( open )

[hoasen]

Who: YOU, MY FRIEND & The friendly staff of Thistle Do Nicely, a humble flower shop.
When: IC: 29th January to February 14th (OOC: Starts 3rd July, full month log.)
Where: Thistle Do Nicely, Shopping District.
What: It's nearly Valentine's Day, so there's sales and events! Want to learn how to make chocolate? Look here! Cashing in your coupon for the upcoming Blind Date player event? That's here too! This is a mingle log, so everyone come mingle to your hearts content, and come in anytime, there's no such thing as late.
Rating/Warning: Nothing so far. There might be some future nightmares.

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NOTE: There are some forward-dated prompts/part of prompts in this log. This is to coincide with the Blind Date Player Plot this month! More links and updates will be posted here once they come up.

Also if you wanna know how this works, it's just a mingle! An example here, our previous open mingle log. Treat it however you like, open and closed options welcome.

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Welcome to Thistle Do Nicely! Make yourself comfortable and browse the grand selection. In spirit of upcoming Valentine's Day, the store is decorated in pink and red, hearts scattered here and there. Sweet soft toys are on display, and there are bargains to be found. The tea shop is also decked out, but there seems to be something extra special happening on that side too.


A: ROSES ARE RED, VIOLETS ARE DISCOUNTED

[Are you here for the flowers? Sure you are, it's a grand tradition that all Valentines must share: the giving of flowers to loved ones. Roses are a definite favourite, but maybe you're after something more unique? Then look no further! Ask one of your friendly staff about it. Or maybe they're coming to you! But if they do, some may have the misfortunate of being told by the mysterious NPC boss to repeat the following: "What can Cupid's assistant do for you today?" Yeah, it's pretty embarrassing.

Or maybe you've bumped into a friend! In that case, buying flowers for Valentine's Day? Are you proud of this, or are you so embarrassed you must hide all evidence.

Alternatively, time has passed and you're now here because you have coupons for an additional price cut on your flowers if you are taking part in the Blind Date event. Blind dates can be particularly nerve-wracking, so let this store make things a little easier for you. You'll thank them for it.]


B: ANYONE WHO HATES CHOCOLATE IS A MONSTER (no we're kidding we still love you)

B.1: KITCHEN NIGHTMARES

[In all walks of life, chocolate is a very popular gift for Valentine's Day. And in some places, even more importance is placed on whether it's homemade or not. A section of the tea shop has been cleared just for this: earthy tables now have small stoves on them and ingredients set out. It's time to learn how to make chocolate. These classes are lead by head chef Shokudaikiri Mitsutada and his (reluctant) chef's assistant Ookurikara, but you can be sure that all the other reliable staff of Thistle Do Nicely are getting in on the action to help out (or learn themselves) too! Maybe Mitsutada and a handful of staff will make this great. The other half...

Everyone interested in these classes will gather round each of these tables, and together you will learn how to make chocolate. It's a team effort, so discuss with each other and work together to perfect it! In the end, you will be given cute little boxes or bags to put your chocolate in so you can give it to those intended. Or yourself, you can eat them too. Alternatively, you were forced into this mess, or have no idea why you're here but you're going to roll with it because it's chocolate.

The classes are free, happening a couple hours a day, but the ingredients require a small donation to keep the classes going. These classes are ongoing, so by the time you've gotten your Blind Date, you don't have to donate if you show them your coupon.]


B.2 CHOCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

[Or maybe you're not here for the classes, you're spending time on the other half of the tea shop where it's still set for customers. The tea shop half of the entire store is not actually that big, so you might be finding it a bit cramped.

That being said, a treats bar has been set out as a complimentary offer. There's a chocolate fountain in the middle of this bar, and you know you wanna dip some heart shaped marshmallows or fruits in that sucker. There's also these flower shaped gummies. No one actually knows how they got there, but maybe for the sake of science, you want to coat it with chocolate and eat it.

Do it.]


C: WILDCARD.

