interfaith dinner mingle!!

[stefanged]

Who: Interfaith Center regulars & the not-so-regulars (party crashers are welcome too!!)
Broadcast: Nope
Action: Interfaith Center on the Iskaulit
When: Forward-dated to November 4th

[The Interfaith Center sounds far more bustling and busy than usual - and anyone peering inside would quickly figure out that a communal dinner is underway! Take off your shoes and walk in: the lounge has extra tablecloths on the floor as well as buffet tables with non-alcoholic beverages and all sorts of food, including Jordanian cuisine (or the outer space equivalent of Jordanian food).

The board games are out of their hiding nooks; the furniture's arranged for the maximum seating possible; and even the teddy bears donated by Kitty & Winn are out for cuddling, should anyone want them.

The kitchen's bustling with helpers - Stefan's running around at vamp-speed to make sure everything's a) done on time and b) cooked to perfection - but he sure wouldn't mind an extra hand. And if you're still not up for some food? Well, the prayer rooms are open as usual. There's always a quiet moment to be found, even if the laughter's louder and the scent of freshly-baked mansaf's wafting through the long corridors.

Anyone and everyone who's ever been inside the Interfaith Center has been invited (via text message - and Stefan even used the fancy emoji). If you're not particularly faithful or devout? Well, drop by anyways. There's more than enough food to spare.]

Comments

[stefanged]

Right? My grandparents did this once a week, and now I'm not sure how they ever managed.

[He returns that grin, ducking his head. This feels like such high praise coming from Eithan.]

I've always wanted to. Back home, my old boss did these... communal dinners? They were all about building a community, and since we're all stuck together, we might as well get to know each other.

[deviances]

Maybe there's some secret we don't know yet. Or it gets easier with practice. [ Beat. ] Or your grandparents and my whole family are just crazy. Who knows?

[ Nod! ] Yeah, might as well. And hey, nothin' brings people together like food and a good time - even people from whole different worlds! Some things are universal I guess.

[stefanged]

Could be all three. You never know.

[He sips on that mouse blood as if it holds all the secrets of the multiverse - or maybe he's just hungry. He's been here practically all day.]

I'd hope so. I don't think I wanna meet someone who doesn't like the idea of dinner and board games.

[deviances]

[ Totally valid - dinner organizing really takes a lot out of a guy... ]

Seriously. Not that I know any of these games, pretty sure, but that just means I get to learn. And then win later.

[ Yep, there's that grin again~ ]

[stefanged]

Okay, I know you're not from Earth, but you seriously don't know Jenga?

[There's a dangerous gleam in Stefan's eye.]

We're gonna fix that tonight. Win OR lose, I don't even care, because you've been seriously deprived.

[deviances]

Nope. What's a jenga?

[ But oooh, that looks like a challenge~ ]

Sure - bring it on! Got some time before the baking's done?

[stefanged]

It's a stacking game. You have these slabs of wood, and the whole point's to build a tower out of them as high as you can.

[He sets his jar of blood aside so he can mimic the actions with his hands.]

We've got a whole half hour. I think we can go for it.

[deviances]

Stackin' pieces of wood, huh? I'm assumin' there's some sort of catch to that?

[ But hey, Stefan says there's time, so he's definitely gonna start walking toward where all of the board games are~ ]

[stefanged]

Mm, not really. They're cut in a way that makes them interlockable, so you have to alternate layers. As far as games go, it's straight-forward.

[He'll turn the timer on his watch before joining Eithan. Every game's laid out tonight, and there's Jenga, right inside a cloth sack. He sits down by a table, opening the sack and dumping the pieces onto the table.]

Wanna go first?

[deviances]

Eh, why not?

[ Here goes nothing - he grabs one of the pieces and starts with the tower... ]

Man, who even comes up with this stuff...

[stefanged]

Really cool people do. [He laughs, taking a piece and placing it down on the table.] Come on, Eithan, don't they have board games in your world?

[deviances]

Fair enough - I meant more like, wish I could be a fly on the wall whenever people talked about makin' some of these games a thing. You know?

[ Oh look, his turn~ ]

Yeah, we've got some. More in one realm than the other, but still. If we ever come across anything like 'em, I'll totally show you.

[stefanged]

Please do. We've been to enough crazy places that board games from your world should be totally plausible.

[His turn! He's not even trying to be strategic.]

If not, we've got enough engineers and artsy people. We'll make it.

[deviances]

[ Eithan would be a little more strategic if he could get a firmer grasp of... how to be strategic about this. For now? Nah, just stacking. ]

Well, there's one my sister quit playin' with me 'cause it was mostly just luck. Move around the board, try to get your piece to the center first, but draw cards every now and then that could make people lose turns, trade spaces, go forward or backward some number of squares...

[stefanged]

That sounds familiar. I think I had something like it at home....

[Look, half the fun is watching this thing fall, so! He will be okay with just stacking.]

But honestly, I played this murder-mystery game more than anything else.

[deviances]

I take it you really like murder mystery stuff? 'Cause between that, and the book...

[ but hey, he read it~ friendship, yo. ]

[stefanged]

Kind of. I like puzzles, and figuring things out: half the fun of a mystery is getting each clue and seeing how they fit together.

[He shrugs, taking another block and stacking it, this time with a bit more thought.]

Doesn't have to be murder. It's just - the good ones usually are.

[deviances]

Yeah, murders or heists. Y'know, the long, elaborate ones where a bunch of stuff is goin' on at once.

[ Eithan's still not putting too much thought into things - it's slightly instinctual! The thing about knowing how to blow shit up? You also have to know exactly what makes it stand so well... ]

[stefanged]

Exactly. The culprit can spend years on their schemes, only for it all to unravel in a single night.

[Maybe that's what Stefan likes the most: finding the truth and setting everyone free from the fog and the lies.]

I'll read anything, though, if it's got a solid story.

[deviances]

[ That's a good thing to like - Eithan would agree whole-heartedly. ]

I'm... kinda picky, admittedly. [ Shrug. ] There's gotta be a lot of action. And I don't really like readin' about regular day-to-day stuff, unless it's got a point. You know? And fuck readin' about fictional politics, I do the real shit on the daily just 'cause of my family and the estate stuff. No thanks.

[stefanged]

Not so much anymore, right? As much as I hate political intrigue, I haven't seen a lot of it lately.

[He might be viewing the world through rose-tinted glasses, and he'd own up to it now, but on their end? There isn't a ton of interpersonal conflict.]

Gimme a couple of days. I think I could pull together a better reading list than last time.

[deviances]

Yeah, true. Not like I have all that to worry about while I'm here.

[ That would have come out a lot more bitter if he were actually, you know, thinking about it. But no, it's just fact. ]

Heh, why not! Thanks, man.

[ Meanwhile, he's going to wonder how he keeps making friends with readers... baffling. ]

[stefanged]

No problem. It's the least I can do, all things considered.

[Eithan has incredible taste in friends (and nerds)!! They'll keep stacking and stacking, and they'll probably be at it for a while - but honestly, Stefan can't think of anywhere else he'd rather be.]