Twirl the Flagon — Group 2 Summer Camp '22

MODERATION POST—Round III

It seemed the odds were ever in his favour as Nick Iris got up to take his turn to twirl the flagon. Still coming down from the little fluster of an interaction with Chiaki Hiroi, he would find the bottle pointing right back at her. It was like fact had decided they ought to get to know each other a bit better. Not to be dismayed, Nick would go for it, one-upping his last hug this time with a kiss on the surface of a very reddened cheek. The question now was whether fate would see them paired yet again...

Pax Zhang followed suit, less than enthusiastic about the general premise of the game. Of course, it seemed as though they weren't the only one, their attention caught by the distinct lack of an emotional response from one of the other students. As it would happen, this student—Ayako Yamamura—would be Pax's next target. Theirs would be a simple embrace. Short, sweet, unladen by angst or melodrama. And yet, no less impactful. Perhaps even the foundation of a blossoming friendship.

In a game as simple as spin the bottle Twirl the Flagon, it was interesting just how much introspection it could inspire. Stephen Schwartz seemed to have fallen into something of a pit of spiraling notions after the first interaction, reflecting on differences of culture and recognizing the error of assumption, but that wouldn't stop him from playing. Taking the bottle to hand again, his next spin would have it pointing at Japan's blonde belle, Coraline Harvey. She would be quite literally swept off her feet the moment permission had been given for a kiss. A kiss. But the boy would steal two, one to either cheek. Quite the flashy show, however. It was little wonder her heart was left pounding in her chest.

Seren Yong would find herself up to spin yet again, apparently one of the (un)lucky ones to avoid being a target of the rest at least for the moment. Which was probably for the best given that she was reeling from reeling from the loss of her first kiss. Evidently, that would not be repeated again. As the bottle landed on Reena Delgado. Reena who cared not for the game, but had come for the drama, and had been struck with the earth-rumbling realization that at least some care should be taken lest breathy rumors be spread. She would be spared any foul encounters, though. Sort of. At least a hug was the lesser of a few evils, right?

Mood boosted by a not-as-horrendous-as-she-had-expected first round, Monica Evans would return from her definitely-made-it-more-awkward-than-it-needed-to-be-experience to spin the bottle again. Clearly she hadn't any issue with the game despite initial trepidation. Her target: Hiro Bakugo, the dashingly debonair don. The one who'd called her pretty. SWOON. Cue an absolutely smooth transition into round two as she tripped over her tongue and was given perhaps too much freedom of choice. Well, easy choice for her to take a heart-stammering first kiss. And clearly, "experiment with colors later" was a euphemism.

Still keen to save her first kiss for some sort of significant moment, Vivienne Beaumont would nonetheless find a newly inspired enjoyment in the game. It was hard not to like the little rushes of adrenaline as the bottle spun, the anticipation of the unknown of where it would land, and the anxious trepidation of completing the deed. This time would really be no different as it landed on Marina Oriel. A hug would be the offer, and accepted it would be. Marina seemed perfectly content to just give hugs for the rest of the night. Really, it wasn't a bad way to break the ice.

Last up for the round would be Esmeray Rosslyn. Nerves were promising to get the best of her, especially as the turns continued to pass by without her as a target. Eventually she would have to face the music, though, and take a turn. And yet, when finally it did, she would be spared yet again. While she had landed on Quinn Root, the Hogwarts student seemed to lose interest in the game had would take her exit, leaving Esmeray to wonder at the reason.

THE BOTTLE HAS CHOSEN AGAIN!

