Twirl the Flagon — Group 2 Summer Camp '22

As he watched the rest of the first round unfold, three things percolated to the surface of his consciousness, and Stephen was a little ashamed of himself. He had been so focused on not allowing his nerves to get the best of him when he approached the pretty Mahoutokoro girl that he absolutely neglected to ask her her name. Bad form, Schwartz. Very bad form. Even though he had done a general introduction of himself before the game, he noted no one else had. They all seemed to do it once the moment of intimacy was upon them. Fair enough. Absolutely no touching until he had at least asked their name. If she would allow it, he really hoped to catch up to his "first kiss" and apologize for his faux pas and ask her name at that time.

Which brought him to the second little thought that had percolated up to torment him. No one else had touched lips. If a kiss had been given, it was always on the cheek. Maybe that was another thing he owed her an apology for as well. He thought by asking what her choice would be, he was being sensitive to the human being standing across from him. Of course, he had operated on the possibly mistaken belief that both parties were on the same page with a kiss meaning on the lips. Maybe her culture forbade such things. He didn't know, but since every other kiss thereafter had been on the cheek, clearly it was Stephen who had not gotten the memo.

And lastly, the cultural transgression may leave a bad taste on her mouth... yes, pun definitely intended... when it came to Americans. That would be both unfair and unfortunate. No doubt about it. He needed to try and speak with her briefly after this game was over, if she would be willing, that is.

He had retreated into his own thoughts so deeply that he had completely tuned out the last couple of spins. When he came to, no one was racing to spin, so with a slightly furrowed brow, he gave the flagon another hard spin and sat back on his heels, eager to see who he was going to approach in this round. The bottle was pointing to a cheerful blond with a pink headband and bright eyes. Hoping to better represent himself and his American manners better this round, he did look the girl squarely in the eyes before even moving to get up, and smiled at her.

She was positioned a little closer to him so his walk was not as far. When he reached her, Stephen squatted down and introduced himself as a proper gentleman should. When he asked her her name, he smiled broadly as she told him it was Coraline Harvey. "Excellent. Wonderful to meet you, Coraline." He slapped both of his palms on his thighs softly, and continued, "So, I don't wish to cross any boundaries, here. I am game for anything, but I will leave the choice to you, and telling me to pack sand, while most humiliating," and he laughed nervously, "is a perfectly viable option, too." He sat there patiently for a few seconds as she considered, and when she told him she would be up for a kiss, relief washed over him and his smile grew wider.

"Well, all right then, Coraline." Stephen stood up and did as he had done the first round and offered the girl his hand. When they were standing face to face, he stepped forward and he placed one hand behind her head at the base of her neck and the other around her waist. "I know you don't know me, but trust me," and before she had a chance to speak or move, Stephen swept her quickly off balance and into a dip as if they were dancing. Smiling into her surprised eyes, he leaned down and kissed one cheek and then the other. Then almost as quickly, he lifted her out of the dip and when she was standing in front of him once again, he bowed and said, "Thank you, Coraline, for the one kiss given and the one stolen," and he laughed softly. "And for being a good sport. I hope we can be friends," and Stephen offered his hand to help her take her seat once again before heading back to his cushion.

Things could be kicked up a notch while not crossing boundaries. They all signed up for excitement and angst and drama. Maybe that had been a way to get things moving.

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Action: Kissses Coraline Harvey @Reena Delgado, not once, but twice.
Mentions: Ayako Yamamura @Sophia Nelson

OOC: Permission to godmod and kiss Coraline was granted by Reena.

Seren barely had time to process what was happening... The girl who had spun the bottle approached, and oh. Oh my, the other girl had stolen Seren's first kiss, and Seren really did not know how to feel about it. She watched the other girl, eyes huge and confused, then she said "Ah... It is nice to meet you, Coraline... I am Seren..." She still did not know how she felt about the kiss, so she left it alone.

And then it was her turn to spin the bottle. The slender girl looked very nervous, and walked up to it. She grabbed it, and spun it in the way she had seen other people do. She watched it go around and around, her fingers tight with her nervous energy.

