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]

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!

[holyspit]

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

[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. ]

[justmeheere]

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

[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.

[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.]

[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]

[ 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. ]

[justmeheere]

[He's got you, Riley. MLM and WLW solidarity. By which I mean he's pouring sparkling cider into a Minions mug.]

Yeah, you. You're probably right about that, honestly.

[isawallflower]

[ Whaaaaat, what are you TALKING about, Riley??? Like GIRLS??? Ha! Ha, I say! she takes the stupid minions mug ]

I might learn a few things from them, actually. [ Hm. ] Sooo. Have you ever been to one of these things?

[ Riley's like. Reasonably sure Jeremy and her share the same background when it comes to things like this, unfortunately. ]

[justmeheere]

Oh, um. No, I. Well, I mean. I sleep over at Michael's house all the time but uh. It's always just been. Us, you know?

[You know that you are -

He pours himself a Minions mug of sparkling cider too, and tries to shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen.]

[isawallflower]

[ Riley's toes curl and she can't fight off a little smile, one more genuine than her usual ones, but also a little...complicated. ]

Yeah, I. I think I know that. Sounds a bit like me and Cairo. She comes to my place, I go to hers.

[justmeheere]

Michael and I have been friends for so long that I'm pretty sure his moms think I also live there. [He laughs, just a little.] They keep joking that they're gonna adopt me.

[It's more like a threat. They are threatening to adopt Jeremy so he eats a vegetable sometime this century.]

[isawallflower]

[ She laughs too, uninhibited. ]

That's not...quite like Cai's parents? But they're always so nice, "ohh, you girls want a snack? Need anything?" It's... [ Unfamiliar. ] Almost relaxing.

[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. ]

[etincelledefierte]

[She’ll hand it over.]

Is it some character from an American TV show?

[Claudine is giving him an out.]

[etincelledefierte]

Hmm. What about blue?

[etincelledefierte]

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

[justmeheere]

Yeah, it's. It's nice sometimes? To remember, um. Parents can be. [Supportive.] Functional adults? And not, uh. Well. I'm pretty sure my dad hasn't worn pants since my mother left us.

[He doesn't sound super upset by that, more resigned. Sometimes, present parents is almost as bad as no parents.]

[isawallflower]

Oh, uh. That doesn't...ssseem. Normal? [ She...wouldn't really know. But she sounds apologetic, at least. ] I'm sorry. About that.

[ Look at them go. ]

[holyspit]

I don't think it's from any TV shows I've seen. Lonely Blade XV has robot ninjas, I think? But that's the one that ended up with an R rating so Pearl won't let me watch it yet.

[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.]

[holyspit]

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