undergrounds | Litha Feast (Open to all court members and human guests, dated for the 21st)

Entry tags:

Litha Feast (Open to all court members and human guests, dated for the 21st)

The grounds were brightly lit and festooned with decoration: trees covered in sweet-smelling dew, leaves of gold and red, vividly-colored streamers woven with thread finer than spider's silk. All around, the tables were piled high with all the food and wine one might expect of a grand feast. (Apparently, the fae had spared no expense.)

The Seelie King and Queen were present, though distanced from the rest of the revellers -- and quite a few revellers there were. Men and women with petals in their hair, clothes of vibrant silk and satin, and a rainbow of rare feathers and gems. Some looked human, some looked animal. Some, such as in the case of a well-dressed gentleman with skin like birch bark, looked like none of the above.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There was one person Heiji immediately thought of when he heard about the party: Stiles.

Considering that Stiles would probably have snuck in anyway, this was the best chance to let him satisfy his curiosity in the context of an actual, (semi-) legitimate reason to be there rubbing elbows with other fae. Sure, he wasn't likely to win the title of Miss Fae Universe, but at least this way, Heiji wouldn't have to worry about one of his fellow members giving Stiles space cancer.

For that reason, he was waiting for Stiles outside his place before the evening festivities started. "Hey, you free today?"

Miss Fae Universe has his name on it. Just you wait, Heiji. Eat your heart out, Seelie Court.

“Yo,” he greets Heiji, not exactly his bright-eyed and bushy-tailed self; it’s far too early in the day for him to have fully woken up yet. “I guess. What’s up? We gonna kick ghost butt or something?”

He laughed. "Not exactly. You ever heard of Litha?"

With the way Stiles was snooping around all the time, he might very well have, which would have made explaining things a bit easier.

"Mmmmmaybe?"

That innocent facade would fool exactly no one. Stiles only holds it for a moment or two before waggling his eyebrows with a wide grin. He's definitely heard of it, then.

"Do you know how much pagan superstition is on the Internet about the fae and Litha? It's crazy."

"...It's not a sex thing, is it? The rumors. Because the real thing is. Definitely not. Don't believe everything ya read on the internet! And there ain't any bouncy castles, either!" Heiji was being weirdly specific about this, but he was absolutely 100% telling the truth.

Stupid internet rumors, stop slandering his really distant relatives and therefore by some extension himself. And Stiles, stop waggling your eyebrows stop it at ONCE.

That is indeed mind-bogglingly specific, which of course arrests Stiles’ interest faster than you can say “Lydia Martin is single.” Blinking at Heiji, he tries to decide what he would rather pursue—the “sex thing” or the…

“Seriously? No bouncy castles!? What kind of party doesn’t have a bouncy castle!?”

"Yeah, I know. But anyway, there's a big feast and lots of partying, and they bring in a bunch of humans. At the end, they decide who the prettiest guy and gal are, and those two are crowned the Summer Prince and Princess. I figure it's a pretty good excuse to get you inside, rub elbows with some fae if you want to. No one's gonna think twice if you're in Faery during the feast."

Besides, it was safer than waiting for Stiles to figure out how to get there on his own, right?

"Have I mentioned before that you're the best? Because you are. So the best."

With one arm slung over Heiji's shoulders, he claps the other boy on the chest with the flat of his free hand. He's brimming with excitement, wide awake now and ready to rumble.

"Is there a prize for being crowned?"

Heiji...beware...there is definitely a calculating quirk to his mouth.

Heiji grinned. "Well, you do get a nice crown of oak leaves. And bragging rights. You might also get another gift or two? Of course, that's only if ya win. And the competition's bound to be stiff."

Stiles, were you seriously going to try...?

No, Heiji. He was not going to try. He was going to succeed.

"Right. Gimme a minute, I need to grab a few things."

And without so much as a by-your-leave, he's darting back inside his grandparents' place to stuff his backpack full of...supplies. Supplies to ensure victory. He reappears out front quickly enough, offering Heiji a wide, too innocent grin.

Heiji gave him a look like did he really want to know what was in that bag.

"...Do I wanna know what's in that bag? Anyway, follow me. There's a door nearby we can use without anyone seein' us." They were going to cut through a neighbor's yard and use an unassuming-looking toolshed, it was fine. It'd all be fine...

