escordvi | June Catch-All | Open To All (Some Closed)

Entry tags:

June Catch-All | Open To All (Some Closed)

Who: Darin Altway and YOU
Status: Open and a few Closed
Where: Everywhere
What: MANTA board missions and Darin's birthday!
Warnings: Hilarity, stupidity, with a case of emotions and heartstring pulling

1 Heart Break Hotel - MANTA (4 pts)

[Darin couldn't help but laugh when he saw this job posting. 'Help start a fight?' That was about all of the incentive he needed to take what was basically the easiest job in the world. If there was one thing Darin was good at, it was starting an unnecessary fight. Hell, he'd been doing that for years!]

[But once he was at the bar, he got to hear more of the situation. And Darin couldn't help but feel for Captain Seakid. Gods know if he were in his shoes, he'd be just as miserable, if not moreso. Now, hearing the reason behind the captain's funk, a new plan starts to form in his mind.]

[First, he needs someone willing to take a dramatic swing at him.]

[Maybe you're here for the same thing. Maybe you're just someone looking to drink in peace. But this 6'3" musclebound shounen idiot is going to sidle up next to you.]

Hey, I need you to do me a favor. I need you to loudly proclaim that I'm the one who stole Captain Seakid's fiancé and take a swing at me.

[Yes, that is all you're getting unless you ask for more. But hey, free punch?]

2 Closing Loose Ends - MANTA (6pts)

[Ever since his very public arrest, Darin was itching to help track down the bastards that were responsible for throwing the Armadas into a frenzy. The masterminds behind all of this have not only caused pain and strife amongst the victims and their loved ones, trust was at an all time low and now Elah has swum the coop. People were hurting and those responsible were free to do as they pleased, even though they were on the run. That? That didn't sit right with Darin.]

[Fortunately, Darin's made enough connections to learn a few rumors. Get a few names. One name that kept coming up was one Captain Grimshaw Kaiser, a rather notorious Corsair Admiral who used not only his power and money, but his considerable fleet of ships to help transport victims and stymie investigations. He's one of the few people not openly on the run and, in fact, is flagrantly holding a banquet to celebrate the Paladins' state of disarray. It's a high ticket affair and just begs to be crashed.]

[Darin, at least, looks the part. He's traded out his usual sleeveless coat for a more formal affair. He rented black suit with some silver and blue trim and even has his hair gelled back to give him a little more of a sleek, snarky appearance.]

So, this guy thinks he's untouchable. Pretty sure we can prove him wrong tonight. But once we try and take him down, I'm pretty sure everyone here is going to look to get a piece of us. You gonna be alright?

[If you're up for crashing a raucous, black tie Corsair affair, Darin will absolutely have recruited you.]

3 Jumping the Shark - Closed to Garrus

[If there was a worse time for the Krahs to attack, this absolutely was it. With the people of Elah without their leviathan and struggling to keep their island (literally) together, the people could use all of the help they could get.]

[Darin was already on site trying to shore up defenses before the next big Krah push. Making sure people were out of contested areas, building bottlenecks to try and keep the sharkfolk at bay, anything he could do to stem some of the fear and anxiety choking the populace.]

[He wasn't expecting to get a call from Garrus about a massive push from the bastards. Something about bringing in 'big guns?' Gods, what is it with guns and this guy?]

[Darin breaks off from his work and makes a beeline for Garrus' position. Hopefully he's not in it too deep, but he'll be able to hear Darin coming well before the Krah even know what's going on. There's an almost telltale rumble on the beach as those 'big guns' draw close.]

4 Birthday Drinks (June 10th) - Closed to Zelda

[Never before had Darin had such an incredible birthday. He had no idea what his girlfriend had planned, but when she approached him with two tickets to a special exhibit on Native Plantlife and Symbiotic Relationships with the Leviathans, Darin couldn't be more thrilled by the prospect. An actual museum? And a special, limited exhibit? Darin had never been to a museum before! Darin wasn't even really allowed on the campuses back in Arclight because he was just a tradesman! Not only was this the perfect opportunity to learn more about the world, he got to do it with the woman of his dreams!]

