ROMANTIC HIGH TEA

[goosemods]

ROMANTIC HIGH TEA

During lunch, Mr. Hightower hosts a romantic high tea in the greenhouse for couples. Scone, tea sandwiches and delicate pastries are served, along with several fragrant varieties of tea. Mr. Hightower is particularly proud of a rich black tea with whole dried rosebuds in it, which he's named Horatio's Blend. The rosebuds magically bloom when hot water is poured, and float to the top of the black tea, still maintaining their bright pink colour in the clear teapots. (Mr. Oakes is also in attendance, and delights in telling every couple that Mr. Hightower named another a tea blend after him. This year's Oakes blend is appropriately peppery.)

Small wrought-iron tables for two have been arranged throughout the greenhouse. Each table features a white tablecloth and a floral centerpiece, mad of leftovers from Event Committee's flower delivery, along with floral-printed tea cups and plates, and cloth napkins. Mr. Hightower will be instructing interested couples in tea etiquette. If attendees aren't already wearing their school uniforms (seeing how it's the middle of the day), they're expected to adhere to a cocktail attire dress code.

This is supposed to be classy and romantic. But Oakes held a competition last year and he's bringing it back: Mr. Oakes has crafted two beautiful flower crowns and is ready to hand them out to the "sweetest couple." Hightower seems more resigned to his husband's shenanigans this year. In fact, he seems to be looking forward to teasingly judging his students.

HOW THIS WORKS

• Characters must attend high tea as a pair. Mr. Hightower isn't going to argue about whether or not you're actually a "couple," but pairs will be expected to spend their time together at a little table instead of mingling.


• Post your pair under the SWEETEST COUPLE CONTEST heading, and play out a scene. For every comment with a romantic gesture, the mods will RNG a number between 1–25 to add to your pair's score.


• One romantic gesture per comment will count for your score. You don't get a bonus for writing multiple romantic gestures in a single comment.


• Up to 10 comments per pair will count for your score, i.e. you only get a maximum of ten RNG numbers to add to your score.


• For the purposes of this contest, the definition of "romantic" will be very loose. It can be verbal or physical, sincere, fake, or overly saccharine, but it must be a) something that can be observed by other people, and b) directed at your character's date.


• The couple with the highest score by Friday, Feb 16 at 11:59 PM MT will win the contest! The only prize is a pair of flower crowns.

» High Tea: Bright sunlight filters through the greenhouse glass, turning it warm and romantic. Once a couple is admitted, they'll be shown to their table by either Mr. Hightower or Mr. Oakes. Smartly dressed house-elves and a handful of freshmen will be going from table to table serving tea and sandwiches.

» Sweetest Couple Contest: POST HERE to compete for the crowns!

» OOC - Scores: Mods will be rolling/tallying everyone's scores here.

» OOC - Questions, comments, concerns!

Comments

HIGH TEA

[goosemods]

A swan.

[cygninae]

Just like last year, there's an unexplained swan floating in the greenhouse's pond. Some people know who this swan is now, but that's not stopping him from accepting handouts. Reid has no shame about eating bits of cake off the ground or out of the water. It's not going to kill him. Stop judging.

E-Z Cheez Sammies with Toto and Grandpa

[somethingwick_ed]

Rupert had agreed to bring Toby to the tea since the other boy had been inexplicably drawn to the promise of sandwiches. As if they aren't always getting free food. He doesn't understand it, but he'd rather be the one to ferry his roommate around so he can keep an eye on him instead of leaving that job to someone with less scruples. What if they just let Toby eat an inordinate amount of sandwiches? That wouldn't do. So they'd made their way to the greenhouse where they now stand, the prefect surveying the tables.

"Pick a seat, Tobias," Rupert directs, continuing to look around as he does so. "At least it looks relatively nice." As if he were expecting otherwise.

SWEETEST COUPLE CONTEST

[goosemods]

Rosy & Danny

[graysanatomyforkids]

It's hard to tell if the look on Daniel's face is saying "did a skunk just spray?" or "which episode of Twilight Zone did I wake up to find myself in?" as he looks around the gardens. Is this, like, some kind of weird Ribbonfin cult luncheon? Huh.

