OPEN TO EVERYONE: Summer Gala

[bowdown]

Characters: Everyone!
Location: By the Park swimming pool
Rating: G to PG (any higher rating, please make a private log)
Time: 20th June (FORWARDED DATE)
Notes: Go ahead and add links as you please under the main threads. If there is anything you need or I forgot, contact me and I will add!

Tonight, the park is full of life. Lights show the way towards the swimming pool, where you can find large white tents set up, all connected to each other. Music, loud chatter and laugher come from them, and inside you may find Guests and Natives enjoying the night together, a rare sight after recent events happening in the City. But tonight, all of that is to be forgotten. Maybe.

Welcome to the Summer Gala.

Feel free to leave your coat by the Coat room, listening to music (some songs are even played by Guests such as Karina, Shinji, Nanami, Hamel and John), dance together (don’t forget the Partner’s dance!), enjoy good food and good drinks, and perhaps after take a stroll by the swimming pool and the park.

But please, don’t forget to thank your hosts, Keroro’s and Eve’s Metokkori R and Hikan Café, and thank Cupid, Lily’s Yesterday's Magic, Hyoubu’s World’s End, Condesce’s Betty Crocker Bakery and the Watch for all their help. And if there is any disaster with your clothing and hair tonight, look for Kanaya and she will give you a hand!

■ PREPARATIONS

Condesce [Open]
Keroro[Open]

■ ARRIVAL/COAT ROOM

Condesce [Open]
Sendo [Open]
Saya [Open]
Bumblebee [Open]
Matt [Open]
Re-l [Open]
Naoto [Open]
Lee [Open]
Fujino [Open]
Meenah [Open]
Minatsuki [Open]
Minako [Open]
Duo [Open]
Near [Open]
Hyoubu [Open]
Giroro [Open]
Kanaya [Open] - Clothing Repairs
Edgeworth [Open]
Dolorosa [Open]
Sugata [Open]
Hiro [Open]
Alucard [Open]
Cupid [Open]
Raidou [Open]
JK [Open]
Yuugi [Open]

■ DINNING TABLES

Saya[Open]
Senji [Open]
Re-l [Open]
Duo [Open] *
Josuke [Open]
Vincent [Open]
Sugata [Open]
Hiro [Open]
Naoto [Open] *

■ BAR

Matt [Open]
Re-l [Open] *
Psiioniic [Open]
Senji [Open]
Duo [Open]
Snake [Open]
Cupid [Open]
Meenah [Open] *

■ BALLROOM

Partner's dance
Lily [Open]
Minatsuki [Open]
Minako [Open]
Karina [Open]
Genesis [Open]
Kanaya [Open]
Dolorosa [Open]
Fujino [Open]
Hamel [Open]
Sugata [Open]
Hiro [Open] *
Yako [Open]
Asuka [Open]
Cupid [Open]
Sendo [Open]

■ SWIMMING POOL

Saya [Open]
Matt [Open]
Condesce [Open] *
Hyoubu [Open]
Shinji [Open]

■ LAVATORIES

Condesce [Open]
Yamazaki [Open]

■ WATCH AREA

Neji [Open]
Mello [Open]
Fabiola [Open]
Karkat [Open] *
Gray [Open]

■ PARK

Amaterasu [Open]
Mizuno [Open]

Comments

[mieru_mienai]

[There's probably a better place to discuss this but Yuugi has been keeping it to himself long enough. They're both men--well, young men--and they've been together for a while, not as official partners but reasonably close. As a friend of course Yuugi wants to be considerate of Takuto's feelings, but now that he's brought it up he isn't going to dance around the issue.]

It's about the pharaoh. [He draws in a breath, letting that sink in first for a moment.] He asked me to be his partner...

you really just said he isn't going to DANCE around the issue? LOL

[tauborn]

[Takuto's dancing falters.]

H-he did? [Unconsciously, his grip tightens on Yuugi's hand.] And what did you do?

Yes. Yes I did.

[mieru_mienai]

[When Takuto falters Yuugi slows and stops altogether, pulling the other boy off to the side and more or less out of the way of the other dancers. There's no way he can concentrate on footwork with that kind of reaction.]

I-- You remember when we met, when I said I hoped you found your partner and you told me it wasn't like that? [Yuugi remembers Takuto's words exactly, spoken at the time out of a very fresh pain.] "It's always good luck finding a partner."

[He's not trying to stall; he just really needs the meister to understand.]

[tauborn]

[He lets himself get dragged off the dance floor, folding his arms across his chest as he focuses on Yuugi. This didn't sound like Yuugi had said "no." This sounded like an explanation for why Yuugi had said "yes." And Takuto is a little surprised to feel the way he does about it.]

Yes, I remember that. [Though he usually doesn't try to remember that time period, or why that's what he believes.]

[mieru_mienai]

[With his hands free Yuugi has to fight the urge to fiddle with the chain of his Puzzle, anxious despite the certainty of his decision. His gaze drops momentarily and then he forces himself to look up again, meeting Takuto's eyes with resolute steadiness.

This does not feel good at all, but to avoid the conversation would be a great deal worse. When he speaks again his voice is soft, yet unwavering, words chosen with care.]

The pharaoh... He's my partner.

[tauborn]

[He opens his mouth and then snaps it shut, surprised by the sudden feeling of jealousy. Yuugi doesn't deserve any kind of harsh words from him--he can tell it's taking a lot for him to get the few words out that he has, and there's nothing unkind in his roommate's demeanor.

Still, it's unfair. Yuugi has his partner, and Takuto doesn't have his. And maybe... maybe for a while he'd been thinking that maybe... maybe Yuugi could have been....

