Summerwood (Monsterhearts 2)

Game Master neonblues

Getting high and kissing a pretty girl to turn on someone else?
Tangling yourself up in all kinds of promises you don't really understand?
That's exactly what I want you to look like.
That's exactly what I want to see.

I've probably got time to decide. Just gotta pay attention to anything weird. Once They find me, I've gotta move fast.
But for now, can't let them poach each other.

She slid smoothly around Deirdre, gliding from hip to hip, using one hand to tickle Deirdre's legs with her skirts.

"That sounds like a good idea, Eva. But how about Dee and I get one dance solo firs-"

"...what do you mean, 'what I want'? Like.." JJ's desires bubbled up in Hayden's mind. Normally that would be interesting enough, but it threw the buzzing, staticky voice and the blurred out face into an entirely different category of weird.
Dangerous weird.

"You know what, umm. I haven't seen JJ for a while. I should check on him, right? Right. I think he went..." Shit! The line's gone. Well how big can this house be anyways?! ... this way?"

Run Away: 2d6 - 1 ⇒ (4, 2) - 1 = 5 Trying to split off from Eva and Deirdre so she can check this out alone. Doesn't look like that'll work though :-p

“That would be awesome, yeah... I could do so much with that...” JJ looks on, imagining the possibilities..

Then his eyes focus, and he looks directly back at Malphas. “But what’s the price? What’s the catch here?”

Eva lets Hayden slip around Deirdre, moving back to make room for the other girl. I see. So we take it in turns to be in the middle. Once Hayden has slipped around, Eva moves in from behind, and begins to grind against her back, just as Hayden had been doing to Deirdre moments before. Feeling an urge to make skin-to-skin contact, she moves her hands around the other girl's waist, and slips one through the hole in her shirt. "I see, a doorway. yes?"

Turn On: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (4, 1) + 1 = 6

"A secret? I could do that.. Maybe. Hm." JJ looks doubtful. "How? How do I get a secret out of someone? People barely talk TO me, they just talk OVER me.." He thinks back to how Ashton (from his perspective) entirely ignores his existence, except as a tool to manipulate...

Deirdre laughs as Hayden tickles her. She leans back against the other girl, but when Eva slips around behind Hayden, Deirdre turns and faces the blonde. "I'm not letting you go," she insists. After a beat, she adds, "By yourself. Why don't we all go find JJ?"

Maybe he wants to play, too...

Hayden gives a quick, fake smile, far too distracted by whatever was going on with JJ to get wrapped up in Eva's charms.

"And I thought we decided it was a window. Umm... fine. I guess let's all go." They probably won't know what they're seeing anyways. Plus Dee's already high, that forgives a lot of sins.

"Oh! The butterfly is back!" Deirdre says, staring wide-eyed at empty air. "Maybe he'll take us to JJ. Let's go!"

She takes Eva and Hayden by the hand and starts wandering off in pursuit of her hallucination.

Eva lets Deirdre take her hand and lead herself and Hayden away from the dance floor. "Are we not going to keep dancing?" she says, clearly disappointed. "I enjoyed dancing. Perhaps we can dance again later? Where are we going? Who is JJ? Where is this butterfly?"

"Yes, we will definitely dance later. But now we are going to find our friend JJ!" Derdre tells Eva. "He's kind of scruffy, but he is nice. The butterfly is right there! Can't you see it?" She points at nothing.

Jess scopes the others leaving the dance floor. She turns to Jaime. "I'm going to go check on my friends, make sure everything's okay. You can come with, if you want, or I'll find you again soon." Whether Jaime follows or not, she heads in the direction of Hayden and Deirdre.

"She took a little something earlier, you know, to loosen up a bit. Maybe more than a bit. Don't worry about the 'butterfly'."

Hayden shooed the dream-bug over towards the direction she'd seen JJ go, but after that, well she didn't really have any better ideas than following Deirdre's hallucination. As long as it didn't double back or anything...

Relieved by the appearance of Gavin, the clapping and interruption to the music caused the sloppy drunk blonde that was grinding on him to stumble off to God knows where, one thing Fahed was certain of, he was going to have to burn these pants after tonight.

Fahed slides and works his way through the crowd back to the second floor where Gavin was. Once he catches up with the host, "Thank you for the invite to this lovely soiree, Gavin, your home is utterly superb. I'm curious, is there any refreshments that aren't out in the open, I'm a bit of a night owl always on the look out for things that go bump in the night?"

"Mmm. Not exactly what I expected," says Ashton, running his finger through the dust on the wall. "I wonder if any of this is worth anything. Did the Dennisons just forget they had an entire room here? Can you just misplace a room?"

He snatches the crystal ball off of one of the shelves and flourishes dramatically with his free hand. "If there are any spirits present: show me where the Dennisons keep their valuables!" he says before putting it back on the shelf. "Is there something specific down here you're looking for? You're acting kind of cagey, you know."

Deirdre waves at JJ. "Hey! Ooh, are you chasing butterflies, too?"

