Locked TABLE 9 | Sweethearts Tea Party V-Day Event

SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED!

@Vale Ashwood | @Avery Chen | @Hildegard Schneider
| @Faye Simmons | @Grace Montare

It seemed that Orion was not finished with his parade of roses just yet, because as the next song started a batch of fresh roses started to descend from the ceiling. This time the roses were white, blending in with the decor but still different enough for the first batch. The roses would glide downwards land only at the tables that had not received any of the first batches; 1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 14, and 16. Having already received their roses, tables 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11, 13, and 15 were now perhaps a bit less confused and could submit their requests to the harpist. (PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOUR TABLE HAS RECEIVED A ROSE YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO REQUEST A SONG OR SPOTLIGHT THIS ROUND).

@Avery Chen would discover that he was one of the individuals selected. If he were to pick up the rose, he would discover a small note attached that read the following:

YOU'VE BEEN SELECTED AS ONE OF OUR BACHELORS / BACHELORETTES. THE MUSIC IS ABOUT TO START SO GO FIND AND KISS YOUR VALENTINE! DON'T FORGET TO GIVE THEM THE ROSE!

P.S. For those too shy I will gladly pick for you
-O.L.

The students had a choice to make or risk the chance of a certain French man making the choice for them.

You've received a rose!

Your character has the ability to select one person to give the rose to. This person will be considered their 'valentine'. The OOC purpose for this is to A.) Add even more drama or B.) give characters an opportunity to move tables.

To move tables you must message a mod which table you wish to move to before it is confirmed. Please tell the mod your in character reason for wanting to move to this table. Why? This is to prevent tables from becoming too populated, as this is not the only round we will be doing this.

Keep in mind that once you move tables, you will be unable to return to your original table unless you are given permission to do so!

If you do not pick a 'valentine' by the next mod post, Orion will pick one for you. Trust me, you'll want to pick your own!

CONFESSION AND SONG REQUESTS

Several students decided to take the opportunity to confess their feelings. Just not in the... Erm, traditional way. The spotlight would bob its way over to Erin Ryan, who was just announcing how Nicholas McCowan made her feel... Or something?

"Can't remember saying this but it is probably true," not that she actually believed it but where is the potential fun in that? "As I like my boys a bit plump and you ████ need a bit of meat on your bones I AM JUST WORRIED ABOUT YOU, please accept this gift. Also, know I will suck the █████████████ MEANNESS out of anyone that tries to steal you from me." The areas where there were blocked words, well she used her imagination...

The song requests also started to come in...

Anonymous would like to dedicate Space Age Love Song to all the Bachelors and Bachelorettes, go forth and love, you silly kids!

Annie would like to dedicate a song to Serena Towers, Wannabe by the Spice Girls. She adds in, "long time no chat, hope things are going well my friend."

HOW YOU LIKE THESE CUPCAKES?

Although the children had decorated the cupcakes (for the most part) the night prior, Orion had made the cupcakes himself on the night of the 12th. He had put a lot of work into the dozens upon dozens of sweets. Thankfully he was a competent baker after years of crafting late-night pastries. Unfortunately, he was also sleep-deprived, which seemed to be a common problem throughout the night. If anything were to help Orion realize he needed help with his restlessness, it was the Tea Party.

That being said, there was something... Special about a few batches of cupcakes. As the night of the 12th wore on, Orion had become tired and had accidentally used a different ingredient. Amortentia. He had realized his mistake and had gone to toss the batches out, but unfortunately, his sweet tooth got the best of him and he took a quick snack break to munch on some of the sweets the house-elves themselves had made. A common ingredient in their food being a forgetfulness potion. Oh dear, it seemed the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had forgotten all about the cupcakes' secret ingredient.

If anyone were to bite into their cupcake, they might notice it smelled quite possibly like their favourite thing. They just may find the next person who met their gaze to be rather appealing...

Amortentia Rules
1. Consent is important. Please ask your character's victim new sweetheart if it is okay to have your character become obsessed with them.
2. Seeing your own reflection in a teacup is a valid option.
3. For this round only, the length of the effects of the Amortentia is up to you (does not apply to this table as no one ate cupcakes). Taking a bite after this round means accepting the chance that your character might have received an Amortentia cupcake, and your character will be affected for the entire round.
4. If I have missed your character biting into a cupcake, please let me know. From this point on we are asking that if you eat a cupcake, you place the information on the bottom of your post to make it easier for mods.

"Hello everyone." The voice was enough to make Avery jump. When in the world did Schneider sit down at their table? And how could she possibly have been placed with him? He inwardly kicked himself for being stupid enough not to look at all the place cards around the table first, just to be prepared for this moment. "Hi, Hildegard," he greeted her as coolly as he could muster, refusing to show any shock, dread, friendliness, or any other emotion.

