When in doubt, act petty and childish [Open]

[earthborn]

Who| Shepard, and probably Pruna, Sandy, Duck, and Pillow Fort, and OPEN
What| Pillow Fort!
Where| PILLOW FORT IN THE TRIBUTE CENTER LOBBY
When| Last week or so of the Arena
Warnings/Notes| Pillow Fort, harsh language, possible description of drug use and/or arena doings, Pillow Fort

It took an enterprising mind to understand the subtleties of this art-form. There had to be balance, and tension, or your structure would collapse. Even the most durable of available materials was squishy at best, and you always ended up wanting another inch of length on the roof, another few grams before supports collapsed, or bent. And nothing, nothing would just stand there and hold itself up.

In the end, they’d resorted to thumbtacks, hammered with a shoe or pressed in, to hold up the bedsheets against the walls. Even so, it was better not to lean too close to the stolen couch cushions on the opposite side, or the whole left wing might come down with a series of pops and pings. Well, it was probably fine, it wasn’t as if this were some kind of permanent arrangement, after all.

What? What is she doing? No, not doing, it’s all done.

Shepard has built, with a little help, a pillow fort.

Well, it’s more than just a fort, it’s a castle, an edifice! It took up nearly the whole of the Tribute Center Lobby with a riot of bedsheets, pillowcases, safety pins and couch cushions. Calling it a mere hidey-hole would not do justice to the thing. It’s art. It’s filled with pillows and snacks and safe dark places closed in away from prying eyes. Oh, and Shepard too. She’s an adult, after all, and this is what grown-ups do.

It’s got a door big enough for anyone to crawl right in, and a boldly written sign that reads “Abandon Hope All Who Enter Here” with “bring snacks” scribbled along a corner.

Comments

[gunshiptotheface]

He hadn't expected to see the fort when he came down after Shepard's ping to meet her in the lobby. Of course he should've expected that after an arena like the last one that she would've done something a little crazy to offset the stress of everything. Chuckling to himself he wandered over to the 'door' and crouched in front of it.

"Is this a private party or can anyone join?"

[earthborn]

The pinned-together pillowcase curtain door was a brightly colored, implacable barrier, beyond which lie the kind of darkness only afforded pillow forts and the deepest lairs of dragons. The beast spoke from within, thusly, "Depends. You got anything good?"

She wouldn't kick him out...would she? Better to pay the entrance fee than find out.

[gunshiptotheface]

An entrance fee, he wasn't surprised, but he did come prepared for this. He knew Shepard better than she thought he did and set down his peace offerings.

"I have three bags of chips, two that are levo, and two bottles of fruit wine, and a pack of beer, how about that?" He was fairly confident she'd let him in at the mention of food and alcohol.

[earthborn]

"Ah, Garrus, you know me so well. Knew I could count on you, c'mon in."

She's arranged herself against the back of a load-bearing wall—a couch, really—lying on her back with her legs in the air, ankle crossed, comfortably upside-down. Welcome to the land of pillows and blankies. Enjoy your stay.

[knifewithnoname]

Pruna was currently stood outside the pillow fort looking confused. Duck was under one arm as usual as she peered through the pillows and blankets wondering why someone would make such a construction. It was as if they were preparing for a battle, except blankets and pillows would not protect them at all.

It just seemed very strange but interesting and worthy of investigating.

"Do anybody be being here?"

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy as usual was at her side, holding her toy crowbar in one hand and wearing the cape Pruna had bought her with the S on it.

"I think the adults do this sometimes to act more like kids." She reasoned with a smile. She liked it when the adults tried to have harmless fun.

[earthborn]

"You brats keep makin' fun of me out there, and I won't invite you in," Shepard called out, rendered invisible, but not deaf by the intervening layers of cotton and polyester.

There was some freedom in the use of a few good threats, between friends. Jane drew back the curtain-wall with one hand and grinned, "It's nice, right? Cassa de Shepard."

[burnedbrighter]

Azula had yet to fully understand why some perfectly reasonable grown ups would resort to such childish ventures.

Then again she'd never confused Shephard for being a perfectly reasonable grown up.

Still as mentor she felt it her responsibility to continue and try to worm her way into Shephard's life, wither she likes it or not.

And so at the entrance she lowers herself to clear the arch of pillows and enters with a large box under her arm. What magical world awaits her?

[earthborn]

That depends on what's in the box.

The inner sanctum of the pillow fort lies in darkness, punctuated only by the bleed-through from thin sheets, or the bright cracks where walls met each other with insufficient contact. The floor had been recarpeted with comforters, blankets, cusions and pillows— somewhere in this building there was a linen closet that had been raided. Maybe more than one.

