Why Don't You Go Where Fashion Sits?

[these_guys]

Who: Participants of the Kalosmas New Year's Event!
Where: The Hotel Richissime, in scenic Lumiose City, Kalos!
When: Wednesday, December 31 - Thursday, January 1!
Summary: After all the shenanigans of Hoennween, it's about time everybody had a chance to relax and unwind, courtesy of some actually benign NPCs. With all the luxuries of the Hotel Richissime waiting at their disposal, that shouldn't be too difficult a prospect!
Rating: PG in general; please mark threads that go higher accordingly!
Log:

☆ GROUND FLOOR ☆

FOR ROOM DESCRIPTIONS OF THIS FLOOR, PLEASE GO HERE!


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☆ UPSTAIRS FLOOR ☆

FOR ROOM DESCRIPTIONS OF THIS FLOOR, PLEASE GO HERE!

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A FEW OTHER SETTING NOTES:

• At the moment, this log spans the entirety of the New Year's Eve plot, so starters may be posted for any time on either day of the event. If things start getting massive and it looks like an overflow log will be necessary, we'll definitely see about putting one up, and will link it to this one if need be.

• The Event Itinerary can be found here! Remember that participating in this course of events is not mandatory, but it's what will be going on in the grand scheme of things over the course of the event.

• All event participants are being housed on the fourth and fifth floors of the hotel. Your bedrooms are laid out like this; if you participated in our IC Rooming Roulette, you can find your buddy on this table here!

• Most activities here will be free! ICly, your characters will use their room cards to "pay" for most things, and the charges will be applied to their room (which of course, they are not paying for personally). Gift shops, parts of the casino, and food not provided as part of the event are not chargeable to your rooms and characters will have to use their own money in those locations.

• Underage characters may use the casino; however, they may be subject to some social scrutiny and side-eyeing in the event that they attempt to get in on one of the high-roller tables.

A NOTE ABOUT USING THREADS ON THIS LOG FOR AC:

Because of how our AC period works (the grace week into January still counting toward December), all threads on this log are valid toward December's AC, regardless of timestamp! However, because the log technically spans two different months and we want to encourage tagging out on it, we have also made this decision:

On this log and this log alone, comment threads timestamped in January (OOCly) that reach AC-length may be used towards January's AC, as well. Therefore, if a thread on this log reaches AC length with 10+ comments timestamped in January, you can use it toward January's AC (assuming the same thread has not already been used to satisfy December's AC).

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☆ QUICK LINKS ☆
MAIN EVENT INFOPOST | QUESTIONS FOR MODS

Comments

[angerpoints]

[Unfortunately yes.

Anyway, Isami sees that hand you're offering her, Kirigiri. She's a little shy about approaching Kirigiri at first, but eventually, she gathers her courage and cautiously makes her way over. She gives Kirigiri's hand a careful sniff, then, seeming to decide that she's safe, ducks her head a little, as if to allow Kirigiri to pet her if she's so inclined. (She will gladly take pettin's right now, for the record. In fact, pettin's would be amazing after the five minutes she just spent gazing into the depths of what could potentially be her watery grave.)

Yusuke, meanwhile, stays right where he is. He spreads his hands.]

Hey, if you've got a better idea, feel free to swing it past me. All I'm sayin' is the only way she's gonna stop bein' afraid is if she tackles the thing she's afraid of head-on.

[freshprints]

[And pettings she will receive! It gives Kirigiri something to do as she thoughtfully regards the depths of the pool.]

I have an Empoleon.

[Fuck yeah, five feet of water bird.]

Would it be better if there were someone waiting to catch you once you jumped in?

[A question apparently addressed to Isami, as opposed to her trainer.]

[angerpoints]

[Isami doesn't know what an Empoleon is, but if the way her little face lights up at Kirigiri's suggestion is any indication, the thought of having one there to catch her when she jumps in is a pretty appealing one regardless. Of course, just as Isami's starting to warm up to the idea of giving the pool another try, Yusuke chimes in again. He's removed his sunglasses entirely, and is now sitting up in his seat with one arm propped up on one bent knee, staring at Kirigiri incredulously. You can almost tell just by looking at him that he's about to say something stupid.]

Wait a sec, isn't Empoleon a giant penguin? How the hell's a penguin supposed to catch anybody when they don't have any fingers? It's probably gonna drop her.

[... aaand now Isami looks freaked out again. DAMMIT, YUSUKE.]

[freshprints]

[DAMMIT YUSUKE INDEED. And the look on her face pretty much expresses exactly that, without her even having to say a word.

...Which isn't to say that she's not going to say words, mind.]

It's not going to drop her because I don't train incompetent Pokemon.

[The "You idiot." is implicit.]

Isami-san, wasn't it? Would you like to sit on his shoulders while he lowers you in?

[angerpoints]

"-san"?

[Yusuke's voice is as flat as his expression. Why are you being so polite to his fox thing, Kirigiri, you have got to be shitting him right now. Isami, for her part, still looks pretty spooked, but after a moment of consideration, she sets her face into something of a determined grimace and nods shakily. She won't fall if she's on his shoulders, right? So she'll be fine! She will definitely not die horribly. Probably.]

