Mingle - Emergency Potluck

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WELCOME POTLUCK

Greetings, residents! Those more observant sorts among you may have noticed a large influx of very crowded ferries. In order to welcome our new residents en masse, Town Hall is holding a potluck in Town Square. Please bring a dish if you are able and make a new friend!

All of our newest arrivals need only bring themselves. We look forward to welcoming you all into our community, and may your lanterns always be lit.

This event is open to all! In light of our new influx of prospective players following the Great Sail Migration, we've decided to offer a small public event to tide everyone over until the TDM this weekend.

Comments

[cacophonish]

Jeff seems... startled by the offer! He looks from Max, to the food, then to Max again, brow slightly furrowed in thought.

"I didn't know they had, like, waiters at potlucks..."

Fancy.

[maximumcake]

"Oh. Um. Not always, no." Not often at all, but now he's a little embarrassed. "It's just that I uh... I didn't have time to make anything and it feels weird to not help in some way. You know?"

[cacophonish]

Shit. Did he just make the guy feel bad? Now Jeff feels bad!

"Ohhh..." Jeff nods, offering a smile in an attempt at righting his wrong. "Yeah, man, I get you. Um." Boy is his helpfulness a total contrast to Jeff's own behavior when he first arrived. "That's really cool of you!"

Salvage this, Jeff.

"I brought candy." He points to a tray of slightly deformed hard candies, rejects from his (now former) apprenticeship with the local candy maker. The lemon ones are too sour, and the mulled wine ones are heavy on the spices, but otherwise, they're pretty decent. "Want some?" A beat. He grimaces. "Is that weird? Offering an adult candy? I'm totally being weird, aren't I..." Sigh. "I didn't have anything else to bring."

[maximumcake]

"Thanks. I sort of can't help myself. I used to do this kind of thing for a living and sometimes I still default to it when I'm a little nervous." New places, new faces, it's a lot to take in following the memory of what he thinks might have been his death on that prison ship.

"Weird? Why would that be weird? You made those yourself? I'd love to try one." He reaches in and grabs a lemon one. It puckers his lips right up but he doesn't look unhappy about it. "Hey, these taste like having a WarHead. I like it."

[cacophonish]

"Like you were a waiter?" He perks a little in excitement and adds, "Or a butler?"

Look, 'butler' might be a leap, but he has domestic servants on the mind these days, what with his newest job.

"I dunno, it's just..." He shrugs a shoulder. "Strangers offering people candy... Gets a bad wrap sometimes. But yeah! I was kinda-- for a couple months, I was working with the candymaker? You know, just helping him out, um, like an apprentice or something." Except Jeff's not the most reliable apprentice, and he doesn't quite have a knack for the finer points of artisanal candymaking, it seems.

But boy does he beam when Max says it tastes like a Warhead.

"They do? Shit yeah! I knew it tasted familiar!"

VICTORY. Max has singlehandedly boosted Jeff's faith in his candymaking abilities.

[maximumcake]

"Actually, yeah. I was a butler. The kind that lived in my master's house full-time." Not, uh, strictly true. But close enough.

"We're at a potluck, it's not like you drove up in a white windowless van." He says with a chuckle, his lips are still puckered, let the record show. If not for that he would be beaming at how happy Jeff looks. He should be proud.

"They really do. It may not be to everyone's taste but I love sour stuff. Oh! You should go give one to Ylva, too."

[cacophonish]

"Yeah?" He looks around at the people gathered, clearly encouraged by Max's seal of approval on his candy. "Which one's Ylva?"

But! Wait, Jeff wants to circle back around to the butler thing.

"Dude! I just got hired for the same thing! I mean, not a butler, but, uh..." He looks thoughtful for a moment. "What's the difference between a maid and a butler? Got any advice?"

[maximumcake]

"Um...." Max scans the crowd and points her out. "There, she's my girlfriend. One of them. Tell her it's from Max, that way she'll punch me and not you, later." He laughs and it's pretty clear it's a joke. She won't. But Max might catch an earful later. That's a risk he's willing to take.

"Oh, for real? Congratulations, dude. I...hm. I think a maid is more for like chores and housekeeping? I did that too, but I also had to handle, like, paperwork and schedule keeping. And party planning. So many parties." Okay, but he did actually love planning parties. He still does.

"Advice? I mean... it really comes down to what the master of the house prefers. Some can be really particular about things. I suggest you get a notebook itinerary to keep meticulous notes in. Any time you notice your master has a preference for something, take a note down so you can start to anticipate needs ahead of time. How they like their bed made, how they want their clothes laid out. When they might be using a certain room so you know stuff like...for example, to be done cleaning the office before they get home so they can use it without being interrupted. Stuff like that. Write it all down and study it."

[cacophonish]

"Fuck..." Jeff whispers, thinking about party planning, on top of the already daunting notions of schedule keeping and paperwork. Like, sure, he could throw a wild party with his friends back home, but he doubts it would pass for anything suitable here. Not with the moneyed crowd, anyway. Now he's looking at Max is if the man were a superhero.

"I don't think I could handle all of that. I mean, I'm supposed to file her paperwork, but... I'm definitely not cut out for all of that, man. You're, like, the Superman of butlers."

And hey, to be fair, Max is built like Superman. Maybe he really is a superhero...

"Thanks for the advice. Taking notes... I can do that." He laughs a little and adds, "Well, I mean. I can try to do that. I always sucked, you know, notes and details and stuff. And cleaning. And... organizing." Why is he a maid again? "But she really wanted me for the job, and the benefits are great so I'm gonna do my best."

[maximumcake]

Oh no. He doesn't know what to do about being looked at like that. It makes him want to hide because no, no, this can't be that impressive, really?

"It wasn't that big of a deal. I mean, it took me some time and a lot of training to get to that level. I was in my master's house for seven years. Not like it just happened overnight." Max might die of embarrassment if anyone ever accused him of secretly being a superhero. Who him? No way.

"I think you'll get the hang of it. You're already showing the initiative by asking, after all. If you ever need any help or more advice, I don't mind if you want to ask me. I can even take some time to show you my techniques for dusting and folding a fitted sheet."