Out with the old....

[sundead]

Who: Everyone
What: New Year's.
When: Dec. 31st, New Year's Eve, to Jan 1st, New Year's Day.
Where: Everywhere
Summary: It's New Year's, and the people of Luceti have a lot to reflect upon, and to look forward to. And on a more meta level, new journal names.
Rating: We'll see...

New Year's brings images of crowds, and songs, and fireworks; staying up til midnight and watching balls or bells being rung. But Luceti is a different time and place. Whether you're partying with friends or watching the sunrise, what are you doing today?

Comments

[immamartillo]

I think they just didn't care.

We mostly just stick around Alveare. Randy and Pezzo'll do somethin' crazy with fire, Luck and his brothers come over and then Isaac and Miria... they always find somethin' strange to do. We do pretty much the same thing every year but it never gets old.

(Oh my goodness. XD It's almost kinda suitable... )

[ever_deceptive]

Also entirely possible. [He laughs.]

What do you mean by 'strange'~?

[immamartillo]

Isaac and Miria pretty much define strange. One year they put on a play. I'm still not sure what it was about. Lately they've been into dominoes. They lay 'em out in really weird patterns that take hours to make and take up the whole floor and them just knock 'em over.

[ He folds his arms, trying to look disapproving. Secretly, he enjoys the dominoes, but he has to at least pretend not to like such a pointless kid's game. ]

[ever_deceptive]

[Yeager, on the other hand, looks highly amused. He appreciates people that are creatively weird.]

And they're not intoxicated when they do things like that?

[immamartillo]

That explanation would make too much sense. They always act that crazy, whether they've been drinkin' or not.

[ He sighs and scratches his head. ]

Maybe they'll become normal if they get drunk enough.

[ever_deceptive]

They've hit that limit of craziness, hmm? Can't get any stranger? That's an impressive feat.

[immamartillo]

[ Firo frowns, he does not want to think about levels of strangeness beyond Isaac and Miria. ]

I hope so. I can barely deal with 'em how it is.

[ No one else back home seems to encounter the same problems with the pair that Firo does. Surely Yeager would understand? He must have met somebody like that before. That Jogi guy or whatever sounded pretty strange. ]

Do you know anybody like that?

[ever_deceptive]

[Yeager gives a slow, knowing nod, offering a slightly forced smile.] Zagi, one of my mercenaries--he's as ruthless as they come in battle, but the rest of the time his mentality is that of a four-year-old. He enjoys children's books, dressing up, and stuffed animals, which he sometimes likes to cuddle and sometimes likes to use as target practice. He also likes things are sticky. [He gazes at the ceiling with a sigh.] I never knew how difficult it was to get wood glue out of a ten-thousand gald antique rug before I hired him.


(Whoo ridiculous headcanon yeaaah~)

[immamartillo]

[ Firo listens, blinking with confusion every few revelations. ]

...Ya know, he might even be worse than them. I mean... I don't think I've ever known anybody who did that stuff. Not even as a kid.

[ At least you could always rely on Isaac and Miria to be happy and crazy. Their brand of ruthlessness couldn't even be called that. ]

[ever_deceptive]

He's certainly interesting. But, you know, he's not what I'd call a bad person, per se. Just very exciteable and ignorant. He's gotten less destructive over time, too, though he's still definitely a handful.

[The people that Yeager considers bad tend to be some combination of brutally selfish, calculating and intelligent. Glue in his rug he can dismiss with a simple reprimand. People that actively plot against him...that's a different story.]

I still wouldn't put him on my list of people I'd like for you to meet, were it possible. I do think you would like some of my advisors, and some of the other major guild leaders. It's a shame Barbos and Don Whitehorse have passed away, because I'd gladly introduce you to them. They ran enormous mercenary and information-dealing guilds.

Oh, and my daughters of course. You would have to meet them.

[Gosh, Luceti, even Yeager knows this would be the best crossover ever.]

[immamartillo]

He sounds sorta like a friend of mine. Except Claire doesn't play dress-up and all that. As far as I know.

[ Assassins Firo can deal with. The childish habits are just what confuse him most. If this guy was some sort of hybrid of Isaac and Miria and Claire... then Firo's pretty sure he doesn't want to meet him. Those three are mind boggling enough by themselves.

