[smileyj]

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| Mel Sweets | @Smiley J
Location: Shinjuku, Japan. | Current Status:  

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Summer Solstice is fast arriving, but what the fuck is HE going to do? If he goes out and parties around the area or in a big city, shit's bound to just be yet another night out without anything of substance! And sure, he enjoys those nights out as much as anyone does, but is it so wrong to want to enjoy some holidays? Even if they aren't technically holidays? Other people will celebrate it, so it's as much of a holiday for him as any other! Besides, parties are fun, especially those that aren't just all flashing lights, lots of booze and shitty dancing. Even if booze IS nice. But no. Nooooo-nonono. Something special needs to be done, something that people can enjoy! But.. what to do?

And lo, like a Christmas miracle in the middle of summer, dear little Mel stepped outside to look around deep in thought, only to realize that the answer lied right in front of him. With a small but good-enough space in front of the apartment building, he could absolutely throw a small BBQ here like the ones he actually enjoyed back home in America. He could celebrate the Summer Solstice, enjoy what he left behind in America and enjoy things in his own way! Best of all, he knows people that likely aren't expecting much, living in a low-income spot like this. And if they're low-income and likely to spend Summer Solstice alone or going out for cheap drinks without a plan in mind, then..

Knock Knock Knockidy Knock! Mel went to every single door and made a few calls, inviting the other tenants to join him in the Summer Solstice for an American BBQ! Not only would he be cooking for everyone, he'd even pay for the food and drink! It was an offer that they almost couldn't refuse, but also an offer that most of them - the ones that have lived here the longest - knew he'd be good for. They knew damn well that Mel is a bit of an oddball, but one that has yet to wrong or let them down!

This time wouldn't be any different. Come sundown in the Summer Solstice, there were a few lights around the small space to keep everything lit even as the sun gave way to the night, with Mel working his best to prepare a good BBQ, even using several limbs made of a mixture of granular limbs and solid fingers, all so that he has 'extra hands' to work with! The sun went down and the moon came up and people were eating, drinking and interacting for once, in peace and quiet!

Some friends of theirs had shown to join but, all in all, it was still small. Small enough that someone could stumble in and join, should Mel allow it. Or.. should Mel actually call out to them! But in this spot, during Summer Solstice of all things, the only people to show up here would likely be either trying to sober up with a walk or just be outright lost!

[Aimoto Momo]

AIMOTO MOMO

THE RED GIRL

Sugar crash naps hit different. Momo was dead to the world at the back of a nearly empty bus. Drool coated the top of the seat where her turned head rested. By some miracle, none of it had gotten on her shoulder. Even if it had, she would never know. So much time had passed that most of it had already dried. Her nap, unbeknownst to Momo, had taken up the majority of the day. Not that she’d be unaware of that for long.

“Hey, kid. Wake up. End of the line.” The bus driver’s voice crackling over an intercom speaker above her head startled Momo awake. “Eh?! What?!” Bleary eyes tried to blink sleep from them as they looked around.

“Why’s it dark outside?”

“Because it’s nighttime. Now get off my bus.”

No amount of teary puppy dog eyes could sway the bus driver to take Momo all the way back to the stop she had slept her way through. Japanese public transportation was notorious for being exactly on time. Not even Momo’s luck could overcome the bus schedule.

She got off the bus and just stood there for several seconds before she realized she had left her bag, and therefore her phone, on the bus. “Noooooo!!! All my candy was in there!” Priorities. It took several more seconds for Momo to realize she had no way of figuring out where she was or to call for help. So she did what any sane person would do.

She went to talk to strangers.

It was easy enough to find some. Momo just followed the sounds. And the smells. Something really, really, smelled good. Her stomach growled. “Shush, you! You got us in enough trouble already!” Momo didn’t realize she had said this aloud in front of the group she had approached. They were given an almost proper greeting as a follow-up though.

“Hi! I’m Momo! Where am I?”

Notes & Tags: smileyj | Outfit

[smileyj]

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| Mel Sweets | @Smiley J
Location: Shinjuku, Japan. | Current Status: 

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Cookout's a success, thus far! Night had fallen and people were still having fun with each other, igniting new friendships with the neighbors that they had mostly kept to simple, customary greetings. Common ground seemed to exist between them and, in the middle of it all, was an extrovert with a love for cooking and a mastery over his own quirk that allowed him to keep this small amount of people fed and taken care of! 'Course, he had overlooked the fact that he himself wouldn't be able to stop for too long, which meant that his summer solstice was a bit more full of work than he had expected!

