HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[paradisamods]

All that clamor from the lion dance prancing down the halls should be enough to draw attention to the party, even without actual invitations. If not the noise, then perhaps the delicious smell wafting under every door and leading back to the ballroom.

The castle is vain, if nothing else. It has decorated the ballroom in the deepest red and brightest gold with auspicious greetings in the common language tastefully posted about the hall. May your happiness be without end, one says, while another goes May all your wishes be fulfilled. Small order, all things considered.

Round dining tables (with the turning glass part) are set up in the middle of the hall, each with about ten chairs and piles of food fit for a whole village. There are two more lion dance teams hopping about the hall and making a racket while occasionally nabbing that dumpling straight from your chopsticks. That should the least of your concerns, however, with many residents still aiming to settle their grudges before the new year.

Watch your back.

[ ooc; IC mingle log for Lunar New Year plot, feel free to make your own threads! ]

Comments

[rightchoices]

[ Lee just holds his hands up, palms outward, as if scandalized that she would suggest that he was behind that. ]

What? Carley did that, not me.

[ It's amazing he's able to maintain a straight face right now. ]

[willrememberthat]

[She kicks the leg of his chair. LEE.]

[rightchoices]

[ He snorts a laugh before he can help it. ]

You can't prove anything.

[willrememberthat]

Carley's not even over here, for one. And you're laughing!

[rightchoices]

Completely circumstantial.

[ His eyebrows go up, but he doesn't stop smiling. ]

[willrememberthat]

I don't know what that means. [She smiles and gives his shoe a light little kick.]

[rightchoices]

It means... maybe the evidence points to me, but you can't prove it.

[ He will just puuuush at her chair with his own foot. ]

[willrememberthat]

[There she goes, sliding back. Now she can't reach. HMM.]

But isn't proving it when the evidence points at you?

[rightchoices]

Close. I'd need a motive, anyway, wouldn't I? Why would I want to get orange in your hair?

[ The look he fixes her with is playfully challenging. ]

[willrememberthat]

Why? Because you're weird, sometimes.

[She stretches out her legs. Nope, still can't reach.]

[rightchoices]

I'm weird? You're the weird one. You hang out with me on purpose.

[ He's just scooting his own chair back a little. ]

[willrememberthat]

[Just as planned. Clementine hops off her seat to sit on Lee's lap, cake stains or not. It's almost a struggle to not be sad in moments like these, to try and not to think about how none of this is possible at home anymore. No joking around with Lee, no playing. But she tries her best.]

Don't tell anyone about that. It's okay if you think I'm weird, but I don't want anyone else to.

[rightchoices]

[ Sneaky! That gets a surprised laugh out of him and Lee just shakes his head, refusing to dwell on those same thoughts. They had this, he had to tell himself over and over. It was better than nothing. ]

What? You should embrace being weird. It's a compliment.

[ That was the sort of thing you're supposed to say, right?? But he seems to be glancing around, as if looking for some other item of food to assault her with - even if he does land a careful hand on her arm, as if to keep from knocking her off. ]

[willrememberthat]

Yeah, but there's weird and there's weird. You're weird.

[Which is the best kind of weird. Clementine wonders if she's too old to mess around like this, but that thought is quickly shoved aside by something like screw it. She can do what she wants.]

[rightchoices]

And what makes me weird, huh? Because that's an awful lot of emphasis you're putting on that word, Clem.

[ If she picks up on the warning in his tone, it will probably be pretty easy to deduce that it's all completely in jest. ]

[willrememberthat]

You're weird because you're funny. [And too nice. Clem leans into him to wrap her arms around his neck in a hug. There's no doubt that she's happiest right here.]

[rightchoices]

There are a lot of funny people out there. That doesn't make them weird. [ But his smile is softer this time - he stops looking for more orange peel to pester her with and instead just wraps his arms around her to hug her in return. ] Bet you wouldn't call Joel weird.

[willrememberthat]

He's not as funny as you are. [Joel doesn't really... joke... but she likes him anyway.]

[rightchoices]

Maybe I'm not being funny on purpose.

[ And maybe Joel was a really poor example to use here. ]

[willrememberthat]

That makes you even weirder.

[She hugs him a little tighter, then settles against him. She'd probably die a little on the inside if Tess were lurking about and saw this. Die a little, then kick her shins if she said anything.]

[rightchoices]

[ Poor Clem. Don't be ashamed of your dad! :') Lee's biggest fear right now, at this moment, is someone misinterpreting the situation - he's not her dad, why does he have her dragged so closely? Except he has long since stopped correcting people when they assume he's her father, and what's the point in worrying about what other people think? Fuck 'em. ]

I think my feelings are hurt, Clem. Not sure how I'll ever recover from that one.

[ There's a laugh in his voice. ]

All this time I thought we were friends, and now I found out you think I'm weird?

[willrememberthat]

[Clem's not even sure if she'd correct anyone who assumed Lee was her father. She feels a little bad, like it's disregarding her real father, but Lee's essentially been her dad for the last however long. Saying he's not is just as disrespectful to him.]

But you're still my favorite.

[Always.]

[rightchoices]

That right?

[ Lee laughs a little, more of a rumbling chuckle in his chest than anything else, before he moves to tuck his chin atop her head. ]

I'll remember you said that if we're here long enough for you to start taking an interest in boys. That's gonna be rough.

[willrememberthat]

[Eww, boys.]

It wouldn't change anything.

[She's quiet for a moment.]

I always used to wonder how things would be if my parents showed up here, though.

[rightchoices]

[ She's young, but more and more recently, he has trouble thinking of her as a child. Instinct is to protect her, but what's the line at this point between protecting and patronizing? So he takes a breath. ]

It'd probably be rough at first. It's been a long time since you've seen 'em, Clem. It'd take some getting used to, I think. But they're your parents - they'd love you, even if you are a little more grown up.