He finally decided to read the note attached to Hildegard's cupcakes. It was strange that she had sent him so many, so he might as well give the girl a chance and see what she had to say. Maybe she had finally repented, and realized how wrong it was to break his violin and attack his pet. To his surprise, the letter seemed more emotional and heartfelt than he anticipated, discussing her own insecurities and... and what? He re-read the last two paragraphs again, not quite believing his eyes.

"Hilda," he began, his gaze softening this time. "I- I didn't know you felt that way," he responded, all of a sudden feeling guilty for having been so dismissive of her in the past couple of months since the hot pot party. "I know you're still learning to handle your emotions, but I didn't know you would admit to your faults and apologize like this. And I'm so sorry if I was insensitive to your feelings by saying that no one liked you. It's probably not even true." He took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he had to say next, considering the ultimatum the letter gave him. He had to be careful with his words, as to not hurt Hilda's feelings any more than he needed to, but he had to be firm. "But I'm really sorry. I can't return your feelings for me. I'll accept your apology, and will agree to ignore you from today onwards, but that is the furthest my heart will allow me to go. I hope you find someone better than me, who can love you the way you deserve to be loved. Truly, I do." After saying these words, it was as if a weight had been lifted from his chest. All these love notes had been so tiring, but at least he felt that he had fully addressed one of them.

He was momentarily distracted by Vale's effusive compliments about Hildegard's cupcakes. He stared at them. Did they really taste that good? And what was that about meat and acidity? But, he had just rejected Hilda's feelings; the most he could do, as a gentleman, was to try one of her cupcakes, right? "Here, let me try one of these! Thank you for making them for me, Hilda. I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Cheers!" he held up a cupcake as if to make a toast, and took a large bite that engulfed half the cupcake. It was rich chocolate, fluffy buttercream, and... and... He almost gagged. There was a thin, slimy, oblong thing in the bite he took, and he couldn't determine what it was, other than the fact that it was a strange filling for a cupcake. Amongst the sweetness was also a somewhat putrid taste, that somehow wanted to make him hurl his insides. But Avery Chen was a trooper. He forced a smile amid his misery, and gave everyone a thumbs up. "Y-yup! Just as Vale said, it's- it's delicious!" Avery eyed the remaining half, mustered the rest of his courage, and shoved it into his mouth. "Mmm!" he uttered, mouth full, chewing rapidly so that he could finally swallow the darn disgusting thing and rid his mouth of the horrid taste and textures within. He swallowed another slimy long thing, half-chewed. "Best I've had in my life, thank you so much, Hilda!" he said, tears forming in his eyes (hopefully to be interpreted as tears of appreciation), as he fought back the urge to vomit.

SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED!

An unfortunate event for one @Avery Chen, brought on by @Hildegard Schneider

What got him to do it? Perhaps the awkward confessional letter? Cause was irrelevant, because regardless of intent, the truth remained the same: those cupcakes, as delicious as they looked, were sickening. Avery’s expectations for their taste could’ve been on the floor, but Hilda had brought a shovel, and was beneath a limbo bar in the underworld. Upon first bite, he’d immediately notice a strange… er… texture. The awkward crunch of a baked-in rat tail, the gooey adhesive of troll snot. The professors had been unaware of its inner makings, the result of its misleading outer appearance and limited knowledge of the ongoing feud between the two Slytherins. Nonetheless, it was far too late to address it now.

Avery was a trooper. Rather admirable, the way he was able to fight back the urge to collapse into a heap of nausea on the spot. Rather, the boy endured. Perhaps the other Slytherin was just a very bad baker who wanted to add a dash of protein to the array of sweets delivered to her “friend”. Or so another at the table had assumed, somehow also enduring the sickening taste of the treats. It was far too late for a professor’s intervention given no party had outright screamed of their poison delicacies. If anything, from the distance, Proulx would just assume Avery did not like cupcakes.

Hildegard was in shock when Vale took and enjoyed her cupcake, how could someone like this exist ? The disable girl had her eyes wide open, and an opened mouth as she watched Ashwood eat with enjoyment the rat pee flavored cupcake.

Hilda was speechless seeing this happen was definitely a traumatic experience, but she was quickly brought back to reality as Vale started to describe and compliment the taste of her cupcake.

-Yeah, we make cupcake will lots of various ingredient nowadays ! I am glad you enjoyed it ! She said to try to pick Avery's curiosity into eating the delicious cupcake.

Right after Avery started a little speech, the Slytherin girl listened to him and could only ask herself if he was seriously thinking the bullshit he was saying.

-Is this guy really serious ?! She thought

-I..It's fine, I understand you can't return the feelings... She reply with a sad tone pretending that she indeed had feelings for him.

She could not contain her joy when she saw him start eating the cupcake, a long lost feeling flooded inside Schneider, she felt joy.

