towerofanimus | Finally, another party

Entry tags:

Finally, another party

Characters: ProtoLancer

puppy_lancer, Zero Lancer

oathshackledbird and anyone interested in attending a birthday party. Details here.
Setting: Meadow
Format: Anything goes
Summary: Lancer throws his brother a party. Everyone can come except for the Archer (meaning they can come crash the party anyways)! Feel free to tag into any of the threads set up or invent your own scenario.
Warnings: None yet!

[It had taken some preparing, but the party was finally set up in a satisfactory way. There was a table for food and drink dragged in from the cafeteria, a wooden bucket filled with water with fruit floating in it, a strange paper mache Jason head pinata stacked on a scarecrow body, and a board with a pig with a Ganon head scribbled on it along with several spiraling paper "tails" attached to thumbtacks. There are no party decorations, but Lancer figures the flowers and sunshine should be decoration enough.]

[Now it's just a matter of waiting for people to show up.]

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[Diarmuid gives him a curious look.]

You mean besides you stealing all the blankets or trying to kick me out of bed?

[He blushes and then chuckles.]

Come on, I don't do that all the time. And I'm not the one who makes faces in their sleep.

[Strangely, Lancer was always still when he had his nightmares, since at that moment, everything else would freeze in favor of focusing on the horrors playing in his mind. Stealing blankets or rolling all over the place was his behavior when he was sleeping well.]

I've just been having some problems falling asleep.

[His nightmares had never been so vivid of so frequent. His most horrible memories--the times he had been forced to betray another, the times he himself had been betrayed--all strung together into some new dream. Perhaps the most horrible scene would have to be his memory of Diarmuid's curse. Even after Diarmuid forgave him for everything, the memory refuse to go away.]

[On some nights, the nightmares would be so bad that he would wake up from one and be unable to sleep again for fear of going back into the nightmares. And he definitely didn't want Ayaka to accidentally see his dreams and be tormented by the same things that he was. When that happened, he would just quietly lie close to his brother until morning came. Of course, during the nights that he was alone in his room, he didn't sleep at all. It was pathetic, really.]

I make faces in my sleep?

[The question is honest, but Diarmuid can guess the answer. If he is, it is probably because he is caught up in memory nightmares of his own. Actually, if all he is doing is making faces, then he is lucky. He had been bolting upright in bed and even screaming or crying on really bad nights. Since he had been spending nights with his brother so near or in Waver's room, he had been training himself to be still no matter the horrors playing through his mind. The last thing he wanted them to do is have reason to worry about him more than they already do.]

Do I...do anything else? Is that why you are having trouble sleeping?

Well, yeah. I mean, you'd frown and wince. Think there was once when you cried too. And it was pretty unsettling the first few times I woke up to that.

[He scratches his head.]

...Don't laugh, but I...um...kinda held you then.

[He held his brother tight every time he woke up from those nightmares. Whether it was out fear or concern for his brother.]

But no. That's not what keeps me up.

No, I won't laugh. Thank you. It is appreciated. I am sure I slept much better afterward because you were there.

[It is appreciated. In fact, it touches Diarmuid deep down that his brother has gone to such lengths to comfort him, but Diarmuid is obviously going to have to try harder to hide when he is having nightmares. If he can. It is one thing to school reactions that happen when you are awake or waking up, but much harder to control them when you are within the grips of the nightmare itself.]

If it is not that keeping you up, what is? Is there something I can do to help?

Well...uh...can Servants dream? Or, more specifically, can they get nightmares?

I don't believe they are suppose to, but considering what the tower has done to us who knows if that is still true.

[Though, Diarmuid knows that as twisted and horrible as his nightmares are, they are not truly nightmares. They are only his own memories.]

Are you having them? Is that why you are asking?

Kinda. It's like...just a lot of bad memories all strung together.

[He gives a bitter laugh.]

It's stupid, but sometimes I can't fall asleep because I keep seeing those things.

[Diarmuid shakes his head.]

