Fly Away to a Cafe

[halfbread]

Who: Everyone who wants in!
What: The V-Day Café! (Yes, that's what we're going with, no, you can't make WWII jokes.)
Where: The Big House
When: Valentine's Day, mostly evening but various times
Warnings: I have no freakin' clue, it's probably going to depend on individual threads

At 6:00 sharp, the doors are officially open on the first ever Camp Half-Blood Valentine's Day Café. The two biggest rooms on the first floor of the Big House have been turned into dining rooms, one decorated in a much more traditionally "romantic" oeuvre for couples and the second into a relaxing place to hang out just among friends. Both rooms are serving the same menu, and both have a good number of tables set up to accomodate visitors. As people finish eating, the waiters and waitresses will roll around a dessert cart for people to make selections from. Enjolras will be incredibly reluctantly providing serenades in the romantic dining room with some assistance from Cosette, while Chiron's boombox has been borrowed and tuned to the local pop station for the casual dining room. Have fun, everyone!

Comments

Couple's Dining

[halfbread]

In the couples' dining room, Lydia has plainly spent a lot of time arranging things. There's about ten tables, each with a globe light hung from the ceiling above them, with gauze netting in different colors cascading in something of a cone from the light. The tables are laid with white table clothes overlapping a red one, and a full set of nice plates, two almost-wine glasses, and good silverware at each chair. A small vase of three red rosebuds sits in the middle of each table as well. The atmosphere is quiet, ethereal, and romantic - definitely the work of an Aphrodite kid.

Ms. Cresta & Mr. Odair

[annieisntokay]

This was all Lydia's fault, okay? Seriously, it was all her fault. She was the one who had picked out Annie's dress, her shoes, done her hair and makeup, everything. The result though, was rather stunning. Even the dress Lydia had picked out had long enough sleeves to cover her scars. But, all things considered, her anxiety was still through the roof. Without her hair to pull at, Annie had taken to twisting her hands nervously in her lap as she sat down, gazing across the table at the one and only Finnick Odair, surf champion and, well, her date.

Maybe he did really like her.

...Maybe.

"This is, uhm, wow. Peeta and Lydia really did a good job."

PRETEND THIS IS NOT FIVE DAYS LATE

[findthisdistracting]

Even without the help, Finnick would have been deeply appreciative of spending an evening with Annie. As it stands, though, he couldn't quite take his eyes off her upon her entrance, nor did he want to. He was dressed in something along the lines of this, vest left unbuttoned with a white dress shirt underneath. Hey, at least he's wearing a shirt. In any case, he gave her a hopefully-not-nervous smile as she took her seat, and nodded.

The somewhat gob-smacked look on his face should be proof enough of his feelings here, Annie, he didn't look this way for just anyone.

"Yeah, they did. I kinda, uh, figured they would."

/salutes

[annieisntokay]

He was so handsome. He looks so easy going, so relaxed. And it's almost more... Can she say erotic? Erotic, to see him in a shirt. She began to twist the leather bracelet, a gift from Jason to all the Centurions, on her left wrist as she tried to look like she wasn't starring at Finnick.

"Yeah. Well, it's Peeta and Lydia. They're, ah, really great at this sort of thing, y'know?" Her cheeks were starting to ache from smiling, but even glancing down to her lap did nothing to stop her.

Silence settled over the table for a few moments. Then, she spoke: "You're not going to dump pigs blood all over me, are you?"

Re: /salutes

[findthisdistracting]

"Why on earth would I do that?" He looked honestly baffled (and somewhere, a little hurt), staring at her curiously from across the table. "This isn't a -- it's not Carrie, okay?" There was a beat, and a quick drink of water.

"I really like you, Annie, and I don't --it's not a trick. I might be an Aphrodite kid, yeah, but we can fall in love too, you know."

Ms. Thénardier & Mr. Strider

[ospreyed]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Scream and shriek and panic about it, whatever you wanted to do, but please, do not look Eponine's way as she strides up to the Big House holding hands with none other than Dave Strider. Or maybe it should have been the other way around. Either way, it didn't particularly matter, because they were here. Together. Holding hands.

From there, they moved to their table, Eponine walking with surprising grace in her heels, her bandage dress and the rest of her outfit fitting in quite well amidst all the decorations.

Still, Eponine is, well, nervous was a good way to put it. This was her first official outing with Dave as his girlfriend. As a girlfriend at all. And what that meant for her, she wasn't even sure.

