wake cake

(set: $flavor to (prompt: "What flavor is your cake?", "")) You are standing in a quiet-ish room filled with quiet-ish conversation. It is dimly candle lit, the plastered walls are marked with forgotten holes and water damage. and the chill of winter passes through the plyboard filling a lonely window frame. You are holding a $flavor cake. The mix was store-bought but you made it yourself. You need to find a place to put it down, but fail to spot a table. It is heavy and hard to balance. [[Wander to the north end of the room.->WCNorth]] [[Wander to the south end of the room.->WCSouth]] [[Wander to the east end of the room.->WCEast]] [[Wander to the west side of the room.->WCWest]]

At the north side of the room there is a small, circular wooden table displaying various snacks, drugs, and patches, with no particular division or order of type. It looks like one of those haunted magic eye images, although more indifferent than hostile to those around it. Most of everyone has seemingly brought their own snacks, drugs, and patches or have plundered what they need for the rest of the night. A particularly grim man shadows the table, as if watching over a reactive dog. He is wearing an oversized black hoodie, hood drawn up, with his hands in his pockets. His dark blue jeans are torn, his right knee is scraped. [[Approach the man.->WCNorth 2]] [[Wander to the south end of the room.->WCSouth]] [[Wander to the east end of the room.->WCEast]] [[Wander to the west side of the room.->WCWest]]

At the south side of the room there is a hallway that exits the room. That hallway leads to a bathroom, a kitchen, and the stairway connecting each apartment to the outside world. People are spilling out of the kitchen, and there is a short line of three or four waiting to use the bathroom. The door out of the apartment is crowded with shoes and boots, almost all of which are leather-black. [[Approach the kitchen.->WCSouthKitch]] [[Go to the bathroom.->WCSouthBath]] [[Leave.->WCLeave]] [[Wander to the north end of the room.->WCNorth]] [[Wander to the east end of the room.->WCEast]] [[Wander to the west side of the room.->WCWest]]

At the east side of the room, a few somber fellows stand and smoke by the window frame, which cradles a piece of painted plyboard. They are almost whispering. The walls around the window frame display various collages of red and pink hues that nearly resemble gore, but just barely not enough to not defy their role as background. Besides the wall art, the plywood, the smokers, and the eerie light escaping through the window cracks, this side of the room is remarkably bare. [[Approach the smokers->WCEast 2]] [[Wander to the north end of the room.->WCNorth]] [[Wander to the south end of the room.->WCSouth]] [[Wander to the west side of the room.->WCWest]]

At the west side of the room there is a couch that hundreds of punks have put in as much damage as three or so cats. It seats what you think must be about five people at the current moment, but you can't quite tell if there is a sixth somehow underneath the other five. A woman with a deflated mohawk and sweat-shiny head laughs and squats on mess of fabric that covers hard wood. She laughs again, seemingly at nothing, and looks at you. You maintain eye contact for a moment before she breaks away, returning to her comrade clawing their torso out from the seats of their five friends. One of the piercings in his ear facing you is bleeding. The face of the person on the far right betrays a brief hurt that this results in them no longer touching. They hold the hand of their leftward couch sitter. They both wear worn leather jackets, both filled with holes, one with a very sharp turquoise lining, the other a rough beige. All six(?) hold their joint or drink in the air, as if their necks and shoulders are just above water. There is no room for a cake at all. One of the couch goers explains "oh, cake!" but you are unsure which. You reasses. [[Wander to the north end of the room.->WCNorth]] [[Wander to the south end of the room.->WCSouth]] [[Wander to the east end of the room.->WCEast]]

You hear the one on the left. They are fat, tall, and topless save an oxblood red leather harness that is impressively fastened securely only over the nipples of their large breasts, and pink, moppy hair. They have a little pink mustache, a little oxblood beret, black leather shorts, and sparkling eyes. "I mean, can you //believe// this thing? I don't care how broke I am, I wouldn't have ever picked this one here. Facebook chic. Disgusting!" The one of the right laughs, but is earnestly disagreeing. They are small, with a full beard and long, hanging jewelry. They wore a elegant black gown, and appear to be wearing shoes that resemble satyr hooves. A beautiful faux-crystal draws the eye to their ornate black choker. Their voice is incredibly deep and hoarse. "Okay, okay... It's the only ones out there, okay? Landlords love this shit. I worked a job for this nonprofit that wanted photos for this big shuttered school that they //filled// with these boards. They must be everywhere. I'm sure Jasper just found it in some alley. The window probably broke right before the party, I doubt she had the time to shop. Where would you get one anyway?" The left one laughs, booming. Even their laugh has a fagcent. "Oh honey, I have been complaining about this thing since //April//!" They both laugh together. [["Excuse me, do you know where I could put this cake?"->WCEast 3]] [[Wander to the north end of the room.->WCNorth]] [[Wander to the south end of the room.->WCSouth]] [[Wander to the west side of the room.->WCWest]]

