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(no subject)

Who: Anyone who wants to come!
What: Autumn (Equinox) Celebration
When: Today, at 9PM to Midnight (and maybe even after)
Where: Around the Rec Center
Summary: Brigade party! There's food! There's lights! There's music! There's fireworks!
Rating: A for Abacus

There were lights! Autumn-appropriate decorations! There were tables of food (though very little of it is vegetarian friendly)! There was even a stage for music and entertainment! Still waiting was the fireworks to take place at midnight, but otherwise things were set up to more or less respectable Brigade standards. Maybe Haruhi hadn't done it herself, but it was done well enough, thanks to the efforts of being coordinated by Mikage.

The stage was left open for anyone to perform that wanted to. The karaoke machine had been dragged outside for people to sing along to, regardless of talent, or otherwise just to play music when no one was on stage. Naturally inside the Rec Center itself is a variety of pool tables, foosball, air hockey, and a TV with some video games. Just enough to keep things a little fun. If only there was a pool.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, you move your dudes to kick the ball, and try and get the ball past my dudes and into the goal. If you do? You get a point.

[She conveniently leaves out that the ball, made of stone, is entirely manipulable by her earthbending. Meaning, there's pretty much no way her opponent can score.]

Well then, shall we begin?

[Robin grows an extra pair of hands for the last bar and steps back, folding her arms so she can keep a better view on the table.]

Sure. Just so you know, I'm pretty good! So don't feel bad if I kick your butt!

[She reaches out and feels the handles in front of her. Her earthbending isn't going to help with the movement of the players--it's all in feeling where the ball goes. She'll only cheat if she has to--otherwise, she'll let this play out fair.

She rolls the ball onto the field.]

I won't.

[It is a new game for her after all and she doesn't expect to win at the beginning.]

[She perches on the end of the table, knocking the little ball back into the girl's direction. The ball is fairly heavy for such a game, but perhaps it's meant to be that way.]

How do you find this place?

[There are so many experiences. Everyone seems to feel a little differently and Robin wonders if there is some sort of common pattern.]

Sucky. [It's a blunt and honest answer. She feels the ball move and turns her players to kick it the opposite way.]

But it's not always bad. A lot of my friends are here. What about you?

It's intolerable.

[Yet for now she has no choice but to tolerate it.]

Friends do help...

[Though she wishes more that they weren't trapped here as well.]

[She bounces the ball back easily enough, managing at least to keep it from coming too close to her goal.]

Your hands must be very sensitive, ne...

[Robin can't imagine how she plays so well.

Better hope you don't keep feeling that way. This place? Has a way of driving you crazy if you can't stand it.

[She knows. That's how she felt at first. She just had to get used to it.

Toph smiles slyly.]

Yeah, you could put it like that.

[A small chill goes down Robin's spine. She's always prided herself on her mental stability. Others might crack in the face of danger, but even in hard times crises can be solved with a clear head.]

[But here, nothing can be solved. Does a clear head make so much of a difference when there is nowhere to run?]

[A clatter makes her blink and she realizes the girl has scored a goal.]

Have you known others to go crazy before? [Maybe in finding out about it she can learn to avoid it.]

[Sweet! Point one for Toph. And she didn't even have to cheat for that! Maybe this whole 'playing fair' thing wasn't so bad after all.]

Here? Not really. [To be honest, she was surprised Stalky hadn't gone crazy yet.] But I've only been around for half a year. Besides, I think the 'Nosso's send people back before anyone gets that far gone.

They wouldn't want anyone to ruin their experiment, ne...

[She's talking half to herself as she picks the ball up from the little slot, to put it back in the field and rolls it absently into her palm. If she could find out what the experiment was, she could find a way to disrupt it-- But not only her, encourage others to do the same. Would mass disruptions weaken them enough to escape? Is it worth the attempt?]

[She is silent as she ponders these things.]

[Toph tries not to get too caught up in these things. It became quite clear soon after she arrived that she couldn't make a difference here alone. It wasn't easy to swallow her pride, but she'd done it.]

Doesn't stop them from doing weird things to us, though. Definitely not.

[Robin puts the ball back in play and nudges it forward. This game isn't much of a distraction and the thoughts crowd her mind again. She wants to know what strange things but is not going to pry into the girl's pain.]

Perhaps its fortunate we manage to forget this place afterwards.

[but in the meantime...]

[Toph bats back the ball, but her mind are more in her thoughts than in the play as well.]

I dunno about that. I mean, sure, it'd be nice to forget some things. Or, you know, most things. But I kinda like to know what I've been through.

[Robin is silent at that. Ironically, she agrees with you since that is what she's always believed. Forgetting lessons of the past will cause a poor future. It all ties together into a seamless whole.]

[But what lessons can be learned here other than hoplessness? She isn't sure.]

What have you learned while you were here?

[She lets the ball come closer to her own goal, wondering how long she can keep it away.]

[Man. All these loaded questions. And she thought she just came here to cheat at games!]

Well, I've learned that the world is full of sissies, and I need to whip them into shape.

[Which isn't a lie. But the most important thing she's learned? She's vulnerable. But she isn't about to say that.]

[She admires the girl's spirit once again.]

I think it will take a lot of whipping. Are you sure you're up to it?

[And now she's aggressive, clocking the ball closer and closer to the girl's goal. It's not a very difficult game-- well at least not for her. It must be troublesome to have to continually reach for different bars]

Of course! I couldn't call myself tough if I didn't think I could whip some lousy sissies into real men.

[And this catches her off guard, and she doesn't react in time to bend the ball back, so it shoots into the goal.

Rats!]

And how would you do that?

[Fortunately most of her crew are real men, she would even count Nami-chan among them on a good day.]

[Unsurprisingly, Toph has given this a fair amount of thought.]

Well, I'd start with teaching them to spit. Spitting is fundamental to acting like a man. Then we'd move on to putting our elbows on the table.

That's a sound base for any man.

[Robin quite agrees. She has seen much spitting over the ship's rail. Plus other things leaking as well. Men can't be men unless they are leaving pieces of themselves behind and laughing about it.]

And then?

Then? We'll get into the tougher stuff. Like trash talk and nasty nicknames. And fighting.

I believe fighting should come first. Men cannot communicate effectively with one another if they don't know how to fight. The talk and the nicknames will just grow from that.

[Although on the other hand, maybe the two occur simultaneously. Which came first? The term 'Ero Cook' or a kick to the head?]

[She ponders this. Not a bad thought...but she still likes her way better. Naturally.]

I think they're in bad enough shape that if we started with fighting, we'd never get anywhere. They're a pretty sorry lot.

They must be pretty pathetic men indeed.

[A slight pause]

Are we to continue playing, then? Or shall we call it a tie?

You have no idea.

[Oh...right. The game! They were playing a game.]

I don't really end things in ties. How about this one is all or nothing?