As the blustery winds and steady snows of January give way to the cool breezes of February, the city begins to notice strange trends amongst its volunteer citizenry: an uptick of online searches for things like flower shops and cheap romantic meals, a surprising increase in chocolate purchases (though, perhaps more surprising, no increases in consumption), and a report from the local pharmacies regarding a sudden shortage in contraceptives, of all things! Consider the administration officially flummoxed — that is, until the city's favorite and only volunteer coordinators begin to investigate further.
You see, Valentine's Day isn't quite the thing in Cadelle. Here, St Valentine never led couples in matrimony under Roman rule, and so, no time-honored capitalist dream could be established. However, the date of February the 14th is still a special one in the city — it's the day that many honor as St Trifon's Day, or "Winemaker's Day". It's a day of celebrating the first pour of the prior year's winemaking, with the first bottle of each vintage reserved for drinking with one's special someone... preferably privately, where post-drink merriment may commence uninterrupted. (Scandalous.)
Not wanting to leave out any of their volunteers from the city's special day, the volunteer coordinators have arranged a collection of meeting locations, each perfect for getting to know a potential special somebody in advance of the big day. To help people get acquainted, they've partnered with that reclusive (and anonymous) mogul behind okCuddle to add a limited time special feature for the season — that's right, a matchmaker!
Simply press the bright red button on your app's home screen to be enrolled in a Match Meeting. There are five unique locations, each offering a different experience to appeal to those who might find true love or common ground in its midst, and each location will host a different couple each day to ensure everyone has an opportunity to meet their one-and-only... or maybe just their one-night-only. (We won't judge.)
▸ Any opportunity to incite a little romantic feeling would be remiss if it didn't include the time-honored date experience: a candlelit steakhouse dinner at the city's best dining experience, DeWolfe's. Whether you're hungering for a porterhouse medium rare or a more demure airline chicken breast, the wait staff here will be more than happy to attend to any needs you may have, and delighted to disappear shortly after, providing plenty of privacy for quiet conversation and those ever-important lingering glances. Feel free to extend your night with a walk through DeWolfe's famed gardens out back, or perhaps a nightcap... the only question left, then, is their place or yours?
▸ Let The Good Times Roll offers those who enjoy athleticism and coordination an evening of nostalgic fun under twinkling lights — courtesy, of course, of the disco ball hung prominently in the center of the risk, a perfect match for the classic jams that are piped out from the speakers on each wall. Strap on a pair of rental skates, and when the lights get low, be sure to hold your honey's hand tight for that all-important couple's skate. When you're done zooming around the linoleum, be sure to try a bite of the rink's famous pizza and popsicles meal, the perfect treat for summer campers and kids at heart alike! Groovy!
▸ The Vinery, while not necessarily a classic first-date location, offers a bit of non-traditional romance with its gorgeous hill country views and a seemingly endless assortment of local blends to sample. Visitors paired up for a Match Meeting here will have the opportunity to enjoy a rarely experienced grape-stomping session, during which they'll become bonafide vinters (winemakers, for the uninitiated) and the proud recipients of a complimentary bottle of the Vinery's own St Trifon's Day special blend — the perfect reason to ask for a second date, no? (And if you don't want to wait, there's always the cover of a gazebo or the fields nearby...)
▸ Animal aficionados, fear not: the expansive nature reserve at Nahtazu offers an opportunity to get up-close and personal with your favorite wild beasts — no, not the ones in your pants — and one of the reserve's most knowledgeable guides to show you the way. Of course, since it's an hour away aboard the local trains, the city has arranged a private compartment for two, where Match Meeting attendees will enjoy a catered lunch, the perfect way to fuel for a long day of hiking, climbing, and maybe even a few jungle swings. On the way back, feel free to enjoy the plush seats for a little post-adventure cuddling... or more, we won't tell!
▸ At The Worm Hole, nerds and geeks and casual gamers alike will find plenty to shoot and score on over pints of everything from sweet ciders to dark ales. There's no shortage of games here, so if your idea of a great night out involves beating your date at Super Smush Brothers — and no, that's not a typo — you'll definitely enjoy your time here. To help set the mood, a special booth has been set aside for Match Meetings in the far corner of the room: get cozy, play some Pong, and maybe make things interesting. Strip Marco Kart, anyone?
