763/Ice Cream Social

Ice Cream Social
Date of Scene:	07 October 2014
Location:	Urbania
Synopsis:	As a reward for completing Al Azif, Ruri invites everyone for ice cream. ARTHUR IS KIDNAPPED!
Cast of Characters:	Arthur Lowell, Staren, 135, 219, 253, 274, 395, 545
Tinyplot:	Project C

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Herbert West (274) has posed:
It is, again, time for an ice cream social! This is not held in an ice cream parlor, however, but on the expansive grounds of the HADOU ESTATE, where a tent has been set up and plenty of big cannisters of ice cream are set aside, with servants handling the ice cream itself. Maybe that will make everything okay! Because yes, it's a very FORTIFIED COMPOUND which surely no one sane would ever attack!

This does reduce the available flavors of ice cream, but fortunately the TOPPINGS BAR is quite full-fleshed, giving Doctor West plenty to choose from. "Hmmm. Hmmm. Hmmm." If he can ever make up his mind.

Elsa doesn't eat ice cream, so she is here helping dish it out!

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber is here and BOY does he look annoyed at something. Around his neck is one of those photographer's cameras and in his hand is what looks like a rolled up piece of posterboard. The half-angel has a pretty distinct look of annoyance about him, what with the furrowed brow and all. Even the ice cream scoop in a waffle cone can't curb his annoyance at this very second.

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    Amalthea is here.
    In her heaviest full plate armor.
    She also has like no less than four swords and a gun on her person right now.
    Her helmet is on, her shield is slung on her back, and she has an ice cream cone in one hand, and a dagger in the other.
    This time she is prepared for samurai attack.

Ariel (219) has posed:
Ariel is very happy to be here, with her family and friends, celebrating the completion of Al's pages! That's quite a feat, isn't it? Surely nothing will go wrong now... that they can't take care of! "I'll have some extra strawberry, please," she's asking politely. "How does it feel to be complete, Al?"

Lila (545) has posed:
    Lila totally helped.

    Didn't you see her helping?

    Whatever. Screw you! Lila is here, and she wants ice cream! Why wouldn't she? She has gotten a waffle cone with three scoops, and is sitting already while she makes a huge smear of brown chocolate all over her cheeks. "Goo joh muh!"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    ARTHUR LOWELL swaggers his way into the HADOU ESTATE in a way befitting its emphasizing capitalizations. Big strides. Lots of arm movements. Not noticing Psyber's weird setup in any substantial capacity yet. Arthur's doing his best to re-compose himself after a bit of weirdness on the radio, and as a result is already here, giving lots of eager and friendly greetings to all the people he knows, vaguely or otherwise - that is, everyone - and immediately digging into some vanilla-based toppings-piled monstrosity, having ZERO HESITATION about just slamming scoops over that thing.

    Elsa being here to help dish it out is getting a surprising lack of reaction, besides... A really actually just kinda calm and friendly greeting to her especially among the staff, pretty normal among the other greetings given to West and such. He's very clearly TRYING HIS BEST to be very normal about this so as to avoid thinking about other things.

Al Azif (135) has posed:
    RURI HADOU is over to the side, lounging with her own little bowl of ice cream while she relaxes and watches. "Really, who would have thought the little girl would not just master Al Azif, but make Demonbane more powerful and end the threat of the Destroyer Robots? It's been worth a little indulgence."

    "Of course, Mistress," Winfield says. The stuffy butler is, as always, at her side and taking care of minor matters. He hadn't needed to get involved himself, so others may not know him.

    Al is slurping up some vanilla with raspberries and butterscotch. "Hmm? Oh, well... it's hard to explain. It doesn't feel that different. But we still have Therion to take care of, and the other anticross you know."

Herbert West (274) has posed:
"PEANUT BUTTER CUP is the best ice cream!" West announces this loudly as he walks off with his own, licking it lazily and flopping into a chair. Looks like he's counting himself as the 'helped' crowd, even though he was fighting half the time. Or more than half.