Reducio

@Marina Oriel spins the bottle, and lands on @Seren Yong
@Nick Iris (@Quinn Root's iNPC) spins the bottle, and lands on @Vivienne Beaumont (@Adelaide Barlowe's iNPC)
@Chiaki Hiroi (@Pax Zhang's iNPC) spins the bottle, and lands on @Esmeray Rosslyn
@Stephen Schwartz (@AngelFyre McCubbin's iNPC) spins the bottle, and lands on @Monica Evans
@Hiro Bakugo (@Kim Sato's iNPC) spins the bottle, and lands on @Coraline Harvey (@Reena Delgado's iNPC)
@Reena Delgado spins the bottle, and lands on @Pax Zhang
@Ayako Yamamura (@Sophia Nelson's iNPC) spins the bottle, and lands on @Reena Delgado

Additionally:
—The order of the spins listed is not necessarily the order they happen ICly, nor do they have to be posted in that order.
—@Quinn Root did not post this round and is thus considered to have taken her leave. A reactionary/exit post is still more than welcome, of course.

Players have until Midnight on Tuesday, August 9th to post

Seren moved back from the girl she had hugged, giving her an awkward smile, before going to where she had been seated before. She silently prayed to herself that whoever it was that she had to deal with next chose something as innocent as a hug, but she was not the one to choose here, after all. She watched the various bottle spins go around and around, and then finally one landed on her. She looked at the other girl, not really recognizing her... As was far too often the case. Sure she probably had seen the other girl around the school but that was it.

Seren watched her, thinking the other girl was quite pretty, but that was all. She really did not think of people's attractiveness as having a great deal of meaning, so she did not realize why others might care. At this stage in Seren's life, she really did only saw the way people looked as something aesthetic, and it never occurred to her that this was not how everyone around her was thinking. The idea of a 'crush' or someone wanting to go on a date with someone else just confused her.

Any way she looked at it, though, the other girl had not yet approached, so Seren sat, nervous as to what would come next.

After taking his place once again on his cushion, Stephen felt like that round went much better for him and for the girl. Fantastic. He now was beginning to feel like he might possibly have found his groove in this game. As he looked up, he let his gaze wander over to Coraline and was gratified to see that she was at least smiling. The last thing she had said to him was that she, too, would like to be friends, and Stephen would welcome that. One of the main reasons he left the States this summer and decided to come to London was for the purpose of making new friends in his lonely, magical world.

He smiled to her and slow-waved briefly before turning his attention back to the game. Round and round the flagon went, and soon it was his turn to spin again. The flagon had been very good to him the first two spins, so he was hoping luck really would be a lady tonight on his third time up at bat.

He partially moved off of his cushion and leaned in and spun the bottle hard, but not too hard. He watched as the flagon spun in its clockwise manner, and he momentarily became fixated on the gritty sound of the sand brushing against glass, which was once sand itself. He was thinking on the temperature needed to melt the silica molecules in the quartz grains, when it hit him that the bottle had stopped spinning. Crap! How long had he been staring at the motionless flagon? Get your head in the game, Schwartz! He sat back and then looked in the direction the bottle was pointing. Once again, he had struck gold. Luck was definitely a lady this evening.

He offered a smile to the pretty brunette before even moving off his cushion. As he walked towards her, he probably shocked a few people, maybe herself included, as he bypassed her entirely and headed straight to the refreshments table. He was not interested in food. Nor was he interested in drink. He was, however, interested in the floral arrangement prettifying the display. He grabbed 3 of the largest, purplish roses from the arrangement, because purple was his favorite color, and made his way back to the brunette.

He did not offer his hand to her as he had done the first two times. This was because there was a space for him to comfortably sit down next to her, so he did, turning his whole body to face her side. He crossed his right leg in front of himself and planted his left foot in the sand behind her while resting his left elbow on his left knee. Smiling very broadly at her, he introduced himself and smiled even more broadly when she replied that her name was Monica.

"It is my pleasure to meet you, Monica. I am up for anything, but I want to offer you the choice of what happens here, and having nothing happen here is also an option." As he awaited her choice, he slowly twirled the thornless stems of the purple roses between his fingers, thinking they looked like mini purple parasols. When she stated that she would leave the choice up to him, he smiled and nodded. "You know, I think I would like a kiss, but I confess I am struggling with exactly what type of kiss that would be. There are butterfly kisses," and he teasingly moved in just a little closer to look into her eyes. "Beautiful, but I just don't think it would be quite satisfying enough at this point. Then, of course, there are Eskimo kisses," and his eyes left hers and slowly tracked down to the tip of her nose. "Again, adorable, but still not quite right. That leaves three obvious choices, and I think I am finally decided on which it shall be."

