[Open Log] Ch-Ch-Cherry Blossoms

[vianca]

Who: You!
What: Cherry Blossom Festival
When: April 10th - 18th
Where: All over town & campus. Wherever you find a cherry tree. Probably even up there on that mystery island for whatever reason, if you're so inclined.
Rating: Flower power.





Pink is everywhere. No matter where you look, you're sure to see the signs of soft pink and white blossoms. There's a fresh spark of life filling the air and just beckoning for everyone to come outside and enjoy the sweet scents of spring. Well, except for you, people with springtime allergies. They just want to make you miserable. But perhaps for everyone else, it was a wonderful amazing time to be had.



There are wonderful spots for picnicking! Frolic inducing atmosphere and the space to do it! Every so often you will see vendors selling treats for the event! Cosplayers taking advantage of their natural environments for photo ops! Hot date spots! Blossoms! Sparkles! Everywhere! Even when it rains.

This log is completely open! You can do whatever you'd like with whomever you'd like whenever you'd like. Just start up a thread and go!

Have fun! Don't forget to add your character to the entry tags! ♥

Comments

[lovesthepain]

It was a little surprising to Harpuia, he had to admit, that the minutes stretched by but the silence never quite slipped into being awkward. He had grown accustomed to noise, he supposed; Phantom had been the only Guardian prone to stillness and silence, and once he had died, the situation at Neo Arcadia hadn't allowed for much serenity or alone time. He would have thought that Zero's presence would make it difficult to let his guard down, or that the presence of another soul would have sooner or later made the silence stifling, but that didn't seem to be the case.

Maybe it was that words would have detracted from the moment. He certainly couldn't think of any that did justice to any of it. Little things like the feeling of grass and petals beneath his hands -- something that would have seemed insignificant if he tried to describe it, he was sure, but something precious to him. These trees didn't exist in Neo Arcadia; this, though it made his core ache to think, was not an experience he could have anywhere but here, and one he might never have again.

His eyes dipped down to his hand, fingers splayed in the grass, then over to Zero. He had never known Zero to be anything but alert, tensed, on the brink of action the moment it was required. The Zero he saw now was a million miles away, lost in thought, looking... more serene than Harpuia had ever seen him, actually. Harpuia didn't mean to stare, but he didn't quite look away, either. This, too, was a new experience, and one that he might not ever have again.

[awakeningwill]

Zero hadn't noticed Harpuia staring at him until one of his brief glances over at the green general found those striking green eyes already looking back at him. In comparison, his own eyes were a dull, dark grey - only in the sun did a faint violet tint catch the light. A flicker of surprise crossed the red reploid's face, followed by a touch of wary confusion.

His first instinct was to feel like Harpuia was sizing him up the way any warrior did with an opponent, but that quickly passed. Nothing in his gaze, expression or the air about him suggested that Zero was being scrutinized. Just... observed. Confusion faded into curiosity - what did Harpuia see if the red reploid was no longer an enemy, Zero had to wonder. Perhaps he was trying to figure out what to make of this 300 year old maverick turned legendary soldier.

It's not as though he wasn't used to being stared at. That was the entry price of being an ancient relic living among a ragtag group of castoffs and refugees. Though considering their situation, they all rather belonged in that same category now.

So, what did Harpuia see in him? Zero passively accepted the other's gaze, asking only that unspoken question in turn. He certainly wasn't anyone to be looked up to, nor was he someone that wanted to be mourned. If anything, Zero had to wonder if he could just be someone to be understood.

[lovesthepain]

Sure enough, serenity was a short-lived thing. It wasn't the least bit unexpected that it quickly turned into catlike wariness the second Zero noticed he was being watched. What surprised Harpuia was the permissiveness that followed. There was nothing defensive or guarded in the look he received in return. Just... curiosity. Not what Harpuia had anticipated, that was for sure; it wasn't that long ago they had been enemies, after all, and that wall was one that came easily to a warrior like Zero.

