A Festival of Memories

[smallspot]

Who: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (smallspot ) and Everyone!
Where: Outside on the bank of the river.
When: July 25th, all day.
Summary: Diarmuid is finally having his festival to honor everyone who has been sent away from the city. Come share your stories, eat, and remember! This festival is a bit more somber than the one the city just had, but there is plenty of opportunity for fun too. Posters with details about the festival will start springing up in the city a week or so prior to the festival so everyone knows it's happening.
Warnings: Should be none, but I will update if that changes!

Diarmuid is up long before the sun is. Did he sleep at all? It's debatable, but he's so excited that he can't help it. It's finally happening. His festival is finally happening!

It won't rain, will it? Or suddenly be cold? The boy is eagerly waiting for the sun to come out, so he can see how nice the weather will be. If it rains, all his hard work will be ruined. Even worse, people won't get to celebrate all of their friends!

Fortunately, the day dawns bright and clear. Diarmuid squeaks softly in happiness and then starts looking over all the things he gathered together last night so they are ready to go when his helpers start arriving. He doesn't want to forget anything. Most important are the little thank you gifts he got for each of his helpers. They aren't much--just a handmade card and a charm made of pretty stones he put lots of well wishes into just like his father taught him--but hopefully they will bring luck to those who carry them.

He couldn't have done any of this without all of them. It is the least he can do.

Section Links:
Set Up Before The Party
Mingling
Food
Lantern Making
Wish Boats

Comments

[ribbonbon]

[Pilouette is pretty amazed at all the different potato dishes. She knew that you could make a lot of things with them, but...wow. All the different types makes her feel a little bad about the things she made; though she made various cakes and other sweets, they're not exactly super varied. The only really different thing she made were one or two plates of small sandwiches.

Unfortunately carrying cakes and admiring other dishes isn't the best combination and she just barely misses running right into him.]

Whoah...!! O-Oh, uh, like, sorry about that!

[headfons]

[It's fortunate that he's got some decent reflexes. When he catches her in his peripheral vision, he's immediately stopping. Blinking a couple of times, the replica immediately smiles and shakes his head.]

Oh, it's okay! We both managed to miss each other -- so no harm done, right?

[Grinning lightly, he reaches to scratch the back of his head with his free hand. Grinning lightly, he lowers the hand and gestures to the cakes.]

Hey, those look really good! What kind did you make?

[ribbonbon]

[Pilouette smiles and nods in response, glad that he doesn't seem to mind the near collision. When he asks about them, Pilouette glances back to her cakes and her smile turns sheepish.]

Oh, just a chocolate and one strawberry shortcake. Not anything like, super special or anything...I still can't do anything too complicated, you know?

[headfons]

[He tilts his head at the second one, since it's not one he's ever even heard of.] Strawberry...shortcake? What's that?

[The second part of what she says, though, has him frowning just a bit.] Hey, no need to knock yourself down, like that! The fact that you made it is special, in itself! You didn't have to go out of your way, at all. I'm sure whoever tries it will appreciate your hard work!

[With that, he offers her a grin.]

[ribbonbon]

Shortcake...[She's never had to explain it before and she takes a moment to think about it. What is shortcake, anyway?] Well, it's like, a kinda crumbly kind of cake. Sort of like a biscuit, I guess, but sweeter. Once the cake is all done, you slice it in half and put whipped cream and strawberries in the middle.

[Pilouette is pretty pleased by his kind words. She never thought anything she did was particularly special and the idea that the very fact that she made something is at all important is kind of nice.]

W-Well, I sure hope so. It'd be a shame if no one liked it, you know? [A lightbulb goes off in her head as she remembers something Diarmuid told her when he was asking for help with the festival.] Hey, um, you wouldn't happen to be Luke, would you?

[headfons]

[Tapping his chin, lightly, he looks up as he listens to her words. A soft smile appears on his lips as he nods.] Well, that sounds really good, just from your description. I can't wait to try it!

[He could certainly understand that feeling -- making something, for nobody to like it. It's something he's felt, more than a small number of times, with his own friends. He suppresses the urge to sigh at that memory.

Her question has him blinking lightly.] Hm? Oh, uh...Yeah, actually! How'd you guess? [A sheepish look appears as he adds--] Sorry I didn't introduce myself, sooner.

[ribbonbon]

Diarmuid told me that you were helping out with the food when he was first asking for help with the festival a while back. I meant to get in contact with you to see if I could do anything to help out, but...I guess I got like, caught up in my own stuff. [She looks back over at the food he's set out and smiles.] It looks like you didn't need much help anyway, though. It all looks really good!


Oh! I'm Pilouette, by the way. From what Diarmuid told me I think we're actually, like, neighbors...! [She offers her hand for a handshake. Pilouette can't help but feel a little silly only now meeting someone who lives so near to her.]

[headfons]

Oh, I see... [He nods, and then a smile of understanding appears on his face.] Hey, it happens! I've been pretty caught up in getting used to my job, and learning more about this place. I was just glad I was able to find time to cook all this.

[He blinks at the fact that they live close to one another.] Oh, we are?

