Summerwood (Monsterhearts 2)

Game Master neonblues

JJ and Ashton:

I'm gonna suggest that Not!Deirdre gains the "Loose Cannon" condition, and that this would also apply to the real Deirdre (since it could potentially affect her reputation). In return, JJ could gain the "Overprotective" condition.

Deirdre gives JJ a blank stare, then laughs. "Gosh, you're so serious! I just want a little time with Ashton here. We've barely even gotten to know each other!" She leans in and narrows her eyes at JJ, but continues smiling, speaking softly. "Unless you'd like him to get to know you? I bet you've got a secret or two that he'd love to learn."
-----
Hayden and Deirdre

The planchette spells out: NOTSURE
Then, after a short pause, it follows up with: LONELYDRIFTINGDISCONNECTED

Deirdre feels a pang of sympathy for Xavier. Despite Hayden's warnings, she can't help but wonder what she can do to help the lonely ghost. And in that moment, she unknowingly peers into a world she wasn't meant to see...

Gaze Into the Abyss: 2d6 - 1 ⇒ (4, 6) - 1 = 9

Deirdre looks at Hayden with pleading eyes. "I think he really needs somebody to be his friend. Can we help him?"

Damnit. We should just go

"Yeah. Let's help him. You got a pen or something in your purse?"

Hayden got up to look around the room, scanning for something worth drawing on...

Hayden:
Among the other objects on the shelf, there's a blank looseleaf notebook.

"Aww, c'mon. Deirdre's finally ready to have some fun, let her!" says Ashton to 100% definitely Deirdre. "Go talk to Kyle! See if he wants to dance with us."

"You were...gonna tell me something?" slurs Ashton to absolutely-real-Deirdre, still a little too drunk to follow what's going on.

Perfect

She brought the notebook back over to the board and asked, "So what did you look like, Xavier?"

Eva tilts her head, considering Sam's request. "I'm sorry Sam, but I promised my friends that I would wait here for them. They said they would be back soon. Also, a problem occurs to me." she says, fixing him with a curious look. "If this 'monster' can make itself look like anyone, then logically, you could be the monster. Ergo, it would not be sensible to go with you. Can you not make your own way home? Where is your home?"

"Fine, your funeral." JJ mutters as he stalks away. His expression brightens as he heads back to where he asked Kyle to wait for him.

"C'mon, JJ, don't be that way," says Ashton, turning back to his roommate. His words are a little sharper than they were a moment before, cutting through the alcohol as he speaks to him. "You don't have to be worried about every little thing here. You aren't going to get in trouble, Deirdre just wants dance, and I can handle pretty much anything at this party, don't you worry. So grab another drink, grab Kyle, and come back and try to have some fun."

Shut Someone Down, tagging Overprotective: 2d6 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (3, 6) + 1 - 1 = 9

JJ, take the condition 'No Fun' and I get a condition from you

Ashton:

"C'mon, Ash." Deirdre takes your hand and pulls you further into the crowd of dancers. She smiles at you and dances playfully, arms resting on your shoulders.

"You know, I'm pretty sure he's obsessed with you. Not that I can blame him." She grins mischievously, sticking her tongue between her teeth. "You really are sexy." She runs her fingernails across your back.

"It's such a shame that... well, you know."
---
JJ:

Kyle is where you left him. He gives you a concerned glance, sipping his drink. "Everything okay? What was all that about?" His aura has diminished slightly.
---
Hayden and Deirdre:

Deirdre's pen rises uneasily, moves toward the notebook, and starts to draw a rough sketch. It's possible Xavier doesn't have very good art skills, or maybe it's just difficult for him to manipulate objects in fine detail in his current state. In any case, his drawing isn't especially lifelike. From the attempt at shading, you are able to tell that he has dark skin, as well as short hair and a fairly athletic build.
-----
Eva:

Sam rubs his eyes. "It's okay. I can call an Uber. Let me just... go get my phone." He gets out of the hot tub, dripping wet, and starts wandering toward a pile of clothes nearby.

"Trust me, I know. There's a reason that I change in the closet back at our room," says Ashton, who had never actually felt uncomfortable around JJ before, but now that he's drunk and Deirdre has mentioned it--yeah, she's right. "Maybe if he hooks up with Kyle he'll finally loosen up a bit. Oh! That's why he was talking to Kyle. I hope I didn't mess that up."

"A shame that what?" says Ashton, still too drunk to pick up on what she's insinuating.

Ashton:

Deirdre twirls gracefully. "Oh, Ash, you don't need to pretend anymore. I already know." She winks. "We all do."

