#✧ anabelle ( event: snowstorm )

[tctteredwings]

for: @bhqextras now closed to new replies! location: outside bake my day, staten island

It was getting late and the snow was getting ridiculous. Anabelle had, of course, seen it all before, but the snow today didn't seem to want to stop. By 4pm she was sure she wouldn't be opening the shop tomorrow, the snow was already drifting against the door by almost a foot and a half, so that meant attempting to get rid of the stock by any means necessary. She was huddled in the doorway, coat zipped up so high you could barely see her face, brandishing several Tupperware boxes.

There weren't too many people around ( not at all surprising ), which meant she woud practically jump on any brave passerby. "Hi, hi!" The enthusiasm was unrivaled. "Would you like a couple of cupcakes? They're free. Please, take a couple!"

[boroughshq]

EVENT 001: SNOWSTORM CHARACTER SHUFFLE.

In preparation for our first event, under the cut you'll find a list of the shuffled character pairings for the upcoming snowstorm, along with further details about the event. As a reminder, the event will officially begin February 1st.

SHUFFLE PAIRINGS:

Marlon Mathis..............August Russo

Ryan Caddel................Claire Xiao

Javed Kashif................Alexander Warren

Onyx Harper.................Hercule Boisseau

Enzo Chavez.................Kian Zhang

Bijan Mousavi...............Oliver Metcalfe

Anavieve De Leon.........Deryn Adler

Riaz Mian.......................Fiona Burton

Athena Aston.................Anabelle Burton

Jasper Tomkins.............Johanna Paredes

Robin Morgan................Colson Kim

Gideon Chowdhury........Alina Ayutthaya-Harper

Kaan Demirci..................Neva Björk

Cerrus Balfour.................Anthony Ramos

Daniel Sutton..................Pauly Parker

Maccaulay Blake............Skyler Cameron

Josette Allen Lynn..........Honey Lavere

Merryn Hurley.................Riva Simone

Juliana Torres.................Benjamin Loverson

Violet Hú.........................Sherri Lowe

EVENT TIMELINE

IC Timeline: Canonically, the snowstorm will suddenly pass through New York on Tuesday, February 1st.

OOC Timeline: Members will have from February 1st through February 8th to post their initial starters around the snowstorm. After 2/8, no new starters can be posted, but writers are free to continue their event thread until it's conclusion. An announcement will be made on both days when the event has started and ended.

EVENT DETAILS

Now that the pairings are announced, members are encouraged to reach out to the mun of their paired partner to plan out what will occur between the characters. Members are free to take liberties with the snowstorm backdrop to create whatever situational atmosphere they'd like - they can be as comedic, lowkey, absurd, mundane, adrenaline-seeking, or subtle as you'd like! If you're interested in more concrete details prior to the weather report on Tuesday, the 2014 Gulf Coast Winter Storm serves as a reference point!

Pairing Threads:

The primary reason behind the event is to encourage character interaction between characters who may not have engaged with each other before. As such, character threads are highly encouraged between the assigned pairing. Members can choose if they'd prefer to have their threads set during the action of the snowstorm (ex. thread of two character chatting while stuck in an ATM vestibule together until the power comes back on) or after the snowstorm (ex. first thread are characters running into each other two days after being stuck together in the ATM vestibule during the snowstorm).

Threads have no set length, neither in writing nor in IC time. The encounter between characters can be as brief as twenty minutes or as long as an overnighter, while threads can be full on multi-paras or simple gif conversations.

Additional Threads:

Members are also free to take advantage of the setting to engage in other snowstorm related threads during this time period, and are not limited to only engaging with their assigned partner. Other plotted threads and open starters are welcome! (ex. after being freed from the ATM vestibule, your character briefly seeks warmth at a nearby grocery store with other patrons, where an open starter may be set - or they return home to their roommate for a closed starter!)

Additionally, members are free to continue non-event threads!

