Cherry Blossom Viewing Party

[flamescout]

WHO: Raye Hino, OPEN
WHAT: The cherry blossom trees are in full bloom, so this calls for a weeaboo picnic party traditional social gathering to relax, eat food, and admire the view. And maybe shenanigans.
WHEN: April 27, 2014 - All Day
WHERE: Genessia City - Shrine
NOTES: Feel free to make your own threads! Just indicate if the thread is open, or locked to just a few. HAVE FUN OR ELSE!


Raye had indicated that the weather would be favorable on Sunday, so when the rain started coming down over the weekend, she got angry. And she ranted at the spirits, who didn't bother responding to her demands for pleasant weather to encourage attendance at the shrine. But to her relief, Sunday morning brought blue skies after all. Whether that was the spirit's doing, or if the skies were going to clear up on their own, who could say? Raye didn't care so long as she got results.

She rushed to the temple as soon as she was dressed in order to put up the paper lanterns once more...and to throw out her blanket on the spot she thought was the best for watching cherry blossoms. If no one else had claimed it first, then she was within her rights to aggressively stake her territory, especially if she was going to spend the day with Jaune and Minako, possibly some of her other friends as well. She hoped Harry would show up, but Everglade had a lot going on, so it wouldn't surprise her if he couldn't. She'd lecture him about it later.

Hastily she swept up the courtyard and tossed feed at the chickens, trying to take care of her daily chores before the first of the party-goers arrived. She'd worked hard to make this tradition a success, and no one...no one...was going to ruin it. Or they would face her wrath.

Comments

OTA

[celestial_wizard]

Shenanigans are not on the card as far as Lucy was concerned - at least, she hoped they weren't. It was a beautiful day, and she wanted to be able to enjoy it. IF shenanigans happened, Rei might close the gates and refuse to host such an event again. Respect that propertay! So fellow cherry blossom viewers may come across Lucy as she's looking around, or getting something to eat - or just sitting quietly to watch the cherry blossoms.

[monkeystowaway]

While Sun could very well get his own food, he could resist having a little fun with some of the partygoers. So he’s dangling from one of the trees using his tail. And when Lucy is nearby with some food, he carefully tries to reach down and tries to snag some of that food without her knowing. Their guild seemed like nice people, he couldn't imagine he would get into too much trouble if he were caught.

[celestial_wizard]

Trouble? No, not at all! If Natsu had a prehensile tail like Sun, she'd bet he'd do the same thing!... probably a good thing he didn't have a prehensile tail. Still, he's successful at swiping a piece of chicken from her plate while she's got her head turned to chat with someone on the way past. And then she looks back and.. "Huh?" Now she KNOWS she had a piece of chicken - did she drop it? Aww...!

[monkeystowaway]

Sun watches her from above and gauges her reaction as best as he could. From what he could tell, she seemed to be confused as to where her piece of chicken had gone. And that was enough to make him snicker a bit. She might be able to notice him now because of it, but that didn’t bother him. The piece of chicken had already been swiped.

Closed to Natsu

[celestial_wizard]

Lucy said she'd be dragging her friends to the cherry blossom viewing, and by god she was going to! Although it's just her and Natsu right now. Rei had already staked out the best spot, and considering it was her temple grounds she was well within her rights to. But by god, Lucy was going to get the next best spot! So after a bit of hunting, she picked out a nice spot and spread out the blanket for them to sit on.

[explodewiththerage]

Honestly Lucy never ceased to be a weirdo to him. He remembered how excited she was about the rainbow cherry blossom back in Magnolia. He also remembered how meek and sad she had been and what he ended up doing for her. In retrospection that had really been quite the sudden and odd move on his part.

But this time things were different. Lucy was healthy and giddy with excitement as she walked around the temple grounds looking for the perfect place they could find open. It was cute watching her when she wasn't looking at him. A faint smile painted over his lips. This was the way things should be. With her excited and happy while he tagged along.

"Ooooh now this is a really good spot!" Natsu agreed and helped her with the blanket.

[celestial_wizard]

Lucy smiled brightly as she glanced back at him, "Raye got the best spot I think, but this is really good too!" Next best spot, go! She knelt on the blanket, settling in nice and cozylike, waving for him to sit with her. "It reminds you a little of the sakura in Magnolia, doesn't it?" Well - except it's not rainbow, but traditional sakura blossoms are just as beautiful. Especially when you get to see them with ...a friend. yes.

Closed to Rei

[celestial_wizard]

She would be a poor guest if she didn't go to see the host and thank her for sharing this moment with them. And that's exactly what Lucy is going to do! Cupping her hands around a random cherry blossom petal, she made her way - carefully - around others settled in place to watch the blossoms in search of the priestess, raising a hand to wave and get her attention.

[flamescout]

Raye, of course, was in her element. She enjoyed planning events like this, and took great pride in her hard work and keen eye for organization. She was swift to deliver lectures or offer assistance to anyone who needed as much.

