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Tshila arrived at the cooking festival bright eyed, cheery, and ready to win! Or lose! But hopefully win since winning was totally better than losing, any day. She was totally ready for any and all cooking festivities, and had her hair already tied back in a bun to keep it out of her face (because she did not want to have to wear a hair net. Awkward...) She also had a really cool apron she'd found and sort of altered a little so it was completely cool and cute and had a little stripey border and polka dots and was generally just really awesome and totally screamed 'winner' as loud as cotton fibers could possible scream!

Or not. But whatever! It was still a cute apron and she was still ready for cooking challenges, so it was all good. Now, she just needed to find her partner.

**

When Angela arrived to the cooking festival, there weren't a lot of people around yet. She actually wasn't sure if she was a good enough cook to win but she did know her way around the kitchen a bit (considering how horrifically her father cooked, it was practically a survival requirement). With the riht partner, she was sure she could fare okay. Not that she was sure she'd fare as well as at the tomato festival, where she totally won, in spite of her father's creepy curses.

But still pretty well. As long as they didn't blow something up, it would fine. Though, actually, blowing things up would also be pretty fun, to be honest. Well, provided it wasn't people they were blowing up--that'd be pretty bad. Like, if it was just some sort of awesome flambe, that would be fun, at least. Some kind of strawberry flambe would be amazing!

So...where was her partner, anyway?

**

Well, Murren was pretty excited about her job as a judge because it meant she didn't have to cook, she got good food, and probably no one would care if she had something to drink with it. And by drink, of course, she meant booze. Because it was practically required at a contest like this! Who knew what kind of gross stuff she was going to have to sample. She was probably going to need to be good and drunk to even choke some of it down since, by then, she probably wouldn't be able to taste anything anyway.

At any rate, when she arrived, it didn't look like many other people were there yet so she just shuffled around awkwardly and tried to figure out where the judges were supposed to sit.

And hey, maybe the other judges would be lovely people and they could just have a grand time of it and suffer through the horrible food together, and forge a lifelong friendship--and hatred for amateur chefs!

**

((I will add Gray, Chloe and Seth when I talk to their partners and we figure out how they'll meet up. C= ))

It seemed like a lot of people attending the festival this year had a lot of... emotions regarding it, and Keith was no stranger to them. He had long regarded the cooking festival as his one nemesis. The one festival to haunt them all. Cooking was the one thing he was good at, well, that and sex and manipulating Conor, but last time he checked, there weren't any festival dedicated to that, much to his pity. But yes, cooking was the one thing he was good at and yet, year after year after year, every time he entered it, with or without Conor, alone or with someone else, he had always ended up being in third position. Even that one year where he had snapped and done everything he could have to fail, he had still ended up third. It was a curse! And hopefully, this year would be the year where he would break that damn curse, or else, he might just end up killing someone. That someone being Conor because the blonde man was right next to him. He was already at his station, waiting for it to start, making plans in his head, creating strategies and tactics!

+++++

It wasn't that Ferdinando had much interests in cooking, but he still had to participate. Not only was this a great way to show all the peasants that he could be close to them (and loved and adored and worship by them), but also that he could get the pain and suffering of now having servant to cook food for them! He still remembered the day some years ago when, seeing a starving servant laying half dead on the floor of the mansion, he had told her to get her servant to cook food for her and to stop whining. Imagine his surprised when he learned that servants didn't have servants! Even to this day, he had a bit of trouble understanding how it could be possible, and so, it was his duty as a Sonata to empathise with them. Or at least that's what he thought, because God knows none of the other members of his family would think that way. Also, his father was participating and it felt just right to join too in order to impress him.

One his beloved sister demanded the transport to be stopped, Ferdinando jumped off the palanquin unto the ground (and by "ground", he meant the few servants laying there to provide a protection between them and the dirty ground) and extended a hand to his sister to help her get down. He had been thought to be a gentleman after all. "Come, Sister! Let us show them how wonderful the Sonata family is! This is going to be fun! Tough... I find myself wondering.... Mayhap we should hold back a little. I have never cooked anything, but if a servant can do it, it comes to reason that we will create the most spectacular of dish with ease. We wouldn't want to intimidate them" Really, he was too good.