It was only a look, sure, but it was the sort of reaction that came naturally. Maybe Zero ought to have a little more faith in his capacity to adapt.

It was that thought that got Harpuia to look away at last, mouth pressed into an embarrassed line. That kind of soft thinking was nothing that suited a general, especially not when based on so little. But it had an undeniable truth underneath it: since coming here, Harpuia now had to see Zero not just as a force, but as a person.

"You almost looked relaxed," he offered, by way of explanation for his staring. It was only the barest morsel of an answer, but what he saw was still something new and incomplete. The fragments he had been given would take far more time to assemble into something whole. For now, he only counted on what the moment had offered: a surprising lack of animosity, and the distinct awareness of change.

[awakeningwill]

Maybe it seemed a little contradictory, but it was a little easier for Zero to feel comfortable with another soldier than it was when he was with a civilian. The gulf between him and someone who had never known the touch of war was so unfathomably greater; the sheer difference of experience and understanding between them always meant Zero was more acutely aware of his own legacy. It was no question to him that what they'd see in him would be monstrous.

Despite their clashes in the past, Harpuia had come to Zero's aid against his greatest enemy, and died for it as well. That wasn't something he could take for granted - even if they had only been allies for a short time, it was a kind of bond completely different from anything he could form off the battlefield. That feeling of your survival being tied to someone else, no matter how briefly, stood out in his mind. It wasn't that he felt like he owed the guardian, exactly - that implied Harpuia did what he did in the interest of being repaid, which he wouldn't. It'd cheapen the actions of such a proud warrior. But a certain sense of obligation still lingered, whether Harpuia wanted it or not.

Zero knew he wouldn't be attacked without cause, and he was even a little reassured that the guardian would gladly strike him down if he ever went out of control. So maybe he was a little more relaxed than usual. Whether that actually signified any change in him, well... Zero hadn't really noticed. He only knew that they had those shared experiences that let them see the world in similar ways.

"I could say the same about you," he pointed out, eyes still fixed on the other reploid.

[lovesthepain]

"Is that so surprising?" Well, yes, probably. Fefnir and Leviathan would probably have burst into laughter at the very idea of Harpuia allowing himself to be anything close to relaxed. He really only came in two flavours: rigid perfectionist or unsettlingly ardent. Had he really let himself relax so much...?

Or had there even been a need to stay tense in the first place? He would have embraced the chance to fight if Zero saw fit to draw his weapon, without a doubt, but the thrill the Guardians found in battling Zero didn't seem to be a mutual one. If he fought, it was only because they had placed themselves unyieldingly in his way. While Harpuia neither asked nor expected for his life to be safe in Zero's hands, it had somehow proven to be on more than one occasion.

"If you had wanted to do something when my guard was down, you'd have done so long before we came here." There'd been no shortage of opportunities, after all, when Harpuia had been a much easier target than this.

Even if Harpuia couldn't understand the reason behind all that mercy -- even if he might have resented it each and every time -- he had to acknowledge its existence. For whatever reason, Zero seemed to think Harpuia had more worth alive than dead. A bit of a grim basis for trust, perhaps, but a natural one for soldiers. While not a friendly presence, so long as their end goal was more or less the same, Zero's presence was nonetheless a surprisingly safe one. Just as much as Zero was reassured by the thought Harpuia would strike him down if necessary, Harpuia just as readily accepted that Zero wouldn't strike him down because it wasn't necessary.

[awakeningwill]

Yeah, that definitely wasn't the attitude Harpuia had towards the other reploid's aid prior to arriving here. Zero seemed to recall accusations and disgust, both towards the Resistance and at himself, before immediately leaving despite their concerns. Yet here he was now, trying to brush it off all cool-headed and dignified. As if they didn't both remember how incensed the guardian's passions were during their confrontations.

