OPEN | let's change from the heart, let's shout

[nomorules]

Who: Anyone and everyone! That means you! Yes, you, c'mere.
Where: The stream and the lake.
When: July 12th, evening.
Rating: PG in case any of y'all get wild with that decorating.
Summary: Come and take part in a mini lantern ceremony, Wonderland-style. Mingle away, comrades!
The Story:





The evening of the 12th, visitors who feel like moseying their way to the stream where it empties out of the forest will be able to enjoy a summer celebration in the Japanese style. Outdoor lights illuminate the area, and tables hold all manner of art supplies and blank paper lanterns waiting to be decorated.

Didn't catch the network 411? Someone around will surely explain: it's a nod to toro nagashi, the paper lantern ceremony meant to guide the souls of the departed by decorating lanterns and setting them loose. Maybe you have a departed soul you'd like to remember, or a prayer to make. Maybe you'd just like to write a note message-in-a-bottle style. Maybe you just feel like taking the air and enjoying the sights. The choice is yours!

Either way, once the sun has set and lanterns have been decorated, the candles inside will be lit (remember fire safety, kids!), and the lanterns will be released into the water.

Gather at the lakeside afterward to watch them empty into the lake and enjoy the ambiance with some food and drink. Because we could all use a little more light in our lives, no?

Comments

[idolings]

[W o w, Ryuji pls.

At least he was definitely persistant. May he have better luck on his birthday next year?]

Oh, how neat. I'll remember that for sure, then.

[That did surprise her, since her own birthday was on July 7th. She's never met someone whose birthday was so close to her's and it was kind of exciting.]

My birthday was on the seventh. So our birthdays are just a few days apart. Happy belated birthday to the both of us!

[On Tanabata of all days too! Now that she's thought about it, the one thing she did miss about home was having Tanabata celebrations.]

[nomorules]

_{[That's a year away? Quit trying to make him the 19-year-old virgin???]}

Wow, for real? No joke?

<sub>[He blinks in surprise. Provided she's just not yanking his chain by throwing a number out there--and he can't fully put it past her, you know what you did, Sayaka!--that's some coincidence.

In Wonderland it's a welcome point of common ground when two people are from the same world, let alone use the same calendar system; that he and another girl from Japan share a birthday month is impressive, given the vastness of the multiverse. Ryuji isn't the best at math, but he's guessing the chances of that aren't very big.]</sub>

That's pretty cool that our birthdays ended up so close. Are we the same age?

[idolings]

Yup! I promise that I'm not joking around this time.

[FOR ONCE, she's not pulling his leg. Although she doesn't really help her case by adding the words "this time" to her sentence. Good job, Sayaka.]

This is the first time I've met someone whose birthday is so close to mine! You know, I was kind of assuming that we are the same age. Now's a good time to ask.

[Now that she's thinking about it, she's been under the assumption that Ryuji was a high school student like herself this whole time. He didn't seem like a middle school student and sorry bro, but he also didn't give off a college student impression.

But now she was really curious, because she could be wrong.]

Because of Wonderland's not aging situation, I'm actually not sure what age I should be telling everyone. [She laughs a little.] I was 17 when I arrived, but it was recently my 18th birthday. How old are you?

[nomorules]

<sub>[""""""""This time."""""""" He'd go on a date with her on account of her bombshell looks alone, but he's less and less confident he could keep up with that personality.

It's to her credit her ribbing doesn't carry with it a perceived insult. He normally isn't one to stand on the wrong side of a joke for very long before bristling under the suspicion he's being made fun of, but with Sayaka he doesn't feel as though she's being mocking.]</sub>

Huh, same here! Whaddya know. I kinda figured we must be when you said you still had to study like me, but that really is close, damn.

_{[Wow, he could totally be a college student, though? May... be. If he ever passes his exams. Given their last conversation, though, it's probably apparent by now that his scholastic future is a serious case of the ???????]}

[idolings]

[Suspicions confirmed!! Even so, she was still surprised that they were also the same age. This was a pretty cool coincidence, she's never met someone who was just a few days older than her. It was a cheesey thought, but she couldn't help but wonder if this was a fated meeting. Wonderland decided who gets dragged, after all.

Maybe they wanted birthday buddies to meet, or she could just be giving Wonderland too much credit.]

Same here! I had a feeling we were both in high school, I never imagined we would literally be just a few days apart from each other.

[Suddenly, an idea strikes in her head.]

If we are both still here next year, maybe we can do something to celebrate our birthdays together? [She rests her chin on the palm of her hand, looking at him with a smile.] Surely by then, we will know each other pretty well.

[nomorules]

<sub>[Perhaps it's not a John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale level of fated meeting, but there does seem to be an element of serendipitous coincidence in the people he's met, and continues to meet. If not for making the acquaintance of Jean, the sardonic soldier from a completely foreign culture, he wouldn't have gotten the flash of inspiration to introduce a taste of toro nagashi to the people assembled here.

And then he wouldn't be having this conversation with Sayaka.

Granted, getting rejected is a bummer, but! Details. Ryuji knows what it's like to be a misfit and feel like you belong exactly nowhere, with no one; meeting people, even in a world they're trying to escape from, isn't something to take for granted. They're memories to hold onto.

That said, Ryuji's automatic reaction is a protesting noise around another mouthful of hot chocolate. Here in another year? His feelings on that are made plain by his wince.]</sub>

Don't take it personally if I say I ain't plannin' on it. Thinkin' that far ahead makes my stomach cramp.

[idolings]

[Despite that Sayaka liked living here and that this place was much better than her home, she knew that not everyone came from terrible home worlds. Everyone had homes and important people that they needed to go back to. It would be selfish of her to expect people to stay, especially since she didn't know how long she would end up living here.

As nice it would be to have a joint birthday party with Ryuji, she didn't want him to be stuck here for a whole year. He had his mom to go back to.]

It's perfectly fine, I totally understand that!

[Even they didn't know each other that well, Sayaka could say without any sort of hesitation that she would miss him. He had a charming presence and she felt like he could light up a room with his bright personality.

She can't help but giggle at his stomach cramp statement, he's so silly and she was really glad she got to talk to him like this. A soft yawn escapes from her lips as she begins to stand up to stretch her arms and legs.]

Whew! I think I need to walk around a bit, my foot's getting ready to fall asleep. Sakamoto-kun, thank you again for today. You did such a good job putting everything together. I had a really good time today!

[nomorules]

Guess it is gettin' a little late.

_{[He'd lost track of time while he'd been sitting here in the deepening evening, and he turns to watch her stand, resting his cup on the edge of the park bench.]}

You've thanked me plenty already, with the hot chocolate. _{[A smile teases at the corner of his mouth, sincere in its gladness, and also in its sheepishness when it curls a little bashfully a moment later.]} And... thanks, y'know, for not holdin' the askin' you out against me.

_{[That could've gone sideways quickly--but otherwise it'd ended up a pretty damn good night, all in all!]}

Happy late birthday to you, too.