[ 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

[sassguard]

[ He's not keeping an eye on the numbers, but -- well, he totally is. When the first bid registers, Shepard perks up. He doesn't know which of the friends and acquaintances he's been badgering about it so far is responsible for putting in the bid, but he knows exactly who's going to hear about it first. ]

Looks like I've got a date. [ He grins, stepping over to nudge at Kaidan, then frowns, shaking his head. ] A cheap date. Am I really only worth twenty-five bucks?

[ It's that space syphilis line, isn't it. Maybe he should have asked Kaidan to write it for him instead. ]

[kanadian]

[ Shepard is probably trying to badger him into putting in a higher bid. That's probably it, right?

He rolled his eyes. ]

That's how things get started, you know. Maybe you should give it time for someone to bid against them.

[ A hand on his hip. ] Or maybe nobody's interested in Christmas elves as dates.

[sassguard]

[ As funny as it would be for Kaidan to engage in a perpetual bidding war with himself, Shepard isn't quite that terrible: he'd simply missed Kaidan writing in his bid.

He raises his brow in answer, tapping the nameplate absently before grinning. ]

Don't Santa's elves work every day of the year or something? Maybe some people like stamina.

[kanadian]

[ If he could have, he would have probably flushed at the phrasing -- but Kaidan Alenko was a marine, and it took more than just a dirty joke to send him into conniptions.

As it was, he crossed his arms over his chest.]

What, Reckless Elf has just as much as the others? I thought he'd be a little...

Quicker.

[ someone kill him now.]

[sassguard]

[ Not that Kaidan had ever been much of a blusher, but Shepard suspected any flustering on Kaidan's part on the SR-1 owed more to the idea that a commanding officer was treating him like he was a peer. Back then, it felt like jokes back barely made it out of his mouth before he was apologizing for the subordination, but now he was at least tryng harder to play along. ]

You always spend a lot time thinking about elves, Major? I never knew you had it in you. [ He shakes his head, sighing, before he pauses and turns his head to glance in the direction of the silent bidding. ]

It's probably that writeup that's keeping people away. I knew I should've asked you to do it.

[kanadian]

[ Kaidan's eyebrows rose, and he stifled a laugh. ]

Maybe. I don't know, that space syphilis would give me pause. I'm not exactly a great author, you might end up in more trouble than less.

Hey, think about it this way, you have one bid, right? It could be a hell of a lot worse, I might net you none.

[sassguard]

You should know better. [ Shepard makes a disparaging noise. The asari consort was the last time he'd slept with anything that wasn't just his own right hand, and even then he hadn't exactly been expecting it. Okay, not entirely expecting it. ]

Whatever you could come up with, at least I'm pretty sure it wouldn't involve talking about STDs.

[ Folding his arms, he grins. ]

Unless you'd deliberately try to sabotage my chances of getting a date.

[kanadian]

Well, no. I wouldn't exactly be going on about STDs.

[ Or the fact that medical science made sure those things weren't quite the concern. ]

Although... [ A laugh. ] You did sleep with the Consort that one time, so... who knows. Maybe they know something I don't.

[ R u d e ]

[sassguard]

[ Shepard's eyebrows shoot right up to practically his hairline -- no mean feat, given where that is -- and scowls at Kaidan for a good couple of seconds before he stops and ends up just snorting. ]

That was one time, and you know it. [ But, it's been a while since he checked up on how the bidding is going since he started talking to Kaidan, and when he drifts over, his brows raise and there's a noticeable bounce in his step when he comes back. ]

Looks like I'm not stuck with a cheap date after all.

[kanadian]

[ That was never a good sign, was it? He doesn't squint, but his mouth does that thing where it makes a half-grimace, a slight one on one side of his mouth, before his eyebrows quirked. ]

And you were worried about people mentioning STDs. Apparently there's no accounting for taste, is there?

[ None at all, including his own, apparently. ]

[sassguard]

[ Shepard leans over to punch Kaidan in the shoulder, lightly. ]

You could at least pretend to be happy for me.

[kanadian]

[ He rubbed at his shoulder, and winced. ]

Alright, alright. I'm happy for you.

[ A grunt. ] So how much are you going for now?

[sassguard]

[ Shepard's scanning the room idly, like if he squints at it hard enough he'll be able to figure out the party responsible. As a result, his answer's a little distracted: ]

Three hundred and fifty dollars.

