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

[vermicompost]

[Kariya is startled and flustered when Diarmuid mentions the issue so frankly. He all but visibly starts. He's been trying to avoid the subject at all costs, and he glances away nervously. He's unsure of what to say. What if Diarmuid thinks that he didn't really like him, that he's frivolous or changeable?]

Diarmuid, I--I would have--

[He breaks off, deciding very definitively that he should not finish that statement, even if he wasn't entirely sure of what he was about to say. His face feels unusually hot, considering the fact that he's generally so pale and bloodless, but he manages to answer Diarmuid's question.]

Yes, it's Claudia. Claudia Kotomine.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid is glad that Kariya doesn't finish that sentence as well. It is best for both of them if the words stay unsaid. Especially since Kariya has found someone else. Someone who can love him the way he wants.]

I know. You don't have to say it... I know.

[He leaves it at that hoping that Kariya will realize that he doesn't doubt the strength or honesty of his feelings. That hadn't been the problem. It had been that Diarmuid could never return those feelings the way Kariya wanted him to.]

Claudia? Yes, I do know her. She is a very nice woman. I haven't been able to speak with her a lot yet, but somehow...

[He smiles.]

Yes, I can see you two getting along well.

[If nothing else, they were both people who deserved much more happiness than they thought they did.]

[vermicompost]

All right...

[He looks nervous again, hoping Diarmuid did know what he meant, yet at the same time, feeling mortified about it. He takes a moment to compose himself and to swallow down his anxiety and a faint feeling of hurt.

He manages to brighten as the subject changes to Claudia.]

Yes, I thought you knew her.

[He remembers that date Lancer had set the two of them up on. It's not a fond memory, but he doesn't linger on it.]

She's very nice. She's kind and generous. We have a lot in common, and we've been through a lot together. We're good friends.

[oathshackledbird]

[Since Kariya brightens so much when the topic changes back to Claudia, Diarmuid doesn't say anything else about what had happened between himself and Kariya. He wants the man to move forward and be happy and this seems like the perfect opportunity for him to do so.]

I am honestly glad that you two managed to find each other. My brother...

[Diarmuid shakes his head.]

Never mind. He was just being foolish. I am glad that it didn't come between you two. How long have you been together? Did it just happen or has it been going on for a while?