008--Today is a birthday we wonder for who, we know that it's somebody right in this room....

[dameluckypants.livejournal.com]

[So, in honor of her birthday, Rose Tyler has set up typical birthday party things--cake, pie, party hats, cola, cookies, and food in general. And there are streamers. OH YES. They're pink.]

...I don't think I'm forgetting anything. Oh! Right! [And there's a game of pin the tail on the donkey hanging up on a tree]. Love that game.

((It's Rose's 21st birthday, she's throwing a party, feel free to threadhop, blah blah blah, you know the drill.))

Comments

[contract_star]

Hades was the one possessing him. He might still be around when the Twins bring Shun back. I don't know.

[Is quiet for a moment.]

If I have to, I'll make a deal with the Twins to maybe bind Hades. I'll be even more in debt to them, but it should work.

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

By Hades. Lord of the Dead, Hades. [She looks at the ground and shakes her head. Then, when she speaks again, she looks up at him with a glare.]

Li-san. It isn't your job to save everyone. He has people he's known far longer than you who may want to take their own measures.

[And then,] Wait. More in debt?

[contract_star]

Yes. That Hades. The same Hades, I think, that killed Milo and the rest of the Gold Saints a week or two ago. [Pauses.] He's back now, though. Milo, I mean.

[Looks away from her.] It's not about that. Mu doesn't trust the Twins, and I can't see Milo or Camus making a deal like that with them, and Yuzuriha is new here and still learning the ropes. I already made a deal with them before. It's only logical to have only one person in debt, as opposed to several.

[Tiny smirk.] I made a deal with the Twins to try and limit the Masters' abilities. Mr. Tyler is the only other one who knows. Well, and Cy, I suppose...

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Have a worried face that won't quite look at him.] Do what you think best, then. But don't get yourself in too deep--I haven't met the Twins, but... [She shakes her head, and then faces him.]

You aren't the only one here willing to go into debt to those two for a friend.

[VERY QUICKLY looking away again.] Who's Cy?

[contract_star]

I always do what I think is best. [He flashes her a grin.] Almost always.

[Gives her a careful look.] Be careful about forging alliances here, Ms. Kirihara. If a reality merger happens between one of our worlds and someone else's, there's a chance of the Gate or other Contractors leaking in. [Looks out at the other party-goers.] I'm trying to prevent that.

[More exasperated than angry,] Cy is the talking, psychic cat who almost blew my cover to Sam Tyler.

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

Alliances are the only thing we have going for ourselves, it seems. I'm beginning to think it doesn't matter what we do--things are going to come together. [Curious, and slightly derisive] What are you doing to prevent it? Aside from, I'm assuming, being generally stupid and trying to isolate yourself from everyone that might help you in a crisis?

[And then disbelieving.] Talking, psychic cat? You aren't serious, are you?

[contract_star]

Maybe, but I'd like to keep it from happening for as long as possible. They have enough going on without having to worry about Contractors running around their realities. [Gives her a rather sharp look.] I'm not looking for help. A Contractor shouldn't rely on anyone, after all. This makes things easier, for myself and for everyone else.

[Blinks at her, too used to Mao.] Why wouldn't I be serious?

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Decides to give up on the cat thing for now.]

And we have enough going on without their realities bleeding into ours, but I don't see anyone else trying to drive off the only people who might help them understand what's going on here and put it right. Sometimes a problem only gets better once you've sorted out what makes it worse.

You aren't a Contractor here, remember? You're Li Shengshun, exchange student, and if you want me to honor that persona you will accept some damn help, at least while I'm around. It makes it easier for you to run away--it does not make it easier to fight. Or did you forget that you just told me you were unconscious during an explosive battle with the god of the Underworld?

[contract_star]

[Goes automatically blank. For a long time, he's silent.]

Mion Sonozaki. Sixteen, maybe seventeen. From a quiet Japanese village. During the reality switch, she took my place in my world. She was forced to commit murder in order to keep her--my--cover from being blown. She was so frightened that she ran right to the Gate. [Pauses.] I didn't warn her about the Gate. It's not something you think about--it's instinct. But she ran, and she ended up at the Gate, and it almost destroyed her. She's practically a child.

[Glares at Misaki, and this time there's real anger showing on his face.]

I'm not ever letting that happen again, not if I can help it.

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Pause. And then she punches him in the face.]

You want to protect her. Great. Running away from this place--trying to patch the problem, not solve it--that's not going to do a god damn thing in the long run. The long run. You want me to think of you as a Contractor? Fine. Use some logic.