+++++

When she had learned that her husband was going to be judge at the cooking festival, there was no way Freja could not participate! Not that she had ever been good at cooking (or remembered how to cook for that matter... Her years as an NPC had scrambled up her memory a bit), but she remembered she used to have a lot of fun! Or did she... It was all so confusing. Nevertheless, she was there! And she could be social too! Who knows, maybe she would even find someone with an aura so powerful that it would jog her memory and let her remember everything that had happened since she had become an NPC. Now, was there anyone here that she knew? ....did she knew anyone at all on the whole island other than her husband? Well, there was her daughter, but Xochiquetzal was THE GODDESS' AVATAR, and no one could ever claim to really know the Goddess. That much was known.
And there was Mao, but he could die for all she cared. Talking about her ex husband, she spotted him with another Chinese woman at a booth. She frowned right away and squinted her eyes. Obviously, they were up to no good. Never trust a Chinese person, let alone two! She headed in their direction on the tip of her toes in order to be sneaky and crouched in front of the stand, hiding herself. Both of them were so short, they wouldn't be able to spot her! It was the perfect hiding place to eavesdrop on them and foil their evil plans! This might be exactly why she had finally snapped out of her NPC state. The goddess had brought her back in order to stop the Chinese and their evil plans. Made sense.



((OOC:: I'll add more later. Also, Freja, Wilhelm and Turner are availble to pair up with someone, if someone wants to.))

Ezekiel was happy to be at a festival that didn't involve his sister being next to him. Of course she had been curious when he first mentioned it, but she soon changed her mind once she learned that she would have to cook. She had, stupidly, been under the impression that she could just come and taste everything. Ha! She was so stupid sometimes. Hence why Ezekiel was glad that she wasn't with him. Though there was a setback. Now he was here and there was no one next to him. He imagined that he could manage cooking by himself, but there wasn't much fun in that. Cooking was such a wonderful thing and it should be enjoyed with someone else! Damn. He really needed to enlist a lovely gentleman to be his assistant! That way his magic shows could start being a little more interesting, and he could have some eye candy while doing something like going to a cooking festival!

Hmm... Maybe he would make his way down to the request board after he secured his victory. For now he needed to worry about finding himself a partner. There weren't really all that many people and plenty of tables. He wasn't quite sure if that was a good sign or not. With so many people, he might never find someone! Oh, he really wished that he could do some real magic, like conjuring up a chef.

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It was always nice to get to spend some on-on-one time with one of the beautiful ladies that inhabited the RV. Dodge had grown very used to being cooped up with all three of them and it just felt good to be out with C.C. It felt like he was on one of those bachelor shows and this was their sweet little date where they talked about their lives and really got to know each other on that deep level. He smiled down (pretty far down) at his lovely little lady. "Thanks a million fer taggin' along, darlin'." When he got the news that there was another festival that he could compete in, he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity. Sure, it had been fun watching all of the girls play at the Tomato Festival, but he was ready to get into some of the action now. Even if his cooking skills came from solely watching his mother and sister's in the kitchen, he was determined to try and win this. He was sure that their combined cooking skills would probably be able to do something. Maybe it wouldn't be the best, but it would be their best! That was worth something.

He walked towards their designated table and examined all of the various things sitting there. "C.C., I reckon I don' much know about any a' this here stuff." He held up an unidentifiable wheel-y object thing. What in the world could this be used for? He held it up to his eye and looked at her through it. Hmm... maybe he had gotten in over his head.

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Xeiro was ready to kick some serious, serious, muthaeffinserious a** today. This was the millionth time that he had entered and he was certain that he would be able to do something this time. Instead of entering alone, or with his sister, he was now entered with a hot babe! Whenever there was a hot babe around, he usually morphed into a superhuman beast capable of any feat. It was simply unbearable to not be the best thing in the area when the possibility of getting a woman presented itself. He cracked his knuckles and flexed his muscles a bit upon entering the area. He needed to make sure that he was pumped and ready to go! The area didn't look very full, much to his pleasure. If there weren't very many people, then his chances of winning would just be that much higher! Although amongst the crowd he saw, he didn't see the babe. There were several people he did recognize, but none that he was partnered with. Oh! Wait! There she was! It was easy for his view to sometimes continue over people's heads and this babe did happen to be pretty short. Good for her, he didn't mind the shorter ladies. In fact, it made him feel that much more manly.