When it finally came to a stop, pointing at another girl, she looked at her for a long moment, then carefully straightened up and crossed the grass to the young lady. She was not thinking at all about the other girl's looks, or anything about attractiveness... No, she was thinking about how she did NOT want to mess this up or make everything awkward for everyone here.

She took a deep breath as she got to the other girl, and said "Hi... I'm Seren Yong..." And then leaned in to give her companion a hug.

Dialogue: ✕ | Thoughts: ✕ | Quotes: ✕
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First round done. Not as horrendous as Monica had expected, the fact that Marina was so calm about the whole thing, made it just that much easier. The greatest fear with this was being rejected by the other person, though none of the people seemed to be the 'nope' kind so far, but still, committing and going for the goal in this game, only to be turned down, seemed like a fate worse than death.
"Well Marina... Thanks for being such a good sport. It's been nice to meet you." Holding out her hand for a friendly shake in an attempt to neutralize any awkwardness, but in reality probably increasing it with idol chit chat. What do you even say to a stranger you have just met by kissing them? Granted it was only a cheek kiss, but still.
"Welp.... I am going back to my seat now." Not finding anything else to say, Monica slunk back to her place, and the rounds continued forward.

The game wasn't as bad as she had anticipated. Sure it was nerve racking but, in a weird way, still fun. It was rather interesting to see just the barriers of social awkwardness be out there in the open, and having people willingly smashing them to pieces, coming against social formalities in a way. Eliminating the pointless fumbling around with 'Nice to meet you' ' How are you?' 'Nice weather' All of it, tossed to the wind without a care. In this context you come out of the gate, make it awkward, but push through, possibly finding greater freedom, or deeper friendship in another person. That is, if the other is also willing to do the same and 'seek discomfort' in a sense.

The rounds continued, and kisses and hugs were shared as the bottle had continued to spin around, picking targets as the night moved forward. Then the time came again, when it was Monica's turn to spin the bottle of fate.

Taking a hold of the bottle, and holding her breath, Monica spun it with as much force she could muster. Around and around it went, with great speed, then gradually slowing. Monica kept her eyes purely on the bottle, not daring to look anyone in the eyes until her target was chosen.
Coming to a full stop, Monica looked up to see who the bottle was pointing to. None other than Hiro.
Here heart skipped a beat, breath stagared, she could feel a smile growing, without her permission! Hiro, the guy that called her pretty. The introduction that sent her stomach in knots.
She froze, unable to speak, unable to move, time had come to a hault. "Did it suddenly become stuffy in here? Or was it always like that?"
Realizing she was just staring at him, she stood up, and tried to calm herself, give the illusion that she was calm, cool, and collected....Unsure how well it was working though.
"Ah fancy meeting you here...As you can see, I am still rocking the blue hair......"Desperatly attempting to put on a cool act, but why did the blue hair matter?
"Well... I guess I have to land one on you.....I MEAN... The BOTTLE.... it, landed on you" Mordified at what had come out of her mouth, she could feel he cheeks burning, her head becoming light headed, she could so easily just run away... but no... face the discomfort! Embrace it! No one was going to die of embarrassment.
She took a deep breath, recollected herself."Sorry, let me start over...do you have any preference?"
"Surprise me." Was all he said. What did that even mean? Was that the clear to go for a kiss? Was that some round about way to say, 'A hug is good enough'?
"Okay no big deal... Breath....Breath... Just a game... it is just a game.."
She stood on her toes, coming to eye-line with Hiro, as best she could, and went for a kiss, a real one on the lips....
It was short, didn't linger, and hardly lasted more than 3 seconds, but....HER FIRST KISS!
She smiled up at Hiro, not even sure what to say,"Um... thank you." Not sure what to even do now, she bowed slightly and back away, reclaiming her spot in the circle.
Her mind now was completely gone for the rest of the round, she was surfing on cloud nine, Her first kiss! What would her sister have to say about it?

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ACTION: Monica Spins bottle, landing on Hiro Bakugo, and kisses him. (Received permission for his response)
| Bottle Landed on: Hiro Bakugo (@Kim Sato's iNPC) |Interaction with:@Marina Oriel|

Japanese || English
Date: 28/08/2022 || Time: --:--
Outfit: black shorts, matching tank top and sandals

If sheer willpower could affect the bottle, then the intensity with which Ayako was staring at it would ensure that it never pointed at her again.