[contract_star]

[OWFUCK. Holy crap, he wasn't expecting that. And damn she hits hard. He almost, almost goes for his knife, just from instinct, but he stops himself. He goes very still and just stares at her for a long time, halfway between disbelief and anger.]

[Then, quietly,] Sometimes, the most logical course of action is to run.

All I want is to a prevent a merger. I never said anything about never coming back here, never talking to the people here again. It just means I'm going to be more careful from now on--like I should have been from the start.

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[She's hurting for him, and it shows on her face, even if she doesn't realize it.]

That's not the way to do things, Li. I... honestly? I don't want to give this place up any more than you. I'm starting to like it. It's a place to think, to get opinions from unexpected sources, hear stories from other worlds. It's a miracle. But...

[She looks away.] I don't know. I somehow think we can't have it both ways. And if it comes down to it, I will choose to protect Tokyo. You want to protect the people here without losing them. Is that even possible? You want to care about them without getting close to them. Do you think they'll let you do that?

Li-kun, please. [She rubs the back of her neck. God, she has never been so tired in her life. Maybe she will start sleeping on the Plane, just to get a few extra hours.] I know you don't want to rely on anyone. But no great change, for good or ill, was ever enacted by one single person, without assistance or support.

[contract_star]

[Oh and he sees it, and he feels like crap for it, but he tries hard to keep it from showing. Eventually he just looks away and is quiet for awhile. He frowns a little as he realizes something.]

You're...worried about me? Why?

[Another pause.]

You couldn't...understand, Mi--Ms. Kirihara. Everyone here, they're not at all the kind of people I'm used to dealing with. Sam Tyler and Mion and the Doctors and the Saints...it was easier before when it was just Contractors. They're predictable.

It's not that I don't want to rely on them, it's just...this is the only way I really know how to do things. [And he's not gonna mention how Amber and South America kind of killed his ability to trust people D:]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[She hesitates, and then lays a hand on his cheek, turning him to face her.]

I worry about you because I like you. The same goes for the people here--you can't predict them, can't figure them out, because friendship is an unpredictable, illogical thing. And no matter what Westerners might say about old dogs and new tricks, there's always room to learn a new way.

[Misaki lets her hand drop to her side and manages--barely--to not run her thumb over her palm where it touched his skin. She blushes and looks away.]

[contract_star]

[And he almost ducks away from the touch because this is as surprising, if not more so, then Misaki punching him. He just stares at her, because he really has no idea how to respond to any of that. He's blushing a little now as well, and suddenly he feels very strange--though not in a bad way.]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[She wants to touch him again, and moves almost without thinking, fingering one of the buttons on his shirt. She realizes what's she's doing and her fingers freeze. The blush deepens. She can't make herself look at him, but doesn't move her hand, and can only think, Oh God, what am I doing?]

[contract_star]

[Hei is not at all used to this. It's not like he's never kissed a woman or anything, but just about every time before has been for the job--has been fake. This feels different. Hei isn't sure how to describe it.]

[So, since he's confused and because that strange feeling is still there, he reaches up and covers her hand with his own. He freezes too, staring at her. "What am I doing?" pretty accurately describes his thought process as well.]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[And yes, Misaki's brain has short circuited, because this is the sort of thing that one does not do when one is a female Section-Chief, the only female Section-Chief, one does not have relationships or act like a jessie or a poofter or a nancy or whatever else the Guv would call her for playing with his buttons and Oh God Misaki what are you doing.]

I...

[And then she thinks, screw it. She glares up at him, more in defiance of herself than anything else. She is pink. Very very pink. Like the streamers pink. God she hates pink.

And she kisses him.]

[contract_star]

[More staring, and there's the sense that something is about to give, break, snap. Hei isn't sure how to deal with this. Romance doesn't exactly come up often in his line of work.]

Misa--?

[Oh, hello, Misaki's lips! It takes Hei a second to realize that yes, she is in fact kissing him, and his mind sort of shuts off. Four months he's been coming to the Astral Plane, and he doesn't think he has ever been kissed so often (twice) in such a short amount of time. At first there's just confusion and disbelief, because why would anyone kiss him, why would Misaki Kirihara want to kiss him, why did suddenly nothing make sense, why did this really actually feel quite nice?]

[Nice.]

[For one of the few times in his life, Hei feels reckless. So he leans into the kiss, one hand coming to rest at the small of her back. The consequences be damned--this is nice.]