CLOSED | Dylan's 15th Birthday

[codicies]

Who: Dylan Brock codicies, his housemates, and those invited to the party — which is pretty much everyone he's had a positive interaction with.
What: Dylan's 15th birthday party, a bonfire cookout!
When: October 8
Where: Home of Diana Prince in Little Love, KS
Content Warnings: none (but will label things if asked)

Dylan's 15th Birthday Bonfire

Toplevel Prompts:

SETUP

(CLOSED to Dylan's housemates & anyone who might have showed up early to help prep)

Setting up for the party beforehand.

FOOD

Autumn has set in. The daytime is cool, the evenings are chilly, and there's a bonfire roaring in one of Diana's fields. Dylan's been prepping food for the party all morning — There's sausages, s'more supplies, and shish kebabs stacked with meat & vegetables. There's even some sweet potatoes! He saw a video on Japanese street food and wanted to try cooking potatoes on the fire in foil.

As for drinks, of course water and soda are available, but he managed to borrow some coffee urns from a kind caterer in town in exchange for a little manual labor. Now he's got a great setup for hot coffee, hot chocolate, AND hot cider all evening!

There's also a VERY large sheet cake for serving later. He'd been offered a brain-shaped cake, but the pictures had been a little too realistic, and he didn't think he (or the guests) would find it all too appetizing.

Though he's a little afraid the brain cake is still coming out, whether he likes it or not, but the sheet cake will be what he uses to blow out the candles, thank you very much.

SWORDPLAY

One of the gifts Dylan received was a real-life sword from Diana! He's been taking lessons from her and is ready to try it out. There's a little clearing a little ways from the bonfire where he's trying it out. If you want, you can come and spar — with Dylan, with Diana, or even with each other. With swords, sticks, or even with fists!! Come join the impromptu Fight Club.

EDIT to add: there are real AND wooden swords available for sparring, as well as wooden & straw dummies to practice on as well!

GAME TIME

There are frisbees, a football, soccer balls, even a ninepin set?? Do you have these games in your world? There's all kinds of fun sports gear available. Or you could grab something at random and start a game of Calvinball.

FIRESIDE

With the daylight fading, the fire becomes the center of activity. As you roast marshmallows or weiners (or grab one of those potatoes out of the fire) everyone huddles around, seated on rocks, stumps or lawn chairs as we all sing songs and tell stories.

Any spooky tales from your homeworld? Any songs you'd like to sing? Dylan had gotten a few guitar lessons from Jaskier before he disappeared, so if you start singing, he'll try to follow along with chords!

FIREWORKS

oh my god who brought those. please don't set any crops on fire. EXTINGUISHERS ON STANDBY.

WILDCARD

Any Standard Bonfire Activities I've forgotten, go ahead and throw them in!

After-Party Sleepover

(CLOSED to Dylan's housemates + Nico, Will, Hunter, Hibiki, and Chris Yukine)

Six teenagers sleeping on couches & air mattresses in the living room, watching movies... what crimes will they commit?

Comments

[robintohood]

[That's... an odd statement to make. Is the kid just being weird? However, the vigilante detective part of Jason tugs at him and he has a guess to why Nico said that in such an odd way]

Yes and...?

[Jason decides to feign ignorance for now and see what happens. It's one of those times when Jason doesn't want to be right about what's really happening]

[demigoth]

And… I want to know why. And why you’re here.

[ Fair questions in his estimation. Resurrecting the dead can piss off a number of powerful gods. If this is something new, Nico would like to know before the Furies and an armload of psychopomps turn up. ]

I don’t want Dylan’s birthday party getting ruined because you get drug back.

[robintohood]

[It's serious. Magic isn't his forte but Jason guesses that's how the kid knows his full status. Most people and things don't seem notice.

He remains calm as he doesn't want to draw further attention and ruin Dylan's birthday party]

If you mean "here" as in the party, it's because Sleeper and Dylan invited me and I figured why not. Not often I leave the city. If you mean "here" as in the living world, it's kind of a complicated story. I've been like this for over five years.

Who are you?

[demigoth]

Nico di Angelo.

