Chocobo Races

[thalassino]

[It's a lovely climate-controlled day in the bubble on Sunday, the perfect day for a chocobo race! Participants and spectators alike, it's time to gather in the stadium that's been set up in the amusement park quadrant!

Before the races the janitor is looking for help in setting things up properly and cleaning up any bird poo on the tracks so the area is nice and pretty once the event begins. Feel free to join in or just to laugh at questers scooping poop.

During the races, the stadium will be packed with the locals! Racers are encouraged to arrive early and calm their bird, the chocobos aren't used to quite so much noise. Spectators can just kick back and enjoy themselves. Poor unfortunate questers who have been wrangled into helping the janitor again will have to hand out food and clean up spills.

After the races, people looking to gather points are encouraged to help the poor janitor clean up the pigsty the locals have left behind. Hopefully everyone had enough fun to make it worth it!]

Comments

During the races

[thalassino]

Re: During the races

[mysterious_groper]

*PROBLEM: Belligerent, attack-prone, stressed-out Chocobos. Particularly that really cool-looking red one that matches Pascal's hair! She can't pass that up, no matter what it takes!*

*SOLUTION, after a few attempts and an arm wound that left a mark even after Hubert healed it: Turn on the Charm. Right now, Pascal is petting a red Chocobo, who has finally starting to calm down a little at her touch.*

Good girl, good girl...

*... Any expert would recognize that the Chocobo was male, but who really wanted to tell Pascal that?*

[behind_my_smile]

[Fai showed up early to find the perfect bird. He doesn't have much experience with Chocobos but animals are always fun and so he is excited at the prospect of getting to race one. He walks along until he finds one bird that looks particularly friendly.]

Well hello~ Are you ready to enjoy a fun race today?

[The bird squawks and Fai reaches out to pet it's head.]

I think we'll get along nicely. Let's do our very best, okay!

[It's almost like the bird is smiling as it leans into Fai's hand and gives another happy kweek sound.]

Also open to all tagging!

[replicatedcourage]

[After a quick hose off (track cleaning is gross), Sola's cleaned up and ready for the race! He can be found in the time right before communing with a lanky black chocobo that seems to more have adopted him than he it. It keeps wanting to eat loose threads on his clothing. Still, Sola seems more than happy to make friends with his mount, even going so far as to bring it handfuls of a few different greens to try.

Care to stop by and say hello? Or even just suss out the competition?]

Open to anyone / reactions - Chocobos

[aprettyred]

[ Anna isn't sure exactly what makes a chocobo different from a Strain -

But they're cute. And fluffy. And she's managed to find one that is a shade of something that she can sort-of see. Its probably sunset-y orange-red, but its enough red for her!

And so she's talking to it, doing her best to keep a bird quite a bit taller than her calm. It worked (sort of) with Basashi, so... ]

[replicatedcourage]

[His own chocobo completely distracted by a bag of Gysahl greens, Sola's decided to see who else is around that he can talk to to calm himself down before the race. Maybe this girl will talk to him.]

Hello. I'm Sola, what's your name?

[aprettyred]

Anna.

[ Sorry Sola, you picked the most untalkative little girl ever- ]

... Do they only like those? [ Because her chocobo is eyeing the greens to. She can't exactly tell what they are, but... ]

[replicatedcourage]

I dunno if they're the only thing they like, but Guay likes them a whole lot.

[Grammar; Sola is not good at it.]

Here, there's some in the bag between the stalls, I'll get some.

[He goes out of the stall to get a bunch for Anna's chocobo, every bird in the vicinity's eyes trained on him as he retreats with them.]

Uh... maybe they are all of the chocobo's favorite.

Re: Open to anyone / reactions - Chocobos

[ignisinfernale]

[ Have your big brother figure meandering over with a cigarette between his lips. He was sure there was a bright red one somewhere else but oh well. If this one was the one Anna was attracted to. ]

You know Izumo's gonna be mad if you bring that home.

[aprettyred]

[ Smoking around birds! Bad- ]

We don't have a stable. ... But food is free....

[ Maybe she would keep it, but keep it here... ]

opennnnn

[booyaka_boom]

*Given how much time Selphie spends at the chocobo barn, she's a bit of an expert with these creatures, and she knows how to handle them well. Even if for the sake of the event she doesn't have one of the ones that she has trained and named, she feels very at ease with the birds, and that in turn has a calming effect on them.

Only, Selphie appears to be giving her bird a pep talk, striding up and down and pointing her finger at their competitors*

Eyes on the prize, eyes on the prize. There's only gonna be one real winner today, and it's going to be you. This is war, cadet, and there will be no casualties, only trophies and triumph.

[fightforastar]

[One of those very competitors nearby, Tifa can't help chuckling at Selphie's speech. Her approach with her own yellow chocobo seems to be quite different, just grooming and calming the bird.]

Come on, don't stress him out before the race has even started.

[booyaka_boom]

*Selphie raises a brow at Tifa - hey, Selphie basically ran the chocobo barn, she knew what she was doing*

He's not stressed, he's ready! Look!

*True enough the chocobo gives a steady nod of the head, his feet patting at the ground*

How bout yours?

[420]

You're lookin' real fuckin' pumped up at this shit, sister.

[That little comment comes from gamzee, though his good natured tone indicates that he is more amused by it than that he thinks it is silly of her. Behind him stands a big green chocobo. Pounce is more or less his. Well, Equius', really, but Equius also has Darkleer to ride (the chocobo, not the ancestor) so Gamzee settled happily for Pounce himself. He was cool with it. Him and Pounce were good buddies, after all.]

[booyaka_boom]

Yup! We're both in battle mode now!

*Selphie smiles brightly at Gamzee, tilting her head as she wonders how he's been affected by the curse*

Cute chocobo! Is he yours?

