Bonfire time. // Incomplete.

[xeuphonious]

Who: Euphie, plus anyone who drops by.
When: Saturday night.
Where: A spot by the river, prepared beforehand. ♥
Rating: TBA.
Warnings: TBA.
Summary: Well, it's nice to get together with friends and make new ones, right? That's what Euphie thinks.

Note: Just putting this up early so perhaps threads can be somewhat done by Sunday, and thus: posts

Comments

[emblazoning]

Toshiki had made it a point to help get the site set up (along with lugging the firewood he'd collected along, as well). He'd returned home for awhile at least, in order to get himself cleaned up presentable.

And... ah, to get Kazuki, as well, who insisted he was waiting for Vincent. The blonde had only given him a Look, and it spoke volumes if what he was thinking. Kazuki smiled, though the gesture was thin, and simply told him, 'Go.'

So Toshiki had gone and decided not to worry over the thread-user, if he could help it. For no other reason than... he was supposed to be at this little gathering with someone, right? (That thought still sat awkwardly with him. Not because he minded - not in the least - it was just... out of the norm

[xeuphonious]

Even if Euphemia often told others not to worry about her, it was difficult to practice what she preached. She would end up worrying needlessly about Toshiki anyways, especially since she didn't know how he would get his source of income, and (this he may not have known) since she had gone to where he lived to see Kagami.

And, well... let it be said it had been obvious three men lived there.

"A walk?" Euphemia said, stealing a glance at the party growing. She bit her lip, thinking: would it be okay? Most people seemed settled...

She looked back at Toshiki, her expression soft and her eyes (set like amethysts in her face) gentle. "A walk would be nice."

[emblazoning]

It was unfortunate that they had so many people in such a small space (and now a small zoo thanks to Shido). Toshiki still blamed Kagami and Shido's presences for why Kazuki had chosen to move out that day, but... well, that was another matter all together. He'd wait until returning home to sulk about that more.

Toshiki nodded to her, pausing only a moment before offering his arm to Euphemia, were she so inclined to take it. It was the gentlemanly thing to do, wasn't it? A step away from actually taking her hand and holding it which... Toshiki thought would have been awkward just then.

Really, the spot he would lead her to wasn't all that far. They'd still be able to see the light from the bonfire through the trees, still hear the laughter and voices.

[xeuphonious]

Euphemia liked being surrounded with so many people; perhaps it helped ebb the ache of being here in Purgatorium by herself. Even if she had made friends quickly with a number of individuals, there were still days when she wished she could go home and see Cornelia. Go home and see Lelouch, and Nunnally, and her other siblings. Come back and find Suzaku waiting for her, the ever-gentle knight she had chosen above all the other, more suitable men.

But she knew that even after Purgatorium, there was no going back. Maybe that's why a part of her didn't want to leave.

Euphemia took the offered arm, smiling a bit because the action seemed so silly on someone like Toshiki, just because he was so strong and prickly and it almost seemed like a show gesture. (Despite it all, she still thought it was cute and would've said so if she hadn't wanted to embarrass him. She still worried about that.)

"So where are you taking me?" she asked, looking around to make sure it, hopefully, wouldn't be too dark. She didn't do well in that sort of

[emblazoning]

Prickliness aside, Toshiki had been raised in a clan right manners. Even if it was not nearly so elegant and refined as the Fuuchouin or the Kakei, but regardless... It was simply not in his nature to display finer etiquette, but he did do his best to try, when the situation called for it

[xeuphonious]

It almost seemed like that straining in his muscles seemed to melt away as they stepped farther away from the group of people. Euphemia was left to wonder as to why; the change was noticeable in her friend as he relaxed, and even someone who possessed, admittedly, the perception of a hamster (as Euphie did) would notice. She had to resist the urge to unhook her arm from his, place her hands on his shoulders and almost try to massage some of that remaining tension out. She didn't understand it: why was he worked up?

Was something wrong?

Had she unintentionally done something

She almost immediately tugged the jacket off, brows furrowed in a concerned expression as she offered it back to him. "If the noise bothers you, we can stay here," she said, "but aren't you cold? You need your jacket more than I do."

[emblazoning]

Toshiki merely held up a hand and shook his head as she attempted to take the jacket off, and then he reached out to gently grasp the front of it and tug it closer about her slim shoulders. He had a sweater on beneath, so it wasn't like he was going to freeze. "I walked around that one night without one, remember? I'm fine."