Stephen let his eyes move from her perfect little nose to her pretty lips, and he moved in to give her a soft, gentle press of the lips. There were no Mississippis to be counted this time. But as he pulled back, he looked down and took one of her hands, placing a rose stem within it. "Thank you, Monica. It has been a pleasure to meet.... and to be allowed... the honor to kiss you," and still holding her hand, he brought it up to his lips and kissed the back of it softly before placing it back down gently.

Smiling at her, he then got to his knees and leaned close to her ear, whispering, "Good luck with the fellow before me. You should have seen your face light up when that flagon match was made," and he chuckled as he got to his feet.

He did not head back the way he came. He continued back around the circle until he reached Coraline. Kneeling down quickly, he offered a rose to her as well. "I hope you meant what you said about liking the idea of being friends. My full name is Stephen Schwartz and I attend Ilvermorny, 2nd year. Maybe we can be pen pals. No pressure. I will leave the choice to you." Then he smiled at her and got up again.

He did not have but a couple of people to walk by before he reached his summer rite of passage.... his first kiss. The girl, he could tell, was not stupid. She had to know she was his last stop on this farewell tour, but there was something about her that had stuck with him all evening. It had occurred to him each time he spun the flagon that he secretly wished it would point to her once again. He was very confused by this, but thought it was likely because he felt he wanted the chance to right his wrong with her.

Her two friends seemed to stiffen as he stopped behind her, but maybe that was just his nervousness and his imagination. Either way, one thing was very clear. The girl herself was making no move to acknowledge him at all.
He bent down and slowly moved his right hand with the rose from behind her, leveling it about 6" from her face, and then moved it down to her hand where he left it. He then leaned in and whispered in her ear, close enough that no one but she could hear him.

"I am so incredibly sorry for taking any liberties or making you feel uncomfortable earlier. My only excuse is that I was nervous and found you to be extremely beautiful. I completely forgot my manners and cannot believe I did not introduce myself or even ask your name." He stopped, and sighed deeply before continuing. "My name is Stephen Schwartz, and even if you would prefer to not share your name with me, I want to thank you for making my first kiss quite memorable, for all of the right reasons. I am sorry if I made it less than memorable for you for all of the wrong ones. If I never learn your name, you will always live in my memory as 'First Kiss' and that thought will be followed with a smile, so thank you for that."

And with that, Stephen got up, looked around the pavilion at the remaining faces and bade his farewell to those still playing as he then walked out into the night.

Permission was granted by Monica for the kiss and the slight godmodding!

Stephen has left the thread (hoping Ayako tells him her name!), but he had a lot of fun!
@Monica Evans @Reena Delgado as Coraline Harvey and @Sophia Nelson as Ayako Yamamura

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

Ayako watched Chi and Hiro's reactions to the hugs and kisses with a sense of sorrow as she realized that she could never feel what they felt from these interactions. Between Hiro's eager, impulsive flirting and Chi's shy, embarrassed reddening cheeks, the two of them seemed to be having quite a lot of fun, so why did Ayako feel so grey regarding her interactions.

The first boy who'd kissed her wasn't bad at all, but she hadn't felt the spark she'd hoped to feel. The second girl - Ayako assumed she was a girl, but she gave off non-binary vibes, so she would have to try to reexamine her personal assumptions - was a bit better, since she seemed to not only empathize with the emptiness in Ayako's heart, but to understand it as well.

Now, Ayako had to not only slog through another possible interaction, but she had to be the one to initiate, and that would have stressed her out if she didn't consider it to be pointless anyway.

With an impatient sigh, she gave the bottle a light spin and tensed ever so slightly as it landed on a girl with brown eyes and brown curls. Steeling her nerves, and determined not to be such a mannequin in this interaction, Ayako stood and approached the girl, robotically wrapping her arms around her in a hug.

