thenearshore | 015 | Sky Full Of Stars

Entry tags:

015 | Sky Full Of Stars

Who: Everyone!
What: Tanabata Festival
When: All day July 5
Where: The Near Shore
Summary: The Heavens are throwing a party and you're invited!

Edit: OVERFLOW is here!

With Tanabata drawing close, the Heavens have decided that there is nothing wrong with a little celebration for the annual occasion. So they have invited everyone on the Far Shore as well as a large number of people from the Near Shore to attend a festival for Tanabata. Tanabata festivals are not uncommon in this area, so the Near Shore residents are none the wiser, though some of them are a little uncertain about where this street they've never heard of popped up from...

Tanabata is a festival held to celebrate the one time a year that the lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi can meet across the vast expanse of the Milky Way. Many birds have been working their tail feathers off to create a bridge for the two lovebirds and that bridge - perhaps unsurprisingly - touches down on this street, in the middle of the festival.

The Heavens have prepared entertainment, food stalls, and as many tanzaku as might be needed for everyone to write down wishes, along with plenty of bamboo stalks to hang the wishes from.

New arrivals will find themselves ushered to the festival and offered traditional clothing after their normal briefing at the Meeting Hall.

Stalls

There are festival stalls of every kind present, all run by shinki dressed in white robes and bearing the golden chrysanthemum of Amaterasu. Many of them seem a little bruised still, but they are happy to smile for anyone who comes to the stall they are running. There is food, games, and drinks available of all kinds, so feel free to roam around to your heart's content sampling everything that you can.

Performance

A large stage has been erected at one end of the festival street. The Heavens know that there are many talented gods and shinki present, so they are more than willing to clear spots in the scheduling for those people to perform. Anytime a Far Shore resident isn't on stage, there are plenty of Near Shore acts to go on, ranging the gambit from traditional music and instruments all the way to a rock band that has somehow found themselves here for the celebration.

Wishes

NOTE:

The Bridge

with

In Summary:

Enjoy the festival
Watch some quality entertainment
Make and/or answer wishes
Meet Orihime
Traverse the bridge
Have fun~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Lavi..

[ He does. With a steady-eyed look. ]

Moping doesn't suit you. [ pat pat. there there ]

Edited 2017-04-17 19:49 (UTC)

[Lavi lifts up a hand after taking it out of his pocket, almost as if he's ready to punch Allen with it.]

[Only to lightly bump it against the top of Allen's head.

He knows you, yet he doesn't. It makes him feel very complicated in the fact that it makes him want to fight alongside Allen, to fight as a comrade but that's not quite right, is it?

(Allen looks at him like they've been friends)

His own expression may look conflicted, a slight downward twist of the lips.

Allen bears a burden on his shoulders that no one should bear, but he does because--

Because why?

The shinki name, the one Allen's given him, seems to burn on the back of Lavi's neck. It's almost like a reminder, searing itself to imprint into his mind. But--]

You would know, right?

[It's not a jab, but it's not exactly a tease either.

Lavi withdraws his hand, suddenly seemingly a bit more lax than before.]

Have you met my goddess yet?

[ There's a faint sound of protest—more for his bumped pride than anything—at the knock, but nothing more.

Also the question catches him mildly offguard and he blinks for a moment, rubbing at his head reflexively. Partially because of "my goddess" (and he hopes Lux would never refer to him in a similar manner), but... ]

...it's Cardia, right? [ He straightens a little. Shoulders back.

He did meet her, not knowing who she was at all at first. And, hesitating for only a second—he lets his hand drop. Smiling faintly as he does so. ]

Mn. I did.

[Ah, so they did meet.

Lavi nods, glancing over at the bridge.]

She blames herself at times, and mentioning you around her before would make her sad.

[But maybe that's not the case anymore? Either way, it leads to his next question:]

How many shin—no, comrades do you currently have?

[ "Blames herself at times"—then... that would explain why something seemed sad and lonely about her to Allen. But that question...

