Drinks All Around [Halloween 2019]

Golden lights filtered through rickety windows into the dark streets. It was the dead of night, yet the building was alive with instruments, song, and dance. The sheer energy that radiated from the single building was enough to woo the attention of a serpentine grass type that wandered the outside. He didn't need to even think about why this particular building was so alive at this time. It was the holidays! Surely everyone inside was in the midst of treating themselves to a merry time.

He hadn't even entered, but he could already feel his body sway in line with the tune from outdoors. He wanted in. The snivy's tail waved behind him in a half-dance before he took it upon himself to indulge in his desire. He stepped up to the door, though he needed to reach up to touch the handle. He managed, but as soon as a smile crossed his expression, the door suddenly swung open. He pulled himself up and clung to the iron bar with wide eyes, surprised by the sudden movements. Fortunately, he didn't slam into the side of the building.

He could hear boisterous laughter just on the other side of the door as a few pokemon stumbled outside. He was certain that they weren't amused by his misery, in fact, he was certain that they hadn't even noticed he was here! A Mr. Mime held the door open as the trio left. Once they were well out of their way, he was quick to release his grip on the latch and dart inside.

Just as he expected, it was bright, loud, and busy. Several years ago, this sort of setting would have intimidated him. Today, however, it sparked excitement. He just couldn't wait to see what this kind of party was going to turn out to be...

Another day has passed and another moment wasted on sleep. It seemed rather peculiar that this general location seemed to be the most vibrant. Especially on this lovely night! But as vibrant as it was, the vibrations close by really kept her from truely sleeping. She had eventually decided to check on what the cause could be, and hoped she wouldn't need to relocate so soon.

Popping out of a hubby at a base of a nearby tree she had to wave her antennae. Nothing out of the usual. But the ground still felt oddly rythmic with the noises in the air, very satisfying. She didn't see the Snivy mere meters away, even after the door opened and she heard the mess of noise. To her it was a disturbance, but it's not like she owned this plot of land, the tree, or even the hole.

Screw it, she doesn't necessarily need to sleep now of all times. Her wants can come after some curiousity. Now she noticed the Snivy, albeit a green blotch, slipping inside after seeing way bigger figures walking out. Ignoring that this was probably trespassing she went ahead and followed suit behind the Snivy, keeping close to the wall. The door wasn't being closed after all, it was wide open and just screamed to be entered. She didn't notice the Mr. Mime at all, didn't even sense them till mere moments after entering. Too distracted by the green blobs figure.

The buzz in the air made her restless, and the smell messed with her senses. Too many different pokemon to identify, must be some group activity if it's this active. Now she's confused, but hell if she's not curious. Her tone was that of an explorer opening a chest. "What is going on in here..?" She may have been looking around but she noticed nothing but blurs and activity, and could only sense the mass amounts of disturbances paired with it.

The draw of the music was irresistible now that it was clear and precise to his ears. He could spy the pokemon playing the instruments just off to the side on a small circular stage with various pokemon gathered around, drinks in hand as laughter thundered throughout the building. He could by a bar just off to the side with tall stools fit for various pokemon. A spark of excitement in his eyes, he was ready to bolt off and begin the night of fun that he'd surely regret in the morning.

A voice just off to his side caught his attention before he did, however. With an elegant twirl to his posture, he turned towards the voice he could have easily missed had he not paid just a tad more attention. A small nincada seemed a little...lost? Being the good Samaritan that he believed himself to be, he decided to take it upon himself to approach the bug type.

"A celebration!" he chimed cheerfully with a tune to his tone despite not truly knowing the reason for such a grand party, "It's around the time for festivities in Grassveil, so this place is having a blow-out from the looks of it." He crossed his arms, not because of any stern gesture or ill will, but because it simply felt right. His voice was soft, almost effeminate. It tread that fine line between masculine and feminine where it was easy for someone to question it.

"Not from around here?" he asked curiously.

Talk about a party. Indeed, the place was grand. However, the moment was broken by a voice directed at her. Head twitching as she tried to pinpoint the source, and yes, to look too. The green blotch was back, but as close as it was, she could see it's general figure. His posture was of no concern, and her finely tuned hearing caught that he was male. Her voice was rather blantent with a bit of a chirp.

Tilting her head, she couldn't help but notice his size. It distracted her from his earlier statement. "I am, or maybe I'm not. I move around to much to keep check. Doesn't help when I don't even attempt to memorize where I've been. You? I assume you are." She could barely hold back a chuckle. This place was getting to her. The laughing kept making her want to ignore this guy and head on over, but she was currently busy being distracted by this guy.

She completely forgot the reason for why she was here. The atmosphere was starting to rub on her. She could see why the Snivy said what he did. Perhaps she'll give this place a little more time.

"Nah, I'm from quite a ways away," the snivy responded quickly and efficiently, "Been around for a fair bit, but not familiar with the place." The grass type's gaze fell away from the nincada and trailed about the room in search of what to do first. He was just as tempted as the nincada was to join in on the action, but he hardly knew where to begin! A game of cards in the back corner, drinks at the bar, the band off to the side, and some gossip-mongers sprinkled here and there for him to get a little chatty with if he decided.

