maskormenacelogs | The stars twinkle

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The stars twinkle

WHO: Anyone who wants to show up!
WHERE: Heropa neighborhood
WHEN: August 24, afternoon to midnight
WHAT: Tanabata!
WARNINGS: None!

[It's a couple of weeks late for Tanabata in 2019, but that doesn't stop Fuu. With some help from friends, neighbors, and new acquaintances, she's decorated the light poles, trees, and fences around the Heropa neighborhood with colorful paper streamers, origami, and lanterns. And of course, there is the traditional bamboo wish tree. A nearby card table holds paper tokens, sharpies, and bits of ribbon to tie to the shoots.

There is plenty of food and drink, some of it Japanese festival food like dango, grilled chicken and vegetables on skewers, okonomiyaki pancakes, fried soba, and cotton candy, but some American fare as well--burgers, for instance, thanks to Tina, and whatever the guests bring themselves. (If you want alcohol, you're on your own.) And, as promised, Fuu has managed to rig up a bamboo ~~shoot~~ chute with somen noodles flowing down it.

There are outdoor games too, like archery (with toy arrows, puncture wounds are NOT a Tanabata tradition), badmiton, etcetera.

At night, you may want to search out Vega and Altair--Orihime and Hikoboshi, on opposite sides of the Milky Way.]

Fae

[They are around, and while Fuu has planned for that as best she can by offering them sweet treats and giving them little tasks--well, they don't have the greatest attention span in the world, and as soon as a new amusement occurs to them, that's what they'll do. Whether it's unraveling paper streamers, or stealing tokens from the wish tree, or changing the color of your food, they're doing their bit to make Tanabata just that much more interesting.]

[ooc: If you want to handwave your character having helped Fuu set up, feel free!]

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[Fuu is flitting about in her green yukata, doing her best to make sure people are having fun--she might be making more or adjusting the decorations, folding some oragami, or even writing a wish to hang on the tall bamboo shoot. She's also quite willing for a friendly archery match, if you'd like!

Of course... there are also the fairies. Which she has tried to account for, she's tried giving them little jobs or bribes that will amuse them, but every so often she's running over with a paper fan, shooing them away as they mess around with her decorations or steal bits of cotton candy.

She doesn't swear, of course. But there's an unusually scary look behind those blank lenses in her glasses....]

Edited 2019-08-25 00:49 (UTC)

[The archery isn't too difficult to get the hang of. With toy bows, strength isn't an issues, and it all becomes a matter of aim and concentration. Once he gets the feel for it, Norman's accuracy improves very quickly.

But the girl who organized this clearly has much more experience. Norman spends a few moments observing Fuu's form before commenting.] You're really good at this.

[Fuu smiles brightly. She's not one to boast, but she does have a certain level of pride in her skills, and it's always nice to get a compliment.]

Thank you! You aren't so bad yourself.

Oh, thank you! [He does learn quickly, but the compliment is kind.]

Do you have practice?

Oh yes, quite a bit. I was in the archery club at school on my own Earth. And I've had some practical experience, as well.

You're Norman, right?

[ As Fuu is stopped in repose for at least a moment to look upon her work, Jaime comes up behind her and wraps an arm around her shoulders, giving her arm a little squeeze as he tilts his head down to look at her properly, a smile playing across his lips. ]

Hey. You did a great job.

[She makes a sound of surprise at the sudden hug, but when she sees who it is, the smile is returned in full.]

Thank you, Jaime. That means a lot. [She reaches up to give his arm a little squeeze back.] Now that I'm here again, I wanted to bring back something from home.

[Now that Hikaru is here again, too, and reminding her--all the little things that she does miss about Japan in 1993, however simple they may seem.]

[ Jaime smiles back at her. ]

I'm glad you did. And if it wasn't so much work, I'd tell you to do it more often. Sometimes a little slice of home is all you need.

You must miss it.

[Fuu giggles.]

You're right, I don't think I have it in me to host all of Golden Week. The Star Festival is enough.

[There's no denying the wistfulness, though. She remembers celebrating Tanabata with her family, running around through the paper streamers hung up in the parks, the hot sweet smells of festival food all along the street... and in the evening, looking through their home telescope at Altair and Vega, trying to measure the distance between them.]

I do miss it--I never get tired of it, no matter how old I am. Especially the wishes and the stargazing at night. The whole city is decked out like this.

Aw, they're not that bad, are they?

[ Interruption of Fuu's fairy hunt comes from a likely unlikely source — or, maybe not. Ruka's retying a couple of the ribbons to the bamboo, unperturbed by the little hellions undoing her work. As she works with one ribbon, she twists a little thread of it off, giving herself less room to reattach it, but able to move the stray piece in teasing motions, like playing with small cats.