She'd hugged people before, sure, but it was mostly her mother, and given her mother's time spent working even before Ayako attended Mahoutokoro, hugging wasn't common by any means for her. Hence, she was very inexperienced in the proper way to perform a smooth hug.

The hug was tense, but it was thankfully over quickly. She offered a nod to the girl.

"Thank you. It was a pleasure," she said automatically, returning to her seat.

As she returned, however, the next person to spin the bottle took their place, and it was a familiar boy. The one who'd kissed Ayako moments ago. She watched him with curiosity as he bypassed his newest target, returning with three roses.

He offered what Ayako assumed was a sweet kiss and a tender moment with his current target - well, partner - and gifted her one of the purple roses. Ayako tried to tune out his words, giving the pair some semblance of privacy for their little moment. She couldn't ignore all of the words, given the setting, but she owed them at least some respect in that regard.

Then he went to his other partner thus far, offering her a second rose and the opportunity for a budding friendship. Ayako knew immediately what was coming next.

He wasted little movement as he presented the final rose to her, but as much as she hated to admit it, she flinched ever so slightly as he leaned in to whisper a soft apology into her ear. She had no idea what he could possibly be apologizing for, but her assumption was that it was her own fault for not perceiving whatever faux pas he believed he'd been the perpetrator of.

She didn't bother lowering her voice to a whisper in her response. She believed that the best clear-cut way to avoid wasted words was to speak as clearly as possible, and whispering could often lead to misunderstandings.

"I'm Ayako Yamamura," she said, realizing that she was the one who likely owed an apology, since she hadn't even introduced herself. "Believe me. Any shortcomings on my end regarding our kiss had nothing to do with your..."

She mouthed a few words in Japanese, trying to remember the English translation and finally thumped herself on the head as it came to her.

"...performance. It was quite satisfactory, and I assure you that you will make a girl without my lack of romantic interest very happy one day. Unfortunately, my shallow heart is like a fortress, impenetrable by even the strongest of affection. It is my burden to bear, but know that it is also my shortcoming, not yours. Should you wish to maintain communication, feel free. You seem respectful, and I think you would be an adequate..."

She tried to remember the word he'd used with the other girl in the game.

"...pen-pal?"

It was more words than she normally tried to speak, but despite her annoyance with unnecessary words, Stephen had been more than respectful to her, so a brief explanation was the least she could provide to him.

As he left, Ayako gave a fond shake of her head at his antics. Were all Americans so dramatic?

Notes:

Reducio

Ayako is ace, so it was nothing against Stephen, by the way! She just doesn't feel those sorts of feelings. She'd love to be Stephen's penpal, though. She respects his respect, even if she frowns upon his dramatic flair.

Interacting:

@Reena Delgado || @AngelFyre McCubbin as Stephen

Mentioning:

@Kim Sato as Hiro || @Paz Zhang as Chi

Dialogue: ✕ | Thoughts: ✕ | Quotes: ✕
⋘⋘⋘⋘⋘⋘⋘⋘⋘⋘⋘ ◊ ⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙

Monica sat at her seat, the flagon once again being spun around and around, not that she noticed much, her mind was occupied with her previous turn. She found herself having to pull her gaze away from Hiro's direction.

"It's just a game....Just a game..." She couldn't shake the fluttering in her stomach, she felt like she was floating on a cloud.
She let her eyes fall on the twirling flagon, watching it spin around, letting herself get lost in it's movement. Observing the sand shifting underneath it. Counting the seconds between spins, judging the strength of the spin based on how long the bottle went for.

She didn't watch others as the bottle landed, and kisses or hugs were exchanged, she just held her gaze on the bottle....Until

Counting this current spin, it was going for much longer than any before it, and then.... it pointed right to her. Shooting her head up, who even spun this?
She looked around the circle, and saw a boy who was looking right at her, their eyes met, and he gave a smile. She brought herself to smile back. She didn't know this person, hadn't had the chance to meet them formally before this, but he seemed nice.

