[ open ] jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock

[lyingheart]

WHO: OPEN.
WHERE: De Chima.
WHEN: Saturday, December 13th, 2014.
WHAT: Earlier in the afternoon, there will be base-jumping in elf costumes. Later on is the charity silent date auction and different performances by USA celebrities fundraising for charity this holiday season. OOC information post here.
WARNINGS: None now, will update later. To avoid seeing all the silent auction threads, simply press on the (Hide ## comments) under the header comment for the auction section!

[ BASE JUMPING from TARTARUS TOWER ]
For those imPorts who volunteered to jump from Tartarus Tower, arrivals for fittings into their costumes begins at 2:00 PM sharp. Each costume comes with a name-tag attached, and make-up artists are on hand to help affix elf ears to participants and work on their eye make-up for the ease of the cameras catching all this live.

The jumps will start at 4:00 PM, and after all imPort elves have jumped and successfully reached the ground, they'll join the bus transporting presents and Malik to the De Chima children's hospital to deliver gifts to the children in the cancer ward (and elsewhere). ImPorts will then be transported over to the main facilities for the fundraiser event as a whole, invited to attend the Silent Date Auction as well as listen to any of the various performances occurring over the course of the evening.

[ CHARITY SILENT DATE AUCTION in DE CHIMA ]
Starting at 4:00 PM, the doors to the conference hall made available for the ImPort Charity Silent Date Auction will open. Live music will be provided, along with refreshments and catered hor d'oeuvres, and televisons displaying both the news stories and live coverage of the fundraiser events occurring over the course of the evening. ImPorts will be encouraged to attend any of these performances in person, but will not be required to leave the conference hall unless they wish to do so.

There is lounge seating available, and free wireless throughout the building. Different conference halls are hosting different events in this event center, and the largest productions are happening on a built stage outside. There's a massive lit tree in the central front courtyard of the event center, and many small stands selling hot drinks, good foods, and wares outside by the stage and surrounding streets, all with a portion of proceeds going to various named charities.

Please comment to this log with your own starters! Only the Auction Thread will be set-up under its own sub-thread, for ease of tracking. Auction Threads can be threaded in, but initial comments to those threads should be the bids that a character is placing on someone else (or themselves). Bidding will close OOCly by this time next week (or when a player states bidding is closed on their character - send me a PM to close that thread, or comment to close it on your own). ICly, all bids close at the end of the night.

Comments

Winry Rockbell | OTA | Silent Auction

[hands4healing]

[Wearing this dress, with a tag with her number and name on it for the silent auction, Winry is moving around, smiling at everyone. She's placed a bid or two, not expecting to win - hey, she's still a high school student, after all, and other people have more money!

Come chat her up, try to figure out if you want to bid on her. Ignore the sulking, teeth gnashing young man who may be shadowing her. He's just not happy with her signing herself up for this auction thing. Also, feel free to interrupt them if they start bickering...]

[braided_icarus]

I still don't get why you had to go sign up for something like this.

[Especially when a certain other alchemist also decided to join in. No, Ed isn't paranoid or possibly jealous as Winry gets herself involved in this and the idea of 'dates' at all. Just ignore this blonde brat constantly nearby. Anyone getting this would be better than Kimblee but that still does not make him any less irritable right now.]

[hands4healing]

[Huffs.]

It's to raise money, Ed. It doesn't mean anything!

[And then she gets a little evil grin.]

You could always bid on me yourself!

[braided_icarus]

That's not the point if that guy is bidding! Probably has more money than I do even if I did try stop him.

[Yeah the actual idea of a proper date with Winry as she is suggesting isn't entirely sinking in just yet. Give him a minute. Or two.

Or five even. Points for most oblivious and stupidly dense not boyfriend as he pauses at that, his face flaring a much brighter pink.]

W-wait, what?

[hands4healing]

[Such innocent eyes, Ed.]

If you don't want someone else to win a date with me, you could outbid everyone!

[You just know she's snickering in her head. That evil snicker.]

[braided_icarus]

What, now you want to drag me into this?

[Except that he probably is at least considering it. If Kimblee is a jerk and bids on her. Ed just kind of stops in place at that as he blusters a bit.]

[hands4healing]

It is for a good cause, Ed.

[And, well, she'd prefer you winning than Kimblee.]

[braided_icarus]

Not saying it isn't. Just saying I didn't expect to get involved when you dragged me down here.

[Ed would prefer pretty much anyone winning over Kimblee, of course.]

[hands4healing]

[Airily.]

It's up to you whether you want to or not!

[Please bid, Ed. Don't let me go to Mr. Kimblee.]

[braided_icarus]

I know. And I don't want Kimblee winning either.

[He's already put Winry through enough back home let alone toying with her here like this.]

[hands4healing]

[Winry knows what Ed's thinking about. It's been on her mind, too.]

Well. Maybe I should go see if I can get some other bidders, too.