She lifts the hand holding Eva's. "We made a new friend. This is Eva. Like from WALL-E. 'Eeeee-va!'" She breaks into a fit of giggles.

Hayden goes still.

After a hearbeat, she's just still like a person; before then she'd seemed like a particularly vivid oil painting, some artist's rendition of Beauty in Shock

After another heartbeat she starts breathing again.

It wasn't Him. I've still got time.

What the hell is JJ mixed up in though. That was not just a dream-bug!

"Yeah, how you doing so far, big guy?"

"Loosen up?" Eva looks Deirdre up and down. "Her limbs seem well attached. Are you loose too? Is that why you were worried about her pulling off your arm?" Eva queries as they are led along by Deirdre. "Why would I worry about an invisible butterfly? Is it dangerous?"

When they reach the living room, and Deirdre introduces her, Eva releases her hand and smiles, stepping forward towards JJ with her arm outstretched. ""Good evening, my name is Eva and it is very nice to meet you." she says, "I have been dancing with my new friends Deirdre and Hayden. The hole in Hayden's shirt is a window, not a hole. We followed an invisible butterfly to find you, but you shouldn't worry about it."

Okay, not much for idioms

"Oh, I just mean she's intoxicated. So she's seeing and hearing things she normally wouldn't. And probably dancing differently."

We'll just see how she feels about kissing a girl once she's sober

"If you're curious about how she feels, I've got more 'special gummies'"

"I understand. "Loose" is a metaphor. Yes? I am aware of metaphors. I have never been intoxicated and I am curious about how she feels." When Hayden opens the packet for her, Eva reaches in and takes one, sniffing it (Contents: simple carbohydrates, citric acid, gelatin, lysergic acid diethylamide, psilocybin, methylenedioxymethamphetamine), and then placing it into her mouth. Tasting it, she breaks into a pleased grin and looks up at Hayden. "Special gummies taste good."

JJ is still absorbing Malphas's words as the man vanishes. He blinks, and hears the gaggle of girls approach, calling out to him. He looks up, noticing a new face.

"Oh, hey ladies, what's.. up?" He accepts Eva's hand, giving it a polite shake, as he tries to absorb the mixed metaphor about shirts, windows, and butterflies.

Well, no time like the present... JJ thinks to himself. Malphas, what's this girl's secret?

Using Uncanny Voices on Eva:

You can give the Dark Power a String in order to realize a secret about someone you’re talking to. The owner of that character will reveal one of their secret fears, secret desires, or secret strengths (they choose which.)

Eva, pick one.

Tricky one to answer for Eva,.... hmm.

Eva is scared that her parents will decide she is of no use and will kill her... (not sure how you want to portray this ability so i'll leave that up to you.)

I’m gonna say that JJ just sort of instinctively gains this knowledge (vague as it is; he doesn’t know who Eva’s “parents” actually are) and feels very confident that it is true.

Interesting.. sort of disturbing, but.. interesting. JJ thinks to himself. His hand brushes his phone through his pocket, but he decides to gather a bit more info before “cashing in”, so to speak.

”Where’s Ashton?”

Fahed walks behind Gavin, eyeing him like a wolf eyes a sheep, they enter a room which can only be described as decadent opulence. In the center sits an overstuffed couch before a marble topped table atop the table was a mirror, a razor blade, and a rolled up twenty. The door shuts behind them with a heavy click, only the faintest sound from the outside music can be heard.
The boys sit down and Gavin divides two good sized lines. Gavin takes his then falls back into the couch hand the rolled bill to Fahed who takes his turn, "Wow, that is good shit. You my friend are exquisite but men like us know, that while surrounding ourselves with the finest things money can buy is amazing, it is experiences, the kind money can't buy that makes it worth it, an exquisite gentleman such as yourself would agree, no?" Fahed wipes up some stray coke with his finger and sucks it off making a wet sound then grabs the razor and taps the mirror, all while looking at Gavin.

Ashon can feel his heart pounding in his chest, his body reacting against his will to the touch of this boy he just met, this boy who is so obviously up to something even if Ashton couldn't exactly put his finger on what it was. For a second, he considers just going along with it--hell, they're in a secret room, probably no place safer he could be. He starts to say something and he stutters, so he bites his lip and shuts his eyes and tries to think, if only for just a second.

Ashton fears being outed, whether via circumstance (someone finding them) or malice (Xavier telling people), so I'm rolling to Keep Your Cool

Keep Your Cool: 2d6 - 1 ⇒ (4, 4) - 1 = 7

Ashton: You aren’t quite sure what Xavier’s up to, but you don’t get the sense that he’s the type to kiss and tell. Someone walking in on you is a possibility, but it doesn’t seem especially likely (and you could always lock the bedroom door).

It would be so easy. And he's wanted it for so long. And what better way to do it than here, in a secluded part of a mansion with somebody he's likely to never see again? So he takes Xavier's arm and pushes him against the wall before kissing him, which seems a pretty good response to his question.

And also feels like a 'fade to black' moment

Hayden still looks very keyed up. Trip treating you okay, JJ? I thought I heard you talking to someone..."

