🌸 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

[mistsplitter]

Most tea, from what I know, are made from the same type of plant. It is the care and other steps put before harvesting and after harvesting that differ, and therefore classify what type of tea it is.

[ Ayaka sadly doesn't have much knowledge with black tea or other types of tea, but she has tasted some during her time here! She quite likes her black tea with milk. ]

Ah, and dango is a snack made from rice flour. [ Though she's not quite sure how else to describe it, beyond that. ] They are usually sweet, but not too sweet that you forget how the tea tastes. They are served together because they go well together.

[wingbound]

...huh. Guess tea and people have more in common than I thought.

[ It's meant mostly as a joke, but at the same time... everyone started off similar enough, but got shaped by their experiences and hardships from the very first moments, didn't they? Who could have thought the same principles could apply to tea leaves. ]

[ Now he wonders if black tea comes from "sad" or "happy" plants. It's probably the former, because certainly nobody and nothing could be happy back home. ]

I see.

[ He accepts the dango explanation as is, and makes sure to take note that he should try it together with the tea, as that was apparently the way it was meant to be enjoyed. He wouldn't want to ruin the experience for himself, especially with how rare it was for him to go for something like this. ]

[mistsplitter]

[ That certainly is a colourful way of looking at things! Levi is quite the poet. It gets Ayaka to smile, and she cannot help but add: ]

There are different kinds of tea originating from various places all over the world, and they are all very unique and have their own charm. Just like people.

[ You too, Levi, have your own charm! ]

There are quite a lot of Inazuman snacks made from rice flour. I like mochi most, and I like adding red bean pasta as its filling when I make some.

[wingbound]

[ Most of the time, the things Levi says tends to make people scowl. Ayaka seems to brighten up instead, though, and that has his own expression softening a little in return. ]

Makes sense. I have a lot to catch up on, it seems.

[ Mostly tea, but he hasn't exactly been outgoing either. Perhaps he should make some effort not to immediately drive people off. ]

[ Him? Charm? Never! ]

Can't say I know much about of that either.

[ There wasn't much grain variety in Paradis. Did they even have rice? They probably had beans, though, but he's likely imagining a very different paste from the actual azuki filling. ]

[mistsplitter]

Then I hope you enjoy the dango. If you like it and wish to try other snacks, I'll prepare some mochi for you, as well.

[ Though since these are made from rice flour, it's a little heavy! He might not be able to eat a bunch of dango and mochi and some other things in one sitting. ]

To take home, of course. You might be full after this.

[wingbound]

Maybe next time.

[ He's not sure if he'll like it and he's here first and foremost for the tea, but he doesn't mind enhancing his experience if an expert says all those things go together. For now, though, he's not touching the dango, apparently wanting to enjoy the taste of the tea first without any additions. ]

[ ...he does wonder if Eren might like it, though. He's always bringing home food. Maybe Levi should return the favor every now and then. ]

...actually, I'd like to take some home. If it's not too much trouble.

[mistsplitter]

Alright. And it's not too much trouble at all.

[ She'll pack him some snacks and give it to him before he goes! ]

Then please come see me again before you leave.

[wingbound]

Alright.

[ He quiets down, blowing a little on his cup, smelling the aroma, apparently happy to let the conversation end there. ]

[ Except he seems to remember something else before she has the chance to fully leave. ]

...Do you grow the plants yourself?

[ He wants to figure out where to get started with his potential new tea hobby! ]

apologies for the delay!

[mistsplitter]

Ah, the ones for the tea? [ She shakes her head in response. ] The tea leaves are ordered from some suppliers. I'm afraid I don't have the skills just yet to learn how to take care of tea leaves.

... though, I think that would be a nice new skill to learn. I may have to start asking around for how to go about it.

no worries!

[wingbound]

I see. [ He's half-tempted to leave it at that, but certain people have probably told him to try and socialize. So he might as well explain why he asked, he supposes. ]

I was thinking of trying it. As a "hobby". [ He doesn't make the air quotes but they're practically audible, somehow. This man does not believe in leisure time, apparently. ] If I learn anything helpful, I could let you know.

[ And, of course, he'd expect the same in return. ]

[mistsplitter]

Oh, that sounds wonderful!

[ She may not grow plants for tea, but she does love flowers and gardening! This certainly piques her interest, and she wishes for Levi to enjoy himself when he does pick up his "hobby". ]

What season are you affiliated with? My Spring magic helps in keeping flowers and plants alive, which helps me with my gardening. But I imagine anyone who puts a lot of effort into learning and taking care of their plants would not need it.

[wingbound]

[ He probably will! He even has a friend to share it with, sort of, even if they will probably be growing something much less practical. Like carnivorous plants. ]

...Winter.

[ So about the exact worst match for keeping plants alive... then again, always having water on hand might be helpful. ]

[mistsplitter]

[ Then it's all up to your natural skills, Levi! ]

Then... I believe that even the plants that grow in the harshest of conditions will be ones you can take care of with ease.

[ Ayaka BELIEVES!!! He has a fan in her. ]

[wingbound]

Don't know about that, but I'm planning to learn.

[ He doesn't really know if he has any natural skills, so far. Most of his life he'd spent without sunlight, which was quite contrary to growing anything, then he was in the military fighting for his life and trying to keep up with other duties, and shit just kept getting dropped in his lap, and once he finally landed here, well, there had been too many new things to get accustomed to already. ]

[ But now that everything's settling down, and somebody put that idea of gardening in his head... yeah, he's about ready to try it. ]

[ The tea looks about ready, so he quiets down and picks up his cup to sip a little, a puzzled expression forming on his face. Luckily, it seems he's not one of the people who immediately hate green teas, but he hadn't quite been expecting the taste. He seems to think about it for a while, then drink some more. ]

[mistsplitter]

I wish you all the luck!

[ Ayaka is Levi's #1 plant stan.

And she decides to leave him as he enjoys his tea now. She'll expect him to look for her later for the snacks, because she did mean it when she said she'd like for him to take home some things. ]

If you'll excuse me though, I should attend to the other guests now.

wrap~

[wingbound]

[ Uh, is he supposed to say something? What does he say? He stares into his cup for inspiration for a few moments. ]

...thanks.

[ Right. She must be busy. It is a party, after all. If he was better at this, he'd add something like "it was nice talking to you" or similar, but the option doesn't occur to him. ]

Yeah. Of course.

[ He waves her off with a small dismissive hand gesture and proceeds to experience the tea and the weird little balls in comfortable (relative) peace. It's... odd, but the two go well together, and he finds the flavor of the tea itself get more agreeable the more he drinks of it. He thinks he still prefers his usual black tea, but this one isn't bad either. ]

[ Once he's done, he'll find her to pick up his little package for Eren home, and then head off. He'll probably be back to try another tea in the future! ]