victory_road | GHOST TRICK PART ONE: Festival Log!

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GHOST TRICK PART ONE: Festival Log!

Who: Everyone!
Where: Either Ecruteak City or Lavender Town; please mark your toplevel comments accordingly!
When: August 13th-15th
Summary: Celebrate O-bon at a festival near you! For details, see the infopost.
Rating: Will vary from thread to thread. Warn for common triggers if something comes up.
Log:

The streets are lined with NPC-run stalls for food, games, and the assorted tchotchkes of every summer festival you’ve ever seen in your animes! There’s Goldeen Scoop, heaping cones of Swirlix Candy, Test Your STRENGTH (there are two different machines for people and Pokémon; HM04 not required); basically, if you can think of it, it’s there. There will also be a yukata rental stall if you want to go full hog on the cultural side of things. Ecruteak boasts a small stage where the Kimono Girls give a short performance once every two hours; the festivities in Lavender Town are a little quieter, but they also have Haunter-shaped ice cream treats. When you lick them, they Lick you!

On the last evening (August 15th) of the festival in either location, there will be a large bonfire and traditional bon-odori dance in which everyone is welcome to participate. In Lavender Town only, they also set paper lamps afloat in the water past the cliffs.

The closer you get to midnight on the last night of the festival, the more ghosts pop up.

Again, please say which city your character's in and note what dates/times they're there in the header of or within your top--level comment to avoid confusion. Play nice and have fun!

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Dude, please, I've eaten half the festival already. No worries if you wanna get something, though.

[It's a little white lie (more like a big one) but he really doesn't have the money to blow on overpriced festival food, and he isn't about to make Rhys worry about him or come to his rescue. Especially not after all the insistence that he can take care of himself now.]

Might pick up something for my girls while we're at it, though. They deserve as many treats as I can get.

Impressive. [ Has Rhys eaten that much? Maybe like, half. To the point where he can't brag like that, anyway. Needless to say Rhys definitely falls for the little white lie. There's no reason to doubt your bro, right? ]

Your girls, huh? Did you catch someone new? [ Rhys takes out the only two pokeballs to his name. ] I know you've seen Loader, right? What about Money Shot?

[ uh. ] ...I also didn't name him that.

Oh, yeah, dude. Total ladies' man.

[He shuffles for his Pokeballs and sets loose a Geodude and an Espurr before nodding to them respectively as they peer at Rhys curiously.]

This is Buffy and Gorgon.

[Vaughn gives a partially restrained laugh at the name.]

Sure you didn't. What is he?

Buffy and Gorgon, huh? [ He bends down to smile at the two, nodding his head. ] I...I mean, I haven't seen these pokemon before, but they look really good! Really...really good. [ Rhys has been here how long, and he only has two pokemon. He needs to get his head in the game here. ]

N-No, I swear! He's, uh- [ Rhys brings out the pokeball and brings out Money Shot- a big, fat Meowth. ] He's going on a diet.

[ Vaughn might be able to notice the collar, though! It's silver and expensive looking, with a yellow 'H' embedded in the middle. Nah, Handsome Jack didn't give him that, what are you talking about? ]

I met Buffy by, ah... accidentally stepping on her. That's how I got my gear cracked; I dropped it on her when she started moving. And Gorgon was just outside Cherrygrove, and Buffy reeeally wanted to fight her because she looked at her funny. But... I think that's just how she looks at things. She just. Stares. Like that.

[He crouches down to get a good look at the tubby cat, chuckling as he gives it a few scratches. When he notices the collar, his face falls to a frown, but he stays quiet about it and straightens himself back up.]

So... Now that we're both here, what's the plan?

[ Rhys can't help but laugh! ] You got a little story to tell with everyone, don't you? Sounds a lot more interesting than how I met Money Shot. [ Oh. He'll shoot the Meowth an apologetic look. ] No offense, buddy.

[ Money Shot doesn't even look bugged, to be honest. He'll just flop by Vaughn's feet and start to snooze. ] ...Do you know any good exercises for pokemon? If you do, you gotta let me know.

[ Okay, game plan! Rhys sniffs. ] I'm thinkin' supper, first off. Then maybe hit up a few games?

...And, uh, do you, do you wanna come with Athena and me? I don't know where we're going, but y'know. We're going places. And it's really awkward with her around.

Well, there's a couple things I've been doing with my team, but I'm sure I can figure something out for your little buddy too.

Sounds good. To, uh, to all of that.

[His Pokemon definitely perk up at the idea of dinner. Not that they're starved or anything, but damn if this place doesn't smell great.]

[ Man! Being with his best friend again, getting Money Shot on a diet, food...this night's been going pretty great! Thank god, Rhys seriously needs a break from all the crap he's been going through here.

He reaches down to pick up the tubby Meowth. ] Allllrigty, mi amigo. Name a stand you're diggin' and let's eat!

[ Rhys has been eating more or less all freakin' night but he's okay with eating a little more! ]

[Vaughn gives a little nod to his Pokemon and lets them confer for a moment. When they seem to agree on a stand, Vaughn starts to follow and shoots Rhys a shrug and a grin.]

Guess we're going to that one.

Sounds good. [ Loader floats off with Vaughn's pokemon. Money Shot seems...happy with where he is, honestly. Rhys seriously needs to start a diet.

He trails along, a hand running through his hair. ] S-So, uh. What's new? With you?

Or am I gonna hear too much if I ask? About the future, I mean.

Hm... Eeehhh. I'm not sure. I guess if you know I'm still alive, time is probably already hecked up pretty bad, sooo what could it hurt?

