thenearshore | 017 | Earth Turns Slowly

017 | Earth Turns Slowly

Who: Everyone!
What: Firefly viewing
When: Evening July 21
Where: The Near Shore
Summary: A vent is open and the fireflies are beautiful.

There have been so many things happening lately that the Heavens (mostly Amaterasu) have decided that the Far Shore residents deserve something nice to occupy their time. So everyone has been invited to view the fireflies on the Near Shore - a traditional sort of viewing in Japan that usually takes place during the summer, when the fireflies are out in force.

Traditional attire is encouraged, but people are also encouraged to just let themselves be comfortable and drink the night away!

The Viewing

The spread for the viewing is gorgeous. There are some lights strung up the trees, blinking slowly like fireflies as the actual fireflies mingle with each other and the people who have come to see them. Additionally, the Heavens have provided light snacks and an alcoholic drink that is easy to drink and very potent.

Fireflies

The fireflies are very friendly and easy to catch. They will gladly blink up from anyone's palm who happens to hold them. Also, they seem to have no fear of the people here, coming up close to anyone who happens to be nearby. They may even land on you if you stand still enough!

Blights

It will become more and more evident as the night wears on that some of the fireflies look distinctly different from the rest - they are larger and darker in color and more aggressively "friendly" than their fellows. These are the ayakashi disguised as fireflies and wherever they have touched someone, they will have left blighting. And that blight will slowly spread - should anyone else touch the blight, it will spread to them as well. The blight is not unique other than the fact that it doesn't seem to start hurting until after the blighted party has noticed it.

Vent

The opened vent is around a hundred feet from where the party is being held. Ayakashi are still pouring out of it, each of them as small as the firefly-like counterparts. Anyone who approaches the vent will be attacked by a swarm of bug-sized ayakashi. The vent is closing, albeit slowly, and will close more rapidly as more gods and shinki come to keep the ayakashi in check. By midnight, it should be closed completely.

In Summary:

See the fireflies
Fight some ayakashi
Heal some blighting
Help close the vent
Have fun~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ She blinks at him a moment, her mouth dropping open in surprise at the list of frustrations and complaints he gives her. And where once she might have sulked or scolded or just slipped easily into bickering in turn, now she hesitates.

And regards him very seriously for a moment. ]

What can I do to make it easier to understand me?

[ She finally asks, taking him at his word as she peers up at him, searching his expression. He's still not looking at her, it's harder to judge what he's actually thinking. ]

I don't mean to frustrate you. And if you'd prefer I ask fewer questions... I can try?

[ Alas. There is not much she can do about her hair and never has been.

Also there is abolutely nothing wrong with liking iced cream and shaken milk, Hak! She'll show you! ]

[And it's when she's serious like that that it frustrates him the most, but he doesn't mention it out loud.

He regards her just as seriously as she does him, his lips turning downwards into a frown as an anger and sadness rises in his chest again. He hasn't forgotten that day at the picnic where she had so freely let herself relax against him in such a familiar way, and it's been bothering him since then. He wants to ask her what it had meant for her, but that doesn't matter here...

And with a deep breath in and then out, he shakes his head.]

I don't want you to change for my sake.

[He's so wishy washy, and he hates himself for it.]

If you weren't frustrating or asked too many questions, or if your hair wasn't a mess, or if you didn't like strange foods, you wouldn't be Yona.

Well. Perhaps.

[ Her lips quirk faintly at that statement and she reaches out to him, laying a hand on his arm. She doesn't like the look on his face, or what lurks behind that frown. But she's not sure how to fix that just yet, either. Not when there's so many things she cannot say. ]

But I'm not trying to frustrate you on purpose, I hope you know.

[He knows that, and yet these things keep happening – the unexplainable knots in his stomach or the seeking out the comfort that her presence offers and whether she means to do it or not, none of it is her fault.

Hak offers her a flat response as he goes for a drink himself, throwing the last drops of it back before tossing the cup lazily over his shoulder.]

You do a lot of things you don't mean to. Are you sure you're not the goddess of accidents?

[SHRUG :D]

[ Now she makes a noise of protest - although whether over the fact that he just downed her drink in one go or because of his comment is hard to guess. ]

Hak! I'm not! And I don't know what you're talking about.

