yetanotherwonderfullife | [EVENT] Flower Festival

[EVENT] Flower Festival - Spring 1

((I figure this can be an icebreaker type post. All are welcome to celebrate, talk, get to know each other, etc. No rules for this festival, post at your leisure!))

Stillwater was particularly colorful when the first of spring came around. Different types of flowers decorated the buildings, beautiful banners strung from rooftop to rooftop. Oh yes, Stillwater went all out when it came to festivals.

In the center of town square, Anders stood at a podium, leaning haphazardly on the oak. Any minute now the festivities would start. A gorgeous flower viewing, a wonderful parade, and of course, stalls full of food and flowers to purchase. Running a hand through his hair, the mayor straightened himself, adjusting his tie with a friendly smile. The clock struck noon and music began to float from the nearby band. Petals fell softly from what seemed like the heavens, scattering beauty all over the cobblestone streets.

Esther, the town hall receptionist, stood to the side with pamphlets full of information tucked under her arm.

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Letting out a little snort followed by a chuckle, she shook her head quickly. "Can you believe that?! Not even enough for a shot!" Scoffing at this apparent injustice, Esther urged him to follow her. At least they could fake that they were doing something festival related. "You should sometime. Do some good volunteer work. Makes you feel important, you know?" Mmm sarcasm.

With not too much better to do, he figured he'd go ahead and follow Esther. "I could skip my morning workout and make it up by hauling crap in for a festival, how's that?" He snickered while they walked and glanced over his shoulder at a few of the stalls... This really was just a glorified market, planned events aside. Eh! It kept money in the town, either way. "How've you been, by the way? It's been a bit."

"Just got back in town two days ago." Esther peered into a nearby stall, scrunching her nose up. Same old same old. Nothing really made today all that special. They lived in a rural town after all, so flowers weren't so special. Still, kids loved it, so why not. "So I'm alright, I guess. Needing a night out real bad." Esther smiled, nabbing a free sample of some farm's cheese. Not bad! "You free later?"

"Yeah, I'm always free." Cliff did not often make plans, beyond figuring that he'd probably end up at the tavern most nights. Not that he was a drunkard, he didn't always drink himself into a stupor, it was just one of his favorite spots in town. Nice atmosphere and good drinks, alcoholic or not, with a generous pricetag? He wasn't going to turn that down. The man nabbed a piece of cheese for himself, and eyed the big fat cow the farm had dragged all the way here and penned up. Bigger animals were better, right? If so, they'd probably won that contest.

"Holy cow." Literally. That thing was HUGE. Esther's eyes widened as she went to the pen, leaning against the wood. "She's gorgeous! Go you!" Esther grabbed a little piece of paper, writing in her vote for Bessy over here, slipping the paper into a jar by the cow.

Turning back to Cliff, she nodded. "Drinks tonight are on me then, good sir!"

"Never understood these competitions. Diet probably matters and all that, but isn't it just luck? Like, getting a... Good cow." Saying that got him a slightly dirty look from one of the teenaged girls behind the little cheese stall. ".. Orrr it's probably more diet, yeah." He coughed, giving the cow a short look and deciding he wouldn't vote for it. Pfff!

Cliff was happy to scurry away when they did, and then it was on to a butcher! Meat was something he could get behind, especially these free samples of sausage. The fat butcher guy was grillin' them up right there, too. "Awful kind of you, but I won't turn it down. Lemme get one of these..." Hmmm. "A few of these, maybe."

"Good, you aren't allowed to turn it down." Nudging his side gently with her elbow, something in her smile said she'd probably hold him down until he agreed to let her treat him. Though of course, that wasn't a worry.

Waltzing up to the butcher's stall, she tasted a sample, eyes lighting up. "Oh wow, sir, you are GOOD." Digging into her pocket, she yanked out some cash, purchasing some meat on the spot. Always good to have some laying around.

