Velvet, Ambrosia, and Silk

[sistermagnetic]

Who: Big Sis Magne & anyone 20+
What:
The official opening of the first proper entrepreneurship in Pumpkin Hollow!
When:
Late July and onward
Where:
the newly built, remodeled, and furnished VAS
Warning(s):
General warning for sexually explicit talk pertaining to the job functions of the business. Underage characters will not be able to enter via an enchantment on all entrances that stops them in their tracks. There are no exceptions. (My younger characters aren't allowed in, so neither are yours.)


Pre-opening Staff Party
Perhaps Magne talked it over with you while construction was underway, perhaps you heard about it through the grapevine, perhaps you were pinged thirdhand while looking for a position after newly arriving in town. Either way, if you were invited to come and see the newly-built, elegant multi-story brothel, a couple of nights before she had scheduled the official opening of the business proper, the Madame of this particular business will be throwing a small party to get her workers, friends, and little family together. It's a celebration of good fortune and tenacity. It's also a tour to let those that would be staying on the premises claim their rooms and start to talk over decorating with her.

The main parlor is pristine, with a bar and a few stools stationed around it, with bottles of liquor arranged behind it on sturdy shelves. Purchases from The Limoncello, and supplemental bottles from Erin Peters' collection. There are a few chairs, a few cushions arranged around a low tea table, poofy armchairs and footrests to go with them, loveseats and a couch. Around the walls are a couple of portraits already, one of the Madame herself, with an enchanted magnolia blossom attached to it softly glowing due to her presence in the building. This, she will explain, is the indicator for who is on staff at any given time, bending to the will of the person in the portrait. If they don't want it known that they're in the building, it won't show. First and foremost, it is to tell patrons who is available on staff. Hers is to let them all know when she is there. It will almost certainly be permanently lit. She will always be there for them.

There is a kitchen off the main parlor, specifically that that had come with the front of house that was originally just a normal two-storey home that Magne had built her business onto. It's not only functional, but now supporting the production of light foods for the gathering, with more supplies due to come in in the next couple of days. She had asked Max Maximum to be there a bit earlier than the rest to help her prepare for it all, knowing that he would want to be part of the hospitality for the event.

Everybody under her employ, regardless of position, would be walked through the rules and the security measures. Nobody would be in danger, so long as this was her business. Not if she could help it.

If Magne spots you on your own when you're in attendance, she will come and say hello. You may be the recipient of a big, squeezy hug and a "Hello darling!". Maybe even a kiss on the cheek. Sorry not sorry about lipstick smudges.

The Grand Opening
The wards are set. The rules are in place. A list of names is available with their own flowers beside them in place of the eventual portraits that will line the walls of the front of house. The curtains are drawn and the lights are soft and a radio plays softly from the shelves behind the bar. Everything is warm and inviting, and Magne? Magne is beaming. Her business is officially open.

"It's really happening," she says to herself, not for the first time since the construction was completed. She stands at the end of the bar, her hands clasped around one another mostly hidden by the wide sleeves of the kimono that she had had designed by committee to fit her, deep red with pink and gold embroidery of flowers and vines, the sash tied at her back. Her hair is pinned up in neat, elegant rolls and her makeup done subtly, and she looks every part the Madame that she decided she would be.

The rules are pretty standard, all things considered: consent can be recalled at any time. Refunds will only be given if all parties are in agreement that such a thing is called for. Abuse of her employees will be stopped by force if need be, and that will be done by Magne herself. This is not something that you want to happen to you. There will be nobody on the premises under twenty years of age, barring extremely specific gatherings to be announced at a later date. There is no "three strikes" in this building; testing your luck is not something that you will walk away from looking particularly pretty.

Welcome to the Velvet, Ambrosia, and Silk. Whatever your pleasure may be, it will be seen to.

(Well, unless you want something from a vampire, in which case you'll be put into contact with Lord Erik Osborne. They have an agreement.)

