riverviewlogs | monthly mingle: THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHT

Entry tags:

monthly mingle: THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHT

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: monthly mingle: the festival of light
when: The month of January.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

festival of light

In the days leading up to January 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: The Festival of Light. This holiday is in celebration of the end of the Quarantine's short-lived winter and serves to welcome the new year. The traditions associated with The Festival of Light involve fireworks every weekend of the month, a days-long formal ball that with an open invitation to everyone in the city, and lighting magical candles and incense with loved ones and new friends alike.

a celebration of the end of winter and the new year

As the Capitol World stops blocking the path between the sun and its moon, the snow melts and the rains of early spring begin to fall and the residents of the Quarantine gather together to celebrate the new year. New beginnings are honored as the sky is lit with fireworks to banish the cold and dark of winter, and residents share the light and warmth of the new year with each other by sharing candles and incense with fellow residents. These traditions are steeped in magic, like many other things in Riverview, and have certain magical emotional effects on participants. Additionally, over the weekend of January 5th - 8th, the Government will be hosting a formal ball to welcome the New Year, which is open to all residents and offers food, drink, dancing, and other activities, as well as places to stay the night and relax or 'relax' with friends.

i. fireworks

One of the main traditions of the Festival of Light is to brighten the sky to welcome the new year, and as always, the Government of Riverview and various other city entities including businesses and various organizations and clubs, have gone all out to light up the sky. Each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of the month of January, residents can gather outside on the beaches or park, or indoors at various observation lounges set up on city rooftops for the occasion, to watch elaborate, beautiful fireworks displays.

Outdoor observation is facilitated by use of rented forced-air umbrellas that make viewing the fireworks without having to squint into the rain or peer out from under a traditional umbrellas easy. Curl up with a friend or lover under an umbrella to watch the fireworks displays. Temporary indoor observation lounges have also been set up on most of the rooftops of buildings in the city, if the outdoors isn't your thing. The lounges can range from simple transparent-roofed spaces with rustic benches and hot cocoa to elaborate, fancy bars or restaurants with food service, music, and dancing. Some of the lounges may even have themes, whether they're 18+ adult or just quirky. Let your imagination run wild - if you can think of it, someone in the city's probably set one up.

ii. lighting up

Throughout the city, residents will find booths and special sections in their favorite stores set up with stands displaying magical incense and candles in a wide variety of colors. These are traditional trappings of the Festival of Light, the original and ancient tradition that's built up into the modern celebration as residents know it. Most prolific are the candles - ranging from tiny tea lights to large pillar candles, they are inscribed with the word 'glow' in a variety of different alien languages, including some that residents might recognize. The incense comes in small variety of dusky, earthen colors, each with a different scent and effect, all clearly labeled.

Candles are meant to be lit with one or more other people, and when this tradition is observed properly with a candle inscribed 'glow' - the wick lit by two or more people at the same time, and held together between them for a minimum of 30 seconds - every participant will feel and see certain magical effects. As the candle is held between the participants, they will start to see each other's skin glow, seemingly lit from inside, and as the glow increases, all participants will start to feel an emotional lightness. Stress and despair will slowly dissipate, giving the participants a temporary feeling of absolute contentment, warm and happy. The effects last from 5 minutes to a full 24 hours, depending on the number of people who participate and the length of time the candle is held between participants (more participants or longer timespans will increase the length of the effect), and effects are cumulative - lighting a large number of candles with different people will cause the effect to draw out for longer.

Incense is something usually lit in private, at home or a small gathering at a friend's house, and in recent years as the celebration has become a bit more modernized and commercialized, at the Glow Ball. There are a few varieties of incense with different psychological effects, all of which are pleasant and take strongest effect when the incense is lit with one or more other people, and enjoyed long enough for the whole stick to burn down. Orange and yellow incense will increase feelings of affection and openness, sienna red incense will do the same but also induce arousal; blue-grey incense will make it easier to share and ease grief and sadness, while grey-purple will lull participants into an easy sleep with pleasant dreams.

iii. glow ball

Every year during the Festival of Light, the Government of Riverview hosts a formal ball called the Glow Ball on the first weekend of the month - this year, it spans from nightfall on Friday January 5th until dawn on Monday January 8th. The ball is a relatively new custom, but has quickly skyrocketed to one of the most anticipated events of many residents' year. Similar to the castle-themed maze during Hygge, the Glow Ball is hosted inside a beautiful golden palace erected in the City Center that is much larger on the inside than it appears to be on the outside. While there is no specific theme to the ball, many residents take it as an opportunity to really glow in a wide variety of ways, all up to each person's imagination.