"Right behind you, pal."

Stiles is not answering the first question. The less you know, Heiji, the better. It's for your own safety. Really. Entering the toolshed, Stiles eyes the wall of powertools with too much interest. Better get him out of there fast, Heiji...

Heiji shooed Stiles through the doors before he could grab any chainsaws. They weren't direcly at the feast, of course, when they arrived in the Other Realm. But even in the distance, the festival location was clearly visible, lit up in gold and accompanied by the faint sounds of song drifting on the air.

"Oh yeah, I better mention -- eating fairy food and drink can make ya more susceptible to its magic. It won't do anything to you on its own, usually, but just to be careful, I brought some snacks." He opened the little bag he had with him, revealing a small stash of convenience store snacks and some wrapped hot dogs.

There were a few horse-drawn carriages passing them by, though there were also partygoers walking or (by the looks of it) flying to the celebration.

The warning does little to pull Stiles out of his trance-like state as he eats up the sight of the Other Realm; he’ll never get tired of visiting. This is what he imagined the supernatural world to be like, well before his eyes were opened to the reality. There’s a small part of him that wishes his mother could have seen the kingdom of the fae, so much like the stories she used to read to him at night.

“Aw, that’s it?” Fortunately, the complaint isn’t aimed at Heiji’s wisely packaged food. “I thought that it was more, like, Hades and Persephone. Eat fairy food, get stuck here for eternity. Or something.”

Which begs the question of why he sounds so disappointed that's not true. Stiles, please get your head checked.

Heiji laughed. "If that were the case, we wouldn't be able to leave! ...Although I guess it'd be possible to put a curse on something. Seems like a pretty terrible way to treat your dinner, though."

He was of the firm opinion that food was something to be thoroughly enjoyed, definitely not something you ruined with black magic and junk. As they chatted, a beautiful lady rode by, clad in streaming, gauzy silks. She smiled briefly at one or both of them as she passed.

"Hey, if you could live in any borough in London, which one would it be?"

“Dinner as in actual food, or dinner as in…”

Except that thought trails off as he stares wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the beautiful woman. Stiles is imagining himself riding with her, he a knight and she a princess. This place is amazing. He never wants to leave.

“Marry me pl—wait, what?” Blinking, he cocks his head at the question. “Uh, I don’t know, dude. I guess I don’t really care. Wherever there’s the best pizza?”

"Of course dinner as in actual food! Although I guess there's -- " He trailed off to bow respectfully to the lady passing them by.

"It's just that I been thinking about getting a place. Be nice if it was somewhere convenient." Which probably ruled out a lot of west London, sadly.

Watching the lady ride on from the corner of his eye, he makes a thoughtful noise deep in his throat.

"I'm probably not the right guy to ask. I haven't been here long. But why the sudden change? You must be...well, oldish, right?"

Heiji gestured with a hand, cheerfully waving off the notion of seriousness. "Oh, I don't mean permanently or anything. Just for as long as I'm here. I mean, like a base of operations. And then I could put all my stuff there."

Wait. What. "Hey! I ain't old -- I'm pretty young for a fox."

“Alright. How old are you then?” he asks, genuinely curious. He’s still considering the idea of Heiji setting up a swanky base of operations, except he’s stuck with the image of foxes frolicking in a woodsy cottage.

It took Heiji a second to remember; once you passed 100 or so, it was easy to lose count of the years.

"'Bout two hundred. But it ain't uncommon to find someone from the Heian Period or older. You're still a teenager, though, right?" Sometimes it was a little hard to tell with humans.

About two hundred.

"Hoooly crap." Staring at the kitsune with a new kind of respect, he thinks of what it'd be like to live that long. "And yeah. I'm seventeen. In human years."

Heiji grinned. "You mean ya measure time in some other kind of year? C'mon, let's get going. We don't get a move on, we'll miss the contest!"

And he set off in the direction of the feast.

With a good-natured roll of his eyes, he hurries after Heiji. Time to get to work on ensuring he's crowned a prince...mwahahaha.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Litha Feast (Open to all court members and human guests, dated for the 21st)

Come on Barbie, let's go party (for Stiles)

KISS ME HERE TOUCH ME THERE HANKY PANKY

this is getting weird with the other thread

$10 that it'll only get weirder

that's a sucker's bet because

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject