♥ June (Dianir) Event Log

[hugtopiamods]

June (Dianir) Event Log
Ainea's time has ended and now Diacht's months have arrived. Dianir marks the beginning of the hot summer months with a rise in temperature as well as humidity. With each passing day, spring gives way to summer, and the natives of Havenwell are enjoying the blue skies along with the newly expanded barrier. With the most dangerous of the beasts gone thanks to offworlder help last month, researchers and conservationists head out on occasion into the newly opened areas to continue the work of cataloguing and preserving what they can find. Some take time to study the barrier and some just seem to enjoy being outside the walls for the first time in centuries. Meanwhile, the city within seems to have calmed from Ealom's excitement, settling into its usual routine with only a few…"hiccups."

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❥ PROMPT I: Hana-hack-i

With the turning of the seasons, the weather warms up and Diacht's influence grows in strength. 'Tis the season to be honest with one another, because if you aren't, you may begin to feel a tickle in the back of your throat…

For those who have feelings repressed, secrets unaddressed, or maybe just won't confide in a friend when they're feeling depressed, the gods work in mysterious ways. Specifically, in the fact that the offworlders may find themselves coughing up flower petals. Whether petals of plantlife from Havenwell itself or another world entirely, the longer one goes without confessing their troubles or sentiments the more insistent their condition until they might even have trouble getting through a whole sentence without finding a corsage's worth stuck in their mouth. Speaking minor truths will lessen the effect a little at a time, while larger or more impactful ones will work to cure it completely.

While not painful or otherwise physically harmful, the affliction does feel awkward and very likely doesn't taste all that great. Not to mention it's going to be difficult to keep secrets when everyone can see you have a mouthful of flower.

❥ PROMPT II: Uproot of the Spirit

Those offworlders that have been present in Havenwell since the previous June may remember an outbreak of traits and desires not necessarily their own, reflecting the dominion of their associated god instead. With the return of the early summer season, so too do such urges begin to resurface--but not quite in the same fashion.

This time around, things are a bit different--adherents to one god may find themselves with any other god or gods' traits, with one or more applying at once, one and then another on different days, any multitude of combinations apart from those of the deity to which they belong. For example, one under Diacht may have the effects of Rawna one day and Ainea the next, or perhaps Ainea and Ohma both at once, but never contend with Diacht's influence. And while the previous year seemed to deal with the gods' animal natures, it seems this time things are a little different as people begin manifesting extreme versions of their gods' emotional domains.

Ohma: As the god of wisdom, Ohma's influence becomes a desperate and insistent need to exchange knowledge. The affected may ask friends and strangers all manner of questions, ranging from 'where did you get that shirt' to 'how do you like your eggs' and everything in between. In exchange, the affected also wish to share their own information on just about everything they know, whether the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow or the entire plot of a book they read that one time. They simply have to give and seek knowledge to and from whoever they can find.

Ainea: The influence of the god of compassion leads the affected to be almost aggressively kind. Complimenting every little thing those around them might say, do, wear--if it can be spoken kindly about, those under Ainea's influence will do so excessively and well past the point of obnoxious. So too might they feel a compulsion to give gifts to others--specifically, giving away the affected's own possessions. Once the effect wears off, one might even have to track down their new and old friends to get their more important things back...

Diacht: Honor and honesty being Diacht's domain, those affected by them will be incapable of lying. They will be compelled to not only speak the truth, but do so out of obligation no matter how awkward for them or the other party. Even if it means speaking a brutally honest opinion or divulging a carefully hidden secret, so long as the words are true to the affected speaker they will have the urge to share it. To tell a lie or general untruth will make them feel suddenly ill, dispelled only by speaking something truthful instead.

Rawna: Rawna's reasoning takes the forefront of their influence; anyone under their affect will be insistent upon hearing and soothing the emotional hurts of others. They are certain they need to be a listening ear or comforting shoulder to the absolute best of their abilities and beyond--that is to say, they will not only go out of their way to find others' problems, but potentially assume ones exist where they do not. Some dear friends haven't spoken in an entire day? Clearly they had a terrible fight, and it's up to Rawna's affected to fix it.

❥ PROMPT III: 'Cause I'd Get A Thousand Hugs

Yet another indication that the world is recovering is the reappearance of the Fairy Lights. As the weather turns warmer, these beautiful little insects take to the air for their mating dances at night, dimly and softly glowing like Earth's fireflies or lightning bugs. These tiny little bugs float through the air, flitting about as their bodies pulse with light. The Fairy Lights come in a multitude of colors from red to purple, turning the night into soft rainbows of light. They make their triumphant reappearance in two locations: the botanical gardens and the green belt that grew up where the old wall used to be. Their beautiful displays start once the sun goes down and stop at sunrise, and natives are delighting in their return by taking walks among them.

If offworlders follow suit, they'll notice that the Fairy Lights are attracted to those who come in pairs or more, especially those who engage in sustained positive contact with each other while among them. The Fairy Lights seem to enjoy it when people are touching and will land upon them, one of each color until a rainbow has formed - usually in a crown around the head. Once the rainbow crown of Fairy Lights is complete, that character will feel a pleasant calmness and a feeling of peace and happiness wash over them. For as long as you and your partner(s) are in contact, the Fairy Lights will stay and so will the peace they confer. Once contact is broken, one by one the little insects will fly away, off to find a new perch.

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This event will run from June 15 to June 30th. Click on each prompt's title to see the text. If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread. You can also use the Havenwell Status page or the General Plotting Comment to give you other ideas for original prompts!

Comments

[daikonrose]

"I'm--" not hurting was what she was supposed to say, but there was such a fiercely anxious opposition from the pit of her stomach all the way out to her trembling fingers, that she had to stop. She could almost feel more flower petals tickling the back of her throat.

And anyway, she knew it was useless after all, didn't she? Kaito might not have her figured out exactly, but he did understand her. Flimsy little lies wouldn't be any good here.

"I'm sorry," was what she managed to get out after a moment, and then quickly, very softly, "you weren't supposed to know at all."

[whenyouneedme]

He'd expected a little bit more push back then that. Just being told he was right didn't feel good when this was the thing he was right about. There wasn't any validation here, just a whole lot more ache in his chest.

"You shouldn't have to keep that from me," Kai muttered quietly, staring down at all the evidence of just how much it'd been tucked away, whatever it might have been. This was something he would have wanted to know? So he could try... something?? He was the one that should have been apologizing, probably? For whatever it was he'd done to shake he trust they'd had. The fact that he couldn't trace it back to anything that seemed like a problem was baffling.

She shouldn't have had to keep it secret, but she tried anyway. Maybe she just didn't trust him in the first place. That seemed.. wrong, but he was grasping at straws.

Kai took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "So. What do you want me to do now?"

He could listen. He could leave. There were a lot of things he could be doing, but it all came down to her.

[daikonrose]

What did she want Kaito to do?

Tell him to leave the reasonable part of her, the part that still believed she could salvage everything if she just lasted through this flower nonsense, urged. But the nagging wish to tell him what was in her heart, that had driven her all the way out here in the first place, was screaming.

What did she want Kaito to do?

Be happy, be hers, forget about her, hold her--

"--Just forgive me."

Oh. That came out really abruptly, huh.

"I... said something mean to Shinji earlier. I'll make it up to him, but... it's better if you just think about him right now."

[whenyouneedme]

Pushing him away again, huh.

"He thinks he did something to upset you." Kai rocked himself up on to his feet. "And you think you said something mean. I was already looking for you, but he asked me to come check on you."

If anyone could have gotten what was wrong out of her, Kai had been sure it would have been Shinji. That obviously hadn't worked. Of course Kai was worried about him too, he knew how things got sometimes. They were both worried about Kyoko tho, so getting at least some kind of headway with that was bound to help everything...??

That was his hope as Kai moved to crouch right in front of her, leveling that earnest golden stare at her.

"You're already forgiven, Kyoko."

[daikonrose]

Kyoko blinked, eyes going wide with those revelations, and then even wider when Kaito moved in close. Oh no. She'd thought he would leave after that, but this was something different altogether.

Her heart sure had some nerve, kicking up into high gear even at a time like this.

Without her permission, Kyoko's mouth opened--she held her breath, desperate to block the words that wanted to flood out. Change the subject, she told herself weakly, deflect, redirect, think of something else, anything--

But with those bright eyes so near, so steady and intent on hers, there could be nothing else.

"I--"

She slammed her head down into her knees, hard.

[whenyouneedme]

Her knees?

Or... his hands?

While it was comforting to know his reaction time was still pretty good, this had not been the kind of scenario Kai was expecting to test it in! He'd lunged forward before he fully processed what was happening, narrowly sliding in there and

wow. If those hurt, imagine what her head would have felt like. "Hey!"

[daikonrose]

"Uah!"

There would have been some natural recoil even if she'd just managed to concuss herself--not that that had been an actual goal, but she would have welcomed it in hindsight--but Kaito's hands in her face sent her even further back, unfurling until her back hit the tree. After a moment, her head clunked gently against it too.

"Wah," she gasped after another stunned moment, "what--what the heck! Don't do that!"

