Midsummer Bash

[puppy_lancer]

Characters: Lancer, the people he invited to the party, and everyone else who wants to stumble in
Setting: Floor 25, July 5, afternoon
Format: Open
Summary: Lancer throws a party for midsummer, since the Tower obviously needs a breather.
Warnings: None so far.

[To be honest, Lancer wanted to have the party in the evening, sometime around twilight. That would have been the most romantic time for it. Unfortunately, when in the Tower, one had to account for things like monsters. As a result, he had to hold it during the afternoon. But it wasn't too bad of a compromise.]

[This was, of course, a more simple affair than Diarmuid's birthday. For food, he had hauled a couple of tables up here and lined the table with dinner food. The centerpiece was a cake which had a heart drawn on it in red frosting. In one corner of the meadow, he had used some boxes and tarp to make some sort of booth where people could hide from the sun (and steal kisses off of each other). In the center of the meadow, he had piled a large stack of wood, perfect for lighting a bonfire by the party's end. The structures had all been surrounded with wreaths made from the meadow's flowers.]

[As soon as he's done with the setup, Lancer will sit down next to the firewood pile, waiting for people to come.]

Comments

[fionnuisce]

[Waver folded his own arms, sighing in slight annoyance.]

What happened?

[vermicompost]

I was out at--Sakura's grave, by myself.

[He pauses for a moment, frowning, more upset about Sakura being gone than the incident in question.]

Lancelot and Shinji came to find me, and a monster attacked us. It bit my arm and injured me badly, and I was poisoned, so I was angry and couldn't stop moving.

Lancelot had to cut my arm off.

[fionnuisce]

...oh. [There were several different directions he could have approached this from, each more awkward than the last. Why wasn't there a 'human interaction' textbook?]

I'm...sorry to hear about Sakura.

[vermicompost]

Thank you, Waver. That's kind of you.

I worry about her a lot. I don't know what happens to people who leave here, exactly...

[Not that he has a good feeling about it.]

If it's something awful, then I wish it had been me instead. I wish I could have done more for her. [He still feels like it's his fault, somehow.]

[fionnuisce]

I don't know--and I'm not sure I want to guess, at this point. I've noticed there seems to have been a trend of that kind of thing lately.

[He shook his head, clearly unnerved by the concept alone.]

...That other Waver's disappeared as well.

[vermicompost]

[Kariya nodded, still frowning.]

I'm almost afraid to know. I hope she's all right, somehow. I wish there was something I could do for her. I'd do anything. Anything at all--

[He broke off, a catch in his voice, as Waver told him about Waver.]

Oh no, he has? I'm sorry he's gone. I was--I mean I am--fond of him. He's a good person.

This is terrible...

[fionnuisce]

Not to sound arrogant, but he's a smart kid. Rider seems to have taught him pretty well.

[It didn't make this Waver any less uncomfortable about the situation, though.]

...They'll be fine, ultimately. I'm sure there's going to be some way to restore everything.

[vermicompost]

I agree, he's very smart. [Kariya doesn't think that's arrogant, though he can't help but be reminded of the fact that his other self didn't think much of him. Kariya wonders where he's been...]

You really think that, Waver? That they're all right?

[Kariya brightens. Waver's an intelligent man, and he respects his opinion. If he has such a hopeful point of view, then that's good, isn't it? He feels his optimism rallying.]

Yes, there must be something we can do to save them!

[fionnuisce]

Well, he certainly didn't think they were alright now, but semantics.]

If I didn't think there was some kind of hope foe them, I wouldn't say as much.

[vermicompost]

Of course you wouldn't. [He doesn't think Waver would say something simply to spare his feelings. He feels relieved.] That's what I've always thought too, that they'll be fine, in the end.

[Well, not always. Sometimes he worries and doubts, when he's feeling his worst.]

I want to help them somehow. It's frustrating. There's so much we don't know. I wish I could do more.

[He frowns. He feels so powerless here sometimes. At least in the War, he had a clear goal and a clear way to achieve it.]

[fionnuisce]

I know. I'm having the same problem--while I'm used to fighting to overthrow the powers in control, this is way above the Association. It's hard to even understand how they work, much less know how to fight against them.

[vermicompost]

It reminds me of back home...

[He says that without thinking. But the invulnerable, powerful administrators, the unending torture, and the fact that there's never any way to stop it--

--it's like being home, only on a grander scale. Zouken would love controlling a place like this.]

I hate feeling so powerless. I have to do something, but what? We should strike back at them somehow. What do you do, against the other magi?

[He is interested in fighting magi. Not that he's going to have the opportunity to do so himself, but in theory.]

[fionnuisce]

That's not quite the same thing, unfortunately. Fighting the Association is a game of politics and generally being a sneaky bastard. And while I can't say they've never tried to kill me, I'm not sure the same logic applies there.