VALENTINES CHARITY - Feoveuer 14th

[thejoyrider]

♥ THE FESTIVAL OF LOVE ♥

"At the Festival of Love: Shine like thunder
At the Festival of Love: Cry like rain
At the Festival of Love: Hear my calling
At the Festival of Love: Hear my name"

...wait, who prepared this poster? The vibe it gives off is totally wrong... ah, well, it will do! ♥





I. Welcome! ♥

On Feoveuer 14th regulars of DiplomaTea will immediately notice that the place looks different. Fresh flowers, garlands and paper decorations are everywhere, all in lovely shades of pink and red. Heart-shaped confetti is falling from the ceiling, magicked to disappear shortly after touching the floor so it would not make a mess. Quiet music is filling the whole cafe, one of the many masterpieces of Amadeus Mozart and a particual favorite of Marie who picked this particular song to play. Even those who have missed Marie's flyers and announcements about the upcoming event would definitely notice that something joyous is going on inside, why not check it out and join everyone?

If you haven't heard before, the posters will explain everything. Today's event, The Festival of Love celebrates the holiday known as Valentine's Day some Mirrorbound might be familiar with. This is the day to celebrate love in all shapes and forms. Spend a wonderful, romantic evening with your partner... or your friends and family, because these kinds of love are important too! Or get some sweets and eat them all by yourself, because self love is also important! All money collected during today's event will go to aid the refugees and help those who have been affected during last month - celebration of love for your fellow woman, man and everyone else.

a. Preparations ♥

Of course an event this big cannot happen without the help of many. Making and putting up the decorations, enchanting the confetti and music, building the booths, preparing the tables, all of this and much more took almost the whole previous day. Everett will also defintely need part-timers to help tending to the increased number of custoers during the event. If you visited DiplomaTea during that time, you probably couldn't enjoy your drink in peace... or maybe you were roped into helping? Marie gives you a pleading look. Every pair of hands is useful, you know!

II. The Festival of Love ♥

Kissing Booths ♥

Two hastily made but lovingly decorated wooden booths have been placed on DiplomaTea porch. For supporting the cause with a small fee of 100 cunes the person inside will gladly give you a lovely kiss... though you are, of course, welcome to throw an even bigger amount into the donation box! The Mirrorbound staff the booths in shifts so nobody will be forced to sit out the whole event and more volunteers are always welcome... come on, don't you want to support the charitable cause? Marie is quite persuasive, she might find a way to convince you even if it's not something you would have usually agreed to ♥ Or maybe your crush is currently in the booth and this is your big chance? Either way, thank you for your support, good people!

Bake Sale ♥

Are you skilled with the cooking appliances? Would you like these skills to serve a good cause? The tables just next to the main entrance of DiplomaTea have been filled with cakes, pastries and other kinds of sweets donated by Mirrorbound - help yourself to some! You have to pay for it, of course, but all the money collected helps the charitable cause! For those who are not fond of sweet things, savory and spicy snacks are also found on the table.

Did you bring a dish? Would you like to buy something? Or maybe you are just staffing the tables and helping with the bake sale itself? All kinds of help are appreciated! Are you culinarily challenged but refuse to admit it? Thank you for your donation anyway, it is going on sale! Did anyone see the Fae who donated these cupcakes? These appear to be enchanted and eating one will cause you to say the opposite what you mean for fifteen minutes. What do you mean, Marie, we are putting these on sale as well? Could it be... that Fae was... No, impossible!

Auction ♥

Want to support the cause with a bigger sum? As a part of the main event, a couple of items will be auctioned. To show their support, the Coven donated several valuables that could definitely be of use for both Witches and Monsters:

• an ornate golden ring Fae-blessed to provide the wearer 12 hours of invisibility (which does not have to be used consecutively, it's 'turned on and off' by rubbing the stone set into it, and does not conceal the wearer from other Fae)
• a suit set and a dress that will both transform magically to fit whatever Monster form the wearer has (and will also take on the wearer's color and design preferences)
• a book on imbuing baked goods with minor luck spells - good and bad both.

Place your bids now! But that's not everything that will be put on sale today - donations from Mirrorbound are also accepted and will be auctioned! Do you have any items you no longer need and could contribute? Maybe it's something you have crafted yourself? Or a voucher for any kind of services you can provide? Whatever it is, thank you for your donation! Yes, even if it's enchanted. Especially if it is enchanted!

Not donating or buying anything? You could certainly help with the organization part! That pile of items over there... Mind checking out what we even have there and assign starting bids?

A Word from our Sponsor ♥

DiplomaTea is offering a couple of special offers on this special day, all proceeds will be donated! Extra large mug of cinnamon cocoa you can share with a special person to warm up your bodies and hearts. You can also drink it yourself if you want to, nobody will judge you and certainly not Everett. However, even if you came here by yourself... Are you sure you can finish it by yourself? How about splitting the cocoa with someone who also came alone? That's the spirit of the day! 

For those interested in a drink that can provide more thrill than simple cocoa, Everett is offering a tea blend called Ardric's Warmth. In his own words, it tastes like a live firecracker and has enough caffeine to raise the dead. And yet, this blend seems to have its dedicated fans in Aefenglom, especially among Dragons. Dare to try it? Or maybe someone tricked you into drinking some?

