thebastion | And in to the third day... [Day 145]

Who: Everyone
Open: Open
When: Day 145
Where: All over the Bastion
What: Day 3 of the festival
Format: Any
Warnings: None

Day 3 - Day of Pleasure and Purpose

The next lamp appears in the Bastion, this time with mirrors on one side. And of course a certain Ura gets to light it.

Oddly enough, there seem to be roses everywhere in the Bastion, almost completely obscuring any of the previous decorations. They're still there, just... buried. Behind bushes, next to vases, under mounds of rose petals. You can't escape it! They won't do anything bad to you, of course, but you might start finding rose petals in your hair, in your pockets, or lingering on your clothes as the day goes by. Mirrors also join the decorations, but besides that, all reflective surfaces (windows and mirrors) will suddenly have clearer reflections, and be decorated in rose borders. Unfortunately this means looking through actual windows will be a mite difficult as you'll see reflections more than you'll see the other side of them.

Today will also be a day of blindfold games! Guess the object! Guess how many are in this box! Place this thing in that thing! All without looking! Prizes will be given out to those who get through these blindfold games - another charm for your bracelet, and maybe two or three shards per win.

Along with these games, there's one big challenge in the center of the Bastion - a giant thorny maze. Should you brave this mess, you'll find twists, turns, awkward corners and areas just barely big enough to walk through. However if you make it to the center, you'll be rewarded with a rose ring. And not just any rose ring. This thing is special! It will allow a user to call upon rose thorn vines that will attack an enemy at will. It is restricted to three times a day on the Skyway, but it will come in very handy, especially for those with no real defensive or offensive capabilities. (That said, if your character manages to get this item and doesn't need it for whatever reason, please be kind and give it to some one who can.)

As day winds in to night, another torch appears, this time with roses. Roses going wild on this lamp. It makes it a little difficult to light, though. And oddly enough, near the gear symbol on this lamp... the roses seem to be withered. Huh.

Dinner gives way in to a sort of "desert" for the evening, a huge selection of cookies in various flavors on tables all over the place, along with tubs of rose petal ice cream that don't seem to melt no matter how long they stay out.

But those cookies are not just any cookies - they are hollow ones. They're backed with a thin indented line down the center of them, and snapping them at this point will reveal that there is paper tucked inside. It will give advice to your character that is shockingly accurate to this person, some how. Regardless of who gets it, the advice will be pertinent to them and really only them. From there you'll be encouraged to take a second piece of paper, write your fears, weaknesses or secrets that you don't wish to tell anyone yet wish to get off your chest and then drop them in a strange mirror-decorated box sitting near the monument. If you do so, you'll find yourself oddly sleeping easier tonight...

This night closes out the same as the previous ones, with stories for the children as the adults relax in to the wee hours of the morning.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mmmm. [Crona nods agreement.] I brought petals. I've never seen a flower crown before.

Never? As a kid I used to make daisy chains with other girls... Hehe, flowers might not be my favorite, but since Hense was so nice to me I think this is a good way to do something for her in return! [She's sort of slowly giving up on the whisper thing without quite realizing it.] Ooh, wait, hold still for a bit and when I'm done with this, I'll make you one, too!

C-can you teach me? [Crona would really like to learn how to make a flower crown.]

Sure! [She scoots over and makes some room on Paarthurnax's head, which has now become their personal couch. She waits for Crona, offering them a hand up, before she pulls a fistful of roses out of her pocket, passes a bunch to them, and starts up again.]

It's real easy, see! Well, my fingernails are short so it's a little tougher buuut... Here, you just use your nail to split part of the stem like this... Put the other flower's stem through it like this... And do it with the next one! [She presents her work before her, beaming.] And you just do it again and again, until you connect one to the first flower! You try.

[Have you ever seen anyone so nervous around a flower? Crona is just generally a skittish sort of person. Crona cautiously reaches out a hand and takes a flower, then picks nervously at the stem with blunt nails.]

L-like this?

[Gosh, it won't hurt you Crona, promise! Hopefully some encouragement will help because it's one of, like, four things that Aoi's good at.]

Yeah, just like that! Careful not to split it right down the whole stem. And the other flower goes right through.

[Crona is very careful not to completely split the stem.]

... It's very dangerous. I could break it all the way, accidentally.

Mhmmm, but it's not toooo big of a deal if you do. You just try again! It's not like we're short on materials. [With a giggle, she sticks her hand into her pocket and pulls out another fistful of roses.]

You're doing a good job so far!

But.... um, each rose is a rose. [That sounded stupid, didn't it?] Each one is... we shouldn't waste them, you know?

[Aoi purses her lips, thoughtful, and then nods.] Yeah, you're right. We should still be careful. But it's still okay if mistakes happen! Besides...

[She takes the rose in her hand and pulls the stem apart right from the middle, all the way down. After a moment's consideration, she loops one side through the hole in her zipper and uses the other to tie them into a knot.] See? It doesn't mean we've wasted 'em!

[Crona laughs, an awkward, unpracticed sort of sound.]

J-just don't break too many. You'll run out of zippers.

[There's a short beat where Aoi's quiet, like she hasn't quite realized that zippers are finite or something equally silly—and she laughs, bright and loud.]

Then I guess I'll have to start using buttons! Maybe I'll have to use the buttons on your clothes!

Ah... on my clothes? That... that would be all right.

Well, in that case...

[She finishes stringing the flower in her hands into the crown, and splits the next one she takes right down the stem. After a moment of inspecting Crona, she reaches forward and ties the rose around one of their shirt buttons. She can't quite get it through the buttonhold, so it sort of droops, but it's still a nice accessory!]

[Crona blushes, cheeks going slightly grey.]

T-thank you.

It looks nice.

Hehe, you're welcome! I'm glad you like it! [Proud of her work, she beams, and then holds up her newly-floral zipper.] See, and we match, too! That's really cute!

...Hey, did I forget to introduce myself? I did, didn't I? My name's Aoi Asahina!

I-it is cute. [It's really cute.

Crona likes cute things.]

Oh... I'm Crona. It's nice to meet you, Aoi Asahina.

Nice t'meet you too, Crona!

[She allows herself a moment to bask in her very cute idea of button flowers, all while working on her flower crown some more. Of course, she doesn't let the silence get too awkward before she speaks again, suddenly whispering.] Hey! I bet if you helped me with the other end of this, we'd have this flower crown finished in, like, a minute.

[Crona nods, carefully taking the opposite end of the flower crown and starting to work. It's not quite a minute, but Crona gets the hang of things quickly enough.]

He... he might not notice it for a week. Paarthurnax is so big he might not even feel it.

Hahaha, maybe! Won't it just be the funniest thing when someone points it out, though? Or maybe no one will and he'll just fly around with it forever and never even realize! [This comes with a laugh hard enough that she snorts a little.]

[Crona laughs, an awkward, unpracticed sound.]

H-he might fly around for weeks like that.

[To her credit, she clamps a hand over her mouth and tries to muffle her giggles, but then Aoi realizes she can't make the flower crown that way and makes a pitiful, largely unsuccessful attempt to keep herself kind of quiet.]

And no one would have any idea he didn't know! And once he found out, they'd all be confused, too. Do you think we'd be able to keep it a secret that we made it?

I think so. No one would know who it was, unless we tell them.

So then we can't tell anyone! You've gotta promise you won't!

I... I promise. I promise I won't tell anyone.

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