Lavi, Allen knows what you're asking. And it's why he pauses to consider that, looking over the side of the bridge to the river instead with a thoughtful, bittersweet kind of expression. But at the same time... ]

We're all comrades when we all exist to fight together for the same purpose. [ It's a gentle, neutral answer. ]

Shinki or god.. Cardia too, if... it wasn't something that might make her sad. [ And he thinks it might so he won't push it. ]

But if it didn't, I'd be glad. She seems really nice and someone I want to meet again.

[ Have a non-answer answer. But it is how Allen generally is when it comes to things deeply personal. ]

Maybe it's strange, but I don't understand trying to make it smaller than that.

[He isn't answering the question.

Lavi almost wants to breathe out because he knows Allen doesn't like it when someone refers a comrade as 'shinki'. There was - something demeaning in that, something Lavi's gradually began to understand.

He closes his eye, thinking.

Allen Walker, you are going to be the death of him (again).]

What if, in that case, I'm fine with it? [Fine with being a comrade, fine with--]

In the aftermath that you woke up from being healed by your blight, did Lux say anything to you?

[ Lavi... you don't mean...?

Allen is hope and faith incarnate, kind of literally now, but even he isn't sure if he should dare to? But he looks a bit breathless for a moment. ]

Lux? Just.. [ just a lot of things] ...just that you didn't want me to come after you. Not at fist. [ And believe you me, that is not an easy thing to convince Allen of. But also...

...also there was something else, as Allen's admittedly somewhat scattered at times memory recalls. Something that even if he doesn't say it aloud, the other thing which had seemed to distress Lux as well and he wasn't sure how to reassure her.. the barely perceptible way in which his eyes widen belay that dawning realization.

"Remember that there's someone who's waiting for you back home, so don't keep risking your life." ]

Lavi...?

[Hope and faith incarnate, huh? Lavi hums.]

Before I left, Lux and I...talked. And we kept meeting afterwards. [Because they've agreed to keep each other's secrets.

She knows his fears, and he can understand hers. In a way, they were in the same boat in that regard. It makes him remember the way he kind of exploded on Allen and---

And--

"If it's the two of us, we can do it."

There's almost a bittersweet smile now. No, not bittersweet; it's more as if Lavi's finally reaching a decision, one that he knows he should talk to Cardia about, but one he also needs to talk to Allen about first.]

Do you remember everything you've said to me? How we're comrades? [Friends, really, but that's still too strong of a word. Ever since meeting Allen, that word kind of stuck.] I didn't want you coming after me because you make things confusing.

[ Confusing...? Him? But wait, hold up there—Lavi and Lux, they've been meeting since then?! And yet Lavi, admitting all of that...

...why do you have such a smile while you're saying that?

He thinks he knows and that alone makes him want to grip the other's arm in what's almost desperation, so threadbare is that kind of feeling. The loneliness of having something so close and dear, of belonging so much—and then having ripped away as you have to distance yourself from that.

Again. ]

Of course I remember... [ He blinks rapidly a couple times though. A disbelieving sort of flutter. ] But Lavi, you—

[ Becoming more subdued and hooded, Allen's eyes slant down. Thoughtful, and he keeps his arms tucked into his sleeves. Confusing...

"All you do is create chaos and conflict."

So he's quiet for a moment. Just standing side-by-side like that—and that's alright. ]

..."If it's the two of us, we can do it." [ Chin up, said softly and with certainty. And Timcanpy hovers for a moment, lifting off from where he'd been nestled in the curl of Allen's collar. ]

That's also what I remember.

But I think.. [ Not turning his head, he looks back to Lavi with just a flick of his eyes. Something quiet but a little hard to read. Something with a smile—one that's hung heavily, almost like it's apologetic, even if there's something so gentle and wistful about it. ]

..I think if my friend was feeling confused and didn't feel like he could talk to me about it, it'd make me a pretty terrible friend myself.

[ It's not spoilers because... after everything they went through?

He'd be Allen's friend even if Allen didn't remember him. ]

Edited 2017-04-18 02:30 (UTC)

[On again, off again.

