genessia | Festival of Amore

Festival of Amore - Dated 2/14

Welcome to the Festival of Amore!
A wonderful festival dedicated to celebrating love of the romantic nature.

The whole park is decorated in the traditional colors of Valentine's Day, red, white, and various shades of pink. Hearts are the theme and though you won't be turned away, those without a partner to spend the evening with may get a few strange looks or start to feel rather lonely.

Festival Games
There are a number of activities to partake in, including festival games, the most popular of which seems to be the Super Ball Scooping, in which hundreds of balls float around in a pool of water, secretly marked with prizes- mostly goldfish, though there is one hidden that has a special romantic getaway to win! The challenge is that you must use a paper net, so the balls will often break as you try to get them into your bowl. Additionally, the balls are stirred up after each play of three scoops. Other traditional festival games like dart tossing, wack-a-mole, ring toss, and more. However, there is one challenge that you should be aware of for all games. You and your partner must do them together! This means two hands on the ring when you toss it! Hold the paper net steadily together! Good luck!

Food Stalls and the Chocolate Fondue Stream
There are a variety of foods from around the world available at the festival, most of which seem to have some kind of love-related theme to them. Spaghetti for two a la Lady and the Tramp, heart-shaped pizzas, pink french macarons, hearty waffles on a stick, romantic eggs in a basket, Shrimp skewers, and more.

Running through the inner circle of the food stall areas is a small stream raised above the ground with candy and fruit decorations lining it to hide the metal fondue heater that keeps the chocolate within the body of the stream warm and flowing. There are large bins of fruits like strawberries, bananas, rice krispy treat bites, and other fun things to dip in the chocolate river. It's very cute, and very chocolatey.

Paddle Boats
The large pond in the middle of the park has a number of paddle boat swans available for you and your partner to go through a tunnel of love, or simply enjoy the water and get some alone time away from the rest of the party for a good cuddle.

Live Entertainment: Eli Ayase and Nico Yazawa!
The live entertainment will be provided by celebrity idol Nico Yazawa and Eli Ayase tonight! Put your hands together for a special performance filled with their L-O-V-E for everyone! ♥ ♥ ♥ They've got a wonderful set prepared!

Feel free to enjoy the concert either by standing up close or putting down a blanket for you and your bae. Blankets are available for purchase if you forgot yours!

Fortune Telling
Love fortune telling, of course! Find out your romance's future from famed fortune teller Geneva Godiva! She won't give any truly negative fortunes of course, it's a positive occasion, so if your outlook is bleak she might try to phrase it more positively or offer advice to turn things toward the positive. Feel free to pick your own fortune- be it anything from "You might want to see a couples counselor to make it through a rough patch, darlings" or "I see triplets!" or just "Wowie, I can see clearly now- your rain is gone! Looking good for this next year, sweetie pies!" Enjoy and have fun, the accuracy of the reading is up to you, but she won't tell you that a relationship is going to sink at any point. She'll use crystal ball, tarot, whichever- but not seance or anything. It's happy lovey-dovey fortune telling!

End of the Night
The festival itself was timed with the arrival of Genessia's firefly season. The first night of fireflies rising coincides with Valentine's Day this year, so if you stay until the end of the festival, you'll be able to see the fields light up with little glowing bugs. It's a romantic sight, best seen with your partner.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ah, yeah. They come by often.

[He smiled slightly during that time, he figured to tease back when they had reached the store.]

Are you jealous? [It was a tease for the most part as he started to walk toward the store, going to grab a basket the moment he stepped through, going straight to the popcorn.]

You haven't told me what your choice is yet. Movie wise. [His eyes were soon skimming over the flavors. There were a couple of interesting ones if he had to be honest and those were the ones he picked out while also going for the basic. That works out. he was soon moving on to look around, eyes looking back for the moment.]

Of course not.

[She certainly didn’t seem any more jealous than the last time he’d asked her that. In fact, a flash of orange appeared behind the shades.]

[The moment they’d stepped inside, Hikari’s senses were hit with a near overload of pinks, reds, and the scent of sugary sweetness. Mostly from chocolates and a few of the fresher baked goods; she did eye a couple of the egg tarts and made a note to pick a couple up for later. Right then, her priority was finding the popcorn section—which was all the way in the back, of course, but still fairly well stocked for that time of day with six of the eight possible flavors. The bags were small enough that Hikari reached for one of each.]

I picked it up yesterday, actually. It’s apparenky a movie remake of some drama that was popular here a while back. A young girl comes back to the town she grew up in, but she has amnesia, and her best friend spends a lot of the movie helping her to get her memories back. It sounded cute.

[And seemed appropriate for a couple of friends to watch, based on the summary on the back.]

Which movie did you pick?