The Off Hours
When not at work, Magne can often be found upstairs, in her own personal living space constructed with a soundproof layer between her loft-like home and her business. Her furniture from when she had first acquired the house has been moved up and the remodel has been completed to put in a small tamaya. There are small pencil portraits of the people that she loves framed there, and the little, square-ish figure of one stationed just under his portrait looking somewhat out of place there among the fine wooden shelves. She can be found in front of this every now and then, knelt in proper seiza, offering her fallen friends quiet prayers and updates on the way that things have gone.

There is a door buzzer that can get her attention if you want her downstairs, but some people are welcome to simply come up to see her when they want to. Just step around a curtained corner and pull on a braided silk cord to signal your arrival.

Comments

Staff Party

[sistermagnetic]

It has taken her such restraint not to simply sit where the food has been arranged to stuff all of it into her mouth. She knew already that Max was a talented chef with a deft hand for presentation, but getting to see the sheer scope of it all was awe-inspiring. She had nibbled on one of each of the offerings to give him her notes on each, approving very much of the variety even if she herself wasn't particularly partial to one or two of them; even if she didn't like them, someone else was bound to have a more refined pallet that could appreciate them.

"Oooo," she murmurs under her breath as she picks up one of the cupcakes, swiping her finger through the frosting and popping it into her mouth to suck off of it. "Thank you for catering, hun. You might actually end up outclassing me here in your fancy duds and your cute little apron." While she's merely teasing, she absolutely does appreciate how he cleans up for the occasion, and the sheer effort that he had put in to make this event as stellar as she could have hoped for it to be.

[maximumcake]

"I have a feeling those cupcakes are going to be a best-seller," Max says with pride. Don't mind a rosy tinge creeping up his neck as he watches her suck her finger.

"Outclassing you? No way," he fires back. "No one can outshine you in that gorgeous kimono. You're the queen of the realm in here. It's my honor to be a part of it at all."

[sistermagnetic]

The look on Max's face gives her an idea, and with a shimmy and a roll of her shoulders, she opens the top of the kimono to show more of her shoulders and the first hints of cleavage. She doesn't have a lot to show for her transition just yet, but what is there is certainly enough to give him something to imagine. Just a little thing to show off how well she's coming along.

"Everyone's doing such a wonderful job," Magne coos, holding her cupcake delicately as she surveys the room, nearly overcome with it once more. "You've all helped me make this exactly what I wanted it to be."

[maximumcake]

He doesn't even try not to stare now. The heat has fully reached his cheek. Pay no attention to the bump under his apron. All he knows is Cesar is a lucky man.

"It feels good that I could be a part of helping make your dream come true. I'm so happy for you, Magne."

[sistermagnetic]

For now, Magne is doing a very good job pretending she doesn't notice the way he perks up at the sight of her. He really does have that in common with Cesar, doesn't he?

"Thank you for coming along with me for this even if you eventually decide to do it just part-time. Having your support has helped me get to this point." She reaches a hand out and grasps his forearm gently, looking up at him with a soft smile.

Then she breaks that little sincere moment to joke, "If neither of us were attached I might have claimed you for myself from the moment we met. Your loves are certainly lucky, handsome boy with your skills."

[maximumcake]

Max blinks rapidly a few times (for no reason, it's fine!! Some onion got in his eye.) and turns his arm so he can clasp hers back.

"If only I had a way of being in two places at once. I love the bakery, but I love it here too. You've done such a good job. It feels so special to be a part of it."

He's already blushing furiously, and yet he still has room to go a shade darker, apparently. "Cesar is a lucky man, too, and he knows it. I'd have taken you up on that in a heartbeat. You mean a lot to me. Both of you do."

[sistermagnetic]

"I wouldn't drea of taking more of your attention away from the bakery, the place is so much better for your presence," she assures him with a gentle squeeze of the arm.

