At least, that was what Nikki wanted to call it, even though she was pretty sure that with relay races, you picked stuff up and then passed it on. You didn't get, like, more and more stuff piled on. That was okay, though.
She was gonna do it. She was gonna win.
All of the breakup drama with Albite, and all of the warm fluffy feelings about he new awesome companion, the Wolfmistress, got shoved somewhere deep down so she could focus on her real mission here. Girl power. Winning. Yeah!
Not that she had to focus too much, it looked like, 'cause all she was getting handed so far was one of those fancy masquerade masks. That was, like, way better than the live snake that some other guy seemed to have gotten.
She tied it around the back of her head, and with a small wave to a group of family that she spotted in the audience, she kept on sprinting.
a-disgruntled-dragon
Shiningamisgirl
Amasis
Hi fam!
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2023 4:13 pm
Eion Risk
Eion nodded to Ren, adding a quick can't do anything about it. Eion didn't know how long this competition would last, so he couldn't be a part of a team set up to stake out the end of it and catch Nectaris before she slipped away again. Nor could he do anything to cover for his husband, who might not think to try anything underhanded with the girl who just very publicly dumped him. And with the growing number of people who collected in the stands, Eion felt on edge just by being there. Even if there was no Nectaris, if Albite went as Waru, and if there weren't any random probably-knights waltzing up to participate.
But Aelius made it!! And Eion beamed at the boy when he'd come along with a blanket to wrap around him. "So thoughtful," Eion murmured, deeply pleased as he wrapped the blanket about himself. Soon as it was in place, his hand found Ren's again.
Something seemed off between the two boys, but Eion couldn't reason out what it was. "Too many gang members," Eion explained as he looked up at Aelius. "Know you just got here, but we might have to leave."
Eion nodded toward the competition, where Nectaris participated, then he nodded back toward the stands where the thin apparition of a mirror wraith was beginning to take form. Eion wasn't interested in sticking around to become free energy for the Dark Mirror Court, nor could he do anything about the collection of White Moon agents that congregated around Albite. Couldn't even text his husband that it was looking dangerous, that he'd best do something about his freshly-ex-girlfriend, either. Much as he'd have liked to see Albite ram into her wholesale by the declared rules of the competition, it would be on Albite to make that move.
"Feeling lightheaded, anyway. Plus our boss is the fun police," he sighed, mouth pressing into a line.
kolina
guine
Strickenized
Garbage Cat
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lizbot
No Faun
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Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2023 4:20 pm
Emily Moffat
Meanwhile Emily...
Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2023 3:04 am
"Who pissed in your cheerios." Aelius remarked to Ren as he dropped his offered hand. He noted how Eion's hand sought out the young man's after draping the blanket over his shoulders. Perfect. ******** perfect. Now he had to deal with a wanker. "Common decency towards people introducing themselves to you typically means offering your name in return." Aelius shrugged and opted to ignore the white-haired man from that point onward.
"I noted the place seemed a bit lively." He remarked to Eion as he sat next to him and slipped an arm around his back to pull him a bit closer to share some body heat. At the mention of feeling lightheaded, he frowned.
"I can take you home." He remarked. Helping Lex conserve his energy was best, no need to waste any with unnecessary teleportation. Super or not, Helio could handle at least one trip to the house with Faustite.
Eyes shifted to the field where the contestants continued to flaunt their strengths. Many of them likely powered strengths. Possibly most of them. "I am not sure how long things will remain civil, but with so many different gangs floating around it can't stay calm for long." Not unless they all decided to keep tiptoeing around each other, but what was the likelihood of that happening? One wrong move from anyone here could cause quite an uproar.
"But, if you prefer to stay a bit longer, see how some of this might play out, we can make a retreat quickly enough if need be." Albite was already powered up and knowing the man, he was probably keenly aware of where Eion was in the crowd.
"Completely up to you, Lex. I only came out to keep you company while our friend out there makes a fool of himself." Aelius said it teasingly. He'd come to keep Lex company but also to support Albite in this little endeavor of his.
Shame that a sourpuss of a human being had to also be here. Aelius wasn't sure if he dared ask if any of the rings on Lex's fingers belonged to the uncouth a**.
strickenized
Guine
shiningamisgirl
mention
Kolina
Inquisitive Agent
Offline
lizbot generated a random number between
1 and 63 ...
