Summer Shenanigans, Wednesday, May 15, 2024

[sith_happened]

Good morning, everyone! It's time for another summer of Anakin Skywalker Pretends This Teaches Team Building But Mostly Amuses Himself!

Or "Shenanigans."

The bleachers for viewing were set up in the park, close to the pond and near the Belthazor Commemorative Divot. Food vendors, remembering how this worked, had arrived with hot dogs, popcorn, and rum for the squirrels. And coffee. Just...so much coffee. Huge flatscreens were set up facing the bleachers, which the hint that today's event would not just stay inside the park, and the cameras were trained at...well, ankle height or the sky for now because squirrels and rum.

Anakin and his bullhorn were standing behind a folding table stacked high with brightly patterned shirts, and people who had been here before knew that just because the shirts were free, it never, ever meant you wanted to wear them.

"GOOD MORNING!" he boomed through the completely unnecessary bullhorn when enough people were gathered. "Welcome to another summer of team building activities!"

He might be waiting for a while if he was expecting cheers, just saying.

"Today, as has become tradition, we shall conduct a relay race around the island to acquaint you newcomers with where various stores and landmarks are!" he said. "Please listen as your name is called and then come up for your team-building clothing."

AKA: bizarre shirts.

"You will be in four teams of seven players each. You may not use your powers, should you have any, today."

TEAM DROPBEARS
Jane
Mariner
Beaker
Belle
Raiden
Senshi
Dean

TEAM BIGFOOT
Cal
Gale
Rey
Donald
Eddie
Lydia
Vi

TEAM JACKALOPES
Miguel
Steve M
Jonathan
Kamala
Stewart
Steph
Summer

TEAM TREE OCTOPUS
Lana
Steve R
Navaan
Eleanor
Stark
Mary
Arden

Comments

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden looked at Stewart's hoodie, and then her shirt and then back to Stewart's hoodie.

"...What are the odds you'll wanna trade shirts when this is over?" she asked, not yet having put hers on. Hers was big enough that it would probably cover her entire current outfit, but nowhere near as cool as the jackalope shirts, she can admit that.

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[x_wondrous_x]

"Null," said Stewart, without even a moment's hesitation. "Zero. Ziltch."

But then that determined, immovable face of decision seemed to shift, gradually, into one of delayed thought and consideration. His head tilted slightly, he lifted a speculative brow Arden's way.

"Although...." he ventured, "....I suppose anything is for sale....for the right price. I would hardly call a mere exchange of these shirts an equal bargain, after all..."

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden couldn't argue with that, because they honestly were not. She rested a hand on a hip and raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm listening," she said. "What are you thinking would be a fair trade?"

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[x_wondrous_x]

"Ahhhh," said Stewart, squinting at Arden a bit over his grin and wagging a finger at her, before that finger pointed to his chest....and the shirt on question, "but I am already contented in what I have, ardent Arden. The onus is on you to make me see the error of my ways and convince me that the grass is greener on the other...sleeve?"

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Hmm. Arden studied Stewart for awhile, trying to think of what she could offer. "I heard you like music and dancing," she said, thinking back to the note she had from yesterday's broadcast. "I'll play a song of your choosing at the end of next week's broadcast or choose one myself and dedicate it to you?"

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[x_wondrous_x]

Stewart could only scoff st that offer. "Pfft," he said, "ephemeral. Fleeting. Performative. And hopefully," he looked Arden up and down with a small expression of disdain for the possible truth in this concept, "not the best you've got."

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Of course not," Arden scoffed. "But a useful baseline to see where you fall. Did you expect me to start with my best offer?"

She stepped forward, getting into his space. "Negotiations are a fencing match," she said. "Parries, ripostes, seeing how your opponent moves, what they're weak to. Starting strong gives you no useful information. Besides, I thought you liked it low."

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[x_wondrous_x]

Stewart scoffed again. "That wasn't low," he said, "that was just insulting! And, what? Do we fancy ourselves a fencer, now?"

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"You don't know what I can do," Arden pointed out.

Which, granted, did not include fencing.

"And if I wanted to be insulting, I would have offered money."

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[x_wondrous_x]

It would have been much better if Arden had continued with the scoffing, but that wasn't going to stop Stewart from scoffing again himself, though this time, it was with a smirk, and an almost conceding dip of his head.

"Touche," he said. "And you're right, of course. I don't know yet what you are capable of, but I am...enthralled to perhaps some day discover more of that..." He lifted an intrigued brow. "...mystery."

The intrigue became more genuinely curious. Perhaps even a touch hopeful.

"Does that include fencing, though?"

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Oh and now you're looking for me to provide you information for free?" Arden asked, raising an eyebrow.

