The Lounge (Round One)

"Ahaha...! Keep thinking that, honey!" Maxie retorted with a wide grin, swinging her legs up and down. And... that's all she said. She wasn't going to respond much to queries on battle - she was avoiding them on purpose, no doubt to surprise opponents when she arrived on the battlefield. Hell, she didn't even seem to have a weapon with her, there were no bags on her person after all.

She eyed up the drinking vixen, and frowned, "Hey hon', don't you think you should slow down? Cause babe, if I'm facing you on the dancefloor, I'm gonna want you the best you can be!"

In the midst of the drinking, the blackouts, the shouting and the greetings, Esme was rather pleased she'd slipped in unnoticed.

Dressed in a bright purple hoodie, with a pair of matching jeans, a  small, Chocolate brown Hyena stood herself to oneside of the room, closer to the glass than anybody else. She brushed a few locks of bubble-gum pink hair away from her face, and proceed to look into the room, and not out of it. Her bright, scarlet eyes lazily drifted over everyone in the room, lingering for a moment on their charming host, before going back to studying her opposition.

A lazy smile twitched at the corner of her lips, as she watched them in their reveling. The shouting, the drinking, the minor bickering... all of it was music to her ears. Even if they didn't know it, they were even playing her favourite tune. After all, who doesn't love a little bit of chaos before a fight?

Donning an innocent smile, she works her way over to the drinks, and lightly picks out two bottles of beer, before going over to Greg and offering him one. She decided to take the most direct path, cutting through the groups of people without a care. 

'I'm sure it's a little unprofessional, but fancy a drink, hot shot? I figure you'll be needin' one, if you're goin' to be dealin' with this mess~' she says with a playful smirk.

The wolf pauses by the disposal bin and tosses the remains of his snack into it. He then heads over to the refreshment table and gets himself a glass of water. As he does so, he glances around at the assembled competitors. He doesn't really size them up or consider them in any meaningful way, other than to note their appearance and species.

*Quite a varied lot. Land based and some flyers.* he thinks, *People carrying weapons. Some likely with special skills like that fox who was playing with the devices without touching them. Probably going to be a lot of surprises... I'll probably have to face the toughest of the lot given my luck...*

He takes a drink from his glass before heading back across the room to the vantage point he'd picked out earlier. He resumes staring out the window.

*Nothing I can do about it now...* he thinks, *So there's no sense in worrying about it until I can do something about it.*

The vixen halted at that. ...Huh. She gave a glance towards the griffon, and gave a small smile, "Y'know what, you're right." She placed it down on the table, and simply stretched, leaning back on the sofa a bit more. "Best not get wasted. ...Not now, as much as it'd help deal with how slow things are. So, lemme guess, you're keeping your fighting style a total secret, hm?" A smirk, "...Clever~ guess I'd like a surprise from people."

Greg seemed slightly confused about the masked man waving a phone in his face. He wasn't so sure why the hacker had thought he'd 'won'. He was just kinda hoping the guy would stop messing with their equipment - which luckily he had. Still, best to let him at least think he'd won, that way he wouldn't go back to attempting to 'troll' in other ways;
"Uh, yeah, good on you. Sure got us there. Damn," he paused awkwardly, just staring at the man for a few moments, before turning on his heel and walking away. Yeah, he'd totally got this. Smooth.

As he turned to move away, he found himself being halted by yet another competitor - the hyena with the pink hair.
"Oh, uh," he grinned slightly - the 'hotshot' comment seemed to've played to his ego slightly, "Well I'm sure a little drink can't hurt!" He hoisted the beer into his grasp, holding the bottle up, "Cheers?"

First off, she whistled towards the hyena with a raised hand, and if she were to turn around, the woman would be greeted with a, "Aaaaaaa babe, your hair is GORGEOUS!" she pushed her hands against the side of her face with a blush, "It suits you so well! Oh hon, you MUST give me tiiiips~!" She fanned at her face slightly, getting rid of the blush, before coughing and turning to Sora wide a side-glance at Boubka. Right. Whoops.

"Ohohoho~! Oh it's going to be so much fun!" Maxie replied with a small clap of her hands, "And love, I'm hoping there's no hard feelings after all this is done, that'd suck haardcooore..." a pout, "And you can always get drunk when it's over~!"