[whenyouneedme]

"That's my line!" He shot back fiercely, but it was all worry in his bark.

"The hell are you trying to hurt yourself for?!"

[daikonrose]

"I wasn't trying to! It was a reflex, a reflex!!" At least she could string all these sentences together without any adverse effects. "I panicked!"

More importantly, your hands, Kaito! Rolling forward into a kneel, Kyoko jammed her stone into her pocket, and grabbed at his wrists. "Aaah, could I have broken them with that?!"

[whenyouneedme]

Kyoko that was an absolutely abysmal reflex. He'd know. The fact that she was that panicked in the first place made him a bit sick to his stomach.

Here he'd been drawing his hands back to himself so no one had to add any more complicated touching feelings into the mix, but she caught him instead. "No," he said, even though the possibility was real. Adrenaline was doing its thing, so he really couldn't tell just yet.

"They'll just be ugly tomorrow, its fine."

[daikonrose]

Too occupied--finally--to worry about touch or all the danger running rampant right now, Kyoko stared down at Kaito's hands with a sharp frown, though her eyes were still wide with worry.

"It's not fine! Can you move them? Does it hurt too much? Wiggle every finger!"

[whenyouneedme]

"It's fine," he repeated with a frown.

Still, he didn't make a move to pull his wrists away. He just begrudgingly did what she asked, moving each finger one at a time for her as she watched them like a hawk. No real winces or sharp intakes of breath from him just yet. It was more of a gentle grimace when he went to stretch out all his fingers at once.

[daikonrose]

"It's not fine," she repeated right back. This could go on as long as you wanted it to, Kai.

And she might not have been watching his face too closely, but it was still well enough in her range of sight that she caught that little expression. Hey now. "Make fists, too!" she demanded. "Do it properly!"

[whenyouneedme]

Yeah? So could he. "It is. If this is the only hurting I can stop then I'm gonna stop it."

He'd make those fists though, sure. Ah, hmm, there was definitely pain there, but it felt like it was more like he was just noticing something that had already been there. Nothing sharp or sudden, but enough to make his brows knit together a bit. "Don't think anything's broken."

[daikonrose]

"It's not fine!" She couldn't even touch that bit about stopping hurting, but she could stay firm on that--she had to.

And she was right. This time, her eyes stayed trained more closely on his face, so there was no missing that expression. "But it hurts," she accused. "Kaito! How are you gonna drive home if you can't grip the handles! This is bad!"

[whenyouneedme]

"It'll go the way it always does."

He'd driven just fine with worse. Sure it wasn't smart, but it wasn't like he had options at the time. The point was that he knew some sprains (?) weren't going to be an issue when the roads were so quiet.

"And if it doesn't, I'll just walk it home."

[daikonrose]

"If it hurts just making a fist, you shouldn't be pushing something as heavy as a bike around, or driving it!" Take it from someone who's broken a leg performing a tea ceremony (a story he might have even heard by now, given how the past couple weeks went).

Releasing his wrists at last, Kyoko launched to her feet and trudged over to the bike. "I'll drive you."

[whenyouneedme]

A story that clearly meant she was in no position to patronize him for a sprain. That was the moral, right.

But uh. Huh.

Kai blinked, watching her head towards the bike. "You'll drive me."

[daikonrose]

Look, she was already all the way over there next to the bike in question, inspecting it from front to back. "I will drive you."

Any questions, bud?

[whenyouneedme]

"....... Do you know how to drive?"

[daikonrose]

"I've successfully driven a bicycle many times in my life! I even had a paper route for a while!" It's ffffiiiiiiiiiine.

[whenyouneedme]

"You don't drive a bicycle, Kyoko."

He was up on his feet now, making his way over. Here came a gentle pat of his hand at her shoulder. At least that wasn't a strenuous activity.

"I'll just leave it out here and walk."

[daikonrose]

"S-sure you do!" It couldn't be that different! She wouldn't even have to pedal this thing! Easy!!

With that pat to her shoulder, she whirled around to face him, eyes wild and pleading. "What if it gets stolen!"

[whenyouneedme]

"Who's gonna steal it?" Had it been anywhere but Havenwell, he would have worried about the same thing. But honestly, who was gonna take it here? When so many people knew who it belonged to? "It'll run out of juice on someone anyway."

His expression softened a bit though, and Kai sighed. "I can show you how some other time, when I'm not making things worse."

[daikonrose]

That finally got Kyoko to pause, at least long enough to frown softly at him for a moment. "The only one making things worse is me."

Turning back to the bike, she settled her hands on the handles. "If I can't drive it back, I'll push it back."