The palace is magically-augmented to be lavish, comfortable, and fully-stocked at all times, and features a banquet hall with ample and frequently-replenished food, a bar and lounge area for attendees to get a drink and sit for a while, a beautiful grand ballroom as well as several smaller ballrooms with different styles of music, a swimming pool with hot tubs, a garden, and smaller private vestibules that feature a pillow lounge, incense selection, and a small bedroom where residents can rest or enjoy each others' company in private.

NOTE: New characters are welcome to join in with the party, even if they haven't had time to prepare. Any new arrivals who come to the party in the clothing they arrived in will be whisked up by a fussy light golem or attendant who will fit them with a nice set of clothing for the evening so they can enjoy the festivities.

dinner and dancing

The banquet hall is ringed with tables that offer a buffet food catered to the time of day - breakfast in the morning, light food in the afternoon, lavish dinners in the evening, and desserts, coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, and snacks available all night. With ample seating at group tables, residents can share a meal with friends new and old. The bar and lounge has several large free bars staffed by glowing, ethereal light golems that never tire and never get an order wrong, and offers seating at tables and in cozy dimly-lit booths. Riverview's drinking age is 14 years old.

The grand ballroom is themed golden this year, with the walls tiled in gold and featuring a dance floor of white marble veined with gold. The grand ballroom has classical, traditional dance music playing for those who want a classy formal dance. There are four wing ballrooms that feature different genres of music for residents who enjoy alternate types of dancing, with the genres consistently rotating - whether you like punk, country, rock, pop, or any other type of music from any planet or country, it's likely to be playing in a wing ballroom at some point. Schedules are posted outside of each door and there are four genres per wing ballroom per day.

swimming and gardens

Another feature of the Glow Ball is the beautiful swimming pool - warm enough to be comfortable but cool enough to be refreshing, the outdoor pool has both flower petals and the season's glow candles floating on it, a champagne service offered by light golems, and tables to sit and enjoy a drink and conversation while drying off. There are also small hot tubs ringing the swimming pool where residents can soak away the aches and pains of the day. The pool offers change rooms where speaking a magical incantation (helpfully posted on the door) will change the occupant's formal clothing into an equivalent swimsuit, and will change it back (and dry the occupant) after the dip has been taken.

The gardens are also available for any attendees who want to get a bit of fresh air. With beautiful flower-lined winding paths under a perpetually starry sky and ample candles hanging from the trees and edging the paths for visibility, the gardens are a scenic and relaxing place to take some time away from the light and get some air.

privacy

For residents who want a little private time or want to spend more than just an evening at the ball, there are small private vestibules scattered throughout the palace. Featuring a lounge area with pillows and lap tables for eating, and a comfortable queen-size bed, each room also has a vanity whose drawers hold both suitable pajamas for sleeping in and (in 18+ rooms only) supplies for intimacy ranging from massage oils to packaged toys. And most importantly, each room is fully stocked with a selection of the season's incenses for use in private.

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up the mod-posted prompt to create a Communal Housing floor mingle. Or, if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during the Festival of Light, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: Jakub Grygier; image ii: Shutterstock; image iii & iv: credit unknown

navigation

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Shoutout to Cisco for having to put up with being on the other end of Finn's most certified of fear grips.

For a long moment, Finn stays stock-still and silent, eyes on the sky. For a long moment, he waits, not even knowing exactly what it is he's sure is going to happen or how realistic it is that it would happen right now: all he knows about it is that it's not good. The air starts to smell stale, recycled, like it's being pulled in through a helmet filter--

He's holding someone. Too tightly, he thinks without it really connecting, too tight as if he's about to drag them off.

Someone is reaching back.

