22 - Harvest Moon Viewing

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Harvest Moon Viewing
When: September 10, 6 PM
Where: The Meeting Hall grounds
Summary: The Heavens are throwing a moon-viewing party!







Party Games

Children are dashing all over the moon-viewing grounds in the early evening, flying kites or playing tag and other games. Many of them are wearing cute seasonal rabbit masks made of paper, or sporting ink curlicues and scribbles drawn over their faces, if they've lost too many games.

Card games and spinning top battles, a few practice archery butts towards the edge of the park, poetry-composing competitions, and even badminton: there's something for everyone, and anyone who doesn't look too busy may find themselves offered a rabbit mask and a game to play. Or perhaps you'd like to try your hand at drawing people into your own game?

Moon Viewing

The moon rises not long after sunset, looming over the garden in hazy golden and red splendor thanks to the volcanic fumes in the atmosphere. The games are winding down as darkness falls, and the faint scent of burning incense fills the air as people settle to view the moon rise. Shinki in their festival best, adorned with Amaterasu's golden chrysanthemum, are serving the guests. They set out trays of fresh seasonal fruit (Japanese pears, persimmons, and chestnuts) and plates of mochi, serve sake, and light portable grills to cook sweet potatoes and skewers of meat.

Mazed & Confused

Part of the grounds have been rearranged into a hedge-maze made of tall, plumed grasses packed close together. A sign at the entrance reads, "Bring back my ribbon from the center of the maze,
and I'll give you a special prize!"

Unfortunately, that's harder than it sounds. The maze is full of dead ends, confusing turns, and twisty little passages, which all look alike. It's almost magical how easy it is to lose your way inside, and the tufted grass will prove to have painfully sharp edges if anyone tries to cheat by pushing their way through the "walls" of the maze.

Those who successfully find their way to the center will find a white ribbon fluttering from the top of a tall pole. If they can climb the pole, pull the ribbon free, and make it back to the entrance, they will hear the sound of a child's laughter, and the ribbon in their hand will disappear to be replaced by a round cake of mochi. Enjoy the prize!

Wild Moon

One of the children participating most energetically in the games of tag and dashing around the party is wearing an oversized gray hoodie with the hood pulled up right to the edges of his happy rabbit mask. He's not being very careful, either: he keeps bumping into other party attendees and barely taking the time to mutter an apology before he sprints away.

Although nothing noticeable happens at the time, anyone who's been tagged or bumped into by that particular child will begin to feel more emotional, quicker to react, and less self-controlled as the night wears on. Those who he only brushed by won't be too powerfully affected, but the more times that he has run into someone, the stronger the effect will grow.

(Note: This won't cause anyone to have emotions that they wouldn't feel otherwise, but both ongoing moods and temporary reactions could be amplified.)

In Summary:

• Play party games
• Relax with snacks
• Try to solve the hedge maze
• Go wild
• Have fun~

Comments

[reformedsinner]

[Hakkai looks up, slowly. He could be made of ice; he could be made of clay, frozen and heavy. Numb until he sees Gojyo's face, and the disgust still etched there. That still hurts.

That is, probably, one of the things he deserves. His eye is almost black in the shadows, pupil blown wide: it's in the dark that the glass eye, green and normal, matches the least well.

The moon behind Gojyo's head haloes him like a saint in a window, and Hakkai finds himself laughing, high and broken. His hands tighten on his arms with bruising force. How can he live with himself? He can't, but he doesn't want to die -- that's all. What a slender reed to hang a life on.]

What do I deserve?

[erogappa]

[ This is how Hakkai should appear all the time, Gojyo thinks. Pale, inhuman, his face half lost in shadow. Looking like he just rolled down a hillside. Who would trust someone like this? Who would let him teach children? Who would welcome him into their home?

(Ayumu. He needs to find Ayumu.) ]

You took their lives.

[ He clenches his fist slowly, feeling the skin stretch and tendons tighten. He could punch Hakkai. From here, he could kick him, knock him down, stomp on him until...

...no. No, he couldn't. It's not like he's any better than Hakkai. That kind of punishment should come from somebody above them both. Or, if he's got any hope for his soul at all, from Hakkai himself. ]

Why do you think you get to keep yours?

cw: self-harm/suicidal ideation

[reformedsinner]

[Death, then. Hakkai shifts, freeing his right hand from its grip on his bicep. He brushes it against his chest: no. There's just no way to get the proper angle for fatal force there. He could break his own ribs quite easily, but to kill?

His hand settles at his throat instead. It's rock steady, fingers curved in, nails denting the skin over his slow pulse. Yes, he could do fatal damage to himself there just by closing his hand.

It's what Gojyo wants, and he's right; Hakkai has deserved to die for years now. Letting himself think that, fingers on his pulse grounding him, ready, he finds he wants to, desperately wants to accept Gojyo's judgment, tear his throat out, complete his own damnation, and rest.

He's so tired. He wants it so badly, and blood starts from under his fingernails as he lets his hand tense until black spots sparkle in his vision.

Then he lets go, and his hand falls to rest on the grass at his side. No.]

Because I still have work to do.

[Hell isn't atonement. Hell is too easy. He's too soiled to deserve love, or peace, but he can't just give up and go. Is that selfishness? Or just pride? He drags in a breath -- it hurts -- and pushes himself to his feet.]

I'm sorry.

[erogappa]

[ It takes Gojyo a moment to figure out what he's seeing. Hakkai's got his hand around his own throat, but that's just a comfort thing, right? He's feeling stressed, and he's rubbing his...?

No. No, that's not what's happening at all. He stands, frozen, until that first drop of blood breaks free, and that's when it hits him.

Hakkai isn't sane.

No sane person nearly throttles themselves because somebody told them to! (And even then, he mostly meant "go turn yourself in to the authorities" or maybe even "go find a nice tree and quietly hang yourself". Not... not this.

But no sane person murders a thousand people, either. No sane person gets the blood of a thousand people on them. How many people did he really need to kill in order to rescue his wife? Twenty? Fifty? Couldn't he have pulled the fire alarm or snuck in in the middle of the night and secreted her away?

No, because he's not sane. He's an incredibly strong youkai who loves to fight, and he's completely batshit crazy.

Gojyo's hands clench and unclench at his sides as he takes his first tentative step back. Hakkai can probably hear his heart beating, it's rabbiting so loudly in his chest. The panic sweat is unmistakable, too. ]

You're fucking crazy.

[ He takes a second step back. ]

There's something wrong with you.

[reformedsinner]

Yes.

[He doesn't have the energy to argue. Besides, talking hurts, too; he's realizing dimly that he must have squeezed quite a bit harder than he'd thought.

It had just been a little self-indulgent impulse. He would've torn out his throat, if he'd meant it. But he shouldn't let himself think like that, should he? He'd taken out an eye on impulse once, trying to buy off a victim's brother. It had seemed very reasonable at the time.

(Because, he knows, there is something wrong with him.)

He watches Gojyo's slow retreat for a moment before turning his face away, and wrapping his arms around himself. He's shivering again. It's fine. It's nothing he doesn't deserve. He... should go home, he thinks, or to his temple, which isn't home, but will do. He does have work to do.

He should get it out of the way.]