Tea Party || log; ongoing

[soulofocean]

When; Sunday the 17th, afternoon
Rating; PG-13 for possible language, violence(!?) & moody magical girls
Characters; MKR crew plus guests
Summary; When Road's and Umi's long-awaited tea party finally occurs, the former doesn't truly expect that long guest list to be much of a problem. Why should she?
Log;

Comments

[seeking_heat]

*knock knock knock*

"Umi-san."

And who should arrive first but the little sister herself, Tohno Akiha. The young family head had chosen something simple, yet held an air of mature grace. She also noticeably had a simple necklace on, a white ribbon in her hair. With her, a basket of scones she had bought earlier. (After her adventures of baking lemon cakes with Chrono, it'd be too soon to show off her lack-of baking skills.)

[soulofocean]

Right on time! The last minute retouches to the floral centerpieces were finished. Umi gave the place an assessing look, then hurried to get the door. She'd recognized Akiha's voice since before she opened.

"Hi there, Akiha. Welcome!" Umi smiled cordially at greeting her friend, who was looking elegant as ever. She congratulated herself on deciding to make the little event as refined as possible. She has the feeling Akiha would approve. "Please come in! I hope the place looks nice."

[seeking_heat]

"A pleasure," she said, and upon stepping inside and seeing the decor, "My, and I do mean it. A spiffing job. Kohaku would be humbled."

Seeing all the excellent layout of food, now she felt a bit silly with her store-bought product. They even had sake! The girls really had outdone themselves on what should have been a quiet get-together.

[soulofocean]

"Really?" Umi's smile became a bit sheepish at that. She felt flattered. She'd heard about Akiha's family and their maid's talents in the past and so understood this was quite the compliment. "I just wanted this to be as nice as possible! It reminds me a bit of home, and mom's own tea parties."

She guided Akiha to the tables, wondering where Shiki had gone. "Let me get you a cup of tea. What's your favorite blend? I bet we have it." She'd depleted the store of its tea supply for variety's sake, after all.

[concept_killer]

Shiki had finally arrived. Well, he wished he could say that but he had been here the entire time. He had been forced politely asked by Road to preview the decorations she had made. No, the humor wasn't lost on him that he couldn't even do such a simple task.

Okay, so he lied again. He had left so he could pick up Taiga since he had promised and he saw the consequences of broken promises plenty of times. Sadly, Shiki being Shiki, didn't knock on his re-arrival and let himself in.

"Did I miss anything?"

[soulofocean]

Come this point in their friendship (though she was rather sure using such a word to define their relationship would earn her a face from Akiha's older brother), Umi wasn't really surprised at Shiki's entrance. All the contrary. A polite knock would have scared her witless.

What had INDEED surprised her had been seeing Shiki around the place assessing Road's decorations earlier. First she'd learned he'd be helping the other girl with the posters for the circus, now this? Frankly, Umi hadn't guessed the two were in such friendly terms, especially considering Road's reputation.

"Just to knock." Her greeting was affable despite the remark. She gestured toward the tables area. "Your sister beat you. Care for a cup of tea?"

[concept_killer]

Of course Akiha beat him here. She was the one who woke up at ungodly hours on a normal day. Normal people should sleep until the afternoon, like Shiki.

"Sure, sure. Might as well see how good this is. Though, do you know how many people are going to be here today?"

[soulofocean]

"Well, we're ready with enough tea and cakes for a small crowd!" Umi tapped her finger against her chin as she showed Shiki to one of the decorated tables. Truth be told the math of the deal was something she was only giving special thought now. "The place's big enough... So I guess we're good.

"I told Road to invite whoever she liked. It's only fair." She added as a sort of explanation. "It's her party as much as mine. Oh, and any kind of tea you'd like in particular?"

[moresake]

Yuuko was always dressed to kill, and today was no exception, her kimono the bright greens and yellows of spring. She'd knocked, of course, and then entered, Clow likely trailing behind.

Of course, the food and the sake caught her eye immediately, and she clapped her hands cheerfully.