But Mr. Hightower told him to wait over here. So, maybe he'll have a cookie or whatever. And endure his present company.

Danny shoots Rosy a sidelong glance, expression flat. "Look at you..." He drawls. A good start, right?? Sort of a compliment! "You're almost cute when you're smug." Oh. Oh, okay. "Almost." He shakes the papers he's brought in her direction.

"Don't think you're going to come out on top here." Danny adds with a self-satisfied smile.

Juniper and Spencer

[junipercrane]

Out of proportion with the significance of this event, Juniper has been getting ready since the night before. The schedule doesn't stop her from managing a trip back to her cabin to change into her carefully selected Valentine's outfit, which ekes by the dress code for skirt length just barely. She actually made a boutonniere for Spencer in Coppertale colors and she makes sure that she's seen pinning it on him when they arrive. Although Juniper isn't as crown-crazy as Ursula, she's highly, highly competitive overall, so the mere mention of winning anything has her putting on her A-game.

There's also the fact that she's there with Spencer, which was a last minute success, and she's going to enjoy that even if they don't win. Smiling up at him, she says, "You do make a pretty good birthday present."

London & Webster

[beansontoast]

February isn’t going quite as London had planned. An entirely too large number of boys had turned down her invitations to the dance - or rather, turned down her mimic, and no one could prove otherwise. However, an emergency sparkle manicure, half a pound of gummy worms, and a pep talk had set her back on track. Maybe this disaster could be salvaged after all. She had a killer outfit and a partner in crime, and that was a good start. Webster is Lilika’s best friend and right hand man, so maybe they could be good wingpeople for each other. “You ready to win those crowns?” she asks brightly, linking her arm in his.

Nisha & Archie

[cherubic]

Archie takes his seat across from Nisha and makes small talk until their tea arrives. It smells like roses, but not for long. In the pocket of his vest, there's a tiny vial of a highly controversial substance: genuine, unaltered Amortentia. The most powerful love potion in the world. Archie can brew it without consulting any books. He's supposed to keep the final product locked safely in the potions sore room, but he doesn't always listen. It isn't as though he needs it on a regular basis, but sometimes he's disobedient simply because he can be. In small ways that no one would notice. Safe ways.

This probably isn't safe, though, what he's doing today, but Nisha asked and Archie didn't want to say no. It was interesting, and he was bored and frustrated. He needed a distraction. Hieronymus would have stopped him if he knew, so Archie didn't tell him. What was the big deal, anyway? He'd taken Amortentia before, sometimes accidentally, sometimes not.

So as soon as Archie feels a lull in the attention being placed on them, he deftly takes out the little vial, and adds a few drops to each of their tea cups. If there's one thing besides potions that Archie's good at, it's not being noticed while doing sketchy things. He puts the vial away.

He takes a deep breath, and places his fingers on the cup. His eyes are locked on Nisha now. He smells birch and sweet coffee. "Make sure you're looking only at me."

Nia & Addy

[heyitsnia]

High tea is as hilarious a concept to Nia as Cotillion was. There's no way this won't be fun, showing everyone just how much she adores her fellow Nature Documentary narrator. And so, it is with a great deal of visible delight (smile as big and scary as ever) that Nia gracefully pulls out a chair for Addy and gestures for her to sit.

"Good tea and good conversation," she hums as she helps herself to her own seat on the other side of the tiny circle table. She quirks a brow, smile turning into a grin. "Who even cares about a contest?"

Showdown at the High Tea??? (Essie & Jeffy)

[magitechnically]

Roughly a week ago Essie had failed to achieve her animagus transformation as a means of escaping having to talk to her maybe-boyfriend and had been forced to finally admit... that she really, really wanted him to be her definitely-boyfriend. A week later and somehow she'd managed to squish the usual swirl of anxiety long enough to actually get her through the entrance of the greenhouse. Because, like, this was a thing that couples were supposed to do, right??? Except.. there's no signs of Lucas and Bash or Calvin and Micah anywhere in this crowd of couples. There's also like tea and flowers and people in dresses and everything looks super duper fancy and Essie's just here in her uniform expecting some free food??? There's like definitely been a slight miscalculation here.

