[OPEN] A time for celebration!

[theheroics]

Who: Aerith, the cast, and all of her CR!
Which: Open Party Log
Where: The Starflower Sanctuary and Café (with permission by the courteous Tifa)
What: It's Aerith's birthday, so it's time to celebrate!
Warnings: General shenanigans


Despite how bustling The Starflower is on any normal given day, this day in particular seems a little bit more lively.

With general contribution to various vendors and pulling some strings here and there, the cafe has now blossomed into a flower wonderland!



Each guest is greeted with their very own paper flower upon arrival, small enough to be worn as a hair accessory or pinned somewhere on your clothing. (Though some may already be crumbled when received- they were done by hand, after all!) Once equipped, the flower is known to give off a feeling of happiness or light heartedness.

There is also a cake seated at the center of the room, surrounded by all different types of delicacies- both from more heartier meals to a light snack! All are free to mingle, eat, drink, and shower the birthday girl in gifts! However, if you're looking for a little something more to do, look no further than the stations set up on either side of the room for your enjoyment:

Posterboard Doodles 🎨
Sitting against one of the empty tables is a blank canvas in need of your words! Use the brightly colored markers and crayons available to write a heartfelt message, draw, or whatever you like! Leave no space unmarked!

Materia Cornhole (!?)
Is that... actual materia? Don't ask too many questions, just enjoy a friendly competition! (Note: being inebriated has shown to provide better results.)

Party Animals 🐶
You thought you'd come into this café and not get swarmed with animals? The furry friends of this fine establishment have risen to occasion with their festive gear to play alongside all the party goers!

But be warned, just because a party is going on inside, doesn't mean the troubles from the outside can't creep in...! Love is in the air, after all! ❤️

Comments

[spikyheaded]

[Cloud still wasn't one for parties, regardless of the occasion, so when Zack asks him to help out for Aerith's party, he follows his friend's lead. However, it's harder to do that when Zack is sneezing up a storm.

Whatever he had caught had come as a surprise to both of them. Even if Cloud had been helping out with cleaning up the petals left in Zack's wake around the apartment, he still couldn't help but be worried. Had it been a normal bug, he would've chalked it up to stress from the jobs they were taking or maybe some kind of allergy, but that didn't seem to be the case.]

Just about done with them.

[He turns to look at Zack after setting up the plates by the food, his forehead creasing slightly.]

Sneezing still hasn't let up?

[theheroics]

[ Normally sickness would have symptoms, right? Yet for some reason none of the usual tiredness or ailments had followed him. He could have blamed it on allergies, which he was never accustomed to, but the body changes... there would be a number of things happening that Zack just couldn't think of the reason to at this very moment.

He felt perfectly fine expect for the redness in his nose that had suddenly appeared from all the sneezing. Why the hell was this happening? ]

Not one bit. And I think it's getting worse, too.

[spikyheaded]

[Cloud continues to look at Zack for a moment, almost expecting him to sneeze again, but letting out a sigh when nothing comes. Neither of them knew what was triggering it, which meant they had no idea how to counteract it either. And with all the running around to get things together, it wasn't making the situation any easier on Zack.]

Maybe you should sit down somewhere before we start. You're starting to look like a moogle.

[Not even taking a second to acknowledge his own joke, he gave the Starflower a cursory look, punctuating the gesture with a half-shrug.]

The place is pretty much set up already.

[theheroics]

Way to make a guy feel self-conscious. [ He groans, throwing a hand up to cover his "moogle" nose.

... And just in time, too. For the moment he reaches towards his face another loud sneeze will accompany the gesture.

He sighs, halfway defeated before letting the petals fall from his palm to the floor before nodding his head. ]

Alright, alright I'll sit down. But only for a minute. Gotta make sure this place is perfect for her, y'know?

[ It's the first time he's really gone so hard into planning any sort of birthday, so on top of all the sneezing... he seemed a little nervous. ]

[spikyheaded]

[Even Cloud braces himself, recoiling slightly when Zack sneezes, having been on the opposite end of one throughout the week. He's more thankful for his earlier comment than he'll ever admit.]

What are you talking about? It's already perfect.

[He does catch onto Zack's nervous energy though. It's not often that he's seen Zack so high-strung.]

Worried she won't like it?

[theheroics]

[ While Cloud's comment does make him feel a little better, his confidence rising slightly, he still can't quite escape the jitters. ]

Knowing her? She'd love it. [ That doesn't stop the restless nerves, though. So much so that despite saying he was going to sit down, Zack merely paces in a small circle before finding a good spot to do a squat or two. ]

But you wanna give the best to people you care about, right?

[ The sentence flows so easily off his tongue. And you can blame it on his scattered thoughts, his running nose, or that very same nervousness as he let's the next line roll off the same way. ]

That's why next year? You better be ready for something huge, too.

[spikyheaded]

[Well, he did try to get Zack to try to take a break, but he's not going to force him if he wasn't going to listen. Cloud frowns a little at the idea of this being a yearly thing. But that's a problem for future him.]

Try focusing on today before you start planning for next year.

[While he understands wanting to put your best foot forward when it comes to the people close to you, there still felt like there was something off with the way Zack was asking. Almost like he was running on adrenaline. Which was saying something, considering Zack was already excitable in normal circumstances.]

What's gotten into you anyway? It's like you're on edge.

[theheroics]

[ Today. Right. Good place to start. There was still a bit more work to be done and only a couple more hours left to do it, so focusing on the task in front of him would be ideal—

—or it would be had Cloud not started holes into his already exposed phyche. ]

You'd be too right if flowers were shooting our from your nose.

[spikyheaded]

[You know what, fair, Fair. It wasn't as if they'd figured out what was causing the sneezing or the flowers. A cure didn't seem to work. Besides that, Cloud isn't sure how else he can be of help when it comes to this.

After a deep exhale, he simply puts his hands on his hips.]

All right, what else did you wanna do for the party? Put me to work so you can try figuring this flower thing out before then.

[theheroics]

[ Thankfully that excuse was enough to cover himself for a change of subject. Zack may have been a little dense at times, but putting the pieces together little by little from what he was feeling and experiencing today was making a bit of sense...

Good to know Cloud was also a little dense, too.

But maybe there was a way to know for sure- ]

Mind going to the other side of the room and hanging up that banner? I've got it on that table over there.

[ He points, motioning to the other side of the room. Maybe the distance would help... ]