Motion returns to Finn all at once, shallow breaths and nervous energy. It's almost worse to put the flashing into his peripheral vision but he does it, turns his head, and when he makes out Cisco's face, the tightness of his own grip finally does register to him. Guilt is very swift to follow. ]

Sorry. I'm not-

[ Not trying to hurt you? Didn't pull enough together to plan much out past the apology. Finn forces his uncooperative fingers to relinquish their death grip. He doesn't get as far as pulling away entirely before he's double-taking at another whistle, another flare of light. ]

I was heading in, I just. Sorry.

[ At first, Finn's distraction doesn't make sense. The immediate conclusion that Cisco's mind had leapt to, understandably, was a present crisis. Kylo Ren, on a bloody rampage. Other members of the First Order, invading through the portal. A monster that broke in through the wall and is headed their way.

But Finn doesn't speak, or seem to recognize Cisco; he doesn't look over his shoulder for some pursuer, but continues staring into the sky, tensed, as if the source of the trouble was there. It isn't until the second whistle, and Finn's flinch and the way his fingers tighten reflexively, that it clicks for Cisco. But when it does, it makes sense, immediately and completely. Fireworks. Finn came from a world where he was part of a Resistance, in a war. Not that hard to put two and two together, to understand the source and meaning of his terror.

Which didn't solve anything, of course. But at least, if Cisco is right, he knows what to do. So he lets Finn keep holding his arm (though it's stinging, now - that boy sure has a grip). ]

It's all good, man. Let's get outta here.

[ Cisco wraps an arm around Finn's back and steers him, carefully but decisively, away from the crowd, and towards the nearest building. Cisco barely glances up long enough to see a neon 'OPEN' sign and a window banner declaring it a book shop, before he's opening the door and pulling Finn inside, just as another boom from the fireworks sounds loudly enough that Cisco can feel it in his ribcage.

The sound of the fireworks is quieter indoors, but still audible, along with the gasps and scattered applause from the crowd. The shop is empty, even of its owner, who had probably gone out to watch the fireworks with everybody else. Cisco navigates them towards a small bench, sitting down and bringing Finn along with him. His heart is in his throat, but he says, as calmly as he can: ]

You're not in danger.

[ Now see, this is the explicit confirmation that he was right and Cisco Ramon is a life-saver. Not that there was a point where Finn thought to doubt that assessment once he'd made it. Or that he's. Especially thinking about it at the moment. What matters is it's the truth.

The fact is, trying to get through the streets and somewhere out of the way turned into a series of stuttering starts and stops very quickly. One thing taking him by surprise and leaving him scattered, another sound or remembered thought or accidental push from the crowd coming along behind it before he could pull himself together and think, because he's supposed to be better than this-- he's done more freezing than he has walking, or he'd have been inside well before now.

It's easier with help. Which is what he's been trying to tell Rey and Poe about a hell of a lot of things lately. Cisco keeps them moving, and having someone with him who expects him to be moving gives him the incentive to actually manage it. Having someone with him goes a long way when that particularly loud firework cuts his breath short towards the end, just by knowing that someone is right there. He's not great at "alone".

It's better inside. Not a perfect cut-off. But better. Enough that he does let Cisco have his arm back. You're not in danger, he latches onto. Puts on loop in his thoughts with a desperate hope that it can flood out the image of the villagers on Jakku, the image of Slip.

Finn thinks he's about as far past the ability to put up any pretense of "well I'm fine and calm now thanks a lot" as a person can get. So he just goes ahead and leans forward to put his elbows on his knees, to press the heels of his palms into his eyes for a second, like it'll be enough to put a hard end to the tremor he can feel in his fingers. Tries to ball up as much of this... whatever it is as he can and push it down, until he can think around it, because he doesn't know what else he's supposed to do. ]

-- right. Yeah. [ Is where he starts, slightly delayed, on realizing he failed to reply right away. Does he think he completely believes it? No. Impulsively, right after that: ]

This doesn't happen to me. I don't-- this doesn't happen, this never happens.

[ Or like not in a crowded street, at least. ]

[ Cisco watches Finn curling forward, covering his eyes with his hands like that. He can see the poor guy actually shaking, and feels an intense stab of sympathy. Cisco's been there, and he knows that whatever is going on inside Finn right now has got to be really, really bad. ]

It happens to me.

