{Mini Event} Day of Devotion

[expiationmods]

DAY OF DEVOTION

This is an entirely opt-in very casual event that has nothing to do with overarching storyline and is just an additional introductory log, and a means for characters to meet. We hope you've all had a very happy Valentine's Day week however you've chosen to spend it!

SCARVES OF LOVE

     

The season of affection and love of all kinds falls upon Aldrip in the wake of their festivities for Those Who Were There. As part of the celebration, what's referred to as the 'Day of Devotion,' local merchants carry a variety of wares, but none so coveted as their multicoloured scarves available in a variety of prints, designs, and fabrics. Perhaps consider picking one up and giving it to someone who's important to you. No money? No problem! Whilst Aldrip doesn't exactly work on a layaway system or akin to, you'll find the mercantile business owners are quite open to trades and other means of bartering. Maybe they'll give out a scarf or two in agreement for running some errands...

Lucky recipients of these very fashionable scarves will find themselves suspiciously open to sharing positive, warm and fuzzy, or perhaps downright amorous feelings toward the person who gifted them the scarf to begin with, regardless of whether you've known them for years or even just a couple of weeks. But don't worry—the feelings are temporary! Once the Day of Devotion comes to a natural conclusion, your feelings will return to something like normalcy and you'll still wind up with a new fashion accessory. Of course, if you've always been amorous with that special someone, you likely won't notice any sort of change.

Take the opportunity to embrace the celebration, maybe embrace one another a little bit, too, and begin forming some potentially everlasting bonds with others.

BRING PROTECTION

     

Not everyone is choosing to celebrate the Day of Devotion in the same way. Due to the heightened popularity of the pretty scarves, some of Aldrip's jewellers have been bitten by the green bug of jealousy. In an attempt to compete with the sales of scarves, jewellers are advertising pendants, brooches, and other assorted charms that are meant to serve as warding and protective trinkets. What are they protecting one from? It's difficult to say and the merchants aren't inclined to give a straight answer. But whether you need protection from love, personal feelings, or perhaps something more physical, they've got you covered!

If you choose to give these amulets to others, recipients of them and their related will be compelled to share their true feelings with those around them in addition to the person who gave them the protective charms. This sounds like it could be a good thing, however, that means it covers the array of positive, negative, and every shade in between, without a filter in place. Consider these accessories a potential test of friendships, familial relationships, and more.

Like the scarves, this need and desire to be truthful with your feelings will be temporary, lasting until the Day of Devotion celebration is over. But at least you'll be protected. From something. Maybe. Probably. Or not!

FLOWERS FOR ALDRIP

     

By now, you may be well familiar with Aldrip's variety of fields that are filled with vegetables and fruits that grace the dinner tables of the town and local cuisine. During the Day of Devotion and weeks leading up to it, you'll find that they're clearing another field and preparing the soil. What for, you won't find out until the actual day of the celebration. Once it arrives, there's a collection of simple carts filled with flowering plants. Locals and newly-arrived alike are welcome to lend a hand in planting them along the neatly tilled rows.

You may find plants that resemble or are identical to plants from your home world. You may find plants that you've never seen in your life. They come in a variety of colours and are accompanied by a lightly pleasing scent that shouldn't be too overpowering, though may still disturb those with allergies.

All who help out with the planting, watering, and other tending, will be rewarded with a bouquet of flowers that can be passed onto others to show your appreciation and other forms of affection. You may even find yourself making a good and lasting impression on the locals by offering some assistance.

Comments

Clara Oswald

[makemeasong]

[ ooc: will put some open starters here! lmk if you want something custom for us; I'm not on plurk but journal DM and lifewasawillow#5524 on discord work! ]

𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 - 𝐈

[makemeasong]

❥ 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔

[ Clara really wants a scarf, wants to get something fashionable for the Doctor as an 'I'm really glad you kidnapped me again after Christmas' gift. Unconventional as a theme, but then, the Doctor isn't conventional, so she isn't worried. But first, she's offered herself up for errands.

One such errand is running coffee to two different places. It's on the second that someone turns a corner too close to her and she doesn't have enough space to recover. ]

Fu—

[ Clara winds up with coffee all over herself; thanks to her jacket she isn't burned, but her eyes are closed, dripping with four coffees. ]

Did that really just happen? If I open my eyes, will I see something different?

[aintyourdad]

Shit.

