event: a gentle festival

[thestewards]

we're all just working pieces trying to fit somewhere
We wander 'round in circles and we talk in squares

► The OOC plotting post for this event can be found here.

► Direct all questions to the mods at this link.

► All NPCs except for Queen Fayura can be met at this event. Use their top-levels in the plotting post if you'd like a thread with them for this event. For your convenience, you can reach out here: Allairavar, Verim, Loren, Niall, Grejor, and Raya. They may choose to wander into your threads should you not plan anything out with them, too.

PARTY PLANNING
Dawn arrives and brings with it another group of Strangers. Unlike the first group, you wake to a comfortable bed and cheery birdsong. Unlike the second group, you are expected. As you rise, a vase with spring flowers appears on the table beside your bed. Tucked beneath the vase, you find a message of welcome inviting you to join the Queen and her residence for breakfast.

Following directions given by footmen throughout the residence’s winding halls, you make your way toward breakfast, only to find that breakfast is a beautiful disaster.

Maids and footmen rush around you, choreographed by a red haired witch standing on a chair in the middle of the entry hall. She wears an apron and a look of fierce concentration. Beside her, a list floats in the air. Pinned to her hair, her Tiger Eye Jewel flashes and swirls with power. You suspect you should just sneak out, but she’s too observant.

“You there!”

You freeze. Maybe you had a mother with eyes in the back of her head who always knew where you were. Maybe that was a teacher or some other kind of mentor. Regardless, you know this voice. You know this tone. This is a person harried and pressed, and she probably doesn’t care that you haven’t eaten breakfast yet.

“Yes, you! Stranger!”

You turn toward her and abruptly find your arms full of banners. Closer inspection will reveal each flag sewn to the cord bears a different symbol: one for the Guilds (a hexagon with circles at each joint), the Ebon Council (a pair of Jewels side by side), and Fayura’s Court (a strange, spiraling spear against a mountain peak); a sun and a moon; a cloud flush with rain and lightning; and a sprouting plant.

“Make sure those get hung on the eaves outsi—no, I haven’t seen the Lady, Carlisle, but if you—”

A Blood male has distracted her, but you’re left with the distinct impression that if you don’t hang these banners, the Head Housekeeper will hunt you down (you would be correct). Not to worry: you’re not the only Stranger living in the residence, and it takes you little time to locate someone else with an equally bomb-blasted look on their face to help you help the residence prepare for the spring festival! There are flags to be hung, simple breads to be baked, stalls to be built in the Bazaar, and so much more. Your hands work, and so you work.


HOPE BLOOMS ETERNAL
At sundown, the festival begins in earnest: people take to the streets in every section of the city, pouring into the Old Town Bazaar with rosy cheeks and broad smiles. The spring festival will last for the next six days. Three days to celebrate, and three days to work.

All around the city, banners hang from and between homes and businesses. Some fluttering banners bear flags emblazoned with only the Guilds’ symbol or the Council’s or the Court’s, and there are far more Guild banners than any other—a result of the Strangers’ providing support to the Guilds no doubt. But mixed among them are flags bearing both the Queen’s mountain, too, just not as many, and the only place the Council’s flags hang are over Blood homes.

As you make your way through the Bazaar, you hear…

A young landen man: I’ve heard the Queen is going to honor the Earth Mother and Father Sky during planting in a few days, and—
His companion, an older woman: The Blood honor only death and their Darkness. What does she care for our beliefs?

A Blood farmer: …kind of gift. Don’t quite know what to make of a Queen giving anything.
A landen farmer: Anything to help the crops grow. The Guilds mean well, but the land is overworked.

An excited little girl: —ride the unicorn, mommy! There’s a unicorn and a dragon and a centaur and a—

Near the pavilion at the heart of the Bazaar, the landen Guilds have erected technological wonders. A carousel of glittering bronze and metal lights up the night with rainbow colors. Music spills out of it, cheerful and bright as its three rings turn in lazy revolutions. Unicorns and dragons and centaurs and mermaids stand as mounts for the young and old. Nearby, the Elektriline Guild prepares a light show, projecting fantastical shapes in dazzling colors on the sides of buildings and into the night sky itself. Around the park to the south of the Bazaar, the Transport Guild has set up a racing track for unicycles and tricycles.

