The Teen Squad Sleeps Tonight

[holyspit]

[Invitations have been passed out, Room 12 has been kitted out with as many extra sheets and blankets and pillows as can reasonably found in the storage room, there's snacks and baked goods aplenty, the mirror has been covered. Everything's ready for a Forget About The Motive Sleepover!]

[The door is, for the moment, propped open to allow guests entry. Steven is waiting to greet you in- yeah, that's definitely a fluffy pink bunny onesie from the costume shop. At least the hood's down, for now, so you're spared the full effect.]

Hey! Come on in and get comfy!

Comments

[etincelledefierte]

[Claudine will roll into the party with some weird kind of costume in hand.]

Hey, everyone. I got this out of the booth, is it someone here’s? Whatever it is...

[holyspit]

Not mine. It looks cool though! Like something out of those old black and white sci-fi movies they show late at night.

[etincelledefierte]

I was wondering if it was something like that, or something from TV.

[justmeheere]

Oh, um. [He squints at it.] I think. I think that's mine.

[etincelledefierte]

[She’ll hand it over.]

Is it some character from an American TV show?

[Claudine is giving him an out.]

[holyspit]

The Phantom is host who drives to kill, pushes for deadly drama, against our wills.
Offers us the chance to change the past, trying to make this peace end at last.
This is all a bit of a calamity... but I'd rather think about a party!

Let's think about games, let's think about friends!
Let's think about dressing down and bonds that'll never end!
There's an awful a lot of awful things we could be thinking of,
but for just one night, let's only think about fun!

[Steven's never. Actually had a real sleepover before. At least none that haven't been necessitated by weather emergencies, or been interrupted by terrifying psychic visions of friends trapped deep underwater. As you do.]

[But he has a pretty good idea of how things are supposed to go, he thinks! He's made a few little paper fortune tellers.]

Okay! Pick a color!

[isawallflower]

[ Oh. That's...actually something that sounds harmless and okay. She used to do things like this with Cairo, when they were kids. ]

Um... Alright, orange.

[ Because, like. Of course it's going to be orange. ]

[holyspit]

Great pick! O-R-A-N-G-E... now pick a number!

[There's probably usually supposed to be a question you ask before starting these things, but. Would Steven know? We'll say not cause it's too late now.]

[etincelledefierte]

Hmm. What about blue?

[holyspit]

Okay, B-L-U-E. Next you pick a number!

[isawallflower]

[ Everything keeps sucking, repeatedly, but you know!! She's not running this sleepover. It can't possibly go as bad as her last one started out. And...she likes Steve and Christine, they're sweet. Maybe if no one says the word party, Riley will be able to take a moment and relax.

She's got a set of floral pajamas from the costume closet and you know, her hair's actually down! It's a bit of a small room for all of them, so there's no wallflowering this time, huh? ]

You know. Usually these things are either girls or boys only.

[justmeheere]

I tried. I tried to explain that to Christine and she dragged me here anyway.

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Sometimes you gotta just go with it. Jeremy holds out the bottle of sparkling cider he got from the merch booth.]

You want some? I also got popcorn.

[isawallflower]

[ S I G H. Okay, she does like sparkling cider. Like, a lot, honestly, this girl's a La Croix bitch. ]

Sure, sure. Pour me a glass. [ Lowering her voice, just a little: ] Between the unstoppable forces of Christine and Steven, I don't think any of us were getting out of this.

[ And. Honestly their positivity is a bit infectious. Just because she can't relax doesn't mean she won't appreciate a good morale boost. ]

[holyspit]

Oh. Really? Huh.

[But why would you possible separate by gender like- yeah, no, he's not that naive, that makes sense. But they're all just here to have good clean non-murdery fun, so it should be fine.]

I wouldn't mind just hanging out with Jeremy, if we've gotta separate. He seems cool.

[isawallflower]

[ ...He really didn't know? Huh. Well, the kid is half-alien, apparently. That does kind of make sense. ]

Oh, I mean- now that everyone's here, it...seems a little silly, to just force the two of you out. Especially when you helped set this up in the first place. I was just a little surprised.

[justmeheere]

[Is Jeremy super comfortable here? Not really! Is he here anyway? Yeah, because Christine physically dragged him here and he can't escape! He's not quite wearing pajamas, but he is wearing a red t-shirt (yes I do think I'm funny) and sweat pants. He's also got a bottle of sparkling cider that he brought because it seemed like a sleepover thing. He also brought popcorn, because that also seemed like a sleepover food? He's never actually. Been to a sleepover? Jeremy has one friend and it's Michael, who he regularly shares a bed with in a completely platonic manner.

Mostly, though, he's just awkwardly existing here. In this space. Amongst a bunch of teenage girls (and Steven), one of whom he has a massive crush on. It's fine. He's fine. Everything's fine.]

[holyspit]

[Steven has technically been to one sleepover, but it got kind of derailed and distracted due to horrible psychic dream-visions, as you do. Also the other people involved didn't actually need to sleep. So he and Jeremy are basically on the same page here, if you don't think about it too hard!]

Did you make that? Too bad we don't have any movies to go with it.

[justmeheere]

No, I. I got it from the merch booth, but I figured popcorn is for sharing! [Right? He has literally never not shared popcorn.] So, um. Yeah. I brought it with me.

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Christine is sitting cheerfully in her own onesie, which... appears to be some sort of orange dinosaur. She's super excited for this, almost too much so, in some attempt to push back all the nasty things that have happened since yesterday. Is it working?

She's brought her now recovered copy of the Tempest, and also, apparently, a few papers of ghost story ideas. Is she doing this sleepover thing right? She hasn't been to one since she was tiny, and even that one her parents had to pick her up from when she decided she wouldn't sleep without her bunny nightlight.

But she think she knows the games? So she slaps a hand down on her book and eagerly proclaims:]

Truth or dare! We gotta play truth or dare!

[isawallflower]

[ The last time she was at a sleepover and someone said truth or dare she almost astral projected out of her body from fear. ]

Ohh, we don't gotta play anything, why don't we just sit here and talk?

[ Riley is screaming internally. ]

[madgiganticfeelings]

I mean, of course we don't have to, but games are fun! Come on, Riley, truth or dare?

[She is so excited! She is hanging out with a pretty cheerleader, playing the quintessential sleepover game!]

[holyspit]

Ooh! Uh- truth!

[The truth has never hurt anyone ever, much less in a highly charged and tense situation full of teenagers.]

[madgiganticfeelings]

Okay! Um, hmm...

[These are usually supposed to be romantic, but... that always seems so boring! She's got to think of a really good question that subverts expectations, like...]

If you were a cupcake, do you think you'd be able to resist eating yourself?

[...Nailed it.]

[herwiggles]

Ooh! Ooh, oh oh! Dare! Me, me, me!

[What even is the truth. She's here to have fun.]

[madgiganticfeelings]

Ooh! Yes, okay, um...

[What's a good fun, not harmful dare?]

Dare you to eat this whole bowl of popcorn in a minute!