24!
lizbot
No Faun
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2023 2:10 pm
Envy was an emotion that burned to cinders within Don Diablos's bulging veins and as such he only glanced at The Sensation's snake and Cerberus's trophy with competitive need.The Heartbreaker got a second look, because who was this completely new competitor suddenly on the scene?! Not that it mattered because Don Diablos ALWAYS WANTED ANOTHER ENEMY TO CRUSH! Storming toward the volunteers Don Diablos readied his wholeass self for what was definitely going to be...
A life-sized cardboard cut-out of local celeb, Ignacio Araya!
Running back with both the cut-out and the gnome held above his head, Don Diablos showed no sign of stopping!
Don Diablos status:
1 normal sized garden gnome with sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt 1 life-sized cardboard cut-out of Ignacio Araya-Bell
Seiana_ZI
hey guess what
Shiningamisgirl generated a random number between
1 and 63 ...
37!
The trophy stayed tucked as he ran to collect his next item with haste. He was sure things were happening, in the stands, around him, to the various competitors in his periphery. What with their auras and attitudes screaming 'power', but he had his 'win at all costs' blinders on. Hardly the time to notice even his most favorite attendees with anything more than happy brevity.
Especially not when he was having to figure out how best to hoist trophy and cake as one. Was it an awkward shape? Yes, but it was also hollow! Little more than: cardboard, paint, maybe foam with those little toothpick sticks shoved through it and a scrawl of writing that looked like it'd been made with glitter glue instead of an actual frosting tube. Upon a swift sniffing inspection he realized that even if his eyes told him to taste it, (it'd be fineeee), that truth of the matter was the cake was completely inedible.
The cake was made of wood-glue flavored lies!! LIES!
Which was a real shame, because if he could've eaten it while running? That would've been soooo nice! Whatever, a little extra effort meant nothing at all if he hadn't even broken a sweat yet!
Sweats were meant to be broken--- so Albite ran!
Quote:
Load To Bear: 1 Large Golden Participation Trophy with 'your name here' erroneously etched on the placard. 1 Fake Three Tiered Cake that says Happy WeddingBirthdayDivorceRetirement!!! An intriguing foam stage prop that's seen some use.
a-disgruntled-dragon
Awwooo! Wolfmistress
stari_maga
Heartbreaker ~
lizbot
Are the gnomes Diablo themed?
Seiana_ZI
The Sensation that's Sweeping the Snake nation!
Shiningamisgirl
Ruthless Consumer
Offline
staripop generated a random number between
1 and 63 ...
10!
Nikki squinted over. Yeah. Don Diablos was definitely carrying around a giant picture of her brother.
Don't stare, she reminded herself. She was Nectaris, she wasn't allowed to have any idea who that was. She wasn't allowed to giggle. Anyway, she had more important things to focus on, like winning.
She really hoped that one of the gaggle of family members was gonna take a picture of that, though.
Instead, she sprinted up behind Don and Albite to get handed- a sandwich?Yep, that was sure PB&J, and it had also totally been in that trash can for a while. Super soggy. Ew.
Under normal circumstances, Nikki would've thrown that as far away from her as possible, but she was here to prove that on top of being strong, she was also tough. She was brave.
She was running across a field holding the most disgusting sandwich she'd ever seen.
Quote:
1. Mask 2. Sandwich
Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2023 5:49 pm
For all Aelius was aware, Ren didn’t hear a word he said. There was no further glance in his direction, no movement of acknowledgement, no shift in his expression. It seemed as though, to Ren, Aelius simply vanished into thin air.
At least until that name.
Ren snorted, although the humor behind the noise was questionable. Lex. The other comments this lesser class man made seemed to poke at a few thoughts that seemed to be fluttering around aimlessly in Ren’s head. Announcing that he and Eion were associated with one of the powered competitors. The show of jealousy as he pulled Eion closer. The useless flutter of words that spilled from his mouth.
He wasn’t a hundred percent certain, but how many people did Eion hang around that were prone to liability risks?
“You don’t have to waste the limited time that you have going back. If you wanted to see abs tonight, you know what I can offer,” Ren said as he pulled Eion’s hand up to his lips to kiss the back of it. Somehow he didn’t think someone with as much flourish as Aelius had as many muscles as Ren could offer. Maybe he wasn’t as broad as Waru, but he kept himself in prime shape.