Booths with games line the streets. Knock down the glass bottles! Throw the ring around the spoke! Win prizes to dazzle your loved ones and delight your children!

While food has certainly been scarce, the bakeries and charcuteries have brought out their best fare at surprisingly reasonable prices. This is a time to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring, and celebrate the city will.

While the Blood dress in nice clothes, the landens bring out costumes. As is tradition, some dress as Father Sky, wearing crowns of gold and flowing robes of white. Others cloak themselves in the vestments of Mother Earth: wearing costumes of green and brown, painting vines over their faces to disguise themselves and crowning themselves in garlands of crocuses and tulips. Whispers through the Bazaar say the Queen is among them, disguised as Mother Earth.


SOWING THE FUTURE
The fourth morning of the festival, the entire city rises with the dawn. Over the past three days, a strange rumor wound its way through Draega: Fayura will join the planting to give a gift unique to the Queens of the Blood.

Members of the Ebon Council and the Guilds organize groups, directing the bodies of the entire city to go to this farm or that as they step out from behind Draega’s tall, protective walls. But before you are dismissed to help till the land or plant grain seeds, you join a larger crowd at a nearby farm. The Blood airwalk, standing above the landen crowds to gain a better view.

At the head of a recently tilled field, Queen Fayura stands with a landen farmer. He grasps his hat, wringing it fiercely in his hands as her Steward, Master of the Guard, and Consort stand guard behind her. Dressed in greens and browns, crowned in a garland of crocuses that drips dried stalks of wheat down her hair, she kneels before a bucket. She calls in a knife. When she speaks, she doesn’t raise her voice, but Craft projects it across the assembled onlookers. “Blood sings to blood. This is a gift: freely offered,” she says. “Freely given.” Bright red blood blooms across her palm as she drags the blade through skin. Vanishing the knife, she closes her fist and squeezes, allowing the blood to fall into the bucket of water and mix with it.

Her Consort heals her wound when she holds out her hand, and then he steps back. She rises, picking up the bucket and taking hold of the ladle on the ground beside it. Her voice lifts in song. Though the language is unrecognizable, the melody is beautiful and full of the vibrant hope of spring. She sings as she walks along the furrows, sprinkling bloodied water on the land. Blood and Strangers alike feel the pull of magic as something in the earth itself unfurls, shuddering awake at the call of the Queen’s blood.

For the next three days, nearly every man, woman, and child in Draega assists with the planting. Children do small, simple tasks, and the older children watch over the younger ones. The adults drag plows through the warming land and spread seeds in the furrows the plows create. Queen Fayura visits each field in turn, and planting doesn’t begin until she’s sprinkled her water over the earth. Throughout the day, her vibrant song echoes around the city, and a few Blood girls, too young to yet wear a Jewel, take up the song and hum along with it.

You would do well to help the farmers. You may not have a strong arm or strong back, but there’s planting to be done and people to organize, feed, and care for.


AIR TIME
Whether you catch the news on a Far-caster in the city or you’re spinning the dial on your own device, you’ll hear…

etiquette with evandra and aren
[Evandra's voice is a little bit rough and a little bit husky, the kind of voice that gives bad ideas to young men and headaches to fathers.] …do we make of a Warlord Prince’s reaction to his Queen’s blood?

[Aren, whose voice is typically chipper and bright, sounds today much more seriously than usual.] It’s a dangerous thing. Elemental, you might say. Like a storm. Every Prince is dangerous when his Lady’s blood spills.

[Evandra:] So, are we in danger when the Queen does whatever ritual she’s doing?

[Aren:] No. The Blood put great importance on, well, blood. It’s the memory’s river. Power sings in blood. It carries strength and Craft. I’ve never seen a Queen do anything like this before, but her Princes—and her court—treat it like ceremony. And it probably is.

the weather
[A soft-spoken man’s voice rumbles out of the Far-caster. He’s pleasant to listen to, with a soothing cadence to his voice.] …continued rains with intermittent sunshine over the next few days as the days grow steadily warmer. Remember that rains coming out of Askavi are dangerous to your health, and salves for lesions from exposure can be purchased from the Medicos at…

the news
[Garret speaks at his brisk pace, hurried and harried as though he has too much to say and not enough time to say it.] A new development in the story of the young landen man who shot and killed Councilwoman Vera last month: the Strangers have influenced the Queen to bring together a Tribunal not of other Queens—

[Wilt, as usual, is put upon and nasally.] As though there are many of those to go around.

