[Semi-Closed] Trails of Welcoming Party

[fiddlestick]

Who: Class VII, SSS and any friends they invited
When: Evening of October 1st
Where: Trails House!
What: Welcome to Aefenglom/Post-Dorchacht party!
Warnings: An obscene use of tacky decor. Also liquor.



Having the forewarning of the dream that some classmates were coming, the members of Class VII decided to hold a welcome party not just for their old friends, but invite the friends they've made in their time there. The days after their return from Dorchacht, they went straight into preparation work. Setting up their home for new occupants, preparing food, planning activities, and decorating.

On the evening of the 1st, after more emotional reunions were done earlier near the Coven, the party begins. Already from the entry hallway balloon decorations, you can tell this will be a party to remember. The living room too is full of balloon decorations which were put up more clumsily by decorators who spent so much time on the entry hallway they ran out of time. Above it all hangs a giant glitter banner with names hastily enchanted on, giving warm welcome to their old classmates.

Balloons aren't the only decorations. There's magicked bubbles, floating around the room with glitter within that forms the names of the people near them (though the spelling might be off). There's pirate octopus lanterns, random seasonal wall hangings, streamers, poppers, kazoos, party hats for people to wear and all sorts of other random (but also tacky) decorations. The entire first floor and courtyard are covered in these decorations.

A lot of thought was put into planning this party. Was it good thought? That's debatable, but they were thoughts.

I. The Food
What's a party but its selection of food? Despite the questionable decorations, the food table in the dining room is nothing to snuff at. There's a whole spread made of easy party foods: kebabs, mini sandwiches, chips and dip, wings, and vegetable platters. For those with a sweet tooth, there's a build your own crepes station with ice cream and fruit with handmade crepe shells. Towa, with the help of Shinji and Elliot, worked hard to make the food as delicious as possible.

Among Towa's dishes are a few brought by some thoughtful guests. These are a bit more varied in quality...from Ignis's made (and Prompto delivered) fine new recipes to Zack's more questionable fae jello cake that's enchanted to make you giggle if you're brave enough to eat it. Food wasn't asked of the guests, but they won't turn away anyone's kind donations.

Lastly, the drink table is well supplied with juices, ciders, and other cold drinks found in the city. For those looking for alcohol, there's some available - along with a sign written by Lloyd reminding folks not to drink if they're underage. Decide to ignore the sign? You'll need some help, as the alcohol bottles have been enchanted not to pour for anyone under 18. Next to the drink table, there's another table devoted entirely to freshly brewed coffees and teas.

II. The Games
Every party needs good entertainment, and there's plenty to be had. Spread out throughout the party, there's different activity stations. Some are more traditional party games- like pin the tail on the faun, pictionary, make balloon animals or other crafts, etc. There's a spot with decks of cards for card games in the living room, some traditional cards and some magicked to be Zemurian-based card games. Out in the courtyard, a few chess sets have been set up for anyone who fancies a logical game. In the music room, there's music playing on record for anyone who wishes to dance, and a keyboard for anyone who wants to play. Or...try your hand at the bagpipes in there. Why not.

Once it's dark enough outside, a corner of the yard becomes devoted to playing with sparklers and small fireworks. They're magically enchanted to be different colors and shapes. In the opposite corner, there's a bonfire set up with marshmallows to roast and plenty of chairs to sit and talk. Both areas have been stalked up with easy-to-use water spell scrolls - in case anything gets out of hand.

If you're looking just for some good conversation to get to know people? There's jars throughout the party with paper slips which have questions on them meant for conversation. Some are silly ("What superpower would you want?") while some are more thought-provoking ("What's your third favorite memory?") - though most of them are pretty light in levity.

III. Quiet Spots
While festitives are fun and all, everyone needs a little quiet once and awhile. The first floor and outside are devoted to party activities, but there's a couple rooms opened on the second floor that are nice and quiet. Enchantments have been put up to muffle sound from downstairs. Any valuables have been stashed away elsewhere, so you won't find anything worth taking.

Comments

[fiddlestick]

[But Eren is a guest!! It'd be rude to just expect him to help.

The glitter tastes slightly of magic, since it was conjured, but mostly it just tastes like glitter. Congrats on your forked tongue now being covered in glitter. ]

Oh, just some more streamers and balloons in the living room. Maybe some in the backyard too.