Cliff figured he'd hog a few pieces of sample-sausage while she paid, and it worked. Right under the guy's nose! Still, he oughta buy something. "Uhh... I'll take some cured ham, good stuff to have around." Also meant he wouldn't have to keep it cool, which on a day like this meant running home. The man paid and got his hunk of salted meat, then pretty haphazardly tucked it into his jacket's pocket. Good enough.

"So I know it looked like I read that pamphlet, but I definitely didn't. What, uh... What's there to see, here? Any sack races? I wanna watch kids eat dirt, here."

"I'll pick up my order after I'm done workin, mmkay?" Esther flashed a thumbs up at the butcher, turning with her hands on her hips. "Well, nice to know my hard work didn't go to waste."

Pointing around, she nodded, "Got some kids games, featuring wheelbarrows and sack races. There's also a flower viewing if you're into that, a parade... basically a lot of standing around awkwardly. My personal favourite."

"I'm sure everyone else read it. ... Most of them, anyways. Y'know, kids make paper airplanes... Trust me, they're going to good use." He snickered, rolling up one of his sleeves to try and even them out. Cliff's sleeves were never even, despite how often he tried. If they ever got into perfect equilibrium, it lasted a few minutes at best. "Not into flowers, don't like parades... /Huge/ fan of standing around awkwardly, though. Dunno if you knew that about me." Oh, sarcasm! One of his favorite tools.

"Oh yeah paper airplanes, that's good then. That or litter I'll get to clean up in the marnin." Esther rolled her eyes, but didn't seem too bothered on the outside. A secret part of her actually enjoyed her job, even when she had to make dumb fliers.

Glancing around at the huge displays and cliche falling petals, she let out a sigh through her nose. "Standing around awkwardly's how we met, I think."

"Well, if we pass out in the same place and you catch me groggy, there's a slim chance I'll choke out a 'yes' if you ask for some help with that." Another snicker, and then he nearly breathed in a damned petal. Fuck! "Ergh. Slimmer chance I'll follow through, by the way. We're talking zero." Now, in regards to how they'd met... Well, pretty much. At another festival like this, bored out of their minds... This was almost like a callback, right here.

"Meant to ask, is it weird taking orders from someone who's, like... Pretty much your age? Looks it, anyway."

"Don't eat the flowers, I coated them in anthrax." Esther slid her hands in her pockets, taking easy steps. It was actually pretty nice looking for a festival about stuff that grew out of the ground.

"He's insane. And kind of an idjit." Gesturing towards Anders, who was doing a little dance on the platform, Esther scrunched up her nose. "So it's really annoying. It's like your mentally deficient older brother telling you how to run a town. Why did we put him in charge again?"

"Dunno! Wasn't my decision. Didn't participate in it, anyway. Guess it's just a family thing. Oh, damn! There's the brewery." Cliff pointed toward a stall, namely the brewery that their tavern got most of its beer from, and then started right on over. "Think they'll have free samples? Hell, I'd pay for a glass right now." It was late enough in the day! Ish. Not past noon yet, was it? Oh well, one couldn't hurt.

When they got there, it turned out he had a keg set up! Cliff seemed to know the owner, at least by the way they chatted, and he was able to get away with two free mugs of beer... They got to keep said mugs, too. Handy! They were made of wood, shaped like a keg and had the logo carved into the front. Pretty neat, though he felt bad not paying for that at least. "I'll keep this in the shop, or something. Free advertisement and all that."

Well if it wasn't by voting, it probably was a family thing. That, or Anders somehow wormed his way into office. He was passionate enough!

At the sight of alcohol, it was all she could do to not bolt for it like a thirsty dog. Attractive. Accepting her free mug, she held it up with a grin. "Cheers! To not doing a damn thing we're supposed to!" Seemed legit. She'd probably put the mug on her desk, though that didn't really promote a clean authority.

"Volunteer work is whatever you make it, right? So hey." Cliff lifted his mug, clacking it against Esther's, and then had himself a healthy drink. Yeah, he'd just put this thing on his desk in the shed! Good. They were back to walking, mostly because he didn't feel the need to /buy/ any beer... The man bought plenty on some nights at the tavern, so that was feeding their income at any rate. "Country life's weird. Dunno how far I'd make it without alcohol."

