Household Gathering

[skysung]

Who: Residents of House 44
What: a rooftop barbecue!
When: July 18th, evening
Where: ...On the roof. Of Castle House 44. Where else would a rooftop barbecue be?
Summary: It seems rather silly that some residents have only caught glimpses of one another in passing, so it's time for a household gathering.
Rating: Presumably PG?

There have been a lot of comings and goings in House 44 over the past few months. The result is that while everyone does know who else lives in the house, they may not know much more than that about their fellow housemates. It seemed high time to fix that, so everyone has set this evening aside.

The castle rooftop is set up for a barbecue. Food readily available, as are places to sit and eat it. The menu is mostly typical barbecue fare, but a few special treats have worked their way in as well. Around the edge of the roof, every second stone glows with steady light, the dragon's contribution to the festivities.

Comments

[daisy023]

She is a new housemate. Much like some of the other members of what could become her family, she is timid, unsure of how to approach them. Valvalis had been the one to make the first step more than two and a half years ago, and after she invited Daisy to their household, she just connected with Kirimi and Neliel.

This was a wider kinship. A more eclectic group. She was too familiar with Saori, but the baby dragon was yet completely unknown, to say nothing of her trembling in slight nervousness at the sight of seeing the composer Frederic Chopin again in Luceti -- and sharing the same house.

Nervously, the 7ft tall girl keeps her eyes on somebody, wanting to break the ice, eeping a pile of food as high as that of the goddesses.

[windandrain]

Saori is far, far from timid when it came to Daisy and she wasn't about to let her enormous friend sit off by herself and eat in peace. No way, no how. With her own plate, she meanders on over and flops down in the seat next to the Spartan.

"So are you enjoying yourself, Daisy dear?"

[daisy023]

Daisy lowered her head, smiling. She takes a bite from a plate of ribs, letting herself keep the sauce on her lips this once.

"Yeah... Just a little nervous." Much easier to open with Saori. "I didn't know how to approach them until now, and... I've lost some experience with parties."

She looks at them. Chopin, Kitten, Yuuna, and Makie.

"They are all good people. I just have to get used to things.

[windandrain]

"They are good people, and they'll welcome you the same way I have. Yuuna especially. She's...very, very special to me, the love of my life in more ways than one, so whoever is family to me is family to her. And if it helps, think about Skysong being adorable and young. And of Chopin being a sweet man, and Makie a sweet woman, and both musicians. And Helios is a quirky man with some odd habits, but he's equally loving."

She takes a big handful of rice and chews slowly, waiting for Daisy's response. Not everyone liked the idea of women dating women, after all. Or of gods dating at all.

[daisy023]

Daisy looks up, blinking, still with a mouthful of food she swallows, noticing the tone she'd hear herself when she spoke about Keimi. Coming from a future where homosexual relationships are accepted, she simply finds it curious that Saori would be in one herself.

"I'm a little familiar with Chopin and Helios, but not the rest." She turns to Saori, smiling. "But I didn't know you had someone back home."

[windandrain]

Saori smiles at the big girl around her mouthful of rice, and gulps it down audibly. Really? She didn't expect Saori to want somebody?

"Oh, we've been together for nearly thirty years. I thought I'd mentioned her before, but I guess I haven't. She's had a part of my heart for a long, long time. Is it so strange, that?"

[daisy023]

She shakes her head.

"I mean... I thought gods weren't as much into romance." Daisy slowly turns to Yuuna. "But again... We only have legends in my world of these creatures. We never had them, so we never knew how they were."

Daisy grabs a drink to pace herself down from the hoard of food eaten, smiling to herself as she turns to Saori.

"When I first arrived in here, I barely believed people who said they weren't human."

[windandrain]

"How...does that song go? Everybody needs somebody?" Saori quietly hums a few bars of a song as she finishes chewing. "We want to feel love as much as anyone else, dear. It's as much a part of our life as it is any mortals, so it's not as uncommon as that. Yuuna's immortality is a little out of the ordinary, but that's because I'm greedy and I wanted to stay with her forever."

At the suggestion, she just laughs. "And I know you know better now."

[daisy023]

She hardly recognizes the song. The tone sounds like ancient history to Daisy, much alike to folk songs during the early industrial era, or the popular music composed during the wars of Earth, but she understands where Saori is coming to. She slowly accommodates herself on her chair as the goddess explains, understanding that sometimes, humans, angels, demons, other sentients, and even gods, aren't all that different.

Saori fell in love with Yuuna, and judging by Saori's wording, it may be the reason she is immortal now, even if she was not a goddess like her lover.

Even then, Daisy lets herself laugh.

"It is true." She looks at Yuuna, then at Saori. She thinks of Keimi, smiling to herself. "I hope you two remain together wherever you go. Something tells me... There's a reason you two got to be together."

And, when her second chance in Luceti ends, that she hopes will allow her to see Keimi.

[windandrain]

"I think...we'll have the chance. Now that we're together here." Saori can't help but sound more than a little lovestruck, eyes fixed on her partner's back. She had fallen in love, so completely so that she'd gone to some incredible lengths to make that an eternity. Yes there were complications, and they fought sometimes, just like any other couple but the two of them had found a common wavelength as well.