A curiosity tugged at him. He looked back to the nincada with a thoughful hum, "What brought you here then? I was looking for a sort of place like this for the night to have a bit of fun with personally, but what about you?"

"I--..." Right off the bat, she was speechless, and surprised as she was rereminded that sshe had forgotten. "...uh..." she tilted her head again as if confused, despite not actually being confused. She just liked the atmosphere now, but something tugged at her mind in the other direction. She shrugged the thought off and just announced, "I don't remember." rather calmly.

She couldn't stay still now. Moving passed the Snivy and holding her head high, her antenna's twitched around gathering what little data it could. The area's inhabitants just kept her senses hindered, it actualky started to feel annoying. BUT... "I feel so, energetic around here. What is this place?" She didn't stop for an answer scuttling around till she was at the first table with noticable colors. She sounded rather childish in attitude. "Hello, what are you doing?"

Don't...remember? Huh. That was curious. Jade blinked at the response, a bit taken aback. What kind of pokemon walks into a bar and simply forgets why they were here? Did it have anything to do with that one myth about walking under doors? He'd certainly done that before...

It seemed that he bored the nincada. The bug type shuffled past him with an odd posture he couldn't quite understand. He wasn't quite aware of the poor eye sight the nincada species naturally had, so he sort of assumed it was intentional for no practical reason. His eyes lingered on the bug type just long enough to see her approach some large looking pokemon. Fellows who didn't exactly look all that friendly despite the wonderful atmosphere

A pompous cherubi, a sassy roselia , and their queen lilligant. Each one of them paused their chatter to look down upon the little nincada. Immediately, Jade's heart sunk. He knew those looks. Those weren't the looks of friendly pokemon...

"None of your business," the Roselia huffed with a stern glare down at the nincada, "Shouldn't you be outside rolling around in dirt or something?"

((Feel free to take control of the NPCs!))

The group felt fair, she came intl the place knowing she wasn't of the area. There were bound to be unfriendly beings unlike that Snivy was. She made a clickish sound *tck* sortof to a person who was disappointed. "Fair. While yes, I do live in the ground. No, I'm more into listening than rolling in dirt. Feel free to intimidate but I know you shouldn't harm."

Despite being blind, she stared right at them intensely. Her body was already instinctively hardening as she was just guessing. She could smell these grass types among the rest due to being close, but she can't tell what they are.

((Nah. Not my cup of tea to mess with someone elses characters, even if they are NPCs. Maybe when I get used to how you depict them?))

((Unless they're named I don't normally have a specific "character" in mind beyond a species lmao))

He could smell trouble. Well, he couldn't smell it, but he could see trouble coming in the near future with the looks on the ladies' faces. He didn't exactly hear what was being said, but he could read the expressions like a picture book. He made his way into earshot just in time to hear, "We shouldn't, but that doesn't mean we will Little Pest. Move along or we'll have to report you for harassment...or something. This isn't exactly your table." The roselia continued to be the voice of the conversation. The cherubi remained quiet while the Lilligant seemed just as annoyed as the Roselia.

The very attitude of these pokemon practically sent the snivy back in time. A time when he was younger and he had to rely on his friends to stand up for him. It seemed as if the nincada didn't quite need any assistance, however. She certainly seemed to stand her ground with how she looked at the group. He wouldn't step in...not unless things escalated in which case he might get a hold of some security and look into getting these moody kill-joys removed if he could...because he certainly wasn't going to be able to do any damage.

Wings buzzing, she had to force herself to not use her big wind attack. Taking a breath the nincada nodded, "Ofcourse. I was just curious. I'll leave you be if you're not willing to talk." But the moment she turned and got away, she muttered "Could of been better..."

It took being nearly a few feet away for her to notice a familiar green color of something nearly double her size, she had to take a double take to confirm it was the Snivy and not something else before feeling a bit fine.

"Oh, hello again. Seemingly fun place, bad company... Perhaps it's probably just me though. I do feed on plants after all." She was speaking without thinking, currently a bit nervous due to what just occured, but trying to keep a calm posture.

He briefly wondered if it was wrong for him to not step in, but fortunately his decision making would not result in any real consequence it seemed. The nincada forfeited the potential disagreement and walked away. He could see the eyes of the three grass types bearing down onto the ground type's back. It was unnerving. It left him with a bad twist in his stomach, one that he was familiar with.

The familiar voice greeted him once more. The nincada was back to him now. His prior concerns dissipated in an instant as the jovial demeanor returned once again. "Hello," he greeted, "Honestly, I doubt it's you. Those folk don't exactly look all that friendly in the first place." His gaze glanced back up towards them as he studied them once more. "In fact...they look almost a little miserable here...why would they stay here?"