[usurpers]

[ he just bedazzled himself and that's okay. it ain't no witch blood, but the little trail of magic is hinted to the roof of his mouth. like pop rocks.

and glitter that will not leave his tongue so soon, sticking to his lips with every occasional flick and making things worse. better. how ever you want to see it. ]

Then lets go. [ he'd rather be moving around and doing something useful than thinking about a cup full of whiskey or getting even this close to feeling the hole in his heart any deeper than it was. the pendant goes from around his hand to over his head and carefully over each horn, tending to them as he attempted a walk to brush past elliot, the flicky tip of his tail flinging close to the other's ankles—

and the perfect sort of balance that he needed for his legs. you were right??? ] Front yard?

[ maybe something extra, he dk but he's mostly proactive. ]

[fiddlestick]

[Definitely better. There was something pretty eye-catching about the glitter on Eren's lips. He wonders briefly how he'd look with actual lipgloss of that variety ... maybe something to consider another time. ]

Alright. [He feels it, the desire for a distraction from the pain. It's understandable ... coming home from a month long to find Mikleo gone soon after was a harsh homecoming.

As for that tail...yeah, he's getting used to manuevering around it. Slowly. So he steps, intending to follow after him]

Oh yeah...I bet there's stuff out there. C'mon.

[Heading out, it's easy to grab some balloons and streamers to hang up on the front yard trees. The front area looks pretty well decorated...just only to the level that Elliot, Towa and Fie could reasonably reach. In other words, not super high]

[usurpers]

[ lipgloss on eren is an entirely new cryptid. and in other words, the decoration placement is a little odd looking for eren. they had limits, and being above them by a mile seems . . . it seems like there's so little. ]

That's it? [ he asks with innocence and not with judgement, glancing around him to show that— yes, it feels really empty up here! just to experiment, he takes a pinned up bundle of curly strings, and raises it far above his head to stick it there.

it's so high up now, bless. ]

[fiddlestick]

[Elliot gives a little huff because wow talk about tall privileges!! From Elliot's height, it looks like a lot...so long as he didn't look up]

Yes? Look, we're short, okay?

[He can admit it!!! Even if it hurts his soul.

But that thing is so high up now. He looks up at it, it hanging way above his head]

...Oh. It looks much better up there.

[usurpers]

[ but aren't there chairs . . . . why weren't chairs used!!!! ]

Want it higher?

[fiddlestick]

[Because 2/3 of the short people are clumsy people who would definitely hurt themselves. ]

Hmm..I think that height should be good. Crow's the tallest and he's shorter than you by a head, so I think it'll work.

[usurpers]

[ well— alright, then. there’re probably a dozen more curly strings, balloons and decorative cut out words to raise to keep eren busy. physically! his mind still wanders, brushing past the strings and ghosting over confetti. he’s sound when he thinks, and immediately speaks his thoughts— but it’s impossible not to miss him. ]

He would’ve liked decorating with you. [ wait, ] Or cooking.

[ definitely cooking. ]

[fiddlestick]

[ Elliot meanwhile monitors the work, sometimes handing decorations to him that need hanging, or telling him to move things to the left or right. You know, the things he can do in his limited short capacity.

But...ah. Yeah. The elephant in the room. Elliot's regained one friend only to have another disappear.]

...Yeah, he would've loved to help with the cooking. Would've made some incredible desserts.

[He sighs]

I was hoping to cook with him more.

[usurpers]

[ desserts. and augh, all the food that he showed him? when eren said sasha would've loved mikleo, he wasn't lying. her absence pangs him deeper than mikleo's, even, like a sudden blade to his gut. mikleo was alive. mikleo was everlasting. sasha was gone. it's these sort of unsaid feelings that could give mixed signals, and as such—

he doesn't talk about himself at all, does he? ]

Ice cream. [ he says through a smile. as cold as the treat was, it was probably one of the most interesting— and sweet. it did as little to him as drinking water was, a necessity to him rather than having it douse his skin, or soak him. it was nice to have and he's thought of bringing some for lex. ] He's probably still making some, out there. Waiting for Sorey. He's well.

[ he says that with reassurance. and, quietly, he pulls at the trinket around his neck, and holds it between his fingers. ]

He gave me this before he left.

[fiddlestick]

[He's not sure why the pangs deepen all of the sudden. Maybe it was a poignant memory or it reminded Eren of another loss. Elliot promised not to pry, so he won't, but he'll wrap his arm around Eren's waist in an one-arm embrace for comfort. ]

Oh he made you some? [That was good to know. Elliot knew how to make ice cream too but... it didn't feel right mentioning that right now. Another time. ] Yeah...I bet he is.