"Elsa is glad to see Darling here, robo~" Elsa is blathering. But since Arthur is playing it cool, he doesn't get pounced or anything. He just gets a little more ice cream.

It's... a party. And nothing bad is happening.

That's it. That's the twist. Nothing happens.

Staren has posed:
    STAREN does not have any kind of paranoid concerns or DARK, SORDID PAST involve ice cream. Well. Mostly. There was that one time when he may have lost a friend.

    It hasn't put him off ice cream, though. "So, do you have cake flavor? Cake flavor... or cheesecake flavor sometimes, the really good ones, those are the best!"

    West gets a nod. Peanut butter cup is good! But then, it's hard for ice cream to be /bad/.

    Staren's not all armored up. But then, he has tools that can be deployed at a moment's notice if needed.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Arthur!" Psyber says abruptly, walking over and thrusting the sign at him, "Stand there and hold this! Oh yeah, and open the sign," Psyber commands him, figuring that Arthur will generally do whatever he says. It's a carry over from the days where Arthur would literally do whatever he said.

    If Arthur DOES open it, it would be a sign that read 'My Name is Arthur Lowell and my Space-Time Father-Figure is shaming me for constantly getting in my own way in romance. I keep peeing in the metaphorical carpet of love.'. Before Arthur could realize WHAT it said, Psyber would snap a picture and then wander off, his job complete. The efficacy of this is highly dependant upon Arthur, however, and OOC consent.

    Psyber then just sorta meanders around aimlessly, not sure what to do in common social situations since he works almost constantly. Eventually he wanders over to Amalthea, "Oh right." He pulls out a checkbook and starts writing out a check, "I'm gonna give you my half of the loft right now."

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    "You had doubts about Ariel?" Amalthea mutters to Ruri as she slowly licks away at her ice cream. For the record it's pretty plain vanilla, no toppings. So very boring, as black tongue whittles down the cone and its contents. "She's my flesh and blood." Metaphorical there. "I'd never doubt her, but I'm a little biased." Mention of Therion however earns a dark look. Considering he put her through like seven walls, that one time.
    Taking a moment to rub at her bad eye, one loppy ear pricks up. "Oh. Sure." Replied to Psyber when he whips out the checkbook. "I had them put both our names on the lease, I'll send a set of keys over to your office later."
    Poor Amalthea is still waiting for that samurai attack to happen.

Ariel (219) has posed:
"Ah, mom!" Ariel squeaks! "You can't blame them, we did kind of show up out of nowhere." She swishes tail a few times, then wanders over to Lila for some socializing, pausing only to say hello to others. "Hi, Elsa! We should spar sometime when we're both up for it. Hi Uncle Psyber, and Space Cousin Arthur. Thanks for the help!"

She grins, "Staren, you're in a flesh body! Nice to see you relaxing."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Herbert West helped at the end, so it counts. "PEANUT BUTTER CUP is a PART of the best ICE CREAM." Arthur declares giving a contesting opinion just to be a contrarian, before getting back to Elsa and giving her a grin. "Good t'see YOU TOO, Elsa! How's stuff been since the LAST PAGE? Wait, hold that thought."

    Psyber thrusts something at him, and he holds it, confusedly. "WHAT." He's just sort of reacting naturally without any real understanding of what's going on, which means just sort of going through the motions. So yes, Psyber gets his picture before Arthur manages to turn the sign around and get a look at it.

    "Wha-- Hey! Augh! Damn it, dude! I already explained this! Gah!" He's immediately set into blushing and frustrated noises.

    Still making various frustrated noises, he tries to refocus and give some input to other stuff. "Happy t'HELP, Ariel!" And to Al Azif, "Well, YEAH, still got PLENTY needing dealin' with, but that doesn't mean we can't celebrate the OTHER victories, right?"