[Because there's so much more to explore! Or maybe you're just here to visit and laugh at them. Or maybe you wanna use the tea space as a PLACE FOR A DATE, AYYYYYY in which the scene from Lady and the Tramp could happen and there will be a cute musical number (look, I'll have it arranged, I'm not even kidding. Too bad I can't get an Okiayu character to do it though, you might have to make do with a loser girl). Or maybe you've MESSED UP THIS ENTIRE PLACE Vietnam will kill you with her bare hands (unless she likes you, then you will live).]

Comments

open!

[candlecutterpikachu]

[ ooc: I will be a bit slow due to rl obligations, please bear with me! ]

b - 1;

[ If you're here to attend the chocolate making class, Mitsutada will be hosting it! He's actually a pretty good teacher, having prepared the ingredients precisely and going through each step in detail. The recipe used is the simpler version, with cocoa powder and milk instead of raw beans - though he did spend the previous night making enough cocoa liquor to improve the product's taste.

Making the chocolate involves first mixing the cocoa powder and butter together, then adding flour, milk and sugar. Once the mixture is bubbling nicely in the small cooker on the table, it's time to fold in the liquor and maybe a little essence or flavouring if it's to your taste.

Once everything is mixed well and achieved proper consistency, then the fire is switched off and the chocolate left to cool. There are complimentary molds for the taking, so you just need to let it cool for a few hours and tada, it's done! For the more impatient ones, there is also a freezer in the kitchen for your use. Just ask nicely and Mitsutada will put it in for you. Just remember to collect it, or it might end up in someone else's stomach entirely.

If you have any questions, he's here to answer them. Or maybe you just want some conversation, maybe after the lesson has ended - because he is in an apron, after all, and doesn't seem to mind.

Didn't he say he was a cool person? ]


b - 2;

[ So, a certain someone has sliced some melons and set them aside in a special porcelain plate. It even has flowers on the edges, like those sort of dainty plates from tea sets. Each one of them bite-sized on a stick, which would otherwise be completely innocuous and blend in with the large array of other sweets on offer... if not for the fact that it was most likely planted there just to get on his nerves. ]

This again?

[ Surely this joke has gone too far?

But he isn't going to let the lapse in his coolness show just like that, so he quickly picks one up, dips it expertly in the fountain and chills it with a quick douse in the nearby iced water bath.

Holding it out to you now, with his usual confident smile as if nothing had happened at all. ]

Here, this is for you.


c;

[ Throw me anything and I'll roll with it! ]

b-2!!

[hoasen]

[Hahahaha, Melonslasher. Look, fruits are a popular choice, you can't even deny. But she walks past just as he's question the existence of the well slashed melons just sitting there. Probably in the middle of the plate, no less.

She didn't expect to be offered one.]

Ah...do you not want to try it yourself?

[candlecutterpikachu]

[ Of course he's giving it to you, you're the only one he can trust not to make fun of it!!! ]

You'd think??

[ Pressing it into Vietnam's hands. His smile flashes into embarrassment for just the slightest of seconds before it returns with full force.

Just take the thing. ]

[hoasen]

[WELL, yes it's true, she's promised she won't.

And she swore she caught something before he smiles again. Now she's embarrassed as she takes the chocolate coated melon.]

T-thank you.

[Though she's not eating it yet. She stands there, considering something before she picks up a strawberry with a pick and dips it into the chocolate, repeating the process. And then holds it out to him.]

I believe in an equal trade.

b-2!

[dragonofoushuu]

[Goddamnit Mitsutada he's not a kid anymore. (Even though his age is only in the double digits.)

His attention is focused on that strange looking brown substance. Way too runny to be red bean paste, but it had a nice fragrance to it.

The Date lord takes it nonetheless.]

The hell is this? Some kind of Nanban confectionery?

[candlecutterpikachu]

[ It's always important to appreciate fine food, which is why he's offering it to his master! Clearly such a tasty thing needs to be given to someone very important. ]

It's chocolate, master. Something like konpeito but more textured.

