The Charity Benefit (9) : A number of the local businesses in the area have come together to organize a charity benefit. In addition to a silent auction, there is also an evening charity ball. The community has been wanting to raise funds to fix up a few public areas for some time now and in the spirit of the Star Festival, these businesses have donated several prizes to the event to encourage people to attend. Some old warehouses and estates have been cleared out by the city, so there’s a wide variety of strange antiques and hidden treasures. As one of the local residents you have been kindly invited to attend! Formal attire is encouraged but only required if you plan to attend the Ball. It’s a good opportunity to dress up, meet new people, and maybe go home with something neat. Who knows what you can find to trade with Almadel, anyway? And, he’s always back in town for the Star Festival.
Players can roleplay any part of the Charity Benefit, including but not limited to mingling, dancing, enjoying the buffet, or leaving with a treasure they acquired There is no ORP set up for this but players can create group RPs if they like!
The Charity Ball was one of the highlights of the Destiny City Star Festival, and Yukio had rarely missed it, even as a small child. His parents went every year, dressing up in their finest to dance the night away; they dressed Yukio up in a little tux too, and he charmed everyone who saw him. He still dressed in a tux for the ball, but he was too grown now to be a charming little lad, so unless he had a date he usually hung out near the drinks table and people-watched, moving to dance when the music allowed solo dancing.
This year, Yukio had a date: his friend and budding social media influencer Abbey. He was beyond happy that she had agreed to attend the ball with him, since he wasn't sure how she felt about formal do's like this. But he knew it looked good for him to attend; he was learning more about self-promotion from Abbey, there would be photographers there from the local press, and if there was anyone he knew who loved the camera more, it was Abbey.
Yukio cut a suave figure in his tux as he entered the ball with Abbey, his hair smoothed back into a low ponytail and wearing his ever-present round shades. He knew he looked good. He knew they looked good. They were there to dance and be noticed. The fact that it was all for charity was a bonus.
"Ready to turn some heads?" he murmured to his companion with a quirked eyebrow.
xBronze Coffee
Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 12:59 pm
Abbey had dressed up for the occasion. Donning her favorite color blue, she wore a very lovely dress that was long in length. It had a middle panel that was made of lace and classy cutouts, and the top exposed her shoulders, clavicles, and cleavage while still being very modestly covered. Her short hair was wavy now, the blue and blond newly touched up so her darker roots weren't exposed. Her makeup wasn't too flashy, almost making a 'natural' look on her, just a bit more dewy and sparkly. Her shoes were simple flats that she could easily hide because of the length, and honesty, Abbey wasn't about hurting her feet when they weren't on display.
She looked over at Yukio, somehow looking even more mysterious and suave in a suit, and she hummed at his question.
"Ready as I'll ever be. Formal events are so stressful, but they're fun too. I ....can say I haven't been to this ball." She'd wanted to go, but never had an invite, never even gotten an offer to be a plus one. She had her contact cards in her purse, ready to hand them out as she mingled with the city's finest.
"You'll have to tell me what there is to do." She adjusted her dress and looked up at him with a wink. "Lead the way."
"Well, we can mingle, we can dance – when the music's right, of course." Yukio thought for a moment. What was there to do at a formal ball? "Oh, there's a silent auction too, with all kinds of neat stuff. And a buffet, if you're hungry."
He thought some more as he led Abbey into the large ballroom, noticing the various press reps that were in attendance, generally gathered near the entrance snapping pictures of the latest arrivals. "I think the most important thing for us to do here is be seen. The press loves this event – they cover it every year that I've been going. I'm sure there's a picture of me as a little kid in a tux in the newspaper archives somewhere." A soft snicker escaped him; there were probably more than one of those pictures floating around.
Tucking Abbey's hand in the crook of his arm, he nodded at the photographers as they passed. "So. What would you like to do first?"
Bronze Coffee
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2022 8:37 pm
She caught the photographer's glances and stopped him to pose every now and again until they got inside. The decor was very beautiful, and her smile only got wider. "Well, we'll definitely have to dance. You don't even have to worry about heels. A cheeky grin was given and she just looked toward the food.
"If only I was twenty-one...." She sighed wistfully at the thought of champagne, but she was underage and wouldn't risk it. "Maybe, we start with whatever virgin drinks they have, and we see if anyone wants to mingle. Maybe brows the auction. I wonder if I could win a spa day.." Spa days were something she really loved, but rarely got. Often times Abbey was simply too busy to enjoy them properly. "I hope we meet some elite. I can give them my cards."
To his credit, Yukio posed when Abbey did, only his version of posing was to stand still and give the photographers his best deadpan, flat expression, never removing his little round shades. He was quite enjoying this. "Hmm, why not give a card to the photographers? They might be able to pin names to photos that way," he suggested. "The press is your friend." Thinking for a moment, he added, "You know, I should get some business cards made..."
They eventually cleared the gauntlet of photographers and press. "The drinks table is a great place to start. You get a drink and a prop to talk to people with. And I'm sure they have virgin drinks – not everyone drinks booze."
