Air Balloon (Jimbo)

[honey satheesh varma]

January 29, 2029

With January coming to a close, Honey knew that it wouldn't be long before Jimbo Blishwick would be gearing up for the one thing that surprisingly had yet to be named in his honor: Valentine's Day. Ever since she had opened the cat café, it seemed that she could rely on Jimbo Blishwick to promote his matchmaking services for the holiday. Honey didn't really mind; Jimbo was just trying to drum up business, and he wasn't doing anything to take customers away from her or anyone else in Horizont Alley. It was just a bit flashy.

Trying to think of what she could do to benefit from Valentine's Day herself, Honey was in the process of working to come up with some sort of slogan as she changed the art on the sandwich board out front. "Puppy love" would have worked well for a dog café; "scaredy cat" would have been great at Halloween (and was one to keep in mind for later in the year)… Something with kittens, maybe?

Setting down the piece of chalk she had in her hand, Honey adjusted the position of her eyeglasses. If she couldn't think of something, she could at least draw a cat and a heart or two. Valentine's Day wasn't until the 14th of February, so she had time.

jimbo brian blishwick vi

[jimbo brian blishwick vi]

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Strolling the alleyways had become a bit of a habit for Jimbo every morning. He always popped into the patisserie, said hello to the Vectors and chatted with them as he ordered a coffee and pastry, and then casually made his way from neighbor to neighbor. Eventually he had to pop over to Hogsmeade to check in on the pizza parlor and Spellbucks, but with competent managers in place, such visits weren’t nearly as necessary as they had been when both first opened. Making an appearance was more for the public perception than as a reason to make sure his employees were working – he only hired those he trusted, and so far, everything was going well. Before all of that though, he had to do his usual morning appointments at the matchmaking office. He had sent his assistant, the Chevalier girl, off with a list of potential orders for flowers for Valentine’s Day decorations. Jimbo knew he consistently aggravated Aurelia Flint with his constant asks for different events and felt like it would be best to stay out of her way this year.

With his holiday (and birthday) only a few weeks away, things were starting to wind down in his matchmaking, mostly because it liked to not work this time of year, but also because there were bigger plans in store. Helping others with their theming and planning was also part of his job, even if it wasn’t for pay. If anything, he lost money every February. At least now there was a bit of a buffer with his restaurants.

As he made the turn back into Horizont Alley, he spotted Honey up ahead, in front of her café. Just the person he was looking for, actually! ”Good morning, Honey!” he said rather loudly as he approached her. ”Cat got your tongue?” Jimbo added cheesily, in reference to the blank board in front of the shop.

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[honey satheesh varma]

January 29, 2029

"Good morning, Honey!" As if he had been summoned by her thinking of his businesses, Jimbo Blishwick appeared before Honey. She had her glasses on still, so she had no doubt that it was actually him and that she hadn't just imagined his presence. "Cat got your tongue?"

Realizing what he had done there, Honey had to laugh. "You could say that," she replied. "Hiya, Jimbo." Thinking then that her mental block would evaporate, she picked up the piece of chalk that she had previously set down and glanced at the board again. She still couldn't come up with anything after a split second and didn't want to be rude, so she looked to Jimbo. "I'm thinking of doing something for Valentine's Day," she commented with reference to the sandwich board. "Have you got any ideas?"

jimbo brian blishwick vi

[jimbo brian blishwick vi]

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”I always have ideas for Valentine’s Day,” Jimbo responded automatically. Though what Honey was looking for specifically was hard to tell. An ad for a day of date? A special drink? Couples’ tickets to spend time with the cats? So many different options were available to her, really. He knew what he would do, but he also didn’t run a café. Or rather, he did, just not this one. Spellbucks had its own rules because he was merely a franchise owner of it. They sent their themed drinks and goodies for whatever holiday it happened to be, and he made sure it was all done according to how they wanted it. Sometimes that was hard for him to do. After running his matchmaking business his own way for all these years and then the pizza parlor, Jimbo knew what it took. Having a corporate boss across the Atlantic and in the US telling him what to do in order to maintain the business was tough on him. If he had the capital to outright purchase the Spellbucks name in the UK, he would. Then this wouldn’t be an issue at all.