It's always been a teetering thing with Lavi when it concerns Allen, and by extension, Lux. He knows he's confusing the hell out of the both of them, and he doesn't blame them one bit for feeling that confusion. After all, Lavi himself is confused, always standing on one edge before going to the other. What is he supposed to feel? How is he supposed to feel?

Comrades, friends - words Lavi has only begun to associate with other people. Cardia is his friend, and so is Kairi. Izuku is like a brother to him, so they were all of his friends, right?

So why was it so damn difficult to place that same label on Allen?

His eye flickers to Timcampy. He should be surprised to see such a weird thing with wings hovering close to Allen, easily missed but--

That hand on his arm grounds him.]

Maybe it's not you. [Or rather, partially it is, but not you.

Lavi loses his smile, though.

There's a pull towards Allen, one he can't seem to resist because.

It's like what he wanted to call Allen before, the one he's described him in his dream where Lux and Kairi stumbled into, and he wants to reach out, place his hand on top of Allen's head.

Ground you like you ground me.

Keep them both in the tips of reality.

Allen is--]

Like the fading light. [He murmurs that, words that sound vaguely familiar, but at the same time doesn't.]

[What they've been through here and what they've been through at home.

It's almost laughable.

Both of them were good at wearing masks. One is a clown, the other sworn to wear whatever is available to him because that's just how it is, isn't it?

Live, survive, keep walking.]

My words still stand now as they did when we fought that ayakashi.

[ Impossibly difficult for the both of them—Allen knows that—and yet, to him... it also changes nothing. He's a simple person, honestly, when it comes down to it. Who is my friend and comrade, who do I exist for—who are my enemies, who do I want to save and... who are my home, who I want to return to. It doesn't matter how difficult or complicated the world and these situations get. To Allen, he will always find a way to see it quite simply. So even if it's a hard and difficult sort of thing for all of them...

...you're still their friend and comrade.

Because after all, when Lavi texted him and told them they had to talk—what Exorcist even without their memories willingly has a Talk... when Allen came here with that in his mind...

What he'd prepared himself for was to release the name from Lavi he'd given him. Because he already should have, shouldn't he? Except that he'd been unconscious. Simple and straightforward, it'd been to fight together in a moment of desperation. Their relationship had never been like that before. Allen had been the one to resist naming him. And yet...

And yet, coming here with that in mind—it was almost unbearable.

So to say that, Lavi...

To say that makes Allen startle a bit, turning to face him then. Wide-eyed for a moment—staring, yes... Allen is briefly dumbfounded before that registers and his throat tightens and eyes sting.

Lavi.. ]

...Do they? [ Ha—

He has to stop for a moment to scrub at the corner of his eye with his palm. ]

So straightforward. [ It's said with a choked sort of laugh. Like an admonishment he doesn't have the heart to admonish for. Heh...

If you dare make fun of him for having to dry his eyes he'll punch you. ]

I'm glad.

Edited 2017-04-18 03:05 (UTC)

[Simple person with simple goals.

Sometimes, that's all ever what a person needs in their life. Sometimes, that's all that's ever really needed to make a person content with what they have.

It's what finally helped Lavi make up his mind on the whole matter because--

Because it's not about the gray area anymore. There were so many shades, all of it Lavi has seen before even during his short time here in the Far Shore, but it's enough to make him realize something.

There are people he wants to protect, people he'd be willing to fight for and fight with.

Lavi isn't the kind of person who'd easily turn his back on someone he's grown attached to, and while not friends with Allen - not yet - there is that desire to fight with him. He wants to be able to keep on fighting without the repercussions biting him.

His expression softens a bit.]

So, I made up my mind about this entire situation with us. I'll remain a Nora for you. [Being a shinki for both Cardia and Allen - it'd be interesting, but at least this way, he can keep an eye on both. They're similar.]

[ He blinks a little at that for a moment--but smiles then. A sad-sweet sort of way that just barely brings a curl to his lips.

Nora...