[Garret, continuing as though Wilt didn’t interrupt him:] —but of the landen man’s peers, both landen and Blood.

[Wilt, sighing:] That’s correct, Garret. It seems this Tribunal of three landens and three Blood will listen to the young man’s account, as well as the stories of other witnesses, and determine a suitable punishment. This will be presented to the Queen, and she will carry out the sentence.

[Garret:] Looking now to the warming weather and what that means for trade with the mercenary settlements outside of Draega—

Comments

[ilves]

[Emil was definitely the person who convinced Lalli to wander out here in the first place, but listen—it's not Lalli's fault that this festival is huge? Loud? Full of a billion things to stop and stare at? He stays close on Emil's heels for the first hour or so, taking in all of the sights and sounds, before something—the booths stocked with sweets, probably—lures him away... for, like, a minute, but it's enough time for Emil to disappear into the hustle and bustle of the crowd.

Well, Lalli could find him! This new perma-mental link of theirs would make it even easier than usual, but maybe that's why Lalli chooses to continue meandering about the edges of the festival instead. He can feel that Emil is fine? And that he's, you know, somewhere relatively close, which is... comforting, in an odd sort of way; it's what allows him to stop at more booths, to nod at people he kind-of-sort-of knows in passing, to watch strangers try (and fail) to throw things at stacks of bottles. So weird? So weird.

But here he is, still watching these uncoordinated people waste throw after throw when there's a sudden tap on his shoulder. Oh? What? He instinctively glances back over his shoulder to see what's going on—riiiiight as Emil slips his arm through his. Well, add this to Lalli's list of New Experiences. So much contact, all at once...

...Not that it's bad. Lalli tenses up a bit, sure, but he doesn't try to pull away, especially not when Emil waves that food right in his face.]

Ah. [A simple noise of acknowledgement as he reaches out to take the proffered snack.] ...Okay.

[More exploring... is fine now that he has a) FOOD and b) this bright, smiling boy, but he can't resist saying the obvious thing here—]

If you wanted to find me, you should have said so? I would have found you.

[He just... knows... that Emil is directionally challenged? And he wasn't running away this time, so!]

[illequipped]

[Where's his thank you, Lalli... What happened to the manners? Thankfully, Emil is in high enough spirits from his other adventures that he's ready to bring all that energy back here, to best friend time, and not get pissy about Lalli's vaguely critical comments.

He tugs his arm; eat and walk at the same time, boy, because they're off. Time to look at some other games, or something. For once, he's not incredibly picky.]

Well— okay, to be honest, I forgot I could do that.

[They might have a direct line to each other open more or less all the time now, and Emil is even rather fond of it- it's nice! Nice to have a sense of Lalli, a just-in-case; it's comfortable and comforting in its own ways, but let's be real... Emil doesn't think of the obvious solution when presented with a given task, like, ever.

It doesn't matter now! He's already here! Now that Lalli has taken his breadless sandwich, Emil is free to wave his empty hand and just forget all about forgetting he could do that.]

I'll do it next time! [Hmm-] They're having a light show soonish, do you want to see it?

[ilves]

[Maybe thanking Emil will come later! Maybe it will be extra ga—platonic! Anyway: off they go, with Emil pulling Lalli around like being arm-in-arm is perfectly normal. Honestly, it might be? There are other people walking around like this, after all, and all of them seem to be talking and laughing and having a grand ol' time; in fact, Lalli watches a pair pass right by them as he takes the first (hesitant) bite of his meat-on-a-stick. Hmm...

...Ah, it's good? Just like being near Emil again is good, albeit in a different type of way, but hey—both things contribute to Lalli feeling, mmm, pleased as they make their way through the crowd of people. Things around them are loud, things around them are weird, things around them are definitely not like anything back in their world, and yet Lalli... lets it all in instead of trying to shut it all out. Progress! He is, for some odd reason, settling into a surprisingly good mood, which is why he lets Emil's forgetfulness and promise to do better pass by with nothing more than a little hum. It's doubtful, but sure, sure... now what's this other thing about...]

A light... show, [he repeats, stopping just short of making it a question as he imagines what, exactly, a show of light entails. He could spend the rest of the evening by the food booths and feel perfectly content with his life choices, but after a quick glance over Emil's way—] Yes. If you want to see it, too. [...] And if it doesn't move.