[ He admits it without hesitation. This isn't something Cisco talks about, easily or with very many people. But right now, Finn is in distress, and possibly experiencing something he never has before. He needs reassurance, and he needs to know he's not the only one who has had something like this happen. Cisco leans forward a bit further, voice low and slow: ]

Not because of fireworks. But because of different stuff. It's happened to me a whole lot. Your heart's probably racing, right? Feels super hard to breathe? Or like you're gonna hurl all over your shoes? And your head is probably full of some pretty bad stuff?

[ He could put a name to it, but he thinks that right now, a phrase like 'panic attack' or even 'flashback' isn't something that will make Finn any calmer. Best to avoid any intimidating terminology for the time being. Cisco keps talking, though, hoping that the steady sound of his voice will at least keep Finn somewhat grounded, and drown out some of the sounds of fireworks. ]

You know something that helps me? It's going to seem kind of stupid, but hear me out. First, I find something to look at. I look at it really carefully, for all the details. My suggestion is, you should look at these shoes I'm wearing. They're really fucking great shoes. The other thing I do is breathing. Right now, I'm gonna start breathing real loud and real slow. I want you to focus on trying to match your breathing with mine, alright? Don't pay any attention to the sounds from outside. Just listen to me and my super duper slow noisy ass breathing. You ready to give it a try?

[ And Cisco inhales, loudly and slowly, through his nose, watching Finn to see how he is doing. ]

[ This isn't supposed to happen to him, is more the problem he thinks he's starting to run into. Logistically, it's probably not supposed to happen to anybody at all and it would be better if it didn't. He was raised for this, though. He was good at this. Running towards an objective no matter what else happened around him.

If he hears an explosion or blaster fire or just thinks he does, if something is happening, he's supposed to be able to move. Doesn't matter if it's a fight or an all-out battle or, or Rey or Poe sitting in a hospital bed looking guilty and small and vaguely distant. He does things. Often very impulsively.

It has not yet occurred to Finn that maybe that long drilled-in instinct, clashing with a situation where he can look around and see easily there's nothing going on... is a contributor to this problem. Some part of him says, there's never nothing happening. The second shoe always drops. The jumbled tangle of everything he tries not to think about always starts pressing against him, eventually, and it gets harder to push the burning in his eyes and throat back down every time.

He doesn't look up yet, can't really make himself do it, but after a couple of false starts Finn starts to drag in air more slowly. ]

Who-- who mentions getting sick all over shoes and then asks someone to look at shoes?

[ His tone can't make the leap from quietly strained to irritated. He's not really irritated at all. But he wants Cisco to know he's listening. Listening, he can do. Listening, he's still good at. And right now it's nice to have someone who can at least convincingly pretend that they know what to do with all of this, so he can stand to try.

One day, maybe, people being deliberately comforting won't catch him off-guard anymore. One day, maybe, he'll stop wondering what he did to earn it. ]

[ Cisco's not sure whether that was meant to be a joke or not, but he exhales a tiny huff of a laugh, regardless. He keeps that steady, almost hypnotic tone to his voice as he responds: ]

Okay, you got me there. Guess I got shoes on the brain. Doesn't matter what you focus on, really. You can look at the- books on the shelves, if you want to. Count how many of them are blue, or how many have got titles that start with H. The point's not the thing itself, it's giving your brain a super-easy task to focus on. Something repetitive but kinda specific, too.

[ There is a loud series of cracks, then, sudden enough that even Cisco jumps. They are much louder and much closer than the fireworks had been. He turns to see a cluster of teenagers standing in the street close to the door of the bookshop, setting off firecrackers. He is about to storm over and chew them out, when he sees them bolt, running off as a harried-looking member of the Guard (they were running security on the fireworks, apparently? who knew...) chases them away. ]

Hey, Finn, just remember, match my breathing. You're totally safe. It's just a bunch of stupid fireworks, and I'm not going anywhere, okay? So you're safe.

[ He can't pretend that there aren't dangers, here in the Quarantine. Can't tell Finn that the war he's probably thinking of is back in his world, and everything's peaceful here. There are monsters. There are dangers. Both Finn's best friends had been to the hospital in the last month. That's got to be stressful. Not to mention, the guy who'd nearly killed him is here, in this place. But it's got to help, right? Knowing he's not alone? That Cisco's here, and has his back?

