🌸 sunshine, she's here, you can take a break

[mistsplitter]

WHO: Everyone!! :D
WHAT: A get-to-know-you-together!
WHEN: end of August
WHERE: shinrin-yoku, Sunwaning
WARNINGS: None for now!


[ The past week, Ayaka and Aether made an announcement on the network, inviting everyone interested to make friends and meet new people to the shinrin-yoku teahouse the following weekend. Well, this is it! The time has come! ]

Welcome
🌸 shinrin-yoku seems like a simple tea house upon entering, with a large wooden sliding door that's already opened for guests to enter.

Ayaka will be the one to personally greet her guests, offering three possible areas for seating– the traditional Inazuman set up, the space for where you can let your legs down and not kneel while seated, or outside in the gardens. Familiar faces may be abound, and guests may like to walk around and see the interior, perhaps even say hello to the manager who is walking around and sniffing people here and there.

For future endeavours, Ayaka informs guests that they may use the shinrin-yoku for business gatherings and meetings. Members of Ayato's committee are more than welcome to use the shinrin-yoku, and may even become a place for exchanging information and the like. The tea house promises to be a safe place to all.

And for this particular gathering, Ayaka is not only serving tea, but also sake. It never hurts to make things more fun!


Konpeito, Truth, or Dare
🌸 All guests, upon entering, will be given a small clear glass container. They will also be presented with a giant bowl containing konpeito. They must take at least one, and as many as they could possibly want, and put it inside their own container. They are told not to eat any for now, but no one's really stopping them from doing so!

At some point during the occasion, a game is announced. Everyone is told to check their konpeito and count how many they have! Now, they must pick a partner and play a couple of rounds of truth or dare with them. Every time they get a turn, whether they pick truth or dare, they can eat a piece of candy! Or eat three or five at the same time Once they've had five rounds, though, then they have to choose another partner and start over until they've finished their konpeito bowls.

There is an added rule to the konpeitos, but not necessarily required to be followed! A white konpeito must have a truth or dare related to family, green for a "favourite", yellow for love or sex, orange for childhood or childlike-ness, and pink for "hate".

Ringo (Ayaka's Eevee) and Taroumaru will be watching people and make sure they aren't cheating! Though sometimes, they may not be looking, and can even be bribed with snacks. Participants who can finish their konpeito in an hour (which we'll conveniently handwave) will receive a box of sakura mochi to take home.


Introduction Bingo
🌸 Guests are given bingo cards to fill up at some point during the afternoon! Pens are also provided, or if they have their own, then that's cool!

Participants may put someone's name twice on any of the squares, but more than that, and it won't count. The objective is to get a blackout by filling out names of people who fit the description! How one does this is completely up to them. They could even slip it into their conversations during the truth or dare games, or just randomly walk up to people and ask them things.


Two Twists and a Lie
🌸 A card is given to participants for them to write two truths and one lie on it, then they have to pin or stick it to the back of their clothing. When someone wants to play, they must first challenge you to a game of janken. If you win, you get to turn the game around and guess which is the lie on their card. If they win, then they're entitled to one guess! If they get it wrong, you have to play janken again.

So, what happens when the person gets it right? The person can now make a rule that the other person has to follow. Whether it means they have to call you "Master", end all their sentences with "yes, please", or some other rule that you can think of! And in case you can't think of anything, there's a box nearby with cute props that you can make the loser wear: cat ears, a cat tail, bunny ears, a bunny tail, a raccoon kigurumi, and some goofy glasses.


---

( OOC: Feel free to play around with the prompts. Get creative! )

Comments

[wayofthehousekeeper]

If that friend is you, of course.

[ He has zero problems with Aether sliding into the seat, turning his full attention to the other while offering to pour him a glass of water. ]

The event's going great! The lady's efforts are really shining through.

[startraveler]

[Aether accepts the glass of water and nods.]

Right? She's done an amazing job and it looks like she's having fun, too.

[Aether's gaze searches for Ayaka and a soft smile appears on his face.]

It makes me happy.

[wayofthehousekeeper]

[ Thoma follows his gaze, his eyes landing on Ayaka as well and softening when they do. ]

Her happiness is quite infectious, isn't it?

[startraveler]

It really is. I hope she'll always find happiness, no matter if it's here or back in Teyvat.

[Life is never that easy, but one can hope, right?

Aether turns to Thoma.]

And you, too. Your happiness matters to me just as much.

[wayofthehousekeeper]

[ He blinks in surprise when the attention is turned on him, then laughs bright and warm at the sentiment. Aether really is too good of a friend, to think of his happiness at the moment. ]

I'm very happy, I assure you. In fact, I think I'm overflowing with happiness here.

[startraveler]

[Aether grins.]

That's good! It makes me happy as well.

[Everybody's happy! It would be nice if it could stay this way.]

And how's your bingo going? Do you need my name to fill any of the squares?