The boy got up, and Monica was ready for the introduction, and the awkward formalities before submitting to the will of the bottle... but he didn't stop at her, he instead walked right past, going for the food spread just behind her...

Weird? Right?

Monica looked around the circle, searching for any sort of support or answer. Was she being rejected? Was the idea of hugging or kissing her such and awful thought that he had to get some food courage?

But no.

He returned, not sitting across from her, but taking the seat right next to her. He turned his body to face her, and Monica shifted in order to also match his position, though she found herself holding on to her legs, was she nervous?

He introduced himself, Stephen. What a nice name. "Nice to meet you, I'm Monica, Evans." He asked her if she had a preference, and was fiddling with the rose he had brought back from the snack table. Monica watched his hands picking at the thorns along the stem.

Wait, he asked a question. She looked up at him, gathering her thoughts, what was her preference? "You know, I am here for the game, and you spun the bottle, seems only fair for you to make the choice." Figured it was better to keep the choice his rather than her own, after all that was how the game should be played.

Stephen spoke, his words soft and welcoming, he had such a way with words, and what a thought. That wasn't something Monica knew anything about, what is a butterfly kiss? As she pondered this in her mind, Stephen was moving closer to her, eyes locked, almost close enough to touch eyelashes. Monica's heart stopped. She had never been this close to someone... at least not like this.

His eyes went from her eyes and tracked down to her nose as he talked about eskimo kisses, again Monica was at a total loss, but at this point she was at a loss of words.
He was saying words, Monica knew that, but she didn't hear a word he was saying. Before she knew it, his lips had met hers, she closed her eyes, and could feel herself blushing. When he pulled back, he took her hand and gave her the rose.
Thanking her for the honour of the kiss, he then took her hand to kiss it as well.
He began to get up, but instead of leaving, he came closer and whispered in her ear. If her face wasn't obviously red before, it was now. She looked over to Hiro... did he hear that?

He got up, leaving Monica with a rose in her hand, and hope in her heart. She didn't follow where he went next, she was frozen in her place, unable to move. Thoughts racing about, no rhyme or reason to any of it.
"Seems this was a good event to come to."

⋘⋘⋘⋘⋘⋘⋘⋘⋘⋘⋘ ◊ ⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙
| 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: Stephen(@AngelFyre McCubbin's iNPC) | Mentions |Hiro (@Kim Sato's iNPC)|

Japanese ~ English

Reducio

Word Count: 228

Interacting: @Esmeray Rosslyn Mention: @Quinn Root as Nick Iris

Date: August 28th 2022

As Nick returned to his seat, Chiaki felt her eyes following the male. She tried not to appear as if she was staring, but to anyone else, it was quite clearly staring.

She would then, in an attempt to get rid of the blush appearing on her face very quickly, lean forwards and spin the bottle once again. It would land and point at a girl this time, looking a similar age to her. She was quite cute, Chiaki admitted to herself in her head. But she had nowhere near enough confidence to say anything.

Looking back over at Nick, she approached the girl and gave her a simple hug with a smile. She tried to keep her mind on the individual she was hugging, but it was hard when her mind kept straying back to the American boy. Deep down, she knew that she wanted him to be jealous, or at least feel something. After all, she had definitely felt something in their interactions, and even though she couldn't be sure, she had to think that he had felt something too.

Releasing from the embrace, she moved back to her seat, glancing once more at Nick. She hated the emotions she was feeling, and she hated that she couldn't have given the girl a better experience, but her mind was too busy to concentrate on anyone else.

"Sure. I'm Ayako." Said girl extended her hand, and Pax shook it with a smile.

"Cool. I guess I'll see you around." They gave her one final nod before returning to their seat. Ayako seemed really chill. Like them. Seemingly unbothered with this game, but yet somehow still here. Probably competitive as well. They could appreciate that. It was nice to find somebody who wasn't so obsessed with the whole 'romance' thing.