The corners of his mouth quirked up into a small smile, and he took to burying his hands into his pants pockets for warmth. His gaze turned back to the flickering firelight in the distance, and his expression softened a little as he took a seat upon one of the boulders, leaving enough room for Euphemia beside him. "...We used to have gatherings like this back home, once in awhile. Bigger, though. Usually took up a few blocks." And those, he'd spent watching from windows and rooftops. Enjoying the festivities from afar, as always, unless someone decided it appropriate to drag him into the fray.

[xeuphonious]

Well then. Euphemia moved to wrap the jacket around herself, looking at Toshiki for a moment before turning away and smiling to herself. "If you say so," she mumbled, "But if you get sick, it's going to be my fault."

There'd be no arguing that point for her.

Her eyes darted back to him as he resumed speaking, and she went to sit next to him on the boulder, tucking her legs underneath her and shifting a little. Close enough to brush his shoulder, but not much closer than that. She gave him a little, unbelievable glance, trying to imagine a party that large. "That's... impressive," she said, her tone surprised. "I've never been to a party like that before."

No, her parties had been self-contained events in private ballrooms. There had been only so many people who deserved to be invited, after all.

[emblazoning]

"It was generally an event for everyone in Mugenjou." He shrugged, preferring to skip over her worries. He wasn't likely to get sick; it didn't happen often. And if it did, well, he'd do what he always did and simply hole himself away in his room for a few days until it passed. "Whatever food people could manage to gather... there was usually a big New Year's celebration."

The blonde tipped his head back, casting his gaze skyward. The trees blocked most of the view, but not like it mattered when there were no stars or moon to look at, anyway. "Might be one of the only things I miss about that place, actually."

[xeuphonious]

There were a lot of things Euphemia missed about her home: sneaking out, Suzaku, Cornelia, Arthur the cat, and then knowing Lelouch and Nunnally were alive and having them so suddenly ripped her (or was it her being ripped from them? She didn't bother to argue technicalities with herself). And the knowledge, that even after atoning for whatever sin she might have committed in the past, that she would never be returning home did have her spending a few nights with a wet face and a damp pillow. She had never been especially good at hiding her emotions.

"Do you miss a lot of things?" Euphemia found herself asking; Toshiki hadn't said much about his home aside from that first time they had met, and what holes he had left MakubeX had been able to fill. Still, she didn't see things as he had experienced them, and the curiosity to know what he thought of everything his world had been. Was being. "A big New Year's celebration sounds nice... Did they ever do fireworks? And then you have someone you kiss at midnight, right, so you can be with

[emblazoning]

His gaze dropped, then, and he prodded at a small rock with the toe of his boot. Miss things? Not really. "...And... not much. Sakura. Maybe a handful of other people, but... there's nothing that home had that this place does not. Possessions and such... little luxuries, being without them doesn't bother me." Toshiki glanced over, removed a hand from his pocket and ever so absently brushed a strand of Euphemia's hair back from her shoulder. He drew back immediately after, and the hand returned to his pocket.

"Fireworks... not so much. Mugenjou was kinda closed in; no real space for that. Outside had them, though." He hunched his shoulders up briefly in a sort-of shrug. "Kazuki's got a dislike for loud noises, so the few times we saw them, it was from a good distance away. As for the kissing thing... yeah, I've heard about that tradition before."

ds;f;df I FAIL I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO REPLY TO THIS, SMITE ME.

[xeuphonious]

"I think a lot about my family," Euphemia said softly. "I wonder if--well, if they're happy." She figured it was the same sort of thinking she would have had, regardless if she was caught here in Purgatorium or already ascended to wherever the dead go. Or descended, if her sins had been that heavy enough to weigh her down. "And I miss them a lot, but... Well." She shook her head, turning to Toshiki with that usual smile on her face. "I guess it'll work out, won't it? When this is all over."

She didn't mention that some horrible, selfish part of her wished that everyone could just stay here--together.

"Maybe we can have firecrackers here," Euphemia said suddenly, looking up at the upper plate to remind herself that this, too, was an enclosed space. "I always used to be afraid of fireworks when I was little, because I thought that they would fall back on me." She smiled as if that the whole idea was really, really silly. "We used to have them every New Year, and I always kissed my sister, because there as nobody else."