aterat | It's a Watts party! (Just don't tell him)

Entry tags:

It's a Watts party! (Just don't tell him)

Who; Aerith + YOU
What; Potluck party
Where; Gray building's downstairs common room
When; Sunday June 26th; after 4pm
Warnings; None

Aerith co-opted the common room of the gray building starting on Saturday when she began the process of decoration. The most important part of any decoration (especially for Watts) was the flowers and Aerith had put together a few center pieces for tables. Each flower that she'd chosen had symbolized friendship in some way and they were set up in the center of small tables that had been brought inside. Of course she wasn't the one that moved those tables, she had a trust bodyguard for things like that, but she did the decorating!

And the cooking! The main attraction was a pretzel bar in the center of the room. Please, thank Cloud for bringing it in and Jacob for making the pretzel rack at Aerith's request. The soft pretzels were premade and there were plenty for everyone who may come through to have several (if not more). In addition to that there were also several dipping sauces to choose from including cheese, caramel, cinnamon sugar, honey mustard, and a spicy ginger sauce with chili flakes (eat at your own risk).

A table next to it had Materia Xiaolongbao. Yellow is crab flavor, black is soybean, blue is pork, green is cilantro, and red is spicy shrimp. Next to those are tiny moogle sweet bean buns. They fit in the palm of your hand but some of the moogles look...a lot better than others. She did her best!

There was another table with a few drinks set up for people to grab including a materia bomb cocktail with a bit of alcohol and different flavored materia ice (peach, strawberry, and blueberry) and bright green bubble tea with pop bubbles in the bottom. The green tea is flavored like something very different than one might expect it to be, it's a bit bit bitter and yet also a bit sharp, almost biting. It's meant to be the flavor of wind, whatever that's supposed to be. The pop bubbles are extremely sour and explode in the mouth with the sourness. The drink is also somehow fizzy, don't ask how.

A third table was empty save for the friendship bouquet at it's center. There was a little handwritten note on the table saying:

Leave your dishes here! Complete with a heart.

Aerith herself can be found wandering around and paying close attention to the drink table, making sure to run back to the kitchen quickly to grab more drinks if they run low.

OOC: Feel free to use this log as an open thing for anyone to mingle and get to know each other. Characters are welcome even if they didn't bring a dish themselves, but the more dishes the better! Anyone is welcome to come even if they didn't know she was throwing this party, it'd be pretty obvious that there was something going on in the Gray Building and she'll be leaving the door open with a small table that has a friendship flower bouquet on it. Please have some fun!

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Shinjiro enjoyed the idea of sharing food from his world, and was actually looking forward to experiencing dishes from other worlds, too. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity (the irony of that sentiment wasn't lost on him) and he'd really taken a while to think of just what he wanted to bring to share, and also when he wanted to share it. He never knew how to react to compliments, and he'd never really shared his food with anyone which left him uncertain whether it was actually any good. Koromaru loved it, and that little dog was a staunch critic, but Aigis wasn't around to translate what he actually thought of it most of the time.

Here, he might actually have to face criticism, and that meant he was uncertain. He hated being uncertain, so he kept his covered dish covered as he watched the door to the Gray building from the shadow of a nearby pillar, waiting until the coast was clear to head inside. The interior was decorated a lot more than he thought it'd be, but the table for the submissions was easy enough to find. He did his best to appear inconspicuous as he made his idling way over, set down his tray of stuffed onigiri with a little card, written in English, describing they were rice balls stuffed with barbeque pork, toward the edge of the table and made his best escape attempt before anyone could connect him to the dish.

The problem was, he was tall, lanky, dressed all in dark colors, and really stuck out in the festive surroundings.

Ignis was delighted to be here, and he wasn't sure what to bring. So he brought quite a few plated of his own style of sushi, as well as plates of makeshift Grease Monkey Schnitzel sandwhich. It was makeshift because Garula sirloin wasn't a thing, but beef sirloin worked just as well the strategist found. Lastly he brought plentiful slices of Kupoberry cheesecake and there weren't any strawberries.