[He's been on the carousel? He's not eager to try something like it again, unless Emil asks nicely (and smiles brightly)...]

[illequipped]

[Well, excusing his forgetfulness is its own kind of thanks... sort of. It's great that they're firmly locked into this good mood mode, in any case; Emil has had his fill of wild carousel rides and talking to new people by now, and all he wants to do for the rest of the night is stick to Lalli and do what they do best... judge things.

But like, in a cheerful way, because he's in a great mood!]

The lights move, but you only have to look at it. Or not!

[They can sit in the dark and not look at the lights at all! Even that would be acceptable, since he's not dying to see some neat lights wiggle around. But it would be interesting, and enough locals have hyped it up either to him or around him as they pass by, so he's curious. Shiny lights and a content best friend: great evening.

First, though: Walking. He squeezes his arm around Lalli's cheerfully, leading them in the inevitable direction of the light show, but not in a hurry. A stroll. A friendly stroll.]

I didn't mean to drag you out here and then run off, [woops] but did you have fun? It's not a bad party, I suppose.

[ilves]

[Will dancing lights trigger Lalli's motion sickness? Hmm! But that's a thing to worry about later, when they've claimed the spot show-watching spot... and when Emil isn't, you know, squeezing his arm like he currently is. Like Lalli needs yet another reminder that Emil is cheerfully holding onto him for dear life...

...Okay, so maybe Emil's grip isn't that tight, but considering that Lalli is a big fan of personal space? The feeling of that arm, like, lightly bumping against him as they walk down the street is an odd sort of distraction, one that leads him to take another bite of his bread-less sandwich as he carefully considers that question. He enjoyed poking about, he supposes, but did he have fun...]

I think so. Maybe. [Lalli.] People were playing those weird games, but no one won anything before I did.

[He did indeed win something, and it is indeed stuck in an absurdly large pocket somewhere on his person, but first—]

You didn't run off? You were close, and you were... happy.

[Most of the time, anyway. With whatever it was he was doing all by himself. LALLi didn't forget about their mental link, because HE pays attention.]

[illequipped]

[Oh, he thinks so... that's his boy... Emil scoffs, somehow amused by Lalli's near-complete inability to go an hour without being smug about his Many Talents. Add that and his running off apparently not counting as running off at all to his list of things that are going well at this festival, hot damn... Everything really is coming up Emil, this time.]

Oh. Right. [The link... he's still a little sheepish about forgetting to use it, but it's a nice little feeling, knowing that Lalli sort of was there while he ran around and had flowers thrown at him and so on. It's comfortable, just like walking around arm-in-arm like this is comfortable, so another point for the mental link and a new, bonus point for holding onto Lalli like this.

Outlook: positive!!]

It was fun, [So strange, that there are people here he doesn't mind spending time with besides Lalli?? And yet,] but I'd rather hang out with you now.

[So forget all that, basically. Lalli Time.]

Tell me which games you won!

[ilves]

[Would Lalli rather follow Emil around this festival than spend the whole time wandering about by himself? Well, of course. Lalli thinks about having fun and decides that's not really a thing he can do without Emil being right there with him, but knowing that Emil was having a good time off on his own... wasn't the worst thing in the world. He likes when Emil is happy? Like, in general, but there's no doubt that he especially likes when Emil is happy because of him; it's why he seems to perk up the tiniest bit when he hears that Emil wants to spend what is hopefully the rest of the night with him and him alone. This is doing wonders for his slightly smug attitude, which is why he simply can't let all of that go without throwing out a quiet:]

Good.

[Good that he's here, good that he wants to be here, good that he's probably going to stay here. Time together is always better than time apart, but yes, fine, he's more than happy to go over his amazing victories.]

I only played one? The game with the bottles. Everyone threw the ball too high, or too low, and no one knew how to aim. [A pause, just for that extra hint of drama.] But I did. It was easy.

[Which doesn't mean that he won every game, but is he going to tell Emil this? Hell no. Is there a trace of a smug lil smile on his face? Hell yes. Suffer through this, Emil, and tell him how amazing he is.]

Did you try it?

[illequipped]

[Yes yes, Lalli is amazing, Emil knows!! That's why he's going to spend the rest of the night with him, obviously-- his skill at carnival games. No, but a little bit yes to the smug attitude? Sure, it's ridiculous, but because it's games and not, say, bugging him about magic, it becomes much more endearing...