[He wasn't sure how he wanted to dress, but he felt wearing his usual seemed too informal. What does someone even wear to a museum? On a date? For your birthday??? After much hemming and hawing and some sizeable input from Zelda, he'd opted for some nice tan slacks, a tucked in white undershirt, and a somewhat form fitting but still presentable light blue, button down shirt. He'd unbuttoned the sleeves and rolled them up to his elbows and opened the top two buttons of his shirt giving him a classy but still relaxed appearance. He felt...good. Normal. And gods above was he excited to share the day with Zelda. His day.]

[The exhibit was fascinating and Darin's enthusiasm was at a fevered pitch. After lunch, they'd spent the afternoon at the exhibit where he filled half a fresh notebook with sketches and notes, all of which he was eager to compare with Zelda's notes. Now, with dinner finished, they were on their way to a small bar. Why? Because Darin has a ritual he has to complete. One he'd asked Zelda to be a part of.]

[This day wasn't just Darin's birthday alone. No, it was his twin brother Dromas' birthday as well. And ever since Darin was able to drink, he made it his mission to spend the evening of his birthday drinking and ruminating over his lost brother. He'd always done it alone and tonight, for the first time, he asked his better half to join him. But the excitement of the day hasn't boiled down quite yet.]

I seriously had no idea that plants could be so...complicated! And the idea that some plants might have changed and evolved because of their proximity to the leviathans?? It makes total sense!

I'm gonna be thinking about this for weeks!

[He's smiling from ear to ear, practically skipping as he holds Zelda's hand as they approach the small bar.]

5 Surprise Party (June 11th) - OPEN

[Darin's never wanted to make a big deal out of his birthday. Ever since he lost his twin brother as a child, his birthday just served as a memory that he was alone in the world. The other person he was meant to share the day with was gone and he persisted on in a world where no one wanted him. His adopted father did his best to give him good birthdays but Darin knew it was difficult for the man to broach the subject when Darin himself just didn't know if he truly had a place in his world.]

[So, after the high of having someone to spend the day with yesterday, it would be particularly hard to bring Darin down. He was ushered out of the house early by Zelda to check the Heroine for some emergency and impromptu maintenance and...well, the extent of the damage was definitely more than he was expecting. It almost seemed petty. Who in the hell would take the individual chains of the anchor and weld them together into one solid, unbending line?! For hours, Darin spent breaking apart the chain and replacing each link by hand with his incredible strength because whoever pulled this stunt was going to find these chains wrapped around their stupid throat as he keelhauled them through the open water! And who goes up to a docked ship and sabotages the anchor?! It's not going anywhere!! You'd think to scuttle the damn ship or just...anything else! There's so many guns on the ship?! Why didn't anyone mess with them?!]

[Gods, he's going to have to talk to Garrus about security.]

[By the time he wanders home, it's late afternoon. The sun is beginning to hang low in the sky and Darin had spent just enough time on that tedious project that his mood was beginning to tank. All he wanted was a nice dinner, a nice shower, and to crawl into bed with Zelda and be done with the day.]

[When he opens the door to find people yelling 'SURPRISE' in his face...Darin doesn't know what to think. He...turns around. Was someone behind him? No, no one was behind him. When he turns back, he's obviously bewildered. That is...until he sees the decorations. The faces of his friends...]

[...A cake. A cake just like the one Acteon had always gotten for him. Vanilla with chocolate swirls and frosting. Topped with crushed hazelnuts. With candles lit, flames dancing with the subdued energy of the room.]

[Only one other person knew about this cake. And she's the one who undoubtedly put this all together.]

[He doesn't even close the door after him. He stumbles in slowly, like his feet are two ton lead weights. He looks around, as if questioning his own eyes. People were here for him? For his birthday? For his birthday?]

[He opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out. He opens his mouth again to much the same result. Three times he starts and then balks, finding himself struck speechless.]

[For most of his life, Darin wondered if maybe he was a mistake. He survived at the cost of his twin brother and from that moment on, people branded him a curse. A cursed child with tainted blue hair, whose existence would surely bring misfortune. Every year that passed only one man celebrated him. He grew older and watched as people his age went their separate ways. Started their journeys. He'd watch as their future prospects unraveled before them while he stood, stranded, as if stuck in a moment in time that refused to end. Whatever his future was, was it worth it if he was always going to be alone? And, what's worse, when he found out what he truly was at the hands of the brother he thought he lost, he began to wonder if maybe he never should have been born at all. He spent his last birthday wondering if being stranded in this world was what was best for his own. Here, the prophecy couldn't come to pass. Here, he could live out his life in isolation and obscurity. No matter how much it hurt him, at least his world would be safe without him.]

