phantasmalrift | say or do

say or do

Who: everyone's invited, everyone
What: Truth or Dare!
When: Evening of August 25
Where: Keystone Rise common room
Warnings: nothing expected? there are children here

[Friday morning a network post appears which reads:]

For the enjoyment of all, and that we may come to know each other more closely, you are cordially invited to the Keystone Rise common room this evening at seven o'clock for refreshments and the classic party game "Truth or Dare." Everyone will be welcome, regardless of age.

[As promised, residents arriving in the common room will find a table with an assortment of food and drink laid out. (Don't worry, Yuuri helped with the food, so it's not just the candy aisle. Be sure to thank Goro for the drinks later.) Arianna's also brought in an assortment of couches (which she apparently carried???) and extra chairs, a few of which are those slightly uncomfortable bank chairs Arianna seems to like for some reason.

The lady herself waits by the entrance, greeting everyone who comes in, until it looks like her guests are done arriving. Then she gets up on a chair to speak.]

Good evening, everyone, and welcome.

I presume many of you are familiar with the game we are to play tonight. For those who are not, it is simple. We'll draw lots to determine the play order, and then each player will ask the next "truth or dare?" If the other player responds with "truth," you may ask them a question which they must answer truthfully. If they instead say "dare," you may instead give them a command they must obey. Once all players have taken a turn, we'll play a second around, and continue for as long as you are interested.

Now, there are of course several rules. While embarrassing other players is arguably an intended goal of the game, making them uncomfortable is not, and if that is the effect of your truth or dare I must ask that you change it. Moreover, please keep in mind your respective ages and those of your audience, and do nothing that the rest of us would find inappropriate in that regard.

If all this is understood, then without further ado, let us begin.

[OOC: So how this actually works is, you post a toplevel and other people respond to it. ICly the assignments are random like Arianna says, but OOCly you can just tag whoever you want, go back and forth, etc. And as she mentioned, there are children here, so try to behave appropriately.

I'll be ripping off Nai's format and posting toplevels for responding to Arianna's network post and for pregame chatter. Non-ToD threads should go under one of those.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You can do it, I believe in you, et cetera.

Hey, Faith? I love you, you are one of the most dependable allies I could ask for, and a great friend, and I only ever wish the best for you.

But I'm going to get revenge for this.

If this is how I die, then carve "Worth it" into my gravestone.

I'll keep that in mind when I come up with your dare.

[... she may have forgotten that truth is an option.]

[Halfway across the room and (un?)luckily out of earshot, Jail is staring at her vodka with a vaguely perplexed expression, wondering if it might be responsible for the sudden inexplicable sense of foreboding she's getting.]

[well

lily's approaching and she's very red]

Hey, Jail?

[Jail looks up, unsuspecting. If anything, she assumes the blush is still from the kabedon incident.]

Hey, princess.

[At least her mask has that front panel off so she can sip her drink- otherwise this dare would have gone from 'embarrassing' to 'deeply logistically confusing'.]

Hey. Um, can you... I mean, can I...

[she fidgets, fiddling with her hair nervously.]

Could you, um, lean down here for a minute? And... close your eyes?

[...Well that doesn't sound incredibly suspicious at all. Jail pauses for a moment, then shrugs.]

Sure, fuck it, not the riskiest thing I've done.

[You now have a Jail at convenient kissing height, Lily. Good luck with that.]

[Okay.

She just... Very lightly leans in, and it's less of a kiss and more brushing their lips together lightly before she practically throws herself backwards.]

Sorryitwasforadare--!

[You know, in theory, Jail could have seen that coming, but in practice? Somehow, it just didn't seem possible. Even with her so close, touching for the briefest moment, Lily seems impossibly far away- like there's a gap between them that she's just not good enough, not smart enough, not enough to reach across. Like a fight nobody thinks she'll win, not even her.]

[So Jail fights back the same way she always does: toss shame to the wind, do whatever you want, and when you lose- go out laughing.]

[She manages to regain enough of her composure to smile at Lily, cheerfully wicked.]

Aw, c'mon- if you're saying sorry, then I know it wasn't my best work. Gimme a chance to show you how I kiss when I know it's coming, huh?

[She reaches out, taking one of Lily's hands in hers- it's purposefully the lightest of grips, easy as breathing to pull away from if Lily doesn't want her to keep holding on. But if she does, if she actually, impossibly, says yes... then she can pull her in much closer.]

I promise you don't need to dare me for this one.