Well, that's ok. People are happy, eating good.. and he's eating too, having taken both hands off of the grill to eat a burger of his own making, letting his quirk do the work for him! So, honestly, he was still enjoying himself, even if this was a lot of extra work. And look at that, MORE work! Alerted to someone coming upon their BBQ, he was about to call out to what seemed to him to be a girl, even though it wasn't as easy to see as he'd like, it being dark and all.

A feminine voice seemingly scolding her own stomach after it loudly rumbled seemed to confirm it. And before he could even call out to her in his typical flirty way, she stepped up to them on her own, introducing herself in such a bold way that it left him frankly quite stunned. Did she not know just how dangerous it is to step up to a bunch of strangers and just introduce herself like that? And so openly too.. Seeing that she might be the real innocent, air-headed type, Mel did the extremely difficult decision to not be flirtatious with her, instead pushing back whatever desire he might have to tease such a cutie.

She's an innocent girl who's probably lost and definitely quite hungry. She needs help, not a fuckboy.

With her being directed to talk to Mel, he piped up from where he stood, looking over at her with a big, friendly smile. "Shinjuku, of course! All the way to the backstreets, actually. You lost? -- look the part, at least!" Mel giggled a bit as he swallowed the rest of his burger. Finishing up the extra food he was preparing, he'd step from behind the BBQ, sugary arms still attached to various spots on his body in a perhaps standoffish manner as he took a plate, a burger and stepped over to her. "But before anything, join us why don'tcha?~ If your stomach could talk, it'd probably be screaming in anger!" So he'd say, waiting for her to accept it. He didn't think she'd be the type to reject food in normal circumstances, much less when her stomach's being so loud that he can hear it at a distance!

[Aimoto Momo]

AIMOTO MOMO

THE RED GIRL

Shinjuku… Shinjuku… Why does that sound familiar?

It sounded familiar because her mom, grandparents, and extended family had warned Momo about going there, much less alone. And for good reason. She was an incredibly easy mark. Not that she currently had anything to steal on her person. All of that was safely on its way back to the bus depot. Unless someone wanted the ladybug necklace dangling below her throat from a delicate change. None of that mattered to Momo though. And why was that? Because she didn’t remember the warnings. If Shinjuku sounded familiar to her, then it must be a good thing that she was there!

It was her lucky day!

If you ignored everything leading up to her being lost and the fact that she was, you know, lost. Which she did. Why would she think about that when there was lovely company and good food to be had?

“Definitely lost and definitely hungry!”

It would be rude to turn down food from a stranger! It had nothing to do with the fact that Momo was a gluttonous idiot. Really. She was, however, polite.

“Thank you for the invitation…”

She realized she didn’t know their name.

“Um, I guess I don’t know who you are!”

That would be why they were a stranger, after all.

Notes & Tags: smileyj

[smileyj]

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| Mel Sweets | @Smiley J
Location: Shinjuku, Japan. | Current Status: 

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And now Mel was patting himself (mentally) on the back for his quick decision to not come onto her with his typical wave of flirting. Seeing the way she behaved by accepting food before even asking for his name or a shred of hesitation, more than eagerly admitting (in a loud voice) that she's hungry and lost, likely alone too? Yeah, she was absolutely not close to mature enough to be good to flirt with. Shit, he was wondering if she was qualified to be around unsupervised! This sort of carelessness would definitely get her into some serious shit if she wasn't careful. ..Thank god she came here, at least he can keep her out of trouble, at least for the night. Might just let her crash on his place while he sleeps on the couch..

Handing her the burger, he stepped back behind the grill to see if anyone wanted more. Seeing that some particularly hungry folk wanted more, he got back to whipping up extra food, though most of his attention was still on Momo, who had asked for his name. If she's this airheaded, then he didn't really run a risk if he revealed his name, right? Not that he had ever hidden his name, he just hadn't introduced himself properly to anyone when standing in front of his own home. Neighbors being an exception, of course.