As for Ruka herself, she's not dressed in the traditional garb for the festival, but she's made a solid attempt in long, floral sundress, arms gloved as usual, and a couple extra accessories bound up in her hair. A little more effort than bowling deserved, and definitely a better mood.

Even if she is picking sides. ]

They just want a bit of attention, that's all.

[Fuu takes note of Ruka's cat-teasing technique. It certainly seems to divert the fairy's attention effectively.]

I've found that they want a lot of attention. Particularly when I'm working with my dungeon models. [trying to plot out her players' battles when figurines keep getting swapped or turned to the opposite color has been as bad as homework, lately.] And as long as they're here, they'll get their wish.

[Still, she's smiling, and the way she waves her fan at one of them is much less forceful than it could be--the little creature seems to be fluttering around its wake like a dolphin around a boat.]

[ bow always loves a good party, which is why he is there, trying a little of everything. like. everything. his tray is packed, and he is happily chewing on some dango, before shaking his stick at someone. ]

Wan' some? I can get more, don't worry.

[ he also does a few shots at the archery range, but not for very long. there's no real fun when you've more or less mastered the form and he's never been one to show off that much. still, he chuckles, getting in some hard shots, looking at whoever is nearby and struggling. ]

I can give you a few pointers.

[ later on, bow finds himself near the wish tree, glancing over some of the things people have written, expression. finally, he does one of his own, writing WORLD PEACE in bold letters.

then he pauses, thinking it over.

and adds an addendum AND ADVENTURE. ]

[Fuu can't claim not to be nosy, and really, half the fun is reading what other people have wished for. Sometimes it can be heartfelt and moving, but sometimes...

She peeks over Bow's shoulder (or around, since he's taller) and giggles at his postscript.]

An excellent wish!

You think so?

[ he shrugs. ]

I guess I don't have a lot to wish for, so it made more sense to wish for other people.

Oh, I'm sure you'll figure out something for yourself soon. [she says it friendly, but a funny look in her eye as she does--or maybe there isn't, maybe you imagined it.] But that is very kind of you.

It's Bow-san, isn't it? I think I remember you making a network posting recently.

[ he nods. ]

That's right. I'm still getting used to things here.

Mm, it is quite a bit of getting used to. Even for me, and I'm from a parallel Earth myself. There is plenty of adventure, though, so one part of your wish is guaranteed to be fulfilled.

What job did the government arrange for you?

Oh, I'm like a part-time clerk. I . . . handle money.

Which is not the job I would have picked, but at least it's not librarian.

They hand out a lot of those kinds of jobs. I suppose they're always in need of people willing to stand between the store and the public.

[Sometimes Fuu's game-players are rude to her, but at least she has the luxury of introducing karma a short distance down the road.]

But what would be so bad about being a librarian? At least patrons there have to be quiet if they're rude to you.

[ bow grimaces slightly. ]

It's what my dads always wanted me to be. But I don't think I have the patience for it.

Ah... that isn't easy, when what you want and what your parents want are two different things entirely. [She's lucky enough not to have that problem herself, but she knows plenty who have--it's more common than usual at a school for the gifted.] Are they librarians themselves?

Historians, mostly, but yeah. Our home is basically 95% books.

It's not bad, I just . . . don't want that for myself.

That's understandable. Everyone has their own path that they want to follow. [She smiles.] And adventure is certainly a popular one. Have you found it yourself?

Pretty much. You can't get more adventure than fighting an evil horde wanting to take over your world.

[An evil horde wanting to take over the world. Fuu twines her fingers together behind her back as she contemplates that characterization. That was what Adora had said, that she, and Bow, and a third friend named Glimmer had fought them together.

An evil horde.]

Adora-san has told me a little about that. Who exactly are they a horde of?

You know, I'm not entirely sure.

Mostly soldiers and machines. Where most of the soldiers come from though . . . I don't know. And I haven't asked Adora either. The answer's prooobably depressing.

[Depressing how? are the first words that come to mind, but she's not going to say it like that.

The other question is a little less potentially awful, she hopes.]

Ah... does she know a lot about them? [Fuu was under the impression that she was their champion against the Horde, but then again, that means she would know about them from having fought them frequently.]

[ hmm. it's not a secret but still. ]

Adora was raised by the Horde. They didn't leave good memories.

Raised by them? [She covers her mouth with a hand for a moment. A thousand questions spring to mind. How did that happen? How did she decide to leave? What happened?

But they're questions for Adora, not for Bow.] That must have taken a lot of courage for her to fight alongside you, instead.

It did. Adora's one of the strongest people I know.

[She wants to know more--about the Horde, if others have defected, or are likely to, why they're attacking Etheria in the first place, how long it's been going on.