[He squints for a moment as they settle in line.]

Guess everything I've been up to is new to you. Uh... Have I told you about the Children?

[ Rhys shrugs! ] Guess it wouldn't, right?

[ They're in line, he's looking down listening to his friend, but he can feel his face go blank when Vaughn mentions Children. There's no way, right? He's not ahead in the future by like, a day or whatever. Children is plural, so maybe years? ]

Ch-Children? Are, are you a...?

[Would it be cruel to mess with him? The look on his face is already pretty priceless.]

Oh, yeah, dude. I've got so many kids. Just call me Papa Vaughn.

[He waits a moment, really enjoying Rhys' reaction, then gives a hearty laugh.]

The crash survivors. They call themselves the Children of Helios. I look after them.

[ Yup, his jaw drops.

What the hell was he supposed to do when Helios wasn't a thing anymore and he needed to buy his best friend kid stuff? There's no way you could buy anything suitable for a child on Pandora. Maybe if he bought extra food, and just said 'eat it in honor of your kids' that would be enough...

But Vaughn was just pulling his leg. Haha! Okay, phew. Good. He'll give him a friendly little nudge for that.

Rhys' smile kind of dies when the crash survivors are mentioned, though. ] O-Oh. I...I got it.

[ Rhys looks to the vendor, taking a few steps forward in line. ] Are...there a lot of them? Crash survivors?

[Vaughn's expression sobers up along with Rhys'. Maybe joking about that at all was a bad move; the incident is still fresh in Rhys' mind; much fresher than the Rhys he only just left behind.]

Yeah, there's... a few hundred, maybe a thousand. Somewhere thereabouts.

[After they move along a bit, Vaughn wraps an arm around his friend in a sort of half-hug.]

It's tough on Pandora, but... believe me. They're a pretty happy bunch.

[ A thousand left over Hyperion employees, when there had been thousands before. Plural. That honestly makes Rhys feel pretty shitty but he doesn't want to show that to Vaughn. He didn't do anything bad, so why be a debbie downer?

At the little kinda-sorta hug, Rhys looks down to Vaughn and offers a smile. He wraps his robo arm around his shoulders. ]

What do they think about Pandora? Bet for some you were dealin' with some pretty bad culture shock there for a while.

[ Thinking about snobby accountants running around trying to kill skags actually makes him feel a little better, to be honest. ]

[The smile is a relief. A huge one. Vaughn relaxes again and leans into him a bit.]

They... took a while to get used to it, yeah. But most of them like it better than Helios. One lady told me, there may be bandits, bullymongs, boiling lava, and poisonous Eridium fumes everywhere, but at least she can, y'know, do something about it if they want to kill her. And it's pretty hard to get spaced from the planetside. Yeah. They're, ah... pretty grateful somebody got them off the station.

Wow. That's, uh. [ Dedicated as shit. It's not like he's run into any weird Pandoran whatevers out there recently, but he's pretty sure he would have rather stayed on Helios rather than deal with the bandits and murder piles and poison fumes. Oh god, how much of that did they breathe? ] That's...surprising. I mean, I can understand the 'doing something about it' part, but still. Kind of surprising!

[ Grateful someone got them off the station. They can't be talking about him. Nah. ] I bet they're even more grateful they got a guy like you watching them. Always trust the guy with the beard.

[ He seriously can't get over it. ]

Ha. "Surprising" is definitely an understatement, considering these people were sheltered Hyperion drudges half their lives and think fingerguns are an effective method of self defense.

[Yeeaaah, more touchy subjects Vaughn would rather avoid than bring Rhys down. He digs the compliment, though. He does love the beard.] They would've all died violently if someone hadn't known the little I did at the time, but I don't think it had to be me specifically. Honestly? They just needed somebody to tell them firemelons are not food.

[ Oh god, the fingerguns. Rhys can vaguely remember having a fingergun fight with the accounting department as Vasquez before he went and fucked Helios up. When good memories go bad.

But he doesn't want to think about that, not with Vaughn. Rhys swallows, tuning out the flashback and trying to focus on the present. The lights from the festival, just being around his best friend. How good it feels to actually be with him and know he's safe in the future, keeping people in line. And to think he was afraid of bandits once! Jesus, now he kind of is one. It's cool though. ]

...to be honest, I don't even know what a firemelon is. [ Rhys smiles, and shrugs. ] But now I know they're not food. You learn something every day, right?

Do I even want to know what it is?

It's exactly what it sounds like. It's --

[Vaughn's thought process is interrupted as they approach the front of the line, and he lets his team decide what they find enticing at the stand. A few exchanges later, and after Rhys gets his order in too, he purses his lips.]

It's a big "fruit" that grows on these... bushes? Explodes into flames under pressure. So you hit it or cut it or whatever, and boom! Horrible, fiery death.

[Admittedly, he learned a lot of what not to do by watching other bandits.]

Oh. [ The more you know! Next time he's around Pandora and not in the situation he's in now, he'll be sure to keep an eye out for those weird bushes. A horrible, fiery death sounds like a bad way to go, so he thinks. ]

Did you ever tell them about...[ Oh my god, what was that thing called? ] The really...really big thing that was chasing us when we were all getting blasted by moonshots? We killed it right before half of the caravan got blown off and you and I got thrown out the back. [ Fun times! ] You called it a murder pile.

I feel like if you're gonna survive on Pandora, you need to know what that thing is.

[ Says Rhys, who can't remember what the hell it was called. ]

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GHOST TRICK PART ONE: Festival Log!

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