He walked up to Tshila and brought his hand to his face. "Excuse me, miss. I happen to be looking for my date, do you think that you could help me?" He stroked at his chin while trying to keep himself from smiling like a buffoon. "She's about yay high." He placed his hand a top her head. "And about thiiiiiis big." He drops his hands and placed them on her hips. "Oh, hey. You're a perfect fit."

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[EDITED IN ZELL. SORRYYY]

Zelynity was happy to be at another festival. It felt like it had been such a long time since she had made it out of the house... even if it were only a few weeks ago. It must be the weather! The Spring just felt so fresh and new when she thought about the cold Winter. Cooking wasn't necessarily her forte, or well she didn't practice it quite as much as she did for Tomato Festival preparations. Either way, she was happy to be here! Even happier that she was going to be out with her boooooyfriend! How many times had she said boyfriend inside her own head over the past few weeks? Oh, far too many to count. Oh no, that sounded really creepy. She decided that today was going to be a completely normal day and that she was not going to act like this was any different. This was just a normal day with her normal boyfriend! Oh gosh. She was so glad that she didn't see him anywhere yet. She was kind of making a complete fool out of herself inside her own head. She began telling herself to breathe and had managed to calm herself down a few notches by the time she found a nice looking desk to stand at.

Gray arrived at the cooking festival with basically no idea what to expect. He certainly didn't expect as many people as he saw, or the table brimming with ingredients, or all the tables and things but he had to admit all the pocketable trinkets kind of drew him toward the crowd. This was totally worth entering. He didn't know what half those gadgets were but they would be great in his little pseudo-kitchen.

And he even saw someone he knew! Sort of!

"Hallo there!" he called, strolling up to Ezekiel. He wondered if the other man was entering. He wondered what the rules for entering were. "Entering the competition today? I was thinking of it but...I can't seem to work out what needs to be done." He picked up a little random kitchen tool from a nearby table, spinning it between his fingers. He closed his fingers around it and, without thinking, casually made it disappear. (Of course, he'd just tucked it up his sleeve with some sleight of hand, but whoever might be watching didn't need to know that.)

**

Tshila didn't see Xeiro until he was right next to her, being all silly (as usual). When he dropped his hands down to her waist, she grinned up at him. "Oh, I'm a perfect fit for a lot of things," she teased playfully, reaching up to flick the end of his nose without thinking. Heh. He said date. She was so, stupidly thrilled to finally be out with someone--a guy no less--instead of holed up at her place watching movies, or just hanging out at the circus practicing.

"I'm glad you're feeling better!" she told him. "You look a lot better, which is kind of a relief because you looked really sick last time I saw you and I was kind of worried and all that! So anyway, I'm totally ready to assist! I mean, I'm a decent cook but I figured that since you're a pro, I'd just be your assistant and let you work your magic--I mean, unless there's something you want me to cook but you know, you're probably a lot better at it since it's your job and everything!"

"So just tell me what to do, and I'm there."

**

"Oh, definitely," Angela said. "Well, actually, you're bigger--you should run and grab as much as you can. I'll just tackle anyone who gets in your way. I'd likely make a better body guard than anything." She paused. "Well, I'm sure I could keep an eye out for a few strawberries to gank as well, though. I'm sure we could make something brilliant with them, yeah?"

"Well, you can. I mean, I can too. I'm a fair cook and all that but you work at the bakery so..." She paused. "Have you any idea what we should make today anyway? They've not announced the theme yet but I'd rather not just make it up as we go if we can help it."

Then again, she didn't really expect to win or anything. Pummeling people might be something she was good at--cooking, well, she was okay at it. But it seemed liek something fun to do--a way to get out of the house and see one of the few people she actually knew (sort of).

"Oh! Where are my manners? It's really great to see you, by the way. Actually, I was really glad you accepted my offer."

**

Well this was the only festival Sethrian had entered, so far, that actually made sense for him to enter. It was also probably the only one he had a shot of winning in any form. hopefully. He was already standing at one of the cooking stations, leaning against it, eyeing the ingredients table with the surly gleam of a chef on a mission. He had no idea what their theme would be, no idea what ingredients were available and no idea what he was planning to cook--yet. But he'd made up a mental list of possible recipes so once he saw the ingredients, he could quickly narrow it down and get what he needed.

He just needed the whole thing to get going. At least this was the one place he was more or less in his element. Though his stage fright was bound to screw him up once they got going.

Ugh.

