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.

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[She noticed.]

[Which was precisely why, as she sat down next to him, her eyes seemed strangely fixated on his. Until he pulled her in for a hug, at which time, they averted shyly. Unable to hide the light flush to her cheeks, but at least he wouldn't see what color hers were turning this time when they parted.]

...you don't... [She began, reflexively. Wondering if he could hear her heart beating a little faster than usual.] ...whatever it is, I'm sure I'll love it too.

[It was a moment or two before he moved to finally let her go. His eyes had gone back to the Spring green, in which he was sure there would be no questions between them for that, even if it was briefly before looking away.]

I hope so...Once I figured out what it will be. [This moment felt a little awkward and he knew he should maybe try and change the subject back to what they were doing in the first place.]

Should we just watch the movie now?

[Still without looking at him, she nodded. Her heart rate settled for the most part, but her cheeks still felt oddly warm. Eyes, too, settling back into a shade of green matching his as she her weight so that she was sitting next to him. Close enough that, if she were to tuck her knees to one side, she would brush up against his legs. Just barely.]

[Since it was her movie up first, she took control of the remote. Everything was all set up, and all she had to do was press the play button and adjust the controls accordingly.]

[After the first few seconds of introduction, she tempted reaching forward for one of the bowls of popcorn, placing it in her lap and taking a few kernels for a test bite.]

...cinnamon. Not bad.

[Takeru had leaned back in his spot, if only for a moment as he looked over, watching her briefly.]

Cinnamon huh...Guess I'll try one and see how it goes.

[But which one was a good question. he had forgotten which bowl was which at this moment in time, minus the one he saw Hikari pick from. He soon picked up one closest to him when he leaned over picking up a piece he soon throw it up and caught it in his mouth. It was a sweet one it seemed, caramel maybe? But there was another taste in there that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

It was a couple moments before it clicked.]

That one's not too bad either. I think it's caramel apple.

[He eyes looked over at her again before looking back at the screen. The popcorn was like playing a game where the one who gets the bad one loses.]

[In a way, they were playing the game he'd earlier proposed after all. Except, rather than all the popcorn in one bowl, they were trying to figure out which of the separate bowls contained which flavor; in the momentary flurry of emotions, Hikari had forgotten as well.]

[So there was cinnamon, and now caramel apple. She glanced around at the other bowls, waiting until there was a lapse in the movie story--a transition scene in which the characters were driving somewhere--before leaning forward and trading bowls again. Trying the next flavor.]

[Her brows furrowed after the first bite.]

It's sweet, but...there's also peanut flavor in here. Mixed with something.

[Sweet with peanut flavor... Takeru couldn't think of what that could be right off the bat, that would take some time to figure out what that was exactly, but while the scene was going on in front of them he had managed to pick up another.]

What could be sweet with peanuts in? What is a sweet treat that exists like that? [He honestly was expecting most of these to be sweet. Until he ate the next one. The spice that landed on his tongue was at least enough to cause the young man to grab the drink that was closest and chug a good amount of it down. Once he placed that back down he pointed to the bowl.]

That is a spicy one, I would not recommend it unless it's something you like.

[She was in the middle of contemplating the mystery, when Takeru took his next bite...and reacted so strongly that it nearly caused her to drop the bowl in her lap. Flinching back, she watched as he grabbed and quickly chugged the nearest drink he could get his hands on.]

...are you okay?

[She winced in sympathy.]

I'm fine.

[He was quite glad he was feeling much better than he had been a few days ago otherwise, this could have ended up worse.]

Just was not what I was expecting, really. [He looked over at the television, watching to see what was happening.]

I'll be fine, soon anyway. Sorry.

You don't need to apologize, Takeru. [She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, smiling faintly.] At least now we know which bowl to avoid.

[Out of the corner of her eye, she was still paying attention to the movie. Somewhat. The scene flashed back and forth between the young girl in the car, and what appeared to be a hospital scene. Waking up. Being questioned by doctors. All with a blank expression on her face. Lost. Confused. Unable to remember little more than her name and the name of the town she'd grown up in. Where the version of her in the car was heading now.]

Do you remember what other flavors we picked up?

[He nodded slightly, he went to move the bowl in question off the table, so no one could make that mistake again. Why would people eat something like that was anyone's guess.

As he leaned back on the couch he was pondering what there was.]

Well we have like two different ones left, I think they were normal flavors though... [He was pausing over the though, it was going through his head multiple times.] Or at least no others were spicy... So we're safe there. [He soon reached over and picked one of the two that he was sure hadn't been tried and looked over with a smile.]

Now open up and give this one a try.

[Her eyes flashed silver.]

...alright...

[And she made a point to watch his expression carefully as she reached for the offered bowl, picking a piece of popcorn out of it, and popping it in her mouth. Awaiting whatever flavor was about to flood her taste buds next.[

[Takeru was pretty sure he knew what this one might be due to the coloring. Chocolate flavored popcorn.]

How is that one? Is it okay?

[She was fully expecting weird, so when the sweetness of chocolate melted over her tongue, her eyes widened into an relieved turquoise before melting into a satisfied orange.]

It's...different. But good.