Sadly, he's going to encourage this. Luckily, they've reached the point in the evening at which everyone else might as well be cardboard cutouts sliding around as decoration and gossip fodder. Only Emil must endure the smug looks.]

I did, and I was terrible at it! If you ask me, that game is rigged... for the rest of us, I suppose.

[He can't resist the dumb little smile on his face when he says this, because he is, indeed, a dingus... Only Lalli, He Who is Best at All Things, can beat that ball-throwing game. It's so obvious now.]

We ought to play a different one later. They're all about throwing something, as far as I can tell...

[Help Emil find the hammer strength game and be amazed that at least one of them can lift the hammer at all.]

[ilves]

[Lalli isn't the least bit surprised to hear that Emil was terrible at that incredibly simple game, and it shows in the way his smug little smile grows the tiniest bit. It's less about winning and more about... his best friend recognizing how great he is, you know? He quit playing the game even though other people were cheering him on; if Emil had been there cheering him on, however, he'd probably continue playing until the man running the booth all but begged him to leave. There's a difference! A big one!!

But let this dumb, smug baby think back to the other, less important games he skipped over.]

Mmn... not all of them. [And this is when he would normally reach out and pat Emil on the arm, but seeing as how that's rather complicated at the moment—hmm. A nudge? Will that do? Deal with it.] Maybe you'll find something you're not bad at? Or I can win more things.

[While Emil watches him from the sidelines! Yeah! That's much more appealing than it has any right to be, but whatever—for now, just focus on this half-eaten stick of meat he's holding out for Emil to take.]

Here.

[Hold it for a second? Hold it for the rest of the night? It's a risk...]

[illequipped]

You want me to watch you win a bunch of games.

[Like, is that what he should be getting out of this, because that's what he is getting out of it. He'd be Lalli's personal cheerleader... Which, okay, doesn't sound like the worst way to spend their time at all, but how long will Lalli insist on showing off? This is the true risk.

Anyway, all of that is for Later, after the light show and maybe an ill-advised spin on the carousel for good measure. What's this, now...

He takes the stick with his free hand and just looks at it, like, a moment after he's already taken it, as if he's just realizing that he might have been conned!! They're walking... why does he have to hold this.]

What are you doing?

[ilves]

[Let's be real: Lalli would play, like, three rounds total before he decided that Emil had all of the praise material he could possibly need. He has limits! But that doesn't stop him from offering up both a blink and a light shrug in response to that question, because um, yes, he most certainly... does? Doesn't everyone want their best friend to see just how amazing they are? This is best friendship in its truest form.

Anyway, since this is Lalli, and since Lalli—]

I don't want any more? You can have it.

[His... leftovers... again: this is best friendship. But before Emil, like, huffs and puffs and makes a big deal about this, Lalli sticks his newly freed hand into his pocket and pulls out... a stuffed bear! An admittedly small stuffed bear, but 1) it's the thought that counts and 2) it is, without a doubt, the best prize he won. Much better than those weird-looking dog statuettes, and even though Lalli isn't a stuffed-animal kind of person... it's soft? Emil is soft? Got 'em.]

And this. [A beat, and then, because he CAN'T RESIST:] The man gave it to me because I won so many games.

[It was Lalli's "Thank you, please go away and never return to this booth" prize.]

[illequipped]

[Three rounds is a lot of rounds for a simple carnival game, to be fair. But alright! Now Emil has the rest of this... meat... he doesn't want this, either.

Thankfully, the teddy bear is a brilliant distraction. First - how was that in his pocket this whole time? Second - it's a little cursed looking, but it's still cute! This thing he actually wants, for a given degree of "want"— more than the meat-on-a-stick, anyway, and alright... okay... he's a little delighted about this, the very first time a Friend has given him a Gift. Oh boy!!

It's definitely coming through that mental connection, too. Feel and appreciate his teddy bear de-lite.

Ah, but-] Trade me, then.

[The bear for the stick, take it back, throw it away properly!! Give him the BEAR. There's no universe in which Emil lets go of Lalli to solve this problem of not having enough free hands, so. Just take the stick back.]

I like the ribbon.