*She pouts a bit, definitely not enjoying that she wasn't given one of the many she'd given names to*

Open to all!

[stayb100ponyboy]

[Equius has arrived early, his chocobo Darkleer in tow. Darkleer is pretty excited by everything going on, and is warking up a storm and prancing around at the end of his bridle. He's a big bird--large, powerful, and practically glowing with good health--and Equius is handling him fairly well, completely focused on his pet and getting him ready for the race.]

Had to

[unconchonable]

[Why is he not surprised? Of course Equius would be here with his laughable bird. Thankfully Eridan's own is well trained enough that despite it's obvious excitement at seeing Darkleer, he stays calm and collected, obviously well trained and well mannered. BUT GOD HIS FRIEND IS HEREEEEE. Of course, any excited jitters is calmed the moment Eridan casts a flat look at Dualscar, before giving Equius a derisive one.]

You may as well go back to your hiwe, Eq. You're goin' to lose. Ain't no one gonna beat me an' Dualscar here, and eweryone fuckin' knows it. I was hatched to ride, while you were hatched to sweat disgustin'ly, it's obwious who the winner is gonna be.

we haven't had NEARLY enough chocobo play dates, okay

[stayb100ponyboy]

[Equius' shoulders tense at the sound of Eridan's voice, and whoops, drops the reins to Darkleer's bridle. Which means, of course, that the chocobo sees his friend, lets loose with a deafening waaaaark, and starts charging right at him. Let's hope Eridan isn't in the way.]

[Or rather, let's. Yes, let's hope he's in the way of a charging chocobo that's strong enough to carry STRONG Equius on his back.]

[terribubbly]

[ Watch out! There is a fishgirl throwing herself at you, Equius. Specifically, from behind, clambering up on him with a giddy fit of glubbing. ]

Equius, hey! You're good with these big flightless flapbeasts, right? Come teach me how to make fronds with the one they're lending me!

[stayb100ponyboy]

[Darkleer warks with glee and immediately starts grooming Feferi's hair with his beak. He remembers you, Feferi, even if it was a different you! You took him swimming when he was just a chick! You're a friend!]

[Equius' greeting is decidedly less enthusiastic. He's not STRONG this week, and Feferi climbing on him has him staggering and almost falling over. He ends up supporting himself by putting one hand on Darkleer's side.]

Feferi, be careful! Get off my back!

[Wark wark wark.]

[bethehugejerk]

[Karkat got here early, too, but it's not until later that he actually comes to tend to his chocobo. Once Fern was in the stables, he had some pre-race setup to tend to, setting out trash cans and things to net himself a small handful of points. It took some time, not aided by him not being a physically-oriented class, but he did it. Maybe more time to look after Fern would be good, but he has some, and that will have to do.]

[He just didn't expect to spot Equius now that he's brought Fern out to stretch her legs a little. Which is stupid, he thinks immediately: of course he'd be here. He has his own chocobo, so why not? Eridan came with his too, and just look at himself with his own red one. At least Fern's calm about this whole venture, laidback nature not much jostled by the excitement, though she still looks around curiously.]

[Karkat, meanwhile, cannot let this go.]

My condolences to your chocobo on what an awful rider he's been stuck with. For once you'll avoid the risk of snapping his spine or crushing his rib cage, but if you manage not to slide of the saddle in a sweat-induced trail of ooze, even I will clap at your stunning achievement in basic riding requirements.

[stayb100ponyboy]

[When Darkleer spots Karkat, his bright, beady eyes narrow, and the usually cheerful chocobo makes a low, angry hissing noise in his throat before he starts stamping his feet and puffing out his feathers. Funny, that's how Darkleer the ancestor tends to act when he sees Karkat too. Equius, of course, senses his bird's distress and pets his neck to calm him down, although his shoulders tense when he hears Karkat's voice. He shares an eyeroll with his bird before turning around.]

Go away, Vantas. You're upsetting my bird, and he's going to need all his STRENGTH to destroy your chocobo in the race.

Open to anyone!

[onebecametwo]

[ Devit ended up gravitating towards the meanest looking chocobo available for racing. A mean looking bird with crazy eyes and scratches on his beak possibly from past tousles with other birds. Hell even the feather crest on it's head looked like a fucking mohawk. This was one badass bird. When it tried to bite him as soon as he was close enough, Devit knew he had a winner. ]

Your name is now Battleaxeclaymorepistolwhipknife.

[ Did the chocobo have a name before that? Probably. Devit felt his name fit it better and Battleaxe clearly agreed as it immediately tried to peck his eye out. ]

You're gonna win. I can tell. You're out for blood and none of those other chickens'll be able to fucking touch ya. We got this in the bag. Let me hear your battle cry!

[ Whether Battleaxe understood him or whether it was just getting annoyed that Devit kept avoiding it's attempts to cause him bodily harm, the chocobo belted out a mighty WARK! ]

open!

[oceanbreasts]

[ Roxy, for her part, had chosen the one with the fanciest plummage (that hadn't already been snagged). She was, unfortunately, having a bit of a rough time trying to actually ride the thing (she was already practicing). At least she was managing to be on it straight now, but... well.

She had her arms wrapped around its neck, eyes squeezed shut, as the thing decided running around in circles was the thing to do. ]

Jesus fuck someone please stop this thing.

[unconchonable]

[Need someone to stop that thing? How about your experienced rider of a moirail?]

Rox, what the--pull the reigns!

[He's hurrying on over on his own chocobo, which is a very blue chocobo, and has the demeanor of a bird raised by a snobby douche. He's approaching with caution, not wanting to upset the other bird, or surprise it. CAN'T HAVE HIS MOIRAIL BEING BUCKED OFF NOW CAN WE?]