He's tempted to ask a little more about Barbos and Don Whitehorse, but if they were Yeager's friends, he doesn't really want to dredge up the topic too much. ]

They sound like pretty neat guys...

You have kids? Didn't think you were quite that old.

[ever_deceptive]

[He nods a bit stiffly. The topic of the Don is something he indeed doesn't really want to get too far into.] They were. Barbos and I got along very well--in a personal sense as well as a business sense. He got too ambitious for his own good, however. Brought it on himself.

I fear that's something I see with my clients over and over again. They become too confident in their resources, create some grandiose plot to get rid of their enemies, and then find themselves in trouble. Personally, I try not to stay aligned with any side for long to avoid that fallout. Much safer to outsmart and utilize my enemies than to eliminate them.

[He laughs.] They're adopted. Though, for the record, I'm thirty-six. Not old.

[immamartillo]

I'm sorry.

[ He nods quietly, letting that be his only reply. Even Firo can understand that the death of friend's and personal destruction isn't a subject to ask too many questions about. Besides, it's New Years. He's already feeling homesick, so he doesn't want to touch on too many heavy subjects tonight. Firo plasters on a smile and tries to hop to the next topic. ]

Okay, maybe not as old as some a' the guys in my Family... But that's still pretty far out there. How old are your kids?

[ever_deceptive]

Sixteen. They're twins. [Yeah, if they were his biological daughters, they would have had to been born when he was twenty. Small amount of squick?] Both very fine students and fighters for their age, too. I commissioned transforming gunblades for them a few years ago, and they've been advancing marvelously in their use.

[immamartillo]

[ He perks up a little when it's mentioned that they're good fighters. Their weapon- whatever it is- sounds rather interesting, too. ]

They do sound like pretty neat people. What's a gunblade?

[ever_deceptive]

Exactly what it sounds like. It's a weapon that can take the form of a long dagger or a pistol. There are some on the market where the change is aer-triggered, but my girls have the kind that switch forms at the touch of a button.

[immamartillo]

Wow... Now that's pretty nice. So, about how good are they at fightin' with those, would ya say?

[ever_deceptive]

It'd probably be a good weapon for you, I imagine. [He'll have to keep his eye open to see if one comes into the shop. It's not a terribly common design, but there's always a chance.]

I'd rate them as intermediate. Not as good as you, but definitely not bad. I don't spar with them often myself, but I have watched them in training with one of my bodyguards, and they give him a fair amount of challenge.

[immamartillo]

Definitely sounds handy.

[ Sounds like Yeager knows how to raise some cool kids. ]

If they ever wind up here we'll hafta spar sometime. What're their names?

[ever_deceptive]

Gauche and Droite.

[He reaches into his suit pocket and pulls out his wallet, withdrawing a small picture from it and handing it to Firo. In it are two girls in formal dresses, smiling brightly.]

Gauche is the one on the left there, Droite on the right. That picture is from about a year and a half before I came to Luceti, but they looked much the same before I left.

[immamartillo]

[ Looks like everyone in Yeager's family has strange hair. Firo glances from the picture to Yeager, laughing a bit. ]

...They still kinda look like you.

[ Then his eyes are drawn to the weapons; they do look cool! ]

[ever_deceptive]

[Strange hair? It's a shame Yeager doesn't have a picture of Zagi with him. XD]

You think so? [He smiles and shrugs. He's probably gotten that a couple times before.] I don't know. But ja, it's unfortunate that they're not here. Not that I'd wish for them to be experimented on, but...

[He lets that trail off into a sigh. He misses them, that's what.]

[immamartillo]

Same hair.

[ His joking smile fades as Yeager sighs. He can understand just how he feels. Nodding slowly, he glances away. ]

Yeah. It's... not fun to be away from your family.

[ever_deceptive]

At least I know that they're not getting into any trouble while I'm away. Or missing me, for that matter.

[He takes back the picture, glancing over it once before replacing it in his wallet. He would rather have himself be the one that's lonely, not them, but it hurts all the same.]

[immamartillo]

R-right. It's good that everybody's safe.

[ For now, at least. Firo fiddles with his glass nervously as he thinks about Ennis. She was still kidnapped when he left.

He looks up and attempts to smile, though it doesn't really work. ]

And who knows? Maybe you'll wind up back home soon.