[ilves]

[It only looked like he reached into his pocket, but Lalli actually pulled that bear out of his Jewel's pocket dimension that I absolutely did not forget about until this very point in time. More cool, impressive magic, courtesy of Lalli! Emil... is welcome.

And Emil is also welcome for this adorably haunted bear, which Lalli was fairly certain he'd appreciate? Maybe? Just because Emil seems to enjoy things that Lalli doesn't understand? Still, the immediate positive feedback flooding his brain is... very nice indeed; like, Lalli is both pleased that he did a best friend thing without being prompted and pleased that Emil likes the bear so very much, which is why his practically non-existent smile goes from smug to... slightly less smug. He did good and he's proud of it, but also, more importantly: he made Emil happy. ...Nice.

So he's possibly... a bit too caught up in that to realize why Emil is holding the snack back his way, but when he does—ah! He will indeed make this trade! As carefully as he possibly can, because he's too caught up in everything to think about using Craft, but it all works out; soon Emil has his bear, Lalli has his snack back, and all is right in the world. He can focus on other things, like... ribbons...]

Aha. [A very knowing aha, because he called it.] One had a red ribbon, but this one is better.

[Because the ribbon, you see, is blue. A familiar shade of blue. Hmm.]

[illequipped]

[Don't worry because Emil has definitely forgotten this pocket dimension and so will be holding this bear under his other arm for the rest of the evening, after he looks at it fondly for a little bit. It's haunted, for sure... there's at least three ghosts of tragically departed souls in this bear, ready to skitter around the room at night and ruin Emil's peaceful sleep.

But it's also kind of cute in a weird way and it has a blue ribbon!! Perfect!]

Hmm, well, I think it's... sweet! [haunted] Thank you, Lalli. —Oh, look over there!

[Is it suddenly time for the light show?! It sure is, which means it's time for these two to hustle. This is the first time in Emil's entire life that he's actually wanted to move faster than a leisurely walk, but he's not going to miss this supposedly sick as hell light show, so— a light jog it is.

It's awkward to move quickly while they're stuck together at the elbow like this, though, so here goes: he shifts his arm to take Lalli's hand instead and tug him in the direction of the fancy lights. Much better, for several reasons... Hmm!]

[ilves]

[It is very sweet and Emil is very welcome, but before Lalli can say as much... wait, what is this? Emil wants to pick up the pace? Lalli can see colorful lights begin sweeping across buildings well ahead of them, yes, but it's still a bit of a surprise to be the slow one for, like, all of a second. Fine, fine, he'll pull his arm back to his side and—

—almost stumble over his own feet, actually, because the sudden grip on his hand is enough to throw even his coordinated self for a loop. It shouldn't? It absolutely shouldn't, especially not after they've walked arm-in-arm across this city without a care in the world, but there's something decidedly different about feeling an arm resting against his arm versus feeling a hand wrapped around his hand. It's less, but... more, somehow, because as silly as it may be, this doesn't feel like the type of contact that Lalli can easily pull away from.

And yet Lalli doesn't feel the urge to pull away from this? It's new, it's strange, but as with almost everything involving Emil, Lalli feels—safe. Comfortable, which is why he finds himself lightly curling his fingers around Emil's as he easily matches his pace. Lead the way, Emil... let Lalli silently follow as he processes this new Best Friend Thing.]

[illequipped]

[Damn, Emil played himself out of yet another display of good manners. Bad luck. Better luck is Lalli's hand in his, and Lalli not immediately yanking said hand away, looking at him judgmentally, and zooming off ahead. It's factually incorrect to say Emil hadn't meant to do this thing - it is a multi-step process, after all - but it wasn't in the plan for more than ten seconds ahead of time, so! He's glad it's working out!

Anyway, away they go, like this; it doesn't take long to reach a spot that's... good enough to see the lights without being smushed up against the milling crowd, and Emil has not suddenly become so enamored with jogging that he wants to keep doing it, so here's their new spot. Or after Emil looks around briefly and tugs Lalli's hand again, their new spot is even more out of the way, out of the street and away from most of the foot traffic.

Significantly, he doesn't let go of Lalli's hand. Maybe he doesn't want to lose him in the crowd again? Maybe he just wants to do this, hold hands and look at lights in the sky, and he doesn't want to spend all night wondering about the hows and whys of that. He can focus on the here, the now: standing here holding hands feels totally natural, so why not keep doing it?

