open | a respite among so many troubles

[complementing]

WHO: You!
WHERE: A Japanese restaurant in town.
WHEN: Forward dated to April 15th
WHAT: Cherry blossom viewing, as well as a belated Lunar New Year party, organized by Minako and Mako! Come relax before (or after) all of your questing.
WARNINGS: None foreseen!



You might have gotten a quick text about a belated Lunar New Year celebration. Maybe there was even a cute emoji attached to it, depending on how close Mako felt to you. But in general, it's time to celebrate the Year of the Dog. He's brought some basic things like dumplings, and baos. But he would've asked for participants to bring more food.

Because what good is a Lunar New Years without lots and lots of food?

He also chipped in a few bucks to help with the drinking situation. Because what's Hanami without... well. Getting drunk.

---

Speaking of getting drunk, what you can look forward to from the Japanese side of the celebration is plenty of beer, sake, and highballs to go around. Drink, be merry, drink some more, and enjoy the sight of sakura petals falling from the trees right above and beyond the back patio. Inspired by their fleeting beauty? There's a little poster explaining what haiku is and inviting you to compose one, with the example haiku the most famous one by Matsuo Bashou: furu ike ya / kawazu tobikomu / mizu no oto.

Or if you don't get full from Mako's food, why not try the restaurant's yakitori too? Or all of their sakura flavored foods. Literally anything under the sun you can think of, they'll have added sakura to it.

Finally, to celebrate the Year of the Dog, Minako has brought Koromaru to the party. Please enjoy cuddles from this good, smart, and energetic pupper?! He will be passing around wrapped packages with some dog themed cookies in them.

Comments

OTA

[long_live_the_queen]

((OOC: Lucy is in her Nyu personality at this time! Nonhostile and harmless, if a bumbling amnesiac. Memory loss will obviously be mentioned frequently.))

[A]

[How many days was it? Three, or more, since...what, exactly?

She still couldn't remember her name. But she kept saying the same word a lot, so maybe that was it?

Either way, it didn't trouble Nyu too much. There was something going on here, that was what mattered right now. A party? Lots of lanterns, and pretty trees! Nyu waltzed right in, undeterred by the prospect of people

She wasn't dressed for the occasion, with the sleeve of her jacket looking a bit ragged, a few twigs in her hair, smudges of dirt on her skirt and no hat, leaving her horns exposed for anyone to see.

It looked like she just wandered out of the woods, honestly. Nyu didn't have a direction in mind, wandering from table to table, out to the patio to look at the flowers, back again—anywhere that caught her interest. What's that you're holding? There may be a pink-haired girl peering intently at it, or trying to touch it. Or blundering into people while craning her head up to get a better look at the cherry trees.]

[B]

[Nyu has found the dumplings! She's gotten a little tray of them and is standing still now, eating them with her fingers like a barbarian.

She's quite happy about it, even though the steam is scalding her fingers. And she's still in the way, in the middle of an aisle. With her hands full of dumplings.

Who let her out of the house, honestly.]

A;

[complementing]

[Minako is about to dig into some sakura daifuku when she senses someone at her shoulder. Seeing pink hair in her periphery vision, she looks up and beams.]

Hi Lucy! Wanna try some?

[long_live_the_queen]

[She was about this close to touching it anyway when someone started talking to her. And smiling at her! Nyu grinned right back at Minako.]

Nyu!

[That was a yes!

Though there was the small problem of people still saying that name. She was fairly sure it wasn't hers, and it felt strange that people kept calling her that.]

I don't think that...that's, my name.

[complementing]

[The sight of Lucy giving her a full on smile is so delightful and yet completely shocking, enough that Minako doesn't answer for a moment, stunned to silence. It takes a moment for her brain to kick start again.]

I. Um. Wait, what? [Another pause, and then:] Oh! Are you maybe another one of Lucy's sisters?

[long_live_the_queen]

Nyu?