The fox took a deep breath. He normally wasn't like this. Normally he just accepted people. Was it because he had to fight them? Or was it just because she was really acting this all? He would find out later. What would be smart now is to just stay friends with the griffon. He didn't want to hurt her. And she seems pretty likeable actually.

He turned his head to the griffon and sat somewhat closer again. He already felt the glance he'd gotten from the griffon. He looked a bit down to show some remorse. "Hey Maxie. I'm...sorry for what I just did. I'm normally not like that. It's probably because my mind says that you're gonna be my enemy...Could we" He raised his head and a smile appeared. "be friends?"

oh my god. he realised he was totally ruining a conversation between Maxie and Sora. YEP. He ruined it all. Good job Bou.

The hyena goes to respond, but is thrown off by the whistling. She blinks, irritation flicking across her face for a brief second as she glances at the culprit. Upon hearing the griffons shouts however, the frown is replaced with a large grin. 'Your's too~ Hit me up after I'm done kickin' all your asses! I'd be more than happy to trade tips once we're done.'

She smirks, turning back round to face Greg, a mischevious glint in her eyes. 'Sorry about that, Hot shot~ Cheers!' she says with a grin, putting the bottle to her lips, and.. sipping just enough to wet her lips. The day was yet young, and there was work to be done. No point getting hammered just yet. She gives Greg a playful wink. 'Soooo, enjoyin' your host duties~?'

There was a Brown Hedgehog outside the crowd. He was standing against the wall admiring all the various colorful characters. He hasn't fought in quite a while. So being in this tournament would be a nice change of pace. He wonders if anyone would notice him.

Maybe.

Her expression was worried as she looked at Envy. He seemed to be jealous of somethjng, or someone but she didn't know why. Amber smiled nonetheless, just happy to see him. "Hey, you ok?" She asked him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

[size=32]While Malware was dancing, he loosened his grip upon his phone just enough to where it would fly out of his hand. After one dancing motion, Malware accidentally flung his phone across the room. The phone soared through the air and made contact with one of the walls before breaking into a million tiny pieces. Malware realized what had happened at merely alternated stares between Greg and his own phone that had broke. Malware then looked down and slumped his shoulders a bit. Now the hacker was silenced by his own foolishness. With no way to communicate now, the fox observed what was going on around the room before retreating to a neighboring room. Then again, there was his DJ equipment, but the threat from Greg's sponsor convinced Malware to not mess with any tech, including his own equipment since that was Malware's most prized possession.[/size]

"Depends on how badly you hit me if we DO fight." A smirk, "'Course, I'll be bringing my all~ it won't be easy to take me down, eh? I'm here for the potential cash, y'see? But making friends? Maaaaybe. Jus' try not to kill me out there and we'll be cool, girl. Good luck in your fight anyw-" And she was... abruptly cut off.

She fell silent, Boubka taking over the conversation. The vixen just - awkwardly turned her attention away a little. ...Huh.

Envy responded to Amber as she put her hand on his shoulder by changing his mood back to a slight cheerfulness. "I'm fine, just thinking." Envy smiles as he thought about his long-term friendship with the wolf.

Then he was forced to think about the chances of the two having to battle. He shuddered at the thought that he might accidentally kill his friend if he gets carried away.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* "Someone. *Bang* Get. *Bang* Me. *Bang* A. *Bang* Slushie. *Bang* Or. *Bang* Milkshake. *Bang* Please." Blizz was busy smacking her head against the table next to an empty plate and cup. Guess the spiceness finally got to her. Along the fact that she accidentally ate a Ghost Pepper, one of the hottest peppers in existence.

Though, the fact that she can still eat was a little unnerving, to say the least. *Bang* She probably wasn't stopping anytime soon.

Amber didn't exactly believe her friend, but she nodded along and smiled. "Alright." She sat down on the couch, putting her feet up on the coffee table. Many thoughts were running through her head, a lot about the upcoming fights. This was one of the first big fighting events she had ever participated in, so it was exciting

Froshana was still idly twiddling her thumbs, listening in on any nearby conversations she could hear. Maybe she could learn something from whatever was said.

The sound of something thudding loudly against a nearby table made the hedgehog's brow furrow and her ears flick suddenly. She glanced over and spotted the obviously-wasted Blizz making some attempt to communicate while repeatedly hitting her face against the table. Froshana frowned a bit at the display.