Strickenized
Kolina
Guine
Crew
Lonely Explorer
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lizbot
No Faun
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2023 9:36 pm
7eleven Todd
A night off, like, a real one and not one where he got called in because the new guy quit mid shift - usually meant Todd was either in a movie theater or veg'd out in front of the TV watching pirated dvds and designing the next cardboard cat castle he planned to build for his "neighbors". But tonight was the big Night Market, where not only could he find a lot more pirated dvds but also trade with old 7eleven display stuff instead of cash. He'd been keeping some of the old Deadpool and Detective Pikachu stuff in his closet, waiting for the rare eclipse-like event where his days off and the Market coincided.
Tonight's was way wilder than the last one he'd been to, but the whatever competition seemed to have brought in a lot of new faces. With a box of dvds and another box full of not-quite-expired spam, Todd regretted not bringing a collapsible shopping cart or something along those lines. But! The spam! Was so cheap! He'd have gotten more if thought he could carry it, as it was he'd get to have meat for meals at least until the end of summer.
Weaving through the cars, Todd decided to check out the event. Some friends mentioned maybe going to watch, which meant maybe he could bum a ride home. He started passing by and had to pause and take in 1) the delivery guy dropping off food to a plant-filled trunk and 2) the glimpse of light from behind the plants that was likely from a phone.
Pause over, just keep ******** walking.
The event had already started and there were a lot of muscled people putting more effort into one race than Todd had ever put into anything in his whole life. And good for them. Maybe his own lack of effort left more energy vibes in the atmosphere for these people to soak up like those drop-in-water toys that grew bigger. Todd found a spot near some Extremely Attractive guys that seemed kind of chill in comparison to the rest of the crowd but the moment his knees started to bend, he caught the whiff of tension in their tones body language.
Oh god no.
Straightening his knees to keep walking was an effort, the boxes were so heavy and a glance at the field made him feel vaguely offended. How come he seemed to be carrying more than the muscle guys? Eventually he found a seat near the decidedly less chill kokeshi doll lady who sometimes came into the store to make distressed faces at the slushie machines. Fortunately her exuberance was countered by the fact that Todd soon found himself with free soup and drinks at hand.
Glancing again at the field, Todd did a double take at the competitor that currently lacked in batwings but had most of his everything else out and proud. "Hey that's-" which name was he supposed to use again?
"That's Cerberus," the kokeshi girl (Everly?) told him, taking a very brief breather from cheering on the Don. "He's not bad. I think he could be a good wrestler if he quit his day job. That passionate attitude is very important," she explained, like this was vital information he should know. And then she was up glowsticking again and Todd...well he also stood up this time.
"Woooo uh...Ceberus! Yeah!" Todd's cheers were somewhere between half-assed and sincere enthusiasm, which was already way past his normal output. He got a glare from his neighbor (Amity?) but ignored it. He was pretty sure he'd still be able to get free drinks. Anyway, he'd just noticed there were a lot of costumes in this area of the track. Wrestling uniforms, a lot were Don Diablos cosplays, and some were a bit different. So like, it'd be good it one of the friendly-to-Todds scary people knew he was there. Just in case.
"You can do it, man!"
xStrickenized
he didnt see anything
xamorremanet
respect for your weird job man
xKolina
just scooching past relationship dramas
xGuine
he thinks the abs probably are really nice but he definitely didn't hear anything
xShiningamisgirl
Praxibite Cerberus is the good guy right /uncertain amidala smile
The more he saw of these proceedings, the less Reiki felt like he understood anything.… Well, he understood that Albite’s ex-girlfriend—some petite little cutie with six-pack abs and an adorable pink outfit—just dumped his a**, both loudly and very publicly. (For the most part, Reiki felt deep sympathy for Albite; having something like that happen had to suck, and probably could’ve explained a lot about how much he was throwing into the goings-on [the seriously tasteless Awoooo? ******** really, Ablite? Reiki simply Could Not with all this].
On the other hand, though, Reiki felt a serious itch to go ask the little Heartbreaker for all of the dish on her and Albite. He wasn’t going to—would’ve been rude to distract her from the very important job of beating all the large, glossy, buff-a** men into the dirt with her cuteness and the inherent strength and power of pink—but he really kinda wanted to.…)
Watching her prepare, Reiki squinted and wrinkled his nose. She had to be powered up too, right? Like, she called Albite by name, and her outfit looked too cute to be what normal people wore? If only Reiki could’ve been powered up without it being a serious risk of Causing Some Problems. Having aura sense while powered down would’ve been nice (though also very likely to Cause Certain Problems, he realized). Drinking in her appearance, her shades of pastels reminded Reiki of Spei from last summer, back around Star Festival. Could she have been a Knight like him? Not enough white for an Order senshi, not enough black for a Negaverse anything, no Dark Mirror overlay visible anywhere…… That only left “Knight” as an option, didn’t it? ……Well, unless she wasn’t actually powered up and Reiki was being silly.
