[OPEN!]

[hellpyre]

Who: Rin + open mingling
Open: Open
When: Day 81, late evening after Bon and Rin get back with Tris and Briar
Where: The Bastion, near the Distillery
What: After returning with two new arrivals, Rin decides to break out some food and a table to mingle around so people can get to know each other. Meanwhile she's acting a little... spacier than usual.
Format: action
Warnings: None

[With two more new arrivals to the Bastion, Rin has gone to the trouble of setting up a small table just outside the Distillery kitchen, covered with a cloth and laid out with several different kinds of food.

There's not a lot of variety, since they're still running on finite resources, but there's enough there for everyone to have a good amount of food, especially since their two new survivors are probably hungry.

There's some grilled fish, steamed rice, corn and a few other vegetables and fruits, as well as some various drinks (no Spirits, though) take from the distillery itself.

Hopefully this will prompt a few people to mingle about and get to know their new neighbors.]

Comments

[individuates]

[looking down at the fan in his hands] ...it`s not that I`m offended. If... if I`m honest, it`s quite the opposite [because it does make him very happy...] But... there`s no need to inconvenience yourself for me. You don`t have to worry about the proper decorum or whatever, either...

[...his blush is not disappearing, though, and the topic at hand isn`t helping matters. Here, Seimei. It might be awkward and abrupt, but have some more fruit.]

[yinyangfox]

[ He takes the hint and eats quietly for a few minutes, expression thoughtful as he watches Kaoru's face. Slowly - so slowly - his usual aggravating smile slides back into place. Unsure of the situation he might be, but unsure of himself? Never. Doubt kept crawling in, he needed to learn to fend it off. He was confident in everything else, why not this? ]

There is no inconvenience where affection is involved. The heart is light and all things are weightless. I will not shower you with gifts or pressure you with handicraft. Only, please allow me, from time to time, to give you something? It satisfies my need to maintain a semblance of normalcy, and truly, it brightens my day when anything I can do that does not require magic can change the color of a man's face.

[individuates]

...then you must be truly ecstatic right now. [he has the backs of his hands pressed against his cheeks by the time Seimei is done talking, in a futile effort to stem his blush, and sighs]

I will allow it, if you can manage not to comment on it every time you succeed.

[yinyangfox]

I will endeavor to contain my glee. [ He smirks, tilting his head and sighing softly, a fond smile altering the mischievous quirk of his mouth. ]

I am glad you came over here to speak with me. I was afraid that I might be taking up too much time, or crowding you, in some manner. I was willing to leave you to enjoy the party without being bothered by me, though I admit I would have grown envious of the others before long.

That sounds absurd, I suppose. Mm, I am not very good with social activities.

[individuates]

[definitely pouting now] I suppose all I can ask is that you "endeavour" to contain it. [and since it's a personal favour, surely you'll honour his request?]

[shakes his head slightly] Mmm, no, it's fine. It's nice to have company. I know where you're coming from, though... sometimes mixing with a lot of people can be exhausting, you know? Our mother used to host a lot of parties and we hated them. Granted, though, we didn't want to like them, either.

But it gets easier with practice, I guess. And it helps to have somewhere you can retreat to when you've had enough...

[yinyangfox]

[ The onmyoji nods slightly, dark eyes drifting across the people of the Bastion chatting, eating, and for a time able to forget about where they were and everything that had gone wrong. ]

I am actually always uncomfortable in the press of people. I can hear and see too much. There are so many voices, so many thoughts and feelings that weigh upon the air around me. The heat and energy. Often it can be very overwhelming. I have always preferred peace and solitude to the activity of smallfolk. However, this event was worthwhile. Even my attending my after prove pivotal. Those who chose not to attend may be viewed with suspicion later.

However, I should be working on my house, if I mean to sleep indoors, have personal meals and entertain special guests.

[individuates]

[he nods too, also casting his eyes over those around him] We're all from different worlds, we all led different lives, all different to one another. I don't think anyone would have held it against you if you hadn't come. [his eyes move back over to Seimei, and he leans his head on the heel of his hand] Although I might have, just a little bit, if you hadn't shown up. [it's hard to tell because of all those clothes you wear, but he's sure you've lost a little weight. Trick of the light, perhaps?]

But - wait, hold on - isn't my being in your home the complete opposite of peace and solitude?

[yinyangfox]

[ The onmyoji turns, a fond smile in place as he cocks his head to one side and arches a brow at the red-haired youth. ]

No more than the song of birds or the laughter of a creek in the Spring, Kaoru. Some interruptions in life are welcome, and some hearts weigh less heavily on the atmosphere than others. Just because you are my sunset does not make you the harbinger of darkness.

[individuates]

[...damn it, Seimei, you're good at this. Not that it's not nice... he's beginning to see why the girls keep coming back to the host club.

But he'll just... busy himself with checking up on Tama-chan in his lap. She seems all right, but it can never hurt to check.]

[yinyangfox]

[ By now Seimei was feeling a bit less nervous and contented himself with picking at the remains on the plate. He ate quite an amount while there, though not as much as Kaoru might have wished. He had no appetite after a point, and pushing himself to eat would only make him sick.
Without eating as a distracting the onmyoji fills the silence by watching his companion wonderingly; he was always a people-watcher. He enjoyed observing others, curious about their thoughts and reactions. At the moment he was just happy to occupy the same space as Kaoru. Talking wasn't necessary, and at least in the shared quiet, neither was likely to make some silly cultural faux pas.
After a few moments, however, Seimei looked away, a short, soft laugh punctuating the movement. ]

You should go explore and talk to others, Kaoru. I would not like to be responsible for holding you back, and you shine too brightly to be confined to entertaining me alone.

[individuates]

[Kaoru take care to continue pushing food at Seimei in the future, then.

Perhaps he should mingle a bit more, but he really already looked in on everyone he wanted - he had been worried about Rin, so it was good to check in with her, after everything, and even better to manage to put a smile on her face]

But I explored and talked plenty. I'm like a butterfly, I need to rest my wings. Besides, I had other stuff to talk to you about - I'm learning to read!

[yinyangfox]

You...didn't already know how to read? [ He asks, totally aghast at the idea. Surely not? Kaoru seemed, for all intents and purposes, to come from a perfectly respectable upbringing. Their conversations even suggested that he came from some form of modern nobility. So surely Kaoru had some manner of education? ]

[individuates]

[blinks at him in surprise, then doubles over with laughter, hugging Tama-chan to his chest. It wasn't your amazing craftsmanship that made him blush like that, you know...]

No, Seimei, no. I mean the language in this place. One of the locals ambushed me with a child's alphabet book and I thought, "Why not?". [It's just standard "A is for Apple, L is for Lunkhead" stuff, but he's enjoying it!]