So Cisco goes back to modeling slow, deep breathing, never taking his eyes off Finn. ]

Edited 2018-01-13 18:03 (UTC)

[ Finn's been calling it since day one on how dumb it is to have so many holidays going one after the other. And he can't even commit to that thought process on how right he obviously was, because the ball was actually really fun and interesting, and he had a great time people-watching through it.

What he is, he thinks, is mad at himself for not expecting something like this all along. Or maybe for just being bad at handling it.

They don't even really sound like blasters, but they're loud and they're close, and they echo off of the walls just enough to make him think-- and look, he's been known to think of a lot of things when he'd really rather not, but the mining colony is something he definitely has a better track record on avoiding. The firecrackers have broken his streak. This has been an all-around uncool night.

Finn swallows, hard, pushes out: ]

Repetitive but specific.

[ He can make himself stare at the floor, at least. For now. It's not exactly a lot of effort to get to that point. He can do one thing.

Comfort isn't normally a big... presence, for him. He's not especially good at knowing how to give it, which hasn't stopped him from trying when he can. He's not especially good at receiving it, because he's only been in a place where that's some kind of option for a couple of months. It's gotten easier than it used to be on both ends since he arrived in the Quarantine, between Poe and Rey and everything that's happened. But it's still weird to register as happening. He's not sure it feels like something he'll actually get used to with time.

Hard to get used to something when part of him always says he shouldn't be getting it at all.

Having Cisco here does help, though, in spite of that. Finn's pretty sure he has no idea what he'd be doing otherwise? Hyperventilating behind a dumpster somewhere, maybe, realistically. Because go figure, he's not especially good at being alone, either. Having someone here makes it easier. Something to turn into an anchor, whether it's the flow of his words or a physical presence or trying to remember to match his breathing.

Repetitive but kinda specific. There's a weird stain on this carpet.

Finn starts to feel less like he's fraying at the edges. ]

I'm sorry.

Nothing to be sorry for, dude.

[ The change comes in achingly slow increments, but gradually, Cisco can see and hear Finn's breathing steadying, evening out. It probably doesn't hurt that the firework show outside has its finale and then there is silence - no more firecrackers, either.

Cisco happens to look up at the right moment to catch the eye of an elderly man who must be the store owner, just as he's reaching for the door. Cisco makes eye contact and holds a finger to his lips, shaking his head. By some stroke of luck, the old man follows Cisco's darted glance over to where Finn is sitting, still hunched over, head still in his hands, and seems to get it. Cisco holds up a hand with his fingers outstretched, a wordless plea to give them five more minutes undisturbed. The old man nods, and wanders off.

He returns his attention to Finn, who looks a touch better... but that isn't saying much. ]

Seriously, Finn, you're doing great. And I don't think anybody even noticed except me, so it's not like you're gonna have to do the rounds of awkward explanations. I hate those. I mean, they're the absolute pits. When I was living in communal housing, I used to get these nightmares and wake up about as freaked out as you are right now, only I'd also have to explain to everybody that no, I wasn't getting axe murdered in my sleep, just having bad dreams. You think you're okay to walk, now? Fireworks are done, and my apartment's only four blocks away. We can go chill there 'til you're feeling like yourself again.

[ He doesn't have to do that. He doesn't have to open himself up, put something vulnerable on the table to match Finn's vulnerability, like it's just the thing to do. Finn has his own filters and hangups, as far as vulnerability even goes. If he can't do something on his own, if he gets hurt and isn't up to something, he'll ask for help all day, he wouldn't be alive right now if he hadn't been able to do it, he's always been a team player, but things like this--

Well. The First Order didn't set much precedent for dealing with them. Doesn't happen to stormtroopers. And he's not one anymore, but part of him always bubbles up to the surface to say he should be able to tamp it down and work past it.

Even if they have different standards on what it is to open up, even if Cisco's casual language isn't just a cover for how bad it must have been for him, Finn is genuinely touched by the effort. He's reminded of Poe, almost, in a vague way that's just associated itself with certain kindnesses. He feels a flood of sentimental gratitude that he doesn't even know what to do with, and a lot of it probably bleeds right into his tone. Subtle's never been a big skill for him. ]

Yeah. Yeah, I'm good to walk. [ Finn scrubs his hands over his face one more time for good measure, self-corrects enough to nip another apology in the bud before it can fall out, and pushes himself to his feet before any part of his brain can be like "consider: stay on this random bench for a week."