Shepard herself is lying on her back, legs crossed comfortably over a pile of pillows, idly tossing a wad of aluminum foil. It was a faintly meditative exercise, and she made no indication that she'd seen Azula enter her domain, except that she had to have noticed the change in ambient light, if nothing else.

"What's in the box?"

Welcome to Cassa de Shepard, Azula. Where we don't fuck around with stupid shit like hello.

[burnedbrighter]

Azula would be lying if she said she wasn't impressed.

"A tribute for the Queen of this castle." She chuckled opening the box and revealing an expensive looking collection of chocolate, meats and cheeses, crackers and alcohol. Apparently Azula had done enough research to find out what Shepard's drink of choice was in the Capitol.

hope this is okay <3

[savedbyasong]

There was someone else in her fort. Someone uninvited, and someone who definitely did not bring snacks. Shion had been watching her, since she came back. And he had watched her build this place, not knowing why she was doing so or what the purpose was.

He had waited, patience was hard when he was so angry but he had managed. Hands trembling with the effort not to scream and attack and hurt this woman who had killed Rat.

But he couldn't keep the anger at bay any longer. Even though Rat was back he was not okay, no one was okay after the arena and she had hurt him.

No one was allowed to hurt Rat. So he was in her fort, and getting closer to her.

[earthborn]

The problem with most people around here was perspective. Take Shion, for example. She'd slit his throat on a beach in front of someone who knew him, and he didn't even seem to care. But throw his boyfriend across the room a few times?

Well, never let it be said that Jane herself was free from hypocrisy.

It's impossible to be stealthy in a blanket fort. Blankets rustle, the light shifts whenever anyone enters or leaves, and unless you know the topography of the interior, navigation can be difficult. That and, usually people make themselves known when they come in peace.

Lucky for her, this intruder has blindingly white hair an a lily-white complexion. She can find him well enough even without the rest of the clues.

"Hey, kid ever heard of knocking?"

[savedbyasong]

Shion's eyes narrowed as she came into sight, anger rising in him. This was the woman who had killed Rat, threw him around like a rag and ended his life.

It didn't matter that she had killed Shion, Shion expected to die in the arena. But no one was allowed to hurt Rat. He didn't speak, just flew towards her, hands reaching out for her neck.

[dying]

Thane did not appear until the evening. These past few weeks were a strange up-and-down for him. The series of events from his own death to Shepard's death, and then being brought to life. Then spending time in the Capitol, being watched and heard almost constantly. It just wasn't his style.

When he stepped into the lobby, the fort was the only thing to really see. The structure in the lobby was by far the most elaborate series of sheets he had ever seen. He stepped towards the "doors", and got to his knees and moved himself inside. He didn't bring snacks, or anything. Just himself.

It was about the least graceful thing he had done in his life. Not that he ever imagined he would be crawling into a pillow fort. "Shepard," he said, upon getting inside.

[earthborn]

There were parts of Shepard's mind that collected moments just like these in case she ever needed to feel bad about herself in a pinch. 'Snacks,' indeed, did he have any idea what he looked like, crawling through the bedclothes on his hands and knees? It was the most awkward think she'd ever seen him do, and it was fucking criminal how good he made it look.

It made stupid sex jokes easy to think of, which made the painful burn in her chest seem somehow less likely to turn acidic and eat her from the inside out. Suddenly, Shepard was having trouble breathing.

"Hey," she tried, then winced, because of all the stupid, pointless things to vomit out in that moment. So suave, Commander, "I'm...glad to see you."

The fact that she'd ostensibly been hiding from him notwithstanding, of course.

[dying]

Thane would do even the most awkward of things to spend a few moments with Shepard out of the sight of the cameras and the Capitol. Even crawl on his hands and knees towards her. And there he was, sitting inside a blanket fort. Everything about this was strange.

The air was heavy, there were things they needed to talk about. They needed to figure them out, but somewhere that wasn't in the lobby. There were chances that people would still approach.

Thane was very good at running away from the problem. Or just killing it (he was very good at that.)

"I've never been in something like this," Thane said. "I am always glad to see you, Siha."

[sithcretapprentice]

Of all the things Starkiller had expected to see, it was. Not a giant castle thing made out of pillows and blankets. Having had his childhood completely ripped from him, he had never known anything like it. The entire concept was just foreign to him. So honestly, he was a bit... baffled.

Baffled enough that he couldn't help but take a few steps towards it. The confusion was probably apparent on his face, as he wasn't even trying to hide it. The more he looked at it, the more his expression probably turned judgmental.

It just seemed so... pointless.

[earthborn]

Not to get all Zen Jedi on you, Starkiller, but so far as Shepard was concerned, pointlessness was the point of this construction. If she didn't get to be petty and childish and pointless at least some of the time, she was going to snap and start killing people— or at least, Capitol Citizens. Appealing as the thought might be, it would be a very short career as a crazed gunman, likely ending in a hail of Peacekeeper bullets.