[ He has no real problem giving his name. While Sleeper and Dylan probably have looser rules regarding who gets invited to a party, they wouldn’t invite someone dangerous. Well, at least not in the stalking and murdering sense. ]

So it’s been five years…

[ That’s a long time to be missing and unnoticed. Nico decides it’s unlikely that anything will come of it tonight. Not his problem and not going to make it his problem.

He takes a shush kabob from the table, waves it at the guy like bye, and takes his leave. ]

[robintohood]

[Too late. After a conversation opener like the one Nico gave, Jason wants to know more. This might become a problem later down the road]

Yeah. Five years and no brain cravings if that also helps. I don't suppose you know about any creepy underground pools of glowing green liquid?

[demigoth]

[ Nico stops. Turns back.

There are five rivers in the Underworld, and one is, in fact, green. ]

What were you doing in the Archeron?

[ Aka the river of pain, the river of woe, the river of lost souls.

There’s a real river in Greece by the same name, but that’s not what he’s talking about. How's your Homer and Virgil? ]

[robintohood]

[The Archeron? Interesting. It's been awhile since Jason went in-depth with Greek mythology or read Dante's Inferno so it takes a moment for him to remember what it is.

Funny. He's never compared the Lazarus Pits to the Archeron but they're not entirely different either]

Don't know if the Lazarus Pits are what inspired the Greeks but I didn't have a choice in the matter. I was dumped there dead and then came out alive again.

[demigoth]

[ Right. Everyone else sees what they expect to see or what their brain can handle. ]

The dead don’t get many choices in the underworld. Heroes can choose rebirth, but that’s not an option for a lost soul like you. Who got you out?

[robintohood]

[It's a fair question to ask. People don't just casually come back from the dead]

Depends on what you mean by that. I came out of the Pit screaming and escaped the compound right after those waters resurrected me. The people who put me in there are the same ones who got me killed in the first place.

[demigoth]

What?

[ That doesn’t make any sense. The convoluted story doesn’t improve the guy’s credibility. ]

The Pit? Are you talking about your Lazarus Pit or the Pit?

[ Was he in Tartarus? The thought of it puts Nico right back in the pit. For a breathless beat, he’s standing on the flesh of the old Titan, breathing his acrid exhalations and praying that the growing blister doesn’t pop and release the monster growing within. He wants his sword. You’re not supposed to have swords at birthday parties. ]

[robintohood]

[It's easy for Jason to see how alarmed Nico is]

I'm talking about the Lazarus Pit. What's this other pit you're talking about?

[demigoth]

[ The question shakes him out of the flashback. ]

Tartarus. It's the only part of the Underworld called the Pit. I've never heard of a Lazarus Pit.

[robintohood]

It's probably for the best. A resurrection done through one of the Lazarus Pits isn't pretty.

[With Nico mentioning Archeron and now Tartarus, some questions arise in Jason]

Hades is real in your world then?

[demigoth]

Yes. It and he are real.

[ Because Hades can be either: the place and the god. Nico wants to clear this hurdle quickly without souring his mood further. This is, after all, a party. ]

And if he’s a “supervillain” in your world, keep it to yourself. I don’t care.

[robintohood]

[Jason shrugs unbothered. Between Nico being able to tell he died and his comments about the Greek underworld, he suspects Nico's got some kind of personal connection to Hades]

A god of the underworld doesn't automatically mean they're a villain. Just means they're in charge of death.

[demigoth]

[ The teen looks up at Jason with wide brown eyes. It really feels like the first time someone’s immediately got it. Will maybe understood from the start Hades wasn’t evil and those related to him weren’t tainted, but it took him years to shove that insight in Nico’s face.

Now here’s this formerly dead person concisely stating Nico’s position for him, when he has all the reason in the world and underworld to hate Hades. Nico’s surprised. ]

… Death itself is Thanatos.

[ He doesn’t quite know what to say. How to thank someone for a kindness that they aren’t aware they’re performing. ]

You’re a lot more clear-sighted than most people.