It's not stupid. That...that is the exact same thing that is causing me to make faces in my sleep and to cry.

Perhaps...because we cannot dream like normal people do, this is how our minds try to deal with the things that have happened. I don't know. It is terrible, though.

Is there anything I can do to help you?

[Right now, Lancer feels even more embarrassed than before. He had been busy whining about his nightmares, but he had only been having them frequently in the recent two weeks or so. Who knows how long Diarmuid had been having his nightmares? And of course, Lancer had never noticed because he was too busy sleeping.]

Not die in my nightmares?

[He says dryly.]

...That's a joke, you know.

[Diarmuid frowns shaking his head. Maybe it would have been funnier if he didn't realize that since he and his brother have died together more than once it is very possible that his brother does dream of his death.

He knows he has watched his brother die more than once in his own dreams.]

I wonder if talking about these things would help the dreams or only make them worse.

[He's just going to ignore the joke. It is for the best.]

[He winces. If they were going to talk about Cu Chulainn's nightmares, then they would need to talk about one scene that kept turning up in them.]

[And since Diarmuid himself doesn't remember, it would be best to mention that incident as little as possible.]

Well, that depends. I mean, it might make me feel better and make you feel worse?

Ah, so they are about that time.

[His brother doesn't need to be specific. It's easy for Diarmuid to guess that the memories involve that time he cannot remember.]

I'm sorry... I wish there was something I could do to make things right. So much has changed and I don't even remember why...

And I wish that there was some way to make your nightmares go away too.

...You know, come to think of it, we really should have been born brothers. We even have the same problems.

[Diarmuid reaches out and gives his brother's shoulder a squeeze.]

We are brothers now. Lets not waste time on what should have been, all right? Besides, blood is not the strongest type of bond out there. We do not need it to show what we are to each other.

Now, lets let this talk of nightmares pass. Aren't you the one who told me we should be talking of happier things? We can discuss this more later. Lets just enjoy the party.

[He nods.]

So, which game do you wanna try out first? I've got pin the tail on the donkey, apple bobbing, and pinatas! Oh yeah, Sayaka's got a drone decorating contest too!

You put so much effort into this...

[He looks around at the games and then shakes his head looking slightly embarrassed.]

You realize I don't know what most of those games are, don't you? I have no idea what to pick.

I had to do some searching too. Basically, when bobbing for apples, everyone sticks their heads in the water and try to bite out a fruit with their mouths. Pin the tail on the donkey means you close your eyes and stick a tail on the drawing and hope you get it in the right place. A pinata is this doll thing filled with prizes and you hit it until it bursts so you can get the prizes. And drone decorating is drawing on drones with markers. So, which one do you want?

These games...they are certainly not the same as those we grew up with are they?

[He laughs.]

I see that Rin isn't the only one who has decided to show her displeasure with her new 'friends' by drawing on them. It seems like a harmless enough way to show our displeasure with their spying ways.

A way to pretty up the Tower too. Makes you feel much less tense when a drone walks by with a dick drawn on its head.

Of course, I bet some people will draw more elegant things.

Oh, so you have seen Rin's drones?

[Because that is exactly what she did to hers...]

In any event, pick whatever game you would like to try first. I will follow you. After all, you are the one who put all of this together. Would you like to take a swing at a Jason head before they are all gone? For some reason, they are very popular.

They were hers? She has good tastes!

...Sure, let's let the birthday boy pop the first Jason head.

Well, I won't assume that she is the only one who has done something like that, but I do know she did adorn hers in such a matter.

[Diarmuid laughs and then shakes his head.]

Jason didn't hurt me so much as he hurt others. I think you should get to break the first one.

If you say so.

[He walks toward the pinata. Once he's there, he manifests his spear, turns it upside down, and bursts the paper mache head with one swing of his spear's butt. And, of course, dried berries come spilling out. It's good to know that his little game works.]

[Diarmuid watches him, clapping his hands once it is done.]

If only it were so easy, no? To make them pay for what they have done.

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