[ How does one explain chocolate, really? ]

I think it came from South America? So it might be a Nanban thing.

[dragonofoushuu]

Thanks.

[Yes good. As expected from the Date sword butler. Now all he needs are glasses.

His one eye brightens up with a mix of delight and surprise. The taste is not like the pure sweetness of refined sugar, the texture is rich and satisfying.

It's like ambrosia, but brown.]

I need more of this. I heard stories of 'America', but still for this to exist there...

[Chocolate will be a useful tool in future Date domination.]

b-1!

[adornmental]

[HE IS SO HERE FOR THIS. He didn't even know he was here for this until he tripped his dumb way into the shop and saw people making neat things, but he sure is here now... And miraculously, this endeavour doesn't turn out as poorly as his last run-in with something in the kitchen! It helps that someone who's actually good at cooking is here to oversee, but still, what a victory.

...But of course Kashuu is one of the least patient in the bunch, and while others may seem content with mingling and having some tea while they wait for their molds to solidify, he's not. He makes it about five minutes before he's wandering his way over to wherever Mitsutada is, tray in hand.]

Heeey, can you do me a favor? You have a freezer back there, right?

[candlecutterpikachu]

[ Hello, Kashuu. Mitsutada hadn't expected him to come (and might have watched him a lot more closely than he did the other participants) but things turned out fine and nothing was set on fire, so he's going to count it as a victory.

He's still in his apron with a glass of fizzy soda, watching the people mill around for now. ]

Yep, we do! You'd want to use it?

[ Always impatient for sweet things, eh? ]

[adornmental]

[you blow up a microwave one time and suddenly you're a huge kitchen hazard.....

But yes, a victory all around! He shifts where he stands, glancing around Mitsutada and toward the back of the shop, where the kitchen presumably is.]

Mmmhm! I gotta go soon so I don't really have time to wait for this.

[That is 100% a lie... He just doesn't want to be stuck in one shop or in one area of the city while he nervously frets over his setting chocolate.]

b-1

[aloofly]

[Ah, this... Man!Tenryuu is pretty dependable, indeed. He had been guiding her along with a lot of other people in making their chocolates perfectly, as she could tell. Even those who only knew the basic of baking like her could understand his teaching perfectly.

In any case, after the cooking class deal, Kaga is trotting over to Mitsutada's side.]

Thank you very much for the instruction. It was very helpful. [A small pause.] Melonslasher-san.

[Don't blame her for this. Blame Ookurikara for introducing her his famous nickname.]

[candlecutterpikachu]

[ Man!Tenryuu is very accurate. Except minus the tsun and replace it with a shitton of motherliness and ability to be embarrassing.

Which is demonstrated perfectly by how his expression immediately changes. ]

Don't call me that! [ And because he can't be rude to a friend (yep you're a friend now, Kaga), he quickly adds: ] I'd rather you not use it.

Who'd you hear it from, anyway?

[ why does this legacy never die ]

[aloofly]

[Now, now... That's a rather unexpected outburst of a response. In a mixture of apologetic and curious manner, she's cocking her head to the side a bit.]

Ah, my bad. [Does he have any problem with the nickname? It's actually rather frivolous and even somewhat cool!] I didn't expect you to dislike the name. Ookurikara-san told me that you were more famous with that name here.

[not here]

[birthmarkless]

[ Hopefully you guys heard an incoherent laugh on the background because goddamn, Ookurikara's laughing so hard right now.

Nice one, Kaga. ]

[also not here]

[aloofly]

[(´∀`)b

Her work here is done.]

b-2

[primulas]

[hey- she would have gotten it herself, but it seems as though some other guy is doing it for her. she's not really complaining though, a little service is nice once in a while. she reached out for the snack and takes it from him.]

Trying to show off 'cause of the holiday or are you normally this much of a sap? [but hey she's saying it with a smile, so she's definitely just teasing.]

[candlecutterpikachu]

[ Her smile is returned in the same fashion. ]

If this is being sappy, it's kind of cool.