But back to Honey and her cat café. There were definitely ways to draw people in for the days leading up to, but Jimbo didn’t think it was really the ideal date spot for Valentine’s Day. She probably wasn’t looking for that anyways. If the café had been in Hogsmeade, that would be a completely different story. ”I imagine your clientele around this time of year isn’t Hogwarts-age, right?” Jimbo asked. He would need a few more details first before thinking of any solid ideas for her. ”Because nailing down who would be interested is the first step. Unless you just want a fun activity, like making your own cat themed Valentine’s cards.”

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[honey satheesh varma]

January 29, 2029

Jimbo replied that he always had ideas for Valentine's Day, which Honey doubted was an exaggeration. She supposed that was good news for her, since Jimbo was at least generous. He had to have a suggestion or two for her. Even though there was no telling what he had in store, Honey was sure that something would come of it. It was like when Vivian Jordan had advised her to put in a "kitty cam"; actually implementing it had taken a lot of work, but the camera at least functioned. While the webpage for the camera's feed was notoriously glitchy, it existed. It was just a matter of getting someone in who knew something about computers to fix it.

"I imagine your clientele around this time of year isn't Hogwarts-age, right?" Jimbo checked. "Because nailing down who would be interested is the first step." That was, he said, unless she wanted to go for something like having people make cat-themed Valentine's cards instead.

There was some potential there for arts and crafts, but it might have been better for a younger crowd. Though the students at Hogwarts were no longer required to board there, most of her customers didn't seem to be children and younger teenagers. Trying to draw in parents with small children—the ones around primary school age or under—was risky. Toddlers, in particular, weren't always the best at keeping their hands to themselves.

"No," Honey replied, getting to her feet and dusting the excess chalk off her hands. "Adults, mostly. Or at least post-OWLs." Though the average fifteen-year-old was probably still pursuing studies at NEWT level, it was harder to tell who was a student and who wasn't. Honey thought that would have been better for her if Hogwarts had been structured that way when she was being educated at home. It might have made it less isolating.

jimbo brian blishwick vi

[jimbo brian blishwick vi]

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Jimbo had started to pace back and forth in front of the café, hand on his chin as he thought. This motion had become commonplace over the last few years, especially now that he was thinking more about future prospects with his businesses. There had never been any worries when it was just the matchmaking and himself as the sole employee. Now he had to worry about two separate payrolls, two very different business models, and then his original career on top of all of that. Sometimes he wondered if he had overextended too fast, adding the Spellbucks on top of the pizza parlor. He never felt pressure from any of it, aside from needing to make daily appearances at each. Thankfully, the parlor and coffee shop were within walking distance of one another in Hogsmeade.

”Sometimes, simple is better,” Jimbo stated as he stopped his back and forth walk. ”I know that sounds strange coming from me, of all people, but in recent years, I’ve found that going over the top can turn quite a few folks away. People grow bored of all of the lavishness…” That didn’t mean he was completely against doing what he wanted. Anyone that attended any of the events he held knew exactly what they were getting. But that also didn’t work for all business owners. Honey certainly was not him, and vice-versa.

”Maybe a special drink and cookie combination? And then pull them all in with an appropriate tag line like…” He started his pacing again as he tried to think of something on the spot. Like an epiphany, one came to him instantly. ”Like, “Find the Purrfect pet partner for you!” Jimbo knew that all of the cats were rescued, though he was unsure if they were adoptable as well. He supposed the final decision remained with Honey.

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[honey satheesh varma]

January 29, 2029

Honey watched as Jimbo paced back and forth. He appeared to be putting more thought into the whole thing than she had expected of him, which was interesting to see in real time.

"Sometimes," Jimbo instructed her as he stopped pacing, "simple is better." That really didn't sound like something he would say, but he was obviously aware of that, too. "I know that sounds strange coming from me, of all people," he acknowledged, "but in recent years, I've found that going over the top can turn quite a few folks away. People grow bored of all of the lavishness…"

Honey nodded her head. If all anyone expected was lavishness, it became harder and harder to do things bigger and better. Theoretically, the sky was the limit, but Honey imagined that even Jimbo Blishwick had financial limitations at some point.

"Maybe a special drink and cookie combination?" Jimbo suggested. He returned to walking back and forth as he added that there could be a tagline for the promotion. "Like, 'Find the "purrfect" pet partner for you!'"

