The Plaza is Lava - a Fun Game for All Ages!

[itmeanstruth]

The first thing Minoru noticed about the Nexus Plaza was that it was full of seating arrangements of all kinds - benches, sofas, chairs, rocks, etc. Imagination really was the only limit here. The second thing Minoru noticed about the Nexus Plaza was that everyone just sat on them without a second thought, which was decidedly less imaginative.

So, up went a big hand-written sign with a date, time and a very amusing question:

Like playing “The Floor is Lava” but always wanted a bigger living room?
You’re looking at it!
What are you waiting for? Let’s play!
Everyone’s welcome! All challenges accepted!
- Minoru

At said allotted time, any takers would find a young man in his mid-twenties perched on a picnic table, stretching. His build was like that of an acrobat, slim but muscular. He was dressed in workout clothes loose enough to move freely in but tight enough to not catch on anything. And at no point did he ever stop smiling.

This was going to be fun!

[if folks want to join in each others games, that’s totally cool. The more the merrier!]

Comments

[azazael]

A short, mischievous looking young man in a fedora shows up like the sign called him from the aether. In a way it did. When not at work delivering messages and watching things Azazael lived at playgrounds and this was on the way.

"Where's the out of bounds?" He asks joyfully as he hops up on the table beside the other young man. He's in leather pants, boots, and a suit vest, but it is his eyes that probably catch the most attention. They are hauntingly blue like a clear summer sky.

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru smiled, no stranger to a mischievous grin.

“Edges of the plaza. Handrails of stairs are okay, but nothing past that.” He pointed. There had to be some ground rules, after all. The last thing the city probably wanted were people scaling scrap piles in the industrial sector or leaping across rooftops downtown. “But inside, as long as it’s not the ground, it’s safe.”

[azazael]

Azazael is all boyish energy, in part from being an angel hopelessly addicted to candy. He lived in it.

"How do we know someone wins... or are we just playing?" The boyish quality surges forward. This is the best day to have someone who wants to play a game like this. Most people were too stuffy to undertake these kinds of antics

[itmeanstruth]

“If you want to race, we can race!” Minoru beamed with equal excitement.

He pointed out a quick course that basically put them going in opposite directions. Four points roughly equal distance apart were defined, but everything else was left open, as it should be.

“First one to make it back to the starting point,” he hopped off the table and headed over to a plush sofa, patting the cushions. “They win!”

There were no formal prizes. Just fun times.

Minoru hopped up on the sofa, putting one leg on the arm, ready to spring off. “Sound good?”

[azazael]

"Races aren't fair." He beams with pride. "I'm the fastest thing in creation, or well fastest after Lucifer."

"Do I have to touch all of them?" He asks with a boyishly bad smile as his wings unfurled from his back. They're narrow and heavily stooped like a swallow.

[itmeanstruth]

“Good thing I’m not a sore loser then.” Minoru laughed, vaulting himself up over the back of the sofa and landing on the cushions. “If you’d rather just play for fun, I’m down for that too.”

He looked at the wings, and just shook his head.

“Come on. Just flying over all of them wouldn’t be much fun, would it?”

[sweetcandygirl]

For an acrobat and gymnast... this is the best news ever. Harley is doing one of her rolling skate tours of the Plaza when she sees the sign, and the young man on the picnic table.

With a slight push, Harley leaps through the air, and lands beside him with a grin on her face. She is now on the picnic table, still wearing the roller blades, simply because she can make this challenge even more interesting by keeping them on.

"I wanna play!"

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru watched the girl skate by, and was absolutely ready with a high five when she nailed the landing on the picnic table alongside him.

“Sweet wheels!” He grinned. “Sure! Free for all?”

He was open to a race as well, but having never tried parkour on skates (really, how had this never crossed his mind?!), he honestly wanted to see a quick demo!

“I’m Minoru, by the way.” He gestured to the sign.

[sweetcandygirl]

"Ya know the game HORSE, that they usually play for basketball. Why not us do that, with showing off different tricks. Any time you can't copy the other person's tricks, you get a letter. And find out who is the HORSE first." Harley suggested.

"Harley Quinn. Pleased to meetcha!"

[itmeanstruth]

“Okay, Harley! That sounds fun.” He exclaimed.

Hopefully, she wouldn’t rely on too many tricks that required rolling. He could only slide so far in sneakers. But what kind of fun would it be if he didn’t try, even if she did?

“Ladies first.” He gestured to the variety of options they had before them.

[sweetcandygirl]

Harley won't rely on rolling right away. She starts with a couple of back handsprings, leaping from the picnic table, to a nearby couch, then to a coffee table, a bench, and lands in an one-arm stand on a chair, before returning to the picnic table.

"Thank you. Your up."

[chiaro_oscuro]

A dour-looking man watches the stranger curiously, listening. He's clearly curious, though his voice is quiet.

"So...'This Floor is Lava', hm? I think I have a sense of the rules. I need to avoid touching the floor. You know...I could use the test of my acrobatics skills. Let's see what I can do. I've taken on harder challenges, but it'll never be said that Ben Solo turned one down."

