FEBRUARY 2021 EVENT: PART ONE

[robbies]

 

CHAPTER TWO, PART 1: A LIGHT LUNCH

Good times, great olives, Uliveto's.

INVITES AND INSISTENCES | BISQUE AND BREADSTICKS | FONTINA AND FOCACCIA | MUNDANITY AND MISHAPS

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INVITES AND INSISTENCES

After a fairly low-key January, you start hearing the buzz on February 1st: The Happy Homes Association is inviting you to a luncheon on Friday! Stylishly dressed women in coats and hats are inviting everyone they know in the neighborhood, coming up and knocking on your door to invite you personally to come along. “Noon on Friday at Uliveto’s,” one of them tells you with a bright smile. “There’ll be food and drinks, and the whole community can get together and mingle a bit!”

Whether you’re home to answer the door or not, you’ll receive a small card advertising the event — it’s a fundraiser, after all, and they need your help! Pay just $3 and your food and as much as you’d like to drink are covered.

But some of the HHA members are a little more insistent, roving the neighborhood in search of anyone who’s just moved to Santa Rosita in the past few months. Their almost too-wide smiles and slightly-vacant eyes are a dead giveaway that these neighbors aren’t all at home, and they aren’t willing to take anything less than a “Yes” when they ask you if you’re coming. You’ve got to wash your hair? They know a hairdresser over at the salon on Main Street who can fit you in today. Groceries? Why, their daughter can take care of that for you in a jiffy! No excuse will fly with these Robbies; they’ve always got an answer and a way for you to make an appearance.

It won’t end once you’ve agreed, either (even if you just agree to get them off your back!). With the promise of another guest at the luncheon, the Robbies are quick to suggest that you should help them! There are so many people in the town, after all, and with more people volunteering to spread the word, they can make this the most successful fundraiser ever! (Or, well, at least the most successful since last year’s Little League candy sales!) Look, there’s another of your new neighbors over there — why don’t you go and invite them now? Your new friends from the HHA will be right here to support you and help you out!

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BISQUE AND BREADSTICKS

On Friday, February 5th, Uliveto’s is easy to find — just follow the train of cars headed to North Santa Rosita, where the restaurant sits just off of Main Street with a parking lot that’s packed full. Hopefully you’re willing to walk, because it looks like the luncheon is in full swing! But as you get closer, you see that the ladies of the HHA have things down to a science as they welcome neighbors, invite them to join one of the many tables set up in the half of the restaurant they’ve taken over, and integrate newcomers into conversation.

“Oh, hello!” one of the ladies gushes as she spots you. “I’m so glad you could make it! It’s a little cold today, but you should try the tomato bisque — it always warms me right up! Come with me and Betty can get you all set up with your meal voucher; have you ever been to Uliveto’s before? It’s just divine; the salad and breadsticks are all you can eat and the pasta — golly, my mother never even tried to outdo it. We’d just come here instead!”

Before you know it, you’ve paid your entrance and have been shown to one of the large party tables (or maybe they’re multiple tables pushed together? What restaurant normally has tables that seat 20 people?), a waitress offering you the drinks menu and asking if you’d like to start with a glass of (nonalcoholic, of course!) wine. Once she’s gone, you’ll finally get a chance to look around the interior of the restaurant. The walls are a warm yellowed beige, and fluted columns break up the space with clinging ivy and grapes hanging from planters near the top. A mural is painted on the far wall of a terrace looking out over rolling hills and vineyards, and the soft music of an accordion reaches your ears…

“You all right, hon?”

One of the ladies at your table is looking at you expectantly. Don’t forget, you’re here to mingle and socialize! Time to break out that small talk!