He glances at Lalli after a moment, just to see if he can make, uh, a judgment here... How are we Feeling...]

[ilves]

[It's amazing what being in a genuinely good mood can do to a person? Emil pulls Lalli to and fro as he searches for the perfect viewing spot, but instead of taking over the operation, Lalli is more or less content to let Emil do as he pleases. He has other things on his mind, you see, like... stealthily dropping his half-finished snack in the lap of a very surprised child as they zip right past him. Emil didn't see that? Emil totally didn't see that.

Things are perfectly fine, then, when Emil finally stops and tilts his head back to look at the sky, and Lalli quickly follows suit. So many bursts of color? So many dazzling patterns? This, apparently, is what a show of light entails, and Lalli is soon too busy tracking all of the movement above him to worry about this lingering contact. Oh, he can feel Emil's hand holding onto his; it's still a new enough sensation for him to be, mmm, hyperaware of it, but the discomfort, the anxious desire to pull away—it hasn't come. It doesn't come, even when he catches Emil glancing over his way. Ah, he wants to know if Lalli is enjoying the show...

...Hmm. Lalli turns his face toward Emil, the corners of his lips turning up of their own accord. Look at that! A smile! An incredibly small one, yes, but it's genuine; there's nothing smug about this smile.]

It's... nice.

[The lights, the contact, the fact that they're just... here. Together. Best friends...]

no one look at this, it's too gay

[illequipped]

[Best friends doing best friend things... Emil has seen Lalli smile before (but usually smug, that's true), and yet there's something different about seeing him smile now. Oh, Emil knows why, he's not that dense, but still. This whole festival feels like a kind of a punctuation mark in the tale of what horrible and unfortunate things have been happening to them for months; here it is, the start of Chapter 2: Maybe Things Are Good. Emil no longer wakes up every day immediately lamenting that they aren't back in Iceland-or-preferably-Sweden-if-he-got-to-choose, so, you know. Improvement.

And yes, of course, it's Lalli who's contributed the most to that. Simply being able to talk to him without the looming terror of, uh, death... or being two people in one body... he's very emotional about it! His thoughts on the matter are a mess, but a good mess at this precise moment in time.

They're here together, the lights overhead casting a flickering, oddly mesmerizing glow over everything, including Lalli as Emil just looks at him for a moment. Lalli's hand in his is warm, and he is... happy!! Great!! And since he is the font of emotions between them, Lalli's tiny smile is met with Emil's big, ridiculous grin. Best friend!!!]

It is, isn't it? I knew it would be worth it!

[The light show or the hand holding... perhaps both. Now they can watch these lights in comfortable silence until they're over or they get bored; either way, the next stop on this festival tour is Emil very subtly meandering back to the carousel. Do this fun ride with him...]

mods, ban this filth

[ilves]

[Emil studying him for a few seconds longer than he needs to should feel weird, and yet... it doesn't? Probably because it's, you know, hard to focus on anything other than the bright smile that's directed right at him—that's because of him. Or, well, maybe the light show deserves a bit of the credit here, but Lalli still gets the feeling that he unknowingly said the right thing at the right time. You know, for someone who's never had a friend before, he's so darn good at this best friendship stuff!

So he, too, is... happy, an emotion that all but takes over this mental link of theirs even after he shifts his attention back up to the sky. Do they watch the entire show? Probably not, just because there are so many other things going on around them, but it's fine; the way Lalli feels has less to do with the colorful lights and more to do with the boy holding his hand, so even when said boy pulls him over to the carousel...

...Okay, well, even the happiest frog in the world has his limits. He stops just short of the line, tightening his hold on Emil's hand ever so slightly to ensure that he doesn't, like, continue charging ahead. Hey, listen—]

There? [As in, "We're going there?" Forgive him, Emil, as he looks at the carousel and expresses his uncertainty the best way he knows how:] Mrh...

[This hand-holding thing? Nice. That monstrous machine? He doesn't wanna!]

harsh!

[illequipped]

[Well, they get closer to the carousel than Emil thought they would before Lalli squeezes his hand to hold him back. He stops obligingly to look back at him, completely innocently— Lalli gets sick on, like, boats and so on. This thing just rotates! And he is a big fan of this children's ride after being badgered onto it reluctantly before, so...]

What, you don't want to?