[ Woops, she just collided with this guy. Lucky her? Well, lucky he doesn't seem that upset about it. Sure, the crate of scarves he was carrying is now on the ground, and several of them are stained with coffee, but he mostly just looks kind of tired and exasperated, rather than irate. ]

Well, that's gonna come out of my pay.

[ He crouches down to pick up the scarves that have scattered. ]

I might be more inclined to get one if they all smelled like coffee, though.

[ Finally, belatedly, he glances up at the strange young woman, as though realizing he probably should address her. ]

You okay?

[makemeasong]

I wasn't exactly running the coffee for free.

[ She kneels and picks up the now empty cups and tosses them, plus the holder in the bin. ]

I'm alright. Jacket's seen better days. Any of the scarves salvageable? Maybe the darker ones you can pass off as coffee scented once they dry.

[ Clara tries, at least, to not look as grumpy as losing pay makes her feel. It was an accident, and she'll keep working. ]

[aintyourdad]

[ Mostly Joel is just annoyed that he has to clean up this mess, but what can you do? He's had worse.

Things could always be worse. ]

There are plenty more scarves. They must make these things all year.

[ He picks up the crate again, nodding at her coffee cups. ]

Where's that from, anyway? Haven't had decent coffee in a while.

[makemeasong]

[ Clara stands somewhat beside him, but not too close. Just to give him perspective as she points. ]

See that tree with a branch that looks like a hook?

[ It might take a moment, but it's there, one branch drooping a little in a perfect imitation of Hook's hook. It's about a half block away, so not too far. ]

Right behind that tree. Not a big place, and I haven't tried the coffee myself, but I'm coated in it, and I don't mind. That has to count for something.

𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 - 𝐈𝐈

[makemeasong]

❥ 𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑘 & 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒

[ Sans her jacket, Clara's looking at scarves, going back and forth. Now, she's unsure of herself, but she's determined to keep looking until she finds what she considers perfect. She doesn't know if he'll actually use it, and she realizes with a start she's never given him a gift. Has she? ]

No, no, no...

[ Going through another stack, she frowns at herself as she's discarded all of her options. Maybe she should go to the amulets after all. ]

Either I have bad taste, or I'm just out of luck.

[ She says it to no one in particular, blowing her bangs up in a huff. ]

[usarinpa]

[ Mizuki doesn't think anything of it at first. Clara is just one of many faces she has seen this week, mulling over the scarves, and she is far more focused on the keeper of the store, who has been directing her to do this and that. So far, this has involved a lot of heavy lifting. Apparently word of her superhuman strength has been getting around...

But she doesn't really fight it, because heavy lifting doesn't require a whole lot of brain power. Putting up a new mannequin here, moving a dresser there.

At the moment, she's carrying a full-length mirror, effortlessly coming up behind Clara. It seems like the store is still getting situated, at least; Clara's early. ]

Sorry... Don't mean to interrupt, but they want this over there.

[makemeasong]

Oh! Right, sorry.

[ She moves to the side and then has to watch as someone approximately her size seems to be effortlessly lifting the mirror. ]

That's seriously impressive, by the way. You're not even breaking a sweat. I complain when I have to move the laundry basket up and down steps.

[usarinpa]

[ Once Clara moves aside, Mizuki presses forward quickly to put the mirror in place against a spot on the wall, then steps back to take a look and make sure it's straight. She hadn't realized Clara was still watching, and turns to give her a smile.

Right, this whole uh, customer service thing. ]

Thanks. Let's just say I get that a lot... Laundry is annoying, to be fair.

[ Just an idle comment. Clara can even use the mirror now, if she wants, though Mizuki does add, after a pause: ]

I'm...no good at this either, you know? But I think that first one looked nice.

[makemeasong]

[ Laughing softly at the laundry comment, she then smiles at the comment about the scarf. ]

You think so? I'm buying it for a friend and he's...particular. Fussy? His fashion can be eclectic, let's say. So I feel like I need to be extra choose.

[ Clara goes back to one she'd picked up earlier. ]

Better than this one, you think?

𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫

[makemeasong]

❥ 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔

[ Clara hasn't got much of a green thumb, but she can prune well enough. She's pulling off browning or curled leaves, snipping off thrones, and making the ends look pretty. Some petals are ever so delicately pulled, so that all she has left behind is a perfect flower.

With an armful, carrying them like a pageant winner, she approaches someone else who seems to be doing the arranging. ]

Could you do with some purple tulips?

[baldrshand]

[Ethlyn is busy working on a little patch of flowers, wondering what she'll put in next, and how to arrange them, when she's interrupted--pleasantly so.]