"This looks wonderful, Umi!"

[soulofocean]

"Thanks a lot and welc---! wow." Yuuko's dazzling looks had Umi gaping for a little while. Then she recovered, hopefully before she looked even sillier. The sophisticated sorceress always looked her best, didn't she. Suddenly Umi felt even gladder she'd dressed up for the occasion. "You look great, Yuuko! Uh... I'm really glad you decided to come!"

[moresake]

Yuuko just grinned when Umi gaped. Her elaborate costumes tended to turn people's heads. She was used to making an impression, after all.

"Thanks for the invitation. I'm sure it will be a nice time."

She cocked her head to one side, her hair ornament clinking. "...And you look lovely as well."

[soulofocean]

The compliment caught Umi kinda off-guard. A second later she was hating herself for blushing like a dumbhead. But she had the swift recovery of a warrior and smiled it off. "Uh. It's just that I thought dressing up would make the whole thing more special! But anyway."

She looked around, wondering where Mister Clow could be. She was sure he couldn't be far if Yuuko was already here. "I'll get you a cup of tea and some treats! Any special preference?"

[revengeisalie]

Sunday was a free day, and Rin couldn't say she wasn't glad for this. The relatively new experience of doing good, hard work every day had soon worn down to monotony. A party among friends to break that routine was just right. She was especially glad that she'd been able to help with the preparations - that way she felt a little less like a freeloader. Invitation was invitation, but social get-togethers like this had become rare in her life

[soulofocean]

The guests had started gathering, the party was on its way... So far Umi had relaxed into the feeling that everything was coming along nicely. She could relax, let go of her hostess' nerves and concentrate on enjoying the occasion.

When she opened the door she was wearing a cheerful smile that got bigger as she greeted Rin. Her first friend in The City! The party wouldn't have been the same without the older girl. "Welcome, Rin! Thanks for coming. I'm really happy you could make it. Please come in and meet everyone."

[revengeisalie]

Rin returned the smile and bowed slightly. From the inside of the apartment, lively sounds could be heard. "I'm glad I could make it, too! Seems like there's already a crown gathering.

Excuse me", she said and bent down to untie her sandals. Once she'd taken them off, she entered and placed them neatly next to where the other shoes were lying about.

[soulofocean]

"Sure. I forget to do that all the time." Umi nodded toward the pairs of shoes neatly lined up near the door. "Not used to living in Japanese-style houses. But I'm learning!

"Talking about that... We got some nice Japanese tea if you want to start with something traditional." She explained, quite proud of the tea selection she'd made available for her guests. "Green too! Unless you wanna be audacious and go for something more exotic."

fashionably late o/

[redstrength]

Hikaru stepped back into the apartment; she'd had training that morning so she couldn't help with the setup for everything like she'd wanted to. The days before, she had places she needed to be so she wasn't much help with getting everything else done with Umi like she wanted to. But despite how she felt about it, she would still be here with her friend, and their friends.

She had enough time to change and be ready before people arrived and smiled at how the apartment looked. It wasn't anything at all like what it was for the last seven months but at the same time, it did.

She could already hear people coming in. Time really passed quickly.

<3 it's the best kind of late

[soulofocean]

"Hey Hikaru!" Umi parted with a little group of guests to go greet her best friend. She'd been wondering where had Hikaru been until then, though with the apartment looking so crowded it wasn't surprising that they'd lost sight of each other. "So there you are! How'd you like the looks? Road and Shiki did a great job, huh? Come have some tea with us!"

But I'm here now o/ <3333

[redstrength]

Hikaru's smile instantly became brighter when she heard Umi's voice. It really was kind of hard to find her friend amongst the gathering.

"Umi!" Hikaru took to her friend's side. "It looks like a lot of the people you invited are showing up! That's good!"

8D <333

[soulofocean]

"Mm! I think some of Road's friends must already be here too. We've both been greeting the guests." Umi smiled as she walked Hikaru to one of the tables. "It's an army! I think it's gonna be tough to clean up the place after this, but let's worry about that later. How about some cake?"