**

Chloe thought the cooking festival would be a great way to get to know some of the other people on the island, which she had yet to do just yet. When she arrived to the place the festival was being held, there were already quite a few people around, most of whom where partnering up. She had no idea if she would find a partner, but that was okay. She would just try to have a bit of fun with.

Selecting an empty cooking station, Chloe set down her large tote bag and pulled out what was possibly the most flowery, girly apron ever--completely with little ruffles along the shoulder and everything. She wrapped the waist ties around her waist all the way and pulled the around to tie them at the front, before leaning against the station and looking around, shooting a pleasant smile to a nearby man.

Well. This was nice.

***

Umi appeared at the cooking festival in another attempt to socialize like a normal young woman. Kade's offer to have her come meet his rabbits was really sweet (it really was--and she might take him up on it to pick one for her father) but she felt sort of weird that her only "friend" was a middle aged bachelor. So she was determined to meet someone closer to her own age--maybe someone who even liked music.

Not that she really expected to have that much luck at a cooking competition.

She couldn't even cook. But that was fine. She wasn't here to win--she was here to meet people!

**


Michael was still learning his way around the island but he decided at the last minute, to show up to the cooking competition. He wasn't entirely sure he would enter it but he thought it might be pretty fun to at least watch from the sidelines. Considering some of the other festivals he'd seen, it seemed like they tended to gather a strange crowd. At the very least, it might be a ood place to meet some people outside his students and the few stray islanders he'd met here and there.

When he arrived, he took a few minutes to just loiter on the edges of the action and watch everyone else. There weren't many familiar people but then, he really didn't know that many people so that wasn't shocking. But there was quite a crowd gathered and some of them definitely looked a little...odd.

This might be interesting after all.

<********>, yeah, the Cooking Festival was going to be fun. Conor was practically bouncing in excitement at the idea of setting his table on fire again because that would be so fun. He loved the Cooking Festival but, more than that, he loved Keith and that Keith was back and willing to cook with him – it was all just genuinely the most awesome thing. Seriously. Conor had been so depressed without Keith and he wasn't ashamed to admit that because, well, he was sure Keith would be depressed to if Conor wasn't there. After all, he had gone all-- ..Ah, yeah, Conor wasn't going to think about that. Instead, he quickly shoved his thoughts back onto fire and how cool cooking could be. He would have to try not to ******** it up though, considering how angry Keith seemed to be about this whole festival. He had some sort of murderous expression that Conor vaguely remembered from their childhood, but, even looking like he was about to stab someone, he still felt happy as hell to be standing next to the man again.

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

Mao hadn't ever been to the Cooking Festival – well, not as a contestant. The man perhaps had arrived to observe once or twice, but finally locating Mei and having a word with her meant he had to find something inane for her to do with him and the festival just so happened to be coming up. It was disappointing that his nephew and/or niece hadn't chosen to participate this year, but he supposed it was for the best. Mao didn't look it, but he was an exceptional cook! ...Okay, maybe he wasn't really anything more than average and his ingredient choices tended on the obscure, but that was part of the benefits of having Mei as a partner. If they lost, it would probably be her fault. He stood beside the woman idly, not saying a word because, well, he had nothing to say to her. Outside of scolding her for avoiding him, but it wasn't like that had ever worked. In the end, he found himself staring with slightly raised brows at Freja, who seemed to be doing the same to him. Part of him wondered if she was jealous, but he was pretty sure it was actually something insanely ridiculous on her mind instead.

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

If Juno was wondering where his brother was, well, the answer was quite simple! After a morning of trying to get into Juno's pants, it seemed the other had already left the inn room before they could get any real practice done. What a shame – Gus had been hoping to brush up on his techniques before they went public. He guessed it would be more thrilling that way, though – he was already prepared before he even caught up with his brother. But, because catching Juno off guard was just so fun, he decided to sneak up on the man from behind – a position that he was all too used to. He slid his hand nimbly down, down, down the front of his brother, until his hand came into contact with a package that may as well be both of theirs at this point. He pulled a condom from the box and unwrapped it, blowing it up, tying it, and popping it behind Juno's head in record time.

“Hey!” He accompanied the pop with the greeting, leaning over to pick up the bits of plastic that remained after the explosion because littering was just not cool. He stood back up and, after pocketing the scraps, shifted his grin into the cheesiest one he could muster, waggling eyebrows and all, “Nice package you got there.”