”Where’s Ashton?”

"I don't know. Maybe the butterfly can show me!" Deirdre stretches out her hand, inviting the hallucinatory insect to alight on her finger. "Mister Butterfly, I want to see Ashton!"

Gaze Into the Abyss: 2d6 - 1 ⇒ (4, 2) - 1 = 5

Not sure if Down the Rabbit Hole applies to this or not. In the meantime, I will mark XP for the failed roll and prepare for badness. :o

"Yeah, I'm doing all right, I think my head's starting to clear up, actually. You must've misheard, I wasn't talking to anybody." JJ avoid looking directly in Hayden's eyes.

Something needed for a bluff there? Or maybe a Run Away?

Not sure if Down the Rabbit Hole applies to this or not.

This seems innocent enough that I don’t think it’d count.

Okay, just waiting for the Abyss to gaze back at me then. :)

Something needed for a bluff there? Or maybe a Run Away?

There’s not really a bluff mechanic as such, but you could maybe spend your string on Hayden to encourage her to believe you, or at least look the other way. She’d gain an XP if she acquiesces.

Deirdre and Hayden: The butterfly glimmers and briefly transforms into a screeching bat. Then, it starts to slowly fade away. It seems the gummies that JJ and Deirdre took are beginning to wear off.

Eva: Parts of the walls around you appear to be melting.

"Eek! Get away!" Deirdre shrieks and throws herself at Hayden, clinging to the blonde and trying to hide from the angry bat. Eventually, it disappears, and she sighs with relief. "It's gone now..."

Deirdre looks at Hayden now that lucidity is slowly creeping back into her consciousness. She blushes and disentangles herself from the other girl. "Sorry about that," she says softly, thoroughly embarrassed.

Nah, I’ll let it lay. She can be as suspicious as she wants.

Hayden holds JJ's uncertain gaze for a long moment. Then the laughter returned to her eyes as Deirdre disengaged.

"Don't worry about it, Dee. People do crazy things when they're high. Eva just took one, so you'll see for yourself in a few minutes. And if she reacts like you, she'll get really friendly, so we should probably keep an eye on her.

"Oh, and I saw Ashton talking to a cute boy who didn't seem to mind Ashton's outfit at all. So this party's probably going well for him too."

I'm going to spend a string to make Deirdre's Embarrassment into a condition.

Hayden pops a green gummie into her mouth. "If anyone wants to re-up I've got a few more supplies."

Hayden's tone is comforting, but Deirdre can see the mocking laughter in her eyes. She's made a fool of herself, and she knows it. When Hayden mentions Eva, she looks at the redhead with terror. Oh, God, I kissed her! I've never kissed another girl before! What was I thinking?

She groans and pulls Hayden's shirt over her head, trying to hide.

Fahed takes the blade and nicks his index finger and reaches forward toward Gavin's lips, "I promise this will be an experience you'll never forget," with his other hand held open beckoning Gavin's hand.

Hayden reached out to give Deirdre a quick sympathy backrub, Dee... As long as there's no pictures, it's like it never happened. And I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who took any pictures, sooo..." her somewhat anemic attempt at a straight face collapsed very quickly in her teasing.

She took another long drink of the beer, and held out the last sip underneath Deirdre's nose, "Come on, come on. You can't drink to forget if you don't come out of the shirt."

"Pictures?!?" Deirdre gasps until she realizes Hayden is joking. She scowls but takes the offered beer and drinks it.

"No more gummies for me. I'm done for the night," she asserts.

"Awww that's too bad. You're cute when you're loopy.

I hope that doesn't mean you're done dancing too?"

"I still want to dance. Just maybe not so... exuberantly." Deirdre blushes again.

Eva stands staring at the wall. Interesting. Visual hallucinations, most likely resulting from my ingestion of special gummies. I wonder whether this effect results form [i]lysergic acid diethylamide or psilocybin? she walks towards the wall, maintaining her fixed stare and reaches forward to stroke it. She giggles as the melting wall begins to shimmy in time with the heavy beat coming from below. "This wall does not appear to be structurally sound" she says although I may well be experiencing the effects of special gummies. Nevertheless, I feel that I would be more comfortable outside. Is there dancing outside too? I would like to dance some more. I would also like a drink. I feel somewhat dehydrated."

Hayden's smile just widens at Deirdre's reply. But before she can respond with more than a raised eyebrow, she gives a little start at Eva's quick absorption.

"Sure Eva, let's get you some air and a drink with lots of fizzy bubbles."

She grabbed hold of Deirdre's hand, breaking up the ball she seemed to be trying to curl into and asked, "You coming too, JJ?"

"Oh sorry, I took you for more adventurous, my mistake. I guess you'd prefer to surround yourself with paintings and sculptures, monuments to the dead. I mean sure those lucky enough to be considered the greats, their names may echo on but that's it just there names. Life, life my friend, is found in blood, the heart sending it coursing through your body. Here give me your hand, don't worry I'm not going to cut you." Fahed's voice was intense but nonthreatening, he was sincere about helping Gavin live his best life...