open | i think i'm prone to getting blinded when it's bright

[nemuru]

Who 🌙 ritsu & whomever
What 🌙 a nice neat little catch-all
When 🌙 the night parade + april in general
Where 🌙 night parade + here and there
Content Warnings 🌙 n/a; adding if it comes up


≫ THE NIGHT PARADE :: ペストリー

( There's a ton of different stalls set up for this event—and Ritsu's set up one of his own. Did he get clearance for it? ... It's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission, okay. Anyway, there's a number of different wagashi, cakes, and so on that look very appetizing...

And then some stuff that looks a little less nice—the type that if it was on television, it'd have to be pixelated or blurred out because it just looks way too gross to bear. The taste is all the same though: really, really good. In fact, maybe the fact the last ones look so terrible makes them taste all the better...!? If you can get past how, uh, unique their composition is, anyway. )

Welcome one and all to Ritsu Sakuma's Confectionary Carnivale...♪ Heheh. Wanna try some? I'm not chargin' tonight, seein' as it's a party. If you want a recommendation, I'd go with... ( ... He taps the gross-looking sweets. ) These ones. I put my whole heart and soul into makin' them.

≫ THE NIGHT PARADE :: 花見

( Ah yes, cherry blossoms... Spectral they might be, they're still a familiar sight for Ritsu; their whispers not so much, but he forces himself not to pay them any mind by putting his focus elsewhere: mainly, scaring people.

Maybe that's not really the right word, but it's probably what happens anyway when someone suddenly steps out from behind a tree in the grove the Alliance has set up and puts their arm through yours. Hi! Partners now. Ritsu has a drink with him, thogu given where he is, it probably isn't Tamamo-spiked. Sutoku's refreshments are a little less... risqué. )

Yo~ ( Sooo friendly-sounding, like he didn't just materialize out of seemingly nowhere (he's just quiet). Ritsu smiles languidly, all the world a cat in human form. ) Let's walk together~... How about it?

( ........Like he is just asking for courtesy's sake, honestly. )

≫ THE NIGHT PARADE :: 花火

( Before everything goes to hell (haha)—

Ritsu's tired of being on the ground, but too many people have taken to higher spots to watch the fireworks... so he's with the crowd instead, a little more on the edge rather than in the middle of it. Less elbow brushing and bumping that way. He watches the sky, thinking of sea spray and the flicker of something in his chest at the sight of tears shed on a stage shared, and nudges the person next to him. )

Hey, did you know? If you share a kiss with someone when the fireworks start, your lives will allllways be entwined... Think that even applies in Hell?

≫ AFTERMATH :: 隠し

( Those in the Sutoku Alliance get a little more from the Kappa than other factions, given they're under the same banner, and after listening to a few frenzied youkai Ritsu's decided they're probably (probably) not at fault here. Actually, he's almost certain of that; the Kappa wouldn't have anything to gain from killing the Alliance's leader, so it just plain doesn't make sense.

The other factions, though... Well, there's probably something in it for them.

Ritsu'll be doing his best to hide kappa in his place of stay (sorry roomie), in any of the several hiding places he's found since coming here (sorry, people he's shown them), and even calculating the risk of throwing himself into a struggle between someone getting arrested or taken in and, well, their arrester—before doing it anyway. He's not one of the noble, gallant Knights for nothing, even if that is just supposed to be a stage presence; it's something that's ended up seeping into their very being.

Besides: it feels wrong to just sit back and watch people get blamed for things when nothing's actually be investigated yet. It smells just like someone finding someone else to pin the blame on to get rid of them—he doesn't like it, and he resolved, once, to take more action when he can.

...Even if it's going to earn him a few broken bones.

Help him out, scold him, or be the one fighting him—all's good. )

≫ APRIL GEN :: ステージ

( When none of ... that ... is happening, when things are calmer(?), or as calm as they can be, Ritsu can be found performing in a Sutoku-aligned bar; normally, he's part of a pair with Emily as La Force—and they even have matching outfits, too—but some nights, he just wanders up on stage to play piano. Most of his experience lies in being classically trained, though he just as often will play whatever melody comes to mind, not paying attention to any particular work or composer.

He also pauses to take requests, and if he likes you enough, he might agree to teach you—if you're interested in that kind of thing. Just don't mind how careful he is when he moves, and if his fingers catch on the keys because he stretches too far and too fast and it hurts like a bitch... No he didn't! You saw Nothing. )

≫ WILDCARD

( If none of this catches your eye, or we've made other plans, just toss me a starter! Alternatively, you can hmu on Plurk or PM this account to make some plans. )

Comments

[nemuru]

...Twinkling's more delicate and small, like quick taps, but... how do I put it? Individual, so you don't usually play the twinkling at the same time... Mmm, it's easier to demonstrate.