Regardless, he was casting a shadow on the roof, visible from within.

"Are you gonna stand out there and brood all day or come in here and tell it to my face?"

After all, it's not as if Shepard had the kind of childhood that allowed for pillor forts and carefree play either. They both have lost time to make up for.

[sithcretapprentice]

Caught off guard by the clear invitation to enter the... thing, Starkiller falters for a moment. Does he actually want to enter the bizarre structure? He isn't sure, but it sounds like if he doesn't, Shepard is going to judge him. So with a defeated sigh, he crouches low enough to get inside and steps into it.

"I have nothing to actually tell your face," he says once he's inside. "Though I do have a question for it. What is the point of this thing?"

[carnagecarnival]

When he finds the fort, he is impressed. Reluctantly so. By now, he is sure of whom he will find in there. And that's terrible. She had no damn right to make something even a little that he would like to much to find worth breaking. So instead, he heads for it, speaking aloud.

"Heard at you were here. THERE WAS TALK ALL OF HOPE ABANDONED AND DEAD AND LO', A MOTHERFUCKER WENT ALL TO THINK, 'OF COURSE THAT'S ALL WHERE SHE'D BE. The swallowing pit of motherfucking despairs. PAINT HIM AMAZED, ONE OUGHT, HE DIDN'T THINK AT SHE COULD MAKE THIS. Wouldn't all have thought a Sister had the spirit for it." He crawls all the way in, horns kept carefully low.

"THEY HAD ALL FOR A SALE, DON'T YOU KNOW. Happy ass motherfucking quadrant day or what the fuck ever."

He tosses what seems to be a box of chocolates at her, a red heart all painted black and stabbed through the top side with a pen to make a spade. It is of course encased in a thick layer of meticulously applied scotch tape. The small remainder of chocolates inside are either half eaten or very clearly the ones deemed "gross".

He settles in after like he's the Messiahs' goddamn gift and sprawls out as such.

[earthborn]

"Get out of my pillow fort."

That was the very first thing she had said, before he'd even come in, when she'd recognized his horns in silhouette on the sheet-thin door. She did not need him today, did not need Kurloz Makara or Fraysong or what the fuck ever his ridiculous bullshit name was.

Typical of himself, he didn't even seem to hear her.

"Fuck you, this is art," she'd replied when he called her fort a pit of despairs (at least, she presumed that was to what he was referring, the bastard), but he spoke right over her, even when she asked, "Are you even listening to me?"

Of course not.

But when he's done talking, she regards the box, gives it a rattle, cuts the tape with her bootknife and then— yep. It's a fucking disgrace. Why did she expect anything different?

"Is this a... valentine? Somebody's gotta give you a primer on this whole human culture business."

[carnagecarnival]

Of course he ignores her. Why ever would he make at to do anything but in a moment such as this?

Furthermore, the Pillow Fort was in the commons and also it was hers. That definitely meant free game. Indeed a pillow fort had to be an art form. But she was still in it. Ergo; despair pit.

No," He responds at last (and derisively) to her final question. "IT'S CHOCOLATES PRESENTED IN CALIGINOUS GESTURE. How the fuck am I to know what all a Valentine is supposed to up and be, and why all should I care on it? EAT YOUR MOTHERFUCKING SNACK TRIBUTE, YOU DAMN UNGRATEFUL RECREANT."

He peers around him, and then starts to scrounge about. He knows she has more snacks in here but...

"Do you even got for any damn Elixir?" He asks, like the way one might ask if another even knows how to damn read. He continues to seek out a soda.

[polyturtle]

Well. This was not something he expected upon coming back to life. Not at all. Quietly, Don began to slowly advance towards the monstrosity, admiring the obvious effort put into the building of the pillow fortress.

After a good ten minutes, Don finally deigned to slowly make his way inside. Who in the world built it? Harley? It seemed like a Harley thing to do.

[earthborn]

Shepard had met an extraordinarily diverse cast of sneaky bastards in her lifetime, but it never failed to surprise her when they ended up looking like... well, like Donatello. One expected a certain stealthy element from someone like Kasumi or Legion, but Don was just a few redundant organs shy of Krogan

Still, there's no hiding someone's entrance to a pillow-fort, not with the light-difference between inside and out. Her immediate reaction was less than mature: she dinged a popcorn off his head.

"Hey Don. Fish dead yet?"

[polyturtle]

Hey, they didn't call him a ninja turtle for nothing.

"Hey, Shepard. He's doing all right, still." The popcorn bounded off his head and landed on the floor. "Is this pillow building your doing, or do you know who made it?"