darling, this place is a lovely oasis [forward dated to Thursday]

[honeyedtea]

[ It doesn't seem right to call for a party this week, not with this new incentive hanging over their heads and ticking ever closer to its deadline. Mielle's been trying not to think about it but she knows she's in the minority, compared to those who've been spending their hours doing nothing but sit around the meeting room. It feels like the fragile sense of stability they've managed to establish is going to come splintering apart and that frightens her. She'd talked about arranging something like this last week with Gaius, but... now seems like a good time to actually make it a reality.

At some point during the prior day, everyone will have gotten an invitation from Mielle – either in person or through notes left at their suites – to come by the restaurant around noon the next day for a little gathering. There'll be food and also a bit of a surprise that she'd like everyone to come and see.

Anyone who drops by at the time indicated will find that Mielle has set up a tea party in the restaurant. She's done what she can to wrangle finger foods and sweets and enough tea for everyone from the menu and there's a few tables set up for people to sit around chatting over tea and food.

There's also another table set up not with food, but handicraft supplies. There's beginner embroidery sets and more than enough supplies for everyone as well as some supplies and paper for flower pressing, if you're into that.

Mielle's hovering around, trying to look more like a confident hostess and less like a nervous wreck but with this week being what it is, she thinks they won't mind her slipping etiquette. ]

I'm not quite sure how typical this is elsewhere, but... in my own world, young ladies will come to gatherings like this to socialize and display their skill at these sorts of crafts. I know nothing can change the situation we're in but... I'd hoped that a gathering like this might lift our spirits, or at least take our minds off of things.

[ It's certainly not as formal as Jonathan's meeting from last week. But there's something earnest about it all the same.

Mielle will be attending, of course, and while she's here to socialize, she'll also be happy to help anyone who wants to learn handicrafts with getting started – she'll be surprised if any of the guys show an interest but she'll help all the same. Otherwise, feel free to mingle around and try not to think about the rapidly approaching motive deadline. ]

Comments

[capreelcious]

[ Floyd does not normally press flowers, but by the Seven he sure is trying his best! He's got some flowers picked out, sticking them in a book and closing it on them.

...But at one point, if left alone for long enough, he gets a little bored and makes a little origami crane out of the paper.

He makes the wings flap too!! Hehe, tweet tweet. ]

[honeyedtea]

[ She's doing a quick circuit of the restaurant while in Hostess Mode(tm) and stops by Floyd just in time to see his handiwork. ]

Oh goodness, how pretty! It's a little bird! Did you fold that out of paper?

[allatonce]

Oh, hey.

[Joy reaches across the table to grab the origami book that she got from where she dropped it because it felt appropriate for the party.]

I got a whole book of those, if you want to learn more.

[howveryglib]

[Gaius encouraged this idea, so he figures he might as well make an appearance!

...

He's not really sure how to engage though so he's just kind of holding up the wall like a chaperone at a school dance. He at least bothered to drop seven bucks on the drink tea emote so he's doing that, but he's clearly feeling a little bit awkward...]

[honeyedtea]

Sir van Baelsar...!

[ Mielle's been floating around mingling with everyone, like the mini hostess with the mostest she is, but once she spots Gaius, her face lights up and she comes hurrying over. ]

I'm so glad you were able to make it!

[allatonce]

Oh no. Come here, if I'm gonna be bad at embroidery then you also have to come be bad at embroidery.

[She's tugging at his arm. Get over here, asshole. We're gonna level WVR.]

[inaclearing]

Come on, you can at least try pressing flowers or something.

[That's what Brett's doing! Seems like it takes a lot less expertise than the embroidery thing.]

makes the sign of the cross, to mielle (but threadjacks are welcome)

[bootyhunter]

[Dandy is notoriously the opposite of a tea and raised pinky sort of person, especially since he probably used the invitation Mielle sent out to wipe his ass, but he does make a routine trip to the restaurant at this hour every day, and typically the hour after that.

He has been eating a lot.]

How young we talkin'?

[He sounds disinterested, and like he's got a little too much on his mind. It's either that or indigestion, although in this specific circumstance, it might be a little bit of both.]

[honeyedtea]

How young?

[ That's clearly not a question she was expecting to get, so she takes a moment to think over it before responding. ]

I suppose it's more typical for girls around my age when we've yet to have our coming our age ceremonies or prior to marriage. But there's no hard rule about it that I know of... so ladies of all ages are free to enjoy it.