He had written the labels in neat script and put his name on them in case anyone was allergic to any ingredients that would be in them. For example, there were no strawberries because of his husband's allergy to them.

After leaving the plates at the place indicated, he definitely went for the hanging pretzels and helped himself to a cinnamon one. Not being one to drink, he opted for the bright green bubble tea and one of the crab Materia Xiaolongbao. The sweet buns were a thing he was going to try next.

But he found a quiet corner to sit in and there was an open chair. So he would nod to whoever sat with him after taking a sip of the bubble tea. "This is rather good, have you tried it?"

Edited 2022-06-26 07:30 (UTC)

Ignis wasn't sure who would show up here, but he was delighted with the different foods. Of course he was going to try them and make something like it at home. Now he had two people he could inflict his recipehs on and would do so. And food to them would be good so it all worked out rather well.

But now he came upon the stuffed rice balls and cocked his head to the side. He himself made these but they were more like triangles and not balls. "Stuffed? Well that's rather a novel idea."

Helping himself to one or two, he turned and saw Shinji in the corner and Ignis nodded in acknowledgement. "Well hello there."

Leon still wasn't sure about this place. From talking to ..was it Halcyn or something like that? and the gnome, he really wasn't sure what was going on. And so he did as he normally did and tried to hang out in the market place.

Finding a secluded spot, he managed to grab a lunch and blend in but that was the last thing he felt like he did here. This place was even more odd than the marketplace in Radiant Garden.

At least there wasn't a Sora running around..he hoped. No one deserved to be trapped in this place, wherever it was. So he had brought a book with him which he really wasn't reading. But he'd occasionally turn a page or two to make it look like he was. It was more him trying to figure the place out.

After awhile he got up and decided to check the market stalls out and someone had made what looked to be like sea salt ice cream. Amazed, Leon shelled out the coins he'd found in the grey satchel and bought about a dozen to bring home. His logic was that he had no idea when he'd see them again.

Making his way back home, he walked past the common room and thought he saw a familiar face. "Aerith? You're here too?"

The young Princess had made sure to not only prepare a collection of delicious dishes for the days event but to dress appropriately for a social gathering. It had cost a bit of money but she felt more comfortable in the dress than she had in the shorts that she'd been given at the orphanage. Her boots didn't match the light flowy summer dress but they were well worn and comfortably fit her feet.

In her arms was a cumbersome basket filled with the various baked goods that she'd baked early that morning, each with its own label to identify the type and flavor of the bread. The first bread she pulled out of her basket was a rustic fruit and nut wheat bread with dried cranberries, currants, apricots, walnuts, and almonds with a side of handmade cinnamon honey butter placed at its size. The second bread was a simple twisted sweet bread. Finally the basket was placed on the table with the remaining collection of turtle shaped white bread with chocolate eyes.

Once her bread and their labels were set in place the young princess found a comfortable chair to sit. She rested her pad of writing paper across her lap and watched the gathering people. Luna didn't speak or seek anyone out but began to slowly braid her long hair while watching the other party goers try the various treats and talk amongst themselves.

Edited 2022-06-27 14:45 (UTC)

It was impossible for Jacob to miss the potluck party, not just because he had seen Aerith's original call, but because his apartment was still technically located in the gray building. He didn't visit often, with his new house nearly inhabitable, but he passed by at a time to catch the set up of the party. At that moment, Jacob was reminded that he was going to bring chili and had yet to start it.

After frantically texting Yuki to purchase the missing ingredients and meet him at his apartment, Jacob managed to arrive only a half hour late to the potluck.

He arrived in semi-decent condition with Yuki at his side. Jacob was carrying a large pot of chili while Yuki had the honey thyme cornbread tray in hand. He caught Aerith's gaze and flashed her a cocky grin before placing the steaming food out for people to eat.