This was one of the few times she wore her street clothes on the shrine grounds, too. A cherry blossom pin was fastened to the strap of her pink overalls. Jaune had given her the brooch for Christmas, and she wore it proudly today.

After all, he was the main reason she'd wanted to host this party in the first place, since she'd told him about the custom months ago. But seeing her other friends made today that much sweeter, and she was definitely glad to see Lucy.

"Hey!" she called out with a smile. Once she saw Lucy moving in her direction, Raye stood up and went to meet her halfway. "Glad you could make it."

[celestial_wizard]

Lucy laughed, "Are you kidding? We wouldn't miss it for anything!" She just hoped things would stay calm! "Everything looks amazing! You didn't arrange all this by yourself did you?"

That would be a LOT of work. An insane amount. If Rei was working on her own she would have to return the favor sometime. It was only right. Rei didn't have celestial spirits to help out when they were holding parties (and really, Lucy barely ever asked for help from them - they always offered it).

[Open]

[monkeystowaway]

[Sun didn’t have much idea of what a cherry blossom festival was, but he knew at least that friends and such gathered there to eat food. And that was enough to get him there. What sort of person didn’t like to eat, anyway? But though his reasons for coming might have been shallow, the trees actually looked pretty nice.

He inhaled deeply, taking in both the scent of food and the scent of nature. He was lounging back with his own little spot set up on a blanket. He has a fruit platter upon said blanket as well as some cookie squares on a plate.]

[whiteas]

[ Weiss may not have had the same motive as Sun for coming out to the cherry viewing, but she was curious. It sounded like a cultural type of thing and Weiss did love those, though mostly it just seemed like it was staring at flowers.

Which was also fun, but nowhere near as interesting.

Still, she spots Sun and she figures she might as well come over. Plus those cookie squares do look pretty tasty. Weiss stands before his blanket with her hands on her hips. ]

Does anything happen at these besides eating and staring at flowers?

[monkeystowaway]

[He looks up to her as she stands before him. He gives a little shrug to her question.]

I have no idea. But does anything more really need to happen? The food itself should be enough to come to this. [To him, the event was fine with just that. Relaxing like this from time to time was nice. And the atmosphere was really welcoming. He reaches over and picks up a grape from the fruit platter and tosses it into his own mouth.]

[Closed to Adam]

[leekspins]

Orihime didn't show up quite as early as most of the others. She had a lot of picnic preparation to attend to! There were sandwiches to assemble, cupcakes to bake, watermelon to slice, and spicy tuna sushi rolls to...buy at the store. Her cooking tastes were unique, she knew that, and she didn't want to risk Adam's accusation that she was conspiring to kill him with her cooking because she was secretly an evil human all along. Nope, she was playing it safe! He was lonely, and she wanted to work on helping him open up more, not just to her but to the other nice people living in Genessia too.

She picked a spot toward the back, figuring he wouldn't like being surrounded by strangers if she put her blanket in the middle. They would be fairly secluded back here.

Orihime set out the paper plates, arrange the contents of her giant picnic basket with care. A couple of cans of lemonade were left with the ice in the mini cooler, where she placed the sushi trays as well to keep the food chilled until Adam arrived.

He definitely wouldn't have a high opinion of her if she accidentally gave him food poisoning.

[dramaticals]

Okay, he told himself that it would be alright. She was just trying to be helpful to him, he could see that, Orihime was an odd human but... she wasn't the worst he had ever encountered. While he still didn't like her kind very much, he was willing to try something new. He had been sulking in his room for far too long, and even if he stayed in there he figured she would keep on bothering him.

It was why he was here now at this.... viewing, of sorts. Of course, he couldn't leave his mask or weapon behind. He wouldn't feel right without it. So once he spotted her, at the very back, he perked up a little, walking over to her.

...And just look at what she made for them today. He was impressed.

"I have to say... this is much better than I expected," Adam sounded rather amused, sitting down on the blanket, setting his weapon down to his right. He remembered when Blake tried cooking for him before, she hadn't done a very good job but... he ate it all regardless. This looked like it would take no effort to finish off.

[leekspins]

"Oh good! You made it!" She didn't think he'd go back on his decision without telling her, but even so, she seemed pretty jubilant to actually see him standing there. And he'd complimented the spread, even!

This was a great success in her book.

"Thanks!" she laughed, passing him a plate. Now that he was here, she could set out the sushi. "I tried to bring a variety of things to eat. Let's dig in!" The smells of everyone else's food was making her hungry, so she'd worked up a big appetite while she'd been waiting.

Raye and Jaune - OPEN TO INTERLOPERS AND SHENANIGANS OF COURSE

[flamescout]

Whew! Managing a party was tough work. Lucy's suspicion that Raye was tired was actually very accurate. But if anyone was good at putting up a front to hide weakness, it was Raye. She'd fake her energy and strength without batting a lash!

Things seemed to be going smoothly, she decided, so now was a good time to head over to the blanket she'd spread on the grass and start setting out the picnic she'd planned.