Staren has posed:
    "'Space cousin'?" Staren wonders aloud. "Actually... I stay in a flesh body most of the time. That day on the beach, uh..." he lowers his voice. "I had died, and I was waiting for my clones to finish growing, and by the time that was done, I'd kind of gotten used to the body..." he raises his voice again. "But I changed back to normal awhile ago."

Lila (545) has posed:
    "Don't be so grumpy, book!" Lila says to Al, waggling a finger. "It's been a lot of fun! Lila wants to play a lot more, yet~" A childish way of saying things, but one that she seems earnest about. She holds her cone up and drapes over Ariel, lounging across the unicorn girl in what looks like a cuddle.

Though weirdly, a little wisp of something burning might be caught when she does this.

To the others, "Ahaha, yeah, it's good to relax! We're all friends here, right? Now that Doctor West is friends too, it's all good and nothing bad is nearby!"

Eyeshift.

Al Azif (135) has posed:
    Ruri lowers her sunglasses. "We expected to have great trouble finding a grimoire for Demonbane, and were prepared to perform some questionable hires in order to find one. We did not expect one to fall into it by accident, and we especially did not expect the bound Master of the grimoire to be... well, a better person than I ever could be."

    Al scratches at her head. "Yeah, I don't mind relaxing a little and having some fu-" She stops and GLARES at Lila. "You didn't even do anything but need to be saved!"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    To Staren, Psyber explains, "Ariel is my niece, Arthur is my Space-Time-Mechanics, according to some source, child. Erego they are Space Cousins," He says, finishing writing his check and then handing it to Amalthea, "Send the keys over whenever."

    Psyber gives Ariel a smile and a wave in response to her greeting before wandering towards Al and Lila, "Can you really say that? Maybe she did more than you think," Psyber says mysteriously, smiling at Al. Is he on to Lila?

    "You see, Al. By giving us a normal person to all relate to, she kept this close to home and personal. By being just a girl to protect, we all learned not to forget about the regular people."

    Nope, not on to her at all.

Staren has posed:
    "Ahhhh. Space cousins." Staren nods. "So, you're kid-shaming now? I mean... don't you think, romance is kinda complicated, and maybe let it happen or not? Okay, so he's got an issue to get over, but that doesn't mean that the first girl that attaches herself to him is who he really wants, right?"

Herbert West (274) has posed:
Elsa peers at the sign... then sets her ice cream down, drops the scoop into the water, and walks over to Arthur. "Elsa is taking Darling to teach him the ways of romance, robo. Goodbye, Doctor! Elsa will be home tomorrow!"

Elsa then makes an attempt to just... lift up Arthur and carry him off.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber, from his position over near Lila, simply response, "Staren. Why don't you let me worry about the internal and external social nuances of my relationship with a multi-billion-year-old manchild. I think I gotta handle for how my relationship with Arthur works. He can take the sass." He then, of course, just casually watches Arthur being kidnapped.

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    Crunch. Amalthea is almost done with her ice cream. She's eating the cone now, lone eye following as Elsa makes to try and elope with Arthur.
    "So are we going to rescue him or just wait and see when they'll hold the wedding?"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "Yeah, SPACE COUSIN! Well, more like TIME COUSIN, but whatever. Anyway, HEY!" Arthur points at Psyber and Staren. "Come ON! It's just a GIANT MISUNDERSTANDING, we don't gotta get SHAMING about it! I mean Elsa is cute and great and all, but STILL! Think about it, my approach TOTALLY makes sense."

    And then Elsa comes over. "Oh, hey, Elsa. Wait, what?" And she lifts him up. He blinks confusedly, just kinda lifted. He's not really a heavy kid, you know. "What." He looks at the others here, kind of wringing his hands in an overwrought mannerism. "Guys." He says. "What does that even mean? West, hey!"

    Well I mean he's not gonna struggle or anything. That'd violate comedic law!

