[OPEN] Yesterday’s Magic Grand Opening and Vintage Party

[vintage_magic]

Characters: OPEN
Location: Yesterday’s Magic and Northern Lights (Building C in the shopping district)
Rating: Depends on who tags but unlikely to be more than PG-13
Time: April 21, 10AM-6PM for the shop, after 6PM for the party
Description: Lily’s vintage clothes shop officially opens for business, accompanied by a vintage themed party at Northern Lights. Come browse through the shop, play dress up, mingle, and dance!




Dag nab it! Why did it have to be so windy today?! It wouldn’t have been such a problem if Lily lived in an apartment above her shop like she did in San Francisco. But the witch had spent much of the walk from Casualty Communal to the shopping district trying to keep the wide skirt of her 1950s blue floral print dress from ascending to obscene levels.

She checked her appearance in the full-length mirror placed next to the three small spaces she had curtained off as changing areas. After a couple of tugs at the v neckline of her dress and smoothing the tangles out of her long wavy hair, she turned her attention to the shop.

Moving to the window, she adjusted the homemade Yesterday’s Magic sign—it hadn’t seemed right to reuse her San Francisco shop’s name without Bronwyn, Maya, and Oscar here—as well as the smaller ‘help wanted’ sign next to it. Then, she turned and circled the racks, surveying their contents.

Unlike Aunt Cora’s Closet, the racks here were laden with clothes for both men and women plus some smaller sizes for juniors. There was a bit of everything ranging from old band t-shirts and bellbottom jeans to vintage tuxedos and evening gowns. Victorian waistcoats, flapper dresses, and poodle skirts shared space with more mundane items such as cardigans, sweater vests, and 1960s miniskirts. Corsets, Edwardian petticoats, and old-fashioned nightgowns added to the eclectic mix. Everything had been washed or dry cleaned before being put out on the sales floor and the scent of fresh laundry mingled with rosemary and rue from Lily’s homemade herbal sachets.

She stopped to adjust one of the many baskets scattered throughout the shop, holding costume jewelry, gloves, scarves, and neckties of various eras; there were even a few bow ties and cravats mixed in. The hat rack was nearly completely hidden under pillbox hats, cloches, fedoras, bowlers, top hats, cowboy hats. And the shoe rack was similarly burdened with platform shoes, spectator shoes, and go-go boots and other styles of varying age.

She had put cash into the register to make change, stashed a set of shopping bags under the counter, and finished tagging the last of the garments. Some of the finer items, mostly the formal wear, carried price tags into the triple digits but simpler things and accessories could be found for as little as five to ten death dollars.

The employees she had hired would be coming in later; it being a weekday morning, she didn’t expect to be swamped. And the party she had planned as a grand opening event was set for that evening at the restaurant a couple of doors down from the shop—hopefully, the wind would die down before then. Satisfied that she had checked everything else off her mental list, there was just one more thing to do: the usual cleansing ritual she conducted each morning back home.

The witch wasn’t sure if it actually worked here but it couldn’t hurt to continue, especially after that break-in last week. She sprinkled salt water around the edges of the shop widdershins, or counterclockwise. Then, with a bundle of fresh sage, she smudged deosil and lit a beeswax candle. Muttering a protective incantation, she flipped the sign to ‘open’ and unlocked the door.

Yesterday’s Magic was officially open for business!


Links
Yesterday’s Magic – Racks
Yesterday’s Magic – Changing Area
Yesterday’s Magic – Sales Counter
Party – Mingling
Party – Buffet Table
Party – Dancing


[OOC: Since Lily is somewhat technophobic, she has been advertising her shop and the opening party IC by posting flyers around town rather than on the network. Previous OOC post about the event is here. As usual for event logs, indicate characters involved in the subject line and whether your thread is open or closed. Feel free to make your own threads if there’s something which doesn’t quite fit in any of the sections. And you can make up your own stuff to find in the shop as long as it falls into the late 1800s to 1980s range. Vintage outfits aren’t required for the party but are highly encouraged. (Because Lily kind of miscalculated and went broke setting up the shop and throwing this party. Oops.)]