Breathe, Essie. And maybe dial that panicked expression down to like a 2.

There's one thing that makes every awkward situation better and that's cowboys. Except there's all this tea and flowers and that's really like NOT in keeping with a cowboy's image?? This whole thing is supposed to be romantic but it just looks like something a bunch of old British people would be excited about??? Doesn't anyone here know that the most romantic thing is like shoot outs and taking a bullet for your partner and then riding off into the sunset together??? But how's Essie supposed to do any of that because you can't have cowboys with a bunch of old British people, that's just like WAY too much genre mixing.

Except. What if. Yeah, that could work.

Essie slides her arm through Jeffy's as they're ushered towards one of the tables and gives a slight tilt of the imaginary cowboy hat atop her head. "Pahrdon me sir, do you have any grey poupon?" There are multiple layers of weird bad accent going on here, starting with John Wayne and ending with Dame Maggie Smith. Good luck figuring out where she's going with this, Jeffy.

Ira & Jonah

[ashworthless]

Ira doesn’t really know why he’s here, other than the fact that Spencer kept saying it was a good idea for him to take someone. It wasn’t Spencer he was here with, though, of course. He needed to stop listening to ideas that would only cause some kind of pain later. In this case, Ira had gone so far as to invite even more pain, by forgoing any chance at a Real date by arranging to meet Jonah here. Which, to his credit (or not), still feels like a mutually beneficial arrangement. They’d get some intense studying in, and Mr. Hightower would see their commitment to their studies. Ira had even dressed up, in that he wasn’t wearing his school uniform.

He sits in one of the chairs and very courteously kicks the other out toward Jonah, then reaches into his bag to pull out a packet of prepared flashcards. “Pink. For the day.” He explains with a completely straight face that absolutely doesn’t hold.

Ursula & Ferdie

[cecaelian]

Here's a secret: Ursula doesn't actually care about winning this competition. A year ago, yes, but not today. Still, she's the defending champion and there's a surprising amount of sentimentality wrapped up in this event for her. The event itself and the flower crown currently resting atop her head which shows no signs of ever going through hell and back.

The boy who'd ensured it had made its way back to her wasn't so bad either.

Convincing Ferdie to even take part in the tea felt like the real win. She'd promised not to put him through any hoops like she'd done with Zav, but the temptation to tease was always too hard to resist. "Sure you're up for this? I'm notoriously difficult to woo. Some girls want diamonds. I won't settle for less than craisins." She's trying to keep a straight face, but it's hard when just having him at her side her makes her want to grin. The crinkling at the corners of her eyes is giving her away.

Teddy and Issy

[butterbear]

When it comes down to a contest, Teddy has to admit he has zero interest in a flower crown (unless it's one Max made) or proving he's the most romantic. At least, to the professors. No, the only person he needs to impress here is Issy. And the catch-22 in that is, he's not sure if she would like to win, so he's got to both be sincere and be overt enough for Oaks and Hightower.

A balance, but he thinks he can strike that.

A school uniform doesn't speak 'romance' and Teddy doesn't hurt for nice clothes, so he wears a nice button down and a vest, pulling his hair back neatly. He makes the extra effort of walking Issy from their cabins all the way back to the tea, although he doesn't give her the red tulip he'd picked out until they are there.

Pulling out her chair for her, he waits til she is settled and he is sitting down as well, to say with a grin. "This should be interesting. I'm just hoping it doesn't result in any duels."

Oz & Vee

[dumb_ass]

Oscar has been prepping for today for weeks. He's done most of the legwork himself, with some help from friends and family along the way. This morning, he'd given her the ring in private. It was not something for the party, or Tea, or anyone's prying, wondering eyes. A promise ring, left in a little box he'd worked on himself for her to wake up to. Flowers were being sent of course, delayed which sucked but he was glad that something else was happening later for her as well.

