hotelcaelum | le reveillon

WHO: French people and you
WHERE: The restaurant complex industrial kitchen floor/a random ballroom and entertainment floor
WHEN: Nebulously between Christmas and New Year’s Eve
WHAT: ~~The Who Pudding Cook-Off~~ Le Reveillon dinner
WARNINGS: Alcohol and boozing; maybe there will be an actual physical fight over the food? Mistletoe shenanigans possible. Let me know if I need to add new warnings.

ALLEZ CUISINE

Anyone interested in contributing food to the dinner will have a place to cook in the giant industrial kitchen. Just a few weeks ago, sentient shadows were stabbing unsuspecting guests in the back here, but today it’s lively and bustling. There may even be a handsome, empty-headed blond vampire wandering around to kick off each round of oven preheating with a hearty catchphrase. Before hopping into the fray, consider grabbing an apron or team varsity jacket from the wardrobe hanger. The old staples are there – “Kiss the Cook,” “I Love You a Latke,” “Sugar and Spice” – but there are also some unusual standouts, like jackets with an extra sleeve attached or aprons that have fashioned the lyrics of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” into death threats.

The kitchen has been incredibly well prepared and stocked, and anything necessary to cook a fine holiday meal is available. Of course, some ingredients may have been shuffled around during the procurement. Maybe cooks need to cross team lines to borrow a cup of sugar, apples will be in the onion basket, or paprika will mysteriously pop out of nowhere in a cloud of spice. Working together is the easiest way to make sure the meal goes smoothly. As a reminder, anyone is welcome to throw a dish or two into the mix regardless of their national cuisine of choice. Get cooking!

FRIENDS AT THE TABLE

Here to cook, or a cook who’s finished their rotation in the kitchen? An adjacent ballroom space has been furnished to hold the dining party, with decorations and ambiance supervised by Sumina. As for the food, there's a plethora of options, with Team France(?) alone providing traditional staples like roasted quail, braised oysters, acorn soup, fennel salad, foie gras and pate with crusty bread wedges, creme caramel, and buche de noel. Menu placards at each table list the dishes on offer, but the full menu information can only be unlocked by answering a discussion question over appetizers – “What’s your New Year’s Resolution? Why? How can we help?”

Alcoholic and virgin bubbly drinks are available for all guests. The effervescence of these drinks is contagious! These drinks have a slight, but pleasant, uplifting effect. Drinking one might make attendees chipper and outgoing enough to chat more openly than normal or literally light on their feet, allowing them to float an inch or two off the ground. No one will be forced to experience sensations or feelings they don’t want to; they are purely opt-in, like the joy that comes from smelling a warm homegrown memory.

In addition to any other decorations, Polaroid-style pictures dot the wall. These snapshots contain representations of happy memories of guests throughout the previous year but can only be viewed by people who want to see them, and only memories of people who are willing the share them will appear. Otherwise, they might contain potential futures, hopes, dreamscapes, aspirations, or other talking points for those who are willing to see them.

SMALL BITES

If anyone truly wants to turn this meal into an epic showdown, feel free to start a rousing debate over different dishes or fashion a scorecard out of the menu placards. Golf pencils are mysteriously available for any and all ranking needs.

Though it’s only nebulously New Year’s Eve, guests who stick around until midnight will see the ballroom dim to a warmer, soothing color, lights twinkling down a countdown the last few minutes to the end of the day. As the time ticks over, guests can hold on to indoor-safe sparkle fireworks or take the floor to give a toast to the upcoming year. Insert other preferred New Year's traditions at will.

The mistletoe is still rumored to be out and about, so take care when mingling.

If asked about any of the weird dinner happenings, Odette hasn’t got a clue. She’s just here for the food. Must be more hotel shenanigans, or maybe someone else put their twist on things.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I know.

But I do think you could worry about yourself a little more, as well.

... I know.

Thank you, for healing me. As ever, you are a miracle worker.

Edited 2024-01-06 05:23 (UTC)

Hardly anything that impressive. Will you be all right to move on your own now?

[ Surely? ]

[ He thinks she's very impressive in all that she does. Dazzling, even, but he won't embarrass her when she's already scolded him so thoroughly. ]

Help me up?

[ Figue saving herself by lecturing. Good job, Figue.

But she reaches out to offer him her hand. Up you get, sir. ]

[ Up he gets! A little shaky, so he leans on her a bit. ]

Oh, there was a lot of garlic in that bread.

Yes, and maybe you should avoid it next time.

[ She says it firmly, even though her other hand is already moving to wrap around him and support him against her. ]

I know... but I have gone so long without that being able to partake at all is still something novel to me. I get carried away.

I'm at least relieved to hear you weren't doing it all that often back home... you would have been rather inconvenienced.

[ Just Nico on the floor all the time?? ]

Ah… well, I would not go that far, but for the first thousand years or so of my life, it was just as deadly to me as everyone else. But exiled from home, I found humans who use it in their cooking a lot.

So, I was exposed to it sort of ambiently at first, and the more I was around it, the more my tolerance grew. Soon, I will be able to eat it without feeling ill at all!

[ Wishful thinking probably. ]

... I don't quite exactly see an improvement in your tolerance unless you were legitimately in danger of dying before, as you said. All the same, you'll need much smaller doses.

Oh, oui, it would have killed me!

[ So cheerful. ]

Oh, but does this mean... I am allowed to have little bits of garlic bread??!

That depends. Will you call me?

...

Yes, Figue. I will call you.

[ He's already so whipped and they're not even dating. (Yet.) ]

[ And he'll receive a smile for his capitulation. ]

Thank you, Nico.

[ Worth it... ]

Perhaps... in the spirit of this agreement, we could get dinner sometime?

Eh? To monitor your garlic intake?

[ Clearly? ]

No, silly. Because I want to spend time with you. You can monitor my garlic intake as a bonus, I suppose.

[ Because she’d do it regardless. ]

[ She sure would!! ]

Oh.

[ This earns him a rather owlish blink, before she clears her throat. ]

I-I see. Well, I don't see an issue with it.

Merveilleux! We will have to make plans after this dinner is over.

Are you ready to return to it, or do you need to lie down properly?

[ She'll be his crutch til then, either way. ]

Let us find someplace to sit and I should be fine to keep going.

Thank you again for your assistance.

You don't need to thank me. I'm sure anyone would have helped you.

[ Off we go, sir. To a chair. ]

I would thank them, too.

[ To a chair! He sits down with a heavy sigh. ]

Scraping me from the floor aside, are you enjoying your evening?

I am! It's been fascinating to see pieces of other people's lives and the food has been delicious.

[ She's had a lot of fun with it, apparently. ]

(no subject)

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