And frankly I've been trying to encourage him to get a backup pair for a while now. He treats his glasses like they are meant to bend in any direction he so pleases.
[dry, a touch fond. then he glances to kaworu, nodding in agreement to pal's thanks.]
[Ah, there it is, the barest ghost of smile. It's nice to feel like, after everything, he is capable of doing something right. Even if it's just a small thing.]
You should have seen him, squinting around before his new pair. [viktor informs kaworu, a touch dry.] But he is right, have something. You know there's talk of doing the festival again next year as well.
[maybe everything won't be terrible, they'll all still be here and kaworu can go then. lot of maybes.]
[Quick and demanding and much more like his normal curious self. He had heard a bit about the festival but being in a heavily corrupted probably would have been an unwelcome sight.
Nor did he have much desire to leave the house at that point.]
It's called Tanabata, or the 'star' festival. From what I understand it originates from a place called Japan on Earth, which is a familiar enough world to most around here.
[not him! what the hell is earth. yall earth people, at least the necromancers were also in the dark. mostly.] And yes, I don't see why not? Palamedes spent a great deal of time cutting out paper for the wishes. You write one down and hang it.
[and they were burned later but... viktor will ask megumi if he can just do that for whatever kaworu might want to write. hopefully it wouldn't be rude or cursed or something.] There was food, origami I believe it's called? Fireworks. Better this time. [because he's a show off.]
"Tanabata"... "The evening of the seventh". Yes, I've heard of this. It was commonly celebrated in Japan, on that night, two stars would align and they believed it was some sort of meeting of the gods. Even now that all humans know stars are not gods, they still celebrate these things. Curious.
[He has to say it outloud as if by giving form to the words, he can understand better. Kaworu knows the festival is about reuniting and he wants to be one those humans writing wishes on strips of paper out of some deep desire to hope.]
People like good stories. Hold on, the papers are around here somewhere.
[Give him a moment to go find where he put down... a bunch of extra strips of paper, which might take a minute. In the interim he finds a pen, and puts it down on the table for Kaworu. As he goes to look at another shelf,]
I was surprised there were so many names for it. That's a little much, don't you think?
[He brings back another pen.]
Then again, a several-day holiday is unheard of in the Sixth. The time commitment, you know? Ah- here.
[The papers. He's also got a third pen, don't perceive this.]
And people like an excuse to celebrate, especially here. [viktor adds on, watching pal find the papers, a touch amused.]
Also not quite on trend, not like a six day holiday. Not a bad point though, I can't think of any holidays in Piltover or the undercity that lasted that long. Usually just a day for celebration or mourning and then everyone gets on with their lives.
[perceiving it though. sometimes he wonders how many pens are on pal's person at any given time.]
I've never experienced one. Though back home, I know it was nearly Christmas.
[He watches Pal rustle through the papers. He understands what's going on but he can't some to understand how it makes him feel. It makes him feel like he's cared for, but also seen>/i> in a way that makes him slightly uncomfortable.
Still, he thinks of Midoriya and extended hands.]
I... understand that you are showing me kindness after everything that has happened. It's... I'm glad for it.
[This as he arranges the papers by color, sorting them into little piles. Primarily featuring red, yellow-gold, white, and blue, but there are a bunch of other colors there because he did cut these out of a construction paper package for children.]
The ribbons are gone, but we'll find some string. Viktor has string somewhere, [yes?? Viktor please help find the string,] and then we can take it outside.
[And okay, it seems we're just talking about this directly, he can respect that.]
Good; that's the point. We'd have done this even without an incident behind us, anyway.
[a shrug about christmas, viktor hasn't the slightest clue either. he assumes an earth thing.
he can go get string though, lifting himself by pressing a hand on pal's shoulder. before he heads to find something he pauses, glances back. frankly he prefers if they're just upfront about it all.]
He is right, if you had missed the festival simply for mistaking the time we would still offer this. Though in this case yes, you deserve some kindness after everything.
[and he points at kaworu] Try the mochi. [off he goes to get string though from nearby, he'll be back soon.]
It's a celebration, it was common in the west but even celebrated in places like Japan. There are bright lights and in pictures, everyone seems to be smiling. Humans have celebrations to create reasons to be happy.