But... this isn't a time or place to interrogate a new friend on all the problems of his homeworld. This is supposed to be a celebration, albeit a small one, and a respite from some of their usual cares.]

You don't have to know her for very long to see how strong she is--or how determined she is to make a difference for good.

I'm glad that she has friends like you beside her. And that you have a friend like her. She's a good person to have on your side.

Of course.

[ bow beams. ]

We're the best friend squad.

[Carter has brought the 'soft drinks' - two large bottles of soda pop in a plastic bag, which he leaves on the food table. At first he hovers on the sidelines, afraid to make a fool of himself. He'd done his research on what he wasn't allowed to call Japanese people but given his track record in stepping on his own toes with ~~normal~~ American and European people, he didn't entirely trust his odds.

Carter spends the early stages of the party as an uncharacteristic wallflower, hands in his pockets. He's dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with cartoon animals on it, baseball cap tugged over his face. He sidles about looking at the streamers and tasting the surprisingly good foods. Slowly, as conversations with other partygoers don't end in disaster (or end in and then recover from disaster), he starts to get more relaxed.

Carter even tries out the archery, though he's very rusty and not used to working with a toy bow instead of the real thing.

Eventually he works up the courage to add his own contributions to the wish tree.]

I wish for a pet to live at my house here.

I wish for 622 to feel better.

[The third wish takes more thought, and he winds up chewing on his lip as he bends over the table, cap of the sharpie tapping his chin.]

I wish I could understand the future without getting a headache.

Edited 2019-08-25 15:50 (UTC)

Mm. Not bad form.

[ The assessment on his go at toy archery comes from... one of the stranger-looking festival attendees, for sure. She's Japanese, sure, but that's probably going to be lower on the list of noticed features, leagues behind "bright pastel green hair" and "obnoxious red heart-shaped eye patch." Whether it's a teenage fashion thing or is just... what she looks like, it's not easy to tell by first impression.

She seems congenial enough, though; her arms are folded behind her back, posture straight, as she takes another glance between him and the target. ]

You've practice with the real thing, right?

Yeah, but not for a good long while. I used to go bow hunting with my cousin Jack back in North Dakota. [He's not yet looking at her as he says it, still focused on trying to get the bow to work properly.]

[Tina's there early to set up a burger stand; there's a hand-lettered sign listing her specials:]

All burgers available with vegetarian and vegan patties!
When You Wish Upon A Starfruit (topped w/starfruit)
And The Wind Cries Cherry (topped w/cherry tomato relish)
Pig & Rich (topped w/fried ham and bacon)

[She even feeds the faeries, hoping that will stop them causing mischief. Tina stays away from the archery, not trusting her own prowess or lack thereof even with toy arrows, but will participate in some of the other outdoor games, and takes time to write her wishes, as well.]

"I want to be reunited with my family."
"I want to find a boyfriend."
"I don't want this world to go to war."

[ This is a bittersweet time of year for Jaime. The last time he'd celebrated this... it had been the last good day he had spent with the friends he held nearest to his heart, the last time that he'd truly opened himself up to the whole world instead of a precious few who know his heart - and even with them, he keeps himself closed off more than he did before. But his walls have broken down little by little, and when he comes, it's not only with the bitterness of what's been lost in his heart. It's the recognition that he's here with new people too, people who are still important to him - like Fuu, who had somehow wound her way in a full circle, here then, and here now.

He has a small tower of bento boxes he'd made with him, extra so that he can give them away to other guests (though he's made a couple special), but otherwise spends his time wandering around, greeting others with a warm smile, happy for simple conversation, and happy to stand in silence as well.

At the wish tree, he pins up one wish: ]

I wish to remember this.

[ Ruka wouldn't need powers at this point to know there's something different about Jaime today. The way he carries himself, the look on his face when he catches a moment to himself, it's — well, perhaps different isn't the right word. It's a little clearer, maybe. Something that's been there a long time sitting closer to the surface.

It's nothing she wants to drag out to burn in the sunlight, and she doesn't want to take all his time, so for most of the little festival, Ruka lets him take it at his own pace.

(Besides, there's fairies that need company and entertainment and to be roped into games they can't win without them getting mad about it, and who else is really equipped for that? Nobody, that's who.)

As ever, though, they inevitably swing back into orbit, and it's the easiest thing in the world to take up the space beside him. ]

Hey.

[ The romantic thing would probably be to take his hand without saying anything, but his are kind of already occupied ]

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The stars twinkle

Fuu Hououji | OTA

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bow | ota

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Andrew Carter {{ Hogan's Heroes

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Tina Belcher | OTA

jaime reyes | a belated ota

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