[The sparkle from the trinket catches his eye, causing him to look up at it]

He did? It's really pretty....

[usurpers]

[ so elliot would probably be the only person eren takes it off for right now, pulling it over his head and carefully over each horn. it’s a simple trinket that he fits into the other’s tiny palm, and opening it would reveal words: vuquis havu. ]

I told him I had a friend who would love him, and you. [ he pauses, and then adds, ] Sasha was crazy for food.

[ was, sadly, and where the heaviness from his shoulders stem. he points down at the pendant, ]

It says I’m free.

[fiddlestick]

[He wasn't expecting Eren to take it off for, his eyes widening a little as he does so. He holds onto it carefully in his palm. Seeing that opening, he'll gently open it with his fingers. It doesn't matter that Mikleo likely had the sense to make this thing durable - it's precious, and should be treated as such.]

"Vuquis Havu"... [The words are in a tongue he doesn't recognize, which isn't too surprising considering Mikleo was from another world. It gives him a nostalgically sad look on his face, remembering studying runes with Mikleo. The Seraph had always been so talented at other languages. When Eren gives him the meaning, it feels perfectly fitting] Very fitting, if I say so.

[He'll offer the trinket back over to Eren, so it can return to its rightful owner. And he does pick up on that past tense. Was. The grief only confirmed it was a friend that was no longer alive.]

Is that so...

[He's quiet for a moment, before he seems to get an idea. Yeah...doing that might help.]

Wait here, I'm gonna go grab some things, okay?

[usurpers]

[ ringing the chain out into a full circle for his head to fit into (horns first), eren ser the pendant back around the base of his scarred neck. with elliot wanting to go off for a second, ]

Sure, [ he murmurs, curiosity tugging at him, but finalizing any other decorations while he waited. it’s a little harder to quickly shake off the emotional weight of the loss mentioned, and he had considered telling more. when the time was right, maybe. ]

[fiddlestick]

[He gives a little nod and a gentle squeeze of Eren's hand before disappearing in the house. He's gone for about five minutes, before he comes out. He's carrying with him two cloth bags, carefully tied up with nice ribbon like packages. One is smaller, easy to fit in the palm of ones hand. It's stacked on top of the bigger one, that Elliot needs to use both hands to carry.

Eren might smell food from within the packages. Different treats baked up for the party and other snacks.]

Okay. I think this should be enough to pay respects. [To Mikleo who was alive but far away, and to Sasha who was gone from the living.] My friend Gaius told me that his people send things down a river instead of decorating graves. They're nomadic so they don't really have cemeteries like Erebonians do.

[He doesn't know what Eren's people do, but any graves that might exist are in another world right now. Gaius wouldn't mind them borrowing such a custom. He's chill.]

The river near here should do, I think.

[usurpers]

[ yuff is out to destroy me

here was eren! minding his business as he put a tall touch to the remaining decorations, occasionally getting the scent of elliot’s hands on his lips. food hadn’t been a surprise when it was supposed to be a party, but the way it comes and the reason why once explained— oh, dear. the dragon turns, and there is. a rather drastic change in him. eren’s shoulders slump, his eyes seem lost, his tail snakes around his leg as if subconsciously searching for something to grab onto, to steady his balance when there wasn’t a lack of it in the slightest.

the gesture was simple as it was incredibly thoughtful. eren hadn’t stayed for her burial, locked underground in a jail cell then breaking out to quickly flee. but that evening, on the air ship— it had been one of his hardest. he laughed out of grief, and was far too aghast to cry. though, he thought his jaws would shred his teeth with how much he clenched them together, hiding his trembling beneath a messy head of hair to fall over his face.

for a rather long moment, eren doesn’t know if he could say anything. he takes a long look over the bags, knows that one is for mikleo— fitting, considering he was a spirit to start and he was almost certain it would reach him somehow, wherever he was. finally, he does ask with a low crack in his voice: ]

Which one?

[fiddlestick]

[If Elliot's hands weren't full, perhaps he'd reach out to steady the dragon. It's clear he hadn't been expecting this. Elliot meanwhile had suspected Eren hadn't given himself the chance to grieve the loss of his friend. Too busy always pushing his forward, never relenting. Which...was admirable in many ways. But no matter how strong Eren was, he was still human. He felt pain and sadness and loss just as much as anyone else, even if he did his best to push it away.]