[He takes a piece of paper. He's never wished for anything. There's never been anything to wish for. He'd always been made of grasping desire and burning resentment.
How does he create reasons to be happy?]
...I caused misery for others. How can I be deserving of kindness after what I've done?
[He takes the mochi but doesn't eat it, like he's worried it might lodge itself in his throat due to being unworthy of eating such a nice thing.]
no subject
[dry, a touch fond. then he glances to kaworu, nodding in agreement to pal's thanks.]
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You do need to be able to see, after all.
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[Maybe, like, in thirds, but never mind that now. He gestures, again, at the tea-n-snacks.]
Relax and eat something. You can loiter here as long as you like.
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[maybe everything won't be terrible, they'll all still be here and kaworu can go then. lot of maybes.]
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[Quick and demanding and much more like his normal curious self. He had heard a bit about the festival but being in a heavily corrupted probably would have been an unwelcome sight.
Nor did he have much desire to leave the house at that point.]
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Well— we made wishes, which you're probably still allowed to do. The tree is still there, after all.
[He thinks? Is that allowed? Shouldn't it be allowed. He doesn't understand these complicated Earth holidays.]
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[not him! what the hell is earth. yall earth people, at least the necromancers were also in the dark. mostly.] And yes, I don't see why not? Palamedes spent a great deal of time cutting out paper for the wishes. You write one down and hang it.
[and they were burned later but... viktor will ask megumi if he can just do that for whatever kaworu might want to write. hopefully it wouldn't be rude or cursed or something.] There was food, origami I believe it's called? Fireworks. Better this time. [because he's a show off.]
no subject
[He has to say it outloud as if by giving form to the words, he can understand better. Kaworu knows the festival is about reuniting and he wants to be one those humans writing wishes on strips of paper out of some deep desire to hope.]
I would like to write a wish. If I can.
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[Give him a moment to go find where he put down... a bunch of extra strips of paper, which might take a minute. In the interim he finds a pen, and puts it down on the table for Kaworu. As he goes to look at another shelf,]
I was surprised there were so many names for it. That's a little much, don't you think?
[He brings back another pen.]
Then again, a several-day holiday is unheard of in the Sixth. The time commitment, you know? Ah- here.
[The papers. He's also got a third pen, don't perceive this.]
no subject
Also not quite on trend, not like a six day holiday. Not a bad point though, I can't think of any holidays in Piltover or the undercity that lasted that long. Usually just a day for celebration or mourning and then everyone gets on with their lives.
[perceiving it though. sometimes he wonders how many pens are on pal's person at any given time.]
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[He watches Pal rustle through the papers. He understands what's going on but he can't some to understand how it makes him feel. It makes him feel like he's cared for, but also seen>/i> in a way that makes him slightly uncomfortable.
Still, he thinks of Midoriya and extended hands.]
I... understand that you are showing me kindness after everything that has happened. It's... I'm glad for it.
no subject
[This as he arranges the papers by color, sorting them into little piles. Primarily featuring red, yellow-gold, white, and blue, but there are a bunch of other colors there because he did cut these out of a construction paper package for children.]
The ribbons are gone, but we'll find some string. Viktor has string somewhere, [yes?? Viktor please help find the string,] and then we can take it outside.
[And okay, it seems we're just talking about this directly, he can respect that.]
Good; that's the point. We'd have done this even without an incident behind us, anyway.
no subject
he can go get string though, lifting himself by pressing a hand on pal's shoulder. before he heads to find something he pauses, glances back. frankly he prefers if they're just upfront about it all.]
He is right, if you had missed the festival simply for mistaking the time we would still offer this. Though in this case yes, you deserve some kindness after everything.
[and he points at kaworu] Try the mochi. [off he goes to get string though from nearby, he'll be back soon.]
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[He takes a piece of paper. He's never wished for anything. There's never been anything to wish for. He'd always been made of grasping desire and burning resentment.
How does he create reasons to be happy?]
...I caused misery for others. How can I be deserving of kindness after what I've done?
[He takes the mochi but doesn't eat it, like he's worried it might lodge itself in his throat due to being unworthy of eating such a nice thing.]
no subject
[Bleak. He glances at the mochi and then pointedly does not, like maybe Kaworu will eat it if nobody is pointing it out to him.]
And, anyway, it's subjective. I don't think you're a lost cause, and here we are.