Comments

Johan Andersen, Judai Yuki, and open! \o/

[wearspurpleclothes]

[It wasn't at all uncommon to find Johan and Judai in the same place - in fact, it was pretty unusual to see them out of each other's company by this point. Usually, they'd be doing some sort of shenanigan during their free time, but the fact that it tended to simple be the two of them left Johan wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to put his friend in a situation where he had to interact with new people for a change. He was sure the Brunet was still in low spirits from losing Yubel, so some socializing would hopefully be good for him. Which is why, when the Dane saw flyers for a party around town, he insisted that Judai attend with him. It took some convincing (dragging), but the two eventually made it there. And what better place to mingle and meet people than the food table?]

[vintage_magic]

[Lily wasn't the most experienced hostess or very good at small talk. But she recognized the two from the park the other day and made her way over to the buffet to greet them with a nod and a smile.]

Hello, Johan, Judai. Um, how's the training going?

[kuriboh_boy]

[Judai had just shoved a large chunk of food into his mouth when they were greeted. Rather than trying to speak through the mouthful, he just raised a hand and waved at Lily, grinning a little through the food. Oops, he probably looked like an idiot. But he'd rely on Johan to answer that question while he tried to chew his way through the way-too-much food.]

[wearspurpleclothes]

[Johan glanced back to Judai briefly, and upon seeing that he was occupied with the food, the Dane shifted his attention back to their hostess.]

Hey, Lily![He gave her a cheerful smile, paying no mind to the mild awkwardness.] It's... going better than it was last time we saw you!

[vintage_magic]

[Considering that Lily had grown up without any friends and had hardly been to any parties, never mind hosting one, a little awkwardness was probably unavoidable anyway. She just chuckled and continued with her attempts at small talk.]

That's good. Enjoying the party? [If nothing else, it looked like Judai was enjoying the food!]

[kuriboh_boy]

[Judai nodded in agreement with Johan and then nodded more vehemently at Lily's question. He forced himself to swallow quickly as soon as he could and took a deep breath.] It's great! The food's really tasty.

[He was doing a good job of pretending like he had actually wanted to come here. At least in front of Lily he was.]

[wearspurpleclothes]

[Yeah, then and only then. Don't think Johan's not picking up on it, Judai, even if he won't bring it up just yet. Wouldn't want to cause a fuss in front of their hostess, after all.]

Yeah! It's really nice so far!

[vintage_magic]

[Not picking up on Judai's wish to be elsewhere, Lily nodded.] Do you know any of the other folks around?

[She pointed out a tall guy across the room, dressed in a 1940s suit and looking gangster-like.] That's Kanji. He does repairs for me at the shop. [She craned her neck looking for someone else but couldn't seem to find her target at the moment.] And my clerk Yuugi should be around somewhere. He's got the wildest hair I've ever seen, three colors and all spiky. [She chuckled remembering how she had gawked at it when she first met him.]

[kuriboh_boy]

[Judai was very close to just zoning out on the conversation. He didn't really mean to be rude, he just had a hard time paying attention to other people for long periods of time, especially when he was already in a bad mood.

But when she mention Yugi, Judai immediately perked up and blinked at her, a genuine smile spreading across his face.]

Yugi-san's here?? Really??

[wearspurpleclothes]

[Johan looks a little surprised as well, but he can't help but get a little excited as well. Especially if it was going to get Judai actually interested in being here, and there was pretty much no way it wasn't the Yugi from their world, with that sort of description.]

Judai's kind of been looking forward to meeting him, if you can't tell.

(OOC: Oh wow oh my gosh I didn't see this reply earlier I am the literal worst)

It's okay! I've been behind myself!