[It was a perplexed burble this time. The other girl looked astonished, like Nyu's appearance was suddenly a surprise. Nyu didn't think she was being very sneaky. Was she after all?]

...am I?

[Is that why people kept calling her that?]

[B-ish]

[belligerentwarrior]

[Yeah, Pen. Who let her out of the house?]

[This whole thing was beyond strange. Surreal. Freya leaves for a few days, after telling them about the mark on her arms, and... this is what she comes back to? It... saddened Freya, and she wasn't exactly sure why.]

You can wait for them to cool, you know. They'll still be there. [She chimes in from a nearby chair that she'd been more or less babysitting Nyu from. She's had a few bites from one of the cookies Koro had brought over, but hadn't really touched the treats otherwise.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[Nyu does not immediately squeak in response--she was in the middle of eating a dumpling and that would be gross--but finishes her food first. Then she chirps a 'nyu' as usual. She learned some manners, just not all of them.]

But they're nice.

[Even though she had to waggle her fingers now due to the steam.]

[belligerentwarrior]

And they're hot. You'll like 'em a lot more if they're not burning you.

[Freya gestures vaguely with one hand, her forearm not leaving the back of her chair.] If you're gonna eat the whole tray just bring 'em over here and sit down.

[long_live_the_queen]

Nyu!

[No objections, no grumbled "I'm fine", Nyu just amenably trotted over to the nearest empty chair and plopped herself down, carefully balancing the tray. After a moment, she leaned over to offer it to Freya.]

Did you want one?

[Minako said to be nice to her, and that seemed like a nice thing to do.]

[twostringsonebow]

[Goro loves hanami.

Especially since he's gotten a resilience to pollen allergies with Robin Hood, he's been looking forward to it since it began to warm again; he's taking pictures of it all, and when he's not doing that he's enjoying the sakuramochi he'd made for the occasion.

Both of which he'll offer to others: Would you like to take a commemorative photo? Would you like some delicious treats? He is here for you.

Other than that, he's most likely going to be reading and relaxing a bit, just... trying to get his mind off the month. Past few months. And enjoying the company of his cat, who is at her full size of 14" at the shoulder. She is bigger than your average domestic and she has her own harness.

She will also be chasing blossoms and actually being rather chill around Koromaru.]

[long_live_the_queen]

Cat!

[Someone has spotted the cat! Nyu is delighted, rushing over and dropping to her knees with a quiet thump near the cat. There were some cherry petals in her hair, much brighter than the cerise. And there were definitely stubby horns on her head.]

Cat, cat, cat!

[...she hasn't acknowledged the cat's owner at all yet, sorry buddy.]

[twostringsonebow]

[... Wow, he's seen odd hair colors before, but pink is one that will always surprise him; the horns are too, and he resists the urge to see if the horns are real as he closes his book with his finger keeping his place. It's fine, he does the exact same things to animals himself.

Belle is just as excited by a new person, thrilling happily as she climbs halfway into Nyu's lap to check her out curiously.]

Fond of them?

[long_live_the_queen]

[This is the best thing to happen to her today. Nyu's face lights up like an excited child's, and she reaches out both hands to scratch behind the cat's ears, her cheeks, and her back as far as she could.]

Yes!

[She keeps making those cheerful chirping "nyu's", like she was answering the cat.]

[twostringsonebow]

She's rather fond of you too, it'd seem, but Belle's like that towards everyone. A friendly little... well, not so little anymore, I suppose. No matter how big she gets she always wants on my shoulders though.

[Not on Nyu's, though, seemingly conscious of the girl.]

Do you have any pets of your own?

[complementing]

[Koromaru loves kitties?! He is very patient and good friends with Fang, the grumpy kitty he lives with, so a chill kitty like Goro's is more than alright in his book. Minako watches the puppy skitter around in the falling sakura petals with his new friend, mildly amused.]