[ You’re weird. ]

[robintohood]

[Jason catches how surprised Nico looks after his comment about Hades. Seems like the kid's has had more than his fill of people misconstruing the concept of death]

It helps that I read a lot instead of just taking in the pop culture definitions. Hades and the other underworld gods are just doing their jobs. Nothing more. I've met real villains who are much worse.

[demigoth]

People don’t really get that. Maybe you’re right, and it’s because of pop culture. I don’t know.

[ He’s awful with pop culture, although he’s trying to glean enough off other kids that the gap isn’t so wide. It’s hard to make up for 80 missing years of cultural zeitgeists. Not just a few movies, but like. Metal. Synthesizers. Why every scandal ends in -gate. ]

There are real monsters. Being afraid of the Underworld isn’t going to do anything but make people afraid. Mortals are mortal. Most of them will be fine in the Underworld. Even the Fields of Asphodel aren’t horrible.

[robintohood]

[Jason nods as he patiently listens. Much of what Nico says lines up with how he feels about death. Death is just a part of nature like breathing air. It's murder and the subsequent fallout from it he has very dark feelings about]

Good to know. I don't know if it's because of the Lazarus Pit but I don't remember what I experienced in the afterlife.

[He sounds unbothered by it though. Most of the time it truly doesn't bother him. Why dwell on that when there are much more important and more pressing matters to attend to like finding his murderer]

There are things worse than death that someone could experience.

[demigoth]

There are things a thousand times worse than death.

[ Like being trapped in Tartarus for all eternity with no hope of respite and still choosing to sacrifice yourself to save a couple of demigod kids. Nico looks haunted.

He has to force himself to consider what's in front of him and not dwell on things he can't help right now. Nico thinks he knows why the guy wouldn't remember - the spirits in the Fields of Asphodel lose their sense of self. They’re adrift in death as they were in life. It’s not something to tell people. No one wants to hear that they’ll simply exist for eternity. It doesn't trouble them then, no need to trouble them now.

He's increasingly curious about this guy. His sister Hazel remembered her life, and Asphodel, because she was the daughter of Hades. But he doesn't remember his afterlife, and he's pretty spotty on how he returned. ]

Do you even remember who you were? Before you died?

[robintohood]

[Jason sees Nico's haunted look. Whoever he is, he must've been through a lot. He won't comment on that for now though. It's a very personal question to ask and not one most people would freely answer, much less to someone they just met]

Yeah. I still got all of my memories from before I died.

[Including every crowbar hit and the ticking of a bomb]

They're still as clear as they ever were.

[demigoth]

That shouldn’t be possible. Unless - hrm.

[ Nico looks at Jason more closely, not that looks particularly matter. Some demigods look like their godly parents favoured form. Will Solace and Percy Jackson, for example. Others, not so much. Hazel, Bianca and Nico have dark hair like Hades - or just because of their ethnicity.

He’s probably not related. Nico would rather know, because his father’s children were leaders of the Axis powers during World War II. Nico is a kitten compared to them. ]

Who’s your father? Have you met him?

[ He could try to be subtle, but Nico doesn’t care that much. It would take so long to work those questions into a normal conversation, ugh. He wants to eventually rejoin the party writ large.

Yeah, Dylan’s dad’s friend is going to think he’s odd. Nothing new there. ]

[robintohood]

[Jason hadn't expected their conversation go in this direction but he has a suspicion for why Nico's asking after telling him of his experiences with death]

Willis Todd and yeah. He was in and out of my life until one of my city's biggest criminals killed him. He wasn't much of a dad in the first place anyway.

[It's a blunt and maybe cold answer but it's also the truth. Jason's feelings for his biological father aren't the most positive]

[demigoth]

That sucks.

[ What is he supposed to say? He’s come from a world that someone had to save in order to get the gods to simply acknowledge their kids. Nico feels for this Todd person, but absentee parenting doesn’t get talked about much. ]

I don’t know what I was expecting you to say. Guess I’m not used to the whole “worlds” thing, even though I’m at a birthday party for a guy with tentacles.

[robintohood]

[A corner of Jason's lips quirk to try and ease the tension and awkwardness]

To be fair, I don't think you were expecting to meet a formerly dead guy today either.