The Lantern Festival (7) : Scientists have been hard at work trying to understand the strange, glowing qualities of the luminescent caterpillars found in the caves by the reservoir. The caterpillars still shrivel up if they are taken out of the caves but their glowing secretions have been processed into an organic paste that can withstand the outside world. The city is selling paper lanterns infused with various seeds. The glow paste is full of minerals to support healthy plant growth without risking damage to the environment; all lantern purchases come with a small packet of activating power that will heat the paste up enough to mimic the effects of a candle without the concerns of flammability. When the glow paste loses its heat, the lantern will return to the Earth and upon the first rain (or any contact with water) the paper will dissolve and the seeds may begin to grow. All proceeds from the lanterns are put right back into the community to support local conservation and environmental protection efforts.
Honestly, Karakorum was excited to meet Kemi and show her the gorgeous lanterns. Their whole vibe was incredible; taking those glowing caterpillars from the reservoir cave and making them into something so beautiful, and creating the floating lanterns that lit the sky and would eventually mean more flowers blooming wherever they landed? Honestly, peak human ingenuity.
And it was a pleasant little Earth celebration that she could introduce her new space friend to and let her see the more…chill, fun, friendly side of summers in Destiny City.
(Also, she kinda wanted to take Winston to see the lanterns. Maybe have a nice walk. Work up her courage to have the whole “I want us to be something real” talk. Because she was really, really starting to think she wanted them to be something real.)
She waited, powered up, a little ways away from the actual festival booths to buy the actual lanterns, and she’d sent Kemi a note to know where to meet her. They could figure out exactly what they wanted to do when Kemi got there.
Orangeish Sherbert
Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2025 5:43 pm
Kemi arrived, having been looking forward to this all day. She had stopped and bought some snacks before she had powered up, and was excited to watch these lanterns. They sounded like they were going to be quite amazing, and honestly, anything done with a friend...well it simply made it all the better. Seriously.
“Karakorum!” The word wasn’t quite a shout, but there was excitement behind it, and she gave a small wave as she approached her friend. “I stopped for snacks, I thought…it would be nice to have something to eat and drink while watching, and the things I bought were all marketed to be good for the summer. Limited editions and…special things? I hope that’s all right, I don’t know what you like but I have…soda that is…popsicle flavored? It’s a lovely blue color, and some chips that sound interesting. A ‘full picnic’ is what it advertises so…delicious. Also, cupcakes. For something sweet. If the soda is not enough sweet.”
Okay, a lot of talking but. Kemi was excited, and was really just hoping this would be a nice, normal evening.
"Hi, Kemi!" Karakorum waved, when she saw her friend approaching. She was glad she'd chosen a table to sit at; it sounded like they had plenty of snacks to watch people let their lanterns fly. "All of that sounds so good. I love seasonal flavors, they're such a good time."
She reached for a soda, cracking it open. She did genuinely like seasonal flavored stuff, and doing silly roundup videos of different popsicle-flavored sodas was always good for Funny Content, and she hadn't done one of those roundups yet this summer.
Too busy being a cool magical girl to do silly influencer things, oops.
"Do you want to go get lanterns for us to send up, or do you just want to watch? I'm fine either way." She'd let her outer space friend lead the way, tonight.
Orangeish Sherbert
Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2025 6:11 pm
“If you don’t mind, I would rather just watch, I think. It seems like it’s going to be quite beautiful…and I would just like to observe…”
It would be nice to sit here, not needing to worry, not needing to put too much effort into anything. It was rare that she got to just…relax. Especially with a friend. So much of her time was spent trying new things, doing new things. Learning new things…seeing new things. “If you’re really sure we can just eat our snacks and chat for a little while? One thing that…Earth hasn’t really allowed me was much leisure, and that is all due to me, I will admit. I enjoy doing things but…this seems like an activity that is best observed.”
"Oh, yeah," Karakorum said, nodding easily. "Absolutely we can just watch. Sometimes it's nice to just hang out, anyway." A quiet night with a friend in the park, having some fun snacks and watching the lanterns glow? Yeah, that was definitely one of her ideas of a good time.
(She had others, sure, but this was one.)
"Hey, do you eat meat? I realize that might sound random, but my brother's boyfriend likes to send me with snacks and I have some pork belly gua bao we could share, if you want them. They're like, little sandwiches, kinda?" She pulled a bamboo box out of her subspace, lifting the lid and revealing the little treats.