Looking across the table at Dave, she smirks that Hermes' girl smirk of hers. "It's so... valentines-y." Wow, Eponine. Great use of your words. She glances at the wine glass. "If only they had real wine. Don't think they'll lift the curse for one night, do you?"

[wordtechgodhood]

Cry havoc and release the dogs of war, Eponine Thénardier actually has a boyfriend that she's taking out in public!

Dave has no complaints, to be honest, at least not right now with this fine lady on his arm. Say what you will about Eponine but she scrubs up well. He's pulled out a smart black suit with a red tie to match her dress, his ever-present shades on his face as he returns that smirk.

Such a Hermes girl, Eponine.

"Don't think so, but we gotta make these small sacrifices." He flashes her a wry, blood-red glance over the tops of his shades. "You look good. Did I say that already?"

... He definitely did.

[ospreyed]

Small sacrifices. Eponine rolls her eyes bitterly, trying not to let out a small chuckle at that. This wasn't a small sacrafice on her part. It wasn't even a sacrafice. It was straight-up torture. Torture she hadn't even picked herself. Sure, the alcohol was out of her system, and the physical aspects of withdrawal were gone, but the mental part? She was still suffering. And would be for some time.

"Small sacrifices like actually taking your sunglasses off for once?" She managed to say instead. Sure, he wore his glasses to cover up his eyes, but she happened to like them. Plus, they matched their outfits.

Eponine dropped her head, looking at her hands over the top of the table cloth. She could feel the heat from her cheeks. "Ah, yeah. You did. A few times, actually." She felt strange, all dolled up like this. Last time had been the Apollo dance, and Courfeyrac had been the one to spend hours on her. He'd been rewarded with some kisses, and her biting back tears at how unlike herself she'd looked in the mirror. This time, it had been all Eponine.

[impetueux]

Cosette isn't shrieking. She isn't. In fact, she's putting quite a bit of effort into not doing that, thank you very much. But if she's staring pointedly over in Eponine and Dave's direction, she feels she can hardly be blamed.

She tries what she thinks is subtly sneaking over to their table, eye flitting back and forth between the two. "Evening! Don't you two look nice." Please say it so she doesn't have to, all she wants is confirmation...and maybe some minor interrogating. "I'm just taking a quick round around the room, but if you guys have any requests for me or Enjolras, let either of us know okay?"

I think this is the most appropriate usage of this icon ever

[ospreyed]

Cosette. Stop staring. It's awkward, and makes Eponine shift in ways that she's not used to. When Cosette approaches, Eponine has to make a conscious effort not to sink down in her seat. The friendship between the two of them was still tentative, and Eponine had to work even harder on her end. But, there she was, all smiles and... up to something.

Never trust a blonde.

"Requests? You're-" she glances over to another table. "Serenading us." Awk.ward. "Wow, they think of everything here." Thanks, Peeta. Thanks, Lydia. She's going to strangle you all later.

Ms. Martin & Mr. Hawthorne

[ordinaire]

How could Anna refuse that sweet Aphrodite boy when he asked for her help on this? And honestly, hostessing the restaurant was all she could do without making a mess of things. So, with Courfeyrac's help, she set up a table outside and helped him decorate it in a really dreamy way. It was tucked far enough away that no one else saw it, but since Courfeyrac was waiting on tables, he'd just take theirs with his.

So, here's Anna, bouncing on her heels and waiting for one of the special guests to show up.

[lefthandedgenius]

Courfeyrac said to dress in her best, and she doesn't want to disappoint him. So she's opted for a vintage floral dress, hair done over her shouder pin-up style. Upon arrival, she smiles at Anna and admits with a smile, "I'm not entirely sure why I'm here."

[ordinaire]

Anna is doing her best not to flail, but she's immediately smiling at the girl and bouncing on her feet even more. "You look so pretty! Oh my gosh, it's okay. I happen to know why you're here... Follow me, please."

She takes her around back to the hidden table, fills her water and smiles brightly. "I'll be back when your other guest arrives! Here's the menu for you to look over while you're waiting!"

And with that, she's off to wait for Gale to show up.

Pre-Dinner Mlle Fauchelevant & Mssr de Courfeyrac

[dandylicious]

Courfeyrac had Anna's help setting up the table outside for their later plans, yes... But after having a quiet chat with Jehan, he managed to get the promise that he could treat his date to a nice meal before they helped out with the cafe.

He waited for her at the Big House, having swapped his jeans from earlier that day for a nicer pair of slacks, and even a sports jacket. He would have picked her up from her cabin, but....

He hadn't yet told Enjolras that he'd asked his sister to be his valentine... And Enjolras scared him sometimes. (Especially when he finds out what he did with that flower order earlier.)

