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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"Two young people is better than one young person. Then again, I'm not old over here." Cliff definitely acted a few years older than he was, blame the military if anything. He certainly felt older than he was! "Either way, you're a part of this town's, uh..." He was looking for the right word, and glanced over to a slowly approaching cow while doing so. "Infrastructure. That's the word."

Animals were probably his least favorite part of living here, not that Cliff absolutely hated them or anything... They were just technically-uncontrollable creatures, and he was always worried one might flip out. The chances with these cows were hilariously low, given they looked more interested in grass at the moment. "You're important, go with that. A good drinking buddy to keep me from going insane, at the very least."

He had a point, and Esther just nodded as he spoke. Things would be a little chaotic if she wasn't there to hold them in place. Their Mayor was a bit over the top and childish, and though he was hard to control, someone had to do it.

The cows nibbled on the grass around them, little bells dangling around their necks. The redhead patted the side of the nearest bovine, pulling herself up with a huff. Grass stuck in her hair, but she made no effort to pull it out. "Oh sweetie I don't think I can save your sanity. S'loooong gone."

"/More/ insane, then. How's that?" He was still sane enough to fix up this town's broken crap, so Cliff would call it an acceptable level. One of the cows nudged at him accidentally while going for some grass, and it got quite the death-glare! The thing didn't even seem to notice though, and he would hardly follow up on that silent threat... Feh! It went unnoticed, and no cows came out hurt.

Cliff scooted away from that just a bit and then turned to look at Esther instead. "How long's this festival go, anyway? Or rather, how long're we gonna have to avoid all those people?" It might be a little hard to detect, but he /did/ sound sarcastic with that question.

"Fair 'nuff." Esther nodded with a teasing grin, picking absently at the grass. The trumpets were still blaring, and laughter echoed off the hills. Quite the shindig goin on down there.

"Till like.... 19:00." Esther peered up at the sun, cupping her hand over her eyes to shield them. It looked like they had quite a while to wait.

Well, that sounded like forever. Cliff didn't much /mind/ an almost-forever with Esther, thankfully, so this would probably be all right. "That's not too bad. Stuck with me until then, at any rate." The man didn't often grin, but he had the vaguest hint of one at the moment. "Might be able to sneak our way into the bar a little later, if we try." Was it even open? He was really hoping so...

"Oh noooo." Esther feigned disappointment at the prospect of spending time with him, wiggling her toes.

"Oh we'll find a way in. If I have to kill a man." Nodding, the girl began to pluck some of the grass out of her hair. "Should be open towards sundown."

"Sneaking around's all about keeping low and using shade, Ginger." Yeah, man! He totally learned that in the military... Not really, unless you counted sneaking out at night without any superiors noticing. That wasn't formal training, if it wasn't clear enough. "Oh, and being able to sprint a fair distance helps, too. Worst case scenario."

Honestly, by eveningtime no one was generally ever paying attention... The trumpet band would probably do wonders in dulling their senses, to boot. He almost felt sorry for anyone running stalls; they'd have to listen to that crap for the whooole damned thing.

"Tch! I know that, Goggles." The nickname made her scrunch up her nose, but she didn't object. Esther lacked experience in the sneaking department. When she was younger, the redhead would attempt to sneak out at night, only to get busted by her dad halfway down the stairs. Every damn time.

"We'll depart at dawn, Iron Man." Making a pistol with her hands, she pointed her index fingers at a cow. "Isn't that right, Bessy?"

"Mmmmoooo."

"Well, that or we can hop along the rooftops. People never look up, but something tells me you don't have the required, uhh..." Cliff gestured a little aimlessly, then snickered. "We'll call it coordination." In truth, he probably didn't either. The guy was always sore, and jumping across gaps like that wouldn't do him too well. It was a suggestion for the sake of joking, at any rate!

The man gave Bessy over there a sidelong glare, he wasn't a fan of the noise these things made either, and then turned a much less threatening gaze back to Esther. "So how've you been, anyway? It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Lowering her hand pistol, Esther nodded. She'd be the first to admit that she wasn't exactly a gymnast. Klutzy and a bit loud, this girl was the last person you'd want to take roof hopping for some afternoon espionage.