Hm. ]

Four blocks, anyway.

[ At this point... would there really be any point lying about it, tbh. ]

[ Cisco stands, too, draping an arm along Finn's shoulders the same way he had when he was guiding him to the shop. It's a much lighter touch, this time: not steering, just a reminder that Cisco's here, by his side, and not going anywhere. They make their way out the door, turning in the direction of Cisco's downtown apartment. He sees the old man as they pass, giving a tiny, almost imperceptible nod of thanks. The streets are quiet, now, but Cisco keeps up his talk. To anyone passing by, they would just look like someone strolling along with his possibly inebriated friend, steadying him and chatting away about local gossip.

The walk to his apartment passes quickly - once Finn got moving, he seemed capable of keeping walking, one foot in front of another, which Cisco is grateful for. After all, he's sort of making all this up as he goes. He's far more used to being on the opposite end of this: the one comforted and led, rather than doing the comforting and leading. Still, he's managing, chattering away about inanities, not stopping for a response from Finn or expecting one.

He fishes his keys from his pocket and gets them inside, then drops his arm, letting Finn go. Shadow trills, getting up from where he'd been curled on the back of the couch and hopping down, stretching as he comes over to rub himself against Finn's ankles in greeting. ]

You want a drink?

[ Healthy coping mechanism? Maybe not. But Cisco's trying to be Finn's friend, not his dad. ]

[ Finn hovers where he stands for a few moments, unsure. Maybe gets sidetracked a little by Shadow and remembering that right, this is... an animal that happens, here. His track record was pretty low in terms of meeting animals face to face back home, but he's familiar enough with the common ones from an education perspective.

Not really the case for the native animals on this moon. Files on monsters beyond the perimeter notwithstanding.

He bends down far enough to extend a hand, to let Shadow use it as sort of a stationary self-petting post as long as he'd like. It's nice. Weird, but nice. He also remembers to consider the offer. ]

Never tried one before. [ It's matter-of-fact enough. He's met plenty of people who don't have drinking checked off on their list of "do"s. ] Probably couldn't tell you until after I did.

[ Cisco doesn't rush Finn, even as he takes a long time in responding. The last thing he wants to do is give any sense of crisis or urgency. So he lets Finn adjust in his own time, watches as he reaches out for Shadow, who rubs his face against Finn's hand, purring loudly. He's glad, then, that they'd been close to here. Not only because Cisco feels confident in his ability to control the environment and help Finn calm down, here, but because he knows Shadow will provide a distraction, and hopefully a calming one.

He goes into the kitchen and reaches down a bottle of rum, pouring a little into two glasses and then opening a coke, splitting the can between the two. It doesn't surprise him all that much, that Finn's never had a drink before. Maybe it's just not as common, in his world and time. What does Cisco know?

Cisco goes to the couch, setting the drinks on the coffee table and gesturing for Finn to come and join him. While he waits, he says: ]

It's okay if you don't like it. I won't be offended. Booze is definitely an acquired taste kind of thing. But you might as well give it a try.

[ He has a sip of his own. ]

[ It doesn't take Finn as long to sit as it did to answer. The show is long over, he's somewhere that, while he may not be intimately familiar or comfortable with, he still at least knows.

Cisco's good at this. As far as he's concerned. ]

You can get a taste for anything if you try hard enough.

[ Finn takes a moment to be grateful to be here at all. That he didn't have to haul himself back to the room in a lot of shoddily stuck-back-together pieces and fall apart all over Rey or Poe, or both of them at once.

They wouldn't mind. They wouldn't hold it against him or anything, they'd probably be glad they could help at all. He knows that more than well enough. But he really doesn't want to be one more thing they have to deal with right now. He doesn't want to be one more thing anybody has to deal with, ideally, but given the option, he'd at least like to not dump it onto them.

He gives his drink an experimental sniff, takes a sip. Pulls a brief face while he evaluates. ]

I've had worse.

