Strixhaven Campus, Arcavios, Friday (Fandom Time)

[deathsmajesty]

For once, Liliana hadn't made too much of a fuss getting up early. Today was the Midsummer Music Festival at her alma mater, Strixhaven University, and as a thank you to Prompto for finishing the job of teaching her to drive, she had invited him to go see it. Which, of course, had turned into an invitation to his family, and there was no way that Ignis wasn't going to come along, and also no way that Prompto would stand for leaving anyone out, and so it was a merry party of seven that stepped through the portal. Liliana had asked folks to wear nothing too Earth modern and explained that very few people, if anybody, they would meet knew about other planes (many, many, many Quandrix theories aside) and to please keep it that way. Once any questions were out of the way, they stepped through a portal...

...And onto into a large walkway made from gleaming white stone. A short staircase led up to a park, full of greenery, fountains, and comfortable benches. In the center of the park was an imposing statue of a magic user made of white marble and curving over its head was a arc of huge stones, the largest easily hundreds of feet long, hanging in the air in a perfect arch. Above them shone two suns, beaming brightly down, though the heat was not particularly oppressive. The area was crowded with people, though there was still enough room for people to walk without being pressed against anyone else. "Welcome to the Archway Commons," Liliana said, possibly grinning more broadly than any of them had ever experienced, save Ignis. "So named because of the star arch above there - the second largest star arch on campus. The largest is the Dawnbow, over the Bibloplex. Star arches get their name from their irregular spokes evoke the radiating lines of a shining celestial star. They're found all over Arcavios, made from spokes of natural materials that float in an arch shape, with a precise inner curve and a rough and irregular outer arch. They can stand straight or lie at an angle; they can be small or enormous, whole or broken, grown over or mysteriously clean. Their origins are a mystery lost to the Dawning Age, though many people have said that they've seen an arch appear to them at a critical juncture in their lives, helping them understand a lesson or answer a burning question in their mind." She laughed. "It's important to note that I've never had a star arch manifest in front of me, so I can't say for certain how accurate that is, but there are plenty of theories about them."

Arm laced through Ignis', she led them forward through the central campus, pointing out various landmarks, though there were a few that she clearly didn't recognize, like the Strixhaven Stadium where it seemed like some kind of game was underway, the stands maybe half full of cheering people. The large crowds continued as they went along, an excitement in the air.

"I see the popularity of the Midsummer Music Festival has grown since I was a student here," Liliana said with an almost apologetic smile. Almost. Liliana Vess didn't apologize. "It was large even then but not like this!" Strange what a difference almost two hundred years could make. "Anyway, I brought us early enough that we'd have enough time for quick tours around the other college campuses if you'd like? We can also go right to Prismari, there's plenty to explore there and we can get set up."

[For thems what are here! NFB for awayness.]

Comments

Re: Arrive At Strixhaven

[deathsmajesty]

Nonsense. These were his people. Liliana didn't want, need, or even understand friendship, and so there. Just ask Jace Beleren!

Having no qualms about leaving the others to their own devices for a bit, Liliana escorted Ignis around the commons, first walking the perimeter so he could get an idea of the vastness of the space, and then winding inward as a leisurely pace, stopping every so often to provide him with a tidbit or other from her time here. This bench had been replaced in her fourth year after a mage duel at midnight had gotten out of hand, this waist-high hedgemaze hadn't been intended to be a hedgemaze, but some drunken Quandrix students had decided that it would be more fun if it were and had cast spells to make it so. Even though the bushes were only waist height outside, they towered above one's head within, the Quandrix trick of folding and embiggening space on full display. And then she'd gotten to demonstrate to him how this hedgemaze was often used, tugging him into a small nook of a dead end and kissing him deeply - several times - before leading him back out.

...She might be able to remember the names of the five Founder dragons easily, but she couldn't remember the name (or even the number) of people she'd kissed in the hedgemaze in the Commons.

At last, they ended up sitting on the edge of the fountain, Liliana telling him about the debate of the statue standing within. "Some people say that it's a statue of the first Voice of the Dragons," she explained. "They don't really have the temperament to be involved with the school as a whole and generally prefer to leave the running of the Colleges to the Deans of their individual schools. But sometimes, if the Deans can't agree or it's something that affects multiple colleges, the Voice of the Founders will step forward for the last say. And this statue was built for the first person appointed to that position, but the proximity to the star arch has weathered away its features so it's impossible to know more about them. Others say that it's a deliberately ambiguous figure - any gender, any race, any type of magic user - a testament to the potential of all Strixhaven students." She laughed. "It's a very stupid debate and one easily solved with just a bit of research, but we've all collectively decided that it's more fun to argue about it than learn the answer. Which is, of course, the third possibility - that it's here to be a bit of a mystery, to remind us to always question even that which seems obvious and debate with our peers, even over the most nonsensical of things, keeps us sharp."