Orangeish Sherbert
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2025 7:12 pm
“Why wouldn’t I eat meat?” Kemi blinked, truly confused by the question. She was a carnivore, mostly. Meat…had been all but impossible to get back on her world, and she indulged in it when she had first arrived on Earth. “Is that…a thing people do? My…the roommate I live with is a Mauvian, and I…well. My people always preferred meat to any other kind of food, so it’s very. We love meat. Yes. That sounds wonderful.”
She paused and gave a smile, looking just a little…smug. “...You are calling him your boyfriend now? I’m not sure that was the case the other day, unless I am wrong? Is there a story there? Is there…” She hesitated, scrunching her nose. There was a phrase…
Lianhua shrugged, pushing the gua bao towards her friend. “There are people who choose not to, yeah, and I wasn’t sure if there would be an alien biology thing? I didn’t want to just assume. But enjoy, they’re really good.”
The next question caught her off guard, and Lianhua fumbled for a gua bao, shoving it in her mouth to keep from making any undignified blushy, squeaky sounds at Kemi’s mistake. She shook her head as she ate, and once she finished her bite, she took a moment to recover.
“Ah, no, no tea—he’s still not my boyfriend, but I’m thinking about talking to him about it soon. My brother’s boyfriend made these.” She paused, briefly, and then: “And the saying is just tea. Not iced tea. Usually. It’s, um, both a drink and a saying and—never mind, not important.”
Orangeish Sherbert
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2025 7:20 pm
“Oh.” Kemi flushed slightly, looking embarrassed. “I apologize, I heard your boyfriend’s brother and I just…guess I got excited for you. I’m sorry that things haven’t…progressed. Maybe you need more human breeding propaganda” The grin she gave now was…sly. Amused. It was fun to be able to tease.
“Tea is…a drink that I prefer to be cold. I’m normally partial to warm things, but I have…i have burnt my mouth far too often on hot tea, so I prefer the cold. Just a strange note about myself….”
Reaching out, she took one of the gua bao and took a bite. “...this is delicious. Tell your brother’s boyfriend I said thank you. And he’s a wonderful cook.”
She relaxed and turned her attention back to the floating lanterns. “I hope that when you do work the courage up he says yes. And I hope you have a wonderful romance. You deserve it.”
Karakorum laughed. “Oh, that’s not the problem, trust me. We do plenty of that. It’s the…squishier, emotional stuff.” She shook her head. “I’m just not good at that part. But I’ll figure it out.”
She really liked Winston, so she’d just…make it work. One way or another. Since, obviously, he liked her, so…the only reasonable thing was to make it official.
“Oh, iced tea is great,” she said. “Have you ever tried boba tea? If not, let me take you to a boba tea place so you can.” God, she could literally always go for a good boba tea. Maybe it would be fun to take Winston to her favorite place, as a cute little lunch date.
“I’ll tell him you said so,” she said, taking another bite, “and I hope you’re right. I really want things TO work out for me and him. He’s…he’s really great, and I want to be a nice thing for him.”
Orangeish Sherbert
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2025 7:28 pm
“Squishier…interesting phrasing but, I will allow it. I have not tried boba tea, but I would like to very much, that could be our next time to hang out if you wish it?” It was a fun friendship, and she was enjoying it a lot. “I think…well. I don’t think you could be anything but a nice thing, I’ve only met you twice but that’s my opinion of the situation…so. The best of luck to you…and I expect a text when you do decide to become…more squishy.”
This was so different. This teasing. It wasn’t something she had done for so long, but she had missed being a little bit of…well. A s**t.
“I will scream along side of you, and we can celebrate with something delicious.”
"Glad to teach you new words," Karakorum said lighlty. "And I'd love to get boba tea with you. It'll be fun."
She laughed, a little, at the teasing and nodded.
"I'll be sure to let you know how it goes," she promised. It'd be fine, she was sure. Winston really liked her! She really liked him! They just had to get on the same page, and that was super easy!
Probably.
"Sounds perfect,t hen. Boba tea to celebrate me and my boy becoming official."
Orangeish Sherbert
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2025 11:45 am
“Perfect. A date of our own.” Kemi gave a sly grin, amused. “I hope that I can one day meet him too, I feel as though…I want to approve of him. You are a friend now and that’s. Just how things go, I believe. I do not make the rules, as they say.”
They did say that, and Kemi was feeling very smug, and very pleased with how things were going.
“Anyway, my overprotective tendencies aside, this has been wonderful, and thank you for being my friend. I appreciate it, very much.”
And one day, she would do what she could in order to repay the friendship. No matter what.