'Why would someone come to a tournament just to get wasted before the fights even start...?' she wondered, '...Why would they even offer alcohol at something like this in the first place?'

She just shook her head and averted her gaze. It wasn't her problem, really. She wasn't old enough to drink and didn't particularly care for alcohol anyway so maybe that was why she couldn't understand why people would drink so much on purpose.

Finally, though, she decided that sitting still was doing nothing for her nerves. And so she stood up from the table and started off towards the buffet to get herself just a little snack.

A wink in Esme's direction, before turning back to Sors with wide eyes. "Kill? What? Honey, there's not gonna be any deaths in this lil' thing I hope!" the griffon shook her head with a frown, "Just a lil' friendly competition! If there's some murder in all it, then babe, they're not gonna stand for it I hope!" She did give a glance in Greg's direction with a frown. Would they actually take action if a life was accidentally lost here? She hoped so.

Of course, Boubka leapt in there with his words, and her attention shifted briefly to him. At first, she was hesitant of him. But with what he spoke, that curious expression quickly flicked up into a wide smile, and she giggled with a clear happiness, "Aaaahhh~! You're gonna make me b-blush!" she fanned her face gently with one of her wings, and coughed a little. Right. He didn't like her speaking like that. Ahem. "A-ah, of course! None of us are enemies here, right? Like I said to the gorgeous Sora there, it's just a liiiiiittle competition!"

I mean, as she said that, Malware's phone went flying across the room with a shatter. She winced, and a frown of sympathy appeared as the man sulked into another room. She should probably go fetch him. And throughout that, there was the aggressive thumping of Blizz's head against the table from all of her eating. Maxie stared, scratching the back of her neck with an awkward smile. "Hah... h-hah."

She shook her head.
"Now let's try and make this more of a party, mmmm~? After all, we want everyone in their best spirits and doing the best they can~!" The griffon clasped ehr hands together with a wide smile, and a small tilt of her head, "And babes, I know just the solution~! Sora, honey, could you see to that brown hedgehog with the electric marks? He looks awfully lonely..."
A point towards Boubka, "Boubka, darling! Help this poor thing out, would you?" she asked, motioning towards Blizz, "And ah, Six? If you're still with us, honey, can you help out with lil' Bou too?"
And a point to herself, "And I'll tend to the hacker. I'm sure all he needs is a lil' pat on the back and a huuuug!"

And as she finished her sentence, there was a sudden Ryder. She whisteled and waved at him with a wink, "Helloooo~!" And with that, she stood up.

He heard the griffon spoke again in the same manner. It annoyed him a bit, but not as much as before. Maybe she really was like that. He could see that she was clearly trying her best not to speak like that. He thought that she wasn't trying to deceive him. She mentioned a friendly fight. He could probably rely on her now.

Then he saw the hedgehog walking in. He remembered him. That was Ryder, the guy that went explosive the other day. He kept an eye on him. He didn't seem to be angry or aggresive. He should just let him be for a moment and see how it turns out.

The griffon spoke to him again. He raised his head a bit. Oh! It seemed like somebody was in need for socializing! Great! That's what Bou could do best, or at least that was his goal. He nodded. "You're right! See you guys later!" He shoved somewhat to the place where Blizz sat.

He seemed pretty curious and grinned a bit. He knew that she had been drinking alcohol and that she was probably super drunk right now. "Hello there! The name's Boubka. Nice to meet you!" He smiled friendly to her. "So what are your thoughts on the tournament?" He leaned a bit forward. His eyes were glowing, so was a stripe on his right hand. Both being bright green.

Sora could feel her face flushing a little red. Something about having another girl that looked miles better than her call her gorgeous made her just... shy, rather than full of ego like she normally would've been.

She looked away some more, until the mentioning of... helping people out? "...Ehh..." She was about to protest until she was pretty much left alone. Oh, they're doing that then. ("...Alright, fine.") She got to her feet, giving a groan and a stretch to the side, before walking on over to the brown hedgehog. "Ayyy." She said, giving a small grin, "You look a bit distant."