So wrapped up in his spectating, he barely noticed that someone was trying to hand him a glowstick, not until he’d wrapped his hand around it. He also didn’t notice someone coming toward him, not until he heard—
“Hey, ********, this seat taken?”
The answer was “no.” Even if it hadn’t been, Yuki probably would’ve insisted that whoever had sat themself next to Reiki move down. Either way, he didn’t wait for the answer, just sat down next to his favorite boy, his best girl, his <******** style="color: #582788">“Gorgeous!” Reiki lit up like the Fourth of July, and only gave Yuki a moment before lolling over onto his shoulder. “What’re you out this way for, huh?”
Playfully nudging his elbow at Reiki’s ribs, Yuki teased, “Mn, could ask you the same thing.”
“Oh, this? It was really nothing,” Reiki deadpanned. “Garak and Dr. Bashir abducted me to come be their kept boy, but we had a transporter accident and I wound up here.”
Obviously not the truth, but in Reiki’s mind, it was funny enough to count. Plus, getting out of Mirrorspace was kinda like a transporter accident, in Reiki’s personal opinion that nobody had asked for.
Yuki snorted. “Yeah, of course you did. Just like how I got here because some guys from the CIA tried to recruit me by abducting me, but I took a page out of your book—you know?” And if nothing else had done so, the brief interjection of a giggle gave away the joke behind Yuki’s current nonsense. “The book where you talk so much and have opinions about everything? I just refused to shut up until they got so annoyed that they dropped me off here.”
“Okay, I know you’re joking?” As he said so, Reiki picked his head up, looking at the lean, purple-haired boy who’d just walked in and over to the stands.… Oh, he was cute. Tracing his gaze up the way the boy went, Reiki could barely hold himself back from making a wolf-whistle (he did hold back, but it was a close call). “But Gorgeous,” he said, “please tell me you have your car with you. I’m pretty sure my ride back home bailed on me.”
A lie: Reiki didn’t have a ride, at least not one prearranged. It always turned his stomach, having to lie to Yuki about the whole magical girl thing. But……well, if nothing else, at least Reiki was well-practiced in finding plausible deniability for the hijinks he’d been getting up to.
Squeezing ******** around the shoulders, then just letting his arm stay there, Yuki told him, “Of course I came by car. I don’t know if any buses ever come this way anyway? But no worries, I’ll make sure you get home.”
“Ohhh, you’re the best.” And he was. Reiki was truly blessed, having in his life the gift of Yuki, the best QPP in the entire universe forever and always, ******** any disagreement.
Couldn’t say the same for the boy in the purple hair, though.
……Or, more accurately, the black-haired boy sitting between Purple and some white-haired guy. Watching Purple get to his seat had been such a good idea in theory—as far as the coked-out gossip-gremlin who lived in Reiki’s head wanted to be concerned—but from the way things looked down here? There was probably some gay-a** polycule drama going on. Maybe cheating? But Reiki didn’t really know anyone, offhand, who would sit down like this with the guy his significant other had been cheating with, so that idea seemed unlikely. Way more likely to be the polycule thing, he thought. Regardless: in all likelihood, whatever those three had going on was neither Reiki’s circus nor Reiki’s monkeys.
Still, Reiki shot a sympathetic look up at the black-haired boy before turning back around, dropping his head back onto Yuki’s shoulders.
As ******** settled back down from trying to peer into other people’s problems, Yuki gently rubbed his bicep. “So,” he said, “which one are we rooting for?”
“Oh, Heartbreaker, for sure.” Reiki didn’t even need to think about it; he only needed to nuzzle at Yuki’s shoulder. “She really publicly dumped the guy in the green earlier? Dunno what he did, but I respect her taking charge of her life like that. Beating him is what she deserves. Plus, her outfit is the cutest one out there, soooo…”
lizbot_
Reiki doesn’t care who the glowsticks support, he just thinks glowsticks are neat :3
stari_maga_
woooo, go Heartbreaker!
Strickenized_
That’s rough, buddy. :/
kolina_
Briefly noticed~!
Guine_
Briefly noticed~!
genovianprince_
Ready for your entrance, Mr. Duckling!