[impetueux]

After getting Yang's help with getting ready and fussing over her hair about five separate times on her way over to the main house, Cosette is finally ready. She's clad in the little lace dress she's performing in, and thank god it's cute enough to double as her date dress.

"Okay, so you were right; the surprise is perfect. This looks beautiful." she smiles at him, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

[dandylicious]

That may be a huge grin on his face. Courfeyrac pulls out her chair for her, biting his lip to try and contain the excitement over the fact that she loves it. "I'm glad you like it... I wanted it to be nothing short of perfect for you."

A pause before he adds, quietly, "You look gorgeous, by the way, cherie."

Mr. Novak and Mr. Grantaire

[angeliaforos]

So this is pretty weird in general for Gabriel. Weird in the good way, of course, not weird in the bad way.

But still weird.

Because when he sent R those flowers, he was not expecting to have an actual Valentine this year. Seriously. He hasn't been on a date in, like, a year and a half, and that shit did not end swimmingly at all. So...'new and a bit alarming' doesn't even cut it at this point.

Still, he's walking into the room in a red button down and slacks, just kind of marveling a bit. "Jeez. They really outdid themselves with this thing this year." Not that he's been here for Valentine's day any other year, but.

[habitually]

Wrinkling his nose smoothing down his atypically uncovered but still-messy hair for the fifth time in the past 10 minutes, Grantaire walks in stride with his date. His date. Jesus, he hasn't "dated" someone in a long-ass time. Mostly it was just a series of-- well, they weren't "dates," to put it lightly.

"Courf was in charge, do you expect anything else?" he says with slightly blunted cynicism. It's definitely because of the sappy atmosphere.

[angeliaforos]

He can pretty much tell Grantaire's having the same sort of confused reservations he's got about this whole thing, even though he's kind of wholly, gleefully excited to have a date to this shit in the bottom of his stupid little heart. They're cut from similar cloth.

"No, but what I expected and what I actually got are two completely different things, dude." He sighs a little, grabbing Grantaire by the wrist, and parks himself down at one of the tables.

[Open] A lark enjoying herself way too much

[impetueux]

Cosette's flitting around in between songs whenever she doesn't have to once again drag Enjolras aside to re-straighten his tie. (The boy feels the need to expose his upper chest like some 19th century harlot, she swears.) She's welcoming any requests people might have, so just pull her (or Enjolras) aside during one of their breaks to get a quick word in; don't worry, she doesn't bite.

Needless to say, the lark is enjoying being in her element, but she's only glowing figuratively.

[habitually]

Stepping away from his date for a moment to go to the restroom and find the dessert cart, R finds the blonde flitting past and he puts an arm out to get her attention since she seems to lost in her own enjoyment to notice him.

"Why am I not surprised you're up there?" Flitting his green eyes over to the stage she'd climbed down from. He does smile though, as he's actually having a really good night so far. "Having fun?"

[impetueux]

Cosette gives a little breathy laugh, still running on her performance-high after singing.

"Oh, just a little. How about you? I saw you didn't come alone..." Her playful teasing comes with a little nudge to his side and a knowing look.

You mean enjoys tormenting her brother too much

[weneedasign]

He swears to every god out there that if Cosette straightens his tie one more time Enjolras is going to snap. It's bad enough that she and Jehan convinced him to sing for this ridiculous commercialized holiday, but now every time he so much as loosens his tie he's a "19th century harlot". He'll wear his tie like he wants, thank you very much Cosette.

Which is exactly why he loosens it while she's flitting around, taking a sip from his water bottle between sets.

No shh, that's her showing her love <3

[impetueux]

Fun fact, Cosette can sniff out Enjolras not following her "firm suggestions" within at least a five-mile radius. So it's doesn't take much to have her make a bee-line back to him after making her rounds, scolding face at the ready.

"Are you literally that determined to make me unhappy?" she whines, picking at his tie yet again. "It's supposed to be tied that way for a reason you know, it's formal wear. And don't try telling me you can't sing like that because I know that's a lie."

She gives a little huff, patting the re-done down against his shirt. "I swear, are you morally against looking well put together? I'm two seconds away from just sicking Courfeyrac on you."

Ms. Ramirez-Arellano & Mr. Grace

[toobitter]

Reyna was still getting used to this whole dating thing... To this actually having someone liking you back business. Still, she dressed nicer than she usually managed, in a short purple dress and black cardigan.

As they were seated, Reyna pushed her hair over her should and smiled slightly. "They really went all out on this, didn't they?" she mused quietly.