the satchel. Firstly, no, morose is not the word I'd use. More, ah— [ He waves a hand, gazing up as he considers and dismisses some of the more cutting words that immediately spring to mind. ] Studious? Devoted to one's work, one might say.

Secondly, I'm merely playing the game the way it's meant to be played. You can hardly fault me for employing a bit of strategy. [ He says this as if tonight isn't his first time ever playing the game and as if he has a strategy other than intentional obtuseness, 200 years of deprivation, and a shit memory. All the same, he smiles with all the smugness of a cat in a creamery. ]

Thirdly: yes, though it was quite accidental. A bit of carelessness with a candle, you see. [ He sighs, a hint of disappointment creeping into his tone. ] And it wasn't a very large fire...

[ This man has +7 to Sleight of Hand—it was not, by any stretch of imagination, an accident. That had been when Petras was newly turned and the dumb brute had thought he could take whatever he liked from his siblings on strength alone. Astarion had hardly been the only one to teach him otherwise; it's just that his own relative strength meant he had to be a little more creative in his approach. ]

As for that last inquiry... [ Astarion puts on an expression of mock innocence. ] At your request, my lips are sealed.

[ Which, is more or less answering the question in and of itself. Sorry, Kaveh. ]

[fussiest]

[ darling, astarion says, and kaveh once again has to resist the urge to look behind him to see just who astarion is addressing because it couldn't be kaveh. it has kaveh realising that there must be a specific type that gravitates towards being a host of a club like this, and midnight knows that type well enough to pick it out in others. or perhaps they're self-selecting? don's never called kaveh darling before, but if she ever did, kaveh suspects he's going to stand to attention. instead, he considers astarion's answers bleakly, because studious is probably the kindness way that anyone's put kaveh's obsessiveness on tap and he knows it, strategy is the excuse that the many, many bullies in kaveh's life had justified their good-natured (?) bullying, and that disappointment over it not being a large enough fire makes kaveh think it's a good thing they went in for a second layer of fire-proofing the other day.

the last -

kaveh reddens. the tips of his ears burn as he waves his hand back and forth in the universal gesture for 'nope, that's alright', ]

Alright, alright. I understand the shape of it. You're wholly innocent of every possible charge, and everything that's come from this is more or less me digging myself into a pit. I'd better stop digging before I hit bedrock, or with my luck, an underwater source of somekind and find myself drowned. [ but kaveh's laughing a little as he pulls the bottle from the desk. pouring both himself and astarion another round of drinks, he lifts his glass for a cheers, ] Here. To your win. Though genuinely I didn't think I'd last so long against you, so perhaps I ought to be a little proud of how long I managed to coast along in this game. Midnight certainly knows how to pick his employees, or perhaps his employees certainly know how to pick him.

[vampires_pawn]

Quite right, [ Astarion says, a smug smile playing on his lips as he leans back in his chair. He must admit, for all the other man's seeming punctiliousness, he can't quite find it in himself to dislike Kaveh. The architect is easy to fluster and thus fun to tease, yet not so fragile that Astarion needs to worry about him making a scene over a harmless jest. And the way he blushes at the barest mention of anything uncouth is quite sweet.

Astarion takes the proffered drink, happy to raise it in a toast to his own victory. To his palate, it tastes like nothing more than bubbly vinegar, though his aversion doesn't show as he lifts the glass to his lips. Two centuries hunting in taverns has made him well-practiced at hiding his distaste. ]

He seems very experienced, doesn't he? [ Astarion says, voice dropping to a gossipy stage-whisper. ] Not more than a 100 people in this city and he manages to wrangle up a troupe of hosts, live entertainment, and an architect. It's quite impressive, really.

[ His voice returns to a normal volume, a huff of laughter under his breath. ] I will say, I hadn't the faintest idea what a host club even was when he told me about his plans for this place. [ And then, because he wants to see if he can get Kaveh to spit out his drink or at least turn a new and exciting shade of red, Astarion adds: ] Honestly, when he started going on about "facilitators of a good time" and the like, I was half-sure he was talking about opening up a brothel.

[fussiest]

[ astarion's voice dips. it isn't the first time kaveh's thought this, but the man has a flair for theatre. it's in the way his hands sweep in gesticulation, in the modulation of his tone as it drops honey-sweet, the tug of his lips when he laughs. kaveh wonders if he has had formal training in the art; it has been some time since kaveh has seen any of the performing arts, and with an operahouse in the city, it seems a shame to leave it unused. he wonders if alucard would be open to having some kind of rehearsal space carved out on the stage.

that is to say, he follows the drop of astarion's tone to its logical conclusion. midnight is remarkable. this, kaveh has always known. the impetus to correct astarion sits on the tip of his tongue, however: that it hadn't really been midnight's idea to have kaveh here, it had been kaveh who chased him down and removed the hinges from his door, and that's how they sort of ended up in whatever odd permutation that propelled forth a host club. he's about to say so, when astarion opens his mouth again, and kaveh looks.

the very modest sip kaveh had taken of his wine nearly splutters right back out of him. ]

A brothel? [ kaveh says, worryingly scandalised and therefore hopping a low octave before he tamps down on his volume because indoor voices are meant for this sort of thing: ] Well, yes, he has a worrying way of putting this entire host club business, and I had no idea what a host club was before all of this, but he- this- he has very strict rules about this sort of thing! He wouldn't open one. Not that there's anything wrong with people choosing their occupations as they'd like, but still-

[ hey, kaveh's brain informs him, this is going down a really weird rabbit hole so you might want to stop before you dig yourself deeper. peace. ]

W-wait, that says more about you, doesn't it? That that was the first thing that came to your mind!

[vampires_pawn]

[ Astarion's smile is several shades shy of innocent as Kaveh chokes on his wine, though he at least manages not to laugh outright. Really, Kaveh makes this too easy. Perhaps that's why Midnight likes having him around so much—surely a seasoned roue like him would have an equally easy time ruffling the man's feathers.

Astarion is about to raise his hands in another placating gesture and assure Kaveh that yes, Midnight had made his rules about on-site dalliances very clear (and perhaps see if he can phrase any of those rules in a way that might further perturb the hapless architect), when Kaveh splutters out that last accusation. Astarion raises an eyebrow, head canting slightly to the side as he regards the man with a sharp, too-polished smile. ]

Oh? And what does it say about me?

[fussiest]

[ astarion raises a brow. for a moment, kaveh has the premonition that the slight shift in a gesture is poised to cut. he isn't certain where or why this premonition has struck, only that it changes the contour of astarion's face.

but the night is young, and kaveh is sipping wine. there had only ever been the truth: ]

That you've had more than your fair share of all-nighters! The more I learn about you, the more I realise that you ought to have put your finger down for that one.