As the bottle turned its horrible gaze upon the others in the group, Chi seemed to be flabbergasted by Ayako's kiss.

"Ayako-san! He just kissed you! Do you not care?" she asked, and Ayako wondered if it was rude to reply that no, she didn't care.

"Why should I?" she asked, genuinely curious. Had she not reacted appropriately?

Then - to Ayako's amusement and annoyance - the bottle landed on Chi and the boy she'd hugged walked over to the poor wide-eyed girl. Ayako glared warningly at the boy, but whether he noticed or not, he thankfully only went for a chaste kiss on the cheek.

Poor Chi.

Alas, her luck was eventually bound to run out, and the bottle was bound to point at her once more, despite her wishes to the contrary and her utter annoyance at this juvenile game. She'd already kissed one boy, wasn't that enough?

She couldn't even turn her attention to other subjects - such as her studies - because then it would be seen as a social faux pas to not even look at the ones who may attempt to kiss her. She sighed and glared quickly at the bottle before turning her attention up toward its spinner.

The girl who'd been bickering with Hiro was watching her - and had been for some time, unless Ayako was mistaken. She felt slightly guilty for not feeling as protective over Hiro as she was over Chi, but Hiro seemed to handle himself fine, and Chi was just a bit more delicate.

"Guessing you're not a fan of romance? Well, neither am I. So I'm gonna give you a hug."

Such brazenness. Ayako could certainly appreciate such a bold statement. Especially one that meant she wouldn't have to deal with another awkward kiss.

The hug was short, but satisfying. She didn't have to second guess herself during a hug, after all. It wasn't like there was saliva or lip-based contact involved, thankfully, and it was easy enough to know what to do with one's arms during a hug.

"You seem cool. We should hang out at some point. Maybe whenever you come back next."

"Sure. I'm Ayako," she said, extending a hand for a handshake.

Notes:

Reducio

Interacting:

@Paz Zhang as Pax AND Chi

Mentioning:

@AngelFyre McCubbin as Stephen || @Kim Sato as Hiro

pretend this says second year until i get a new banner

Roleplaying as iNPC Vivienne Beaumont
French | English | Spanish

Interacting with: @Marina Oriel Mentioning:@Esmeray Rosslyn

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Date: 28th August 2022 Outfit: x

Vivienne smiled at the girl once more as she leaned over to give her a quick hug. Maybe she did like this game, any game where she could give hugs to people is certainly a game Vivienne likes. She continued to watch eagerly as the game continued, people spun the bottle and some, like herself hugged, or kissed their partner's cheek, and shockingly some were even brave enough to actually kiss on the lips. Vivienne had to give it to them, because as brave and eager for adrenaline as the young girl was, she was also still determined to save her first kiss and not waste it tonight.

She helped herself to some more of the food until eventually, it was once again her turn. Spinning the bottle once more, she watched as it stopped and landed on another girl. Once again, she didn't recognize her, but she was quite pretty and she looked friendly enough. The same as last time, Vivienne would ask the girl, "Do you want to hug? Only if you're comfortable, though!" while giving her a bright, encouraging smile. She would most likely keep to hugging people for the rest of the game, unless they were uncomfortable with it. A handshake would probably suffice too though. Anything but a kiss on the lips would do, really.