[visiblepattern]

[This is another setting Forrest looks comfortable in, not dissimilar to the garden party last week; he seems in good spirits today, and he actually has an embroidery project of his own that he's been working on since getting his sewing kit back.

So he's got the kit stowed neatly at his feet, and he's embroidering away in a rather serene manner. It's plain immediately that at least one of the things he's said since arriving is patently true: he has an extremely steady hand, and you probably wouldn't be too badly off if he was the one handling your stitches. He's working at something sort of like this for the time being, and he's seeming pretty content with his progress so far.

Of course, he's also willing to discuss things that aren't the embroidery project as well. Or hell, come ask him to stitch you something if you'd like, he takes requests.]

[honeyedtea]

Oh, Your Highness!

[ They haven't had a chance to talk yet, but you can absolutely bet Mielle made a point of knowing who she should be addressing politely and how. She's made her way over just as he's set to embroidering and she looks thoroughly impressed. ]

You have such a steady hand...! Your embroidery is quite beautiful already.

[inaclearing]

Wow, you're really good at that. I'm just sticking to the flower thing - I've never been that crafty.

[Pressing flowers doesn't seem to take a ton of skill!]

[giddyundertaker]

[ Good news, the Undertaker brought biscuits for the tea.

Bad news, he still insists on making the biscuits bone shaped.

Worse news, he's taken up a corner of the crafts table and is currently making a funeral wreath.

It's a blessing he manages to finish that quickly enough. But then there's a chance he might walk up to anyone (with hair) and ask: ]

May I bother you for a lock of hair? I'd like to make some mourning jewelry for you.

[ ... Who invited this creep again? ]

[howveryglib]

...

...

I do not even know where to begin with just about anything you say.

[honeyedtea]

[ ^ the fool who invited this creep, apparently. ]

I'd... really prefer if you didn't do that while you were here.

[ She's ignoring the actual question because she thinks it goes without saying that she absolutely is not giving him any of her hair. ]

[inaclearing]

No, that isn't really a thing we do.

[He's...trying to treat this with equanimity, at least?]

[dullshooter]

[Misfire is here, and even dressed up for the party in his recently acquired hawaiian shirt. He's less sitting at the table and more sitting under it, but - whatever.

He's mostly just here to hang out, but at some point does start fiddling around with the embroidery kits. Due to continuiously changing his mind mid-way on what he actually wants to make, it ends up...bad. It looks bad.]

[kninja]

Ohhh, Miisssfiiiire!

[This is literally the only Thursday thread Obi is going to exist for; don't you feel honored?]

I'm here to collect my prize from yesterday.

[allatonce]

[Joy drops an origami instruction book on one of the tables, along with a tea variety pack, because she figures this is probably the best place to get rid of them. She's drinking tea and eating sandwiches and, uh...

Possible she didn't understand the assignment with the design she's decided on. It looks decent? Very clearly unpracticed, but she's having a good time at least.]

[inaclearing]

[Brett snorts. Honestly, that seems like the purest version of this assignment.]

Nice.

[inaclearing]

[Brett's never done any of this before, or even thought about trying, but it's good to keep busy. To occupy his hands. Flower pressing appeals the most, something about the act of preservation, so he'll be attempting that. A cup of tea and plate of little snacks sits at his elbow, and he picks idly at both while he works.]

I could press some flowers in the journal I'm keeping. Like a scrapbook, instead of just a record.

[Of course he's been keeping a record of his time here. Who wouldn't?]

[dullshooter]

[From the floor:]

You’re keeping a journal?

[hellaethics]

[Jason is...well, he's here! He's doesn't seem to have his usual "I'm just happy to be here" high energy to him today but he's making a solid effort to do embroidery for the first time in his life. It looks like he's either making a green rabbit or a T-rex, it's incredibly difficult to tell.

But after a little while he leans over to whoever is closest to him to whisper:]

Yo, are we gonna be graded on these at the end? Cause I might have to copy off somebody.

[inaclearing]

It's just for fun. Art's about doing whatever you want.

[let your creativity run rampant, jason.......]

[hotpaprika]

[Jonathan had not had any experience with this sort of crafting. And he feels a little out of place at first, and he just awkwardly sits in the corner for a bit, drinking his tea and looking anxious.