Look, she couldn't fence, but she had been partially raised by two djinn and there were no entities who knew the value of information better than they.

"But, in the spirit of cooperation, and not unfettered capitalism, I'll answer it: only verbally." Her smile turned a little bitter. "Foster care isn't really known for being enthusiastic about its charges learning to play with weapons."

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[x_wondrous_x]

Stewart was eying Arden now with a look of great consideration, as, for someone who claimed to be against just doling out information willy-nilly for free, she certainly did seem to offer up quite a lot in that response, didn't she? Both things spoken and not.

"....pity," he finally said. "I would have found actual fencing lessons a potentially acceptable trade for the shirt. But....alas....I suppose we're back to the drawing board."

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

It was a bid for information of her own and she mentally crossed out several potential offers from her roster from his lack of follow up.

"So what would it have been about the fencing lessons that intrigued you?" she asked. "The lessons, the learning, the ability, or the cache?"

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[x_wondrous_x]

One more scoff, at least, it would seem, for the road, as Stewart, smirking, shook his head and tsked.

"And now who's looking to get information for free," he countered. Maybe he didn't need those fencing lessons after all, either.

"But," he allowed, with a magnanimous gesture and a small bow of conciliatory grace, "in the spirit of cooperation, and not...unfettered capitalism...I think it would have been...a...welcome addition to add to my repertoire of skills."

Also, he got a great deal of amusement out of thinking of returning back to Letterkenny and running around with a fencing foil and poking people with it and then also having the knowledge on how to do more than just that to back it up. He could practically hear Roald squealing like a stuck pig now as they spoke...

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

The toughest guy in Letterkenny probably wouldn't be stopped by a fencing foil after being poked, just saying.

Arden mentally crossed off a few more options with that answer as well. Darn it, she'd really thought one of those had potential.

"Answers," was her next bid. "Honest, informative answers. Either three, to be claimed at times of your choosing, noted up front, with three possibilities to veto and a new question to be vetoed, all of which must be substantially different from any previously vetoed question. Or one question, to be asked before this whole thing is over, which does not get a veto. All answers carry the expectation of confidentiality, obviously, unless specifically noted otherwise."

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[x_wondrous_x]

Stewart might be self-destructive, but he wasn't suicidal.

"That's an awful lot of red tape for something that's rather....presumptuous, isn't it?" Stewart asked, with a skeptical look. "Who's to say you even have answers to any questions I would want to ask? That I couldn't find answers by the means of my own machinations while still enjoying this..." His hand brushed down against his chest as he grinned, straightening up to display it all the better. "...very stylish and coveted piece of apparel?"

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Because this is one place where I can guarantee my sources are unrivaled," Arden said with what was surprising confidence. "Depending on the obscurity of the question, it may not be an immediate answer, but you'd get one. And the red tape is how you know it's not bullshit. Anyone who promises you information without explicit strings is already planning to fuck you." Again, stated with confidence, though the flat kind that suggested said confidence came hard by.

"One thing before you decide against this most generous offer," she added, with a flicker of a smile. "Though, with as fond of your shirt you seem to be, perhaps it's a benefit. But I could always go ask the Dean if he has extras. It does seem likely he would."

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[x_wondrous_x]

"So you admit," Stewart countered, but if there was perhaps a slight bit more intrigue in his voice than before, Arden was not imagining it, "that all of this has merely been a ruse in order to deprive me of a shirt more than just a matter of gaining one for yourself, as you could have, allegedly, just gone to the Dean for a spare this whole time. Very enlightening, Arden. Very illuminating indeed...."

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"The challenge factor is higher," she admitted easily. "I could also have asked Kamala or seen if the Dean would at least tell me where he got it from. But this way seemed more fun."

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[x_wondrous_x]

Stewart eyed Arden for a moment longer, the grin playing on the corners of his mouth making it impossible for the gaze to convey the level of skepticism he would have preferred to have offered, but then the grin was given a freer rein as he shook his head.

"I will...admit," he allowed, albeit with a dramatic sort of reluctance, "that this repartee has proven to be...unexpectedly engaging. But I do believe I will be keeping the garment in contention, though you have proven yourself to be named quite fittingly. Best of luck, ardent Arden, in your..." His scoff now was a lofty, preening one, "less entertaining pursuits."

Re: Voluntolds, Come on Down!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

And considering Stewart's salute in Photography the other day, Arden felt that the best response would be an elaborate curtsy. It would perhaps look ridiculous given her current outfit - hell, it still might - save that it was flawlessly executed, transcending such paltry details like modern attire and setting.

"Until next time, then, Stewart," she said, preferring her gesture to do the lion's share of communication. And then she rose up gracefully out of it and sauntered away.