[Lily stops dead. She... What should she do? Escape? Stay? Her mind is overwhelmed, her emotions are running wild, shadows and pink lights dancing around her in equal measure.

She's frozen, and is pulled in closer easily.]

... Wh- What are you doing...?

[... kissing you, lily, she literally just said that.]

[She grins, warm and fond and rueful. She's pretty sure she's doing this all wrong, somehow, but she's never been good at doing things right anyway.]

My best.

[And then she closes the gap.]

[It's not a long kiss, not a hard or heavy one- but Jail wasn't lying when she said she had some skill, and the couple moments before she breaks the kiss are sweet and warm. She pulls back again, and adds:]

Well, maybe I could do better with practice. But only if you want me to try.

[She puts her arms to Jail's shoulders, closing her eyes and leaning in. Pink lights intensify, flickering in and flitting around her, her emotions obvious for everyone to see...

... Until the kiss breaks, and reality returns. Lily looks at Jail, and... She doesn't know what to do. Tears form at the corners of her eyes- Not because she didn't like it, but rather, because she did. And she's confused, and overwhelmed.]

... What... should I do?

[Jail smiles sadly at Lily, reaching up a very gently wiping the tears away from her eyes. She's always had clever hands, give her that- the kind of long, nimble fingers made for twisting wires and picking pockets, even with all the little nicks and scars on them to remind her of the times they weren't quite nimble enough.]

Think you've had a lot of "should" already, more than anyone ever needed to deal with. This time, try asking yourself: what do you want to do?

[She's not keeping her pulled in close, now, but she is still holding her, one strong arm around her waist for Lily to lean on. It's okay to want some support, to let someone else hold you up for a while. All you need to do is ask, Lily. She's there.]

[This is what makes Lily rely on Jail so much. Jail just... seems to understand. What she went through. What she's still going through.

She lowers her head to Jail's shoulder. What does she want? She doesn't know. She wants everyone to be okay. She wants...]

... Can I stay like this for a bit longer?

Yeah. Long as you like.

[Jail strokes her back gently with one hand, just letting Lily lean on her. It took her enough time to figure things out for herself, the last thing she'd do is try to deny that time to somebody else.]

Thanks...

[She's a mess. She isn't even used to being able to admit to liking girls. And Jail? Jail of all people? Just because Jail is so much kinder than she'll admit, and had been through so much that no one would blame her for losing that kindness but she kept it anyway... She's brave, and strong, and her passion for what she does is inspiring, and she never seems to resent her lot even though she must be hurting, and she always can make Lily smile, and-

...

Oh.

Oh, shit.]

... You're way too nice...

Heh- first time I've heard that.

[Jail, you aren't nearly as good at pretending as you think you are.]

[She could sympathize, if she knew what was going through Lily's mind, even though she'd be baffled to hear herself described so lovingly- she had her own 'oh shit' moment about Lily a long time ago.]

[Almost a year before, sitting on the hood of her car in some tiny corner of nowhere after a mission they'd just barely pulled off, laughing at a joke that could have only been funny when you were still keyed-up from all the adrenaline in your veins. She looked over at Lily, at this loving, caring, brave, brilliant, amazing woman, relaxed for just this one tiny, fleeting moment, her face lit by nothing but moonlight as she laughed at the dumbest pun Jail could come up with... and she knew that she was well and truly done for.]

Liar.

[It's said affectionately.

... But what does this mean? Jail's a flirt. Jail may not mean anything beyond the physical- Doesn't she have some sort of... weird relationship with an alien here? Is this just that Jail likes kissing girls, and Lily happens to be here? Or should she read into it?]

There's no way Maddie hasn't told you that before.

Pfft, Maddie knows better. The two of communicate in sarcasm and shitposts, like good millennials.

[READ INTO IT, LILY.]

Maybe I'm just nicer with you.

Well, I'm certain she's meant it.

[she can't read into this ok what if she's wrong]

Sometimes if you mean something, it's easier to show it than to say it.

[She winks, and adds:]

At least when it comes to you, I know how to kiss like I mean it.

[Look, the subtext is now just. Text. Possibly in neon.]

... What do you mean?

[LILY SHE LITERALLY JUST SAID

but she's. starting to connect the dots. and it's making a picture she doesn't quite think she's willing to believe.]

[Her first instinct is to dodge, to deflect, but- no. For once in your life, dammit, tell the truth.]

Means I'm kinda stupid amounts of into you. Like, romantically. Been that way for a while.

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