Guiding her toward the bar setup, Yukio scanned the crowd for anyone he recognized. "Hey, there's a couple of DJs I know here, and a local metal band. We're not so out of place after all." He turned to the person making the drinks. "Two virgin sunrises, please." Looking at Abbey, he gave her a rare smile. "A spa day would be great to win. We'll see what they have at the auction."
Bronze Coffee
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 12:11 pm
A wide grin was cast Yukio's way when he mentioned giving her card to the cameramen. And that's what she did. She walked up to them, blew a kiss for the cameras, and handed out her cards with a very confident: "Hi, I'm Abbey Blackstone. Social media star, influencer. Find me on the socials here." With that, she winked at them and went back to Yukio, where they made their way into the affair.
"I can help you with the business cards. I'll link you to who designed mine and then who printed them." Why not help out someone else who was in her social sphere?
She let Yukio order for her and listened to him explain he knew a few people here. Her eyebrows shot up. "Wow, you're better connected than me. I just know a couple of boutique owners and some brands give me a code." Nothing compared to potentially knowing someone who could boost your career. She was working on that.
With drink in hand now, she brought it to her lips and sipped carefully due to her lipstick.
"If it's a two pack, you can come with me," Abbey said it off-handedly, almost as if she hadn't thought about it before she spoke.
Yukio blinked at the spa day comment, though Abbey couldn't see this since his shades were in the way. An eyebrow did go up, though. "Really? That would be fantastic." He'd been to a Japanese-style onsen once, which his mother was most disappointed with, but never a spa. And with Abbey, it was bound to be an experience he wouldn't soon forget. Now he too hoped that one of the auction items was a spa day.
He'd only been musing aloud about business cards, but when Abbey mentioned hooking him up with her sources, his eyebrow went up again. "That would be great, yeah. I don't have an artistic bone in my body – I can write beautiful code and make music happen, but art is beyond me. Thank you, I really appreciate the connection." This was proving to be a most productive date. And a fun one – but any time with Abbey was bound to be fun.
"All the local DJs know each other. We're a pretty tight-knit group. That's C the Cat in the orange," he said as he gestured with his drink toward a dark-haired woman in a tight, sparkly gown, "and over there are Milky and Dynamo – they've been dating for years now. We all have a private Discord where we talk and help each other with gigs and things. It's not competitive at all." A man in a blue tux with a 'hawk grinned and waved at him, his arm around another with a long white ponytail; Yukio raised his glass and nodded in response. "They're going to be asking me all about you, I'm sure," he smirked.
Bronze Coffee
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 4:08 pm
"The friendship among you guys isn't heard of in my circles. It's all about who to befriend to get you further." Abbey's voice sounded cold and a little distant as she spoke, staring at the drink in her hand before shrugging. "I'm a little envious. I was never musically inclined though! I can barely handle a song." While she wasn't bad, Abbey wouldn't say she was particularly talented.
She did wave at the one with the mohawk before settling her gaze back on Yukio. "It's got to be nice to have some people to throw your ideas at though. I usually do it with a couple of friends from school. They don't really get it, but they're very good at giving me advice."
"I recognize a couple of people here. There's the mayor over there," she motioned with her glass as she spoke. "Ah, some of the more notable writers from the papers, too." That was very exciting. Maybe she'd get her name out there with more than her photos after all.
Yukio looked at her and his heart broke. Abbey didn't have the sort of community he did with his fellow DJs; it all sounded so cold and cutthroat. At least she had her school chums to bounce ideas off of, but still…
"You know, I think you'd make a great addition to the Discord," he mused, an idea forming. "We don't have much in the way of self-promotion abilities. Seriously. We get most of our gigs by sheer luck sometimes. Even Cat, who's pretty popular. You know a lot about that – maybe you could help us out. Be like our PR guru." He didn't think any of the others would mind having Abbey around; in fact, they would probably welcome her input and ideas.
"They could even spread your name around to like clob owners and event promoters." His eyebrow went up, quizzically this time, as he slid his shades down to peer over the tops. "What do you think?"
The music really did kind of suck…
Bronze Coffee
Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2022 4:11 am
It was her turn to raise he brows as he just casually invited her to the Discord. Her mouth opened and honestly, for once in her life, Abbey didn't know what to say really. So she blinked at him with those unmatching eyes before her smile turned almost shy and her cheeks turned a very noticeable shade of red. "Ah, I'm not a PR person.. I just... know how I grew my own career and things like that. I'm not..."
She wasn't sure if she knew any actual club owners, despite going to clubs quite frequently. Taking a deep breath, and then a long drink of her 'wish it wasn't virgin' drink, and then looked over at him again.
"I ....If you talk to everyone and they all agree, I guess I wouldn't mind. I'm not sure about booking gigs, because I've got brands who usually do that for me. But... I can show you guys how to write posts and use hashtags and stuff." That part she was good at. She knew how to market without people involved. That part was learned from trial and error, doing a lot of research on posting times, things like that. She looked down at her own dress and used her free hand to brush dirt that didn't exist off of it and then pushed her hair back behind her ear.