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

Oh, that tramp, that slut, that whore, that complete and total freak! If Vi wasn't partially afraid of actually throwing down the towel and trying to scratch Tshila's eyes out, she would have already done that rather than try to beat her in this stupid contest. She was in a storm that morning, accidentally messing up her lipstick thrice before meeting up with Sethrian at the cooking festival, finally looking halfway decent. She had to look good! Because, when she won this stupid competition and Xeiro blamed Tshila for ruining his chances at victory, he needed to see a hot woman and not some gross I-just-woke-up thing. Then maybe he would realize she was the one for him and sweep her up to carry her off into a circus-free zone forever.

“Oh, Seth,” She greeted as soon as she got close enough to the guy, twirling a lock of hair as she took the opportunity to glance her key to victory over. Not baaad – not as great as Xeiro, but still not bad. Maybe enough to make Xeiro jealous? ..Fat chance. She looked back up at Seth, “Thanks for showing up! I thought you would stand me up or go join someone else or something. A lot of people probably wanted your help too, right?” He was a professional, after all. It would make sense if people with actual talent were in high demand! Plus, it made her feel good to think he had picked her over a horde of others. Not that she left him much choice.

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

Baba stared down at Ayaka for a long time, her mind slowly working out what the girl was trying to get at. Honestly, it was hard enough understanding English used by someone who spoke it as their first language, but with Ayaka? Sure, she was understanding because it was humiliating whenever someone had to ask her to repeat anything, but it didn't mean the desire for a second chance at that sentence wasn't there. She stalled with a generic, “Yeah?” and set her hand on the shorter's head, glancing at the sky as she continued to mull whatever 'guirrrto' or.. something meant. “I am feeling, ah.. good too.” Hopefully, that was right. She dropped her hand to her side and looked back at Ayaka in expectancy. She was right, right? Could she feel pride now? Because she was already feeling a little proud for figuring that puzzle out. ..Actually, she wasn't going to let Ayaka crush that feeling because it was getting her pretty excited over the competition and she didn't need to have a bad start. “We should get a table now! Are you ready, Ayaka?”

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

Jacob started for the festival with the oddest walk that he was so happy no one he knew saw him. At first, it started out light footed and practically flamboyant because he was going to a festival, a public festival, with his girlfriend. But then he remembered he was going in public with his girlfriend that he really didn't deserve and, s**t, he hoped her brother wasn't there because if Tess got together with someone vaguely like Jacob, he would punch the hell out of him. His footsteps had felt heavy at that point, walking with a mixture of dread and acceptance because he really deserved whatever was dished out at him because of his girlfriend. A hot, awesome girlfriend who was into him and, yep, there goes that happy bounce in his step again. And so, it flipped back and forth the rest of the way there, all the way until he actually reached the table where his Zelynity was. His Zell. He moved to greet her with a quick peck on the lips and totally didn't look around to see if any relatives of hers were around before doing it. “Hey, Zell.” He said after pulling back and looking down at the table she chose in mild curiosity, “So, how much experience do you have?”


[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

He wasn't sure why he had come, to be honest, because it was just probably going to be misinterpreted in the worst way and, oh, he really didn't want to lose his job. Junior had come to the Cooking Festival with the idea that maybe one of his students were participating and maybe he could watch and cheer for them so they knew their principal supported them even outside of school, but.. But then he remembered how one of the previous principals had gone down and that the whole town probably were watching for him to act just a little too interested in the students and.. and he really didn't want to lose his job! He just wanted to do a good job at it, not mess up his chances at keeping it and ruining any scrap of relationship he had with the few people he was able to maintain in his life because he went to a festival with no reason outside of seeing students. He was going to hyperventilate if he didn't find someone fast and, thankfully, he spotted one of his teachers that he sorta knew. Except he didn't know Michael at all so approaching him quickly got awkward shortly after finding himself standing in front of the man.

“Ah. U-um, ah.” He cleared his throat and offered a hand to the man because that was how you greet people when you couldn't speak, right? Offer a sweaty hand that would gross him out and no. He jerked the hand back, holding it to his chest as he struggled to fix this situation because he was already ruining it so bad. He cleared his throat again – he could do this. He could say something without passing out or running off. “I. H-hi, Mr. Pearson, it's.. it's nice to see y-you here, I w-was just..” He faltered as he tried to find an excuse, eventually landing on, “..l-looking for a partner, w-would you.. um, h-happen to be too..?”