"Oh!" That was really good, Honey thought. "That would be perfect. Er, 'purrfect'!" She corrected herself to use the pun Jimbo had and thought for a moment herself, minus the pacing that Jimbo had been doing. "I could even do pairings," she added. "Since there are so many Americans here now, I could do a chocolate chip cookie and milk,  then maybe some different combinations of biscuits and teas, you know?"

jimbo brian blishwick vi

[jimbo brian blishwick vi]

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The injection of students and families from other countries over the course of the last few years had definitely been an intriguing thing to watch. It changed from muggleborn children being the ones in awe whenever they entered Diagon Alley to entire clans. He knew that there were parts of cities in the US that had similar magical-only zones, but they didn’t compare to anything that the old parts of Europe had. Jimbo imagined that it was a similar feeling to when he first went to Place Cachée in Paris; dumbfounded by the fact that a shopping district could look so elegant and pristine. He loved Diagon and Horizont, and both had improved immensely since his childhood, but there were times where he longed for what the French had crafted. Doing what he did best, he was changing little things here and there by suggestion. It seemed to be working.

Honey caught on to his wordplay and he grinned. She took it a step further and said that having pairings depending on the customer could be possible. ”I’ve heard they like the jumbo kind with chocolate chunks. Where it sort of oozes out of the cookie when its warm and breaks.” Jimbo mostly said that because he wanted to have one of his own. It would be possible any day of the week if he walked down to the patisserie and asked if they had any. For the sake of assisting Honey, it was better if he agreed with the idea and waited. Being a taste tester was part of his official job description somewhere in all of the rest of them. He wouldn’t have been qualified to run a coffee shop or pizza parlor otherwise.

”There aren’t a whole lot of them that aren’t in school still, so you wouldn’t need nearly as much. The usual with various teas would work well enough I’d think.” Jimbo abruptly stopped his pacing, as it seemed a decision had been made. ”On the other hand,” he continued his pacing again, ”Maybe you do want more of the milk and cookies. People like unique combinations, and if they’re told how American it is, they’ll bite in order to associate with their new friends.”

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[honey satheesh varma]

January 29, 2029

Jimbo appeared to have latched on to the cookie-and-drink combination concept, letting slip that he'd heard that the Americans liked "the jumbo kind with chocolate chunks". Honey understood what he was talking about, but his description of the melty chocolate oozing out of the warm cookie made her a little distracted for a moment out of wanting one. Other than that, though, she was on board. If Nova Vector could whip up some of them for the occasion, then that would be even better than what she could do herself. And they would be sure to sell out.

As for the logistics, Jimbo added that there weren't too many Americans that weren't still at Hogwarts, so it wouldn't need to be anything out of the usual. "On the other hand," he went on, pacing once again, "maybe you do want more of the milk and cookies." He had an idea there. "People like unique combinations, and if they're told how American it is," he said, "they'll bite in order to associate with their new friends."

Finding it interesting, Honey nodded. "The 'American' stuff is popular, isn't it?" Jimbo had done a good job with that, so obviously he knew. "The pizza," even though it was Italian, technically, "Spellbucks…"

jimbo brian blishwick vi

[jimbo brian blishwick vi]

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Popular? Absolutely the Americans were popular! He recalled his own time at Hogwarts when the Triwizard Tournament had been held way back when, and the mood that possessed the castle when the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students arrived. From his understanding, international students were far more frequent at Hogwarts these days (or at least prior to Ilvermorny showing up over the last few years). But the American fever had struck plenty in the community and those that had stayed had started to play their parts as well. His own ventures into it, with the pizza parlor and more recently, Spellbucks. Honey brought both up as well.

”Yes, yes it is,” Jimbo admitted with a laugh. He wouldn’t have jumped into either without having a plan for them. There was far more of a leap when it came to the pizza than Spellbucks though. ”I don’t think pizza and cats would work too well…but sending over drink orders from Spellbucks could be possible?” The only tricky part about that was transporting it all the way here to Horizont. Drinks and apparition didn’t always work too well, unless someone didn’t have a problem with potentially wearing it once they got where they needed to be. Some of the fancy muggle tumblers did a great job at containing it all these days though, so that was always an option. Unfortunately, Jimbo didn’t have the space in his matchmaking office to semi-convert it to a Spellbucks for the time being. That would also get in the way of normal day to day business for him as well.

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