bottlecaplogs | October Catchall! (a Mix of Open and Closed)

Since his chat with Bigby regarding the Archives (if one can really call them that), Cedric the Murkrow decides he ought to check out the place himself in the hopes of discerning whatever little information they have - or, better yet, find someone with access to the elusive "special collections". It's Halloween, surely that means it won't be busy, right?

He can't carry a map in flight, however, which means he somewhat misses the mark and winds up in the wildest holiday gathering he's ever seen. What is this, Hexley Hall graduation? He doesn't recognise anybody and therefore has no interest in joining what he presumes is a costume party. Though, he must admit, the aroma of whatever food they're serving is incredibly enticing, and he finds himself wandering in its direction as he attempts to slip out of the event unnoticed.

He will likely fail, since the smell leads him right into one of the houses where he stands out like a sore thumb even more. He's not dressed up, after all ~~(though if he had his robes, he'd make a perfect Professor Plum)~~.

It certainly was a wild party for sure outside of the room that has the incredibly enticing scent of pierogis. The door is unlocked, making it easy for Cedric to enter inside of, a rather nice little townhome where Dolly perks up upon seeing Cedric come inside. Costumes were lined on a rack for those wanting to play dress up for the game, small game board, a tiny skeletal doll that's seen some nicer days for sure, and of course, the huge platter of pierogis

Oh! This is a new face for sure! Dolly goes to trot up to Cedric, happy to greet the new comer to the first test run of the Clue game. Then again, there have been a lot of new faces tonight at the Lum Berry Housing, not entirely sure why though. Good news for Cedric, this is the far more calmer scenery than the current wild party outside of the housing units.

"Hi there! I take it you're here to test run the board game with us?"

It is impossible to ignore that platter as soon as it's in sight - he's never had such dumpling-looking things before, but there's a first taste for everything. He's about to beeline for a closer look when some pink fox suddenly starts talking to him-

"Gah! Oh my, this isn't the Archives, is it? So sorry, I must have taken a wrong turn and wound up in this lovely... house! Well, I won't disrupt your splendid little party, so I'll just be on my way-"

Somehow, it's not until he's threatening to swoop over and snag a pierogi anyway that her question finally registers, causing him to swing back.

"Did you say 'board game'?"

Well...that was incredibly brazen right there! Dolly was a bit shocked for a moment, but recomposed herself. Not sure what party Cedric was talking about, but he did seem curious, might as well introduce a newcomer to the wonderful game of Clue!

"That I did, I had a quest earlier on recreating this board game back where I came from as a form of entertainment once winter hits. Would you like to join in?"

Dolly goes to show the little makeshift game board with the game pieces and costumes that come with it. It looks to be a fun little murder mystery game of sorts.

"You may also help yourself to some of the pierogis, we ended up with a lot of them and plenty to share."

He picks up on her distress and immediately feels bad. That wasn't meant to be a rejection, he was just trying to slip out unnoticed. Now the opposite has sort of happened, but he'll play along if only to please the friendly fox lady. Not to mention those things apparently called "pierogis" do look delicious.

That being said, he just stares blankly at what she shows him. The game seems very alien to him; costume parties, he knows, but mystery games are lost on him.

"If there are game pieces, then why do we need to dress up? And how exactly does the... 'murdering' happen?"

So far Dolly is learning, some of the former humans can be wild than the ones back in Cheddarburg. Upside for Cedric, he has manners and isn't a feral former human, unlike the musical dino dragon kid. Those were huge pluses for Dolly in her book.

"Well for some folks, they like to play out the character's role in the game. Dressing up is just one of the fun features, sort've like an improv theatre game if I had to describe it." Dolly thinks over carefully on how to explain the make believe murder...that one will be a challenge. After some considerations, Dolly picks up the Mr. Boddy doll to show.

"The set up for the murder scene with Mr. Boddy here as our stand in for this game. The goal is to figure out who of the suspects murdered the Millionaire before the culprit escapes."

"Hmm, well I do have a knack for the theatrics." We know, Cedric. "I suppose I could give it a go just this once."

He observes the board, the nearby costumes, and the figure Dolly's holding up; yep, he's definitely getting engrossed. The names of the characters are quite obvious, but then again, drama is rarely ever subtle. "And how does the murderer know they're the one who must escape?"

"Wonderful! I'll help you get situated then and you can help yourself to the pierogis, we ended up with to many of them somehow."

It is an incredibly well set up game and so organized too, just very meticulous organizational skills for the game ready for the testing. Dolly's existence is drama, this is pretty much her natural environment of sorts as she smiles. "Oh it's through deductions of the murder weapons laid out as well as where the characters were at during when Mr. Boddy was murdered." She holds up Mr. Boddy the fossil doll in full glory.

"Don't mind if I do!" He's all too eager to snag a couple... wait, what's hygiene etiquette in the Pokémon world? Hmmmm, he'd better pick them up with his talons just in case. Once they're in his beak, his eyes open wide as he lets out a gasp of joy. "Delicious!"

He gazes at the weapons, then once again at the doll of the victim. He swears he heard of some kingdom back in the EverRealm that inflicted pain through doll mutilation, but he opts to tentatively assume this is only for representation. After all, it's not like this Mr. Boddy is a real person, right? "And who do you play in all of this, Miss... ribbon fox hostess?"

"Goodness, I never really did introduce myself, haven't I? People called me Dolly back where I was before." Dolly extends a feeler ribbon to shake with given the no thumbs deal in polite greeting.

Dolly doesn't waste a moment in explaining her role in the test run for the recreated Clue game, pretty excited that folks were interested in it. "I'm just the host for the game, overseeing it and giving the rules run down of how it works. I'm also here to take notes if there's any adjustments to be made to keep the game fun for everyone involved."