[Whatever the noise is in response to, he barely gives it the time of day. In fact, he chooses not to acknowledge it at all.]

Of course you do.

[And then he shrugs, but he's grinning from ear to ear and leaning in close to her face.]

Or are you saying you really did mean to grab onto me to make me stay earlier? That it wasn't an accident?

[ Oh, crap.

She freezes, caught, her cheeks immediately reddening again as she sputters. ]

Ah...? I didn't! That's not what we're talking about!

Oh?

[This is way too easy – so easy that he gives her a deep laugh before his face falls serious again, feigning innocence in his eyes.]

Enlighten me as to what we're talking about then.

Not that.

[ Despite her face being bright red, she does her best to look perfectly composed and certain. She has no idea if she pulls it off. ]

Also you drank all my drink. That was very rude.

[No, definitely not pulling it off, which makes it that much more fun for him.]

You relinquished it to me easy enough. And wasn't it Zeno's drink first?

What? No! He just poured it for me!

[ She wouldn't steal Zeno's drink!

...Hak's, maybe. But probably not Zeno's. ]

Still his, and then you offered me some.

[Ah-ha. He's got you there.]

So I accepted.

But you drank all of it! [ She scowls, but at least he'd stopped asking about her reasoning for reaching out to him for the moment.

She pushes to her knees, looking as if she's going to attempt to get to her feet. ]

Now I shall have to go find him for some more.

You drank more than I did.

[He watches her shift to get up, and his eyes narrow at her when she mentions going for more and he, too, moves to get to his feet. Except he's much faster than she is at doing so (could that perhaps be an effect of the alcohol? Who knows?) and when he's fully upright, he bends down and picks her up.

... And slings her over his shoulder like a sack of popotos.]

No. You've had enough.

[ Yona gives a yelp, because she'd expected a lot of reactions from him (especially after Shizuo had been so needlessly stubborn as well) but that hadn't been one of them. As it is, she freezes in surprise a moment before curling her fingers into a fist and (probably ineffectually) punching the back of his shoulder. ]

Hak! Put me down!

[He bends over to pick up the blanket and he throws that over his shoulder as well, letting it drape entirely over Yona. If she could see his smile right now...]

If you can get yourself down, I'll let you.

[ You should just be grateful she's polite enough not to kick you in the one place that would take you to your knees.... And only because you're Hak. ]

Where are you taking me? And why?

[Not like she's really be able to reach anyway, not with those tiny little legs of hers.

He drags the blanket up over her head and gives the top of it a gentle pat with his hand.]

We're going home. [They aren't really, but this is too fun to pass up.] Unless there is somewhere else you would like to go. I don't come cheap, though. It'll cost you if you want to go far.

[ She kicks him in the stomach instead, although not really with any intent to hurt, just a huffed protest to the only vulnerable spot she can reach. ]

I don't want to go anywhere, so put me down!

Too late, we're going somewhere.

[He can see the snack stands up ahead, and he grins and makes his way towards those, and he adjusts Yona on his back after she kicks him, maybe rough-housing her a little bit more than is necessary.]

Are you hungry?

[ At least this she is used to, even if he doesn't have her quite tucked in a sack like he had when smuggling her through the fire tribe lands. That doesn't make her like it any better. At least it hides her blush just as well as it had the first time he'd done this to her. ]

Ahh...? Maybe?

You must be, after all that alcohol you drank.

[Alright, snack stands it is! Was already heading that way anyway, but her confirmation only solidifies his plans.

When he moves his arm to wrap around her more protectively so she doesn't fall, he tilts his head back and pretends to sniff at her.]

You stink like it.

Edited 2017-06-29 21:47 (UTC)

[ There is a loud, very protesting yelp from beneath the blanket. ]

I do not! I only had a few sips before you stole it! Besides, it smelled delicious!

Oh? Must just be you, then.

[He makes a disgusted face at her.]

Nevermind, no snacks. I'm taking you back so you can have a bath.

It is not me! Hak! There is something wrong with your nose! Besides, it's rude to tell a lady anything like that! [ Although, really, she doesn't sound surprised at all that he would tell her that anyway. ]

Put me down! I will get my own snacks!

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