But before he can speak directly to that, to what that means that Lavi would say he'd make that decision and what Allen's answer will be to that, because he does have one... Before that, given how Lavi has struggled ever since Allen first met him here, he has to ask first: ]

...what made you make up your mind?

[ It's quiet. Something glad, truly happy perhaps, like maybe you just helped him center his world a bit finally, Lavi—but so very understated. ]

When it seemed like up until now everything I did only made you upset. [ And even if he doesn't say it aloud his expression hoods a little as he says that.

I'm sorry. ]

["...what made you make up your mind?"

In all honesty, there were a lot of things that helped Lavi make up his mind. To him, being a Nora has never really been a bad thing per se. He only hated it because of what it could potentially due to Cardia. (As if he hasn't stung or blighted his goddess enough times already)

A soft sound escapes from him as he switches his gaze from Allen and to the sky.

Then he looks back at Allen.]

A lot of things helped with that.

[He won't get into it, but:

"When it seemed like up until now everything I did only made you upset." That silent apology and Lavi breathes out, suddenly feeling older, but also a bit at peace.

Like a burden is being lifted off his shoulders.]

But I've realized that if there's anyone I'd remain a nora for, I'd rather it'd be you.

[ "But I've realized that if there's anyone I'd remain a nora for, I'd rather it'd be you." ]

...!

[ ...It's unfair, Lavi. You already made him cry a little—without even knowing why this affects him as much as it does.

And it's precisely for that reason that Allen will for once hold it back mostly. His friends losing their memories—it really sucks, not being able to be himself around them. At least when it comes to things he know would make matters worse—more confusing, or worse... lead to questions. He already screwed up with that with Lux a couple times. He needs to remember to act like how they see and know him. But that...

He should know better... and he does. He does and at the same time, when he considers not following his instinct it's... it's unthinkable. Because it's too important and putting it aside feels cheap. Because the point is also wanting to reach out to these people who have been his friends and not let that friendship die. So he's sorry... Sorry, Lavi.

They'll just have to sort it out. ]

[ With one clean stride.

Because that's all it takes to, in a manner delicate yet threadbare... pull him into a rough-soft embrace. Arms loosely looped around the other's shoulders and despite being still a few inches shorter despite having a year to catch up before being permanently locked at 18 and still with such a slender frame.. like he's swept the other up anyway.

It's... been a really long time, Lavi. Since he's been home or seen everyone. And you'd already disappeared on him once in Enprise, idiot.

So it means... really, probably more than you'll ever know, saying that. ]

Is that so..? [ Delicate yet strong. Soft yet a little roughened. Speaking against the other's shoulder with an expression somewhat faraway and not focused on anything in particular. It'll be alright if Lavi doesn't hug in him return either—honestly he's not expecting it. Because it also occurs to him...

..Lavi, that means you don't even know anything about him then, do you? But still you said that. ]

Someone told me once... when they thought of the world—they didn't see a map.

[ There's something so quiet, so... not old but timeless about him as he retells that. So hard to read. ]

Instead.. what they saw were the faces of everyone they cared about. All of their comrades, the people they fought with and for. To them, every one of them...

To her, they were 'the world'.

So I think— [ He hesitates then, fingers tightening for a moment. Works for a moment past how tight his throat has gotten and lets his eyes close. ]

...I think I'm okay with that too. [ A breath, which he lets go and suddenly feels a lot smaller for a moment.

Thank you. ]

Edited 2017-04-19 01:43 (UTC)

[There's that instinctive roll of shoulders, tensing when Allen comes close.

He's. Confused.

But at the same time, there's a slight comfort in the act. He doesn't remember having hugs, the feeling of it almost as foreign as being able to feel what emotions are supposed to be. Here, the only people Lavi has hugged has been Cardia and Lux (and Kairi, too, in a dream), but not like this.

This hug felt--heartbreaking.

As if Allen knows so much more than he lets on and is trying not to let himself break. He doesn't quite respond to it, mostly because of how unsure he is, but he listens all the same as he talks.]

015 | Sky Full Of Stars

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