Sethrian raised an eyebrow at Vi, nodding slightly. "Good morning." He neglected to tell her that he very much would have liked to stand her up but he was afraid of pissing her off and getting in trouble with his boss since he was half convinced she was sleeping with him. Then again, Xeiro was here with the blonde despite Vi practically throwing herself at him in the bakery so maybe not. Still. He just really hoped she could cook well, or would just stay out of his way.

"Yes," he said dryly. "There were 'a lot' of people vying to partner with me. You arrived just after the line of disappointed rejects dispersed."

Pfft. Yeah right. "What kind of experience do you have cooking?" he asked, starting to reorganize his cooking station to not be so...right handed.

**

Michael was visibly surprised when Junior showed up out of no where and timidly asked to partner up. He hadn't really been expecting to actually join the competition so much as lurk and, possibly, laugh. But joining was fun too. Besides, he'd been wanting to hang out with Junior sometime because the poor man needed a friend or something. And some confidence. It was almost sad how timid he was (not to mention shocking, considering he was the principal and he just didn't seem like he had the qualities to do the job).

"Oh, hey there....uh. Michael. It's Michael. Or Mike. You're not a student so we can be a little more casual with each other right?" he said, grinning and holding his hand out. "It's nice to see you outside of work, too. I'd love to partner up. We can be the last minute entry that steals the show, right?"

Well, he didn't really think so because his cooking skills were just so-so and if Junior wasn't hiding the knowledge of a gourmet chef in that timid little brain of his, they probably wouldn't be making any waves. But it could still be fun.

**

Gray hadn't actually realized he was dealing with a fellow magician until Ezekiel repeated a version of the same trick. He couldn't quite keep his expression from lighting up (though he did feel a little spark of rivalry--but he could forgive it since Ezekiel seemed likeable, and had great fashion sense). He grinned slightly, nodding in agreement. "I could get behind that. I've always had a love for magic--started to pick up some tricks when I was younger and it just grew from there."

Oh. He wanted to partner up? Well, Gray could go for that--especially when he heard Zeke's skills were above average. That definitely sealed the deal because it meant a greater chance of winning and though no one had said anything about it, there was probably a cash prize or something so winning was definitely desirable.

"I'd love to!" he said amiably. Though I'm not sure my cooking skills are anything to brag about, I know my way around a kitchen. Spent a lot of time on my own a few years back, so I had to learn to make edible food at some point."

**

"Doctor," Tshila corrected, still grinning. But the grin changed to a teasing smirk when he started making little flirty remarks (as usual). "Oh, I can definitely handle your goods," she told him, tagging along as he started toward one of the cooking stations. "But I think I'll stick with handling the food for this competition, just so we don't get arrested." She gave him an innocent smile as she started poking through all the gadgets and kitchen tools.

"Anyway, I'm really glad we're here together and all. Thanks for asking me. I am totally determined to win! Barring something weird happening, like faulty equipment exploding or me somehow messing up a flambe and burning your shirt off--not that I didn't totally consider the possible value of it, I'll admit."

**

Umi was wondering if she was going to be stuck entering alone when she was suddenly approached by an eye-patched man with long hair. Who bowed. It was a little weird, but she was kind of amused so she laughed slightly at his overly formal greeting, followed by a significantly less formal request to partner.

"Oui. But I think our mothers might protest, so perhaps we shall just be the best team, yes?" It was a pretty lame joke but then, so was his greeting so she figured they were on an even playing field here. Strangely, this guy looked really familiar though she was certain she hadn't seen him before. She couldn't put her finger on why he felt familiar though.

Oh! Right. Introductions. "My name is Umi. And what should I call you? Or should I just use 'partner'?"

...Okaaay. Vi frowned as she dropped the hand playing with her hair and went to crossing her arms instead. She guessed she wasn't his type or something because, really, she expected at least some pep in his tone or anything to indicate he was happy to be here with her. Instead, he sounded bored or like he was looking down on her or something that she didn't like. Before she could ask him what his problem was, though, he had directed a question to her that shut her mouth pretty quick. She hadn't expected him to actually care about her 'cooking experience' – actually, she had sort of expected he would just tell her to stand in a corner while he did all the work. Like, be his pretty cheerleader.

