MIDSUMMER'S MINGLE

[thewatchers]

MIDSUMMER CELEBRATIONS

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As both finals and the first Herald approach, darkness and uncertainty loom on the horizon. The celebrations held on the evening of the 21st serves as a way of cleansing fears and uncertainty - a time for reconciliation, peace, and reflection, purifying the old to make way for the new.

The midsummer celebrations take place in Soleil’s town square and the surrounding woods. Students can join the large bonfires set up by the staff, or have more private bonfires of their own if they so choose. Specially treated fuel and firestarters have been employed for the evening, to prevent accidental (or deliberate) arson; the bonfires that come from this equipment and fuel will never catch alight anything not deliberately thrown into the flames.


A. TOWN SQUARE
While the town square is usually bustling with all manner of people, today it has been cleared in order to build a number of large bonfires. Robed attendants stand quietly by each one with selections of herbs and flowers, as well as paper and wooden charms that can be folded or marked; these can be thrown into the flames in order to burn away symbolic representations of bad luck.

Attendees can freely take these offerings and feed them to the flames, or bring their own offerings - whatever they see fit - to burn.

A small selection of food is also on offer - small cakes and simple buns in both sweet and savory flavours. These, too, can be fed to the fire if you so choose, though they were made to be eaten.

B. THE WOODS
For the solstice, the woods around Soleil have come alive with light and sound. The various unused structures that litter Soleil’s woods are seeing some cleaning, too; you may come across robed attendants, older students and various staff attending to old graves and abandoned ruins, or building bonfires of their own. Many of them hold lamps on poles and sing songs - simple, traditional hymns about the rising of the sun.

If festival attendees desire peace and quiet, or privacy to build their own fires and reflect, the woods are well-suited for that purpose. Those who choose to take fuel and go into the woods will be cautioned that as darkness falls, supernatural visitors may come out to share your fire. Though they are entirely harmless and silent, seeking only to make their own offerings and lost in their own thoughts, their sudden (and strange) appearance may be alarming.

C. REMNANTS OF FIRE

After the bonfires have burned to embers, attendees will be offered the chance to jump or run over the glowing coals, as is traditional practice, for good luck. Whether as a test of nerves or a possible chance for a little extra luck - whatever your beliefs, it probably can’t hurt.

Unless you spend too long dancing around on the coals, of course, but that’s up to you.

Comments

[onebetter]

[ James pauses, not losing eye contact with Keith but needing a moment to think about this. Don't try to be a hero? What does that even mean when to James, it is inherently heroic to simply go? Probably to be a hero like Keith's father, charging in for the sake of others even when the odds are slim. James can easily see himself as that kind of person, he wants to see himself as that kind of person, but.... It'd mean leaving Keith behind. Again. Like he's always been left behind. It would be cheesy and wrong to call it a thought that's worth than dying, but it is a thought that carries weight. ]

I can promise you that I won't be reckless and do anything that has the odds against me. Is that... enough?

[marmoron]

[Is it enough...?

The anxious knot in his stomach is practically screaming "no." The years he's lived knowing he meant nothing or worse, a monster, to everyone in the world feels heavier than they used to now that he's had the last couple of months to compare it to.

The part of him that still wants to ask James to switch to control room missions burns, but Keith knows he can't. And in a way, he feels even less powerless now than he did when he was a child and never once thought his dad could walk out of the door in the morning and lie stiff and cold in a hospital gurney that night.

It all feels like a mistake. He swallows, fists clenching tighter to keep his hands from shaking.]

I... [He forces a weak smile.] ... guess it has to be.

[onebetter]

I'll do everything in my power to come back to you.

[ He can't fight a war without fighting. He can't fight a war without risk. But he can fight it knowing that there is somebody who is waiting for him and him specifically. Not because Keith loves him, but because Keith is his friend and James has more or less forcibly pried his way into his trust. It still matters, because Keith deserves better than to have all this betrayed in the end. ]

I don't want to die. I don't want prom to be the last thing we go to together. So... let's take it as a reminder of what to live for and not something I'd regret not doing. That alright?

[marmoron]

[...that's a little more reassuring, and though the words don't soothe away every doubt, his smile is much less forced.]

Okay.

[He breathes out, slowly unclenching his fists.]

[onebetter]

[ James smiles back, relieved in his own way. ]

I'm glad. I've been excited for prom for too long to cancel it now.

[ 'Too long' is less than a month, but kind of an eternity considering it's a date (??) with Keith. Maybe a date. Actually... ]

You never did say if we're going as friends or not, come to think of it.

[marmoron]

[Oh fucking hell, it's this question again.]

Is that a problem?

[onebetter]

Guess not? You do know you can just say no to the date though, right? I won't be offended.

[marmoron]

[Immediately:]

What? I'm not worried about offending you.

[Because apparently this is worth correcting???]

Just -- [...Aaaaand immediately cutting himself off cuz fuck everything he's going pink again.] --I've never been on a date before so...so... you know.

[onebetter]

[ At least Keith's reasoning for being so infuriating about the matter is absolutely adorable, for Keith standards that means James basically can't complain.]

I'll show you this too. Though really it's not so different from just hanging out with someone, so not much to teach.

[marmoron]

[There's a beat, then he looks up expression annoyed though the blush is still faintly there.]

Does everything have to be a lesson with you?

[onebetter]

Well, if you don't want me to say it that way, then act a little more confident about these things.

[ James already confessed to Keith, so it's not like Keith really has to worry about making a good impression on their date either. ]

[marmoron]

[Oh well NOW he's bristling a little.]

Watch it. I haven't actually agreed to this being a date.

[onebetter]

Then, you're rejecting it?

[ LOOK HE JUST WANTS AN ANSWER..............]

[marmoron]

Didn't say that either.

[onebetter]

Then what are you saying? Just reject me if you want to, all this uncertainty is getting under my skin.

[marmoron]

[That's getting a laugh.]

That just makes it better.

[onebetter]

You're a jerk.

[ POUTING. ]

[marmoron]

Yeah, yeah. Keep sweet talking me and see how far that gets you.

[onebetter]

[ Insufferable. Why is James into him again? Is that even a question he can answer? ]

Yeah, because calling you a jerk is the sure-fire dealbreaker for our complicated yet enduring friendship. I believe it.

Date or no date, Keith.

[marmoron]

A mystery for the ages. Just like our complicated yet enduring friendship as you're calling it.

[Sorry James, he is absolutely not done teasing.]

[onebetter]

For someone who claims to have no dating know-how, you're an expert in stringing people along.

[ He's not sincerely mad, but definitely grumbling. ]

[marmoron]

[A beat, then his grinning softens into a gentler kind of smile.]

Wouldn't that kind of imply that there was someone else I was considering?

[onebetter]

There better not be...

[ James' own voice gets quiter, more contemplative here and then, on impulse, he leans forward to press a kiss to Keith's cheek. ]

[marmoron]

[James leans in close and his instinct to back away kicks in, though not before the other leaves a quick kiss on his cheek and draws back himself. Keith stares up, eyes a little wide, heart fluttering behind his ribs. There had been a slew of joke responses he could have given, but for the moment he drops the facetiousness entirely.]

There isn't. [He swallows.] ..Just you.

[onebetter]

[ Keith hasn't pushed him away and Keith isn't getting angry. That's more than James expected, when he took the risk of following his instincts and simply leaning forward. Success makes him giddy. He smiles. ]

Good. I'm satisfied then.

[ Even without an answer on the date situation. Reluctantly. ]