Lila (545) has posed:
    Lila watches Elsa kidnap Arthur.

    Lila waves a little hankie. "See you later! You should be careful messing with time travel any more, Da- I-I mean Arthur! Treat her nicely and if your little girl ever drops ketchup on the carpet when she's five go easy on her!"

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    Amalthea begins to proceed choking on the last bit of her ice cream cone.
    Who would have thought mithril could turn blue from lack of oxidation.

Lila (545) has posed:
    Lila pops the cone in her mouth and beams, giving Al a smug look at what Psyber says. "See? I'm the human element!"

Ariel (219) has posed:
Ariel blinks, loppy ears perking up... then she starts coughing loudly as well! Gulp! "W-wait, what?" She squeaks and looks a little dizzy, like she's overheating from trying to figure out the family tree now.

Staren has posed:
    Staren sees Arthur kidnapped by Elsa. "I hope this all works out..." he mutters to himself. And then Lila... what. That... it /could/ be true, couldn't it?

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber helpfully explains to Staren, "See, here's the social advice. He's acting like he hates it, but not using either his teleportation or cosmic space powers to actually get away. That's how you know he's faking." He points out, trying to enlighten him to why no one is stopping this.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "Wait, what? Hey! Hey, I caught those insinuations! You're not... Hey! You're not serious, right? Hey!!" Arthur yells to Lila. "That doesn't make sense! Is that why you live with Amalthea an' Ariel? ARE YOU HALF ROBOT?" He makes frustrated noises!

    Then he levels an accusing hand at Psyber. "There's plenty of other REASONS! I don't WANT to be RUDE! It'd be MEGA FUCKIN' RUDE to just OLLIES OUTIE on Elsa if this is harmless." He's back to focusing on Herbert West. "DOCTOR. DOCTOR WHAT DOES SHE MEAN."

Staren has posed:
    Staren rolls his eyes at Psyber. "I get /that/. But that's because he likes Elsa as a friend and doesn't mind spending time with her. There's a difference between that and /like/ liking her."

    He looks back at Arthur. "She could be adopted!" he yells back. "Or Elsa becomes human! There's /OPTIONS/, yo!"

Herbert West (274) has posed:
Unfortunately, Arthur asked DOCTOR WEST! And we all know he's not one to give a straight answer. "AHAHA! This is the perfect opportunity for my creation to test her ADAPTIVE GROWTH MATRIX! Purposefully designed to mimic human behavior from external stimuli to create the perfet camoflage! Please tell me how that works, Arthur! GOOD LUCK! THE TIME FOR ROMANCE IS NOW! OH PASSIONATE YOUTH BURNING BRIGHTLY!! SEE THE BUDDING MAY-DECEMBER ROMANCE!"

Arthur isn't getting any help there.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber shakes his head at Staren, "You're trying to define how a relationship works by your personal framework and using that as the basis for all relationships." He states pretty bluntly, "That's a flawed basis for any analysis as it will color your research and observations based on your personal experiences and prevent you from seeing outlier and non-standard perspectives. Your whole basis of evaluation is coming from a flawed starting point."

    "The courting methods of the Elite is very varied and multi-faceted. Where for you it was handled in method A, it is not that constant for everyone. For instance, Nathan discovered it via getting the shit being out of him and then diving off a cliff. Raditz got pissy and left the Union for a year and kidnapped a woman. Fiora bonded with the most relatable figure in a disaster scenario." He lists off examples.

    "Now if all those ways that vary from YOUR description of courtship led to valid relationships, who are you to say that this one is not a similar situation that you lack the perspective to understand because your personal perspectives are biased?"

Staren has posed:
    "...'Half-robot'? Honestly, how does he think reproduction /works/?" Staren shakes his head, then freezes, eyes wide. "Wait, someone /did/ tell him, /right/?"