"I'm Mel! Mel Sweets. Throwin' this BBQ to celebrate the Summer Solstice with everyone living here! Feel free to join us and eat as much as you want!" Mel said, gladly introducing himself while passing her a glass of ice-cold sweet lemonade, homemade, over to her by using one of his various Sugar Limbs. Perhaps that would finally give her SOME pause which was why he chose this exact way to hand her the drink. He was technically breaking the law by using his quirk in public without a license. The people here don't mind, they know he has done stuff less legal than this.. but for all intents and purposes, Momo's a law-abiding citizen. If she doesn't even question this..

Then he ABSOLUTELY cannot let her go back home on her own. Not until it's daytime.

[Aimoto Momo]

AIMOTO MOMO

THE RED GIRL

Momo was at least three bites into the hamburger before the lemonade made its way to her. She needed it too because she had inhaled with a mouthful of food to ask a question and almost choked for her efforts. Two gulps later and she was back to peak lung capacity and curiosity.

“What’s the summer solstice?”

No, whatcha doing there with them there arms? Or, are you using your Quirk in public? Or anything else related to the constructs.  Nothing to give away that she was a concerned citizen or Hero student.

Why?

Two reasons.

As previously stated, she was polite. Maybe they were a mutant. The appendages were attached to them, after all. Momo didn’t want to be rude or Quirkcist by pointing it out. Secondly, Momo wasn’t the best when it came to remembering stuff from her law courses at UAU, so she couldn’t remember if apartment buildings counted as private residences or not when it came to Quirk usage. If they did, then no law was being broken. If they didn’t… then there was still the chance that Mel was a mutant and mutants got certain passes for doing some things with their Quirks for obvious reasons.

Her eyes did keep darting from Mel’s face to their helping hands. Something about them was… compelling. Subconsciously, Momo’s sugar fiend mind had taken note of the sweet smell hanging about them. Her stomach rumbled again, and she took another bite of her burger.

Notes & Tags: smileyj

[smileyj]

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| Mel Sweets | @Smiley J
Location: Shinjuku, Japan. | Current Status:  

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What's the summer sol--oh dear god. This poor child is going to get swallowed up by Shinjuku if he allows her to take even one fucking step out into the streets right now. And this wasn't just him being scared or paranoid, this was ABSOLUTE. Someone this clumsy, this trusting and this unaware of things around her or the current happenings was clearly not the type that should be out alone in Shinjuku in the dead of night, unless they want to get mugged, scammed, beaten, spooked, swindled and whatever else happens! If this child goes out, he'll never forgive himself.

So, he had to man up and take charge. At least just a bit. Entertain her, keep her focused on this place and convince her to sleep in his place or someone else's. Either way, he has to absolutely prevent her from going out at this time! Unless someone can pick her up.. but that comes later!

Keep her entertained.

"The.. well, it's the longest day of the year! Most sun, least night. Lots of people celebrate it all over Japan!~ I decided to throw this BBQ party for everyone!" Mel exclaimed, finally cooking the last burgers of the night, as he had quite literally ran out of patties. To be fair, he had eaten a few himself, considering the bottomless pit that is his stomach, given his active lifestyle and his quirk's dangerously high energy requirements. So, seeing that he didn't have anything else to cook now, the sugar limbs detached from his body, where he'd force them to melt and get compressed down into a really, REALLY tight basketball-sized jawbreaker that he'd leave off to the side, to dispose of later.

Turning to everyone else, he warned them that he had run out of burgers, so what was left now were drinks and desserts. Desserts that he'd present in a large spread of various sweets that he himself prepared! And, of course, he'd signal with his hand for Momo to come closer. "Take your pick! Made them myself!~" As long as she's still hungry, he can keep her entertained. Hopefully she likes sweets!

[Aimoto Momo]

AIMOTO MOMO

THE RED GIRL

“Wow!”

Momo’s eyes got wider than normal at the explanation like it was the coolest thing she had ever heard. She had no idea that today was a big holiday. Or why people cared that the day was longer than normal, but it didn’t matter why as long as it meant a chance to celebrate!

Granted, Momo didn’t have much of a chance to celebrate. She was busy processing what she just witnessed. Her eyes somehow got *even* wider than before. Her voice came out as a whisper as she looked from the jawbreaker to Mel to the sweets he offered.

“Are you made of candy?”

If he answered yes, Momo was very worried about the type of person she might become if her intrusive thoughts, all one of them, started to involve possible cannibalism or even just licking a complete stranger. Not that Mel was a stranger anymore! Knowing someone’s name was half the battle to being best friends.

Notes & Tags: smileyj