A smile appeared on her face mixing joy and depravation and slowly turning into a sadistic grin.

It was now time to reveal the ingredient, she did not care if the other two had tried the cupcake or not as she did not even look at what they were doing.

-Oh I am so glad that you enjoyed my cupcake Avery ! I really am ! I putted so much heart and effort into baking it ! I only took the best ingredients ! She paused, her voice was not trying to hide any of her malevolence.

-I am sure you and Vale would like to know the ingredient I used right ? She asked before replying immediately after not waiting for Avery's reply.

-I putted rat tail, troll's armpit's hair, troll's mucus, earthworm, oh and rat's pee too ! I genuinely did not expect you to enjoy them this much ! She declared proudly to her enemy all while starting an evil laugh.

Interacting with:@Vale Ashwood | @Avery Chen | @Grace Montare | @Faye Simmons

Even though Avery didn't expect her to, Hilda seemed to understand that he couldn't return her feelings. He had fully expected a tempest to blow his way and knock him off his seat, either by a Flipendo or a whack by her crutches. She was being surprisingly mature today, despite having her feelings rejected. "Thank you for understanding, Hilda," he responded with a small smile. "I really appreciate it. You've come a long way to understanding me better. I'm glad we're on the same page."

With that, he turned to a couple unopened letters: one from Liana, and one from Maggie.

Your undying cheer is truly appreciated. Thank you for sharing it with us every day.

Liana Kerr

This one made him smile. Finally, it was not a flamboyant love letter, but a letter that seemed to reflect a genuine appreciation of what he hoped was one of his signature traits. That was so sweet of Liana! He did expect her to be the type of person capable of writing heartfelt words that tugged at his heartstrings, but it seemed that his red-headed friend excelled at many various things.

Next, he turned to the letter from Maggie.

I'm way better at Quidditch than you are. Love you, Ave!

Maggie

He almost burst out laughing. Typical Maggie, knowing exactly how to elicit any form of response from Avery. He did enjoy their friendly competitions, and he couldn't help shooting a mock look of anger at her direction in Table 12. It seemed she was currently busy eating a cupcake while some words were being tossed around by the other members of her table.

Before he could open Vale's letter, he was disrupted by her excited praise of Hilda's cupcakes. Soon enough, he found himself eating one, and suffering as he did, all the while trying his best to keep the contents of his stomach down. What were the textures?? What was this taste and smell??

"I putted rat tail, troll's armpit's hair, troll's mucus, earthworm, oh and rat's pee too ! I genuinely did not expect you to enjoy them this much !" Upon Hilda's words, he gagged at the remaining taste in his mouth, but quickly brought a hand up to stifle it. The cupcake had fully gone down his esophagus by now, but it had a very real possibility of coming back up. He looked at Vale, wondering how she was faring, but the girl had been so adamant that the cupcake tasted delicious; would learning what was in them actually deter her now? And what was Hilda thinking, putting things like rat pee in her cupcake as a profession of love?

"Hilda, is this some joke?" he sputtered, taking a large swig of his tea to wash the taste from his mouth, realizing that he may very well have been duped into eating them. "Did you write this letter just so I would eat the cupcake?" He wouldn't put it past Hilda and her wiles to do so. And her lack of morality. "You know what, I'm going to take everything I said back. I doubt you'd ever find a real Valentine! Nobody could possibly like-like you!" he shot back, fuming. And to think that he actually believed for a moment that she had a soft, emotional side worthy of sympathy!

Before he could add more words to the fire, his attention was caught by Professor Orion's announcement and a single, white rose floating down onto the table in front of him. He picked up the rose and read the note, feeling a pang of nerves that might've been enhanced by the discomfort in his stomach. 'Go kiss his Valentine'? He stared at the rose and message, feeling as if he were caught between a crossfire. Which way should he go?

If our small boy searched deep down within the confines of his heart, he might find that the person he secretly wished to give the rose to was at his own table: friend and fall ball date Vale Ashwood. Something about her eccentricity and fearlessness drew him to this kind and wild soul. However, did he truly feel ready to give her a rose? Self-doubt clouded his mind -- they were perfect as friends; what if his act of giving her a rose made their relationship awkward? Or what if she avoided him after that because she didn't feel the same way about him? No, he couldn't afford to lose a friend like that.

The spotlight was still upon him, so he better make his decision quickly before Professor Orion wreaked havoc on his social life.

Maggie's note caught his eye again, and an idea formed in his mind. Of course! He would give the white rose to Maggie Hawkins! There was no way she or anyone else would take it to mean anything other than a symbol of their friendship. They were friends who bickered about cooties and flossing, and competed in quidditch with each other. And Maggie would never want to kiss him in a million years, so he wouldn't have to worry about the kissing part of this rose-giving.