Quote:
Vanya and Lete forthcoming after I get some sleep~
Okay, the snake seemed to be settling on his shoulders. Good enough. As long as he could keep amusing it with some ******** meat, he wouldn't be bitten, and that was the important part to not losing. If he got bitten, his sister would have comments, and she was currently in the stands staring at him.
Was Nemyi holding a lightstick?
Whatever. He had work to do, and he was going to scoop up the closest thing to him and -- why was it wet? Why did he feel something on his face? What the everloving--
Oh.
A dog.
"Zot!" he heard his sister call to him from the stands. "Did you just steal someone's dog?!"
Didn't matter, he was going for strength. The dog got lifted to rest under his arm as he continued onward, determined not to lose to this group of powered people and Don Diablos even if he was in his civilian form--
oh is that Don Diablos? Haven't heard from him in a bit! still ripped though.
lots of snacks over there, did you say that one is the Wolfmother?
... wait, why would I be relieved?
Quote:
ooc note: he's not physically here, just responding to texts and tweets!
Seiana_ZI
Codebreaking Conversationalist
Offline
lizbot
No Faun
Offline
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2023 11:21 am
DON DIABLOS WAS NOT JEALOUS OF SNAKES OR DOGS! He probably could use a sandwich though! Storming up to the volunteers, Hell's raging volcano of muscle and fury readied himself for something big! Something huge! He shot these demands through his burning gaze and the finally volunteers Got The Message!
Which is how Don Diablos found himself running back with a massive inflatable unicorn pool ring around his waist, Ignacio Araya wedged in-between, and a garden gnome tucked under one arm.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
This would not slow Don Diablos down!!
Don Diablos status:
1 normal sized garden gnome with sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt 1 life-sized cardboard cut-out of Ignacio Araya-Bell 1 giant unicorn pool ring player choice
Patrolling had been boring lately. Amsvartnir yawned, covering his mouth—and then jolted when he sensed some powered auras. Oh, geez. That... didn't feel good. Damn his stupid brightly colored outfit. There was no real sneaking to be had, but he tried anyway, only to see...
What the entire hell was happening?
He blinked, staying near to the audience, watching the proceedings. Huh. Some kind of wild contest. Well, nothing bad was happening.... And if something crazy did happen, it only took a moment to become Amsvartnir again... Ah! And he spotted—there in the crowd, holding a red glowstick, was the nice drag queen from Scandal's he'd met once or twice. At least there was someone he recognized!
So he shuffled away for a brief moment, becoming Asher, and weaved his way into the crowd until he came to rest at the drag queen's free side.
"Hi," he said, feeling awkward now that he'd gotten this far. Crap. What if the guy didn't want to talk to some rando?
Oh well, he was here now. He waved a bit shyly at the two guys standing there, ducking his head sheepishly. "Sorry, you're just the only person I've seen that I recognize here, so."
The sudden presence of Another Person on his other side made Reiki perk up, and he genuinely smiled at the sight of—“Asher!” They may not have known each other very well yet, but Reiki liked to make a point of looking out for the under-21’s who ever took advantage of the “do not serve me alcohol” wristbands so they could visit Scandals. Tugging on Yuki’s sleeve, Reiki said, “Gorgeous, hey, look away from the deli counter of Boy over there. Come meet Asher.”
Most people telling Yuki to do things did not find an easy time of things. Maybe he would comply, maybe he felt like being nice or what they told him was in his best interests anyway, but maybe he would decide that he didn’t feel like it and they could go ******** themselves. ********, though, was not Most People. He was special—and so, Yuki looked over to see a floppy-haired, six-four toddler in suspenders and a tiny goatee.
“Is this……Asher who was in Obaasan’s class?” Yuki nudged his glasses up his nose a bit. “The Asher who was, like, one of the only two students who remotely understood Confessions Of A Mask?”
“Ohhhh, no no no.” As if he needed emphasis, Reiki shook his head. “This is the Asher I met at Scandals. The cute one who was looking for more queer friends.”
“With a wristband, one presumes.… Considering he’s so baby, I was probably in middle school when he was born?”
“Oh, you were not,” Reiki told him, and he genuinely wasn’t lying.… Yuki had skipped a grade, and consequently was in ninth grade—literal high school—when Asher had been born. But that point sucked and Reiki didn’t want to belabor it. Instead, Reiki patted the empty seat beside him. “Asher, this is my QPP and best guy, Yuki. He plays video games and shares opinions about them from a queer perspective. Also, he can play Doom on anything. Come on, sit down.”