Deirdre frowns at the sketch, a dark question gnawing at her. "Xavier... How did you die?"

"Know what?" says Ashton, trying to piece together what she's talking about through his alcohol muddled brain. He realizes he's starting to sweat a little and he backs away from Deirdre by a few steps but continues to dance. "What are you talking about?"

Hayden and Deirdre:

The ouija board's planchette moves on its own, without you needing to touch it yourself. It spells out: ACCIDENT

Ashton:

Deirdre laughs. "It's okay! I'm the one who should be embarrassed. I can't believe I didn't notice it sooner." She steps closer to you. "I think it's great! I've always wanted a gay bestie. You can help me pick out outfits, we can go out to the club together... It'll be so much fun!"

"I'm sorry." Hayden smiled at the slightly crude sketch. "It looks like you were very handsome."

She picked up the pen, and began a quick sketch of herself and Deirdre next to Xavier on the page. "Is that any better?" She kept the drawing pretty simple, wanting to keep her additions matching the style of Xavier, but she couldn't help but spend some extra time on making Deirdre's eyes pop.

"I--what? Why would you say that," he flusters, stopping dancing and backing away from Deirdre. How the hell could she know that? Did Xavier tell her? He wasn't actually sure that Xavier even existed. He had been so careful and she had figured it out just like. Had she said anything to anybody? He had two options: admit it or do what he had always done in situations like this: lie through his teeth.

"You must still be high from Hayden's gummies," he says, turning away from her. "And maybe read a little less fanfiction. Not everybody's gay, even at Summerwood."

Shut Someone Down: 2d6 - 1 ⇒ (6, 3) - 1 = 8

I'm going to take 1 forward

Ashton:

Take a condition that we'll call "Doth Protest Too Much" as a result of the middling roll.

Deirdre stops dancing and grimaces, a bit condescendingly. "Ashton. Come on. We all see it. Everyone's just been too polite to say anything. But you don't have to pretend with me." She reaches out to pat you on the shoulder, smiling innocently. "It's just us girls, after all."

"F*@& off," says Ashton, knocking her hand off his back and retreating from the dance floor, his (figurative) tail tucked between his legs.

Run Away: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (5, 3) + 3 = 11

Ashton:

Deirdre doesn’t follow you. In fact, she backs away and fades into the crowd as you flee, smiling all the while.
———
Hayden and Deirdre:

The planchette moves to the space on the board marked YES.

Ashton, take a Reckless condition from that middling Shut Down.

JJ gets back to Kyle. "Oh, not much, just some drama in the study group. She's been into this other girl we know, but I think something happened between them, and she's acting out. Maybe. I don't know.." He blows out an exasperated breath.

"It's not that important." JJ looks up at Kyle. "Why don't you tell me more about yourself? I don't know much about you, but I get the idea that you're into me, at least a bit. Call it really good gaydar." He raises his eyebrows, and half-laughs.

JJ reaches for Kyle's hand. "I'm into you, though, and I want to see where this goes."

Fahed rejoins the throng of merrymaking when he notices a large red head tell what appeared to be one of the girls he had walked in with to "f~$@ off", as the two separated the lady vanished into the crowd and the young man exited the dance floor. Intrigued by the events Fahed decides to approach Ashton, "you alright big man?"

JJ:

Wide-eyed, Kyle snaps his hand back reflexively. “Whoa. I’m not...” He seems to realize his reaction and tries to ease back to a more casual posture. “Um, sorry, man. I think I may have given you the wrong idea. I’m straight.”
Kyle’s aura does not shift; it is still quite bright.

"I'm fine," says Ashton, rapidly sobering up after his encounter with 'Deirdre'. "Sorry. Some people just don't know how to act at a party, you know?"

"I'm Ashton," he says, offering Fahed his hand. "So are you also crashing this party, or did you actually get an invite?"

Eva watches as Sam climbed from the hot tub, sorry to see him go, but determined to remain where she was until the others got back. She was beginning to feel quite hungry and so, opened the baggy and slipped another not-quite-as-special gummy into her mouth. As her two remaining companions focussed on each other, ignoring her, she peered around, wondering how much longer Hayden and Deirdre would be. After all, rubbing someone's back couldn't take all that long, and they said they'd be back soon.

"Fahed, Invited surprisingly enough, although I assume I am the minority," he replies shaking Ashtons hand. "Here alone?

"I was here with friends," says Ashton with a snort and a wave of his hand, "but they're off doing whatever. If anybody offers you a 'special' gummy, don't say yes. The alcohol here is perfectly fine anyways. How about you?"