He takes a deep breath, and nods slowly.]

And you're sure? That it's him?

[mieru_mienai]

[Damn, Yuugi hates this. He hates the thought of hurting anyone, letting them down... Especially a friend. So even though there's only one answer to Takuto's question, it's still hard to give. He swallows.]

I'm sure. [And this time when his gaze falls to the floor it's not because he's avoiding the meister's eyes, but because he's calling up memories of another world.] I'm his partner back home, too. It's my-- [Job? Duty? Destiny? He shakes his head slightly, dismissing the entire thought.] It's what I need to do here, too.

[Even more than that being Atem's partner is something he wants, but that part is still a little more difficult for him to say out loud.]

[tauborn]

[Takuto is quiet for a long moment, thinking hard. He knows exactly what he'd do if Aion returned. So there was no way he could blame Yuugi for making his decision.

That didn't mean he felt confident about the Pharaoh.]

If you were partners in your world, then why... why did you wait so long? Why did it take him such a long time to want to ask you? [He starts to frown.] Why didn't you ask him?

[mieru_mienai]

[Takuto's line of questioning runs dangerously close to tipping Yuugi back into his more awkward self; some of the answers to those questions are actually a little embarrassing now.]

He didn't know me when we first got here. For him we haven't even met yet, in our own world. [And wouldn't for about three thousand years further.] So we both needed time....

[There's really no need to mention that Yuugi's feelings were clear from the beginning about the partnership he wanted, or to explain the number of reasons those feelings have only now come to fruition. Largely that Atem wanted nothing to do with him for a while there.]

[tauborn]

[It's actually a pretty good excuse. He's trying to imagine what he'd do if, say, Sugata hadn't recognized him when he arrived in Death City. (He's trying to not imagine what he'd have to do if Aion returned without memories of his stay here, too.) It'd be painful, at least at first, but since he'd done it before it'd seem rather inevitable that he'd be able to befriend Sugata again. And although this does explain why Yuugi's seemed so up and down in his relationship with the Pharaoh, there's still something bothering Takuto about the whole situation.]

You mean he needed time? Because if you've always known.... [He hesitates for a moment, then plunges ahead.] People change, Yuugi.

[mieru_mienai]

[Takuto can say that again.]

Yeah, they do... [Yuugi agrees with the sentiment slowly, unsure for a moment what Takuto is trying to say. It takes him another second to realize that the other boy is actually worried; he'd been so concerned about hurting Takuto with this seemingly abrupt decision that he hadn't thought to expect that.]

It's all right. I know he's different--we both are.

[Trying to explain further rouses a mysterious feeling within him, one part eager anticipation, one part longing, and one part pure contented happiness, but the emotion is still vague and unexplored because when he isn't actually with Atem he quashes it back down again almost immediately.]

[tauborn]

[He raises an eyebrow as he looks at Yuugi carefully. The shorter boy has been his roommate and friend for quite some time. There's always been something about Yuugi that's reminded him of himself, and it hasn't just been the dazzling hair. There's still a strong determination within Yuugi, a desire to protect all of his friends and refuse to give up. He can't help but get the strange sense that Yuugi is falling into something he doesn't fully understand, but he knows that it revolves around the Pharaoh.]

Then how do you know he's ready? How do you know he's really the Pharaoh he's supposed to be in order to be your partner? I've... I've heard some things.... [He trails off into silence and then shakes his head. Sometimes the Pharaoh seems like a nice person, and sometimes... sometimes he doesn't.]

[mieru_mienai]

[Yuugi really didn't expect the conversation to go in this direction, and it's difficult because Takuto is asking him to consider the situation in a way that is absolutely foreign to him. Doubt or question Atem? Yuugi doesn't know how to do that.]

Heard some things...? [He repeats, uncertain for a moment until he suddenly frowns.] From Bakura? [The lack of suffix makes it clear he doesn't mean Ryou.]

[tauborn]

[He nods.] I mean, not Ryou--the other one.

[Takuto knows what it's like to utterly (and blindly) trust another person, and he's ended up burned by the experience. He doesn't want to see the same thing happen to Yuugi.]

I asked the Pharaoh about it, but he wouldn't give me any answers. He's... got an awful lot he's hiding.

[mieru_mienai]

[Yuugi understands where Takuto is coming from, at least, but knowing what he knows he has to correct the other boy on one thing.]

Protecting--there's a lot that he's protecting. [He hesitates, measuring the importance of explaining against the delicacy of the subject matter, and chooses his words carefully when he does speak.]

His memories hold the key to something dangerous; that's the reason even his name is a secret. In our world the other Bakura is trying to find that key. [Though Yuugi knows his name now, at least. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other, a little uncomfortable with what he's going to say next but it's the truth and maybe about time for Takuto to hear it, if he's wondering which of the Egyptian spirits is the more trustworthy.] The first time I met him he tried to use a roleplaying game to kill me and my friends. If it hadn't been for the other me--[Atem's future self, of course]--we all would have died.

[And Ryou actually did die, but Yuugi will leave that part of the story for him to tell if he so chooses.]

[tauborn]

[Takuto takes this information in carefully. He hadn't known that the Pharaoh's name was a secret--he just thought the the Egyptian preferred the title to the name. Or maybe his name was too hard for most people to say properly. But that's besides the point.]

So the other Bakura, he's been an enemy to you and Ryou for a long time, and to the Pharaoh for even longer. And you trust the Pharaoh because he saved you and everyone else from the other Bakura.

[He shakes his head. It all seems rather simple with Yuugi's explanation, but it still doesn't explain why the Pharaoh had such a guilty expression when they'd spoken, or the words the other Bakura had given him.]

Then what is Kul Elna?