Inkchanted Corner ♥

Caster Cú Chulainn is doing a promotion on behalf of his and Waver's tattoo shop, Inkchanted. Still undecided if you would like to visit their place? Unsure about a permanent tattoo? You can try it out here and help the cause! For a low fee you can have Caster draw a small, enchanted painting on your skin. It can make you give off a charming aura, perfect if you are still looking for someone to spend the evening with or trying to grab the attention of that particular person. Or maybe you are celebrating self love and just want a spell that will allow you to eat a lot of sweets without consequences tonight? Perfect! Another idea? Be sure to communicate it well, you would not want to end up with an enchanted painting that gives a different effect you originally wanted... though even if you do, the magic will only work for a few hours. You can wait that long, can you?

Magic Show ♥

Trucy Wright, one of the recent arrivals to Aefenglom is on stage and about to perform her splendid magic show! Huh, that's nothing special in Aefenglom, you might think. Magic is an everyday thing for every Witch after all. However, this young lady here is not a Witch, so how does she do it? With totally real magic, of course! Get your seats and pay close attention to everything she does, but you are not very likely to notice anything - this girl is a professional, after all. In using real magic, of course! Or maybe you have similar skills? You are welcome to join her on stage and perform your own well-practiced trick. If it's not as well-practiced as you thought... well, at least you made the audience laugh? In need of a charming assistant? Just pick someone more or less willing from the audience!

III. Cleanup ♥

Tired after a busy day? Congratulate yourself on a job well done, we managed to collect a nice sum that will certainly help a lot! But before you can rest in your bed, there's more to be done. Taking off decorations, removing the confetti enchantments, washing the dishes, collecting the trash and cleaning the whole place. We cannot leave Everett alone with this mess after he was so nice to allow the usage of DiplomaTea for today's event, can we? You can stay and help, can you? Maybe there are some leftowers from the bake sale to sweeten the deal?

Comments

[sealeted]

I love sweets. There's nothing wrong with being excited about it.

[She pats his leg consolingly.]

[sneaksweet]

[But her image isn't a giant mismatch with a pile of cakes...

He just gives her a little nod as a reply as he climbs back down the ladder.]

Want to share something?

[sealeted]

Let's be honest.

[She grins at him, small and conspiratorial.]

We're going to share a bunch of somethings, aren't we?

[sneaksweet]

Yeah. You're right.

[Let him munch.]

[sealeted]

[Look at that honesty!

What progress.]

I've been smelling that cocoa all day, and it's driving me nuts. Want to start there?

[sneaksweet]

[Some actors are just tragically bad liars, and it's not like he can attempt to pretend he's somebody else at this point.]

Works for me.

[sealeted]

[Hakuno hooks an arm through his when he's back on terra firma and steers them in the direction of that delicious scent. Each of them ends up with a large mug of the cocoa, and they are left to browse the snack selections.]

Cookies first, or cake?

[sneaksweet]

[He's more startled about the arm around his to actually put up any resistance.]

You got a favorite cake?

[sealeted]

Before I came here, I only had roll cake. I've had a cream fruit one, and a chocolate one since coming here, but I'm happy to try something new if you've got a recommendation.

[She's certain he must have a (secret) list of all sorts of sweets...]

[sneaksweet]

[The top of his list is definitely anmitsu with cream, but he seriously doubts they're going to find that around here.]

Strawberry shortcake's good. Carrot cake. Cheese cake... but there's a couple different kinds of that.

[sealeted]

Hm... Well, just tug me towards the first thing that looks familiar, and I'll follow your lead.

[sneaksweet]

[Can do.

He's just tugging her directly to the cheesecake slices topped with an assortment of berries. One for each of them.

Have you ever seen a man look so happy to eat a cake?]

[sealeted]

...!

[Hakuno looks just as happy, one mouthful later. It takes a little juggling to keep everything balanced, but a small, pleased noise floats out of her.]

This is delicious.

[sneaksweet]

[This might be sweets paradise...]

Glad you like it.

[sealeted]

[They stumbled in at a good time of year, at the very least.]

Me too. Do you ever bake yourself, Juza?

[sneaksweet]

I haven't really done it before.

[Omi, Tsuzuru and Izumi are usually in the kitchen. There's no way he's going to make better sweets than Omi.

Man, he misses his local mom friend.]

[sealeted]

It might be something to try here, then. I'm put a bid in on that recipe and enchanting book they're auctioning, myself.

[Magic treats...

She wants to try them so bad.]

[sneaksweet]

I wanna try those too...[Desserts... All desserts are so good. He hasn't met one he doesn't like yet.] Aren't you a fae? I thought enchantment was a witch thing.

[sealeted]

I've heard fae can imbue items with certain effects, like good or bad luck. I thought this might have something like that in there.

[And if not, she can read it, take notes, and pass it onto a Witch who can put it to better use.]

[sneaksweet]

Guess fae have a lot of magic even for bein' monsters.

[Juza will just turn into a bear.]

Lookin' forward to that?

[sealeted]

Well, it's less magic than I'm used to.

[Code casts... she misses them like a lost limb, sometimes.]

But, if my wings get bigger then I might be able to fly. That'd be cool.

[sneaksweet]

You're used to a lot of it?

[A little nod.]

It would be. Then you could put up all kinds of decorations.

[sealeted]

Yeah. Technically, the place I'm from is made of magic.

[And tried to kill her, so. You know.]

I could. ...And I'd get glittery powder everywhere, probably.

[sneaksweet]

["is that how it created you" seems a little too weird to ask right now.]

The school was made of magic?

Some people're really into glitter.

[sealeted]

Kind of. Did your world ever have VR technology?

[That's exactly right.]

I'll have to flutter their way, someday, then. You one of them?