[He never in his life would have expected to find a home. A home, here, built with his own hands. Shared with the woman he loves and a bevy of friends who actually care about him. Who are happy he exists.]

[Happy that he was born.]

[He swallows the lump in his throat, even as the flames of the candles reflect off the tears welling in his eyes. He wrings his hands nervously. For the first time, that mask of bravado slips in a public setting to reveal the young man who has so desperately wished all of his life for a place to call his own. He bows his head until finally, words come tumbling out.]

...F...For me??

[It's incredulous and hopeful. Words of such gratitude it can't be measured. That the events before him beggar belief. And finally, when he receives his confirmation, he bows his head and wipes his eyes with the back of his hand as the events of the day finally click in his mind, he lifts his head and smiles like no one, save Zelda, has ever seen before.]

Okay, which one of you bastards melted the anchor chain?? I seriously have some words for you!

[He's laughing. He's laughing so hard because it's the only thing keeping the tears at bay. The happiest tears of his life.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ there's one thing that surge hates more than anything in the world: a happy sonic, a sonic that's at a loss of words because of the support he has from his friends, a sonic who is always given this chance of happiness which is shown clearly on his face and makes everything bad in the world nonexistent. she hates that type of sonic, that sort of sonic that always wins in some way and in return she loses in another. it makes her mad, eyes watching from the outside through the window that's way too tall for her.

luckily, there's kitsunami with a platform made of water that gives both him and her the ability to have some height and also spy on what's going on. ]

Ughhh! I hate him! I hate him so damn much! He acted like no one wanted him but he doesn't understand a damn thing! Look at him!

[ it's the same always with sonic, he says things to try and make her feel like she can be part of the team, or that her anger shouldn't be the core part of who she is because things. even if they're not home, even though he's in a different body because wowee, she doesn't see the hedgehog anywhere around here that tells her they're two different people somehow he still manages to come up top whole being surrounded by loved ones.

hell, he even got a cake! a damn cake which she wishes just exploded in his face. she can hear that wave of laughter, those different individuals call his name, ugh, she hates it. she can't stand it!

sparks of electricity bounce off her body, which she pulls her hands away from the edge of the window so she doesn't draw attention by flickering the lights inside or cracking the glass. she should! she really should, but she doesn't want to look like some loser here. ]

See! What I tell ya, Drippy! That's definitely him, who else would have that stupid smile and get whatever he wants?

[ there's one thing that kitsunami hates more than anything in the world: anything that makes surge angry, something that pisses her off, something that reminds her of all the things she doesn't have because they were taken from her. now, whether this guy is truly 'sonic' or not, kitsunami can't say for sure—he has a feeling that it isn't. that doesn't mean it's okay for him to do those things to surge though. if anything, that makes him just as bad as sonic.

but surge seems certain. she seems determined too. the way those sparks bounce off her fingers, collecting in her rings and snapping at the air around her hands and eyes, it's a feeling that's almost magnetic. to kit, at least. maybe only to kit.

the point is, surge is asserting her belief, and kit is nodding. well, thinking. but still approving. ]

I-If you say so, Ma'am.

[ he casts a sidelong glance through the window, mumbling. ]

Whoever he is, he could definitely be knocked down a peg.

[Surge, you are literally the least subtle electric badger. Darin sees those flashes of sparks from the corner of his eye, and when he looks...yeah, there's some lime green looking pineapple poking above the sill.]

[Oh good. Surge followed him home. She knows where he lives now.]

[Well, he's not about to be a bad host. He's going to excuse himself for a moment and walk outside.]

So, you guys just going to stick to the window? Or do you want to come in and have some cake?

[ as she's speaking with kitsunami, she doesn't expect SONIC... darin to come out and greet them. especially with how he knew they were by the window and now he's inviting them for cake! ]

Eh!? You think we're foolish to eat somethin' you probably poisoned!!

[ she's onto you, bozo, she's also taking a few steps back as she glares at him too like he's up to something mischievous... the sparks on her body fly off, disappearing seconds later before glancing back to his cottage. ]

You were just talkin' to someone, how did you get over here that fast....

[ ...........................fast. ]

[ yeah, darin is a jumpscare. almost enough for kit to jump, but he manages to keep himself steady, shooting a pointed glare in darin's direction. ]

Yeah. What Surge said.

