fandomtownies | Midsummer Festival - The Beach, Saturday Evening

Entry tags:

Midsummer Festival - The Beach, Saturday Evening

Sure it was a week late. And sure it wasn't even a traditional Midsummer festival because there weren't any games or people selling fried foods or screaming eyeballs in the sky.

But Magnus was pretty darn proud of what had been tossed together for a fun costume party on the beach.

With a big, mildly terrifying wicker bear waiting to be set on fire because something something Midsommar. He wasn't sure of the details because scary movies weren't his jam.

Either way, it would be good, clean fun!

[Open party!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Even with this second nod, Octavia didn't turn her eyes away from the fire. "Sometimes people need specific words to... hold the weight of everything."

"Like a mantra," Duke agreed, finally following her gaze and watching the bear himself. "Words have a lot of power."

He might've still seen Octavia's lips move, but not a sound came out.

Omon gon oson.

All of her for who, now? For what?

He wasn’t much of a lip reader, so he missed that one. “It’s okay to miss it,” he said. “Even if it mostly sucked.”

Octavia didn't have the words for what exactly she missed.

So she just turned her head, finally, and watched the way the light from the fire lit his face, flickering faintly.

Duke noticed the movement and looked back at her sideways.

“I’m glad you came out, tonight.”

Octavia nodded, but it was more too acknowledge that she'd heard him speak than it was... Anything else.

She watched him for another beat, then asked, "You remember how we burned the goat here?"

“I do,” Duke said. “I think we started a trend.”

"You were so beautiful that night."

She'd always thought that.

Before, she'd just also thought it wasn't a thing she should say out loud. That liking the sharp smiles, liking the way the flames reflected in his eyes, almost black in the dark of the night, were things she shouldn't admit to.

Duke tilted his head curiously. He didn’t remember about in particular from that party that would have made him look different than usual.

“Everything is prettier by firelight,” he said eventually.

"It's not that."

Of course it wasn't.

“Was it the taking of symbolic revenge upon my enemies thing?” Duke asked teasingly.

There was no teasing in Octavia's voice in return.

"Yes."

And how much he'd enjoyed it.

Duke blinked. “Oh. I, uh. Don’t think I have any of those to burn right now.”

Octavia's gaze returned to the fire. Like it was magnetic, and she was helpless to resist it.

"I wasn't trying to suggest that."

“Okay,” Duke looked at her again. “What were you trying to say?”

"Nothing."

That was not a good answer and she knew it.

Duke bit back a sigh. “Tavi. Come on.”

He knew he couldn’t her to just start opening up all the time, but she’d been having almost a normal week.

'Almost' being the operative word.

Octavia pressed her eyes closed, just for a second. Then opened them again, refocusing on the flames. "It's just a memory," she said. "It's just something I liked, a long time ago. I liked --"

She cut herself off. There were still things she wasn't sure she should say out loud.

“Tell me. You know I won’t judge.”

He really shouldn’t promise that.

Octavia's eyes said about as much as she looked over at him. He didn't know what he was promising, and an insidious part of her wanted to take that as a challenge.

She tried not to.

"You liked it when I was vicious then. And I liked that."

Duke nodded slowly. He remembered all too well how much his reaction to her killing clowns had bothered her.

“You standing in that caldera was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen.”

He’d been exhausted and terrified and pissed and there she’d been, wreaking his vengeance. His, specifically. He still couldn’t think of any other time anyone had done that for him.

"I'm not talking about the volcano." Although now she was thinking about that, too. "I'm talking about afterwards."

Sharp smiles for sharp smiles as they'd planned the revenge-in-effigy. It had stuck with her, but she wasn't surprised it didn't seem to have stuck with him, too.

(The worst parts of her were disappointed.)

“Tell me,” Duke said again, giving it one final try. “Because I’m clearly not getting it on my own.”

"If you don't remember," Octavia replied flatly, "there's no point."

And her gaze returned to the fire.

But she inhaled a deep breath, and exhaled a sigh. And tried anyway. "When we set up the goat-burning," she said. "It made you happy I wanted to do all of it, too. And you liked it when I wanted to cut the neck. Let it bleed out slow."

All straw and symbols, of course, but like Indra had so adamantly believed... Symbols mattered.

	
		OSZAR »

Midsummer Festival - The Beach, Saturday Evening

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR

Re: WICKER BEAR