Please be sure to tag all event threads as bhqevent001 for differentiation purposes.

Happy plotting everyone! An official post will be made once the event has begun on 2/1. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to send them to the main!

[tctteredwings]

for: @itshoneys location: honey's place

"It's starting to snow out there," Ana declared as she stepped into Honey's place, a large box of iced biscuits in her hand. "Where did you want these?" The influencer was one of her first deliveries of the day, so she couldn't help her hesitance over the snow beginning to fall outside; the last thing she wanted was to get stuck out in manhattan and not be able to make it back to the island.

[tctteredwings]

for: @serendipitcs location: somewhere near the ferry on staten Island

After making numerous deliveries of birthday and wedding cakes before the weather got too bad, Anabelle was passing by the ferry port when she spotted the familiar face of Robin. She was quick to pull over, leaning across to open the door. "Hi stranger! How is it on the mainland?" she questioned with a smile. "You want a lift home?"

[tctteredwings]

for: @melikedanika location: mel's place, a little after lunch

"Can I borrow you?" Ana already sounded out of breath as her best friend opened the door. "This snow doesn't look like it's stopping and I have so many deliveries I still need to get out before I head back to the shop." It was safe to say she was fretting now, with no idea what to do if the snow really did start to get bad, and that was exactly why she'd pulled up in front of Mel's door only moments ago. "I don't understand what's happening, this wasn't forecast right? I mean, did I miss something?"

[tctteredwings]

"They usually are here, it's just... I don't know, I guess they figured it wasn't actually going to happen this time." Ana laughed and rolled her eyes at that. "Always prepare for the worst if you ask me." She pondered the snowflakes falling outside for several moments, tapping her fingers against the window ledge, and then shook her head, attention back on Neva. "They do have it here a lot, they're not usually this useless," she admitted. "I've been here for 10 years now."

𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐃 been so caught up on so many things that she hasn't had time to check on the news lately, in a way she felt bad for it. ⏤ ❛ Yeah, I mean kinda… But where I came from, it's colder and we have snowstorms, but the entire city is prepared for it. ❜ The more she speaks of her hometown, the more she feels homesick. Upon the next question… Oh, well… ❛ I don't know… I never expected to see something I'm used to in this big city. ❜ She admitted.

[tctteredwings]

"Shit. Oh, shit." Had that been her fault then? Ana immediately dropped the Tupperware and dived toward the man to try and help him back up from where he'd fallen. "Are you okay?" she questioned, brows furrowing as she offered out a hand. So maybe standing out here and scaring people by trusting cupcakes into their faces hadn't been the best idea in the world, but without any other kind of plan, it was all she'd got. "Here, let me help..." There was still a part of her wanting to curse, but the main priority now had to be getting him up from the floor. "Nothing's broken, is it?" Stupid question, as if he'd actually know that already. He looked okay, aside from a bruised ego maybe, something she'd certainly be suffering with if the same had happened to her.

There were certain moments in Milo’s life that he could not help but wonder just what he had done in a past life to deserve this one. It wasn’t so much that he believed in reincarnation, but when days like this happened, he could not help but wonder if the life he lived now was some sort of penance for the one before. His first mistake was not paying close enough attention to the weather or the fact that people had been talking about it the evening before. His next mistake was choosing to take off today of all days, and his third and final mistake was trying to save a little money by heading all the way out to Staten Island to see someone about a couch they were giving away on Craigslist. The couch ended up looking nothing like the photos and he had been forced to abandon the uhaul he had rented due to the insane traffic he had been stuck in for what felt like hours. Instead, he parked it on a side street and took off on foot to find someplace to wait out this storm, knowing full well, he would probably spend his evening in some hotel until the roads cleared enough for him to be able to make it to either work or his apartment tomorrow.

