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

A2

[mandelbrots]

[If anyone in this town were to give a damn about a legal drinking age, it's certainly not the young woman sitting across from Claude. The kid's clearly not twenty-one, but neither was she when she started guzzling watered-down beer from plastic cups at punk shows.]

I would literally sell my kidney for bottom-shelf whiskey right now.

[As if on cue, one of the pink-cheeked waitresses pauses, smiles at Amanda, chimes, "Would you like a lemonade, instead?" In response, Amanda just looks back over at Claude and mouths, ] Are you kidding me?

[bowfaire]

(It just tastes like bad grape juice? Honestly, he probably would have preferred bad grape juice. This is bad grape juice trying to be something it isn't. Gross.

While the waitress is hovering around, Claude holds up a hand to signal that he'd like to make an order something else.)

Tea, thanks.

(And the waitress flitters off to get it,)

Maybe it's a good thing they don't have any. (Whiskey, that is.) Hopefully the food is better than the drinks, too.

Soooo... (Attention on Amanda,) First time here?

(Of course. Most likely. But he's just trying to get a conversation started.)

[mandelbrots]

[His icebreaker receives a short laugh. She's heinous at appropriate small talk, and appreciates someone else throwing out a life raft first.]

I don't think I've been within a hundred feet of a country club in my life, dude. [A hearty gulp of the terrible wine. It's not growing on her, but maybe she can pretend.] But I've been living on peanut butter since I got here, and I can't cook to save my life. Some shitty banquet food's sounding real good.

[bowfaire]

(Small talk is an important life skill when you're a noble. Everything is about impressions; saying and doing the right thing. Silences is the worst when you're with others and so often misinterpreted, he'd rather use his words and instead. )

It's probably for the better. (That she isn't usually around places like this.) These places usually attract some of the worst people. Stuffy, boring, old fashioned...

(Truly the worst!)

It's nice to find some good company. (And he smiles! He's charming? He's being friendly,) As long as I have that, it'll anything taste bearable.

... Except for this.

(And he twirls his wine glass? It's a lost cause. He'll probably just end up plugging his nose and knocking it back later.)

[mandelbrots]

[Purely for the sake of scientific analysis, Amanda takes another sip of her own, and promptly scrunches up her face.]

Nope, not getting any better. [Hurriedly, she guzzles some water to wash the taste down. There's a little mustache of red left over her upper lip.] It's like someone left cough syrup in their basement for twenty years.

[A couple of the association women are starting to side-eye her, tittering amongst themselves. Normally it would only drive Amanda to laugh and give them the finger, but she's gotten the impression that if she fucks up too hard in this place, she might actually be eaten or something. So instead, she makes a concerted effort to cross her legs and sit up straighter in her chair.]

You've been to one of these places before, then? A country club?

[bowfaire]

(The association women look their way and Claude gives them a smile. Hello, ladies, it's so nice to see you. Is everything okay? Everything is fine here!!!

And he turns his attention righ tback at Amanda,)

Something like that. (Elbows on the table, leaning slightly. He's pretty relaxed about this whole situation,) I guess you could say... my grandfather's a pretty important person. He gets invited to all sorts of things but since he's been getting up there in years, I've been going with him.

(And yet, he doesn't really elaborate!)

It's a whole lot of stuffy guys in stuffy places if you know what I mean...

(The older generation doing the things the older generation are accustomed to doing.)

[mandelbrots]

[A little hum, somewhere between sympathetic and impressed. Amanda's never once wanted to fit into a place like this, and she can only imaging being dragged along with an old guy is even worse than only being here for the food.]

I'm pretty sure the stuffiest place I've ever been is an Olive Garden. And I still wore jeans.

[With holes in them.]

These ladies want to act all high and mighty, but they don't even have endless breadsticks. It's a fucking travesty.