"So, when does the music pick up? I could go for some dancing." This was said kind or rushed, her face still a very interesting shade of red, but it wasn't quite as intense now.
"We'd still be booking our own gigs," Yukio said, smiling slightly, "but self-promotion is where we need the help. Like business cards – I don't think any of us have business cards. Half of us don't even have demos to hand out. It's such a word of mouth business, and a lot of us don't even realize it's a business. Took me a long time to understand that." He didn't want to say it took until tonight, seeing Abbey handing out a business card, to realize that what he was doing as a DJ was a business.
"I'll bring it up on the Discord tomorrow, after they quiz me about you, but I'm sure they'd love to have you on the server with us." Finishing off his virgin sunrise, Yukio felt deeply self-satisfied. This was how you got things done: by just going for it. It was how he'd become a DJ in the first place, by weaseling his way into a club and nonchalantly taking his turn with the other DJs.
And Abbey was so damn cute when she blushed. He felt like he'd scored a personal victory, flustering her like that. Not like that was the goal, just an interesting bonus.
He glanced up at the stage and the DJ's setup; it wasn't anyone he knew who was spinning, but most of the music was what was euphemistically termed "butt-rock" – primarily oldies and Top 40 songs. "Hmmm. Let's go see what we can do to liven this place up some." Taking Abbey by the hand, he led her up to the front of the ballroom to the DJ stand. "Hey man," he said over the music, "do you have anything livelier? There are a lot of us younger folks here who want to dance, and what you're spinning isn't doing it for us."
The DJ, a guy maybe in his 30s, grinned. "I thought no-one would ever ask." He went to his CD binder and pulled out a disc, which he queued up on his deck. As the song that had been playing ended, a driving beat came over the PA system, and an audible cheer rose from the ball attendees. It was older dance music -- DJ Tiesto -- but it was dance music.
Yukio looked at Abbey with a faint smirk on his lips. "Better?"
Bronze Coffee
Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:45 am
It was actually not easy to make Abbey as flustered as Yukio made her. She rubbed at her face, lightly so she wouldn't smudge her makeup, and then just shook her head again. If things went well, maybe she'd have a bunch more friends. Friends that didn't know exactly what she could talk about, but they would understand in a way her school friends wouldn't. That alone could prove helpful to everyone. She would help them with their reach, and in return, she'd get friendship? Sign her up. Sounded not toxic.
Then he went to go talk to the DJ and the blond couldn't help but grin at him, all white teeth and painted lips. Definitely one way of doing things.
"Much." With that, her empty cup was put on a table and she reached for his hands. With confidence, she made her way to where a couple of others had been dancing to the slowest music alive while walking with Yukio and then grinned. "Now show me your moves, Yukio!"
Yukio let Abbey lead him away from the DJ table and out onto the dance floor, an amused almost-smile on his face. Already he could see some of the ball attendees starting to move to the dance music beat, while others looked around or stood there or tried their hand at dancing to the music as well. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Cat giving him a grin and a thumbs up. All in all, a success.
And show his moves he did. Still holding Abbey's hands, he began his customary slinky-snaky dance in time with the driving beat. He drew her toward him, assuming a formal dance hold with her for a few moments, then spun her and started tearing it up, feet and hips moving with enthusiasm and shoulders shimmying back and forth as he took her hands again.
He paused just long enough to bend over and speak close to her ear. "Let's see what you got now, Abbey."
Bronze Coffee
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 6:46 pm
Watching him dance again, she couldn't help but grin. It was an odd sort of dance, but she really did have fun trying to work her own moves in with his. The spin made her laugh and she gripped his hands right back.
His lips that close to her ears did things to Abbey she didn't expect. With a little shiver, she winked at his words and then pulled away. This beat wasn't too far off from one she had a dance for. So she counted and then started with some of the lesser-known TikTok dances. It wasn't even all waist-up dancing. She had some great footwork that was hidden beneath her dress. At one point though, she gathered it in one hand and spun a few times on the tip toes of one foot. She ended it by sweeping her leg, dropping the skirt, and twirling her way back into Yukio's space.
Yukio watched Abbey dancing away to the beat, nodding along and doing a slight shoulder dance as she moved and gyrated. A faint smile crossed his face as she revealed her footwork and spun back close to him, the closest thing to a grin he would allow himself. She was a very good dancer.
"That was great," he replied, clapping his hands before taking her hands back in his. "I absolutely loved it." Holding onto her hands, he began to dance again, less vigorously this time, just doing some little snaky moves like he did when he was behind his DJ stand. Then he drew her close and held her in a loose formal dance position, lightly moving his feet in time with the music.
"I could stay doing this all night," he murmured to her. And he meant it.
Bronze Coffee
think we're close to done with this one? or do you want to do the auction bit too? heart