( when he's SURE murr isn't going to go ham on the keys again... ritsu lets go of his wrists, returning to the piano. let's go with this one, we won't tell leo he's playing mozart tonight. )

The stars only show themselves when it's nice and quiet—when everything's starting to drift off to sleep, and the darkness wraps around you like a nice, soft blanket. ( he lowers his eyes. ) So you have to get that atmosphere right... and after that, the stars shine and sparkle in a lot of different ways, yeah, so you can vary what you do with it, as long as you keep that soft voice to your playing. Actually, this song—it's a variation on an old French kid's song, too. Tons of people've made their own adaptations, but Mozart's is the one that got super popular.

( ... )

You gettin' what I mean? ( as he plays. )

[murrvelous]

[ yeah, don't tell leo. it'll be a secret between the two of them.

but murr goes through a series of reactions: the explanation alone makes his eyes widen. his mouth, slightly agape. how ritsu explains nighttime with the stars, how things sound so soft and pleasant and nice. it makes him close his eyes... makes murr place his head on the piano while still keeping his head turned towards him. the music certainly helps too.

how nice. how lovely. cats have to love this music too.

which is why he... sort of dozes off... and begins to lean against ritsu. what a great pillow he is. ]

[nemuru]

( well, it's no surprise that murr begins to doze off; even in its faster variations it's still pretty soothing, though ritsu doesn't even notice at first, too lost in playing through the rest of the song and further beyond that, turning twinkle twinkle little star into something else completely, no real name or composer to place to the song aside from ritsu and ritsu alone.

yet he wouldn't say he composes songs; he just plays what he likes, which begins to be increasingly hard as murr's weight starts to register against his side, and he grunts when he wiggles his arm free and

pauses, thinking, before he just shifts so that he can still play and murr can still nap. it's nicer, like this. not as noisy, not as annoying...



he'll wake him after a couple more songs, gently shaking him. )

That's enough of that. Get offa me, Murr-san. You're too heavy.

[murrvelous]

[ he rubs his eyes. he smacks his lips very gently. it's not his fault that ritsu is so good at playing the piano, a reminder of other wizards with incredible musical skill while murr is probably best playing like... the tambourine. a cowbell. maybe a slide whistle. maracas filled with tiny jewels? yeah, that's probably his style.

but once he notices that ritsu is done (and that he's being jostled awake), murr laughs gently as he leans to the other side as to give the pianist some space. ]

A-ah~ what a nice nap. You're so talented, Ritsu!

[ back looking at the keys, murr feels like maybe he should give it another whirl...? ]

Here. Lemme try again.

[ very carefully, very slowly... he plays a few consecutive notes. a simple scale. ]

[nemuru]

...Mmm, not bad. I mean, it's just a scale, but better than what you were doing.

( his poor piano... ritsu adds a little more to murr's simple scale, light and whimsical. )

Most of the time you can just string together a bunch of notes that sound nice... That's what I do. I don't write it down or remember it or anything, though, so I don't really think it's the same as composing... ( koga would disagree but what does he know!! ... ) Anyway, you wanna learn to play something?

( ugh. he doesn't like teaching, but maybe he's got a soft spot for this kind of person. )

[murrvelous]

It's something you do when you're first learning, yeah? And something you do when you warm up!

[ he knows. he knows a little. not like, All The Stuff but who's insane enough to just start playing without a warm up? not me, i said, with my glass bones and paper skin..

but hey, this is the kind of offer he wants. he desires this more than anything. why? because if he learns how to make beautiful music like ritsu, then he can play for the moon!!!

and for shylock!

and for other people too. probably. ]

Yeah! I do! I wanna make magic like you do.

[nemuru]

...Magic?

( ritsu's fingers stall momentarily, then continue on as he shakes his head with a soft, small laugh. )

This isn't magic—it's just music. There's a whole other unit I know that specializes in that kinda stuff... Knights' specialty is— ( kidnapping. being argumentative. individuality. ) —fanservice.

[murrvelous]

[ knights is really the western country of enstars, huh.

the concept of fanservice is lost on murr, whose 'fans' honestly hated and admired him at the same time, so. there's that. he can have that here too but in a different way? ]

Magic and music are almost spelled the same way. [ because that's how similarities and differences work: by letters. ] So it's gotta be close.

[ maybe it's a very sentimental and naïve way of thinking, but. well. it's murr. ]