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FONTINA AND FOCACCIA

As the luncheon continues, you may be able to notice some of the HHA volunteers scurrying back and forth, taking turns manning the doors and the small table where Betty’s taking donations and issuing meal vouchers. Watch long enough and you’ll be able to see that all of them are ultimately reporting to three ladies who confer at a smaller table set back from all the mingling, talking amongst themselves and from time to time making notes in a small ledger. At about half past noon, one of the women stands, calling out, “May I have your attention, please?” She has to repeat it a couple times to be heard, but after a minute or two everybody settles down. The woman nods toward all of the guests, then turns back to the table, allowing one of the women to stand and make herself known. Tall, graceful, and neat, she takes a look around the room as she speaks — does her gaze linger a moment on you? Good afternoon, everyone. For those of you who may not know me yet, my name is Rosemary Craven, and I’m the head of our local Happy Homes Association. A small wave of applause breaks out from some of the ladies; Rosemary seems to indulge them for just a moment before she lifts a gloved hand to quell it. Please. I can only manage what I’m given, and the fine women of the association give me plenty to work with. Their efforts to organize this luncheon for all of us today showcase the dedication we should all strive for. Ladies, please stand and be recognized. Today’s fundraiser is to benefit our town as Founder’s Day approaches in April. We’ve got big plans for the funds we raise — who knows? Perhaps we’ll be able to afford some yummy treats for the children. Who doesn’t love an ice cream cake? Your generosity today makes all of this possible. You’ll forgive me for not giving you hard numbers, but I’d hate to be so gauche in such a lovely restaurant. Let me assure you, though, that the Happy Homes Association is here to help you in whatever way we can, whether that’s by helping you redecorate your homes, bringing over home-cooked meals, or teaching you some new skills — and speaking of new skills, I’d like to invite all of our new neighbors to talk with me personally if you think you might be interested in helping us out from time to time. Sewing might not be your forte, but everybody’s got something they’re good at, and we can always use the extra hands. I’ll let you all get back to your meals. If you have any questions for me, please seek me out. I’ll be sitting just over here with Maude.

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MUNDANITY AND MISHAPS

After the luncheon, things in Santa Rosita continue on as normal. The weekend comes and goes, the work week begins, and the cold February wind blows… But when you wake up on February 10th, some of you are missing.

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OOC INFO

Welcome to the first part of February’s event! You can use this entry to top-level for the event, but feel free to utilize the log and network communities as well. Sign-ups to have your character abducted are located here; please fill out the form provided along with any other pertinent details.

You may play with the townsfolk NPCs as necessary in your threads; non-Robbied neighbors will be cordial and happy to make small talk and will try to maintain the pleasant atmosphere. Robbies will, as always, be mindlessly optimistic and complimentary about everything—you may find that most of the Robbies have congregated at their own table and are bubbling with excitement over just about anything.

There will be a top-level posted for Rosemary below. If you would like to have your character interact with her, comment with your starter there. The mods will respond to tags for Rosemary until February 15th.

Any questions can go in our FAQ thread below. Try to check and see if your question has already been answered on the plotting thread first here.

Remember — part 2 of this event is coming February 15th!

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Comments

[sunborne]

[ when daylight sees an opportunity present himself, daylight quietly slips away from the group he's been politely chatting with to approach rosemary and maude.

summoning all the etiquette lessons he had in his youth, daylight presents his most dazzling smile to the pair as he dips his head in greeting. always one to go all the way, daylight also ends up giving an obvious half-bow as a bit of flair and sign of good-will to them both. ]

It's an honour to finally meet you, Rosemary. A pleasure to meet you as well, Maude. [ he presents a little gift that he quickly put together when he learned of the luncheon- a small (and it is small) bouquet of flowers. it's mostly made of paper to showoff his art skills but there real ones dotted here and there. ]

I'm Daylight. One of the new faces in town. Moved in here with my partner, Agatha, and we've been trying to settle in ever since.

[helloneighbor]

[Rosemary's eyebrows raise as she accepts the small bouquet, lifting it up to examine it closely.]

My, this is clever. It seems you must be very dexterous, Mr. vis Lornlit, to have made this yourself. Santa Rosita is lucky to count you and your wife amongst its inhabitants.

I hope the two of you are a little more settled now. You've been here for a couple of months, haven't you?

[sunborne]

[ he nods in reply to the question, continuing to smile big as possible. ] Yep! Settled around, um, December with Agatha. It was definitely an eventful month for us then.

And I'm glad you like the mini-bouquet, Rosemary. I always like to think of myself as a handy man when it comes to arts and crafts. If you or anyone in HHA ever need an extra pair of hands for a project or something, I'm always happy to help out. [ daylight does his best to add this next bit casually, wanting to show a sign of good faith without being too obnoxious: ] It was fun giving a hand at the tree sale back in December.