[Takeru had walked on over toward the sweets, taking a look at various choices there was on offer. He was impressed by the selection but went with the basics for the moment. Putting them into the basket he looked over.
he had been listening to the description.

A teasing smile graced his face.]

Interesting choice. Mine is a movie based on a true story of a group who ended up trapped in an abandoned building and all try and find a way out while things happen.

[Because of course, it would be a horror film, what else is new.]

I thought I would be nice, but I haven't seen that one yet and figured we could together like the best of friends we are.

[The description alone was suspect. Combined with that smile, and the emphasis on their status as the best of friends...]

[Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.]

Is it scary?

[He paused, he knew that question was going to pop up the moment he said that. In all honesty, he was trying to get her to ask this exact question.

The smile made it obvious as did his eye color, yellow with orange squiggles.]

What made you think it was going to be scary? I mean it may have scenes that might be considered scary, but I don't know if it is going to be scary overall.

[Pretty much yes it will be.]

[So suspicious. The most suspicious, even.]

Uh-huh.

[Unfortuantely, it was too late to back out now. The deal was she picked one, he picked one. No vetos. Which meant there was little else she could do except stare at him out of the corner of her now extremely silver eye for signs of a tell--those yellow and orange squiggles were a pretty big one--as she headed for the front counter to pay for her share of the snacks.]

[He figured she wouldn't fall for it, but he was very set in the teasing department, even as he made his way over to pay for what he was getting, which upon realization he managed to fill the basket right to the top. He was pretty sure they might not have actual dinner tonight.

Reaching into his pocket he managed to get out his wallet and paid for the stuff he got before picking up the now packed bag and carried it out.]

Now let's go home and decide which movie to watch first.

[“Home”]

[It...didn’t sound so weird when Takeru said it like that, even though she knew it probably should have. Not just because it was a home she shared with him (and Mimi), but because it wasn’t home-home. Any more than the Digital World, for all the memories it carried, was home. And yet, here they were, walking back to a place they referred to as home like they were back in Tokyo. Carrying far too many sweets to pass for healthy and debating movies.]

Rock, Paper, Scissors?

[Using lassic decision making methods, naturally.]

That works.

[It was a simple way of figuring it out, but effective, it worked overall. He moved to pull out his keys which he was rather glad he only had the one as otherwise, it would make trying to get in much harder when one was carrying a bag filled with snacks.

When they reached the front door he placed the key in the locked, turned and soon they were in.]

First things first, putting the bag down then Rock, Paper, Scissors. [As he said that he made his way over to the kitchen to put them down on the counter. It was the best place to sort things out, even though they had to go through the living room to get there.]

I am ready when you are.

[Hikari’s bag was a little smaller than his. Mostly consisting of the popcorn and a couple other items she made quick work of putting away before turning to him.]

Ready.

[She held out her fist, and on the proper count...threw out scissors.]

[he just gave a firm nod and on the count he revealed paper. Giving off a small sigh of defeat, he looked over.]

You win. It means we see your film first.

[He soon started to go to one of the cupboards, moving to grab a big bowl before placing it on the counter.]

Do you want to mix all the popcorns up so we won't know what we'll be eating until we actually do?

[She was ready to chastise him about his constant need for suspense and surprises...but the idea actually did sound kind of fun. So she paused and thought it over.]

Not yet

I did want to try them so I know what each flavor is like on its own. Once we’ve done that, maybe then we can try mixing.

Okay, so I'll grab some more bowls and sort them out.

[He smiled slightly as he was back to the cupboard, he was looking for more bowls, which wouldn't take him too long. Once he places them all on the counter he looked over. going into his bag to sort out the popcorn, placing it in the separate bowls.]

This should do it. Do you think this is enough, or too much?

[While he was looking for bowls, she set to work opening her own bags of popcorn so they would be ready to pour in. At his question, she paused and did a quick count of their inventory before smiling. It was a lot of popcorn, she knew, but it was all dry food and could easily be repackaged later if necessary.]

[And besides that...]

Since you'll most likely eat anything I won't, I'd say it's just enough.

[...any opportunity to tease was an opportunity taken.]

[Takeru knew she was teasing and he was going to act insulted if for a moment.]

Are you saying I'll eat anything? [The look soon changed back to his usual smile before he moved the bowls to the living room, putting them on the coffee table in front of the couch.]

If you want to get changed into your pajamas or something you can now.

It's perfectly normal. You are a growing boy, after all.

[Takeru's really grown up...]

[Part of her had always known, but for some reason, the reality had only recently begun to sink in for her. Not just his height, either--although she knew he would almost certainly get even taller in the next few years--but everything about him. Of course, rather than voice as much aloud, teasing was much, much easier in conveying the thought.]

That's a good idea. [And she could get his gift while she was at it.] I'll go put these on the table by the couch, and then go change.