Though it wouldn't accomplish anything to point that out, other than embarrassing Harpuia. Which he was probably better off avoiding. Still, Zero shot him a pointedly knowing look before returning his gaze back over to the flowers. "You weren't my enemy when your guard was down," he reasoned with a slight shrug.

[lovesthepain]

Harpuia was not especially an unobservant reploid. The meaning behind that look was impossible to miss, even if he had been. He fidgeted where he sat, face reddening under the arrows stamped onto it. It was, admittedly, more than a little late to be posturing like he hadn't already shown Zero that his self-control was... maybe not as immutable as a servant of X's should be. Let's phrase it like that, shall we?

But all the same, his pride was just as prickly as it had always been. He sat up straighter, falling back even harder on the dignified posturing he was familiar with. As much as he was renowned for his mind, the perfectionist standards he held himself to left very little room for feeling foolish.

"I was still a Neo Arcadian, and you were still Resistance," he countered, perhaps a little more hotly than a perfectly composed person would have.

[awakeningwill]

Zero made a vaguely amused snort that basically translated to, 'you're not fooling anyone.' Perfectly calm and collected people did not turn red and stiff when faced with a knowing look.

Neo Arcadian and Resistence - two roles that were basically defunct, both here and in their world. They became one and same the moment humankind made Area 0 their new home. And it was the same for the two of them. This was the first time they were really forced to cooperate, not because something was at stake, but simply for the sake of coexisting.

They were going to see a lot more of each other, like it or not. And while the reasonable solution would've been to try and become friends, the term felt too frivolous to cover the complicated ties that bound them.

After a pause, Zero questioned, "So... what now?" Harpuia seemed like the type to always have a plan. Not Zero's specialty - he only knew how to deal with whatever lay directly in front of him. He wasn't sure if it was even possible to pin down the future in this strange city, but maybe Neo Arcadia's great 'sage' thought differently.

[lovesthepain]

That, at least, was a question Harpuia was used to hearing. One that he certainly never stopped asking himself. Fefnir and Leviathan might have been content to simply do whatever their moods dictated, but Harpuia had grown very used to having to juggle all the pieces of the big picture.

That said... it wasn't a simple question, not by any means. One he was still formulating an answer to for himself. But coming from Zero... that he would even ask Harpuia that felt strange. Harpuia didn't exactly have high hopes that Zero would ever do as he said, no matter how many bossy tendencies might have existed within him. For him to even be asked in the first place was most definitely nothing Harpuia had ever planned for. Certainly, he had begun to suspect that Zero was the sort who needed someone to place his belief in -- to do the hoping for him. But was Harpuia the sort of person that Zero was looking for...?

Harpuia laced his fingers together, gazing down at them pensively. "What you do is not my problem," he announced. No use in trying the high-handed diplomatic act when Zero had already shot it down; with all the pride Harpuia had built up around himself, he wasn't a likely candidate to lower himself to extending an olive branch too commonly. "But I expect that now, I..." He trailed off, not especially wanting to voice what he expected to happen. Even if only for a little while, he expected to stop.

He had been running more or less nonstop from the moment that Zero had struck Copy X down. He was a soldier, and a proud one at that, but he wasn't immune to what had been lost in that time. He hadn't once dared to pause long enough to mourn what remained of Phantom, to let the loss of Master X sink in -- he couldn't afford to waste a second on personal weakness.

But now, with Neo Arcadia in ashes and the number of Guardians reduced to two, he no longer had urgent objectives pressing in at all sides, but the weight of war pushed down twice as heavily. Like it or not, this roadblock forced him to take a moment to stop and catch his breath, and that inevitably meant things catching up with him. For all his trying, the heart that hummed within him was not as impenetrable as he had strove to make it. He would grieve, because he had lost things he'd loved dearly and vividly.

His voice was tight when he answered, taut under the effort of staying detached and professional. "For now, it falls to us to accept things as they are. It's wasteful to try and move forward before you're prepared."