He picked her up, wearing his nicest clothes. They walked arm and arm to the High Tea, and like a gentlemen he pulled her seat out for her. Once she was seated comfortably, he took the spot across from her and smiled. "This should be fun, right?"

Eve and Salem

[of_mice_and_men]

This is obviously a contest. Eve and Salem aren’t romantically inclined to eachother. But they’re in the same year and the same house and Salem seems alright. Eve didn’t dress up too much, it she did pull her hair back to partially pin it down to her hair so it wouldn’t get in the way. She met Salem there and grinned at him before pulling out his chair for him.

These Americans turned everything into a competition and while she wasn’t by inherently competitive, she was still enjoying herself. “After you, love.”

Jaime & Ophelia

[lupofiasco]

Since Jaime and Ophelia aren't actually a couple and Jaime doesn't actually care about winning at all, a tiny part of him feels a little strange about this whole farce. Even if others are clearly doing the same thing. Is this wrong, on some level? Are they laughing in the face of actual romance? They might be. Still, the junior had asked (told?) him to go with her, and since she wants to win, he's is willing to pull out all the stops to make that happen. Plus, they'd been practicing, and it would seem like a waste if he didn't try on the actual day of the tea. It's just for fun anyways, right?

Though he doesn't particularly see himself as a romantic on his own, Jaime's hoping his good nature will carry him through the competition. He's looking clean-cut and happy as he arrives with Ophelia, and he makes every effort to appear gentlemanly, including pulling out his date's chair as they move to one of the small tables. Being a gentleman is romantic, right?

"You look very nice," Jaime says, even though he'd said this when they'd first met up - they have an audience now.

Hero & Tally!

[heresie]

Tally is attending this event with Hero, who she is obviously not dating. That would be so weird. Still, everyone who's anyone is dating, and that means all the coolest kids in school are here. Tally also secretly hopes to learn a thing or two about what's romantic, because Fifty Shades of Grey was a total wash.

But she's not going to admit she's clueless. She's going to act like the best fake girlfriend in the world. And even if she doesn't know anything about romance, she does know a lot about tea and high society, and she's eager to demonstrate that expertise.

"If you want to stir your tea make sure you start at six o'clock," she says with absolutely no other context, completely unaware of the fact that this advice might seem cryptic to people who didn't attend a combination daycare/finishing school.

OOC - SCORES

[goosemods]

SCORE: Rosy & Danny

[goosemods]

Comment: #1 Danny (for the compliment?)
RNG Score: 19
Total: 19

("I didn't even know they were dating!" Mr. Oakes says to Mr. Hightower.)

SCORE: Juniper & Spencer

[goosemods]

Comment: #1 Juniper (for the boutonniere)
RNG Score: 16
Total: 16

("Very handsome couple," Mr. Hightower observes.)

SCORE: London & Webster

[goosemods]

Comment: #1 London (for linking arms)
RNG Score: 5
Total: 5

("He's too old for her," Mr. Hightower argues. Mr. Oakes reluctantly fixes the score on his clipboard.)

SCORES: Nisha & Archie

[goosemods]

Comment: #1 Archie (for romantic eye contact)
RNG Score: 13
Total: 13

("Oh no, look at that outfit," Oakes says to Hightower. "That is not cocktail dress code." They both miss the sophomores lacing their drinks.)

SCORE: Nia & Addy

[goosemods]

Comment: #1 Nia (for pulling out the chair)
RNG Score: 8
Total: 8

("They're very cute," Oakes says. "I'm giving them less points so everyone else doesn't get left in the dust.")

SCORE: Essie & Jeffy

[goosemods]

Comment: #1 Essie (for linking arms)
RNG Score: 20
Total: 20

("Look, it's Essie!" It doesn't matter what they're doing, Oakes is scoring his TA high for this.)

OOC 💚 QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION

[goosemods]

Re: OOC 💚 QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION

[goosemods]

HEY GUYS, Marin and I will be doing our best to keep on top of RNG but we may be a little sluggish until this evening. Thanks for understanding! ♥