[Well, obviously. But pleeeease?? He's not dying to get on this thing again, but a not-insignificant part of him wants to redo everything he did before, but with Lalli this time. It seems important to do as much as possible while holding onto his hand, for some reason. Hmm!]

Mnnn— just for a little bit? We'll do something you want to do after.

[And if the carousel is truly the worst thing in the world, he will personally carry Lalli to safety and get him some nice water to drink.]

[ilves]

[There are so many things he would rather do than suffer through this thing again? It took him, like, a solid fifteen minutes to recover the last time he stumbled off of it, and then Dr. Weirdo came by and touched his forehead and just... ugh. Ugh!

But here's the (unfortunate) truth: Lalli likes doing things with Emil, even when things involve lots of spinning around and around. Plus the carousel seems to make everyone else happy? Like, when he was crouched on the floor like an idiot, he could hear the people—well, kids—around him having the time of their lives. And if Emil is the same way... if riding this thing makes Emil happy, even though Lalli has no idea HOW that's possible...]

...Hrmh.

[Monosyllables are in, apparently, because does Lalli look happy about this? No, but he still takes the smallest possible step forward. Just drag him, Emil, it's fine. Lead him to the dumbest animal on the carousel.]

[illequipped]

[The ride is IN!! Emil accepts this as conceding to his very reasonable request and does indeed tug Lalli the rest of the way to the carousel. You know those bench seat options for people with small babies who can't ride on the mounts that bob up and down? They're getting one of those, but it's shaped like a very big turtle with a bench in its shell.

So there's that? It won't move any more than around in a circle, and they don't have to stop holding hands to ride. Emil is thrilled; best friend activities!!]

Just close your eyes if it's too much, but I think you'll be fine here.

[Here in the turtle seat... Away (around?) they go...]

[ilves]

[This is, without a doubt, the dumbest thing they've done so far, but after allowing Emil to pull him up on the carousel and over to this stupid-looking turtle—well, it's a little too late to dig in those heels. ...Still, he gives it a very suspicious Look, like he just knows that everything to come will be its fault, before he drops onto the bench and watches everything going on around them. Kids climbing atop weird animals... parents yelling at said kids from the sidelines... uggggh...

And away they go, indeed. It's... fine, at first? Like, it's not the best thing in the world, but Lalli doesn't feel his stomach go for an immediate flip; he's able to watch a child almost slide off a rabbit (heh) and chance a quick glance over at Emil's smiling face before everything starts to catch up to him, and when that happens... mmph. He does indeed close his eyes, wondering why it feels worse when he can't see anything at all, but it's fine! He's fine! It's not as bad as it could be and he's surely made it halfway through this stupid cycle, so he will sit here and try to tough through the rest of it.

Near the end, though, he is... struggling, which is why he unconsciously tightens his grip on Emil's hand. Is it over? Please say this thing is almost over.]

[illequipped]

[This may be the dumbest thing Lalli has done, getting on a carousel just because Emil looked at him and said nice words, but Emil is having an alright time! Sure, this isn't as exciting as being on the cool, uh, unicorns or anything, but it's something...

He has a good time right up until the very end, when Lalli squeezes his hand and looks very sick and tragic. Oh—]

Oh, Lalli— [Please don't throw up the whole charcuterie stick, but for once Emil isn't lurching away from Lalli looking like he's going to hurl. Lalli got on this thing for his sake, so...! He turns toward him on this turtle bench and reaches up with his free hand to smooth his hair a little. Please don't throw up, gotta emphasize that again... Not right here on the ride, anyway.]

It's slowing down. We'll be off really soon!

[ilves]

[This isn't quite as bad as, say, being stuck on a boat in stormy weather, but it's still unfortunate. That touch, however... helps? Maybe? ...Well, not really, but it at least gives Lalli something to think about other than his roiling stomach; he even cracks open one eye, looking back at the dumb boy worriedly watching him like this is the first time something like this has happened. Pfft...

But yes, of course he manages to hold himself together while this ride slows to a crawl, because he doesn't want to hurl; he just wants to go sit somewhere that isn't moving, so when the music stops and the kids around them slide to their feet—yep, up he goes! Probably a bit, like, too quickly, if that quiet hiccup is anything to go by, but don't worry about it. Just let him stand here for a second... let him get his bearings before he tries to slowly trudge over toward the exit without a) opening his eyes more than is absolutely necessary or b) letting go of Emil's hand...]