“..Um.” Well, she could be honest and give both of the the chance to win factoring in her severe lack of capability within a kitchen or she could see Tshila handling tools like a professional beside Xeiro while flirting with him and ooooh, no. She wasn't incompetent today. “A lot. I mean, what, do you think I'm stupid? Of course I know how to cook! I can do anything you ask me to. I cook all the time at home in the kitchen, where everyone cooks.” That proved things, right? She looked to the cooking tools and tried to find something she recognized, buuut holding a knife and telling him that you chop things with it probably would be a bit of an overkill. Instead, she stood there and waited for him to accept her claims so they could move on.

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

..Ouch. Jacob could almost feel pain as that of all things was brought up right after they got together. He had hoped that maybe she would forget all about that or not even be aware of it because he had done so well to hide it in the past, his 'gay' crisis aside. He wasn't going to cry, though. Not right there in public and when he was wide awake – that had been years ago, okay. It didn't stop him from looking like she had just kneed him in his nether regions because she may as well have done that! He turned his head away to maybe hide the wince a bit, but a hand to his chest brought him back to full-spirits with a grin. Awe, yeah, feel the rippling thunder under there, babe, Jacob was built and manly. He rose his brows at her as she pulled the hand back, raising his shoulders and 'subtly' flexing his biceps with what he guessed was some awkward looking exaggerated yawn. Come on, succumb to temptation again; his ego could use some more strokes~ “Hrm, I'm pretty above average. But, you should know that, Zell.” Now, wink and hope that she gets what he's referring to.

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Oh. Oh, he was accepting his request without hesitation and.. and even upgraded Junior to first name status?! He could pass out right there if he didn't know that usually meant people would leave and take back whatever they said because that was just such a weird thing to do. So, he took the man's hand and tried not to shake too much because oh, jeez, was he holding his hand too long and was that too tight, did Michael hate him already, he hoped he didn't hate him already, oh, no, no, no. Three seconds into the shake and Junior had to jerk it back because that was getting to be too much for him to handle. He swallowed and brushed his bangs from his eyes, trying to look at Michael above his shoulders at least but it wasn't too successful. He either ended up staring at the sky or just to the left or right or anywhere but until he plain gave up.

“Y-yeah, if you, um, want to. ..I-it's okay if you don't, I m-mean I won't.. fire you or anything.” He really hoped that was appropriate to say – or was that a threat? He felt his throat dry as he continued quickly, at least managing to look Michael in the face as he tried to save himself, “I r-really won't! ..I-I'm Junior o-or, um, Y-Yoakim, but, I don't.. really like that, so Junior, please?” He looked to the few spare tables and then to the others that had started to gather – ah.. “W-we should find a table, uh, but we need to sign up t-too..”

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Another Waldroup to the mix! Brian had come to the Cooking Festival probably just a bit too late, but he couldn't help that. He almost forgot that he had invited Matthew Young to the festival as a partner, since the poor guy was pretty new and probably had no idea what to do with himself on the weekends. Besides, ever since Asa had disappeared off the face of the planet, Brian had been at a loss on what to do too! There weren't really many options for a teenager to make friends on the island, what with the low population, so a guy with some kind of strap thing on his shoulder just had to do. He had to ask Matthew where he got his clothes, though, now that he thought about it. He couldn't imagine getting away with that fashion back in the city, but this place was fair game with how isolated they were! Heck, Brian could probably walk around in a witch costume and get away with it if he wanted to. He considered his new options as he stood beside an empty station, watching the square for Matthew to arrive so he could wave him over.

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John wasn't sure how he got to the Town Square for the festival – he was actually on some kind of errand and.. and now that he saw his dads there, he actually felt pretty uncomfortable being here at all. He was currently hiding his face beside an empty table as he waited for Anna to arrive. He wasn't sure if his dad would be okay with him competing against him, but he couldn't help it! He was just doing his regular chores when he ran into a new woman who actually looked really nice and.. he couldn't help not saying hello to her. Which eventually lead to a brief conversation in which he mentioned there was a community event and.. and that somehow lead to them both agreeing to go as a team to the festival. John had trouble saying no, regardless of what it was, but he guessed he didn't mind helping a woman feel welcome to the town. He just hoped Anna would show up and not get lost or busy – he really should have stayed behind to help her..