[kanadian]

[ His eyebrows shot up. ]

Three fifty?

[ His recovery took a moment. If he'd won, he'd planned on using that money for something like the date, but... ]

Someone really wants to show you a good time, huh?

[sassguard]

I guess so. [ It's flattering, but also disconcerting. ]

That's a pretty big jump from twenty-five bucks, though.

[kanadian]

You're telling me.

[ A huge jump, really. ] Someone must really want to go on a date with you.

[ And that someone wasn't him, apparently. ]

[sassguard]

[ Shepard shrugs, offhandedly. ]

If they want to go on a date with me that badly, I'll make it one to remember.

[ He turns away into the crowd, heading off to get himself some food, swagger cocky and content. And because fate hates Kaidan Alenko, Shepard makes it back just in time for the winner's announcements to start, Shepard snagging his elbow before he can go anywhere and steering him away from the edges of the room. ]

Don't ditch me now. [ You know, because he needs backup in case someone really terrible's snagged him. He cranes his neck to look around, trying to catch the reactions on people's faces as the winners are announced in sequence. ]

[kanadian]

Shepard, I need to --

[ The protest died on his lips and he tried to wiggle out of his grip and got nowhere, before he realized it wasn't going to do any good, so he let himself get drug along, until they were in the middle of the room.

He scowled. He hadnt seen anyone, but this had probably been one of his worst ideas. Considering he had to still go home with Shepard. ]

You just want someone to brag to about your date, I'm sure.

[ Yep. He was a fucking idiot. ]

[sassguard]

Or a body to throw in their way as a distraction. [ Shepard answered, all too agreeably, eyes more on the crowd than on his former crew. Then again, perhaps he should have been paying attention, because when his name was finally called--

He squinted. Paused. Then turned to Kaidan, brows rising steadily again. He'd recovered most of his sense of humor, being in Heropa instead of a suicide mission, but this threw him off a little. ]

This is what you decided to spend your jump money on?

[kanadian]

[this was supposed to go a lot better than the way that it was going right now. He didn't know what he'd been thinking about doing in the case that he won. Honestly, he should know better, and maybe that damn note in his omni-tool would have been enough --

Who knew? He could only narrow his eyes back at Shepard with a squint and a frown. ]

I was trying to drive up the price!

[ what else could it be?]

[sassguard]

[ Trying to give Shepard shit, obviously. Shepard looked like he had to cycle through several radial menu options possible responses before he finally snorted softly and shook his head, crossing his arms and cocking his hip. ]

Is this is a pity date, Major Alenko?

[ It's That Tone. The one that suggested that Shepard was, as Shepard tended to, taking Kaidan's reaction as a challenge. ]

[kanadian]

[ It was always interesting to see Shepard in action, watch the gears turn and see him calculate one response after another, before finally settling on the one he was going to go with. Like he was protecting pieces on a chess board before he made his move. Kaidan crossed his own arms, and squinted. ]

Now you're putting words in my mouth. I didn't say that.

[sassguard]

[ Shouldn't have crossed your arms like that, Kaidan. Now Shepard assumed it was a challenge, and his eyes lit up, speaking in a tone of voice that on anyone else would have been called huffy. ]

If you were just trying to drive the price up, that implies you don't think I'm worth what you paid for.

[ Cue the almost-manic glint in his eye. ]

Well for the records, I'm going to prove you wrong.

[kanadian]

[ That was worrying, but it wasn't like he could tell him how much he thought he was worth. ]

Are you? I think I'm the one who's supposed to take you out on a date.

[ But if he was going to make a big deal out of it, Kaidan wasn't exactly going to do it. His back itched, like he had a sniper there waiting, like he'd just stepped into a trap. ]

When you put in a bid, you have to accept the possibility that you might be paying for someone. I wouldn't shoved down that kind of money for just anybody.

[sassguard]

[ Arms crossed, brows raised: ]

I'm taking you out. [ If he were someone else, maybe he'd agree with the idea that being up for auction means being up for being taken out, but he is Commander Shepard. Besides, otherwise he'll have been nagging people to bid on him because he wanted to be taken out, which was hardly the case. ]

So you'd better tell me what kind of date you want.

[ Completely breezing over everything else? Yep. Typical Shepard. ]