[ open: maid cafe fundraiser ]

[at_heart]

WHO: Yuri, Saya, Kantera, Venti, Lumine, and YOU!
WHAT: A fundraiser for office space for Yuri's up-and-coming guild, Brave Vesperia Ellipsa.
WHEN: Late April.
WHERE: Blossomcrown, a karaoke bar rented out for the occasion.
WARNINGS: Cheesecakey fun. Potentially alcohol consumption. All maids offering black menu services will be linking to an additional top-level off comm ♥

ask about bve/the fundraiser | ic menu | request a maid | byotoplevels!

[ When you head to the location of Yuri's GPS ping from yesterday's network post, you'll find a rented-out little karaoke bar with MAID FOR YOU written on a handmade banner that is temporarily covering the bar's normal name, decorated in pink and black on the inside, with a lot of cute little two-chair tables taking up most of the floor space. There are rooms in the back that would normally be for singing karaoke in private, and singing with a maid is indeed one of the things you can do with those rooms today!

The real draw, though, is all of the very cute folks dressed as maids and/or butlers today, who will — for a small fee — wait on you personally. ♥

Take a menu, select a maid, and place your orders... or just ask Yuri what all the commotion's about, he'll be happy to explain! ]


((ooc: Maid cafe fundraiser! Don't worry too much about the coins your character is spending here, nothing is too expensive (though the black menu items are at a premium), we're all just here for the CR.

PLEASE NOTE: Yuri does feel personally responsible for the safety and comfort of all the Official Maids who are trying to help him raise funds here, so he will be actively trying to curb anyone bullying their friends into signing up, and he really doesn't want anyone working for him to be wearing or doing anything that makes them uncomfortable. Adult characters who only want to wear pink ribbons? Characters who want a full coverage maid outfit, or who want to be butlers instead? Excellent exercising of your boundaries, Yuri loves that for you.

You can, however, definitely pay for the "dress up as maid or butler" menu item and use that to bully your friends to your hearts' content. 😉))

Comments

[kingside]

[Right, and excuse him, but he's pinching the bridge of his nose now.]

If gaining a Chevalier wouldn't stop your hibernation cycle to begin with, those "desperate ideas" wouldn't accomplish anything. That said, keeping key information like that from the people trying to help you is more likely to hinder them than anything else.

[Please say he doesn't need to explain why that's stupid.]

[sangreine]

[ If the timeline she saw in her memories is accurate, access to a Chevalier's blood could substantially increase her waking time. Like, double it or even more. ]

You're probably right.

[ But she's not changing her mind on this. Her happiness is only worth so much. She'd do a lot to keep her memories, but not that. She already obtained one piece of her Chevalier for study and it tore her apart, she can't do it again. ]

[kingside]

[By virtue of not being a telepath, Lelouch has no idea what she's thinking, but he hardly needs to when her resistance to the idea is so plain. That noncommittal response...

He sighs to himself and begins piping the pancake batter onto the griddle.]

I won't tell, obviously. Your bad decisions are your own problem.

[As long as they stay that way. It's probably too much to hope.]

[sangreine]

[ She can't imagine how her hibernation would possibly effect Lelouch or anyone else more than it effects her, so. Yes people love her and are invested in her staying awake, but she's the one who would have to live with exploiting the people she owes so much to, yet again, or with someone making another Chevalier without her consent which is tantamount to torturing them, or whatever else. ]

Judge me if you like, it's not like I disagree with you. I'm doing my best, here, and my best sucks because this entire situation sucks. [ She doesn't sound angry or even irritated, she sounds resigned. ]

[kingside]

[He thinks he feels a headache coming on.]

I'm not going to argue with that. Were you expecting me to?

[Because she certainly seems... hm. Little to do now but wait until the pancakes are ready to flip, so he'll set down his various tools and rest his chin on his hand while he examines her.]

Have you given up?

[sangreine]

I don't expect anything from you except maybe pancakes.

[ She's being honest not because she has a certain reaction in mind from him, but because that's how she's wired. ]

I don't expect any of this will work, no. Or maybe I can't allow myself to think it will work because it's some defense mechanism, who knows. I'm going to try because I don't have anything to lose and because the people who care about me need to know that they did everything possible to prevent it. In the meantime I'll put on whatever face I have to, I'll be an experiment all over again, if it makes this one speck easier on them. [ Except bringing her Chevaliers into this, old or possible new ones, or their blood, or anything of the like. It's a complicated emotion but it's beyond the pale. Emotionally it's the equivalent of her asking someone else to be tortured for her sake. ]

If it actually works I'll be thrilled, but... [ but she can't let it in. ]

[kingside]

[Fair, and he tilts his head, conceding the point.]

So this is entirely for their benefit. You, meanwhile, don't dare allow yourself to hope because you'd rather not experience that devastation again.

[Which... is entirely selfish, of course. It's likely not his place to tell her as much, but—]

In essence, you're all right with preserving your own heart in this matter, but you don't care that your loved ones may be building themselves up for nothing.

[sangreine]

[ -- excuse her?! ]

I don't see how what I feel inside my own head contributes to anything in either direction. I'm helping with the research, I'm gathering the items we found that might be of help, I'm submitting myself to the tests and being the trial subject for whatever attempts might come of this. What more could I possibly do?

And how is any of that not caring what they think and feel? They all know the odds are against anything working in time. I've been told as much more times than I can count. [ Except for Red Son and -- look, it's complicated there. ]

[kingside]

They know that the odds are against it, but they're making the attempt regardless. You're unmoved by that. Yes, you go through the motions, participate in their tests, but you've already resigned yourself to failure.

[And he sincerely doubts the same could be said of the people who care for her. So—]

You said it yourself: you're only doing this so that they know they did everything they could to prevent it. You're humoring them.

[sangreine]

And what do you propose? That I gnash my teeth until I feel hopeful? [ That's not how emotions work, Lelouch. ]

Even if that were possible, would it make the slightest bit of practical difference? Either the medications will work or they won't. My attitude won't change a thing about any of it.

[kingside]

You don't think they might gain something from seeing you as invested in this as they are? Assuming you do, in fact, care about them as much as they do you.

[sangreine]

And how exactly would I accomplish that? You didn't answer my question. How do I force myself to have hope?

[ Apparently she needs to take this one question at a time since he's picking and choosing what he addresses. ]

[kingside]

[... He could, technically, cheat. He isn't going to, but it does at least cross his mind.]

Allow yourself to imagine a scenario in which they succeed.

[sangreine]

...

[ This pause is less because she thinks he's right and more because she doesn't want to explain her entire history of traumatic loss here in the kitchen, and she definitely won't be able to keep her temper if he's as dismissive of that as he has been about everything else. He has no earthly idea what he's asking her to do. It's not enough that she sacrifices her body, what precious little time she has, a piece of someone sacred to her, she has to give up her sanity too? ]

I'll think about it.

[kingside]

[That will have to do, he supposes. In the meantime, those pancakes are getting flipped.]

I appreciate it.

[Somewhat. Sort of? Her friends aren't his, that is, with the possible exception of Kantera, so he has no real reason to care about any of this that strongly, but it's... frustrating, really. Rather like his dealings with a certain green-haired witch, if approached slightly sideways.]

Would you like whipped cream?

[sangreine]

Yes, please. [ Her response is absolutely lifeless. You'd think food would perk her up. ]

[kingside]

[He's not about to force her to. Instead, he'll just be tending to these pancakes and debating what sort of plating he wants to do.]

Coming right up, then.