Event | Yard Sale!

[ironwood]

Characters: Come one, come all!
Date: July 21st - July 27th
Location: The City of Keeliai
Situation: The rationing is officially lifted and the kedan are celebrating by conducting one citywide yard sale! Think big! Think small! Think tribbles! Think all!
Warnings/Rating: Tribbles. Lots of tribbles. Please indicate content warnings in subject headers as applicable.

The morning of the 21st kicks off with heralds roving about the city of Keeliai to declare that the rationing edict has been lifted and that citizens no longer have to contribute one-fifth of their productions (juulan or physical goods) to the communal stores maintained by the police force. These announcements trigger a state of celebration across the city as kedan drag months worth of hoarded items to the street to sell, steal, or trade in a wave of mercantile goodness that stretches for nearly a week. Not even the rising tide of tribbles seems to dampen their spirit, with kedan citywide finding new and inventive uses for the fuzzy paperweights.

Characters are free to do as they will during this event, with police oversight relaxed in the aftermath of the long rationing and strained relations. Impromptu sales out of suites will rarely be inspected and purchase made elsewhere are no longer monitored. Everyone is taking a breath of fresh air, so to speak, and most do not want their first fun in months to be ruined.

OOC: See the OOC announcement for details and this post for subheaders in which you may wreak havoc celebrate the lifting of the rationing. Feel free to start your own thread header if you like! <3

Fire Sector | Earth Sector | Metal Sector | Water Sector | Wood Sector | Other

Comments

[backwordscompatible]

[Annabeth was right in that respect: Zatanna wasn't looking for much more than understanding at that point. The more familiar the older girl was with a situation first-hand, the more reliable her advice could be.]

Did you like him at the same time?

[sophos]

[She frowns a little, edging on but not quite uncomfortable.]

Why are you asking? [Hey, anyone else would probably just get told off at this point.]

[backwordscompatible]

Because I might...have a slight problem.

[Which may or may not be related to the prior line of questioning.]

[sophos]

[It takes her only about a second to pick up on what Zatanna means. Her frown dissipates a bit.] It was at the same time, for a while. I'm guessing that's your problem.

[backwordscompatible]

[Clever girl]

What'd you do?

[sophos]

[Ha.]

[Haha.]

[Hahahahaha.]

[Annabeth sort of freezes up again, turns her gaze outward to the crowd.] It's complicated. And probably not at all like - whatever you're in.

[ONE OF THEM DIED ok that's not the only reason she ended up with Percy but you know. She still doesn't exactly want to talk about all the details. But she recognizes that Zatanna's sort of coming at her for advice, and well, that hits a spot, one that doesn't really want to let her down, one that denotes a certain level of trust between the two of them.] I realized the differences in my feelings, is what it comes down to.

[backwordscompatible]

[She did trust Annabeth. Not quite to the degree of her closest, closest friends. But closer than just about any other girl on the Turtle. Which is what she needed right now: a girl to talk to. Her life was surrounded by boys...which was half her problem.]

Yeah, I tried that already. Didn't work out quite as well as I'd hoped.

[sophos]

[Annabeth looks over at her friend, still kind of fidgety.] There's not really an easy answer. Circumstances played heavily into it. I - but Percy and I, we've been through a lot together.

[backwordscompatible]

I can tell. You also spend a lot of time together, too.

Meanwhile, Robin's always off doing the shadows-and-the-night thing, and I'm starting to think Dick's an even worse workaholic than his dad. They're both equally absent a lot of the time.

[Which she didn't mind so much. She even understood, particularly when it came to Robin. It was just...yet another thing the two boys had in common.]

[sophos]

[She opens her mouth to protest, but finds she can't.] We always have. [And she tells herself that's the only reason.]

Something tells me their lack of presence isn't your biggest concern.

[backwordscompatible]

Anyone ever tell you you're too smart for your own good?

[Okay, no, that wasn't really fair. Annabeth was just smart enough. Also right; inaudibly sighing, she leaned back a bit, averting her gaze as she managed to mumble out something coherent enough for her conversation companion to hear.]

I might've...accidentally kissed Dick. In his room.

[sophos]

[She can't help the slightly smug look that slides onto her face at the first remark.]

Better than in a volcano. [Wait, she didn't meant to say that out loud, oops??] But I don't think you can accidentally kiss someone.

[backwordscompatible]

['Volcano?' she mouths inaudibly, wondering if Annabeth was making some random joke.]

I don't know. Sounds pretty hot to me.

[Jokes aside, she and Robin had actually been around a volcano. It was hot, alright, but not the good kind.]

Well, it certainly wasn't on purpose. [That was her story, and she was sticking to it.] He'd managed to salvage most of my stuff after the whole satellite mess, and brought me back to his place to get them. I was so happy, I just...reacted.

[sophos]

[There's a moment of pause, then Annabeth snorts.] I wouldn't recommend the interior of Mount Saint Helens for anything, really, hot or otherwise.

[But she listens, her lips turning up in a slight smile, but nothing teasing.] There's nothing wrong with that. I hope it didn't - go over badly? [Like you kiss him for the first time and then he doesn't bring it up again for another whole goddamn year stupid boys.]

[backwordscompatible]

Noted.

[Mental note: no Mount Saint Helens for future dates. Annabeth has spoken.]

...no, just the opposite actually. [He hadn't really mentioned it since, but his reaction had been enough to tell her he'd liked it.] That's the problem

I'm starting to think a rejection would've been easier.

[sophos]

[She watches Zatanna for a moment, and from the look on her face in combination with the words, she's pretty sure she can figure out the gist.]

[Annabeth pulls an understanding face.] Hasn't said a word about it, huh? Has there been any sign at all on his end?

[backwordscompatible]

[A shrug. It wasn't so much the silence itself that bothered her as it was the reason behind it.]

Haven't seen him much since.

But he'd offered to walk me back to Kyle's after it happened, and we talked for most of the way, so it's not like he immediately starting avoiding me. He just works a lot. I think.

[sophos]

[She frowns, thoughtfully.]

He's just not really talking about the kiss itself. [Pause.] Boys can be really dumb. Even with potentially legitimate excuses. Don't be afraid to ask him about it, if he keeps avoiding it.

[backwordscompatible]

Who said I was afraid?

[sophos]

I didn't mean to imply you were, just - you know. If you want to, it's probably better than waiting forever to see if he does first.

[backwordscompatible]

...I'll think about it.

[Truthfully, if this had only been between herself and Dick, she would've confronted the boy long ago. The problem was that it wasn't that simple. Because when was it ever?]

But what about Robin?

[sophos]

[She sighs. Right. The complications. She's too familiar with that, as well.]

You feel the same way about both of them? It - it might seem that way, but there could be a difference you haven't realized yet. Experiences were important to me. It could be the same for you.

[backwordscompatible]

Yeah. I do.

[She's tried to separate the two of them in her mind. The circumstances around their respective meetings were certainly different, yeah. Robin had been on the Team her dad introduced her to, and they were flirting even before their first mission together. Dick had been a waiter at a restaurant in Fire. Similar tones of conversation had ensued. Robin was an exciting mystery whom she shared a very strong bond with. Dick was an open book whom she shared too many similarities with to ignore.]

[So different on the outside, yet they still both made her feel exactly the same.]

They remind me too much of each other.

...you know, this would be so much easier if I could just combine them into same person. I don't suppose that's possible, is it?

[sophos]

[She snorts.] Easier, sure, but not possible, and probably not fair to you or them.

[backwordscompatible]

Can't blame me for asking.