But... Mielle spent so much time setting it up, he would feel awful if he didn't truly participate in the festivities. He eventually grabs an embroidery set, thinking that it might be nice to give a handkerchief to Mina if/when they reunite. It didn't seem that hard after all; he'd seen dozens of girls half his age do beautiful embroidery like it was nothing.

About a dozen finger pokes later he sets his half finished work of amateur embroidered flowers down, looking amazed yet disappointed.]

Women are so strong to be able to do this sort of work without mangling their fingers; I have no idea how they do it.

[giddyundertaker]

Mind if I give it a try?

[ Says the guy who was making funeral wreaths in the corner. ]

[sastruga]

[Mafuyu is... looking a lot better, actually, than a couple days ago. She looks normal again, lively and less stressed. Must be the healing power of tea and crafts.

She certainly is taking well to the embroidery, in any case. It takes her a little bit to get the hang of it, but once she does she makes quite an elegant design. Looks like... music? Actually is she just--

Has someone told this girl to chill and that she doesn't need to put full on musical notation in her beginner embroidery? Seriously, she has to make the notes so small to even fit them all on there!]

This was such a great idea... I feel better already.

[specialyellthing]

[Zinda lets out a low whistle, bending over to look at Mafuyu’s work.]

Dang, Sparkles! That’s some tiny stitching!

[withagun]

[ Hodaka is here under duress, thank you very much.

Okay, that's not really true...but he had to feed Rain, and Obi just so happened to encourage him down there around the time of the tea party. He feels tricked, and he's sulking, around the table with the handicrafts. ]

Not fair. Totally, absolutely, not fair. [ As he waits for Rain's food to arrive, and as he eats, Hodaka idly examines the handicraft materials. How... What is he even supposed to...?

If anyone wants to assist, he looks really lost. ]

[inaclearing]

Oh, hey!

[Brett may have had nothing to do with arranging it, but he's certainly glad to see Hodaka out of that room! The longer it went on, you know, the more unhealthy it started to seem - even if he understood the impulse. Maybe especially because he did.]

You want to try one of these things? There's some origami books - or the flower pressing, that's easy.

[fuckingguy]

[ Nandor, who did not fully comprehend until like five minutes after he entered the restaurant that this wasn't purely cover for a meeting, is... not doing great! He stayed up late to show up here on time, his hair looks particularly bad today, and now it seems like everyone really just got together to do arts and crafts? It is probably quite nice for some of them, and as the number one crepe paper enjoyer he might theoretically be interested on a better day... but as things are now, he's a grown vampire standing around at a tea party in the middle of the day, agitated and impotent, with nothing to contribute at all and a deadline looming on the horizon. He tries flower pressing, just as a sort of formality and something to do with his hands besides That One Pose, but without spending time at the table and actually watching people do the pressing this just means he takes a flower, puts it in a book, and slams it shut. He then opens the book a bit more delicately, looks inside, and grimaces.

Through all of this, he keeps a wide berth from anyone doing embroidery. ]

[specialyellthing]

[Zinda’s here to keep an eye on all the younguns and make sure no one’s tormenting them too much, but she now has an excuse to keep an eye on Nandor too— especially with Jonathan turning his hand into a pincushion across the room.

She erupts into laughter at his expression when he peeks into the book.]

What? Ya get a bug in there?

[timegazer]

[Adaman is...well, he's honestly a little tired and stressed, but despite looking a little worse for wear, he would truly be absolutely remiss to miss an event hosted in such an earnest honor. And thus, Adaman will be doing his best to partake, and he'll gladly thank their host for opting to give them something to do.

Even still, Adaman isn't...exactly gifted in the crafts department. You can definitely find him off at a table trying the embroidery, but despite his best attempt at making a shape, what you're mostly going to hear is--]

Ow--ow--confound it, if you would simply--

[...He. He might need help, he is abysmal at this. He's at least making a stalwart attempt at this creature, which shouldn't be too difficult for anyone with a deft hand. Unfortunately, Adaman does not have such a blessing.

Still, once that's...well, failed or succeeded, he'll actually mess with some origami; he actually sees some success with this one, though it takes him quite a while to get the shape correct.]

Like this...? Yes, I believe Arezu did it like that...