[vintage_magic]

Oh, y'all know about him? [Maybe, they had mutual friends?]

He should be here somewhere. [She glanced around the restaurant again but couldn't spot the boy in question. Surely, it shouldn't be this difficult with that hair!] He was helping me at the shop earlier and picked out an outfit to model for tonight.

[kuriboh_boy]

Yugi-san is only the King of the Duelists and the best person ever! [Wow, Judai, a little over-exuberant there.

Judai looks around expectantly too.] ...wait, he's modeling? [Did he hear that right? Huh???]

[wearspurpleclothes]

[Johan just laughs a little because oh Judai you are such a fanboy.

But he can't really contain himself from looking around to try and find the guy, himself. Despite all the talk of Yugi being here, he hasn't actually run into him yet and the idea is pretty exciting.]

Still, I don't think he'd be too hard to spot...

[kuriboh_boy]

[Honestly, Judai really didn't want to be here. It was really the food that had finally convinced him. He felt restless around people anymore, though.]

Hey, Johan... how long are we gonna stay here anyway? [He asks, only a little sourly.]

[wearspurpleclothes]

[While the idea of being the only other person Judai would hang out with was appealing on some level, he knew that it was very, very unlike his friend to be so unsociable.]

Come in, it isn't that bad to be out of the apartment, is it?[He laughed softly, lightly patting the other on his shoulder.] ... Just, let's stay for a while longer, okay? We haven't been here very long.

[kuriboh_boy]

[With a small sigh (that he actually hoped Johan wouldn't catch?), Judai popped a grape into his mouth.]

Yeah, I guess it's not all bad. There's just... a lot of people I don't know here. [He glanced around with another small sigh.]

[wearspurpleclothes]

[How is he not supposed to catch it if you sigh twice, you stupid dumb. It's enough to shake his resolve a little, but he tries his best not to show it.]

Well, how else are you going to get to know them if you don't start out by meeting them?

[kuriboh_boy]

I dunno... I guess I won't then. [Well, that was a depressing response. Judai's not in a good mood apparently, oops. It actually almost seems like he's withdrawing into himself quite a bit more than natural. Johan wouldn't recognize it, but it's similar to how he was immediately following his time as the Supreme King.]

[wearspurpleclothes]

[Wow okay you butt. He does notice that he seemed to be even more sour than he had been, and considering how poorly he'd been doing lately, that's saying something.]

Not if I can help it! [He was trying really hard to remain up-beat, because he knew that doing otherwise wouldn't help at all. He put his hand on Judai's shoulder, giving it a small squeeze.]

[kuriboh_boy]

[Blinking, Judai looks at Johan, a little uncertain as to WHY he needed to be social, but... ah well, whatever. He gives him a small smile.]

You're more stubborn than I remember... were you always this stubborn? [Yes, Judai, you just never fully paid attention. GOD.]

[wearspurpleclothes]

Yes. [His tone is ridiculously cheerful. You're not going to dampen his mood so easily, buster.]

Come on, just think about when you were back at the academy. You were always surrounded by people, right? I can't just keep you to myself while we're here.

[kuriboh_boy]

[Wow, Johan really was taking charge of this situation, wasn't he? Judai can't help but smile a little.]

Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just kinda hard. I keep thinking about... home.

[wearspurpleclothes]

[His expression softened a little at that, and his tone took on a slightly more sympathetic sound.]

I know you have. [It was super obvious to Johan, but he probably knew Judai too well.] I have, too. It's... hard being away.

[kuriboh_boy]

Yeah... I guess I'm just... worried? [Ah, no, he doesn't want to talk about this. He grimaces and then grabs some food and pops it in his mouth.]

Eh, never mind, let's have fun, yeah? [Half-hearted grin.]

[wearspurpleclothes]

That's what we're here for, after all. [He drops his hand a little to rest on Judai's back and he pauses for a moment before adding,] You can have all the time you want to worry once we're out of the party, okay?