"Okay umm.... Did you use to live here? Or is this where you died?
You can ask us questions too, if you want."

Deirdre nods. "Yes, we want to help you, however we can."

Not sure if Xavier can use his String on me to benefit him, or if I could somehow give him more Strings.

"Straight? Really..?" JJ's eyebrows crease, as he considers.. "Are you sure..?" he says, in a weaker voice, as he leans back against a wall.

Hayden and Deirdre:

The planchette spells out: BOTH
Then, after a short pause: TAKEBOARDWITHYOU
And then: CANFOLLOW

Xavier will spend his string on Deirdre to tempt her to take the talking board with her when she leaves.

JJ:

Kyle gives you an indignant look (but underneath it, you can detect a hint of fear and longing, and his aura continues to glow steadily). "Yeah. Sorry."
He begins to walk away.

Deirdre will take the XP.

Deirdre nods as she picks up the ouija board. She looks at Hayden. "Maybe we should go get Eva and find the boys. If we put our heads together, we might be able to help Xavier."

"Okay. We should pick up Eva first. Either she's stressing out that we left her in the hot tub, or she's been stress-eating pot-gummies. Which hey, she wouldn't be stressed anymore. Oh! Free of cataracts too."

"Also, we should take a diversion by one of those clothes piles - this seems more and more like a pants-on situation."

Deirdre nods "Of course. Lead the way!"

Hayden, Deirdre, and Eva:

Returning to the pool area, Hayden and Deirdre find Eva waiting patiently in the hot tub with a couple who don't seem to be paying much attention to her presence.

Deirdre is relieved to see Eva is okay. She's already begun worrying for the redhead when she's not around.

"Hey, Eva. Dry off and get dressed. There's something we need to talk about."

"Though hey - did you make any new friends? Someone was being very distracting last time we were in the tub, so I don't know anyone else's name." She smiles warmly but vaguely in the direction of the equally distracted couple.

Eva smiles as the others return, her eyes a little unfocussed. At Eva's words, she nods and climbs out of the tub, dries herself and pulls on her clothes. "I met someone called Sam." Eva replies to Hayden "I don't think we made friends. He left after her told me that his dead friend who is a monster and can be anybody is here somewhere."

"Oh," says Deirdre. "We met a ghost."

"His friend who can be anyone is definitely dead though, right?"

"I'm assuming that wasn't you, Xavey?"

Hayden narrows her eyes, "You didn't keep any of the special gummies to give Sam, did you Eva? Cheek 'em or something?"

"Special gummies huh... those sound like a bad night. And I am flying solo tonight. So what are we drinking?"

"That's what he said." Eva replies to Hayden. "He did have one not-very-special gummy, and he said he was drunk, but I don't think he'd had a special gummy. Maybe his friend was your ghost? "

Something in JJ's demeanor snaps, as the broken, unsure, creased-eyebrow expression gives way to something firmer, more sarcastic, and even a little dismissive.

"Wow, you must be a great swimmer, you're doing laps on De-Nile river there." JJ snarks, his tone almost angry. He folds his arms in front of his chest, and cocks an eyebrow. "You had me going for a second there, but no, I don't believe it."

"You can lie to others, you can lie to yourself, but me? I can see it in you, plain as daylight. When you want to start dealing with the truth, come find me." JJ starts to walk off, before thinking better of it. Instead, he turns, grabs one of the finer liquor bottles and a shot glass, and THEN walks off into another room.

I'd like to either spend a string to make Kyle follow JJ him, or put a condition on him, something like "denial of truth". Exact wording is flexible.

"I don't think Xavier is person that Sam was talking about," Deirdre tells Eva. "A shapechanger? It sounds crazy but... We are trying to help an actual ghost right now, so maybe it's not that far-fetched. How many weird creatures are at this party tonight, anyway?"

Flanked by a faerie and an artificial person, Deirdre is blissfully unaware of the irony of her question.

"There...there was a robot serving beer, I think? And also I found the good alcohol. Rich people stuff. Tastes terrible but it's got to be expensive for some reason, right?" says Ashton. "Personally, I don't consider myself drunk until I'm five drinks in and I'm...seven, probably? What are you drinking?"

JJ:

Let's go with the condition; we'll call it just "In Denial."

Taken aback, Kyle just stares at you agape as you exit to the next room (which happens to be the living room where you met Malphas).

Eva pauses in thought for a moment. "I don't know." she replies to Deirdre. "Although I am not certain what constitutes 'weird'."