[ If the situation were different, that's the kind of statement that Cisco would've definitely cracked a joke about. But right now, he has the good sense not to tease, and also not to ask. It doesn't sound funny at all. Just ominous, and a little sad. Cisco is trying to focus on comforting Finn, rather than his curiosity. But he can't help wondering what Finn's had to force himself to get a taste for, or at the very least, tolerate. Somehow, Cisco suspects it is a lot. So he keeps quiet and just... files it away, for his own reference. ]

The taste isn't great, but it can be useful to help mellow you out. Not that I'm recommending, you know. Drinking any time you're stressed. But once isn't going to do any harm. Temporary measures, and all.

[ He has a sip of his own drink, not wincing at the taste. It helps to give him a moment, because he's just had an idea. A really good one, maybe. Cisco holds up a finger, saying distractedly: ]

Hang on, don't go anywhere, I'll be right back.

[ A quick trip upstairs and back, and Cisco is holding a pair of very fancy-looking headphones. They are wireless, with a few faint lights glowing along the side. He sets them on the couch near Finn before returning to his seat, explaining: ]

Noise cancelling headphones. Not like the regular kind, either. I souped these babies up. Had to, when Yuri was living here. That kid's taste in music is awful. Should be enough to even block out fireworks. Why don't you keep 'em, 'til all this festival stuff blows over.

[ Temporary measures. Right. It's not really something he's thought about before. But he guesses he can see where the logic comes from, if nothing else.

Besides. First time for everything.

Finn, perhaps predictably, manages not to go anywhere while Cisco dashes upstairs. He mostly sort of sits there looking bemused and taking another drink.

Bemusement is quick to fly out the window as Cisco sets the headphones down, explains what they are-- offers them until the festival circuit winds down. What files in to replace it is surprise, and something a little more like awe. ]

I...

[ He glances down at them. Thinks they may be up there in the category of most conventionally nice and valuable thing anyone has ever said he could keep for any span of time. And flat-out good tech besides, undoubtedly.

Then back up to Cisco. ]

Are you sure?

Completely sure.

[ Cisco doesn't hesitate for a second before giving that reassurance. Partly, he trusts Finn to look after them - he seems like the sort of person who looks after his belongings. Partly, Cisco knows that, even though they were expensive and he had poured quite a bit of additional time into them, he could always make a new pair. Nothing irreplaceable. And partly, he had had a very vivid demonstration just now of how badly Finn needs them. Even if the first two things were not true, Cisco has never been someone who turned away when someone needed help that he could provide.

So - tech to help prevent a next time, a quiet place to sit for a while as he comes down, a little booze. What else could Cisco do? A distraction, maybe. Something simple and stress-free for Finn to focus on... ]

Oh, hey, I've been meaning to show you this.

[ He hadn't, in fact, been meaning to, but it's a tiny white lie that Finn will no doubt see through and hopefully excuse. Cisco turns on the TV and a game console, clicks over to a game that he sometimes will play, in the middle of the night, if insomnia or nightmares are bothering him. It's a puzzle game, but one particularly designed to be soothing, without violence or loud sounds or any urgency: not even a timer. It also has a two-player mode, which Cisco selects, gesturing at the other controller in the little basket on the coffee table. ]

Wanna give it a try?

[ Finn is easy to win over, when push comes to shove.

He didn't come up in kindness, or in patience. He didn't come up with "things like this happen to me too, and this is something you can do that might make it easier." He's had about two months where he can readily find all that-- in Poe, in Rey, in the bits and pieces that reflect out of Cassian and Jyn, in Cisco now-- and after a lifetime without, it isn't something that's gotten mundane to be reminded of. When he finds it in someone, he's won over. When he's won over, his devotion is swift and inherently deep-rooted. He doesn't know any other way to do it.

Finn was already pretty firmly on the ride or die for Cisco Ramon train. Realistically. Cisco's been a good person, interesting to talk to, he was more than helpful with the distress signal issue. He's smart, he's reasonable. Finn likes him.

Any doubts that may have somehow lingered up to this point are abruptly so much dust in the wind.

If he catches on to that harmless lie, the sharp surge of gratitude and affection he feels is enough to let it pass without comment. Instead, he reaches for the other controller, glancing at Cisco's hands to make sure he's holding it right. ]

As long as you're willing to teach me.

[ He gets the feeling that Cisco will be willing. ]

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