It is not until the moment she reaches out that he realises the ribbons are actually part of her body. So when one extends to him like some sort of furry tentacle, he goes rigid like a pole and stares at it for far too long to be considered polite. Finally, he recomposes himself and gingerly accepts the limb with a wing. "A-a pleasure, Dolly. You can call me Cedric."

He lets out the tiniest sigh of relief when she moves on to answer his question. "Right, since it's a 'test', after all. So, what would you like me to do?"

Yes, sure is a crowd pleaser these flesh ribbons are! Dolly has gotten very used to the reaction about them. Good news, they work extremely well for hand substitutes! With a smile, Dolly's ribbon feeler goes to shake Cedric's wing. "It's incredibly nice to meet you too Cedric."

Dolly thinks for a moment as she goes to let Cedric look over the available player pieces. "If you'd like, would you be up for picking out which character you'd like to play for the game?"

To his credit, he tries to be cool during the shake, but it's hard to ignore the way it moves against his feathers. Calm, Cedric, calm, it's only for a few seconds.

Grateful for something else to think about, he glances again at the pieces. "I suppose I could. Do they have any personalities beyond their respective hue?"

The flesh ribbons are soft like peach fuzz as Dolly finishes the 'hand' shake with a smile. Yep, came to fully accept her unnerving flesh based ribbons of horror.

"Goodness, they sure do, though Mr. Green is an odd one if I'm being fair with you after going through multiple personality updates throughout the years back where I'm from." Dolly goes to get up the Mightyena Mr. Green figure to show Cedric.

It's strange to associate a Mightyena with Mister Green when the one he's so used to is female. No, no matter the "updated" personality, he certainly can't represent that.

So, naturally, he gravitates toward his signature colour. "What about the Plum fellow?"

Professor Plum? A wonderful choice of character in Dolly's eyes as she gets up the Polteageist Professor Plum figure to show to Cedric, smiling warming to share.

"He's a fun one, Professor Plum is a highly intelligent Archeologist from a major university."

"Archaeologist, hm? A human culture academic."

Or, in this case, Pokémon culture academic. Much like how he feels at the moment, seeing as he was literally looking for the Archives when he stumbled upon this party.

"Yes, he will do."

The excitement to hear that made Dolly's eyes shine a bit as she gives Cedric the mini figure of Professor Plum. Archeology was an incredibly fun subject to study for crafts, Dolly pretty much ingrained that passion into her own familiars back home. It had some mix results to say the least!

"Excellent choice, Professor Plum is a classic. Would you like to dress up for the part too? We have some Professor Plum costumes on the rack over there."

He gingerly wraps his wing around the purple teapot - wait a minute, isn't this guild's leader a teapot? Oh well. He admires the craftsmanship until the question hits his ears and his eyes adopt a sort of deer(ling)-in-headlights look.

"D-dress up? Me?"

He hasn't donned a costume since Trick-or-Treating as a kid, is this normal?

The smell of first time dressing up as an adult was strong as Dolly perks up.

Dolly goes to show the outfit for Professor Plum and...oh it's actually really dapper looking. It's a nice plum purple coloration to the jacket that isn't too outlandish, it matches up with the figurine fairly well.

"If you wanted to, definitely. It is however completely optional."

He stares at the jacket with uncertainty, but Dolly will notice a hint of intrigue in his eyes as well. That shade... is not far from the colour of his robe, honestly. But how do you even wear such a thing as a Pokémon, and will one made for a broad Polteageist look too round on a small bird like himself...?

Gulp. Only one way to find out, he supposes. Slowly, he goes up to the outfit and allows one side to drape over a wing. Instead of saying anything, he winds up lost in thought as he gazes down at the fabric. It feels... oddly familiar, almost comforting... yet a painful reminder of what he no longer is while he 's here...

It's that hint of intrigue that has Dolly's attention as she lets Cedric try on the costume jacket. The jacket did certainly look smart on Cedric, it was a good fit on him in Dolly's opinion. Patiently, Dolly went to let Cedric get readjusted to wearing an outfit once more, it likely had been a while.

"You really pull off Professor Plum's look wonderfully, the plum purple looks lovely too." Dolly was pretty positive about the look as she chirped that one out in a warm tone.

Her words knock him back to reality. "Huh- you think so?" But he's already letting out a smile as he looks over himself. "Yes, I suppose I do. Purple does make me quite becoming... in my proper form, anyway."

Sigh, he misses his own robes... and his wand... and his workshop... no, he mustn't dwell. He carefully removes the costume from its spot and dons it proper; it is a little big on him, but not as much as he expected.

"Maybe there is something to this whole 'adult dressup' thing."

Well, that was an unintended good move on Dolly's end! "It's incredibly nice on you, I can even tailor the jacket later for a better fit if you'd like?" Dolly goes to let Cedric enjoy the outfit, he really was enjoying getting to dress up for fun.

Yeah, it'll definitely need some tailoring, but it's a good thing Cedric is trying it on. It does remind Dolly she needs to consider sewing some outfits for herself soon...she only has the Sinistea maid outfit...

"Right? It's a lot of fun to do. Its a lot of fun to mix and match too when it comes to adult dress-up."

October Catchall! (a Mix of Open and Closed)

1. One unintentional crasher, coming right up

Re: 1. One unintentional crasher, coming right up

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Ah yes, the flesh ribbons have been acknowledged >:3c

I cannot ignore the flesh ribbons

It's the hardest thing to ignore...flesh ribbons...all over the place..

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