Malware was in one of the neighboring rooms, but the question as to where he was in the room was a mystery. He felt out of place without his phone which might be the reason as to why he was hiding. While he was in his hiding spot, Malware thought up of a lot of crazy ideas on how to get on Greg's and his sponsor's nerves without breaking the rules. Malware couldn't mess with the TV's since he was already scolded for hacking them, yet no one ever said anything about "improving" them. That's it! Malware would "improve" the TV's. Now, he had to figure out how he would improve the TV's. There was the RV that Malware had "permanently borrowed" filled with lots of tools and gadgets and, of course, "permanently borrowed" televisions. Malware bolted away from his hiding spot and sprinted towards the elevator. Then the griffon appeared seemingly out of nowhere. With little time to react, Malware bumped into the griffon and fell back due to the recoil, if that was the word, caused by bumping into her. The only thing that ever came out of the prankster was a muffled squeak of pain. Malware sat up after a few minutes of wallowing in pain. He looked up the griffon and just scratched his head. How was he supposed to communicate if he only displayed messages through things such as TV's, phones, and etc.? The hacker could feel himself becoming uncomfortable.

Greg felt slightly lost in all the action going on around him. It was a whirling dervish of people shifting around, chatting, exchanging compliments, flirting. He was quite happy talking to the hyena for one second, before the griffon interupted them. Still, it seemed Esme was mainly all eyes on him. Well, why shouldn't she be? He was Handsome Greg after all! It was in the name!
"Soooo, enjoyin' your host duties~?" she'd asked him with a wink - enough to get the young zebra all flustered. In the background, Malware's phone flew out and clattered to pieces on the floor.
"...I am now!" he responded with a grin, realising how much easier his life had been made. Thooouuugh that grin soon faded slightly as the sound of someone bashing their head against a table was heard in the background.
"...So, ah, uh... I'm Greg!" he introduced himself properly. That was practically first base.

Her ear twitched slightly as the phone shattered. For a fraction of a second, her playful smile faltered slightly, before coming back in full force. 'Weren't looking forward to taking care of the revel, hm?' she said softly, before offering out her hand to shake. 'And a pleasure to meet you, Hot shot~ You can call me Esme'

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched one of the other groups split up and move around to talk to different people. She couldn't see where exactly everyone was going, but she was suddenly aware of the room becoming slightly quieter. She pretended to take another sip of her beer, fixing her eyes solely on Greg. Once she had some sway over him, everything else would go sooo much smoother.

'I'm surprised you're here, if I'm honest. If I had half your looks, I'd be in a very different line of work~'

The wolf sighs softly as he stares out the window and drinks from his glass of water. He occasionally surveys the room by watching reflections in the glass.

He can see Malware dancing and dropping his phone so it breaks on the floor. The wolf lets out a little snort at that.

*Well... when one acts like a fool, they have no one to blame but themselves when they do something foolish.* he thinks as he sees Malware then exit the room, *Perhaps he'll be better behaved now.*

He spots Blizz and the commotion she was making.

*Really? Some people... I'll just never understand.* he thinks while she thumps her head against the table and makes a spectacle, or nuisance in his opinion, of herself, *Is it truly that difficult to maintain at least the slightest amount of dignity in a public setting?*

He notes the arrival of a few other people, some who greet others they know in the room and others who just make their way to their own relatively quiet spot. Relative in that the members of the group gathered in the middle of the room seemed to competing to be heard by everyone else in the room with their laughter and carrying on. Especially the griffon who appeared to be quite the outgoing sort and was chatting with whoever she could.

*I suppose that I should look at this room as the first real challenge of this tournament.* he thinks, *If I can endure this... social event, I'm sure that the fights themselves will be relaxing by comparison.*

He then noted the group in the middle parting ways.

*Well... thank the gods for small mercies. Thinks may have become a few degrees more tolerable in here. At least for the moment.* he thinks, before taking another drink from his glass of water.

*Bang* Blizz stopped momentarily to look at the kid addressing her and stares at him with her unnatural Black eyeballs and white iris'. "My thoughts? Kid, everyone here is here to fight or get something outta their system. I on the other hand, am here because I need a challenge. It gets boring when dealing with the same moronic fools everyday. And another thing," She randomly began to scratch her head. "Where a slushie maker at?"

The one thing you can always count on for truth is a drunk/tipsy person. Blizz falls under the category of Tipsy since she can't get fully drunk. She also took notice of a few stares at her from other people. 'Good. The more foolish I seem the funnier their expressions will be, say CHEESE mothafuckas. You're get recorded by me!...Now, where'd I put my machete at?'