They watched on, mildly interested and uninterested simultaneously, at the action around them. It didn't cross their mind that they could be coming off as 'cold' or 'unappealing' to others. They just had no understanding of why things such as this were classed as a big deal. After all, it was just a kiss. Or, in most cases, a hug. People gave hugs all the time. That wasn't a big deal.

It wasn't long until they found the bottle pointing back at them once again, this time spun by fellow Gryffindor and new addition to the quidditch team, Reena Delgado. Pax raised their eyebrow and gave them another small smile.

"Hey. I'm down for a hug and all."

They held out their arms, waiting to see the response.

Reducio

Word Count: 200

Interacting: @Sophia Nelson as Ayako Yamamura, @Reena Delgado

Date: August 28th 2022

pretend this says second year until i get a new banner

Roleplaying as iNPC Vivienne Beaumont
French | English | Spanish

Interacting with: @Marina Oriel Mentioning:

-----------------------------------

Date: 28th August 2022 Outfit: x

Vivienne smiled at the girl as she moves in for a hug, wrapping her arms around her. She pulled back as the girl thanked her, "No worries! I mean, it is part of the game, so I think a hug is the safest option, ya know?" She replied before introducing herself too, "Nice to meet you Marina, I'm Vivienne. I'm from Beauxbatons," she added the last part as an afterthought, just in case the girl didn't realize that already due to the French accent that accompanied the brunette's words.

Her focus returned back to the game, and she had nothing to do now but wait until it was once again her turn. She ate some more of the fruits available while she waited, having nothing better to do when everyone else was focused on completing their turn. Usually, she would start talking when she didn't know what else to do, but she wasn't entirely sure this was a game made for idle conversation in between turns. Most people, she guessed, were stressed over their next turn, wondering who it would land on and the outcome of it.

The bottle kept on spinning, and yet it never landed on her, so she was left to stare at the other players as they hugged or kissed. The bottle would land on her sometime, so she wasn't really stressed. Plus, the fruit available was very delicious and did an amazing job at keeping her occupied.

⠀

[ august 28, 2022 ] ✦ @Quinn Root @Pax Zhang For some reason, Quinn decided to get up and leave the game right at that point. Esme's heart sped up a little bit with anxiety and worry. What had she done wrong? Was everyone watching her? She knew the other girl probably hadn't meant anything by it, had probably just gotten tired of the game and decided to leave, but why right then? Why on Esme's turn? Her face turning red, the gryffindor sat back, face covered in embarrassment. Honestly, in times like these, she never really felt like a gryffindor. They were supposed to be brave, right? Not... hiding, anxious and slightly humiliated like she currently was. Why had she been sorted there again? She couldn't remember a single time she'd truly felt like she belonged in the house... Thinking all these thoughts wasn't helping that, though, Esme realized after a few minutes. Glancing up, she was surprised to see that the game had continued. Sure, she hadn't expected the whole game to come grinding to a halt just cause she felt anxious (and maybe slightly panicky), but it was still a little bit of a shock to see nothing had happened. No one was looking at her anymore, if they had been at all. It... really wasn't too big of a deal. To them. Maybe it shouldn't be such a big deal to her, either? This whole thing really had to stop. It wasn't any fun doing anything really, when she had all these little bursts of anxiety all the time. Plus, it had all been getting better over the summer. And this was the last event... She really had to pull herself together. Just this once. And then maybe going forward. But for now, just. this. once. Taking a deep breath, Esme waited for someone to spin the bottle to her or for her own turn to come as patiently as she could. And when it finally did happen again, she was glad for the nonchalant, almost distracted hug the other gave. There was no pressure, not even a word spoken between the two—just a smile, a hug, and then the game continued on. This school year, Esme told herself, I'm going to figure out a better way to deal with all my anxiety. It'll be better. Such a bold promise, but she really, truly meant to keep it. Maybe this was where her gryffindor instincts finally kicked in. stamina 7 | evasion 6 | strength 4 | wisdom 7 | arc power 8 | accuracy 8 ✦ [ stats ]

⠀