The lilligant's eyes looked up and met his with a glare. Instinctual fear sent a shiver down his spine before he looked away. "Ahah...if you wanna talk to some friendlier folk, the bar's usually a good place...though they might be a bit under the drink right now...so perhaps by the musical stands? Music generally gets people in a good mood with the right tune~" He was a little on the nervous side now, that look on the lilligant...it disturbed him.

((Aight so suggestion: the three jerks take a shot at harassing one of these two now that sights are set on em. Do you want em to target your character for Jade to come in and assist, the other way around, or have them both get harassed with an NPC to come in...or just there is no hero and these two get dragged out into some alley and get messed up together?))

Well, isn't this a pickle. The grass trio told her to leave them alone, being all intimidating and making her second guess this place, but the Snivy is still saying the place is interesting. This place does has some interesting individuals, and rather convincing feelings. She shouldn't be here alone. Perhaps it's due to those drinks she's been told about, but... she likes how she is. Or maybe it's the noise and smell that's messing with her senses, but that's just preventing her from knowing about her immediate surroundings to a degree. It's not that big a deal.

Nodding to the Snivy she answered with a friendly, "I suppose I shall, care to join?" But she paused and tilted her head in a ponder, adjusting herself to look at the stage in the mean time. She needed to know what's going on with all this disturbance. "Or maybe I should join you, if that's alright. You seem to know the place well enough."

She had more on her mind like how she might not be able to do anything on her own here. Still a Nincada after all. She isn't really suppose to be out and about till evolution, but the outside was just too interesting to stick to her old parential advice years ago. She's old enough to be on her own... technically.

answer to suggestion:

His head tilted curiously as the nincada suggested that he go with her, then for her to go with him. Either way, it resulted in the two partnering up for the night. Not a bad idea in his mind, it was always good to have a buddy to enjoy the atmosphere with! A small and relaxed small extended across his expression, pleased to be given the honorable invitation of the nincada. While it flattered him that the nincada thought he knew this place well, he would have to correct that.

"Not really to be quite honest, it's just what I can observe. I've been in a fair amount of places like this, but never in this one particularly. Though I'd love to join you or for you to join me. Either one works for me, it's always lovely to have a new buddy around." A twinge of guilt struck him, but he was quick to dismiss it. He had other friends he was supposed to be looking for, but surely they wouldn't mind if he took a bit of a break. It's not like he had any leads anyways and who knows, maybe he'll find one here?

"Would you like to go by the band or visit closer to the bar first? Either way seems like it'll be an interesting time." He gestured to each location as he spoke of it, his tail still shook and move in tune with the beat. He just couldn't help it!

Plotting:

Excitement ran through her body as the Snivy seemed to be perfectly fine about being her buddy. Even if it was for the moment. She'd notice that his tail was moving with the rythim too, giving her the answer to her self question on which to chchoose. Despite his concerned look for a brief moment before getting into a good mood, she giggle and nodded, not in a girly or kid-like fashion, but as if she had an idea for a prank, which unfortunate for most on this site, she isn't that kind of Pokemon. :b

"To the stage it is! She said with tone befitting a sorts of smile of her own kind. She went ahead and started moving for it.

Meanwhile, The Roselia stood up watching the two as if the behavior the two shown, specifically the nincada's, made them out as jokes. But the Lilligant stopped the thorn Pokemon with a leafy hand and shook their head. "Not now. You'll start a stur."

All while the Cherubi seemed undisturbed as they were chill about the whole conflict. If their queen seemed fit to let them pass, then why bother? Huffing, the Roselia sat back down and started muttering about some selfish status quota.

Nema found a seat by the corner of the stage, mostly because half of them were already taken. A quick hop and with a slight buzzing of her rather useless set of wings, she was on. Looking over at the Snivy, she wondered if she should try to ask about the world that she has been sleeping through, but she'd have to wait and see, not like it was any bother. For now though...

"What was your name again?" She was honestly confused about whether or not she asked this earlier, and she was oblivious enough to simply ask it seemingly randomly.

Jade followed behind in tune with the rhythm. He reckoned he probably looked silly with his little walk, but it helped get his mind off of the ominous trio that disturbed him. The snivy put the past behind him and decided it was unlikely that they would cause much more of an issue...right?

He skooched his way past a few fellows with a cautious effort not to touch any other potentially disturbing folk. Everyone around here seemed to be having an exciting time. He could hear some of the customers sing along to the tune with...lyrics? It certainly didn't sound like lyrics. Each pokemon seemed to have a different idea of what the song should say, so it ended up sounding a bit more like a garbled mess of voices in one. Still, they had their fun.

He had to bring over a chair in order to sit closer to his new tavern-buddy, but it's not like it upset anyone. Despite the cacophony around them, he could still hear the nincada's voice. It seemed only reasonable that she asked his name though, after all he was so rude as to not properly introduce himself!

"Oh! I don't think I said," he gasped, "I'm Jaden Lacroix, though it's simpler to just call me Jade. My apologies for not introducing myself sooner, that must have been a little rude of me." His leafy hands rested on the table. "Would it be rude to ask you for your's as well?" he requested curiously.