[ 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

rosie | auction & after, open

[conducive]

[ for a while, rosie wanders around, betting on people at random because she's bored and used to throwing money around, basically. or because they're cute and she's shallower than the sub-saharan desert. or just because she feels like they need a boost. it doesn't matter because it's all for charity.

after talking to her roommate for a while, she drifts outside to look at the tree and ooh, hot cocoa. that is her jam! it's not chilly enough for her taste, nor snowy enough (yet) but at least there is the hint of a chill here. good choice for christmas charity stuff. ]

after auction; their date, too

[somethinghidden]

[ After the auction, Simon discovers that it was not Dorian who had bid on him and won; instead, it's a young lady by the name of Rosie Franklin. Not that Simon's disappointed, but he did expect that the younger man would be there at the very least. Because he did say as much, and that he was interested in bidding. Then again, Dorian loves to flirt endlessly, so he could've been winding Simon up.

Nevertheless, Simon seeks out the lady winner and eventually discovers the lovely blonde. He approaches with a very disarming, very charming smile. ]

Why, hello—I hope I'm not mistaking you for someone else. Rosie Franklin, I believe? My name's Simon Newton. Congratulations on your win.

omg sorry i'm trash!! holidays!

[conducive]

Oh, no, I'm Rosie, hi! [ she smiles brightly, recognition hitting her eyes when he says his name. ] Oh I won you, you're my prize.

[ immediately her nose wrinkles slightly. ] Sorry, that was very Aladdin of me. You're not a prize to be won, don't worry, I took my feminism lessons from Jasmine, I know what's up.

[ this short babble is soften by her faint french accent and her cheerful little smile. ]

it's ok. i'm still on hiatus until next week. orz

[somethinghidden]

[ He chuckles and smiles on, even though he can't fully appreciate the Disney reference. ] Still, it's a pleasure to meet you.

[ Simon takes a deep breath to put his nerves at ease. He hadn't quite expected this turn of events, but Rosie seems quite cute, seems all right. ]

It's late enough in the evening to say the night has just begun, so... Shall we? [ Life in London has tempered the Scottish in his accent and enunciation in his speech. ] What's your pleasure?

[conducive]

Honestly? Haven't the foggiest, yet. I've only been here for a month, maybe? I mostly just work a lot, so I don't have any clue what there is around here to even do.

[ she shrugs apologetically, but her smile remains. ]

[somethinghidden]

It's quite all right, then. Sounds that you've only been here as long as I have. But I think we're both in luck. Because...

[ Thankfully, Dorian had prepared Simon for the possibility of being bid on. ]

If you're up for it, wining and dining away before touring the rest of the night away. The best sights in De Chima. What do you say?

[conducive]

Sounds fabulous to me. [ she's the most cheerful woman, okay, he could have said "do you want to tour the dump?" and she probably still would have said yes.

maybe not that it was fabulous, but MAYBE. IT COULD BE.

rosie franklin will pretty much do anything once. it's a problem. ]

[somethinghidden]

[ Simon is rather pleased that Rosie's so amenable. He just doesn't know exactly how amenable; if only he knew!

It doesn't take long for him to get them a cab that takes them to a pretty swank club where they could sit and relax in their own private booth. ]

So, out of curiosity—and I hope you don't mind my asking—are you from a world where they have superpowers?

[conducive]

I am. [ a beat. ] Well, sort of.

[ she unwinds her fingers from where they've been curled around her wine glass, shifting it to one hand so her other hand is free. holding it out, a small ball of blue electricity crackling in her palm. ]

I've been able to do this this I was a little girl. My dad as well, his dad, his dad, etc, etc. My cousin could take it in but not displace it. But we were the only people I'd ever known, just our family. I'm not sure how prevalent it was in the rest of society, especially since we were so secretive about it.

[ lmao yeah, rosie, you sound so secretive now. but now she doesn't have to be, so it all comes out in a half breathless excited babble. ]

I'm so normal here.

[somethinghidden]

Yeah, normal. [ Her response earns her a warm smile and a chuckle. The way she talks about it, bubbly and breathless, there's something quite endearing about it. Simon thinks her rather charming. ]

Yes, you are singularly normal here. Or, at least, no one would look at you like you have two heads.

[ He takes a bite of [whatever food he's ordered; still making it up] before continuing, ] Was it hard to keep it secret? Did anyone ever find out?

[conducive]

[ she thinks about it, genuinely thinks about it, staring at the tiny ball of lightning in her hand. slowly it starts to shrink, fading as tiny blue sparks flicker across her skin like fireflies, her body absorbing the electricity without so much a flinch from the woman. ]

No. No, I don't think so. I was only a teenager when it first happened. Kids don't really want to tell other people, be looked at like a freak. I grew up in Paris, I used to walk past Notre Dame on my way to school. I didn't want to be Quasimodo, the story didn't end well for him.

[ a rush of air like a laugh gives way to a smile. ] Disney got that wrong. And... it doesn't, it doesn't come up very often. Unless you frequent old people's homes, in which case, I make a very good defibrillator.

[ that doesn't answer his whole question, but whatever. ]

[somethinghidden]

[ Simon watches with intrigue as the electricity ball slowly shrinks away, its sparks dispersing before disappearing into her skin. Then he looks into her eyes and studies her expression as she continues, nodding as she goes on about kids not wanting to be freaks and referencing The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

She hasn't answered the questions fully by the time she quips about being a defibrillator, and Simon chuckles. It's not as if the questions are overly important. Besides, he's opening up to Rosie's charm and is a lot more willing to go with the flow. ]

Did you, or do you... frequent homes for the elderly?

[conducive]

I did not and I have not found myself at a rest home since coming here. [ does dorian's place count as an old person's home? well, she's not been there yet in any case. ]

I lived with my Grandmother, so the actual defibrillating has come up.

[somethinghidden]

Oh, I see. [ He sounds a little surprised, though pleasantly so. At least her power was useful. ] At least it's come to good use, then.

So, since you're not working at a care home, might I ask what your line of work is here?

[conducive]

I'm an electrical engineer. What my degree is in, actually. I work for the electric company here in De Chima, doing tests and all that. Not really work to me, since I can fix circuits and fuses with my brain, but I like it.

[somethinghidden]

That's... amazing, really. A perfect fit. [ A sip of wine here. ] I can hardly imagine being in that line of work myself, but I can see you having quite a bit of fun with it.