Hunching a little, he burrowed further down into his coat, wishing he had taken the time to check out reviews of it online. In the store, it had seemed impressive enough, but it was no match for the harsh reality of winter nor the freezing wind that seemed to slice through it with ease. Curling his toes a little in his sneakers, he began to worry that he might lose a toe or two before the day was over. He was not used to this cold anymore. In his youth, he didn’t feel it. He could play outside for hours, but he was older now and had spent years being spoiled by the heat of the California sun. Enough so that winter had him wishing for death. With a small wiggle of his head, he hid a little more of his face behind the high collar of his coat just as someone spoke up. The woman’s enthusiasm wasn’t expected so when Milo turned to look at her startled, he found himself slipping on a small patch of ice uncovered by a previous passerby’s footsteps. A yelp barely had time to leave his lips before he landed flat on his back and the air was knocked out of him with such force that for a moment, God herself wouldn’t have been able to convince him that he wasn’t dead. He stared up at the sky for a long second, watching as the flakes of snow fluttered down before he was finally able to take in an uneasy breath and exhale it with a groan as his gaze moved from the gray sky to the woman above him. “I think I just got the coins knocked out of me.” Why that was the first thing he could think to say was beyond him, but it probably had something to do with the pain now blooming in the back of his head.

[tctteredwings]

Ana did her best to get organised as quickly as she could, finding out her keys so she could lock the shop back up. Once that was done, she turned back to him again, making sure she had a proper grip on her own pile of Tupperware. "Did you manage you get them out this morning?" she questioned with a light smile, relieved she'd managed to do that with Freddie earlier —- thank God for routines she couldn't break for the life of her.

Ash looks back at the huge snowdrifts, the dunes of white that have already begun to pile. He can't help a deep chuckle- a rumble in his throat as he nods. A car isn't going anywhere in this weather now. It's like the busy traffic of NYC has slowed to a crawl. He easily reaches broad hands to take all the tupperware she's currently holding with a nod in agreement.

"Was... b-beautiful out." He agrees, sighing as he holds the baked goods safely against his chest. "Can't... even g-get my dogs... out, for a walk... in this." Words aren't his strong suit, but with his hands preoccupied, he has to rely on them. His voice is just a bit rough around the edges - as if he spent a long time not using it. He works around words as if it takes him just a little longer to form them.

[tctteredwings]

"Oh, this isn't me being noble," answered Anabelle with a shake of her head, "This is me not letting everything go to waste. It'll only end up in the trash if I have to close early." She paused a moment and shook her head. "If I don't get a chance to head to the shelter anyway. This kind of weather is never good for business." She appreciated what Alina was doing, though, in that moment, it wasn't as though anyone else had bothered. "I, uh..." She cast a glance over her shoulder. "Maybe a couple of dozen, but that is just the cupcakes," she laughed.

THE DAY NEVER STOPPED, although the severity of snow this time around was not seen for years, and alina thought they were long overdue for mother nature hitting new york with yet another storm to remember and record. even greater than usual snow didn't deter the brunette from wandering outside and running errands, well as many as she could. some of the business buildings had closed when the warnings went out, including the vogue headquarters. the sight of the smaller woman, huddled in her zipped up coat, though instantly recognizing annabelle, it was her standing outside handing out cupcakes that made alina stop in her steps. it was a kind gesture on the bakery owner's part, handing out cupcakes to anyone who might just need a 'pick me up'. she accepted the tupperware filled with cupcakes with a friendly smile, "while it's noble of you to hand them out for free, i don't want you to go out of business because then i'd suffer." she handed the woman a couple of bills "just take it." alina pressed before annabelle could protest. "you have got to be freezing. how many more do you have left to hand out?"

[tctteredwings]

"I never check the news." Maybe that was a bad idea on Ana's part, but it was fairly normal for her, she'd never bothered all that much when she'd been back in the UK either. She nodded in response to Neva's question, a soft sigh escaping her a moment later. If the weather was going to carry on like this she'd have to think about getting the rest of her deliveries out early. "Yeah, London," she answered. "Europe's like that, huh?" She laughed softly. "You think this is going to stick around?"

𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐀 𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐒 when Ana agreed with her, and her attention back at the window for a moment too, noticing the changing of the weather. ❛ Oh! No! ❜ The Swedish woman wasn't with a coat appropriate for snow, but one appropriate for very cold. ❛ I must confess I haven't checked the news in a while. ❜ Not when she just does her days as if she were a robot doing everything in almost automatic mode, even when she sometimes goes clubbing. ⏤ ❛ Oh?! So, are you from the UK? I'm actually from Sweden. Stockholm. That's something that happens there too.❜ The snows… Neva enjoys the winter in her hometown, more than anywhere else.

[tctteredwings]

His reaction was appreciated and Anabelle's expression softened. She took a moment to glance back into the shop, a slight huff escaping her ( more through the cold rather than anything else ). "Oh. Possibly." She did still have quite a lot left, especially when it came to the larger cakes which up to now had only been half eaten. "Actually, yes, if you don't mind," she concluded with a nod of her head. "It's unlikely I'll be getting the car over there in this." She chuckled softly then. "And to think, there was bright blue sky this morning and it looked like a beautiful day." Not that snow wasn't beautiful, but the chaos it could cause was quite scary sometimes. As he continued on to introduce himself, her smile brightened and she nodded her head. "Anabelle," she responded. "But feel free to call me Ana."

The shelter. Yeah, that's an infinitely better and selfless thing to do, isn't it. Ash almost feels guilty for not having that idea himself. He's still bent into the alcove of the little bakery, towering over this small woman and her baked goods. It's freezing, and windy. He sort of subconsciously shields her as he quickly types underneath:

'That's a good idea. Do you need help carrying them?' Ash turns it quickly, still glancing back at the windy and snowy streets. Plows haven't exactly been quick on the uptake and the snow is really starting to climb. He says, "I'm... A-Ash, by the... way."

[tctteredwings]

"That definitely does solve everything," Ana responded with a laugh, her gaze drawn to the window for a moment. It was then a frown began to form on her features instead, especially so at Neva's words. "Yeah, I think it's starting to snow actually..." It hadn't been forecast, so her words sounded a little confused as she spoke. "Probably just a sprinkle. It'll stop in ten minutes." She chuckled. "That's how it always was in the UK, you know?"

𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐄𝐃 at her response, there is days Neva feels like her but the others she just young again. Perhaps it was good to keep the balance if a person likes of course. Each people is on their own manners. ❛ I feel like this when I ended a shift at work, and I'm like damn! I feel old. Nothing that a bottle of wine and comfort food wouldn't solve. ❜ She admitted. She got happy to learn that one of her favorite bakeries does take orders on holidays. ⏤ She just warned that because maybe some people looking for something special for their loved partners, which wasn't her case. ❛ I'm a little surprised at how cold can be here. ❜

[tctteredwings]

Ana's smile was wide as he tucked into a couple of the cupcakes, always enjoying as others indulged in her food. This was the outcome she wanted as she passed over a cake or a biscuit, a macaron she'd poured her heart and soul into. The quicker she could hand these out the way she had to the man in front of her, the quicker she could be out of there again and make her way back home. "Funnily enough, I had noticed that," she said with a chuckle. "I was just looking for people to take these off my hands, and then I was leaving again. Don't really get much passing trade in the middle of a snowstorm."

He'd be damned if he ended up stuck in Staten Island. That was the sentiment all day it seemed. Trying to get an early beat on the commute to be back in Manhattan by afternoon to hop skip and jump over to Brooklyn for a Snowed In Smasher over at Glow by nightfall. A time crunch for sure and crunching further indeed, the snow started to fall even heavier blurring the vision in front of him. Bulldozing through towards the subway, a tiny woman cleared by depth perception and with...cupcakes? "Ooh, hell yeah." He used his teeth to take off his glove, taking one to dig right in. "Mm, that's fucking legendary—" he said through a mouth full. Guess he was way more hungry than he'd realized. "You sure?" Asking before reaching for another, zeroing in on the snow build-up around the shops front door, "Mm, what're you doing out here? Should get your ass inside. It's looking like a damn blizzard."