At the beautiful sound of their mugs clashing, she took a large swig with a smile. Nothing like a nice cold one to dull the trumpets. The band continued to play that monotonous wa wa song as they walked.

Nodding in agreement, Esther sighed. "Sometimes I wish I hadn't moved, if we're being honest here."

Yeah, that music was gonna get reeaal old real quick. He was already annoyed, and it was only going to get worse from here. "I know what you mean, sort of. Came here to chill out, and it's been working so far... So I can't really complain as much." Cliff had another large swig from the mug in his hand, having a look around... He shot one of the guys playing the trumpets a small glare, though the man didn't seem to react. Feh!

"Oh well, at least you've got a drinking buddy. A few, I'd hope, hanging out with me and only me sounds like a boring time." He snickered at that, and gave her a little nudge.

Anders was paying the band handsomely. You could glare, throw things, scream, even punch them square in the jaw and they wouldn't react. They would earn that check no matter what it took.

Still, Esther was on the side of punching them either way. The town tune, some frankenstein's monster-esque mashup of several already established songs, blared in their ears at a nonstop repeat. Just shoot her now.

She was, however, very thankful for the company of her pal over here. When nudged, the redhead made a funny face. Eyes crossed and mouth widened, Esther did a little wobbly jig. "Sooo boring. When you walked up I was debating on hiding."

Probably better that Cliff /didn't/ have that particular knowledge, because he'd be up there stepping on toes and shoving dudes left and right just for the fun of it. He wasn't the biggest fan of their city's little theme song, it sort of sounded like a cacophonous mess, but didn't have any better ideas either... So the man usually kept his mouth shut about it. If he were a musician, he'd probably be in charge of it! And own a different shop. Wouldn't that be fun?

Enough of that daydream though, he had more beer to sip. "Hiding's still an option, at least somewhere where we won't hear that damned music." Cliff groaned as a particular jumbled part of the town theme started right up. Uuugh! "Liking that idea."

"We'd have to be veeery sneaky." Throwing back a bit more of her drink, Esther looked for an opening. It seemed that most people were busy looking elsewhere, and the pair could definitely slide away. But where would they go?

"Last one to the fields gets to put their ear on the tuba!" And with that, she was off, bolting down the stone roadways. Feet pounding on the ground, Esther ran like a bat out of hell, aiming for Aster Fields. So much for sneaky.

"I don't think anyone's gonna miss us, don't worry." Everyone seemed a little too busy with the festival itself to pay attention, as well... So that was a bonus. Esther seemed to have the same idea, and suddenly she was off! "Hey, wh-- That's hardly fair!" Cliff took off anyway, definitely a match for the girl thanks to his exercise regiment. Hah! After several moments he'd caught up, though couldn't seem to edge her out and get ahead... "How 'bout we walk, huh?! I'm liking that idea more!"

Cackling at his attempt to outrun her, Esther slowed. It was just fun to watch him squirm. With the fields in view, the music slowly began to dwindle to a hum. Tucking her free hand in her pocket, the girl downed the last of her beer. A shame, really.

"Shoulda grabbed more before we left." Esther pouted slightly, her accent thicker when she had a little alcohol in her.

He was happy to slow down when Esther did, and the man pulled his jacket back and off to tie it around his waist a little sloppily. That left him in a button-up that was not very buttoned-up! "Nah, you should just drink slower." Cliff lifted his mug, it still had about half of its contents left, and then had himself a swig. "That, and a ton of alcohol plus the Aster Fields probably equals us wandering around lost like idiots." Wouldn't be the first time he'd gotten lost thanks to the drink, but it was never a fun time once said drink wore off.

Unlatching the field gate, Esther waded into the tall grass. Pushing the blades aside, the girl waded into a more clear spot. Flopping on her butt, the redhead stretched her legs out. It was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of festival life.

Glancing up at Cliff, she patted the spot beside her. "Take a load off stranger."

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