Of course, those that opted not to sign up for the city's version of eHarmony won't be left out of all the fun! In preparation for the big day, Flora and Cornelius have put together what they're affectionally calling the single mingle: a weeklong invitation to enjoy the best in everything but romantic films and features at the local theatre. Feel free to come alone or bring a pal or two, and enjoy complimentary admission and select snacks each night — just don't let them catch you getting frisky! That's what the drive in is for!
Surprise! It's a Valentine's event that's almost not about Valentine's Day! For those of you that participated in our survey, you should have received a private message from our moderator journal with information regarding your character's match assignment by now. If you did not receive one, please let us know!
Because this event runs a little differently than many of our other events, we've opted to tweak our process a little as well. For your character's date, please locate your appropriate date and location in our BLIND DATE THREAD HERE. If it's still empty, your character has beaten their date to the punch (and maybe the free food, too). If there's already a reply, greet your date! (Pretty simple, right?) For all other threads, including pre/post date experiences, feel free to post traditional open top levels as usual!
For example: Flora may have a blind date with Cornelius on Monday at DeWolfe's, so she'll comment to the Monday thread's DeWolfe comment with her starter. This will make it easy for Cornelius to find her thread and reply. However, Flora may also be lingering outside beforehand looking nervous, or shopping in the mall the day before and looking for help in finding an outfit — these prompts can be posted as traditional open top-levels!
If you have any further questions specific to this event, we encourage you to ask away on our QUESTIONS COMMENT here in this post. If you have general questions, or prefer a more private venue, our GENERAL INBOX (and SCREENED INBOX) is always available for you. In addition, if you've got an idea for a future event, feel free to drop us a line at our EVENTS SUGGESTION POST.
Peace out, cuddle scouts! |
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"Yeah! Lydia's my best friend."
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He should probably introduce himself properly if they have a mutual acquaintance. Reid isn't the most socially graceful person, but he's not terrible, either. He goes about separating the card deck into four neat stacks.
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So there's that.
"She told you about Beacon Hills?"
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"Pretty much," he answers, not wanting to pressure her to talk about the supernatural side of things, which might be sensitive. "Nice to meet you, Malia."
He flips over the top card on the first stack. "Is this your card?" It's absolutely not her card, and he knows it.
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Malia doesn't really spit out the supernatural stuff right off the bat, but it may come up eventually. Good to know that he'll at least be prepared? Maybe? Either way, the priority now is the card trick. She rests her chin in her hand and waits expectantly for him to continue.
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"Hmm, I know it's in here somewhere. Let's try that again." He stacks the deck again and shuffles one more time, overhand again, then goes through four or five more cards with her from the top of the deck. "Are you sure you put it back in here?" he jokes. "Maybe you still have it. Let's see--"
Reid peels off two cards and shows those to her. "No? Okay, let me just check, though." He puts the two cards together, face down, and holds them out to her. "Can you blow on them for me? I think that'll do it."
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Yeah, Malia's face is skeptical at best. "I think you're really bad at this trick." She's just putting that out there, because usually the option is supposed to come up in the first couple cards - not almost ten later.
But whatever. She'll do what he asked her to, and blow on the cards.
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"Hold out your hand, like a fist. Okay." Carefully, with exaggerated deliberateness, he sets the edges of the two cards she'd blown on in between two of her curled fingers, so the cards hover in the air from her hand. He rubs his hands together briskly, keeping his eyes on the cards.
"Here we go. I'm sure you still have it." Reid snaps his hand down on the hovering cards, and they both fall from her hand-- or rather, the top two do, and an unforeseen third card remains there. "Aha! There it is. I told you. Voila!"
It is, in fact, her card.
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... And her face completely lights up when she realizes that's her card.
"How did you do that?"
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"Trade secret," he informs her, gathering up the cards again. He leaves her card until last, and when he takes it from her, he rests it in the palm of his hand and then waves the other hand over the top, once, smoothly, and the card disappears as his hand leaves. He holds up his empty hands, palm out, to prove he had made it disappear. "In reality, mostly a lot of sleight of hand."
Which he's clearly a lot better at than he'd been letting on while doing the trick.
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"I'm not subtle enough for sleight of hand."
She is a girl who knows her faults, if thinking that being subtle is dumb can be considered a thought.