You join the crowd gathered at the maw of the kitchen. There is no immediate room to maneuver through the bodies to the hypothetical counterspace. There is a short, teal haired person wearing only a very oversized sweater with the unintelligible characters of the metal band running down the sleeves, and a natural-blonde person in fairly crunchy, earthy tones of jade-green and clay-red. They appear to be having an argument. "Look, I don't think it was exactly a virtue, but I don't want to be mean to them right now..." "Don't Charlie Kirk her. She wouldn't want that." "I'm not doing a Charlie Kirk!" [[Ask them to pass through.->WCSouthKitch2]] [[Wander to the north end of the room.->WCNorth]] [[Wander to the east end of the room.->WCEast]] [[Wander to the west side of the room.->WCWest]] [[Return to the south end of the room.->WCSouth]]

You get in line. The person in front of you turns around. Their breath smells, not in a bad way necessarily, but you are unable to identify it. They speak. "Hey, nice cake. Was $flavor her favorite?" The line moves up one, and the person does not turn around again. You realize that you are bringing a cake into the bathroom, and decide to hold it. [[Leave.->WCLeave]] [[Approach the kitchen.->WCSouthKitch]] [[Wander to the north end of the room.->WCNorth]] [[Wander to the east end of the room.->WCEast]] [[Wander to the west side of the room.->WCWest]]

You stumble over the various shined and dirtied footwear, finding your own. There is no room to put down the cake, so you shove your feet into the loose holes of your shoes and decide to carry on without tying the laces. You gingerly open the door, lightly bumping someone who reflexively says "hey, sorry, no problem," and you exit the room. You are standing at the brink of the stairway. The sounds of the room is muffled, which somehow makes them louder. [[Go home.->elegies]] [[Leave the cake by the door.->elegies]] [[Go back into the room.->WCSouth]]

He looks at you. He does not speak. You hear a clamoring behind you, followed by a squeling laugh. [["You're all alone."->WCNorth 2.5]] [["Can I make room for this cake here?"->WCNorth 3]] [[Wander to the south end of the room.->WCSouth]] [[Wander to the east end of the room.->WCEast]] [[Wander to the west side of the room.->WCWest]]

The one on the left turns to you, and looks you up and down, as if you were not holding a cake at all. The one on the right doesn't seem to hear you until they notice the conversation was paused, allowing surprise to take their face. "Oh darling," the faggy one says, "I would hold that for you, but I don't want it to get cold by this pathetic excuse for a window." You realize that they are very, very high. "Do cakes get cold? Like is that bad? Is that wrong?" the little one chuckles. "Do you prefer your cakes out of the oven or the freezer section of ALDI's, Bug?" "I don't think you would like the answer." "Oh don't worry, I already know it and have made my peace." They both laugh, and kiss. The weight of the cake creeps back into your shoulders. [[Wander to the north end of the room.->WCNorth]] [[Wander to the south end of the room.->WCSouth]] [[Wander to the west side of the room.->WCWest]]

He frowns. "I'm in a room full of people." He says. [["Can I make room for this cake here?"->WCNorth 3]] [[Wander to the south end of the room.->WCSouth]] [[Wander to the east end of the room.->WCEast]] [[Wander to the west side of the room.->WCWest]]

"And put all this shit on the floor? Sounds like a tripping hazard. Besides, I don't want everyone swarming over here for cake. Looks tasty, though." He pauses, betraying some earnest concern. "Maybe find Jasper. Haven't seen them tonight, though. I would help look, but I'm tied up with this." He nods to the mess on the table. [["You're all alone."->WCNorth 2.5]] [[Wander to the south end of the room.->WCSouth]] [[Wander to the east end of the room.->WCEast]] [[Wander to the west side of the room.->WCWest]]

"Oh, sorry." The lanky, earth-toned one says. You realize they are the one who is doing a "Charlie Kirk." They flatten themselves up the wall. It does not make much of a difference. The teal haired one scowls at you. "Why do you think we're here? We're all hungry." The blonde shakes their head. "We've been here for like, what, ten minutes? No budge." Teal-haired looks you up and down, and their expression softens, and a smile grows. "Wait, is that a cake?" The blonde's posture suddenly loosens and their palm flies to their forehead. They exclaim "Fuck! I was supposed to bring plates! God, I knew I was anxious for something //real//." "Oh come ON." The sweater-clad one growled. They continued to argue, forgetting about you. A person pops their head into the huddled crowd. "Hey everyone! Bit of a spill in here. Nothing to worry about. But can you guys like, back off for a sec?" Both the blonde and dyed hair pair roll their eyes, practically in unison. The blonde tries to laugh it off. "Fuck Jasper, okay?" they say with a disarming smile. [[Wander to the north end of the room.->WCNorth]] [[Wander to the south end of the room.->WCSouth]] [[Wander to the east end of the room.->WCEast]] [[Wander to the west side of the room.->WCWest]]

You leave your taste for $flavor cake at the door. Half way down the stairs you think you hear the faintest sound of your name, now drowned out with all the rest of it by the echoes your hurried steps. Thank you for all of the cakes you have baked in your life!