[He laughed slightly. It was true for the most part. he still had some years of growing left. Made him wonder if he'd end up taller than his or if that would be a far off dream. Looking over he nodded.]

I've made sure to try and make enough space. Once I'm done here I'll be getting changed myself. [It wasn't that long before he was sure everything was out, minus drinks, which he was sure they would get afterward, so he gave a small wave and headed to his room, knowing it wouldn't take him that long.

It was simply a white shirt and black jogging bottoms, for the most part, basic but comfortable.]

Oh, do you want a drink? I'll get it for you.

[It took Hikari a little longer to get ready. Mostly because she had been weighing the pros and cons of taking off her sunglasses. Ultimately deciding that they would be focused on the movie enough that it probably wouldn’t matter anyway. So off they came, and she placed them on the dresser by her bed as she picked up the small box wrapped in light green tissue paper.]

[When she did eventually emerge from her room, wearing a pair of cute but soft, white and pink striped pajamas—button-up short sleeved on top, pants on bottom—she almost didn’t seem to hear him at first. Her head was bowed shyly, and her eyes seemed to flicker between a pale pink and orange.]

Actually...I have something for you, Takeru.

[Takeru had grabbed a couple of glasses just in case before he was even aware Hikari had come back into the room. Turning around, he paused. He couldn't help but think she was actually pretty cute in the pajamas. It was at least a long enough thought that caused the young man's eyes to go to the magenta color for just a brief moment before changing to the orange.]

You have something for me? What is it?

[It shouldn’t have been any big deal. She’d given chocolates to friends before. She’d even given chocolate to him before.]

[But then he looked at her directly, and there was no missing or mistaking that shade of magenta.]

Takeru...your eyes...

[Hers had widened slightly, still flickering beteeen orange and pink...but she quickly remembered herself and lightly shook her head before holding out the box.]

For you.

As a thank you. For all you’ve done for me.

What about my eyes?

[He looked puzzled for a moment and had been about to walk to the nearest mirror to check them before she presented him with the box. It was enough to get him to forget about it for the time being.

Instead, he gives off a genuine smile, not his usual grin that he might give most of the time. It made the smile more genuine as his eyes were spring green. He soon happily took the box.]

Thank you, though you didn't need to thank me for all I've done. [He looked at the box looking it over before going to open it.]

Yes, I do.

[Speaking of eyes...hers were starting to flicker again as her gaze averted. Orange at first, but from certain angles...]

You saved me. Again. I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve been there when I needed you. Making you chocolates for Valentines seems like the least I could do in return.

[She lifted her head long enough to smile warmly at him. Expression soft. Eyes unmistakable red. Saturated.]

[A split second later, they shifted back to orange, and she turned to head to the kitchen.]

Don’t worry about the drinks. I’ll get them while you open your present.

Just doing what a best friend would do.

[He was at least being truthful, noticing the flicker, but being unsure of what he saw exactly. So shaking it off as his imagination, at least for a moment. He was sure he saw red, but he didn't think to question it. More so when he noticed the orange.

Maybe he really had been seeing things. He had gone to sit down on the couch opening it up.]

I'm sure these will be great since you made them.

[It was all about the presentation. The chocolates themselves would be a simple recipe. A small waft of sugar rising into the air when he opened the box, which was a simple cardboard pastry box. But when he peeked inside...]

[He would see seven pieces in all. Five long isosceles triangles arching around the top half of a circle. Beneath that, a shape that she had clearly constructed from hand rather than any store-bought mould. The top was round, concaving inward in such a way that it barely hugged the bottom of the circle. The sides went straight down, with four equal points across the bottom.]

[The Crest of Hope.]

[In Chocolate.]

[Hikari returned a moment later with a small handful of cans and one larger bottle, which she placed on the ground.
Two of the cans had been placed in cups to make them easier to carry, and the cups she also placed down near the bottle before placing the cans on the table with the snacks.]

It's the same recipe I always use. The only difference was that it was a little harder to find a couple of the ingredients here.

[He found himself pausing after he had seen what was in the gift. She must have taken a lot of time making that. He kind of didn't want to eat it because of it. For the moment, he was sure he'll just keep it in the box for the moment, a soft smile on his face and waited until she was back in the room.

He knew this time it would be much harder for his emotions to change as easily as they had been, knowing full well what color they might be, causing some rather awkward questions again if she were to notice. So until she sat down he was keeping his eyes on the box instead.

Once he was sure that she was at least close enough he moved to look at her for a moment before moving to wrap his arms around the other, moving her into a hug. If she had noticed for one a second would have realized his eyes had been a saturated red.]

Thank you, I love it and I promise that on White Day your present will be just as special. [Now he had to think about the what he was going to do as well as puzzle over a good number of things thanks to both yesterday and today.]

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