Mind made up, he smiled. "Guys, I'm going to leave for a bit, okay?" he said to the girls at his table. "But I'll be back. Vale, if you'd like, you might want to finish Hilda's cupcakes for me." Perhaps it was a good time to leave the table now, after spouting fire at Hilda for her disgusting cupcake. He got up from his seat, still feeling a bit sick, and completely forgetting to open Vale's letter.

†-----------------†--------------「 Wood to Ash 」-----------------†--------------†

@.Liana Kerr

†-----------------†--------------「 Fire 」-----------------†--------------†

----Vale only expressed awe at Hildegard's secret recipe for her perfect cupcakes. Avery, the poor boy, didn't seem to share the same amount of awe when he burst out all sorts of things possible to attack Hildegard.

"W-" Vale turned her head, gravely confused with Avery's reaction. "What is wrong with that? They're all amazing ingredients! I might start using earthworm myself when I go home for the break."

Her questions would be cut off by their DADA professor granting Avery a chance to spread his Valentine 'love.' Inside Vale, she hoped Avery gave her the rose so she could have a palette cleanser for her meal of paper and Hildegard's cupcakes. But instead of just being handed over the rose to chomp onto immediately, Avery gotten up with it, moving to leave to somewhere else...to another table...to Maggie.

Ow.

Vale must admit, she was taken off guard, and a bit disappointed with the arrangement, but it wasn't like she couldn't search for other roses to eat another time. Even if the one Avery had seemed like a cuisine delight...

Besides, maybe someone else will give her a rose to eat. Maybe.

"How terrifying! More cupcakes to eat for bad luck!" Immediately she was eating the rest of the cupcakes without trouble when Avery approved her gluttonous behavior. How and why this girl's stomach was able to handle something so inedible is up for anyone's imagination.

Vale would only stop eating to look up to Hildegard, her face a mess from her overconsumption of poisoned sweets.

"How you been, Hildegard? To think you'd make some professional cupcakes! Have you been working on your cooking skills? Simply delightful! Even if Avery doesn't like your hardwork! I know I do!" Vale puffed her chest, having a feeling that Hildegard wasn't exactly in the best of moods, given what she assumed was some sort of rejection...wait, did Hildegard like Avery, in that way? Oh, that would make some sort of sense now.

And like that, Vale was back to eating cupcakes and spitting the wrappers out on the table yet again. Shame was not hardwired in her body.

"Maybe we can make cupcakes together at some point! Is the mixture a family recipe?" Her mouth was full of the disgusting cupcakes purposefully made to only harm and sicken its consumers. Prehaps eating things out of curiousity truly did strengthen the young girl's tastebuds after all her years of existence.

It was time for another letter to open, Vale decided. And it was from Hildegard too! What did she write? Vale was quick to read, only to stop in confusion and re-read the letter again.

My dearest Vale,

Through the pitter-patter of the raindrops,
My mind can only drift to thoughts of you,
When I see your visage my heart does flops,
I must speak of love or let sorrow through.

Yours forever and ever,
Hildegard

Was this how one is supposed to do letters? Now Vale was feeling a touch silly from the circumstances involving her own letters. Besides, it was going to be troublesome if Avery came back to read her letter to him after visiting Maggie with a rose.

Without a second thought, Vale immediately grabbed for her letter to Avery and chew the letter away quickly, uncaring how it looked to those still at the table. She swallowed the papery-glittery content down and knew her stomach was definetely going to be a glitter festival for a long while. But still, Vale kept up her cheery nature like usual, smiling with glittery teeth to her peers.

"What a nice poem you gave me, Hildegard! Erm, I didn't make one though..." The young girl was conflicted, confused. What was up with Avery? Did he reject her friendship? Isn't this poem a sign of friendship? Maybe Vale should study more about the holiday that takes its first four letters as her name...

Interactions | @Hildegard Schneider
Mentions | @Avery Chen

MOD POST

@Vale Ashwood | @Hildegard Schneider
| @Faye Simmons | @Grace Montare

CONFESSION AND SONG REQUESTS

"Anonymous would like to dedicate the song, Single Ladies, to Hanako Tone! He's single, ladies and gents! So if your heart belongs to him, don't forget to tell him as much!"

LOVELY CUPCAKES

Unfortunately the delicious looking cupcakes would go unnoticed. Perhaps it had something to do with the last one being full of rat tails...

PLEASE NOTE: This will be the last mod post as our next in-character event, the Blossom Ball, will be starting within the next few weeks. You may continue to roleplay and feel free to state that your character ate a cupcake and ended up under the effects of Amortentia but we ask that the effects stay strictly within this event. This means you cannot claim your character stole Amortentia laced cupcakes from this event.

However, Orion will be keep an eye on the threads, and there is still a table full of teachers, so please try not to do anything he wouldn't do!

Thank you, and we hope you all enjoyed yourselves!