Re: Arrive At Strixhaven

[chef_chocobro]

Pity they'd peeled away from their group the way they did for this personal little private tour; Prompto's camera would be full to bursting with evidence of fond amusement all over Ignis' face. Perhaps not quite full on beaming smiles; those were still few and far between, but tended to flit there whenever Liliana's excitement in telling him something was particularly potent, like now, with that laugh, over this very stupid and easily solved debate, a smile that melted into the kiss he leaned in to give her, sitting on the edge of the fountain and its soothing rush of waters while this allegedly unknown figure loomed so presently behind them and in this particular chapter of her life.

"It's no wonder," he said, "you found yourself thriving so brilliantly here, my love. Granted, you'll thrive anywhere you're planted, no doubt, in one way or another, but here." He reached to take her hand, his thumb brushing against her wrist in a mirror of the way she so often brushed hers against his. "Here, I can tell it was so much more than that."

Re: Arrive At Strixhaven

[deathsmajesty]

"Are you suggesting I'm argumentative?" Liliana asked, then laughed again, leaning in to steal a kiss in return. Her voice hushed automatically, drawing closer to him to make sure no one could overhear. "I was still something of a...a broken-winged bird when I arrived here. Josu...being a Planeswalker...spending the previous few years in a fury of learning necromancy...it was all so very much. But here was a balm. A place for me to land, to m-mend--" A stumble over that word, that work that was still so very fraught and full of pain itself "--here was where I remembered how to laugh. What joy felt like. Peace. I remembered what it meant to learn for the love of learning, instead of a frenzied attempt to fix what I had broken. I am many, many things, my love, and few of them particularly nice or good. But what good that remains is from my time here."

Re: Arrive At Strixhaven

[chef_chocobro]

If Ignis hadn't already had Liliana's hand, he would have found it while she spoke, but, since he did, he could just continue to gently brush his thumb against hers, hoping that she'd find the gesture even a fraction as soothing as it was when she offered it to him, until that little stumble in her words, that brought his fingers to settled by entwining themselves with hers.

He almost wanted to quibble a little on the use of her words, to suggest that there was far more good there than she seemed to let on, but if this was where she felt that good in her flourished best, then who was he to impede on that by poking and prodding at it? He was more than happy to just let it bask in where it had best been cultivated.

"I'm gladio, then," he said, softly, with a smile to match as he now lifted their joined hands to his lips to brush a kiss against her knuckles, "we've had the opportunity to come and visit. I know I don't need to tell you this, but I also know you'll never tire of it, either, so...brilliantly done, 'Iana. You've got quite the finesse for perfect days lately."

Re: Arrive At Strixhaven

[deathsmajesty]

She favored him with another pleased, preening smile and followed it up with a kiss. "We'll have to come back," she told him. "Just you and I, when it's less crowded. And I'll make sure you dress appropriately and we can go have adventures in the Sedgemoor," she laughed. "Silverquill's festival is in the winter - oration, drama and theater, monologues, it's a carnival of words. Perhaps we can come back for that."

Her hand squeezed his. "I am glad I could share this with you. I mean, it's Prompto's thank you, but..."

It was another layer of herself peeled back and offered up to Ignis.

Re: Arrive At Strixhaven

[chef_chocobro]

Another layer, and this one particularly lovely and warm and so reflective of so many of the things Ignis loved best about Liliana: her resolve, her inquisitive mind, her laughter. It was a rare layer indeed that presented to him happiness in her past, and for that alone, this layer was one he was cherishing greatly.

All the more so with how freely she was giving it to him. Prompto's thank you, yes, but it all turned out to be more precious gifts for him.

"...but we all benefit," he finished, with a crooked smile to go along with his smooth drawl, "from his selfless charity. How very efficient of you, my darling.

"But, yes," he then agreed, after just holding onto that moment a little longer, "a return for a feast of phrases sounds like just the thing. Especially if it falls a bit after Earth's holiday season, when that warmth of all those particular festivities started to fade into the dreary drudgery toward spring. I'd like that very much."

Re: Arrive At Strixhaven

[deathsmajesty]

"And here, I just thought I was being incredibly indulgent," she teased back, "getting to spoil so many people."

With the waning of that moment and another kiss to boot, she stood up and tugged on his hand, intending to lead him over to Firejolt and see how long it took him to notice that she was leading him to coffee.

"Arcavios has a thirteen year month, not a twelve, so the timing will be a bit up in the air, but it will certainly land somewhere between late January and early March," she said as they strolled. "A birthday trip, perhaps? Though it's no Argentina."