[tctteredwings]

"I wasn't planning on staying here long," were Ana's first words, because she wasn't. She just wanted to shift a few things and then she'd be on her way, tucked up back at home, huddled up with Freddie, and hoping her wifi didn't drop out before she could finish off the rest of Ted Lasso. She understood how the majority of people who would see her standing would think she was completely crazy, but needs must as far as she was concerned. She smiled when he turned his phone to her, offering a gentle smile. "Thank you for the offer," she answered. "But I was planning to take anything that's left to the shelter."

Ash is an impressive figure at 6'5", hands tucked into pockets of a thick coat as he works against the wind to head towards the hotel room he's taken out in Staten Island for the night. An affiliate to the Bowery, so he can work there for the evening as well. Help with emergency arrangements. Easier than traveling all throughout the city in this storm, after all. But then he's seeing some poor woman tucked into the alcove of a cute looking shop, and he frowns.

"You... sh... should get... inside." He can't help an amused, but confused look. What is she doing? Isn't she cold? Ash reaches out a hand for one of the tupperware. "...you..." He works on each word, having to focus a bit harder than most due to his tongue. "You could... give them out to... people at m-my... job." Ash looks irritated at himself after a moment, and reluctantly tucks his much bigger frame into the alcove too. He takes out broad hands, and his phone, and types a message into the notes app: 'I work at a hotel. you can come there & warm up & give them out for free there? promote your business?' He turns the phone to show her.

[tctteredwings]

Ana's nose wrinkled at his words and she shook her head, laugh escaping. "I'm not upbeat, I'm on the verge of losing a day's worth of product," she answered. "But at least giving it away is better than tossing it in the trash." She heaved a gentle sigh and glanced back up the street, watching as yet another person abandoned their car —- it was gradually turning into the backdrop of a zombie movie. "You have any idea if it's passable toward the shelter?" I should probably drop anything left off there.

—it wasn’t the amount of the snow, yet, it was the fact that there was freaking ice every where and he had been at work since yesterday which meant he was still stuck on the bike. now, one thought would have been to just stay at the station, but he knew that when calls would start coming in he wouldn’t be able to not join the others at their attempts to reach the citizens in distress —plus, he had already agreed that if snowfall wouldn’t stop, he could cope by taking a single day off this time. so after a while, he ended up needing to secure his bike in a parking garage before having to carry on foot. when the woman stepped outside, he couldn’t help but laugh a little. “you are awfully upbeat about this…” at least someone seemed to be in a good mood despite the goddamn awful weather, he thought.

[tctteredwings]

Ana still wasn't entirely sure what to say that, but she wasn't about to question Robin further, it just sounded like a whole lot of bad luck, back luck she was glad she hadn't been subjected to. "Seems not," she teased gently, the smile on her features kind. She'd do her best to help, just as soon as she figured out what she could actually do. "Okay..." She nodded, holding out her arm so that Robin could grab a hold of it. "Is your foot stuck?" Serious question, like was their heel caught in something? "I won't be soon, I was just on my way back from deliveries. I'm on foot as soon as I'm back to the shop."

"ooh, i don't know." the bluster & frustration emerges in robin's tone. "i was minding my own business and then the snow truck went by and i think i just got caught in the wave. i thought i was far enough away." sucking in a breath, she steels herself. please, robin, this is a small embarrassment. but an embarrassment nonetheless. the last thing she wanted was for ana to have to get out of her warm car to help with this. "i think i just need a hand. like, i'm wobbling." she extends her gloved hand out with a sigh. "what a total nightmare. how can you drive in this stuff?"