It's like I'm watching some kind of elaborate kabuki dance. Korochan is the brave samurai, and your cat is the elegant doctor friend.

[twostringsonebow]

Belle? Elegant?

[...]

Yes, that suits her, especially consider whom she's named after. I'm glad she gets along with Korochan as well, though I'm not surprised... her and Potato are like siblings.

[As long as Koromaru doesn't mind Belle using him as a springboard to swat at sakura petals, they will continue to get along great.]

[complementing]

[Koromaru is very tolerant of this, staying sedately still and playing the part of a solemn bushido warrior. Which is a little odd for him, given that he's so energetic, but friend!! Needs his help to catch petals!! So this is his life now.]

Is she named after the Disney princess?

OTA

[sakeplz]

[Well of course he loves the pupper and he's even brought his own! Kenti is happily drinking from a little bowl next to Jirou who is helping himself to the sake. Don't worry, he's a good owner and only giving his pup water.

When he sees Koromaru, he giggles and offers him some water too. And kisses and cuddles and...

Basically Jirou will be over here enjoying the dog and sake life for anyone who wants to join him. Don't worry. He's super drunk but super friendly.]

[complementing]

[Koromaru loves kisses and cuddles!!! He is more than happy to sit in Jirou's lap on his back and accept tummy rubs, too, and Minako stops by to bear witness to such a happy pupper getting pampered.]

Hehe, thanks for indulging him, Jirou-san.

[She brings her sake cup up so they can toast.]

[sakeplz]

I don't mind! I love him! And look, Kenti does too!

[Sure enough right now Jirou has both dogs on his lap and is cuddling them both like they're the cutest stuffed animals ever.

Only to stop a moment so he can toast sake with her.]

This is fun! Drinking under the tree!

[complementing]

[She definitely needs to take a picture of this pile of fluffiness?? Snap goes her camera phone, and then she straightens to sip at her sake.]

Right? Last year I was too busy [dealing with Retrospec] to enjoy hanami. But this year! [She flings out her arms and breathes in happily.] It's so good to smell this scent again. It's so nostalgic.

OTA

[toobigtohandle]

[A]
[Where Jirou and alcohol are, it's usually a given that Kenta is not far being. he of course came with Jirou, and they brought both good sake and food made by Kenta's chef, because it's only polite. And it's good stuff that Kenta will readily share, although you'll excuse him for putting a few bottles to the side for Jirou's exclusive use.

He does have a memory of a certain tantrum under a cherry tree when they ran out of sake.

... In fact you may already know Jirou is perpetually drunk, but if you've been watching today, Kenta seems to have drunk about as much as Jirou has, but he doesn't really look worse for wear.]

[B]

[Since they're out, it's a good occasion to let Kenti stretch his legs, so you might find the tall brooding handsome guy sedately walking behind an absurdly fluffy white Pomeranian wearing designer dog clothes. He's keeping an eye on him and gets ready to scoop him up if things get too rowdy or other dogs or animals in general get a bit too excited.]

[C]

[When the socializing gets to be a bit too much, Kenta will step a little away from the hubbub for a breather, usually with a drink in hand. He'll be fin if someone approaches for a one-on-one conversation, he just needs a rest from the crowd.]

b;

[complementing]

Oh no, what a cute little outfit for a cute little Pom!

[Minako is already kneeling on the ground, taking some selfies with Koromaru when she catches the sight of the other puppy in the camera. She turns and coaxes it towards her.]

C'mere, puppy, let's take some pictures together!

[toobigtohandle]

[Kenta smiles as he follows Kneti who is already trotting to a new doggy friend! The Pomeranian's pompom tail is wagging wildly and he's sniffing inquisitively.]

Hi. Thanks for organizing this.

[complementing]

[New friend!! Koromaru wiggles over to give Kenti a play bow, his own fluffy tail wagging energetically. Tiny new friend!! Minako stands and beams.]

Of course! Thank you for coming, Kenta-san. Is this your puppy?