[ how did he get over here this fast? it's probably some kind of trick. at least, that's what kit's trying to express when his stomach rumbles.

loudly. ]

...

[ he looks mortified. ]

[Darin actually has to strain his face to keep from laughing because gods above Kit looks absolutely terrified. Laughing now would just make the poor kid feel bad.]

[He turns to Surge and runs a hand through his hair.]

Surge, it's like...thirty feet. And you'd turned away so you obviously wouldn't see—

Nevermind.

You guys can come in. You can choose what food you want. If it were poisoned, everyone would be in danger.

Come on, isn't it lonely being stuck on the outside looking in?

[He thumbs over his shoulder to the front door.]

My girlfriend made the best cake. You should at least have a piece of that.

[ don't try to make a fool out of her, especially when she's glaring so bad at this guy because she knows he's up to something. ]

H— What— Wait a damn minute!

[ between kit's rumbly stomach and darin talking to her, she'll raise her voice so that the other can't hear the fox starve. what she focuses on actually has her attention real bad, that she takes a step forward as an incoming threat. ]

What do you mean your girlfriend!?

[ what girlfriend, you're not supposed to have a girlfriend because starline didn't modify her with a significant other. this is wrong.

what the hell are you saying to her sonic. ]

Stop lying! [ she didn't make a cake... there's no girlfriend, it's all in his head... probably when she electrocuted him he hasn't been right. ] I'll be the judge if it's even a good cake!

[ he makes a good point—to get to surge and kit, if they're allowed all the same choices as the actual guests, would mean to put everyone else in danger of choosing the poisoned food too, but that doesn't mean that kit has to like it. he's glaring and nodding along with surge's words, all the way up until—

'i'll be the judge if it's even a good cake!'

huh? at that point, kit's turning his attention back to surge, eyes wide. she's going to try it? she's going to let him win? ]

Are you sure, Surge...?

[ like, he'll go with her, of course, but she's serious? ]

[Darin laughs at Surge's comment.]

I'm not! Trust me, I'm as surprised as you are! Look!

[Darin points through the window at Zelda, the petite vision of loveliness and sunshine that has completely turned his life around.]

That's her. Don't ask me why she fell for a guy like me but...

[Okay, his cheeks are getting red so it's time to change the subject.]

Anyway, come on in. If you're here, you're welcome. And there's plenty of food along with the cake!

[Darin waves them along to follow as he enters and...well, he certainly has a lovely house. He designed it himself. The bottom floor has a large, open floor plan that segues seamlessly into a large kitchen with its own stonetop island in the center. In the living area, a large table is set with the cake and assorted gifts and decorations.]

[Darin does the honors and cuts both Surge and Kit nice sized slices of his cake and he does so where they can watch him. Then, he cuts a third for himself and shows it to them.]

See? Vanilla with chocolate swirls. Chocolate frosting with hazelnut crumbles!

[He even takes the first bite.]

Gods that's so good~!

[ kit's curious, probably dumbfounded by the response, and she has to say something about how this is a good idea. ]

Trust me, no cake can be better than your cake.

[ she's never had kit's cake so you know...

normally surge wouldn't fall for the look over there trick because darin is going to sucker punch her or something, but... when she does look.

🌈❓

who is that woman, there's no way, even surge has to blink a few times before she looks back towards darin with wide eyes. no way. she even turns to look at kit before pointing in the same direction at the woman that's been shown to them, leaning, the tenrec keeps her voice pretty low. ]

Do you see a woman there?

[ she's omitted very important words, but there's some disbelief there... because where did that beautiful girl come from.

what's worse is that darin is blushing, and that's making surge so mad that she's walking over to kick him right in his leg BUT... he manages to start moving before she can get ahold of him. that's only because she's taken aback by the situation they're in... why is there a beautiful woman in this house.

did he kidnap you queen, do you need... a she-ro...

this may be surge's sonic '06...

once they're inside and cakes are equally given, she stares at the plate with a glare. then she looks to kit who was actually hungry...

she's waiting for darin to fall over and die... her eyes just focused on him as if it could be any minute now, but as that takes too long, she's glancing around without making it too obvious for where that girl has went...

when she can't find her due to all the people moving about, she looks to kit. ]

What do you think of it?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

June Catch-All | Open To All (Some Closed)

1/2 surprise party 🥳 but with a twist

2/2 hi 🎉

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