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

[scourgingstars]

Do at least be a little careful. Our world yet fears the dark a bit more than most.

[...he's still kind of amused, at least]

[unsunderworld]

Oh, to be sure. But fear is not always worth stopping for.

[And if they fear it so, then all the more reason to not leave Ardyn the one who sticks out among them. Things may be peaceful now, but how easy the transformation can be, human beings to a mob.

Not that they have enough people even now to have a mob, but the point stands.]

[scourgingstars]

...

[The underlying reasoning wasn't difficult for Ardyn to pick out, and the small but heartfelt smile that slowly crossed his face made his gratitude for it clear. He felt like less of a terrible abomination at times like this, reminded as he was that darkness wasn't a horrible plague to everyone.]

How right you are, my friend.

[unsunderworld]

I'm sure Era has told you, but on the First, a century of naught but stagnating light has claimed the sky, and people speak of the 'sunless sea of heaven' in tones of reverence.

May that space between the stars keep you in the new year, Ardyn.

[scourgingstars]

[...Ardyn liked that, in all honesty. Hearing the reverse of his world's light and darkness expressed in such words was a comfort in itself.]

And may you know the peace of a clear night sky with perhaps a friend or two to share it, Hades.

[unsunderworld]

[A smile full of warmth, as always at those rare times when someone speaks his true name. Ardyn isn't as intimately careful with it as Era, which is in some ways refreshing.]

For no matter what color paints the sky, the stars beyond still shine... A hopeful thing to think of.