4. Text, Action

[greatseal]

Hello, everyone! You may have already noticed from the stores, but tomorrow is a holiday called Valentine's Day. I know not everyone is from Earth so I thought that it might be good to explain it.

Valentine's Day started in the West as a religious holiday, but it's turned into a holiday for showing people you love them! In some countries, you mostly give gifts to your girlfriend or boyfriend. In Japan (and Hinoto-ri) though, it's different. On Valentine's Day, women give chocolates to the men they know, and next month, on White Day, the men give gifts in return. Giving a guy fancy chocolates means you really like them! (o⌒.⌒o)♡

[If this were voice, this is where it would turn more serious.] A lot of us are waiting for people to come home, and we don't know how we can help that to happen yet. The people you love the most might not even be in the city at all. But we can still have fun for a day. And who knows... they might even show up tomorrow in time to celebrate.

...Anyway, if there are any girls (or boys, even) who want to learn how to make Valentine chocolates, come stop by the Iwatodai Dorm today. I have some ingredients ready. [attached: directions.txt] And if you have a recipe of your own you want to try, bring what you need and we'll make it, too!

[Action, Iwatodai Dorm]

[As promised, Minako has a good amount of chocolate and related materials getting ready for use. She's got the door to the kitchen open and the stoves working melting the chocolate, but a lot of the ingredients are spread out on the large dining-room table in the lobby. She's not sure how many people will take her offer, after all.

It may seem odd to do all of this when she doesn't even know if her intended chocolate recipients will be home tomorrow. But keeping busy has always been her trademark. When she's focused on other things, or other people, she doesn't have to worry about herself. So really, this level of activity isn't strange at all.]

[Note: Feel free to threadjack in the action part! Everyone probably won't be working individually the whole time, after all.]

Comments

[greatseal]

[The sudden move to leave surprises Minako.]

You don't need to go! I'm holding a chocolate-making workshop right now but you're the first person who's shown up. Well, if you want to make chocolates?

[She belatedly realizes that the other girl might not even be interested in that.]

[feminine_carnivore]

...Are you sure? [ Well, they are both friends with Yu, so it was okay, right? And they could talk about the high schools they both went to. ]

It's not like I have much else to do in a new city. Thank you! [ Chie gives Minako a smile, happy to be invited in. ]

[greatseal]

Of course I'm sure! That's why I set this up.

[If she knew about Chie's ability in the kitchen she might be a bit warier, but... she's still dealt with Fuuka. She thinks she's seen the worst case already.] I have a couple of different recipes... Chocolate molds, bonbons, petit-fours, and some special protein brownies. Those are for my senpai, he's not a big sweets fan.

[feminine_carnivore]

[ If she had known the extent of Chie's terrible cooking skills she wouldn't have even allowed her inside. ]

I guess..I'll just go with plain chocolate. Simple is best, right? [ Not that she was going to make it simple at all...

As they walked into the dorm Chie took a look around, making sure to touch the furniture, checking to see if it was really real. ]

Man, I still can't get over how weird it is that places back home end up here.

[greatseal]

[Minako laughs softly.] The shrine from home showed up, too. It is really strange. I can't really complain, though, since everyone can live here together again.

[Or for the first time in some cases, but that gets complicated.] Anyway - I have heart molds and ones that make hollow balls you can put candy inside.

[feminine_carnivore]

My best friend Yukiko's Inn is here too. Makes it easy to feel less homesick I guess. ..Are a lot of your friends here too? [ Chie hasn't seen all of them, but she hears that almost her entire team is here. ]

Oh! A heart would be perfect! [ She's not sure who she's even going to give them to, maybe Yu or Yosuke since they are in the hospital. ]

[greatseal]

I heard that the Amagi Inn came here! I'd like to visit again sometime. I did once for a school trip and it was amazing, but that was when you all would've been in middle school. [oh yeah.] ...Time's a bit strange here, if you don't know that yet. It was 2010 when I left Iwatodai. It's the same for most of my friends. There's about... nine of us here now? Including me and my brother. And there's also Labrys-chan, but I didn't know her before Hinoto-ri.

[It should be obvious that she likes to chat by now, but she's not idle while she does; moving around the table and collecting the molds and bowls that she needs.] We'll need to melt the chocolate first. I have things set up in the kitchen.

[feminine_carnivore]

That's so weird! Did you see little Yukiko there? Oh, you might have even seen me then, I was always by her side! [ It's so strange talking to someone who might have met her as a kid but only a short time ago. ]

Labrys...Rise-chan told me about her, but I've never met her. I guess she is one of our team now.. [ She let's slip they were part of a team, and tries to cover it up. ]

O-Okay, melt the chocolate, yeah that makes sense.

[greatseal]

I did see Yukiko-chan! It was a big surprise running into her again here. I didn't meet you, but now that I think about it, your name did come up. [Was it from Yukiko or one of the inn staff? That conversation was a while ago, now.]

Labrys's sister Aigis is part of our team. We were Persona-users before coming here like you all were. [If it's a secret, Minako certainly doesn't seem to think so, since she knows about it already.]

[feminine_carnivore]

Ahah, I bet they were complaining about me. [ She was always trouble as a kid. ]

H-huh?? [ It's hard to think of it as much of a secret when everyone here were persona users anyway, but it's still strange to hear that other people were persona users even before them. ]

There were other persona users before us?