[ no ccp your priorities ]

Chocolate is good for one's health, so why not share it all around?

b-2

[birthmarkless]

[ Gone too far? What are you even talking about? We're still on the tip of the iceberg, Mitsutada. ]

What? Giving it to me? [ He grins, probably a shit-eating one. ] Isn't this your best chance to escape from the Melonslasher title to a Meloneater one, Mitsutada?

[candlecutterpikachu]

[ You are a Terrible Person. ]

That's even worse! I'd rather be slashing them than eating them.

[ Which is actually sort of a lie because he likes melons, but his reputation is on the line here. ]

b - 1

[perfectstrike]

[It's a little later by the time Peko finally drops by; she'd had to be released from the hospital, and then make sure that she wouldn't strain her stitches too much by moving around. She still can't quite use her left arm to its full capability, lest she risk tearing said stitches, but hopefully making chocolate won't be too strenuous?

She is kind of watching everything with a bit of a nervous, concerned air. That's... okay, first of all there's milk, which is potentially a problem, and then second of all, there's chocolate liquor, which may also be a potential problem for the person to whom she absolutely is not intending to give chocolates to.

She did not think this part through.

Instead of her usual school uniform, she's wearing a plain blue yukata; it's much easier to put on and take off without moving her left arm. The chocolates, though, she has yet to start on, still kind of just looking among all the ingredients with an air of intense Concern.]

[candlecutterpikachu]

[ Mitsutada had already noticed Peko looking tense as the session started, but he gave instructions as if nothing had happened. Best to let everyone else know what to do before he went over to address any questions or issues that she might have.

So here he is, coming over after the other participants started working on their things. He's still smiling, but concerned as well. ]

Need help with anything?

[ Everything is laid out nicely on the table, and she probably has inspected them all properly. He did double-check to make sure these are the best ingredients, so... unless he did miss something after all? ]

B-2

[littlestbaskerville]

[Chocolate is her favorite thing, no question about that, but she also enjoys her friends.

So when she's staring at the fountain she almost doesn't notice who's next to her until she hears the voice and looks to him.

A big smile on her face she nearly bounces.]

Mitsu!

[candlecutterpikachu]

[ Of course he has to offer something to Lily. She's almost like his little sister here, if swords could even have siblings. Bright and cheerful as ever. ]

Hello, Lily. Try this, I made it.

[ Of course he did. He didn't slice the melon (groaning noises), but he made the chocolate in the fountain. ]

B-2 (a million years later)

[kaba]

[ Don’t mind him. He’d been looking for Vietnam amid all of this…insanity, as it were, and was completely caught off guard by the proffered melon.

The good news is that he’s got no clue that there’s ever an in-joke here in the first place. The bad news is that he’s a little baffled at why such an illustrious personage as Mitsutada himself is doing making his living in the flower shop, serving customers and—dang, having your whole world destroyed really does drive you into the service industry, doesn’t it?

Look, dude, he knows you’re technically supposed to serve your master but this is a little…

Koujaku brings his hands up, staring at that fucking piece of melon like it might leap out and try to kill him—he really hasn’t gotten over the shit he’s been through in the CERES Gardens, okay. ]

Hey—you’re not gonna put that in my mouth, are ya? [ Bro what do you take him for ]

I'M P LATE TOO dont worry

[candlecutterpikachu]

[ Not quite knowing about the in-joke would instantly score Koujaku points, really. Most people he knew tended to use his unfortunate nickname, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and it only served to embarrass him even more. As for the reason why he's working... it's partly for money, really. As the swords' housekeeper, he did have a duty to his master and friends.

Koujaku's reaction does throw him off a little, though. The tachi tilts his head a little, looking momentarily confused before his cheer returns with about ninety-percent force. ]

Nope. [ His friend is probably the type to just eat it himself, so he just tilts the stick a little so that the other could take it straight. ] Try it, I made it myself.

[ He'll be sad if you turn it down. ]