[He smiles and accepts her handshake. He'd likely agree in the feeling silly thing. Though, due to his worrying about...the whole world-hopping thing, he's having a difficult time feeling one-hundred percent comfortable. This is his third world, and he worries about what would happen if he were to get close to a bunch of people, only to wind up...never seeing them, again. In the end, though? He can't help but love making friends and learning about where they come from.] It's nice to meet you, Pilouette! Maybe we can hang out, sometime, then...since we live so close to each other.

[ribbonbon]

[Pilouette is having a bit of trouble getting herself just to really put herself out there to meet people at all. As awkward as she is, she gets a bit nervous about it. However, she's pretty pleased that their conversation is going well.]

Oh! That would be great! Maybe, since we both cook, we can like trade recipes or something, too! [After a moment, she looks turns and looks over the various things set up for the festival.] And I'm glad I was able to cook up a few things, too. Diarmuid did a lot of work to pull this together, so I'm glad we were able to help him out.

[headfons]

[He would agree at being glad about their conversation going so well. She seems really nice and he wouldn't mind hanging out with her, more often!]

Hey, that sounds like a great plan! I'm teaching Diarmuid how to cook. Maybe we could work together, with that, as well. [He nods.] I'm glad, too. I know he was really looking forward to this...

[Folding his arms over his chest, he looks up.] I think something, like this, is a good idea. It's supposed to be in honor of those that have left, right? [A soft smile.] I know a lot of us are missing home. Things like festivals, and stuff, are good for keeping our minds off of the fact that we're in a strange, new world...

[He gives a soft chuckle, scratching at the back of his head.] Not that this place is terrible, or anything. But, it's still not home...

[ribbonbon]

[Pilouette nods, reaching up and fiddling with her hair.] Yeah, I get what you mean. Like, I'm kind of glad that I got to come here and meet all the people I've met and see all kinds of things I never would have otherwise, but like... I do still kind of miss home sometimes, I guess.

[Home, her friends, her family...there are a lot of things she's missing these days, really. Still, she wants to keep the mood positive. After all, Diarmuid put this together because he wanted people to be happy and have fond memories. Letting herself get homesick right now is...kind of the opposite of that.]

B-But, um, you said something about helping to teach Diarmuid to cook? Like, I'm not sure I could like, teach anyone much of anything, but...I did tell him I would practice cooking with him. [She laughs quietly.] Maybe I'll end up learning something, too!

[headfons]

[There's an understanding look at that.] I can't blame you. Some people say that everything happens, for a reason. Maybe that saying applies to this situation, too. I'd like to think that...

[He'll leave it at that, since he doesn't want to wind up shifting the conversation too far. That would put him at risk of it landing on something he feels...a little less comfortable talking about.]

Hm...Well, I've been told that the best way to learn, is by teaching. When you have to explain something to someone, it winds up sticking, better! [He smiles softly.] I'm sure Diarmuid would like it, too, if you were there to learn with him.

[ribbonbon]

[Glad for the change in subject, Pilouette nods, a thoughtful look on her face.] I've never thought about it that way, but it makes sense. I mean, if you have to go and explain something, it's like reviewing it all over again...!

To be honest, I think I'd like learning alongside him, too. [After all, he's a pretty nice kid.] It's more fun to learn with someone else, isn't it? Besides, he and I talked about some things that we wanted to practice making, too!

[headfons]

[He nods in agreement.] Exactly! I kind of learned that through experience, honestly. Whenever I had to explain fonons or fonists, from Auldrant, I noticed that I was retaining the information, better.

Alright, sounds like plan, then. [That earns a, faintly, brightened smile.] I think it is. What kind of things are you guys looking to try making? I'll go ahead and look it up, next time I'm in the library, if I haven't already made it, before.

[ribbonbon]

Well, some of the stuff we talked about was pretty simple stuff like spaghetti and chocolate chip pancakes. It's like, easy stuff, but...well, different people have different ways of doing things, even when it comes to like, easy stuff, right?

[If she can learn a better way to make even easy things, that can't be bad, right?]

But I'd be like totally cool with learning to make other stuff and I bet Diarmuid would, too! Learning to make new stuff is one of the fun parts of cooking, you know? [Not as fun as the eating part, but still.]

[headfons]

Yeah, you're right about that. Even when my friends and I cooked the same recipe, we all liked to change it up and make it our own. I guess it's people's way of making something unique, to them? [He gives her a nod.]

It's best to start out with what you can do. When the smaller things become easy, then it's time to move on to the bigger things.

[To the last part, he gives her a grin.] Alright, then it's settled! I'll look up those two recipes and we'll get started when everyone's free, at the same time! Sound good, to you?

[ribbonbon]

Oh, totally! Like, everyone has their own tastes when it comes to food, so like, of course different people make stuff in a way that tastes good to them. And yeah! Yeah, that sounds like, totally great! [She claps her hands together and smiles excitedly.] I'll like, try and make a note of when I'm usually free so we can all work something out, 'kay? And, um, thanks for this. I bet it'll be a lot of fun!