tampered | Tea Party || log; ongoing

When; Sunday the 17th, afternoon
Rating; PG-13 for possible language, violence(!?) & moody magical girls
Characters; MKR crew plus guests
Summary; When Road's and Umi's long-awaited tea party finally occurs, the former doesn't truly expect that long guest list to be much of a problem. Why should she?
Log;

The house smelled of roses and homemade bakery. In, fact, the apartment had never felt as much like home as it did on that very moment. Umi looked around and felt completely satisfied with the arrangements. At least she'd managed to get the place to feel cozy in time to play host.

Right, so there'd been a couple of obstacles to overcome, like that annoying sleep curse. Umi made a face as she set down a plate of freshly baked scones on one of the decorated tables. The damn thing had had her off snoring all Thursday long. She'd needed to run to catch up once she'd recovered the spirit to crawl out of bed. It'd been a small miracle that the invitations had been written and delivered (a miracle made possible by Ken's and Rin's assistance) and the last minute shopping done.

Fortunately everything was in place and awaiting their friends' arrival. The tables were beautifully arranged with all sorts of homemade pastries. Several varieties of tea were available for the guests to choose from. C's and Kimihiro's help at the kitchen had been invaluable, and Road had done quite a great job at making the place look more festive. There would even be sake as a stronger choice of a drink for those Umi knew would appreciate it, thanks to Misao's own contribution.

The water Knight sighed with accomplishment. Finally a small celebration to make up for all the messes The City had put them through during the last weeks, including her fateful trip Underground. She smiled as she smoothed the skirts of her dress. Nothing could go wrong from here.

[ooc: I'm off to bed for tonight, guys. @_@ Please feel free to assume Umi wandered off and will be around bringing tea and cake to the guests. Take this wherever you want~ ♥]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He'd been hoping to talk to her- that was probably the main reason he came by today, not that he'd admit that.

The question was all he needed. He smirks at Road, letting the satisfied glint return to his eyes. "I'm doing much better, actually. Now that I'm back. I've learned a lot about myself the past couple of weeks."

She looked amused at the smirk - it was so hard to tell exactly what Sylar was up to most times. She liked that, when people were easy to read it was just so boring.

"That's good~." She didn't really understand people's need to learn about themselves, she was so used to being sure of herself all the time. But that was humans for you. "Anything interesting~?" A roundabout way of asking what it was he'd learned, not that she expected him to tell her if he didn't want to.

"Oh, just what I already knew. But maybe I had to go through the experience before I could come full circle, and realize what I truly am." His voice is soft, an attempt to soften the sharpness of the words. "It's really very freeing."

He wishes he could say more, but he doesn't dare around all these people. Road had been right all along about his nature, and now he'd finally stopped fighting it. It wasn't as if he could act that way here in the City, but he still knew. That was all he needed here.

"How about you? I know it's not been long for you since I've seen you, but how have you been doing?" He looks curious.

Her lips curved into a smile. He may be trying to soften the words with his tone of voice, but she understood what he was saying nevertheless. "Mm~, it is freeing, isn't it? To know exactly what you are." She knew it wasn't a good idea to discuss it here, but she was still curious to find out exactly what it was that had made him realize. "Maybe I can come over to your shop for a chat one day~? ♥"

"Oh~, I've been okay. Busy with the circus for now, but soon I'll have enough people working there that I won't have to do too much." Though really while the circus was a pleasant diversion to her - like having a gigantic dollhouse to play with - it wasn't really too important. "A lot more Exorcists have been arriving too~. I don't know if you've met any of them." She looked around the room. "There's one of them here somewhere." And from the tone of her voice, it was easy to tell it wasn't an Exorcist she was fond of.

"I wish I could, and you're free to come over anytime you'd like, but- the topic of discussion likely won't be what you expect." He sighs. "Part of the condition for my release. I don't know what they expect to find, I'm not going to start-" He looks around at everyone here for the party, and all right, can't exactly talk violence here, either.

He pouts for a moment, but it's more of a mock-pout than anything else. Soon, he's smiling back at her. "Anyway, it's likely someplace else might be better. Maybe the circus? I'd really like to see what goes on to putting one together, and maybe I can help with something." He chuckles. "Or I can just go to the show and be a good spectator."

She continued to smile, somehow managing to make it both innocent and scheming. "Oh~, I think I can take care of no one knowing what it is we say~." It would be easy enough to pull the two of them into a dream world where no one could overhear, and to leave two illusions in the shop to pretend they'd never gone anywhere.

"That could work too~ though. You can come during the day sometime if you'd like, while everyone's rehearsing and preparing for the show. I'll show you around~. And you can help if you like." She shrugged. "Or watch the show."

Ah, there's the smile he was looking for. Road may know a way around talking openly at his shop, but he'd like some extra protection. He'd been hoping he could fully pretend- after all, that would definitely be the safest option, until he got back home. But even with Faith's help, he was going a little stir-crazy.

"That sounds wonderful, actually. I'll come down during my lunch hour, would that be all right? I have to admit, I love wandering around while everyone else is working on things," he says, chuckling. "And it feels like it's been forever since we've talked. But then, that might just be the time displacement."

"That should be okay~. Hmm, watching people work to see how everything fits together?" she asked, grinning. She could imagine that he was getting bored with behaving himself - she definitely knew that she got bored all the time even when she did whatever she liked. Play-acting to keep people happy wasn't worth it at all, except for when it was part of a game, and even then it got annoying sooner rather than later.

"I think it has~ been a while since we talked, even not counting the time you were away," Road noted. "Been busy?"

He smiles and nods at her first question. He hadn't really thought about it much, to be honest, but that was why he liked it. Other people's systems were machines on their own- he could watch and evaluate.

"Well, I've rebuilt my business from scratch," he replies to her second question. "One would honestly think people would want to get away from analog clocks while here, considering the ticking- but then, the City ticking is something different entirely, I suppose." It had never been any different for him, but other people had described it differently for him. "I've really gotten back into the swing of things," he says, smiling. "How about you, you sound like you've been keeping yourself fairly occupied.

"Is it different?" She tilted her head to the side, seeming to think it over. "It doesn't seem much different. But I don't really hear it that often anyway~, I've almost always got someone to keep me company, even if it's only just Len-Len."

She shrugged at the question. "I've been finding things to do for now. Looking after the circus, bothering the Exorcists. Though~ it's not like being at home, there at least what I do has a point~." She raised her teacup to her mouth and it's quite obvious she's not speaking now, but Sylar should be able to hear quite clearly in his head anyway, But at least playing in the Underground is still fun for now~. There was a mischievous smile on her lips as she took another sip of tea.

Tea Party || log; ongoing

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