[braided_icarus]

I'm sure pretty much anyone would be better than Kimblee winning.

[Even though whoever does win will likely still have to deal with Ed basically stalking and all but tagging along himself to keep an eye on things regardless.]

[hands4healing]

Yes.

[Because, well, Winry doesn't know all the other bad stuff that goes on in this world, and other less than savory characters around.]

Why don't you go get something to eat, Ed? The food at these things are really good!

[Whatever happens, Winry's hoping things will turn out all right.]

[somethinghidden]

[ Simon sees the young lady also wearing a number, another participant of the silent auction. She seems young, though at this point Simon has already acquainted himself with a number of bright and intelligent teenage girls. It couldn't hurt to befriend another. So he approaches her with a warm smile and a wave of his hand. ]

Hello! I couldn't help noticing that you're also participating in the auction. My name is Simon. Simon Newton. And you..?

[ He then spots the huffy young man trailing somewhere behind her and tries not to seem too taken aback. But he does become just visibly nervous. Hopefully he won't seem overly friendly with her. ]

[hands4healing]

[Winry turns to him, smiling and completely ignoring Ed and his lurking.]

Hello, Mr. Newton. I'm Winry Rockbell.

[She offers her hand.]

It's for a good cause, isn't it?

[Maybe said loud enough that Ed could hear it.]

[somethinghidden]

If it's not too much trouble, just Simon is all right. [ Hopefully that isn't pushing the bounds of familiar, but he knows it might seem strange. Yet, he's asked pretty much everyone to refer to him by first name, no matter how much younger than him they are.

Anyway, he feels the slightest assurance when she completely ignores her... stalker? boyfriend? So he takes her hand and gives it a firm shake. ]

Yes, it certainly is—like the jump from Tartarus Tower, which kicked off simultaneously to this. I actually just got here and changed from the elf costume, but anyway. These charity events are all quite good fun. I'm really glad there have been so many since my arrival.

[braided_icarus]

Yeah, yeah you keep saying this is for a good cause, Winry.

[Because when her voice rises he knows she's baiting at him, implying he should join in too. Ed just glowers around in the background for the most part, letting her chat to her friends, arms crossed or with one at his pocket.]

I dunno. This one kinda depends who you end up going on this 'date' with really?

[But maybe he should keep quiet.]

[hands4healing]

[Winry gestures to Ed.] Edward Elric, Simon Newton. Simon, Ed.

[Now we're all introduced, right? Everyone's happy.]

It'll be all right, Ed.

[She hopes.]

Did you have fun jumping off the tower?

[somethinghidden]

A pleasure. [ He extends a handshake to the boy before turning back to the young lady. ] And yeah, actually. The jump was a great deal of fun, it was very exciting.

[ When he straightens to regard the both of them... ] And all of these events, these charities are great opportunities to meet other people, learn about them, about their worlds.

[braided_icarus]

Simon. Hi. [Returning the handshake but he seems mostly content to listen. He's not really sure there's a lot he can really contribute to the conversation right at this moment anyway, other than agreeing that Heropa in general is an opportunity to meet all sorts.]

[hands4healing]

[Meeting other people. Yes. Winry likes that, a lot. Also, it helps while looking for Alphonse - surely, someone might spot him, one day soon. It might as well be her.]

I like meeting new people. It's fun! And you can learn so much.

[She might nudge Ed lightly with her elbow.]

And, there's really good food at these parties, too.

[somethinghidden]

[ Seeing as Ed seems more interested in lurking about Winry, Simon shifts more attention to the girl instead. ]

I agree. I think they put a lot of effort into these things, really. So far, I think they're all amazing, though I haven't been here for very long. [ Prompted by genuine curiosity, he asks, ] But what about you—how long have you been in this world? What do you think of it so far?

[braided_icarus]

I know you do, Winry.

[She's always better with people than he is. Not that Ed doesn't like mingling and meeting new people himself but he's often much more blunt and doesn't always necessarily go about things in the best way when he does try to help. He doesn't mean to be such a brat, he's just irritable and worried right now given Winry's involvement in this charity dating thing.]

And of course I know about the food. It's the reason I let you drag me out here.

[But then he's quiet, letting Winry answer Simon's questions herself rather than butting in.]

[hands4healing]

[Winry gave Ed a quick smile - she knows how hard it is for him to want to attend these things. He can be kind, but he's more often prickly.]

We've been here since June. [She waves a hand between Ed and her.] It's been...different than what I'm used to. [Ed, of course, has had all sorts of adventures.]

I hope we can find out things by coming to events.

[Or Alphonse, but she's not going to say that where Ed can hear. She knows how much he misses his brother.]

[somethinghidden]

[ Simon nods as he listens, and thinks the two are probably really close. ]

Both of you are from the same one? The same, uh... time, too?

[ He didn't know how to put the whole business with people coming from different times; after all, he was the only one here from his world. And he hoped that it'd stay that way. ]