It wasn't until she was standing in front of the blanket that she remembered: she hadn't actually packed anything.

ACK!

The priestess stiffened, mentally kicking herself. How could she forget the most important part of the festival?! Well. Probably because she couldn't cook, and had been planning on picking up some pre-made food at the grocery store, but then she'd wound up buying all of those paper lanterns instead to light up the shrine grounds once it got dark and her hands were too full to carry anything else.

Well it wasn't too late. She could run (literally) to the store, buy some things, and run back before Jaune arrived. No one would ever know!

Mind made up, Raye clenched her fists and whirled on her heel, charging for the gate.

[short_n_sweet]

Jaune was, of course, late. He's not always late, but for things like parties he often is because he learned that it was always good to be fashionably late for a party. He never understood why, but he still follows that to a T to this very day! That said, He never expected Raye to be right at the gates to meet him when he got there. He figured she'd be way too busy!

But there she was! And she was... running... right at him. He paused where he stood. Did she even see him? Surely she saw him. She wasn't slowing down though, so maybe she didn't see him. Tunnel vision maybe?

"Ra--"

*CRASH*

She bumped into him, but thank goodness he'd poised himself for it. He caught her, stumbled back a little, and once he deemed he was still safe on his feet he looked down at her with a bit a surprised expression. "Wow. I'm glad to see you too!" He laughed a little, "What's the hurry?"

[flamescout]

Raye grunted as she plowed into Jaune. His training must have been paying off, because he was fully capable of standing against the terrifying charge of a short Japanese teenager! ...Well.

Realizing who she'd just run into, Raye's brain nearly short-circuited. ACK AGAIN! But she was also glad to see him. Her face contorted into an interesting blend of panic and joy before she started laughing like a goof.

"Hey, Jaune! Ah HA ha ha ha ha ha ha! HA!"

Why was their timing so terrible? If she'd only remembered to get some sandwiches sooner! If he'd only shown up five minutes later! There was nothing to be done about it now. Maybe he ate before he came. She could stand going without lunch for a while!

Raye stepped back, holding his hands as she grinned wryly up at him. "So what do you think? A lot more people showed up than I expected, seems to be a pretty big success!"

Except for the food.

[tenminutes]

[ Yuri wasn't exactly the type of person to stop and smell the flowers most days. The last time she'd been to any kind of cherry blossom viewing anything was when she was a little kid, so it was somewhat weird to show up here.

Still, Battler promised her lunch and she liked his cooking and his company a lot more than eating a bowl of cereal or toast at her apartment. So she's out here in her thigh highs and a pink dress. There's a green ribbon with a bow in her hair. It's not the same as her preferred hairband, but it's better than nothing and it is the right color.

Rather stupidly, she decided to go ahead of Battler despite that they lift in adjacent apartments since she wanted to grab a decent spot, so she's sitting out there looking a little cold as she waits.

Feel free to visit before Battler gets there, or if you're Battler, sit ya ass down. ]

[magicianofwords]

[ Hey is that? No-- It is! Keiichi grins and causually walks over to greet the girl. ]

Oooh. Dressed fancy aren't we? gyahaha!

[tenminutes]

Gross, it's the laugh of a pervert.

[ Still, she sounds friendly enough when she says that. ]

I'm pre-date right now, that's why.

[chestboard]

[no cereal here, nope nope!

when battler finally arrives, he's wearing something he picked up at the store and it feels like forever since he hasn't worn something for family gatherings. he's carrying a basket full of certain goodies and has a picnic blanket in hand as well. he spots her, grinning as he heads over to her.]

Yo! Yuri. Did ya wait long?

[he really hopes not!! what a bad boyfriend he would be if that were the case. he's setting the basket down, taking the blanket and spreading it out properly.]

[tenminutes]

Only like three hours.

[ She's exaggerating. She did get to talk to Keiichi before he got here though, but it's not like she was actually here that long.

Either way, Battler wearing normal clothes is something she's so unused to even after their time here that she has to stare at him quite openly for a few seconds. ]

Quite after sunset // OTA

[frostheartedrose]

The sun had set some time ago of course. Certainly long enough for the last rose or flaming hue to fade into a pale blue along the horizon and the first start to start showing in the gathering darkness. It had hopefully been long enough for the passive visitor to drift away to other entertainments even as some groups lingered in their fun.

Bridget chose to actually arrive in the darkest area behind the temple of course. She could have simply walked the number of blocks but while carrying four casks of alcohol it might have looked rather awkward for a petite woman barely over five feet even in heels to be traveling along.

So she'd traveled by air along with a rather large bento case until she'd touched ground again. The four-tiered bento was in one hand while the four small barrels floated along behind her as she meandered towards the sakura. It was easy to find a tree near the edge that was now unoccupied so she could stow her alcohol and bento under. It was the last time she intended to wear all-black but perhaps it might have been wise to light a lantern nearby. It would by easy for one less alert or sober to consider a pale woman in black clothing to blur between one spot and other as a normal occurrence.