[ not to mention intense. the folks were going nuts for the big trees so helping get those to the cars was definitely a workout. ]

[helloneighbor]

Oh, so you were the man gracious enough to offer his help with the trees at the lighting ceremony. [There's a smile on Rosemary's face; of course, the HHA reps at the ceremony had told her someone had stepped up to help!] I'm afraid the women you spoke to then were in such a tizzy from all the interest that they weren't able to agree on exactly what your name had been. We would have liked to thank you properly.

If your offer of help is serious, I'll certainly take you up on it. While we have a thriving membership, I'm afraid the men are far outnumbered by the ladies, so we have to rely on them for some of the heavy lifting... tell me, where do you think your skills lie? I see you're good at delicate work --[She nods toward the small bouquet.]-- would you consider yourself a man of many talents?

[sunborne]

Oh yeah! Definitely! You could consider me a jack-of-all-trades, Rosemary. [ he can kind of sing human. he can sketch humans well-enough. he's got a sharpshooter's eye a pair of good hands when it comes to arts and crafts!

but, right, he's gotta be specific and try to stand-out: ] If I have to give a definite answer for a talent of mine, it's being great with details. Always had an eye when it came to picking things up right off the bat. So if you need someone to scout a new place for an event or bring back information for a prospective place? Or just need a fresh pair of eyes to look at a project or table setup? I'm your guy.

Plus- [ he tries to muster as much cheer because here comes the funny haha tall joke: ] -I can reach for all the shelves for anyone, even for the other guys! Back in my old job, I'm used to having to do a lot of physical activity so needing to do heavy lifting is no sweat for me. Long as I can help you or the others out, I'm happy to do what I can.

[helloneighbor]

[Ha-ha, Daylight, ha-ha.] I had certainly noticed your... remarkable height. Have you always been so tall? You must have fielded a great many requests back home for help, particularly with an eye for details. Have you noticed anything about our Santa Rosita that I should consider looking into?

[Beat. Rosemary almost seems to hesitate, then squares her shoulders.] And I must ask you to forgive me my directness, Mr. vis Lornlit, but I actually prefer to go by Mrs. Craven. [She smiles, softening her words.] I didn't get married to continue being called by my childhood name, you know.

[sunborne]

Oh! [ he blinks for a few seconds but then grins, nodding in acquiescent. ] Of course, Mrs. Craven. Sorry about that. I'll do my best to be more mindful from here on out.

[ he wants to ask if mr. craven is here with her but he stop himself. he faintly remembers the etiquette lessons and how that's considered rude to ask if the spouse doesn't bring it up first. guess he'll be keeping an eye out for someone interacting with rose- with mrs. craven after this.

right now, it seems rude to leave her hanging on the question: ] -Now that you mentioned it earlier, Mrs. Craven- [ and since this part of town has been in his head since his first biking around the place. ] -I was thinking about the potential of the Southside of Santa Rosita. There's a lot of potential grounds there for things like activities and retreats, don't you think? With a bit more light and a lot of elbow grease, I bet that would be an amazing place for people to go.

[helloneighbor]

[Her smile seems to turn a touch more genuine.] Thank you. It means a lot to me.

[At his question about the south side, her eyebrows come down in worry.] South Santa Rosita? I'm afraid I don't frequent that part of town as much. It used to be a rough area, and there's still a lot of stigma about going there. It might be a lovely place to host some events, but I don't know that many of the townsfolk would be willing to cross that line. Do you think you'd be able to convince them to give it a try?

[sunborne]

[ oh no wait what did he get himself into— ]

Sure! [ before daylight can stop himself, he finds himself nodding in enthusiastic agreement. much as he can see this being a tall order but it’ll give him an excuse to mingle more with the locals here. not only that— if he pulls it off— he would be in good standing with the hha.

so commit he will. ] I can definitely give it a shot, Mrs. Craven.

I’m not gonna lie because my family raised me to be an honest guy: This will put my charms to the test but you know what they say! [ do they even have this saying in this world? might as well try and hope for the best. ] Gotta walk the talk if you want people to follow your lead. I’ll do what I can to show the townsfolk the potential of South Santa Rosita. It’ll be a mighty shame to not tap into the opportunity.

In fact- I’ll start doing it now. No time like the present and I should let you have some peace and quiet, Mrs. Craven.