Party Time! (March 1 through 3-ish)

[bemerry]

CHARACTERS: Meriadoc Brandybuck & Anyone who wants food and presents
LOCATION: O₂ Gardens
WARNINGS: nothing that i know of...
SUMMARY: Meriadoc's birthday bash meant as a morale booster for anyone and everyone who wants to pop in
NOTES: There is a starter comment for prep team, everyone feel free to do whatever they want


After the wonderful set-up by many volunteers, and the work of several weeks, Meriadoc's birthday party is finally in full-swing, with plenty of pies and cakes and bread and drinks and cookies and waffles (with blackberries!) and other baked delights. Even with the absence of some he would have wished to be present, he doesn't dwell on it, instead trying to make sure everyone who drops in feels wonderful, and receives a small gift or two, be it a carved spoon or a bouquet of flowers, or something else that could be made easily and quickly with his sometimes-clumsy hands.

It was only proper for the ribadyan to make sure everyone had a gift, after all.

Comments

[woodlander]

"I met him here." In much the same way as Alexis, actually. Before coming here Tauriel was not aware she had ever met a Hobbit, though in point of fact, one of them had already worked his way into her life.

"But we are from a same world, a land called Middle Earth. In that place we were unaware of one another."

[redheaded_rock]

Alexis smiles at that. "Even that must be a bit of a comfort, though, to have someone from the same world, even if you didn't know him there."

[woodlander]

"There are others from my world. A great many, I think."

More than she truly knew, and at least two that she wished would take themselves elsewhere. Mairon and Morgoth, two of the most frightening creatures who had ever roamed Middle Earth, and both were here. She was careful to keep them off her lips, in case by chance this girl carried the words to their ears.

"For the most part, it is they who do not know me. But it is a comfort that they are here, despite that. What of you - are there others from your world?

[redheaded_rock]

Alexis shakes her head, her expression going from open to thoughtful. "That's the weird thing. I've spoken to a few people who say they know my home, but after we start talking, we figure out it's not the same at all."

She shrugs and raises a hand, palm-up, in a gesture of confusion. "It's like we end up talking about alternate versions of the same thing."

[woodlander]

That might be strange to Alexis, but Tauriel understands, for the situation is much the same for her. She leans forward a little, her expression interested and her eyes keen.

"That is the case for me as well. My King is here, and yet he remembers me not at all. It is the same with my Prince, Legolas, who in Middle Earth was a dear friend of mine, and yet here he knows nothing of me. It was described to me as two different tellings of the same tale. That is how I make sense of it."

[redheaded_rock]

"That's one way to think of it," she answers. "I hadn't thought of that but it makes some sort of sense." Alexis raises one shoulder in a helpless shrug. "It's weird either way and I'm not the biggest fan."

[woodlander]

"Weird?" Tauriel repeats the word, which is unfamiliar to her and makes her eyebrows lift.

"It makes a form of sense, though in many ways, it remains insensible. My people are here, but they are not truly my people. That is hard to accept, and was hard, at first."

[redheaded_rock]

"Weird," Alexis repeats, gesturing a little helplessly. "Like something not quite right."

She nods thoughtfully. "But you have some people here who will watch out for you, and you for them, right? That's what matters, whether they're familiar or not."

[woodlander]

Tauriel's head tilted.

"There are people for whom I would watch," she corrected, carefully. She had no doubt that the other Elves would help her, that they would give her warning if she needed it and grant her aid in whatever way they could. Many had already offered that.

But she was a guard, and it was her duty to be the protector, not the protected.

"I think you are right, and it is important. Yet, it comes with its own difficulties. You must understand that, if your position is the same. There is a disconnection that cannot be fully healed."

[redheaded_rock]

Alexis crossed her arms over her chest and nodded once. Tauriel was right about it, no matter now often Alexis tried to tell herself differently. "You gotta do the best you can, though."

She shrugged. "I don't know what else I can do."

[woodlander]

“Do not do anything.”

Though she could certainly understand the urge to. It was tempting to try and fit into the world that the others spoke of, and to assume that they were in all things the same as their counterparts whom she knows. But neither of those things are real.

“Instead, be as you are, and let them decide what that means for them. You must be true to yourself. You cannot be anything more.”

[redheaded_rock]

But what if being as I am isn't good enough for them? is the first thing that pops into Alexis' mind. Instead of saying it, though, she nods and sighs.

"I guess you're right. Can't be everything to all people."