"If it wouldn't overwhelm him I might invite you over some time to chat with us over dinner." Magne is likewise pink under the light layer of her makeup, and her free hand rests against her cheek. "Honestly, I have to keep myself from thinking of him as my husband, with as wonderful as he's been to me. He talks about the way his parents were, and it sounds just perfect, but I don't want to make him feel pressured to take that step when we're just starting to really settle in after all of this has happened..."

[maximumcake]

"Thank you. I think I'm better for it, too." It's his dream coming true at long last, just when he gave up on it ever being possible. If that could still come true, what else might?

"I'd love that. You have to let me bring dessert." His eyes sparkle with excitement and he's trying so hard to keep it together once she admits she's already thinking of Cesar as her husband. He could burst into heart-shaped confetti at any second.

"He's talked to me about his parents, too. It makes me ache that I can't meet them, so I can only imagine how much harder that is for you. He loves you so much. It's only a matter of time. And you better let me cater the whole thing for free as my gift when it does."

[sistermagnetic]

Magne is so excited about this idea, really. He loves Max's cooking so of course she'd encourage him to bring whatever desserts he felt like.

"Her smile is sad, but accepting, because she knows that none of their blood family can be there. Not that she wants hers, when she would rather have the friends she'd made after. She wants the Vanguard Action Squad with her. She wants her real family. It's a sobering thought, and has no real place in the festivities of the evening. So she sucks in a breath and and forces her smile right back into place, turning her thoughts to the rest of the idea.

With her hands curled close to her chest, she looks around in case Cesar might be listening before leaning closer. "If we do make that leap, I would love if you would even do the cake. Can you make things like icing flowers?"

[maximumcake]

Wishing for what might have been is only natural. Max has come to realize that after enduring the pangs of sadness that come with him knowing he'll never get to introduce Valdis or Ylva to his family, either. But he's more than happy to set that sorrow aside now, especially when his favorite subject is at hand. 

He has to work to keep his voice low through his excitement, "Yes. Absolutely. Those are my specialty. It would be such an honor to do your cake. You weren't there to see it, but I did the Starr's wedding cake for them and they seemed so happy with it."

[sistermagnetic]

"Oh, wonderful, you've even got experience," she chirps, clapping once in her delight. "Thank you darling, I have no doubt in my mind that it will be wonderful. You do spoil me so." She's mostly joking, but she's still counting herself so fortunate that she's managed to meet another sweet, handsome, giving man that seems determined to go out of his way to take care of her and the people around her.

start wrapping this one?

[maximumcake]

"It's just as much fun for me, I promise." He's not even just saying that, it will be a highlight for him to do another wedding cake for a good friend.

"Once you get a ring on it, we'll sit down and talk all about it."

Sure, we're nearly at AC bonus with it in like two more?

[sistermagnetic]

Magne gives a joyful little titter of a laugh and leans to lay a big kiss on his cheek, adding the obligatory 'mwah!' when she straightens back up again. "Trust me, you will be among the very first to know when it happens. I wouldn't dream of leaving you in the dark even if you weren't going to be helping to cater."

Yeah, we can do it!

[maximumcake]

He loves to hear her laugh like that. It's so good to hear. Maybe a little too good, because here he goes blushing again. She can probably feel the heat coming off his cheeks as she smooches him.

"I know. But you better tell Cesar he has to tell me at the same time you do, or else he might beat you to it." Wink.

[sistermagnetic]

"We might just come and tell you together! Then we can bully you a little bit into taking care of all the little finger foods, perhaps give you a list of what we really want when the time comes." She knows that she wouldn't have to actually bully him into doing anything, supportive as he is with every one of her endeavors so far.

[maximumcake]

"Bully me?" Max says with a burst of laughter. "As if you'd be able to stop me? Please, do come tell me together so I can congratulate you both and hug you both at the same time. I'll be so excited for you."

Wrap!

[sistermagnetic]

"Oh yes, absolutely rough you up," she jokes in kind, grinning and reaching to shake his arm in a mockery of her threat. "We'll come and do that, don't you worry. You'll probably hear us coming."