He was only fashionably late, totally didn't forget.

With the food placed and a quick kiss pressed to Yuki's cheek, he walked around the party to say hi to the people he knew. It was weird to be actively polite but Jacob was trying to be more sociable. It was an inherently difficult task for him but he was a master at hiding his discomfort.

Ivy wasn't sure why she'd come. It seemed like a terrible idea now that she was here surrounded by flowers and a ridiculous looking...pretzel station? Was that what that was? At least she'd gotten the idea about what this really was. Impressively sneaky of the woman who planned it, reminded her a bit of something Rachel would do back home. That thought stung. Her partner back home would love something like this. She'd probably say it showed community spirit or something equally as...wholesome.

Yeah, that was the word for it. This all seemed ridiculously wholesome. Yet, here she was, a living vampire participating in a wholesome community potluck. Everyone back home would sure get a kick out of this. The worst part was she even looked the part of the out of place vampire: long black hair down, a sleevless black top, black pants, and a large silver cross necklace. In both hands she was carrying a tray with a large homemade pizza with cheese and a ridiculous amount of garlic and tomato sauce. She'd brought something like this to another event here, but it was kind of the thing she was best at making. Why try to redefine the wheel?

She put the pizza down awkwardly then immediately found her way over to the drink section. Maybe that'd at least make her a bit more comfortable with this entire thing.

After double checking to make sure that the drink table was stocked up for others she finally decided it was time for her to take a small break. She deserved it, right? I mean, part of the point of this was having a nice relaxing time, but here she was obsessively trying to make it perfect. A break would do her nicely. So, she took one of the drinks (a green bubble tea) and went to hang out towards the entrance of the common rooms. Her intention had just been to greet anyone who might come by and not know what was going on. Imagine her surprise to run into a stranger who seemed to recognize her. Usually it was the other way around.

A tiny frown touched the corners of her lips and she scrunched her eyebrows up, tilting her head quizzically at Leon. "Sure am!"

Unluckily for Shinjiro there was no escaping Aerith's watchful eyes. When she'd issued the invitation shed planned on making sure that she caught everyone that brought something so she could thank them. So, when he came to drop the onigiri off she caught his grand escape attempt. That just wouldn't do. She bounced over to him and leaned to one side with a little smile on her face.

"Trying for a quick escape?" the tone of her voice was clearly mocking him in the most gentle way possible. "But these look really great!" He should be proud to take the credit for them. "Did you make them all yourself?" They definitely had the homemade feel to them, which wasn't a bad thing. Homemmade things were always infinitely better because they had personality.

Aerith caught that grin. Oh, boy did she ever. She managed to lock eyes with him as she started to giggle. Sorry, unavoidable. Especially since he was running late! Simply unacceptable really and he needed to be caught. She made her way over to him and gave him a big smile.

"Oohh, this smells great. I bet it'll be worth the wait!" That rhymed on complete accident. Possibly. Nobody will ever actually know. "I see you brought someone special," her voice held just a tiny note of teasing mixed with curiosity. It was really nice to see a friend potentially finding their happiness.

He'd moved away from the table of course, but not too far. He wanted to hear what other people had to say, and wanted to see when new foods were added as well, but he hadn't expected anyone to approach him, or that it would be his boss, either. For instance, at the declaration, he shrugged. Stuffing rice balls might have been a novel concept to Ignis, but it was pretty normal back home.

At least in Japan it was. He wasn't too familiar with a lot of foreign food but he was learning. When Ignis turned in his direction, he looked away, pulling his beanie down and crossing his arms. He's totally cool and not interested in input at all. Nope. Not him.

"Uh. Hey."

"No." Which was a lie and not even a good one. Still, food was the one thing Shinjiro Aragaki was uncertain of when it came to himself, and this actually marked the first time he'd chosen to openly share with anyone things he'd made. Koromaro didn't count in that respect. He crossed his arms, though and did his best to shake off the uncertainty he was feeling.