The small one's for Mikleo. It's a pastry I was pretty proud of. And the big one's for Sasha...hopefully it's enough food to feed her.

[If she loves food that much, she'd probably want a lot of it. That's what he's figuring.]

Tonight's about celebrating whose with us, so...it'd be good to take some time this afternoon for the people who can't make it.

[usurpers]

[ urk, right in the gut. he was almost expecting the larger one to be mikleo’s, for knowing him better than sasha, but— his hopes were hit, and his heart sinks a little. it fits too well, and eren can only add a small huff, laughing as he helped take the bigger package off his bonded’s hand. the sort of laugh one would have when there was nothing else he could manage. there’s no smile on his face. ]

It’ll never feed her.

[ said fondly, of course, and not meaning to say the entire thing wasn’t enough. if they could get started toward the rivers— eren would appreciate the side-by-side company. he’s already going. “thanks for this”? “where did the idea come from”? none of it even sounded proper, so undoubted, the dragon shifts in almost awkward silence. an awkward, guilty silence only tumbling in size in his chest. ]

I’ve never seen her full. Since we were squad mates.

[fiddlestick]

[No way man. Mikleo is too fancy to ever stuff his face this much. Besides, they both knew Mikleo was alive. They'd miss him and it hurts, but it wasn't quite the same as a true loss. A loss like Sasha was to Eren.]

Sounds like quite the appetite.

[Squadmates huh. That explains why it cut so deep for his bonded. it was a pain he could deeply relate to, even if by some miracle his classmate had found their way back to us. It didn't erase the years of grief.

Eren won't have to worry, because Elliot is very keen on being by his side, Now that one hand is free, he gently puts it on Eren's back as they walk away from house and towards the river. It was only a few blocks away from the house, luckily]

How long were you squad mates?

[usurpers]

Seven years.

[ a little less that seven, but might as well round up. ]

The 104th squad started when we were, [ he weighs the ages, ] twelve, thirteen.

[fiddlestick]

Seven? That's a long time...

[Way longer than he's known anyone in Class VII, and he already felt like he's known them for forever. To have that much longer of time together...]

At that point, you guys must've felt like family.

[usurpers]

[ it was the family eren had growing up. mikasa and armin are who were there as they grew, then the rest of the squad came when they got some ways older. those days, eren could never go back to. something would always be different. if his head grew back (in which).

he can hear the river more than not, now, and singles in on walking toward its edge. ]

I always wanted them to live long lives. [ unlike him, if they were to consider his present situation. ] They‘re all I had.

[ they’d still live to his desires if no one set them free from their cells— but he knows that’s a possibility he could no longer count on. at least what they do is by their own choice, and not his, but the risk is still grand. ]

[fiddlestick]

Of course you would. [Want them to live long lives, he means.] Anyone would want that for their family.

[Anyone worth any time, anyway. To have a life you cared about so much be tragically cut short...well, there's no better word for it than tragedy.

But he can't pretend that she'll get better, or that she'll show up here like Crow. Just because Crow did doesn't mean others will. ]

...How did it happen?

[usurpers]

[ with the waters so close now, eren lowers himself onto his knees, just by the stream’s edge, the bag resting against his bent knees and hands in front of it. he’s quiet as he recalls, a long stretch of silence blanketing them like snow. he takes a sharp breath through his nose, holds it, before it’s let go steadily with his words. ]

A kid with a gun got onto our air ship. [ one of his arms drift closer to almost hug his stomach— right where he saw the ugly hole it had blown into her. ] Last thing she said was “meat”.

[ the corps let their guards down while they were still in enemy territory. that had been one of their massive flaws, but. eren couldn’t find it in him to point fingers. he couldn’t find anyone more responsible than himself. the change that made him so different from the boy he arrived as months ago was divided into three— what he saw of his predecessor’s memories, what he saw in his future memories . . . and what happened in liberio. ]

[fiddlestick]

Oh...

[That's a pretty awful way to go. He can't even be shocked anymore by the idea of a "kid with a gun". He's seen enough child soldiers as it was. Instead, it's all too easy to imagine how something like that could happen.

He kneels down next to Eren]

That's awful. During the war, a lot of us would usually be resting on our airship between missions. If someone had manage to get aboard ... that could've happened to us too easily.

[In other words, it was a tragedy and maybe a mistake that they let their guard down, but not a stupid mistake. A lot of people let their guards down when they're in a space like that. ]