Bessy waddled off towards the rest of the herd, letting out another loud moooooo. Shrugging, Esther stared down at the grass, picking at it. She seemed a bit distracted, tip-toeing around her answer. "Yeah it has. M'okay. You know me." Pursing her lips into an awkward smile, she pushed the topic back onto him. "You've been doing good too, right? No broken bones while I was away?"

Cliff didn't know her too well, they'd been pretty casual drinking buddies but that hardly meant the two got any in-depth conversation in. Still, he knew the girl well enough to figure how a usual day went. "Well, happy to hear it. Hope we can get back into the nightly routine, eh?" The man brought one of his knees up and rested a forearm on it, sighing in a way that suggested neither happiness or boredom. Pretty neutral!

"Yeah, I've been doing all right. Everyone always needs something fixed, so it's rarely a slow day." He still didn't have many friends, though that was his own fault for making no attempts in making them. "Hadrian's little sister comes by and visits pretty often, think she likes to watch." The little girl was probably the only person he 'hung out' with on a regular basis who wasn't Esther. Still, it kept him happy enough, and provided enough social stimulation to last the day.

Esther's home life was less than glamorous. She hardly shared information about it, and liked it that way. Whenever someone would happen into Town Hall to find her missing, the mayor would just mumble something about her heading home for a week or two. It usually ended up being three, and she'd return to Stillwater drained and less than happy. If she was drunk enough, she'd probably spill, but even then she was a tough nut to crack. Not that anyone had tried.

Esther grinned, nodding. "Oh Pam's adorable." She'd seen the girl flitting about town before, and occasionally they'd shared a wave. The redhead was absolutely up for their nightly routine returning. Having just returned from another romp into the city, Esther could use a pick me up.

Pam was about the only person that Cliff might conceivably not be so callous with. Esther certainly got to peek into that side as well, but it was really hard to act annoyed when in the presence of a sick (technically dying-ish) little girl. "Yeah, she's alright. Thinks I don't eat and always tries to cook me breakfast, even if it's evening time." He glanced up to the sky, but found it a little too bright and returned that gaze to the Earth. Needed more cloudy days, around here. "You know anything about her older brother? I haven't talked to him much, just get scrap metal sometimes for work."

Clenching a fistful of grass, Esther sprinkled it over her legs like rain. Dusting it off, she shrugged. The girl'd never met Pamela's brother, but she'd seen him around. "He seems really stand-offish." That was about all she had to offer on the topic of Hadrian. Making it rain again, Esther shrugged. For someone who worked in the epicenter of town, the girl knew little to nothing about the majority of its residents.

"Yeah, stand-offish is the right word for it. Probably a softie, guys like him always are." Cliff was a 'guy like him', but wouldn't admit any softer side regardless... Either way, the man's actual /soft side/ was more of a slightly-less-rough-side. Seemed like she was in the same situation though, as far as not making a lot of friends went. Hopefully it was intentional like his, eh? "You should stop by the shop sometime, by the way. Feel like we can't just stay drinkin' buddies and that's it forever, y'know?"

She could see Hadrian being a soft type. He'd have to be with a sweetie like Pamela to watch over him. Or was it the other way around? Nah. Esther raised a brow, watching the sun start to sink if just a little. "I dunno, you could end up chopping me up with a chainsaw and keeping me in your basement. We just don't know, Cliff. We just don't know." Of course, that little joke was her way of saying she would stop by, even though the redhead had no idea what she wanted to talk about.

"Well, it's no fun when you already know my plan." The man shifted a little, picking at grass down near his waist, and noted the position of the sun. "I'll take that as a yes, though. Maybe you'll end up like Pam, and inexplicably like watching me work." Cliff snickered, showing that wasn't likely. It was amazing enough that a little girl had the patience to watch something that even bored /him/ most of the time.

"Who knows~" Wiggling her fingers mystically, the girl pulled herself to her feet. Dusting off her shorts, Esther turned back towards town. The trumpeting was slowly dying down, a sure sign of the festivities being close to ending. Gesturing towards the building cluster, she nodded. "Ready to go be sneaky?"

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[EVENT] Flower Festival - Spring 1

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