She leans closer to her friend with a conspiratorial smile. "I know there's a reason for it. It was meant to be. Just like you and Keimi."

[daisy023]

Daisy's sight suddenly darts to Saori, for a time remembering she used to have that look of love, just like Keimi did. It was something curious to think about. That she had to violate the laws of life and death and cross through worlds apart to find the most beautiful thing to ever happen to her.

It made her feel regret over the times Keimi would be worried over Daisy's fate every time she went into drafts and missions.

"We met when we were both just as naive to a lot of things. Being with her... I felt safe, as if we were both on even ground." She smiles. She remembers Lucetiland, and her time with Keimi. "I felt... I could be me."

[windandrain]

"That dear, is love. It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it? Feeling safe, cared for, and unfettered by what people say you should do or what they expect from you? I know if many were to see me up here with Yuuna, they would likely be quite surprised."

Especially a certain maniac.

"And you know, here? You're as safe as you'll ever be. This house is well defended. And I want you to know that, dear. You don't need to worry about your safety, or your image, with us. Maybe we're not Keimi, but we care about you. Even the ones you've just met."

[daisy023]

Safety. That is what Daisy felt with Keimi. Not safe from combat, but safe from what was expected of her. After everything she went through with her, it was how they began.

She closes her eyes. With the safety Saori swore on this house, Daisy would protect it, just as she did with their quarters.

"Thank you, Saori. For my new home. For everything."

[therewerefifty]

Makie really isn't one for socialising terribly much, and so she had settled in a chair of her own, only holding a few quiet conversations with those she's met before.

Of course, a woman who's seven foot tall, on the other hand, gets her attention. She can't stop from staring a few moments, before she glances away politely. But Makie still glances over on occasion, impressed by such a height.

If she catches Daisy's eye, she smiles sheepishly.

[daisy023]

Having almost the same social experience... the tall girl does the same, smiling timidly, reddening at the face of her height, and her hunger a little too similar to both Saori and Yuuna, in contrast to what she would normally be with her build and uniform. More like a shy girl.

In courtesy, she serves Makie a cup of tea, silently giving her in an offering.

[therewerefifty]

Makie's smile widens, though still sheepish, and she accepts the tea. "Ah...thank you. You're...quite new here, aren't you? To the house."

[daisy023]

She nods, looking down. Just as sheepish as Makie.

"I got here a week ago. I didn't know how to approach all of you... until now." Her eyes rise. "Saori invited me in here. I've moved some of my things already, but I'm sorry to have not introduced myself to all of you."

For all that happened, she learned there are times in which rank and organization are not as necessary as she once believe. Even among new housemates, would informality be much better here?

"My name... is Daisy."

[therewerefifty]

If it helps at all, Makie is a person often sunk in formality herself. Just...not as much as any military personnel. She gives Daisy a slight bow. "Makie Otono-Tachibana. And it's all right. I have also been remiss in making myself known to my ...housemates." Interesting word, but it fits. "Saori invited me here a few months ago also. It's nice to meet you."

[daisy023]

"So is mine. Saori's been a friend of mine for almost a year, we were both close friends of a wind elemental that used to be in this world."

She moves her chair a little closer, feeling a little more comfortable.

"I've... actually been here for over two years and a half. After a lot of friends of mine left, I felt the need to get back in touch with people."

Or try to. When Daisy turns back to Makie, she sees herself in how she used to be when she first got here: Paranoia, replaced by puzzlement, and then realization that she didn't know how to befriend people... and yet she was doing so. Somehow.

[therewerefifty]

"Two and a half years is a long time. I... suppose it must be hard to get to know people only to lose them. Or are they friends you made here?"

Makie isn't used to being sociable at all. But for Saori's sake, and this party, she tries.

[daisy023]

She looks a little down, holding her own cup.

"Nobody from my world has ever been in this place." She wasn't sure if among any of the other enclosures. Not even reports or requests of UNSC personnel to reunite. Nothing. "I made all of my friends in here. I lost half of them in my first year, and almost everyone in the second one..."

Then, Daisy looks up, with something of a sad smile.

"But it was able to make them."

Contrary to anything she thought possible for years after her kidnapping.

[therewerefifty]

"That sounds rough." She speaks softly, understanding the heartache there. "But having friends to begin with makes this place easier to bear, I imagine."

[daisy023]

Her hands intertwine for a moment.

"Sometimes I wonder if it's all worth it." She confesses something. "Because I worry it might happen again."

But isolation carries a price. In a desire not to be hurt, one remains unable to connect with anyone.

"But..." She turns to look at Makie in the eyes. "I just don't want to be alone."

[therewerefifty]

Makie smiles wistfully at that. "It seems you have friends here who would prefer you weren't alone, also."

She wonders where she stands on that issue. Makie has spent nearly all of her life alone, and often preferred it that way-- but one can't deny human contact can be warm. Luceti has been so different.

"I like it here." It feels a faintly left-field admission, but... "We have that option."