w6 afterparty

[partymagician]

Now that they have all weathered that storm, it's time to do some recuperating! After storing some of the fruit (likely with Shizuku's help), Fai has decided to cut all of it up and lay it out in a neat little array on a table in the cafeteria. He liked the coffee and tea station last week, so he decides to set another one up for this week too. Fai has also set out some bread, butter, and a toaster—hopefully there's an outlet nearby—for people to make themselves some toast! They could all use a nice little (late) breakfast after all of that.

And if anyone wants to bring some of that crab and fish they caught? Well, the more the merrier!

Then, Fai sends out a quick text for everyone to come enjoy some fruit and coffee in the cafeteria.

Comments

[sicklysweet]

[It's tempting to do what he does best - ruin everything. That's all Owen is good for, after all. He's hurt - killed - so many people that it's become a natural assumption he never has any good intentions.]

...

[He's also not very good with his words when it comes to actually being genuine - it's not something that comes naturally to him. Words to hurt, to annoy... Those are easier.

(Why doesn't Gentaro think he could be that cruel, anyways? Everyone else would.)]

...I can't promise you my life, you know. I know that's what humans like to do, but as a wizard it's impossible. Even if we actually would be able to see each other after this course ends, I can't make any promises to be with you forever.

[It's an impossible promise to keep - there is no such thing as forever, for the two of them. They're two different people from two different worlds, and even if they could be together...

Well. It is what it is.]

But I can be with you right now, if you don't mind.

[catarou]

[ It's not the answer he expects.

Part of it, yes--that Owen can't make that promise. To Gentaro, it would be little more than empty, pretty words. Nothing lasts forever, after all, and he's painfully aware of that fact. Things can so easily changing, disappear like smoke in a storm.

Owen is someone whose existence stretches out long past Gentaro's own. He doesn't need forever, though. Whatever he can take, whatever he's given--that's enough. It's enough, he tells himself again and again until it feels less like a lie, because it has to.

But, to now. Gentaro lets out a short breath, one he hadn't realized he'd been holding. ]

Be still my heart. [ And it's genuine. Gentaro gives him a smile, softer than he's ever shown here, and he holds out his hand. ] I certainly don't mind. We may not be able to promise to bind our lives and hearts together, but that simply means we must make use of the time we do have.

[sicklysweet]

[Owen kind of wants to shake Gentaro, honestly, and he huffs and grabs Gentaro's offered hand.]

Idiot.

[The author isn't the only one who can read people, after all, and Owen has over a millennia on him.]

You know I can't promise forever not because I wouldn't want to, you know? Promises for wizards are... dangerous. Making promises you know you can't keep is just setting yourself up to die, because a broken promise... A wizard will lose who they are, if that happens.

[And if he loses his magic because of losing Gentaro... it would make coping all that more difficult, wouldn't it? That would be the end with him, more than being able to live on with the memory of him.]

So don't think anything stupid like it's because of you that I can't do that. It's just what life is like for wizards.

[So now he's sitting there, holding Gentaro's hand. Totally normal.]

Besides, we should see how well we tolerate each other when we're not being jerked around through endless pain and suffering before we even think about the future.

[catarou]

[ ... Well. That catches him off-guard, and he can't catch himself in time to hide it. It lasts one, two moments before he lets out a quiet, brief huff of a laugh. ]

I can accept that.

[ Somehow, Gentaro feels bolder, and he laces their fingers together. How strange that such a simple gesture feels so incredibly monumental. He understands where Owen's coming from. To lose something so vital to your being, and then to lose someone you care for--because Gentaro knows he won't live forever--it would destroy anyone. ]

I wouldn't want you to make such a promise. If you were to lose yourself entirely because of me, it would be more than unforgivable.

[ He tries to burn away the thought that he isn't worth that, because if he has so many people who care--here, and back in Shibuya, too--then wouldn't it be a disservice to them to think such a thing? ... It's not so easy to let himself feel that way, but maybe it's a start. ]

As for tolerating each other... I agree. However, it hasn't all been pain and suffering, has it? Even in a place like this, there is light. And perhaps it shines brighter in the wake of all the terrible things we've seen and experienced.

I would like to think such a bond forged in adversity, no matter its age, can withstand near anything.

[ gentaro you dramatic bitch ]