[wayofthehousekeeper]

[ There's a sheepish smile in response, waving his notably empty card. ]

Any answers you can give me would help me out. I haven't been able to get around to trying to complete this yet.

[startraveler]

[He smiles in return, then takes a look at his own card.]

All right... So you already know that I have a twin. A sword, too. You also know that I can dance more or less. [He glances at Thoma with a small grin.] What else... I played a couple of musical instruments in the past. I have jewellery on. I can... sing. With various results.

[He laughs a little bit, then his eyes fall on a certain square. Aether glances at Thoma, then back at the card, definitely hesitating, before quietly saying:]

...I'm over 50 years old.

[wayofthehousekeeper]

[ Thoma is twirling his pen idly with his eyes down as Aether lists off the boxes he qualifies for, trying to decide on the most efficient use of the other's varied experiences... only to fumble with the pen when he hears that last one. And glancing up quickly in surprise to see if he's being teased or not. ]

Fifty??

[startraveler]

[Aether should've seen that kind of reaction coming. For a moment he wonders if he should laugh and say that he's just joking around.

...On the other hand, maybe he should play it like this is nothing strange. He's quiet for another moment.]

...Way more than that, actually. [He sighs.] I should've chosen a better moment for this.

[wayofthehousekeeper]

Wow- so you really must have all kinds of experiences then!

[ Thankfully Thoma is more than well-versed in long-lived individuals, Inazuma had all manner of them after all, but he was also extremely used to being able to, well, visually tell. Aether had always looked like a normal human to him, so he'd never suspected a thing. ]

[startraveler]

[Few have suspected anything, but even when confronted he would never confirm it to them. This is probably the first time when he speaks so openly about it to someone who isn't Paimon.

...Well, not as openly as he could, but still!]

Oh, definitely. More than you could imagine. [For the better or worse.] But other than that, I'm no different than any other human.

[Coming to Teyvat, he still had a lot of new things to learn, too.]

[wayofthehousekeeper]

You just... age slower?

[ He's never heard of anything like that before himself, so curiosity pricks at his mind over his friend... Aether really did have all kinds of secrets to him. ]

[startraveler]

Much slower.

[Understatement of the year, but it's probably easier to say this than to say "I may never really age".]

You could say that I'm just a weird case. I don't even need a vision to use elements, after all.

[wayofthehousekeeper]

Wow... you're like someone out of a legend.

[ He's certainly heard plenty of stories like this, at least. But they'd always just been that, stories. ]

[startraveler]

[An awkward laugh escapes his lips.]

...I honestly don't see myself as such.

[It's not as fun as it may seem.]

[wayofthehousekeeper]

It's probably hard to see yourself as such when you're in the middle of things, but even without all that, you were already pretty amazing to me.

[ Saving him from the Raiden Shogun was more than enough to amaze Thoma. ]

[startraveler]

[He's silent for a moment. He really appreciates that Thoma regards him so highly, but...]

As long as that doesn't make you view me as less of a friend...

[He doesn't want to become some unreachable legend.]

[wayofthehousekeeper]

Why would you be less of a friend for it?

[ Thoma please, you have trouble separating your friendship from your employment with the Kamisato siblings... ]

[startraveler]

[He blinks, then laughs softly.]

...I just meant that I don't want you to see me as someone unreachable. Or perfect. I am definitely far from perfect.

[But then he can't say he strives for any sort of perfection. He is just himself. Someone who has a very clear personal goal and just so happens to help out those he meets along the way.]

[wayofthehousekeeper]

Aah- I get it. Sorry if I gave you that sort of impression, I can see why you'd be worried.

You're amazing Aether, you really are to me after saving my life, but I think first and foremost you will always be a dear friend. I'll never forget that part.

[ To Thoma, the only unreachable aspect of Aether is that his overwhelming sense of loyalty to the Kamisato clan keeps his curiosity to travel the way the traveler does at bay. So it's more a quite literal inability to follow. ]

[startraveler]

[That is something Aether can definitely understand. Thoma's loyalty is very admirable, too.]

That's good. [He laughs.] I will always see you as a dear friend, too.

[He takes his bingo in both his hands, grinning.]

So now... Which squares I could put your name on, my dear friend?

[wayofthehousekeeper]

[ Thoma's relaxing when Aether does, the smile easing back onto his face as he considers the bingo sheet as well. ]

Wearing jewelry and having one name are the less common ones I can count for, I think. I've also won a contest before, and I'm a pretty decent dancer if I do say so myself.

[startraveler]

[The smile is returned as Aether nods.]

Okay... I already got the squares with one name and jewellery filled, so I'll put you for the contest winning and dancing.

[He thinks about it for a moment.]

What contest have you won?

[wayofthehousekeeper]

It was a small local cooking contest. The theme was a foreign taste so... I had a bit of an advantage there by being able to fall back on some old Mondstadt recipes I'd held onto all these years.

[ He grins with a bit more pride this time around. ]