[freshprints]

[What the fuck is the appropriate honorific for someone else's Pokemon, anyway, she's just doing her best with what she's got, man.]

Very well, then.

[Let's just ignore your idiot trainer and get you settled, shall we. She reaches for one of the balls on her belt and brings out her Empoleon without further ado, motioning for him to unobtrusively slip into the water to await his furry little charge once she's ready.]

Whenever you're comfortable, go ahead. Alicanto will be right there to watch out for you.

[angerpoints]

[... wow, okay, that... THAT is a big bird right there. Isami shrinks away a little as she watches Alicanto slide into the pool, the resolve in her expression wavering. She's never even seen such a big bird before! Not this close, anyway. Sure, Puu's pretty big too, but he's mostly made of clouds. This one is... is...

Nevermind. It doesn't matter, she decides, steeling herself. All that matters right now is proving to herself and to her trainer that she can do this! All she's gotta do is jump. That's all she has to do.

A long, tense moment passes. Isami stares, wide-eyed, at Alicanto, trying to force her quaking nerves (and limbs) to steady. Unbeknownst to himself, Yusuke has moved to sit at the edge of his seat. He leans forward, elbows braced on his knees and eyes watching Isami intently. He doesn't know if she's gonna go through with it or not, but he's holding his breath for it anyway. C'mon, girl. Go for it!

Isami takes a breath. Counts to ten. Then, finally, she jumps, landing somewhat unsteadily on Alicanto's shoulders. Yusuke is on his feet the instant he sees her wobble. He snarls.]

H-hey, be careful! You better not let her drown, y'big feathery bastard!

[Well look who's decided to give a damn all of the sudden. Meanwhile, Yusuke's Hitmonlee finally looks up from his book and shoots his trainer a dirty look, making an annoyed noise. What are you yelling about now, Yusuke? Did something just happen?]

[freshprints]

We share a house with thirtysome Eevees. It's not as though he's unfamiliar with playing with them.

[For all her apparent calm, though, Kirigiri herself is hiding a note of secret approval for the courage the little Eevee had displayed at getting herself off of solid ground and in toward the pool. Don't mess this up, Alicanto.

(Alicanto, for his part, seems basically as rock-solid as ever, and even a little amused at the prospect of having a buddy hanging out on his shoulders.)]

Isami-san, squeak if you're all right, please.

[angerpoints]

[Vee! The answer comes as soon Isami is confident she's not going to slip. She crouches down on Alicanto's shoulders and cautiously peers down into the water, her ears flat and her little heart thumping rapidly in her chest. The water's really close now. It's overwhelming, but... not as scary as she thought it'd be. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

Isami isn't the only one whose heart is racing - Yusuke's is, too, when he comes jogging over, slipping a little on the wet floor as he slows to a decidedly inelegant stop at Kirigiri's side. His Hitmonlee stays behind, watching them from his seat with an inscrutable expression. Ah, so that's what's happening. Well then. Good for Isami! Hopefully Yusuke won't do anything stupid to muck this up.]

Damn. She really went for it, didn't she?

[Is that a note of pride in Yusuke's voice? It sure is. Doesn't stop him from shooting Kirigiri a dubious look out of the corner of his eye a second later, though.]

You sure she's gonna be all right?

[freshprints]

[Alicanto is currently doing his best to be the rock-solid security blanket he can tell his trainer wants him to be, and does so by moving very gradually closer toward the lip of the pool; with the dry land a little closer, the expanse of the water will presumably be a lot less terrifying, and make rescue in case of a mishap seem a lot closer by as well.

Meanwhile, up on the shore, Kirigiri turns her attention from the Pokemon to Yusuke proper.]

There is a middle ground between coddling and abandoning someone to learn on their own. It's clear she's brave enough, so long as she knows there's someone there supporting her in case she needs it.

[She shrugs slightly.]

Alicanto will keep her safe. There's no need to be concerned about that.

[angerpoints]

Hey, I wasn't gonna abandon her.

[He retorts, affronted. Then he pauses, watching as Alicanto moves through the water with Isami on his shoulders. Slowly but surely, the anxiety in her expression is melting away. She hasn't yet moved from where she's tucked herself against the back of Alicanto's head, but given another minute or two to just kind of... sit there and chill, Yusuke feels like she might be ready to give jumping into water a try.

... or at least, he hopes she will be, anyway. It would suck if she went through all that trouble getting into the pool and never actually got around to swimming in it - especially since they don't have a lot of time left in the hotel. It'll be a long time before she gets another chance to go swimming.]

... so, uh. [He coughs.] I guess I oughta thank you for helpin' out.

[freshprints]

[She's quiet for a long and thoughtful moment, then, watching the Pokemon play in the water as well. There's a good chance Yusuke is watching them because he's engrossed in the activities of his Eevee; for her, though...

Well, she figures that with what's coming next, it's probably better policy to not be looking (staring?) directly at him when she says it.]

You put on a tough act...but in truth, you really care about her.

[That's interesting. Moreover, it's something she can understand, the walls and facades that others see.]

I hope she does learn to like the water. For that reason, thanks aren't necessary.