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[ august 28, 2022 ] ✦ @Quinn Root The bottle spun over and over and over again, each turn ending in a hug, kiss, or even handshake, but it didn't fall on Esme herself again. Much to her relief, of course... although the waiting was making it all a little more stressful than she'd like it to be. By the time she'd finished her apple, the person two away from her was spinning, then it was the person directly next to her that was reaching for the bottle, and then... Then, it was her turn. Looking up at the faces of the people around her, the gryffindor bit her lip. Just spin it. That's step one. Everything else comes after you spin it. Reaching out, she spun the bottle like she'd seen others do. Now... wait. It almost felt like the bottle was taunting her, how it would seem to slow down at one person just to speed up again, but Esme knew it was all in her mind. She wasn't really sure why she was so worried—her mind had been made up long ago that her first kiss was to be saved, that she was only going to give hugs or handshakes or maybe cheek kisses, if it came to it and she was brave enough. Plus, she had already given another a hug and it was perfectly fine, so it couldn't get too bad, right? When she glanced down again a few seconds later, the bottle had stopped. And it was pointing at someone. Look up, give them a hug, she told herself. The girl she was facing looked nice, and had shoulder length brown hair and hazel eyes. Esme had seen her at Hogwarts once or twice, she thought, but only in passing, like most of the people she recognized. Her name was... Quinn, was it? "Hi," the twelve year old said, "You're Quinn, right? I'm Esme. Um, can I just give you a hug? If that's alright?" She really needed to stop making everything she said into a question, didn't she? If the other student agreed, Esme would walk over and give her a hug, a little smile on her face at the way things were going so far. stamina 7 | evasion 6 | strength 4 | wisdom 7 | arc power 8 | accuracy 8 ✦ [ stats ]

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Banner by Sarah Night

So far, everything was going reasonably well.

Another girl spun the bottle and it landed on Marina. The other girl asked if Marina wanted a hug. She was not sure if a hug counted but some of the other people were also doing hugs, and although it was not the bravest move hugging seemed to be acceptable after all. "Sure." Marina responded. She hugged the other girl. Maybe a hug was not as much of a chicken move as she had thought it was. One thing was for sure hugging was a lot less awkward. Maybe she would forget the kissing aspect of spin the bottle and continue hugging people for the rest of the game.

"Well, thanks for the hug." Marina paused, "I am Marina by the way." Marina gave the other girl a friendly smile. She was not exactly sure why she was introducing herself, perhaps out of habit. Spin the bottle was not really the place to meet new friends.

Marina began to watch the bottle again. She wondered who the bottle would put her with next, whether she would get to spin the bottle or if someone else's bottle spin would land on her. Not that it really mattered she did not know anyone here.

Playing as coraline harvey

this time, she didnt spin. She waited and watched to see who would land on her, as if this were a silly guessing game and not an embarrassing kissing game. When the bottle landed on her, coraline raised her eyebrows. Interesting. The boy looked her in the eye and headed towards her. He leaned down and introduced himself, so coraline smiled and did the same.

The boy seemed kind enough. He stated that, while he didnt mind, the choice was up to coraline. Coraline paused for a moment. "I wouldnt mind a kiss." She stated. Stephen held his hand and she took ot, standing up at looking him in the eye. Before she could think, he had assured her he knew what he was doing and swept her off her feet, literally.
It felt like they were dancing. Coraline certainly looked surprise but also impressed. Coraline enjoyed dancing and this boy had just made her start to like him. Her heart pounded in her chest and he gave her a kiss on each cheek. Then he brought her back up. He bowed like a gentleman and coraline laughed. "Impressive. I think you're really sweet. I wouldnt mind being friends either. who knows, maybe good friendships start with a kiss." She smiled and waved, sitting back down.

What a rush.

reena had managed not to kiss anyone, but she didn't have control on whoever landed on her. Whoever it was, she hoped they wouldn't kiss her. Why was she even here? Because she wanted to watch the drama, of course. But she had a really calm group where nothing fun seemed to ever happen. Reena sighed and rested her chin on her fist. She let her mind wander off, thinking about how her friends at home would love this game. They always were head over heels for boys, so they would come with lip gloss and breath mints for sure. Suddenly reena had a horribly thought. if someone were to kiss her- what would happen if her breath smelled? She tried to be sneaky about it, she moved her hand to her mouth and breathed out into her hand. Didn't smell bad.

Suddenly she realized someone was next to her, and she looked at the girl. With a quick glance to the bottle, she realized the girl had landed on her. "I... uh- Hi. I'm Reena." Should she tell the girl she didn't want a kiss? Or should she just let it happen? Maybe the girl did choose kiss, then what? But Seren didn't seem like that type of girl. In fact, the girl just leaned in for a hug. What a relief. Reena hesitantly hugged the girl back and then she let go. Physical contact... just the worst.