I think it's...chocolate? [And then an idea came to her, and she reached for more of the peanut butter. Popping one of each into her mouth and nodding her approval after a moment.] It goes really good with this one. Here--

[She picked up one of the peanut butter ones, holding it up as if she meant to throw it at him.]

You should try too.

Chocolate, huh? Suitable considering the holiday.

[He laughed slightly as he had already gone to pick up another of the chocolate ones when he heard her speak up again. Looking over he noticed she had one in her hand. Was she going to throw it? He wasn't 100% sure on that one.]

Okay, go ahead. I already have the other you want me to try with it. [He was pretty sure they weren't as focused on the movie as he originally thought was going to happen when he made the plan, but it didn't matter, they were having fun and that was what mattered.]

[A moment of whimsy. Accompanied by the yellow and orange squiggles coloring her eyes. Regardless of what was playing on screen at that moment--which, if either of them were to be paying attention, would involve a scene of the girl from the car entering a house of some kind, empty except for the luggage she was carrying with her. There were people off-screen talking, but Hikari missed who they were because she was focused on Takeru.]

Catch.

[And she tossed the peanut butter kernel his way.]

[Focused on the now flying popcorn, he was watching for where it would go, so he could and actually catch it. Seemed simple enough as he soon managed to catch it in his mouth and laughed shortly afterward, his eyes matching hers for the time being.]

Nailed it. [Within a moment he popped the other one in, just to see what she had been on about moments before. She had been right. They did go together. It was nice.]

You are right, this is pretty good together, probably better together than the peanut one might have been by itself.

[The whimsy was gone, but the mirth remained; Hikari’s eyes settled back into an amused orange as she gave a soft giggle.]

You’re good.

Though I am still glad we decided to keep the flavors separate.

[Considering his brief encounter with the spicy one.]

I'm glad too... Mostly because if he had mixed them, the night would have ended badly.

[As the memory of what happened not to long ago sprung to mind. Shaking his head slightly, he glanced over.]

And I'd rather it not end badly, rather happily...Though given what the second movie is, is probably a long shot. [Now that he remembered anyway, he knew her face was going to change to show how much she wasn't going to like it and the thought alone was enough to make him laugh slightly.]

[He was right. The minute he referenced the upcoming second movie, her smile vanished. Leaving behind a narrow-eyed glare and very notably dingy yellow eyes.]

I knew it. You did pick a scary movie, didn’t you?

You know me too well to know, I did.

[He didn't think it was that bad, he's pretty sure he's seen scarier.]

But don't worry you'll have a pillow to hide behind if you want.

[She pouted...]

So mean, Takeru.

[...and proceeded to make a show of leaning back into the couch, no longer looking at him because the whole of her attention was now on the movie. Just in time, it seemed, because the young woman had encountered a childhood friend and they were exchanging an awkward, yet strangely sweet conversation in spite of her apparent condition.]

[He couldn't help but still smile. It was cute to watch, if only for a moment.]

I do what I do for reasons.

[But for the time being, he was going to focus on the movie as well, hands resting on his lap for the moment, leaning back.

His was focusing on the characters there movements and emotions, even the storyline itself as best as he could make of it from what he had seen. It was interesting, not something he would normally watch, but something.]

[I do what I do for reasons]

[How characteristically vague of him. And yet...it brought a specific memory to mind. Of a conversation they’d had not so long ago. About scary stories. And movies. And potential date-related motivation for him to angle towards that genre....]

[Lost in partial thought, Hikari lapses into a peaceful silence. The movie continued on, and a growing theme was emerging. Flashes of the woman’s past life emerging with each new encounter. With a notable recurring theme to them: most involved her childhood friend in some way. The young man. Who seemed to be keeping close to her in the present. Always smiling, despite the expertly-shot emotion of pain his eyes were meant to convey each time he was reminded that his once best friend remembered very little of their life together.]

That must be so awful. For the both of them. [She had gone back to snacking on the popcorn, lightly tilting her head to one side as she took in the latest scene.] Having someone you love not even remember you at all.

[He had grabbed a couple of the chocolate and peanut butter ones and snacking on them while watching the film. The sight of it made him ponder over a few things. Like what would happen if that exact thing happened to them. How would he take it?

It was a thought he quickly shook off when he heard her speak. So he glanced over looking at her.]

It would be painful for the one who remembers. [He looked back at the screen. Going deadly silent before popping the popcorn in his mouth before finally speaking up again]

I know it would hurt me if you forgot me anyway.

I would never forget you, Takeru.

[It was easy enough to say, speaking in hypotheticals. Though neither her confidence nor smile carried the full weight of confidence. Knowing all too well that their lives were far from those of typical 14-year-olds. They'd already seen, done, and experienced so many different kinds of tragedies--would memory loss be so beyond the realm of possibilities?]

[Of course, right then, it was only a movie. So she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and continued to ignore the fact that he had essentially just paralleled them to a comment she made about someone you love...]

[As friends still counted in that, right?]

I think it would hurt for the person who didn't remember either. They know they're probably causing the other person pain, but there's nothing they can do about it. It must be such a helpless feeling. To believe you're supposed to know or feel something that you don't, or aren't fully sure about.

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