Purple tulips? [She sits back and dusts some dirt off her hands.] Oh, I think those would be just the thing for this patch. They could use a splash of purple.

[makemeasong]

[ Clara's happy to help, and she holds them out in offering. ]

I don't normally like getting dirt under my fingernails, but what the hell? Can I do anything?

[ The vibe is nice and so have the people been that she's met, so she figures she might as well hang around and be useful. ]

[baldrshand]

I'm not used to it myself, but it's very satisfying, to be honest. [Being a noblewoman, Ethlyn might cut and arrange the flowers, but didn't have much to do with the planting of them. She takes the offered flowers and takes a sniff.] You can grab a trowel! Or there's a watering can there--what I've planted already probably needs a drink to get started.

[makemeasong]

I think I'll go with the watering can for now, but I won't rule out the trowel for later.

[ Happily, she gras the watering can. ]

I'm Clara, by the way. I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you're new here, like me?

[meiren]

[ There's something almost meditative about planting, which is why it taks Zhou Zishu a moment to realize there's someone speaking to him. He sits back on his knees and peers up at the woman, and then the bright flowers she's offering over to him. ]

...is that what they are? [ He considers a moment, then shrugs as his eyes flick back towards the rows he's been planting. ] Why not.

[ His work so far hasn't exactly been the most aesthetic, mostly because that feels like a lot of effort. But flowers are getting put in the ground and it's not the worst looking thing ever, so there isn't much to complain about. Or no complaints Zhou Zishu is willing to hear, at least. ]

Do you have more?

[makemeasong]

[ Handing them over, Clara nods with enthusiasm. ]

Not purple, but I have some yellow, red, and pink. Any color strike your fancy in particular?

[ She's happy to help, feeling like she's possibly found her place in helping. Maybe not necessarily working with flowers forever, but it's a nice start. she's meeting people, and so far, no one's been grouchy about flowers. ]

[meiren]

[ As he reaches to gather the flowers, he starts to say he'll take just about anything and then pauses to give her a considering look. She clearly has some enthusiasm here, and it's not as if Zhou Zishu much cares about what it all looks like. ]

What do you suggest?

[ Delegating opinions? Far too many years spent in leadership roles has at least taught him something. Mostly when to get other people to do things he can't be bothered with. ]

[makemeasong]

Hmm.

[ Freed from her current armful, she places a hand on her hip as she assesses what's already there. ]

The purple's actually gonna need something subtle to go with it. I think I saw white tulips, too. Sorry, I know I'm boring. But purple and white'll look good together.

𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐈

[makemeasong]

❥ 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠

[ There are a few flowers that have been cut too short to be part of a bouquet, and Clara has rescued them from their future as compost. They're all different varieties, and she has them in a basket. Anytime she sees someone who looks like they could use a flower —and that's everyone—she tries to make a guess as to which sort of flower they'd like most.

Spotting someone innocently walking down the street, she calls out, walking closer. ]

You look like a person who'd enjoy a flower behind your ear or in your hair. I think I like this for you, whatever it's called.

[ She holds out the flower, completely serious and smiling with the full wattage of her dimples. ]

𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐈 - I even have a relevant icon!

[wishupona]

You know what? I think you're absolutely right. Because whatever it's called? It's pretty!

[Rinoa's more than happy to tuck the flower into her hair, just behind her ear. Turning so the stranger can see how the red contrasts with the warm blacks and golden browns of her hair.]

I can't see, so I'll have to take your word for it. How do I look?

:3

[makemeasong]

[ It makes her happy to see other people happy, and she grins with dimples and all. ]

You look brilliant. Quite fashionable. Now we just need a tea party and fancy hats, then we'll be all set.

[ Should she do this full time? Maybe this has been her calling all along. ]

So happy to play with your Clara again. <3

[wishupona]

[The grin definitely gets an answering grin in return. Feels good to feel good.]

Well....I don't know about fancy hats, but I do know a place that has good tea?

[Find a shop and become a salesperson for easy coin? Rinoa's been trying that out too. It's kind of fun.]

<3 <3 our threading is a delight

[makemeasong]

Wait, really? I haven't had a good cuppa in a while.

[ The Doctor likes his...sugary. Not as much as his last face, but still too much for her. So 'good' just means 'normal' in her case. ]

Could you show me where it is? I mean, you don't have to right now, I don't urgently need tea or anything. It just feels like home, you know?