    Psyber lectures him. Staren sighs. "It's not that. Arthur says he likes her as a friend. Why wouldn't I trust him? I mean, we're not /super/ close, but we've been through some stuff. Believing and supporting him is how I show my respect for him."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "That doesn't answer my question! Hey! Damn it, DOCTOR WEST!" He's back to Psyber and Staren. "HEY, what does it mean?" Oh, no, Psyber and Staren are occupied with a /shipping war/. Okay! "Hey, ARIEL, AMALTHEA!" They're busy choking and trying to figure things out. "DAMN IT." He turns to Lila and then just turns right back again because she's definitely not gonna help him.

    Sighing a bit, he resigns himself to the grim fate of watching a bunch of romance movies tonight with Elsa. He brought his icecream with him when she picked him up, so he's still finishing it off.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Because Arthur's a manchild," Psyber says pretty bluntly, crossing his arms. He tries to think of a good way to explain it to Staren. Eventually he snaps his fingers, "Okay, got it. You know how you're awful at reading social cues and everyone needs to be absolutely and totally direct with you, without much veiled intent, or you kinda miss the point?"

    Psyber says, "Arthur is like THAT, but with Romance. And Elsa is his version of Nathan Hall, being the one that can mostly understand his weaknesses."

Al Azif (135) has posed:
    Al has been watching this entire thing with something of a look of disbelief, and Ruri is now peering after them as well.

    "Think we should do something?" Al asks.

    Winfield adjusts his tie. "Now, now, he seems like a responsible young man. I'm sure everything will be fine."

    Ruri looks dubious. "I suppose if you're sure, Winfield..."

Staren has posed:
    Staren puts his hands on his hips, and his tail swishes. "Even if you're right, then shouldn't we be trying to help him see and understand it, instead of just saying 'Oh you two are meant for eachother, fall in love already' over and over again?"

    He looks up in the direction Elsa and Arthur flew off in. "And honestly, I'm not sure enough that you're right to go meddling with hearts like this. Arthur or Elsa could get hurt really badly if you're wrong. Or even if you're right and this is forced the wrong way."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "What do you think Elsa, Me, Vruasa, Fiora, and to a lesser extent Amalthea, Ariel, West, and everyone else have been trying to do?" Psyber points out, "You call it meddling with hearts, we call it trying to get through to a guy who's way too thick to look past his own flaws," The half-angel wags a finger.

    "Even now, you're judging this based on your own personal viewpoints and beliefs. However, here's an alternate perspective," Staren gets a serious look, "Arthur has to start somewhere. Even if he and Elsa don't work out, it'll be a good experience for him to have a first relationship." He adds, "Not everyone is gonna find love on their first shot. Or even their second or third. If this relationship fails, there'll be heartbreak, but at least both of them will see that a relationship is possible." Psyber gives Staren a pretty serious look, "Whether they're meant to be together isn't my call. But protecting Arthur is my call, even if that means I have to protect him from his own colossal numbnuttery."

Staren has posed:
    Staren crosses his arms and drums his fingers on his arm, looking away and thinking for a moment.

    "...You make some good points." He looks back up at Psyber. "But as someone who's bad at all this, who can't really tell the difference between what will help and what will hurt here, how am /I/ supposed to act about all this? Teasing Arthur feels wrong. If standing by him is wrong too, what am I supposed to do?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber raises a finger, "Ah, dear Staren." Psyber wags a finger and grins, "You do what all good scientists do when they're in doubt on how to proceed. You remain neutral, watch, and research the situation!" He then takes that finger and pokes Staren on top of the head, scratching behind his ear with the tip of it for a moment before letting it return to his side, "More seriously, that's just a hard part of being someone's friend. Sometimes you gotta sit back and let their life play out."

Staren has posed:
    Staren flinches slightly at the tapping, as if the finger is heavier than it is. His ear flicks at the scratching, but he doesn't say anything. "I guess. I hope this all works out..."

    Staren looks at the tubs of ice cream. "So, /do/ we have cake-flavored ice cream?"