Like thunder screaming out for a flash of lightning

[flawed_immortality]

[Cor's not great at this whole party thing, especially as this time it's not just a family gathering but intended for the friends they'd made here as well. The video starts with Cor sitting in a cushy white and grey striped armchair, a stone fireplace beside him glowing warmly. It's a classy set up and far above the townhouses they've been in.]

It's New Years, celebrations are in order. His Majesty, Ignis, and I have obtained a larger space and we'd like to offer our home for the festivities. Feel free to stop in, have some snacks, and await midnight with us.

[Locked from Regis]
[He looks a little paranoid at first, double, then triple checking that he's done this right.]

It's also his Majesty's birthday. He's always eager to sweep it under the New Years celebrations but he has no reason to shy away from any such celebrations here. Don't let him.

[Action - Party Start~]
[The new house is really very nice. It's nothing compared to the Citadel but it is very nice. Clean and homey with the accents of warm wood that, if Cor didn't know better, he'd have thought was reclaimed.

There's a fire in the hearth, hor d'ouerve trays laid out on the kitchen counters. The replicator is of course available to anyone who wants something specific, though you might be surprised to find she responds to voice commands and is distressingly cheerful to talk to. The house is open for examination! Go on, explore folks, mingle away.]

[Action - Midnight]
[As chill as the night is Cor makes a point of slipping through the crowd throughout the evening. There's a number of Lucis Caelums and other magic users as well. So when the time comes near he does his best to usher everyone into the backyard, or at least onto the back porch.

He's certainly not the one to lead the countdown, no someone more energetic can do that, but at the final count a series of spells get fired into the night sky. They may not be traditional fireworks but a few Flares, Thundaras, and spells he has no names for will work well enough, don't you think?]

Comments

[carbungle]

[He'd like that; to be a different kind of king, if he's ever given the chance. He knows the generations before, now, better than just the stories told. Somnus, with his grim distance, doing what needs to be done for the kingdom no matter how cruel it is or how it hurts him. His grandfather, cold and impersonal, so bound up in his duties he turned a child into a weapon, who hated what his son loved because it wasn't royal. And growing up, a prince all but locked in a tower, safeguarded but hungry for more. He'd watched his father trapped behind his own wall, his life slowly siphoned away, the pressures of the kingdom forcing him to stand apart from everyone, even his own child.

He thinks about when he'd been happiest, in his life. Running away from the Citadel through the underground tunnels with Ignis in tow. Hanging out with Prompto, never so much as a "Your Highness" between them unless it was a joke. Fishing trips with Gladio. When he was out among his own citizens, working with shelters for humans and animals alike, or with kids, or just meeting people who have no access to the castle that loomed huge and frightful over their homes. They loved the Lucis line, they loved the king and all he did for them. But between the war and the wall he had as little time for them as he did for his son. That never felt right, to him.

Outside the city hardly anyone knew who he was. They called him by his name, or "hunter", or "kid", and it was nice. The title didn't hang between them like a noose. He wants to be the king that people can talk to, who look at him and don't just see a crown. His father had broken down a few of the walls Mors had built up around them, and now with the wall fully gone, if he ends the war, all that will be gone. The rules have changed.

He can be the kind of king he needs to be, the kind they need him to be.]

Here's to the next one.

[There's no hesitation as he bumps his fist to hers, smiling in a way that could almost be hopeful. He's looking forward to it.]

[iustaegis]

[ Her knuckles remain pressed against his for a moment longer before she pulls her touch away. It’s nearing midnight. Time for him to mingle with his family.... and hopefully, have his own dance with Luna.

She turns, but not giving him one more farewell for the night, her smile easily coming to her. ]

I’ll see you next year.

[ With that, she parts from his company. ]