"Yeah. And the filling, too." Pride wasn't something Shinjiro had in abundance, at least not in anything he did beyond breaking things really well and being intimidating. He took pride in the accomplishments of others, in making sure they were taken care of and did the best they could. Pride in his own actions was foreign and he didn't even know how to begin.

This was amazing. He had no idea that she was here. And if she was here, maybe others had been brought here too. Maybe Sora was lurking around, or maybe even the king might be here. Even if he wouldn't wish to have others trapped...wherever they were at least seeing other people they knew was a good thing, right? They could plot their escape and get back home all at the same time.

But he looked down at her and shook his head, still trying to piece this altogether. "So you're having some kind of party for being here?"

Edited 2022-06-29 02:50 (UTC)

"Oh?" she tilted her head and laughed. "My mistake then!" Clearly that had been what he was trying to do, but she was generous enough to go with his coverup attempt. Without skipping a beat Aerith reached for one of the onigiri and took a large bite. Once she'd finished chewing she made a 'mmmm' sound and smiled brightly at him.

"Wow! These are super good!" Even if she'd known he didn't have much pride she'd have still complimented him enthusiastically. It wasn't like she tried to be more gentle with Cloud despite his awkwardness. Everyone deserved equal treatment here. "I bet you'd make a killing with these at Wall Market."

"Well...kind of? It was really supposed to be a welcome back party for a friend but he doesn't really like all eyes on him. So, I came up with the cover story of a potluck for the community!" Clearly a brilliant idea, right? Really, she'd have preferred to have announced it as being a party specifically for Watts, but she knew he'd have hated it. He didn't want the spotlight pointed down on him and she could respect that, even if she felt her friend deserved it.

"We're all stuck here together, right? Seems like the best we can do is try to make the best out of a bad situation."

When Cole stepped in to the common room on the ground floor of the Gray building, he suddenly remembered seeing a network post about this little potluck. He'd somehow forgotten that a, it was taking place in his building, b, that it was today, and c, that so many people were actually going to show up.

Never one to turn down free food, he doesn't mind helping himself. Besides, he has absolutely no name for himself here in Aterat, and if he's planning on getting any work, to support his habits (bad or otherwise) then he's going to need jobs. The best way to do that was to find people he could work for. He had to hand it to this Aerith, she had a good head on her shoulders, getting everyone together like this.

And she has pretty damned good taste in booze, too. Sure, it's the middle of the day and the cocktails are a little weak for his taste, but all in all it wasn't too bad. If anyone chooses to join him, he slides one of the pre-mixed cocktails, the pink one (it's peach) their way, which means they're drinking whatever he's drinking.

"Take a load off. The party's not half bad."

Harry arrived with a gift from the bakery in town, a special request in the form of an American staple: hot apple pie. It's placed on the table with the other arrivals, exchanged for a slice of incredibly adorable kupoberry cheesecake, and then he's making his way to the refreshments table where he also gathers a glass of green bubble tea an has a seat nearby, which just so happens to be with Ignis, because he's not really paying attention, the only thing on his mind being getting a bite of this cake in his mouth.

Which he accomplishes before Ignis says anything. He nods, and responds, mouth full (he's classy), "So's the cheesecake."

The Kupoberry cheesecake had practically called to Aerith. It was like some sort of weird siren that cast a spell over her. Okay, maybe that was going a little far, but it sure had looked amazing. She had a slice of it on a plate when she moseyed over to the corner with chairs. Then she plopped down and looked over at Ignis.

"I tasted a tiny bit of it when I was mixing it up," she said with a nod. It wasn't exactly like the ones from Wall Market but she'd tried her best to get it vaguely close. It made her pretty happy to see someone enjoying it though. "This is also pretty good!"

