let the celebrations begin!

[lord_admin]

The last light has faded. The bonfire is lit and the fireflies are glowing merrily. The scent of wood-smoke is in the air. Three of the identical serving men have taken up instruments from the bower and have begun to play, varying between soft ballads and dancing tunes. By the fire, a large silver pail holds small, glittering crystals

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[stillseecracks]

Xanth, chilled by the mist of his own rainbow, takes a seat not far from Rapunzel. It's only after a few minutes that he realizes Rapunzel has one, too.

He smiles. "Y-You, uh, h--have the s-soup too, h-- huh?"

[70ftandcounting]

"Oh, hi Xanth!" She blinked, then glanced over at him and smiled cheerfully.

"I do!" She looked over her shoulder at it and gave a wistful little smile.

"I think it's pretty, don't you?"

[stillseecracks]

Xanth is caught off guard as she greets him by name. He knew his other self had known Kairi, but he hadn't given much thought to who else he would have known.

"Y...yeah, it-- it is." He keeps up a smile, at least for a moment, but then it fades to a look of uncertainty.

"U--Um," he starts, ever so eloquent. "We, uh, m-met before. R-Right?"

[70ftandcounting]

"Uh huh!" She chirped cheerfully, rocking on her heels. His uncertainty had her face falling a fraction though - he...remembered that, didn't he? It hadn't been that long ago, and it's not as if her glowing hair was easily forgettable.

"The letters are all gone." She held up her fingers and wiggled them. "What about yours?"

[stillseecracks]

Xanth looks down at his hands. There had never been any letters on his fingers - not even a regular tattoo. That was somewhere else. His other self couldn't have had tattoos on his hands, either; he surely would have noticed, and Sollux said that he did not.

He sets his hands in h and looks back up at Rapunzel, unsure.

"I-I, um. I-- I think-- you. Um. Y-You met... a... d-different me."

Beat.

"I-I hope that doesn't... s-sound t-t--too crazy."

[70ftandcounting]

"A different you?"

She gives him a confused look and reaches to tug on a piece of her hair.

"What do you mean...?" That didn't make any sense.

[stillseecracks]

"Um."

Xanth, too, reaches for his hair - but instead of tugging on it, he scratches the back of his head.

"O-Okay, um. This-- i-it-- y-you might th-think I'm c--crazy after this," and he's wondered for a long time if he was, "but-- l-look, I, I-I don't... r-remember you. And..." He sighs, and the rainbow hovering above him shifts into a murky fog.

"I-If I met you, I'd... I-I'd remember."

[70ftandcounting]

"But..." Rapunzel's face falls. Quickly.

"But you were here! You've been here - you...you had the letters on your hands, like me, and my hair! Don't you remember my hair?!"

What was going on?!

[stillseecracks]

Xanth bites his lip and looks down. He doesn't know this girl with the miles of golden hair, but already he feels guilty for having let her down.

"N-No, I-- I know, I-I know, but-- it-- i-it's weird. Um." He taps his fingers against his leg, struggling for a good comparison. Cloning technology is beyond his understanding, so instead, he grasps at a different straw.

"O--Okay, um. Let me just-- here. Did... d-did you r-read books?"