Meanwhile, in another dimension

[celebrity_commentator]

...I suddenly feel like I forgot to do something...

not here; i'm so sorry

[lighter_flick]

[...

>For some weird reason, you suddenly feel inexplicably annoyed.]

[greatseal]

[Poor Chie was left out of the loop...]

Yeah. Our team is called SEES... We fought Shadows in Port Island during 2009 and early 2010. The 13th Hour here is basically what it was like for us.

I didn't know about other groups like yours before coming here either, but it makes sense, doesn't it? Persona can't be a completely new power.

[feminine_carnivore]

[ Chie has no idea the ignorance of her statement. ]

Wow, I wish we had known there were others out there we could have talked to. [ Sadly, even if they had known other Persona users it wouldn't have saved any of the three murdered. ]

I thought that Izanami was the one who gave people the power, but I guess other Gods can too.

[greatseal]

Izanami....? Well I'm not sure Philemon is a 'god,' really... [But seriously, what is this Izanami business???]

It's kind of complicated to explain, but my friends all awoke their Personas on their own. Back then there was the Dark Hour, which is like the 13th Hour here, like I said. But the difference is that most people didn't experience it. Everyone except people with the potential to use a Persona, and people called in by the Shadows, transmogrified into a coffin.

sorry abou the late reply!

[feminine_carnivore]

A-Ah, well, Izanami, like from the story? She tried to change the world but we kicked her butt and told her that it wasn't her choice! [ Well, it was something like that. And it may have been mostly Yu's work. ]

Yeah, I guess the 13th Hour is kinda like the TV World we went into. I'm sure the others have it already all figured out though. [ Chie had just arrived, and is certain the smarter ones in their group already know about how all this. ]

..Do you have any limes? [ Over here, Chie is still trying to cook, and has currently melted down some chocolate and is already adding things to it.. ]

[greatseal]

[First murders, now gods? Yu's team certainly wasn't slacking off...] I know the story, but I hadn't heard about that from Yu-kun yet. The TV world does sound like it's the same sort of thing, though.

[....The request makes Minako actually pay more attention to what Chie is doing to the chocolate.] Um, I don't think so. I do have peppermint flavoring though. [Mint isn't really close to lime flavor, but she hasn't really used lime in chocolate before...]

[feminine_carnivore]

[ It was a big scary god too with like a bunch of arms! ] It must all be connected in some way, with everyone having Personas here too.

Peppermint is too ordinary, I want to make it exciting and dangerous! [ Not the best thing to think of when making food Chie.. ] Oh, this soy sauce will definitely do the trick! [ She's already adding in a few shakes before she can be stopped. ]

[greatseal]

[Chie no. Minako reaches for her wrist to grab the bottle but it's too late. She does at least manage to keep the whole thing from going into the pot.

Okay, this isn't a huge disaster. She's heard that salt can bring out the flavor of chocolate, and soy sauce is salty, right? Maybe if they add more chocolate and sugar it will balance out...] That's enough exciting, I think! You should make sure it melts right and doesn't burn... [The double-boiler method they're using with a saucepan over a pot of water should be hard to mess up, but she's not guaranteeing anything anymore.]

[feminine_carnivore]

[ She just looks strangely at Minako. She's a nice girl and all, but she's way too high strung! Which...is totally Chie's fault even if she can't see that. ]

Really? I guess the soy sauce and the beef jerky bits will give it a really great meaty flavor! [ That's right, Chie's already added a bit of beef jerky that she happened to have in her pocket. ]

[greatseal]

[She just happened to have?]

It's chocolate, though. That's not usually something you want to have a meaty flavor.

[feminine_carnivore]

[ Chie never goes anywhere without some sort of meat (and/or meat flavored) snack! ]

Well, wouldn't it be too boring without adding anything? [ She's just lucky to have never been subjected to mystery food x. ]

I think I really got it down this chocolate making thing down! [ The hospital should probably be warned ahead of time for whoever she gives this chocolate to.. ]

[greatseal]

Maybe, but it's not going to work properly if you just put bits of jerky in the chocolate while it's melting... It's going to make a mess. Here. [She swoops in with a slotted spoon, trying to strain out as much of the jerky from the chocolate as she can.] We can make chocolate covered meat. In South America, they actually use chocolate in their main dishes, so it might not taste that bad!

[She's. Injecting as much optimism as she can. But still, dipping the jerky in soy-chocolate and then letting it cool seems a better plan than just dumping in jerky and making a huge sticky mess.]

[feminine_carnivore]

Really? That sounds awesome! [ She had never thought to try that, but now she can't stop thinking of how good that...probably....tastes! Maybe Minako was as good of a cook as Yu is! ]

You know, I wonder if every high school has people with Personas in it.. [ While cooking, Chie had let her mind wander. While obviously everyone in Hinoto-Ri had Personas, it wasn't that way at home. But Chie had only been to two schools, and apparently each had Persona users. Maybe there was some sort of link? ]

[greatseal]

[She laughs.] It'd probably be hard to keep secret if that were true! But there are other people who used Personas besides us. I've talked to two people who met Philemon before they came here.

[And while she's talking, Minako tastes the chocolate. ...

It's salty.

Very salty. And soy flavored.

But not to the point that it's inedible. Maybe it will go fine with the jerky.] Do you have more of that beef jerky? [Otherwise, she'll have to raid the cupboard and see if Akihiko has any around.]