For his part Ignis wasn't trying to make this awkward because he didn't want to be seen as a pest. But saying hello was polite and proper and that was the angle he was going for. Not speaking to him to at least exchange a greeting would've been quite rude.

His green eyes noted the odd reaction which he was more than familiar with since Noct tried to do similar things to other people if he had no wish to talk. So Ignis wasn't about to stick around, however he was curious.

"Which one of the dishes did you bring?" And there was only one or two other questions he planned to ask and then he'd leave the lad alone.

The advisor was just finishing drinking a bit of the bubble tea and had crossed his legs when Harry sat down next to him. There was a half laugh when the other man did so and fortunately he was able to turn that into simply a smile.

And so he turns his attention back to his own plate because it wasn't proper or polite to stare at anyone, especially if they were eating.

"The cheesecake was a last minute addition, but I'm glad I brought it if you're enjoying it."

With the lady coming over, Ignis managed to stand a moment before she sat down. But once she sat he did the same, and nodded with a smile. "This is wonderful, and I've never seen such a drink back where I'm from."

He was going to have to get the recipeh.

But then of course he noticed Aerith enjoying the cheesecake. "I almost didn't bring it, as I wasn't sure how many sweets would be available, but I am rather glad I brought it along."

Edited 2022-06-30 02:35 (UTC)

Truth be told Mitsuru had absolutely no intention of going to this event initially. Logistically she could see the point in a gathering like this: to promote a sense of community among those trapped here. There were more than likely slight ulterior motives to be found, but she felt that must have been the general idea behind it. After all, it was something she'd partaken in back home with SEES. Not in the form of a potluck, but the idea was similar enough for it to be something she could appreciate.

The problem was she wasn't quite certain how to engage with it here. So far she'd had a mixed experience with the residents here, enough so that she was now a little bit hesitant to engage. Mitsuru was self-aware enough to know that she wasn't precisely good with casual conversation. She was good at speeches and professional conversation but that was about where it all ended. Still, she'd found out that Shinjiro was going and that he was going to make something and she'd wanted to support him in that. As awkward as she felt about the entire thing.

When she entered she looked about as awkward as she felt, hesitantly leaving the honey toast she'd made on the table. It wasn't much and truthfully she was quite embarrassed at how plain and unimpressive it was compared to what else was there (plus it was a tiny bit burnt on the edges). But, she'd have felt it had been rude to bring nothing at all. After she set it down she found herself quickly retreating, ducking her red head down and paying little attention to where she was going. If she ran into someone, well at least she would apologize.

"Ah--you have my apologies, I didn't see anyone there."

"For a friend?" Leon asked, incredulous. So he immediately handed his makeshift sea salt ice cream over to her. And then he heard that they were all stuck together. So her words only put one person in mind..

They were all stuck here together, and didn't like eyes on him.

"So, you mean Cloud is here, right?"

Well apparently he had arrived just right in time then, right?

"They're really only found in Wall Market, the other sectors don't have much..." she trailed off and took another small bite of the cheesecake as she tried to think of how to phrase it. "Unique-ness in their food choices." Sector 5 cuisine was mainly food to survive and sector 7 had a lot of instant food and junk food. Wall Market on the other hand had a bit of everything and they were all competing with each other. In a lot of ways that meant they had no choice but to try to make it look appealing for the sell.

"Well, I for one am super glad you brought it! I don't think there's ever a thing as too many sweets."

"Wall Market." Ignis repeated, thinking of a grand sort of set up, one even better than Lestallum's open air market. But then she mentioned sectors which puzzled him but he didn't know if he should ask for details as of yet so he didn't.

"Is uniqueness in food a bad thing in your world?" That one he had to ask as he had more of the green tea.

But then she raved about the cheesecake and he had to smile. "I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as you are."

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It's a Watts party! (Just don't tell him)

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Princess Luna - Open

Jacob Miller | Open to All

Ivy | Open

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Cole Cash | Open

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Mitsuru | Open

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