Ben gives a small smile that clashes a little with his grim clothing. With Force-enhanced movements and reflexes, this should be easy, and he's been looking for a chance to exercise and test his skills.

"What do you say I show you, then?"

[itmeanstruth]

“Yup. That’s how the game is played. Except in this case, the floor is, you know, the ground.” Minoru smiled back. He hopped off the table encouragingly. “Why don’t you pick a spot to start, and I’ll try to follow?”

A little exercise always made for a better day.

[chiaro_oscuro]

"That's the way to start." Ben flashes a smile. "I'm not very busy today. I could set some time aside to have a little fun. The young man jumps, choosing a spot, and waits for the other to follow.

He believes in keeping himself sharp, any chance he gets.

[itmeanstruth]

“Incoming!” Minoru announced as he easily made the first leap as well.

The bench was big enough that both of them could stand on it comfortably, but most of the seating arrangements weren’t. Pretty soon, Ben would need to keep moving if he didn’t want somebody landing on top of him.

[risenintothevoid]

Where Aegis-9 comes from, a lot of Earth's history and culture from before the Golden Age has been long forgotten, but The Floor Is Lava is a tradition that endures to this day. Albeit with a few, er, less typical modifications.

"Oh, I love this one. Where do we get energized?"

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru waved at the newcomer. “Where do you get what now?”

[risenintothevoid]

"Energized, you know, so you burn if you touch the floor." Aegis mimes touching down and getting hot feet, and while her mandible isn't exactly configured to grin, it's evident enough in her tone that she's smiling on the inside. "I didn't know anyone but Guardians could play it."

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru blinked. Twice.

“...This is a low-tech version of The Floor is Lava. No actual lava. And no actual burning required.”

But, he happily added, she could pretend to her heart’s content.

[risenintothevoid]

"It is?" She can't quite look surprised either, other than her mouth being open a bit more than usual. "What're the stakes, then? You touch the floor and you just... lose?"

Well, that seems... tame. But maybe this is the Lightless version? Since they can't come back from death, obviously.

[somekindofspaceuncle]

When there's a new sign, it's only natural to read it.

This game, really? It's been circa twenty years since he's played it! (Alright, not himself, he attempts to realise, he himself has never played it, but such details would only be a killjoy of a childhood sentiment right now, okay?)

Hiroki goes throught the plaza, sees the guy on a picnic table - that must be the guy who's written the sign. Hiroki jumps onto the table, grinning.

"Hello. I haven't thought of any challenge yet, but I definitely will. I can try not to make it too difficult."

He smirks. Of course something like that will get him into the feeling of competition. It's fun.

[itmeanstruth]

“Sure! I.’m game for anything!” Minoru looked up with a smile. The man in front of him looked familiar, but with all the new faces, it took him a moment to remember where he’d seen him - in photos Ziggy had taken... and also inside his head. Anthean conversations got interesting sometimes. Unfortunately, they hadn’t been formally introduced.

Which twin was this? The partner that came back from the dead or the one that had killed him? He’d heard both names, but hadn’t seen either face enough to know which name went with which one. Being a twin himself, albeit a fraternal one, he knew exactly what that was like.

“I’m Minoru.” He took the polite route and introduced himself.

[somekindofspaceuncle]

So this was the guy who wrote the floor is lava sign. He thought so.

"My name's Hiroki."

He offers a handshake. At least he no longer almost takes a double take at seeing his own arm again, as he's slowly getting used to having it again, but, well, Hiroki Shirogane's got to admit he takes any opportunity to touch someone. Part of getting used to it, perhaps. Possibly.

He wears long sleeves now, because probably not everyone would be comfortable seeing all the scars on his right arm.

"Nice to meet you. Been here long?"

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru accepted the handshake, bowing his head slightly out of respect. He smiled at hearing the name and mentioned that he was a friend of Ziggy’s. “Pleased to finally meet you!“

He didn’t know all the details of what went down, but it really had been a relief to know that he was back. Usually, death was a permanent thing, and Ziggy had taken it so very hard. Things were better now, though, and that was all that mattered.

“Just long enough to make a few good laps around the course.” He chuckled, looking out over the plaza. “I don’t know why I never thought of this sooner!”

[somekindofspaceuncle]

So Minoru knows Ziggy. And Hiroki barely stops himself from saying that whatever he might've heard about Hiroki from Ziggy, it's likely very exaggerrated. Eh, no need to say it, the young man decides, Minoru will see on his own anyway that Hiroki isn't anything so awesome and Ziggy's just too kind with praise. And besides, maybe he hasn't told him that much, who knows, which would probably be for the best.

"Any friend of Ziggy's is a friend of mine," Hiroki says, with a smile, bowing in reply.

He rarely bows because people from other cultures just wouldn't understand it same way.

"Hey, it's a good use for a plaza as far as I'm concerned. So, let's start, huh? Maybe we should think of some time limit to liven things up."

Yes, he's thinking of it as fun, but part of him can't help thinking of this as training, too. That's too deeply ingrained, perhaps. And hey, training is fun, in his opinion, so no problem there!