[Open] The night has a thousand eyes and the day but one

[eatsyourscience]

Who: Everyone!
Where: The stream and the lake
When: Evening of August 14
Rating: PG-13, just in case
Summary: Come and enjoy one small part of the Bon festival!
The Story:


The evening of the 14th, visitors who feel like heading down to the lake where it turns into a stream that disappears into the forest will get 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.

This is the Wonderland version of toro nagashi, the paper lantern ceremony meant to guide the souls of the departed by decorating lanterns and setting them loose on the water. Anyone is welcome to participate, whether it's saying a prayer for a departed soul they'd like to remember, sending a note message-in-a-bottle style, or just enjoying the evening air.

Either way, once the sun has set and lanterns have been decorated, the candles inside will be lit, 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.

Comments

[eatsyourscience]

Yeah. That would be pretty miraculous.

[He fiddles with the marker he's holding.]

It's a little reassuring to know that time hasn't passed at home while we're here.

[Missing out on eight years of his life would be pretty awful.]

[entreats]

[ It's a problem Ange never had to consider, since she's pretty much just dead back home. She only thinks about it now he's bringing it up. ]

Wouldn't it be kind of weird once you returned home? It'd be like all that time you lived here just never happened, despite you still remembering all of it. [ And Souji's been here for a long time. ]

[eatsyourscience]

I won't remember it, though.

[He frowns just a little, as though troubled by that.]

I'm not sure if it's a good or a bad thing.

[entreats]

You seem like you lean more towards thinking it's bad.

[ Judging by his face, anyway. ]

[eatsyourscience]

There are things I don't want to forget. And people.

[entreats]

It doesn't sound like there's much you can do about it though. [ Or any of them, for that matter. This place is way stronger than any of them individually. ] Maybe the only thing you can do is treasure the memories you like while you have them.

[eatsyourscience]

[He nods. She's right of course, but that doesn't mean he has to be happy about it.]

You're right. While I'm here, I can just...be here. [He shrugs.] I miss home, but I don't really need to worry about it.

[For the most part, he doesn't. He's pretty okay at living in the moment.]

I'm being kind of depressing, aren't I?

[entreats]

[ She looks back at her - still blank - lantern, and says with the flattest tone possible: ]

That's right, you're stealing my job. [ She's usually the depressing one here! Not that she really minds it though, it's just the first deadpan remark that comes to mind.

It feels a little insensitive though, even by Ange standards, so she adds in a way that's much less flat: ]

It's alright though. Everyone has difficult thoughts like that sometimes. Especially in a place like this.

[eatsyourscience]

[That makes him feel better and he smiles at her.]

You're nicer than you want people to think you are.

[entreats]

[ He hits it right on the head. Enough for her to be quiet for a moment, like she's trying to sort out an appropriate response or denial to that. Something tells her though that denying this would be useless, so after that moment Ange just gives in. ]

I don't like seeming nice. [ It's then that she looks at him again. ] That must be a weird concept to you.

[ After all, Souji is pretty obviously nice - from her point of view, anyway. Here he is organising this festival for all of them, and even helping her with her lantern, despite Ange being well aware she's not the most interesting person to be around. ]

[eatsyourscience]

Not so weird.

[He's got all kinds of odd friends.]

Why don't you?

[entreats]

Nice people always end up at the bottom of the pecking order.

[ And she's spent enough time there to never want to go back to it. ]

[eatsyourscience]

[He wants to point out that that's not necessarily true. In his case, it isn't. But he can guess that her experiences have been pretty different from his.]

It sucks when that happens. But I don't think that necessarily means you shouldn't try.

[entreats]

That's exactly why I'm doing things this way. Like you said, I can be nice to people. [ Most people, even. Ange isn't nearly as tough as she likes to pretend to be.. ]

I just first have to see if people are actually worth that trust and effort.

[ Which means Souji already passed that test, apparently. ]

[eatsyourscience]

[He nods. It's not lost on him that he's worth the trust and effort.]

I guess you haven't found very many people like that?

[entreats]

Literally no one back home.

[ Imaginary friends don't count, right.. ]

Some people here are alright though, I guess. [ Even now she has to downplay it. ]

[eatsyourscience]

I'm glad you found people like that here, then.

[He nods at the lanterns.]

Have you figured out what to write?

[entreats]

.. Not yet. But I'm sure I'll figure it out after a while. [ At least she seems a little more confident about that than before now.. ]

Thanks for helping me.

[eatsyourscience]

Thank you for talking with me.

[He gives her a smile, then takes his lantern off to scribble on it.]